NewsReach

Content Marketing Comes of Age: A Big Brand Message

noreply@blogger.com (Nat Bertram) — Fri, 25 May 2012 08:35:00 +0000

Content Marketing has Come of Age

Content marketing used to mean one of three things: print, radio or television. If you were a big brand, TV was the place to be. Your status could be tracked against a simple metric, moving from the ten-second advert at your local cinema, up through local cable or television shows, on to the national networks and ending up in one of TV’s ‘showpiece’ events if you were a genuine big hitter.

Ten years ago, when we started producing content, that had just started to change. Of course, TV was still the place to be for a big brand and slots for a 30-second spot during the 2002 Superbowl, the jewel in the crown of America’s sporting calendar, commanded fees of around $2 million from the likes of Budweiser, Levis and Pepsi. A decent print campaign, covering magazines and national newspapers, plus a radio presence, were the next best things.

Yet the web was at least being acknowledged and we had some major firms come to us to add content to their websites. In those days, it was largely about giving companies who had set up a website something to put on it and tended to focus on the big technology companies and financial services firms. We would write telecoms news for BT, or banking news for HBOS.

Gradually, things began to change. The web audience was getting larger and spending more time online, the internet infrastructure meant richer media and quicker speeds, while the ability to track and measure audience engagement took content from being ‘nice to have’ to ‘essential’. For us, news articles were now accompanied by blogs, landing pages, copywriting and video (and a nice new studio). Marketing Directors took note. No longer was the web an after-thought and the terminology alien (“SEO? Can you get vaccinated against it?”) – it was a valuable component of a marketing strategy. Internet advertising spend started to grow.

Fast forward to 2012 and content marketing is taking centre stage. When Coca Cola, ranked at one by Interbrand in the world’s top 100 global brands, outlined its vision for a comprehensive content marketing plan, it signalled a seminal moment. Content is not just part of a marketing strategy for big brands, it is the strategy. More than that, it is changing the nature of organisations.

"The media landscape is a very different beast today than it was even 5 years ago. Then agency-led television commercials dominated how we channel our marketing. The very fact you are reading this here proves that things have changed.”

(Jonathan Mildenhall, Vice-President, Global Advertising Strategy and Creative Excellence at Coca Cola)

Harry Crane (left) and the Mad Men

It reminds me of the trajectory of television advertising in HBO’s smoke-filled, scotch-soaked hit series Mad Men. Early on, a tentative Harry Crane suggests to his bosses he set up a television department and is given the green light. From it being his peripheral plaything, television moves to the heart of the business and elevates his star. Clients who were suspicious of television as a medium, are soon knocking on the door of SterlingDraperCooperPrice to find out how they can make the most of the new content platform (although they are too cool to describe it in those terms).

If content marketing is hanging out with Mad Men and the big guns at Coca Cola, it must have come of age.

Nathaniel Bertram, Head of Content

The way the EU cookie law crumbles

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Webber) — Thu, 24 May 2012 14:12:00 +0000

It's not often that it feels as if the whole digital industry is agreed on something, but the EU Cookies Directive has changed that.

The law is widely seen as a bit of a monster*

Updates to online privacy laws over the last year have meant internet users should be asked to agree to cookies being used on sites they visit. The deadline for the implementation of this law is this coming Saturday, May 26^th and the last few weeks have seen many sites scrambling to add the necessary code to ensure their sites do not fall foul of the law. Most industry people I've spoken to have said they had hoped it would go away as they believe it to be "silly", "pointless", "ridiculous" and "short sighted".

Even the Information Commissioner's Office has been sketchy on details and guidance - something many believe is a conscious approach. If the ICO offered clear guidance, it would have had to clamp down on sites that failed to comply with its rules. As it stands, it seems most organisations believe they should only be seen to have made a bit of an effort to comply. That way they won't draw unwelcome attention to themselves and become the site that is made an example of when the inevitable test case comes. With the threat of a maximum fine of half a million quid over their heads, I don't know of many businesses prepared to take that risk. And after all, the law is the law.

How we've reacted

Here at NewsReach we've set our opt-in code live this morning and updated our Privacy Policy to include more information about how we use cookies.

How will you cope without accurate analytics?

In short, visitors to our site will now need to accept cookies before they can comment on articles, share posts with their social networks, watch embedded YouTube videos or fill in forms - all common functions that require cookies to be enabled. Like the vast majority of businesses we also use analytics to show us (anonymously) how people arrive at our site and which pages they then spend the most time on and interact with. Essentially, without quality analytics, online businesses operate in the dark and are unable to improve their site experience and content in order to give their users the best and most relevant information.

You can probably tell I'm no fan of the new law - not least because implementing these changes to our sites has been a lot of work. Ultimately I don't think it's the best thing for our site visitors or the internet as a whole. I fear the average internet user doesn't really understand how cookies work and can't be bothered to read sites' explanations of how they use cookies - it's much easier to disallow cookies.

A regulated internet?

If there's one thing we know it's that the internet cannot realistically be regulated, so it will be interesting to see how many sites comply when the law comes into force on Saturday (outside normal business hours for most companies), how internet users react to being asked to opt in to cookies, and crucially, how sites falling foul of the law are treated by the authorities.

What's your take on the new EU cookies law? How far are you going to ensure your site is compliant? Share your thoughts below or tweet us at @newsreach.

Karen Webber
Head of Marketing
@webber_karen

Read more about the EU cookies law:

What are you doing to meet the new law in time?

What major UK firms are doing about the EU cookies law
How content marketing can help with cookie objections

*Cookie monster image by Miguel Fernandez

Using content marketing to turn leads into loyal customers

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Clark) — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:29:00 +0000

The ability to generate new leads is vital for businesses and the internet has opened up vast new possibilities for doing so.

Sixty-two per cent of businesses now say social media is becoming more important as a tool for lead generation, Hubspot figures show. B2C companies that blog generate 88 per cent more leads a month than those who don’t, according to the Social Media Matters Report.

Quality content can be used throughout the customer cycle

But content is not simply a lead generation tool; its job doesn’t end when the leads are entered into that marketing database. Content should be used throughout the entire sales process, before coming full circle to bring in more leads, as Lee Odden explains in his new book Optimize: How to attract and engage more customers by integrating SEO, social media and content marketing.

Odden breaks down the customer cycle into six stages - awareness, consideration, purchase, service, loyalty and advocacy – and high-quality content has a role to play in each. Let’s take a closer look.

The customer life cycle

Awareness acts as the beginning of the cycle. Fresh, high-quality and relevant content is used to raise awareness of a brand, by boosting its position in SERPs, creating a social media buzz and creating word-of-mouth promotion offline. This can be in the form of a lively, engaging blog, informative and authoritative white papers, or infographics.

After awareness has been established, the role of consideration emerges. Content must convince the reader of the benefits of the services being offered and why they should choose you above all others. A one-size-fits-all approach will not work and nor will the hard sell, particularly on social media.

Once the potential customer has considered your product/service and trust has been established, (hopefully) the next stage is purchase. In some companies this may have been seen as the end of the line for content, but this is not the case. Content can help turn a one-time customer into a regular, and turn regular customers into advocates.

Loyal customers are more likely to spread the word on social media

Service is vital to ensure a customer leaves with a favourable impression of your site, even if they did not make a purchase this time. FAQs, how-tos and guides are all great resources in the field of customer service. As Odden says, brands should make it easy for visitors to find answers to their questions, boosting customer satisfaction and reducing contact centre costs.

