Content Marketing Today

Great MindMap from the Mindjet Folks Simplifies Twitter and Proves Power of Mindmapping

On the most basic level, it's easy to explain Twitter in a few bullet points:

• Twitter is a micro-blogging service that you can use from anywhere you can get an Internet connection.
• You sign up and give yourself an identity that lives on Twitter, such as mine--Twitter.com/newtbarrett.
• You can then post 140 character text messages which may include hyperlinks.
• You can choose to follow fellow members whose ' tweets ' will show up automatically on your Twitter page.
• Other members can choose to follow you to see what you have to say.
• The heavy hitters on Twitter may have thousands of followers and may post dozens of tweets per day.
• Every Twitter member can pass on or ' retweet' other messages so that the reach of what you have to say is potentially huge and global.
• All of this happens in real time

At this point, you may be thinking, "Okay, I understand that, but what's the point?  Why would I want to do any of that stuff?  That's where this great mindmap created by Mindjet's Michael Deutch comes into play. It illustrates why you need to care about Twitter for your business--and how to get smart about using it. Read More

Joe Pulizzi's 5th Installment Reviews Record 224 Blogs to Select Content Marketing Thought Leaders

The number of blogs reviewed by the Junta42 team has grown as dramatically as the move toward adoption of content marketing strategies among companies of all sizes.

As Joe, founder and chief content officer of Junta42, and my co-author of  "Get Content Get Customers explains: 

"The content marketing revolution is alive and well. We started this almost two years ago with just a handful of blogs. Now at more than 200, it's amazing to witness how many marketing professionals are actively discussing the benefits and challenges of content marketing and custom publishing."

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What You Can Learn from Their Response to My Critical Commentary on Their New Instant Coffee Launch

Last week, I wrote a fairly skeptical post about the launch of Starbucks new instant coffee, Via Ready Brew. I suggested that it might suffer from a sad fate similar to that of 'New' Coke in 1984, in spite of the massive amount of research that both companies have conducted prior to the new product introductions.

In fact, I used the instant coffee launch to illustrate the power of the blogosphere for a mini case study with a class of PR strategy students from Florida Gulf Coast University.  As a guest lecturer, I spoke to the class about content marketing and the growing importance of social media components such as business blogging.  My Starbucks article and the company's good-natured and gracious response  perfectly illustrated the importance of monitoring and responding positively to the blogosphere.

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6 Lessons to Learn from a Young Mom Who Has Built a Successful Clothing Brand While Learning Business the Hard Way

Heather Nolte is a self-described 5' 1" Texas firecracker who launched her fun and fashionable  clothing company with tons of energy, but not a shred of entrepreneurial experience.

She targets moms and their very young kids who are desperate for clothing options that are not the same old same old "mommy and me" choices. Her tagline tells the story: "From the crib to the catwalk."

Although Heather was able to get her company up and running on just $2000, she has always had big dreams. Those dreams and her business naivety led her to make some expensive and damaging marketing mistakes very early on.

Instead of conceding defeat, she immediately set out to learn absolutely everything about building a successful business with a combination of creativity and frugality.  What she learned about marketing has made all the difference.

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We all know the cliché, "A picture is worth a thousand words."  Of course, so many clichés have persisted so long because they contain so much truth.  In fact, if you strip out well-chosen, relevant images from a website, you wind up with a dry husk that has little appeal to busy Web travelers. So, maybe a picture is worth 10,000 web visitors or more.

Here's something that's even better: striking and memorable images that are paired with words of wisdom. Thanks to Jess Sloss of Socialsquared for uncovering the unique work of Will Lion.

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Are they tossing authenticity right out the window just like Coca Cola tried to do to its much loved 'classic' version?

