Content Marketing Archives - Modern Marketing Partners

How to Create Viral Content image

Since the early days of the internet, everyone, from YouTubers to ordinary people to businesses and beyond, have wanted to create content that resonates with a wide audience and is shared worldwide. As the days of the internet have gone on, there’s more opportunity than ever to go viral – you have a variety of platforms to choose from, minimal barriers to entry; virtually anyone, anywhere can do it. However, that means there’s also an increasing number of content to compete against. So how do you create content that gets a plentitude of shares and traffic to your site? We’ll break down the trends of viral content and how you can achieve it yourself. Viral Content Trends Viral content comes ...

Benjamin Franklin—The Father of Content Marketing? image

Per Wikipedia (or your history books), Benjamin Franklin was an […] author, printer, political theorist, politician, freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, humorist, civic activist, statesman, diplomat. But among these titles, one may be missing—The Father of Content Marketing. Content Marketing is Older Than You Think “But Steve,” you may think to yourself, “Content marketing is a new concept. We just adopted it within the last decade and we’re on the cutting edge.” First off, I’m happy that you know my name. Second, like you, I thought I was one of the early adopters. Third, both of us are only partially right. Oxford Dictionaries Got it Wrong Even if both of us were early adopters of the Oxford Dictionary definition of content ...

How to Write Compelling Customer Success Stories image

Looking for a way to nudge a prospect into purchasing and becoming a valued customer? A compelling customer success story can do the trick. Clearly communicating how your product or service has helped solve a real world problem for a customer makes your company’s offerings relatable and tangible to others in a positive and effective way different from all other types of marketing and advertising. No matter whether you use the term case study, testimonial or customer success story, it is one of the most powerful content marketing approaches companies can use today. A customer success story demonstrates the benefits of your products, your services, your company — rather than just tell about them. Delivering this type of differentiation during ...

5 Great Services for Content Promotion image

Has your engagement on your online content ever been much lower than expected? While this can be a very saddening moment in any content creator’s life, there is something that can be done to save you from that disappointment in the future. While you can promote your content yourself via social media or email, sometimes you just need to get beyond your own audience to have the most success. Content promotion could be just what you need. Content promotion services put your content on websites that have a wide audience and reach, which results in much more traffic for your site. The ultimate goal would be to make those random visitors regulars in order to build a bigger audience, but ...

16th of May, 2017
In: B2B Marketing, Content Marketing, Inbound Marketing
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Why It Matters: Proving the Value of Your Content to Prospects image

In the great grocery store that is the internet, your content could be the greatest thing since sliced bread. It could be a well-written, topical, informative, and even slightly entertaining blog post, eBook, or infographic that is sure to turn a reader into a lead. Unfortunately, if you’ve ever bought bread at a grocery store, you know that you face a two-part challenge: Getting to the bread aisle/remembering to buy bread and choosing the right bread. The same goes for your content. Some people will think it’s generic white bread content that you’ve written, and it’s your job to convince them it’s not.

Why Your Content Isn’t Reaching the Right People image

Maybe you just created a great piece of content—which in your mind is the greatest thing since sliced bread. To you, this isn’t just any sliced bread. This is top of the line, nutrient-dense content that is sure to turn heads and generate leads. Unfortunately, no one’s buying your bread—yet.

Email Marketing Best Practices 2017 image

Our last blog discussed forming email strategy goals and a target audience. Here, we’ll re-visit 5 of our best practices from 2014, because the same ideas ring true today: (1) strategic subject lines, (2) avoiding spam filters, (3) calls-to-action, (4) mobile-optimizing, and (5) personalization. We’ve ramped it up with some current stats and facts. Use Strategic Subject Line Keywords To start, subject lines are the first thing customers see, so if you want a customer to open your email, it’s important to carefully craft a good subject. Focusing on subject line keywords, we take a look at how 6 common keywords perform: “You” – opened 5% less than those without “Free” – opened 10% more than those without “Quick” – ...

