Check out this presentation to learn 8 types of content every digital marketer should have in their toolbox, their pros and cons, what to use them for, and tips for maximizing results.

1. Types of
Marketing
Content
8(and how to use them)

2. Think of different types of content like different
tools in your content marketing toolbox.

3. Now, would you use an Allen
Wrench for the same job you
would a Phillip’s Head ?

4. Now, would you use an Allen
Wrench for the same job you
would a Phillip’s Head ?
Ahahahaa…
HAHAHAHA
AHAHAHAHAHAHAH
AHAHAHAHA!
“Using a Phillip’s Head
for an Allen Wrench…”
I crack myself up.

5. “…would you use an Allen
Wrench for the same job you
would a Phillip’s Head ?“
But seriously, that’s like saying
you’d create an infographic for the
same purpose as a case study…

6. “TOFU”
Top-of-funnel
“MOFU”
Middle-of-funnel
“BOFU”
Bottom-of-funnel
A quick refresher
on terminology…

7. Infographics
1

8. Infographic Pros:
o Organic/Search, inbound links
o SO SHARABLE
o Visually engaging
o Quick and easy to consume
o Simplifying complex
information
o Cast a wide net
o Can spice up mundane info
Cons:
o Lead Gen (not to be gated)
Key uses:
o Organic/search
o Brand
o Social engagement
o Thought leadership
Key funnel stages:
o TOFU

9. Infographic Tips & Notes
o One the best organic/search content formats
o You don’t need to be an industry expert. Find a great TOFU
topic and do your research!
o Don’t be self-serving – infographics are for the people!
o Be sure to make the embed code available so people can
repost it on their sites (sweet, sweet link juice for you!)
o Make your words count, and your graphics extra sexy (now
is not the time to skimp on image quality)
o Avoid putting your brand name in the title (you’ll scare
people away) – instead, make sure you get credit by
branding and linking the infographic

10. Slideshare
2

11. Slideshare Pros:
o Shareable
o Mobile/Social
o Visual
o Simplifying complex info
o Easy/Quick to create
o Repurpose your presos
o Owned by LinkedIn
Cons:
o Lead Gen
o Could be better for search
Key uses:
o Social engagement
o Brand
o Thought leadership
Key Funnel Stages:
TOFU, MOFU

12. Slideshare Tips & Notes
o In-stream social browsing - nurture customers
right inside their twitter feeds!
o Keep an eye on designing/optimizing for mobile
– use large, bold font
o Think of the cover like a video thumbnail…it
must stand out and be legible
o Use YouTube videos inside
o Expected to be long: 50-60+ slides
o Use lots of data!
o The whole goal is to get on the slideshare
homepage (it pains me to use this word, but
you’ll go viral…ugh.)

13. 3
Blog Posts

14. Blog posts
Pros:
o Organic/Search
o Shareable, social
o Long shelf-life
o Test out content topics
o Publish frequently
o Engage external experts,
influencers, writers
o Sharing updates, promote
other content
Cons:
o Lead Gen
o Upkeep, maintenance
Key uses:
o Organic/search
o Social engagement
o Thought leadership
o Brand
Key funnel stages:
o TOFU

15. Blog Tips & Notes
o The title is as important as the content
o Quality + Length > quantity + frequency
o Tried and true genres work! Collections and “top” lists,
advice/how to, reviews, predications, troubleshooting,
interviews, editorial
o Distribution is key – utilize all social channels (don’t
forget Google+), post in relevant targeted forums and
online communities
o Welcome external guest bloggers and expert interviews
– when you press publish you’ll find yourself with extra
strength on your distro team (and a larger audience) 

16. 4
eBooks

17. eBooks Pros:
o High value content, value now
o Wide reach
o One of best TOFU/MOFU combo
o Shareable, saveable
o High email CTR
o Repurpose chapters for organic
o Long lifespan
o Lots of distro options
(great for paid)
Cons:
o Time consuming to create, risk if you
miss the mark
Key uses:
o Leadgen
o Lead Nurturing
Key funnel stages:
o TOFU - MOFU

18. eBook Tips & Notes
o Save for your meatiest, “most likely to succeed”
topics - “Definitive guides” work
o Don’t try to target these too narrowly
o Create an outline, make sure each chapter can
stand alone as topic so you can repurpose later
o Don’t skimp on quality – people will remember
whether or not they should come back
o Be sure the people you attract with this topic are
the type that will convert down funnel
o Interview experts and customers!
o Good to do in tandem with other content on same
topic to create an avalanche effect

19. 5
Webinars

20. Webinars Pros:
o High value content
o Sales qualification
o Attracting press, media
o Audience attention/mindshare
o Guest presenters and influencer
engagement
o Live demonstrations
Cons:
o High time investment for audience,
has negative impact on conversion
o High time and resource investment
for marketer
o Shorter lifespan – on-demand
recording (while always worth doing)
is less effective as a leaden asset
Key uses:
o Leadgen
o Nurture
o Thought leadership
o Customer marketing
o Funnel conversion
Key funnel stages:
o All, but usually not best
at the tippety-top

