blake pappas - workshop : the proven 8 step formula to successful content marketing
TRANSCRIPT
Blake Pappas
Content Marketing Coach, Vertical Measures
Content Marketing Workshop:
The Proven 8 Step Formula
@blakepappas22
#DSDCAbout Your Presenter...
● Content Marketing Coach at Vertical Measures, a
50 person PPC, SEO & Content Marketing
agency in Phoenix, AZ
● Sample of our 40+ clients:
@blakepappas22
VMers In Attendance
Samantha Kermode
Business Development Executive
@blakepappas22
#DSDCAgenda
Time Topic
8:30 – 9:45am • What is Content Marketing
• Putting Together Your Content Strategy
• Performing Ideation & Market Research
9:45 – 10:00am COFFEE BREAK
10:00 – 11:35pm • Developing Useful Content
• Optimizing Your Content for the Web
• Promoting Your Content
• Distribute Your Content
• Lead Nurturing – It’s In the Mail
• Measurement
11:35 – 12:05pm LUNCH BREAK
12:15 – 12:45pm • Case Studies
• Wrap up
@blakepappas22
#DSDCQuick Start Workbook
vert.ms/cm-workbook
● How many of you are webmasters or SEOs?
● How many are primarily marketing people?
● Any business owners?
● Organizations with more than 100 employees?
● More than 1,000?
● How many of you have been successful with CM for at least 12
months in a row?
Who are you?
@blakepappas22
#DSDCThe Real Reason You are Here…
Panda: 2011 ● On-site penalties
● Thin content
● High ad-to-content ratios
Penguin: 2012● Off-site penalties
● Low-quality backlinks
● Exact match anchor text
Hummingbird: 2013● Semantic search
● Full question searches
● Indexing to understanding
@dreweastmead
@mjhuber@blakepappas22
#DSDCGoogle Algo Changes
@ShanaSullivan38
@blakepappas22
#DSDC“Content Marketing” 2010-16
Penguin: 2012● Off-site penalties
● Low-quality backlinks
● Exact match anchor text
Hummingbird: 2013● Semantic search
● Full question searches
● Indexing to understanding
Panda: 2011 ● On-site penalties
● Thin content
● High ad-to-content ratios
@blakepappas22
#DSDCA Move Towards Digital
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDCBanner Blindness
@blakepappas22
#DSDCWhat is Content Marketing?
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
What Is Content Marketing?
Download: VerticalMeasures.com/WhatIsContent
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Today, relationships are
created with information
not people.
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
GREAT CONTENT works on its own behalf. It can
spread, persuade and convert people
without your help, just by being
RELEVANT AND USEFUL.
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
93% of all consumers
use search prior to
making a purchase
93%
90%+ of buyers click on
organic links vs. the
sponsored ads
90%
86% of searchers
conduct non-branded
queries
86%86%
How Important is Search?
Source: GroupM
@blakepappas22
#DSDCThis is not a 30 day R.O.I.
But The Long-Term
Payoffs Can Be Huge
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Courtesy of The Sales Lion
@blakepappas22
#DSDCAchieving Success Is A Continuous Process
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Publish Like a Publisher!
@blakepappas22
#DSDCPublish Like A Publisher
Traditional Media Backgrounds = Great for Content Marketing
• They plan ahead• They think strategically• They love editorial calendars• They understand deadlines• They can create great content• They find fresh angles and sources• They know how to engage an audience
@blakepappas22
#DSDCContent Inventory
• Have you taken an inventory of your current content?
• Look for out of date content• Look for duplicate content• Look for content gaps• Tools to use:
• Screaming Frog• Excel
@blakepappas22
#DSDC4-5Homework
@blakepappas22
● What will your new content accomplish?
• Lead Generation?
• Increased Revenue?
• Customer Retention?
• Thought Leadership?
• Open New Markets?
• Lower Customer Service Costs?
Why Are You Creating Your Content?
Every piece of content should
have a business purpose.
@blakepappas22
● What will you measure?
● Engagement? Traffic? Leads? Revenue?
● Do you have the tools you will need to measure
your success or failures?
● Do you have analytics in place?
● Establish benchmarks right now.
● What does success look like?
● Did your content help its audience members
achieve excellence at what they do?
What Is Different A Year From Now?
