Monday, February 29, 2016

Why Every eCommerce Website Needs a Blog?

Many people are into blogging these days, and it’s pretty hard to find a fresh topic that has not been covered yet. Still, the vast majority of ecommerce website owners prefer to focus on sales and leads, and think of a blog as of something irrelevant to the business. If you’re among them it’s time to change your attitude and start blogging. Here are a few reasons why blogs are vital to ecommerce websites these days.

Great Content Marketing Tool

Does the term “content marketing” ring any bells for you? Chances are you might have already heard about it as there’s a lot of buzz around this topic. In short, it’s any marketing effort that uses content (articles, videos, infographics, podcasts, etc) for customer acquisition and retention. A famous quote by Seth Godin goes like this “content marketing is the only marketing left.” He said it back in 2008. Ecommerce has evolved greatly since then, but content still remains one of the most effective marketing tools. Just read any article on the topic of hottest digital marketing trends and you’ll definitely find content marketing among them. Blogging is by far one of the most powerful and efficient content marketing tools, especially considering the medium- and long-term perspective. Why?

Additional Entry Points

Blog posts bring additional pages to your website. The more of them you have, the more points of entry you provide to your visitors. So how many pages is enough? HubSpot’s research can provide some clues. According to it, ecommerce websites that have over 400 pages get 6 times more leads compared to their counterparts with less than 100 pages. Even if your website is small, you shouldn’t think that no one will read your posts. This assumption will just ensure that your business doesn’t grow.

Improving SEO Rankings

As a business owner you naturally want your website to have higher search engines rankings. Blogs really come in handy when it comes to improving SEO. Google’s robots monitor websites on regular basis and what they like to see is new and relevant content. Adding new pages to your store is a sign that your business is still active. Google ranks websites that are updated regularly higher than those which are not. Keywords are another thing. If you sell slim fit t-shirts and write a blog post on how to choose them you’ll naturally use your focus keyword (or a few of them, like buy slim fit t-shirt or price of slim-fit t-shirt). From a search engine’s point of view this will make your website optimized better.

More Links

Another thing that matters to search engines is the quantity and quality of links, both internal and external. When writing a blog you can easily add a link to a related product you’re selling, or to any other related page. This will also be helpful in guiding your visitors to a purchase. Back-links is another significant thing. Getting other websites to share your website’s URLs is one of the main goals for any SEO specialist. Most of them will agree on that quality and quantity of back-links can make or break your SEO rankings. Quality content gets shared and anytime someone shares your stories on Twitter or Facebook you’re likely to attract new customers.

If you still don’t believe that writing blog posts can make a difference here’s a really outstanding success story. Marcus Sheridan wrote just one article on fiberglass pools and added it to his “River Pools and Spas”. The next morning his website had the top rank in search engines for his cost-related key phrase and it brought him $1.7 million in sales. The reason why this blog post was so successful is because it answered his customers’ questions.

Building Trust

People like to see that there’s a real organization behind your website. Let’s face it, no one likes to buy from a “no-name” shop. A blog allows you to create content that will show your expertise. Building trust is especially vital when it comes to customer retention. According to various estimates, retaining existing buyers is 5-10 times cheaper than finding new ones. Moreover, returning customers in the US generated 40% of revenue, according to Adobe’s study.

Getting Noticed

If you have an outstanding story to share – don’t hesitate. Not only potential customers might enjoy it, if it’s really good you can get noticed by the media. People tend to find the information more reliable if they read it in the news.

How to Start Blogging

First of all, you don’t have to be a professional writer or a popular social media commentator to start a blog. Blogging is a thing anyone can engage in. The key is providing information that can be interesting and valuable to your visitors. So what should you write about?

-Address a Particular Problem. With fiberglass pools the problem was that companies didn’t want to disclose the prices of their products on websites because they thought that could distract customers. Marcus Sheridan’s post changed that.

-Your Brand’s History and Updates. If your company has an interesting history behind it, it can make a good post for launching your blog. Everyone loves “behind the scenes” stories.

-Your Products. Think of a blog as of an extra space for providing more information on your products. Visitors are interested in how they are made and where. If your products have special features don’t forget to share them. But don’t try to write too much promotional stuff, make it more about helping your customers rather than aiming for a hard sell.

-Your Promotions. If you have promotions, give-aways or discount campaigns – dedicate a post to tell more about them. Blogs are good for providing a full list of terms and conditions applicable to any given promo campaign.

-Other Related Information. Your blog doesn’t have to be all about your company. You can write about the latest developments in the industry or just share something interesting you’ve recently discovered.

Experiment with Content

When blogging, you don’t need to stick to the “text only” format. Adding visuals, like infographics or videos, is also a good way of telling a story. And don’t forget to include subscribe boxes so that visitors could leave their emails to receive your latest updates by mail.

Author bio: Oleg Yemchuk is a marketing manager at Maven eCommerce sharing office space with Magento business experts in NYC and software developers worldwide. Oleg is marketing expert by day and geek by night. As a geek culture fan, he spends his free time playing video games and reading comics.

Wanna learn how to make more money with your website? Check the Online Profits training program!



This post is courtesy of: http://www.dailyblogtips.com

22 Ways to Promote Your E-Book

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Marketers often pour their efforts, resources, and budgets into developing an e-book only to move on once the landing page is live. Your e-book could be the next game-changing, Content-Marketing-Award-winning, produce-into-a-major-motion-picture piece, but without promotion, nobody will click, download, read, or even see it.

Promoting an e-book goes beyond creating a landing page, tweeting a link, and emailing it to your customers. Those are the staple moves, much like serving turkey and dressing at Thanksgiving dinner.

Great e-book promotion touches all phases of the sales funnel and requires involvement from multiple teams within your organization. A collaborative, planned approach to e-book promotion not only generates leads, but it also catches the eyes of your best prospects. Here’s a look:

ebook-promotion-graphic

Top-of-funnel promotion

Your top-of-funnel efforts likely cast a wide net. You know some information about this audience so you can target accurately, but you don’t know them as well as you know your best customer. Therefore, this is the place to slice and dice your promotion the most. People digest content in different ways. The more you chop it up and share it, the more e-book buzz you’ll create.

