Magical unicorns, bizarre job titles and late nights: How to nail your next customer demo
Avoid these common demo mistakes. Continue reading Magical unicorns, bizarre job titles and late nights: How to nail your next customer demo
Category: Marketing
Free underwear and the art of marketing through LinkedIn
Linkedin has made real progress over the last 24 months. By putting greater focus on content it’s been moving solidly towards improved user engagement; and in return saw its advertising revenue grow 45% in Q3 over the same period last year. However, it’s still not seen as a hotbed for marketing creativity. Brands have typically favoured FaceBook and Twitter as a vehicle for audience engagement and I could probably count the number of great marketing campaigns that use Linkedin on one hand. What that means is that when a clever campaign is launched it does get attention. Free underwear & the … Continue reading Free underwear and the art of marketing through LinkedIn
Applying the 70:20:10 innovation rule to your marketing
The 70:20:10 rule is frequently cited as a useful formula for delivering an optimally blended mix of marketing content. For those not familiar with it, it suggests: 70% of your content should be low risk; it talks to the fundaments of your proposition and you know it works. It’s the stuff that keeps the lights on and the furnaces burning. 20% should innovate off of your 70%. It’s a little edgier and might go deeper into the core proposition. It might be used to pull targets further down the sales funnel, perhaps leveraging long-form, niche content. 10% is your room for … Continue reading Applying the 70:20:10 innovation rule to your marketing
A “content marketing” definition for B2B marketers
Something of a debate has opened up at the office around the exact definition of content marketing. It’s a valid debate; marketers play loose and fast with the term and, technically, almost every marketing effort uses “content” of some description. However, it’s not that simple. The value of Content Marketing lies in its ability to affect a change in a highly non-interruptive way. There is no hard and fast definition. In fact I have read several definitions and I disagree with elements of all of them. So here’s a personal attempt at defining content marketing for B2B marketers. Let’s start … Continue reading A “content marketing” definition for B2B marketers
Atomize your approach to content marketing
Have you heard of “content atomization”? Like so many other terms, it’s a slightly convoluted way of describing something that’s actually just good common [marketing] sense. Many of you will even be doing it already, but here’s a refresher and introduction to those looking to build a great content marketing practice in your organizations. Atomizing content describes the processes of breaking down a core content asset or value proposition and tailoring it to suit a variety of audiences. That means not just recycling content, but reimagining it and building a new asset that meets the need of i) a certain … Continue reading Atomize your approach to content marketing
Brands don’t always own their name on Twitter, and this is what happens…
Once upon a time, connecting your brand across online properties was relatively easy. So long as you had the URL, there was little else to think about. Today, the landscape is very different with organisations having to connect their brand across multiple social sites; each with very different trademark policies and control points. I was reminded of this today following the launch of the John Lewis Christmas advertisement. For those outside of the UK, John Lewis is a highly respected retailer (think Nordstrom in the US). The launch of its Christmas adverts have become something of an event, creating lots … Continue reading Brands don’t always own their name on Twitter, and this is what happens…
B2B marketing: Are we outsourcing creativity?
“You need to have not only a strong understanding of digital but also an inherently analytical approach and passion for data and numbers. Combine these attributes and you have a well-rounded marketer.” I read this quote in B2B Magazine. It was from a senior executive with experience spanning Microsoft, Google and GoDaddy. As his “Top Tip” it seems innocuous enough; but read it again. What’s missing? It’s something that’s been bugging me for some time. Creativity. It used to be at the core of any good marketer. It’s what attracted me to the industry in the first place. Today, the … Continue reading B2B marketing: Are we outsourcing creativity?
We’ve forgotten the value of long form content in B2B marketing
Those who have been in the marketing industry for more than ten years will remember that once upon a time, the majority of content produced was long form. Lengthy whitepapers, detailed case studies and 2500 word by lined articles. These were the norm. However, over the last few years, as the idea of “content marketing” began to explode (we’ll ignore the fact that we were doing this 15 years ago, we just didn’t have a name for it), the art of long form content started to be lost. Gone were the in-depth pieces that conveyed deep domain expertise, making way … Continue reading We’ve forgotten the value of long form content in B2B marketing
This guy was mediocre, what he did to increase his popularity will blow your mind!
You clicked. I knew you would. But is it fair? Have you clicked because you value my commentary or because the headline delivered an emotional promise? Do you consider this click-bait or will this post actually deliver something? If you are a B2B marketer I hope this will be of interest, because I want to understand whether the “Upworthy-Style” of headline writing has any place in B2B marketing. The Upworthy headline has infiltrated almost every corner of the internet and anyone who’s spent time on Facebook will recognise the style. There is no room for debate in the proposition they present. … Continue reading This guy was mediocre, what he did to increase his popularity will blow your mind!
Customer Journey Mapping
Customer Journey Mapping has become an important exercise for mobile operators looking to improve the customer experience. Here are some best practice guidelines for anyone thinking of running a journey mapping project. The customer journey (how your customer progress through your business from acquisition and beyond) is typically “owned” by several functional groups within a business. This makes customer journey mapping is a worthwhile exercise. It focuses the organization around a common goal where the outcome is improved Customer Lifetime Value (profitability & retention) and not just P&L improvements within individual functional areas of a business. However, conducting a customer … Continue reading Customer Journey Mapping
SaaS Toolkit 