Did you ever see or hear about something and think, “well, that just makes too much sense.” I have. A few things come to mind for me. Al Pacino in The Godfather. Cool weather in San Francisco (every time I’m there at least). LeBron James as a Cleveland Cavalier. Orange shirts. That’s also the reaction we’ve received about the launch of Junta42’s Content Marketing Institute (CMI)Continue reading

I delivered a presentation yesterday at the Minnesota Magazine and Publishers Association (MMPA) about how publishers can leverage social media channels to grow their online footprint (and revolutionize their business).  Below is the presentation, but here are a few key takeaways. Social media is not cheap, it’s a different kind of expensive (Jay Baer). Publishers that just look to integrate social media as a distribution channel only will not deliver on their promise to become the industry expert everywhere their customers are. Committing to changing your processes as it relates to social media is not cheap…it takes a number of resources, time and energy to properly implement.  Be prepared. What business are you in as a publisher? If you believe that your core business is publishing, then you are competing with the entire world (we are all publishers today).  As a publisher, you need to rethink your business (are you in the business of providing engaging experiences for your...

This Ogilvy post reminded me that content without true innovation doesn’t do much for your business. A few months ago at the Online Marketing Summit national conference (where, by the way, I’ll be doing content marketing workshops in 22 cities), one marketer stood up and said: How do I differentiate myself with my content?  My five competitors all talk about the same thing and we’re all fighting for the same keywords. There’s no where else to go. I’ve heard this many times. Some marketing and communication professionals think that since the publishing of content is rather easy, there is little or no chance to truly create a remarkable message and unique story. Wrong, Wrong, Wrong. If you believe this, stop right now and follow this plan. Continue reading

I’ve been all over the world over the past year talking with marketers about their content projects.  In most companies, there is a focus on big content. What’s big content you say? Big content means large content projects such as custom magazines, lengthy newsletters, virtual events, large customer events, etc. These are content initiatives that are complex, take lots of time, planning and review and are dependent on many people for success. There is nothing wrong with big content.  They are essential for most brands.  We need custom magazines to develop long-term relationships with customers and provide real solutions to our customers’ needs.  We need in-person events to meet with customers face-to-face and show them we appreciate their business. There is certainly a place for big content, but not at the expense of small content. Let me give you an example.  Men often save up for large presents for their significant others over critical dates.  Birthday. How about some...

Age of Conversation is back.  Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton have again rounded up over 170 marketing experts to take a deep dive (or 171 quick dives) into the changing nature of social media, branding and marketing (of course, content marketing is included as well). The first two versions of AOC have raised over $25,000 for Variety, an international children’s charity close to Drew’s heart. So, buying this book will help you, your business, and some deserving children.  What could be better? You can buy Age of Conversation here now. And a big thanks to all those who contributed to AOC3 (listed below). I’m proud to be part of this group. Adam Joseph Priyanka Sachar Mark Earls Cory Coley-Christakos Stefan Erschwendner Paul Hebert Jeff De Cagna Thomas Clifford Phil Gerbyshak Jon Burg Toby Bloomberg Shambhu Neil Vineberg Joseph Jaffe Uwe Hook Steve Roesler Michael E. Rubin anibal casso Steve Woodruff Steve Sponder Becky Carroll Tim Tyler Chris Wilson Beth Harte Tinu Abayomi-Paul Dan...

Does your workplace have a social media policy?  Thousands of companies do and you can view some of them here at Social Media Governance. I picked a few at random – first Ball State University (since I just came back from a college graduation).  It is three pages long, large type, easy to read, nice bullets.  It has some great points – reminders about confidentiality and respect and a reminder to link back to the university site whenever possible.  I expected a lot of jargon and guardedness from an institution like this, but was pleasantly surprised. Next I tried Cisco Systems (I own stock in Cisco so I’m always interested in what they are doing).  They state in the first paragraph that blogging, social networks and wikis are included in what’s called Internet Postings. In the beginning of the post, they clearly state:Continue reading

“We just launched this exciting new…” “We have the best customer service in…” “Our reps are the leading experts in…” blah, blah, blah It continues to bother me about the number of articles and blogs from brands and even individual bloggers that constantly talk about how great they are. The first rule of content marketing is to understand that your customers only care about themselves.  Once we realize that as content marketers, we can effectively develop a content plan to talk about valuable, relevant and compelling content that the customer would be interested in (focused on their pain points). Continue reading

My friend Shama Kabani’s book, The Zen of Social Media Marketing, officially comes out this week. I was one of the lucky ones to receive a review copy and I can tell you it’s worth the read. I’ve been following Shama for the last three years, and what amazed me about her is that she consistently created and distributed excellent content, and tied that into her entire marketing and social media strategy to launch a successful business and an amazing book. I asked Shama if I could share this portion of her book with you.  Thanks Shama! Five Reasons Social Media Marketing Comes Last There’s been a lot of talk lately about companies that are abandoning a website in favor of social media marketing.  To me, that’s an experiment I believe will fail, because if there’s one thing I’m certain about, it’s that social media marketing should come LAST.  Why would someone who makes her living helping companies from Australia to New York City manage or outsource their social media marketing...

I just read an outstanding article in the April issue of Inc. Magazine on Jerry Murrell and Five Guys Burgers and Fries (I’ll be going to my first Five Guys this week, so I’ll keep you posted). As of this post, the electronic version was not available. Beside the fact that this is a must-read article for anyone in business today, I thought that Jerry’s take on business has too many similarities when it comes to thinking about your content marketing (yes, I know, of course I made this link).  Here are my key takeaways:Continue reading

I put this post together for a couple reasons. First, I’ve participated in 15 interviews over the past three weeks, and I’m starting to dream this stuff. Putting it in a blog post helps me get sleep. Second, today is Junta42‘s third anniversary (4/2/2007). Junta42 was officially started with this blog post on April 26, 2007 entitled “Why Content Marketing?” Here is the last paragraph from that post: One thing is for sure, it is the organizations, not individual users or publishers, that have the greatest opportunity (and possibly learning curve) to create valuable content that makes an impact on people. Smart organizations are doing it now. More will come. Things are going to get interesting. That statement was true then, and is even more so today. You are the publisher, and you can and will do great things. Here’s a few points that may help. Continue reading

Our January content marketing spending study showed that one thing was clear – marketers are desperate for more information about mobile marketing. Of all content marketing areas, only mobile marketing rose year over year re: educational needs (see the chart below). Very relevant to this mobile marketing need, I had the pleasure of sitting through a fantastic presentation on mobile marketing trends and stats by David Doherty at Ascend Media yesterday.  Part of this presentation included a diverse spread of mobile marketing research (included below for your reference). Hoping these will be helpful to you. Growth of Mobile Marketing Continue reading

What is engagement?  What does it really mean in marketing? How should we measure it? What tactics can we employ to help enhance it? Those are exactly the questions Keith Wiegold and I try to tackle in our latest white paper – Engagement: Understanding It, Achieving It, Measuring It. In this white paper we: Define Engagement and what it means for your customers and your efforts Recognize Engagement as a strategy that serves to achieve specific marketing objectives Work to uncover the dynamics of measuring Engagement Discuss a variety of social media and content marketing practices that maximize EngagementContinue reading