Category Archives: Content Marketing

What is Content Marketing?

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Content marketing is a quickly-emerging area of practice for marketers.  It is emerging rapidly and will continue to be more and more important as time goes on.  But before defining exactly what content marketing is, it is important to acknowledge the shifts in the landscape of consumer behavior:

  • Consumers are no longer using the Yellow Pages to shop for things
  • People are turning to Google, Bing and other search engines to shop for products and services
  • Buyers are reaching out to friends and acquaintances on social networks to look for recommendations and reviews

If you ponder this shift in consumer behavior–especially the search for products on Google–the challenge of marketing becomes much different the old days of designing a yellow pages ad.

Content marketing is a term which refers to the development, production and sharing of content in order to attract and engage a specific audience in profitable activity.  In short, content marketing is the practice of using information to gain customers.

Consider the first time homeowner who has a small hole in her drywall.  Puzzled by how to fix it, she doesn’t even think of looking for a solution in the phone book.  Instead she reflexively enters ‘fix a hole in my drywall’ in Google.  If you are a marketer selling spackling paste, drywall saws, or home repair services, this represents a critical moment–an inflection point.  The goal of your content marketing strategy should be to gain exposure to this consumer at this moment.

Content can take many forms.  It can be anything from an article or blog post to a podcast or e-book.  Content marketing can be facilitated on company websites, blogs, social networks, and user-generated sites like YouTube.  Naturally, the specific vehicles chosen for a content strategy should be selected according to the audience itself.  And similar to the tenets of search engine marketing, solid keyword research should drive the strategy.

Getting back to our example about the role of a hole in the drywall, marketers have many many ways in which to capitalize on content marketing opportunities.  Brands like Home Depot or Lowe’s might create home improvement videos containing these search terms.  Makers of spackling paste like DAP might create instructional guides or blog posts about how to fix these holes.  Sears/Craftsman tools might create a home improvement podcast and feature this as a topic.  And all of this content can be shared and referred by customers on social networks like Facebook and Twitter.

Scenarios like these are real examples of actual opportunities that marketers have to use content to sell products.  If marketers take a concerted approach to content marketing, they have the potential to not only acknowledge the big shifts in consumer behavior, but be well-positioned in the eyes of the consumer at the exact moment when they are needed.

The Featured Download – A Bridge to Client Development

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One of the cardinal rules of generating interesting content for clients is to cater to the reader–not the writer.  Put yourself in the shoes of the reader and use the WIFM (What’s in it for me?) test.  Does the content cater to the audience or is it information that is self-serving to the marketer?  The ironic outflow of catering to the client through content is that it positions you (the marketer) as having the depth, background, and experience to help them succeed.  In the end, the client is truly helped and the opportunity to serve may indeed follow.

There are many ways to use content to facilitate this process.  Some examples that marketers use include newsletters (either electronic or printed), blogs, seminars, or webinars.  These are typically fairly widespread in nature and distribution, sent to large lists of clients and prospects and/or open to any user with a Web browser.  Content is disseminated and consumed in fairly large swaths without much in the way of a specific connection to an individual client or prospect.

There is a different approach, however, that professional marketers may wish to consider:  the featured download.  A featured download is a piece of content that is typically packaged in a PDF format but requires the reader to enter his or her contact information in order to gain access to it.  At this point, the marketer has the opportunity to (assuming permission is granted by the prospect) harvest contact information and/or add it to broader contact or distribution lists.  Featured downloads are typically called white papers, position papers, e-books, or otherwise.

The WebSolvers approach to this is a White Paper download called The Ten Most Commonly Missed Internet Marketing Opportunities.  It is a free, downloadable guide developed to assist clients with their Internet marketing strategies.

Your firm may wish to use a different approach toward this concept.  Ideas might include:

  • the results of a survey your firm conducted
  • a transcript of a talk that one of your professionals gave
  • presentation slides from a conference speech
  • a case study
  • an audio or video clip from a presentation
  • an interview with a professional peer
  • a worksheet
  • a tip sheet
  • a methodology diagram
  • an infographic
  • a printable wallet card
  • a template for a business function
  • a handbook or guide

These are but a few simple examples of information that professional marketers can offer their clients or prospects in the form of a featured download.  A marketer should be sure that the information is truly useful to the reader.  If it is, the business development opportunity may likely follow.

Using Google Maps to Keep Pace with Company Growth

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An important issue for many corporate Web sites is showing the locations of offices and facilities so that customers can easily contact the appropriate office of the company.  This becomes particularly critical when a firm is growing rapidly and even more complex when the types of facilities  differ between markets.

