Does Content Live in a Silo? Hell NO!

The whole marketing industry is going crazy behind Content Marketing these days. But what actually content marketing is? Does it make sense to say that it’s a strategy to use content for great marketing results. But that’s not what it is.

Content does NOT live in silo. It only fetches results for businesses when used in combination with other marketing channels and innovative marketing practices. It’s one of the planets of the vast inbound marketing solar system. Confused? Read further.

Content can fall flat on its face (or be ineffective)  if NOT used with:

SEO – Many marketers think content marketing is all about creating more content and the easiest way to do that is through regular blogging. However even great content can deliver no value, if it goes unnoticed or if your target audiences are not able to find it. SEO is a surefire way to ensure that your remarkable content gets found and read by the right set of people i.e., your target audiences. Marketers should ensure that the helpful content that they create must be optimized well for keywords used by their target audiences to locate certain products or services on search engines. That’s how content attracts organic traffic.

Social Media – With social media euphoria gripping humans across all age groups, geographies and business sectors, almost every brand wants to tap this huge real estate and engage with their target audiences across varied social media channels. For enhanced content reach and visibility, it needs to be distributed imperatively across relevant social media sites (only those where your target market hangs out frequently). Popular social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc. are the online avenues, where readers love to share the infotaining content that you create. Hence as a smart marketer, make it easy for them to do so by integrating social media sharing buttons in each content piece that you push out on the Web. Not only does it increase your content’s reach or effectiveness, but can also help you engage with your target audiences easily and help them address their challenges with your useful content. If your content succeeds in solving their challenges/pain points, no wonder these readers can also become your brand evangelists. So keep feeding them with awesome content on their most favorite online destinations!

Email marketing – Some businesses see email marketing as the most powerful tool in their marketing arsenal to connect with their contact database. Email can really help your content get out there and grab many more eyeballs. Without email marketing, your content’s reach is constrained drastically and can make all your content creation efforts go waste.

It’s damn simple. Content forms the beating heart of your inbound marketing strategy but ONLY when it’s used along with other channels (a few of them listed above!). Don’t sandbox your content. Give it wings and let it soar high and wide to cover the complete horizon of your target audiences.

 

 

 

Decoding the Secrets of Successful Content Writers

I love to strut around poofy-chested, when my work wins me plaudits. All inbound marketers do. Content creation and marketing go hand in hand. Content forms the core of inbound marketing methodology today.

Though many content creators buckle under the pressure of hammering out content real fast, and produce boring, mediocre quality content, there are some, who’re real good content creators. So what are those habits that help these content builders produce top-notch, relevant and remarkable content?

So before you run your fingers on the keyboard next time, take a glance at few habits, which only successful content creators have. Those you’re not going to cultivate these overnight, still if you start realizing their importance, you’ll be starting your journey to become a rockstar content creator.

1)    Read, Read and Read

Creating valuable content calls for extensive reading. Reading what? Industry-related news, insights, reports, case studies, competitors’ content and lots more.  A good content creator skims the entire web for the most relevant industry news and squeezes the same to craft a stellar copy, back with cues and facts. Such content is most likely to resonate with your target audiences.

Start bookmarking and using saving all the data on cloud. Set Google alerts of industry-specific keywords to receive relevant content in your Inbox daily. Figure out where your target audience spends most time online, and monitor those online destinations daily.

2)    A Copy a Day Keeps the Writer’s Block away

Losing the knack of writing is quite easy. If you don’t write for long, next time when you sit up to write, you might end up gazing at your computer’s screen without the cursor moving by even an inch. It’s vital to flex your writing muscles every day. This keeps up the constant inflow of ideas, and your fingers churning out good content regularly. If in the humdrum of corporate marathon, you don’t get the time to write a well-structured blog post every day, you can at least set apart half an hour every day, when you can pen down your thoughts, ideas or something of your choice. Grab a coffee and do some free style writing every day so that you don’t have to face that most dreaded, big monster anytime – Writer’s block.

3)    Network

It’s useless to highlight the profound significance of networking in this digital marketing era. A good content creator is one, who’s open to connect with seniors, peers, thought leaders and industry experts to listen to their ideas and observe their work methodologies. Seize the zillion opportunities of networking on different professional networks and forums. Keep an eye on the posts shared by them and skim these to filter out useful information to enrich your knowledge, and use the same while you produce content in the future.

4)    Curate Only Good Content

Today, anyone and everyone is curating content . What distinguishes successful content creators from millions of self-proclaimed content wizards is their zeal to cement their stature as experts, who love to interact with their target community effectively on the Internet. Add a layer of value, when you curate content, and give your community remarkable, engaging and useful information. They are going to love it, and you’ll see your content sparking debates and discussion thereby making your content curation turn into an interactive session (Bonus!)

