the digital content strategy to transform your business
TRANSCRIPT
Workbook
THE SHIFT:The Digital Content Strategy to
Transform Your Business
The Shift: The Digital Content Strategy to Transform Your Business
To business owners and marketers, the world always shifts at a fast pace. There are always new markets to explore thanks to our era of technology and competition is never short. The pandemic that has rocked our world has only sped up these natural occurrences, wreaking havoc on most traditional marketing strategies.
Where do we stand now? It is not news that ad spend has been shifting to more digital outlets even before 2020. However, running your entire business online was not always a necessity. Before the pandemic consumers relying on deliveries over driving in their personal cars was not a normal habit and majority of business deals, communication and relationships were not being handled over virtual platforms. These changes in behavior have allowed for new market disruptors and innovators to step in with their entrepreneurship (McKinsey*).
“ The COVID-19 crisis has created an imperative for companies to reconfigure their operations—and an opportunity to transform them. To the extent that they do so, greater productivity will follow.”
The shift to digital-first marketing has only just begun. So, as consumers return to spending, the real question will be how will you effectively stay in front of them online? Are you willing and able to transform your traditional sales and marketing strategy ‘digital-first’?
This workbook will help you assess if you are currently meeting your audiences’ growing needs and demands online and the priorities you should consider and implement moving forward.
*Source: https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/leadership/the-next-normal-arrives-trends-that-will-de-fine-2021-and-beyond#
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If we had to pick one key theme that has emerged from this year’s B2B research, it would be this: If you want to be more effective at content marketing, document your strategy.
- Joe Pulizzi and Ann Handley, Content Marketing Institute: 2019 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends Report.
Audience-driven content is a central focus for both B2C and B2B inbound marketers. This type of content is aimed at providing valuable, useful information to potential and current customers in order to drive qualified leads, build brand authority and trust, and solidify customer loyalty.
Prospects are more informed before the point of purchase than in any other point in history.
Forrester reports that potential buyers are now 70% to 90% of the way through the sales process when they finally connect to a salesperson. What’s more: potential customers reward businesses who provide them with honest and helpful content.
So that’s great, we know businesses need to publish quality content. But how do we actually go about creating effective content that resonates with potential customers and turns curious site visitors into leads, and ultimately into customers?
The buyer is
of the way through the sales process before ever connecting
with a salesperson.
TO
The answer: it all starts with a documented content strategy.
“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”
– Sun Tzu, The Art of War3 Investis Digital3 Investis Digital
What is content marketing strategy?A documented content strategy doesn’t have to be a 50-page document or a 75-slide PowerPoint presentation. You can make your content strategy as robust or simple as your time and budget allows. All you need to create is an informed, realistic, and actionable plan that outlines how content will help you achieve your larger business goals. This document will help align your people, processes, and priorities around common goals and accelerate any efforts you make.
Your content strategy should be:
INFORMEDWell-researched, educated on industry, audience, competitors, and business challenges/opportunities
REALISTICPractical, content recommendations and insights that are relative to your business
ACTIONABLEStep-by-step plan that can easily roll into execution and be scaled up/down by budget
DATA-DRIVENYour content plan is centered on evidence and is measurable
Why create a content strategy?An effective content strategy gives you a dedicated action plan with a prioritized roadmap to help you maximize the return on your content investment. A 2020 study by the Content Marketing Institute found among those who do not have a strategic approach to content management, the top reason why they don’t is a lack of processes (63%). Second is that leadership hasn’t made it a priority (57%), followed by a lack of financial investment in resources (52%).
Getting started - do it with a content strategy templateContent strategies do not have to be made from scratch. For most businesses, if you can answer these questions for the following 9 checkpoints in at least one full sentence then congratulations, you will have documented your first content strategy!
Business Goals: Why are you creating content?
Content Goals: What do you want the content to do?
Audience: Who will your content speak to?
Competitor Research: Where can you beat the competition?
Format: What are the content formats you can realistically create?
Distribution: Where will the content live and how will it be shared? How often will you publish content?
Implementation: What is your budget for content? Who will produce, publish, and promote your content?
Measurement: How will you measure success?
Accountability: Who will be responsible, who can approve, who needs to be consulted and who needs to be informed as you publish content?
Let’s go over these 9 core checkpoints in greater detail. At the end of this template you will be able to draft your own content strategy and move on to producing great content!
