10 Tips: From Market Research to Content Development
by Carolyn Frith
1. Market Research: Just Do It
A content strategy without market research is like trying to find your way around a strange
city without consulting a map, GPS, or asking for directions. You might think you’re saving
time by moving forward, but you’re not likely to reach your destination.
2. Tag Your Target
You could have one target market segment or several. You might think you know who your
target is, but do you really know them? Do you know their demographic profile—their age,
gender, where they live, their job and the type of company they work for? Do you know
their pain points, fears, hopes and dreams? If you can’t answer a strong “yes” to these
questions, your snapshot of your target is blurry. Before you can focus your content
development efforts, you need a sharp image of your prospects and customers.
3. Discover Bait that Captivates
Now that you know who you’re fishing for you need to discover what information your
prospects are seeking when they search for your product or service. This becomes your
“bait.” But you also need to discover where they search it so you can place your bait in all
the right places.
4. Scope Out Your Competitors
You know that your company isn’t out there alone. You have competition. And when your
prospects are looking for information to meet the need that your product or service fulfills,
they are likely to be attracted by another company’s bait. You need to do an assessment to
determine the attractiveness of your competitors’ content. Because, of course, your bait
needs to be more attractive, more prevalent, and more likely to be found where your
prospect is searching. Who are your top competitors? What is their online strategy? And,
what are their strengths and weaknesses? Whether you want to beat your competitors at
their own game or emulate their successes, it’s best to know what your business is up
against.
5. Open Up
Start with qualitative research. This means asking open-ended questions--unstructured
questions in which possible answers are not suggested. You can do this most cost
effectively through in-depth telephone interviews.
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Qualitative research enables you to hear the language that your customers and prospects
use to express their needs, hopes and fears. It enables you to probe into areas as they
develop in conversations and often reveals the unexpected. Also, you cannot design a
productive quantitative survey without completing a qualitative one first because you just
don’t know what the potential answers might be.
6. Quantify It
Now it’s time to quantify your results. An efficient way to collect quantitative data is
through online surveys. While some believe the data generated by online surveys is not as
projectable as phone interviews designed with scientific sampling plans, they are fast and
cost effective. And they naturally target the person you’re looking for: someone who is
comfortable interacting online.
7. Personify It
If you structured your information gathering correctly, you now have what you need to
create personas of your target customer. This means bringing them to life by writing
descriptions as if they were characters in a play or book. Give them names, ages, families,
histories, jobs, homes and more. Find pictures that represent how they look and where
they live. Describe how they would likely do research for your product or service. What
information do they want? How do they want to receive it?
8. Strategize It
Now that you can visualize who you’re trying to attract, the information they are seeking
and how they go about their search, it’s finally time to create your content strategy. Keep
the pictures and descriptions of your personas in front of you as you do this. This helps to
keep your focus on your target and their needs.
9. Make it Happen
Your strategy is your road-map for content generation. So make it happen. Create content
that uses your prospects’ language and taps their emotions. Content that informs, builds a
relationship and helps them to make a wise decision.
10. Monitor and Tweak
Once the content is out there it’s time to measure what’s working and what’s not.
Constantly solicit input from your clientele to determine why some content works better
than other content. If some case studies aren’t working, find out why. If leads generated
from a white paper are converting to profitable business, write more like it. You can learn
a lot by asking questions when prospects call you, or by engaging with them on social
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media sites. The key is that market research is ongoing. Keep your ears open to what your
customers and prospects are saying and you’ll stay ahead of your competition.
HOW STORIES CAN BRING LEAD GENERATION CONTENT ALIVE
Tap the power of story to turn marketing automation into marketing conversations
By Gerry Lantz
Successful B2B marketers and professional service providers are discovering what B2C
companies have known for a long time. Stories relevant to prospects’ needs are one of the
most powerful ways to gain customer attention and interest.
B2C Advertisers have long exploited one of the classic rules of creative writing because it is so
effective: “Show; don’t tell.” (Ad people say it another way: “Telling isn’t selling.”)
What these rules mean to marketers is, do not just explain the “what’s” and “why’s” of your
product or service, bring it to life in action, create a scene that the reader, viewer, or prospect
experiences and to which they can relate. What “Show; don’t tell” means in marketing terms is
give your customer an involving experience of your company, your brand, and your work so
they understand how it relates to them and their needs in the real world.
Don’t only rely on the old standby “Situation-Action-Result” (S.A.R.) as the outline for the case
histories of your work or demonstrations of how you deliver your services. Tell a true success
story. Here is a far more powerful outline, let’s call it a plot, for your business story: ABC 2D.
Let me take that apart for you.