5)    Be Curious

Great content creators crave for more and more information to quench their curiosity. It’s their  solid analytical abilities that help them to decrypt the gained knowledge and draw inferences and valuable insights to craft useful content. Curiosity, deeply embedded in their nature, is something that makes them stand out from the crowd as they dare to question the status quo of anything and everything that’s happening around them. Critical thinking stems from their curious nature and makes them great content contributors.

Post your opinion in the comment box below if you want to add some more habits of successful content creators. Your suggestions are precious to me and would help me hone my content writing skills.

 

Social Media ROI? A Billion Dollar Question!

Almost every brand, every marketer has joined the social media wave today. Each of them seems to be in a desperate spree to peep into the secret social media ROI closet of competitors.

When the year commenced, a great pie of marketing honchos had predicted that the year 2011 will be commemorated as the year of some real hard Social Media ROIs. But has this prediction come out true? Are we now well versed with handling the barometric performance of our social media endeavors? Or, did we harbor an illusion?

Is Social Media ROI Measurable?

I’m not taking potshots at the Goliaths of the industry but being a social media marketing professional myself, I’m of the opinion that this prediction has been on the wane. Indeed, it’s a big mystery. Fluctuating social media trends further compound the situation.

I still don’t see any standard tool that can effectively lay out the metrics to estimate exact or even near social media ROIs. But we, as marketers, have to justify our social media initiatives.  How do we do that? There’s no one standard formula but still we can try to touch the concept of social media ROI and scratch it a bit.

Do you identify Facebook or Twitter as ‘Mecca of Social Media’? Let me put it like this. Is it your ultimate goal on the Web? If yes, then my dear friends it’s a wake-up call. You’ve to start looking upon social media as a vehicle, an intermediary link between your business objectives and ROIs. But you need to constantly ride this bandwagon. And not just sit and think of enjoying the ride. In simple words, you need to be consistent on social media to keep your target audiences glued to your brands since social media users are brand hungry. Make a sincere attempt to be friends with ‘FRANDS’ (friends, who are hungry for brands).

I recently came across a very interesting article ‘The value of a Facebook fan’. I read it thoroughly but still am not convinced that it’s actually possible to measure the potential of a social media fan or social media ROI for that matter.

Though measuring the conversion or rather success rate of traditional marketing initiatives is relatively easier, but a thoughtful approach can be taken for social media ROI too and not make it look like a Herculean task. We can streamline social media task chart and fragment it into specific activities, and then look for calculating the ROIs for each of them.

Is it just the revenue that matters? Or social engagement?

Another treasure trove that we can dig out of social media is the conversation streams generated. We can use these user-generated content streams to reap their optimum use for each of the departments and organization as a whole. Don’t rant more about statistics, though you may utilize the same for devising your future strategy.

It’s time to flaunt your intelligence by using social media in a way that matches best to your ultimate business goals., and not just being another sheep in the pastures (of social media). Optimize your social media strategy for each of the departments, and then measure its success based on specific performance metrics. I think social media success measurement should not be filtered from the way we measure the success of offline marketing initiatives.

Though I’ve jotted down my thoughts about social media ROIs here, it’s your turn to be vocal about your views on social media ROIs.

Look forward to seeing your share your thoughts in the comment box below.

Social Media Optimization or Engagement: Which One to Choose?

My answer is Both, but with a clear understanding of the differences that exist between the two techniques.

For the last three years, our Inboxes have been the constant targets of any and every social networking website(s) emerging on the Web. None of us could ignore the temptation, and fell an easy prey to them. From Big Daddies to Corporate Lilliputs to individuals, each of us joined this social media wave. But how many of us really have the solid action plan devised to make the most of our social media presence, especially if you’re a brand?

Social Media Bangwagon: Have you jumped onto it?

Since you and I are on the Web for quite some time now, I hope you must be aware of the web optimization techniques, SMO in particular. A blur line exists between social media optimization (SMO) and engagement. Can you decipher that difference?

SMO: A technique to generate targeted website traffic & build brand identity

Both techniques behave like magnets for enticing more web visitors through social media channels. See, both techniques have a common radical objective i.e, community building. But there is a significant difference in approach. While SMO encompasses a pure scientific approach, engagement involves an abstract approach to conjoin a brand with followers.

Guys, though community building is not a Herculean task, but sustaining the same is. It’s here that Content Curation arrives in the picture. Aware? No! Well, I’m there to highlight you on the same since it happens to be my forte. It’s the method to feed your community with best content available on the social web. And that too, consistently. Why? Because, this optimized curated content resonates strongly within your community and gets virality.