After providing great service comes building loyalty. You’ve tempted someone to make a purchase or engage with you once, now they need to repeat the action. Social media provides a great tool for building relationships, while targeted email newsletters can make customers feel valued. The trick is to make sure your customers know they are getting something from their relationship with you.

And the end result of these efforts? Advocacy. Loyal customers will not only share your content online but also spread word of mouth offline. This generates greater awareness and the cycle begins once again. Word of mouth is behind up to 50 per cent of purchasing decisions, according to McKinsey & Company, and interesting content is a key reason why people follow brands on social media.

By monitoring engagement with content and its reach, you can tailor your efforts to help more customers make it to the end of the cycle. Content creation is not a one-off job; it must be constantly updated and refined to achieve the best results.

Remember the True Value of Content Marketing

It is essential to remember that while content can take a lead through to sales and beyond, it is ultimately not a sales tool. Being overly promotional does more harm than good.

High-quality content builds brand awareness, increases engagement and improves search performance. It is part of a targeted, integrated approach to marketing, which if executed correctly can turn leads into loyal customers. If you want to learn more about content marketing download our white paper The True Value of Content Marketing.

Helen Clark
Marketing and Communications Assistant

5 pitfalls of global content marketing and how to avoid them

noreply@blogger.com (Frank Hartkopf) — Tue, 08 May 2012 13:32:00 +0000

Global marketing has its traps.

With the UKentering another recession, businesses have to think globally more than ever if they want to grow. If you have a business website, your potential market stretches way beyond the English-speaking world. Thanks to companies offering foreign content marketing, translation and localisation services, you can reach new audiences in growing economies like Argentina, Brazil or China without local distributors.

While there are rules for quality content that are universally applicable, there are some mistakes companies should avoid when tapping into Chinese, Spanish, French or German speaking markets and beyond. Not all online businesses get it right, so here are five of the most common pitfalls for websites I've come across.

1. Lost in translation

Coca Cola: A pioneer in global marketing.

Translation mistakes can happen even to the global players. Pepsi is said to have mistakenly translated its slogan "Pepsi Brings you Back to Life" in a way that it sent shivers down the spine of Chinese audiences. The translation read to Cantonese speakers as "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back from the Grave." Even Coca-Cola, a pioneer in globalising its brand, initially had trouble translating its brand into Chinese when it entered the market in the 1920s. According to Barbara and David P. Mikkelson, Chinese shopkeepers created signs by combining Chinese characters that sounded like the brand name when pronounced, but took no regard of the actual meaning of the written phrase. One of these attempts, "Ke-kou-ke-la", actually meant "female horse fastened with wax". Finally, the company found a suitable combination and registered it as a trademark in 1928: "Ko-kou-ko-le" sounds much better to Chinese soft drink fans, meaning "happiness in the mouth".

It goes without saying that you should never rely on a computer program to translate your quality content into another language. Yet, being a native German speaker, I have seen many websites of large global companies where the German language content left me disappointed and slightly annoyed with the lack of professionalism. I have seen many pages with poor grammar, spelling errors, and word-by-word translation so that the meaning of a sentence was hardly recognisable.

Poor translations showing a lack of consideration have put me off reading any further and I would not have enough trust to purchase anything from a website that doesn't make much of an effort in reaching out to me.

2. Lack of localisation

Shoppers from abroad may prefer different payment methods

Having your content translated by a professional agency is not enough to attract audiences from non-English speaking countries. It is best to work with native speakers from the target countries. They know how local consumers use the internet and which content and imagery is relevant for them. They can reflect current changes in language usage.

Localisation of your website is essential if you want to build up your brand image and increase your revenues abroad. This also applies to the technical user experience. For example, your website should automatically greet a user in their language, depending on the country they’re accessing it from and it should be easy to switch between languages. If you have an online shop, make sure to offer payment methods and currencies that are commonly used in your target markets.

3. Ignoring cultural sensibilities

Not cute in the Islamic culture.

A British company wanted to extend its successful online shop with baby articles to the Arabic speaking world. They quickly had to find out that their UKbestseller, bibs decorated with prints of cute little puppies, were a no-go with buyers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt or Jordan. In the Islamic culture, dogs are considered to be unclean and certainly not cute. Similarly, a foreign language blog on animal health products would need to take this into consideration.

Understanding cultural specifics is essential if you want to use foreign language content marketing to attract new customers from overseas.

4. Inappropriate style

If you don't work with people who have a deep understanding of the local culture, you are in danger of addressing your non-English speaking audiences with the wrong style or tone of voice too.

Germans like it formal.

When a UScompany rolled out a new automated quoting system, it was perfectly translated into all languages of the countries they do business with. However, it automatically addressed the customers by their first name, for example "Hello Martin". The German sales force knew that this would not go down well with their German customers, and it wasn't long before the first clients complained about a style they felt was too colloquial for business contacts. Germans want to be addressed by their surname and with "Sie", the formal version of "Du". In English, both words mean "you".

While global streamlining of processes might look efficient to international companies, it could disgruntle customers and cause them to go to the competition.

5. Lack of market insight

Tailored content from a content
marketing agency can help you to
reach out to the world.

As with all forms of marketing, you need to know the markets you want to reach out to with your foreign language web content.

Let's say you are a British manufacturer of solar panels who wants to sell products to Germany. Even if you have a perfectly translated article on the benefits of solar power panels which is well localised, you still might fail to attract interest.

The solar boom in Germanystarted earlier than in the UK, so there is no need to give basic education to homeowners about the benefits of solar panels. What's more, the German consumer market for solar panels currently looks saturated as government support for solar energy is being cut.

Apart from doing market research, you can find out how strong the demand for certain content is by using Google's keyword tool to establish what terms your potential customers are searching for in foreign language markets.

A content marketing agency can help firms to avoid these pitfalls when reaching out to a global market.

Frank Hartkopf

Assistant Content Manager

Foreign Language Desk

Content Marketing Quiz May 8th

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Clark) — Tue, 08 May 2012 11:03:00 +0000

Quizzes by Quibblo.com | SnapApp Quiz Apps

Download our white paper The True Value of Content Marketing

What is the True Value of Content Marketing?

noreply@blogger.com (Nat Bertram) — Fri, 04 May 2012 08:01:00 +0000

Our new White Paper

Content marketing has been carefully carving out a nice niche in recent years – but what can it do and how much is that worth?

In the brave new digital world, labels and definitions have evolved and proliferated. Fresh terminology has arrived to help define and describe the strategic, technical and creative processes involved in online marketing. After a decade or more of search engine optimisation (SEO), ‘search marketing’, ‘content strategy’ and ‘inbound marketing’ have all proved useful additions to the digital canon.

And so too has “content marketing”.

Yet it’s one thing to talk the talk, can you walk the walk? And if you can walk the walk, what value does that have? Is it the strutting peacock of John Travolta’s Staying Alive walk or more a John Cleese-special from the Ministry of Funny Walks? More importantly than that, what does this walk do for you? And just how far can metaphors be strained when coming up with these odd concepts?

All these thoughts and more were in the mix when we set out to produce a new White Paper on Content Marketing. What was needed, amid the discussion and the digression, was something substantial, something research-driven and something which presented evidence to substantiate points.

