Disqus - Latest Comments for rskin11

Re: Post of the Month - February 2018 - The Vote - Only Dead Fish

Ryan Skinner — Tue, 06 Mar 2018 07:59:29 -0000

Is there an actual requirement that the post appear on Medium?

Re: What Is Strategy (and Why Should You Care)?

Ryan Skinner — Thu, 21 Sep 2017 17:39:39 -0000

Very useful and approachable guide to an often impenetrable topic. Righteous.

Re: Do case studies still count as content?

Ryan Skinner — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 08:46:23 -0000

You're pulling one thread of a big tapestry here, David. Case studies will (basically) never attract an audience, but the CMI's whole idea of content marketing is about audience. Thus no case studies. QED. In my personal and professional opinion, the CMI's hoisting itself on its own petard with the focus on 'audience'.

Re: YOUR AUDIENCE’S LANGUAGE

Ryan Skinner — Wed, 08 Apr 2015 08:05:15 -0000

It's also worth noting that Massachusetts is about as Democratic as US states come. Seven out of eight sitting senators since 1980 have been Democrats, every Congressional delegate from Massachusetts is currently a Democrat (meaning all representatives and senators) and the Democrats hold supermajorities in both houses of the Massachusetts state assembly.

In other words, Elizabeth Warren's audience was alarmingly Democratic-leaning, meaning they were likely to find a tax redistribution story positive no matter how it was told (and the contrary for their fewer in number Republican peers).

A better example would be (and I don't know if one exists or not, to be honest) if a Democratic candidate was able to win support from a more balanced electorate - or even a right-leaning one - with this story.

Re: Substitute Teachings Voice

Ryan Skinner — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 04:45:58 -0000

Somewhat ironically, it's unclear (after you mention that Contently pays to place articles on AdWeek) whether Contently has paid to place this particular piece in AdWeek; I assume not, but that hesitation is the kind of doubt/disquiet that leads so many to detest native advertising as it is practised on editorial sites.

Re: The 70, 20 ,10 Approach to Innovation - Only Dead Fish

Ryan Skinner — Tue, 13 May 2014 11:53:35 -0000

Interesting metaphors (but who in hell would want to be on the rowing team, versus white-water rafting or diving?)

Re: Deserving to rank

Ryan Skinner — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 10:51:41 -0000

That reframes a question I love to ask people, including most SEOs: "Why should Google rank you at the top of results?"

Re: Content Shock: Why content marketing is not a sustainable strategy

Ryan Skinner — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 12:35:33 -0000

OK, answer me this: Does it "cost" you any more to create your content? And do you see any less value out of the content you create?

Re: Content Shock: Why content marketing is not a sustainable strategy

Ryan Skinner — Tue, 07 Jan 2014 07:07:31 -0000

I believe that you both are wholly neglecting the intrinsic value of the content itself. If the only way that three competitors could "get content" was to go to the content bazaar and pay market rate for a fully replaceable product, then, yes, this would be the case. But that is not the case (or is, in any event, a pretty lousy content strategy). If Marcus Sheridan's competitors adopted his tactics exactly, yes, they would fail (and Sheridan would not suffer much). If they adopted the strategy and developed unique content that reflects their particular business, then they might succeed (and not necessarily at any expense to Sheridan). Ideas like "content saturation" and "content arms race" are being bandied about without the case for them being solid.

Re: Content Shock: Why content marketing is not a sustainable strategy

Ryan Skinner — Mon, 06 Jan 2014 12:24:10 -0000

Mark the date! The first "Content marketing is dead" post has been written. (Nothing online is real until it has a few self-important post-mortems, usually featuring an unnecessarily controversial title).
I don't agree with the economics. At all. You're treating content as some perfectly replaceable product ("hey, I'll pay you a blog post about cooking for that slideshare deck on cloud infrastructure - whadda ya say?"). It isn't. And you're acting as if people respond uniformly to content; they don't.
An economics argument would start with value going in and end with value coming out. And there's no clear evidence that there's a problem on either front when it comes to content marketing. Sorry.

