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• Content Marketing – Alive & Well since 1895
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 10:40 am on March 12, 2012 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Content Marketing (62), Research (521), WOM Trends

  Back in 1895, the John Deere Company began publishing Furrow, a magazine that today has over 1.5 million subscribers in 40 countries. This early foray into content marketing started a slow burn that is finally truly igniting.

  Several reports and studies have emerged in the last few months that indicate 2012 will be a big year for Content Marketing. New channels like online video, social media and blogging still rank very high in marketers’ minds.

  Click image to enlarge

  

  The difficult part isn’t producing, it’s curating. Like advertising, media form and message deeply affect outcomes. Success isn’t a matter of participation. Anyone can write a blog post or make a video. Brands need to think hard about why and how they’ll do blog posts or videos.

  Key Takeaway: Creating content is more about being useful than anything else. Great content shows potential customers that you know your stuff and you’re happy to help. You can talk about strategies and ROI until you’re blue in the face, but never forget why you’re creating content.

  Read more at Lumenatti, ComBlu’s blog

  

  

   

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• 3.5 Reasons Pinterest out-socials Facebook
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 10:39 am on March 12, 2012 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Facebook (27), Pinterest (9), Twitter (8), WOM and Social Networks (702), WOM Trends

  Shiny object syndrome (SOS) has hit Pinterest. Or has it? SOS usually refers to flash-in-the-pan web properties. These usually have an interesting twist, like questions with Quora, that is quickly replicated on the primary social sites like Facebook and Twitter. Patrick Thoburn at Matchstick found 3.5 reasons Pinterest out-socials the other all-stars.

  Pinterest is different than other SOSs, or perhaps just timed really well. It resembles Delicious more than any other network. Pinning, like tagging/bookmarking, relies purely on content – original or otherwise. That’s the first difference.

  Discovery plays into Pinterest’s success and differentiation as well. It is more open than Twitter and Facebook because the content is more subject-based than user-based.

  That said, personal boards act as living mood boards. The visual nature of Pinterest shows who a person is much more than a list of Likes tells about a person.

  

  The last half reason? Friendsheet, a Facebook application that mimics Pinterest, was recently liked by Mark Zuckerberg.

  Read more at Matchstick’s blog

  

  

   

• Lightweight Content Marketing
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 10:59 am on March 7, 2012 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Content Marketing (62), WOM Trends, WOMM-U (30)

  For all the changes technology has brought, the steps to a relationship haven’t veered. Just like a friendship between two people, relationships between brands develop slowly through lightweight interactions.

  Paul Adams, the Global Brand Experience Manager at Facebook, has been developing this idea for a while, which he fully explained on his blog.

  Marketing and branding have about 150 years under their belt, but people have been building relationships forever. The way we build relationships is pretty well cemented. Small things, like a casual conversation at a party, open the door to what could be a long relationship. Add up several more lightweight interactions and you’ve got yourself a bona fide friend.

  The Great Personalization of Content

  Word of mouth marketing will play a large part in the brand version of this situation. To inspire lightweight mentions and recommendations, brands create reasons to be part of stories. Paul said, “…in the very near future, maybe 18-24 months, almost every website you visit will be personalized to you.”

  Key Takeaway: The goal for content is to be part of your customer’s life. One interaction after the next, they get closer and have more reason to share your brand with other.

  Read Paul’s full post at his blog, Think Outside In

  ———-

  Paul will Keynote WOMM-U, May 7-9 in Chicago. Registration for the conference is now open. More info here.

  

  

   

• Pinterest vs. Fancy
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 11:29 am on February 27, 2012 | 5 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Content Marketing (62), Startups (2), WOM Trends

  

  

  Good ideas often don’t stand alone. As Pinterest has blown up, a smaller pinning site has been laying some profitable groundwork.

  Fancy is a pinning site that announced on Thursday that it will now conduct eCommerce transactions directly. This is, perhaps, the one thing Pinterest is missing.

  Web content has become highly visual in the last few years. Pinterest and Fancy are tailored for this environment. But when it comes to the bottom line, eCommerce is probably the only way to turn pictures into profit.

  The Big Question

  To all the startup wonks out there – Is Fancy putting the cart before the horse? What’s to keep Pinterest from launching a similar function to their larger and faster growing user base?

  Read more about Fancy at Mashable

  

  

   

• Is Pinterest Right for Your Brand?
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 11:13 am on February 20, 2012 | 4 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Brands and WOM (503), Pinterest (9), WOM and Social Networks (702), WOM Trends

  The last 6 months have been huge for Pinterest. Their growth has inspired over 100 brands to begin pinning. So is it right for you? Maybe…

  Retailers: Yes

  Brands that are really blowing up on Pinterest are retailers. Right now, Etsy dominates – a natural choice considering how visually focused they have always been. eCommerce has always been a visual experience. Now retailers have an opportunity to have their wares pinned all over the internet in non-ad form.

  Everyone else: Maybe (sorry!)

  In social media, there are a lot of bandwagons to jump on. Smart brands don’t want to invest time and resources into social media that is just a flash in the pan or too niche for their customer base. Yes, Pinterest is driving lots of traffic and very popular. But unless Pinterest provides a real solution to a problem that already exists, hold back.

