Jen Spencer presented on developing an inbound marketing content strategy on a startup budget. Some key points included: - Developing buyer personas to understand target customers and their goals, pain points, and objections. - Creating an editorial calendar planned 3-4 months in advance with monthly/bi-monthly themes mapped to the buyer's journey. - Expanding themes by identifying anchor events like webinars and developing related blog content that leads prospects to those events. - Tips for generating content like taking an "all hands on deck" approach, partnering with an agency, and tracking what works.

1. Conquering Inbound Marketing
with a Startup Budget
Presented by Jen
Spencer

2. Hey! It’s nice to meet you. I’m Jen Spencer
Current Role(s):
• VP Sales and Marketing, SmartBug Media
• Membership Chair, Girls in Tech Phoenix
Past Experience Includes:
• Early and mid-stage SaaS startups
• Acquisition
• Mid-market SaaS
• Nonprofit

3. From $0 - $1M ARR
a true story

4. Once upon a time ...
Very little money
• Seed funding of $1M
• MVP product
• Sales by day, marketing by night
Laggard playground
• Underfunded, undervalued buyer
• Status quo not just OK — embraced
Creating a new category
• Strong vision
• Area expertise

5. Our cast of characters ...
Abby the Partner
Program Manager
Mike the
Channel/Partner
Marketing Manager
Sean the VP of
Sales/Channel Sales

6. We built a content wonderland.

7. We developed a beautiful cadence.

8. And we repurposed everything.

9. We started attracting partnerships.

10. I still loved them, but ...
Abby the Partner
Program Manager
Mike the
Channel/Partner
Marketing Manager
Sean the VP of
Sales/Channel Sales

11. We made investments in interactive, consideration-stage content.

12. As well as decision-stage content.

13. We were missing a message
CEO
>> Speed <<
CEO
>> Speed <<
CEO
>> Speed <<

14. Inbound + ABM

15. Opening up a partner channel

16. What is a buyer persona?
A representation of your
target customer.

17. A persona is a picture you paint based on research and
interviews with actual customers.

18. Buyer personas go beyond basic
demographics to include the
intangible elements that make a
person tick.

19. Personas help answer these questions:
● What type of content is most likely to generate a response from a particular type of customer?
● How does your future customer prefer to engage in the sales process?
● What problems do customers need to solve, and how does your business help them?

20. An effective persona interview may tell you
1. She doesn’t own a car, so the ability to make online
purchases is important to her
2. She has disposable income but still likes getting a
good deal.
3. She uses her smartphone more than her laptop.
4. She would rather interact by email than by phone.
5. She uses social media to stay current on trends.

21. Let’s build your personas!

22. How to use this template.
We’ve created this presentation to
make it easy for you to explain your
buyer personas and interview findings
in an organized way to the teams in your
company. Complete one of these for
each of your personas.
Part 1 shows you an example of what it looks
like when you’ve completed the template.
Part 2 of the template shows you what
information to fill in from the data you’ve
collected. You can replace the picture with one
that represents your persona. Duplicate the
section for each persona.

23. Buyer Persona Example

24. Example Eric
Job, Education, Lifestyle
• Works for Publishing House XYZ
• Is the director of marketing with a team of 6
• Has a BS in Journalism and spends his weekends making
sure his kids attend their events on time
General Demographics
• 36–50 years old
• Most commonly male
• $55–$ 70k per year with bonus
• Lives in a suburban neighborhood but works in
the city
Identifiers
• Responds to topics about: being print-ready, back-of-the-
room sales, editing footnotes, etc.
• Very organized yet informal, quick witted, very bright

25. Example Eric
Goals
• Primary goal is to streamline inbound and incorporate
with outbound
• Secondary goal is to get more MQLs to send to sales
• Personal goal is to be the VP of marketing
Common Pain Points
• Biggest pain point is that the leads coming in online are
not qualified
• Second pain point is that he doesn’t get found for the right
keywords in Google
Your Solution
• How does your product or service help your persona
achieve their goals?
• How does your product or service help overcome the
common pain points

26. Example Eric
Actual Quotes
• “We’re getting leads in right now, but none of them seem
to be qualified enough for sales to follow up with them”
• “Sales doesn’t think my team is doing a good job”
Typical Objections
• Cost
• How to include his team
• Time from start to getting qualified leads
• How to get sales on board

27. Example Eric
Company Messaging
• We can help you grow your lead database and increase
your overall revenue
Elevator Pitch
• We are an inbound marketing agency that works as an
extension of your team to help your company get found
online, convert more qualified leads, and increase the
revenue for your company year over year.

