actionable marketing guide

Dear ,

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the low fifties (Fahrenheit).

I joined the quarter of a million people gathered on the Upper West Side of Manhattan to March For Our Lives. 

While there was a strong police presence, they were peaceful and friendly to the marchers. We marched down Central Park West passing both John Lennon’s home at West 72^nd Street and The Trump Hotel and Tower at Columbus Circle.

Many in the crowd held signs that gave voice to their feelings and originality. They attracted attention that was recorded on thousands of smartphones.

We then moved across Central Park South where we passed another Trump branded building and down Sixth Avenue until 45^th Street. As the march dispersed people left their handmade signs as a makeshift memorial along West 45^th Street. 

When I saw the newsfeeds of the speeches from Washington, DC, I was in awe of these young people. They took the stage and spoke eloquently from their hearts without the need for professional coaching.

Unlike their parents and grandparents, these millennials have not only a voice and the willingness to stand up for what they believe is right, but also the means to organize.

As marketers we must pay attention to these millennials or risk loosing them as potential customers. Having grown up with connected media they’re watching us and they care what we do and how well we deliver on our promises.

Just as they’re swaying public views on guns, they’ll sway opinion about your products and services, company and your organization’s contribution to society.

This marks a marketing turning point. For the first time, we must consider our potential audience before the zero moment of truth (or ZMOT). (Here’s an explanation of the 4 moments of marketing truth.)

It’s interesting that these marches proceeded the Easter and Passover holidays later this week. These are holidays that commemorate rebirth and renewal.

I'm excited to announce that I’ll be a Social Media Ambassador to Marketo’s Marketing Nation Summit in San Francisco (April 29^th through May 3^rd). I’m thrilled to be in the company of amazing colleagues including Madalyn Sklar, Jeff Bullas, Neal Schaefer and Drew Niesser.

If you want to join me, you can save $300 on your ticket by using the discount code: Cohen300. Please note that I don’t make any affiliate revenues on these sales.

Best wishes to those of you celebrating holidays this week. 

Happy marketing,
Heidi

Heidi Cohen
Actionable Marketing Guide

10x Marketing Formula – Book Interview

Heidi Cohen Interviews Garrett Moon

New book – 10x Marketing Formula: Your Blueprint for Creating ‘Competition-Free Content’ That Stands Out and Gets Results

Q: What’s your best piece of advice for readers looking to improve their marketing?

A: At CoSchedule, we have a battle cry: “Results or Die!”. Content marketing is competitive, crowded, and cluttered. Everyone is clawing for the same people’s attention—and they’re doing the same things to get it.

In the end, the marketers who find their competition-free content niche will win out. Competition-free content is about boiling the principle of differentiation into your content marketing strategy.

My best advice is to look at your competition, research their content, and strategize your competition-free content.

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​​​​​​​As you’re probably aware, news about the security breach between Cambridge Analytica and Facebook continues to surface. Last week’s cover of The Economist summed it up best. 

While there are many perspectives on this privacy breach and its marketing implications, I recommend checking a variety of different qualified sources before making your own conclusion. 

Before rushing to delete your Facebook profile or redistribute your Facebook marketing budget, make calm, informed decisions. If your personal information was involved in the security breach, it’s already been compromised. 

From a personal perspective, it’s not only your Facebook information, but also that of your family, friends and contacts as well as other entities, online and offline, that have your personal data. For example, this includes Google, Amazon, and financial institutions. Therefore, it’s a good time to create and use more secure passwords.

In terms of your marketing, I recommend taking a more balanced media approach since marketers spend a large portion of their budget and time on Facebook and Google. Instead diversify the platforms you use to promote marketing messages and distribute content marketing.

• LinkedIn's Jason Miller included Heidi Cohen's Actionable Marketing Guide in his 50 Blogs Every B2B Marketer Should Follow.

• Heidi Cohen was asked about how to measure marketing campaign success in this roundup on AdStage written by Pamella Neely (a former student of mine!). This post is full of useful information nuggets.
  

• Marke8ing selected Heidi Cohen as one of 20 inspiring digital marketing experts. It’s a useful list to fill your Twitter feed.
  

• Catherine and Ramajon Cogan attended my Quality Content Ideation Session at Social Media Marketing World 2018 and took up my challenge to write a blog post summarizing their experience of the conference. They summarized a number of the top sessions.