Management

Audience targeting for B2B Marketing

All marketing campaigns depend on reaching the right people. This is doubly important for niche and business-to-business (B2B) marketing campaigns, where there is little value in a broad-based campaign reaching the general public. Instead it all comes down to being seen by the right people and ensuring they hear the right message. Identify your audience Generally a business-to-business campaign is going to be based around things like industry sectors, company types, job roles, or even targeting specific companies and accounts. So any marketing option you choose should ideally either allow you to segment in this way, or provide reliable data on how these segments are being reached. Quality not quantity Avoid being lured into mass-market options that promise large numbers. Reaching fewer people, but people who are actually your target audience, is far more valuable than advertising to a huge number of people who have [...]

Monkey Media young talent recognised

Monkey Media Senior Editor, Jessica Dickers, has been named as a finalist in the Mumbrella NeXt Awards to be held in Sydney in early December. The awards recognise people making a splash in the industry within their first ten years of work. Jessica is well known for her journalistic talent in the infrastructure space, and an article of hers was recently featured in The Australian newspaper. Her nomination in the Content Marketers category of the awards was made possible by the growth of Monkey Media, and her own willingness to take on new challenges. Not only is Jessica the Editor of Monkey Media’s Infrastructure magazine, but she’s also the driving force behind the Asset Management for Critical Infrastructure event. After starting with the company in a junior position in 2016, she has progressed her career in leaps and bounds, gaining a senior role usually reserved [...]

Why you should take up the role of an industry thought-leader

Content marketing is all about sharing content with your potential customers that is useful, valuable and accurate. Not only does consistently sharing this type of information keep you front-of-mind when your customers are ready to buy, but it cements you and your business as an authority in the market. Bubble wrap, jacuzzi, yo-yo, onesie, super glue. What do all these words have in common? They are all brand names that have become generic terms for everyday items. The way to reach this height of true authority is to either be the first in the market, or if that’s not possible, be the best in the market. And have a kick-ass marketing campaign that puts your brand beyond anyone else's. With great power comes great responsibility Basically, you want your customers to see you and your business as a leader. This can be achieved by releasing [...]

Monkey Media makes AFR Fast 100 for 2018

Hybrid publisher and marketing agency Monkey Media has featured on the Australian Financial Review’s Fast 100 2018 List. Monkey Media joined a number of other digital agencies on the list, but appears to be the only company with a traditional publishing arm to feature. Based in Melbourne, Monkey Media was founded in 2012 and has successfully grown traditional b2b publishing across a number of print and online titles including Utility, Energy and Infrastructure. It has combined the publishing side of the business with running industry events, and a content marketing agency specialising in those same niche areas. Monkey Media Founder Chris Bland said, "Monkey Media has always been a hybrid, and what's pleasing about our growth is that it has come from both the traditional publishing, and the digital and content marketing sides of the business. Having capabilities in one of these areas supports the [...]

The miracle morning routine myth

I’ve read a lot of articles recently about the miracle morning routines of successful people including prime ministers, CEOs, bloggers and even Gandhi himself. It normally goes something like this: It’s 4am and the alarm goes off, signalling the start of another wholesome and productive day. It’s nice and quiet, the perfect time to get things done before everyone else decides it’s time to drag themselves out of bed. No need for coffee or breakfast before heading out to the beach to catch some waves. It gets the heart pumping and the blood flowing through the veins. There’s no better way to chase off the last remnants of sleep. Not only is surfing good exercise but the sound of the waves also calms the mind. Afterwards is a good time to sit on the sand and let the wind dry your body while you meditate. [...]

We can’t all be leaders, we need a few managers too

We’ve all seen the memes. The manager administers; the leader innovates. Managers give answers; leaders ask questions. Managers focus on the bad; leaders emphasise the good.   The same old story – leaders are great, but managers are apparently terrible because they do this and that. The manager is a copy; the leader is an original. The manager relies on control; the leader inspires trust. The manager maintains; the leader develops. But hold on a second! Can you imagine a company comprising nothing but these visionary, out-of-the-box, inquisitive, unconstrained leaders? Managers want credit; leaders credit their teams. Managers rarely praise; leaders reward even the smallest improvement. The manager accepts the status quo; the leader challenges it. Let’s have a look at this status quo-challenging company: a self-sustainable geodesic dome full of shoeless geniuses, only emerging from their ergonomic bean bag pods to throw a few [...]

Taking life, and business, one quarter at a time

Some companies operate on the calendar year, some on the financial year, others again on different foreign financial calendars, but it seems at any one time, a good portion of the economy is paralysed by budget planning. I’ve lost count of the number of people who can’t make a decision, or plan something they want to do, because they’re waiting for the annual budget or other plan to be approved. This process often takes months. Of course there are certain taxes and legal requirements that require compliance on certain dates and annual reporting, but I think many businesses would benefit from moving away from arbitrary timelines and instead find a planning structure that suits their size and velocity. While operating on 12-monthly cycles may be necessary for some companies, it’s impossible for any lean and growing company to work this way. The problems are compounded [...]

How much ego is too much in business?

Just how much ego do you need in business? Do you need a sense of self the size of a small planet in order to succeed as a business leader, or is there some room for humility too? I think Rudyard Kipling said it best in his popular and inspirational poem If If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too;  The most successful business leaders are open to input and criticism, but they also have a rock-solid sense of themselves. They can stick to their guns when everyone else has a different view, they aren’t easily swayed by popular opinion or feeling. But they’re also not so crazy that they don’t stop to check themselves when they’re going in one direction and everyone else is going the other way. In most cases, for most people, it’s [...]

Project why?

We’ve all seen the slides on LinkedIn, the most dangerous words in business are, "but we’ve always done it that way". I’m sure anyone reading this would pride themselves on the fact that they’d never say this, but how many things are there in your business that you do subconsciously because they’ve always been done that way? Perhaps it’s time to stop and take stock of your procedures and ask why they exist at all. It’s time for Project Why. I’m reminded of Gibbon’s description in Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, of the way in the later Empire may of the institutions of the old republic were still followed in actions, but without the original intention. ‘The form was still the same, but the animating health and vigour were fled’. I’m amazed at how many companies are the same, carrying out empty rituals, no [...]

Tear down all this talk of “paywalls”

Have you heard? Amazon has a paywall around its books, you have to pay to get them! ITunes has a paywall around its songs, you have to pay to get them! Sounds ridiculous doesn’t it’? So why call it a ‘paywall’ when you’re a publisher The answer is, you shouldn’t. It’s not a wall, it’s putting a price on valuable content. Too many publishers still seem to be confused about the different roles their content can play and what they get out of them. The concept of charging for content being a ‘pay wall’ is indicative of this confusion. Let me be clear, free content is a very powerful tool for publishers, and I’m not suggesting that publishers stop offering it. Publishers have a great advantage in the new age of content marketing, in that content is their speciality and they have huge volumes of [...]