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Mobile content: traffic doesn't mean conversion

5/24/2014

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When it comes to content for your mobile site, it seems there is not a lot of correlation between traffic and conversion.

That's according to research from Adobe and Econsultancy that suggests we need as content marketers need to take a different approach when writing content for mobile sites.
Mobile content needs to be optimised for the task

They found businesses reported that 31 per cent of their web traffic comes via mobile. However, most of the firms (71 per cent) in the survey said they achieve less than one-fifth of overall e-commerce revenue through mobile devices.

In other words, you can draw in people with your mobile content but it's harder to produce something meaty enough to get them to buy.

Or you could look at it another way; optimise your mobile site with content that is all about catching people's attention, rather than stuff that's designed to produce the sale.

So should be thinking about top fives, short snappy blogs or even just a few lines to make people click through to the main website.

Leave the white papers and in-depth features and case studies to your main website or even your social media campaigns.
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Content marketing extends reach as ad execs tune into benefits

5/29/2013

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Content marketing is growing all the time as interruption advertising falls by the wayside in favour of brands creating a conversation with followers.

Indeed, an April 2013 survey of US marketing and advertising executives by MailOnline reveals 70% of brands and 77% of agencies used content marketing for advertising purposes during the previous year.

According to eMarketer, executives are sourcing the content for their marketing from a variety of angles.


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By Ingridarcher Ingrid Archer (Own work made by spotonvision)
Over half (58%) of agencies obtained branded content from the publishers from whom they purchased media.

Clients were the second most popular origin for content, at 49%, followed by third-party content creators (37%) – that's us!

And agencies are branching out, finally realising that content writing services don't just need to pigeon holed for web copy.

Seven in ten distributed content in digital media other than email or the brand's own website – content marketing is more than just a few words on a company's site.


Why are businesses turning to content marketing providers?

Clearly there is a major change going on as we move away from brands aggressively filling users' space without their consent to a more democratic approach.

Content marketing by its very nature simply helps brands and organisations reach the people they want, while allowing those same people to find them easily.

Put simply, content marketing is a way of putting people with needs in contact with the organisations or individuals who can fulfil those needs.

A recent blog post explained some of the key ideas.

As well as rolling out the old word-of-mouth exposure angle (social media shares) and the (still vital) search engine ranking boost benefits, the author, 
Phil Lauterjung, highlighted this growing trend away from interruption-based ads.

"The focus of your web content must be to educate people so they will get to know you and trust you enough to buy from you. E-mail and direct mail campaigns should be focused on providing a steady stream of information to convince prospects that your products or services offer the best solution for their situation
," he says . 


"Drip e-mail campaigns can even be put on autopilot with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. Just remember, an overzealous sales pitch will turn visitors off and direct them toward your competition.

"The type of content you share is closely related to what you sell. You must develop useful content that will help your target audience solve a problem or answer an important question. Your informative content should achieve what advertising is supposed to achieve. If you could watch TV at night and fast-forward through the hemorrhoid cream commercials, would you? Your website visitors feel the same way."


Billy Connolly would approve!

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Google rolls out Penguin 2.0

5/23/2013

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Google has confirmed that its next generation webspam algorithm – Penguin 2.0 – has been rolled out.


It's Google's fourth Penguin update, but it's much more hard-hitting than previous refreshes carried out by the search giant.

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In a blog post, Google's search chief Matt Cutts explained that about 2.3 per cent of English-US queries are affected to the degree that a regular user might notice. 

He said: "The change has also finished rolling out for other languages worldwide. The scope of Penguin varies by language, e.g. languages with more webspam will see more impact."

Google seems to be pressing forward with it has described as its desire for "white hat search engine optimisation, or even no search engine optimisation at all".

No search engine optimisation? Sounds mad, doesn't it? Well, perhaps not, as Google makes the case for awesome content to be the objective by "creating amazing, compelling websites".

Spamming, keyword stuffing and link-building practices are being penalised heavily – what is generally described as black hat SEO. White hat, on the other hand, is all about finding ways to make your site rank well because it genuinely deserves to.

"Sites affected by this change might not be easily recognisable as spamming without deep analysis or expertise, but the common thread is that these sites are doing much more than white hat SEO; we believe they are engaging in webspam tactics to manipulate search engine rankings," the Webmaster Central Blog explained in April.

White hat versus black hat

"White hat search engine optimisers often improve the usability of a site, help create great content, or make sites faster, which is good for both users and search engines," the blog explained.

"Good search engine optimisation can also mean good marketing: thinking about creative ways to make a site more compelling, which can help with search engines as well as social media. 

"The net result of making a great site is often greater awareness of that site on the web, which can translate into more people linking to or visiting a site."

The opposite of white hat SEO is black hat webspam.

"In the pursuit of higher rankings or traffic, a few sites use techniques that don’t benefit users, where the intent is to look for shortcuts or loopholes that would rank pages higher than they deserve to be ranked. We see all sorts of webspam techniques every day, from keyword stuffing to link schemes that attempt to propel sites higher in rankings," explains Google.

