Hiring a new member for your content marketing team seems like a great thing. After all, whether you're expanding the team or replacing a departing employee, you'll have more resources to execute a successful content marketing program. But finding and attracting quality creative content team members is a job unto itself. It's a challenge faced by 45% of advertising and marketing executives, according to a survey of 400 U.S. industry leaders by The Creative Group. 45% of ad & marketing execs are challenged by finding quality content team members. @CreativeGroup In this post, we dive deeper into the data about content marketing hiring. We will explore talent costs, regions with highest demand, and how companies work to retain employees. Hot marketsWhich U.S. cities have the greatest number of content marketing jobs? Here are the top 20 with the greatest number of content marketing jobs, according to Conductor's Inbound Marketing Jobs Salary Guide 2017:
Compensation figuresStarting salaries for content jobs are on the rise, as reflected in The Creative Group 2017 Marketing Jobs Salary Guide: Starting salaries for #contentmarketing roles are on the rise, says @CreativeGroup research. Content skills in highest demandData analysis, and content writing and editing are the most important skills companies are looking to hire this year, according to 2016 Digital Content Survey, Altimeter, a Prophet company. Data analysis & #content writing/editing are most important skills to hire for. @AltimeterGroup #research Here's how respondents who were asked the four most important skills they were looking to hire in 2017 listed priorities:
Multiple talents needed in one roleRoles in content marketing blend creative, technology, and analytics so companies seek individuals with more than one area of expertise. As the authors of The Creative Group 2017 Salary Guide wrote:
That insight is mirrored in Conductor's Inbound Marketing Jobs Salary Guide 2017, which reveals almost one in two content jobs (46.7%) requires SEO skills. These roles include content marketing specialists, content managers, content directors, and marketing manager positions. One in two #content jobs requires #SEO skills, according to @Conductor research. #hiring Employee retentionWith content marketing talent in high demand, companies seek to reduce turnover. The Creative Group survey revealed that more than half of advertising and marketing executives (52%) said they are concerned about retaining their current creative staff in the next 12 months. They also shared their talent-retention activities. Here are ones cited by at least half of the group:
Key content marketing rolesThe Creative Group, an employment agency, reports that the following positions are fast becoming crucial assets on the marketing team. Concept and ImplementationCreative technologist: Serves as a liaison between design and development teams; scopes digital projects Digital project manager: Oversees the implementation of multimedia projects Digital strategist: Develops user-experience (UX) strategies, including information design, online content strategy and lead generation tactics for web, mobile, email, social, and digital advertising media ContentContent strategist: Develops content strategy based on a company's business objectives and end user's needs Writer: Composes clear, concise, and grammatically correct content using different writing styles that appeal to various target audiences MarketingDigital/interactive marketing manager: Oversees the daily operation of a company's website and email marketing program, and provides analytics review Email marketing specialist: Runs email campaigns, including managing and segmenting contact lists using marketing automation software Social media manager: Implements an organization's social media strategy - developing brand awareness, generating inbound traffic, and encouraging product adoption ConclusionAs you can well know, hiring and retaining creative talent is not an easy task. It requires a keen understanding of the marketplace geographic, industry, skills and a strategic approach to ensuring that you not only pick great talent but you alsokeep them engaged. Research in this article is reprinted with permission of The Creative Group, Conductor, and Altimeter. A version of this article originally appeared in the June issue of Chief Content Officer. Sign up to receive your free subscription to our bimonthly, print magazine. Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute The post Content Marketing Industry: What's Happening in Hiring [Research] appeared first on Content Marketing Institute.
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The post Understanding and Achieving Data Analytics Maturity appeared first on Digital Marketing Blog by Adobe. In an industry fixated on rapid growth, any slowdown in user acquisition or monetization sounds alarms. And Twitter, whether it likes it or not, has been sounding a lot of them lately. After a few years of stagnant monthly active user growth and disappointing the market, Twitter has been on an upswing thus far in 2017 -- beating investor projections by generating more money and adding more new users than initially anticipated. In the face of a negative narrative, the company has been quick to take action and focused predominantly on changes geared toward the user -- and it seems to be working. Over the last year, Twitter has made a number of changes, small and big, to drive user engagement and improve the overall onboarding and experience of the platform. But we know how tough it can be to keep up with these types of updates, which is why we put together a list of the more notable features and changes below. Marketers, take note. 7 New Twitter Features1) The End of Vine ... and the End of Periscope?When technology companies are struggling to grow, as was Twitter for much of 2016, they will usually do one of two things -- cut staff to make financial ends meet, or develop new innovations to attract and engage users. In Twitter's case, it did both -- Twitter sunsetted Vine and launched an in-app live video streaming feature -- thereby eliminating the need to stream from Periscope for many users. Vine paved the way for the popular short-form and infinitely-looping videos we see on Snapchat and Instagram today (like this one), and in the fall of 2016, it was ultimately shuttered as Twitter shifted its focus to live video content. Vines are still available to share and watch (and rewatch), but now, six-second looping videos must be recorded and shared directly to Twitter or saved to the creator's camera roll. Then, in December 2016, Twitter launched its own in-app live video streaming and recording function -- effectively eliminating the need to live-stream from within the Periscope app.
Twitter hasn't discontinued Periscope the way it did so with Vine, so users can still download the app and live-stream videos to their audience there. But these changes in such rapid succession disappointed a lot of avid fans and users -- and reflected Twitter's growing need to keep users within its app. It's no secret that video is no longer just popular -- it's also a requisite element of any successful social media platform. Twitter is trying to innovate its video creation, broadcasting, and sharing tools to give users the types of content they want -- short-form, looping, and live broadcasts -- to compete with other platforms, attract new users, and keep existing users engaged. We haven't seen Twitter jump on the bandwagon of creating an ephemeral video stories feature like most of the major social media platforms -- yet. But we should expect more features and announcements -- like Twitter's deals to live-stream professional sports and breaking news -- that signal its continued emphasis on video content in the future. 2) A New LayoutIn June 2017, Twitter completely redesigned its desktop site and mobile app to make Twitter feel "lighter, faster, and easier to use" in response to user feedback:
Twitter's user base has been slowly growing -- and sometimes dipping -- over the past few years, and these UI and UX innovations could help attract people to Twitter, while also preventing users from leaving it. Source: The Motley Fool Here's a rundown of the changes:
And here's what these changes look like in action: Source: Twitter Most of the changes were widely panned by users, but this is the internet, after all -- and Twitter will never make everyone happy. Some users pointed out that cosmetic UI changes are not nearly as important as improving users' abilities to report and challenge abusive language on the platform -- and that's next on our list. 3) More Comprehensive Anti-Harassment and Cyberbullying FeaturesOne of the biggest complaints against Twitter is how easily harassment can spread and exacerbate on the network -- and there was no better test of this hypothesis than political rhetoric surrounding recent global elections. Historically, tweets aimed at threatening or scaring individuals on Twitter have gone unfettered and caused a number of users to delete their accounts or even fear for their safety -- as blogger Ariel Waldman has chronicled. Twitter Rules prohibit the kind of abuse we mean here -- threats, hate speech, bullying, and harassment on the basis of users' race, ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, ability, disease, or nationality. However, until as recently as March 1, 2017, there haven't been a lot of options for users report and stop abuse they were experiencing in real-time. Twitter has begun to respond to harassment and threats on the network with a series of features and services aimed a keeping people safe. These additions include:
These updates are critical to ensuring Twitter stays a welcoming place for all users. In a leaked memo last year, former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo underscored the importance of this move, saying:
