Content Marketing Today

Miss Lucy's House of Holidays understands how to segment its customers and deliver targeted messages as part of a consistent content marketing campaign.

Like many small retailers, Miss Lucy's has a limited marketing budget. Unlike many small retailers, they have a very clear understanding of their ideal target customer and know how to conduct carefully segmented e-mail marketing.

Their elegant shop focuses on high-end product lines and unique gifts which are centered around a holiday theme. Throughout the year, and for a wide variety of holidays, they continually redecorate and refocus the design of their store. Among their collections are Swarovski Crystal, Waterford Crystal Crabtree & Evelyn and Christopher Radko.  They complement their retail efforts with exquisite holiday decorating of homes for affluent customers. This side of the business is so popular that they are booked two years ahead.

Since their founding in October 2006, they have experimented with a variety of marketing that included print advertising, TV advertising, radio advertising, direct mail--and most persistently and effectively e-mail marketing. Today, they do almost no traditional marketing.  They have instead focused their efforts on e-mail marketing.

Here's why that works so well for them:

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A tips eNewsletter can work for a free trial or an actual purchase.

Whether or not you are actually sending out regular eNewsletters to customers and prospects, you should consider creating a special ‘tips’ eNewsletter for new users and/or testers.

As it frequently does, the Avongate blog inspired me with a post that was specific to software companies that need to convert free trial users into paying customers. Guest blogger, Jason Cohen, CEO of Smart Bear Software, emphasizes that you need to do something with your captured customer info, because you will be wasting data otherwise. But, he also suggested that the typical "thanks and hope you're enjoying our software " was not much better than doing nothing.

Instead, he recommends that you do a special-purpose series of three eNewsletters that are filled with tips about how to make best use of the product that prospects are testing. 

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The E-Book E-Book Is the Perfect Example of Content Marketing That Helps You Be a Much More Effective Content Marketer

You have to love it when a great marketing guy completes the content marketing circle. That's exactly what Jonathan Kranz has done in his new E-Book E-Book which teaches its readers  exactly how to create an effective e-book that will, in turn, serve as an effective content marketing vehicle for their organizations.

Jonathan is true to the content marketing credo. He provides relevant and compelling content for free. He proves that he understands how to create a great e-book by creating a great e-book. In so doing, he makes himself a trusted source of information whom we would be comfortable hiring to help us with our content marketing. It just doesn't get any better.

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The Wigglebutt Inn Gets It Just Right With a Remarkably Wonderful Name

You might not know immediately what overnight guests the Wigglebutt Inn is designed to serve. But, if you guessed that they are four-legged and furry, you would be right on the money. In fact, I'll bet that most of you not only guessed what the business does but immediately formed a mental image of a happy dog wagging his tail furiously as soon as you heard the name.

Fortuitously, I learned about this brand-new business just after reading an article by Martin Jelsema in BrandNamingBasics.com about the importance of developing your brand name based on a personality-driven brand story. Martin could well have used as an example the Wigglebutt Inn which will open in September 2009 and provide company lodgings for the day or full multiple night stays for our canine pals.

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You may be wondering why something as seemingly simple as Twitter causes so much confusion and consternation among business people. Perhaps, it best likened to a tool like a hammer which is simultaneously simple and powerful.  After all, a hammer can be used to put up a basic bookshelf or to build an entire home that will house a family for a lifetime. Everything depends on whether you wield that hammer in an awkward, solitary way or use it skillfully and cooperatively with a team of other like-minded folks.  So too with Twitter.   Used poorly, you may do little more than smash your virtual thumb.  But, if you use it well, you can make a measurable difference in your content marketing strategy.  Happily, some terrific tools make the effective use of Twitter almost as easy as hammering in a nail. (If you are brand new to Twitter, you may want to read our earlier post, Twitter for Business Made Easy , before continuing)

Here are six easy ways for Twitter to strengthen your content marketing efforts:

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Powerful Trend Reinforces Need for Effective Content Marketing Strategies

