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The Going’s Getting Tougher for Content Marketers

It’s almost time to update our recent compilation of content marketing statistics from around the Web—which means I’ve been busy scanning the most recent reports looking for new and relevant information to include in our autumn edition.

shutterstock_225090238It was while I was browsing through the Content Marketing Institute’s (CMI) fifth annual Benchmark Report that I noticed something interesting. Despite the fact that content marketing is well past its nascent stage, content marketers are still getting caught up with the same challenges year-over-year, which is cause for concern.

Consider the fact that in 2013, CMI reported that 52 percent of marketers were struggling to produce the kind of content that engages. This number dipped to 47 percent last year, which was an improvement. But this year, it increased to 54 percent. The same can be said for overcoming the challenge of producing a variety of content, which dropped last year, but is now more of an issue than it was in 2013, as 42 percent of marketers are struggling in this regard.

By and large, the most startling statistic is the fact that last year, only 33 percent of marketers reported that measuring content effectiveness was a top challenge. But according to the 2015 report, this is now a problem for 49 percent of marketers.

It’s worth it to stop and ask whether your organization is actually improving annually, or if it’s merely dragging its feet. If your organization is experiencing the same issues year after year, it’s okay to ask for help. Continue reading “The Going’s Getting Tougher for Content Marketers”

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Don’t Expect to Find This New PepsiCo Product in Retail Stores Any Time Soon

The battle for consumer attention in the e-commerce food and beverage market is starting to heat up.

shutterstock_171962345Coca-Cola, for instance, recently made headlines when the company re-introduced its widely popular Surge soft drink back onto the market after well over a decade of discontinuation. First introduced in 1996, this beverage was pulled off of shelves after only a few years. Now, after much petitioning, the beverage is back. But there is a twist—it’s being sold exclusively online. Continue reading “Don’t Expect to Find This New PepsiCo Product in Retail Stores Any Time Soon”

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Three Easy Ways to Repurpose Your Content

Repurposing content can be tricky. Do it right, and you can extend the shelf life of a great piece of content and reach a whole new audience. But do it wrong, and you could wind up sounding like a broken record.

shutterstock_181197839Recycling content is all about taking an existing piece of work—whether  it’s a case study, white paper, or blog post— and giving it new life. However, this is where marketers often get tripped up as repurposing content is an easy way to get on Google’s bad side and convince search engine “spiders” that you are engaging in black hat SEO when done wrong.

Below are three simple ways you can repurpose content: Continue reading “Three Easy Ways to Repurpose Your Content”

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This Summer’s Marketing Superlatives

shutterstock_112540055The sun is just about setting on summer, and that means marketers everywhere are reflecting on their advertising campaigns and looking ahead to fall. But before we welcome autumn, we here at Content Boost thought it would be fun to highlight three brands that we feel have made a big splash with their advertising campaigns over past few months.

Here are our picks:

Most ambitious: Pac Sun

California clothing company Pac Sun set out with a goal this summer to capture the “diverse, creative and optimistic” Golden State of Mind with its marketing campaign. The company travelled to 20 different cities across the U.S. and took photographs of each one. Then, it combined the original photographs the team took with images from across California, giving customers the opportunity to picture their city as if they were in California. The company then included the original images in 619 window displays across the country, using social media, online video and an online hub to engage with customers.

Continue reading “This Summer’s Marketing Superlatives”

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Three Bad Habits That Are Killing Your Blog

Believe it or not, every blog has a personality. It’s hard to see this when you are posting content on a regular basis, but your readers will easily pick up on things that you might not notice.

