Ian Lurie says, “Forget content marketing, SEO content, and whatever else as you know them. We need to fundamentally change our approach to content. It’s not an add-on or a separate thing. It’s an inseparable part of the user experience. Let’s act that way. Content: the silent epidemic Your site’s infested. Most organizations treat content like some kind of horrific disease. They try to shove it as far away as possible from the “real” web site, like a bad case of body lice”. It’s Time to Treat Content as Part of the User Experience MOZ Blog  [...]

Graham Charlton says, “Doug Kessler, who runs B2B content agency Velocity, will be speaking at next month’s Festival of Marketing.  Here, Doug talks about the content marketing backlash, the importance of quality, and the importance of tone of voice… Can you tell us a little about your presentation at the Festival of Marketing? I’ll be talking about Insane Honesty in content marketing (and marketing in general). That means instead of hiding your product’s biggest weaknesses, you actually expose your worst points proudly. It’s a viscerally counter-intuitive thing... [...]

Ryan Skinner says, “To bring a recent piece of research on content co-marketing to life, I created a mini-podcast (8 minutes) that includes excerpts from my interviews with marketing leaders. Give it a listen (if the Soundcloud player below doesn’t show up or doesn’t work for you, you can go straight to the Soundcloud page where it lives, here). Below I’ve included notes to the podcast, and a full transcript“. Listen To This Mini-Podcast On Content Co-Marketing The Forrester Blog  [...]

Chow says, “Content marketing is becoming more important as time goes on changing the way that bloggers engage with their readers. Through content, we connect with our readers providing them with resources they need to solve a problem. However, it can work both ways, allowing us to accomplish our objective as well. For example, through the right content marketing strategy, we can sell products, increase conversions, build an email following and create a buzz on social networks through social shares, etc. Many would agree a solid content marketing campaign can be the key to a successful business.... [...]

Baer says, “Dave Murray‘s 12-person social media team handles content creation, social media management, and social media customer service for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. The two blogs his team runs — A Healthier Michigan andMichigan Blues Perspectives — are indicative of the two roles BCBSM’s social media channels play. A Healthier Michigan shares tips, encourages families to stay active, and generally promotes a healthy lifestyle, while Michigan Blues Perspectives keeps readers up to date on healthcare reform and news. These blogs have their own bifurcated social channels, as... [...]

Rand Fishkin says, “This question, posed by Alex Moravek in our Q&A section, has a somewhat complicated answer. In today’s Whiteboard Friday, Rand discusses how organizations might perform well in search rankings without doing any link building at all, relying instead on the strength of their content to be deemed relevant and important by Google”. Is It Possible to Have Good SEO Simply by Having Great Content MOZ Blog  [...]

Ben Davis says, “Social media plays such an important role in publishing that sharable and fun interactive content is now the way to elevate a piece from ‘buzzy’ to ‘viral’. Buzzfeed and The Guardian have proved masterful at this (for different reasons) but there are plenty of other publishers and organisations getting in on the act. Here’s just a few of them”. Nine examples of interactive web content ‘Econsultancy’ Blog  [...]

Baer says, “Content marketing strategy isn’t a nice to have, it’s a requirement.Recent research from the Content Marketing Institute found that more than 80% of B2B marketers say they have a content marketing strategy, but only a third have documented that very same content marketing strategy. Let’s fix that. This presentation is drawn from our work here at Convince & Convert, where we create content marketing strategy for some of the best-known brands in the world. (if we can help you, please let us know). In practice, of course, creating a fully functional content marketing plan requires... [...]

Ben Davis says, “BBC Earth showcases some of the content trends the Beeb has been championing in the revamp of its site. I’ve taken a quick shufty through these lovely webpages in an attempt to find exactly what these design trends are. See if you agree. Looser style guide Look at the article titles. Here’s a comparison of some from 2013 with 2014. Whilst the BBC hasn’t stooped to BuzzFeed clickbait levels (who am I to talk?), it’s clearly trying to be a bit more of a tease”. BBC Earth: seven web content trends to notice ‘Econsultancy’ Blog  [...]

Marcus Tober says, “There are major differences between the results that search engines deliver on phones and computers. How can marketers structure their search strategy to maximise results? Figures from 2013 found that nearly 20% of the average adult American’s daily media consumption was on mobile devices, a trend that is only accelerating. Echoing this, search queries on mobile devices grew five-fold in the last two years, according to Google”. How can marketers benefit from mobile search? ‘Econsultancy’ Blog  [...]