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B2B Content Strategy Workbook INTRODUCTION W H AT T H I S W O R K B O O K I S F O R Every second, around 40,000 people open their browser and Google something. They look for recipes. They look for cheap flights. They look for new jobs, old cars, and everything in between. They look for answers to almost every question they have because search engines - especially Google - gives it to them in less than a second. Included in this group are B2B buyers - people who look for answers to questions about their business: Questions about a unique business problem; questions about a solution for that problem; and finally, questions that may ultimately point them in the direction of your business. The thing that helps buyers make all of these decisions - the answers to all of their questions - is called “content.” Without it, buyers will have a much harder time finding and learning about your solution, your business, and more critically, why they should buy from you. Content marketing, then, is about helping your buyers identify their problems, find solutions for those problems, and make informed decisions about purchasing the best solution (which is yours, of course!). Executed properly, the result brings more awareness to your brand, more traffic to your website and more leads to your sales team. But how do you actually do content marketing? What should you write about? How do you make sure people find it? Where do you begin? THE ANSWER IS THIS WORKBOOK. TABLE OF CONTENTS 04 DIRECTIONS How do you use this workbook? 05 BUYERS What do your buyers want to know? 07 CONTENT What do you need to create? 08 CHANNELS Where should you distribute content so buyers will find it? 09 TACTICS How do you execute your strategy? 10 METRICS How can you track and improve upon performance? 11 NEXT STEPS How do you put everything together? 4 B2B Content Strategy Workbook DIRECTIONS H O W D O YO U U S E T H I S W O R K B O O K ? This workbook contains five easy-to-complete sections. All you have to do is read, answer questions, and fill in the blank fields to the best of your knowledge. By the end, you’ll have a basic starting point and direction for your content strategy. If you need help or have questions at any point, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our Chief Strategy Officer, Adam Smartschan, at [email protected]. And if you’re interested in working with Altitude to further your own content goals, reach out to our Director of Business Development, Louis Holzman, at [email protected]. 225 Main Street | Emmaus, PA 18049 | (610) 421-8601 | altitudemarketing.com B2B Content Strategy Workbook 5 BUYERS W H AT D O T H E Y WA N T T O K N O W ? Content marketing starts with identifying what your audience of potential buyers wants to know. What problems do they have? What solutions exist for those problems? Answering these questions involves researching how your buyers look for help — specifically, which keywords and search terms they use when they’re looking. List out 5-7 broad categories that describe your product, service, or business. Think of your categories as “buckets” or “lanes” your company falls into. Example: Cisco might use the categories “networking, cloud, cybersecurity, telecommunications, and software.” List out 5-7 broad categories, but this time add more detail - an extra word or two - that focuses the category on a specific audience or application, or both. Example: Cisco might use “business networking hardware, cloud managed IT, business cybersecurity solutions, managed telecommunications services, SD-WAN networking software.” 225 Main Street | Emmaus, PA 18049 | (610) 421-8601 | altitudemarketing.com 6 B2B Content Strategy Workbook List out 3-4 specific questions buyers might have about each category. (You should have about 20 total questions when you’re done.) Example: Cisco might include “What should I look for in a cloud managed IT solution? How long does it take to deploy SD-WAN networking software? What is the ROI on managed telecommunications services? What are business cybersecurity compliance issues?” 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 225 Main Street | Emmaus, PA 18049 | (610) 421-8601 | altitudemarketing.com B2B Content Strategy Workbook 7 CONTENT W H AT D O YO U N E E D T O C R E AT E ? In the first section, you defined the detailed categories your business falls into, as well as some questions your buyers might have about each category. In this section, you will use that information to identify the types of content you’ll need to create and the topics you’ll want to focus on. CONTENT TOPICS Many businesses struggle with content marketing because they don’t know what to write about or what to create. But the best place to start is with those 20 or so questions you wrote down above. Write a short answer - one to two sentences - for each question. Even just hinting at a more in-depth answer is enough. This will give you 20 quick blog abstracts to go write. Once you have all 20, look for ways to group them together. This will point you in the direction of longer-form content you can produce by combining the right topics. 1. 11. 2 12. 3. 13. 4. 14. 5. 