Tips For Creating A Visual Content Marketing Strategy

! nd what is the use of a book,” thought Alice, “without pictures or conversation?” Facts tell, but stories sell. What better way to tell imaginative and interesting brand stories than with visual content? In this Alice in Wonderland themed eBook from TopRank Online Marketing and Content Marketing Institute, you’ll discover stories about visual content from 10 featured speakers presenting at the Content Marketing World conference. Be sure to read all four eBooks in the series offering insights from over 40 major brands and thought leaders presenting at #CMWorld. We look forward to seeing you in September! Seeing is Believing “A Lee Odden, CEO TopRank Online Marketing Joe Pulizzi, CEO Content Marketing Institute

Visualize this! A Content Marketing journey with 4 new eBooks inspired by Alice in Wonderland: •! Content Marketing Strategy •! Audience Development •! Visual Content Marketing •! Real Content ROI A new eBook will publish weekly as we approach the ultimate content marketing event: The Content Marketing World conference Sept 8-11, 2014. Content Marketing in Wonderland !"#$%&'$ !"#$((&'$ !"#$()&'$ !"#$*+&'$

Brand Contributors

Adele Ravella Alan Porter Andrew Davis Ann Handley Ardath Albee Brant McLean Brian Clark Brian Kardon Bruce McDuffee Carla Johnson David Jones Gurdeep Dhillon Heidi Cohen Jascha Kaykas-Wolff Jason Miller Jay Acunzo Jeff Charney Jeff Rohrs Jen Dennis Jesse Noyes Jim Kukral 40+ Content Marketing Experts JoAnn Sciarrino Joe Pulizzi Jonathon Colman Julie Fleischer Lee Odden Leigh Blaylock Maggie Burke Mark Schaefer Michael Brenner Nicole Smith Pam Didner Paull Young Pawan Deshpande Rebecca Lieb Rick Short Robert Rose Scott Abel Scott Monty Scott Stratten Steve Clayton Tim Washer

“Good storytelling is all about what we see.” Maggie Burke @MaggieEMCTV #CMWorld

#CMWorld Find the Hidden Stories Good storytelling is all about what we see: whether it’s the grinning Cheshire Cat, the ax-wielding Queen of Hearts, or Alice lazily drifting down the rabbit hole. It might seem challenging to create unique, compelling visual stories about data storage, but it’s not. If you know where to look. Whether you’re selling corn flakes, radial tires, dish cleanser or even data storage… the stories are there. Inspired by Dan Brown’s, “Angels and Demons,” EMC TV filmed a documentary of the 82,000 volume digitization project of the Vatican Library. We videotaped ancient papyrus and artifacts, showed the majesty of the ancient Bibliotheca Apostolica, and featured interviews with the Vatican Curator to bring data storage to life. So how do you think like a Visual Storyteller? •! Pick a story that will pique audience interest and take them somewhere they’ve never been or to meet someone fascinating. •! Keep in mind access to the visuals. It’s hard to videotape inside hospitals and boring to shoot at financial institutions. When deciding which stories to go after, make sure you can access strong, powerful visuals to help tell the story. •! Think outside the box when using visuals to illustrate concepts. We recently used a 200 ton mining truck to demonstrate the concept of “Scale and Agility” for a new data storage product. Maggie Burke @MaggieEMCTV Senior Director, Corporate Marketing at EMC Corporation #CMWorld Presentation: Stealing the News Magazine Playbook to Create Compelling Corporate TV

#CMWorld “On the average, five times as many people read the headline as read the body copy. When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents out of your dollar.” --The father of advertising, David Ogilvy You have seconds to grab your prospects’ attention online. That’s why, instead of the headline, your visual matters most. We’ve found that adding images to LinkedIn posts can result in higher engagement and up to a 98% higher comment rate. Buyers and prospects choose the way in which they consume content. If they search on SlideShare or Pinterest for information about your company, you need to have content there. Infographics, interactive presentations, videos, and other visual assets should be part of an integrated content marketing strategy. As marketers, we need to find the right mix. Words, illustrations, and designs have to come together to capture a subject, make it memorable, and more easily understood. Adding an element of fun to it can go a long way as well. (Think kittens & bacon.) It’s all about finding new ways to generate awareness and leads. If you don’t tap into your audience’s visual side, then you are simply missing opportunities. The Visual is the New Headline Jason Miller @jasonmillerca Senior Content Marketing Manager, Marketing Solutions LinkedIn #CMWorld Presentation: How to Plan, Develop & Optimize a Content Marketing Program for Tech

