The document discusses effective content marketing strategies in Europe, emphasizing the importance of aligning content with brand strategy and audience understanding. Key insights include the need for localized content, the integration of centralized strategies with local knowledge, and fostering personal relationships in outreach. The document also highlights the significance of data-driven content and the risks associated with over-reliance on Google for marketing success.

1. Content Marketing in Europe
Kevin Gibbons & Chelsea Blacker
e: kgibbons@blueglass.co.uk / cblacker@blueglass.co.uk
t: @kevgibbo / @chelseablacker
w: www.blueglass.co.uk

2. Who Are BlueGlass?
We speak over 25 languages
BlueGlass UK,
London, England • BlueGlass EMEA,
Zürich, Switzerland

3. Agenda
Part I – How to Run Content
Marketing Campaigns
Part II – How to Achieve Success in
Europe

4. Part I: How to Run Content
Marketing Campaigns

5. Biggest Mistakes of Content Marketing
= Starting With the Wrong Questions

6. If You’re Chasing the Google Algorithm
Something is Wrong!

7. Tactics Get Oversaturated
(It’s not about sharing content with your mates)

8. It’s Not About Creating a Buzz

9. “Your brand is the single most important
investment you can make in your business”
Steve Forbes

10. Every Content Campaign Should Start With
Goals

11. • Profit per Customer?
• Number of
Customers?
• Market Share?
• Customer Lifetime
• Total Revenue?
• Net Profit?
• Volume of Sales?
• Average Order Value?
But It Needs to be Aligned & Measuring
the Right Goals

12. Content Should be Driven by Brand Strategy,
Not Channel-Specific Tactics
Brand
Strategy
SEO
PPC
Social
Media
Digital
PR
Marketing
Strategy
Content
Strategy
Affiliate

13. Understanding Your
Audience
Monitoring Your
Audience
Converting Your
Audience
Targeting Your
Audience
Marketing to Your
Audience
Build Your Content Around Audience

14. • How does your audience interact with your content?
• What content do prospects need before they purchase?
• Is your tone of voice consistent across all channels?
• How many channels do customers typically come from?
• Do returning customers have a different behaviour to new
visitors?
• Can you tailor the experience to multiple personas?
• What is the lifetime value of a new customer once they’ve
visited content? <-- Measure this!
Focus on Consumer Opportunities

15. Google Vertical Search is a Big Threat to
Affiliates

16. Which Brands are Market
Leaders in Content?

17. Be the Vertical Market Leader –
Give users the best content experience possible

18. Get them to Subscribe, Follow & Download
Content – so that they come back directly!

19. Successful campaigns require a sustained
content strategy (not 1 infographic!)

20. Learn What Works & Scale Quality Content

21. Make Content Consumer-Led & Data-Driven to
Have a Newsworthy Hook & Angle

22. Every Story Needs an Audience…
If you haven’t got one, leverage someone else’s!

23. Promoted business card content:
- Generated links/shares from
authority environmental blogs
- Increased ranking for “business
cards” from #3 to #1 in Google!
Leverage Organic Search from Overall Strategy

24. Inspire Social Influencers & Authority Authors

25. Promote via Content Distribution & Paid Social

26. Provide Unique Content to Affiliates
What affiliates would contribute to the overall multi-touch profile for
your brand
Do the affiliates your working match your brand values? (cash back
affiliates might not go with high value e-coms products)
Are all affiliates updated with the latest offers and opportunities?
Does your affiliate programme prioritise end of funnel activity or are
you incorrectly benefiting affiliates in driving “research” activity?

