Content Marketing - What Big Business Discovered and How to Use It

“Secret”
Marketing
How to Use
Content Marketing
Get your company noticed, engage
customers, increase sales (and spend
less doing it)
What Big Business Discovered About Content Marketing
and How You Can Apply it to Your Business, Large or
Small, to Grow Your Customer Base and Increase Profits.
A Most Pixels Marketing Publication
http://www.mostpixels.com

Get Your Company Noticed, Engage Customers, Increase Sales.... and Spend Less Doing It
- “Secret” Marketing -
What Big Business Discovered
About Content Marketing
Table of Contents
What Content Marketing Can Do for Your Business............................ 3
How Content Marketing Helps Your Business Achieve the “BIG 3”
Goals...................................................................................................
4
The Silver Lining to the Ad Blindness Cloud........................................ 5
The Big Secret...................................................................................... 8
The Number One Step for Content Marketing Success....................... 10
Tracking for Success............................................................................ 20
Social Media Plan by Outlet.................................................................. 24
Online Content Types for Your CM Campaigns (It's not all about
plain, old posts).....................................................................................
32
Parts of a Successful Content Marketing Strategy............................... 36
Content Marketing Trends (Where do we go from here?)..................... 43
Wrap Up................................................................................................ 48
2

The Genius of Content Marketing, Why So
Many Large Organizations Use it, and How
Your Company Can Copy Their Success
There's a powerful marketing strategy used by a rapidly growing number of
Fortune 1000 level companies. Used properly, it is proven to increase
consumer engagement, lead generation, build customer relationships, and
ultimately, grow sales.
Marketing executives struggle every day with how to maximize their
marketing budget's ROI. After all, their jobs depend on it. They need to get
the most bang for every dollar they spend, whether their campaign budget
is $100,000 or $100 million.
Sure, a typical campaign has many goals; brand building, engagement,
positioning, blah, blah, blah....
The Big Three
In the end though, their marketing initiatives
must help the company do 3 things, or
they're failures -
1) Increase the number of new
customers purchasing their company's
products and/or services
2) Increase the average transaction size.
3) Increase the transaction frequency of
each customer.
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Those are the only three ways the company can grow their business. The
key is to accomplish these three vital functions measurably, reliably, and
with the highest possible ROI.
To make matters all the more difficult, consumers
have developed ad blindness.
In a nutshell, they are ignoring much of the traditional advertising that
bombards them on a daily basis, rendering it less effective than in the past.
When they do pay attention to it, many distrust it. That's left marketing
execs scrambling to find an effective alternative to get their message to
consumers, and convince them to buy. This is true for companies in both
the B2B and B2C spaces.
How Content Marketing Helps Your Business
Achieve the “BIG 3” Goals Listed Above
While any business would give the shirt off it's back for an increase in any
of the above three categories, content marketing helps achieve all of them.
How is CM able to not only bring in more customers, but increase
transaction size and frequency?
Simple, it engages customers with your brand and makes them buy into not
only what you're selling, but your company as the provider they feel most
comfortable with.
A well designed and implemented CM strategy
can bring you 8 key benefits, which ultimately
increases revenue and profits.
4

 Brand Awareness
 New Customer Acquisition
 Lead Generation
 Targeted Website Traffic
 Consumer Engagement
 Thought Leadership
 Sales Increases
 Reputation Management
Any combination of the 8 can work wonders for your bottom line. Using
content marketing, they can do so at a nice multiple of the ROI delivered by
most other marketing campaigns.
New Customers for Years.... and Years... and
As a final advantage, content marketing is persistent.
Content you publish today can easily be online,
spreading and bringing in new customers, for years to
come. The more content you publish and distribute,
the stronger this long lasting effect is.
The Silver Lining to the Ad Blindness Cloud
Ad blindness is a well known
phenomenon facing advertisers today.
Marketers know consumers tend to
ignore their messages, no matter how
compelling the headline or graphics.
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The problem is the cascade of messages consumers get hit with everyday.
It's not just online, either. They are bombarded with direct mail,
telemarketing calls, TV and radio and radio ads, in
addition to online marketing messages.
On the bright side, consumers today, whether for
business or personal use, have a ravenous thirst for
knowledge about what they buy and how things fit
into their lives.
Easy Access to...
Due to the Internet, there is more information at their fingertips than ever
before, and they're certainly not afraid to find it. With a few keystrokes,
mouse clicks, or finger swipes, they can discover a wealth of knowledge
about virtually any subject they choose.
Increasingly, they're choosing to learn about what you're selling, your
market, and information relating to it before purchasing. Positioning your
company as the place to get that information in a timely fashion not only
increases brand awareness, but trust as well.
These are both important aspects. Since both B2B and B2C consumers are
suspicious of traditional marketing messages, using another alternative only
makes sense, especially when it is so effective.
In the process of becoming a trusted content provider, your business builds
powerful customer relationships. These lead to social media and e-mail
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powered information sharing that end not only with sales, but a steadily
growing customer base and wider prospect funnel, as well.
Use It to Your Company's Advantage
The question, naturally, is how to make all of this happen. The answer to
that pivotal question is: content marketing. It is now a well recognized
success path for businesses of all sizes.
Large, Fortune 1000 level companies discovered it is so devastatingly
effective they are now allocating an average of 25% of their marketing
budgets to content marketing. If you're in a leadership position at one of
these firms, you're likely well aware of this already.
The Survey Says......
Recent studies have shown that consumers prefer to get their information
from informational content rather than advertising. In fact, the 2011 BlogHer
Social Media Matters report revealed that 34% of all purchase decisions in
the U.S. during 2011 were influenced by blog posts.
Imagine that, greater than one third! If you consider that there are still a
small percentage of consumers that rarely venture online, that figure
becomes even more important.
7

