Michael Stricker presents on evaluating potential content partners and "frenemies" for effective B2B marketing. He discusses why brands should partner with influencers who can provide influence, trust, and first impressions. He recommends evaluating potential partners' domains, content formats like webinars that have shown success, and metrics on search traffic and social media popularity. The presentation provides tips on identifying suitable leaders, pitching partners, promoting partnerships, and following up for ongoing collaboration.

1. Puny to Powerful:
Evaluating Frenemies and
Content Partners for Effective
B2B Marketing
Michael Stricker, U.S. Marketing Director
@SEMrush @RadioMS

2. Puny to Powerful:
Evaluating Frenemies and
Content Partners for Effective
B2B Marketing
#semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS

3. Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing
#semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
Michael Stricker
U.S. Marketing Director, SEMrush
• Leading competitive research tool for digital marketing
• 100s of successful campaigns 1,000,000s of impressions
• Speaker: BrightonSEO, ClickZ, Pubcon, HERO
Conference, Etail, SMX
• Webinars: SEMrush, CPCstrategy, WordStream
• Author: CIO.com, Business2Community, SEMrush.com
Publications: Philadelphia Inquirer and Philly Ad News.
• Consultant to Brands: 2Modern, AeroPostale, BET, Dell,
GolfSmith, RedCats, RE/MAX, The-House, Toshiba

4. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
• Why Brandsmitters
• What Medium & Format
• Big Brands VS Personal Brands
• Frenemies
• The Pitch and the Promotion
• EVALUATE – what to avoid, what to ask
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

5. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
• Why Brandsmitters?
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

6. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
• Why Brandsmitters?
INFLUENCE
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

7. # semrushlive Y Michael Stricker @RadioMS
• INFLUENCE
• Every Brand = Publisher
• Every Buyer Follows Influence
• Every Buyer Follows Others
• Every Buyer Uses First Brand Encounter
as the Measure of Each Subsequent
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

8. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
• INFLUENCE
• Every Buyer Trusts Peers 12:1 over Brand
Messages
• Every Prospect forms first impressions in
less than haf-a-second
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

9. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
• INFLUENCE
• Brands need expert spokespeople (more
than one) with ample evidence of social
influence to inspire trust and gain first-in
advantage
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

10. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
What Medium?
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

11. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
What Medium?
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

12. Sucking the Commercial Air Out of SERPs
What I hope you’ll get…
#adtechNY Michael Stricker @RadioMS
• PLAs out-position text ads

13. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
What Formats?
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

14. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
What Medium?
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

15. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
What Medium?
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

16. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
What Medium?
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

17. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
What Medium?
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

18. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
What Medium?
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

19. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
What Medium?
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

20. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
What Medium?
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

21. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
What Format? How-tos!
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

22. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
Results
Neil Patel of KISSmetrics, claims
77 webinars
155,386 Registrants.
74,381 attendees
16,394 high quality leads.
22% conversion rate
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

23. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
Results
Adobe claims a solid 19% conversion rate,
Buzzsumo converts 20% of webinar
attendees into paid customers.
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

24. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
Results
SEMrush
Conversion rates as high as 40-50% for
both guests and brand
Loyal audiences consume 20+ Webinars
Retention improved
Sales Revenues well into the 6 figures
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

25. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
Big Brands VS Personal Brands
Go for the Whales
Brand Evangelists bring big audiences
‘Solo’ Consultants deliver high conversions
Personals can comment without competing
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

26. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
1. Identify the Leaders
2. Evaluate their Suitability
3. Pitch the big brandsmitters
4. Never say no
5. Commit and deliver
6. Learn from the winners
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

27. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
Frenemies
Hitch your wagon to a star
increase your useful impressions,
broaden your reach,
provide solid leads
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

28. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
Seek Overlapping Interests of fans, users,
prospects, as evinced by:
keywords (SEMrush),
affinities and interests (Affinio, social),
platforms and frameworks (BuiltWith) :
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

29. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
BUT INSIST THAT FRENEMIES:
Devise and Communicate Complementarity
of services
Keen Content Marketers
Established Popularity (or growing rapidly)
Set Expectations
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

30. # semrushlive Y Michael Stricker @RadioMS
Look for best practices, agility
Offer them in return
Share all prep work and plans publicly
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

31. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
THE PITCH
Genuine Voice
Research and Respect
Concrete Offer that demands a decision
Propose Dates
Set Expectations (best, typical numbers)
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

32. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
THE PITCH
Be Honest
Drop Names
Explain the Benefits (new audience with
market match, leads
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

33. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
PROMOTE VIA:
(Everyone, all in)
Email
Blog
On-site Landing Page
Paid
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

34. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
PROMOTE VIA:
P.R.
Social (Facebook Ads, guest appearances
on Twitter Chats, Blab, Periscope or
Meerkat)
End of Prior Webinar
Email Footers
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

35. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
SEMrush
Examine:
Speaker domain
Brand domain
Owned platform
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

36. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
SEMrush
Metrics:
Organic Search Traffic;
Highest-Traffic Keywords;
inclusion of format names or words (PPC
University, SEMrush Blog);
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

37. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
SEMrush
Does the partner perform well within the
subject matter?
Paid Traffic or PLAs
Local/Mobile
Site Audit
Social Media
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

38. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
• Follow Up
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

39. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
FREE 15-Day SEMrush Guru Trial
http://bit.ly/semrushfrenemies
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

40. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
NEW 2X US Domains + 4X US Keywords
+ Page 10 Depth
NEW Google Shopping PLA Tool;
NEW YouTube Video Ads Reports;
NEW Social Media Reports;
NEW SEO Ideas
Same Affordable Price
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing

41. # semrushlive Michael Stricker @RadioMS
Thank you!
Puny to Powerful: Evaluating Frenemies &
Content Partners for Effective B2B Marketing