Check your site ranking now to see whether you've been affected. If you have, it might mean you need to think about producing great content and a genuinely engaging experience for users, rather than simply trying by hook or by crook to get on page one.
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Content marketing quote of the day

4/30/2013

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"The bottom line is that content marketing is a great way of generating inbound traffic and making money online. The success of your online marketing depends on timely and effective implementation of online marketing plan. You also to use the right channels, engage your audience, and evaluate the effectiveness of your activities periodically. With all things in place, there is no reason why your content marketing should fail."

This come from this excellent blog post on How Content Marketing Delivers Customers.

Ultimately, that's what copy writing should be about - generating customers for your business. It's no use spending all your cash on loads of words if it doesn't improve your top line profits. Or, as this post points out, brand visibility.

There is loads to digest in the article and we suggest you check it out if you are unsure about the benefits of having loads of great content on your website and elsewhere.

Just to recap here are some of the benefits:

Improve search ranking 

Increase brand visibility

Generate sales by inbound marketing

Boost brand prestige

Generate buzz on social media via sharing of articles

Of course, these are just a few of the major benefits - find out more about our content marketing consultancy service.
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UK content marketing benchmark survey: findings

3/11/2013

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Content marketing budgets are set to rise in the UK.
Businesses in the UK not harnessing content marketing are fast becoming the minority, a major new report claims.

Virtually all marketers in the UK are utilising content marketing to engage consumers, boost website rankings and improve SEO.

Nine in ten (94 per cent) of UK marketers have adopted content marketing, with the figure rising to 97 per cent among B2C marketers, according to the — Content Marketing in the UK: 2013 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends — conducted by the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) and the Direct Marketing Association UK (DMA).


On average, 27 per cent of marketing budgets in the UK are allocated to content marketing and if anything this figure will only rise.

Two-thirds (64 per cent) say they will increase the amount they allocate to content marketing over the next 12 months.

On average, UK marketers use 13 content marketing tactics, whilst their North American and Australian peers use 12. 

The most popular tactics are “articles on your website,” “social media (other than blogs),” and “eNewsletters.”

Improving SEO and site ranking is key, with marketers in the UK, Australia and the US consistently ranking website traffic as their top metric.

The biggest challenge for marketers is producing enough content and creating engaging content strategies.


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Content marketing 'at the heart of ecommerce'

1/18/2013

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"The continued importance of social media in ecommerce has also fuelled the desire for companies to use content to attract and retain customers" - James Gurd, owner of Digital Juggler
Website content is "at the heart" of ecommerce and is integral to digital marketing.

That's according to Digital Juggler owner James Gurd, who told Econsultancy that content marketing is a component part of all online activity.

He believes this is being driven by the increased consumption of online media and the variety of content formats available - blogs, video, images, reviews, social discussions and the rest.
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When you look at the value of the ecommerce market in the UK, it becomes obvious that companies need to tune into the benefits of content writing services.

According to IMRG, the UK online retail market in 2013 is estimated to be worth £87 billion. Within that mobile commerce is growing at a rate of 300% a year (see previous article on importance of mobile content).

Gurd goes on to note that with social media in the picture as well, web content has multiple uses. "It's not just a one-channel entity," he says.

However, he cautioned businesses about pinning all their hopes on content marketing, explaining that "content is not by itself the saviour". 

"For content marketing to work, the inputs need to be good," he said. Indeed one thing we can see happening already is that with so many companies taking a stab at content marketing, there are a lot of poor efforts.

"Content has to serve a purpose and provide a value to the end-user. I personally think there is too much content being produced at the expense of a focus on quality," adds Gurd.

Instead of just "throwing up" blogs, articles and buying guides on to a website, there should be a "coherent" content marketing strategy.
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Online marketing leads ad spend growth

1/17/2013

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"Internet advertising attracted the biggest increase, with a positive net 5.6 per cent of marketing executives saying they had upped their online marketing spending over the final quarter of 2012."
The latest Bellwether survey by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) reveals a small rise in marketing budgets, led by the online sector.

In the final three months of 2012 marketers were confident their businesses would do well, despite being pessimistic about the health of the economy this year.
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Internet advertising attracted the biggest increase, with a positive net 5.6 per cent of marketing executives saying they had upped their online marketing spending over the final quarter of 2012.

Meanwhile, 2013 could also be the year that online marketing loses its preface and becomes simply 'marketing'.

In its 'Trends for the B2C CMO to watch in 2013' report, global researchers Forrester claimed that digital channels are mounting assaults on even the most established traditional media.

It cites the example of YouTube's rise against the advertising bastion of television.

The report argues that ‘digital marketing’ will simply become known as 'marketing' as the various barriers are broken down and the sector becomes more mainstream.

Forrester expects the online sector to be worth around 20 per cent of the total marketing industry, valued globally at £31 billion.

What does it mean for businesses?

Companies will need to think about integrating channels and coming up with a content strategy that applies across various outlets, from websites and blogs, to social media, press and television.

