Junta42 Content Marketing Community

User stories: great for sales support, poor for SEO or converting sales leads

Content Community Members — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:49:34 +0000

Of all the content that companies create for marketing, “user stores” confuse the most. The confusion comes from its extremely uneven performance at different marketing functions.

For salespeople, a well written story about a successful user, who has a situation similar to a potential customer, is a big help in closing a sale. But buoyed by positive feedback from the sales department many marketers overuse this type of content and apply it for less appropriate functions. The problem is that while customers in “similar situations” find user stories interesting, customers with dissimilar situations do not.

If your user story is written about a Fortune 500 customer, potential small business readers will yawn. Don’t expect a big city retailer to be interested in reading a user story about a small town store. Other kinds of content more easily cross these divides, for example, trend stories in a small market can be as relevant in a big one. I spend many years with a trade magazine where we were always amazed at the extremely low readership scores that user stories received. Where routine articles in the publication would be read by anywhere from 40 to 60% of subscribers, user stories consistently received scores in the 10-15% level.

In a study I will be releasing through Alethea Research in January, I tracked the customers of 34 different suppliers in a market and asked them to check if they felt if supplier provided “user stories,” motivated them to be more likely to want to buy products from the sponsoring suppliers. About a third (36%) said user stories positively motivated them, but this was a significantly lower score than many other content forms received. In addition, the customer bases of the individual 34 companies had different scores. For the customers of the company with the lowest score only 29.6% said user stores positively motivated them, while the customers for the highest scoring company, 49.3% were motivated by user stories. That's about a 20% spread between them. The lower scores seemed to go to companies whose products and solutions were well established and well understood, companies with products that were generally newer or more unusual received higher scores. There seems to be less interest in reading user stories about prodcuts are are well understood or familiar.

Bottom line: marketers need user stories. If you can create a series of them covering the typical usage situations of your products you can help your sales staff close sales. Keep in mind that the popularity of user stories will vary company to company and product to product, depending on how new, unusual, or newsworthy products are. But just because your sales staff loves user stories don’t think they will help with your web site's search engine optimization (SEO), build readership for your newsletter, or provide down-loadable content to fuel a lead generation programs. There are other content forms that will do a far better job.

To hear more about my content usage study when it comes out, sign up for my "Marketing Broadcast" newsletter.

Name: Josh
Company: Gordon
URL: http://jgordon5.typepad.com/content/2011/12/user-stories-great-for-sales-support-bad-for-attracting-or-converting-sales-leads-.html

Personal Branding in the Corporate Workplace Requires a Plan

Content Community Members — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:49:34 +0000

Organizations that embrace employee personal branding with a strategic plan gain many benefits. At the heart of the plan is a content strategy.

Name: Bernie Borges
Company: Find and Convert
URL: http://www.findandconvert.com/2011/12/personal-branding-in-corporate-workplace/

5 Content Strategy Remedies for Persona Proliferation

Content Community Members — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:49:34 +0000

The question was asked in a LinkedIn Group, but it's probably being asked by marketers all over the place:

If your company serves a wide array of industries, how do you manage your content strategy for myriad customer/buyer personas?

I have a hunch the Junta42/CMI community has all sorts of effective answers to this question. Here's a post with 5 possible "remedies" for Persona Proliferation Syndrome. Add others to the list with a comment.

Name: Vince Giorgi
Company: Hanley Wood Marketing
URL: http://wp.me/prZbT-nN

Are Great Blog Content Ideas Staring You Right in the Face?

Content Community Members — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:18:12 +0000

Coming up with valuable blog content ideas; it’s one of the most common content marketing challenges that companies face (and heck, all publishers in general when you think about it). But does it really have to be?

