Top 4 Elements To A Successful Content Marketing Attack

It’s not all about the spectacular design nor fascinating  articles when you’re trying to establish a content marketing campaign.

There are those elements that make content great: valuable data, a conversational tone, an engaging story, perhaps some eye-catching design.

Each is indispensable for bringing people in and bringing back, again and again.

But what if you’re developing a content campaign – something you want to see have enduring success? Then you’ll need more than style and substance; you’ll need a cohesive strategy.

We’ve launched our share of content campaigns and found four common ingredients that lead to successful launches.

1. An Editor
You’ve probably heard the mantra to “act like publishers.” Well, publishers hire editors.

An editor will not only supply ideas and communication skills, but also can help solicit and shape material supplied by your chief content providers: your colleagues. Editors are the people who keep projects moving forward and the marketing speak to a minimum.

2. Buyer Personas
It may sound like a given, but you’d be surprised how often buyer personas are missing when it comes to content. If you’re going to develop an eBook, a video, a blog, an app, you need to know who makes up your audience. These may get fine tuned as you advance from stage to stage of the buying cycle.

3. Guidelines
You don’t want to reinvent the wheel with every new handbook or blog post. Whether your content is created in-house or outside having a set of guidelines saves time and aggravation. Make sure your contributors know exactly what points they need to hit and the tone to take.

4. Diversification
Let’s say you’ve got a new info-graphic ready to launch, how are you going to tell the world? A press release? An email campaign?

Try all of the above.

A substantial piece of content is an opportunity to create a diverse set of smaller of content that can drive exposure and leads. Instead of just issuing a press release consider creating a series of blog posts to release over a month, email templates for the sales team, contributed articles for industry publications, a set of suggested tweets for the staff, etc

 

 

 

Time to Take Video Seriously

Americans are watching increasing numbers of videos online.  According to comScore, this number has jumped over 43% to 100 million daily views (that’s roughly one-third of the U.S.  population watching a video online each day).

Of the 43.5 billion videos viewed in December 2011, over half of those were on Google properties (21.9 billion), primarily YouTube.

With the advent of long-form video content online through vendors like Netflix and Hulu, there’s been an increase in how long users will watch a video from 5 minutes to nearly 6 minutes. This may open the door for marketers looking to produce edutainment videos (combining education and entertainment to produce engaging videos that keep people watching).

The way people watch videos is changing with the advent of mobile phones, notebooks and gaming systems. These differences are especially pronounced in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

For example, Nielsen found that someone from the Asia/Pacific region is more than twice as likely to watch a video on a mobile device as a North American. However, a European is half as likely to watch on a mobile device as the average global consumer.

Campaign-based marketing will take a break

As a marketing strategy, campaigns are great…in theory. The problem with focusing on a tactic that involves a set group of marketing activities and processes centered around one theme is that it operates on a company-based timeline. Inherently, this neglects to account for the timeline of the customer, which is, at this point, almost entirely real time. Up until now, companies have been progressively integrating social media and real time customer engagement as a supplement to campaign-based marketing. We think that from here on out, real time marketing, through social media and websites, will be the focus. We are excited to see what inspired strategies come about.

How to Reach your audience in Today’s Business World

In today’s business climate, business owners are faced with increased pressure to deliver more while using less time and fewer resources. Small business owners are faced with more adversity in today’s business world than ever before. The economy is at an all-time low, which leaves many small business owners desperate to find new ways to bring customers in their doors. This situation leaves many business owners at a loss because traditional marketing channels are becoming obsolete. Businesses, which used to rely on traditional marketing tactics to gain the attention of their customers, are finding that they can no longer rely on those tactics.

A shift in media is taking place in our culture.  This shift is changing the business and communications world as we know it. Phone books, the Yellow Pages, radio, and even desktop computers are becoming things of the past. Media is shifting to the digital space, and technology and consumers are the drivers behind this change.

In order to reach your customers, you have to be where they are. Whether it’s a laptop computer, Tablet PC, or a mobile phone, this is where today’s consumers are researching businesses in order to satisfy their needs.

Because customers are spending more time online, and because technology is continuously advancing, how can you best reach your customers today? The answer can be found in one word: online.

