Every day, 55 million Facebook statuses are updated. The stream of information on the internet is staggeringly fast. Google CEO Eric Schmidt has stated that every two days, the amount of information published online is equivalent to everything created between the dawn of time and 2003 – 5 extrabytes of data. The internet has fundamentally changed the way consumers discover information and connect, and one of the most significant ways is the rising concept of digital influence.
Content marketers love earning page views. There’s nothing that feels better than putting hours of hard work and mental elbow grease into a blog article, and watching it pay off as the content make the rounds on Twitter and rack up thousands of hits.
However, I’ve got some news that’s probably no surprise for you.
Your CEO is probably more interested in leads. Not just any leads, either. Sales-qualified leads with an interest in buying your company’s product.
The science of content marketing is much bigger than publishing an occasional blog. Custom content has grown into a 43.9 billion dollar industry, and even skeptics have to admit that it’s serious business. The best content marketers are wizards who are able to blend writing, multi-media content, PR, social media, and networking into a comprehensive online presence. It’s hard work, and there’s no room at the top for branded messaging riddled with content marketing mistakes. To both amuse and inspire your quest for excellence, we’ve curated some cartoons which brilliantly illustrate some of the most common pitfalls:
If you’ve been online for any amount of time recently, you know content marketing is the way to go–it increases website traffic and saves you money over traditional advertising costs.
So you brainstorm content topic ideas and create a strategy, and then you realize:
That’s a lot of content.
Your marketing strategy will never be complete if you don’t maintain a social media presence. Just like with anything else, taking proper care of your accounts can be extremely time-consuming and ineffective unless you have the right tools at your disposal. If you don’t have time to experiment with a large variety of tools in order to find one that is right for you, a good idea would be to consult several experts. Luckily for all of us, a few social media influencers were very helpful and told us about their most favorite social media tools.
It’s no coincidence that the entrepreneurship and content marketing trends went up around the same time. All businesses can use content marketing, but startups need it the most. Why?
- To spread brand awareness
- To improve SEO on a brand-new website
- To build trust and authority
- To engage with customers, leads, and fans
Plus, content marketing for startups is cost-effective, so it helps you maximize the return on a limited amount of funding.
Would you like to generate more leads, sales, and business? Want to improve conversions and effectively establish your brand? Two words: content marketing.
Maybe these stats will help convince you…
Are you reaching your content marketing goals?
I’d be lying if I said this question didn’t keep many of our peers and colleagues awake at night. Despite the explosion of metrics and analytics tools over the past several years, many marketers still think that a data-driven approach to marketing is best left to the nerds. We’ll clue you in on a little secret. Agile, metrics-focused marketing isn’t for the faint of heart, but it’s not too hard for anyone. We’ve compiled a list of the most important measures, tools, and tactics, so you can begin gaining a comprehensive view of how well your work is performing:
Digital marketing industry changes so fast that it’s of crucial importance for every professional marketer to keep abreast of the major marketing industry news and events.
Visiting different trade shows, summits, forums and marketing conferences is a great opportunity to become immersed in sharing your knowledge with the brightest and the best people in the industry.
Content marketing done right can be a powerful tool for promoting your website and business and for generating more leads. But all that content creation sure takes a lot of time–time you sometimes don’t have.
Plus, after consistently publishing epic content for a while, the well of inspiration can dry up. Your customers and prospects are left with parched throats and you wonder what to do now.