How Content Marketing Can Drive Growth for Your Business
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What does it take to build and execute a content strategy from the ground up? In this presentation I share some lessons learned in building one of the most successful content programs at IBM. Learn how to make content crucial for your business and drive measurable growth.
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How Content Marketing Can Drive Growth for Your Business
- 1. HOW CONTENT CAN DRIVE SIGNIFICANT GROWTH FOR YOUR BUSINESS By Marcel Santilli @santilli
- 2. If your company was a person, how would your customers describe you? ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 3. How would your customer “meet” you? How would they describe a “first date”? ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 4. If your content today was a product in itself, would your customers buy it? ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 5. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES What is the reality today?
- 6. Only half of decision makers worldwide would first turn to an existing supplier when faced with a business challenge. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 7. Customers are cutting brands out of their learning. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 8. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 9. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES They’re getting more and more of their information from outside sources.
- 10. Suppliers today account for less than one-half of all information that buyers use to aid in their purchase decisions. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 11. Complex environment with increasingly more players and more noise. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 12. What does that mean to your business? ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 13. Critical need for businesses to present the right mix of content to the right audience. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 14. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES It all boils down to one word…
- 15. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES TRUST
- 16. To become the trusted advisor to key decision-makers ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES in your space.
- 17. Have a personal trainer mentality ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 18. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES Teach where customers learn.
- 19. The problem is that content is too often just an afterthought ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 20. But if done right content can spark growth and be essential to your business ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 21. So what does it take to get content right from the start? ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 22. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES Let’s simplify it in four steps.
- 23. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 24. Don’t underestimate the discovery phase. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 25. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES Start with your audience in mind.
- 26. You need to know more about your prospective customers than they do. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 27. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES Find a purpose.
- 28. Help position people to succeed. They will then trust themselves first, opening them to trust you as an advisor in their journey. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 29. Don’t just create content for the sake of looking smart or being helpful. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 30. Discover what content will challenge and disrupt customer priorities. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 31. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 32. Formalize your content strategy. Keep it simple but actually write it down. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 33. Define your KPIs and what you will need to measure. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 34. Track ROI from the beginning to give your content program more respect. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 35. Don’t overlook the importance of a good web design and UX. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 36. Think about growth and scalability as you define processes, technology and people. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 37. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 38. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES Define roles and responsibilities.
- 39. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 40. Don’t settle for mediocre. Strive for excellence in every aspect of your program. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 41. Don’t forget that your success depends on your contributors. Having the right tools and process is crucial. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 42. Create win-win situations for contributors. Create a sense of ownership and community. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 43. Establish guidelines and hold regular training and enablement. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 44. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 45. Always be optimizing for search and social. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 46. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 47. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 48. Let’s look at how IBM Security was able to accomplish this in just one year. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 49. It takes an intrapreneur mindset. Don’t be afraid to challenge the norm. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 50. Build executive buy-in, then create a sense of community around the same purpose. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 51. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 52. Start small but with a daunting vision in mind. Focus on excellence in every step of the way. Build for scale. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 53. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES + Launched in July of 2013 + Streamlined process and dashboard for submitting content + 150+ contributors signed-up + 300+ articles published in 2014 + Biggest driver of marketing responses for business unit +Most visited off-domain content hub for IBM
- 54. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 55. 390% ROI this year ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 56. $19M in opportunities for the business ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 57. 15,000 marketing responses with average cost of $25 ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 58. 494% increase in visits from search ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 59. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES 50K+ visits, 6K+ shares and 500+ inbound links
- 60. Remember, authenticity is the shortest path to trust and the surest way to keep it. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 61. Share content openly and regularly that demonstrates an in-depth understanding of your customer’s business and industry. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 62. Realign your organization to teach and challenge, not to just sell. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 63. The best content is the one that disrupts customers’ current thinking and demonstrates new ways to compete more effectively. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
- 64. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES Go be a catalyst for change.
- 65. Connect with me Twitter.com/santilli Linkedin.com/in/marcelsantilli MARCEL SANTILLI ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES 65
- 66. ©2014 INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
Editor's Notes
- We’re all here for the same reason, because we all realize content is important to our business. So today I want to share some of the lessons I learned in building a content program from the ground up at IBM that went from non-existent to the most visited content hub for any division at IBM.
- Only half (53%) of decision makers worldwide would first turn to an existing supplier when faced with a business challenge. (Text100)
- On average, customers are 57% of the way through their purchase decision making process before engaging with your company.
- This means that depending on how many alternative suppliers are being considered, any given supplier likely will receive no more than 10%–15% “share of mind.”
- Critical need for businesses to present a balance of relevant technical and business content when engaging with multiple decision-makers throughout the buyer’s journey.
- The right content is what creates trust.
- Be a challenger.
- Who are you trying to impact?
- You need to develop a deep understanding of your customer’s business. Use that understanding to push the customer’s thinking and teach them something new about how their company can compete more effectively.
- Content that unteaches customers something they are currently doing in their business. Focusing on the cost of current behavior.
- Remember that good design is good business. Don’t overlook the importance of a good design and UX, one that is responsive.
- Think about growth and scalability as you define process and technology. If you want to scale and be efficient, you need a process and technology framework to ensure a steady stream of relevant content.
- Define roles right from the beginning. Find the right balance between in-house and agencies. Get buy-in from different parts of your organization and involve the right people. Many roles and responsibilities can be done by the same person depending on the scale of the program. But some of these roles are certainly required for a successful program. I would not recommend completely outsourcing all of these roles and your entire content program either. You need someone that is driving this internally, that knows your audience, your industry/space and is passionate.
- Having at recruiting strategy is key at the beginning especially. Start with your top experts, empower them, celebrate their success then leverage their story to get buy-in from others.
- My job role was never defined for me.
- On average, marketers report a 31% return on investment from their lead-gen programs (Advertising Age)
- 494% increase in visits from search since same quarter last year.
- Share relevant experience you or your company has in the form of winning strategies and customer success stories to help connect with your prospect.
- You need to align your entire organization to deliver content specifically designed to disrupt customers’ current thinking—to teach customers something, not to just sell them something.
- offers unique, valuable perspectives on the market; Helps me navigate alternatives and avoid potential land mines; Educates me on new issues and outcomes;