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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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Think You Can Avoid Optimizing Your Email Marketing Campaigns for Mobile? Think Again.

mobile emailI have to admit, I am an eNewsletter junkie. From marketing to fashion to hard news to sports, by morning my inbox is jam-packed with tantalizing content that I can’t wait to get my hands on. However, nothing is more frustrating than opening one of my favorite eNewsletters on my iPhone and seeing a bunch of jumbled words, dead links and distorted photos. And I’m not alone. Continue reading “Think You Can Avoid Optimizing Your Email Marketing Campaigns for Mobile? Think Again.”

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A Picture Says a Thousand Words

photography-beginnerI myself am a visual learner, who would rather look at pretty pictures than read a 1,000-plus word article—and I’m not alone. In fact, 65 percent of the population is comprised of visual learners and 40 percent of people respond better to visual information than plain text. For content marketers, this means marrying compelling content with eye-catching visuals.

Visual content garners big results as it not only helps catch the reader’s attention, but it also increases engagement and drives website traffic. Put yourself in your readers’ shoes and consider the following: would you rather read a press release full of text or a post with one or two eye-popping images?

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The Healthcare Industry is Ripe for Content Marketing

No matter what industry you’re in, you need content marketing. It increases your visibility and gives you a wider reach in which to share your message and let people know what your company is all about. Furthermore, it increases the overall effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. In a recent survey, 63 percent of respondents affirmed that posting content on social media channels increased marketing success.

One industry that stands to benefit a great deal from content marketing—though they might not realize it yet—is the healthcare sector, which is in the same spot it was two years ago, according to Joe Pulizzi, founder of the Content Marketing Institute. While the industry’s remained relatively stagnant in terms of content marketing adoption—and Pulizzi attributes that behavior to the fact the industry’s heavily regulated and heavily scrutinized—there’s enormous room for growth.medical-doctor-jobs-in-China-expat-jobs-in-china Continue reading “The Healthcare Industry is Ripe for Content Marketing”

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Ahh, Coke’s New Marketing Campaign Makes Me Thirsty

This is the age of the mobile device. The days of print advertisements wane in the rearview as we now drive down the highways of the future.

In order to stay fresh and relevant, firms need to rethink their marketing strategies if they want to connect with and convert a target market that is always evolving.

And the fine folks at Coca Cola seem to have done just that.

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I don’t even drink Coke—I’m more of a water-and-coffee-drinking guy—but there I was on a Friday afternoon, staring at a virtual paper cup bearing the soft drink company’s logo. The cup was shifting back and forth across my computer screen, and I was charged with pulling back a virtual sling shot and trying to aim a virtual ice cube into the cup in order keep its virtual contents at the perfect temperature of 37 degrees. Continue reading “Ahh, Coke’s New Marketing Campaign Makes Me Thirsty”

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How to Keep Your Prized Marketing Materials out of the Dreaded Junk Folder

Do you feel like you are in a constant battle with your Outlook inbox? Feverishly trying to respond to emails so that the daunting bold number next “Inbox” steadily inches closer to zero. Desperately sifting through emails with a cursory scan to make sure you are not neglecting your key company stakeholders. Praying that maybe, just maybe, you will learn that there is a 26-hour day coming up, giving you a whole extra 120 minutes to sort, file and compartmentalize your inbox.

You are not alone.

The entire world seems to be lost in a sea of emails. In fact, 144 billion emails are exchanged every day worldwide and of those, 68.8% are spam. Moreover, individual email volume rose 5.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2012 when compared with 2011. So not only are you drowning in the whirlpool of business critical messages, but you are also forced with having to reel in the imperative emails over the “seaweed.”

shutterstock_94977535So as a marketer, how do you ensure that your corporate eNewsletters stay good and far away from the feared “deleted items” folder? By considering the following:

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Martha Stewart Joins Match.com – And How It Can Help Your Business

After plugging her new book, Living the Good Long Life last week, Martha Stewart revealed to NBC’s Matt Lauer that she was looking for love on Match.com.  “I’ve always been a big believer that technology, if used well, can enhance one’s life. So here I am, looking to enhance my dating life,” she writes in her online profile.

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Rumors have swirled that the domestic diva is not actually looking to find her match, but rather seeking publicity to sell more copies of her newly penned book. After all, her Match.com username also happens to also be “thegoodlonglife.” Whether or not the rumors are true, she has been successful in creating a buzz.

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How to STINK at Content Marketing

Content marketing is King. We all know the importance of it. There are countless studies, data and reports that remind us that websites feed off of the time and energy we inject into our content.

Content is the protein that websites need to make them strong, vibrant and profitable. Content Boost can help you improve audience engagement, traffic to your website and augment social media presence.

But for all you B2B, B2C, not for profit, entrepreneurs or solo-preneurs out there, who want to see how other companies effectively sabotage their content marketing strategies, please take a look at this awesome slideshow:

How to STINK at content marketing