21. • Educational
• Topic oriented
• Industry Experts/Influencers as presenters
• Lead generation
I. Demand Gen/Thought Leadership
• Product oriented
• Target nurtured audience
• SEs and Product Owners, demos
• BOFU conversion
II. Pipeline Acceleration
• Product Releases, adoption
• Retention, Value add
• Upsell, cross-sell
III. Customer/Partner Engagement
Webinar Tips & Notes
o Measure three times before you cut
o Shoot for the stars with getting expert
guest presenters, and make sure guest
presenters are promoting too
o Use deliverables/timeline document
internally and externally for planning
o Don’t get too cutesy with the promo
materials – if I’m going spend an hour
with you, you better be taking this
seriously!
o If your webinar slides aren’t optimized
to post right to slideshare afterwards,
they probably weren’t optimized for
the webinar…
3 Webinar Types

22. Videos
6

23. Videos Pros:
o Engagement, attention
o Can be very shareable
o Personable
o Search (YouTube = #2 search engine in
the world)
o Multi-channel, embed
o Tutorials, How-To’s, training
o Long shelf-life
o Explaining complex concepts
Cons:
o Lead gen
o Easy to miss the mark for TOFU
o Low production quality hurts brand
o Can be time consuming depending on
project
Key uses:
o Brand
o Social
o Nurture
o Web conversion
o Customer engagement
Key funnel stages:
o All

24. Video Tips & Notes
o For brand-related video, if you’re going to do it, do
it well – production quality matters
o Length can be a killer. In most cases keep it to a
couple minutes
o How to’s, interviews and what do we do’s! –
classic video formats that work great
o Take the time to script and storyboard – 99/100
times your “totally awesome” idea for a video isn’t
going to become an instant classic on it’s own
o Try animation to increase engagement
o For the love of Stu, don’t be boring.

25. 7
Case
Studies

26. Case Studies Pros:
• Advancing leads at bottom of the funnel
• The fact that a customer was willing to
participate in the first place gives this
power from the get go
• Usually relatively short in length yet highly
effective
• Takes the focus of the product and onto
the results, in a more interesting story
format
• Real-life proof that all your marketing and
sales claims thus far haven’t been total B.S.
Cons:
o Can be difficult to keep a steady flow these
coming in, get active participation from
customers
Key uses:
o Lead nurturing
o Sales enablement
o Conversion
o Customer marketing
Key funnel stages:
o BOFU

27. Case Study Tips and Notes
o Incentivize sales and other customer-facing teams to keep
their eyes out for case study opportunities
o After running a regular customer satisfaction survey, use the
results to identify your happiest customers who are more likely
to participate in a case study and reach out to them directly
o Make a list of all the main use cases, personas, industries, value
props, that are your most typical buyer profiles, and make sure
you create case studies to cover all of those bases
o If possible, see if you can get consent to use customer
headshots on your website along with their case study– the
fact that people are willing to have their photos featured on
your site can be powerful psychologically to prospects

28. 8
Survey
Reports

29. Survey Reports Pros:
• Cost effective content creation
• Lead generation
• Press coverage, industry noise
• Fuels lots of content- blogs,
infographics, report, webinar, web
articles, slideshare
• Thought leadership, original data
• Nurture, tie back to product
• Learn about audience while marketing
to them
Cons:
o Time consuming and must be
planned/executed carefully to be really
successful
Key uses:
o Leadgen
o Organic/search
o Brand
o Social
o Nurture
o Press
Key funnel stages:
o TOFU, MOFU, ALL

30. Survey Report Tips & Notes
o TOFU/MOFU heaven – try find a relevant
high level topic that your audience will eat up
that you can also eventually tie back to
product at the end of the day
o Your data will only be as good as your survey
design – think about the answers before
writing the questions, create multiple paths
for different personas, and make sure the
data you product will have a story
o Would recommend doing this as a large
scale, rolling campaign
This epic demand gen
survey yielded over 14
content assets alone!

31. Don’t Forget!
Structure o Chaptering, bulleting, lists, headers and
sub-headers, well organized information,
calling out main ideas (use outlines!)
o People move fast online and want to
“save or skim” content (spoiler alert –
people rarely read content cover to cover –
you’re lucky if they read 50%)
o Content must be consumable, bite-sized
chunks, easy to navigate through quickly
(also to keep a reader engaged)
o Is there a story with a beginning, middle
and end, and a call-to-action to cap
things off?

32. Don’t Forget!
Function/Design
Can I easily skim, browse,
navigate? Is everything
legible, intuitive, aesthetically
pleasing, technically working?
Is it optimized for my device
and environment?

33. And remember, no one
becomes a great content
marketer overnight – the
idea is to just try sucking
a little less every day.

34. About the Author
Gary DeAsi is a global digital marketing and demand
generation expert with a passion for technology and
thinking both analytically and creatively to overcome
business challenges at every stage of the customer
joruney. As the Senior Manager of Corporate & Digital
Marketing at SmartBear Software, Gary is responsible for
managing the SmartBear corporate brand, digital
advertising, and leading the inbound, digital marketing
team to drive demand for the company’s 12+ software
quality tools used by 3M+ software professionals and
25K+ organizations worldwide.
Connect with Gary: