When Content Formats Reach Their Peak: The Risk of Late Adoption

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Sit back for a second, sip your coffee, and try to think of the most insanely innovative thing you’ve seen in, say, 2013.

Got something? Cool. Now I’m gonna ask you to place an over-under bet with yourself. How long do you think it’ll take for that innovation to be copied or adopted by hundreds, if not thousands, of other people?

Pretty good, eh? And chances are really good that, if you’re talking about a marketing innovation from 2013, it’s already been copied by approximately one gazillion people. Because if something works, what are we told to do, marketers? Reproduce it for our own companies and businesses so we can see similar results. And nowhere is it easier to copy new innovation in marketing than with content innovations, what with the whole promoting-free-content-to-generate-traffic-and-leads thing. Marketers no longer hold their content cards close to their chest … it’s out there and publicized as much as humanly possible.

But then something happens. When one marketer realizes a content format does insanely well, and other marketers start to realize it too, get good and ready to kiss that content format goodbye. Why? Because that content format is about to peak, my friends. Here’s what I mean.

RIP: The Graveyard of Marketing Content Formats

When considering content effectiveness and impact, presentation makes all the difference. In other words, no matter how genius the research, thesis, and writing is in a piece of marketing content, if it’s not presented in the right way, your message can fall flat. On the flip side, an extraordinarily pleasurable content consumption experience can make even the most mundane messages soar. For proof, just look at all the infographics that get created around, like, three pieces of data. The infographic isn’t really saying anything mind blowing … but look at all the pretty colors and icons!

Why do people do this? Because when they see certain content formats being adopted by everyone in their industry — and heck, when they themselves first happen upon a new content format and absolutely love it — they don’t want to miss the ROI boat. Plus, if everyone is doing it, it’s usually a good hint that, hey, psst, this stuff works! Totally understandable.

But then (there’s always a but), the market gets saturated with a content format type. I think infographics are one of the best examples of this trend (more on this in the next section), but we’ve personally seen the same things happening with things like:

  • Memes
  • Slideshows
  • Cartoons
  • Round-ups
  • End of Year Resolutions/Predictions
  • Top 5/Top 10 Lists
  • Top Anything Lists

It’s not that they don’t provide any value anymore. They do. And sometimes, it’s still more than your average, run of the mill blog post. But it’s nothing like the mind-blowing results you see if you incorporate the content format into your marketing before there’s wide-scale industry adoption.

This phenomenon happens with marketing assets, too. For instance, more businesses have blogs that they’re using for marketing purposes, so it’s harder to get ahead by just blogging once a week than it was four years ago, when it was much rarer to see your competitors blogging. Now, you have to increase your content quality, and probably, your content frequency, too. Unless you’re just lucky enough to have competitors living in la-la land.

Some Data Around the Decreasing Effectiveness of Content Format Types

Let’s take infographics as an example of the impact of the over-saturation of marketing content formats. This is drawn from our own personal blogging data. Back in 2010, our average post view was 719 views. You know what the average post view was for a blog post with an infographic, though? 11,535. Holy $%*#. Let’s do infographic posts all the time, right?

But the impact of promoting a post around the fact that it included an infographic lessened over time. In 2011, our average post view was 3,059; but infographic posts generated, on average, only 1,852 views. Harumph. Not as hot, eh?

So what gives? Why such a stark decrease in the traffic-driving effects of infographics? As 2011 progressed, the “hotness” of consuming content in infographic form decreased. Because as more and more marketers jumped on the infographic bandwagon, the internet became saturated with infographic content, and the infographic was no longer novel, nor was it a guarantee of high-quality content. In fact, when I dig into the top performing infographics from 2011, of the 4 that drew the most views, two things are true: 1) it was either published in the beginning of 2011 (like, January, before the infographic mania had peaked), or 2) it was a curation of several infographics. In other words, we had to spend time collecting ten infographics in order to get the same traffic-driving value that one infographic used to yield a year ago.

What’s a Marketer to Do?

First, a marketer should recognize that just because a content format appears to have reached its point of over-saturation by and large, it doesn’t mean the content format will never work for them again. When I look back at some of the most successful posts we’ve published in 2012 — well past the point of infographic insanity — many of them were, indeed, infographics. It’s just that we couldn’t rely on an infographic post being a veritable blowout like we could a couple years back. The successful infographic posts, even during the aftermath of the mania, were the ones that were:

  • Insanely compelling topics
  • High-quality content that lived up to the topic
  • Best consumed in a visual content format

In other words, the content performed well not because it was an infographic, but in spite of it. 

But there are other things marketers can do. The hardest thing you can do is … think of the new, hot content format. What’s the next infographic? The next meme? That level of innovation is a pretty tall order, but if you come up with it, you’re hot marketing stuff. The more realistic thing you can do, though still difficult, is find ways to make old formats work again. That’s what Twitter’s Vine has done, for instance. They’ve rethought the microblog, they’ve rethought the video content format, and they’ve combined them to come up with the six-second video snippet for social media content. It’s also what we’re seeing with Parallax scrolling — if you’re unfamiliar with it, check out this infographic that was reimagined with Parallax scrolling.

But what this all boils down to for me, and something I believe any marketer is capable of, is embracing agile content creation. If you want to be on the forefront — not the tail end — of a content format, you need to be willing to experiment with new things. New things like Vine! Like Parallax scrolling! Like whatever the heck people come up with next! The last marketers to adopt a content format are the ones who get mediocre results; the ones who adopt new content formats upfront get monumental ones. Be agile, respond quickly, and be open to experimentation to make sure you’re not left in the dust.

What do you think will be the next hot content format? C’mon … don’t keep it a secret ๐Ÿ˜‰

Image credit: aussiegall








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7 Great Examples of ‘Boring’ Businesses That Act Like Humans in Their Marketing

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Question. Does your marketing sound like it was created by Eeyore? Bill Lumbergh? Michael Scott?

Earlier this week, I was on a panel for Boston HubSpot users centered around the theme of creating lovable marketing. One of the themes that came up during the Q&A portion centered on how to separate “business” from “personal” in your marketing. I mean, when you have lots of different voices contributing content, and the lines between personal and professional social media usage is already pretty blurry, it’s a legitimate concern — particularly for B2B marketers or those working in industries that have a harder time tying in fun, friendly, silly sentiments in their marketing.

But you know what I think? I think the lines can be blurrier between personal and professional. Why? Because I think it helps brands to sound like freaking human beings once in a while. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. People buy from people they like and trust. And it’s really hard to like a faceless, personality-less (so not a word, but work with me here) business.

I mean, who has ever fallen in love with a company whose blog posts are full of jargon and business babble? Or that has social media updates with all the passion of a piece of dry toast?

So to inspire you to inject a little oomph, a little personality, a little love into your marketing, here are some businesses that have totally gotten over the fact that they’re in industries with marketing that’s typically stiff and passionless, and have decided to instead act like, well, human beings. Take a look.

1) Intercom

Intercom is a CRM tool for web-based businesses. Yawn? Perhaps. Until you read their content. If you visit their blog, you’ll find insightful articles that are — gasp — really easy and entertaining to get through! Take their most recent article, “If It’s Important, Don’t Hack It.” This is a snippet that’s found in between two graphs … two graphs that would make most people start to yawn and trail off:


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Look, even if you’re really into the topic of growth hacking, it has the propensity to be really dull. That’s why it’s genius that Intercom has decided to use colloquial language, like “gonna,” and even “pisses off” in their copy. Because it’s how most people actually talk. You know, like humans! So if you think you need to sound all businessy and professional when talking about industry concepts, throw that notion right out the door. The most helpful content is the stuff that’s easy and natural to get through, written in a tone that aligns with the way people really speak.

2) General Electric

General Electric. Not the hottest of the hot. Until you check out their Pinterest presence (yes! they are on Pinterest!) and realize they don’t take themselves insanely seriously. For instance, they have boards called “Mind = Blown” and “Badass Machines” right alongside boards like “Eco Efficient” and “The Art of Innovation.”

 

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But really, the crowning achievement of GE’s Pinterest presence is their ability to find a way to incorporate the Ryan Gosling “Hey, girl” meme into their marketing. Only instead of Ryan Gosling, it’s Thomas Edison. Ladies, you’re welcome.

 

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3) Dropbox

Dropbox, a cloud file storage and sharing product (snoooore) recognizes how potentially snoozeworthy their business could be, and tempers it with some marketing that appeals to people’s more human sensibilities. I think they do it best in their emails, which combine lovable design and personable, easily consumable copy.