That number also ignores those influenced by other forms of social media
and content distribution. One needs only take a look at the growth of
Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest recently to see that there are many more
content distribution avenues with incredible potential.
The key to success however, is the content. Without the right content,
distribution won't amount to a thing...... because it there will be very little
viral effect, and that is where much of CM's real power lies.
The Big Secret......
Why is a content marketing strategy so
powerful? It's simple, you're over delivering
value to both prospects and existing
customers. You're helping them solve their
problems, and positioning your business as
the authority to do so. You're feeding their
thirst for knowledge as the basis for an
ongoing relationship.
Solid, ongoing relationships are obviously a
very powerful thing in business. It doesn't
stop there, however. Delivering value and
problem solving is only the beginning. That's
merely the spark that makes things get rolling,
and the glue that helps hold the relationship
together..
Because of the Internet and recent social
media trends, your content has the potential to
go viral and spread. That's were your business
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can experience tremendous growth.
Imagine for a minute the power of your content connecting to and
influencing hundreds of thousands or millions of potential new customers!
That is not only possible, it happens every day using content marketing
strategies... if they're designed and used correctly.
Large companies have discovered how effective this is. That is why they
began re-allocating resources to pursue CM more aggressively. They have
the resources to test different metrics with their campaigns. In fact, they are
used to rigorous testing and do it with all of their marketing initiatives.
Testing allows them to not only confirm a campaign's effectiveness, but
refine their processes and increase their ROI, generate more leads, and
convert more leads into customers.
Adding a percentage point or two conversion rate increase with every
revision adds up quickly, and has turned many a dog campaign into a highly
profitable winner. It is no different with content marketing and one reason
large businesses have made it work so well.
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The Number One Step For Content Marketing
Success
Content marketing, as with any other marketing initiative you do, begins
with a defined strategy and a plan to execute it. Yes, both pieces are
essential. After all, a strategy is what you're trying to achieve with an overall
concept of how it should be achieved, and a plan is simply a tactical road
map for exactly how to get there.
Your content marketing plan identifies your campaign's objectives, lays out
the steps necessary to achieve them, and details the metrics you'll test to
define success, or heaven forbid, failure.
Making that plan is step one. It doesn't have to be ultra-detailed but it needs
to contain at least those elements.
Making a Content Marketing Plan that Works
Step 1 – Objective Definition –
Your first step is to define what your campaigns objectives
are and what you hope to achieve from your campaign. Are
you supporting a new product launch, trying to increase lead
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flow, or brand building? You'll need content to support those goals, but the
first step is to define what they are, how to get there, and the time line for
doing so. A common time line is 90 days.
90 day goals often include revenue targets, website traffic increases, a
specific number of new qualified leads, social media followers, etc. Goals
must be precise and measurable. This is key in order to maximize results
through testing.
For example, planning to simply increase targeted website traffic isn't nearly
as effective as stating that you want to increase daily targeted visitors to
your red and blue widgets page by 25% over the next 90 days.
If you're targeting specific revenue increases, you need to know the
following first:
 Average Customer Value – Determines how many customers you
will need to meet your revenue target.
 Conversion Rate (CR) – Simply the percentage of visitors to a
specific page that are converted to buyers. Note that this may be a
multi-step process. Visitors may first enter your sales funnel as
leads, then become buyers later. Depending on your product /
service mix, this may be more common than immediate buyers. The
CR determines how many visitors you will need in order to have the
requisite number of customers required to meet your revenue goals.
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Step 2 – Offer Plan and Creation –
Inbound marketing, and thus content marketing, is
increasingly offer based. You're providing valuable
information to increase consumer engagement, build
relationships, secure leads and generate sales.
You can do this by simply adding content to your blog or website, but big
business have discovered that it is much more powerful to use an offer-
based strategy in addition to your website / blog and other distributed
content, which also a key piece of the puzzle.
The offer is typically a white paper, special report, webinar, video, or e-book
used as a lead generator. Your prospect must opt-in to your lead funnel in
order to receive their content. When they opt-in, they provide key
information you will use in your marketing efforts. Providing the information
is mandatory in order to receive the offer content.
The more data points they provide, the better. At the minimum, it should
include first name and email address. In a B2B situation, last name,
company name, zip code, and organization type and size are typically
included, too. Although having more data pints is preferable, conversion
rates usually suffer the more data requested, so it demands balance.
As CM has become more prevalent, most prospects are used to providing
such data in exchange for their content. This points to another reason that
your offer content must be high quality stuff. Prospects are more likely to
part with their vitals when you have a reputation for delivering the goods.
This is an extremely effective technique used by many major firms, and is
devastatingly effective. It is important however, that the content used in the
offer is well produced and delivers actionable, high value content to your
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prospect.
Such content does three things
1) Increases lead flow, because prospects must opt in to your lead
funnel in order to receive the content offer.
2) Establishes your business as a market authority.
3) Uses the “Reciprocity Principle” to foster an ongoing relationship with
your prospect / customer.
Customer knowledge is important to determine the kind of content they
would find most valuable. That's key, in order for this strategy to work it's
magic. Create the kind of offer they will find enough value to not only opt in
for, but actually refer back to in the future. That keeps your company at the
top of their thought process.
Give them specific, actionable information they can and will use, and you'll
achieve those goals. Information about how to do specific tasks, solve
problems, use products more effectively, or achieve better results with
business processes work very well for this.
Finally, don't worry about potential customers taking your information and
doing things themselves. This is especially true for companies selling
primarily in the B2B space. Realize that while many may be able to do
things themselves, that is not their business. They became successful by
focusing on their core competencies, and leaving the rest to other experts.
Even if they use your content and buy nothing now, that it still valuable to
you. It establishes a relationship, and leaves open an avenue for future
business.
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Step 3 – Editorial Calendar
Now that you have an offer, you'll need supporting website
content you'll distribute to increase reach and targeted traffic.
