The Modern Marketer s Guide to Content Creation

Transcription

1 ebook The Modern Marketer s Guide to Content Creation 1

2 Contents Page The Content Creation Dilemma The Real Content Challenge What You ll Learn Here Planning & Mapping Your Content Types of Content The Buyer Journey Aligning Your Content to Each Stage of the Customer Buying Journey The Four Content Creation Models The Role of Technology in Your Content Creation Operation Visually Helps Marketers Create High-Impact Visual Content Next Steps

3 The Content Creation Dilemma Educate Content is fuel for organizations today. Marketers need it for most, if not all, of their programs - content marketing programs, social media marketing, product marketing, communications, sales enablement, nurture programs, and more. Sales and customer success teams need content to share with prospects and customers to educate them, add value to their exchanges, and ultimately close deals or up-sell. Add value Even the HR team requires content to help them with recruitment and communicating the organizational culture. Up-sell But not just any content will do. High impact, visual, quality content that resonates with the right audience, at just the right time. That s the type of content that needs to be created. The Real Content Challenge Top Reason for Success 85% of B2B marketers cited content creation as the contributing factor that led to their success. Content Marketing Institute & MarketingProfs Easier said than done. We all know content needs to be engaging. The real challenge lies in figuring out how to create this content. No matter how great your content plan may be, it will fail to deliver expected results if the underlying content isn t great itself. Content like ebooks, whitepapers, blogs, infographics, videos, presentations, social media content, microsites, and photography can be a challenge to produce if organizations go about it the wrong way. It s no surprise that the majority of B2B and B2C marketing professionals around the world cite that their top challenges are creating engaging content, and creating content on a consistent basis, according to Content Marketing Institute s 2016 Benchmarks, Budget, and Trends Research Report. 1 So, with the majority of marketers having challenges creating high quality content, those organizations who get it right can make a big impact. 3

4 85% of B2B marketers noted that the creation of higher quality content, as well as becoming more efficient at creating content were the top reasons for their success, according to the 2017 B2B Content Marketing Trends North America report by Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs. What You ll Learn Here 85% In this ebook, we ll walk you through the steps to get your organization on the right track to creating highly visual and engaging content. We ll review the key stages in the customer buying journey and the range of content choices you should be considering. We ll also compare and contrast four methods commonly used in creating visually engaging content. And to top if all off, you ll learn about technology solutions that can help you accelerate your content creation process consistently and reliably to ensure your content s success. Note that this ebook will not be discussing how to create a content strategy. However, having a content strategy in place before you start the content creation process is crucial for success. At its core, your content strategy is your why. That is, why are you creating content? Without a strategy, you run the risk of creating content that isn t aligned to your overall marketing goals. To learn more about how to create a content strategy, please visit the ScribbleLive Blog. Planning & Mapping Your Content 68% of B2B marketers create ebooks.they influence purchase decisions of over 50% of B2B buyers. 5 As with most things in life, your content creation initiative should start with a good plan. The plan covers the various types of content you will be creating and the different stages in the buyer journey where this content is best utilized. Let s dive in. Types of Content Content Marketing Institute There are many different types of content that can be leveraged in your marketing initiatives. Let s review some of the most popular forms that marketers typically use in content marketing programs. 4

5 Whitepapers Whitepapers are without a doubt one of the most widely used content assets by marketing and sales teams, particularly within B2B environments. In this context, whitepapers provide in-depth information on a specific topic such as a product or service. To be seen as credible, whitepapers need to come across as being the authority on a topic. While being educational in nature, whitepapers often guide readers (e.g. the prospective buyer), to a conclusion that aligns with the viewpoint of author (i.e. the organizations), relying on facts and figures to support their viewpoint. Whitepapers are also well received and valued among prospective buyers, with 76% of buyers willing to share contact information in exchange for downloading whitepapers. 3 ebooks ebooks are similar to whitepapers, but with some distinguishing differences. They tend to be longer than whitepapers and easier to read 4. EBooks are also typically used when complex concepts are being explained as this format allows for easier visualizations. Information can also be distilled into easily digestible pieces. Infographics Infographics have grown in popularity over the years as a great way to tell a story in a visual manner. This type of content tends to have the highest engagement and is great for early-stage awareness. For example, infographics are liked and shared on social media three times more than other any other type of content, according to HubSpot. 6 Videos Animated video and motion graphics are one of the most effective and increasingly popular ways marketers can reach prospective buyers. They usually promote case studies, how-to topics, product demos, or general brand awareness. Four times as many consumers prefer to watch a video about a product than to read about it 7 and 60% of B2B marketers rated videos as an effective content marketing tactic in The bottom line here is that if video is not part of your content mix, you re missing out because the majority of buyers are more likely to engage with this type of content. 5

