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05/15/2013

The Seven Deadly Social Media Sins of Content Marketing

If you’ve just joined the content marketing club, you’ll soon be flying high in the social media stratosphere. Social media is world full of unlimited content marketing possibilities. In fact, the networking strategy produces almost double the marketing leads compared to trade shows, telemarketing, direct mail or pay-per-click (PPC), according to research this year from HubSpot.

But before you get ready to take off, you must first beware of the seven deadly sins of using social media when it comes to marketing your content.

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05/15/2013

A Win for Oreo’s Great Gatsby Tweet

Oreo nailed it with its Great Gatsby inspired tweet that it posted on the film’s booming opening day last Friday.

While the tweet never specifically mentioned The Great Gatsby by name, it alluded to some of the story’s main points including the iconic and symbolic Doctor T.J. Eckleburg billboard—promoting an optometrist’s practice but also serving as a reminder of the growing commercialism of America and the emergence of the American dream—and J. Gatsby’s affinity for calling everybody “old sport.” Perfectly tying it into the Oreo brand, the company shared a tweet that read “A Great story calls for a great cookie.”

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05/14/2013

The Dangers of Inconsistent Branding

Do you hate it when someone spells your name wrong? Like when they add an “h” to the end of Sara or assume that Jamie is always—unequivocally—written as Jamie. In my case, I see a variety of misspellings for my name from Kari to Cari to Kerry. Drives. Me. Nuts.

So why do we get so bothered when someone misspells or mispronounces our name? Because our name is quite possibly our chief identifier. It’s what makes us who we are. It’s what “brands” us, as we marketing folk say.

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05/13/2013

Marketing Lessons from Buffalo Bill’s Wild West

What do blazing guns, bucking horses and covered wagons have to do with your website? A lot.

In fact, one could argue that cyberspace offers much of what our young country did just before the turn of the 20^th century—new opportunity, innovation and excitement. Just like miners used to examine mountain shafts and riverbeds for nuggets of gold, today people comb through social media to find new bands or artists. Likewise, finding new ways to edge out your competition online is like striking oil. The rugged, unknown path to glory on the Internet is free for anyone to traverse down just like the journey out West.

The thing is, it took a lot for people to pack up and leave home—which is where people like William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody came in. Cody was a master marketer, whose traveling caravan of “Rough Riders of the World” catered to the imagination of settlers to be. The show would rope people into buying a carefully constructed image of the great American West through his circus-like exhibitions. It was a place where citizens could come face to face with danger, without getting killed. And as it turns out, May 19^th marks the 130^th anniversary of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjIH5AUglos]

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05/13/2013

How Do You Talk to an Audience Who Can’t Talk Back?

It’s not enough to just talk to your customers anymore. You have to really see them for who they are. You have to truly understand them and understand your connection to them (or the connection you hope to one day establish with them). What have they experienced in life? What may they be facing now? This is the pinnacle of targeting your audience regardless of the objective – whether it’s raising awareness of a greater cause or generating sales.

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05/10/2013

Why Animal Memes are Marketing Gold

The concept of an animal meme is simple: take a photo of a cute or silly looking animal, add a witty caption, and then share it on the Internet. It’s been around for years, it’s over played, but yet you still read every one you come across. Let’s break down why memes work. Highly consumable and easily sharable content (an image in this case)… check. Short, easy to read text… check. A dash of humor… check. We have ourselves a winner.

Online users are gravitating more and more towards rich content. We see this through the explosion of networks such as Pinterest and Instagram, which are made up almost entirely of images and very light on text. Blogs that contain images typically resonate better with readers than those without. Social media posts which contain an image or video see high engagement rates.

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05/09/2013

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.”

So 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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05/09/2013

Look Ma No Hands! The Power of Trying New Tricks with Marketing

There was an awesome trick I used to do with my BMX buddies when I was a kid where I would balance—hands free—down a hill on the main frame of the bike. It had no particular name like the “bunny hop,” an “endow,” or a “wheelie,” but it was the scariest thing ever, especially since it entailed not falling and breaking your face, among other body parts. It’s no real surprise that all the kids in the neighborhood placed bets on who would most likely wipe out.I did eventually join the ranks of the few kids who made it the entire way down the hill without falling. This of course didn’t happen over-night. I set a goal and did not stop until I made it. Every Saturday we would try the stunt and every Saturday there would be broken teeth, twisted ankles and someone who would sprint home in shame after chickening out at the top of the hill. This was a huge no-no especially since the neighborhood girls would be watching.

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05/08/2013

Your Content Marketing Mantra for Today – ‘Let it Be’

Over time, we have shifted from traditional marketing campaigns (i.e. mail-ins, door-to-door and print advertisement) to a world filled with competitive online strategies. It’s no surprise this move to the digital realm has shaken up the brand strategies of many. In fact, when recently asked what their current biggest marketing challenge was, 43 percent of marketers noted that they struggle with differentiating themselves in the marketplace and 29 percent reported that they experience difficulty defining target audiences.

Today marks the 43^rd anniversary of the Beatles’ final album release, “Let it Be.” So, if you’re facing some corporate branding roadblocks, consider these words of wisdom for getting your name in the minds of your online audience. When it comes to content marketing strategy, let it be…

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