How to Create Content People Actually Care About

Content 101:
How to Create Content People
Actually Care About
Jay Acunzo
@Jay_zo
#ILYmktg
1

Context On Me
Senior Content Manager

Co-Founder | BosContent.com

@Jay_zo
Director of Content

Digital Media Strategist

Jay Acunzo - @jay_zo
2

Editor’s Note
This was NOT optimized for SlideShare, so some
context is missing. I apologize. I am uploading this
for the class I taught that has the full context.

@Jay_zo

Want to learn more, have me speak, or have me
shut up and just send more context via email?
Happy to! Shoot me a tweet @Jay_zo
Thanks!
Jay

3

HubSpot Sells Software, But...
•
•
•
•

5-8 blog posts/day

7-10 premium offers/month
2M views, 230K
subscribers
50K monthly leads

4

Holy Scale, Batman!

5

Today
How we staff, prepare, and execute

6

Agenda

•
•
•

Why Content?

Content @ HubSpot

•
•

How We Operate
Example Campaign

My Promise

7

Agenda

•
•
•

Why Content?

Content @ HubSpot

•
•

How We Operate
Example Campaign

My Promise

8

The #1 challenge facing
HubSpot’s 10,000
customers...
(And really, most marketers.)


It doesn’t
need to be
so damn
hard!


Too many assume creating
great content requires
divine intervention .


Others sit & pray for
creative sparks to
strike as needed.


And some shoot for brilliance:
“We need thought leadership !”

It’s actually lousy content
for building audiences,
especially at first.
(More on that later.)


They are

WRONG!

Great Feats of Content

vs.

16

Great Feats of Content

vs.

17

You can practice content
marketing sustainably and
scalably without waiting for the
muse to visit.


Agenda

•
•
•

Why Content?

How to Execute
My Promise

19

To be a great modern
marketer is to accept

1 simple truth:


1 simple truth:

Consumers have
all the power.
Period.


There are 3 BIG reasons why:
the proliferation of media,
a history of brand deception,
and the historic pace of
change in modern tech.

(Via @Shannopop)


In 2011, there were
over one TRILLION
pages on the
internet.
(that’s 417 web pages per person!)
Source: CNN

Every two days, we create as
much information as we did
from the dawn of civilization
up until 2003.

Eric Schmidt
Former CEO of Google


The Appearance of
Advertising in
Human
Communication.

(Graphic via @TBLittwin @Shannopop)


Advertising
first pervaded all
things print.

(Graphic via @TBLittwin @Shannopop)


Then found its
way into radio,
TV, mailers, and
the telephone.


In the last
20 years, it’s
penetrated
almost every
digital channel.

22 years


Info Explosion >> Options >> Choice


So if...

Consumers have
all the power.


Then, to capture attention...

Make Stuff
People Want
(21st Century Marketing)

Make People
Want Stuff
(20th Century Marketing)

(via Smithery.co)


But How?

|

Agenda

•
•
•

Why Content?

How to Execute
My Promise

33

Create a Content Mission
Example via HubSpot:
Empower and inspire businesses 1 to
1,000 strong to transform into modern,
human companies people love:

inbound companies.

34

Lean on 3 Things

35

#1 – People
Not HubSpotter.
PhotoBomber.

36

 Gut-check: Am I okay with this
resource commitment?
 “Robots haven’t replaced the
writers.”
 Must equip your people with
Personas and Process to boost
efficiency & success

37

#2 – Personas

38

What Are Buyer Personas?
Fictional representations of your ideal customers
based on real data about demographics and
behavior, along with educated speculation about
personal histories, motivations, and concerns.


Attract the Right Audience
“Totally agree!”

40

Avoid the Wrong Audience
“Poppycock!”

“Totally agree!”

41

“I target marketers”
Good:
• Exhaustive basics
• Step by step help
• Lighthearted, peppy tone

Mary Marketer

Bad:
• Cutting-edge trends
• Access to betas, free stuff
• Smart, funny, techie feel

42

“I target marketers”
Good:
• Cutting-edge trends
• Access to betas, free stuff
• Smart, funny, techie feel
Bad:
• Exhaustive basics
• Step by step help
Mikey Marketer
• Lighthearted, peppy tone

43

“Create content for
marketers.”

“Create content for
Mary.”

?

44

Exercise! Buyer Persona
1. Think of a REAL customer you love.
2. Create a persona rough draft below.

My Real Customer: ______________

What Are Buyer Personas?
Fictional representations of your ideal
customers based on real data about
demographics and behavior, along with
educated speculation about personal
histories, motivations, and concerns.
Grab Your Free Template: tiny.cc/persona

Job Title: ______________

Gender: ____ Approx. Age: ____ Approx. HHI: ____ Marital Status:
____
List 3 of their day-to-day challenges:
1.

2.
3.
List 3 identifiers/personality traits
1.
2.
3.

List 3 places they consume content
1.
2.
3.

#3 – Process

46

Monthly Process

1. Plan
2. Produce
3. Distribute
4. Analyze
47

Planning = Infrastructure
1

2

Workflow

3

4

Personas

Idea Pipeline

Ed. Cal.

48

Create Content Offers 1st.


Why Offers?


Drive a business
action



Makes content
scalable


Generate More Offers


Generate Blog Posts


Typical “How To” Post
Views spike upon launch

Crashes, but not to zero

54

Vs. Thought Leadership
Also spikes, but crashes to zero

Lack of demand = uncertain traffic

55

Brick by Brick: Be Helpful

Weeks later, still some views

56

Other Posts Lifted
Boosted by Old Posts

57

On InboundHub.com
• 70% of traffic, leads from posts >1 month old
• 5-7 of Top 10 monthly posts are >1 month old

Huge

58

Recap

1. Infrastructure enables speed
2. Personas help you resonate
3. Start with offers. Be helpful!
4. 90:10 helpful:risky
59

Exercise!
 Think about your persona rough draft
 Craft a basic production pipeline
Answer These:
1. What 1 content offer could you create
to drive action? (e.g. XYZ ebook, buyer guide, etc.)
2. What 3 posts can directly solve their
day-to-day challenges?

60

Distribute Your Content

61

Analysis

1. User indicators (views, shares)
2. Business objectives (new leads,
coupon downloads, etc.)

3. Content offers metric: Net Promoter
Score (NPS) survey

62

Agenda

•
•
•

Why Content?

How to Execute
My Promise

63

How do we...
Make Stuff
People Want
(21st Century Marketing)

...at scale?

Sometimes, We’ll Get It Right
(HubSpot Content Downloads)
Experiment

Experiment

65

But Other Times... (Our bad!)

66

So If You’re Saying:
Holy Scale, Batman!

67

I Want to Be Able to Say:
Never Fear!

68

THANKS
& KEEP ME HONEST
@jay_zo

jayacunzo.com

69

Free Resources
•
•
•

•
•
•
•

@Jay_zo
jacunzo@hubspot.com

List/find jobs, attend events, network
• boscontent.com
Buyer persona template
• tiny.cc/persona
Editorial calendar template
• tiny.cc/edcal
Tons of free content creation templates
• tiny.cc/content-help (gated)
HTML Hacks for Marketers interactive site
• tiny.cc/html-hacks
160 business stock photos
• tiny.cc/free-photos (gated)
Monthly marketing report template
• tiny.cc/report-ppt AND tiny.cc/report-xls


How to Create Content People Actually Care About

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (20)

Similar to How to Create Content People Actually Care About

Similar to How to Create Content People Actually Care About (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

How to Create Content People Actually Care About

Editor's Notes