Here are The Marketing Automation Alert’s best marketing automation-related articles curated today, Thursday, 2/14/13. Receive a daily summary of The Marketing Automation Alert directly to your inbox. Subscribe here (your privacy is protected). If you find this valuable, please share by using the links below:
_____________________________________________________________
Featured Marketing Automation Article
Data is marketing’s gateway drug to software fluency – Chief Marketing Technologist
From chiefmartec.com – Today, 7:40 AM
Key summary…
Since the marketing executives that these data scientists report to are hungrily looking for results to show that their investments in data-powered marketing can pay off, there will be a lot of pressure from the CMO to give them that access and permission. And once the circle of life of data gets moving, cycling through new ideas with increasing velocity, there will be no turning back. Suddenly the marketing department has software fluency.
iNeoMarketing‘s insight:
It’s a tricky path that we’re heading down: CIO, CMO and Big Data. Scott Brinker provides an excellent argument as to why the dynamic nature of being data-driven will force the marketing function to include “data scientists” who are of very nature programmers. Please click-through, absorb, and think about how this impacts your department’s planning.
_____________________________________________________________
FREE: The Paid Social Media Advertising Report 2013 – Nielsen
From nielsen.com – Today, 8:27 AM
Report covers…
Marketers are increasing budgets and using social media in conjunction with other advertising channels, but return on investment (ROI) continues to be a question.
Below are some key facts from the report:
• Advertisers increasingly view paid social media advertising as an integrated, cross-platform tactic and run it in conjunction with other online and offline media.
• Paid social media advertising is primarily used to support branding-related efforts. As a result, advertisers “would prefer to use the exact same metrics used in the offline medium, and additional metrics specific to the online medium” to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns. Very few media sellers, however, can actually provide such metrics.
• Metrics such as pins, likes and click-throughs are often used to measure paid social media advertising ROI, though advertisers and agencies think sales generated and brand lift are the most appropriate metrics to use to determine ROI.
• Advertisers are doubtful or unconvinced about the effectiveness of paid social media advertising, indicating that the growth of the medium is being somewhat hampered by a lack of relevant, universally employed metrics.
iNeoMarketing‘s insight:
Some good data and insight around paid social media advertising. If you’re working through how to measure the ROI for paid social media advertising, this is an important guide.
_____________________________________________________________
The best (and worst) days, times to send press releases | Ragan
From www.ragan.com – Today, 8:22 AM
Which times of day is the market deluged with press releases? Is your release getting lost in the shuffle? Find out now.
iNeoMarketing‘s insight:
We’ve curated the time of day chart vs. the day of week chart, as the day of week chart is fairly the same Monday through Thursday (and in our thinking, dependent on your industry’s news cycle).
_____________________________________________________________
2013 Mobile Trends For Marketers | Forrester Blogs
From blogs.forrester.com – Today, 8:19 AM
iNeoMarketing‘s insight:
Smart overview on how mobile impacts the marketer’s action relative to the products offered by the marketer as well as the marketer’s activity. Includes key takeaways into three main points, which you should click through to review.
_____________________________________________________________
From www.thesaleslion.com – Today, 7:11 AM
Excerpt…
If one looks at all of the changes happening around us and then looks ahead at where all of this is going, longer content and blogs will likely have more relevancy going forward, and here are 5 reasons why:
1) The perception that longer content is of better quality, but generally speaking, length gives writers the opportunity to dive deeper and teach better on any given subject.
2) ROI: bigger and better content, when consumed, can have a dramatic impact on consumers and potential clients.
3) More visual capabilities: the more visual components an article or piece of content has the more likely it is to draw attention and be read.
4) Penguin, Panda and Google like Big Content
5) Longer content gets more Social Shares
iNeoMarketing‘s insight:
This post convinced us that long content is desirable, and we are going to strive to produce long content. We were of the mindset that few have time to spend on anything longer than a quick burst, e.g., Seth’s blog posts. However, the argument in this post + the average time spent on The Marketing Automation Alert (close to 10 minutes per visitor) convinces us that longer content may be the way to go. Seriously, what does it take to convert a white paper into a piece of solid long content?
_____________________________________________________________
Secrets of the 7-Result SERP – SEOmoz
From www.seomoz.org – Today, 8:15 AM
Everything you ever wanted to know about Google’s 7-result SERPs, plus 10-12 things you probably didn’t want to know. I try to answer the big questions, like are 7-result SERPs connected to expanded site-links (hint: yes).
What caught our eye…
The question of what actually triggers a 7-result SERP is definitely complicated, especially as Google expands into Knowledge Graph and advanced forms of entity association. I’m sure the broader question on everyone’s mind is “How do I get (or stop getting) a 7-result SERP?” I’m not sure there’s any simple answer, and there’s definitely no simple on-page SEO trick. The data suggests that even a strong link profile (i.e. authority) may not be enough. Ultimately, query intent and complex associations are going to start to matter more, and your money keywords will be the ones where you can provide a strong match to intent. Pay attention not only to the 7-result SERPs in your own keyword mix, but to queries that trigger Knowledge Graph and other rich data – I expect many more changes in the coming year.
iNeoMarketing‘s insight:
Yes: it is everything you need to know about the 7-result SERP! Way too much information to incorporate into a summary. Either bookmark for future reference or pass-along to the right colleague.
