Archive for March, 2010
It should come as no surprise to the regular readers of this blog that we’re about to propose that you spend some time planning. Don’t worry – we’re not talking about the 25 people on a corporate retreat in the Bahamas, hire a professional meeting facilitator, boondoogle-esque planning session (although that does sound like a good time).
In step 5, you took a content inventory. You’re now familiar with the weapons at your disposal. You know what you have, don’t have, and what needs to be revised and optimized. Step 6 is all about creating a content roadmap that will guide you throughout the year.
The content roadmap doesn’t have to be a complicated piece. There are dozens of ways to attack this step, with thousands of slight variations to be made specific to each organization. That being said, don’t touch this step unless your core message has been refined and you know the target audience you’re trying to reach (and influence) with your content.
So let’s lay out a simple way to build this content roadmap. Start with a table. It doesn’t matter how or where you build it – use Word, use Excel, create an HTML table in a web page – whatever works for you.
Why Companies Choose to Rightsource Their Marketing
Posted in Marketing Strategy | 0 Comments 3/23/10
As many of you know, the Marketing Trenches blog is run by the leadership of Right Source Marketing. We often get asked “What is Right Source?” and “What does it mean to rightsource my marketing?”
Mike wrote a blog post this summer titled Rightsourcing Your Marketing: Why It Makes Sense Now More Than Ever, which is a great read and outlines well what rightsourcing is and isn’t.
Recently, we also put together a video on the topic, including what makes rightsourcing different, why Right Source Marketing is unique, and why clients choose to rightsource.
We talk a lot about content marketing on this blog, and video can be great content. Take a look below and let us know what you think.
I’ve been involved in the online world since 1996 – Remember back when people needed this thing called a website as soon as humanly possible, had no idea what it was, were willing to pay whatever it cost and often had no business plan at all? Despite nearly 15 years in the field, it’s only last year that I started to regularly blog. In fact, it was almost exactly a year ago today that I wrote my first post on Marketing Trenches: A Winning Bracket Resembles a Winning Marketing Strategy.
It’s interesting for me to go back and read that post now and look at how things have changed in a year. Sure, some things haven’t changed at all – I’m still writing almost exclusively about marketing, I’m still getting ready to enjoy the start of March Madness this week with more enthusiasm than just about anyone I know, and my posts are still almost without exception not as long as Mike’s. But one thing jumps out to me very quickly when I read that first post and go back and read some others in the archives – I’ve gotten better at this.
I bring this up because it jumped out to me after a recent meeting. Prior to that meeting I took a look at the company’s website, and noticed that some of it was just terribly out of date, including their blog. The blog section of their site had 3-4 posts, all in about a month’s time in 2008, and nothing since. In our meeting, I asked about this, the answer was after posting a few times they didn’t see any results, got busy, and never had the time to get back to it. Now I’m sure most of you are nodding your heads here because you have seen similar situations.
Gentlemen, we can build him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world’s ideal web designer. We can make him better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster.
Who will be that man? Or woman?
I love web designers. Hell, I am actually envious of the really good web designers. It’s a field I wish I had explored further back in college and during the early days of my career. Great web designers – the really great ones – are invaluable pieces of the marketing puzzle.
I can attest to the value of a great web designer because at any given moment, our firm is actively working with 3-4 web designers. Right now, we’re redesigning this blog, creating a client microsite, and plowing through various stages of 3 website redesigns. We can’t do any of that without a team of talented web designers. [And by the way, we're always looking for more. Drop us a line if you meet the criteria below.]
That also means that I can attest to the weaknesses of the not-so-great designers. Surprisingly, these weaknesses are rarely related to design skills. Here’s some simple advice for transforming yourself (or your design firm) from good to great:
B2B Lead Generation Step #5: Take a Content Inventory
Posted in Lead Generation, Marketing Strategy | 1 Comment 3/11/10
For those of you reading this as an isolated post, fear not. Let’s get you caught up. This is the 5th in a series of posts designed to help B2B marketers design an effective B2B lead generation strategy. Here’s what we’ve covered thusfar:
B2B Lead Generation Step #1: Start with the Right Mindset
B2B Lead Generation Step #2: Build a Strong Roster of Stakeholders
B2B Lead Generation Step #3: Identify the Metrics that Matter
B2B Lead Generation Step #4: Revisit, Refine and Simplify Your Core Message
If you followed step 4 and your messaging is now in good shape, the next step should seem very natural. Regardless of the type of lead generation programs you are going to execute, you will inevitably need content. If you are running a content-free lead generation program, you’re likely an advertiser – not a marketer. That’s ok, but this series may not provide a lot of value for you.
While taking a content inventory and prioritizing content holes may seem like a daunting task, it doesn’t have to be. I am going to give you a very simple method of attacking this step.
