Hey, it’s Friday Fix Day, and that’s no joke! Today we talk about how keyword cramming is back; stories are out and densely-worded fact sheets are in; why you should only publish content in Morse Code, and forget video and images…tell your brand’s story with that dancing baby from the 90s (but now it’s wearing #thedress). …(wait for it)… April Fools! Seriously, we talk about creative ways to tell your team’s story, the future of mobile marketing, why you should make your brand story multilingual, and more! So, get on board; it’s time for the Friday Fix…no foolin’!
Why Your Global Brand Strategy Should be Multilingual
We’ve shared insight on going bi- or multilingual in the past, but this piece by Carlos Garcia-Arista reignites the conversation. Bilingualism and multilingualism enables greater use of cognitive function and honing in on what’s important (he backs this up with science); in other words, your audience is more likely to pay attention to your message if it’s for multilinguals (and what’s more, you’ll be able to produce a more focused story).
Rediscovering Your Brand Story: An Interview with LEGO’s Michael Moynihan
skyword.com
If you told me 20 years ago that LEGOs were going to be crazy popular when I had kids, I’d have snarfed; however, LEGOs are not only exponentially more awesome, they’re way more relatable (this could be because Elizabeth Banks voices one of the characters in the film version). I digress, in this piece, author Peter Kringdon chats with Michael Moynihan, LEGO’s Vice President of Marketing on how every parents’ favorite underfoot plastic toy made its epic comeback.
The Future of Mobile Marketing
In the past year, there’s been a huge transition into mobile marketing; the numbers of folks who devour most of their content on their mobile devices speaks for itself. Per guest author Ramya Rajan, Indian consumers spend roughly three hours a day on their mobile devices; thus, this article explores the obstacles and solutions confronting retail marketers and how to overcome them by telling your brand’s story.
5 Engaging Visual Content Formats that Aren’t Infographics
We all know that infographics are awesome as they help tell more visual stories with data, but as Kerry Jones points out, infographics can be a lazy way to visually represent data. Instead, she suggests five other visual tools that are equally awesome at telling your story but that are well, not infographics (not that we don’t still love infographics).
How to Attract Recruiters with Your Personal Brand
tech.co
Tishin Donkersley poses an interesting question (if you will), which is how often do you Google yourself? When was the last time you Googlee yourself? What comes up when you do? If you’re trying to establish a personal brand, then per Tishin and others quoted in the article, it’s time to start searching…and blogging…and doing what it takes to establish your brand and to attract recruiters.
The Case for Going Interactive with Your Content
Considering I recently spent longer than I’d like to admit doing a Harry Potter quiz, I’m definitely willing to say that David Drummond is onto something with this discussion of going interactive with content. He starts by referencing super popular content machine Buzzfeed before responding to the rhetorical question: should I be using interactive content?
From Dry Case Studies to Compelling Consumer Stories
Recently we talked about how to make case studies awesome, and in this article, pundit Jim Karrh picks up the trail. He points out that case studies’ sequences of situation, problem, approach, and results are the structure for one fine and fascinating story and that when spun correctly, your case study can be a real audience-draw.
Lessons Political Campaigns Can Learn from Nonprofits
huffingtonpost.com
All right, we realize that most of our readership isn’t launching a political campaign now or ever (and we’re okay with that, really); however, there’s a lot that nonprofits can teach both politicians (if they’d listen) and content marketers. In this piece, Angela Struebing hones in on six key traits of successful nonprofits like test and track, show impact, tell a story, and vary messaging.
Time to Step Up: Instagram’s Changes Mean No More Filler Content by Brands
Last week we talked about some of Instagram’s changes, and this week Diana Bradley has more on what’s going down in Instagram town. So, you know how everyone wants to get a lot of “likes” with their social media content, well, Instagram is shaking things up by increasing the value of the brand-user interaction and quality. What does this mean for brands’ social media content? Well…like…read the article and find out.
B2B Storytelling: 5 Questions with Tim Clark, Head of SAP Brand Journalism
thestorytelleragency.com
SAP, which is “the world’s leading provide of business software for enterprise resource planning and business intelligence” relies on both paid and owned content on two platforms: it’s own multilingual website and the SAPVoice brand on Forbes. So, how does it keep everyone engaged? Storytelling. Here, Sheila Shayon sits down with SAP Brand Journalism head Tim Clark to get the whole story.
Make It Personal: 5 Ways to Tell Your Team’s Story that You Haven’t Thought of Yet
True story: my husband is obsessed with Shark Tank, and he usually watches it while I’m cooking dinner, so I listen in. A few days ago, there were a few young guys with a new brand of wooden sunglasses created with wood from their family’s lumberyard. The guy’s story had a little more to it than that, but he had the utmost integrity for what his brand was doing; I was sold on their heartfelt, personal story, and guess what, your audience can be on yours, too. So, check out this piece on five creative ways to tell your story that will make your audience fall in love.
Amy Delcambre is a freelance content and travel writer from Mobile, Alabama with a Master's in Creative Writing. When she's not painting the page with nouns, verbs, and adverbs, she's slaying grammar beasts as a freelance editor and saving the world one sentence fragment at a time teaching university writing classes. In her free time, Amy enjoys cooking, traveling, and testing which plant species best survive prolonged neglect.
Connect with Amy: LinkedIn