Matthews on Marketing

Matthews on Marketing

Content First, Not Campaign First: Four Steps to Make Sure You Don’t Fall into the Empty Campaign Trap

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I was speaking to a colleague recently who expressed a common lament. She had launched a beautiful looking marketing campaign three months prior, and it wasn't working. Nobody was clicking. It looked great. It was running in the right places, and she couldn't understand what was happening. I had seen this before, so, channeling Click and Clack from Car Talk , I asked her one more question to confirm what I suspected her problem was. "How did you come up with the campaign?" I asked. Here it … [Read more...]

Organic Traffic Isn’t Free: How to Dispel this Common Misconception

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I was in a meeting recently with a web design agency. We were discussing a new site, and how we would be generating leads, when he made the following comment, “Of course, you want to get lots of that free organic traffic.” I thought to myself, I'm not going to hire this guy. He has no idea what he's talking about. Why did I think that? Because SEO is not a one time, set-it-and-forget-it operation. Growing organic traffic takes a lot of work. Lots of staff and agency time. That costs money. It … [Read more...]

Five New Year’s Resolutions for Marketing Teams

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Good heads of marketing are always looking for ways to make their team perform better. But, with no shortage of things to do, layering on more – more planning, more training, more anything – can make any CMO feel a little guilty. What to do? One solution is to seize on resolution season. Create a quick-win New Year’s resolution for your team. By making it small and completing in January, your team can enter the year a little bit smarter and more energized. Here are five easy resolution ideas … [Read more...]

Startup Companies that Say They Do No Marketing Are Full of It

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I was recently at a tech marketing conference in San Francisco, and I once again heard a line from a founder that made me sigh. The trope used to make me groan, but I've heard it so often that now I merely sigh and shake my head. Here's the line: At our startup we don't do marketing. We just build a great product, and the rest takes care of itself. Sigh. It’s just complete BS. Here's why. Most people don't understand that product is an essential component of marketing – the first of the 4 … [Read more...]