Tone blog
10
Sep

Setting the right tone is critical to your written communications

written by Stan Carlberg

With my kids’ school now in session, I recently received a volunteer email to rally the troops for the upcoming year. The intention of the writer, I think, was to motivate volunteers to donate their time and money for various programs. However, the extra large red font and capitalization came across as a scolding rather than an invitation to a great new year of volunteering. Instead of getting out my checkbook, I wanted to run the other way. The funny thing is, I’ve met the copywriter and the email couldn’t have been more opposite of her positive and cheerful personality.

This got me thinking about how we communicate with each other online. While certain social media tools such as video blogs, webinars, and audio files allow for certain inflections in our voice to set a proper tone, written communication is missing one of the most important components of communication — body language. With any in-person conversation, a smile or friendly gesture speaks volumes to your demeanor. It’s different with emails, blogs and Tweets. As copywriters, we’re often too focused on what we have to say that we don’t invest the same level of time and energy in how to say it. As a result, there’s potential for our message to get misinterpreted.

The challenge for every content writer is to communicate in a way that is as natural as talking to someone in the same room. While the subject matter is important, the tone on how you deliver your message plays a critical role in connecting with your audience. For example, with email there’s no affirmation to emotionally support what you are trying to say. The wrong tone, or even lack of tone, can distance yourself from your readers. Here are a few things you should think about when drafting your next email. (more…)

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3
Sep

Uncovering compelling stories for effective content marketing

written by Stan Carlberg

Everybody loves a good story. That’s why, as content marketers, we should always be on the lookout for fresh and intriguing tales that educate and entertain our target audience.

One of the biggest challenges in content marketing is making a strong connection with your audience and keep them captivated throughout the sales process. One way to do this is by telling compelling stories they can relate to. Whether it’s a tale about a particular problem they’re dealing with or an example of how someone resolved an issue they know all-too-well, when a story is crafted just right you not only have your audience’s full attention, you will leave them wanting more.

The challenge, of course, is uncovering such gems. While you may think you need to scour the globe to find great stories, the true is they’re probably hiding right under your roof. The following are a few resources you may want to ping to build a library of stories that can boost the effectiveness of your content marketing efforts:

  • Your Customers. There’s no better source to tap than your customers. Not only do they represent the audience you’re targeting, they can provide unique perspectives on issues they are facing that your audience can directly relate to.

    • (more…)

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27
Aug

Great marketing content deserves 9 lives

written by Stan Carlberg

So, you’ve written a great press release. Your announcement is getting some nice pickup online and you’ve even scheduled a couple of interviews with interested media. From a PR perspective, you can pat yourself on the back for a job well done. From a content marketing standpoint, however, it’s a job well started.

As the title suggests, great marketing content deserves nine lives. Having your marketing material sit idle in a single format — whether it’s a press release, white paper or case study — significantly limits the desired results for your corporate marketing campaign. The truth is, everyone absorbs information differently, and we all have different preferences on how we like to communicate online. Nowadays, limiting your content to a single medium might as well be considered a marketing crime because you’re probably losing money on opportunities that would otherwise present themselves through different social media tools.

With the content already written, the next step is to consider how you can repurpose the copy to get it in front of the real audience you’re targeting — your prospects and customers. With so many social media tools at your disposal, it is essential that you leverage them to increase your chances of reaching your target audience. The following are some of the top social media tools you should consider leveraging for all of your marketing content:

    1. Website. Having the content on your website allows you to provide links on every marketing tool you leverage, which brings your audience back to where you want them in the first place, your company’s site.

    2. Blog. How can a company expect to get the good word out there if they aren’t blogging about it? They can’t. A blog is a critical outlet to voice your thoughts and tie your messages with your industry’s hottest topics.

    3. Newsletter. In order to successfully develop a monthly newsletter, repurposing content you’ve recently developed provides a recap of company announcements, unique insights, and industry news you’ve blogged about that your customers might not have come across.

    4. Twitter. It goes without saying that any time you blog or make an announcement, you should also Tweet about it. However, because Twitter is an interactive tool, simply posting it is not enough. Repurposing your content to strike up a conversation is essential to spreading the word and positioning yourself as a thought leader.

    5. Powerpoint presentation. Industry information in the form of trends, stats or graphics that you’ve included in a white paper, case study or blog can be repurposed into effective Powerpoint slides you can use in customer meetings or webinars.

    6. YouTube. Any time you’ve got visuals, whether it’s a compelling screenshot or a videotaped interview at a trade show, posting it on a popular shared-video website like YouTube is another way to get your message out there and position your company as an industry leader.

