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Without curators, the internet is quicksand. I have huge confidence in the future of curation. That's because we have so much information coming at us in this digital era. The more “stuff” the internet and all the shiny new social media channels throw at us, the more we need brilliant curators. Without curators, we run the risk of information overload.
Here are some telltale signs you've been in the PR rat race a bit long.... It's tough being a public relations pro these days. Reporters don’t respond to your daily pitches; clients want more media hits. You’re tasked with creating content for social media only to find out your client can’t tell the difference between a like and a tweet. Digiday spoke with several public relations execs about how they know they’ve been in PR too long. Here are 20 reasons it’s time to hang up the PR spikes....
While many bloggers think that blogging is about lovingly crafting each post, the reality is that you need to promote your content to ensure each post reaches its widest possible audience. To this end, think outside the blog. Since social media feeds on a never-ending stream of content, it’s ideal for accomplishing this goal. Here are thirty-three tips for using social media to expand your blog’s readership by driving traffic from an array of platforms....
While digital gives you the opportunity to reach out to millions with a single click, it also poses a problem: if not monitored properly, it will not be as effective as face-to-face communication. As consumers become more familiar with digital technology, businesses are evolving their marketing strategies to meet expectations. Websites and applications are now considered an essential part of a brand’s presence. The digital age is making it possible for brands to connect with their clients all over the world and reach out effectively to their specific target audiences. However, with so much reach, it is easy to get befuddled and make mistakes while communicating to your audiences digitally. Here’s our list of top six rules that your marketing team should know about....
For a recent presentation at a corporate communications and PR conference, I polled my network of digital marketing and PR pros working client-side about the most pressing questions they’re dealing with when it comes to integrating Marketing and Public Relations. Since we’ve been working in the digital marketing and PR space at TopRank Marketing for well over 10 years, it was interesting to see the diverse feedback from companies of various sizes and industries. But several themes revealed themselves that I think our readers will relate to. Thanks to feedback from Digital and Integrated Marketing Communications professionals like Corinne Kovalsky of Ratheon, Susan Beatty of Bremer Financial Corporation, Frank Strong of LexisNexis, Lesly Cardec from Randstad US, Sarah Skerik from PRNewswire and Pam Didner of Intel, it became clear that one of the key questions organizations are facing is the need to break down silos between marketing and PR....
We all need to acquire new customers to make our products and businesses work. Whether there are a few users paying big bucks or thousands visiting your platform for free, how you get and retain customers is what is important. But ask yourself: are you really ready for more customers? Is your team set up to handle an influx of users? What’s your promotion strategy – inbound marketing or traditional PR? This extensive guide will walk you through what user acquisition is and how to execute a plan....
According to Mediabistro, users are spending more time on Pinterest than Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn combined. Pinterest is big and growing. Recent stats show this image and video based social networking site has just reached 48.7 million users. If your target market is hanging out on Pinterest, you cannot afford not to have a presence there. How Pinterest Works Pinterest is a visual bookmarking site where you can “pin” videos and images to share with others on online pinboards. The site is similar to other social bookmarking sites, but only allows you to share videos and images. People can follow you and re-pin the content you share. You can also re-pin, comment or like content pinned by other users. Visuals generate more engagement on social media. Given the visual nature of the social network, you can use it to drive traffic to your website, generate leads and maximize sales. If you have not been taking Pinterest seriously, it’s time to take action. Pinterest is a perfect complement of other inbound traffic generation techniques such as SEO, email marketing and blogging. Here are some of the benefits of using Pinterest...
When a veteran stand-up comic is also funny on Twitter, it doesn’t exactly come as a shock. When an unknown phenom makes you physically choke on guffaws, though, it’s a revelation and also something of an extended audition. ...After catching the attention of the comedy cognoscenti in 2010, the then recent Harvard graduate soon got jobs writing on the Oscars and Disney’sA.N.T. Farm., before moving to a staff writer position at NBC’s ensemble sitcom Parks and Recreation. (The show was just renewed for a sixth season.) The in-demand writer is also an accomplished poet who’s writing asatirical guide to science for ladies. Megan Amram’s frothy blend of dark humor and smart, surreal silliness has found more than 356,000 followers on Twitter so far. Although not everybody trying to generate laughs online is doing so for the same reasons, or with the same twisted flair, Amram’s consistent comedic quality is enviable for anyone trying to make their mark with brief bursts of humor. The multidiscipline writer recently spoke with Co.Create about puns, poetry, and how to be funny on Twitter altogether....
