how to overcome the 3 most common content marketing barriers to increase traffic and conversions
TRANSCRIPT
How to Overcome the 3 Most Common Content Marketing Barriers to Increase Traffic and Conversions
1. Use a significant offer to attract attention
2. Ensure you can track from social to in-store
3. Build on previous success to develop an audience
Case Study 1: Hesselson’s Sporting Goods StoreChallenge: Small family-owned business that operates only as a brick-and-mortar, wanted to reach customers online. Campaign: Hesselson wanted to see how much a small business could benefit from social media by creating a coupon campaign hosted on the store's existing Facebook page for three weeks.
Steps:
Source: http://bit.ly/Hesselsons
Creative Sample: Facebook Coupon
Coupon
Results:• A 23% increase in online-to-offline conversion
• Over $5,500 generated in net store sales
• A 1,100% boost in ROI
Source: http://bit.ly/Hesselsons
1. Find weak spots in your program
2. Grow an engaged list3. Begin building testing
strategies
Case Study 2: HomeAdvisor tests personalizationChallenge: For the first 13 years, it was known as ServiceMagic. In 2012, the company rebranded itself to become HomeAdvisorCampaign: After developing their marketing team, the first thing they did was onboarding their first email service provider.
Steps:
Source: http://bit.ly/SherpaHomeAdvisor
Creative Sample: Email
Creative Sample: Email test
Source (and more creative samples): http://bit.ly/SherpaHomeAdvisor
Control Treatment
The results from the relevant content test were a conversion rate that doubled and a clickthrough rate that was 1.5 times greater than that of the control, according to
McEwan.
Creative Sample: Email test
Source (and more creative samples): http://bit.ly/SherpaHomeAdvisor
Overall Results:The overall results from this effort across 2012-2014 have been: • Open rates have increased six percentage points• A conversion rate increase of 120%• An increase in email-generated revenue of 114%
Growth in 2013, year over year:• 59% increase in transactions
Growth in 2014, year over year:• A 37% increase in transactions
Focus on the audience and the message …
NOT THEMEDIUM
Content Callout:Content marketing is all
about telling a compelling story.
-Joe Pulizzi Content Marketing Institute
Why content marketing?
PrintAdvertising
SocialMedia Mobile
Marketing
DirectMail
Trade Shows
SEOOptimization
PPC
Webinars
EmailMarketing
CONTENT
0% 40%10% 20% 30%
10%
20%
30%
DEGR
EE O
F DI
FFIC
ULTY
LEVEL OF EFFECTIVENESS
Lead Generation Benchmark SurveyFielded January 2012, N=1,915
MarketingSherpa
Content Callout:Content: there is no
easy button. -Scott Abel
Content Strategist
About the MECLABS InstituteMECLABS is a research institute focused on discovering what really works in marketing.
We conduct real-world experiments with companies around the world to understand why people say “yes”.
Our scientific approach provides the basis for education and training resources that help create exceptional, customer-centric marketing organizations.
Speaker
Daniel Burstein Director of Editorial Content
MECLABS @DanielBurstein
Daniel oversees all editorial content coming from the MarketingExperiments and MarketingSherpa brands while helping to shape the editorial direction for MECLABS – working with our team of reporters to dig for actionable information while serving as an advocate for the audience. Daniel is also a frequent speaker and moderator at live events and on webinars. Previously, he was the main writer powering MarketingExperiments publishing engine – from Web clinics to Research Journals to the blog. Prior to joining the team, Daniel was Vice President of MindPulse Communications – a boutique communications consultancy specializing in IT clients such as IBM, VMware, and BEA Systems. Daniel has more than 15 years of experience in copywriting, editing, internal communications, sales enablement, and field marketing communications.
Topics of discussion
1. Overcoming the three most common content marketing barriers
2. How to effectively sell your content3. How to identify your story
What is content marketing?
?
Not this
But this
(Mostly) free
(Mostly) non-promotional
Helpful Educational
Shareable
What constitutes as content marketing?
E-booksTip sheets Webinars Blogs
Case studiesArticles Videos
And so much more.
We don’t want
to give away our secrets
We don’t want
to give away our content
for free
Three content marketing barriers
We don’t have
time to produce quality content
We don’t want to give away our secrets
We don’t want to give away our content for free
Three content marketing barriers
We don’t have time to produce quality content
MarketingSherpa example
MarketingSherpa example1 Case study 11 Pieces of content
Measurement
20%
Golf Platform 7%
Transactions5%
Government Relations
6%
60%
Brand Launch
2%
Thought LeadershipExpertiseAdvocacyEmployer of Choice
Content DependentActivities
Source: http://bit.ly/19zX8k4
Archive content and report results
"Archiving content helps repackaging efforts and organizes content. [You can] search by topic, author, industry, service line, keywords, buy-cycle alignment."
