Latest Updates: Blog Marketing RSS

• 15 Easy Fixes to B2B Blogs
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 11:10 am on January 16, 2012 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Blog Marketing, Blogs (42), WOM B2B (47), WOM How-to (575)

  It’s one thing to start a B2B blog. The work really begins when creating and promoting the content. Done correctly, a blog can generate a lot of leads. Consider this:

  

  Hubspot recently released an eBook that offers easy fixes to common blog problems. Among their tips were:

  1. Too Much Promotion – You like leads, but your reader wants to learn. Post content that shows your expertise. People like to hire experts, not relentless self-promoters.

  2. Publishing Infrequently/Inconsistently – Pick a schedule and stick to it. People expect a regular frequency for blogs. You don’t have to post every day. Just stay on top of it.

  

  3. Failing to Cross Promote – If you have a blog, you probably have a Facebook page and Twitter account. Share your new posts to cross pollinate your audiences. It will strengthen engagement and reduce the amount of time spent on generating content.

  Download the full eBook from HubSpot

  

  

   

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• 15 Trends & Takeaways from Summit 2011 Attendees
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 9:48 am on January 5, 2012 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Blog Marketing, Community Management (123), Content Marketing (38), Creative WOM Ideas (244), Summit 2011 (13), WOM Trends (718)

  Last November, 471 word of mouth thinkers and doers gathered in Las Vegas for WOMMA’s annual Summit conference. We designed the conference to examine every angle of word of mouth marketing – from content to measurement, concepting to ROI.

  NM Incite partnered with us to gather dynamite attendee learnings into a free eBook – TNT Trends & Takeaways. Contributors hail from worldwide agencies to up-and-coming startups; Directors of Marketing to CEOs.

  

  Download Here

  Highlights include:

  · Data on the most talkable topics, speakers and Keynotes

  · Insights into Paid, Earned, Owned, and Shared Media

  · Measuring ROI through data and dynamics

  · Advocacy Word of Mouth Marketing

  Excerpts:

  Understanding Word of Mouth Measurement Through its Dynamics

  To measure success, marketers have to understand word of mouth dynamics and information flows unique to their category. Are consumers more likely to talk about the brand online or offline? What does that mean for marketing and sales?

  - Idil Cakim VP of Client Development, NM Incite

  ———-

  A Push Towards Advocacy

  It’s not enough to just acquire fans/followers because any good media buy or acquisition campaign will do that. It’s now about converting an acquaintance (i.e. fan/follower) to a BFF… After all, I’d rather have 1 best friend than 10 acquaintances.

  - Joe Fairless Management Supervisor, Mr Youth

  ———-

  The Era of Real-Time Marketing

  The traditional Marketing approach of “learn, then do” must be turned on its head as consumers will tell us what is relevant and meaningful in real time and we must respond immediately, doubling down on what works and shutting down what doesn’t… “Learn Do” has become “Do Learn”.

  - Chris Laird CEO, P&G Tremor

  Download the full eBook

  

  

   

• 4 Reasons Not to Fear Content Marketing
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 8:38 am on November 11, 2011 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Blog Marketing, Content Marketing (38)

  We’ve covered content marketing in the Word many times before. But if you’re still on the fence, Matt Snodgrass of MarketingProfs wrote out four great reasons to hop off.

  1. You’re Probably Already Doing it – Content is such a broad term, that it probably describes something you already do. Blog posts? That’s content. Brochures? That’s content. Find ways to repurpose these materials into webinars, infographics, podcasts, etc.

  2. You Know How to Recycle – You’ve probably heard “Reduce, Recycle, Reuse” before. Focus on the last one. Reusing your content is an easy and effective way to produce more. 20 blog posts could make an ebook. A webinar could become a whitepaper.

  3. Videos Work – You don’t need a production crew to video your top sales rep speaking about your product. Edit the video with free software like iMovie. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just interesting and informative. And be sure to end with a call to action for your product.

  4. Everything is Interrelated – Once you start producing content, link back to older content. Keep that content tail long and strong to be sure you squeeze every last lead out your work.

  Read Matt’s tips in depth at MarketingProfs

  

  

   

• Building a Content Supply Chain
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 10:04 am on September 16, 2011 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Blog Marketing, Content Marketing (38), Research (498)

  Over the summer, ComBlu published an eBook titled Content Supply Chain. One chapter examined the role that people play a part in your content. They found that brands who invest the time and resources to build and nurture an advocate base:

  1. Are 70% more likely to be seen as a reliable source

  2. Increased conversations by 166% through amplification and referrals

  3. Are 50% more likely to create content that influences a purchase

  Download the eBook at ComBlu

  Kathy Baughman, President/Co-Founder of ComBlu, will be a speaker at WOMMA’s Chicago Talkable Brands Exchange on Thurs. Sept. 22. Her session is titled “Building a Meaningful Measurement Strategy.”

  ComBlu is a WOMMA member.

