Content Archives - Page 4 of 17

March 31, 2017

5 Vendors Explain What Makes Their Digital Marketing Hub Unique

Not all ducks — or digital marketing hubs — are identical. Leading analyst firms like segment vendors into various categories, from leaders to the also-rans. But is the top rated vendor necessarily the right vendor for you? In a recent Magic Quadrant on digital marketing hubs (DMH), for example, Gartner named four leaders: Adobe, Oracle, Salesforce and Marketo. Gartner said digital marketing hubs provide marketers and applications "with standardized access to audience data, content, workflow triggers and operational analytics to automate execution and optimization of multichannel campaigns, conversations, experiences and data collection across online and offline channels.” Those capabilities are often complementary to native applications within a marketing cloud or suite. “Extensibility through published services,” Gartner researchers added, “is a key benefit of this technology.” We decided to find out what’s under the hood of some of the vendors recognized in the Gartner digital marketing hubs report — and give company representatives an opportunity to explain why their company’s platform is the best to use. What makes your digital marketing hub unique? The Answers Cory Munchbach, VP, Marketing, BlueConic Cory Munchbach Munchbach oversees inbound, outbound and all other marketing and associated activities. Before joining BlueConic , she was an analyst on the customer insights practice at Forrester , covering the intersection of marketing strategy and technology and an expert in the marketing technology landscape. Tweet to Cory Munchbach . Gartner succinctly nailed what differentiates the BlueConic digital marketing hub, which is that our technology is a customer data platform (CDP) — and the only one so identified by the MQ’s authors in the report. According to the founder of the CDP Institute , a CDP is a “marketer-managed system that creates a persistent, unified customer database that is accessible to other systems.” There are parallels between a CDP and […]

26 Lessons From Social Media Marketing World 2017

Forget Paris, I love San Diego in the springtime. I particularly love the Social Media Marketing World event. It is a great chance to catch up with friends in the sunshine and to learn from the best experts in the field of social media marketing. I was furiously scribbling notes throughout the event and here are some of my top takeaways. 1. Facebook is the most important marketing platform Mike Stelzner revealed the results of Social Media Examiner’s latest survey of 5,000 marketers. Two thirds of marketers say Facebook is their most important platform although they acknowledge reach has declined. 2. LinkedIn is still key for B2B marketers The second most important platform in the SME study was LinkedIn. There are also signs that people are spending more time in their LinkedIn feed and sharing a lot more on LinkedIn. There are now 450m members on LinkedIn but importantly it is estimated there are 40m decision makers on the platform. See Susan Moeller’s post on LinkedIn trends that all marketers should be aware of. 3. Twitter is still a great connecting tool Whilst shares via Twitter appear to be in decline the platform remains a great tool for connecting people and driving traffic. Ian Anderson Grey said during his session that Twitter is still the main driver of traffic to his blog. Madalyn Sklar’s secret sauce for Twitter Madalyn Sklar also talked to the power of Twitter and how many of her influencer relationships originally started on Twitter. However, both Ian and Madalyn emphasised the importance of engagement on Twitter and not simply broadcasting. Madalyn focused on the power of Twitter chats as a way to connect and as a place to showcase your expertise and influence in a topic area. Participating in twitter chats allows you to: Connect […]

How to Blast Away the Top 15 Conversion Roadblocks on Your Website

Conversion rate optimization has never been bigger than it is today. Just look at how much interest in conversion rate optimization has increased over the past decade: And there are more and more conversion rate optimization (CRO) agencies popping up every day. A quick search on Google for “conversion rate optimization agency” gave me nearly one million results: This tells me one thing: many companies have lousy conversion rates. According to Econsultancy , “only about 22 percent of businesses are satisfied with their conversion rates.” So, what’s going wrong? The issue with CRO is that there is a plethora of potential problem areas. It’s not always easy to pinpoint precisely where the issue lies. But based on my experience and research, there are 15 primary conversion roadblocks that disrupt the process and turn would-be customers away. If your conversions aren’t where they should be, it’s very possible that at least one of these issues is the culprit. In this post, I describe these problem areas and offer advice on how to fix them. I’ll start with the more technical aspects and work my way down to onsite content and, ultimately, the checkout process itself. 1. Slow load time Before you can ever spark initial interest, you must get visitors to actually browse through your site. If they abandon your site before it loads, you’re guaranteed to have a zero percent conversion rate. Not good. Quite honestly, slow load time is an issue that still plagues many companies today, and that’s because people have little patience. Here’s what I mean. Research has found that “nearly half of web users expect a site to load in 2 seconds or less, and they tend to abandon a site that isn’t loaded within 3 seconds.” In the case of website conversions, a lack […]