 

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See? Why does cloud storage have to be lame and boring, full of jargon no average consumer would understand? This email … makes sense. It has cute images that make your Dropbox look sad for being unused. And it has an emoticon. ๐Ÿ™‚

4) IMPACT Branding & Design

Inbound marketing agency IMPACT doesn’t have their panties in a bunch over sounding like stuffy marketing professionals — they embrace a sense of humor in their marketing content, even though they’re speaking business to business. And they’re not just limiting their personality to “fun” social networks, like Facebook and Pinterest; they’re even sharing this type of content on places like LinkedIn. Take a look at two recent pieces of content they shared on LinkedIn, for instance:

 

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Not only are the images chock full of fun and personality, their copy is casual and natural, too.

I also love a business that isn’t afraid to put their employees front and center. Check out how they highlighted the ladies of IMPACT over Valentine’s Day. That’s right. They’re not afraid to get a little adorable!

 

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I asked IMPACT’s director of marketing, John Bonini, why he uses a lighter, more personal tone in his marketing content. Here’s what he had to say:

“For me, it’s always boiled down to my personal marketing golden rule; market as you would like to be marketed to. I don’t respond to vanilla marketing messages. At all. However, a witty subject line or an entertaining twist on a relevant subject will always carve out a spot in my day. Consequently, I market with this in mind every day … I’m always conscious of a prospect’s attention span. I’ve always wanted our prospects to feel as if they already know us by the time they get on the phone with Sales.”

Amen, brother.

5) GoToMeeting

GoToMeeting, run by Citrix, does a great job achieving a professional yet friendly tone in their content, with a customer-centric approach. I think their Twitter stream is one of the best instances of this balance. Take a look at some of their most recent tweets, with notable ones called out in orange.

 

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It’s refreshing to see a B2B brand that isn’t afraid to get a little, well, lovey-dovey in their marketing communications. GoToMeeting is also very focused on promoting their customers, showing a more relatable side to leads that might be in similar situations as some of the customers they’re featuring.

6) Geico … and Allstate

If you told someone you worked in insurance at, say, a party, you might not get the same reaction as if you told them you worked at Disney World.

Hey, nothing against insurance, but it’s not the easiest thing to sex up!

That’s why I think it’s awesome that Geico and Allstate have both found ways to lighten up the discussion around insurance — Geico with its long-running mascot, the Geico Gecko (alongside other mascots like the Caveman), and Allstate with its newer character, Mayhem.

Most recently, the Geico Gecko has been featured in a blooper commercial, showing his “behind the scenes” footage from shooting commercials. And the Mayhem character? Well, he’s been featured doing everything from running into the road like a deer in headlights, to jogging around the burbs with pink hand weights, to my personal favorite — streaking across a football field:

 

 

See? “Boring” industries don’t have to be boring, at all … just remember your audience is human and likes a little levity once in a while! Regardless of your product or service.

7) ZenDesk

Zendesk offers customer service and support ticket software, but has found a way to infuse the human element of the customer service industry into their marketing. Any B2B marketer interested in storytelling should take a look at the video they have on their site of the story of support ticket #24 — to watch it on their site, just click on the image below.

 

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One of the best parts of this video to me is the contrast in communications the customer, Jessie, sees from one provider, versus the Zendesk-powered provider. When she sees the warm message “Hey there, Jessie” come through on live chat from one customer service rep, as opposed to the cold and impersonal “Dear Sir or Madam,” she chooses to talk to the more personable rep. If you watch the video all the way to the end, you’ll see Zendesk takes the whole genuine human interaction to a hilarious extreme, in which Jessie and her support rep start tweeting, talking on the phone, and then eventually presumably embark upon quite the romance. The video ends saying, “Have a better relationship with your customers.” Zendesk has decided to make acting like good, cool, friendly people central to their entire brand strategy.

What other businsesses are doing a great job at humanizing their brand through their marketing?








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5 Valentine’s Day Marketing Campaigns That’ll Warm Your Heart

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Love, flowers, chocolate, bla bla bla …

Where are the marketing results?!

Okay, probably not what your Valentine’s date cares about. But if you’re a marketer, you might be interested in merging the most lovey-dovey of days with your marketing. But how?

Well, these companies have figured out some creative ways to leverage the warm and fuzzies (or unadulterated rage and crushing loneliness … whatever) that Valentine’s Day instills in people. If you don’t have a marketing campaign planned for the 14th, maybe some of these will inspire you to get in on some last-minute Valentine’s Day action. Pun totally intended.

Uber

On-demand car service company Uber launched a Romance on Demand campaign in most of the cities where they operate. Take a look at the short, cute video they shot to explain the campaign:

 

 

If you didn’t watch the video, the gist of the campaign is this: You can request roses be sent to a special someone by selecting the “rose” in their app. You set the delivery location, and a black car arrives at that location with a driver totally suited-up to deliver a bouquet of roses.

Uber is a startup that’s figured out a way to create a campaign that delights its audience and drives additional revenue for its business — all without a tremendous resource investment. I mean, their drivers are already on the road, ready to take customers; but if there are Uber customers who don’t need a ride but totally need to send some flowers, and send them with style … well, let’s just say transporting roses at a premium price isn’t much different than transporting people. Except the margins are way better for Uber. Pretty impressive stuff.

And even better, they’re using inbound tactics to get the word out there! They launched the Romance on Demand campaign on their blog, via social channels with the hashtag #romanceondemand, with that adorable video you might have watched up above, and even by establishing local partnerships in the cities where they’re running the campaign to enter participants into a drawing to win some extra goodies. This is a low cost, high return campaign for Uber that totally aligns with its customer persona — high convenience and high style.

MegaRed

MegaRed is a type of krill oil supplement sold in nutrition stores. If you don’t know already, fish oil is an excellent dietary supplement for those concerned with heart health, so it makes sense that its Valentine’s Day campaign theme is “Whose heart do you love?” Here’s how it works.

MegaRed is relying heavily on Facebook to facilitate this campaign, in which visitors can request free samples of their supplements through their Facebook app. What’s totally endearing about this campaign is that you can request the supplement for “The heart of someone you love.” In other words, you can give someone you love — whose heart you want to keep in tip-top shape — a free sample of their product. Even better? If you choose to give the free sample to a loved on, MegaRed will give you a free sample, too. And the love doesn’t end there: If they can reach 100,000 free samples given away, they’ll donate $100,000 to the National Coalition for Women With Heart Disease.

Aside from the great feeling this campaign instills — I mean, promoting heart health is kind of hard to argue with — I love their use of social media to get the word out there. For instance, on Twitter, MegaRed is seeing celebrities like Joy Bauer and Toni Braxton posting about the campaign. Pretty impressive. And on YouTube, there’s this fun, short, touching video that will, forgive me, but totally touch your heart:

 

 

This campaign is being handled by an agency, but one thing that made my heart smile is a quote from MegaRed’s CMO, Jennifer Steeves-Kiss, to the New York Times. “We want to start making digital and social a significantly greater priority for us,” she said. “People are spending four to five hours a month online researching supplements if they’re supplement enthusiasts,” Steeves-Kiss shared, and additionally, they are in the middle of an acquisition by a company whose executive are “great proponents” of social and digital marketing.

We can’t help but smile at seeing the adoption of inbound methods by brands that have millions to spend on traditional advertising methods!

The State of New Jersey and the SBA

The State of New Jersey, along with the Small Business Association, are running a pro-business campaign called “Show Your Love for the Jersey Shore.” The call-to-action for the campaign? To spend your vacation dollars — particularly on Valentine’s Day — at the Jersey Shore. It’s being promoted on Facebook, Twitter, via email, and via live events in partnership with destination marketing organizations. Information about special promotions being offered by shore businesses will be shared socially, too, so if you’re looking for something to do tomorrow, check it out ๐Ÿ˜‰ For instance, you might be interested in …

Doo Wop with the one you love this Valentine’s Day at @countbasiethtr. bit.ly/UEXOPf

โ€” New Jersey Tourism (@Visit_NewJersey) February 9, 2013

I know I sure would be!

The goal of the campaign is to show that the Jersey Shore is open for business after the devastation of Hurricane Sandy. The problem some shore businesses are facing is the perception that businesses aren’t recovered from the storm. While there’s still much more recovery to be done, there are some businesses that are, indeed, ready to accept tourists. They just need the word to get out there.

