Online Content Marketing

Your Workforce is Your Social Media Policy

By Josh Cole | Published July 1st, 2010

The democratization of knowledge is a real phenomenon — thanks to the internet. Your company should be playing on this field in a big way. You should be mining your entire workforce for content and promotion. Don’t close your employees off from social media, empower them to do social media right.

14 Things Everyone Should Know about Writing for eCommerce Sites

By Josh Cole | Published June 28th, 2010

1. Understand: the web is not print Writing for the web is different from writing for other media. Different types of sites have different types of goals. On an eCommerce or catalog site, users have two main goals of use: Research and Purchase For both of these use cases, you want to help users get…

So Much Content, So Little Time

By Jim Cosco | Published February 25th, 2010

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 18 years since Bruce Springsteen lamented that there were “57 channels and nothing on.” Back in 1992 when the song was released, such a huge cable lineup was unfathomable, and the frustration he experienced trying to navigate the sudden increase of content caused the Boss to write that he bought a .44 magnum to blow away his television– Elvis style.

Today, when you consider the explosion of content online, 57 channels seem as limiting as choosing between french fries or mashed potatoes. Consider the statistics offered by social media think tank, Socialnomics.

* You Tube hosts more than 100 million videos.
* Users post 153 articles to Wikipedia per hour.
* There are over 200 million blogs and more than 54% of bloggers post new content or tweet daily.
* Hulu went from 63 million streams to 373 million total streams in one year.
* Facebook users share more than 1.5 million pieces of content every day.

That’s a lot of content, too much to navigate on your own. So how will one navigate content online? The same way we do offline world– we’ll get referrals.

The 40-Hour Content Marketing Challenge

By Brad Schwarzenbach | Published November 24th, 2009

We were recently asked how we would craft an online content strategy if we only had 40 hours a month to do it. It’s an interesting idea. The most important thing is identify, identify, identify.

Do You Really Need a Gimmick?

By Josh Cole | Published October 14th, 2009

If you’re creating great content, there’s no point in trying to trick people into consuming it. Distraction is one type of attention, while engagement is quite another.

The $52,000 Customer

By Brad Schwarzenbach | Published October 13th, 2009

I’ll be honest, it’s not always easy to convince VPs and CMOs that digital content marketing is much more effective than mass reach ad spends. It can be daunting to reverse the course of traditional thinking. However, if you’re armed with real-world examples, you’ll probably be more successful.

Brian Solis’s Conversation Confusion Prism

By Brad Schwarzenbach | Published September 29th, 2009

Let me start by saying something very important. We like Brian Solis and Jesse Thomas’s The Conversation Prism. It provides a very comprehensive view of the web content distribution world. It was developed to address a number of issues that new media agencies deal with on a daily basis. The corporate website is not the…

Online Marketing Is for Everybody!

By Andrew Davis | Published August 18th, 2009

Budget Strategy and ROI (Part 5 of 6) This series asks the tough questions about evolving marketing strategies and the benefits and returns you should expect and plan for. Who’s in charge here? When I speak to potential clients about how to craft a comprehensive online marketing strategy, I’m usually talking to a CMO, VP…

Sowing the Seeds of Promotion

By Brett Virmalo | Published August 5th, 2009

Your most targeted promotion will be directly through your personal network. Interpersonal content promotion is more likely to result in a conversation through comments or an e-mail exchange. You may even invite contacts to participate.

5 Questions to Test Social Media Expertise

By Andrew Davis | Published August 4th, 2009

Ask these five questions as you consider working with any social media ‘expert’ — the answers will give you the necessary insight to judge any social media strategy.

Begetting the Love Child of Social Media and Custom Publishing

By Andrew Davis | Published July 28th, 2009

Today’s social media strategies are heavy on the social and light on the media. It’s mostly about getting on a site and getting followers. Or responding to every mention of your company. It’s only a fraction of the overall picture of what social media ought to be.

An Organic Alternative to Cropdust Marketing

By Andrew Davis | Published July 21st, 2009

Budget Strategy and ROI (Part 2 of 6) This series asks the tough questions about evolving marketing strategies and the benefits and returns you should expect and plan for. If somebody told you that you could reach nearly every potential customer directly, engage them meaningfully, and spend less money, would you do it? And what…

Hey Social Media Agencies — Alpo or Eukanuba? The Choice Is Yours.

By Jim Cosco | Published July 16th, 2009

Whether you’re a social media agency or not, your company should be producing content that reflects your goals and supports your claims. Period.

2010: A Marketing Budget Odyssey

By Andrew Davis | Published July 14th, 2009

Budget Strategy and ROI (Part 1 of 6) By Andrew Davis and Scott Loring This series asks the tough questions about evolving marketing strategies and the benefits and returns you should plan for and expect. Step right up and place your budget bets! Let’s start the dialogue about how marketing will be dramatically different in…

Social Media Experts Don’t Understand Social Media

By Brett Virmalo | Published July 8th, 2009

It seems like every time I meet with an agency, they bring along their social media experts. I’m not exactly sure what makes someone a social media expert. Perhaps it is someone who knows how to amass a lot of Facebook friends or how to put a lot of torque into their Twitter wrench. But…

Add Value on Twitter: The 4-1-1 Rule

By Brett Virmalo | Published July 1st, 2009

Today, we’re focusing neither on the value of Twitter nor what you can do with it. Instead, let’s take a look at how you should be using it for maxium efficiency.

As Twitter is in the escalation phase, you shouldn’t be spending a lot of time thinking about it or using it. You should only be spending 15% of your time marketing on all escalation-phase platforms combined.

Your Website Is Not the Center of the Universe

By Andrew Davis | Published June 30th, 2009

Search is at the center of the web and should be driving your marketing. In fact, within the Galilean model, your corporate dotcom is just a distant satellite. But search itself is evolving. In order to be a real player in the new search, you have to participate outside of your domain.

TippingpointLabs.com: New Look, More Changes to Come

By Brett Virmalo | Published June 17th, 2009

You’ve probably noticed that the TippingpointLabs.com interface has changed. This current deployment is part of our perpetual makeover. Please let us know what you think by commenting below. Design, navigation, user experience, feature enhancements, whatever tickles your fancy. Or comment on where the design is headed and give us your feedback. We approach many interactive design problems just…

De-Fragment Your Marketing when Working with Agencies

By Brett Virmalo | Published June 15th, 2009

The big three are scrambling to supply services that address this newest evolution. PR and Advertising are offering interactive. Interactive is claiming that advertising is dead. All are offering social media.

Microsoft Bing: WTF Kind of Launch Was That?!

By Brett Virmalo | Published June 11th, 2009

Microsoft has spent a reported $100 million to launch their new ‘decision engine’ Bing. I can appreciate their desire to go big with this product launch, but in the process they really dropped the ball on some great opportunities (and some alternatives). Yes, I am talking about the basics of content marketing.

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