15. 6. 16. 7. 17. 8. 18. 9. 19. 10. 20. CONTENT TYPES Content comes in many forms: From one-page overviews to detailed data sheets; from short infographics to long white papers; from written brochures to explainer videos. Diversity is essential because buyers have different needs - and attention spans - at different times. You want to be able to give them something valuable no matter where they are in the buying cycle. Check off three content types you think your team can tackle in the next three months. Two should be ongoing (like email and a blog) and one should be foundational (like a video or eBook). Need help picking? Drop [email protected] a line for help. ¨ Infographic ¨ Case Studies ¨ Blog ¨ White Paper/eBook ¨ Email Newsletter ¨ Webinar ¨ Website ¨ ROI Calculator 225 Main Street | Emmaus, PA 18049 | (610) 421-8601 | altitudemarketing.com 8 B2B Content Strategy Workbook CHANNELS W H E R E S H O U L D YO U D I S T R I B U T E YO U R C O N T E N T ? Content is only effective if your audience can find and consume it. This means you need to put it where your buyers go to find valuable information - the places they trust. You already accounted for the biggest and most important channel - Google. In this section, you’ll figure out everywhere else. TRADE MEDIA Most buyers have a stable of industry news sites, blogs and forums they trust. Getting content in these places (via earned or direct placements) helps drive awareness, and traffic. List 5-7 industry publications that either you, your colleagues, or your customers visit to stay up to date. Example: Cisco employees, partners, and clients might browse Network World, Fierce Wireless, Fierce Telecom, Stack Exchange, and Reddit. SOCIAL MEDIA Social media is a very industry- and audience-dependent channel. But we’re just going to go ahead and suggest that you start using LinkedIn if you haven’t already. It’s by far the best B2B social platform for sharing original content and driving traffic to your website. List 3-5 people in your organization (preferably C-Level, Sales, or anyone with a large LinkedIn network) who can be relied upon to post and/or re-share your content. 225 Main Street | Emmaus, PA 18049 | (610) 421-8601 | altitudemarketing.com B2B Content Strategy Workbook 9 TACTICS W H AT S H O U L D YO U D O & H O W O F T E N S H O U L D YO U D O I T ? How often should you create content? In a perfect world, daily. In the real world, successful B2B companies add fresh content to their website and/or other channels on a weekly or, at the very least, biweekly basis. Pick 2-3 kinds of foundational content your team can commit to producing in the first three months. ¨ Infographic (2x) ¨ Explainer Video (1x) ¨ Sales Collateral (3x) ¨ Website Pillar Pages (3x) ¨ Case Studies (1x) ¨ White Paper/eBook (1x) ¨ ROI Calculator (1x) Pick 2-3 pieces of ongoing content your team can commit to producing every quarter. ¨ Blog (5x/quarter) ¨ Email Newsletter (3x/quarter) ¨ Sales Collateral (3x/quarter) ¨ Case Studies (1x/quarter) ¨ White Paper/eBook (1x/quarter) ¨ Webinar (1x/quarter) 225 Main Street | Emmaus, PA 18049 | (610) 421-8601 | altitudemarketing.com 10 B2B Content Strategy Workbook METRICS H O W D O YO U T R A C K & I M P R O V E P E R F O R M A N C E ? Content marketing requires consistent monitoring of key performance metrics. This helps you test the effectiveness of the Content Strategy. It also helps you link content efforts to larger marketing goals like lead generation or brand awareness. Altitude’s content team uses a variety of analytics tools to keep our client’s strategies on track month- to-month, including Google Analytics (FREE to use), Google Search Console (FREE to use), and Semrush (requires a small monthly subscription fee). Here’s what to look at in each one. WHAT SHOULD YOU TRACK IN GOOGLE ANALYTICS?  New user traffic  Page visits  Average time on page  Bounce rate WHAT SHOULD YOU TRACK IN GOOGLE SEARCH CONSOLE?  Organic search impressions  Organic search clicks  Top 20 organic search queries WHAT SHOULD YOU TRACK IN SEMRUSH?  Number of total organic keywords your site ranks for  Page 1 keywords your site ranks for  Pages 2-5 keywords your site ranks for  Keywords that have recently fallen off Page 1 Add these 12 metrics to a spreadsheet and track them monthly. Pay attention to trends, positive or negative, so you can adjust your content strategy accordingly. 225 Main Street | Emmaus, PA 18049 | (610) 421-8601 | altitudemarketing.com B2B Content Strategy Workbook 11 NEXT STEPS H O W D O YO U P U T E V E R Y T H I N G T O G E T H E R ? Congratulations! You now have the beginnings of a solid content strategy. Now it’s time to put it into action. Start by creating an editorial calendar where you can organize and track all the wonderful things you’re going to write and make over the next few months. Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6 Need help executing your newly created content strategy? Altitude’s team of content writers and strategists can provide the bandwidth and direction to help you crush your lead generation and brand awareness goals. Get in touch today to find out how. 225 Main Street | Emmaus, PA 18049 | (610) 421-8601 | altitudemarketing.com