This document provides growth tactics for content marketers in 2017. It recommends focusing on customer development to understand audience needs and create relevant content. Marketers should strategically create better quality content rather than more content. Distribution should be considered early and include tactics like targeted social media, influencers, and content syndication. The content experience should be optimized for readability, calls-to-action, and tailoring content to different audiences and stages of the buyer's journey. Measuring engagement and conversion metrics is important to evaluate content performance.

1. GROWTH TACTICS
FOR 2017
Hana Abaza, Uberflip
@hanaabaza
CONTENTMARKETING

2. of marketers
think they’re
productive.
92%

3. of marketers also work
on evenings and
weekends.
90%

4. of marketers have
delayed going to the
bathroom to meet a
deadline.
60%

5. We don’t
have time
to pee!

6. We focus on doing “things” rather
than doing the things with the most
impact.

7. Content is the atomic
particle of all digital
marketing.
- Rebecca Lieb

8. More Content

9. More Content
Better Content

10. More Content
Better Content
Content for Everyone!

11. will
produce
more
content
than
they
did
in
2015
77%of B2C
marketers 76%of B2B
marketers

12. Of
marketers
can’t
measure
the
success of
their
content79%
will
produce
more
content
than
they
did
in
2015
77%of B2C
marketers 76%of B2B
marketers

13. becauseit’sirrelevant
Source:
Forrester

14. Thepowerofgreatcontent
Build a Brand
Grow an Audience
Generate Leads
Get Customers

15. Howdoweget
morebangforourbuck?

16. Weneedtogetmorestrategic
Aboutthebusinessofcontent
marketing

17. Contentmarketing
2017 GROWTH TACTICS FOR

18. 1. Customer Dev for Content
2. Strategic Creation
3. Distribution Tactics
4. Experience Optimization

19. Relevance

20. It’s NOT Quantity
It’sQUALITY

21. It’srelevance
It’s Not (Just) Quality

22. High up-front investment
Huge long term payoff
Focus on relevance
for creation & validation

23. Content Marketing Ideas!
1. Top 10 Ways to Create Better Content
2. How to make better content, faster
3. 6 ways to generate demand with content
4. Lies, Damn Lies, and Marketing Metrics

24. HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT’S RELEVANT?

25. CUSTOMER DEV FOR CONTENT
DataPEOPLE TOOLS

26. Internal Teams
Customers
Prospects
Followers/Fans
PEOPLE

27. External Personas Internal Teams
TOFU Followers/fans, leads, customers
Audience Survey Questions
Sales, Support and Success Teams
MOFU
BOFU

28. CustomerDevforContent
How
long
have
you
been
in
your
role?
How
many
people
are
on
your
team?
How
do
you
compare
yourself
to
your
coworkers
How
does
the
team
work
together?
What
tools
do
you
use/spend
the
most
time
with?
How
do
you
learn
about
marketing?
What
kind
of
content
attracts
you?
Can
you
give
an
example
of
one
unforgettable
piece
of
content?
Do
you
look
at
content
during
the
workday
or
outside
of
business
hours?
What’s
the
one
area
of
your
job
that
you
feel
you
need
to
learn
more
about?
What
is
your
mind
on
most
of
the
day?
What
do
you
think
about
the
most?
What
part
of
your
day
do
you
love
most?
What
part
of
your
day
do
you
hate
most?
If
I
could
get
you
an
expert
about
any
topic
to
spend
an
hour
with,
who
would
it
be
and
what’s
the
topic?
What
is
your
dream
job?
Who
is
your
marketing
hero?

29. External Personas Internal Teams
TOFU Followers/fans, leads, customers
Audience Survey Questions
Sales, Support and Success Teams
What are the top non-product related questions
you hear?
MOFU
BOFU

30. External Personas Internal Teams
TOFU Followers/fans, leads, customers
Audience Survey Questions
Sales, Support and Success Teams
What are the top non-product related questions
you hear?
MOFU Customers, leads
What are your biggest (solution related)
challenges?
Sales, Support and Success Teams
What are the biggest pain points you hear from
people?
BOFU

31. External Personas Internal Teams
TOFU Followers/fans, leads, customers
Audience Survey Questions
Sales, Support and Success Teams
What are the top non-product related questions
you hear?
MOFU Customers, leads
What are your biggest (solution related)
challenges?
Sales, Support and Success Teams
What are the biggest pain points you hear from
people?
BOFU Customers and lost leads
What convinced you? What deterred you?
Sales, Support, Success and Product Teams
What were the biggest objections?

