A Marketing Checklist Goes Up North

Our beloved cabin, located in the upper Northeast corner of Michigan, is a source of great happiness for my family and me.

One of the more enjoyable aspects is watching my husband use his considerable “Mr. Fix It” talents as he renovates the entire structure, which was in pretty bad shape when we purchased it.

His handyman pursuit necessitates numerous visits to the local hardware store.

On one such trip to the town’s family-run hardware store, we discovered a compelling business card, pictured here. (contact info blacked out for privacy reasons)

The marketer in me couldn’t resist analyzing this business card, and running it through my own homegrown four-part checklist to see if it makes for an effective sales and marketing piece – so here we go!

1) Contact Information: Does the piece of marketing collateral contain the basics like contact info, phone, email or website?  Is contact information easy to locate on the piece? You’d be very surprised how many marketing pieces like brochures, tradeshow signage and other pieces fail this basic test – even those generated by larger companies with sophisticated, well-staffed marketing departments.

• Yes, this piece does contain the appropriate contact information for this service provider – phone and address (blacked out in the graphic for privacy reasons)

2) Compelling: Does the piece of marketing collateral effectively describe the product or service, and pull out compelling factors about the product or service?  In other words, does it reflect a unique value proposition?

• Yes.  It is crystal clear what this service provider does. (“I Make Things and Fix Stuff”) By stressing “70 year’s experience”  in machine work and woodwork, this card emphasizes a very unique value proposition for this service provider.  The affordable rate is another compelling factor about the service.

3) Answers Why? Does the piece answer the key question “Why should I change my current solution for a new solution?”? or “Why should I buy this solution from you?”?

• I’d say this isn’t a clear yes or no.  The impressive experience and price of this service provider is clear and compelling.  The reason to hire him over say, doing it yourself (or having a handy husband take on the fix it projects) isn’t so clear here.

4) Format:   Is the format of the sales and marketing piece effective for the target audience?  That means, if the piece is a brochure, is that the most useful format for the prospect, is it easy for them to save and refer to later?  Or would the piece be better as an electronic PDF which can be downloaded from a website.

• Yes. this piece is appropriate and relevant in a business card format. It is conveniently displayed on the hardware counter.  The store is a natural place to distribute this sales and marketing piece to those looking for “fix it” supplies for their cabins.

3 Out of 4 Ain't Bad!

The up north business card scores a solid 3 out of 4, not too bad!

Feel free to use this handy checklist for any sales and marketing collateral you produce, or run across at your local hardware store.  

The Top 5 Things to Know about PR and SEO

Here’s a disclaimer before you read this post:  I am not an expert in the science and art of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

So don’t expect technical 'ins and outs' of improving the visibility of a website or web page in search engine rankings (the “natural” “organic” or unpaid search results you see on Google). 

Like other areas in my life (like banjo playing), I know just enough to be dangerous.

A Case for PR

However, business-to-business PR is familiar territory.

And no matter the client or organization, one is reminded time and again that a simple PR strategy, when effectively put into practice, goes a long way in improving SEO results - or how high In the rankings you appear to an interested prospect.

One Non-Profit's Challenge

This struck me recently when consulting with an arts-related non-profit organization. 

The organization is interested in attracting more members who search the internet to learn about arts offerings.

A simple but strategic PR effort can help them in their pursuit.

SEO and PR

This means issuing timely news, press releases, blog postings and other timely and strategic content about the arts program. A regular cadence of PR content will help improve online visibility for indexing by Google and other search engines, and spread the word about their services.

To get started, the non-profit (or any organization) must keep in mind these 5 considerations about PR and SEO:

1) Write concise and timely press releases or articles.  A previous post considers the “one sentence” press release, which is drastic, yes, but serves as a good reminder.  Make news easy to understand, timely and concise.  

2) Put the most powerful keywords in the title. Choose keywords that customers and prospects are likely to enter when they search for sites like yours. Keywords should appear in the titles of press releases, articles and blog posts – and high up in the content.  Not sure how to figure out what words folks search?  Check this free Google keyword tool.

