Lesley Vos says, “The first thing everyone finds out about me is that I love lists and checklists. Shopping lists, to-do lists, reading lists—I am always thrilled to make them. It’d be a shame if I didn’t have a detailed checklist for my #1 activity: content writing. For all my industry peers who face the daily challenge of keeping in mind all aspects of content creation, this list breaks down a content marketing process step-by-step. I bet you know all of them. But I bet my bottom dollar you forget some of them on an incredibly regular basis. And as we all know, repetition is... [...]

Jonathan Wichmann says, “2016 is here, and it’s safe to say that the hype around social media has well and truly settled. We have watched social charge through its wild, carefree teenage years and make billions of friends in the process. Undeniably the popular kid at school, the period of freedom has now come to an end. It’s time to settle down, get a real job, and pay back mum and dad some of the money it owes. With social media platforms as a whole reaching a stage of maturity, it begs the question: Why are so many B2B companies still not making the most of social?12 (highlight to tweet) Though... [...]

Varun Sharma says, “A new year brings along new opportunities and new challenges. The SEO world, too, is preparing to combat unexpected threats, especially from various Google penalties. What are those possible threats? Imagine, you wake up one fine morning and get a call from the office reporting, “We have lost all traffic,” and your heart stops. It’d be no less than a nightmare… your worst nightmare, in fact. But did you know this could really happen, at any time? Whether you like it or not, websites in variety of niches depend on Google for a high percentage of their traffic.... [...]

Justin Gray says, “The biggest challenge B2B marketer will face in 2016 is the same as 2015, ’14 and ’13 before it. Want to take a guess what it is? I’ll save you some time: It’s process.Process alone is the greatest gap we see in today’s modern marketing environments. (highlight to tweet) These days, acquiring software is the easy part. The barriers have come tumbling down. Buying SaaS tools is simpler than running to grab lunch at Chipotle. The acquisition pain that used to lead to months of planning has become an afterthought. As a result, your typical marketer is left... [...]

Jay Baer says, “The biggest problem with organic social media for business is that the majority of companies are trying to employ a social media strategy that hinges on making social media do something it’s not well-suited to do: create new customers from thin air. “My favorite part of social media is that companies are doing it,” said noone, ever. (highlight to tweet, it’s fun!) Think about it from an audiences standpoint. Who is more likely to see what your business posts organically to social media across Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and the rest? People who don’t know your brand... [...]

Kevin Berk says, “These days the expectations for customer service are at an all-time low. Even with the advent of social marketing that purports to put a personal face on an impersonal business, consumers are not confident that anybody is really listening when it comes to the dark world of complaints… which is why for every 1 person that complains, 26 customers abandon your ship with nary a word. So, what to do with this depressing dilemma? Kevin says it’s all about your approach to customer service and how you embrace the negative.Every critique is an opportunity to create a stronger bond... [...]

Tate Handy reports, “Your friendly neighborhood social media giants seemed to have cracked the code when it comes to advertising. But they’ve had more misses than hits so far in their efforts to take a slice of our e-commerce shopping dollars, from the Facebook Gifts experiment (discontinued in 2013) to Twitter’s flagging #AmazonCart. This year, however, it seemed that networks like Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, and even Facebook and Twitter may have turned the corner on social shopping. (highlight to tweet) Facebook’s Future in Social Selling Every earnings report, the numbers for... [...]

Daniel Hochuli says, “Quick! It’s time to audit the amount of content on your social channels. Whose voice is behind the majority of the content you share on social and in your blog? Is it the voice of your brand? If so, that’s not good. When brands prioritize and amplify the voice of the consumer, they cause engagement, brand lift, and community building.1 (highlight to tweet) Any marketer who is not living in a cave knows that a brand talking about themselves all the time is not ideal. The question that baffles so many of us marketers, then, is this: How do we actually get consumers to... [...]

Daniel Hochuli says, “Tell me if this scenario is familiar: You decided to create a piece of content for the brand. You used semantic research to find the topic and created content that is fun, valuable, and informative. Finally, you attached goals to this content in terms of performance, such as: Have the content rank for the semantically relevant search terms on Google Go viral on social media Generate leads and product purchases Realistically, you have return-on-investment ambitions that the content will tick all three of these goals. But then you publish the content on your blog and amplify... [...]

Kristen Matthews says, “Are you like me and sit up late at night, wondering if it’s an ethical dilemma to pay influencers to say cool things about your brand? Or, if you decide to sponsor some posts, will those pieces of content really even work? When I set out to research this ginormous question, I started compiling a survey of questions to ask other marketers. While I was typing and plotting and planning, I realized the question isn’t a matter or marketing opinion. The question of whether or not brands should pay for content is best asked of the actual influencers. Logically, I surveyed... [...]