I grew up in a tiny village, attending a small Church-of-England primary school. We were helpful to others, considerate and sensitive. At 11 we all moved up to ‘big school’. From 250 pupils to 1,600. And I learned a painful lesson: Ginger kids really stick out. October 18, 1994 Today was a bad day a boy pinched […]
CMS! Episode 4: The Mystery of The Missing Customer
In this week’s episode of Content Marketing… Stripped! We explore the dangerous world of missing customers. Watch the show below: Last time we created a thorough customer profile for our content marketing. Now that you have all these juicy details about your customer you can start piecing together 3 of the puzzle pieces in your content […]
When Does it Become Easier to Find Blog Post Ideas?
When instead of thinking: “I’ve got to blog to attract more customers” You think: “My readers really seem to struggle with X. I wonder how I can help them with this?” In the first scenario, it’s all about you and that’s a lot of pressure. With that kind of pressure, your thoughts can turn to […]
A Copywriting (and Dating) Trick to Stop Perfect Customers Walking Away
It’s a real killer if you suspect your perfect prospects are reading your copy and walking away because they don’t understand what you offer. So why is this such a common problem? More importantly, how can you reduce the risk of it happening to you? Well, copywriting is like online dating. You’re relying on words […]
CMS! Episode 2 on AmyTV: Slow and Steady Wins the Content-Marketing Race
Do you ever get overwhelmed by the idea of content-marketing? A competitor releases an avalanche of content and you decide to catch them up. 3 hours and 5 cups of coffee later and you’re still trawling their archives wondering how on earth you can create that much content overnight. The notepad beside you is filled […]
5 Types of Content Your Customers Love to Read
I was asked to rewrite an email last week for a direct marketing campaign. The client had written the copy but were frustrated with the tone. They weren’t sure why but were pretty sure it wouldn’t hit the mark with their customers. Curious, I took a peek at the copy and saw the problem. The email […]
So You’ve Got a Quick Customer Profile… Now What?
Remember when we looked at creating back-of-the-envelope customer profiles for your content marketing? Well, what do you do with that envelope? How does it help you create content to attract your customers? I’m glad you asked. In the previous article on customer profiles we pieced together 8 pieces of information you should know about your […]
A Quick-Fire Guide to Content-Marketing
Content marketing… what is it? Where did it come from? Who’s doing it and can it really help you increase sales and attract customers to your business? Whether you’re asking these questions, or being asked these questions, quickly read this article and pretend you knew the answers all along. What is content marketing? Very simply, […]
How to Use a Content Audit to Create New Marketing Ideas
One of the challenges marketing your business online is publishing regular, high-quality content that your ideal customer loves. Previously, we’ve seen how the magazine industry keeps content fresh week after week, and how answering common customer questions is a way to produce a stream of high-quality, valuable content. You might also find that a content […]
How to Write Compelling (and Credible) Benefits in Content Marketing
Benefits. You hear a lot about them in content-marketing and copywriting. Sell the benefits, not the features, make your benefits compelling, make sure your copy is loaded up with benefits. We get it. Benefits are important. But what the heck ARE benefits, and HOW do you actually include them in your copy? I’m glad you […]