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Let’s Talk About That Blog of Yours

At this point, you’re already sold on the idea of starting a blog for your business, and using it to move forward with content marketing like 81 percent of B2B organizations are currently doing.

So what’s holding you back from getting started?

shutterstock_230245711You have questions. Lots of them. And so you’re dragging your feet about moving forward with the project, as you don’t want to rush into the process and risk painting your organization in the wrong light. Meanwhile, your competitors are pumping out multiple blog posts per week.

If this describes your situation, I understand what you’re going through. After all, there are a lot of things to consider when starting a blog, such as:

Tone and style: Should your blog be loose and creative, or strictly business? A blog is a direct reflection of your corporate brand, and so it’s vital that your messaging aligns with the image you are trying to create for your company.    Continue reading “Let’s Talk About That Blog of Yours”

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Understanding a Blog’s Position in the Sales Funnel

A lot of people ask me, “should my business be blogging?”

It leads me to believe that there is still, amongst the majority of professionals—particularly at the small-to-medium sized shutterstock_283237730business level—a fundamental misunderstanding as to how blogs fit into the sales funnel.

If you don’t grasp how the sales funnel works, it can be easy to dismiss a blog as a frivolous expenditure and thus, a gigantic waste of time. But rest assured, blogs have an important place in the sales process.

Here is how a blog fits into the sales funnel. Keep in mind that the sales funnel works from the top-down: Continue reading “Understanding a Blog’s Position in the Sales Funnel”

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Three Important Elements of Every Engaging Blog

shutterstock_301366778Marketers behind the brands with large blog readerships rely on much more than just good luck to attract their readers. Instead of crossing their fingers each time they press “submit” on the latest post, these marketers employ a wealth of strategic elements that make their blogs the most attractive to their audiences.

Just take look at this article from Bussiness2Community.com that lists five of today’s most successful corporate blogs. Each of the featured blogs is unique and immediately sets the tone for what its personality and content will be like. In other words, each of these featured blogs draws in and captivates the reader before he or she even begins reading the content, due to a few important key elements.

Continue reading “Three Important Elements of Every Engaging Blog”

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Three Reasons To Consider The New Content Boost Word Bank Package

Right now many Major League Baseball teams are scrambling to make last minute deals before tomorrow’s looming trade deadline. Just about every team in the playoff hunt hopes to land a multi-faceted player who can contribute across the board with both his bat and glove; such a player will prove to be much more valuable in October than a one-trick pony who can occasionally clobber the ball, but produce little else.

shutterstock_125212661This need for flexibility is equally important when selecting a custom content vendor. It’s critical that your vendor can provide your business with a wide variety of assets as opposed to a narrow set of deliverables.  Such is the concept behind Content Boost’s new offering, a flexible package which lets you pick and choose the number of words you want to receive per month with almost no limit as to how you can use them.

Here are three reasons your business should consider the new word bank package from Content Boost: Continue reading “Three Reasons To Consider The New Content Boost Word Bank Package”

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Is Your Marketing Department About To Take Flight?

Now that we’re about to turn the corner into July, many of your employees could be taking time off from work for various reasons—like for vacations, conferences, weddings, you name it. July and August are prime months for being out of the office and sometimes, paid time off requests can pop up out of nowhere and when you least expect them. It’s important, therefore, that you look ahead and figure out whether you have the manpower to see your editorial department through this time of limited resources.

Gone FishinAfter all, while your employees can always take time off from work, your blog and social content need to keep rolling. Otherwise, if you pause your calendar and focus on other tasks while your main writers are out of town, you could risk losing readers who may forget to come back. Continue reading “Is Your Marketing Department About To Take Flight?”

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Are You Suffocating Your Brand’s Content Without Even Realizing It?

It’s time we had an important talk: Your editorial process is killing your beautiful content. Here’s why.

shutterstock_282923051First, one of your staff writers creates a witty, thought-provoking article for your website. Next, the piece must go to an editor—or two—for quality inspection before landing back on your writer’s desk. It may go back and forth multiple times. After that, the post may go to a high-ranking executive for messaging approval before being passed along to a board of directors. Finally, it must pass through your legal team. Several weeks—or sometimes months—later, the post winds up on your website—a tired, bland, and likely outdated version of its former self.

And you wonder why nobody is sharing your content on social media! Continue reading “Are You Suffocating Your Brand’s Content Without Even Realizing It?”

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Top Takeaways From the Content Boost Crash Course, Part 2: Afternoon Sessions

Looking back on the second half of yesterday’s Content Boost Crash Course, the word that comes immediately to mind is “action.” While the first half of the day was focused on educating attendees about the basics of content marketing—the ins and outs of blogging and the need to engage with customers via social media, for example—the afternoon was all about how to put those strategies into motion and move forward with an integrated, revenue-driven content marketing strategy.

shutterstock_134665622What is the best way to get started with content marketing in your organization? As Content Boost Director Carrie Majewski intimated during a presentation titled “Getting the Boss to Say Yes to Content Marketing,” approaching the boss about investing in content marketing may be intimidating. She advised participants to lay such fears aside, however, as, in truth, most decision makers are ready to move forward with content marketing. Majewski backed up her claim with a study from DNN which shows that the top three priorities for marketing executives are to acquire new customers (87 percent), increase customer retention (86 percent) and increase brand awareness (80 percent).
Continue reading “Top Takeaways From the Content Boost Crash Course, Part 2: Afternoon Sessions”

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Employee Spotlight: Five Minutes with Content Producer, Diana Bishop

DSCN1389It didn’t take long for Content Boost’s Diana Bishop to make a name for herself within the Content Boost family. Not only can this writing powerhouse pack a serious content marketing punch—she can crank out a pretty awesome case study—but she is also the first to give a warm “good morning” and friendly smile each day.

“Each day at Content Boost I bring my enthusiasm (I have a lot of it) to both my work and my interactions with my teammates,” Diana says. “I’m the type of person who feeds off the energy of others so I love when our group bursts into spontaneous conversation or when I get positive feedback from a client. It makes me love doing what I do when I can share great experiences with other people.”

Learn more about Diana in our latest five-minute catch up:

Continue reading “Employee Spotlight: Five Minutes with Content Producer, Diana Bishop”