@TMGmedia http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com Content marketing resources and insights from content marketing professionals. Mon, 20 May 2013 16:06:11 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 EngageTheBloghttp://feedburner.google.com 3 Ways to Engage with Today’s Empowered Consumer http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/05/3-ways-to-engage-with-todays-empowered-consumer/ http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/05/3-ways-to-engage-with-todays-empowered-consumer/#comments Mon, 20 May 2013 14:51:33 +0000 Adrian Babiak http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/?p=11556 Consumers in the digital era are now more empowered than ever.

They say knowledge is power.

If this is now the case, then consumers today are armed to the teeth with more of both in an increasingly competitive and dynamic marketing arena.

First, let’s take a look at this ever-changing landscape:

  • In 1970, consumers were exposed to an average of 500 ads per day. Today, this number is ten times higher.
  • Brands are creating their own narratives, videos, and custom content—gradually transitioning to becoming the new media.
  • Consumers’ relationships with brands have changed and consumers are now talked to, not at.

(Heidi Browning Pearson, SVP of Strategic Solutions, Pandora)

Simply put, we’re amidst the digital age.

This was an overriding theme of this year’s What’s Next DC Marketing and Communications Conference, and the amazing speakers that I saw there drove this point home like a hammer on a nail. Thankfully, they also provided some great tips on how to ensure your marketing strategy doesn’t fall behind your competitors’.

Consumers are more empowered than ever. They expect immediate results, they respond to innovative and forward-thinking brands, and they expect to be fully engaged by any company that wants their business.

Here’s an in-depth look at how your brand can cut through the clutter associated with traditional advertising and connect with today’s increasingly empowered consumer:

1. Provide Instant Gratification

Humans are impatient. We want the information we want, when we want it, and we are going to consume it in the ways we prefer. This is nothing new—but never before has the information been just an instant away like it is now. We’d much rather do things ourselves if it means it saves us time and is more convenient.

According to Kate Watts, managing director at Huge, this rule applies closely to Millennials—those typically born between 1980 and 2000 and “never not connected” in today’s instant era.

So what does this mean for the marketers with this demographic in their sights? Watts advises that it’s time to catch up to these technologically savvy consumers and deliver what they want, when and exactly how they want it:

  • Location is hardly a sales barrier at all anymore.
  • Brands must become customer-centric and focus on engaging at the right time and place.
  • The degree to which a brand connects and engages customers will define its value moving forward.
  • Brands need a single, cross-channel experience that connects with people emotionally and makes a lasting impression.

2. Innovate or Die

Do you recognize this neighbor?

He may look familiar, but he has undergone an audial revolution. Few would guess that PBS—a network that has never been synonymous with “hip”—actually produced the video.

This innovative and revolutionary mindset is exactly the approach the public television network has adopted in the creation of its PBS Digital Studios.

You may be shaking your head at this radical approach, but it’s hard to argue with the results: Since the release of this and other remixed videos, PBS.org has seen an 11,000% increase in video usage, according to Jason Seiken, general manager of digital at PBS.

Now there is only one question you need to ask yourself: “If PBS can do it, what’s stopping my company?”

3. Write Your Own Tale, Or Someone Else Will Do It First

Every company, organization, association and brand has a story to tell. They all have something that shapes and molds them—defines who they are and what they stand for.

Does this sound like your company? If so, would you ever let someone from the public create this story themselves and share it all over the Internet? Not likely.

Lisa Shalett, partner and global head of brand marketing and digital strategy at Goldman Sachs, believes in today’s dynamic digital environment. She says that it’s essential that you “own your own story, or others will tell it for you.”

Here’s a great example from Goldman Sachs itself. Before it had established its official Goldman Sachs YouTube channel, their staff searched YouTube for “Goldman Sachs.”  What they found were more than 34,000 videos already uploaded to the web—none of which were their own. This was clearly a source of immense risk, because it meant that people were saying anything they wanted about the financial giant without any regulation.

After the shock of this revelation, Goldman Sachs moved quickly to engage its audience. By creating and sharing its own story, it was able to control and manage its own brand and online reputation, eliminating much of the risk from the public accounts.

The official channel doesn’t stop anyone from posting YouTube videos about Goldman Sachs, but it does allow the firm to manage and respond to any negative publicity that could stem from such a video. By establishing an online presence across all channels, staffers are able to write the Goldman Sachs story as the real Goldman Sachs—not some imposter.

Does this sound familiar within your own organization? If so, it is time to share and manage your own brand’s story before the billions of people using the Internet do it for you.

