How do you stand out in the rising floodwaters of content?

...that's the core question I'll be discussing in a content strategy hangout on February 13th.

Five "old hands" at content marketing like myself will share their ideas and strategies for how to stand out in a noisy content market. I'll be joined by:

• Michele Linn of Content Marketing Institute
• Bryony Thomas of Watertight Marketing
• Kieran Flanagan of Hubspot
• Stan Woods of Velocity Partners

Ryan Skinner of Velocity Partners will moderate the Hangout.

We'll be reviewing a few campaigns that stood out for us as well as our own campaigns that failed to stand out. And hopefully answer questions like:

• Is best practice a problem (as everyone does the same thing)?
• Can tone of voice alone do the trick?
• Does narrow persona-targeting kill social distribution?
• Can scandal work?
• Can great promotion save ho-hum content?
• Is there real appetite within businesses to "stand out"?
• Does virtue in online content win?

REGISTER TODAY. Should be fun! 

Making the Top UK Online Marketing Influencers 2013

I was delighted to be featured in TopRank's Top UK Online Marketing Influencers & Bloggers in 2013. That's me down at Number 43. Its an impressive list - between the 50 of us we have 683,000 twitter followers and 15,000 facebook friends.

But in the words of one of the judges, Allister Frost, "don’t pay too much attention to the relative placement on the list but focus instead on checking out those bloggers who write about stuff you find interesting. And if you like what these bloggers do, don’t forget to let them know and to tell others about your great discoveries." I couldn't have put it better myself. I've now made sure I'm following the entire list myself and am looking forward to being enlightened.

Anyway thanks to the panel for voting me in. I am genuinely humbled.

B2B Marketers: Hire Science Graduates Before Its Too Late!

Even 10 years ago marketing technology was in most cases easy to understand and in some just a nice to have. But as this recent infographic from Luma Partners illustrates, the complexities facing the modern/contemporary/21st century B2B marketer. Today, technology is the heart of B2B marketing and data is its blood. Understanding of these two areas (technology+data) is no longer "someone else's problem", e.g. IT or business development. Put more strongly technology is no longer an enabler for marketing, it is what we do.

B2B brands that are successful in the next few years will have embraced this and made fundamental shifts in how they do their marketing. They will have made sense of the technology jungle and have learnt from their B2C cousins, using data to:

inform smarter decisions,

automate customer interactions,

build highly personalised, relevant conversations,

measure the hell out of everything!

This too will require a new breed of B2B marketer. Let's face it, there are far too few career marketers in B2B Marketing. Most either fall into marketing from other "support" functions or, quite frankly, fall out of sales. No bad thing per se, but we need to freshen the skill set to survive & thrive. Tomorrow's marketer will need to be more comfortable in Google Analytics than in planning an event or mapping out the lead waterfall than briefing a design agency. Its a totally different skillset. Its about testing hypotheses, interpreting data, building test environments and driving conclusions. Its not about communications its about the ability to handle big data, building data-driven insights and implementing technology-led interactions.

Our put in other words we need more data geeks - marketing scientists if you will. As my father ( a career engineer) once said, many scientists follow the arts as a hobby but far fewer artists follow science. Which is why I argue that for tomorrow's marketers we should be looking to science graduates than arts students. 

Oh, and if you're needing to get up to speed on all this technology marketing stuff I highly recommend reading Rene Power's Brilliant B2B Digital Marketing

7 UK B2B marketing experts to follow in 2013 #b2b #marketing

It's 21.12 and as the year draws to a close here's the seven B2B marketing pros who've inspired me this year and are a must follow for 2013. All are UK based so there's more chance of you bumping into them over a pint in London then over an extra wet skinny vanilla soy latte in Palo Alto.

Bob Apollo. Seasoned sales professional who specialises in sales & marketing alignment. Not adverse to a few military analogies get him in if you need to bridge the gap.

Doug Kessler. Content marketing supremo with more edge than a dodecapolyhedron. He's re-writing the (e)Book on what content marketing is over at Velocity Partners towers.

René Power. B2B marketing dynamo, who's just published the great (some say brilliant) Brilliant B2B Digital Marketing guide with Dave Chaffey.

Bryony Thomas. One woman consulting machine, pushing the boundaries of B2B marketing and about to seriously challenge UK business with her Watertight Marketing initiative.

