Cashing In With Content How Innovative Marketers Use Digital Information to Turn Browsers into Buyers

by Scott, David Meerman

• ISBN13: 9780910965712
• ISBN10: 0910965714
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-10-28
• Publisher: CyberAge Books

Summary

In failing to provide visitors with great information content, most of today's Web sites are missing a golden opportunity to create loyal customers-and leaving a fortune in new and repeat business on the table. According to Web marketing expert David Meerman Scott, too many marketers focus on style over substance. While a site may win awards for graphic design, Scott demonstrates that the key to Web marketing success is compelling content, delivered in new and surprising ways. In Cashing in with Content, he interviews 20 of today's most innovative Web marketers, sharing their secrets for using content to turn browsers into buyers, to encourage repeat business, and to unleash the amazing power of viral marketing. The book features a diverse range of content-savvy organizations from the worlds of e-commerce, business to- business, and government/not-for-profit, including the Wall Street Journal Online, CARE USA, Kenyon College, Alcoa, Tourism Toronto, Weyerhaeuser, Booz Allen Hamilton, and United Parcel Service.

Author Biography

David Meerman Scott is the principal and creative director of Freshspot Marketing, a company specializing in using online content to market and sell products and services. He is the author of Eyeball Wars and a contributing editor at EContent Magazine. His writing has appeared in publications such as Competitive Intelligence, StreamingMedia, North American Review, and Metropolis. He lives in Lexington, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xvii
Foreword by Michelle Manafy	xix
Introduction Content: The Missing Ingredient	1	(12)
Selecting Content-Smart Sites	2	(2)
Asked and Answered—Marketing on the Web	4	(1)
The Web Isn't TV	5	(1)
Branding Is for Cattle	6	(1)
The New Publishers	7	(2)
Getting the Most Out of this Book	9	(4)
PART 1: E-Commerce
Chapter One Crutchfield: A Friend in the Electronics Business	13	(10)
Turning Complexity into Opportunity	15	(1)
A Little Friendly Advice	15	(2)
Car Stereo for Everyone	17	(2)
Creating Content That Sells	19	(1)
Customer Feedback	20	(1)
Cashing In	21	(2)
Chapter Two Alloy: Generation Y Marks the Spot	23	(8)
Like, Keep It Fresh	24	(2)
Quizzes, Guys, and Style	26	(1)
I Wanna Go to the Mall.com	27	(1)
Cool? Click. Buy.	28	(1)
Cashing In	29	(2)
Chapter Three Design Within Reach: Form Follows Function	31	(8)
Going Against the Grain	33	(1)
Please Take a Seat	34	(1)
Newsletter of Note	35	(2)
Cashing In	37	(2)
Chapter Four mediabistro.com: Pitching Content to the Media	39	(10)
Online Community for the Media	41	(2)
Media Community	43	(3)
Media Content to Sell Media Services	46	(1)
Cashing In	47	(2)
Chapter Five Esurance: Content Replaces Agents	49	(10)
Great Content as a Marketing Tool	50	(1)
Driving Traffic to Auto Insurance Content	51	(3)
Content Drives Transactions	54	(2)
Ensuring Compelling Content	56	(2)
Cashing In	58	(1)
Chapter Six Aerosmith: Content for Extreme Fans	59	(10)
Not the Same Old Song and Dance	60	(3)
Walk This Way	63	(2)
Roadies, Managers, and the Chef	65	(1)
A Band and its Fanatic Fans	66	(1)
Aerosmith, the Brand	67	(1)
Cashing In	67	(2)
Chapter Seven The Wall Street Journal Online: Free Content Sells Subscriptions	69	(12)
Selling Subscriptions with Free Content	72	(3)
Not Your Father's Newspaper	75	(2)
Cashing In	77	(4)
PART 2: Business-to-Business
Chapter Eight Alcoa: Content Drives Large Deals	81	(8)
It All Starts with Dirt	83	(1)
Bright, Shiny Content	84	(2)
The Good Guys	86	(1)
Crafting the Content	87	(1)
Cashing In	88	(1)
Chapter Nine Weyerhaeuser: Managing Trees with Internet Content	89	(8)
Seeing the Forest for the Trees	90	(2)
Content with Priorities	92	(1)
Excellent Corporate Neighbors	93	(2)
Growing (Content) Like a Tree	95	(1)
Cashing In	95	(2)
