We know — and even expect — brands to understand us and offer up personalized experiences. (And at this point, isn’t it annoying when a brand obviously doesn’t “get” us?) While we’ve seen a major shift from third-party to first-party data over the past few years, the latest trend now relies on zero-party data. And, if used correctly, it will become the most powerful source of buyer … [Read more...]

We often talk about finding a niche for your project – to avoid going too wide trying to appeal to everyone, and not appealing to anybody.But how niche is too niche? Years ago I wrote a series on Blog Branding. It still gets a bunch of readers today, it’s one of my flagship series here.The “problem” with that series is it locks me into walking my talk, it’s a lot easier to take the “do as I say … [Read more...]

I asked ChatGPT to write the introduction for this post. Here’s what it gave me: In the world of B2B marketing, creating engaging and effective content is crucial for attracting and retaining customers. However, the process of brainstorming ideas and putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard) can sometimes feel daunting and unproductive. That’s where music comes in. Listening to music has been … [Read more...]

There is a dangerous myth that you should do content marketing instead of advertising, or with content marketing you don’t need to pay for traffic.It’s true that there are a lot of success stories based around the idea that you don’t necessarily need to pay. You can for sure make that choice and be happy with slower growth and a delay profitability.Ignoring paid options does however limit your … [Read more...]

When you googled “what is search intent,” you had the informational intention to seek out an answer to your question and learn more about a topic you’ve been hearing about. As you can see, we understood that intent and wrote this blog post to answer your question. In other words: you’ve clearly come to the right place! Search intent isn’t a “new” concept in SEO, but it is a surprisingly overlooked … [Read more...]

posted on August 16, 2021Recently I got yet another one of those link-begging emails. You know the ones.“Hey [insert name] I want a link to my website because you wrote about [paste link here] k, bye”– Some strangerThe problem is, THIS spammy email was sent by someone on behalf of someone I care about. What to do? Of course I wrote back and asked if they wanted to know why their outreach sucks, … [Read more...]

B2B CMOs Make Meaningful Shifts in Priorities30 percent of B2B chief marketing officers have said that growth was tops when it comes to what they want to deliver in their role, while 21 percent pointed to better customer experiences, with 19 percent having said greater efficiency — three findings contained in newly-published B2B CMO survey data. MarketingCharts B2B purchasing is for the young — … [Read more...]

posted on September 1, 2021Jason Cohen on TwitterShould you show features or benefits on your sales pages? Jason Cohen asked this on Twitter and I replied there but, as usual, I discovered I had more than the limited Tweet-quantity of words to share.Buyer’s JourneyStarting with “features or benefits” is positioning the issue as a “what should I do” problem, not a “what does my prospect want or … [Read more...]

It’s a great time to be a B2B content marketer. The appetite for content marketing within B2B audiences is high, and content marketers say it remains by far the best tactic in terms of ROI. But as content marketers we have to tread carefully: to paraphrase the old proverb, an opportunity is just a crisis waiting to happen. We need to make sure we are giving our readers what they want, because if … [Read more...]

posted on September 27, 2021Many people in the hobby niches I hang out in seem to be successful in business but aren’t. Not really.I’m including my own side projects in that right now, but I am hoping to correct this very soon.You see, we associate one or two visible metrics with behind-the-scenes success, and in this article I would like to show you how a “real business” is built, versus what you … [Read more...]

How can B2B brands best harness the power of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools to help take their influencer marketing to the next level? At this point, it seems unlikely content that has been created with at least some AI-generated tool assistance will be shunned, making it likely that for better or worse it will soon be the rule rather than the exception — if it isn’t already. Some … [Read more...]

posted on October 18, 2021Would you rather eat chicken tonight or have fresh eggs for years?As marketers, there is a tendency to base our decision making on the next sales target, pleasing our boss, or scarcity thinking.Don’t. Future you might hate you for it.Your boss who you are so eager to please might blame you harder down the line if you don’t push back today.Short-term “must hit this month’s … [Read more...]

Image Source: FreepikYou don’t have to travel too far on the internet before you find someone claiming to have made a fortune trading the stock market, but is this actually possible for the average joe? You’d be forgiven for being skeptical about the plausibility of making it as a day trader, and for many people, it seems like a pipe dream that is out of reach for those that don’t come from a … [Read more...]

Creative Services Professionals Are Most Concerned About AI23 percent of marketing executives have said that they are interested in artificial intelligence (AI), with the top sectors interested in AI being software development, computer engineering, electronics, and creative services, while 12 percent of advertising executives said they are concerned about AI taking their jobs — three of several … [Read more...]

posted on November 2, 2021Over a decade ago I ran a course called Authority Blogger. It was a great deal more successful than I anticipated, in fact many of the students of that course are still my friends today.Authority Blogger was about growing a business around what you know – your experiences, your knowledge, your ideas and your advice. From writing books, creating courses, coaching, … [Read more...]

Image Source: FreepikDid you know the Declaration of Independence is rumored to have been drafted on hemp paper by Thomas Jefferson? Amazingly, hemp first arrived in North America back in 1606, and it played a pivotal role in the economy for many centuries to come – that is until it was made illegal in 1970 by the Controlled Substances Act. But here’s the good news – hemp is back on the scene once … [Read more...]

Has there ever been a time when you were trying to work with an influencer, but found it challenging to get their attention? Having your emails go unanswered and being left unread on LinkedIn is a silent form of rejection we’ve all encountered at some point in time — it’s just inevitable. But there is a method to increasing the chances the expert you have your eye on not only replies to your … [Read more...]

posted on October 27, 20222022 has been a rotten year for us. I would love to say the bad stuff is done but I thought that months ago and stuff kept happening. The horribleness has given me some perspective, however, that I wanted to write down for me as much as anyone reading. The depressing partFirst my dad passed away suddenly.While we were in the UK for my dad’s funeral arrangements, our 14 … [Read more...]

Investing your hard-earned money is a daunting task, especially during times of heavy volatility. One day your online brokerage account is showing a 3% gain and within a few days, all of the profit has been wiped out — and then some.With that said, there are many tips and tricks that you can use on a regular basis to avoid the stress associated with logging into your brokerage account. The most … [Read more...]

B2B Decision-Makers Value Research and Data in Thought Leadership Content51 percent of B2B marketers have said thought leadership content that is quick and easily-absorbed provides the greatest value, with 49 percent pointing to thought leadership that references robust research with supporting data — two of several findings of interest to B2B marketers contained in recently-released survey data. … [Read more...]

A bunch of marketers right now are trying to pull a trick, but we won’t fall for it.You can tell that Content Marketing has achieved mainstream success by how many companies are looking to churn out masses of AI-generated material in the hope that even though the quality is nowhere near good enough, they can “make it up in volume”.I am sure you have spotted this too.Does it make you worried about … [Read more...]

The Evolution of Keyword Research Tools [Infographic] – Keywords, phrases and topics are at the heart of search engine marketing. In a sense, words are the backbone of the Internet because without them, websites wouldn’t likely exist. Every website is built on “keywords” and topics. Check out this infographic to see how things have changed over time. Search Engine Journal Link Encoding Goes … [Read more...]