Junta42 blog

10 Thoughts About Online Marketing: The Week in Review

I was on the road again this week (this time DC) for two presentations (Speakerbox and Online Marketing Summit) on content marketing and social media, one MENG webinar (from Reagan National airport) and what seemed like dozens of meetings. While on the plane trip home, I jotted down some things I learned about, discussed with others, or thought about along the way. Thought you would enjoy.

1. Analytics - The three most important areas to continuously monitor for content improvement are the bounce rate (exit rate after just one page), most popular/least popular content pages, and top referring sites (where your customers are coming from). What else?
2. Looking for good eBook examples. David Meerman Scott's blog, right hand side bar.
3. As I discussed Twitter with practically everyone, it seems the lastest Twitter tool that is catching on is HootSuite. It allows you to manage multiple Twitter accounts. Looking forward to diving in.
4. More and more people are starting to understand content marketing as I travel the country. It's the buzz word for 2009 as far as I can tell...and I'm not sure if that's good or bad. I may have to start talking about something new.
5. Online Marketing Summit has flat-out the most approachable marketing attendees on the planet.  Everyone is smart, helpful, outgoing and willing to learn.  Kudos to Aaron Kahlow and team.
6. Over the last three weeks I've given seven presentations.  Here's some interesting stats from the combined audiences (marketers and publishers). % of people that have made a buying decision using the following over the last three to six months. Yellow Pages (5%), Direct Mail (10%), Print Advertising (5%), Search Engines (90%). I heard David Scott ask these questions during a speech and I've been using them ever since.  Thanks David.
7. More stats on social media usage - 40% are using Twitter, but only half of those people are actively using it. About 95% are on Facebook.  Last year at the same time, that number was about 20%. Amazing adoption of Facebook.  Next year at this time, I expect that almost everyone will have a Twitter account like it or not.
8. The best way to get more speaking opportunities is to give more speeches (I know, obvious right?). Last two days I've done three presentations and have six offers for additional speaking opportunities. Very cool.
9. I read the best article ever about travel tips this week from Peter Shankman.  Great blog...always helpful and interesting.
10. Writing one blog is hard.  Making time for another is a bit easier, but still takes time. Launched a new blog targeted at content providers this week. Check it out. The Junta42 blog is a TypePad blog. The CustomPublishers.com blog uses the WordPress Thesis theme, which I found from reading Brian Clark. So far, I like what it can do.

And last but not least...after talking about Blendtec religiously for the past two days, I end my day at Reagan National waiting for my to-go Omelet Sandwich before I get on the plane, and this was in front of me.

What did you learn this week?

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Prepare the Way: We will all be media companies

Sat in on a great panel yesterday with Amanda Watlington (Searching for Profit), Christina Howe (Avid) and Rebecca Lieb (eConsultancy) discussing what the world's leading brands are doing.

The discussion was all about content (loved it!).

One attendee asked this question to the panel. "Right now social media is hot, but what is the next big thing we should keep our eyes on?"

I was the first to answer, and this immediately came to mind, and it will happen (is happening).

Over the next few years (not sure exactly when), we won't be able to tell the difference between media companies (publishers) and companies that off non-informational products and services.

Look at it this way. Advertising and traditional marketing is becoming less and less effective. Engagement is fostered today by delivering consistent, relevant, compelling content to our customers (like P&G) - or - showing them a good time (like Blendtec) [for more on that, check out this custom content post about UPS]. That content creation is the fodder for getting involved in the online conversation and positioning your brand as a trusted solutions provider.

At the same time, media companies that have developed great brands and loyal audiences around delivering content are having trouble selling advertising. They all know that traditional advertising (even online display in some cases) is not going to bounce back. So, they are looking at developing products their readers can buy like data products, online software tools (i.e., Smartools from MarketingProfs), and actual manufactured products ala what Martha Stewart has done.

Whether you are a brand that offers products and services or a brand that offers information as the product, this completely changes your business model.

This is coming, and soon.  Actually, it may even be here but we haven't noticed yet.

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Everyone is a Publisher...and Why this Really Matters (for you Media companies too)

Thanks to BoSacks for passing over this Time article on Content Becoming a Pauper. 

The story is worth the read, but here is a little snippet that sums up the author's point. As you can tell, he is taking the viewpoint on the value of content as it pertains to traditional media companies.

