The trouble with thought leadership is that you have to think. It’s not for lazy marketeers. If you get it right, then you engage with your prospects and gain their respect and trust. Unfortunately, few do. So, what’s the secret?

Don’t sell

First be strong. Don’t let the sales’ team sabotage it. Your customers are smart enough to spot a thinly veiled sales message and will switch off if they are researching before they move to buying.

Say something new

If it’s just a rehash of what everyone else is saying, then your content will be lost in the noise. You have experts, use them.

What is your opinion, can you challenge the norm? Do you have a unique insight that will help your customers? And have you asked your customers what their pain points are?

Demonstrate authority

The best thought leadership content uses respected voices and different perspectives. It does not give a one-dimensional view and while it will use your own experts it should also refer to people outside your organisation, from suppliers, customers, trade associations and even academia.

Is it relevant?

Ask whether your audience care about the subject and why they care. And is it a subject that you can demonstrate your expertise on?

If the subject is a trending issue, then what can I add to avoid boring my audience. “Me too” content will not cut it. You need to find that unique perspective and assess why that opinion will appeal to them.

Make it interesting

While thought leadership needs to provide real insight, it needs to be easily digestible and interesting. Often the experts are not the right people to deliver the message, they can get to caught up in the detail and miss the “Wow” factor that is still needed in good communication.

Make sure that people can find it

Having spent the resource on generating the content make sure that your customers know about it. Promote the content through social media, the trade press, email marketing and word of mouth.

 

A recent Survey Monkey thought leadership report had 68% of respondents state that thought leaders have expert knowledge. They share new insights gleaned from hand-on experience in their industry. Where are those thought leaders in your business?

 

There’s a myth that long form content is dead. That’s utter garbage. In B2B your customers make informed decisions based on research.

B2B marketing is not all about attention grabbing snippets and instant gratification. Long form content is vital because it demonstrates your expertise. It will cover a subject in depth and provide the information needed to make an informed decision.

In fact, classic content marketing often involves using short form attention grabbing material to direct prospects to the more informative piece.

Grab attention

The best long form material grabs and keeps attention. When someone spends time reading your 2,000-word blog post or whitepaper or watches your 20-minute informative video they are committing themselves. They trust you enough to invest their time. And people do business with those they know and trust.

Good for SEO

And it’s good for your SEO. It’s not all about keywords for google. The algorithm monitors how long people stay on a page or “dwell time.” If you can get them to stay for 2, 3 or even 4 minutes on a page it tells Google that the content is useful.

The trick of course is to get people to commit their time. So, it’s not about length it’s about the quality of that information. If it’s boring or generic no one will read it. Instead invest the time and effort to develop a story, share new and unique insights and, above all, provide real value.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does your content marketing copy meet the 3-30-3 rule? My son is actually teaching me stuff now; I knew that fancy University education would come in handy. What is the 3-30-3 rule?

It's to do with how we make snap decisions and it affects the way we perceive information. Apparently, people use a series of thought subsets, they thin slice what they see.

The most important point in the decision comes from the first slice – it takes 3 seconds for people to make that first decision. So, if you are producing content make sure that your headline grabs their attention. Does it address your prospects’ needs?

If you get over this slice, you have another 30 seconds in which they decide whether your message deserves more detailed consideration. This is where your first paragraph and possibly subheads might grab them.

Finally you have 3 minutes to build your case – so get to the point if it's long form copy and explain why the whitepaper, guide or feature article matters to them.

Instinctively having been taught to communicate in a journalistic style I know this, but I’ve never had it explained before. Take a long hard look at your content and ask yourself, from your customer’s perspective, does it meet the mark, or will they mentally consign it to the bin?

I talk to customers all the time who are struggling to employ people; yet very few tap into a massive pool of experienced talent – the over 50s. Most simply do not understand our needs …

I am over 50 and work for myself. I left the corporate 9 to 5 rat race five years ago.

According to the press I am far from alone. While I still work as a freelancer, the number of 50 to 64 year olds who are not in work rose to 3.6 million this year.

At the same time, I talk to customers who are really struggling to employ people. One position, for a senior manager, took more than 8 months to fill.

So how do you attract this untapped and vastly experienced talent? Sadly, many people really do not understand the needs of an older employee.
 
Speaking personally, I still need to pay the bills, but I was bored in the corporate world. It was the same thing day in day out. I craved change and control over my own destiny. Also, I’ve paid off my mortgage so a big salary on its own is simply not enough.

We don’t want to be tied down to the same old corporate grind. We want to be challenged, we want excitement and we want flexibility.

Be honest can you offer that? If not, can you change the job specification?

Alternatively, you could think outside of the box. Could you restructure the job to make it part time, or could you fulfil it using a team of freelancers? There are lots of us over 50s out there with a huge amount of experience but too many of you don’t meet our needs.

Is it time that you considered a hybrid marketing team if you struggle to recruit? We’ve proven that we don’t need to be present in an office to deliver marketing content and systems are now in place to manage teams remotely.

Instead of a large inhouse marketing and content team, or outsourcing much of the work to an agency, it is time to consider managing virtual teams of freelancers who bring precise skill sets to meet your needs. This becomes even more relevant if there is a recruitment freeze as we enter a downturn, but you still need extra resource.

In some B2B markets for instance you may need to find individuals with relevant market experience.

I think we are moving to a new model of marketing where one or two marketing professionals will be based at a company’s HQ who will then supplement their needs by employing freelancers when they are needed. This may prove a popular option if there is a hiring freeze.

Best of all you can pick and mix how much of each you need.

And to be blunt freelancers don’t have the same overheads as the expensive and outmoded agency model. It's time to think laterally, the talent is out there in the freelance world so why not mix and match resource to build your ideal flexible team .

 

According to the ad industry Guru David Ogilvy only one in five people who read a headline bother to read the body copy. How can you beat this statistic?