Director of Jenkinson’s Aquarium, Cindy Claus, told NorthJersey.com, “I think so many people see on the news that we got hit by the storm. They see all the destruction, and yes, there’s a lot of destruction and a lot of sadness, but there’s a lot of businesses that were able to get opened. And you need to come back because that’s the only way these businesses are going to survive.” The aquarium was able to open back up on February 1, and is hoping this campaign will help get the word out there that they’re welcoming visitors with open arms.

Whether the campaign works or not remains to be seen, but it’s fantastic to see federally funded institutions finding a way to, essentially, newsjack as a way to aid the shore community — particularly affected businesses — in attaining their previous levels of visitors.

Scribbler

Scribbler, a UK-based personalized greeting card service, has won my heart because of its celebration of content in its Valentine’s Day campaign. Using their blog, they’ve asked their audience to share what their definition of “love” is. All you do is visit their blog, and answer these three questions:

 

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Or, you can tweet your response to the Scribbler Twitter account. The winner will get a free iPad mini, and the best answers will be compiled in their Valentine’s Day ebook. To inspire people, Scribbler is also using Facebook and Twitter to post some of the best answers that are coming their way. This campaign is fantastic for a few reasons:

  • It’s a simple way to generate leads that can be nurtured later.
  • It’s a simple way to get people aware of and engaged with their social channels to expand their reach.
  • It’s a simple way to crowdsource content.

This campaign is an excellent idea for anyone trying to expand the top of their funnel — campaigns with a low time commitment but high level of delight are great ways to make new fans that you can later nurture into customers.

UncommonGoods

When I stumble across good email marketing, I get excited. When I stumble upon lovable email marketing, I swoon. Take a look at the lovely email ecommerce company UncommonGoods sent last week to remind/enable/capitalize on last-minute shoppers:


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First of all, one of the great things about all of UncommonGoods’ emails is their attention to detail. For instance, they tied the Valentine’s Day theme into more than just the design and theme of the email campaign: Take a look at the little tiny text at the top left of the email to see what I mean. Instead of just saying, “For an HTML version of this email, bla bla bla,” they said, “Email still a sweet nothing? Click here.” Love is in the details, as they say.

But the layout of the email also makes taking action super easy for the recipient. Notice how they’ve divided up the gifts, essentially, by persona. “Whose heart are you aiming for?” they ask — at which point you can click on the person you need to shop for, and be brought to a landing page with content that aligns with your need.

But you know what takes all this to the next level? The fact that UncommonGoods finds a way to incorporate blogging into all of this! If you visit UncommonGoods from this email, you’ll see the following (pay particular attention to the orange call-out):

 

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Not only does the design from the email align with design on the website, but when you click on the parts of that little box — let’s say you’re looking for gifts for your girlfriend — you get taken to a blog post of the top ten gifts for girlfriends, with a picture of that gift, a fun and well-written description of that gift, and a CTA to make the purchase next to each gift.

 

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Nothing like integrating your marketing channels to sweep a marketer off her (or his) feet!

What other companies are running adorable Valentine’s Day campaigns? Your company, perhaps? Share them in the comments, and spread the love!

Image credit: seyed mostafa zamani








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7 Excellent Examples of Email Personalization in Action

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Personalized email marketing: We have the technology!

So why isn’t anyone doing it? Well, it’s not that nobody is doing it (otherwise we wouldn’t have much of a blog post on our hands) … it’s just not being done as often or as well as it could be. I mean, I think we’ve all received the email that seems to be relying on “Hi [$$FIRSTNAME$$]” to totally nail it with email personalization. Alas, first name alone just isn’t cutting it these days.

Thing is, email personalization doesn’t need to be insanely complicated to resonate with recipients. Just like any other piece of marketing content, useful personalization is the stuff that simply makes your marketing more relevant, and more helpful. That’s all!

So, what are some ways you could make your email marketing more personal? I like to tell stories through examples, so I dug up some companies that are leveraging email personalization abilities in ways that are really useful to the recipient. Because no matter how awesome your creative or compelling your copy, excellent marketing comes down to being useful. Let’s take a look at seven examples of excellent email personalization I found in my inbox (and a couple of my co-workers’ inboxes … thanks guys).

And then we’ll wrap it up with one funny/mildly embarrassing one that didn’t quite hit the mark, just for good measure ๐Ÿ˜‰

1) Slingshot SEO

This example came to my attention via Litmus’ blog, in which they highlight an inspiring example of email personalization. It caught my eye for a couple reasons, but one of because Slingshot SEO is a customer of HubSpot’s! Pretty groovy, guys.

 

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I’m starting out with this example because I think it’s an excellent case of using personalization with restraint, and in a real world scenario a lot of us can relate to. I mean, they’re not going overboard with a bajillion fields or pieces of lead intelligence … because you don’t need to get that complicated to do email personalization right. Here’s what they did really well with this email:

  • Slingshot SEO succeeded in softening the sometimes stark “First Name” dynamic tag blog. As Litmus pointed out in its blog post, their inclusion of “Hi there” before the name makes the inclusion seem much more personal and conversational.
  • You’ll also notice they include the company name within the email in a natural, contextual way, just like they did with the “First Name” tag.
  • Slingshot SEO also segmented its email list to only send to those who hadn’t already downloaded the calendar on their own. Remember, a huge part of successful personalization is successful segmentation, and not trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Know who and what you should leave out of your email.
  • Finally, they selected an offer that’s appropriate for those on the list. This was a list re-engagement campaign, so selecting a top-of-the-funnel offer was a great choice. These folks wouldn’t want a middle- or bottom-of-the-funnel offer at this stage in the game.

For anyone just getting into the email personalization game, learning from a message like this is an excellent place to begin.

2) Dropbox

I love this email I received from Dropbox because it showcases how to use email personalization and behavioral triggers within your product (or on your website, as the case may be) to improve user experience.

 

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I received this email from Dropbox after I had logged in from multiple devices — clearly, they have an automated workflow set up that is triggered by this user behavior. As a result, I got this email reminding me of a product feature I didn’t know existed (or just forgot about), but makes my experience using Dropbox infinitely better and more efficient. Improved user experience through education about how to properly use a product or service usually results in customer retention and even upgrades — hey, when I use Dropbox more often, I might need to upgrade from a free version to a paid version as more storage is needed.

Think about what makes your product or service sticky — or heck, what tickles people’s fancies on your website — and set up workflows that remind leads and customers it exists, how to use it, and why they should. It’s a great way to boost engagement in a way that directly ties to new leads, customers, and revenue.

3) Overstock

If you’re an ecommerce marketer, you’ve no doubt encountered some sleepless nights over the dreaded abandoned shopping cart. Where did they go? Why did they leave? Is it something I said? Overstock put together this email to help address that problem after I left this bed frame in their shopping cart.

(My apologies in advance that I didn’t turn images on before I forwarded this message to my work address — let’s consider it a lesson in using proper image ALT text in your emails!)

 

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This email is so effective because it gives me all of the information I need right up front. I get:

  • A picture of the purchase I almost made to jog my memory visually, as well as the product name.
  • The price of the product, to help me evaluate whether it’s a purchae I can complete right now.
  • Informed that the product is still in stock, so it’s not too late to pull the trigger.

I also love the friendly, conversational tone that’s used in delivering all of this information.

Where this email could improve on personalization, however, is in delivering more relevant suggestions in the subsequent section of the email in which additional items are recommended to me. I know you don’t know my Overstock browsing history, but these items aren’t that well-aligned with the shopping I’m doing, nor is it that relevant to the purchase of a bed frame. Instead, they could have made this more personalized by including recommendations for things like:

  • Other Bed Frames at a Lower Price Point – Maybe I was scared off by the price the first time around, and needed something a little more cost effective.
  • Bed Frames With Different Features – Maybe this bed frame didn’t have everything I needed, and I was looking for something more “juiced up.”
  • Complementary Products, Like Under-Bed Storage or a Headboard – Maybe I purchased my bed frame elsewhere, but still need other bed accessories.

4) Twitter

Even the big social networks are upping their email marketing personalization game — and they’re finding some low-hanging fruit to do it! The other day, I was checking out whether my favorite local brunch establishment was open for, well, brunch. You see, as a TV-less place, they typically throw their holiday party on Super Bowl Sunday, because everyone’s at bars with giant flat screens to watch the game. But I thought maybe they’ll be open for brunch since the game isn’t until much later, so I took to Twitter to see if they have a username. They did, they were open for brunch, I got a Bloody Mary, and I was excited to see them using social media, so I followed them. All in all, a lot of big wins that Sunday morning.