Re: Blogging's Massive Failure To Topple Mass Media

Ryan Skinner — Wed, 18 Dec 2013 04:36:22 -0000

This is a zero-sum view of blogging vs. mass media (which maybe reflects your background in mass media?).
Mass media has changed because of blogging; maybe you paved the way for the Nate Silvers of this world, who moves with a unique sense of purpose and independence through the media landscape. Blogging hasn't replaced mass media; it's just gone mainstream.
Who calls himself a blogger anymore? Sure, you've got a tumblr, you write Medium posts and you update twitter 50x a day, but you don't blog.
Blogging swallowed digital media, and it's irrevocably changed mass media.

Re: Cooperative Content Will Eventually Dominate Your Polished Content

Ryan Skinner — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 17:43:23 -0000

I think you may be right that, in the rush to produce what you're calling polished content, many brands risk creating polished turds (something I blogged about more than once during my days at Velocity). And there is certainly merit in the crowdsourcing of intelligence through "cooperative content". I was recently struck by an example made by the gang at Velocity, which is using its tight community to crowdsource a 100+ list of content marketing vendors. It's a great feat of data collection.

However, it would be foolish to discount the value professionals bring to this kind of intel - be they journalists, copywriters, designers, videographers, data scientists or what-have-you. Professional communicators bring value that can't be ignored; they make raw ideas, data or opinions more effective and consumable. Rejecting their value is the kind of thinking that led people to conclude citizen journalism would replace professional journalism. Didn't happen. Won't happen. There's a valuable role for both. Brands would do best to facilitate both, and let each reinforce the other.

Re: The End Of Advertising As We Know It

Ryan Skinner — Mon, 08 Jul 2013 12:11:33 -0000

I don't relish the idea of a conversation with my deodorant. But you can't blame brands for wanting to do things that seem to make them relevant in people's lives. Is that worse than making countless 30-second spots to flicker on the screen while you're off to the kitchen to refill your glass? (At least when you're standing in front of 100s of deodorants in the supermarket, I'm assuming you'll be more likely to want to buy from the company that said something sensible than the one with a clever little jingle).

Re: NYC’s New Maps Orient You Like A GPS

Ryan Skinner — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 09:49:07 -0000

As far as I can tell, the maps around here in London have been like that (oriented based on the direction you face) for years. Cool that NY's doing it too though.

Re: 15 People Every B2B Marketer Should Follow On Twitter

Ryan Skinner — Mon, 13 May 2013 16:27:41 -0000

Wow. I'm flattered to be included in this company. Thanks, Eric. Some people I like who might fit in your group:

@12thday - Jason Ball: Part-time colleague and entrepreneur with tons of experience and insight into the B2B game

@nstoneman - Neil Stoneman: Another colleague. Very, very informed B2B marketer with a smart take on the key issues

@adriasaracino - Adria Saracino: Not necessarily B2B only, but a great source on content marketing (the killer app for B2B marketing)

@mcguiredavid - David McGuire: Sometimes tweets a little too frequently for your criteria, but averaged out I think he fits (and good content, too)

@mbwesson - Marc Wesson: Pardot marketer who clearly loves learning, and sharing what he learns, about B2B marketing

@rogerwarner - Roger Warner: OK, he's just north of 1500 followers, but still a hidden gem in most books

Re: Five Things High Achievers Do That You Need To Start Doing

Ryan Skinner — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 09:14:37 -0000

I always find these kinds of things too cute. The recipe for soufflé, for example, is eggs, milk, flour, butter and cream of tarter - five things. Simple stuff, really. But it's the artifice in how they're prepared and put together that make the result magical.

Aside from the point about helping others, all of these points sounded like classic A-personality, overachiever behavior types. And many successful (and happy) people are neither A-personality nor overachievers.

(So, if you don't mind, I'll keep oversleeping, easily-distracting, imprecisely-planning and bungling my way to the top).

Re: Mo Books, Mo Products: An Alternative View on Inbound Marketing

Ryan Skinner — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:33:51 -0000

Like you, I'm not a purist in the inbound/outbound divide, but I don't agree that Steve Harrison successfully debunks Godin. Hospitals come pretty low on Mazlow's hierarchy of needs; advertising doesn't. We'd all live another day without advertising (and potentially be all the happier for it).