There is no arguing that the digital age is rapidly advancing and today’s consumer is more empowered than ever before. Are you taking the steps necessary to not be left in the dust by your competitors?

[Image: JD Hancock]

 

]]> http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/05/3-ways-to-engage-with-todays-empowered-consumer/feed/ 0 Part V: 24 Things to Keep in Mind While Fueling the Creative Spirit http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/05/part-v-24-things-to-keep-in-mind-while-fueling-the-creative-spirit/ http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/05/part-v-24-things-to-keep-in-mind-while-fueling-the-creative-spirit/#comments Wed, 15 May 2013 11:00:41 +0000 Michael Wolcott http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/?p=11277 Part V: 24 Things to Keep in Mind While Fueling the Creative Spirit

Part five of the series of inspiring infographics will give you that extra bit of motivation and wisdom you may need to fuel your creative spirit.

If you’ve missed part one, two, three, or four, make sure to check them out!

Here are 24 graphics you’ll want to bookmark, pin, and share.

never-too-late

memories new-ending

not-getting

pain-suffering

regret-nothing

rejection-regret

restless-brave

rules

run-my-dear

stay-thirsty

taste

thank-them

truth

walls-quote

watch

ways-to-stay-creative

work-hard-be-kind

world-fire

worrying

worrying-1

wrong

younger-self-1

younger-self-2

Many of these graphics came from:

]]> http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/05/part-v-24-things-to-keep-in-mind-while-fueling-the-creative-spirit/feed/ 1 Part IV: 23 Things to Keep in Mind While Fueling the Creative Spirit http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/05/part-iv-23-things-to-keep-in-mind-while-fueling-the-creative-spirit/ http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/05/part-iv-23-things-to-keep-in-mind-while-fueling-the-creative-spirit/#comments Mon, 13 May 2013 11:00:26 +0000 Michael Wolcott http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/?p=11244 Part IV: 23 Things to Keep in Mind While Fueling the Creative Spirit

Part four of the series of inspiring infographics will give you that extra bit of motivation and wisdom you may need to fuel your creative spirit.

If you’ve missed part one, two, or three, make sure to check them out!

Here are 23 graphics you’ll want to bookmark, pin, and share.

get-lost

goalsNplans

greatest-pleasure

greatest-pleasure

have

have-more

have-to

how-far

how-you-made-them-feel

impossible

influence-world

jump

kicking-ass

kill-them

lazy

leave-worries

less-bitching

life-instructions

lifelikeaphoto

like-youre

love-all

love-life

memories

Many of these graphics came from:

]]> http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/05/part-iv-23-things-to-keep-in-mind-while-fueling-the-creative-spirit/feed/ 1 Part III: 23 Things to Keep in Mind While Fueling the Creative Spirit http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/05/part-iii-23-things-to-keep-in-mind-while-fueling-the-creative-spirit/ http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/05/part-iii-23-things-to-keep-in-mind-while-fueling-the-creative-spirit/#comments Thu, 09 May 2013 11:00:43 +0000 Michael Wolcott http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/?p=11205 Part III: 23 Things to Keep in Mind While Fueling the Creative Spirit

Part three of the series of inspiring infographics will give you that extra bit of motivation and wisdom you may need to fuel your creative spirit.

If you’ve missed part one and two, make sure to check them out!

Here are 23 graphics you’ll want to bookmark, pin, and share.

cross-ocean

dear-past

 

decide

dim-light

dive-up

do-them

do-better-mayado-it-even-if

do-it-well

dont-bend-kafka

do-shit

doubt

do-what-you-love

dress-really-well

eat-brain

embrace-moment

enemies

fail-better

fill-glass

find-a-way

fire-within

forgive-past

gentle-reminders

Many of these graphics came from:

]]> http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/05/part-iii-23-things-to-keep-in-mind-while-fueling-the-creative-spirit/feed/ 1 50 Tweets From #WhatsNextDC Day Two That You May Have Missed http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/05/50-tweets-from-whatsnextdc-day-two-that-you-may-have-missed/ http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/05/50-tweets-from-whatsnextdc-day-two-that-you-may-have-missed/#comments Wed, 08 May 2013 19:47:28 +0000 Adrian Babiak http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/?p=11476 Day two of What's Next DC 2013 was packed with more sessions, more speakers, and more great tweets

Day Two of the What’s Next DC Marketing and Communications Conference did not disappoint. The larger venue at the Studio Theatre gave way to more speakers and more stages, which of course meant more sessions to choose from.

I love having options as much as the next person, but I don’t know anyone who can be at two places at once. Do you?

