This document outlines 8 steps to building influence through content marketing: 1) Determine your audience, 2) Form your message, 3) Research publications, 4) Develop topic ideas, 5) Organize expertise in a knowledge bank, 6) Reach out to editors, 7) Create great content consistently, and 8) Maximize your content. Creating engaging content, finding time to publish, and pitching to influential sites are some of the top challenges marketers face that this 8 step process aims to address.

1. 8 Steps To Building Your
Brand’s Influence
@AMASTL
@InfluenceAndCo
@themattkamp

2. We build thought leadership for brands
through original, high-quality content.
• Founded in 2011 to address the
emerging trend of thought leadership,
now 55 FT employees
• Named to Forbes' “America’s Most
Promising Companies” list in 2014
• Considered “the largest provider of
thought leadership content in the
country”

3. 3
Our clients…

4. Why Content (Inbound) Marketing?

5. Content marketing simply
means…

6. CREATE VALUE!

7. SEO = High Quality, Engaging Content

8. When Prospects Would Find You
Online: Old vs. New
<< Old
New >>

9. The Importance of Being Found
Connecting with future prospects.

10. Benefits of Content Marketing
• Builds trust with readers (leads, investors, talent).
• Boosts brand awareness.
• Showcases credibility through expertise.
• Improves search rankings.
• Nurtures leads through close.

11. People want to do business with best in
their fields.
Content marketing is how to showcase
your thought leadership.

12. 80% of business decision-
makers prefer to get company
information in a series of
articles versus an
advertisement.

13. BANNER BLINDNESS
SOLVE MEDIA
“ “You are more likely to complete Navy
SEAL training than click on a banner
ad.”

14. THE TIME VALUE OF CONTENT: OUR NUMBERS
In a June blog post, we analyzed the
last 90 days of blog content:
24,197 article views of our own blog:
Only 10,481 views (43.3%) from past 90 days articles
13,716 views (56.7%) from 90+ days ago
More Content = More Opportunity Over Time

15. (GOOD) CONTENT
MARKETING IS HARD
Content Marketing Institute studies have found that only 38%
of marketers in 2015 say that their organization is at least
“effective” at content marketing.

16. CHALLENGE
FOR
MARKETERS#1“CREATING ENGAGING CONTENT”

17. Top 3 challenges we
see…
• 1. Creating engaging content
• 2. Finding time to consistently publish content
• 3. Publishing content on influential sites

18. 8 steps to tackling this!

20. Determine your audience(s).
Influence & Co.

21. Digital marketing is all about
PEOPLE

22. How to Build Relationships
Through Content

23. Form your message.
Influence & Co.

24. Document a
Content Strategy
Only 35% of marketers have a
documented content strategy.
-Content Marketing Institute.

25. Elements of a Documented Strategy
• Value prop
• Competitive analysis
• Brand voice
• Personas
• Pain points (i.e. topics)
• Mediums of distribution
• Goals / Metrics
Influence & Co.

26. Research publications.
Influence & Co.

27. What Editors Of The Top Online Publications Had to Say
Influence & Co.

28. Influence & Co.

29. Influence & Co.

30. Develop (and test) your topic ideas.
Influence & Co.

31. Customer pain points
What objections do they have?
How are you different?
What are your core values?
What are the biggest misconceptions in your
industry?

32. Organize Your Expertise With a Company Knowledge Bank
Influence & Co.

33. Get the Most Out of Your Knowledge Bank
1.Update it regularly
2.Keep your audience in mind.
3.Crowdsource the knowledge
4.Organize your info by category & keywords
5.Make it accessible
Influence & Co.

34. TOOLS TO FIND CONTENT INSPIRATION
Analyze trending content
Quora
Flipboard
Pocket
Twitter hashtags

35. Reach out to editors.
Influence & Co.

36. How to create content
editors crave

37. Influence & Co.

38. Influence & Co.

39. Research their pub’s audience
Influence & Co.
Share your expertise (and get personal!)
Back it up with data

40. Back Your Content Up With Data

41. Perfect Your Piece
• Be a perfectionist - edit your work!
• Fact check
• Plagiarism check
• Tool: Copyscape
Influence & Co.

42. Create great content!
Influence & Co.

43. CONSISTENCY

45. Documented Strategy + Knowledge Bank = Foundation
PROCESS, PROCESS, PROCESS

46. WHEN WRITING AN ARTICLE, ASK YOURSELF:
Who (are you reaching)?
Where (can you reach them)?
What (do they care about)?
Why (should they act on your message)?
How (should they act after you reach them)?
When (are you reaching them in the buying
process)?

47. Streamlined writing,
Edit, and
Pitch or Publish
Influence & Co.

48. Maximize your content.
Influence & Co.

49. THE FINISHED PRODUCT

50. WHAT MAKES UP GREAT CONTENT?
Great Content = Marketing & Sales Enablement

51. THE BIG PICTURE
One of the most attractive things about content is its opportunity
to drive qualified leads through a funnel.

52. THE CONTENT FUNNEL

53. Live “thought leadership” — and see ROI.
Influence & Co.

54. THE QUANTITATIVE APPROACH: THE METRICS
• Traffic
• Unique visitors per month
• Time on site
• Subscribers
• Social shares
• Call-to-action clicks
• Call-to-action click percentage
• Conversion percentages
• Number of leads
• Number of marketing qualified leads
• Sales numbers

55. THE KEY POINTS OF A SALE
TRUST AND
RESPECT
STAYING TOP-
OF-MIND
INTERNAL
TIMING &
RESOURCES

56. THE QUALITATIVE APPROACH: THE METRICS
Content is the fuel and foundation for business development:
• Opening doors for all business development
• Sales process
• Online profile credibility
• Social media
• Newsletter
• Blog
• Speaking & awards applications
• Lead capture
• Marketing automation / lead nurturing
• Hiring processes
• Customer education & engagement

57. MORAL OF THE STORY?
1. Always be testing.
2. Make data-driven decisions.

58. Inbound (content) marketing is a MINDSET…
Great Marketing = Give Great Value
Influence & Co.

60. STL Content Marketers
Meetup.com
November 10th
St. Louis Startup Weekend
Nov. 13-15 @ T-REX

61. SAY HEY!
Matt Kamp
matt@influenceandco.com
@themattkamp
Content strategy session:
calendly.com/mattkamp/follow-up