How to Create and Use Content to Drive Engagement

ENGAGEMENT

Karl Davitt - 29th July 2014

HOW TO CREATE AND USE

CONTENTTO DRIVE

WHAT CONTENT MARKETING IS NOT• A campaign (i.e. short term)• Meaningless (i.e. without purpose)• Social Media (i.e. confined to a single channel)• Unplanned (i.e. done on a whim)• Easy (i.e. undisciplined)

WHAT CONTENT MARKETING IS

Content marketing is an approach, a philosophy, a marketing and business process for creating

and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage

a clearly defined and understood target audience – with the objective of driving

profitable customer action.

CUSTOMER LIFECYCLE MODEL

CONTENT MARKETING PROCESS

Plan Create Distribute Analyse Repeat

1 2 3 4 5

PLANNING

1CONTENT

PLANNING• Planning involves forming the strategy and

putting the processes in place based on:1. Audience Personas2. The Lifecycle Model

AUDIENCE PERSONAS• The audience persona is a semi-fictional representation of the real people who will

consume the content (agency clients).

MEET DAVID

MEET DAVIDDemographicsGender: Male

Age: 31

Class: B (Middle Class) - €35-40K

Role: Digital Marketing Planner at mid-sized marketing agency

Interests: Work interests – Digital marketing, content marketing, blogging, social media, technology, SEO, PPC, Analytics

Personal interests – Soccer (World Cup), world news, gym, going to events, cult TV (Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Orange is the New Black, etc.), comedians

Education: Third level education (based in business/marketing/communications), diploma in digital marketing.

MindsetLifestyle Factors:

Striver - Attaches importance to image and status, as a means of enabling acceptance his peer group, at the same time holding onto traditional values. Esteem seeker - Acquisitive and materialistic, aspiring to what he sees are symbols of success, including things and experiences.Active lifestyle, enjoys trying new things, spends money on indulgences. Has a regular positive attitude.Individualistic tendencies, works for the good of the company but focused on developing his own knowledge too.Social, quite friendly, very approachable and good at making people feel valued. Friends are in the industry or entrepreneurial.Success driven, wants to achieve and perform to a high level (ambitious), wants to be seen to be successful. Works hard to achieve what he has.Imaginative approach is appreciated, likes outside the box thinking.Attends digital marketing events, sees importance of networking.Trend conscious, up to date and always wants the newest thing.Class is important.

Goals & ChallengesPrimary Goal: Grow within industry, wants to get into a good position in a company

Secondary Goals: Having a strong client portfolio (Ambition) Help clients achieve goals Win awards (Recognition) Be a thought leader in the area of digital marketing (well known) Wants to expand outside of Ireland

Primary Challenges:

Doesn’t have enough experience Fast moving industry, hard to keep up Needs to stand out from others in the industry

Secondary Challenges:

Needs opportunities Needs to take risks, but risk taking can backfire Finding it hard to build his portfolio Needs a better network to help him achieve goals

DemographicsSocial Media: Particularly Twitter, Facebook (Facebook is more personal), LinkedIn.

Instagram, YouTube, Skype, WhatsApp, Snapchat, Viber, Spotify, Netflix

Blogs: Follows a number of influential bloggers in the digital marketing area, Slideshare, Hubspot

News Sites: Daily Mail, Irish Independent, RTE, The Journal, AdWeek, Inside Facebook

Content Aggregators:

e.g. Mashable, Feedly, Reddit

AUDIENCE PERSONAS• The audience persona is a semi-fictional representation of the real people who

will consume the content (agency clients). • This audience persona was created using research, intuition and some

generalisations. • This will act as the base for all activities going forward, before entering a

channel, creating or posting content we should ask “Will David like this?” and “What value does this give David?”. – In this way we can ensure that all content and activities will positively resonate with our

real audience.

• This persona should be updated on a regular basis using research, behaviour based on analytics (most popular content etc.), interviews/surveys etc.

LIFECYCLE MODEL

LIFECYCLE MODEL• The Attract stage focuses on creating awareness

through entertaining and educational content, the aim is to get the brand name out and build some affinity.

• At this stage the buyer is still only becoming aware of their needs and may not fully understand them; educational content in this stage is therefore quite descriptive.

LIFECYCLE MODEL• The Convert stage continues with more sophisticated

educational content, incorporating some more technical knowledge.

• Secondary to this would be more inspirational content rather than entertaining content as the affinity towards the brand grows stronger the buyer needs a reason to believe in the brand rather than just being entertained.

LIFECYCLE MODEL• The Close stage is very much concerned with

Convincing content to help the buyer know that they are making the right decision in choosing our services.