Attendees were forced to make difficult choices all day, such as whether to attend the World Bank’s presentation on incorporating Tumblr into its social media strategy, or Hilton Worldwide’s session on how retailers can engage and captivate their customers. This kind of choice almost seemed unfair, especially if you were attending the conference solo.

Thankfully, Twitter has once again come in handy for staying up to date on all of the nonstop action, this time from day two. You really could feel as though you were attending both sessions simultaneously just by searching the #WhatsNextDC hashtag.

So, in case you missed the action from any of these amazing sessions, I have compiled a list of some of the top tweets from day two of What’s Next DC 2013:

Even Don Draper, the Mad Man himself, made an onscreen appearance:

We also saw some shameless self-promotion:

How about some shocking insights on the world’s personal hygiene?

What were some of your top highlights, moments, and tweets from day two of What’s Next DC?

Bonus: In case you missed it, here are the top tweets from day one of What’s Next DC 2013

]]> http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/05/50-tweets-from-whatsnextdc-day-two-that-you-may-have-missed/feed/ 0 65 Tweets to Energize Your Marketing Strategy from #WhatsNextDC Day One http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/05/65-tweets-to-engerize-your-marketing-strategy-from-whatsnextdc-day-one/ http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/05/65-tweets-to-engerize-your-marketing-strategy-from-whatsnextdc-day-one/#comments Tue, 07 May 2013 15:30:23 +0000 Adrian Babiak http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/?p=11342 McMurry/TMG was well represented at What's Next DC 2013

I recently had the privilege of attending the What’s Next DC Marketing and Communications Conference at The Hamilton Live.

This was my first ever industry event or business conference, so I had no idea what to expect. I just knew I was excited and prepared to be educated on some new strategies and to make some connections.

One thing I was not prepared for on day one was the speed at which information was flying around the room.

As I looked around, I saw some attendees on as many as three or four data-connected devices at one time. It seemed as if the moment a speaker had shared something insightful, the Twitter-sphere would explode with the #WhatsNextDC hashtag.

As I reached for my smartphone to try to be the first to tweet the next trendy line or quote, sixty seconds had passed, and (sigh) I was too late.

Eventually, I got up to speed and was tweeting my favorite moments from the conference like a pro. However, it wasn’t until afterwards that I searched the event’s hashtag and found out what I had really been missing out on.

So, in case you found yourself in a similar predicament, or were unable to attend the first speaking day of this awesome event, I bring you a chronological list of the top tweets from day one of What’s Next DC 2013:

Of course @McMurryTMG was well represented:

We also saw PBS’s new twist on an old neighbor:

What were some of your favorite moments, highlights, and tweets from day one of What’s Next DC?

[Image: @JCKMarketplace]

]]> http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/05/65-tweets-to-engerize-your-marketing-strategy-from-whatsnextdc-day-one/feed/ 2 Part II: 23 Things to Keep in Mind While Fueling the Creative Spirit http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/05/part-ii-23-things-to-keep-in-mind-while-fueling-the-creative-spirit/ http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/05/part-ii-23-things-to-keep-in-mind-while-fueling-the-creative-spirit/#comments Tue, 07 May 2013 11:00:23 +0000 Michael Wolcott http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/?p=11157 Part II: 23 Things to Keep in Mind While Fueling the Creative Spirit

I consider myself a pretty well-spoken guy.

I tend to make well-thought-out points in a concise, relatively eloquent and convincing fashion.

Maybe I’m lacking the life experience or human empathy, but I would hardly describe what spews from my talk-hole as profound.

Doesn’t mean I don’t try.

Not one for religion, I am constantly looking for pieces of wisdom and philosophies by which to direct my “creative” hand and live my life. But, I don’t really feel like combing through books and articles to find said passages; who has the time?

I’m more of a visual guy anyway.

Thus, I find myself scrolling through Tumblr’s blogs in search of infographics, inspiring quotes and life mantras, often from history’s great minds, to help guide my course.

The visual packaging makes them more memorable for me. And the length is perfect for my short attention span. They’re great because I can quote them in conversation at parties; as if I’m well read, when, in fact, I’m just good at Internet-ing.

You may recall my earlier post of inspiring infographics. If you enjoyed those bits of wisdom, you’ll love the 93 inspiring graphics (broken into a series of four posts) that I’d like to share.

Here’s the second of the series of my current favorites.

