Kellie's Marketing Tech-niques

Welcome to my blog!

Hi! My name is Kellie Stacey and I work as a Marketing Analyst at OpenView Venture Partners. I earned a BS in Marketing and an MBA in International Business from Bentley College in Waltham, MA. I have always enjoyed the more creative aspects of marketing and have recently been drawn to the world of content marketing. I am currently leading a blogging initiative at OpenView, with the implementation of Compendium Blogware. It’s been an exciting ride so far and I’m looking forward to the future of OpenView Marketing!

The content and views expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect the views of OpenView Investments, LLC, its affiliates or portfolio companies.

Build Your Brand, Increase Customer Loyalty

Tuesday, February 2, 2010 by Kellie Stacey

Now, more than ever, it is essential that businesses focus on making lasting connections with their customers. Innovative alternatives and substitutes to every product/service out there present themselves what seems like daily; only to steal away who you thought were your "loyal customers."

Bruce Temkin, author of Customer Experience Matters, one of my favorite blogs, tackled the topic of customer loyalty. He believes that most firms out there are failing to create and maintain strong brands and as a result, are unable to gain a strong loyalty following from their customers.

If you focus your efforts on building a strong company brand, you will automatically improve your competitive positioning. Doing so, will allow both your current customers and prospects to see what your firm stands for and why they should buy from you as opposed to someone else.

Competing as a low cost provider may spark an initial increase in sales; however, you want to focus your efforts down the line. Ask yourself what you need to do in order to keep your current customers happy and how you can attract new customers without putting an emphasis on price. Think about your brand and how you can use inbound marketing, influence marketing, and content marketing strategies to convey your firm aspirations to customers and prospects.

Loyalty Lab, an OpenView Venture Partners portfolio company, is a leader in on-demand customer loyalty that provides a range of products/services that enable companies to engage their customers in rewarding and relevant ways. Specializing in verticals ranging from retail to consumer services, Loyalty Lab understands that when it comes down to it, relationships matter. If you'd like to learn more about Loyalty Lab, a free trial is available on their website!

Creative Design - The Key to Compelling Content

Monday, January 25, 2010 by Kellie Stacey

When it comes to creating your content marketing strategy, think for a moment about what this means. Say for instance that you want to create a case study. To get the wheels in motion, you:

Select a topic
Create a description
Define key takeaways
Identify interview sources
Choose a vendor

Once the project has been submitted you sit back, relax, and wait for the agreed upon deliverable. Wrong.

It is important to note that several content creators provide only the copy associated with a project. The design component may not always be included. Content marketing has been defined as:

"the art of understanding exactly what your customers need to know, and delivering it to them in a relevant and compelling way to grow your business." (Joe Pulizzi)

In order to take your relevant content and make it compelling you need to think about who will be creating a design for each of your content initiatives. A solid design concept can improve your competitive positioning and really drive your inbound marketing strategy. Next time you contract out a content creator, make sure to ask if the element of design is included and if so, how it will affect the price.

For those of you who may be searching for a firm that specializes in creative content design, I suggest the following resources:

Knocking your content marketing strategy out of the park can be especially beneficial to expansion stage technology companies who are potentially interested in venture funding. Top venture capital firms who specialize in providing business development consulting services, like OpenView Venture Partners, take notice of aggressive - yet thought out content marketing approaches.

Aspirations, The Foundation of a Brand

Tuesday, January 19, 2010 by Kellie Stacey

At OpenView Venture Partners, we aim to provide the best possible strategic consulting services to our companies. In doing so, we are in the process of perfecting several best practices processes. One of our primary areas of focus has been defining company aspirations (mission, vision, values, priorities) and making the connection between those aspirations and firm goals.

If you're going to set out to improve your brand, it's important to consider the foundation which your brand is supported by. Martin Jelsema, author of the branding blog, supports this theory by stating that:

"Branding should be a strategic process...thus, the brand can mature and develop relationships based upon a consistent brand promise." See Martin's blog for more detail!