Eric WebbSr. Marketing Director
McGladrey
Source: http://bit.ly/19zX8k4
Measurement
20%
Golf Platform 7%
Transactions5%
Government Relations
6%
60%
Brand Launch
2%
Thought LeadershipExpertiseAdvocacyEmployer of Choice
Content DependentActivities + 100% Increase in Web visits per month
Source: http://bit.ly/19zX8k4
We don’t want to give away our secrets
We don’t want to give away our content for free
Three content marketing barriers
We don’t have time to produce quality content
2012 Lead Generation Benchmark Survey: Fielded January 2012, N=1,915
Marketers’ expected changes to channel budget
Print advertisingTradeshows
Direct mailWebinars
Paid search (PPC)Mobile marketing
Marketing technologyEmail marketing
Content marketingSEO
Social mediaWebsite optimization
3%
4%
6%
9%
13%
14%
14%
19%
23%
24%
27%
29%
17%
19%
17%
29%
32%
33%
38%
44%
39%
44%
46%
45%
59%
59%
60%
57%
49%
52%
46%
32%
37%
30%
24%
23%
Increase greatly Increase slightly No change
62% Increase
Billion
Spend on media
Billion$1.59
$1.43
Million$958
2012 US, Measured-Media Spending, Source: http://bit.ly/AdSpends
You pay with help, you receive attention and trust
Your Company
Customers Share of Mind
Trust
ContentRelevantHelpful
Entertaining
We don’t want to give away our secrets
We don’t want to give away our content for free
Three content marketing barriers
We don’t have time to produce quality content
Real content marketing adds
value for the customer, no
matter the topic
http://bit.ly/19zX8k4
Content Callout:Be the best answer.
-Lee Odden TopRank Marketing
Real content marketing adds
value for the customer, no
matter the topic
We tell potential customers, ‘You know what, fiberglass might not be for you. And that’s OK, we’re going to figure it out together.’
– Marcus Sheridan
“ “ http://bit.ly/19zX8k4
Topics of discussion
1. Overcoming the three most common content marketing barriers
2. How to effectively sell your content3. How to identify your story
How to identify your storyEvery customer wants two things:
Eliminate the negative
Accentuate the positive
Content Callout:Content is anything that adds value to the reader's life.
-Avinash KaushikGoogle
Help women identify new beauty trends
Facebook395,440 likes842 people talking about this
Twitter782K followers
Company: BeautylishIndustry: BeautyProject: Brand journalism
http://bit.ly/18PBt4s
Help people learn about wine
154% lift in organic traffic
50% increase in monthly email opt-ins
153,535 Facebook likes
Company: Wine EnthusiastIndustry: Wine retailerCampaign: Product education
http://bit.ly/1tjGlqm
Help marketers improve their ecommerce efforts
Help ecommerce marketers see where they stand, and insights for improvement.
Company: MarketingSherpaProduct: Ecommerce Success Score Survey
http://bit.ly/1vx8P2k
Free is not free
Value Cost
CREDIBILITY
EXCLUSIVITY
APPEAL CONFUSION
ANXIETYFRICTION
The Prospect’s Mind
• What is truly free?• Every action requires a value proposition
The value proposition
http://www.meclabs.com/methodology
Content Callout:Treat your content
like a product. -Drew Davis
Brandscaping
1
32
Question: If I am your ideal customer, why should I engage with your content rather than any of your competitors’ content?
Prospect APros
pect
C
Prospect B
PRODUCT #3
PRODUCT #4
PRODUCT #1
PRODUCT #2
PRODUCT #3
PRODUCT #4
PRODUCT #2
PRODUCT #3
PRODUCT #4
Primary Value
Proposition
Conversion steps associated with a specific product
PRODUCT #2
PROSPECT-LEVEL
PROCESS-LEVEL
PRODUCT #1
PRODUCT #1
PRODUCT-LEVEL
Even “free” offers require a conversion Not this
But this
Not thisOrientation
Small form
Single CTATestimonial
Quantifier
Even “free” offers require a conversion
But this…
Not this…
Orientation Small form
Single CTATestimonial
Quantifier
Start Rate
Conversion Rate
Control 0.73% 0.73% Treatment – Optimized 10.37
% 4.76%
Relative Difference 1,312% 548%
Increase in conversion
Selling free content on the registration page increased conversion rate by 548%
548%
Even “free” offers require a conversion
What is the value?