I told you that story to tell you this one … about the email Twitter sent me shortly thereafter:


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This email is such an excellent example of personalization because Twitter’s tailored suggestions for who I should follow based on following @washsquaretavern were actually really good recommendations. Two of them are right around the corner from me — one a restaurant I frequent all of the time already (for brunch, no less!) and didn’t yet follow on Twitter — and the other three are people and places that are right up my alley in terms if similar interests in the “brunch space,” if you will.

A company like Twitter that has so much data can usually go one of two ways with personalization: They totally hit the nail on the head, or they have too much data to sift out what’s important. This is an example of accurately sifting out what I’d actually care about, and delivering it to me.

5) Singlewire Software

Singlewire Software is another customer of HubSpot’s, and while they’re using email personalization to market their business to leads, I thought it would be interesting to showcase a way for marketers to help tee up their sales organization for success using email personalization internally. This is one of the emails a Singlewire Software sales rep might receive from Marketing:


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This is such a simple way to use the personalization features available in your email marketing software to makes salespeople’s life easier — and what marketer doesn’t want a big win with their sales team? When a lead comes to your website and performs an action that denotes they’re someone Sales should be talking to, set up a trigger to alert the assigned sales rep that there’s someone they should be on the phone with. Be sure to include all the relevant information about the lead for that rep, too. Just remember, this email is so helpful because it’s not clogging up a rep’s inbox — it’s only being triggered when a relevant lead performs a relevant conversion event!

6) ModCloth

Man, it’s been a while since I highlighted ModCloth for their awesome marketing chops — well, here we go, another examples of these fashionistas doing great work with email personalization!


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There’s a few things I love about the personalization work in this email. Here are some highlights I hope you take away, especially if you’re an ecommerce marketer:

  • The language in this email is really well tailored to their target persona. For instance, the subject line to this email was, “Eek — something you like is almost sold out!” You might even notice a smiley face emoticon further down in the message copy. Personalizing the tone and language you use in your email marketing is just as important as apt use of dynamic tags and proper segmentation.
  • This email is also such low-hanging fruit for any ecommerce marketer, I’m surprised more aren’t using the tactic. Based on my on-site behavior, they’ve sent me a triggered email alerting me that a product I looked it as almost out of stock. This is a great way to get someone to take a quick action that contributes directly to revenue, and deliver value at the same time.

7) OpenTable

This email from OpenTable is leveraging personalization in a very creative way — it’s always beneficial for marketers to think outside the box to deliver value and personalized content. As you can see, they took the perspective of rounding up my own personal dining stats to deliver a summary of my year in dining. That’s some pretty cool content, aptly timed and delivered!

 

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OpenTable rounded up a great mix of interesting stats that tell a nostalgic story tailored to my experiences in 2012 — featuring some of the restaurants I went to — and also promoting the value of using OpenTable to book my dining by showing the amount of points I accumulated using their service. And the best part? The alignment with this use of personalized data with its call-to-action, to make more reservations and improve my stats!

8) A Funny Bonus Fail From OkCupid

Finally, I thought I’d close on a somewhat funny, somewhat embarrassing personalization failure. The thing is, it isn’t the worst email in the world, and the online dating service clearly had good personalization intentions. It’s just … a bit off base. To give you some context before you read the email, the subject line of this email was “12 Days of Atheist Matches.”

Oh, and please pay particular attention to the bizarre sentence called out in orange.

 

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Here’s what happened with this email. My OkCupid profile (if my significant other is reading this, please note that it’s not an active profile ;-P) has a ton of information about me. In fact, when you sign up for the service, they provide hundreds of questions for you to answer about yourself. That’s a lot of data from which to personalize your marketing emails. That’s why this email is so bewildering, because it draws upon just one trait in my profile to try to match me up with someone … one that wasn’t even that important to me. On top of that, the copy is bizarre, and this is just one of twelve emails I’ll receive matching me up with atheists. That’s right, twelve emails in a row came to my inbox, matching me with people based on one character trait.

OkCupid is usually excellent about slicing and dicing its abundance of user data — if you’ve ever read their blog, you’d know what I’m talking about — so this just seemed like a classic case of personalization oversimplification. Not the most egregious sin, but something all marketers should remember when putting together their email marketing campaigns. Remember, base your email personalization on information that actually matters to the recipient!

What other ways have you found to take personalization to the next level with your email marketing? Share your ideas and tips in the comments!

Image credit: tillwe








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12 Inspiring Examples of Beautiful Blog Homepage Designs

blog designsintroductory3

This is an excerpt from one of our latest offers, a collection of 47 Amazing Blog Homepage Designs. Download the entire collection here, for free, to browse through all of the blog homepage designs we think are amazing!

81% of U.S. online consumers trust information and advice from blogs, according to BlogHer. But how do you get people to fall in love with your blog in the first place? (Aside from remarkable content, of course.)

Well, just as your website homepage is like the front door to your business, so too is your blog homepage the front door to your business blog. If you’re not attracting people visually, how will you get them to take the next steps to actually read (and hopefully, subscribe to) your content?

I think a lot of it has to do with how your blog’s designed. I mean, after you’re done creating that quality content that keeps readers sticking around for more, you still have the challenge of finding a balance between visual design, and effective content presentation. Blogs are chock full of images, text, and links that need to be shown off just right — otherwise readers abandon your content because they can’t make heads or tails of what’s going on.

That’s why we’ve put together a variety of well-designed blog homepages to get you on the right track to designing the perfect blog for your readers. And of course, there are tons of amazing blog designs out there … if you know of other ones that might inspire readers, please don’t hesitate to share them in the comments (and be sure to share what you like about it, too)!

12 Blog Homepage Designs We Love

1) PandoDaily

An important aspect of a well-designed blog is a consistent color scheme and style. PandoDaily is using three different fonts — that’s right, just three! — that look great together when unified by the colors of the blog skin.

 

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2) Design Milk

Design Milk uses a very simple layout to highlight its blog posts. The sidebar to the right is perfect for showing off thumbnails that draw readers into a new article, and the social icons at the top right are a pleasant addition to the overall look and feel of the site.

 

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3) Webdesigner Depot

Webdesigner Depot’s banner stands out with its bright colors and subtle details, while working itself seamlessly into the design of the entire blog. The color scheme, background, and fonts are all consistent, which keeps this blog looking professional, while still distinct from the basic blog templates we’re all used to seeing.

 

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4) Mashable

Undergoing a recent redesign, Mashable breaks its content into three noticeable sections on the homepage. The new posts are listed on the left in the smallest sized thumbnails, the “Next Big Thing” posts are displayed in the center column as medium sized thumbnails, and the “What’s Hot” posts are shown to the right as large thumbnails.

 

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5) Brit + Co.

I love the warm, welcoming color scheme on Brit + Co., and the homepage is clean and free of clutter. But the best part is how Brit + Co. included a profile image of the writer quite prominently — a bold introduction to your readers is always a good idea.

 

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6) Ecoki

A textured background and angled header gives this blog a look and feel of its own. The organization of the articles helps highlight new, prominent content, without making it difficult to find other pieces of content — like past articles and reviews.

 

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7) 500px

This blog uses a two-column layout — and its sidebar is such an effective way to showcase a variety of visual content using thumbnails, like 500px has done here. The stats, social links, and related article information on the right side of each post also helps keep readers engaged with the content.

 

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8) Girl Scouts of Northeastern New York

The Girl Scouts (yes, even the Girl Scouts can rock a blog) let their local chapters create their own blogs. I particularly love the Girl Scouts of Northeastern New York blog, which takes design elements from a three-column layout and sprinkles it with a personal touch that’s still on-brand for the larger organization. The header graphics and playful colors make for a very enjoyable reader experience.

 

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9) Treehugger

Bold colors and fonts can do a lot to make a blog pop for new readers. Treehugger’s bright green bars and bold, black font help stories pop on the page.

 

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10) Salvation Army

Who says nonprofit organizations can’t blog? Nay, they should, and the Salvation Army’s clean navigation, large slideshow, and colorful social buttons draw the reader to the important elements of this blog. Posts are also neatly positioned and easily accessible to readers.

