This quarter's update included a record 172 blogs, with more than 50 being newcomers to the list. Just within the past six months we've seen more and more bloggers (and media companies for that matter) focus on the importance of content marketing as integral to successful business marketing practices.
On Friday, August 15th 100 golfers came out to Fowler's Mill Golf Course in Chesterland, Ohio to support a great cause (and have a great time doing it). We had a perfect day for golf, and the best part is that all the event proceeds went to benefit the Easter Seals Northern Ohio speech therapy and autism program for children and adults.
This was our second annual event. In 2007, we raised $7,500. This year, we will near $11,000 in net proceeds to this important Easter Seals program. This is a 32% increase in proceeds over last year. We couldn't have done this without great support both locally and nationally.
Most people
do not know this, but the Easter Seals is the largest provider of Autism
Services in the country. The net proceeds of the event go directly to those
children who need specialized speech therapy treatment, but are challenged
financially to get the proper support.
While there
is no known cause or cure, nor one single effective treatment, autism is
treatable. People with autism, at any age, are capable of making significant
progress through personalized interventions and therapy; and can and do lead
meaningful lives. That’s where Easter Seals comes in. Getting the right support
at the earliest stage in life can help a child gain the skills he or she needs
to be successful.
Those of you
who know me know that autism is very personal to me, as it is to many of the
people who participated in the Junta42 Golf for Autism event. I continue to be
overwhelmed by the support we have received for this great cause, and am
thankful to those that believe in this fight.
We Couldn't Have Done it without Our Sponsors
Along with the 100 participants, we had nearly 70 corporations and
individuals donate to the cause. All of them have made a significant
impact into helping those dealing with autism become more successful.
Here is a list of our supporters:
And finally, a special thanks to everyone on the Junta42 GFA Committee
that really made this possible. First and foremost to my wife, Pam
Pulizzi, who ran a flawless show during the event. To Mike and
Lynne Pistillo, and the entire Pistillo family, for their fundraising
efforts throughout the campaign. To the volunteers: Missy Pistillo,
Angela Vannucci, Lisa Francisco, Laurel and Jim Clarke, Jeanne Foley and Ben and Don from Ka, Inc. Also a big thanks to Laura and Sandy Kozelka for watching the kids during the event. And
finally, to Melissa Kocher and Sheila Dunn from Easter Seals Northern Ohio, and to Alex and the entire Richardson family for being our special guests at our event.
Here is a link to my interview Q&A with MarketingSherpa on writing and launching your first book project. It was a fun interview, and I remember saying everything except that I am "consistently tired." I must have been too tired to remember. :)
1. Engaging the social web is no longer optional, because so far, the companies that have been most badly burned have been the ones who tried to pretend they can ignore it.
2. You have to keep up with the speed of the social web, and stop bull****ting that you don’t have the resources to do it.
3. The emphasis in marketing on the web has shifted from
trying to force everyone to come to your content, to deploying your
content where the audience is.
4. Although we’ve reached the point where the cost of
ignoring social is greater than the cost of engaging it, social isn’t
going to replace other forms of marketing, any more than digital media
replaced traditional.
5. Marketing and PR cannot cover over quality issues, and listening is half of participating in the social web.
6. If you really want to know what’s
going on in social media marketing, truthfully, you can find it...
in your RSS reader.
General Motors has asked its team of advertising agencies to take a 20% cut in fees this year and next. This article in the Wall Street Journal yesterday is just the start of more to come.
And guess what? Even though GM may cite economic and business model reasons for the marketing cutbacks, the money may not come back to the agencies...ever again. At least not like it was.
But now it's front and center and things will never be the same. My article in Folio: this week talked about what's happening with media companies adjusting to this change. Ad agencies are also seeing their business models begin to crumble. Of course, this is nothing new.
Scary part is, ad agencies and media companies, for the most part, are looking for the next great tool or next great piece of measurement that will make everything okay again.
Blinders On One quick stroll down the exhibit row at Digital Hollywood in San Jose yesterday is all the proof one needs. Apps providers talking to Agencies about the next big thing. Tools companies talking to other tools companies about creating amazing new technology that will continually interrupt consumers, whether they like it or not.
The world wide web is all about the democratization of content that hands the power to the consumer. At the same time, literally hundreds of companies are creating "helpful" tools that brands can use to "control" their message and brand, and try to regain the power.
News to all of us: the power is gone and will never come back. Why do we keep trying to take the mass media model from years ago (that worked very well by the way) and try to place the same methodology to the web? Can't be done.
What To Do Nobody likes being the bearer of bad news. The point of all this is that, all evidence aside, this may be the greatest opportunity that agencies and media companies have ever seen. For those that choose to accept it.
