| | | What Works - What Doesn't | |  Business | 19 articles |
| Page 1 of 1 | Previous | Next | WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T JULY 8, 2010  Time to Kill the Press Release? The obligatory quotes from the CEO, the customer or the new business partner saying how happy everyone is with each other don’t, I would guess, wind up getting much play. Much as I appreciate the work, being paid to remove value from content can’t be a good long-term business model. While writing a press release for a client the other day, I got to thinking about what I was doing. | WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T NOVEMBER 9, 2010  How Much Rope Should You Give a “Corporate Reporter?” Marketing automation vendor Eloqua has gone a step further and hired Jesse Noyes , formerly a business reporter for the Boston Herald , as a “corporate reporter.” I need the CEO or CTO to respond honestly and thoughtfully to a big announcement, but they’re busy talking to customers. For those old enough to remember ink.). will profile brands and the people that work for them. | | | | | |
| WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T DECEMBER 21, 2010  If You MUST Write A Press Release, Do It Better Bringing iSCSI capabilities to the small business network-attached storage market for the first time, PackRat Storage today announced…. At Schwartz Communications’ breakfast roundtable on content marketing last week, attendees were asked to rank which channels they used to get the news out about their company. That led one attendee to ask why. OK, maybe not for everyone. | WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T FEBRUARY 2, 2010 What B2B Readers Want, Circa 2010 The results have been an interesting grab-bag of reassuring truths, outright surprises and common-sense dope slaps that show how we in the “content marketing” business can get so caught up in our high-falutin’ notions we forget about the real problems our readers face. I’ve had a great opportunity recently to learn what B2B customers want in content by – shock of shocks – asking them. m saving the best stuff for my client, of course, but some initial findings that might help you decide what and how to publish for your customers. Paper is NOT dead. Social networking? News, that is. | WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T OCTOBER 19, 2010 Software Consultancy: Why MA Is Hot Software consultancy Software Advice has a good business model: Give away a certain amount of information about software, then charge for more detailed counseling. Among the main drivers she listed: Buyers’ desire for quality content; an aversion to sales calls (especially before prospects are ready for one), the need for marketing to prove its value to the business and the fact that sales cycles are longer in a down economy. Recent survey data indicates these are the top three hurdles to companies adopting MA software. | WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T FEBRUARY 3, 2011  Stop the WordPress Madness! Especially with the economy picking up, it would be worth several hundred bucks (which I’m spending on themes and professional help anyway) to get beyond setup and into creating compelling content to get more business. If you sell the highly-touted Thesis , Headway , or Flexibility 3 themes don’t bother calling. ve tried each and none of them deliver. Then there are “skins” for themes. | | | | | | | |
| -
WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | TUESDAY, JULY 13, 2010  Using Online Games To Sell Complex B2B Software
I have to give IBM points for even trying this: They’ve developed an online game that walks players through a (BPM) Business Process Management) exercise. In Innov8 players are presented with multiple scenarios (tweaking a supply chain or improving customer service) and get to see how business process automation helps the business. Tags: B2B marketing B2B software BPM marketing business process management content marketing IBM Innov8 online games selling BPM OK, World of Warcraft it ain’t. Maybe. At that point, I had exhausted my curiosity. MORE >> -
WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2010  Finding the Mythical C-Level Exec
Yet I shudder to think how many times I’ve blindly nodded and said “yes” when a client asked for a white paper for the “C-level” executive, meaning it was supposed to focus more on business than on technology. In today’s attention-short world, we as consumers – and C-level execs as busy people – don’t have the time to listen to generic pitches that don’t speak to their specific needs. But, as Forrester Research points out in a recent report , “.no but no generic “C-level executive.”. That’s one reason only 15% of executives find sales calls useful and up to their expectations. MORE >> - Huge Jargon Slick Drifts Towards Readers; “Resources,” “Mitigate” Clog Brains
The same is true in a lot of business to business marketing materials. Let’s say – let’s just say – you were a huge oil company, or a government agency, desperately trying to recover from a major blunder. You’re not sure how bad things are or when you can fix the situation. But do you do know you messed up real bad, didn’t move quickly enough to fix the problem and are desperately trying to calm everyone down while you scramble to undo the damage you’ve caused. Yes, I’m talking about the oil slick the size of Puerto Rico now drifting towards the Gulf Coast. MORE >> -
WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2010  It's Official: Forrester Says B2B Buyers Hate Confusing Jargon
I’ve been yelling for years that technical jargon in marketing content turns off B2B business buyers. Vendor use of jargon and their lack of simplifying issue complexity often keep business-oriented buyers from grasping the nuances of how technology can help to solve their problem,” says a post on the Marketing Interactions blog. Now, it’s official – or at least corroborated by a Forrester Research Inc. report. When it's too difficult, the executive will choose to switch priorities” to something easier to understand.” My emphasis.). That’s a good idea. If they can’t, fix it. MORE >> -
WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | MONDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2010  Software Automates Sportswriting. Is B2B Content Marketing Next?
That’s getting pretty close to my home turf of business/tech writing. . Hell, no, I say, and not just because I make my living writing white papers, newsletters, and the like for the IT market. Here’s why. Yes, StatSheet of Durham, N.C. has developed software that writes (or, rather, assembles) stories based on statistics from college football and basketball, NASCAR and other sports. Algorithms pick out key facts (the top scorer, in which quarter did the winning team pull ahead, etc.) and stitches them together using a choice of pre-defined phrases. But am I worried? MORE >>
- Boeing Redesigns Web Site Around Features. And the Business Case Is? WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | MONDAY, APRIL 26, 2010
- 787 Lessons From Boeing For Content Marketers WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2011
- To Sell A Conference, Give Away Last Year’s “Takeaways” WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 2010
- Why Marketing Automation is Floundering (Amen!) WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2011
- Stop the WordPress Madness! WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 2011
- 787 Lessons From Boeing For Content Marketers WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2011
- About Us WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | TUESDAY, JANUARY 4, 2011
- Study: Top Execs DO Use Social Networks WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2009
| |
Crimson Marketing