6 Custom Photos Photos add an incredibly powerful element to any content program. While stock photography is sufficient for some organizations, the ability to include custom photography within content projects that better align with your brand s identity can be very impactful. When combined with other content assets and shared across the right channels, custom photos can deliver compelling visual content that stands out and gets your brand noticed. Case Studies Case studies, sometimes referred to as customer success stories, help prospective buyers obtain proof, or validation, that your product or service is effective and has achieved what it claims. Case studies typically tell a story about the challenges a customer faced, why they purchased your product, the solution they implemented, and the benefits and results they achieved. This type of content is typically used in the decision stage of the customer buying journey. In a study by Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs, B2B content marketers reported a 70% effectiveness rate for case studies in their campaigns. 9 Blog Posts The mighty blog post is still the second most popular content marketing tactic used by B2B marketers, at 80% usage.10 A steady stream of well written, high quality blog posts will help round out any content marketing program, boost reader engagement, assist with SEO, and bolster thought leadership. They are very versatile because they can cover any topic, which is especially great for real-time trending headlines, and easy to deploy. Webinars Webinars still rank within the top six content marketing tactics that B2B marketing professionals use11. They may require a bit of coordination and planning, but webinars are still a very low cost, high return content investment. A great tool for lead generation, webinars can cover anything from a customer case study, to a new product or solution release, to insights shared by an industry expert. While they re usually live events, you can also record them and use for further lead generation by posting them on a gated landing page. 6

7 Social Media Content Social media content is the top content marketing tactic (83% usage) employed by marketers. 12 It s also one of the most cost-effective ways to share the above noted content types and build visibility of your brand. Social media content should be high value and augmented with visuals to help boost engagement, retweets, likes, shares, and followers. In fact, tweets with images received 18% more clicks, 89% more favorites, and 150% more retweets than those with no images. 13 As you can see, high value visual content is critically important when it comes to social media. The Buyer Journey Now that you ve had a refresher in the most common types of content, let s go through the different stages in the buyer s journey. This is important because prospective customers will be most receptive to content that aligns with where they are in their journey. And as an astute marketer, you need to craft your content to meet buyer needs at each and every step. Awareness In the awareness stage, also referred to as the top of the funnel, prospects are looking for answers. They know they have a problem or a challenge but just aren t quite sure how best to solve it. They re on a mission to educate themselves, looking for resources, third party research, data, and other helpful insights. Consideration Prospects in the consideration stage are fully aware of their problem now. Here, the buyer is often referred to as being in the middle of the sales funnel as they have already completed their preliminary research and are aware of available solutions in the market. Prospective buyers are now looking for more detailed information on available solutions. Evaluation & Decision In the evaluation stage leading up to the purchase decision, buyers are still reviewing possible solutions but will ultimately narrow down their focus to two or three solutions or vendors. It s at this stage, often referred to as a bottom of the funnel, where the prospect is at the highest potential value for purchasing, and are 7

8 looking for content that will support and validate selecting you as a solution. They are getting ready to make a purchase decision, so your content needs to convince them that you are the best decision. Retention & Advocacy If all goes well and the buyer decides to purchase from you, the customer then enters the retention stage. Note that this stage is often neglected by organizations as an additional revenue channel. Not only do you still need to keep customers happy, but you now have the opportunity to up-sell or cross-sell. Research conducted by Bain & Company has shown that increasing customer retention rates by 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%.14 Continue to nurture and market to your customers in the right way and you ll build a long-lasting relationship, develop new revenue opportunities, and turn customers into high value advocates for your brand. Aligning Your Content to Each Stage of the Customer Buying Journey Knowing the different types of content available to you, and equipped with the knowledge of each stage of the customer buying journey, let s now put it all together. The figure below from SpotOnvision shows a typical customer buying journey and the types of content that are best used at each stage. One thing to keep in mind is that most content types can be leveraged across multiple stages. What s truly important in assessing which content type is appropriate for any given stage is the actual content itself. Let s expand on the different types of content that are most effective for each stage. 8

