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- 13 Feb
Should You Gate Your Best Blog Content?
Gated blog content is a tried-and-true way to collect email addresses for your marketing campaigns. But gating all of your best content isn’t necessarily always the best move, either. You should decide on a case-by-case basis if a given piece of content should be gated.
There’s More Than One Way to Slice it
There are multiple factors that determine whether a piece of gated blog content will meet the goals you have for it. Or if it will just sit there, totally untouched.
Gating your content can lead your marketing strategy to either skyrocket or nosedive. And it almost entirely depends on choosing the right content to gate. And what information you require as the key to that gate. Here’s your guide to deciding whether or not you should gate your best blog content at Jeff Bullas’ Blog.
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- 27 Jan
3 Ways to Make B2B Content Marketing More Engaging
by Leah Wynalek
When it comes content, even with complex topics, your content is most effective when it’s simple to understand. Whether a website, a blog post, white papers, your content must deliver a clear, valuable message. And it must do so in an engaging way for potential buyers to pay attention.“Momma Always Said, Simple is as Simple Does”
Recently at Content Marketing World 2019, a number of B2B marketers led sessions about how to craft more compelling brand stories and thought leadership content. And all of the speakers at that event stressed the need to simplify your message. Storytelling need not be complex. The simpler, the better was their mantra.
The Bottom line: Buyers are people. They don’t want to be bored, and they shouldn’t have to analyze your content to grasp its business value. To learn 3 ways to accomplish this, read the full article on the Publishing Executive blog
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- 23 Jan
Five Content Marketing Myths Debunked
Not long ago, content marketing was real simple. It was all about launching a website, posting on blogs, and circulating emails to new and existing customers.Well, That is no Longer the Case
Today, it’s a critical, multifaceted discipline. Today, most organizations now see content marketing as one of the most invaluable tools in their belts for driving brand awareness and sales leads. Which is why content marketing budgets continue to rise. In fact, nearly 85% of technology marketers surveyed recently by the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and MarketingProfs say they’ve used content marketing effectively in the previous year.
Myths Busted . . .
Yet it’s highly likely that those campaigns were less successful than they could have been. And by looking deeply into these campaings, we would most likely turn up weaknesses. And most are borne from some broadly held content marketing myths. Here are the five most common content marketing myths to overcome at MarketingProfs.com
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- 02 Dec
10 Ways Social Media Fuels Inbound Marketing
by Sian Jaylo
Your social media efforts can help establish your online presence. And it can drive traffic to your brand. From creating increased exposure to converting leads consistently, it works. So, social media campaigns should be the backbone of your digital marketing strategy.In spite of all of the recent bad press, social media is still important. According to Sprout Social, Facebook has over 2 billion active users. Instagram has 400 million daily active users. And Twitter boasts 326 million monthly active users who send 500 million tweets daily.
And That Represents a Lot of Potential Customers for Your Brand
But the benefits of social media and inbound marketing goes beyond the sheer volume and reach. Social media lets you deliver exactly what your audience wants. It provides them with engagement, education, and confidence.
To learn more of why social media is the perfect marketing tool for giving your audience what they want, read the full article at DrumUp
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- 16 Oct
Work Email Behavior: Time, Inbox, and Usefulness Trends
by Ayaz Nanji
Whether at work or at home, email has become the everpresent spectre of life. And it seems that we all have a persistent, almos compulsive, habbit of constantly checking for new email messges.Times, They are a Changing . . .
However, that seems to be changing in today’s work world. It seems that workers are spending less time checking business as well as personal email. That is even though most still spend several hours each day sorting through their inboxes. This is according to recent research from CMO by Adobe.
Now this may simply seem to be an interesting factoid to see and forget. However, this fact is far more important that that, especially if email is the linchpin of your lead gen and marketing programs.
Survey respondents reported that they spend 209 minutes each day checking work email, on average. That is down from 256 minutes spent checking work email, in 2016. And this can have some serious implications in the world of email marketing.
