Content Marketing

29Sep

Content – Are you getting it right?

For someone who has worked creating and publishing content for over 15 years, I consider content and, may I say, its’ subsequent communication is essential to the success of any business.

However, content is only powerful if it gets seen or heard by the target audience at which it is aimed.

Content comes in many forms, of course. This can include video clips – in both real or animated format and it can include visual content such as images, logos, gifs and infographics.

With sites like Instagram, all these different types of visual images can be a powerful tool, especially for b2c marketers.

Audio content is also an option. e.g. sound bites – maybe your own voice recording or a radio interview for example. Audio clips may be particularly useful if your prospects spend a lot of their ‘research’ time driving in their car.

Written Content – Leave it to the experts

Then we come to good old written content. It never goes out of fashion and we can all write it very easily. Is that maybe not quite true, dare I say?

It doesn’t go out of fashion – that’s true, and maybe words and styles may change.

Do we all find it easy to write? No, that’s certainly not the case with the majority of people I talk with.

One of my first clients for content marketing asked me the question…

Client: “Do I have to write our content?”
Me: “No, we will do it for you”
Client: “Excellent, we’ll go with that!” he said, very relieved

I learnt very soon, that clients did not want to have to write their own content as it was time-consuming and not their area of expertise. They also did not feel very comfortable singing the praises of their own business.

Producing good content is one thing but getting the content right is an art in itself

What is the Best Type of Content for your Audience?

A recent study into content by global research specialists Nielsen, looked at the three main types of content that we, as marketers, produce.

These are:

Branded or company-generated content, which focuses on the facts about a business, maybe including case studies highlighting work being done
Secondly, testimonial type content or product reviews from customers
Lastly, there is what we refer to as ‘third-party expert’ content.

In the survey, it was found that the 3rd-party expert content had the most impact and influence on customers.

Why is Third Party Content so Valuable?

The implied endorsement of third-party experts holds much more weight to consumers than anything a company can say about itself.

This content needs to appear on some place other than your own website of course, otherwise it doesn’t quite achieve that critical 3rd party legitimacy. The website also needs to have credibility for your content to be taken seriously by your reader.

This third-party content can therefore be very powerful if used correctly, within your content marketing & communication strategy.

If you can position yourself as a ‘quoted’ expert with integrity, within your chosen sector, your authority and reputation can acquire a real boost.

Contact M3 Media Publishing about how you or your business could feature in one of their digital sector-specific magazines.

3May

By David LomasIn Content Marketing

Can Strong Storytelling Accelerate Business Development?

We talk a lot about the value of storytelling when it comes to engaging with an audience because we know that it works. And storytelling has real power to open up business opportunities.

Uncovering the Asbestos Threat

All Survey is a business specialising in conducting asbestos surveys. Gemma Voaden is lead asbestos surveyor with and in this role she has built up a clear picture of the scale of the issue.

At a recent , she told a story to illustrate her work and how asbestos is a potentially widespread threat. A chain of charity shops asked All Survey to inspect its stores but felt pretty confident that they were in the clear. Gemma and her team went in, and discovered asbestos in 176 of the shops. Three had to be immediately closed for safety reasons.

When she recounted the story, it clicked immediately with her audience. M3 and distributed it through social media. Gemma continued to use it as a perfect example of the value in what her business does, and how asbestos surveys are very much in the public interest.

On the Accelerator

All Survey is one of 80 enterprises involved in the Entrepreneurial Spark business accelerator programme in Manchester. This is being run in partnership with NatWest and KPMG.

The programme recently ran a pitching competition called Acceler8 and All Survey was one of the winners. Gemma’s business is well suited to strong storytelling because it’s key subject matter, asbestos as an ongoing, hidden threat, has the potential to be immediately intriguing.

Gemma’s pitch was a bid for financial assistance in marketing All Survey so that her message about asbestos can reach key decision-makers.