@blakepappas22
#DSDC7
@blakepappas22
● Your audience can be a number of different groups –
depending on your industry & your site offerings
o Current/potential customers? People spending
money on your product or service now or in the future?
o Location? Are you a location based business and how
might that impact your audience?
o Seasonal? Is your business seasonal with a changing
audience?
Who is Your Audience?
@blakepappas22
Who are they?
• Demographics
• Pain points and needs
• Barriers to purchase
• Influencer potential
• Content formats
• Content sources
• Mobile vs desktop
Persona Development
Decisive Dana
“Brand A widget
reviews”
Bargain Britt
“cheapest widget”
@blakepappas22
Persona: Homeowner, 30s, prefers shorter & more visual content
Goal: Save money and “go green”
Persona: Buyer's Journey & Content Gaps
How to Lower
Your Utility Bill
Top 7 Reasons Going Solar
Pays Off Long-Term— CONTENT GAP — Why
SolarCity's
Solar Panels
Last 50%
Longer
@blakepappas22
#DSDC9Homework
@blakepappas22
#DSDC11-12
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
● You are a publisher and you must create
content to speak to your specific
audience and that truly represents YOU!
● Create a Mission Statement
● Find your voice
o Humorous?
o Serious?
o Researcher?
Who Are You?
@blakepappas22
● What expertise will you need?
o Creative writing?
o Sales copy?
o Technical writing?
o Graphics?
o Video?
● Leverage your employees – the key
to success? They are the SMEs!
● Business partners or suppliers may
contribute
Who Will Create Your Content?
@blakepappas22
● Your Blog?
● Your web pages?● RSS feeds?
● Social accounts?● News Feeds?● Sites for Videos, Images, Slides, PR, etc?
● Will you have content to download?● Have you developed a communication tool or
process for spreading your content marketing vision throughout the organization?
Where will the Content be Published?
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Your Content Marketing Strategy Template & Checklist
Download: VerticalMeasures.com/strategy
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Buyers are searching for
information that helps them
make an informed decision.
Businesses that provide
that information - will win.
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
THE ODDS OF HITTING A GRAND SLAM
Most of us aren’t the New York Yankees, so we strongly
suggest playing CONTENT MONEYBALL:
1 in 4 at bats = hit (a success)
1 in 36 at bats = home run (a big success)
1 in 1,691 at bats = grand slam (viral success)
@ShanaSullivan38
In order to play CONTENT MONEYBALL, you need
to come up with hundreds of ideas so you can
create fresh, USEFUL content on a frequent basis.
Here’s how we do it…
@blakepappas22
#DSDCKnow Your Keywords
Google Trends, SEMrush, Moz Keyword Explorer
@blakepappas22
#DSDCRemember Semantics Matter Too
Over 70% of the
traffic you earn
for any given
page will come
from keywords
you didn’t try to
optimize for.
-Moz
Source: SEMRush
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Source: http://w ww.keyworddiscovery.com/keyw ord-stats.html
Longer Search String = More Clicks
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
14
Ask Your Staff!
@blakepappas22
#DSDC15
@blakepappas22
#DSDCGoogle’s Answer Box
“When we recognize that a query asks a question, we programmatically detect pages that
answer the user's question, and display a snippet as a featured snippet in the search results.” - Google
@blakepappas22
#DSDCGoogle’s People Also Ask
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#DSDCGoogle Suggest – B2C
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDCGoogle Suggest – B2B
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDCYouTube for Ideas
@blakepappas22
#DSDCMoz
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
KeywordTool.io
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDCList All Content Ideas in a Spreadsheet
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Content Editorial Calendar Spreadsheet Template
Download: VerticalMeasures.com/calendar
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
● Draw content out of challenges, trends, achievements and
internal events
● Don’t ask “What can you write about?” Ask “What questions do
you get asked every day”
Every Moment is a Content Opportunity
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
How to Grow Your Business Without Keywords Video
Watch: VerticalMeasures.com/ideation
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Break!Come back in 15 minutes!