32. TOOLS
Industry reports
Buzzsumo
Answerthepublic.com

35. Data
Website metrics
Conversion metrics
Engagement vs. Growth

36. Growth Metrics
CTA conversion
Visit to lead conversion
Lead to customer conversion
Cost per lead / customer
Churn rate
Engagement Metrics
Time on site
Pages per visit
Social shares
Bounce rate
Search rankings
GROWTHMETRICSENGAGMENTMETRICS VS

37. CREATION

38. Myth
Moreismore

39. Truth
BetterMoreismore

40. MOSTCONTENTUNDERPERFORMS

41. @uberflip#uberwebinar @buzzsumo
Techcrunch,
Inc,
Entrepreneur,
Moz,
SME
95
Popular
sites
(Hubspot,
QuickSprout etc.)
Shares
Mean 1,375
Median 803
Shares
Mean 308
Median 106

42. @uberflip#uberwebinar @buzzsumo
B2B
Content
Shares
Content Median
Shares
Top
5
Marketing
&
Technology
Sites
(Incl Moz,
SME,
Techcrunch)
803
95
Popular
Marketing
and
Technology
Sites
(Incl Hubspot,
Buffer,
Search
Engine
Land)
106
Hubspot B2B
Customer
sites
(127,000
articles) 22
1m
Random articles 8

43. @uberflip#uberwebinar @buzzsumo
Distribution
of
Content
Shares
(100
sites)
Only
4%
(4,500
of
114,000
posts)
got
more
than
3,000
shares.

44. A small portion of content is responsible for the
majority of your results.
ContentMARKETINGPOWERLAW

45. Characteristicsof
high-performing
content
Is it relevant?
Is it aligned to your goals?
Is it unique to you?
Are you looking at the world through
the lens of your product?

49. Repurposed Into An Online
Experience
- Video
- Slides
- Transcript

54. Leveragecontent
acrossMANY
channels
PR Strategy
Guest blogging
Webinars
Blog
IRL Presentations
SEO

55. distribution

56. Thinkabout
distribution
Beforethecontentispublished

57. Where are your people?
Whatdotheylike?

58. distribution
strategies&TACTICS
Our Subscribers
Targeted Social (paid & unpaid)
Influencers (Advocate Hub)
Partners (Co-Marketing)
Discoverability (SEO)
Content syndication (lead gen)
Other Publishers (lead gen)
(Very) Targeted Email

59. distribution
strategies&TACTICS
Our Subscribers
Targeted Social (paid & unpaid)
Influencers (Advocate Hub)
Partners (Co-Marketing)
Discoverability (SEO)
Content syndication (lead gen)
Other Publishers (lead gen)
(Very) Targeted Email

60. PartnerMarketing Is it targeted?
Does your audience overlap?
Is there an agreed upon distribution
strategy?

61. Targetedemail Small list = keep topics focused
Big database = segment
Ruthlessly cull your list

62. Webinar Invite
44% Open Rate
11% CTR
Webinar Follow-up
53% Open Rate
19% CTR

63. contentSYNDICATION Typically this is paid
More targeting = Higher Cost
Pure distribution vs. Lead Gen
eBooks & Whitepapers
Webinar recordings
Articles / blog posts

64. Content
syndicationtools

65. Your
Content
Third
party
publisher
Linked
back
to
Your
Site
Consumed
on
YOUR site
CONTENT SYNDICATION FOR LEAD GEN

66. Your
Content
Third
party
publisher
Linked
back
to
Your
Site
Consumed
on
YOUR site
Third
party
publisher
Content
embedded
Consumed
on
THEIR site
CONTENT SYNDICATION FOR LEAD GEN

67. Your
Content
Third
party
publisher
Linked
back
to
Your
Site
Consumed
on
YOUR site
Third
party
publisher
Content
embedded
Consumed
on
THEIR site
CONTENT SYNDICATION FOR LEAD GEN
Sales ready?
It depends.
Sales ready?
Doubtful.

68. Considertheexperience
Follow up with the right nurture or drip campaign.

69. EXPERIENCE

70. (dirtylittlesecret)

71. (dirtylittlesecret)
GreatContentIsn’tEnough

72. Youneedagreatcontentexperience
(that’s optimized for your goals)

74. @Uberflip

75. @Uberflip

76. READABLE
ACTIONABLE
TAILORED

77. READABLE
ACTIONABLE
TAILORED

79. Easy toread
Short
paragraphs

80. Subheads
IMAGES

81. READABLE
ACTIONABLE
TAILORED

82. Calls-to-Action

83. Quiztime!
What’s #1 rule for
calls-to-action?

84. Have a f#@?ing
call-to-action.
Thanks Oli J

85. Calls-to-Action Clarity
Context
Targeting

86. Is the action and
value obvious?
CLARITY

87. CONTEXT

88. CONTEXT IS
EVERYTHING

92. ContextualCTA

95. TARGETING

96. L
Generic
Generic

97. Targeted

98. READABLE
ACTIONABLE
TAILORED

99. Your Content
Top of the
Funnel
Middle of the
Funnel
Bottom of the
Funnel
By Topic By Type
What Most People Do

101. Thistellsmenothing!

102. Your
Content
Top of the
Funnel
Middle of
the Funnel
Bottom of
the Funnel
By Type By Topic By Vertical By Segment By Persona By Account
Tailoring the Experience

105. @uberflip @HanaAbaza

106. 1. Customer Dev for Content
2. Strategic Creation
3. Distribution Tactics
4. Experience Optimization
QUICKRECAP!