Try these tactics, making sure that the e-book always is the call to action:

  • Record someone from your team reading the e-book and launch it as an audio book.
  • Launch a webinar with the author, featured thought leaders, or brands.
  • Create an infographic with the e-book’s tips, tricks, or quotes.
  • Create Twitter cards with quotes, stats, or tips from the e-book.
  • Turn each chapter into a blog post.
  • Contact influencers and ask them to share it (give them an exclusive sneak preview for even more exposure or buzz).
  • Include the e-book in two or three places on your website, such as the home page, resources section, and sidebar call-out.
  • Print it or put it on a USB drive and give it away at conferences, booth exhibits, etc.
  • Write email and phone scripts/outlines about your e-book for cold outreach by sales or business development representatives.

Middle-of-funnel promotion

If you generate a thought leadership, top-of-funnel e-book, you might think your promotion efforts stop at the top of the funnel. That is not the case. Other departments and audiences can benefit from your e-book, which will ultimately lead to revenue for your organization — which should be an end goal for you, too.

The middle of the funnel is where you get existing prospects to raise their hand and move closer to the sale. This is probably the toughest part of a marketer’s job. If you have great content and a strong reach, it’s not hard to get net new leads into your database. A simple download is all you need to get the process started. However, to get those leads to commit to a demo or free trial takes more work. Your e-book can help.

Consider these middle-of-funnel ideas:

  • Work the e-book into your nurture program(s) or drip campaigns.
  • Create a content pack for existing prospects, including a case study, e-book, one-sheet, etc.
  • Include the e-book in your newsletters.
  • Provide the e-book to employees in many ways so it’s easy to access and share, including:
    • Post or file on team collaboration platform
    • Link to landing page
    • Give direct link to e-book (e.g., after-form complete page or PDF link)
    • Shelve in content library
  • Ask partners to send it to shared partners and networks.
  • Print it or put it on a USB drive and include it in a care package to customers and prospects.
  • Enter your e-book in marketing contests.

Bottom-of-funnel promotion

The bottom of the funnel is where sales takes the lead. Imagine the funnel as a road, and you’re driving down it. As a marketer, you’re in the driver’s seat for the top and middle of the funnel. You control the content, the message, the promotional approach, etc. When you reach the bottom of the funnel, the salesperson takes the wheel. The salesperson is in charge of closing that deal. However, you don’t hop out of the car, you get in the back seat. You can still help, and that e-book is your admission ticket. Here are some ideas to support bottom-of-funnel promotion:

  • Attach the e-book to first-call presentation decks.
  • Use it to develop email or phone scripts and templates for existing prospect outreach.
  • Print it and give it to salespeople as takeaways or leave-behinds for meetings.

Don’t get overwhelmed – think of this post as a tapas menu, where you can pick and choose the tactics that work for you. As you promote your e-book, you’ll quickly learn what works (and what doesn’t work). From there, you can hone in and focus on the successful tactics. Soon, you’ll have a well-oiled machine for not only creating great e-books, but also for getting them out there for the world to see and devour.

We’re following Amanda’s advice. Check out a wealth of content marketing resources in the Content Marketing Institute e-book library, from The Essentials of a Documented Content Marketing Strategy to Digital Governance: A Primer for Content Marketers.

Cover image via pixabay.com

The post 22 Ways to Promote Your E-Book appeared first on Content Marketing Institute.

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Host Your Own Twitter Chat: Time-Saving Advice, Tools, and Templates

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One of our favorite ways to interact with our community on Twitter is through our weekly #CMWorld Twitter chat. The chat started in 2013 with a 10-week experiment prior to Content Marketing World as a way to connect our speakers with potential and registered attendees. After that event, we received many requests from the #CMWorld Twitter community to continue the chats. Fast forward to today, and we have hosted almost 130 chats and have learned a lot along the way.

If you are considering starting a Twitter chat as part of your content marketing efforts or improving your existing chat, read on to get a detailed look inside our process as well as some lessons learned.

Identifying your why

Like anything you do, you need to consider why you want to invest the time in a Twitter chat and how it will support your other marketing efforts. Asked another way: How will your Twitter chat provide a better experience for your customers?

For us, Twitter chats have become an essential part of our content plan. As mentioned, the original goal of our chat was to introduce people to our Content Marketing World speakers. While that still remains a goal, the chat serves other purposes:

  • Learning more about our #CMWorld community, including what questions and ideas they have
  • Introducing our community to speakers and topics at Intelligent Content Conference and from CMI University
  • Exploring high-interest blog topics in more detail
  • Inviting non-CMI regulars who are experts in the industry to share their insight and who bring a new audience to the chat (and CMI’s offerings)
  • Having editorial fodder to repurpose for blog posts, SlideShares, and more

Planning guests, topics, and dates [Template]

Planning the Twitter chats is a team effort, with three of us at CMI each taking a role: Michele Linn (vice president of content); Monina Wagner (community manager), and me (vice president of marketing). The general tasks include:

  • Brainstorming ideas for speakers and topics
  • Reaching out to guests to confirm topic and date
  • Handling logistics for the guests and the chats
  • Drafting questions for the chats
  • Drafting and sharing all promotions
  • Writing introductions for the subsequent blog posts

PRO TIP: Plan your chats in batches to save time. We typically brainstorm topics and ideas every eight to 12 weeks and do a lot of outreach at once. Similarly, we also write the questions and the introductions to the blog posts in bulk. It’s been a significant time-saver.

We use a Google Sheet as our primary planning and brainstorming vehicle. You can download and customize our template. We detail:

cmi-twitter-chat-planning-template

Guests and topic ideas

We have a tab in which we brainstorm our guest and topic ideas. As mentioned, we have several goals for our chats, and every guest and topic serves those purposes. Sometimes we identify guests (e.g., CMWorld/ICC speakers and influencers in the industry) and other times we identify topics (e.g., what kinds of questions are we getting asked a lot?).

PRO TIP: As we have learned the hard way, not all topics are digestible in 140 characters. When planning topics, consider how the Twitter community will be able to interact.

Schedule

The next tab on our spreadsheet tracks our detailed schedule, not only detailed plans for upcoming chats but historical data about each chat so we can understand which topics and guests are the best fit for our audience.

Our spreadsheet tracks:

  • Date of the chat
  • Marketing notes (This includes anything we want to promote, such as early-bird event discounts or new enrollment period for CMI University. These details help us match the right speaker and topic to what we are focused on from a marketing perspective at any time.)
  • Title/topic of the chat
  • Guest
  • Guest email
  • Guest Twitter handle
  • Primary category (All of our content assets, including our chats, are organized by key topic areas; when we repurpose content, we can more easily see which content we have per category.)
  • Note to indicate if the calendar request has been sent to the guest

After the chat, the following fields are completed:

  • Link to the Hashtracking report (more on that later)
  • Number of tweets
  • Number of contributors
  • Reach
  • Impressions (timeline deliveries)
  • Growth in impressions, week over week

Ideas for questions

Once the topic and speaker are set, our next step is to develop questions. Michele and I take turns writing chat questions, and the other person proofs and edits.

