Presented by Amanda Collinsgrammardocs.com • @grammardocs

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Creating value since 1995 …

• Developed and implemented content-marketing strategies for Prescott College and ASU

• Increased clients’ Google ranking through blogs, SEO, and press releases

• Won two clients the Arizona Better Business Bureau Ethics Award

• Editor in chief of Jetset Magazine and Arizona Vacations Magazine

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The Goal of Content Marketing

Push prospects through the sales funnel to become clients, repeat clients, referral sources, and raving fans.

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Build Your Foundation

Look for this symbol and get working!

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Identify Your Target Market

• Get really specific and then work out from there

• Give your target a name, gender, age range, job, etc. — make it as real as possible!

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State Your Marketing Goals

Consider such things as increasing:• Revenue• Market share• Google

dominance• Brand recognition

All goals are valid!

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Know Your Unique Selling Proposition

You cannot build a solid content-marketing strategy until you know what makes your business unique and how you add value to your customers.

What’s your USP?

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Outline Your Sales Cycle

Look at what you do now to move prospects through your cycle, and include all of the content you use: • Website• Social media• Blogs• Newsletters• PR

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Create Relationships with “Guests”

• How do you want customers to feel about your brand?

• What do you want people to do when they interact with your brand?

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Tools of the Trade

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Website Content

Keep it simple with contact information clearly visible.

Typical pages include:• Home• About us• Services• Contact us• Blog

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Website Content Strategy

• Remember who your target market is and write specifically to him or her

• Have plenty of visuals to break up the content

• Add keywords and create meta tags and descriptions for each page

• List your site on major search engines (or hire an SEO expert to help)

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Social Media

Share something once a day and break up your communications into:• Marketing• Information• Other

Try HootSuite to manage your

accounts easily.

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Social Media Strategy

• If you’re B2C, focus on Facebook• If you’re B2B, focus on LinkedIn• If your company is visual, try Instagram and

Pinterest• If you do a lot of videos, use YouTube• If you are not geographically locked, try Twitter• EVERYONE should be on Google+

Break down your post schedule for two weeks:1: Other2: Marketing3: Info4: Other / Website5: Marketing

6: Other7. Info8. Marketing9. Other10. Info

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Blogs

• Aim for one blog a week, posted on your business website

• Incorporate keywords for SEO

• Share on social media and repurpose in newsletters

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Blogging Strategy

• Choose four broad topics about your business• Choose three subtopics of each of the topics

you chose in step 1• Run Google alerts (alerts.google.com) on your

broad topics to get ideas• Schedule a time on your calendar each week to

write and post your blog• Write a 300- to 800-word blog, incorporating

keywords

If it takes you longer than 30–45 minutes to write a blog, it might be time to outsource!

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White Papers and Ebooks

Used as a “bribe” on your website to get people to sign up for your:• Newsletter• Webinar• In-person presentation

They demonstrate you’re an expert in your industry

AND help SEO.

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White Papers and Ebook Strategy

• Choose topics that are FAQs in your industry and provide 5–10 tips on each of those (e.g., Seven Secrets to Clean Your Home Like the Pros Do)

• Compile blogs under a topic and create an ebook out of them, using each blog as a chapter

• White papers are more like research papers on a topic of interest, such as how to blog, with step-by-step instructions

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Newsletters

• Experts suggest sending no more than one a month

• Limit to 3–4 areas and one call to action

• Use a newsletter system (e.g., Mailchimp, Constant Contact)

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Newsletter Strategy

• Write a short, engaging subject line to increase open rates

• Lead readers to your website for more information and to convert them

• Consider incorporating something personal, or a personal message, to engage readers more

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Press Releases and Articles

• Great ways to expand beyond your website, social media, and your existing audience

• Focus on education and present yourself as the expert, remembering to link to your website

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Press Release and Article Strategy

• Releases are written for editors, so talk about something in the news and provide your take on it

• Articles are written to readers of the newspaper or magazine and should focus on a value proposition (can also publish on ezinearticles.com)

• Neither of these is about you or selling your business! Instead, you are the expert on the topic.

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Remember the Three E’s

• All of your content should strive to include the 3 E’s

• Remember: You are writing for people and search engines, so don’t overload on keywords

• Always include a call to action — or you’ve just wasted your efforts

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Questions & Discussion

Amanda CollinsChief of Staff, The Grammar Doctors

480-518-4462grammardocs.com

amanda@grammardocs.com

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