Lee Odden’s article on content strategy vs. tactics got a lot of attention this week, with more than 40 people in his social network expressing their opinion on the value of social media experimentation.
Content marketing can be a cost-effective way to get the word out about a company, putting the small guys on a more even playing field with the big boys. One reason it’s an economical strategy is because you can repurpose your content in dozens of different ways, turning a blog entry into a white paper or an article into the script of a video. The idea is to recycle content so that it “takes advantage of the different ways that your readers absorb information,” says blogger Beth Hrusch.
If your content marketing plan incorporates online reviews of your product or service, don’t fake them.
There is hardly a typical, replicable day at Hammock (the variety is why we love our jobs here!), but here is a snapshot of a random Tuesday’s tasks for Hammock’s team members.
“People don’t care what you say about your products. They want to know what other people say about your products.”
After hearing that message from marketing speaker David Meerman Scott and embarking on a seemingly unrelated search for New York pizza, ClickZ blogger Sage Lewis realized just how much user-generated content dominates his decision-making process.
Rex is live-tweeting the Custom Content Conference, happening this week in Nashville. The theme of this year’s conference is “Content: Use It Or Lose It: Taking Advantage of Content in a Custom Media Age.” Follow Rex’s observations and pithy quotes from the speakers here: twitter.com/hammock.inc.
There is no one who thinks about content and how to make it work for your business more than Rex. Don’t miss his Content That Works series for a distillation of his approach to and analysis of content marketing.
I’ve been a fan of the Good organization since it launched in 2006. It continues to post content that I want to see, read and experience.
As a friend aptly put it, the Oscars are like my Super Bowl. Ok, yes, I am totally addicted to lists of must-see movies, I geek out on Oscar-related trivia and I’ve even had parties where I served food items related to the nominees. (There Will Be Blood pudding, anyone?)
Some of my favorite moments from this year’s list: Carey Mulligan blowing off her A-levels to go to Paris in “An Education.” Meryl Streep enjoying French feasts with her husband in “Julie & Julia.” All those beautiful balloons rising in “Up.” So many of Jeremy Renner’s powerful scenes in “The Hurt Locker” that explore its theme: War is a drug. An under-the-influence Jeff Bridges singing in the bowling alley in “Crazy Heart.” The smooth George Clooney in every scene of “Up in the Air” (ok, I’m prejudiced. His female co-stars were pretty great, too).
My film-loving pals are throwing out their predictions over on Team Hammock. What’s your pick?
With the Oscars on tap for Sunday, March 7, we asked Team Hammock members to give us their picks for best picture of 2009. In an apparent grab for bigger ratings and louder buzz (if that is even possible), the Academy Award pool expanded to 10 nominees this year. More Hollywood manipulation? Maybe. But the blend of huge, popular movies and smaller, niche films makes the prognosticating a lot more fun.
Esteemed Hammock Academy members give the Oscar to:
Ben Stewart: I’ve only seen Up, Avatar, Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds and District 9. I think The Hurt Locker is far and away the best movie of all of these, so I would have to pick that as my favorite.
John Lavey: The Hurt Locker. Only seen two others: Up and Inglorious Basterds. From what I’ve seen, I will say the performance by the Nazi colonel (Christoph Waltz, up for Best Supporting Actor) in Inglorious Basterds was memorable.
Megan Morris: The only movie of all of these that I’ve seen is Inglourious Basterds, and despite its historical inaccuracies I really liked it. (Funny, good plot, Brad Pitt, etc.)
Barbara Logan: Ask me tomorrow after I watch The Hurt Locker tonight. I do like the idea of Kathryn Bigelow beating her ex-husband. I will be rooting for Jeff Bridges for Best Actor. Loved him in Crazy Heart. Great story about second-chances with a lovely soundtrack.
Rex Hammock: I saw all but three of the films nominated for Best Movie: I missed District 9, An Education and Precious. That means that every movie I saw in 2009 was nominated for Best Movie. Oh, except for “The Hangover.” And it should have been.
I feel certain Avatar will win for best movie, but each of the movies nominated were good in their own way. The Hurt Locker was riveting. Up was beautiful, charming and wonderfully executed. The Blind Side was inspiring — and the best Sandra Bullock performance ever (although my geek friends would say that distinction goes to the 1995 film, The Net). And Inglorious Basterds was both disturbing and funny. But a $2 billion box office goes a long way in garnering Oscar votes, I think.
Jamie Roberts: I’ve seen everything but Precious and Inglourious Basterds, and I’ll try and get in those two this weekend. Hurt Locker would be my pick, even though Up in the Air, another movie of our time, was wonderful, too. (And George is never a bad idea.) Its consolation prize will probably be best adapted screenplay. As for best actor, I’m with Barbara: Jeff Bridges is THE man. Although she won’t win, best actress should go to Carey Mulligan. She was fantastic in An Education, a gem of a movie. The scenes of Paris made my heart explode.
And for the less active movie-goers in our office:
Bill Hudgins: I went to a movie last year but cannot recall what it was. [30 minutes later] STAR TREK! – I knew I saw a movie last year!
Patrick Burns: I don’t see The Hangover on the list.
After 30 years of thinking about content, creating it or working with other content creators, Rex Hammock knows quite a bit about helping business people communicate better with their customers. In fact, our resident content marketing expert is in the middle of a new series, Content That Works, in which he outlines some practical ways to create engaging content that people actually look forward to reading and experiencing.