A White Paper was the perfect solution. Not only was it a chance to bring clarity and insight to the subject of content marketing, it provided a platform to collate and collect the best research and evidence for how content works online. Packaged with a consistent theme, strong narrative and accompanying infographics and images, it performed a twin role in defining the true value of content marketing. In both exposition (the articulation of the evidence) and embodiment (the way it was written and put together) the idea was to showcase what content marketing was all about.

Writing a White Paper

A White Paper needs a strong structure, a narrative that makes the reader want to continue and the substance to back it up. It should leave the reader well-informed and interested.

After discussing ideas, the first step was to take initial ideas to the whiteboard and get a rough shape of the plan. At the same time, intensive research began, tracking down the best sources available, taking the temperature of the industry as a whole and sounding out others on what they thought. The findings were fed back into the planning stage, shaping the structure of the paper and helping advance – or counter – early conclusions.

Then it was into the writing process, with drafts, redrafts and sub-editing, before sending to our graphic designer to polish up the images. Even at this stage the shape and feel of the copy, or the strength of the statistics and quotes as they were put down on paper (and yes, we were printing them off and scribbling on them!), would help clarify or adjust arguments.

Mr T's Infographic

As part of the process of shaping ideas and with an eye to the launch, we also drew out some of the key points in our content marketing infographic – ‘the gold standard of content marketing’.

Finally, we were ready to go.

We wanted to make something that people would find engaging, compelling and, hopefully, want to share with their colleagues and friends. In short we wanted to produce a quality piece of content marketing.

Judge the results for yourself and let us know what you think!

Nathaniel Bertram, Head of Content

Content marketing quiz - April 27th

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Webber) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 11:04:00 +0000

Test your content marketing knowledge in this week's industry quiz!

Quizzes by Quibblo.com | SnapApp Quiz Apps

Photo copyright in the digital age

noreply@blogger.com (Samantha Cullen) — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 15:06:00 +0000

Most of us use some kind of social networking site every day and the marketing potential is huge. But with so many sites like Google+, Flickr, Facebook and Pinterest so reliant on photos, more and more people are beginning to question the copyright implications associated with the sites.

What do sites like Pinterest mean for copyright?

And the one that seems to be causing the most scandal is new kid on the block Pinterest - here users can "pin" images and video from across the web to a virtual board. These can then be used to do things like plan weddings, decorate homes or just store inspirational images in one place. What's more users can even browse the boards of other users "to discover new things and get inspiration."
For businesses, the marketing potential of Pinterest is huge – the latest stats from Shareaholic’s Referral Traffic Report found that it drives more referral traffic than Google+, LinkedIn and YouTube combined. This means that the site is a great opportunity to market goods and services and get a brand into the public eye. Because every pin links back to the site the picture came from, users are then sent straight to a website where they either buy the product or look around at similar items.

What does Pinterest mean for copyright? While the potential for marketing through Pinterest is huge the site is not without controversy - not least because users can - and do - pin any pictures they like to their board which many fear could break copyright laws. The site encourages users to "pin" photos from across the web making them available to a wider audience but unless they have express permission to do so this could break copyright laws. So much so that one lawyer and photographer has gone as far as deleting her Pinterest account over copyright concerns. Kirsten Kowalski decided to look into the legality of the site and got so scared she ended up closing her profile down because she worried that what she had pinned broke copyright laws - simply because she didn't have consent to use them. While Flickr has banned photos from its site being pinned to Pinterest, in a bid to protect user's copyright. Since then Pinterest has gone on to change its terms and conditions allowing self-promotional images to be used (a real bonus for businesses who can now set up their own Pinterest boards using their own photos), as well as clearing up a few pointers on pinning other people's work. However, for businesses there is still the issue of someone copying and pasting your image to the site without permission and without crediting the source. What does this mean for businesses? While it's true that the sites like Pinterest provide great marketing potential there are issues surrounding how much control you retain of your photos. There is no point having a photo posted on social networking siteup if there is no credit to your firm or link back and what's more you don’t want that photo to be then used for something that goes against the company's values. Therefore, while embracing Pinterest is a great tool there are steps that can be taken to protect your brand. The first thing to do is decide whether you want to have your photo on Pinterest in the first place. There is a bit of code you can add to the head of any page and when users try to pin a picture from the site they will get the message informing them they cannot pin from that page.

Don't want your photo's pinned? Use this code.

What's more Pinterest also has a monitoring tool which allows businesses to keep an eye on where your images have been pinned so you can make sure it's not being used in a way you don't like and therefore protect the brand's image. While sites like Flickr have specific copyright licences so you can choose to protect your photo from being widely used. So, is it worth taking a risk that your image could be misused in return for the marketing potential of social media?

Samantha Cullen
Research Editor

The Gold Standard of Content Marketing: Harness the ubiquity and power of content

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Clark) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 11:22:00 +0000

In our infographic The Gold Standard of Content Marketing we look at how the ubiquity and power of content can be harnessed to produce truly dazzling results.

But what do we mean by the term Content Marketing? And what does the process of creating high-quality content entail?

Content Marketing is a way of creating and sharing content to promote ideas, engage targeted audiences and encourage them to take action. Done well, it improves SEO, enhances brand awareness and boosts audience engagement.

In our infographic we liken the creation of quality content to the production of gold and split it into five stages; mining, processing, shaping and polishing, distribution and hallmarking.

Mining – Sourcing
Just as high-grade ore is a vital component of modern gold production, high-quality sources are the essential raw ingredient in the production of great web content. This comes in many forms, from original ideas, reporting or research, to comprehensive product description and insightful analysis. Sources don’t have to be pre-existing pieces of research, they can be great unique ideas you know will strike a chord with your audience. All must be of a high quality or the end product will suffer.

Processing – Adding Value
Gold ore has value, but it is in the processing that it becomes priceless. An expert will know which pieces are worth picking up and working with and what should be discarded. The same is true for high-quality sources. A great piece of research has value in its own right, but it is by adding expert insight and topic knowledge that you make it priceless. Quality content should be substantial – but not long winded – rich in helpful specifics and factually accurate.

Shaping and Polishing – Editing
Expert hands are needed to add distinction and a final polish to content, as with the production of jewellery from gold. Content that reaches the gold standard must be produced with great care and edited well. When assessing the quality of a page or article, Google considers if there are spelling, stylistic or factual errors, or if it appears to be sloppy or hastily produced.

Distribution – Publication
The finished product of these efforts should be unique pieces of quality content, fit for publication. But if you package them in a plastic bag rather than a velvet box, people are less likely to sit up and take notice. Content must be well-presented in an engaging format which is both attractive and easy to read. It should be made easy for readers to interact and share and show their appreciation.

Hallmarking – Monitoring
Search engines, industry counterparts and customers will cast a critical eye over your content, assessing its flaws. Like a jewellery appraiser, if they are convinced of the quality of what they see, they will give it their stamp of approval, by reading, commenting and sharing on social media. Google in particular is clued up about finding the fakes and cheap imitations on the market. Black-hat SEO tricks of the past will only gold plate content; you need solid gold quality content to reap the benefits.

Creating the full effect

Individual pieces of high quality content are capable of attracting and engaging web users, but on their own will not have the impact you want. Content Marketing requires an ongoing effort to produce fresh, relevant high-quality pieces. Many businesses face challenges in producing the volume and variety of engaging content needed, which is where a Content Marketing agency has a role to play. As with the gold production process, specialist hands are required at every to stage to produce the highest quality finished product.

While they are valuable on their own, combining individual pieces of content can produce an effect which is truly dazzling.

