This weeks fab five posts all provide some advice and maybe reality checks for B2B marketers in three key areas. The first has to do with content development and in my view it challenges the notion that content is king. Content is not king if you don’t have an interested audience…it’s noise. Content is not king if you use it like a mass marketer would to “get the message out” or to “promote something”.
The second area of realism asks whether a startup needs funding or not. Brian Clark, founder of Copyblogger Media talks about how he continues to use the Lean and Agile approach to establishing a minimal viable audience (MVA) for a new product, service or program.
And, finally while everyone seems to have or be getting a smartphone and a tablet B2B marketers can’t lose sight of the fact that a majority of time spent online is still done in front of a PC. Keep this in mind. If you want facts connect with me and I’ll send you some.
Our Favourite Posts for Week of Apr 9, 2012
1. Five Ways a Minimum Viable Audience Helps You Create a Successful Startup | Entreproducer
I strongly believe that lean and agile practices should be adopted by B2B marketing and sales organizations….well businesses as a whole to be honest. I love how Brian Clark talks about the need for a minimal viable audience for startups prior to developing a product. I would expand this requirement for any B2B technology company as well. Thinking lean and be agile helps create unfair advantage.
2. Author Erin Kissane On Content Strategy | Content Strategist
Great advice from Erine Kissane on the topic of content strategy. Key things in this article that jumped out at
me are the need for content strategy AND management. More of us are jumping on the content bandwagon with the result being even more noise, interuptive marketing and annoyance. Smart B2B marketers will put structure, process, strategy, management and measurement as a high priority if not now … soon. We do this for B2B companies that offer tech products, services and solutions today.
3. Technology, Art, And Why The Future Of Branding Is Nonfiction | Co.Create: Creativity \ Culture \ Commerce
This article is interesting to me because of the connection being made with Technologists and Artists. In the tech community I cofounded, Silicon Halton, there are developers for example who are musicians. I’m convinced that artists of varying kinds are drawn to technology and vica versa.
4. Inbound Marketing Works: A Copywriter’s Success Story | Social Media Today
As inbound and content marketing become more popular content producers will need to do two things better. First, produce quality content and plan content production over a longer term. Content producers need to think and become investigative journalists and story tellers. Second, they will need to better measure the results of content and understand the role content plays in the buying process.
5. Smartphones Continue to Gain Share as US Mobile Usage Plateaus | eMarketer
It’s important to remember that a majority of our time online is still done in front of a PC/Laptop. While Smartphone and Tablet penetration is impressive marketers cannot lose sight of the fact that more time is spent in front of larger screens like TVs, Monitors, PCs and Laptops.