That is the first step to increase lead flow; get targeted traffic
to your website.
Your content must be compelling and valuable. Why? Simple, you want it to
be shared and maximize viral potential, in addition to the other virtues high
quality content brings.
Today the Internet, and increasingly commerce in general, is social media
powered. It's simply the way things work, and can be a powerful ally in your
quest to grow sales and increase your customer base.
Your content's quality is not only one of the primary factors that determine
whether it gets shared, it's a reflection on your business that people use
when making purchase decisions. In fact, according to B2B Marketing
Insider, B2B firms who produce high quality, professional looking content
are 40% more likely to win business in a competitive situation than those
who churn out low quality drivel.
There are other reasons to use high quality content as well. As noted
earlier, the reciprocity principle applies here. People tend to reciprocate, so
when you deliver value, they feel compelled to return the favor. That doesn't
mean the will buy simply because you've shared valuable information, but it
is one one more ingredient in the psychological stew that makes up their
buying decision.
In addition, content quality speaks volumes about your organization and it's
overall quality and commitment level.. If you're supplying high value content
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for free, your value perception goes up in consumers' minds, and they
expect your paid solutions will be of similar or even better quality.
The key to everything though, is content; high quality, compelling content
that people share on the social media sites, email their friends about, and
you can achieve wide distribution with. It's all about expanding your reach
and touching as many prospects as possible, and that all starts with great
online content.
Your editorial calendar is when you will publish each piece of content or
content category. If applicable, correlate your publishing schedule with
events, such as product launches, new organizational initiatives, or industry
events. With B2C companies, holidays often figure heavily in their editorial
calendar.
If you're working on a 90-day cycle, you need content to support it for that
duration. Gather your content team and brainstorm post tiles that support
your content cycle. Like any brainstorming session, you'll likely have some
duds, but they'll be nuggets in there as well.
NOTE: The fastest, easiest, and arguably best way to
make things work is blogging. If your company doesn't
have a blog, start one, yesterday. You can have
multiple contributors, all collaborating to post content.
They are very easy to use, an require no high level
technical knowledge for daily use, although optimizing
one and customizing a theme is often better accomplished by an expert.
Blogs, particularly on the WordPress platform, are very search engine
friendly, especially after adding a simple SEO plug-in. Many themes are
designed to be SEO friendly, and have fields to add meta descriptions,
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titles,and keywords for each post.
A caching plugin to increase page load speed (better for visitors and search
engines) and decrease required server resources under high traffic loads is
a great idea as well.
IMPORTANT: Search Engine Optimize (SEO) your post titles. Increasing
reach is a primary goal. To facilitate this, you'll have to be found when
people search online for information about what your company does, or
information related to it.
You'll need some keyword research to determine which keywords people
search for, and with what intent, that support your marketing plan. If you are
contracting out your content marketing, your contractor should work with
you on this, using general keywords supplied by your staff or SEO provider.
They will help you find more beneficial keywords too, in most cases. Make
sure they provide this type of support, or start looking for another that can.
It's that important.
In some cases, your CM provider may also handle your SEO. In that case,
they will consult with you to determine which keywords will most fit your
goals and CM strategy.
If your own marketing staff is running your content marketing initiatives, but
hiring freelance content creators, work with them to ensure they write
keyword focused posts based on your research.
That is where experienced online content creators can be worth their weight
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in gold. They'll craft engaging, keyword focused content that people love to
read and share, but still pull in excellent search engine results for your
desired keyword phrases.
Place those keywords at the
beginning of your titles if possible,
and make them compelling to
readers as well. Remember, search
engines don't buy anything. It's
readers who you want to engage.
Search engines just help get new
visitors.
Planning for a post every day or two
works very well, but posting several
times per day is even more
effective, if you have the resources
to support more. If that's impossible,
one per day or two however is
enough to keep people engaged,
and satisfy the search engines,
which like frequently updated sites.
Simple Key to 31% More Sales
Here is something you should know
when deciding how often to post:
According to Hubspot's 2011
marketing survey, companies which
posted on their blog daily received
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18% more buyers from their blogs than those which posted weekly.
The firm's 2012 survey showed that B2B focused companies who posted
on their blogs 15 or more times monthly pulled in nearly 6 times more
leads than those who posted only weekly. Companies who posted several
times per day had more than 31% greater sales directly due to their blog
than those which posted only once per week.
Much of this is due to increased consumer engagement, stronger
relationships, and a greater trust factor. In addition, a higher post frequency
lets you broaden your reach by targeting a greater variety of keywords
focused on your core topics. Posting at a lower frequency, such as weekly,
will not accomplish this to the same extent, especially when your blog is
young.
Those aren't not the only reasons, though. In the end, much of the increase
boils down to traffic. You will get much more targeted traffic through social
media, search engines, and referrals with a higher post frequency. Based
on the latest research, this high post frequency requirement is especially
true after the Google updates in 2011 and 2012 if you want to rank well in
the search engines.
You'll also see subscriber rate increases to your blog feeds, because
readers want to keep up with your posts, even if they can't visit as often as
you post. In fact it is not uncommon to see a 300% - 500% traffic increase
after you up your post frequency from daily or every other day to several
times per day.
Targeted traffic is one of the critical success metrics, and gaining it is the
ultimate goal of your CM campaign. Remember, in the end your success is
a function of two key metrics, traffic and conversion rate.
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Once you've got enough post titles to support your calendar, you can move
on to the next step.
Step 4 – Social Media Plan
Just like rolling out a top of the line race car with no gas in
the tank, delivering great content without social media
support is a sure way to watch your campaign flop. In fact,
while you may find visitors, many a business has delivered
great content, only to have it languish forever in obscurity, just like
performing a great play in an empty theater. Planning and promoting it is
vital to success.
There are several aspects to your social media plan:
1) Blogging – A company blog for each market you serve.
2) Interacting with other bloggers – blog comments, guest posting,
advising other bloggers on new developments within your company
and industry, building relationships to facilitate future interaction
3) Social Sharing Site Pages: Facebook, Googe+, LinkedIn, Pinterest,
Biznik
4) Twitter