If you want to know more about Content Marketing, download our White Paper entitled The True Value of Content Marketing, which will be available in the coming days. If you like what you have read, please share and join the discussion in the comment section below.

NewsReach has over a decade of experience in enabling businesses to harness high quality content and boost their online presence. Contact us if you want to talk about content strategy or if you have any questions.

Helen Clark
Marketing and Communications Assistant
@HelenMClark

Four more website sins to avoid

noreply@blogger.com (Dipika Patel) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 10:23:00 +0000

In my last post for NewsReach, I highlighted what I think are four of the biggest website problems that can seriously annoy your customers. This time round, I look at what other content professionals think about four more issues I'd love to stamp out - read on to find out what they said.

Top website sin: Unclear navigation

We asked respondents which website issues they had previously encountered while browsing the internet, whether for work or leisure purposes. Perhaps unsurprisingly, unclear navigation came out on top with 31 per cent of the vote, and was also named the most frustrating website problem by nearly half of respondents.

Which of these website issues have you previously encountered while browsing the web?

The impact that poor website navigation can have on a business is clear to see from the comments we received when we asked why respondents thought this a particularly problematic sin:

"There's no excuse for poor navigation - it's not hard to work out what people will be looking for and make it simple for them to get around your site."

"I've actually had to abandon something I wanted to buy before because I just couldn't find how to check out."

"It makes it harder to find your way around the site, and if it takes a lot of time, I'm more likely to look at another site instead."

"It's a sign that a company/organisation doesn't take pride in their web presence."

The comment about abandoning the buying process is particularly concerning - businesses could be losing money simply by not making it clear how a website visitor can buy from them.

Some navigation design tips:

• Make sure the anchor text for each navigation link makes it clear what is on the page it is pointing to.
• Consider using breadcrumb navigation so users can easily see where they are in relation to the rest of the website - something that's particularly useful for those landing on the page from a search engine.
• Use the top and left-hand sections of the page wisely; studies show web users scan these first, so place important navigation links here.
• Make sure there are no images or other media elsewhere on the page that impede users' view of options in dropdown menus.

Play.com makes it easy to find what you're looking for with clear links in the top navigation bar and extensive dropdown menus

Top work irk: Out of date content

One of the key elements of a good content marketing strategy is keeping your content up to date. So it comes as no surprise that the top website sin for those who rely on the internet for work - and the second most frustrating overall - is out of date or infrequently updated content.

Which of these website issues do you most commonly encounter while at work?

The content writers at NewsReach are experts in scouring the web for the most relevant news and information for their clients - as are journalists and bloggers for their publications and websites. So, how much damage are businesses doing to their PR operation by failing to keep their websites up to date? This is what some of the respondents thought:

"When looking for specific information, websites that don't update regularly are misleading and look hugely unprofessional."

"Information that hasn't been updated in weeks, months, (sometimes even years), to me, makes the website almost pointless."

"If you land on a site that looks a likely candidate and find that's not the case then you've got to go back to the drawing board and search again. When you're used to being able to find what you want very quickly, as you usually can online these days, it can be quite frustrating."

Yes, writers and journalists can call or email the press office to ask for the information they need if they can't find a press release on a company's website (if this contact information is readily available, that is!). But speed is essential in the media world, as is having the correct facts to hand, so firms in the habit of keeping their online newsrooms as up to date as possible will inevitably garner greater - and more accurate - coverage.

Don't forget the other benefits of regularly updating your site, too - search engines favour fresh content, making frequent updates a no-brainer when it comes to SEO. And you're unlikely to keep attracting new website visitors if it's clear your site or blog hasn't been updated in three years, so it's in your best interests to call in the experts to conduct a website MOT and see if anything needs adding to - or overhauling.

A close runner-up: lack of mobile compatibility

UK mobile owners are more likely to browse the web on a non-PC device than those in other highly developed European countries, according to a recent report. Therefore, it makes a lot of sense for businesses to make it easy for web users to browse their sites from a mobile phone.

However, a lack of mobile site or mobile compatibility in general was the third most common website issue among respondents to my survey, and the second most common among those browsing the web for personal use. It was also believed to be the most frustrating issue of all by 13 per cent of respondents.

Which of these do you most commonly experience when browsing the web for personal purposes?

I use the web on my phone a lot. It's not a particularly fashionable handset, but I rely on it to get me through long journeys and the odd period of internet downtime at home - so I can empathise with the respondents who named a lack of mobile functionality as their most frustrating website sin:

"[I] usually only browse online on my mobile if I am busy/need the information quickly and/or I am away from a computer. Makes it more frustrating when you can't find the information because the site isn't structured properly. Especially if you know the information is there."

"Browsing the web via mobile is still slow, and there is nothing more frustrating than waiting 5 minutes for a website to load only to discover that I can't use it on my BlackBerry."

"My iPhone is now my main computer outside of work, and I am one of those people who shop and compare prices on the go and expect businesses to keep up with modern technology."

The last comment on comparing prices should serve as a particularly big wake-up call for businesses that haven't yet got their mobile act together. More and more people are making online purchases with their phones, so why risk losing out financially by not enabling mobile functionality?

A good mobile site will make use of pared-back content to enable pages to load quicker while also offering many of the same key features as the desktop version. Research suggests mobile web users can be just as impatient as those surfing the internet on a PC, so speed is of the essence.

Topshop's mobile site loads quickly and makes navigation a breeze

(Dis)honourable mention: Nonsensical copy

When I put together my list of four website sins, I wasn't expecting nonsensical, keyword-stuffed copy to feature much in respondents' answers. After all, it is 2012 and SEO has moved on a lot from the days of hidden text and doorway pages.

However, this particular sin attracted 18 per cent of the vote when I asked which website issues respondents had previously encountered, while ten per cent said it was the problem that most frustrated them.

Which issue do you find the most frustrating?

This is what the respondents had to say:

"It makes articles difficult to read and just looks amateurish. If the writer cannot be bothered to take the time to integrate keywords properly, then I can't be bothered to take the time to read it!"

"I frequently turn to search engines to find answers to questions and to keep myself updated with current news and reviews. As such, when keywords are misused it means I can't find what I want easily or even worse, get the wrong information back."

Website copy should always be written for the reader - if the people you want to persuade to buy your products can't make head or tail of your website, chances are they're not going to buy anything at all.

Keyword-stuffing. Just don't do it.

Of course, I'm not saying that companies shouldn't attempt to optimise their copy. But search engines' guidelines make it clear that they take a dim view of overuse of keywords - so why risk being penalised in SERPs when you could instead be increasing traffic with both relevant and well-optimised copy?

What do you think? Do any of the above complaints sound familiar? What other website sins have you come across?

About the survey: I conducted an informal online survey that attracted 31 responses, most of which were internal. Participants ranged from writers and editorial managers to account management.

Dipika Patel
Content Manager

Pinterest: How does it all work?

noreply@blogger.com (Morag Lyall) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:35:00 +0000

So, you already know that you should be building a strong online presence and that Pinterest is the latest buzzword in the social media world. But how can it really be used for effective marketing and not become just another social network that takes up time?

Are you using Pinterest to its greatest effect?

It is likely that you already signed up to Pinterest when you first received an invite and if it's anything like Twitter, you left it void of activity for months not knowing where to go beyond completing your profile.

But it's time to start utilising Pinterest and realise that it is not 'just another social network' but something that could be a real blessing for marketers.

