Archives for August 2016

11 Common (and Avoidable!) Content Marketing Mistakes, As Explained by Memes

Content-marketing-mistakes

Question: How do you get better at content marketing?

Answer: You learn from your mistakes.

Follow-up Question: What’s even better than learning from your mistakes?

Answer: Learning from other people’s mistakes.

If you’re looking for bad content marketing, it’s a buyer’s market. Every brand is a publishing company now. Some are doing amazing work. Most are…not so much.

While bad content may not be of value to its target audience, it definitely is useful for content marketers looking to improve.

I know it’s no fun thinking about the (sometimes costly) mistakes content marketers make. And I definitely don’t want anyone to feel bad who has made these mistakes in the past. We’re not here to shame anyone; we’re here to do better.


11 Common (and Avoidable!) Content Marketing Mistakes, As Explained by Memes

10 Free On-Demand Webinars Every Marketer Should Check Out

On-Demand-webinars

Everything in the digital marketing world seems to move at light speed. And like most things in life, just when you think you have it all figured out, everything changes.

As a result, we marketers need to stay sharp, flexible and inspired. We need to make a concerted effort to stay on top of industry news and trends in order to grow our brands and keep pace with the competition. We need to be lifelong learners—and on-demand webinars can be incredible tools to help us do all this and more.

Not only do on-demand webinars help you learn new things and refine your skill set, but because they’re archived events you can listen and learn at your own pace and on your own schedule.


10 Free On-Demand Webinars Every Marketer Should Check Out

10 Must-Read Content Marketing Interviews with Major Brand Marketers

Content Marketing Interviews

Content Marketing continues to drive marketing strategy for many companies and yet, most companies don’t document that strategy. The result? Marketing departments are challenged to create a variety of compelling content on a consistent basis.

Smart, creative and results-focused advice on content marketing that actually works is in high demand and I’m happy to say that over the past few years we’ve published just under 500 content marketing articles on topics ranging from strategy to measuring ROI. To bring you a balanced view of content marketing, we’ve made sure to publish our own point of view and thought leadership as well as interviews with brand content marketing practitioners and executives.

There’s a lot of insight in those interviews and below is a list of the 10 of the most popular, featuring conversations with brands that include: MarketingProfs, Visa, Facebook, Content Marketing Institute, LinkedIn, 3M, Bank of America, Xerox, and Dun & Bradstreet. Enjoy!


10 Must-Read Content Marketing Interviews with Major Brand Marketers

Winfluencer Marketing: How B2B Companies are Winning Hearts & Minds with Influencer Content

Lee-Odden-Uberflip-experience

“Influencer Marketing is the practice of developing relationships with connected internal and industry experts to co-create content of mutual value to achieve measurable business goals.” – TopRank Marketing

Influencer marketing has gained an enormous amount of popularity over the past few years but marketers still have lots of questions. How does influencer marketing work? Is influencer marketing right for my brand? How do I find influencers?

In addition to coming up with a new meaning for B2B (Beards & Bacon) and providing one lucky tweeter a box of bacon covered donuts, TopRank Marketing CEO Lee Odden answered these questions (and more) as he took the stage at the Uberflip Experience in Toronto.


Winfluencer Marketing: How B2B Companies are Winning Hearts & Minds with Influencer Content

Online Marketing News: Email Workflow, Google Cracks Down, Influencer Marketing Fails

optimize-your-email-production-workflow-infographic

How to Optimize Your Email Production Workflow [Infographic]
This infographic takes a look at the email marketing production processes of over 900 marketers to help isolate helpful tips and tools to help optimize email marketing workflows. Helpful hints include the optimum production cycle, tips for strategy and goal setting, content creation, design and development. MarketingProfs

Google warns it will crack down on “intrusive interstitials” in January
Google has made another bold move on behalf of user experience — cracking down on intrusive interstitials. The platform says that these ads are problematic on smaller screens, like mobile devices. Sites affected are those that show a pop-up, either immediately or after the user has been browsing content for a while, after the user has arrived from search results and those that show interstitials that users have to dismiss to access content, among others. Search Engine Land


Online Marketing News: Email Workflow, Google Cracks Down, Influencer Marketing Fails

Supply & Demand: Making the Case for Less Content #UFX2016

Hana-Abaza-Uberflip-Experience

The problem with most marketing teams isn’t a lack of ideas. It’s a lack of clarity and focus.” – Hana Abaza

The meaning of the expression “less is more” is one that many content marketers are still struggling with. In an effort to capture the attention of busy and distracted consumers, they’re creating more content than ever.

But more isn’t always better.

Uberflip’s amazingly talented and entertaining VP of Marketing, Hana Abaza opened up day two of the Uberflip Experience conference to have a frank conversation about content marketing supply and demand.

