Content & Message

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  Little Ask, Big Ask: LinkedIn Makes Their Little Ask Easier

  Interesting change from the fine folks at LinkedIn. They are now offering the option to make Follow the primary option on your profile, rather than Connect. I’ve made the change this and am eager to see how it plays out going forward. From a content marketing standpoint, this makes great sense. Rather than asking for…MORE >

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  Content Marketing: When to Use Gated Content

  Gated content has its advantages and disadvantages, but you shouldn’t be looking at it as an all-or-nothing consideration. Here are some tips on when to gate content, what kinds of content to gate, and how to gate your content effectively. What is Gated Content First, let’s define what gated content is. Quite simply, it’s content…MORE >

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  Do You Really Need a New Website?

  Planning, designing, and creating a new website is – or should be – a resource-intensive enough process that no marketing organization would consider undertaking it without a truly compelling business reason. Perhaps that’s strange to hear from the head of a website development firm. But I’m not saying you never need a new website. I’m suggesting that…MORE >

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  What Content Marketers Can Learn from Breaking Bad

  Yes, I’m way behind in my binge watching. (Don’t even mention Game of Thrones!) But I was struck by a situation Hank found himself in on an episode I just watched from season 2. In addition to being an all-around, grade A jerk, Hank is a bigot. So he’s shocked to see a statuette of…MORE >

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  Social Proof and Reputation Management as Part of Your Digital Marketing

  A bit more than a year ago, we found out we had competition. Of course, we’ve always had competition from other digital marketers and web developers. Now, we had competition for our name. The Motorola Employees Credit Union decided to change its name to Andigo Credit Union. (We weren’t offended when the general consensus of…MORE >

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  Content Marketing: Sell Solutions, Not Stuff

  If you’re selling stuff, you’re selling yourself short. Stop sending emails and social media posts saying, “If you’re struggling with X, we can help.” Your prospects get that same email ten times a day from you and all of your competitors. They didn’t believe the first one, and the won’t believe the last. Instead, focus…MORE >

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  Sales Matter, but There are Other KPIs for Your Content Marketing

  Ideally, you have a system in place that allows you to connect the content your prospects consume with the progress they make through your funnel and, ultimately, the sales that are generated. That’s where the rubber meets the road and generating leads that create revenue is the most important role marketing plays. Your marketing efforts…MORE >

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  The Dangers of Echo Chambers and Walled Gardens for Marketers

  Go where your customers are. If that’s not one of the Top Ten pieces of marketing advice ever, I can’t imagine what is. And yet … A few months ago, Facebook made a move to promote its private groups. You can read about one reporter’s experience in joining dozens of these groups in this New…MORE >

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  Content Hubs to Encourage Engagement

  Your audience cares less about whether any particular piece of material in your content marketing program is a white paper or a case study or an infographic or an explainer video and much more about whether the content is helpful to them and their business. If it is helpful, they probably want all the content…MORE >

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  What Should Your Website’s Marketing Goals Be?

  Just having a website isn’t going to win you business any more than just having a business card will. Knowing what you need your website to do is critical to its success as a hub in your marketing program. Let’s start with a caveat. We are talking here about marketing-focused websites. Your website may be…MORE >