“Asbestos is still around and it’s a deadly, hidden killer that kills over 5000 people per year in the UK today”, warns Gemma. “We want to set up the first UK Asbestos Register to reach more people with this message”

Future Storytelling With M3

NatWest has awarded All Survey a cash prize for its successful asbestos pitch. This will help All Survey to continue its work with M3 in developing its marketing message.

“The team at M3 Media Publishing know about storytelling and we have compelling stories to tell”
GEMMA VOADEN

“Alongside Entrepreneurial Spark’s help in focusing our energies, we’ll be able to move that much closer to realising our goals”, concludes Gemma.

If you would like some assistance in getting your stories to your audience please contact us. Alternatively, if you fill in your details below, one of the M3 team will get in touch.

15Apr

By David LomasIn Content Marketing

How Can Intriguing Headlines Help Your Stories Connect?

At our recent M3 Connections event, jointly hosted with RBS (Future Williams and Glyn), over 50 business leaders and directors discovered the real value of headlines. This invitation-only gathering, in Central Manchester, gave me the opportunity to talk about how to attract interest, through headlines that intrigue.

I spoke about how to engage an audience’s attention by using headlines that spark interest. I also explained the and how they are the key to engaging with an audience by attracting or even provoking them.

The object is to make readers want to read more. Treat them as people and not as prospects. Give them something to think about, and don’t simply talk at them with facts.

Andrew Thorp, of , fully complemented my talk with his follow-up session about the power and potency of storytelling. Andrew focused on how well-constructed stories can give an audience a sense of emotional investment in a particular subject or topic.

“Everyone in this room is in the influencing business”
Andrew Thorp, MojoLife

Andrew advised that turning dry case studies into stories with human interest was a valuable way of attracting and retaining people’s attention.

The talks were followed by a group workshop session where attendees shared stories, learned about shaping them to make them more dramatic; and then came up with dynamic headlines for them. This was a very practical way of putting the things, that Andrew and I had talked about, into practice.

RBS Relationship Director, Steve Taylor, commented on how the M3 Connections events have real value for making business connections. “These events combine valuable insights with supportive connecting and a proper exchange of views that can really spark inspiration for all involved”.

David Lomas
CEO, M3 Media Publishing

If you are director or business leader based in Manchester or the North West and would like to make quality connections at a future event, please call M3 Media Publishing on 08450 519374.

Alternatively, fill in your details below and one of the M3 team will get in touch with you.

20Mar

By David LomasIn Content Marketing

How Important are Headlines?

Headlines are really the most important part of your article writing. It is the first thing that can grab the attention of your reader or web visitor.

Your headlines, in effect, are your first real point of connection with your prospective customer, so you need to get them right.

Your headline is important to your reader as it is a great indicator of your true ‘behaviour’. It should NOT try and sell to your reader, but should draw them towards wanting to continue reading the rest of your article. Don’t try and say too much in your article – make one point and do it well!

Using a ‘question’ in your headline is the most effective way of doing this. This is also something that the search engines like – especially when the rest of your article contains the answer!

A question, if written well, should be able to attract, intrigue or even to gently provoke your readers to want to read more. Using more ‘interesting’ verbs will help you do this.

Here is a quick example of how we would aim to attract architects to an article about the benefits of using design software. In this case, we use two powerful verbs – inspire and achieve.

“New Software Inspires Architect to Achieve Top Award“

The headline is not only intriguing, but it also alludes to the success or ‘legacy’ within the story.

Writing Headlines – Keep It Simple

There are different elements within any headline that readers will ‘connect’ with. You can’t squeeze all of them in at once, otherwise you could actually lose the impact you are wanting to create.

Some people suggest headlines should contain no more than seven words, but we have had equal success with longer titles. We would, however, suggest you keep them as simple and ‘to the point’ as possible.

Here are some simple guidelines:-

Ensure the message in your headline is clear and ‘to the point’
Your headlines should highlight the ‘benefit’ to your reader of reading your article
Get your headlines to ‘resonate’ with your reader by showing that you understand their pains or particular business issues

For help with creating powerful and attractive headlines for your chosen target audience, please call us on 08450 519 374. Alternatively, fill in your details below and one of our team will contact you.