  Key Takeaway: Pinterest, like other social media, is a tool that might help your brand. However, it might not. Keep your goals close.

  But hey, Mark Zuckerberg just joined.

  Read more about Pinterest at The Digital Influence Mapping Project and MarketingProfs

  

  

   

• Research: Emails drive 1350% more traffic than social media
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 11:07 am on February 20, 2012 | 3 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Email Marketing (7), Research (521), WOM and Social Networks (702), WOM Trends

  Eloqua analyzed traffic data from 392 of their clients and found that social media is not threatening email referrals, not by a long shot.

  

  The “Social media will kill email” argument has been around for a long time without proper back up. Indeed, the data showed that social media referrals have increased 331% Q4 2010 to Q4 2011. Email opens saw a solid 27% increase over the same period.

  Key Takeaway: The correct argument would sound more like this, “Social media is growing in influence but still dwarfed by email.” It won’t make for great headlines, but it is true and should be considered in your marketing plan.

  Read more about Eloqua’s data at It’s All About Revenue

  

  

   

• Double your Content, not your Workload
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 11:27 am on February 17, 2012 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Content Creation (13), Content Marketing (62), Research (521), WOM How-to (591), WOM Trends, WOMM-U (30)

  Even the best content strategy fights the most difficult restriction: staff time. Sure, you could estimate how long it takes to write a blog post or develop an eBook. But when trying something new, it will take longer than expected more often than not.

  Rachel Foster wrote a great post for the Content Marketing Institute detailing produce more with less. According to the B2B Content Marketing: 2012 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends report, 60% of marketers plan on increasing or significantly increasing content marketing budgets.

  

  So what’s a marketer with a tight budget to do? Rachel had some answers:

  Start Big and Break it Down

  Large pieces of content take lots of time and often large parts of the marketing budget. If they miss their mark, a lot has been lost. Think about how you can break it up into several content pieces. For instance, instead of a one-hour webinar, try three 20 minute ones. Afterward, put snippets on your site with access to the full file through a lead capturing function.

  Or Start Small and Go Big

  Got a year’s worth of blog posts? Find the top ten and make an eBook. Spoke at a conference? Put the video on Slideshare in a slidedeck. Be sure to use your content to its full extent.

  Read more at the Content Marketing Institute

  ———-

  Have you proved great ROI through Content Marketing? Submit the case study for a speaking opportunity at WOMM-U, May 7 – 9. Submission deadline: March 9.

  

  

   

• Content Marketing vs. Social Media
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 11:51 am on February 15, 2012 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Content Marketing (62), WOM and Social Networks (702), WOM Trends

  A debate is brewing. Last week Michael Brenner, Senior Director at SAP and founder of Business2Community wrote a post “Will Content Marketing Kill Social Media?” Amanda Maksymiw, wrote a retort with a simple answer – No.

  Most social media work as very efficient content disseminators. The volume of content will not change that function. The quality, however, does affect the effectiveness of social media. One commenter, Ardath Albee, aptly asked:

  “Instead of ‘content marketing will destroy social media,’ how about ‘noise and selfishness will destroy social media?’”

  Key Takeaway: Social media are the cars and pieces of content are the drivers. If they’re bad drivers, there will be more congestion and frustration, but the road isn’t going anywhere.

  Read more about the debate at Influencer Marketing Review

  —–

  Have you done great stuff with content? Submit the case study for a speaking opportunity at WOMM-U, May 7 – 9. Submission deadline: March 9.

  

  

   

• B2B Salivates over Content Marketing
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 11:11 am on February 13, 2012 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Content Marketing (62), Research (521), WOM B2B (51), WOM Trends

  60% of B2B marketers plan to spend more on content marketing in the next twelve months. Content as a marketing tool grew widely throughout the last year and has produced some winning brand strategies.

  Mint.com, for instance, focused on becoming a financial information resource through their blog. Their expertise led people to try, use, then share their financial tracking app. American Express did something similar by creating OpenForum.com, a site that draws users to their financial services through relevant business articles.

  

  Key Takeaway: B2B has a long sales cycle. Building trust in the marketplace relies heavily on expertise. Creating content that proves your company’s worth will draw more eyes to your services and, more importantly, qualified leads to your doorstep.

  See the full infographic at eConsultancy

  

  

   

• The Engagement Challenge
  
  

  Pat McCarthy 11:30 am on February 10, 2012 | 0 Comments Permalink | Post Your Comment!
  Tags: Community Management (134), Engagement (5), Research (521), WOM Trends

  A recent McKinsey Quarterly study examined nearly 800 marketing executives and found that engagement is still their largest hurdle. One third of respondents labeled it as their most important challenges.

  

  Engagement 101

  Creating an engaging environment is not a one-size-fits all affair. Each community is different. Knowing the tools that will work best isn’t always easy. Ask yourself these questions:

  • Where are my target customers currently engaging?
  • Why are they engaging there? Good content? Great support?
  • Can we recreate that atmosphere? If not, can we participate where there already are?

  The answers to these questions will lead you to better engagement. Keep coming back to them to engagement high and sustainable.

  Read more about the report at MarketingProfs