Common Misconceptions About Facebook Advertising: An Interview With Rocco Baldassarre by @wonderwall7

See Rocco dispel some of the largest misconceptions about Facebook in this video interview.

The post Common Misconceptions About Facebook Advertising: An Interview With Rocco Baldassarre by @wonderwall7 appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

12 Content Marketing Tools That Will Rapidly Improve Your Productivity by @missanna_f

By using the right tools, you can ensure your content creation process starts off on the right foot and delivers the results you need.

The post 12 Content Marketing Tools That Will Rapidly Improve Your Productivity by @missanna_f appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

8 Creative Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Blog with Facebook by @thebigdebowski

Beyond posting when a new article goes live, how can you use Facebook for greater traction? There are numerous creative ways to drive traffic to your blog.

The post 8 Creative Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Blog with Facebook by @thebigdebowski appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

3 Facebook Ads Features You Aren’t Using (But Should Be) by @180fusion

In the spirit of sharing the “latest and greatest” features that Facebook Ads has to offer, here are three recent updates that you may not be using yet.

The post 3 Facebook Ads Features You Aren’t Using (But Should Be) by @180fusion appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

4 B2B Social Media Marketing Lessons Marketers Can Learn From Their B2C Counterparts

When social media first launched, many companies were skeptical that these new platforms could be used to support their business initiatives. Today, if you hear of a company that is not on social media, you find yourself wondering “What are they thinking?”.

According to NewsCred, 87% of B2B marketers use social media to distribute content. However, many B2B brands are still trailing behind their B2C counterparts when it comes to social media strategy and results.

There is no denying that social media can be used to build brand affinity and increase engagement for B2B companies. Below are a few lessons and examples that B2B companies can learn from successful B2C companies to increase their “likeability” on social networks. You’ll also find a few B2B companies that are already proving it’s possible.

#1 – Highlight Customers & Community

Because of the loyalty that is often built with consumer products, B2C brands have a lot of opportunities to feature their customers or online community. Featuring different people outside of the organization is a fantastic way to better connect your audience with the content shared on social media channels.

GoPro has done a fantastic job of featuring different people within their community regularly on their Instagram account. It can be everything from a smiling baby, to someone using their GoPro to show off their skateboard moves like the image below.

A B2B brand that is also incorporating their community is MailChimp. Along with some of the best brand visuals I’ve ever seen, MailChimp highlights individuals in a super creative way that anyone that is following them can appreciate.

#2 – Support Content Marketing Initiatives

As the largest professional social network, LinkedIn provides many opportunities for B2C and B2B companies alike.

Starbucks is a B2C company with a great LinkedIn feed. Instead of simply sharing a product list or their latest news, they’re creating video content that their audience will find interesting. This post for example provides a sneak peek into how Starbuck’s locations transform for the holidays.

HubSpot is well-known within the online community as a marketing automation tool that businesses can use to create more meaningful interactions with potential customers. However, HubSpot provides some of the most useful content I’ve ever uncovered and does a great job of showcasing that content in an enticing and clever way on their LinkedIn page.

#3 – Show The Human Side of Your Company

Many B2B companies have built their business around process, technology and reliability. However, that direction often cuts out one of the most important elements of a company, the people that are a part of the experience.

Love or hate them, BuzzFeed constantly features their employees in different videos and articles. One of their staff members, Matt Bellassai also has a popular weekly video series that is so good, he’s been nominated for a people’s choice award.

B2B companies have equal opportunity to feature stories about their staff. Salesforce has taken a simpler approach and recently shared a post showcasing some of their employee’s giving back during the holiday season.

#4 – Create Anticipation

When you have a new release or something exciting to share with your customers, it’s a great idea to publish teasers on social media that create anticipation. This can help keep people glued to your feed waiting to see what happens next.

Royal Dutch Airlines created a series of teasers and videos that featured the “unboxing” of their brand new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Were they talking about ticket prices? No. However, they were creating an experience to connect their audience to the content.

Creativity and building anticipation around an event or unveiling isn’t relegated only to B2C companies. Adobe is currently running what they call a “binge-worthy” docu series where three teams are competing to create a holiday campaign. Adobe published teasers leading up to the launch of the series and is frequently providing status updates and encouraging their audience to catch up on the latest episode.

Bonus: Invest in Targeted Social Media Advertising

One challenge that B2B marketers experience (unlike their B2C counterparts) is that there are often multiple decision makers, at different stages within the purchasing cycle.

If you aren’t already, test creating separate ad campaigns for each of the audiences that you want to attract and engage on social networks and then target appropriately based on their common characteristics.