3 am

45 man rules

act age

aggressive

albert-einstein

apology

awesome

be-brave

begin-life

beginning

be-the-idiot

better

13-better-ahead-lewis

better-days

better-mistakes

be-you

build-a-door

cant-buy-style

care-less

classy

closer

confidence

confidence-quote

Many of these graphics came from:

]]> http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/05/part-ii-23-things-to-keep-in-mind-while-fueling-the-creative-spirit/feed/ 3 Sentences Uttered at the Content Marketing Conference that I Can’t Unhear. (But I’ll Try.) http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/04/sentences-uttered-at-the-content-marketing-conference-that-i-cant-unhear-but-ill-try/ http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/04/sentences-uttered-at-the-content-marketing-conference-that-i-cant-unhear-but-ill-try/#comments Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:01:51 +0000 David Murray http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/?p=11118 Sentences Uttered at the Content Marketing Conference that I Can’t Unhear.

Earlier this month I attended the Custom Content Council conference in Chicago. It was my first CCC show, and I got a lot out of it.

Some of it, I wish I hadn’t gotten.

In among all the gleaming case studies, between the commonsense tips and around the novel ideas were some utterances so obviously crazy that I’m compelled to conceal their authors.

“The line between helpful and creepy is thin, gray and curvy.”

This is true for the content marketer who’s trying to follow consumers to the threshold of the bathroom door. But the consumer knows exactly when helpful turns into creepy, and doesn’t often give creepy a chance to be helpful again.

“It’s a dog licking a computer screen! It’s genius!”

 

In the context of content marketing, a viral video—whatever its ability to fascinate hundreds of thousands of bored imbeciles—is not genius. And we’ll know content marketing has matured when such a video is not shown by one speaker (let alone two, in Chicago) at a content marketing conference.

“Organic is fantastic, but …”

No, this is not a line from When Harry Met Sally. It’s a caveat by a marketer who doesn’t have confidence in her ability to create content that’s truly relevant enough to garner good Google results. To paraphrase a content marketer who knew something about staying power: Organic isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.

“The world is full of amazing brands.”

First of all, marketers are talking about “amazing” before they’ve even reached “amusing.”

More importantly: There is no such thing as an “amazing brand.” There are amazing products. There is amazing advertising. There are even amazing companies. But a big part of a content marketer’s job is to convince clients that “amazing” is for Joe Consumer to judge. And Joe Consumer will never turn to Jane Doe at a cocktail party and ask her if she’s familiar with some company’s “amazing brand.”

So we shouldn’t talk in such terms either.

“What’s hard is getting people to be passionate about catheters and medical equipment.”

And another speaker said, “It’s harder to get people passionate around insurance.”

When we say things at a content marketing conference that would get us laughed out of our own bedroom, we should consider that maybe something has gone wrong in our head.

It’s not hard to get sane human beings to be “passionate” about catheters, medical equipment or insurance—or credit cards or tires or bottled water. It is impossible, and anyone who would actually set out to do it is at least as crazy as the imagined target audience.

I believe there are ways to do smart, tasteful, meaningful and sustainable content marketing for every brand.

And that is exactly what we have to do.

Or, as a speaker at the conference put it, “You guys have to figure out how to be amazing in your own way.”

[Image: Flickr]

]]> http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/04/sentences-uttered-at-the-content-marketing-conference-that-i-cant-unhear-but-ill-try/feed/ 2 4 SEO Reasons Why You Need to Stop Ignoring Google+ http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/04/4-seo-benefits-to-gain-from-google/ http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/04/4-seo-benefits-to-gain-from-google/#comments Tue, 16 Apr 2013 11:00:28 +0000 Adrian Babiak http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/?p=10448 Ignoring Google+ may actually be harming your SEO efforts

In the two years since its launch, it is no secret that Google+ has had its skeptics—myself included.

However, it might be time to reconsider such hasty judgments. Recent data shows it has leap-frogged YouTube and Twitter as the second largest social network.

Personally, I was never very familiar with what is now the world’s second largest social network. I had a page by default through my Gmail account, but never took the time to actually complete my profile. I always considered it to be just an attempt by Google to jump on the social media bandwagon—providing us with yet another burdensome social platform to maintain while failing to stand out among the giants that had such a firm hold on the social media market.

Eventually, I caved and decided to complete my own Google+ profile as well as do some investigative research to see what all of the buzz was about.

Through my probing, I found several advantages and features unique to Google+ that content creators can take advantage of. Many of these features, such as the +1, Hangouts, and Communities are old news.

What really caught my attention were the SEO benefits that an active and completed profile can have for your online content.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt had this to say on the matter:

“Information tied to online profiles will be ranked higher than content without such verification…The true cost of remaining anonymous, then, might be irrelevance.”