Prior to revamping your company's branding strategy, take a look at your aspirations and see if any work needs to be done in this area. My guess is that it does. Spend some time answering the following:

What direction is your company headed in?
Is the leadership team in synch?
Do all firm members understand your strategic themes and priorities?
How do you plan on getting where you want to go?
In what ways will you measure success against your goals?
When will you reassess and improve this process?

Once everyone in your firm understands where the company is headed, how you're going to get there, and how you will measure your successes - it will then be time to consider the brand that you want to portray to the world. This can be especially important for expansion stage companies, like those in our portfolio, that are focusing on growth. A sturdy foundation will set you up for success.

For more on the importance of aspirations, please reference Scott Maxwell's blog post "How important are aspirations to your company's success?"

Designed by You. A Recent Surge in Customizable Technology.

Monday, January 11, 2010 by Kellie Stacey

Two weeks ago, I discussed the importance of implementing video into your overall content marketing strategy. I mentioned the Flip Video Mino, one of today's hottest pocket-sized video cameras. One of the coolest things about the Flip is that the casing design possibilities are endless. Various design options allow you to choose a pattern, upload an image, or create a totally unique look with a pattern generator tool - try it out here!!!

We as a culture have reached a point where even the smallest and sleekest of tech gadgets are becoming mainstream. Customizable design schemes have emerged as one of several ways to improve a company's competitive

positioning. Flip is not the only company who is currently tapping into this innovative approach. Dell has its own Design Studio, where potential customers can choose from over 200 designs that can be applied to a newly purchased laptop.

The market is embracing "personalized" offerings and as a result, several companies like SkinIt, myTego, and Schtickers have come on the scene. These companies offer a variety of options to make iPods, cell phones, laptops, and even gaming consoles representative of their users. You might want to take a look at your company's recent product and development options and consider whether or not a customizable component could be introduced. Creating competitive advantage can be difficult; however, the customization angle could be right for you!

Have You Made Your 2010 Marketing Resolution?

Tuesday, January 5, 2010 by Kellie Stacey

So here we are. Just 5 days into a brand new year and 2 days into the first work week of Q1. After multiple weeks of enjoying numerous holiday festivities, its back to the grind - likely burdened with the commitment to a personal New Year's Resolution that threatens to break, plus a few extra holiday pounds. So what now?

As you sit at your desk armed with a fresh perspective and hope for a great year to come, it's time to make your 2010 marketing resolution. Think back to last year's content marketing strategy, competitive positioning, inbound marketing and influence marketing strategies...What did you do? How did it work out? What could you have done differently?

Now, with an open-mind, brainstorm what it is that you would like to accomplish in 2010. What are your top priorities? How will you accomplish your goals? How will you measure success?

Marketing strategists Max Starkov and Mariana Mechoso Safer, from HeBS, have created "The 2010 Top Ten New Year's Internet Marketing Strategy Resolutions" - adapted for business focus below:

I know that "Less is More" in a difficult year like 2010 and I will focus my budget on the Internet marketing initiatives that bring the highest ROIs.
I will take advantage of the fact that multi-channel marketing is here and that I can reach my prospects through a variety of ways that complement each other.
I will remember that the Direct Online Channel must always be at the centerpiece of my Internet strategy.
I will plan my budget around ROI-Centric Internet marketing initiatives and furthermore, I will track every dollar spent using sophisticated website analytical and campaign tracking technology.
I will make sure my website is Web 2.0-friendly to increase interaction with visitors.
I will take full advantage of Social Marketing and enhance the social media strategy for my company in 2010.
I will invest in Mobile Marketing this year, as I know that mobile users expect instant access to information as well as an Internet experience that rivals the one via traditional PCs and laptops.
I will invest in online videos for my company's website and other online channels such as YouTube, Facebook, etc.
I will take full advantage of today's real-time marketing world we live in.
I will always keep in mind that experience matters when it comes to Internet marketing.

These may not be the right resolutions for you and your company, though I advise you to spend at least a few minutes thinking about a 2010 marketing resolution to set your sights on. 5 days in, but it's not too late!

Do You Have A Video Content Strategy?

Monday, December 28, 2009 by Kellie Stacey

When it comes to sharing your company with the world, the typical website content components include: company presentations, product/service descriptions, feature lists, data sheets, case studies, testimonials, etc. As we adapt to the digital revolution that is now rapidly spreading across the web, innovative content vehicles are popping up everywhere. The vehicle that intrigues me the most these days is video.

