Content Marketing How a 60-year-old media company is pioneering the future of advertising. Ninan Chacko CEO, PR Newswire

Content Marketing How a 60-year-old media company is pioneering the future of advertising Ninan Chacko CEO, PR Newswire

Session Speaker Ninan Chacko CEO, PR Newswire Ninan Chacko, CEO @PRNewswire, global PR & MarCom leader, helping brand messages be discovered and earn targeted attention @nchacko 2

Who is PR Newswire? We have developed the largest content syndication network in our industry (over 9,000 websites). We manage the visibility of hundreds of thousands of pieces of content. We oversee and study the distribution of hundreds of pieces of content each day We work with an active community of journalists and bloggers (more than 33,000 worldwide) that generate an average between 1.2-1.5 MILLION reads per month 3

Case Study: Background Research Notes: Case Study ID: CS1067 Record Location: MarketingSherpa Research Library Research Partner: Sermo, Inc. Background: Sermo is the largest physicians-only social network that allows pharmaceutical companies to conduct survey research and promote products to their audience. Goal: To reduce cost-per-lead Approach: To leverage the power of Sermo s social network and create a content marketing campaign to add to the company s current direct-response campaigns. 4

Case Study: Background Homepage Sermo is the largest online community, exclusive to physicians. By leveraging its network of physicians, Sermo can allow companies in the pharmaceutical industry to conduct cost-effective market research for their products. They utilize multiple ways to drive people to their website

Case Study: Current Situation Direct Mail Lead Campaign Yellow Pages Ads Rented Email Lists Could content marketing generate more qualified leads?

Case Study: Content Marketing Strategy Sermo Content Sample With the survey data from their network of over 125,000+ physicians in 68 specialties, Sermo was able to create custom content to be syndicated across multiple external channels 7

Case Study: Content Marketing Strategy Industry Newsletter Sermo began to syndicate its content through different industry publications like this FiercePharma Newsletter.

Case Study: Content Marketing Strategy Landing Page People interested in the content clicked through and were given the opportunity to download the full report of a specific study. Visitors were required to provide their name and email in order to see the report.

Case Study: Before and After Before: Direct Response Before: Basic Lead Form After: Content Marketing After: Content Focused Lead Form 10

Case Study: Results 90% Decrease in Cost-Per-Lead The new content marketing campaign reduced cost-per-lead by 90% Campaign Type Lead Cost Relative Difference Direct Response $155* - Content Marketing $81* 90% *Lead cost numbers have been anonymized. What you need to understand: By moving from mainly direct response campaigns to a content marketing strategy, Sermo was able to reduce cost-per-lead by 90% and build a content asset for the company.

Question How can we leverage content to increase the effectiveness of our lead generation efforts? 12

POINT 1 We need to understand that content has and will always impact media 13

Earned Media vs. Paid Media Public Relations Silo Marketing Silo Traditional methods worked independently to inform consumers through EARNED and PAID media. 14

Push Tactics vs. Pull Tactics ADVERTISER Pushes information Focuses on transactions Needs to listen CONSUMER Values authenticity Wants to be heard Expects an immediate response to questions Image source: http://www.threewingsmedia.com/2011_02_01_archive.html 15

The Future is Now PAID MEDIA EARNED MEDIA A brand pays to place ad or content in a channel to drive conversation forward. Advertising Events Direct Marketing Publicity gained through influencer promotion, including shares, likes & tweets. Press pickup Blog mention Social sharing Word of mouth 16

The Future is Now PAID MEDIA EARNED MEDIA OWNED MEDIA A brand pays to place ad or content in a channel to drive conversation forward. Advertising Events Direct Marketing Publicity gained through influencer promotion, including shares, likes & tweets. Press pickup Blog mention Social sharing Word of mouth Brand published content to drive earned media and sustain buzz around brand. Company blogs Company website Company social accounts 17

The Future is Now PAID MEDIA EARNED MEDIA OWNED MEDIA A brand pays to place ad or content in a channel to drive conversation forward. Publicity gained through influencer promotion, including shares, likes & tweets. Brand published content to drive earned media and sustain buzz around brand. Content Drives Them All Advertising Events Direct Marketing Press pickup Blog mention Social sharing Word of mouth Company blogs Company website Company social accounts 18

POINT 2 We need to understand the role content has in influencing decisions 19

Question Why is content marketing so effective? 20

Relationships are Progressive There is a natural progression in the development of any relationship. Healthy relationships typically move through a series of transitional commitments. Initial Conversation Exchange numbers First date Spending Time Engagement Marriage 21

