Brand Content Studios

Stiles Says: The prediction mentioned that companies will attempt more automated, hands-off approaches to content is a STUNNING illustration of not understanding humans.

The Bullets:
*The value will determine the success of a content marketing campaign.
*Content marketing is about building relationships, that often doesn’t happen overnight.
*69% of B2B content marketers say their biggest challenge is not having enough time.
*Relying on automation can be a major mistake.
*Humanity generates engagement.

The full scoop is here

Stiles Says: a reason not mentioned here – the lack of true entertainers to make the content.

The Bullets:
*Content marketing should be measured by sales conversions, not just engagement.
*As brands become publishers, they need to adopt a publisher’s commercialism and make it about sales.
*Content marketing should generate greater individual customer insight.
*Brands are making the same mistakes as publishers before them – pushing content with no appreciation for readers’ individual contexts.
*Content marketing should be used for pre-targeting.
*The earlier you have insight on a prospect, the earlier you can influence and measure their journey.

The full scoop is here
Get excited by following @brandcontentst

Stiles Says: Such a desperation to look for the cheapest, easiest way out for content.  REAL talent should avoid those companies like the plague.

The Bullets:
Myth: Content marketing is easy.  Building trust is not easy.  And transparency and authenticity is not easy for businesses.
Myth: Content marketing doesn’t take much time.  “Lack of time” is cited as the TOP challenge for B2B marketers.
Myth: Content marketing can be automated.  Parts can, but not strategy, real-time human interaction or creative content.
Myth: Content marketing won’t cost much.  Really?  You’re banking on that free-to-produce viral sensation?
Myth: Content marketing can be done by low-salary elves.  It’s getting more specialized than ever, with multiple disciplines.

The full scoop is here
Don’t keep @brandcontentst a secret, spread it.

Stiles Says: Writing talent still matters!  It’s the difference between a great and emotionless reader experience.  And we’re learning every day how valuable customer (reader) experience is.

The Bullets:
*Google monitors the quality of a site’s content.
*A content writer’s focus should be satisfying the reader.
*With the Hummingbird algorithm, Google has taken focus off keywords alone.
*The reader must be interested and want to go deeper into what’s written.
*Headlines are critical.  They must hook ‘em amidst a wave of other headlines.
*On webpages Meta descriptions are what searchers see in the results, so that too must be catchy.
*Content MUST inform or entertain.

The full scoop is here
Get engaging content @brandcontentst

Stiles Says: Boy, there are a lot more reasons than were covered in this blog.  Not the least of which is a journalist has a relentless eye and talent for curation, and many can operate in multiple mediums.

The Bullets:
*Journalists live in a world of deadlines, with high-pressure projects.
*They recognize when expectations and deadlines don’t align.
*Journalists can find an angle for each story and come up with a worthy lead.
*Your product might not be interesting or exciting, but a journalist can make magic with words.

The full scoop is at www.softwareadvice.com

Get news you can use @brandcontentst

Stiles Says: Content is cheaper than traditional, and effective, but the biggest challenge is getting content made.  You haven’t hired the right people.

The Bullets:
*91% of B2B marketers engage in different methods of content marketing, compared to 86% of B2C marketers.
*A top reason people follow brands on social is engaging content.
*58% of consumers trust editorial content.
*Many companies still haven’t adapted to marketing to mobile, 45% rely solely on desktop devices.
*Traditional marketing costs 62% more than content marketing.
*Positive ROI for overall inbound efforts has been reported by 82% of marketers who blog daily.
*63% of companies say posting valuable content on social increased their overall marketing effectiveness.
*Creating original content was seen as the biggest challenge for 69% of content marketers in 2013.

The full scoop is here
We do our tweeting @brandcontentst

Stiles Says: How to win…put someone in charge, plan it, make it, spread it, make more.

The Bullets:
*86% of the most effective B2B marketers had someone overseeing content strategy.
*Among the most effective marketers, 66% have a documented strategy compared to 11% of the least effective.
*The most effective marketers use an average of 15 tactics compared to the least effective marketers who use only 10.
*B2B content marketers use an average of 6 social platforms, up from 5 last year.
*70% of consumers click through to a brand’s blog content after reading stories shared on their social networks.
*Of the most effective B2B marketers, 78% are creating more content compared to 57% of their least effective peers.

 

The full scoop is here
Be successful, follow @brandcontentst

Stiles Says: You’re worrying about the external audience for your content when you’re biggest hurdle might be right there in the office.

The Bullets:
*Studies show 60-70% of B2B content is never used by sales.
*They don’t understand it.  They don’t know how to use it.
*Webinars to educate sales about new content are rarely attended.
*Marketing must market to sales.
*Our content just falls into a sea of other sales stuff.
*Loop sales in during content production so they’ll be more invested in what’s coming.

The full scoop is here
Shadow us at @brandcontentst

Stiles Says: Brands that can’t ease up on the selling in content don’t trust their customers, and definitely don’t trust their product.

The Bullets:
*70% of content marketing is “too salesy”
*Questions about where the sell fits in are still common
*The “tone” of advertising is broken.
*Instead of making people want things advertisers are now creating things people want
*Viewing content marketing as short term is a mistake
*If you can’t continually create solid content, supplement with curation
*Skimp on quality and viewers will bounce
*Focus on clicks and not engagement shows the aim of content marketing has been missed

The full scoop is here
We’re not trying to sell you on @brandcontentst, it’s actually good.