1. INBOUND MARKETING
The convergence of content,
search and social
25 September 2014
@Direction_grp #dgedge Check-in

2. The good old days
What ever happened to them?

3. This happened
Customers took control of information

4. WHAT IS
‘INBOUND
MARKETING ’
ANYWAY?

5. Inbound - a definition
Inbound Marketing
The process of creating text, audio, video and
other online assets and optimising them to
appear when prospective customers are ready
to pull the trigger on a purchase – Halligan &
Shah, Hubspot
We live in an self-directed, opt-in world –
we have to earn customers’ attention
Customers will seek you out because of
the quality of the information you offer to
help them make better decisions
CONTENT IS THE WORM ON
THE INBOUND HOOK
http://www.newfunpages.com/i

6. “Inbound marketing is not just content
creation: it’s a philosophical approach to
marketing that starts with thinking about
what (information) customers actually want
and need and ends with a comprehensive
approach to optimize that experience from
the first website visit to email nurturing to
sales outreach to social media marketing.”
Dharmesh Shah, Hubspot

7. The end of Interruptive Marketing as we know it
WWW.eharmny.co.uk
“Marketing to your customers by repeatedly
interrupting them with advertising or selling
messages is simply not good enough any more
- technology has changed all the rules”
Seth Godin

8. Rand Fishkin, moz.com

9. Inbound - content doesn’t sit in a vacuum
CONTENT
Videos, Blogs, Articles,
eBooks, Whitepapers,
podcasts, infographics
SOCIAL
MEDIA
Facebook, YouTube,
Twitter, LinkedIn,
Blogs, Forums
and more
SEARCH
On & off-page, Link
Building, Bookmarks,
Keywords, Tags
ATTRACT
CUSTOMERS
LIKE A
MAGNET
It needs to be integrated with other inbound activities

10. Why is this important?
of B2B buying decisions are being investigated,
evaluated and compared BEFORE the selling
brand is even contacted (and this figure is rising)
Source: SiriusDecisions/Harvard Business Review, July 2012

11. “About 50% of all B2B inquires come from inbound
channels, and that will jump to about 70% by
2015-2016.” SiriusDecisions 2013

12. Is Content Marketing
a form of
Inbound Marketing
OR
Inbound a form of
Content Marketing?
• There are no agreed definitions
• Inbound is ‘owned’ by Hubspot
• Content Marketing is an approach - also includes
outbound and offline
• The distinction probably doesn’t matter

13. You need a strategic structure on which to build
your content driven inbound activity
www.dezeen.com

14. Building your Content Marketing Engine™
to drive your inbound leads
A structured, efficient marketing engine to plan, create and distribute content which engages
customers
FUEL IGNITE ACCELERATE
Fuel your content
marketing with a thorough,
robust strategic plan
8.Amplify
7.Keep
conversion in
mind
6.Atomize,
repurpose,
reimagine
Ignite prospects’ and
customers’ interest with
engaging content which
is relevant, compelling
and timely to their needs
Enable your organisation
to produce more, better
content and accelerate to
greater content success
1.Focus on the
customer and
their journey
2.Distil your
brand story
3.Define the
editorial
process
4.Build a
content creation
community
5.Create
Effective
Content
9.Build content
rhythm
10.Rev the
engine
11.Measure and
improve
12.Look in the
rear view mirror

15. WHAT IS
CONTENT?

16. What is Content ?
“Any information provided by
a brand in a format which is
relevant, compelling and
timely to the audience’s
needs at the point at which
they engage with it and that
does not overtly seek to sell
the brand or its products”
Holliman,
Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing 2014
http://goo.gl/lN7Tt7
16

17. Why does content even matter?
BECAUSE
SAY SO
Google turns content into currency!
• Content builds awareness
• Content facilitates the “inbound” effect
• Content fuels social media marketing
• Customers learn to seek it out
• Content helps customers make better decisions
17
Images: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/,www.wikihow.com/Draw-a-Panda ,
www.archive.benchmarkreviews.com/

18. The power of
visual content
90%
info transmitted into
brain is visual
(Source: 3M)
x69,000
Faster visual processing
than text
(Source: Zabisco)
x3
more inbound links
for posts with video
(Source: SEOMoz)

19. 93%
of B2B
marketers
90%
of B2C
marketers
+
say they are using content marketing
Source: CMI/MarketingProfs
B2B Content Marketing 2015 Benchmarks, Budget and Trends, North America

20. Just “doing content” is no longer
a competitive advantage.
Because 70% of
content created is never used
Source:SiriusDecisions 2013

21. There are 27,000,000
pieces of content
shared every day
Source: Hubspot
www.mymarketingjourney.com

22. Qualities of truly effective content
RELEVANT
COMPELLING
TIMELY

23. Think: unanswered questions
• Ask yourself: What questions do my
customers have which are going
unanswered?
• Does your content help customers
make a better decision?

