Share
Issue #6
April 1, 2021

INSPIRATION
My take on the intersection of marketing + life

Hi friends, 👋

A lot of businesses and personal brands feel the need to do everything right from the get-go.

Understandably so. You have an image to uphold.

As professionals, we don’t submit our work until we’ve double - and sometimes triple - checked it. We like to be certain we can do something successfully before we attempt it publicly.

This is a worthy pursuit, and I’m guilty of it myself.

But I learned something new in 2020. And 2021 has only solidified it:

Don’t make perfect the enemy of good.

Instead, go rogue. Experiment with content forms, distribution and mediums. Try a new way to reach your audience. You may just find it rewarding, successful — and profitable.

Worried about making a "mistake" in the process?

That’s ok. We live in a digital world where your newest execution can come down just as quickly as it was published.

Here are some ways to go rogue with your marketing in Q2:

1.   Experiment with audience segmentation. Odds are your email automation software has an easy way to categorize subscribers. If you can feed them content that’s specific to their needs, you have a better chance of reaching them.

STAT:  A global survey from MailChimp revealed that emails segmented to a specific audience have a 14.3% higher open rate than non-segmented campaigns.

2.   Experiment with blog length, style and formatting. If you’ve always written 3rd person formal content, try talking directly to your reader in 2nd person – "Here’s how we can help you." If you write short blog posts, try ramping up the word count to hit Google’s optimal range.

STAT: According to HubSpot, "How-to" blog posts are optimized between 1,700 and 2,100 words. "What is" posts, or blog posts that answer a question should be between 1,300 and 1,700 words. The sweet spot for listicles, or list blog posts, is 2,300-2,600 words.

3.   Engage with another medium. Does your business always blog? Try developing a webinar or podcast and then create a blog from that. Link from the blog to the podcast/webinar to connect it all.

TWO TIPS:
- Don’t buy tons of equipment and invest a boat load of money at the output. Pitch yourself or your business’ experts as potential guests on industry podcasts, and partner with other firms that are already doing webinars to get your feet wet. If it works, keep going. You’ll know when it’s time to officially incorporate the medium into your organization’s repertoire.

- When writing a blog based on a webinar/podcast, resist the urge to just transcribe it. Pull a golden nugget from the conversation and create your written content on a single topic. Yes, this may require another interview or research but as one of my clients said to me yesterday, "Webinars aren’t meant to be blogs, and vice versa." Doing this will also create leverage to hit up the same audience in a different way after the podcast or webinar.

4.   Create an email newsletter. Don’t have a syndication channel to push content out to your targeted audience? Now’s the time to get one. Here’s why.

STAT: HubSpot suggests email generates $38 for every $1 spent, an astounding 3,800% ROI, making it one of the most effective options available. By starting an email newsletter, you are in essence cultivating your own platform, not relying on any other (social, magazine spots, etc.) to connect you to your audience.

Unsure how to populate your email with content? Start with what you’ve already got. Take a sampling of your best blogs, white papers, eBooks, expert interviews, articles from and re-share. Chances are we all missed them the first time you published them on your website, blog or social media.


Is it easier to get out there in the ways you know are tried and true? It is. But it never leads to significant gains.

Take a risk. Try something rogue as part of your marketing plan this quarter.

Chances are, it won’t be perfect at first but it just may be good enough for a first pass.

All the best,
Mindi 😊

I
NSIGHTS
Stuff worth reading


Orbit Media: There are two kinds of content strategies: Publications and Libraries. Which are you?    

HBR: How to be found by new customers, retain and scale old ones in a pandemic.

Qualified: 24 CMOs share their best demand gen budget ideas. 

Forbes: Four powerful ways to build your brand reputation.

ILLUSTRATIONS
New to the Zissman Media Portfolio
 
LET'S CONNECT!

Email Marketing by ActiveCampaign