Let’s pick SMO first and try to understand the entire mechanism. Shuttle between the particular social networks you wish to target. The key to SMO success is a proper understanding of the class of audience present on each social network, and their behavior on these platforms. This will give you an overview of the kind of content that rules each one of them, and enable you to formulate a smart strategy accordingly.

Let me cite you an example. Suppose your target audiences is business professionals. And, you’re clueless which platform you can engage them on. Try using a good social media management (SMM) tool with analytics feature. This will give you a good picture of the user type that exists on a particular social site, and whether your business objectives match with the audience type or not.

Social Engagement: Based on two-way communication model

‘Busy times’ is an aspect that you can’t overlook. Like your website, even social networks do have their busy and not-so busy times. For instance, 96% Indian IT firms forbid use of social media at work. Then what to do? In such a scenario, it’s imperative to post your content on evenings/nights and weekends since possibility of such posts performing better gets magnified. You must also take due care to see how the updates on your brand page reflect on your Fan’s News Feeds section.

Another key aspect to understand is the user behavior pattern on a particular social networking website. For example, if you wish to extract feedback for your services from your target audiences, it’s intelligent to figure out which platform would work best for you. Targeting a platform like Twitter, where more than 40% users refrain from writing tweets is not a good idea for such objective.

SMO: A gift of the new era of digital media & personal discovery

SMO primarily facilitates user acquisition while engagement brings qualified target audiences and keeps them glued to your brand. It’s an attempt to probe deeper into the layers of your audience’s behavior ecosystem and unravel the facts that keep them interested.

How can you do this? Simple! Initiate a discussion. Let’s take your target audience again i.e., business professionals. Ask them what they find most interesting at their workplaces or which HR policies bug them the most. They’re most likely to respond to such mind-tickling comments, and then you can respond to them and make it an interactive experience for them. Such valuable vested user base participates actively in your social engagement spree. It’s like you acknowledging their participation. These are the loyal users, who navigate your pages, share their ideas, feedback, thoughts, queries or concerns about your product/services. Such action-oriented user feedback is vital for your brand’s improvement.

Encourage the creation of user-generated content

It’s more like humanizing your brand, giving it a voice that instantly connects with the community members and spark discussions. Based on the new communication model of DIALOGUE, engagement helps you know your followers at a much deeper level and getting your content circulated through them. All you need to do is ignite their passion for your brand and empower them to have value-added user experiences.

I hope I’ve contributed a little bit in clearing the airs of confusion about SMO and engagement persisting in the minds of many of us. Looking forward to hear your views and insights on this.

Are You a Slave to Web? It’s Time to Free Yourself from Addiction!

Web Addiction: A Disorder on the Rise

It’s different. Enough of stories about drug or alcohol addiction. It’s a new entrant in our lives, a new form of addiction that has engulfed many of us. It’s Web Addiction. Are you a victim too?

Though you may think that the blogger (that’s me!) is herself a web addict since she gives you a diet of a blog every day, even two sometimes, why is she preaching about web addiction? Well to be candid, I’m not a web junkie. It’s my passion to write, and my mind is always flooded with blog ideas, which trigger me to pen down my thoughts regularly. Also, it’s my means of livelihood. So, I really can’t free myself from the habit of being online every day.

But I can handhold you if you wish to find out if you have been swallowed by the online world or not. There’s a thin line between being web-savvy and web addict. Which one are you? To find an answer to this, there is, however, a pre-requisite. And that is, you need to dig out deeper into your web habits with an open mind and readiness to accept the results, even if they’re not in your favor.

If your answer is ‘YES’, then let’s take a step further.

Web Addiction: Are You @ Risk?

Here are a few questions as I shoot them at you, you need to answer each one in plain Yes/No. Be honest here!

• Is your significant other complaining about you getting emotionally distant with each passing day?
• Are you so consumed with the online world that you’re unknowingly evading your prime responsibilities in your personal life?
• Apart from work & other professional commitments, do you spend more than 3-4 hours on web even when at home?
• Do you check these websites as soon as you log on to your computers—Facebook/Twitter/Gmail/YouTube?
• Do you check these websites multiple times a day?
• Do you leave your work to check the status update of your friend(s) as soon as you get the alert in your Inbox?
• Do you hit the ‘Refresh button’ many a times when online?
• Do you access web many times on your smartphones when not able to check the same on computers?

If your answer is ‘Yes’ for most of these questions, my dear friend I regret to inform you that you’re a Web Addict. Indeed, you are a slave to Web. It’s hard to accept but it’s true.

Now that you know you’re a proven web addict, would you like to do something to free yourself from the chains of this slavery or let your computer rule your heart & mind all day and night?

Hooked on Internet? Help is a just a click away.

If you’re ready to cut back your web addiction, here are some tips.