Video content allows businesses to engage with their customers on a whole new level. Real time moments, unedited and uncensored, allow people to share endless amounts of content that people can relate to. Short clips can be recorded and uploaded to countless social sites, such as YouTube, Facebook, and VideoSift. See more popular video sites!

Research shows that "the amount of time U.S. Internet users spend watching video is up an impressive 40% year over year." Interestingly enough, "the number of videos viewed increased 34%, to 12.7 billion videos, up from 9.5 billion last November." The numbers don't lie - if you haven't thought about adding video to your content marketing strategy, you should definitely do so.

Creating video content is simple, possible for even the most technology inept individuals. Pocket sized video cameras such as the Flip Video Mino and Kodak's Zi8 retail for under $200 and allow all users to capture "life as it happens." Incorporating video into your company's website can be easy. Think about using video for:

Testimonials
Product/service descriptions
Company office tours
New hire introductions
Event information
FAQ's

Implementing video on your company's website is both a simple and affordable way to kick start a digital marketing initiative. It's time to embrace new media and personalize your video strategy.

Check out the video content that Boston Venture Capital firm OpenView Venture Partners has recently added to its website! Additionally, here are some examples from our expansion stage portfolio companies: Intronis, Central Desktop, and AtTask!

A Few Really Cool Content Creators

Monday, December 21, 2009 by Kellie Stacey

As part of my daily routine at Boston venture capital firm OpenView Venture Partners,

I recently synched up with content creator Jonathan Kranz of Kranz Communications. Jonathan is currently creating a case study for OpenView that will highlight one of several business development services that we offer to the management teams of our expansion stage portfolio companies. His experience is extensive and he believes in creating a competitive advantage by taking the time to create a strong content marketing strategy.

The Lost Jacket is a Boston-based social agency that focuses on "social media, public
relations, marketing and brand management for businesses. This boutique agency was

founded by Stuart Foster and is comprised of one additional employee, Carla Blumenthal. Stuart and Carla provide consulting, reporting, training, and full site assessment services directed towards start ups, emerging companies, and large brands.

The 42ND Estate identifies itself as "a community of bloggers, developers, consultants, and strategists...[that] create compelling content, install intuitive interfaces and grow

sustainable communities." I stumbled upon their site while reading a blog post about the recent site redesign project The 42ND Estate produced for The Lost Jacket. In my opinion, the site looks great. Crisp and easy to navigate, the site is fun to click through and has several compelling calls-to-action. I specifically enjoyed the sliding banner present on the homepage. Nice work!

How to Generate Revenue with Digital Magazines

Monday, December 14, 2009 by Kellie Stacey

A few months ago, a colleague and I excitedly took on a research project for one of our expansion stage portfolio companies, Zmags. As part of the strategic consulting services offered by our team, the goal of the project was to understand how companies can generate revenue by implementing digital magazines into their content marketing strategies. In order to complete this task, we did the following:

Research, Research, Research - We took the time to review analyst reports, articles, and digital magazine pricing schemes to understand current industry standards for publishing, both on and offline.
Customer Calls - We spoke with over 20 current Zmags customers to gain a better understanding of their successes/struggles related to attaching ROI to their digital magazine investments. There is no better way to understand your target market than to pick up the phone and give them a call.
Data Synthesis - Once we had conducted baseline research and made several phone calls to current customers, we took some time to review everything that we had collected. Once we had our heads around the data, we summarized it in a useable form.
Revenue/Return Model Creation - Armed with solid findings, we created a revenue/return model that the Zmags sales team could input live numbers into, in order to generate ad savings quotes to prospects on the fly.

Upon completion of the project, I was happy with what my team had delivered. Offering operational support to the management teams of our portfolio can be incredibly rewarding. It's nice to know that our efforts can often provide them with the support that they need to go the extra mile.

Update!

Just last week, I received an email from a member of the marketing department at Zmags. The company released a brand new eBook called "Profitable Magazine Publishing: Your guide to generating revenue with digital magazines."

