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The Benefits of Content Marketing

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content marketing

It has been said before that “content is king”, but when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), this is really the case. Regular high-quality content can help websites and blogs get better rankings online and also drive more traffic to a website. In addition, it also helps companies be seen as a resource and important resource in their field or industry.

Blog Posts

Blog posts are an easy way to continuously provide a website with fresh content. Blog posts should be published on websites 2-3 per week, on a variety of topics that are related to the industry or the company’s products and services. These are easy to find if marketers read online content daily. Companies that create publishing calendars for their blog content may find that they be more productive and organized, leading to better overall content.

To get the benefit from regular blog posts, the blog must be hosted on the same domain as the content. The blog can be on a subdomain, but most users and search engines are used to finding blogs at domain.com/blog.

External Content

Providing content to other sources is another great way to get the benefits of SEO, even though it’s not on the company’s website directly. Guest blogging, press releases, testimonials, videos, and other types of content are examples that can give links to the company’s website. Besides getting links, users see companies that have a wide reach (meaning that they are published/seen in a variety a different platforms) as being more reputable than those that aren’t seen anywhere else online besides their own website.

To find places that will accept your content or mention your company, do Google searches for “guest blogging + “industry keyword”” or look at guest blogging websites like MyBlogGuest and Hullabaloo. Use these platforms to create connections with other companies and website owners to help get your content and website out there.

Social Media

Google and Bing now include personalized search results based on a user’s social network, so being active on social media, for both employees as individuals and companies, is definitely key. Websites should also have social sharing buttons on all blog posts so they can be shared online easily.

Social media shouldn’t just be a place to share your own company’s information and content, but to also be a fun resource and industry news source. Occasionally post updates about current events, holidays, fun facts, and other information that your audience will find interesting.

photo credit: See-ming Lee 李思明 SML via photopin cc

Why You Should Read RSS Feeds

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rss reader

With the uproar over the closing of Google Reader earlier this month, it has been shown just how many people have depended on this popular RSS reader as their chosen way to read and consume content from their favorite blogs. Regularly reading blogs that appeal to your industry and personal interests is one of the best ways to stay current.

Choosing (and reading) the best blogs shouldn’t be something to hate or not look forward to. When you have chosen the right blogs, you will know because reading each day becomes enjoyable and a way to relax. This is why having a mixture of personal and professional blogs to follow mixes it up and makes it fun.

After deciding which blog to follow, sign up for a reader, like BlogLovin’ or Feedly. These two platforms are available on mobile devices as well, so you can access your content at any time, whether at home or on the metro during a long commute. Many reader services allow you to search for blogs by name to add, so you don’t have to worry about finding their RSS feed URLs.

Once this has been all set up, setting up a daily schedule to check the reader is crucial. Checking it daily will help keep you up to date and prevent too many posts from getting backed up. However, don’t let it stress you out if too many have piled up. BlogLovin’ for instance, allows users to mark all current unread posts as ‘read’, thus clearing their queue and getting it read for the next day.

Many people like reading their blog RSS reader at the beginning of each day as a way to start their day. However, there are many other places this can be done:

  • During lunch
  • On the work commute (if you aren’t the driver)
  • During a workout, on a machine like the treadmill or elliptical
  • Sitting at home watching TV
  • Converting to audio versions and listening during a walk or run

There are many places to consume content, it just depends on how much it is made into a priority and taking the time to get into the routine of reading each day.

The benefits of this are far-reaching. Not only will you be more educated and involved in what is happening in your industry, you will also never run out of material to share via social media and email to your audience and network. RSS readers are a great source of useful information that has many uses, both personal and for your business.

photo credit: Pensiero via photopin cc

Are You Sharing the Right Type of Content?

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social media content

Sharing and promoting content that your target users are going to be interested in is key when it comes to having a successful social media strategy. It is not a good use of time and resources to post any content that users won’t find interesting or may make you or your business look unprofessional. For example, including an unrelated or uninteresting link with commentary that is full of typos isn’t going to give your audience a good impression of your company online (and sometimes, as a whole).

 

To find the right type of content to share, check out competitors’ pages (but do not copy them) as well as pages that you yourself find interesting as a member of the industry you are in. Sometimes being aware of what you find interesting and sharing it is all it takes to get started.

 

In addition, asking coworkers and online users themselves what type of content they’d like to see can be a very enlightening experience. They may have ideas or suggestions that you haven’t thought of before, or they may say they like something that you thought wasn’t popular.

 

To find out the best type of content that is best for your social media marketing campaigns and publishing campaign, test different types of content to see what gets the most clicks or engagement. It’s also important not to over think it. Not surprisingly, content about improving your LinkedIn profile goes over great on LinkedIn, and comics or funny news pieces can usually be popular on Facebook. Additionally, on Twitter, content that has really interesting titles, such as “5 Mistakes You’re Making While Networking” will get more interest than something like, “Common Networking Mistakes”.  These are all over-arching factors to take into consideration, as well as finding more specific niche topics for your business.

