Marketing Interactions

Why I Use Mind Maps for Content Marketing Projects

I'm often asked how I manage all the details of complex content marketing projects. My favorite tool for this is Mind Maps. Specifically, I use MindJet.

I whipped up a simple example to show you:

If I was doing this for real, I'd have the persona where it says Content Map Example.

I build my content flows based on questions the buyer persona asks at each stage of the buying process.

Next to each of them I input topics for content development and any links to documents or notes to provide the overall reasoning behind the question and answers (that's the content). Additionallly I can link to any resources I want to keep track of that may inform the content development. This keeps things tidy and condensed in one spot where it's relevant to me, as well as to others working on the project.

From there, I note which types of content I'm going to develop for each topic. I can link to the working drafts of the content as well as link to the final published content, once it's live.

What I like most about Mind Maps is that I can open up as many layers as I want at one time to get the big picture view of the flow, or condense it down to just focus on one area.

When I work with project teams, we'll often use Mindjet Catalyst - the online version - to work on drafts together and for meetings. It's much simpler than shuffling versions of documents back and forth via email.

When managing content marketing programs, finding tools that work for you is half the battle. I highly recommend that you try out Mind Maps and see if they'll help you turn some of the content marketing chaos into a calm and orderly process.

Constant Contact Really Knows Their Customers

I had the pleasure of speaking with the folks at Constant Contact last week about their new Event Marketing tool. It sounded pretty cool. So I tried to push them about how it could be useful to mid-size and larger companies whose marketers get stuck in the IT queue, waiting for their stuff to get posted. The timeline is horrific.

I pushed about customized templates, about integration, about a lot of ideas that occurred to me.

You know what they told me? That's not our market.

Bravo!

They then went on to share with me just how well they know who they are and who they serve.

"Constant Contact helps small businesses and organizations grow customer relationships and succeed by delivering professional, easy-to-use online services and coaching at a reasonable cost."

Because they stick to their guns, they successfully serve over 300,000 customers. And they do it by helping their customers (most with less than 10 employees) have access to professional tools and coaching that helps them look professional and be more successful without investing a lot of time. They know their customers really well.

Then they gave me a demo of their new Event Management tool (launched today) and I was suitably impressed. They've obviously put a lot of time into making it as "click and go" as they can. The interface is slick and the process intuitive. And the integration with PayPal makes it easy to launch paid-attendance events.

They told me that they do so well because they solicit feedback from their customers and then actually listen to it to drive product innovation.

I know - refreshing, huh!

So, why add Event Management to their already successful Email Marketing and Online Survey offerings? Because they learned that, "66% of their customers hold 6 events or more a year, with an average of 20 - 100 attendees at each event."

That's a pretty good reason. Built in demand from people they already have a high level of credibility with and loyalty from!

Their customers wanted:

• To convey a professional image
• Easy to use tool
• To be more productive with automated technology
• Consolidate their marketing efforts
• Great value with predictable pricing

So that's exactly what Constant Contact gave them with the new Event Marketing hosted solution that includes:

• registration form
• payment collection
• an event homepage
• public events calendar
• email invitations and notifications (with automated scheduling, confirmation emails, reminders, etc.)
• tracking and reporting
• $15 per month for up to 5 events (pricing per event, not per attendee)

I'd say that's exactly on target for their market.

I write a lot about the need for segmentation and for knowing your buyers as intimately as possible. What I usually hear is "we're okay with just using demographics" or that it's too hard to do more than that.

But, just look at what happens when it's not.

Go ask yourself if you've got your stake firmly planted in the ground when it comes to not just defining your markets, but knowing them.

I wish the best of luck to Constant Contact with their new product. I can't wait to see what they come up with next! Oh, and if you're in need of some cool tools as an SMB, go check them out.

The 60 second marketing website challenge

We all like to think of our websites as destinations that serve to engage our prospects and customers. But this article from eMarketer — Has the Internet Made You More Productive — delivers a clear challenge to your website content.

The article quotes a Nielsen Online survey from January 2009, showing that respondents visit 131 domains per month and spend 60 seconds on a web page. Their November 2008 report showed that people visited 1,594 web pages per month, averaging 43 pages per web session.

This means your content has to be on target. Obviously people are not satisfied with limited information. Since the eMarketer article began by referencing a survey about productivity — and yes, 71% thought the Internet improved their productivity — it would probably be prudent to believe that if they're on a mission to find specific information when they launch a session, they'll be looking at a variety of sources.

The 60-second challenge requires that your web pages deliver something interesting enough to keep website visitors engaged. It also means you need to provide a clear path for them to continue to click deeper into your website. You want as many of those 43 pages as you can get, right?

It might be interesting to evaluate your website based on the 60-second challenge to learn if it's delivering the right level of engagement. Looking at your website analytics alone, without evaluating your content simultaneously, may not tell you what you need to know.

Here are some ideas for your website content assessment:

Read each page at normal speed and see how far you get in 60 seconds.

• Compare highly visited pages to those that sit idle. See any differences?

Consider that people may not dive in immediately, but look around first to see what's there before they start reading your main content.

• How long does it take to ingest all the surrounding content options? How much remains of your 60 seconds for the main content? Is it enough?

Now scan and scroll through your web pages and see what catches your eye.

• Take a look at which search terms are pulling people to the page. Is what's catching your eye related to those terms, and the expectations they set?

If you look at your website's navigational paths, which links are visitors clicking on? The ones above the fold? The ones in the sidebars? The formal navigation? Or the hyperlinks within your main text?

• The key question is, are they going where you want them to? Or are they wandering around, clearly not engaged in answer to the need that brought them?
  

Chances are that if the average web session includes 43 pages, yours aren't the only ones your website visitors are reading. This is one reason why it's important to spread your content around online—well, once you've made sure it's engaging.

And, consider that if the norm is 60 seconds you should consider a test by displaying a track/storyline of your content in one-minute chunks with clear paths to continue the storyline. Monitor behavior to determine if engagement with your content improves.

I'm wondering if anyone's done a study that shows the impression made by the number of relevant web pages visited? Seems to me that if each click (and they're obviously not afraid to click) delivers value, that should make a lasting impression—as well as a reason to return for more. [If you've got a data source for this, I'd love to see it.]

How's your website handling the 60-second challenge? Or, do you think this doesn't apply to your situation? I'd love to hear your thoughts.