They Ask You Answer

by Marcus Sheridan

  In the first part of the book, we discussed the critical nature of the Big 5 and how it drives consumer research around the world:

  Pricing and Costs

  Problems

  Versus and Comparisons

  Reviews

  Best in Class

  The key to this section of the workshop is to help your team members reflect on all the times they’ve used each one of these phrases as keywords while they were shopping or researching online. When done correctly, everyone in the room will be nodding their head again and again once they realize just how often they use the Big 5 in every aspect of their consumer-driven life. By coming to this understanding, they’ll also start to see how the Big 5 greatly apply to their existing prospects and customers.

  If your organization is going to have great success with this, you cannot compromise in your desire to address all consumer questions. Regardless of how good, bad, or ugly the question may appear, if the marketplace is asking it, you must address it. And your team must share this vision of wanting to address it versus retreating back to the old way of burying their heads in the sand, hoping the prospect never asks the question (ostrich marketing).

  Principle 4: Group Brainstorm of Content Ideas

  In this section of the workshop, the goal is to answer this question: What should we write about?

  Instead of making it a science, the key comes down to listening well, hearing the problems, questions, and needs of prospects and customers, and then having a willingness to address each one (be it via text, video, or other medium).

  Now that attendees understand the They Ask, You Answer philosophy, as well as how this coordinates so perfectly with the Big 5, the next step is to have them apply what they’ve learned by brainstorming questions they receive every day from prospects and clients.

  This activity can have a profound impact on all participants, and as you might imagine, it’s usually dominated by those persons involved in sales, because they are the ones who generally have the closest contact with existing and potential customers.

  Principle 5: The Impact Content Can Have on the Sales Process and Closing Rates

  Remember earlier when we said, “Employees need to understand ‘why’ they’re being asked to participate in content marketing?” Well, this section is a huge deal. As with everything else in life, people want to know WIIFT: What’s In It For Them.

  By seeing the dramatic impact great content can have on shortening the sales cycle while bringing in more qualified leads and greater margins, salespeople are generally very excited about the possibilities this could have on their bottom line and overall job performance.

  Principle 6: The Reason Why Everyone’s Voice, Talents, and Knowledge Are Critical for Success

  The essence of principle 6 is very simple: Marketing should not be the digital voice of the company. Marketing does not have its finger on the pulse of clients and customers like the rest of the company. Therefore, marketing’s job (from this point forward) is to help employees (who deal with customers or are subject matter experts) produce content (and therefore earn trust).

  Essentially, upon hearing this, each branch of the business needs to understand its overall value to the growth of the company, and why it’s critical that the marketing department is able to lean on them for teaching, information, and other pieces of content.

  Principle 7: The Editorial Guidelines Going Forward

  If employees are going to participate in the company’s content marketing efforts, they’ll need to understand what the entire process and corresponding expectations look like. Here are just a few questions and topics that should be covered:

  Who is the person in charge? (The title of this position varies, be it content manger, chief content officer, or other label.)

  How often will employees be asked to contribute content, and how often will they be required to meet with someone in marketing to produce said content?

  What are the different ways in which the employees will be able to contribute content? (text, video, or other media)

  What are the editorial guidelines for a typical blog post?

  After employees are done with this section of the workshop, they should have a clear road map in their heads of next steps, their individual roles, and expectations going forward.

  Principle 8: A Look into the Future

  This section recaps everything that has been covered in the workshop up to this point, including the benefits to the company as a whole and to each employee as well. Also, we have found that a very powerful discussion point in this section can be achieved by asking this simple question:

  What would prevent this culture of content marketing from working in our organization?

  I hope that this section has given you a better sense of what needs to be understood from Day 1 to make the most out of They Ask, You Answer and establish a true culture of content marketing. Keep in mind, too, that all of what is being stated here is flexible and can be adjusted to meet the needs of your company or organization.

  But the key, as always, is that it happens. Otherwise, resistance is likely on the horizon.

  36

  The Content Manager Qualities, Hiring, and More

  I hope that by this point in the book you’re getting a simple impression: “I need to do this.”

  And if that’s the impression you’re getting, great, you’re already on the way to becoming the most trusted voice and expert within your space.

  But at the same time, to make all of this possible, it’s more than just having the right strategy or getting the buy-in of your sales team.

  Embracing content marketing and the philosophies of They Ask, You Answer is a big task, and unless someone owns it, it’s very likely not going to work.

  This “owner” can go by many names within an organization (especially based on how large the company is), such as:

  Chief content officer

  Content marketing manager

  Content manager

  Chief storyteller

  Brand journalist

  Inbound marketing manager

  And so on

  Ultimately, though, the name isn’t what matters.

