Susan Jensen Smith Marketing

As marketers are becoming publishers, the ongoing need for content is becoming more and more prevalent. Not only is there a need for more content, it has to be of value to your target reader. Talk about pressure!

But some good news here – not all content has to be original. You can organize other’s content in a way that adds value to your readers. And it’s a win-win for those who create the original content too.

I enjoyed today’s webinar by Curata entitled Feeding the Content Beast. Great info from Pawan Deshpande (@TweetsFromPawan) and Rick Burnes (@rickburnes)!

If you were not able to attend, fear not – in true content curation fashion, I tweeted it it for you. Here are my notes in 140 characters or less snippets:

First, What is Content Curation and why is it smart?

So many channels, so little time to generate quality content!
How often should you create new content? How often DO you? Over 43% at least once/day!
Why is content important? It’s the first step in attracting visitors to your website, then to leads, then sales.
Inbound marketing centers around valuable content.
Companies that blog rank higher in search engines, have more indexed pages, and lots more website visitors. Yea!
The marketer is becoming the publisher. It’s become expected. Whether blogs, podcasts, videos, etc.
Use an editorial calendar for content marketing!
The content beast has a high metabolism (good one!)
What keeps you from generating content? Time is a key culprit! Being disciplined can help.
Blogging more than once per week makes a big difference in customer acquisition. Weekly is the MINIMUM!
Content Curation = find, groups, organizes and share the best and most relevant content on a specific topic online.
Organizing content adds value.
Benefits of content curation: increased traffic/subscribers at a lower cost.

As promised – 10 tips to feed the content beast!

Get into the content mindset. Look for the opportunities!
Tweetable Facts! Build a blog post of tweetable facts with links to tweet.
Don’t try to be Hemmingway. Be realistic. Aim for being useful to your target audience. It’s not art!
Conduct a poll or survey. It’s a two-fer content trick – ask for info, then post the results. Smart!
Share the load. One person can’t do it all – enlist others to pitch in. Appeal to blogger’s competitive nature.
Create a guest blog post. Goes both ways. It’s a win-win content/link. Love SEO!
Reuse your best old content. Chances are, readers didn’t see your best content the first time.
Conduct an Interview. Can be done via email – great way to get a fresh perspective, and SEO win/win.
Test your Content. Compare the content you’re producing and don’t assume.
Create an Infographic. And not just the cool kids are doing it. Long and far reach, make it embed-able.

While these are great ideas, you’ll have a better shot at getting them implemented if you take the time to plan out your content. Check out this post on How To Build An Editorial Calendar in 3 Simple Steps!

One final note, when sharing other’s content, be ethical. Share a title, snippet and thumbnail and refer reader to original publication. For more information about content curation, visit www.GetCurata.com!

Happy Blogging!

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How to Become Customer-Centric {explained in 16 tweets}

by Susan

I enjoyed today’s webinar from Vovici, What it Means to be Customer-Centric in 2012. Very relevant expertise from top customer experience experts Nancy Porte, VP of Customer Experience at Vovici and guest speaker Andrew McInnes, Analyst from Forrester Research, Inc.

In case you missed it, here are my 16 tweets (and a couple RT’s) that will give you an idea of what was covered (with my typos corrected).

Customer Experience Definition: How customers perceive their interactions with a company.
The customers experience should be useful, easy and fun! Be emotionally engaging.
Positive customer experience –> Loyalty –> Big Money
Customers are more empowered now than ever before! Should be a strategic priority for businesses.
Are companies keeping up with customers’ expectations? The bar keeps rising as relationships become more complex.
Being customer-centric is NOT copying others, it’s about consistently delivering on brand promises that resonate with your customers….
A customer’s experience is flavored by more than your initial sale. Think about shipping, support, etc. It’s everyone’s business.
How do you use feedback via social media? Is it measurable and validated, or just a squeaky wheel? Good to think about.
Becoming customer-centric seems overwhelming. Where start? Map your customer’s journey!
Customer Journey Map: doc experience across channels/depts, ID improvements, share common vision and begin to shape future.
RT @stephaniethum: Customer journey maps need to include an understanding of the customer’s goals + pet peeves.
Common vision requires a shared understanding of your customer’s journey map. Employees create empathy.
RT @stephaniethum: RT @vovici: @nportesays: customer journey maps should be living documents.
Involve employees in Journey Map Assumptions, plot touchpoints, ID what’s important at each touchpoint, what data do you need?
Create a journey map for each target persona – not all customers are the same!
How get executive sponsorship for a customer experience program? Show financial impact, share roadmap, involve mgmt.