Will McInnes. Not for his B2B marketing chops per se, but for his passion for a new, more socially responsible way of doing business. Read Culture Shock for more.

Martin Macdonald. What this man doesn't know about Seo, web & inbound marketing probably doesn't exist. He lives, eats and drinks (lots) web.

Roger Warner. Social media is wired into his DNA. His SM outfit Content & Motion were the sassiest social bunch on the south coast, and success came through C&M merging with the Bynd crew. Just don't get him started on cricket though.

Getting personal: 3 problems with marketing in 2012 and hope for 2013 #marketing

I recently had the privilege of sharing some thoughts with more than 200 marketers* on "what to expect in marketing in 2013". Of the six themes (big data, unified marketing platforms, content marketing, mobile, social, marketing team transformation) by far and away the biggest response/interest came around the whole area of personalising marketing to the needs of the individual. This is a hot topic, spurred on by the need to build stronger connections in an ever increasingly noisy world.

I'd argue that despite the explosion in communications channels (communities, forums, social media etc) marketing fundamentally hasn't changed. We might be doing more stuff more often, but we still have three problems:

1. We fail to recognise the sales cycle is now the buying cycle. 2013 is the year of the buyer. We no longer have the majority of attention of our audiences. They're in control. They call the shots. And if you think otherwise, you're doomed to fail. In markets like travel, consumers can review up to 15 websites before making a purchase decision. Having the right relationship at the right time is key in this promiscuous age. Oversell and you're off the list. Undersell and you never make it. 
2. Buyers make decisions without your involvement. With real time, self service information channels buyers probably hide anywhere up to 75% of their buying cycle from you, even more so in B2B. What's more buyers don't want you involved. But still we gate content, hide information and force buyers into talking with us. This just doesn't work. Buyers won't to work with brands that facilitate their decision process, not obstruct it.
3. The segmented audience approach is failing. We're still in the mass marketing mind set. Even with our understanding of segmentation, we're still broadcasting relatively generic messages to aggregate group of individuals. And what's more we time these comms out of sync with the buying cycle (see Daily Deals!!) of the individual.

The rise of content marketing in recent years has been seen as one way in which to tackle these problems. Build relevant, engaging, entertaining content that forges a better emotional connection with your audiences and you'll stand out from the crowd. On our webinar 67% of delegates said they felt they were now producing relevant content regularly. But still, content marketing is a relatively blunt instrument to build engagement. It still ignores the needs of the individual. 

Personalisation is key. What's needed is a personalised approach. Its the difference between an off-the-peg and a made-to-measure suit. Its comfortable, individualised and feels just right. However only 15% of our webinar delegates personalised content based on the individual's needs.

Let's be clear, I'm talking here more than just personalising "Dear XXX" and "Yours sincerely YYY" in an email. Its about dynamically changing copy, personalising offers and building out taliored comms not only in email, but online, in social and on mobile.

Think Behaviors. But more importantly, its about timing these communications based on behaviors. Its no longer good enough to send a special offer to everyone called John in West London who's bought an Xbox. Its about understanding the behaviors of that segment and timing/tailoring those offers when those individuals are ready to buy, not when you're ready to sell. Its also about choosing the right channel for the individual. So if I prefer eBook content on facebook (as expressed by my behaviors), communicate with me in that why. Its a new shift in how to do marketing.

The great news is you probably already have the tools to make this shift right now. The technology such as big data analytics and unified marketing platforms is well within the reach of even the smallest business. It just needs you to make a shift in your thinking. So let your New Year's Resolution be to make the leap into behavioral marketing!

* at a Brightalk webinar (watch the replay) and a Figaro Digital Seminar (see the slides)

 

Re-use: the art of ‘pimping your content' in b2b marketing

I was interviewed a while back by Bryony Thomas as part of an article titled "Reduce, Re-Use, Recyle - a marketing philosophy". This is top of mind right now as I start my new role at Silverpop and begin to think of building out the future. The temptation for someone like me is too start afresh and launch some stunning new content into market. But this would be foolish. I'm going to dig into our back catalogue and see what juicy tidbits are fit for recycling.

I'm a big believer in re-using existing content. Marketers need to work harder at being more consistent with the same messages over a prolonged period of time. Its tougher to stand out in the digital market place, so we need to be creative in recycling older material and getting away from the shiny new message syndrome.