YES, BUT IT ISN’TDOCUMENTED
Percentage of B2B Marketers Who Have a Content
Marketing Strategy
YES, AND IT IS DOCUMENTED
UNSURE
NO
Source: Content Marketing Institute4
I can write a digital marketing strategy
I can create digital marketing personas
I know how to do a content audit
I know how to do a gap analysis
I can easily explain the Google Panda, Penguin, Rank-Brain and Bert updates
I know how to optimize H1’s, meta descriptions, title tags and other fundamental SEO tags
I know how to use our current website CMS
I know how to create and implement segmented workflows
I can set up Google Analytics, Webmaster Console and AdWords accounts
I know how to set up goals in GA
I know how to implement tag manager
I know how to evaluate landing pages for conversion rate optimization (CRO)
I know the definition of statistical significance as it relates to CRO
I know how to do link development
I know how to set up A/B testing and how to evaluate the results
I know how to do competitive keyword research
I know what GDPR is
I know how to implement a secured certificate (SSL)
I know how to create a content calendar
I know how to create a RACI document
I know how to set up paid media campaigns
I know how to promote content through various digital channels
Content Marketing Maturity Assessment - Individual
NOVICE BEGINNER INTERMEDIATE ADVANCED EXPERT
Choose your skill level and type the number associated with the skill level into the box for each line item:
😎55
😁44
😊33
😐22
🤔11 Novice
Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced
Expert
🤔NOVICE
0–35 PTS 😐BEGINNER
36–50 PTS 😊INTERMEDIATE
51–75 PTS 😁ADVANCED
76–95 PTS 😎EXPERT
96–110 PTSINDIVIDUAL SCORE
Complete this assessment to measure your marketing maturity. On the following page, do the same for your company. This will allow you to gauge your strengths and weaknesses.
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Our competitive edge depends on our digital marketing efforts
Our leadership team supports our digital marketing efforts and provides the necessary resources
We have a written digital marketing strategy that drives our tactics
We are constantly training our marketing team on leading edge digital marketing tactics
We are using an omni-channel approach to publishing our content
We have clearly communicated our digital marketing strategy across the entire company
We measure how organic and paid work together
We make decisions based on data
We have sophisticated data analysis that informs our actions
We have a modern technology stack that enables us to integrate multiple APIs
Our website provides a great user experience
We are constantly acquiring quality backlinks
We publish content on a regular and frequent basis, in multiple formats, across multiple channels
We have segmented workflows in our lead nurture program
We have clearly defined marketing qualified leads and sales qualified leads
We know what our cost per acquisition is (CPA)
We know our cost per lead (CPL)
We know the lifetime value of our customers (LTV)
We use a variety of paid media platforms and formats
We have RACI (Responsible, Approver, Consulted, Informed) to expedite content creation, approvals and publishing
We have detailed personas and know where our audience consumes content and what format they prefer
We optimize our content including titles, H1 tags, meta descriptions and images
We use structured data to enable better rankings in the answer box and organic search results
Content Marketing Maturity Assessment - Company
🤔NOVICE
0–35 PTS 😐BEGINNER
36–50 PTS 😊INTERMEDIATE
51–75 PTS 😁ADVANCED
76–95 PTS 😎EXPERT
96–115 PTSCOMPANY SCORE
😎55
😁44
😊33
😐22
🤔11
Choose your skill level and type the number associated with the skill level into the box for each line item:
Novice
Beginner
Intermediate
Advanced
Expert
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How much should we spend on marketing?
Source: The CMO Survey and Deloitte Digital
Consumer Packaged Goods
Consumer Services
Tech Software/Biotech
Communications/Media
Service Consulting
Education
Healthcare/Pharmaceuticals
Retail Wholesale
Banking/Finance/Insurance
Transportation
Manufacturing
Energy
Mining/Construction
24%
15%
15%
13%
13%
12%
11%
10%
10%
8%
8%
8%
4%
Industry Revenue allocated for marketing
ANNUAL REVENUE:
MARKETING BUDGET:
% OF REVENUE:
Higher
HOW DO YOU COMPARE WITHIN YOUR BUSINESS CATEGORY?
Lower
Same
YOUR CURRENTALLOCATION
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The Customer Journey
Your customers follow predictable patterns in the buying process. As a best practice, you should have their stages mapped out, from the earliest point of your relationship where they’ve never heard of you, all the way through where they decide to purchase from you. Each piece of content you publish might reach your prospects in a different stage of the customer journey, and each piece should help your customers advance to the next step (or even skip a step) as they move closer to a purchase decision.
PRO TIP:These customer journey process examples are generic. Take the time to evaluate your customer’s buying process to make sure you
understand all the steps. Remember, each piece of content should focus on a stage of the customer journey and should meet their focused interest to move them further through the journey. Are you creating content that is useful, helpful and moves the prospect to the next stage of your customer journey?
Growth
Customer
Engagement
Influencer
Mapping out your Customer’s Journey
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What does your journey look like?
Mapping Your Customer Journey
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
YOUR JOURNEY STAGES
In order to align your content with the customer journey, you must first know the touch points that lead a prospect to a transaction. The customer journey is the complete sum of interactions a customer goes through with your brand.
Knowing your unique customer journey allows you to create content for every stage of the journey assuring your prospect won’t fall out of your journey into a competitors. Document your journey as it leads a prospect to becoming a customer. A documented journey is an essential part of your digital marketing strategy.
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Grow your audience by sparking interest around your products and services.
