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  • B2B Ecommerce Trends: 9 Experts Discuss the Big Shift that’s Coming to B2B

    B2B Ecommerce Trends: 9 Experts Discuss the Big Shift that’s Coming to B2B

    Whether it’s in the blogosphere, at conferences, or on social media, we’re hearing a lot about the growth of B2B ecommerce this year. B2B sales are moving from the phone line to online, and that has profound implications for both the B2B industry and the ecommerce solutions industry. To facilitate this discussion and help educate professionals in the B2B and ecommerce services industry, we interviewed 9 experts on the emerging trends in B2B ecommerce. We asked some pointed questions, and we got an array of intelligent, informative answers. We hope this article will help B2B ecommerce developers, designers, and industry professionals. Here are the questions we asked:

    1. How might an ecommerce model streamline the world of B2B sales?

    2. What types of innovation would you like to see in B2B ecommerce functionality?

    3. Where does a professional sales staff fit into a B2B ecommerce business plan?

    4. How can B2B ecommerce managers encourage their customer base to transition from phone orders to web orders?

    1. Bill Osteraas – Vice President, Channel Development, Four51

    Bill Osteraas

    How might an ecommerce model streamline the world of B2B sales?

    There are huge benefits when it comes to an ecommerce solution – one of them being automation. By integrating your ecommerce solution with your ERP, CRM, analytics, and other current softwares, you are streamlining your processes and removing the manual steps that used to take place. This cuts down on costs, reduces order errors, and frees up your personnel to work on larger issues. In fact, we’ve seen companies like Turtle Wax go from a 6% order error rate to less than 1% after implementing a B2B ecommerce solution. Additionally, you remove the 9-5 barrier by allowing customers to order 24x7x365. [clickToTweet tweet=”By integrating your ecommerce solution with ERP, CRM, & analytics, you streamline processes. @Four51inc @216_digital” quote=”By integrating your ecommerce solution with ERP, CRM, & analytics, you streamline processes. “]

    What types of innovation would you like to see in B2B ecommerce functionality?

    We face this topic with a different approach: flexibility over features. Many ecommerce softwares are rigid and companies must have a “you get what you get and you don’t have a fit” mindset. With an API-first platform, you open up the possibilities for your users immensely. Not only can they utilize the features already available, but they can customize them completely to their business. Integrations become easier than ever, allowing businesses to personalize their platform to their specific processes.

    Where does a professional sales staff fit into a B2B ecommerce business plan?

    Many people have proclaimed that B2B ecommerce will replaces sales reps. However, ecommerce will free up employees from monotonous, administrative tasks and allow them to have a greater impact on the company with consultative selling or working closer with customers. It’s important to have at least one employee dedicated to your ecommerce solution, especially as ecommerce becomes the main go-to-market strategy for many businesses. Adding or upgrading your online channel requires a company-wide digital transformation, which includes all employees.

    How can B2B ecommerce managers encourage their customer base to transition from phone orders to web orders?

    Luckily, many customers will naturally transition to web orders, as they have grown accustomed to it in their own personal lives. Many are already using their web devices to search for products – according to Forrester, 74% of B2B buyers are researching at least half of their business purchases online. For those who don’t naturally transition, set the right expectations. Tell them why it’s good for them – for example, faster fulfillment time, automatic delivery updates, and the ability to order anytime, anywhere and from any device.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Bill Osteraas is the Vice President of Channel Development at Four51. Four51 offers OrderCloud, a customizable, flexible B2B ecommerce platform that’s entirely cloud-based. Bill has 20 years of experience helping customers with complex ecommerce solutions. Find Four51 online, on Facebook, or on Twitter.

    2. Marcel Nanning – Founder, B2BMarketeers

    Marcel Nanning

    How might an ecommerce model streamline the world of B2B sales?

    Ecommerce is a serious channel in B2B sales these days, and it’s still growing. I have seen customers generating 10% extra revenue the first year a B2B shop opened. That is 10% extra business they would not have had without the shop. It is exciting to see how it is used in different applications. You see some companies selling complex products online, while other companies choose just to sell parts or maintenance products with their website. There is also a difference in how customers and potential customers are served. Some companies use a B2B ecommerce channel just to take in new orders from existing customers. Others try to sell products to the whole world. B2B ecommerce is a way to increase sales, find new markets, and serve customers fast and easy. It is also a field to be further explored. Every case is different—there is no ecommerce template that fits all B2B companies.

    What types of innovation would you like to see in B2B ecommerce functionality?

    All the B2C innovations will be useful for B2B shops. I think we will see lots of innovations with big data and connectivity. Lots of new possibilities emerge if data is connected to the shop. If a B2B machine company uses sensors to measure the lifetime of certain parts, it could give the owner of the machine a signal if it needs to be replaced. The company could also set up the order in a shop, with some complementary products or services like a mechanic to install the product. The customer just has to approve the order and wait for the product + mechanic to arrive. Everybody wins. That’s just one example of the range of innovations that is going to take place. Also important: we will see more shops in professional services markets. Services, like consultancy, will be productized and sold through online shops as well.

    Where does a professional sales staff fit into a B2B ecommerce business plan?

    Sales provides all the input for the ecommerce activities. And good B2B salespeople with deep knowledge of products and markets will always be important in sales and marketing. Call it sales, call it marketing; it is about adding value, making the connection, and being of importance to the customer.

    How can B2B ecommerce managers encourage their customer base to transition from phone orders to web orders?

    By helping them experience the fun and ease of it. And by giving them an essential role in the process. Most importantly, include them in the B2B ecommerce projects from the start. [clickToTweet tweet=”Include your customer base in your #B2B #ecommerce project from the start. @b2bmarketeers @216_digital” quote=”Include your customer base in your B2B ecommerce project from the start. “]

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Marcel Nanning is founder and editor of the digital magazine b2bmarketeers.nl, one of the biggest b2b marketing blogs in the Netherlands. He is also Campaign Manager at GAC Business Solutions, a Microsoft partner in The Netherlands. GAC Business Solutions serves customers all over the world with smart Business Software solutions for ERP, CRM, Office 365 and B2C/B2B e-commerce. You can connect with Marcel on LinkedIn.

    3. Tim Peter – Founder, Tim Peter & Associates

    tim peter

    How might an ecommerce model streamline the world of B2B sales?

    It really depends on your product or service. If you’re offering a subscription-based SaaS tool that customers can configure on their own or aftermarket parts for your products, you can easily lower your costs and streamline your customer’s purchase journey by offering self-service purchasing. I’ve seen Fortune 100 companies sell components and, in some cases, complete systems online, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in annual revenue by focusing more clearly on understanding that customer journey and where ecommerce activities actually improve the process. I recommend B2B marketers look at their process in terms of “tracks,” helping customers follow the most appropriate track for their particular purchase path: “fast track” (i.e., heavily ecommerce focused) for self-service or simpler purchases; a “standard” track, featuring some hybrid of person-to-person, for the typical purchase path; and a bespoke or advanced track for more complex, customized solutions, perhaps using a product configurator or something similar to start the conversation and show what’s possible—and to generate leads.

    Where does a professional sales staff fit into a B2B ecommerce business plan?

    It’s really important to remember that B2B sales often are much more complex than B2C transactions for a variety of reasons. First, unless you’re selling to SMB (and even then…) you’re likely dealing with multiple stakeholders within the organization. B2B offerings often feature complex and customized implementations. And, they’re often at least one step removed from the actual end-user of the product. [clickToTweet tweet=”#B2B #ecommerce sales are much more complex than B2C transactions for a variety of reasons. @tcpeter @216_digital” quote=”B2B ecommerce sales are often much more complex than B2C transactions for a variety of reasons. “] If these cases apply to your business, your sales staff plays a key role in addressing objections among those stakeholders, walking prospects through each step in the process, and helping stakeholders realize the benefits their customers will see from your product or service. In these situations, it’s really about finding the right place in the customer journey to hand-off to a sales professional who can close the deal and assist prospects with—or, where appropriate, upsell prospects to—your more customized services.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Tim Peter is the founder of Tim Peter & Associates, LLC, an internet marketing, ecommerce, and consulting firm. Before launching his own company in 2011, Tim worked in the luxury hotel and resort industry, where he helped companies achieve more than $2 billion in online revenue. He has written extensively in the digital marketing industry, and his blog, Tim Peter Thinks, has a large monthly readership. Connect with Tim on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

    4. Melissa Buening – Director of Marketing, Apruve, Inc.

    Melissa Buening

    How might an ecommerce model streamline the world of B2B sales?

    An ecommerce model can streamline the world of B2B sales by reducing the total cost to serve and sell to customers. It can help with reducing the time it takes to find products, improving order accuracy, reducing payment friction, and reducing customer service questions. Ecommerce also allows customers to order products on their own schedule, make repeat purchases, and go paperless.

    What types of innovation would you like to see in B2B ecommerce functionality?

    We would like to see B2B ecommerce sites better enable buyers to apply for credit and pay on terms in an online way. Much of this process is still being handled offline with a phone, a fax machine, and a traditional A/R process, which is inefficient and costly. [clickToTweet tweet=”#B2B #ecommerce sites should enable buyers to apply for credit and pay on terms online. @apruve @216_digital” quote=”B2B ecommerce sites should enable buyers to apply for credit and pay on terms online. “]

    Where does a professional sales staff fit into a B2B ecommerce business plan?

    A professional sales staff can fit into a B2B ecommerce business plan through new customer acquisition, customer retention, answering specific product questions, and ongoing customer support. B2B sellers can continue to commission a sales rep for orders no matter how they come in. Sales people can spend more time selling and less time processing transactions, which should lead to an increase in sales attributed to each sales person.

    How can B2B ecommerce managers encourage their customer base to transition from phone orders to web orders?

    B2B ecommerce managers can simply outline the benefits to their customers. Most people say they want to order online (75% according to Forrester), so it shouldn’t be overly difficult for most companies to convince their customers. Another option would be to build incentives for their customers to move online, such as better payment terms, discounts, or online-only product specials.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Melissa Buening is the Director of Marketing at Apruve, Inc. Apruve allows B2B ecommerce businesses to stop acting like a bank toward their customers. Invoices created in Apruve are paid within 24 hours, and the company also offers credit approval, financing, and account setup. You can connect with Apruve on Twitter.

    5. Chris Guerra – Chief Marketing Officer, Blue Acorn

    Chris Guerra

    How might an ecommerce model streamline the world of B2B sales?

    The B2B sales process is extremely antiquated. In many cases buyers are still using paper and fax machines. Ecommerce provides a 24/7 mechanism for buyers to learn, build purchase orders and easily reorder items. No longer does a buyer need to wait for a sales rep to get back to them. Buyers have an “on-demand” experience. [clickToTweet tweet=”In #B2B #ecommerce, buyers have an ‘on-demand’ experience. @blueacorn @216_digital” quote=”In #B2B #ecommerce, buyers have an ‘on-demand’ experience. “]

    What types of innovation would you like to see in B2B ecommerce functionality?

    Once companies take the first step to establish a B2B presence online they will quickly learn how valuable the analytics beyond purchase data are. From understanding what categories, product and content buyers are interacting with it helps build a deeper profile and understanding of buyer interests. This data can empower sales reps or be used to personalize the buying experience.

    Where does a professional sales staff fit into a B2B ecommerce business plan?

    Ecommerce will never replace “relationships”. However, it can help build them. Sales staff can use the ecommerce site during various stages of the buying process whether it is to build lookbooks, bookmark items, or propose purchase orders. Again, the analytics allow for a smarter sales rep making calls more targeted and productive.

    How can B2B ecommerce managers encourage their customer base to transition from phone orders to web orders?

    B2B ecommerce managers should explore features like loyalty point, promotional pricing, exclusive content. Building strong “My Account” functionality and treating it like a repository for orders, communication and contact information can turn what is typically a boring portion of a website into the highest trafficked destination.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Chris Guerra, chief marketing officer, joined Blue Acorn in 2012. Chris has over 10 years of experience working with IR500 merchants. Extensive knowledge in replatforming, digital marketing, ecommerce operations, and financial planning has led Chris to hold several leadership positions throughout his career. Connect with Chris on Twitter.

    6. Dr. Sam Bayer – CEO & Cofounder, Corevist

    dr sam bayer

    How might an ecommerce model streamline the world of B2B sales?

    How has ecommerce streamlined the buying of books, clothing, jewelry, electronic equipment and beauty products? It has removed the need to walk to a store, speak to a person or do either only when businesses are open. B2B ecommerce will have the exact same benefits. Only the impact on the economy will be much larger because the flow of B2B products around the world far exceeds the volume of B2C sales.

    What types of innovation would you like to see in B2B ecommerce functionality?

    We don’t need any more innovation in B2B ecommerce functionality than we already have. We already have way more than the vast majority of B2B companies can take advantage of. The real innovation that we need is to figure out a way to make B2B ecommerce websites quicker to implement and more affordable. Frankly, the vast majority of B2B ecommerce transactions are still phone/fax and email. FAXES in 2016! Corevist is focused on disrupting the B2B ecommerce technology space by innovating on the adoption of these projects without sacrificing functionality. [clickToTweet tweet=”We need to make #B2B #ecommerce websites quicker to implement and more affordable. @CorevistInc @216_digital” quote=”We need to make B2B ecommerce websites quicker to implement and more affordable. “]

    Where does a professional sales staff fit into a B2B ecommerce business plan?

    Either on the bus or they become extinct. If your value as a saleperson is delivering information that is easily available on a website and accessible via a smartphone, than your days are numbered. Salespeople need to reinvent themselves to not sell products but to help their customers become more successful from a business perspective. Websites will replace transactions but it’s a lot harder for them to offer advice. That’s where salespeople should evolve.

    How can B2B ecommerce managers encourage their customer base to transition from phone orders to web orders?

    By making it easier to do business on the website than it is by speaking to a human being for routine transactions. You can promote by offering discounts to kickstart traffic on the website, but at the end of the day, if life isn’t better for your customers on the website, they won’t use.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Dr. Sam Bayer received his PhD in chemistry at age 23. Career highlights include connecting IBM to a new market segment (laboratory information management systems), introducing the first B2B ecommerce website for SAP® manufacturers, and launching Corevist, which focuses on the convergence of cloud-delivered services and the consumerization of B2B ecommerce. Connect with Dr. Bayer on Twitter.

