content Archives - Page 5 of 5

February 3, 2017February 3, 2017

How to Build a Better Lead Form

Say you’re walking on the sidewalk, minding your own business on the way back from lunch, when you lock eyes with a street canvasser. The canvasser, dressed in some ill-fitting mesh vest and a visor, gets ready to sell you on a good cause. You want to support the cause, but you also hate the intrusion of the hard sell and don’t want to give away your personal information. She opens her mouth to initiate small talk, but you walk right by, avoiding eye contact and trying to stifle the guilt. Lead forms are the canvassers of the marketing world. In any exchange of value, both sides need to evaluate whether they’re getting something useful in return. On the street, it’s not worth it for most people to take out a credit card and hand over sensitive information to donate to a charity when they can just do so […]

What Would Steve Jobs Do? and 5 Other Stories You Should Read

Here’s what you missed while taking solace in the fact that you aren’t as dumb as these two people … The New Yorker: Doomsday Prep For The Super-Rich Selected by Dillon Baker, tech editor As the Doomsday Clock ticks closest to midnight since 1953 , the elite of American society are preparing their apocalyptic retreats, and no expense is being spared. Fears of AI, technological job displacement, wealth inequality, climate change, and failing institutions have all led to an extravagant prepper movement among tech executives and hedge fund managers. The rub here is that most of these Doomsday preppers have made their massive wealth from the very industries that helped spur the changes they fear, which some of the preppers readily admit. As Evan Osnos writes: “Faced with evidence of frailty in the American project, in the institutions and norms from which they have benefitted, some are permitting themselves […]

Take Complete Charge of Your Content

< All Articles    In 2016, content was in supreme power expected to be delivered in the form of compelling, personalized and interactive stuff that can be rated well and ranked high in all search engines. Overall, the strategy of content marketing saw a significant shift in 2016 compared to a year ago. The year 2017 is predictable. Brands, big or small are slowly preparing themselves to deliver value added real-time contextual content with videos, images, GIFs and infographics. Content creators and marketers get a chance to enrich their customers with a more personalized content, those that can add value to the brands and those that can stand out. The key point here is to keep appearing with different sets of quality content. But, the majority of the marketers are still lacking the confidence to take complete control of their contents. Campaigning such content is no doubt […]

Enough Already About the Value of Content

There’s a simple way to fix all the bad content brands publish: spend time with your audience I am sick of reading everyone’s trends for 2017 about content value: “For 2017 it’s not quantity, it’s quality.” “Marketers will be producing for value, not volume.” “You’ll see better content out there, not more content out there.” Right. Because marketers are always looking to produce content with no value. Makes a lot of sense. Let’s publish a lot of nonsense and see if we can do our jobs with it. As long as we check that box off on the editorial calendar (that no one is looking at, ever), we will be “getting it done.” Stop, Stop, Stop You know what the real problem is? Someone (a lot of people) had to write about what was going to happen in 2017. And this ‘everyone’ knows we’re producing way too much content […]

How to Stop Overthinking Your Content and Start Writing What Your Customers Love

You might find it hard to believe, but content doesn’t have to be game-changing to perform well and achieve its objectives. In my experience, a lot of marketers are fixated on creating that “perfect” piece of content. They tell themselves they won’t settle for anything less, but the reality is that what they wind up creating is rarely as revolutionary as they hoped it would be. There are a few reasons why. Perfectionism isn’t healthy It causes stress, which in turn can cause high blood pressure, cardiovascular problems, and increased susceptibility to infection, and much more. If that’s not enough to worry you, consider this: However hard we try – perfection is unattainable . Perfecting your content is unhealthy, and on top of that, you’re setting yourself up for failure. That brings me nicely to this next point. ‘Create the best content ever’ isn’t a tangible goal If you […]

A System for Easily Publishing Consistently Great Content – A Pamela Wilson Series

This five-part series is a guest contribution from Pamela Wilson of Big Brand System . Content marketing works — you know that. It’s one big reason you read ProBlogger! You like the content here and you want to learn more about how to create it yourself. It’s all well and good to talk about how to write content effectively, of course. But at some point, you’ve got to actually do it. Regularly. Content marketing works best when it’s done consistently over time. One single piece of well-written content won’t turn your business around. It’s the act of creating and publishing useful content over time that creates business results. Prospects and customers begin to trust you when you show up and are helpful week after week. You become like a wise friend who’s always there to lend a hand. Which, of course, can seem like an incredibly daunting task and […]

How Virtual Reality Could Change Content Marketing

No longer the domains of ultra-early adopters and video gamers, virtual reality and augmented reality are poised to take off in the coming 24 months. “We see qualities in VR/AR technology that can take this from niche-use case to a device as ubiquitous as the smartphone,” Goldman Sachs Research wrote in its Virtual and Augmented Reality report. More consumers are expecting to see the power of virtual reality too. According to Greenlight Insights 62% of consumers say they would feel more engaged with a brand that sponsors a VR experience and 71% of consumers think a brand is forward-thinking if it uses virtual reality. Expert insight Sarah Hill is the CEO and chief storyteller for StoryUP, one of the early pioneers in virtual reality for brands. She explains why VR is finally gaining a foothold, and what marketers should understand before they dive in. CCO: Describe what virtual reality […]

The 7 Traits of Successful Content Marketers

One of the most influential authors of my personal and career journey is Napoleon Hill. Napoleon Hill’s classic Think and Grow Rich was first published in 1937. Now, in its 80th anniversary year, Mr. Hill’s lessons are still extremely relevant and valuable. I had the opportunity to dust off my copy of Think and Grow Rich (from 1960, with dog-eared and coffee-stained pages) a few weeks back during the holiday break. In its relation to content marketing, I noticed some clear takeaways that most corporate marketers simply do not embrace. In the book, 15 powerful chapters are helpful to all individuals, but seven chapters were spot-on relevant to content marketing . Here are quotes from the seven chapters with my notes for each one. Caution from Joe: The book is extremely chauvinistic. If you read it, just prepare yourself for that. 1. Desire “Whatever the mind can conceive and […]

10 Questions to Assess Your Organization’s Commitment to Search

Many organizations say they’re committed to search. But the proof is in the search experience It’s easy for an organization to say it’s committed to providing a good search experience. But something gets lost between the promise and the delivery, resulting in hours of wasted effort and employee dissatisfaction […]