If you are developing copy this leaves us with two conclusions. First you need to get the story into a headline of 60 characters or less for the modern generation of skimmers and second you need to hook the reader to engage with your body copy so that they learn more. Here are some tips to help you squeeze the most out of your 60 character headline:

1.      Tell the reader why they should interested.  Remember it’s about them not you.

2.      Be specific.

3.      Tug at your readers’ emotions.

4.      In this internet age, think about what your readers search for.

5.      Write your headline after the body copy.

6.      Read your headline out loud.

When you can publish whatever you like, there is a danger in loosing that cutting edge. It is why the skills of media relations are so important, after all the ultimate editor is your prospect or other intended audience.

If you have any other tips about writing a great headline, then please feel free to put them in the comments.

 

It’s time to bin the exclamation mark.

If you are writing content, then it shows that your words have failed to excite or engage – so you try and get this overused punctuation mark to do it for you.

It’s lazy. Words can be hard work and it’s tempting to fall back on it to give us a hand. But it’s a trap, we rely on them far too heavily. They are the smiley faces of the punctuation world.

F Scott Fitzgerald said, note he did not exclaim, “An exclamation point is like laughing at your own jokes.”

So when would it be permissible to resurrect this annoying punctuation mark?  Only for major life events – if you or your partner give birth or you get married because that sort of commitment deserves it.  There is nothing in B2B marketing content that springs to mind.

Let’s cross them out now!!!!!!! - see how annoying they are.

There’s been a lot of debate in the news about getting the message right over the last few weeks. If you want to prevent it going wrong for your business, then here are five common things for you to guard against:

1. The organisation looks at it from their point of view not the audience. Why not try it out with the audience – ask them does this make sense?

2. People try and squeeze too much detail and caveats into a message, to the point where it losses any clarity. Remember to KISS – Keep it Simple Stupid.

3. Too many people get involved, which can cause either 1 or 2 above.

4. Fear and politics. If it becomes the pet project of the MD or perhaps someone else high up, then I have seen people afraid to stand up and say, “I’m sorry but this doesn’t work”. If you are the boss listen and take criticism – it’s why you employ marketing people.

5. Employing someone who does not understand your customer base. I know some great content producers, but the art of communication is about understanding someone else’s needs and then communicating what matters to them and in the appropriate language. If you know someone who knows your market, then they can help you cut through the waffle and are also confident enough to challenge your assumptions.

If you get the message wrong, then you are wasting time and money; but worse than that If your customers and prospects don’t understand what you offer, then why would they do business with you?

When we exit into a post Coronavirus world, B2B marketing professionals need to re-examine their supply chains.

This crisis has shown that that services can be delivered by homeworkers, which incidentally is something that we freelancers have known for years. The people delivering the service have not needed the bureaucracy or hierarchy of overpaid agency owners or the buildings that they all sit in.

Agencies also tend to work in set structures or silos, it means that often you will be wedded to the staff in a team. I think a better approach for you is to mix and match people with an ideal skills mix for you.

A better approach is to find someone who exactly meets your needs. They already know your market and customers so there is no need for them to go through a learning curve. There will be a freelancer pre-loaded with that information, you just need to find them through search, social media such as Linked In or perhaps by asking a trade press editor.

Most of these freelancers will have come from an agency background and several will have years or decades of experience. Better yet if they have worked in your industry, they will know other contacts with similar experience – and there you have the basis of your perfect virtual team.

Finally, just like online retailers their overheads are lower so expect more competitive prices. If I were an agency owner I’d be scared.

 

The trouble with thought leadership is that you have to think. It’s not for lazy marketeers. If you get it right, then you engage with your prospects and gain their respect and trust. Unfortunately, few do. So, what’s the secret?

Don’t sell

First be strong. Don’t let the sales’ team sabotage it. Your customers are smart enough to spot a thinly veiled sales message and will switch off if they are researching before they move to buying.

Say something new

If it’s just a rehash of what everyone else is saying, then your content will be lost in the noise. You have experts, use them.

What is your opinion, can you challenge the norm? Do you have a unique insight that will help your customers? And have you asked your customers what their pain points are?

Demonstrate authority

The best thought leadership content uses respected voices and different perspectives. It does not give a one-dimensional view and while it will use your own experts it should also refer to people outside your organisation, from suppliers, customers, trade associations and even academia.

Is it relevant?

Ask whether your audience care about the subject and why they care. And is it a subject that you can demonstrate your expertise on?

If the subject is a trending issue, then what can I add to avoid boring my audience. “Me too” content will not cut it. You need to find that unique perspective and assess why that opinion will appeal to them.

Make it interesting

While thought leadership needs to provide real insight, it needs to be easily digestible and interesting. Often the experts are not the right people to deliver the message, they can get to caught up in the detail and miss the “Wow” factor that is still needed in good communication.

Make sure that people can find it

Having spent the resource on generating the content make sure that your customers know about it. Promote the content through social media, the trade press, email marketing and word of mouth.

 

A recent Survey Monkey thought leadership report had 68% of respondents state that thought leaders have expert knowledge. They share new insights gleaned from hand-on experience in their industry. Where are those thought leaders in your business?

 

There’s a myth that long form content is dead. That’s utter garbage. In B2B your customers make informed decisions based on research.

B2B marketing is not all about attention grabbing snippets and instant gratification. Long form content is vital because it demonstrates your expertise. It will cover a subject in depth and provide the information needed to make an informed decision.

In fact, classic content marketing often involves using short form attention grabbing material to direct prospects to the more informative piece.

Grab attention

The best long form material grabs and keeps attention. When someone spends time reading your 2,000-word blog post or whitepaper or watches your 20-minute informative video they are committing themselves. They trust you enough to invest their time. And people do business with those they know and trust.