    7. Customer email. We’re always looking for a reason to touch base with our customers and prospects. And there’s no better reason than providing them with useful or educational content they can use to solve problems or make better business decisions.

    8. Facebook/LinkedIn, etc. Online social networks and communities no longer limit themselves to family photos of your recent summer vacation. As one of the fastest growing social media tools for companies, leveraging popular online social networks is essential to any marketing program.

    9. Contributing article. Online publications are always looking for good material. While they never encourage content that is self-serving, they often publish educational articles from executives and other experts in a particular field. If someone in your company is writing a contributing article, chances are your marketing team has already developed materials that can help support the key points they are trying to make in the article.

So, the next time you make a company announcement or post a blog, consider how you can repurpose or customize existing content for another platform. By leveraging multiple social media tools and channels, you are giving your marketing content the nine lives it deserves to reach your target audience, create new opportunities, and nurture your leads through the sales process.

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24
Aug

Keys to a good investor presentation

written by Scott Olson

A contact of mine asked me yesterday for examples of a good investor presentation and I thought it would be a good topic for my blog. I pointed him to one of the best writeups I have found on making an investor pitch using the principals of customer development.

In this post Steve Blank calls out some of the pitfalls of typical investor pitches and focuses in on how the more data you can present from your interactions with customers and prospects the better. It’s all about showing what you have learned and how it has made your company better.

I especially liked his call out of where you are in your startup cycle:

  1. On the bottom, and least convincing are statements about your “idea.”
  2. Next are hypothesis – “I think customers will care about x or y”
  3. Better are facts from customers – “We interviewed 30 customers with 20 questions”
  4. Even better is “Customer Validation”– “We just got $50K from a customer” or “we got 100,000 users spending x minutes on our site”
  5. Finally if you’re ever so lucky – “Everyone’s buying in droves and we’re here because we need money to scale and execute”

Strive to be further down the list and communicate that to your investors. If you are looking to raise money, Steve Blank’s post is worth another look.

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19
Aug

Lead nurturing: It’s a matter of trust

written by Stan Carlberg

Trust is the foundation of any healthy personal relationship. The same applies to business relationships, too. Without trust, there is no foundation for a lasting relationship.

For B2B marketers, a key part of your lead nurturing program is establishing your business as a trusted resource for information that’s relevant to your customers’ needs. The last thing you want to do in your marketing efforts is come across as another tunnel-vision marketer trying to force feed your message down everyone’s throat. Each marketing touch — whether it’s through a personal email, company blog, newsletter, or any other social media tool — should position your company as a knowledgeable, thought leader that provides useful information that helps prospects in their decision-making process.

While my last post provided tips on how to attract customers in a hurry, nurturing those relationships takes time. Building the foundation for a strong business relationship starts with an open dialog that not only shows that you understand your customers’ problems and concerns, but that you are there to help. Here are a few things B2B marketers should consider when developing a lead nurturing program:

  • Demonstrate that you understand and care about your customers’ needs
  • Communication should be conversational
  • Content should include timely, relevant information your customers can use
  • Make yourself readily available
  • Reply to inquiries and follow up in a timely fashion

Today’s customers are hungry for information, and they’re turning to the Internet to find it. By establishing yourself as a trusted industry resource they can turn to, they will pay attention to your future lead nurturing efforts. Once you’ve done that, you’ve set the foundation for a trusted business relationship. After all, most business deals aren’t won through the products and services, they’re earned through the trust of the people behind them.

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13
Aug

Attracting customers online is much like speed dating

written by Stan Carlberg

For young companies starting to leverage social media to spread the good word about themselves and connect with potential customers, a common mistake they make is saying too much at once. In a world where first impressions count, the same applies in today’s fleeting digital universe. Customers simply don’t have the time to listen to everything you have to say in a single post. In other words, if you don’t catch their attention in a hurry, they’ll simply move on to the next feed, blog or Tweet that sounds more engaging and relevant to what they do. Here are a few things to think about when generating content for your next blog, Tweet or Facebook post.

Catchy headline: With the average screen time just a few seconds, you have to connect with the customer fast. That means the headline alone can make or break an opportunity. Keeping your headline or subject line simple and catchy is critical to getting your reader to take the next step.

Break it down: Remember that drop-dead gorgeous guy or girl you once saw across the room and when you started talking to them you couldn’t get away fast enough? Listen, as marketers we’re always tempted to tell the world everything we do and how we solve all of their problems. But for customers, it’s simply too much to digest in one sitting. Stick with a few strong key points or messages that can lead them in the direction you want them to go.