CONTENT’S ROLE• Build awareness around products or services
• Use top-of-funnel content to attract new visitors
• Provide info on what audiences are actively searching for
• Use paid for greater reach and awareness
RANK YOUR ORGANIZATION• 0 if you are not engaging in that tactic
• 1-2 if you are just beginning
• 3-4 if you are using this tactic with unclear results
• 5 if your company is successfully using this tactic
Content Ideation
Content Creation
Persona Development
Traditional Advertising
Programmatic Advertising
Organic Social
Paid Social
Influencer Marketing
Analytics MeasurementYour Total Score
The Customer Journey: Awareness Stage
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Now that the prospect has found your website, you want them to engage with your content, ultimately filling out a form or contacting you directly.
Content Ideation
Content Creation
Persona Development
Paid Retargeting
User Experience
Organic Social
Paid Social
Influencer Marketing
Analytics Measurement
CRO
Search Optimization
Your Total Score
The Customer Journey: Consideration Stage
CONTENT’S ROLE• Answer common questions from your audience
• Solve the audience’s problems
• Emphasize key benefits of your product or services
• Compare other products or services
RANK YOUR ORGANIZATION• 0 if you are not engaging in that tactic
• 1-2 if you are just beginning
• 3-4 if you are using this tactic with unclear results
• 5 if your company is successfully using this tactic
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Content Ideation
Content Creation
Persona Development
Paid Retargeting
User Experience
Organic Social
Paid Social
Influencer Marketing
Analytics Measurement
CRO
Search Optimization
Lead Nurture
Help your audience make a buying decision they’re comfortable with.
The Customer Journey: Decision Stage
CONTENT’S ROLE• Build confidence
• Create a sense of urgency
• Inform on pricing
• Guide through the purchase process
RANK YOUR ORGANIZATION• 0 if you are not engaging in that tactic
• 1-2 if you are just beginning
• 3-4 if you are using this tactic with unclear results
• 5 if your company is successfully using this tactic
Your Total Score
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Content Ideation
Content Creation
Analytics Measurement
Customer Outreach
Grow your audience by providing a stimulus to spark interest around your products or services.
The Customer Journey: Advocacy Stage
CONTENT’S ROLE• Thank them
• Confirm they made the right decision
• Ask for testimonials and referrals
• Build the relationship to promote word of mouth referrals
• Create user guides, tips and tricks, and special deals
RANK YOUR ORGANIZATION• 0 if you are not engaging in that tactic
• 1-2 if you are just beginning
• 3-4 if you are using this tactic with unclear results
• 5 if your company is successfully using this tactic
Your Total Score
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The Customer Journey - Your Score
AS YOU CONSIDER YOUR SCORE:Look through the channels and tactics and make decisions on where you want to prioritize your resources. Where are you missing out completely? What do you need to improve on?
RANK YOUR ORGANIZATION
Your Total Score
0-40 I need help!
41-80 Just beginning and lots of gaps
81-130 We’re pretty good with room for improvement
131-180 We’re experts at the whole journey
Write your top 3 priorities based on your score
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Example: Increase qualified lead generation, become a thought leader, expand to new markets or audiences
Your business goals drive your overall content strategy. All content should directly support or complement your larger business goals. Most companies create content to drive additional leads to increase revenue.
BUSINESS GOALS:Why are you doing content marketing?
Checkpoint #1: Why are you creating content?
Your business goals drive your overall
content strategy. All content should directly support or complement your larger business goals.”
Start writing...
Other common goals include establishing a business as a thought leader or primary authoritative voice within an industry, or expanding your brand to reach to a new market or audience. Always make sure you have a clear business purpose for why you are specifically using content in your marketing efforts.
Why are you creating content?
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Start writing...
Content goals take your business goals and narrow them down into the specific context of what the content needs to do in order for you to achieve your business goals. If your goal is to become an authoritative thought leader, your content typically needs to be comprehensive, insightful, and educational. (Specific formats, like how to decide between blog articles or white papers, are discussed later in the strategy process.) In this checkpoint, you want to focus on defining the elements each piece of content should contain to effectively support your business needs.
If time and budget are on your side, you can take this checkpoint one step further by identifying concise and specific strategic initiatives that outline how you are going to achieve your content goals.
Strategy InitiativesActions; Tactics
Content Goals Educate; Engage
Business GoalsLeads; Revenue
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Examples: Educate readers, create a community dialogue, showcase brand values and expertise or move prospects through the customer journey.
CONTENT GOALS:What do you want the content to do?
Checkpoint #2: What are your goals for your content?
What do you want your content to do?
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Content Marketing Goals and MetricsMARKETING GOALSRecord the most important marketing goals for your company. Goals should have corresponding metrics. What will you measure? How will you know you’re successful? How will you know if you are not? See previous page for even more examples than below.
POTENTIAL GOALS• Brand awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
• Moving leads through the sales funnel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
• Client retention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
GOAL HOW WILL YOU MEASURE?
SAMPLE METRICS• Return website visitors, phone calls, appointments scheduled
• Request Information forms, content downloads, subscribers
• Website traffic, social shares, content on other sites, inbound links
Within the data is the answer to the question, “What do we do next?”
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The most successful content marketing campaigns align production and distribution to the needs, goals, and concerns of a specific audience.