Good for SEO

And it’s good for your SEO. It’s not all about keywords for google. The algorithm monitors how long people stay on a page or “dwell time.” If you can get them to stay for 2, 3 or even 4 minutes on a page it tells Google that the content is useful.

The trick of course is to get people to commit their time. So, it’s not about length it’s about the quality of that information. If it’s boring or generic no one will read it. Instead invest the time and effort to develop a story, share new and unique insights and, above all, provide real value.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does your content marketing copy meet the 3-30-3 rule? My son is actually teaching me stuff now; I knew that fancy University education would come in handy. What is the 3-30-3 rule?

It's to do with how we make snap decisions and it affects the way we perceive information. Apparently, people use a series of thought subsets, they thin slice what they see.

The most important point in the decision comes from the first slice – it takes 3 seconds for people to make that first decision. So, if you are producing content make sure that your headline grabs their attention. Does it address your prospects’ needs?

If you get over this slice, you have another 30 seconds in which they decide whether your message deserves more detailed consideration. This is where your first paragraph and possibly subheads might grab them.

Finally you have 3 minutes to build your case – so get to the point if it's long form copy and explain why the whitepaper, guide or feature article matters to them.

Instinctively having been taught to communicate in a journalistic style I know this, but I’ve never had it explained before. Take a long hard look at your content and ask yourself, from your customer’s perspective, does it meet the mark, or will they mentally consign it to the bin?

I talk to customers all the time who are struggling to employ people; yet very few tap into a massive pool of experienced talent – the over 50s. Most simply do not understand our needs …

I am over 50 and work for myself. I left the corporate 9 to 5 rat race five years ago.

According to the press I am far from alone. While I still work as a freelancer, the number of 50 to 64 year olds who are not in work rose to 3.6 million this year.

At the same time, I talk to customers who are really struggling to employ people. One position, for a senior manager, took more than 8 months to fill.

So how do you attract this untapped and vastly experienced talent? Sadly, many people really do not understand the needs of an older employee.
 
Speaking personally, I still need to pay the bills, but I was bored in the corporate world. It was the same thing day in day out. I craved change and control over my own destiny. Also, I’ve paid off my mortgage so a big salary on its own is simply not enough.

We don’t want to be tied down to the same old corporate grind. We want to be challenged, we want excitement and we want flexibility.

Be honest can you offer that? If not, can you change the job specification?

Alternatively, you could think outside of the box. Could you restructure the job to make it part time, or could you fulfil it using a team of freelancers? There are lots of us over 50s out there with a huge amount of experience but too many of you don’t meet our needs.

Is it time that you considered a hybrid marketing team if you struggle to recruit? We’ve proven that we don’t need to be present in an office to deliver marketing content and systems are now in place to manage teams remotely.

Instead of a large inhouse marketing and content team, or outsourcing much of the work to an agency, it is time to consider managing virtual teams of freelancers who bring precise skill sets to meet your needs. This becomes even more relevant if there is a recruitment freeze as we enter a downturn, but you still need extra resource.

In some B2B markets for instance you may need to find individuals with relevant market experience.

I think we are moving to a new model of marketing where one or two marketing professionals will be based at a company’s HQ who will then supplement their needs by employing freelancers when they are needed. This may prove a popular option if there is a hiring freeze.

Best of all you can pick and mix how much of each you need.

And to be blunt freelancers don’t have the same overheads as the expensive and outmoded agency model. It's time to think laterally, the talent is out there in the freelance world so why not mix and match resource to build your ideal flexible team .

 

According to the ad industry Guru David Ogilvy only one in five people who read a headline bother to read the body copy. How can you beat this statistic?

If you are developing copy this leaves us with two conclusions. First you need to get the story into a headline of 60 characters or less for the modern generation of skimmers and second you need to hook the reader to engage with your body copy so that they learn more. Here are some tips to help you squeeze the most out of your 60 character headline:

1.      Tell the reader why they should interested.  Remember it’s about them not you.

2.      Be specific.

3.      Tug at your readers’ emotions.

4.      In this internet age, think about what your readers search for.

5.      Write your headline after the body copy.

6.      Read your headline out loud.

When you can publish whatever you like, there is a danger in loosing that cutting edge. It is why the skills of media relations are so important, after all the ultimate editor is your prospect or other intended audience.

If you have any other tips about writing a great headline, then please feel free to put them in the comments.

 

It’s time to bin the exclamation mark.

If you are writing content, then it shows that your words have failed to excite or engage – so you try and get this overused punctuation mark to do it for you.

It’s lazy. Words can be hard work and it’s tempting to fall back on it to give us a hand. But it’s a trap, we rely on them far too heavily. They are the smiley faces of the punctuation world.

F Scott Fitzgerald said, note he did not exclaim, “An exclamation point is like laughing at your own jokes.”

So when would it be permissible to resurrect this annoying punctuation mark?  Only for major life events – if you or your partner give birth or you get married because that sort of commitment deserves it.  There is nothing in B2B marketing content that springs to mind.

Let’s cross them out now!!!!!!! - see how annoying they are.

There’s been a lot of debate in the news about getting the message right over the last few weeks. If you want to prevent it going wrong for your business, then here are five common things for you to guard against:

1. The organisation looks at it from their point of view not the audience. Why not try it out with the audience – ask them does this make sense?

2. People try and squeeze too much detail and caveats into a message, to the point where it losses any clarity. Remember to KISS – Keep it Simple Stupid.

3. Too many people get involved, which can cause either 1 or 2 above.

4. Fear and politics. If it becomes the pet project of the MD or perhaps someone else high up, then I have seen people afraid to stand up and say, “I’m sorry but this doesn’t work”. If you are the boss listen and take criticism – it’s why you employ marketing people.

5. Employing someone who does not understand your customer base. I know some great content producers, but the art of communication is about understanding someone else’s needs and then communicating what matters to them and in the appropriate language. If you know someone who knows your market, then they can help you cut through the waffle and are also confident enough to challenge your assumptions.

