Taming the Content Beast: How to Avoid Content Creation Overwhelm

TAMING THE

CONTENT

BEAST

HOW TO AVOID CONTENT

CREATION OVERWHELM

Kim Gusta Content Marketing & Copywriting for High-Tech Companies

www.kimgusta.com @kimgusta

http://www.kimgusta.com/

© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

www.kimgusta.com


COMMON CHALLENGES

IN TAMING THE BEAST

www.kimgusta.com

Source: “B2B Content Marketing: 2012 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends” by Content Marketing Institute & MarketingProfs


WHY TAME THE

BEAST?

• Content creation overwhelm

• Poor quality content

• Content marketing “just doesn’t work”

• Buyers delete, unsubscribe, or ignore

www.kimgusta.com


www.kimgusta.com


BUYER TURN-OFFS

86%: Vendor information doesn’t meet my

needs

77%: Too much marketing fluff

77%: Unclear value propositions

44%: Not enough real world examples

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Source: “What Your Prospects Want and Don’t Want From You,” UBM TechWeb, May 2012

http://createyournextcustomer.techweb.com/2012/05/10/research-brief-what-your-prospects-want-and-dont-want-from-you/


79% say the

quality of information

you provide

significantly affects

whether they’ll do business

with you

www.kimgusta.com

Source: “What Your Prospects Want and Don’t Want From You,” UBM TechWeb, May 2012

http://createyournextcustomer.techweb.com/2012/05/10/research-brief-what-your-prospects-want-and-dont-want-from-you/


STRATEGY +

REPEATABLE PROCESS

=

GETTING CONTENT

UNDER CONTROL

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STEPS FOR

TAMING THE BEAST

1. Know what your buyers want

2. Inventory what you’ve got

3. Use an editorial calendar

4. Think economies of scale

5. Steal/borrow/ask for content ideas

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© 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing © 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing

TAMING THE BEAST

STEP #1

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Know What Your

Buyers Want


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“Your opinion, although

interesting, is irrelevant.”

Source: Pragmatic Marketing www.pragmaticmarketing.com

CONTENT WISDOM…

In other words, don’t guess.

Ask.

http://www.pragmaticmarketing.com/


CONTENT WISDOM…

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NIHITO (Nothing Interesting Happens in the Office)

Source: Pragmatic Marketing www.pragmaticmarketing.com

http://www.pragmaticmarketing.com/


TALK TO YOUR BUYERS

1. What are their most important responsibilities?

2. What are their top obstacles/problems?

3. Why haven’t they considered a product like yours?

4. What alternatives do they believe will help?

5. How does their boss measure their success?

6. Where do they look for new information?

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TAMING THE BEAST

STEP #2

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Inventory What

You’ve Already Got


WHAT GOOD STUFF IS

LURKING OUT THERE?

www.kimgusta.com © 2012 Kim Gusta Marketing


WHY INVENTORY YOUR

EXISTING CONTENT?

• Some of it is probably out of date

• Some probably needs updating

• There might be good stuff you can easily repurpose

(if you only knew where it was…)



CONTENT WISDOM…

www.kimgusta.com

“It’s easier to edit

than to author.”

Source: A wise, former boss


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STUFF


CONTENT INVENTORY FORM*

*Download your copy:

www.kimgusta.com/tamethebeast

Include:

• Filename

• Date

• Owner

• Target audience

• Where to find it

• Sales cycle stage

• Status – is it current?



TAMING THE BEAST

STEP #3

www.kimgusta.com

Use an

Editorial Calendar


WHY USE AN

EDITORIAL CALENDAR?

• Project manages your content

• Forces you to think ahead

• Assigns names to tasks

• Prevents content gaps

• Helps manage big events like product launches



SAMPLE EDITORIAL

CALENDAR*

www.kimgusta.com

Include:

• Project or content

name

• Existing or new?

• Go-live date

• Expiration date

• Content home

• Campaign

• Responsible parties


*Download your copy:



TAMING THE BEAST

STEP #4

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Think

Economies of Scale


OPTION #1:

CREATE LOTS OF CONTENT

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WHICH LEADS TO …

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OPTION #2:

REPURPOSE CONTENT

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Articles

Transcribe

the

webinar


ADVANTAGES OF

REPURPOSING

• Saves time

• Consistent message

• Puts content into various formats for different learning

styles

• Good cure for “writer’s block/content block”

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THE “RULE OF 5”

From one “How-To”webinar:

1. Blog posts (combine into articles)

2. Infographic

3. Short YouTube videos

4. White paper

5. “Getting Started” guide or cheat sheet


Source: “The Rule of 5 for B2B Content Development,” Ardath Albee;s Marketing Interactions blog

Figure out

your “5”

BEFORE

the webinar

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http://marketinginteractions.typepad.com/marketing_interactions/2009/12/the-rule-of-5-for-b2b-content-development.html


TAMING THE BEAST

STEP #5

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Steal/borrow/ask for

content ideas


STUCK FOR GOOD

CONTENT IDEAS?