EMI: The Top Ecommerce Trends of 2017 image

The focus of ecommerce lately has had one overarching trend: improving the customer experience. And it’s for good reason; by 2020, customer experience will overtake price as the main product differentiator. From better mobile capabilities, to unique unboxing experiences, there are countless ways to win over customers and great repeat business. Thanks to our friends at the Ecommerce Marketing Institute, here are the top ecommerce trends of 2017. Mobile is First Priority You may be tired of hearing about mobile, but its importance needs to be emphasized. It’s not always enough to have an adaptive website. Sometimes you need to create experiences specifically for mobile. This sometimes means creating pages mobile-first. Acceptance of mobile payments, like Apple Pay, is important ...

Influencers on Notice: FTC Regulations Affecting Influencer Marketing image

The FTC’s Policy Statement on Native Ads doesn’t just apply to Buzzfeed articles. It affects social media as well. Two recent lawsuits brought by the FTC are putting influencers on notice. Back in December, the FTC released a Policy Statement on Deceptively Formatted Ads. They regulations target native advertising, a disguised form of ads matching the format of other content on a website or medium. For example, BuzzFeed’s Sponsored articles advertise certain companies but appear to be native content. Through the FTC regulations, companies are required to differentiate native content from advertisements. This same rule applies to influencers on social media: paid content must be disclosed as such. Warner Bros. and Lord & Taylor Both Warner Bros. and Lord & Taylor recently ...

How to Select a Content Marketing Agency image

No question, content marketing is likely the hottest topic in, well, marketing! Want proof? A 2016 study identified that 88% of business-to-business (B2B) marketers, and 76% of business-to-consumer (B2C) marketers are using content marketing (Source: Content Marketing Institute). This “How to Select a Content Marketing Agency ” blog considers some top thought leaders perspectives on the subject, along with a Top 5 Content Marketing Agency Selection Checklist, and some relevant content marketing resources. Before diving into the subject, consider the same study identified that B2B marketers use an average of 13 content marketing tactics out of a total of 25 possible, while B2C use an average of 12 out of a total of 24 tactics. That’s a lot of content! ...

Content Marketing Guide: Best Practices, Tips & Trade Secrets image

A new content marketing guide is available that details 3 phases of the content marketing process: planning, implementation, and measurement. Both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) content marketing scenarios were considered. Numerous content marketing examples and resources are provided. The Guide starts with the premise that content marketing is the hottest topic in all of marketing. Why? Because according to a 2016 study by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs, 88% of B2B marketers and 76% of B2C marketers are using content marketing. The content planning phase includes defining objectives, determining content topics, and identifying content types or tactics. Regarding tactics, the aforementioned studies identified both B2B and B2C content tactics in the charts below. No question, there are major differences in ...

18th of August, 2016
In: Blogging, Content Marketing, Inbound Marketing, Marketing Best Practices
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Blogging Best Practices: Top 10 Tips image

According to a recent study, blogging is used by 81% of business marketers, and 77% of consumer marketers (Source: Content Marketing Institute). No question, Blogging is now a proven marketing tactic for most marketing scenarios. Why? Because effective blogging can drive significant and measurable website traffic, build search engine authority, improve social media engagement, reinforce a thought leadership image, and even generate sales leads. So how can a marketer blog more effectively? Following are Top 10 Tips for Blogging Excellence with explanations of each, along with some additional resources. Top 10 Tips for Blogging Excellence: 1. How to Plan a Blog 2. Key Content Considerations 3. Properly Integrate Blog and Website 4. Employ all possible SEO 5. Blog Titles are ...

27th of July, 2016
In: Inbound Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Social Media, Uncategorized
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Find an Influencer that Fits Your Influencer Marketing Strategy image

If you read our previous article, you know to take influencer marketing seriously. But how do you need to approach this strategy? It’s difficult to track down an influencer that’s the perfect fit – both a balance of a large social following, and followers that would be interested in your niche. Selecting an influencer with too few followers is not going to be seen, but an influencer with many followers is useless if their interests don’t align with your product. If you find your perfect influencer, you need to think about your approach. How are you going to compensate the influnecers? It may not be enough just to give them a product sample. Give them a reason to talk about ...

