Why Your Business Needs Content Marketing | The Startup Magazine

August 10, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

We live in a world where anyone from anywhere can potentially start a business (provided they have the right tools of course) and whilst that’s undoubtedly a great world we live in, it means there is twice as much competition in any given industry.

And as if the odds aren’t already stacked against you, consumers are becoming increasingly savvy as to when they are on the receiving end of the sales spiel, and with so many ways to skip past adverts with little or no relevancy it’s easy to see how things get lost amongst the noise.

You’ve probably heard of content marketing. You may even already be doing it, although without much effort or reason, but your business needs it. Whatever your status, your businesses survival is dependent on you creating content which ultimately entices a consumer to do business with your business.

If you’re unsure on just how it can help your business to grow then this guide should help to cement just why you need it.

Why You Should Invest in Video Marketing to Grow Your Business | Small Biz Trends

August 5, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

In the rapidly evolving landscape of marketing, businesses are constantly required to come up with improved ways to promote themselves and attract valuable leads. The rising customer expectations have led businesses to develop new strategies to meet and exceed the demands.

One of these strategies that have gained momentum recently is video marketing.

There is hardly any doubt about the fact that video-driven platforms are well-received by today’s generation. In fact, Snapchat has overtaken Twitter with a user base of more than 150 million every day compared to the 136 million daily users of Twitter.

Such increased popularity of videos has convinced businesses to rethink their digital marketing strategies and include videos to attract a flood of customers.

4 Reasons Your Product Presentation is Letting Your Company Down | Life Hack

August 1, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

When a customer places an order with your website, or over the phone with one of your reps, there’s a promise that’s made. The customer expects their package to arrive on-time with all of the items they ordered included. While good companies make this happen, great companies deliver on their promises with style.

Consider the last time you purchased an Apple product. Did you notice how intricately, yet simple the devices were packaged and presented to you? There are many examples of great product presentation in packaging, which can help boost loyalty and revenue. Let’s look at four ways you can actually improve on your current product presentation right now:

Why Retail-Minded Marketers Are Intrigued by Pokemon Go’s Forthcoming Ads | Adweek

July 15, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Google Adwords, the digital giant’s paid search offering, has long been a go-to platform for ecommerce players looking to increase sales. More recently, it has represented a lucrative source for direct-marketing retailers trying to drive mobile consumers into their stores. Google charges brands on a cost-per-click basis for the ads, guaranteeing a website visit for their cash but not necessarily in-person patronage.

All of which makes Pokemon Go’s forthcoming sponsored-locations product intriguing, since it will reportedly be designed to only charge advertisers when consumers—glued to their smartphones playing the game—show up at their stores. Indeed, foot traffic, the lifeblood of old-school retail and the Holy Grail for brick-and-mortar shops that lean on digital.

8 Tips For Converting Blog Readers Into Customers | Getentrepreneurial

July 13, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

When it comes to content marketing, getting visitors to your website is hailed as the ultimate goal.

So, what happens when you reach that goal? What happens when you publish a blog post for your business which goes viral overnight or your blog becomes a huge hit, reaching millions of people who then click and land on your website?

Do your phones starting ringing off the hook? Are you bombarded with sales, leads, orders, sign ups? Does your brand become a household name? Is your business front-page news?

Having created ‘viral content’ for businesses on a number of occasions, I can categorically (and unfortunately) say that the answer to all of those questions is no.

5 Ways to Target Millennials With Text Message Marketing | All Business

July 7, 2016July 6, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

If you’ve spent any time at all around Millennials, then you know how much they love texting. Millennials rely on texting for just about everything—so much so that, a recent survey by OpenMarket reports, 75 percent would rather give up using their phones make voice calls them to text.

Why do Millennials love texting so much?

76 percent say texting is more convenient and allows them to communicate on their own schedule

63 percent say texting is less disruptive than voice calls

53 percent just say that they’d rather text than call

19 percent say they never check their voice mails.

What does this mean to your business? There’s a huge opportunity to reach out to Millennial customers via text message marketing. For instance, according to the survey, three-fourths of Millennials say text reminders are helpful, but only 30 percent get them from businesses that they patronize.

10 Statistics About Content Marketing in 2016 You Won’t Believe | Inc.com

July 6, 2016July 6, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

2016 is gearing up to be a game-changer for content marketing, and there’s finally plenty of data to back it up. I forecast some big purchases of media platforms from major brands aiming to start pushing niche content to already-loyal audiences.

But it won’t just be content produced on a whim. I think this will be the year where marketers start to use data to develop better strategies, in order to create better content (with smarter distribution).

I’d like to think that’s the direction things are heading, but I’m blown away by some of the statistics I’m seeing that might actually prove me wrong.

Here are 10 that stood out to me the most.

How a Sweet, Simple Instagram Photo Gave Rise to a Sweeping Global Travel Brand | Adweek

July 5, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Little did Murad Osmann know that he would start a viral photo series when he snapped a seemingly simple picture of his then-girlfriend, Nataly, and uploaded it to Instagram while on vacation in 2011. The couple was spending a few extra days in Barcelona after a work trip when Murad took a simple shot of her walking through a door spray-painted with graffiti, his arm outstretched to hold her hand. “She grabbed my hand and pulled me forward,” Osmann told Adweek. “I took one photo, and then we published it—that’s how we started doing this.”

7 Ways To Crush Email In 2016 | The Startup Magazine

July 1, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

We recently saw email being named “the technology which has had the greatest impact in transforming how we work over the last ten years”, above smartphones. This trend isn’t going to slow down in 2016. As email evolves through cloud computing, automation, integrating into social and becoming more focused around mobile, we need to make sure we keep up in order to make the most of this medium as both a sender and recipient.

In this post, I’ve gathered a list of tools that’ll make sure you crush email (in a good way) in 2016:

5 Ways to Make Content Marketing Easier This Summer | Entrepreneur

June 23, 2016 ~ knjohn ~ Leave a comment

Summer is here, and that means vacation season is upon us. We’ll all be traveling more, taking a little time off and soaking up the sun. But, as an entrepreneur, you may find it strange to leave behind your passions and projects, even for a few weeks.

One of the hardest projects to leave completely alone is your content — it’s coming from you, after all. And consistently creating more remains a challenge for teams everywhere. In fact, 60 percent of marketers in one survey said content creation was their biggest challenge last year.

And, honestly, the warm summer months that pull you away from your desk, to the lake (or mountains or ocean), don’t make that challenge any easier.