5) Social Bookmarking – Reddit, Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon
6) Forums – Identify key forums for your target market(s) and build
relationships with their members by providing insightful responses.
7) Video – YouTube, Vimeo
8) Article Syndication – Having other bloggers, e-zine publishers and
website owners republish your content on their properties.
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IMPORTANT CM TIP:
Repurpose your content for different modalities. For example,
your blog post could be made into a podcast or used as the basis for a
video script or white paper. There are several key benefits to repurposing:
 Better Distribution - Repurposing lets you leverage your resources
and distribute content more efficiently and effectively.
 Increased Reach - It also increases your reach, as each modality
finds its way into different channels and audiences.
 Higher Perceived Value – People learn better with different
modalities. Some are visual learners, while others absorb material
better with printed or audio content. You'll also engage people more
effectively, because you're reaching them in their preferred modality.
Many people enjoy the freedom audio based content provides.
Social Media Tracking Metrics – Looking for
Success
As noted previously, testing is vital to maximize results. After all, if you can't
quantify exactly what happened and why, you can't tell what effects each
piece of your campaign has on the whole. That makes effective resource
allocation and effective strategy adjustments difficult; you're just guessing.
The following are some of the most important metrics to record when
implementing your social media plan.
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 Posts – track for each distribution avenue (blogs, FB, Biznik,
Google+, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc)
 Shares – track by content shared for each sharing site
 RSS Feed(s) subscribers – Track growth for each feed, correlate
growth spikes to content published
 Facebook likes - for each piece of content
 Discussions / comments on your content – Track for each social
media site and blog
 Klout score – Your brand's relative social media influence
 Subscribers – Your blog, social sharing sites
 Follower Totals – Twitter
 Tweets / Retweets (track separately)
 Twitter followers – Track changes based on which tweets produce
growth or declines (correlate temporal, subject, and tweet length)
 Tweet / Reply reach
 Visitors – Blog(s) and website, time of day, referral from, search
keyword
 Conversions – Track per page and goal where applicable to
establish your conversion rate(s)
 Bounce Rate – The percentage of visitors that leave after one page
view / leave after only viewing their entrance page.
 Number of page views
 Entry / Exit pages – Percentage of total for each, entry keywords,
path after leaving page to your site's other content.
 Backlinks (links to your blog / website from others) – Track the
source and destination
 Timing – When did you Tweet, like, share, or post?
 SEO Metrics – visits referred from search engines, keywords, etc.
 Blogroll links – How many links from other bloggers' blog rolls,
referring blog, traffic from each
 Referrals – Track by referrer (blog post, social bookmarking
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mention, FB page, Tweet, etc)
 Blog / Website Pages ranked for keywords on social media and
bookmarking sites
 Guest posts on other blogs – Track by post, traffic, and
conversions
 Comments your team posts on other bogs and social media sites
 Customer (buyer) feedback
Bottom Line Metrics
Ultimately, the most important metrics are website / blog traffic and
conversions, but without tracking many different ones, you'll be unable to
determine what's effective and what's not; essential information to fine tune
your marketing.
Tracking each metric will help you allocate resources to the most effective
initiatives and tactics.
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Social Media Plan by Outlet
Blog(s)
How important is your company's blog? In a recent industry survey, 59% of
companies reported that their blog was either “important” or “critical” to their
marketing efforts! Your company's blog is your CM foundation outlet. This is
typically where most of your content is first distributed.
Another great reason to blog? You'll get more targeted traffic. A 2011
Hubspot survey revealed that companies who blog receive an average of
55% more website traffic than those who don't. The company's 2012
Benchmark Report affirmed this trend, and demonstrated the importance of
maintaining an active blog, noting that companies who make 15 or more
monthly blog posts receive 500% more traffic to their websites than those
who don't blog at all.
Blogs have other powerful advantages; user generated content and
interactivity. In short, you can allow users to post comments, and in some
cases, even articles. It boosts engagement, grows your online presence,
and provides regular content updates, a boon for search engines and
visitors alike.
Primary Keys to Blogging Success:
 Content Quality – Compelling and engaging. Speak with a genuine
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voice, and people will respond, interact, share your content, and
return for more. This is critical.
 Post Frequency – At least daily, more if possible
 Proper Targeting – Who is your buyer, what are their needs and
interests? In theory, no one should know your customer better than
you do. Discuss this at length with your content provider, you're
contracting content.
 Keyword Optimized and Compelling Post Titles and
Descriptions – (1) Be found in the search engines and (2) make
people want to click through to read your content.
 Call to Action – A marketing truism, you need to tell people what to
do, even if it is only to share/like/bookmark your content or check out
your PODcast or YouTube Channel.
 Multi-Modal Content – Visitors and search engines alike want a
mix; text, graphics, photos, and video. It's best for engagement and
delivering the value that keeps visitors returning and sharing your
content.
 Blogger Relationship Building – Forge relationships with other
bloggers (see next section)
Your Basic Blog CM Plan
 1 – 3 posts per day, based on your content team's brainstorming
sessions, market knowledge, and keyword research.
 Integrate with social sharing sites and post your content there in
addition to your blog.
 Facilitate social sharing with social sharing icons.
 Stimulate interaction.
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 Call to action in each post
 Guest post on other blogs at least once per week.
 Have a guest poster at least once per week.
 Track important metrics, test, improve, repeat cycle
Building Relationships With Other Bloggers
Business relationships can spell the difference between success and
failure. That holds true for more than your CM strategy, but it's applicable
there, too. Reaching out to others and forging relationships with them will
expand your reach and open you up to a wealth of content distribution and
promotion possibilities. You'll get links to your blog in others' blog rolls,
secure guest posts on popular blogs your customers frequent, and be
called on for quotes when bloggers need them for posts.
Blogging is also an excellent way to get exposure in “mainstream” media,
who now recognize blogs as a viable media outlet. This wasn't true as little
as 5 years ago. Now, blog content is often quoted by large websites, TV,
magazines, and newspapers, expanding your brand's reach and garnering
more eyeballs.
Consider featuring guest posts from popular bloggers in your market and
related markets on your blog, too. In most cases, you'll have to link to their
blog, but it is well worth it if the other blogger is popular or a thought leader.
They normally have a significant social media following that you can
leverage to increase traffic for your company's blog. Just be sure they
publicize their guest post on their blog and support it on their social media
outlets. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see how powerful this can be.
25