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Blogs
eBooks
Curation
Podcasts
Interviews
White Papers
Webcasts/Webinars
Community Forums
Online Quizzes
eNewsletters
Case Studies
Infographics
Contests
Videos
Create Useful Content
@blakepappas22
#DSDCMicro-Moments – By Google
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
“Content that doesn’t promote your brand over another, and may in fact even
mention your competitors” - Adobe CMO
Brand-Agnostic Content
@blakepappas22
#DSDCLists – People Still Love Them
@blakepappas22
#DSDCAddress Pricing / Cost
@blakepappas22
#DSDCAddress Problems
@blakepappas22
#DSDCComparisons & Reviews
#1
@blakepappas22
#DSDCResource Pages (Best, Top, etc.)
@blakepappas22
#DSDCInterviews: A Two Way Street
@blakepappas22
#DSDCInfographics
@blakepappas22
#DSDCCuration or Aggregation
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Product Demos
FunInterviews
Behind the Scenes
Videos! – They Are Not That Hard
@blakepappas22
• Faster, cheaper, engaging
• Drives social traffic
• Average quiz gets shared
1,900 times (BuzzSumo)
• Can be used for lead
generation
Quizzes
@blakepappas22
● Optimized Title
● Detailed Description
● Statistics
● Images & Video
● Product Comparisons
● User Generated Content
Let’s Not Forget Product Pages
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
● Lead generator● Link attractor
● Long life span
Free Guides & White Papers
@blakepappas22
#DSDCVertical Measures’
Hub & Spoke Model
Promotional Email
Staff Promotional Email
Landing Page
Blog Posts
Twitter Post
Linked in Post
Press Release
Facebook Posts
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
HUB
Case
Study
Blog
Webinar
PPT
Video
Page
Lead
Nurture
Press Release
Page
Infographic
Slide-
share
Social
Blog
Newsletter
Off-site
Article
Landing
Page
Social
Social
Social
Ad
@blakepappas22
Sample Hub & Spoke Schedule
January 10 - Hub Launch, Email #1, Blog, PPC Ad
January 17 - Blog and Email #2 Spoke
January 23 - Webinar Spoke
January 27 - YouTube and Slideshare Spoke
January 31 - Blog Spoke
February 3 - Off-site Article
February 7 - Infographic Spoke
February 15 - Inclusion in e-Newsletter
February 21 - Off-site Article
February 28 - Blog Spoke
March 8 - Blog Spoke
March 16 - Email #3
March 28 - Off-site Podcast
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Web users will read about 20% of
the text on the average page.
@blakepappas22
#DSDCBlog Writing Tips
● Write to communicate a
message, not word count
● Write posts people will
want to link to
● Don't be self-promotional
● Always keep target
audience in mind
● Use visual differentiators
@blakepappas22
#DSDCBy “Visual Differentiators” We Mean:
Content Chunking
● Headers and sub-headers
● Multiple images
● Short paragraphs
● Bolded or italicized terms and
phrases
● Internal links
● Bulleted or numbered lists
See neilpatel.com
This example: 74 paragraphs, 5 subheads,
40 links, 33 images/graphics
@blakepappas22
#DSDCContent Chunking
Would you
rather read
this? ...
@blakepappas22
#DSDCContent Chunking
… or this?
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Remember:
Google cannot crawl or index
the content that’s sitting on your
computer.
@blakepappas22
#DSDC20
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDCThe best place to
hide a dead body...
… is page 2 of the
Google search results.
@blakepappas22
You don’t go there and neither do our prospects…
Source: https://chitika.com/google-posit ioning-value
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Each month, 8.5 out of the top 10
rankings will change positions.
Every day, 78% of search results
have some ranking change. - Moz
@blakepappas22
#DSDCThe SERP
@blakepappas22
#DSDCOn Page SEO Elements
Title TagURL
H1 Tag
H2 Tag
Content
"Interested in taking your internet marketing strategy to the next level but not
sure where to start? Start with a Search,
Social and Content Strategy now."
Meta
Description
@blakepappas22
Most Common Problems We Find?
