Overview: Content Creation & Marketing

I’ve had the amazing pleasure of meeting with over a dozen of the largest companies on the planet over the last six months... [who] have hired journalists, producers, broadcasters, and editors to refine and tell their story on a consistent basis... but not one ... focused on subscriber growth... While larger enterprises are fighting silo battle…

"People bond. Barriers dissolve. Connections are made. Trust increases. Knowledge is transmitted. Wisdom is shared ... a deep sense of interdependence is felt... If you are part of an organization, no matter what it's shape or size, it's time for some meaning making ... by creating engaging opportunities for everyone, from mail room to board ro…

I quite enjoyed the experience of reposting to Medium, and really like how Medium is evolving as a platform, particularly how they are… … re-imagining comments with Highlight, Comment & Respond… these three interactive features echo the ‘nibble, bite, meal’ content model, but in the other direction, from you back to the …

Cards are bite-sized, self-contained, interactive units of graphical real estate presented within digital apps... cards are mostly used within apps to present information and provide interactive functions ... Things get a lot more fun, however, once cards can be shared between different apps.... The Guardian provides cards on Google Now ... [wh…

"...after this Spring’s most recent NewsFeed algorithm updates is that Facebook Pages—the ones used by businesses—are generating appalling user engagement rates... work-arounds ... mostly involve investing even more resources into Facebook ... more money devoted to advertising to fans brands have already paid to acquire in the first place." …

"Big enterprises with copious budgets can usually afford to pour tens of thousands of dollars into traditional and digitalmarketing channels. Starting entrepreneurs, by contrast, truly need to think out of the box .. there are quite a few web and mobile tools that were developed specifically for businesses that depend on smart and low-cost mark…

"Publishing partners have built best-in-class agency capabilities in house... brands and their media-buying agencies are going to publishers, emboldened by larger budgets, to create large-scale interactive ads with graphics, video and text.... "ours is a story that requires more than an ad. Content helps them explain the technology behind th…

Finally kicked Medium’s tyres. Result: an unfair comparison between my post originally on BlogActiv with a new version on Medium. Unfair because Medium is all about the content [and] I reduced the historical blah-blah... Medium’s editor is as good as they say, import post function worked like a dream.

A thoughtful addition to the neverending "is blogging dead?" debate: "According to the definition, blogging is "regularly adding or updating a blog". But that definition was created in 1997 and no one has bothered to change it. I propose the following: "Blogging is the act of sharing ones ideas, likes, opinions, and/or experiences, via pro…

LinkedIn generated the highest visitor-to-lead conversion rates compared to Facebook and Twitter, where leads were almost three times higher to convert than Facebook or Twitter. To perform this analysis, we collected one of the largest datasets of top performing long-form content across the LinkedIn Pulse network. This is what we found.... .…

the social network will share analytics, and Instant Articles is compatible with audience measurement and attribution tools... won't receive preferential treatment from Facebook's News Feed sorting algorithm... Facebook will parse HTML and RSS to display articles with fonts, layouts, and formats ... also providing vivid media options like embe…

"nearly 67 percent of emails were opened on a mobile device... it’s not that hard to create responsive emails. ... Here are 10 quick design hacks" - 10 design hacks for responsive emails that don’t suck

"... infographics are often taken at face value... And it is hard to fact check infographics... Fast Company republished 10 facts from Buffer. Fact checking one of the facts in that list went like this: The fact quoted an infographic -> that quoted a blog post at Huffington Post -> which in turn quoted another infographic -> which quoted a blog…

I’ve broken down all of the major algorithm changes that have occurred over the past 2 years... Read on for your ultimate guide to Facebook news feed changes... - The Ultimate Guide to Facebook News Feed Changes... and How They Impact YOU!

