Your business, content, and digital strategy - learn how to leverage success from one to build the others and repeat the cycle for measurable success. This presentation (from a lecture given at UArts in Feb '17) includes tactical tips and tools focused on digital strategies including SEO, content production, and content marketing.

1. Successful
Digital
Content
Strategy

4. We’ll Be Covering
➔Online Content Narrative
➔Examples of Successful Digital
Content Strategy
➔Creating Online Content
◆ Text
◆ Images
◆ Video
➔Strategy for Your Online Content

5. 2nd
Thursdays

7. slideshare.net/nchess

8. Wait, let’s talk about you.

9. Nicole Hess
Director of Strategy
Greenlane Search Marketing
@nicolecherieh
This is me trying to look
intimidating

11. FUN!

12. The story in my head

13. Decisions

15. Test:
Will cigarette packaging that
has gruesome health
warnings reduce smoking?

16. Result: No.
Gruesome health warnings on
cigarette packages failed to
discourage smoking.
They actually make smokers
want to light up.

17. Why does all this matter?
Because when you want to convince
someone to do something (i.e. buy
something) you have to appeal to both
reason and emotion.

18. What is Content?

19. Anything that purposefully conveys meaning to an intended recipient.

20. What is Content Strategy?

21. The purposeful use of
content to -
convey meaning at the
right time, right place, &
to the right person.

22. Example

23. T-Shirts
I make screen printed t-shirts.
They’ve got cute sayings on them.
Want to buy one?

24. T-Shirts
“I see the world through candy-coated
eyes and my work is often comments on
popular culture, body image, social
justices, or lady drama.
I draw inspiration from past and
present personal life experiences.
I do this through the screen-printed t-
shirts I make.”
Want to buy one?

27. What
How
Why
Amberella
1. What
Candy heart sayings on different
materials
2. How
i.e. Screenprinting
3. Why
“Seeing the world through candy-
coated eyes”
“Comments on popular culture, body

28. “Start with Why” - Simon Sinek
https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action

29. Another
Philly Local Example

32. What
How
Why
PetCoach.co
1. What
Instant Q&A on anything pet related
2. How
Enter your question on our site and a vet will
answer it 24/7. Free.
3. Why
“Help you provide healthier, happier, and
longer lives for your pets.”

33. “If you look closely,
most overnight
successes took a
long time.”
- Steve Jobs

34. . . . .
Jan 2017

35. How?
Simplify?
What
Why?
Why again?
Tim Eads
Shopeads.com

36. Yes, it's you.
There is no separation of
you and your business.
In today’s world there
isn’t a way of hiding.
Use it to your advantage.

37. And Who Do You Do It For?

38. Your Audience
Who is the audience for the
particular thing you are
promoting?

39. What are their
needs?
Needs: running shoes
vs
Needs: running shoes to help
me train for my first 5k.

41. Workshop

42. Questions to
Answer
1. What?
2. How?
3. Why?
4. For who?

43. The Content Plan

44. Turn Your
“Why” and “What”
Into Content

45. You
Create
You
Curate
You
Receive

46. “The quality of your content
has an exponentially
greater impact than
quantity.”
@janessalantz

47. 80 / 20 Rule
20% of your content may generate 80% of traffic.
Analysis of the
content of
3 different
clients.

48. Text
1. Product descriptions
2. Product/service comparisons
3. Your process
4. Your narrative
5. Your team
6. Insights
7. Emails
You Create

49. - Your
Products

50. - Your Insights

51. - Your Insights Why Invest in a Retirement Plan
1. Social Security is Not a Retirement Plan
There’s a mistaken notion that if you’re making contributions
to Social Security that should guarantee an income on which
you can live when you retire. But a social security pension is
only one part of a plan for earnings in retirement years.
Consider this:
- Are you ready to live on 40% of your current earnings?
- Will that be enough to cover housing, food and rising
medical costs in your mature years?
Social Security benefits, regardless of which part of the world
you live, will not be able to allow you to maintain the same
standard of living as you experienced during your working
years. So it is important for men and women to have a plan
that provides supplemental income during retirement.
2. Default Options from Employers Can Be Inadequate
Why Invest in a Retirement Plan
Some persons have the mistaken notion that they already
make contribution to Social Security and that should
guarantee them an income on which they can live when
they retire. It is important for women to be aware that a
social security pension is only one part of making proper
provision for their retirement years. Are you ready to live
on 40% of your current earnings? Will that be enough to
cover housing, food and rising medical costs in your
mature years? I believe we all know the answer to these
questions. Social Security benefits, regardless of which part
of the world you live, will not be able to allow you to
maintain the same standard of living as you experienced
during your working years. So it is important to have a plan
that provides supplemental income during retirement.
J Sonia Edwards
TheHumanResourceSolution.com