“Existing content offers great visual potential through repurposing.” Pam Didner @pamdidner #CMWorld

#CMWorld Content consumption behavior has changed dramatically with mobile phones and tablets enabling access at anytime and in any place. This has led to a trend of people scanning rather than thoroughly reading content. Studies have shown that the typical social media user consumes 285 pieces of content daily, which equates to an eye-opening 54,000 words and, for the truly active, as many as 1,000 clickable links. The good news is that we consume a great amount of content. The bad news is that we multi-task incessantly and have short attention spans. Therefore, in addition to a catchy headline, it’s important to have a great visual to quickly grab a potential customer’s attention. You don’t have to look much further than your existing content to get started. For example, an 18-page white paper has great visual potential. The data within it can be repurposed into graphs for multiple blog posts. Key points can be pulled out to create an infographic, a SlideShare presentation, and even a short video animation. Get Visual Through Repurposing Pam Didner @pamdidner Author of Global Content Marketing #CMWorld Presentation: Developing an Event Strategy that Maximizes Content Opportunities

#CMWorld Embrace the Nonsense The enduring lesson from Lewis Carroll is that Nonsense Literature has a global reach and timeless appeal. While the unique tone and word arrangement that classify the genre might not pass the corporate brand approval process, there is always room for more nonsense. It’s the perfect approach for a compelling animation to add a memorable and standout asset to the editorial calendar. As an example, for a Cisco blog, we produced a YouTube animation about Almon Strowger, the undertaker who invented the automatic telephone exchange in 1888. Tim Washer @timwasher Senior Marketing Manager of Social Media at Cisco Systems #CMWorld Presentation: Creating a Seamless Video Strategy on a Budget ',-.//01&234/567(%819":3!

#CMWorld Embrace the Nonsense A few simple steps to create your own memorable animation: •! Start with an intriguing story. Give your audience a break from your company and products, and uncover a story from your industry. •! Dig into history. It’s always interesting. Search for stories of invention or stories of failure to humanize a brand. •! Knowledge is shareable. People love to look smart. Find a story with an, “Oh, wow, I never knew that” moment. •! Find a brilliant animator. Ask your agency and coworkers, or check out online freelance artists’ hubs. Look for a portfolio you like and good working chemistry. •! Take chances. If the final product ends up being off-brand, post it on a personal YouTube channel and embed it in a corporate blog post from a guest author. Embrace each animation as an opportunity to step outside of your comfort zone. Tim Washer @timwasher Senior Marketing Manager of Social Media at Cisco Systems #CMWorld Presentation: Creating a Seamless Video Strategy on a Budget

“In a world of information abundance, visuals break through.” Steve Clayton @stevecla #CMWorld

#CMWorld “Alice: How long is forever? White Rabbit: Sometimes, just one second.” Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland We’re bombarded with information from the moment we wake up. TV, radio, billboards, the web, our phones – all looking to get our attention. In a world of abundance, the one scarce commodity is attention. And in that world, visuals break through and create connections. It’s no surprise to see the rise of Pinterest and Instagram as visual storytelling mediums. So what works best when you create visuals for content marketing? •! Find your purpose and be consistent. Are you building a brand like Nike on Instagram? Or selling something? Celebrating your customers? Or making your customers laugh? Consistency breeds congruency. •! Give them what they can’t find elsewhere. For example, we use www.microsoft.com/snaps to show a behind-the-scenes look at Microsoft. •! Use visuals to illuminate the story. We use strong visuals at www.microsoft.com/stories to engage readers into a deeper story. One Second, Forever Connected Steve Clayton @stevecla Chief Storyteller at Microsoft #CMWorld Presentation: Creating a Digital Storytelling Experience Team