9 Best Content for Awareness Stage Best Content for Evaluation & Decision Blogs Whitepapers ebooks eguides Video Toolkits or Templates How to Guides or Lists Social Media Content Infographics Interactive Microsites FAQs Case Studies/Success Stories Product & Solution Data Sheets Presentations Trial Downloads Analyst Reports Demos Comparison Guides Buyer Guides Best Content for Consideration Best Content for Retention & Advocacy Whitepapers ebooks Infographics Webinars Podcasts Videos (company or product) Comparison Guides How to Guides or Lists Interactive Microsites FAQs Cheat Sheets Customer Webinars Newsletters Playbooks Product Update Customer Surveys Advocacy Programs Training or Optimization Guides Referral Programs Customer Users Groups Customer Events Blogs 9

10 The Four Content Creation Models At this point, you should have a solid understanding of the different types of content assets that contribute to a successful marketing program, as well as which types are most appropriate for each stage of the customer buying journey. The next step, which is usually the most challenging for marketers, is figuring out how to actually get the content created. Below are the four most common approaches. Insourcing: The first option, and usually the go-to for most marketers, is to create the content assets yourself. Using this method, your organization maintains control through every step of the process by leveraging the inhouse team of content writers, graphic designers, and web designers. Additional resources sometimes tapped into depending on the complexity of the product or service include subject matter experts. However, there are several downsides to this approach, so using it exclusively usually isn t the best approach for most organizations. Inhouse resources always have other competing priorities, commonly leading to lapsed deadlines and bottlenecks. Also, there s the potential for inconsistency in output and quality if there are multiple writers and designers on the team, each of whom have varying skillsets and creative style. Addressing these hurdles can be time consuming, especially for more complex content projects, and potentially take longer than using other content creation approaches. Agency: Another option is to hire a marketing or creative agency to take care of your content creation requirements. This has an immediate appeal for several reasons. It gives you scale and flexibility, you can tap into the agency s larger pool of creative talent, and agencies will have the insight in knowing which content assets have worked for other clients. 10

11 In short, you have a small army of content and design specialists at your disposal. Hiring any agency also comes with reference checks and thorough due diligence, which provides some assurance in terms of quality standards. The downsides are that most of the time you re paying high hourly rates, and agencies can be slow moving at times because they re also serving other clients. In terms of time commitment, you still need to manage them, provide direction, inputs, and factor in time to review and approve all content assets. Freelancers: Freelancers are often a breath of fresh air if you ve had problems creating content through insourcing or agencies. They are often less expensive than an agency, and if you do your due diligence, you can find freelancers who are on par with agencies in terms of talent and expertise. Another great advantage is that often specialize in certain areas (e.g. video production, or ebook designer) so you can basically find an expert in any type of content you want to get created. Freelancers are flexible and can work on an hourly or a flat rate basis, and will work until you are happy with the end product. There are also several popular sites where you can hire freelancers, so this makes finding them easy. It s a competitive field so many of them are constantly keeping their skills up to date. But, just like all of the approaches, there are a few downsides to hiring a freelancer to help you with content creation. One challenge is that there s minimal oversight, so it s really up to you to find the best resource and hope they can deliver as promised. Also, they typically require payment through credit card or PayPal as soon as a project is finished (or payments at pre-determined intervals over the course of the project) which means your finance department loses a bit of control over vendor payment cycles. Also, remember freelancers are not your employees. They re hired to perform a task so if your needs change or expand half way through a project, you may need to set up another project or revisit the original project cost. You may also encounter problems with some freelancers failing to meet deadlines or expectations. 11

