Popular Articles on Business 2 Community

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• Eight Reasons to Hire a Journalist in Your Marketing Department
• How to Optimize Your Blog Posts for SEO: an Easy-Peasy Guide
• Is Your Content Curation Ethical? A 10-Step Checklist
• Are You Listening? Why Social Media Monitoring Matters
• Sharing Is Caring: Tips to Make Your Brand Social Media “Friendly”!
• Do’s and Don’ts of Starting a WordPress Website
• Blogging On The Go, Aka Mobile Blogging
• Social Media Marketing Tips and Insights from a Big Boring Brand
• Google Toolbar PageRank Has Just Been Updated [December 2013 Update]
• Mind The Gap… Between Online and Offline Marketing
• 6 Questions on Content Marketing With Herb Mitschele

Eight Reasons to Hire a Journalist in Your Marketing Department Posted: 08 Dec 2013 08:00 AM PST Recently, we've been talking lots about the value that journalists can bring to a marketing department with regards to getting results from your content marketing. They have a certain skill-set which lends itself perfectly to creating content that educates, entertains, nurtures and is highly shared on social media. But, as a marketers, we're generally not used to reading journalists' CVs so when one falls on our desks, it's not immediately obvious how their responsibilities might add value to our content marketing strategy and day to day activities. Content marketing challenges Before we look at a typical CV, let's quickly remind ourselves of some of the challenges that marketers face when it comes to content marketing. They will usually include: Coming up with ideas/topics/titles ideas Creating original content Nobody sharing your content on social media Low levels of referrals to your website from social media Visitors not staying long on your website How a journalist can help Below is an example of a journalist's CV, listing the various daily duties and (in red) how those skills can benefit your content marketing. 1. Become a thought-leader Journalists have a keen eye for a story; they are always on the look-out for breaking news and are highly skilled at re-creating it with an original angle. Being the first to communicate this news to your audience will position your brand as a credible resource that is right at the forefront of your industry. This type of content is also one of the most-shared on social media and highly effective at driving traffic to your website. 2. Entertain your audience One of the best ways to engage your audience is to educate and/or entertain them so that they become emotionally involved with your brand. Journalists live and breathe this kind of content; whether they've written for a newspaper or a magazine, their writing always seeks to create an emotional attachment. 3. Increase your content 'stickiness' Journalists are driven by the power of storytelling – they know how to create a thread which keeps your audience interested until the very last word of the article. Being involved in 'page layout' and 'imagery' also means they are very focused on driving people through the content in a creative and engaging way. This not only keeps the reader on the page for longer but also motivates them to read related articles, keeping them on the site for longer too. This sends very positive signals to Google that you're a website worth visiting, helping your SEO. 4. Increase click-through rates You might have the best article in the world but if the headline you're posting on social media isn't enticing enough, then people simply won't click through. If anyone understands how to create great headlines, it's journalists. They've tried and tested them for years and know exactly what works and what doesn't. 5. High quality content Nowadays, if your content isn't original and of the utmost quality, it will simply get lost in the masses of white noise; it needs to stand head and shoulders above the rest else you'll have wasted your time and money. Journalists work in an environment where quality and originality are absolutely key and non-negotiable and that's exactly how you should approach your content marketing. 6. Non-salesy content Whilst some marketers can't resist the temptation to constantly push sales messages out through their blogs and social media, it is widely recognised that commercially-neutral content travels significantly further on social media. Journalists come from a workplace which rarely produces self-promotional content; it's always about providing maximum value to the reader. 7. Meet your deadlines Content marketing is not a one-off campaign, it's an on-going activity which requires advance planning. Letting deadlines slip is the first sign that things could soon start to go wrong but having a journalist on-board means that this is much less likely to happen. At any newspaper or magazine, deadlines are critical and bringing this mentality into your own department can massively improve your content marketing. 8. Stay within the law It's surprising how many companies that are producing content aren't aware of the laws that govern it – and, believe me, there are many! One of the benefits of having a journalist working with you is that they will be fully up to speed with all the legalities you'll ever need to know.

