Posted by Chris W. on May 16, 2011 · Leave a Comment
I received a newsletter this morning from Diana Huff. In it was a great new article titled, “The Three Biggest Mistakes Companies Make with Regard to B2B Websites.”
If it was any closer of a fit with my new “Clear Content” theme, I’d have to argue with her about authorship!
Two mistakes she calls out are Poor Messaging and Lack of Content. Both of which are superb overarching points about content clarity (especially in B2B).
Take it from one of our industry’s best – flubbed messaging doesn’t help you distinguish yourselves. And a lack of what she calls “bread and butter content” (I often use “main pages” myself) strands your site visitors in a web-based desert.
(The third mistake? Well, you’ll have to go read the article to find out! Click the title above.)
Posted by Chris W. on March 18, 2011 · Leave a Comment
The campaign-based model of marketing no longer works.
While reading a great post on the Top Rank Blog today (“5 Ways to Fail at Content Marketing & Tips to Succeed”), one of the subheads caught my eye. It and its subsequent paragraph read,
Campaign vs. Ongoing
Much like SEO, content marketing is a commitment and ongoing. When companies ask us about the viability of SEO for their online marketing, I recommend to “get in it to win it” for the long term or don’t get in at all. The same is true with content marketing. It’s not an individual campaign that you start and stop. That said, a content marketing strategy may call for a string of integrated campaign efforts across different channels and communities with distinct objectives and tactics in mind. But it’s an ongoing effort, not a single “content marketing campaign”.
I find this sentiment completely true. Instead of stop-and-start marketing campaigns, I think ongoing content marketing is now the best way to build & engage audiences.
Marketing Campaigns are Old and Busted
One reason why I believe this? Campaigns are a sputtering car. Content marketing is a bullet train.
Here’s what I mean. This is what goes into your basic old-fashioned marketing campaign:
- Grab an old map (Use some old research you already had)
- Gas up (Produce sales-heavy content)
- Pick any road at all (Blast said content at an audience, even if they didn’t ask for it)
- Stop at any intersection (Wait for results to come in)
- Repeat ad nausea (in other words, until your audience throws up at the mere mention of you).
You run campaigns like that nowadays and you’re standing still. Competitors online will run right over you with ongoing content marketing. And laugh as you lie coughing in their digital dust.
Ongoing Content Marketing is Smooth and Solid
A bullet train is fast, smooth…and reliable. It always shows up where it needs to be. It shows up WHERE PEOPLE ARE.
That’s what content marketing does. It goes to where people already are, provides something useful, and continues on its way. People come back to it expecting more value. And they get it.
After a few impressions, they come to see your company as the resource for this information. And if they have a business need you can satisfy? Welcome to sales.
Have you had this discussion with prospects? What were their impressions?
Posted by Chris W. on January 18, 2011 · Leave a Comment
So you’ve finished a piece of content. Now comes the testing, right? You need to know a few things.
Is it engaging?
Is the SEO taken care of?
Eye-catching headlines/subhead?
Is the darn thing even readable?
Copywriters like me go through this all the time. We use a bunch of tests and tools to polish up our content. To make it “social-ready” (if that’s even a word yet).
Recently I started using the HubSpot Grader. The site has apps for “grading” websites, blogs, press releases, Twitter and Facebook, FourSquare…even one for books!
These Graders examine live content for marketing effectiveness. That’s great for websites, blogs, etc. But what if you want to grade a piece of content that isn’t live yet?
Here’s where you thank me. I worked out a (sneaky) way to test content before it’s posted.
Test Content Before Posting with the Press Release Grader
The secret is Hubspot’s Press Release Grader. It works by direct input. So you can paste in any copy you want – a webpage, a case study, whatever.
Just copy and paste, enter your company name and URL (or those of your client) and hit Generate Report.
NOTE: Obviously it’s geared toward elements of a press release. It wants to see an “About” section, contact information, etc. Some of the results may not apply to your content. But the rest will give you an idea of how social-ready the content is now.
How to Measure Social Readiness with Grader Results
Pay attention to these sections on the results page:
- General Statistics. Word count, link count and a readability grade. (If higher than 9th grade, edit.)