Appropriate length: As I mentioned earlier, while you might catch their attention with a clever headline, keeping their interest all the way through is another challenge. There is no set rule for how long blogs, LinkedIn or Facebook posts need to be, but keeping it concise is always something to keep in mind. Highlighting your key points using bullets or simple illustrations can also help deliver your message quickly, so they can take the next step you ask them to (see Call to Action).

Using the right tools: While I can spend another blog discussing this one, the tools you use to connect with your customers are critical. You don’t want to walk into a Red Sox Nation convention wearing a Yankee cap, right? Understanding where your target audience is, where they are doing their research, the online social communities they’re in, these are all critical pieces of information you need to find out to make sure you’re investing your valuable time with the right social media tools.

Always have a Call to Action: This simple marketing rule has been around forever, and for good reason. Customers won’t take action unless you tell them what to do. Make sure your call to action is seamless, such as a single click directly to the webpage you want them to go to. That only takes a few seconds, which is never out of the question when you’ve got your reader engaged.

As an online B2B marketer, social media is merely the tool you’re using to connect with customers and keep them engaged. The goal is to move them along to bigger and better places such as your website, or even better, your office. Figuring out the most effective tools to reach out to your customers and market to them is essential to achieving your social media objectives. I’d love to hear any tips you have for developing quick and effective messaging in your social media campaigns.

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10
Aug

5 uses for blogs in your marketing strategy

written by Scott Olson

One of the more frequent questions I get from people I work or interact with involves the value of blogging for companies. Blogging goes beyond simply getting people to your blog to read and comment on your articles.

Blogging, when done correctly can be a very important of many different aspects of your overall marketing strategy. Here are five different ways I have used blogging outside of the blog itself:

  • Repurpose blogs in your newsletter – One of the most common reasons companies don’t generate regular newsletters is a lack of interesting content. If you are blogging regularly, they are perfect for inclusion in your newsletters and generate very good click through rates.
  • Populate dynamic content on your website – By using proper categories you can create custom posts that keep your web content fresh and relevant in different sections of your website. A perfect use of this tactic is on your industry pages.
  • Link blogs through social media – This one is a no-brainer, yet people often still fail to use their blogs on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other sites to engage their community and solicit feedback and comments.
  • Use a blog in press outreach – Often a short blog can be the seed of a longer and more detailed article that your PR team can pitch to publications. In this case your blog serves as an abstract for your idea and also establishes your expertise in a given area.
  • Use your blog as a competitive sales tool – I have often used a blog as a way to address a corporate position on a competitive topic. You can do this without naming your competition (or not), but still highlight your key competitive issue and make your case. Your sales team can then reference this post that I have found to be far more effective than a static competitive grid. The nice thing about this as well is how flexible it is to address a changing competitive environment.

There are many reasons for blogging beyond what I mention here, including search, thought leadership, and customer/prospect engagement. Plan your blog and ensure that you get the most out of your investment in this increasingly important marketing vehicle.

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5
Aug

When it comes to creating relevant Web content, you can’t go it alone

written by Stan Carlberg

As a B2B marketer, the demand for developing and writing relevant Web content is pretty brutal. With online conversations going on while you sleep, it’s way too time-consuming to follow every article, blog and Tweet that’s of interest to you or your customers on your own. If you’re the company’s lone copywriter who is researching and cranking out daily content across the social media universe, stop it already. You’re on a path to lower-quality content or, even worse, a future candidate for blogger’s block or Twitter fatigue.

As a former journalist, I understand what it takes to create daily content that captivates and educates your audience without burning out. The trick is you simply can’t go it alone. I can attest that although my byline was on top of every one of my newspaper and magazine articles, the final printed product was the work of a team of people who helped plan, research, interview, edit, and provided feedback before any of my articles saw the light of day. The same holds true for creating and delivering Web content. No one can regularly produce engaging content without help from a team of resources that brainstorm ideas and gather information that helps keep you in the loop of what’s happening in your respective industry. Here are a few ideas you might consider for helping you gather information for your Web content.

(more…)

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4
Aug

Social media strategy for small business presentation

written by Scott Olson

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I am presenting on social media strategies for small businesses for the Lake Oswego Networking & Referral Group.

Here are the slides from that presentation. I would love to hear your feedback!

Social media for small business
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3
Aug

Presenting on Social Media Strategies for Small Businesses

written by Scott Olson

I’m looking forward to presenting to the Lake Oswego Networking & Referral Group on Social Media Strategies for Small Businesses tomorrow. I’ll be giving an overview of social media and how it can be incorporated into small business marketing/sales strategies.

Following the presentation I will be making the slides available on Slideshare and on this blog. I’m looking forward to meeting everyone.

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