21st of July, 2016
In: Inbound Marketing, Influencer Marketing, Social Media
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Why Influencer Marketing Needs to be Taken Seriously image

As the popularity of social media marketing continues to grow, so does the use of influencers. Influencer marketing is a strategy companies use similar to word-of-mouth (WOM). Businesses find influential members within online communities and incentivize them to promote their product in a more organic or native way. Typically, these influencers are experts within a product category or have a large social following. Companies may offer free products, cash, or other compensation; in exchange, the influencer chats up or reviews the company’s product on their platform(s). Influencers may spread the word on a multitude of social platforms, blogs, or websites. Why Influencer Marketing? Advertisement exhaustion. We’re each exposed to 4,000-10,000 ads per day. Consequently, the population is sick of ads. ...

17th of June, 2016
In: Content Marketing, Inbound Marketing, Thought Leadership Marketing
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Thought Leadership Marketing Guide image

Thought leadership as a marketing discipline has been around for several decades. Some credit large consulting firms that published research (e.g. The McKinsey Quarterly, Deloitte Review). Defined as positioning a company or individual as an expert through current, relevant and valuable content, thought leadership marketing (TLM) is intuitively appealing because customers seek information, education, and expertise when evaluating options, or making important decisions. Another TLM definition references the need for expertise when a high degree of financial or emotional risk is involved. That said, TLM is likely important for a broad range of categories including information technology (IT), software, consulting, big ticket purchases, new technologies, and complex products or services. As you might expect, there are many challenges to effective ...

Thought Leadership Marketing Best Practices – Webinar image

During June, Modern Marketing Partners will be hosting two webcasts. The first will be on Thursday, June 9th at 1 PM CST, titled Software Marketing Best Practices: Executive Briefing. The second, Thought Leadership Best Practices: Executive Briefing, will take place on Tuesday, June 14th at 1 PM CST. Thought Leadership Marketing Best Practices: Executive Briefing For complex or expensive products, customers won’t buy from just anybody. These purchase decisions take time and research; buyers want experts. Thought leadership is one of the most effective ways to prove your company to prospective customers. Although this is a great marketing tactic, it’s becoming more widely used than ever. How do you stand out for less? What’s Covered: Understand the challenges of thought ...

A Content Marketing Truth You Need to Embrace in Order to Grow Your Business image

A fact, whether you choose to accept it or not, is that nothing is original. Sometime in your life, you’ll come to the conclusion that “it’s all been done before.” The thing is, that once you realize it, it’s no longer something to fear, it’s something to embrace.

3rd of June, 2016
In: B2B Marketing, Content Marketing, Software Marketing
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Software Marketing Guide image

Software marketing is a special beast to conquer. With so many companies attempting to gain some market share, it is not easy to grab a footing. Moreover, customers are becoming exhausted by many marketing tactics. Following are 3 major challenges of software marketing. Intense Competition With over 6000 competitors in over 300 categories of software alone, competition is enormous. Some of the most competitive categories include Project Management (489 competitors), CRM (399), and Human Resources (363). With such a large crowd, it can be difficult to stand out. Paid Marketing Over-Saturation Your competitors are using all kinds of paid marketing and sales tactics. This is also giving the largest brands the advantage, because they have more capital to spend on ...

30th of April, 2015
In: B2B Marketing, Content Marketing, Marketing Best Practices
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Content Marketing Tips For B2B Companies image

Content marketing is a hot topic! In fact, 86% of B2B Marketers are using content marketing (CMI) . So what is it? We define content marketing as the creation and distribution of educational and/or compelling content in multiple formats to attract and/or retain customers. Below we will take you through the content marketing process. Planning; deciding what type of content marketing works best for your company and a content schedule. Implementation; including tips on how to write blogs, case studies, and white papers, and how to distribute your content. And finally, measurement; metrics to use to determine if your content marketing is effective. Content Marketing Planning The quality of a content plan can support both the effectiveness and efficiency of your content marketing initiative. Begin your planning by determining the mission ...