• They would be a qualified lead at this point and so have a good idea of their need and have done some research around it.

• This is where the sales side of things begins to take over.

LIFECYCLE MODEL• Finally, as the name suggests, the Delight stage involves

delighting customers further to build a relationship and convert them into advocates.

• Having already purchased/become a client they are looking for more content from across the educational, entertainment and inspirational themes.

• Convincing content is used to upsell but should be used sparingly as a relationship where you’re always being sold to is less than ideal.

CONTENT PLANNING PROCESSOnce every month/2 months a content meeting will be held where the following process will be used:

1. Next period’s topics will be chosen– Send questionnaire to audience– Look at analytics for content performance

(what was best performing content, what was worst?)– Upcoming trends/events– Keywords being used in SEO and PPC strategy

CONTENT PLANNING PROCESS2. Topics are spread over

the chosen period– Input into Content

Calendar– Use key dates of

trends/events– Use consistency where

possible– Variety in distribution

CONTENT PLANNING PROCESS3. Form Working Titles &

Aim of content– Titles give an idea of

content type.– What is key take away

from each piece of content?

– What Lifecycle stage does this appeal to?

CONTENT PLANNING PROCESS4. Allocate Topics &

Deadlines to Staff– Allocate topics based on staff

members expertise and availability

– Set copy deadlines 1-2 weeks before publish date (when possible) to allow time for editing and potential delays.

CREATION

2CONTENT

TYPES OF CONTENT

Original Content

Third Party Content

Third Party Hosted Content

ORIGINAL CONTENT• Content created internally based on the

expertise of the staff.• Can be based on:– Topics/trends that the staff specialise in– Customer activities/showcasing own work– Data trends emerging from activities (that isn’t

considered sensitive information)

ORIGINAL CONTENT

“You don’t have to reinvent the wheel; you just need to share your unique

perspective on why the wheel is important”

– Jon Ball.

ORIGINAL CONTENT

Audience Interests & Needs

Unique Brand

Expertise & Value

Sweet Spot

ORIGINAL CONTENT RULES1. Use pre-chosen keywords throughout.

– These keywords are those which the site will be optimised for and that are being used in the AdWords strategy.

2. Focus on the value that the audience persona (David) is getting out of this piece of content.

3. See how this content ties in with other content in the ‘content repository’ that can be tied back in and could lead to the viewer reading another article.– Mention and/or link to this ‘other content’ in the new content

4. Have a strategic purpose for the content; don’t just create it to ‘put something out’.

THIRD PARTY HOSTED CONTENT• Risk of having what is known as ‘duplicate content’

– Search engines rarely show multiple duplicate pieces of content• If using third-party hosted content you must include

original insight or analysis that augments the content you’re aggregating. – As a general rule, the more unique content you add, the better

the content will perform in search engines, and the safer you’ll be with regard to future algorithm changes.

CONTENT WITH PURPOSE• As stated earlier content should

always have a purpose.– Educate, entertain, inspire

convince– Collect emails, sign up to

newsletter, download brochure, call to enquire about specific service etc.

• Certain types of content do better for each purpose.

CONTENT PSYCHOLOGYDissonance• When the tweet says there are marketing

channels that you are overlooking, but you believe that you are a good marketer that would never overlook a high-impact channel, there is psychological tension between what the tweet copy is telling you and how you perceive yourself.

• You click on the link in the tweet -- you want to reduce the dissonance between what someone you trust tells you and your perception of yourself.

• Challenge assumptions that people may have about themselves.

CONTENT PSYCHOLOGYSelf-Perception• Self-perception theory says that people

develop attitudes from observing their own behaviour and drawing conclusions from it.

• People interact with content consistent with their perception of their self. Marketers would want this specific tweet on their Twitter timeline because it shows that they are up-to-date with marketing trends.

• Create content that is consistent with how your audience persona views themselves. They will be more likely to interact with and share the content.

CONTENT PSYCHOLOGYExtrinsic Motivation• Extrinsic motivation is when we perform

specific behaviours in order to receive external rewards.

• People like to receive things, especially when they feel like it's a reward -- so they are likely to click on links that contain something that they can benefit from.

• This specific tweet recognizes that our audience is on Twitter and reading this tweet, so we want to reward them with some extra knowledge.

• Offer something of value to your audience to get them to click -- and be sure your heading tells them what value they'll get by clicking.

CONTENT PSYCHOLOGYNorming• Norming is the process of constructing norms

(the standards people should follow). With your content you can establish something that is usual, standard, or typical for a specific population.

