I know, I know, you’ve seen this photo already. But you gotta admit it’s still pretty damn amazing. (On the off chance you haven’t seen it, it’s yesterday’s storm in NYC taken from a plane.)
Foto
Foto: content marketing social media branding marketing advertising
Content marketing continues to be one of the rising stars of the online marketing world as brands from American Express and Proctor & Gamble to GE and General Mills use it alongside more traditional strategies to reach their target audiences. Why? Unlike traditional marketing, branded content is engaging, provides value and adds to the online experience instead of interrupting it.
At Outbrain, we’re all about great content, which is why we wanted to get the scoop from some of the folks in the trenches. Earlier this year, we surveyed senior-level brand marketers and agency executives as they gathered to judge entries for the 2012 Effie Awards — a program that recognizes the most effective and impactful marketing and advertising communications. What follows is an insider’s look at the state of content marketing.
KEY FINDINGS
- 100% of brand and agency marketers surveyed utilize content marketing in their overall marketing strategies. At 87% of respondents, video is the most common form of content created.
- Social media is the most popular channel marketers use for driving traffic to content with 96% of respondents currently utilizing. Usage is up from 88% in 2011.
- Marketers employ content marketing efforts to drive brand awareness and target top of purchase funnel consumers rather than for generating direct leads or sales. Social media engagement is the most popular indicator marketers consider when measuring the success of content marketing efforts (89%), followed by views or content downloads (76%).
- Social media, video advertising and content marketing are viewed as the most effective tactics used for brand awareness, consideration and affinity.
- 82% of brand and agency marketers expect to increase content marketing efforts in 2012.
Read and download the full insights from our State of Content Marketing, 2012 report now.
Foto: content marketing infographic
![photo: Clickthrough for full infographic
(via Marketers Who Share Content Drive Traffic, Gain Customers [INFOGRAPHIC])](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lz4ts3a09D1qjqprbo1_r2_500.png)
Clickthrough for full infographic
(via Marketers Who Share Content Drive Traffic, Gain Customers [INFOGRAPHIC])
Foto: content marketing content marketing advertising
The 3 Biggest Content Marketing Mistakes CMOs Make
Recently, I had the privilege of joining Jeffrey Hayzlett’s panel on digital media innovation at the CMO Summit in Dallas. One of the questions Jeff asked was, “What are the three biggest mistakes that CMOs make in relation to digital media in general and content marketing in particular?” This post covers some of the topics we discussed and to which I think marketers should devote more thought: believing that true branding can only be achieved offline, failing to think about content holistically and only considering bottom-line results.Read more on The Outbrain Blog
Now Hiring: Director, Customer Acquisition
Outbrain, the leading content discovery platform, is seeking a motivated Director, Customer Acquisition. The position will lead all customer acquisition and marketing efforts of a new product launch while playing a key role in Outbrain’s fast growth. This newly created role reports to the Vice President, Marketing.
If you are interested in joining a group of accomplished, passionate people pushing the evolution of online publishing with some of the web’s top sites, then we want to talk with you. As with any Outbrain employee, we’re looking for someone who is resourceful, bright, proactive, a go-getter, works well independently and as part of a team, and who will be passionate about what she or he does. For this role, we are looking for a highly experienced direct marketer who has hands on knowledge of key direct response tactics and a strong analytical background.
Responsibilities
- Oversee all customer acquisition efforts for key product launch
- Develop strategies and tactics to deliver customer targets including but not limited to, search marketing, email marketing, display advertising, affiliate marketing and partnerships
- Drive search marketing management and campaign optimization to meet company goals, maximize budget and drive efficiency.
- Manage the development of strong and effective advertising creative
- A/B testing analysis of product landing pages and advertising campaigns
- Analyze campaign performance to ensure they are bringing in positive ROI
- Create and maintain a targeted CRM program
- Develop promotional plans to incentivize new and repeat customers
- Leverage data and analytics to develop new acquisition strategies to generate quality leads based on customer engagement and lifetime value. (out-of-the-box thinking is preferred)
Qualifications
- Highly quantitative and analytical marketer
- Strong track record of developing and driving ROI based acquisition programs online
- Strong search marketing background
- Highly proficient in Google Analytics
- Self-starter / self-motivated, capable of staying on track and pursuing solutions without supervision
- Ability to work under pressure, meet deadlines and handle multiple projects simultaneously
- Detail oriented
- Fun to work with
Please email resumes to jobs[at]Outbrain.com
How To Monetize Your Content Online, Part I: Supply « The Outbrain Blog
It’s tough being an online content publisher these days.
While the flow of advertising dollars into digital continues to increase—online advertising spending is expected to grow 20% to $31.3 billion in 2011 in the U.S. alone, according to eMarketer—it has not resulted in higher CPMs for publishers.
Rather, the increase in spending is spread thin across a crowded field of technology middlemen (i.e. ad networks, exchanges, data providers, DSPs, etc.).
And it is largely following increased audience usage of digital media as opposed to resulting in larger payouts per page view for content creators. Meanwhile, the cost of producing content remains stubbornly high. Recent developments like Google’s Panda update, which rewards original and high quality content in search results, as well as the increasing amount of traffic directed by the social Web via “word-of-mouth” will likely sustain the expensive cost of developing quality content.
When the balance sheet reflects a disparity between the price of producing content and the revenue it can realize, a shift is necessary. In order to increase monetization, online publishers must recognize the two halves of the problem and tackle them in different ways:
1. Drive higher audience engagement to increase valuable supply
2. Add new revenue streams, without subverting goal No. 1, to increase demand
