See Catherine Toole's recent presentation from the B2B Marketing Conference 2014: I’m sorry I haven’t a clue. Clever ways to get more from colleagues who don’t get content. You’re in b2b marketing. It’s a complex product. It’s a complex sales cycle. You’re expected to generate leads, deepen relationships and increase conversions through content. But very few people in the company ‘get’ content. They want tactical stuff. They want to go viral. They want results. But the investment isn’t there; neither is the understanding. Not to mention the dearth of resource and original ideas… But wait – there is light at the end of this tunnel (and leads to be put in your funnel). Find out how to revolutionise your internal content culture, gamify idea generation and get everyone actively behind your content strategy. Popular speaker Catherine Toole is the founder and chairman of Sticky Content, now part of the Press Association. She also leads content strategy and UX copywriting seminars for Econsultancy and at Jakob Nielsen’s Usability Weeks around the world.

1. I’m sorry I haven’t a clue...
Clever ways to get more from
colleagues who don’t get content
A speech by Catherine Toole
@catherinetoole
@stickycontent
#B2BConf

2. Sticky Content does this…

3. …with these people

4. You can redesign a home page. You can
buy a new CMS. But unless you treat your
content with strategic consideration,
you can’t fix your website. It’s a pain
point everyone shares and content
strategy offers relief.
From Content Strategy for the Web by
Kristina Halvorson & Melissa Rach
‘
‘
Book your place on Catherine’s Digital Content Strategy Training with Econsultancy here

5. The Content Strategy quad
People
components
© Brain Traffic 2011
Content
components
Core
strategy

6. “Supplying content is not a
priority for people, not our culture”
“Content is an afterthought”
“There is huge resistance to
change – We’ve always done it
this way”
“Resource (it’s no one’s job)”
“We haven’t really defined our
key audiences”
“Politics: people want control of
their content”
“We can’t get senior buy-in”
“We do content on demand“
“People ignore our guidelines“
“We can’t seem to communicate the
ROI of better content”
“We’ve got a print-first mentality”
“There’s pressure to generate
immediate leads“
“They want to push messages the
users aren’t interested in”
“Stakeholders make changes to
content which makes it crap”
Pain points

7. Pain points
“We can’t get senior buy-in”
“We do content on demand“
“People ignore our guidelines“
“We can’t seem to communicate the ROI of better
content”
“There’s pressure to generate immediate leads“
“They want to push messages the users aren’t
interested in”
“Stakeholders make changes to content which
makes it crap”
“Supplying content is not a priority for people, not
our culture”
“Content is an afterthought”
“There is huge resistance to change – We’ve always
done it this way”
“Resource (it’s no one’s job)”
“Politics: people want control of their content”
“We haven’t really defined our key audiences”
“We’ve got a print-first mentality”

8. Publishing thrives on a
hierarchical structure –
what the most senior editor
says goes. Create great
content and they hold the
front page: disappoint and
you’re cut, no argument. ‘
‘
©PA Images

9. What we often do in digital is
publish within the corporate
structure. So what the most
senior stakeholder says goes.
Even if they’ve the editorial
ability of a sock puppet.
It’s doomed. ‘
‘
©PA Images

10. Download a copy of our State of Digital Copywriting survey here

11. Download a copy of our State of Digital Copywriting survey here

12. Download a copy of our State of Digital Copywriting survey here

13. Contact us to receive our free, exclusive ebook emailus@stickycontent.co.uk

14. 1. Go boffin
©PA Images

15. Do you know the ‘I’ of your ROI?
Count the costs

16. A Harvard Business School survey revealed
that if you lower the effort a customer
has to make to get help, 83 per cent will
increase their spend with you.
Show the savings

17. Autoglass

18. Ensure you educate people in what true
love really looks like. A is easy.
Prospects who kneejerk-share stuff they’ve
barely read, without adding commentary,
are not necessarily that into you.
Pop the right question

19. Dr R.I. Singh of the University of Alberta
found that when people read complex
information on an iPhone-sized screen, their
comprehension levels drop to 48 per cent
of their desktop scores.
Bring in the brainiacs

20. A significant content cost that often gets
overlooked is maintenance.
How much is it costing you to keep your
content current, correct, compliant and
not embarrassingly out-of-date?
Keep it evergreen

21. What’s the cost of doing nothing?
According to HubSpot, companies with
101-200 pages of content generate
2.5 times more leads than those with
50 or fewer.
©PA Images

22. 2. Shout about it
©PA Images

23. Take a tip from one of our clients
and circulate a weekly ‘boast post’ to
keep everyone up to speed on your
latest content successes.
Show off

24. Demand trial by combat
Credit: www://gameofthrones.wikia.com/wiki/Title_sequence

28. + 24%

29. 3. Get competitive
©PA Images

30. “Employees who report receiving
recognition and praise within the last seven
days show increased productivity,
get higher scores from customers
and have better safety records.
They're just more engaged at work.”
Compete internally…
Tom Rath,
Strengthsfinder 2.0

31. …compete externally

32. 4. Lead by example
©PA Images

33. “The one exclusive sign of thorough
knowledge is the power to teach”
Aristotle
Those who can, teach

34. There might be a language barrier between
you and senior management. You say ‘copy
optimisation’, they think ‘new photocopier’.
Mock it up

35. Show, don’t tell

36. 5. Let everyone in on it
©PA Images

37. Seek out content influencers.
Somewhere in that crowded canteen are
people who blog, tweet, pin and post –
but not necessarily about work.
Seriously, you’re Guido Fawkes?

38. Reduce, re-use, recycle

39. “I’m not creative”
“I’m too busy for this”
Everyone can amplify

40. Ideas are your currency
©PA Images

42. Embrace risk

43. Embrace risk

46. Get ‘em clued up:
• Develop people strategies as well as
content strategies
• Put figures to your content
• Engage, fuel interest and competition
• Educate and include everyone

47. www.stickycontent.com
@catherinetoole
@stickycontent
#B2BConf
Want more help building your business
case for content?
Contact us to receive our free, exclusive
ebook: emailus@stickycontent.com