Mike Kaput

You Are Not a Bot. Stop Marketing Like One.

Posted May 22, 2013 | Link

Based on the capabilities of our current machines—and thanks to Moore’s Law—bots, software and other machines already do a significant number of jobs traditionally reserved for people. That trend is only accelerating, in every field from automated stock market trading to bots that write poetry.

And the machines are in marketing’s backyard now, too, thanks to marketing automation, data mining and marketing intelligence engines.

We are wholly unprepared for this. The technology is already running parts of our campaigns. It’ll only run more in the future. But the technology isn’t just a tool anymore. It’s also a competitor.

Where do you personally add value right this moment? Chances are, a bot already has its eyes on your job.
Blogger Outreach: A Tactic to Keep Your Strategy Fresh

Posted May 16, 2013 | Link

Guest post by Kristen Matthews of GroupHigh

As outbound marketing tactics become obsolete, establishing relationships with bloggers who can promote your brand via word of mouth is becoming more important than ever.

Now that modern consumers are wired to tune out traditional ads and have the self-empowerment to research brands on their own, marketers and PR professionals are scrambling to fill the internet with good content about their brands and their client’s brands.

The sweet spot lies in not only producing content that subtly links back to your brand but also establishing a balance of content about your brand produced by others. It all comes down to the fact that humans trust word of mouth recommendations over self-promotional garble.

This is where blogger outreach comes in ...
Developing Your Marketing Superpowers: Resources for Young Pros

Posted April 26, 2013 | Link

Batman’s half ninja, half engineer. Tony Stark’s part man and part machine. Today’s marketers need to be hybrids, too. It’s a professional philosophy young marketing pros need to embrace.
6 Bulletproof Ways to Prevent Patchwriting

Posted March 7, 2013 | Link

Patchwriting isn’t full-on plagiarism. It’s more like intellectual laziness. And the breakneck pace of the content marketing world encourages it—making patchwriting far easier and far more dangerous than simply copying someone else’s work. Content marketers need to have practical strategies in their arsenal to combat patchwriting each and every day in the trenches.
The (Self) Education of a Content Marketer

Posted January 18, 2013 | Link

It’s easy to get snowed under with the latest search engine news, marketing predictions and industry shop talk. But don’t lose sight of the things that matter most—and would be of interest—to your customers and prospects. Killer content is executed not just by following best industry practices, but by uncovering the stories, angles and connections everyone else missed.