A Content Marketing Framework: Creation + Distribution

October 24, 2011July 23, 2017 / Robert Pease / 1 Comment

"Content" has always been an important part of the marketing playbook but in a world defined by search engine optimization, influence, and sharing it has become a critical component of the modern marketing plan.

Creation of content is hard enough but an effective content strategy includes both creation as well as distribution.

The work doesn't stop once the blog post is written or the video created, so you must be manically focused on getting it distributed and consumed by your target audience. The long tail of search results certainly works in your favor but understanding how to get your content into the limited attention span of your target audience is now an essential marketing skill.

So for Distribution record a screencast but make it short (less than 2 minutes), make it creative but not stupid, post it to your blog via an embed so others can share it, Stumble the post, then tweet it, then post it to your personal Facebook page and company page, drop it on LinkedIn, get everyone in your company to push it out via their personal social channels but be aware that they won't share often or stuff they think sucks then link to it in your signature block of your email then send an email blast to your house list featuring it exclusively or highlighting it as a recent blog post. Figure out where your target audience gets their information and post it there but don't shamelessly pitch your company or participate out of context in the comments. Be sure to vote it up and have others do the same. Rinse repeat…often.

Distribution can be even more exhausting than creation but don't create anything new without thinking through how you are going to distribute it.

Markets Don’t Compile

February 27, 2011July 23, 2017 / Robert Pease / Leave a comment

In the small but noisy universe of technology startups, there has been a growing chorus of voices about the utility and value of marketing.

This peaked over the last few days with Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures eviscerating the function and its practitioners followed by a similar post from Foundry Group's Brad Feld – Why a New Startup Shouldn't Have a Marketing Budget. Fred went on to issue a 'bug report' on the first post with some amendments but of similar negative tone and smart folks like Rand Fishkin and Ben Casnocha weighed in with thoughtful counterpoints. Also, be sure to read the comments across all these posts. Lots of opinions from all sides.

I have enjoyed Fred's writing for many years and always respect his point of view including this post. I have also worked with Brad and didn't notice him vomiting in his mouth in my presence although I must admit I wasn't specifically looking for it (to be clear: Brad is one of the best VC board members I have ever worked with and I am a huge fan).

But even before all of this, I had been thinking about it after reading Rebecca Lynn's post about why engineers make better marketers.

People, developers + designers do not equal a business. Just ask the gnomes.

What I find most distracting about all of this is that it is devaluing the role one group of people play in a startup. If marketing folks aren't worth the air they breathe, what about financial-types, HR folks, or even salespeople?

I am not trying to defend the marketing profession or those who profess expertise in it. I disdain experts. And yes, there is no shortage of morons that want to sell you marketing services or any other business or technical service for that matter.

I do believe this conversation needs to elevate a bit beyond job function to skill set.

The best and most effective marketers have an analytic approach – numbers, spreadsheets, metrics, etc. I have a degree in finance, an MBA, worked as a consultant for many years, and never sought a career path to become a Vice President of Marketing. I was intellectually curious about the problems the products I was part of were trying to solve and managed to be somewhat good at explaining what it did and why you should care (product marketing).

I have written code. Yes, it was many years ago and no it was not my life calling but I have done it. And, more importantly, I respect the people that do it. It is a very, very different role in a startup compared to those who have to take what is developed to market, find the people who care about it, and extract payment.

Writing code definitely requires brains but also delivers immediate feedback in a highly controlled environment – it compiles or it doesn't. If it doesn't work, debug it line by line until there are no more bugs. Then figure out a way to improve it by doing it with less lines of code. This is a focused activity where you are working to a definitive answer where no ambiguity remains.

Taking a product to market couldn't be more different..especially a new product. Create a hypothesis (these people will care), figure out a way to test it (ask them/create an offer), and measure the results.

Oops, we were wrong. Let's debug it and compile again. Oh wait, we can't. Was it the wrong audience, the wrong message, was the offer not compelling, too many alternatives, not a big enough problem, missing features, wrong time, etc., etc?