24. Is your content so
valuable that
customers would be
prepared to pay
for it?

25. SEARCH
AND
OPTIMIZATION

26. 93% of B2B
buyers use search
to begin the buying
process
Source: Marketo 2014

27. European Search Landscape – August 2014
Google
Bing
Yahoo
Others
89%
6%
4% 1%
Data: The E Word – August 2014
So lets talk about

28. So How Does
Google Work?

29. Crawling, Indexing, and Ranking
Google continuously craws the web to index pages, PDFs and other
digital documents
Current Estimates - 60 Trillion individual pages indexed and growing
Ranks each page with a multiple factors (on page, off page and social
factors)
As you enter search text google:
Spelling Identifies and corrects possible spelling errors and provides
alternatives.
Auto Complete Predicts what you might be searching for
Synonyms Recognizes words with similar meanings
Query Understanding Gets to the deeper meaning of the words you type
Searches Index via stacked algorithms and provides
Google Instant Displays immediate results as you type.

30. For Discoverability, First Page is Everything

31. Over 200 Ranking
Factors

32. Search Metrics 2014 Ranking Factors
Social
Backlinks
OnPage (Content)
OnPage (Technical)

33. “Each year, Google
changes its search
algorithm around
500–600 times.”

34. Brief History of Google Algorithm Factors
2000 – 2004 PageRank - Content Keywords
2004 – 2006 More Content for Keywords (Everyone's Keyword Stuffing)
2006 – 2009 Fresh Content Promoted
2009 – 2010 Caffeine Update Everyone Needs a Blog (Fresh Updates with lots of Content)
2010 – 2012 Panda (Major Update) Content Needs to be Unique (Duplication, Spinning
Penalised)
2012 – 2013 Penguin (Major Update) Can’t Buy Links, Penalises Suspected Auto Link Building
and Link Farms
2014 – Humming Bird (Major Update – Complete Overhaul) - Content needs to be Useful and
Authentic, On Site Engagement Factors are more important than links – Dwell Time,
Bounce Rate are now factors

35. Three Major Elements Working in Tandem
Panda Penguin Humming Bird

36. Keyword Stuffing Is Dead

37. Hummingbird was built to support semantic and conversational search,
both of which are heavily focused on “long-tail searches”
Hummingbird is designed to apply meaning technology to content,
elevating content that is authentic, unique and most of all useful to long
tail search queries (users)

39. SOCIAL
MEDIA

40. Why social media for business?
Source: www.langleynewmedia.com/

41. Why do you want to be on social media?
That’s where your prospects are!
Internet users spend 4 x more time on
Facebook than on Google.
(Social Media Examiner)
Active Users
1,300,000,000
645,000,000
360,000,000
300,000,000

42. Social media is effective for acquisition
(HubSpot)
Social media is all about
publishing and reach
Traffic on your website is
anonymous
Social media gives you more
control of what you’re posting –
and most importantly to whom.
So how does this work.. the lead gen bit?

43. Social works across the inbound journey
Use great content
to attract new
visitors
Drive visitors to
your conversion
page
Nurture leads with
relevant and
timely content
Offer great
customer service
engagement
www.huspot.com

44. Three types of social media marketing
PAID
EARNED
OWNED
OWNED
Where the brand owns the
channel and uses it organically
(e.g. your twitter profile)
EARNED
Connections become the channel
– social sharing spreads the word
PAID
Where we’re paying to leverage
the channel (e.g. Promoted
Tweets with Twitter
Source: (modified from) Forrester Research Inc.

45. OWNED
Social
Media

46. SOCIAL
MEDIA
EXPLAINED

47. Which platforms are my target personas on?
Knowing your personas is important, so you can get them the
right content, at the right time.
Once you’ve found them, listen to what they’re saying,
what they’re interacting with.
GENDER
FEMALE MALE
AGE
65+
55-64
45-54
35-44
25-34
18-24
0-17
EDUCATION

48. Build reach
How big is the potential reach?
How many followers do your followers have?
Engage with thought leaders, spokespeople industry commentators
– they have huge reach and your messages easily get megaplied*
The Rules of Engagement
1. ASK QUESTIONS, allow these influencers to talk about
themselves. Don’t just talk about yourself.
2. 80 / 20 RULE: The majority of content should be helpful
– 20% can be more promotional.
3. MIX THINGS UP. Don’t just share links. Try pictures, videos.
Ask questions. Hold competitions.
4. SELL YOUR CONTENT – don’t just chuck it out there
5. SHARE CONTENT from other people too. Curate other,
relevant content to help build a point of view...
* Struto coined the phrase to represent the networks of networks of networks...etc