PRO TIP: After writing questions for 100-plus chats, we have learned that it helps to get multiple perspectives so the questions – and answers – don’t sound the same. Try to share the load with someone who has different expertise than you. And, while I recommend crafting the questions to save your guests’ time, don’t rule out asking them for insights.

Archive list of questions

We have a separate tab where we store all of the previously asked questions. It’s a simple list to keep and a handy reference.

Promoting chats with speakers and community [Template]

About a week before each chat, Monina shares with the guest a document that outlines the details of the chat:

  • The questions – as well as the time each question will be asked
  • Promotional tweets informing our community of the chat time, topic, and guest
  • Monina’s contact information as our community manager who operates @CMIContent handle
  • Links to our Facebook invite or LinkedIn post giving our community a sneak peek at the questions

Our goal is to take the guesswork out of the hour while making the chat as fun and engaging as possible for the guest.

PRO TIP: You can download and customize the template we send to our guests.

cmi-twitter-chat-promotion-template

In addition to reaching out to the guest, we also share the details with our community via a Facebook event page, which is set up for each chat.

ian-cleary-twitter-chat-facebook-example

We have found that there are several benefits to this approach:

  • Our community members can see if a chat applies to their informational needs.
  • Participation and responses have been more robust because attendees can think about their answers in advance.
  • New chat participants find us through organic reach on Facebook.

Tracking and participating [Tools]

Each week, we use Hashtracking to record our Twitter chats. Not only does this report provide a transcript of the hour’s tweets but it also offers specific details, such as top contributors and most retweeted tweets, which help us make note of hot topics or potential questions to be used for future CMI blog posts or Twitter chats.

We also share the individual Hashtracking reports with our guests so they can see details on the response to their chats. Guests really appreciate this, as it provides them with:

  • Feedback and responses to questions on a topic they are passionate about
  • Potential post ideas for their own blog
  • New connections with like-minded community members
  • A chance to review the chat in case something was missed

With a list averaging 200-plus chat participants with whom the guests can easily engage from Hashtracking, our guests now have an instant and active community they can tap into for their own content plans.

cmworld-top-lists-screenshot

Click to enlarge

To keep the chat on schedule, tweets are prescheduled using TweetDeck or Buffer. It helps us stay on track in each hour session and gives our community manager the ability to welcome and engage with our audience without watching the clock.

During the chats, we use Nurph or TweetDeck, but we’re also fans of tchat.io and Hootsuite. Our chat participants also use other methods, but as long as we’re all following the CMWorld hashtag, we’re seeing the same information. Find a tool that you’re most comfortable with – that’s the most important part.

Our questions are asked in roughly six-minute increments, allowing ample time for our participants to respond and engage. With eight questions spaced at five to six minutes apart, a few minutes are available in the beginning for introductions, fun banter, and catching up — and 10 minutes at the end for a participant-guest Q&A.

PRO TIP: Our chat originally included 10 questions, but we changed the format to eight questions with a Q&A with the guest at the end. This format works well because our community members like to have the opportunity to ask their own questions that arise over the course of the hour.

Repurposing content: Transcript creation, blog posts, analytics

Once the chat is over, we use a virtual assistant to create a transcript from the tweets in the Hashtracking report. The transcripts are shared with the team in a Dropbox folder, and several things occur.

PRO TIP: To filter spam tweets from your Hashtracking report, refine your search within the transcript by limiting terms and Twitter handles using Boolean operators.

Transcripts used for examples, tools, and key ideas

Our director of content curation, Jodi Harris, reviews all transcripts and looks for two things:

  • Content marketing examples
  • Tools and technologies marketers use

She logs those findings in a spreadsheet she uses to curate into other content. You can read more about CMI’s reuse strategy (and get another handy template).

Of course, she also looks for key ideas we may want to cover in future content plans.

Transcript published as a blog post

Each transcript is published on our CMWorld blog and our Twitter chat page. Not only are these transcripts a great reference for those who want to review the session, but they also provide some search benefits for our Content Marketing World website. Also included on the Twitter chat blog posts are Storify links for each chat and the most popular tweet from that week.

Here is one transcript example from Andrea Fryrear’s #CMWorld Twitter chat on Agile content marketing.

andrea-fryrear-agile-twitter-chat-transcript

Blog posts on CMI

Our Twitter chats also provide a seemingly endless stream of editorial ideas, some of which we translate into posts on the CMI blog that can take multiple forms.

For instance, during a chat about small business content marketing, one participant expressed interest in the ways Google Trends could be used for content. Arnie Kuenn followed up with a blog post on using Google Trends to punch up content creation.

We also have had guests answer the questions from their chats in longer form. One such example is a post from Meghan Casey in which she answered questions from her chat on content strategy basics for marketers.

Then, we provide a wrap-up of our favorite tweets from the chats at the end of the year to give our community some extra love.

Results

Through Google Analytics, we know that our Twitter referral traffic is up 20% year-over-year. Additionally, we see a 54% increase in Twitter followers. While we can’t attribute all of the new followers to our Twitter chats, we know noon to 1 p.m. ET Tuesdays is our most popular hour on Twitter. While the total number of tweets, number of participants, and reach are important, what is even more interesting is that we can see what days and times on Twitter are getting the most referrals and conversions, which we can trace back to chat topics that day.

And, as an added bonus, the chats have made our in-person interactions much more enjoyable (especially for the introverts out there). It’s fun to identify and chat with people you first knew from Twitter.

We hope you will join us on a #CMWorld Twitter chat soon. We hold chats on Tuesdays at noon Eastern (U.S.) – follow the #cmworld hashtag and find us at @CMIContent.

Are you interested in being a special guest? Do you have a great topic idea or any questions? Submit ideas in the comments. Check out the speaker lineup or catch up on past chats on our Twitter chat page.

Follow our Twitter chats virtually and get pumped for the real life meet-up at Content Marketing World 2016. Register today and use code BLOG100 to save $100 off of the main event and all-access passes.

Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

The post Host Your Own Twitter Chat: Time-Saving Advice, Tools, and Templates appeared first on Content Marketing Institute.

Saturday, February 27, 2016

This Week in Content Marketing: How to Pen a ‘Content Marketing Is Dead’ Article

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PNR: This Old Marketing with Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose can be found on both iTunes and Stitcher.

