Content Marketing: Page 286

  • The Hidden Lessons of Google and Facebook

    A few years ago, I was strung out on SEO. I'm not kidding... the traffic that Google was sending our blog kept me up at night, writing, tweaking, writing, tweaking, writing. I was chasing the algorithm, my competition, and it was driving every decision that I had with the blog. I was able to sque...

    By • Dec. 18, 2013

  • Google Plus or Google Minus: Some Pros and Cons of the Website

    Google recently celebrated its 15th Birthday (many happy returns), so I thought I'd do a bit of analysis and critique on one of their newest products, Google+. Introduced in July 2011, Google+ was going to be Google's answer to social networking and compete with established players such as Faceb...

    By • Dec. 17, 2013
  • SMT Expert

    The 10 Biggest Social Media Missteps Businesses Made in 2013

    Not too long ago, many businesses were afraid of using social media. Sure, it gave them a great marketing channel and opened the floodgates for consumer interaction, but it has a steep learning curve and if you make a mistake on social media, everyone is there to see it. But, as the old adage goe...

    By • Dec. 17, 2013

  • Time to Make Better Decisions About Social

    My former colleague Ted Shelton said recently here on Social Media Today, "Social is sending a shockwave through the enterprise and challenging organizations to rethink the way they are organized and how all of their processes work". I see something different. I see organizations that are having...

    By • Dec. 17, 2013

  • 10 Perfectly Crafted Facebook Status Updates for the Holiday Season

    In the midst of last year's holiday shopping madness, IBM's Jay Henderson wrote a super detailed post on his company's Smarter Planet blog about how social media affects holiday shopping. He concluded that social media isn't just "another channel to have a personalized dialog with a consumer."The...

    By • Dec. 17, 2013

  • Why J.P. Morgan Couldn't Hold a Twitter Q&A Session

    Another day, another social media marketing campaign gone wrong. Recently, financial giant J.P. Morgan tried and failed to host a Twitter Q&A session due to scathing responses from users. Social media experts note that J.P. Morgan did not take into account the context in which they provided u...

    By • Dec. 17, 2013

  • Create Customer Happiness with a Simple Act of Kindness

    We often forget how powerful the little things are each day. How the smallest acts of kindness, care, and respect for one another can often leave lasting impressions far larger than the act itself. The video above feels you with warmth inside and makes you think twice about how you can better in...

    By • Dec. 17, 2013

  • Three New Marketing Expectations in 2014

    Which way will the wind blow in 2014? Here are three marketing trends that I expect will take hold as we roll into next year. As usual, timing is everything and it will be interesting if these actually "take off" as I expect they will and whether it happens by June or by October. Either way, we h...

    By • Dec. 17, 2013

  • The 80/20 Rule: Why Just 20% of Your Social Media Content Should be About Your Brand

    There's no secret formula to successfully engaging with your audience on social media, but applying 'The 80/20 Rule' should always be a big part of your social media strategy. It simply comes down to this: use just 20% of your content to promote your brand, and dedicate 80% to content that really...

    By • Dec. 17, 2013

  • Does Facebook Need the Power of Television?

    It goes without saying but the conventional way of watching television has slowly but surely faded away. With such services as Netflix and Hulu, people do not have to worry about setting up schedules for the sake of catching the latest episodes of the thrillers that they enjoy. However, does this...

    By • Dec. 17, 2013

  • How I Increased My Twitter Followers By 30% in 6 Months

    6 months ago I had 1,238 followers less than I have now. That's a 30% increase!I'm not telling you this to brag, but rather to help you do the same. In this post, I'm going to share with you exactly what I've done differently and how you can use my same strategy to increase your Twitter followers...

    By • Dec. 17, 2013

  • Social Media Image Dimensions: The Ultimate Guide [INFOGRAPHIC]

    Visual marketing plays an important role in brand awareness and outreach.Brands experience almost 50% more audience engagement when sharing an image or video on their social media platforms, which is why social networks are increasingly featuring and promoting visual content. Optimizing your visu...

    By • Dec. 17, 2013

  • Social Media Trends and Predictions of 2014

    Social Media Trends & Predictions of 2014 #1: Social Media is not an Option#2: Mobile Growth#3: Google+ needs to be integrated into your Social Media Efforts

    By • Dec. 17, 2013

  • Without a Distribution Strategy, Why Bother to Publish?

