Smarter Content for Bigger Results

SMARTER CONTENT FOR BIGGER RESULTS
Stephen Dupont, APR
July 2015

Copyright 2008 Pocket Hercules
TODAY’S STORY STARTS WITH A MATTRESS
Jack and Tina needed a new mattress…

So, they “Googled”
information about
mattresses.

Percentage who search
with Google, Bing and
Yahoo:
B2C: 89%
B2B: 70%
The average person looks at 6
to 18 websites before
purchase.
Sources: Brafton, Fleishman-Hillard, Andrew
Dince, Deluxe Corporation.

As Jack and Tina learn
about what features will
meet their needs, they
start to chop their
choices down.
Uh oh, that could
mean your brand.

CONTENT PLAYS A CRITICAL ROLE

By the time a customer contacts a
company or stops by a retailer, they’re
already 80% of the way through the
sales process.
CONTENT PLAYS A CRITICAL ROLE

SMART CONTENT PLAYS A CRITICAL ROLE
That’s why content has to be
smarter. It’s doing the heavy
lifting of marketing and
sales.

SMART CONTENT STARTS WITH TRUST
“All things being equal, people do business with
those whom they know, like and trust.”
-- Bob Burg, Author, Endless Referrals and The Go-Giver

Word of mouth is at the heart of this process. According to an Opinion Research
study, 59% of people consult a friend or family member for advice.
The reason that content plays such as critical link is because people share it. They
share content they trust. They share it in emails, through social media, and when
they’re together.
Backyard BBQ Rule:
Where we seek advice on just about
everything in life from our friends and
family.
Source: Opinion Research
TRUSTED CONTENT + TRUSTED RECOMMENDATIONS =
SALE.
59% of people consult a friend or family member for advice
about the purchase of a product or service.

Word of mouth is at the heart of this process. According to an Opinion Research
study, 59% of people consult a friend or family member for advice.
The reason that content plays such as critical link is because people share it. They
share content they trust. They share it in emails, through social media, and when
they’re together.
We share content we trust because
it’s social currency.

We’ve come to trust the opinions of complete strangers.
“A recent study from BabyCenter LLC found that 73% of
mothers online trust the information they find on products
and brands through online communities focused on their
interests.”
Source: BazaarVoice.com

People share
content that looks
trustworthy, such
as articles with
bylines.

The Cluetrain Manifesto:
Markets are conversations.
Markets consist of human beings, not demographic
users.
The Internet is enabling conversations among
human beings that were simply not possible in the
era of mass media.
These networked conversations are enabling
powerful new forms of social organization and
knowledge exchange to emerge.
SMART CONTENT FUELS CONVERSATION

Smart, trusted content is the lubricant of these conversations.

SMART CONTENT IS
Trustworthy.
Fuels conversation.
Shareable.

SMART CONTENT: KNOW YOUR CUSTOMER (KYC)
Mom
Married
Parent
IT
Downhill skier
Dog owner
Vice President
26.2
Caregiver
MBA
Golfer
Homeowner
Huffington Post
Netflix
PTO
Mentor Hillary
Downton Abbey
NPR Apple
TechCrunch

KYC
Your brand’s
True Fans –
they go out of
their way to
share your
brand’s story.Where most
prospective customers
are – neutral on your brand.
Build content that speaks
to Enthusiasts; let buyers
listen in.

KYC
Knowing your customer (KYC) means knowing what
feeds their passions.

KYC
Let’s say your customer
is a CIO:
Transparency
Cutting Edge
Revenue Driver
Security
Seat at the table
Productivity
Business strategy
Big data
Do you know what really fuels
your customers?
Smart Content helps fulfill the
brand promise.

Lakemaid Beer drone video was created for Lakemaid Beer fans – fishermen and
cabin owners who want a great beer.
It captured the imagination of millions around the world, leading to millions of
impressions, thousands of new fans, and record-breaking sales.
KYC

39
KYC

KYC
Ask: What is your biggest challenge?
What drives you? What would you
change? What really matters?

KYC
Pry open your company’s data.
What they’re buying.
When they’re buying.
Why they buy.
How they found out about your brand.

KYC
Until you ask, you’re only guessing (or
assuming).
-- Online surveys (Survey Monkey, MailChimp)
-- Focus groups (e.g., “Listening Tours”)
-- Customer advisory panel or user experience event
-- Consumers interviews at the source of purchase or an
event (e.g., Sturgis, Walcott, 5k run, concert, etc.)
-- Net Promoter survey/customer satisfaction survey
-- Facebook contests (Woobox)
-- Voice of the Customer phone calls
-- National Omnibus surveys

KYC
Interview those who
rejected your brand to
discover marketing
bottlenecks.

SMART CONTENT IS
Trustworthy.
Fuels conversation.
Shareable.
Feeds the passion of your
customers.

SMART CONTENT IS RELEVANT
The goal of Google Search, is NOT to deliver your customers millions of citations to a query.
It’s to deliver the most relevant (the most high quality, accurate) citations.
Google uses “more than 200 signals” in its algorithms to find the most relevant pieces of
information with the goal of delivering the best user experience.

Reach higher with your content to make it more
relevant (based on Google’s standards):
• Placement in third-party news media.
• Photos, videos, infographics combined with
written content.
• Content associated with the original source
(e.g., news releases)
• Content with an author’s byline.
• Content with links to other credible sources.
SMART CONTENT IS RELEVANT

SMART CONTENT IS SNACKABLE
Shorter content is a gateway to longer, more
detailed content. Longer content is shared
more.

Your customers want easy
to digest content:
Top 10 lists, infographics,
how-to articles and videos,
according to Buzzsumo
analysis of 100 million
pieces of content.

