Daniel Dipizza says, “In Los Angeles, where I live, I constantly see billboards for popular YouTubers…which tells me that Google (who owns them) is investing a lot of money into helping popular brands succeed. More and more frequently, we are seeing popular YouTubers transcend the internet and move into more traditional media and movies, knocking down the gatekeepers that held the old guard in place. Guess what? It’s still free to start making this type of content. All you need is a laptop with a webcam and a free YouTube account. You can record the videos on your computer and upload... [...]

Juan Mendez says, “Few people buy on a first look. Way before they take money out of their pockets, people are looking for a solution to a problem. When they become aware of something that may solve that problem, they need to consider which solution is better. Finally, they need to choose wisely among providers that solve the same problem but in different (faster, cheaper, better) ways. How do you create engaging content to boost each step of the customer journey and help prospects get through your sales funnel? Video is an ideal tool, especially to explain the most complex ideas and concepts.... [...]

Sonia Simone says, “So, Copyblogger has been running for about 11 years now. And in all that time, we’ve never written a post about Arnold Schwarzenegger, unless you count that one time I compared long-form sales pages to the Terminator. Until this week. Entirely independently, Brian Clark and I both used the Governator to illustrate two different points about smart content creation. On Monday, Brian broke down persuasive analogies — citing a particularly effective analogy Schwarzenegger used to make an environmental point. On Tuesday, Stefanie brought a little relief by making some excellent... [...]

Sonia Simone says, “A few weeks ago, I recorded a podcast episode about Jonah Sachs’s book Winning the Story Wars. He had a particularly useful observation about three story elements that pull in audience attention. He calls them Freaks, Cheats, and Familiars. Sachs explains how these elements can be deployed, like the Hero’s Journey, to make stories much more memorable and engaging. As I was reading Story Wars, it struck me that there’s a well-known figure who illustrates all three of these elements in one person: legendary bodybuilder, action star, two-term California Governor, and... [...]

Ashley Lockridge says, “By now you’ve all seen the headlines about the burgeoning success of eCommerce compared to the relatively drastic decline in transactions for brick-and-mortar stores during the holiday season. ComScore data showed desktop online sales in the last two months of 2016 rose 12%, and are expected to rise to 16-19% once the mobile commerce numbers are tallied. This steady downward trend for brick-and-mortars has been caused by a variety of factors. Amazon has carved out a desire for free, fast shipping and one-stop shopping. The rise of “fast-fashion” pushes consumers... [...]

Olivia Dello Buono says, “It’s easy to become obsessed with the latest and greatest “tricks” in email marketing: the formula for creating an effective subject line; the perfect call-to-action copy that will influence more of your subscribers; the ideal way to design an email that will bypass the spam filter. While it’s certainly a good thing to stay on top of the latest email marketing best practices, there is one key to boosting subscriber engagement that is often overlooked. And that’s sending valuable content your subscribers expect and want to receive from you. But how do... [...]

Christina Baldassarre says, ” Content marketing has been around for centuries. Benjamin Franklin began publishing the journal Poor Richard’s Almanack to promote his print business back in 1732, Michelin launched the Michelin Guide back in 1900, and Jell-O began offering free copies of the Jell-O Recipe Book back in 1901. Those fore-founders of content marketing had the right idea. Offer engaging and useful content to your customers, and it will boost sales, grow your community and increase brand loyalty. Jell-O’s sought-after recipe book contributed to more than $1M in revenue in just... [...]

Lux Narayan says, “As with most undertakings, before you begin writing or otherwise creating content, you should ask yourself some stock questions: why, what, when, and where—the 4Ws of content creation. And because creating marketing content is as much science as it is art, the most powerful weapon you have at your disposal is data. So, before you start working on your next piece of content, consider the 4Ws. Also keep in mind how you can use data to resolve the concerns you should be addressing with each question. 1. Why write/create content In marketing, visibility is key. After you... [...]

Stacy DeBroff says, “While both Influencer Marketing and Content Marketing strategies generate rich, compelling storytelling, copy, images and video, their approaches and results couldn’t be more different. In today’s rapidly morphing marketing landscape, brands often find paid-for content confusing particularly when it comes to differentiating between content marketing and influencer marketing. With brands and their agency partners increasingly confusing the two, they risk diluting the powerful attributes that come with each. With content marketing, brands pay to have very specific content... [...]

Matthew Torren says, “For most blog, news, and content website owners, ad revenue is essential. It feeds the budget required to deliver the content that your readers have come to depend on. Unfortunately, in the quest to increase ad revenue, many site publishers have fallen into the trap of adopting aggressive ad placement strategies that wreck the user experience and trigger the tremendous ad blocker adoption rate that now threatens the industry’s survival. Many content companies have responded by trying harder to cultivate relationships with readers, but site owners are also under pressure... [...]