If you get the message wrong, then you are wasting time and money; but worse than that If your customers and prospects don’t understand what you offer, then why would they do business with you?

When we exit into a post Coronavirus world, B2B marketing professionals need to re-examine their supply chains.

This crisis has shown that that services can be delivered by homeworkers, which incidentally is something that we freelancers have known for years. The people delivering the service have not needed the bureaucracy or hierarchy of overpaid agency owners or the buildings that they all sit in.

Agencies also tend to work in set structures or silos, it means that often you will be wedded to the staff in a team. I think a better approach for you is to mix and match people with an ideal skills mix for you.

A better approach is to find someone who exactly meets your needs. They already know your market and customers so there is no need for them to go through a learning curve. There will be a freelancer pre-loaded with that information, you just need to find them through search, social media such as Linked In or perhaps by asking a trade press editor.

Most of these freelancers will have come from an agency background and several will have years or decades of experience. Better yet if they have worked in your industry, they will know other contacts with similar experience – and there you have the basis of your perfect virtual team.

Finally, just like online retailers their overheads are lower so expect more competitive prices. If I were an agency owner I’d be scared.

 

The trouble with thought leadership is that you have to think. It’s not for lazy marketeers. If you get it right, then you engage with your prospects and gain their respect and trust. Unfortunately, few do. So, what’s the secret?

Don’t sell

First be strong. Don’t let the sales’ team sabotage it. Your customers are smart enough to spot a thinly veiled sales message and will switch off if they are researching before they move to buying.

Say something new

If it’s just a rehash of what everyone else is saying, then your content will be lost in the noise. You have experts, use them.

What is your opinion, can you challenge the norm? Do you have a unique insight that will help your customers? And have you asked your customers what their pain points are?

Demonstrate authority

The best thought leadership content uses respected voices and different perspectives. It does not give a one-dimensional view and while it will use your own experts it should also refer to people outside your organisation, from suppliers, customers, trade associations and even academia.

Is it relevant?

Ask whether your audience care about the subject and why they care. And is it a subject that you can demonstrate your expertise on?

If the subject is a trending issue, then what can I add to avoid boring my audience. “Me too” content will not cut it. You need to find that unique perspective and assess why that opinion will appeal to them.

Make it interesting

While thought leadership needs to provide real insight, it needs to be easily digestible and interesting. Often the experts are not the right people to deliver the message, they can get to caught up in the detail and miss the “Wow” factor that is still needed in good communication.

Make sure that people can find it

Having spent the resource on generating the content make sure that your customers know about it. Promote the content through social media, the trade press, email marketing and word of mouth.

 

A recent Survey Monkey thought leadership report had 68% of respondents state that thought leaders have expert knowledge. They share new insights gleaned from hand-on experience in their industry. Where are those thought leaders in your business?

 

There’s a myth that long form content is dead. That’s utter garbage. In B2B your customers make informed decisions based on research.

B2B marketing is not all about attention grabbing snippets and instant gratification. Long form content is vital because it demonstrates your expertise. It will cover a subject in depth and provide the information needed to make an informed decision.

In fact, classic content marketing often involves using short form attention grabbing material to direct prospects to the more informative piece.

Grab attention

The best long form material grabs and keeps attention. When someone spends time reading your 2,000-word blog post or whitepaper or watches your 20-minute informative video they are committing themselves. They trust you enough to invest their time. And people do business with those they know and trust.

Good for SEO

And it’s good for your SEO. It’s not all about keywords for google. The algorithm monitors how long people stay on a page or “dwell time.” If you can get them to stay for 2, 3 or even 4 minutes on a page it tells Google that the content is useful.

The trick of course is to get people to commit their time. So, it’s not about length it’s about the quality of that information. If it’s boring or generic no one will read it. Instead invest the time and effort to develop a story, share new and unique insights and, above all, provide real value.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does your content marketing copy meet the 3-30-3 rule? My son is actually teaching me stuff now; I knew that fancy University education would come in handy. What is the 3-30-3 rule?

It's to do with how we make snap decisions and it affects the way we perceive information. Apparently, people use a series of thought subsets, they thin slice what they see.

The most important point in the decision comes from the first slice – it takes 3 seconds for people to make that first decision. So, if you are producing content make sure that your headline grabs their attention. Does it address your prospects’ needs?

If you get over this slice, you have another 30 seconds in which they decide whether your message deserves more detailed consideration. This is where your first paragraph and possibly subheads might grab them.

Finally you have 3 minutes to build your case – so get to the point if it's long form copy and explain why the whitepaper, guide or feature article matters to them.

Instinctively having been taught to communicate in a journalistic style I know this, but I’ve never had it explained before. Take a long hard look at your content and ask yourself, from your customer’s perspective, does it meet the mark, or will they mentally consign it to the bin?

I talk to customers all the time who are struggling to employ people; yet very few tap into a massive pool of experienced talent – the over 50s. Most simply do not understand our needs …

I am over 50 and work for myself. I left the corporate 9 to 5 rat race five years ago.

According to the press I am far from alone. While I still work as a freelancer, the number of 50 to 64 year olds who are not in work rose to 3.6 million this year.

At the same time, I talk to customers who are really struggling to employ people. One position, for a senior manager, took more than 8 months to fill.

So how do you attract this untapped and vastly experienced talent? Sadly, many people really do not understand the needs of an older employee.
 
Speaking personally, I still need to pay the bills, but I was bored in the corporate world. It was the same thing day in day out. I craved change and control over my own destiny. Also, I’ve paid off my mortgage so a big salary on its own is simply not enough.

We don’t want to be tied down to the same old corporate grind. We want to be challenged, we want excitement and we want flexibility.

Be honest can you offer that? If not, can you change the job specification?

