Denice Surjan says, “It’s the time of year when many are finalizing roadmaps for the next year’s programs. If more cross-channel marketing programs are a part of your plan, it’s important to understand the challenges that lie ahead in order to be prepared to overcome them and achieve the success you’re after. In The 2014 Digital Marketer Report, 38 percent of marketers from around the globe named their organization’s structure as a top barrier to cross-channel success. It was second only to their company’s current technology (39 percent). We decided to dive deeper to get more... [...]

This is a reminder for Business 2 Community’s webinar on Blogging.  The ‘Business 2 Community’ team says, “One of the common frustrations among B2B marketers is that their blog posts aren’t doing what they’re supposed to be doing: generating new leads. You can get 100,000 visitors every day, but it doesn’t matter if only 1 of them converts into a lead. But, with the right execution, even companies in “less exciting” industries can transform their blog into a magnet for new leads. In this webinar, we’ll help you understand all the basic principles behind business blogging... [...]

Michael Gerard says, “As companies grapple with the challenges of producing high-quality content on a consistent basis, many are turning to outsourcing options, including freelancers or agencies, to meet their content needs. Some 17% of companies are outsourcing content to agencies or freelancers, or both, according to a recent survey by Curata (where I work). But who is faster and more agile—freelancers or agencies? And who makes more sense for your budget? Below, freelancers and agencies go head to head in a five-round match”. Outsourcing Your Content Creation: Agencies vs. Freelancers MarketingProfs  [...]

Brian Clark says, “Four years ago this month, Copyblogger Media was born. Up until that point, I had launched several businesses off of Copyblogger, with several smart partners. Each of those individual businesses were killing it and had me involved, but those smart individuals weren’t collaborating with each other … because why would they? The five of us convened in a Denver conference room – the first time the group had ever met in person. In just three hours, we worked through the seemingly impossible task of merging five companies into one new entity, with everyone’s equity interest... [...]

Joe Chernov says, “During a 1967 post-fight interview with Muhammad Ali, legendary sports broadcaster Howard Cosell said to the fiery champ, “You’re being extremely truculent.” Without pausing to catch his breath, Ali replied, “Whatever ‘truculent’ means, if that’s good, I’m that.” I’ve always thought Ali’s response was the coolest quip in sports history. Yet somehow I’d forgotten all about it until a couple years ago, when someone asked me to explain the difference between “content marketing” and “inbound marketing.”  I suggested she let others fret about... [...]

Craig Brockman says, “While obvious to some, cross-channel marketing is not the same as multichannel marketing. Many organizations run traditional campaigns in multiple channels and believe it’s one and the same. The missing ingredient is, of course, integration. These days, customers expect authentic conversations wherever and whenever they interact with your brand. It’s therefore essential to speak to the customer in the right channel, at the right time, on the right device. To create personal­ized, coordinated marketing interactions across all channels requires the ability to link... [...]

Matt Kamp says, “”Pushy” isn’t the first word you want prospects to associate with your profession, but it’s a term that’s plagued the sales industry for years — and for good reason. With the old-school sales approach, you searched for prospects with the biggest budgets and incessantly pitched your products or services until they surrendered. The ABCs (always be closing) were your guiding principles. If there wasn’t a need, you created one. If there wasn’t an interest, you plugged anyway. If you heard “No,” it just meant you turned the screws a little tighter”. Welcome... [...]

Total Video Takeover is still available, but you had better be quick. With millions upon millions of videos on YouTube competing for attention, getting yours noticed can take some doing. Getting your video to rank in search engines is often hard, but it is critical is you want to build your views and especially if you want to use the video to sell a product. Steve Benn and Simon Greenhalgh have updated their popular Total Video Takeover training to give you the best, tested techniques for getting your videos to rank. They have eliminated the techniques from the first editio9n that are no longer... [...]

David Bowen says, “Mobile commerce is very much here and now. A fifth of all online spend now is now on mobile, accounting for around £8bn. That’s a huge figure, and it’s only going to increase.  So what are the key trends that are driving this growth? We’ve highlighted three here”. How demographics and devices are shaping the future of mobile commerce ‘Econsultancy’ Blog  [...]

Graham Charlton says, “Evergreen content can drive traffic to your website and build awareness over a longer period of time. It’s the best way to gain the best return from an investment in content. In a nutshell, evergreen content is that which does not date too quickly and retains relevance to an audience over time. As a result, it will send traffic and leads to your site over a longer period. In this post, which draws on our 100+ Content Marketing Tips report, I’ll look at what evergreen content is, how to produce it, and how it can deliver results over time”. Why you need an evergreen... [...]