Posts Tagged ‘Business’

“Touch Factor” in Content Marketing Impacts Customer Lifecycle

Don't overlook other steps in the sales chainIs the cashier with the microphone headset responsible for your Big Mac purchase?

Well, he may take your order and therefore “make the sale”, but, we all know sales are the result of ongoing, strategic marketing initiatives. The famous “Golden Arches” are equally famous for producing multiple customer touch-points throughout diverse media streams. This repetitive, multi-channel approach to marketing ensures your “Mac Attack” purchase when you pull into the drive-thru.

When it comes to selling the real work starts with the development and execution of a strategic marketing plan. There is no exception when you’re selling online. To do this most effectively you’ll need a content marketing strategy. “Content marketing” is an online discipline that oversees the development of highly targeted, specialized content that serves as a starting point for lead development, customer acquisition, and customer retention.

Let’s briefly look at each.

(more…)

Posted by katiemccaskey in content marketing, Digital Marketing & Branding

1 Comment

Keep Reading →

Cheap Content is Dangerous

Point eight.

treadmill desk

Approximately .8 mph is top racing speed of my “treadmill desk” hack, shown here. (Yes, I’m writing this while on it. Crazy, eh?) I’ve logged plenty of miles and written over 200,000 words on my “treadmill desk”. Work words, by the way: I don’t count the rest.

Never heard of a treadmill desk? Click here for a quick search. You’ll find passionate supporters. Note the “suped up” models cost around $4k, and cheapest manufactured model is about $400. For a mere $40, you can buy a treadmill shelf.

Or… You Can Bust Out the Bungee Cord

(more…)

Posted by katiemccaskey in content marketing

0 Comments

Keep Reading →

Portfolio – Content Strategy

 

 

 

Content Strategy in 5 Steps, illustration: Shelly Bowen

Content strategy is a natural extension of the work I do for many start-up/small businesses. Typically, this is in conjunction with other content marketing services.

You can read more about specific projects below or follow “latest news” and blog entries at this website.

Web Design/Content Strategy
Autumn Olive Farms (in process)
Big “O” Tree and Lawn Service
George Bowers Grocery
Liz Beavers – more about the process
McCaskey Law
T&E Meats – more about the process

Content Management and Strategy
Shenandoah Resource and Conservation Department (RC&D) – Flex Fencing project, 2010-2013 – more about this “offline” content management

Professional Experience
Director of Content Strategy – Geezeo.com – (2007-2009)
Multimedia Designer – Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment – (1999-2003)

Enhanced by Zemanta

Posted by katiemccaskey in Content Strategy, Portfolio Samples

0 Comments

Keep Reading →

Portfolio – Social Media

Here are details about social media services offered.

Social Media Strategy Consulting

Autumn Olive Farms (Waynesboro, VA)
Best Address (Washington, D.C.)
Big “O” Tree (Stuarts Draft, VA)
Eastern Mennonite University (Harrisonburg, VA)
Liz Beavers, sculptor (Staunton, VA)
T&E Meats (Harrisonburg, VA)
RVNN.tv (Elkhart, IN)

Social Media Management

Three real estate brands, Facebook/Twitter: Aol Real Estate, Rented Spaces, Housing Watch – Aol (America Online) – 2009
George Bowers Grocery, Facebook/Twitter – (co-owner) – 2008
Geezeo – 2007

Social Media Monitoring and Reputation Management

~ clients not disclosed ~

Clients determine best course of action and response when I alert them of discussions relating to their brand and service.

Social Media Instruction

Facebook for Artists – Artisan Center of Virginia – Spring 2011
Introduction to Facebook – Staunton Parks and Recreation – Spring 2010
Introduction to Social Media – Staunton Creative Community Fund – Fall 2009

Enhanced by Zemanta

Posted by katiemccaskey in Portfolio Samples, Social Media

0 Comments

Keep Reading →

Great Web Writers Drop “E”

 

Empathy is the cornerstone of engagement online  —  so why do so many people make a mess of it?

 

First, let’s talk about the slimy marketers and salespeople (online or off) who will parrot you, your fears, and your concerns in an attempt to connect with you long enough for you to open your wallet…

(Yes. They ruin everything. They make your job more difficult.)

Empathy – when used for in the context of online communication, and for the powers of good – can have stunning results beyond just the immediacy of keeping you on a website or making an initial sale. In fact, empathy can drive ongoing, enthusiastic supporters who do your selling for you.

(Wow – they really *get* me!)

Too bad empathy is frequently overlooked or faked. We’ve all seen a getting-to-know-you conversation turn into a not-so-disguised getting-to-sell-you conversation. We sense when data is being collected for no good reason other than to serve the collector. In short, we’re all just over it.

No wonder true, sincere empathy in such demand. Especially online.

How do you give it? Well, first, you must understand that you don’t “get” empathy — you give it. The more you give, the more you get. Here’s how in your online content marketing:

Listen.

