Category: Digital Marketing

Marketers have been sold a dream: Collect more data, and you’ll get better insights to make smarter decisions. We all…

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Want a good book to advance your content skills, inspire creativity, or grow your business acumen? Look no further. One…

How many times have you rolled your eyes or screamed (silently) about an unnecessary or misguided request crossing your content…

It’s been a rough few months for marketers. For all the announcements on LinkedIn celebrating the landing of a new…

If your brand treats video like an extra in the background of your marketing strategy, it’s time to make it…

If you work in content marketing, you’ve experienced the “battle of the brains.” Your creative brain gets excited to develop…

These days, brands championing a social cause or initiative must treat it as a serious commitment. Of course, it was…

I see one mistake derailing marketing strategy again and again: Setting up marketing teams as internal agencies that serve cross-functional…

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Marketing goals often use soft, fuzzy language like “brand awareness,” “credibility,” and “education.” They’re nice things for the business, but…

Sound familiar? You stop writing after the intro to ponder what details to include. You need facts to support the…

I meet regularly with a group of seasoned professionals to explore big ideas, emerging trends, and how we might anticipate…

Don’t launch a new agency or any brand before listening to advice from someone who’s done it and even written…

Fashion shows function well as a marketing tool. Models walk down runways showcasing what the brand is selling. It’s a…

When someone lives with a health condition such as asthma, psoriasis, or bacterial infections, they’re not the only ones who…

We’re living in an era obsessed with overachievement. Tech billionaires tout themselves as the sole architects of progress, preaching the…

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Is it time to expand the definition of content marketing? In 2020, I posed that question. My argument was simple:…

Did you hear the canary chirping in the marketing coal mine? It got a little louder in the past month…

Remember 2019? We were all riding the Old Town Road with Lil Nas X while watching the slow-burn soap opera…

SEO isn’t dead. It just needs a fresher approach. In this video presentation, experts from TopRank Marketing reveal why traditional…

“With great power comes great responsibility.” That’s what Uncle Ben told Peter Parker (aka Spiderman) in 1962. Let’s twist the…

What was your favorite ad from the Super Bowl LIX? I couldn’t pick just one. As is true every year,…

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Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs are being cancelled by public institutions and private companies. But the end of formal…

Just when it seemed like the generative AI landscape was beginning to settle, DeepSeek stepped in and said, “Hold my…

Take the lead on innovation and creation with your brand’s content and marketing. Learn how to get the buy-in and…

Trendy content marketing formats and platforms can come and go. Today’s TikTok campaign is tomorrow’s “Remember when …?” But one…

Many brands line up with statements of “thoughts and prayers” after natural and human-made devastation, such as the recent California…

One of the best motivational speeches I’ve heard came not from a business event or even a TED conference. It…

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You have too many marketing tasks and responsibilities to do them the hard way. Your work is too critical to…

Confession time. Just before sitting down to write this article, I was working on a social calendar project for a…

Visibility. Once upon a time, that word was the most common answer I heard when I asked marketing leaders what…

Open a marketer’s treasure chest and you’ll see an abundance of data. How do you select the valuable gold among…

As the founder and CEO of The Joy Brigade, Shabnam Mogharabi counsels people to rebel with joy. She’s embraced the…

I recently interviewed Marcus Collins, author of For the Culture: The Power Behind What We Buy, What We Do, and…

To get everybody on the same page with your brand’s content marketing, you need an actual page. Your team —…

People prefer the easiest route. When they search for information, that now means they turn to generative AI tools, like…

Have you seen that video of Mark Zuckerberg talking about the difference between Meta’s and Apple’s development approaches? For some…

Meta just learned the hard way that no one likes fake friends. Users quickly sniffed out the company’s AI-generated profiles…

Brands generate original research to grow their recognition as thought leaders in their industries. But the buzz won’t materialize if…

Content marketers have long had an identity crisis. In recent years, the crisis has grown with the ubiquity of content…

