by Steve Crowe | Oct 23, 2018 | Business Strategy, Content Marketing
It’s a sign of the times. Cosmopolitan, the iconic lifestyle magazine for (mostly) women, will cease publishing in December after 45 years. It joins a long list of magazines considered no longer financially viable. But do brand magazines still work? Our increasingly digital lives have put paid to traditional publishing – at least that’s the reason usually touted for the life-threatening struggle of magazines. What was once read on paper is now readily available in myriad sites online. Not so fast. Some mastheads haven’t survived the onslaught of digital media, but others are bucking the trend. Many brands still swear by magazines, which continue to achieve their aim of staying in touch with customers, engaging staff, and driving demand for products. Magazines can still play an integral role in a brand’s marketing strategy, delivering a tangible link with customers that no other medium has yet subsumed. Brand magazines for customers Goals of brand magazines may vary, but building customer loyalty is typically a primary objective. They can help to cross-sell and up-sell, keep people up to date with new product or service developments, and contribute to brand image. And the strategy goes back further than you might think. Porsche sold its first sports cars in 1948. By 1952 the company had produced issue one of Christophorus magazine for Porsche owners. It has produced five issues per year ever since, and now boasts a global circulation of 514,000 for its 100-plus-page publication in 11 languages. Issue 388 is currently available. This is one of many examples – in fact, brand magazines are considered by many to be content marketing in its...
by Leonie Seysan | Aug 2, 2018 | Content Marketing, Content Writing, Inbound Marketing
A content preferences survey in 2017 found that 78% of buyers prefer to use case studies over all other types of content when researching purchases. It’s easy to understand why they are such a valuable content format, but as many marketing managers could attest, the process of creating case studies them can be challenging. If you haven’t created case studies before, or you have but found the process challenging, I hope our seven tips below will make the task easier. Why do case studies work so well? A case study provides an overview of a positive business transaction with a client. Unlike a testimonial, it’s not just a review or report from a customer who supports your business. Instead, the goal is to offer a detailed account of how you were able to successfully solve a problem your client faced. Case studies can attract new customers and build trust in your business. They provide evidence that you care about the problems your clients face and find solutions. A good case study also breaks down the process for potential clients, familiarising them with the steps they may go through when working with your business. No matter what stage of the buyer journey potential clients are in, they can be drawn to the useful detail found case studies: Awareness Stage: How the client came upon your business and what sort of problems needed to be solved can resonate with readers facing similar situations. Consideration Stage: Details on your approach and any specific strategies you created for a client can appeal to potential customers with similar needs. Decision Stage: Reading how...
by Tess Oliver | May 16, 2018 | Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing
Marketers, ever on the lookout for unique ways to make an impact, sometimes attempt to including humour in marketing campaigns. Sometimes it works well. Other times…not so much. Here are four examples where marketers have tried to bring the funny – you be the judge! Humour in marketing – don’t get burnt! The Perth suburb of Cockburn might be pronounced ‘Coburn’, but a local aquatic centre used the way it’s spelt to create a sunscreen awareness sign that said, “It’s not called Cockburn for nothing”. While some people were not amused, others saw it as a clever way to draw attention to an important issue. Certainly demonstrates that your message can hit home, or not – depending on who’s listening! Daylight robbery When robbers broke into Ksubi’s New York store and stole $4,000 worth of clothing, the brand used an image of their getaway with the slogan “These guys robbed us last week but they were a week early….. Run Now” to promote their upcoming sale. Shows they have a sense of humour about the robbery. On the other hand, it could show their approach to being robbed is a bit too laid back – depending on how you look at it. Going too far? Brisbane brand YP Threads sent out emails to users saying it had ‘incriminating’ photos of them which they would publish unless they bought certain items. In the age of online hoaxes and fraud schemes, this probably wasn’t the best idea! The backlash led to the brand’s founder calling it a “bad judgement call” and apologising. Despite all that however, it appears the campaign...
by Leonie Seysan | May 7, 2018 | Business Strategy, Content Marketing
It is time to create a brand communications style guide for your company? When you want to create a strong brand identity, build trust with your customers and make sure your brand is instantly recognisable, consistency is the key. This is easy enough to achieve if you’re a one-person operation, but when you have multiple individuals or design and content agencies working on projects for your company, a brand communications style guide can become essential. A style guide lays out a clear framework for your communications, from the layout and font to the style and tone of the language used. A style guide can help you maintain a sense of consistency in your visual and written communications. A clear set of guidelines also makes it much easier for your writers and designers to do their job properly, resulting in better quality content, more recognisable brand values and a uniform message across different platforms. 7 things every brand communications style guide needs The idea behind a style guide is that it is as concise as possible – the easier it is to use, the more likely your team will refer to it rather than guesstimate what to do. While the details will vary depending on your brand, your style guide should include the following seven things as a minimum: Introduction: Always start with a clear introduction explaining the purpose of your style guide. Have headings for each section and include a contents page so people can find things quickly. Basic overview of writing guidelines: It might sound like a no-brainer but you’ll need to specify the basics like whether you’re using...
by Leonie Seysan | Jan 29, 2018 | Content Marketing, Content Writing, Inbound Marketing
Are you aiming to write articles or blog posts that demonstrate thought leadership? It’s becoming a popular strategy for professionals, consultants and business owners, to increase visibility, build credibility, increase connections and even generate high level leads. But thought leadership writing isn’t as easy as it sounds, as you might have already discovered. The following 7 tips briefly cover some of the topics included in our recently launched Thought Leadership Writing Course for professionals, consultants and business owners. It’s the thought that counts – don’t forget to include yours The term ‘thought leadership’ defines itself, but I’ve recently created my own definition: Thought leaders are individuals who are forward-thinking experts in their field, who by sharing their views and perspectives, have the capacity to change the way we see something. To be a thought leader means you must stand out from the crowd of topic experts, by having a unique perspective, or be sharing something of greater value than most ‘experts’ are sharing. That means you won’t be simply repeating other people’s ideas. It means you’re not locked on the current way of doing things in your role or industry. You want to improve the way things are done. And you have an eye to the future. How are things changing? How might we be doing things in 5 years or 10 years from now? What changes or trends could impact our industry or the way we do things? How can we prepare for that? Back up your thoughts with facts – real ones For some topics, your personal experience and some compelling logic might suffice...
by Leonie Seysan | Jul 4, 2017 | Business Strategy, Business Website Help, Content Marketing, Inbound Marketing, Small Business, Traffic Generation
If you’re a service based business without any means of lead capture on your website, then you’re probably allowing many prospective clients to slip away. Perhaps you’ve come across the term ‘lead capture’ while reading up on content marketing, but aren’t quite sure what sort of difference it would make to your business, or how you would implement it. Let’s take a look at what lead capture is, what the benefits are, and what’s involved in doing it. What is lead capture? Lead capture is the practice of inviting website visitors to register their details in order to receive content and/or further communication from you. In the simplest form, lead capture is that ‘subscribe to our newsletter’ or ‘subscribe for updates’ option you see on many sites. However, unless your content writers turning out highly unique material and you have droves of people wanting to sign up, this doesn’t go far enough. One reason this isn’t sufficient for most service businesses, is that not all their prospective clients have precisely the same interests, challenges, pain points and buying motivations. Unless you’re able to segment your database into buyer types, and deliver the most relevant content to each, results with a newsletter subscription alone are likely to be mediocre. Another issue is in the timing. When someone subscribes to your blog or newsletter, that action doesn’t indicate what they’re interested in right now, or how you might help them. However, if they download an eBook related to a specific challenge, it’s a different story. What you have then is often a genuine lead – someone who has identified themselves as a...