In this week’s episode of This Old Marketing, Robert and I explore the wisdom behind Contently’s recent acquisition of Docalytics, and we discuss the pros and cons of Facebook’s decision to open up Instant Articles to everyone. Is it the salvation of mobile users as Facebook claims or yet another step toward world content domination? Next, we think it’s brilliant that the BBC will reorganize itself from focusing on channels and platforms to audiences and content. Finally, we ponder what’s behind Google’s decision to drop right-side ads on desktop search results. Rants and raves include a resurgence of popularity for e-newsletters and Robert’s tutorial on how to write a “Content Marketing Is Dead” article. This week’s This Old Marketing example: Altair Engineering’s Concept to Reality magazine.

This week’s show

(Recorded live February 22, 2016; Length: 53:14)

Download this week’s PNR This Old Marketing podcast.

If you enjoy our PNR podcasts, we would love if you would rate it, or post a review, on iTunes.

1. Content marketing in the news

  • Contently acquires Docalytics (4:49): Contently has purchased Docalytics for an undisclosed sum to ramp up its data offerings for publishing-minded, business-to-business clients. Through heat-mapping technology and other systems, users can learn things like how long readers spent on certain pages, how many pages they read, and what graphics they engaged with. Robert and I agree this is a great move for Contently, which has been more focused on journalists than marketers until now.
  • Facebook says anyone can use Instant Articles now (7:47): Facebook has announced that it will open up the Instant Articles program to all publishers – of any size, anywhere in the world – on April 12 at its F8 conference. Robert and I predicted this months ago when Facebook started testing this service with several hundred publishers. We think it’s amusing that Facebook claims the main reason it expanded this publishing platform was to give mobile users faster access to news articles. Actually, the longer you can keep readers on your platform, the more ads you can display to them.
  • BBC is dropping television and radio divisions (15:53): London-based broadcasting giant BBC is planning to drop its channel-based television and radio divisions to help reshape the company’s future for “content- and audience-led divisions.” Robert calls it a gutsy move that shows a lot of foresight. The broadcaster is reorganizing itself from focusing on channels and platforms to audiences and content. Marketers have a similar challenge, because they tend to have digital teams organized around digital platforms. It’s time to think about following the BBC’s example if you want to scale your content initiatives.
  • Google removes sidebar ads (25:24): Google is starting to phase out its right-hand gutter (sidebar) ads, according to Search Engine Journal. Instead, Google will only show one to four ads above the fold and force the rest to the bottom of the results page. Robert and I agree that this move makes sense from a mobile standpoint. It should also be more profitable for Google, because less advertising real estate should result in higher ad rates.

2. Sponsor (31:56)

  • AdStation: AdStation specializes in monetizing efforts for content marketers – in other words, making money from your loyal subscribers without driving them away. This week, it’s offering a free content monetization checklist and worksheet. This valuable tool walks you through a checklist of all the things you need to do in order to safely and effectively monetize your content. AdStation arms you with the information you need to effectively earn money from your website – the right way, the safe way. Use this checklist to inventory your entire monetization strategy and start monetizing your content today. You can download it at http://bit.ly/adstation-monetization-checklist.

AdStation-sponsor

 3. Rants and raves (33:30)

  • Joe’s rave: I really love this article from MediaShift about the renaissance of email newsletters. It contains several fascinating case histories that show how email is enjoying newfound popularity with younger audiences, including college students. My other rave is an observation. I’ve been watching how my two sons engage with longer-form content; surprisingly, they prefer printed content to digital. The lesson for marketers: If you’re targeting a younger audience, don’t overlook print.
  • Robert’s rant: Robert is unhappy with an article from a German website, WUV.de, which claims that content marketing is a lie. The author says it rarely ever works and that its potential has been exaggerated. It’s a tired story we’ve heard over and over. So rather than respond to the author’s claims point by point, Robert explains how to write a “Content Marketing Is Dead” article, using this all-too-common formula.

4. This Old Marketing example of the week (45:13)

  • Altair Engineering’s Concept to Reality magazine: Altair Engineering produces simulation software used by mechanical engineers in manufacturing settings. It is used to virtually “test” the design of a part before it goes into production. While the company’s simulation software was popular with engineers, its salespeople had problems getting appointments with engineering decision-makers. To solve this problem the company launched Concept to Reality (C2R) magazine 10 years ago. According to the magazine’s web page, it “focuses on cutting-edge design development, innovative product strategy, and global process automation issues. Experts in road industry classes share technology insights, industry trends, opinions, case studies, global perspectives, and material relevant to product development technology solutions and processes.” These topics are aimed precisely at the needs of executive and engineering management. C2R has been a very effective tool to open doors for Altair salespeople, and has been an excellent competitive differentiator for the company. Today, Altair also operates multiple blogs that target the needs of engineers. Altair’s C2R is an awesome example of #ThisOldMarketing.

Concept-to-reality-example

For a full list of PNR archives, go to the main This Old Marketing page.

Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

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The post This Week in Content Marketing: How to Pen a ‘Content Marketing Is Dead’ Article appeared first on Content Marketing Institute.

Friday, February 26, 2016

No App for Your Website Yet? Check MobiLoud

As you probably know, mobile is the largest tech revolution we have seen in the previous decade (if not longer!). Since its inception in 2007 with the first iPhone, the smartphone started to dominate the world.

Heck, there was a research a while ago confirming that most people would rather give up sex than their smartphones!

What does this trend mean for a blog or news site? First of all that you absolutely need to have a responsive website that will display a friendly layout on any mobile device.

Second, you should also have a mobile app on the two important app stores: Apple’s App Store and Google Play.

In order to develop an app from scratch you need to have some technical know-how. Paying for a company to develop a custom app for your site is al alternative, but mobile development costs are very high these days, because demand is exploding.

Is there an alternative?

Yes. A company called MobiLoud launched a cool WordPress plugin that will allow any blog or news site to build a mobile app with a few simple steps.

mobiloud

Installing it is pretty easy:
1. Install and activate the plugin
2. Move to the “MobiLoud” section in the menu
3. Start designing your app

On the control panel of the plugin you will be able to specify all the details about your future mobile app. This includes the categories that should be included, the copyright notice, where the comments should come from and so on.

Here are the main features:
-Automatic content updates
-Full customization of your mobile app’s style
-An app that works on all major mobile devices
-Effortless push notifications
-Mobile advertising and monetisation
-One-tap commenting
-Easy social sharing
-Full Support for Google Analytics

There are some advanced features included as well. For instance, you’ll be able to notify your users when new content is published, and you can also integrate with advertising platforms such as Google’s DoubleClick or AdMob.

