Podcasting might not work for every type of business, but for those that it does work, it can yield great results

Podcasting has grown from a little-known and misunderstood form of content to an incredibly powerful content type that builds trust and loyalty. Podcasters and comedians like Marc Maron and Joe Rogan have helped grow the popularity of podcasts and now, there are podcasts anything and everything. [si_quick_block id="147350" title="How to start podcasting for marketing" description="Learn how to start using podcasting for marketing, from evaluating your internal resources and aims to planning, editing, and uploading your pilot episode. This Quick Win will have you set up and recording in no time!"] From a business point of view, podcasting can be an incredible marketing tool. It might not work for every type of business, but for those that it does work, it can yield great results: a…

Video content is one of the most popular forms of content consumed on the internet, so here are some great tools to create videos

Have you ever wondered what you did on the internet before videos became popular? It doesn’t matter - nothing can overtake videos now. According to the latest stats, video content is one of the most popular forms of content consumed on the internet. There is a splurge of 63% in the entire video content consumption skyrocketing it to 81% in 2018. Yes, you read that right, I likened ‘video’ to ‘content’ for it has now become an integral part of content marketing. In its State of Inbound Report, HubSpot maintains that video marketing is gaining momentum rapidly. In fact, Cisco maintains that by 2020, online videos will make up for over 80% of all consumer internet traffic! Still not convinced?…

If you're receptive to feedback and create a product that your audience really wants, you’re guaranteed to develop something worthy of the "premium" label

Industry leaders like to lob around the term "premium" when describing content, but the definition of what is premium - and what isn’t - is highly subjective. To quote Inigo Montoya: "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." For some people, "premium" denotes high-quality content. For some, it might refer to their most popular content and for others, it means something else entirely. Part of this confusion stems from the numerous business models that attempt to capitalize on differing versions of premium content. [si_guide_block id="23343" title="Download our Premium Resource – Video and YouTube marketing guide" description="Our guide shows you how to review the full opportunities from video marketing whether…

Right now, video content is slowly shifting to favor mobile devices by turning vertical

As of the third quarter of 2018, 52.2% of all website traffic worldwide was generated through mobile phones, up from 50.3% in the previous year. That 2.2% shows that mobile devices are, slowly but surely, taking over the website traffic share. The majority of websites are already responsive, which means they adjust to the device they’re displayed in. Right now, video content is slowly shifting to favor mobile devices by turning vertical.

The rise of social videos

Social media marketing is arguably the most effective method of raising awareness for any type of business. In 2019, it’s projected that there will be 2.77 billion people with social network accounts. Basically, you can find almost any type of customer or lead on social media. The largest social media platforms have seen that vertically-oriented content is not…

While data-driven marketing is certainly an invaluable tool in any marketer’s arsenal, without any creativity, it’s just more numbers.

In this article, Rik talks about the data overload happening in the marketing community. He offers tips and tools to marketing professionals in bringing creativity back to the forefront and the positive results this can lead to in their marketing efforts.

If your organization has become over-reliant on data, these tips can infuse some creativity into your ranks.

[si_guide_block id="57881" title="Access Business Member resource – Digital Branding Guide" description="7 Steps to a Digital Communications Strategy for FMCG Brands"/]

Technology has provided marketers with unprecedented opportunities to gather data on the wants, needs, and behaviors of consumers — and on a very micro level, at that. So it only stands to reason that many brands would take a much more data-driven approach to marketing.

But overreliance on data can blindside…

Consumer brand marketing made creative by Honda

We look back to 2003 and Honda were struggling to make a sustainable impact in the European markets so turned to brand marketing . They had seen a decline in sales since 1998 and their 2nd position to Toyota had been lost to Nissan. Japanese car placement in the European market was essential, and Honda needed to make a bigger splash with a smaller pebble. [si_guide_block id="5676" title="Download FREE Resource – Digital marketing plan template" description="Our popular marketing planning template built on the Smart Insights RACE planning system."/]

The Play

In 2001 that Wieden+Kennedy proposed to Honda a new advertising strategy based on the company's Japanese motto, "Yume No Chikara" ("Power of Dreams"). The stated goal of the campaign was to increase Honda's share of the UK market to five percent within three years and to change…

Are you using YouTube to market your business?

As one of the biggest search engines in the world and the second biggest website in the world, it’s definitely the place to be. A YouTube channel can help you reach a much wider audience, generate more traffic, more engagement, and more leads and conversions.

So since we’re in the age of video marketing right now, here’s how to become a better YouTube marketer:

Start by developing a schedule

Consistency is always important in content marketing, but it’s really important with YouTube marketing. If you’re posting a video now, another one in a month, the third after another couple of months and so on, you won’t be able to get very far or get subscribers or traffic.

The first step in building a successful YouTube channel is a posting schedule; determine a realistic frequency and plan your content ahead…

Embedding a video on your site can increase conversion rates by up to 80%!

Over the past few years, video has steadily become a more important element of digital marketing. With many social media platforms introducing increasingly video-focused algorithms, social video is fast becoming the most visible aspect of social media marketing. Some companies have also been leveraging video in their email marketing, in some cases resulting in a 96% higher click-through rate. If used strategically, video marketing can benefit to your business tremendously. It has been shown to have a fantastic impact on ROI with a proven track record of boosting brand awareness, increasing lead generation and improving conversion rates. This useful infographic from One Productions will guide you through the process of planning your next video marketing campaign. It provides a practical advice on how to calculate your ROI as well as a useful break-down of the video metrics…

Everything you need to know about the Cambridge Analytica scandal, the use of big data what the future holds for Facebook

Each year, targeting technologies get increasingly sophisticated. Machine Learning has turned simple algorithms into sophisticated Big Data which helps companies precisely focus specific messages at apt times to appropriate audiences Many rely on extrapolating data from Silicon Valley giants to target users with ads across platforms. Some companies openly market stockpiles of raw data to third parties. Companies like Nielsen, Comscore, Xaxis, Rocketfuel, and an array of anonymous data brokers nestle on top of a summit of hoard of consumer information. Reportedly much of this data has been exploited to power political campaigns around the world. From a consumer perspective, the mushrooming sector, with its ever-blooming spores of bits and bytes of data on all of us of has remained mostly unregulated. The wider public has for years,…

Why do your Facebook, Google Analytics, AdWords and Bing display entirely different numbers? It’s called Data discrepancies

Data discrepancies are very common, and misunderstanding them will lead you to the wrong conclusions. But there’s good news: we've finally solved them to give you simple explanations about each discrepancy type and how to deal with it. Keep reading and learn how to identify data-discrepancies and how to get the correct numbers. [si_guide_block id="71497" title="Download FREE Resource – Google Analytics fast start- 10 mistakes to avoid" description="The top 10 set-up and usage mistakes to avoid when using Google Analytics."/] Your marketing efforts and budgets eventually all lead to one thing - your company’s goals. You want to be on top of each new sign-up, subscriber or visitor, and every bit counts. The problems arise when your different marketing or analytics tools each report a different number of conversions and visitors. Numbers from Facebook, Google…