Content Strategy

The cornerstone of effective content marketing is developing a rock-solid content strategy.

Here are some posts to help you create yours:

The Death of the Social Media Guy

dinosaurs and social media guys

There was a time long ago when dinosaurs ruled the earth and organizations considered it acceptable to have one person who “got” social media on staff. This person would be on call to show people how use Twitter, set up a Facebook brand page, and ultimately, be responsible for single-handedly carrying out a “social media [...]

4 Tips on How Businesses Can Be Better Communicators

microphone

While humanity has come a long way from the grunts and hand motions that turned into fire and food, how much of our potential for personal and professional interaction have we really tapped into? I asked my Twitter followers and Facebook friends whether they thought people today were better or worse communicators compared to past [...]

Is Your Content Too Smart for the Web?

the thinker thinks your content should be thoughtful

There’s no such thing as a stupid questions, only stupid answers. And any answer to this question other than a resounding “no” is probably going to be one of them. Faced with pressure to generate pageviews, content managers have gotten into the habit of being a mile wide and an inch deep in their coverage. [...]

Congratulations, You’re on Facebook. So What?

yay, you're on facebook. so what

There was a time not long ago when the term “social media strategy” amounted to setting up a Facebook account and enthusiastically asking customers to “Like” your product. In the immortal words of former NFLer and ESPN football analyst Keyshawn Johnson, “C’mon, MAN!” I know a three-year-old Malti-Poo named Lucky with his own Facebook page [...]

5 Ways to Add Mobile Mojo to Your Marketing Mix

mobile mojo

Jumping in a swimming pool with your iPhone in your pocket is one way to lose your mobile mojo – which is just what Kelly Flowers, principle of GrowthVine, did on her recent vacation. She realized it right away, she said, and went on a mad dash to find rice. Alas, the rice method didn’t [...]

Got Video? Well, Your Content Marketing Program Probably Should

got video content?

I love watching a great video online, and like millions of other people, I will eagerly share it on Facebook, Twitter, and even by email. Even if it’s a branded video, I’ll share it for the value of the content – whether it’s funny, inspirational, or informational. Brands that are creating content marketing videos that [...]

Think Like a Startup, Act Like a Blogger

the thinker like a startup

The best startups focus unwaveringly around one thing: solving a real-world problem. The best bloggers focus intensely on another thing: participating and publishing in social media. Combine the two and your organization has a simple framework for success in the digital space.

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

amanda hesser food 52 website redesign

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 [...]

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

mobile resistance is futile

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 [...]

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

top ten list 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 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, [...]

7 Tips for Content Marketing Webinar Success

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. [...]

5 Tips for a Successful Website Launch

launching successful websites

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?

5 Content Marketing Resolutions (That You Might Actually Keep)

content marketing resolutions

The resolution bandwagon is full of false hope and empty promises at the beginning of every year. You’ve got the classic “I will lose X number of pounds before bathing suit season” and “I will save more money this year (and stop buying so many video games.)” Sure, those resolutions are good hearted but many [...]

5 Lessons From my Biggest Blog Fails of 2011

blog fails of 2011

I failed a lot this year. My gut reaction was to quietly sweep my failures under the rug, whistle, and walk away. But instead, I figured I’d scrape the bottom of the barrel to see if there was any gold. Sue me. I’m an optimist. Instead of a collection of successful case studies, this post [...]

A Farewell to Content Overload

content overload

When writing about simplicity, it’s almost impossible to not sound like a bumbling idiot. Therefore, I’ll get right to the point: Creating a simple interface for your content is the greatest thing you can do for your audience. Here are 5 reasons why:

Why the Fate of Your Website Will Be Decided in Less Time Than it Takes You to Read This Sentence

Why the Fate of Your Website Will Be Decided in Less Time Than it Takes You to Read This Sentence

Speed kills on the web. The same people who a decade ago would wait patiently through the screeching greeting of a dial-up modem are now frustrated when the homepage of CNN doesn’t refresh as quickly as a wiper blade across a windshield. Consider the following:

QR Codes: Misunderstood? Or Are We Missing the Point?

qr codes: are they misunderstood?

Until recently, I didn’t have a smartphone, so I never paid much attention to QR codes since I wasn’t able to scan them anyway. But now I’ve finally joined the ranks of 72.5 million (and growing) smartphone owners in the U.S. and I downloaded a free QR code scanner from the App store so I could try [...]

A Letter from Mark Zuckerberg*

letter from mark zuckerberg

Editor’s note: OK, so this is not a real letter from Mark Zuckerberg, but it’s a real satire of what could be in a letter from Mark Zuckerberg, hypothetically speaking, of course. Hey there! It’s Mark Zuckerberg, everyone’s favorite socially awkward billionaire! I am here to walk you through our latest exciting changes at Facebook. [...]

Look Before You Leap When Creating a Marketing Plan

stake your marketplace claim

Is your company brand image a Mercedes or a Ford Fiesta? Before you try to answer, the key question you must answer to figure out how your company stands out from the crowd is, “what is your value discipline?” The answer is not as straight-forward as it may sound.

5 Future-proof Ideas For Your Website

future of websites

Predicting the future of the web is nearly impossible. Ever-changing technology provides fodder for our imagination to run wild. And it typically does. Imagination outpaces invention. And invention outpaces convention. Which is why we should focus less on technology, and more on human nature when we’re future-proofing our websites. If we bet on technology, we [...]

Why Distractions Mean Failure in Football and Marketing

distractions and content marketing

Once, after a loss, former Tennessee Titans’ coach Jeff Fisher made this statement to the media about his team’s effort: “I think you have to be able to deal with distractions, put them in perspective and move on. Distractions are the primary reason for losing football games. ” He didn’t chalk up the loss to [...]

3 Questions to Ask Before Jumping on a Marketing Bandwagon

3 Questions to Ask Before Jumping on a Marketing Bandwagon

It’s tough not to fall victim to me-tooism in our competitive media landscape. There are oohs and ahhs to reap, awards to win, client and board expectations to exceed and egos to stroke. So we see something shiny and we chase it. We see a toy and call it a tool, and make it part of our marketing [...]

The Joe Paterno Guide to Branding

joe paterno guide to branding

Whether you bleed blue and white or boo when you see it, it’s hard to deny that Penn State football has a strong brand. And most of the credit for that is probably due to the life work of Joe Paterno – the de facto face of Penn State football and the winningest coach in [...]

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