• Why does this work? Peer and colleague pressure is real. If content brings attention to "30 terrible pieces of social media advice you should ignore," people want to be part of the "good marketer" collective that doesn’t take bad advice.

• Entice people with what they should be doing or what is normal for their peers and colleagues. Words like "should" and "ought to" are great to use to put this theory into action.

CONTENT (BLOGGING) TIPSHeadlines• Headlines are important to get right as it is what the viewer will

base their opinion of whether or not they will read the content. • Headlines should be roughly 6-8 words (65 characters) to keep it

short and snappy.

• Headlines should accomplish three things:1. Catch the full attention of your intended audience2. Suck them into the content3. Entice them to read the opening paragraph

CONTENT (BLOGGING) TIPS4 Important Qualities for Writing a Good Headline1. Self-Interest – People are always thinking “What is in this for me?” So

let them know exactly how they can benefit2. News – If you presenting a new topic, an update or recent addition to

an old topic/post be sure to mention it3. Curiosity – Used by itself is the lowest form of headline writing but

coupled with either of the above two methods can be very powerful4. Quick and Easy – Something that is easy to digest, not too technical

and that doesn’t feel like it’s too much effort.

CONTENT (BLOGGING) TIPSHeadline Types that get Best Engagement• Titles with urgency• How to…• If… then…• Number of ways (Top 10 ways to…)• Be Quirky (The Lazy man’s guide to… ; Confessions of a…)• Strong Language (Killer Tips for…)• Questions (Where has… gone wrong?)• Include a verb• Negative wording (Stop losing out on…)

Engaging Headline = Number/Trigger word + Adjective + Keyword + Promise/Benefit

• More at http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/blog-post-title-templates-infographic

http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/blog-post-title-templates-infographic

CONTENT (BLOGGING) TIPSOpening Paragraph• Important as it provides context for the rest of the post and still has to convince

the reader that the rest of the post is worth reading.• After the headline the opening sentence is the second most important part of a

blog post.• Best practice says to:

– Ask a question– Share a quote related to the topic– Use an analogy, metaphor or simile– Use a shocking statistic– Make a claim (but be sure to back it up with proof throughout body)– Be controversial (go against the grain on a subject)

CONTENT (BLOGGING) TIPSMain Body• Some best practice for the body of a post says to:• Ask questions throughout (It makes it more controversial).• Avoid using jargon unless it is appropriate for the audience.• Use specific details.• Why you use Bullets:

– Don’t require any transition from one point to the next(you can just pile all your thoughts on top of each other without worrying about flow).

– Catch the attention of skimmers - because it doesn’t look that intimidating to read a bunch of bullets as opposed to paragraphs of text

– When done properly they can add a lot of value to your content.

CONTENT (BLOGGING) TIPSRich Media (Imagery/Video)• When possible always use rich media

to accompany text; whether in a blog, a post etc.– Proven to get higher engagement rates

(posts).– Helps keep audience attention– Proven to be shared more

• Can be purely aesthetic (relating to the topic that is being discussed) or models etc. to help explain a concept with fewer words.

DISTRIBUTION

3CONTENT

CONTENT DISTRIBUTION• If content is king, then distribution is queen!

– It’s not enough to have great content, you have to distribute it in such a way that it helps to meet business goals.

• Content is a powerful tool, the best tool you have to attract visitors and convert leads; but you have to make sure those people can find your content. You have to distribute it.

• It’s the delivery that makes that message relevant.

CONTEXT OF CONTENT• Context is the other side to the content coin.– Context is essential to content being accepted by

audiences. – You need to communicate with your target

audience in the right way, at the right place, at the right time.

CONTEXT OF CONTENT• Each Social Media platform is

different and has its own style.– Position content in the

appropriate context.– e.g. #hashtags in LinkedIn look

out of place, tweets cut off because they were auto-posted with too many characters looks lazy.

CONTEXT OF CONTENT - TWITTER• Twitter is a living breathing conversation– Keep content short, engaging and easily shareable

• Best Practice Tips– Limited to 140 characters but keep to 115-120– Avoid starting with @mention (use .@mention)– Make it visual (50% higher CTR when using images)– Use #hashtags wisely

CONTEXT OF CONTENT - FACEBOOK• Facebook is the personality social media• Best practices include:– Keep posts under 250 characters– Use images– Ask questions – Facebook content needs to be fun & personal

CONTEXT OF CONTENT - LINKEDIN• LinkedIn is the Professional Network.• Best Practices include:– Post less frequently but more thought provoking.– Similar to Facebook avoid posts over 250 characters.– Use imagery where possible.– Post to groups to reach outside your immediate

network.