You can discover a lot about what your audience wants and needs. Your audience is a collection of individuals, but, you can think of them as one person. What do they need? What makes them feel good?

But what if your customers aren’t discussing you?

As Jay Baer writes, “It’s difficult to make listening and opportunistic engagement the nucleus of your approach when there’s nothing to listen or respond to in the first place.

That’s why content marketing becomes steadily more important for brands that don’t have existing social chatter.

If they’re not talking about you, it’s up to YOU to create content that gets them talking. [emphasis added]

In addition:

Make Empathy Part of Your Brand, and Core to Your Brand Communication

Examine the problem your website and/or products solve. Connect with the problem, and convey it’s legitimate role in helping your audience/customer. Make sure all your marketing copy (web, print, otherwise) references this solution from the customer’s perspective.

And if they still aren’t listening and discussing you?

Keep revising until you’re talking directly, and genuinely, to their needs.

Don’t “drop”, as in omit, empathy as an unnecessary, feel-good aspect of your marketing. Add empathy, because it’s powerful and meaningful if it’s genuine.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Posted by katiemccaskey in content marketing

0 Comments

Keep Reading →

4 Tips for Compelling Copy

Australian author and literary critic

Dead literary critics: not your audience

Compelling copy is the foundation of engaging content — so what are the secrets?

Four tips to produce riveting copy online:

1 – Economy. If you can communicate in fewer words, do so. You needn’t always write a lengthy manifesto to explain your perspective. If you want to keep your audience, keep it short and snappy. Save the manifesto opining for your unshaven weekends in the woods. (Or that blog no one reads.)

If you must go long: give your readers frequent paragraph breaks, highlighted main thoughts, and make! it! great!

2 – Personality. Try not to be boring. Think in terms of stories. Ignore the temptation to be formal. Do not attempt to please dead literary critics.

Even boring, “necessary” content has the opportunity to engage. Check out the unsubscribe page at Groupon. But wait! Isn’t that video, not copy? Yes, but copy sets the scene. Copy instructs you to engage. Copy makes you to push the button and “Punish Derrick”.

(Caution: personality injection in legal notices isn’t recommended by my lawyer. Or yours.)

3 – Clarity. Hey, that reminds me of 36 other things I’d like to mention…. No! No! No! Veering outside the lane is fine, but too much weaving and wandering will distract and/or annoy your readers. Buckle up, and buckle down. Narrow your focus so each piece serves a clearly-defined purpose.

Editors pay writers for how they think. Your audience pays you with their time and attention. Can’t clearly convey your thoughts? Find the task too time consuming? Hire a commercial web writer.

(Things to look for: a web writer who understands content marketing, strategy, social media, and seo best practices. Yes: that’s a clarity-rich sales pitch to hire yours truly. It’s also a helpful reminder to be explicit in your copy if you want to direct your reader to a specific action.)

4 – Review. Take the time to review and revise. Then do it again. Your audience will thank you. They’ll also be willing to engage again.

While your version of “compelling copy” may differ based on audience, objectives, or goals, there’s one last secret, a magic bullet: make it genuine.

For more discussion on the topic, check out Junta42.  (P.S. Here’s my approach.)

Enhanced by Zemanta

Posted by katiemccaskey in content marketing

3 Comments

Keep Reading →

Why Your Content Cannot Die!

P1120150
Image by Emmanuel Blum via Flickr

Web content is a funny thing: it cannot die.

I was thinking of this while finishing up the latest for “Odd Staunton” titled: Swannanoa Palace, or, Why You Cannot Die!

Sure, content can and does get buried and forgotten. It falls into cracks in the inter-webs, patiently awaiting the search spider to find it again.

But it is there: lurking like a zombie awaiting reanimation.

The problem is that even after you delete content a clever person or search engine seeking it can usually find it.

So what do you?

You plan for content’s eventual “death” from the front page of your site and it’s top ranking search results. You plan for content’s life after the limelight…knowing that eventually another spotlight will find it.

By “planning”, I recommend two careful content marketing considerations:

1 – Is it enticing? You can be sure that most “seo” drivel is boring repetition of keywords. That stuff *is* buried and forgotten. Instead, craft quality content in the first place.

In the writing/marketing world this means a combination of knowing your audience and at times being provocative. (In the above example, don’t you want to know the “Swannanoa Palace secret” about “why you cannot die”?)

2 – Will others use it? This is an area ripe for discussion because traditionally creative people could only benefit financially if they kept all the rights and usage to themselves. There is still a need for this in some areas. However, it is also urgent to understand that your web content WILL be used by others, creative commons license or not.

So, plan for your content to be used by others. Embrace it. (Yes, this attitude takes practice.)

Here’s a brief example. A few weeks ago I wrote about renters, community gardens, and changes in land use legislation for Aol. The post lived there for awhile and fell off the front page in the perpetual motion of news. Days later, this post was picked up by Pepsi’s Refresh site. Pepsi followed some best practice reuse: crediting, and linking back. Why wouldn’t I, and Aol, not be happy? (Linking to this site would’ve been ideal, but, considering the norm of finding content work uncredited, I’m not complaining!)

