Blog Insights

Customer testimonials are a necessary part of your marketing strategy, but getting them can be daunting. A good place to start is choosing a dialogue. 

Congratulations – you’ve successfully attracted someone to your website! Now: how do you stop them from clicking the dreaded back button so they have time to gain value from your content?

Incorporate motion.

First things first: No automatic editing tool can ever take the place of a human – nothing is better than a professional editor who understands the natural flow of language and has a strong grasp of grammar and punctuation.

That being said, if you’re the human who does the editing and you want to take a last pass over your work, or if the human who does the editing is unavailable and you absolutely need to send something out, there are several helpful options available online. 

Pop! An idea!

Did you ever receive a gift that was unexpected and changes the way you see the world? I was lucky enough to receive such a gift for the Christmas holiday. My future mother-in-law sent my fiancée and me a box of books. One was a children’s book.

Written by Kobi Yamada and beautifully illustrated by Mae Besom, I soon discovered that What Do You Do with an Idea? is a book for all ages.

In my last blog, I began discussing the change in marketing that has occurred over the last fifty or so years. Strategy was the focus of that post.

In this post, we’ll discuss the difference between copy-writers of old and great content writers of today.

When I think about copy-writers, I think of Peggy from Mad Men. Her job was to create promotional materials for the purpose of selling to a specific demographic. It needed to be able to persuade the reader to buy whatever the copy is selling. They used focus groups to see if the copy they wrote would move people to action.

Great content writers today write educational content that helps a potential client figure out how to solve a problem they are having. They need to be able to gently guide them through their buyer’s journey, helping the reader or viewer arrive at the conclusion that their product or service is the only one that will solve the problem.

Once in a while I see a blog from someone who I like and respect, but that is SO TOTALLY WRONG, that I have to comment on it. This is one of those posts.

Scott Yates – an entrepreneur and writer I respect – recently posted on the Marketo blog this post on Amy Adams and why you must post blog articles that you may hate.

Scott summarizes his point this way “… the short version of how this relates to content marketing is simply this: You can't treat your business blog like a movie. It's fine to like or dislike an actress. What's not fine is to treat your business blog like a movie. The question isn't if you like it. Rather, the question is if the blog is helping you meet your business goals.

Sometimes, we all like to be catered to - targeted very specifically.  When I was at Gen-Con 2013, a great example of this was from Noodles and Company that made special coupons disguised as Magic the Gathering cards.

First, let’s define 'perfect customer.' The concept of a perfect customer is pretty simple – they are the ones that, if you could get enough of them, would rock your year. They're profitable, they value your knowledge, experience, and you as a vendor partner, and they refer you. They are the people you love to do business with. As Duct Tape Marketing Consultants, we call them ideal customers.

The noise about Miley is spot on. She was a train-wreck (and local teenagers confirm this).  Consider Miley’s reputation and her public image as her content, her brand.  Here’s our observation on how she got the marketing of that content dead-wrong.  If you haven’t seen the performance (and can bear to lose 6 minutes of your life), here is the link to it

1. It was out of context – While Miley may be changing her image, she was so far out of context, that our mind doesn’t make the jump. If you want to transition your audience to a new way of thinking, its best to bring them along one logical step at a time.  A big jump is jarring and will likely lose a substantial portion of them.  If that’s your goal (and it may have been hers) then go ahead – just be prepared for the results.
2. The performance provided shock over substance – Yes, she got people talking, but there can be bad press too. For celebs, it may not matter, but for your business, it probably does.
3. You content has to be honest to who you are – Miley, trying to act like a rapper or boy from da 'hood, just looked silly.  Not only is it not in our image of her, she was also bad at it. It looked contrived and dishonest.
4. You should be respectful your audience’s time: Give them something of value -  Miley’s performance was hollow, light, all antics and no substance. (well maybe she doesn’t have any substance anyway).
5. Let your content set a good example: If your ideal target customer and persona expect flash and over the top (because that’s the business you are in) then great.  Remember, your prospects and customers are looking at your content as an example of what it would be like to do business with you.
6. Use the filter you were born with (especially in a blog); just because you can say it, doesn’t mean you should – Where did Miley ever get to the place where she thought that this was a good idea? Yes, she had the stage, but she could have said no at any point, or changed the direction.

We all make mistakes with our content.  And making one or two of these at the same time is not fatal.  Please do us all a favor though and try not to make all six at once.

The Leading Results team just invested 10 man-days at the Hubspot Inbound conference (3 of us for 3 days and 2 of us for a half day). If you are a marketer, you want to put this conference on your calendar for next year. The amount of great content and new things to learn was just about overwhelming. And it wasn’t all (or even mostly) about Hubspot software.  It covered marketing, life, customer delightion (a Hubspot word), charity, technology and trends – and those were just the sessions I personally went to.

There were great quotes from all the speakers throughout the conference – and some we thought worth sharing and considering. Here they are: