10 Surprisingly Simple Lessons That Will Make You A Better Digital Marketer

Years ago, I was working as an online marketing manager at a digital marketing agency in Salt Lake City.

One of my clients was a large university that offered online courses. The client had expressed concerns that while organic search traffic was up, our “request for more information” goal was down (one of the primary KPIs).

The client was questioning the value in our work and the partnership was in jeopardy.

From competitive analysis I knew we had multiple online competitors that offered similar programs, and also that signing up for college level online courses wasn't an impulse buy – prospective students were doing their research.

Understanding the customer path to purchase

After the call I referenced the client's Multi-Channel Funnels Report in Google Analytics. I confirmed that the top conversion path was visitors finding our online courses via Google Search, and then coming back directly at a later point to request more information. Once I shared this with the client, she immediately saw the value in the work we were doing.

From that day forward, I included data from this report to not only show the full value in our work, but also gain a deeper understanding of my client's customer online journey to purchase.

This lesson is one of many that I've applied to assist me in running more effective campaigns, provide more actionable and insightful reporting, build stronger relationships with clients, and develop more efficient processes.

Here are the lessons I feel will provide real value and help you be a better digital marketer.

1. SEO is far from dead

It seems like every 6 months or so, a proclamation is made publicly decrying the benefits and the effectiveness of sustainable search engine optimization.

While Google is continuously refining and introducing new systems to help it better understand queries and return relevant results, both optimization and inbound links still work amazingly well to improve a page's visibility in Google Search.

Caption: This screenshot is of YoY organic search traffic with a filter applied to remove spam/bot hits. The website is a local business that had existing authority and no previous on-page optimization.

While not a definitive rule, pages and posts with links from authoritative, trusted sources tend to perform better organically than those that don't.

Ensure your website is sending clear, concise signals to search engines. Make on-page optimization and earning links a component of your digital marketing strategy by creating and promoting great content, getting the word out for company news and events and building online relationships with others in your industry.

Client education is key as it can often take months to see the benefits from optimization.

2. Community, Community, Community

Image Source: ALLBRiGHT 1-800-PAINTING

Getting involved in your local community can be an effective way to earn links, increase brand awareness and strengthen your UVP as a national or local business.

A community event can include charity work or sponsorships, meetups, presentations, etc.

If you need ideas on how to acquire links from your clients' community efforts or events, I'd recommend checking out this post.

Do something newsworthy that includes your local community and then get the word out!

3. Social media attribution

Many social media managers will agree that it can be difficult to show an ROI from building an engaged social community.

For many of my clients, I've found that social activity typically “assists” as opposed to acting as a last touch channel that directly leads to conversions. While traffic back to your website from your social channels is great, showing how these efforts are bringing in new leads and sales is even better.

By default, Google Analytics credits all conversions to the last channel a customer interacts with before converting. To help me show clients how both paid and organic social media marketing campaigns are contributing to either leads or sales, I use Google Analytics Multi-Channels Funnel reports.

Google lumps all social traffic into one channel, so you'll need to create custom channel grouping that defines all your social channels e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. You can also create a channel for specific campaigns that you've tagged.

Prove your worth by showing the assisted and direct conversion value from your social media marketing campaigns. Also, if you use GA, take the time to get your individual qualification – it's free!

4. Start with a great visitor experience

Spending time and valuable marketing dollars on campaigns won't be nearly as effective if your landing pages are providing a poor visitor experience. Don't put the cart before the horse.

For any online marketing campaign, start with optimizing the visitor experience on your website, then move on to marketing.

If you have suspicions that a design element/feature isn't enhancing the visitor experience on a site, request a few free 5-minute evaluations from Peek User Testing for unbiased feedback. In my experience, clients love it and it can be used in conjunction with analytics data to confirm a hunch.

To assess areas that could be limiting conversions, set up funnels for your goals in Google Analytics.

Are most visitors abandoning their cart? Are they making it to the contact page but not filling out the form? Funnels can help you assess where you may need to make changes.

The below screenshot shows a basic funnel that was set up using Google Analytics Goals.

You can also install and use heat map software to see exactly how your visitors are engaging with your landing pages. I like SumoMe's Heat Maps.

5. If you can't measure it, you can't improve it

I'm a firm believer in letting the data drive the decisions, but in order for data to be actionable, it needs to be as accurate as possible. Internal sessions, junk and spam traffic, accounts that aren't set-up properly, can all make your data less insightful and actionable. This is especially true for small businesses and websites that don't receive thousands of visitors a month.

Providing your clients with a thorough analytics audit can be worth its weight in gold. Having accurate tracking in place will not only help you know what's working, but also show how your work is impacting your client's bottom line.

6. Repurpose, Repurpose, Repurpose

Time and budgets are limited so why not get the most exposure possible for your content and events?

Repurposing can be defined as taking new and existing content assets and sharing or recreating them across multiple channels and content formats.

For example, if your client is holding an informative event, you could repurpose this content in the following ways:

• Live stream the event on Periscope, Facebook Live or via a podcast


• Record the presentation on video then upload and share it to Facebook and YouTube


• Transcribe the video or podcast and publish it as a blog post


• Gather emails from event attendees and send them the video and a link to the transcription on your website


• Take any presentation slides and add them to SlideShare


• Syndicate the content across other websites with a link pointing to the original post on your website

Before starting a new campaign, do a thorough content audit, then ask the client for anything and everything that's ever been used as marketing material. This can include PDFs, videos, PowerPoint slide decks, brochures, materials used for print advertising, etc.

7. Do a good job

Sounds pretty obvious right? Before starting my own digital marketing agency, I never considered word of mouth, reviews, and recommendations as marketing channels. The marketer in me would be amazed to learn that many successful SMB's were able to grow solely off of client referrals.

Since starting my own business, I've also found this to be true. Doing a good job can mean a lot of things, but I'd sum it up as working hard, keeping communication frequent, and showing the value in your work.

Remember, it's less expensive to retain a current client than it is to find a new one. Doing a good job means you'll retain clients longer and increase the chances they'll refer you to other businesses.

8. Be prepared to wear multiple hats

As a digital marketing consultant, it's my job to be able to advise and drive successful marketing campaigns across all online channels. SEO, PPC, social media, email – it's a lot to keep up with!

My advice: make a goal to read at least one blog post a day on a different marketing channel and keep good notes.  Take the best ideas and test them for inclusion in your internal processes.

9. Develop processes

Having processes in place ensures that your success is repeatable … and it also saves you time. While every business is unique and no digital marketing campaigns are identical, many strategies and tasks can be defined.

Having tools, templates, and repeatable tasks will provide consistency and help your business to grow sustainably.

10. Pay to promote

Growing an audience and building awareness for your business takes a lot of time and effort. While not all industries are social, for those that are, utilizing social advertising on the social channels used by your target audience can be an effective way to get the word out.

Make sure to retarget those who were interested enough to visit your website. This can include advertising on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and even StumbleUpon.

You can learn something from everyone

I've only scratched the surface, but these were a few of the most actionable lessons I could share.

Do you have something to add? If so, please drop it in the comments below!

Guest Author: Brian Jensen is the CEO at Congruent Digital, a full-service online marketing agency that provides clients with a data-driven approach to search engine optimization, social media, content marketing and pay-per-click advertising.  Connect with Brian on Twitter, Google+ or LinkedIn.

The post 10 Surprisingly Simple Lessons That Will Make You A Better Digital Marketer appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.

from Jeffbullas's Blog http://ift.tt/2c8wLWX

rgh–

Make Money Online posting articles, videos like this
10 Surprisingly Simple Lessons That Will Make You A Better Digital Marketer

Why a Smaller Audience May Save Your Influence Marketing

Size Isn't Everything

The bigger the audience the bigger the return, right?

No, not really. Niche markets and finding an influencer that is a perfect organic fit for your brand takes time and effort and, according to Chris Brogan, it's exciting and entirely worth it.

Chris is an advocate against cookie-cutter and spreadsheet influencer marketing. For him, it's all about discovering that existing gem of an influencer that already enjoys your brand, or will as soon as you let them know about it.

He's also concerned about the trend of technology separating people instead of connecting them, and he is excited about the vast possibilities inherent in influencer marketing. If you're willing to put in the work, influencer marketing will return your efforts tenfold.

Owner Media Group is an organization dedicated to consultation and providing clients with targeted plans of action and project creation to lead to business success. They also focus on business systems for personal leadership and their mission statement is, “put more wins on your board with simple plans and projects.”

In This Episode

• Why it's important to take the time to find an influencer already interested in your brand


• How to use technology to humanize your brand


• Why high follower numbers is not always better than a niche market


• How to maximize your reach by having smaller, but more engaged audiences


• Why there are so many different ways to have influence in the world of marketing

 

Quotes From This Episode

“I think that the mistake we continue to make is that if you have numbers then you have influence.” -@chrisbrogan

“Go where the momentum is and help the person move it forward in some way instead of finding people to talk about your thing. There's someone out there who likes your thing if they've heard about it, and if not, you can always do this sort of product review type stuff and have people see what's going on. To me, there's just so many channels and pockets of people willing and anxious to talk about your thing. Why go find the people where it's not a fit?” -@chrisbrogan

“There are so many interesting ways that you can wield influence.”  -@chrisbrogan

“This is one of those opportunities where marketing technology is important.” -@chrisbrogan

“I think influencer marketing has such a ways to go and, at the same time, I would say that the people who are being handed down influencer programs, now that they've been codified over the last handful of years are just checking boxes. They're just working a spreadsheet. And I'm exposed daily to really bad campaigns put together by people who really haven't thought through who they're trying to reach and what the end state is that they're seeking. They're just looking for people who have big numbers. That's just never going to work for anybody.” -@chrisbrogan

“Essentially, it's how to be human at a distance, how to use these new digital tools to reach people in a better way, and how to make much more impact in a way that doesn't drain resources.” -@chrisbrogan

Resources

• In the News: The Impact of Instagram Stories on Influencer Marketing


• Chris Brogan twitter: @chrisbrogan


• Owner Media Group


• Ma Bell


• Jeff Pulver


• Yeti Mug


• Sony Electronics USA


• IZEA

 

Would You Rather

Would you rather not be able to shower for a month or not be able to sleep for a week?

Shower. I don't mind being smelly.

Would you rather know what your pets think of you or what your high school teachers thought of you?

Oh, that's painful. That's . . . I would rather say neither. I mean, if I had pets they'd be privy to every bodily function I ever did. I guess I'll go with teachers because it would be, I guess, at least, more meaty.

Would you rather be able to control fire or control water?

I wonder what this says about me. I want fire, but I'm just curious, like, what does that mean? Does that mean I'm a destructive person as opposed to a nurturing person? Like, water, I could, like, “I'll take care of your drought, I'll feed you, I'll take care of you, I'll bathe you.” Fire, I'll just burn things, I guess.

       

Why a Smaller Audience May Save Your Influence Marketing

from Convince and Convert Blog: Social Media Strategy and Social Media Consulting http://ift.tt/2bRCGDH

via
rgh–

Uber Loses $1.2 Billion by Q2 2016: Is the On-Demand Economy a Bust or an Investment?

Bloomberg's Eric Newcomer reported that on a recently Uber quarterly call with shareholders, the company's head of finance, Guatam Gupta announced that Uber's losses continue to escalate. Total losses in the first half of 2016 totaled an astounding $1.2 billion. According to Bloomberg's sources, there are several reasons for this. For one, subsidies for Uber's drivers are responsible for the majority of the company's losses globally. On top of that, Uber has been investing billions of dollars in China and it's yet to turn a profit there. And of course, there's staving off competition. Most notable, Uber has been engaged in a heavy price war with Lyft throughout the year to expand its market share as well as gain ground over other competitors in each market around the world. Uber told investors that it's willing to spend aggressively to do so.

Of course all of this lead the press and the interwebz to cry that the “sharing economy bubble is bursting” and that Uber and its astronomical valuation of $69 billion are examples of runaway capitalism, a “shell game,” and/or a company trying to take on too much all at once with finite resources. Yet, existing resources aren't enough it seems to take over the world in addition to its other significant investments in autonomous vehicles, in which Uber CEO Travis Kalanick said he “can't be wrong” about, as well as logistics and delivery services and more. Add to this, a growing portfolio of settled and impending lawsuits. The company will eventually have to raise again or finally take the company public to continue its crusade.

A key question to consider is whether or not Uber, regardless of its current impact on the transportation industry, is ever going to turn a profit. This question is leading experts to speculate whether or not its business model is actually lucrative in the long term to all stakeholders including investors, service providers (drivers), and Uber itself along with the “Uber of” every other industry.

There's much at stake. But, I also think there's more to the story.

There's a difference between losing money and investing. There are positive signs that already point to the promise of Uber's potential.

For instance, Uber continues to increase global revenues. During the first half of 2016, Uber's bookings grew significantly from Q1 to Q2, from +$3.8 billion to more than $5 billion. Its net revenue also grew ~18%, from about $960 million in Q1 to about $1.1 billion in Q2. Uber spokespersons have told investors that it currently boasts between 84% and 87% of the market in the U.S.

More so, Bloomberg reported in July that Uber lost at least $2 billion over the last two years trying to compete in China. The good news is that Uber won't recognize additional losses in China on its balance sheet after August. Recently,Uber forged a deal with its largest global competitor, Didi Chuxing, to pull out of China. In exchange, Didi gave the company 17.5% of its business and a $1 billion investment, which the company will show on its books soon.

More so, compared to Lyft, Uber's story further gains credibility. While Lyft is a much smaller company by trip volume, it appears, according to Bloomberg, to be losing more money than Uber in the U.S. Bloomberg reported earlier this year that Lyft told investors that it will keep its losses under $50 million a month or about $150 million in a quarter. Furthermore, in July, Uber delivered 62 million rides to Lyft's 13.9 million. However, Uber's driver subsidies were spread across a greater number of rides thus increasing its losses.

In a conversation for a story with my friend Erin Carson of CNET, I talked about Amazon and its vision, ambitions and resulting investment strategies to change the way you make purchases and beyond. From Kindle to Echo to Dash to Prime content, etc., Amazon is investing in innovation and disruption across multiple industries while increasing revenue and opening doors to new opportunities along the way.

“Uber's introduced an entirely new way to get from point A to point B not just in the United States, but around the world,” Solis said. “That comes at a tremendous cost.”

But, Solis said investors are willing to take the risk with the idea that something bigger is coming globally.

Along those lines, Solis isn't worried about the effect of Uber's finances on the sharing economy.

“Uber has long since left behind the sharing economy,” he said. Uber's been a catalyst for the on-demand economy, which is evident every time you hear about a company that wants to be Uber of whatever. 

It's conditioning consumers to get what they want, when they want it, with a smartphone and an app he said, and that's going to be far more powerful than the sharing economy.

“It's not only paving the way for the future of on-demand transportation but it's also changing consumer expectations for it to bring on-demand services across multiple industries,” he said. “Uber is much bigger than transportation.”

I see Uber's play as an investment in not only its own business but also, it's driving a formidable migration away from the sharing to the on-demand economy aka what I also call the selfish economy. Uber isn't just a transportation company, it's a platform and an ecosystem. Its changing consumer expectations and behaviors as a result beyond transportation. It's even changing how automotive manufactures re-imagine the future of transport and ride/hail services.

As such, it's not uncommon to subsidize market shifts, growth and expansion. Amazon, Tesla, Spotify, among many others, invest similarly to pioneer new markets and accelerate consumer adoption.

None of this is easy. Uber's work is relentless as it takes on taxi industries globally, lobbies governments, fights class action lawsuits, recruits, cultivates and subsidizes drivers, further develops its platform to attract developers to build new apps/services and continues to grow markets city by city and country by county. While $1.2 billion in losses is massive, the company's impact over time requires a broader discussion and appreciation for a different type of value, impact and success in the face of innovation and disruption.

Connect with Brian!

Twitter: @briansolis

Facebook: TheBrianSolis

LinkedIn: BrianSolis

Youtube: BrianSolisTV

Snapchat: BrianSolis

The post Uber Loses $1.2 Billion by Q2 2016: Is the On-Demand Economy a Bust or an Investment? appeared first on Brian Solis.

Uber Loses $1.2 Billion by Q2 2016: Is the On-Demand Economy a Bust or an Investment?

from Brian Solis http://ift.tt/2coUjvz

via
rgh–

Why Most Social Media Writing Sucks and How to Fix It

Forget What You Think You Know

Many people consider themselves great writers, especially when it comes to social. However, Josh knows for a fact that this is not the case. The sad truth of the matter is that many people have held on to the writing methods they were taught in school, which are great for term papers but terrible for marketing.

Having spent 20 years as a Senior VP in Idea Development and as an author at Forrester Researcher, Josh is a veritable expert on the art of writing. He is a strong proponent of reducing writing to the minimum of what is needed to have the most powerful impact on the audience. This goes directly against the scholastic composition many of us were taught, which rewards length and technical jargon.

By cutting out the fluff and making content extremely direct and to the point, it can break through the noise online and capture a few precious seconds of attention with meaningful and motivating information before the reader loses interest.

The more you can convey with fewer words, the better.

In This Episode

• Why successful blogging means writing content every single day


• How the shift to mobile content consumption leads to the need for brevity in writing


• Why proliferating content across many platforms means compromises in messaging


• How being authentic without editing leads to low quality, ineffective content


• The allure and pitfalls of SEO


• How long-form content leads to a decrease in your social media success

 

Quotes From This Episode

“The average person reading a news article spends 36 seconds on it.” -@jbernoff (highlight to tweet)

“In school we were rewarded for writing long papers, but you have to leave all that training behind and learn a completely different way of writing.” -@jbernoff

“Brevity focuses people.” -@jbernoff (highlight to tweet)

“You need to have something to say every day. If you're only going to create content when you really feel the mojo, you're not going to create enough to develop an audience that stays with you on a regular basis.” -@jaybaer

“Most of the text that goes by your face has never been seen by anyone other than the person who wrote it, so it's completely unedited.” -@jbernoff

“Public Relations is an entire industry that's dedicated to creating irrelevant, padded out, unbelievable content. That has to change.” -@jbernoff

“When you're posting on Facebook, you're in somebody else's space. And they can make any change they want at any time they want and screw you over.” -@jbernoff

“While it's a great idea to try and get your content everywhere, you also have to make compromises when you go into these different places. It becomes a challenge to manage all of that.” -@jbernoff

“SEO should be an afterthought.” -@jbernoff (highlight to tweet)

Resources

• Josh Bernoff on Twitter: @jbernoff


• Without Bullshit


• Writing without Bullshit: Boost Your Career By Saying What You Mean


• Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies


• Empowered: Unleash Your Employees, Energize Your Customers, and Transform Your Business


• The Mobile Mind Shift: Engineer Your Business to Win in the Mobile Moment 


• Matt Taibbi

 

The Big Two:

Josh Bernoff

What's your one tip for becoming a social pro?