28. [Your Company’s Name]
Buyer Persona Overview

29. [Persona Name]
Job, Education, Lifestyle
• What is the personas company?
• What is their role in the company?
• Any other background information that makes sense to
include (education, hobbies, etc)
General Demographics
• Age range
• Most common gender
• Typical salary
• Type of living space (city, suburban, rural)
Identifiers
• Industry terms they respond to
• Personality traits (Type A, relaxed, anxious, etc)
TIP Try sending out online surveys to get this information
from your current audience.

30. [Persona Name]
Job, Education, Lifestyle
• What is the personas company?
• What is their role in the company?
• Any other background information that makes sense to
include (education, hobbies, etc)
General Demographics
• Age range
• Most common gender
• Typical salary
• Type of living space (city, suburban, rural)
Identifiers
• Industry terms they respond to
• Personality traits (Type A, relaxed, anxious, etc)
TIP Try sending out online surveys to get this information
from your current audience.
Job, Education, Lifestyle
• ……….
• ……….
• ……….
General Demographics
• ……….
• ……….
• ……….
• ……….
Identifiers
• ……….
• ……….

31. [Persona Name]
Goals
• What is their primary goal?
• What is their secondary goal?
• Personal goals? Company goals?
Common Pain Points
• What is the biggest pain point?
• What is the secondary pain point?
Your Solution
• How does your product or service help your persona
achieve their goals?
• How does your product or service help overcome the
common pain points
TIP This information is best gathered through interviews
rather than surveys.

32. [Persona Name]
Actual Quotes
• Record your interviews and take note of interesting or
important quotes from your personas
Typical Objections
• What do your personas typically object to about your
product or service? Filling this in will help your sales team
tremendously.
TIP This information is best gathered through interviews
rather than surveys and will help your sales team be more
prepared before calls.

33. [Persona Name]
Company Messaging
• This is how marketing will promote your company’s
product or service going forward persona by persona
Elevator Pitch
• How has your company pitch changed after your
interviews? Write that here to help your sales team relate
sooner and quicker.
TIP Use this slide to ensure alignment on messaging across
teams.

34. Content doesn’t grow on trees.

35. Developing an Editorial Calendar
• Plan at least 3 to 4 months out.
• Work with monthly or bi-monthly themes.
• Use Awareness-stage content to drive prospects to an
anchor event or opportunity.
• Prepare to reward personas with Consideration-stage
content.

36. Map your calendar to the buyer’s journey.

37. Ensure every blog has a plan and a purpose.

38. Expanding upon a theme
• Consider one of your buyer personas.
• Brainstorm 3 overarching themes that speak to a
PAIN or a GOAL of that persona.
• Share with your partner and work together to identify
an anchor event (or piece of premium content) for each
theme.
• For example, a webinar, in-person event, e-book or
guide

39. Buyer’s Guide to Stocking Alternative
Fasteners Brands
Related Blog Topics
● Top 3 Myths About Alternative Fastener Brands
● Open End vs Pop Open Rivets: What’s the Difference?
● 5 Tools I Can’t Live Without: Distributors Share Their Favorites

40. Create your content cluster
• Select one of your content themes/anchor events.
• Brainstorm a minimum of 3 relevant blog topics that
would lead your persona to that anchor event.
• Make sure you know which persona each piece of
content is targeting.
BONUS: Identify 1 or 2 issues that seem to keep your personas from
moving through the sales process. Brainstorm 1 piece of content you
can create to combat this issue.

41. Content doesn’t grow on trees.

42. Tips for generating content
• Take an “all hands on deck” approach.
• Consume and review.
• Freelance and modify.
• Partner with an agency.
• Get creative.

43. Bonus tips for a successful strategy
• Get everyone in the company involved.
• Track everything. Everything.
• Build on what works.
• Ditch what doesn’t.
• Take chances.
• Be authentic.

44. Content doesn’t grow on trees.Thank you.
jspencer@smartbugmedia.comlinkedin.com/in/jenspencer@jenspencer