By Loren Baker - http://bit.ly/ze8Dme
@lorenbaker
The tidal wave of content being published online is astronomical.
As more content continues to be produced, new methods for sorting, filtering and displaying content have come into being.
As the astute AJ Kohn - http://b.qr.ae/Am6iXX put it, AuthorRank is Google’s attempt at “fusing the web of people with the web of documents and creating a more savvy view of Internet influence.”
For the average writer, marketer or content producer, AuthorRank presents a great opportunity for personal branding, but also makes us individually responsible for the quality of work we produce.
By understanding AuthorRank now, authors can establish themselves and their aggregated body of work as worthy of being ranked.
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Curation-Corner
We’ve all been talking a lot about how messy the web has become in recent years. And it’s only getting messier. So much so that simple words will not suffice to describe just how much content is created and uploaded to the internet every minute of the day. This Infographic was created to depict how “full” the internet is. While it’s technically impossible for the web to fill up, it is very clear that web surfers are well past our limits of time and patience it takes to find the best information on the topics that interest us. With a desperate search for tools to help us gather and consume only the best information on any topic, nothing has presented itself as an ideal solution. Except for one thing: the human curated information hub. Looking at the graphic, it becomes clear very quickly why it is impossible for a single algorithm-driven source, such as a search engine, to supply us with everything that is relevant (and of high quality) on a certain topic without all the noise that comes with it. It is also a great way to demonstrate just how important human curated content has become. Curation is truly a valuable service to web surfers who have neither the time nor the patience to sift through mountains of links and data to find what they’re looking for and make sense of it. 
Serving multiple audiences is one of the biggest challenges in creating content for corporate websites. Sites with a 'something for everyone' architecture rarely satisfy anyone. The Solution: Sites that are fully segmented by audience type The “Content Cafeteria” approach to site architecture attempts to overcome these problems. It is based on allowing users to self-identify their audience type and to navigate to a highly customized “microsite” built specially around the needs of that audience. The hoped-for result is a corporate site that: #speaks persuasively to each audience The Content Cafeteria Model allows users to identify themselves both on the site home page and on every page of every site section. Each section of the site can be thought of as a microsite, having its own navigation, design, messaging, and conversion paths. In this scheme, the main site (corporate home section) would contain only high-level information about products, services, company, etc., along with a detailed explanation of what people will find in each audience section. 
Social Media Moves From Ubiquitous Usage To Relevant Rationalization Have we hit a social media plateau? Most early adopters seem to be overwhelmed with their personal (Facebook, Google+), corporate (Yammer, Jive, Chatter, SharePoint), and professional (LinkedIn) social networks. They feel that adding any additional network for anything social is quite overwhelming. Recent data on number of users at the Big 4 of social media show that we are in the middle of ubiquitous usage: http://onforb.es/Kiy8zJ **Facebook (901M users as of Feb 2012) **Twitter (500M users as of March 2012) **LinkedIn (161M users as of March 2012) **Google+ (100M users as of Feb 2012) As early adopters start rationalizing their networks, some are even pulling out. From loss of interest in Google+, Empire Avenue, to even FaceBook, people have started to selectively choose networks to combat overload and social media fatigue. These trends parallel those for mail, phone, email, web and other disruptive technologies. Going forward, users will move towards desensitization when the advertisers and companies abuse the channel by spamming users with an unwanted deluge of irrelevant offers. The Bottom Line: Engage Users To Combat Fatal Fatigue In The Disruptive Tech Adoption Life Cycle Success will require organizations to engage their customers and employees
The "how-to" steps to creating the ultimate guide to anything and how you can use your ultimate guide to get mailing list subscribers. Step One: Subscribe to Lots of Blogs in Your Industry Step Two: Read Posts on Your Topic Step Three: Write Down What Is Missing Step Four: Combine the Basics and the Missing Parts Step Five: Include Lots of Screenshots Try Jing - http://bit.ly/JZ0Owx - for creating great shots Step Six: Add Real Life Examples Step Seven: Give Credit Where Credit Is Due Step Eight: Don’t Break It Up on Your Blog Step Nine: Promote Your Guide Step Ten: Break It Up for Your Mailing List Instead Step Eleven: Turn It Into a Free Download 