4) Moments for EveryoneTwitter introduced Moments -- curated tweets about a single topic or story, all in one place -- back in 2015. Moments allowed publishers and brands to pull together their tweets and tweets from other users about a topic to tell a story in one story collage -- and in August 2016, Twitter opened up Moments to any user who wanted to create them. Here's what they look like: Squirrel sneaks into NYC building and things get nutty Most consumers rely on their smartphones to make purchases and gain knowledge. In 2017, any business that lacks a mobile presence runs a serious risk of falling behind. But it's not just about having a site it needs to provide a good experience.According to Google, 29% of smartphone users will immediately switch to another site if it doesn't satisfy their needs. Mobile users are goal-oriented, and they expect to find what they need from a responsive mobile instantly and easily. So punch up your conversion rates by designing your mobile site with the user's intent and needs in focus. 1. Homepage and navigationA homepage can serve as a promotional space and welcome page, but should provide users with the content they are searching for. A conversion focused homepage should tick off the following elements: concise CTAs, homepage shortcuts, minimal selling or promotions. Navigating on a smaller screen, it is easy for users to miss key elements on your homepage. Therefore it is advisable to put your calls-to-action where users will see them easily, such as occupying the bottom half or above the fold. Your call-to-action signifies the tipping point between conversion and bounce. To design calls-to-action that convert, optimize the copy and design, i.e. choice of words, color, size, fonts, etc. We understand the travails of losing our way in the mall or a mart? The same happens on mobile sites, the lack of navigation menus or location bars can hurt conversion. Mobile users expect to get back to the homepage with a single tap either through tapping your logo or clicking the home navigation menu. For best practices, use your logo as the homepage shortcut. Too often, ads and promotion beat the purpose of visiting a page and users get turned off. To entertain visitors and drive conversion, ads or promotional banners should be kept to the minimum and placed in a position which won't affect the user experience. To place ads on your homepage, think like a user. What is the user trying to accomplish?Where will their attention be focused? How do I keep the page clean and uncluttered? By answering these questions, ad placement on your homepage will be a breeze and won't need to negatively impact user experience. 2. Commerce and reviewsWith an increased rate of digitization, users expect smooth mobile experiences when searching, reviewing and purchasing products. How canmarketers and businesses increase their conversion rates while ensuring excellent mobile experiences for visitors? The answer lies in allowing visitors/users to convert on their own terms. For an ecommerce store, requesting that visitors sign up very early in the customer's journey is a major turn off. Visitors will abandon a website demanding registration before they can continue, resulting in low conversion unless the site is an authoritative brand. For better results, allow visitors explore your site before requesting for registration and enable visitors purchase products as a guest. For mobile commerce sites, easy and quick should be the watchword when designing the checkout process. Best practices for mobile commerce include the availability of multiple payment options for commerce sites. Adding payments options such as Apple Pay, PayPal and Android Pay can boost conversion rates saving users the stress of inputting credit card information. For previous users, load and pre-fill their data fields for convenience in filling shipping information. Statistics show that 92%of consumers read online reviews before purchasing a product or doing business with a company. Meaning reviews are an important part of the decision-making process for consumers, include reviews on your web pages then allow filters be applied to these reviews. Filters such as most recent reviews, most positive reviews and lowest ratings. 3. Site usabilityWhen it comes to mobile site design, every little detail matters. Details such as zooming, expandable images, transparency about the use of visitors data will aid conversion. According to studies, users found it easier to navigate a mobile-optimized website than desktop sites on smartphones. To ensure consistency, optimize every single page on your website for mobile devices, including forms, images, etc. Your search bar should be placed near the top of your homepage for users to search for specific products and ensure the first search results are the best. Remember to include filters on search results to narrow down users intent or preferences on your mobile site. Be careful not to label the link to your desktop site as full site. This might confuse visitors into thinking the mobile site is not fully featured causing them to opt for the full site, simply label the link to the desktop site as Desktop Site and link to the mobile site as Mobile Site. When optimizing a mobile site, remember to disable pinch to zoom on your images as this might affect the general site experience, calls-to-action will be missed and messages will be covered. Basically, upload images that are sized properly and will render perfectly on any device. Due to the nature of mobile devices, lengthy forms will hurt conversion when trying to gain leads. On surveys or multiple page forms, include a progress bar with upcoming sections at the top or bottom to guide users through the process. To aid or satisfy customers, implement auto-fill on forms for name, phone and zip code fields. For date and time fields, include a visual calendar as users might not remember dates for the next weekend but the visual calendar will stop users from leaving your page to use the calendar app. There are numerous resources on forms that include the use of calendars and other custom input fields, including Google forms, Xamarin Forms and FormHub. 4. TechnicalitiesWhile great design drives conversions, do not ignore the very foundation of your website. The following technicalities should be implemented and audited monthly.
Finally, run your website through Google's Mobile-Friendly Test. Posted by randfish Getting readers on board with your ideas isn't the only way to achieve content success. Sometimes, stirring up a little controversy and earning a few rivals can work incredibly well - but there's certainly a right and a wrong way to do it. Rand details how to use the power of making enemies work to your advantage in today's Whiteboard Friday.