ACTION. Many times the most involving stories start in action. Something dramatic happens—
think of the latest cool movie you saw or good novel you read. There’s often an opening scene
that contains an initiating incident. Someone is running, someone is shot (heaven forbid, I hope
this doesn’t happen in business!), or someone is in a tight predicament, e.g., hanging from a
ledge (that sounds more like what business has been like the last few years!). Stories that start
in action get readers involved because readers want to know “What is going on here?”—that’s
story appeal. Don’t be afraid to use suspense—it supercharges a story.
Example: “Our Great Big Bank client arrived at their data center Monday morning to find it was
flooded when the sprinklers had gone off. They knew if they weren’t up and running within
two hours, they would not be able to process thousands of transactions. And that meant angry
customers and lost revenue.”
BACKSTORY. The backstory catches us up to the present moment so the events of the story
make sense—how and why did the characters get to this point. The backstory in business terms
is the “situation” or “background”. Sometimes in a movie or book, this information is
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communicated in a flashback. Now business people often get so caught up in their own
backstory (usually talking endlessly about what they do versus the outcomes clients experience)
that it becomes the story, and a not very interesting one. When it is short and to the point, the
backstory can be a perfectly fine way to start a story and can contain drama—especially when
the situation represents a significant obstacle.
Example: “The Chief Technology Officer called us in to reduce the bank’s data center downtime
by backing up and replicating their data in real time. He insisted that whatever the solution was
could not interrupt the on-going flow of transactions.”
CONFLICT. The number one requirement for a story to be a story. There has to be something at
stake—somebody has to want something. And if they get it, they win (e.g., solve a problem or
seize an opportunity); if they lose, they don’t get their object of desire, e.g., they lose money,
time, business, clients—a serious pain.
Example: “The Global IT Director called us in to reduce the bank’s data center downtime by
backing up their data in real time. He insisted that whatever the solution was could not
interrupt the on-going flow of transactions.”
CLIMAX. In a story, it’s the final turning point, the result of taking on the last or largest
challenge or obstacle. So, the climax must answer these questions. What finally happens? Did
you/they win or lose? What was the result? What does success look like? (And for heaven’s
sakes don’t start a story with the ending—how interesting is that?)
Example: “When a backhoe cut the power supply to the data center, everything went dark but
their data processing. The switchover to our backup data center and real-time replication
services kept XYZ from missing a beat. Online and retail customers did not experience even a
glitch.”
DESTINATION. Now in literature class we learned this final step in a story is the denouement,
which is a fancy word for: how did everything resolve itself after all that action? What is the
new reality? Where do we go from here? Or, lessons learned.
Example: “Great Big Bank continues to expand its operations globally and taps our worldwide
capabilities in data protection services.”
The Point of Story
Now this story was a little simplistic and probably silly but you now know the secret of telling a
good story. It’s as simple as ABC2D and it doesn’t take much to apply these steps.
Real stories, based on real struggles (essential to a good story), related as they were lived are
more like a movie. Dump the business blah blah and the bullet points. You are not a bullet
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point; your company is not a bullet point. Play the movie for us—we’ll watch, listen and
respond.
Amazingly, when told as a story, your proposition is more about customer needs or problems
and their desired solutions; your features and benefits play only a supporting role.
Yet, in the cold light of your readers’ computer screens, aren’t you too often shilling your goods
and services with lots of descriptive copy, superlative adjectives, and dry-as-day-old-toast bullet
points with little inherent drama or story appeal? Just remember:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Stories invite reading/listening and an authentic exchange of information.
Stories have the “ring of truth” (If they don’t, you’re merely selling).
Stories are sticky and get you remembered.
Stories when combined with lead generation marketing create productive conversations
And that’s the Destination of this story.
CONTENT ADVICE FROM OLIVER PICHER
What’s the strategy in determining which kinds of content to producewhite papers, podcasts, case studies etc
Number one: think in terms of an ongoing campaign of content rather than a specific “one and
done” deliverable. What is the story that you are telling as you roll out your content?
Everyone has a different style of learning. Therefore, you need a range of different content to
reach different people. Some people like reading, but other people prefer videos. Plus, the
whole is greater than the sum of the parts. All of these different types of content work
together to get the ideas to stick in peoples’ minds.
Move from the general to specific in introducing people to your content: White papers are
broad, general – big ideas. Case studies are targeted and specific – pain points. Podcasts are
great ways to attract and engage – video is for attracting new people, while audio is for
maintaining interest and engagement for people who already know you.
Three things you can do with your content
 Awareness
 Engagement
 Motivation (Buying)
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What is the best way to distribute a white paper?
For any content, the delivery channel is almost more important than the content itself. A few
simple rules:

