Is Print Dead or is it that the Strong Survive?
Is print dead? Perhaps we are simply witnessing a Darwinian evolution of the print species. The question is, what strategy makes a publication survive and can it be adopted by the weaker?
Brands need to think more like publishers
Brands are learning now that to connect with consumers, they must publish content. Some are really pushing that concept and have become media powerhouses.
Picture Perfect Partnerships
When brands band together, multidimensional stories emerge. Each brand needs to understand what it brings to the main story and to its more focused story. Strong partnerships create efficiencies. A brand gets more bang for the buck and garners a more engaged audience by letting consumers choose to see what they want to see behind the curtain.
Home Depot Should Build a Sturdier Foundation for Video Content
Many brands have been creating content and have an arsenal on various social media platforms. Those brands should now be looking to evolve that content or the platforms on which it resides to maximize the investment and realize its potential.
Big Companies Can Cross-Pollinate Their Brands
Our concept of brandscaping encourages complementary brands to unite in order to amortize content creation costs and realize greater reach through multiple points of distribution. What about the companies that produce a varied assortment of products, like Unilever or P&G? … Continued
Bloggers and brands can build valuable relationships
Blogger and brand relationships can be tricky to navigate. Oftentimes brands choose to sample products and donate items to bloggers for feedback, reviews, exposure — only to find that nothing comes of it or that the response was not favorable. Bloggers want to remain editorially sound, which means that brands looking to crate meaningful relationships with bloggers need to have a definitive strategy and dedicated resources who are focused, disciplined, and track against concrete goals. Recently I’ve seen a few examples of how blogger and brand relationships have evolved and become more meaningful initiatives.
What’s Hot @Houseswares 2012
As a first-time attendee of the International Home + Housewares Show in Chicago, I was immediately enthralled by the breadth of offering from inventive manufacturers looking to build diverse product offerings at retail.
Capitalize on Consumer Spending Patterns
Consumers spend a lot of money when buying a home, so how can brands get into their consideration set right from the beginning of a home build or purchase project?
Is Tiffany’s micro-site better than Pinterest?
Pintrest.com is generating a lot of interest and has even been sited as a leading traffic generator to retail sites, surpassing Google+ and growing at leaps and bounds. If it is the new coveted platform for gathering images based around topics of interest, then why did Tiffany’s decide not to use it for their “What Makes True Love” campaign but rather relay on their own platform?
Executive Elevation #1: Product Video Strategy
This month sees the release of our first Executive Elevation reports to help C-level executives navigate the increasingly murky digital marketing world. The report is designed to be easily consumed on digital devices or printed out and read on the … Continued
Wednesday Video: The Difference Between Content Strategy and Content Marketing
Andrew Davis, Chief Strategy Officer for Tippingpoint Labs, answers the question: “What’s the difference between content strategy and content marketing?”
3 Types of Successful eBooks
Taking the concept of a white paper to a whole new level, eBooks are a great medium for sharing complex thoughts, processes, or ideologies in an exciting and engaging format.
How Search Behaviors Help You Meet Audience Demand
It can be very tempting to share what you think is important, but you can’t force a story to be consumed by the masses.
![Screen shot 2010-11-21 at [11-21]9.49.19](http://tippingpointlabs.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/14/files/2010/11/Screen-shot-2010-11-21-at-11-219.49.19--150x150.jpg)
Wednesday Video: Making Content Relevant to your Audience
Andrew Davis, Chief Strategy Officer for Tippingpoint Labs, answers the question: “How can I make my content more relevant to my target audience?”
Wednesday Video: David Meerman Scott Talks Online Content
Tippingpoint Labs is featured in David Meerman Scott’s latest book: Real Time Marketing & PR. A while back, we interviewed him about the value of producing high quality, relevant, and frequent content online.
The Power of Participation Creation
One great way to build relationships is not by knocking on doors but, rather, by opening your own. Reach out to the people you want to build relationships with and involve them in the creation of content that speaks to them and to their audience.
Case Study: Timely Content Helps Position Tippingpoint Labs
CHALLENGE: Position Tippingpoint Labs as a thought leader in the new media space. SOLUTION: Write a controversial post about competing sites with growing popularity. Going out on a limb is occasionally fruitful.
Learning To Speak Media-eses in 5 Easy Stepses
Recently, we’ve been exploring the notion of Media Modality — the idea that different media entail different ways of reading and processing information. Any reader or processor of information is going to approach various media with different expectations. They will also think differently about the information they process.
In order to market in a medium you need to speak its lingo. Below, I’ve broken learning the lingo down into 5 easy-to-follow steps.
Your Workforce is Your Social Media Policy
The democratization of knowledge is a real phenomenon — thanks to the internet. Your company should be playing on this field in a big way. You should be mining your entire workforce for content and promotion. Don’t close your employees off from social media, empower them to do social media right.
Purchase, Persuasion, or Participation
The fact that the audience of the internet is referred to as “users” shows how interactive the medium is. With this in mind, user-generated content and user interaction contribute greatly to the overall engagement and retention of visitors and potential customers.
The 40-Hour Content Marketing Challenge
We were recently asked how we would craft an online content strategy if we only had 40 hours a month to do it. It’s an interesting idea. The most important thing is identify, identify, identify.
Social Media Outreach is More Than Saying “I’m Sorry”
Qwest has a dedicated team at socialmedia.qwest.com — not at TalktoQwest.com where it should at least also be — whose mission, according to the CEO is “Listening to and understanding our customers so completely that we deliver a total customer experience that exceeds expectations.”
What does this crack team of social media experts do? They listen and understand.
