Content Marketing Resources

Going for Seconds on Homepage Design: Q&A with Amanda Hesser of Food52

by Kim Caviness on February 8, 2012

Rituals remind us why we live and love.

Rituals are also addictions. If noon rolls around and I haven’t hit my bookmarks, I start to get shaky and pale.

The core four in my morning digital dose are: the New York Times, Mediabistro, Daily Beast, Food52. (OK, I lied, People.com is a fifth. Hey, I work on a health magazine with celebrity covers. I really do need to know that Demi is having a breakdown right now.)

One day last fall, school-dropoff and work events conspired and I didn’t get online until late. New York Times, Mediabistro, Daily Beast, check. Food52? Hold on. [click to continue…]

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Keep Your Audience on Its Tweet: 4 Keys to Building a Strong Social Following

by Corey Murray on February 7, 2012

If the presidential election—coming to a polling place near you in November—is the nation’s foremost popularity contest (more than 65 million Americans voted for President Barack Obama in 2008) the ongoing battle for followers on Twitter, from a purely competitive standpoint, isn’t far behind.

It has been reported that Twitter has more than 175 million users. But Business Insider says the number of active Twitter accounts (users following 8 or more accounts) is closer to 56 million. Either way, it’s a big number.

If the election were decided on Twitter instead of at the ballot box, the Leader of the Free World would most likely be a Canadian-born pop singer named Justin Bieber. The Bieb’s nearly 17 million Twitter disciples are more than those of President Obama (12.3 million) and Republican hopeful Mitt Romney (300,000) combined. Throw in Newt Gingrich’s 1.4 million followers and the old guys in Washington still don’t have a prayer. Though with his 1.2 million followers, Tim Tebow surely does. [click to continue…]

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Resistance is Futile: 10 Statistics to Support Having a Mobile Content Strategy

by Allison King on February 6, 2012

Change is coming, and it’s coming fast.

Resistance is futile, as the Borg on Star Trek famously said before assimilating another species into its cybernetic life form.

For those in your organization who are resisting the mobile trend or who deny the importance of the mobile web on your content marketing strategy, prepare to be assimilated. Well, not really. But at least prepare to change your focus. [click to continue…]

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Why Literature Matters (Despite What Those Last 50 Million Tweets Told You)

If you’ve ever been inside an elementary school library from the year 1966 onward, you’ve probably laid eyes on the phrase “Reading is FUNdamental” at one point in your life. And it is. Especially if you want to create good content. In order to do that—to engage, entertain, and inform—one has to know how it’s [...]

Serving Up Social Media (When You’ve Already Got a Full Plate)

Lucky me! Last week I was invited to host a Social Media Club of D.C. event and let my true nerd flag fly. My task? Moderate a panel discussion that combined two of my favorite things: food and social media.

4 Myths About Video Content

Moving pictures can be dangerous. Witness video of me, circa 1988, clad in acid-washed jeans with a shock of hair resembling a dump truck in full tilt. Same thing applies to a new generation of video and the media machine it feeds every second of the day. When it comes to branded video content—or even [...]

How to Become a ‘Rockstar’ Web Developer (Without the Risk of Fatal Bus Accidents)

Musicians do some crazy stuff. For example, they sit in a room, alone, and play scales: long sequences of notes — up and down, for hours. And they never enjoy it. Anyone who has lived with (or next door to) a musician can attest that these dreaded scales are not songs. They aren’t melodic, [...]

The Rise Of The Profersonal In Social Media

In the past year, social media was the vehicle that drove several high-profile careers off a cliff. Pro athlete Larry Johnson tweeted a homophobic slur that resulted in a fan petition calling for his removal from the Kansas City Chiefs. He was later suspended. Gilbert Gottfried lost his gig as the voice of the Aflac [...]

How Writers Can Stop Being Scared of Their Own Voices

The biggest roadblock for writers trying to perfect their voice isn’t using the correct grammar, proper spelling, or consistent syntax. It’s fear. One of my college professors once called me out for being too tentative in a story. I was writing a review of the movie “High Noon” and after a decent lead, I just [...]

Web Gems: The Art of Being a Web Editor

Guess what? It’s not all about you. Anyone who has ever played on a team knows that. And shortstops know it best. This idea is the fabric of his or her nature. While pitchers, outfielders, and catchers have received the lion’s share of the glory in baseball, they would be nowhere without a good shortstop. [...]

10 Better Ideas Than Looking at a Top 10 List For Advice

Top 10 lists are like new year’s resolutions. They seem great at first, but they quickly make you feel bored, hopeless, and like you’ve wasted your time. And that’s usually because they are filled with things you know you should do but can’t commit to doing. They’re too aspirational. Too shoot-for-the-moon-y. Which is why I’ve [...]

How Betty Crocker is Baking Content Marketing Success

Betty Crocker found a great recipe for content marketing success. (I know, that pun was hard to swallow.) When food brand giant and cultural icon Betty Crocker, a brand owned by General Mills, wasn’t having success online they developed a digital video series centered around solving common problems for at-home chefs. Since launching in 2008, [...]

We Have Ways of Making You Talk. Namely, Interviews.

interview tips, we have ways of making you talk

To the presidential candidate seated across the table, I must have seemed like tender meat ready to be shredded by wit sharpened on the pundit circuit. The year was 2000, and Pat Buchanan was running a half-hearted campaign. Interest was low enough that I, student reporter that I was, managed to get an interview at [...]

Why the Best Social Media Begins Offline

When I was notified last year that the content marketing firm where I work was moving offices—giving up its spacious, albeit outdated, digs for a new state-of-the-art studio three blocks up the road—I couldn’t help but be a little skeptical, uneasy even, of the changes in the offing.

7 Tips for Content Marketing Webinar Success

According to CMI’s newly released 2012 B2B content marketing study, marketers give webinars the second highest effectiveness rating as a content marketing tactic. Why, then, do only 46 percent of marketers use them? They are, after all, another great way to showcase your quality content and position yourself as a thought leader in your marketplace. [...]

How Crowdsourcing Can Revolutionize Your Approach to Content

A few months ago an international team of gamers solved a complex problem that had scientists baffled for years. For a decade industry experts from around the globe had been unable to figure out how a protein-cutting enzyme from an AIDS-like virus found in rhesus monkeys folds. In a final attempt to solve the riddle, [...]

5 Tips for a Successful Website Launch

The launch date is tomorrow. Your software developers are running on fumes. The days are a blur of email, trouble tickets, status updates, and everyone asking you how it’s going. The stakeholders are getting anxious, which is making you anxious. What do you do?

While Your Audience Checks In, Are You Checking Out?

are you checking out while your audience checks in?

I have a strange relationship with Foursquare; I use it compulsively, though the reasons why I do that are unclear. I check in at restaurants, movie theatres, shopping malls, and even at the veterinarian. I hadn’t realized how obsessed with the social check-in service I had become, until the day that I pulled out my [...]

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