Video TranscriptionHowdy, Moz fans, and welcome to another edition of Whiteboard Friday. Today, we're going to chat about something a little interesting - how content can succeed by making enemies. I know you're thinking to yourself, "Wait a minute, I thought my job was to make friends with my content." Yes, and one of the best ways to make close friends is to make enemies too.
So, in my opinion, I think that companies and businesses, programs, organizations of all kinds, efforts of all kinds tend to do really well when they get people on their side. So if I'm trying to create a movement or I'm trying to get people to believe in what I'm doing, I need to have positions, data, stories, and content that can bring people to my site. One of the best ways to do that is actually to think about it in opposition to something else, basically try and figure out how you can earn some enemies. A few examples of content that makes enemies & alliesI'll give you a few examples, because I think that will help add some context here. I did a little bit of research. My share data is from BuzzSumo, and my link data here is from Ahrefs. But for example, this piece called "There Are Now Twice as Many Solar Jobs as Coal Jobs in the US," this is essentially just data-driven content, but it clearly makes friends and enemies. It makes enemies with sort of this classic, old-school Americana belief set around how important coal jobs are, and it creates, through the enemy that it builds around that, simply by sharing data, it also creates allies, people who are on the side of this story, who want to share it and amplify it and have it reach its potential and reach more people. Same is true here. So this is a story called "Yoga Is a Good Alternative to Physical Therapy." Clearly, it did extremely well, tens of thousands of shares and thousands of links, lots of ranking keywords for it. But it creates some enemies. Physical therapists are not going to be thrilled that this is the case. Despite the research behind it, this is frustrating for many of those folks. So you've created friends, allies, people who are yoga practitioners and yoga instructors. You've also created enemies, potentially those folks who don't believe that this might be the case despite what the research might show. Third one, "The 50 Most Powerful Public Relations Firms in America," I think this was actually from The Observer. So they're writing in the UK, but they managed to rank for lots and lots of keywords around "best PR firms" and all those sorts of things. They have thousands of shares, thousands of links. I mean 11,000 links, that's darn impressive for a story of this nature. And they've created enemies. They've created enemies of all the people who are not in the 50 most powerful, who feel that they should be, and they've created allies of the people who are in there. They've also created some allies and enemies deeper inside the story, which you can check out. "Replace Your Lawn with These Superior Alternatives," well, guess what? You have now created some enemies in the lawn care world and in the lawn supply world and in the passionate communities, very passionate communities, especially here in the United States, around people who sort of believe that homes should have lawns and nothing else, grass lawns in this case. This piece didn't do that well in terms of shares, but did phenomenally well in terms of links. This was on Lifehacker, and it ranks for all sorts of things, 11,000+ links. Before you create, ask yourself: Who will help amplify this, and why?So you can see that these might not be things that you naturally think of as earning enemies. But when you're creating content, if you can go through this exercise, I have this rule, that I've talked about many times over the years, for content success, especially content amplification success. That is before you ever create something, before you brainstorm the idea, come up with the title, come up with the content, before you do that, ask yourself: Who will help amplify this and why? Why will they help?
One of the great things about framing things in terms of who are my allies, the people on my side, and who are the enemies I'm going to create is that the "who" becomes much more clear. The people who support your ideas, your ethics, or your position, your logic, your data and want to help amplify that, those are people who are potential amplifiers. The people, the detractors, the enemies that you're going to build help you often to identify that group. The "why" becomes much more clear too. The existence of that common enemy, the chance to show that you have support and beliefs in people, that's a powerful catalyst for that amplification, for the behavior you're attempting to drive in your community and your content consumers. I've found that thinking about it this way often gets content creators and SEOs in the right frame of mind to build stuff that can do really well. Some dos and don'tsDo... backup content with dataA few dos and don'ts if you're pursuing this path of content generation and ideation. Do back up as much as you can with facts and data, not just opinion. That should be relatively obvious, but it can be dangerous in this kind of world, as you go down this path, to not do that. Do... convey a world viewI do suggest that you try and convey a world view, not necessarily if you're thinking on the political spectrum of like from all the way left to all the