Happy New Year! Here we are again. It’s the beginning of a new year — that magical time when your…

I hope you are getting ready for a wonderful season of giving, and taking a pause from all things marketing…

When your content fires on all cylinders, the signs are obvious. Your audience searches for your content by name, eagerly…

Hashtag stuffing isn’t as tasty a dish as it once was. This month, Instagram ended its following hashtags feature. Users…

Earlier this year, everybody was all aflutter about the U.S. ban on TikTok. But when the ban moved into the…

Exciting destinations. Luxurious accommodations. Friction-free coordination. Memory-making experiences. For consumers, these are the things travel dreams are made of. For…

“The future is already here — it’s just not evenly distributed yet.” That fantastic quote, usually attributed to author William…

This past couple of weeks, it wasn’t politics or U.S. Thanksgiving gatherings that dominated social media arguments. Instead, it was…

You’re underpaid for the marketing work you perform. That’s the sentiment of marketers surveyed for CMI’s 2025 Career Outlook: Content…

It hasn’t been an easy year, and I won’t be sad to say goodbye to 2024. I’m looking at 2025…

You can access a wealth of marketing-related data — from web analytics and customer journey behavior to competitor analysis and…

It’s Thanksgiving Day in the United States, when you try to leave work behind, put aside petty squabbles, and be…

At a conference last week, the CEO of a professional services firm asked me about some advice they’d received from…

On Nov. 6, the day after the U.S. elections, more than 115,000 users deactivated their accounts on X. That’s the…

New research suggests that manufacturing marketers — like a lot of other B2B marketers — only feel “average” about their…

Predicting the death of anything is the easiest way to land in hot water. The second easiest is clinging to…

What happens when search-related data shows your organization’s content isn’t delivering? You dig deeper into data. That’s what Brian Piper…

Predictions for 2025 started fast and furious before the calendar flipped to November. But, as you’ve learned, marketing predictors are…

Caspian Studios likes to shake things up. Take its Murder in HR podcast. Many agencies listen to client needs and…

You’ll never know what content works — and why — unless you regularly track and evaluate its metrics against your…

How do you approach content optimization? It’s easy to get stuck working on one piece at a time — trying…

For the last 25 years, people have used internet search in a straightforward way. Input a keyword or phrase, and…

You likely associate influencer marketing with well-known B2C tactics. Engaging social media personalities to co-create content and promote products to…

What’s your data strategy? Your first thought might be about first-party data collection, performance metrics, or metadata for targeted content.…

What are your brand’s “left ventricles” waiting for discovery? Seth Stephens-Davidowitz posed a variation of that question in his keynote…

It looks like Semrush took notes on CMI’s advice that the best way to launch a content marketing platform is…

A spark can ignite a creative fire. A spark can illuminate a moment. Last week, I witnessed glimmers of light…

Did Salesforce really need another content project? The company’s mega-successful Trailblazer program, launched way back in 2007 as IdeaExchange, had…

In introducing our latest content marketing research, CMI’s Stephanie Stahl wrote: “While many [companies] find themselves simply treading water, a…

This week, thousands of content marketers from all over the world invaded San Diego to celebrate the beloved practice, do…

Universally acknowledged truth: Good content serves as one of the most effective ways to attract and retain your target audience’s…

The pandemic didn’t just change the B2B buying game; it flipped the whole table. That’s how Susan Gonzalez, director of…

As Content Marketing World 2024 kicks off today, I’m sharing my opening remarks on our beloved practice’s current state and…

Does your marketing measurement and data have standards? What does that even mean? Well, it means you have a standard…

“Let me tell you a story …” Those six simple words command attention. They create an expectation that an engagement-worthy…

When Mo Sherifdeen joined Travel Oregon 19 years ago, he was the first person hired to work on the website.…

Pretend it’s late 2024. Oh, wait, it is. How time flies. As you plan your marketing strategy for 2025, think…