52. The Little Things
AKA microcopy

53. - Email
Marketing
Most inboxes look
like this
Out of all the ones I
gave my “first name”
to when signing up
for their newsletter,
only 2 use it.

54. Always simple and straight to the point.
While still having empathy.

55. Free Trial:
semrush.com/uarts17
At a loss for topic ideas?
This tool has you covered.
“chocolate cake”

56. Text - Rules of Thumb
1. Focus on creating quality content.
2. Don’t strive for quantity.
3. Provide value.
4. Write for humans, busy humans.
5. Don’t miss the little things.

57. Images
You Create
1. Products
2. Product/service comparisons
3. Your process
4. Your narrative
5. Your team
6. Interests
7. Emails

58. By 2018
84% of all marketing
communications predicted to
be visual.
— Cisco

59. VS

60. - Your Products
& Uses
Marian Dossou
90secondcake.com

63. - Your Team

64. The Little
Things
- Giving Back

65. Image Guidelines for Social Media
https://makeawebsitehub.com/social-media-image-sizes-cheat-sheet/

66. Videos
You Create
1. Products
2. Product/service comparisons
3. Your process
4. Your narrative
5. Your team
6. Interests
7. Emails

67. By 2020
Video will make up 80%
of all web traffic.
- Cisco

71. Video - Rules of Thumb
1. KISS. Don’t overcomplicate it.
2. Select your distribution method first,
then tailor video to that.
3. Ignore the trolls.

72. Workshop

73. Answer 3.
1. How could you describe your products
or services (differently)?
2. What is happening in your business
you can share online?
3. What have you been surprised by?
4. What's your why?
5. What makes your offering / products
Describe how for 2.
- with text
- in an image
- through video (podcast?)

74. Curate

75. You
Create
You
Curate
You
Receive

76. Become a content dj
Re-share what you find and enjoy
Re-share what your customers will enjoy
Share this with:
Your own insights
How it relates to your experience
How it will impact you
Something your customers can do

78. Receive
& Curate

79. Create Advocates
92% of people surveyed
said they read online
reviews before they buy.
- Bright Local

81. DJing Customer Content
How can you get content from customers?
○ Create a hashtag
○ Ask them for their review
○ Ask them for a picture
○ Pseudo stalk them

82. Content to Build
Community

83. The Little Things
- Giving Back

84. Reach Out
Do a Google search for the type of niche (audience)
that might be interested in your product / service.
Go to their site.
Find their contact form/email.
Ask if they’d like to chat.

85. Get alerts for
opportunities

86. Or join a community

87. Content to Build
Your Website

88. SEO is getting
traffic to your
site by being
here

89. SEO is a big part of getting
people to your website.
“Organic Search is
Responsible for 64% of
Your Web Traffic”

90. semrush.com/uarts17

91. It can
take time,
but stick
with it.

92. Bringing It All Together

93. Content can be a lot of things.

94. You
Create
You
Curate
You
Receive
What you do with content depends on you,
your business and your customers.

95. “The quality of your content
has an exponentially
greater impact than
quantity.”
@janessalantz

96. Decisions are based on data and emotions.
Because people are human.

97. What
How
Why

98. Taking Action

100. Step 1. Questions to Answer
1. What?
2. How?
3. Why?
4. For who?

101. Step 2. What content to create.
1. How could you describe your products or
services differently?
2. What is happening in your business you can
share online?
3. How has what you've done impacted you?
4. What have you been surprised by?
5. What's your why?

102. Step 3. What Type of Content
What Type of Content Will You Create?
1. Text
2. Image
3. Video
4. Podcast

103. Step 4. Take Action.
Which 1 will you do by
this time next week?