In terms of writing for social, Josh says there are a lot of people who are good writers, some people who are good problem solvers, and very few people who are both. To really make your writing stand out, you should do your problem solving, structuring, and research in advance. Then when it comes time to doing the work, all of the prep is already done and you can focus on making your communication shine.

If you could do a Skype call with any living person, who would it be?

A popular choice for this question, Josh would love a Skype with Tesla founder Elon Musk. The way his mind works is unlike anything Josh has ever seen. If he could just learn four or five things about how to think creatively from Elon, it would be time very well spent.

See you next week!

       

Why Most Social Media Writing Sucks and How to Fix It

from Convince and Convert Blog: Social Media Strategy and Social Media Consulting http://ift.tt/2byKauT

via
rgh–

4 Content Marketing Fundamentals You Could Revisit With Nifty Hacks

To succeed at content marketing, there is a basic set of skills that you must possess.

This blog is a summary of the four most basic content marketing ideas with new-age hacks to help execute them.

While most senior marketers are aware of and experienced in these requirements, individuals who are new to the field are likely to struggle with the volumes of guides out there.

Newbies can use this write-up to avert the obstacles they are likely to face, and more seasoned content marketers can check off their agendas the fundamentals that they're covering while discovering time-saver methods of implementing them.

Let's begin.

1. Understand goals and create a focused mission statement

A content marketing plan begins with the goals you set. Without clarity of what you want to accomplish, you cannot create content with powerful underlying intent, which is the basis of effective content marketing.

Before you proceed to actual creation of content follow these 4 steps to define your goals.

Step 1: Survey your environment

Like battles involve surveillance of the terrain and the other army (and you would crash and burn if you didn't do this), you need to do the same with content marketing. Identify your competitors, the channels at your disposal and your audience.

This involves some research – surveys of your own, and borrowed from data farming firms. Search tools help. The right Google searches, and setting keyword alerts on Google and social monitoring tools like Social Mention help to some extent. Try tools like SurveyMonkey, they save a lot of time.

Step 2: Develop a Buyer Persona (or multiple ones)

You require a description of the person who would be interested in and purchase your products or services (the more detailed the description, the better). Interests, concerns, behavior are key. Use specific questions to survey your audience and social media polling apps to save time.

Step 3: Monitor your competitors

Observe what they implement. Adapt the ones that make sense, figure out how to break areas that the big players are dominating. Try Google alerts, Spy Fu, Topsy, these tools can help.

Step 4: Research social platforms and technology

Where is your audience present? Where do they spend the most time? What are the latest features of social platforms and how can you use them? Which applications can help cut down time investments and make your job easier. Figure these out.

Next, outline clear and well-defined goals. It could be anything as specific as overcoming a certain perception attached to your type of services or creating stories with user-cases for your product. Keep them that specific and document them.

With goals done, write a mission statement. Ask yourself these questions before you do that.

What do we want to accomplish?

How do we do it?

Who are we targeting?

What value are we adding?

2. Create and share content in audience-friendly packages

Every step of content marketing requires planning. Cutting straight to the chase may make you feel like you are getting stuff done, but doing so can get you stuck.

Here are a few things you can do to create and share audience-friendly content.

Generate a content bucket and a content calendar

If you kick start each month with a bucket of 50 ideas, your month is more likely to go smoothly and leave you time to “React” which is extremely important on social media.

List down 10 reasons why your audience should choose your brand over others (specific user cases), 20 blog topics, 10 ideas for simple contests/discussions. The idea is to keep a running stock of ideas. Add to it as you come across them. Hubspot's got a fun topics generator you could try for blog topics.

Make divisions based on themes of content and place your ideas across your content calendar. Ensure to take account of all important days (for your brand and otherwise).

DrumUp has an interesting feature that lets you view scheduled social media content in calendar form. So when you are curating content, you can still be sure that you are following your decided theme or pattern for content.

