Satisfy your craving for better marketing results.
#1 A short and sweet marketing podcast that gets to the goods, fast
Short on time and want quick, useful wins in marketing? Check out Lorraine Ball’s More Than A Few Words. Lorraine edits episodes to less than 15 minutes to get to the goods. And her peppy personality is so refreshing!
I might be biased because I was a guest to talk about affordable audience research. But at over 960 episodes, I am certain there’s a topic (or 6!) you can dive into, get what you need, and get on with your day.
Also, she’s always looking for guests, so connect with her and let me know when your appearance airs!
My question
to you: what is the right content length for your ideal audience? Beware the trap of doing what you like — you are not your audience!
#2 Free way to format LinkedIn posts without compromising accessibility
Despite what you might see on LinkedIn, emojis all over the place ain't good form. This is because having too many can cause confusion for screen readers.
And if you're like me, you also want to make use of bullet points to add visual interest and clarity to your
content. But how do you do it respectfully to screen readers (besides using alt arrows)?
LinkedIn Text Formatter is a simple copy-paste-copy solution that gives you bolding, italics (and script and underline, though I would use that sparingly).
There's also AuthoredUp that helps you format your content accessibility for LinkedIn, but I haven't had a chance to test it out for myself.
My question to you: are you confirming that trends and hacks you see online are actually effective and inclusive for the audience you want to reach?
#3 10 things about content strategy (that we all need to reread)
You can never go wrong by revisiting the basics. In our day-to-day as marketers (founders wearing that hat), we can forget the source of what we create.
10 things about content strategyreminds us of the purpose behind content. And that we tend to get a bit convoluted in our quest to get ROI. I especially appreciate the bits about:
It’s a marathon, not a sprint (shit takes time!)
It’s not set in stone (agile is a fancy word for flexible)
The difference between content strategy and content design
I also recommend the piece if you’re looking for other ways to engage more members of your team into the
strategic process. It has some great language that I think CSuite or board members will resonate with.
My question to you: have you over-complicated your strategy? Signs of this include incomplete projects, abandoned reporting, and shiny marketing object
syndrome.
#4 What do
you love about marketing?
I’m just legit curious: what do you love about marketing? I know the industry is super toxic, so I wanted to gather some insights that are a positive reflection of what’s out there.
That link is a suuuuuuper short Google Form. I wanna know what makes you excited about marketing.
Thank you in advance for sharing!
I’ll publish the results in the next issue of Marketing Snacks.
My question to you: do you survey your prospects to better understand how what you offer fits into their world? The worst that can happen is no one answers (oh well — nothing ventured, nothing gained).
#5 (quote of the week) “Success is liking yourself,
liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” — Maya Angelou
Email experts have tech woes, too. Did you notice I sent out 2 copies of my newsletter on the 15th?
I use ActiveCampaign, and it’s been goofing up lately. It didn’t automatically send out the last issue as scheduled. So I did that manually. And in testing why the scheduling feature failed, it sent it out to everyone again.
THEN, when I went to talk about it with customer service, the friggin chatbot wouldn’t work, so I had to do a slow email thread back and forth to figure things out.
Why am I telling you this? Because it's a great reminder that:
Tech snafus happen. It's annoying but usually not life-altering. So don't sweat it.
I know what I'm doing and I make mistakes. We all do. It's ok.
Mistakes create opportunity. I had some really fun conversations with contacts because of this mess-up.
“Bad consequences” aren’t a reflection of your worth. I had more unsubscribes that day than usual, which I suspect was due to the double emailing. But that’s also ok! I’m still Alison K, helping brands put more goods into the world.
Best part? People asking me if it was an intentional marketing hack. Y’all give me way too much credit for how crafty I can be.
So yeah. Have a good public f-up and lived to tell the tale? Hit reply and gimmie the deets!
Need a 2nd brain to take your marketing from "dammit" to "done"? There are four ways to work with me: Coaching Calls, Get 'Er Done Sprint, Audit & Action Plan, and Weekly Advisory. Learn More
Alison K Consulting, 3271 Agricola Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3K4H4, Canada