All of these relationship byproducts build your brand, expand your reach,
and grow your traffic. Your association with leading bloggers is one more
piece that helps cement your company as a market authority.
Social Sharing and Networking Sites – Facebook, Google+, Pinterest,
LinkedIn, Biznik
Your blog is simply step one. Right behind it is Facebook, Google+,
Pinterest and for B2B companies, LinkedIn and Biznik. While “back in the
day” (2009, 2010) many enterprises looked at these sites with suspicion,
bemusement, and a bit of trepidation, there is little doubt now; they are a
force to be reckoned with. Used properly, they'll help your company
generate significant revenue.
For CM purposes, they are vital distribution outlets for your content, in
addition to their importance for allowing others to share what they find on
your blog and website. There are plugins that facilitate syndicating your
blog content to your social sharing pages.
TIP: Make your blog, and social media posts share worthy. That's
self evident, but you'll achieve better results if you promote visitor
engagement. Ask questions, invite comments, and promote dialog in your
blog posts. That attracts repeat visitors and makes people feel they are part
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of something. Everyone likes to be feel included, so this is a powerful
technique.
IMPORTANT: Make it easy to share your content. If people are dying to
share your stuff, than by all means help them to! Just like making it easy for
people to buy, you want to make it easy for them to share and promote your
content.
Hit the Button!
Be sure your website or blog includes social media sharing buttons for the
major social media channels. While Facebook and Twitter are the main
ones to consider, do not forget Google+.
Recent research indicates that not only does Google+ give solid social
media results, sharing activity there strongly correlates with Google search
engine rankings. The study did note there was a much smaller sample size
relative to other social media networks tested, due to Google+'s smaller (for
now) user base when the study was performed in early 2012.
B2B
If you're in the B2B space, use LinkedIn as well. LI is
now very important when promoting and distributing
B2B targeted content. LinkedIn is not simply a nicety
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anymore. It's becoming mandatory to build personal and business brands.
In fact, a 2012 CMI report revealed that 83% of B2B marketers use
LinkedIn for content distribution, ahead of both Facebook and Twitter.
It is also one of the first places many businesses look for new talent and
outsourcing help. You know what that means. If you are a consultant or
small firm doing business with large organizations, having an optimized
LinkedIn profile where you frequently share your content will be a very
important part of your CM plan.
Group Hug
Another powerful LinkedIn feature is the huge number of groups you can
join. There are multiple groups for virtually every industry, market, and
interest imaginable. Use these to your advantage. Join them, but don't stop
there, contribute to them regularly. This is a network after all, so start
networking.
Share your best stuff. Not only is group sharing on LinkedIn extremely
targeted distribution, it gets your content in front of your industry thought
leaders, and postilions you as one to follow. Make sure they see your best
content.
In addition, there are many other sharing sites and social networks that can
offer valuable benefits, such as Reddit and StumbleUpon. There are also
specialty social sharing services that primarily serve certain niches, so your
business may benefit from these as well.
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Show the Count
When you use sharing buttons on your
blog or website for social sharing sites,
use the sharing buttons with counters.
That compels people to share, as they
see others have shared too.
To get things started, ensure that your employees share the content to their
social circles. The “employee factor” alone can give things an excellent
jump start. Again, it's up to you to ensure the content is share worthy.
Don't clutter your pages with social media icons, though. Choose the best 4
or 5 for your market and stick with them. If your firm has a company blog
(and again, it should), you can also use one of the plugins that lets your
visitors choose from a plethora of icons. This can work well, but we have
had more success using a plugin that places the four or five most important
icons in a bar above and/or below the post, or floating to the side.
Where in the Heck??
In addition to your social sharing and bookmarking work, another key part
of your social media plan is ensuring your posts are easily found. Doing the
proper SEO legwork will accomplish some of this, but there is more.
Blog Directories – Get your blog listed in the leading blog directories.
Here are 10 of the largest and most visited:
 Technorati
 Alltop – Founded by Apple alum Guy Kawasaki.
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 Blogarama
 OnTopList
 Plazoo
 BlogCatalog
 BlogTopSites
 BlogDigger
 BlogDirectory.org
 Buzzerhut
Don't stop there with directories, though. Use others, especially those which
specialize in your market. That presents even more discovery avenues for
your content outside of search engines. It also adds a nice back link for
your search engines to index, further helping your rankings and making
sure your new posts get indexed faster. It's a nice double dip benefit.
Website
Your blog and website can be one and the same, or your blog can be a
section off your main website. If your blog is built using one of the modern
content management systems (CMS), such as WordPress, building them
both within the same site is relatively simple.
What's the difference between a blog and a website? The lines are blurred,
but a blog is alive, constantly changing, with user-generated comments,
new content and rich media.
Websites are usually built using easy to change templates, and run on a
content management system (which many websites now use as well) that
ensure links stay updated. Blogs support widgets and plug-ins that enhance
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functionality and appearance without the webmaster having to call in the
coding team from Kazakhstan. Websites, on the other hand..... well, fire up
that Skype account.
Websites tend to be more static, although now many are actually built using
the same CMS platforms as blogs. They offer no facility for visitors to add
comments or contribute (although the lines are blurred here as well, with
many e-commerce sites allowing this for product reviews).
They can be built using a CMS, but can be hard coded from scratch, using
HTML editors such as Adobe Dreamweaver, or with simple WYSIWYG
website builders. Building simple websites is less common now, as CMS
platforms grow more popular, flexible, and usable.
Websites can offer an array of e-commerce functionality, such as shopping
carts, payment systems, and product pages.
All Together Now......
In fact, many businesses use CMS for website building, in addition to blog
creation. It makes things simple, the WP platform is easily customizable to
meet the needs of many businesses, there are a plethora of attractively
priced themes available, and WP sites can be configured to allow
collaboration.
The collaboration aspect is huge, as it
allows many different providers to post
content on your site, and eliminates the
need to have a single person handle all
your content deployment. If your business
uses multiple content providers (either
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internal or outsourced) to meet your editorial calendar, the ability to have
each post their own content streamlines the operation significantly. You can
assign each contributor different authority levels according to your needs
and their responsibilities.
However you manage your site and content, your site is the online face of
your business. As such, it should reflect your company values and culture,
while projecting a strong brand image. There are several different content
types you can, and should use in order to maximize visitor engagement,
perceived value, and search engine optimization. They hold true for both
blogs and websites.
Online Content Types for Your CM Campaigns (It's not all about plain,
old posts):
Informational Articles – Text based article content is the
traditional blog post or website page. These are
information rich and if your content creators know their
business, optimized for both search engines and human
visitors. In reality, they'll contain both text based content and a mixture of
one or more additional content types as described below.
Press Releases – These are relatively short event
announcements sent to media members. The ones on
your web properties can be yours or releases from
other companies that relate to your business in some
way.
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White Papers – White papers typically describe research or procedures.
They help establish your organization as an authority. White papers are
powerful and effective, which accounts for their popularity as a CM tactic.
Indeed, according to recent research, 61% of B2B content marketers now
report using them.
Employee Profiles – These are a very effective CM
tactic. They do two things: Put a human face to your
business, and establish your industry authority through
your employees' experience and expertise.
Infographics – Infographics have soared in popularity
since the end of 2010. Part of their popularity is novelty
based, i.e. they're new, but it goes much deeper than
that. They rapidly convey information and they help
visually based learners assimilate information more
easily. Plus, they're just plain more fun to look at.
Case Studies – Not only are case studies valuable to visitors and terrific
authority boosters, it helps build relationships because it demonstrates how
your business can help people similar to those in the study. People feel
more connected to your business because you helped someone like them
or their business. If the study is suitably detailed, they can also learn
something about how the study subject achieved success.
Video – Video delivers value primarily because it can
easily convey information that other mediums can
not do as well. As Internet bandwidth grows, and
average connection speeds increase, high quality
video has become a viable and effective CM tactic.
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In addition, it allows creativity other mediums do not, and it has unmatched
viral potential; witness YouTube videos with tens of millions of views. Be
sure to optimize your videos' meta descriptions, tags, and titles for optimal
search engine performance.
Make your videos engaging though, a recent study showed that on
average, 44% of viewers leave within the first minute, no matter how long
the video is. To ensure your viewers aren't in that group, say something
good, and say it well.
Just how effective is video as a content marketing technique? A October,
2010 Forbes study found that 65% of U.S. company executives visit a
company's website after watching a work-related online video.
Audio / PodCasts – This medium is another with high
perceived value. In fact, other content forms can be
repurposed into audio, leveraging existing content to
expand reach and increase visitor engagement.
Audio content gives your visitors the opportunity to absorb your content
when they're away from the web, such as on the train, in the car, or at the
gym. Obviously, this is very powerful for your organization. In addition, it
benefits auditory learners, who more readily absorb content in the audio
modality.
Industry News – In rapidly changing industries, timely posting of new
developments, even when they don't originate from your business, helps
establish yours as one of the “go-to” resources people turn to when they
need industry info. It gives people a reason to visit your site often, and
keeps your business “front of consciousness” in your market.
34

