Content Marketing and Original Research for Technology Companies
8 things I’ve learned after writing 100+ case studies…
1) Be prepared ahead of time with written interview questions. Send them to the interviewee in advance. 2) Listen far more than you talk when interviewing. 3) Give the interviewee your full attention and ask probing (yet gentle) follow-up questions. 4) Record and...
Polishing up Your Content Plan
My husband and I are remodeling a 2004 RV. We tore out old, smelly carpet and donated ugly blue valances and furniture. We spent three weeks painting to make the small space look bigger and laid laminate floors. I sewed curtains, and he laid molding. It was a...
What B2B Marketers can Learn from “Beautifully Obnoxious” Marketing
My 18-year-old just dyed her hair blue and pink.I dug the hair color boxes out of the wastebasket and was struck by how well this company targets their market."Beautifully Obnoxious" and "GoodDyeYoung" are brilliant terms to use when marketing to teens. They don't...
6 Tips for Interviewing Brilliant Technical SMEs
I’m often asked to interview SMEs (subject matter experts) to gather information to write a client’s content. The SME might be a quiet software engineer or a very technical product manager. Some are easy to talk with; others not so much. It’s my job to (gently) pull...
How to be a Strategic CMO with Michelle Burrows
In this episode, Michelle shares her insights for revitalizing a much loved 30-year-old brand, building high-performance teams, and being a continual learner.
3 Great Examples of Original Research That Work
If you’re looking for a content idea that’s newsworthy, engages readers, and establishes you as an expert in your industry, consider original research. But you might be wondering, how do you share your original research in a way that’s interesting? Isn’t it just...
Creating Content for Each Stage of the Buyer’s Journey
When selling to technology buyers, content is key. Contacting the buyers directly and pitching a sale isn’t going to win them over. Instead, effective content marketing will guide them through the buying cycle to arrive at your solution. Why It’s Tough to Sell to...
Kickoff Your 2021 Content Calendar with Original Research (with infographic)
If you're not using original research in your content marketing, make 2021 the year you start. Original research is survey-based research that’s designed to uncover captivating storylines and themes to create unique content that stands out. Original research is...
How to Use Influencer Quotes to Amplify Your Original Research
Original research is one of the most effective marketing strategies for technology companies to establish and reinforce thought leadership. In fact, a study by Orbit Media Studios found that 60% of marketers consider research reports to be effective thought...
4 Steps to Mining Content Nuggets from Original Research
It’s hard to create great content–especially content that aligns with your marketing goals. Original research is probably the best content gold mine there is for technology marketers. After all, it’s unique (no one else can claim it, but they can quote you on it),...
Rev up your 2021 Content Machine with Original Research
One of the biggest challenges my clients struggle with is creating fresh content. It’s a resource-intensive process to constantly think up new ideas for interesting content that will engage your buyers and not sound like all the same stuff your competitors are putting...
Product Launch Coming Up? Crank Your Content Marketing Machine into High Gear
There’s nothing like a product launch to crank a technology company’s content marketing machine into high gear. Product marketers often spend a great deal of their launch efforts creating or updating content like datasheets,...
How to Write a Outstanding Product Datasheet
Product datasheets are a checklist item in the technology industry; your buyers expect you to have them (or, at the very least, your sales team does). But does anyone really read them? And, more importantly, what can we do to make them more consumable and not just a...
Kick off Your 2021 Content Marketing Plan with Two High ROI Content Ideas
If you're running out of fresh content ideas for 2021, here are two concepts that will give you enough content to fill your pipeline through Q1 and beyond. Idea #1: 2021 Trends eBook One of my recommendations is to create a “keystone” piece, like an eBook or white...
The Value of Original Research to Your Content Marketing
It’s true: it’s difficult to grab your prospects’ attention. They’re crazy busy. They’re flooded with content, most of which is dull and boring. They’re tired of reading the same stuff from every vendor in your industry. Every vendor in the tech industry is...
How to Pull Goodies out of your Content Treasure Chest
Keeping up with content creation is tough and time-consuming, so here are some specific ideas on how you can re-use common types of content you may already have. Think of it as going through a treasure chest, dusting off the goodies, and giving them new life (without...
How to Use Original Research to Create Thought-Provoking Content
Create a Compelling and Interesting Research Report Conducting original research is a popular method for technology companies to create interesting content that's useful to a variety of audience including customers, prospects, and media. It's often viewed as flagship...
11-Point Checklist for Hiring a B2B High-Tech Copywriter
How to Find the Right Copywriter with a Minimum of Headaches Back in my corporate days, I hired copywriters. And I quickly learned that it wasn't that easy to find the right one. Some were great writers but didn't understand technology. Others were tech wizards but...
Why Your Copywriter Needs to be a Great Interviewer
How to Unlock Brilliant Insights from Subject Matter Experts During my time in high-tech corporate marketing, I often needed to interview product managers or engineers in order to create messaging documents, white papers, and more. What I quickly realized was...
![6 Steps to Building a Successful Email Nurture Campaign [Case Study]](https://kimgusta.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/6-Steps-to-Building-a-Successful-Email-Nurture-Campaign-Case-Study-Lady_and_email_at_sign.jpg)
6 Steps to Building a Successful Email Nurture Campaign [Case Study]
Are you using email campaigns to nurture your prospects until they're ready to buy? Campaigns that are created with thoughtful care can have great results. Here are the six steps a client and I used to devise a very successful email campaign that resulted in open...
How Technology Marketers can Tame the Content Beast (Part 1)
This post is the first of a three-part series describing five steps to help you tame the content beast with consistency and purpose. I’ll begin with steps 1 and 2 by focusing on your buyer’s perspective and your organization’s existing content arsenal. Step 1: Find...
Taming the Content Beast and Avoiding Content Overwhelm (Part 2)
(This post is a continuation of Part 1: Taming the Content Beast.) This month, I shift my focus to the topic of thoughtful planning with Steps 3 and 4. By building an editorial calendar and maximizing the scalability of new or existing content, you'll save time and...
Getting a Handle on Content Overwhelm (Part 3)
To meet deadlines and creativity challenges, it’s imperative to leverage existing expertise and to work back from sales and buying cycles. In Step 5, I discuss content ideas to save time and maximize customer impact. Step 5: Borrow/Ask/Steal for Content Ideas The...
6 Steps to Creating “Snackable” Content
Many of my clients ask me to take long papers and research reports and turn them into something more “bite-size” for demand generation purposes. The challenge with longer reports is that, although they’re filled with loads of interesting information and data points,...
Banning “Frankenspeak” from Technology Marketing
Our industry’s marketing is littered with squishy terms like “robust”, “revolutionary”, “next generation”... I’m sure you can add to this list, and perhaps you’re shifting uncomfortably because you (along with me) are guilty of using these stilted and...
![5 Steps to Preventing Content Creation Overwhelm [Free Quick Reference Guide]](https://kimgusta.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/5-Steps-to-Preventing-Content-Creation-Overwhelm-Free-Quick-Reference-Guide-5_Steps_to_Preventing_Content_Overwhelm_thumbnail.jpg)
5 Steps to Preventing Content Creation Overwhelm [Free Quick Reference Guide]
It’s necessary, to a large degree, in order to explain their complex solutions and what they can do for their customers. But for marketers, it can be overwhelming to create loads of high-quality content. Especially when it’s piled on top of an already very long to-do...
3 Content Blunders that Technology Marketers Often Make
Mistake #1: You don’t really know your audience. It doesn’t matter how great the writing, flashy the images, or clever the headline if the content you’re creating doesn’t resonate with your audience. Case in point: I often get calls from technology companies with...
88% of B2B decision makers say an organization's thought leadership is important.
Source: Edelman research
Download my free guide:
How to Drive Thought Leadership with B2B Tech Buyers Using Original Research
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8 things I’ve learned after writing 100+ case studies…
1) Be prepared ahead of time with written interview questions. Send them to the interviewee in advance. 2) Listen far more than you talk when interviewing. 3) Give the interviewee your full attention and ask probing (yet gentle) follow-up questions. 4) Record and...
Polishing up Your Content Plan
My husband and I are remodeling a 2004 RV. We tore out old, smelly carpet and donated ugly blue valances and furniture. We spent three weeks painting to make the small space look bigger and laid laminate floors. I sewed curtains, and he laid molding. It was a...