    7. Brian Massey – Cofounder, Conversion Sciences

    Brian Massey Headshot

    How might an ecommerce model streamline the world of B2B sales?

    You can easily streamline your B2B sales by NOT implementing a B2B ecommerce model. Your competitors will take care of the orders for you! [clickToTweet tweet=”Streamline sales by NOT implementing #B2B ecommerce model. Competition will handle the orders! @bmassey @216_digital” quote=”You can easily streamline your B2B sales by NOT implementing a B2B ecommerce model. Your competitors will take care of the orders for you!”] In a recent Conversion Sciences webinar, Jeff Philipp noted research showing: 1. 74% of B2B buyers perfer to buy through a website 2. 93% of B2B buyers prefer to execute a buy the moment they find what they are looking for. A B2B ecommerce site can be expected to increase customer satisfaction and loyalty while reducing the cost of selling. This means higher margins and more repeat business, a powerful combination.

    What types of innovation would you like to see in B2B ecommerce functionality?

    Unfortunately, the ecommerce innovation that B2B companies lack is having an ecommerce offering. According to Forrester’s Peter Sheldon, only 25% of all B2B companies sell online today. This is an opportunity. However, there are some challenges unique to B2B ecommerce. Blue Fish Development Group CEO Jeff Philipp summarized thirteen of them on our webinar. Here are seven of the most common: 1. Highly complex, customizable products 2. Importance of delivery dates and ordering backlog 3. Complicate pricing formulas 4. Complex sales tax issues 5. Multiple buyer accounts and multiple locations 6. Shipping options can be complex 7. Integration with backend systems Watch the on-demand Lab Coat Lessons webinar for all thirteen.

    Where does a professional sales staff fit into a B2B ecommerce business plan?

    Without proper project management, sales can be an obstacle to B2B ecommerce efforts. They may see the site as a threat. In truth, a B2B ecommerce site works well as a sales support platform. The site may actually increase phone calls for visitors that prefer the interaction of a sales person. It is not unusual for the B2B ecommerce site to be the choice of returning customers, while the sales team continues to excel at landing new customers’ first orders.

    How can B2B ecommerce managers encourage their customer base to transition from phone orders to web orders?

    In the words of Peter Sheldon, “Buyers are way ahead of the sellers.” Making the ecommerce site known to phone callers will be all that it takes to get customers to switch. A larger and larger portion of new customers will be looking for the ecommerce site first. In almost every industry, the fastest-growing segment of online traffic is mobile. All a business has to do is stop telling them they can’t order via the web and offer them a great online solution.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Brian Massey founded the website optimization company Conversion Sciences in 2007. He is a bestselling author (“Your Customer Creation Equation: Unexpected Website Formulas of The Conversion Scientist”), computer programmer, and entrepreneur. He has written for Search Engine Land, Marketing Land, the Content Marketing Institute, and others. Connect with Brian on Twitter.

    8. Elan Sherbill – Corporate Blogger, cleverbridge

    elan sherbill

    How might an ecommerce model streamline the world of B2B sales?

    Even simple payment functionality goes a long way toward improving B2B customer experiences. Offering business buyers the ability to research and then pay for their items entirely online saves time and money for both sellers and buyers. The biggest boon for sellers is that digital shopping experiences increase overall revenue and let sellers focus on building better products. [clickToTweet tweet=”#Ecommerce increases overall #B2B revenue so sellers focus on building better products. @cleverbridge @216_digital” quote=”Digital shopping experiences increases overall revenue and lets them focus on building better products.”]

    What types of innovation would you like to see in B2B ecommerce functionality?

    There needs to be a bigger focus on global markets. Most organizations are so focused on their existing customer base that they ignore millions of dollars from cross-border shoppers who are simply not afforded the chance to buy from them. This is because these organizations do not offer localized customer experiences that make it possible for international buyers to conveniently pay for goods or services online. If businesses truly want to leverage digital shopping experiences for B2B buyers, they have to make sure they are offering all customers products in local currencies, at prices the local market can bear. It also means providing customers the option to use preferred local payment methods and ensuring that the entire customer experience complies with local regulations so far as issues like taxation, privacy and security are concerned.

    Where does a professional sales staff fit into a B2B ecommerce business plan?

    With digital B2B customer experiences, sales teams are going to have to pivot from order takers to expert consultants. The shopping experience is going to be increasingly self-managed on the buyer’s end. That doesn’t mean you abandon loyal employees. Digital shopping removes a lot of the face-to-face touchpoints between customers and businesses, so you still need a highly trained sales staff who understand their customers’ pain points and who helps them understand how to drive better business outcomes with the tools they sell.

    How can B2B ecommerce managers encourage their customer base to transition from phone orders to web orders?

    I honestly don’t think it’s going to take much encouragement. Every B2B customer is also an individual consumer who shops online at least once a month (if not more frequently), and they have high expectations for digital customer experiences. Business buyers want to be able to pay for their orders as conveniently as they do when they’re shopping on Amazon. And it’s not just about the payments. B2B customers want to self-manage all their customer account information, including upgrading and downgrading plans, adding and removing licenses, or updating payment information. Think about your own shopping preferences. You don’t like taking time out of your busy schedule to make a phone call to renew your order when you could easily accomplish the same thing with a few clicks or swipes. And neither do your customers.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Elan Sherbill is a corporate blogger at cleverbridge—a global subscription billing provider that helps companies build long-term customer relationships and grow recurring revenue streams. You can connect with him on Twitter or LinkedIn.

    9. Gareth Daine – Co-Founder, Content Sleuth

    gareth

    How might an ecommerce model streamline the world of B2B sales?

    Well, according to Forbes, the B2B ecommerce market will be worth $1.7 trillion by 2020, so, I’m not sure it’s a case of ecommerce streamlining B2B sales, as it appears it’s already in full swing. Look at Alibaba as a B2B ecommerce marketplace. While it’s had its fair share of problems and controversy, it’s hugely successful. Look at Littlewoods (the Shop Direct Group), who used to run catalogue services, but now are solely based online. The benefits to the business are huge. They save overheads in many areas, can automate a lot of the process, and it allows them to funnel those investments into expanding the model. Whenever anyone comes to purchase products and services, whether businesses or not, usually, their first port of call is the Internet. This presents huge opportunities for B2B businesses, as providing their products and services via an online (usually account locked) platform, like Magento, for example, allows them to offer the convenience of online ordering and user account management, as well as features such as re-ordering, back-ordering and such. Customers find these types of conveniences extremely helpful, and it helps them speed up their ordering, dispatching and delivery processes, helping them save time and money.

    What types of innovation would you like to see in B2B ecommerce functionality?

    I would love to see some solid innovation in drop shipping functionality and connections with marketplaces like eBay, Amazon and Alibaba. A sort of Software as a Service (SaaS) model would be great, where companies can sign up, and the service provider would handle the rest. Could be big money in something like that, especially if they linked in with suppliers, and provided checks. [clickToTweet tweet=”We need innovations in #B2B drop shipping functionality & integrations w/major markets. @contentsleuth @216_digital” quote=”I would love to see some solid innovation in drop shipping functionality and connections with marketplaces like eBay, Amazon and Alibaba. “]

    Where does a professional sales staff fit into a B2B ecommerce business plan?

    Obviously, digital marketing and social media are key, but professional sales staff of the old-school variety still have their place. Contacting current and prospective companies to offer a streamlined service, perhaps offering discounted prices for onboarding on to the online platform.

    How can B2B ecommerce managers encourage their customer base to transition from phone orders to web orders?

    As mentioned above, offering discount pricing for online orders and account management, web only incentives to entice customers to use the online model, a great user experience by making it simple, fast and straightforward to use. Take the headaches out of the process by automating as much as possible. There are many benefits, including re-ordering previous orders, backordering, easy account management, fast ordering, etc.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Gareth is a seasoned software engineer with over 19 years’ experience in the industry. He specializes in ecommerce design and development. He is also the co-founder of Content Sleuth, a new social media automation tool for content marketers. You can find Content Sleuth on Twitter, or read their in-depth, actionable tips for social media marketing.

    Greg McNeil

    May 26, 2016
    Ecommerce Platforms
  • 106 Content Marketing Tips: The Big Book on Content Marketing

    106 Content Marketing Tips: The Big Book on Content Marketing

    The ULTIMATE Guide for Brands Who Want to Publish

    Brands are joining the content marketing frenzy every day. If you haven’t started practicing content marketing yet, it’s high time you did. But where do you start? How do you work with available resources, affordable publishing tools, and strangers who don’t know your content exists? Worse—how do you turn this Mt. Everest of difficulties into a value-creating resource for your brand?

    Glad you asked.

    This article won’t turn you into a content marketing whiz overnight. It’s not even designed to do that. It’s just too big! Rather, we wrote this article to publish all of our greatest content marketing tips in one place. This is that big fat reference book that used to sit on your desk. That’s why we call it the Big Book.

    Wherever you’re at in your content marketing campaign, we’ve assembled the ULTIMATE list of content marketing tips. We cover everything here, from setup to final promotional outreach. We’ve broken this massive article into 7 chapters. No matter where you’re at in the process, you can find actionable strategies to help you improve that step, right now, today.

    Let’s dive in!

    CONTENTS:

    I. Research and Setup (19 tips)

    II. Generating Content Marketing Ideas (14 tips)

    III. Keyword Research for Content Marketing (12 tips)

    IV. Content Quality (15 tips)

    V. Initial Networking (9 tips)

    VI. Publication Process (9 tips)

    VII. Initial Promotion (7 tips)

    VIII. Link Building Outreach (9 tips)

    IX. Measuring Your Results (12 tips)

    I. RESEARCH AND SETUP (19 tips)

    research-and-setup

    [clickToTweet tweet=”Define your #contentmarketing objectives from the beginning. They dictate your #contentstrategy http://bit.ly/1poOzCy” quote=”Define your #contentmarketing objectives from the beginning. They dictate your #contentstrategy”]

    1. Define your content marketing objectives from the beginning. What are you trying to accomplish? If you don’t set clear goals for your content marketing efforts, you won’t even know what you’re striving for. Many companies make a half-hearted effort at blogging and social media and call it content marketing. In today’s highly-saturated content landscape, an uneducated and lackluster attempt just won’t cut it.

    2. Define your primary audience and discover where they hang out online. You want to speak what they speak, and you want to speak where they speak.

    3. Research your primary audience. What are their beliefs and values? What types of content do they like? You can’t succeed in a content market without knowing that market.

    4. Create accounts in all the relevant social media platforms. Research best practices in those platforms that aren’t familiar to you.

    5. Use BuzzStream. No excuses. This incredible service will automate the more tedious aspects of content promotion and outreach. In the research phase, you can add contacts and their information to BuzzStream with one click—including things like tagging the contact for niches, and noting what kind of opportunity the contact may offer. You can segment your contact lists, create email templates, personalize individual messages, choose when to send, and set follow-up reminders, among many other features.

    1-grab-buzzstream

    6. If you’re not using BuzzStream, make a Content Outreach spreadsheet. Prepare for it to get HUGE! Every time you find a viable content outreach contact, you’ll want to log a variety of information. Record what niche the contact belongs to, as well as any relevant sub-niches and content focuses. Record their domain name, Twitter page URL, and Facebook page URL. Consider logging their follower counts and typical share counts for posts, as well. Make cells for logging ALL of your communication with each contact. When you go to do outreach, this information will help you to start at the top, reaching out to your most targeted and valuable contacts first. It will also help you to avoid awkward missteps from confusing different communication you’ve had with different contacts.

    7. Break your outreach list into smaller segments by sub-niche. This will help you focus your outreach for specific content in the future. If you don’t know your niche and sub-niches well enough at this point to break them out, you can do it later, after you’ve learned more about your niches.

    [clickToTweet tweet=”Explore similar accounts on Facebook and Twitter. #contentmarketing tip from @216_digital http://bit.ly/1poOzCy” quote=”Explore similar accounts on Facebook and Twitter. #contentmarketing tip from @216_digital “]

    8. Explore similar accounts on Facebook and Twitter. After you Like a Facebook page or follow a Twitter account, explore all the similar accounts that appear at the top or side of the page. This will help you find audiences and outreach contacts related to your primary audience.

    9. Explore the Twitter accounts of several people in your niche. Look at accounts that retweet these people, and look at which accounts these people retweet. This can lead you to accounts both in your niche and in related niches. Accounts in both niches are valuable contacts for promoting your content.

    10. Find 10 fantastic pieces of content from other people in your niche. Paste the URL of these pieces into Facebook search and Twitter search. Where permissions allow, this will reveal accounts which have shared great content in your niche. If your content is this amazing (and it will be), these accounts will share your content, too. Find their websites and add them to your Content Outreach spreadsheet.

    11. Make a list of the Top 5 thought leaders in your niche. Who publishes about them? These are individuals who consistently think ahead of the curve in your market. Google each person’s name—but look past their own websites and social accounts. Who publishes content about these 5 leaders? Who shares content about them on social media? This technique can lead you to outreach contacts and audiences which you hadn’t thought of before.

    12. Research keywords with an eye toward organizational goals. Use a keyword tool like SEMrush to determine a) what keywords your brand needs to rank for, and b) what type of content currently ranks for those keywords. Note: in content marketing, keyword intent is critical. You need to focus on keywords which have at least some informational intent (as opposed to purchase intent). Find opportunities in which weak content ranks on the first page of Google for one of your keywords with informational intent. Schedule yourself to write a fantastic piece of informational content that is far better than the weak content that currently ranks for that keyword.

    [clickToTweet tweet=”Create an editorial calendar to meet goals on schedule. #contentmarketing tip from @216_digital http://bit.ly/1poOzCy” quote=”Create an editorial calendar to meet goals on schedule. #contentmarketing tip from @216_digital”]

    13. Create an editorial calendar. This is the backbone of magazine and blog publishing, and it will become your daily hangout. You can purchase editorial calendar software, but there are clever free solutions available, too. For those who don’t want to purchase something, we recommend using a calendar in Google spreadsheets, since multiple team members can assign tasks and edit them at the same time.