Chapter Ten ebuild: Everything for the Professional Builder, Including the Kitchen Sink	97	(8)
Building ebuild One Room at a Time	98	(2)
My Bucket Is Your Taxonomy	100	(1)
Tagging Content Makes It Useful	101	(1)
Cashing In	102	(3)
Chapter Eleven ServiceWare: Level the Playing Field with Content	105	(8)
Are You a Call Center or a Help Desk?	107	(2)
Hard Data and Useful Information	109	(1)
If You Have Great Content, Get It Out There	110	(1)
Cashing In	111	(2)
Chapter Twelve Colliers: Commercial Real Estate for the World	113	(10)
Content from Warsaw to Sydney	117	(1)
Real Content from All Over	117	(3)
Cashing In	120	(3)
Chapter Thirteen Booz Allen: Career Content	123	(8)
The Right Fit for You?	124	(2)
We Want You to Work Here	126	(1)
Please Complete Your Profile	127	(2)
Career Content Creation	129	(1)
Cashing In	130	(1)
Chapter Fourteen UPS Investor Relations: Delivering Stock	131	(10)
Airplanes and Those Funny Brown Trucks	134	(2)
Environmentally Friendly	136	(2)
On-Time Delivery	138	(1)
Cashing In	138	(3)
PART 3: Nonprofit, Education, Healthcare, and Politics
Chapter Fifteen CARE USA: Content Fights Global Poverty	141	(12)
Content to Drive Donations	143	(2)
Comprehensive Content in a Soundbite World	145	(1)
Get Involved with Content	146	(3)
Cashing In	149	(4)
Chapter Sixteen Tourism Toronto: Hit the Site and Hit the Town	153	(10)
Individuals, Groups, and Conventions	155	(1)
Content to Book Trips	156	(1)
Recovering from SARS	157	(2)
Content Voyage	159	(1)
Interactivity and Small Bits of Content	160	(1)
Cashing In	160	(3)
Chapter Seventeen Kenyon College: A Literary Tradition on the Web	163	(10)
The Right Way to Rebuild a Web Site	166	(1)
A Site That Speaks to All Constituents	166	(1)
Literary Content	167	(2)
Cashing In	169	(4)
Chapter Eighteen Sharp HealthCare: Putting Patients in Control with Content	173	(10)
I Need to Know Fast	175	(1)
Viral Healthcare Content	176	(3)
Healthy Demographics	179	(1)
Creating Compelling Healthcare Content	180	(1)
Cashing In	181	(2)
Chapter Nineteen Dermik Laboratories: More than Skin-Deep Content	183	(10)
Aggregating the Best of Available Content	185	(3)
Maintain Integrity	188	(1)
Drive Interest in the Category	189	(2)
The Right Stuff	191	(1)
Cashing In	191	(2)
Chapter Twenty Dean for America: Internet Presidential Politics The New Grassroots	193	(14)
Introducing the Presidential Blog	196	(1)
Making Readers Feel They Have a Stake	197	(3)
Meetup with Other Supporters	200	(1)
Internet Content: The New Grassroots	201	(1)
Cashing In	202	(5)
PART 4: Putting Content to Work
Chapter Twenty-One Best Practices from Innovative Web Marketers	207	(28)
Marketing with Web Content	208	(1)
Best Practice #1: When launching a new site, start with a comprehensive needs analysis	209	(1)
Best Practice #2: Speak with one voice to create a consistent site personality	210	(3)
Best Practice #3: Dedicate editorial resources to create consistent and informed content	213	(2)
Best Practice #4: Encourage browsing by using appropriate self-select paths	215	(2)
Best Practice #5: A separate URL or blog facilitates providing targeted content	217	(2)
Best Practice #6: Push content to users to pull them back to your site	219	(2)
Best Practice #7: Don't forget images—original photos are powerful content	221	(2)
Best Practice #8: Consider making proprietary content freely available	223	(2)
Best Practice #9: If you serve a global market, use global content	225	(2)
Best Practice #10: Include interactive content and opportunities for user-feedback	227	(2)
Best Practice #11: Use content to trigger viral marketing	229	(2)
Best Practice #12: Link content directly to the sales cycle	231	(2)
Practices Make Perfect	233	(2)
Chapter Twenty Two Lessons Learned	235	(8)
You're a Publisher Now, So Think Like One	235	(1)
Make Content the Focus of Your Site	236	(2)
Focus on Your Customer's Problems	238	(1)
A Web Site Is More Art than Science	239	(1)
Content Drives Action	240	(1)
A Special Note to Executives	240	(1)
What Content Means to Marketers	241	(2)
About the Author	243	(2)
Index	245