Can You Spot the Similarities?

Did you notice something similar about all of these examples? No matter which social network both these B2C and B2B companies are using, they’re including great visuals alongside engaging content.

This post just scratches the surface of what is required for a truly successful social media strategy. But what it does highlight is that one of the most important things a B2B company can do is treat their audience in a way that highlights their needs and interests as people, not just as potential buyers.

If you’re ready to take your social media game to the next level, see if TopRank Marketing’s Social Media Marketing services are a good fit for your organization.

Header image via Shutterstock

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© Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®, 2015. | 4 B2B Social Media Marketing Lessons Marketers Can Learn From Their B2C Counterparts | http://www.toprankblog.com

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10 SEO Tips You’d Be Surprised You Didn’t Know by @texasgirlerin

The SEO tips below are a blend of analytics, organization, & productivity practices that seems to be frequently forgotten during chats with other marketers.

The post 10 SEO Tips You’d Be Surprised You Didn’t Know by @texasgirlerin appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

How to Help Your New Website Get Indexed on Google by @neilpatel

You can’t guarantee first-page website ranking with the same bag of black hat tricks. Today, there’s a new content-driven, user-focused approach to SEO.

The post How to Help Your New Website Get Indexed on Google by @neilpatel appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

2015 UK Search Awards Winners Announced at Fifth Annual Ceremony in London by @mattsouthern

A prestigious night in search marketing concluded with a first class ceremony at the UK Search Awards.

The post 2015 UK Search Awards Winners Announced at Fifth Annual Ceremony in London by @mattsouthern appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

9 Roadblocks That Could be Harming Your Google Rankings by @barriesmithii

Barrie Smith put together this guide to highlight nine roadblocks that could be holding your website back from Google ranking success.

The post 9 Roadblocks That Could be Harming Your Google Rankings by @barriesmithii appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

New #MarketingNerds Podcast: How to Come up With Content Idea for Your Blog by @AkiLiboon

In this episode of Marketing Nerds, Kelsey Jones and Amanda DiSilvestro talks about how you can come up with tons of content idea for your blog.

The post New #MarketingNerds Podcast: How to Come up With Content Idea for Your Blog by @AkiLiboon appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

Online Marketing News: Death Of A Directory, Are Social Ads As Effective?, Search Getting Smarter

Google Reveals Black Friday In-Store Traffic Data to Help Improve Focus of Online Ads [Infographic] – Google has created a new infographic which looks at in-store traffic patterns over the holiday season, using anonymized Location History records. The stats offer some great insight and highlight where offline metrics are headed – and how they can be used to better target and focus online marketing content. Google

Snapchat Launches Story Explorer, A Swipeable Way To Get Different Visual Perspectives – With a quick swipe up, Snapchat users can now view a different angle on specific stories for a more robust story experience. Marketing Land

Study: Brands Finding Social Ads as Effective as Traditional Advertising – It appears the tide is changing. According to a recent study by IZEA, 52 percent of companies surveyed have a sponsored social budget and they find social ads to be in the top three most effective marketing investments they’ve made. SocialTimes

The Yahoo Directory Is Finally Absolutely Dead – We knew it was coming: the Yahoo Directory is now officially offline. Going to dir.yahoo.com now redirects you to aabacosmallbusiness.com. Search Engine Land

Facebook’s Audience Network: 80% of Impressions Now Native – Facebook offered another rare peek into the performance of its Audience Network, saying that 6 percent of all time spent on mobile applications is spent on apps running Audience Network. Facebook

Google Analytics Adds Calculated Metrics – New tool allows the creation of custom metrics that are calculated from traditional metrics, such as Revenue Per User and more. Marketing Land

Report: Social Media Platforms Are Becoming Too Complicated – There is power in simplicity — at least that’s the premise behind the Siegel+Gale simplicity index. The study uses survey data from more than 12,000 consumers in eight countries about the perceived simplicity or complexity of their interactions with more than 500 brands, and why simplicity pays off. SocialTimes

Google’s Natural Language Search Gets Smarter – Google is now smarter at understanding queries that include superlatives and times, as well as more complicated questions. Search Engine Land

Third-Party Apps Losing Access to Instagram’s Feed – Instagram is overhauling its platform for developers, and one of its changes is the elimination of the feed application-programming interface, which allows third-party apps to access its feed. Instagram

Google Updates The Search Quality Rating Guidelines – In 2013, we published our human rating guidelines to provide transparency on how Google works and to help webmasters understand what Google looks for in web pages. Since that time, a lot has changed: notably, more people have smartphones than ever before and more searches are done on mobile devices today than on computers. Here are the updated guidelines. Google