To learn more about this trend, to see more of the data and to access the original report, read the full article at MarketingProfs.com
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- 12 Sep
5 Inbound Lead Generation Strategies & How to Make Them Work!
Outbound marketing is a good way to get leads quickly. And it;s a fairly simple process. Just reach out, grab someone’s attention and BAM, a lead.Well, it may not be quite that simple. And that’s for the reason that to do that, you need to be seen by a lot of eyes first. That gets very expensive. Add to that the fact that those eyeballs my not be aware that they want or need your product. And they may have never heard of you before and as is the nature of the market now, suspicious of your claims.
But what if, instead of pushing your offer onto people when they haven’t asked for it, you could use valuable content to draw them in, when they want to come to you? You can: It’s called inbound marketing.
Inbound marketing: What you need to know
Successful inbound marketing relies heavily upon quality content. That can be in the form of articles, emails, videos, podcasts, infograpchics, or e-books. However, the content landscape is getting more and more competitive. Why? Well mainly to its own success, it has driven a virtually unlimited amount of quality content out there. So much so that it is quickly becoming an unsustainable strategy. And that has meant that we have entered the age of the so-called content shock.
At least, that’s the opinion of Mark Schaefer, who argued way back in 2014 that content marketing is not a sustainable strategy and that we are actually in the age of what he called content shock. Now, to see what his conclusions are and to learn how this will impact the future or your program, read the full article at WordStream.com
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- 22 Jul
Content Marketing is a Dialogue, Not a Monologue
What does the phrase “content marketing” mean to you? If you’re like most B2B marketers, when you hear it, you may think of some combination of email campaigns and educational content. And today, most brands use this tandem with gated content as a way to build their email list. And then they tend to deploy an email drip campaign to stay connected with the prospect until they are ready to buy. For most, that works well.But one of the biggest challenges with content marketing is that all too often, we treat it like traditional marketing. We think of it as a monologue, as a one way conversation. We send out broadcast emails. We produce a blog and turn off the comments. We create an e-book. All effective but not for encouraging conversation. With our content, we have an opportunity to actually use our marketing to connect with a prospect or customer who is willing to actually engage with us. But that opportunity is lost because we dont engage in a real two-way conversation through out content.
In this post, Drew Mc takes a look at one of the three key takeaways from the content marketing trends report from Content Marketing Institute. He gives us his unique insights on this at the McLellan Marketing Group Blog.
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- 29 Mar
9 Expert Tips For Perfecting Email Open Rates
In today’s highly competitive world of online communication, every email you send competes against hundreds of other email messages at any given time. But they also are up against a dwindling attention span of subscribers. As a result, any email you send, including your marketing emails, should aim to grab a subscriber’s attention in their crowded inbox.Great. So How Can You Do That, You Ask . . . ?
Well, first off, lets start with your subject line. If it’s not interesting enough to catch their attention in a fraction of a second, you might not have a second chance. Then, you won’t get your message across. And besides, if you regularly practice email marketing, ineffective subject lines can noticeably harm your open rates. And then, consequently your potential revenue.
But that only scratches the surface of the issues that can hinder your email marketing success. And to help you our, here are 9 Expert Tips For Perfecting Email Open Rates on Jeff Bullas’s Blog.
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- 06 Mar
An Introduction to Persuasive Advertising vs. Informative Advertising
by Clifford Chi
As marketers, we know that if we want to persuade an audience, we need to evoke an emotional response from them. But how do you actually do that? Well, for one, we can use persuasive techniques that emphasise value. Or we can inform and educate them.But What is a Persuasive Ad? And How Do They Differ From Informative Ads?
Well, recently Clifford Chi, over at HubSpot, took a look at this dicotomy of advertising approaches. He examined six persuasive advertising techniques that you can use right now. Plus, he then looked at three informative advertisement examples. And each of those is surprisingly as compelling as the persuasive advertising examples.
