Content Marketing | PRMarketing.com

What’s the Deal with Content Marketing?

Posted on November 23, 2012 by Taylor Donohoo in blog 2 Comments

Content marketing is centered on providing valuable content to potential customers in order to enhance their experience with your brand.

The benefits of including content marketing as part of your online strategy are as follows:

Building interest and loyalty. With fresh content, you can urge people to return to your website or blog on a regular basis. Consistency helps your brand also secure industry credibility.
Ranking in the search engines. Quality content can help your website rank higher in the search engine results page because it provides constant, relevant content for readers.
Generating more website visitors. By providing content, your website can be up-to-date and spark more interest from others.

Infographic When you develop a content strategy, you need to decide what content will work best to convey your message. Not every brand can rely on the same solution to keep readers or potential customers interested. Try implementing the following content that might benefit your brand the most.

•

Infographics.

Infographics can be social sharing gold. With a big idea, great design and proper execution, you can lure more visitors to your website using a single infographic than a lot of other efforts combined. If you leave an embed code, other sites are able to showcase your infographic as well.

• Videos. Providing a relevant, intriguing video for your audience can really increase your leads. Sometimes, one video can change a company completely, like the viral Dollar Shaving Club sensation.

• Blogs. Blogging provides a way to solidify your authority and credibility within your industry. You can even utilize guest blogging to reach a wider audience and network with other big time bloggers to spread your message.

• Webinars. Offering webinars can demonstrate your expertise, personify your brand and help you interact with your audience directly. A detailed and well-organized webinar will provide value to your audience.

• White papers or eBooks. Because information is the greatest resource on the Internet, providing a learning experience in the form of a white paper or eBook proves to be an excellent addition to your content marketing strategy.

Diversifying your content is an important aspect of proper content marketing. This list is by no means exhaustive, but it is an excellent launch pad for kick starting the right content marketing campaign.

A Blog Template for Beginners

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Taylor Donohoo in blog, Content Marketing Leave a Comment

If you’re considering content marketing, know that there is a right way and a wrong way to blog. I’ve created an outline to help you write your very own blog post to captivate readers.

By using four famous TV catchphrases, I developed a blog template to get you started:

Paris Hilton

“That’s Hot” – Paris Hilton, The Simple Life

Crafting a Hot Headline

The title of your post baits the reader. You want your potential reader to see your headline and want to read it. Try to write a headline that would interest you. Readers tend to like:

•

Numbers.

For example, “3 Ways to Ruin a Blog Post”

•

How to.

Such as, “How to Write A Blog in Under an Hour”

•

Direct and Upfront Lead

. “Guide to Becoming a Blogger”

Michael Buffer

“Let’s Get Ready to Rumble” – Michael Buffer, Sports Announcer

Getting Started

The first few sentences of your blog post tells the reader if your post is worth their time. Write just a few sentences about what you are going to talk about and why. If you wouldn’t want to read it, no one else will either.

Ricky Ricardo

“Lucy, You Got Some ‘Splaining To Do” – Ricardo, I Love Lucy

Building the Main Story

Now that you have the reader’s attention, it is time to give up the goods. A casual tone keeps it light for the reader. Be personal and talk to the reader. Write shorter paragraphs to break up the text so the reader is not overwhelmed. Posts that are easy on the eyes include:

• Lists

• Bullets

• Images

• Videos

There is not an exact formula for a proper word count for a blog post, but I recommend hitting around 300-400 words. A post that is too long will exhaust the audience.

Tim Gunn

“Make it Work” – Tim Gunn, Project Runway

Tying Everything Together
In order to wrap up your post, write your conclusion with a call to action. Encourage participation by asking people to comment on the post, share their experiences, etc. A well crafted conclusion should encourage the reader to do something.

Seinfeld

“Yada Yada Yada” – Elaine, Seinfeld

There is, of course, more to discover about the effective use of blogging and content marketing. But these basics are a blueprint to help you kick start a blog post. If you’re interested in perfecting a post, check out a few more tips I have here.

4 Conversion Killers You Can Conquer

Posted on September 26, 2012 by Taylor Donohoo in blog Leave a Comment

What makes people go from your shopping cart to second guessing?

The Four Horsemen of the eCommerce Apocalypse.

These Four Horsemen gallop in consumer’s minds, trample landing pages, and crush conversion. All Four Horsemen have one thing in common: fear. Fear is the ultimate conversion killer. Fear breeds destruction, but before you accept defeat there are ways to fight fear.

