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You've seen videos of people doing ridiculous things on the Internet. But you probably haven't seen too many videos of small businesses sharing their good work. Web video is more or less the domain of the ridiculous — whether that means something cute or something painful. Even top ads and commercials have a touch of the absurd (Old Spice, Dos Equis, I'm looking at you). So how does a small business compete with disturbingly low attention spans and a whole Internet of viral videos? Read on for five ways that small businesses can take advantage of web video without blowing their budgets and let us know your own success stories in the comments below....
I first started to dabble with content marketing in 1998. At that time, I worked in the internal communications department for an insurance company. Our goal was to get the employees to use our internal processing and database services, rather than outsourcing. Our solution: We created a monthly print newsletter focused on educating employees on the latest Microsoft Office updates and enhancements. Over the following six months, employees did start to use more of our services. The newsletter was part of the solution that made this achievement possible. Now, 15 years later, I’ve seen all sides of this little, booming industry, and it has afforded me a bit of perspective. We’ve come so far, and yet there is still so much to be accomplished. Here are some of the things we (at CMI) have learned along the way. I hope you find one or two helpful nuggets of wisdom in here....
The social media movement born of Alan Jones' sexist comments had huge early success, but its clicktivists' wings have since been clipped. It was around the year of my birth that Philip Morris began a campaign to seduce its female smokers. In an era largely untroubled by my pregnant mother's cigarettes, the Virginia Slims campaign was, in itself, unsurprising. What was surprising was the company's use of a ''women's libber'' to promote its product. This was the first time feminism sold anything to anyone; apart from its core principles, I suppose. Since then, the idea of an emerging social freedom has been used many times to sell women face cream and alcohol. The ''you go girl'' message has been successfully co-opted to bring my gender high heels and financial services and small cars. Because you're worth it. These days, women are still buying back their own dissent from advertisers. But things are different now. In an age of social networking, where so many of us feel we are in ''control'' of our media, the way to a lady's wallet is a more difficult business....
Traffic is the lifeline of a blog; if you don’t have it, you don’t exist. Most people rely on the mighty search engines for their traffic. But there are other ways of getting traffic to your blog by utilizing the power of social media. The role of social media sites is front and center when it comes to driving traffic to my site. The most popular ones include; Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn in descending order in terms of traffic. This means that Facebook is the biggest traffic referrer to my site, other than the search engines. But how do I really do it?...
...As you see, the deeper one looks into permission marketing basics, the more it becomes obvious that social offers a lot of room for deviation from these. Could it be that, on the one hand, following someone on Facebook means giving them a permission to talk to you, but, on the other hand, could this be just like subscribing to a TV channel with interrupting ads? Why social is NOT ALWAYS permission marketing Now, one important remark: permission marketing is gradual in nature.You approach a prospect step by step, getting permission after permission, until you are allowed to actually sell stuff to them. A good analogy would be a person attempting to sell something in the street. If you just stop a passerby and tell them “buy a toaster from me”, they never will. However, if you ask “would you care for a free toast?” they might say yes, and then you could start pitching the toaster at some point.... All about the perils of permission marketing...
A couple of months ago without notice, all of the social media sharing counters on my primary website had reverted to zero. Just like that, thousands of shares that had accumulated over a period of nearly seven years had vanished. Why is this significant? Social sharing is what is known as “social proof.” It’s evidence that your site is active and worthy of the attention of new buyers that happen to be passing through. Not knowing if this action was recoverable, I settled into the realization that I may have to simply move on and start fresh. While the problem was resolved, the incident got me thinking about what I would do if my entire online presence vanished – what then? So, here is that plan. It has lessons for businesses that are new to social media, as well as for the rest of us that can (and should) do more of what needs to be done to ensure the online relevance of our businesses in a digital world that is now driven by the customer....
