How to Energize Customers With Effective Content Planning

Always On Analysis

As a marketer, it can feel a little like digging in a sand dune to keep on top of what’s hot, what’s not, and how to continually engage an evolving client base. Every time you make progress, more sand trickles in and fills the space you just made.

It’s easy to lose perspective and get caught up in digging, forgetting the larger picture of why, who, and what you’re doing. Then when it comes time to plan for next year, you are caught off guard and can only report on what has immediately happened as opposed to higher-level trends and shifts.

So how can you keep abreast of your market’s changes while staying relevant to your customers? It’s about keeping analysis front and center throughout the year.

With two decades of agency and client side marketing experience involving strategic counsel to B2B and B2C companies, Jeff Cohen brings a deep set of skills to the content strategy arena. His approach to balancing strategy with action will help guide you to finding the right content methodology for your field.

In This Episode

• Why good content strategy means higher-level focus
• How repurposing old successful` content leads to increased customer engagement
• Why planning for next year means working in a state of constant analysis and evaluation
• How MQLs indicate content plan effectiveness
• Why gated content isn’t the only way to capture a prospect’s information

Quotes From This Episode

“It becomes very easy for a marketer to essentially just focus on execution rather than strategy.” —@jeffreylcohen (highlight to tweet)

“I create a plan that is flexible, that I can add onto or take away based on strategic direction for the coming year.” —@jeffreylcohen

“People need to be doing analysis along the way. When you start planning for the next year, there should be no surprises. By that point, you should know exactly what has performed and have a pretty good idea of what you’re going to move forward with.” —@jeffreylcohen

“We’re trying to make sure that our content on some level addresses things that the sales conversations are about.” —@jeffreylcohen

“If you’re educating people about things they are actually concerned about, it’s much easier to develop a relationship with them.” —@jeffreylcohen

“If you’re generating MQLs from content, it means you have found the right content for the right people.” —@jeffreylcohen (highlight to tweet)

Resources

• Jeff Cohen on Twitter: @jeffreylcohen
• Oracle Marketing Cloud
• Oracle Eloqua

What did you want to be when you grew up?

When previously a guest on Content Pros, Jeff said he wanted to be a sculptor. But hindsight is always 20/20 and after some thought, he’s glad at the opportunity to set the record straight. A more accurate answer is stuntman. He used to practice by (NOTE: Do not try this at home!) jumping off the roof and perfecting the tuck-and-roll landing technique.