Sound is magnificent, universal, and takes a variety of forms in our everyday lives. But when it comes to the social web, we tend to forget the wide spectrum of audio that exists outside of the context of music. Sound is the only medium we can consume in parallel. Meaning we can consume audio content while we perform other tasks. Like listen to a webinar while we respond to emails or listen to a book while we drive home. We can simply process way more sound than video. So how can you bring the authenticity of sound into your brand? For any service related business, it’s as simple as a record button. 1. Record a testimonial 2. Record the world around your brand 3. Host a podcast Both video and audio are important forms of content. There are benefits of both. Maybe it deserves a closer listen? Communities like their content served up in many ways, and an Application like Soundcloud’s next version - http://bit.ly/L0lzWW , brings the ability to share sounds of all styles throughout the social web in an instant. Just as photos and videos are social, so is sound. “Unmute the Web” 
Did you read the DigiDay article, Agencies Ditch Blogs, that they published on Monday. "With the rise of social media, businesses are blogging less." Blogging is about writing Too many agencies and bloggers struggle with their blogs. It's both obvious and painful to watch. They wind up spending too much time writing about themselves or covering the same areas of interest that everyone else is talking about. Why you should blog... i) Because you have something to say. Create Something So Compelling That It Makes People Stop, Think, Wonder, Share And Engage 
Content marketers spend lots of time and money creating just the right content to engage their customers and prospects, but much of it goes unheeded by the most coveted of audiences — the C-suite. This group relies even more heavily than others on the advice and perspective of their true peers and those they perceive to be authentic experts. They know the information they need and value, and do not want to waste time with “salesy” pitches and lightweight stories. So how does this translate into successful content for executives? Focus on these elements to start: #1. Hard facts drive credibility… and credibility is key #2. Provide actionable and timely information on issues that matter #3. Summarize, summarize, summarize #4. Channel matters #5. Push beyond the common wisdom and top-of-mind trends #6. Evolve from technical to strategic Match content and format to channel When you publish executive-level content, take a multimedia approach. The bottom line: Get out and listen to your executive audience members, research and understand their challenges and needs, link your story to value, and reach them where they are. 
Hard to believe. But 95% of all marketers are now curating third-party content. Content curation, the practice of finding and sharing online content, is now being used by almost all marketers, according to a survey by Curata (formerly HiveFire). Of 400 firms surveyed, 95% had curated content in the last six months. And 100% of the non-curators had, in fact, shared articles or blog posts with prospects in the same period. Of the active curators, 45% share content daily, 33% weekly and 21% monthly. Agencies are more active than non-agencies. Why go to the trouble of pushing third-party content? The main reason is thought leadership—that answer was given by 85%, compared with 79% last year. Next are branding (80%) and SEO (65%). But it’s not easy. Companies struggle to find the time to do it and create original content. And there was an 8% increase in the percentage having trouble finding high-quality content. The main content marketing challenges: ** Having the time to do it—75% 
As a business owner, it may be hard to delegate time for yourself or your employees to write quality content for your blog vs. work on revenue generating projects. And when it comes to content, we’re not talking about just any content, but content that people want to read, search engines want to crawl, and social media users want to share. Finding Guest Bloggers One of the first things to increase the content on your blog, is including guest bloggers to help you out. Guest bloggers get a lot of benefits by writing for other sites, including yours, such as exposure to a new audience, the chance to build their authority, and the ability to build quality links back to their own blog or website. How to Create Guest Blogging Guidelines The easiest way to attract guest bloggers to your blog is through the creation of a guest blogging guidelines page. Share details by including the following: http://bit.ly/J5KCHB **Your impressive blog stats **Your audience’s interests and demographics **What topics your blog covers **What level of content you need **Content originality **Post formatting details **Post submission requirements **Community rules **Self-promotion rules **Disclaimers What to Look for in Guest Post Submissions You will want to make sure the content meets the quality standards of your blog by reading it thoroughly and checking for a few key things: **Is the content original? **Who is the author? **Where does the author link to? Establishing an Editorial Calendar No matter where you get your online content from, whether it is guest bloggers or freelance writers, be sure to create an editorial calendar. 