How to Optimize Your Blog Posts for SEO: an Easy-Peasy Guide Posted: 08 Dec 2013 05:30 AM PST Great SEO isn't really a standalone practice anymore. In fact, it's really difficult to seperate search engine optimization from social media and content marketing, because these three factors form the pillar of a modern inbound marketing strategy. Keyword research and optimization can improve the performance of your SEO blog posts in search, while social media shares send a clear message to Google that your content is quality. You won't get far without the putting effort into all three legs of the contemporary marketing triad! As brands increasingly turn to content marketing, the volume of content available on the internet continues to expand drastically. More than 2 million blog posts are published each day! Even if you're following Google's quality guidelines to the letter, taking the time to optimize SEO blog posts can ensure your content gets the attention it deserves from both search engines and your prospects. Here is a super-simple, step-by-step guide to modern SEO blog posts optimization best practices: 1. Do Your Keyword Research Trying to insert keywords into a blog that's already been written is like trying to add sugar to a cake that's finished baking. It's not going to have the same level of cohesion it would if you'd added it while you were mixing the batter. Researching the right terms to use for your SEO blog posts can allow you to determine the topics and concepts that are driving the highest volume of search in your industry, and help you shape your editorial calendar accordingly. 2. Create an Editorial Calendar There are legions of content marketers who live in fear of creating an editorial calendar. Never fear- they're really not that time-consuming to create or maintain. Not only will your professional organization skills soar, they're an important tool for creating SEO blog posts. You don't need to create your titles in advance – and some inbound marketers believe headlines should be created last – but create topics around your keywords for the month. Gather resources, and consider which call-to-actions you'll include with your articles. Some experts believe you should include both primary and secondary keywords in your calendar for the most SEO optimization benefit possible. 3. Create SEO-Friendly Copy It's impossible to discuss the idea of SEO blog posts without bringing Google's quality guidelines. Create content that's relevant to your keywords, but ensure it fits the following criteria above all else: Write for people, not search bots: ensure your copy is natural and compelling. Don't be tricky: if your keyword is "content marketplace," don't try and cover conversion optimization. Be Unique: Your content should have standalone value that your readers can't get anywhere else on the web. On-page content is just one factor in creating SEO blog posts, but it's a pretty important one. Write well, incorporate your keywords, and make sure you've put in enough effort to create something remarkable. 4. Consider the Reader Experience Formatting your content for clarity is definitely a content marketing best practice. As Samar Owais points out, "we all scan and skim online." Use bullet points and numbered lists, add compelling images, and just say no to long sentences. Formatting your content into easily-digestible chunks actually serves a dual purpose, making your content easy-to-read and index! The larger the text on the page, the greater the weight placed on it by Google, Bing or Yahoo. That's a lot to digest, but remember that headlines matter more than subheaders, which matter more than text. Subheaders are an optimal place to use your primary and secondary keywords for an extra SEO boost! 5. Create a Really Wicked Headline Whatever you do, don't skip out on creating an epic and eye-catching title for your SEO blog posts. If you're not convinced that headlines matter, consider the ubiquitous list website, Buzzfeed. Creating amazing titles is a huge component of their marketing strategy – and it really works! Incorporate your keyword, but be sure to pack a punch by using powerful or action-oriented words, numbers, questions or other factors that are sure to capture a reader's eye on social media or in search. In Blogger, WordPress, HubSpot and many other content management systems, your blog title will do dual duty as your page title. According to Moz, this is the single most-important factor in creating SEO blog posts. More than anything else, your title tag will communicate to Google what your blog is about. 6. Use Anchor Text When uploading your blog for publication, don't be shy about incorporating links to important pages on your website. An internal linking strategy won't just provide your readers with an opportunity to explore more of your content, it will communicate to search engines which pages you consider important. As your individual pieces of content gain authority and links from external websites, the pages they point to will also gain better ranking. Use your primary and secondary keywords to carry links within the body of your content, a concept known as anchor text. Be cautious, though – linking to the same page multiple times throughout the same blog isn't a clever trick. Google actually only considers the anchor text of the first link on a given page: Image credit: HubSpot 7. Tag Sparingly Sorry to break it to you, but tags aren't as important of a factor for SEO blog posts as they used to be. In the early days of content marketing, loading your pages up with tons of tags worked, and it was a great way to rank for similar keywords. Now, you're more likely to create a messy user experience and annoy your website visitors than impress search engines. Joost de Valk writes that tags only improve your SEO in that they can improve your crawl rate (the number of times visitors click through to another page), and help you group associated posts. Overtagging could even cause you to get pinged for duplicate content on your website! So tag away – but do itsparingly, with your primary consideration being whether it adds benefit to the reader. 8. Include Gorgeous Images Everyone loves visual content! Humans process images 60,000 times faster than text. Adding images to your SEO blog posts can significantly improve the stickiness of your content, and lower your bounce rate. While the exact details of Google's algorithm are top-secret, many SEO xperts believe that websites with a high bounce rate – defined as a visitor leaving without visiting a second page on the site – are heavily penalized. While some degree of bounce is normal, an incredibly high bounce rate can indicate low-quality content, deceptive titles, poor user experience, and any other number of ills to search engines. To receive the full SEO boost possible from your images, save the file using your keyword as the file name. You'll receive more benefit from an image called "content marketing services" than file-1090347. Be sure to include alt text to describe the images, too – Google uses these descriptive phrases to further determine the intent of your SEO blog posts. This is a crucial place to use your primary keyword. 9. Add Metadata Meta descriptions are no longer directly considered by search engines in ranking pages, according to Moz. However, they're a pretty important factor in creating SEO blog posts because these description tags are crucial for gaining click-throughs from search engine results pages: Image credit: Wordstream Write a compelling, accurate description of your content that's between 135-159 characters in length to draw attention and clicks from organic search results. 10. Share Your Content Once you've created optimized SEO blog posts, your work isn't done. Sure, you can breathe a sigh of relief once you hit publish, but it's now time to get to work sharing your content. Publish your work to your brand's Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Pinterest, and maintain an active presence on these networks to thank anyone who shares your article. Practicing great content promotion practices will allow you to fully leverage social signals to continue to improve your content's ranking. While the process of creating optimized SEO blog posts can seem overwhelming to beginners, once you're in the mindset of creating content for search engines and readers, the steps become second nature. In fact, you'll soon be on your way to optimizing pages in 15 minutes or less! For more of the latest in content marketing best practices, check out our freer eBook, Blogging for Beginners.