Google Announces New Advertising Support For AMP Pages – Fast-loading pages may also mean fast-loading ads, with advertising platform support for AMP that’s been announced. Marketing Land

Google To Penalize Sites Using Deceptive Mobile Traffic Networks – Google tells us they are actively working on detecting and penalizing sneaky mobile traffic networks. Search Engine Land

From our Online Marketing Community:

In response to Want to Add More Participation to You Content? Follow These 5 Keys to Success [Guide], Tom Southern said, “Great ideas Ashley, thanks for sharing. I love the Halloween-theme content marketing pics. They’re great. I can see these ideas working well on Pinterest, Facebook and other image strong platforms, as well as blogs. Thanks for the ideas and inspiration. You’ve got me thinking.”

What were the top online and digital marketing news stories for you this week?

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

Infographic: Google

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Unwrap Your Holiday Reputation Management Action Plan by @jeanmariedion

A reputation management plan for the holidays means more than stocked shelves and full tills. You'll also need a solid plan that can help you spot and solve attacks, so you can give your boss the gift of a solid reputation at the end of the year.

The post Unwrap Your Holiday Reputation Management Action Plan by @jeanmariedion appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

The TopRank Marketing Team Gives Thanks

Before you dig into the turkey, mashed potatoes and my personal favorite, stuffing, the team at TopRank Marketing would like to take a moment to give thanks.

In the word cloud above, you get a glimpse into what many of our team members are thankful for. We would also like to thank you our readers for consuming and sharing the content that we work hard to create. Also, a huge thanks to our awesome clients for entrusting us with their digital marketing strategy.

In addition to asking our team members what they are thankful for personally, I also wanted to shine a light on who has inspired them or they are thankful for on our own team, below are some of their responses:

Alexis Hall – Director of Client Accounts

I am thankful for the opportunity to work with all of TopRank Marketing’s awesome clients. Everyday I get the opportunity to work with super smart marketers at great brands on a variety of really exciting campaigns.

Amie Krone – Operations Manager

I’m thankful to have a team willing to always go above and beyond and help one another and our clients out no matter what is needed. I am thankful for the ability to learn and grow every day. There is always something new and challenging at TopRank Marketing which I find exciting.

Ashley Zeckman – Director of Agency Marketing

What a loaded (baked potato) question! In my career, I have never worked with a team like the one at TopRank Marketing. I am constantly surrounded by some of the smartest people that I’ve ever encountered and count myself lucky to be able to collaborate with them on a daily basis. Additionally, there are a few people that I would like to personally thank:

• Alexis Hall: Watching the way that you interact with and service clients, you know this is what you were born to do.
• Emily Paulson: Your energy and creativity has been inspiring.
• Evan Prokop: Each time I meet with you, I learn something new.
• Jolina Pettice: Seeing the quantity of quality work that you consistently manage is magical.
• Josh Nite: Your can-do attitude and amazing way with words has made you an incredibly awesome team member to collaborate with.
• Lee Odden: Thank you for the effort and time you have put into teaching me how to be a better marketer, and constantly raising the bar on what it is that we do.

Ben Brausen – Social Media Lead

I’m thankful for the opportunity to work with awesome clients and the chance to stay on top of the ever changing world of social media. Exploring new opportunities across the digital marketing realm is always interesting and a great learning experience.

Caitlin Burgess – Content Marketing Lead

I am incredibly thankful for my wonderful account managers Leila De La Fuente, Emily Bachelor, and Alexis Hall. They’re all thoughtful, helpful and positive, making it a joy to come to work every day.

Chelsey Wentz – Content Marketing Lead

I am extremely thankful for everyone that I have worked with in my first few months at TopRank Marketing. I knew I would enjoy the spirit of this team just based on my first few trainings with Shaya Clark. I have had the pleasure of working with many of my co-workers on a daily basis on multiple client projects, but have truly appreciated Emily Paulson’s upbeat attitude, zest for learning and natural ability to help others learn around her.

Debbie Friez – Social Media Lead

I am so thankful I have the opportunity to learn every day at TopRank Marketing. I work with smart, fun people who are open to sharing their incredible knowledge with me and our clients. I love how Sue Misukanis makes me laugh and pushes me to be better every day.

Douglas Fehlen – Content Marketing Lead

I appreciate all of the talented, dedicated people here who I get to learn from every single day. I’m especially thankful to Susan Misukanis, whose passion for great content is inspiring and whose generous guidance makes me a better marketer. I’m also grateful for the chance to see visionary Lee Odden continually re-set the bar for marketing mastery.

