This post gives a summary of a webinar by Smart Insights expert commentator Stephen Bateman of Concentric Dots. Stephen started by showing the ongoing and increasing thirst for knowledge on content marketing, starting with this Google Trends data showing a large increase in each of the last 3 years since we have been advising on content marketing. You can also see the growth in popularity from this infographic showing B2B Content marketing trends for 2014 that we shared earlier in the Autumn. In Stephen's talk, he reviewed the challenges of content marketing and then suggested that a more strategic approach can give better alignment with consumer needs and business aims. You can view all 6 recordings from the Digital Marketing 2014 Summit here. The other summary posts of the trends featuring…

5 Tips for getting key employees involved in Content Marketing

Do you remember the scene in 'Far and Away' where Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman race against hundreds of people in wagons and on horseback to stake their claim in the Oklahoma Land Rush? Now, pretend all those men and women are CEOs for companies in one industry, and you’ll have a pretty good idea of what the current race to establish thought leadership is like.

Everyone wants to be considered the Thought Leader in his industry, and just like the Oklahoma Land Rush, it’s a lot easier to establish yourself than it is to replace someone who’s already claimed that spot. Content marketing, if done correctly, leads to Thought Leadership for a brand. If you’re putting out engaging content that…

5 Ways to Utilize Facebook Posts for Content Marketing

Content marketing is all about creating relevant and compelling content in order to change or enhance consumer behavior that’s favorable to you. And where else to better utilize this strategy than in a billion-people social hub that is Facebook? So read carefully and jot down these important tips that will surely help your brand with content marketing.

Tips on using Facebook for your content marketing strategy

1. Content creation through Social Listening.

Probably the greatest thing about Facebook from a marketer’s perspective is that you don’t have to guess what your consumers are thinking since they’re going to post it anyway. So this is the best time to listen. Tip: Find out how people relate to your brand, how they see it and use it on a daily basis, etc. by searching hashtags:

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An introduction to the "Hero's Journey" method of storytelling

Your product or services will likely solve a problem for your customers, or fulfil particular needs and wants. No matter how boring you view this product, it sits within a ‘story arc’ that can always be made interesting to consumers facing the challenges that it solves. In Joseph Campbell’s book The Hero with a Thousand Faces, a basic pattern of storytelling is defined as a ‘monomyth’ or ‘hero’s journey’. This is a pattern that can be seen in a wide range of storytelling from around the world. Essentially, protagonists within a story go through a number of common stages, as below:

From Homer’s The Odyssey, to Medieval Romances and modern sci-fi adventures such as Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope and Avatar, this story arc persists: The protagonist is inspired to go on…

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…

The what, why and how of infographics marketing using social media

In today’s fast-paced social media world, if you want your message to be seen, you need to include a visual. Whether it’s a picture of your dog, a map, or an infographic, articles with images attached get 94 percent more total views than plain text. Of all the visuals available, infographics are an especially compelling way to capture the attention of online readers.

Consumers are bombarded every day with so much social media content that you need to include something that can get their attention and educate them quickly and succinctly. Whether you’re using a visual social network like Pinterest or Instagram or a text-based platform like Twitter, infographics fit the bill. So what is it that makes infographics so engaging in a social media format? Infographics are popular…

If our audiences have less attention than a goldfish, it's important to push the right "hot buttons"

Did you know that the average attention span for a new idea, we page or piece of content is now only 8 seconds - compare that to a goldfish at 9 seconds. It’s pretty startling and when you observe your own behaviour, or mine at least, 8 seconds does feel like a short time. But it depends on the context, in this post, Dave Chaffey talks about a 2 second rule to get your message across as someone visits your site or social media outpost for the first time, comparing it to the 7 seconds we supposedly look at an outdoor billboard.

Rational vs Emotional Content

This got me thinking how so much content that we create does not take the huge lack of time into account. We write and create so much content.…

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…