Archives for July 2018

Finally: the theory of everything for content marketing

July 30, 2018 by Patti Podnar

[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″][et_pb_row][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.10.1″]

Ever since the mid-1800s, scientists have been on a mission to come up with the “Theory of Everything,” the single thread that takes every scientific discovery humankind has ever made and ties it all together in one logical, mind-boggling package.

Don’t tell the physicists and astronomers, but Marketing now has its own Theory of Everything. It’s called the flywheel.

What the heck is the flywheel?

(And did we really need another model?)

If you’re anything like me, you probably get pretty tired of adjusting to every new model or best practice that appears on the horizon. (Lots of times, these new models start out as a way for somebody to explain what their new product does and why you need it.) Once a new model starts gaining traction, however, it quickly becomes a matter of “damned if you do; damned if you don’t.” If you adopt if, you may have to (again!) rework your processes to fit. If you don’t, you run the risk of customers concluding you’re not on top of things.

Being a self-proclaimed content heretic, I typically don’t put a whole lot of faith in models. Recently, though, I was hired by a client to write a post on Hubspot’s new flywheel model. And, despite my skepticism, I realized it made sense: It takes bits and pieces from previous models and ties them together in one, customer-centric framework. It’s the Theory of Everything for content marketing.

So, while I don’t see myself urging everyone to jump on board the flywheel model just for the sake of having a model, I do think it has something important to teach us.

The journey to the flywheel

The marketing funnel

The marketing funnel is as instantly recognizable to marketers as Einstein’s scribbled calculations are to physicists. Sure, there are a few different versions, but the differences are slight. They all focus on the process of taking a prospective customer from the pre-awareness stage all the way to the decision to buy.

The sales funnel

At some point, businesses realized that, while the marketing funnel does a pretty good job of capturing interest and generating leads, it doesn’t address what comes next. So we came up with the sales funnel as a framework forl the sales/buying process.

The customer experience funnel

But that wasn’t quite enough either, because it suggested that the job was done once the customer made a purchase. It did nothing to address the life cycle value of repeat customers. So we added the customer service funnel to address the challenge of customer retention.

But there was still something missing.

We needed a Theory of Everything for content marketing

As helpful as those funnels may have been, they were still a piecemeal approach. There was no single model that encompassed every step of the customer journey. That’s exactly the problem Hubspot’s flywheel was designed to address, because a model that explains the whole is always better than a model that explains only a part. It also focuses on smoothing out the friction customers experience when moving from one funnel to another. Instead of having Marketing focused on generating leads, and Sales focused on closing deals, everybody focuses on what should have been the point all along: the customer experience.

The flywheel model

The flywheel is Hubspot’s response to the need for a Theory of Everything for content marketing. Each of the separate funnels — Marketing, Sales, and Customer Exerience — becomes a segment on a wheel, with customers at the center, driving everything.

Why is that such a big deal? Because:

Instead of generating leads, Marketing focuses on initiating relationships.
Instead of closing deals, Sales focuses on turning individual transactions into something more permanent by eliminating friction and by focusing on the customers’ needs and how their product or service can resolve them.
Instead of resolving tickets, Customer Service focuses on strengthening existing relationships by demonstrating transparency and trustworthiness, as well as by making sure customers are so happy that they’d never think of looking for greener pastures.

In other words, rather than an endless string of superficial transactions — blind dates, so to speak — that lead to customer churn, the flywheel model focuses on start-to-finish engagements that lead to long-term relationships.

Benefits of the Flywheel model

The flywheel model focuses on systems instead of silos

It just takes one glance at the flywheel to understand that an ongoing circular process fosters more collaboration than the one-and-done funnel model.

What does that look like in practice?

Customer Service gives Sales and Marketing a heads-up when they start hearing the same problem or question over and over.
Sales and Marketing share customer feedback to make both functional areas more effective.
Customer Service is fully briefed on the organization’s strategic goals so that they’ll have the appropriate context when responding to customer needs.
It’s easier for the various functional areas to hold each other accountable for making sure actions match the promises made during the Marketing and Sales processes.

In other words, the flywheel model clearly states that, “We’re all in this together.” (That’s why I labeled it the Theory of Everything for content marketing.)

The flywheel acknowledges the fact that customers are the ones in control

Today’s customers have more choices and are better informed than ever. Very few brands can just roll out a product and say, “Come and get it.” Instead, customers tell brands what they want, how much they want to pay, how (and how quickly) they want it delivered, etc.

Just as the sun is at the center of our solar system — and we just circle around it — the flywheel model makes it clear that it’s customers who are in charge.

