content marketing strategy - digital marketing decoded

DigitalMarketingDecoded

Digitalmarketingdecoded.wordpress.comContentMarketingStrategy

WhetheryouarecompletelynewtotheDigitalMarketingworld,orhavesomeexperience,atDigitalMarketingDecodedourmissionistomakeDigitalMarketingeasytounderstand.

Thisstrategyhaseightheadings,andoutlinesthemethodsusedforcontentmarketingonDigitalMarketingDecoded.

Theyare:

1. TargetMarket2. CompetitiveAnalysis3. BrandPosition&Voice4. KeywordResearch5. DevelopContent6. CapturingCustomerInformation7. BuildingRelationshipsandDrivingTraffic(includingSocialMedia)8. Monitor,Respond&Engage(includingsitestatsandsocialmediainsights)

TargetMarketInchoosingatargetmarket,itwasdecidedtonotgooverlytechnical.Ourtargetmarketissmallbusinessowners,orthosewhohavesomeideathattheyshouldbedoingdigitalmarketing,butnotnecessarilytheknowledgeortechnicalabilitytounderstanddigitalmarketingterms.Astheonlineworldisnotgeographicallylimited,weareabletotargetpeopleworldwide.Werewetocontinuethisintorealworldconsulting,ourtargetwouldbegeographicallylimitedtotheislandofIreland.

Toreachourtargetmarketwehaveanumberofsystems:

TheuseofaWordpress.comblog(digitalmarketingdecoded.wordpress.com) SocialMediaplatforms(CurrentlyusingFacebook,TwitterandGooglePlus) TheuseofemailcollectionmethodsinordertoengageinEmailMarketing

CompetitiveAnalysisOurchoiceoftargetingsmallbusinesses,andavoidinghighlytechnicaldescriptionsandtermsthatonlydigitalmarketingprofessionalswouldunderstand,meanswehavebypassedcompaniessuchasSmartInsights.comandMoz.com,whileinevitablyplacingourselvesincompetitionwithdigitalmarketingcompanieslikeMaguireDigitalandEmarkable,whowouldbeworkingonasimilarangletoourselves.Althoughthereisasizablebaseofcompanieswhoarealreadyengagedinservingthisarea,ourbeliefisthatourfriendly,personalofferingwillbenefitusinshowingourdifferencetothecompetition.

BrandPosition&VoiceOurbrandposition,intargetingsmallbusinessownersandthosewithlittletechnicalknowledgeallowsustoavoidtheuseofacronyms,technicaltermsandbuzzwords.WefocusontheuseofsimpleEnglish,makingthetopicscoveredeasytounderstand.Wheretechnicaltermsoracronymsmustbeused,weexplaintheminsimpleEnglish.Thisallowsustoappearfriendlyandapproachable.Atthebottomofeverypost,wealsoinvitepeopletocommentorengagewithusiftheyhaveanyfurtherquestionsonthetopic.Thosewhodochoosetocontactuswithfurtherquestionscanexpectatimelyresponsefromoneofourteam,whocanthenserveasapointofcontactforfurtherinteraction.Thismethodgivesusanopportunitytogenerateleadsfromourreaders.

KeywordResearchKeywordresearchisanimportantelementofourcontentmarketingstrategy,givingusanopportunitytoengageinSearchEngineOptimisation,andtoworkongettingourcontentnoticedandhighlyrankedbyGoogleandothersearchengines.

Keywordresearch&blogpostsareinthefollowingappendices:

ChristopherMorton10332032AppendixI [redacted] [redacted] [redacted] [redacted]

DevelopContentAspartofcontentdevelopment,wehavedevelopedablog,availableatdigitalmarketingdecoded.wordpress.com,includingindividualblogposts(includedintheappendices),aninvitinghomepage,anaboutuspagefeaturingprofilesofourcontributors(animportantpartofbeinganapproachable,friendlybrand)andacontactpage.Oursiteincludesinteractiveelementsincludingpolls,andsharingoptionsforsocialmedia.Infollowinginboundbestpractice,thereisnohardsellorpushingofwhatwedo.Rather,weconcentrateonprovidingcontentthatvisitorswanttoread,assistingthem,andencouragingthemtocontinuetheconversation.

Image:DigitalMarketingDecodedfrontpage,showcasingstrongbrandname,eyecatchingvisualandinteractiveelements

CapturingCustomerInformationItisimportantthatweareabletoturnvisitorstoourwebsiteintoleads,andontoactivelyengagedclients.Aspartofthis,oursiteprovidesanumberofinitiatives,includingaprominentContactUspage,asidebarshowingoursocialmediapresence,and,atthebottomofeverypage,alinktofollowusbyemail,deliveringnewpostsdirectlytothem,whilesupplyinguswiththeiremaildetails.

OurFacebookpagecontinueswiththeeffortstocapturecustomerinformation,includingtheuseofFacebooksownCalltoActionbutton,whichinvitesvisitorstoourFacebookpagetoContactUs,andleadsthembacktoourcontactuspageonourwebsite.

BuildingRelationships&DrivingTrafficHumansaresocialcreatures,andsocialrelationshipsareimportanttous.TothatendwearecurrentlypresentonthreeSocialMediaplatforms:

Facebook Twitter Google+

Aspartofoursocialmediapresence,wepostengagingcontent,includingupdatesofnewblogposts(thesearepublishedautomaticallyfromWordpress,aswellasbeingmanuallyadded),interestingrelevantcontentfromnewssourcesandindividualcommentary.Wherepossible,welinktoindividualpagesonourwebsite,ortothewebsitefrontpage.Commentsonoursocialmediapostsarenotedandrespondedtopromptly.Sharingbuttonsareprominentattheendofeverypost,encouragingfurthersharingofinformation.