Is Your Content Curation Ethical? A 10-Step Checklist Posted: 07 Dec 2013 06:15 AM PST Curation itself is nothing new — museums have used art curators for centuries — but online content curation is still in its early stages. The early years of the internet were like the "Wild West," and because it was so new, there were few ethical or legal guidelines to police behavior. With new legislation governing online copyright and commerce, that's all changed. Many content curators, though, are still unsure about what constitutes ethical curation, and how they can share third-party content without running afoul of copyright laws. Here's our 10-step checklist to help you curate ethically and effectively. These are just guidelines, of course. For specifics on copyright law, you may want to consult an intellectual property lawyer. 1. Draw from a variety of sources The first step in ethical content curation is making sure you're not leaning too heavily on one or two curation sources. Not only is this boring for your readers, but it could mean you're profiting off of that original creator's work. Avoid this by curating from a variety of credible sources — both the bigger players in your industry and the up-and-comers. This positions you as an expert who has a hand on the pulse of what's new and interesting in the field, and gives your readers a wider diversity of opinions and ideas. 2. Prominently link to the original source Show respect for the original content creator by crediting that person and linking prominently to their original work — rather than to other content that also curated their source material. By prominently, I mean you should not just bury the link at the bottom of your post, disguise it by using the same color font as the rest of the article, or make the font microscopically small. These practices go against the principles of ethical content curation, and should be avoided. 3. Avoid "nofollow" links Using "nofollow" tags deprives the original content creator of SEO credit. We've already established that ethical curators link to the original source to give them credit, but "nofollow" links negate some of the goodwill created by these links. Avoid them wherever you can. 4. Quote sparingly It's fine to excerpt a short section of an original content piece to give readers a feel for it (this generally falls under the category of fair use). But quoting long excerpts gives the reader very little reason to click through and read the full article — plus, it could blur the lines between fair use and copyright infringement. Choose the shortest, juiciest quote you can find, and write the rest of the curated piece in your own words. 5. Insert your own point of view Ethical curators don't just summarize or regurgitate pieces from other sources. They explain why it matters, how it impacts readers, or what may happen in the future. Adding this human element is a great way to work your voice into the conversation and incorporate brand-appropriate keywords that may not have appeared in the original piece. In addition, make sure your commentary is longer and more detailed than any sections you're quoting. 6. Fill in the gaps Is there something the original article didn't mention that your audience needs to know? Add this information as you're developing your curated content. Other curators may be sharing the same third-party stories that you're using, but this additional context will help your piece stand out from the crowd. 7. Use thumbnail images Images are also subject to copyright law, so don't reproduce the full image from the original piece without getting permission first. Instead, it's OK to use a smaller, thumbnail image, or to substitute a royalty-free image that conveys a similar theme without violating copyright laws. You can find images that are available under a Creative Commons license by using Flickr or Google's advanced search option, and you can check for licensing issues using TinEye's Reverse Image Search. 8. Give readers the option to close an iFrame or share bar Including share bars and iFrames around the original publisher's content helps maintain the look and feel of the curator's property, yet it still helps drive traffic to the original site. Using an iFrame is not unethical, but because some readers find them annoying, you should give them the ability to close the iFrame and view the original article directly on the publisher's site. 9. Add a new title Never copy and paste the original author's headline. Instead, write your own headline so that you're not competing with the original author in search results. Retitling also gives you the chance to play up certain aspects of the piece that the author may have downplayed, as well as to incorporate words or phrases that will resonate more strongly with your particular audience. 10. Claim Google authorship, as appropriate If you've followed the ethical guidelines above, you should have no hesitation claiming Google authorship for your curated content. But if you're simply summarizing a piece without retitling it and adding your own commentary, you probably shouldn't claim Google authorship because you haven't authored anything new. Do you have additional tips for using content curation fairly and ethically? Let us know in the comments. Looking for more advice on content curation? Check out what the experts had to say at Content Marketing World 2013. Access to a wide range of presentations is available through our Video on Demand portal. Cover image via Bigstock