Business-focused, but a lot of clear thinking for government communicators as well. Particularly like: "Certainly we have more conversations with more people but is that a sign of success? ... Until social media marketers get over themselves, and businesses start to integrate online conversations – and the tools and people that manage them …

"...a new ecosystem of content promotion has arisen to fill the visibility hole left by the unfulfilled promises of organic search and social media. The channels and tactics for content promotion are advancing, affecting everything from influencer outreach and media relations to native advertising and sponsored content." - The Content Marketing E…

Great "best of times, worst of times" piece on storytelling. Not just worth a read, it's worth learning the formula. An example: "Our access to knowledge and stories has never been greater, and it’s growing every day.... "21 things only a 90s kid can appreciate” will probably get 50 times more traffic than a post about climate change or political…

"3M – the company that makes Ace bandages, Scotchgard, and Post-it notes... is succeeding on Twitter.... This is not Beyonce or Lady Gaga. 3M is not political. There are no professional NBA employees employed by the company... And yet 121,000 people follow it. " - Boring Brands Can Crush Social Media...And 5 Other Things You Can Learn From 3M -…

"Bloggers aren’t journalists or employees – they’re independent souls who have built a following by keeping their readers interested, amused and engaged. They don’t like to be controlled or deceived, and they definitely don’t like you to waste their time. Forgetting this will get you into trouble" - 6 Do's And Don'ts Of Blogger Outreach

"... suggests articles to its users ... and then lets users schedule and share those links across LinkedIn and Twitter... [aimed at] marketing professionals... with story suggestions letting them stay active even when they have no links of their own to share, and analytics ... create specific topic areas to track ... also coopting a company’s la…

"the future of marketing is screwed ... We're still taking legacy thinking and outdated value systems and applying them to this new world of innovation... all this amazing technology, all the data you can leverage ... Marketing becomes a true reflection of an always-on society by recognising that it’s not a department. Marketing is now a way of b…

"All interesting theories are an attack on the taken-for-granted... We accept beliefs that align with our biases, but reject the value of these findings. Why? Because they don’t teach us anything new. In order to grab the attention of an audience, you must make a proposition that negates an accepted one."

"In an increasingly crowded news feed, Facebook’s algorithm updates can make it tough for brands to get much notice.... We’ve been scouring the web to find ... all the tactics, new additions and post types you need to know today."

"a year after Russia swallowed Crimea, the EU is moving into the propaganda business in a bid to win an information war it is currently losing... the EU’s spin-team is to be largely made up of the same civil servants who have so miserably failed to convince the bloc’s own citizens of the benefits of Europe. Having worked with EU officials for alm…

"Facebook is ... aiming to be the Internet equivalent of a broadband provider — providing the means by which all media is published and accessed. Here’s what brands and publishers need to know ... - Facebook urging publishers to post their articles and videos directly to Facebook... - For publishers that use Facebook for their comments sections,…

"Interested in checking EU content on Twitter, Facebook and the rest? Use this search tool to find social media accounts with EU input." - EUROPA – Social networks and the EU

From 360-degree to Buzzwedge, a guide for the perplexed: - 10 Content Marketing Buzzwords You'll Hear Way Too Much At SXSW

"One of the most frustrating things about reading (or listening to) science journalism is trying to resolve contradictory claims. Coffee is good for you; no, it’s bad for you... Eating meat is good for you; no, don’t eat meat! Some people, like many of those who oppose vaccines, ease the tension by deciding that science is all relative—just a ma…

Good reading for anyone communicating on an issue like science - or indeed the EU: "The problem is that he delivered his argument by targeting the most admirable hallmark of the scientific method: uncertainty in the face of incomplete evidence. And that makes his essay a pernicious attack on science itself. Bilton’s argument follows a familiar f…

"A Content Marketing Roadmap (CMR) is a strategy and game plan for content production and publication, usually for a three-month period. Its purpose is to take the guesswork out of blogging and lead generation and to, with every piece of content written and published, be working toward a goal." - What is a Content Marketing Roadmap? | Amanda Shaw…