You have to reach people where they want to be reached, in the way they want to be
reached. If your audience isn’t on Twitter, then having a Twitter strategy is pointless.

Remember that white papers are for general outreach, so you want to get it into places
where people will find it.

Remember also the “Rule of 5” – you should have at least 4 different forms that
leverage the white paper: press releases, blog posts, tweets, podcasts, articles

Choose your strategy: do you go with open download, or do you require people to
give their name and email address? Open download, where people can get the content
without giving their information gives you greater reach (something on the ratio of 40:1
– that is, 40 people will download open content for every 1 person that downloads
something that requires giving contact information). Gated content gives you greater
engagement – you know who they are and can start a “drip” campaign to move them
through your marketing/sales process. For me, I like to do a mixture – put a 1-pager on
some aspect of the white paper into open distribution, and put the white paper itself
behind a gate.

Focus on influencers and opinion shapers: magazines, bloggers, tweeters. White
papers are “big idea” pieces that change the way people look at an issue. You need to
shape the opinions of the opinion shapers.
What is content mapping, and why is it important?
Content mapping simply means developing different types of content and delivery
mechanisms based on buyer personas and stages in the buying cycle.
 Different types of people are motivated by different things and need different
information.
 Peoples’ needs change over time, especially as they move through the process of
making a buying decision.
Done properly, it helps organize content so that it answers your prospects questions
appropriately no matter what stage of the buying process they are in.
Developing buyer personas
Defined groups that share similar motivations and concerns
Depending on your company, products and services, personas can be developed based on
 role
 title
 industry
 demographic information
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



location
goals
pain points
role in the buying decision
Buying process





Need recognition and awareness
Information search
Evaluation of alternatives
Purchase
Post-purchase evaluation
Blogs, papers, videos – how many content assets do I need, how do I know?
More is better, but of course we live in a world of limited resources.
You need enough to sustain critical mass – enough content to reach, engage, and nurture your
prospects.
If your budget is limited, I recommend prioritizing your buyer personas. Choose the 1, 2, or 3
that you think are going to have the biggest impact on your sales success, then work to ensure
that you flesh out the nurturing campaigns for those personas as much as possible. Move into
the other buyer personas as you have time and money to do so.
What are the best practices for writing white papers and case studies for
download?