Learn why P&G adopting digital is a battle that's going nowhere... ...When I wrote about their layoffs last year, I cautioned P&G (because they were obviously reading my blog article) that: - Digital media is not free - Not all advertising is inherently bad - Not all digital advertising is inherently effective Apparently, the words of warning did not resonate. This week, Business Insider reported that CEO Bob McDonald actually ended up cutting 6,250 jobs as part of his cost-savings program -- so my 1,600 figure last year fell short of reality -- and that part of that program included "using more social media like Facebook and Google, which deliver 'free' ad impressions."... So, let's see. P&G seems to think that laying off 6,250 employees is fine because that will allow marketing to continue it's obscene spending of $10 billion on old school advertising that doesn't work anymore. And on top of that the marketing geniuses don't seem to have figured out how to get results in the new world of social media and digital advertising. Yeah, it's Facebook's fault! It wasn't because we were jamming old style ads down people's throats instead of talking with customers and engaging them in stories that mattered. Here's an idea P&G. Take $1 billion of that advertising budget, keep the employees working and put them to work engaging with customers and prospects in social media where is really matters and can deliver results if you do it properly.
But how do you generate leads with successful webinars? This is the fun part! You get to use traditional and new tactics to gain registrations. You’ll use media relations, email marketing, social media, direct mail, content, and advertising. In most cases, you’ll be marketing to prospects who haven’t made a decision yet to work with you, former clients, or someone new entirely. Host a Successful Webinar Following is a step-by-step list of how you’ll do this. Of course, this list could change, depending on your business and your industry, but it provides a good place to begin thinking about how to generate good, qualified leads from content....
In a recent conference, I was asked my opinion on what is the biggest opportunity in B2B Content Marketing? Without hesitation, I answered “Slideshare.” With more than 50 Million visitors per month and more than 100 million pageviews, slideshare is one of the top websites in the world and should be a key focus of any B2B content marketing program. According to Comscore, Slideshare is used by business owners and business executives at a rate 5 times any other social network! The top categories in Slideshare are Business and Technology, followed by Education, Travel and Health. In its own blog, slideshare released an infographic celebrating its 10 millionth uploaded presentation. They even curated a selection of resources to help you understand what to upload to slideshare....
Some 66% of small-business owners are using mobile devices and/or mobile solutions as part of their operations, according to a recent report from Constant Contact. Of those small-business owners using mobile devices, 73% said they use their phones or tablets to conduct social media marketing, and 71% said they use their devices to conduct email marketing. When asked what types of mobile/social advertising they currently employ, 97% said they use social media platforms like YouTube, Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram....
It ain’t easy being a startup. Without a massive marketing budget, smaller companies often find themselves relying on the media to get the word out. While this is no easy task for even the biggest and most polished companies, for shoestring operations, it can be absolutely daunting—especially if none of the founders have any experience dealing with the press. Fortunately, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from my years as both a technology journalist and a startup founder, it’s that most common PR mistakes are pretty easy to prevent. So whether you’re able to hire a a PR pro—or have to DIY the job—here are 10 of the most common PR mistakes that all startups should seek to avoid....
Do you want to know how to get more followers on Twitter? Many businesses are now using this social platform as part of their social media marketing strategy. I’ve put together seven tips to increase engagement and get more followers for your business tweets.....
A recent study shows Twitter outperforms LinkedIn and Facebook 9 to 1 for lead generation. For B2B marketers, that's a big deal. Here's a quick guide on getting the most out of your Twitter for lead gen campaign.
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Just because the social fanbase is hanging out in different places, doesn\'t mean brands can\'t build effective campaign bridges between those fragmented audiences.... Recently, Champs Sports, ESPN.com, General Electric, and Cole Haan, among others, added their Tumblr addresses into display and TV ads. Tumblr has been a destination that's "on the up" for some time, having now grown to over 102 million blogs, so this brand attention isn't surprising. Media fragmentation - consumers accessing digital sites from an increasingly diverse set of screens - is well-acknowledged. But now we have social fragmentation as well. B2C social is no longer just Facebook and Twitter. For brands looking to drive awareness in the consumer space, it's a social patchwork of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, and YouTube - each with its own zeitgeist and rules of engagement. Social fragmentation has resulted from consumers having myriad interests, flitting from place to place, following friends, following trends, following celebrities, leaving cohorts they are "done" with, and moving on to fresh groups and new identities. And everywhere, there are literally thousands of brand messages a day competing for their attention. Brands must be consistent, clear, and memorable to stand out in the cacophony of messages being delivered to these fragmented audiences hanging out on multiple social platforms. In the "old" days, brands could run campaigns on their websites/microsites, use offline and online paid media to drive traffic, and consider that to be "digital mission accomplished." Then, brands could safely add in Facebook and Twitter and consider their social plans nailed. No more. So what are some practical choices available for marketers to deal with social fragmentation?...