Marketing in a startup is about two core things:

Awareness – getting the word out so people will try your product and getting those same people to describe their own experiences with it. These days it is definitely harder to keep someone's attention than to get it so new approaches and engagement models are essential.
Distribution – how do you get more traffic, more download volume, more registrations, more referrals, etc? Building it is only the first part, getting it into people's hands at scale is where you need to focus.

What is most ironic about Fred is that he is really, really good at what he clearly doesn't respect – marketing. He has an audience, interacts with it often to promote what is important to him, and pushes his message to the market. His post even lays out an eight step startup marketing plan.

So, let's stop with the marketing bashing, agree that an analytic approach is best, and understand that we are all trying to build great products and make them market successes.

Twitter provides self-organizing psychographic market segments

February 5, 2011July 23, 2017 / Robert Pease / Leave a comment

Wow, that's a mouthful huh? Ok, so let me explain…

The follow/follower model in social technologies creates self-organizing communities where those who "follow" someone or something are publicly stating a preference or interest in what that person says/does or what that brand provides. This is not limited to Twitter but also applies to Facebook fan pages, LinkedIn company pages, etc.

Psychographics are "attributes relating to personality, values, attitudes, interests, or lifestyles" and cut across traditional demographic segments (industry, role, geography, etc.).

Reaching a target segment based on psychographic attributes can be tricky as that is not what the traditional marketing playbook is designed to support. The key is to identify where those with these attributes gather, share, and collaborate with each other and then to engage in a way that utilizes the same attributes. In other words, don't be stupid once you identify who you want to reach and engage with shallow ads, cheesy promotions, etc. Know your audience and what makes them tick – that is why you are doing psychographic segmenting in the first place.

So back to the title of this post and "self-organizing psychographic market segments" for a moment. Let's say you have a productivity product that will completely revolutionize task management – the "next generation to do list." That's awesome. Who uses "to do lists?" Well, just about eveyrbody so demographic segmentation will not be overly effective.

Try this – go to Twitter search and identify a few folks who talk about productivity, discuss workplace efficiency, or preach David Allen's getting things done (GTD) gospel. How? Start with searching on #gtd, #productivity, and #work and see where that takes you.

Using David Allen as an example, he has over 1.3 million Twitter followers who cut across demographic segments but who have self-organized around an influencer and possess the psychographic attributes you are seeking.

This is, of course, only the beginning of the process with reach and engagement being the next and more quantifiable activity. A topic for another post.

Hope this is helpful and happy to discuss further. Email me, leave a comment below, or reach me on Twitter @ReplyToAll.

Photo from Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/florianpainke/4500254335/

It’s not just about the technology

December 2, 2010 / Robert Pease / 1 Comment

I have been wanting to create an animated video with Xtranormal for some time and finally got around to trying one out. This is a really easy and clever way to produce animated clips with a script you write. It is still a bit clunky in translation but that adds to the entertainment.

Here's mine on the startup sales pitch to a business focusing on how it works vs. what it does and value delivered.

This technology will only improve as time goes on making creating something like this easy for anyone and the end product polished like it was done by a professional.

Four steps to getting started with social media

October 28, 2010July 23, 2017 / Robert Pease / Leave a comment

I had the opportunity to be part of a panel discussion on social media at the most recent Agent Reboot event in Washington, DC. It was great to be back to a place I lived for several years "back in the 90s." Lots of familiar places and was able to reconnect with some friends while I was in town.

I framed my comments at the event to take a step way, way back from the hype and excitement around social media and explain what it is and that everybody can, and already does, do it. Learning all the tools, tricks, and tips is another issue but there really is very little mystery surrounding it.

Here's why:

Fundamentally social media is about communicating with people. Something we all know how to do and do every day in a variety of ways – meetings, phone calls, emails, etc. The "social" piece of it focuses on participation.

More people from more places can come together and share, interact, and get updated all at one time or, more importantly, on their time complete with links, pictures, and a threaded view among other things.

I suggested the following four steps to get started and this has been a recurring theme of ours in all of our presentations.