IBM were masters of this back in the early 2000s where they owned the eBusiness tag for many years, whilst most rivals chopped and changed messages every quarter.

Consistency is no bad thing as you also have to accept that most customers don't see your content first time round. That 20% email open rate means that 80% don't read what you sent. And with customers being awash with 24x7, inbound-marketing led digital content, its doubtful they even noticed that Q1 integrated programme.

So (along with better targeting and more relevant content) there's no harm in creatively re-cycling content for re-targeting & re-marketing. Take that old eBook and turn it into blog posts (or vice versa!). Re-edit those lengthy customer testimonials into bite sized snippets. Re-cycle an old article into new commentary (ahem). Take those old gems, polish them up and re-pimp them to the market.

And don't just think this is a cosmetic exercise. [In Bryony's words] Intelligent re-use of marketing content has three key benefits:

1. It helps you get more from your marketing budget
2. It means that people see your message repeated multiple times so it’s more likely to stick, and
3. It extends your reach by appealing to people who like to consume different media formats (some people like print, some video, some audio, etc.).

So, come on. Join me and start re-pimping that content!

Join me for "2013: What to Expect and How to Succeed in the Year of the Customer" [webinar]

Remember when digital marketing predictions were all about ‘Year of the mobile’?

Join me for a more insightful look into our top trends for 2013 – the year marketing really gets to grips with customer behaviour in the digital world!

Click here to register

Finally a pop star: Five reasons I joined @silverpop

I'm absolutely delighted to have come on board at Silverpop, joining the EMEA leadership team to further grow the business in the region.

For those of you who don't know us, we're a digital marketing technology provider that unifies marketing automation, email, mobile, and social. Ultimately we help marketers build more personalised digital communications, with the aim of strengthening customer relationships, tracking the effectiveness of marketing campaigns and providing better qualified, sales-ready leads.

As a B2B marketer I've been on the connected sales & marketing journey for many years myself. I started out with list based telemarketing, stopped off on high-end CRM systems, moved on to personalised emailing then in the past five years embraced marketing automation (MA) and social media marketing. So its great to go "vendor side" and get involved with a company at the heart of the market.

For me, outside of being in a post-punk new wave indie rock band (don't ask) its as close as I get to doing a personal passion for a living. (Which is why I also love that Silverpop calls its employees "pop stars"). 

So why did I join Silverpop? Here are five reasons (with some links to tunes thrown in for good measure):

1. Hot hot hot. Behavioural marketing is hot and we're seeing an explosion in interest in MA, customer experience and personalised digital marketing tools. This market is going places. Fast.

2. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. Silverpop is well placed to take advantage of this growth, having a heritage of nearly 10 years in email, MA and social/mobile. Less brash than some of the newer upstarts, its been focussed on doing the best for its customers, with high retention rates and commitment to success. I love that. Its also bigger than many of the perceived "leaders", profitable and growing at a fair old tick. Great place to be!

3. The Song Remains The Same. Let's be honest, many dismiss companies like Silverpop from the MA discussion as our heritage is in email marketing. As if  this somewhat invalidates our MA credentials! In my opinion that's nonsense. Email is the backbone of digital marketing and for many segments remains the preferred channel for customers conversations. Silverpop brings together the best of all worlds: scaleabale emailing + MA + social + mobile.  Oh, and lets not forget Silverpop have had MA capability since 2007, years ahead of many of its competitors.

4. All You Good Good People. I'm a believer that great companies are made up of great people who exhibit an "employee first" culture. And this came through strongly in the interview process. I got to speak with the majority of Bill Nussey and his Exec team and I came away impressed by an as unified, professional and passionate team as you'd care to meet. It was clear this team had a common purpose and an answer to why they do what they do, not just what they do (read the rather excellent Culture Shock by Will McInnes if you want to know what I mean). 

5. Good together.  I was more than impressed on my visit to Silverpop's Atlanta HQ to witness the weekly pipeline review meeting. Get this : sales and marketing do a pipeline review. At the same time! Together!! IN THE SAME ROOM!!! This totally blew me away and is a refreshing change to the blame culture and sales/marketing divide in many companies from my past. I just know my job will be 100 times easier because of this collaborative approach.

