presented by:
Join the conversation: @Bridgeline #ContentStrategy
Webinar: Content Strategy & SEO A Plan to Attract, Engage and
Convert Your Target Audience
with your host, JR Hopwood Vice President of Digital Strategy
Bridgeline.com
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Who is Bridgeline Digital
We help our customers achieve their key initiatives by
leveraging leading web based technologies
How We Build Customer Success
“No other company in the web engagement marketplace can provide for its customers the integrated solutions Bridgeline provides.”
—Scott Liewehr, DCG
Ruth Stillman Digital Marketing Specialist, iAPPS Success Group
BS—Ithaca College, MS—MGH Institute of Health Professions
Brian Harris Director of Digital Services, iAPPS Success Group
BFA—Syracuse University
About the presenters
Join the Conversation @bridgeline #ContentStrategy
Visit us at: bridgeline.com
Follow us: @bridgeline
What is Content Strategy?
Brian Harris @bridgeline
#ContentStrategy
Wikipedia:
Content strategy refers to the planning, development, and
management of content—written or in other media. The term is
particularly common in web development since the late 1990s.
It is recognized as a field in user experience design but also
draws interest from adjacent communities such as content
management, business analysis, and technical communication.
Understanding what your target audience
wants and adjusting your website content to
attract, engage, convert and measure your
success to improve the results as you
continually repeat the process.
What is Content Strategy?
Brian Harris @bridgeline
#ContentStrategy
“ ”
– Matt Cutts, Head of Google’s Webspam Team
Even if you do brain-dead stupid things and shoot
yourself in the foot, but have good content, we still
want to return it…”
Content Strategy and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
In the context of content strategy, search engine optimization takes on “new” meaning
Like every website, search engines are trying to give their audience
the best experience possible.
This means that they are getting increasingly adept at seeing the web
through their audience’s eyes.
Search Engine Optimization becomes about understanding the
Search Engine User and creating content for their needs, not those of
the Search Engine Algorithms themselves.
This is a huge shift in approach, and executing a new content strategy
is the best solution to ensuring you are “search engine optimized.”
Why is Content Strategy important?
Let’s look at how most of the Internet came to be…
1
5 4
3 2
Understanding Content Strategy
Common Content Strategic Challenges
Misalignment Website content doesn’t overlap much,
or at all, with topics people are
searching for on the web.
Underserving Website content doesn’t cover many of
the topics people are searching for on
the web.
Wild Fire Website content doesn’t seem aware
of the topics people are searching for
on the web (hit-or-miss shooting
indiscreetly at varying topics).
44% of B2B Marketers
have a documented
content strategy Documented content
strategy makes the
difference. 84% of
marketers who say
they’re ineffective at
content marketing said
they have no
documented strategy…
— Content Marketing Institute
Understanding Content Strategy
Common Content Strategic Approaches
Alignment Strategy Adjust the topics addressed
Change the nature of the content
Refine CTAs, goals, conversion definitions
Expansion Strategy Add more topics to content
Cover more about each topic
Increase CTAs, goals, conversion definitions
Reduction Strategy Reduce number of topics covered
Cover less on each topic
Limit CTAs, goals, conversion definitions
72% of B2C Marketers
are creating more
content
than they were just a
year ago…but HOW are
they determining what
content to create?
— Marketing Profs
Why execute a content strategy?
They’re out there, looking! Your target audience, is searching for solutions like yours.
They’re out there…in force, right now!
In order to cause them to purchase your offerings,
whether they’re products, services, or both you need to
think about each step towards that goal…think AECM
Attract Engage
Measure to Improve Convert
Why execute a content strategy?
If you’re a funnel thinker…
Attract
Engage
Measure to Improve
Convert
Why execute a content strategy?
If you’re a funnel thinker…
Attract
Engage
Measure to Improve
Convert
Why execute a content strategy?
If you’re a funnel thinker…
Attract
Engage
Measure to Improve
Convert
Audience Attraction
The first part of any conversion funnel
is creating awareness…
Using terms they’re looking for in your content
will help you show up in their search results.
These terms will also help with all attraction
tactics: PPC, Email, Social Media, etc.
Attract Engage
Measure to Improve
Convert
80% of Business
Decision Makers
prefer to get
company
information from a
series of articles
versus an
advertisement.