The eBook contains data from the research that my colleague and I collected a few short months ago. Seeing this piece of work was incredibly rewarding. It's nice to know that as a part of OpenView Labs, our global consulting services are proving to be the special ingredient that will take our growth capital investments to the next level.

Black Friday 2009: The Good, The Bad, and The Social Media

Monday, December 7, 2009 by Kellie Stacey

Two weeks ago, in my post "Tune-In to Social Holiday Savings," I discussed the prevalence of retail chains that are currently experimenting with social media to offer holiday discounts and incentives.

Drum roll please...results from Black Friday 2009 are in!

Total # of shoppers

Amount spent 8%

Total spending FLAT compared with last year's spending of $41.2 billion

Despite this somewhat bleak review, from the social media perspective, numbers are up. According to the article, "Retailers Go Nuts for Social Media Holiday Marketing," content marketing strategy tied with social media holiday initiatives resulted in the following statistic:

4.3% of Facebook users and 2.3% of Twitter users visited the website of a top 500 retailer directly after checking out social sites.

To put this into perspective, Facebook was the second most visited site in the US on Black Friday after Google.

Click here to check out a sample of the inbound marketing strategies used by some of the nation's top retailers.

If it works for Playboy, It works for me.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009 by Kellie Stacey

When I signed on with the Boston venture capital firm OpenView Venture Partners, I happily accepted the title of "Marketing Analyst." It seemed like a natural progression after earning a degree in marketing, enjoying a stint as a marketing intern, and then pursuing a marketing focus with an international twist in grad school.

Call it inexperience, or possibly just plain naive, though at the point of acceptance, I was blind to the ever widening scope of a marketer's responsibilities. Technically speaking a marketing analyst could be responsible for: marketing strategy/mix (product, price, promotion, place), inbound marketing/lead generation, content creation and distribution, marketing research, segmentation, account management, website maintenance, event planning...and the list goes on and on...

After spending over a year performing generalist marketing activities, I have recently begun to focus my time around the area of content marketing - both creation and distribution. In this crazy world of marketing - I have found my niche.

The funny thing about this is that the area of content marketing has been explored for years, though it has not been singled out as its own area of focus until now. You can imagine my surprise when I saw the following title flash across my Google alerts this morning:

"Playboy Promotes Jimmy Jellinek to Chief Content Officer"

Jellinek will "oversee content development for print, online, mobile, TV, film and radio" and will be reporting directly to Hugh Hefner! It's great to see that such an important marketing focal area is finally being recognized within larger corporations. It's going to be a huge job and it will be interesting to see if newly appointed Jellinek is up to the challenge.

Maybe I'll end up replacing him...or maybe (and more realistically) I'll just stick to learning the ropes at OpenView and advising the management teams within our portfolio for all of their content marketing strategy needs.

Tune-In to Social Holiday Savings!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009 by Kellie Stacey

So it's that time of year - Thanksgiving is upon us. We're still a solid 4 weeks away from Christmas; though everywhere you look there are signs of Santa and his followers.

Retailers are stocking their shelves full of seasonal items, local radio stations are blasting carols, and advertisements for all of the newest and brightest "must haves" are everywhere.

It's hard not to get swept up into this seasonal whirlwind of excitement. As if running around, trying to plan vacation days and dream up extravagant menus isn't enough, try thinking about...holiday shopping! What to buy? Who to buy for? How much to spend? The pressure caused by holiday spending is unreal and it seems like it grows every year.

Lucky for us, with advances in social media tools, we have several options to help us find deals when it comes to shopping for the holidays.

I came across the article "Season's Tweetings: Social Networking Sites Help You Save," that brings attention to retail chains that are currently using social media sites to offer holiday discounts and incentives to build customer loyalty.

Authors Becky Worley and Lana Zak explain how news feeds, status updates, group pages, and tweets can provide valuable up-to-date information on ways to save.

Most of these social sites are free and contain a great deal of information. They can be a valuable resource for the maxed out shopper on a budget.

