Content Marketing Today

Social media marketing is a trend, not a fad.  Moreover, it's a terrific extension of your content marketing strategy.

What’s clear from current research is that when we evaluate social media, we are not talking about the marketing longevity equivalent of the hula hoop or the Lambada. Social media marketing is here to stay.  If you are not already active in venues such as a business blog, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Slideshare, and YouTube, you should be asking yourself whether it's way past time to jump in with both virtual feet. The answer to the question is yes with an important caveat… …Before making the commitment to one or many possible social media outlets, it is vital to determine whether:

• you understand the target audience that you intend to reach
• you have something valuable to communicate to that target audience
• you have someone with the time, skill, and enthusiasm to execute a consistent social media program--either inside or outside your organization
• you will make the time to listen and respond to your social media audience.

There is nothing sadder than a business blog whose most recent post was a year ago. And, there is nothing less impressive than a Facebook fan page with only a few fans and hardly any messages to or from those fans. Yes, social media can be an extremely effective marketing tool. But, you will need to make a serious company commitment to ensure that it is effective for your organization. Read More

Great Content Marketing Advice from the Original Guerilla Marketer I get lots of useless emails from allegedly savvy marketers. But, much more often than not I can count on Jay Conrad Levinson for succinct, actionable, affordable advice. Here's the latest gem from his Guerilla Marketing email: Let your clients on hold learn how to connect to your Web site for pertinent information. Encourage the people who answer your phones to give your Web address to every caller who identifies [...] Read More

 

Lessons on writing headlines from legendary ad man David Ogilvy are relevant to writers of blogs, websites, articles and social media posts.

Written by Joanne Costin I think advertising man David Ogilvy would have enjoyed online marketing for the instantaneous feedback it provides.  His rules about advertising weren’t based on opinion, but years of research. As he famously said:

“Five times as many people read the headline as the body copy. If you haven’t done some selling in your headline, you will have wasted 80 cents out of your client’s dollar.”

Rule No. 1: “The headline is the ticket on the meat.”

Ogilvy promoted the use of keywords in the headline,  before keywords were keywords. Read More

A Great Video Points the Way to Effective Use of RSS

Written by Paul Mosensen

  An overview on Google Reader, and how to manage RSS feeds, folders, share buttons, and integrate with LinkedIn, Google Alerts, Google+, and Twitter...... Read More

 

Image hazel.estrada via Flickr CC

[This is a perfect example of what John is discussing. We have curated his post via Scoop.It.]

Written by John Jantsch

You need lots of content, you know that, but you also know that content creation is one of the more time intensive marketing activities you have to tackle.

While you do need to create your own content as the foundation for your total content and teaching strategy, you can – and should – supplement your content with that from other people.

One of the best services marketers can provide these days is to act as a filter for all that’s being produced out there and aggregate the best of the best on behalf of our communities. Read More

Just When You Hoped Things Might Slow Down, They Speed Up

The smart folks at CMO.com understand the need to make these rapidly changing trends understandable and actionable.

What words come to mind when thinking about the digital marketing landscape? Complicated? A deep morass? Or a land of opportunity? No doubt, digital marketing has experienced a huge uptick in the number of channels and devices at its disposal, further underscoring the need for marketers to determine the best allocation of their budgets. Shifting priorities and increased competition have not made life any easier.

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The Power of Storytelling for Content Marketers from Robert Rose

  In this video post, Robert Rose, co-author with Joe Pullizzi of 'Managing Content Marketing,' discusses what brands can learn from big-screen storytelling, as well as from Joseph Campbell: creating 'heroic' content that speaks to your audience. Via www.contentmarketinginstitute.com

This past September, I was honored to speak at Content Marketing World. My talk was called “Storytelling Secrets From Hollywood.” Since that time, I’ve had a few people ask me for the slides. Inspired by these requests, I’ve been having some fun learning about video-editing programs. So here, I thought I’d go one step further and develop a little video for CMI readers. The video embedded below is the basis of my presentationat Content Marketing World 2011.  I’ve since added some more visual elements to the storytelling — including clips from some of the movies I reference. (Hopefully, I’ve made them a little more fun to watch). Of course, if you’re interested in viewing the on-demand version of my talk, it’s available here.

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Via Marketing Clout

You wouldn’t ask a violinist to conduct an orchestra. He may be an extraordinary musician, but what does he know about conducting or about how each section comes across to the audience? Will the audience come back? Chances are, probably not. Similarly, your typical copywriter, while highly skilled in his area, won’t necessarily have an understanding of writing content for integrated digital marketing campaigns. Old school copywriters are still in demand for offline campaigns. The new breed of digital writers, however, understands how to write for the web. For example, they know how to: Read More

Written by Melanie Brooks Dave and Carrie Kerpen started their marketing company,   Likeable Media, after they created a buzz selling sponsorships to their New York wedding. They raised $100,000 for their wedding and $20,000 for a charity The couple, who both had marketing backgrounds, were asked by so many people “what’s next” after their wedding promotional stunt that they started their own company, which today has offices in New York, Boston, Chicago, and Mexico City. Read More

The Top 5 Things Marketers Should Never Say About Social MediaBusiness InsiderHere are some things I resolve to never hear from a brand manager or product marketer or any marketer about social media in 2012...Via www.businessinsider.com Read More