If you don’t have a mobile app for your site yet, check it out!

Wanna learn how to make more money with your website? Check the Online Profits training program!



This post is courtesy of: http://www.dailyblogtips.com

How to Increase Conversions at Each Stage of the Customer Journey

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Visitors interact with your brand six to eight times on average before they become customers, according to several studies.

Keeping that in mind, does it make sense to treat visitors on their first interaction the same as those on their sixth? Trying to get a visitor at the start of the journey to purchase immediately is a waste of time and energy. It might even drive them away.

Doesn’t it make more sense to treat visitors based on the next stage in THEIR journey?


Visitors interact with your brand 6 to 8 times on average before they become a customer via @Siddharth87
Click To Tweet


Stage 1: Awareness

This is the start of the journey, when someone comes in contact with your brand for the first time. Based on the framework you’re using, this stage is known as top of the funnel, awareness, or acquisition. The concept is the same; it’s the first interaction.

At this point, it’s likely that the visitors don’t know much about your product or how much you can help.

Your job is to capture their interest and get them to come back.

At this stage, a conversion isn’t a sale, it’s a repeat visit or better yet, an email subscription. If visitors share their email, you always can bring them back to your site.

You capture emails with engaging copy and educational content. Your copy should explain to visitors the purpose of a product such as yours. Talk about the real benefits behind it because your visitors don’t care about the features at this point. Remember, they aren’t even thinking of paying for your product at this point.

Then, use content to get them to subscribe. This could be an e-book, an email course, a video course, webinars, or any other download that would help the visitor.

Ramit Sethi only focuses on converting visitors to subscribers on his blog, I Will Teach You To Be Rich. He has numerous paid products, some priced at thousands of dollars, but visitors won’t find them anywhere on his site.

Ramit-Sethi

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Instead, visitors see an option for an e-book on the home page. Click-throughs to any of the product pages reveal only lead-generation forms. That’s because Ramit knows it’s easier for him to convert a visitor to a subscriber first, and then into a customer, instead of pushing the sale at the start.

Here’s another example: BitNinja, a server security software provider, found that not many people were purchasing its product. Even with a 7-day free-trial offer, the conversion rates were low.

Instead of trying to convert first-time visitors into customers, BitNinja decided to collect subscribers. It set up an exit-intent pop-up for an e-book about server security. This led to a 114% increase in subscriber conversions. Even better, the leads were more likely to convert to customers.

Stage 2: Consideration

Now that you have their email addresses, you can bombard them with sales pitches. Yay!

OK, you know that’s a joke, right? If you try that, they’ll unsubscribe faster than you can say “nurture.”

Your subscribers are still not ready to buy at this stage. However, they are curious about your product. They understand that it can help them but they aren’t fully sold. They need more information.

That’s why you nurture them. You feed them more content, content that delves deeper into the problems they face and how to solve them, subtly mentioning that, yes, your product solves the problems too.

HubSpot does this really well. It breaks this stage into a series of conversions. At each conversion point, it gathers a little more information about you – a process called progressive profiling – before it feels like you’re ready for the final conversion – a free trial.

When you first subscribe to the HubSpot blog, you receive regular updates from its blog. Occasionally, you are sent an e-book that helps you solve a certain problem, but also positions HubSpot as the best way to do it.

To download the book, you need to visit a landing page, which pre-populates the information you gave when you signed up, such as your name and email address. It also adds one or two fields to collect new information about you, like your place of employment and job title.

HubSpot-form

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In this example, HubSpot filled in my name, email address, and place of work. By completing the form, I qualify myself as a lead and move to the final conversion point of this stage – the free trial or demo.

At no point in this stage is HubSpot trying to get me to buy. However, it achieved numerous conversions by getting me to download e-books and scheduling a demo.

Your process doesn’t need to be as advanced as HubSpot’s, especially if you don’t have the tools for it. But you need to understand what your success metrics are for this stage. Again, don’t optimize for sales. Instead, focus on getting that little buy-in, like clicking through to your blog post or downloading a book, until you reach the final conversion of a free trial or some other commitment from the prospect.

LinkedIn does this in a really simple way. It sells premium subscriptions and products like LinkedIn Ads, but it can’t really push you to buy on the site or it risks disrupting the user experience. Instead of focusing on the up-front sale, LinkedIn gets you to qualify yourself via emails.

Linkedin-emails

Apart from the regular LinkedIn notifications, I also received a targeted email for an e-book on lead nurturing. There is only one call to action – download the book. LinkedIn knows I’m not ready to buy – I’m still in Stage 2 – so all it cares about is getting me to show some interest by clicking through, and that’s what the email is optimized for.

When I click through and download the book, I’m signaling that I’m interested in LinkedIn’s lead-nurturing tools. That takes us to Stage 3.

Stage 3: Decision

This is it! Your lead is at the final stage. She understands your product, she’s even tried it out, and now it’s time, finally, to optimize for the sale.

Now, you might think that your product is so awesome that everybody who tries it will be hooked and they don’t need a nudge to purchase. Well, that’s great, but don’t leave the sale to chance. Buying your product means spending money, and no one really loves spending money. Yes, some will convert without a nudge but many will hesitate. There will always be objections.

A more personalized touch might be necessary at this stage. Every person has different objections, so you need to address them individually.

You need to go beyond traditional onboarding. It’s not enough to just show customers how to use your product. You need to proactively reach out to them. Here are some things you can do that can dramatically increase your conversion rates at this stage:

  • Ask the prospects to contact you with their questions or doubts. There usually are last-minute objections/resistance and most customers will leave without voicing them without a prompt or invitation. By reaching out to ask, you show that you care and show them how your product solves their problem.
  • Offer to jump on a call with them. Sometimes people just don’t have the time to learn a new product, especially if it’s complicated. By hopping on a call with them, you can walk them through it and get them to that “aha” moment sooner.
  • Invite them to a webinar. If you don’t have the resources for a one-on-one conversation, get the prospects to sign up for a webinar where you walk through the product. You can record most of it and only appear live in the Q&A session at the end. For some extra sales, offer viewers a limited-time discount at the end.

Here’s an example from Heap, an analytics company. After signing up, I get an email explaining the next steps with a link to a tutorial video. While this is standard, the next part is what makes Heap different.

