actionable marketing guide

Dear ,

Greetings!

To those of you who were in the path of Hurricane Matthew, I hope that you, your family and your neighbors are safe.

My husband and I just returned from the Shetland Islands. We attended Shetland Wool Week. It’s a celebration attracting 400 yarnies from as far away as New Zealand and California.  

We went because my mother taught me to have a passion.

She wasn’t talking about a boyfriend, partner or husband.

Nor was she referring to a profession or job.

Rather, my mother defined passion as something that inspires you and adds meaning to your life.

As you may know, my passion is knitting.

Once I heard about Shetland Wool Week, I was hooked.

If you’re not familiar with the Shetland Islands, the northern most Scottish islands, there’s 12 sheep for every human. So it’s no surprise they’re known for their knitting traditions, specifically their lace and Fair Isle color work. 

Beyond yarn, archeological excavations in Jarlshof, on the south coast of Shetland’s main island, show continuous occupation from 2500 BC through the Viking era.

The wonderful Shetlands Museum gives visitors insight into Shetland’s Scandinavian heritage and identity. Roughly 15% of Shetland’s words for things come from Old Norse, not English. 

Shetlanders don’t wear kilts and they don't play bagpipes! I got into the fun at the opening reception.

Shetland Wool Week taps into the depth and breadth of knowledge of sheep-related arts. This includes crofting (better known as farming), knitting, spinning, dying and design.

Given Shetland’s small population, classes and tours were miniscule compared to events in other parts of the world. (There were as few as 6 openings per class or event due to capacity.)

Result: Demand outstripped availability.

Response: Add more event-related options!

As a knitter, I learned so much about my craft that my brain hurt.

More importantly for you my readers, I learned marketing lessons as well.

5 Marketing takeaways everyone can use:

• Take advantage of existing themes. Kate Davies, a top Scottish designer, published The Book of Haps (a traditional everyday Shetland shawl). This started a knitting trend, articles and knit-alongs (#HapAlong). Shetland Wool Week offered classes, talks and exhibits focused on haps.
  
  
• Tap all of your resources. Don’t limit yourself to those with influence or followings. At Shetland Wool Week, it’s not just the knitters. It’s everyone regardless of ages. My favorite was the local baker who created yarn inspired cupcakes!
  
  
• Encourage your community to join you. In Unst, the center of Shetland lace knitting, women in their 80s and 90s shared their expertise and stories over tea and knitting.
  
  
• Know your audience. The salespeople at Jamieson’s, the official Shetland yarn factory, couldn’t be more helpful. Although I promised my husband not to buy more wool, Lizzy inspired me to buy. She listened to each customer’s likes and needs. Based on this input, she helped them select the right colors.
  
  
• Tell great stories. In Edinburgh, I went to Kathy Knits, a shop specializing in UK wool, to buy a set of needles and a ball of Shetland wool. But Kathy’s explanation of Tin Can II, a special limited run yarn, made near where the PBS TV series Poldark is filmed, provided the urgency to purchase 4 skeins.
  

As a marketer, consider your audience and get to know them. Not just the people you want as customers but everyone who can contribute and fan the flames of interest. This is particularly important for getting your organization involved in your content and social media!

Our next stop is the 10^th anniversary session of MarketingProfs B2B Forum in Boston (#MPB2B). This conference runs from October 18^th through 21^st. 

MarketingProfs B2B Forum is one of the most fun business events I attend. The amazing people I meet and the marketing skills I learn is a bonus.

I can’t wait to see what Ann Handley will do this year. Her creativity is amazing. 

If you’re attending MPB2B, please attend my session, “Teach Me How! Not One And Done: How To Turn A Single Marketing Asset Into Content That Keeps On Giving … And Giving … And Giving.” It’s Thursday, October 20^th at 11:15 am.

The 2017 Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs B2B Content Marketing research revealed that more marketers are creating more and more content. Further, there’s a big disconnect between doing content marketing and doing it well.

I’m going to explain how to get off the content creation hamster wheel.

Instead of more and more content, produce contextually relevant content, optimized for your key audiences, and continue distributing and distributing it and distributing it.

Even if you don’t attend my session, please make it to my office hours.

At the very least introduce yourself and let’s connect IRL.

Happy Marketing,
Heidi.

• Heidi is one of 28 marketers tapped to predict 2017's top marketing trends in Michael Brenner's post 28 EXPERTS REVEAL THE TOP CONTENT MARKETING TRENDS FOR 2017.
  
  
• Blogtrepreneur named Heidi Cohen one of the Top 25 Content Marketing Bloggers to Catch Up On in 2016.
  

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