  The thing that does matter, though, is that he or she exists within the organization.

  Often, upon speaking to a marketer or CEO about turning content marketing into a culture, I’ll have a conversation that sounds something like this:

  MARKETING PERSON/CEO: I know we should be doing content marketing and following They Ask, You Answer. But I’m simply wearing too many other hats, and there is no way I can make the time for this myself.

  ME: You need a content manager. Someone must own this effort and dedicate all their time to it, assuming you truly want to get exceptional results. (And for a larger organization, multiple content managers and editors should be dedicated to these efforts.)

  MARKETING PERSON/CEO: I agree, but I think I can at least do some of this myself.

  ME: Well, to be frank, you can’t. At least, you won’t do it very well. It will always play second fiddle to your other roles. I’ve seen it too many times.

  MARKETING PERSON/CEO: But I’m just not sure the company is willing/able/ready/and so on to make this type of hire.

  ME: And if you don’t, again, it very likely won’t work. Either you do this right or don’t do it at all. You wearing another hat is only going to cause you more stress and produce little results . . . and that will lead to your team making false statements like, “We tried this content marketing stuff, but it didn’t work for us.”

  I’ve had this very same conversation hundreds of times over the years, yet it keeps coming back again and again.

  Someone Must Own It

  Fact is, most businesses would rather dip their toes in the content marketing waters before they dive in. I get that. It’s tempting. But just because something is tempting doesn’t make it a good idea.

  Here at The Sales Lion, as you’ve seen by the various case studies throughout thi
s book, we’ve been blessed to watch many of our clients have some exceptional success stories. But for all of these success stories, there is one commonality:

  Producing great content is a full-time job, and someone has to own it.

  And whenever we’ve allowed our clients to try this strategy without a true “owner” of the content marketing, it hasn’t worked out. Other priorities always took precedence. Production was too slow. The entire team never caught the vision.

  But if we’re being honest with ourselves, at this point in the game, knowing just how much the consumers and the buying process have changed, how could anyone deny the need to give the digital side of their business full attention?

  Duties of a Content Manager (per Week)

  To better understand why this is a full-time position for at least one person (depending on the organization’s size), let’s look at what a typical week looks like for an effective content manager.

  With most of our clients, regardless of the size of their businesses, a “successful” week of content marketing will look like this:

  At least three new pieces of content (be it text, video, or audio): 5–15 hours

  Company e-mail marketing efforts: 1–3 hours

  Site analytics, SEO, and so on: 3–5 hours

  Social media engagement: 1–2 hours

  Premium content production (e-books, white papers, webinars, and so on): 3–5 hours

  General website enhancements (new pages, call-to-action placement, and so on): 2–4 hours

  Continual education/training (Learning tools like HubSpot, new apps, and so on): 3–5 hours

  Meeting with the sales team to discuss needed content, have trainings, and so on: 2–4 hours

  Note: Depending on the organization, the industry, the customer base, and so on, all of these numbers can wildly vary. In this example, they are simply meant to give the reader a sense of the various responsibilities of a true content manager.

  There are, of course, other duties that will require one’s time, but my hope is you see just how quickly all these duties add up. And for larger organizations, it’s easy to fill these same tasks with multiple employees. For example, many of our clients not only have a content manager, but also a full-time videographer, full-time writers, and more.

  And for each, the return on the investment of these positions has been more than worth it.

  Choosing the Right Leader of Your Content Marketing Efforts

  Let’s assume you’re ready to go all-in with content marketing and embrace the philosophy of They Ask, You Answer. Now that you’re ready to hire a content manager, you must make sure that the hire is good. And when I say “good,” I mean really, really good.

  But what defines good in this case? What skill sets should you be looking for, especially when you’re seeking to fill this position within your company? Here are what we have found to be the ten essential qualities of every successful content marketing manager (CMM); a list we use every time my team is tasked with hiring a CMM for an organization.

  Ten Essential Qualities of Great Content Marketing Managers

  1. They love to write. This one goes without saying, but it’s a big deal. And remember, writing online isn’t just about fancy words. It’s about clean communication, done in a way so that just about any reader can understand what’s being said. Remember, great writers and communicators (and teachers) don’t try to sound smart, which is never the goal of content marketing. Rather, they seek “communion,” and it’s this quality that makes them great.

  Furthermore, if the individual loves writing, it also means he or she is fast, effective, and able to meet writing deadlines.

  Without question, this skill is non-negotiable. Plus, you must remember this key:

  You can always teach a great writer to be a good marketer, but you can’t always teach a good marketer to be a great writer.