Good Luck!

David Lomas, CEO
M3 Media Publishing

26Dec

don't be afraid to shout about yourself using content

By David LomasIn Content Marketing

Content – Who is writing about you?

At this point in time, we should all know that content writing can either make us or break us, no matter what line of business we are in. We now live in a world of communication where content is what catches the attention of our audience and brings customers towards us.

I have found that the most effective content is that which not only engages the reader but tells them a little bit more about who we are and, in particular, how we behave.

It doesn’t always mean shouting out to the world how great we are but rather telling prospective customers what it is that we are passionate about and what we can offer them.

Yes, it has become a bit of a cliché to hear “Content Is King,” but the fact of the matter is, content really is the supreme being on your website or social media page. Content tells your prospective customers what it is you do, how you think, what your products are and most importantly, what you can do to benefit their personal lives or their businesses.

Having worked in content marketing for over 15 years now, numerous business owners have told me that they find it uncomfortable to write about themselves in a really positive way – I think that is a particularly British thing – that we don’t easily brag about our own achievements. Other business owners just don’t find the time to sit down to write and consequently, have been unable to use content very effectively.

The first thing I do is to tell them they are not alone. No one likes to go about bragging about their victories and of course, most business owners are so wrapped up in the day to day issues of their company that they don’t have their eye on the ball when it comes to content.

Content Marketing – Use an expert to engage your audience

I believe that most, if not all businesses could benefit by hiring professional writers to handle this task for them. In the first place, writers have no qualms about ‘bigging up’ your image because they are not ‘bragging’ about anything they have personally accomplished.

Secondly, some writers are expert at creating content that can ‘engage’ your audience.

Using engaging content to attract and bring your customer to your door is a path that I refer to as your ‘Customer Corridor’. It is the route that a reader takes through your content all the way to sales conversion.

A very good writer will understand how to guide a reader through written content by using a practice known as ‘thought sequencing’ – This is where the reader’s thoughts are influenced as they read your content and they are subsequently prompted to respond via a ‘call to action’.

These are all tools of the Internet marketing sector and something you shouldn’t feel bad about lacking. Connecting with customer is a job that requires a special brand of expertise, so I suggest you let someone else do it for you.

It’s so much more effective when someone else is talking about you and your business and that’s what good writers can do.

David Lomas

22Dec

write good content to get your message right

By David LomasIn Content Marketing

Are you Sending Out the Right Message?

Sharing good quality content with any audience surely makes good business sense, doesn’t it? We all need to give out a valuable message to our audience to first gain their attention, in order to begin to engage with them.

This is similarly true when giving a speech or presentation, or even when we may make our 60-second introduction speech at a networking-style event.

It is Not About You

We must always try to grab the attention of our audience with a message or story that resonates with them.

If we start by talking about something that is relevant and ‘of value’ to our audience, then it provides us the opportunity, at a later stage, to ask them questions and use our stories to provide the answers that they may bee seeking to their individual challenges

The information you give out, initially, must stay relevant to your prospects’ current business issues, in order to catch their attention. It must not be focused or be directly relevant to your own product or service offering.

It is far better not to be talking about yourself at all. In fact the whole focus of your message must be on your prospects, not you!

This is exactly the same way that we should also position and focus our social media activity. Social media works far better when you try to engage with others and take an interest in them. The clue is in the name!

The Importance of Content

It is very important that the content that we push out to our contacts via social media has real value to our prospects. It must not be simply a blatant sales message about our products and services – we see too much of that already.

In this digital and social media world, asking questions and then sharing valuable information with others is the critical first stage of customer engagement

You need to ask the questions first to identify what information can be deemed ‘valuable’ to your prospect.

This sociable attitude will help you to initially discover the VALUE that your prospect will recognise and enable you to connect with them. At some stage they WILL want to hear more, I promise you.

