As people who have learned a lot at Werkshop’s DIGs, we were very pleased to be able to return the favor and share a little of what we know about Content Marketing at the 3/22 and 3/23 DIGs in Bowling Green and Nashville.

The presenters were my partner in Alphanumeric Group, Dave Green; Bob Duthie of Bytes of Knowledge and me.

What is content marketing?

Content marketing has emerged as an important branch of marketing in just the past three years. It’s growing because the Internet is playing such a central role in helping people – especially business people – make buying decisions. The rise of the social web is also contributing. People want to communicate friend-to-friend and peer-to-peer. The salesy monologues that characterized marketing communication for decades are passé.

In our presentation, we define content marketing as “the use of content – primarily online content, such as website content, blogs, white papers, videos and webinars – to demonstrate your company’s expertise, boost search engine rankings, obtain and nurture leads, build relationships and make sales.

Gear your content to the buying cycle

Focusing on the customer buying cycle, we showed what kinds of content are most relevant at each stage (the Awareness stage, the Consideration stage and the Decision stage), and what key metrics let you gauge content marketing success.

For example, at the Consideration Stage, when you’re building the prospects’ knowledge of your company and their trust in you, important content tools include (besides your website) email, enewsletters, white papers, ebooks, case studies, video and webinars. Metrics to gauge the progress you’re making with prospects in this stage include email and enewsletter opens, downloads and numbers of webinar attendees.

Our 12 Step program to make content marketing work for your company

Most companies are addicted to content that is full of sales hype. In the presentation, we talked about our 12 steps to creating a marketing program around informational content that’s fanatically focused on the needs, the interests, the pain points and the problems of your customers and prospects. They are all outlined in the slide show you can view below.

Our clients are getting some great results. One example is FDR Safety, a consulting firm whose principals are former safety heads at FedEx and General Motors and the former No. 2 at OSHA. They saw web traffic rise 1200% in 18 months – all because of content marketing. They started the program in 2009, and it helped make 2009 and 2010 – not standout years for most American businesses – their best ever!

For the most up-to-date presentation and white paper on the Social Marketing Puzzle, see below.

Athletes as a Business

Special Guest:
Rob Bironas

Wednesday, April 14
8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Register for FREE at http://nashvilleaprildig.eventbrite.com

Where? Junior Achievement Office
120 Powell Place, Nashville, TN 37204
Light breakfast will be served.

Designing a Website to Integrate with Social Media

Special Guest Speaker:
Rob Blackford

Thursday, March 18
8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.

Register for FREE at http://werkshopmarchdig.eventbrite.com

Where? First Tennessee Corporate Offices
2525 West End Avenue, 3rd Floor (the PF Changs building).
Parking will be validated. Light breakfast will be served.

Werkshop Marketing boasts four distinct disciplines — brand development, marketing planning, creative execution and marketing education — under one roof, with a comprehensive offering of services within each.

Each company brings a solid portfolio to the equation. Fresh Dirt Marketing (FDM) has designed and executed robust, detailed marketing plans for clients including Lyric Financial, the Peterson Foundation for Parkinson’s and Tennessee Titans placekicker Rob Bironas (and his Rob Bironas Fund); Earnhart + Friends (E+F) has conceived and executed TV, radio, print and web campaigns for the likes of Minit Mart convenience stores, Auburn University Athletics and Harned Bachert & McGehee PSC.

“Bringing these two firms together just made perfect sense,” says Principal/CEO Tim Earnhart. “We saw that our clients would be better served with strategic direction on the front end, while FDM saw an opportunity to give their clients top-notch creative. As Werkshop, we’re now positioned to provide our clients with foundational marketing strategy, then develop that into pitch-perfect creative, all within the same team and under the same roof.”

A major component of Werkshop Marketing is a commitment to educating start-up, small and midsize businesses on how to plan and execute their marketing in a strategic way. This will be accomplished through a variety of educational efforts, including monthly “Digs” — free, off-the-cuff discussion events on hot topics in marketing. Past Digs have featured speakers from all corners of the marketing world, and have generated a tremendous level of enthusiasm from those in the industry, as well as professionals looking for ways to give a spark to their start-ups and small businesses.

“Good marketers are also effective teachers,” says Holly Grenvicz, Werkshop Principal and Chief Strategist. “We are passionate about sharing our knowledge of the marketing toolbox with our clients so that they will have the ability to make effective marketing decisions. The Digs have become a platform for clients, business owners and professional marketers to come together and talk about what is going on, and the positive response we’re getting is motivation to keep the content coming.”

