Search Results for:employee activation

A lot of companies miss the mark with employee activation because they only build one-way of a two-way street. The end goal should go beyond empowering employees to further brand objectives.The company behind the brand should also be empowering employees to further their own professional goals. When your culture is set up to launch each

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately speaking about employee activation. I’m not talking about employee advocacy (getting your employees to blindly share your press releases.) Employee activation even goes beyond employee engagement. Although you need engaged employees to activate. What is employee activation? Employee activation is a formal program that encourages employees of

Online marketing has changed significantly in the last few years—we’ve already discussed these developments in previous articles. But in this post, I’d like to focus on employee advocacy in B2B marketing specifically, because it comes with its own unique challenges. And of course, its own unique solutions. Yes, B2B can make it harder to connect

Looking for an effective way to humanize your brand, engage your audience, and connect with customers? Employee content marketing just might be the missing link to meet all these demands – and many more. People buy from people – not brand names and logos. Take this stat on video marketing, for example. 54% of customers

An employee advocacy program can be a fantastic way to build brand awareness, reach a wider audience, and attract new talent. However, it’s critical that such a program is planned and managed carefully so you can make the most out of your efforts. A poorly executed employee advocacy program will be ineffective, but it could

Have a seat. Prepare for a shock. It’s not your meticulously researched blog posts that get all the online love. It’s employee-generated content (EGC) – the secret sauce that can transform your content marketing strategy beyond your wildest dreams. I know. You spend hours researching, and then you shine up your grammar so well that you’d

Most employees feel desperately disengaged from their work. How can your company enjoy marketing success with such low levels of employee engagement? Corporate wellness consultant Naz Beheshti put it best. In her January 2019 Forbes piece, Beheshti points out that 66 percent of the workforce doesn’t show up to work with “passion, purpose, presence, and energy.” Those very

“Wait a minute,” you say, “Did I read that right? I thought it was our marketing team’s job to sell potential buyers on our products and services, not selling our employees on how great it is to work here. Truth is, driving employee engagement is the marketing team’s most important job. Without an enthusiastic, engaged team behind

It’s estimated that over 70% of employees in US companies are not fully engaged at work. This means that while they may be physically present and doing the job they’re paid to do, they’re not living up to their full potential or delivering their best performance. Improving employee engagement should be a key aim for

When your internal experts become a part of the industry conversation, your audience will pay attention. But, in order to gain this marketing advantage, you need the right climate for activation. You need an engaged team. Once you do successfully motivate your employees to share branded content, create their own, and to build their reputations as thought leaders

No department understands the idea of change like marketing does. Forced to adopt new technology, upskill like crazy, reshuffle positions and create new roles to manage content marketing, social media marketing, and marketing analytics, marketing has already gone through the ring of fire. I challenge you to find a single CMO or marketing manager who

Looking for a way to bring your brand authority to the next level? Consumers don’t just have higher expectations today, gravitating towards quality content, better experiences, and meaningful brands. It’s also harder to gain their trust. Over 40 percent of American consumers trust brands less than they did 20 years ago. And, nearly half want to see a

Here’s a strategy brands such as IBM and Starbucks have been using for years to bolster their marketing reach and their revenue – employee activation. By harnessing the potential of the people who know your brand better than even your most devoted customers, you can tap into a rich source of brand advocacy and fuel

When we invest in content marketing we’re making two equally important and interrelated promises. First, we’re promising our management team that we’ll garner a measurable return that aligns with one or more specific business objectives. Marketing Land columnist and Altimeter Group analyst Rebecca Lieb lays out the framework for this first promise on measuring content ROI.

You feel confident that your brand is a leader in your industry. A great way to showcase that knowledge and expertise is with an “ultimate guide.”  Internet users turn to these ultimate guides when they want thoroughly researched, straightforward information all in one place. The key for you is to present your know-how in the

If you were to step back in time into a marketing conference from a decade or so ago, content marketing SEO would be the buzzword you’d hear on everyone’s lips. But back then, content was only a vehicle for injecting keywords into blog posts and other website content. Lots of them. Because, you know, SEO.

