Content Marketing Today

Let's hope they didn't pay a lot of money for this disaster.

After waiting 15 seconds on a high-speed connection, this is the meaningless page that stares out at us. If you didn't already know what Universal McCann did, you would still be clueless after staring at this page. And, if you were in a hurry, you would have moved right on by. The good news is that this advertising giant proves once again that big budgets and big egos don't add up to an effective web presence. In fact, you can and should do a lot better even as very small company. Money doesn't generate customer-centric content marketing. Thoughtful concern for your customers and their problems are the key to successful marketing strategies. That concern, expressed creatively as compelling content will achieve measurable results. For that, you may need big ideas, but you don't need a big budget. The net effect of Universal McCann's website is to imply to prospective clients that your messaging should be hard to find, take a long time to display, contain huge segments of unbroken, cliche-ridden text, and be all about the client rather than their customers. In fact, it's so bad, that you almost think it was done as a parody of really, really bad websites. Sadly, we know that's not true. Yikes! Here's where they went very wrong and how you can avoid the same traps. Read More

But we can still learn lessons from this content marketing misfire.

I recently received a marketing email via CMPTechDirect (a service of CMP Media) from one of their advertisers. That's part of the price I pay to receive occasionally useful stuff from technology vendors.

CMP Media is a highly respected technology publishing company.  In fact, I spent more than eight great years working there.  So I enjoy staying current via their regular eNewsletters and even via information from tech vendors.  So far so good. But Trend Micro's obnoxious approach put me off completely.

Definitely don't use their sneaky, untargeted, competition-trashing approach.  Do just the opposite.  Here are the 4 things not to emulate:

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Last week I received a special issue of myFORD (myFordmag.com), Ford Motor's owner magazine, entitled "New Directions". First off, I've owned a variety of Fords over the past few decades, and they've all treated me well. But frankly, I'm not really sure what they are trying to do with the latest issue of their custom magazine. If the goal is "sell, sell, sell...feature, feature, feature" then they are doing a good job. myFORD has never been an elite lifestyle magazine (actually, it's always been pretty poor), but this one may take the cake.

There is no need to go into great detail on what's wrong with myFord magazine. It takes just a simple bit of analysis.

There are 17 separate content sections in the magazine (mini-features, sidebars, etc.). Of the 17 areas, Ford is mentioned in the title or first sentence of 14 of them. What this means is that the magazine has nothing to do with customers...it's all about Ford. 

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Here are the most popular posts since the launch of Content Marketing Today in August 2007. See what you may have missed--and what thousands of marketers have learned over the past 5 months. You'll find everything from great newsletters to bad websites... great custom magazines for reluctant buyers... the 7 deadliest content marketing sins... 6 lessons to learn from a shopping mall...using content marketing to speed sales growth curve. Read on for a great refresher course in content marketing. Read More

Or maybe really relevant content had never been deposited in the first place.

As an entrepreneur, I've gotten to know a lot of bankers.  The vast majority don't fit the stereotype of button-downed and boring.  In fact, business bankers tend to be outgoing, smart, creative, and customer centric.  They are devoted to the well-being of their clients.  They offer sound, individualized advice when you're facing a challenging business situation.

Why then do so many banking websites look almost identical and offer a set of services that everyone else can match? 

We know that our bankers want us to be successful.  Why then don't they provide content on their websites that would help get us there? What do you get instead?  Clichés and same old same old.

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They are blowing their chance to retain me as a customer.

Don't get me wrong.  I love XM radio. What I love most is being able to listen to music and information channels that I really enjoy.  Conversely, I don't have to listen to anything I hate.  That's why satellite radio is such a threat to old-fashioned radio. 

However, since there are other musical choices, XM needs to remind me why I should listen more regularly than I do.  Their eNewsletter could be the perfect retention vehicle, but it's not.  Here's what they doing wrong.

They have forgotten all the lessons they learned when they created the satellite service.  It's obvious from the eNewsletter that I'm receiving a copy that is identical to what all the rest of their millions of subscribers receive. 

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By taking a look at the content marketing of one national giant and one small local company, you learn quickly that a big-budget has very little to do with great content marketing.  In fact, we can learn what not to do by looking at a Simon Property Mall site.  On the other hand, we can get a very good idea of what we should be doing by looking at the Blue Water Bistro site.

Bad online content marketing makes a beautiful mall bland and boring

You sure would think that a company as smart as Simon would do a brilliant job of showcasing its malls on the web.  You would especially think that a brand-new mall, like the Coconut point Mall in Estero Florida, would deserve special treatment.  But if that's what you thought,  you'd be wrong.  This is what you find when you look up the Coconut Point Mall on the Internet. Yikes!

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I'm continually surprised by the number of advertising and marketing professionals who don't carry their smarts onto the Web.  So here's a cautionary tale about an agency that misses an all important opportunity to connect with prospective clients. It really amounts to hiding your content under a bushel.

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They registered a slogan that's all about them.
It has nothing to do with how they benefit their clients.

If you watch any business-oriented TV, you've probably seen the Grant Thornton commercials.  They've spent millions to tell the world that they have 'a passion for the business of accounting.'  Are they suggesting that their fellow accounting firms lack a passion for the business of accounting?   That seems unlikely.  In fact, their slogan has essentially no customer value because it's all about Grant Thornton.  Apparently, they aren't passionate about content marketing.

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If your retail website doesn't showcase what you sell, you won't turn many visitors into buyers.

Of course, we know that FOS Furniture must sell furniture, because 'furniture' is in their name. But, when you arrive at their home page you have no idea what sort of furniture they sell. Sadly, FOS is suffering in the SW Florida economy like many of their retail colleagues. The depressed real estate market has dampened sales from Naples up through Cape Coral. FOS is shuttering two stores in Bonita Springs and Fort Myers. Tough market aside, a much better website could have made a positive difference. Learn how to do it better. Read More