Creating content for a generic audience is a no-win situation.
You’ll invest valuable resources to produce content that attempts to speak to everyone and usually ends up bland, with your readers hitting the snooze button.
Instead, always speak directly to your core target market. Developing buyer personas can be a comprehensive process, but for now we’ll simplify your persona profile to include only the basic information you’ll need to get going with content production:
• Your target audience’s general demographics: age, gender, and digital comfort level
• The problem your audience is trying to solve
• Your audience’s expectations from your industry, product, or service
• Your audience’s primary hesitation to convert
Example: Company ABC is a plastic surgery practice. Their target audience is between 30 and 50 years old; is very comfortable with the internet and technology; wants to find the right medical practitioner for an elective procedure; needs empathetic customer service and is concerned about results, pain and cost.
AUDIENCE GOALS:Who will your content speak to?
Checkpoint #3: Who is the intended audience of your content?
Who will your content speak to?
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Persona DevelopmentDefine Your AudienceWhy create buyer personas? These are examples of buyers who make or influence decisions about our businesses.
Whether it’s B2B or B2C, small business or enterprise, each of us has an audience. For some it is clearly defined and narrowly focused. For others, your business covers a broad range of demographics.
The key is to define that audience so you know who they are, their habits and activities and how you can reach them throughout the customer journey.
These insights will inform your content marketing strategies, content formats, and promotional and distribution efforts. They will also help you align your efforts with current company marketing efforts.
Put as much detail as you can into the persona — age, gender, where they work, leisure habits — anything that will shape and define your audience segments.
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Now it’s time to create the personas specific to your business. We’ve given you some blank faces to work from, so start to think about the type of people you already reach or want to reach and flesh out their persona here.
3 adjectives to describe them:
Demographics(Age, gender, marital status, location, education, socioeconomic status)
Pain Points(Barriers to purchase or conversion)
Trust Factors(Those things that create trust and loyalty with brands)
Trust Factors(Who or what are they influenced by? Include media sources where they already consume content.)
Preferred Content Formats
Sample Content Topics
Are they active on social media? Where?
Mobile Tablet Desktop
Preferred Devices(Check where they consume content the most.)
Your Persona Development
Persona Name
Long-form content
Infographics
Case Studies
Webinars
Reviews
Video
Podcasts
Blogs
Interactive
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Common Questions and Your Expertise
What You Should Know About the True Costs of Content Marketing
HEADLINEEx: How much does content marketing cost?
QUESTION
Your customers have questions, answer them.What questions are your potential customers asking? There are common questions almost everyone asks before buying during their “Zero Moment of Truth.” Use the questions to create topics and headlines. By answering their questions on your website, you are moving visitors through the customer journey. They will be more informed and ready to buy when it comes time.
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Start writing...
We use a number of tools to perform content audits. One of the most useful tools is Screaming Frog. Download the software and you can crawl your site. The tool produces a report that shows all your URLs, Titles, Meta Descriptions, H1 tags and more.
This will allow you to review your content to find gaps where you haven’t created content in a particular stage of your customer journey. You can find old, outdated content that needs to be updated or deleted and you can also find content based around topics or themes that can be combined together to make long form content.
CURRENT GOAL
Example: In your audit you may find a number of articles that focus on the same topic. Can you collapse all of them into one awesome article that will have more authority with the search engines?
CONTENT GOALS:What content do we currently have?
Checkpoint #4: What is the current state of your content?
Where are the gaps and current opportunities with your content?
50%
30%
15%
5%
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Content Audit
Download Screaming Frog to crawl your site. This software will give you a report of all your pages and posts in a spreadsheet format. This will save you time and give you a complete list without any manual action. Add columns to the spreadsheet to help organize what content you will keep, what content needs refreshing and what content is outdated and needs to be deleted. Even use the ROT format to mark things quickly: – “R” for redundant, “O” for outdated, and “T” for trivial. Create a column to mark your letters quickly and then go back in depth later.
Review your content in Google Search Console to determine the most popular content, highest converting pages, pages with the longest user engagement, and the content where users tend to leave your site the most. This review will help you identify what content is resonating with your audience.
SCREAMING FROG
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From Content Audit to Creation
Name 5 experts in your industry or community that you could interview for either a blog post or video interview or other content piece.
Stay Organized! Sample: Content Editorial Calendar Template – EXCEL spreadsheet content calendar.
105 Ideas to fill up your content calendar. Jay Baer - Convince and Convert
Following your assessment if you found content lacking you may need to build before you can promote – try these questions on for size.
What free guides, case studies or e-books could you develop in the next 90 days?
What presentations have you given recently that you could re-purpose?
What customers can you interview for either a blog post or video interview?
What webinars, videos or podcasts could you create in the next 6 months?
Name major events, conference or holidays you could create content around.
PRO TIP:
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Ideation: Keyword Phrases
VARIATION 1all-in-one juicer & blender machine
VARIATION 2blender combo model
VARIATION 3dual-purpose smoothie maker
KEYWORD PHRASEe.g. juicer combo machine content
Most businesses have a few keyword phrases (common terms) that drive most of their online traffic and most of their revenue. It’s important to know those phrases as well as other semantic phrases that users are typing into search engines to find your products or services. This will help you understand how to craft content that people will land on.