1. Unintentional duplicate content
2. Page-load times
3. Poor HTML (title tags, meta descriptions, broken links)
4. Poorly optimized images and videos
5. Bad backlinks/Not enough backlinks (very important!)
6. Thin content (lack of semantic KW opportunity)
7. Not Mobile Friendly
@blakepappas22
Unintentional Duplicate Content
@blakepappas22
Page Speed
• Address key issues like image and JavaScript optimization
• Reducing resources needed to process images, scripts
and files improves PageSpeed
• A one-second delay in PageSpeed can decrease
conversions by 7%
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
1 SECOND
COST $1.6BSource:http://www.fastcompany.com/1825005/how-one-second-could-cost-amazon-16-billion-sales
@blakepappas22
Page Speed Tools and References
Google Page Speed Insights -https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/
GTmetrix -https://gtmetrix.com
Pingdom -
http://tools.pingdom.com/
WebPageTest -http://www.webpagetest.org
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
An important on-page element (~70 characters).
<title>Your Keywords Need be Here</title>
Title Tag
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
● Mainly for conversions
● First time a visitor is understanding who you are
● ~140 - 180 characters
Meta Description
@blakepappas22
H Tags
● Should be similar to page title
● Tell the bots what to expect on the page
● Hard coded into the HTML (H1, H2, H3, etc.)
● Only one H1 tag per page
<h1>My Post is About SEO</h1>
<h2>SEO is Awesome</h2>
<h2>What is Google</h2>
<h2>People Love SEO</h2>
<h3>Matt Cutts Loves SEO</h3>
@blakepappas22
Micro Data – Rich Snippets
Schema ✔︎
Google Answer Box ✔︎
Open Graph ✔︎
Twitter ✔︎
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
● Control how your content shows up on social media
Open Graph and Twitter Cards
@blakepappas22
• Important for usability and visibility
• Internal links tell search engines what your site is about
• Proper internal linking structure allows search engines
to spider and index more pages within your site.
• Use, but don’t abuse, internal text links within
content (1 per 300 words is a good rule of thumb)
• Keep footers clean and include a link to sitemap
Internal Links
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
THERE ARE
OVER 1 BILLION IMAGE
SEARCHES A DAY
JUST ON GOOGLE!
@blakepappas22
● Reduce file size
Use relevant ● keywords in image filenames.
DONT: "DL000031.jpg", DO: ”animas-river.jpg"
Make sure <● img> tags have their "alt" and "title"
attributes
Context matters. Google looks at ● content placed
around the image, like titles and captions.
How to Optimize Images
EXAMPLE
Current - /images/uploads/galleryImages/_Large/andybarbour27.jpg
New - JPG Name | Alt Tag | Title
/images/uploads/galleryImages/_Large/animas river-sunset-andy-barbour.jpg
@blakepappas22
How to Optimize Videos
● Specific, Compelling Title
● Related Tags
● Description
● Include a link placed at
the beginning – with
http://
● High Video Quality /
Resolution
@blakepappas22
#DSDCIt’s a Mobile World
In the past 2 years, mobile surpassed desktop in:
• # users
• # Google searches
• time spent on device
Mobile-friendly update
• released April 2015
• “Accelerated Mobile Pages” are rewarded
@blakepappas22
Accelerated Mobile Pages for lightning fast loading
Facebook Instant Articles & AMP
@blakepappas22
https://testmysite.thinkwithgoogle.com/
Mobile-Friendly Test
@blakepappas22
#DSDCLocal Search - Let’s take a NAP
Name | Address | Phone Number
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Write Naturally
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Our average SEO & Content
client increases their traffic by
66% in the first year.
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
SEO 101 Series: H1 Tag, Sitemaps, ALT Text & More
Watch Videos: VerticalMeasures.com/seo101
@blakepappas22
#DSDC21Homework
@blakepappas22
Don’t Forget Conversion Rate Optimization
• High traffic
• Low conversion
@blakepappas22
What’s Next?
Audit Findings:
• Long, not so fun form
• Irrelevant images and
distracting CTAs
• Did not give any result
based on self evaluation
– not meeting user’s
expectations
Leading to a 61% exit rate on “thank
you” page
Goals:
• Improve user experience
• Increase conversion rate
for self evaluations
• Increase conversion
volume for consultation
requests
@blakepappas22
Here’s What We Did
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
Consultation CTA – New “Thank You” Page
@blakepappas22
CRO Results
Self-Evaluation
• Increased conversion rate by
130%
• 93% increase in leads (~250
extra leads per month)
Consultation CTA Results
• Increased conversion rate by
81%
• Month over month we are
continuing to see the highest
conversion volume ever
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Our average CRO client
increases their conversion rate
by 58% in the first year.
