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Publisher's Note
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Top 10 Tips for Creating an Online "Content Event"

At the time of writing, there are more than 10 billion pages on the World Wide Web. By the time you read this, there will be more than that.

With so many Web pages, emails, RSS feeds, podcasts, TV, radio & print ads competing for attention, you need to create an attraction that convincingly says, "Give me your attention over everything else hitting you right now." Since people use the Internet heavily to gather information, it's money well spent to create what I call a Content Event to successfully get that attention from your target audience.

A Content Event may take the form of a downloadable PDF white paper. It may be a webinar, an RSS feed, a podcast or a regular email newsletter such as my Web Digest For Marketers.

I've been creating successful Content Events online since 1993. Hereunder are my Top 10 Tips for Creating an Online Content Event:

1. Answer the Question "Why Bother?": Decide what you want out of your Content Event. Leads, prospects or sales are the typical motives.

2. Tightly Target: The more specific, the better. The smaller and more addressable your audience, the more relevant and attractive your content offering will be.

3. Focus Group Your Audience: Chances are they're just as slammed with work and time-crunched as you are. Actively pursue them and throw out a few test titles that you're thinking about offering. If they say, "That's nice...", forget it. They just don't want to offend you. But if they draw in a deep breath and say, "I must read that, when will it be ready?", you may well have a winner on your hands. Also ask them what their "pain points" are and to list the top three things they need answers about. If you see a pattern emerging after talking repeatedly to target audience members, again, you've probably got a winner.

4. Keep it Pithy: Online is a "give-it-to-me-quick" medium. People are simultaneously searching Google, checking their email IN box, IM'ing, hitting websites and talking on the phone. A 200-page PDF white paper is too much. People shouldn't feel obligated to read the whole thing. In fact, they may not download a huge PDF to avoid that very feeling of obligation. Make every word count, no matter what the format.

5. Pay a Pro: Companies often pay a recognized expert to write their white paper or present at a webinar. I've had clients hire me to do both. If the expert is popular in the field you're addressing, it will increase the attention you get.

6. Look In-House for Content: You may find that you have the expertise within your firm to produce a high-quality Content Event. If you're producing a "one-off" white paper, then maybe you're in good shape, so long as you have someone internally who can write with authority and avoid the salesy tone you often find in pieces produced and written in-house. BTW, if you're considering a periodic newsletter, be honest with yourself and ask if you want or can realistically commit to the periodic publishing business. Proceed with caution -- and here again, consider hiring a pro to show you the ropes until you can fly the plane yourself.

7. Toot Your Horn: I do not mean to suggest that you should start shooting out bombastic, chest-thumping press releases. That's self-defeating. Allocate a significant amount of your marketing budget to getting the word out. This includes info-packed press releases (worth reading in their own right) and the use of guerrilla tactics like email newsletters, viral marketing and calling upon your personal relationships with journalists. Make sure you give them something real to write about. After all, they must interest their readers and editors as well.

8. Skip the Hyperbole: Your press releases, ads, and Content Event itself should impress and inspire in their own right. The world won't believe you when you say your Content Event is amazing and revolutionary. Prove it. As they say in baseball, "let your bat do the talking". If you really have red meat in your press release, try my colleagues at http://www.seo-pr.com. They can help you get above the daily noise level by optimizing your press release for search engines, news sites, RSS feeds, etc.

9. Use Bullet Points in Your Ads: As publisher of Web Digest For Marketers, I see what works and what doesn't work when promoting Content Events. Why should you use bullet points?

• They're easy to skim, which is what people do online.
• They force brevity on the part of the writer.
• Bullet points are much easier to read than long paragraphs.

10. Talk to Yourself: When is the last time you downloaded a PDF white paper or attended a webinar? Ask yourself why you participated. In this interactive medium, the marketer is often similar to the target audience. In research circles this is called "Pulse Universe" -- meaning, if it resonates with you there's a good chance that it will resonate with your target audience as well.

Bonus Tip

11. Be Authentic: Be clear about your agenda. People are suspicious online, with good reason. Don't drain all the life out of your copy, be it advertising, press releases or promo ads. In short, get people to identify with you and like you. Why? Because at the end of the day, people ask themselves if they either can or want to do business with you. LC

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