 

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11) Charity: Water

Keeping the nonprofit blogging train going is Charity: Water, which does an excellent job presenting high-quality images, and using bright red tags to give the right areas more reader attention. I also love the subtle social icons that grab your eye without being distracting.

 

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12) Johnny Cupcakes

Johnny Cupcakes knows a thing or two about brand consistency across channels, and I love that its blog’s simple color scheme and matching fonts help create a unified user experience from shop to blog.

 

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What other blogs have excellent homepage designs? Share more inspiration with us in the comments!








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38 Fantastic Inbound Marketing Blogs You Ought to Be Reading

best inbound marketing blogsintroductory3

In August 2011, we did a round-up of the 23 best inbound marketing blogs on the internet. But that was soooo two years ago, and it’s high time we gave that list a refresh, don’t you think?

I spend a lot of time reading these bad boys, and so do my colleagues here at HubSpot. But I’m always looking for new reading material! So read through this list — keeping in mind these are not ranked in order of awesomeness, but in order of alphabeticalness — and let me know if there are some other amazing blogs we should consider for next year’s list! I hope this gives you some new reading material to enjoy with your morning coffee.

38 Fantastic Inbound Marketing Blogs to Start Reading Today

1) Adhere Creative

A full service inbound marketing and branding agency, Adhere Creative’s blog specializes in explaining branding and design from an inbound perspective.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

2) B2B Inbound

With a focus on B2B marketing, this blog will be great if you fall into the B2B niche, and are trying to learn more about inbound marketing strategies and tactics that apply specifically to you.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

3) Being Peter Kim

Peter Kim delivers his blog posts about social business in short, easy to digest snippets.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

4) Bluleadz

This blog covers all aspects of inbound marketing — from top-of-the-funnel tactics, to conversion optimization, to nurturing and analytics.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

5) Convince and Convert

This blog will always provide you with thoughtful posts about the issues forward-thinking inbound marketers should be well versed in.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

6) Copyblogger

If you’re looking to improve your content creation skills, make no mistake that this blog is one of the best places to stop off.

 

copyblogger resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

7) Danny Brown

This is a thoughtful, well-designed blog that doesn’t just spit out the same old topics. Come here for interesting analysis of topics inbound marketers should be concerned with.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

8) echogravity

While covering a range of inbound marketing topics, this blog has some excellent sales-themed content for the marketer working closely with their sales organization.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

9) Find and Convert

If you’re looking for a blog with comprehensive coverage of digital and inbound marketing topics, look no further — the content quality here is top notch!

 

optimize this resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

10) For Entrepreneurs

This blog is, hands down, one of the best blogs for any current or aspiring entrepreneur, but particularly those in the SaaS space. You’ll learn about all aspects of growing a business today via totally fluff-free content from David Skok. I dare you not to learn something.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

11) Full Quota

I’ll just tell you how Full Quota describes its content, since they pretty much nail it. This content is for “modern marketers who love blogging, SEO, social media, and data.” Sounds good to me.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

12) Go Time Marketing

On this blog, you’ll learn practical tips that you can execute right away in your inbound marketing strategy.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

13) Guy Kawasaki’s How to Change the World

If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of the marketing world, it’s a good idea to follow this inbound marketing thought leader. You’ll be inspired by his content every time you read it.

 

how to change the world resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

14) Heidi Cohen

If you visit this blog, you’ll see the phrase “actionable marketing expert,” and it aptly describes the content you’ll read — I guarantee you’ll walk away with something you can actually do to be a better inbound marketer.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

15) IMPACT Branding & Design

IMPACT Branding & Design’s blog is great because not only will you learn about all the facets of inbound learning … it’ll also be fun. No need for education to be boring, am I right?

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

16) in2communications

This blog will help you learn about marketing throughout the entire funnel — from top to bottom — through the lens of digital marketing techniques.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

17) Inbound

You’ll enjoy reading the well-written, truly thoughtful posts on this inbound marketing blog. I also recommend you check out their debate series.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

18) Inbound Marketing Agents

The content here is written with some serious flair — learn about inbound marketing concepts with a smile on your face!

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

19) Jeff Bullas

This blog by Jeff Bullas is excellent for the social media marketer who enjoys thoughtful, in-depth content that provides specifics on how to be successful.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

20) Kuno Creative

This blog is great for inbound marketers working for an enterprise — and anyone who enjoys really, really pretty blogs. I mean, they’re a creative agency, after all!

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

21) Lynton Web

Great images, great writing, and great advice: Lynton Web’s inbound marketing blog in a nutshell.

 

describe the image

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

22) Market8

This blog will teach you how to generate leads using inbound marketing via content that’s enjoyable and easy to consume.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

23) Marketing Pilgrim

Read this blog not only for its good advice and personable writing, but because it does a great job at staying on top of industry news and data.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

24) MarketingProfs

This blog, frequently featuring Ann Handley (you may have heard of her), publishes thought provoking content and new research for the sophisticated marketer.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

25) PR 20/20

This blog is particularly excellent at teaching inbound marketers and agency owners how to be better content creators, and publishes thought leadership well worth the read from authors like Paul Roetzer, author of The Marketing Agency Blueprint.

 

pr 20 20 resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

26) Precision Marketing Group

This is one of those blogs that every B2B inbound marketing professional should add to their weekly reading list.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

27) ProBlogger

This is another blog that is superb for marketers trying to improve their content creation chops. (And really, who isn’t?)

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

28) Savvy Panda

This blog is perfect for a more technical inbound marketer with an interest in or experience with SEO and web design.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

29) Search Engine Land

This publication isn’t just about SEO — it’s one of the foremost authorities on the subject. Go here, regardless of skill level, to learn about modern day SEO and stay up to date on important news.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

30) SEOmoz

This is where SEO thought leaders hang out and write content. Period. End of discussion. Go here to learn a thing or twelve about SEO. Their content is ridiculously comprehensive, and extremely well researched.

To not learn something, you’d have to have your eyes closed and fingers in your ears.

Have I made my point yet? ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

seomoz resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

31) Seth’s Blog

If you have a short attention span and crave thoughtful insights, this blog is for you — you’ll enjoy short posts chock full of great business insights that’ll make you a better inbound marketer.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

32) SherpaBlog

Whether you’re a B2B or B2C marketer, MarketingSherpa’s blog will provide you with in-depth analysis of new research that helps you better understand the inbound marketing industry.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

33) Social Media Examiner

In addition to the adorable mascot, you’ll learn from some of the foremost thought leaders on social media marketing when you consume this engaging blog content.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

34) Social Media Today

Social Media Today should be bookmarked for daily reading — they generate high-quality content about interesting, creative, and innovative topics every inbound marketer should care about.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

35) The Inbound Marketing Company

This blog is excellent for anyone trying to learn more about inbound marketing, but their content has an excellent focus for SMB marketers, in particular.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

36) Tomorrow People

This is another inbound marketing blog that makes content and education much more fun, combining great writing, plenty of images and visualizations, and entertaining topics.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

37) WebMarCom

This blog is excellent for in-depth, high quality, comprehensive educational inbound marketing content.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

38) Whole Brain Marketing

The content on this blog is up-to-date with content about current inbound marketing trends that is well researched, relevant, and accurate. The advice you find here won’t steer you wrong.

 

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Posts You Might Like to Read:

What other awesome inbound marketing blogs should we be reading? Share your recommendations in the comments!

Image credit: Found Animals





 




Lees meer

38 Fantastic Inbound Marketing Blogs You Ought to Be Reading

best inbound marketing blogsintroductory3

In August 2011, we did a round-up of the 23 best inbound marketing blogs on the internet. But that was soooo two years ago, and it’s high time we gave that list a refresh, don’t you think?

I spend a lot of time reading these bad boys, and so do my colleagues here at HubSpot. But I’m always looking for new reading material! So read through this list — keeping in mind these are not ranked in order of awesomeness, but in order of alphabeticalness — and let me know if there are some other amazing blogs we should consider for next year’s list! I hope this gives you some new reading material to enjoy with your morning coffee.

38 Fantastic Inbound Marketing Blogs to Start Reading Today

1) Adhere Creative

A full service inbound marketing and branding agency, Adhere Creative’s blog specializes in explaining branding and design from an inbound perspective.

 

adhere creative resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

2) B2B Inbound

With a focus on B2B marketing, this blog will be great if you fall into the B2B niche, and are trying to learn more about inbound marketing strategies and tactics that apply specifically to you.