Disappointed by the SEO you hired? You’re not alone! A good number of our clients are coming to us having been messed up by some rather unhelpful “seo"... ...Confession: I really struggled to find the word “inadequate” to describe the SEO work that I’m talking about. I started with “incompetent”, thought about “lousy”, “deficient”, “unqualified” and “incapable”, and then finally landed on “inadequate”. I’m trying to use a term that includes some innocent deficiencies, and that doesn’t imply a conscious effort to scam. Tell-tale signs of an inadequate SEO Here are a few things that I’m spotting as I review the SEO work that’s been done for our clients prior to their coming to us for help. These are the things that have hurt our clients, and sometimes our clients have been the last to figure it out....
Video is powerful because it shows there are people behind your business, which is important for building a strong brand that people can relate to. But how can you integrate it into your content marketing strategy effectively? Know Your Audience Before you can put together a video that will be relevant to your audience, you need to know precisely who that audience is. It’s important not to try to appeal to everyone – instead, figure out your archetypal customer. Two tools to help you do this are Sally Hogsheads 7 triggers of fascination and a simple guide to creating a customer persona. This’ll smooth out the rest of the process, because it’s much easier to figure out what to say to one person than to 1000....
Not that long ago we started distinguishing between owned, earned and paid media but how real was that? Media evolutions that scare me.... If you’re looking for tips and tricks regarding the evolutions in brand journalism and the usage of content marketing (oops, I used the term) in branding and PR, don’t read this. If you want an opinion (mine, that is) on the dangers of some content and media evolutions, read on. I have a good friend who’s quite cynical, even more than I am. He sees marketing as lying and making people pay too much for products. I can’t even blame him. As a former journalist and publisher but at the same time a marketer, I’m in a constant state of duality regarding the role of both journalism/media on one hand and marketing on the other. And in this “digital and social age” it’s getting worse. If you know part of the role of a publisher (read on) you’ll understand that duality. Also look at the number of journalists becoming “content marketers”. Are there still journalists in fact? I never read a story about a “content marketer” becoming a journalist. Especially phenomena such as brand journalism (for later blog posts) and converged media confuse me in an ‘ethical’ way. Marketing is business. Brands are business. Media is business. Brand journalism is business. If media converge, do we still have credible media? Each time I preach people-centric and human marketing, I hope you keep that in mind. We are not doing business for a greater moral cause (although we can, more than ever)....
Prediction: One way or another, it won't be long before online ads go away altogether. Use these content creation strategies now to get your organization ready for the end of the online ad era.... Over the past month of speeches and appearances, I’ve heard two questions more often than any others: 1. When consumers finally tire of ads on the web (i.e., pre-roll, roadblock ads, basic banners), what will brands do? 2. Once all brands have started embracing content marketing, what happens then? What’s interesting is that the answers to these two questions go hand in hand.... Joe Pulizzi answers several provocative content marketing questions.
Yes, Growth Hacker is an enormously overwrought buzzword. But, companies are sorely looking for people to take up the mantle and work on startup marketing. College grads and career-changers, be warned. When you search around for a job at your favorite startup (perhaps even on Mashable’s job board?), you’ll start seeing the buzziest of job descriptions: “Growth Hacker.” The name sounds simple enough, but it’s easy to be confused about what a growth hacker is meant to do around the office, and how it differs from other, more traditional positions. Here’s a breakdown of what companies mean by “growth hacker” and when and how you can become one yourself.... Buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz buzz.