way right or those kinds of things. I think it's okay to convey a world view around it, but I would urge you to provide multiple angles of appeal. So if you're saying, "Hey, you should replace your lawn with these superior alternatives," don't make it purely that it's about conservation and ecological health. You can also make it about financial responsibility. You can also make it about the ease with which you can care for these lawns versus other ones. So now it becomes something that appeals across a broader range of the spectrum. Same thing with something like solar jobs versus coal jobs. If you can get it to be economically focused and you can give it a capitalist bent, you can potentially appeal to multiple ends of the ideological spectrum with that world view. Do... collect input from notable partiesThird, I would urge you to get inputs from notable folks before you create and publish this content, especially if the issue that you're talking about is going to be culturally or socially or politically charged. Some of these fit into that. Yoga probably not so much, but potentially the solar jobs/coal jobs one, that might be something to run the actual content that you've created by some folks who are in the energy space so that they can help you along those lines, potentially the energy and the political space if you can. Don't... be provocative just to be provocativeSome don'ts. I do not urge you and I'm not suggesting that you should create provocative content purely to be provocative. Instead, I'm urging you to think about the content that you create and how you angle it using this framing of mind rather than saying, "Okay, what could we say that would really piss people off?" That's not what I'm urging you to do. I'm urging you to say, "How can we take things that we already have, beliefs and positions, data, stories, whatever content and how do we angle them in such a way that we think about who are the enemies, who are the allies, how do we get that buy-in, how do we get that amplification?" Don't... choose indefensible positionsSecond, I would not choose enemies or positions that you can't defend against. So, for example, if you were considering a path that you think might get you into a world of litigious danger, you should probably stay away from that. Likewise, if your positions are relatively indefensible and you've talked to some folks in the field and done the dues and they're like, "I don't know about that," you might not want to pursue it. Don't... give up on the first tryThird, do not give up if your first attempts in this sort of framing don't work. You should expect that you will have to, just like any other form of content, practice, iterate, and do this multiple times before you have success. Don't... be unprofessionalDon't be unprofessional when you do this type of content. It can be a little bit tempting when you're framing things in terms of, "How do I make enemies out of this?" to get on the attack. That is not necessary. I think that actually content that builds enemies does so even better when it does it from a non-attack vector mode. Don't... sweat the HateradeDon't forget that if you're getting some Haterade for the content you create, a lot of people when they start drinking the Haterade online, they run. They think, "Okay, we've done something wrong." That's actually not the case. In my experience, that means you're doing something right. You're building something special. People don't tend to fight against and argue against ideas and people and organizations for no reason. They do so because they're a threat. If you've created a threat to your enemies, you have also generally created something special for your allies and the people on your side. That means you're doing something right. In Moz's early days, I can tell you, back when we were called SEOmoz, for years and years and years we got all sorts of hate, and it was actually a pretty good sign that we were doing something right, that we were building something special. So I look forward to your comments. I'd love to see any examples of stuff that you have as well, and we'll see you again next week for another edition of Whiteboard Friday. Take care. Video transcription by Speechpad.com Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read! Video For Business : Different Types of Video Content For Business Marketing. Visit http://bluesquaremanagement.com/internet-marketing-services/online-video-marketing/youtube-for-business/ to learn more about video marketing for businesses.
Video For Business : How To Get More User Engagement With Captivating Videos It does not matter how small or large you business, whether you are just starting video marketing for small local businesses or a larger, national business or corporation, whether you are just starting to make marketing videos for your business or have been doing it for a while, you may wonder which forms of video promotion are most likely to get you the results you want. If you want to learn how to make instructional videos go here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gbmjPtvPFDU Small Business Video Marketing Tips You know your business better than anyone else does; so part of deciding what format or style of video to use, you need to think about your customers and deciding what type of video will do the best job of promoting your product or service. However, it's also important to know which formats garner the most user engagement Video Marketing Ideas : Different Types of Video Content For Business Marketing 1. 