Too often, we hear that marketers looking to establish content marketing into their process get caught up in developing a full-blown strategy before they invest in a technology or tool to mechanize their efforts.
The problem with this is that we spend time and resources on strategy development, only to have that strategy be immediately edited, amended, or rewritten due to the limitations of the chosen technology or platform.
Smarter marketers bake technology into their strategy from the onset.
That’s what Erin Wall and the marketing team at Workiva did.
Workiva created Wdesk, a cloud-based platform for enterprises to collect, manage, report, and analyze critical business data in real time. The company employs more than 900 people with offices in 15 cities.
“Before we could implement a content marketing strategy, we needed to establish our workflow and process. We were using a project and issue management software that wasn’t built for a marketing organization—and it showed. Workflow management was a required foundation before any other steps could be completed. ”
The Workiva marketing team knew that they wanted to move from a product-centric content focus into a buyer-centric one, but they didn’t have the right technology to support the shift in initiative.
Specifically, they needed a sophisticated marketing technology that could support the workflows and processes that went beyond product management and calendaring. They needed something that could align key stakeholders from several departments and streamline multiple contributors into the development of each content piece.
They also needed a software to track content analytics and validate their new strategic position.
Workiva Chose Kapost to Empower Its Strategy
Workiva chose to use Kapost because “the solutions matched our strategy,” Erin said.
By aligning its content marketing philosophy within the texture of the technology, Workiva developed its content strategy in conjunction with the implementation of its software. Things like…
- Identifying targeted personas for each content piece
- Integrating publishing channels
- Defining the specific assets to be produced
- Creating task workflows associated with each content type
- Developing campaigns, including derivative assets and channel distribution
- Creating an editorial calendar of assets
…were baked right into the process.
In this way, the rollout of the new Workiva content strategy was notably smooth.
With the strategy and tools in place, Workiva witnessed fast-tracked implementation and execution. Quantifiable results became achievable quick wins, as opposed to belabored objectives.
In fact, within only six months, Workiva noticed boosts in marketing performance indicators across the board.
6-Month Success Metrics
- 184% increase in avg blog views
- 21% increase in referral traffic
- 37% increase in social media backlinks
- 45% increase in domain authority
Not to say the success was an overnight achievement. Erin recognizes that any changes to fundamental business strategy takes time. The switch to a buyer-focused content marketing strategy is a “walk, jog, run” approach. It takes time.
Still, early boosts in KPIs are indicators of good results to come.
“Our initial metrics were a validation for all teams involved that our content was headed in the right direction.”
Apart from basic metrics, Kapost also increased the alignment of content to core Workiva business objectives.
Rather than creating “random content” or content that required resources to be built for a specific use and then was completely forgotten, Workiva used Kapost to tie each content asset to the objective that underrides all companies: sales and revenue.
“We’re excited to adjust and refine our strategy and Kapost processes in 2015. We know there is a lot more we can do to provide helpful, relevant information to our audience.”