Everyone is into content marketing these days. You can’t do well with Google or directly with people without creating valuable online content. Content, however, is one thing. Content that actually works as marketing is another. When done correctly, content marketing is a form of win-win persuasion. And, this type of persuasion is simply an exercise in getting people to understand the benefit to them when they choose your solution. How does this understanding happen? The Art Of Explanation Effective content marketing gets people to know, like, and trust your business. But, it a [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Content Marketing | Content Marketing | Content Marketing Column

I’ve spent over two years developing a social media measurement platform. One of the most important things I’ve learned during that time is that what counts as good and valuable measurement is unique to almost every client. While there are some commonalities between companies in similar industry verticals, my experience suggests strongly that there simply is no “cookbook” for social media measurement that applies universally. [caption id="attachment_37296" align="alignright" width="302"] Image via Shutterstock[/caption] What this means is that you can’t simply watch what the [...]

Related Topics: Analytics | Analytics & Marketing Column | Channel: Analytics | Social Media Marketing

As a wise statesman rocker once sang, the waiting is the hardest part. These days, that applies to Facebook marketing, too. We've seen a preview of what Facebook's Graph Search and new newsfeed will bring. Now, all that's left to do is wait. But, while we're speculating, pontificating and – well, waiting – here are 20 mostly painless, definitely necessary things all brands can do to get a jump start on whatever is on the way. No matter how you feel about Facebook, it's time to get ready. 1. Get On The List First and foremost, get a jump on the crowd by signing up for the early acce [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Social Media | Social Media Marketing Column

Buying display ads through an ad tech platform is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get – and this can be disastrous to programmatic media buying. Instead of being strategic about your ad buy, you’re forced to take your vendor’s word for it that the consumers you’re targeting are actually being targeted. This is unfortunate at best and reckless at worst. After all, these are the interwebs. There’s data everywhere! Is the lack of transparency a result of a true blind spot in technology? Or is your vendor holding back key data on your campaign due to a [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column

This week in marketing was a strange mix of partnerships and acquisitions along with new tools and companies that could help marketers become more effective and efficient. This is ... Marketing Biz. Yahoo in Talks to Buy Stake in Video Site Dailymotion Dailymotion, which is similar to Google's YouTube site but is smaller in scale, would immediately make Yahoo a bigger player in Web video outside the U.S., where the company is looking to grow. More than 70% of Yahoo's $5 billion in annual revenue comes from the Americas region, and the vast majority of that is from the U.S. This isn't t [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Marketing Biz

There’s been quite a stir lately about a new release of Firefox due out this summer. Here’s the deal: a patch in version 22 is expected to automatically block third-party cookies by default. According to the latest reports, users who install this version of Firefox will no longer see targeted advertising unless they change their settings to accept third-party cookies. A user will see ads, but these ads won’t necessarily be based on their browser or shopping history. Is this new? For Mozilla, yes, in terms of it being a default setting. Apple’s Safari browser has had this defa [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Affiliate Marketing Column | Channel: Content Marketing

Dorothy isn't the only one who had to follow the Yellow Brick road to find her way home; we all need to follow a path to find our way to success, and the app market is no different. The app market for both iOS and Android is beginning to become overcrowded. Apple first opened its app store with a mere 500 apps in 2008, and now, the store comprises over 700,000 apps for the iPad and iPhone. Android hasn’t lagged behind, either. According to Statista, GooglePlay now boasts over 700,000 apps, too, growing from just 100,000 in the past two years alone. [caption id="attachment_34250" align= [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile Marketing | Mobile Marketing | Mobile Marketing Column

Best practices and smart tactics go a long way, but the most important part of any successful marketing program – email or otherwise – is building the right team. So, what do you look for when hiring an email designer? Here’s a short list of key factors to help ensure you have the right folks on the job. Web Design Experience This first point is an easy but important one. The pool of applicants who will come in the door with the right email experience already in place is small; so, make sure your potential hire has front-end Web design experience, which will allow them to wear multi [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Email Marketing | Email Marketing | Email Marketing Column

How should organizations organize for content? Are brands really publishers? Very few have hired people with “content” or “editor” in their titles. Fewer still (read: almost none) have content departments or divisions within the marketing or other organizations. Yet, more and more companies are producing content like crazy. Also, multiple websites. Large corporations have tens of millions of visitors to their dot-coms each month, perhaps 5-10 million email subscribers. Then, there are blogs, YouTube channels and multiple social media channels on social networks. Like journalists, [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Content Marketing | Content Marketing | Content Marketing Column

"I Before E, Except After C" -- do you remember that from 4th grade spelling? Well, it works just as well when you're concentrating on your metrics and optimization program. What do the letters mean for metrics optimization? I is for Insight -- learnings you derive from your continuous optimization efforts E is for Earnings -- which is presumably why you're going through the optimization process C is for Conversion -- which is how you're measuring the efficacy of your past I on your current E Metrics Optimization Think about it this way: every time you perform a test -- he [...]