    14. Determine the rules for your editorial calendar, and communicate them to your team. Empower your team to follow the rules by providing a simple, easy-to-remember procedure for marking tasks that need more time or didn’t get done at all. You don’t want content marketing tasks to get lost in the chaos of shifting timelines.

    15. Prepare your WordPress site for thoroughbred performance. Whether you already have a WordPress site or you’re just setting one up, you’ll need to configure it to follow best practices. Set Permalinks to post names, create a public-appropriate nickname for your publishing account, and turn off comments if you won’t be moderating them manually and through plugins.

    16. Speed up your WordPress site through caching. WordPress is notoriously slow, even on fast servers. Install a caching plugin, such as W3 Total Cache, to speed up your site.

    17. Speed up your WordPress site with a CDN (content delivery network). Consider using a content delivery network to speed up the serving of certain content when users return to your site. CloudFlare offers a free CDN.

    18. Optimize all imagery for web. Gigantic pictures will slow down your site. As a rule of thumb, for full-width blog posts, all images should be at least 1200px wide. For blogs that use a sidebar, you can usually get away with a minimum width of 800px. When you save your images as JPEGs in Photoshop, be sure to Save for Web, or else adjust the quality slider down. Your final file size should be 100-300kb maximum.
    1-grab-image-opt 1-grab-file-size

    19. Install the Yoast SEO plugin. It will give you a quick look at how search-engine-optimized every piece of content is. It won’t help you rank higher directly, but it will show you problems with your onsite optimization for each content marketing piece.

    II. GENERATING CONTENT MARKETING IDEAS (14 tips)

    generating-ideas

    [clickToTweet tweet=”Read EVERYTHING — even content outside your industry. #contentmarketing tip from @216_digital http://bit.ly/1poOzCy” quote=”Read EVERYTHING — even content outside your industry. #contentmarketing tip from @216_digital”]

    20. Read, read, read. Read everything. It’s been said that no one reads anymore. This simply isn’t true. Rather, the way we read has changed. Don’t read only within your industry or your personal interests. Get interested in everything. Read the New York Times, the just-launched blog in your industry, and everything in between. As you read, take notes, particularly questions you have that the article doesn’t answer. As you investigate these questions, you may find topics and angles that haven’t been covered yet—things which the content market is hungry for.

    21. Think like your reader. You’ve already done the market research. You should have a general notion of who your audience segments are and what they care about. And while thinking about segments is good, it can also hurt your efforts. A segment is a concept; a reader is a human being. Take a step back and imagine yourself in your reader’s shoes. What are you dying to know? What information are you hunting for that you can’t find anywhere else? Respect your readers, and they’ll love what you publish.

    22. Keep a running notebook of ideas. It’s been said that genius is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration—and that’s true—but you don’t want to drop the ball on that 10%. When an idea comes, get it down, and never doubt that it’s a great idea. (You’ll vet your ideas later.) Use a spreadsheet to track your ideas. That way, you can add new ideas at the bottom of your list and move ideas toward the top as they mature after a little editing and research. That way, you know your best idea is sitting at the top of the list, ready to be written, and you know you have some great rough material to work out farther down.

    23. Use BuzzSumo. This fantastic tool will show you the most-shared articles on any topic. Now, you can’t just use the same ideas which BuzzSumo shows to be successful; they’ve already been done. But these successful topics and angles can give you a starting place. You just have to add that extra edge that hasn’t been covered yet. This might be a new angle, a new extension of the topic, or a connection between two popular topics that no one has thought of yet.

    2-grab-buzzsumo

    24. Use AllTop.com to discover popular content. This site gathers the most popular articles on every imaginable topic. AllTop doesn’t get too specific with sub-topics, so it’s a good way to discover what’s rising to the top within a general topic area.

    25. Use the Google Top 40 results. The first four pages of Google will show you a lot. You can get a quick sense of whether a topic has been covered recently, or if the best coverage is now out of date. You can also find outliers, articles from sites you’ve never heard of. These surprises can give you new ideas.

    26. Use YouTube. Not all content is written! YouTube is a great resource for topics and angles that are popular. View counts and subscriber counts give you an instant pulse on how hot something is. In particular, YouTube can give you ideas that have appeared in video form, but haven’t appeared in written form yet. As long as you cite your source (the video), you can write the first article on this topic.

    27. Search for infographics on your topic. Infographics have exploded in recent years. This format is great for presenting data in an easy-to-digest format. But remember, Google can’t read text in an image. That means the best way to search for infographcis is a Google Image search for “your term + infographic.” Use your best judgment to determine the quality and relevance of the results you get.

    2-grab-infographic

    28. Search hashtags on Twitter. Other people in your space are trying to promote their stuff, too. They’ll use the same hashtags you care about. A hashtag search can lead you to a just-published article, shared on Twitter, which you never would have found otherwise. In particular, pay attention to hashtag intent. Some hashtags have multiple meanings. For example, #NDT may refer to “nondestructive testing” or “Neil deGrasse Tyson.” Completely unrelated to each other!

    2-grab-hashtag

    29. Search forums that cover your niche. This is a way to find emerging topics—problems that haven’t been covered yet in your space. Forums are ideal because the readership is specialized, and the information is freely exchanged. You can get a fantastic read on emergent topics just from reading forums.

    [clickToTweet tweet=”Read comments on articles by leaders in your niche to find new topic ideas. #contentmarketing http://bit.ly/1poOzCy” quote=”Read comments on articles by leaders in your niche to find new topic ideas. #contentmarketing tip”]

    30. Read the comments on articles by leaders in your niche. This is where expert readers call out things that a great article didn’t cover. If an expert writer in your niche didn’t cover something that readers are hungry to know, this is a prime opportunity to fill a content void.

    31. Talk to your coworkers, especially “support” staff. They typically spend the most time with your customers, going over points of pain.  These folks generally have a great sense for what problems exist in your space.

    32. Ask for feedback from Twitter contacts. As you interact around your niche’s topics on Twitter, share your rough ideas with experts in your space. Ask them what they think. Of course, there’s a caveat: if you’re asking upstream, you don’t want to give away too much of your great idea. A Twitter contact with more resources than you may publish on the idea first.

    33. Look into related (shoulder) niches for topics that matter to them. No topic or niche exists in a vacuum. In fact, all topics connect to all other topics in one way or another, even if it takes several connections to get from one to another. All that to say—branch out into related topics. If your main niche is custom web development, look into app development, ecommerce development, and WordPress development. These are shoulder niches that partially overlap with the content in your niche.

    III. KEYWORD RESEARCH FOR CONTENT MARKETING (12 tips)

    keyword-research

    34. Use the Google Keyword Planner. It provides comprehensive data, and it’s free to use. If you’re on a budget, this should be your go-to tool. When you plug in a keyword, it will spit out groups of related keywords. Though not all the results will be relevant to your content marketing campaign, you will find keywords you hadn’t thought of before.

    3-grab-kw-planner

    [clickToTweet tweet=”Use Google Suggest to find related keywords. #contentmarketing for #seo tip from @216_digital http://bit.ly/1poOzCy” quote=”Use Google Suggest to find related keywords. #contentmarketing for #seo tip “]

    35. Use Google Suggest. Type one of your keywords into Google and look at the suggested search strings in the dropdown. These are real keywords which other users have searched for—which Google believes are related to your search. Not all of these will be on point, but some will offer incredible opportunities that you wouldn’t have found otherwise.

    36. Use Similar Searches at the bottom of a Google search results page. Much like Google Suggest, this will show you related keywords which you might not have thought of on your own.

    3-grab-similar-searches

    37. Use a paid keyword research tool. Even if you’re on a shoestring budget, this is one of the best places to spend your money. In our opinion, the top paid keyword research tools on the market are SEMrush and Moz. Each one does things little differently. If we had to choose between them, we would choose SEMrush. It allows you to examine keyword competition from many angles, and it provides deep data insights.

    38. Use “body” keywords. As Brian Dean explains at Backlinko, “body” keywords (strings of 2-3 words) are the sweet spot in SEO. You won’t rank for 1-word generic keywords; the big brands have these covered already. You could rank for long-tail keywords (4+ word strings), but these don’t receive a high monthly search volume, so they won’t bring you as much value. Body keywords offer the right combination of specificity (more specific than 1-word keywords) and traffic (more heavily searched than long-tail keywords). Use ’em!

    39. Look at the table of contents in Wikipedia articles. This tip is also from Brian Dean at Backlinko, and it’s simply brilliant. Because Wikipedia is (usually) so well organized, the table of contents in a general Wikipedia article will show you many sub-topics under that general topic. This is a great way to find keywords and keyword groups that begin to branch out from the core topic in question.

    40. Look at related keywords in the Google Keyword Planner and SEMrush, and look at discovered keywords in Moz. SEMrush and Google are especially good at showing you related keywords. Of course, any related keywords you find need to be vetted in SEMrush for monthly search volume, CPC, and competition.

    [clickToTweet tweet=”Vet your keywords in @semrush. It’s a tough boss, which is good for #seo and #contentmarketing http://bit.ly/1poOzCy” quote=”Vet your keywords in @semrush. It’s a tough boss, which is good for #seo and #contentmarketing”]

    41. Vet your keywords in SEMrush. SEMrush is a tough boss. That means it’s a good boss. It will display “no data” for a worthless keyword. If your keyword isn’t listed in SEMrush, don’t even bother trying to rank for it. Throw it out, even if you have to go back to the drawing board.

    42. Vet your keywords with the Moz Bar. Google your keyword and look at the top 10 results. With the Moz Bar turned on, check out the domain authority of the sites that are ranking on the first page for that keyword. If you’re going up against high-DA sites all over the first page, this keyword may not represent an opportunity for you. However, if there’s even one low-DA site ranking for your keyword, you should think to yourself, “that could be me.”

    43. Understand the value that a keyword does or doesn’t bring to your campaign. Remember, real users are entering the search terms which we call “keywords.” They’re looking for things. Luckily, it’s easier than you might think to understand the intent behind a keyword. There are three dimensions to a keyword which you should pay attention to: monthly search volume, CPC (cost per click in AdWords), and competition level. A high monthly search volume means more traffic if you rank for that keyword. A higher CPC means that keyword is more monetizable—in other words, AdWords bidders are willing to spend more on it because it’s more likely to lead to a conversion in that market. Competition level (in SEMrush) or keyword difficulty (in Moz) are roughly the same concept: how many people are trying to rank for this keyword?

    3-grab-CPC

    44. Don’t stuff exact-match keywords into your copy unnaturally. With the advent of LSI (latent semantic indexing), Google can now understand what a page is about. That means you can write naturally, for human readers, and Google will get it (if you do a good job). In other words, if your keyword is “dog allergy treatment,” you can write natural phrases like, “…offers great treatment for dog allergies…” or “…a great way to treat your dog’s allergies.” Google will get it.

    45. That said… get your keyword into the title of your article, and put it as close to the beginning as possible. This tip is from the world of onsite SEO, which is all about optimizing small parts of your site (particularly metadata) to get big results. While LSI means you can write naturally in copy, you should still put the exact keyword in your title.

    IV. CONTENT QUALITY (15 tips)

    content-quality

    [clickToTweet tweet=”Set an organizational standard for content quality. #contentstrategy from @216_digital http://bit.ly/1poOzCy” quote=”Set an organizational standard for content quality. #contentstrategy from @216_digital “]

    46. Set an organizational standard for content quality. Even in obscure niches that don’t have high standards, your content must be the best that anyone is publishing in that niche. If you aren’t a professional writer or blogger, you need to get one on your team—maybe more than one. Look for people who have a wide variety of writing and blogging experience, as well as knowledge of editorial processes.

    47. If you can’t hire, you need to train your existing staff on best practices. Consider giving everyone the same writing assignment and see how things go. The results will show you the strongest writers you already have on staff. You’ll also see what problems you need to address when you start training. Obviously, a baseline writing assignment for your candidates is critical if you’re hiring.

    48. Maintain high editorial standards. If your writing staff doesn’t have a background in professional blogging, you’ll need to train them to help them develop an editorial eye. This applies to headlines, article body, and images, but it also applies to the overall impression which your content makes in its niche. How will the piece of content come across to a stranger who avidly reads in your niche? Does your chosen imagery reinforce the angle of the piece, or does it confuse the focus of the piece? The overall impression which your content makes, from the very first research to the tone of your final outreach communication, will make or break your efforts.

    49. Don’t reinvent the wheel—use successful content templates! As the internet has continued to evolve, certain content templates have risen above the others as being easiest to read online. A content template gives you structure to work with. It makes the whole process easier, from idea generation to writing to promotion. Some of our favorite templates include long list posts (like this one), innovative infographics, best-of roundups, and expert roundups.

    50. Consider adding a CTA (call to action) in your piece. Since this is content, you shouldn’t make it a hard sell; since this is marketing, you should still look for ways to bring value to your organization from the content. This could be an email signup bar that offers “more free tips,” a click-to-tweet widget that includes your brand @-mentioned in the tweet, or an invitation to respond by leaving a comment. Remember: content marketing doesn’t end with the final paragraph!

    CTA-tips2

    Check out the SevenAtoms blog for an in-depth guide to creating a call to action.

    51. Train your staff on photo acquisition strategies that fit your budget. If you can’t afford to license 10 photos for every article you write, you’ll need a free alternative, and you’ll need to explain best practices to your staff. At 216digital, we use a combination of sites like Pixabay and “reuse allowed” search settings on Flickr and Google Images. Make sure you understand Creative Commons licensing when you pull reusable photos from Flickr, Wikipedia, and Google, and make sure your writers understand how to cite these images in their copy. NEVER allow your staff to republish photos which appear with an “All Rights Reserved” copyright statement without obtaining written permission from the copyright holder. More information on Creative Commons licensing from Wikipedia.

    4-grab-51

    52. Vet your concepts thoroughly. Never move ahead with a content concept that you haven’t researched and self-critiqued. The moment of inspiration can be emotionally overwhelming, and those emotions can fool you. Sometimes, inspiration gives you junk. Sometimes it gives you gold. Give your ideas time to move from inspiration to fully-developed concepts.