"The value of content has never been ethereal. It has always been directly tied to what owners could 'get' for it, either through advertisers or subscribers. For content to have a value, it could never be free. Its position as royalty depended on that.

Content is rapidly being devalued."

BoSacks Speaks Out
Okay, before I make my comments, I wanted to include BoSacks comments on this topic:

"I'm not sure where to begin with my comments on this article, and perhaps I should wait a day or two before responding.  But then again, that is just not my way - vent first and think about it later.
 
The author keeps referencing the decreased value of content.  I admit that I need to ponder the question, but right now I say that perhaps it is his company's content that is devalued, but not content itself.  That may be splitting hairs, but somebody is always going to make money on content.  Right now it is Google; next year or in ten years it will be somebody else.  Google doesn't make the content, but they sure as heck have figured out how make money on the content.  So it still has as much value as before, but perhaps not by the same companies.  Get over it and start thinking in 21st century terms and actions."

@juntajoe Speaks Out
I think BoSacks' points are close to the mark.  Who can deny that Google is making money off media content? And yes, someone always makes money off content. But the issue goes much, much further and needs to be looked at outside the eyes of the media model itself.

• Content is more valued than ever before. When consumers need to find solutions, they actively seek out content (90% of buying decisions start on the web - Forrester, 2007) to find answers to their problems. It's content that supplies those answers, in the form of text, video, audio, and social media - and consumers have almost unlimited ways to get the content. The difference today is that consumers are finding those answers coming from their peers and their favorite brands as well as the media. Everyone is a media company. Everyone is a publisher.
  
  Almost all marketing tactics are optional today. The one strategy that is not optional is developing ongoing content for your customers to help them make better buying decisions. Organizations and individuals around the world are trying to figure out how to create valuable and relevant content. While there is plenty of bad content out there, great content is in high demand.
• Two Types of Media Companies. To BoSacks point, there is always someone making money off the content, but look at it this way: Money doesn't have to be made DIRECTLY from the content in the form of sponsorships and paid subscribers. Don't get me wrong, I still believe in paid content. I pay for content I really value, and have no problem with doing so (read this article on the suggestion that an online micro-payment content model could work similar to the way people buy songs on iTunes). Smart companies have been using content for centuries to develop relationships with consumers that ultimately (in the long run) sell products and services. MasterCard Small Business uses a content marketing strategy to sell more credit cards (over 50% of new signups come directly from informational articles). LEGO is one of the most prolific publishers on the planet. P&G uses content to sell more feminine products. Like these three examples, companies must produce content to survive as a business, and there are literally no technological barriers.
  
  So, while media companies produce content to profit directly (like Time, Inc., NY Times, Wall Street Journal, etc.), other media companies profit indirectly from the content (MasterCard, LEGO, P&G, etc.). Professionals in both media and marketing need to understand this - we all compete for the attention of the consumer, hoping to build lasting relationships. If you produce software for design engineers, then a magazine brand like Machine Design is not only your partner, but a competitor as well.

While I was writing this post, I was also watching a BtoB webcast we sponsored on Marketing Outlook 2009. Mark Wilson, CMO from Sybase, talked about how Sybase employs "frugal and authentic marketing" as part of their current marketing program. That means that they are producing a ton of targeted, multi-platform content to their customers and prospects.  This includes self-published books, video newsletters, YouTube videos, segmented enewsletters, white papers and other vehicles where they can efficiently and honestly tell their story and get involved in important conversations. Sybase is a media company.

Overall, I strongly disagree with Douglas McIntyre (the author) about the waining importance of content.  It's needed and accessed by consumers now more than ever. Pure media content is still wanted and needed, but there is more competition today, and since the traditional media business model is threatened, quality corporate content is becoming more important than ever (corporations have the money to invest in content).

I'll end with this. I was talking to a media consultant last week who asked me my advice for struggling media companies. I told her that most media companies have great brands, and great relationships with readers. Readership/engagement isn't necessarily their problem. The issue is that their advertisers aren't advertising as much anymore, and their business models are based on advertising/sponsorship revenue. Since that's the case, a media brand can do one of two things:

1. Start charging for content or premium content (much like what MarketingProfs does so well, or a product such as Copyblogger's Teaching Sells).
2. Develop products or services that make sense in their industry. A lot of media companies are starting to do this, such as GIE Media, who has an incredibly strong data/research business.