 

b2b inbound resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

3) Being Peter Kim

Peter Kim delivers his blog posts about social business in short, easy to digest snippets.

 

peter kim resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

4) Bluleadz

This blog covers all aspects of inbound marketing — from top-of-the-funnel tactics, to conversion optimization, to nurturing and analytics.

 

bluleadz resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

5) Convince and Convert

This blog will always provide you with thoughtful posts about the issues forward-thinking inbound marketers should be well versed in.

 

convince and convert resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

6) Copyblogger

If you’re looking to improve your content creation skills, make no mistake that this blog is one of the best places to stop off.

 

copyblogger resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

7) Danny Brown

This is a thoughtful, well-designed blog that doesn’t just spit out the same old topics. Come here for interesting analysis of topics inbound marketers should be concerned with.

 

dannybrown resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

8) echogravity

While covering a range of inbound marketing topics, this blog has some excellent sales-themed content for the marketer working closely with their sales organization.

 

echogravy resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

9) Find and Convert

If you’re looking for a blog with comprehensive coverage of digital and inbound marketing topics, look no further — the content quality here is top notch!

 

optimize this resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

10) For Entrepreneurs

This blog is, hands down, one of the best blogs for any current or aspiring entrepreneur, but particularly those in the SaaS space. You’ll learn about all aspects of growing a business today via totally fluff-free content from David Skok. I dare you not to learn something.

 

for entrepreneurs resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

11) Full Quota

I’ll just tell you how Full Quota describes its content, since they pretty much nail it. This content is for “modern marketers who love blogging, SEO, social media, and data.” Sounds good to me.

 

full quota resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

12) Go Time Marketing

On this blog, you’ll learn practical tips that you can execute right away in your inbound marketing strategy.

 

gotime marketing resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

13) Guy Kawasaki’s How to Change the World

If you want to keep your finger on the pulse of the marketing world, it’s a good idea to follow this inbound marketing thought leader. You’ll be inspired by his content every time you read it.

 

how to change the world resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

14) Heidi Cohen

If you visit this blog, you’ll see the phrase “actionable marketing expert,” and it aptly describes the content you’ll read — I guarantee you’ll walk away with something you can actually do to be a better inbound marketer.

 

heidicohen resized 600


Posts You Might Like to Read:

15) IMPACT Branding & Design

IMPACT Branding & Design’s blog is great because not only will you learn about all the facets of inbound learning … it’ll also be fun. No need for education to be boring, am I right?

 

impact branding resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

16) in2communications

This blog will help you learn about marketing throughout the entire funnel — from top to bottom — through the lens of digital marketing techniques.

 

in2 communications resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

17) Inbound

You’ll enjoy reading the well-written, truly thoughtful posts on this inbound marketing blog. I also recommend you check out their debate series.

 

inbound resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

18) Inbound Marketing Agents

The content here is written with some serious flair — learn about inbound marketing concepts with a smile on your face!

 

inbound marketing agents resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

19) Jeff Bullas

This blog by Jeff Bullas is excellent for the social media marketer who enjoys thoughtful, in-depth content that provides specifics on how to be successful.

 

jeffbullas resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

20) Kuno Creative

This blog is great for inbound marketers working for an enterprise — and anyone who enjoys really, really pretty blogs. I mean, they’re a creative agency, after all!

 

kuno resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

21) Lynton Web

Great images, great writing, and great advice: Lynton Web’s inbound marketing blog in a nutshell.

 

describe the image

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

22) Market8

This blog will teach you how to generate leads using inbound marketing via content that’s enjoyable and easy to consume.

 

market 8 resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

23) Marketing Pilgrim

Read this blog not only for its good advice and personable writing, but because it does a great job at staying on top of industry news and data.

 

marketing pilgrim resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

24) MarketingProfs

This blog, frequently featuring Ann Handley (you may have heard of her), publishes thought provoking content and new research for the sophisticated marketer.

 

marketing profs resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

25) PR 20/20

This blog is particularly excellent at teaching inbound marketers and agency owners how to be better content creators, and publishes thought leadership well worth the read from authors like Paul Roetzer, author of The Marketing Agency Blueprint.

 

pr 20 20 resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

26) Precision Marketing Group

This is one of those blogs that every B2B inbound marketing professional should add to their weekly reading list.

 

pmg resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

27) ProBlogger

This is another blog that is superb for marketers trying to improve their content creation chops. (And really, who isn’t?)

 

problogger resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

28) Savvy Panda

This blog is perfect for a more technical inbound marketer with an interest in or experience with SEO and web design.

 

savvy panda resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

29) Search Engine Land

This publication isn’t just about SEO — it’s one of the foremost authorities on the subject. Go here, regardless of skill level, to learn about modern day SEO and stay up to date on important news.

 

search engine land resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

30) SEOmoz

This is where SEO thought leaders hang out and write content. Period. End of discussion. Go here to learn a thing or twelve about SEO. Their content is ridiculously comprehensive, and extremely well researched.

To not learn something, you’d have to have your eyes closed and fingers in your ears.

Have I made my point yet? ๐Ÿ˜‰

 

seomoz resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

31) Seth’s Blog

If you have a short attention span and crave thoughtful insights, this blog is for you — you’ll enjoy short posts chock full of great business insights that’ll make you a better inbound marketer.

 

seths blog resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

32) SherpaBlog

Whether you’re a B2B or B2C marketer, MarketingSherpa’s blog will provide you with in-depth analysis of new research that helps you better understand the inbound marketing industry.

 

marketingsherpa resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

33) Social Media Examiner

In addition to the adorable mascot, you’ll learn from some of the foremost thought leaders on social media marketing when you consume this engaging blog content.

 

social media examiner resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

34) Social Media Today

Social Media Today should be bookmarked for daily reading — they generate high-quality content about interesting, creative, and innovative topics every inbound marketer should care about.

 

social media today resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

35) The Inbound Marketing Company

This blog is excellent for anyone trying to learn more about inbound marketing, but their content has an excellent focus for SMB marketers, in particular.

 

the inbound marketing company resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

36) Tomorrow People

This is another inbound marketing blog that makes content and education much more fun, combining great writing, plenty of images and visualizations, and entertaining topics.

 

tomorrow people resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

37) WebMarCom

This blog is excellent for in-depth, high quality, comprehensive educational inbound marketing content.

 

web marcom resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

38) Whole Brain Marketing

The content on this blog is up-to-date with content about current inbound marketing trends that is well researched, relevant, and accurate. The advice you find here won’t steer you wrong.

 

whole brain resized 600

 

Posts You Might Like to Read:

What other awesome inbound marketing blogs should we be reading? Share your recommendations in the comments!

Image credit: Found Animals





 




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Facebook Starts Rolling Out Gift Cards for Select Brands

facebook gift cardsintroductory3

Yesterday, Facebook announced the arrival of Facebook gift cards, or what they’re calling the “Facebook Card.” In a nutshell, this is a gift card that a user can purchase to use at stores or stores’ websites — either for themselves or a friend. You know … a gift card. Pretty standard stuff.

So, who is this for? Should marketers care? How do they work? Why, I’m so glad you asked. This post will answer your questions about the Facebook Card, and whether you should be incorporating it into your marketing strategy.

How Does the Facebook Card Work?

To get a gift card, select a gift for your friend from the Gift Cards & Digital category. We’ll pretend we’re getting a gift card for a friend to spend at Target.

 

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Select the amount you’d like to add to the card — in this instance, we’re choosing $50. Then you complete your purchase, just like any other online gift card, and your friend will be notified of their gift. In a few days, they’ll receive a gift card in the mail (that’s right, a real gift card they can hold in their hands) that looks like this:

 

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The card can be used in person or online at the retailer for which you purchased the gift card. The most notable part of this, though, is that one Facebook Card can store amounts for multiple retailers. So if a friend gets you a gift for $50 at Target, the same card can house $100 at Sephora, too. You can go into your Account Settings in Facebook to check your account balances for each store at any time.

 

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Facebook has been rolling the Facebook Card out progressively in the U.S. only, so if you don’t see it quite yet, be patient — you should very soon if you’re a U.S. user.

What Marketers Should Know About the Facebook Card

The marketing applications of the Facebook Card are pretty straightforward for any marketer who has an ecommerce shop, or a brick-and-mortar store. Problem is, right now, only four companies are enrolled in the program: Sephora, Target, The Olive Garden, and Jamba Juice. That means even if you’re excited about the prospect of using Facebook Cards for your own business, right now, you can’t exactly do it.