2-D Animation 2-D animation is a great (and creative) way to promote and market your business or explain your products or services. Animation is always popular. The downside of this kind of video is that you will need to hire a professional animator to do it for you. 2. 3-D Animation Like 2-D animation, 3-D animation is enormously popular. It has a depth and complexity that 2-D animation doesn't have. It is also quite a bit more expensive to produce. However, if your budget allows for it, 3-D animation can be hugely effective. 3. Live Action Whether you are casting yourself, professional actors, or employees, live action video is always popular. Customers want to see themselves in the products they buy, and it's a lot easier for them to do that when there are real people in a marketing video. If you hire professional actors the costs can add up, but the increased production value can make a big difference in terms of user engagement and sharability. 4. Infographics If your business sells a very technical product or service, producing a video infographic might be the best way to explain what you do and to convince viewers to contact you. Infographics help viewers absorb information by presenting it visually. Infographics can also be a great tool for B2B marketing. A professional graphic designer can help you put together a compelling infographic all you need to do is provide the data. Infographics are frequently a type of 2-D or 3-D animation, so keep that in mind. 5. Screencast A screencast video is the best way to demonstrate tips, ideas, demos, and other valuable information about your business. If showing viewers the functionality of a technical product is what you're trying to do, then you should strongly consider a screencast style video. Another benefit to this format is that it's one of the least expensive to produce. 6. Whiteboard Videos If the idea of your product or service is sketchable, you might consider doing a whiteboard video. Basically, this type of video consists of a hand drawing an illustration of a product, service, or story on a whiteboard. These videos are played at a higher speed to keep your audience glued until the end. In order to convert viewers into new customers, your videos need to grab and hold attention with a captivating style, smooth animations, and overall professional delivery; this is exactly what these types of videos can accomplish for you. Types of Videos For Business All these different types of video content can easily be applied to any businesses with any budget. You could easly create a live video using your mobile phone, there is nothing stopping you. Embrace video becuase your customers will! Are You Using Video Marketing For Business? If you need help promoting and marketing your business with video in YouTube and Google then call Blue Square Management now on +44 (0)1689 602 248 or visit our website at http://bluesquaremanagement.com Video Marketing For Business Blue Square Management 9 Grange Road Orpington Kent BR6 8ED UK W: http://bluesquaremanagement.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/BlueSquareManagement Twitter: https://twitter.com/BlueSquareSEO YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/BlueSquareManagement Google: https://plus.google.com/+Bluesquaremanagement/ #VideoForBusiness #SmallBusinessVideos #OnlineVideoMarketingTips Videos For Small Businesses : Different Types of Video Content For Business Marketing As marketers find more innovative ways to attract audiences, video has become a meaningful part of the strategic conversation. Video is long past the status of an "up-and-coming" marketing tactic. It's here, and it's an increasingly powerful way to communicate your brand story, explain your value proposition, and build relationships with your customers and prospects. The most recent statistics show that video content isn't just effective -- the demand for it is growing at an impressively rapid pace.Did you know, for example, that 43% of people want to see more video content from marketers? Or that 51.9% of marketing professionals worldwide name video as the type of content with the best ROI? To learn more about how videomarketing can help convert customers and increase engagement with your brand, check out the infographic below from Vidyard(and for even more information, check out itsVideo in Business Benchmark Report). It breaks down 16 compelling video marketing statistics in the context of viewing platforms, distribution channels, business video consumption habits, and more. Editor's Note: This post was originally published in August 2015 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness. Google has been fined a record $2.7 billion for a breach of E.U. anti-trust rules. The search giant was charged with giving illegal advantages to another Google product within search results in a case that started more thanseven years ago. The case relates specifically to Google Shopping, Google's increasingly profitable shopping comparison engine. This fine dwarfs the previous record fine for the abuse of a monopoly, doled out to Intel in 2009. The E.U. commission arrived at the figure by taking a percentage of Google's revenue from its Shopping product across the 13 European countries in question since 2008. Should Google fail to comply with the terms set by the E.U. within 90 days, they