the b2b content marketing stack
TRANSCRIPT
pdfcrowd.comopen in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
The B2B Content MarketingStack
40
Share
5
MARCH 31, 2015 WILL LAM
1
Like
All » Uberflip Blog » The B2B Content Marketing Stack
Subscribe
pdfcrowd.comopen in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
As a content-focused organization your main priority should be on moving the
meter to produce valuable content that your audience cares about in order to
bolster your inbound marketing efforts and generate leads.
It’s easy to get bogged down while running a content marketing team, but
when you don’t know about the bottlenecks or inefficiencies your team has,
any optimization will have a compounding effect downstream .
Less valuable content at a slower pace means fewer qualified leads, which
means lower sales and so on.
pdfcrowd.comopen in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
Whatever tools and processes you have in place should enhance your
marketing team’s efforts to justify its existence (and greater investment) based
on the ROI your team produces. Hopefully, you’re bringing in more revenue
than what you’re spending to create content and fuel your marketing engine.
The challenge
The number of marketing technology companies has nearly doubled between
January 2014 and 2015 from 947 to 1,876. Unfortunately, there isn’t any one
tool that helps you get a handle on content marketing in one fell swoop.
It’s overwhelming to stay on top of the sheer number of marketing tools out
there, in addition to whatever “stack” or suite of tools you’ve adopted so far.
Unfortunately, it’s tough to arrive at a general consensus about what makes
the "perfect content marketing stack".
But much like how David Heinemeier Hansson (“DHH”), co-founder of
Basecamp, and creator of Ruby on Rails web development stack, succinctly
pdfcrowd.comopen in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
puts it: “Ruby on Rails is Omakase”.
A team of chefs picked out the ingredients, designed the APIs, and
arranged the order of consumption on your behalf according to their
idea of what would make for a tasty full-stack framework.
Much like how David has come up with the “Rails Way” when it comes to web
development, I’d like to think that we as content marketers at Uberflip,
marketing to marketers, know a thing or two about creating an airtight
framework for content marketing teams to run like a well-oiled machine.
The prescription
Keep in mind that this is geared towards B2B companies that are invested in
content and have a team dedicated to consistently producing valuable content.
pdfcrowd.comopen in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
Now that we have that out of the way, what we need is a framework that takes
into account the entire content marketing process and to plug that into the
greater marketing organization’s purpose - a prescription, if you will, that’s
broad and robust enough to meet B2B marketers’ expectations and address
their unique challenges.
The problem lies in the sea of marketing technology products when trying to
understand the full picture of a lead’s life cycle from top of the funnel all the
way down to the close, while making better-informed decisions and being
more productive.
When you look at the touchpoints of marketing, you have to consider lead
capture, contact management, email marketing, social media, SEO, content
marketing, analytics, and so on when building your marketing ecosystem.
The Stack
The entire B2B Content Marketing Stack should be set up in a way that focuses
your efforts with an end-to-end holistic approach.
pdfcrowd.comopen in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
The stack I am prescribing helps streamline our efforts at Uberflip, from
creating content, organizing content via an editorial calendar, managing
content with our CMS, generating leads and distributing content, all the way to
automating your marketing efforts to bubble up hot leads for your sales team
to take action on. And finally it enables you to have the analytics to learn,
measure and improve your content marketing efforts.
Content Creation: Google Docs
Google Docs is a no-brainer in terms of writing and collaborating. It helps the
content creation process by providing a canvas for your team to edit, comment,
highlight and get the most out of your team’s writing efforts.
Editorial Calendar: Google Sheets
We stick to our own in-house spreadsheet and share it via Google Sheets to
host our editorial calendar, content ideas, as well as a list our previously
created content so we’re not duplicating efforts. It doesn’t have to be fancy or
sophisticated to be effective.
pdfcrowd.comopen in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
Content Management System (CMS): Uberflip
We use our own platform as our CMS to manage, organize, and automate all of
our content—blog articles, social media posts, videos, eBooks—in our content
hub. Since Uberflip is built for B2B Content Marketers, we also manage lead
generation within our content through contextual CTA placements to capture
contacts and gate our premium content. Since our CMS integrates with your
marketing automation, it fits into your content marketing and B2B lead
generation efforts, we have all those bases covered.