Reviews and Testimonials – If you doubt review and testimonial
effectiveness, take a look at Amazon for a moment. Perhaps the leader in
review based content, they are so successful with review/testimonial
content they've established themselves as a key pre-purchase resource for
a huge variety of different products.
If people are saying things about your goods and services, let them speak
their mind, and don't limit yourself to only positive reviews, either. Negative
reviews can also provide an opportunity. They let you know how to improve
your offerings, but you can turn them into a positive, as well. Rapidly
respond to them and detail how you've mitigated the reviewer's concerns
going forward.
Product reviews produced as editorial content are another form that
provides value and builds authority status. Obviously, care should be taken
to avoid blatant promotional style reviews of products you sell or distribute,
as that can shoot your credibility in the foot.
Glossaries – The fact is many industries are so rife with industry speak and
buzzwords many casual observers don't understand half of what's going on,
even if they are in the market for your products or services.
If that applies to your organization, help them out by posting an industry-
oriented glossary explaining key terms and how they're used. It boosts
value and helps your authority position. It also helps readers better
understand your other content.
35

Parts of a Successful Content Marketing
Strategy
1) Buyer Knowledge – That should be self evident, and in theory no one
knows your key buyers better than you do. Getting inside their heads,
knowing their motivations, their likes, dislikes, and what makes them tick is
the real key to successful marketing, either online or off.
CM is highly effective as a tool to help enter new markets or new niches in
existing ones. The same rules apply, though. Learn what the market wants
and their core motivations. Whether you're designing a CM campaign for a
new market or your current one, it is a primary success key.
That intimate knowledge helps you build relationships, and create the kind
of content that lets you do so. That kind of intimate market knowledge
definitely gives you a leg up, no matter what you're selling, where you're
selling it, or who's buying.
For a CM initiative, intimate buyer knowledge is vital to create the kind of
content that works to meet your goals. Properly targeted, content attracts
and engages your prospects, so the customer base grows, transaction
frequency rises, the marketing department gets that bonus, and everyone
has a very happy holiday season.
2) Content Pillars – As the name implies, content marketing content pillars
(CMCPs) hold up your CM initiative and keep it from crashing to the
ground.
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There are 4 CMCPs:
 Idea / Context / Story – The information you deliver and how you tell
your story.
 Platform / Channel / Distribution – What soapbox are you standing
on when you tell it?
 Reach / Connections – Who you tell it to / Who hears it / Who the
primary receiver tells it to or shares it with.
 Products / Commerce / Transaction – What consumers do with, or
because of the information.
How you execute the 4 pillars determine whether or not the C-suite invites
you back to the boardroom.
3) Content Sourcing – Obviously, you'll need content. You have two
choices: generate it in-house, or outsource it. Which path you take is
determined largely by the resources at your disposal. Many businesses use
a mix of internally generated and outsourced content. Which route should
you choose?
Once you've developed your CM strategy and the plan to execute it, you'll
be able to look at the plan and see what kind of content you need to reach
your goals. Remember, your plan likely includes several different content
modalities and combinations: print, graphics, video, and audio, requiring
myriad talents and equipment to create.
Take a resource inventory. Is there content creation talent on your staff? Do
they know how to create truly effective content to support your CM plan?
Are they under utilized? If so, you can look to them to create at least some
37