Then, all you need to do, is to ensure that you have a supply of good quality, valuable content for your new audience!

David Lomas
CEO, M3 Media Publishing

25Nov

By David LomasIn Content Marketing

How are you building Trust with your customers?

Building and establishing trust with your customers is key to developing a good reputation and driving company success. There are a number of ways in which you can build trust with your customers, however in my opinion, simply being honest and open with them is the best and simplest policy.

Customers appreciate honesty – they want to know that they can rely on a company to deliver on their promises, especially when they are spending a lot of money on a product. Customers need to be assured that everything the company has told them about a product that they plan to buy, is accurate, without any misleading information.

Simply making sure that your customers are not misled in any way, such as through confusing advertising or misinformed staff members, can do wonders for your reputation.

When it comes to trust this will encourage your customers to keep coming back.

Not only that, but customers like to be able to rely on a company that will give them the help that they need, as and when they need it. As a customer, I like to know that the organisations I do business with are willing to listen to my concerns and strive to ensure that I am satisfied.

Good standards of customer service are essential to building trust – customers are rarely likely to trust a company which is reluctant to provide them with good service. There is a good reason why successful companies make customer satisfaction a top priority – satisfied customers tend to be trusting customers, and a customer who trusts your company is much more likely to return more often and spend larger amounts of money than one who does not.

Building trust with your customers is also crucial for good word-of-mouth advertising – customers who trust you are more prone to having positive things to say to others about both you and your business.

David Lomas

16Nov

By David LomasIn Content Marketing

M3 Media launch Export Experts Magazine

M3 Media Publishing are delighted to have been asked to provide a digital export magazine as support for an exciting new Export Initiative being launched in the North West.

The Core Privilege Partnership will provide SME exporters and would-be exporters with a wide-range of support services from a group of experienced business partners in the region.

Digital Publishing experts M3 Media Publishing have been asked to create Export Experts Magazine through which The Core Privilege Partnership can communicate with businesses in the NW region that want to focus on exporting.

The initiative is the brainchild of export marketing expert John Holmes of Core Business Solutions.

John Holmes has over twenty years experience in project management, systems and business analysis and sales and marketing across a variety of business sectors, on a national and international basis.

Being highly skilled at budget planning & control, policy & procedure development and implementation, John has developed sales & marketing strategies for several global manufacturers and set up and managed distribution networks in over 70 countries.

John commented: “The move into overseas markets can represent an exciting phase in any company’s overall growth strategy and this new initiative can provide support for these businesses in key areas critical to their export success”.

How Core Privilege Partnership can help exporters

John explained: “The Core Privilege Partnership will supplement the great work already done by UKTI and will work closely with businesses that may benefit from our help”.

He added: “We have put together a great group of key export experts who individually can provide access to resources normally not available to many SME businesses. They will be well-positioned to hold the hand of the SME at the most crucial times during their export journey”.

One of the strategic members of the Core Privilege Partnership is Chris Houghton MD at Freedom Logistics, who explained his involvement. Chris said: “I have personally been involved in Export for some 35 years and I am committed to delivering customer satisfaction. At my company, Freedom Logistics we put the customer at the heart of everything we do”.

“As a part of Core Partnership, I will have the ability to offer an enhanced range of logistics solutions to businesses that are looking to develop their overseas sales”.

Chris concluded: “Freedom Logistics provides integrated, flexible international freight & logistical support solutions by sea, air and road to commercial customers in a range of industries from food & drink to digital networks. We have considerable experience in the export sector and look forward to providing our expertise to other businesses.

The launch of the initiative will start with the publication of their online Export Experts Magazine, presently being created by digital experts M3 Media Publishing.

For more information about Core Privilege Partnership, please contact Martin Byrne via: Martin@corebs.co.uk

24Mar

By David LomasIn Content Marketing

Business event finds ‘trust’ vital to prospects

The recent M3 Connections business event hosted by RBS Group Corporate Banking in Spinningfields Manchester was a great success.

