Summary: The article discusses the rise and fall of the social media platform Threads, launched by Meta, and its struggle to maintain early momentum. Threads initially gained popularity due to its Instagram connection but faced issues with unimpressive features, leading to user disengagement. The piece reflects on the viability of the Minimum Viable Product concept…
Peter Houston’s article, “Nine things we learned making an indie print magazine,” explores lessons from creating The Grub Street Journal, a B2B magazine. It emphasizes prioritizing enjoyment over profits, the unique considerations of print layout, the importance of covers, and embracing both print and digital aspects. The article stresses community, navigating challenges in distribution and…
General lessons about content marketing How to come up with material Always be listening. I have a good priest friend who says “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” I understand that to mean that there’s teaching going on all the time, all around us. We just have to have our ears tuned…
Even in the midst of constant change, there are enduring principles publishers need to stick with. A subscriber to The Krehbiel Letter told me that one thing he gets from my content is an emphasis on what stays the same during a time of radical transformation. He works in change management, and that’s one of…
“Gamification” is a decent tactic, but it fails to meet customer objectives in both customer engagement and customer success. Companies need to emphasize their customers’ priorities and real needs. This article illustrates the problem using the example of a Grammarly email. I appreciate the Grammarly plugin. I’m a decent writer, but everybody can use a…
Summary: La langue francaise boosted its registered users by 450% using a strategy inspired by The New York Times and Semafor involving e-newsletters and a dynamic paywall. Their experience raises the question whether email might become the dominant form of content delivery for publishers. I was reading an article about how La langue francaise increased…
Summary: Buzzwords are both annoying and necessary, often used to sound knowledgeable without conveying meaning. However, they reflect current trends and ideas. When you can, replace a buzzword with something else. When the buzzword fits, back it with data and examples. Think of buzzwords as symbolic, encapsulating larger meanings. Critique (and limit) their use, but…
Summary: Print publications are embracing their unique sensory appeal, positioning themselves as luxury experiences distinct from digital media. While challenges in quantifying engagement persist, print’s potential to captivate attention stands out. Niche print strategies offer effective outreach by differentiating from overflowing inboxes. A custom print newsletter can be an effective tool to reach key clients….
Summary: A Swedish daily experimented with AI-generated article summaries, showing increased reader engagement. The summaries, generated via an API connected to ChatGPT, led to longer time spent on pages. Human supervision corrected accuracy problems. The strategy aims to attract young readers, sparking debate on prioritizing older, more lucrative demographics. If publishers don’t provide a summary…
Why are bookazines doing so well? And is this a sign of things to come? Bo Sacks recently distributed an article by his old friend and debating partner, “Mr. Magazine,” about new magazine titles on the newsstand. Some people will see that as the equivalent of celebrating new albums on vinyl at the record store….
Summary: Relying solely on analytics without customer feedback can lead to misconceptions. This article outlines situations where data can mislead without contextual understanding, highlighting the importance of validating assumptions with real customer experiences. Are you sure your analytics mean what you think they mean? I saw a post on LinkedIn the other day asking why…
How many kinds of “events” can you come up with? Brian Morrissey mentioned a “pivot to events” in his most recent post, which I link below. There are several interesting things about this. First, you can get very specialized with events. Niches are where it’s at. Second, events are less dependent on platforms. As you…
Yesterday I saw a post on LinkedIn about the success of Barstool Sports, with 5 lessons for B2B marketers. It raised some good points, which I’ll mention in a minute. But before I get to that I want to mention a strange experience I had yesterday. My site runs on WordPress, and some of my…
I like lists because they force the author to distill his thoughts down to a pithy, short, descriptive saying. That’s what I’m going to try to do here, riffing off the article “Publishers: 12 ways to overcome common innovation roadblocks” by Damian Radcliffe, which Bo Sacks distributed recently. Innovation has to solve a problem. It’s…
Summary: This article explores the traits and tactics of untrustworthy salespeople, contrasting an honest experience with a manipulative one. It outlines behavioral “tells” and deceptive email tactics often used by insincere salespeople. In the last few weeks I have had two radically different experiences with people trying to sell me their services to help me…