Fear of misusing money

Allowance is a big deal for children. Remember when you were a kid and the ice cream truck would turn up tunes and stalk your streets? In excitement, you’d buy a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle ice cream bar. However, when you opened it you realized it looked a lot more like a mutant and less like Michaelangelo. The gumball eyes were uneven and misplaced and the ice cream as a whole was hardly the vibrant and enticing picture on the truck.

That isn’t to say the ice cream didn’t taste good, but you spent extra money for the character ice cream sandwich for no reason. It’s at this point, at a young age, you realized you might not have gotten your money’s worth. Why hello, Horseman.

Solution:

From that first realization forward, people are afraid of spending money on something that might not meet expectations and easily abandon online shopping carts. The best way to combat this fear is to assure consumers you offer a quality product, through quality content. Take authority and show your consumers you know your stuff. With proper content marketing, you can demonstrate large amounts of credibility. People want a reliable source of information before committing.

Fear of regret

While we are walking down memory lane, consider the 1970s fad Pet Rocks. Pet Rocks were marketed as live animals in custom carriers with breathing holes, which was great. Although the whole Pet Rock phenomenon was a gag, plenty of people (millions to be exact) paid the price. In the end, more people were laughing at the owners than the actual Pet Rock. Why? Because people spent actual money on a rock for no real reason. The thing is people who make a regrettable purchase like this never live it down. From here on out, they will be a little skeptical of any sales approach, and alas, this Horsemen rides in.

Solution:

Buyer’s remorse is as real as it gets. When consumers are shopping online for a product or service, it’s harder to convince them to have confidence in their purchase. The best way to beat this battle is with transparent content. Transparency helps you translate your true intentions and sincerity. Transparency builds credibility, authority, and trust.

Fear of being fooled

People don’t like a bait and switch, ever. When it comes to people making a purchasing decision online and they realize it’s not what they bargained for, their confidence cracks. Companies have attempted shady marketing tactics combined with disclaimers in the fine print, so in the era of eCommerce, it’s harder to solidify your product stance when people, in essence, purchase blindly.

Solution:

Clear, concise content helps put this Horseman to rest. When you ramble, people lose interest and begin to become suspicious. It is important to have a nice simple structure with a laser-like focus. The second people think you are spinning a story verse demonstrating why your product is beneficial, they’ll leave your site and never look back.

Fear of feeling stupid

We’ve all been suckered into a “good” deal, like the time a savvy salesperson sweet talked you into buying something you didn’t even really need. Or, you made a purchase at 3 AM from an infomercial. Consumers only need to burn their hand on the oven once to learn about the heat of this Horseman. From then on, weary consumers avoid anything that may make them feel like that again.

Solution:

In reality, everyone would like to be able to trust a brand but it takes a little convincing. With clear calls to action, consumers can spend less time feeling concerned and more time considering the product or service. Engage consumers, pull them in, and give them the real scoop. You only get so much time to convert a customer before they lose interest or are harassed by any of the Horsemen.

Victory

There isn’t one single tactic or formula for ensuring a conversion with content. However, quality content that is transparent, takes authority, and remains clear and simple will definitely help to avoid an online apocalypse. For additional content marketing tips to overcome hurdles and Horsemen, go here.

25 Blogging Facts That Will Knock Your Socks Off

Posted on August 15, 2012 by Marilyn Buckner in blog, Content Marketing 6 Comments

blog facts Have you ever wondered, like me, where the crazy word “blog” came from? Well, the original term for this type of content was “web log.” Since its slow start around 1984, blogging has exploded into one of the world’s primary methods of sharing information. And in spite of its current size, this snowball will undoubtedly pick up even more steam and size as it courses down the hill of time. Here’s a cross section of the surprising facts and stats it currently consists of – enjoy!

Just how many blogs are there out there?

NM Incite

• That’s five times as many as in 2006.

How many new blog articles are posted each day?

WordPress

How much are blogs actually read, and when?

each

month

• Those 181 million blogs (based again on WordPress stats) boast over 1.3 million comments each day.