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
“The goal of promotion
is to drive your audience to
your content.”
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
“If you build it, they will come.”
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Think and record as we go along.
22
@blakepappas22
2 Types of Promotion
Organic promotion – Examples:
Webinars
Press releases
Local partners & listings
Link development: trusted websites
Paid promotion – Examples:
Paid Search: Google, Bing, Yahoo
Sponsored Social: Facebook, LinkedIn
Programmatic: Dataxu
Native: Outbrain, Taboola
@blakepappas22
Paid Media Advertising!
Search
Social
Native
Programmatic
@blakepappas22
Why Pay to Play?
500M Tweets per day
300 hrsVideo uploaded every minute to
YouTube
2% Average reach of organic Facebook
post
Sources: http://w ww.internetlivestats.com/tw itter-statistics / http://w ww.statisticbrain.com/youtube-statistics
https://social.ogilvy.com/facebook-zero-considering-life-after-the-demise-of-organic-reach/
@blakepappas22
Paid Search
● Drive traffic based on
relevant search queries
● Test ad copy and landing
page experience
● Shape your strategy;
quickly learn what
keywords drive quality
traffic
@blakepappas22
Paid Search – Poor Experience
Search Queries Landing PageAd Copy
@blakepappas22
Paid Promotion – Landing Pages
Ad CopySearch Queries Landing Page
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
You don’t need to be on EVERY social media platform.
Ask yourself: Where does our audience hang out online?
@blakepappas22
Paid Social
● Drive traffic based on
audience interests
● Test engagement through
ad creative
● Shape your strategy;
quickly learn what content
engages with targeted
audience segments
@blakepappas22
Paid Social – Experience
Ad CopyAudience Target Landing Page
@blakepappas22
Programmatic
● Drive traffic based on 1st and 3rd party data
● Real-time bidding based on audience segments
● Shape your strategy; quickly learn what audiences are engaging with
your brand
@blakepappas22
● Identify low hanging fruit
o Guest blog posts or articles (they are still okay)o Where you have relationships
o Local partners & listings
● The best links:
o Are from trusted sites
o Have varied anchor text
o Are from many different, relevant websites
Build Links To Your Content
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
• A paid/organic content
promotion or distribution
strategy
• Target influencers based on
personas
• Use a variety of content
formats
• Provide an easy route for
influencers to promote
Influencer Marketing & Outreach
@blakepappas22
#DSDC24
@blakepappas22
#DSDCPress Releases
Promote evergreen content.
@blakepappas22
Take Advantage of Evergreen Content
@blakepappas22
#DSDCTools to Streamline Promotion & Discover Ideas
@blakepappas22
Make it Easy for Your Staff to Share
@blakepappas22
#DSDCDon’t Get Hung Up On Social
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
49 total shares for #1 Ranking post
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
This page had more than 93,000 views.
0.2% social actions for total views
@blakepappas22
#DSDCSocial Media Policy
● Do you have one documented?
○ If not, create one and share
● Who has the authority to post?
○ On the company accounts?
○ On their personal accounts?
● Who will moderate, respond?
○ Acceptable turnaround times
● Take sensitive conversations offline
● Escalation and crisis policies
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Our average Paid Media client
saw increased leads of more
than 140% and decreased
costs of more than 40% in
2016.
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
The Beginner’s Guide to Content PromotionDownload: VerticalMeasures.com/promotion
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
“The goal of distribution is
to drive your content to your
audience.”
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Source: CMI & MarketingProfs
Distribute or Repurpose Your Content
@blakepappas22
#DSDC3 Types of Distribution
OWNED EARNED PAID
Website Social media Display ads / Google AdWords
Blog User reviews Social ads / promoted posts
E-mail Backlinks Sponsored content / native ads
@blakepappas22
Distribution Avenues
Videos
Images
@blakepappas22
#DSDCPresentation Distribution (PPT)
@blakepappas22
#DSDCNative Advertising
● Publish to sites your audience already
visits (i.e. sponsored articles on
BuzzFeed)
● Click-through rates: 50x > banner ads
● Publishers adding staff for advertisers
● 2/3 of consumers lose faith in
publications that promote sponsored
content (Contently)
@blakepappas22
#DSDC23Homework
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
“When you're wondering what to say or
how you look, just remember, she's
already out with you. That means she
said yes when she could have said no.
