Content Strategy News & Articles

Summertime is here, the temperature is steadily rising and most people are lounging on the beach, not at all thinking about the holiday season … which is precisely why it’s a good time for e-tailers to get prepared.

The seven kingdoms of watchable content and distribution are in turmoil.  Watchable content providers are in open warfare with distributors. Powerful dynasties have been discarded to the dustbin of history. Upstart usurpers are in a mad land grab fraught with a combination of peril and promise. Amidst it all average consumers, the people of the kingdoms, engage in open rebellion by joining the either the upstarts or even the wildling pirates in brazen contempt of the established powers that be. As in all battles for supremacy the future is unclear, but one truth remains the same, victors emerge not through power, but through smart alliances.

There’s no arguing with the fact that content marketing holds a tremendous amount of potential in terms of its ability to improve the customer experience on your website and drive targeted traffic in a cost-effective way.

Unfortunately, just because a strategy has potential doesn’t mean that it’s easy to do -- as anyone who’s ever tried (and failed) to launch viral-style content before can attest to!

So how does your organization categorize the relative value of its content for translation? How, what and when do you translate specific types of content? I propose we look at this in terms of a “Content Value Index.” Content can be divided into three levels to help distinguish the relative value and the appropriate method to translate it. These levels are automatic, community and professional.

Some of the social media mavens would have us all believe that you can't make a viral video on purpose. I'm here to tell you that they are wrong. Lack of intention has nothing to do with it.

My recent interview with Steve Yu illustrated that intention just might be one of the keys to success. Kevin "Nalts" Nalty, acclaimed expert on social media and video in particular, famously claimed that viral was dead for advertisers and marketers "because the odds of a commercial video being seen by millions are nearly insurmountable". I'd say Nalts is half right. The odds are very long indeed, but I think Nalts was looking through the traditional marketing lenses which basically make attempts at going viral dead on arrival.

In the history of evolution it is generally better to complicate than to simplify. But complication can hit a wall.

The first thing you notice when reading The Conversation Company: Boost Your Business Through Culture, People and Social Media by Steven Van Belleghem is that it’s as much about the customer as it is about the company. By seeking to transform company culture to become more collaborative, creative and well, conversational, an organization must focus on delivering a successful customer experience.

Content Marketing used to be a buzzword for a few evangelists. Today, it’s going mainstream faster than Twitter.

Writers who use Apple’s iPad now have another tool at their disposal. On Thursday, InboundWriter announced the new release of its content optimization system, which now works on the popular tablet.

A Colorado-based startup led by the former CEO of DailyCandy has emerged from stealth mode. LinkSmart uses text links to help sites increase traffic and drive visitor engagement.

Want to make better decisions when it comes to your content strategy? Demandbase and the Content Marketing Institute have partnered to released a guide and corresponding infographic that illustrates the Content Delivery Funnel. Both are designed to point marketers in the right direction when deciding which technologies to use in their content marketing programs.  

If you’re paying attention to your mobile content strategy, you may be confused about which analytics you should be tracking. Mobile is a different animal and requires tracking your users in a different way.

Smart TVs have been here for a while. Leaders of the market -- Samsung and LG -- have put a lot of effort to push this concept into the mainstream. Microsoft stepped into the game just weeks ago with its Smart Glass technology that connects X-Box with smartphones and tablets. And more and more vendors are trying everyday to change the very foundation of the TV as we've known it for the past 90 years.

This movement has brought with it some challenges to the content management industry such as: how to deliver content to the living room?

Quality localized content increases sales, reduces support costs and increases customer satisfaction.

If Zuck was on the Apprentice I think The Donald would fire him in the first week. I'm not one to put Donald Trump on a pedestal and any reader familiar with my search for authentic value would probably be surprised to see me writing something positive about him, but there is one thing he's got figured out a whole lot better than Facebook.