Stephanie Diamond is a marketing professional with more than 20 years of experience building profits in over 75 different industries. A strategic thinker, she has worked with solopreneurs, small business owners, and multibillion-dollar corporations. Follow her blog at Contentmarketingtoolbox.com/blog.

• Foreword xiiiIntroduction 1About This Book 1Foolish Assumptions 2Icons Used in This Book 2Beyond the Book 3Where to Go from Here 3Part I: Getting Started with Content Marketing Strategies 5Chapter 1: Establishing Your Content Marketing Strategy 7Understanding the Components of a Content Marketing Strategy 7Determining the company focus 8Uncovering the customer experience 9Creating quality content 9Developing channel promotions 10Deploying check-back analysis 11Communicating Your Mission 12Crafting your statement 12Reviewing real mission statements 13Establishing Your Goals 16Uncovering your goals 16Picking KPIs 18Expanding Your Corporate Mindset 18Creating a culture of content 19Thinking about reputation 21Using content to serve customers 23Dipping into User Design and Habits 26Recognizing the importance of UX design in your strategy 26Observing product habits 27Chapter 2: Capturing Your Customer’s Attention 31Focusing on Attention 32Seeking the “attention web” 32Looking at attention triggers 37Making Your Content Easy to Consume 39Reading in patterns 39Considering design elements and typography 41Deploying Interactive Content 44Chapter 3: Understanding Your Business Model and Brand 49Separating Your Business Model from Your Brand 50Understanding the business you’re in 51Looking at some popular online business models 52Considering the freemium model 57Analyzing Your Business Model 60Discovering Your Brand 61Benefitting from attention to your brand 61Knowing your current brand reality 63Solidifying the Look of the Brand 64Considering design components 64Using a digital asset management tool 66Developing Success Measures for Your Brand 68Producing Engaging Branded Content 69Chapter 4: Facilitating Buy-In from Your Team 73Presenting the Big Picture 73Identifying your audiences 74Using the Five-Prong Approach (FPA) to collect buy-in information 75Engaging the Leadership Team and Identifying Roles 78Understanding what leaders want to know 79Understanding how roles will work 80Communicating the Essentials to Everyone 80Expecting resistance to change 81Establishing results that will be shared 82Chapter 5: Putting Your Content Marketing Plan and Presentation Together 85Reorganizing for Success 85Busting silos 86Advocating change 88Identifying the Components of Your Content Marketing Plan 89Documenting needed resources 89Measuring success 90Establishing the timeline 91Presenting Your Plan 92Revisiting the Five-Prong Approach 92Putting It All Together: Your Presentation 95Part II: Uncovering the Customer Experience 99Chapter 6: Dipping into Customer Data 101Understanding Big Data 101Looking at different kinds of Big Data 102Looking at problems with big data 103Uncovering the Role Big Data Plays in Content Marketing 104Improving your content marketing 105Using real-time content 105Discovering the Internet of Things 106Reviewing IoT market size 106Impacting content marketing 109Visualizing Big Data 111Chapter 7: Discovering Buyer Personas 113Reviewing Persona Development 113Understanding how persona creation improves content 115Taking action to understand your customers 117Collecting Information 118Finding different data types 118Deploying listening tools 120Conducting one-on-one interviews 124Documenting your personas 125Avoiding Common Mistakes 125Looking at How Generations Differ 127Understanding millennials 127Meeting Gen C 129Identifying a Prospect’s Emotions 130Keeping Up with Trends 131Chapter 8: Taking the Buyer’s Journey 135Harnessing the Customer Experience 136Looking at the customer experience from both sides 136Benefitting from an omni-channel approach 138Uncovering Commercial Intent 140Defending Against Competitors 143Researching competitors 143Analyzing your competitor’s content 146Identifying the Stages of the Buyer’s Journey 148Understanding the buying process and journey map 148Benefitting from the journey map 150Focusing on content for each part of the journey 151Personalizing Your Content 154Chapter 9: Embracing Sales Enablement 157Discovering Sales Enablement 157Gaining a competitive advantage 158Evaluating your current status 159Understanding the new role of sales reps 161Training Your Salesforce 162Coaching Your Reps to Become Winners 164Checking Out Sales Enablement Blogs 165Part III: Creating Actionable Content 169Chapter 10: Examining Your Content Plan 171Evaluating Your Content 171Benefitting from a content plan 172Determining content maturity 175Assessing Your Content 176Interviewing your stakeholders 176Conducting a content audit 177Visualizing Your Sites 179Mapping your content ecosystem 179Picturing website content 180Creating Your Plan 181Focusing on Specialized Content 183Creating pillar content 183Utilizing “evergreen” content 185Using graphics and other visuals 186Going viral 187Chapter 11: Exploring Content Types 189Dipping into Content Categories 189Working with Original Short- and Long-Form Content 191Using Curation 193Examining five curation models 194Understanding how to curate 195Making Use of User-Generated Content 197Understanding the positives 197Dealing with the negatives 198Repurposing Content to Add Value 199Benefitting from repurposing 199Planning