Proliferation

Jun 27
0

Why You Should Create Content for a Variety of Platforms

By | content marketing | No Comments

With such a large variety of content that can be produced as part of your content marketing strategy, the question begs to be asked, “Why should I include so many different types of pieces for content marketing?” While it would certainly be easier to concentrate all your efforts on one form of content, it would certainly not be better. Creating content for a variety of platforms benefits your overall strategy in several important ways.

Audience 

Content marketing success depends almost completely on knowing your audience. A 2011 study by the Custom Content Council reported that 70 percent of consumers preferred to get their information from articles as opposed to corporate advertisements. That number continues to grow.

Audiences vary in what they want to learn and how they want to learn about it. Creating content for many different platforms gives consumers power to choose how they receive their content. A businessman in Utah might choose listening to a podcast on the way to work, while a college student on the East Coast might choose to receive the same information from social media.

Different pieces of content thereby allow you to reach different audiences. You’ll attract certain individuals with an infographic on Pinterest and others with a video on YouTube. The more variety you have, the more people you reach.

Reputation

When it comes to reliable content, it doesn’t matter if you are a major corporation in Utah or a small business in the Midwest. What matters is your reputation. People searching for information online want to feel that they can trust their sources. Your content’s presence on a variety of channels builds your reputation as an expert in your field. It gives the appearance of reliability and shows you keep up with online trends.

SEO

Any marketing agency in Utah will tell you that good SEO is crucial to content marketing success. Simply put, the more quality content you create with focused SEO, the higher your search ranking. Distributing content on different platforms works with the Google algorithm to work for you.

Jun 23
0

Words to Avoid in Content Marketing

By | content marketing | No Comments

Content marketing is a strategy used by many companies all over Utah because of its effectiveness. However, there are few commonly used words in content marketing that devalue the writing and decrease the effectiveness of it. While they may seem minuscule, the eradication of these words from your content marketing vocabulary can great improve your effectiveness.

“Groundbreaking”

This word is usually used to exaggerate a sentence but is commonly viewed simply as filler.

“Awesome”

Awesome has lost its impact in recent years due to the broad population that uses it. It has now become less refined and shouldn’t be used in your content marketing.

“Utilize”

Utilize is simply a fancier version of the word, ‘use’ and will only make the piece harder for the reader to comprehend. It is important to always consider the reader first in content marketing.

“110%”

It is surprising how many businesses use this in their marketing. Exclude this cliché because it only exists for purposes of exaggeration.

“Like”

While this word may be common in teenager vernacular, most readers do not want to consistently bombarded with the word. It feels a lot less natural to read the word, ‘like’ in writing than it does in conversation.

 

“Best”

Using the word, ‘best’ in your writing is very assumptions so it is best to avoid in your content marketing. There are many other words that can replace best in your writing.

“Very”

Unfortunately this word is overused and has lost its impact in writing. Trying using an alternative when you want to use it.

Jargon in General 

Your content marketing will be distributed all over the internet so it is important that you eliminate a lot of jargon from it. For example, if you are talking about skiing in Utah, you may want use the word ‘powder’. However, people who don’t ski will not know what this means. Instead it would be best to explain that there was fresh snow in Utah.

Jun 21
0

What Is Content Marketing?

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Marketing used to be more of a science than an art. Marketing agencies from Utah to the East Coast blanketed their messages on TV screens, magazine spreads and internet banner ads. Then one day, this traditional approach to marketing stopped working. Consumers got smarter. They used their DVRs to skip commercials, flipped past the magazine ads and blocked out the internet banners. The scientific approach to marketing didn’t work anymore. It was time to get creative.

Information Creating Sales

Content marketing focuses on creating valuable content and distributing it to a specific audience. Instead of a magazine spread with gorgeous models lathering on sunscreen, a marketing agency in Utah will create videos and blogs about how important it is to protect your skin from the sun. It will research and review the best sunscreens, and publish those results online. Content marketing aims to communicate with consumers in a positive way, understanding that sales will naturally follow.

How does providing people with information generate better business? Content marketing operates under the belief that if a business or organization can consistently provide their audiences with valuable information, those audiences will in turn reward companies and organizations with loyal business.

Communicating With Audiences

Communicating with consumers through content marketing truly is an art. Marketers have to get to know their audiences. What are their likes and dislikes? What information do they want to know? What do they care about? Consumers in Utah may have very different needs than consumers in the Big Apple. The information age means consumers have innumerable options for finding answers, and if they feel a company is out of touch, they’ll simply go somewhere else.

Adaptability and Longevity

Content marketing is the new industry standard because it works, plain and simple. It allows businesses to adapt their marketing strategies to any type of platform — from traditional webpages to the latest social media site. As the world of marketing continues to evolve, there’s no question that content marketing will continue to lead the way.

