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Jerry Della Femina, legendary ad executive from the “Mad Men” era, insisted his copywriters gather seven times the amount of source information needed on any subject prior to penning one word of marketing material.  A half-century later, we can’t argue.

The time-honored approach paid off again this week in the splashy debut of our client Sumo Logic, a next-generation log management and analytics service competing in the red hot Big Data revolution.  What we generated on their behalf, starting from scratch, amounted to a full menu of short- and long-form content, from web copy to FAQs, datasheets, use cases, case studies and whitepapers.

Sumo Logic made its directive crystal clear: develop compelling content that drives web traffic and craft a story that positions the company as highly differentiated, innovative and above all else, relevant and believable.   To the client’s credit, they demanded high-value content that stands up to the pushing, shoving and “prove it” probes from devil’s advocates: customers, media and analysts alike.

So what’s the key lesson learned? It begins with gathering as much relevant secondary and background material as possible.  Then comes a layer of deep sourcing sessions or interviews with all the key people. Kudos to our client for their enthusiastic collaboration providing direct and extensive access to the CEO, CTO, co-founder and director of biz dev, and the executive sales liaison. It’s here where we extract the primary material.  In these sessions we want to come away with the “ore” that can be processed into high-grade ingots:  the specific, real-world examples of customer struggles and challenges.  We probe for as many viable use-cases as possible.

What we’ve learned over the years is that the stronger the reader identification with these use cases, the deeper the impression and the more compelling the read. Only when we’ve extracted all relevant details do we prepare a tight outline as the storyboard or blueprint of the final product. Each piece — web pages, case studies, whitepapers and more — is a specific chapter in the company story.

The Sumo Logic intro reminded us, again, how perspiration trumps inspiration when it comes to crafting really great marketing content. Content drives marketing and sales today as in no other time.  And somewhere, Jerry D. is smiling.

What’s your content-development process?  How do your mobilize for intros and product launches?

We were recently invited by one of our security software clients to come in and help craft a pivotal presentation for one of their blue-chip customers.  We ended the day with a high-horsepower pitch– and a reminder of what an effective presentation is…and isn’t.

Fortunately, the client appreciates Guy Kawasaki’s principles of the 10-20-30 rule: no more than 10 slides that support a 20-minute stand-up and utilize 30-point type from the Arial font (which studies repeatedly show is easiest on the eyes).

The secret to turning slideware into a weapon of mass persuasion? Here’s what we advise:

1. Internalize the psychographics or temperament of the audience. And let this inform your pitch. This is absolutely step one. Who are you addressing and why are they interested in this topic?  What are their foremost concerns?  What kinds of appeals would be most compelling to them?  What data or evidence substantiates your position? Why would this resonate? What kinds of points can you make that would cause them to mentally applaud you and be persuaded that you have their interests and issues in mind?  Only when all this is clear and comprehensible are you ready to create content.

2. Clarify the purpose of the pitch and its objective. Given the audience, what do you want from them? What idea do you need to convey? Hint: you want to arouse a discussion in which you can elaborate and clarify your leave-behind message. This is the real purpose of any presentation. You want to extend the wrap-up section of the formal pitch, in which you told them what you told them, so you can launch into a useful conversation or Q&A where you can continue telling them. And presumably encourage their buy-in or support, while getting the skeptics to further consider.

3. Storyboard the pitch. In no more than three or four general sections outlined on a whiteboard, in sequential blocks, outline the content that tells the story: an introduction that describes what they’re going to hear, a main section or two that lays out your points and presents substantiating facts and figures, and a concluding section that re-states and summarizes the salient points and substantiation.

4. Transcribe key takeaways of each storyboarded section or “chapter” onto the slides, but in very brief, concise points that highlight the story you are telling.  When you present, do not merely recite the content on the slide.  Let the slide underscore your narrative. Use body language and tone of voice to emphasize key points (not animation).

5. Rehearse, dry-run, and rehearse again. And again. Screen the pitch to a preview audience of devil’s advocates.  Insist on ruthlessness. Tweak your content and delivery. You will be rewarded by the end-result.  Everyone knows about Steve Jobs’ copious hours of rehearsal. This is how and why he sounded like he was speaking contemporaneously, coolly off-the-cuff. It was also mission-critical to his success as a communicator. Jobs was prepared. And when it comes to stagecraft, he’s a pretty good role model.

How do you prepare for your presentations?  Do you approach them as opportunities?  How do you engage your audience and inspire a lively discussion?

2.  Make it simple: suggest the subject matter or request that they come up with something they already care about and give them a clear deadline.  Get a firm commitment.  And make your editorial guidelines simple — no more than one page.  Spell out the most important things they need to know and point to your blog-post examples as models to emulate. Create an easy process based on editorial flow happening on your intranet, via email, or through your blog software.  Include this in your guidelines and make sure its understandable.

Although it’s been said many times many ways (apologies to Mel Torme), most marketing content-related projects call for answers to at least a half-dozen questions.  And all members of the team should weigh-in.  As simplistic as they may appear, questions not unlike the ones below can reveal information that makes the difference between a worthwhile end product and an endless cycle of revisions and finger-pointing:

1.  Objective: What is the purpose of the proposed document and/or web content?

2.  Target: Who is the reader?

3.  Message(s): What are the key take-aways or leave-behind messages you want to create in the reader’s mind about your company and/or its offerings?

4.  Differentiation: What are the core, competitive differentiators of your offering(s) that you want this  particular content to convey?  How do they differ from competitive offerings and what is significant about this difference?

5.  Features/Benefits: Relative to the differentiation you describe above, specify the features that make it superior and explain the corresponding benefit(s) of each.  How to they “benefit” a buyer?

6. Substantion/proof points: What evidence or field results illustrate the validity of your claims (e.g., customer testimony, metrics, competitive superiority, etc.) ?

Is this exercise part of your own preparation today? What other questions would you ask?  What did we miss?

In his book “Corner Office”, the New York Times’ Adam Bryant interviews a bunch of CEOs and describes how they got their jobs. One of the traits of a good CEO, he says, is understanding human psychology. Specifically, CEOs who do the best jobs are the ones able to mold stars into teams. First, you have to spot the difference between a star player and team player. Then you ensure that the stars are willing and able to put the team first. The ones who can’t must go.

These team dynamics apply to writing projects, too, especially the bigger ones that cross functional lines. Creating remarkable content for successful marketing and selling involves talented individuals, “stars”, working as a team. In the end, a superior creative product emerges not by committee but by collaboration. It’s tricky to negotiate the fine line that separates the two but this is precisely what needs to happen.

The best marketing content gains and holds attention then compels some form of action by the reader. So an effective piece of content is not unlike a powerful speech. Just as a good presenter visualizes talking to a single individual instead of roomful of them, talented writers imagine they are creating a message, a letter to someone they know, vividly describing something of specific interest to that reader and asking for a response. The typical problem with marketing content is its “committee” feel. Trying to speak to everyone, it addresses no one. How does your team overcome committee-speak? How do you encourage content creation that is collaborative?