28 Business-Boosting Marketing Activities You Can Do in 1 Hour or Less

The entrepreneurial lifestyle is often a hectic one. Some “treps” easily end up working 50, 60, or even more hours per week. Don’t get me wrong. I love almost everything about running my businesses and blogs, but time is definitely at a premium. And I’m sure many of you know exactly what I’m talking about. Sometimes there are just not enough hours in the day to spend on an extensive, exhaustive marketing campaign. But you know what? There are a lot of marketing activities that can get legitimate results that you can do in 1 hour or less. I came up with 28 specific activities you can do in your downtime but which will still give your business a nice boost. Here we go. 1. Create an editorial calendar Almost any great blog begins with a detailed editorial calendar. This is where you coordinate your content, schedule your posts, set deadlines, list your CTAs, and so on. In other words, an editorial calendar provides structure to your blogging campaign and keeps things from getting messy. Honestly, this is the only way I’m able to stay on top of my game (and maintain sanity) with all of my different projects. I recommend checking out this list of editorial calendar templates from Builtvisible for more. 2. Tweak your editorial calendar You should also know that an editorial calendar is never static. A good one is dynamic, ever-changing. If you haven’t checked your editorial calendar in a while, look it over and make any necessary adjustments. For instance, you might: Check off posts that have been completed Add new content to create over the next month Look for ways to make it more organized 3. Read three industry blog posts I really recommend staying on top of industry trends. This is your […]

Why Google’s SEO advice is NOT (always) in your best interest

Last month, Google released a video detailing best practices for hiring an SEO company , and it is positioned to become the go-to guide for hiring an SEO. After all, who better to tell companies what they should look for in an SEO than the operators of the world’s most popular search engine? The advice in the video is useful, but it’s biased and incomplete — like so much of the information the company distributes. For example, Ohye states that valid recommendations from an SEO must be corroborated by official Google statements, but the search giant frequently declines to comment on algorithm updates, and they have also been known to advise what they want SEOs to do — not necessarily what works. Reputable SEO companies seriously consider all official statements that Google makes about its ranking factors. But if Google is an SEO company’s only source of data and best practice information, the results of the SEO’s work are likely to be suboptimal. Whether you’re trying to hire an SEO company or improve your own SEO strategy in general, remember a few things about Google: their word is not always their bond, their data is deliberately incomplete, and they are a for-profit company. Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily Marketing Land. Staff authors are listed here . Learn to craft remarkable customer experiences Join us at MarTech San Francisco May 9-11 and tackle digital transformation at the intersection of marketing, technology, and management. Only MarTech blends graduate-level marketing, technology and management topics designed to help you succeed in this software-powered marketing world. Register now . About The Author

How Do Consumers Really Feel About 2017’s Digital Trends? [Infographic]

As we approach the year’s second quarter, Google is already returning over 46,600 results for “ digital trends 2017 .” And if you’re in the digital marketing space, there seems to be an unspoken rule that you must always have an opinion on what the key trends will be for the year ahead. But could it be that we’re all stuck in an industry echo chamber? As it turns out, some new research from Code Computerlove might burst that bubble. Code Computerlove surveyed 1,000 U.K. adults to find out what they really think about these trend predictions — things like voice search, virtual reality, and chat-bots. That data was then compared to what’s actually making the most noise online. Some key findings included: Mobile payments are the most sought-after technology in 2017. 9 out of 10 consumers claim to have no interest in using augmented reality in the near future. 1 in 5 people surveyed aim to spend less time in front of screens this year. With that many people aiming to spend less time in front of screens this year, brands have to make their digital interactions count — a poor initial digital experience can carry a long-term impact. Curious to know what else your brand needs to know about these trends? Check out the infographic below.

The One Type Of Blog Post That Will Transform Your Blog Immediately

This is a guest contribution from Joe Elliott. How hard can it be when you start a new blog, you create crazy amounts of content and then you need to start generating traffic? You bust your butt off to get 20 posts so that you can say you are good to go. You reach out to influencers only to meet their trashcan. You even submit a ton of pitches for a guest post… again only to get an instant delete! It sucks! The truth is this is the old school way of doing this blogging game. Content is still king but your job nowadays is to create content that can generate traffic easily on its own. Today I am going to share with you the exact strategy I use to create a traffic generating expert roundup post. I will show you the best outreach tips I have to ensure your contributors say yes. Once this post is live and doing its job you have the social proof I mentioned before and you will get your first few visitors with ease! Are you ready? Find A Proven Content Idea That Will Drive Your Audience Wild! Every topic in your niche that your audience would be interested in has been covered. Having said that, you can still create a better resource that has your very own unique take on the topic. When you first start a blog you want to create content that has been a success on other blogs. If it has done well before then there is no reason why it can’t take off again. That is if you do the topic justice! An expert roundup post that is based on a killer topic will blow your readers mind easily. This post type is stuffed with legendary tips, it’s […]