So, I'm looking forward to the forthcoming weeks and months and getting to know my fellow pop stars. In the meantime, feel free to contact me should you want to know more about Silverpop and what we do.

PS 10 points if anyone can name the post-punk new wave act in the photo. :-)

Good luck to everyone in tonight's @MarketingB2B #b2bawards

I can honestly say this time three years ago I had the most unexpected surprise of my working life!

Tech companies entering EMEA: A 5 point content marketing plan if you have no marketing team #marketing #b2b #socialmedia #contentmarketing

A friend of mine is currently gunning to help a US software business establish a foothold in the UK. He asked me for an idea of what a marketing plan could look like (and of course pass it off as his own….that’s Ok, he’s a good friend). Key thing is he's a sales guy, with a handful of consultants and without a marketing team (for now). So I had to come up with something really pragmatic, Here’s what I said. I think it hangs together quite well, is anchored around content marketing & social media and seems common sense to me. I have a horrible feeling that is what you get from a content marketing consultant. So I’m happy to have provided some advice for free, albeit without an @equalman YouTube video.

*************************************

Some thoughts on a marketing approach.

Firstly I'm guessing they don't have $$$ and want something pragmatic.

Secondly, I'm assuming there's not much of a team in UK?

Nowadays I'm a big supporter of social media for building awareness - only thing is it'll require you to do some regular, content work :-) The basic principle is to share information and engage in a conversation. Not to bombard people with broadcast sales messages.

1. Segmentation

• Use their existing base to profile the perfect customer segments.
• Either purchase lists or telemarket to build your prospecting list around these core segments.
• Build reference material (quotes/case study/presentation/video) that can be used as sales support material.

2. Market your references

• Take a reference customer in one of your target segments, and if they have a UK rep, organise a breakfast briefing and invite prospects like them. Don't talk your company - just let the customer talk about what they're doing. Event can be short & to the point - 08:30 start, 09:30 finish. You can follow up with company information etc at a later date.
• If the customer doesn't have a local rep, set up a 30 minute webcast and get them to talk.
• No matter what format you use, record it!  Video the briefing or record the webcast. That way you can re-use later!- Try and do 1 or 2 of these a month - make it a regular series. You may choose to segment by industry etc.
  

3. Build Content

• If you have any local customers, go and visit them & get them on video. Just take a flip video and grab 2-3 minutes of them answering a few simple questions such as "what are your major challenges?", "why did you choose us?", "compare life before and after us". You can send the questions in advance, then post the video on the sites below.
• Identify 3-5 topics/themes that you can write about/comment on. Use these as monthly themes - everything you do that month hangs off that theme.
• Do a video blog yourself! Don't laugh, it gives your local presence a face - you can a daily/weekly update on latest thoughts/news. No one worries about production values these days, so you can use a flip video in your office & upload to youtube etc!

4. Distribute Content

• See if you can build a UK blog to post content on to, such as what's happening in the UK, latest news, customers, views/opinions/ whatever. Helps you build profile.
• Sign up a twitter account. Use search.twitter.com to find UK tweeters. Follow them. They should follow back.
• Tweet or post your blog content via a distribution tool  (will distribute to all the major social networking platforms)
• Put all your (non-confidential) marketing material on slideshare (presentations), scribd (white papers, brochures, case studies) and youtube (video). It'll help with SEO and boost your google rankings.

5. Get known in all the right places - both offline & online

Get a view of upcoming conferences/seminars in the region on your company's domain. If no budget, try to get yourself on as a speaker or just get registered as an attendee. If budget exists, sponsorship is an option - if budget's tight, offer to sponsor coffee breaks or something similar.

• Subscribe to any online/offline local publications. Get a feel for which ones are good - post comments to any relevant articles. Make a note of the writers/get their contact details.
• Think really really hard about sending anything to press! If you do, try to make it very very relevant (either to an article you read or an upcoming feature). And if you do, follow up by phone. Getting to press is harder than its ever been and you really have to work at it.
• Identify any relevant blogs/communities that are UK specific (you can use blogsearch.google.com). Get signed up.
• Sign up for any LinkedIn Groups.
• Begin commenting on the blogs/pages/groups, with links to your UK site(?) or your contact details. This'll get you known in the online community. Of course, don't pitch. Use the themes built in stage 3.