Content’s longevity is exactly why I predict we’ll see more companies and organizations wising up to the bottom-line value of paying for quality content. Spend quality dollars for it’s development and role in marketing strategy — because content never dies.

Enhanced by Zemanta

Posted by katiemccaskey in content marketing, content strategy

0 Comments

Keep Reading →

Content Marketing & Strategy for Clean Water

Managing content offline matters, too

“Clean water” is really a widget in a discussion about the connection between data organization and management (content strategy) and its communication objectives (content marketing).

This is perfectly illustrated in the “Flex Fencing” project overseen by the Shenandoah Resource and Conservation Department (RC&D).  Challenges here are applicable to many online and offline content projects.

Observations

  • Collection and organization of content is not enough if it doesn’t convert.
  • By necessity, content must be presented with marketing objectives and audiences in mind.
  • Not all content marketing strategies should (or can) rely on social media as a cornerstone.

Content Strategy

The Flex Fencing project is an excellent example of managing data – content – which starts offline and merges online. My ongoing role is taking this “real world” collection of data and distilling it into a usable form for various stakeholders: program funders, the organizing group (Shenandoah RC&D), and the general public.

This is where the offline world of content meets online strategy.

First, the collection of data. Consider, briefly, the river of information necessary (pun intended) for a project that includes farmers, scientists, environmentalists, NGOs, and private investors.  Most projects contain similar levels of diverse audience members. To communicate to each effectively one must present different, yet relevant, portions of the collected data to each audience.

A tactical measure is to use a tool such as Google Docs where each of the groups can access specific information.

Content Marketing

Next, consider how you’ll transform this information into action. Data collection and organization is vital, but, this alone won’t embolden your audience – whether farmers or private investors – into action. That takes content marketing – even if, in this example, what you’re “marketing” is progress on, and continued enthusiasm for, a shared goal (clean water). So, to be successful the collected content must explain benefits and demonstrate concrete results in a way that speaks to your intended audience.

What about Social Media?

Social media is a cornerstone to many content marketing strategies. Therefore, it’s easy to forget that some audiences are prevented from accessing social media. No, we aren’t discussing the farmers themselves – some  farmers are very savvy here.

Rather, the infrastructure: the RC&D is located in a governmental building that blocks social media sites such as Facebook.

So how to work this into overall content marketing strategy? A single web page and Facebook presence are a start. But, they can’t be the only tools because a large segment of working group is blocked from accessing social media. The alternative? Communicating across counties with tools that aren’t explicitly marked “social” but can function in a shared sense, such as Google Docs.

Side Note: Restoration Economy

This particular project is a great example of what author Storm Cunningham covers in his book, Restoration Economy. The book’s premise is that one of the biggest future economic trends involves private-public restoration projects of the built and natural environment. Can’t you see these projects demanding a combination of online/offline content strategy and marketing?

Related articles by Zemanta
Enhanced by Zemanta

Posted by katiemccaskey in content marketing, content strategy, Portfolio Samples, RSS, Twitter

0 Comments

Keep Reading →

Welcome, Rich Women

Helen B. Rich & "Chinese Gordon" (LOC)
Image by The Library of Congress via Flickr

Hey, Rich Women!

Thanks for dropping in. I’m pleased to be the latest woman profiled on Kim Kiyosaki‘s site “Rich Woman“. (Thanks, Sara Korn!)

If you are curious about real estate, you can see my Victorian restoration project for sale here.

Questions? Happy to discuss my content marketing and commercial writing business (this website). Or, if you want to discuss the challenges and joy of running a business with your life partner, I’m happy to do that, too. As the profile mentions, my husband and I jointly own and operate George Bowers Grocery, an independent specialty grocery based in Staunton, Virginia.

Thanks for stopping by – hope to hear from you about your creative projects, too.

Sincerely,

Katie
@KatieMcCaskey

Enhanced by Zemanta

Posted by katiemccaskey in small business

0 Comments

Keep Reading →

Content Should “GIVE”

Content Strategy
Image by Intersection Consulting via Flickr

How do you define your content strategy? My content philosophy is neatly expressed as “G.I.V.E.:”

G – Great content; defined by giving your audience useful, relevant, and thought-provoking information that directly speaks to their interests and needs

I – Influence; content that demonstrates your leadership, while also directing your audience to a certain behavioral outcome (permission marketing conversion, direct sale, etc.)

V – Value; expressed by your audience’s willingness to share content and make referrals on your behalf

E – Economy; content that conveys critical information clearly and quickly, understanding short attention spans and the requirement to stand apart from a crowd.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Posted by katiemccaskey in content strategy

0 Comments

Keep Reading →

content marketing professional offering free tips Follow us Facebook Twiter RSS