3 Steps to Feeding the Beast
Social media sites are growing. Content is being created, and consumed, at an incredible rate. Attention spans are short, and if the beast doesn’t like what’s on offer, it will move on. Only the best content will be remembered. How do you give it what it wants?
Appointment TV Worked for NBC and it Will Work for Your Online Content
Bill Cosby, Michael J. Fox, and Ted Danson turned NBC into a powerhouse during the ’80s with their Thursday night lineup. The Cosby Show at 8PM, Family Ties at 8:30PM, and Cheers at 9PM became a regular staple in homes across the country. The ratings were huge and it got television executives talking about a phenomenon where the audience would expect shows at a certain time and they would rearrange their schedules around them in order to tune in. They called it “Appointment Television.” The most loyal of fans would make a habit out of watching the shows because they knew when and where to
CBS Ruins a Good Thing
In Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain, we discussed the trend of creating behind-the-scenes content, and we cited some great examples, including Ford’s CEO using Twitter, the making of a commercial for Sony Bravia, and Nokia’s conversations … Continued
Podcast: Traveling Near and Far
This week on The Tipping Point podcast we strike out in a new direction and experiment with a new format. Traveling to Las Vegas with Andrew Davis, on vacation with Eric Sagalyn, and into the past with Jim Cosco. Featured: Zappos Headquarters; an interview with Eric Sagalyn on Twitter, WordPress, user experience, daddy blogging and more; and John Quincy Adams on Twitter (Readings by David Cutler from Eat Media and Jason Tarre)
5 Questions to Test Social Media Expertise
Ask these five questions as you consider working with any social media ‘expert’ — the answers will give you the necessary insight to judge any social media strategy.
Indium Corp Solders Together a Perfect Blog Strategy
Indium Corp.’s corporate blogging strategy is extremely effective because it provides highly targeted, valuable content to potential customers in their very niche industry. By understanding Indium’s customers, marketing communications director Rick Short has developed a comprehensive social media campaign that’s producing great content and even better results.
Begetting the Love Child of Social Media and Custom Publishing
Today’s social media strategies are heavy on the social and light on the media. It’s mostly about getting on a site and getting followers. Or responding to every mention of your company. It’s only a fraction of the overall picture of what social media ought to be.
An Organic Alternative to Cropdust Marketing
Budget Strategy and ROI (Part 2 of 6) This series asks the tough questions about evolving marketing strategies and the benefits and returns you should expect and plan for. If somebody told you that you could reach nearly every potential … Continued
Hey Social Media Agencies — Alpo or Eukanuba? The Choice Is Yours.
Whether you’re a social media agency or not, your company should be producing content that reflects your goals and supports your claims. Period.
A New Book to Help You Shift Marketing Gears
I was lucky enough to land a pre-release copy of Bernie Borges’ new book, Marketing 2.0: Bridging the Gap between Seller and Buyer through Social Media Marketing. Borges is a marketing vet with a deep understanding of both traditional and … Continued
Social Media Experts Don’t Understand Social Media
It seems like every time I meet with an agency, they bring along their social media experts. I’m not exactly sure what makes someone a social media expert. Perhaps it is someone who knows how to amass a lot of … Continued
If You Don’t Shoot in HD Now, You’ll Hate Yourself Later
There is so much well-produced video online today that people’s expectations are high. You don’t want to be the Cable Access Channel to your competitors’ MTV.
3 Ways to Get Some Action and Give Satisfaction
Telling a great story does you little good if people don’t read it, watch it, or listen to it. Make your content more reader-friendly and get more action on your content.
Satisfying your audience’s appetite for your content can be as simple as following these three basic guidelines:
Add Value on Twitter: The 4-1-1 Rule
Today, we’re focusing neither on the value of Twitter nor what you can do with it. Instead, let’s take a look at how you should be using it for maxium efficiency.
As Twitter is in the escalation phase, you shouldn’t be spending a lot of time thinking about it or using it. You should only be spending 15% of your time marketing on all escalation-phase platforms combined.
The Galilean Model: Your Website Is Not the Center of the Universe
The Galilean Model is a conceptual framework for understanding your brand’s place in the internet as a whole. Search is at the center of the web and you have to participate outside of your dotcom to engage consumers.
Narrowcasting: Solid Gold
Which audience is more valuable to you? A) The larger one that ignores or casually notices your content? B) The smaller one that is happily engaging with and consuming your content? If you selected A, you should report to a … Continued
The Illusion of SEO vs. the Reality of Great Content
By creating something that will resonate with your consumer-base, you hook them in. By enabling and making it easy for them to share it, you build links and drive traffic. This is the process that SEO attempts to mimic.
Work Your Content Until it Works
If you are spending money on SEM/SEO and focused on traffic targets rather than conversion rates — STOP. Gone are the days when you could expect to drive hordes of traffic to a landing page and hope that something would happen. No matter how you look at it, if you want sales to increase, you have to get rolling with content experimentation.
Tell Stories That Resonate: 5 Easy Tips
The art of storytelling has been around since the dawn of humankind for good reason — people love to be engaged and entertained. The essence of good content often falls back on a good story. Keep these five hallmarks of good stories in mind the next time you set out to produce effective content.
5 Ways Sellsumers Could Impact Your Business
Smart marketers should perk up and recognize another indicator of shifting consumer behavior. Empowered digital consumers are going around, not through, major brands. Sellsumers are highly engaged, savvy content creators changing the marketplace.
The Content Engine
Once you have a strategy nailed down, you need a content creation process or, as we call it, a Content Engine. The Content Engine equates to the actual tactics employed in carrying out your overall strategy — it’s the way you plan, coordinate and generate your content.