    53. Fact-check everything. This is especially important if you’re writing for a client in a niche that’s relatively new to you. Don’t be afraid to reach out to sources directly through email and social media. It’s better to ask for clarification now than find out after publication that you failed to state the truth.

    54. Think like an entrepreneur. To succeed at content marketing, you need to bring something new to an information market. Why should a reader spend time on your work when thousands of other media entities have been publishing better than you, longer than you? If you don’t fill a need in an information market, you shouldn’t even try to do this. What’s your value proposition? You can’t be “Just another WordPress blog.” You need to fill a gap that currently exists in a niche—whether the readers in that niche know the gap exists or not. (Sometimes you’ll surprise them!) That gap-filling can take many forms: a unique angle on an existing topic; a topic that is extended beyond its previous dimensions; a mashup of previously unrelated topics (as long as your case for a connection is compelling); a topic covered in more detail than ever before; and a topic that is covered actionably, where actionable content on that topic has never been published.

    [clickToTweet tweet=”Develop a writing process, but don’t get tight about it. #writingtip for #contentmarketing http://bit.ly/1poOzCy” quote=”Develop a writing process, but don’t get tight about it. #writingtip for #contentmarketing “]

    55. Develop a writing process, but don’t get tight about it. Include multiple revisions as part of that process, and leave room for startling ideas and inspired workflows which you didn’t anticipate. Sometimes, great content emerges complete from half an hour of work. Sometimes, it takes weeks of plugging away. At 216digital, we adhere to an exacting process, all the way from research to the approval of final copy. The more sets of eyes who sign off on your content, the better it will be.

    56. Ask for expert critiques. Early in your content marketing campaign, consider sending a few draft articles to link creators in your niche. Ask them for honest feedback, and explain that you’re trying to improve your work. You’ll get critiques from industry insiders, and you’ll start to build relationships from a place of humility. In the world of spam, those relationships are priceless. When you eventually publish an improved version of the article, those contacts will get a sense of satisfaction when they look at it because they know they helped you improve. (Hint: that means they’ll be more likely to share to it and/or link to it.)

    57. Proofread, proofread, proofread. You’d be amazed at how many mistakes will slip past you. Consider printing your articles to proofread them, since mistakes tend to pop off paper better than a screen.

    58. Don’t skimp on design. It’s just as important as writing. Today’s content consumer is highly visual and expects to be delighted. Even a long-form essay or article needs at least one strong visual at the top. Top-notch design is especially critical for infographics. The infographic as a form has exploded in recent years, and that has led to a lot of noise in the infographic space. Your infographic’s design (not to mention editorial angle) must be truly epic to stand out. Allow time and budget for multiple revisions to an infographic, and push your team to go beyond their comfort zones. The results will amaze you.

    59. Communicate content values clearly to your team. Especially when you take on a new client or add a new team member, the prospect of doing top-notch content marketing for an unknown company looks incredibly daunting. Your team needs an in-depth understanding of each client’s brand and market. Communicate clearly from the beginning, and you’ll avoid expensive problems later in the process.

    [clickToTweet tweet=”Manage your #contentmarketing team like a teacher. #contenstrategy from @216_digital http://bit.ly/1poOzCy” quote=”Manage your #contentmarketing team like a teacher. #contenstrategy from @216_digital “]

    60. Manage your content marketing team like a teacher. Respect your team. They’re people, and they’re trying hard. When their work doesn’t meet up, take it as an educational opportunity: not a lecture from you, but an open discussion. When you hit a content crisis, call a meeting. Open the floor with a non-accusatory statement that invites everyone present to solve the problem creatively—something like, “I’m a little concerned about the quality of our work. I’m turning this discussion over to you guys. How can we get better?” Be prepared to moderate the discussion and bring it back to organizational goals if it gets off track, and don’t allow team members to have the final word. When you facilitate education rather than force it on people, your team grows in their communication with each other, and they learn easily from their peers.

    V. INITIAL NETWORKING (9 tips)

    Photo courtesy of B. Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.
    Photo courtesy of B. Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0.

    61. Know your space. Whether you’ve been working in your niche for years or you’re just starting, you need to know the people in your content network. This is an intangible asset, and it’s impossible to quantify or turn into data. Here, your intelligence as a reader, writer, editor, and marketer are invaluable. You need to have a sense of what’s appropriate in communications in your niche. Without this knowledge, you risk offending the very people you’re trying to network with.

    62. Let your organizational goals inform your outreach. Return to our very first tip. Why are you doing content marketing in the first place? Your initial outreach efforts must further your goals, and only your goals.

    63. Familiarize yourself with each individual contact or blogger. What do they do? What makes them tick? Get a sense for their values and personality, to the extent that they display these qualities on their website and social media. You need to respect the people you’ll be contacting.

    [clickToTweet tweet=”Get on the phone. Seriously! #contentmarketing tip from @216_digital http://bit.ly/1poOzCy” quote=”Get on the phone. Seriously! #contentmarketing tip from @216_digital “]

    64. Get on the phone. It sounds crazy, but sometimes, one phone call is better than a thousand emails. As long as you have a valid reason for calling and you manage the communication well, you can establish and strengthen valuable relationships this way.

    65. Don’t be afraid to give up. If a blogger looks great until you find something that clearly rules them out as a good networking prospect, just move on. For example, some bloggers hate getting any kind of promotional email. (Hint: they don’t want yours.) Don’t waste your time on these folks. They’re doing their own thing, and that’s okay.

    5-grab-65
    Just walk away!
    .Bummer. Oh well, plenty of fish in the sea!
    Bummer. Oh well, plenty of fish in the sea!

    66. Get personal. Even in smaller niches, webmasters and bloggers get tons of email every day. If you’ve taken the time to familiarize yourself with the blogger you’re reaching out to, you’ve probably learned his or her first name. Use it! It shows respect, and it shows that you know who you’re talking to. There’s nothing worse than a cold-call email that starts with, “Dear Sir or Madam…”

    [clickToTweet tweet=”Call out the contact’s existing work. #contentstrategy from @216_digital http://bit.ly/1poOzCy” quote=”Call out the contact’s existing work. #contentstrategy from @216_digital “]

    67. Make reference to the contact’s existing work. Call out individual article titles or values from an About page—but do it naturally. This shows that you know who you’re talking to, and that you really do share something in common with them.

    Read their work. And let them know you read it!
    Read their work. And let them know you read it!

    68. Find a reason to get in touch. Remember, this is initial You may not have any content published yet, and that’s okay. We already mentioned sending someone a draft article for critique, but there are tons of other things you can do. For example, you can ask for a critique on your website as a whole. You can ask for tips on developing a social media audience in your niche. You can ask anything that a student might ask a mentor. Fundamentally, people enjoy helping each other out, as long as your question doesn’t take too much of time. Ask for a tip about one thing only, and keep your email short (2-4 lines total) while still demonstrating that you’re a real human and not a robot. If that sounds like a tall order, start practicing now, and take note of what kinds of responses you get with different strategies.

    69. Don’t burn bridges. Some people don’t like getting emails from strangers. Other people will try and sell you services or offer to publish your “sponsored content” on their site for a fee. Even if you get responses that you weren’t anticipating, don’t respond with any kind of negative attitude. Keep it positive and professional. You never know when these same contacts might come across your content in the future, and you don’t want a negative impression to stick in their minds.

    VI. PUBLICATION PROCESS (9 tips)

    publication-process

    70. Work with WordPress. Don’t fight it. WordPress can’t do everything, and that’s okay. Play around with your theme’s limitations, and take notes on what produces acceptable results. Turn these notes into a best practices document and share it with your team.

    71. Consider using a paid theme for your blog. Free themes look like a steal until you install them. They don’t offer the level of control that you’ll need to execute powerful content marketing. At 216digital, we’ve had great success with the Avada theme from Theme Forest. It offers near-total control of many aspects of your blog’s design, typography, site structure, and overall impression. Avada comes with the Fusion Builder, a tool that lets you build original, mobile-responsive layouts for your pages and posts. That means you get can implement unique designs for your content marketing pieces without knowing a lick of code.

    6-grab-71

    72. Don’t invest in hand-coded custom development for your individual content marketing pieces. With so many human resources going to research, writing, design, and promotion, you most likely won’t see any ROI for custom development expenses unless you’re working for a big brand. When you can “outsource” beautiful custom layout to a WordPress theme like Avada, there’s no reason to pay for custom dev.

    [clickToTweet tweet=”Assign publication tasks to your strongest editors. #contentmarketing tip from @216_digital http://bit.ly/1poOzCy” quote=”Assign publication tasks to your strongest editors. #contentmarketing tip from @216_digital”]

    73. Assign publication tasks to your strongest editors. You’d be surprised at how many issues can arise when you prepare your content in WordPress. Ensure that you assign publication to team members who have a strong eye for quality as regards the final product. If your writers are also your WordPress publishers, get at least one more pair of eyes on their final work. It’s easy to miss problems in the finished product when you’ve worked at the center of a project through all its developmental stages.

    74. Make sure all your embedded links open in a new tab. It’s easy to overlook this. When you create a hyperlink in the WordPress editor, it automatically opens in a new tab. Unfortunately, when you paste text with hyperlinks into WordPress from Microsoft Word, you’ll have to manually change each and every link to open in a new tab. If you don’t, a user will leave your page when they click a link, which creates lower average session times on your page. Google interprets low session times as equating with low-value content—exactly what you DON’T want.

    6-grab-74

    75. Consider using Rich Snippets (Schema.org markup). While it isn’t essential, this technique provides search engines with a clearer picture of the structure and focus of your content. That leads to more relevant search results when users search for your keywords—which means you’ll show up, since you did heavy research and spent hours writing a great piece of content which is already highly relevant. Think of Schema.org markup as a way to make your relevancy crystal clear to search engines.

    76. Install a social sharing plugin. We recommend Social Warfare, a paid plugin that not only tracks shares accurately, but gives you an incredible range of styling options. Social Warfare allows you to design your share buttons to fit seamlessly into the look and feel of your blog. You can also set a minimum share count for displaying numbers, control the number of decimals to display in share counts over 1000, decide which network share buttons show on your site, and more. Why is this so important? For better or worse, share counts demonstrate your content’s value at a glance. An article with 2.3k shares looks better to link creators than one with 60 shares. The best part? Social Warfare now has an option to start counting Twitter shares again. For content marketers whose niche uses Twitter heavily, this is a godsend.

    77. Don’t publish until your piece has been thoroughly vetted in Draft mode. This ensures that no one will happen upon an incomplete or error-riddled live version of your piece. More importantly, it ensures you won’t begin showing a sloppy published version to link creators and publishers who you hope will link to the piece.

    [clickToTweet tweet=”Don’t publish until you can spend the rest of the day on initial promotion. #contentmarketing http://bit.ly/1poOzCy” quote=”Don’t publish until you can spend the rest of the day on initial promotion. #contentmarketing tip “]

    78. Don’t publish a piece until you’re ready to spend the rest of the day on initial promotion. Newness really does make a difference. High-quality articles may continue to attract links and shares, but for whatever reason, content generally performs best when it’s promoted heavily right away–especially if it’s timely. Of course, there are technical benefits to coupling publication to promotion in the same day. If you’re using Social Warfare for share counts, that plugin updates share counts about once every hour for posts that are 21 days old. When you click Publish in WordPress, you should be ready to begin initial promotion of the piece on social media. That way, as new share counts come in throughout the day, a buzz will build around your piece.

    VII. INITIAL PROMOTION (7 tips)

    initial-promotion-2

    79. Know your niche’s preferred social networks, but try everything. Especially in the initial stages of building your content marketing campaign, you might be surprised at how your content performs on social networks which you might have overlooked.

    80. Think outside the box to raise Facebook share counts on your content. Find Facebook groups related to your content niche, and spend time developing a respected presence there before you post your content. This is especially useful if you join an industry-insider Facebook group. You can post your content to get feedback from professionals in your space. All of those comments and likes will count as shares in your share count plugin, and that makes your content look more valuable when you start heavy promotion.

    81. Consider Reddit for niches that have a subreddit on your topic. Of course, you need to be careful and respectful on Reddit. If you join and post your content the same day, you could get shot down. However, if you spend time building a reputable presence on Reddit—a presence related to your niche—it won’t seem out of place when you post your content for feedback and opinions. Make sure you put your post in the appropriate subreddit, and give it a title that fits the feel of that subreddit.

    [clickToTweet tweet=”If your content is strong enough, pursue social shares from big publishers. #contentstrategy http://bit.ly/1poOzCy” quote=”If your content is strong enough, pursue social shares from big publishers. #contentstrategy “]

    82. If your content is strong enough, pursue social shares from big publishers. Major media sources may not link to your content, but they may share it if it fits their niche and doesn’t harm their organizational objectives. At 216digital, we wrote a piece on top-notch graphic designers. We got retweets from AIGA (the American professional association for designers) and HOW Magazine (a major content brand in the design space). This jacked up the visibility of our article in the exact target market which we wanted to hit.

    AIGA

    83. In an agency setting, cross-post your content to all appropriate social profiles. If you manage social media for a wide range of clients, and if you have your clients’ permission, consider posting your content to the social accounts of multiple brands. This tip only works when the content aligns with each client’s niche—but it’s easier than you might think. Say you have a client who sells high-quality furniture, and another who sells interior design services. A great piece of content on selecting the perfect furniture for your home is appropriate for both social media accounts.

    84. Tweet your content to relevant users (in moderation). If you can’t find a contact on the blog or website in question, follow the brand on Twitter, retweet or favorite a few of their posts, and tweet your content to them with a short, engaging, and relevant message. Include 1-2 relevant hashtags to help related Twitter users find the post, too. Include a relevant, entertaining image in your post to ensure users take action on it.

    85. Don’t ignore LinkedIn. Some niche content markets talk almost exclusively on LinkedIn. Post your content to your company profile. If any of your team members want to, they can post it to their personal accounts, too. This is especially effective for creators (writers, designers, etc.) who had a direct hand in creating the piece. Let your team take pride in their work.