of your content.
If not, can you locate and hire additional staff to support your CM at a labor
cost that pencils out, within the time frame you need them? Does hiring
additional staff for your CM make sense long term?
The flexibility and speed outsourcing offers may be a better alternative.
Many business use a mix of internally generated content and outsourcing.
Once a CM strategy and plan is in place, look at the expected returns, and
put it through an ROI prism.
4) Content Management – Having all the content you'll ever need is no
good if you can't effectively manage it.
Your CM Management Goals: Ensure it gets to the proper distribution
outlets in a timely fashion, and then receives the promotional support it
needs to be a success. That's management's role in a CM campaign. As
with so many endeavors, effective management is often the difference
between mediocre and stellar results.
Your content marketing manager's responsibilities typically include:
 Editorial planning
 Content sourcing
 Distribution – Where, when, & how
 Staffing
38

5) Content Distribution – Perfect content is nothing is no one, especially
your target market, ever experiences it. One of the most important parts of
your CM campaign is distribution; getting your content to the eyes and ears
of those you're hoping to influence.
You have many choices here, but the key component is targeting; making
sure it goes to right people, rather than just blasting it everywhere. Powerful
tactics for doing that include:
Your Blog – A blog is probably the most important content distribution outlet
for most companies. Much of your content will be distributed here first, then
distributed using other avenues. It is important to distribute using your blog
first, to ensure the content is indexed by the search engines on your site,
and so regular visitors know your blog is the place to go for what they're
looking for.
Social Media, Sharing, and Bookmarking Sites – Of course you'll post
content on your social media sites and encourage others to share it on
theirs too. The leading SM sites for both B2B and B2C firms are:
 Facebook
 Twitter
 Google+
 YouTube
 Pinterest
 LinkedIn – B2B focused
Article Syndication – Getting your content syndicated into respected outlets
frequented by your target market. These include blogs, e-zines,
newspapers (online and off), and magazines. You'll get a resource box
where you can describe yourself and your business.
39

That's not all. When syndicating in online outlets, you'll receive a link to
your company's website. It's easy to see the value getting your content
syndicated on a high traffic site or publication can bring.
Tip: When linking your resource box, don't limit your links to your
company home page. Link to the page on your website or blog with
the highest relevance to your syndicated article. That brings two benefits:
 Visitors are more likely to find additional content, products and/or
services they're interested in.
 Search engines like to see links to a variety of pages on your site,
especially ones that are contextually relevant. It can benefit your
rankings.
Although there are article distribution websites, such as ezinearticles.com,
best results normally result from seeking out websites and publications
serving your market or closely related ones, and contacting them directly for
syndication opportunities.
Examine the publication, blog, or website for evidence they accept
syndicated content. That's not to say using article distribution sites is a bad
idea, but exploring other opportunities first is often more effective.
Tip: Don't limit your syndication opportunity search to articles only.
You'll also find places that accept video or graphics oriented
content, too.
Document Distribution Websites – Here your content will be searchable by
users and search engines alike, ready to be found by those people looking
for exactly the kind of information you're providing. Content here is typically
either PDF or PowerPoint presentations. These are widely used by
researchers, and are also well ranked by search engines, leading to top
40

rankings for your content.
Some leading document distribution sites include:
www.docstoc.com
www.slideshare.net
www.issuu.com
www.scribd.com
www.edocr.com
RSS Feeds – Your blog should have an RSS feed that users can subscribe
to. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication, and as the name implies, it is
an easy way for you to send your content out on a feed that others can
have delivered direct to a feed reader or on their web home page.
Video Sharing Sites – The growth of video as a CM tactic highlights the
importance of using video sharing sites. The best known is obviously
YouTube, but others such as Vimeo are becoming viable outlets as well.
Popular Video Sharing Sites:
www.youtube.com
www.vimeo.com
www.dailymotion.com
www.flickr.com
www.metacafe.com
6) Distribution Timing – Timing is everything in some cases. Releasing or
supporting your content when the right people are listening sometimes
makes all the difference. Leading online analytics firm KissMetrics founder
Neil Patel recently stated that one of the biggest mistakes businesses
41

make in their social media campaigns is ignoring timing.
He found that Twitter users, for example, are most likely to retweet
Wednesdays at about 5pm Eastern time. In addition, most Twitter users are
in the eastern time zone. He also discovered that content gets the most
Facebook likes when it's posted at noon eastern time on Saturdays.
At Most Pixels, we've found that most national consumer oriented or
general interest websites get the bulk of their traffic on weekdays, between
0800 and 0300 eastern time. So much for people not using company
computers for personal business.
On the other hand, local websites, such as those for local businesses, get
more traffic at times correlating with peak use times for the particular
businesses. Restaurants for example, see a traffic surge on Friday
afternoons and weekends, as people look for specials and location / contact
info.
That kind of knowledge is vital to get content shared and maximize it's viral
potential. Post and share content when people are most likely to see and
share/re-share it.
7) Content Integration – Integrating different content is a force multiplier of
sorts, allowing the combination to be more engaging and effective than
when the same content is used separately.
An example is including video in of blog posts. In addition to delivering a
better user experience, it also helps your site or blog perform better in
search engines.
42

Content Marketing Trends
Where Do We Go From Here?
There is no question that content
marketing is a vital part of many, if not
most successful organizations'
marketing plans. Trends show that soon
CM will be embraced by virtually all
companies in all markets, large and
small.
Why? Free and fast information accessibly. Consumers and decision
makers can access information to support purchasing and other decisions
anywhere, from the bathroom to the boardroom (Please though, not while
driving). They've embraced this ability wholeheartedly, and marketers have
taken notice.
Recent statistics bear out the fact that consumers and business leaders
alike are using the fat pipe to bring them this information at all points in the
decision making process, up to and including the point of sale.
While some aspects of CM are proving more effective for B2C markets, and
others work best for B2B, trends bear out the fact that CM, in all it's forms,
is growing at a rapid clip, rising to an average of 33% of the total marketing
spend. That's a robust 32% increase in only one year.
43

