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2013 Halloween Marketing Methods: The Amazing and the Plain Terrifying

Every holiday of the year essentially opens the floodgates for marketing madness – including the good, the bad and the very ugly. As children anxiously wait for night to fall so they can go door to door to collect their sweet treats, content marketers are gearing up to send out their holiday-inspired messages, which, as we all have witnessed year after year, either hit the nail directly on the head or completely miss the mark. The former is a fulfilling victory while the latter is awkward, unwanted and unrelatable.

Content marketing is all about creating unique, custom-tailored content – not content that stretches things too thin and, in doing so, makes readers question why it was created in the first place. Let’s take a look at some marketing ploys that are fresh off the press as we enjoy Halloween this year (a.k.a. eating way too many munchkins, candy and cookies that are sporadically spread around the office).

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New Content Marketing Study Reveals Astronomical Growth of LinkedIn

social mediaIt’s always a good fight in the content marketing arena; in one corner we have the blog and in the other the eNewsletter; while video is getting prepped for the next round, the infographic is making its way into the boxing ring; meanwhile, whitepapers and case studies have been duking it out to no end. Between all of these messy matches, though, appears to be one consistent winner—one content marketing tactic that remains triumphant over all: social media.

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Top Five Content Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

mistakesThere’s no doubt that content marketing is the most popular inbound marketing strategy on the block. In fact, 93 percent of B2B marketers utilize content marketing, while 58 percent plan to increase their spending in this area in 2014, according to Content Marketing Institute’s “B2B Content Marketing 2014 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends” report.

Although this burgeoning strategy has shown no signs of slowing down, there are still many mistakes being made by companies big and small. Below are the top five content marketing mistakes and ways in which businesses can avoid them. Continue reading “Top Five Content Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them”

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The Walking Dead: Content Marketing Edition

Horror drama series The Walking Dead transports millions of viewers each week into a post-apocalyptic world seen through the eyes of a group of Southerner survivalists as they deal with flesh-eating “walkers.” The show is widely known and well-received for its portrayal of an exponentially disruptive second world – and how one group of strategic individuals makes it through day-by-day.

TWD Continue reading “The Walking Dead: Content Marketing Edition”

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Getting a Handle on Your Pumpkin Pie, Apple Cider and Content Marketing Ingredients

pumpkin pieCan I just say fall is my most absolute favorite season? For all you beach-going, BBQ-obsessed people out there, this may come as a shock, but honestly, if I lived in a land that was 68 degrees and sunny every day, I would be as happy as a clam. From the beautiful foliage to the bumpy hay rides to the autumn sweaters, fall is my nirvana.

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Cinnabon, Breaking Bad and Pure Content Marketing Magic

Full disclosure: I’m only in season three of Breaking Bad.

There are a few times in a company’s existence – if any – where the stars align just so, inviting the pearly gates of content marketing heaven to thrust open and outpour a surge of selling genius upon those who lie in waiting. This doesn’t happen often; however, the rare – and extremely profitable – occurrence came to fruition for one very lucky Omaha, Neb.-based Cinnabon.

That’s right – the sickeningly sweet treat that all of us hate to admit we eat when we stop at the mall (don’t deny it) has hit the content marketing jackpot thanks to an offhand mention on AMC’s critically-acclaimed crime drama series, Breaking Bad.

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The Surprising and Not-So Surprising Demographics of Social Networks

social mediaSome things in life just go better together – for instance, peanut butter and jelly, milk and cookies, Barbie and Ken, Batman and Robin. The same could be said about content marketing and social media. Social media has become an integral part of businesses’ content marketing strategies, helping to amplify customer engagement, boost lead generation and spread brand awareness.

B2B marketers are using a number of social media platforms to distribute content more frequently than they did last year, according to Content Marketing Institute’s “B2B Content Marketing 2014 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends –North America” study. In fact, marketers are now using an average of six social platforms, compared to just five last year. Continue reading “The Surprising and Not-So Surprising Demographics of Social Networks”

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Top Three Social Tools Every Content Marketer Should Consider

content marketing strategyWhether you work for a large firm with an international customer base, an enterprise with multiple clients or a smaller company operating with a stricter budget, one thing remains true: the business of managing social media can easily get hairy. So, for every content marketer in the world, there should be a handy tool by his or her side. Continue reading “Top Three Social Tools Every Content Marketer Should Consider”

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How to Use Social Media Contests to Generate Leads

social-trophies1Let’s face it; there’s nothing exciting about lead generation. In fact, it can be extremely frustrating. You spend days crafting a compelling eNewsletter and months creating a killer company blog, but the number of leads coming in aren’t what you expected. If this sounds familiar, then maybe it’s time to think outside box and liven up your lead generation strategy.  Continue reading “How to Use Social Media Contests to Generate Leads”

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Can You Handle the 21st Century Customer?

customer serviceSpend just a few minutes with your existing and prospective customers—or just two minutes scanning your Twitter news stream—and one sentiment resounds loud and clear: we are in the Age of the Consumer, one characterized by a customer who is more informed, demanding and expectant than perhaps we have ever seen. Just consider the following statistics aggregated in a great LinkedIn post:

  • For every customer complaint there are 26 other unhappy customers who have remained silent.
  • 96 percent of unhappy customers don’t complain, however 91 percent of those will simply leave and never come back.
  • 70 percent of buying experiences are based on how customers feel they are being treated.

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