    VIII. LINK-BUILDING OUTREACH (9 tips)

    link-building-or

    86. Know your outreach list. Most content marketing campaigns will overlap several related content niches. Not every piece you create is right for every segment of your list. If you didn’t separate your list into sub-niches when you first assembled it (or if you didn’t tag your contacts by sub-niche in BuzzStream), do that before you begin outreach. Make sure you promote your content marketing only to the most targeted segments of your list.

    [clickToTweet tweet=”Use outreach email templates, especially in @buzzstream #contentmarketing tip from @216_digital http://bit.ly/1poOzCy” quote=”Use outreach email templates, especially in @buzzstream #contentmarketing tip from @216_digital”]

    87. Use outreach email templates. This is especially easy in BuzzStream, where you can save templates and select them with 2 clicks. Even if you’re doing everything manually, you should prepare your email templates ahead of time and put them through a comprehensive editing process. Your first email draft is never your best.

    87-grab-email-template

    88. Keep your outreach emails concise, and show value. Everyone is busy. Most people will take a moment to read an email that looks like it offers value. Don’t waste the precious time of bloggers and webmasters in your space. Keep your emails short (2-3 paragraphs, 5-8 lines total) and show the value you’re offering. If you’ve done your research, you’ll get results.

    89. Give yourself a quick overview of each contact before you email them. You’ll avoid outreach bloopers, and you may discover new information that will help your efforts—i.e., a new blog post from the contact which you can call out in the email.

    90. Flatter, shoot the breeze, and negotiate. You can’t write a cold-call email asking for a link. You have to sell. You have to make people feel special, and you actually have to mean it.

    91. Offer your work as a guest post. Not every blog or magazine wants guest posts, so read the about page first! However, if you find an outlet that’s looking for guest posts, and if your piece seems like a good fit, go ahead and pitch it. Small- to mid-size blogs in particular are always looking for new content, and they’re less likely to balk because a piece has appeared elsewhere first. If you find yourself working with bigger hitters, be prepared to offer them exclusive content—something that you haven’t published elsewhere.

    92. Call out existing posts and articles that would be even more valuable if they linked to your page. Many bloggers actually appreciate this. Linking to a resource backs up their point, and it makes their post more credible overall. It’s possible that they were too busy to find a resource to link to when they wrote the piece, or that they searched up and down and couldn’t find anything. Pitch your work as a resource!

    [clickToTweet tweet=”Find #writers who are great marketing communicators. #contentmarketing tip from @216_digital http://bit.ly/1poOzCy” quote=”Find #writers who are great marketing communicators. #contentmarketing tip from @216_digital”]

    93. Not all writers and creatives are marketing communicators. If you have trained marketers and experienced salespeople on your team, they are the best candidates to do successful link-building outreach for your content marketing campaign. Know your team’s strengths and weaknesses, and assign tasks accordingly.

    94. Keep insanely detailed records on your communication with every single contact. Don’t rely on your memory or searching your inbox. If you’re using BuzzStream, you’re in luck. If you’re using a spreadsheet, you’ll need to log every single communication in that spreadsheet manually. Give yourself a cliff’s notes version of the emotional tone of each person’s response each time. (You can do this in BuzzStream too, with the Notes function.) Make a note about opportunities which you can’t follow up on right now, and schedule time for follow-ups. This way, you ensure that if anything is going to stop a link from being built, it won’t be your negligence.

    IX. MEASURING YOUR RESULTS (12 tips)

    measure-results

    [clickToTweet tweet=”Use Annotations in Google Analytics to mark important dates. #contentmarketing tip @216digital http://bit.ly/1poOzCy” quote=”Use Annotations in Google Analytics to mark important dates. #contentmarketing tip”]

    95. Use Annotations in Google Analytics to mark important dates. You may think you’ll remember when you launched your content marketing campaign, or when you started promoting a particular piece or project. You won’t! Annotations in Google Analytics can help you directly correlate your content marketing efforts with a spike in traffic, link building, or conversions.

    Annotation

    96. Use Google Analytics to track how users react to your content pieces. This tip is rather elementary, but it’s worth saying. Under Acquisition, click All Traffic > Channels. Under Default Channel Grouping, click the dropdown box that reads Secondary Dimension. Click Behavior > Landing Page. Now you can see Sessions, Bounce Rate, Average Session Duration, and more for each content piece you’ve published.

    Analyticd

    97. Use Ahrefs to track links built. Of all the link-building analytics tools out there, we find Ahrefs to be the most consistently valuable. Simply plug the URL of your content piece into the Site Explorer. You’ll see the number of links built to that URL, as well as the number of linking domains. Ahrefs’ data is totally transparent, meaning you can see which links emerged directly as a result of your efforts, and which happened organically. With the ability to see when a link first appeared, Ahrefs lets you correlate links built directly with your efforts in time. However, take note: Ahrefs doesn’t always discover every link built through content marketing.

    [clickToTweet tweet=”Use @Mention (mention.com) to track brand mentions. #contentmarketing tip from @216_digital http://bit.ly/1poOzCy” quote=”Use @Mention (mention.com) to track brand mentions. #contentmarketing tip from @216_digital “]

    98. Use Mention.com to track brand mentions. This awesome tool emails you when your name is used, linked or unlinked. We’ve found links this way before they’ve shown up on Ahrefs.

    99. Use Analytics to track which sites drive high-quality traffic to your content. Under Acquisition, click All Traffic > Channels. In the list, click Referral. Under Source, click the dropdown menu that reads Secondary Dimension. Click Behavior > Landing Page. Now you can see which domains are sending traffic to your content marketing pieces. This page can also show you “sleeper links”—great links to your content that Ahrefs hasn’t detected.

    100. For link-building campaigns, calculate your success rate for every piece. Total up the number of sources to which you promoted the piece. Add 20% more sources to account for the unexpected linking opportunities which a good piece of content should generate. Divide the number of links built (from Ahrefs) by this slightly padded number of opportunities. (Alternately, you can calculate using only the link-building opportunities which you specifically found.) Express this statistic in percent, and track it for every content piece you create. Over time, this will give you insight into what works and what doesn’t in a particular niche.

    101. Use Google Analytics to determine your most valuable social network. Under Social (left-hand panel), click on Landing Pages. Click on the content page you want to analyze. Take note of total sessions, total pageviews, and average session duration. Over time, as you track these stats for every content piece you publish, you’ll gain insight into which networks bring you the most value for the specific goals of your content marketing campaign.

    102. Compare Analytics to your share counts. Divide Sessions per social network by total shares in that network. The result is your click-thru rate on that network, not generally available on social posts which you haven’t promoted. This metric will help you understand how users reacted to your content. Were they compelled to click, or did they simply like, comment, or share without even reading it? You can use this data to evaluate your content titles. Are your titles hooking readers, or do they tell the whole story already?

    103. Know your demographic, and compare that to device sessions per content piece. In Analytics, under Audience, click Mobile > Overview. Under Device Category, click the dropdown that reads Secondary Dimension. Click Behavior > Landing Page. You’ll see Sessions, Average Session Duration, Bounce Rate, and more for all your pages, by device type. This can give you insight into your content marketing audience’s experience on tablet and mobile. If your target market includes a high proportion of mobile users (as it almost certainly does), this data can show you whether you’re hitting the mark for those mobile users or not.

    104. In Webmaster Tools, monitor your search queries for new keywords. As your content marketing campaign continues to grow, branching out into new related niches, new search queries will start leading people to your site. Analyze these new keywords in a tool like SEMrush to determine what sort of value they have (or don’t have) to your organizational objectives. Allow this information to inform your future content marketing efforts.

    Sanitized Webmasters

    105. Track the direct monetization of your content marketing. Using Annotations in Analytics, determine how many leads or conversions you got in the period of your promotion. Go deep, and think outside the box here: continue tracking this stat outside the period of direct promotion, and base your timetable on the amount of traffic still coming to your content piece after promotion has ended. (You can find that using Tip #58 above.) Triangulate this data with site referral data per piece (Tip #60 above), looking at conversions. This process will show you where your most highly-monetized traffic from content marketing is coming from. Use this information strategically in future content marketing efforts.

    [clickToTweet tweet=”Monitor domain authority across the life of your #contentmarketing campaign. #seo @216_digital http://bit.ly/1poOzCy” quote=”Monitor domain authority across the life of your #contentmarketing campaign. #seo @216_digital “]

    106. With the Moz bar, monitor your domain authority across the life of your content marketing campaign. Link-building is not the only possible goal of content marketing, but domain authority (which goes up as you get high-quality backlinks) is a great high-level metric on the results of your content marketing. If you’re creating valuable content that’s perfectly targeted to delight a niche and set of related niches, you will get links. Over time, as you follow best practices in other SEO areas as well as build high-quality links with content marketing, your domain authority will rise.

    The Bottom Line

    Content marketing doesn’t have to be overwhelming. With clear goals, a detailed plan, and dedicated work, you can establish your organization as a thought leader in your niche. We hope these tips help you on your road to content marketing success. Want to see how content marketing and link building can build real value into your business? Get in touch today.

    Greg McNeil

    April 22, 2016
    Content Marketing, SEO
  • How Link-Building Services Boost Your SEO — ANIMATED Infographic!

    How Link-Building Services Boost Your SEO — ANIMATED Infographic!

    The days of rocking SEO with spam links are over. Today’s SEO game is all about building high-quality, high-authority, contextual backlinks.

    Google is smarter than ever, and that means webmasters need to get on board. Link-building services ensure that your site publishes great content marketing—the kind of stellar content that publishers in your niche actually want to link to. When your amazing articles and blog posts get high-authority links in your niche and related niches, your overall domain authority goes up—which means your sales pages (the money makers) start ranking better, too.

    Over time, link-building services build real value into your domain. But how does this actually happen? How does “link juice” (the industry term for the authority that Google values) get passed from one website to another?

    We’ve answered that question with this animated infographic. Check it out!

    link-building-services-gifographic
    Animated graphic by Sarah Yeager, graphic designer, 216digital.

    Share this Image On Your Site–Just Copy And Paste This HTML Code:

    Link-Building Services: Real Links from Legit Websites = Real Results.

    How are link building services different from general SEO efforts? Glad you asked. SEO is a broad area of practice that encompasses many elements. Link building is a subset of general SEO efforts, but it’s one of the most important. After Google’s algorithm updates in recent years, white-hat link building is arguably the ONLY legitimate way to aggressively pursue higher rankings in Google search. White-hat link building works because it respects the needs of real human readers—something which the old spammy tactics didn’t do.

    We’ve outlined our entire link-building strategy above in one diagram. But what’s happening here? If you’re new to the SEO game, that’s a lot to digest. We’ve broken down the link building process into 7 steps. Read on!

    1 – Content Market Research

    That’s not a typo. This isn’t only content marketing research, but content MARKET research. You’re entering a content market with its own unwritten rules. You need to know what you’re doing.

    Any link building service that’s worth its salt will ground your project in data. That means finding out what types of content are ranking for your keywords already. With backlink analysis tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush, link builders analyze high-performing pieces of content to see who’s linking to them and where they’re ranking.

    But this stage of research isn’t only about hard data. The best link builders are also highly-practiced readers and flexible professional writers. They pick up contextual clues and intangible qualities surrounding a content niche, and they file these things away so they can write in the same voice (but even better) when they write for you.

    2 – Creative Brainstorming

    After all this research, link builders take hordes of data plus intangible clues and start brainstorming topics. The goal here is fantastic content that will delight audiences. The key is knowing how to differentiate between audience types and write for multiple audiences in the same piece—a secret which few link builders will divulge to anyone but their clients.

    3 – Writing and Revising

    The writing process gives shape to the data findings and creative brainstorming which the link building team has developed. This is where ideas are crystalized into fantastic articles, blog posts, infographics, and more. The best link builders know not to rush this phase, as it can lead to bad copy, typos, and  factual errors.

    4 – Publication

    Believe it or not, this isn’t a simple matter of copy and paste. Depending on the CMS (content management system) settings, a lot of things will need to be reformatted inside the blog editor. For example, an article composed in Microsoft Word, with images included in the copy, can’t simply be copied and pasted over to WordPress. Each image must be uploaded individually through the WordPress media uploader, and each image may need its HTML rendering manually adjusted so the image will resize on mobile screens. Publication is not a stage for skimping, either; no one wants to get partway through promotion and find that an image has broken the layout of the post.

    5 – Outreach and Promotion

    There’s an old saying: “the publish-and-pray approach is dead.” That’s more true than ever. As writers and marketers ourselves, we believe that a piece of content only deserves as much effort in creation as it will receive in promotion. A great piece of content is dead in the water without a plan to expose it to the audience that will eat it up.

    Here’s where initial research of your content market comes in handy again. With all the research you did, you should have a vast list of webmasters, bloggers, and publishers who will be interested in your content. If you did your research right, this list is promotion gold. Of course, the list alone isn’t enough to guarantee success. You have to talk the talk. Professional link builders are quick at picking up the feel of a particular discourse space, and they’re also well-versed in best practices that ensure their emails get opened, read, and replied to. No step can be the most important step, but outreach is pretty darn close to that.

    6 – Incoming: LINKS!

    It’s true. If the content marketing strategy was executed properly from the beginning (including such stages as link creator research, topic research, and outreach communication style), your content pieces will actually get links. Real, contextual, high-value links from sites within your niche and related niches.

    7 – A Rising Tide Raises All Ships… Generally… With a Caveat.

    When links are distributed fairly evenly across a good number of articles and pages on your site, your domain authority will go up. Domain authority is one of the biggest factors Google considers when assembling rankings. However, note that links to a page don’t always equate with a higher domain authority. Too many links to one page alone, and Google will see that page as having more value than your domain as a whole. This is not necessarily a problem, especially if that page is the most important part of your website; however, in this situation, the concentration of links to that page will not help raise your overall domain authority as much as a distributed link profile will.

    The Bottom Line

    Link building services are the ultimate SEO strategy for the white-hat world. White-hat link building works, and it directly improves your SEO when it’s done right.