Are You Listening? Why Social Media Monitoring Matters Posted: 06 Dec 2013 01:30 PM PST At this point in the game, it's no secret that social media is one of the top ways you can market your business online. It's free (to some extent), it's user-friendly (for the most part) and it's techy enough for the geekier side of the general public while still remaining relatively low-maintenance for those of us who just want to look at cat pictures and check up on our loved ones. But when you use social media for more than just fun, when you use it for your business, you need to stay 100 percent on top of what's going on with you, your followers, and your fans. Why? Well, to put it simply, it can really help grow your business. In fact, if you're not in tune with your social media following and image, it can damage your reputation, because fans won't be able to associate your brand with what matters most: your brand voice. Enter social listening and social media monitoring. These bad boys are two things that you should be doing right now if you want to continue to build your business's reputation online and see real success within the social media marketplace. Sing it Loud and Sing it Proud You may be wondering, "What do you mean my 'brand voice?'" That's right. Your business is a brand, and it has a voice. If you don't know what your business's brand voice sounds like, that just means you may not have found it yet. But, that's OK! Finding a voice for your business isn't necessarily as easy as 1-2-3. Sometimes it really takes a concerted effort to find a voice for your business. Sometimes you have to listen to what others are saying before you know what to say about yourself. From promoting your Facebook page to scouring Twitter trends, how do you know where to start with the whole social listening thing? Well, let's start with a definition. According to HootSuite, a social media monitoring software, social listening is the act of 'listening' to conversations taking place on a specific social media site and literally looking for opportunities to jump in and engage people in the conversation. These people may have heard of your business, or they may not have. The point is to spread the word about your business to people that may never have heard of it by acting as an authority in your industry and having real-life, valuable conversations with your audience in a given social sphere. For example, say you're in the business of blogging. You can look up #blogging on Facebook and Twitter to see who's talking about that subject, the items they are discussing, and brainstorm a smart way to jump in (don't just say 'hi,' offer people useful information, or ask them a question that gets them thinking). Here's another example: say you're a plumber. Do a quick search for #plumbing on Facebook and Twitter and see what comes up. You might be amazed at how many people post plumbing-related things on social media websites. Jump In and Start Swimming There's no better time than now to jump into social media and start swimming. Hone in on your social listening skills by getting online and diving into the conversations and digging into popular trends (provided they have something to do with your business). The best way for you to reach your audience online is to get out there and contact them! I bet you're saying to yourself right now, "I have a Facebook and Twitter page, I even have a LinkedIn page. Oh my Gosh, I think I have a Foursquare page too! But how do I find the time to manage all of these pages?" Good question. Rest assured, many other businesses have had this very same issue, and that's why there are a number of social media monitoring (SMM) tools out there. SMM tools exist for the sheer convenience of users who are too busy to otherwise manage their social media pages. Businesses and users who manage multiple social media pages for their business, or even businesses, may see real success using SMM tools. When it comes to the point that you can't remember which Facebook page you need to update, or you can't keep track of who's Tweeting you from one minute to the next, you should definitely look into SMM tools. But, which tools are the best? Well, with new tools still frequently emerging that remains to be seen. However, there are some key points that you should look for in an SMM tool. Here are the top 5 things you should look for in an SMM tool: Real-time social marketing insights should be readily available for your review The dashboard should be easy to use/user-friendly It should help you identify 'key influencers' for your industry and brand It should help you develop performance metrics for your pages It should help you support rapid social engagement A final word of advice: try before you buy! Many SMM tools will give you a 30-day trial before asking you to make a complete purchase, which is a great way to take a test drive and see if the tool is really the right one for you and your business. Image via Shutterstock

Sharing Is Caring: Tips to Make Your Brand Social Media “Friendly”! Posted: 06 Dec 2013 01:28 PM PST How do you make a brand  social media "friendly"? What a strange question. If I suggested this to a client a few years ago, I would have been laughed out of his office. In the social media world, however, we all are aware that we have to "humanize" a brand.  This is probably one of the most difficult tasks a brand is faced with, especially if it is B2B or has to show a very professional image. In this article I will show you some techniques we use for making our clients' brands more "friendly". People will be people in how they react Thanks to social media outlets we have discovered that we are all susceptible to a few triggers: Food, pets, selfies, quotes, beautiful images among other things. Using any of these in your content will always get a reaction of some kind. There are many ways to integrate and weave this content on to your posts so that it becomes more personal and "friendly". We all understand that social media is about connections and engagement. Engaging content makes your company seem trustworthy to your followers. How do I use the triggers? I am tired of seeing food and pets on Facebook. Take a look at your post and think about how can you make pets and food relevant to your brand's audience. Here are some examples: If you have a Real Estate business page show a picture of your pet on open house day. "Come and visit Pat (cute dog) at _____ open house address" If you are an accountant: "Cookies on Tax Day". Show a picture of delicious cookies on a post If you have a corporate page, share fun office information. Red Bull showed us how they skateboard at the office in their post "Who says skateboarding is not an office job?" Take fun selfies of your employees and share away. If all of the above doesn't resonate a good quote or a beautiful image can always do the job. The Key Is Getting Engagement Sure we all want to sell, sell, sell. But with Social Media, it's really about offering good content and perceived value (tips, recipes, relatable posts, etc). Consumers want to be entertained and dialogued with not just spoken to. No matter how big and corporate your company is, people will respond to honest content and content they can relate to; not just the mundane "special offer". Win their hearts and minds and their pocketbook will follow. How do you make your content "friendly"? To continue the discussion, follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Google+.