WealsoleveragetheinternalWordpresscommentsystem,andcommentformsareincludedonthebottomofeverypost.Wefeelitisimportanttobeabletoengagewithourvisitors,allowingustointeractandshowourskills&knowledge,takingvisitorsonajourneyfromvisitor,toreader,tolead,andontocustomer.

Tocontinuerelationshipbuilding,ourAboutpagecontainsabriefbioofeachteammember,andlinksbacktotheirLinkedInprofile,whichexpandsonthatbiowithafullprofileofexperienceandknowledge.Thisassistsinfurtherprovingthehumanaspectofourapproach(youaredealingwithaperson,anexpert.Youarenotdealingwithacompany)

Image:SamplebiofromourAboutpage

Monitor,RespondandEngageWehaveconductedFacebookmonitoringthroughSproutSocial,TwittermonitoringthroughTwitterAnalytics,andGoogle+monitoringthroughGoogleMyBusiness.MonitoringofsitestatswasconductedthroughWordpress.Asummaryofeachchannelisbelow.

Facebook:OurFacebookpresencewasundoubtedlyourstrongest,generating:

58pagelikes 2167impressionsfrom930uniqueusers(2.33peruser) 42storiescreatedbysharefrom26users Averageengagement6% Bestpostsforengagement(9.76%&8.11%)werebothWordpressautoposts,whichseems

counterintuitive,andmeritsfurtherresearch.

Image:Fan&ImpressionTotals

Image:FacebookSharingTotals

Images:(Top)EngagementOverview,(Bottom)PostEngagementDetails

Twitter:OurTwitterpresencewasconsiderablyweakerthanFacebook,gaining:

779impressions Engagementrate1.4% Bestperformingtweet88impressions&5.7%engagement

PartofthedifficultyinthemanagementofourTwitteraccountwasthedecisiontouseTweetdecktoallowforcentralisationofaccountsforourusers.This,giventime,mayhavebeenmoresuccessful,butrequiredinitialusertraining.

Image:TweetImpressionData

Image:Datafortopperformingtweet

Google+:Google+wasourweakestsocialchannel,andwasexpectedtobeweak.OurprimarymotivationfortheuseofGoogle+wastheperceivedSEObenefitoftyingdirectlyintoGoogle,toaidwithcontentindexing.AsaresultoftheGoogleretoolingofGoogle+anditslackofpopularuse,wewerelimitedtojust63impressionsonthischannel.Goingforwardwewouldbemorelikelytoswitchthischanneloutinfavourofamoreproductivechannelthatwouldbettersuitourtargetaudience.

Wordpress:OurWordpressstatstellusthatwehavenotperformedpoorly,amassing:

342pageviews 152visitors(2.25pageviewsavg) 45socialshares(includingtoTwitter,Facebook,Reddit&Tumblr) Nosearchtermdata(duetoGoogleencryptingsignedinsearchdata)

ItisimportanttonotethatthosewhoreadcontentonDigitalMarketingDecodedwerehappytoshare,asevidencedbyourWordpressandFacebooksharingfigures.

Image:WordpressDataforviews&visitors

Image:DataforWordpressSharingPerformance

AppendicestoDocumentAppendixIChristopherMortonKeywordResearchKeyword KeywordPlannerVolume AllintitlevolumeFacebookAdvertisingExplained

40 290

Image:Keywordplannerscreenshot,showing40searchespermonth

Figure2:Allintitlesearchscreenshot,showing290results

Thekeywordresearch,creatively,ismoredifficultthanIinitiallythought.Thereisafinelinetostrikebetweengettingthesearchvolume,andbeingoutcompeted.IbelievethatIfoundagoodcompromisetoworkwithinthiscase,asthekeywordsummedupmypostexcellently,whilenotbeingtoooverloadedontheallintitleresults.

Blogpost(published30November,takenverbatimfromwebsite17December)

FacebookAdvertisingExplainedFacebook has become notorious for its lack of organic reach (that is, people who naturally see your posts, without any payment to Facebook). You have probably already noticed on your own Facebook page, that it is becoming more and more difficult to reach people. In fact, a recent Locowise study estimated average organic reach at just 2.6%. You may be doing your part, creating content that your customers want, but if it is not being seen, what is there that you can do? This is where advertising options come into play. With that in mind, it is time that Facebook advertising was explained.

YourInsightsMatter When it comes to Facebook advertising, knowing who you want to target is the first thing to note. This is where your existing page insights matter. Your insights detail who already likes your page, broken down by age, location, language, and gender. These, your existing audience, already have an interest in your page, in your business, serve as a starting point for exploring your advertising options.

ThereisMoretoFacebookAdvertisingThanBoostPost Every time you look at your Facebook page, you see that big blue button under every post. The one marked boost post. It can be easy to think of it as your quickest route into advertising. That is true, it is quick, but there are better ways. You are about to part with your money for this, so it pays to stop and think through what you want to do. There is so much more to Facebook advertising than just boosting your post, after all.

KnowYourObjective

Theobjectivescreen,whereyoudecidewhatyouwantyouradverttoachieve.

Knowing your objective, what you want your ad to achieve, will make your Facebook advertising experience much more positive. You may want mor