The Importance of Building Your Own Brand - as shown by Chris Pine!

Top 10 Trends That Will Transform Digital Marketing In 2017

Social and digital marketing have hit their stride — and now that everyone is back from winter break and settling in to the new year, it’s time to review the lessons learned from last year, and look forward to what’s needed for your company to shine in 2017. 

From the evolving world of artificial intelligence to expectations of instant communications, Stacy DeBroff, CEO and founder of Influence-Central, shares her take on the social and digital marketing horizon, based on her research and work with over 350 national brands last year.

1. New Products Roll in From the Brand Revolution

"As consumers - via social media - we all have a seat at the marketing table - by sharing our needs and priorities through direct feedback and our purchasing choices.

We’ve seen the impact of the ‘brand revolution’ on key consumer-facing industries,” DeBroff says. “In the coming year, brands will become even more attuned to the needs and priorities of the consumer, and increasingly shape their product offerings around the latest lifestyle trends.”

2. A.I. Solutions Point to a Brave New World

2017 will be the year when we will look more to artificial intelligence to lend a helping hand. “This current trend with start-up brands, as well as data analytics, identifies applicable A.I. solutions as a way for consumers to navigate in an increasingly complex world,” DeBroff notes. 

“From advanced electronics applications, to pinpoint analytics that predict consumer needs as they arise, A.I. is on the way, in a big way."

3. “Instant” Speeds up as the New Normal for Gen Z

What happens when you grow up surrounded by social media and technology? Expectations of instant communications and entertainment become inevitable. 

Generation Z consumers gravitate to instantaneous social channels such as Snapchat, Instagram, and the new social app Musical.ly. 

“The downside?” DeBroff explains,

“This generation has grown up with instant response as its baseline expectation. We can count on at least three platforms we’ve never heard of rising to social prominence next year that embrace faster, more pictorial, and more spontaneous ways for rising Gen Z to bond.”

4. Niche Curation Sorts Information Overload

“We find ourselves awash with more information than has ever been available to us as humans, and we simply can’t process it,” DeBroff concludes. 

“As a result, we’ve increasingly come to rely not just on curated information, but on the people we most trust to curate this information for us in a way that resonates with our lifestyle, interests, and values. 

In 2017, consumers will be on a mission to find peer specialists with niche expertise to filter recommendations that meet their needs in a customized way.”

5. Mobile Devices Forge On-the-Go Consumerism

In 2017, DeBroff predicts we will see the emergence of a new “electronics evolution” with innovative technology and apps for the mobile phones we keep tethered to our sides. 

“As these devices offer up smarter, faster, and more intuitive information, they will become even more ingrained into our daily patterns and connected culture — and dramatically influence consumers at the point of purchase. 

Mobile devices will emerge as shoppers’ most valued shopping partner, as consumers check them for recommendations from their network of trusted advisors while fact-checking product attributes and using online coupons,” DeBroff says

6. Social Influencers Diversify, Specialize, and Grow Exponentially

“We’ve never had more on-call peers to advise us — from peer advisors to specialists and trend-spotters,” DeBroff notes. 

As we move into 2017, she predicts we will “entrench ourselves more deeply within the social web, immersing ourselves in increasingly diverse and broadening circles of discerning opinions. 

These influencers will powerfully inform and guide us in our consumer decisions.”

7. Influencer Marketing as a Fundamental Brand Strategy

Many brands now recognized Influencer Marketing as the industry’s hot “go-to” strategy, but they struggle on how best to leverage it and measure it from the perspective of business results and attribution modeling. 

“As we head into 2017, influencers will entrench as defining voices in consumer marketing, as brands concede advertising control and look to passionate brand advocates to sway consumers on social media,” says DeBroff.

8. Consumer Resentment of Intrusive Marketing Deepens

Pop-ups, banner ads, and disruptive brand messages are all falling out of favor. Today’s consumers don’t want brands aggressively pushing their way into social media feeds, whether on Facebook, through promoted Pins or Tweets, or paid-for Snapchat stories. 

“As consumers seek to learn more about new products on their own time, expect continued resentment over intrusive marketing to deepen in 2017. 

Consumers will continue to vote with their feet … “walking” away from social platforms that inundate them with brand marketing,” DeBroff notes. 

Similarly, the tone and content of ads needs to be geared to the new Gen Z paradigm: fast, smart, sassy, and relevant.

9. Consumer Tethering to Mobile Devices Tightens

As mobile devices take over photography, replace alarm clocks, and provide on-the-go access to favorite social media platforms, as well as music and even audio books, they’ve transformed how consumers communicate and share information. 

Our smart phones and tablets have become 24/7 companions,” DeBroff explains. This year she says consumers will continue to ratchet up their mobile dependency as more usages emerge. 

Retailers that do not consider the impact of this sea change, and deal with it intelligently, will be left behind on shore.

10. Words Prove So Overrated: The Year When Images and Videos Rule

“Visuals and videos have truly surged over the past six months, and consumers – particularly those in the Millennial and rising Generation Z cohorts – have truly embraced pictures and videos as a way to gather and share information,” DeBroff says. 