So to learn all about Persuasive Advertising vs. Informative Advertsing, read the full article at HubSpot.com
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- 04 Feb
Unleash the Power of Video Marketing for Your Business
by Mike Osborne
We all know that Creating online content is one of the best ways of reaching customers and improving visibility. And that’s because it simply works.
And you probably already have a social media presence on Facebook or Twitter, and possibly a blog as well. But if you really want to reach your target audience effectively and create an impression of your brand that lasts, you need to be using videos.
Video marketing has proven itself to be one of the most powerful methods of brand promotion there is. And here’s a look at why and how you can use it to your advantage at MarketingProfs.com
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- 14 Jan
How to Make an Effective Testimonial Video: A Step-by-Step Guide
By now, we are all aware that videos in marketing are highly effective. But, you may not know that there are a number of different types of marketing videos you can use. And each type has a specific focus, intent and funnel application.
One Highly Effective Application for Video is for Testimonials
Testimonial videos are a type of marketing videos that are perfect for the decision stage of the buyer’s journey. It is at this very point when prospects are aware of and want to solve a problem. And now they are looking for information to help them make up their minds. Help them begin to choose you.
An effective testimonial video can be the final push that sends them through your sales funnel. We know through research that fully 82% of people conduct research online prior to making a purchase decision. So shouldn’t you learn how to make an effective testimonial video? You can at MarketingProfs.com
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- 14 Dec
How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile for Inbound Sales Inquiries to Get Found by Buyers
by Jonny Rose
Many of us make the mistake of treating LinkedIn as simply an online Rolodex. Or we may think of it as a glorified CV, rather than an inbound marketing channel that can be optimized for sales inquiries.
Spoiler Alert! That is a Huge Mistake
The social network is home to over 500 million users. And that means 500 million potential customers. And many of those are regularly searching for products or services your provide.
Although not everyone has the time to spend their days publishing content, commenting on updates, and outbound prospecting to find potential customers, there is a way to make your buyers come to you. And, to find out how to turn your LinkedIn profile into a powerful inbound sales asset, read the full article at MarketingProfs.com
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- 06 Nov
B2B Email Newsletters: Format, Length, and Frequency Trends
by Ayaz Nanji
Thinking of developing a newsletter? Then you may need answers to some key questions.Questions. Questions. So Many Questions.
First, what is the most popular B2B email newsletter format? How many messages do marketers send each month? Whom do newsletters come from? How long are they?
To find out, Find A Way Media examined 78 marketing email newsletters [download available] sent by B2B companies that operate in a range of different verticals. The researchers analyzed messages sent by the firms over a three-month period to determine format, length, sender, and frequency trends.
The researchers identified four common B2B newsletter formats and to see what they are and how they work, read the full article at MarketingProfs
NOTE: A Free Registration pop-up opens on this site. Free Registration is not required to read this article.
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- 31 Oct
The AIDA Model: A Proven Framework for Converting Strangers Into Customers
by Clifford Chi
In 1898, Elias St. Elmo Lewis anonymously wrote a column about three advertising principles he found useful throughout his career. Through the years this model matured to become a standard that typically expressed as the acronym, AIDA. And is widely used in the advertising industry. In the digital age, brands have even based their entire marketing strategy on the AIDA model.But, What is The AIDA Model?
The AIDA model describes the four stages a consumer needs to go through to become a customer. The stages are Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action (AIDA). And during these four stages, your content will ideally attract attention to your brand, generate interest in your product or service. And, even go so far as to stimulate a desire for it, and spur action to try or buy it.
As Proven Formula, it Can Guide Your Content Creation
The AIDA model is a sturdy framework for guiding your audience through the buyer’s journey and spurring them to act. And if you apply it to your content marketing, you’ll be leveraging a proven formula that can consistently engage, persuade, and convert an audience into customers. So to learn how, read the full article at HubSpot.com
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- 27 Oct
6 Simple Tweaks to Boost Lead Capture Form Conversions
You wouldn’t be the only business to experience contact forms going stale. It seems that just 22% of businesses are happy with their conversion rates. Ant that means the majority of us have plenty of room for improvement.
