Professional Documents
Culture Documents
By Jeff Bullas
Table of Contents
Introduction 4
The big questions 5
Conclusion 30
Introduction
It was a paperback book that someone I trusted and respected had
recommended.
Its title was good but not great.
The headline wasn’t so compelling that it would stop you in your tracks. But
something about it made me want to start reading and open the cover.
Most of it was read in coffee shops near my home. I had plenty of time as I was
between jobs.
But it made a b ig promise.
If you created great engaging content online then you would attract leads and
sales.
The term used to describe that was “inbound marketing”.
New Rules of Marketing and PR - Content Marketing 101
The book?
“The New Rules of Marketing and PR” by
David Meerman-Scott.
As a sales and marketing professional it
seemed to make a lot of sense. I certainly
liked the idea of attracting customers
rather than chasing them.
Over my career I had used newspaper
advertising, radio ads, cold calling, fax
broadcasting and even door knocking to
grow sales.
But outbound marketing often meant that you had to pay gatekeepers to get
your business and brand in front of an audience.
The media moguls had the distribution and access to the customers that
wanted to buy your products.
But things had changed.
The Internet had emerged, and websites, search engines and online
publishing were becoming mainstream. Online stores were becoming trusted
and normal.
New tools and platforms had evolved.
But the real kick-starter to make it easy to publish and get attention had gone
from a fad to a global trend.
That was the fast emerging social media networks.
I was so intrigued by the discovery and its potential that I started a blog on the
topic. It was an experiment.
It was the start of a journey to see if David’s premise stacked up.
Could it deliver?
you will generate unqualified traffic; at worst, you are wasting valuable time
and resources on creating content for the wrong audience.
Done right, content marketing is the effective use of content that informs,
educates (and sometimes entertains and inspires) customers to discover you,
trust you and buy from you.
TIP: I have been using an awesome tool called B
uzzSumo to help me find
relevant, popular, and targeted content for my audience.
The great part that isn’t often appreciated is that if it is done with persistence
and with the long game in mind, the content becomes an asset that keeps
giving.
● People will find answers (in the form of content) from your blog or
website when performing a Google search
● They will discover your YouTube video in a tweet or on Facebook.
● They will register for your webinar and buy your product or service.
But to be successful with content, you need a mindset of pull, not push.
A vision for next year, not next week.
An approach that revolves around building digital assets that accrue in value
over time, rather than expiring digital assets that become obsolete and die
when you turn off the advertising.
Content marketing, on the other hand, is the gift that keeps on giving. A
high-quality article can generate returns one week, one month or even one
year after you’ve created it. That’s because quality content enables you to
create a bond with your audience that goes beyond the simplistic purpose of
buying and selling.
Hopefully, by now you’re on the content marketing bandwagon with me… If so,
how do you build a content strategy and make the most of this approach to
business growth?
Source: Statista
Once a prospect becomes a customer, your goal should be to reinforce their
decision to buy your offer and turn them into a raving fan of your business.
Your job doesn’t end once they sign up, it then becomes an issue of retention
and engagement, which content can help with too.
Don’t hesitate to look around online for inspiration. After all, you don’t need to
reinvent the wheel.
Here are some other proven ways for coming up with content ideas:
● Conduct keyword research to see what people are searching for in
search engines.
● Determine a list of your customers’ most common questions; before,
during, and after a sales or customer service conversation.
● Identify the problems and subproblems your product or service solves.
● Create case studies.
● Research competitors, industry influencers, and thought leaders to find
out what their most successful content has been.
When you are finished brainstorming content ideas, use an editorial calendar
to capture these ideas and plan when you are going to publish them.
Using an editorial calendar can make the difference between a content
marketing strategy that brings results and one that falls flat. It enables you to
prepare all of the steps beforehand and concentrate your resources on what
counts. Plus it creates accountability for meeting deadlines.
Here is a calendar view of the editorial schedule here at JeffBullas.com:
Evergreen Content
If you want to bring solid, steady traffic to your website, then you need to focus
on creating evergreen content.
As the name suggests, evergreen content is timeless. For example, an article
about “What Is Content Marketing” will always be relevant because the
definition is unlikely to change anytime soon. On the other hand, an article
about “The Best Content Marketing Tips for 2018,” is not necessarily an
evergreen topic, as trends change and you need to monitor and update the
techniques you’re using.
Written content
Most content marketing involves some element of written content. And it
doesn’t matter how well-researched your articles are, if prospects have a
difficult time reading them or digesting the information, they won’t read and
engage with your content.
The main challenge is keeping the content simple, yet engaging. You also
need to ensure that your writing style fits your brand’s personality and
audience. You don’t need to be an expert writer, but having a strong grasp of
the written word is certainly going to be helpful. Alternatively, you can always
hire someone to help.
One way to approach written content is to document a brand voice and
writing guidelines, then write the articles yourself, or find a team of writers that
can deliver content on a regular basis.
