Tag Archives: Content Strategy
Summit 2013 Highlights: Inciting a B-to-B Content Revolution
- 9th May 2013
Fully 60 to 70 percent of content churned out by b-to-b marketing departments today sits unused. This stark statistic underscores the urgent need for a content revolution in b-to-b organizations. The SiriusDecisions Content Model, a new framework introduced today by SiriusDecisions’ Summit 2013 event in San Diego, aims to help companies launch such a revolution. “Our revolutionized perspective is that content is an enterprise-wide strategy requiring the alignment of product, sales and marketing in order to optimize the factory that produces content,” said Marisa Kopec, vice president and group director at SiriusDecisions.
Continue Reading....The Three A’s of Content
- 22nd February 2013
We get a lot of questions about content – from organizational structure and workflow process all the way down to “Which should we do – a white paper or a webinar?” That’s because you can’t market without content, which makes the whole idea of “content marketing” as something new a little absurd, but I get it – we need more content than ever before, and that content needs to be better. Many organizations are in the process of mapping existing content assets to the buyer’s journey and developing strategies for filling gaps, but how do we ensure that the new content we’re creating is of high quality? Low-quality content often lacks one of the following “Three A’s” of content.
Continue Reading....If Content Is the King, Does Data/Analytics Become the Queen?
- 4th January 2013
During the last eight weeks, I have been speaking to 30 or so EMEA CMOs to understand some of the specific regional issues they are facing and learn what marketing skills are becoming more or less important for their organizations. “Understanding the buyer’s journey” and “content” are their top two responses for what is growing in importance. That’s not really a surprise; rather, it’s a confirmation that we all feel the shift of b-to-b buying behaviors as well as the importance of understanding the buyer’s journey from start to finish and aligning content and broader marketing efforts to the needs of buyers as they make this journey.
Continue Reading....Buyers Don’t Want Your Content
- 13th November 2012
Something struck me the other night as I was creating some new content for an upcoming event I’m facilitating. So, I’m building content, and actually thinking about content itself as a topic area we have been thinking and talking about a lot lately as a research team. And here’s what struck me: Buyers don’t want content. Buyers want information.
Continue Reading....Solution Messaging: Don’t Write Copy. Build a Grid Instead.
- 6th August 2012
The best way to start creating solution content is not to write copy. Before pen goes to paper, or fingers go to keyboard, stop. Before you create anything, draft the structural framework of the messaging. SiriusDecisions recommends a creative brainstorming session that involves whiteboarding the ideas in a grid structure.
Continue Reading....Thought Leadership Content: How Much Should You Share?
- 19th June 2012
Determining how much to share requires balance. Consulting leaders who leverage thought leadership strategies most successfully know that contributing compelling insights on market trends and industry issues is a highly effective way to build brand awareness and credibility.
Continue Reading....Are You “Working Blue” With Your Marketing Copy?
- 16th May 2012
I see a clear “taking the easy way out” parallel between comedians who resort to profanity instead of carefully honed monologues, and b-to-b writers who use the crutch of profound-sounding “filler” words or phrases. These let us use complete sentences even if we haven’t mastered a topic enough to explain it clearly. They also lull us into thinking we sound reasonable because it’s no different than all the other copy out there.
Continue Reading....Solution or Convolution?
- 25th April 2012
The rise of solution marketing has left in its wake a convoluted tangle of corporate messaging. I know this because I’ve been to your homepage, and I still don’t know what you do. So, let’s set aside industry lingo like “value proposition” for a moment, and I’ll be as blunt as I’m asking you to be: What do you do? What are you selling? Is it for me? How is it different?
Continue Reading....Email Marketing: The Evolution Continues
- 4th April 2012
In 1971 computer engineer Ray Tomlinson used the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) and a file transfer program called CPYNET to send what may have been the first email. Since then, email has evolved considerably — or has it? Tomlinson’s email was highly targeted, his message succinct and his audience receptive. Over 40 years later, how many b-to-b marketers can make the same claim for their emails?
Continue Reading....