— Content Marketing Institute
Audience Engagement
Once they’ve arrived,
you have to captivate them…
Keywords & phrases drive a content road map.
Relevance and good content will retain leads.
They’ll stay longer & are more apt to convert.
This is true on landing pages, social media, etc.
Attract Engage
Measure to Improve
Convert
60% of Business
Decision Makers say
that company
content helps them
make better product
decisions.
— Content Marketing Institute
Audience Conversion
Now engaged, it’s time to convert
AB Testing will improve results
The AECM process will refine and define what
“conversion” means to your business
Allows more accurate configuration of Goals
and Campaigns within your analytics
Attract Engage
Measure to Improve
Convert
73% of B2B Marketers
say they have a
person who
oversees their
Content Strategy.
— Content Marketing Institute
& MarketingProfs on iab.net
Measure to Improve
Analyze your success to
continually improve the outcome
Results: Good Better Great Incredible.
There is always room for improvement.
user experience conversions.
Attract Engage
Measure to Improve
Convert
30% of B2B marketing
budgets dedicated to
Content Marketing.
— Content Marketing Institute
& MarketingProfs on iab.net
Content Strategy and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Content strategy is understanding that
which your target audience seeks and
shaping/changing your website content to
serve that need in order to
Attract
Engage
Convert and ultimately
Measure your success to Improve
as you continually repeat the process.
The most critical part of getting where you
need to be is figuring out exactly where that
is and how to get there.
Search engine research provides definitive
guidelines for the content you should be
publishing and at what frequency.
Content Strategy & SEO
Ruth Stillman @bridgeline
#ContentStrategy
STEP 1: Identify your target audience
– Forrester Research
It’s important not to make
assumptions
Are you sure you
are targeting the
right audience?
Have you identified
relevant incidental
audiences?
Have you talked to
members of this
audience to confirm
your beliefs about their needs?
STEP 2: Understand your target audience
Stakeholder Interviews We like to start at the beginning with what the
customer knows, or thinks they know, about
their target audience. Stakeholder interviews
are the foundation for qualitative research.
User Interviews Nothing gets to the heart of what the target
audience wants than to ask them directly. By
asking users, you can distill many of the
stakeholder observations into core truths. User
interviews refine qualitative data.
Keyword Research The one thing to keep in mind about “users” is
that they are already brand aware. To
understand what the largest potential market
wants, look to their search habits.
36% Only 36%
of content
marketers feel
they’re using
content
effectively. —SocialMediaToday.com
STEP 3: Conduct a content inventory
Examine the content across your digital
presence as a whole.
Develop topics, types, states, and dates: Spreadsheet
While creating this spreadsheet is an exercise in tedium,
when you’re done maintenance is a relatively simple task.
Types and States
It is important when conducting an inventory to look past
quantity and measure quality. What type of content is it?
What mediums is it available in? Is it current? Is it well-
written? When was it last updated (was it ever updated)?
Topics
Distilling content to its keywords gives you the ability to
take an apples-to-apples look at your content compared to
your audience’s interests.
41% 41% of B2C
Marketers and 33%
of B2B Marketers
cite the inability to
measure their
content as a
signidicant
challenge.
—The Content
Marketing Institute
STEP 4: Perform a gap analysis
How does your content compare to the
larger body of your audience’s needs? By comparing what your audience is looking for and how your
content (and perhaps that of your competition) meets that
need, you begin to see the overall gap.
Don’t Panic! Every site has a gap. It’s the intrinsic nature of the equation.
59% of content
marketers will
increase their
efforts this year
(2014). —eMarketer.com
2014 Competition Rising
STEP 5: Develop a strategic content plan
Common Content Strategy Approaches
44% of B2B Marketers
have a documented
content strategy Documented content
strategy makes the
difference. 84% of
marketers who say
they’re ineffective at
content marketing said
they have no
documented strategy…
— Content Marketing Institute
Alignment Strategy Adjust topics
Change nature of
content
Refine CTAs, goals,
conversion definitions
Expansion Strategy Add topics
Cover each topic more
Increase CTAs, goals,
conversion definitions
Reduction Strategy Reduce topics
Cover each topic less
Limit CTAs, goals,
conversion definitions
STEP 5: Develop a strategic content plan, continued
Content Calendar
60% of marketers plan to
increase budgets for
acquisition, retention
and engagement on
social media platforms
such as Twitter and
Facebook in 2014, with
71 percent planning to
boost their overall
digital marketing
expenditure.