Another season of ABC’s The Bachelorette has infiltrated our screens. This time, we’re putting on our content marketing goggles. The Bachelor has seen over 30 seasons and 6 spin-off shows since its 2002 debut. Each season, millions of people tune into the drama to watch gorgeous singles find “the one.” If you’ve never personally experienced the

Every content marketer faces the challenge at some point of trying to figure out how to publish enough content to make a difference to your audience and your business. But you only have a tiny budget. And you want to maintain a high level of quality. So how do you get the volume you need

To establish your place as a thought leader and trustworthy authority in your industry, you need to publish original, high-level content. But writing effective thought leadership content is no easy task. Taking the time and effort to learn how to create high-authority content is worth the effort. A 2019 survey of 1,000 senior executives found that, despite

Content marketing, when you peel away all the layers of techniques, trends, and possibilities, is a business opportunity. At its core, it’s a tool businesses can use for growth. Content marketing is the kind of marketing that delivers ROI you can measure. And that’s important – now more than ever. Unlike other methods of marketing,

“How do they do it?” my clients ask, as they look at the number of blog articles by their industry’s top producers. “How many articles should I publish to increase my traffic and leads?” Often, it feels as if we can never quite write enough content to keep up with the “big guns” in our

Guest Post by Lead Generation Specialist Lauren  Johnson Content marketing drives free traffic to this website everyday. Michael Brenner posts new blog articles consistently 2-3 times per week and generates a couple thousand visitors every day – nearly a million page views every year. But what happens once Marketing Insider Group gets that traffic? How

In B2B Marketing, it’s all about finding leads that convert to sales. While it may seem counter-intuitive, when you take an approach that puts the customer’s needs in the driver’s seat, and you’ll be on the fast track to marketing success. How do you show your customers that you care about their needs? The good

Consistent blog publishing is the heart of successful content marketing. With the right strategy in place, even companies with a limited marketing budget can produce high-value content that not only ranks #1 in search results but also converts visitors into leads. According to HubSpot, marketers that blog consistently are 13 times more likely to see a positive ROI. Marketing

Just because you’re with a large company doesn’t mean that you have an unlimited budget for content marketing. In fact, some larger companies – especially those that have been around since dinosaurs walked the earth – still do the bulk of their marketing with traditional TV and print ads. Whatever your situation, it’s always wise

It’s not difficult to replicate the best brands’ success when it comes to content marketing. All it takes is a little strategy. If you’re reading this post, you’ve probably already realized the importance of a content marketing program for your business. You have questions, though. One of the most frequent remarks I hear from business

Think of content marketing as a journey. Like any journey, you need to know the destination. When you have a content marketing roadmap in hand, though, you can focus on where you want to go and the best way to get there. As Forbes’ Brian Sutter puts it, “It’s really hard to hit a target when you don’t

Content marketing is always changing. It’s not something you set and forget, especially in an age when all marketing is going digital. Content has become the essence of branding, lead generation, and even sales campaigns, across inbound and paid channels, primarily due to one thing: its effectiveness. With more access to data and a better

The genius of branded communities – when done well – is that they create a participatory experience for the customer. Instead of projecting need for your product/service and value-driven content onto the customer and perpetuating the ‘us-them’ relationship, you’re dissolving boundaries and forming a ‘we’ experience – a community. You’re opening the door, welcoming them

Let’s face it. Coming up with new ideas for content can be a struggle. We are so entrenched in our work and our specific industries that the topics that matter begin to fade from view and new concepts may start to feel like we’ve already been there, done that. Here’s a well-known secret: the content

Happy Holidays! Can you believe 2019 is just a few days away! Each year seems to go by faster than the previous one. Although some of you might be looking forward to the new year, those out there who have yet to implement a 2019 content marketing strategy that meets your goals may be wishing you can rewind

You know how powerful content marketing is for brand awareness, lead nurturing, and building lasting relationships with your customers. So do the 91 percent of B2B marketers who are using content marketing today. But, chances are, your organization’s executive team isn’t as excited about your content marketing efforts as you are. While content marketing budgets have been