Last year we wrote a blog on Pinterest detailing what it is all about, but how is it put into practice? Well, the website's main selling point is the use of images, so the first thing to consider is if your products are visually appealing. The second is can you post top quality photos that will make users 'repin' your posts, comment, 'like', or share them on other networking sites like Twitter and Facebook.

Getting started on Pinterest

On first joining Pinterest, choose plenty of users to follow and don't just search for people and businesses involved in your sector. These 'pinners' can then be used to inspire you to create your own boards and you'll also earn more respect in the Pinterest community by repinning others' images.

To create a board, start off with what you know: your business. Pin your own visual content such as your company logo and other images, as well as visually-appealing products you want to promote and represent your brand. Remember, you can also pin videos as an alternative way of engaging customers.

You can later find out who has repinned your content and gauge who your Pinterest audience is, as well as discover what your most popular products are.

When you come across something on the internet you want to pin, add the 'Pin It' button to your bookmarks bar to grab an image from any website. It's nice if you credit the source, but Pinterest will automatically attach the source link to credit the original creator too.

It's also worth adding the button to your own website for others to pin your images to their pinboards directly, just like other sharing tools.Infographics have taken off on Pinterest in a huge way for this very reason.

Brands that are getting it right on Pinterest

You can pin images that tell more about your industry from other users or create boards that expand your existing coverage of industry-related events, just like Dazed & Confused did with their colourful images of New York Fashion Week.

However, Pinterest is keen to not just be about promoting products and the site is still a great place to interact with others. Create boards that inspire you as a business; for example with meaningful quotes, industry-related content and add a bit of fun with a board of humourous or cute images.

GAP is one brand that is making full use of Pinterest. While it has stylish product-led boards with this season's collection, it uses the platform like a public ideas board, with pins of 'denim icons' from Steve McQueen to Pharrell Williams. It has even run a T-shirt design competition, pinning the best submissions to interact with other pinners and get them repinning or commenting on the images.

Our NewsReach boards include our favourite things from around the internet, but also tell a bit more about ourselves, with visually-appealing images of the three UK cities we call home.

Another way for businesses to engage audiences is to embrace the whole lifestyle that comes with your brand. US food retailer Whole Foods has developed a reputation for itself as successfully realising the value of this type of content marketing, with boards not just related to food but latch onto its customers’ other lifestyle choices like environmental issues and family.

If you are still unsure about whether to join Pinterest, look at this infographic from Intuit to help you decide if it's the kind of thing for your brand before you get pinning!

Share your Pinterest hints and tips in the comments below.

By Morag Lyall
Content Editor

Content marketing quiz - April 13th

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Clark) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 10:58:00 +0000

Quizzes by Quibblo.com | SnapApp Quiz Apps

Why should you jump on the social bandwagon with Google+?

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Stanworth) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:31:00 +0000

When it launched in June 2011, Google+ shuffled into the increasingly crowded social media party alongside the industry's two leading lights, Facebook and Twitter.

It was unclear for a while what was written on the Google+ invite. What was it? Why was it here? And had it come in fancy dress?

Have you joined the Google+ party yet?

Speaking of invites, this was how Google+ started out. Only a limited number of people were able to try out the service, with it later being opened up to the masses, thanks to extreme demand from users looking to gatecrash the party.

As with anything, the best way to learn is to explore it yourself, but here are a few thoughts on why marketers should put on their glad rags and dance along to the Google+ tune.

Build Deeper Relationships with Consumers

One of the major benefits of social media, whichever portal you are using, is that if used correctly then it should boost your customer service offering. Consumers are needy people and require a little TLC - social media makes this easy to deliver.

Google+ Pages will allow you to share whatever you like with the right groups of people, whether this is video, photos, promotions or general thoughts. Posts can be published which create discussion - everyone likes to get involved in swapping of opinions, just look at the fallout from Samantha Brick’s recent Daily Mail article recently. This can be done in a number of ways, by either making posts public so that they can be searched, or directed to certain groups through the Circles feature.

Circles is an interesting feature and one of the additions which could give Google+ the advantage over Facebook and Twitter. As a business, why would you want to send a London-only offer out to followers living in Glasgow, for example? With Circles you can group followers into collections which are relevant to your offering, allowing you to make your content more relevant to users.

Measure your Success

As with any marketing campaign, whether it be stuffing leaflets through letterboxes, launching a big-money TV campaign or putting up posters at bus stops, you will want to know how it has performed.

Google+ can help you with this as it provides metrics which will show you what is being said about your business and how many +1’s have been received. And before you flag up the rogue apostrophe, Google has stated that it is sticking to its guns over its use of the punctuation in its +1 feature.

Some of the world's biggest companies are using Google+

Ripples is an excellent tool which shows you how your posts are spreading across the internet. It is the social media equivalent of fitting a tracking device to your shiny sports car. The tool shows who is sharing your content, allowing you to add them to your Circles and spread the message to even more consumers.

Furthermore, in the coming weeks Google+ will be launching a series of analytics packages which will help you to measure +1s and unveil users' demographics. Couple this with analytical reports, and Google+ could be the one-stop-shop social media package for marketers.

You Scratch My Back and I'll Scratch Yours

One of the other huge benefits to using Google+ is the boost to your search ranking on Google. In a 'you scratch my back and i'll scratch yours' scenario, companies which are using Google+, rather than just Facebook or Twitter, will benefit by climbing towards the top of the tree when it comes to search.

Some will have their Google+ page pushed right to the top of the search rankings when consumers type in their name - what's not to like about that?

By Rob Stanworth
Content Manager

Content marketing quiz - April 5th

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Clark) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 09:20:00 +0000

Quizzes by Quibblo.com | SnapApp Quiz Apps

Samantha Brick and the Daily Mail: What we have learnt

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Clark) — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 14:07:00 +0000

If the events of the past couple of days have taught us anything it is this – MailOnline is streets ahead when it comes to understanding the content that works on the web.

Until yesterday Samantha Brick was a relatively unknown columnist. Her back catalogue revealed a fairly steady line in bold statements (previous headlines include ‘Why my husband says he will divorce me if I get fat’ and ‘I use my sex appeal to get ahead at work... and so does ANY woman with sense’), but she was barely noteworthy.

Her latest work, however, has changed all that. Brick has become a household name, thanks to the provocatively titled: 'There are downsides to looking this pretty': Why women hate me for being beautiful’.

Cue the ensuing online storm – 4,500 comments on the DM site, 81,000 Facebook likes and endless tweets from a string of ‘celebrities’. One choice contribution from Dom Joly read: “I have just filed for divorce and put my kids up for adoption. The reason? The vain hope that I might one day meet Samantha Brick.” The Daily Telegraph, Huffington Post, Independent and countless other bloggers dutifully offered their take on the piece as they sought to ride the coat-tails of intense traffic. BBC Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine even got in on the act.

Brick becomes an internet sensation

Behind the scenes the Daily Mail is no doubt popping the champagne corks. If nothing else, the Samantha Brick piece is an absolute triumph for MailOnline – already the most popular news site on the planet. An early estimate suggested the rapid uptick in traffic and the impact on social media would see revenue from a single story run into tens of thousands of pounds.

Its publication shows an innate understanding of what the website’s audience is looking for. It effortlessly targets those who love to hate MailOnline and those who furtively log on during their lunch break to scroll the ‘sidebar of shame’. The lifestyle-morality tale nature of the piece was perfect for both the ‘haterz’ and those who just like gossip. ‘Water-cooler’ does not even begin to cover it – our office were all over the story as everyone had an opinion.

