Content marketing in the age of AI: What works today

On September 16, 2025 By Shari MonnesIn content marketing, SEOLeave a comment

Ten years ago, content marketing was like the shiny new toy everyone wanted to play with. Write a blog, sprinkle in a keyword or two, post it on social media, and voila: you were “doing content marketing.” Fast-forward to 2025, and it’s safe to say the game has changed. Dramatically.

Yet one truth remains: content marketing is still the most powerful way to show your expertise, build trust, and most importantly, warm up your prospects before they become customers. The difference now is how you do it, who you’re targeting, and what tools you use to get it right.

Let’s look at what works today, what’s changed since 2015, and how you can position your content to resonate with the right people in the right way.

AI Is Reshaping Content

We can’t talk about 2025 without talking about AI. From generative writing tools to predictive analytics, AI has reshaped every part of the content lifecycle: research, ideation, creation, and distribution.

But here’s the catch: while AI can help you write faster, analyze trends, and personalize campaigns, it can’t (and shouldn’t) replace human insight. Your expertise, your stories, your voice: that’s what cuts through the noise. AI helps scale, but it doesn’t inspire trust by itself.

Think of AI as your assistant, not your ghostwriter. Use it to test headlines, build outlines, or crunch data, but let your brand’s voice and insights shine through when it comes to creating your content. Importantly, make sure you incorporate your internal experts and Key Opinion Leader’s (KOL) ideas and insights into your content.

Zero-Click Searches and Schema Markup

Alongside AI, search itself has evolved. AI-driven platforms no longer just point users to lists of links—they provide direct answers. This shift has given rise to what’s known as Answer Engine Optimization (AEO). Instead of focusing solely on ranking in traditional search results, AEO is about structuring content so it can be pulled directly into featured snippets, voice assistants, and AI-driven answers.

A result of this new paradigm is the rise of zero-click searches. A zero-click search occurs when search engines provide answers directly in the results, eliminating the need for users to visit external websites. That means it’s no longer enough for businesses to rank in the top three positions of the search results. Today, you need to appear in those instant-answer boxes.

You can increase the chances of being chosen for these placements by:

Using schema markup.
Making your content as clear and easy to understand as possible.
Directly answering customer questions in concise formats like FAQs or Q&A layouts.

Think featured snippets, knowledge panels, or “People Also Ask” sections. These are the new battlegrounds for visibility—and winning them gives your brand authority even if the click never comes.

And that brings us back to the bigger picture: visibility is only the first step. Once you’ve earned attention through AI answers or snippets, the real win comes from what your content delivers next. That’s where content marketing proves its staying power.

Why Content Still Wins

Content marketing isn’t just about filling your website with words. As Neil Patel explains in his 2025 outlook, it’s still one of the best ways to educate your audience and build genuine connections that lead to conversions.

“Content marketing remains one of the best ways to educate your audience and build genuine connections that result in conversions.” — Neil Patel, The Future of Content Marketing: A 2025 Guide

Done well, content marketing today:

Positions you as a trusted thought leader.
Provides clear, direct answers to customer questions—sometimes before they even ask.
Builds authentic relationships over time by showing values and personality.
Creates “warm” leads who already know, like, and trust your brand before they ever speak to sales.

The fundamentals haven’t changed: educating, solving problems, and building trust are still at the core. What’s different is how we deliver that content: structured for zero-click visibility, distributed across more channels, and shaped with AI insights but powered by a distinctly human voice and expert insights.

Want to dive deeper? Our short guide to creating great content is still highly relevant in 2025.

Audience First, Always

Content is only powerful if it speaks to someone’s needs. And in 2025, the buyer’s journey is more fragmented than ever. That’s why it’s crucial to align content with three key phases of influence:

Problem Discovery / Brand Awareness – Spark curiosity and help people recognize a challenge worth solving. Think educational blogs, trend reports, or social videos.
Education – Help prospects dig deeper. Offer guides, how-tos, webinars, and research-backed posts.
Solution Seeking – Show how your product or service fits. Case studies, comparisons, ROI calculators—this is where persuasion meets proof.

Each piece of content should have a clear persona in mind. You’re not writing for “everyone”—you’re writing for that one ideal customer, in their moment of need. If you’re unsure where to start, check our post on how to create buyer personas.

And one thing that too many marketers overlook: content should also actively support the sales team and sales cycle. The most effective strategies don’t happen in a marketing silo. They’re informed by the real-world questions and objections sales teams hear every day.

By checking in regularly with sales, you can uncover what your key personas actually struggle with, and then create content that helps define or solve those problems. That way, your marketing not only builds awareness but also arms sales with tools to move conversations forward.

Promotion Makes the Difference

Great content alone won’t cut it—it needs to be seen to make an impact. A brilliant blog hidden on your website is like a book no one knows exists, and that’s where distribution comes in.

The strategy starts with optimization, not just for traditional search engines but also for answer engines, so your content has a chance to surface in snippets, chat results, and even voice assistants.

From there, promotion across multiple social platforms extends your reach, while email nurturing campaigns keep your brand top of mind. Selective paid ads can amplify high-performing pieces, and the right partnerships—whether with influencers or industry peers—can spread your message far beyond what your own channels can achieve.