Strong Will Power: To accomplish any uphill task, you need to possess a strong will power. It’s needed much more when it’s the case of attaining freedom from web addiction. When at work, shut down all social media tabs and attend all your assignments with rapt attention. While at home, try to do all web activities during your time for coffee, watching television or listening to music so that your family time does not go waste.

Time Management: You’re your best judge when it comes to managing your most valuable asset—time. You need to split your time between your online & real life. Don’t kill your productive hours. Remember each hour counts. So don’t just fritter away time in web slavery. Work hard and party even harder by rewarding yourself with dedicated ‘web leisure’ time, and try not to exceed that time limit, no matter how much tempted you are.

Free yourself from Web addiction & devote proper time to your interests, recreational activities & social obligations.

Technology has overwhelmed your life, my life. It has bred Digital world, which is fascinating but addiction is bad. Confession of Digital Addiction is wise but Freedom from this Slavery is vital for a happy and prosperous life.

In the end, wish you all a very happy Vijayadashami & fun-filled, web-free Dussehra!! 

Social Media Marketing: Are You in this Game of Business Promotion?

Social media marketing is a pack of online marketing techniques that uses the power of social media to promote your online business. This efficient and effective strategy will help you establish links and drive in heavy web traffic to your website. In other words, social media marketing lays the foundation of strong brand image by helping you market your products and services on varied online social media venues.

‘Social Media Marketing’ or Web2.0 Marketing that gained entry into the business world(web)  a few years back has made the use of web even more popular among the marketers. It is a marketing method in which the promoters of a brand are not necessarily the employee of the company. Social media actually helps to get products or services endorsed by the users or the target audience.

Social Media: Still to be tapped lot more!

Social media marketing has two important aspects. The first, Social Media Optimization, which refers to on-page strategies through which a webmaster can improve a website for the age of social media. Such optimization includes adding links to services such as Digg, Reddit and Del.icio.us so that their pages can be easily saved and submitted.

Second is having an account with these social networking websites and consistently participate in the various activities talking place at these sites.

What is Social Media Marketing?

Web 2.0 is an application that enables community members to talk, share, participate and bookmark online thereby encouraging open discussions, creating blogs, posting articles and videos on YouTube, voting, knowledge sharing and feedbacks.

Web 2.0 marketing: Cost-effective promotion tool

With Web 2.0 marketing, you no longer depend solely on costly electronic or print media for setting a stage for powerful marketing campaign to entice a large number of people. Using Web 2.0, now even the average users can learn the marketing strategies and get real business prospects thereby opening multiple revenue channels for themselves.

Web 2.0 marketing has given rise to Social Media Marketing. It is a collection of online techniques that facilitates advertising or promotion through socializing. Unlike conventional media which promotes unidirectional broadcast, social media marketing is bidirectional and promotes effective communication between you and your prospects.

To put it in simple words, social media marketing weaves your content effectively into the social web by helping you connect with your target audience as friends and communicate with them in real time so that you can respond to them accordingly. In fact, it is a potential method that will give your business triumphant online presence and make your website reap great profits over a period of time.

Why consider Social Media Marketing?

• It creates online buzz for your brand: It sets a viral effect leading to the word-of-mouth popularity of your product or services by the user itself.
• It increases brand visibility: Very soon you can make your brands popular among your target audience because of the viral effect created through social networking sites. These viral processes can be word of mouth or may be in the form of audio-video clips, Flash games, ebooks, softwares, images etc.
• It helps in building credibility: When the users of a product are recommending the same, it adds credibility as there is no marketing of self interest underlying in doing so. It is mere brand loyalty in the mind that prompts users to spread the brand message.
• It is cost effective: This method of marketing on web till now is considered as one of the most cost-effective method of marketing as you can easily spread your message for very low cost. Most of the social networking websites allow you to freely create your account and start posting your messages.
• It enables focused marketing: The messages you are spreading for your brand can be highly controlled, as you can post messages for particular community. For example, if you are looking to promote a website that sells book, you can easily find 100s of book communities and use these communities to spread your brand message.
• It boosts website traffic: Since a large number of people hang around these social networking sites, the chances of your products getting exposed to this traffic are also very high. Social Media Optimization can significantly boost your website traffic overnight.
• It lends share and gain marketing insights: It helps you consistently evolve as an intelligent marketer. You learn from the efforts by other SMO professionals, when you interact online, to promote a product. You experiment with some of the good methods for your product and it helps you evolve consistently. You position your product effectively without paying exorbitant fees to marketing consultants.

With this information, you are all set to take a plunge into the world of social media marketing. However owing to the pressure of numerous business tasks to handle, you may find yourself stuck up with the difficulty of developing social media friendly website. But now you can easily find good freelance web developers, with sound knowledge of SMO on different freelance websites.