Agree that we need to be careful when we say this is better than that (particularly when we're actually saying "this thing done really, really well" is better than "this other thing done very poorly").

Love the Oatmealesque execution. +1'd and RT'd.

Re: What is The Future of Content for Marketers?

Ryan Skinner — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 11:14:56 -0000

Nice one. Just earned yourself a backlink.

Re: What is The Future of Content for Marketers?

Ryan Skinner — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 08:46:36 -0000

Hi Lee, I was thinking about using the Handley quote for a piece, and I can't find the original source. Got a URL for that? (Would appreciate any help - Cheers!)

Re: The Real Challenge for B2B Content Marketers

Ryan Skinner — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:01:28 -0000

Lots of stats there. Little obvious signal.

I think it's easy for those of us who work in agencies, and who pride ourselves with being at the forefront of the industry (the kind who read your blog), to presume that people and businesses will just do what makes sense. They'll choose the most efficient path. When that doesn't happen (or doesn't happen fast enough for us), we're thrown aback. Are we wrong? Are we fooling ourselves?

No. I don't think so. People and especially big organizations just won't stop doing what they're doing very fast, no matter how much sense it makes. Change is hard.

Where marketing's a priority, a great content marketing program will eventually be a priority (in most cases). It's just a matter of the culture of the organization and the persuasive skill of the marketer.

In B2B, though, marketing's not always a priority. When marketing's not a priority, you're less concerned with what makes sense. You're just covering bases.

Re: 9 Convincing Arguments to Win Your Content Marketing Budget

Ryan Skinner — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 08:55:39 -0000

Great comments all. Glad the piece (well, the hangout) inspired. My 2 cents...

April: Cheers. The terminology and organizational problems feel related. "Content" is a horrible moniker, like any other bad compromise, if you ask me. I look forward to the day when content's taken for granted and we talk only about users' experiences and publishers' purposes. Start-ups think like that, and forgo the org'l hang-ups. There's something to that, I think.

Dan: Glad you liked it/them. You can do lots of stuff without putting in the hours, but then it's usually no good. There's no route around learning. Content strategy principles can be generalized; the content strategy for one company cannot. There are a number of ways to get to the principles, such as this blog. We're a B2B agency, but we've got lots of content marketing resources that can help (content marketing workbook, content marketing strategy checklist, etc.). Hope that helps.

Jason Murphy: Brenner's follow-up point (number 6) seals the deal. Show them that it's not working. I loved that.

Jason Dea: A content strategy's not always going to go headcount-heavy. Some outfits might benefit from a headcount-light curational approach with strong paid promotional, SEO and automation. Usually, I'd say start with one or two really great people (an ambitious ex-blogger type with the new information economy in his DNA, an entrepreneurial DIY attitude and a love for your field), then let them guide your next steps based on what's working.

Re: My Battle With Content Marketing and Selling Out

Ryan Skinner — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:06:35 -0000

There's a simple disconnect at work here.

Traditionally publishers separated the content producers from the promoters. Take a newspaper, for example. The reporters were trained to focus only on their reporting and coverage and getting the scoop, NOT recruiting new readers. There were specialists trained to do that.

To some degree, this distinction's already been adopted by the larger content marketing outfits, where you have content creators and content "pimps" for lack of a better word - with only a healthy amount of exchange between the two (as they obviously influence one another).

There's no way around it though. Both jobs matter. And one can't live without the other. It's just tricky when both jobs need to be done by the same person (or people).

Re: The 10-Minute Content Marketing Buyer Guide

Ryan Skinner — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 18:49:59 -0000

Cheers, Don.

Re: The 10-Minute Content Marketing Buyer Guide

Ryan Skinner — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 18:49:43 -0000

Thanks so much, Barry. Account director's the day job. Writer and big idea guy's the other day job. Glad you liked the piece.

Re: The 10-Minute Content Marketing Buyer Guide

Ryan Skinner — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 18:48:16 -0000

Cheers, Rhonda! 10 minutes was a pretty wild guess, on my part. Glad you liked it.