Thomas Stern says, “The integration of digital media into everyday life has reshaped how society functions, evolving how consumers get their news, how they shop and how they build relationships. The Internet is continuously changing, and it is important that your public relations strategy keeps up with the pace. Consumers have grown to demand more than traditional PR techniques to conduct research and interact with companies. Brands must react by developing a comprehensive digital public relations strategy to engage consumers, drive sales and remain relevant in an increasingly digital-focused... [...]

Rachel Balik says, “Content marketing continues to be one of the most hyped — and most misunderstood — elements of digital marketing. Many imagine that it will be a cure-all for a whole host of marketing, sales and branding issues in an organization. In reality, your content marketing will likely mirror or amplify any organizational issues. As a result, content programs often don’t meet goals and lose momentum. Most companies feel obligated to do content marketing and allow their programs to stumble along, which consumes a great deal of time and energy but yields a comparably small... [...]

Sophie Turton says, “Instead of creating content, we should be creating opportunities for content creation: instagrammable moments, inspiring experiences. And instead of broadcasting, we should create opportunities for conversation. Audiences are in control of their own digital story. Businesses are no longer in the driving seat but instead must adopt the role of navigator, cleverly guiding the user’s journey, but ultimately remaining vulnerable to the whimsy of the consumer. The expression ‘content is king’ has become something of an industry cliche and, like all good cliches, it’s... [...]

Aaron Agius says, “Unfortunately, most entrepreneurs don’t have the time it takes to do effective content marketing by themselves. It’s a team effort, and if you lack a solid team, you’ll be forced to forego a strong content presence. Content comes in many shapes and sizes. It starts with foundational tactics such as blogs, social media, email marketing and guest blogging. But it also expands and transforms as your business continues to grow. You need a team to support each stage of the process. Without that support, you won’t be able to reach the full potential of this marketing... [...]

Kerry Jones says, “If you’re looking for a content marketing job, you’re in luck. But if you’re trying to hire for content roles, you may find there’s a lot of competition for talent. A recent study by Fractl (my employer) and Moz confirmed there is growing demand for content marketing skills. “The Inbound Marketing Economy” analyzed more than 75,000 job listings on Indeed.com containing digital marketing keywords, including content marketing terms. To get a pulse on the current state of content marketing careers, I’ve compiled the study’s most compelling stats and gathered... [...]

Mark Gadala-Maria says, “While the concept of relevance has always driven successful marketing efforts, it is a core requirement for effective marketing in today’s cluttered and hypercompetitive marketplace. In fact, the entire premise of all search engines is determining the relevance of any one website to a submitted search query, and matching it with the searcher. Crowdsourcing has served as a premier method for gathering relevant content for centuries, although the actual term for this process wasn’t coined until 2006 by Jeff Howe in a Wired magazine article. The British used an early... [...]

Kayla Cobb says, “One of the most talked-about marketing trends at the moment may also be one of the most effective. According to Demand Metric, content marketing generates three times as many leads as traditional outbound marketing while costing 62% less. At MarketingSherpa Email Summit 2015, Courtney Eckerle, Manager of Editorial Content, MarketingSherpa, sat down with Stephen Bruner, Marketing Manager, Precor, to discuss the value of content marketing and segmentation as well as the benefits of implementing a strategy using both of these marketing methods. Precor is the second largest... [...]

Nathan Safran says, “I recently came across a chart from Econsultancy and Oracle Marketing Cloud’sMarketing Budgets 2015 Report showing marketers’ perceived ability to measure ROI from their digital channels. At the top of the ROI list is paid search — which, given its “put a quarter in the machine and get something back” framework, is not surprising. Down at the bottom of the list, in the second to last position, is content marketing, with only 16% of marketers describing their ability to measure ROI from this discipline as “good.”“. Dissecting Ongoing Content Investment... [...]

Ryan Skinner says, “We recently asked marketing leaders who use content marketing platforms (CMPs) a simple “this or that” question, namely: What business outcomes did your content marketing initiatives generate last year: top-line benefits (new customers, revenue, sales) or bottom-line benefits (loyalty, reduced marketing or media expenses)? The responses came down decidedly in the second category. In other words, those marketing leaders who are currently practicing content marketing in a way big enough to necessitate software specific to it believe the value they’re... [...]

Chris Garrett says, “You are all well aware by now that content is vitally important to your business. But how do you decide which content should be freely available and which content you ought to charge for? Is it possible to give away too much? People struggle with this question all the time. On the one hand, giving away information clearly works. After all, Copyblogger is based on that premise. That said, we know that selling information is good business“. How to Decide Which Content to Sell and What to Give Away for Free ‘Copyblogger’ Blog  [...]