Heap’s support team member, John Clover, goes on to tell me I can schedule a one-on-one tour with him, and even invites me over to the office. I took him up on the call and he was able to answer all my questions.

Heap

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Sometimes, you want to reach out to the customers while they are still in your app. With in-app messaging, you can automatically start a chat if you feel like they are about to bounce.

HelloMD.com, a site that connects medical marijuana patients with doctors online, does this well. Its onboarding process consists of filling out a long medical form before booking a call with a doctor. If the prospect of completing a lengthy medical questionnaire is not bad enough, customers also had to answer numerous questions about the privacy of this information. At a 7% conversion rate, HelloMD needed a more hands-on approach.

HelloMD-Basic-info.

To solve this, HelloMD started using in-app messages and automatically displayed them according to the stage where the customer was. The message also encouraged two-way communication, allowing prospects to voice their concerns. This simple step boosted the conversion rates to 25%.

Just remember, at this stage, it’s OK to make the pitch. You’ve done the hard work by successfully guiding your visitor through the entire journey, and now you need to optimize for the sale.

What stage are your users in?

When optimizing your site or sales funnel, keep in mind what stage your users are in. If there’s a mismatch between what they are expecting and what you’re optimizing for, you won’t be successful. Your conversion rates will always remain low and you’ll never figure out why.

Instead, focus on moving them through the funnel and measure success based on conversions from one stage to the next.

Want to learn more about how to convert visitors into sales with an assist from content marketing? Make plans today to attend Content Marketing World. Use code BLOG100 to save $100 on registration.

Cover image by Jeff Sheldon, Unsplash, via pixabay.com

The post How to Increase Conversions at Each Stage of the Customer Journey appeared first on Content Marketing Institute.

Thursday, February 25, 2016

The Blogger’s 101 Guide to Sponsored Reviews

Are you a blogger? Are you passionate about your blog and the kind of products you write about? Do you have a huge fan following? Are you equally frustrated about not making enough money from your writing? Most bloggers will identify with that one moment in life where they are forced to think to themselves, or lament to their best friends, “Ah, if only I were making money for this!” If you do identify with this crowd, then sponsored reviews are the answer to your every monetization question ever.

The Basics: Where do you Begin?

Many people believe that getting sponsorships are a matter of luck, but that is hardly ever the case. Behind every well sponsored blog, there lies a thorough framework and a great foundation. The building blocks for receiving successful sponsorship are the same as those of a successful website or blog: design, content and promotion. Without the help of a proper follower base, you offer very little incentive to sponsors. On the other hand, without a graphically beautiful, aesthetically pleasing, and responsive blog, you are hardly likely to attract readers. Moreover, high quality content is an important factor in the kind of sponsorship deals you can secure and the followers you attract.

Let’s Get on to the Good Stuff

Now here’s the part where things get interesting: you’ve established a good website, you have readers, and you are consistently putting out good content. Next step is to create an advertisement page or media kit which is a short synopsis of your blog and everything it represents. View it as a kind of sales pitch for a potential customer or a CV for your potential employer. Reach out to advertisers and portray the many options for advertising on your blog, including an offer for a sponsored guest review. May be throw in a summary of how blog outreach programs are helping out companies? Anyhow, this is just one of the ways of getting to it.

Be your own person in writing reviews

Often, companies will approach you to do sponsored reviews even without your having to do a thing. Sometimes, they’ll even ask you to do a “positive” review on something that is potentially terrible. Our one advice for this would be: don’t! In the long term, one upsell is not a victory because it ends up hurting your loyal readers who might possibly try something bad just because you asked them to. Reward their loyalty by writing of your own opinion, let them know the pros and cons, and become a voice they can trust.

Select one of the many services online

We saved the best for the last: to get sponsored reviews, there are several options available online which can connect you to a suitable company. Social Spark, ReviewMe, GetReviewed for instance, offer great services by which advertisers and bloggers can connect on the online platform to work together. Bloggers generally make anywhere between $1 and $2000 on sponsored reviews from these sources, even though factors such as ratings and monthly limits do come into play here sometimes.

Mariia Lvovych is a an experienced guest blogging and blogger outreach expert, entrepreneur, owner at GetReviewed.org blog advertising network.

Wanna learn how to make more money with your website? Check the Online Profits training program!



This post is courtesy of: http://www.dailyblogtips.com

Why (and How) Marketers Need to Become Content-Efficiency Experts

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B2B firms in the United States alone spent more than $5.2 billion last year on content creation efforts, according to a 2015 survey by Gleanster Research. The same study found that the average mid-to-large B2B firm wastes 25 cents of every dollar spent on content marketing on inefficient content operations.


B2B firms in the US spent $5.2B+ last year on #content creation efforts says @Gleanster
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That’s a lot of wasted quarters.

Even if these numbers aren’t exact, one thing is clear: Marketers have a tremendous opportunity to save money by improving their efficiency.

Consider these additional Gleanster findings. You’ve probably experienced these frustrations yourself.

  • For firms investing in content marketing tactics, content marketing consumes almost two-thirds of their internal resources’ day-to-day commitments.
  • Despite the large commitment in time and money, B2B content marketers say their biggest challenges include their inability to meet deadlines (92%), redundant content creation efforts (90%), difficulties coordinating content creators (81%), and challenges repurposing content (64%).
  • Size plays a role in inefficiency. The bigger the organization, the more likely it is to waste time and money performing unnecessary and redundant tasks.

The news is not all doom, gloom, and frustration. On the other side, Gleanster found that organizations that invest in streamlining and optimizing content marketing production create twice as much content as their less-efficient competitors, and they do so 163% faster.


Companies that invest in streamlining #contentmarketing production create 2x more content & 163% faster.
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In short, making your content operations more efficient isn’t something to do someday. It’s something that you – and forward-thinking marketers – need to act on today. Not only will you save time and money, but the steps you take also can improve the experience your customers have with your brand.

Here are some steps to get you started:

  1. Identify detrimental inconsistencies in your customer-facing content.
  1. Collaborate more fully with other content-creating departments.
  1. Move toward a unified content experience.

THANKS TO ONE OF OUR SPONSORS:

All marketing content and customer experiences start with business objectives. The right CMS can help your marketing team more effectively develop a marketing plan to meet those objectives, and then create and deliver all of the content needed to support the plan. That’s because CMS brings automation to almost every aspect of the process.

1. Identify detrimental inconsistencies in customer-facing content

Content marketers must determine how to provide an exceptional content experience for two distinct but related groups – prospective customers and existing customers. When I say “customer-facing” content, I’m referring to both groups.