Alternatively, you could think outside of the box. Could you restructure the job to make it part time, or could you fulfil it using a team of freelancers? There are lots of us over 50s out there with a huge amount of experience but too many of you don’t meet our needs.

Is it time that you considered a hybrid marketing team if you struggle to recruit? We’ve proven that we don’t need to be present in an office to deliver marketing content and systems are now in place to manage teams remotely.

Instead of a large inhouse marketing and content team, or outsourcing much of the work to an agency, it is time to consider managing virtual teams of freelancers who bring precise skill sets to meet your needs. This becomes even more relevant if there is a recruitment freeze as we enter a downturn, but you still need extra resource.

In some B2B markets for instance you may need to find individuals with relevant market experience.

I think we are moving to a new model of marketing where one or two marketing professionals will be based at a company’s HQ who will then supplement their needs by employing freelancers when they are needed. This may prove a popular option if there is a hiring freeze.

Best of all you can pick and mix how much of each you need.

And to be blunt freelancers don’t have the same overheads as the expensive and outmoded agency model. It's time to think laterally, the talent is out there in the freelance world so why not mix and match resource to build your ideal flexible team .

 

According to the ad industry Guru David Ogilvy only one in five people who read a headline bother to read the body copy. How can you beat this statistic?

If you are developing copy this leaves us with two conclusions. First you need to get the story into a headline of 60 characters or less for the modern generation of skimmers and second you need to hook the reader to engage with your body copy so that they learn more. Here are some tips to help you squeeze the most out of your 60 character headline:

1.      Tell the reader why they should interested.  Remember it’s about them not you.

2.      Be specific.

3.      Tug at your readers’ emotions.

4.      In this internet age, think about what your readers search for.

5.      Write your headline after the body copy.

6.      Read your headline out loud.

When you can publish whatever you like, there is a danger in loosing that cutting edge. It is why the skills of media relations are so important, after all the ultimate editor is your prospect or other intended audience.

If you have any other tips about writing a great headline, then please feel free to put them in the comments.

 

It’s time to bin the exclamation mark.

If you are writing content, then it shows that your words have failed to excite or engage – so you try and get this overused punctuation mark to do it for you.

It’s lazy. Words can be hard work and it’s tempting to fall back on it to give us a hand. But it’s a trap, we rely on them far too heavily. They are the smiley faces of the punctuation world.

F Scott Fitzgerald said, note he did not exclaim, “An exclamation point is like laughing at your own jokes.”

So when would it be permissible to resurrect this annoying punctuation mark?  Only for major life events – if you or your partner give birth or you get married because that sort of commitment deserves it.  There is nothing in B2B marketing content that springs to mind.

Let’s cross them out now!!!!!!! - see how annoying they are.

There’s been a lot of debate in the news about getting the message right over the last few weeks. If you want to prevent it going wrong for your business, then here are five common things for you to guard against:

1. The organisation looks at it from their point of view not the audience. Why not try it out with the audience – ask them does this make sense?

2. People try and squeeze too much detail and caveats into a message, to the point where it losses any clarity. Remember to KISS – Keep it Simple Stupid.

3. Too many people get involved, which can cause either 1 or 2 above.

4. Fear and politics. If it becomes the pet project of the MD or perhaps someone else high up, then I have seen people afraid to stand up and say, “I’m sorry but this doesn’t work”. If you are the boss listen and take criticism – it’s why you employ marketing people.

5. Employing someone who does not understand your customer base. I know some great content producers, but the art of communication is about understanding someone else’s needs and then communicating what matters to them and in the appropriate language. If you know someone who knows your market, then they can help you cut through the waffle and are also confident enough to challenge your assumptions.

If you get the message wrong, then you are wasting time and money; but worse than that If your customers and prospects don’t understand what you offer, then why would they do business with you?

When we exit into a post Coronavirus world, B2B marketing professionals need to re-examine their supply chains.

This crisis has shown that that services can be delivered by homeworkers, which incidentally is something that we freelancers have known for years. The people delivering the service have not needed the bureaucracy or hierarchy of overpaid agency owners or the buildings that they all sit in.

Agencies also tend to work in set structures or silos, it means that often you will be wedded to the staff in a team. I think a better approach for you is to mix and match people with an ideal skills mix for you.

A better approach is to find someone who exactly meets your needs. They already know your market and customers so there is no need for them to go through a learning curve. There will be a freelancer pre-loaded with that information, you just need to find them through search, social media such as Linked In or perhaps by asking a trade press editor.

Most of these freelancers will have come from an agency background and several will have years or decades of experience. Better yet if they have worked in your industry, they will know other contacts with similar experience – and there you have the basis of your perfect virtual team.

Finally, just like online retailers their overheads are lower so expect more competitive prices. If I were an agency owner I’d be scared.

 

The trouble with thought leadership is that you have to think. It’s not for lazy marketeers. If you get it right, then you engage with your prospects and gain their respect and trust. Unfortunately, few do. So, what’s the secret?

Don’t sell

First be strong. Don’t let the sales’ team sabotage it. Your customers are smart enough to spot a thinly veiled sales message and will switch off if they are researching before they move to buying.

Say something new

If it’s just a rehash of what everyone else is saying, then your content will be lost in the noise. You have experts, use them.

What is your opinion, can you challenge the norm? Do you have a unique insight that will help your customers? And have you asked your customers what their pain points are?

Demonstrate authority

The best thought leadership content uses respected voices and different perspectives. It does not give a one-dimensional view and while it will use your own experts it should also refer to people outside your organisation, from suppliers, customers, trade associations and even academia.

Is it relevant?

Ask whether your audience care about the subject and why they care. And is it a subject that you can demonstrate your expertise on?

If the subject is a trending issue, then what can I add to avoid boring my audience. “Me too” content will not cut it. You need to find that unique perspective and assess why that opinion will appeal to them.