Unfortunately, there are some habits that could be sucking the life out of your blog and dampening its overall effect on your brand image. Are you guilty of any of the following?

shutterstock_131193488Providing too much personal information: Now don’t get me wrong, adding a little bit of personal information, like an anecdote about your day or a recent family outing gone awry, can help build a connection with readers if used sparingly. However, make sure to draw a firm line between your personal life and your professional blog. If you do add a personal touch to your blog, make sure it’s tasteful, positive and helps support the larger topic at hand. Avoid ranting and raving at all costs. Continue reading “Three Bad Habits That Are Killing Your Blog”

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Dawn of the Planet of Content Marketing

This weekend, moviegoers across the U.S. will flock to theaters to witness one of the biggest box office events of the summer, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.” There is a lot to be excited about in this movie, like Andy Serkis (“Star Wars: Episode VII,” “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”) joining the ranks of previous “Apes” stars like Charlton Heston and Troy McClure. And, of course, there will be enough gun-wielding apes cruising around on horses to keep you glued to your seat for hours.

shutterstock_150489464But here at Content Boost, we’re excited about this movie for the valuable content marketing lessons we can extract from it:

Brand survival: It’s a tough world for humans in “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” as they struggle to survive 10 years after the ALZ-113 virus caused the collapse of civilization. And as a marketer, you could be feeling that same struggle online as you try to compete with other companies for the attention of consumers. Building a robust blog and regularly posting content to social media will help spread brand awareness and create readership that translates directly into sales. Continue reading “Dawn of the Planet of Content Marketing”

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B2C Companies: Respect Your Customers’ Social Space!

Stop and think about the more personal reasons you log onto Facebook. Maybe you want to see what your aunt is up to in California. Or perhaps you want to check in with a group of friends that you haven’t seen in a long time. You log in because you want to connect with those around you that you care about.

1196px-Not_facebook_not_like_thumbs_downAs a marketer entrenched in social media campaigns, it can be easy to forget that Facebook is still a social networking site. So any social media marketing you do should always be carefully orchestrated.  Consider the results from Gallup’s “2014 State of the American Consumer” report, which shows that 94 percent of consumers log onto social media to connect with friends and family. Just 29 percent log on to follow trends or find product reviews and information. Continue reading “B2C Companies: Respect Your Customers’ Social Space!”

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Something Needs to Be Done about MLB’s Instagram Strategy

When I first started following Major League Baseball on Instagram, I’ll admit I was pretty excited. At my age, you can’t exactly pull out a pack of baseball cards and browse through them leisurely. But for some reason you can do it on a smartphone without drawing any strange stares.

BabeRuthGoudeycard3Unfortunately, what I’ve seen so far from MLB on Instagram has been surprising. First of all, it’s posting way too much. Yesterday for instance MLB posted 35 pictures in one day. And 18 of them were of Clayton Kershaw. Granted, he did throw one of the greatest games of all time on Wednesday, a no-hitter with 15 strikeouts. But the smart thing to do would be to post a few pictures and offer a link to a gallery with more of them. After all, the Instagram news feed can only feature one photo at a time. I haven’t seen pictures of my friends in days due to the constant flood of images from MLB. Continue reading “Something Needs to Be Done about MLB’s Instagram Strategy”

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Does Your Blog Stand Out from the Rest?

Imagine your blog were to walk into a crowded networking event. Would it be the center of attention and walk away with 50 new business contacts? Or would it hang out by the cookies trying to blend into the scenery?

silhouettes-76784_640In the overcrowded world of online content, it takes a lot to stand out and become known as a go-to source for educational and industry information. Consider the fact that WordPress users publish 347 new blog posts every minute. In that same amount of time, Google users enter over 2 million search queries. And Facebook users share about 684, 478 pieces of content. Continue reading “Does Your Blog Stand Out from the Rest?”

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Are You Ready for the New Era of Digital Storytelling?

Books, shows and movies all have one thing in common: They start, and they end. Just when you really start to get into a particular story or series, you are always left with the realization that it is not going to last forever.

But now, this is changing thanks to the power of the Internet and real-time communication.

book-97709_640The art of storytelling is evolving to meet the public’s insatiable demand for content. The latest example can be seen from the UK’s Mills and Boon, a Harlequin-owned book publisher that specializes in the genre of “saucy women’s fiction.” The company, which has been in business since 1908, needed a new way of interacting with and attracting unique readers. To accomplish this, it created a virtual hotel for its new show “The Chatsfield” where fans can “check in,” engage directly with characters and follow the non-linear stories as they unfold in real-time. Fans can also snoop around rooms and read private messages, or create their own stories and share them with other fans.

Continue reading “Are You Ready for the New Era of Digital Storytelling?”