Content marketing levels the playing field for companies by allowing all businesses, regardless of size or budget, to connect with customers through high-quality content. While many marketers say they do content marketing, few actually have a solid strategy or do it well. The document provides advice on how to develop an effective content marketing strategy by tying content to business objectives, understanding customer contexts, and properly measuring results.

1. Heroes & Underdogs:
How Content Marketing Levels
the Playing Field
Carla Johnson
Principal
t: @CarlaJohnson

2. Content marketing is like sex in high school:
Everyone says they’re doing it… but few
really do it well.
Source: MarketingProfs

3. 5000
MESSAGES A DAY

5. CARLA JOHNSON :: Principal
@CarlaJohnson

6. CONTENT MARKETING
DOESN’T COMPETE
WITH OTHER MARKETING

7. John Deere launched
THE FURROW
in 1895.
Today :
1.5M circulation
40 countries
12 languages

8. 91%
OF B2B MARKETERS USE
CONTENT MARKETING

9. MARKETERS
5% have a content marketing strategy
Use an average of 12 different tactics
Biggest increase from 2011 to 2012:
• Research Reports
• Videos
• Mobile Content
• Virtual Conferences

11. Social Media Impacts
B2B Decision Makers Worldwide
B2B decision makers 60% of B2B decision Decision makers are
who maintain a social makers use social actively participating in
network profile has media to help inform a variety of ways:
increased significantly professional decisions
o Reviewing products &
services
o Posting in forums

12. TODAY’S
CONVERSATION
Business
Objectives
Context
Measurement

13. TYING
CONTENT MARKETING TO
BUSINESS
OBJECTIVES

14. THE CEO/MARKETING
DISCONNECT
73 %
of CEOs think marketers lack
business credibility and aren’t
the growth generators they
should be
69 %
of marketers feel their
strategies do make an
impact on the business,
even if they can’t quantify
or prove it.
Source: The Fornaise Marketing Group

16. BUSINESS OBJECTIVES
VS ACTIVITY
Objective: Improve customer engagement and upsell
Web Traffic Qualified Leads
30% 90%
Average Engagement
2 min
3RD PARTY
CONVERSIONS

17. CONTENT
WITH
CONTEXT

18. “People will forget
what you said,
people will forget
what you did, but
people will never
forget how you
made them feel.”
- Maya Angelou

19. PERSONAS
Composite of characteristics of a group of people
Understand their perspective, fears, drivers and
content needs
Types of content:
o How they access it
o What messages resonate with them
o What matters when in the buyer’s cycle

20. CONTENT
MARKETING
FUNNEL
Source: Managing Content Marketing

21. 5W’S OF CONTENT
WHO are you talking to?
WHEN in their decision-making process?
WHERE/HOW are they connecting with you?
WHAT do they want to know?
WHY do you matter to them?

22. MEASUREMENT
WITH MEANING

23. MEASUREMENT
GUIDELINES
1. Tie to your business objectives
2. Know what’s important to measure
3. Measure what drives the behavior you want
4. Use metrics to make refinement
5. Be OK with failure

24. Carla Johnson, Principal
Type A Communications
(720) 344-0987
carla@goTypeA.com
www.goTypeA.com
Type A Communications
@carlajohnson