49. Curated content
No-one likes
people that
just talk about
themselves.
Share other people’s
(brand’s) content.
BUT:
Add your own spin.
Don’t just share content
wholesale.
telegraph.co.uk

50. The power of curation – CMO.com
“Curation was a great way for us
to build audience and critical
mass – but it was the addition of
original content that enabled us
to develop the distinctive Adobe
point of view.
That helps us position our
employees as thought leaders in
the space – and ultimately helps
us influence it.”
Timothy Moran , Editor in Chief

51. Social media profile
Optimise them.
They are mini versions of your website.
Make the most of the real estate with personalised
cover image, profile pictures, background images
etc. Google+ has loads of useable image space!
TOP TIPS
1. Use keywords in your profiles to make them
more searchable.
2. Link to your website on your social platforms
3. Always include a CTA link so you can track the
resulting interactions

52. EARNED
Social
Media

53. The primary inbound social platforms
There are many social media networks – but
we’re going to look at those which can help
inbound marketers generate traffic and leads

54. TWITTER
Short, engaging and easily shareable.
TOP TIPS:
1. Keep them under 140 characters, to allow people
to add a comment and re-tweet.
2. Use hashtags to connect with trends and aid
discovery
3. Don’t start with a @ - that means its only seen by
mutual followers.
4. Make it visual – 50% better click through than
tweets without.
5. Post at the right time – use Followerwonk to
analyse when your followers are online.

55. Pics, stats and quotes
Tweets with
visuals have
5x more
engagement
when compared
to text-based
tweets.
Hubspot
There is a
17%
increase
in retweets when
you include a
stat.
Hubspot
There is a
19%
increase
in retweets when
you include a
quote.
Hubspot

56. LINKED IN
THE business social network
One in every 3
professionals
worldwide
Over 50% of
visits from
mobile devices
TIPS:
1. Make sure you’re using your company page
- its like a mini version of your website.
2. Be authentic and try to add value rather than being self-serving
3. Less posts, but make them more deep and thoughtful
4. Encourage employees to share content from your company page

57. LINKED IN
More than 1.5 million LinkedIn Groups
– Great for active engagement.
LinkedIn groups send notifications about new posts, meaning you’re not only
sharing with people who immediately see it;
you’re effectively using the group’s email list to share it with its full audience.
TIPS:
1. Identify groups that might be relevant to your content marketing strategy
2. Then for each new piece of content, decide on the groups it could be
beneficial for
3. Always try to ask a question or share a valid opinion on the content you
post or comment on
4. Save the marketing pitches for offline or private discussions
5. Be on the lookout for influencers you can engage with for collaboration
Source: contentmarketinginstitute.com

59. SlideShare
Rate, comment on, and share content
Web and mobile apps mean this content is very accessible
Content on SlideShare feature in search results
– the more views, the higher the ranking:
TIPS:
1. It’s all about TITLES and COVER THUMBNAILS
2. Connect your LinkedIn and SlideShare Profiles
3. Don’t’ just post any slides...they need to present themselves
4. Use widescreen formats for best use of real-estate

60. FACEBOOK
Fun and personal – not the place
for serious content
 Keep posts under 150 words –
short posts get better engagement.
 Post less regularly, but with value.
 Use images – more engagement
 Videos auto play in the newsfeed,
this can mean people scroll past
rather than watch.
Organic Reach Per Fan on Facebook

61. GOOGLE+
Is it really a “non-entity”?
Google+ is an extension – or the social layer – of other Google products and
services we already know... like “places”
Great for Search Engine Optimisation
TIPS
1. Diversify content that you post – photos and videos. Google+ layout
is perfect for showing visual content
2. Link your account to your website - stuff you publish will show up in
search engine results with your photograph and ‘circle’ information.
3. Get involved in communities – whether that means joining an
existing one, or creating your own niche community.
4. Posts from G+ will help organic search, even if you don’t get traction
on the platform

62. YouTube
YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine
 Video testimonials from clients
 Interviews with members of staff
 Product demo videos
 Corporate storytelling
 Product user guides
 Live video conferencing
 Animated explainer videos
YouTube is the
third most visited
website after
Google and
Facebook
Embed links that can drive traffic to other video content or your
website or even calls to action that incentivise purchase
Vimeo has become a popular alternative
– quality, control, less advertising

63. Gathering intelligence
There is a lot of data we can use that will help us
publish content that is more likely to get shared.
Socialcrawlytics –
identifies your competitors
best performing content
AND social platforms.
Buzzsumo – identifies
most popular content for
chosen keywords and
selected domains.