It's funny. Marketers are trying to become publishers and publishers are trying to become marketers. I wonder when the day will come where we won't be able to distinguish one from the other.

It's closer than you think.

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Five Questions with Seth Godin

Lori Rosen, executive director for the Custom Publishing Council (a wonderful Junta42 partner), was nice enough to let us share this brief interview between her and Seth Godin. Thanks Lori and Seth.

1. Your new book is called Tribes – how do you define a tribe, and what is an example of a tribe in today’s social media landscape?

A tribe is a group of people connected by a culture, a language, a mission and probably a leader. Barack Obama built a tribe, so did Harley Davidson.

2. In what ways are marketers currently taking advantage of social media most prevalently?

"Taking advantage" is a dangerous phrase. Take advantage of this medium and the medium will shut you down. Instead, marketers feed it, take care of it, embrace it and make it work for their users and readers. So, threadless.com builds a huge t-shirt company, or littlemissmatch.com builds a $40 million retail business. And don't forget the bloggers (which are rapidly closing the remaining gap with all but a handful of newspapers).

3. What are marketers not doing with regards to social media that they should be?

They are selfish. Short-sighted. Busy asking: how do I make this medium work for me? instead of asking, how do I work for this medium?

4.  What are three trends in digital marketing that you believe we’ll see a lot of in the next 18 months?

• Dramatic explosion in user generated pages and videos and blogs and Squidoo pages
• Final fall out of display advertising online
• Huge bloodletting among packaged goods companies that depend on the masses to watch mass media

5. Can you give an example of a company who has effectively avoided “the meatball sundae?” – meaning, who has effectively implemented the new marketing paradigm? What made their marketing stand out above the pack?

I don't think anyone can argue with Apple's success. And there are dozens of churches that get it, and one particularly famous political marketer who starts changing the world in January.

Do you agree with Seth?

Related Article
Seth Godin: "Content Marketing is the only Marketing Left" and 10 other marketing lessons

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Recession Creates Opportunity - Invest in Marketing that Builds Assets

I talked to a medium-sized company today that was having some difficulty with their content marketing efforts. After about five minutes it was easy to see why.

The print newsletter and "magalog" were owned by customer service. The five enewsletters were ultimately managed by IT. White papers, eBooks and annual reports were executed by marketing. The website was split up between IT, marketing and sales. And no one was responsible for listening to the customer through social media tools. Frankly, most of the attention was still going to trade shows, direct mail and telemarketing.

Lots of wasted time and resources. Everything was being measured individually and no person had the power to bring the teams together. The worst part? - everyone was so worried about their little piece of the pie, no one was paying attention to the informational needs of the customer (Twitter? - what's that?).

Things are about to change because now they have no choice. Sometimes a recession creates opportunity.

What's Your Opportunity?

Every company, no matter the size, has marketing processes or strategies that used to make sense in the past, but now just don't work.

In the good times, these processes go on because a little bit of waste is okay, tolerated or ignored altogether.

In times like these, your marketing can't afford waste.

Look at your marketing and do the following:

1. Take a hard look at what's working and what's not working.  You will probably find marketing that builds an asset is performing better (your website, your white papers, your videos - things that help you tell your story). Marketing that is created and disappears (online display, print ads, etc. - things that are difficult to tell a story) are either not performing as well or you aren't sure what it's doing.
2. Disregard relationships and well-worn marketing paths. You can't afford to play nice anymore. Make the hard decisions now when the opportunity is in front of you (Yes, you can finally fire that person/contractor/agency).
3. Don't pocket all the marketing dollars you are cutting.  Reinvest a portion of those savings into assets and stories - your web content, your enewsletter content, your informational products, your "customer listening" staff. Focus on being the trusted solutions provider for your industry - invest in products that do just that.
4. Address duplicate content issues. (courtesy of Natanya Anderson) Many times we find that several groups in a company are trying to address the same content needs, but through their unique lenses (and not typically through the customers' lens). They are all telling a very similar story and creating multiple, redundant assets, none of which really meet the end-user's needs. If companies can centralize these efforts and make the focus of the asset development the user, they will most likely be able to create a single asset that performs well.
5. Execute.

The companies that take advantage of this great opportunity will be leading their industries after the dust settles.

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Is Your Marketing Like hhgregg?

