Archive for Content Marketing Strategy

To put this post together, we banged together the heads of everyone on the Mequoda team to consolidate some of the mishaps that have occurred with our clients. There have been some truly talented print editors that were either let go, or left by themselves because they couldn’t weather the print to digital transitions. Ones … Continue

I’m a big fan of planning.

And I believe that your website is a reflection of your entire business and business model.

A visitor to your website should quickly be able to understand your mission, your audience, the scope of your content, and even how you make money.

It always surprises me that people don’t start the process … Continue

If you find the concept of blogging several times a day exhausting, join the club. However the one thing that publishers have over any other type of content-creators is an endless supply of content that can be re-mixed and re-purposed into new, evergreen blog posts. These 28 ideas for blog posts should get your motor … Continue

Utilizing proven SEO press release guidelines can translate into more website traffic and member conversions … Continue

How the top five magazines on Twitter got so popular — not to say that this is definite list of every publisher, but according to our research, these publishers are an impressive bunch to analyze. They also have brand advantage so it’s true that they don’t have to try as hard, but just remember that … Continue

Most of the publishers I work with are rich with content assets.

If they’re not rich with revenue, it’s usually because they don’t know how to leverage those assets. Efficiency is key to success in a multiplatform publishing environment. Before you can design a system that minimizes manpower and maximizes automation, you need to do a … Continue

These 10 organic marketing programs are perhaps the best organic marketing definitions

Organic marketing focuses on the shift from spending money on marketing to spending time on a disciplined strategy, proven to increase traffic and get your message out with paying for it. … Continue

Mequoda’s only purpose in life is to prevent any other publishing company from going out of business, ever. That’s why we offer our decades of experience, proven best practices and user-friendly Mequoda Method for digital publishing success in our three-day Internet Marketing Intensive, the definitive training course in publishing and marketing content online. … Continue

Whether you’re outsourcing your Internet marketing services or building an internal Internet marketing services department, these 11 content marketing job functions are key

I’ve been running marketing services departments and companies for the better part of 30 years. Mequoda Group is an independent co-operative Internet marketing services company that currently supports 20+ client organizations. The most … Continue

Not to mention bringing in plenty of green by utilizing the best white paper format

How would you like to expand your product line with something that’s based on content you already have, increases your credibility in your niche, offers your customers immediate gratification, and will sell in the thousands, maybe tens of thousands … or … Continue

13 event websites that can get you listed in Google and extend your reach to the conference-going community

In person live events are a preferred medium. When a passionate user is committed to a topic, they want to go to the source; the author, guru exert that really knows the content. They want an interactive presentation. … Continue

Digital content marketing drives surge in digital product sales for publishers

While many organizations have discovered the power of digital content marketing to sell products and services, perhaps no organizations are being impacted like the publishers of books, magazines, newsletters and videos. … Continue

Aggregating great content is just as valuable as creating great content

Content aggregation is often given a bad name, because it’s often done incorrectly.

The best content aggregators approach the process as the valuable art form that it is. Content aggregators recognize the web is all about content aggregation, and their work allows users to reach … Continue

Are you planning on a new start in the always-changing digital environment?

Developing an online business can lead you to financial independence through a growing medium. It can also lead to many headaches amid complete failure.

Are you prepared to start an online venture? Do you have the skills needed to stay relevant in Internet marketing and … Continue

If you’re reading this post, you’re probably looking for an Internet marketing company, agency or consultant to help with your Internet marketing strategy and execution.

Internet marketing is easy to do and hard to master.

Internet marketing companies come in all shapes and sizes. If you’re shopping for one, it’s important to find an Internet marketing company … Continue

Your editorial guide to making work days a little shorter

So you’re the new editor of a daily online blog, takes with editorial and audience development responsibilities. You might be posting five to 20 or more new blogs per week. Since online editors are the new online marketers, you’re probably tasked with a few other things … Continue

Developing new channels and partnerships gives strength to online publishers.

Offering content for little or no money puts direct emphasis on the need to have volume. To succeed as digital publishers, it’s necessary to develop a digital retail network and affiliate networks so you have more sources for selling and promoting your content. … Continue

Insight taken from Dan Ambrose, online advertising expert

New types of online advertisements are intriguing. They are a bit different than traditional advertisements and are welcomed by consumers.