Do’s and Don’ts of Starting a WordPress Website Posted: 06 Dec 2013 12:00 PM PST WordPress websites continue to pop up all the time. If you're new to starting up a WordPress site here are a few do's and don'ts when creating your website. Do Use Images and Videos Do place relevant videos and images across your site to engage your visitors. Don't bore your audience with text overload, keep the message clear on each page and support with images or videos where necessary. Select a Reliable Web Host Where your website will be hosted is a decision that you'll need to make in the early stages. Ensure you go with a reliable host that supports the growth, speed and availability of your site. For more on WordPress hosting click here. Use a Responsive Theme A responsive theme is simply a theme that allows your website to be viewed on a mobile devise or tablet, it automatically resizes and rejigs your website to easily be viewed on any devise. Have New Content and Blogs Keep your visitors engaged and coming back with a regular blog and new content.  This will help you create a following and help out your SEO too. Don't Use a Generic Design Avoid designs that have been used by every other website, try finding a fresh website design that suits your intended layout; there's thousands to choose from. Have Vague, Undescriptive Content Your content should be written with both your target audience and SEO in mind. Keep your message clear and to the point, avoid all the fluff. Ensure your keywords are used wisely in the header and the body of your text. Sign up for Free Hosting Free hosting normally involves the third party selling advertising on your website, which will detract from anything else on your site. Also with free hosts you're likely to be sharing a server with hundreds if not thousands of other sites this will dramatically reduce response time and availability. Forget to do your Research Look up Google Analytics and use Google's Keyword Planner to find what your audience is looking for. Optimize your site by researching what keywords you should feature on each page

Blogging On The Go, Aka Mobile Blogging Posted: 06 Dec 2013 10:00 AM PST Blogging – What is it that attracts people so much? Blogging is a type of website that lets you post in your comments, suggestions or read about anything being discussed in the blog that catches your interest. It is a way for people to interact, discuss or debate about a certain topic. Think of it as a small group of people debating or sharing comments about a particular topic. One of the many reasons of why blogs are very popular is that it is subjective and not objective. If you read one blog, you will feel like you know the person who wrote it. It is a form of communication where it does not address itself to a wider audience but instead, it communicates on a person-to-person level. In this way, people are more comfortable posting comments in blogs than in other types of forums. In a world where communication technology is steadily developing, blogging is one of the best ways of communicating with other people. Today, there are a lot of devices which you can use to create, maintain and update your blogs. One type is mobile blogging or moblogging. Mobile blogging or moblogging is a type of blogging where it means that you can blog on the go from a portable mobile device like your cellular phone. One great reason to consider mobile blogging is if you want someone to be part of an event without being physically in the event. One form of mobile blogging or moblogging is through communication devices such as Bluetooth or in your own palm top or pocket PC. There is not much difference between a traditional blog and mobile blog or moblog, the only difference is that in moblog, you can blog on the go. Today, with the latest mobile phones getting more and more affordable, anyone can buy these devices. You can customize it, take pictures with it and you can also surf the internet with it. Mobile phones are also very useful forblogging. Aside from the fact that you can go online with mobile phones, you can also blog with it while you're on the go. With it, you can share stories, photos, videos on your blog. However, to create your own mobile blog, you should first determine if your mobile phone network provider can support online surfing through the internet. You should also determine what kind of phone supports for this kind of service. Another benefit of moblogging is that if you get inspired to tell a story or you took some great pictures on your road trip and want to share them to the world, you won't have to wait until you get your hands on your computer and share your thoughts and pictures in the internet. With moblogging, you can blog anytime and anywhere. To make it much easier for you, you should first make your blog website on your computer. Then, you should register your mobile phone number to activate mobile blogging services. And, you can now post in your comments anywhere you are with your mobile phone. With mobile blogging, you can even benefit if you are buying a particular thing like a car. For example, you are now in a used car lot, you then can't decide on what car you want and would want to consult your friend about it. You then take a picture of the cars you like and send them to your blogging website. You then call your friend and told him or her that you need his or her opinion about the cars. You tell them that the pictures are in your blogging site and ask them to take a look at it and tell them what they think. Moblogging is a very convenient way to communicate with people and also update your blog site even without being physically in front of a desktop computer.

