Increasingly these days, your content is your marketing – especially in business-to-business sectors. This Content Marketing Best Practice Guide explains how to use different forms of content (such as email newsletters, downloads, video, social media and many more) to drive interest in your products and services, build your brand and above all nurture potential customers through to sale.
Content has always played a role in marketing, but the shift in balance of power in the supplier/buyer relationship, combined with the innovations such as social media and the growing reliance on search engines as information management tools, means it is now increasingly critical for business buyers – particularly for vendors with complex product or service propositions.
With the migration to digital channels, buyers are increasingly more likely to be influenced by a specific piece of information sourced online (presented in one of any number of formats), than they are by a print ad, DM piece or exhibition stand, no matter how creative, clever or impactful. These days, the buyer is in control of the information flow, and can chose to consume what they need in a format of their choosing and at a time to suit them. Consequently, content could take any number of forms to be relevant to the precise audience for the specific product or service – a podcast, a blog post, a webcast, a whitepaper etc.
The challenge for the marketer is to understand which content formats works best in which situations, and to structure their development, delivery and distribution into a content strategy which engages the prospect and ultimately nurtures them through to ultimate conversion.
This guide will help you:
- Understand how content marketing works – get a grounding in the fundamentals of this discipline.
- Develop a content marketing strategy – set objectives, plan resources.
- Leverage different content types to best effect – understand how and when to use different formats.
- Use content as part of a demand generation strategy – work effectively with the sales force to deliver the right leads at the right time.
- Drive prospect engagement through effective communications – develop a content-led campaign which optimises the opportunities for brand/prospect interaction.
- Measure results and report on effectiveness – demonstrate the effectiveness of this strategy to the board and other directors.
- Hone and refine your content strategy – learn from experiences and evolve your content resources.
- Prepare for the future of content marketing – evolution of new formats and emergence of new opportunities.
This guide covers:
- Planning and strategy – advice on how to develop your content strategy.
- Resourcing – how to source, acquire, generate and recycle content.
- Lead generation and nurturing – using content as part of a demand generation strategy.
- Content for brand building – how content directly impact on market perceptions.
- Content marketing and CRM – building relationships with existing customers.
Section 1 – An introduction to content marketing
1.1 Defining content marketing
1.2 What are the benefits of content marketing?
1.3 Creating your content
1.4 The problem with content creation
1.5 Content distribution
1.6 Which social media channels should you use?
1.7 Should you do it yourself or outsource it?
1.8 Do it properly
Section 2 – Developing a content marketing strategy
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Setting objectives
2.3 Setting content marketing goals and KPIs
2.4 Developing a content marketing strategy
2.5 Integration with existing marketing activity
2.6 Resource allocation and content creation
2.7 Troubleshooting and factors to consider
2.8 Summary
Section 3 – Understanding content types
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Buying stages influence content choice
3.3 Content and differing levels of trust
3.4 Optimising content for search
3.5 What do customers like and dislike about content?
3.6 Repurposing content
3.7 Summary
Section 4 – Content distribution
4.1 Social media distribution
4.2 Email distribution
4.3 Internet distribution
4.4 Mobile distribution
4.5 Postal distribution
4.6 In-store distribution
4.7 Conclusion
Section 5 – Content marketing for lead generation
5.1 Breaking through the cloak of anonymity
5.2 Factors for consideration in content creation for lead generation
5.3 Content distribution and management
Section 6 – Content marketing for brand building
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Define the brand space
6.3 Define your audiences
6.4 Develop your content
6.5 Decide on the form your content should take
6.6 Identify distribution channels that reflect your brand
6.7 Develop a content plan
6.8 Promote your content
6.9 Some insight on thought-leadership
6.10 Conclusion
Section 7 – Content marketing for customer relationship management
7.1 CRM, but not as we know it
7.2 Building your content marketing strategy
7.3 Understand your audience
7.4 Formulating your content
7.5 Distributing your content
7.6 Measuring success
7.7 The Earnest rules of content marketing for CRM
Section 8 – Further usage for content
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Carry out an audit of your content
8.3 Build your showroom
8.4 Tell a story
8.5 Be compelling
8.6 Keep focus on the big picture
8.7 Turn your ideas into content
8.8 become a host
8.9 Become an editor
Section 9 – The future of content marketing
9.1 Content marketing as a life raft
9.2 Content marketing as an engine
9.3 A new buyer mindset
9.4 Winning the future content arms race
9.5 Some mistakes to avoid in future
9.6 Seven content marketing predictions
9.7 How often should you market your content
This guide is suitable for:
- Marketing directors
- Heads of marketing
- VPs of marketing
- Marketing managers
- Anyone involved in using content as part of an integrated marketing strategy
