breaking down the buy-in barrier for b2b content marketing

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BREAKING DOWN THE BUY-IN BARRIER FOR B2B CONTENT MARKETING

Kari Rippetoe,Content marketing manager

@SEARCHMOJOSEARCH-MOJO.COM

800.939.5938


TODAY’S PRESENTER

Kari RippetoeContent Marketing Manager,

Search MojoFollow on Twitter: @KariRippetoe


ABOUT MARKETING MOJO• Search engine marketing firm founded in 2005

› Search engine optimization (SEO)› Pay-per-click advertising management (PPC)› Social media advertising› Online reputation management

• Headquartered in Charlottesville, VA› Office in Charleston, SC

• Featured in the Washington Post, B2B Magazine, MarketingSherpa, Visibility Magazine and many blogs

• Speakers at SMX Advanced, MarketingProfs, PubCon and more


OUR CLIENTS


WHY CONTENT MARKETING?


STATE OF B2B CONTENT MARKETING

• 9 out of 10 marketers are using content marketing

• 58% are increasing content marketing budgets30% of budgets spent on content

marketing

2014 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends


PROFILE OF AN EFFECTIVE B2B CONTENT MARKETER

• 39% have a part of their marketing budget allocated to content marketing

• 66% have a documented content marketing strategy

• Use an average of 15 content marketing tactics

• Use an average of 7 social media platforms2014 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends


B2B CONTENT MARKETING CHALLENGES

2014 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends


5 CHALLENGES B2B MARKETERS FACE

1. Getting marketing and sales aligned2. Sticking to a strategy3. Moving buyers down the sales

funnel4. Convincing the decision-makers5. Proving ROI


WHAT CEOS THINK IS IMPORTANT

Source: Ifbyphone


OVERCOMING B2B MARKETING CHALLENGES


1. ALIGNING SALES & MARKETING• Establish a line of

communication› What is the quality of the

leads?› What does sales need to

sell?› What questions are

customers asking?

Sales

Content


2. GETTING YOUR STRATEGY TOGETHER

• Establish your overall business goals before talking content marketing

• Tie it all together with an integrated strategy for accomplishing goals


3. MOVING BUYERS DOWN THE FUNNEL

• Communicate with sales• Map content to sales funnel and

buying stages• Develop personas


4. INFLUENCING THE DECISION-MAKERS

• Know the roles of the decision-makers and influencers

• Know what their pain points are• Know what their top questions

regarding your solutions are


StepHow Many

Solutions Evaluated

Key Personas

Key Rings of Insight

Resources Consulted Content

Trigger Small biz owner

Lightweight option, warranty

expiringWSJ article

LinkedIn groupPR: Story about product weight

Research 5 Office Manager

Battery lifeSize/Weight

Online reviews Blog posts

Website: Comparisons of one model vs. competition

Assess 3 Office Manager

Keyboard feelScreen

ResolutionApple Store

Best Buy In store offers

Negotiate 2 Small biz owner

Cost trade-offsExtended warranty

Supplier websites Offers (coupon, rebate?)

Implement 1 Office Manager

Start-up timeTech Support

Customer newsletter

User community

User community on site

Help Tips


5. PROVING ROI• Go back to your goals• Determine Key Performance

Indicators (KPIs)• Figure out how to measure KPIs


MAKING YOUR CASE


PUTTING TOGETHER YOUR PLAN• Goals• Strategy• Tactics• Resources• Metrics


INTEGRATION IS KEY

SEO

Paid search/media

Social MediaEmail

Mobile

PR

Print mediaEvents


Query: Who are the best cloud computing providers?

SEMANTIC SEARCH: ANSWER QUESTIONS


PR AND CONTENT MARKETING• Interviews• Thought-leadership pieces• Research and reports• Event video

PR can CREATE and DISTRIBUTE content!


GET SUPPORT FROM STAKEHOLDERS & CONTRIBUTORS

• Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) are on board as creators and contributors

• Other departments are on board with how content will be used by them

• They’ll help you make your case and prove content marketing’s value


MEASURING CONTENT MARKETING SUCCESS


WHAT METRICS MATTER?

• Increase awareness

• Increase leads• Increase

customers

Goals• Traffic• PR• Lead gen• Sales

KPIs• Unique visitors• Placements• Leads to

opportunities• Sales

Metrics


BEWARE OF VANITY METRICS• Don’t tie back to goals• Aren’t actionable• Aren’t accurate indicators of

behaviorVanity Metric Try this instead…Search rankings Traffic from search“Engagement” Traffic & conversions

from socialBounce rate Conversions


CONTACT

Kari RippetoeGoogle+: +Kari RippetoeTwitter: @KariRippetoe