Reaching Customers through Company Websites and Social Media

Two very common approaches that businesses take to reach their customers in this age of technology include:

• Building a user-friendly website
• Using social media sites

A business’s website is the central hub to which all online activity should be directed. Business owners who realize this have sought the help of social media consultants and search engine marketers to gain more online visibility.

Social media marketing is becoming more widely known as an opportunity for businesses to communicate with their customers while also being leveraged for business. Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin are all very popular social media channels that businesses use to reach out to and connect with their audience. This is helpful because it fosters transparency and online visibility.

When social media is used successfully, customers should feel that they know the business on a more personal level. This means that as a business you are not simply shouting out promotions and bragging about your successes.  Instead, you are reaching out to your customers while also listening and attending to their needs.

While social media marketing is helpful in the process of building loyal customers and online visibility, it doesn’t guarantee that your customers will find you.

Gaining Online Visibility through Search Engine Marketing and Optimization

Search engine marketing and search engine optimization are ways that businesses are gaining more online visibility with today’s consumers. Many businesses are seeking out the help of local search engine marketers to help them draw in more targeted website traffic that will convert into business. This involves first figuring out how customers are searching for your business.

One simple form of search engine marketing (SEM) is pay per click (ppc) advertising. Pay per click advertising features paid advertisements at the top of the search results for the keywords that you choose to bid on. This type of search engine marketing is a quick and easy way to get instant traffic to your website. Although it is much quicker than search engine optimization, it doesn’t work as well for all types of businesses.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is thought of as a more long-term approach to online visibility. SEO is done in order to bring your website to the top of the search results with non-paid (organic) optimization. Businesses do this in the hopes that they will be able to draw in their target audience when audience members are searching for the type of business and its services. The desired result is that you can turn these audience members into lifetime customers.

When all of these elements (social media, ppc advertising, and SEO) are combined into an integrated marketing campaign, you are able to better reach today’s digitally savvy consumer at every possible touch point instead of by using just one potentially unsuccessful marketing channel.

How to Attract New Customers to Your Online Business

Attracting new customers to your online business is not an easy thing to do. In fact, it is difficult. It is the most difficult thing to do. But, by following some strategies, you will be able to attract new customers quite easily. Here are some tips you can use to attract new customers to your online business:

• Offer discount purchase-This is perhaps the best strategy you can use to attract new customers to your online business, especially if you have eCommerce business.

• Redesign your website-Professional website design will give you lots of credibility boost, which will in turn help you to attract new customers to your business.

• Build your social channels- By building social channels for your online business, you can spread the word about your business more quickly. Social channels will also help you to attract many new customers to your online business. They will give you a chance to build personal connection with your potential customers.

• Build personal communication-Build good personality in your website. In this way, you can give personal touch in your online business.Collapse this post

Google + Making Some Changes

Google + is making some changes in how it displays business listings, websites and customer reviews!  I didn’t know this till today but did you know that Google refers over 70% of shoppers to dealer websites? With numbers like that, it’s critical for dealers to rethink their digital marketing and reputation management strategies immediately. 

There is a webinar on August 2nd on which I think you should see. Google+ must be a priority because it impacts search-engine optimization as well as a dealer’s social and online reputation.  Check out the webinar on August 2nd right from your computer.  Click on the link below to register today! 

https://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/EventLobbyServlet?target=registration.jsp&eventid=492861&sessionid=1&key=023F64AAE3699E29B9A6CC38B6294BC4&partnerref=site&sourcepage=register

 

GoPro Hero 2 Test Drive

I just purchased a GoPro Hero 2 so far I am really enjoying this new toy. I created a first video and need some opinions from you the viewers to see how it turned out, the sound quality and picture and overall the quality of the video.

Renault Alpine A110-50 concept car

Car looks great! but will will it be in production? 

According to the United Kingdom’s Car magazine, the A110-50 will have a mid-engine V6 with roughly 400 hp and 310 lb-ft of torque.

If the car does see production, it will likely be built for the European market, although we wouldn’t rule out sales in the Chinese market, either. It’s a pretty safe bet that Renault won’t launch a premium sports car brand in the United States, so those of us on this side of the pond will likely be out of luck. 

“We never know the love…

“We never know the love of our parents for us till we have become parents.”