Lessons from the Mail?

So what lessons can we learn from the masters? In some respects, not many. MailOnline has always walked to the beat of its own drum with its content and web design. Critics note the heavy focus on US content, the high number of typos (even in headings), the prominence given to images and the noticeable lack of links within articles. MailOnline is also great at spotting the stories performing well for other sites and adapting them for its own site, often pulling in more readers than the original. Site editor Martin Clarke was quoted in a recent New Yorker article as admitting the site “breaks all so-called ‘usability rules’”, saying it was for “normal people, not for internet fanatics”.

There are some conclusions we can draw, however.

Lesson one here is that good content promotes itself. If what you have produced is truly interesting and engaging, no one will need encouragement to share it. Not once did the Daily Mail weigh in on the social media debate but it continues to rumble on today.

Lesson two, for the moment at least, is you can’t have enough of a good thing. Samantha has produced an equally provocative follow-up for today explaining how ‘this bile just proves I’m right’. Almost 600 readers have now commented. In a wonderfully self-promoting ‘meta’ move, the site has an additional piece looking at how Samantha became an ‘internet sensation’. You can no doubt stay tuned for a follow-up interview in the near future and her previous articles are likely to have received a significant boost.

Lesson three is how online content can have an impact beyond the confines of the internet. The Daily Mail’s print edition drew on Twitter, which was a key source in pushing the story onto the airwaves and television.

Lesson four is the importance of knowing your audience. MailOnline makes no secret that it is not publishing serious journalism. It makes no secret of targeting women. It knows people love to hate it and embraces this accordingly. What MailOnline does well is stick to its own brand and objectives – this is clearly articulated in this excellent New Yorker piece. Despite this, the latest episode and the impressive readership figures speak for themselves and are really a testament to the possibilities to be achieved through engaging, shareable content.

Lesson five is to be prepared for the reaction. The Mail was, even if Samantha claims she wasn’t. In her follow-up, Samantha was eager to comment on the issue of trolling, prompted by the scores of insensitive and in some cases downright offensive responses she received. All this is unsurprising really, considering the obvious troll-baiting on the DM’s part. If you poke a sleeping bear, expect it to wake up and bite you. While the comments she received were no doubt hurtful, the piece was designed to provoke this type of response, even if the venom was somewhat greater than expected.

Our Head of Content Nat Bertram suggested #brickgate was at once the perfect example of modern content and the latest in a long lineage of similar writing.

“This type of journalism isn’t new and is as old as newspapers. A good writer, and particularly columnist, knows they need to provoke a reaction, whatever it might be. Tara Palmer Tomkinson’s Sunday Times column in her ‘It Girl’ days, Michael Winner’s current column in the same paper and Jeremy Clarkson all follow a similar line of provocation and self-satisfaction. What #brickgate has shown is how social media and the web have supercharged the impact this can have.”

In this case, the phrase Daily Fail being bandied about by commentators is woefully misused. You might not agree with troll-baiting, the storm it has created or the sentiment of the article itself, but the Daily Mail knew what it was doing when it hit publish – and we all behaved exactly as we were supposed to.

So, is Samantha Brick the kind of columnist we need for the digital age? Let us know your take on the story.

Helen Clark
Marketing and Communications Assistant

April Fools in the digital age: Make sure you don't get caught out

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Clark) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 11:34:00 +0000

April Fools' Day is almost upon us and while this date falls on a Sunday this year, there is still every chance that a story published the previous day will catch out someone on the Monday.

The BBC are usually best at these things, with their 2008 flying penguins hoax or even this 1980s classic with Des Lynam and Grandstand. And who could forget those spaghetti trees?

In 2008 the BBC brought the world news of flying penguins

But the concern for many will be with those news stories we see online that look sufficiently plausible to affect our Monday coverage and that may lead to a few howlers slipping through. Nobody wants to be left looking a fool, least of all when it's written down for all to see.

Last year brought some corkers, with the Daily Telegraph listing ten of the best. My own favourite has to be Virgin's plans to buy Pluto, with Richard Branson allegedly stating: "Virgin has expanded into many territories over the years, but we have never had our own planet before. This could pave the way for a new age in space tourism."

This would include gathering material from asteroids to bulk up the object to restore its planetary status, following the decision in 2008 by astronomers to demote it.

Make sure you spot the tall stories

You can't get much more far-fetched than a story about a trans-Neptunian object, but you can go a fair distance. In 2009 anyone writing travel news and features about the Cape Verde Islands (as I happened to be) might have been taken in by a Building.co.uk howler claiming that a bridge was to be built connecting this tiny Lusaphone archipelago to the African continent, despite the fact that the Senegalese coast is all of 375 miles away.

Some of us were not fooled. But a couple of websites were and dutifully reported the story, despite the fact that this would amount to perhaps the finest engineering feat in history (apart from bulking up Pluto, maybe), with 375 miles being 289 times the length of the Humber Bridge.

Hard man Gordon Brown was the subject of the Guardian's April Fool

Politics is one area where people should be particularly careful. 2010 was an exceptional occasion as a looming general election offered a great chance to spin a campaign tale, like the Guardian's Gordon Brown story. With Republican primaries continuing, the US may be a good source of these right now, but don't rule out something a bit crazy over here involving petrol, George Galloway or pasties.

April Fools' offer food for thought

And talking of pasties, questionable food stories are never far from the headlines anyway, whether it is a disappearing Cornish food stall at Leeds Railway Station or Ed Balls recommending sausage rolls as marathon training food (neither April fools, apparently), not to mention various health scares. But few take the biscuit - or rather the beef - as much as Burger King's 1998 advert in USA Today for its left-handed whopper.

Other delicious morsels plucked from the spaghetti tree of culinary canards include Tesco's 2002 advert for genetically engineered whistling carrots, which it published in the Sun (all of whose readers were, no doubt, too smart to fall for it). Other marriages of cuisine and technology included Thomas Eddison's food machine in 1878, reported by the New York Graphic.

Animal stories are also a popular April 1st tradition, with the flying penguins following a long line of classics like the 1965 Danish government order to paint all dogs white and the 1972 discovery of the body of Nessie. The Independent managed to keep it up - literally - with its Viagra for hamsters tale in 2000.

So the rule for April is: be very careful about your sources, since somebody could be having you on. And if you have red hair, stay away from elm trees.

Let us know your favourite April Fools below.

Charles Britten
Lead Content Writer

Content marketing quiz March 30th

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Clark) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 10:08:00 +0000

Quizzes by Quibblo.com | SnapApp Quiz Apps

Heading in the write direction - don't lose the humour in your online content

noreply@blogger.com (Rob Stanworth) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 14:31:00 +0000

Headlines are the real attention grabbers when it comes to online content, which is why writers need to ensure they are capturing their audience's interest.

Unlike with newspapers, a headline sitting in Google's search rankings is not supported by fancy imagery or an explosive photo. This means that the headline has to do all of the legwork to get the reader to click on to the article.

In my previous blogs for NewsReach (found here and here), we established the importance of optimisation. However, this is not to say that the fun needs to go out of the art of online headline writing.

With the changes that Google is making to its Panda algorithm, the search engine is looking to continue rewarding content which is high quality, relevant and interesting to the audience.

Beware of over-optimisation

Matt Cutts, from Google's Webspam team, recently announced that websites which are 'over-optimised' will be penalised, while those creating 'great content and a great site' will be rewarded in the search rankings.