 

When sharing content, use link shorteners that have analytics attached to them when possible (such as cli.gs or bit.ly links). This will help you track shares, clicks and referral sources from your shared social media links. This just provides even more information that makes it possible to have the most targeted social media publishing calendar that is possible.

 

Along with the type of content, timeliness is also important. Because social media is very focused on the now, be sure to only share content that is relevant and timely to that day. For instance, when Michael Jackson passed away, it just wouldn’t be in good taste to post a news story announcing his death two days later. Everyone already knew. It will make your business seem out of the loop and just struggling to keep up– not an image you want to promote.

 

5 Resources and Tools for Social Media Productivity

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social-media2

Staying connected online can often be overwhelming, especially if you are managing several social media accounts on a daily basis. Fortunately, there are several apps and websites which can help you stay on top of your social media marketing game and help you stay productive.

Buffer

As mentioned previously, Buffer is a great tool for users that allows you to build up a queue of social media messages on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You set the days and times that the posts should go out, and Buffer releases the next one in the queue at each set time. It is $10/month and has a great mobile app that makes it possible to add content on the go, while you are on the metro or waiting in line.

TweetDeck

TweetDeck continues to be a valuable player when it comes to staying productive online. It now offers a chrome app and also has a mobile and downloadable program version. Twitter recently announced that it was ending the support of the Adobe AIR and the mobile apps. However, the web-based versions (such as the Chrome app) still makes it easy to monitor your Twitter mentions and posts for multiple accounts.

SocialMention

SocialMention is a great listening/monitoring tool to see what users and websites are saying about your product, name, or brand online. Searching by specific keywords can bring up the most recent mentions and links surrounding it, making it easy to monitor conversations. Regularly participating in these conversations about you or your business can help increase credibility and awareness.

SocialOomph

SocialOomph is an easy social media scheduling service. They offer paid and free memberships. You can shorten links, schedule posts, enable auto following, post in Facebook groups, and much more. What it lacks in design, this website makes up for in unique and useful features for its members.

SocialMediaToday & Business2Community

It can be hard to keep up with all the current social media trends and news that are developing every day. News aggregators SocialMediaToday and Business2Community make it easy to get a good overall grasp of the current news and trends in the online marketing industry. Both websites syndicate content from some of the top blogs and websites online, making it easy for bloggers to get more visibility while readers get a heavy dose of great content, all in one place. AllFacebook and AllTwitter are also good places to find news on social networking.

 

image courtesy of Tweepi.com.

Have You Heard of Pheed Yet?

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pheed

Think of it as an eclectic mixture of Twitter, Vine, YouTube, Instagram, and your voice memo service all in one.  This new social networking website and mobile app is gaining traction, especially among the teenage and hipster generation. States website Inquistir.com, “Is Pheed just another new social media network to add to the seemingly ever growing list, or is the new social sharing platform really about to give Facebook and Twitter a run for their money? That’s the question social media commentators have been asking all week a Pheed takes over the number one spot as the most downloaded free social media app in iTunes, and holds the position for over a week.”

Pheed, an obvious pun on the word feed that Twitter and Facebook both use, is fairly easy to use, especially because its main features– upload a video/photo/audio recording, share someone’s content, follow someone, and more– has already been made intuitive by regular, daily use of other social networking websites and apps.

So what makes Pheed stand out among all other social networks? Claims the Huffington Post, “The catchphrase for Pheed, which launched in October 2012, is, ‘A new way to express yourself.’ Whether you want to do so in text, photos, videos, audio, voice or live broadcast, Pheed offers all of that functionality. Other social networks offer some of that, but not all of it.”

A quick sign up of a new profile (which allows you to use your existing Facebook or Twitter login information) shows no glaring glitches or confusion navigation paths. In fact, the only problem that a user may find with Pheed is that not enough of their friends and favorite celebrities are on it yet. Some celebrities– such as Kim Zolciak-Biermann from The Real Housewives of Atlanta and Jamie Foxx– are on and active on the site, but many of us who are in our twenties, thirties, and beyond may have a hard time finding other friends who are using the site.

Even though teenagers are seeming to be driving the growth of Pheed and other new social apps, it shouldn’t be ignored. The #1 downloaded app in the iTunes app store should never be ignored. However, Pheed is still less than six months old, so there is no telling how big (or small) it may be a year from now. While Twitter-owned 6 second video sharing app Vine continues to get attention, Pheed may be the next social networking site that you should be paying attention to.

Wanelo Marketing: Does Your e-Commerce Site Need to be on Wanelo?

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Pinterest-Alternative

Wanelo, short for Want, Need, Love,  is a visual image collecting site that is similar to Pinterest. Their website states: “Wanelo (“wah-nee-lo,” from Want, Need, Love) is a catalog of products organized by people. You can buy almost everything you see on Wanelo, and everything is posted by members.”

The main difference is that all images link to the pages where the item depicted in the image can be purchased. This is of great benefit to e-commerce sites that have their products on Wanelo, as it makes it easy for customers to purchase items quickly.