CONTEXT OF CONTENT - GOOGLE+• Google+ is considered to be an SEO

Driver• Best practices include:– Diversify content by posting a range of content types.– Treat as the mid-ground of Facebook and LinkedIn.

• Posts from Google+ improve SEO listings, great for local SEO (questioned by others).

PREPARING CONTENT FOR DISTRIBUTION

• If the content is Original Content/hosted on our own site/blog prepare a UTM using Google’s URL Builder– Fill in the URL of the content.– Fill in the Source and Medium– Campaign Content is the title of the content being

posted– For Campaign Name fill in: [Account] [Campaign]

[Medium/Channel]– Keep a record of the UTM in the Content Calendar.


• Does the content need an accompanying image? (Content with images usually perform better that just text.)– Find/create an image to accompany the content if so.– A quote or the title of the content inserted over an

image looks impressive, is an easy way to add more to a post, and stands out.


• When posting content using Hootsuite for Twitter, ensuring that all pictures are uploaded as pic.twitter formats not ow.ly formats.


• Shorten URL if posting to Twitter to save characters.– Use Hootsuite as we can buy/generate reports for

tracking performance.– No need to shorten link for LinkedIn, Google+ etc.– Once shortened save link in Content Calendar.

http://mashable.com/2014/07/29/linkedin-mobile-profile-redesign/ http://ow.ly/zGZbj


Construct Post• Write out accompanying copy in Content Calendar file

– Write what you want to say (regardless of characters) to entice our audience into reading/clicking.

– Now look for areas where you can shorten your copy.– Ask will our audience persona ‘David’ like this copy? Does this copy fit within the

brand archetypes and channel contexts? If not edit copy.– If using Twitter ensure a correct use of hashtags.

• Get copy approved by editor– If editor approves continue, if not edit and try again.

• After approval construct your post in the channel/tool.


• Is the post being sent out immediately or being scheduled for a later time?– If being sent immediately hit send and record the time

that post was sent into the Content Calendar.– If being scheduled prepare time and date for post, and

when possible get an email alert to say message was sent. Record details of when post will go out into the Content Calendar.


• When posting/scheduling content aim for peak times using research and analytics data.– Posts generally have a half-life of

3 hours before other posts push them out of a user’s feed.

– Tweriod Analytics currently show that the main times to contact [Company’s] users is between 13:00-15:00 and 16:00-17:00 on weekdays.

HOW TO DISTRIBUTE• Red arrows

represent the flow of content whereas blue arrows represent backlinks.

ANALYSIS

4CONTENT

WHY WE ANALYSE• Before moving on to the repeat phase and starting

the process over again, be sure that what is currently being done is working.– What was the objective of the content? Did it achieve

this?– What worked? Why did it work?– What didn’t work? Why didn’t it?

• Use insight to create better content going forward.

ANALYTICS AVAILABLE• Hootsuite provide tracking facilities and

reporting (need to upgrade account).• Google Analytics can track hosted content

thanks to UTM.• Twitter just launched Twitter Organic analytics• Tweriod etc. can also provide insight.

PROCESS

5REPEAT

A DAY* IN THE LIFE OF A PIECE OF CONTENT

1. Content was created as a draft copy as per plan, to meet working title, and including keywords.– “12 Ways to Optimise your AdWords

Account”

2. Content is edited to ensure it will appeal to audience persona and that it follows best practice guidelines.– A shocking statistic is added in at the

beginning.– The title has been edited:

“12 Ways The Pros Optimise their AdWords Accounts”

3. Accompanying images for the content are found/created.

4. The content is uploaded to the Blog– Links have been added to previous AdWords

content throughout.– Content has been tagged correctly.

5. The content is shared through the newsletter.– A small snippet of the article and the shocking

statistic are used to entice the reader to continue to blog.

– Newsletter UTM was added to link.

6. The next day the content is shared through Social Media.– A new UTM is created for each channel.– Hashtags are used in Twitter.– Imagery from the article is used in social

media.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

1. Set period for content meetings.

KEY TAKEAWAYS


2. Create content with a purpose.

KEY TAKEAWAYS



3. ALWAYS refer back to audience persona and Lifecycle model.

KEY TAKEAWAYS




4. Find the sweet spot between customer

needs & interests and brand expertise &

value.

KEY TAKEAWAYS






value.

5. Context is just as important as content.

KEY TAKEAWAYS






value.

5. Context is just as important as content.

6. Create, measure, refine, repeat.