Jun 02
0

How to Keep People Coming Back to Your Blog

By | Blogging, content marketing | No Comments

So you’ve been busting out content like a madman. You’re stoked because you’ve pushed out content every day this week and you’re positive your content marketing strategy is on lock.Trouble is, your blog traffic stinks. Maybe you have a decent number of unique visits, but nobody seems to be coming back except that one sad soul in his mom’s basement in Utah. You’re getting visitors, but you’re not establishing connections — you’re not building an audience. What should you do? How do you promote more regular readership and get a bigger audience?

Dig Your Hooks in

You need content that hooks readers and gets them wanting more. If you notice a lot of engagement on a particular post, whether it’s questions, comments, or shares, you’re doing something right. If your subject or copy just isn’t compelling for readers, you may need to switch things up in terms of your tone of voice, or the subjects themselves. If your content marketing gives people what they want, they’ll come back.

A niche focus can be your friend as well. There might be a dozen blogs about the life and times of Norwegian black metal flutists, but what about Norwegian black metal fluting in Utah?

Send Direct

If you’re not giving people an opportunity to receive regular email updates from your blog, you’re giving people just enough time to forget you exist. You want more readers than just the Utah basement guy? Get them hooked on your content, but add a regular newsletter send to your content marketing mix. Give readers an easy path to return to you and give them the content they like and you’re golden.

Sharing is Caring

Give your readers an easy way to share things through social buttons and sharing options. And don’t forget that you can’t expect people to find your content in a vacuum (with the exception of our Utah basement fellow). Instead, get on social media and share your stuff there so you can give people every opportunity to spread your message for you.

If you’re churning out lots of content, you’re doing one thing most businesses aren’t. All it takes is a few small tweaks to your promotion strategy to start really ramping up engagement and earning new readers by the minute. With some hard work, your content marketing strategy will start showing the results you desire.

May 27
0

Fusion 360: A New Generation of Revolutionaries

By | content marketing, digital marketing | No Comments

In the year 1776, a piece of paper signed by 56 men started a revolution. Sure, there’d been other revolutions before, but the world had never seen a revolution like this. This was a group of colonies with relatively nothing to their name rising up against the most powerful country in the world, and for what? For an idea that had never been tried before and, as far as the world was concerned, probably wouldn’t succeed. But it did.

That’s the thing about revolutionaries. They can see a future in the distance that others just can’t grasp. With creativity, hard work and a little bit of luck they don’t just embrace the new world. They create it. At Fusion 360, we are revolutionaries.

Fusion 360 doesn’t seek to be on par with the best marketing agencies in the world. We want to lead them. When other marketing agencies reach an advertising peak, we’ll be waving to them from the next summit.

You see, there’s a revolution happening right now. The world of digital marketing is changing and developing and growing, and we were there to sign its declaration of independence from the marketing strategies of the past. Other marketing agencies are joining the fight, but we’ve been out on the front lines for years, right where we want to be.

We’re a tight battalion of marketing soldiers. We collaborate together, eat together and fight many a Nerf battle together. This environment enables us to be creative and formulate innovative strategies. We’re not afraid to share new ideas — because at Fusion 360 ideas aren’t rejected, they’re improved. We work hard, and we play hard because that’s how you keep the spark of revolution burning.

Why are we like this? Why do we insist on rising up for ideas that have never been tried before? Because we are Fusion 360. We are the agency for the digital revolution.

May 27
0

Seven of the Best Easter Eggs on the Web

By | content marketing, digital marketing | No Comments

The Internet is a beautiful thing. It’s a place where ideas flow freely no matter how bogus, and the bizarre and ridiculous are welcomed with open screens. Everyone from digital marketing companies to your weird neighbor down the street who lives in his parents’ basement can take part in the worldwide Web. But there are secrets lurking in the hidden corners of your favorite websites. They’re called Easter eggs, and they are amazing.

We’re not talking about the hardboiled eggs you dye with your mom and hide in the backyard — which, let’s be honest, is a weird tradition no one seems to understand why we do. These Easter eggs are hidden “surprises” coders embed within websites and programs just because they can. Even digital marketing companies have been known to hide a thing or two in their websites. Now, we know you’re entering Nicholas Cage in “National Treasure” mode as you read this, so we’ve assembled a list of a few of our favorite website Easter eggs to get you started.

1. Wikipedia’s Easter Egg

Search “Easter egg” on Wikipedia. Check out the image of two rabbits in the right-hand corner. See the hedgehog? Click it. It’s basically Easter egg inception.