Werkshop Marketing is headquartered at 2915 Berry Hill Drive, Nashville TN 37204, with a secondary location at 422 East Main Street, Bowling Green, KY 42101.

About the Principals

Principal/CEO Tim Earnhart boasts more than 16 years of experience in marketing and advertising. He spent years with Wendy’s Restaurants before founding E+F in 2005. Tim will have primary management oversight of the agency, focusing his efforts on client development. Tim, his wife, Jennifer, and their two children live in Bowling Green.

Principal/Chief Strategist Holly Rooks Grenvicz began her marketing career with First Tennessee Bank in Chattanooga, TN. During her decade within the bank’s marketing arm, she worked on the First Tennessee Middle Tennessee expansion team, and won the bank’s highest employee award for developing a sales campaign that yielded more than 10,000 new accounts in its first year. She left the bank in 2007 to begin Fresh Dirt Marketing. Holly has become a featured speaker for area organizations about marketing topics and will head the Werkshop’s education arm. Holly, her husband, Joe, and their daughter live in Nashville.

It seems only logical with a topic such as brand congruency that we first define what a brand is. However, let’s begin with what a brand isn’t. A brand is not the logo, the corporate identity system or the product. Although these elements make up aspects of a company’s brand, it is not at the core definition of what a brand is.

A brand is the consumer’s gut feeling about a product, service or company. It’s that simple. A brand is not what you say it is, but rather what they say it is. It’s the consumer who decides what your brand is, and that should make all of us stand up and pay attention. Based on the experience your consumer has with your product, service or company will dictate what they tell others.

Do you want to know whether you have a brand? Honestly ask yourself these three questions:
1. Who are you?
2. What do you do?
3. Why does it matter?

Unless you have compelling answers to all three questions, you haven’t got a brand. You have to know who you are and why it matters before you can convince any one consumer to feel the same way.

As consumers, we base our choices more on symbolic attributes. What does the product look like? Where is it being sold? What kind of people are buying it? Which “tribe” will I join if I buy it? What are other people saying about it? Who makes it?

A charismatic brand can be defined as any product, service, or company for which people feel there is no substitute. Once you reach that level you have a brand full of focus and congruency that differentiates you from everyone else.

So, how do you achieve “brand” status? Where do you begin? What’s the process? Here’s a quick rundown of the critical elements that are needed:

1. Conduct research on yourself and your competition
2. Clarify your strategy
3. Design the trademark (logo, symbol, monogram, emblem)
4. Create the touchpoints (deliverables, mediums)
5. Manage the asset (your brand is a living organism)

I’d be remiss if I did not mention the fact that some of these thoughts came from a one of my favorites books on branding, The Brand Gap by Marty Neumeier. I encourage you to buy it and read it from cover to cover.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

View info on research here http://www.freshdirtmarketing.com/brandingslides091709.html

**UPDATE** Interbrand and Business Week just released the 100 Best Global Brands of 2009. Check the report out at http://issuu.com/interbrand/docs/bgb2009_magazine_final

We hope that you are all finding these DIGs as useful as we are. It’s nice to be able to reFRESH and revisit the basics of marketing and engage in conversation about it. If you haven’t been to a DIG yet (or if you are ready for more) please join us on October 22 for our next discussion “Marketing Planning for 2010”.

Sign up here to keep in touch with FDM.

Holly & Jenn

(from Fresh Dirt Marketing blog)

FTC FACTS for Business
The CAN-SPAM Act:
Requirements for Commercial Emailers

The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act) establishes requirements for those who send commercial email, spells out penalties for spammers and companies whose products are advertised in spam if they violate the law, and gives consumers the right to ask emailers to stop spamming them.

The law, which became effective January 1, 2004, covers email whose primary purpose is advertising or promoting a commercial product or service, including content on a Web site. A “transactional or relationship message” — email that facilitates an agreed-upon transaction or updates a customer in an existing business relationship — may not contain false or misleading routing information, but otherwise is exempt from most provisions of the CAN-SPAM Act.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, is authorized to enforce the CAN-SPAM Act. CAN-SPAM also gives the Department of Justice (DOJ) the authority to enforce its criminal sanctions. Other federal and state agencies can enforce the law against organizations under their jurisdiction, and companies that provide Internet access may sue violators, as well.