Emily Bacheller – SEO Lead

I am thankful for Alexis who always asks me what challenges I’m facing and offers me actionable advice to overcome obstacles. Meetings with Alexis leave me feeling positive and help me proceed with confidence!

Emily Paulson – Content Marketing Manager

One of the many things I’m thankful for at TopRank Marketing is the people. They’re smart, funny, and kind. I’m especially grateful to learn from our Vice President, Jolina Pettice. Not only is she super likeable, but she’s also a marketing badass. A kitchen filled with endless snacks doesn’t hurt, either.

Evan Prokop – Digital Marketing Manager

I’m most thankful for our fantastic book of clients. Throughout the time I’ve been with TopRank Marketing, one of my favorite aspects of the job has been getting to dive in to each client’s industry, target audience and unique offerings (because that’s an essential prerequisite to being able to provide effective consulting). Each one presents a unique set of challenges, learning opportunities and the chance to get a little bit better at my job. The fact that I get to ‘sharpen the saw’ while helping them to meet their digital marketing objectives is a win-win in my book.

Jesse Pickrain – Content Marketing Manager

I’m thankful for the entire TopRank Marketing team. That may seem like a cheesy answer, but it’s the truth. When you work in an environment that fosters learning and compassion, making clients happy is second nature.

Jolina Pettice – Vice President

I am very thankful for both the clients, and incredible team members that I get to work with each day. It’s so energizing to be around talented people that genuinely care about driving results!

Josh Nite – Content Marketing Lead

The “garage band” team – Debbie, Emily P., Chelsey, Joel and Douglas. We have great camaraderie back here. Everyone helps each other, we can take a minute to chat about our personal lives, and we can always share a laugh or two to brighten our days.

Amie and Shaya, who work behind the scenes to give us a great employee experience and build our corporate culture.

Lee and Sue, who have a clear vision for the company and aren’t stingy with sharing it with us.

Jolina, Jesse, and Knute, who make sure I know what I’m doing now, what I should do next, and who have helped me immeasurably in my personal career development.

Ashley, who keeps the company running in a number of arcane ways, makes the TopRank Marketing blog rule, and keeps inviting me to collaborate on cool stuff.

Evan, Kevin, and Julia, who are always willing to share their crazy techie knowledge.

The whole team. Everyone is supportive, positive, and generous with praise.

Julia Ramos – SEO Copywriter

I’m really grateful for everyone I work with. I especially appreciate Leila who is easy to work with, has great listening skills, and who enables collaboration across job functions. I also appreciate Kevin who’s passion for SEO allows me to approach him with new ideas knowing he’ll want to listen and who’s always willing to help out and bounce ideas around with in order to create better results.

Knute Sands – Account Manager

JOLINA! I can not say enough about how helpful and awesome she is. She tackles so many projects, people and tasks head on – and all with a cheery bright smile!

Lee Odden – CEO

I am eternally thankful for the opportunity to work with such a passionate, dedicated, proactive and professional group of marketers at TopRank Marketing. From our Content and Creative team to our Social Media team to our Search Marketing and Analytics team to our Account Management team – we have one of the most talented boutique agencies in the country and for that I am immensely thankful.

I am especially thankful for the extra-ordinary contributions in leadership, operations, strategic advisory and anything/everything else that is needed from Susan and Jolina as we evolve our agency into something better and even more special into 2016.

I am thankful to Amie for undertaking the monumental task of managing our office move while continuing to handle many of her other duties as office manager. XL thankfulness goes to Shaya for her always on positive attitude and tireless recruiting efforts to grow our agency with the best talent.

I am thankful to Ashley for being teachable and eager every day to do a great job representing our agency marketing at a high level. With her efforts and success, we can attract and retain the right clients leading us to reach marketing, revenue and business goals.

We would not be growing or even have a business without our portfolio of clients. I am thankful, almost beyond words, for companies ranging from a local HVAC provider to companies like Dell, LinkedIn and the largest pharmaceutical distributor in the world for being smart or at least daring enough to hire our team. In doing so, our clients are investing in each of us to become smarter, more creative and accountable marketers empowered to deliver impact and ROI.

Leila De La Fuente – Account Manager

I’m thankful for those that I work with on a daily basis that make me laugh, work smarter and rock results for clients! Specifically Caitlin, Michael, Kevin, Julia, Emily & Alexis. I am also super thankful for the entire team’s energy – I love company meetings because I get the chance to catch up with all of our fun staff members.

