content marketing

How to write a whitepaper without getting Force choked by a Sith Lord

By Bhaskar Sarma 2 Comments

On a gloomy day in Coruscant, Darth Vader sat in his office block, breathing more deeply than usual.

The Empire was building a second Death Star and the Emperor wanted him to monitor every phase of the construction.

He was particularly interested in the shield generator for the Death Star which was to be built on the forest moon of Endor.

It was the Death Star’s first line of defence and Darth Vader’s responsibility to make sure that it would do the job.

Knowing the reader

When the news got out about the shield generator trade federations all over the galaxy were excited. The talk went something like this-

Alien #1(manager) – A lot of Imperial credits are riding on this project. Can we bag the contract, team?
Alien #2 (engineering head)- Yes. We have the technology to build this generator and we can whip up the prototype in no time. We are the perfect vendor.
Alien #3 (salesman)- Then get me in touch with the Sith Lord’s office. I am bagging this one. I need to buy that artificial asteroid for my wife.
Alien #1- Brilliant. Prepare a holographic presentation and list out the specs. I will send it to Coruscant.

Why (B2B Landing Page) conversion is like the TARDIS

By Bhaskar Sarma 8 Comments

This is a first in a series of posts about improving conversion rates for different types of content on a typical website. Check out the post about case studies.

The TARDIS is a ship used by Doctor Who, an alien, to travel through time and space. From the outside the TARDIS looks like a phone box, while on the inside it has the square area of a mansion.

What does it have to do with website conversion?

Conversion rate optimization, on the surface is about increasing the click through on call to actions on a site. But dive deeper and the whole subject starts looking like a tapestry with strands of marketing psychology, design, copywriting and other stuff woven in.

Let’s talk about conversion rate optimization for landing pages today. [Read more…] about Why (B2B Landing Page) conversion is like the TARDIS

Site audits- just what the Doctor ordered for an underperforming website

By Bhaskar Sarma 7 Comments

Audit.

That’s a pretty un-sexy word, and it reminds you of accountants, the tax department, endless paperwork and plenty of hassle.

Relax!

I am talking about an entirely different kind of audit that you will actually look forward to.

This one does not involve a government department or accountants.

You don’t need to get involved in it, save for answering some highly targeted questions about your business goals.

And best of all, you get a solid plan that can improve your site and help you properly sell yourself.

I am talking about a site audit. [Read more…] about Site audits- just what the Doctor ordered for an underperforming website

Why short B2B copy can turn prospects into runaway brides

By Bhaskar Sarma 14 Comments

Hi B2B marketer, can you spare a moment to answer a few questions?

Do you enjoy betting against yourself?

Do you want to make the hard job of converting skeptical prospects to clients even harder?

Are you okay with plateauing or even declining revenues and profits?

If you answered YES to even one of these questions, please use short copy to make your case.

But if you want to move the conversation closer to getting a prospect to talk with you face to face you will have to use persuasive content to make your case.

And 8 times out of 10 that involves using long copy.

11 reasons your B2B technology whitepapers are broken

By Bhaskar Sarma 4 Comments

If you are a B2B company and you don’t use whitepapers in your marketing mix you will get your clock cleaned by the competition.

Study after study over the years has consistently shown that whitepapers are one of the most influential marketing collaterals ever.

In fact, the only thing that can beat them in influence is positive word of mouth or personal recommendations.

According to the Eccolo Media 2011 B2B Technology Collateral Survey Report

62% of the respondents read whitepapers, second only from product brochures and beating other collateral like case studies.
65% considered whitepapers to be very or extremely influential in purchase decisions, the highest for any content collateral.

This quote from the survey captures, in a nutshell, what exactly is it about whitepapers and B2B technology marketing [Read more…] about 11 reasons your B2B technology whitepapers are broken

The Secret Words That Keep Your Prospect Reading!

By Bhaskar Sarma 4 Comments

The secret of great copy is pretty simple.

If you can connect emotionally with your ideal reader and write a sentence that builds upon the preceding one as effortlessly as water rolling off a duck’s back you have done your job,

For B2B copywriters and content marketers getting this skill right is even more important. Your copy is meant to persuade people to do something that hopefully ends with a substantial amount of money changing hands.

For this reason I have always believed that studying direct marketing sales letters is one of the best ways to write great B2B copy.

DM copywriters can’t use anything other than words to convert readers. So they pull out all stops and use everything from a catchy headline that grabs readers by the throat, a lead that sucks them in, body copy that makes them nod their head in agreement and a finely crafted close backed by rock solid guarantees that has them whipping out their credit cards.

10 little known factors that make mobile users trash your emails

By Bhaskar Sarma 1 Comment

Two quick questions:

Do you often use your smartphone to check email? And do you delete many of them because they are plain ugly and unreadable?

I won’t be surprised if you said yes to both.

Let’s look at some numbers

Morgan Stanley predicts that mobile devices will globally outsell desktops and laptops by the end of 2012.
Ericsson states that by 2017 there will be 9 billion mobile devices– more than the number of people on earth.
According to research by Tricom B2B and University of Dayton School of Business Administration 59% of US B2B decision makers used a smartphone to gather information.
See this data from a Google survey called “Think B2B: Connecting with the Customer”:

Properly done, email marketing is still one of the best ways to reach out cheaply and effectively to decision makers, especially in B2B.

But there are still a lot of marketers out there who are making mobile users want to poke their eyes out by sending them emails designed for viewing on larger laptop and desktop screens.

That’s like melting a candle, pouring the wax into your car’s gas tank and expecting to hear the engine start when you turn the key.