The Anatomy of a Killer Content Marketing Strategy Joe Lazauskas is the co-founder and CCO of Faster Times Media, a content studio and consultancy that helps businesses create exceptional articles, videos, blogs, and social media updates. Say hello on Twitter @joelazauskas or via email at joe@thefastertimes.com. Content marketing has become a powerful way for brands to build long-term relationships with customers while still generating short-term results. As a first step, many marketers are building out new brand publishing initiatives, often with the help of a content studio staffed by editors and journalists. Smart content marketers will tell you that brands need plenty of their own content published on their own sites. But that’s not the only option. At a recent talk, Chris Ahearn, the former president of Reuters Media, said that while the big publishers are still alive, they’re bleeding badly. SEE ALSO: Why Brands Are Becoming Publishers Although, some of the so-called “small” publications are not so small anymore. The process works.
Database Error I recently was thinking.. which can be a dangerous thing and I found myself asking the question “how did social media happen?” and how did it evolve from the primordial web soup? So I looked up some Wikipedia references on social media and social networking and also about it’s early history to obtain some insights into the what, why and how. The “Free” online encyclapedia Wikipedia said (remember you used to have to pay $2,000- 3,000 for the Encyclapedia Britannica to put on your shelves) “A social network service focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, e.g., who share interests and/or activities. In other words a social network service or channel enables 2 way communication and sharing between like minded people. These services were very clunky ways of sharing information within like minded communities and involved forum like platforms and email that were slow and hard to use. 142inShare
Social hubs - what are they and why you may need one? 4 Social Hub Examples As the number of social networks increases, brands have started to look at ways in which they can bring all their social networks into their brand owned websites. Contrast this with the more common situation where the only reference to social media on the main site are the ubiquitous Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+ share buttons. These don’t give any impression of the type of interactions and communities developed on these networks or customers own networks. Social hubs can give customers a snap shot preview of the activity on each of the chosen social networks. What is a Social Hub? Social hubs tend to be content aggregation pages on a brands own website. If brands are making good use of the social networks in their own right, not just publishing the same thing to each of them, then they are actually useful if you are genuinely interested in that brand. Why do you need them – beyond buttons? Social hubs give: Social Hub Examples Cisco Social Hub Dell
The Marketing Tactic that Social Media Marketers Often Forget Pinterest is a popular paranoia, Instagram is indecently addictive and Facebook is so big you cannot ignore it. Social media is the hot business marketing trend. It is discussed at coffee shops, dinner parties and countless conferences. You can use social media from desktops, iPads and iPhones, no matter where you are. Tweeting is the new texting and Google+ is gaining traction as its registered users now number over 400 million. Social media marketing cannot be ignored. Yet, there is a danger. That danger is that other marketing strategies, skills and basics are forgotten or ignored in the glare of social media’s buzz and popularity. There is one very core marketing tactic that should be woven into every part of your digital marketing. This tactic is sometimes described in code. It is about making it easy for search engines to find your website or blog and rank high in search results. How important is it? In some businesses up to all 90% of buying decisions start with an online search.
'content hub' 10 Social Media Secrets from the Social Scientist There are some secrets regarding social media that I’d like to share. I’m a bit of a hard-core social media user and I’ve been doing web and content development for many years now. Because I have been online for a very long time (pre-graphical Web), I am pretty attuned to what constitutes authentic and cooperative behavior online. There are things that set apart the altruistic contributor (check out this cool thing!), for instance, from the self-serving ones (buy my stuff!). If you do nothing else this year, consider shifting your social media strategy to encompass increasingly pro-social guidelines. Here are ten ways to create maximum info value with social media: #1. Make your social media less about them and more about you. This is a very counter-intuitive principle, but it’s an important one. I use Twitter and Pinterest primarily as social bookmarking tools. Twitter: I’m an info slinger, so managing info is a big issue for me. Pinterest: #2. #3. #4. #5. Everyone loves rewards. #6. #7.