27. Capture & Retarget Potential Customers
Again & again (via multiple channels)

28. Don’t Rely on Google –
Build an Audience

29. Part II:
How to Achieve Success in Europe

30. http://fiz-x.com/how-to-make-a-lightsaber/
Promoted electronic
components infographic
Acquired 100+ links/co-citations
from 65 unique domains across
5 countries
What We Learned With Content in Europe

31. Translated & promoted
infographic across 12 countries:
Generated over 100 quality links &
thousands of social shares from
authority publications.
What We Learned With Content in Europe

32. Carefully Craft Content to Targeted Audiences
Data Driven = More Newsworthy & Shareable

33. A one-fits all approach doesn’t work!

34. Translation isn’t good enough!

35. You Still Need Local Knowledge

36. But without centralisation it looks like this!

37. Centralised Strategy + Local Knowledge =
Best International SEO Success

38. Ditch the Silos to Improve Efficiencies

39. @KevGibbo
International SEO Tips

40. BlueGlass.co.uk
@BlueGlass @KevGibbo
Algorithm changes happen in English about 6 months
before rolling out in other languages, anticipate how to
improve link building issues before updates lead you
down the wrong path.
Don’t Wait Before a Google Penalty Hits…

41. BlueGlass.co.uk
@BlueGlass @KevGibbo
Many languages have very limited geographic reach,
ensure content can be tailored.
Tailor Your Content Specifically

42. BlueGlass.co.uk
@BlueGlass @KevGibbo
Low domain authority in small markets isn’t unusual,
it’s simply because these markets don’t attain the same
volume
Quality Links Are All Relative to the Market

43. BlueGlass.co.uk
@BlueGlass @KevGibbo
Build logical bridges between
content in the same language.
Ensure previously built links are
asked to point to most relevant
language page.
Try to clearly separate geo-location content

44. Understand local behaviour & holiday timetables

45. Outreach is much easier when it’s personal

46. Timing is important – it all needs to line-up

47. HREFLANG Can Work Very Well – Especially for
Lower Populated Countries

48. @KevGibbo
Country Tips

49. @KevGibbo
• Hobby bloggers or webmasters of non-commercial
websites can be very sceptical of outreach requests
• Good opportunities in other German speaking countries
such as Austria and Switzerland.
• Target just a few websites and personally address them,
explaining the benefit to their site to share your link.
• Content/emails must be written by a native speaker.
• German people are quite straight forward – just tell them
what you want!
Germany

50. BlueGlass.co.uk
@BlueGlass @KevGibbo
• Yandex has market share – and old-school tactics still work here,
but build carefully, focusing on natural links if you can.
• As a general rule, Russian web users are a bit younger than in
other western European countries so take this into account when
creating content for them.
• Outreach in English can work, better than other European
countries.
Russia

51. BlueGlass.co.uk
@BlueGlass @KevGibbo
• There is very limited resource and audience compared
with other markets.
• Nordic users are very web savvy, but SEO is far behind.
• While most users are fluent in English, they do search in
their mother tongue so it’s not enough to write content in
English.
• Lots of consumer protection laws around sending
unsolicited emails, personal relationships work better.
The Nordics

52. BlueGlass.co.uk
@BlueGlass @KevGibbo
• When approaching French speaking webmasters, only
speak in French. Make sure your grammar is correct.
• Co-branded content partnerships work much better
than link exchanges for content.
France

53. @KevGibbo
• Italian market is very small, which means you can get
away building links from sites with standards below
those of English language websites.
• Even Italian national media websites often have very
average domain authority scores.
Italy

54. BlueGlass.co.uk
@BlueGlass @KevGibbo
• Very commercially savvy
• Building blogger relationships can be a long-process, but
pays off long-term
• To gain access to top quality sites, create a piece of
content which shifts a niche’s standards or knowledge
base.
• Don’t expect quick results, the American market takes a
while.
USA

55. Key Takeaways

56. Integrate a Single Strategy with a Range of Local
Expertise

57. It’s All Relative
Understand the different market approaches

58. Focus on Brand & Audience Building
Consider the Risk of Relying Too Heavily on Google

59. Kevin Gibbons
e: kgibbons@blueglass.co.uk
t: @kevgibbo
w: www.blueglass.co.uk
Chelsea Blacker
e: cblacker@blueglass.co.uk
t: @chelseablacker
w: www.blueglass.co.uk