Content Marketing: Fuel for Your Lead Generation Strategy

© 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential

Content Marketing: Fuel for Your Lead Generation Strategy

Heidi Bullock, Sr. Director [email protected]

Page 2© 2013 Marketo, Inc. Marketo Proprietary and Confidential

How do you think about lead generation?

Welcome to my toolbox of tactics!


Lead gen is not just a basket of tactics

PPC

social

webinars

contentsyndication

Grapes are so hot right now

email

retargeting


Content powers your lead gen engine

Good content = Optimized performance

Poor content = suboptimal performance


The right content is more important than ever…

• Influence Decision Making• 66%-90% of the buyer’s journey is complete before that

buyer reaches out to a sales person – Forrester

• Building a Relationship• 78% of consumers feel that organizations behind the content

are interested in building good relationships – TMG Custom Media

• Create Engagement• 68% of consumers spend time reading content from a brand

they are interested in. – The CMA


Step 1: Buyer Personas

Who are you selling to?


Step 2: Understand the buyer’s journey


Step 3: Create your funnel


Research data, funny videos, curated lists, infographics, thought leadership

Step 4: Map content to buying stage

NO

YES

MOSTLYNO

Thought leadership and entertainment to build brand and awareness

Tools that help buyers find you when they are looking for solutions

Company-specific information to help evaluate and reaffirm selection

Buying guides, RFP templates, ROI calculators, whitepapers, analyst reports, webinars

Pricing, demos, services information, 3rd party reviews, customer case studies

Gated?Early Stage - Awareness

Middle Stage - Evaluation

Late Stage - Purchase


Use common senseNo, it’s our first date! I’m not ready for a trial of your software either!

Will you marry me?


Step 5: Figure out what you have, what you need


But, how do you create more content without a team of 40 writers?

My budget is cut…

I only have the PPC manager…


Lean Content Creation.


5 golden rules for content

1. It is not promotional2. It is relevant3. It closes a gap4. It is well-written5. It is relevant to your company


Content isn’t just whitepapers!

• Blog posts• Videos• Podcasts• SlideShare Presentations • Infographics• Moving Infographics• Activity Books/Worksheets • Articles


Visual helps content stand out

VS.

13,000 Views 339,000 Views


THE 3 R’s OF CONTENT MARKETING Optimization

Repurpose, Rewrite, Retire


Repurpose content


“Big Rock” content example

Definitive Guide to MA:

Webinars:

Ebooks:

Infographics:


Repurpose blogs

Blog to eBook


Rewrite and redesignBefore After


Retire

I was the best webinar in 2009.


The Right Content per ChannelEXAMPLES


Use the right content per channel

Example – for FB – early stage


Visual content works well for social


The right content per channel matters

Source: chicagostyleseo.com


Top of FunnelEXAMPLES


Form length matters


Slideshare

• You have a great deck• Make it very visual and

appealing• Use the form for

Slideshare


Facebook for lead generation

Test a mix of content offers – make sure they are visual!

Lighter Harder


Twitter promoted tweets - timelines

• Use gated resource pages

• Have strong CTA

• Can still be playful and fun

• Results depend on content and message


Twitter Lead Gen Cards

• Keep your copy concise and exciting

• Make sure your imagery is visually appealing

• Have a clear call to action

• Synch leads to MA platform for complete ROI


Paid email campaigns

1. Relevant and vetted offer for the audience and vendor

2. Early stage content will probably perform better

3. Test!• A/B split – offer one and

offer two


Your Blog

@jonmiller @mpranikoff


Blog - Results

From average 14 a week to 145/week - 10X growth!


Virtual event

Leverage the knowledge of other people!


Content syndication:


The Power of Peer to Peer

• Company to Buyer: 33% Trust• Buyer to Buyer: 92% Trust

WOW!!


Frictionless and incentivized sharing

• Make every campaign social• Increase your visibility and

engagement


Middle of FunnelEXAMPLES


But who is ready?You got them to the dance


Why Marketo Nurtures

• Brand awareness and preference• Build trust• Improve sales efficiency• Increase velocity at which leads flow

through the funnel


Who We Target

Survey says*:• Industry (82%)• Role (67%)• Company Size (49%)• Geo (29%)

Our Plan:Revenue StageRoleCompany SizeGeoIndustryBANT

Source: Marketing Sherpa – % saying content customized by category more relevant


Content Alignment

MidPre-Opp

Solution-focusedWhy Marketing

Automation

• Buying Guides• RFP Templates• ROI Calculators• Whitepapers• Research

EarlyPre-Opp

Brand AwarenessBe a Better Marketer

• Blog Posts• Funny Videos• Infographics• Thought

Leadership

LatePost-Opp

Company-focusedWhy Marketo

• Pricing• Demos• Video

Testimonials• Case Studies


Organizing Content


Content Strategy

• More Immediate• “Accelerator” campaigns• Combine early & mid stages

• More Relevant• Topic of Interest• Dynamic Content

• More Coverage• Automated SDR touch campaign


Accelerators

• Give leads a reason to take action now!

LT Target


For every one self-serving tweet, you should re-tweet

one relevant tweet and most importantly sharefour pieces of relevant content written by

others.

Combine Early & Mid Stage4-1-1 Rule* for Twitter

*Popularized by Tippingpoint Labs and Joe Pulizzi, founder of Junta42 and the Content Marketing Institute

4 1 1



Italian Workspace Joe Smith: Acme Inc. Community Help

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Engagement Over Time

Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May

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Summary

1.5%

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65Engagement

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In Track Exhausted Paused

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Mar 18, 2013Engagement: 60

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Marketo’s Secret Sauce

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Lead Nurturing


Lead Management Best Practic

Practical B2B Lead Generation

Thought Leadership

Email Performance Report

Program Performance

Lead Nurturing Streams Setup My Tokens Members

View: Dashboard ▼ Streams: All Streams ▼


Program ROI


What channel works for your business?

Source: Marketo Revenue Cycle Analytics, June 2013* Percentage of all programs in channel that achieve MT Ratio > 5

Nurture Email - CTA

Nurture Email

Paid Online (PPC+Email)

Nurture (New)

% Above Min*

N/A

52%

N/A

39%

79%

46%N/A

38%

N/AN/AN/A29%38%

52%7.6


Key questions to ask

• Which content assets work best for you at TOFU, MOFU, BOFU

• Which content assets are best performing for a particular vendor (ex: paid email)?

• Which assets are good for bringing in new names?• Which assets are good for opportunity creation?• What content works best in nurturing?


Leverage Data to Determine Best Offer For Each Vendor

Consider offer data, program goal, content asset, and content stage to make final determination.


Content ROI

Make sure stakeholders agree on the criteria.

Establish Goals and ROI Estimates

Up-Front

Design Programs to Be Measurable

Focus on the Decisions that Improve ROI


Tweetable Takeaways

1.Content is the fuel for your lead gen engine.

2.Map your content to the buying stage.

3.Think lean – repurpose when possible.

4.Make sure you use the right content per channel.

5.Test and compare your content offers - know what works for your business.

@heidi.bullock

Technology

Content Marketing: Fuel for Your Lead Generation Strategy