• A large majority of Internet users read blogs at least monthly, and 46 percent read blogs more than once per day.” ^3,11

• 75 percent read four or more blogs, with 38 percent reading five to ten and 29 percent reading between ten and fifty.⁴

• Post early! Blog reading is highest (80 percent) in the mornings, peaks at 10 AM and decreases throughout the day.⁵

Business blogging stats that speak for themselves:

⁶

• Blogging frequency matters. Hubspot reported in March of 2012 that 43 percent of “less than monthly” business bloggers yielded a customer from their blog, compared to 92 percent of businesses blogging “multiple times per day.” ⁷

• Companies that blog have 55 percent more website visitors.⁸

• Business to consumer companies that blog generate 88 percent more leads per month than those who do not, while business to business companies generate 67 percent more leads than those who don’t blog.⁹

• Companies with more than 51 blog articles experience a 77 percent lift in median monthly leads.¹⁰

It might be well worth your time to examine the health of your business blog while all these numbers are fresh in your mind. How do you compare? Are you reaping results in line with the above business stats, or would you like to see your business benefit from some blogging improvements?

While you’re at it, how about sharing with the rest of us? What has created the biggest bang on your blog – and what facet of blogging do you think is most important to your business?

REFERENCES
¹ NM Incite, as quoted in nielsenwire.
²http://en.wordpress.com/stats/
^3-520 Fresh Stats About the State of Inbound Marketing in 2012, Hubspot.
⁶120 Awesome Marketing Stats, Charts and Graphs, p. 80-103, Hubspot.
^7-1020 Fresh Stats About the State of Inbound Marketing in 2012, Hubspot.
¹¹ The Science of Blogging by Dan Zarella, Hubspot.

Image via Mokra

Got Blog?

Posted on July 27, 2012 by Julia Minchenko in blog Leave a Comment

Every successful business needs a strong online presence in today’s world. People live on the internet. Based on the world internet usage statistics, 2,267,233,742 people use the internet daily. Let’s say you are an entrepreneur or small business owner and you want to build your brand; there are a variety of avenues to consider when building a successful online brand and company blogging should definitely be a consideration.

According to CMI, blogging is the third most common content marketing activity, surpassed only by social media and articles.

Increase Site Visitors

Hubspot, a provider of website and blog services, studied the effectiveness of blog writing by researching 1,531 of their customers. According to the study, 795 used blogs while 736 did not. As it turned out, the sites that blogged received 55 percent more visitors than those that did not.
Blogs
Now why should you care? Well, where do you go when you want to research something online? I know I use Google daily, along with 300 million other people in the world. You want to make sure people will be able to find your business when they search online and blogging assists in these efforts. Search engines like Google, love quality and frequently updated content, exactly what blogging provides. A frequently updated blog will improve your online rankings within the search engines, which means your business will no longer be hiding behind layers of other results.

Build Trust and Create Relationships

The personal relationships that companies once had with customers has been replaced with a more impersonal approach. But blogs can still convey personality by using a conversational tone that makes your company personal to your target market. Try to write for your audience in a way that will spark desire to respond and interact with your brand. Remember you are the expert, and your readers go to you to get information.

Having a blog on your company’s website opens communication channels to your clients, potential clients and critics. It gives you the ability to educate and directly respond to your reader’s questions, concerns and criticism. If you are worried about the complete open line of communication, it might help to know that potentially negative comments are not always a bad thing. In a report “Blog, Blogger, and the Firm: Can Negative Employee Posts Lead to Positive Outcomes?” researchers discovered that reasonably negative posts will add credibility to your corporate blogs and increase readership.

Who would ever think that blogging could deliver such powerful results for a growing company? As you work on developing an online marketing strategy for your business, consider building a blog for its numerous benefits.

How to Utilize Message Boards in Content Marketing

Posted on June 29, 2012 by Alyssa Vincent in blog Leave a Comment

Have you ever wandered online into a message board? I’ll bet you have. Whether you found yourself there through search engines results or visiting a website directly, message boards are everywhere and they can be a great place for exchanging information and brand development.

Message boards are online discussion websites where people can converse and network. They can have very broad topics or very specific topics. They can also have very specific purposes, or they can be very general. But one thing they all have in common is that they create communities of people with common interests.

I have used message boards for both networking and research purposes. They’re great when you’re looking for the answer to a tech problem—be it by reading through the thread of someone with a similar problem, or creating your own thread to ask the question. They’re also great for connecting with similar minds. I used to go to message boards to network with other fans of my favorite bands, trade gossip and converse with others who shared my interests.

Because message boards create communities of people with common interests, it can be a great forum to promote your brand. However, believe it or not, there is a right and wrong way to self-promote over message boards. Here are three things to do (and not to do) when utilizing message boards in your content marketing strategy.

Don’t: Hide your affiliation with your brand.
Do: Register on the message boards as your brand, or at the very least state your affiliation in your profile.