The flywheel highlights the power of what customers say about you

We’ve all heard terms like content tsunami, content overload, etc. Whichever buzzword you choose to use, the point is that there’s far more content being produced each day than anyone can consume. So people have to prioritize, filtering out a lot of content as being irrelevant so that they can focus on what matters — and what they trust.

As it turns out, what customers trust is what other customers are saying. In fact, businesses report that they get more referrals from word-of-mouth than anything else. Customers want proof that you and your products/services are worthy of their business. And they trust each other more than they trust you.

That’s the beauty of the Theory of Everything for content marketing: It works just like compound interest: The more customers you have singing your praises, the more people hear about you…and the faster your business grows.

Embracing the theory of everything

Even theories that have you nodding in agreement have to be put into action (which is why I’ve never been a big fan of theories and best practices). Theories only matter if you convert them to actions, and they rarely explain what those actions are. So brands are left to figure them out for themselves — something that all too often gets pushed to the bottom of the to-do list.

So let me help you out with some things you can do to incorporate the Theory of Everything for content marketing (otherwise known as the flywheel) into your business strategy.

Distribute resources according to what works. I’m not suggesting that you give up on blog posts and emails…just that you put a little bit more weight on talking to customers and giving them a voice, whether that means giving customer reviews and testimonials a prominent place on your website, starting a blog post with an anecdote from a happy customer, or reworking your sales materials to focus more on benefits than on features.
Align your KPIs. One of the key strengths of the flywheel model is that it breaks down silos so that the KPIs used by each functional area support each other. It doesn’t matter how much traffic Marketing generates, for example, if none of that traffic converts. So, whether it’s Marketing, Sales, or Customer Service, each KPI should focus on what moves customers on to the next stage in the cycle.
Eliminate friction. Eliminating friction is the flip side of moving prospective customers on to the next stage of the cycle. As important as it is to know which tactics move customers forward, it’s equally important to identify the touch points where they get stuck or drop out completely. If a lot of people drop out after they schedule a demo with a sales agent, for example, you need to know whether the problem lies with the sales process, the price, the product itself, or even with that particular sales person.
Develop tactics for keeping the cycle going. What’s the one thing almost all horror movie protagonists get wrong? As soon as they think the monster has been vanquished, they let down their guard and relax…something that rarely ends well. Too many organizations have treated closing sales the same way. But there is no relaxing with the flywheel. You’re never “finished.” Whether it’s watching for opportunities to present new offers or recruiting delighted customers to be brand cheerleaders, there’s no backing off on your standards for customer care.

Conclusion

Once upon a time, we humans thought the sun revolved around the Earth. That may seem silly now, but our ancestors saw it as rock-solid truth…until evidence convinced them it wasn’t.

Our “knowledge” of marketing is going through a similar shift. A number of things we considered to be etched in stone have turned out to be untrue (or, at least, are no longer true). A few examples?

The company thinks up a product, and Marketing’s job is to make up reasons why people need it. (Anybody remember the story behind bottled water?)
If you create quality content, people will read it and then buy your product.
If you create quality content and practice good SEO, people will read it and then buy your product.
Your job is over once you’ve closed the deal.

We now know that those assumptions aren’t always accurate. And I think we’ve known that on an intuitive level for a long time, but splitting our efforts into different silos — and having separate KPIs and tactics for each one — made it difficult to fill in the gaps so we could come up with a better way.

Just as discovering a scientific Theory of Everything would shed light on mysteries that scientists in individual fields have been working on for years, the flywheel illustrates the importance of tying all of our random knowledge and activities together so that they make sense and give meaning to what we do. The model also reminds us to eliminate the distractions that lead us down blind alleys, and it shines big, bright, “Look here!” beacons on the paths that make sense and add value.

I don’t care what model you use or what you call it. But I have no doubt that your content marketing and sales strategies will be more successful if they support each other, becoming the catalyst for a cycle that performs better and better all the time, fueled by customers who love your product or service far too much to stop bragging about it to everyone they know.