1. Listen

You don't have to have anxiety about your writing, if you can be witty, or even spell correctly. Start out by reading what others are sharing. There is probably already somebody in your neighborhood doing this. In Kirkland, WA (where I live) there are two local blogs I read that keep me informed about what is going on in my community – Kirkland Weblog and Kirkland Views. Beyond where you live, find others writing about your interests, skills, or hobbies. It is really easy to use Google to find these types of bloggers and you can also use Twitter search.

2. Share

Now that you are reading interesting things by people in your neighborhood or written about your interests, you will no doubt want to share those with others. Enter email. Copy a link and paste it into the body of an email or share it directly via email from the post. You'll probably even add a bit of commentary on it as you share with friends or co-workers. Congratulations, you have now shared content.

3. Comment

Now it is time to come out of the shadows and share some of that commentary you are adding to the emails with the world. Read a post and comment directly on it. The comments on a blog, especially a heavily trafficked one, are where the real conversation and insight unfolds. Remember, do not self-promote. Add something of value to the discussion…like you would if you were talking to a group of friends at a coffee shop.

4. Contribute

If you have made it this far and really want to strike out on your own by publishing yourself, you have a variety of choices to make about tools, costs, time commitment, etc. The tools are cheap, easy to learn, and just put yourself on a schedule to write a blog post a week. Carry a notebook and write down random thoughts. If you find yourself answering the same questions over and over for friends or co-workers, write a post and share that link next time (see #2 above). Simplify your broadcasting by linking your blog to Twitter to Facebook to LinkedIn. Or don't and control it. It is your call and you are in control.

Even if you never move past Step 1 you will be better informed in your job or even at your next cookout.

Email Marketing Tip: Ignore Replies at Your Own Peril

October 1, 2010July 23, 2017 / Robert Pease / 1 Comment

Part of the standard marketing playbook that (I hope) everyone uses are timely and relevant updates and annoucements to your customer/subscriber base via email. There are a variety of dead simple tools out there that do this like VerticalResponse, Constant Contact, MailChimp, and ExactTarget that all have different levels of sophistication but essentially do the same thing:

Provide an editor to create email content (text, html, etc.)
Proivide a list manager to upload and organize email addresses
Provide reporting to see opens, clicks, bounces, unsubscribes, etc.

The wide availability of these types of solutions means pretty much anyone can use one if they have something to say and a list of opt-in email addresses (i.e, no spamming). I am a firm believer in respecting the inbox of your recipient and delivering meaningful, relevant information where unsubscribing is easy so don't abuse the priviledge of being able to send someone an email – it can be revoked quickly…and completely.

One of the things I most look forward to after sending out an email update are the responses. I have learned many things over the years including things I didn't want to find out like like broken links, formatting problems, and mis-spelling to important things like customer issues and even compliments and praise.

I am continually surprised when email updates arrive in my inbox and no one is paying attention to the responses. If you send me an email, don't you at least consider the fact I may respond? Worse yet, why would you not monitor the replies…and tell me that?

Try responding to the next one you receive with a question or observation and see if you get a response.

Stop being so concerned about yourself, your open rates, your click rates, etc. and focus on the person to whom you are sending the email. Just because you are sending many at one time does not mean that they all won't be received and acted upon individually.

Set aside the time to respond personally and you'll be amazed at what you learn.

Marketing and advertising will not save you

January 24, 2010 / Robert Pease / 1 Comment

I have been fortunate to get to know the guys at the Foundry Group over the past year as they led the Series A investment in Gist. They are a good group and being a bit of a Boulder, CO fan boy myself, I have definitely enjoyed getting to know the team there.

This past November, I really enjoyed dining with Jason Mendelson of Foundry (and a few others) ahead of the Defrag conference in Denver.

Jason recently did a presentation for the University of Colorado New Venture Challenge on "How to Build a Company" and I thought I would share it here (slides below). Here is a link to the summary of it on the University of Colorado New Venture Challenge site and there is also a link to video of his presentation on the same site.

Lots of great stuff in here including this point that I definitely agree with:

"Marketing and advertising will not save you: Every marketing guy
knows that half of his budget is wasted; he just doesn’t know which
half.”

