Content Marketing Strategies For Dummies® Published by: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, www.wiley.com Copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Media and software compilation copyright © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc All rights reserved Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions Trademarks: Wiley, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc and may not be used without written permission All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners John Wiley & Sons, Inc is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-5724002 For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com Library of Congress Control Number: 2015957831 ISBN: 978-1-119-15454-9 ISBN 978-1-119-15456-3 (ebk); ISBN ePDF 978-1-119-15463-1 Content Marketing Strategies For Dummies® Visit www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/contentmarketingstrategies to view this book's cheat sheet Table of Contents Cover Foreword Introduction About This Book Foolish Assumptions Icons Used in This Book Beyond the Book Where to Go from Here Part I: Getting Started with Content Marketing Strategies Chapter 1: Establishing Your Content Marketing Strategy Understanding the Components of a Content Marketing Strategy Communicating Your Mission Establishing Your Goals Expanding Your Corporate Mindset Dipping into User Design and Habits Chapter 2: Capturing Your Customer’s Attention Focusing on Attention Making Your Content Easy to Consume Deploying Interactive Content Chapter 3: Understanding Your Business Model and Brand Separating Your Business Model from Your Brand Analyzing Your Business Model Discovering Your Brand Solidifying the Look of the Brand Developing Success Measures for Your Brand Producing Engaging Branded Content Chapter 4: Facilitating Buy-In from Your Team Presenting the Big Picture Engaging the Leadership Team and Identifying Roles Communicating the Essentials to Everyone Chapter 5: Putting Your Content Marketing Plan and Presentation Together Reorganizing for Success Identifying the Components of Your Content Marketing Plan Presenting Your Plan Part II: Uncovering the Customer Experience Chapter 6: Dipping into Customer Data Understanding Big Data Uncovering the Role Big Data Plays in Content Marketing Discovering the Internet of Things Visualizing Big Data Chapter 7: Discovering Buyer Personas Reviewing Persona Development Collecting Information Avoiding Common Mistakes Looking at How Generations Differ Identifying a Prospect’s Emotions Keeping Up with Trends Chapter 8: Taking the Buyer’s Journey Harnessing the Customer Experience Uncovering Commercial Intent Defending Against Competitors Identifying the Stages of the Buyer’s Journey Personalizing Your Content Chapter 9: Embracing Sales Enablement Discovering Sales Enablement Training Your Salesforce Coaching Your Reps to Become Winners Checking Out Sales Enablement Blogs Part III: Creating Actionable Content Chapter 10: Examining Your Content Plan Evaluating Your Content Assessing Your Content Visualizing Your Sites Creating Your Plan Focusing on Specialized Content Chapter 11: Exploring Content Types Dipping into Content Categories Working with Original Short- and Long-Form Content Using Curation Making Use of User-Generated Content Repurposing Content to Add Value Viewing Aggregated Visual Content Dealing with Live Video Content Extending Business News Offering Online Courses Managing Content Formats Chapter 12: Storytelling for Content Marketers Storytelling to Engage Your Audience Structuring Your Content Using Stories Chapter 13: Creating Processes and Systems for Your Content Organizing the Content Process Determining Roles and Responsibilities Managing the Workflow Documenting Your Policies and Procedures Part IV: Developing Channel Promotions Chapter 14: Examining Channel Plans Getting Started with Your Channel Plan Preparing for a Channel Audit Dipping into Some Major Channel Examples Chapter 15: Sharing Your Content Embracing Shareability As a Strategy Uncovering the Five Ws and One H of Online Sharing Adding Social Bookmarking Making SEO a Priority Deploying Hashtags to Encourage Sharing Chapter 16: Looking at Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned Media Understanding Types of Media Utilizing Paid Media Championing Earned Media Enhancing Shared Media Amplifying Owned Media Creating a Framework for Achieving the Right Mix Section 1: Owned Channels Section 2: Shared Media Section 3: Paid Ads Section 4: Earned Media Section 5: Evaluate and Revise Chapter 17: Delving into Syndication and Guest Posting Understanding Syndication Looking at Online Syndicators Establishing Your Syndication Plan Discovering Guest Posting Chapter 18: Working with Influencers Discovering the Evolving Role of Influencers Recognizing Influencer Types Finding the Right Influencers Uncovering New Influencers Influencing with Customer Advocacy Enhancing Word of Mouth (WOM) with Advertising Part V: Using Check-Back Analysis Chapter 19: Reassessing Your Business Model and Brand Value Validating Business Models Reviewing Your Brand Status Chapter 20: Reviewing Your Content Marketing Strategy Allowing for Failed Experiments Looking Back at Your Content Marketing Strategy Reevaluating Your Ecosystem Part VI: The Part of Tens Chapter 21: Ten Problems Content Marketers Face Company Focus Customer Experience Content Promotion Content Creation Check-back Analysis Chapter 22: Top Ten Blogs on Content Marketing Buffer Content Marketing Institute Convince & Convert Copyblogger Oracle (Eloqua) Content Marketing Blog HubSpot Marketing Blog Marketo Content Marketing Guides QuickSprout Social Media Examiner Social Triggers Seth Godin Chapter 23: Ten Free Tools for Content Marketing BuzzSumo Dropbox Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyzer Evernote Google Webmaster Tools Grammarly Piktochart Screenpresso SEO SiteCheckup WordPress Calendar About the Author Cheat Sheet Advertisement Page Connect with Dummies End User License Agreement Foreword Traditional advertising is in turmoil Online advertising is increasingly expensive, and consumers are becoming cautious of what they click next The reality is that today’s customers will make a buying decision only after arming themselves with research that gives them enough confidence that they’re making an intelligent decision Educational-based marketing (a.k.a content marketing) is the new driver for online sales It's also proving to be the most