Content Marketing Advice, with a Side of Snark

So today is April 1, which usually means we’ll try to feed you some stupid joke that will just make you roll your eyes when you realize the date. Not this time, internet. Brian kicked things off on Monday with three ways to get links that you haven’t heard 20 million times from people whose websites have no links. Plus he gets a little snarky, which you never want to miss. On Tuesday, our friend Jon Nastor showed us how we can actually get listeners for our podcasts . It’s a useful thing to know, since the #1 question on the minds of new podcasters is: “For the love of all that is holy and good, is anyone ever going to hear this thing?” And on Wednesday, Loren Baker helped you figure out why your site is slower than a slug on Xanax … and how to fix it . Seriously, there’s moss growing on that thing. Moving to the podcasts: On The Showrunner, Jerod Morris and Jon Nastor discussed sponsorships and affiliate marketing . On Copyblogger FM, I considered the fine balance between being precise with usage and grammar … and just being an annoying jerk . And on Unemployable, Brian Clark talked conversion optimization with Talia Wolf. “Conversion optimization” is another way of saying, “People will actually buy what you are selling,” so don’t miss that conversation. That’s it for this week … enjoy the goodies, and watch out for April Foolery! — Sonia Simone Chief Content Officer, Rainmaker Digital Catch up on this week’s content by Brian Clark by Jon Nastor by Loren Baker by Sonia Simone by Brian Clark by Kelton Reid by Jerod Morris & Jon Nastor

How NFL Players could challenge Fox News

Wiretapping Trump Tower. Fake News. The Press is the Enemy. Much of the rhetoric that makes its way onto the Twitter feed of Donald Trump comes from a single source: Fox News. It is the single and only outlet that will not only give him fodder for his Tweets to distract us from the important issues, but also provide him a medium for him to sell his radical programs and executive orders. Without it, he has no communication vehicle; if Fox News stopped providing him and outlet and content the rug would be pulled out from under his feet, communication-wise. So if we, the resistance to the Machiavellian President Trump, really want to affect change we need to start going after his mouthpiece, Fox News. Having them playing “fair and balanced” with their news and cutting off Trump from the distractions he throws out would force the White House to start addressing the real issues. It’s a tall order: Fox News, and its owner Rupert Murdoch are formidable; it’s going to take a lot more than just protest from people on Reddit to make them change their stripes. The resistance is going to need a powerful ally; fortunately, there is one waiting in the wings. The NFL. NFL games are a rainmaker for Fox; they make more money broadcasting these games than anything else: according to Ad Age , a commercial during an NFL game costs $689,225 per 30-second spot. This translates into $1.44 billion per season for Fox . Some of that money is most likely used to fund outlets like Fox News, which in turn uses its influence for power within the Republican party as their exclusive news outlet. The programs the Trump administration are imposing on America are often cited as being beneficial to the rich […]

Google’s Featured Snippets: How to Get Your Content to Appear

In the rush to get on the front page of Google, a major SERP opportunity stands out as the most useful and most relevant available: featured snippets . The bits of text at the top of many informational searches in Google, featured snippets can drive a ton of attention toward your site and can be an invaluable weapon for marketers. How can you create content that has the chance of ranking in featured snippets? While many marketers assume featured snippets are the territory of SEO masters or brands with million-dollar marketing budgets, that isn’t true at all. In fact, it’s easy to rank for featured snippets with organic content only. You just need to know how. What are featured snippets? Featured snippets are the informational content that shows up in Google’s SERPs immediately after the ads and sponsored posts (if available). This search for “how to show ROI for marketing” features a snippet from Marketing Mo: If there had been sponsored ads around this search term, they would appear above the snippet, which ranks as the top organic result. Google shows what it considers high-quality content in this space because it’s focused on fulfilling user intent . 5 tips to create featured snippets The good news is that, as a form of organic content, the featured snippet box is available to everybody who knows how to optimize their content accordingly. Yet, it’s tough news — you have to work hard to gain it. How do you make your content fit? If you can’t buy the space, how do you take proactive steps to ensure that your page earns the top spot? Here are a few simple steps I’ve used to create content that ranks in the snippets. 1. Create content specifically to answer questions. Provide in-depth answers. Featured snippets […]