Emily Reeves gave a presentation on content marketing to the Arkansas Volunteers Coordinators Association to talk about how online content can help fuel interest and loyalty for generating new volunteers.

1. WHAT IS THE
MOST TALKED
ABOUT TREND IN
DIGITAL!
COMMUNICATIONS
FOR 2014?

2. CONTENT!
MARKETINGMAKING IT WORK FOR YOU

3. CONTENT MARKETING
IS CRITICAL FOR
ONGOING DONOR!
ENGAGEMENT
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

4. WHAT IS CONTENT MARKETING?
Content marketing is the art of communicating with your
volunteers and donors without asking for anything in
return.
!
It is non-interruption marketing.
!
Instead of pitching your organization, you are delivering
information that makes your volunteers and donors
more intelligent.
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

5. WHAT IS CONTENT MARKETING?
Good content marketing makes a person
!
STOP!
LISTEN!
THINK and!
BEHAVE!
!
differently.
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

6. If you deliver consistent, ongoing valuable information to
volunteers and donors, they ultimately reward you with their
time and money.
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

7. BRANDS AND
BROADCASTERS ARE
YOUR COMPETITORS
AS BOTH SEEK TO
BECOME CONTENT
PRODUCERS TOO @reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

8. NEED PROOF?
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

9. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

10. 12 staffers with managing editor — a former TV journalist.
!
Attracts 1.2 million visitors a month.
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

11. Site managed by a former journalist.
!
Ratified as a news site by Google News.
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

12. Site managed by a former journalist.
!
Provides content to WSJ CMO Today and
Fox Business News
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

13. Led by a former AP journalist.
!
Content sent to Business Insider.
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

14. Treatsie
Bourbon & Boots @reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

15. HOW CAN YOU
COMPETE?
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

16. !
VOLUNTEERS AND DONORS SHARE
THE CONTENT THEY THINK IS
COMPELLING.!
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

17. WHY DO YOU HAVE A WEBSITE?!
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

18. WHY DO YOUR VOLUNTEERS AND
DONORS VISIT YOUR WEBSITE?!
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

19. IS THE CONTENT ON YOUR WEBSITE
ABOUT YOUR VOLUNTEERS’ AND
DONORS’ CORE INTERESTS?!
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

20. OR!
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

21. IS IT ABOUT HOW GREAT YOUR
ORGANIZATION IS?!
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

22. WHAT MAKES YOUR
ORGANIZATION’S CONTENT SO
INTERESTING THAT !
PEOPLE WILL WANT TO !
TALK ABOUT IT AND SHARE IT !
WITH THEIR FRIENDS?
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

23. WILL PEOPLE SHARE AND SPREAD THIS
INFORMATION IN SOCIAL MEDIA?!
!
WILL THEY TALK TO THEIR COLLEAGUES
ABOUT IT?!
!
WILL THEY SEARCH FOR IT?!
!
WILL THEY BECOME SO ENGAGED IN IT
THAT THEY WILL FRIEND OR FOLLOW
YOU? @reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

24. THE HEART OF CONTENT
MARKETING IS MAKING CONTENT
WORTH SHARING.
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

25. COMPARED TO TRADITIONAL
MARKETING CONTENT MARKETING:
• Is about the volunteer, not you.
• Pulls listeners in with relevant content to them.
• Is two-way conversation instead of a monologue.
• Is more dynamic and easier to change.
• Has the potential to reach wider, maximizing word-of-mouth.
• Has a much longer shelf-life.
• Easier to measure.
• Happens before and after learning about your organization.
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

26. WHY CONTENT MARKETING:
• 61% of consumers say they feel better about a company that
delivers custom content.
• 7 in 10 consumers prefer to learn about a company through
articles, not ads.
• 90% of consumers find custom content useful.
• 78% of of consumers believe that organizations providing
custom content want to build good relationships.
• 68% of consumers spend time reading content from a brand
they are interested in.
• Social media and blogs account for 23% of all time spent
online.
• Interesting content is a top 3 reason people follow brands on
social media. @reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

27. PLAN!
CREATE / CURATE!
DISTRIBUTE!
BE FOUND!
RESPOND & CONVERSE!
MEASURE!
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