— MediaBistro.com
“ Editorial calendars are used to plot social media
posts, blogs, articles & website updates.”
“ Often going under the name ‘content calendar,’
they can help teams plan campaigns around
big events.”
“ They can also be used to keep teams on track
with posting goals, serving as a reminder to
keep a company’s online presence active.”
—Forbes.com
In its ubiquity as an industry term, content
strategy has taken on myriad bloated
misconceptions as to what it includes.
In order to execute a successful content
strategy, you must clearly define where this
effort ends and others begin.
What Content Strategy IS/ISN’T
@bridgeline #ContentStrategy
Content Development Content strategy directs content development
Content Marketing Content marketing is a technique of publishing
attractive, compelling content to attract, engage,
and convert a specified audience.
Information Architecture Content strategy informs IA, and IA in turn informs
content development.
Website Optimization Activities such as improving load time, search
engine optimization, code refinement, and content
organization
What Content Strategy is, what it isn’t
Content
Strategy Content
Strategy
Content
Strategy
Content
Inventory Stakeholder/
User
Interviews
Keyword
& Analytics
Research
Alignment
Meetings
Taxonomy
Review
Voice
Definition
Editorial
Calendar
Engagement
Marketing
Review
Here are some examples that demonstrate
some of the concepts we’ve discussed...
Examples
@bridgeline #ContentStrategy
Example
Content Strategy: Dive Rite
“No one understood the Dive
Rite brand, its history, and the
quality of the gear because
Dive Rite had stopped telling
its story...”
First attempt to “fix the website” backfired.
Only showing up in search for branded terms,
and even then, not in top position.
Focus on getting traction in search engines in
addition to making content stronger. Worked
on optimizing for “long tail” searches.
Resulted in a 65% increase in search traffic
Independent dealer report of referrals from
the Dive Rite site 3x more likely to convert to
a sale.
– ContentMarketingInstitute.com
Step 1: Develop strategy
Step 2: Tell story
Step 3: Engage customer
Step 4: Connect off/online
Step 5: Social media
Example
Train your team: HipHop DX
Goal: Produce higher quality content
to increase average time on site and
boost ad revenue
Methodology: Research into people,
process and technology
Training: Workshops with team on
personas and writing to incorporate
SEO best practices
Result: 24% increase in traffic
contributing to a direct increase in
revenue.
– Aha Media Group
Content audit which detailed:
Traffic patterns
Top pages by section
Top content pages
Heat maps
Top 100 pages by artist
Top news content by artist
Example
Know your users: Skytap
Results:
North American site traffic
210%
Organic search traffic
55%
Leads from online channels
97%
Leads from all channels
124%
Online opportunities
73%
– Marketing Sherpa
Step 1: Set basic audience segments
Step 2: Research segments
Step 3: Dig deeper into each segment
Step 4: Plan targeted content
Step 5: Establish content review process
“We are not in the business of creating
meaningless content garbage.”
A. Understand your target audience and tailor your content:
Attract Engage Convert Measure & Improve
B. Search Engine Optimization is critical to attract qualified leads from the
greatest potential source: organic search traffic
C. Keyword Research Content Inventory Gap Analysis Content Plan
D. AB Testing is a great way to continually improve your efforts
E. It’s not Content Development, Content Marketing,
Information Architecture, or Website Optimization
F. We LOVE to have this conversation, let’s chat about it sometime!
And To Summarize…
Q&A
JR Hopwood VP Digital Strategy
Bridgeline Digital
Brian Harris Director of Digital Services
Bridgeline Digital
Bridgeline Digital:
@Bridgeline
Join the Conversation @bridgeline #ContentStrategy
Ruth Stillman Digital Marketing Specialist
Bridgeline Digital
We hope you received actionable ideas from our show
and encourage thoughts, questions, and feedback.
If you found this webinar helpful, please consider
engaging with us by doing the following:
Visit our website: bridgeline.com
Check out our eBooks, White Papers, and Blog entries
Follow us on Twitter: @bridgeline Suggest new topics for future webinars
Stay tuned for an email linking to recording and slides Plus ideas for how we can help you with your content strategy
Thank You for joining the webinar!
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