Genuinely Useful Content: Building a Long-Term Content Strategy that Will Help You Maximize Results with Social Media, Google and SEO A successful content strategy is all about consistently creating and delivering genuinely useful and relevant content that attracts and nurtures just the right audience, your decision-makers and those that influence them. But with limited budget and resources, it’s not always easy to build a sustainable, long-term content strategy that delivers measurable results that align with your business goals. In this presentation you will learn how to build and execute a successful content strategy that will help you maximize results with social media, Google and SEO. It’s about creating the right mix of content and social media that will earn your audience’s trust and eventually drive demand for your business. Highlights: - Steps to build a B2B content strategy from the ground up - How to optimize content to perform well in social media and search - How to scale your program and crowdsource your content creation - How to build a metrics framework and measure ROI of your program - Example of a successful content strategy in action - Tools and resources to help you This presentation is based on real life experience building a content strategy for IBM Security.

1. @santilli1
GENUINELY USEFUL
CONTENTB u i l d i n g a L o n g - Te r m C o n t e n t S t r a t e g y t h a t W i l l H e l p Yo u
M a x i m i z e R e s u l t s w i t h S o c i a l M e d i a , G o o g l e a n d S E O .
@santilli

2. @santilli2
GENUINELY USEFUL CONTENT:
Building a Long-Term Content Strategy that Will Help You
Maximize Results with Social Media, Google and SEO
Marcel Santilli
@santilli

3. @santilli3
Why is my content getting no love in
social or search?

4. @santilli4
How can I make my content strategy
work with limited resources?

5. @santilli5
Or you might just be in the wrong room
and your content strategy is perfect.

6. @santilli6
Don’t have a “bartender” mentality
when it comes to your content strategy.

7. @santilli7
Have a “personal trainer” mentality

8. @santilli8
What is CONTENT?

9. @santilli9
It’s about consistently
delivering information that is
valuable and helpful to your
audience.

10. @santilli10
• Valuable
• Useful
• Contextual and relevant
• Easy to consume
• Device agnostic
• Shareable
• Findable
• Non-intrusive
• Builds trust and authority

11. @santilli11
The problem is that too often content
becomes just an afterthought.

12. @santilli12
So how is IBM Security building a
long-term content strategy?

13. @santilli13

14. @santilli14
Don’t underestimate the discovery phase.

15. @santilli15
How are you going to create value for
your audience and help them?

16. @santilli16
Define customer-facing objectives first.

17. @santilli17
Measure everything from the beginning.

18. @santilli18
Track ROI to give your content
program more respect.

19. @santilli19
Some KPIs we are measuring
• Cost per visit/view
• Engagement per visit
• Visit to response rate
• Average cost per response
• Response to validated lead (VL)
• Average opportunity per visit
• Average opportunity size
• Cost per opportunity

20. @santilli20
Define all aspects of your content
strategy.

21. @santilli21
Defining your content strategy
• Content objectives
• Content types (articles, videos, etc.)
• Thought leadership vs. technical
• Evergreen vs. news vs. research
• Topics to cover

22. @santilli22
Don’t overlook the importance of good
web design and UX.

23. @santilli23
Let social and search define your site
requirements.

24. @santilli24

25. @santilli25

26. @santilli26

27. @santilli27
Make sure your content is optimized for
sharing on different social networks.

28. @santilli28

29. @santilli29
Think about growth and scalability as
you define processes and technology.

30. @santilli30

31. @santilli31

32. @santilli32
Define roles and responsibilities
• Program director / Chief editor
• Program manager
• Copy editor
• Social listening & ideation
• Metrics and analysis
• Social media and amplification
• Creative / graphic design
• SEO
• Web maintenance
• PR & AR
• Demand generation

33. @santilli33
Define content workflow based on type
of content.

34. @santilli34
Your success depends on contributors
and having the right tools is crucial.

35. @santilli35
Have a balanced contributor strategy.

36. @santilli36
We went from 30 to 130+ contributors in
just over one year.

37. @santilli37
Balanced contributor strategy
• Internal experts
• Internal enthusiasts
• Internal researchers
• Internal executives
• Business partners
• Customers (experts and executives)
• Industry influencers
• Educators / external researchers
• Paid writers / journalists
• Paid influencers

38. @santilli38
Streamline how you onboard new
contributors. Make it easy!

39. @santilli39
Establish guidelines and hold regular
training and enablement.

40. @santilli40
Don’t settle for mediocre. Instead,
empower your contributors and editors.

41. @santilli41
Don’t let your program lose creativity.
Consistently push the edge and deliver
great content.

42. @santilli42
Organized way to manage topics.

43. @santilli43
Have a keyword strategy.

44. @santilli44
A streamlined publishing and review
process.

45. @santilli45
And a publishing calendar.

46. @santilli46
Have a social distribution and
amplification plan.

47. @santilli47
Connect back to high value lead
generation opportunities.

48. @santilli48
Always be optimizing for search.

49. @santilli49
Always be optimizing for search.

50. @santilli50

51. @santilli51
Integrate with other marketing efforts.

52. @santilli52
What about the results?

53. @santilli53
KPIs and benchmarking.

54. @santilli54
450%
Increase in traffic YTY

55. @santilli55

56. @santilli56
432%
Increase in traffic from
search since May

57. @santilli57
1 in 10
Visit turn into an engagement

58. @santilli58
16%
Visits turn into an action

59. @santilli59
3.5%
Visits turn into a marketing
response.

60. @santilli60
10,794
Number of responses
generated so far this year

61. @santilli61
58%
Lower cost per response than
paid search.

62. @santilli62
69%
Lower cost per response than
content syndication.

63. @santilli63
2X
Average opportunity size
than average for division

64. @santilli64
1200% ROI
On track if we close 25% of the
opportunities generated by YE

65. @santilli65
Where are we headed?

66. @santilli66
7 key lessons to remember
1. Build a program that is scalable with right tools and processes
2. Create a great user experience with search and social in mind
3. Focus on a balanced contributor strategy
4. Measure everything from the start and connect back to revenue
5. Consistently create content that become essential for your audience
6. Connect back to lead gen with high value offers
7. Be creative and don’t settle for mediocre!

67. @santilli67

68. @santilli68
Connect with me!
Marcel Santilli
Twitter.com/santilli
Linkedin.com/in/marcelsantilli