Unfortunately, the customer journey is riddled with inconsistent, frustrating, and confusing content experiences.

Once a prospect buys a product or service and becomes a customer, the content experience typically shifts. Content is no longer familiar, and the instructions don’t look, feel, or sound anything like the marketing and sales materials. Neither does the service contract, the warranty, the customer support website, the product documentation, or the training materials. For no good reason, the content experience changes drastically – and not in a good way.

That’s why organizations that recognize the importance of a unified customer experience are rethinking what it means for content to be customer-centric.

Ask yourself: What detrimental inconsistencies in my organization’s customer-facing content represent the biggest opportunities for improvement? What could I do today to improve the consistency in that area?

2. Collaborate more fully with other content-creating departments

Most organizations aren’t organized around the customer. Instead, they’re organized as companies always have been – around the corporate hierarchy, each department nestled comfortably into a walled garden. Protected. Separate. Different. Siloed. Cut off from the people who produce content in other departments.

Silos lead to content inconsistency and make it impossible for an organization to speak with one voice. Marketers working in isolation from customer support have no idea why customers call the help hotline. The training department creates content without any involvement from the documentation team. And the technical support staff has no idea what the folks in sales are telling prospects.

Recognizing that the content your organization creates has a direct impact on the customer experience – regardless of who created that content or for what purposes – is the first step to bridging silos. People start thinking strategically and discard old models. Collaboration becomes the norm. Customers notice.

Ask yourself: What department in my organization has the most potential to collaborate more fully with my department on customer-facing content? What could I do today to strengthen the connection between our departments?

3. Move toward a unified content experience

Customers don’t care what department the content comes from. Organizations need to deliver content that gives prospects and existing customers a consistent – unified – experience with their brand, regardless of which department creates that content.

Here’s today’s reality: Content that we viewed as post-sale (how-to videos, product documentation, and training materials) influences buying decisions. Savvy brands encourage all departments that create customer-facing content – sales, marketing, PR, technical documentation, support, and training – to work together to meet customers’ needs.

A unified content experience is not easy to create. It requires enterprise-wide strategy – and the technology to support the efficient production and management of content.

There’s momentum toward marketers prioritizing the efficiency of their content operations while focusing on the overall experience of the customer. In 2014, the Content Marketing Institute bought the Intelligent Content Conference from The Rockley Group. CMI did so because its leaders understand that content marketing must mature to thrive. And they know that, without guidance, marketers will make the same unnecessary and avoidable mistakes that other content professionals have made.

Ask yourself: Within my organization, who has begun to embrace the principles of intelligent content and the unified content experience? What could I do today to better understand and support those efforts?

Conclusion

These three suggestions are just a beginning. There are many steps in the journey toward an intelligent content approach, and the efficiencies and benefits it can lead to. For many teams, the journey has proven worthwhile in terms of both scalable processes and better customer experiences. For many marketers, that journey is still in its early stages. How about it, marketers? Pick a step, any step, and take it.

To learn more from Scott on intelligent content and multichannel publishing, attend his sessions at the Intelligent Content Conference March 7-9. Use code BLOG100 to save $100 off of the main event and all-access passes.

Want to expand your content strategy skills? Subscribe to Content Strategy for Marketers, our weekly email newsletter for forward-thinking marketers.

Cover image by Viktor Hanacek, picjumbo, via pixabay.com

The post Why (and How) Marketers Need to Become Content-Efficiency Experts appeared first on Content Marketing Institute.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

11 Reasons Students Should Run Blogs

The digital era has changed the way we live. It’s more common to express your thoughts and ideas online than have a face-to-face communication. It has become the main reason people start blogging more often. Sharing their thoughts online, they can learn something new from others, get an insight, and even name out. No matter who you are, you can run a blog. And what is more, there are some benefits why it’s so crucial. Today we’re going to explain why students should run blogs.

Here is a list of 11 reasons to run a blog:

1. Do What You Like

Around 51.7% of Americans are unsatisfied with their jobs. The survey shows that people feel no happiness while doing their work, and this is a sad fact. You might hear a saying “Do what you love. Love what you do”. In fact, this is a key to success, and running a blog you have no limits – it is you who decide what theme to disclose. Thus, having a blog is a way to start doing what you enjoy.

2. Show Your Expertise

If you’ve decided to start blogging in some particular niche, it’s more likely you are fond of it. It also means you might spend much time developing as an expert, so you have the experience to share with your audience and other people. Don’t be afraid of showing your expertise as it is a useful skill that might help you get a job of your dreams in the future.

3. Develop Communication Skills

Running a blog, you need to keep in touch with readers, bloggers, and even clients sometimes. While the number of ‘trolls’ is high on the web, it’s important to learn how to reply to their tricky comments, as most of them are eager to give some negative feedback.

4. Hone Your Writing

If you don’t like writing, running a blog you have to write a lot. Obviously, crafting a blog post is not the same as writing an academic essay, but it is still honing your writing skills. Even if you don’t know when to use the adverbs or where to put a comma, a practice can help you a lot. The more you practice, the better you write. Writing is not so hard and boring. It’s a way to express your thoughts and share ideas, so enjoy this process and hone your skills.

5. Do Research

No matter what your blog is about, you might surf the Internet to find other blogs in your niche, analyze them, get some insights, and learn from them. Being a blogger who wants to develop means doing research. It develops skills that are extremely useful for the educational process.

6. Build Authority Online

Running a blog means showing your expertise in some particular niche, and most bloggers want to become a thought leader as it’s a key to success nowadays. If you’re reliable and credible, it’s more likely you can build authority online. Even if you don’t need to become a guru in some niche, you can make the most out of your authority.

7. Establish Business Contacts

Although some people believe that blog comments are dying, there are people who share their expertise and thoughts in comments. No matter where you cause a buzz, whether at your blog or not, it’s important to listen to other people who succeed in your niche and learn from them. If you’re polite and open, there is a chance to establish business contacts. You never know when they are needed, so it’s better to win friends but not lose.

8. Start a Career

Nowadays blogging is popular, and the number of bloggers is growing rapidly. It’s easy to find good blogs in any niche, and many brands use blogging as a marketing tool, advertising their services or products. If you know how to grab your audience attention and keep them interested, it’s more likely you drive traffic and, therefore, you can get collaboration requests from different people, companies, and brands. All in all, blogging is a way to earn money and start your career.