Forrester CMO Corinne Munchbach, told Marketing Week: "Consumers switch from in-store to online, to mobile – sometimes all at once.

"Having separate budgets for each is counterintuitive to what customers are actually experiencing. Logical brands will be able to join this together in a functional way to deliver the experiences customers expect from them."

Find out more about how content writing services and content marketing consulting can help your business.

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CMI study: 86% of B2C organisations invest in content marketing

11/14/2012

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Almost nine out of ten business-to-consumer (B2C) organisations are using content marketing, a new study shows. 

According to the Content Marketing Institute (CMI) report, 86% of companies are investing in content, regardless of size or industry.

The data comes from B2C Content Marketing: 2013 Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends—North America, which is the first annual survey from the CMI about content marketing in the B2C space. 

B2C organizations use an average of 12 tactics, the study shows. Most popular among these are social media excluding blogs (84%), articles on a company's website (84%), eNewsletters (78%), and blogs (77%). 

The results are not too dissimilar to those of B2B marketers. In a previous report from the CMI, 87% of B2B marketers are using social media to distribute content, as compared to the rate of 74% that was reported last year.

However, in the B2C sphere, marketers are using mobile content, mobile apps, print magazines, and print newsletters a lot more.

"It's exciting to be able to benchmark B2C and B2B content marketing efforts and quantify differences by marketing type," says Joe Pulizzi, founder of the CMI.

"One interesting difference is how each group uses social media. For B2C marketers, Facebook is the most popular platform by far, with 90% of respondents indicating they use this for content distribution. This differs from B2B, in which LinkedIn is the most popular platform, with 83% of respondents using this (compared to 51% of B2C marketers)."

B2B marketers are spending a third of their marketing budgets on content marketing, up from a quarter in 2011. Similarly, B2C marketers are investing heavily in content marketing this year, allocating 28% of their marketing budgets on content marketing. Additionally, 55% of B2C marketers are planning to increase their content marketing spend over the next 12 months.

"Another similarity between B2C and B2C marketers is that both groups lack confidence that they are executing content marketing effectively," says Ann Handley, chief content officer of MarketingProfs. "But B2C marketers cite lack of budget as their biggest challenge (23%), whereas B2B marketers are most challenged with producing enough content (29%)."

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Six steps to maximizing content marketing

11/8/2012

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Content marketing is increasingly being seen as crucial to digital success, whether it's being measured in Facebook likes or dollars.

Here's a six-stage plan to maximise your content marketing strategy, courtesy of PR Newswire, a press release distribution service.

Monitor and Listen

"Before creating a single piece of content, listen. Learn what interests your audiences, how your brand currently resonates with them, what your competitors are saying and what conversations are happening in your industry," say the authors of the report.

Listen well and you may be able to come up with content that achieves your business objectives and is useful for your audience without being too salesy. If you're listening to your customers and responding to what they want, and your content follows suit, they will like your content.

A survey of business executives, The Content Preferences Survey from DemandGen Reports, found that 75% of respondents want content writers and creators to "curb the sales messaging".

Create and Optimise

Think about your audience's preferred content type and format. It is possible to align these with your marketing objectives in one of three ways:

Thought leadership: infographics, articles, blog posts and short white papers offered directly to interested audiences. Basically anything that goes to show the depth and breadth of an organisation.

Acquisition: white papers, video demos,eBooks or webinars. These ought to be gated so that you can collect leads.

Nurture/cross-sell: this is content used to bring a lead from marketing through sales. Content types include original articles, infographics, blog posts, guide books, comparison grids, demos and more. Calls to action – to request more information or view a demo – are essential in these content types.

One straightforward option is through news feeds. "Staying on top of the latest news also provides opportunities for you to actively participate in the breaking news cycle by adding your own relevant commentary to the resulting discussion – even incorporating the keywords noted in the news coverage within your messages and landing pages," says PR Newswire.

News feeds are one of the oldest and most tried-and-tested forms of content marketing. Regularly updating your site with topical features and analysis, and the right keywords, will always drive traffic.

Identify and Target

"There are big influencers and small influencers, and you need the right mix of both to generate a viral effect around your content," says the study. It's all about creating conversations, shares and social media buzz. Think about who you want to reach first with your content – targeted content at core influencers – bloggers for instance – can get the ball rolling a lot faster than taking a scattergun approach.

Engage and Interact

"Content can only make an impact in the social sphere if it is easily found, triggered for audience interaction and readily shareable," according to the report. Remember that once you get content out there, you will need to respond and react. Social media posts will attract comments – how do you plan to respond if they are anything but positive, for example.

Distribute and Reach

Think about how you plan to get your content in front of as many people as possible. If your website is generating thousands of page views every day, people will pick up on it regardless. If you're a smaller player in the market, think about how your content will be read.

Measure and Report

Metrics, as we've said before, are crucial to content marketing success. Decide before how you plan to measure activity – page views, sales or social media followers, for example.

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