WebSolvers client WastePro–a rapidly growing waste management and recycling company–faces many of these challenges as a result of its success.  The company serves nearly one million customers in dozens of markets across the Southeastern United States.  And as the company adds new markets and customers across the country, the challenge of managing that information on the Web site becomes onerous.  Up until recently, a locations map was handled through a simple image that–over time–became very complex to manage.  As more locations were added, legibility and functionality became an ever-increasing challenge.  As locations were added or changed, updating the Web site involved a whole lot of time and energy.  And the visual result was degrading with each change. Over time, the map began to look like this (difficult to read and interpret):

BEFORE: Former map was a static image with layered labels. Company growth made image management a real challenge.

When we were presented with the challenge of making this image more user-friendly, Google Maps became an obvious choice.  WebSolvers developed a simple database of locations and tapped into the Google Maps API to create a really powerful yet user-friendly solution.  Working with the Google API, we added a custom icon for WastePro and used it on the map to designate locations.  The Google navigational controls (i.e. zoom, pan, etc.) were integrated because they are so familiar and comfortable to so many users on the Internet.  Today’s map looks like this:

AFTER: New map shows locations in a more visually-appealing way and integates Google Maps navigational controls.

WastePro can easily add new locations when a new location is added through a simple, secure interface that adds locations to the database.  The interface looks like this:

This simple interface allows the client to add new locations quickly and securely.

To see how the system works online, visit http://www.wasteprousa.com/serviceareas.shtml and click on any state on the map.

Web Site Content & Authenticity

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A Web site’s imagery draws users in, but it is often the content that connects users with the brand.  Many Web site visitors click on the ‘About Us’ page of sites to learn more about the people and the story behind your firm.  Author Seth Godin writes about this in his post (Five rules for your About page) in which he suggests the following to Web site owners:

  • Don’t use meaningless jargon
  • Don’t use stock photos of you or your team
  • Make it easy to contact you
  • Be human
  • Use third-party testimonials

In short, he encourages us to be authentic.  While this may make many marketers a bit uncomfortable, it is a fast track to forming a real relationship with your visitors.

WebSolvers Launches Portal for Global Golf Post

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Global Golf Post, the first designed for digital weekly golf news publication in the world, is delivered as a weekly digital edition using the well-regarded Texterity platform.  Global Golf Post (GGP) wanted to extend the publication’s content into a search-engine friendly platform with the hope of exposing the content to organic Web search traffic.  Working closely with the teams at GGP and Texterity, WebSolvers released a portal with said specifications.

Like many good ideas, our client’s started with a simple sketch of the vision and direction:

Using the client’s sketch, WebSolvers led a wireframing process with the client to lay out the key elements of the home page such as feature sections, story headlines and sponsor ad blocks.  A simple blueprint emerged:

Global Golf Post Portal Wireframe

Global Golf Post Portal Wireframe

Once the team was comfortable with the wireframes, the process moved into the Design & User Experience realm where WebSolvers developed and refined an attractive, engaging system for the content.  Special emphasis was placed on enticing users to both (a) enter contests and (b) subscribe to the publication.

Global Golf Post Home Page Concept

Global Golf Post Home Page Concept

The concept for the home page was then extended to the individual story pages.  Under the assumption that most long-tail organic searches would bring users directly to story pages (instead of the home page itself), we focused on keeping the sub-pages simple and uncluttered:  the layout focuses attention on the objective of generating contest entries and subscriptions:

Global Golf Post Sub-Page Concept

Global Golf Post Sub-Page Concept

Since Global Golf Post generates a wealth of content on a weekly basis, the process for updating the content was heavily contemplated.  After much client exploration, WebSolvers installed a simple content management tool to facilitate the fast and easy process of future story publication.  Stories can easily be cut and pasted into the interface; because of proper planning, the content is inserted into the appropriate locations within the portal.  An example of the client interface is below:

Global Golf Post Portal - Administrative Interface

Global Golf Post Portal - Administrative Interface

WebSolvers also installed simple social-sharing devices to allow users to easily share the content they like on Twitter and Facebook, among others:

Simple Icons Facilitate Social Sharing

Simple Icons Facilitate Social Sharing

Perhaps the most important outcome was the satisfaction of our client, Jim Nugent, Publisher of Global Golf Post:  “Kudos to team WebSolvers…for a job very well done getting our portal launched.  Thanks for all you did to make this happen.”

The portal is available for browsing at www.globalgolfpost.com.  Please visit and don’t forget to subscribe!