Last week, I read a simple, no-brainer tip that made me say to myself, “Hey, moron, why aren’t you doing this?” Ivan Misner, the founder of BNI, wrote a post about including a P.S. in your email signature. Dr. Misner was looking at it from a networking perspective. In addition to your contact information and links to your social media pages and blog, use a P.S. at the end of your email signature to tell people who would be a good referral for you and your organization.
Read more...Marketing Doesn’t Need a Resolution. Marketing Needs a Plan.
I had a prospect asked me if I would be willing and able to post on social media for his company. They wanted three posts per week on Facebook. This isn’t something I typically do, but I asked a few questions, hoping I could refer him to someone who could help him develop and execute a social media strategy. And maybe I could help him develop original content. I started with a question that sounds simple but is difficult to answer. Why?
Read more...Stop Marketing to Businesses and Consumers, and Start Talking to Real People
I’ve never been a fan of generic labels for human beings, whether the label is based on race, religion, marital status, income, occupation, sexual preference, political party affiliation, or anything else. I like acronyms even less. I write a ton of content for the IT sector, where acronyms (like IT) run amok. WAN, SDN, MPLS, VPN, IoT, (fill in the blank)aaS, yada yada yada. There’s even an RIP that has nothing to do with dead people.
Read more...Why Aren’t You Sharing Your Success Stories?
Unless your business or organization has been a complete and utter failure, you have positive stories to tell. And you have clients who would be thrilled to help you tell them. Stories about how you solved problems. Stories about how you made someone’s life better. Stories about how you helped a business achieve a goal or turn the corner. Then why aren’t you sharing those stories?
Read more...How Content Marketing Can Help You Overcome the Trust Deficit
I was involved in a somewhat heated Facebook debate (eyerolls, I know) and was asked to prove a certain person in authority said a certain thing. I posted a link to a Reuters article with a direct quote. Not good enough. Can’t trust the media. Fake news. Have to see the actual video. That’s just one example of the serious deficit of trust in our country.
Read more...What Does “Award-Winning” Really Say About a Marketing Company?
The annual Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity wrapped up last week, awarding major ad agencies for their creative excellence. Among the dozens of awards, there are six in the Creative Effectiveness category that “celebrate the measurable impact of creativity.” That’s right. Six.
Read more...Does Your Marketing Content Tell People What to Do or Why to Do It?
New research reported in The Wall Street Journal found that “assertive advertising” is a turnoff to the majority of consumers, especially when that assertiveness comes from brands they love. Most of the conclusions from the study, at least from my perspective after reading the WSJ article, were based on the call-to-action.
Read more...What Brands Can Learn about Loyalty from Sports Fans
This is a great time of year to be a sports fan. Opening Day in baseball. National championship games in college basketball after a month of madness. Playoff hockey and basketball are about to get underway. The Masters in golf. Even the NFL Draft is only a few weeks away. When you think about it, is there any more loyal supporter in the world than a sports fan?
Read more...Beyond Know, Like and Trust: The Deeper Value of Content Marketing
By now, we as small business owners know you can’t rattle off a list of products, services, features and benefits, call it marketing, and expect people to hire us. There’s too much competition, and people have instant access to too much information. Trust in traditional advertising has eroded after decades of banging people over the head with deceptive sales pitches that insult their intelligence.
Read more...What Email Marketers Can Learn from Ransomware Hackers
I’ve written about ransomware attacks quite a bit in the last few months. IT companies want to educate their corporate clients about the latest and most dangerous cyber threats, and ransomware is often at the top of the list. Here’s how a ransomware attack typically works.
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