Make it interesting

While thought leadership needs to provide real insight, it needs to be easily digestible and interesting. Often the experts are not the right people to deliver the message, they can get to caught up in the detail and miss the “Wow” factor that is still needed in good communication.

Make sure that people can find it

Having spent the resource on generating the content make sure that your customers know about it. Promote the content through social media, the trade press, email marketing and word of mouth.

 

A recent Survey Monkey thought leadership report had 68% of respondents state that thought leaders have expert knowledge. They share new insights gleaned from hand-on experience in their industry. Where are those thought leaders in your business?

 

There’s a myth that long form content is dead. That’s utter garbage. In B2B your customers make informed decisions based on research.

B2B marketing is not all about attention grabbing snippets and instant gratification. Long form content is vital because it demonstrates your expertise. It will cover a subject in depth and provide the information needed to make an informed decision.

In fact, classic content marketing often involves using short form attention grabbing material to direct prospects to the more informative piece.

Grab attention

The best long form material grabs and keeps attention. When someone spends time reading your 2,000-word blog post or whitepaper or watches your 20-minute informative video they are committing themselves. They trust you enough to invest their time. And people do business with those they know and trust.

Good for SEO

And it’s good for your SEO. It’s not all about keywords for google. The algorithm monitors how long people stay on a page or “dwell time.” If you can get them to stay for 2, 3 or even 4 minutes on a page it tells Google that the content is useful.

The trick of course is to get people to commit their time. So, it’s not about length it’s about the quality of that information. If it’s boring or generic no one will read it. Instead invest the time and effort to develop a story, share new and unique insights and, above all, provide real value.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does your content marketing copy meet the 3-30-3 rule? My son is actually teaching me stuff now; I knew that fancy University education would come in handy. What is the 3-30-3 rule?

It's to do with how we make snap decisions and it affects the way we perceive information. Apparently, people use a series of thought subsets, they thin slice what they see.

The most important point in the decision comes from the first slice – it takes 3 seconds for people to make that first decision. So, if you are producing content make sure that your headline grabs their attention. Does it address your prospects’ needs?

If you get over this slice, you have another 30 seconds in which they decide whether your message deserves more detailed consideration. This is where your first paragraph and possibly subheads might grab them.

Finally you have 3 minutes to build your case – so get to the point if it's long form copy and explain why the whitepaper, guide or feature article matters to them.

Instinctively having been taught to communicate in a journalistic style I know this, but I’ve never had it explained before. Take a long hard look at your content and ask yourself, from your customer’s perspective, does it meet the mark, or will they mentally consign it to the bin?

I talk to customers all the time who are struggling to employ people; yet very few tap into a massive pool of experienced talent – the over 50s. Most simply do not understand our needs …

I am over 50 and work for myself. I left the corporate 9 to 5 rat race five years ago.

According to the press I am far from alone. While I still work as a freelancer, the number of 50 to 64 year olds who are not in work rose to 3.6 million this year.

At the same time, I talk to customers who are really struggling to employ people. One position, for a senior manager, took more than 8 months to fill.

So how do you attract this untapped and vastly experienced talent? Sadly, many people really do not understand the needs of an older employee.
 
Speaking personally, I still need to pay the bills, but I was bored in the corporate world. It was the same thing day in day out. I craved change and control over my own destiny. Also, I’ve paid off my mortgage so a big salary on its own is simply not enough.

We don’t want to be tied down to the same old corporate grind. We want to be challenged, we want excitement and we want flexibility.

Be honest can you offer that? If not, can you change the job specification?

Alternatively, you could think outside of the box. Could you restructure the job to make it part time, or could you fulfil it using a team of freelancers? There are lots of us over 50s out there with a huge amount of experience but too many of you don’t meet our needs.

Is it time that you considered a hybrid marketing team if you struggle to recruit? We’ve proven that we don’t need to be present in an office to deliver marketing content and systems are now in place to manage teams remotely.

Instead of a large inhouse marketing and content team, or outsourcing much of the work to an agency, it is time to consider managing virtual teams of freelancers who bring precise skill sets to meet your needs. This becomes even more relevant if there is a recruitment freeze as we enter a downturn, but you still need extra resource.

In some B2B markets for instance you may need to find individuals with relevant market experience.

I think we are moving to a new model of marketing where one or two marketing professionals will be based at a company’s HQ who will then supplement their needs by employing freelancers when they are needed. This may prove a popular option if there is a hiring freeze.

Best of all you can pick and mix how much of each you need.

And to be blunt freelancers don’t have the same overheads as the expensive and outmoded agency model. It's time to think laterally, the talent is out there in the freelance world so why not mix and match resource to build your ideal flexible team .

 

According to the ad industry Guru David Ogilvy only one in five people who read a headline bother to read the body copy. How can you beat this statistic?

If you are developing copy this leaves us with two conclusions. First you need to get the story into a headline of 60 characters or less for the modern generation of skimmers and second you need to hook the reader to engage with your body copy so that they learn more. Here are some tips to help you squeeze the most out of your 60 character headline:

1.      Tell the reader why they should interested.  Remember it’s about them not you.

2.      Be specific.

3.      Tug at your readers’ emotions.

4.      In this internet age, think about what your readers search for.

5.      Write your headline after the body copy.

6.      Read your headline out loud.

When you can publish whatever you like, there is a danger in loosing that cutting edge. It is why the skills of media relations are so important, after all the ultimate editor is your prospect or other intended audience.

If you have any other tips about writing a great headline, then please feel free to put them in the comments.

 

It’s time to bin the exclamation mark.

If you are writing content, then it shows that your words have failed to excite or engage – so you try and get this overused punctuation mark to do it for you.

It’s lazy. Words can be hard work and it’s tempting to fall back on it to give us a hand. But it’s a trap, we rely on them far too heavily. They are the smiley faces of the punctuation world.

F Scott Fitzgerald said, note he did not exclaim, “An exclamation point is like laughing at your own jokes.”

