brand strategy

07/08/2013

HBO’s ‘Girls’ as Content Marketers: Who Would You Be?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m a proud HBO addict. Every single Sunday night of the year is strictly set aside for curling up on the couch and watching one of my favorite HBO series, one of which is Girls. A relatively young series, Girls follows the life of four 20-something Brooklynites – Hannah, Jessa, Marnie and Shoshanna – as they confusingly navigate through life. Each character has chief characteristics that make her stand out and seem relatable to all of us – whether you have a bad case of the mid-20’s or are old enough to be these girls’ parent. This got me thinking…what would the foursome of Girls look like if they were all content marketers?

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07/05/2013

Mastering the Art of Writing Shorter

Hands down, the biggest challenge for me throughout college was learning how to write shorter. Prior to mastering this art, I would sit down, get comfortable and then go to town on my assignment. Whether it was an end of the year research paper for my American history course, a short essay for that Intro to Philosophy class or a story for my fiction writing seminar, it always turned out the same: pages proliferated with beautifully unnecessary jargon that made the final product spill over into an insanely long document. While it was well-crafted and still read fluently, it was invaded by words that could have been omitted, sentences that could have been consolidated and phrases that sometimes didn’t even belong. Ouch.

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07/01/2013

SMS Marketing Isn’t Dead, and I’ve Got the Proof That Says So

I never in a million years thought that text message marketing was still a “thing.” Oh, but it is. It is a very real thing. I didn’t come to realize this fact until I became part of an SMS marketing campaign that was executed perfectly. Allow me to tell you the story of how I was awakened to the world of text message marketing potential.

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06/26/2013

ContentGems’ New Hootsuite Integration Will Skyrocket Your Content Marketing Capabilities

I love Twitter. It wasn’t love at first sight, but after getting to know the social platform better and, more importantly, understanding how it can optimize my content marketing agenda, it quickly stole my heart. However today, it’s not enough anymore to just follow people on Twitter. It’s not enough to follow Gartner if you’re in the tech space; you’re missing the mark if you’re only following Bobby Flay as an aspiring chef; and it just doesn’t cut it anymore to follow that top social media influencer or communications strategist as a content marketer.

Content marketers are being pushed now more than ever to proactively find exciting content and deliver this content to its target audience as quickly as possible. In other words, there’s always a way to further surpass standard practices to find those “diamonds in the rough” type of material. While Twitter is great to get you started, it’s certainly not an end-all solution. This is where platforms like Hootsuite come in.

I might just be addicted to Hootsuite. In my ever-filled tab bar throughout the day, Hootsuite’s infamous owl icon serves as my content marketing compass. It’s a directional guide of which I can always return to manage, organize and discover new content from those I’m following and keeping a close eye on.

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06/24/2013

The Rise of Native Advertising for Content Marketing

Have you ever been on the Web and seen an article that really appeals to your interests, only to find that it’s an advertisement? All of a sudden that really funny, interesting, insightful article you couldn’t wait to explore is stripped bare, exposing its true identity: A fallacious marketing ploy to gain your attention. This type of scheme – called an “advertorial” – can feed a customer’s distrust in a company rather than destroy it. And that’s exactly where native advertising comes into the picture.

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06/19/2013

Foursquare’s ‘Time Machine’: A Content Marketer’s New Best Friend

When the commanding forces of social and mobile combined – widely known as the “social revolution” – companies were pushed to accelerate content marketing strategies to further engage existing customers, to pique the interest of those uninterested and to keep their brand at the forefront of as many churning minds as possible.

Having said that, we’ve read countless articles jam-packed with pieces of advice about how Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Instagram can help secure leads, increase traffic and establish companies as thought leaders in their respective spaces. I don’t know about you, but it’s all beginning to morph into one giant, redundant social marketing entity. Where’s the splash of uniqueness that keeps these words of wisdom fresh? That’s exactly what sparked the light bulb above my head when I caught wind of a new tool, Foursquare Time Machine.

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06/17/2013

Everything You Need to Know About Using Vine for Content Marketing – Part 2

In part one of this series, we discussed the basics of Vine and why it should play an integral role in your company’s content marketing strategy. However, knowing the history of this mobile video sharing app and what it is simply isn’t enough to augment sales, bolster brand awareness and secure leads.

Sure, it helps to know that Vine videos are four times more likely to be shared than branded online videos and that four days worth of YouTube videos are shared on Twitter every minute. But, in today’s image-centric and social media driven world, it is most vital to know how this critical tool can be leveraged to support your unique business objectives. Otherwise, these numbers have no meaning.

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06/12/2013

Content Marketing and Flying Sushi

If you haven’t heard yet, YO! Sushi, a London-based chain, is setting the bar for virtually everyone on how to keep things fresh, exciting and innovative.

It isn’t uncommon for pioneers of a ground-breaking movement to feel that their efforts go to waste once the trend they carefully fostered becomes widespread. In doing so, some feel that a once a game-changing decision can become devalued after going mainstream. Think about it; the commercialization of grunge rock in the 90’s, the emergence of social media over the last decade, and the advent of the smartphone.

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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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