Hey there! Matt here, from MessageUp.
What is that sound? Hack, hack, hack. Is it a heavy smoker trying to clear their lungs? A lumberjack swinging away at a giant Post Oak tree? No! It’s me reacting to the litany of ridiculous messages popping into my InMail box.
And I know I’m not alone. Every time I lament the onslaught of cold sales pitches coming in from all manner of snake oil salesmen, my friends and associates nod, roll their eyes, and say “same”.
So, who is clicking on these things and responding to their pushers? Enough people must be clicking to make them worth continuing. I suppose it only takes a fraction-of-a-percent click-through rate to get them what they need. And there’s a sucker born every minute…
It wouldn’t bother me quite as much if the hucksters stuck to well-worn tropes such as magically losing weight, reversing the signs of aging, or making yourself a buck on the penny stock market. Unfortunately, there are just as many life hacks, sales hacks, and—yes—marketing hacks coming my way.
In this week’s post on The Framework blog, I sound the alarm against marketing hacks—and B2B content marketing hacks in particular, since that’s my turf—and point out the fallacy of their claims. I also offer a not-so-secret tip on how to do things better. See if you can spot a clue in my punchy title: Avoid B2B Content Marketing Hacks and Learn to Help Instead.
With that rant behind me, on to more constructive things…
Under What We’ve Been Reading, you’ll find this week’s sampling of blogs and articles on topics relevant to our B2B content marketing community. Today we’ve served up pieces covering AI chatbots and writing for SEO, as well as marketing in a boring niche industry and typographic hierarchies. Hopefully something there whets your appetite!
And our One Step actionable tip is a semi-serious take on the clickbait question, “What’s one thing you would tell yourself…?” Rather than inviting you to invest ten minutes reading a listicle of (allegedly real) amusing replies, we merely suggest spending five minutes introspecting—an under-used gerund—on the most helpful things you could give to your ideal customer. More details below.
On that note of generosity, we offer you a handy button to subscribe so that you don’t miss any of our future publications…
… a URL that you can share with valued colleagues: messageup.substack.com
… and wish you seven safe and hack-free days until we meet again at the same place and time next week!
Cheers,
~ Matt
o/b/o Team MessageUp
Our Latest Posts on The Framework Blog
Feb 15, 2023 - Avoid B2B Content Marketing Hacks and Learn to Help Instead
Feb 08, 2023 - Do I need to follow a process to succeed at B2B content marketing?
What We’ve Been Reading
Here are some articles we’ve been reading this week that we hope you will enjoy and find valuable:
99% of B2B Marketers Say AI Chatbots Increase Their Lead Conversion Rates
Karthik Kashyap at Spiceworks summarizes the findings of a recent study by Botco.ai, which found that 85% of B2B businesses are leveraging AI chatbots to support some aspect of lead generation, nurturing, and conversion—and they're seeing very positive results.
SEO Content Writing vs. Content Writing: The Key Difference
Here's a nuanced and nicely argued piece by Andrew Holland, head of organic growth at digital agency, Embryo, writing for Search Engine Land. He compares and contrasts content written for search algorithms with content written by humans, for humans. Both are needed for a successful content strategy but sometimes search ranking isn't the ultimate metric.
Content Marketing Niches: Finding Your Target Audience and Your Voice in Boring Industries [Infographic]
As Ben Crosby points out in this piece for Brafton, even minimal adjustments to your marketing strategy can have huge payoffs when selling into a niche market. The infographic provides 10 prompts for connecting with your target audience, followed by detailed discussion of how to overcome the struggles that niche markets create.
Typographic Hierarchy in Print, Web & App Design
This detailed and helpfully illustrated piece by Oliver Schöndorfer, author of Pimp my Type, provides excellent guidance on creating a visual hierarchy that allows your documents and web pages to perform at their best.
One Step…
In the vein of “What’s one thing you would tell your 15-year-old self?”, here’s a prompt that you can more productively muse upon for five minutes—or journal, mind map, ideate, brainstorm, discuss, debate, … whatever lights your fire.
The goal is to reverse our deeply entrenched tendency to prioritize information that we want to share—usually to prompt an outcome that’s valuable to us, like a sale—over information that our audience might find more valuable instead.
Ask yourself this:
What is one thing I could share with my ideal customer today that would have a meaningful, positive impact on their ability to find, choose, or implement something of value to them?
There’s lots to unpack in that question.
For example, I said “share” not “tell” or “sell”. This means conveying something freely, and taking an interest in the outcome by making sure it is understood and helpfully applied.
I also focused the question on your “ideal customer” not the entire world. This isn’t about broadcasting something generic and hoping that it adds value for someone, somewhere. This is about carefully selecting something to share with a very specific member of your audience.
Next, we’re looking for “meaningful, positive impact on their ability”. It’s something that really matters to them, whether or not it matters greatly to you. And the benefit of your sharing accrues to their account, not necessarily yours—although mutual benefit (win-win) is obviously a plus.
And that sentiment is repeated at the end: “of value to them”. If you aren’t contributing value to your audience, why are you taking away their time and attention? That’s stealing, not sharing.
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