Neil Patel says, “Engagement! Everyone wants engagement from their content. The problem is we’re not quite sure of the best way to get it. Engagement is one area in which content marketing is more art than science. Even though there are no formulas to predict engagement, there are patterns of success. Here are five things you should add to every blog post to increase engagement. But first, what is engagement? Since engagement is the whole point of this article, it’s important to define terms. Many of the how-to articles on online engagement simply gloss over the missing definition of... [...]

Kevin Lee says, “Successful content marketing means putting a lot of thought into content strategy and execution. Who exactly are you writing content for? What specific problems do your audience segments experience and how can you best address these needs? Where – besides your own site or blog – are the opportunities for giving your intellectual property more exposure? Establishing answers involves persona research and/or audience polls, general research, and a careful assessment of the content resources at your disposal. But to really excel, you’ve got to think beyond them. What... [...]

Baer says, “Content is king. You already knew that, though. If you’ve been in the content marketing industry for any amount of time, you’ve heard this statement. Content marketing is an abyss, a black hole that we fall into every day because we’re trying to build a congregation and a fellowship of readers. We already know that content is king. We serve it everyday. We are the serfs to this master because true content brings us everything we want… if we do it correctly. But Content isn’t alone. You may have heard this next statement too, although it’s not as popular”. Why... [...]

Chris Bibey says, “John Wooden won 620 games as the head men’s basketball coach of UCLA. From 1964 to 1975, he led his team to 10 NCAA National Championships. While the game of basketball has seen many great coaches over the years, many consider the “Wizard of Westwood” the best of the best. When Wooden was roaming the sidelines 40 years ago, there was no internet, no content marketing, no Twitter or Facebook. While the world has changed a lot since then, due in large part to the use of technology, many of Wooden’s famous quotes can be implemented in the world of content marketing”. What... [...]

Baer says, “I’ve written a lot about content marketing software and the content marketing software and tools industry. I believe it’s overbuilt. I believe it’s too frothy. I believe there’s too many startups with too much venture capital. Some of them will fail. Some of them will be disintermediated. Some of them will be rolled up. But they ain’t all going to make it. I have been under the impression for quite a while that eventually one of the large content marketing platforms — Kapost, NewsCred, Percolate, Contently — will develop social media capabilities and try to become... [...]

Danielle Irigoyen says, “When it comes to building a strong brand, no matter what your industry, every company’s key to success starts with stellar content and equally stellar design. Whether you’re creating a website, infographic, print ad, email campaign, blog post, social media account, etc., there’s always a need for some degree of both parts. But as with many companies, individual schedules often get bogged down with tasks, meetings, and strategy planning, putting time for Content and Design to collaborate, plan, and lay out the groundwork on the back burner. Or they... [...]

Baer says, “PetRelocation.com is a door-to-door pet moving service. Rachel Truair, Chief of Staff, and Caitlin Moore, Content Marketing Specialist, are in Texas where the company is based. However, PetRelocation provides services for pets that are moving all over the world. For example, if a pet needs to be moved from San Francisco to Shanghai, PetRelocation handles all of the paperwork, arranges for a pet-safe, pet-friendly flight, clears the pet through customs, and gets it delivered to its new home. You would think that, given its furry clients, PetRelocation could just market themselves... [...]

Matt McGee says, “Content marketing works. That’s the conclusion from a recent Ascend2 survey in which 89 percent of companies that use content marketing say it’s successful. The Content Marketing Trends survey covered 290 marketers, sales and business professionals from companies around the world. Almost nine out of 10 companies that use content marketing said that it’s either “very successful” or “somewhat successful.””. 89 Percent Of Companies Using Content Marketing Say It Works Marketing Land  [...]

Betsy Scuteri says, “As editor in chief at Business.com, paid distribution of our content is equally as important as the production of content. With Facebook’s constant algorithm changes, and Google promoting their own content over others, content distribution requires an aspect of paid promotion in order to reach earned media. As a rule, we don’t pay to distribute all content—our approach is to only promote stories that have proven successful organically first. It’s very similar to the approach that brands like Kraft take when using Pinterest as a sounding board for choosing the most... [...]

Christopher Ratcliff says, “Writing requires discipline, focus, talent, sacrifice and a thick skin, so I have no idea how I’ve managed to survive this long without my editor noticing my fundamental lack of these skills. What I do have though is an awesome arsenal of tools and web applications that help paper over any cracks in my expertise. From idea generation, to writing without distraction, to creating jargon-free copy, these 17 tools should also be able to help you improve your own craft and stop you from banging your head against the keyboard for too long”. 17 fantastically useful tools... [...]