effective technique in engaging an audience with your brand early in the purchase cycle — so much so that thought leaders in online marketing have said, “Content Marketing is the only marketing left.” The growth of content marketing continues to revolutionize the way that we communicate and engage with existing and perspective clients It is the only form of marketing today that capitalizes on educating customers and actually addressing customer problems by publishing relevant content Content marketing is about publishing interesting media that is of high value to your readers Through quality content, this marketing positions you as an authority in your market, building trust and loyalty that translates into lifelong customers Content marketing is complex, which makes deciding where to start challenging There are many moving parts, which makes learning it quite difficult This book simplifies all the key elements and lays out strategies and formulas that take you through the process no matter what level or size of organization Combining this strategy with the right tools enables you to build and scale a marketing plan that works well with your business When Stephanie approached me about her writing this book, I could not think of anyone more suited She not only is experienced in the field but has also already cowritten the successful Social Media Marketing For Dummies book in several editions With her deep knowledge of the topic, she has managed to distill a complex subject perfectly for readers of all kinds, small businesses, brands, and newcomers Paul Clifford CEO & Founder, Kudani.com You can capture video in the free version, but it has branding in the content One great feature is that it lets you capture an image and then extract the text in the image This works well and saves a lot of time Imagine that you had to copy the statistics and text from a graphic for a report With Screenpresso, you get a text file ready to use That’s easy! SEO SiteCheckup http://seositecheckup.com/ This tool helps you optimize your content to ensure that your customers can find you The free tools include a Meta-tag analyzer, a Google search results preview, a check of the most common keywords on your site, and a keywords cloud that visually shows you the frequency of your site’s words WordPress Calendar https://wordpress.org/plugins/editorial-calendar/ This is a scheduling tool that works within WordPress You can drag and drop scheduled posts, and the interface makes this tool easy to use About the Author Stephanie Diamond is a thought leader and management marketing professional with 20+ years of experience building profits in more than 75 different industries She has worked with solopreneurs, small-business owners, and multibillion-dollar corporations She worked for eight years as a Marketing Director at AOL When she joined, there were fewer than million subscribers When she left in 2002 there were 36 million While at AOL, she developed a highly successful line of multimedia products that brought in an annual $40 million in incremental revenue In 2002, she founded Digital Media Works, Inc (DigMediaWorks.com), an online marketing company that helped business owners discover the hidden profits in their business She is passionate about guiding online companies to successfully generate more revenue and find their company’s real value As a strategic thinker, Stephanie uses all the current visual thinking techniques and brain research to help companies get to the essence of their brand In 2014, she founded the Content Marketing Toolbox (ContentMarketingToolbox.com) where she helps companies accelerate their growth by communicating their value using content to customers using all the latest techniques Stephanie received a BA in Psychology from Hofstra University and an MSW and MPH from the University of Hawaii She lives in New York with her husband and Maltese named Colby Dedication To Barry, who makes all things possible To my family, for their encouragement and love Author’s Acknowledgments It has been my distinct privilege to write this book I want to offer thanks to Wiley Publishing, Inc for letting me write this book for its audience of smart readers The following people were especially important in creating this book, and I offer very sincere thanks: To the great creative group at Wiley, Acquisitions Editor Amy Fandrei, Project Editor Susan Christophersen, and Technical Editor Michelle Krasniak They made this project great fun to work on! To the very innovative iMindMap/OpenGenius Group, starting with the amazing Tony Buzan, Chris Griffiths, Krystian Morgan, Natacha Pope, Oliver Spear, and their team Thanks for working with us on the great mind maps throughout this book To Matt Wagner, my agent at Fresh Books, for his continued hard work and support on my behalf Finally, thanks to you for choosing this book to learn about content marketing strategies I wish you enormous joy on your exciting journey into content marketing Publisher’s Acknowledgments Acquisitions Editor: Katie Mohr Project Editor: Susan Christophersen Technical Editor: Michelle Krasniak Editorial Assistant: Matt Lowe Sr Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case Project Coordinator: Antony Sami Cover Photo: ©iStock.com/VLADGRIN To access the cheat sheet specifically for this book, go to www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/contentmarketingstrategies Find out "HOW" at Dummies.com Take Dummies with you everywhere you go! Go to our Website Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Watch us on YouTube Join us on LinkedIn Pin us on Pinterest Circle us on google+ Subscribe to our newsletter Create your own Dummies book cover Shop Online WILEY END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT Go to www.wiley.com/go/eula to access Wiley’s ebook EULA ... by the Content Marketing Institute /Marketing Profs, (http://www.slideshare.net/CMI/2015-b2b -content- marketing- benchmarks-budgetsand-trends-north-america-by -content- marketing- institute-and-marketingprofs;... (http://www.columnfivemedia.com/how-to-createa-culture-of -content- marketing- from-the-top-down; see Figure 1-7 ), some of successful entrepreneur Marcus Sheridan’s (http://www.thesaleslion.com) steps for creating a content. .. http://booksupport.wiley.com For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com Library of Congress Control Number: 2015957831 ISBN: 97 8-1 -1 1 9-1 545 4-9 ISBN 97 8-1 -1 1 9-1 545 6-3 (ebk); ISBN ePDF 97 8-1 -1 1 9-1 546 3-1