LONG TAIL TERMSThis concept was introduced by Chris Anderson in a Wired magazine article in 2004. It refers to the fact that in the aggregate, longer, more detailed searches can account for more traffic and business than the shorter ‘head’ terms. This is still true today.
Below, list the phrases that, based on industry knowledge or analytics insights, drive your online traffic:
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Start writing...
What are your competitors doing online and where can you find an advantage?
Here you’ll want to identify how your competitors use content to achieve similar goals, even if they are aspirational. A review of the sites and content offers can help you determine where you fit within the industry. Take note of how crowded the space is (for content) and how far behind or ahead you are — this can help you allocate additional budget if you discover you’re significantly behind your competition. Also take note of any formats that seem to stand out such as video, free guides, or custom visuals and how your competitors distribute their content.
3-4XA WEEK
The number of times my top competitors
currently produce authoritative articles
on their blog.
Example: My top competitors currently produce authoritative articles on their blog 3-4x a week. Video tutorials are popular among readers, earning several thousand views but lack a written transcript and relevant calls-to-action.
COMPETITOR RESEARCH:What are your competitors doing online and where can you find an advantage?
Checkpoint #5: How are your competitors using content to achieve their goals?
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Start writing...
What are the content formats you can actually create?
This checkpoint is critical as it directly informs implementation. Make sure you can actually create content with your available resources and do so on a consistent basis. Consider producing video content as it is the easiest content format to consume and it can be highly engaging. Google’s newest algorithm (Page Experience) update will focus on user engagment. As you create and publish content, make sure you are measuring the engagment. Measure engagement on existing content to ensure that users are consuming it rather than bouncing off the page.
Infographics typically require several hours of design time and need additional promotional spend in order to be effective.
Prioritize quality and frequency — even if that means creating fantastic web copy and blog articles — over aspirational formats until you have a solid library of content in place.
Once you have a good content foundation, feel free to explore more creative and unique content types.
Example: With my budget and in-house resources I can create 10 blog articles a month, allowing me to post twice per week to my blog.
FORMAT:What are the content formats you are able to produce?
Checkpoint #6: What types of content can you realistically create?
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CONTENT FORMATS AVAILABLE RESOURCES:
There are so many different ways to develop content. From visual formats like videos and infographics, to written content like case studies and articles, the possibilities are endless. But every business is different in terms of what their audience gravitates towards and what they have the resources to create.
Use the checklist below to identify what content formats you can or want to produce that are aligned with your strategy, and how you would go about getting them created with internal or external resources.
Blog articles
Videos
Webinars
Newsletters
Case studies
Podcasts
Infographics / Data-graphics
Quizzes
Interactive tools
Downloadable guides
eBooks
Curation
Interviews
Internal External
Start writing...
Notes
Content Creation Execution – What can you achieve?
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DATE TITLE GOAL PERSONA PHASE FORMAT
CALENDAR
Publishing content on a frequent basis will deliver more traffic and more leads. But many organizations go about creating content without a plan or calendar. This ad hoc approach is not effective or efficient, and often stalls out.
Creating a content calendar allows you to look months ahead to ensure that you are:
• Publishing content consistently
• Focusing on business priorities
• Following your established strategy
Editorial Calendar & How Can We Create All This Content
The calendar format below includes the basics. The more detail you add to the calendar, the more effective it becomes. Consider adding primary and semantic keyword phrases, promotion, and social media channels, meta descriptions, calls-to-action, hub and spoke correlation, and a search volume and competition metric field.
Content formats could include: blog post, social media, video, infographic, eBook, case study, etc. Are there hub/spokes you can identify?
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Practical ApplicationNow that you’ve gone through the first part of this workbook and you have a better understanding of content marketing and the customer journey, it’s time to put everything you’ve learned into an actionable plan. The hub and spoke model of content marketing gives you a tight focus for a designated amount of time, with a main goal of driving traffic, leads, and nurturing relationships into business opportunities.
HubHubs are comprehensive pieces of content that are often gated behind a form in order to drive leads and create your owned audience. They can take many different formats, PDFs, kits, tools, e-books, an exclusive video series, or more. They should provide additional value that your normal day-to-day content may not.
SpokesSpokes are ancillary pieces of content created with the goal in mind of driving people to the hub. Topics are brainstormed in conjunction with the hub and planned out over a designated period of time (e.g. a quarter) in order to focus your content marketing efforts. Content from the hub can be repurposed for the spokes in different formats and for different content channels.
HUB
Webinar
Off-Site Article Press
Release
Lead Nurture
Newsletter
NEWS
Infographic
INFO
Case Study
Page
PPTX
Video
Page
Blog
Social
Social
Social
Slide share
Social
Landing Page
Ad
Email Email
BLOG
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BUSINESS GOAL / BACKGROUNDMany people feel like they are failing with their content marketing, so this guide will address the major elements they need to revamp in the next 90 days to see improvements. Goal is to generate leads who are struggling, and nurture the relationship, introducing them to our Coaching program.