    However, it’s not a simple solution. Researching a content market, writing high-value content, and maintaining relationships with link creators in your niche is an ongoing, time-consuming process. Many companies see great value in outsourcing their link building needs. At 216digital, Inc., we practice white-hat link building for a wide variety of clients. You can learn more about our white-hat link building services here.

    Greg McNeil

    March 15, 2016
    Content Marketing, SEO
  • Visualizing the Future of Wearable Technology: Fashion/Tech Hackathon 2016

    Visualizing the Future of Wearable Technology: Fashion/Tech Hackathon 2016

    The 2016 Fashion/Tech Hackathon: Inspiration, Collaboration, Innovation!

    January 29th, 2016 marked the date for the third annual Fashion/Tech Hackathon at Kent State University. Students had 36 hours to compete in Northeast Ohio’s premier student technology innovation contest. This year, 216digital, Inc. sponsored the event and mentored students in design and programming. Fashion/Tech Hacker rocks our 216digital t-shirt! Fashion/Tech Hacker rocks our 216digital t-shirt! The 2016 Fashion/Tech Hackathon was held at Kent State University’s Rockwell Hall, the site of the university’s world-famous Fashion Museum. Students from a number of schools, including Kent State, competed in an immersive hands-on design and engineering experience. Attendees worked together using specialized skills, such as fashion design and software engineering, to create beautiful, functional wearable products and fashion-related technology—all within the space of a single weekend. Every year, event curators as well as event sponsors donate their time and resources to make the Hackathon a success. Hackers are given free range of the Fashion School’s equipment, TechStyleLAB equipment, and a tremendous amount of free hardware and textiles. This freedom makes the Hackathon a hotbed of creative output and innovative design thinking. An array of equipment and hardware was available to hackers in the TechStyleLAB.An array of equipment and hardware was available to hackers in the TechStyleLAB.

    Top prize categories:

    This year, event curators Hacksu, TechStyleLAB, Launchnet, Major League Hacking, as well as a number of event sponsors, offered prizes to hackathon winners. – Creation of a new technology – Advancement of an existing technology – Use of Technology in Creating New Fashion Products – Tech Advancement of the Retail Experience.

    Sponsor prize categories:

    – Best Project with a Female Team Member – Best Potential BGV Participant – Most Commercial Potential – Best Fashion Tech Forward Design – Best Project on .tech Domains – Best Use of Textiles – Best Use of AWS – Most Flashy – Hack That Builds Most Relationships. We talked to many students, teachers, and sponsors at the Hackathon. The consensus was clear: everyone was blown away by the innovative ideas which the 2016 Hackathon participants came up with. There was definitely something special in the air! The competition fostered a real “no loser” attitude. We saw total strangers collaborate like best friends on incredibly innovative projects. We went to mentor students, but we came back inspired.

    Amazing Hackathon Projects: A Quick Tour

    People Posing for a Picture Stuart McKaige, Jasmine Kornel, and Anna Routson developed “Notification Scarf,” a scarf that lights up LEDs when you receive a phone notification. View their devpost submission here. People Posing for a Picture Robert Goldshear, Ben Roytenberg, Reshef Elisha, and Elizabeth Tarleton created “BitBeats,” a glove that literally brings music to your fingertips. Alex Bisnett, one of our web developers, has a tendency to finger-drum on his desk. We’re getting him this for his birthday. Read more about their project on devpost. People Showcasing Technology from the Hackathon Here, I’m standing in front of “Mirror Catalog,” a project developed by Chris Paxton, Matt Gates, and Istvan Gates. Mirror Catalog projects virtual clothing on the user to emulate a dressing room experience. It contains an entire digital catalog of clothing to “try on.” Read more about there submission here. A woman in a dress Elizabeth Tarleton models “Elizabeth,” a dress that responds to a user’s needs. Too cold outside? The dress detects that and lengthens itself for you. At 216digital, we could really use this around the office, where temperatures are known to fluctuate faster than Ohio weather. Want to know more? Read more in their devpost submission. Three people posing with self lacing shoes Max Blachman, Derrik Best, Teresa Jones, and Charles Halbeck mimicked the self-lacing shoe from the popular movie Back to the Future. Their shoe, “Exos,” offers a new take on self-lacing – a design made to assist people with disabilities. The no-touch shoe is controlled entirely by your gestures. Read more about their shoe here. A woman working on a wallet Olivia Burca in the midst of creating an “Al-Timer” wallet prototype. Image of a purse Al-Timer smart purse prototype compared to finished final product. Four people posing in front of the Fashion/Tech Hackathon logo L-R: Crissa Candler, Monica Magliari, Olivia Burca, and Alfred Shaker, team members of project “Al-Timer” (winner of the prize for Best Advancement of an Existing Technology) pose in front of the Fashion/Tech Hackathon logo. View there award-winning project submission here. View all Fashion/Tech Hackathon project submissions here.

    The Bottom Line

    The 2016 Kent State University Fashion/Tech Hackathon was an incredible hotbed of innovation. We saw truly innovative projects that are forwarding the the marriage of digital technology and everyday physical equipment. While many of these ideas are probably years away from being marketed, we felt privileged to see them emerge from the minds of these talented students. At 216digital, we keep a pulse on the evolution of all things design- and tech-related, and we found this weekend truly inspiring.

    Greg McNeil

    February 2, 2016
    Uncategorized
  • Content Marketing for Local Business

    Content Marketing for Local Business

    Editor’s note: We first published this article in the Digital Marketing Pulse on Cleveland.com. It was so popular, we’ve republished it here.

    Content marketing is a bit of a buzzword these days—and for good reason. With the changes which the internet has wrought to marketing, interruption-based advertising has lost its power in many kinds of markets. People living today have grown up in a world of ad saturation. That means that traditional methods of getting consumer attention aren’t as effective as they once were. Particularly with the advent of social media, the brand/consumer interaction is no longer a one-way street. People want to be delighted and entertained.

    Here comes content marketing, ready to save the day.

    What Is Content Marketing?

    As the Content Marketing Institute explains, content marketing is a strategic approach to marketing that uses engaging, educational, and entertaining content to establish a relationship between a brand and a consumer. In a word, it’s relating to your target market without selling to them.

    Sounds crazy, right?

    Wrong.

    black-and-white-people-bar-men-2jpg-2206168a352dc6aa

    Remember ad saturation? People are tuning out traditional advertising. Consider ad-block software and the ability to record TV programs and fast-forward through the commercials. Even on YouTube, a user can mute an ad and skip to another tab until the commercial ends and the video begins. All of this means interruption-based advertising is losing its power. While the degree to which interruption is still effective depends on your market, we do see an overall trend in this direction.

    Let’s look at our YouTube example. What is the user looking for when they mute the sound on your ad? They’re waiting for the relevant, engaging, entertaining content of that video. They’re not looking for a sales pitch. They’re looking for a story, a how-to, something useful, maybe something unforgettable. When was the last time you paid attention to an ad on YouTube? Can you remember the content of a single ad? I can’t. I’d call that forgettable.

    Content Marketing: Memorable, Useful, Wonderful

    Content marketing isn’t advertising. It’s relating. Imagine connecting with your friends and family. You have certain things in common, and that’s what you talk about. These things-held-in-common establish your relationship and maintain it.

    Now, there are times when you’ll sell something to friends and family. Maybe you run an Etsy store, selling handmade jewelry. Friends and family will love this. They’ll probably buy your jewelry. But what if you turned every family gathering into a monologue about the awesome jewelry you sell on Etsy? Everyone will get tired of that. It’s not an appropriate kind of content for the social space you’re in. Worse, it’s disrespectful.

    A similar approach lies behind the idea of content marketing. Rather than bombard every user you encounter with a sales pitch, you should publish content that’s interesting and helpful to your target market. But that’s only the beginning. On top of relevance and utility, you should strive for that extra something special that’s hard to put into words. To put it plainly, your content should delight users.

    What Exactly Is Content?

    Great question. At this point, you might not have a clear definition of content. Content isn’t just blog articles or Facebook posts. These things are formats or containers of content. They’re not the content itself. Content is the emotional message that your customers experience when interacting with your brand, regardless of channel.

    That means you can leverage every aspect of your business as content. But remember, it has to be relevant to your target market. And it has to be engaging!

    Creative Examples Of Content Marketing

    Local businesses have some exciting opportunities for content marketing. National brands can’t offer the same level of direct, in-person attention to customers as local businesses can. That means that creative content marketing options abound for local business owners.

    Consider an offline/online connection. Why not offer customers a coupon for tweeting about their recent purchase? You get a tweet now and a repeat visit later. In this example, your customers actually publish your content marketing for you! (Of course, make sure they @-mention you in their tweet. To help them out, consider painting your Twitter handle on the wall in big, bold letters.)

    Remember, everything is content. Get your business involved in the community. Maybe you sponsor a charitable event like a run or a bike-a-thon. Get your customers involved, and get interviewed in local media about your participation in the event. Attend the event and take lots of pictures. Post them to your social channels as appropriate. If you take pictures of your regular customers at the event, get their permission and tag them in the photos. (Note: on Facebook, you’ll have to be friends with these people from your personal profile to tag them.)

    The Bottom Line

    Interruption advertising is basically dead. Content marketing is the way of the present—and the future. Start practicing content marketing now in your local market. The more creativity you put into this, the more you’ll get out of it. The sky is literally the limit.

    Are you looking to take your content marketing efforts to the next level? Get in touch, and let’s start talking about your next big thing.

    Greg McNeil

    January 20, 2016
    Content Marketing, SEO, Social Media Marketing
  • The Top 26 Women Designers Working Today

    The Top 26 Women Designers Working Today

    In the early days, like everything else, design was a male-dominated profession. Today, women designers are changing the face of design with incredible innovation. At 216digital, we’re design connoisseurs. We thrive on innovative design thinking. We keep a pulse on the design industry, and we take note when someone creates something amazing. In this blog post, we wanted to talk about our favorite women designers and their work.

    You’ll see an incredible amount of innovation in these designers’ portfolios. In the disciplines of graphic design, illustration, typography, and more, these 26 designers are pushing the boundaries of convention and creating new visual expressions.

    We’ve organized our favorite designers into several specialty areas. But let’s be clear—these designers aren’t ranked in any kind of order. They’re all great, and no two are alike.

    Let’s get started!

    I. Graphic Design

    II. Branding Design

    III. Web Design

    IV. Illustration and Photography

    V. Typography, Calligraphy, and Typeface Design

    VI. Art and Art Direction

    I. Graphic Design

    1. Jiani Lu

    jiani-lu-portrait

    Jiani Lu practices groundbreaking graphic design in Taipei, Taiwan. Her work integrates all aspects of visual communication—imagery, graphic elements, and typography—with a new kind of flair that we haven’t seen before.

    Shown: To My Future Self. Used by permission of Jiani Lu.
    Shown: To My Future Self. Used by permission of Jiani Lu.

    Jiani is a Canadian designer working in multiple disciplines. She has won awards from AIGA, Graphis, Adobe, and others.

    https://twitter.com/Jaicca

    http://jianimakesthings.tumblr.com/

    https://www.instagram.com/jianilu/

    2. Fanny Öhlund

    fanny-ohlund-portrait

    Fanny Öhlund is forging a career in cutting-edge design. Her work features beautiful graphics and typography integrated into a unique whole. She has done work in print design, album cover design, branding, and more.

    fanny-ohlund-ahpi

    Fanny’s sense of pattern, contrast, and color is truly beautiful. For this writer, her work is often more than the sum of its parts. For more of Fanny’s work, see her website or Behance page.

    www.behance.net/fohlund

    www.instagram.com/fohlund/

    www.pinterest.com/garconette

    3. Teresa Sdralevich

    teresa-sdralevich-portrait

    Teresa Sdralevich has forged a remarkable career in illustration, poster design, and cover design. Her work utilizes large blocks of color and bold typography. She often engages social, political, and cultural issues, and her approach draws the most out of a simple collection of elements.

    Book cover: Vota Larry, by Janet Tashjian. Used by permission of Teresa Sdralevich.
    Book cover: Vota Larry, by Janet Tashjian. Used by permission of Teresa Sdralevich.

    Teresa was born in Milan in 1969. She currently lives and works in Brussels, where she practices silkscreen printing in a collaborative space shared with other artists.

    https://www.facebook.com/Teresa-Sdralevich-433513896776490/

    4. Fanette Mellier

    fannette-mellier

    Fanette Mellier has built a remarkable career in graphic design, typography, and print design. Her work uses simple geometric shapes arranged in strategic placement. Her strong eye for color transforms her minimal geometry into vibrant, cohesive works.

    Fanette completed her education at the Graduate School of Decorative Arts in Strasbourg. She learned from masters such as Pierre Di Sciullo and Pierre Bernard. With this background, she has contributed significantly to the world of typography and intellectual communication.

    https://www.facebook.com/fanettemelliergraphiste/

    5. Anna Kuts

    anna-kuts-portrait

    Anna Kuts is a graphic designer, photographer, and calligrapher from Kharkiv, Ukraine. Her work marries a strong emphasis on texture with a nuanced approach to color. She is passionate about logo design in particular. She often combines unique textures with clear vector elements, and the results are beautiful.

    Print

    We see a little Soviet Constructivist influence in this poster, but the overall effect is unmistakably contemporary. The piece contains excellent contrast, and the overall look is quite balanced.

    https://www.pinterest.com/anya_kuts/

    https://dribbble.com/Kuts

    https://www.instagram.com/kustec007/

    6. Mercedes Bazan

    mercedes-bazan-portrait

    Mercedes Bazan specializes in UI, UX, and editorial design. She lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her work features strong graphic elements, complex alignments, and refreshing color palettes. Her editorial designs in the magazine field are fresh, contemporary, and surprising.

    Shown: Nikola Tesla Pressbook. Used by permission of Mercedes Bazan.
    Shown: Nikola Tesla Pressbook. Used by permission of Mercedes Bazan.

    For more of Mercedes’ work, see her profile on Behance, or follow her on social media.

    https://www.instagram.com/mechibaz/

    https://twitter.com/mechibaz

    7. Cristina Pagnoncelli

    cristina-pagnoncelli-portrait

    Cristina Pagnoncelli’s work utilizes great typography, balanced composition, and a clear sense of cohesiveness. Cristina shows an ability to weave seemingly unrelated elements into a total composition. Her use of type and lettering is particularly inspiring. Facebook asked her to create 10 letterings inspired by American cities. Now Facebook users can use these letterings on their photos.