    After you publish, then what?Today, anyone that posts content on their website and simply expects people to find it there is delusional.More than ever, there is so much noise, nonsense and distraction clamoring for internet users attention, that it's increasingly difficult for any really good con...

    By • Dec. 16, 2013

  • 5 Holiday Social Media Management Tips for Brands

    It's December, which means that brands are snowed under - metaphorically and possibly literally - trying to keep up with the Holiday rush. But publically you need to present an image of festive cheer - and you need to be there to help your customers who have presents to buy, family to accommodate...

    By • Dec. 16, 2013

  • Planning for the Unplannable on Social Media

    No matter how much time you spend thinking about every conceivable scenario that might play out on social media, it is impossible to think of them all.Opportunities arise, competitors emerge, trolls attack, sites go down, preferences change, and sometimes, pigs fly.This is the nature of social me...

    By Matthew Peneycad • Dec. 16, 2013

  • Logo Design in the Digital Era: 6 Critical Factors

    Summary: Logo design in the Digital Era requires attention to a unique set of factors to ensure the logo renders well in a range of applications. These considerations include simple design, strong colors, scalability, complementary fonts, monochromatic renderings, deconstruction and reconfigurati...

    By • Dec. 16, 2013

  • Blog Marketing: 4 Tips to Build a Hard-Working Blog in 2014

    Want your blog to work harder in 2014? It's easy to fall into a rut, producing similar types of content. Rethink your blog marketing. Challenge yourself to keep your blog fresh, for yourself and your visitors.According to Wordlometers, three million blog posts were published today, so there's a l...

    By • Dec. 16, 2013

  • Here's the Difference Between Content Marketing and Social Media

    Image from Bigstock.comWhat is the difference between content marketing and social media? And, with the burgeoning interest in the former, will the latter wane as a tactic or as a marketing term?These were the questions posed to me by my very wise friend Jeff Cohen of the SocialMediaB2B blog. Jef...

    By • Dec. 16, 2013

  • LinkedIn and the Context of Social Media Etiquette

    When people kvetch about getting "Generic" connection requests on LinkedIn, I tend to roll my eyes -and not just because I roll my eyes a lot.The "generic" appearance of these invitations doesn't bother me. The context of the invite is enough. If that context is lacking (I don't know the person) ...

    By • Dec. 16, 2013

  • HEADLINES: A 9-Letter Cheat Sheet for Writing a Winner Every Time

    The most important line you'll write for your blog post or any type of content is the headline.Advertising pioneer David Ogilvy once reported only 1 in 5 will make it past your headline into your copy. Though I don't have a modern day update on the percentage, I suspect, given the immense volume ...

    By • Dec. 16, 2013

  • Why Designers Fail to Deliver to the Clients: The Client's Side of the Story

    My sympathy goes to all those people who have had the (dis)pleasure of becoming a client to a designer and had the experience that they would never ever be able to forget.Not that I am against the designers but then you have all read their side of story where the client is the monstrous evil wick...

    By • Dec. 15, 2013

  • 5 Things You Need to Know Before Advertising on Facebook

    Advertising on social media has been frowned upon in the past but things have changed. You might be thinking about including Facebook advertising as part of your online marketing strategy moving forward so here are 5 things you need to know before advertising on Facebook.1. Create a Facebook Page...

    By • Dec. 15, 2013

  • Building Influence in the Social Business Ecosystem

    One of our favorite things about Salesforce's annual Dreamforce conference is the people it draws and the wealth of knowledge, experience, and perspectives that they bring. Even for San Francisco, the quantity and caliber of founders, analysts, media, investors, CEOs, and executives are truly as...

    By • Dec. 15, 2013

  • 4 Ways to Improve Your Social Media Marketing Strategy for 2014

    Over the course of 2013, we've seen a range of social media trends emerge. I've discussed the development of all-in-one apps as well as the rise in popularity for single-service photo and video sharing apps such as Snapchat and Vine. I've also talked about the growth of Pinterest and Instagram am...

    By • Dec. 15, 2013