LAUNCH TIMELINEQ2 2020
AUDIENCE / PERSONAMarketing Mary - Marketing Director or Manager at B2B or B2C businesses, both small and large scale, who wears many hats. She is not the final decision maker, but regularly consumes content (mostly written articles and case studies), and attends industry events in order to bring back insights to her team.
INITIAL HUB TOPIC AND TITLE IDEAS• Your 60-Day Content Marketing Plan Template
• 90-Day Content Marketing Course-Correction Plan
• Guide to Revamping your Content Marketing Program in 90 Days
SPOKE IDEAS (create as many as you can)• Insourcing vs. Outsourcing your Content Development
• [Infographic] How to Revive Your Content Marketing Plan in 2 Months [Blog]
• 10 Industry Experts Share How to Course-Correct Failing Content Marketing Programs [Influencer Round-up]
CONTENT FORMATLong-form downloadable PDF
LEAD NURTURE SKETCHA series of 4 emails spaced out over a few weeks after download. First few emails will be informational, with CTAs pointing people to published spokes that are relevant. Information on Coaching program to be included in later emails, with CTA to contact us to talk further.
LEAD CONTENT CREATORFreelance
OTHER ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES• Susan - Content outline and editing, general management
• Bob - Guide design
• Tim - Social media plan and promotion
• Jess - Lead nurture implementation
Hub and Spoke Campaign Abstract Sample
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Hub and Spoke Campaign AbstractBUSINESS GOAL / BACKGROUND
LAUNCH TIMELINE
AUDIENCE / PERSONA
INITIAL HUB TOPIC AND TITLE IDEAS
SPOKE IDEAS (create as many as you can)
CONTENT FORMAT
LEAD NURTURE SKETCH
LEAD CONTENT CREATOR
OTHER ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
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My Hub & Spoke CampaignHEADLINE
Start writing...
Hub & Spokes Notes
FORMAT CHANNEL DEADLINE PUB DATE CREATOR
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Start writing...
Where will the content life and how will it be share?
For most businesses, this checkpoint is straightforward: the company website and social media channels are the standard promotion platforms. However, feel free to add in other channels like email marketing, blog syndication, or external publishers relevant to your industry.
Also, don’t forget about distribution. Whereas promotion is about driving your audience to your content, the goal of distribution is to drive your content to your audience. Your content can live off your site on distribution channels like YouTube, Pinterest, or Instagram.
The important thing about promotion and distribution is to go where your audience is and where you can realistically achieve traction. This ends up being a combination of your available time, budget, and current level of credibility.
Example: Free guides will live under our Resources section on our website, we will promote our blog and free guides through LinkedIn and Facebook, and we will write a monthly column for Huffington Post Small Business Voices.
DISTRIBUTION:Where will you publish, promote, and distribute your content?
Checkpoint #7: Where will your content live and how will you share it?
Promoting your content is essential! A good rule of thumb is to spend 20% of your time and resources creating and producing content and 80% promoting your content.
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Content Optimization
WHAT DO YOU
Optimization is a crucial element of content marketing. You should never publish a new piece of content without ensuring best optimization practices have been followed. If you’re going to spend 10 hours creating a piece of content, at least spend 10 minutes optimizing it so it can be easily discovered. Optimization is also important for a good user experience that engages the visitor and encourages them to take the next step in their journey.
Below are the major elements that each web page or content should have. Check the box of the ones you already consistently do so you know where to improve.
Page title (shows in search results)
Meta description (shows in search results)
H1 Tag (only one per page!)
Section headings (H2, H3, H4)
Internal links
External links
Bulleted and numbered lists
Font formatting
Calls-to-action
Image ALT text
Mobile friendliness
Page load times
Search, Social and Content Strategy
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Search, Social and Content..1
At Investis Digital, we understand that your business and your website are unique, and you require different approaches and internet marketing services to be the most successful. That is why we offer a broad range of services to provide you with everything that you need, from SEO and link building, to social media consultation and content creation services.
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Begin with a Search, Social & Content Strategy
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Link Building
Current Linkable Assets
Start writing...
Link Building Notes
New Linkable AssetsWhat can we create in the next 12 months?
Resource Center
Blogs
Case Studies
Infographics
Free guides
Glossaries
Links Page
Calculators
Interactive
Giveaways
Stat pages
Templates
Video/Webinars
Checklists
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Content Promotion (Paid Media)Think about where you will promote your content. Many of us have a blog on our site so that makes a natural publishing channel. There are also many other places you can distribute your content.
Amplify – Promoting your content to your audienceCheck off the channels where you can distribute your content. Then circle the channels you have the budget to promote on. Pick the channel most aligned with your audience to increase the value of your promotion.