- Content Suggestions. Pay attention the “company link” subhead. It might say, “This press release does not seem to contain a link to www.yourURL.com.” That means you haven’t linked to your/the client’s website yet.
- Link Analysis. How many links have you added? Do they have clear link text? Will the positioning help you or hurt you?
- Word Cloud. My favorite. A visual representation of the most frequent words. You should see your key terms loud and clear in this cloud. If not, edit and re-grade.
Pretty decent way of checking how social-ready your next webpage is, huh? And the best part is that all the graders are free. Another tool to add to the Web writer’s ensemble!
Filed under BFC Blog, Content Creation, Content Marketing, Social Media, Web Writing, Website Content · Tagged with App, B2B, case study, marketing, SEO, Social Media, web content writing, web marketing
Posted by Chris W. on November 15, 2010 · Leave a Comment
Smart organizations take the time to produce valuable content, and market it consistently. (Some of them hire me, so I know they’re smart!)
However, I often run across organizations (B2B and sometimes B2i) who misjudge what to write in certain content locations. These content spots are either not seen as valuable, or seen as the sole chance to say EVERYTHING about your product/service.
Obviously both approaches lead to problems. An undervalued content spot is:
- Left blank
- Filled up with corporate-speak
- Given only a meaningless filler sentence or two, OR
- Becomes the home to a single lonely URL with no explanation.
An overvalued content spot has too much text crammed in. People try to stuff 3 different messages into 200 characters. Er…no.
Below are three such content spots. I’ve included a Common (bad) Use that you shouldn’t do, and a Best Use (an approach that benefits your site – and maybe your brand too).
1. Descriptions on Local Search Engine Listings
Google Places, Yahoo Local, Bing Local. All give you a small space to write about your business.
Common (Bad) Use: Often left blank or home to meaningless filler. Sometimes crammed with keywords (big mistake).
Best Use: Write a small paragraph that gives a high-level overview of your business. Use keywords sparingly. Search engines prefer you use Categories for that.
2. Meta Description Text
This is the short paragraph underneath URLs in search engine results pages. It’s what searchers read before clicking a URL.
Common (Bad) Use: Jammed full of keywords and/or corporate-speak.
Best Use: Ask yourself, “If I read this, how would I know this is the place for getting the product/service I want?” Answer that and you’re two steps from solid description text.
3. Social Media Description Paragraphs
Think Twitter Intro blurbs, the Facebook “Info” tab, and the LinkedIn Profile Introduction.
Common (Bad) Use: Meaningless filler or corporate-speak. Twitter descriptions often have a lonely URL.
Best Use: A short message about what you do. Be as specific as you can. Aim to use just over half of the available space.
Did I miss any? What’s a content spot you’ve seen that organizations overlook (or overvalue)? Post it in a comment. Or tweet it to me at @blueferret.
Filed under BFC Blog, Content Creation, Content Marketing, Social Media, Web Writing · Tagged with B2B, local search listings, marketing, SEO, Social Media, web content writing, web marketing
Posted by Chris W. on April 28, 2010 · 1 Comment
I thought about writing a long article today. Then I remembered that my audience knows a thing or two about marketing in the first place.
So I decided on a short “reminder” post today. Reminders on what you should check after your marketing campaign starts (not before!).
- Is our marketing working?
(Are you getting anything like the results you aimed for?)
- Are our goals the same now?
(Has a new goal or priority come up since this started?)
- What do our customers think?
(See what’s said on social media. Collect email responses. Record phone calls. Put all of this in one place and analyze it.)
- Are we on track for the future?
(If the campaign response rate is already tapering off, you’ll need to pick up the pace.)
- Is this adding value to other pursuits?
(The campaign’s responses should be usable in other pursuits, e.g. older lead revitalization.)
- Should we change tactics, or keep going?
(Weigh your metrics against your campaign goals. If the content isn’t pulling well enough, try a different angle.)
That’s it. Just a few reminders. Success with content marketing these days takes much more than just good writing. But too often companies set the campaign up and just wait for leads. Or worse, forget about it and rush on to the next task.
Revisit those campaigns. I do it 30 days after start. Sometimes 2 months afterward is better though (for bigger campaigns).
And remember…no response at all? Is still a response.
More on that next time.
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