Social Media Marketing Tips and Insights from a Big Boring Brand Posted: 06 Dec 2013 08:00 AM PST Many times the question is raised …"My product is boring, so how can I use social media to drive sales and create brand awareness? Traditional businesses still often think that Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram are for the teenagers, the under 30′s or the mommy bloggers. Social media marketing is mostly seen as a the province of businesses that deal with consumers. The new reality is that "social media marketing is not about the channel but what goes into the channel – content! " Boring brands need to change their thinking Business to business brands often have great content it's just that they just aren't used to publishing it to social networks. It requires a new way of thinking about social and it revolves around publishing content that engages. There are many traditional brands that have what seems to be boring topics of conversation but are managing to be creative and innovative. These include IBM, Microsoft and General Electric. Today we will have a closer look at a traditional business that understands innovation both with its business and how it uses social media. We will look at some social media marketing tips and insights into how GE uses its "GE Reports" publishing portal and amplifies and leverages it with social networks. 1. General Electric General Electric or "GE" is a big business that doesn't sell sexy fashion or cool gadgets. It designs and creates big machines and lots of other stuff. Despite it being perceived from a distance as a big boring brand it is constantly innovating and experimenting with social media and new channels. This even includes Instagram, Pinterest and Viddy. According to GE's Linda Boff (The executive director of global digital marketing) in an interview on Digiday, social media is used by GE to have conversations with people. These include Consumers Employees Investors It uses social media to tell stories about the impact of its technology and innovation on people. GE's main goal is engagement GE's social media metrics is focused on measuring engagement because that is the main goal of their social media activities. This includes capturing data and metrics on Facebook that looks at unique engagement rate. This provides insights into the size and health of their online community. They are also exploring the use of social CRM platforms to personalize the engagement. The key tactic for driving engagement on social media According to Linda Boff the key tactic to creating the most engagement with content is as follows. "With respect to content, across nearly all platforms we've found that creative, visual content paired with strong calls-to-action drives the highest engagement". That is why you will see GE on the visual social media channels such as Viddy, Pinterest and Instagram which could maybe been seen as the wrong demographic for their audience. How GE handles risk on social media GE is in a lot of highly regulated businesses which includes, financial services, healthcare and energy. Brands often use the excuse of not participating on social media in highly regulated industries because it is seen as too big a legal risk to be publishing on social media. They fear that they will lose control of their messaging. So how does GE solve this? In a recent real time social media marketing campaign reported on Digiday, they assemble a team that includes: Strategist Producer Designer Lawyer This allows them to make fast decisions on both the content and the distribution. So if you are participating on social channels don't let government or corporate regulation get in the way of participation. The GE Social Publishing Portal Their main portal for creating brand awareness is "GE Reports". This is not about selling a product but selling the idea of innovation. This is much more engaging and allows them to tap into the emotion of storytelling. What is the GE Report's mission and goal? The mission: "To provide a simple no frills way of way of communicating what is happening at GE" The goal: "To be a resource for people who are interested in learning more about GE" This publishing portal covers the main categories of the GE business spectrum. It is about providing highly visual storytelling that includes: Videos Graphics Photos So even the GE Reports is focused on visual storytelling and visual engagement. Its not a website with long lengthy articles with walls of text. It's about cool infographics, compelling YouTube videos and engaging images. If you have a closer look inside the GE Report you will start to notice content that is far from boring. The fastest ferry in the world When creating content around your brand you should be looking for angles that will take your brand from dull to fascinating. You could write an article about a jet engine (A GE product) but what