I had the opportunity for the third year in a row to escape in the early morning hours of Black Friday to go shopping with my wife.  This year, we woke up at 3:30 am to make the 4am opening at Kohl's. There aren't many things more exciting to my wife than doorbusters at Kohl's the Friday after Thanksgiving (and I truly enjoy seeing her so happy).

Thanksgiving night, after all the eating is done, is time to lay all the Black Friday offers from the newspaper and see which one has the best deals. This year was the usually suspects - Kohl's, Wal-mart and Toys R Us (Best Buy was a little off on deals this year).

Although I've only shopped there once, I pulled out the hhgregg flyer.  Interesting...some good deals.

"How about hhgregg?" I said to my wife.

"Never," she said. "I can't stand the salespeople there".

"What about them specifically?" I followed.

And in a wise and generous manner, my wife stated the following (I'm paraphrasing here, but I'm sure won't do it justice):

"Shopping has to be on my terms. If I'm just browsing, I don't want to be bothered.  If I know what I want, I don't need to be bothered. If I have a question, I can ask someone. At hhgregg, the salespeople watch every move you make. It's uncomfortable and not an enjoyable experience. It would be better if they weren't there at all."

Since Friday, I asked a few more people about hhgregg who had similar thoughts and experiences. Not to single out hhgregg (I checked out their blog, which isn't too bad), but many stores are like this (try buying a car, especially in this economic climate).

There may have been a time for this type of selling and marketing, but I believe that day has gone away.  Unfortunately, many of us market with this "in your face" type of selling, even on the Internet.

Online, you have three seconds to make the right impression or your prospect will leave. Is this happening with your electronic communications?  Here are a couple ways to combat this:

1. Although I recommend an equal blend of educational/relevant content versus sales messaging, you should have at least one message on your home page that educates and informs. Perform an audit of your website. If you have all sales messaging and are not "giving back" to your customers with valuable information, you are too focused on selling and not focused enough on helping your customers. Focus on content marketing instead of just direct selling.
2. Do you have an Enewsletter? If the open rates aren't at least 25% (30%+ is better), you've got some problems.  Low open rates either mean your list is not opt-in (specifically requested) or the content is not perceived as valuable enough to open.  If the latter is the case, it most likely means the content is too product-centric and not customer-centric. Enewsletters should be almost exclusively about giving the gift of information, not ongoing sales pitches.

Just like the Thanksgiving flyers, there is nothing wrong with selling, if it's in the right context. Consumers today are expecting valuable information to come from you, from your website, from your communications. Buyer's expectations have changed, and now our marketing must change with it.

If you want to give your customers a gift this holiday season, then focus on giving them some good old-fashioned relevant information instead of the same, tired sales pitches. Once you do, check your stats. The difference will show.

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Wordle Discovers Your Content Niche

Brian Massey reminded me about Wordle, which generates a "word cloud" from the text of your blog, website or bookmarked links.

It's interesting to see the types of words that become the focus on my writing.  My keywords include:

Media
Social
Marketing
Content
Information
Internet
Customers
Business
Custom

Using that in a sentence...

Social media marketing using custom content/information over the Internet to drive business and customers.

Yeah, I can live with that...

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Does the Internet Democratize or Commoditize Content?

I received a very thoughtful rebuke from Stanford Erickson of my recent article in Folio magazine called "Is the Media Iceberg Melting?" In this article, I discuss why the media landscape has changed and where the opportunities lie for the successful media companies of the future. In it, I discuss how the Internet (and Google) have created new opportunities for corporations to communicate directly with end-users instead of through traditional media outlets.

After our email conversation, I asked Stanford if he wanted to follow up on his comments with a guest blog post.  Below is that post.  What say you?

Praising Print and Disparaging the Internet

The Latin poet Quintus Horatius Flaccus, or Horace (for short), who lived during the transition between B.C. and A.D., wrote that all writing (and all media for that matter) needs to be a combination of “dulce and utile.”  Building on that thought, I believe all writing, publications and other media require an appropriate ratio of dulce and utile.  For example, B2B publications, columns and writing about business in general require more utile than dulce. General news and interest publications probably need more dulce than utile. The most successful writers and editors have a knack of getting this ratio just right for their audience.

Joe Pulizzi in his article “Is the Media Iceberg Melting?,” which appeared in the August issue of Folio, raised many interesting points of how media companies are failing because Google and other search engines are “democratizing” content. By “democratizing”, he means they are providing useful information without the need of an expensive media platform, such as Forbes, The New York Times or The Economist.  He also notes that businesses, by hiring former journalists, are going directly to their customers with useful information via the Internet.