Distribution: Buffer
Buffer offers an easy way to share content on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and
Google+. You’re able to schedule when your content is shared as well as get a
host of analytics around what content has been performing the best in terms of
engagement and sharing.
Marketing Automation (includes email marketing): HubSpot
Probably the most flexible marketing platform in existence, as it starts from a
pdfcrowd.comopen in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
reasonable $800 / month for its Professional package and scales up from
there, HubSpot will cover all bases that let you grow into their Enterprise
package, assuming your revenue grows just as fast as your needs. They offer a
world class marketing automation suite, excellent UX and design, and
integrates perfectly with Uberflip’s Hubs and CTAs.
If you’re already on another marketing automation platform, you might be
better served sticking to it unless you’re fully committed to switching to
something like HubSpot.
CRM: HubSpot CRM (substitute Salesforce if you already have it)
Though a relatively new entrant to the CRM market that HubSpot has made
entirely free, it integrates perfectly with HubSpot’s Marketing Automation
software. If you’re already using another CRM like Salesforce and your entire
organization has bought into it, it’s better to stick to it rather than switch to
something else.
Analytics: Google Analytics
pdfcrowd.comopen in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
Pretty much the standard set of Analytics that you really need. Google
Analytics covers everything you need from standard web analytics, event-
driven analytics, powerful segmentation, Mobile Analytics and even cohort
analysis.
Extras
While the above tools comprise the core of our B2B content marketing stack,
here are some other tools to consider based on your unique needs.
Lead capture: SumoMe
SumoMe is a free lightweight tool to capture leads with their fly-out List
Builder, Smart Bar, and a host of other free analytics tools such as heatmaps.
You can’t really beat free when it comes to their tight integrations with
services such as MailChimp, Aweber, MadMimi or Constant Contact for your
email marketing.
Video: Wistia
If video is part of your content marketing strategy, Wistia is affordable and its
pdfcrowd.comopen in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
analytics give you insight into viewing trends, heatmaps and its lead
generation feature integrates perfectly into what we’ve previously mentioned.
SEO: Moz
If your organization is heavily focused on SEO, Moz is a tool that will give you
strategic insight into your content marketing efforts and how you rank
compared to competitors as well as a host of other products, which include
FollowerWonk for social, and Fresh Web Explorer and their industry leading
Keyword difficulty tracker and Moz Analytics.
Conclusion
The tools mentioned above create a tight stack that’s interwoven to help you
see the big picture—"the forest from the trees”—all the way down to seeing the
individual leaves of those trees, taking into account analytics on individual
contacts.
What’s in your content marketing stack? What do you think belongs or doesn’t
belong?
pdfcrowd.comopen in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
Go beyond the content marketing stack in our webinar, How To 10xYour Content Team's Productivity.
About the Author
Will is a Product Marketing Manager at Uberflip. Outside of Uberflip,
he likes lifting heavy things and putting them down, is horrible at Ruby
on Rails and iOS development, and prides himself on being a coffee
snob.
Follow on Google Plus Follow on Twitter More Content by Will Lam
Create a Hublike this one,
filled with
pdfcrowd.comopen in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
PREVIOUS ARTICLE
Introducing Uberflip for Apple …We're excited to announce the Uberflip Appli…
NEXT ARTICLE
Your Stress-Free Guide to Getti…Want to add video to your content marketing …
YOUR content
BUILD A HUB
pdfcrowd.comopen in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
0 Comments Uberflip
Share⤤
Start the discussion…
Be the first to comment.
Subscribe✉ Add Disqus to your sited Privacy
Recommend 1
MOST RECENT ARTICLES
pdfcrowd.comopen in browser PRO version Are you a developer? Try out the HTML to PDF API
Return to Home
2 days ago
Content Roundup: Howto Create Good, Old-Fashioned QualityContent
3 days ago
How to Prolong YourContent's Lifespan byImprovingDiscoverability
4 days ago
Introducing Uberflip forApple Watch: AWearable ContentExperience
Read Article Read Article Read Article
© Uberflip MADE WITH