12 Agency Model Content Marketplace Content Marketplace: The fourth approach is really a hybrid of the agency and freelancer model, but typically offers the best aspects from each. The content marketplace model enables organizations create content assets on-demand by leveraging technology, managed services, and a vast network of creative talent, including designers, writers, developers, creative directors, and animators. With this model, the content marketplace vendor is part of the entire process which adds a level of oversight and accountability missing from some of the other models. The organization simply submits their requirements, a price is agreed, and based on the brief the organization completes, you are matched with the creative resources best suited to create your custom content asset or project. Freelancer Model Communication is maintained throughout the entire process. Content assets are delivered at the highest level of quality, on time, and in-line with your expectations. The content marketplace model also allows you to scale your production of visual content with ease and without hiring additional resources. Additionally, project costs can typically align to most budgets. The Role of Technology in Your Content Creation Operation Technology will play a central role in your content creation operation. Think of technology as the catalyst that will take your content creation efforts to the next level (both in quality and quantity). With the first three content creation models (insourcing, agency, and freelancers), technology that enables an efficient workflow in creating content is usually not present, or is insufficient. A good content marketplace technology platform should help you achieve the following results: High Quality: A cloud-based technology platform from a content marketplace provider can connect you with a vast network of specialized creative professionals. Based on the details you provide in a brief, this process can even be handled for you, so you don t need to spend time searching through hundreds of profiles looking for that perfect someone. Your content creation project will be matched with the most appropriate talent of the highest caliber to produce the high quality, visual content your audience expects. 12

13 Speed & Efficiency: The right technology will eliminate unnecessary steps for you and provide an efficient streamlined approach from content asset ideation right through to the completed project with full tracking of every detail. From requesting a quote, to completing a brief, matching you with a creative professional, to leveraging the latest tools for managing workflow, the right technology will make the process quicker and more efficient. Scalability: Your organization can easily scale its content creation efforts by leveraging the content marketplace model; and technology makes this easier. It allows you to create multiple new projects with ease, and access talent from around the globe across a number of geographies and time zones to build out a growing library of stunning, visual content. Transparency: With tools to make communication and collaboration incredibly simple and conveniently housed in your own digital workspace, you have full insight on the progress and status of your projects at every step of the way. Reduce Risks via Managed Services: Risk of poor quality content, missed deadlines, failed agency or freelancer relationships, over billing, or insufficient resources are always a possibility. The content marketplace vendor can reduce much of the risks associated with content creation by leveraging a technology platform throughout the process. When combined with vendor oversight of the project through a layer of managed services, many risks and timeconsuming aspects of the content creation process can be shifted from your organization to the vendor. Visually Helps Marketers Create High-Impact Visual Content Visually is the industry-leading content creation marketplace that helps businesses achieve amazing creativity in their content across the entire customer journey. Part of ScribbleLive s Content Experience Platform, Visually connects brands from around the world with over 1,500 highly specialized creative professionals. 13

14 Visually s easy-to-use online collaboration platform enables brands to be matched with the best creatives for their projects and allows for effortless direct collaboration and project management. Visually s creative professionals are able to meet any creative project need, with a portfolio that includes writing, graphic design, interactive development, video, infographics and custom photography. Next Steps Ready to scale your content creation operations today? Do you have a creative project that you need to get started? Request a demo or quote 14

15 About ScribbleLive Visually ScribbleLive Visually is the content creation platform that enables businesses to connect with their audiences through engaging, beautiful visual content. The world s top brands rely on us for premium videos, infographics, ebooks, presentations, web interactives and more created fast and cost-effectively. With over 1000 certified creative professionals, our clients get access to the best designers, writers, researchers, and developers available, with a wide range of skills to support their business needs. Using our easy-to-use online collaboration platform, clients work closely with their team and enjoy a high-degree of creative control. And they are supported every step of the way from talent assignment to creative direction to create content that connects and converts. Get a Quote 15

16 ScribbleLive Visually Sources 1 - How to Conquer the 6 Most Pressing Content Marketing Challenges Content Marketing Institute. Feb 15, B2B Content Marketing, 2017 Benchmarket, Budgets, and Trends - North America Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs Content Marketing Statistics: The Ultimate List. Curata. July 17, The Difference Between ebooks and Whitepapers. Christopher Penn. Aug 19, com/2016/08/the-difference-between-ebooks-and-whitepapers/ 5 - Content Marketing Institute and the Demand Gen Report Content Marketing Institute. March 15, Visual Content Marketing Statistics You Should Know in 2017 HubSpot. Sept 6, marketing/visual-content-marketing-strategy 7 - The 2015 Video Marketing Cheat Sheet [Infographic] Animoto. May 7, video-marketing-cheat-sheet-infographic/ 8,9,10,11,12 B2B Content Marketing, 2017 Benchmarket, Budgets, and Trends - North America Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs Best Social Media and Content Marketing Tips From Buffer Convince and Convert convinceandconvert.com/content-marketing/9-best-from-buffer/ 14 - The Value of Keeping the Right Customers Harvard Business Review. Oct