Search is the de facto way in which consumers navigate content platforms. Not just the Web via traditional search engines, but all types of platforms, from television to radio to music libraries. The fact that search has always been lacking from Facebook has long been a source of criticism and frustration. Facebook Search Graph There’s a lot of content on Facebook. Until Facebook Graph Search was announced by the company last Tuesday, there has been very little way to find or use it. It’s been impossible to search actual content, aside from given names or perhaps classmates. Graph Sea [...]

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Content marketing is used by businesses of all sizes and in all industries. In some cases, businesses have large marketing budgets and are able to put hundreds of thousands of dollars towards content marketing initiatives. That’s certainly not always the case, however. One of the questions I am often asked is: “What kind of content marketing can I do on a very limited budget?” One of the many positives of employing content marketing in your marketing plan is that it can be done on a budget and still produce worthwhile results. Consider the following scenario: you have $1,000 per mo [...]

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There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to marketing; so, why should brainstorming be any different? An effective content marketing strategy requires creativity. You have to be able to “cut through the clutter” and stand apart from everything else on the Internet demanding attention. Ideas for how to best capture your audience’s attention aren’t always going to come to you freely -- that’s where brainstorming comes in. Just like a successful content calendar, one of the keys to successful brainstorming is flexibility. Different campaigns are going to call for different soluti [...]

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[caption id="attachment_29206" align="alignright" width="218"] Image via Shutterstock[/caption] Does your organization have a content marketing department? If not, you’re hardly alone. While commitment to and investment in content marketing is skyrocketing year over year, there are far from hard and fast rules, and only barely emerging best practices, regarding how content fits into existing marketing functions. Content generally doesn’t exist as a department or even a job function; nonetheless, it’s everywhere. Content touches virtually every marketing function from corporate [...]

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Storytelling has been around long before recorded history, but the way stories are told has changed dramatically throughout the course of time. We've evolved from painting the walls of caves to the written word, to plays and movies, to the present ability to tell stories online in the form of videos, blog posts and on social media sites. However, despite the many changes in storytelling, some of the fundamentals have remained the same. Extraordinary stories are relatable to people of all ages and walks of life and either call on our attention or respond to something in our lives. Memorab [...]

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Bill hates writing. Ask Bill to write a blog post and get ready for a hundred excuses (or a lot of unanswered emails). The thing is, Bill is a really smart guy. An industry leader even. We all have a Bill at our company. So how do you get the wealth of information Bill possesses from his brain onto your blog? You have to get creative and help Bill create content in the ways that he feels comfortable doing it. Here’s how... If Bill knows a lot about a particular topic, it’s probably because he’s passionate about it. If he’s passionate about it, he’s likely to talk about it. A l [...]

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Content marketing can be a very successful marketing tactic when done correctly, and more and more companies are employing it every day. There are many different types of content that can be used in content marketing campaigns, but sometimes, businesses struggle to create content that sticks with customers and search engines. When creating content pieces for content marketing use, it is important to consider both the topic of the content and also the type or format of the content you are producing. Be sure both align with your customers’ needs. For example, a short video may work great fo [...]

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Twenty years ago, Alec Baldwin delivered one of the most powerful scenes in movie history when he told Jack Lemmon to “Put... that coffee... down!” and went on to explain why coffee was only for closers (and a whole lot more). If you haven’t seen Glengarry Glenn Ross, Alec Baldwin’s scene (which was written especially for the film by playwright David Mamet), or one of the countless parodies it inspired, take a minute to watch it now and come back. I’ll wait. The central theme of Baldwin’s pep talk was Always Be Closing (ABC). Close the sale no matter what. Nothing matters e [...]

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I recently spent two days at the headquarters of a global enterprise speaking with various stakeholders from across their marketing organization about content marketing. The purpose of the discussions was to uncover how content is being conceived, created, used, re-used, published and disseminated within the organization. Is there sufficient sharing and cross-departmental cooperation, or are different divisions reinventing the same wheel? Who creates what content, how is it approved, and where does it reside? These are all valid questions that any organization should take seriously so th [...]

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Content marketing is becoming an increasingly popular tactic in digital marketing strategies across all industries. Businesses are coming to terms with thinking and acting like publishers by providing audiences with quality content on a regular basis. Typically, content marketing projects have lots of moving parts that come together at different times to form a cohesive campaign. As a result, using a editorial content calendar is crucial in managing the content marketing process. Calendar Management And Template There are many ways to format and lay out an editorial content calendar. How [...]