_____________________________________________________________
How Much Do Your Webinar Attendees Remember? – ClickMeeting
From blog.clickmeeting.com – Today, 7:57 AM
Key points covered…
Here are some tips to help attendees absorb and retain your educational webinar content.
1. Keep it bite-size
2. One idea at a time
3. Minimize distractions
4. Relate to existing knowledge
5. Leave time for processing
6. Be practical
Talk about how to use your ideas in real life. People remember what they implement.
7. Set reasonable goals
Too much information can be overwhelming, and attendees may stop trying to assimilate it.
iNeoMarketing‘s insight:
Very practical advice. We want to add this:
- Repurposing content goes a long way to reinforce memory, e.g., the recording of the live event, posting the deck to SlideShare, creating a blog post, creating a white paper, etc.
- Age impacts memory, i.e., different age groups go about remembering differently.
_____________________________________________________________
The true colour of brands and true nature of infographics | Futurelab
From www.futurelab.net – Today, 8:01 AM
Important take-aways…
Infographics, mostly those like this one which are beautiful and laid out with excellent taste, go straight to the point and are easy to grasp. They are emotional and aesthetic. They appeal to our feelings. Besides because they are so simple and didactic, they are taken at face value, so much so that no one dares point out that they could be wrong. All you need is a click of the mouse and hey presto! The picture is multiplied and shared throughout the world. It is no longer cogito but imago ergo sum.
Yet, infographics are also simplistic and exaggerated. They save time but at the same time, pictures tend to deprive readers from their critical eye. Most of the time they are non representative and show surprising results. They often refer to “a study the world’s top 100…” (Brands in this particular case) but who selected the sample? What are those brands? Who commissioned the study? Where are the results to be found? What methodology?… Such questions are and will remain, most probably, unanswered.
iNeoMarketing‘s insight:
Great justification for the use of infographics. Yes, color influences, but this article more than validates the use of infographics.
_____________________________________________________________
How Often Should You Feed Your Content Marketing Programs? – Profs
From www.marketingprofs.com – Today, 7:48 AM
Content – Some common questions arise as you begin to implement a content marketing program: How often do I need to update my content? How often should I be publishing?
Topline recommendations…
- Social media: Post often
- Blogging: Post weekly, at the very least
- Email newsletters: Ask your audience for their preferences
- To find the right mix, test
iNeoMarketing‘s insight:
A helpful and quick guide, which should be considered as you continually modify your marketing calendar.
_____________________________________________________________
4 Tips for Better Site-Navigation – Invesp Blog
From www.invesp.com – Today, 7:52 AM
Whether its top, left, on page navigation or search; the objective of any site is to help visitors easily find what they are looking for. It’s essential.
Tips offered…
- Beware of extensive drop-down menus
- Underused: Onpage navigation
- Refine Search Options: Once a visitor navigates to a particular category page, it’s important to provide easy ways for that visitor to refine the search within that particular category.
- Offer multiple options
iNeoMarketing‘s insight:
Very helpful post that provides guidance around improving site navigation.
_____________________________________________________________
The Content Marketing Formula: 70/20/10 | Social Media Today
From socialmediatoday.com – Today, 7:30 AM
Key excerpt…
This model, which Eric Schmidt introduced to Google in 2005, requires employees to dedicate 70% of their time to core business tasks, 20% to related projects and 10% to unrelated activities. With an approach that powered the leading force in search and advertising technology, marketers will take their content to new heights.
We’ve outlined the kinds of content that fit within these three buckets and how leading brands have distributed each type within their editorial workflow.
Proven Content: 70%
Premier Content: 20%
Experimental Content: 10%
iNeoMarketing‘s insight:
Based on the adjacent scoop covering Long Content, we wouldn’t be surprised it Premier and Provent Content turn out to be equal in bucket size. Smart article.
_____________________________________________________________
Effective Content Marketing with Visuals: Your 5-Step Guide – CMI
From contentmarketinginstitute.com – Today, 7:17 AM
It’s been predicted that visual media will become one of this year’s biggest content marketing trends, and it’s easy to see why. Use this 5-step guide to start you on your way to effective content …
Quick list of the 5-steps…
1) Using multimedia to enhance PR
2) Creating custom infographics
3) Building a brand atmosphere
4) Going retro
5) Employing corporate candids
iNeoMarketing‘s insight:
The article focuses on how visuals can be used to enhance certain content marketing tactics. We’re including this post as it may prompt some creative thinking for our readers.
- Receive a daily summary of The Marketing Automation Alert directly to your inbox. Subscribe here (your privacy is protected).
- If you like this scoop, PLEASE share by using the links below.
- iNeoMarketing merges marketing automation with content marketing for a powerful lead management solution, configured and managed by our knowledgeable, experienced staff. Contact us
themarketingautomationreport.wordpress.com 