Jason Mendelson – CUNVC Crash Course Series January 13 2010 http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=crashcourseseries1132010-100114211515-phpapp01&stripped_title=jason-mendelson-cunvc-crash-course-series-january-13-2010

View more presentations from University of Colorado.

Three keys to a successful modern marketing plan

November 16, 2009 / Robert Pease / 1 Comment

I assembled these notes in advance of a presentation I thought I would be giving. That didn't come together but I did want to share these three points here as "keys to a successful modern marketing plan." There are definitely more parts to a plan than what is listed here but I believe these are especially relevant to what you can do and must do given how technology has changed both the approach and pace of marketing.

1. Launch is a process not an event

Launch is not a one time event for your company. Launch is a continuous process whether it is the release of new features, a partner announcement, or just a continuous flow of information and events that you are driving.

I am not a fan of the "one shot" launch events. Not because I don't think Techcrunch 50 or Demo are good events. I just believe there are way too many variables that impact a positive outcome…and that the results of the outcome are fleeting. Isolating everything that could potentially derail a demo or conflicts that could lead to a sparse audience is pretty much impossible so don't set yourself up for disappointment.

I recommend laying out your time line and finding the events that support it. Do not spend buckets of money on events although many require some level of sponsorship to get on stage. Just be frugal about spend and critical of the opportunity. If it seems to good to be true or it is presented (sold) as the "make or break" event for your company, move on.

2. Identify on-line influencers in your domain & meet them

Everyone can be a publisher these days and there are no shortage of bloggers, podcasters, and amateur journalists in just about every industry and sub-industry. A bit of time using a search engine will reveal lots of targets for your given domain that have huge readerships. Engage with these on-line influencers, share your expertise, and provide content for their audiences. Traditional newspaper circulation continues to decline so focus on those who focus on what you do and in your space rather than hope for that big article in the Wall Street Journal. If what you are doing and saying is compelling (and you are really are on expert), those opportunities will find you.

3. Embrace new technologies but don’t lose sight of fundamentals

Social media is a tactic, not a profession. It has a role in the marketing mix and is a phenomenal customer support tool. See it for what it is and understand it is a platform for your brand. Use channels like Twitter, Facebook, and your blog to share news about you, about your industry, and to show off your expertise as well as that of others (yes, including your competitors).

For a bit of additional perspective, watch this video about how the fundamentals of B2B marketing stay the same:

What are good email marketing open and click rates?

November 4, 2009 / Robert Pease / Leave a comment

I'm a fan of using email marketing as part of a broader marketing plan as long as it is not abused and functions as a platform to share information the recipient will find valuable as opposed to shameless product pitches.

There are lots of different options here including self-service ones like VerticalResponse (which I currently use), Constant Contact, and MailChimp as well as ones like Portland-based eROI and Nashville, TN-based Emma which integrate agency services along with the email capability. The full list of options is very long (including Atlanta-based Silverpop & Seattle neighbor WhatCounts) and I know I am not doing it justice here.

The purpose of this post is to dig into what are good results from an email marketing campaign. How many opens, clicks, bounces, unsubscribes, etc. are actually good when compared to what is best in class?

I know what I have seen in my efforts and am happy to discuss one-on-one if you are interested. Here is what I found after a few quick searches:

Great chart from the folks at MailChimp with a breakdown by industry (small businesses). The average of the averages (sorry mathematicians) pegs this around a 25% open rate with just over a 4% click rate looking across some 273M sent emails. Unsubscribes are pretty low at .36% while hard bounces (not a valid email) seem high to me at almost 6%. People change jobs and email addresses go stale but I have not seen a result this high or it could be due an extended interval between sends.

Good stats posted on eMarketer although pegging the high end of list size at 1000+ seems curious to me (my lists are always much larger than this and I hope yours are too). Their citation of a report by MailerMailer puts the "worldwide" open rate at 12.5% at the end of 2008.

I'm not sure I am leaving you with what is best in class but at least this can function as a frame of reference. I am not an email marketing expert by any means but believe in it and its responsible use for any organization.

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