That means she made a plan when she
could have just blown you off.
So that means it's no longer your job
to make her like you. It's your job not
to mess it up.”
@blakepappas22
How Can Lead Nurture Help You?
• Increase business by providing consistent value
• Keep your company top-of-mind
• Deepen existing relationships
• Move people through the buying cycle quicker
• Build brand recognition
• Create loyalty and trust
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Successful lead
nurturing generates
47% larger purchases
than non-nurtured
leads.SOURCE: Kapost
47%
@blakepappas22
• Visually appealing and branded
• Incorporate into editorial calendar: plan frequency
• Segmenting: targeted messaging
• Plan out segmented drip or follow up campaigns
• Stay brief: Read More, Get More Details
• Great subject line!
E-mail Best Practices
@blakepappas22
Campaign-Based Automation
Complete a Conversion Path(Form fill or download)
Lead Nurture Email #1
Lead Nurture Email #2
Lead Nurture Email #3
@blakepappas22
Trigger/Behavior-Based Automation
Behavior Trigger(View pricing page,
# of pages, etc)
Lead Nurture Email #1
Lead Nurture Email #2
Lead Nurture Email #3
Further Action Track 2 – Email #1
Track 2 – Email #2
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
47% Of Emails Are Opened On A Mobile Device
80% Delete Emails That Do Not “Look Good” On Mobile
SOURCE: LITMUS
@blakepappas22
#DSDCNewsletters
57% of businesses vote that email newsletters are the best type of
content for lead nurturing.
SOURCE: Marketing Sherpa
@blakepappas22
#DSDCUpdates
New or expanded •products/services
Discounts & price changes•
Internal shifts & hiring•Conferences & workshops•
Case Studies•
@blakepappas22
#DSDCPOV’s
• Point of View that includes:
your response, opinion,
solution, expertise
• Shows you are up to date,
have your customer’s best
interests in mind, and are
an authoritative source of
information
@blakepappas22
#DSDCA/B Test Your Emails
@blakepappas22
#DSDCAutomated Lead Nurture
@blakepappas22
#DSDC25Homework
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
SOURCE: Kissmetrics Blog
“Focus, analytics, and pour
money into the things that are
working best.”
[When asked what 3 things he learned from Reed Hastings]
– Mitch Lowe (Netflix co-founder)
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
“What gets
measured gets
done.”
-Peter Drucker
@blakepappas22
● Measure for successes… and failures
● Check your rankings, traffic, conversions and other key metrics
● Focus on the strategies that are providing the best ROI and keep publishing
Measure!
@blakepappas22
Metrics that Matter for Content Goals
Primary Content Goals Corresponding Metrics
Improve SEO Keyword rankings, Average SERP position, SERP CTR, organic pageviews and organic sessions
Educate audience Avg. time on page, pages viewed per session, return visitors, external link, brand awareness lift
Drive qualified leads Conversion rate (CVR), Cost-per-lead (CPL); Cost-per-Customer-Acquisition (CPC)
Encourage social sharing Social shares, comments, mentions
Start/own the conversation Comments, external links, shares, email forwards
Personalize brand N/A - Conduct qualitative research following content campaigns
Increase brand following Direct traffic, Email subscription growth, Unique open rate, Unique CTR, brand mentions, external links
@blakepappas22
● Where are you in relation to direct or indirect competitors?● Guide your strategy with this data to find gaps or to play catch-up
Competitive Analysis
PAGES
INDEXED
KEYWORDS IN POSITIONS 1-
20KEYWORDS IN POSITIONS 1 -100
RATIO OF RANKED KEYWORDS
(POSITIONS 1 - 20) TO INDEXED
PAGES
HTTPS:/ Y OUR DOM A I N. C OM / 118 22 208 0.19
HTTP://W W W .C OM P ET IT OR- ONE. C OM 46 190 1052 4.13
HTTPS:// S U BDOM AI N.C OM P ETIT O R- ONE .C OM / 1720 3650 7316 2.12
HTTP://W W W .C OM P ET IT OR-T W O. C OM / 26 158 482 6.08
HTTP://C OM P ETIT OR-T W O. C OM / PA GE 478 1439 4480 3.01
HTTP://S U BD OM AI N.C OM P ETI T OR-T W O.C OM 258 1834 3976 7.11
HTTP://W W W .C OM P ET IT OR-T HR EE .C OM 40 127 357 3.18
HTTP://W W W .C OM P ET IT OR- FOUR.C OM / 10300 264 1859 0.03
@blakepappas22
● Where are your traffic/leads/contacts coming from?● How can you optimize your sources to improve?