B2B Content Marketing Trends to Watch
 Social media is emerging as the dominant CM tactic in the B2B
space. Between 2011 and 2012, social media beat out articles as the
number one social media marketing tactic, according to the Content
Marketing Institute 2012 CM survey. LinkedIn squeezed past Twitter
to be the most popular social media channel among B2B marketers,
despite a 10% increase in B2B social media Twitter users. 87% of
B2B companies using CM are distributing content using social
media.
A recent LinkedIn discussion debated whether social media was actually
content. In reality it's not entirely, although classified as such CM tactic for
survey purposes. Social media is but a content distribution vehicle. With the
exception of video sharing sites and possibly Facebook, most social media
is a way to get content shared, while the content itself resides on your
website or blog.
 B2B focused organizations are growing their CM budgets. They
reported an average of 33% of marketing budgets allocated to CM,
up from 25% only one year earlier. That trend is accelerating, with
54% of B2B oriented businesses indicating they will increase their
CM spending in 2013, and only 34% saying they would freeze
content marketing spending at current levels. Only a tiny number,
2%, said they planned to slow their CM spending.
 Formerly little used B2B CM tactics are trending up rapidly, but are
still off the leader's pace. Mobile Content and virtual conferences
both experienced dramatic useage increases from 2011 to 2012,
jumping 120% and 180% respectively. In certain markets, research
reports have experienced significant growth as an effective CM
44

tactic.
 Video CM use among B2B companies surges. Video as a B2B CM
tactic not only experienced tremendous growth but cemented it's
position near the front of the CM tactic pack, with the number of
companies using it in their CM initiatives increasing nearly 35%. It is
now the 6th most used CM tactic, with 70% of businesses using
video for CM purposes. On a related note, YouTube still leads, but
Vimeo is gaining ground fast among business users.
 New social media opportunities emerge. B2B marketers have been
taking advantage of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn for a few years
now, but several new sites are emerging that offer serious promise.
In addition, more B2B organizations are using social media for CM
purposes, with the number of reported content marketing social
media users up a robust 18% from 2011 to 2012.
The largest newcomers are Pinterest, Vimeo, StumbleUpon and Google
+.
StumbleUpon - We have used SU for 5 years, but it is just
taking off among B2B companies. 10% of B2B firms now
report using SU, up from none last year.
Google + - Google's social media initiative is obviously much
more widely known than some of the other newcomers, and
has experienced massive growth, up 260% among B2B firms
as a CM distribution tactic over last year.
Pinterest – First used primarily among women, Pinterest has
gained broad acceptance in the last 12 months, with it's use
45

as a B2B CM distribution tactic skyrocketing from 0% reported
last year, to 28% this year.
Vimeo – Vimeo certainly seems to be doing some things right, as
they are the first video sharing site to offer any sort of
competition to YouTube among B2B marketers. From virtually
no reported use last year, the Vimeo now has more than 10%
of B2B marketers using the outlet.
There are 4 other social distribution sites that bear watching as well:
FourSquare, Instagram, Tumbler, and Quora. They have all made
inroads and gained business users for CM purposes.
 Blogging continues to be highly useful for CM in the B2B space.
According to the latest Hubspot Marketing Benchmark Report,
companies who blog even twice per month receive 70% more
leads than those who don't blog. It only gets better from there.
The effect is significantly greater among companies who increase their blog
posting frequency to at least 15 posts per month. Companies at that level
get nearly 600% more leads than those who blog only once or twice per
month.
The bigger the blog, the more leads firms receive too. Companies with over
200 blog posts garner nearly 500% more leads than those whose blogs
contain only 11 – 20.
What's more, according to Social Media B2B, B2B firms with blogs
generate 67% more leads than those with no blog. Those are some
powerful reasons to grow company blogs with informative, engaging posts,
and strong social media support.
46

B2C CM Trends Your Business Can Take Advantage Of
While B2B firms can enjoy a wealth of new leads and new customers from
a well executed CM campaign, they don't have a monopoly here. If
anything, B2C companies can benefit even more in some respects from
their CM campaigns.
 B2C companies benefit tremendously from increased website
content. - While B2B firms typically triple their website traffic by
growing their sites from the 201 - 300 page range up to 1,000+
pages, B2C firms experience much more exciting results. B2C
companies see nearly 8 times more traffic from similar growth.
 Size matters more with B2C - B2C companies will also enjoy
increased lead generation from larger sites. On average, growing a
website or blog from less than 50 pages to over 100 pages delivers
250% more sales leads.
 Blogging is even more effective for B2C companies than for B2B
organizations. While B2B firms experience impressive traffic growth
from through blog building, B2C firms fare even better.
B2B companies see a 500% traffic increase by posting at least 15 times per
month, as opposed to only once or twice. B2C firms on the other hand, do
even better, increasing their traffic an average of 700% from the same
posting frequency increase.
 Video increases CM's effectiveness for marketers and video
47

marketing spends are rising. An Ecoconsultancy report revealed
that , in addition, eMarketer estimates that 54% of companies plan to
increase video-based content marketing spend in the coming year.
The Wrap Up
Content marketing really can revolutionize your business. Used properly,
you'll attract new prospects, engage them, and create profitable
relationships that can last for years. You'll extend your reach, build your
brand, and position your business as the market authority. The bottom line
is that you'll make more sales, earn a higher ROI on your marketing budget,
and typically spend less than on traditional marketing techniques.
Most large organizations have already discovered and verified this through
extensive testing. That's why recent data shows they're shifting such a large
percentage of their marketing budgets from traditional marketing techniques
to content-based marketing initiatives. It is so pervasive, brands are in fact
becoming publishers, and creating some very high value content.
As both B2B and B2C consumers look to information based content rather
than traditional advertising to discover new products and make purchasing
decisions, this trend will only accelerate. Those who stay ahead of the train
will cement their position as market authorities and trusted providers within
their industries. Those who miss will be reduced to playing catch up.
48

About the Author:
Steve Faber is CEO of Most Pixels Marketing Solutions.
Most Pixels provides consulting, content, and content
marketing solutions to business of all sizes, from large
multinational corporations to local businesses.
He is an established content provider and freelance writer whose byline
has appeared in many publications, both online and off. He is regular
contributor to publications and websites including Search Marketing
Standard, Business2Community, and Biznik.
To discover how your business can leverage content marketing's power to
increase both your bottom line and your marketing budget ROI, contact
Most Pixels Marketing Solutions now at
1-888-959-9940 or visit them online at their website now:
http://www.mostpixels.com/marketing/contact-us/
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