Download pdf - Content Strategy Tips For 2015

Content Network

Content Strategy Tips & Tricks

for 2015

Engage Better. Rank Higher.

Table of Contents• Welcome……………………………………………………………………….. 4• Content Marketing: How it is changing……..………….…..……….…… 5 • What The Experts Say………………………………………….……………. 9• Why Content Must Be Qualitative………………………..…………...…. 10• Our unique Q.U.E.S.T. guide……………………………….……………… 17• The Rise of Content Marketing…………………………….……………... 19• Rising Budgets and Spending……………………………….………........ 24• Strategy and Distribution…………………………………….………........ 30• Measuring ROI of Content Marketing…………………….……………… 35• Social Media Platforms……………………………………….………......... 39• Going Mobile………………………………………………….……………… 47• Help Is At Hand!................................................................................. 54• Content Network…………………………………………….…………..….. 55

www.contentquality.co.uk+44 (0) 20 8133 5549ContentNetwork

- Jonathan Perelman of Buzzfeed

“CONTENT IS KING BUT DISTRIBUTION IS QUEEN – AND SHE WEARS THE PANTS”


2014 has been an amazing year for ContentNetwork, not only have we over-achieved our objectives, we’ve more than doubled in size and 2015 is already shaping up to be another cracker!

Over the past few years we’ve gained invaluable experience helping brands big and small revolutionize how they source and publish engaging content to share with the audiences visiting their websites, blogs and social pages.

Welcome

This eBook is aimed to share some of the most valuable tips and tricks we’ve learnt along the way – combining them with the latest industry statistics – to help demonstrate exactly what this could mean for your business.

Just like search engine optimization, content marketing and the benefits it can deliver can be applied to any business serious about online marketing.

But don’t just take our word for it, as you’ll see as you read on, these statistics all reinforce our belief that;

Charlie McGhee, CEO, ContentNetwork

“The only content strategy that fails, is the one that stops!”


This eBook highlights:exactly what’s changed in the world of Content Marketing and which trends are driving online marketing forward in 2015,

Specifically we’ll look at:• How to create and implement a Content Marketing strategy • The importance of tracking the effectiveness of that strategy• How to measure your ROI for the greatest impact of your efforts


This ebook will also cover:• What this all means for Content Marketing in 2015• How our QUEST guide helps clients keep quality consistent• How content benefits B2C and B2C in different ways• How to utilize a social media for content distribution• The ever growing need to be mobile device compatible

Content Marketing is currently one of the most

important forms of marketing

for B2C and B2B marketers,

if not THE most important

online marketing activity facingbusinesses today.


Much has changed in the way that search engines, like Yahoo & Google, favor sites and filter their audiences depending on a range of factors including:• how recent content is• how long content engages• how quickly content disengages • how often content is shared on social media• how relevant content is to trending search terms


Even the very definition of Content Marketing has changed significantly in the last year alone :

2013: “The creation and distribution of educational or compelling content in multiple media formats to attract and or retain customers”

2014: “A strategic marketing approach focused on creating & distributing valuable and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience and drive profitable customer action.”

Source: Content Marketing Institute 2014 www.contentquality.co.uk+44 (0) 20 8133 5549ContentNetwork

whattheexpertssay

Creating Quality Content


“You can’t buy engagement, no matter how much media spend is behind it, that won’t make it more engaging.”

“Content that has a spark, a bit of spending, especially in the right place, will always help fan the flames.”

Adage “So Now You’ve Made Some Content Now What Do You Do With It” By, Tim Peterson

John McCarus, DigitasLBi VP-Social Content Practice Lead


“Google is increasingly promoting criteria that can’t be influenced by SEO. A paramount consideration is the quality of the visit: after a user enters a query and clicks on a link, do they remain on the site or return to Google? A simple way to maximize the quality of the visit is to have a wealth of engaging content on the site”

Stephane Levy, Co-Founder of LABELIUM, who specialise in online marketing and whose clients include global brands like Carrefour, L'Oreal, LVMH & Pierre & Vacances

SEO Experts


"More and more, quality content is naturally rewarded. Creating rare and relevant information can be rewarded by Google without necessarily having to rely heavily on SEO techniques. It seems more important today to promote content that is qualitative both in its function as in its form.”