Marketers Are Focusing on the Wrong Things

Content Impact

Here’s the harsh (and somewhat funny) reality for marketers:

  • 90% of marketers think they’re productive, but they also work on weekends. (Workfront & Harris Poll)

Supply & Demand: Making the Case for Less Content #UFX2016

When ABM & Content Collide: How to Build an Account-Based Content Strategy #UFX2016

Dayna-Rothman-Everstring

Over the past few years, B2B marketers have been abuzz with the concept of Account-Based Marketing (ABM). It’s like some sort of futuristic concept was finally here and would be the solution that we all needed.

But just like any other marketing tactic, it takes time to figure out how to approach it successfully. In order to win with ABM, marketers need to understand how to effectively incorporate content into the mix.

To help us understand how to do that, Everstring’s Dayna Rothman gave a great, info packed presentation at Uberflip Experience that covered the basics as well as more in-depth strategies for tackling an account-based content strategy effectively.

What is ABM & Why Should You Care?

ABM is the strategic approach marketers use to support a defined universe of strategic and named accounts. – SiriusDecisions


When ABM & Content Collide: How to Build an Account-Based Content Strategy #UFX2016

Uncovering The Problem with Personalization in B2B Marketing #UFX2016

Pat-Spenner-Uberflip-Experience

B2B marketers around the globe are all experiencing the same pain. That consistent pain is how to reach, engage, qualify and convert audiences into paying customers.

We’ve all become acutely aware that more content isn’t always better. But now, we’re faced with an even harsher reality about B2B marketing which is that we somehow have to find a way to not only reach the right decision makers, but also figure out how to get them all on the same page.

Pat Spenner of CEB provided some amazing insights at the Uberflip Experience conference into the current state of B2B marketing, as well as ways to approach our marketing in a more data driven way.


Uncovering The Problem with Personalization in B2B Marketing #UFX2016

[eBook] How to Build Your B2B Marketing Empire From the Ground Up

b2bmktgempire

Is your B2B marketing a skyscraper or a sandcastle?

It’s no fun to spend a day on the beach creating your dream house, only to have the tide wipe it out.

But if you were planning on moving in with your spouse and kids…well, that would be a problem.

It takes planning and strategy to build something that will stand the test of time. Right now, too many B2B marketers are building their empire–and betting the future of their business–on nothing but sand and water.

If your organization is building without a foundation, you’re not alone. We’ve all seen the stats: Nearly two thirds of B2B marketers have no documented content marketing strategy. So it’s not surprising only 30% say their efforts are effective. It’s time to develop a new blueprint for success.


[eBook] How to Build Your B2B Marketing Empire From the Ground Up

6 Ways Marketers Can Optimize Their LinkedIn Profile

optimize-linkedin-profile

With more than 450 million members worldwide, LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network–and it’s growing every second. In fact, LinkedIn reports that people are signing up for the platform at a rate of two members per second.

For many of us marketers, LinkedIn’s continued growth is no surprise. Not only is LinkedIn the place to showcase your own talents and experience, but it also holds incredible networking and marketing opportunities for promoting our clients and our own brand or agency to the masses. From bolstering professional credibility to building thought leadership to maintaining client and prospect relationships, LinkedIn is an amazing tool.

But are we all using this wonderful tool to its full potential?


6 Ways Marketers Can Optimize Their LinkedIn Profile

Digital Marketing Spotlight: Amy Lamparske, Head of Social Media at 3M

Amy Lamparske

One of the great benefits of social media is the dual effect of creating access to people of influence while helping individuals with expertise and points of view become influential themselves. One of my connections that serves as a great example of this is Amy Lamparske, Head of Global Social Media at 3M.

Local events and blogging undoubtedly created mutual awareness, but I didn’t meet Amy in person until she was Director, Digital Marketing at Walmart and then again when she was Director, Digital and Social Media at General Mills. In her current role at 3M, I’ve been able to see Amy’s thought leadership in action in situations ranging from being a keynote speaker at the first Brandwatch user conference to host of a Conference Board event on Social Media. Each time was a learning opportunity because Amy provides a view into enterprise social media marketing and advertising that is deep, insightful and fast moving. I’m not alone in this sentiment:


Digital Marketing Spotlight: Amy Lamparske, Head of Social Media at 3M

Online Marketing News: CEO Social Success, Influencers Love Instagram & Pinterest Video

Social-CEO-Infographic_thumb_3

3 Things Every CEO Should Do to Succeed on Social Media [Infographic]
This new infographic from MDG Advertising illustrates three simple rules for CEOs on social media: Start with LinkedIn, pick a few networks outside of LinkedIn and stick with them, and avoid being boring. Why should CEOs be on social media in the first place? It gives the organization a human face, and it’s a great way to positively impact a company’s reputation. MDG Blog

Influencers: Instagram Is the Most Engaging Platform (Report)
A new report shows that 60% of influencers consider Instagram to be the most effective platform for engaging with their audiences, while only 18% said Facebook was the most engaging. The same study showed that 34% of influencers didn’t think that brands had a realistic understanding of the costs of influencer marketing. SocialTimes


Online Marketing News: CEO Social Success, Influencers Love Instagram & Pinterest Video