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Posted on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 07:30 PM by
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You and your company have a voice and content marketing gives you a chance to use that voice to connect a relevant message/solution to your target audience. Content marketing — blogs, social media, articles, case studies, videos, infographics, etc — let’s people hear your message. It gives them a chance to see who you are, what you have and how you do what you do. It’s a tool that small businesses, even the hard core Do-It-Yourselfers, can use to get their message out. In 2012 B2B Content Marketing Benchmarks, Budgets and Trends, Joe Pulizzi says it: “. . . remains a top priority for marketers in 2012.” But it’s not new. Content, In and Of Itself, is Old as DirtWhat’s new is:
Is the difference between the most used marketing activities and the ones believed to be most effective. According to the study, the most used content marketing avenues are: But the content marketing channels that carry the most confidence for effectiveness are: In other words, the marketers in this study feel they are getting more impact from the in-person events, webinars and case studies than from social media, articles and blogging. Now, all of them have their place and can drive traffic to your site and generate attention for your business. But it’s interesting to see where the energy goes. Measure Your ImpactWhatever you choose to do, you have to measure it. If you don’t, then how do you know that it’s working? Did your website traffic increase as a result of a specific marketing action? How many new visitors became blog subscribers and regulars to your site? And how many became new customers or made a repeat purchase? You can use a tool like Google Analytics to measure the impact of your content distribution. After you sign up for your account, your web designer can add the code to your website for you. Spend a little time learning how to read the charts and then you’re on your way to a bigger picture. You get to see the websites that send you the most traffic and how many people actually go to your sales page and how long they stay. Google is not the only option, but it’s free, so that aspect lowers the barrier to entry. With Every Marketing StrategyYou have to know what works so that you can do more of it and what doesn’t so that you can change it for the better. There is something to content marketing but which content and which medium? If you measure your impact you’ll be able to get the answer from your audience. MORE NEWS FROM SMALL BUSINESS TRENDSBarnes & Noble Nook Tablet for Small Business Owners“Tablet computers are for kids and gamers” is the prevailing sentiment that I hear from small business owners. The logic is that a tiny handheld computer won’t really help you get your work done. Even Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg dissed the iPad by stating it is not a mobile device. But despite a myriad of less-than-positive commentary, tablets are a big part of the near-term business future. Small Businesses Pay More For Health Care CoverageIn a 2009 study by the White House, small businesses pay 18% more in premiums for health coverage than their big box competitors per employee. As a small business owner are you surprised by this statistic? Creating Google Alerts Directly in Google AnalyticsA few weeks back I wrote about the powerful new metrics that small business owners can glean from the new Social reports within Google Analytics. And since that post, even more neat features have been released to help business owners learn more about not only what’s happening on their site, but what’s happening off of it, as well. Nominations Are Open for the Small Business Influencer Awards!Does a special person or company come to mind when you think of someone or something important in the world of small business? Perhaps you think of a client of yours. Or maybe a favorite vendor or supplier, or a software app that has transformed your small business or made it more profitable. Or perhaps you think of a favorite journalist who covers issues important to small businesses. G8 Leaders Call for Growth: Six Things You Can DoLeaders the world over including those at this week’s G8 Summit are calling for economic growth, not just budget tightening, in an effort to combat world market instability and speed recovery. But for all the talk in policy circles, this growth will ultimately come from the private sector and especially here in the U.S., from small to medium sized businesses that create many of the jobs and employ many of the workers already in our economy. Here’s a look at the economic growth G8 leaders are calling for and six things you can do to promote growth in your business today. RELATED SMALL BUSINESS NEWSHow Low Can Facebook Stock Go? And What Route Will It Take to Get There?Facebook ended Tuesday, its third day of trading at $31 per share -- $7 less than where it launched on Friday.... Mayan Doom or Time to Buy?According to ancient Mayan prognosticators our world should be coming to an end sometime around Christmas. If you’re sitting in Greece or JP Morgan’s bond-lending group, the end might seem like it’s already here. And off the Peruvian coast, wildlife is literally dropping from the sky.&... When 'I'm Too Sexy' Lawsuit Settles, Will IRS Win Too?This is a great country, one of equal opportunity and more. Where else could you find the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) handling a complaint alleging religious and gender discrimination occurring in a lingerie warehouse?... Want to Hangout With the SBA Chief? Join UsAs part of National Small Business Week, we'll be moderating a live chat with SBA chief Karen Mills and winners of the SBA's video contest Wednesday in a Google+ hangout. ... Private Equity Investments: A Question Of Supply And DemandThe PE investment picture as 2012 began looked very much like the one that prevailed two years ago as the industry was clawing its way back from the depths of the downturn. But as we discuss in Bain & Company’s Global Private Equity Report 2012, conditions today are more favorable for PE deal ... |
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For a visual look at the upcoming trends in content marketing, check out the infographic above created by BlueGlass, The Content Marketing Explosion. If you can understand what marketers are doing and what they feel is most effective, then you tweak your own strategy (and the team that helps you execute it).