Content Marketing Today

Even small companies can make a news splash by emulating these best practices on PR Web

The iPad is the new computing superstar with 2 million units sold in 2 months. As a result, plenty of small companies are benefiting from the apps they have developed for the new tablet computer. Within this new environment, startups can thrive by creating unique and usable software applications that enable iPad users to be more productive.

Todo from Appigo is one such app. It's a very intuitive application that helps users manage to-do lists, tasks, and projects on their iPad. Because the iPad is hot news, great apps are potentially newsworthy, too. Unfortunately, there are plenty of competitive choices even at this early date.

How, then, can this one small player stand out from the crowd?

It’s not an oxymoron. Cool government content marketing is thriving up North.

Surprise! The Liquor Control Board of Ontario manages to tread the fine line of selling cases of liquor while extolling moderation.

Their website, www.LCBO.com, couldn’t be any more graphically pleasing or fun to peruse. Believe it or not, they also entice you to come in and shop for premade cocktails or to select from a huge selection of vintage wines.

It May Deliver More Potential Value Than a Store in a Mall or a Booth in a Tradeshow.

Imagine for a moment  that your website is really a compelling magazine that sits on a giant virtual magazine rack on the Web where only qualified buyers are browsing.

You are better situated than a store in a shopping mall where idle passers by might wander in to kill time. You're also better positioned than you would be with a booth at a trade show, when thousands of theoretical prospects stroll through the aisles looking for something that might be of interest.

In both cases, you will certainly attract some potential prospects. However, only a fraction of those mall or tradeshow visitors are seeking the specific solutions that you can provide.

Your website's presence on that virtual global magazine rack offers you the opportunity to attract visitors who are actively searching for answers to specific problems. They are on a mission to solve those problems. They need to find a company that can meet their needs now.

Web Content Strategist from Capetown Makes a Memorable Front and Back Impression

A business card is quite literally a small thing. But here’s one that made a big impression on me as a surprising example of content marketing.

The card’s owner/creator, Kerry-Anne Gilowey, participated in a workshop with me at the 2010 Content Strategy Forum. She impressed me as being memorably smart, creative, and witty. Quite separately, I found her card positively memorable, too.  And, I would have done even if I had never met her in person.

Here’s why:

Why An Effective Content Strategy is Fundamental to Effective Content Marketing

We hope you're a firm believer in the value of content marketing. If so, you know how important it is to deliver relevant and valuable content to your most important current and prospective customers. With that understanding, you are ahead of the game.

However, it is vital to incorporate a content strategy process so that you can deliver on the full promise of content marketing.

Content strategy is the kissing cousin of content marketing. As Wikipedia defines it, content strategy is "the practice of planning for content creation, delivery, and governance" and "a repeatable system that defines the entire editorial content development process for a website development project."   If you don’t have an online content strategy, it’s high time you begin work on developing one to keep your content marketing on target.

Thanks to two info-packed days I spent at the April 2010 Content Strategy Forum, I’d like to give you a head start. The Forum provided a wealth of insights on developing and deploying the right process to transform your content marketing vision into a reality that delivers bottom-line results.

Here are the top 10 takeaways on the how-to's of content strategy:

Why That Very First Impression is Vital to Your Content Marketing Strategy

Your website may be chock full of terrific content that is both relevant and compelling to your ideal target customers. But, you won’t have a chance to share that content unless you communicate  instantaneously that you provide the precise solutions they are desperately seeking.

Your visitors are the potential customers for whom you have developed your content.  But those visitors won’t root around in the hope of buried treasure. They have neither the time nor the inclination to guess whether you understand their needs and how you can help them.  That’s why you have to engage them them immediately on their arrival on your site.

Joe Pulizzi’s 8th Installment Reviews Record 353 Blogs to Select Content Marketing Thought Leaders

We are delighted to have earned another strong ranking among the content marketing blog elite. We are especially pleased because this is one tough crew of 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.  They began in 2007 with just 81 blogs and now evaluate 353 which are chosen through nominations and known content marketing-related blogs.

A Quick Guide to Getting Started with this Essential Social Media Tool

Thanks to content marketing maven, Beth Hrusch of Interact Media for this great guest post.

Marketing your small business with Facebook sounds like a lot of fun and a great idea—until it hits you.  You really have no clue how to do it.  Sure you’ve heard of it, and people are certainly on board (some with remarkably good results).  But, getting started can be intimidating, maintenance is scary and how do you measure returns, anyway?

So, now you know how your parents felt when confronted with email.  Don’t worry.  One of the great things about social media for marketing is the fact that it gives small businesses some of the advantages once enjoyed by large corporations with big marketing budgets—namely, tremendous reach and measurable results.   And, you can play around with it until you find the way to use it that works best for you.  And it’s cheap.

If you want to start marketing your small business with Facebook, here are a few pointers:

Or Maybe I’m on a special list of empty-headed business people.

But I’m hit by way too many email marketing campaigns that must assume that I’m exceptionally gullible. Perhaps I’m the only person that hates this stuff, but I’m going to share the agonizingly long text of an intelligence-insulting promotional email so you can judge for yourself.

Several normal emails kicked off the campaign promoting an online workshop. That was fine. I’m interested in the topic and am ok getting marketing missives.  But, then came the first ‘oops’ email follow up with a lame 'I goofed’ message. And then the pathetic ‘boo boo mistake’ attempt that you see below in appropriate scarlet letters sneaked into my in box.  Does this woman really think I will fall for this?

Plenty Has Changed from 1960 to 2010 but What Is Most Important Has Stayed the Same.

If you're not already a fan of the TV classic in the making, Mad Men, it's all about the Madison Avenue ad agency world of the early 1960s. There was plenty of drinking, smoking, and carrying on. But, there was plenty of great, and surprisingly timeless, marketing taking place, too.

Most of you probably are not old enough to remember when housewives really did wear shirtwaist dresses to do housework, when color TV was just beginning to take hold, when JFK  had just promised a man on the moon, and when a lot of famous brands were invented or enhanced by the ad agency Mad Men in the title.  That may have been a long time ago, but we can still learn some timeless content marketing truths from one wonderful segment.

In a Mad Men segment about the creation of the Kodak Carousel the roots of content marketing shine through when lead character, Don Draper, makes it clear that building a brand is all about storytelling and engaging the consumer--and not about technology or the company itself.