Transparency is vital when it comes to Internet marketing, and message boards are no different. Things can go south real fast if the message board community feels deceived, and sometimes it can result in a PR nightmare. It’s best to just be honest in the first place and avoid contention all together.
Don’t: Promote any and all content.
Do: Be selective in the content you promote.

It’s important to only share your best content on message boards. If you self-promote too much, you run the risk of people ignoring you, or worse, being banned from the message boards.
Don’t: Promote and leave.
Do: Stick around and add value.

Don’t just create a new thread and insert your pitch and leave, instead, stick around and engage with the community. Keep the conversation going by responding to people who respond to your post. If you want to get the most out of your efforts, you should work to become a member of the community by participating in other conversations. This not only exposes your brand to more people and earns you loyal customers, but it gives you more opportunities to promote your content naturally.

Contributing to a message board community that aligns with your business is an excellent tactic to add to your content marketing strategy. For more content marketing strategy tips, you should check out this blog post about Facebook brand pages.

How to Write a Highly Effective Headline

Posted on May 14, 2012 by Taylor Donohoo in blog 1 Comment

Approximately 50 percent of visitors to landing pages bail in eight seconds. And while that amount of time might be the length of a decent first kiss, it’s hardly enough time for strong conversion rates—but it can be done.

A headline is the first impression on a prospective customer, and sometimes, a headline is the only impression. The fact is there is a lot riding on writing the perfect headline to grab attention, communicate a full message, and bait the reader into staying. To add even more pressure, the best headlines range from 8 to 14 words.

So what are the best ways to write a compelling headline? Here is a list of six different headline categories that encourage readers to stay longer than eight seconds.

Reason Why Headline. Most readers like to skim an article, post, or landing page. With a ‘reason why’ technique, most people expect bulleted lists for product features or tips. An example is 3 Timeless Persuasive Writing Techniques.

Direct Headline. This type of headline may not be clever but it showcases the benefit upfront. A direct headline is simple and succinct and the reader knows exactly what they are in for, such as Free Guide to Social Media Marketing.

Indirect Headline. Opposite of a direct headline, an indirect headline is more subtle and sparks curiosity. Using a double meaning in an indirect headline is usually creative and catchy. Consider the title Kill a Killer, and although the post has nothing to do with any actual crime, the post is about conversion killers in your content.

Question Headline. A lot of the time readers are searching for a solution. A question headline lures people in who expect the post or landing page to provide an answer. A word to the wise, the question in the headline has to be more than just that, it has to connect with the reader. A decent question headline might be Is Your Toothpaste Strong Enough?

Testimonial Headline. Testimonials offer proof to prospective customers that what you have to give is of value. “These Headline Techniques Revolutionize Marketing,” said Mark Zuckerberg. Using actual feedback in a headline can give your post immediate and needed credibility.

How to Headline. A simple how to headline works wonders. This type of headline also offers a benefit upfront like a direct headline. An example would be the title of this post.

By no means is this an extensive list of headline formulas. However, these six techniques have proven effective time and time again. Evaluate the purpose of your post, landing page, or other content marketing needs and craft a sure-fire headline that works to your advantage. The better the headline, the better your odds at conversion.

What You See Isn’t Always What You Get

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Alyssa Vincent in blog 3 Comments

Last month I decided to purchase one of Papa John’s heart-shaped pizzas to surprise my hubby for Valentine’s Day. Papa John’s was promoting the pizza like crazy, and they estimated that they would sell 75,000 heart-shaped pizzas for Valentine’s Day 2012. In order to ensure that I would receive the hyped-up heart-shaped pizza, I placed my order online the day before.

The pictures of the heart-shaped pizza on Papa John’s website looked fantastic! I was genuinely looking forward to devouring the masterpiece with my Valentine. I even expressed my excitement for the pizza with a few friends and family members.

The pizza arrived promptly at 8:30 p.m., as requested. Despite the fact that my Valentine was still not home from work, I couldn’t wait a minute longer. This is what I had been looking forward to all day! I had to sneak a peek.

As soon as I opened the box, my face fell in disappointment. I immediately took a picture of the pizza and posted it on Facebook with the caption “Here’s my ‘heart-shaped’ pizza. Looked better on the website. Lame.”

Not only was the pizza less than heart-shaped, but it was cold as well. I suspect that due to the large volume of orders, they filled each delivery drivers’ car with as many pizzas as they could, and I was one of the last stops on the schedule.

Now, I know that food never looks as tasty as it does in the commercials and advertisements. Food photographers have a few dirty tricks up their sleeve to make the product look much more appetizing. Food photographers have been guilty of using motor oil for various syrups, white glue for milk, and brown shoe polish to make meats look more succulent.

