Content really is still king

David Crawford

Managing Director

+

Joseph Griffiths

Senior Search Strategist

“Content is king”

Bill Gates, CEO, Microsoft

“Content is king”

Bill Gates, CEO, Microsoft

“Content is king”

Bill Gates, CEO, Microsoft

“Those who succeed will propel the Internet forward as a marketplace of ideas, experiences, and products –

a marketplace of content.”

The Zero Moment of Truth

38% Of people are ready to comparison shop and seek educational content

10.2 The average number of online resources used before making a purchase in the travel sector

A User-Driven Content Strategy Our study of MoneySupermarket.com found that users who engaged with content before moving to a product page were 5x more valuable than those who landed directly on a product page

The focus of an effective content strategy needs to be on content that genuinely helps the target audience

Content that helps your audience is content that will inevitably help you

Google Analytics

Social Listening

Market Research

Customer Database

Existing Contacts

Low quality of on-site content

Struggling to rank for generic keywords within Google due to this quality issue

Not generating the level of traffic needed to meet objectives

Background

Objectives

Increase traffic to the site

#1

Engage a target audience from acquisition through to conversion #2

#3 Show Google that Virgin Holidays Cruises is a great resource and should rank higher for generic keywords

Acquisition

A new target audience An emerging audience of younger cruisers – compared to the traditional target market

Relatively new to cruising

Looking to find out more about cruising before they made their decisions

Consumer Decision Making Process

Need Recognition &

Problem Awareness

Information Search

Evaluation of Alternatives

Purchase Post-Purchase

Evaluation

We want to engage with this audience at the Information Search stage of their decision making process

This search almost always starts with a search engine, especially with younger, tech savvy audiences

In order to achieve this we need highly informative content

How do people use search engines? 70% of all searches are ‘long tail searches’

These are question related searches and are searched for less than 100 times per month

15% of searches are brand new searches

Why do you need long tail? Answering questions such as who|what|where|when|why drives quality content

Google ranks websites based on engagement

Quality content drives engagement

An audience that is new to cruises will be asking questions like this

• Solve problems

• Build affinity

• Convert

• Repeat visits

What are the benefits of this approach?

More valuable visitors on the website

Greater exposure for the brand

Increased visibility on key products

Higher rankings and higher CTRs

A Content Marketing User Model

“I want to go on a cruise, but I

don’t know what I want.”

“I know what I want, but I don’t know

where to go.”

“I know what I want and I want to find the best

deal.”

Intrigued Engaged

Committed

£ ££ £££ Keywords:

‘family cruises’ ‘where to go in September’

‘cruises for couples’

Keywords: ‘best family cruises in America’

‘best cruises for couples’ ‘where to go cruising in Europe’

Keywords: ‘cheap Mediterranean cruises’

‘things to do in Disneyland’

The research phase – content opportunities? Analytics – internal site search

Q&A sites

Google suggest

Cruise forums

Social media

The Ultimate Guide to Cruising A one stop resource for cruise information

An answer to every question a customer or potential customer will think of (and use Google to search for). For example:

“What should I wear on the ship?”

“How long do Cruise ships stop on shore for?”

Informative content that answers these questions and a whole lot more

Engagement

How long do you have to engage a user?

3.8 seconds Jacob Nielson – useit.com

Or else…

The user returned to search. You did not satisfy their objectives.

Return to Search You have a few seconds to get the visitors attention and persuade them that they have arrived at a site that will answer their query

If they go back to Google that’s a negative signal

Not just about acquisition As well as influencing new customers, we aimed to give existing visitors an outlet to find out more on their cruises by reaching the guide via the main navigation

Engaging two stages of consumer journey 1. Consideration

2. Post-Purchase

Influencing both of these people will be highly beneficial, either the first sub set of customers will convert in a relatively short timescale and be back around to book their cruise again the year after…

Or the second sub set will think of VHC when they are at the informational gathering stage of their consumer journey when they want to book a cruise in the future

Output

Building the functionality

Fully researched

121 articles written

Results

Impact on overall visibility

Acquisition Launched 20/12/13

5th For “cruises” and “cruise” – previously on the second page

4thFor “cruise deals” – up from the second page, saving thousands in PPC

46% Increase in YoY Organic Traffic

Engagement Launched 20/12/13

17:03 Average visit duration – compared to a site average of 5:48

13.97Average pages / visit compared to the site average of 5.12

10.22% Average bounce rate – compared to a site average of 24.26%

Summary

Complex creative isn’t always best Sometimes ‘boring’ content is what your target audience is looking for

Content marketing at its core is around creating content that fulfils a genuine purpose

Getting this foundation content in place is absolutely key to increasing acquisition through search and engaging users to move them towards conversion

Thank you! @davecrawford david@branded3.com

@B3Joseph joseph.griffiths@branded3.com