The longer the
article, the more
likely it is to get
shared (more
trusted).
Great example: TED
videos.

B2B and B2C marketers tailor
content to the needs of
customers. They anticipate:
-- Type of content needed to
make a decision
-- UX experience
-- Promotion through trusted
media
-- Time of year/time of day
-- Shareability (email, social
media)

SMART CONTENT IS
Trustworthy.
Fuels conversation.
Shareable.
Feeds the passion of your customers.
Relevant.
Snackable.

Marketers that build a
content marketing plan
report more satisfaction
with their results.
SMART CONTENT IS INTENTIONAL

To create more
effective content,
decide on what
you’re really trying
to achieve.

Content must be consistently shared through all of your media platforms.

Be clear where the road begins and ends with your brand’s content.
Provide an email address? Complete an application? Complete a sale?

The University of Wisconsin-
Madison’s Crazylegs Classic 8K
Race in Madison, WI, unites
generations of former and future
Badgers.
It offers all the content you need
to plan an awesome weekend in
Madison.

RIP DOWN THE SILOS: Smart content is developed through an
integrated effort. Break down the silos. Speak with one voice to
increase engagement with customers, and reduce waste and
errors.

Put a system in place to
measure content
effectiveness.
Without a system, you
can’t know how well
you’re doing to change
your approach.
SMART CONTENT IS MEASUREABLE

SMART CONTENT IS MEASUREABLE
“The point of content marketing isn’t views, it’s a closed
sale,” says Jonathan Crossfield, Chief Content Officer
magazine
Source: Chief Content Officer, June 2015

If you turn up the
volume on your
content, do you have a
system in place (and
are your sales people
trained) to take
advantage of more,
higher quality leads?

SMART CONTENT IS
Trustworthy.
Fuels conversation.
Shareable.
Relevant.
Snackable.
Intentional.

10 MORE TIPS FOR
SMARTER CONTENT

Experiment. Become a content hacker.
1. EXPERIMENT LIKE YOU’RE A KID AGAIN
Test different types of content to find out what
resonates with your customers.

For FindLaw.com, we
created 60+ news features
and measured the results
to find out which topics
produced the most web
traffic.
1. EXPERIMENT LIKE YOU’RE A KID AGAIN

Build a community. Invite the community to share in the making of your content.
2. PAY ATTENTION TO THE UX EXPERIENCE
A bad user experience (UX) is a
content killer.
Most content marketing roads lead to a website.

34
Hundreds of free ski reviews on Skis.com, an online retailer,
take the guess work out of selecting the right skis.
3. DELIVER MORE VALUE

In-person speaking
opportunities or live
interactive events
(webinars,
webcasts, live
chats) offer powerful
ways to deliver
content and capture
leads.
4. DON’T LIMIT CONTENT TO ONLINE

Key words typed into Google offer a strong indicator of intent to purchase.
Align your content with key words used for PPC and SEO. Helpful tools:
Google Keyword Planner and UberSuggest.
5. ALIGN WITH KEY WORDS

Put your content into context: Posters for running apparel and shoe
manufacturer Pearl Izumi allowed marathoners to gauge the color of their pee
at marathons across the U.S.
6. GO TO WHERE YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE

7. LEVERAGE OUTSIDE EXPERTS
White papers featuring multiple
outside experts provide credibility
when speaking with people who are
well versed in a specific industry.

The biggest challenge facing
companies using content
marketing: consistently delivering
high quality content.
Build an editorial calendar for the
year ahead, like a magazine
publisher, to better plan the
delivery of content.
8. TREAT CONTENT LIKE A MAGAZINE PUBLISHER

For Delta Dental of
Minnesota, Pocket
Hercules partnered
with local TV stations
to create
:30 oral health tips
featuring a respected
oral surgeon.
These tips resulted in
3x to 6x more click
thru than other forms
of advertising.
9. A BETTER WAY TO USE 30 SECONDS?

Your customers want to know what they don’t know. Be their expert. Identify an issue or trend
that matters to your customers and educate them about the challenges and opportunities that
lie ahead.
10. TAP INTO EMERGING ISSUES

SMART CONTENT IS
Trustworthy.
Fuels conversation.
Shareable.
Relevant.
Snackable.
Intentional.
Adds value to a person’s life.

Smart Content helps
people live their lives
better.

For more information about content, contact me at:
Email: stephen.dupont@pockethercules.com
Website: www.pockethercules.com
Blog: www.stephendupont.co
Twitter: @stephendupont
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/stephendupont
CONTACT INFORMATION

Available at stephendupont.co or prsa.org:
The Standout Search: Creating Smarter Content to Generate Bigger Results,
Public Relations Tactics, June 2014
Branded Content: Building Trust into Your Online Sales Force, Public Relations
Strategist, Summer 2013
Building Your Core Strategy: Technology and Content Converge to Drive
Branded Content, Public Relations Strategist, Spring 2013.
The New Curators: Influence and Curation in an Information-Sharing World,
The Strategist, Winter 2013
Generation on the Go: Creating Branded Content for a Sharing Culture, The
Strategist, Fall 2013
MORE CONTENT ABOUT CONTENT

Stephen Dupont, APR, is vice president of
public relations and branded content at
Pocket Hercules, a Minneapolis advertising,
public relations and branding firm.
He has 30 years experience and has held
public relations and marketing positions with
GMAC Financial Services, the law firm of
Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly, Spong
Public Relations (Carmichael Lynch), and
Exponent Public Relations (Colle & McVoy),
and Bozell.
Stephen is a frequent contributor to The
Strategist and Public Relations Tactics. He
served as president of the Minnesota
chapter of PRSA in 2001.
ABOUT STEPHEN DUPONT, APR

VISIT MY BLOG: stephendupont.co

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