Need some help with your content marketing? That’s what I’m here for, so just get in touch.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_contact_form email=”[email protected]” success_message=”Thank you! I’ll be in touch soon (usually wiithin 24 hours or less).” submit_button_text=”Get in touch!” module_id=”et_pb_contact_form_0″ _builder_version=”3.3.1″ title_font=”||||||||” form_field_font=”||||||||” form_field_font_size=”14px” form_field_line_height=”1.4em” box_shadow_style=”preset1″][et_pb_contact_field field_id=”Name” field_title=”Name” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ border_radii=”on||||”][/et_pb_contact_field][et_pb_contact_field field_id=”Email” field_title=”Email Address” field_type=”email” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ border_radii=”on||||”][/et_pb_contact_field][et_pb_contact_field field_id=”Message” field_title=”Message” field_type=”text” fullwidth_field=”on” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ border_radii=”on||||”][/et_pb_contact_field][/et_pb_contact_form][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]

5 things you need to know about outsourcing content marketing (updated 2019)

July 15, 2018 by Patti Podnar

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″ fb_built=”1″ _i=”0″ _address=”0″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” _i=”0″ _address=”0.0″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” _i=”0″ _address=”0.0.0″ custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.29.3″ header_font=”|600|||||||” header_text_align=”left” header_text_color=”#000000″ header_font_size=”36px” header_2_font=”Arima Madurai||on||||||” header_2_text_align=”left” header_2_text_color=”#0C71C3″ header_3_font=”||on||||||” header_3_text_align=”left” header_3_text_color=”#999999″ header_4_font=”Arima Madurai||||||||” header_4_text_align=”left” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” hover_enabled=”0″ _i=”0″ _address=”0.0.0.0″]

Outsourcing content marketing can be tough

After all, no outsourced content creator will understand your business like an insider would, right? Well…not necessarily.

Trust me, it’s possible to work for a company for years without really understanding why the company does what it does, how it makes money, etc. Every company needs employees in HR, Payroll, Accounting, etc., who have little involvement in delivering the company’s products and services. This is especially true for internal writers who were hired for…well, their ability to write. That doesn’t mean they’re necessarily subject matter experts.

If that’s not the problem, then what is? What is it that sometimes makes outsourcing content marketing so frustrating?

The thing is, outsourcing is a partnership. If you’ve been switching from freelancer to freelancer and agency to agency without seeing any improvement, that’s probably what’s missing.

Even if you’re absolutely certain you’ve just had a string of bad writers, why not consider whether there are things you could do to improve the quality of your outsourced content marketing? I’ve got a few ideas, based on the things that frustrate me from the other side of the table. So let’s take a look.

Know what you’re trying to accomplish

That may sound simplistic, but it’s not. Because if you get this part wrong, everything that follows will be wrong, too. Here are just a few of the decisions that flow from knowing what you’re trying to accomplish.

What kind of writer you should work with

If your main goal is driving traffic

If your primary goal is to drive traffic for ad revenue, the simple truth is that eyeballs are eyeballs. You don’t need to worry about converting those eyeballs into customers.

That may also be true if you sell a general market product or service that could appeal to anyone who winds up on your site. In that case, you need a writer who’s an expert at SEO, keyword research and trending topics…someone who can write engaging copy and clickable headlines. You don’t need somebody like me, with my focus on the business impacts of the content I write. You’d be paying too much, and I’d drive you nuts with my questions.

If your main goal is driving leads that will eventually convert

This may sound like heresy, but all industries are pretty much the same when you look at things from the perspective of business fundamentals:

You need to attract customers who see enough value in your product/service that they’re willing to pay more for it than it costs you to make or provide it.

Obviously, there are many other factors from that point on that differentiate one industry from another. But a writer who doesn’t understand the basics of running a successful business is going to have a tough time connecting a given topic to your business goals. It’s a matter of mindset and context.

And speaking of mindset and context, there’s also something commonly referred to as “the curse of knowledge.” It’s this ailment that afflicts subject-matter experts with a lot of experience: They forget what it was like before they knew everything they know now. So when they write content, it’s often way over the heads of most prospective customers, especially those who are at the very top of the sales funnel. One of the advantages of having a writer who’s a business expert rather than a subject-matter expert is that they’ll ask the same kinds of questions your customers ask. It’s a great way to cut through the curse of knowledge.

How you’ll measure success

Your goals also shape how you determine whether your relationship with an outsourced content writer is “working.” If your primary goal is to drive traffic, then social metrics like shares, likes, and page views are important. If you’re trying to move leads through the sales funnel, then conversion rate and customer acquisition cost (CAC) are important.

Know what level of involvement you want to have

Do you want a writer to whom you can say, “Go write 800 words on this topic using these keywords” — and who won’t bug you again until they send you the finished product? Or are you willing to deal with questions and pushback if it improves the quality of the final content?

Be honest about your reasons for outsourcing content marketing

Are you outsourcing content marketing because you don’t have time to do it yourself? If so, you probably need someone whose experience, knowledge, strengths, and weaknesses are similar to your own…in other words, someone who can be you. That’s my own biggest challenge when it comes to outsourcing content: I want it to sound like I wrote it, and that’s a tall order. (Hint: If you find a writer who can do this, it’s worth whatever it takes to become their favorite client!)