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies live in a universe of mathematical code, complex processes, and highly technical jargon. Potential customers need someone to unpack all that jargon and explain it to them in plain English – or whatever language they speak. That need makes SaaS companies a perfect fit for content marketing. Can they still win with

The beginning of the final quarter of the year always signals a re-evaluation of old strategies and the hunt for newer ones to stay competitive in your industry. Driven by a host of emerging technologies and an influx of new insights, b2b buyer behavior continues to evolve at breakneck speeds. Understandably, B2B marketers are hard-pressed

Managing customer relationships has always been super important to the success of a business. For many product and service companies, it is an evolution. It starts with defining product-market fit. Then we have to hire and scale sales and marketing pipeline to acquire new customers. And it culminates in servicing and retaining existing customers to

When you start a business, there’s a lot on your mind: how to fund all the equipment you’ll need, how to keep track of revenue and expenses, how to produce your goods and services economically enough to make a profit, and how to get the word out about what you offer. A content marketing strategy?

I hear it all the time: there’s so much noise out there. How could we ever break through? And yet there are some amazing examples of businesses that are achieving massive growth in new website visitors through consistent editorial content and strategic thought leadership. Quality news, information, and stories will always attract an audience. Even

For the past 10 years or more, I’ve been analyzing, strategizing, building, optimizing, and measuring the content marketing programs for companies in just about every industry and sector there is. In fact, in my last count, we have done fully customized content marketing strategy workshops for more than 80 different companies. Those workshops were all

You want your blog to knock it out of the park. But where should you start? One of the most effective tactics to take your content to the next level is by studying the world’s best large company blogs. Learn what makes their content marketing strategy stand apart from that of their competitors, and you’ll have an

I’m a big believer in making the content you publish the hub around which your content marketing strategy revolves. However, to rock content marketing in today’s omni-channel world, social media plays a key supporting role. For that reason, it pays to learn how to leverage social media to draw your target audience into your content

We recently sat down with Michael Brenner, CEO of Marketing Insider Group, for a Q&A around COVID-19 and its impact on the marketing industry. Brenner discussed where teams should be allocating resources, how content programs should be shifting and ways the pandemic has impacted event strategies for brands. As the industry landscape changes daily, what

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Nowhere is that truer than in content marketing. Content marketing best practices might change with the winds of technology. But, their basic principles stay the same. I’ve been covering Content Marketing Best Practices for more than 10 years! And one thing has remained constant in

You know how important content marketing is in the 21st century. Especially right now, you know that today’s customers tune out salesy ads and flashy promos. But you also know that you’re on a tight budget. “Is there such a thing as budget-friendly content marketing?” you ask. Today’s customers want information. And they want to

Many of the nation’s largest companies haven’t moved beyond the days of the “mad men” of Madison Avenue’s ad campaigns when it comes to marketing. Major ad agencies still control the purse strings for these enterprises’ ad spend. Yet the very tactic that entrepreneurs have used to snatch away some of these companies’ business—content marketing—can

According to Hubspot, Content Marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing. But it still takes time to produce. And, as they say, time is money. Make every piece of content that you write, photograph, or film count. With more effective content distribution strategies, you can make your web traffic soar to the moon and back.

If you’ve heard me deliver one of my keynote speaking presentations anytime in the last two years, you’ve heard me tell the story of Lyly Lepinay who used to be the digital marketing manager at global consulting services powerhouse Capgemini. I met Lyly (over the phone) about 5 years ago when she reached out to

Creating authentic content is potentially one of the most valuable skills for marketers to learn in 2019. Consumer trust in brands and advertising is at an all-time low. Earning back that trust is one surefire way to win more business in an increasingly skeptical world. According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, globally only 56% of people

Your company culture forms the basis of everything you do. No matter how much time or how many resources you plow into marketing, if your audience and customers don’t align with your key values, your success will be limited. Company culture and brand are now merging and some experts already consider them to be synonymous. To put

The climate of relevance is always shifting when it comes to business; it’s a constant battle to stay current against competitors and evolving industry trends. Reinventing your website or brand is a smart way to stay afloat – but successfully launching either can be a daunting task, to say the least. Luckily, there are steps