I think this is because Facebook is still testing out the model, though — in the past, all they’ve allowed users to purchase via gift cards were virtual goods within apps, or iTunes gift credit. Ideally, this model in which there’s a reusable gift card should get all the kinks worked out of it now, before a widespread rollout to all businesses. And according to the Los Angeles Times, investors are hoping Facebook invests more in commerce in the future. “There are many products in these categories [gift card and reloadable prepaid cards] issued by Visa, MasterCard, and American Express that have more flexibility in where you can use them and where you can reload them, so Facebook is getting into a very saturated space with a limited offering at this point,” shared Gil Luria, analyst at Wedbush Securities. To be prepared for it, though, I’d recommend ensuring you have the infrastructure to process payments from major credit cards if you ever hope to use this service, since it appears that these Facebook Cards are using Discover.

Do you think the new Facebook Card is going to see a lot of adoption? Do you anticipate a more widespread rollout in the near future, or do you think this experiment will be a bust?

Image credit: JD Hancock








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The Sales Professional’s Guide to Building Rapport With Leads

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Marketers and salespeople alike are both concerned with building rapport with leads. From a marketer’s standpoint, it’s all about creating lovable marketing. You know, engaging copy, beautiful designs, helpful emails, witty and useful social media updates — that sort of thing. But the goal of lovable marketing isn’t just to generate new leads — it’s also to tee up your sales team with leads that are in a good mood, excited about your business, and ready to talk to someone and take the next step toward becoming a customer.

But that’s where we often leave you; we tell you to hand off the lead to sales, and congratulations, you did your job! But the best marketing and sales organizations don’t operate like that — marketers should help their sales team see things through ’til the close is won, and ensure all the rapport they’ve helped build stays strong during that handoff. That’s why we thought it was important to write a post about building rapport with leadsonce they get into Sales’ hands. Because whether you’re in Marketing or Sales, rapport-building is a critical skill that we should all work on improving. I mean, when is it not handy to be good at relationship-building?

So I sat down with some of HubSpot’s internal sales rock stars, and asked them for their advice — how do they build rapport with leads, and what can the rest of us do to be better at it? Here’s what they had to say.

Match Their Way of Speaking

People generally buy from people they like and trust. And who do people generally like and trust? People that are kind of similar to them. I know, I know, we’re an egomaniacal species, but it’s true. Problem is, when you’re on the phone with a lead, you don’t have as many ways to show someone that you’re generally a good person … you just have your voice. That’s why it’s critical you put them at ease by adjusting the tone and pace of your speech to match one more similar to theirs.

Now, that doesn’t mean you throw on a Southern drawl when your lead has one, too. What it means is if you’re speaking to someone who talks extremely fast-paced, you adjust your pace to be a little more “alert,” even if naturally you speak pretty slow. Or if you’re speaking with someone who sounds pretty laid back and is cracking jokes, you play along — slow your roll, and be willing to shoot the breeze for a while. Changing your tone and pacing doesn’t mean that you’re not being genuine; it means you’re good at making other people feel comfortable, something any marketing or sales professional should be proud of.

Use Social Media to Find Common Points of Interest

Social media hasn’t just changed the way marketers do their jobs; it’s opened things up for sales professionals, too. Before you hop on the phone or attend a meeting with a lead, do your research. You should be looking for their public social profiles, and seeing what you can learn about them from those. As Paul Rios, one of HubSpot’s international sales reps says, “Chances are you can find something in common with 99% of humans who breathe oxygen and live on Earth when you look up their social profiles.” If you’re using HubSpot software, it’s really easy to find this kind of information — just pop open their Contact record, and see a history of how they’ve interacted with your brand on social media.

 

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Now, this doesn’t mean you’ll use every piece of intelligence you gather to build rapport. There’s a line between doing your homework, and being unnatural … or just plain creepy. Danielle Herzberg, a HubSpot channel sales manager, recommends alleviating this by engaging the information from a social profile once she’s already made a phone connect with someone. “It’s less to find out whether they like cats versus dogs, and more to figure out what they care about as a business, what they’re promoting, and then following up to say I read that link to the blog post they shared on, say, Twitter.”

Depending on the cues you read from them in your initial phone connect, you can then assess whether it’s appropriate to get more personal — noting that you went to college in the city they’re located in, or maybe that you have common connections. In fact, you can even occasionally call yourself out for being “creepy,” saying that you were looking at their Twitter account or LinkedIn profile, and noticed an interesting factoid. But if you’re feeling uneasy about this level of personal information, you can always default to using content that leads share socially to start a conversation about something you both have in common, and both care about immensely.

Show You Understand Their Pain Points

Speaking about caring immensely, Gary Vaynerchuk, HubSpot adviser and speaker at last year’s INBOUND conference, gave a keynote address in which he called upon all of us to “care immensely, or die.” This couldn’t be more true in the rapport-building process. No matter how much you bond about the weather, their kids, your shared alma mater, how much you care will ultimately come down to your ability to show you understand their pain points, and want to help.

To extend and strengthen the initial rapport you’ve already built, transition to a conversation that demonstrates you’re committed to understanding their pain points, and helping them find a solution. You may think this is just valuable to advance the conversation toward the close, but it’s more than that — it advances it toward the close, because you’re engendering even more trust in the lead by investing time into truly understanding their problem, and enabling yourself to actually help them.

Dan Slagen, head of global marketing relations at HubSpot, had this to say about the subject: “Every partnership we’ve successfully forged at HubSpot was because we were addressing a fundamental need of a partner, at the time they needed it. It doesn’t matter if I flatter them, offer the world, or anything in between; if the timing isn’t right, and I’m not providing a solution that really helps them meet their goals, all the warm and fuzzy feelings mean nothing.” This kind of rapport-building is critical, too, in case you don’t win a lead’s business the first time around. If you showed you understood their pain points, when the timing is right, you can bet you’ll be the first one they call next time around.

Ask Leads to Confirm Your Rapport-Building Is Working

If you’re working with leads on the phone, it can be hard to tell if your rapport-building is working. If that’s the case, sometimes you can use cues that validate you’re on the same page. For instance, you can blatantly say, “I can’t see you guys around that conference table, but are you nodding your heads, or are you checking your email?” Searching for this little bit of validation can help break any perceived awkward tension, and get a lead to agree that either you’re on the right track and everything’s gravy, or you lost them somewhere, and there’s a reason why.

Be sure to use this tactic in moderation, though. Herzberg likened overusing this tactic to a girl asking if she’s pretty every ten minutes — you need to own some level of confidence that you’re reading their cues accurately. For example, after you’ve done this once or twice, it’s wise to say something like, “I’m going to assume silence is a good thing, and that you’ll interrupt me if I’m saying something you’re not on board with.” This shows that you have a strong enough rapport that you want the dialogue to be open and honest.

Don’t Be Afraid to Call Leads Out

Sometimes, your attempts to build rapport can go sour. If you start off on (or veer onto) a bad foot with someone for some reason — hey, we all have bad days — don’t be afraid to call out the elephant in the room. “I like to articulate that I sense their tone has changed,” Herzberg advises, “and ask if I said something that offended them.” You might say, “Until I brought up X, I felt like you were really into our conversation, and now it feels a little closed off.” Throwing yourself under the bus is a great way for the lead to step in and save you, and it gets a conversation back on track much quicker than ignoring the problem.

It can also help to do a little active listening if you’re having trouble building rapport with someone from the get-go. The lead may just want to do a little bragging. Let them. Sometimes you need to put in a little extra up-front time stroking someone’s ego in order to tee yourself up to have more difficult conversations later down the road.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Some people are naturals at building rapport, and for others, it’s a learned skill. But the point is, it can be learned! Herzberg recommends that those looking to improve this skill pick a handful of leads, and visit their websites. Then visit their ‘About’ page, and learn something about each lead that you could use to start a conversation. For instance, in what city are they located? Are you planning a trip there? Did you go to college there? Have you ever visited? Do you have a boyfriend that’s moving there who is having a tough time finding an apartment?

Then, pull in a co-worker or manager and actually role play a conversation based on what information you’ve gleaned. The most important part is making it feel and sound natural, because leads can totally sense when rapport-building is just another thing on your checklist. I mean, if you just bond about the weather for 15 seconds, it’s pretty obvious what you’re doing, and your good intentions are quickly wiped away. Instead, have an earnest conversation.

