42 I EUROPEAN SEED I EUROPEAN-SEED.COM INSIDERS ADVICE FROM INDUSTRY EXPERTS INSIDERS — Here, experts from across the industry will discuss issues that are top-of-mind, share technical advancements, talk about tips for success and provide perspective on policy. Readers can hone in on areas that are of particular interest and get a snapshot of what’s happening and how it impacts the seed industry. CONTENT MARKETING So, You Want to Participate in Content Marketing LINDSAY HOFFMAN Director, Client Services • Issues Ink Everywhere you turn today in the busi- ness world you are bombarded with information about the importance and need for content marketing, and quick-fix solutions to start creating content. And I agree, content marketing is a great tool to help build a relationship with current and prospective customers, but where do you get started? Before a single word has been writ- ten or infographic is created it’s impor- tant to layout some guiding parameters, define your teams roles and set expecta- tions about what you want to accomplish via content marketing. 1. Team Roles Review by committee is as bad for crea- tive as it is for quality control. Your con- tent marketing process should be built with one person having the final respon- sibility of approving content. This per- son’s task is to work with content creators and editors, to ensure the final product meets your business’ standards and goals. By creating a simple checklist, you can empower people throughout your com- pany to participate. 2. Guiding Parameters You, or anyone in your company creating content, should always be able to answer one question: why am I making this? Knowing this ensures you’re not contra- dicting other content being produced, it creates opportunity to cross-pollinate and draw from the full expertise within your company. Create a map of all the channels and content types your organ- ization will use and share how the con- tent you are building fits into this plan. This helps ensure content across all your channels is pulling in the same direction. Having a specific goal for each channel is also important for successful content generation. 3. Defining Success Anytime you invest in a marketing activ- ity we try and establish metrics. This will vary from organization to organi- zation and from channel to channel, but there needs to be agreement on what the content should achieve for the audience and for the brand. Generally speaking, content can serve three functions for an audience: to educate, to entertain, or to provide an opportunity. When establish- ing metrics for your company, consider the following measurements: • Unique visits: This KPI provides a good baseline for which to compare different forms of content and trends over time. • Geography: Understanding where yo ur content is being read is important in order to understand where to allocate more budget and resources based on where your audience is. • Mobile readership:  Understanding trends in how your content is being delivered to different devices is key to determining how to optimize your con- tent and its design. • Bounce rates/time spent: Bounce rate percent and time spent metrics are good early indicators of how engaged the traffic is with your content is. • Heat maps and click patterns: There are many great tools out there that illus- trate how your audience is engaging with a page and its content. • Page views: A high page views/UVs mul- tiple is a good sign that your audience is engaged — and quite often means that they are coming back regularly to your content. • Comments: Users are the best advocates for any product or service, so if they’re engaged enough to openly discuss your content, consider it a success. Even neg- ative comments can be great feedback. Be ready to respond in a meaningful manner to all comments. • Social sharing: Making your content easily shareable is critical for almost all content marketing initiatives. Once you have this plan in place your team can get to work creating content!