Ok, so what does a Customer Journey Map look like? Here’s an example using an airline case study:

customerjourneymap How to Become Customer Centric {explained in 16 tweets}

Thanks @vovici for a great presentation! If you haven’t attended one of their webinars, I highly recommend giving it a try!

Which came first, the marketing idea or the technology to make it happen?

by Susan

ideas Which came first, the marketing idea or the technology to make it happen? Technology is driving new and affordable marketing channels and subsequent marketing strategies than ever before. But which came first, the strategy or the channel?

It’s not practical to blue-sky the ideation process if the technology to make it happen doesn’t yet exist. But should a company limit its out-of-the-box thinking to ideas supported by current known technologies?

This is where I think the relationship between a client and their agency is critical. The more open the relationship is between client and agency, the better.

When clients share their big-picture objectives, challenges, and strategies openly and consistently with their agency, then the agency can better recommend smart solutions based on what’s new in technology.

When the agency goes the extra mile to educate the client on what’s new in technology, it can spawn ideas for the client, and enable them to focus on their core business, rather than what’s new in technology.

Classic win-win.

So how does this happen? Through frequent, open and trusted communication. Yes, the good old fashioned “team” concept.

Whether you’re working with a full-service agency, or a specialty agency, keep an open line of communication. Remember, it’s a marketing partner, not a widget vendor.

Digital Days vs. The Old Days

by Susan

My six year old daughter just asked me “were you born in the old days, Mom?”

I stared at her for a moment, then asked her to better define “old days.”

“Before cars.”

“No” I stated succinctly.

Then I got to thinking. I bet my kids wouldn’t know how to use a rotary wall phone. Have they ever seen a turntable? Can they imagine a long car trip without a DSi or iPad in the car? Not texting their friends, or Skyping with their granny?

These technology advances are great. Don’t get me wrong. But they’re changing the way we interact with each other. Not a good or bad, just different.

Before, if you had a message to post or something to sell, you pinned it up on a community board. And chances are you stopped to chat with someone along the way. Now you use social media, craigslist, or eBay.

Remember family game night? We played dominos, cards, monopoly, crazy 8, etc. We talked, we laughed. It was great.

Now the family may be together physically, but each doing their own thing. iPad, iPod, smart phones, texting, Kindle, laptop, etc. All exciting windows to the world outside. Yet very individual.

Despite the digitally available access to the outside world, we still only have so much bandwidth to connect.

Because of that, we spend more time online and less time in face-to-face interaction.

I’m sure this has societal implications that redefine the psychology of relationships. I leave that analysis to the experts.

But savvy marketers who are customer-centric get it. If you want to reach your target market, you have to reach them where they are. And that’s a moving target.

That’s not a bad thing at all. It’s a win-win. With the digital data available to companies, consumers are more likely to be targeted with information relevant to them. And companies are finding smarter (and more measureable) uses of their marketing dollars.

It’s not enough just to have a Facebook page or Twitter account. That’s so early 2011. Keep your eyes on the horizon to see what’s next. For example, watch what the opinion leaders are doing on their mobile devices.

Ok, so maybe I was born in the old days. But one day my daughter will get the same question from her kids. It will be interesting to see what stories she tells.

I’m just thrilled to be a marketer in today’s digital times. Even if our eventual grandkids one day look back and laugh.

Build an Editorial Calendar in 3 Simple Steps

by Susan

When did you write your last blog post? If you hung your head and sighed a bit, you’re not alone.

There are many reasons why intentions to write new content on a regular basis can get sidelined. Writer’s block, procrastination, and other priorities can easily distract from a content marketing plan.

An editorial calendar is a must for those who are using content as part of their marketing strategy. Not only does it help with the hardest part: what to write about, it ensures that the messaging is in line with the business plan, and serves as a pesky reminder to give it priority.

Sort of a strategic kick in the pants, if you will.

But how do you build an editorial calendar? It’s really quite simple – just three easy steps:

1. Call-to-action: What do you want them to do?

Look ahead one month. What action would you like your readers to take within the next 30 days? Sign up for your email list? Follow you on Twitter? Comment on your blog? Buy your service or widget? Attend an event? Tell a friend?

2. Calendar: What’s going on?

With your desired call-to-action in mind, make a broad list of events that are scheduled to occur over the next 30 days. Holidays, programs, advertising schedule, programs, specials/sales, etc.