Once you’ve gotten good at finding ways to open up the conversation, practice the transition to a business conversation. Remember, even if you forge a strong personal bond with a lead, they still have business they need to accomplish. If you don’t get good at transitioning to the business conversation, you’ll reach a point at which you’re wasting their time. And that sure as sugar isn’t good for rapport.

(Note: If you’re truly not good at building rapport, all is not lost … as long as you’re good at earning people’s respect, and quickly. It’s a common misconception that charm wins you deals, but charm alone does not make a great salesperson. An ideal salesperson can do both — charm people and earn their respect but ultimately, the ability to help a lead is the most important part of being great at sales.)

Remember, Rapport Isn’t Built in a Day

Or was that Rome? Either way … rapport-building isn’t something that happens once on the connect call, and then never again. It happens all the time. Read the content leads are sharing on social media, send them links to content you think they’ll find helpful, engage in conversations they’re having on forums or in LinkedIn Groups, send emails that they’ll appreciate. These are the kinds of actions that show you care about actually helping them, and are invested in the relationship — instead of just bonding over superficial subject matters because you were told salespeople should build good rapport with leads.

How else have you been able to establish a good rapport with prospects? Share your tips in the comments!

Image credit: katerha








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8 Ways to Instantly Improve the Quality of Your Marketing Content

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Last week, we published a post written by a HubSpot partner, Velocity Partners, that discussed the importance of creating high-quality content. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend you do. You can view it here.

The need to create high-quality content, however, has put many marketers in a difficult situation: high-quality content takes a long time to create, and many just don’t have the time to do it.

While it’d be nice to say, “tough noogies, find the time,” that’s neither realistic nor helpful. So instead, I’ve opted to brainstorm a list of very quick things that don’t add on much time to your content creation process, but will instantly elevate the quality of the content you create. If you have a solid idea, and apply these additional measures before publishing, I think you’ll find readers impressed with the uptick in your content quality — and an uptick in traffic and leads should follow, too.

8 Quick Ways to Dramatically Improve Your Content Quality

1) Fact Check

While being accurate may not actively add anything to the quality of your content, inaccuracy in your content deals a mighty blow to content quality. Set yourself apart as the industry standard for unbiased, factually correct content — the stuff your readers can always rely on. That kind of reputation is how thought leaders are born, and it elevates you next to your competitors.

Whether it’s you or a colleague, do not press the “Publish” button until you’ve confirmed any facts are actually true. This is particularly important when you’re newsjacking — you’re writing fast, and about new information, so it’s easy to let a mistake slip through. If you aren’t sure about the accuracy of something, be up front about it in your content and just say so. And if you ever do get called out for an inaccuracy, don’t sweep it under the rug. Make the correction in your content, and thank the person who found the error. And then be 1,000 times more careful next time.

2) Include Data That Backs Up Your Points

When you’re trying to convince your readers of something, data is a quick way to build instant credibility and convince your reader that — to put it bluntly — you know what the heck you’re talking about. Consider this little excerpt from a post we published recently about Google’s SSL encryption, and its impact on keyword research for SEOs:

 

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We could just tell you that you should worry about Google’s SSL encryption … or we could show you, using data, why you should pay attention.

When using data, just be sure to properly cite it, and use reputable, current sources. If you’re grabbing a social media statistic, for instance, it doesn’t do much good if it’s from 2009. That stat is completely irrelevant at this point. Similarly, it doesn’t make you look too savvy if the stat is from Jillybeanscatblog.tumblr.com, or worse, if you try to cover up your sketchy data source by not providing any source information at all. Be transparent and critical with your data decisions. To learn more about using data to enhance your content, check out our post about 13 ways to spice up your marketing content with data.

3) Find Examples That Illustrate Your Points

Just like supporting data points can help you strengthen your case, using examples — whether you’re coming up with hypothetical situations or, even better, using real ones — can lend a lot of clarity to confusing concepts for your readers. I used to work in the tourism industry, and we used to tell new hires, “When people are on vacation, they turn their brains off. Make it impossible for them to misunderstand you.” That concept should be applied to your marketing content, too. If you’re talking about (let’s get meta here) how to incorporate examples into your content to heighten quality, then find an example of you or someone else doing that so it’s totally clear what you mean. Like this example, for example (har har):

 

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This example comes from a blog post, “How to Create an Ecommerce Checkout Experience Shoppers Don’t Hate.” I was explaining the importance of giving progress indicators to shoppers while they check out, so they can see how many steps they have left to complete. Instead of just stating it, I included an example from ecommerce company ModCloth to demonstrate the principle in action. Doing this makes your content instantly more valuable to readers who have a dozen other tabs open, IMs blinking, and emails filling their inbox. That’s too many distractions to put the puzzle pieces together themselves; it’s up to you to help do it for them.

4) Use Visuals to Illustrate Points

A picture’s worth a thousand words. Trust me, I know. After writing an epic long post about content mapping, I was like, “Good gravy! There’s got to be a better way to explain some of this stuff.”

And there was, and it was a visual, and investing a little up-front time creating that visual has paid for itself over, and over, and over. Here, take a look at this visualization explaining how to map marketing offers to each stage in the sales cycle:

 

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Now, go read this blog post that explains it.

Bet you didn’t do that second one. Sometimes explanations just lend themselves to a more visual representation. And oftentimes you don’t need a fancy designer to create this. The one above was put together relatively quickly and painlessly in PowerPoint.

5) Get Quotes From Thought Leaders and Subject Matter Experts

No one is an expert in everything. But the content creator’s dilemma is that they’re often asked to create content around subjects they only know only a little bit about. That poses a problem for content quality, to be sure. But the best way to get around this — and this will make your life so much easier when writing about things you don’t fully understand — is to reach out to a subject matter expert or thought leader in the space. Ask them questions before you start writing to ensure your content is accurate, and be straightforward with readers; in other words, tell them that you consulted an expert for this post. You can even quote them.

I do this all the time when I write about email deliverability. We have a wicked smart guy working here, Evan Murphy, who specializes in email deliverability. I always consult him before I start writing, because it saves me hours and hours of research. He gives me quotable snippets I can include to increase the credibility of the content, and he always does a fact check for us before publishing to ensure everything is accurate. If you’d like to see an example of one of these, just check out this blog post, “How Marketers Can Avoid Those Dreaded Email Spam Traps.”

6) Remove Any Jargon

High-quality content is easy to understand. Jargon, however, is decidedly not easy to understand. Remove any gobbledygook from your content before publishing it to ensure any of your readers can easily understand what you’re talking about. Remember that some of your audience is more advanced than others, too. That’s actually one of the reasons we started using skill-level tags in our content — so we could adjust the language and subject matters we discussed to appropriately target the skill level of the reader. If you’re unsure whether your content is hitting the mark, ask someone in your target audience to do a quick read of your content, and identify any jargon they don’t understand so you can remove it.

7) Do Some Formatting, and Incorporate High-Quality Visuals

Formatting only takes a few minutes, but it makes your content meeeeellllions of times easier to get through. Who wants to read a piece of content that’s full of dense text, and nothing else to break it up? This falls into the bucket I talked about earlier — you know, where people turn their brain off on vacation. Well the phenomenon’s not too different when they’re reading content, either. No matter how high-quality the actual “content” of your content is, it doesn’t really matter if no one is going to bother to read it, because it looks like a jumbled mess. Add some bullet points, some numbers, some bold headers, and some images to make your content look much more palatable, and much more high-quality. Not only does formatting and images make your content higher in quality, but it also makes it more engaging and shareable, too. It’s no wonder photos on Facebook generate 53% more Likes than the average post — we’re visual creatures after all!

8) Have Someone Edit and Proof

Finally, don’t ship anything without a solid edit and proof. If you don’t know the difference between an edit and a proof, now’s the time to learn — because it makes all the difference when you’re trying to boost your content quality.

A proofreader will look through your content and correct minor errors, like misspellings, misplaced commas, that sort of thing. This is important, sure, but it’s no replacement for a good edit. An editor will actually work with you on the storyline, the phrasing, the order of your points, and help identify what’s missing. If you want to instantly increase the quality of your content, hire a freelance editor (or heck, bring one in house) who can make sure your content is consistent with your written style guide and can identify opportunities to make your content better … or, depending on which editor you’re working with, just make those changes him or herself.

What other quick tricks do you have for instantly boosting content quality?

Image credit: Tsahi Levent-Levi








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