So when would it be permissible to resurrect this annoying punctuation mark?  Only for major life events – if you or your partner give birth or you get married because that sort of commitment deserves it.  There is nothing in B2B marketing content that springs to mind.

Let’s cross them out now!!!!!!! - see how annoying they are.

There’s been a lot of debate in the news about getting the message right over the last few weeks. If you want to prevent it going wrong for your business, then here are five common things for you to guard against:

1. The organisation looks at it from their point of view not the audience. Why not try it out with the audience – ask them does this make sense?

2. People try and squeeze too much detail and caveats into a message, to the point where it losses any clarity. Remember to KISS – Keep it Simple Stupid.

3. Too many people get involved, which can cause either 1 or 2 above.

4. Fear and politics. If it becomes the pet project of the MD or perhaps someone else high up, then I have seen people afraid to stand up and say, “I’m sorry but this doesn’t work”. If you are the boss listen and take criticism – it’s why you employ marketing people.

5. Employing someone who does not understand your customer base. I know some great content producers, but the art of communication is about understanding someone else’s needs and then communicating what matters to them and in the appropriate language. If you know someone who knows your market, then they can help you cut through the waffle and are also confident enough to challenge your assumptions.

If you get the message wrong, then you are wasting time and money; but worse than that If your customers and prospects don’t understand what you offer, then why would they do business with you?

When we exit into a post Coronavirus world, B2B marketing professionals need to re-examine their supply chains.

This crisis has shown that that services can be delivered by homeworkers, which incidentally is something that we freelancers have known for years. The people delivering the service have not needed the bureaucracy or hierarchy of overpaid agency owners or the buildings that they all sit in.

Agencies also tend to work in set structures or silos, it means that often you will be wedded to the staff in a team. I think a better approach for you is to mix and match people with an ideal skills mix for you.

A better approach is to find someone who exactly meets your needs. They already know your market and customers so there is no need for them to go through a learning curve. There will be a freelancer pre-loaded with that information, you just need to find them through search, social media such as Linked In or perhaps by asking a trade press editor.

Most of these freelancers will have come from an agency background and several will have years or decades of experience. Better yet if they have worked in your industry, they will know other contacts with similar experience – and there you have the basis of your perfect virtual team.

Finally, just like online retailers their overheads are lower so expect more competitive prices. If I were an agency owner I’d be scared.

 

The trouble with thought leadership is that you have to think. It’s not for lazy marketeers. If you get it right, then you engage with your prospects and gain their respect and trust. Unfortunately, few do. So, what’s the secret?

Don’t sell

First be strong. Don’t let the sales’ team sabotage it. Your customers are smart enough to spot a thinly veiled sales message and will switch off if they are researching before they move to buying.

Say something new

If it’s just a rehash of what everyone else is saying, then your content will be lost in the noise. You have experts, use them.

What is your opinion, can you challenge the norm? Do you have a unique insight that will help your customers? And have you asked your customers what their pain points are?

Demonstrate authority

The best thought leadership content uses respected voices and different perspectives. It does not give a one-dimensional view and while it will use your own experts it should also refer to people outside your organisation, from suppliers, customers, trade associations and even academia.

Is it relevant?

Ask whether your audience care about the subject and why they care. And is it a subject that you can demonstrate your expertise on?

If the subject is a trending issue, then what can I add to avoid boring my audience. “Me too” content will not cut it. You need to find that unique perspective and assess why that opinion will appeal to them.

Make it interesting

While thought leadership needs to provide real insight, it needs to be easily digestible and interesting. Often the experts are not the right people to deliver the message, they can get to caught up in the detail and miss the “Wow” factor that is still needed in good communication.

Make sure that people can find it

Having spent the resource on generating the content make sure that your customers know about it. Promote the content through social media, the trade press, email marketing and word of mouth.

 

A recent Survey Monkey thought leadership report had 68% of respondents state that thought leaders have expert knowledge. They share new insights gleaned from hand-on experience in their industry. Where are those thought leaders in your business?

 

There’s a myth that long form content is dead. That’s utter garbage. In B2B your customers make informed decisions based on research.

B2B marketing is not all about attention grabbing snippets and instant gratification. Long form content is vital because it demonstrates your expertise. It will cover a subject in depth and provide the information needed to make an informed decision.

In fact, classic content marketing often involves using short form attention grabbing material to direct prospects to the more informative piece.

Grab attention

The best long form material grabs and keeps attention. When someone spends time reading your 2,000-word blog post or whitepaper or watches your 20-minute informative video they are committing themselves. They trust you enough to invest their time. And people do business with those they know and trust.

Good for SEO

And it’s good for your SEO. It’s not all about keywords for google. The algorithm monitors how long people stay on a page or “dwell time.” If you can get them to stay for 2, 3 or even 4 minutes on a page it tells Google that the content is useful.

The trick of course is to get people to commit their time. So, it’s not about length it’s about the quality of that information. If it’s boring or generic no one will read it. Instead invest the time and effort to develop a story, share new and unique insights and, above all, provide real value.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does your content marketing copy meet the 3-30-3 rule? My son is actually teaching me stuff now; I knew that fancy University education would come in handy. What is the 3-30-3 rule?

It's to do with how we make snap decisions and it affects the way we perceive information. Apparently, people use a series of thought subsets, they thin slice what they see.

The most important point in the decision comes from the first slice – it takes 3 seconds for people to make that first decision. So, if you are producing content make sure that your headline grabs their attention. Does it address your prospects’ needs?

If you get over this slice, you have another 30 seconds in which they decide whether your message deserves more detailed consideration. This is where your first paragraph and possibly subheads might grab them.

Finally you have 3 minutes to build your case – so get to the point if it's long form copy and explain why the whitepaper, guide or feature article matters to them.

