Content
Content is the driving force in marketing. At least that’s my opinion. Business decision makers take time before buying and they want to research, evaluate and trust. And they want you to be there when they’re ready, not when you are, so you have provide the path, educate, inform and influence. Below are some samples of the content I’ve written for more recent campaigns and outreach.
Blog posts and articles
In just about every role I’ve held, I’ve maintained the company blog, creating relevant topics, conducting researching, running an editorial calendar and publishing away.
My more recent articles are collected on my LinkedIn profile, and most were written about the ever-blending world of technology and customer experience.
Ebooks and white papers
For many years, ebooks and white papers seemed to be the main drivers for B2B (and some B2C) campaigns and thought leadership. The delivery channels and length of these types of publications are changing, but the basic premise is still there: Have a cogent argument to support your product or service, why it’s here, why it’s needed.
Below are a few documents that I’ve written to drive lead generation, awareness and thought leadership.
I’ve often ghost-wrote for other subject matter experts, so they byline might not always be mine, but the words are.
Content strategy
Obviously, content is more than just randomly writing a bunch of stuff and throwing it out into the wild. Brands can get negatively impacted when the story doesn’t hold together, or the content holds a variety of voices, tones and styles. There needs to be a thought-out strategy to uphold the brand.
In my roles, particularly the ones that focused on content, I always created a strategy, received executive buy-in, and put in place the mechanisms to maintain the process.
Here is a very high level overview example of a content strategy methodology I put together at Smartsheet.
Case studies
Customer case studies bring it all home. They provide a tangible way in which your product or service is used, the challenge it solved, the value derived, the measurable results.
I’ve written many case studies throughout my career, relying on building a good rapport with the customers, interviewing them, walking in their shoes, understanding exactly what was important to them. This type of feedback guides all aspects of content and messaging.
The case studies I’ve developed have been in a variety of formats: Collateral, web pages, and videos. Here are just a few examples of case studies I’ve written.
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Grainger
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PayPal
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Blue Shield of CA
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General Electric
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Duane Reade
Website copy
In most of my roles overseeing marketing for an organization, I was responsible for developing and maintaining the corporate website. In smaller companies, I not only created the information architecture and site strategy, but also wrote most of the site copy, relying on subject matter experts and product personnel, and writing with SEO constantly in mind.
Here are links to websites where I contributed to the majority of copy:
PTP Corporate Website
MyKabin Website
PTP Client Summit