Or, is it because you lack some of the skills needed to produce great content? If so, you need someone who’s strong where you’re weak, and vice versa.

If you know the material inside out but have trouble explaining it in writing, then you need someone with writing expertise.

If you’re a great writer but don’t know all the technical details of what your business does, you need a subject matter expert.

Don’t make your life harder by hoarding information

Seriously, y’all. I can’t tell you how many times clients have withheld info that, had I known about it, would have made a huge difference.

And I’m not talking about proprietary information. I’m talking about basic stuff, like why they wanted the content in the first place. Usually, they either thought I didn’t need to know or that I wouldn’t understand.

Sometimes, it was the curse of knowledge at work: It never occurred to the client that I might not know everything that was in their heads.

So, unless it’s proprietary information and you haven’t had the writer sign an NDA, err on the side of sharing too much information rather than too little.

Here’s an example I use a lot. Let’s say you own a chain of wine/liquor stores, and your rate of damaged returns goes through the roof every summer because people leave wine in their hot cars and then return it when it doesn’t taste good.

If you asked me to write an article on how heat damages wine, I’d write a rather techy article explaining the process of how heat damages wine.
If you asked me to write an article for the purpose of reducing the damaged return rate from people leaving wine in their cars, I’d spend a paragraph or so on the techy stuff and then create a list of tips on how people can protect their investment, which would also help accomplish the owner’s goals.

So please, please tell your writer the why, not just the what, of the content you request. The content creation process will be smoother, and the result will be better.

Oh…and the more actionable, the better. “We want readers to understand the challenges of X and the range of solutions available” may be your corporate-speak purpose — the one that pops into your mind when someone asks — but it’s not actionable. It gives neither the writer nor the reader something to do.

Take the time to write a good content brief

The time you invest will more than pay for itself in the long run. There are a thousand (at least!) ways to approach any topic, and it’s up to you to help your outsourced content writer find the right one.

In general, anything that you find yourself correcting over and over, whether from the same writer or dozens, needs to be addressed in the content brief. Same thing if you’re answering the same questions over and over.

Depending on your business, your content briefs might need to cover things like:

Company size (sales, number of employees, etc.)
Who your customers are (and aren’t)
Where they are in the sales funnel
Their level of knowledge or expertise
Which of their pain points your product or service resolves
What the company is currently prioritizing (growing existing markets, entering new markets, introducing new products/services, etc.)
Whether there are any important obstacles/constraints (like regulatory matters, supply chain instability, technological disruption, etc.)
The company’s overall goal for their content marketing initiatives (drive traffic, create awareness, educate, etc.)
What this particular piece of content is intended to accomplish
Word count (preferably a range)
SEO preferences (keyword focus, semantic search, search intent, etc.)
Linking preferences
Content policies, style guides, etc.
Preferred sources
Sources to avoid
How promotional to be (or not)
Deadlines
Contact information

On a personal note…

I hesitated to write this post, because the last thing I want is to come across as whiny (just ask my kids how I respond to “…but it’s not MY fault!“).

But for outsourcing content marketing to be successful, it has to be a partnership. So I wanted to tell you about the things you can do to make your own life easier and to increase your chances for content marketing success. I hope you find them valuable.

Want to talk one-on-one? I’m available for phone consultations and would love to help.

[/et_pb_text][et_pb_contact_form module_id=”et_pb_contact_form_0″ _builder_version=”3.8″ _i=”1″ _address=”0.0.0.1″][et_pb_contact_field field_id=”Name” field_title=”Name” _builder_version=”3.16″ _i=”0″ _address=”0.0.0.1.0″ button_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off”][/et_pb_contact_field][et_pb_contact_field field_id=”Email” field_title=”Email Address” field_type=”email” _builder_version=”3.16″ _i=”1″ _address=”0.0.0.1.1″ button_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off”][/et_pb_contact_field][et_pb_contact_field field_id=”Message” field_title=”Message” field_type=”text” fullwidth_field=”on” _builder_version=”3.16″ _i=”2″ _address=”0.0.0.1.2″ button_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_size__hover_enabled=”off” button_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_text_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_width__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_border_radius__hover_enabled=”off” button_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_letter_spacing__hover_enabled=”off” button_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_one_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off” button_two_bg_color__hover_enabled=”off”][/et_pb_contact_field][/et_pb_contact_form][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]