Content repurposing can be a great way to work smarter, not harder. See the results of repackaging a blog post by Brody Dorland - http://bit.ly/IM5h2k - into an Infographic. http://bit.ly/IM4MW8 Based on his blog post "12 Things to Do After You’ve Written a New Blog Post" - http://bit.ly/JF7ktq 
When we talk about content marketing, we usually think of content created by the business itself. But what we often overlook is customer-created content, or “social content.” The most powerful type of influence is when a person shares emotions, actions, and feelings with another. It influences us on a deep, even subconscious, level. By adding social content to your strategy, things change: http://bit.ly/KSqGwC These four ways encourage social interaction to generate excitement and enthusiasm for your business: *1. Ask, and you shall receive *2. Do unto others *3. Give thanks *4. Do amazing things You must find ways to impress and amaze people for the above three ways to work Social content is a powerful tool that must be included in every content marketers toolbox. Make sure it’s in yours. 
Just as successful professionals and companies share similar traits, so do great content marketing campaigns. They all have four key elements that make up the code for building great content. Ahava Leibtag - http://bit.ly/IB8MN0 - calls them "The Four I's" 1. Inform Through daily emails, engaging eBooks, and valuable white papers, its content creators churn and burn on important digital and marketing issues of the day. 2. Instruct Explain your product and coach / support your customer 3. Inspire Creating an emotional connection with customers 4. Initiate It’s important to make your customers feel part of a community. Distribution is critical to a great content marketing campaign across the right channels ensuring that you have identified the answers to these fundamental and imperative questions: A>Branding/messaging: Who are you, and what do you represent and offer? What do you need to say? How can you provide value to your customers? Who are you trying to reach? What do they care about? Where and across what channels do they consume content? What types of content are best for these users? How will you distribute it so there is a cohesive user experience across all components of the campaign? Ultimately, make sure you inform, instruct, inspire, and initiate your customers and you’ll have chain after chain of great content marketing campaigns. 
B2B Content Marketing is the best way to create top-of-the-funnel excitement that translates to revenue down the road. Businesses that succeed in developing timely, relevant, non-promotional content reach potential buyers both directly and through the most persuasive channel of all: word of mouth. Exceptional content, like remarkable products, induces conversations and incites sharing. Tips and best practice advice to improve the return on your content marketing. Content marketing is the art of creating, curating and distributing valuable content, combined with the science of measuring its impact on awareness, lead generation and customer acquisition. Simply put, it’s business-relevant communications minus the selling. It’s the antidote to “interruption marketing.” Instead of pitching products or services, a content marketer equips buyers with the knowledge to make better-informed decisions. Central to content marketing is the belief that if businesses deliver consistent, helpful information to buyers at the right time, then prospects will ultimately reward the company with their purchase and loyalty. This Whitepaper - http://bit.ly/JnyPYd - is a bitesized look at everything you need to know to implement a content marketing strategy, showing you why businesses need it, what different types of content marketing there are, best practice tips to bear in mind and how to measure the results from your content. |
The ‘if you build it, they will come’ approach to online content creation is no longer enough when it comes to developing a truly engaged audience online [Simon Edelstyn - http://bit.ly/LolvDj , European managing director at Outbrain] and content amplification has a key role to play. For marketers, as the online environment continues to grow, it is no longer a case of simply creating content and hoping for the best. It has become increasingly important to ensure the right audience is discovering this content. How to amplify the value of this content and get it seen by the right audience, amidst a sea of irrelevant content: http://bit.ly/LokPOl 1. Produce more engaging content Develop educational or entertaining content in several different formats 2. Earned media is content 3. Amplify your efforts In the B2B arena, content discovery is emerging as a new way to help the right people find the right content for them, while allowing marketers to amplify and build relevant communities around these assets. Because of the nature of the majority of B2B content, its audience is targeted, and content discovery can help reach targeted relevant and interested users. Content marketing and engagement doesn’t necessarily translate directly into immediate ROI or sales conversions, online or offline. However, it is a way to make customers aware of your existence, demonstrate credibility and build brand loyalty via deeper engagement. Content marketing is not a sprint, it’s a marathon – you need to be patient before your audience will be ready to move to consideration or purchase. With so much content already out there, you need to make yours relevant and engaging, to help the right eyes reach it. 