Instinctively having been taught to communicate in a journalistic style I know this, but I’ve never had it explained before. Take a long hard look at your content and ask yourself, from your customer’s perspective, does it meet the mark, or will they mentally consign it to the bin?

I talk to customers all the time who are struggling to employ people; yet very few tap into a massive pool of experienced talent – the over 50s. Most simply do not understand our needs …

I am over 50 and work for myself. I left the corporate 9 to 5 rat race five years ago.

According to the press I am far from alone. While I still work as a freelancer, the number of 50 to 64 year olds who are not in work rose to 3.6 million this year.

At the same time, I talk to customers who are really struggling to employ people. One position, for a senior manager, took more than 8 months to fill.

So how do you attract this untapped and vastly experienced talent? Sadly, many people really do not understand the needs of an older employee.
 
Speaking personally, I still need to pay the bills, but I was bored in the corporate world. It was the same thing day in day out. I craved change and control over my own destiny. Also, I’ve paid off my mortgage so a big salary on its own is simply not enough.

We don’t want to be tied down to the same old corporate grind. We want to be challenged, we want excitement and we want flexibility.

Be honest can you offer that? If not, can you change the job specification?

Alternatively, you could think outside of the box. Could you restructure the job to make it part time, or could you fulfil it using a team of freelancers? There are lots of us over 50s out there with a huge amount of experience but too many of you don’t meet our needs.

Is it time that you considered a hybrid marketing team if you struggle to recruit? We’ve proven that we don’t need to be present in an office to deliver marketing content and systems are now in place to manage teams remotely.

Instead of a large inhouse marketing and content team, or outsourcing much of the work to an agency, it is time to consider managing virtual teams of freelancers who bring precise skill sets to meet your needs. This becomes even more relevant if there is a recruitment freeze as we enter a downturn, but you still need extra resource.

In some B2B markets for instance you may need to find individuals with relevant market experience.

I think we are moving to a new model of marketing where one or two marketing professionals will be based at a company’s HQ who will then supplement their needs by employing freelancers when they are needed. This may prove a popular option if there is a hiring freeze.

Best of all you can pick and mix how much of each you need.

And to be blunt freelancers don’t have the same overheads as the expensive and outmoded agency model. It's time to think laterally, the talent is out there in the freelance world so why not mix and match resource to build your ideal flexible team .

 

According to the ad industry Guru David Ogilvy only one in five people who read a headline bother to read the body copy. How can you beat this statistic?

If you are developing copy this leaves us with two conclusions. First you need to get the story into a headline of 60 characters or less for the modern generation of skimmers and second you need to hook the reader to engage with your body copy so that they learn more. Here are some tips to help you squeeze the most out of your 60 character headline:

1.      Tell the reader why they should interested.  Remember it’s about them not you.

2.      Be specific.

3.      Tug at your readers’ emotions.

4.      In this internet age, think about what your readers search for.

5.      Write your headline after the body copy.

6.      Read your headline out loud.

When you can publish whatever you like, there is a danger in loosing that cutting edge. It is why the skills of media relations are so important, after all the ultimate editor is your prospect or other intended audience.

If you have any other tips about writing a great headline, then please feel free to put them in the comments.

 

It’s time to bin the exclamation mark.

If you are writing content, then it shows that your words have failed to excite or engage – so you try and get this overused punctuation mark to do it for you.

It’s lazy. Words can be hard work and it’s tempting to fall back on it to give us a hand. But it’s a trap, we rely on them far too heavily. They are the smiley faces of the punctuation world.

F Scott Fitzgerald said, note he did not exclaim, “An exclamation point is like laughing at your own jokes.”

So when would it be permissible to resurrect this annoying punctuation mark?  Only for major life events – if you or your partner give birth or you get married because that sort of commitment deserves it.  There is nothing in B2B marketing content that springs to mind.

Let’s cross them out now!!!!!!! - see how annoying they are.

There’s been a lot of debate in the news about getting the message right over the last few weeks. If you want to prevent it going wrong for your business, then here are five common things for you to guard against:

1. The organisation looks at it from their point of view not the audience. Why not try it out with the audience – ask them does this make sense?

2. People try and squeeze too much detail and caveats into a message, to the point where it losses any clarity. Remember to KISS – Keep it Simple Stupid.

3. Too many people get involved, which can cause either 1 or 2 above.

4. Fear and politics. If it becomes the pet project of the MD or perhaps someone else high up, then I have seen people afraid to stand up and say, “I’m sorry but this doesn’t work”. If you are the boss listen and take criticism – it’s why you employ marketing people.

5. Employing someone who does not understand your customer base. I know some great content producers, but the art of communication is about understanding someone else’s needs and then communicating what matters to them and in the appropriate language. If you know someone who knows your market, then they can help you cut through the waffle and are also confident enough to challenge your assumptions.

If you get the message wrong, then you are wasting time and money; but worse than that If your customers and prospects don’t understand what you offer, then why would they do business with you?

When we exit into a post Coronavirus world, B2B marketing professionals need to re-examine their supply chains.

This crisis has shown that that services can be delivered by homeworkers, which incidentally is something that we freelancers have known for years. The people delivering the service have not needed the bureaucracy or hierarchy of overpaid agency owners or the buildings that they all sit in.

Agencies also tend to work in set structures or silos, it means that often you will be wedded to the staff in a team. I think a better approach for you is to mix and match people with an ideal skills mix for you.

A better approach is to find someone who exactly meets your needs. They already know your market and customers so there is no need for them to go through a learning curve. There will be a freelancer pre-loaded with that information, you just need to find them through search, social media such as Linked In or perhaps by asking a trade press editor.

Most of these freelancers will have come from an agency background and several will have years or decades of experience. Better yet if they have worked in your industry, they will know other contacts with similar experience – and there you have the basis of your perfect virtual team.

Finally, just like online retailers their overheads are lower so expect more competitive prices. If I were an agency owner I’d be scared.