Alberic Guigou, Co-Founder, REPUTATION SQUAD who specialize in Online Reputation Management and whose clients include global brands like Axa, Nestle, SEGA & Western Union

Online PR Experts


whatwebelieve



Content Marketing is no longer only about

creating content to attract customers.

Today, we now have the

tools, knowledge & skills to utilize content marketing to turn customer

acquisition into profitable customer interactions.


whatweadvise



Q.U.E.S.T. is a checklist ContentNetwork created to help ensure your content both improves engagement and search engine rankings. QUEST stands for content that is:

! Qualitative - well written and interesting storytelling! Unique – Fresh data and exclusive insights! Engaging – capturing audience attention longer! Sharable – relevant, more likely to be shared! Trusted – authoritative information from a reliable source

Creating good content is not only cost effective, with more companies utilizing content marketing, the need to grow your own ‘social capital’ simply to compete, has never been greater.


whatthestatssay



70% of B2B marketers are creating more content than

they did one year ago.

72% of B2C marketers are creating more content than

they did a year ago.

Source: Content Marketing Institute 2014 www.contentquality.co.uk+44 (0) 20 8133 5549ContentNetwork

whatweadvise



creating quality contentremains fundamentally important for

any business looking to successfully

attract, engage and retain online audiences and convert them into

LOYAL customers.


whatistrending

The Rise of Content Marketing


(Clikz.com: Where Is Content Marketing Going in 2015)

As you can see from Google’s trend report reflecting the phrase “Content Marketing,” the figures show a steady increase, one that is growing clear into 2015.


40% of Marketing budgets are going toward content marketing, according to a survey of 750 marketers and online publishers conducted earlier this year.

Not only are marketers focusing on content marketing but they are

increasing their budgets to do so more effectively.

Source: Outbrain 2014 www.contentquality.co.uk+44 (0) 20 8133 5549ContentNetwork

In the chart to the right you will see that

58% of B2B marketers plan to increase their Content Marketing budgets.

Only 1% of B2B marketers plan to decrease spending and only 8% are

unsure. Which means 90% of B2B marketers are continuing to put their capital in Content creation.


60% of B2C marketers plan to increase the amount they are spending. Those marketers were asked to rank their own effectiveness.

69% of marketers who feel the least effective are increasing their spending and even

55% of the most effective are increasing spending

These increases prove that content marketing holds a strong and increasing appeal.

The proof is in the numbers.


whatweadvise

Content Marketing Strategy


It is no longer enough to simply create content.

To compete today requires a clear and

coherent Content Marketing Strategy.

Creating such a strategy means deciding

which content will best combine what you want to say with what

audiences want to consume.


whatthestatssay

Content Marketing Strategy

35% of marketers say they have a content marketing strategy

48% say they do have a content marketing strategy but it’s not written down.

Content Institute: B2B research 2014/2015 www.contentquality.co.uk+44 (0) 20 8133 5549ContentNetwork

60% of marketers that do have a documented

strategy rate themselves highly in effectiveness

compared to 32% who only have a verbal strategy.

Starting with a verbal strategy is better than nothing, but statistics indicate a written one will be more effective.

Content Institute: B2B research 2014/2015 www.contentquality.co.uk+44 (0) 20 8133 5549ContentNetwork

Creating a strategy starts with defining

who you’re creating content for

and what type of content will be of most interest to them.

Setting goals help measure the effectiveness of such tactics.

Content Marketing Institute: 2014 www.contentquality.co.uk+44 (0) 20 8133 5549ContentNetwork

Tracking your goals and tactics will help you

identify where clients are responding and which methods are less effective.

Implementing calculated changes will help you meet your goals.

The top 3 initiatives for marketers:! Better conversion of visitors! More engaging higher quality content! Making themselves better storytellers

Content Marketing Institute: 2014 www.contentquality.co.uk+44 (0) 20 8133 5549ContentNetwork

whatweadvise

Content Marketing ROI


when it comes to measuring the overall

return on investmentthat Content Marketing offers there are a number of tools at your disposal.