Content Curation is so much more than compiling lists and dropping articles, blog posts, and images into pretty templates. Content Curation is big time business Content Curators — or editors — find, sort, categorize, and distill the big data and vast amount of content that’s accessible to us. It requires the human factor — someone with a pulse — to make sense of our collective informational chaos. “When you add a human editorial layer, a curational perspective that organizes gathered content and community participation, you get real results.” [Steven Rosenbaum] Savvy companies understand that content pulled from a plethora of sources should be categorized by curators who: http://bit.ly/JwDz0s »»Know their audience, readers, and brands Setting the record straight: Curators vs. Aggregators Aggregation is automated and gathers records based on metadata or keywords. Aggregators can’t evaluate individual pieces of content and make editorial decisions. This is where talented Curators shine. All of these elements, separately and together, gradually build rapport, credibility, and loyalty between the Brand [Curator] and the Reader That’s when the editor becomes the ‘go-to-guy.’ Having the information that other people need and want for their own success. 
One of the mandates bandied about lately is that B2B marketers need to become listeners. They should set up listening posts and they must listen first, before launching marketing programs. Telling Marketers they need to listen is one thing. Helping them figure out how to do so in a way that produces an effective input to inform marketing programs is entirely another. The Role of Personas in Listening Assuming you have a content strategy that was used to develop content related to answering your persona's questions, concerns, and informational needs related to solving a specific problem your product addresses, what inputs can be used for "listening?" Marketers often forget that just because we design content for one persona, doesn't mean it won't find exposure with others. In other words, all feedback should not be weighted equally. You will never make everyone happy, so you must choose how and when to allow listening to shift your strategies and your response. From Listener to Content Whisperer The trick to listening is to equate what you're "hearing" to creating higher engagement, interest, and momentum with your personas. To become a content whisperer, Marketers must focus on listening to propect behaviors to help them become credible (safe) resources that buyers trust (secure) and want to do business with (union). It's important to note that content whispering is not only related to your content, but to content produced by others that may get the reaction or dialogue you're looking to establish. Marketers need to consider not just what prospects say, but what they do. Perhaps becoming a Content Whisperer is a skill worth developing...if you want to create a 2-way dialogue that builds momentum toward buying. Original Article: http://bit.ly/K7Mq54 ; 
In the digital age where brands and advertisers are vying for the ever-shrinking attention spans of consumers, obsessing about the technology is a mistake. In this multiplatform advertising world where we live and work without any clear divisions, we must continually adapt and leverage content, data and social interactivity to forge new consumer connections. This task is proving to be more challenging as consumers’ attention spans shorten and expectations, interactions and demands become more heightened. Add in the fact that consumers are more attached and invested in the tiny screens of their smartphones than ever before—arguably more than tablets and computers. If brands had a small window for consumers’ attention before the digital revolution, they have even less time now—and the real estate on mobile devices is tight. However, even before the technology revolution, customers were more interested in messages that actually spoke to them no matter the medium. Granted, fewer channels were competing for their attention, but the fact remains: Relevant content reigns supreme. 
