Presented: 07.30.2014

By: Katy Katz

Great Content: If You Build It, Links Will Come

@katykatztc #MnSearch

Search Snippets #15: Link Building in 2014

Inbound Marketing Specialist, Collegis Education MBA, Benedictine University BSB, Carlson School of Management ~10 years marketing experience

@katykatztc

plus.google.com/+katykatz

Katy Katz

2

Today we will cover

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Build your content from the ground up

What is great content, really

The formula for outreachable content

Selecting the right influencers to outreach to

How to get primary research

A case study in action

Start at the very beginning

While brainstorming your content:

Consider your target market and their interests

Choose the right influencers for your subject matter

Familiarize yourself with their content to learn their reader’s interests

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In outreach, the best content is an intersection of your target market’s interests and that of the readers of the outlet you are pitching.

“Just make sure the pitch is relevant to the writer and actually something the writer would consider doing.” - Alex Fitzpatrick, Home Page Editor, Time (from Buzzstream, How to Pitch: Outreach Tips from Journalists)

What is great content, really The Formula

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Fits your target market PERSONA

Is at the right buying stage MESSAGE MAP

Taps into human psychology CRAVEABLE CONTENT

Has an angle NEWS HOOK

Is a resource TOOLS

Gets seen OUTREACH

Personas & message maps

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Before you do anything you need to understand your customer

Personas are “the aspect of someone’s character as perceived by others”

Message maps indicate the phases of your buying cycle so you can create the right content, to fill the right need, at the right time

Craveable, newsworthy content

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Tap into psychology:

Makes us feel good

Stretches our brain

Inspires curiosity

Gives us answers

Shares good news

Surprises us

Tells a story

*Source: Content Marketing Institute, 21 Types of Content We Crave

… And have a news hook:

Timely current event

New statistics that challenge the status quo

Exclusive information

Old news + new advice = news refresh

Cover the 5 Ws (who, what, why, when and where)

Baits an ego

Make it a resource

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Write a “best of” article and create a badge that the “winners” can put on their website

Make an embeddable infographic or uber-content

Create a tool that others will use as a resource (calculator, interactive chart or graph)

E-books, case studies and whitepapers (primary research)

*Source for tool resources: PointBlankSEO, Link Building Strategies

How to get primary research

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Post-Purchase Surveys

Google Consumer

Surveys

Gated Website Content

Network, network, network

Unless you’re Moz, you have to share it for people to see it

Build relationships with influencers gradually and naturally Stay active on your social media accounts and share their content Strike conversations about the topic you are focusing on

Pre-pitch the content as you are building it

Share the content with them in a way that’s relevant and natural

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*Source for tweet: Storify, Journalists Tweet Their PR Pet Peeves

An example of a lesson learned

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No one interested in the tool

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So we built a whitepaper

The whitepaper included all of the primary career research

News sites and relevant blogs were now interested in the data

Be willing to sacrifice a direct link for a larger platform to start

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To sum it up

Gain influencer trust by building content people want to share

Build your content with the end goal in mind

Make it a resource that people want to link back to

Find a way to incorporate primary research or something unique

Build relationships with influencers over time

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Thank you!

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