So you have created a content marketing strategy and are using social media but how can you use this activity to increase your brand awareness and generate more visitors to your website? ]] Different Kinds of Content Content has many forms, from blogs and news items to videos and infographics. Making sure you create and manage content of the right kind for your audience is a core part of building your online following and increasing brand awareness....
Learn six helpful tips and tools to help your marketing strategy take advantage of Facebook advertising with FBX (Facebook Exchange). Whatever you think about Facebook, there’s one thing that’s hard to dispute: Mark Zuckerberg isn’t afraid to mix things up and try new strategies, and that’s especially true when it comes to advertising. If you don’t follow the social network closely, it’s easy to miss the newest advertising tools and tips. Let’s take a quick look at six things you can do to get more out of your Facebook campaign right now....
There is a lot of talk these days about social signals affecting Google Search Results, and many SEOs are feeling the effects for their clients, who are disconnected from the social world. The complexity of marketing your business on Google is rising as search success becomes increasingly intertwined with your social media presence and how you interact with your customers. Your website content and external links are no longer enough to gain Google’s trust. Publishing fresh content on your site means nothing if no one is reading it — and it means even less if no one is sharing it to their social networks. As a business, your primary marketing goal is always to generate leads. Leads are certainly generated from dominating search results — but what if I told you that a solid content marketing strategy could get you leads, even if it didn’t result in #1 rankings right away?...
Social media expert Maria Floria describes why email, content and visual marketing should be incorporated into the digital marketing mix. Small businesses have a lot to gain from social media. Not only do they gain visibility, but thanks to the lesser costs of social media they are also able to invest the money they save on other forms of marketing reach strategies. These additional investments can integrate with social media efforts, strengthening the overall performance of the end result. What other strategies are we talking about? There’s at least three: content creation, e-mail marketing, and visual content....
Even the most social-savvy business owners can get caught up in the numbers game: counting and recounting likes, followers, fans, retweets, shares. Not to say those numbers don't correlate to how well your business connects with customers online, but 100 shares doesn't necessarily mean 100 sales — and it certainly doesn't measure the potential value of those 100 shares. For example, were any of the 100 fans sharing that post actually influencers? Did the fans in question sign up for your list, or share and forget? Are your likes and follows actually impacting your sales? Many business owners wouldn't know how to start answering those questions....
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From 140-character tweets to 14,000-word print books, most content marketers now understand the value of producing content of varying lengths and format. But those that try to churn out equally high volumes of content at every length will soon find themselves collapsing from sheer exhaustion. Enter the Content Marketing Pyramid, a framework which I first blogged about in 2010. Some have compared this content model to the old model of the food pyramid, and there are a few similarities. Both pyramids stress the importance of creating a strong foundation and building on that foundation with segments that are consumed (or created) at increasingly smaller intervals....
Say you have a business that relies on a local customer base, you want to rank high in search engines for local users, right? SEO is going to be integral to making that happen and, by implementing the following steps, you will be well on your way to being more visible to your local customers. Local SEO isn’t about gaming the system; it’s more about convincing a robot (a search engine) that your site is the most relevant for users in a certain location who may want your products or services. Local SEO is a series of signposts that allow the robots to understand where you are in the world and what you're providing. It allows them to better rank your site according to the search terms the user enters. In designing your site, you will still want to follow general SEO practices, for example, conducting keyword research into the most relevant search terms. On a technical level, your site will still need to meet best practices for crawls. But, to target a local audience, you will need to go even further....
My last column about the role and duties of public relations agencies generated more response, mostly positive but quite a few negative, than any other posting during the past five years. As consumers become more familiar with digital technology, businesses are evolving their marketing strategies to meet expectations. Websites and applications are now considered an essential part of a brand’s presence.