Puns have long been a great toy for headlines to use. Loosely put, a pun can exploit the dual meaning of the same word, or those that sound the same.

Not even Mary Poppins could save Celtic (The Sun)

One of my favourite plays on words harks back to the year 2000 when Scottish football giants Celtic were humbled by minnows Inverness Caledonian Thistle. The next day The Sun led with: Super Caley go ballistic, Celtic are atrocious.

Another excellent pun saw a story in the Guardian on the battle over portable toilets between Glastonbury and the Olympic Games going with the heading: Why Glastonbury 2012 is going down the pan. While an exclusive in the Daily Mirror on allegations that Daniel Radcliffe was smoking cannabis at a party used: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stoned.

With these three examples, a little bit of extra humour has been injected to appeal to the reader and at least some thought has been given to optimisation – although they could be improved.

Make use of page titles and summaries

One trick to boost the optimisation further is to make clever use of a news story's unique summary or page title. In this section, the author can rewrite the headline to include a straighter version, complete with all the searchable terms – with the focus always being on quality work.

For example, the Guardian backed up its above effort with the following summary: The Glastonbury festival won't be able to compete with the Olympic Games in 2012 when it comes to portable toilets.

Google's crawler is clever enough to search these entries and pick out content which is relevant to what the user has searched for, even if the headline is slightly less well optimised because of its humorous style.

Another aspect to take into account with headlines and content in general is building up a relationship with your audience. Sometimes it is not about getting the largest number of readers, but attracting the "most best readers", according to David Plotz from commentary website Slate.com.

He advises that there are benefits to deepening the bonds between the editorial the brand and voice of a company and its readership, which in the long-run can reap big rewards.

By Rob Stanworth
Content Manager

Content marketing quiz - March 23rd

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Clark) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 13:04:00 +0000

Quizzes by Quibblo.com | SnapApp Quiz Apps

Has SEO lost its meaning?

noreply@blogger.com (Nat Bertram) — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 10:18:00 +0000

I've been involved in a lot of discussions about definitions over the last few weeks.

One of my personal drum-banging issues has been about how the term 'SEO' is used.

When drawing up a brief for a client, I've had discussions about whether the content 'is SEO or not', only to stop and make the point that good SEO is good content. You need good content to deliver effective SEO and vice versa.

The term 'SEO' is not, it seems, used in the same way by everyone.

SEO: A change is gonna come

No less an august publication than the Wall Street Journal warned us this week that Google was preparing for seismic changes to its search technology (neatly counterpointed by Danny Sullivan in a fine article), while the great Google guru Matt Cutts told a panel at SXSW that SEO was in line for a shake-up. Cutts spoke of levelling the playing field and pegging back those sites which were guilty of "over optimisation or overly SEO" practices.

What the WSJ and Cutts were getting at is a fundamental shift. Instead of rewarding those sites which have all the gadgets, tricks and shortcuts to 'game' the engines, the emphasis is on content. Good quality content.

What does that mean for SEO? Well, for 'SEO' in the sense of keyword-heavy content, dodgy links and pile-it-high-but-don't-look-at-the-quality-content, it should spell the beginning of the end. In fact, as Sullivan points out, this is not the 'beginning' but hundreds of miles on down the road - the process started some time ago and is incremental and unrelenting, rather than a step-change. For SEO as a principle, nothing has changed: striving to make your content as visible and 'findable' as possible.

What has changed, is the criteria for defining the best results. An increasing sophistication to the qualitative judgment comes into play, assessing the accuracy, style and originality of content, not simply its pure relevance as a linguistic matrix to match a query. I don't expect to see Google go all Mahalo and switch to human-powered search, but there is an attempt to capture the intangibles. That means a more nuanced, personalised search technology and even the idea of serendipity through search, as I've suggested before. Social signals are an important function in this, allowing the crowd to mediate and curate search results and identify in-demand content.

In order to 'optimise' for search the principles are simple: producing well-written, fresh, unique and compelling content that people want to read and which can be found.

Can you 'over-optimise' this effort? I don't think so (and to be fair, Matt Cutts hinted at this with his disclaimer when using the phrase, 'for want of a better word').

You Say SEO, I say Tomato

The labels are, however, important. 'SEO' carries the semantic baggage of a previous era. It harks back to the clumsy efforts of JC Penneys and BMW, carrying with it a furtive cloak and a grubby black hat. Little wonder that new labels are emerging: 'content strategy', 'content marketing' and 'inbound marketing' are among the most popular.

Personally, I use 'content marketing' to describe the broader principle that SEO has become too narrow to articulate: "The creation, organisation and distribution of content to attract, acquire and engage a target audience, delivering a return on investment and enhancing an organisation's brand."

'Content strategy' is then a way of discussing the development process that identifies the most suitable use and distribution of content for a particular organisation and its specific aims. That might be a major B2B corporation, a B2C start-up, a news outlet, a campaign group, a charity - anyone who has an online presence, or who is discussed online (so, everyone!).

SEO is undergoing a facelift (Image: Thinkstock)

Within our organisation nomenclature has also been high on the agenda of late. It's not just what we do, but who we are. Job titles and even department names are changing to better reflect reality. 'Content Writers' and 'Content Manager' have supplanted the 1970s-style 'News Correspondent', as the diversity of offering expands, covering blogs, analysis and white papers among others, along with the formats we work with (text, video, graphic design).

The names do make a difference – just ask the Oregon blogger who was definitively told by a judge that she wasn't a journalist – but what matters more is a shared understanding of what these labels stand for.

SEO isn't dead, it's changed its name and gone under the knife – you just don't recognise it anymore.

Nathaniel Bertram, Head of Content

Content Marketing Quiz - March 16th

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Clark) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 12:52:00 +0000

Quizzes by Quibblo.com | SnapApp Quiz Apps

Pinterest redesigns profile pages but copyright worries remain

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Webber) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 09:57:00 +0000

Businesses that have not yet considered Pinterest as part of their content marketing strategy may reconsider when they see the new profiles that have been rolled out for users of the social network today.

Last year, I discussed the potential of Pinterest for content marketing in a blog post, but since then the network has gone from strength to strength. The recent addition of a Pinterest app for Facebook Timelines, the promise of an iPad app and now the rollout of the new profile pages all show that this social network is destined for big things.

The revamped profile pages give much greater prominence to the user's name, bio and profile picture by spreading this information all along the top of the screen, rather than in a column on the left. This enhanced position means businesses should think more carefully about how they wish to portray themselves to the Pinterest community, so ensure your bio is without typos and conveys clearly who you are. You have 200 characters to use for your summary and you're unable to use code to bold up certain words or link to your homepage. You can still link to your website, Twitter and Facebook, which users can access by clicking on the relevant icon under your bio and next to your location.

The new profiles have a serendipitous element added to it in that it shows (and links to) other pinners whose images you've pinned. This feature immerses users still further in what has fast become one of the stickiest social networks to date.

Boards are also displayed in a new way, with the most recently pinned image on a board displayed in the same way as cover photos are shown in Facebook albums. Unfortunately users cannot control this function as they can on Facebook, which is a shame for brands.

Out with the old...

The newsfeed function on the homepage has also been switched off, which allows for a wider, cleaner design and better user experience.

Announcing the new profile pages at the South by Southwest conference earlier this week, Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann said the idea was to offer "more beautiful" pages, which makes sense considering the emphasis on aesthetics on the site.

Nothing pretty about copyright accusations...