Michael Bak – Paid Search Account Manager

I am extremely thankful for Leilia who is always fun to work with!  She’s sassy, a go getter and cucumber cool, even when I’m stressed. I’m also thankful for Jolina’s consistent education, collaboration and her taking the time to review my programs and work. Shaya, because she gets stuff done with a smile.

Mike Odden – Research Analyst

Lee and Sue who have given me the opportunity to be part of the TopRank Marketing team. It’s been great to watch TopRank Marketing grow and develop over the years due to the hard work of all team members.

Nick Ehrenberg – Account Manager

I am thankful for the knowledge, passion and expertise that the TopRank Marketing  team has provided for me, and for the incredible career path that has developed over the past two years. I would not be where I am now without the support and dedication provided by TopRank Marketing.

Shaya Clark – Operations Coordinator

Opportunities to learn and grow are present every day. I appreciate that I am always being challenged to tackle new projects.

Susan Misukanis – President

I’m thankful for the whole, full-on “Door of Mediocrity” busting TopRank Marketing team!

Thomas Gallus – Graphic Designer

I am very thankful for everyone that gave me the opportunity to work with this amazing team.  A special thanks to Ashley for being there for me with any question that I have had… and also for dealing with my daily mouse drumming affliction.

Thank You For Reading

I hope that everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday weekend. I urge you to take these few days off and focus on the things that are most important in your life. If you’re keen on sharing, please tell us in the comments below what or who you’re thankful for.

 

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© Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®, 2015. | The TopRank Marketing Team Gives Thanks | http://www.toprankblog.com

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Storytelling in Marketing: An Interview With Warren Whitlock

Warren Whitlock explains how businesses can better incorporate storytelling into their content marketing

The post Storytelling in Marketing: An Interview With Warren Whitlock appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

Digital Marketing Spotlight: John Bell, VP Enterprise Digital Marketing at Travelers

Star light, star bright, which digital marketer is next in our spotlight? Well, it’s John Bell of course,
Vice President of Enterprise Digital Marketing at Travelers.

John Bell leads the Enterprise Digital Marketing team putting data-driven content, digital marketing and social engagement at the heart of marketing. John joins Travelers after 13 years at Ogilvy & Mather where he founded Social@Ogilvy, a global social and digital marketing practice. John drove digital and social strategy and programs for major brands including Ford, Nestlé, IBM, DuPont and more.

As a member of the WPP Digital Advisory board, John worked to bring Silicon Valley partners from Facebook to small start-ups to bear against marketers needs. Prior to Ogilvy, John served as Creative Director at Discovery.com where he built 14 Web services for Discovery brands from Animal Planet to TLC. John graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts. He has taught graduate courses in digital marketing and communications at Johns Hopkins University.

In this interview, John talks about his transition from the big agency world to a big brand, lessons learned, innovation, data, martech, content, hiring and digital marketing priorities for 2016. So put on your shades, no not really, and dig in:

You made a pretty big change from Managing Director at Social@Ogilvy to VP Enterprise Marketing at Travelers. What are some of the most transferable lessons you’ve learned moving from agency head to a senior marketing executive for a brand?

There are some differences between my experience at Ogilvy and now leading Enterprise Digital Marketing for Travelers. Building a capability globally to serve many brands, many business models in an agency environment is one thing. Developing a new digital marketing discipline that is designed to help sell property and casualty insurance at the same time is another.

There are two lessons learned that I am applying every day at Travelers:

1. The importance of establishing a learning and innovative culture within my team. We hire talented learners who have some key technical expertise – data-driven marketing, content creation, social media marketing and more – and they are willing to share that expertise. We all teach and learn, and we never feel like we know enough.
2. Working in a matrix. It forces you to be thoughtful about socializing ideas, explaining and supporting your POV and being sensitive to the concerns of other business leaders and the goals they are measured against.

Without question, you are a digital pioneer, having had many opportunities to develop new ways of marketing and put them into practice. Which of those innovations are you proudest of?

We recently launched the Travelers Engagement Center. This is the nerve center of our digital marketing team.

We surround ourselves with data displays that tell us how our content, advertising, search and social media are performing. This helps us live the dream of data-driven marketing. Not only does it inform decisions we have to make every day, these big windows into performance spark conversations within our team that helps uncover regular insights.

It’s a terrifically different way to work.

You’ve talked about the importance of putting social and data-driven content into action. What are some steps or best practices you can share on how marketers can make data a bigger part of what informs their marketing strategy? Any examples worth sharing?