will be fined 5 percent of the daily turnover of parent company, Alphabet. What Google has done is illegal under EU antitrust rules. It denied other companies the chance to compete on their merits and to innovate. And most importantly, it denied European consumers a genuine choice of services and the full benefits of innovation, stated Margrethe Vestager, the E.U. competition commissioner. The wider implications of this rulingThe bigger questions now surround the precedent that this sets. There is a general consensus that the industry requires independent regulation, but that will be a lot trickier than it seems. Google would be loathe to reveal its closely guarded algorithms. Moreover, we are moving into an era where they may start to lose full transparency over the inner workings of their products. With Google and all of its main competitors moving their focus towards unsupervised machine learning algorithms, how exactly will they comply with these regulations? It may become impossible to prove the non-existence of bias in such a complex system in constant flux. The likes of Facebook and Amazon will surely see this as the E.U. making an example of Google. However, they may have cause for concern too. Google's position as a search engine sets it apart, as consumers trust that the results have been ranked based on their quality. A 2014 study in India showed the persuasive power that Google holds, and this is one it is adjudged to have abused to the detriment of European consumers. Facebook and, in particular, Amazon, strive to dominate the e-commerce advertising market. Any potential abuses of their increasingly strong positions will be watched very closely, by both the E.U. and Google. Although companies like Amazon operate on different business models to Google, they are still moving towards a 'machine learning first' approach and will want to solidify their dominant position as the number one online shopping destination. With the E.U. taking such a firm stance now, it seems unlikely they will relent and accept that their algorithms are making unbiased decisions. What happens next?Google has the right to appeal, which could extend the case by another 5 to 10 years. Intel, for example, is still fighting its fine from 2009 in European courts. However, even if Google should choose to appeal, it will still need to provide proof that it has changed its business practices in line with the court's ruling within 90 days. Google remains under investigation by the E.U. for giving similar advantages to two other Alphabet products, Android and AdSense. For more Google vs. the EU, check out our previous news story: When is a search engine not a search engine? When it's Google, says the EU Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook as a simple hot-or-not site to get back at classmates. Nike founder Phil Knight called the now ubiquitious shoe company his crazy idea." Instagram began with a single photo filter to make turn its users into less-crappy photographers. You probably couldn't have predicted their success at the time, but today, all of these ideas have turned into global titans worth billions of dollars. Since it all starts so simply, I'll pose this question: Do you have a crazy idea of your own, and have you ever considered turning it into a full-fledged business? While I can't answer that question for you, I can tell you what makes Mark Zuckerberg and his ilk such effective and successful founders and entrepreneurs. And who knows -- if you see some of these traits in yourself, it might be time to dust off that crazy idea and get to work building a business of your own! (Side note: If you want some help getting started, HubSpot's giving away $100,000, free HubSpot software, and 1:1 facetime with industry experts to help one lucky winner found the business of their dreams. Check out our #SummerStartup competition before it's too late!) 5 Traits of Highly Successful Entrepreneurs1)Entrepreneurs are resilient.At LinkedIn (and HubSpot, too), there's a saying that CEO Jeff Weiner throws around frequently, borrowed from the legendary Coach K at Duke University: Next Play. The thought is, if you miss a wide-open shot, don't stop to wallow or whine -- you haven't got the time. Instead, pick yourself up, get on the defense, and move on to the next play. In the startup world, if you want to keep the lights on, you need to be able to hustle under pressure. Whether a big deal has just fallen through, or you're staring down a massive and unforeseen cost, you have to be able to hit the reset button and attack the next play at 100%. 2) Entrepreneurs are ready to take risks.Elon Musk is one of my personal heroes. Whether it's SpaceX, Tesla, or SolarCity, his goal is the same: to save the human race. He's completely mission-driven, and he's willing to take crazy risks to make it happen. For instance, in order to get SpaceX and Tesla off the ground, Musk took nearly his entire fortune from the sale of PayPal ($165M) and invested it into these two businesses -- even though it was entirely possible both would fail. He went from millionaire to penniless (and ultimately back again) because he was willing to take a calculated risk to see his dream come to fruition. While I'm not advising you to take out another mortgage on the house to support your business, very few entrepreneurs make it to the top without facing a few make-or-break moments -- and you should be ready to do the same.
