Standing out content marketing world 2014 takeaways

Standing Out in a World of Content Overload
7 Takeaways from Content Marketing World 2014


1

More content is being generated than ever before

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70% of B2B Content Marketers created more content this year

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55% will increase and 32% will maintain Content Marketing spend

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How will your company stand out?


2

The Buyer’s Journey is not a guided
tour

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Buyers can’t usually be escorted in their journey from awareness to purchase

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Understand where they land on their journey and establish a presence at each spot, including 3rd party sites,
review sites, social platforms, search results

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Advanced: Be the potential buyer’s “point of inspiration” by creating and sharing inspiring and authentic
stories


3

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Find real stories that engage your audience

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Great stories generate:

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Conflict & suspense
Empathy & authenticity
Tap into emotions
Foster aspirations in your audience

Drive meaningful attention

Integrate authentic stories into your content


4

Unique Practices are better than Best Practices

Copying Content Marketing approaches (“best practices”) is less valuable than finding your unique approach.
Some ways:

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Develop a strong, unforgettable voice
Be the best at something (e.g. best “digital” teacher)
Document (or create) compelling stories (see #3)
Go beyond traditional content (see #5)


5

All content marketers need to be great
writers

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Writing will never diminish as a key part of Content Marketing

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Even if your job description is not a “writer,” great writing is still essential (for ads, emails, posts, press
releases, slidesets, web content)

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Managers: hire people who can write well (look at samples)

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Marketers: continue to hone your writing skills


6

Move beyond your content comfort zone

Blogging, eBooks, Infographics, webinars – yes, we know the drill . What else?

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Understand your buyer’s ultimate goal and process
Develop “things” that replace parts of their process
Examples: Calculators, self-assessment tools, digital assets (like stock photos or buttons for web), presentation templates (like a

VC pitch deck), statistics (to help with internal pitches)


7

Use agile marketing management
approaches

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The online marketing world is complicated - cause and effect are often hard to connect

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We’re also in a time of rapid change and need to stay nimble

•

A Waterfall approach to marketing management (plan, build, measure, deliver) is sub-optimal in this
environment

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Agile practices with long term planning, shorter work cycles and active communication better allow marketing
to align with changing priorities


Lessons inspired by....

Content Marketing World 2014

3) Authentic Stories:

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Kevin Spacey, @Kevin Spacey
Andrew Davis, @TPLDrew
Joe Pulizzi, @JoePulizzi

4) Unique Practices:

1) Content Marketing Statistics:

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Content Marketing Institute, B2B Content Marketing 2015 Benchmarks,
Budgets and Trends – North America, @CMWorldhttp
://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2014/10/2015-b2b-content-marketing-research/

2) Buyer’s Journey:

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Ann Handley, @annhandley
Marcus Sheridan, @thesaleslion
Kevin Spacey, @Kevin Spacey
Andrew Davis, @TPLDrew

5) Great Writers:

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Ann Handley, @annhandley

Andrew Davis, @TPLDrew

6) Content Comfort Zone:

Robert Rose, @Robert_Rose

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Jay Acunzo, @Jay_zo

7) Agile Marketing Management:

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Scott Brinker, @chiefmartec


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