Sources
Organic
17%
Referrals
29%
Social
8%
4%
Paid
14%
Direct
26%
Other
2%
@blakepappas22
Results
4,286 visits
1,829 downloads
786 new contacts
2 new customers
@blakepappas22
Opened email,
clicked, visited 2
linked resources
Visited
landing page,
downloaded hub
The Content Journey to Conversion
Forwarded an email
promoting hub,
clicked CTA
@blakepappas22
Visited multiple
site pages,
including
branded content
Sent direct email
to marketing,
handed to sales
The Content Journey to Conversion
Read 3 onsite blogs
@blakepappas22
The Content Journey to Conversion
Became a
customer!
December – End of February
Read blogs,
watched videos,
attended webinars,
downloaded hubs
@blakepappas22
#DSDCSources: Conversion Rate
● Once someone is on your site, how likely are they to convert? ● Can you optimize conversion rate by source or overall?
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
27-28
Putting Everything Together…
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Break!Come back in 15 minutes!
@blakepappas22
#DSDCAll 8 Steps Are Important
@blakepappas22
#DSDCThis is not a 30 day R.O.I.
But The Long-Term
Payoffs Can Be Huge
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Courtesy of The Sales Lion
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Fixed SEO issues and started
sporadically posting contentIncreased blogging to at least
2x per month
Organic traffic is up over 1800% by adhering to SEO best practices and posting content
Industry: Business Consulting
Services: Coaching
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
Started posting content
weekly
Industry: Enterprise Technology
Services: SEO, Content Creation
Since posting content on a weekly basis, organic traffic has increased 323%
Started posting 3x per
month
Since posting 3x per month, organic traffic has increased235%
Industry: Outdoor Recreation
Services: SEO, CRO
@blakepappas22
● It takes courage to give away something of value without the expectation of immediate return
● It takes courage to trust that your customers and prospective customers will reward you with attention and sales and loyalty at some point in the future
● It takes courage to play the long game, not the short game
It Takes Courage...
@blakepappas22
What if we never used these words again:
● Blogging
● FAQ’s
● Content Marketing
● Inbound Marketing
● Social Media Marketing
@blakepappas22
Listening to What Customers are Telling You●
Building your List of Interested Prospects●
Communicating on a Regular Basis●
Helping Your Prospects Make a Decision●
Teaching or Training your Customers●
Building a Learning Center●
Creating Content People are Actually Searching for!●
Instead Talk To Management About:
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
“When prospects visit our website, do
we help solve their problems
better than any of our competitors?”
@blakepappas22
Six Qualities of the Most Successful Content Marketing Case Studies
Via the SalesLion
1. Education is Their Primary Focus
2. The Entire Company Believes in Content
Marketing
3. They Produce Their Own Content
4. The Content They Produce is Educational, Honest,
and Non-Promotional
5. They Aren’t Afraid to Tackle the Big Questions
6. Sales and Marketing are United in Producing
Content
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
The companies that truly understand
these principles are the ones doing
incredible things online!
@blakepappas22
#DSDC
@blakepappas22
Our Training and Resources
HowToConvinceYourBoss.com
On-Site Workshops
Content Coaching
@blakepappas22
What We Do for our Clients
Content Marketing Strategy
and Development
Profit-Driven Pay-Per-Click
Management
Technical Search Engine
Optimization
@blakepappas22
If we were to offer you an online, self-paced, digital marketing coaching
program where you would receive:
• Online access to everything we just covered
• Dozens of videos with short assignments covering each step
• Downloadable workbooks with step-by-step training modules
• Access to a comprehensive video training library for advanced users
• Private webinars
• Private, live Q&A sessions every month
Question For You:
Who would find that valuable?Would you pay $200 per month for it?
Tweet: @VerticalMeasure’s
Content Marketing book is FREE
at http://vert.ms/cmworks
Raffle!
vert.ms/cmworks
#DSP15