Specifically, tools like

Google Analyticsenable website’s to both monitorwhich pages are engaging visitors the best, and whichkeywords potential customers are searching on.


Failing to correctly or consistently use easily available analytical tools to

monitor engagement or enhance SEO not only puts your investment in

digital marketing at risk, it also leaves you wide open to attack from

competitors prepared to invest time and money in such activities.


whatthestatssay

Social Media Optimisation


SEM has become a very expensive endeavor, making

Google more than $42 billion every year.

Why did Facebook’s Q1-Q2 profits jump by

60 percent?Because the associated costs of

distributing content are increasing

and paid social is one of the best ways to do it.

Clikz.com: Where is Content Marketing Going in 2015? www.contentquality.co.uk+44 (0) 20 8133 5549ContentNetwork

“Unless you’ve been dominating your industry

in the past year, there are probably several

social media tools you haven’t

tried yet”

Social Media platforms distribute content in different ways to different audiences. Audiences have therefore become

curators of their own consumption.

Clikz.com: Where is Content Marketing Going in 2015? www.contentquality.co.uk+44 (0) 20 8133 5549ContentNetwork

whatwebelieve



Despite there being an increasing amount of content on the internet,

most of it is bad.

Social media has created a filtering system to help funnel content to the

right audiences.

Today you need to discern which platforms your audience is using and what they are looking for.


whatthestatssay



94% use LinkedIn to distribute content to a wider audience.

Pinterest quickly increases the visibility of your products, essential if you rely on ecommerce

Google rewards businesses that utilize Google+ which is why its usage is up from last year.

Source: Content Marketing Institute www.contentquality.co.uk+44 (0) 20 8133 5549ContentNetwork

Blog / social media posts greater than

1500 words on average receive:

68% more Tweets and

23% more Facebook likes

than a post that is under 1500 words.

Quicksprout Study 2014 www.contentquality.co.uk+44 (0) 20 8133 5549ContentNetwork

whatweadvise

Search Engine Optimisation


Web pages with 300 words or more

rank higher than web pages with less .

Pages with less than 300 words,

not labeled as “no follow” can and probably

will have a negative impact on your ranking in organic search results.


.Going MobileEven after you’ve: - Increased Content Marketing spending - Documented it in a realistic strategy, - Utilize social media to distribute it

Failing to produce content suitable for

mobile devices means missing out on the fastest growing audience.

Can your business really afford not to think mobile in everything it does?


whatthestatssay

Mobile Internet Usage


34% of mobile internet users go online mostly using their phones…in place of other devices such as a desktop or laptop computers

Not only is mobile usage growing but mobile spending is increasing rapidly.

Source: Pewinternet’s Mobile fact sheet. www.contentquality.co.uk+44 (0) 20 8133 5549ContentNetwork

In 2012, marketers spent

$4.4 billion on mobile advertising in the U.S.

In 2013, that figure rose to

$8.5 billion;

A figure that, by 2017, is projected to quadruple to

$31.1 billion

Source: (CMO Council: 2014) www.contentquality.co.uk+44 (0) 20 8133 5549ContentNetwork

Thankfully, developments such as:

• HTML 5 • Drupal• Wordpresshelp by making it much

easier and affordable to update your website’s Content Management System to be mobile compatible.


More B2B marketers say they are challenged with finding trained content marketing professionals

32% this year compared to last years 10%.

42% say multiple times per week or daily.

Source: Content Marketing Institute; 2014/2015)

How often do you publish new content to support your content marketing program?


The information we’ve provided is not intended overwhelm you with too much information or statistics. The fact is all evidence indicates that content can a valuable weapon if employed correctly.

Following and tracking a Content Marketing Strategy, utilizing Social Media and being Mobile Compatible are all things the majority businesses know how to approach themselves.

However, the content creation this requires, especially writing, are time consuming activities, ones that can spiral in terms of costs and timescales if not handled by a specialist.

Conclusion


Don’t worry – help is at hand!

Content Network is here to help you and your business take advantage of all these wonderful new platforms and best practices.


Collaborate securely with a trusted network of

+500 writers and start publishing more content in over

30 languages.

Why use us?

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