With a few dozen selected business leaders participating in a business growth-related workshop, the room buzzed with a really positive chatter.

Speaker Garry Samuels conducted the workshop at this invitation-only business event, on behalf of David Lomas, who heads up the team at M3 Media Publishing and did a superb job.

The overriding value gained from the room was how important it is to create trust when prospecting.

Many of the guests wanted to understand how to do this in advance of a meeting with a prospective customer.

As specialists in the field of customer acquisition, M3 Media Publishing do have considerable experience on the subject.

David Lomas commented: “With so many people wanting the answer to this question, I have decided to cover the issue in our next workshops at our next two events.

If you are director or business leader based in Manchester or the North West and would like to attend a future event, please call M3 Media Publishing on 08450 519374.

Alternatively, fill in your details below and one of the M3 team will get in touch with you.

29Jan

Concept of content marketing and Google algorithm

By David LomasIn Content Marketing

Why is our content different?

Many people might ask the question: “As we already have content on our website and on our blog, why is your content going to make a difference?”

It depends whether or not the content you have already written on your website is attracting or, more importantly ‘engaging’ with your web visitors. In many cases where I assess websites, I find the content to be rather dull and uninspiring. Your content should have an impact on the reader and grab their attention with both your words and, of course your imagery.

To create ‘effective’ content, you first need to know ‘who your visitors are’ and ‘where they have come from’. You need to understand what frame of mind they are in when they reach your content.

By this I mean, are they a first time visitor or have they come to you after already having read an article that covers a particular issue?

In other words: Are they just researching or are they now ready to buy from you?

We can’t always know these answers, but if we construct a ‘route’ for our prospective customers to follow, then we have can better retain the focus of these prospects.

The way we write content is important but the overall solution for a successful content marketing strategy involves the creation of landing pages around your website, which focus on different customer types, or personas, and how to attract them to your door.

Allow me to explain…

Landing pages: How can they help to attract customers?

First you need to ‘connect’ with a possible target customer with a piece of information, a headline or an article, that is of interest to him.

It is critical that this content is published in a place relevant to your ‘chosen’ sector.

Your article needs to show an element of ‘understanding’ by the writer and ideally it should contain some research, that the writer has done – in order for it to be perceived as credible.

The main focus of your article should be on the issue that is relevant to the customer and it should stay focused purely on this one issue.

I see too many businesses trying to get multiple messages into one article, thereby overloading the reader with too much information, and thus losing his attention.

Within the article, there needs to be some mention of you or your business as someone who understands the particular issue. There should also be a brief illustration of how you have successfully helped other businesses, in a similar position, in the past.

There should also be a link for the reader to gain quick information about you, your expertise and your credibility. (Read my article on ‘The Speed of Influence’ and how it will shape business on the internet in the future)

This is what I mean by ‘effective’ content and it should now have gained the attention of your reader.

Create a ‘downloadable’ document

The next stage is to offer this reader a more in-depth report or ‘whitepaper’ style document about the same issue.

This is very powerful if it is relevant to his particular sector.

This content should be sitting on your website on a landing page that is solely focused on this same sector, so when the customer reaches the page, YOUR expertise in HIS sector is reaffirmed.

This keeps him in the state of mind that ‘you are the person to go to’ as you understand his sector.

Finally, If the headline on your document is sufficiently tempting to him, then he is very likely to give you his contact details in return for a download of your information.

For help with getting cleverly-written content in front of your chosen target audience, please contact me via: david @m3publishing.co.uk

David Lomas

Category : Content Marketing

Written Content – Leave it to the experts

What is the Best Type of Content for your Audience?

Why is Third Party Content so Valuable?

Uncovering the Asbestos Threat

On the Accelerator

Future Storytelling With M3

Writing Headlines – Keep It Simple

Content Marketing – Use an expert to engage your audience

It is Not About You

The Importance of Content

How Core Privilege Partnership can help exporters