A key performance indicator is only effective if you're actively measuring it. Key performance indicators (KPIs) can help provide insight into whether your marketing efforts are effective or you need to take a different approach. For example, if one of your campaigns is negatively affecting ROI, the sooner you know the better. Marketers who measure their KPIs on a frequent basis can more easily identify bad campaigns and flip the switch before it affects the ultimate objective. Likewise, campaigns showing promise through positive key performance indicators can be further explored. Cathy McPhillips, vice president of marketing for CMI, emphasizes the importance of measuring your marketing activities in A Simple Plan for Measuring the Marketing Effectiveness of Content. I can't stress enough how critical it is to measure the results of your content marketing activities so you can continually learn what your audience likes and use that information to continually improve, Cathy says. The result? Happier prospects, happier customers, and happier management. It is critical to measure the results of your #contentmarketing activities, says @cmcphillips. If you're not actively measuring your KPI, then you're missing out on opportunities to improve your business's bottom line. Each KPI can also be a useful reporting metric for marketers wanting to strengthen support for their work. The bottom line? Pick KPIs that you are going to actively measure and stick to it. Link marketing goals to the right KPINot every marketing campaign starts off with a perfect goal set. In some cases, a little fine-tuning is necessary along the way. You will only know whether you're chasing the right goals if you associate the right KPI with them. In some cases, marketers create a bunch of random key performance indicators for show-and-tell, but they mean little in the long run if they don't match your goals. If you're only reporting KPI for reporting's sake, you're doing a disservice to your business. If you're only reporting KPI for reporting's sake, you're doing a disservice to your business. @mikeonlinecoach Unfortunately, there is no magic formula to identify the key performance indicators (KPI) you need to measure, Sarah Goliger says in 5 Ways to Translate Your Content Marketing Goals into Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). To get the most out of your content marketing strategy, determine your specific goals and tie them to the right KPIs. There's no magic formula to identify the KPIs you need to measure, says @sarahbethgo. Use multiple ROI metrics to help paint a bigger pictureIf you're focusing on only one KPI, you could be negatively impacting other metrics without realizing it. Analyzing multiple key performance indicators can help paint a bigger picture. TIP: Unsure of what KPIs to consider? Check out the list near the end of this post. Neil Bhapkar offers some excellent perspectives in 8 KPIs Your Content Marketing Measurement Should Include:
Bounce-rate % & time-spent are good early indicators of how engaged traffic to your content is. @NeilBhaps This can also apply to conversion rates. If your KPI shows high views with a low conversion rate, then you may need to reassess your content marketing strategy. The ultimate goal of content marketing is to increase your brand's reach and bottom line. Thus, the ultimate indicator of success is often the number of leads generated from your content marketing initiatives, Neil says. However, by not overlooking these other marketing KPIs along the way to a lead or a sale, you'll be in much better shape while getting more out of your content! Remember, no single KPI can effectively measure your entire marketing campaign. Rather, you should be measuring a diverse set of key performance indicators tied directly to your unique marketing goals. Don't forget to measure social media KPIsAre you including social media metrics in your key performance indicators? When it comes to a KPI, it's easy to get stuck measuring web metrics like conversion rates, traffic, and sales while neglecting your social media stats. But your social media performance is just as important to measure as your other metrics. Staying connected with your customers can help strengthen your brand and profitability. Your #socialmedia performance is just as important to measure as your other metrics, says @mikeonlinecoach. In 6 Ways to Measure B2B Content Marketing Performance, Derek Edmond notes that social platforms like Facebook and Twitter are great tools for generating brand awareness and gaining a valuable insight into your customer base:
He recommends the use of Facebook Insights and Twitter Analytics built-in tools that allow you to export important social metrics for analysis. Use built-in tools like @Facebook Insights & @Twitter Analytics to export important metrics. @DerekEdmond And when it comes to social media metrics, you may want to pay attention to more than just your like and follower counts. Metrics such as follower counts often reveal little about your overall performance. You should measure a KPI to provide an insight into data such as how your customers engage with your content and if that content is converting. By measuring your audience's engagement, you can better focus your marketing efforts on strategies that positively influence your critical KPI metrics and less on activities that drag it down. KPIs for your considerationHundreds of KPI categories can help marketers determine whether they're meeting their goals or falling short. Here is a sampling of marketing, customer, and financial KPIs: Marketing
SEO
Pay-per-click
Social media
E-commerce
Miscellaneous
General website analytics
Customers
Financial performance
Additional resourcesIf you want to get more KPI ideas or study metrics in more detail, check out these resources:
ConclusionEveryone from a new social media specialist to the CEO of a Fortune 1000 company has a different perspective about which KPI matters the most. At the end of the day, it's simply a matter of tracking what you're trying to achieve. By creating this resource post for KPIs, my goal is to help you evaluate what you have in place and identify opportunities for the future. But remember, no matter what KPIs you pick, there is one universal thing you must do don't forget to actually measure them. What KPIs work well for you? Operate your content marketing program at peak performance. Subscribe to CMI's free daily or weekly digest newsletters to discover more tips, trends, and insights on content marketing. Cover image by Prawny via Morguefile.com The post 101+ KPI Options Why You Need to Pick the Best Ones appeared first on Content Marketing Institute. |