There is little question that Google is the perennial leader in the world’s search engine game, and irrelevance in the eyes of its crawlers could quickly put a damper on your online marketing efforts. If your content is not showing up in Google’s search results, there is little chance that your website will get the traffic that you are looking for. This could spell disaster for any publisher, blogger, or brand hoping to compete online.

So to help you avoid any looming disaster strike on your marketing efforts, here are four ways that an active and completed Google+ profile can improve your SEO:

1. Establish your author-ity.

Have you Google’d anything recently? If so, you have probably seen people’s faces appearing next to some of the search results—behold the power of Google Authorship! Google is now adding more weight to things such as the Authorship tag and Author Rank in its search rankings. In order to take advantage of this great benefit, and potentially increase your click-through rate by up to 150%, you should implement the Authorship tag immediately.

As an example, here’s what it looked like after setting up my authorship through the email verification method:

GoogleAuthorship can help your content rank higher on the SERP

I’m thinking a more complete Google+ profile, along with more authored content, would help my content rank even higher on Google’s search engine results page (SERP).

2. Get by with a little help from your friends.

How active are you at giving social signals? A social signal could be a retweet on Twitter, a “like” on your Facebook page, or the sharing of a post. In the case of Google+, the most recognizable one is the +1 feature.

Social signals are now going to hold more relevance in Google’s algorithm for determining quality content. Therefore, don’t just have a Google+ profile. Be active in using it to share and link to great content.

Some ways to use Google+ to increase the number of social signals for your content include adding the Google+ One Button to all of your work, creating a Google+ Brand Page in addition to personal profiles, and encouraging recommendations and reviews of your content or brand page.

3. Scratch my back (link), and I’ll scratch yours.

The third SEO benefit of Google+ for content creators comes in the form of what is still one of the top SEO strategies in today’s dynamic SEO landscape: more high quality, natural back links to your content.

A complete Google+ profile offers a great opportunity to get the back links to your site from high-authority sources that will directly influence your page ranking. Inbound links in your Google+ posts will also help drive traffic to your online content. The activity on your Google+ profile is one of the ways that Google determines the value of these links, so creating great content that others will want to link to and sharing links to your own content are essential if you hope to leverage your page to help you rank higher on Google’s SERP.

4. Look for more SEO real estate.

Google now has the option of creating a Google+ Brand page for your business.

When completed and used actively, a company’s brand page appears alongside any related search results, essentially acting as free SEO territory for your brand or business. A brand can also link to their own corporate blog or social media accounts in the Links section and include top keywords in the About section. Google will look at all of these factors when determining search rankings.

It’s safe to assume that Google is slightly biased toward its own social platform when determining search engine rankings.

Have you completed your Google+ page yet?

[Image: kurichan+]

]]> http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/04/4-seo-benefits-to-gain-from-google/feed/ 3 Content Marketers: We Can Get Used to Something So Right http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/04/content-marketers-we-can-get-used-to-something-so-right/ http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/04/content-marketers-we-can-get-used-to-something-so-right/#comments Mon, 15 Apr 2013 11:00:26 +0000 David Murray http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/?p=11083 Content Marketers: We Can Get Used to Something So Right

“If something goes wrong, I’m the first to admit it. … If something goes right, well it’s likely to lose me. It’s apt to confuse me. It’s such an unusual sight.”

Paul Simon wrote that. It makes me think of content marketing these days.

Last week I had a chance to view the just-completed 2013 content marketing Industry Characteristics Study, co-conducted by McMurry/TMG’s ContentWise and the Custom Content Council.

The study itself is proprietary for CCC members, but I can sum up the results in a single word: More.

How’s that for an executive summary?

Marketers are spending more money—and using a bigger share of the overall marcom budget—to make more content in more forms with more strategic focus and more social engagement.

What kind of outputs can we expect from this season of more?

The CCC has specifically outlined several key trends in the growing adoption of content marketing tactics, including:

  • Corporations spent $43.9 billion on content marketing in 2012, a 9.2% increase over the $40.2 billion reported last year.
  • 62% of marketers surveyed now report using video in their content marketing. Branded video is quickly catching up with web and print as one of content marketing’s most common form.
  • Social content has been identified as the most frequently used form of marketing, with 81% of those surveyed creating content specifically for social media.
  • Over 40% of survey respondents plan to increase investment and output in Web, social and SEO content in the coming year.

Clearly these are the Salad days of the content marketing business. Into them we should pour our hearts’ blood, our intellectual best and our wisdom.

The more we do, the more sustainable will be what comes next as our new discipline matures: the good old days.

[Image: Flickr]

]]> http://engage.tmgcustommedia.com/2013/04/content-marketers-we-can-get-used-to-something-so-right/feed/ 0