2. Buzzfeed’s Wilkie Takeover

Mark Wilkie is the chief technology officer at Buzzfeed, and clearly someone in the Web department loves him very much. Click anywhere in the white space of the Buzzfeed homepage, and then, type the Nintendo Konami Code (UP ARROW – UP ARROW – DOWN ARROW – DOWN ARROW – LEFT ARROW – RIGHT ARROW – LEFT ARROW – RIGHT ARROW – B – A). Suddenly everything’s coming up Wilkie.

3. Google Images’ Atari Breakout

Feel the need to travel back to 1976? Search for “Atari Breakout” in Google images, and you can play the game to your heart’s content.

4. British Vogue Dino

Even the British digital marketing companies love a good Easter egg. Visit British Vogue’s homepage, click the white space and type in that beautiful Konami Code. You’re welcome.

5. The Bacon Number

Even digital marketing companies love a good web gimmick. They also love Kevin Bacon, though they might not admit it. Someone at Google also loves Kevin Bacon because that person had a brilliant idea called “The Bacon Number”. Bacon Numbers operate under the theory that all celebrities are connected to Kevin Bacon by six or less degrees of separation. Each celebrity’s Bacon Number reflects that degree. Google search “Bacon Number” and the name of any celebrity to find out how close each has come to the incomparable Kevin Bacon. 

In case you were wondering, Chris Pratt’s Bacon Number is 2.

6. Pirate Language

Change your Facebook language settings to “English (Pirate).” Never gets old.

7. Earl’s Court Station

Here’s one for all you “Doctor Who” fans hitting a slow day of work at your digital marketing companies. Head over to Google Maps and search for “Earl’s Court Station.” Entering street view lets you catch a glimpse of a particular blue police box. You can even go inside by dropping your yellow street view dude right on the pin in classic map view or by double clicking the box from street view level.

May 25
0

Amp Up Your Content Quality With Good Grammar

By | content marketing, SEO, Utah | No Comments

Content marketing is the driving force behind convincing consumers to use a company’s services or products. Good content marketing gives information to the consumer and that information convinces them to act.

This strategic portion of advertising uses SEO and keywords to draw customers in. Once the consumers find the written content it is important that nothing drives them away — this includes poor grammatical errors.

A good content marketing agency will be able to take care of your content creation for you and with a string of editors double checking posts, grammatical nightmares can easily be avoided.

Avoiding Error

Remembering the little things is key. If your company is located in Utah and it consistently forgets to capitalize Utah in its blog posts, it is likely that your Utah customers will be turned off by the unprofessional mistakes. This could ultimately affect sales.

Many spelling and capitalization errors can be caught by internal spellcheck programs on your computer but there are several other grammatical issues that can’t be resolved by spellcheck.

If your company uses AP Style as your format, make sure that all posts are written after this manner. Inconsistencies within style are confusing within a webpage. Keep style guides handy around the workplace in order to have a quick point of reference when questions arise.

Online sources can also often offer overviews of specific styles and identify commonly made grammatical mistakes. In order to maximize a company’s content marketing reach, refer to these online guides often.

These guides and sources can be found through any search engine. Before your use one though, make sure to check your source and verify that it is a reputable one. You wouldn’t take Jedi training from Chewbacca so why would you take grammar training from dizzyflowerlover454?

After you have referenced guides and established online sources it is always a good idea to have someone give you a second opinion on your work. Content marketing can be tricky so having a second set of eyes catching your little mistakes is important.

With good grammar though, you can keep customers reading and clients happy.

May 19
0

Personalization: A Call for Deeper Content Marketing Metrics

By | content marketing | No Comments

Content marketing is all about making things personal. It’s about providing the information consumers need in a way that helps them see the benefits of your goods and services. It’s about reaching both an advertising executive in Utah and a mommy blogger on the West Coast.  It takes a lot of work, and after all your time and effort is put into personalizing and optimizing content marketing strategies, how do you know if any of it is paying off?

What’s the Deal With Metrics?

Content marketing metrics allow marketers from Utah and around the world to quantify and visualize the success of each piece of content. There’s just one glitch. A recent McKinsey survey shows that only a third of marketers report they really are able to quantitatively show how effective their marketing is.

How to Dive Deeper Into Analytics

This dilemma is creating an industry-wide call for deeper content marketing metrics. These forms of deep analytics don’t just show return on investment. Deep analytics enable marketers to improve future content. In order to get this type of information, marketers must invest in emergent content technologies that turn consumers into active participants by delivering each consumer a custom, interactive experience.

How does this differ from traditional content marketing approaches? Well, most content marketers work under a distribution point model, meaning they try to collect consumer data when the content is delivered to the user, like selecting ads based on search history. This is all good, but too many marketers stop there. There’s limited personalization, so you get limited engagement and limited insights into the consumer.

