Online Marketing Blog

An increasing number of companies feel they have a solid content marketing strategy and tactical mix in place. Now it’s time to think about how to integrate an “Optimize and Socialize” approach into the overall online marketing program.

Two key considerations for implementing a scalable “Optimize and Socialize” content marketing approach involve where SEO and social media optimization fit within the content planning and publishing process and the skills of Social Media and SEO content creators. Here is a small business example that uses an Online Marketing Audit to start finding the answer to those questions about process and skills.

Small Business Marketing Problem: No Time For Content

With over 240 million users and 500 million tweets sent per day, Twitter is as ubiquitous as it gets in terms of social media.

With all that use comes a variety of opportunities as well as opinions about what to do and what not to do. There’s nothing static about best practices on social networks and Twitter is no different.

Of course some things stay the same. In 2009 a study was done of Twitter content and 40% was deemed “pointless babble“. I suspect many Twitter users would agree that a certain portion of today’s tweets fall in that same category. This got me thinking about what it is that annoys people about Twitter? If we discover the things people don’t like, perhaps the opposite or removal of those behaviors can point us in the right direction.

Recently my sister in-law, Melanie, shared with me the success of her initial ventures into a new business selling a collection of handmade dolls, stuffed animals and blankets. A successful medical career working at a hospital keeps her more than busy, but the side venture is enabling her to make her creative hobby into something more.

Our recent discussion about turning this venture into a business surfaced many questions that a lot of new business owners face: What might be involved with hiring, manufacturing, logistics, taxes, incorporation and of course marketing.

Melanie has a knack for writing about her creations on Facebook and Pinterest in an enthusiastic, helpful way rather than promotional.  But there is something that Melanie, who is a self-proclaimed neophyte to business and marketing, did that the majority of companies do not do that gives her an advantage. This is something many mid-market companies and large enterprises forget.

#PutAWingOnIt KFC’s Chicken Corsage Just Went Viral - Prom season is in full swing, and KFC wants to add a little something to the big night: a chicken snack on your date’s wrist. USA Today

Study: Brands still overwhelmingly prefer photos on Facebook - Though Facebook has tried to make its link share post format more visual, with bigger images, many marketers still prefer to simply post photos (usually with a link) to their Facebook pages. Inside Facebook

Twitter Faces User Interaction and Retention Problems - New research shows that Twitter is facing user interaction and user retention problems, with news that 44 percent of users have never sent a single tweet. ClickZ

In the 2014 B2B Content Marketing Trends report from Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs, the top challenges that B2B content marketers face include: lack of time, not being able to produce enough content, not being able to create the kind of content that engages, lack of budget, and lack of content variety.

Sound familiar?

Stats like “Buyers are two-thirds to 90% through the sales funnel before they contact sales” (Forrester) and “72% of B2B buyers use social media to research solutions to purchase.” (DGR 2014 B2B Buyer Behavior Survey) have a lot of B2B marketers focusing on content and social media programs that require far more resources and time to deliver leads than most business managers have patience for.

During the first 3 months of 2014, I’ve had a great opportunity to connect with marketers from London to Las Vegas sharing best practices and learning what’s on the mind of the marketing and PR community.

Those experiences have helped me take the temperature of what marketers questions are so I can apply those insights in our consulting and for future presentations. Topics that seemed to be high in demand include working with influencers in combination with content marketing and social media.  

As popular as content and social media marketing are in terms of increasing budgets and implementations, many marketers are still wondering about best practices and how to get the most from their investments. This was clear from all the questions and follow up engagement I received from recent events like ClickZ Live in New York and the Marketo Marketing Nation Summit in San Francisco.

When I first met Justin Levy a number of years ago, he gave me a business card for a Brazilian steakhouse and I didn’t quite make the connection with the social media conference we were at. Following him online and running into each other at numerous conferences since, I’ve learned three things about Justin:  1. He’s incredibly fit.  2. He’s an amazing cook.  3. He’s equally intelligent and passionate when it comes to social media.

In this Social Media Smarts interview, Justin covers everything from how he came in to the social media world to how marketing and PR work together with social media programs to what he really thinks of Facebook. He also offers practical tips, insights, tools and resources that he uses to stay social media fit in his role in charge of Global Social Media at Citrix.

Customer Service Inquiries Up 44 Percent on Twitter — But Response Times Are Down - While many brands are getting better at engaging audiences on social media, customer service still presents a challenge. According to a Simply Measured Analytics about how top brands use Twitter for customer service, mentions of dedicated customer service accounts on are up 44 percent but the average response time is down 10 percent. SocialTimes

6 Types Of Social Sharer [Infographic] - According to a NY Times study, we all fall into 6 broad categories of online sharer. The following infographic by StatPro explains these in greater detail and is a precursor to an interactive quiz which asks “What kind of sharer are you?” Infographic Journal

The expression “newsjacking” has been popularized by David Meerman Scott and the available material on the topic is near limitless from case studies of Oreo’s Dunk in the Dark Twitter ad to missed opportunities by Poland Spring.

Related to newsjacking is the practice of leveraging popular culture references in brand messaging. Movies, music, memes and more can be deftly integrated into your social media and content marketing programs to provide an entertaining context to otherwise boring business information. Beyond attaching to something that’s popular on TV, the best applications of popular culture references find creative ways to make a connection back to the brand’s products or services.

Successful content marketing programs are ongoing communications efforts that empathize with customers and deliver useful experiences. Each content object published is a promise to the community that something relevant, useful and info-raining is in store.

Consistently producing content experiences that inform and inspire creates one of the most powerful customer states: anticipation. Few things are more powerful for attracting a loyal following of customers and advocates than the anticipation to see what’s coming next.

But how can companies with slim budgets create such a content marketing program? While there are entire books on the subject, I think these are the 5 essential components for initiating a growing momentum of content awesome.

Hashtags are wonderful social media marketing tools. They can highlight trends, tie campaigns to chosen keywords, and isolate conversations. The allure of the hashtag is strong, especially for brands that desire a customized platform for their content. Twitter (and, to a lesser extent, Facebook, Instagram and Google+) thrives on hashtags for everything from primetime TV shows to organic political movements.

However, like all good things in life, the hashtag should be used in moderation. The pound sign carries great power, but only if deployed responsibly. TechCrunch’s Jordan Crook bluntly referred to users who abuse the hashtag as “hash-holes.” Avoiding that label requires an understanding of where the hashtag is most beneficial in messaging – and where it should never be deployed.

Recently Verizon Wireless asked me to share some of my favorite mobile apps. I sent them a list and 6 of them made the post. But it got me thinking: what mobile apps do other marketing and communications professionals use?

I know mobile phones and apps are an inseperable part of everyone’s life and people are often looking for new apps for both work and especially for fun. So I’ve included a list of my 10 plus 39 more that were suggested by my team mates at TopRank Online Marketing.

1. HootSuite – This is my on the go, social media command central. HootSuite gives me access to multiple Twitter accounts, LinkedIn and even VK (Russian). iTunes – Google Play