goals and picking content 199Viewing Aggregated Visual Content 201Dealing with Live Video Content 202Extending Business News 203Offering Online Courses 204Managing Content Formats 206Chapter 12: Storytelling for Content Marketers 213Storytelling to Engage Your Audience 213Seeking the science behind stories 213Finding your product stories 216Structuring Your Content Using Stories 220Crafting the story 221Incorporating copywriting 222Chapter 13: Creating Processes and Systems for Your Content 225Organizing the Content Process 225Benefiting from a defined framework 226Examining the systems needed 226Determining Roles and Responsibilities 229Managing the Workflow 230Finding and assigning writers 230Using an editorial calendar 233Documenting Your Policies and Procedures 236Content managers 237Editors 237Writers 237Designers 239Content system administrator 239Web administrator 239Part IV: Developing Channel Promotions 241Chapter 14: Examining Channel Plans 243Getting Started with Your Channel Plan 243Benefitting from planning your channel content 244Knowing what you need to create a channel plan 245Preparing for a Channel Audit 246Phase One: Current Channel Audit 246Phase Two: Channel Content Review 249Phase Three: New Channel Plans 250Dipping into Some Major Channel Examples 251Using Facebook for customer support: Avon 252Tweeting for customer engagement: Warby Parker 253Influencing through LinkedIn: Microsoft 253Using Pinterest to gauge user interest: The Container Store 254Documenting each channel’s plan 256Chapter 15: Sharing Your Content 259Embracing Shareability As a Strategy 259Understanding sharing patterns 260Sharing as a bottom‐line issue 261Uncovering the Five Ws and One H of Online Sharing 263Knowing who shares content, and why 264Considering what they share 266Discovering when they share 268Observing where they share 269Looking at how people share content 269Adding Social Bookmarking 270Making SEO a Priority 271Deploying Hashtags to Encourage Sharing 275Understanding hashtags 275Using hashtag tools 275Chapter 16: Looking at Paid, Earned, Shared, and Owned Media 279Understanding Types of Media 279Reviewing each media type 280Determining your needs 281Utilizing Paid Media 282Discovering retargeting 282Dealing with native advertising 283Considering programmatic buying 285Finding out what you need to know from advertisers 286Championing Earned Media 286Enhancing Shared Media 289Amplifying Owned Media 290Looking at the role of press releases 290Spreading the message 291Creating a Framework for Achieving the Right Mix 292Section 1: Owned Channels 293Section 2: Shared Media 294Section 3: Paid Ads 294Section 4: Earned Media 295Section 5: Evaluate and Revise 295Chapter 17: Delving into Syndication and Guest Posting 297Understanding Syndication 298Looking at content specifics 299Uncovering syndication types 300Looking at Online Syndicators 302Establishing Your Syndication Plan 305Discovering Guest Posting 306Benefitting from guest posting 306Pitching your guest posting to a blogger 307Preparing to guest post 310Starting your own guest blogging program 313Chapter 18: Working with Influencers 315Discovering the Evolving Role of Influencers 315Understanding the six principles of persuasion 317Understanding why influencers matter more now 319Understanding how to measure expert influencers 320Recognizing Influencer Types 321Finding the Right Influencers 322Discovering the influencers you need to target 322Developing a system 326Uncovering New Influencers 327Influencing with Customer Advocacy 328Enhancing Word of Mouth (WOM) with Advertising 331Connecting with your audience 331Identifying factors for WOMA 332Paid Influencer Programs 332Part V: Using Check-Back Analysis 337Chapter 19: Reassessing Your Business Model and Brand Value 339Validating Business Models 340Looking at change 340Revising your business model canvas 341Reexamining your brand worksheet 342Enhancing your business models 342Reviewing Your Brand Status 343Refreshing Visual Branding 344Understanding what your branding means 345Surveying about brand awareness 346Locating a survey company 347Chapter 20: Reviewing Your Content Marketing Strategy 351Allowing for Failed Experiments 351Looking Back at Your Content Marketing Strategy 353Reviewing goals and KPIs 353Assessing content maturity 354Reevaluating Your Ecosystem 355Part VI: The Part of Tens 359Chapter 21: Ten Problems Content Marketers Face 361Company Focus 361Inadequate budget 362Lack of buy-in 362Customer Experience 362Your content isn’t categorized for the buyer’s journey 362Your content isn’t personalized 362Content Promotion 363It seems as though no one is listening 363You’re not working with the right partners 363Content Creation 363Running out of good ideas 363Decreasing content quality 364Check-back Analysis 364Not effectively monitoring customer sentiment 364Inadequate measures to determine action 364Chapter 22: Top Ten Blogs on Content Marketing 365Buffer 365Content Marketing Institute 366Convince & Convert 366Copyblogger 366Oracle (Eloqua) Content Marketing Blog 366HubSpot Marketing Blog 367Marketo Content Marketing Guides 367QuickSprout 367Social Media Examiner 367Social Triggers 368Seth Godin 368Chapter 23: Ten Free Tools for Content Marketing 369BuzzSumo 369Dropbox 370Emotional Marketing Value Headline Analyzer 370Evernote 370Google Webmaster Tools 371Grammarly 371Piktochart 371Screenpresso 371SEO SiteCheckup 372WordPress Calendar 372Index 373

Select Guide Rating