What the Law Requires

Here’s a rundown of the law’s main provisions:

• It bans false or misleading header information. Your email’s “From,” “To,” and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person who initiated the email.

• It prohibits deceptive subject lines. The subject line cannot mislead the recipient about the contents or subject matter of the message.

• It requires that your email give recipients an opt-out method. You must provide a return email address or another Internet-based response mechanism that allows a recipient to ask you not to send future email messages to that email address, and you must honor the requests. You may create a “menu” of choices to allow a recipient to opt out of certain types of messages, but you must include the option to end any commercial messages from the sender.

Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your commercial email. When you receive an opt-out request, the law gives you 10 business days to stop sending email to the requestor’s email address. You cannot help another entity send email to that address, or have another entity send email on your behalf to that address. Finally, it’s illegal for you to sell or transfer the email addresses of people who choose not to receive your email, even in the form of a mailing list, unless you transfer the addresses so another entity can comply with the law.

• It requires that commercial email be identified as an advertisement and include the sender’s valid physical postal address. Your message must contain clear and conspicuous notice that the message is an advertisement or solicitation and that the recipient can opt out of receiving more commercial email from you. It also must include your valid physical postal address.

Penalties

Each violation of the above provisions is subject to fines of up to $16,000. Deceptive commercial email also is subject to laws banning false or misleading advertising. Additional fines are provided for commercial emailers who not only violate the rules described above, but also:

• “harvest” email addresses from Web sites or Web services that have published a notice prohibiting the transfer of email addresses for the purpose of sending email

• generate email addresses using a “dictionary attack” — combining names, letters, or numbers into multiple permutations

• use scripts or other automated ways to register for multiple email or user accounts to send commercial email

• relay emails through a computer or network without permission — for example, by taking advantage of open relays or open proxies without authorization.

The law allows the DOJ to seek criminal penalties, including imprisonment, for commercial emailers who do — or conspire to:

• use another computer without authorization and send commercial email from or
through it

• use a computer to relay or retransmit multiple commercial email messages to deceive or mislead recipients or an Internet access service about the origin of the message

• falsify header information in multiple email messages and initiate the transmission of such messages

• register for multiple email accounts or domain names using information that falsifies the identity of the actual registrant

• falsely represent themselves as owners of multiple Internet Protocol addresses that are used to send commercial email messages.

Additional Rules

The FTC will issue additional rules under the CAN-SPAM Act involving the required labeling of sexually explicit commercial email and the criteria for determining “the primary purpose” of a commercial email. Look for the rule covering the labeling of sexually explicit material in April 2004; “the primary purpose” rulemaking will be complete by the end of 2004. The Act also instructs the FTC to report to Congress in summer 2004 on a National Do Not E-Mail Registry, and issue reports in the next two years on the labeling of all commercial email, the creation of a “bounty system” to promote enforcement of the law, and the effectiveness and enforcement of the CAN-SPAM Act.

See the FTC Web site at www.ftc.gov/spam for updates on implementation of the CAN-SPAM Act.

The FTC maintains a consumer complaint database of violations of the laws that the FTC enforces. Consumers can submit complaints online at www.ftc.gov and forward unwanted commercial email to the FTC at uce@ftc.gov.

Your Opportunity to Comment

The National Small Business Ombudsman and 10 Regional Fairness Boards collect comments from small businesses about federal compliance and enforcement activities. Each year, the Ombudsman evaluates the conduct of these activities and rates each agency’s responsiveness to small businesses. Small businesses can comment to the Ombudsman without fear of reprisal. To comment, call toll-free 1-888-REG-FAIR (1-888-734-3247) or go to www.sba.gov/ombudsman.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

FOR THE CONSUMER1-877-FTC-HELPftc.govFEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION
April 2004
Federal Trade Commission
Bureau of Consumer Protection
Division of Consumer and Business Education

(from Fresh Dirt Marketing blog)

That is one of the million-dollar marketing questions. Ask a room full of MBA’s and you’ll get a room full of answers. Unfortunately, branding as a term is used, misused and overused and leaves a lot of people generally confused not only about what branding means, but what value it really holds. Isn’t branding only something that McDonald’s, Google, Coca-Cola and BMW get to experience? Branding must be expensive, elusive and ethereal.

Think again.

