A wonderful discussion thread was started by Own McDonald in the Content Strategy group on LinkedIn, with this challenge:

I challenge any CS group member to offer a working definition of content strategy that's light on industry-speak and easily digestible for the average marketer in 100 words or less. Straight up.

It started in January and is still ongoing. There is more great insight here than can be packed into 100 words.

Seth’s recent post titled “Senior Management” got me thinking about how experience can backfire when it gets us in a rut. As a “free agent,” I find myself on either side of the experience paradox, depending on the gig.

The title of this blog post by Dianna Huff caught my attention: "DIY Marketing No Longer Cuts the Mustard." (DIY=do it yourself.) She makes a convincing case that the tools and techniques of marketing, like the computer-enhanced motors of cars, are no longer the domain of the shade tree mechanic. Read More

I need a new laptop. I also know that I won't be happy until I have done exhaustive research to assure myself that I have purchased the perfect machine for me: the right compromise of weight and power, the best video for my needs, the right-sized keyboard, and so on. Read More

Have you ever been solicited by a company that you already do business with? It happens to me all the time. Don’t these companies know that I am already part of their value chain? So, why are they spamming and cold calling me? I feel like I am being taken for granted, and I look for an excuse to “escape” through the bottom of their sales funnel. Don’t let this happen to your customers by neglecting their content.

Your suspects have become prospects, and then qualified prospects. They have landed smack in the middle of your sales funnel. They have even met with your account rep and senior executives. You’re on their short list. Does that mean that your work providing marketing content is done?

Hardly.

Is your buyer standing quietly on the edge of the market, trying not to be noticed? Research shows that most B2B projects start without a budget or purchase authority—when the potential buyer does a web search. This is the Tentative Buyer, and she wants to learn as much as possible about the best solution—without being sold anything.

Does your prospect need a whack on the head? If he is an Unaware Buyer, he doesn’t care about your product, even if he needs it. And he certainly doesn’t care about your webinar or your trade show booth. The challenge with the Unaware Buyer is that he goes out of his way to avoid any sales pitch, because he doesn’t think he needs to buy anything.

I talk with B2B companies who are on board with content marketing as a concept, but don't know where to start. What makes content "good" for their particular buyers? And how can their content be more compelling than their competitor's? They can brainstorm titles for white papers all day, but not be confident that one content theme will be any more effective than another.

B2B Marketing Directors are particularly busy these days.

While the economy shows signs of improving, they are skeptical and cautious. They will believe there's an upturn when their budgets and headcounts go back up. Until then, they are running as fast as they can on the tightest resources.