    Shown: Orlando lettering. Used by permission of Cristina Pagnoncelli.
    Shown: Orlando lettering. Used by permission of Cristina Pagnoncelli.

    With her sister, Raquel Pagnoncelli, she runs Des Figure, a communication studio. Cristina’s work shows an intuitive understanding of diverse graphic disciplines. She is one to watch.

    https://www.pinterest.com/crispagnoncelli/

    https://twitter.com/CrisPagnoncelli

    8. Sue Doeksen

    sue-doeksen-portrait

    Sue Doeksen is a graphic designer based in Amsterdam. She often focuses on bold color, eye-popping texture, and a fun approach to high-concept design. Her work is thoroughly contemporary, yet it knows its roots in great European design.

    Shown: Landmark Pins. Used by permission of Sue Doeksen.
    Shown: Landmark Pins. Used by permission of Sue Doeksen.

    Sue describes herself as a “visual adventurer.” This approach shows in all her work. Sue’s designs are not static works; they seem to transform themselves as you look at them—even those that aren’t animated. Sue has collaborated multiple times with fellow Dutch designer Marta Veludo (see below).

    9. Marta Veludo

    marta-veludo-portrait

    Marta Veludo is an Amsterdam-based graphic designer, artist, and visual thinker. She works in a wide variety of design fields, including art direction, graphic design, brand communication, and set design. Her work regularly features playful colors and visual relationships.

    Shown: D & R Wedding Invitation. Used by permission of Marta Veludo.
    Shown: D & R Wedding Invitation. Used by permission of Marta Veludo.

    Marta’s work is truly unmistakable. She marries a quirky eye to a strong sense of formalism. The result is a dynamic visual language that is contemporary, yet knows its history. She has collaborated multiple times with fellow Dutch designer Sue Doeksen (see above).

    https://twitter.com/whiteponey

    https://www.facebook.com/martaveludostudio/

    https://www.instagram.com/martaveludo/

    10. Nora Demeczky

     

    nora-demeczky-portrait

    Along with Enikő Deri (see below), Nora Demeczky runs De-Form, a design agency based in Budapest. Her work features a strong graphic impact and carefully-constructed balance across a cohesive whole. She achieves a great balance between form and content.

    Shown: mome+ 1.0. Used by permission of De Form.
    Shown: mome+ 1.0. Used by permission of De Form.

    http://nora-demeczky.tumblr.com/

    11. Enikő Deri

    eniko-deri-portrait

    Enikő Deri runs De Form, a Hungarian design agency, along with Nora Demeczky (see above). Her work often features dramatic use of geometry in strict black-and-white. Her shapes and organization are incredibly fresh, and the overall effect she creates is mesmerizing.

    Shown: Albert. Used by permission of De Form.
    Shown: Albert. Used by permission of De Form.

    II. Branding Design

    12. Kelsy Stromski

    Photograph by Kyle Caldwell.
    Photograph by Kyle Caldwell.

    Kelsy Stromski founded Refinery 43 to design cohesive visual identities for her clients. She has designed unique branding for interior design studios, personal brands, nonprofits, food products, and more. Her design expertise is highly fluid and adaptable.

    Shown: Bouchard Family Farms Ployes pancake mix packaging. Used by permission of Kelsy Stromski.
    Shown: Bouchard Family Farms Ployes pancake mix packaging. Used by permission of Kelsy Stromski.

    Kelsy’s work is firmly grounded in a thorough knowledge of her clients. She combines this knowledge with a deep understanding of the intended audience for the brand. The result is highly-targeted branding.

    https://www.facebook.com/Refinery43

    https://www.instagram.com/refinery43/

    https://www.pinterest.com/Refinery43/

    13. Ipek Eris

    ipek-eris-portrait

    Ipek Eris is a freelance designer working in the fields of branding, logo design, and corporate identity. She has lived in Kenya, France, Germany, and England. This experience has given her an eclectic visual sense, and it shows in her work.

    Shown: Rumeli70 Pharmacy branding package. Used by permission of Ipek Eris.
    Shown: Rumeli70 Pharmacy branding package. Used by permission of Ipek Eris.

    Ipek’s work shows a keen awareness of her client’s needs, married to a great visual sense. She establishes unity between separate elements by repeating motifs with variation.

    https://www.facebook.com/ipekerisdesign/

    https://www.instagram.com/ipekerisdesign/

    III. Web Design

    14. Sarah Yeager

     

    sarah-portrait-stylized-216

    We didn’t have to look far to find this designer. Sarah Yeager works for us! And while you may chuckle at the fact that we included our own designer in this list, wait till you see her work. It’s why we hired her.

    Shown: MatVacay app design.
    Shown: MatVacay app design.
    Shown: Textbookly.com website.
    Shown: Textbookly.com website.
    Pink, Aqua, Black, Silver, And Gold Empowerings.
    Shown: Sarah’s award-winning design of EmpoweRING, a piece of jewelry that lets the wearer send a distress signal to emergency contacts if he or she is in danger.
    Shown: #BrainCandies branding for WedoWE.
    Shown: #BrainCandies branding for WedoWE.

    Sarah received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Communication Design from Kent State University. Aside from her design education, Sarah’s wide range of interests also informs her design process. She has worked in entrepreneurship, videography, photography, and painting. She finds these experiences invaluable as she designs websites, logos, and creatives for our clients.

    https://twitter.com/sarahmyeager

    https://www.facebook.com/sarahyeagerdesign

    IV. Illustration and Photography

    15. Lola Dupré

    Shown: John French with Hasselblad, paper collage on panel, 18x12.5 inches. Used by permission of Lola Dupré.
    Shown: John French with Hasselblad, paper collage on panel, 18×12.5 inches. Used by permission of Lola Dupré.

    Lola Dupré has created an incredible illustration style. Working exclusively with paper and scissors, she makes surreal, distorted images, often using the human body as her subject. In enlarging some parts of her source image, she criticizes cultural assumptions about gender and beauty. Her work is beautiful, disturbing, and unmistakable.

    https://www.facebook.com/dupre.lola/

    https://twitter.com/loladupre

    16. Nina Geometrieva

    nina-geometrieva-portrait

    Nina Geometrieva is a rising star in photography, graphic design, and branding. She brings a strong sense of geometry to her design as well as her photojournalism. For this writer, her most incredible work is the stunning photoshoot of Tokyo which she produced with Damjan Cvetkov-Dimitrov—including the capsule hotel photos which you’ve probably seen somewhere on the internet already.

    Shown: Tōkyō desu. Used by permission of Nina Geometrieva.
    Shown: Tōkyō desu. Used by permission of Nina Geometrieva.

    Nina and Damjan documented their Tokyo trip in this Medium post. Check it out for more incredible animated GIFs.

    https://www.instagram.com/geometrieva/

    https://www.facebook.com/geometrieva

    17. Nadzeya Makeyeva

    nadzeya-portrait

    Nadzeya Makeyeva is an illustrator and designer based in Minsk, Belarus. Her work features ingenious use of texture and line, and each piece seems to create and inhabit its own world. Check out her Psilocybin Rabbit:

    Shown: Psilocybin Rabbit. Used by permission of Nadzeya Makeyeva.
    Shown: Psilocybin Rabbit. Used by permission of Nadzeya Makeyeva.

    Nadzeya attended College of Arts #26 in Minsk. She has worked as a concept artist, illustrator, designer, and UI/UX designer, at multiple firms and as a freelancer. Her work shows a remarkable fluidity and ability to adapt to different purposes, styles, and materials.

    https://www.facebook.com/nadzeya.makeyeva.illustrations

    https://www.instagram.com/tonnel/

    18. Vicki Turner

    Vick-Turner-portrait

    Vicki Turner is a British designer and illustrator with a strong eye for color, shape, and line. Her work features incredible geometric representations of common shapes. Vicki has developed her own consistent style, almost an iconographic language which is easily understood by anyone.

    Shown: Misty Morning Commute, shortlisted for the AOI & TFL Prize for Illustration. Used by permission of Vicki Turner.
    Shown: Misty Morning Commute, shortlisted for the AOI & TFL Prize for Illustration. Used by permission of Vicki Turner.

    Vicki has worked with non-profits, startups, and everything in between. She brings a problem-solving mindset to the client relationship, and she offers insight on product and branding. She is also the founder of Feist Forest, a boutique builder of fine wooden tables for creatives.

    https://twitter.com/vickimturner

    https://www.pinterest.com/vickimturner/

    https://www.instagram.com/vickimturner/

    19. Erin Zingré

    erin-zingre-ern1_800px

    Erin Zingré started her illustration career in style, at age 4, with a preschool drawing of the Headless Horseman, a Guillotine, and Death Himself. As she puts it, this drawing still captures the essence of her work: “kinda cute, kinda creepy, and altogether not-quite-right.” It’s a beautiful kind of not-quite-right.

    Shown: Coloring Book for Grownups. Used by permission of Erin Zingré.
    Shown: Coloring Book for Grownups. Used by permission of Erin Zingré.

    Erin is a multidisciplinary designer now working out of Seattle. She is not taking freelance work at this time, due to her work designing at Amazon. With this talent, it’s no surprise she’s been snatched up.

    https://www.instagram.com/ernzinger/

    https://www.behance.net/erinzingre

    http://erinzingre.tumblr.com/

    20. Anna Grosh

    anna-grosh-portrait

    Anna Grosh is a Siberian designer working in San Francisco, CA. She specializes in illustration, typography and lettering, and design. Her illustration shows a nuanced touch and a powerful expression of emotion.

    Shown Circus D'Hiver Bouglion poster. Used by permission of Anna Grosh.
    Shown Circus D’Hiver Bouglion poster. Used by permission of Anna Grosh.

    Anna also excels at highly ornamented work and calligraphy. In the digital age, it’s refreshing to see a human touch and detailed hand work. Anna is one to watch.

    V. Typography, Calligraphy, and Typeface Design

    21. Marian Bantjes

    marian-bantjes-twitter

    Marian Bantjes has forged a remarkable career. Her work spans graphic design, typography, calligraphy, and lettering, and it has won her international acclaim. In the following piece, which she created for AGI’s annual special project, she used dirt and sand from around the world to create a Coexistence poster. Note the obsessive attention to detail—and the transience: she didn’t glue the sand down, and she wiped the poster away after photographing it.

    Shown: AGI: Coexistence. Used by permission of Marian Bantjes.
    Shown: AGI: Coexistence. Used by permission of Marian Bantjes.

    Marian worked as a book typesetter from 1984-1994. From 1994-2003, she ran Digitopolis, a graphic design studio which she cofounded. From 2003 to the present, she has pursued freelance work in design, art, and lettering.

    https://twitter.com/bantjes

    https://www.instagram.com/bantjes/

    22. Laura Pol

    laura-pol-portrait2

    Laura Pol is a designer, photographer, and videographer based in Venice, CA. As a designer, she has created a wide variety of logos, both type-based and graphic, in which she integrates clean typography with an overall aesthetic. She has also created several fonts, which are available for free (donation suggested) on her website.

    Shown: Tyde Font sample. Used by permission of Laura Pol.
    Shown: Tyde Font sample. Used by permission of Laura Pol.

    Typography and typeface design aren’t Laura’s only pursuits. She has also collaborated on editorial designs, art direction, branding, and more.

    https://twitter.com/laura_pol

    https://www.instagram.com/laurapol/

    https://www.pinterest.com/laurapol415/

    23. Lisa Pan

    lisa-pan-1

    Lisa Pan (Pan, Yi) is a graphic designer based in Taipei, Taiwan. She has developed an incredible illustration style, and she also excels at creating beautiful typography. She often combines lettering with illustrative work. Her pieces are truly jaw-dropping.

    Shown: Typoholic Zoology Collection. Used by permission of Lisa Pan.
    Shown: Typoholic Zoology Collection. Used by permission of Lisa Pan.

    Lisa shows an incredible ability to adapt her illustration style and her typographic sense to any project. Her work also shows a great balance between complex and simple textures.

    https://www.behance.net/Lisa_Pan

     

    VI. Art and Art Direction

    24. Louise Mertens

    louisemertens-portrait

    Louise Mertens received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in graphic design at Sint-Lucas Antwerpen. While in school, she interned at Mirror Mirror. After an internship at Sagmeister and Walsh, she launched Louise Mertens Studio in 2014. She now specializes in art and art direction, with a strong emphasis on collage. In the work below, she achieves a dynamic unity from several competing elements.

    Above: Jiyu 4. Used by permission of Louise Mertens.
    Shown: Jiyu 4. Used by permission of Louise Mertens.

    Louise’s use of color and her carefully-combined textures are unmistakable. As she says on her website, she is “inspired by the female body, the mysterious, and the incomprehensible.” She has developed a truly unique style.

    https://www.facebook.com/mertenslouise

    https://twitter.com/mertenslouise

    https://www.instagram.com/louise_mertens/

    25. Marta Gawin

    marta-gawin-portrait

    Marta Gawin practices design in Katowice, Poland. She specializes in editorial, poster, exhibition, and visual identity design. Her work features strong contrast between graphic elements, plus incredible typography.

    Shown: JazzArt Festival 2015. Used by permission of Marta Gawin.
    Shown: JazzArt Festival 2015. Used by permission of Marta Gawin.

    Marta earned her MA in Graphic Design from the Academy of Fine Arts, Katowice, in 2011. She works as a freelancer now, and she is regularly hired by both commercial organizations and cultural institutions. Her work is high-concept, with a heavy emphasis on unique content.

    https://www.behance.net/martagawin

    https://vimeo.com/48397655

    26. Candy Chang

    candy-chang-sidewalk

    Candy Chang takes her background in urban planning, her expressive sense, and her training in design and combines them to create beautiful public art installations. Among many incredible works, she created the Before I Die phenomenon—a black wall stenciled with the phrase, “Before I die _____”.

    Shown: Before I Die. Used by permission of Candy Chang.
    Shown: Before I Die. Used by permission of Candy Chang.

