The History of Content Marketing
From the dawn of time people with things to sell have been using stories to attract, engage, and retain customers ala #optimize. The infographic above from the Content Marketing Institute takes us all the way through the evolution of content marketing and provides some meaningful insight into what companies have done in the past to generate results. You might learn a thing a two, plus it’s a great read.
“6 Start-up Tips From the World’s Biggest Tech Companies” Every company has to start somewhere. Famous companies such as Google, HP, and Microsoft were built on a set of core principals including creating long term customer relationships and listening to feedback. This post provides tips from some of the largest companies in world on how to get through the start up phase of your business. Via Inc.
“38 Million Americans Visit Social Networks on Mobile Devices ‘Near Daily’ [STUDY]” A recent study released by comScore found that 64.2 million U.S. citizens use mobile devices to access social networking and more then half of them are visiting daily. Curious to know what type of information they’re reading and sharing? Via Mashable.
“10 Ways to Deal With Upset Customers Using Social Media” As hard as you try there will almost without exception be negative feedback about your company. What can separate you from the competition is the way that you handle this interaction. Each negative comment is an opportunity to address a problem or help retain a customer who might otherwise be lost. This article provides 10 very helpful tips on what you can do to turn a negative into a positive. Via SocialMedia Examiner.
“The Top Reasons Customers Break Up With Brands Online” Do you know why customers may be choosing to “break up” with your brand? This infographic provides some very interesting statistics on why consumers choose to unsubscribe from email campaigns, “unlike” your brand on Facebook, and stop following your company on Twitter. Via Ragan.
“What Matters in Social Business?” We can all agree that social business is top of mind for many marketers. However, we need to understand what matters most in social business. Understanding how online marketing has evolved and the role it will continue to play is key in creating a long-term sustainable strategy. Via CMS Wire.
TopRank Team News
Ken Horst – Google’s new Latitude Leaderboards suggest gamified check-ins are coming to Google+
Google’s recent update for Google Maps for Android included a new gaming element which is tied to its “Latitude” location app. This new update includes an overall leader board among friends and it leader boards by location.
Clearly Google has a plan to incorporate their check in service with Google+ and adding the gaming aspect is another indicator that Google is serious about fighting for this space. Will all this be enough to steal significant market share from heavily entrenched Foresquare? Stay tuned! Via The Next Web.
Brian Larson – Researcher: Facebook’s 2012 Ad Sales to Top $5B
Facebook ad revenue is expected to increase by 2 billion year over year. That’s right, social media giant Facebook is expected to reach 5.1 billion in ad sales revenue in 2012, according to eMarketeter. Of that 5.1 billion, 2.6 billion is expected to come from display ad sales. Trailing close behind in display ads is Google, which eMarketer expects to draw 2.5 billion in ad sales revenue.
As Google expands its footprint, it should come as no surprise that eMarketer predicts Google will surpass Facebook in display ad sales in 2013. Via ClickZ.
Time to Weigh In: Have you incorporated storytelling into your content marketing strategy? If so, what results have you seen? How do you currently handle negative feedback online and is it working?