In order to be relevant with consumers, brands need to be part of the conversation. The only way to be part of this conversation is to bring something valuable to the table. Think about your one-on-one conversations. Why would you talk to someone that has nothing valuable to say?
Information is the key. Brands must provide valuable information to their customer segments in order to create and sustain long-term, loyal relationships. Advertising of the past will be replaced by information in the future.
They need help doing it.
Media companies are best positioned for this because they understand the value of targeted, editorial content (regardless of channel). Ad agencies can fill this role as well, but the culture shock may be too much for them to handle.
Some media companies and agencies are starting to get this. They will be the new marketing leadership. Many won't. It will be fun and sad to watch all at the same time. Hang on!
Media companies are going through a major transformation, with the majority looking at the viability of their core business models. I touched on this in the most recent issue of Folio: magazine (check out the entire article here).
This excerpt puts the situation in perspective: Corporations need content in order to survive, and all the trends
show that this direction is only going to accelerate. If the iceberg
hasn’t melted, it’s on the verge of cracking.
Media companies
that can make the transition to offering their services up to
corporations are the ones that will lead the new media business model.
A few are dealing with these changes and are making major adjustments.
Many are not. Which one will you be?
Corporations need content, but most either don't want to produce it themselves or don't have the expertise to produce content effectively as part of their total marketing strategies. This opens a great opportunity for media companies to, effectively, teach businesses how to do what they do - which is create consistent compelling content initiatives.
Most media companies do not want to move in this direction. Who can blame them? It's much easier to sell advertising display programs. It's too bad those days are over...
According to the latest research from private equity firm Veronis Suhler Stevenson (VSS), outsourced custom publishing is the second-fastest growing area of marketing spend, behind only word-of-mouth marketing. The full research states that outsourced custom publishing grew an average of 16.5% from 2002-2007 to an estimated $5.46 billion.
The combination of outsourced custom publishing and branded entertainment is valued at $27.76 billion according to VSS, which is substantially less than recent studies from the Custom Publishing Council and ContentWise, which estimates the total spending of custom content in the range of $48 to $55 billion.
Frankly, determining an accurate number for the custom content/content marketing industry is almost impossible, since organizational budgets usually do not break out custom as a separate line item. Nonetheless, VSS takes an apples-to-apples comparison each year, and the growth rate number should be trusted.
What does this mean? This means one of two things - either companies are spending more on custom publishing as a whole (which they are) or they are outsourcing more and doing less internally. My take is that both are happening simultaneously.
Today’s Internet-savvy buyers are hungry for content. And not just any content...valuable, relevant content that offers solutions to their problems and helps them lead successful, productive, enjoyable jobs and lives. However, they are also inundated by thousands of marketing messages every day, most of which they ignore. To get through, you need to communicate differently—you need to do more than just sell products and services. You need to provide information. Smart marketers know this and are creating strong brand relationships by providing good, authoritative, even leadership-type content.
The majority of companies are set up to sell products and services, not to create valuable, relevant and compelling content on a consistent basis. To deliver content that has a chance to create long-term relationships with customers and prospects, businesses need to develop a new content mindset. This free white paper will help you get there.
Here are just a few of the content marketing issues that are covered in this white paper:
Content marketing defined
Why companies have to "Be the Media"
Six reasons why you need to begin today
How to develop a content strategy
Putting the plan in motion
How to measure your success
Content + Marketing = Customers
We also include a few case studies from leading brands that are making it work today.
If you are signed in as a Junta42 member, you'll go straight to the white paper. If not, your name and email address will direct you to the white paper download.
Interesting article from CNN Money about Anna Patterson's group of ex-Google employees and their launch of a competing search engine called Cuil (pronounced "cool").
Here are the key points:
Cuil claims to index 120 billion web pages (about 3x more than Google).
Cuil does not try to replicate Google's algorithm, but takes a deep dive into the content of each site. (Key to any competitive success is not to replicate what Google does.)
Instead of a vertical stack of results like most other search engines, Cuil provides sometimes less/sometimes more than 10 results on each page in a more visually-appealing format (stated "more magazine-like" in the article).
It's clear that Cuil is still working out the bugs, but I see the promise. Google allows only two results from one particular domain. In doing the check on "Junta42", seven of the 10 search results came from the Junta42.com domain. I'm not sure at this point whether this is better or worse for the user. It will all depend on what is being searched.
The additional copy and pictures is helpful, but some of the images didn't correspond with the right abstract (which is curious at best).
If Cuil gains a following, it may prove the need for even more robust content on one or multiple websites, since Cuil focuses on the "deep content dive" more than ranking and link building. Do I smell opportunity?
We're excited to announce the third installment of the Junta42 Top 42 Content Marketing blogs. Congratulations again goes to Brian Clark's copyblogger.com, who keeps the top spot for the second straight month.
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