But there is something ugly hanging over Pinterest - concerns over copyright violations. Last week, Chicago-based design studio Knoed Creative drew attention to Pinterest's terms, which seemingly indemnify the network against any liability if copyright is violated by users of the site. This has led to unflattering comparisons to Napster, but it seems Pinterest is taking swift action to quell the fears of its millions of users.

I'd be interested to hear from others what they make of the new profiles as well as the copyright issue. Are businesses put off the network because of the potential legal risks? Or is the draw of a highly engaged, growing audience too strong? Share your thoughts below or follow us on Pinterest!

Karen Webber
Head of Marketing

Will selective sharing become the norm on social media?

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Clark) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:35:00 +0000

Comparisons between Twitter and the pub have now almost become commonplace and there are certainly similarities between the two.

Anyone is welcome – providing they are over a certain age – and there are all manner of rumours and snippets of gossip darting around.

But in other ways this comparison is sadly lacking. In reality, posting a public tweet is not so much mentioning something in conversation to a friend, but more shouting it out to the whole pub.

You wouldn’t do this in real life. If you met someone at a networking event you wouldn’t reel off your entire CV. If you made a new acquaintance, you wouldn’t immediately share your university photo album with them.

Social media has almost got people used to oversharing. But is this about to change?

The influence of Google+ Circles

When Google+ launched in 2011, some stir was created by its Circles feature. Circles allow users to organise their followers, and then selectively share their content with these specific groups. For example, at NewsReach we have separate groups for our team members and other companies working in our industry.

Google+ launched selective sharing through its circles

Sometimes what is relevant to one group is relevant to another. Sometimes it isn’t. Circles let you decide what will be most relevant to each group.

While Google+ has yet to reach the same levels of engagement as the likes of Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, this idea of selective sharing has encouraged other social networks to seemingly follow suit.

This week Twitter announced the acquisition of Posterous. The as-yet little-known site is designed to make it easier to share content across platforms – and one key feature is its ability to control who sees what.

The team at the site describe it as making sharing online closer to how you share information in real life.

What you tell your friends, you would not necessarily tell your colleagues, but you want to connect with both groups on social media. Public Posterous spaces can be seen by anyone, private spaces can only be seen by who you invite.

Controlling who shares with you

Facebook is even getting in on the act with the launch of its updated friends list feature. The site has made it easier for users to organise their friends based on level of acquaintance and the nature of their connection, giving greater control over who they share content with. More than a few commentators have suggested the move is its response to the Google+ circles.

At the same time it has launched its Interest List feature; this time taking inspiration from Twitter. When it is rolled out over the next few weeks, the feature will allow users to organise updates from a number of pages and friends into a single news feed based around a specific area of interest. Undeniably, this provides great opportunities for brand pages, providing they can hold their own in their field.

Social media platforms have always offered users some level of control; you control who you become friends with and who you accept requests from.

These changes suggest that selective sharing even within these wider networks is likely to become more commonplace. For businesses, this can only be a good thing.

The features will let you share the latest achievements with colleagues, let both existing and potential customers know your latest product offerings and demonstrate your company’s expertise to members of your industry and the wider world.

Social media will more closely resemble real world interactions, where each day people unconsciously share the information most relevant to their audience.

One thing that will not change is the need for content to be regularly updated, engaging and relevant – as unlike the real world it is much simpler for the listener to simply walk away mid conversation.

Helen Clark
Marketing and Communications Assistant

Content marketing quiz - March 9th

noreply@blogger.com (Helen Clark) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 15:54:00 +0000

Quizzes by Quibblo.com | SnapApp Quiz Apps

#StopKony takes social media by storm

noreply@blogger.com (Karen Webber) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 14:45:00 +0000

I'll level with you: it doesn't take much to get me passionate about causes that attempt to make the world a better place.

So it's hardly surprising that I may have shed a little tear watching Invisible Children's now-viral video about how the world needs to come together and #StopKony.

The aim is simple: make Joseph Kony famous (for all the wrong reasons) so he can be arrested and brought to justice for atrocities committed in Uganda. Kony is the leader of rebel group the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and pretty much the worst kind of scumbag imaginable. His organisation has been killing, kidnapping, raping and maiming for nearly three decades. Some 30,000 children have been taken from their homes and schools by the LRA since 1986 - many forced to murder or main family members - and then turned into child soldiers and sex slaves. The most shocking thing is that Kony and his cronies are continuing their reign of terror, but Invisible Children wants to stop them. They hope social media will help spread the word and get the world united behind their cause, and in doing so ensure that world leaders allocate the necessary resources to allow Kony to be captured.

Since this video was published, widespread awareness is certainly what they got.

I first became aware of the video a few days ago when a couple of Facebook friends in South Africa posted a link along with simple comments: "watch this" and "goose bumps". Curiosity made me open the link but I was put off the length of the clip (nearly half an hour) and, I'll be honest, I couldn't be bothered to watch yet another "cause" video.

But I soon realised this wasn't another bog standard charity appeal. Over the next 24 hours more Facebook friends posted the link - from the UK, Australia, Ghana, New Zealand, the USA - and mentions of it kept popping up on Twitter. When I then watched the video, I could see why.

Be good and do the right thing

The video is a slick production that taps into humans' deepest desires to be part of something bigger than themselves. Just as communities took to social media to take a stand against the rioters last August, this video calls on people to be good and do the right thing. It's the kind of message that resonates with (I like to believe) the largest proportion of mankind, so if you're looking to get the world united behind your cause, it's the right approach.

But the filmmakers went beyond the traditional "human" references (the birth of a baby, a medical breakthrough, the innocence of a child) and prominently featured the kinds of digital technologies that have infiltrated most of our lives and connect people by making the world a smaller place.

Facebook's Timelineplays a big part in the video; it is used to tell the story of Jacob Acaye, the former child soldier who inspired the work of Invisible Children. The organisation's timeline showcases photos of their work, maps and videos. Twitter is referenced by showing # and @ and in general there's a lot of button clicking (the noise of which is the soundtrack to many people's lives these days).

Tech connects

What better way to emphasise to people we're all human, with shared emotions, but that there are children growing up with the world at their feet in the USA while those unlucky enough to have been born in Uganda live in fear (or hope) of death? The role of technology in our lives - specifically social media - is a common thread that transcends cultural and language barriers. More than 800 million people use Facebook, billions of hours a month are spent watching YouTube and thousands of tweets are posted every minute.

As we know now, the Kony video has gone viral - as of this morning it had already had over 55 million views - #stopkony was a trending topic on Twitter, no doubt thanks in part to the involvement of celebs such as George Clooney and Angelina Jolie, and people are debating the issue on social media, traditional media and everywhere else.

Controversy

Debating? What's to debate? Well it turns out there are groups accusing the Invisible Children organisation of impure motives and asking questions about everything from the facts mentioned in the video to how they run their financial matters, leading them to release a statement to try to clarify their position. And as we all know, the likes of Twitter just LOVE a bit of outrage.

Personally, I choose to ignore all the conspiracy theories. Because in the end, if Joseph Kony gets arrested, it means that innocent lives will be spared and that people in Uganda will feel safer than they do now. And I'd much rather social media is used for good than for 'Beliebers' to go hysterical about a floppy-haired teen/inane hashtags to trend/sharing pictures of your lunch.

What are your thoughts on the video? Are you getting behind the campaign? Have you committed to watching the full 30 minutes of the video?

Karen Webber
Head of Marketing