Social sites have helped to foster increased communication between businesses and their consumers, especially during the holiday season. The thing is, this strategy doesn't apply only to B2C relationships. So when you're trying to rev up your management teams around the holiday season, give some thought to social media and how it may impact your sales and marketing strategy, your content marketing strategy, and your inbound marketing strategy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Take It Away Tippingpoint!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009 by Kellie Stacey

Tippingpoint Labs, located in Newton, Massachusetts, has centered its business on creating valuable content. This self proclaimed "Digital Content Creation Shop" develops videos, audio, presentations, photos, podcasts, wiki contributions, articles, and stories for its clients.

I was introduced to this company when I coordinated the OpenView Content Marketing Workshop and Chief Strategy Officer/Co-Founder Andrew Davis was a guest speaker. Tippingpoint has a great team, which is continually searching for innovative ways to create and disseminate content.

This week, I began the planning phases of my team's participation in what is known as the "Tippingpoint Labs' Digital Playbook Workshop." The aim of the day and a half long interactive session is to provide teams with "both a strong understanding of their digital world today, as well as how to successfully manage their digital presence in that world going forward."

Creating a content marketing strategy for OpenView will allow us to provide better operational support to our expansion stage companies. I'm excited to participate in this event with my team and will be sure to discuss both the workshop and the key takeaways in future posts!

Does Your Marketing Content Address Your Customers' Needs?

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 by Kellie Stacey

Recently, a team member and I provided operational support to one of our expansion stage portfolio companies, by completing an analysis on their customer facing content. Our goal was to understand the key issues and pain points faced by their prospects, so that we could make recommendations as to how the company can enhance their content marketing strategy to address these concerns.

We structured out a project summary and got together an organized work plan. Once we had by-in from everyone involved, we set out to collect some data points. Following are the three sources we chose to collect data from:

Prospects - potential customers who are faced with several industry-related issues.

Customers - current customers who have experienced the company's sales process.

Internal - various employees who have been involved in the sales process and understand the challenges associated with their industry.

Our research efforts were primarily comprised of face-to-face and telephone interviews, as well as a customer survey.

We followed our work plan by gathering all of the research, synthesizing our findings, and looking for gaps. It was our goal to determine what this company provides with respect to content and whether or not it is currently meeting the needs of their target prospects.

This process showed me that despite the fact that this company's marketing representation is creative and focused, they are not necessarily providing the messaging that their target prospects are looking for. There are some significant gaps between what their prospects want to know, how it is presented to them, and what this company actually provides.

Keep in mind that as you put in the time and effort to create new content, make sure that you understand your audience and that you are speaking to them. Technical briefings and buzzwords are typically not the right answer. Your company may come across as advanced and professional, though the last thing you want is for your audience to be left with the question:

so what is it that this company actually does?

We're All In This Together: Create a Healthier Team in 5 Simple Steps

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 by Kellie Stacey

When working with your internal team in order to improve your sales and marketing support capabilities, there are 5 simple steps that you can take to contribute to the success of your team.

Think for a moment about all of the management teams that you have been a part of. In order to provide the best possible operational support, you and your team members must focus on doing the following:

Be Transparent - As you contribute individual pieces of work to your team, make sure that all of your team members know what it is that you have been working on. If you find yourself hiding passwords, creating secret accounts, or not being 100% truthful about the work you are producing - the trust of your team members will diminish.
Offer Encouragement - It's no secret that day in and day out as you take on more responsibilities, it's going to become increasingly difficult to see outside of your own tasks. As you begin to focus more on your own outputs, you may lose sight of what your team members are doing. In order to successfully engage with your team, pay attention to what everyone is doing and don't be afraid to offer up a kind word of encouragement every now and then. We all like to feel validated in our contributions, so don't forget to recognize achievements and the hard work of your team members.
Be Attentive - Nothing says "I'm not a team player" more than when we exhibit a lack of attention to our team members on calls and in meetings. Respect is a critical building block of a healthy team. Put your laptops and cell phones away, make eye contact with the team member who has the floor, and bottom line - pay attention.
Be Respectful - "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." When it comes right down to it, we should all treat others as we ourselves would like to be treated. Management teams, as well as various other teams, typically have issues with respect among members. Healthy teams leave their egos out of meetings. They show consideration and appreciation for the contributions from all team members.
Remember What You Are a Part Of - High performing teams are comprised of team members who wish to achieve a set of common goals. If individuals within these teams decide to hold their personal goals above those of the team, the team is more likely to fail. Remember that individual success is defined by the achievement of common goals when you are part of a team. If you are only out for yourself and your own development, maybe the team environment is not for you.