So why isn’t the traffic we’re driving to our website actually converting?
Good question. Why doesn’t it convert into high-quality lead form submissions? Now, the answer isn’t necessarily a problem with products, services, or offerings. In fact, there are several factors on the form itself that could influence the volume of conversions you’re getting—ranging from your page layout to a form that’s too complex.
Here are six simple tweaks to boost your form conversion rate and encourage those high-quality leads to convert at WordStream.com
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- 22 Oct
Lead Generation Forms: 22 Examples to Help You Convert More Leads
Have you ever completed a lead generation form and thought to yourself, “Wow, what a great experience. I just had filling out that form!”?Probably Not
But, you might recall a negative experience you had while completing a website form. After all, lead generation forms are crucial to your business. They’re how you attract website visitors and turn them into leads. And you can’t afford to have a form on your website that doesn’t create a positive, painless experience for those visitors.
So to give you a little help, the people at HubSpot have compiles 22 of their favorite lead generation forms and examples. And they even included key takeaways from each to help you create a great user experience and increase your own conversions. To learn more, read the full article at HubSpot.com
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- 16 Oct
12 Proven Content Promotion Strategies To Get More Traffic
In their 2018 research, the Content Marketing Institute found that 37% of brands plan to increase their content marketing spending. And, small businesses continue to invest heavily in content marketing.
As a Result, Content Marketing has Seen an Exponential Growth
However even with all this content, most still sits in the deep corners of the internet. And most goes unnoticed. As an example, Ahrefs found that 91% of content doesn’t get any organic traffic from Google.
No Need to Get Disheartened Though
Instead, you need to create a fail-proof content distribution strategy that ensures visibility for every piece you publish. But how? Where to start? Let’s look at how to create a distribution strategy from scratch on Jeffbullas’s Blog.
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- 12 Oct
Here’s How Listeners Discover New Podcasts
from Marketing Charts
The podcast audience is growing, and people are becoming heavier listeners over time. A new study from Westwood One [download page] breaks down the primary ways by which weekly listeners discover new podcasts, revealing that social media is the top source overall.Indeed, it seems that 6 in 10 weekly listeners reported learning about new podcasts through social media. This even edges word-of-mouth as the top method of podcast discovery among weekly listeners.
To see more of the data and insights, read the full article at MarketingCharts.com
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- 09 Oct
The Business and Industry Content Preferences of C-Suite Executives
by Ayaz Nanji
We know that content marketing works. But in order to get to the point where our content drives engagement, it all depends upon the big “IF”. That is, if the key decision maker in the c-suite actually is drawn to interact with or read that content.So, a simple question would be, “what types of content do they want? How do they like to receive that content? And, What are their preferences?”
It seems that Greentarget, a strategic public relations firm focused exclusively on business-to-business organizations, wondered this as well. And, so they ran a study based upon data from a survey of more than 100 C-level executives who are responsible for the purchase of professional services for their firm to find the answers to these questions.
First of all, they found that senior executives rely heavily on email and traditional media for their content. And they are most interested in content that delivers useful insights. In other words, the content they prefer has intrinsic value to the.
To see more of the data and insights from this report, read the full article at MarketingProfs.com
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- 13 Sep
The Ultimate Guide to Viral Campaign Success
In spite of what we may want for our content, there is no guaranteed way to ensure your content goes viral. But there are certain steps you can take to give your marketing campaign the best chance at success.We All Want Campaigns to go Viral, But . . .
Many marketers hope for a campaign to go viral — meaning it’s recognized, widely-accepted, and influential. And, for something to actually go viral, it needs to be shared over and over again. So, this means you and your company need to share the content first in as many places — and in as many ways — as possible.
But, still, there’s no guaranteed formula. Then, you need to make it easy for your audience to share it as well. And to see how this is done, read the full article at HubSpot.com
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