Regardless of the acceptance of new online advertisements, it’s important to keep other parts of online advertising in mind as well, since it’s not just about creating media-rich advertisements … Continue

Don Nicholas recently interviewed Clay Hall, the founder of Aspire Media. Earlier this summer Aspire Media was sold to F+W Media, and the interview focused on key questions related to running a digital media company in current times. Take a look at this interview with Clay Hall, in case you missed his insight on managing … Continue

3 popular formats to consider while creating video news content for YouTube audiences

The popularity of YouTube is not new. However, some of the most popular videos have been the focal point of Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism. Over the last 15 months, the organization has analyzed the top-five most viewed videos each … Continue

Google’s work with semantic search may lead to better results

Google will continuously work to improve search and create content areas for everything. In case you missed the May’s roll out of Google’s Knowledge Graph for semantic search, here’s some information on the topic.

As MIT’s Technology Review states, “The Knowledge Graph can be thought of as … Continue

According to Jakob Nielson, 90% of online community users are lurkers who read without contributing.

So you want more comments? Join the club. WIth hundreds of posts under my belt, I still get excited about comments. … Continue

As editors of a marketing blog, it’d be easy for us at Mequoda to shout numbers and research quotes all day long. Thankfully, we “do all our own stunts” as they say, so every bit of marketing advice we give out comes with a story of how we discovered it (or at least who told … Continue

The impact of content marketing

There was a time when I approached being an online editor purely from a journalistic standpoint. My background, comprised of editorial and marketing experience, allowed me to focus on the ways I was communicating to my audience – yet I was unsure of the impact I was really having.

This issue is … Continue

Content marketing tips to build a bigger audience

Editors speak for the brands they work for, which means they have a much better pre-existing relationship with customers than anyone else at your company. They speak directly to readers through witty blog posts, metaphoric photos, and real-time replies to comments on your blog. … Continue

An online editor’s position is very different than the traditional editor might realize. In addition to creating great content, they have to follow particulars associated with the digital environment, including content marketing and audience development strategies.

Take a look at a few of these requirements below. … Continue

Three elements to communicate to potential investors

When developing an online business, the market you choose is important. Although the services you offer, and the methods for generating revenue may change, being part of a growth market is crucial.

There has been a rocky road for those of us who love books, magazines, and newsletters. Five years … Continue

Let’s face it, if millennials were a brand, then the “Occupy” movement didn’t do much for their image. It did however reinforce the enormity of the upcoming consumer generation and the influential pull they are having on spending and media consumption.

As a publisher, the reason this matters to you is the same reason why we … Continue

There is a power in curation. Publishers get the opportunity to show their audiences the breadth of their knowledge on a subject by providing them with the best content – and providing extra value through insight and perspective.

Curators are valuable in today’s digital world, where there is so much content that users have a hard … Continue

The nuts and bolts of protecting your content

SIPA’s quarterly Memorandums From Counsel are written by the highly esteemed law firm of Levine Sullivan Koch & Schulz, L.L.P., specifically for SIPA. With a new one due to come out shortly, let’s quickly review the Winter 2012 issue (titled The Nuts and Bolts of Protecting Your … Continue

A new product caught my eye recently, as it boasts the ability of combining “real-time product level data with click and purchase behavioral and demographic data into a single source.”

This tool is the Segment Builder from iGoDigital’s Customer Intelligence Engine. It collects the habits of customers in real-time and creates a profile of them. … Continue

A challenge from some SIPA 2012 speakers

Take this mid-week quiz concerning speakers at the upcoming SIPA 2012 Conference, May 20-22.

1. Which of these choices is NOT on Jeanne Hopkins’ list of seven indications that your mobile marketing may—ahem—not be so good?
a. Your marketing approach isn’t local
b. You’re looking at the wrong metrics
c. Your website … Continue

17 strategic questions that your next digital publishing business plan must answer

I got a call last week from a colleague who has been thinking about launching his own digital publishing business for several years. Like most of the people who come to me for help, he has assets. Over the years, I’ve discovered that assets … Continue

Outlining the functions of your organization paints a clear portrait of how your employees operate. This focuses them, directs their actions, and dictates whom they report to.