... Customers are accessing their social networks via smartphones, making the presence of retail brands on these social outlets even more important. Approximately 80% of smartphone users access social networks on their devices, and 55% of those users visit social networks on their devices once per day, according to Monetate.com. Shoppers are using their mobile phones to shop, as well. According to Digby.com, 40% of shoppers in 2012 checked three or more channels before a purchase, compared to just 10% a decade earlier. And Monetate reports that 96% of smart phone users have researched a product or service on their phone. This very real combination of social interaction and product research is a one-two punch that retailers need to stay alert to. It is increasingly imperative to make sure brands fully optimize their customer retail mobile and social experience.
The unfortunate reality is that the majority of businesses, particular small and medium localized ones, are completely missing out on the potential benefits of their Facebook page. It’s not all about the page, but that’s a good place to start and the best venue through which to have control over your own destiny. Here are some signs that your social media strategy has your page operating at a low level. Don’t be discouraged – the vast majority of pages out there are feeling the same types of pains you are. The good news is that with a little help, businesses can make a swift turnaround and find success. It just takes understanding the realities of Facebook marketing....
Valuable measurement perspectives and advice. The influential economist Albert O. Hirschman argues that customers can have a disciplining effect on companies and markets through their exit and voice behaviors. Instead of simply “quitting” a product, Hirschman urged customers to voice their complaints so companies could improve and learn. Hirschman would be a happy camper these days because social media puts a megaphone on the voice of the customer. Results from The CMO Survey® show that companies, in turn, are also starting to see the value of emphasizing voice-based metrics. The CMO Survey® investigated which metrics companies are using to measure the impact of social media investments. In August 2010 and then again in February 2013, top marketers were asked to share which metrics they use to evaluate social media. Looking across the results, we can see which metrics companies most often use. The survey did not, however, ask respondents to rank or rate each metric in terms of importance....
This infographic explores the psychology of color and suggests why brands like McDonald’s and Pizza Hut prefer red whereas Lowe’s opts for blue.
Great content sells. It converts. It helps with SEO. And sometimes, it works like magic: it goes viral, creates traffic inflow, and helps you achieve your goals. But what exactly is great content? How do you produce something so great it’ll go viral and help you achieve your goals? The Internet is inundated with a lot of similar-looking content. This very article might sound similar to something you’ve seen before. Unique content is hard to produce, and it’s getting harder by the day as more websites grasp the importance of content marketing...
Every day, businesses are inspired to bring creative marketing ideas to life on Facebook in ways that have a real impact on their bottom line. Many have discovered how to leverage their Facebook communities to strengthen brand loyalty and communicate directly with customers. As your company invests in the social network for marketing, advertising, and branding, it’s useful to have a few examples of what others have done with the platform. These case studies look at the goals, approaches, and results for several Facebook campaigns.
HubSpot’s 2013 State of Inbound Marketing Report is the most comprehensive review of the inbound marketing industry. The complexity of marketing your business on Google is rising as search success becomes increasingly intertwined with your social media presence and how you interact with your customers. Your website content and external links are no longer enough to gain Google’s trust. Publishing fresh content on your site means nothing if no one is reading it — and it means even less if no one is sharing it to their social networks. As a business, your primary marketing goal is always to generate leads. Leads are certainly generated from dominating search results — but what if I told you that a solid content marketing strategy could get you leads, even if it didn’t result in #1 rankings right away?
Given LinkedIn's more than 200 million members, a company page on the popular professional networking site can provide a valuable venue for recruiting talent and promoting your products and services. But while setting up a LinkedIn company page is relatively common, some business owners have questions and wind up making potentially costly mistakes. To generate the kind of results you're looking for, it's important to consider many details when setting up a company page on LinkedIn.
Cambridge, Mass.-based business-to-business marketing software firm HubSpot, for instance, found LinkedIn to be nearly 300 percent more effective for visitor-to-lead generation than Facebook and Twitter, says Kipp Bodnar, HubSpot marketing director and co-author of The B2B Social Media Book (Wiley, 2012)....
... While it is all too easy to think of blasting, or distributing content, any good strategy involves a mix of in and outbound tactics (plus, no one likes to be on the receiving end of a mass blast). This means finding ways to get the word out, but also drawing people in, via links and SEO, for example, to bring them back to a hub such as your website, micro site or landing page – where you can capture their info and convert them, or at least nudge them along to the next step in your sales cycle. The most effective campaigns combine the power of online content and social media marketing; they spring from content that is compelling and optimized for online, and use social media as a way to reach your customers....
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Lots of surprises from this valuable blogging research study.