As we embark on group initiatives, it is imperative that we put in the effort to maintain healthy teams. Think about what it's like to not feel heard, to not feel valued, and to not feel respected. You would never want that for yourself and you should never want that for one of your team members. When you attend your next team meeting, take a step back and revisit these principles. Your team will only benefit from the refresher.

Out With the Old and in With the New

Monday, October 26, 2009 by Kellie Stacey

Just a few short weeks ago, Andrew Davis of TippingPoint Labs introduced me to the presentation tool Prezi, while he and other experts shared content marketing strategy tips at OpenView Venture Partners' Content Marketing Workshop. After using PowerPoint for several years, this innovative tool opened my eyes to the recent advances in presentation technology. When creating your content management marketing strategy, think about tools like Prezi, which can often add that extra pizzazz.

A little about Prezi:

Prezi was founded in Budapest, Hungary in May 2008 and is described as a flash based zooming visualization and storytelling tool. Prezi allows you to create non-linear presentations that are said to encourage dialog with the audience.

Inspired by this tool, I accessed the website in search of a demo. It was at that point that I realized that a public version of the tool was available for free. I quickly signed up, required to include only my name and email, and in moments I was enjoying my free account.

Short voice over demos guide you through the navigation of Prezi. It appears that an initial time investment is needed in order to get up to speed; though the tool is incredibly user friendly, simple, and fun to use.

Once Prezi made its first impression on me, which was a good one, I set in search of reviews from other users - interested in what people had to say. After some preliminary digging, it appears that the general consensus is that Prezi is a bit confusing for the average user, while it may not be far enough advanced for designers and other expert users.

I plan on checking out Prezi in a bit more detail for my next project that requires a presentation. I recommend that you try it out, as cool tools like this can be useful in creating competitive advantage. Do however; note that when you sign up for the free account, Prezi has a right to all of the content that you create.

Why I Have Zero Tweets

Tuesday, October 20, 2009 by Kellie Stacey

In the past year my interest in social media has drastically increased. The topic area appeals to me for sure; though I have a feeling that my role as a marketer at a Boston venture capital firm has contributed to this new source of intrigue.

In my personal life, I am an avid Facebook fan. I enjoy exchanging pictures, writing messages, and simply keeping in contact with old and new friends. I also like to use LinkedIn to build my professional network. I take pleasure in checking out new social sites and learning about the new features and capabilities of each.

As interested as I am in this area, for whatever reason, I have never been able to get into Twitter. It wasn't until recently, that my interest was piqued and I decided to give it a try. Working at a VC firm that takes an active interest in expansion stage tech companies, it's difficult not be influenced by all of the techies swarming around.

I joined Twitter about a month ago. I currently follow 43 people, a combination of family, friends, and professional contacts - and have 29 followers of the same type. I have 0 tweets.  I recently became connected "following/followed by" a gentleman by the name of Andrew Davis, who spoke at one of our events two weeks ago. He responded to my follow with "no tweets?"

I read this message and pondered it for quite some time. No, I don't have any tweets. Is this because I don't have anything to say? Nope, that's not it. Is it because I don't know what to say? Well maybe that's getting a bit closer. Is it that I don't know what to say or when/how often to say it? Yes, I think that might be it.

When I think about the social sites that I frequent, there is a clear distinction in my mind that Facebook is for my personal life and LinkedIn is for my professional life. But where does Twitter fit in? I am following friends and groups of interest, also colleagues and professional connections. The lines are blurred. Do my family and friends care about the newest fads in raising venture capital? I doubt it. Do my professional contacts care if I'm out to dinner with my sister? I doubt it as well. What to write...

Another factor contributing to my 0 tweets is the "content promise," a phrase coined by Joe Pulizzi, content marketing extraordinaire. When you promise your followers or target audience a content delivery schedule, the expectation has been set. If you don't deliver on that promise, you'll lose the trust of your audience. If I add 4 tweets one day, followed by a week of nothingness, what are my followers going to think? I don't want to disappoint them, so I have yet to tweet.