3. Brainstorm: What value can you provide?

Armed with your call-to-action and list of upcoming events, sit down and brainstorm a list of potential topics that would interest your readers. From there, fine tune your topic ideas into headline drafts to be more specific.

Now that you have a list of content ideas, assign responsibility and due dates and stick to it. If you are the only author, it may be as simple as a pop up reminder on your calendar. Or, if you have the luxury of an editorial team, a monthly meeting with formal assignments may be in order.

And finally, don’t forget to look back to see how you did each month. Review your metrics from the previous month to see which content worked best and why. From there, you will continually learn what works best.

So move past any guilt you have about past infrequent writing, and make it happen for this next month. Your readers are waiting!

10 Blogging Tips for Writing Empathetic Posts

by Susan

One thing I enjoy about blogging is that you’re never done – and there are always ways to improve on what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. Busy bloggers sometimes get so caught up in their message that they forget that there is an audience behind that screen. It’s easy to lose focus of reader perspective after awhile.

I had the pleasure of spending a day with a large agency in NYC last week, as well as spending a day with some very successful bloggers, and came away with 10 things I feel I can improve on (in random order):

Write better headlines – “how to’s”, insider perspective, time saving solutions, and lists. Improves Google love as well.
Map out traffic patterns from all your ports of entry to your content hub (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Tumblr, etc) – make sure you understand them and that you are sending the right traffic in the right direction.
Be more mindful of reader’s needs – what are the emotional benefits? Use the words “because” and “you” to help readers relate to your message.
Respond to comments on your posts. Email key readers thanking them for their comments. They’ll appreciate it, and likely return.
Give before you receive – comment, retweet, etc. This is true in blogging, and in life. Pay it forward!
Be more specific vs broad in your posts. Make it tangible and digestible in snack-size portions.
Don’t assume that readers already know something, even if you’ve stated it before. Most readers have NOT read all your posts-to-date.
Write in shorter paragraphs, use sub-heads, relevant visuals and bullets.
Giveaways work, but use in moderation and keep it fun and simple.
If you’re a smaller/newer blogger, interview larger bloggers, create lists of bloggers who inspire you, etc.

It’s easy to get complacent, busy or too close to what you are doing to be most effective. Every now and then, take a step back, put yourself in your readers’ shoes and look at your past posts objectively.

Good can always be greater.

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A Dozen WordPress Plugins I Like

by Susan

Every now and then I get asked what my favorite WordPress Plugins are. It’s a moving target, but here are some must-have plugins that I recommend:

Askimet – a must have to manage spam
Google Analyticator – works with google analytics
Chartbeat – used with the Chartbeat service that tracks live site traffic (set up at chartbeat.com – about $10/month for up to 5 domains)
Comment Luv – great for encouraging a blogger community
Contact Form 7 – good contact form plugin
Display Widget – to decide which widgets you want displayed on which pages
Category Order – to change the order your categories are displayed in
WordPress-Facebook-Like by Todd Williams – there are many, I like this one the best
Tweetmeme Button – a no-brainer!
Twitter Widget Pro – my favorite for showing tweets in a widget
Linkwithin – shows images of related posts at bottom of post (before you click on the individual post). To get this, go to linkwithin.com then upload the zip file
Yet Another Related Posts Plugin – good choice if your posts don’t all have images. Is more sensitive to truly related content, but only shows if you click on the specific post.

What would you add to the list?

Evaluating a New Idea

by Susan

When you have a new idea, you obviously look around to see if anyone else is doing it too. In college we called that a “SWOT” Analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats). Basic stuff.

But there is an emotional side to this exercise. You range from “ha ha – I can do better than you” smugness to “oh crap, am I in over my head” insecurity. It can be an immobilizing roller coaster if left unchecked.

The whole point of the SWOT exercise is to determine 1) if your idea has merit, and 2) how to uniquely position yourself in the market to make money.

If no one else is doing your idea, be careful. There may not be a paying market for it. A “good concept” does not necessarily make it a money-maker. Do some keyword searches in Google. How many ads pop up on the side of your search results? Do a search in eHow – how many search results do you get? Read a trade publication. How deep are the ads?

Assuming your idea has merit (a.k.a., there’s a paying market for it), how can you be unique? Should you go deep in a niche? Offer a wider product range? Take a different angle? Offer more hands-on service?

Be creative and smart. Bold, yet realistic. Analyze thoroughly, but not to the point of paralysis. And check your emotions at the door. It’s just business.