Content Marketing
Write Smarter/Faster With Tips From Top Content Creator Posts
Content creators recognize the struggle to find the right word, craft the right phrase, or just get the darn thing done. This post is loaded with helpful reminders and ideas from the most popular articles on the Content Marketing Institute blog in this category (plus links to many more).
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Branding in the Age of Content Marketing
Buyers choose brands that they trust and respect. Trust is second only to price as a purchase driver. A brand’s impact on society is why trust has become more important. As younger decision-makers take control, this trend will become more pronounced. Spending time to clarify your messaging at the most elemental level and crafting a strategy to bring your unique purpose and point-of-difference to light across your internal and external communications is imperative for brands that want to lead.
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What Are the Most Important Elements of Your Brand Story?
Your brand story is a lot like a first date. It’s your one chance to make a great first impression. It’s a little scary – but it’s your open door to opportunity. With the right elements, your brand story will hook potential customers right from the start. Here’s how to make that first impression into one that customers will remember for a lifetime.
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Marketing Mistakes Could Be Fatal to Manufacturing Companies
Although the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic is hitting service and travel industries the hardest, B2B manufacturers and industrial companies are not immune. And just as human patients with underlying issues are more susceptible to the pandemic, so are B2B companies with underlying financial, organizational and marketing issues. It’s time to acknowledge the marketing issues you have and get in front of them. Turn underlying B2B marketing problems into bonafide marketing differentiators. Here are four underlying marketing issues that could prove catastrophic to B2B manufacturers.
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The Not-So-Simple Act of Storytelling
The industries Gardner Business Media reports on grow and evolve constantly. New technologies emerge and change things and become part of the larger story almost constantly. Scott Francis, Editor-In-Chief, Products Finishing discusses the importance of asking questions, listening to the real experts who have devoted their lives to their work, and the role of storytelling in manufacturing.
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Post-COVID Considerations for B2B Marketers
While we begin to return to “normal” from COVID-19, there are lessons for B2B marketers to learn and actions to take to recover and grow business as a result of this experience. Change is in order in how we look at B2B marketing, and our customers, in the near term “post-COVIDian” future. Call it a commonsense approach, rooted in proven best practices, our new-found “pull together” mentality and need to adapt to change. Not a blueprint, just parts and pieces to frame thinking. Sum it up in 5 words: Consistency; Community; Integrity; Agility; Contingency.
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Social Storytelling: Should Your Brand Try Augmented Reality?
You’ve probably seen ‘Augmented Reality’ technology in action even if you didn’t know its name. When your kids play Pokemon Go or post Instagram Stories revealing their inner Disney character, that’s AR. If you’ve ever previewed how a sofa will look in your apartment before you decide to click ‘buy,’ that retailer uses AR. It is predicted that the coming years will unleash new kinds of creative storytelling. If you’re weighing the benefits of developing a branded AR experience, consider these best practices.
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Psychological Tactics to Write Attention-Grabbing Headlines
A headline can be as important as the content itself. A study found that 59 percent of articles shared on social media weren’t even clicked on by the user. Headlines are a critical component in your online marketing efforts, and readers use headlines to make a snap judgment about your content. When you improve content headlines in your online business, the needle will move. Here are four techniques that will make your next headline more persuasive.
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Shifting Landscape of Technology Is a Never-Ending Education
Brent Donaldson, Senior Editor, Modern Machine Shop and Additive Manufacturing Magazine discusses how the shifting landscape of technology that all of Gardner’s writers and editors cover is a never-ending education. If we are truly doing our jobs, we will never feel like we’ve mastered them. As I continue writing and reporting for AM and MMS, it’s easy to imagine how these technologies’ interdependency will continue to grow. It also seems clear that this kind of reporting — the kind that requires editors to experience and share new manufacturing technologies and strategies — is the kind of reporting that only Gardner can produce with any depth. I’m grateful to be part of it.
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Online Writing: 25 To-Dos and Not To-Dos
SEO is essential to writing, which presents a frustrating situation for modern writers who are not trained in SEO. Not just blog or article writers, but also PR, ad, social media, and product writers. The following list is a hybrid of thoughts that are what is most important from both a creative and SEO perspective to improve the quality of your online writing for today’s world. The tips include thoughts on craft, on-page SEO, physical and mental training/practices, and managing time, among others.
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