Category: Content Strategy
It was seven years ago that I read a headline that made me laugh and then nod my head and then sigh in quiet desperation – and seven years later, it’s still just as true. The headline belonged to a Washington Post article that analyzed a research report on just how few people downloaded research […]
Think about the last major decision you made for your business. Did you use your gut, or did you use your data? Marketing leaders often opt for somewhere between the two ends of this spectrum for most of their decisions: On one end, you make decisions based purely on your anecdotal experience, without meaningful external […]
One of the hardest truths about corporate culture is that new ideas, no matter how researched and strategic and exciting, can easily morph to look a lot like existing ideas. Blame nothing but the process itself: Just like a stone that gets hit by water over thousands of years, corporate culture and ideals and reviews […]
My original career goal was to be a rockstar. My plan: Drop out of college as soon as my band was discovered at a dingy bar or an even dingier frat house gig by an agent who thought that Holden Caulfield (sigh, I know) was the next big thing. Well, there’s a reason I’m sitting […]
You just launched a newsletter. How quickly are you checking to see what subject line worked best? If you’re one of those brands (or people) that’s significantly stats-minded, the answer is probably right away. Digital metrics can be addicting — never before in the history of marketing have we been able to get the immediate […]
Every content marketer struggles with one ever-present question: “How often should we be producing content, anyway? There’s no one correct answer. Some common ways that companies land on content cadence include: Budget and resources: What resources are available to produce content in the first place? Channel strategy: What existing channels need to be “filled”? Building […]
Creating content that your audiences love is only one part of the content strategy puzzle
A couple of years ago, I had the chance to present a session about marketing ROI to a room full of marketing and salespeople at an industry event. My co-presenter (Steph Holland, who leads an award-winning marketing and revenue generating sales team at C&EN for the American Chemical Society) and I joked that it was […]
Your subject-matter experts are basically geniuses. They are solving complicated problems with nuanced and well-developed points of view. They understand the context, background, ancient history, pros, cons, landmines, tripwires, roadblocks and hurdles surrounding all the challenges your audience (read: your prospective and current customers) may face. Of course they do. This is what makes them […]