Fragmentation. It’s the best word to describe today’s landscape of entertainment and information consumption. Two years ago, user-generated content accounted…

Building the ideal tech stack for content marketing remains a pie-in-the-sky dream for most marketers. So, we asked the experts…

Tell me something, marketers. Are you satisfied with the state of B2B content marketing? According to 980 of you, the…

Tell me something, marketers. Are you satisfied with the state of B2B content marketing? According to 980 of you, the…

Like most people, I hate spending money on some things but love spending on others. For example, I’ve been known…

My neighbor was a math professor at a college in San Francisco. He once told me: “The longest distance between…

Do you remember CliffsNotes? The iconic yellow-and-black books summarized all manner of literary works. They digested the plot and detailed…

Reasons abound when you don’t want to do something: “I haven’t the time.” “The team is just me.” “Our audience…

Almost three years ago, Micky Onvural made a surprising move. She left her role as CEO of a B2C fashion…

Is a career path in marketing even a thing anymore? As we approach Content Marketing World 2024, I’m struck by…

An update to terms of service isn’t usually a headline-making event, even at the biggest brands. Yet, this past year…

In the 20th century, marketers relied on coupons, customers’ anecdotal feedback, and mainstream media subscriber numbers to understand their reach…

This story may sound familiar. A small team writes and publishes content for a corporate blog. The company doesn’t know…

For any successful journey, you need to know where you are, where you want to be, and what paths you…

“Isn’t it obvious?” How many times have you asked this question? How many times have you heard it asked? In…

“By 2025, data stories will be the most widespread way of consuming analytics.” That prediction from Gartner a few years…

The world seems chockablock with research and data about how AI is now — and in the future — having…

Should you still invest in paid social media promotion and advertising for your brand? When I posed the question to…

What’s the outlook (and current reality) for marketing jobs involving content these days?   Our 2025 Career Outlook for Content…

It’s been a challenging year for most groups within the marketing realm. But marketers who spend their efforts at the…

Artificial intelligence manifests dueling perspectives. Some marketers are uncertain how to feel about this new technology. Some see the opportunities…

No marketer has ever said their content distribution budget is too big. That’s why brands of all sizes eagerly consider…

Have you heard? Listener-friendly content formats like podcasts, audiobooks, and sound snippets enhance the emotional appeal of your stories and…

Does trust begin with the story or the storyteller? I’d argue they should be on equal footing at the start.…

Marketers know that data-driven personalization presents a huge opportunity and a meaningful way to deliver on customer expectations. Research backs…

Are you ready for “advergaming”? Or is it ad gamification? Gamified advertising? Whatever the word or phrase, interactive advertising is…

Everybody loves videos. In the most recent CMI research, 84% of marketers say they use videos — that’s an 11%…

Your content isn’t polished until you make it accessible to all. Google regularly introduces new accessibility features and updates to…

Does gating content make sense in 2024? In B2B content marketing, tension typically arises between marketing and sales teams over…

Are you ready for AI-assisted search paid advertising? Whew … a lot of buzzwords in that one question. That’s the…

Email presents a marketing benefit unavailable on any social media channel: Your brand can show up directly in your audience’s…

When you hire architects to design a house, they don’t just give the interior and exterior drawings to the construction…

We have an update on the Snoop Dogg viral ad from earlier this year. Fresh off his Olympic hosting duties,…

Most brands understand what it takes to deliver a satisfying content experience — or think they do. But what your…

Strategy consultants and agencies often get a bad rap. Sometimes they deserve it. But sometimes they don’t. The cliché (and…

Online reviews are a gold mine for marketers, and fortunately for you, the gold keeps growing. Just four years ago,…

In a crowded marketplace, influencer marketing ranks as an effective strategy for brands to reach new audiences. Yet, many marketers,…

You don’t just create content for the sake of the audience. You’re a marketer. You create content to ultimately drive…

