Jessica Davis says, “”Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works!” Steve Jobs said. Each one of us interacts with information differently, and a design that works for one person may turn someone else off entirely. No matter how much effort you’ve put into designing your website or mobile app, the proof of the pudding is in the testing—user testing, which allows you to learn what the actual users of a product think about it and how they use it. Here are 10 tools that will help you gain insight into what you can do to improve user experience... [...]

David Kirkpatrick says, “Customer reviews and testimonials can be a powerful source of third-party validation and credibility when added to an overall content marketing strategy. Today’s MarketingSherpa Blog post looks at how one consumer marketer — in a business area that is potentially hostile to positive customer feedback — initiated a campaign to actively add customer reviews to its marketing mix. Check ‘n Go is a payday loan company with a focus on short-term consumer lending with retail outlets going back almost 20 years and, more recently, an online option for loans as well.... [...]

Jessica Davis says, “A study investigating the psychology of social media sharing indicates that people share because they want to make valuable content accessible to others. When your audience members scrutinize your social media content, they form an opinion about your brand based on what you put out there, and they determine whether to share you content with their own audiences. The buzz and engagement your Facebook page or Twitter account enjoys in the days or weeks following its launch may die down pretty quickly if you cannot supply consistently high-quality, share-worthy content to... [...]

Dan Faggella says, “Effective marketing is personalmarketing. The generic “10 tips” blog post and homogenous email blast can no longer be the go-to tactic from themodern marketer’s toolbox. While segmenting your audience inemail marketing is relatively common, segmenting your readers when creating blog and article content isn’t nearly as familiar for most marketers. In this article, we cover how to segment your blog content to drive more leads and more sales. But first, let’s get on the same page about the term. A segment is a defined group of people within your market and is similar... [...]

Baer says, “What are some of the biggest challenges of developing tons of content? “It’s mostly just organization.” That’s what Ali Parmelee, Co-Owner and Brand Strategist atTHINK creative group has to say about content development. And I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s tough enough to organize your own marketing. But what gives Ali some credibility here is that she’s managing her own content development process, and she also helps lots of others manage their marketing, too, through her marketing agency. “We’re a pretty small team here. It’s a matter of keeping everything... [...]

Chow says, “Consider the majority of the kind of content that you find on the Internet each and every day. This blog post that you are reading right now is a prime example of that. Perhaps you subscribe to the RSS feed and the story popped up in your feed reader of choice. Maybe you follow John on Twitter and you saw the tweet saying there’s a new article. Or maybe you actually typed in johnchow.com into your browser to see what new posts went up today. Regardless of how you found your way onto this page, the bottom line is that you’re here now. And you’re reading these words that... [...]

Bryan Collins says, “Podcasting is the Andy Warhol of content marketing. During the 1950s and 1960s, Warhol created a unique story proposition by exploring the link between art and popular culture. His work was at the forefront of the visual and pop art scene because almost nobody else was doing what he did — and he made much of his best work freely available. Today, podcasting is the emerging platform for forward-thinking content marketers who want to take advantage of the power of audio. But just like other content marketing activities, to get the most from your audio content, it’s... [...]

Arnie Kuenn says, “Great content does little good if the right audience isn’t exposed to it. Most marketers are familiar with many ways to promote content, including sharing content on Facebook, Twitter­, LinkedIn, and other social media sites. Nevertheless, new ways to promote content pop up all the time that aren’t as obvious, even to seasoned marketers. Here are eight nonobvious content promotion tips to leverage in content marketing: Meerkat and Periscope Meerkat and Twitter-owned Periscope are relatively new platforms that offer the ability to live-stream video content through... [...]

Jawad Khan says, “In today’s competitive business environment, the quality of your products and services is not the only factor that determines the success of your business. Nearly every business in your industry claims to offer the same value for the client’s money. To stand out from the crowd and attract more leads, you need to create brand awareness that is carefully positioned to earn the trust of your target market. Content marketing is one of the best ways to differentiate your business from your competitors. Nearly 88 percent of marketers consider content marketing an ideal strategy... [...]

Rainmaker team says, “Job one for any business, entrepreneur, or marketer is to grow an audience. Content syndication is one such approach to doing just that. But it’s not entirely understood. Content syndication is an age-old idea of taking an original piece of work and then trying to get it published in other places. By “other places,” we mean: you look for bigger sites to publish your work. In other words, effective content syndication occurs when you go up the food chain — not down“. How to Grow an Audience on LinkedIn by Repurposing Content ‘Copyblogger’ Blog  [...]