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Time Out: Let’s Talk About Your Content Marketing Strategy

When the time comes for Kobe Bryant to hang up his uniform and retire, he will be on the fast track to the Basketball Hall of Fame. With five championship rings on his fingers, four All-Star game MVPs in 14 appearances, a record of 15 All-NBA selections and 12 All-Defensive team awards, Bryant has become a household name throughout the world. His brand is recognized everywhere from Los Angeles to Beijing.

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You could imagine the shock, then, for Boston College students when but a few minutes into a recent lecture on how the NBA is a model for successful international marketing, the door to the class opened and in walked Bryant himself.

“It was surreal,” explained Professor Nick Nugent when about the experience.

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When was the Last Time You Had a Conversation with Your Consumers?

phootWhen was the last time you were prompted to buy something after seeing a television commercial, a billboard or a newspaper ad? Now think back to the last time you made a purchase after receiving an email, reading a blog or seeing an ad on social media. If you’re like me—and I’m assuming most of you are—then you’ve probably done the latter. Continue reading “When was the Last Time You Had a Conversation with Your Consumers?”

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Three Ways You Never Thought to Use Social Media for ROI—Until Now

ROIAccording to an aggregated video composed by Erik Qualman, author of “Socialnomics,” the return on investment (ROI) of social media is that your business will still exist in five years.

That’s a big claim to make, and many brands are still plagued by the question of whether social media drives real ROI. However, on the other side of companies’ inhibitions lies research and testimonies that keep proving the value of social media to be true. For instance, Coffee Groundz, a midtown neighborhood coffee shop, reported a 20-30 percent increase in company sales and market share via Twitter.

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My Three Favorite Social Content Marketing Campaigns of 2013

I don’t know about you but for me, 2013 was a prominent year for content marketing. In the past—say, five years ago—things were so much different. Just take a look at the Content Marketing Institute’s list of 2009 content marketing predictions, where industry pundits were calling social media a “new frontier” for marketing.

It’s amazing to think just how far companies have come with the use of social media for content marketing purposes. Just yesterday, industry figures were applauding companies that paved the way by making corporate Twitter accounts. Today, a company is expected to have a maximum 60-minute response time on social media and can lose credibility with just a single spelling error in a post.

The reins are being tightened and companies have been forced to jump through more hoops than they care to admit this year. This pressure suffocated some brands and enabled others to rise to the top. Here are three social media content marketing campaigns that I think absolutely killed it in 2013. (Take note: these guys took the social marketing bar and raised it a few notches).

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Three Easy Ways to Instantly Engage More Customers Using Your Facebook Page

facebookSay what you will, but Facebook still reigns as one of the world’s top social networks. According to the latest study by GlobalWebIndex.com, Facebook boasts a nearly 50 percent utilization rate by active Internet users worldwide. Facebook usage is also highest in North America with a 59 percent utilization rate among active users. Meanwhile, Google+ only achieves 15 percent and Twitter 25 percent.

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Three Content Marketing Questions to Ask Yourself Before 2014

shutterstock_160206998I don’t know about you, but I gave up on the whole New Year’s resolution thing awhile ago. It’s not that I wasn’t keeping my resolutions; it was that I found it much more impactful to do a self-reflection at the end of every year and think more thematically about the type of person I want to be as opposed to one or two things to tackle for the upcoming year. After all, it feels silly to say things like “I will eat more spinach in 2014” and more aspiring to say “I will be a more health-conscious.”

The end of the year is not only an opportune time for you to personally reflect on areas you would like to improve upon, but it’s also a critical time to encourage your business to ask those ever-important questions. As a marketer, there are a multitude of strategies and tactics you can implement in 2014, so to help you navigate your best course, here are a couple of key questions to get you started: Continue reading “Three Content Marketing Questions to Ask Yourself Before 2014”

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Three Quick Tips for Retailers to Optimize Their Mobile Holiday Content Marketing Strategy

mobile holidayThis year’s holiday season lines up on the calendar so that it is six days shorter than usual. For consumers, being just a week shy of the regular holiday hustle may mean less stress and a quicker winter season; however, for retailers, this shortcoming represents the potential disturbance of their annual holiday profits. In fact, these six days could potentially cost retailers $1.5 billion in lost sales, according to a new survey commissioned by Adobe Digital Index.

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Holiday Shopping Made Easy with Social Media

Santa Carrying Shopping BagsSearching for the perfect holiday gift to spoil yourself or that special someone? Instead of scouring hundreds of stores only to come up short, try checking out your social media feeds for some holiday shopping inspiration.

According to a recent infographic by Crowdtap, a collaborative social marketing platform, almost 65 percent of shoppers use social media to search for gifts, while 70 percent purchase items they’ve found on social media. Moreover, social media and peer recommendations have proven to have an enormous influence on the habits of holiday shoppers.

In fact, 90 percent of recently surveyed participants said they trust social media recommendations more than any other form of advertising, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. Shopping for holiday gift ideas on social media is like having all your closest friends shopping with you except there are no long lines, pesky salespeople, or crowds of unruly shoppers.

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Twelve Sunny Social Statistics to Warm Up Your Frigid Content Marketing Strategy

winterDepending on your personal tastes and preferences, now could be either the worst or best time of the year to inhabit the seasonally unpredictable corner of the northeastern United States. I’m a part of the former group of people, as I love the summer and cannot stand the winter (while, it cannot be disputed that the first snowfall of the season is beautiful, that frosty feeling of goodness fades away just as quickly as it stirs within you).

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