Submit Comment
Listen to your audience
Submit Comment
What are we trying to communicate?
Join the conversationSubmit Comment
What are we trying to communicate?
Join the conversationSubmit Comment
4,357 4,278
38 50
0.87% 1.74%
Visits
Comments
Conversion
What are we trying to communicate?
Join the conversationSubmit Comment
4,357 4,278
38 50
0.87% 1.74%
Visits
Comments
Conversion
39% Increase
Topics of discussion
1. Overcoming the three most common content marketing barriers
2. How to effectively sell your content3. How to identify your story
1. Familiarize team with new content process
2. Cultivate key influencers3. Curate stories for content4. Optimize course language for
SEO5. Share customer insights
throughout the organization
Case Study 3: Udemy - Join the conversationChallenge: Udemy was unable to see discussions that were happening on instructors' personal blogs or those conversations happening outside of the U.S.Campaign: Connect with people engaging in conversations about Udemy online and identify key influencers and make sure they felt supported.
Steps:
Source: http://bit.ly/SherpaUdemy
Creative Samples
Creative Samples
Source: http://bit.ly/SherpaUdemy
"We felt like we were missing pieces of conversations or we were missing conversations entirely, and so that was a lot of what drove the decision [to change] was … trying to understand better places where we had just been missing that conversation." Shannon Hughes, Senior Director of Marketing, Udemy
Results
Results:• A 43% increase in Udemy mentions across social media
channels
• A 12% boost in positive mentions
• A 35% boost in people engaging with content
Source: http://bit.ly/SherpaUdemy
1. Tell (only) the (verifiable) Truth
2. Purge all vague modifiers3. Let someone else do your
bragging4. Substitute general
descriptions with specific facts
5. Admit your Weaknesses
Case Study 4: Improving MarketingExperiments BlogChallenge: January – August 2010, Blog traffic was below expectations for the quality and amount of content producedCampaign: Incorporate specific changes to reach a bigger audience base and strengthen SEO using transparent marketing techniques.
Steps:
Source: http://bit.ly/CMI-Mex
Creative Sample: Blog
1. Tell (only) the (verifiable) Truth
2. Purge all vague modifiers3. Let someone else do your
bragging4. Substitute general
descriptions with specific facts
5. Admit your Weaknesses
Case Study 4: Improving MarketingExperiments BlogChallenge: January – August 2010, Blog traffic was below expectations for the quality and amount of content producedCampaign: Incorporate specific changes to reach a bigger audience base and strengthen SEO using transparent marketing techniques.
Steps:
Source: http://bit.ly/CMI-Mex
Creative Sample: Blog
Result:• 232% increase in visits over 8 months
1. Conduct audience and conversation research to develop the Hub's framework
2. Create a Big Data & Analytics Hub editorial board
3. Determine content types for the Hub
4. Brainstorm how to drive users to the Hub by rethinking how IBM uses social networks
5. Launch the Hub
Case Study 5: IBM helps people understand Big DataChallenge: IBM team needed to create a warm landing spot for people coming from those dynamic, real-time social media environments to increase exposure to messaging and content via social engagement. Campaign: Development of the Big Data & Analytics Hub – a dynamic website optimized for multimedia content, search and social sharing.
Steps:
Source: http://bit.ly/1f5DQqH
Creative Sample:
Creative
Source: http://bit.ly/1f5DQqH
Creative
Results:• 291% increase in social referral traffic
• 151% increase in organic search
• 269% increase in average time spent on the website
Source: http://bit.ly/1f5DQqH
Content Marketing is hard, keep moving forward.
Questions?
Additional ResourcesBlog Case Study: Three Lessons Learned from a 232% Increase in Visitshttp://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2010/08/blog-case-study-increase-visits/
Selling Free Content: Why Seth Godin never gives anything away for freehttp://www.marketingexperiments.com/blog/marketing-insights/free-content-value-exchange.html
Content Marketing and SEO: The world doesn’t need another blog post http://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/search-marketing/customer-focused-content-marketing/
Content Marketing: 3 tips for how to get started http://sherpablog.marketingsherpa.com/inbound-marketing/content-marketing-getting-started/