When you’re a brand looking to use social media to raise awareness of your products and services, boost website traffic footfall and drive sales, where do you turn? Which social network is right for you? Largely, it depends on your goals. What are you trying to achieve? While a broad presence across two or more social platforms usually pays dividends for businesses, if resources are limited and time is strained, finding the best social channel for your needs is the most sensible way forward, based on audience size, relevant demographic and target profile. Check the infographic for a very useful overview of the top social media platforms for brands....
Vine is the hottest new kid on the block, and although people are still a little tentative about using anything that involved video, this is really helping to introduce a new medium to people in the least intimidating way possible. The thought of creating a 10-minute video is terrifying to a lot of people. A 6-second video? Well, that’s not so bad. Using Vine can be fun, but it can also be a promotional tool for your brand or content. So this week’s Brilliant Bloggers is filled with advice on making the most of this new platform....
Ready to launch a B2B mobile marketing strategy but not sure where to start? Try these 15 tips you can use today. If you’re like many people, you can think of a lot of ways B2C companies use mobile marketing. But if you work in the B2B world, then you might be stuck trying to come up with B2B mobile marketing ideas. The good news is that B2B mobile marketing can be every bit as useful in the business marketplace as it is in the consumer marketplace. With that in mind, I thought I’d share some of the best uses of B2B mobile marketing so that you can apply some of the ideas to your business. But before we get started, let’s recap a few mobile marketing statistics so that you can better understand why B2B mobile marketing is becoming so critical in today’s world. Check out these statistics compiled by BarnRaisers.com: 9 - 6% of marketers currently use or are planning to incorporate mobile into their mix - 85% report an intent to raise their mobile budgets in the near future 84% use mobile websites; 78% mobile search; 76% mobile apps and 75% mobile display ads - 42% are concerned about having proper mobile metrics in place - 42% report an ability to prove ROI
Only 21% state they have been successful in mobile – a decrease from 2010 Now you’re convinced, right? If you’re still unsure of how exactly to go about implementing a B2B mobile marketing strategy, here are 15 ideas to get you started:...
... Stories have a connective quality, linking individuals together through similar emotions, thoughts, moulding our minds and reinforcing experiences. Although it may not be an intuitive conclusion, this is especially true in business. Besides merely relaying information, a relevant and compelling story can bring employees together for a common goal & becomes a stong engagement technique to be used in the workplace. Hearing stories about employees who behaved properly or employees who made similar mistakes when dealing with Customers and still succeeded at the company, can make team members feel more comfortable to try new things and to strive for new heights. Understanding that employees in the history of a company that have had opportunities to learn and grow through errors and triumphs can be a rewarding conclusion. The unifying quality of storytelling can be particularly useful when working with new employees. Remaining cognisant of the fact that team members new to an organisation do not understand the same details about clients, customer service, history and company objectives in the same way seasoned employees do, is something for which management must strive towards....
If you build links like an actual human being then you're building links like a badass. You're making friends and your links are bulletproof. It's hard work. It will take time, energy, and brainpower to increase your rankings and traffic. SEO has changed. We can't rely on spam and automation to boost traffic and search rankings anymore. A few years ago, link builders never gave that kind of stuff a second thought – it's just how things worked. The industry is different now, but the good news is that you can still be a badass link builder in the post-Penguin era. The better news is that you only need one tool to build the best links in the world: your brain. We need to think like human beings because we affect other human beings with our work. The age of robots has ended. Keeping that in mind, you can build some killer links that hold up to algorithm changes and make the Internet a better place – you just have to be smart about it. Being a badass link builder requires hard work and even harder thinking, but you already have the tools to succeed....
Earlier this week, I posted about the Facebook meltdown and trials and tribulations of Amy’s Baking Company Bakery Boutique & Bistro in Scottsdale. Arizona (Epic Facebook meltdown, PR fail or publicity ploy?). This un-reality show couldn’t get much stranger. It has more twists, turns and intrigue than a Shakespearean tragedy. Or maybe the Keystone Cops would be more accurate? The bistro was featured in a raucous season finale episode on Kitchen Nightmares featuring explosive celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. It was an entertaining and highly-charged reality TV episode complete with drama, screaming, yelling, heroes and villains....
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Let's banish these banal buzzwords forever...