The Role of Content Marketing In a business context, there are generally three key levels of customer relationship/commitment: 1. Relational 2. Transactional 3. Contractual Contractual Transactional Ongoing Contractual Relationship Product - Tier #3 Product - Tier #2 Content Marketing is particularly impactful for developing relationships and moving people up the funnel. Relational Product - Tier #1 Webinars/Events Newsletters/Emails/Publications Website/Blog/Social * Inverted Funnel & RTC Model used by permission from MarketingExperiments.com 22

The Role of Content Marketing However, some companies experience Horizontal-Diffusion in their content marketing because they spend more time attempting to move their customers horizontally rather than vertically. Content marketing that does not move people up the funnel being wasted. Contractual Transactional Relational Ongoing Contractual Relationship Product - Tier #3 Product - Tier #2 Product - Tier #1 Webinars/Events Newsletters/Emails/Publications Website/Blog/Social * Inverted Funnel & RTC Model used by permission from MarketingExperiments.com 23

POINT 3 We need to understand how to discipline our content marketing to influence decisions 24

Meta-Analysis of Research 25

Meta-Analysis of Research We have distributed content since 1954. Currently, we distribute over 400,000 unique pieces of content each year 26

Let s walk through 5 essential steps for disciplining your content to influence decision and move prospects up the funnel. 27

5 Steps to Effective Content Marketing Step 1: Listen First, one must seek understand the customer by listening to them (directly or indirectly) 28

Step 1: Listen Social Media Channels Twitter hashtags # LinkedIn groups Relevant blogs Anywhere your audience is talking Customer FAQs What questions do your customer service people hear most often? Incoming Search Terms What are the most popular keywords & phrases bringing searchers to your site? 29

Step 1: Listen How do I reach a specific industry? How do I measure my results? How do I get my story in the Information Week? Customer FAQs can help you identify knowledge gaps among your consumer audience. You can create useful content to both customers and potential customers by providing answers to these questions. 30

Step 1: Listen Listening to social media can help you create relevant content and identify key influencers. What are the current industry topic trends? Are there knowledge gaps relevant to your brand that you can publish content around? Who is attracting the attention of your audience? 31

Step 1: Listen iphone app Droid app ipad app Review referral search terms to understand your audience voice. Optimize your content by matching your keywords to theirs. Example: Change generic keyword usage such as mobile devices to these more specific brand references. 32

5 Steps to Effective Content Marketing Step 1: Listen First, one must seek understand the customer by listening to them (directly or indirectly) Step 2: Define Second, one must seek to identify the personas of the intended audience of the content. 33

Step 2: Define????? Tailor your content to each at every buying stage 1. Match their needs (what are they asking) 2. Match their voice (what words are they using to search for answers) 34

Step 2: Define Business Description: A B2B supplier of IT support services to midsize corporations Chief Technology Officer CEO Chief Financial Officer Response time & effectiveness Knowledge /expertise of my business s technology platforms & programs Meets budget requirements Scalability Cost Expertise Cost per year of contract Payment flexibility Long term contract discount options 35

Step 2: Define Business Description: A national property insurer, distributes its personal products through independent agents Hassle Free Online Buyer Budget Conscious Wants high level of personal service Usually looks for guidance on the best coverage fit Looking for information and coverage guidance online Looking for easy to use online interface and/or mobile app Wants a competitive price Looking for the best deal available Most interested in minimal coverage plans 36

Step 3: Map Different prospects in different industries will have different cognitive paths. However, our research indicates 4 key milestones that are common in most lead nurturing processes. 38

Step 3: Map Four common stages of the buying process: STAGE 1 Awareness STAGE 2 Consideration STAGE 3 Intent STAGE 4 Purchase 39

Step 3: Map STAGE 1 Awareness STAGE 2 Consideration STAGE 3 Intent STAGE 4 Purchase Objectives: Interest Thought leadership Entertainment Building brand Types: Ads Press releases Infographics Social Media Viral videos 40

Step 3: Map STAGE 1 Awareness STAGE 2 Consideration STAGE 3 Intent STAGE 4 Purchase Objectives: Information Education Trust Relationship Types: Analyst reports Webinars Blog Posts Buying guides White papers 41

Step 3: Map STAGE 1 Awareness STAGE 2 Consideration STAGE 3 Intent STAGE 4 Purchase Objectives: Address concerns Overcome challenges Sell to decision-makers Minimize anxiety Types: Case studies Testimonials ROI calculators 3rd party reviews 42

Step 3: Map STAGE 1 Awareness STAGE 2 Consideration STAGE 3 Intent STAGE 4 Purchase Objectives: Company Info Evaluation Cost justification Reaffirm Types: Pricing Demos Customer case studies RFP templates 43

Step 3: Map Experiment ID: CS32127 Record Location: MECLABS Research Library Research Partner: TAB Research Notes: Background: TAB helps organizations store and manage print and digital documents. Goal: To increase the overall response to email lead nurturing efforts Research Question: Which lead nurturing program will generate the greatest number of email responses? Test Design: Sequential test of lead nurturing program 44

