Gathering buy-in from internal stakeholders on a content strategy often can be a difficult feat. One of the most successful and helpful ways to get everyone in the boat rowing together is to involve internal stakeholders in the content marketing process early on. Sales teams, in particular, can be helpful in shaping content strategy as they typically have a deep well of knowledge about both the products you sell and your key prospects. The next time your team sits down to map out a content…
Read MoreFrom email to an iPhone, PR and content marketing pros have dozens of tools they can’t live without. If you’re like me, you regularly survey the landscape of tools you use and consider whether it may be time to retire or replace something. In that vein, here are three tools I currently can’t live without. Trello — Organize basically anything Yes, I’m the person in the office always pushing some new collaborative task application of some sort, but since we adopted Trello a couple years…
Read MoreIf you were on Twitter last night, two news stories likely took over your feed — (1) terribly insensitive (and racist remarks) made by some dude with a whole lotta power, and (2) collective panic from publishers and brands over an announcement by Facebook that changes to the algorithm are afoot. This blog post will focus on the latter. Facebook making changes to its algorithm is nothing new, but this announcement has many marketers up in arms in part because of how reliant many organizations…
Read MoreSay what you will about 2017, but on the business front, it was full steam ahead on all fronts. Across the board — in content marketing, media relations, social programs, even communications audits — we were busier than Hollywood publicists apologizing for their clients. For many of our clients, we are the champions of content — encouraging them to share their expertise with potential and existing customers. And we couldn’t do that (be those champions) if we didn’t practice what we preach. In 2017 we…
Read MoreArguably the most common challenge facing any organization implementing a content marketing strategy is developing enough content to “feed the engine.” Blog posts – like this one – are great content tools to drive traffic to your website. But they aren’t always the easiest to write – whether because of writer’s block or simply not enough hours in the day. Slice the turkey! We’re big believers in getting the most mileage out of your content and finding ways to divide and repurpose larger pieces like…
Read MoreFor many veteran videographers, production quality was (and still is) sacrosanct. Any deviation from this was subject to screaming, projectiles, public ridicule – you get the idea. But part of this belief stemmed from the extreme disparity in cameras and sound equipment. The end product could look and sound horrendous or professionally done, without much for anything in between. Over the last decade though, the average smartphone is now capable of capturing video that rivals the most expensive cameras from a generation ago. Not only…
Read MoreThere are so many ways corporate videos can go wrong, yet if done correctly, video can be a game changer for your brand. In fact, Cisco projects that video traffic will account for 82 percent of all consumer Internet traffic by 2021. The time for video is now! Not quite. To rephrase, the time for good video is now. Here are five ways you’re doing corporate videos wrong and respective examples to back them up. And while most of these examples are humorous, there’s an…
Read MoreSo, the main reason that we find that content strategy fails for clients is because they didn’t take the time to plan out, not only their strategy, but what their goals and audiences are on the front end. So, if you’re seeing and not getting the results that you’re hoping for, take a step back and revisit a) did I set out goals to begin with, b) do I have audiences that we’re really writing for and c) do I have an amplification strategy that…
Read MoreAudio quality is a critical component of a successful video. In fact, so much so, that most viewers will put up with lower quality video if the audio is up to snuff. For the kinds of videos we’re discussing here, good audio quality means loud and clear voices, minimal background noise and minimal or no visual obstruction (you don’t want to see the microphone). To make sure your subject’s voice is loud and clear, you need your microphone to be as close to the speaker…
Read MoreFirst of all, it’s a lot less expensive and time intensive than it used to be. For example, we’re shooting this with about an initial investment of two to three thousand dollars worth of equipment that we don’t have to keep on buying over and over again. Plus, even if you’re looking at an outside videographer, those costs are a lot less expensive than it used to be. I’m shooting this video today, but we’re also shooting three or four other videos that you’ll see…
Read MoreSo, I’m talking to all you fellow PR folks out there when I say, you know and I know that at the heart of it were all storytellers. In the good old days, we told that story through the media. When there were tons of media to pitch, and there were tons of outlets out there. Well, there are fewer media to pitch and much fewer outlets out there, and it’s becoming harder for us. But, technology has enabled us to become our own publishers….
Read MoreAs I write this, I have to question if you’ll even read anything after this sentence. At best, you may skim the subheads, seeing if there is anything that jumps out at you. But if not, I’ve lost you – maybe for good, most likely because you’ve got to read this and not just watch. Cisco projects that video traffic will account for 82 percent of all consumer Internet traffic by 2021. Content consumers just aren’t reading anymore and marketers like us will have to…
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