We hold weekly content marketing reviews. Our entire team comes together to look at the past two weeks of marketing performance and then looks ahead about two weeks. This shorter view helps us quickly look at the data and make decisions to strengthen an approach now, not during the next quarter.

We watch trends on content. We might see an unusual spike of interest around business continuity planning content. That gives us the chance to dig in and promote that with even more targeted media.

We saw a keen interest in cold weather planning content for business and consumers as early as October this year. We jumped on that with a quick paid and owned campaign. Different disciplines discuss the insights coming out of the data. That discussion and interaction is key.

What advice can you give to marketing executives on making marketing technology choices? Do you prefer specialty tools or all purpose?

I am a big believer in creating a meaningful marketing technology strategy to guide choices in “martech.” We all inherit a bunch of point solutions and if we are lucky these are pretty good platforms. But without a view of the marketing capabilities you want to develop and that are key to the business, it is too hard to choose technologies that will serve as a good foundation.

Creating that martech strategy starts with identifying those core marketing capabilities that you must get better and better at. From that, you have a better view of what technology you need.

For instance, ‘cultivating increasingly qualified leads that convert into business’ might be a priority. There’s a lot in that statement, especially the ‘increasingly qualified’ part which implies that you use data to refine the value of actual leads. Focusing on tech that will strengthen that then becomes the focus.

Strategy first.

How do you balance hiring more marketing staff vs. using outside vendors and agencies? What trends to you see in terms of outsourcing vs. insourcing marketing talent?

This is a great question as I see things changing quite a bit.

There’s great value in creating a ‘network team.’  This can span different groups within a company and also ‘partners’ from other companies. We need nimble teams that can grow and flex based upon what we learn. We also need a lot of fresh thinking pretty much all of the time.

That being said, what I turn to from our agency partners is changing. We have a focus on content marketing. That content is so close to our expertise that it is difficult for us to outsource much of that content.

Likewise, our data operation requires data sourcing from several places within Travelers. So, that is also difficult to outsource. I do look for help with media planning  – being up on all of the new choices like new data partners for targeting. I also look for specific creative help around defined projects. We have some terrific agency partners, and I definitely think of them as part of the team.

What are some of the priorities you think digital marketers should focus on in 2016?

Different brands are at different places in their marketing journey. It’s tough to generalize where marketers should focus. If you just read the marketing trades, you would think we are all spinning up these hugely sophisticated data-driven, technology-laden organizations.

It’s important to be  appropriately focused on the mobile experience, shifting from advertising to content (and other ways to deliver customer value), and integrating social media into complete marketing programs.

Three areas that many will likely focus on in the coming years include:

1. Building infrastructure and models for better and better marketing attribution. We all need to increasingly demonstrate the impact of marketing on core bottom-line results. With a more complex customer journey and different influences on a purchase, we need to instrument more of our marketing across devices and figure out the contribution of each piece.

2. Operationalizing content marketing. Developing and delivering great content where we once just pumped out advertising is a different discipline. Those companies who have been exploring this must spend energy to invest in the people, process and technology to make this easier and more efficient.

3. Using video online to drive action and brand. As the value of TV commercials continues to wane, we all know that we need video to engage people. It’s one of the few media types that can communicate emotion so well. And emotion drives most purchase decisions. How to create really meaningful video content and get it to people when and where they want it is still very hard. No one wants pre-roll. How can brands shift to creating value via a digital video program. Many brands are working on that.

How do you stay current on marketing and technology and what information sources do you find most useful?

I read a lot. I am old-school in that I still use an RSS feed reader that I first set up years ago. It gives me a great window into a ton of great thinking. Of course, I then pile Twitter, Flipboard, LinkedIn and a few other sources on top. Oh, and I talk to human beings. I never get tired of that.

Let’s play social media word association. I’ll list social networks and media sites and you reply with what comes to mind first:

• Facebook – Ad network
• Vine – Delightful
• LinkedIn – Targeted B2B
• Twitter – Influencers
• Meerkat or Periscope – Macgyver
• Google+ – Mystery
• Snapchat – Just Enough
• YouTube – TV
• Instagram – Oddly niche
• Flickr – Forgotten password
• Pinterest – Ideas
• My Space – Don’t call it a comeback….

Thanks John!

You can find John online at Twitter @jbell99 or his blog.

 

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© Online Marketing Blog - TopRank®, 2015. | Digital Marketing Spotlight: John Bell, VP Enterprise Digital Marketing at Travelers | http://www.toprankblog.com

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How to Write High Quality Clickable Ads (No Matter What Network You are On) by @adamlundquist

PPC works when an ad network makes money when someone clicks on their ads. Here's how you can make better and more clickable ads---regardless of network.

