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February 13, 2017

Do You Have a Plan to Scale Content Creation?

< All Articles    Content marketing seems simple enough…at first. You write content, then you publish it. I can’t help but be reminded of this scene from Mrs. Doubtfire : Daniel : What do I do? Tony : Well you take all these cans, you box ’em, you ship ’em. Then you box those cans over there, ship them, then more will come in. You box those, you ship those. Any questions? Daniel : After you box them…? Tony : You ship ’em. Lotsa luck, smartass For small marketing teams with one or two people, the content creation process can seem just as straightforward. Everyone is on the same page. You what’s being published and when. There are few points of failure. But what happens when the amount of content increases tenfold? What happens when you have 5, 10, or even 20 people contributing content on a […]

A Marketer’s Guide to Selecting the Best Images for Your Content

If you’re creating content without images, you’re missing a huge opportunity to increase engagement, reach a wider audience, and maximize conversions. We’re visual people, inherently drawn to content that contains rich, attractive images. Adding images to an online article can nearly double its views , and 67 percent of consumers say images are more important than product descriptions when making a purchase decision. Of course, just throwing any image into your content won’t catapult it to the top of the search results. Images need to be carefully selected and high quality and they need to add true value to your content . They should be visually appealing, relevant, and appropriate for your company and the marketing channel. The following guide will help you choose the right image for your next project. How Do You Choose the Right Images? When picking an image for your blog or online marketing effort, […]

How Data-Driven Insights Build Strong Brand Community

As humans, we like to feel like a community member. We strive to connect with others who share common interests, beliefs, and passions, both in person and online. We engage with the content that aligns with our interests and beliefs, and we ignore the rest. We share or follow what we believe to be valuable and hold meaning. Brands also want to feel like a community member and want to build meaningful connections with their customers. They know that today, consumers choose to purchase from the brands that align with their cultural identity and provide value beyond their purchases. “A strong brand community increases customer loyalty, lowers marketing costs, authenticates brand meanings, and yields an influx of ideas to grow the business.” – Harvard Business Review As explained in an article by 12/ahead, “Having the best or cheapest product on the market is not enough, if you can build […]

8 Old School Off-Page Optimization Techniques You Could be Penalized For

Search engine optimization never stands still. It must evolve quickly to stay on top of the algorithm updates released by Google’s never-resting R&D team. Neither digital marketers nor SEO professionals are machines who can easily upload and process dozens of GBs of data. We are humans, and it takes us time to research, learn, and adapt new promotion and optimization techniques to our everyday processes. It is difficult, so many prefer to stay inside their comfort zones until Google hits really hard. In this article, I’m not going to challenge you to leave your safe SEO waters. What I’m going to do, though, is dig deeper into the history of search engine optimization and cover old school off-page optimization methods, which will definitely get your site penalized by Google today. So, let’s start our time machine and get going! #1 Link Building with “Rented” Paid Links Nowadays, paid links […]

Live Content is Rising in Popularity

At the beginning of 2016, everybody was talking about how big video will be and how important it will become for every small, medium business or even enterprise. And as we can see, the video has become a big challenge for many brands out there that try to get some results with their content marketing strategy. But what the specialist didn’t say is what type of video will rise. We can have documentary videos, movie videos, ad videos, presentation videos, review videos or vlogs. Social media cannot be compared to the television or radio. People use social media because they want something different from this platform. They are tired of prepared shows and videos. They are tired of directed shows that they can’t pause whenever they want. The consumer wants to have the power of getting into the conversation and wants to be part of the experience. This is […]

9 (More) Lessons From the World’s Best Content Marketing Brands

I write for CMI regularly, and each year the post that garners the most interest shows content marketing examples from brands who are killing it from around the web (you can also see the posts from 2015 and 2016 ). Of course, brands are continually impressing me with lessons both big and small. Combined with an advanced knowledge of content marketing , these nine inspiring brands will help to skyrocket your own content marketing campaign. 1. Surprise your audience like GE GE’s tagline of “Imagination at Work” couldn’t possibly ring more true. The 125-year-old brand consistently comes up with new ways of employing content marketing and is known for successful strategies on every medium imaginable. Consider the company’s foray into science-fiction comic books. In the mid-1950s, GE began publishing a series of comic books to get children interested in science. In 2015, it partnered with Wattpad to reimagine the […]

Debunked: What Tech Do You Really Need to Run an Online Business?

online business tech If you want to start a restaurant or a hair salon you’re going to need tens (or hundreds) of thousands of dollars worth of equipment before you can even open your doors. But online businesses aren’t quite the same – especially if you work from home and start small. Sure, there are some larger tech startups that needed millions of dollars of capital before they get up and running, but for most of us the barriers-to-entry are a lot lower. Seeing as I regularly get asked about the technology/equipment that I use to run my blogging company, I thought I’d do a post highlighting what I think are the essentials, and what you can leave behind. Let’s take a look. NOTE: None of the links in this post are affiliate links as I didn’t think it would fit with the “feel” of the subject. Essential tech: […]

Why Comedy Central Is Replacing Commercials With Branded Content

Your eyes are glued to the screen as you watch your favorite TV show. The writers are about to reveal a huge secret about your favorite character. Then, just as you’re about to find out the details, commercials come on. You immediately mute the screen and start scrolling through Instagram. Even photos of your friend’s latte are more interesting than a 30-second spot for wrinkle cream. Anyone who watches television knows how frustrating that process can be. For networks and advertisers, the frustration is starting to impact them as well. That’s why Comedy Central has decided enough is enough—it wants to keep viewers hooked, even during its commercial breaks. Now, instead of a series of short spots, the network has started airing a custom two-and-half minute “ linear commercial pod ” once per month. In other words, Comedy Central is experimenting with the televised version of branded content. While […]

Refurbishing Top Content – Whiteboard Friday

You’ve got top-performing content on your site that does really well. Maybe it’s highly converting, maybe it garners the most qualified traffic — but it’s just sitting there gathering dust. Isn’t there something else you can do with content that’s clearly proven its worth? As it turns out, there is! In today’s Whiteboard Friday, Moz’s resident SEO and Content Architect, Britney Muller, shares three easy steps for identifying, repurposing, and republishing your top content to juice every drop of goodness out of it. Click on the whiteboard image above to open a high-resolution version in a new tab! Video Transcription Hey, Moz fans, welcome to another edition of Whiteboard Friday. I’m Britney Muller, Moz’s SEO and Content Architect, and I’m so excited to talk to you today about refurbishing your top content. Any of you watching likely have top content, either on your site or a client’s site, that […]

65 Million Articles Are Published Each Month – Can Yours Stand Out?

Actually, it’s a lot more than 65 million articles – that’s just the number published on the WordPress platform! There are a lot of blogs out there. So, in a world where everyone wants to start a blog and everyone else is publishing their opinions on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, how do we make ours stand out? Is it even possible? In today’s post I’m going to look at a few strategies I’ve used over the years to help my blogs and online businesses get noticed and stand out from the crowd. I hope it helps a few people out there who are trying to make a bit of extra income for their families, or create happier careers. Let’s go. But what about all that competition? When you look at the sheer number of blogs and blog posts created each month it can seem a little overwhelming. How on […]