is much more interesting is a story about the world's fastest ferry driven by jet engines from a 747. You need to look at publishing on social networks with a journalists and publishers eye and ear. The facts that will capture your attention (and maybe provide and incentive to share the story) is that is can reach speeds of 67 miles per hour, carry 1,000 passengers and 150 cars. So how can you move your content from mundane to motivating? The GE Social Networks GE doesn't shy away from participating on mainstream social networks that are often seen as the domain of business to consumer brands. Here are some of the ways and the social channels that they participate on. Facebook General Electric is about innovation and 3D printing is one of the latest trends in technology innovation. This is the latest featured content on their Facebook page. You will notice that is isn't about their product but explaining and educating people about how the 3D printing process works. It is about having conversations around the brand not about its products to drive engagement. Pinterest But they are on Pinterest..that's suppose to be where the mommy bloggers hang out! What GE has understood is that the visual nature of Pinterest drives high engagement. So they are constantly innovating and participating on new channels to find what works and doesn't. Instagram GE is also on Instagram. They often run competitions on Instagram and make the GE brand fun and personal. Twitter GE is even on Twitter and know how to have a bit of fun. Here is their take on Thanksgiving with a scientific twist. They maybe haven't found Twitter to be as successful as the other networks and that is maybe because it is not as visual as Instagram or Pinterest. Maybe Twitters new image stream will change that. What about you? Do you see your business as too boring to participate on social media? Maybe its time to look at selling an idea rather than a product. What idea could you try to sell? Want to learn how to make your blog a success with social media marketing? Struggling with creating great content? My book – "Blogging the Smart Way – How to Create and Market a Killer Blog with Social Media" – will show you how.

Google Toolbar PageRank Has Just Been Updated [December 2013 Update] Posted: 06 Dec 2013 06:11 AM PST I spotted a twitter update from Chris Dyson a few minutes back where he reported that he had noticed a new PageRank update. I instantly looked at plenty of websites to check if there was indeed a fresh update and I can be certain that there is actually a new PageRank update without a doubt. The previous update was very long ago in February 2013, and we also saw Google’s Matt Cutts suggesting the fact that the “pipeline” that provides PageRank data to Google’s own toolbar fell apart following the last update and that there won’t most likely be one more update this year, which is now found to be incorrect. If you aren’t already aware of PageRank, it’s just a grade designated to specific pages within a logarithmic scale between 0 & 10 depending on the value (how strong they really are) and amount (how many links) of their total backlinks. Just about all pages on TechTage that showed up after the last PageRank revision which had a PR n/a are now in possession of distinct PR figures. Astonishingly enough, my personal site, that I started in past June went right into being a PR5 site straight from PR n/a. This really is confusing, since TechTage visibly has 20x more link power behind it, but still its PR grade remains 3. A few of the other sites and pages I am aware of that got their toolbar PRs refreshed: The Wikipedia page on PageRank was PR6 prior to the update. Now it is PR7. Brian Dean’s SEO and link-building blog Backlinko, that had a PR of 1 earlier, is currently displaying a PR of 5. My last post on SearchEngineJournal on Google Authorship is presently PR0 from PR n/a. Eventhough it is somewhat unlikely for it being PR0 as a quick investigation with Ahrefs shows that there are actually 136 referring domain names to that particular post. Something that could possibly be the case is that this new PageRank data is currently still getting sent into the toolbar, so perhaps we’ll see a lot more updates on more sites after a while. But however, after a quick look at a few popular pages, it seems to me that Google decided not to count disavowed links in this newest PR update. For instance, this case study by Charles Floate presently has just PR1. Should you think about the fact that Charles elevated the page with a huge number of backlinks implementing black hat strategies, and then he later on disavowed nearly all of those links as soon as the case study ended, you will get my point. So, it looks like what Matt explained regarding disavowed links behaving sort of same as nofollow’ed links is accurate. So, did you notice a change in your site’s PageRank?

