taming the content beast: how to avoid content creation overwhelm

TAMING THE

CONTENT

BEAST

HOW TO AVOID CONTENT

CREATION OVERWHELM

Kim Gusta Content Marketing & Copywriting for High-Tech Companies

www.kimgusta.com @kimgusta

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

www.kimgusta.com

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

COMMON CHALLENGES

IN TAMING THE BEAST

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Source: “B2B Content Marketing: 2012 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends” by Content Marketing Institute & MarketingProfs

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

WHY TAME THE

BEAST?

• Content creation overwhelm

• Poor quality content

• Content marketing “just doesn’t work”

• Buyers delete, unsubscribe, or ignore

www.kimgusta.com

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

www.kimgusta.com

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

BUYER TURN-OFFS

86%: Vendor information doesn’t meet my

needs

77%: Too much marketing fluff

77%: Unclear value propositions

44%: Not enough real world examples

www.kimgusta.com

Source: “What Your Prospects Want and Don’t Want From You,” UBM TechWeb, May 2012

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

79% say the

quality of information

you provide

significantly affects

whether they’ll do business

with you

www.kimgusta.com

Source: “What Your Prospects Want and Don’t Want From You,” UBM TechWeb, May 2012

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

STRATEGY +

REPEATABLE PROCESS

=

GETTING CONTENT

UNDER CONTROL

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© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

STEPS FOR

TAMING THE BEAST

1. Know what your buyers want

2. Inventory what you’ve got

3. Use an editorial calendar

4. Think economies of scale

5. Steal/borrow/ask for content ideas

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© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing © 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

TAMING THE BEAST

STEP #1

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Know What Your

Buyers Want

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing © 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

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“Your opinion, although

interesting, is irrelevant.”

Source: Pragmatic Marketing www.pragmaticmarketing.com

CONTENT WISDOM…

In other words, don’t guess.

Ask.

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing © 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

CONTENT WISDOM…

www.kimgusta.com

NIHITO (Nothing Interesting Happens in the Office)

Source: Pragmatic Marketing www.pragmaticmarketing.com

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

TALK TO YOUR BUYERS

1. What are their most important responsibilities?

2. What are their top obstacles/problems?

3. Why haven’t they considered a product like yours?

4. What alternatives do they believe will help?

5. How does their boss measure their success?

6. Where do they look for new information?

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© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing © 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

TAMING THE BEAST

STEP #2

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Inventory What

You’ve Already Got

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

WHAT GOOD STUFF IS

LURKING OUT THERE?

www.kimgusta.com © 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

WHY INVENTORY YOUR

EXISTING CONTENT?

• Some of it is probably out of date

• Some probably needs updating

• There might be good stuff you can easily repurpose

(if you only knew where it was…)

www.kimgusta.com © 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing © 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

CONTENT WISDOM…

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“It’s easier to edit

than to author.”

Source: A wise, former boss

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing © 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

www.kimgusta.com

STUFF

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing © 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

CONTENT INVENTORY FORM*

*Download your copy:

www.kimgusta.com/tamethebeast

Include:

• Filename

• Date

• Owner

• Target audience

• Where to find it

• Sales cycle stage

• Status – is it current?

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing © 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

TAMING THE BEAST

STEP #3

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Use an

Editorial Calendar

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

WHY USE AN

EDITORIAL CALENDAR?

• Project manages your content

• Forces you to think ahead

• Assigns names to tasks

• Prevents content gaps

• Helps manage big events like product launches

www.kimgusta.com © 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing © 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

SAMPLE EDITORIAL

CALENDAR*

www.kimgusta.com

Include:

• Project or content

name

• Existing or new?

• Go-live date

• Expiration date

• Content home

• Campaign

• Responsible parties

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

*Download your copy:

www.kimgusta.com/tamethebeast

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing © 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

TAMING THE BEAST

STEP #4

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Think

Economies of Scale

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

OPTION #1:

CREATE LOTS OF CONTENT

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© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

WHICH LEADS TO …

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© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

OPTION #2:

REPURPOSE CONTENT

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Articles

Transcribe

the

webinar

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

ADVANTAGES OF

REPURPOSING

• Saves time

• Consistent message

• Puts content into various formats for different learning

styles

• Good cure for “writer’s block/content block”

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© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

THE “RULE OF 5”

From one “How-To”webinar:

1. Blog posts (combine into articles)

2. Infographic

3. Short YouTube videos

4. White paper

5. “Getting Started” guide or cheat sheet

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

Source: “The Rule of 5 for B2B Content Development,” Ardath Albee;s Marketing Interactions blog

Figure out

your “5”

BEFORE

the webinar

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© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing © 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

TAMING THE BEAST

STEP #5

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Steal/borrow/ask for

content ideas

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing © 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

STUCK FOR GOOD

CONTENT IDEAS?

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© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

ASK YOUR BUYERS

• Turn top 50 questions you get from your buyers (via email,

phone, face to face, etc.) into 50 blog posts

• One post for each question

• Great for SEO

• Use as foundation for building related content

• Don’t be afraid to answer every question (even the tough

ones)

• “How much is it?”

• “How do you compare to your competitors?”

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Source: Marcus Sheridan, The Sales Lion. “How to Come Up with Your Company’s First 50 Blog Articles…in Less Than 30 Minutes”

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing © 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

www.kimgusta.com

Common Questions

Prospective Pool

Owners Ask

From Marcus Sheridan’s River

Pools and Spas Website

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

CONTENT FOR SALES STAGES

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Source: “Customer Engagement: The Role of Content in the IT Purchase Process”, IDG Enterprise

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

www.kimgusta.com

Source: “Customer Engagement: The Role of Content in the IT Purchase Process”, IDG Enterprise

CONTENT FOR SALES STAGES

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

CURATE GOOD STUFF

• Not everything needs to be created from scratch (but give credit where due!)

• Curate or cite good stuff that helps your buyers:

• Analyst articles

• Research results

• Case studies

• Industry trends

• Especially useful in early sales stages

• Examples:

• Research: “Technology Buyers’ Biggest Marketing Turn-offs”

• Case study: “Extraordinary Benefits of Interviewing 100 Customers”

www.kimgusta.com

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing © 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

• Popular & easy to

create

• Curates useful

resources

• Use List.ly

• Embed in blog

posts or other web

content

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CREATE LISTS

814

views!

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

RESOURCES:

MORE CONTENT IDEAS

• “100 Content Marketing Examples” eBook

• “Content Repurposing: 5 Experts Share Their Favorite

Secrets”

• “30 Great Content Ideas for Your Website or Blog”

• “My industry is boring. How do I create interesting

content?”

www.kimgusta.com

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

YOUR 60 DAY PLAN

*Download templates from

www.kimgusta.com/tamethebeast

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

1. Interview 2 buyers.

2. Inventory* your existing content.

3. Brainstorm at least 30 questions your buyers ask. Schedule the best ones in your editorial calendar.

4. Create an editorial calendar* for the next 60 days.

5. Before you create your next piece of content, think of five different ways to repurpose it.

www.kimgusta.com

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing © 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

MORE HELPFUL RESOURCES

www.kimgusta.com

Visit: www.kimgusta.com/tamethebeast

• Reference Guide

• Customizable content templates

• More content & lead generation resources

@kimgusta

kim@kimgusta.com

www.kimgusta.com

Blog: kimgusta.com/blog