My blog
Corporate website
Industry related site
CURRENT DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS
Paid Search
Programmatic
Influencer
PAID MEDIA
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Notes
InstagramAssociation site
Guest post
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Email MarketingUSING 7 EMAILS TOWARD THE SALE
Your Headline
Content Focus
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Sample Content 12-Day Delay
• Thank them for requesting information
• Provide resources for helping a family member prepare for assisted living
Sample Content 2-42-3 Day Delay
• Focus on what housing will look like
• Property video or gallery images
• Pricing information
• Specific details about the property
• Company mission and values
• Day in the life of our residents
• Dining
• Amenities
Sample Content 5-73-7 Day Delay
• Testimonials
• FAQs
• Resident’s experience
• CTA (schedule a visit)
• Recap Value proposition
• About Company
• CTA (tour property)
Your Headline
Content Focus
Your Headline
Content Focus
PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT
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ACTIONWhat action triggers your email?
EMAIL #1What is the content and goal of your email?
EMAIL #2What is the content and goal of your email?
Lead nurture is the relationship-building element of content marketing. It’s just as important to keep the relationship alive as it is to create it in the first place. This is where trust and loyalty are built; by providing consistent value to someone who has shown interest in your products or services and delivering information that is helpful. Lead nurture mainly takes the form of email. From newsletters to updates to promotions, email is a potent tool to stay top-of-mind (and inbox) to nurture an existing relationship, encouraging prospects to move down the sales funnel.
Sketch out a two-email lead nurturing process in the boxes below based on an action someone takes on your website. For example, if someone fills out a contact form, what happens next? How about a download? Also, write down one thing you can do to improve your email and lead nurturing program right away.
Notes
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Email Marketing
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Start writing...
Who will produce, publish, and promote your content?
Find out how much quality content you can produce within your budget and have at least one person in your company dedicated to content marketing success. Depending on your resources, this person may be responsible for overseeing your editorial efforts — like finding and managing freelance writers — or even writing the content in-house.
Both options are fine, but decide who is ultimately responsible for sourcing and publishing your content to ensure you stay on schedule and on strategy. If you have the budget, consider working with a reputable content marketing agency or consultant to amplify and streamline your efforts.
WHAT IS YOUR BUDGET FOR CONTENT?
Example: We will hire an editorial manager who will be responsible for hiring 2 freelancer writers familiar with our industry, managing employees’ written contributions, and publishing content to our site following a set schedule.
IMPLEMENTATION:What is your budget for content? Who will produce, and publish, and promote your content?
Checkpoint #8: Who will produce and publish your content?
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Start writing...
Who will have accountability to your content?
Don’t let your content marketing get bogged down with unclear accountability. Someone has to approve the strategy, the content, the channels and how all your content will be deployed. Don’t let your content sit in someone’s inbox for weeks. Set expectations, deadlines and determine who has the final say on publishing content.
We use the RACI matrix to help us understand who needs to sign off on content. For some of our clients, it’s only one person. For others, entire departments are impacted. The key is to identify who and set expectations.
ResponsibleWho is/will be doing this task?
Who is assigned to work on this task?
ApproverWho’s head will roll if this goes wrong?
Who has authority to make decisions?
ConsultedAnyone who can tell me more about this task?
Any stakeholders already identified?
InformedAnyone whose work depends on this task?
Who has to be kept updated about the progress?
Example: You may have two separate departments within your organization that need to approve content; compliance and marketing. Make sure they know what you expect from them once they receive an article. Set deadlines and establish processes that expedite approvals.
GOVERNANCE:
Checkpoint #9: Who will be accountable?
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Strategy & the Customer Journey
Source: Glassdoor.com, 2020
Internal External Resource
Define Customer Journey
Define Hard Goals
Define Soft Goals
Audience Needs
Data Gathering
Persona Development
Current State Analysis
Gap Analysis
Content Inventory
Competitor Research
Content Creation
Strategic Initiatives
Content Calendar
RACI
Role/Title Salary
Marketing Manager $58,000
Senior Content Strategist $62,000
Editor $47,000
Content Writer $46,000
Data Analyst $60,000
Project Manager $62,000
TEAM RESOURCES
Resource ChecklistOn the pages that follow, you’ll see the immediate next steps that help turn your content strategy into a viable action plan. For each task in the workbook, note if you have the team you need internally, or if you need to look for them externally. Then, list them out by name. A variety of options exist for internal and external teams, so we’ve given you an average baseline salary measure to keep cost in perspective. After that, consider the resources you have, and those you’ll need to get the job done.
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Source: Glassdoor.com, 2020
Internal External Resource
Topic Research
Staff Brainstorm
Ideas Process
Topic Ideation
Theme Ideation
Headline/Title Ideation
Keyword Creation
Content Calendar
Content Creation
Graphics
Images
Video
Implementer
RACI
Role/Title Salary
Content Strategist $61,000
Content Writer $46,000
Data Analyst $60,000
Editor $47,000
Graphic Designer $40,000
Videographer $24,000
Photographer $29,000
Video Editor / Animator $51,000
Project Manager $62,000
TEAM RESOURCES
Resource Checklist: Content Creation
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Internal External Resource
Fundamentals: H2, Title, Meta Descriptions, etc.
