One of my favourite musicians is Count Basie. He was known for his minimalist approach to playing the piano and leaving lots of space between his notes. His music was exciting not just because of what he played, but what he didn’t play. I was listening to Count Basie the other day and began to think about how his minimalist approach could be applied to writing marketing copy. Here are my thoughts ... Read more...
Fresh Marketing Newsletter – February 2011
In This Issue: 5 Keys to Amazing Case Study Interviews Perhaps you've been thinking about tackling a project that many B2B marketers put off due to lack of time or resources - collecting customer success stories. This month, I'd like to make this challenge easier for you by offering you my time-tested tips for conducting awesome customer interviews. I find that using these strategies allow me to save tons of time and help the case studies to practically write themselves. Read more...
5 Ways Content Marketing Can Benefit You
Content marketing is one of the hottest B2B marketing developments. According to Compendium, content marketing will be to 2011 what social media was to 2010. That's because marketers are discovering how important it is to use compelling content to educate and entertain their target audience. Read on to discover 5 benefits you can achieve when you implement a content marketing strategy. Read more...
What You Must Know When You Use Social Media to Attract Customers or to Position Yourself as a Leader in Your Industry
Do you want your social media efforts to lead to high-quality leads and recognition from your industry? While both of these goals can be reached, many marketers attempt to accomplish too much at once. They may use only 1 social media profile to try to bring leads to their websites and share the latest industry trends with their peers. This post will show you the key differences between using social media to generate leads versus displaying thought leadership. Read more...
The Do’s and Don’ts of Using Jargon in Your B2B Marketing Copy
Communicating with jargon is understandable. Since you are immersed in your field on a daily basis, it may only seem natural that others should speak your language. However, using jargon in your communications can confuse your readers and make them feel alienated. If your message gets lost under layers of complex technical talk, your prospects will look elsewhere for answers to their problems. Here are 5 tips to help you understand when to use jargon and when to avoid it: Read more...
3 Ways to Spice Up Your B2B Marketing Copy
Is your corporate brochure a complete bore? Do you cringe when you send prospects outdated material because you know the message just isn't right? Perhaps you, like many marketers, have fallen into a comfort zone with your marketing or you don't have the time or resources to develop new materials. Here's the good news ... Read more...
5 Ways to Increase the Attendance at Your Events
The quality of your promotional copy can have a huge effect on the success of your live and online events. Over the past few months, I have reviewed numerous email invitations and landing pages and found common problems that could hurt your attendance. I would like to share some tips, based on my review of these problems, on how to create strong promotional copy for your events. Read more...
How to Grow a Targeted Following on Twitter
When I first started using Twitter, I made a big – yet common – mistake. I followed only people who followed me. This resulted in a stream full of spam and total silence whenever I posed a question or shared a link. When I reached about 1,000 followers, I decided to take a proactive approach to Twitter. I began to seek and follow people in my industry – people who care about the same topics I care about. Once this happened, I generated some great opportunities through the social networking platform. Below are five ways you can develop a targeted following on Twitter: Read more...
The Sterling Cooper Guide to Overcoming Copywriter’s Block
I’m hooked on Mad Men. If you haven’t seen the television show, it’s about people who work in an advertising agency on Madison Avenue in the early 1960s. Don Draper, the head of the creative department, saves many client relationships by coming up with brilliant concepts at the last minute when his clients are about to walk. However, you don't need to wait until you're almost screwed to create great copy. Simply read on to learn the top 5 ways that Don, Peggy and the crew overcome writer's block. Read more...
Discover How to Use Case Studies to Get More Customers (Live Presentation)
Case studies or customer success stories serve as powerful endorsements for your services and can help you turn more prospects into customers. However, they are also one of the most underused marketing and sales tools. Join me as I identify why you need to add case studies to your marketing mix. I’ll also explain the key components of a compelling [...] Read more...