In simple terms, branding is the creation of an entity with its own individual and recognizable identity. It is the combination of a logo mark, typestyle and sometimes tag-line, overall design congruency, and message and tone consistency. When you add to the mix purposeful company culture, deeply rooted values and a core belief system, you have created a brand. The whole has a value greater than the sum of its parts since alone, they are somewhat meaningless. Here’s an example.

FDM CASE STUDY #3
At Fresh Dirt Marketing, we work with micro businesses and startups on a regular basis. It is rare that we find a client with an established brand. When we were selected to help brand our client, First Entertainment Financial, it was no different.

We started with the company name. We needed to come up with something that fit our client’s company’s personality. Since the company was still very small – without multiple locations and employees – we had to draw inspiration from the owner’s vision, his own style, and that of his centers of influence. We had to balance his desire for a name that was different, and our needs to find something that was not-too-serious but not-too-risky, understandable to his target, and most importantly, not already service marked. It was quite a task. Two weeks and a half-dozen “almost” company names later, Lyric Financial was born.

What we learned from our client while helping create his company’s name and build their strategy gave us the tools we needed to take that company name and make it a brand. We now understood his company’s culture, values and core beliefs. First of all, we learned that at Lyric, it’s all about taking the way things are normally done and turning them up side down. There were no rules – this had everything to do with Lyric’s brand. Lyric is a finance company that serves musicians, so the culture is loose – no suits allowed. The products would have cool names like FastForwardMyRoyalties. Traditional banking terminology would be turned on its head because the founder of Lyric Financial is a music guy turned banker. Not the other way around, which is much more common on Nashville’s famous Row. Lyric isn’t a bank per se, but understands the financial needs of the music industry, and that alone makes them different and appealing. We had our core competency.

The logo mark for Lyric isn’t a mark at all. In this case, we knew that the products would tell the story of the company, so each of them would have their own marks. The Lyric Financial mark is a laid-back typestyle in silver on a black background that can be replicated in a number of branded colors.

We let these core values drive the tag line penned as “Words. Music. Money.” Again, the Lyric Financial feel is about as simple as you can get because banking often doesn’t seem simple and Lyric is the “anti-bank.” “Words. Music. Money.” describes what Lyric does – they lend money to the people that write the words that are made into music. Their market gets it, and it requires little to no copy support.

The decision was made to use images of real artists and clients on the Lyric website and in their advertising design. We let the irreverent tone drive font selection and advertising and web copy. We played on the idea that many songs are written on scrap paper and the backs of napkins whenever the inspiration hits. We developed a postcard campaign that played on the “back of the napkin” idea and all the while, we kept it clean and simple. The design stays congruent and we often promote the product while keeping the Lyric Financial message secondary. It isn’t about the company; it is about what they bring to the music community.

Lyric’s branding efforts along with strategic alliances including the FastForward My Royalties program offered exclusively to BMI Members have launched Lyric Financial to success even in tough financial times.

Download a pdf of this case study with more information at www.freshdirtmarketing.com/lyric_casestudy.pdf

(from Fresh Dirt Marketing blog)

There I was, sitting in a little plane accompanied by my husband, a few friends, and the skydiving staff. There was no turning back. Regardless of my doubts, I had come to grips with the fact that in order to have a successful outcome (a photo to hang on my wall) I had to trust the process, my tandem man, and the key to the plan for success – the parachute.

As I later recalled my emotions of that day, questioning my intentions and the value of the experience, I realized that what I was feeling must mirror what our clients go through during the strategic marketing process.  Some fear the process; others have doubts in the parachute and want to make knee-jerk reactions accordingly.  What if I panicked and interfered with the process mid jump?  How would that affect the outcome? What if I didn’t trust my tandem partner to do his job and guide me safely to the ground? I have a new found respect for the trust that we have earned from those with whom we work.

What I learned that day is that you must trust the process and keep your eye on the prize.  It was not the most comfortable thing I have ever done, but the result was more than I could have hoped for!  And I do have a fabulous shot of me and my (crazy) Aussie tandem partner at 12,000 feet, and memories of a trip through a real-life cloud and a landing that was a perfect ten.

There were only two rules that I was required to follow on my skydiving day.

1)  Trust your tandem partner
2)  Do not doubt the parachute

jenn@freshdirtmarketing.com
www.freshdirtmarketing.com

(from Fresh Dirt Marketing blog)