Focus on the problem, not the product
Remember the power of emotion
Help people see things in a different way
Less is more
Use a compelling title
Focus on the role or industry, even in the title
Do SEO research to model how people will find your paper
Should I have my content on my website, or separate landing pages?
Web sites are general, so they help with generalized awareness. Remember that there is no
such thing as one-size-fits-all content.
Content marketing focuses on engagement.
With a landing page, you can have a page that is tailor-made to resonate with a specific buyer
persona at a particular stage in the buying process. You can design the page to move these
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people to the next stage in the buying process. It also helps with measurement. You can get
specific metrics on how effective you are in driving people to that landing page and responding
to the call to action. In a general web site, you don’t get as much control over these variables.
With search engines, any page could potentially become a landing page for your site. What do
people see when they land on those pages? What do you have on those pages to engage
visitors and move them further in their buying process?
Any best practice on how often new content should be produced?
Studies have shown a direct correlation between greater frequency of content and an increase
is sales success. There are a couple of things to keep in mind, though.
With blog posts, podcasts, and tweets, keeping to a regular and predictable schedule is
essential. Having a schedule trains your audience (and the search engines) to look for new
content every day, week, month, quarter, or what-have-you.
Content is a BIG commitment in time and resources. The effort required to start creating
content is nothing compared to the effort it takes to keep it going, week after week, month
after month. Content is a process, not a project.
But it is important to keep feeding new content into your process. This is the coal to your
marketing engine. Fresh fuel keeps the fire hotter, and it even gives a boost to your existing
content. New visitors attracted by your new white paper will discover and enjoy your old white
paper. People who are already in your nurturing process will be re-engaged by the new
content, keeping you and their problem top-of-mind.
The rate of content creation should also depend on how much content you already have. If you
have no content, then you will need to work to build it up. If you already have an inventory of
existing content, then you can work at a slower pace, or look for ways to refresh your existing
content.
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Ten Tips on Integrating a Blog into Your Marketing Plan
by Apryl Parcher
1. Know Your Audience: Before undertaking a blog for your business, get a clear idea of
who your idea reader is first—and not just in a general demographic sense. In order to
attract people to read your blog, you need to understand what their everyday problems
are, how they make decisions, what titles they have in their work space, their attitudes
toward your industry and service/product, etc. The writer needs to be able to build a
profile of an individual person and speak to them directly, so the more detailed your
profile is, the better they’ll be able to communicate in a one-on-one style.
2. Get Buy-In From the Boss: Nothing fails faster than a marketing initiative without
support—and a blog is no different. Blogging on the regular, frequent basis necessary to
generate interest, leads and sales requires that all stakeholders in your company need
to be on board with the idea. It takes time, discipline, idea flow, and help. Blogs created
as an afterthought without buy-in generally fizzle and become infrequent and
disorganized, especially if “dumped” on one person who has to fit it into an already busy
schedule.
3. Have a PLAN: What do you want to accomplish with your blog? What steps do you
want people to take after they read your posts? Creating an Editorial Calendar will help
you chunk your posts into categories that appeal to your audience, and give you a clear
idea of how many posts you need to fill a schedule, whether you plan to release once a
week or 3 times a week. Your calendar should be written, and each writer assigned
pieces they plug into their daily calendar. Assign due dates and stick to the schedule.
4. Use Your Keywords in Your Plan and Posts: The SEO power of blogs can be
phenomenal if handled properly. When creating your editorial calendar, use your key
search phrases when planning topics, and have your writer(s) incorporate a keyphrase
into their headline. They should also work a few into the beginning paragraphs (as close
to the beginning of sentences as possible), and in the post tags. A good rule of thumb is
to write the post for the reader’s ease of use, then go back and incorporate some key
phrases as they fit into the flow of the writing.
5. Comment on Other Blogs: A good way to start getting noticed in the blogosphere is to
follow other blogs in your niche and leave comments if you can contribute something
helpful. Don’t spam them with sales pitches or leave useless comments that don’t add
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to the conversation. Be thoughtful. People who find your content valuable will follow
your website link to find out more about you. Make it a habit to search your blog list
once a week to find opportunities to share your expertise.
6. Reach Out for Guest Posting Opportunities : While you’re looking around at other
blogs in your niche, see if there are some high visibility ones that look like a good fit for
your editorial and reach out to the editors to see if they accept guest posts. Offer the
same opportunity to other good writers in your field for your own blog if you have holes
in your editorial calendar they can fill.
7. Make Sure Your Blog is Uber-Sharable: Make it easy for people to share your blog
content with “Share This” buttons after each post (Sexy Bookmarks is popular, too).
Incorporate Tweetmeme and Facebook Like buttons.
8. Make Subscribing to Your Blog Easy and Above the Fold: Use both RSS and email
subscription options to make it super-easy for people to subscribe to your content.
9. Incorporate Video, Audio and Pictures: Vary your content types to kick up the visibility
and interactivity of your posts. It’s easy to embed video segments and link to audio
snippets, which allows you to keep the written content shorter. Incorporating
photographs or illustrations where appropriate helps draw the eye as well.
10. Are Your Social Media Links Visible? Your blog is your content hub, so make sure to link
out to your social profiles. Don’t make your readers hunt to find out if you have a
Facebook Page or a Twitter Account. Make sure the links to those are visible on your
blog (again above the fold). You can use widgets to incorporate a Facebook Like Box or
your latest Tweets.
a. On your social platforms, be sure to list the
link to your blog (use the full link if you
have to make it part of the graphic).
LinkedIn and Facebook have applications
that allow you to import your blog to your
profile.
b. Like spokes on a wheel, all of your social
platforms should connect to each other,
and point back to the deeper content on
your blog.
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