Step 3: Map The Challenge: At the time, the company loosely defined a sales lead as anyone who had downloaded a whitepaper, attended a webinar, or completed one of a range of other actions. The number of leads generated was overwhelming for a salesperson. The average salesperson did not have enough time to call or email all the leads they received. Many leads were getting wasted. The only nurturing effort that this company had in place was a regular generic email newsletter. The marketing team decided to test a more targeted lead nurturing program that would help to qualify and nurture leads before sending them to Sales. 45

Step 3: Map PURCHASE INTENT CONSIDERATION AWARENESS This organization mapped the decision sequence that the average prospect experienced during the purchase/nurturing cycle. For their offer, they identified in the key steps in the psychological sequence and then began to map its messaging to this sequence using lead scoring trigged emails. 46

Step 3: Map Awareness Consideration Intent Purchase Email 1 Email 2 Email 3 Email 4 Article 1 Article 2 Article 3 Article 4 47

Step 3: Map 650% Increase in Email Clickthrough Leading to an overall increase in lead conversion rate of 32.6%. Going forward, we are expanding the number of campaigns to reach other topics and we are going to use more complex decisiontree logic to dictate the next message in the cycle. -VP, Global Marketing 48

5 Steps to Effective Content Marketing Step 1: Listen First, one must seek understand the customer by listening to them (directly or indirectly). Step 2: Define Second, one must seek to identify the personas of the intended audience of the content. Step 3: Map Third, one must then map the content to the cognitive process of each persona. Step 4: Distribute Fourth, one must distribute the content through the channels that have the greatest influence. 49

Step 4: Distribute WHERE DOES YOUR CONTENT GO WHEN YOU HIT 50

Step 4: Distribute USEFUL PIECE OF CONTENT FROM YOUR BRAND Audience searches for information Finds a piece of your content helpful but still have questions 51

Step 4: Distribute Audience searches for information With No Distribution Strategy USEFUL PIECE OF CONTENT FROM YOUR BRAND Perhaps they will contact your brand, but doubtful because trust has not been established. More likely they will Finds continue a piece search of your content for additional content that answers helpful their but remaining still have questions. Probably from questions your competition. 52

Step 4: Distribute Audience searches for information With a Distribution Strategy They can find your additional relevant content through links from within the found piece. USEFUL PIECE OF CONTENT FROM YOUR BRAND If the content is found on your website/blog, they can search there and know there is a place to find useful content in your industry next time. Finds a piece of your content helpful but still have questions Or, if they continue to use search to find additional content, you will have pieces for them to find. 53

Step 4: Distribute The goal of distribution is influence. Not all channels are the equal. The marketer must identify the channels that will generate the greatest influence. Content Channels 54

Step 4: Distribute Primary Factors of Influence: AMPLIFCATION How many people can we reach? TARGETING How relevant is our solution to those we can reach? 55

Step 4: Distribute Targeting Channels 56

Step 4: Distribute Targeting Channels 57

Step 4: Distribute Targeting Channels 58

Step 5: Test Research Notes: Experiment ID: TP1483 SMO Barrier Page Test Record Location: MarketingExperiments Research Library Research Partner: Sermo, Inc. Background: After the success of the content marketing campaign, Sermo wanted to test on the landing page to extract more leads from the Fierce Pharma traffic. Goal: To increase lead rate on the content marketing landing page Primary Research Question: Are users more likely to convert with only one article featured or multiple articles? Approach: A/B multifactor split test

Step 5: Test Control The control followed many socalled best practices of landing page optimization. However, Sermo wondered how will adding more content to this page impact the overall lead generation efforts. So they designed a treatment that integrated more content.

Step 5: Test Treatment Note the additional surveys (content) provided in attempt to broaden the potential appeal of the offer. Note the option to search through specific topics. Note the sidebar which gave visitors the option to learn about the main offer directly.

Step 5: Test Control Treatment

Step 5: Test 197% Increase in lead rate for returning visitors The landing page s lead rate increased by 197% for returning visitors First Visit Repeat Visits Design Lead Rate Rel. Diff Lead Rate Rel. Diff Control 33.3% - 18.2% - Treatment 27.2% -6.1% 54.1% 197% Statistical Confidence Not Confident 99% Confidence What you need to understand: By increasing the number of available reports, the perceived value of the individual reports may have increased which offset the increase in friction on the page for returning visitors.

Step 5: Test Testing enables the marketer to listen again and initiates the ability for the marketer to refine and optimize the process. Test Listen Define We must always be testing and optimizing our processes. Distribute Create 65

Content Marketing How a 60-year-old media company is pioneering the future of advertising Ninan Chacko CEO, PR Newswire