The recently released Buyersphere Report 2011 on shifting trends in buyer research behavior is particularly interesting for two reasons: It focuses on European markets, providing an intriguing counterpoint to the many U.S.-based surveys. It surveys the actual behavior (rather than just the opinions)...

Listened to a fantastic presentation from my friend and CMI consultant Jason Falls last week on social media measurement. Much of what Jason reviewed is applicable to content marketing measurement and ROI, especially when communicating content creation and distribution to the C-Level. What the C-Level...

According to a recent study by FUSION b2b, the top B2B marketing priority for 2011 is lead generation. This supports what I’ve been hearing from my clients and peers – that their biggest challenge is attracting high-quality leads their sales teams will love. More marketers are turning to digital channels...

Here is a short video we put together for Content Marketing World that covers five content marketing case studies from brands that are doing content marketing right. American Express Open Forum – Focusing on solutions for small businesses. Conditioned Air – Covers home comfort solutions...

Is your content marketing mobile-friendly? Before you answer, look at these five salient mobile marketing drivers.   Smartphone ownership rises U.S. Smartphone ownership is expected to reach a tipping point in the U.S., according to Nielsen.Continue reading

My daughter showed me a video about skin cancer on YouTube called “Dear 16-year-old me”.  It’s a great example of content that humanizes a difficult subject and effectively engages a target audience. At the very least, my 17-year old was watching it, sharing it, and talking about it along with a million...

One of the easiest yet most often overlooked marketing tactics is the call to action. I recently gave you ideas on how to include calls to action in your content marketing, but where should you send people and what do you say? Landing pages: Where visitors like to land A landing page is a page on your...

Microsites may be small, but they sure are mighty! Microsites are particularly well-suited to content marketing endeavors. Three reasons: A microsite focuses tightly on a narrowly-defined topic. The concentration of information is a boon for people and search engines alike. Microsites tend to attract...

Google has one company as its main competition: Facebook. That’s right, Facebook is working to become the web platform for literally all communication.  It’s latest move is into email and texting.  For Google, this is a problem. Get Your Own Personal Facebook Email Address If you haven’t...

Last year CMI blogger Jennifer Watson wrote a terrific article, The Audience Content Marketers Can’t Afford to Ignore – But Almost Always Do, that discusses how content marketers often forget our most important audience – sales people! In her article, Jennifer cites data from the American Marketing Association...

Content marketing accounts for more than 26 percent of total marketing budgets annually, according to research from Junta42 and MarketingProfs that surveyed 1,100 marketers. What’s more,  over  50 percent of survey respondents plan to increase their content marketing spend over the next 12 months. However,...

What do B2B decision makers and purchase influencers care about?  Reducing risk! They want to make a buying decision that will enhance their careers. They want information that will help them make the best business decision possible – a decision that will result in cost savings and/or increase top line...