The winter holiday season means really, really big business.
December consumer shopping will exceed $469 billion dollars this year. In fact, the average American spends nearly $800 just on gifts for Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. It’s safe to say that positioning your brand to capture some of this holiday spend is definitely wise. And one of the very best ways to accomplish that is through an amazing Christmas newsletter.
Continue readingPeople have been telling stories since we could draw on cave walls. Bedtime stories, grand odysseys, tall tales, epic adventures, tragedies, romances, comedies – these are how we understand one another, how we bond with each other.
Stories are how smart marketers win their customers’ hearts.
Selling isn’t just about the cool things your product can do, and buying isn’t a logical process. Stories bridge the gaps between features and benefits and the deep emotional reasons people buy. Stories build connections between you and your prospects – emotional connections that keep them coming back to you.
93% of communication is nonverbal, and nearly half of consumers consider a website’s visual elements the most important factor in determining the credibility of a company. Visual content marketing has never mattered more, particularly in an era where consumers are increasingly savvy, connected and crunched for time.
Way back in 1998, Communications Professor Mitchell Stephens predicted the rise of images and video, writing “moving images use our senses more effectively than do black lines of type, stacked on white papers.”
Interviewing experts in your industry is a fabulous way to add variety to your content marketing and get the powerful information and captivating stories your customers really want. This Complete Expert Interview Guide covers everything from finding the right experts and securing an interview to asking the right questions and promoting your new piece of awesome content. Armed with this ultimate interview guide, you can realize the full potential of the expert interview.
Talking to the right people is the most important part of successful content marketing interviews, since soundbites from the wrong people just aren’t as applicable to your audience or your purpose.
If you’re trying to harness the power of Facebook to market your business, great content and lots of engagement are only 2 pieces of the puzzle. To really make the most of your presence on this popular social network, you need your business page to be attractive.
Why is an attractive Facebook page important?
If you’re anything like me – always looking for ways to save time, make the most of the resources you have, and stay on track with news and events in your industry – you need a quality reading list.
Thanks to the growing number of blogs popping up online, digging through the abundance of content to find resources that consistently provide value is challenging.
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No one needs more irrelevant marketing messages in their life. To stand out amidst the noise in an era where 91% of marketers are creating custom content, it’s critical to invest in relevant information. In fact, a recent eMarketer study cited targeting content as a top priority for 47% of savvy companies.
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Content marketers need to be empathetic, detail-oriented, and tech-savvy. However, agility may be the most important attribute of all. As HubSpot’s Corey Eridon points out, nimbleness is a state of mind, which requires being able to quickly adapt to new changes and trends. You simply can’t lead a winning content marketing strategy if you’re playing by the old rules of SEO, or blogging to the wrong buyer persona.
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Despite the fact that 86% of brands have adopted content marketing practices, 82% of marketers say they’re not receiving training. This fact has created an interesting playing field for content-minded professionals. The truth is the individuals and brands that succeed in the years to come will be those who are aggressive about self-education.
Growth hacking… Is this a new buzzword or a must-have skill for a digital marketer? Like many things, the most effective solutions are often born from scarcity. That’s probably one of the reasons why growth hacking is a trend associated with start-ups. While it’s not quite hit the mainstream yet, I believe it’s just around the corner for larger organizations. The concept is based on two profound observations of modern business:
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