A recent article states that "more than a third of [Twitter accounts] have not posted a single Tweet."  After seeing this, I am intrigued that I'm not the only interested yet inactive Twitter user; though I wonder if anyone else shares the same tweeting anxieties...

OpenView Content Marketing Workshop: Recap

Tuesday, October 13, 2009 by Kellie Stacey

Last week OpenView Venture Partners, a Boston venture capital fund, hosted its very first Content Marketing Workshop.

Thanks to all of the speakers, portfolio company attendees, and OpenView firm members, the event was a great success!

Content Marketing Expert, Joe Pulizzi, played an integral role in the preparation and execution of the event. He tapped into his network and introduced us to several power players in the area of content marketing.

Andrew Davis entertained the crowd with a "Digital Breakthrough" presentation using the innovative "living presentation tool" Prezi. I think it's safe to say that both Andrew and Prezi, were a highlight of the day!

Christine Perkett discussed how "content is key to any successful social media strategy." While Chris Baggott shed light on "why your blog can and should be your #1 search engine marketing tool."

To the crowd's amusement, Mike Volpe, representing HubSpot, discussed content marketing strategy and shared with us HubSpot team videos: "You Oughta Know Inbound Marketing" and "Baby Got Leads."

One of my favorite sessions, hosted by Joe Pulizzi and Jonathan Kranz, was a "Content Marketing Face-off: 42 Tactics in 42 Minutes." Joe and Jonathan alternated 60 second turns as they covered the 42 content types found in the eBook Content Marketing Playbook - 42 Ways to Connect with Customers, which they co-authored.

All in all, I would say the event offered some extremely valuable tips for content marketing and I am hoping that the companies that have taken venture capital investment from OpenView Venture Partners will apply these learnings to their marketing strategies.

New Approaches to Content Marketing

Monday, October 5, 2009 by Kellie Stacey

So this is it. We have two days remaining before the kickoff of our Content Marketing Workshop. OpenView's forums are a fairly unique offering in the world of growth venture capital, seeing as we bring together diverse groups with the aim of creating a unique learning experience. Guests will include: OpenView's venture capital advisors, OpenView firm members, area experts, and representatives from our current portfolio companies and prospect companies.

Content marketing expert Joe Pulizzi has played an integral role in getting this forum off the ground. In preparation for the workshop, I came across the book "Get Content, Get Customers" - a book that Joe co-authored with Newt Barrett. The focus of the book centers on "Why content marketing is vital to business success in the 21st century."

The book, in my opinion, is an easy read - full of interesting points that are well supported. I especially liked the piece on the Six Reasons Businesses Are Making the Change to Content Marketing in Chapter 2. It's fun to read and the ideas really get you thinking about how you can improve your own content marketing efforts.

I'm looking forward to meeting Joe in person and hearing more about his innovative approaches.

OpenView Venture Partners to Host Upcoming Content Marketing Workshop

Tuesday, September 29, 2009 by Kellie Stacey

Boston-based growth capital fund OpenView Venture Partners will proudly host our very first Content Marketing Workshop in Boston, October 8-9, 2009.

Several members of our growth equity firm will participate in the action, in addition to widespread representation from several of our portfolio companies.

The event will showcase 6 speakers, experts if you will, in the area of content marketing. It is my pleasure to introduce them below:

Joe Pulizzi - Founder of client-vendor matching site Junta42
Jonathan Kranz - Principal, Kranz Communications
Andrew Davis - Chief Strategy Officer and Co-Founder, Tippingpoint Labs
Christine Perkett - Founder/CEO of PerkettPR
Mike Volpe - VP of Inbound Marketing at HubSpot
Chris Baggott - Co-Founder of ExactTarget and Co-Founder/CEO of Compendium Blogware

Various sessions over the two day workshop will address the ins and outs of content marketing. As a group, we will explore this topic through presentations, interactive sessions, and Q&A.

After much hard work from all involved - and still a bit more to come - I am excited to get this event underway, to meet all of the fantastic speakers, and to reap the benefits of the endless learnings to come!