We’ll Say It Again: Give the Customers What They Want

To continue to improve and develop, content marketing professionals need to bridge the gap between creating personal content and improving data analysis and collection. This means investing in a personalized customer experience, or simply put, giving the customer the content they actually want. It doesn’t matter if you’re in Utah or in the Big Apple. Increasing personalization means more insights into each customer and deeper metrics overall.

Apr 29
0

The Double-Edged Sword of Data and Content Marketing

By | content marketing, marketing, Social Media, Utah | No Comments

In the abyss known as content marketing, creativity is usually deemed king; however, one vital and often overlooked quality of content marketing is data. Content without data is like an unmanned paper airplane; there’s no way to tell where it will go or how soon it will get there. However, data has the potential to turn content into pure gold — specifically if that content is targeting a particular location.

The data for content marketing in Utah might look drastically different than the data for marketing on the East Coast, which is exactly why you need to understand the different layers of data to turn your content into pure marketing gold.

Mastering the Art of Owned Analytics

Owned content has already been established as an integral aspect of marketing; however, how many times have you heard the phrase “owned analytics”? Owned analytics refers to data that is produced directly from a company or brand’s personal website and social media accounts. Owned data might include user reach, shares, engagement and so on. This type of data allows marketers to target their audiences more effectively — whether it’s an audience of outdoor enthusiasts in southern Utah or a group of engineers in Silicon Valley.

What Are the Benefits of Earned Content?

After completing the footwork of owned data, earned content comes into play. Earned content is content produced around a brand; for example, how a brand is trending on Twitter, how people are responding to content shared on Facebook and Instagram or how audiences are reacting to videos and blog posts. The benefit of earned content gives marketers a critical look at how targeted audiences are receiving content — which ultimately helps marketers tweak and fine-tune their content for optimal engagement.

Contextualize, Contextualize, Contextualize

The hardest part of using data in content marketing? Contextualizing it. Marketing to an audience in Salt Lake City, Utah will be substantially different than marketing to an audience in the Midwest. Fortunately, at Fusion 360 we’re pros at turning data into marketing gold — no matter where you’re at.

Apr 28
0

How Important Is Establishing a Brand Voice?

By | content marketing, marketing agencies, public relations | No Comments

Keeping a consistent tone in your brand voice plays a huge part in how your customers will perceive your company. Big name companies such as Google, LinkedIn and Yamaha have really been amping up their game on how they use their voice — because they understand how important their brand voice is. Knowing your voice will help you craft your content, and content marketing companies in Utah, like Fusion 360, can help you with that craft.

Finding your voice isn’t easy; you have to consider if your company is looking for a funny tone, a serious tone or maybe something inspirational. Once your company has discovered what their tone is, that’s when the real work comes in. Changing your brand tone will mean some major overhauls in your writing styles, content and website.

Who Are You Speaking To?

Whatever you’re trying to market, whether it’s in Utah or around the globe, knowing your audience is going to help you build your voice. Are you trying to speak to teenagers or are you trying to get the attention of senior citizens? Whatever platform you decide to write with, you will want your company to be able to speak to your clients, and give them reassurance that your vision is what they want too. If you’re speaking very bluntly with humor, this probably wouldn’t be the right voice when speaking to senior citizens in Utah, instead try to make yourself sound professional and honest.

What Are You Trying to  Say?

Forbes writes, “Why is your message of broader significance, to the market in general and to your target customers in particular?” Basically, what is your business trying to accomplish, what is the main message? If you’re trying to set up a charity fund, you don’t want an angry tone, you want an understanding and open-minded tone. This is where your company will want to express what your business is all about, and how that connects your customers. Your hired content marketing company Fusion 360 in Utah, can help you with this and help you craft a connection.

How Are You Expressing It?

According to Forbes, there are multiple layers on how you will want to communicate: Your tone, your approach and your medium. Focusing on your medium can help your company when it comes to your content marketing strategy. Many sources will tell you to start a blog, or start an e-newsletter, but this may not be the right way to market to your audience. If you find that these content marketing strategies aren’t working, expand and explore video making or podcasting. Trying new social platforms, or ways of communicating to the client is a god way to find your customers here in Utah or around the world.

How Are You Saying It?

An author knows how to use their voice in their stories – with plot twists, character developments and the author’s descriptions.  Finding this voice will be imperative, because your company could have two writers working on the same article, but both will have very different voices. Think of what vocabulary you want to use, and how you want the tone of your pieces to sound. Using these in your content marketing  will help you reach your audience, and market what you want your customers to know about your company.

Before you start writing content, consult a content marketing company like Fusion 360. We can help you get the right voice for your brand, and once you have this solved, this will help you gather the right audience to your company whether it’s in Utah or around the world.