Word of mouth marketing has carried marketing messages since the time of cavemen. Back then, it didn't get your message more than a few cave doors down. Thanks to the impact of the Internet, changes in buyer behavior, and the power of blogging and social media, it will be among the most important ways to market your content and your company. That makes the creation of relevant and compelling content even more important than ever as buyers and prospects spread the word about you and your organization.  Intuitively, we know this to be true.  Solid research now reinforces that intuition. New research from the Word-Of-Mouth Marketing Association(WOMMA) indicates that expenditures for this powerful brand of spreading the word will grow tenfold from 2003 to 2013. According to the research, conducted by PQ Media, spending on word-of-mouth (WoM) marketing rose 14.2% to $1.54 billion in 2008, despite the worst economic recession in 70 years, accentuated by secular and structural trends battering traditional advertising and marketing media. While year-over-year growth is expected to slow in 2009, WoM spending is on pace to grow another 10.2% this year, placing it among the fastest growing advertising and marketing segments. This contrasts with the dramatic decline in the US and global economies. Read More

The best small business solution is to eliminate a separate blog and website.

Unfortunately, typical small companies often misunderstand the power of a business blog--and cannot envision how it can and should be the driving force behind your online presence.  Your best bet is to leverage the power of blogging software to create an online presence which is, at once, timeless and timely.

Most of us began with a website that contains static content that was never intended to change much over time. Your static website will be an essential source of product, service, and company data to the majority of buyers that now relying on the Internet as their primary repository of information for potential purchases. Your static website is a vital beginning.  But, it's only a beginning. 

To compete for the attention of both search engines and buyers, you will need to add more and more dynamic content over time.  That's where a business blog comes into play.  If you already have a blog--or are considering one--you probably think of it as a completely separate entity with limited functionality.  That may be true for large organizations.  But, for a small business, your blog should be the engine behind a full fledged website that delivers much more clout than your old-fashioned static version.

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It's Not Visual. It's Doesn't Get Quickly to the Point. It Doesn't Show How It Can Help.

When much of the web was experimental and Web surfing was still recreational, it might have been okay to have a website that was creative for its own sake--even when it was unclear about its purpose.  Not so today. 

We face three key realities that must shape our thinking about a good versus bad website

• Websites are our most important marketing tool. They will increasingly replace most traditional marketing.  Therefore, you have to get it right.
• Your prospective online buyers are pressed for time and won't waste it trying to figure how they will benefit from what you do. 
• You have just one chance to influence your prospective buyer.  If they are not impressed, they will mosey on down the Internet.

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Adventure Training Concepts(ATC) shows us quickly and precisely what they do and why should we should care

I met the founders of this company several years ago when they were just getting started. I always loved the idea of what they were attempting to do but had never looked at their website, until I reconnected with one of the owners, Michelle Jones.

ATC leverages the Armed Forces skills of its founders to teach leadership to the building of teams within a challenging adventure framework.

Of course, I knew what their company did because I had met them before. But I would have been just as clear about who they are, what they do and how they can help my company from a quick visit to their website.

Here's what works so well on their website.

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How a small PR firm built an abbondonza of buzz for a Florida client with a house to sell.

Big ideas can trump big bucks.  This is especially true in the new Internet-powered world of public relations. 

Savvy marketers with minimal budgets can get pervasive press coverage that would have been impossible five or 10 years ago.  Just ask Tina Haisman, Southwest Florida PR professional, who was able to generate an astonishing amount of TV, radio, and print coverage far beyond Florida borders. 

Tina's challenge was to help a Southwest Florida homeowner that needed to sell his multimillion dollar mansion in a very tough real estate market.  The homeowner knew that he needed to reach well beyond his local market for likely buyers of his luxurious home.  So, he cooked up the idea of a $1 million coupon that would be offered to anyone who bought his house.

She began with a traditional public relations approach of assembling a list of a hundred or so media contacts that might be open to writing about the unique coupon idea, particularly in the area of real estate.  She would then plan to e-mail reporters and follow-up with phone calls.  For decades, some variation of this proven approach has worked well to get news coverage.  But, without a lot of time, a big staff, and a big-budget, she could expect good, but limited success.

Instead, motivated by the client's reiterated push for' buzz', Tina decided to make a big bet on a social media press release approach via PR Web.  This enabled Tina and her client to reach and influence a global audience with minimum effort and maximum impact.

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