A summary of SEO approaches for 2014

Last Friday saw the latest installment in the bi-annually free SEO conference, BrightonSEO. Lots of ideas and content were discussed - far too many to cover in one post - but I thought it was worth putting together a short list of the top 5 cost-effective SEO snippets raised by the speakers.

1. Data for low cost link building

Link building is not just about hiring an agency, producing lots of inane content, or posting back-links from forums. Data is a key instrument in your link baiting toolbox (and it needn't mean big budgets). Use data to find a niche interest, tell a story, back it up with data, and create news. Readily available source suggestions: Surveys - ask a question and use the results to create content Analytics - spot a trend of interest and write about it Freedom of…

Approaches to shape your Content Marketing in 2014

1,700 of the great and the good of the content marketing world gathered in Cleveland, Ohio last week to make the case for content marketing. These are the main insights I took from the event.

This year the CMW 2013 agenda focused on justify content marketing and proving content marketing effectiveness in both B2C and B2B markets.

In between the Godfather of Content Marketing, Joe Pulizzi, hosting the event, and the incomparable William Shatner with his surprisingly relevant closing address on storytelling, were sandwiched almost every major player in the content marketing firmament.

1. A definition of content marketing

Joe Pulizzi launched his new book ‘Epic Content Marketing’ at CMW 2013 and as well as being an excellent must-read for ALL marketers he managed to finally pose…

Convincing your boss to invest in content marketing

2013 is the year for 'content marketing', but as marketers we still need to work hard to convince the budget holders or our bosses to invest time and resources in this area?.

Whether it's sharing content, curating it or interpreting it?  FatJoe have highlighted some statistics (from secondary research), to support your business case in their Infographic.  

Could these stats convince your boss or budget holder?

61% of consumers more likely to buy after reading custom content90% of consumers find content useful67% of companies with a blog generate more leads than those without.

Check out our guide and template to making the business case for investment in digital marketing for a more quantitative approach and how to win the emotional arguments too.

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6 experts and 6 takeaways on the future of brand advertising

This is a nice piece from Contently. They're asking what exactly does it mean to be a brand publisher today?  They polled a number of thought leaders from some of the world’s biggest brands, agencies and publishers about the future of content marketing and social sharing. Here’s what they had to say.

The 6 take-aways…

Sponsored content - this is interesting from Mashable, a big publisher collaborating with brands on creating sponsored content. Relevance is the success factor from the consumer's perspective. Is this something your brand could look to do for easy outreach wins? The longevity, credibility and scalability of your sponsored content featuring on publisher websites is a paid tactic worth considering over advertising spend?Why content, why now? We’ve written much on this and Contently’s CEO suggests it’s driven by a brand’s need to ‘say something’ and the opportunity created by…

Content planning made easy

Over the past 18 months to two years it seems there has been ever-increasing volume of advice on content marketing. You would have to have been on a very long holiday or living under a rock to not notice how content marketing is a huge topic and an industry worth $44 billion and that's just in the United States. While there are many posts exhorting us to "create awesome content" there is a big practical challenge of how you plan and resource this content creation. One specific problem many of us face is how to encourage other specialists in our companies to create content which we have covered in this post based on a discussion on persuading others in your company to create content for you. I wanted to add to this by reviewing the issue of when you're face with a blank piece of paper…..what content…

Integrating content and social media marketing

The vast majority of businesses will first experiment with social media long before they get underway with content marketing. Creating a coherent plan is the key to success in both. A content plan helps to integrate content and social media marketing activities. I will be explaining the approach I recommend in more detail in the next Smart Insights webcast. This post gives some of the background. [caption id="attachment_25503" align="alignright" width="150"] Which way first?[/caption] Companies tend to work first with social media marketing because social platforms are…

Searchable, Shareable and Snackable are the keys to success

I read this post last week and feel it's worth sharing as a reminder for content marketing teams. It's created by Skyword a software company serving content marketers, so a good example of educational content marketing in and of itself. The infographic summarises a simple, and useful, mantra… I'd urge content marketers to take 10 and read more, to consider how you'd implement this within your programme: Searchable. Content must capture the passion and pain points of the consumer using relevant trending keywords, boosting the content’s search ranking. Read more about being findable. Snackable - Content needs to be relevant for an on-the-go consumer who needs answers to questions in a moment’s notice, increasingly on mobile devices. Snackable content leaves the consumer satisfied and eager to come back for more, you're part of their solution. Read…

Practical advice on WHO you need to execute your content marketing strategy

Many content roles I see are the domain of trained Journalists and Copywriters, but this doesn’t always add up. On the web, many of the best examples of engaging content, and certainly the most sharable, are visual in nature, and often application based. Thus creating content teams made up of skilled writers will limit success. If you have a large site, with hundreds (or perhaps thousands) of product pages that need writing, then hiring copywriters to get the job done makes good sense. But if you’re also looking to create a good blog, regular email newsletters and possibly applications that integrate with social networks, then you’re going to need some Designer / Development resource as well. If things are going to be promoted well, then a Community / Outreach Manager would be useful. Finally, to measure…

Ideas to humanise your online communications

As we all now become digital natives, it makes you step back and think and ultimately realise that those who follow us, will be born into a purely digital society, where eBooks and augmented reality will have gone from exotic to everyday. Thinking about what this means in the future is intriguing, but it's equally interesting right here and now in 2013. Technology, software and the devices we use, have of course shaped our social and human behavior on a number of levels, from shopping, to leisure, to business. Lives are lived online, and the opportunity to have a live feed into the minds of those you care about is becoming a clearer reality. People are more willing to share and consume horizontally through their social networks, rather than vertically. The organic spread of ideas, relationships, and trade can now be observed and measured on scales…

What should go into your editorial calendar for blogging + Twitter + Facebook + Google+ + LinkedIn?

In today's digital marketing environment, where demands on businesses to publish engaging content have never been higher, managing the process can be challenging, to say the least. In our 7 Steps Guide to content marketing, we've advised on how to plan to create a content marketing strategy that drives reach and engagement. But there is still the practical issue of what to publish, when and where? We cover this in our new guide to guide to managing content marketing where James Carson explains approaches for workflow for editorial planning. Thinking through how to organise multiple pieces of content, on your site, on partner sites and on social outposts is what many marketers have been grappling with for some time. The varying input…