Mind The Gap… Between Online and Offline Marketing Posted: 06 Dec 2013 04:00 AM PST Through September and October 2013, UK-based call tracking firm ResponseTap commissioned two pieces of research with a view to understanding the role of the phone from the perspective of both the consumer and the marketer. In the consumer research, they surveyed over 2,000 people online, aged between 18-75 while their digital marketer focus was based on a sample of 250 managers working in a variety of industries. While the results obviously represent a UK view of the online travel reality, both from a consumer and digital marketer perspective, I find them nevertheless very interesting to share as they seem to echo recent findings in North America as well. Even though the travel industry has embraced online marketing very early on, with big players such as Expedia and Priceline now dominating the sphere, there are still many destinations, hotels, transportation companies, restaurants or attractions that provide uneven online experiences, at best. Yet, having some kind of live chat alternative could solve some issues, not to mention giving access to a hotline or call center where customers could reach out to in order to answer queries and doubts and close sales. According to Deloitte, 91% of domestic travel transactions in the UK are now 'digitally influenced'. That means even if the final purchase wasn't made online, almost nine in ten travel purchases are influenced in some way by digital channels such as websites, social media, peer reviews and smartphone of tablet apps. – Hotelmarketing In fact, these are just a few of the findings that tend to confirm the need for consumers to get some reassurance by speaking with someone from the brand organization before and during the transactional stage: 1/3 of consumers prefer to talk to someone on the phone before buying something. 61% of consumers find it very important to be able to call the business during purchase. 57% trust retailers more when it is easy to contact them by phone. 56% say they are more likely to buy again from a retailer if they know they can talk to them on the phone. Another area of concern raised by this report regards the abandonment rate of shopping carts, which is particularly alarming in the travel sector, standing at 81%. It reminds me of a discussion I had with a hotel client last year – the digital marketer in charge for this property had no idea when or where potential customers where leaving their website, or whether there was a specific page or transactional step where people were being put off… From the digital marketer's perspective, there are some equally interesting findings such as: 39% of digital marketers say their call centre or customer service team has primary responsibility for tracking phone calls. Yet… 59% say they are not integrated with these teams. More than half of them admit they don't have a complete view of how online and offline marketing is driving phone sales. In fact, data from this ResponseTap study show that combining online marketing with phone calls can increase substantially conversion rates, no matter from which device the activity comes from. The complete infographic can be found below while the whitepaper detailing this research can be downloaded by clicking here.

6 Questions on Content Marketing With Herb Mitschele Posted: 06 Dec 2013 03:00 AM PST We’re very excited to introduce Herb Mitschele in today's Expert Interview series! Herb is the CEO and co-founder at Shodogg, and he leads the charge to introduce and deliver Shodogg's innovative solutions within the business community. Prior to Shodogg, Herb was a senior executive in the consumer products and toy industry. He has been involved with most of the toy industry’s top brands and has launched hundreds of products throughout his career. He also recently served as Senior Vice President of Sales and Operations at CDI, a division of Jakks Pacific with well over $200 million in sales. 6 Questions on Content Marketing With Herb Mitschele 1. How did you get your start in the industry? Before working at Shodogg, I was the number two guy running a large consumer products company in the children’s toy space. I had to stay very close to trends and technology throughout my career, shifting quickly as companies came out with “the next big thing” and trying to come out with new trends ourselves. When I was introduced by one of our cofounders to David Strober, the inventor of Shodogg’s now patented technology and current CTO, I immediately knew this was a trend-setting technology. I was hooked. I have experience running a business, but this is my first tech start-up, so it’s been an interesting challenge, but very exciting. When you have an amazing product supporting your company, it’s an exciting opportunity. 2. What is the biggest challenge facing your industry? I think the speed at which we see innovation in our industry is certainly something that we continue to watch, as I am amazed at how quickly innovative ideas are launching everyday. I think the second challenge is breaking through the clutter, which we have been fortunate to be able to do so far. There are a lot of second-screen products on the market that are backed by some of the largest companies in the world, which can be scary from a competing startup’s perspective. But as I said before, we have a patented technology that is approaching the situation in a completely different way than our competition, and because of that, I’m certain we will break through the clutter. 3. What do you think is the future of your industry? Device connectivity is upon us. We truly believe that an agnostic experience is the only way to connect devices, as consumers are going to expect to be able to share media with any connected device and they won’t care whether the device is Apple or Android, or whether the connected TV happens to be a Samsung or LG – what they care about is being able to seamlessly connect their devices together and instantly access any content they wish. That’s where Shodogg steps in. 4. What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out? For someone introducing a new technology or pitching a new product – Get feedback quickly and define your audience. Don’t try and take on too much and focus on something that you can own and build from there. If you can prove that something works within a defined space, you can show how that idea can scale and attract investors. 5. Where can we find you on the web/on Twitter/Facebook/etc.? Shodogg Website Screen-Direct – Beta app by Shodogg Twitter Facebook Linkedin 6. What is your recipe for success? Have an amazing technology or product that you truly believe in, add a great team of hard working, passionate people, and you’ll achieve success.

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