Angie Pascale says, “All digital marketers should keep the following four social media terms in their vocabulary. Social media, like every other marketing initiative (and some would even argue more so), is full of buzzwords. I’ll admit I use them every day, but when I hear others stringing them together in pretentious and increasingly nonsensical sentences, I become embarrassed, not only for the speaker, but for myself as well. But regardless of how annoying these terms are, the reality is that some are necessary for our industry. Buzzwords can succinctly and accurately explain a concept,... [...]

Kelly Sullivan says, “Who are you? What influences your emotions, actions, and decisions? There are no simple answers to these questions. Yet marketers tragically try to pigeonhole people into them with retargeting ads. But people are complex. Marketers and brands know this but most don’t like to admit it. We prefer to believe our ads are the best in the business. We think they’ll immediately get the attention of our intended audience, and will solve all their problems. The unfortunate reality is no one cares about our ads or us. Why? Life is chaotic. Life is full of distractions... [...]

Ohad Hecht says, “By combining Facebook Ads with email addresses, automation, and predictive analytics, marketers can develop a strong social strategy. Facebook is a great platform for lead generation and nurturing. In fact, according to many friends and clients who manage e-commerce businesses, it is one of the best tools, if not the best, to acquire new clients. And we all know why – almost everyone and their mother are on Facebook (though mine isn’t…yet!). Further, the ability to open Facebook Messenger to advertising and direct communications from marketers provides almost endless... [...]

Jasmine Sandler says, “As your company grows, you will need to put more effort into supporting and maintaining your social media programs. Most B2B companies have similar marketing goals – grow and drive top market position while maintaining excellence in client service. With that being said, social media, as a business tool, when utilized correctly, can actually serve all of these needs: marketing, sales, and customer service. The irony is, as your B2B organization grows, so do the needs of supporting and nurturing your social media programs. If you are a marketer for a mid- or enterprise-level... [...]

Mathew Sweezey says, “Content marketing isn’t going anywhere, and new sources of data can help you to improve the content experience for your consumers. What makes content great? This is a question you are likely to ask yourself when you sit down to launch your next campaign. Before you begin to type, take a second to consider some larger aspects of content strategy, and let some new research to be your guide. As we strive to create honest and authentic content, there is now new data pointing you to the specifics of what really makes your content more authentic, honest, and credible, helping... [...]

Kevin Lee says, “These five ways to formulate content can help you generate social engagement among your readers, which in turn can earn links and boost SEO. Creating link-worthy, share-worthy content at scale can be a major challenge, even for content marketing teams where writing, editing, and Web production talent isn’t in short supply. Using standard content templates for the articles can speed up your production cycle; here are five that I’ve seen perform very well: 1. The List (or “Listicle” – a Concatenation of the Terms “Article” and “List”). Because... [...]

Emily Alford says, “Twitter has launched two new conversion tracking features to its analytics toolkit in an attempt to help brands measure a Promoted Tweet campaign’s ROI. Twitter has just released two new updates to its ad measures that better equip brands to measure return on investment (ROI). Both updates require advertisers to add website tags to the final conversion page of ads. Website tags track downstream action using browser ID cookies and more effectively match lookalike users to advertisers. Now, a transaction values feature allows Twitter advertisers to view sales driven by... [...]

Emily Alford says, “As Google+ segments into separate photos, Streams, and Hangouts products, marketers must strive to find a new way to navigate the often overlooked social media platform. Bradley Horowitz, former vice president of product for Google, will now be running Google’s “Photos and Streams” products, according to his recent Google+ post. The message carefully sidesteps any mention of Google+, however, leaving many to wonder whether this is the end for the oft maligned social platform. If so, what does this mean for marketers? Even as Google dodges questions about Plus,... [...]

Jasmine Sandler says, “These three strategies, which include embracing social media, boosting your blogging efforts, and increasing content marketing, can help you improve your lead generation. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to creating more brand awareness. Even for organizations in the same industry, an online marketing plan from one company to another will likely be different, because what works for one may not work for the other. If you are struggling with qualified online leads, here are three digital marketing tips for you and your marketing team to consider that will boost your... [...]

Kevin Lee says, “There is a shift happening away from long-form blog articles in favor of social media postings. But is this really the best strategy? This past week, the Content Marketing Institute released a new study on how B2B marketers are using content marketing. Among the study’s interesting findings is a small but measurable tactical shift away from long-form blog articles in favor of social media postings. According to the report, 93 percent of B2B marketers use social media in content marketing (up from 87 percent in 2013), whereas the use of blog/website-based articles has declined... [...]