Image Credit: Idea go/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Earlier today I had a great conversation with Marcus “The Sales Lion” Sheridan that we recorded for a new podcast on OpenView Labs. While the complete audio will be up soon, I thought I’d blog a little about one of the topics we touched upon: how companies can develop more blog content ideas around what their potential customers are searching for.
read more

Name: Editor
Company: Junta42
URL: http://blog.openviewpartners.com/are-great-blog-content-ideas-staring-you-right-in-the-face/

Social Media plus Content Marketing can Yield Powerful Results

Content Community Members — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:18:11 +0000

Yet, kings can be both fickle and demanding sorts. And, let’s face it; for those who work in social media, and areas like marketing, content is not just king, but can be a royal pain, too; after all, it can be a real challenge to generate the quantities of high quality content needed to stay ahead of the proverbial pack.

Bringing social media together with marketing via content marketing can address this concern and offers other benefits. It can provide social media teams with new sources of content and a way to earn ROI for their efforts. For marketers, the practice can help them use the latest methods to reach customers and support thought leadership, brand building and lead generation activities.

read more

Name: Editor
Company: Junta42
URL: http://windmillnetworking.com/2011/11/30/social-media-content-marketing-business-results/

Content Marketing Focus & Trends: How Do You And Your Marketing Efforts Compare?

Content Community Members — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:18:11 +0000

I just reviewed MarketingProfs and Content Marketing Institute’s just released survey on content marketing. No surprise, content marketing is exploding, expected to surge more than 26%. Content marketing is providing much needed marketing vehicles for companies to more deeply engage their prospects and customers—predominantly on their own web sites and increasingly across the web. However, as we have all learned, this is a HUGE amount of work. I recommend taking a look and using the data from this report to drive discussions across your marketing peers (and boss) and senior executives about how other marketers are using content to make deeper connections with prospects and customers, and build a revenue pipeline.

read more

Name: Editor
Company: Junta42
URL: http://createyournextcustomer.techweb.com/2011/12/06/content-marketing-focus-trends-how-do-you-and-your-marketing-efforts-compare/

5 Tips For More Effective B2C Internet Marketing

Content Community Members — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:31:02 +0000

Compared to B2B companies, businesses focused on consumer audiences are typically focused on a much shorter sales cycle due to the cost and nature of the purchase. They are searching for a one stop sale. B2C companies typically target a single decision maker or customer segment instead of multiple decision makers and influencers. As a result, the approach and internet marketing tactics mix needs to be more relevant to the consumer vs. the business buying experience.

read more...

Name: Editor
Company: Junta42
URL: http://www.toprankblog.com/2011/12/5-tips-effective-b2c-marketing/

10 Ways to "Solve" Facebook for B2B

Content Community Members — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:31:02 +0000

Great slideshare presentation from Eloqua. Includes what works and what does not when engaging fans and customers on Facebook.

Name: Editor
Company: Junta42
URL: http://www.slideshare.net/Eloqua/facebookforb2b

What do Your Blog, Business, and Brand ‘Truly’ Look Like to the Rest of the World?

Content Community Members — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:31:01 +0000

If I say the word ‘McDonalds’, what images immediately come to your mind?

Is it ‘Big Mac’?

‘Golden Arches’?

‘Happy Meal’?

The list goes on and on. But without question, when someone says the word ‘McDonalds’, visions dance around the head of each and every one of us.

The same could be said for Apple and Disney too.

In fact, name any great company/ brand and an image will likely pop right into your head.

Now let me ask you a really serious question…and be completely honest:

If someone were to picture an image of your brand and blog in their mind, what would they see?

Read more and view infographic

Name: Editor
Company: Junta42
URL: http://www.thesaleslion.com/brand-blog-business-visual/

5 Ways to Get Employee to Contribute SEO Content

Content Community Members — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 23:25:45 +0000

At the heart of your SEO strategy is the importance of continually creating, posting and sharing relevant content to your website and blog. The challenge most companies face is getting subject matter experts spread throughout the company to contribute content. Consider these five strategies to inspire employees to contribute SEO content.

Name: Bernie Borges
Company: Find and Convert
URL: http://www.findandconvert.com/2011/11/5-ways-to-get-employees-to-contribute-seo-content/

Content marketing advice: 5 tips on how to best display content on your website

Content Community Members — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 02:26:07 +0000

It's all very well creating a finely crafted piece of content, but just how are you planning on promoting it and gaining maximum exposure from your efforts? Often overlooked in favour of external publications, your own website offers a great way to engage with your audience. Building your site up with relevant content can help your business make the jump from company to publisher, helping you gather an audience of consumers.