I may be all wrong.  After all, the folks at Starbucks have undoubtedly spent a bazillion dollars in research to show that there is a need for a new kind of instant coffee. I simply have a gut reaction that their new Via Ready Brew, misses on three counts:

1. Starbucks is all about freshly brewed, freshly ground coffee served up in an authentic Starbucks environment.  Instant coffee, by any other name, is a throwback to a time when we needed a very low-cost solution to having a single cup at home or in the office.
2. Starbucks has a hard won image as an environmentally sensitive company that understands issues of sustainability and conservation.  How do individually plastic wrapped portions of instant coffee square with that company image? How many of those plastic wrappers will wind up in landfills around the US?
3. Starbucks is already bucking a new cost-conscious trend among American consumers.  Now are they are asking us to shell out 80 cents for a cup of instant coffee(if you buy the 12 pack).  Of course, that's cheaper than what we would pay for a small cup in a Starbucks retail store. But it's 10 times more expensive than if we brew Starbucks coffee at home from a bag we can buy at the supermarket.

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Essential content marketing advice from the Red VW Bus blog

Blogger, Tim Moore, wrote recently about the need to give up old school marketing and replace it with a new approach is based on understanding buyers as "prosumers."

A prosumer is actively involved in researching and interacting with the companies from whom they will buy.  They expect to find accurate, objective, and trustworthy information from every vendor.  If they don't find it, they will head off to evaluate someone else. Worse, they will probably never return.

Old-school marketers are uncomfortable with this concept.  They are used to one-way marketing communication and a sales approach that talks at the customer rather than with the customer. That just doesn't work anymore.

According to Tim, the Apple store is a perfect example of an environment in which prosumers are welcomed with open arms.  This matches my own experience in which I was able to get honest and earnest answers to every question I had about a new iPhone. I had absolute trust in Apple and its people throughout the buying transaction. We probably all wish that the Apple store experience was replicated throughout the retail industry.

I think Tim is right on the money with his emphasis on the need to establish trust.

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You Don’t Have to be the Ritz to Deliver Superb In Person Content Marketing

My recent stay at the Ritz-Carlton Sarasota reminded me of all that's wonderful about every one of their hotels. In fact, this Sarasota gem just won the 2008 Florida Governor's Sterling Award for quality.

On the rare occasion when I have the opportunity to enjoy a stay at a Ritz Carlton, I grab it. Why? Although the quality of their facilities is suberb, it's the  quality of their legendary  service that creates such a talkable experience for me and for their fortunate guests. That makes for great in-person content marketing. It's the final element that makes all the rest of your content marketing completely authentic. That's what your customers will share with the world.  In fact, here I am talking about that very experience with you.

The Ritz-Carlton folks have determined that its sumptuous facilities are necessary but not sufficient to make their hotels so highly rated. Rather, it is the lofty level of customer service that makes the difference.

If you emulate their approach to hiring and looking after the right people and to developing a quality customer process, you can become the customer service Ritz-Carlton of your industry.

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It is so hard, but so important to explain what it is that you do and how it will benefit the person to whom you are communicating. Not at length.  But so concisely that it can be communicated in less time than it takes an elevator to go up a few floors. And, so compellingly that your listener will remember and repeat it to others. Actually, Nick Morgan is even more precise than this.  He says your elevator speech must be a single sentence. I have just begun to read his wonderful book, Give Your Speech, Change the World. It is absolutely must reading, even if the only speeches you give are internal presentations within your organization. Nick is the founder of Public Words, a communications coaching company. So he gives speeches--and teaches people how to give speeches--for a living. It's obvious from reading his book that he is a very, very good at it. Listen to what he has to say about that all-important elevator speech. Read More

She is listening to her customers and she is passionate about her products. So we believe Progressive is, too. And, through Flo, the company makes it a no-brainer to understand why we should buy from them and how we can do it.

I think we would all like to run into a sales clerk who cares as much about her customers as Flo does in the long running series of Progressive Insurance commercials that encourage viewers to visit their website, Progressive.com.  She is probably now just as much of an insurance advertising icon as the Geico gecko. 

Actually, the two advertising campaigns have something in common: they are amusing and memorable, but they make very clear points about why you will benefit from buying their products.  Creativity never gets in the way of their goal to persuade you to buy stuff.

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