In today’s digital publishing environment, defined links between employees, content, and the audiences they serve are all needed. … Continue

Tom Gale, President, Gale Media, Boulder, Colo. and Publisher, Modern Distribution Management

What takes up most of your time these days?
I’ve spent most of the past year and a half integrating the acquisition of a market research company that focuses on industrial markets and wholesale distribution channels—the audience of our newsletter and website. This is our … Continue

A Refresher Course in Good Marketing Ideas

Send email from a person, not a company. Check search traffic when choosing blog titles. Include brief surveys on thank-you pages. These are just three of 20 “Low-Hanging Marketing Fruit” listed in an excellent article on Hubspot Blog last week. It’s a good refresher course for some things we … Continue

Eight SIPA members tell what the single-most successful thing their company is doing now

1. More than one portfolio company I’m working with today is having success using the same process: 1) Identify very specific unmet information needs of a very specific audience, horizontal or vertical. 2) Discard any information need which cannot be addressed using … Continue

Finding ‘nontraditional’ ways to bring revenue in

Last week, a Pew research study on newspapers’ search for a new business model reported that 44% of the newspapers sharing data for the study said that they were trying to develop some form of nontraditional revenue. Despite some skepticism, “there were a few cases of remarkable success here.” … Continue

According to Peter Kafka on All Things Digital, Facebook brought in 3.15 billion ad dollars last year, saying that “revenue increased, in part because it served up 42 percent more ads, and in part because it was able to charge an average of 18 percent more for each ad it served.”

And right before last week’s … Continue

A change that editorial directors need to pay attention to

Put an online editor job underneath a microscope; what do you see?

The initial look shows a content creator; someone who understands subject matter, and ideally, is passionate about the topic. Online editors are able to churn on content that is informative and thought provoking on a … Continue

60+ hours of educational webinars await you on-demand

The education process has come a long way in a short time. Remember the days when going to a class or a library were the most popular ways to learn?

The Internet has changed that. And although school and libraries are still relevant, information seekers have more options. … Continue

Are you looking to quit your job and start a new online business?

Content management systems saved the lives of content publishers.

OK, maybe not literally, but content management systems help greatly. They allow major customization, often within communities of designers and developers who continuously create plug-ins to make the systems even better. WordPress, for instance, thrives … Continue

Compiling a snippet-based email newsletter means you need to create a lot more content than you may be doing currently. If your articles come from online news sources, than it’s likely you run into the need to save and categorize the information so you can adequately create articles.

One tool that helps editors and journalists … Continue

Group training is amazing for networking and learning from your colleagues. One of my favorite things about the Mequoda Summit is that even beyond the main presentations, you’re going to learn a boatload just from the attendees themselves, because the Mequoda Summit is basically an open discussion forum. … Continue

What do advertisers want that you can provide?

Having a website that generates a significant amount of website traffic is ideal, however it’s not always at the top of priorities for online advertisers. Niche publishers who have smaller audiences may still be highly sought for advertising purposes if they have a devout audience. … Continue

On Niche Publishers and Mobile Audiences

It started last year when younger acquaintances started texting me instead of emailing. And now this “trend” includes some similar-aged friends. I write this because I was re-reading an article from the summer on The Specialist Media Site in the U.K. titled How Niche Publishers Can Reach a Mobile Audience … Continue

Researching content for your articles can be a time consuming process. Your editors can spend hours looking for the right photo, external source, and other content to enrich their posts. Rather than hire assistants to lurk over the shoulder of your editors, you could try Zemanta. … Continue

The Mequoda Summit West 2012 will be a popular destination for online publishers this coming April.

Those in attendance will be Mequoda alumni who have attended past events and are running a digital content marketing system. Their goals of creating content, community and commerce through digital content marketing have set them apart from many other … Continue

Components that help online publishers maximize customer relationships

Through the use of multiple technology partners, online publishers have the ability to organize their customer relationships. Due to its nature, a customer experience management system is as strong as the sum of its parts, which can increase the efficiency of an online business by automating numerous processes. … Continue

The digital landscape presents an interesting predicament for online business owners. Not only do employees have to be trained in new techniques for maximizing website traffic, the process for interacting with customers needs to be addressed.

This doesn’t only involve how employees should respond to social media messages from customers, it also refers to backend … Continue