Name: Sarah Howard
Company: Vertical Leap
URL: http://www.vertical-leap.co.uk/blog/content-marketing-advice-5-tips-on-how-to-best-display-content-on-your-website/

Exploiting content marketing's dirty secret: most content is a commodity

Content Community Members — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 20:08:25 +0000

Content marketing is becoming a victim of its own success. As more organizations invest more in content development (Hey, everybody's got a web site!) the sheer volume of content being released goes way up. The more content that is created means that more of it will be similar and thus it becomes a commodity.

The number of websites alone has doubled in the past three years (chart below). More sites, more content.

Total Sites Across All Domains
August 1995 - November 2010

Today, smart content developers are shifting their efforts from content creation to UNIQUE content creation.

Research your market.

Before you can create content that is new, you need to know what kind of information is common. It is not enough to understand your reading habits, you need to know about everyone else's.

Hire journalists to tell your story.

There is big difference between a company announcement and a great story. Journalists are trained to find unique stories. It is a skill in its own right.

Hire bloggers to tell your story.

People who write in a market every day know what is commonly covered and what is not. Bloggers can often find different stories.

If you can become a provider of unique content you change the dynamic of the content flow around you. Why? Because you become a content originator, not just a content repackager.

In 1997 my book, Tough Calls, came out. As the first national release of an unknown business writer expectations were low. My publisher told me most business books sell less than 3,000 copies in their lifetime and if I could hit that number I should be happy.

But my book had a secret weapon build into it: an imaginative survey that offered new insight into problem customer behavior.

Within a year of the book's release I had been asked to share survey insights with appearances on CNN, CNBC, Wall Street Journal TV (twice), and The Fortune Business report. Book sales were bolstered by international translations. The Korean edition alone hit the 3,000 copy mark.

You can click on the picture to see a video clip from four of my 1997 television appearances. Unique content sells!

See the video:

http://youtu.be/6XlBs_9EPyY
or

Name: Josh
Company: Gordon
URL: http://jgordon5.typepad.com/content/2011/11/exploiting-content-marketings-dirty-secret-most-content-is-a-commodity.html

Transparency is key to good content marketing. How 3 companies are exposing themselves online.

Content Community Members — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 01:04:43 +0000

There are several companies who are opening the curtains and lifting the veil of brand “secrecy” to give the world a real bird’s eye view to what makes their company tick and how it all works. They are great examples of how companies are showing their human side through proactive storytelling and putting it all out there for the world to see. They’ve created fun, memorable, engaging content that inspires you to share it and want to learn more about the company...and buy their products.

Name: Debbie Williams
Company: Sprout Content
URL: http://blog.getawordin.com/content-marketing-strategy/transparency_in_contentmarketing/

The 5 Essential Pillars of Digital Marketing

Content Community Members — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 01:04:42 +0000

Digital marketing is comprised of five essential elements. At the top of the list is content marketing, followed by inbound marketing, social media, email and mobile marketing. This post suggests a simple, but practical definition to digital marketing for brands to consider from a strategic perspective.

Name: Bernie Borges
Company: Find and Convert
URL: http://www.findandconvert.com/2011/11/digital-marketing-the-5-essential-pillars/

Optimize and Socialize Your Way to Better Business Blogging

Content Community Members — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 15:41:49 +0000

Blogs are often rated one of the top content marketing tactics for attracting and engaging customers, but most companies fail to combine two of the most important tools for boosting traffic and reach: optimization for search engines and for social media.

Most marketers and business bloggers understand the notion of search engine optimization, but often focus more on keywords than the customers that are actually searching. Adding keywords to blog posts is a common SEO tactic, but developing a blog content plan around both search keywords and social topics can result in content that is inherently search and social media friendly.

The Business of Optimizing Social Media
see more in this post

Name: Editor
Company: Junta42
URL: http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2122820/optimize-socialize-business-blogging