Wanelo is still a fairly new site, but has gained the greatest amount traction among  teenage to twentysomething women. For e-commerce businesses that offer products that may target this demographic, it is crucial that they get on Wanelo as soon as possible. While it isn’t experiencing the record numbers of growth that Pinterest has, it’s audience continues to grow.

For e-commerce sites that offer home, fashion, design, or even technology products and accessories, Wanelo can still be another great outlet to promote online products. The type of items shared on Wanelo shouldn’t be strictly feminine items– there are also several occurrences of gadgets, video games, and other products that are gender neutral and even masculine. Just like with Pinterest, Wanelo is skewed to the feminine audience. However, sharing items that are visually appealing and creative can still be of great benefit to online marketers.

Once a company’s products are shared on Wanelo, they can be reported for incorrect or missing links to product pages by users. This is great for companies who have had their products shared by a user instead of via their company profile.

To get your company started on Wanelo:

  1. Sign up for a profile on Wanelo.com.
  2. Add the Wanelo Save buttons to all product pages on your e-commerce site.
  3. Add a link to your company’s wanelo profile on your website with other social media profile links.
  4. Maintain the company Wanelo profile by regularly sharing new items to your collections, as well as uploading photos and links to new products as they appear on your e-commerce site.

Wanelo marketing is still a relatively new e-commerce strategy, but companies that stay ahead of the growth of Wanelo are sure to find success, especially if they are in the design, fashion, and technology industries.

 

How to Implement Internet Memes into Your Social Strategy

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grumpy cat viral contentImages and videos that are popular online, such as infographics, grumpy cat, “Charlie Bit My Finger” and others are a great way to stay up-to-date with what the internet is talking about, while also creating a chance for your existing social media profile community to interact with you and each other.

However, the first step toward being successful with occasionally discussing internet memes or viral videos with your audience via social media is to do it the right way. Don’t be cheesy or make it look like you are trying too hard. Make the video or content part of the natural conversation on your social media pages.

For instance, an animal shelter could pull in a photo of grumpy cat with the line, “Find your own grumpy cat at the ASPCA!” Brands that are lighthearted with their responses and tie-ins to viral content will find more success with it than companies that are just posting it to ride the wave of sudden attention the meme or content is experiencing.

Video Responses
For viral videos, many companies and individuals go beyond just posting the video on their blog or social media profiles. They create versions of their own. For instance, after there was a rash of sing-along parodies of Carly Rae Jepsen’s hit single, “Call Me Maybe”, even the 2012 USA Olympic Swimming Team got into the action.

Having fun with videos can be a great way to get involved in internet memes while also introducing your customers to your staff in a fun medium.

Asking for Feedback
If a meme is controversial and relates to your company or blog, simply asking discussion questions about the topic on your social media profiles can garner great conversation . For instance, if a questionable parenting topic, such as shaming your children through Facebook, went viral, a parenting blog or toy company could post a link to a story about and ask, “Would you embarrass your kids like this parent? Is it an effective discipline strategy?”
It may be worthwhile to emphasize that stating the company or blog’s policy on the topic, just to make sure everyone knows where they stand on the issue. This can clear the company of choosing sides. Remaining impartial may be the best bet for controversial memes.

No matter how a company chooses to partake in sharing and discussing memes and other viral content, keeping it lighthearted and impartial is usually a best bet.

Four Free Photo Editors For Marketing Campaigns

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Don’t spend hundreds of dollars for photo editors like Photoshop when you are just doing basic changes. There are several free online photo editors that make it easy to edit photos for Facebook posts, blogging, and other marketing campaigns. These can be done fast and on the fly, so you don’t have to worry about starting up a program from your computer or not having access to photo editing capabilities when you are out of the office.

PicMonkey

PicMonkey is a light, fun, and easy to use photo editor. They have great seasonal clip art and fonts that can be laid over your photos and loads quickly. Some of the slang used may take a while to get used to, but it is a fun program that has a lot of extra features. There are some paid options, but the free options make it possible to make the majority of basic photo edits without the additional cost.

Pixlr

Pixlr is one of the most popular online photo editors. Its layout is a lot like Photoshop, so designers who are familiar with that infamous Adobe program will enjoy this and get used to using it a lot faster. It has a basic navigation and features, but there aren’t any features that free users are barred from using, so that makes it a plus.

FotoFlexer

FotoFlexer states that it the “most advanced online photo editor”. You can import photos directly from sites like Flickr, Facebook, and myspace and the site allows you to use sample photos to get the hang of the layout and program before going in to edit your own photos.

BeFunky

four free photo editors for marketing campaigns

BeFunky is a younger, hip free photo editor, like PicMonkey. It features effects that are common on apps like Instagram and offers many interesting photo enhancement features. Besides the online website editor, BeFunky also offers apps for the iPhone and Android via Google Play.

 

Having an arsenal of free photo editors and other online marketing tools at your disposal is important for marketers because online campaigns usually move and change quickly. Easy online photo editors that allow the addition of text can be great for contests, banner advertisements, blog headers, and even profile photos. The variety of different fonts and photo effects that these free online editors can provide can provide some visual interest and break up online content, whether it is on a blog, social media profile, email newsletter, or other online marketing medium.