Matthew Toren says, “The simple answer is, “yes and no.” The entire concept of blogging has changed. Back when blogging made the transition from its roots as an online journal to a respected means of communicating on a broad scale with a target audience, it was primarily just that: a communications tool. Some of the key benefits of blogging were the ability for an audience to interact through commenting and the opportunity to build an audience through blog subscription. Both were highly prized attributes of the biggest and most successful blogs out there: they had large, enthusiastic... [...]

Matthew Barby says, “The traditional ways of measuring the success or failure of content are broken. We can’t just rely on metrics like the number of pageviews/visits or bounce rate to determine whether what we’re creating has performed well. “The primary thing we look for with news is impact, not traffic,” says Jonah Peretti, Founder of BuzzFeed. One of the ways that BuzzFeed have mastered this is with the development of their proprietary analytics platform, POUND. POUND enables BuzzFeed to predict the potential reach of a story based on its content, understand how effective specific... [...]

Daniel Tolliday says, “You’ve written a highly informative, entertaining and insightful article that is sure to knock your audiences’ socks off, and now it’s time to sit back and watch it go viral, right? Wrong. Your job is only just beginning. The latest B2B research notes that 77 percent of marketers say content marketing plays a significant to very significant role in their B2B marketing strategies; and globally, B2B marketers spend 28 percent of their total budgets on content marketing, so it’s important to get it right. The performance of your content begins and ends with how... [...]

Valerie Levin says, “For any company hoping to get into the influencer marketing game, there are some important considerations to keep in mind. Knowing the rules, bending those rules and avoiding the less effective side of this type of marketing can help develop a successful influencer campaign and generate more conversions. This guide provides the advice for getting started and using this strategy to your advantage. From Word-of-Mouth to Social Buzz Word-of-mouth marketing is the primary factor behind 20 to 50 percent of all purchasing decisions. This type of marketing also generates more... [...]

Mari Smith says, “Content is king! This well-worn marketing adage still reflects this fact about online marketing: content remains important and valuable for brands. But now, we can replace that adage with “FAST loading content is king.” On April 12, Facebook will officially roll out a new feature, Instant Articles, for all users. Instant Articles must first be published on your own website or mobile app and then be converted into an Instant Article. Instant Articles’ most obvious benefit is to increase speed of access to content. This lightening fast mobile-only feature loads... [...]

Matt Byrom says, “With 91 percent of businesses citing that they plan to increase or maintain their spending on video in 2016, it’s evidently clear that video marketing is not just a passing trend, but one of the very best ways to connect with your audience. Everywhere you look, people are sharing videos, or even making purchases after they’ve watched a video. But what happens when your video doesn’t get shared, or produce any sales? It could be that you’re making one of these classic video marketing mistakes. 1. Creating One-Size-Fits-All Video Content The key to... [...]

Erik Huberman says, “Startup owners know marketing their products is the most direct path to growth in sales and revenue, which undoubtedly leads many of them to hire in-house CMOs. However, marketing is similar to technology in that many leaders think it needs to be a core competency of their businesses, when, in reality, it doesn’t. Think about it: If you’re starting an E-commerce company, do you need to hire an entire IT department, or do you just need to have a website built? Just because your business is accessible online doesn’t mean you need full-time developers on staff. The... [...]

Garrett Dunham says, “Email marketing works. Don’t believe me? Just look at the data. More than seven percent of all customer acquisitions are driven by email. This makes email the second most effective customer acquisition channel (behind search at 15.9 percent). Perhaps even more interestingly, customers acquired through email marketing spend 12 percent more than average. Finally, one of the most fascinating (and hey, exciting) statistics on marketing is the following: The average return-on-investment for email marketing is $44.25 for every dollar spent. Read that again. Email marketing... [...]

Sam Davtyan says, “As an entrepreneur, you’re told to manage your personal brand. As a company, you’re told that content marketing is the next best thing to promote your company. But how do the two things interact? How do you use content marketing to build your personal brand? First, let’s talk about why building your brand is important Investors, employers, and future collaborators will research you on the Internet. We’ve always expected business partners and future employers to find out as much about us as they can, especially as we seek more powerful positions in... [...]

Sarah Patrick says, “As a small business owner or manager, growing your company can be challenging, especially when working with a somewhat limited budget and a lack of brand recognition. How do you get your services in front of the right people? To raise awareness about your company, it seems reasonable to invest in advertising and marketing. However, 69 percent of small businesses in the US dedicated less than $10,000 to advertising and marketing in 2015, and only 22 percent plan to increase their advertising and marketing spend in 2016, according to new survey data about the state of... [...]