Content is Currency

Content is Marketing Currency

How Creating an Online Content Strategy

Increases Lead Quantity and Quality



By Ardath Albee




Sponsored by:
May 2010 Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................... 3 
The Evolution of Online Content Availability .................................. 4 
Flip Your Marketing Focus ............................................................. 5 
The Content Currency Equation ..................................................... 6 
The Imperative for Buyer Knowledge ............................................. 8 
How the Buying Process Works ................................................... 11 
The 7 Stages of the Buying Process: ..................................... 13 
Fill the Content Gap ..................................................................... 14 
The Role of Formats in Content Marketing ............................ 15 
Mapping Content to the Buying Process ...................................... 18 
Why You Need A Content Strategy .............................................. 19 
Create a Content Hub to Increase Engagement .................... 20 
Additional "Hub" Approaches: ................................................ 24 
Develop a Content Editorial Calendar .......................................... 24 
Metrics and Content Strategy ....................................................... 26 
4 Deficiencies that Derail Content Marketing ............................... 27 
Content Effectiveness Depends on Currency Value .................... 31 



©2010 Marketing Interactions, Inc. | Content is Marketing Currency
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Introduction
Instead of buying ad space and lists or chasing journalists for press clips, marketers must
meet prospects on their "online" turf and engage them with relevant content. The higher the
relevance, the higher the value your content has as currency to pay for their attention. The
buying cycle for a complex sale covers many stages from status quo through purchase.
Transitioning your buyers across each stage means you have to pay the toll with content
designed to address evolving needs.
Marketers must understand why the imperative for buyer knowledge presents a huge
opportunity for increasing both lead quality and quantity with the precision that helps turn
prospects into buyers. By flipping your focus to parallel buyer perspectives, marketing online
content can be used to higher effectiveness during each stage of the buying process.
Content with currency value doesn't require a huge budget. With the proper planning and
strategy, marketers can gain tremendous traction and return on investment from their
content development budgets. From seven factors that play a role in increasing the currency
value of marketing content to eight methods of listening that will help you improve content
relevance, marketers will learn why an online content strategy plays a critical role in
increasing the demand for their company's products and solutions.
When an online content strategy is designed around the concept of a "hub," companies can
create an educational resource that will generate and nurture leads far beyond the duration
of a simple campaign through the reuse and repurposing of content assets. You'll discover
how to integrate different formats, create an editorial calendar and measure success.
With the proper tools and planning, content can play an active role in helping companies
shorten time to revenue by building pre-sale relationships your leads embrace because they
receive the information they need to build the confidence that the best decision they can
make is to choose your company as a partner in solving their highest priority problems.
©2010 Marketing Interactions, Inc. | Content is Marketing Currency
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The Evolution of Online Content Availability
90 percent of B2B buyers
It wasn't too long ago that self-service information availability... [download for more]