AMA Madison is excited to present a new evening event for marketers called Craft Marketing. Our first event will be January 30 at the Ale Asylum, and Greg Mischio of Winbound will present “How to Make Every Piece of Website Content Kick Butt (and Literally Take Names).”
Craft Marketing will take place at different local Madison microbrews, and will include beer sampling and an educational presentation. It is co-sponsored by Winbound, a Madison digital marketing agency. The January 30 event runs from 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM and will take place at the Ale Asylum – you can register for it here!
The event is just $7 for AMA members and $10 for non-members. Admission includes two drink tickets (typically beer – some microbrews may offer wine, too) and appetizers. Be sure to register soon – only 25 spots are available!
Greg Mischio is the Owner and Strategic Director of Winbound. Winbound provides an all-in-one content marketing and conversion optimization package specifically designed for small marketing departments. We asked Greg about the presentation.
Q: Tell us about Winbound.
Mischio: Winbound is designed to help the 1-3 person marketing team that can’t find the resources it takes to produce content, SEO, email marketing, manage social media and improve the conversion rate on their website.
I personally have been doing content marketing as a freelancer for about ten years, but started Winbound three years ago when I saw the need to include conversion optimization (testing your website to improve conversion rate).
It’s really a service-oriented package that allows marketers in small marketing departments to focus on the big picture, while we take care of the details behind content marketing and conversion optimization.
Q: How will your presentation help local marketers?
Mischio: I think the hardest part about content marketing is understanding how the big picture works. It’s not just about producing content. It’s about understanding how it works with search engine optimization, social media, paid media and the basic functionality of your website.
What’s overwhelming for marketers is understanding what type of content they need to produce, and the specific function it performs. That requires bridging the gap between your solution and the customer’s problem.
I think marketers, and organizations in general, are very focused on themselves. They think the world knows them and wants their products. It’s human nature. The only way to break free of that is to map out a customer journey, and fill in content at different points. You force yourself to get out of your own head and into the customer’s. We’ve done it for all of our clients and for our own company, and it’s very eye-opening.
Q: How does content tie in with search engine optimization?
Mischio: According to Smart Insights, over six billion Internet searches were conducted last year, and that number continues to increase. To put it in perspective, there were 500 million tweets.
Search obviously isn’t going away. It may be evolving in terms of things like voice search, but it’s still a natural function for the consumer. They are seeking information. The whole nature of inbound marketing is to be there when they search.
When we’re plotting out the customer journey, and applying content to each stage, it makes sense that keyword research should play a major role in deciding what the content should be. Don’t think of it as keyword research – think of it as market research.
During the presentation, we’ll share our methodology for doing the research, and then show you how to prioritize which topics come first.
Q: How does social media play into this?
Mischio: I think marketers’ biggest frustration with social is they want it to be something it’s not. It’s not a place to blast your message. It’s a place to interact. So if you want content to get shared, you not only have to create content that’s applicable to the venue, you also have to integrate influencers into the process.
This means creating content at the beginning of the customer journey — content that is far removed from your ultimate goal of selling a product or service. At that stage, collaborating with an influencer is an ideal way to get someone started on the path toward your product.
Q: What will a marketer take away from this?
Mischio: Clarity. Control. Relief. When we started mapping the customer journey, it really gave us a sense of how this whole thing works together. It provides purpose to everything you do.
After conducting the mapping process for a client, we are able to plan out the editorial calendar for the next year in about 15 minutes. And it’s the best editorial calendar we’ve ever produced, in that everything is tied into a performance metric. That’s the real gold at the end of the rainbow: We’ll share the metrics we’ve assigned to each stage of the journey, and show you how they can help you evaluate your content.
In the end, you’ll see how to make your content “kick butt,” and drive more traffic to your site. But ultimately, through the customer journey, you’ll see how it also helps you “take names” in terms of lead generation and email list building.
Q: Why did Winbound decide to co-create Craft Marketing with the AMA?
Mischio: I lived down in Chicago for a couple years, and spent some time learning from Andy Crestodina, one of the best content marketers on the planet. Andy hosted an event at his company called “Wine and Web,” in which he shared insights and had fellow marketers give presentations.
I thought it would be great to bring this to Madison, yet I wanted to capitalize on the craft beer industry. I reached out to the AMA about working together on starting a new monthly event in which we’d visit each microbrew, drink some beers, and learn something. Alyssa Spiel, our VP of Communications, gave it the tagline, “Marketing knowledge on tap,” and I think that sums it up perfectly.
We’re really excited for the first presentation at the Ale Asylum. Our next Craft Marketing event will be in February at the Vintage Brewing Company. We’ll have more details in the coming weeks!
Click here to register for the Craft Marketing presentation: “How to Make Every Piece of Website Content Kick Butt and Literally Take Names.”
Is there a “big picture” behind the content you’re generating for your digital marketing efforts? Greg Mischio of Winbound will show you how mapping a customer journey and then creating specific content for each stage helps you focus your efforts and maximize your time.
The presentation will provide important (and actionable) metrics to track, as well as an innovative way to generate a reality-based customer persona. There will be plenty of visuals and how-tos to help you create content that achieves your goals and build your list of prospects and customers.