Does every “new” show, series, and film you watch these days seem like something you’ve seen before? You’re not experiencing…

“Success is never owned. Success is only rented, and the rent is due every day.” That quote from Rory Vaden’s…

Shocking news this week. A U.S. court found Google, that tiny little Northern California company that provides search, advertising, and…

Branded content is among the most misunderstood of all content tactics. While it’s a distinct approach, it’s easy to confuse…

Have you heard any of the countless remixes of New Order’s instant classic Blue Monday? Each one reimagines the synth-laden…

I’ve seen several articles and social media posts recently about why modern content marketing needs a “beyond the website” strategy.…

The CEO asks the company’s data scientist if the marketing strategy should incorporate generative AI and large language models. The…

Marketing plasters the Olympics. In the Parade of Athletes, at every event venue, and during every media opportunity, the competitors…

You learn the 2025 budget has room to add a new role to your content and marketing team, and you…

Everybody expects content about refrigeration products to be boring. That’s why the marketing team at Heatcraft Refrigeration Products wanted to…

Thanks to AI, any marketer can quickly create a blog post, article, or other type of content in minutes. But…

Do you remember when your whole family went to the same doctor? Believe it or not, that wasn’t uncommon not…

A huge leader dropped out of a major campaign this week. Oh, you thought we meant that national race in…

A dozen applications arrived shortly after the posting for a copywriter on the content marketing team at The TemPositions Group…

Original research creates a unique differentiator in your content marketing program, but not everyone or any AI tool can do…

We’re headed down the wrong road with generative AI. Over the last few months, I’ve been struck by the messages…

Optimal day: Friday Optimal topics: Content marketing, SEO Start date: Upcoming Friday Frequency: Every other Friday Of course, you don’t…

Do you have a share of model? We don’t mean like a super model or stock share. We’re talking about…

Generative AI prompts a lot of reactions from content marketers. Everybody seems to have an opinion — or more than…

My wife had already fed our dog. Undeterred, the dog sat by her bowl with an innocent yet hungry look.…

Don’t you sometimes wish you could redo all that content created years ago?  I go back to things I wrote…

You have 173 days left to reach your marketing goals this year. Well, let’s be honest. Nobody really works or…

Ali Orlando Wert has led multiple content teams at high-growth companies fueled by acquisition. Although these teams are often pieced…

Consumers really like short-form content. Billions watch TikTok videos, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels every month. But it isn’t just…

Let’s talk about SEO. More than a month after a source gave thousands of pages of internal Google documentation to…

Marketers should stop using attribution models and return to a 1985–like measurement model if they want their brands to succeed…

Ask a question; get an answer. Ask the next question; get the next answer. Repeat until done. That’s the basic…

I had two interesting discussions with marketing leaders recently. Both revolved around the same question: “Where do we start?” One…

How are things for marketing agencies? Not as great as last year, according to Ad Age’s Agency Report 2024 (subscription…

Social media offers a volatile space for marketing. The rules of engagement vary across platforms, as do the audiences and…

Stuart Butler is a trained rocket scientist turned content marketing rock star. Though the career as a rocket scientist didn’t…

A long time ago (so long ago that Nickelback still had hits), my marketing leader would ask me what value…

We didn’t get to the south of France this week, but we’ve been talking about Cannes Lions. At the International…

Brands’ words and actions — including yours — matter. As politics, health care, and other cultural topics become more polarized,…

A mentor of mine used to drill the following into my head: “You are not your target market.” He meant…

When is your content, our content? In the movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Jeff Spicoli (Sean Penn) has a…

Two brains are better than one. Embracing the machine brain of technology as a partner with the human brains of…

Time for a quiz. Do people trust: Non-governmental organizations (NGO)? Government? Media? If you answered no, no, and no, you…

I’ve heard about more organizations kick-starting their content marketing strategy lately. That’s a welcome change from the past year when…