I take issue with this somewhat.  First, yes anyone with access to the Internet has access to an audience.  But more than “democratizing” information, to a greater degree, this is  “commoditizing” information.  And if a major purpose of providing the information is to monetize it, the commoditization  of  information on the Internet undermines that purpose.  All of us who believe in “brands” contend that greater value usually is attributable to brands more than commodities.  By this I mean, when you read The Washington Post, for example, your mindset already is prepared to accept credibility to a degree. And money usually blooms in credible soil.

This segues into my overall skepticism of Pulizzi’s premise that there is a great deal of monetary effectiveness from media-type information on the Internet. At one point in my career I was a member of Knight-Ridder’s advisory group to its New Media Center. Both Knight-Ridder and the New Media Center are now defunct.  Knight-Ridder put tons of time and money into the Media Center to help transition its printed products to be viable via the Web.  We found that there are two major problems with the Web, from a print media point of view. The writing style useful to newspapers and magazines is too clunky for the Internet.  Also, the Web provides information largely in a vertical format. We humans have been used to obtaining written information horizontally. The changeover from effectively digesting information vertically rather than horizontally, most pundits believe. is generational. I think if is more like several generations.

In addition, we humans have short-term memories.  Therefore when we read something on the computer and then scroll down or mouse over, we usually cannot remember what we read.  Whereas if we are reading a horizontal newspaper or magazine, we can easily flip back to recall what we read.  Printed publications have the advantage of being much more efficient in imparting salient information that needs to be digested, analyzed and reread.

The Internet is a wonderful aggregator of information. It helps create communities of like-thinkers. But its short-attention span and physical and mental restrictive modality does not necessarily lend itself  to the pursuit of thoughtful and effective communication for which advertisers are willing to pay.

Stanford Erickson
President
Media Integration Consultants
Annapolis, Md.
Serickson11[at]msn.com

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Content Links You Shouldn't Miss

It's been busy this past few weeks, but I have made time to read some really interesting articles relevant to content marketing.  Here are a few that you should check out...

Why Smart Content Is Smart Marketing
Great article from Chief Marketer (Joe Stanhope) about how the analytics age is here to stay, but content is still the glue that gets results.  Worth the read.

Creating Honest Content Marketing
Nice post from Chris Brogan on how honest and genuine content bests "shiny content" any day.

Anna from IKEA...
I rarely laugh at blog posts, but this one really got to me.  Humorous story from David Meerman Scott about how one great company takes technology a bit too far.

The Top 5 Ways to Keep Your Content Fresh
If you blog, take a read at this Copyblogger post from Liz Fulghum.  Great advice.

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Can Your Marketing Be Trusted? - Creating Trust with Information

It seems like every event I've attended or article I've read over the past few weeks revolves around one key concept - Trust in business. Here's the facts:

Trust is the key component for business growth.

Notice that I'm not saying "a" component. It's the component.

Trust is more important than ever as the traditional walls that separated businesses from their customers continue to get torn down.

KEY FINDING
In 2008, the Edelman Trust Barometer found that only 20% of the people surveyed trust corporate or product advertising.  Instead, for a vast majority of respondents, “a person like me” was considered “the most credible source of information about a company.”  In other words, commitment to and trust in a brand is less about slick promotional campaigns and more about trusted relationships.

The web is taking this concept and putting it on steroids, faster and with more impact than anyone ever anticipated.

Companies in the future will either thrive on a customer's trust or get killed by a lack there of.

How do companies now and into the future create customer trust?

First, you need to realize that trust cannot be created by a great product alone.  That's where most companies start and fail. Makes sense that if the product works, the customer inherently trusts the company, right? That's just a start. Great products are almost mandatory today with the number of choices we have.

Customer trust involves much more.

Ask yourself this question: "How can I help my customers help their customers?"

Answer that question by providing yards and yards of informative content to help them. Yes, your product should do some of the lifting, but can your product solve all their pain points? If your product can't, what can?

Information?

Yes. That is the essence of content marketing.

I'll be focusing more in the upcoming months on the idea of "Trust through Information." In the meantime, check out this white paper we created on using content as part of your overall marketing strategy to attract and retain customers.

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