    This is a participatory public artwork which invites passersby to share their deepest longings in public. The original Before I Die wall in New Orleans gained international attention, and now there are over 1,000 Before I Die walls in 70 countries around the globe.

    https://twitter.com/candychang

    https://www.instagram.com/candychangland/

    https://www.facebook.com/candychangland

    The Bottom Line

    Design is changing faster than ever. New trends are always emerging, and in our opinion, things just keep getting better and better. These 26 women are pushing design to new places we’ve never seen before. This is truly a golden age of design, whether in web, branding, typography, illustration, or photography.

    From 216digital, a hearty THANK YOU to these designers for their willingness to share their work. Keep at it!

    Greg McNeil

    January 13, 2016
    Uncategorized
  • The Whole Content Marketing Package: Using WordPress To The Fullest

    The Whole Content Marketing Package: Using WordPress To The Fullest

    WordPress has only gotten more powerful in the last few years. The range of functionality and design that’s available in WordPress themes has increased dramatically. Gone are the days of WordPress blogs that are obviously “just another WordPress blog.” Today, WordPress can support any kind of website. The sky really is the limit—and for ecommerce stores, an integrated WordPress blog is a more powerful content marketing tool than ever. Of course, it all depends on your chosen theme. The internet abounds with free WordPress themes. While these themes work for many webmasters, they often don’t provide the level of control which owners of serious ecommerce stores require. Even among the paid themes, you can wade through hundreds of options without finding what you’re looking for. At 216digital, we insist on creating WordPress blogs that fit the aesthetics of our clients’ main sites. That could mean a WordPress blog with styling that’s identical to the client’s ecommerce store—or it could mean a blog that has its own look, but is still part of a cohesive brand. For clients who don’t require identical styling, we’ve had great success adapting the Avada WordPress theme (from Envato Market) to each client’s requirements. In this post, we’ll show off a few of our blogs.

    1. D’Andre New York: High-Fashion Content Marketing

    Image of D'andre New York's Homepage D’Andre New York sells gorgeous shearling coats. Their products are stylish, innovative, and incredibly elegant, and they cater to the high-fashion market. We wanted to take D’Andre’s content marketing efforts to the next level. We knew we needed a WordPress blog to match—something that would nail it in D’Andre’s market. When we installed the Avada theme on D’Andre’s blog, we selected a preloaded Fashion-oriented installation. This provided gorgeous typography and overall design. We replaced the stock imagery with our own images, created the appropriate pages, and voila, we had a beautiful blog about shearling coats and fashion. We chose Avada for its incredible versatility. With the Fusion Page Builder, Avada allowed us to build custom pages without getting too deep into code. This freed up our developers’ time to do what they do best—built great ecommerce stores. Here’s an example of a custom page built in the Fusion Builder. We’re pretty proud of it—check out the Ultimate Guide to Shearling Style.

    2. Quick220 Systems: A Blog That Fits The Market

    Quick 220 Mobile Homepage
    Quick220 Systems sells voltage converters that create 220v from two out-of-phase 110v outlets. The Quick220 Voltage Converter can power 220v appliances. It can also charge electric vehicles in half the time required to charge them at 110v. It’s a great product, and we thought Quick220’s content marketing efforts deserved a blog that matched the excellence of their products. Check out the Quick220 blog. You wouldn’t even know it was built on the same theme as the D’Andre blog we shared above—but it is! The Avada theme is incredibly flexible. In the case of Quick220, we configured the typography, color scheme, and layout to convey the Quick220 brand as cleanly as possible. We especially appreciated the animations that are available in the Avada theme. Again, this pre-built functionality allowed our content marketing team to build the blog themselves, leaving our developers to tackle the big work on our clients’ custom ecommerce stores.

    3. Berg Engineering: A Blog To Catch 2 Segments of Readers

    Berg Engineering's Homepage Berg Engineering sells NDT (nondestructive testing) equipment to the engineering sector. NDT technicians find invisible faults in materials, potentially averting disaster before it strikes. In aerospace, oil & gas, construction, and other sectors, NDT plays a critical role in public safety—yet almost no one outside of these industries knows about NDT. As we embarked on Berg’s content marketing campaign, we realized the Berg blog could play a critical role in public thought: it could bring NDT into the public eye. The Berg blog was a tough one. It had to look like something in the engineering space, but ideally, it would also look accessible to the general internet reader. After all, we were trying to make NDT accessible to a wider audience—and educate the public in the process. The Avada theme delivered on all our demands. The clean layout and clear typography were perfect for the engineering space, and the custom page builder allowed us to include beautiful imagery and headlines on the homepage. With these tools, we created an impressive and inviting look for the average reader. The Avada theme also played well with an infographic which we published on the Berg blog—Everyday NDT Infographic: How Nondestructive Testing Creates a Safer World. Publishing and promoting the infographic was a snap, and thanks to the Social Warfare plugin, we could easily display share counts for this groundbreaking infographic.

    4. Wunderlich America: A Niche Blog with Perfect Styling

    Wunderlich America's Mobile Website
    Wunderlich America sells European-built accessories for BMW motorcycles. As well as offering parts from the original equipment manufacturers, Wunderlich develops their own accessories for BMW motorcycles. These accessories are innovative and incredibly well-engineered. Wunderlich is iconic in the BMW community, and we realized immediately that their content marketing campaign would require a blog that was just as iconic. In the motorcycle community, content trumps design. We wanted a clean, simple blog design that wouldn’t distract readers from the goods—namely, awesome photos and writing about BMW motorcycles. Again, the Avada theme delivered. With the theme’s built-in styling options, we were able to choose colors that fit Wunderlich’s overall brand. The available iconography gave us great options for the four content boxes at the top of the blog homepage (see the Wunderlich America blog). The theme also played well with our custom development. On this page, The Top 93 BMW Motorcycles Sites for Amazing Rides, our design team produced a custom mockup, and our developers built it in WordPress. Avada gave us no hassle when we built custom styling.

    The Bottom Line

    Content marketing success depends on many factors. At the highest level, you need to understand your audience and their content expectations. At the writing level, you need to develop a killer voice. At the packaging level, you need a publishing tool that looks great, functions great, and doesn’t require a lot of help from developers. WordPress delivers, and for these four clients, the Avada theme was a great choice. If you’re looking to launch a content marketing campaign or improve your existing efforts, get in touch today. Our team specializes in analyzing new content markets and building successful voices. Drop us a line, and let’s start talking about your next big thing.

    Greg McNeil

    December 14, 2015
    Content Marketing
  • Groundbreaking Infographic: Our Work for Berg Engineering

    Groundbreaking Infographic: Our Work for Berg Engineering

    These days, it’s hard to tell if infographics are still hot in marketing, or if they’ve started to cool off. Based on our research and extensive market testing for every client, we’ve formed an opinion: infographics are still hot—but only when the infographic is truly innovative, or when you’re launching it in a space that hasn’t seen many infographics yet.

    If your next content marketing project is an infographic in a content space that’s already saturated in infographics, forget it. Unless your project is truly original (and it probably isn’t), you’ll get lost in the noise. Unfortunately, given the level of competition, even great work in a saturated niche will likely get lost in the noise, too, unless it’s promoted properly.

    So how do you crack this?

    Start with a great hook, and create an infographic that’s GROUNDBREAKING in its niche.

    That’s exactly what we did for our client, Berg Engineering. Berg sells NDT (nondestructive testing) equipment, such as the GE DM5E Basic Ultrasonic Thickness Gauge, in the engineering sector. NDT equipment like this makes gas pipelines, bridges, and airplanes safer for all of us—but almost no one outside of NDT has heard of NDT. We decided to change that. Take a look!

     

    Everday NDT: How Nondestructive Testing Creates A Safer World

     

    At 216digital, we carefully vet every content marketing concept that we come up with. (Believe me, we generate a lot of them—we keep a sort of running notebook on Google Docs.) If a topic or pitch doesn’t meet the following criteria, we drop it. It’s that simple. Here’s the rubric we use to build great content strategies for our clients:

    In a good piece of content, several factors converge:

    Obviousness—when a reader sees it, they should say, “why didn’t I think of that?”
    Surprise—it should be so obvious, it’s a surprise the content hasn’t been done before.
    Novelty—it should take a familiar concept and extend it into new territory.
    Value—it should provide genuine, useful information, or it should provide genuine entertainment.
    Appropriateness—it should align with the link creators’ editorial focus, while expanding that focus as explained above.

    Content Marketing: An Evolving Field Requiring Constant Innovation

    At 216digital, we constantly reevaluate our clients’ standing relative to every other content brand in their niche. That means we take a relative approach to content marketing. For each client, we ask, how does this content strategy fit into the niche as a whole, and how will it give our client a leg up? Without asking these questions, content marketers risk rehashing content that’s already been done. In today’s fast-paced web world, that simply isn’t good enough.

    The Bottom Line

    Content marketing has hit the “full bloom” stage. It isn’t enough any more to do content marketing; rather, it’s time to surpass content marketing with truly innovative content. Are you looking for help with your content marketing? Our team specializes in creating content that drives engagement and brand awareness. Get in touch today, and let’s launch your content marketing machine.

    Greg McNeil

    December 9, 2015
    Content Marketing, SEO
  • Google’s New Search Quality Rating System: What Does It Mean for Ecommerce?

    Google’s New Search Quality Rating System: What Does It Mean for Ecommerce?

    On 11/19/15, Google posted an update to their search quality rating guidelines. In the post, you’ll find a link to a PDF which provides instructions to Google’s search results raters. These are human users who rate the quality of results that Google returns for search queries. Google’s PDF does not provide direct advice on best practices for SEO—that’s simply not its intent. However, by reading Google’s instructions to its human raters, we can understand SEO best practices in a new way. In this post, we’ll comb the Google document for new information that’s relevant to ecommerce store owners. A large portion of the document deals with mobile search results. While much of this information is not new, it’s great to have it all in one place, straight from the source. However, there are a few points to be made.

    User Intent Behind Queries

    Image of Binoculars Google classifies search types based on user intent. This is a great way to approach the keywords you’re trying to rank for. What is the user intent behind the keyword? It should always match what users will find on the page which you’ve optimized for that keyword. It’s a fairly obvious point, but it’s worth making. For example, if you’re a paid stock photo site trying to rank for the keyword “free stock photos” so you can persuade users to buy stock photos when they searched for free photos, the intent of your landing page does not respect the user intent behind the keyword. This practice is fundamentally deceptive. Just don’t do it. As Google’s instructions to raters show, Google continues to refine its ability to match user intent to honest search results. If you’re a brick-and-mortar business, you should pay special attention to “Visit-in-Person” search intent—that is, local searches on mobile in which the user is looking for a nearby brick-and-mortar location. For example, a music store with both a physical retail location and an ecommerce store should prepare its online presence for Visit-in-Person search intent. As well as a fully functional, mobile-responsive online store, this business should have a fully populated Google Business page with accurate location, contact information, and hours. Incomplete or inaccurate information could stop mobile users from finding the brick-and-mortar location they’re looking for. You’ll find this information in section 12.7.4 of the PDF.

    Google Is Getting Better at Understanding User Intent

    Image Link In that same section, you’ll find a discussion of ambiguous queries that could be the name of a restaurant (Visit-in-Person intent) or the name of a spice (purely informational query). In writing web copy for your site, you should be precise, leaving no room for semantic ambiguity, while also writing naturally. Be informative, clear, and natural. This will allow Google’s powerful Semantic Search to match precise contextual results to keywords that display ambiguous intent when examined out of context. Take note here: fundamentally, Google is getting better at divining user intent behind queries. That means that SEO efforts will gradually move away from technical precision (e.g., including exact-match keywords in copy at a recommended density) and towards excellent, well-written copy that matches user intent. Good content marketing is fast becoming the most effective road to good SEO. We expect that trend to continue.

    Special Content Result Boxes

    Special Content Result Boxes Image In Google’s PDF, you’ll also find a discussion of “Special Content Result Blocks” (section 12.8.2). If you haven’t noticed, this feature has started appearing at the top of SERPs when the query has a definite answer for which no entity can claim copyright. As the document makes clear, SCRBs only appear when the user has asked Google a specific question—for example, “how much does a gallon of water weigh?” In our screengrab, the SCRB appeared with a URL to a landing page—but not all SCRBs have landing pages associated with them.

    Content Strategy

    chess-433071_1280 For ecommerce stores, that means checking content strategy very carefully. If some of your content strategy involves trying to rank for questions with definite, non-negotiable answers related to your niche, you should trim those topics from your content strategy. Google is so sophisticated at this point, it’s starting to give us answers directly, without sending us to 3rd party sites for the answers. That means content strategists must narrow the focus to topics on which they can provide fresh, useful information which Google can’t get elsewhere or prepare from aggregate data.

    Give Users Fresh Content When That’s What They Want

    For ecommerce stores associated with a niche that evolves regularly, that means publishing fresh, accurate content on news within your niche. If users google “boston marathon” and your business is associated with the marathon, you should publish timely content about the next marathon. That’s what users are likely searching for.

    The Bottom Line

    Google is always tweaking things. This causes some stress in the SEO community—but it shouldn’t. Google is trying to create a better experience for users. Keeping up with Google’s constant algorithm refinement helps us all to create better experiences for our users. For ecommerce store owners, happy users mean satisfied customers. There’s really nothing to lose.

    Greg McNeil

    November 20, 2015
    Content Marketing, Ecommerce Platforms, Google Analytics, PPC, SEO
  • Digital Movers: New Blog Feature Coming Soon

    Digital Movers: New Blog Feature Coming Soon

    We’ve got big plans for the 216digital blog.

    We’ll continue to cover digital marketing and ecommerce with actionable, applied content. But we’re going to expand our coverage beyond this. We’ll be launching a regular feature on our blog–Digital Movers. In this space, we’ll highlight individuals and teams who are doing great things in digital marketing.

    Where other sections of our blog focus on websites, design, and content marketing, this section will focus on the people who get things done–what makes them successful, what they struggle with, and their advice for success.

    Stay tuned. This feature will launch in early 2016.

    Greg McNeil

    November 11, 2015
    Uncategorized
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