64. Making your content shareable
Have industry experts provide quotes
and commentary for your content.
Include some unique data in your content.
Co-create content. There needs to be
value for all parties.
Make sure you’re facilitating your
content getting shared…
1
2
3
4

65. PAID
Social
Media

66. LinkedIn Sponsored activity
Any update on your company page can be turned into a
Sponsored Update, extending its reach beyond those already
following your company
Direct Sponsored Content is published direct to the LinkedIn
Feed, without the requirement to publish it on your company page:
 TAILOR content to audience segments or prospect types
 TEST different content variations and formats
 DEFINE what your target audience should do next
Sponsored InMails
 You only pay for the response
 Members are alerted with a notification
 You’re guaranteed 100% share of voice

67. Specialised Advertising
Use Join Group Adverts to drive
people to engage with your
Discussion Group
Use highly targeted Follow
Ads to quickly attract a precise
audience
Top Tip:
Keep targeting really tight on LinkedIn, your cost per click
tends to be higher.

68. Twitter: promoted tweets and accounts
Promoted tweets – get your tweets in front of new audiences
and increase engagement
Promoted accounts – get your account in front of new
audiences and increase followers
Twitter cards – attach rich photos, videos and media experience
to Tweets that drive traffic to your website.
Top Tips
1. Remember – Pics, Stats and Quotes
2. Experiment with your targeting – niche targeting can increase
engagement by 55% (hubSpot)
3. Find niche topic experts in your space, and then target their
audience.

69. Facebook
Facebook has a lot of targeting options.
That means a lot of time & effort!
 Test different ad placements & formats
 Test different audiences to target
Top Tips
1. Right-hand column ads have a low price, but low performance
2. New feed ads have higher engagement – good for generating
additional organic results.
3. Use custom audiences to match your customers / prospects on
facebook

70. Other options...?
There are a growing list of options
for paid content amplification.
 Tumblr
 Instagram Sponsored Photos and Videos
 StumbleUpon Paid Discovery
 Reddit’s Self Serve Platform
 Outbrain & Taboola Content Discovery Platform
Consider the best platforms – not only for your
target personas, but also for the content type.

71. A word on blogs...
Are they content, or OWNED social?
Technically speaking its content, but it can also act as
social in terms of distribution.
 Great way for brands to get their views across
 Great way to showcase Subject Matter Experts
(SMEs) as thought leaders

72. WHO IS DOING
INBOUND
MARKETING
WELL?
72

73. A case from Inbound 2014 - River Pools
• 2008 a tiny, regional pool installer
• $50,000 average sale
• “What questions do my customers
have unanswered?” blogposts
Solution
• “My goal is to give more valuable,
helpful and remarkable content to
consumers than anyone else in the
field, which will in turn lead to more
sales” Marcus Sheridan CEO
• Blogposts, videos and an ebook
‘How to buy a pool – without getting
ripped off’
Results
• Despite recession now has 5%
market share (USA) http://www.riverpoolsandspas.com/

74. A case from Inbound 2014
- Cervelo
• Business built on key word rich
content
• “Our goal is education - we’re
obsessed with helping customers
choose the right bike for them”
• Consistent behaviour and a
genuine personality that is
authentic
• “You sell more when you stop
selling”

75. A case from Inbound 2014 – CFO on Call
• Outbound cold calling had
dried up, poorly performing
content
• Created a persona of ideal
client
• Answered their unanswered
question in blogs
• Optimized for key search
terms
• Socialized content and
created conversations that
drove inbound leads x9.6 increase in
leads (in 6
months)
200% increase
in traffic (in 6
months)
153% increase in
qualified sales
leads (in 6
months)

76. MANAGING,
AUTOMATING,
NURTURING

77. An increasingly confusing landscape
Content Lumascape www.lumapartners.com

78. Three Common Scenarios Drive Tool
Selection
Source: Rebecca Lieb, Altimeter

79. What technologies do you need to help you?
Source: Rebecca Lieb, Altimeter

80. Will outbound marketing ever die?
“I told you I was ill”
• Outbound will never die
• Some times you need to jump start the
Proportion of
marketing spend
Time
conversation
• Some still customers prefer to have
content pushed to them
Outbound
Inbound
Outbound
Marketing

81. Inbound - convergence of content, search and
social
CONTENT
Videos, Blogs, Articles,
eBooks, Whitepapers,
podcasts, infographics
SOCIAL
MEDIA
Facebook, YouTube,
Twitter, LinkedIn,
Blogs, Forums
and more
SEARCH
On & off-page, Link
Building, Bookmarks,
Keywords, Tags
ATTRACT
CUSTOMERS
LIKE A
MAGNET

82. Next Marketing Best Practice forums
• Better Briefs, Better Results 16th October
• Enabling Sales Enablement 13th November
• B2B Marketing in 2015 11th December
• Content Marketing 25th January 2015
• Marketing ROI & Accountability 26th February 2015
Sign-up today or at http://edge.directiongroup.co.uk/