The feeling the overload of information is very real and a reflection of our inability to pull the levers necessary to decrease noise and improve signal. Doing so, requires some very blatant actions that don’t simply reduce the volume of the information we don’t care to see as often, it requires disconnecting from human beings. We are also guilty of contributing to the noise. 9 Ways to Improve the Signal to Noise Ratio in Social Networks: http://bit.ly/JldmSp #1. Old news is no news #2. Contribute to the story #3. Keep it short #4. Limit Twitter-specific syntax #5. Keep it to yourself [need-to-know basis] #6. Provide context #7. Don't whine #8. Be a tease [provide a hook] #9. For public figures [forget personal gossip or everyday details] Whatever it is we do, what’s clear is that, according to research, Twitter, Facebook and other social networks are only reflections of our real world society. In the digital realm, by tweeting our lives, one can proudly exclaim, “I Tweet therefore I am.” And at the same time, one must consider whether or not simply Tweeting what comes to mind isn’t just contributing to a far more likely reality, “I Tweet and therefore I am…adding to the noise.” 
Now that we’ve all agreed that “Content is King (Again),” maybe it is time to think about some easy-to-follow tenets. #1. Follow a 70/30 Rule – 70% of content curated, 30% branded #2. All content should be Shareworthy #3. All content should benefit SEO #4. All content should be digestible #5. Content should be channel optimized #6. Earned Media (MSM or fan-generated) is the best media #7. Paid Promotion 
The Content Preferences Survey, conducted by DemandGen Report, found that 75% of respondents encourage solution providers creating content to “curb the sales messaging". Research findings indicate a need for marketers to reevaluate their content strategies to ensure that prospects understand the value for their business and objectives, rather than resorting to obtrusive, ineffective sales-speak. To offer recommendations to solution providers creating content, 55% of respondents selected “focus less on product specifications and more on value.” The survey also underscored the importance of “trustworthy” content. When asked how their content consumption habits have changed over the last year, 60% of respondents said they place a higher emphasis on the trustworthiness of the source creating content. Email is a primary sharing mechanism, the survey found that more than half (53%) of executives share content using LinkedIn. Some of the other channels used for sharing include Google+, Pinterest and SlideShare, but these options yielded low, single-digit percentages. The White Paper still reigns supreme, crowning the list of content types that buyers use to research a business topic or solution. But more visual formats, such as webinars (72%); videos (44%); and Infographics (38%) also were cited as emerging formats for research. A majority (77%) of respondents will share basic info (name, company and email) to access a white paper, while 75% of respondents will share basic info to access an E-book. Conversely, for more visual content, or resources that are more informal and engaging, executives expect immediate access. More than three quarters (74%) of respondents expect to access Infographics without registration, while 67% expect to access videos without registration. The Content Preferences Survey report will guide B2B organizations looking to kick off a new content marketing strategy or improve upon an existing strategy, to support marketing campaigns and enhance demand generation initiatives. To download a complimentary copy of the full report, click here: http://bit.ly/Jc1G1m 
There has never been a greater level of marketing clutter. Yankelovich Consumer Research charts that we've gone from being exposed to about 500 marketing messages a day back in the 1970s to as many as 5,000 a day today. So we marketers are interrupting consumers more, but with fewer meaningful things to say. Professor Youngme Moon characterizes this dynamic in her business book, Different: “Today we have more of everything. More brands. More products. More choices. But it all just feels like more of the same. A great big blur of similarity. And most companies are stuck on a competitive treadmill, competing like crazy trying to keep up with each other. But this only makes them just like everyone else.” Against this noisy backdrop, it’s important to remember that we break through the clutter by adding to it. We can’t draw attention by shouting louder. Instead, we break through the clutter by sounding different. 