#CMWorld Here's something I would like you to think about… In the world of content marketing, our goal is to create content that moves in such a way that it attracts attention to our site and our product. But what if we could also use these same strategies to get content to move into the hearts and minds of offline stakeholders? How can we leverage emerging visual principles and techniques to get something to move through a purchasing department and into the hands of decision makers? These folks face the same challenge in the offline world - they are busy, stressed, and have no time for involved content. So it’s up to us to figure out how we move beyond traditional sales materials and into visual mediums which demand the attention of key stakeholders. Melding Online and Offline Mark Schaefer @markwschaefer Executive Director at Schaefer Marketing Solutions #CMWorld Presentation: How to Make Twitter Your Content Marketing Best Friend

#CMWorld Here are three ideas to make your content ignite offline as well as online: 1.! Create something worthy of hitting the print key. Many people actually print out great infographics and hang them around the office. Can you create infographics that are highly targeted and useful to your specific customers? 2.! Be bold and create visuals that trigger connections. Make key emotional connections between your points and customer iconic images. For example, if one of your key messages is speed, use a graphic of a speedy customer delivery truck to illustrate the point. 3.! Cut through the clutter. The need to stand out is great. Try mixing up the styles. Can you communicate through a cartoon? A storybook? A "movie trailer?" Or how about a useful eBook like this one? Melding Online and Offline Mark Schaefer @markwschaefer Executive Director at Schaefer Marketing Solutions #CMWorld Presentation: How to Make Twitter Your Content Marketing Best Friend

#CMWorld With the rise of the social and visual web, images are becoming the preferred currency for communication. The movement toward social platforms like Tumblr - to share, make, and consume creative content as a mode of self expression - is rapidly changing the dynamics of digital marketing. Here are best practices for creating shareable pieces of visual content: •! Create Content Endemic to Platform For Tumblr, simple animations in the form of GIFs can have an outsized impact. They are unique, quickly digestible, easily shareable and collectible. •! Design for Consumption When designing for a scrolling stream of content, it's important to think about eye-catching pieces of content that will captivate consumers. •! Tell a Universal Story A Coca-Cola GIF of a can by the side of a pool debuted in August 2012 and continues to be one of the most re-blogged posts on Tumblr. Why? Coca-Cola is now synonymous with summer fun and the refreshing, relaxing feeling of sitting poolside. Emotive, visual content permeates the network by design, and this image speaks a universal language that is much bigger than the brand itself. The Rise of Visual Communication Brant McLean Director of Brand Partnerships at Tumblr #CMWorld Panel: The Hottest Term in Content Marketing: The Opportunities in Native Advertising

“It’s not enough to inform, content needs to make us feel.” Lee Odden @leeodden #CMWorld

#CMWorld As companies mature in their use of content marketing from simply creating “more” content for SEO purposes to creating really useful content designed to reach specific customer segments to influence business outcomes, the importance of content differentiation becomes paramount. According to the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs’ annual study, over 90% of B2B and B2C marketers are using content marketing. That’s a tremendous amount of competition and to stand out, successful marketers are elevating both the quality of their content and use of visuals. It’s not enough to inform; content needs to make us feel. Providing buyers with useful and entertaining content that leverages engaging images, video and interactive features creates an infotaining experience that stands head and shoulders above other marketers. The Infotainment Imperative Lee Odden @leeodden CEO, TopRank Online Marketing #CMWorld Presentation: Content + Influencer Marketing = Powerful Way to Grow Your Business

#CMWorld Here are a few ways to infuse entertainment value into your content: •! Themes, metaphors, and the visuals that bring it together. This eBook series is a perfect example: Vintage Alice in Wonderland images are used in the eBooks, infographics, quote image tiles and as accents in supporting blog posts. •! Take the customer point of view. Think not just about the content you need to create, but about the experience the customer will have in discovering, consuming and acting on that content. What do you want them to do after consuming the content? How do you want them to feel? •! Find your funny bone. Whether your business is B2C or B2B, humans will almost certainly be involved. Find what your customers think is humorous, or make light of a common situation that most everyone in your industry can relate to. I can only imagine the impact of a cartoon with CMI’s Joe Pulizzi as the Mad Hatter. Not only will visual content inform your buyers in more interesting ways, it will help create an emotional connection that can go a long way towards helping your brand stand out from the content competition. The Infotainment Imperative Lee Odden @leeodden CEO, TopRank Online Marketing #CMWorld Presentation: Content + Influencer Marketing = Powerful Way to Grow Your Business

