actionable marketing guide

Dear ,

I’m composing this newsletter onto my computer as my husband drives us home from the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival (MDSW).

It was a new writing experience. I never wrote in the car since I thought I’d get carsick.

But I didn’t!

Instead, I had a rough outline in my head. With classical music playing, I focused on the words on the computer screen. Due to my weak outline, I overwrote TFUD (the first ugly draft). Yet I was pleased to get home with work done!

My suggestion: Test writing in different environments. You never know what will work for you.

As many of you may know, I’m an avid knitter. Have yarn will travel. Wherever I am, I always check the local yarn stores.

Knitting provides a lens for appreciating marketing and MDSW was a great example.

MDSW vendors must apply and wait to be accepted. (It can take years.) Further, for many of them, the fair is a key element of their marketing plans and annual income. Therefore, like you, it’s critical that they maximize the marketing opportunity.

Here are 5 ways yarn vendors maximize their attendance investment:

• Good physical location: (one you’re known for, is in a heavily trafficked spot and weather-friendly (Read: out of the mud! It rained this year.) Have a bad location? Read how to overcome a bad location!
• Merchandise your booth to attract attention. Put your most attention-getting fibers in front.
• Show buyers how-to use your product. Go beyond your merchandise.  Let them see what the finished product looks like. It’s pure Marcus Sheridan, “They ask, you answer.” Teach them how to make stunning finished projects.
  Remove buyer risk. Miss Babs packages yarns so you don’t have to worry about your final shawl. She’s chosen colors that work well for a specific pattern and ensures that you have enough of each color. Her booth is legendary for long waits and lines (up to an hour or more).
• Offer samples. To lure potential buyers in, Miss Babs offers small test samples. She’s the only one I’ve seen do this. While some attendees stock up on them, most just look for colors and test the yarn.

This year, we attended a lecture by Franklin Habit known in knitting circles for his use of Victorian patterns.  Habit made the point that the first publishers of knitting patterns made significant amounts of money.

About half way through the talk, my husband nudged me and said, “Early content marketing.”

While knitting existed for years to supplement household income or as a trade guild, the knowledge was handed down by practice. Knitting patterns didn’t exist until mid 1800s when women had time for leisure crafts. 

Enterprising women published the first English pattern books to sell more yarn. Each developed her unique knitting terms and related products like needles.

More recently, Ravelry, an online global social media community of knitters, crocheters and spinners, has disrupted the knitting publishing world. Before Ravelry, knitters bought books or magazines to get patterns and hoped they were correct.

Like Amazon’s impact on book publishing, Ravelry has provided a platform where knitters can publish individual patterns regardless of currency or location. Ravelry charges authors a lower percentage fee than Amazon and allows customers to store their patterns in an online library at no charge.

It may surprise you to discover that the top knitting pattern rock stars generate annual incomes of 5 to 6 figures from their knitting patterns. At $3 to 10 per pattern, that’s generally higher than the average self-published book on Amazon.

From a content marketing perspective, Ravelry is a combination of interactive content (It ranks patterns by type, ratings and number of projects) and user-generated content (Members input their photos and comments on projects as well as answer other people’s questions on community boards).

Take a few marketing lessons from Ravelry where the stars carefully build their followings to attract sales. Like any good marketer, they keep their virtual ear to the ground.

Actionable Marketing Tips:

• Understand current trends. Know your customer as well as what’s important to them. While most knitters only do simple knit patterns, the colors and pattern ease of use matters.
• Build your community. You need your cheerleaders and fans. Regardless of where your business and customers are located, sales are ultimately about people.
• Think beyond the sale. Build relationships with customers goes beyond one time purchase. Over the years of attending MDSW, I’ve bought from a variety of vendors. BUT I often buy from the same people each year. They remember me.

Just as content matters for fiber vendors and designers, it matters for your business.

While MDSW is a must-attend for yarnies, Content Marketing World is a must attend for content marketers.  Don’t make the mistake of just sending your marketing managers and content creators.

You must attend because Content Marketing World is where the Who’s Who of content marketing gather and do business!

It’s the fastest way to immerse yourself in this ever-growing form of marketing, so please join me at Content Marketing World.

If you are planning to attend, I’d appreciate it if you used my affiliate link above. Enter the promo code: Heidi100 to get a $100 discount.

BTW, I’m teaching an interactive content pre-conference workshop focused on getting your prospects to engage with your content so they don’t get lost in a sea of information.

Happy Marketing
Heidi.

Heidi Cohen
Actionable Marketing Guide

• In the New York Times, there was an interesting op-ed article by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, author of  Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are. His article, Don't Let Facebook Make You Miserable  underscored the power of your micro-online and social media data.
  
  
• Last month, president Trump signed S.J. Res. 34, a measure allowing internet service providers to sell your data without asking for your permission. This means any company can start tracking your digital activity. Most notably, Bose is in trouble for collecting data on the music their customers listened to on their headphones.
  
  Read this article for yourself.
  
  Then think about how you want your personal data used and how your prospects and customers want their information used.

• Treavor Erikson of Stukent included Heidi Cohen his in-depth SMMW17 Roundup.   
  ​​​​​​​
  
• Heidi Cohen also participated in Riaz Shah’s roundup. While the question was interesting: “How Do You Spend Your Weekend?” It would have been better if it was published on a Friday or Saturday. This would have been more time relevant.

How to Build Great Customer Journeys

Your customers are on a journey. Make Each Touchpoint a Meaningful Experience