You are behind on your quarterly lead generation targets. The sales team is screaming that they need more prospects! You expected this would happen. And that is why you started working on a killer piece of content that is sure to be rocket fuel for your pipeline. But, this killer eBook, is behind schedule. It is still 6-8 weeks away…
Category: Content Marketing
15 Examples of Non-Traditional Content Marketing Pieces
In an earlier post, I discussed the rapid commoditization of content marketing that is occurring in the software industry. These days everyone has the infographic-style e-books, the animated explainer videos and the interactive ROI tools. Content marketing agencies have emerged to enable even the most handicapped, old-school marketing departments to create compelling content. If you are experiencing this same level…
Why Software Vendors Should “Open Source” IP in Content Marketing Programs
In my last post, I introduced a strategy that software companies can use to differentiate their ideas in the increasingly commoditized and crowded landscape of content marketing. I suggested a rather bold strategy of “open sourcing” some of your Intellectual Property (IP). By IP, I am not talking about the secret sauce that makes your algorithms work. Instead, I am…
The Growing Commoditization of Content Marketing Strategies
As content marketing goes mainstream, it is growing more and more challenging for marketing organizations to differentiate their downloads from the competition. Next generation agencies that specialize purely in content development are leveling the playing field in many of the software subsectors. As a result, even the “dinosaur,” old-tech companies are putting out decent content on a regular basis. Everyone…
What are the Best Topics for Blogs?
It’s simple. Make a list of the questions your customers ask you during sales appointments. These are the topics they are most interested in. These are the topics they are most likely to do a Google search upon. And these are the topics that they will click through in your email newsletters.
Why You Need to Build a Visual Content Factory
We live in the age of Pinterest, of Instagram, of Snapchat and of Vine. Nearly every post on Facebook now contains a photo. And there are thousands of followers on Twitter uploading images on trending topics. Nearly all hyperlinked content, whether displayed in mobile apps like Flipboard or in a newstream on Google+ display images pulled from RSS feeds. Consumers…
Packaging Your Content into Kits
Content marketing leaders are always looking for new resources to support their lead generation efforts. But creating high quality content takes a lot of time. Writing a new white paper or e-book can take several weeks. More importantly, it requires committed time from some of your busiest subject matter experts.
Maximizing the Second Life of Your Content
You pushed aggressively for six weeks to promote a big webinar. Sadly only 500 attendees joined the live session – less than 50% of the 1000 you were hoping for. Was it a failure? Perhaps or perhaps not. It is too early to tell. The live webinar is the beginning, not the end, of the lifecycle for this content (assuming…
Building the Content Factory
Everyone is talking about content marketing these days, but successfully executing such a strategy requires the ability to consistently deliver high-quality content on a regular basis. Hiring a journalist or a content marketing manager is a big step in the right direction, but success requires more a team effort. You need a content factory. This factory will include many traditional…
Five Pages Your Website Needs to Identify Who is Ready to Buy
Both marketing and sales organizations are always trying to identify the prospects that are most ready to buy. The good news is that marketing automation software makes it easier than ever for you to track digital body language that indicates which prospects are in buying mode. By strategically placing content on your website that aligns with the behaviors exhibited by…
