| | | What Works - What Doesn't | |  Customer | 33 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. While writing a press release for a client the other day, I got to thinking about what I was doing. Dangerous idea, thinking too much. True, they are only doing their jobs. | WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T JULY 26, 2010 Just Say No To "Social Media Press Releases" The central problem is that this “Social Media Press Release” is still all about the vendor, which is why it doesn’t work in today’s world of “two-way” conversations among customers and vendors. As I argue in my post , the people you need to reach – prospects and customers – want far more candor, insight and context than you can deliver in a press release that’s been scrubbed of all three by PR, legal and marketing. To succeed, the “social media press release” must focus more on content than Web bling. On second thought, my first thought was right. with similar links. | | | | | |
| WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T DECEMBER 16, 2010  12 Quick Content Marketing Tips and Trends 7) While HubSpot uses both channels to promote itself, it gets a lot more paying customers from LinkedIn than from Twitter. The frigid cold along Route 128 the other morning didn’t keep a standing-room-only crowd from Schwartz Communications’ Breakfast Roundtable on content marketing (using information shared on the Web to drive sales.) Including hot key words and being snarky (i.e., | WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T NOVEMBER 9, 2010  How Much Rope Should You Give a “Corporate Reporter?” found a really, really smart customer doing some leading-edge marketing automation -- but with a competitor’s product. I need the CEO or CTO to respond honestly and thoughtfully to a big announcement, but they’re busy talking to customers. Marketing complains my last story focused too much on the problems customers are facing, and want me to “take a more positive tone.” | WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T DECEMBER 21, 2010  If You MUST Write A Press Release, Do It Better Write instead about what’s in it for the reader (whether that’s a reporter, customer, industry analyst, or investor.) Adding HP products to the existing IBM and HP offerings it can provide customers, Joe’s Regional Geek Services today announced it has become an HP Silver Solutions Partner…. That led one attendee to ask why. OK, maybe not for everyone. And drop the useless quotes. | WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T JULY 21, 2010  Selling Your Weaknesses in B2B Content Marketing That transforms what seems like an exercise in humility into an opportunity to educate and engage customers and prospects. If integrated into customer service and product development, the post suggests, social media could instead “be an important factor for organizational improvement.”. Which they are. Did HubSpot shoot itself in the foot? The implied solution? | | | | | | | |
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WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2010 What B2B Readers Want, Circa 2010
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. So there it is, a grab-bag of sundry insights about how B2B customers want their industry news cooked up. Paper is NOT dead. At least one, yes, still has his secretary print it out for him. Hey, who knew anyone still had a secretary?). Social networking? but panned them as unprofessional and amateurish. MORE >> -
WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2010  Maintenance Fees, a Cash Cow for Vendors, Under Attack From Users
Some customers are pushing back on software maintenance agreements, threatening vendors with the loss of their most predictable, profitable continuing revenue stream. Priced at 15% or 18% (or more) of the up-front purchase price of the software, maintenance agreements provide customers with updates and enhancements as well as support. Several consultants who help customers negotiate software contracts told me, as part of a story I reported for InfoWorld , that a growing number of customers are ditching maintenance. MORE >> -
WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | TUESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2010 Virtual Trade Shows for Mere Mortals
SAP appears to have done a bang-up job with its combined physical and virtual customer conferences, according to B2B Magazine. Not only did it focus on getting customers to talk to each other, (VS. First, get the customers talking to each other and stay out of the way, unless you can really help. I recently recently helped “cover” a customer summit for a multinational services company and was amazed by the amount, quality, and candor of the interchange among customers. What can we in smaller companies learn from giant SAP? And that costs. MORE >> -
WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2010 Software Consultancy: Why MA Is Hot
Market analyst Lauren Carlson also had an interesting recent post about the major trends pushing customers towards marketing automation software , which tracks prospect behavior to determine which products they’re most likely to consider. agree with her drivers, and would add another one: The decline of the trade press which used to be a source of trusted analysis and objectivity for customers. It would seem PR and marketing firms can help their customers by delivering the skills, processes and content B2B companies need to make marketing automation software work. MORE >> -
WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | THURSDAY, AUGUST 12, 2010 Amateur Bloggers Jump Ship, Pros Taking Over
That’s why, in at least some cases, you have to pay for quality content rather than leaving it up to your employees (who have other skills) or your customers (who have day jobs or may have other agendas.). A story in the current Newsweek says that interest in amateur (non-profit) blogging and contributing to Wikipedia is falling off rapidly as, frankly, people get tired of working for free. The story mentions, in passing, that according to Technorati , professional bloggers are “a rising class.”. Welcome to reality, or, rather, back to reality. MORE >>
- Looking for Good Content? Go for Brains, Not Titles WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | MONDAY, JUNE 14, 2010
- Can PR Firms Find Gold in Marketing Automation Services? WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | TUESDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2010
- Finding the Mythical C-Level Exec WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2010
- Using Online Games To Sell Complex B2B Software WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | TUESDAY, JULY 13, 2010
- Huge Jargon Slick Drifts Towards Readers; “Resources,” “Mitigate” Clog Brains WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2010
- Toyota Ad Shows Need For Outsider's Eye on Marketing Content WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | THURSDAY, AUGUST 19, 2010
- First Rule of Content Marketing: Don't Say Anything Dumb WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | TUESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2010
- Real Editors Don't Just Retweet WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | TUESDAY, MAY 4, 2010
- 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
- Find Trend Pitches In Your Earnings Releases WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2010
- Skill Set For Content Marketing: Number Crunching and A Gut Feel WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | THURSDAY, MARCH 4, 2010
- Why Marketing Automation is Floundering (Amen!) WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 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
- What Is Content Marketing? WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 2011
- eBook: Content Marketing: Where To Place Your Bets WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | FRIDAY, JANUARY 7, 2011
- Who We Are WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | SUNDAY, JANUARY 9, 2011
- How We Can Help WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2011
- First Rule of Content Creation: Don't Say Something Really Dumb WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | THURSDAY, JUNE 17, 2010
- Study: Top Execs DO Use Social Networks WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2009
- New Ways Around An Old Problem: Getting Reference Customers WHAT WORKS - WHAT DOESN'T | MONDAY, JANUARY 25, 2010
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