Does Pride Month seem quieter this year? No big controversies stand out like last year, but no creative campaigns —…

A perplexing irony exists in content marketing. Though most content is static, interactive content usually delivers better results. Interactive content…

Audience building is one of the hottest topics in marketing today. That’s why you hear so many software vendors claim…

Depending on your age, you’ve heard of the Pentagon Papers and Watergate. Younger people may recall the Edward Snowden revelation…

Headlines are the workhorses of content. When they work well, they pull readers into your articles, e-books, podcasts, etc. When…

A cacophony of brand voices hums in discord across your content spectrum. Getting them to sing together presents a challenge…

You’d think that a new company with the resources of OpenAI would have a straightforward path to building trust. They…

When is your audience NOT your end customer? If you’re a B2B marketer, you know the answer. Your job requires…

More content marketers should act like museum curators. Museum curators pick an exhibit theme, carefully select the artifacts, and organize…

You’ve heard the expression, “Work smarter, not harder.” Content marketing teams would do well to adopt that philosophy. Hard work…

Did you follow the Apple iPad Pro content debacle? Here’s a quick recap. A recent online ad for the new…

OpenAI and Google made waves in the world of artificial intelligence this week. In a studio set seemingly from the…

Wouldn’t it be great if the content your brand invests so much time and resources in could earn attention from…

  Quality content can get your web pages ranking higher in Google search results. But contextual links can help, too.…

What the heck should you do with social media in marketing these days? Content and marketing teams have been so…

An old saying goes that marketers only worry about two things — the logo and the Pantone color. Well, the…

Content marketing teams rarely talk about efficiency. You frequently discuss quality, conversions, and brand alignment. Your primary concerns center around…

Your lack of social media guidelines could discourage employees from becoming brand advocates and even applicants from joining your company.…

We should rename generative AI. I suggest calling it “expressional AI.” The dictionary defines “generative” as “having the ability to…

In the immortal words of Britney Spears, “Oops, they did it again.” No, we’re not talking about the US government…

If only you could write faster … The deadline pressure would lessen. The work volume wouldn’t overwhelm. The headache assignment…

Every editor knows what it feels like to sit exasperated in front of the computer, screaming internally, “It would have…

There’s something in the air. In the past week, I’ve been asked more questions about how to measure content marketing…

Tell us you don’t know anything about marketing without telling us you don’t know anything about marketing. Last week, multibillionaire…

With so many nuances to content, from distribution to format to the buyer’s journey, you must take a drill-down approach…

Content creation acts as the heart of effective content marketing. And, as a skilled creative practitioner, you pour your heart…

Change fatigue. It’s a thing. My good friend and amazing consultant Jenny Magic wrote a whole book on the topic.…

To use AI or not to use AI, that is the question. Let’s hope things work out better for you…

I have a tough time putting aside my editor’s brain. Editors and good writers know what I’m talking about. It’s…

Are you motivating your audience to take action? How do you know which creative assets compel your audience to act?…

Do you play golf? I don’t, but I’m intrigued by one thing: The goal of golf is to play the…

Google + HubSpot. Is it a thing? This week, a flurry of news came down about Google’s consideration of purchasing…

Creating content gets a lot of attention. But it can’t get an audience without a well-executed content publishing process. Content…

A massive change is coming to search. As Google experiments with AI in its standard search results and its Search…

Feeling stuck with generative AI? Here’s a way to get unstuck. I’d like to ask you to think about two…

What’s really going on with generative AI and marketing? We wanted to know, so we went straight to the source…

As a kid, you probably learned the phrase, knowledge is power. As a marketer, you prove its validity every day…

Just as LeBron James has dominated NBA courts and conversation, Google has dominated search and content conversations since the turn…

One of the more exciting trends in marketing is the rise in interest in engaging employees as influencers and content…

Everybody knows the apocalypse of ad tech data approaches. Yet, most aren’t rushing to do anything about it. That’s the…