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“Create evergreen content.” We have all heard this sentiment so many times, and we’ve probably read those exact words even more often. Create content that never goes out of date. Content that’s fresh, useful and compelling all year round. But guess what? This column isn’t about evergreen content. Like the song says, to everything there is a season, and sometimes that’s the case for content too. As the winter holidays approach, this is a good time to talk about seasonal content and why it’s about more than dropping the word “Christmas” or "Holidays" in your copy a few hundr [...]

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Content marketing has been embraced by businesses large and small. There’s far less of a need to buy media when you can create it yourself. Businesses are aware that if you have a website, a blog, a YouTube channel, a Twitter presence, a Facebook page or a host of other online offerings, then you’re as much (if not more) a publisher as you are an advertiser. But strategizing, creating, assessing, disseminating, evaluating, and monetizing content doesn’t just happen by itself. Someone’s got to actually do it. How do organizations determine who that someone is? There are certainly [...]

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When it comes to content marketing research, there are a lot of tools at your disposal — so many that it can be overwhelming. From keyword tools and question-and-answer sites to open discussion forums and backlink analyzers, there are tools designed to help you with every step of your content marketing research. But don’t let the sheer number of tools available drive you into analysis paralysis. Remember, this is an idea generation strategy, so try them all, pick a few favorites and make this a part your continuous content research and planning. Here are twelve you should be using if [...]

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It's easy to jump on a bandwagon. People have a tendency to want to be included. As marketers, we want to stay at the forefront with knowledge of the latest tactics and trends. These desires are strong, and can lead to rash decisions. In trying to not get left behind, you just jump in and start doing, maybe without looking first to see where you're going to land. On the flip side, sometimes we can get so bogged down in the details and the process that it stops us from actually doing anything. Neither of these is an optimal path for a successful content marketing roadmap. Something tha [...]

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I am sure you have heard the expression "the only constant in life is change".  If you make a living buying, selling and evaluating online display advertising then you understand this all too well. The days when companies in the ad tech industry fit into simple-to-define silos seem to be behind us. Company capabilities continue to expand through innovation and acquisition while sales teams advocating their value multiply.  The end result is that those individuals left trying to make the best decisions about their display budgets are genuinely more confused than ever. The lines are far less [...]

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Content marketing is becoming an increasingly significant element of online marketing strategies. We’re all familiar with the saying “content is king.” But now, where we post and share our content is secondary only to the quality of the content we create. Though it may seem like a straightforward concept (create great content and share it), content marketing isn’t all that simple. For a content marketing campaign to be successful, a well-developed strategy is necessary -- taking industry, content type, distribution channels and more into consideration. If you create web pages, bl [...]

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“The person who really wants to do something finds a way; the other person finds an excuse.” - Unknown A couple of months ago, I wrote about overcoming objections from your CEO about adopting a content marketing strategy. What I didn’t mention was a major roadblock you may face from your team -- excuses (and lots of them!). It’s a lot to ask your entire organization to get involved in content creation. It’s time consuming, requires serious brain power, and many times, the benefits and processes are confusing. It’s no wonder that when faced with the challenge of creating conte [...]

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Content and advertising have always been either/or propositions in the context of traditional print and broadcast media. Advertising (paid media) exists in a clearly circumscribed periphery outside, or adjacent to, the main content (owned media), which is created by a publisher or broadcaster. Advertising is interruptive. It’s the price readers or viewers pay to get free or subsidized content. Those lines are blurred slightly (but only slightly) in certain contexts, such as "advertorial" sections in magazines. Advertising -- in which an advertiser buys the media in which they place [...]

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Content drives your business. All great businesses constantly create valuable content, whether they know it or not. It’s through the content you create that your voice is most often heard. Content is what you use to sell to your customers, to differentiate your brand, and to help guide and educate employees. In the online world, your content also becomes your legacy -- a digital history that traces the growth and evolution of your brand. In my last column, I talked about the importance of getting content marketing buy-in and touched on how a content strategy can benefit all teams wit [...]

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What is online reputation management? It's the practice of both monitoring the online reputation of a person, brand, product or business, and of addressing negative mentions, either by eliminating or suppressing them, or by decreasing their visibility on search engine results pages by pushing them lower; for example, making the negative content appear on page 15 of a Google results page, rather than on page one or two. Online reputation has become a thriving business. Many companies and products offer services to manage online reputations. While occasionally reputation management can [...]

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