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Showing posts from September, 2012

12 Content Research Tools You Should Be Using

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12 Content Research Tools You Should Be Using Sep 25, 2012 at 9:00am ET by  Arnie Kuenn in Share 7 When it comes to content marketing research, there are a lot of tools at your disposal — so many that it can be overwhelming. From keyword tools and question-and-answer sites to open discussion forums and backlink analyzers, there are tools designed to help you with every step of your content marketing research. But don’t let the sheer number of tools available drive you into analysis paralysis. Remember, this is an idea generation strategy, so try them all, pick a few favorites and make this a part your continuous content research and planning. Here are twelve you should be using if you aren’t already: 1.      Google AdWords: Keyword Tool All research starts with keywords, so if you haven’t already conducted thorough keyword research for your business, I recommend this as your very first step. The  Google AdWords: Keyword Tool  is one of the best free keywor

How Real Businesses Are Using Gamification to Spice Up Their Marketing

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Posted by  Corey Eridon Thu, Sep 20, 2012 @ 08:00 AM  Comments 111 in Share   Gamifi-wha? If that's your reaction to the word "gamification," you're in the right place. You might have heard the word thrown around a bit over the last several months, but never really dug into what it is and what it means for your marketing. That's where I think most of us stand ... gamification is just one more thing to learn about, and maybe one day when we have the time (or the tide of marketing forces us to), we'll figure it out. Well luckily, there's been some pioneering brands out there experimenting with gamification, and lots of research coming out of it that shows whether it's worth all of the hulabaloo. We're going to dive into it all right now in this blog post, and figure out just what this gamification thing is, whether it's useful, and how we can all use it in our marketing. Ready? Let's do this. What Is Gamificati

9 Facebook Marketing Tips to Improve Engagement

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9 Facebook Marketing Tips to Improve Engagement By  Andrea Vahl Published  September 19, 2012  Need some Facebook marketing inspiration? Here are nine Facebook pages using some great techniques for more engagement. Keep reading for some awesome tips from businesses of all sizes . #1: Get Personal Smart Passive Income  with Pat Flynn does a great job with a variety of posts but also adds some of his personal life. You can throw the old “don’t tell them what you had for lunch” advice right out the window with this tip. Your community wants to get to know you and wants to be able to relate to you and your company . You can tell them what you had for lunch. Better yet, add a picture! Personal cover photo with his podcast setup and a picture of his son. #2: Use Pictures No doubt you’ve heard the visual marketing drumbeat, and it’s all true.  Pictures are very powerful on Facebook . They take up more space in the news feed and can  get more engagement than a s

40 Ways to Get Banned From the Top 5 Social Networks Read more: http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/33589/40-Ways-to-Get-Banned-From-the-Top-5-Social-Networks.aspx#ixzz26mCQBXAk

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Posted by  Corey Eridon Mon, Sep 17, 2012 @ 08:00 AM  Comments 302 in Share   It may feel like a fustercluck, but there are actually some rules and regulations that go along with participating in social media. Not the kind that ban people from uploading pictures of their meals (PB&J no crust today guys! #omgsohungry), but the ones that help alleviate things like spamming, bad content, and a poor community experience. You know, the things that help make  social media  a nice place to be. It's not a perfect system the social networks have worked out, but it's important for marketers to know -- because believe it or not, lots of marketers are breaking these rules and don't even know it. And it breaks our hearts to see marketers giving an honest go of social media get banned from the networks ... and then not even know why the heck it happened. This post will review the policies  the most popular social networks  have set up -- some more stringe