#CMWorld Going down the rabbit hole led Alice to a world she could never imagine. She learned how to see the impossible as possible – and it changed her perspective of the world. For B2B marketing, visual content can make complex ideas easily digestible. About 65% of the world’s population is primarily visual, which means that it’s easier for them to make sense of information if they can see it through pictures. They need to “see” it before they can understand it, much less believe it. See, Understand, Believe Carla Johnson @carlajohnson President, Type A Communications #CMWorld Presentation: Moving from Content to Conversations: Content’s Role in the Sales Enablement Process Motorola Solutions does a great job. They turned their brand story - helping people be their best in the moments that matter - into visuals that convey the value they provide. This allows them to extend their purpose-driven brand into every aspect of their visual content, instead of simply using product pictures.

#CMWorld Here’s how you can make the impossible possible with visual content: •! What’s the purpose? What’s one key thing that you want to communicate? It’s not about what you sell. It needs to be about the difference that you can make in the lives of your customers. •! Idea first, format second. Don’t limit yourself by deciding what visual content you want, and then forcing the story into it. Determine what story you want to tell and then let it unfold into the format(s) that makes the most sense. •! Make it fun and interesting. B2B doesn’t have to mean boring x 2. Creativity doesn’t cost anything. Take lessons from people who’ve made their areas entertaining, like Steve Spangler has done with science. He’s made naked eggs and burping bottles into good, clean educational fun. •! Get comfortable with iterations. Not every idea for visual content will work out great the first time. But when you are open to refinement, it takes the pressure off of doing it perfect right out of the box, and that leads to more creativity. See, Understand, Believe Carla Johnson @carlajohnson President, Type A Communications #CMWorld Presentation: Moving from Content to Conversations: Content’s Role in the Sales Enablement Process

#CMWorld Are you reusing your content? You should be. Try turning your latest infographic into a video! Not sure a video infographic can help your content marketing efforts? YouTube is the number two search engine in the world. In addition, Forbes reported that the second best way to engage a customer with content marketing is to use videos. So why are we so drawn to videos? Content delivered in video form can entice the senses with audio and visual. This lets you tap into the emotions of the potential customer, which makes the content more shareable and actionable. Infographics can easily be converted into an interactive, engaging video with the use of simple video animation software: •! Pull your best stats from your infographic and animate them in sequence. •! Include music for a dazzling effect. •! Include a strong call to action at the end for content marketing awesomeness. The combination of the impressive stats and numbers flying around on the screen with music will engage and inform your audience all at the same time. Give Content New Life with Video Jim Kukral @JimKukral CEO at FunnerVids.com #CMWorld Host: Author Marketing Live

LEARN EVEN MORE ABOUT CONTENT MARKETING Join 3,500 industry peers from 50 countries, 100+ speakers, and leading Fortune 500 brands at: CONTENT MARKETING WORLD 2015 September 8-11, 2015 www.contentmarketingworld.com REGISTER TODAY Use code “TopRank” for $100 off of Main Event and All-Access registrations.

Content Marketing Services Let’s Get Visual! TopRank Can Show You the Way If you would like to learn more about how visual content can better attract and engage customers, let’s connect! We can help plan, source, create, manage, measure, and optimize the performance of any sized content marketing program. Contact TopRank Marketing: 1-‐877-‐872-‐6628 [email protected] Visit us online at TopRankMarke5ng.com

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Be sure to check out the next eBook in the Content Marketing in Wonderland series: Showing Real ROI for Your Content Marketing at: marketingblog.com Next: Content Marketing ROI Coming: Aug 25, 2014Coming: Aug 25, 2014Coming: Aug 25, 2014Coming: Aug 25, 2014