The post How to Write High Quality Clickable Ads (No Matter What Network You are On) by @adamlundquist appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

Announcing: Survey for SEJ’s Annual Report 2015 by @dantosz

In order to see where our industry is growing and how strategies are changing, we created a short survey - and we need your input.

The post Announcing: Survey for SEJ’s Annual Report 2015 by @dantosz appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

WordPress.com Gets Desktop App, Goes Open Source in Biggest Update Ever by @mattsouthern

WordPress.com has been rewritten from scratch in what is said to be the platform’s biggest update ever.

The post WordPress.com Gets Desktop App, Goes Open Source in Biggest Update Ever by @mattsouthern appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

How to Scale Content Marketing Needs: An Interview with Dave Snyder of CopyPress by @wonderwall7

Dave Snyder of CopyPress explains how businesses can improve their content marketing production without putting any additional strain on existing resources.

The post How to Scale Content Marketing Needs: An Interview with Dave Snyder of CopyPress by @wonderwall7 appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

Google Deals With Over 2 Million Piracy Takedown Request Per Day by @mattsouthern

Google is now dealing with over 2 million piracy takedown requests every day.

The post Google Deals With Over 2 Million Piracy Takedown Request Per Day by @mattsouthern appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

10 Strategies From For-Profit Companies That Pay Off For Non-Profit Marketing by @LWilson1980

Many of the profit making strategies can be applied to non-profit marketing. Here are ten 'transferable' strategies that pay off in both scenarios.

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12 Major Brands on Where SEO Fits in the Digital Marketing Mix for 2016

Did you know? Google handles 100 billion searches per month and more than half of those are on mobile devices.

Did you also know? 15% of Google’s 3.5 billion daily searches have never been seen before.

I remember when you couldn’t search for anything on a smart phone and now people are searching for just about anything and everything, mostly on mobile devices. It’s an understatement to say search engines, consumer searching behaviors and search engine optimization have all changed.

As much as social media, content marketing and other marketing channels emerge, there is no mistaking the value of being the best answer for buyers at the moment of need. So how valuable is SEO going into 2016? More specifically…

How important will SEO be as a part of your digital marketing mix in 2016?

That’s the question I asked marketers from major brands including Dell, Xerox, EMC, eBay, Logitech, Symantec, McKesson, IBM, Ingram Micro, McKinsey & Co and Verizon. Hopefully you’ll find some common ground and even inspiration about where optimizing for organic search will fit in your digital marketing planning for the coming year.

“SEO is a foundational element of digital marketing. I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Organizations should focus on how all of their marketing elements integrate, resulting in an omni-channel strategy that focuses on a net objective but allowing for customization to customer.”

“Influencer marketing is a great example of a piece of the puzzle that ties to SEO but might not always reside next to it in an org structure. If you’re smart, it’s all inter-related and you recognize that many customer journeys begin at first search.”

Alison Herzog  @alisonjherzog
Director, Global Social Business & Digital Strategy at Dell (client)

“SEO is a key, if not critical, component for digital marketing. We’ve lost a huge opportunity if we’ve created content that can’t be found. We know that our clients are actively learning and searching for answers long before they contact us, much of that activity happens through search. But it isn’t enough to wait to be found.”

“Search is important, but it is one of many levers. We need to be proactive, understanding all of our clients and prospects’ trusted sources and making sure we engage there as well.”

Jeannine Rossignol  @j9rossignol
Vice President, Marketing for Large Enterprise Operations at Xerox

“Organic traffic is our richest audience so it requires significant focus. SEO supports our ability to drive traffic to a commerce experience, so understanding how effective SEO is, helps assess how well our content resonates.”

Todd Forsythe  @toddforsythe
Senior Vice President, Brand & Experience Marketing at EMC

“SEO is critical. Digital eye tracking shows the consumer goes straight to the organic information on the page. I think social signals will continue to increase as a factor in organic ranking. Brands who do well at content marketing will also build their organic rankings.”

Tami Cannizzaro  @tamicann
Senior Director, Global Demand Generation at eBay

“It’s been interesting to watch SEO transition from a sort of elitist role into a much broader topic for all digital marketers. SEO experts have rightfully expanded their roles to include content marketing strategy and content marketers are keeping up on SEO trends to support their marketing efforts.”

