<i>Marketing Tech:</i> The Content Marketing Craze

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Well, it's official. The term “Content Marketing” has now entered the double-edged world of a “household name.” Strive for it? Sure, for a brand. But, when a concept, an idea, or a tactic reaches that level, it creates an inverse correlation between the amount the term is used, and the degree to which people understand it. Other terms to bear this fate include “Branding” and even “Marketing” itself.

So, for the record (or the rest of this article, anyway), according to Wikipedia, the most common definition of Content Marketing is: “The technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire and engage a clearly defined target audience in order to drive profitable customer action.” There are a lot of concepts wrapped into that tidy little statement. What it doesn't say is that Content Marketing as a whole is a strategy. Creating and distributing the content pieces are tactics. With that in mind, let's break the definition down and examine how you can best use content marketing to drive revenue ' because at the end of the day, that's what marketing is all about.

Strategies and Tactics

I'll start at the beginning with “the technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content.” First of all, this is a technique. That implies having a plan, order, and execution. I like to begin with the end in mind ' starting with a goal and a call to action ' then working my way backwards to determine what is relevant and valuable information in that buying process.

“Content” is just information, and it can manifest in a variety of forms (ebooks, webinars, white papers, case studies, top lists, how-to videos, infographics, etc.) that are not all created equal. When planning what content you want to create, consider the degree of difficulty, cost to produce, and the potential ROI. Will you create the pieces in-house, or outsource to a company or freelancer? How does that integrate with your overall Content Marketing Strategy? There is no right answer here, and this is one place where the “art” of marketing meets the “science.” You may not (ok, probably not) nail the right equation out of the gate ' you will need to make adjustments as you go. But, if you're planning with these things in mind, you're already a few steps ahead of the rest.

Using Software to Mine Content

Remember that you don't have to create every piece of content you distribute; it's perfectly acceptable ' even encouraged ' to share content created by others. While on the surface that seems like it's the easier way to go, it's actually pretty difficult to do it right. Be mindful about the timeliness and relevance of the information you share, lest you become the company that is so out of touch you share something that has already made the social media rounds. But, how can you stay ahead of the game in the age of Big Data and 60-hour work weeks? With technology, software will allow you to set your profile with terms, industries, practice areas, clients and competitors ' then it goes to work for you, mining the vast amount of information on the web, social media, and any paid subscriptions. This will not only deliver relevant and valuable content to your desktop, it also provides you with the opportunity to spot emerging trends before your competitors. This software will alert you to share-worthy content, as well as allow you to visually spot areas of activity that could become a trend.

Finally, when it's time to distribute your content, technology comes to the rescue again! Software like Hootsuite and Buffer allow you to set up your social media posts in advance, and have solid analytic reports so you can measure the results. I also highly recommend having a resource center of sorts where your content can live after the initial distribution. Most pieces will have a decent shelf-life, and will boost your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) efforts in addition to being shared directly with new prospects.

Progressive Profiling

Now that you have created and distributed the content, you need to make sure it is going to attract, acquire and engage. I like to think of content as “lead bait” for your business development efforts. As you work through the sales funnel, either your marketing or sales team will feed the prospect the right lead bait according to their needs. (See the chart below.) Progressive profiling (asking prospects for information incrementally) is a great way to earn the trust of your prospect and boost your lead generation efforts considerably.

Once prospects are deemed qualified, they enter the sales pipeline. The pipeline paradigm is another topic itself ' in fact, my company, Manzama, has a webinar available on demand that we broadcasted live in July. The most important thing you need to know about the pipeline is that it's vital to track and measure the activity as it flows through. CRM software abounds. I highly recommend selecting your favorite and integrating it into your daily routine.

Do you have “a clearly defined target audience”? If your answer is “lawyers,” or even “female IP attorneys,” you do not have a clearly defined target market. Take a holistic approach, and create a “persona” that includes much more detail so you get to know your target audience(s) much better. For example, Kate is a 38-year-old IP attorney. She is a partner in an AMLAW 100 firm, has an assistant, two children, and is a board member of a tech startup. She focuses on complex patent law, among other areas. Now you have a much better idea of your audience, and therefore can understand her needs, wants, and pain points ' all areas where you can position your service as a solution.

Finally, what are you doing “to drive profitable customer action”? More importantly, how do you know if it's working? While all the components of content marketing are important, this is where the buck stops. You could be creating the best content in the world, and it's attracting and engaging your target market, but if you aren't measuring it, it doesn't matter. I'll pause to let that sink in. '

Key Performance Indicators

Now that we know how important metrics are, let's take a look at some Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for content marketing. I recommend a useful piece of content created by Marketo called, “Prove Your Worth: 10 KPIs for Marketers.” My favorite five pertaining to content marketing are:

1. Sales Revenue: Are the sales exceeding the expenses incurred by marketing?
2. Cost Associated Per Lead Acquisition: How much does it cost to acquire a lead? Which campaigns or content types yield the highest return?
3. Marketing Qualified Leads (MQL)/Sales Qualified Leads (SQL): Are the leads your content is attracting qualified?
4. Conversion Rates: Is your content marketing effective? Are the leads completing your call to action, or bouncing out?
5. Organic Search: What is the percentage of leads you have coming from organic search? Are you using keywords in your content?

Establishing a baseline and monitoring at least these KPIs will give you more insight into your content marketing strategy and execution. The KPIs come back to the scientific side of marketing, so change some formulas and see what happens. You might find that whitepapers take more time/cost to produce, but they significantly outpace any other form of content. Look for patterns, set goals, track everything, rinse, repeat.

Conclusion

Despite the buzz-wordy fanfare, content marketing is all about being a resource for your clients and prospects. The significant improvement over the “good old days” is the technology that helps us find, distribute and share, then track everything and focus our resources where we know they are most effective.

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Lisa Flynn, VP of Marketing for Manzama, is an expert in content marketing. She offers insights on marketing strategy and temperament-based marketing tactics.