9. Keep Developing Yourself

Life is the process of development, as we meet new things and tasks daily. It’s important to grow as it’s a way not to stop reaching your potential and enjoy the life itself. If you’re a blogger, it’s more likely you’re interested in somethings and you do everything to learn new things. All in all, maintaining a blog, you keep developing yourself and can become a happier person.

10. Create a Career Portfolio

Recent graduates face a problem that employers want to hire experienced people. While it’s hard to study and work, there is a way to earn experience and create a career portfolio. It’s all about blogging. As it is an online business, you do it whenever you want and improve some core skills (communication, research, writing, etc.). Next time you want to impress your future boss, mention you blog as a hobby that helps you grow.

11. Have Fun

Having your blog, you can share what you like. And you can make it fun! For example, today is getting popular to vlog (video blogging), and the process of making videos is interesting and funny. Plus, a good blog has photos, images, and other media content. And it’s you who can make it! Use tools or take a camera, invite your friends and craft what you like.

Not only marketers but students as well start running blogs today. There are many reasons to become a blogger, and everyone can make the most out of it. As a student, blogging is a great way to combine work, development, and fun. Give it a try, and you can obtain knowledge.

About the Author: Andrew Howe is fond of writing and learning languages. He runs Adverbless.com tool as he believes it helps people hone their writing skills. To get in touch with Andrew, write him at andrewhowe306@gmail.com

Wanna learn how to make more money with your website? Check the Online Profits training program!



This post is courtesy of: http://www.dailyblogtips.com

[NEW RESEARCH] B2B Manufacturers Stuck When It Comes to Content Marketing

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At the risk of sounding like a broken record – our latest round of research shows that only 18% of business-to-business manufacturing marketers say their organizations are effective at content marketing – down from the 26% we reported on in 2015.

Now I don’t know how many of our survey respondents changed jobs over the last year – or how many of them were taking our survey for the first time – but I do know that 50% of them said their organizations were in the early or first-steps phases of content marketing maturity. Maybe that had something to do with it (the research showed an increase in effectiveness among organizations that have higher levels of content marketing maturity). Or maybe some organizations actually slid backward? It’s a question we want to dig into more deeply on our next annual survey. In the meantime, I encourage all manufacturing content marketers to consider the following questions:

Do you have a documented content marketing strategy? Only 18% of our survey respondents do

If you’ve documented your strategy, great. If you only have a verbal strategy, please take the time to put it in writing (our 16-page guide on documenting your content marketing strategy can help). I’m a huge believer that you’ll never get to where you want to go if you don’t have a road map. If you are “doing” content marketing with no strategy at all (as 27% said they are), please stop. You are wasting precious time and resources.


You’ll never get to where you want to go if you don’t have a road map via @joepulizzi #contentmarketing
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Are you building an audience? The survey data reveals missed opportunities

It was good to see that 71% of manufacturing respondents ask their audience to subscribe to e-newsletters – but it basically stopped there. Only 35% asked people to subscribe to their blogs (even though 66% use blogs).

If you are like most manufacturing marketers, one of your biggest opportunities may be with video. Consider these stats:

  • 89% of manufacturing marketers use videos for content marketing purposes (videos are tied with illustrations/photos as their top content marketing tactic)
  • 70% of those who use video say it is an effective tactic
  • 87% distribute videos on YouTube
  • 66% say YouTube is effective

But … only 15% ask their audience to subscribe to a video series.

An interesting example of where we are is General Electric. With its From the Factory Floor series, GE created an ongoing show around how and why things are made. Some of the videos are fascinating and, for engineers, it’s compelling stuff. What went wrong? Well, like most companies, GE stopped the program. Subscription doesn’t work unless you continue to deliver on your content promise.

If you’re a manufacturer who asks your audience to subscribe to your video channel, let us know in the comments because we’d love to know how that’s working for you.

Are you reaching your audience where they are?

Whereas this year’s data showed that manufacturers are using more content marketing tactics this year than they did last year – and getting more effective with them (terrific news) – it revealed the opposite for social media platforms. Usage of all the mainstream social media platforms decreased slightly, as did their effectiveness ratings (with the exception of YouTube – its effectiveness rating held steady).

While we don’t know for certain why this is happening and are working to find more answers, this may not be a bad shift if manufacturing marketers are prioritizing their efforts where their audience is and where they can get the best return.

Are you experimenting with promoted posts but not getting far?

We saw a spike this year in the percentage of manufacturing marketers who are using promoted social posts to distribute content – but a decrease in the proportion who say they are effective. Here again, we see the confusion (or maybe the word is experimentation) with the use of social – is social providing a big enough bang for the manufacturer’s buck?

A positive sign we are seeing with our advisory clients at CMI is a movement into fewer social channels after what’s been a few years of an incredible amount of experimentation. We see this as a positive move – instead of being in every social channel, limit your time and energy to a few channels where you can make a true impact with a specific audience.

Are you creating too much content that’s not the RIGHT content?

Mounds and mounds of content. It’s the same story everywhere and manufacturers are no different (74% say they plan to produce more content in 2016 vs. 2015).

As forward-thinking marketers know, more often is not better. I love this sentiment from Robert Rose, which he published in our weekly Content Strategy for Marketers newsletter:

“From now on when people ask me how much content they should be producing, I’ve decided on a new answer:

‘As little as you can while still creating the impact you want to create.’

“It’s in this way that I think content strategy should be like golf. We should not aim to produce overwhelming amounts of content – even if we can be great at it. Rather, we should aim to produce just enough to deliver the value we intend, to create the change in behavior we are trying to effect. No more. Get through the course in as few swings as possible.”

Conclusion

Even though content marketing has been around since, well, forever, it is a new approach for most manufacturing organizations. Even those that are experimenting with content marketing are still heavily product-focused. The sales organizations in manufacturing organizations dominate budgetary thinking. Leads and closed deals rule. This means that patience through a measured content marketing approach is often absent.

Our hope is that this report (this one moment in time) is what we could call a “bottom,” and that those who are committed to a content marketing approach over time will begin to document, plan, resource, and make the hard choices necessary.

To read all the results from the manufacturing marketing research, download B2B Manufacturing Content Marketing 2016: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends—North America, produced by Content Marketing Institute and sponsored by Lionbridge.

Join us at Content Marketing World 2016 where we’ll have an entire industry lab dedicated to manufacturing. Use code BLOG100 to save $100 off of the main event and all-access passes.

Cover image by Lisa Lehman

The post [NEW RESEARCH] B2B Manufacturers Stuck When It Comes to Content Marketing appeared first on Content Marketing Institute.