Content marketing was never really a thing. It was just a new name for something that has been around for a long time, namely long-form copy. Content marketing just uncovered new ways to leverage big chunks of copy. The idea itself is great. Here’s the problem: despite what anyone says, great informative content requires expertise and a fresh take on an industry situation or problem. That, again, is great. But creating that copy requires access to expertise. This means that an expert at some organization needs to set aside a decent amount of time to either write this themselves or be interviewed. Experts don’t have that kind of time. And there aren’t any good workarounds. For example,
If you’re like most busy executives, you’ve got a stack of reading material in your office and more online that you plan to get to someday. If you look at what’s actually in that stack, it’s a collection of material that you thought was important enough to save, but too lengthy to read on the spot. The goal for B2B writing is to make it on-the-spot reading wherever possible—you want to avoid the stack. You do that by creating a visual impression that the material is well organized and to the point and then you deliver on that by making the copy easy to understand and informative. Following are 10 ways to help you do that. 1. Be Concise: You are writing for upper level executives that don’t h
From the buyer's perspective, the brand is an insurance policy. A brand on a consumer product tells the buyer exactly what to expect – every time. But in B2B sales, buyers often don't know what they need, what’s available, or how it works. A reputable B2B brand, from the buyer's perspective, insures the buyer against risk before and after buying. From the B2B seller’s perspective, the basic purpose of a brand is to educate the potential buyer and reduce the impact of price on the purchasing decision. Clients give well-branded companies greater leeway and more opportunities than their lesser-known peers. Clients let these firms have: 1. Access: Anyone who's ever tried to see a C-suite execu
Marketing Advice for Small Tech Companies: What is the difference between a risk and a chance? Determining what is an acceptable risk versus a speculative chance is a challenge. Over time, this becomes intuitive for most tech company execs. In the meantime, following are a few questions to mull over: 1. What aren’t my competitors doing this already? 2. Am I justifiably ahead of the curve or is there a flaw in the idea? 3. Am I evaluating the right numbers? 4. Am I in love with the opportunity so much that I am glazing over the viability? The first question is particularly important and one that won’t require much insight to answer. Reasons that competitors are not doing it, but it may