While I don’t always expect my food to look as pretty as the advertisements, I do expect it to at least resemble the picture painted, especially if the company is advertising a specific attribute about the food (as was the case for Papa John’s and their heart-shaped pizza).

I have not yet decided whether I will purchase another regular pizza from Papa John’s, but I definitely won’t be purchasing another heart-shaped pizza from them again.

The moral of the story

If you’re busy branding, keep your promises and make sure your product is in line with your content marketing material. The saying “It takes years to win a customer and only a few seconds to lose one,” is so true. It is much more expensive to win over new customers than to keep your existing ones happy. Think your content marketing strategy may be flawed or lacking? Read this blog post outlining content marketing essentials.

Have you ever been stoked about a product based on the advertisements, only to be disappointed? Tell us about your experience in the comments.

The One Word That Changes Content Marketing Completely

Posted on January 30, 2012 by Taylor Donohoo in blog 6 Comments

content marketing

The power of the pen has always intrigued me. To think that the written word can actually persuade people, well, that’s amazing. Granted, most of us have traded pens for keyboards, but the impact is still the same. Content marketing at its core is about changing the way people feel and influencing the way people behave. So how exactly do you make content marketing work for you?

Convincing with Content

Social media marketing, blogging, and website content should all be designed to convince. Often, people reiterate the importance of quality content and compelling content, but the purpose of your content is equally significant. Although there is not one sure-fire way to convince through content, there is a key component that can certainly help. Worthy of mention is the Unique Selling Proposition.

The USP differentiates your product or service from the competition. By definition, the USP is essentially saying, “buy this product, and you will get this specific benefit.” I have one word for you that will spotlight your specific benefit in your content: because.

The Benefits of ‘Because’

Specificity keeps content clear and compelling. By using the term because, you become specific and remain credible while revealing a reason why.

Ellen Langer, a social psychologist, documented the power of because. She performed a personal experiment where she asked others to cut in line to use a copy machine. Langer tested three different ways of asking and recorded:

Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine?

60% said yes.

Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I’m in a rush?

94% said yes.

And here’s where it gets even more interesting.

Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine because I have to make some copies?

93% said yes.

Using the trigger because is clearly influential. In fact, it’s so powerful that the reason why didn’t necessarily matter. It goes to show that a simple word can make all the difference in whether or not people will be interested in buying what you offer. Being assertive and giving a reason why can further your purpose and get people to take any form of action.

Don’t just use the word ‘because’ just because. Harness its power because it will be beneficial for you and your content marketing goals.

Will More of Your Website Visitors Return if Links Open in New Tabs?

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Pat Parkinson in blog 7 Comments

With content marketing gaining steam, and more and more companies employing bloggers to spread their message, new writers sometimes ask: should links in my posts open in new tabs?

The easy answer: Abso-freakin’-lutely!

Otherwise, consider how much website traffic you might push away by allowing links (especially external links) to open in the same tab as your blog post.

Blog readers appreciate links that deliver news reports, company websites or organizations relevant to the post. Forcing these outside links to open in new tabs means your website will stay open even if people click away. When they finish viewing the new pages, your original tab will be available and easy to access in their browser.

But some say readers should not be forced into a new tab when they click on a link. Critics claim if the post is worthwhile, readers will return.

Hogwash!

Forcing a link to open in a new tab is a pretty basic addition to your content marketing strategy when compared with some tricks webmasters use to keep you on their sites. But many times links open in the same tab as the blog post by default. Fix this by simply inserting target=“_blank” into the HTML code to command the link to open in its own new tab.

For instance, if when blogging about the media I wish to link readers to the website for The Onion, I let them do so without leaving my website by adding target=“_blank” at the end of the link. The code reads:

<a href=”http://www.theonion.com/” target=”_blank”>the onion</a>

Opponents claim users become annoyed with bloggers who force tab after tab to open in their browsers. Reduce the possibility of annoyance by forcing only external links (those outside your website) to open in new tabs. Let internal links that direct visitors to other pages on your website open in the same tab as your blog post.

In the age of the 10-second attention span, external links opening in new tabs should bother only the wonkiest of web designers. Most small companies competing for visibility on the Internet need all the website traffic they can get. When linking to an outside source, make it easy for your visitors to return to your site by forcing external links to open in their own tabs.

Or am I wrong? Should bloggers force links to open in new tabs?

1 2 3 Next »