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The Friday Fix - December 12, 2014

Take a break from holiday mayhem –it’s time for the Friday Fix!  This week, we have more predictions for 2015, but the guidance gets more focused as key themes and ideas are reiterated.  For example, more than one pundit weighs on why you should outsource your content creation in Y2K15.  Other fabulous “fix”tures this week pertain to new businesses, startups, and branding including how some cool cats know the rules so well they can break ‘em like they made ‘em.  Happy Friday!

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3 Essential Tips for a Successful Facebook Advertising Campaign
When you think of social media, love it or hate it, the first thing you generally think of is Facebook.  Facebook has over 1.3 billion users, which, according to Brad Kuenn, makes it a critical promotional tool for any marketing campaign (so, it’s not just for stalking former classmates). The reasons are obvious –Facebook is frequently accessed (often from mobile devices), and the ways you can harness its wide reach for your business are seemingly endless. 

8 Successful Content Marketing Strategies
In Good Omens, Neil Gaiman made a delightful analogy about the universe essentially being like a game of faceless cards played in the dark.  This might also describe how you feel about your content marketing approach up to now.  Jasmine Henry sheds a little light on the situation by providing eight robust, tried-and-true strategies to take for a spin in 2015 that will certainly make you feel like you’ve got a winning hand.

5 Content Marketing Trends to Fuel your 2015 B2B Marketing Plan
If it feels like you’ve seen a lot of information lately about what to do to get your content strategy right in 2015, you have; however, if you’re paying attention, a lot of it is echoing.  For example, in this quick read by Mike Sweeney, you get some of the same good advice you’ve gotten from other pundits like have a plan / strategy and hire out your content creation.  Unlike when jumping off of a bridge, in this case, the rationale of “everyone else said it was a good idea” is highly applicable.

Source: Business2Community

Source: Business2Community

3 Lean Content Marketing Practices Anybody Could Do
Starting with a look at how media worked in the past, Guillaume Decugis launches us into the present and future with a detailed look at how content marketing has gotten “lean.”  To paraphrase, by lean he means something that pretty much anyone can do and measure.  Who is this great news for?  That’s right-- everyone…especially startups and SMBs that previously had to wait around to catch a break or who were willing to shed blood, sweat, and tears to make it happen. 

Using Content Marketing to Kickstart Early-Stage Startup Growth
I always like it when one author echoes what another is saying.  In this post, Kathryn Hawkins sings the same tune as Guillaume (just a different song) as she breaks down how somewhat inexperienced, new, and (typically) impoverished new companies can deploy an effective, affordable content marketing strategy to gain presence and strength.

Successful Content Marketing: Promotion and Distribution NOT Optional
When talking about content marketing, so much rhetoric focuses on the content itself that the importance and nuances of the marketing part (specifically, promotion and distribution) get lost.  Shannon Ramlochan brings promotion and distribution to the forefront and explains why they need to be part of anyone’s content marketing budget as well as which pathways garner the most results.

Preparing for your Content Marketing Consultation
So, you’ve finally decided –you’re going to give content marketing a try.  Last week, Amanda Clark covered five reasons to outsource your content marketing (there’s a link in this article); this week, she expands on that by giving you tips to prepare for your content marketing consultation. Even though your content marketing team will be doing the creative legwork, the more information you have for them regarding your brand, the more defined your aspirations are, and the more involved you are, the more successful your content marketing strategy will be.

5 Social Brands that Defy Best Practice
Everyone loves a rebel, am I right?  Brian Honigman highlights how five (somewhat unexpected) brands are breaking all of the rules on social media (I mean, who knew Denny’s had it in them?!).   One important thing to keep in mind is that any creative entity that breaks the rules like a boss usually knows the rules better than the guy that wrote them.  Seriously.  Brian uses Picasso as a reference in his article’s intro.  We all know Picasso as that guy who created art with weird shapes and such, but if you look back at Picasso’s earlier work, you’ll see he was a masterful realist and had excellent technique.  So, if you know the rules, check this piece out for a little creative inspiration on how to break them.

Content Marketing Builds Brand Awareness for 200 Percent More Organic Visits
I’m no mathematician but 200% is one heck of a number, so if you got whiplash trying to see what Lauren Kaye has to offer in this article, rest assured you’re not the only one (Medic!).  Obviously, not all content is created equally or with the lure of say, complimentary shaved white truffles (which is sadly available nowhere), so check out what Lauren advises on what you can do to reach statistically impossible feats of greatness.

Multichannel Content Marketing is Your Next Challenge: Here’s How to Overcome It
For those who don’t already know, multichannel content marketing is marketing across multiple platforms.  In a nutshell, it’s casting a wide net to reach fish wherever they may swim.  Obviously, this is an oversimplified explanation that does the complexities of creating a multichannel content marketing strategy no justice whatsoever.  To address those complexities, Tim Bourgeois provides a terrific, detailed list of the dos and do-not dos when approaching multichannel content marketing.


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

 

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