Video is another type of content that is very popular and has sky-high
engagement rates. Using tools such as I nVideo can help you create stunning
professional-level videos in minutes with pre-made templates to meet all your
needs.
Content curation
Although creating high-quality content is a crucial component of content
marketing, it’s not the only tactic. Content curation, or the process of
discovering, compiling, and sharing existing content with your audience, can
work just as well. However, make sure that the content you curate is relevant
to your audience’s needs and expectations.
TIP: A great tool for automatically curating content and sharing it with
your audience on social media is Agora Pulse:
So, how can y ou use UGC?
For example, you could organize a contest and encourage prospects to send
pictures of themselves using your product. Offer something of value in return,
such as a discount, coupon, or maybe a visit to your offices.
You can apply this idea to any content and distribution channel. Although
social media makes it incredibly easy to engage fans and persuade them to
send user-generated content your way.
Social media
If you’re looking for a free, fast and effective way of distributing your content to
a broad audience, then social media holds the answer.
With more than 2.6 billion users worldwide, social media is one of the best
content distribution channels. But, unless you are a large business with a
dedicated social media team, you need to be smart about the channels you
choose. Pick the platforms that make the most sense to your audience and
business needs.
For example, look at user demographics to ensure that your audience is active
on the platforms you’re using. Then, look at the type of content your audience
prefers. For example, Instagram is all about visual content while Twitter
focuses on delivering bite-sized information.
Also, consider the type of content you plan to create. If you want to focus on
video, for example, then Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook are the best
options. But if you are mainly creating infographics, then maybe something
like Pinterest would work.
Check out this social media marketing guide to get an idea of how to use
social media effectively.
Email
Don’t make the mistake of dismissing email marketing as obsolete. As one of
the most effective strategies out there, email marketing is perfect for small
businesses that must stick to a tight budget. Even today it remains one of the
most effective channels of communication between companies and
consumers.
If done right, email marketing can help you nurture your leads and turn them
into loyal customers.
The prospects you reach through email are already interested in your brand
because they opted in to receive content from you. Take advantage of this to
build and nurture a lasting relationship.
The best way to leverage email in collaboration with content marketing is to
optimize your website for capturing email addresses, using things such as
popup forms and free downloadable resources like eBooks.
You can see how I have optimized JeffBullas.com to capture emails in multiple
places on every page:
Once your website is optimized, use content to drive people to your website
and entice them to sign up to your email list with these offers. Then when they
are on your list, keep communicating with them on a regular cadence to build
trust and credibility.
TIP: Check out C onstantContact if you need an email management tool
that has great templates and is super-easy to use.
Advertising: You may choose to combine the benefits of content marketing
with the immediate impact of traditional advertising to get the best of both
worlds.
Guest Posting: T here are a number of high-traffic and credible websites in
just about any niche you can think of that accept guest author contributions.
Consider writing for these publications to boost your brand visibility and get
referral traffic back to your website. To find guest post opportunities you may
like to use a service like Guest Post Tracker which has over 1,400 featured sites:
Sponsored Content: Paid content on other people’s websites can be just as
effective as the organic content you publish yourself. As long as the content is
high-quality and relevant, it can help advance your business goals.
Without the help of technology, you are unlikely to effectively deliver on your
content marketing strategy. So you need to put together a suite of content
marketing tools that will make things easier and track your efforts.
Here are some to consider:
● Time and task management – Trello
● Social media automation – A goraPulse
● Planning and publishing content – F lypChart
● Editing and proofreading – Grammarly
● Social media and influencer research – BuzzSumo
● Analytics – Google Analytics
● SEO Optimization – Yoast SEO
● Keyword Research – K WFinder
You can track all of this in Google Analytics using the “Goal” parameters in the
“Admin” area:
Tracking your results will make it easier to identify certain patterns or changes
in customer behavior. Not to mention, you will be able to adjust your strategy
on the go rather than investing time and resources only to discover that your
audience didn’t respond to your content as expected.
Conclusion
It was a book that changed my life…
I had a new purpose. A new reason to get up every morning.
But if there is one thing I have taken away from this whole experience, it is that
anyone can do it.
I wasn’t a writer. But I had stories to tell, battle scars to share, and a new sense
of vulnerability that captured an audience.
Don’t let insecurity and fear hold you back from giving this content thing a
shake. The influence it will have on your business, those around you, and your
personal confidence and sense of accomplishment is quite amazing.
But don’t go at it blindly. Think about WHY you are doing it in the first place.
Document your goals. Create a strategy. Measure your results. Improve when
you can.
Be the difference that your customers and audience are looking for. Add value
to their lives and businesses. They will love you for it.
BONUS: Want a tool that will help you find relevant content for your
audience? Check out BuzzSumo!
Cover template designed by:
The world’s leading presentation
www.24slides.com