Do you participate online and do you see yourself as a curator? We have all been given the freedom and the tools to become part of the information ecosystem. There's only one problem with all this micro-publishing. We broke the web. Today - and almost overnight - information has exploded. We've flooded the web with uncontextualized content. With little more than a few random tags and some meta-data, the information ecosystem is flooded with voices, sources, rumors, facts, data, digits, images, and check-ins. Steve Rosenbaum calls it Digital Overload, and it's an information epidemic sweeping the planet. To separate signal from noise, there's an emerging class of information superheroes called Content Curators. "Curators are both collectors and creators. Capturing the zeitgeist of the web, and knitting together images, text, links, and video along with their own original content to create a focused, contextually relevant editorial for an overloaded world." In a world of too much undifferentiated data, people will pay to 'tune-in' to curators who have a finely calibrated filter. People will pay for clarity, authority, context, and speed. So, how does the changing nature of the web change the need for curation?. It turns out - it speeds it up. The rising tide of Digital Overload has created an over abundance of unfiltered content, and a growing need for curators to turn a noisy web into a infinite number of trusted verticals. Digital Overload is both a problem and an opportunity. One thing is for certain, How we manage it - and who we trust to curate the information we need - is the next big question of the web. 
Surrounded by an overwhelming amount of digital content, many people are looking for something that can fill the role of a digital newspaper -- filtering and highlighting interesting content. The explosion of real-time information through social networks and information services like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube has produced a never-ending firehose of content. We need an easy and efficient way to filter it, and find what is interesting and relevant, and share it with others. The field is filled with contenders who believe they can solve that problem, including News.me and Flipboard and Zite, and one of the newest is a San Francisco-based startup called Prismatic. http://bit.ly/JwwDcD Like a newspaper, but in real time and social. What Prismatic does is analyze as much as it can about you when you connect to it with your Twitter account and then start recommending things to you based on what it thinks your interests are, using semantic-filtering algorithms and so on. Prismatic makes it a lot easier to find relevant content. 
Content marketing that delivers high-quality, relevant information yielding measurable results without promotional push should be on every marketer's 2012 priority list! Not only because content marketing fuels social media, search, and sales but also because it's more credible than advertising. Content marketing in the form of emails, branded websites, and editorial content was trusted by 5% or more of respondents to Nielsen's Global Trust in Advertising Survey - Q3 2011- http://bit.ly/ILN5G7 How do you get your content marketing on track to drive results? Development, Discovery, and Distribution
B. Get Your Content Discovered C. Expand Your Content Distribution At the heart of social media, search, and sales, content marketing is a powerful tool when your development, discovery, and distribution work together. 
If you're a curator looking for some boundaries in what feels like the Wild West, here are five best practices to consider. 1. Be Part of the Content Ecosystem Embrace content as both a maker and an organizer Created, contributed, and collected — the three ‘c’s is a strong content mix that has a measurable impact. 2. Follow a Schedule Consistency and regularity will also bring you new users, and help you grow a loyal base of members who appreciate your work. 3. Embrace Multiple Platforms Consider posting short bursts on Tumblr, images on Pinterest, video on YouTube, and community conversations on Facebook. Bring your content contributions to wherever your readers may be. 4. Engage and Participate A re-tweet is one of the easiest ways to help build relationships with fellow bloggers and curators. And your followers will appreciate that you’ve pointed them to good content. 5. Share. Don’t Steal Give attribution, link backs, and credit We’re increasingly living in a world of information overload. When people choose to listen to you it’s because you’re able to separate signal from noise. You provide a clear, contextually relevant voice within the topic or topics that you create and curate. Succinctly written by Steve Rosenbaum 
Oversharing isn't just about inappropriate dinner conversations, Social Media is plagued by oversharing of low quality content. The Oversharing Trap Oversharing generally starts with a reasonable purpose: share valuable content in order to serve and grow an audience. However, it can quickly spiral out of control for two reasons:
If your goal includes engaging, serving and growing your audience and you have slipped into the trap of oversharing content, here is what you can do: 1. Always put your audience and connections first. |
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