Research Duplicate Content/Fix
Accelerated Mobile Pages Implementation
Page Load Speed Optimization
Research & Implement Data
Local Search Optimization
Knowledge Graph Optimization
Featured Snippets Optimization
People Also Ask (PAA) Optimization
Competitive Keyword Research
Striking Distance Research & AnalysisImage & Video Search Optimization
Implement SSL
Voice Search Optimization
Link Development
Latent Sematic Indexing (LSI) Research
Source: Glassdoor.com, 2020
Role/Title Salary
Technical SEO Strategist $49,000
Link Developer $51,000
Programmer $70,000
Data Analyst $60,000
Content Writer $46,000
Project Manager $62,000
TEAM RESOURCES
Resource Checklist: Search Engine Optimization
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Internal External Resource
Owned Asset Inventory
Establish Paid Budget
Audience Development/Testing
Campaign Creation: Awareness, Consideration, Decision, Advocacy
Landing Page Development
Google Analytics Tag Manager Set Up
Ad Copy Creation/Testing
Graphics, Images, Video
Ongoing Campaign Management & Optimization
Reporting & Analysis
Competitive Landscape Analysis
Performance Forecasting
Keyword Research & AnalysisSource: Glassdoor.com, 2020
Role/Title Salary
Digital Media Manager $57,000
Paid Search Specialist $34,000
Paid Social Specialist $47,000
Media Planner $46,000
Graphic Designer $40,000
Data Analyst $60,000
Content Writer $46,000
Project Manager $62,000
TEAM RESOURCES
Resource Checklist: Paid Media
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Source: Glassdoor.com, 2020
Role/Title Salary
CRO Specialist $49,000
Web Developer $65,000
Graphic Designer $40,000
Editor $47,000
Data Analyst $60,000
Content Writer $46,000
Project Manager $62,000
TEAM RESOURCESInternal External Resource
Current State Analysis
Goal Setting
Conversion Definitions
Hypothesis Creation
Landing Page Development
Google Analytics/Analysis Set Up
Determine Statistical-Significance
Monitor/Report
Test, Learn, Iterate
Implement
Form Fill Creation
Performance Forecasting
A/B Test Set Up/Monitoring
Measurement Analysis
Resource Checklist: Conversion Rate Optimization
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Source: Glassdoor.com, 2020
Internal External Resource
Current State Analysis
Workflow Creation
Audience Segmentation
Automation Research
Automation Implementation
Email Content Calendar
Email Content Creation
Email Analysis
AMP Email Research
AMP Email Implementation
Images
Graphics
Video
Interactive Content
Role/Title Salary
Email Marketing Specialist $51,000
Content Writer $46,000
Editor $47,000
Web Developer $65,000
Data Analyst $60,000
Graphic Designer $40,000
Project Manager $62,000
TEAM RESOURCES
Resource Checklist: Email Marketing
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Source: Glassdoor.com, 2020
Internal External Resource
Current State Analysis
Set Up Google Analytics, Search Console and AdWords
Set Up: Tag Manager
Implement Tag Manager
Goals: Awareness, Consideration, Decision, Advocacy
Dashboard Setup
Data Analysis
Data Reporting
Role/Title Salary
Data Analyst $60,000
Web Developer $65,000
Project Manager $62,000
TEAM RESOURCES
Within the data is the answer to the question; What do we do next?
Resource Checklist: Measurement
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Don’t wait!Another day to finish your content strategyIt may seem overwhelming to start your content strategy but if you take it one step at a time and write just one sentence for each checkpoint above, you can have a realistic and actionable strategy to kick off your content production. A documented content strategy is the first step toward creating effective content but try not to let your desire for perfection keep you from getting that content production wheel going. You can always revisit your strategy later with new information or reflections on your recent content experiences.
No matter how fantastic a strategy is on paper, execution will always be the most important part of any content marketing plan – so focus on using your strategy as a stepping stone toward pushing content live. The hardest part is just getting started and above all else, remember, done is better than perfect.
We consistently publish useful content on our blog to help you accelerate your content strategy, so make sure to sign up for updates there. Also, we’ve pulled together all our content resources and training materials into one place where you’ll find workbooks, templates, and other guides to help you be successful.
Learn more about content marketing strategy
Investis Digital has been at the forefront of performance marketing for decades. We’ve gained industry expertise and have developed proprietary digital solutions and tools to help clients build deeper connections with audiences and drive business performance.
As digital communication becomes increasingly complex and critical, more and more businesses turn to us. Today we’re the trusted partner for more than 2,000 of the world’s leading companies including Tarte, Fruit of the Loom, PUMA, Rolls-Royce, WWE, and Wyndham Vacation Rentals.
For more information, please visit www.investisdigital.com
About Investis Digital
The hardest part is just getting started and above all else, remember, done is better than perfect.
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We help our clients activate their connected audience by leveraging their industry expertise and fusing it with more than 10 years of digital marketing success.
Activate Your Connected Audience with Investis Digital
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