Related Topics: Analytics | Analytics & Marketing Column | Channel: Analytics

In case you hadn’t noticed, Yahoo ranks number one for “Yahoo sucks.” Everyone in the digital marketing business knows it sucks, and efforts to turn the place into Google have yet to achieve fruition. Sure, the stock got a bump when Marissa came in, but that’s largely due to her status as one of the original Googlers. Home page redesign and human resource parlor tricks like that free lunch thing aside, Yahoo’s corporate culture is akin to the Balboa camp right after Mr. T pounded the stallion into submission in Rocky 3. Nothing To See Here They need to turn this ship around a [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Search Marketing | Search Marketing Column | Yahoo: Business Issues

Premium inventory. What exactly does that mean? We think we all know: it’s that custom ad placement on ESPN.com, or the full-page takeover on NYTimes.com. Some of us may think a gaming site like IGN is premium; others may disagree. Overall, the basic premise is that premium inventory is the media found on a well-known and well-respected publisher. Clean, Well-Lit Inventory Personally, I prefer “clean, well-lit” inventory as an expression of what’s good rather than “premium.” The popularity of sites can wax and wane so rapidly that it’s impossible to keep up with the top [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column

Marketing themes this week were speed, attention and sunsets. Not the pretty kind, but the ones where products you love are going to be retired and executives at high profile companies 'move on to other things.' This is ... Marketing Biz. CDN.net Launches as First User Customizable Global CDN for Everyone “Today’s rich content demands plague online businesses with bounce-back, high latency and downtime that are harmful to their customer retention, marketing and SEO efforts. That’s why CDNs are now essential for all Web property owners. However, buying CDN is generally an expensive, [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Marketing Biz

Before getting into ad scheduling strategies for Google's Enhanced Campaigns, let's review Paid Search Trends for March. CPCs remained relatively flat month-over-month with little movement. Retail CPCs showed a slight decline for Google, showing relative softness compared to last year. It remains to be seen whether this is a temporary dip or a long-term indicator. Finance CPCs nudged up as the tax deadline approaches. Overall, Google CPCs are 1% up year-on-year, while Yahoo!-Bing is flat. March 2013 Cost-per-Click (CPC) Update, US Search MoM Change YoY Change [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Search Marketing | Google | Google: Search | How To | Marketing Metrics | Search Marketing

As you may have noticed, using infographics for content marketing is an incredibly popular tactic right now. Infographics are being used to illustrate a range of different information, including new employee announcement, data visualization, humor and education. However, with the widespread use of infographics in marketing increasing every day, there is growing concern about maintaining infographic quality. Some believe that infographic marketing will go the way of article marketing if we begin to sacrifice content quality and placement. Thus, this post will focus on advice from experts on [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Content Marketing | Content Marketing | Content Marketing Column

Apple's iOS 6.1.2 -- to correct a bug that reduced battery life and increased network activity for some users -- made its way into the hands of consumers on February 19th, 2013. Adoption of iOS 6.1.2 took off, and within a week, it was the most used version of iOS. According to a recent report by Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, Apple's iOS claimed the majority of smartphone OS sales in the U.S. in Q4 2012, standing at 51.2%. Given the popularity of the iPhone and iOS in North America, Chitika Insights conducted a research study analyzing iOS version click through rate (CTR) to help quantify the [...]

Related Topics: Analytics | Analytics & Marketing Column | Apple | Channel: Analytics

I have a passion for filters, especially in partnership with Excel, the AdWords User Interface (UI) and AdWords Editor. Regardless of whether you are working with small campaigns or very large campaigns, filters can help make reporting and management much faster. [caption id="attachment_35765" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Campaign Code Filter[/caption] Coming Up With Code Names In The AdWords UI & AdWords Editor Codes may be your secret power against time. There are so many options now for setting up your Google Display campaigns that you really need a way to stay organized when y [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Display Advertising | Display Advertising | Display Advertising Column

Social content curation has blown up in the past year, after a late start that began to show traction around 2007-2008. Pinterest continues to experience massive growth, with Wanelo nipping at its heels. Social media users have gotten smarter when it comes to sharing; many are no longer posting Facebook statuses about what they ate and are instead using social networks to share their passions, ideas, and content they love. Social Media Content Value For Brands The value of content for brands has been slow and time-coming, but businesses are beginning to realize it's not the fact that you [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Facebook | Google: Google+ | Pinterest | Social Media Marketing Column | Twitter: Marketing

The week in marketing was all about trends and innovation, from TripleLift's trending image ad units to Discover.ly's social enterprise app. Marketers must accept the acceleration of change. Those who jump into the water will be rewarded while those toe-dipping may be left behind. This is ... Marketing Biz. With $2.1M FromTrue Ventures (And Others), TripleLift Builds Ads From A Brand’s Trending Images “The web is increasingly dominated by images, and images are quickly becoming the primary currency with which brands communicate with their potential customers,” CEO Eric Berry told me [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Industry | Marketing Biz

We've all read the sales pages claiming that all we affiliate marketers have to do is churn out some sort of online content each day and we'll get rich. Plus, we can do it in our pajamas for just a few hours a day, leaving us endless free time to enjoy life. Heck, those pages say it's so easy a two-year-old can do it, don't they? So, with that in mind, why do so many claim that affiliate marketing is hard? What makes it so difficult? If we take the over-hyped sales pages out of the equation and bring this back to reality, most of us know that starting any new business requires muc [...]

Related Topics: Affiliate Marketing | Affiliate Marketing Column | Channel: Content Marketing