“Look for new visual platforms to roll out in 2017 to accompany existing ones as consumers gravitate toward authentic, live-action, visual storytelling.”

Article by Kate Harrison, source

Best Free Keyword Research Tools for 2017

Best Free Keyword Research Tools for 2017

Such a useful article explaining the basics of keyword research, as well as different ways to do it effectively!

DO WHAT YOU CAN'T

HOW TO START | A Gary Vaynerchuk Original

How Does Your Garden Grow? How to Create and Maintain Evergreen Content

Article by Joshua Nite on April 24th 2017

Create and Maintain Evergreen Content

Every good gardener knows there are two types of flowering plants: Annuals and perennials. Annuals bloom once and have to be replanted the next growing season. Perennials stick around; they continue to flower year after year.

Most blog posts are annuals. You publish them, they generate views and shares for a while, and then they basically go dormant. 

Readers might happen across them occasionally. But think of it this way: When was the last time you went through your favorite blog’s archives? Or clicked on a search result that was over a year old?

Rarely, though, you will find that a post has perennial appeal—what some marketers call “evergreen content.” 

Even though you published it in 2012, it still gets liked and shared. That’s a clear sign the content is still relevant to your audience.

Evergreen content continues to provide value without extra effort, and it can support spin-offs that fill in blanks in your editorial calendar. So it makes sense to invest some time in creating and caring for your perennials.

How to Create Evergreen Content

 

On one level, what content becomes evergreen is up to your audience. 

There will always be a blog post or two that get a surprising amount of sustained attention—posts that just happen to meet an ongoing need.

We’ll talk about how to make the most of these accidental perennials a little later. For now, though, know that it is possible to design content to have lasting value. 

Aim for content that is:

• Fundamental and Timeless. 
• Think “how to” content, frequently asked questions, guides to a subject that stays consistent over time. 
• The opposite of newsjacking posts or posts about cutting-edge trends.

• Take a comprehensive look at a single topic. 
• Go deep, with links to content that explores topics of parallel interest. 
• That kind of value is exactly what will continue to bring in readers over time.

• “Best Answer” Content.  
• Make sure your topic is highly relevant to your audience
• Fundamental, timeless, substantial content that doesn’t answer someone’s burning question won’t become evergreen.

• Highly Visible. 
•  Your blog may not be the best spot for content that’s evergreen by design. 
• Let your accidental evergreens live there, but consider a more permanent home for your new perennials. 
• For example, this comprehensive guide to advertising on LinkedIn has its own page on the root directory.

How to Identify Accidental Evergreens

 

A quick look through your site’s Google Analytics should show what content is still generating interest. 

Look at your traffic report to see what your top-performing posts have been in the past six months—older posts that are still in the top ten are definitely worth your attention.

It’s worth exploring what keywords your site is ranking for, too. You will likely find some unexpected rankings—blog posts that continue to bring in traffic for a specific long tail keyword. 

These posts hold some hidden value and are worth maintaining.

Care and Maintenance of Evergreen Content

 

Now that you have identified the perennials in your garden—and perhaps planted a few new ones—you can help them grow even more value:

• Refresh Older Posts.  
• If an outdated post is still pulling in traffic, it’s worth pulling in fresh statistics and a few new visuals to make it even more relevant. 
• Don’t forget to change the date and note that it was edited, so readers will know it’s au courant.

• Make a Hub.  
• Your evergreen post can become the center of an SEO-friendly little content empire. 
• Create new content to expand on part of the post, or address a relevant side topic. 
• Then crosslink between the old and new.

• Expand and Feature.  
• Take a shorter piece that still gets traffic and expand it—turn your quick how-to into a more in-depth guide. 
• Include visual interest, relevant statistics, and links to other resources (we call this a “power page”). 
• Then take your new asset and give it pride of place, on its own page rather than in your blog.

• Create a Gated Asset.  
• Evergreen content’s popularity is your audience telling you what they want to know more about. 
• Create an eBook or white paper that further explores the topic of your evergreen content. 
• Then add a CTA to the original post that links to your new asset.

• Start a Series. 
•  As soon as a movie hits big at the box office, suddenly it becomes “part one of a trilogy.” 
• Take the same approach with a surprise evergreen hit. Make it the first in a series of posts on the topic, and link them together.

• Find New Formats.  
• You can repurpose evergreen content to attract an even wider audience. 
• Make it the basis of a webinar. 
• Turn the stats into an infographic. 
• Discuss it on a podcast. 
• All of these can build on the audience’s demonstrated interest in the topic.

How Green Is Your Thumb?

 

Evergreen content is a bonus for content marketers. Not only does it generate traffic without effort, it can serve as a starting point to drive even more value for your audience. 

It’s worth checking for perennials already growing in your content garden, and planting some for next season, too.

Article source 

Steve Jobs' amazing marketing strategy - MUST WATCH