28. PLAN
• What do you want to be known for? What can you be known
for?
• What are your audiences’ challenges?
• What kind of content do they consume? Where do they
consume it?
• How can you create interesting yet consistent content that will
attract new volunteers and retain old ones? Who is writing it?
Who is managing it?
• When all is said and done, what business results do you want
to achieve for all your hard work?
• How will you know if this stuff is working?
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

29. CREATE / CURATE
• Be interesting, valuable, and educational. Too many people
create content that is self-serving and uninteresting. People
won’t read or share that.
• Tell personal stories, engage people in a way your
competitors aren’t doing, and give away advice.
• Offer your audience a combination of original and third party
content provides a branded context for your work.
• Curating other people’s content positions you and/or your
organization as a tastemaker in your field.
• Create a fresh perspective to engage people and cultivate
curiosity and a need.
• Brand Value = Content x Connections x Engagement
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

30. DISTRIBUTE
• Plan content distribution. Spend just as much of your time
creating content as you do distributing it.
• Encourage social sharing of your content. Plan out your social
media content distribution. This means creating different ways
to share your own content over a period of time in addition to
including social sharing icons.
• Promote your content. Leverage whatever resources and
connections you have. Make a checklist of your owned, social
media and third party options.
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

31. BE FOUND
• Establish 30-50 keyword phrases relevant to your audiences,
and ensure these phrases are used in all of your content.
!
• Identify conversations around the web that you should
contribute to and link back to your content. Use tools like
Google Alerts or TalkWalker that have keyword search
capabilities.
!
• Cross-promote your content in relevant communities. For
example, post your videos on YouTube, your audio on
SoundCloud, and embed them in landing pages that can be
measured, and link to your landing page.
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

32. BE FOUND
• Update your website constantly with the fresh content so
Google keeps ranking your site higher for keywords and lets
your content get found.
!
• Consider PPC campaigns to promote your content.
!
• Ask influencers to share your content. There is no better way
to get your content shared than by referral.
!
• Consider using old-fashioned email and include the forward
to a friend functionality.
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

33. RESPOND & CONVERSE
• Establish a listening campaign to figure out who’s doing the
talking and what’s being said.
• Respond quickly to comments and feedback.
• Think about where your customers are located online and join
those communities.
• Consider how you will connect with the more influential
conversationalists within those communities. Do you need to
comment regularly on select blogs?
• Use communities to interact with your community by asking
questions (surveys), participating and contributing to
conversations (comments/discussion forums) and sharing
your expertise (your content).
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

34. MEASURE
• Which conversations drove traffic?
• What content and messaging converted most effectively?
• What audience segments have the most potential for
increased traffic?
• Where is the brand love around your organization?
• Which conversations align with the organization’s purpose?
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

35. CONTENT TYPES!
!
THINK CONTENT VARIETY BECAUSE NOT EVERY
TYPE OF CONTENT APPEALS TO EVERYONE.
!
SPECIFICALLY, 83% OF LEARNING OCCURS
VISUALLY.
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

36. CONTENT IDEAS
• Articles
• Blogs
• Books
• Case studies
• Cartoons
• Catalogs
• Charts
• Email newsletters
• Ebooks
• Exhibits
• Infographics
• In-person events
• Magazines
• Microsites
• Mobile apps
• Mobile website
• Newsletter
• One-sheet
• Suggested use
• Photographs
• Podcasts
• Research
• Social media
• Testimonials
• Videos
• Websites
• Webinars
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

37. TIPS!
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

38. TIPS
• Use a variety of platforms
• Build content assets
• Tell stories people relate to
• Crowdsource content
• Curate content with care
• Brand your content
• Avoid THDR
• Optimize for findability
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

39. WHY CONTENT MARKETING:
LOYALTY!
!
SHARES!
!
REACH
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

40. FINAL THOUGHT:
!
QUALITY OVER
QUANTITY.!
!
DON’T PUT IT OUT THERE UNLESS IT IS GOOD.
YOUR REPUTATION IS AT STAKE.
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

41. BONUS THOUGHT:
!
QUALITY TAKES TIME.!
!
PLAN AND BUDGET ACCORDINGLY.
@reeves501
@stoneward
#AVCADigiContent

42. THANK!
YOUEmily Reeves
ereeves@stoneward.com
@Reeves501