10 Content Ideas to Improve Your Brand Personality image

Is your content marketing strategy missing the point? Even worse, is your brand story going untold and unshared? With so many different types of content available to tell your brand story, and so much potential for distribution, what can your company do to build credibility, virality, and personality? In this, we would like to share with you some of the best opinions from across the web, including ‘Is your content like spinach?’ and ‘Creative Content Ideas that Aren’t just Articles.’ We hope that the information will help to improve your content and brand personality. 1. Photos Photographs can be used either unaltered, or modified to augment your content. Since most mobile devices now come equipped with easy-to-use cameras and image ...

7th of April, 2014
In: Content Marketing, Inbound Marketing, Infographic
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B2B Content Marketing Survey Findings for 2014 image

How can you plan your Business to Content Marketing in 2014? Through a recent survey by the Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs, this information provides guidelines and benchmarking information for content marketing strategy in 2014. What did the survey find out? What should you expect in this year and beyond? Read more to see what will come of content marketing. We would like to thank Joe Pulizzi of the Content Marketing Institute and Ann Handley of MarketingProfs for surveying individuals and providing this data. To register for the CMI study, you can register and download the B2B Content Marketing Survey from CMI Website. Content Marketing Tactics Understanding content marketing is a valuable factor to developing a strategy. Although the strategy ...

Content Marketing: 7 Steps to Driving Interaction image

Content marketing is one of the most popular topics in marketing today. But with everyone jumping on the bandwagon, what content is effective? Valuable? Lead generating? To that end, following are 7 Steps, Tips and Strategies for effective content marketing. We share with you a recent article by Social Media Today contributor Mark Learner about Content Marketing titled Top 7 Tips for Effective Content Marketing. Along with our own editorial and ideas for proper content marketing. 1. Save the Sales Pitch for Your Sales Team Effective content marketing leaves the pitch to the salespeople. The minute you start talking about how great your product is, the reader sees right through this and closes the page. Give your readers information they ...

1st of January, 2014
In: B2B Marketing, Marketing Best Practices
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CMO Predictions for 2014 image

It’s the month of predictions for next year, and this is an important one for B2B Chief Marketing Officers (CMO’s). International Data Corporate (IDC), offered their prediction regarding what Business-to-Business Chief Marketing Officers (CMO’s) can expect for the year of 2014. Learn 10 things you can expect as a CMO in the next year. 1. Increasing Complexity and Augmented Job Description As ways to best reach clients changes, so does the job description for a CMO. The concept of marketing is becoming more and more complex, and as firms adapt, so will their needs. Ideas have even come across as the development of a position known as the “Chief Content Officer” to augment the C-Suite, focusing strictly the company’s voice ...

17th of April, 2013
In: Inbound Marketing, Marketing Strategies
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B2B Buyer Personas – Development Tactics and Content image

“A buyer persona is a composite of different factors that affect your buyer and motivate him/her to buy. Your prospect’s buying cycle and buying decisions are situated within a larger context that must be understood in order to motiveate his/her buyer behavior” (MLT Creative). For B2B, buyer personas are especially complex due to typical B2B sales cycles. MarketingSherpa found that 41% of B2B firms have established buyer personas, while 47% of organizations have not (See more). A complete understanding of your buyer is critical in the development of communications, marketing materials, and content. Below we will share tactics in developing buyer personas. In addition, we detail what type of content to develop for four different B2B personas. Effective Tactics For ...

9th of January, 2013
In: B2B Marketing, Content Marketing, Inbound Marketing, Marketing Planning
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Modern Marketing Resolutions image

In this time of New Year’s resolutions, why not set some resolutions for achieving marketing success? Following are 5 key initiatives that can help marketers crush the competition and get that promotion. Commit to these modern marketing new year’s resolutions to improve your bottom line. 1. Customer Insight The more you know about your customers, the more effective your marketing can be. Do market segmentation and sales analysis to identify top customers by sales and profit. Determine purchase criteria and decision-making process. Understand keyword search volume that drives website traffic. Conduct frequent surveys, and invest in market research. 2. Marketing Plan Larger brands do planning months before a fiscal year. But, even smaller companies should develop and implement a marketing ...

Tags ArchivesContent Marketing