How to Create Content Maps for Planning Your Website’s Content Content mapping is a visual technique that will help you organize and understand the content of a website. It can be a simple and valuable part of your site’s overall content strategy. This short and simple guide should help you get started. What is Content Mapping? Content mapping is similar to mind maps, but it’s focused on a site’s content. More specifically, content mapping allows you to see your content as it relates to the goals of your client, the goals of your site users and all the other pieces of content in your website (as well as external websites), allowing you to spot gaps (and opportunities) in your content development strategy. I’ll cover two types of content mapping in this guide: Mapping your content to goals (the goals of the client and the goals of site users)Mapping your content to other content We’ll focus on creating functional content maps that can be used (and understood) by everyone involved in the development of a website. Why Should You Create Content Maps?
Social Media Marketing Tool Box: 62 Tips Social media marketing is moving from its exciting adolescent phase to a more mature grownup status. Online social media obsession driven by social web hormones and testosterone that drove social networks to hyperactivity are being replaced by tried and now proven activities and mature business processes. Digital marketing responsibility is now in the driving seat. The dreaded phrase “what is the return on investment” is now seen as a conversation that needs to happen. The dinner party conversations are no longer about Facebook or Twitter. The after work and cocktail bar chats are now about when you are commencing a start up, designing your online store or launching an app. Sexy to staid Despite its move from sexy to staid and impending “ho hum” status, social media is embedded and integrated into almost all digital and even traditional marketing activities. So let’s look at it in context in the digital marketing ecosystem, consider core essentials and tips and tactics. Earned and paid 1. 2.
8 Ways to Discover Valuable Social Media Content Do you struggle to find good content to post on LinkedIn, Twitter or your Facebook page? Would you like to find reliable sources of content your fans and followers love? This article contains eight tips to help you quickly find great content. Why Share Other People’s Content? It’s all about becoming a valuable resource. And when you have some of your own content to share, people will be more likely to help spread the word. Here’s where to find valuable content: #1: Watch Large News Sites Depending on your industry, you may find topical and interesting articles on large news sites such as USA Today, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. The Huffington Post has a lot of different categories to draw your content from. Dive into the different categories and subcategories available on the Huffington Post to watch for content. #2: Watch News Aggregators If you want to make content sourcing a little easier, use a news aggregator website or tool. Find topics listed alphabetically or by site.
our Smart Strategies to Help You Engage With More of The Right People on LinkedIn If you’re on LinkedIn, you’re a member of the world’s largest business networking site for professionals. With over 200 million people using LinkedIn you need to find ways of building relationships with the right people so that you can make good use of this platform. Of course, the first thing you need to do is to decide who you want to engage with: prospective clients, your next employer, strategic business partners, professionals in your industry etc. Once you who you want to attract you will need a plan to make sure you don’t waste your time and your efforts when you’re using LinkedIn. Incorporate the following strategies into that plan and you’ll stand more chance of success. You don’t get much time to make a first impression on LinkedIn or anywhere else. Here’s how I use my 120 characters. With your image and your professional headline you’re trying to show that you’re a professional person. You will be rewarded for your efforts. Be specific. Use the skills and expertise area, too.
The Content Life Cycle & the SEO Audit 3inShare Good order is the foundation of all things. -Edmund Burke Training is an extremely important part of the cultural fabric at CopyPress. We believe whole-heartedly that professional and personal improvement is the core of a happy work life. In the Spring, I did an expanded series of SEO training for the staff where we educated everyone from marketing analysts to developers on the entire SEO workflow. Based on my years of experience in online marketing I can say the skills we will discuss here can be applied regardless of the type of audit or strategy you are doing. By staying conscious of the content life cycle as you move through the data gathering and planning phases of your marketing program, you can assure a well-rounded approach that will yield results. The Structure This is how a basic audit we would do for a site that does not yet exist would be structured: Key things to take away from this: I like to separate auditing and data collection from strategy. All of them. Audit Content