Use engaging formats

Content that is engaging for your audience. Remember who they are and decide your formats based on that information. For instance, foodies might want to see their content more than read about it.

But visuals are non-negotiable for social media. Use photographs, graphs, infographics, videos, whatever you can in context with the content you're sharing.

Match the tone of your content to your audience and the platform your are sharing on.

Curate powerful content

Content curation is powerful. If you can make available useful information to your audience, there's nothing like it. Curate content and tag or @mention the source, you'd be giving credit, building valuable relationships and generating more shares all in one go.

Use a good app to filter stuff for you. For fresh content DrumUp is great, you could also use Feedly or Storyful for some interesting stuff to share.

Finally, set up tests on your shares – share them at different time intervals and measure engagement. Identify your most successful blog posts (landing pages) and referral links from Google Analytics and re-structure your content to include more of what's working.

3. Develop a relevant and powerful content hub

A content hub (pages attached to your website with content about set topics) is a must. That's home to your original content and means to build authority, visibility and encourage revisits.

Set your topics: Explore your scope for what to include (technical how to's for your niche) and document what you intend to talk about. Pick topics that can help improve your revenues over time (attract your target audience).

Build the hub: The technical aspects may not concern you, but it is important to have your tech team incorporate share plug ins and SEO elements (meta descriptions, page titles and keywords). Your Content Management System should also be easy to use to update content and add the basic types of media – images, videos and the lot. WordPress is easy to implement and use, and comes with SEO and other useful extensions.

Promote it: Promoting a hub is extra effective when you involve people.

• Reach out to established firms you could partner with for content.


• Do trade offs. Offer content in return for visibility on external websites.


• Create content with people so you can share the task of marketing (content also has added value when you have an added perspective.)


• Craft interesting and short descriptions and invite people to your hub from social media.


• Use multiple formats of content for promotions (visuals could go on Pinterest, Tumblr). Remember to craft your content to speak to your Audience Personas.

Consistently monitor Key Performance Indicators: Use tools like Brand24 to monitor social mentions, engagement and sentiments and Google Analytics to fill in the dots (track time spent on a page, visits to a page). Use the insights to add more content that is popular to your hub.

4. Increase exposure for content that you create

For maximum exposure your content has to be discoverable to your target group.

Ensure that you're following the basic laws of SEO.

• Create content that genuinely helps your audience (and is directed at them with keywords they're likely to look for)


• Write long posts at least 1000+ words and if possible 2000+ words


• Provide backlinks to your site everywhere you post content


• Use the right keyword tags for your posts for search engine indexing


• Never duplicate content (copyright and search engines penalize duplicated content)

Exposure also requires the participation of people (they've got to share your content).

Here are 5 ways to creatively get them to do so.

#1. Involve them in the content you create (expert interviews and audience generated content)

#2. Use interactive elements on your blogs

#3. Create contests that require sharing

#4. Share their content occasionally as well

#5. Ask them to. Simple requests for re-tweets and shares work

Participate in communities like Quora, Google Plus communities and groups on Facebook and LinkedIn. Create Twitter lists to better organize and reach out to the community that you build.

Wrap

Interacting with the community is absolutely necessary with social media. Don”t make a task out of interaction and push it down the priority list because there's no substitute. Each of the steps discussed save more time when planned out than when not. So use this write-up as a plan to get yourself started, you should see positive results on implementation.

Guest Author: Jessica Davis is a Content Strategist at Godot Media, a leading content marketing firm. She works with businesses and individuals creating targeted content for various requirements. She also manages a team of article writers at Godot. Other areas of interest include technology, science and fashion.

The post 4 Content Marketing Fundamentals You Could Revisit With Nifty Hacks appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.

from Jeffbullas's Blog http://ift.tt/2bXuG3b

rgh–

Make Money Online posting articles, videos like this
4 Content Marketing Fundamentals You Could Revisit With Nifty Hacks