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Why the Hospitality Industry Needs Content Marketing

hotelYou’d think the hospitality industry is far from suffering a dip in revenue (there’s always someone out there who needs a place to stay, right?), But apparently, the global hospitality industry is amidst a flux. According to Ernst and Young’s new “Global Hospitality Insights: Top Thoughts for 2013” report, the demand growth outpaced the industry’s supply growth for 2010, 2011 and 2012, and it’s expected to do just the same for 2013. There are clearly some very wide holes in this industry that need to be filled – especially if those invested want to see steadier growth and a healthier revenue stream.

The answer is just as clear: content marketing.

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From the Prehistoric Age to the Social Media Craze: Marketing Comparisons and Similarities

Imagine for a moment being a caveman in the prehistoric times. You’re creating cave paintings and sending out drum and smoke signals to effectively communicate or relay messages to your community or those around you. It could take days or weeks for your message to be properly relayed – if it gets relayed at all.

It’s almost unfathomable to think that at the time, these were the most sophisticated methods of communication available. Believe it or not, but today’s modern marketing methods still cling close to these prehistoric roots in some pretty notable ways. Of course, they can differ just the same, as depicted by an infographic from Optimal Targeting released today.

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Content Marketing Lessons Learned from the World’s Smartest People

geniusIt’s what we’ve always wanted to hear: we may have more in common with the world’s smartest people than we think.

I was surfing the Web this morning when I stumbled upon an infographic from NowSourcing showing the good and bad habits of the world’s smartest people and it got me thinking, “This has a lot to do with content marketing.”

Sure, these guys may be well above your IQ level (the average IQ is 100, while this group is above “Genius” and “Extraordinary Genius”), but the positive habits and behavioral traits they display could show us a lot about how we should be mapping out our content marketing strategies. Some of these are a bit more evident than others, yet they are nonetheless important to remember.

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When Content Marketing Needs to Take a Back Seat

It still baffles me that today, companies are capitalizing on the tragic 9/11 attacks that took thousands of lives, injured thousands of victims and subjected innocent people to an endless grieving process for content branding. Today – the 12th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States – victims are being remembered, and those who fought for their lives are being commemorated. I speak for many when I say that it truly does feel like it happened just yesterday.

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Facebook’s New Search Tools could be the Extra Layer Content Marketers Need

I don’t know about you, but I’m enjoying the cooler weather this year. As a lover of the summer, I’m all about the warmth, and so I was shocked when I happily threw on a couple of extra layers this morning before running out the door. As any New Englander knows, when the weather begins to change, so must our lifestyles; the clothes we wear, the things we do and when we do them.

This got me thinking; the same principle can be applied to content marketers. When something begins to change, evolve or sophisticate, a marketer’s approach must change as well. Take, for example, Facebook’s two new search tools being released today.

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Expert ITEXPO Panel Addresses Everything Content Marketing

Today may be the last day of ITEXPO Las Vegas 2013, but it’s undoubtedly the most exciting. Not only is Apple Co-founder Steve Wozniak addressing one of the most anticipated keynote speeches in ITEXPO history, but right before that, Content Boost took to the stage for a compelling content marketing panel (and offered attendees a delicious breakfast!)

The panel – moderated by our very own Director of Content Marketing, Carrie Schmelkin – brought together an esteemed group of long-time players in the content marketing space, including: Richard Williams, President, Connect2Communications; Mostafa Razzak, Founding Partner, JMR Worldwide; Ilissa Miller, CEO, IMPR; and Rich Tehrani, CEO, TMC.

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In Content We Trust

contentAs a consumer, what enables you to trust? This was without a doubt the question of the hour during “Battle in the Clouds,” a keynote at this week’s ITEXPO 2013 show, taking place at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas. The event is currently in full swing, and the Content Boost team is so excited to be attending and hearing all about the latest and greatest in the technology sector. Oftentimes, we find it directly relates to content marketing and brand strategy.

Take the keynote, for example, where the topic circulating the stage was trust. Upon being asked what guarantees or fosters trust between vendors, users and providers, the number one answer among the panelists was brand. Panelist Dennis Schmidt, VP of network and systems engineering at ShoreTel Sky, hit the nail on the head when he said that trust is driven by time. In regards to this, he urged attendees to ask themselves how long a company has been in the game and how much the company has learned over the course of its operations. This, ultimately, is what brings trust to fruition.

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Top Tips for Becoming a Better Social Business

At the surface, business managers seem completely at ease with this question; however, while cool and confident on the outside, on the inside, they’re biting their nails and pacing the floor wondering what it takes to become a social business. Just to make things clear, being a social business does not necessarily mean having social media accounts. This may be a terrifying thought for the approximate 64 percent of B2B companies who currently use social media – no one likes to know that what they’re doing may not be enough.

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Still Think Content Marketing is Just a Phase? Read This

If you do a quick Web scan or ask a random handful of people, you’ll receive multiple conflicting answers as to whether content marketing – an integrated marketing strategy involving creating and sharing relevant, customized and insightful copy – is all that it’s cracked up to be. As if existing statistics (such as the fact that 91 percent of B2B marketers currently leverage content marketing strategies and 66 percent of brands say that branded content marketing has become “very important”) weren’t enough, a brand new infographic brings us a slew of statistics that are hot out of the oven. All of them point to the fact that content marketing is a must-have for any business’ customer engagement strategy.

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Key Takeaways from Latest B2B Content Marketing Survey Results

B2BBusiness-to-business (B2B) buyer behavior has fundamentally changed and, as a result, the concept of content marketing has gone mainstream. This has led B2B marketers to do either one of two things: fist pump like a champ or pull their hair out while battling intense anxiety. Regardless of which side you’re on, the fact remains that content marketing is a force to be reckoned with – and more specifically, capitalized on.

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