Rainmaker team says, “Picture this. You have a publishing deadline looming. And you are fresh out of ideas. Your audience, one you’ve built on the back of a predictable publishing schedule, is expecting an article tomorrow morning. What will you do?Fortunately, The Lede hosts Jerod Morris and Demian Farnworth have an answer for you. One that they regularly practice, and one that is explained in a recent Whiteboard Friday video by Rand Fishkin.And you’ll be surprised how simple it is to implement, too.Plus, they’ve got more content marketing news and advice to share in this episode... [...]

Entrepreneur team says, “Twitter Inc may be counting on Moments to drive growth, but the moment for celebrating a turnaround still looks far off.Anyone hoping that Chief Executive Jack Dorsey’s plans to boost growth would have had a big impact on third-quarter results would have been disappointed.Twitter reported both anemic user growth for the three months to Sept. 30 and offered up a tepid revenue forecast for the current quarter on Tuesday.Twitter’s shares, already down 13 percent this year, were down 11 percent in early trading on Wednesday.Some investors clearly expected... [...]

Karissa Bell says, “Verizon is making a bigger push into the Internet of Things.At a press event in San Francisco Wednesday, the company revealed its far-reaching plan to make a dent in the rapidly growing space. Verizon’s strategy revolves around a new web-based platform for developers, new partnerships and using its LTE network to help companies get devices online faster.At the heart of Verizon’s strategy is a new web-based developer platform called Thingspace, which helps companies create apps services to manage connected devices. During the event Wednesday, Mike Lanman,... [...]

Jami Oetting says, “There’s nothing more valuable to a client than seeing his or her company’s name appear in an article, news report, or blog post. This third-party credibility and the ability to gain the attention of decision-makers is key to building a brand.But the public relations industry is changing: Some blogs and influencers are becoming more important than traditional outlets, journalists and editors are increasingly turning to Twitter, comments boards, and other sites for sources, and newsrooms are shrinking, leaving editorial voices outnumbered 5:1.In addition,... [...]

Jack Simpson says, “First-party data could prove to be the future of online display advertising, according to our new report Digital Publishing: Increasing Advertiser Value Through Data and Identity.Published in partnership with Signal, the report reveals the opportunities for publishers in the troubled digital advertising world.It is based on a survey of client-side marketers, managers and executives working within publishers that have an online presence.In this post I’m going to discuss three of the most important opportunities for digital publishers when it comes to using first-party... [...]

Al Gomez says, “Today, businesses don’t really need to pay for TV ads or hand out flyers to get noticed.One of the most cost-effective strategies is online marketing. Creating your own blog or nurturing a social media account is ultimately cheaper than paying for ad campaigns.In fact, a 2014 survey found that most millennials are just streaming content from Hulu, Netflix or Amazon instead of subscribing to cable. If these are your target market, it’s important to think of clever ways to reach them.However, simply vying for their attention on social media sites like Facebook may not... [...]

Jason Parks says, “Social media are communications channels that many of us think about in whimsical ways. But these channels are also something marketing experts take dead seriously, for the opportunities they present to post content that is sharable, interesting — and potentially crucial for marketing a business.All of that is great to know, of course, as long as you’re not a content writer.The reason is those times in every content writer’s career when coming up with the constant stream of interesting topics social media requires doesn’t happen so easily.... [...]

Verónica Maria Jarski says, “Want to scare up some business? Use the following tips to bewitch your email contacts and gain brand awareness.“Don’t fall for one of the biggest misconceptions of email marketing misconceptions; there is no one best time of the day to send emails,” suggests Campaigner. “Cater to your specific audiences’ schedules.”Also, prevent your campaign from turning into a nightmare and use segmentation tools to send messages that will resonate most to certain groups.“Give big offers to your top contacts as well as those who... [...]

Ali G has just released his new Social Interest Freak desktop software. Actually, this is version 2, an upgrade from his earlier release. It’s built on Adobe AIR, so whether you use a PC or a Mac, this is for you.It started out as a Facebook tool, but now, in Version 2, Instagram is also supported.Its purpose is to precisely target your marketing campaigns on Facebook and Instagram so every penny you spend brings you a payback.Ali has created a demo video to show you what this new tool with do. You can check it out here:Social Interest Freak Demo.This is up-to-date marketing you won’t... [...]

Stoney deGeyter says, “I think we are well beyond the point where we are making websites “mobile-friendly” or “mobile-ready.” Doing so still places the focus on the desktop, with mobile design and optimization just being an add-on. If that’s still they way you’re looking at it, you have already fallen behind.For the past couple of years, developers and marketers have been talking about building websites to be mobile-ready. You hear people discuss things such as mobile websites versus responsive design and which is the right way to go. Those conversations all had their merit in... [...]