  

  

   

• Case Study: Group Blogging Lessons from a Small Business
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 10:55 am on September 14, 2011 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Blog Marketing, Case Study (13), Influencers (57), International (107), WOM How-to (575)

  Ici et here is a blog for a small organic food and goods shop in Montreal, FAIT ICI. They found 52 local Montrealer foodies to write posts about stories that interplay food and life in Montreal. Their goals were simple: Get great content for owned media, generate earned media attention, and build relationships with local influencers.

  Did it work? In short, yes, quite well. Their website was robust with content. That content drove comments, blog posts, tweets, news pieces and a 100% increase to owned media. And their bloggers have continued to engage FAIT ICI in the store and outside.

  What did they learn?

  Perhaps the most interesting part of the cited post is what they learned from making a group blog.

  1. It all starts with goals and metrics.

  2. Have an editorial calendar and slot in your authors VERY early in the process.

  3. Having a broad rubric instead of forcing authors to write on specific topics was helpful to us.

  4. Select your authors carefully.

  Read the rest of the lessons learned and successes of the program at Communications Conversations

  

  

   

• Content Supply Chain Advice from ComBlu
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 10:18 am on August 10, 2011 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Blog Marketing, Blogs (42), Content Creation (10), Content Marketing (38)

  ComBlu recently released an eBook for brands struggling with the realities of now being a publisher. Anyone who works in content management knows that creation and publication are just the first steps.

  The 33 page book is a bit hard to summarize in this format (that being one of the difficulties of content production.) But the overall theme of the book focuses on producing relevant, sharable and effective content that drives sales. The graphic below serves as a good visualization.

  

  Key Takeaway: Notice how the process loops after Measurement? Content production is never a static task. Constant evaluation is imperative to success.

  Download the full eBook at ComBlu

  

  

   

• 3 Reasons Why Relevant Content Matters
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 9:59 am on July 15, 2011 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Blog Marketing, Blogs (42), Content Creation (10), Content Marketing (38), WOM How-to (575)

  Content draws accolades day in and day out. But if your brand’s content isn’t relevant to the reader, it’s a wasted effort.

  “The Edelman Trust Barometer indicates that individuals need to hear/read/see things three to five times before they actually believe it.” –Michael Brito

  Your all of your content needs to drive to a your goals. In the cited article, Michael Brito offers three reasons why relevant content is critical:

  1. Relevant content adds to the conversation – First find the naturally occurring conversation that correlates to your goals and then figure out a way for your content to add to that conversation.

  2. Relevant content positions the brand as a trusted advisor - As more people see your work and how it elevates the community, more will be driven to your brand.

  3. Relevant content is authentic but more importantly, believable – Your customer has their guards up against charlatans. If your content isn’t relevant, you’ll be ignored.

  Read the in depth article at Social Media Explorer

  

  

   

• The Content Grid v2
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 11:16 am on June 29, 2011 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Blog Marketing, Blogs (42), Content Marketing (38), Microblogging (76), Research (498), WOM How-to (575)

  If I had a nickel for every time I heard that content is king, I’d be knee-deep. Guidance on what content connects with which consumers in what place has been lacking.

  The folks over at the Content Marketing Institute recently released their second version of The Content Grid.

  

  You’ll see that it is organized by the stage of knowledge and interest a potential customer has against their closeness to purchase.

  How to use this: Take an inventory of what you are currently doing. Compare it to the chart and see if you are missing any content opportunities.

  See the full chart and read more at the Content Marketing Institute and Eloqua

  

  

   

• BTW Slideshare is a Content Goldmine
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 9:11 am on June 24, 2011 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Blog Marketing, Community Management (123), Creative WOM Ideas (244), WOM and Social Networks (683)

  If Twitter is the thought stream of the world and Facebook is the social graph, then Slideshare is the content goldmine. For marketing in particular, there are thousands of useful presentations with great takeaways posted, many from exclusive events.

  Arik Hanson compiled a solid list of marketing presentations on:

  1. Blogger relations
  2. Social media disasters
  3. Facebook marketing
  4. Content strategy
  5. And community management

  Weekend Homework: Find something amazing on Slideshare and post it on this blog, share it with your friends and pontificate Slideshare’s value.

  Read Arik’s full post at Communications Conversations

  

  

   

• Inbound Marketing: What’s the Hold Up?
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 9:38 am on June 1, 2011 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Blog Marketing, Blogs (42), Inbound Marketing (4), WOM and Small Business (35)

  HubSpot’s “2011 State of Inbound Marketing Report” found that small businesses are adopting inbound techniques much faster than big businesses.

  

  This is despite the overwhelming growth of the importance of leads generated through inbound techniques.

  

  The sluggishness of many larger businesses may be to blame. But it could also have to do with the fact that many traditional lead generation techniques still work.

  This won’t work forever though. SEO is critical to any company because their webpage is, in most cases, the first impression. Blogs and social media factor into SEO. They are digital embassies that lead to your website, your main digital hub.

  Read more about the report at ClickZ