“This convergence will continue in 2016 as SEO continues to rely on remarkable content for driving SEO results and content marketers rely much more on SEO for optimizing content to drive traffic and conversion. What was once a highly technical and specialized topic is evolving into a conversation that is around a much more holistic approach to integrated marketing. I think this coming together will give birth to a true marketing experience that will be necessary to break through in the New Year.”

Jason Miller @JasonMillerCA
Group Manager, Content Marketing at LinkedIn Marketing Solutions (client)

“In my opinion SEO is still the luck of the draw and not something I would invest too heavily in. Yes, we need to have it and it will be part of the mix but it is not something I would rank as a key driver to the overall digital marketing strategy. Related to this, my focus is on earned media through sites like Quora which also have SEO benefits.”

LaSandra Brill @lasandrabrill
Senior Director, Enterprise Digital & Advertising at Symantec

“As long as there is a Google, I think SEO will be a staple in the digital marketing mix. The difference is, how we use it today versus in the past.”

“Several years ago, optimizing content for search was the primary focus with #1 rankings for keywords being the primary goal. Now, we focus on creating the right content, for the right audience, at the right stage of the buying cycle with qualified leads being the number one goal. SEO is just one of many tactics in a marketer’s arsenal to ensure their content is found by the right people.”

Barbara Feinberg  /in/barbarafeinberg
Senior Product Marketing Manager, Campaigns & Digital Marketing at McKesson (client)

“I believe SEO is the responsibility of all members of our organizations from the PR team to the web team to the ecommerce team. I predict we will be doubling down on SEO as a rebrand poses special challenges that no doubt we will not get everything right on the first pass. We will have to make SEO a critical path for future success.”

Jeremiah Andrick  @jeremiah
GM, Global Ecommerce at Logitech

“SEO will continue to be of growing importance in 2016 as customers and prospects continue to gain more and more control of the relationship with brands. Brands will need to focus on being findable based on their customers preferences – where, when and how they choose to search for and interact with brands and their offerings.”

Michelle Killebrew  @shellkillebrew
Program Director, Digital Marketing Transformation – Cloud at IBM

“Most established brands already have a strong keyword index with Google. However, there are many other platforms for prospects to find you other than Google. Using SEO strategies on social media, especially since the Google-Twitter partnership, will prove to drive positive results in 2016.”

Kyle Peterson  @kylegpeterson
Global Digital Marketing Manager at Ingram Micro

“I think SEO will remain important – it’s the top of the funnel online and continues to be our main source of discovery for standardized industries and information. That said, I think it becomes (or perhaps has already become) the third leg in a three legged race.”

“Data mining has also become essential – if you aren’t measuring and tracking, you aren’t learning, and if you can’t interpret what you measure and adjust quickly, you fall behind. Data drives storytelling, product development, customer understanding, R&D, brick and mortar decision making (including where to locate – or close – stores, what route for drivers to take, and more), and hiring.”

“The third leg, of course, is design. Design (and design thinking) is the path to empathy and culture, and those are where your customers live. If you can master the marriage of design thinking and business, you can conquer the world in the next few years.”

Leslie Poston  @leslie
Social Media Editor at McKinsey & Company

“I believe SEO should remain a marketing priority and will be needed for 2016. Not as much as it it did in early 2010’s, but it will. The digital marketing mix is like an orchestra and needs all parts to sound complete. My belief is there will be a much bigger shift into social and the long tail effect (e.g. links that have a record of larger number of shares will have a stake in the ground for search). SEO will need to work closer with social analytics in parallel with keyword research.”

Andrew Mucci  @AndMucc
Digital Strategist / Social Media Manager at Verizon Wireless

So, SEO is a big thing. But it’s not a dead thing, nor is it the only thing in digital marketing.

These marketers from major brands recognize the value of search engine optimization and they also recognize there are other channels, tactics and influences on the customer journey.

Customers are more sophisticated in how they discover, consume and take action based on digital content. So too, must we as marketers become more sophisticated in creating the answers customers need in order to buy.

This perspective is what drives our integrated approach towards online marketing and the foundation for my book Optimize: Leverage SEO data to inform content choices, use SEO copywriting best practices and SEO analytics to further optimize the search performance of content. Best practices SEO works in tandem with content marketing, influencer marketing, social media marketing, online PR and to some degree online advertising.

As I like to say,

As long as there are search engines, there is an opportunity to optimize search marketing performance.

The important question is, what conclusion have you arrived at when it comes to planning your marketing for 2016? Are you discounting SEO? Are you relying on it too much? If you’re taking a balanced approach, how do you know?

Top image: Shutterstock

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