Play the Hits!

Here we are: Week #26. That means I’ve shipped a new issue of this newsletter every week for six months! In lieu of celebrating and taking the week off, let’s talk about giving your audience what they want.

If you have something in your marketing mix that has done well, keep doing it! You might be tired of it (probably because you worked on it for a long time before it saw the light of day). But your audience will let you know when they’re tired of it.

In that spirit, I’m going to re-share the infographics I designed over the past quarter. If you find this useful, tell a friend! If this was forwarded to you, hit that subscribe button so you don’t miss out on future issues.

Uberflip co-founder and Chief Evangelist, Randy Frisch talked about how there is too much content, so you have to find a way to cut through the noise.

Thinking like a media company can help build your audience. As we heard from a few marketing experts, Corey Haines talks about how we’re about to swing back to focusing on brand marketing.

Nick Bennett knows all about the benefits of building content to empower your personal brand. He’s a master of sharing content on LinkedIn and other platforms, and that helps bring attention to his employer, Alyce. This infographic has some good tips for those who are trying to convince your boss to let you build your brand.

As Google evolves, you have to, too. Google isn’t interested in driving traffic to your site. Ross Simmonds spoke with the gentlemen at HubSpot to discuss what you can do to compensate for this.

After attending the first-ever Creator Economy Expo (CEX), I was inspired to learn more from Joe Pulizzi’s about turning content creation into a full-time job. The first thing to do: build an audience!

This one was a little controversial. People hold very strong opinions on this topic, and I had to make sure not to step on any toes. Doug Bell of LeanData doesn’t think Marketing should report to the CRO. Do you agree with him?

Christina Garnett has been promoting the values of community for so long that she is now one of the authorities on the subject. She spoke with Jason Bradwell about why you should build a community, and how to get started. Design fun fact: I added “2022” to this title because I didn’t have anything else to put in that open space at the bottom of the logo.

This was another issue where some people didn’t fully agree. Erik Huberman discussed his three pillars of Marketing: Awareness, Nurture, and Trust. It’s always good to hear from different opinions on an important topic.

As someone who started in print, I’m glad to see it making a return. Yes, it’s expensive, but Brian Kurtz and Joe Foley broke down how direct mail is a great way to grab attention (because nobody else is doing it).

This was a fun one simply because I ran a contest and got to interact with a bunch of people (the contest is over, but you can still play). Superscript’s CMO, Mai Fenton, detailed why her company went through a recent rebranding and the benefits of such a big, costly exercise.

This issue paired well with a couple of others over the past quarter. Data is important, but it’s not the only thing.

A pair of Gartner analysts broke down why you have to do both Brand and Performance Marketing.

That’s it for this week. I don’t know about you, but I can’t believe this issue marks six months of constantly shipping a newsletter with a brand-new infographic each week. It’s a lot of work coming up with a new design style each week, but it’s been a fun challenge.

Thanks to all of you who read, share, and comment each week. You keep me going!

Thanks for skimming,

-Jim