3) Share content on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn. This non-profit organization already has a Facebook page, but recent updates and timely news are spotty.  They should also develop a Twitter and LinkedIn presence.  Posting news on these outlets provides a big lift in SEO results.

4) Keep the Web site updated with news The frequency with which the content of a Web page changes is important to SEO. New, timely press releases, blog posts, articles or other content helps keep the site fresh, and helps with Google rankings.

5) Spread the word via distribution. Seek out the appropriate newswire service, online newsroom and other distribution methods to optimize search engine results.  This provides links to your content– the more the better in SEO!  This non-profit has a very limited budget. They can post a press release for free (or nearly free) on sites listed below.

•  PRLog.org
•  Onlineprnews.com
• BigNews.biz
• Sbwire.com (free trial)
• OpenPR.com

Final Words

Remember, you can spell S-E-O with the letters P-R!

Press releases,  feature articles, case studies and by-lined articles all help to raise your company or organization in search engine results. 

When that content is created with relevant keywords, the search engines prominently display that information just as your prospects are actively seeking it.

Content Remains King: 5 Tips to Reign Supreme

Many moons ago, the media mogul Sumner Redstone coined the phrase "content is king." 

Redstone uttered this now-famous phrase because with the proliferation of broadcasting, movies and other media outlets, he knew content was more important than distribution mechanisms. There would always exist channels of distribution (albeit in varied forms), but content was always going to be necessary.

Still True Today

Redstone's proclamation “Content is King”  was never more true than in today's online marketing world.

In business to business marketing, relevant content of value to prospects feeds Internet marketing, blog posts, search engine optimization (SEO), social media, direct marketing, public relations, and other online channels.

Proof Positive

Here’s proof that content remains king: According to Marketing Sherpa’s 2012 Search Marketing Benchmark Report-SEO Edition, “content creation works the best, but takes the most work.”

Another data point:  A recent study by TechValidate shows content marketing is a central tactic in the modern B2B marketers’ toolkit for generating demand. 90% of respondents reported a significant slice of their marketing budget is devoted to producing content.

Tips to Reign Supreme

If effective content fuels business to business marketing, and helps with SEO, web traffic, lead generation and other key metrics, what’s the best way to consistently churn out compelling website copy, blog posts, guest blog posts, whitepapers, press releases and more?

Here are 5 tips to “reign supreme” with your marketing content:

1) Let the customer speak:    Develop marketing content that answers the question “what’s in it for the prospect?”   Avoid “we we” text, and content that talks only about the company. Keep front and center the needs, wants, and problems of prospects for content that offers specific value.  Take a close look at your products/services, discover what motivates the customer and prospect, and write about that.

Read further as to the importance of discovering what to write about, not dictating.

2) Match the content to the audience:   Folks who have just discovered your product or service likely do not want lengthy and detailed technical white papers.  They are simply looking for high-level information to orient themselves to your offering.  Be sure content addresses those folks early in the sales cycle.  Likewise, develop and offer more detailed content for those later in the cycle, who seek specifications and other details to see if your product or service is a good fit. 

It’s all about being strategic in content delivery, addressed in a previous post.

3) Recycle and repurpose:  My colleagues and I at Market Strategies and PR claim to be the “greenest marketers around” in that we recycle content in a myriad of ways. A customer case study or analyst research paper is transformed into a press release, a blog post, a Tweet, a direct marketing offer, and web copy.  Be resourceful, seek out nuggets of information and recycle it to fuel their content machine.

4) Be concise:  A recent blog post addressed this same issue. 

People don't read.  They scan. 

In the spirit of brevity, I'll keep this tip short. Remember that with marketing content, “less is more.”  And by all means, avoid buzzwords and marketing speak!

5) Tell a story:  Stories are easy to remember.  Instead of an assortment of facts, technical specs or other dry content, help your prospects gain value by telling a compelling story. A story provides a lesson. Business storytelling is no different. The trick is to take the time to create a meaningful story of value.   


(PRWeb post about generating compelling press releases puts it this way: "As content creators, we are storytellers." )


Go Forth - May Your Content Reigneth Supreme!