Someday, your company may find itself as the target of a social media storm. It could be something like an accidental spill of a chemical that caused a fish kill, discovery of insects and rodents in your baked goods, or a spokesperson being arrested on a morals charge. As a company leader, you may not … Read more
When designing white papers, it’s crucial to keep their purpose in mind. Many companies and designers are tempted to make them visually striking and colorful, but this approach can backfire by making them look like promotional materials. A white paper is meant to be a serious, non-promotional document, and the most impactful designs are those … Read more
Developments in cloning have been amazing, but unless your customer base is made up of sheep, they haven’t meant much to marketers. That said, there’s a way you can “clone” your best customers, so you can do business with more of them. Really getting to know your current customers is a critical step in finding … Read more
A greeting-card envelope appeared in the afternoon’s mail. No return address, no stamp, just a colorful envelope. Curious, I slit it open and discovered an internet provider’s latest pitch, ingeniously disguised as a greeting card. Was I flattered? Touched? Tickled? Delighted? Impressed by the cleverness? Overwhelmed with good feelings about this witty vendor? No, I … Read more
You’ve just developed a blog or a social post and one sentence is particularly important. You want to make sure nobody misses it. So you should put it in ALL CAPS, RIGHT? Wrong. You probably don’t need to boldface it, either. In fact, if its importance is obvious, you probably don’t have to highlight it … Read more
Companies invest huge sums of money to promote their products and services. But all too often, they overlook the most obvious meanings and messages that would connect with their audiences. They end up wasting their investment and losing the opportunity to make a sale. Consider the remarkably instructive example in a national magazine’s back-cover ad … Read more
White papers have become an invaluable resource in today’s fast-paced business world, where professionals are constantly pressed to accomplish more with less time. Like you, your customers and prospects are on the lookout for reliable information but are often swamped with other responsibilities. Given their limited time, they greatly value practical advice that directly addresses … Read more
If your kids were starving, and you had a fishing pole and a couple worms, would you try your luck in some far-off exotic pond, or would you cast into the fishing hole that has always produced a bucket full of big ones? That’s why the most practical, most effective marketing strategy is to focus … Read more
I’ll bump into business owners at networking functions who insist they have no need to advertise or market, because their business will grow completely by “word of mouth.” At that moment, I know their businesses won’t be around for long. Sure, there are those outliers that became hugely successful just by existing. That’s not going … Read more
White paper titles are arguably the most crucial element of your white paper, as they determine whether your target audience will actually take the time to read it. In our increasingly busy lives, we have little patience for content that doesn’t immediately grab our attention. When scanning through social media feeds or search engine results, … Read more