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ASK YOUR BUYERS

• Turn top 50 questions you get from your buyers (via email,

phone, face to face, etc.) into 50 blog posts

• One post for each question

• Great for SEO

• Use as foundation for building related content

• Don’t be afraid to answer every question (even the tough

ones)

• “How much is it?”

• “How do you compare to your competitors?”

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Source: Marcus Sheridan, The Sales Lion. “How to Come Up with Your Company’s First 50 Blog Articles…in Less Than 30 Minutes”

http://blog.vistage.com/marketing/how-to-come-up-with-your-companys-first-50-blog-articles-in-less-than-30-minutes/


www.kimgusta.com

Common Questions

Prospective Pool

Owners Ask

From Marcus Sheridan’s River

Pools and Spas Website

http://www.riverpoolsandspas.com/

http://www.riverpoolsandspas.com/


CONTENT FOR SALES STAGES

www.kimgusta.com

Source: “Customer Engagement: The Role of Content in the IT Purchase Process”, IDG Enterprise

http://www.scribd.com/doc/104530581/2012-Customer-Engagement-Study


www.kimgusta.com

Source: “Customer Engagement: The Role of Content in the IT Purchase Process”, IDG Enterprise

CONTENT FOR SALES STAGES

http://www.scribd.com/doc/104530581/2012-Customer-Engagement-Study


CURATE GOOD STUFF

• Not everything needs to be created from scratch (but give credit where due!)

• Curate or cite good stuff that helps your buyers:

• Analyst articles

• Research results

• Case studies

• Industry trends

• Especially useful in early sales stages

• Examples:

• Research: “Technology Buyers’ Biggest Marketing Turn-offs”

• Case study: “Extraordinary Benefits of Interviewing 100 Customers”

www.kimgusta.com

http://www.kimgusta.com/blog/27/92/Technology-Buyers-Biggest-Marketing-Turn-Offs/



http://www.kimgusta.com/blog/28/92/The-Extraordinary-Benefits-of-Interviewing-100-Customers-Case-Study/

http://www.kimgusta.com/blog/28/92/The-Extraordinary-Benefits-of-Interviewing-100-Customers-Case-Study/


• Popular & easy to

create

• Curates useful

resources

• Use List.ly

• Embed in blog

posts or other web

content

www.kimgusta.com

CREATE LISTS

814

views!

http://www.list.ly/

http://list.ly/list/1hJ-best-content-marketing-resources-for-technology-marketers?feature=mylist


RESOURCES:

MORE CONTENT IDEAS

• “100 Content Marketing Examples” eBook

• “Content Repurposing: 5 Experts Share Their Favorite

Secrets”

• “30 Great Content Ideas for Your Website or Blog”

• “My industry is boring. How do I create interesting

content?”

www.kimgusta.com

http://www.contentmarketinginstitute.com/education/ultimate-ebook-100-content-marketing-examples/




http://marketingqi.com/blog/2012/10/content-repurposing/

http://marketingqi.com/blog/2012/10/content-repurposing/

http://myventurepad.com/kronikseo/95945/30-great-content-ideas-your-website-or-blog

http://www.kimgusta.com/blog/30/92/My-industry-is-boring-How-do-I-create-interesting-content/




YOUR 60 DAY PLAN

*Download templates from



1. Interview 2 buyers.

2. Inventory* your existing content.

3. Brainstorm at least 30 questions your buyers ask. Schedule the best ones in your editorial calendar.

4. Create an editorial calendar* for the next 60 days.

5. Before you create your next piece of content, think of five different ways to repurpose it.

www.kimgusta.com


MORE HELPFUL RESOURCES

www.kimgusta.com

Visit: www.kimgusta.com/tamethebeast

• Reference Guide

• Customizable content templates

• More content & lead generation resources

@kimgusta

[email protected]

www.kimgusta.com

Blog: kimgusta.com/blog

http://www.kimgusta.com/contentgift

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.kimgusta.com/

Taming the Content Beast: How to Avoid Content Creation Overwhelm

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