  2. They are skilled at editing. When companies leverage their existing employees to produce textual and video content (insourcing), the initial product can at times be “rough.” But great content managers can take what is a 5 in terms of quality and make it a 9 or 10—doing their best to make the original source as clear and concise as possible for the reader.

  Note: Within a larger organization, this person would be considered an editor, but at the beginning, most content managers wear multiple hats, this being one of them.

  3. They have excellent interviewing skills. This is huge. Any legitimate company or organization is full of subject matter experts, but most of these same experts are not great writers and certainly not great content marketers.

  Because insourcing is so critical to success, a great content marketing manager understands how to sit down with these people (and vendors as well) and ask the right questions to stimulate content that teaches, helps, and informs readers.

  Furthermore, they can ask the questions from the consumer’s or buyer’s point of view—which is the absolute key to creating communion, understanding, and trust between buyers and businesses—the feeling of being “understood.”

  4. They embrace social media and “get it.” It goes without saying that social media—in some form or another—is here to stay. Therefore, the mind-set of “I don’t like social media” isn’t necessarily the best one for a content marketing manager to have. In fact, it’s a bad sign. Granted, social media, as discussed herein, isn’t something every company should focus on, but they should be at least open and accepting of the possibilities.

  5. They have solid video editing skills. Video just keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. In fact, for many of our clients at the Sales Lion, video is way more important than text when producing a heavy amount of content while attempting to utilize employees—especially those persons in the sales department.

  In a perfect world, once the company is of any size, a full-time videographer will be hired to show the visual story of the company. But until that point, the content manager should have the ability to wear both hats, and with the ease of making, creating, and editing videos today, this is absolutely achievable.

  6. They are extremely likeable. Do you remember the amazing success story of Krista Kotrla and Block Imaging? Well, among the many reasons Krista was so effective in exploding Block Imaging’s brand and bottom line, her likeability was a major factor. Her company’s employees love her. She brightens up their day, she has their respect, and because of this, they are quick to help with content marketing.

  Frankly, when it comes down to it, unlikeable people make awful content marketing managers.

  7. They understand what makes people tick. Again, when using employees as sources of content, knowing how to get said employees motivated and inspired is critical. This is exactly why the best content managers know how to push the right buttons to give their employees the needed boost to contribute to the company’s marketing and sales goals.

  8. They are organized and goal oriented. Content marketing, especially when done in businesses of any size, needs to have order. This starts with a main editorial calendar and continues with newsletters, trainings, interviews, and so on. All of these elements require order, planning, and organization.

  9. They love analytics, numbers, and measurement. As I’ve worked closely with so many CEOs and marketers on their content marketing over the past few years, I keep seeing a simple trend:

  Those persons who pay attention to the numbers get wayyyyy more results.

  This is another reason why a content marketing manager eventually needs to be skilled not just with Google Analytics, but also with other tools, like HubSpot, Infusionsoft, and others.

  10. They are continually thinking outside the box. Look around at the greatest content marketing examples and I’ll show you creativity and unique thinking every time. Fact is, the best ones in this industry aren’t looking for a set of rules or a road map that tells them exactly what they need to do next.

  Instead, they just get stuff done, however they possibly can, and often with some seri
ous creativity acting as the catalyst to success.

  Why a Trained Journalist May Be a Perfect Match for Your Content Marketing Needs

  As you look at these ten qualities, it’s pretty obvious why the journalism industry has taken content marketing by storm. In fact, at my company, the Sales Lion, almost all of our hires for content marketing managers for our clients come directly from this industry; the majority are recent journalism graduates, ready for work, and perfectly suited to meet this position’s demands at a very reasonable price. Granted, they absolutely do need to get the necessary training to “think like a marketer” and embrace the philosophy of They Ask, You Answer, but there is no question, assuming they are good, they can get the job done.

  With so much of this talent available (because of the dying newspaper industry), there is really no excuse for companies not to fill this position and start receiving the benefits to their business, brand, and bottom line immediately.

  Also, keep in mind that as I write this, I fully realize not every company can afford to hire a full-time content manager. I was a perfect example of that with River Pools and Spas, when I embraced They Ask, You Answer in 2009. But it was for that very reason I worked at my kitchen table producing content almost every single night from 10 P.M. to 1 A.M. for two straight years.

  In my case, I didn’t have a choice. But knowing what I know now and seeing what I’ve seen, if you do have a choice, get the right people in the rights seats from the beginning.

  Finally, you may be asking what specific tests you can use to choose the right content manager during the hiring process.

  Again, because we’ve done so much of this at the Sales Lion, we have found certain activities to be very effective, as well as a few things you should be paying close attention to.