Content Marketing: Old vs New Way

Old Way (2015)	New Way (2025)
Blog once a month and hope for traffic	Consistent, multi-channel strategy with SEO, AEO, video, and social integration
Write for search engines (stuff in keywords)	Write for people first, then optimize for search and answer engines
Generic buyer personas	Data-driven personas with real behavioral insights
Mass email blasts	Personalized, segmented nurturing journeys
Focused only on blogs + white papers	Mix of blogs, podcasts, short-form video, and interactive formats
Measure page views	Measure engagement, conversions, and pipeline impact
Promotion = “share on LinkedIn”	Integrated distribution across social, search, paid, and influencer or KOL channels

Wrapping It Up

Content marketing in 2025 isn’t about doing more—it’s about doing better. Clearer personas. Smarter promotion. Real human voices (supported by AI). And above all, delivering value that builds trust and warms up prospects before the sales pitch ever begins.

We’ve come a long way since 2015, but one thing hasn’t changed: great content, done right, is still your most powerful marketing tool.

How to create buyer personas and use them in your marketing strategy

On April 16, 2023September 16, 2025 By Shari MonnesIn content marketing, inbound marketingLeave a comment

If you’re in marketing, you’ve probably heard the term buyer personas used to describe a target audience. In the era of inbound marketing, buyer personas have become an essential element of any marketing strategy. Why? Because buyer personas help you understand your target customers better, allowing you to create a more personalized approach to messaging and content development.

Creating a buyer persona is a way to get into the head of your audience and understand their needs, goals and motivations. It can help you more effectively craft your marketing messages and create content tailored for each audience.

Inbound marketing is all about personalization: delivering the right message to the right person at the right time.

Let’s answer some important questions.

What is a buyer persona and why do you need one?

A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of a target customer. It is used in marketing to help you understand what motivates an individual’s behavior.

A buyer persona allows you to see the world through your target customer’s eyes so you can gain insight into what they find important and how they make decisions. This will help you create more relevant, compelling marketing campaigns tailored to your target audience.

What is the difference between a buyer person and a target audience?

Think of it like this: A target audience is an entire group you want to address while a persona is their elected representative.

A target audience is a segment of the “general public” or group of people with shared interests who you are addressing with your content or advertising, and whom you would like to obtain as customers. A persona is a semi-fictional portrait of an individual in this audience who stands in as a representative for the entire group.

The strongest buyer personas are based on market research as well as on insights you gather from your actual customer base (through surveys, interviews, etc.). Depending on your business, you could have as few as one or two personas, or as many as 10 or 20.

(Tip: If you’re new to personas, start small! You can always develop more personas later if needed.)

Need help creating buyer personas? Try a buyer-persona workshop.

Hold a buyer persona workshop

Uncovering your audience’s pain points

One way to get to know your target persona is through audience research and market analysis. This involves finding out what problems your audience has and then using that knowledge in your marketing strategy.

For example, if you’re introducing a new lab instrument to a life science audience, you might find that one of the main problems they have is getting the results they obtain from the instrument seamlessly integrated into their workflow.

You could use this knowledge to create a campaign that focuses on automation and integration in your next campaign, which could be the type of message that resonates with them.

Steps to creating your buyer personas

A buyer persona is not just a demographic profile but rather a picture of a living, breathing human being with their own hopes, dreams, and frustrations. Tapping into these hopes, dreams and challenges is the key to creating effective marketing campaigns.

To create your buyer persona, start by listing the types of people who purchase your product. Once you’ve narrowed down who your customer is, think about what types of things they might be looking for. What are their interests? What are their primary pain points? Do they care more about price or quality? If you’re a company that sells insurance, for example, you might want think about what life stages compel people to change (or buy) insurance, or what their financial situations look like.

To create buyer personas, follow these essential steps:

Identify the key pain points of your customers. What are their goals and what challenges do they encounter in meeting these goals? What are they trying to solve in their work (or life)? What would make their job easier?
Research and define your customer’s demographics. Some information you want to include: their job title, career path, education, sex, age, income, marital status/family, location (urban or rural), hobbies, charitable interests, etc.
Create an in-depth profile of your target’s day-to-day life or work. For a B2B audience, this includes things such as: what does their day look like: are they in an office, working from home, commuting, in a lab, traveling all day? What are their career milestones? How much influence do peers have on their jobs? Are they the boss, or a subordinate? How are they measured in their work? How are purchasing decisions made?
Align your strategy with your persona’s needs and goals. Determine how you can meet their needs or help them achieve their goals. What messages do they want to hear? What will they have objections about? How can you help make them a hero in their work?

Free guide to creating personas

How do you use personas?

At the most basic level, personas allow you to personalize or target your marketing for different segments of your audience. For example, instead of sending the same lead nurturing emails to everyone in your database, you can segment by buyer personas and tailor your messaging according to what you know about those different personas.

For instance, if one of your audiences is teachers, you might send that persona content that helps them interact more effectively with parents and students. For an administrator persona, you’d have a separate set of lead nurturing emails focused on efficiency or ROI.

When combined with the lifecycle stage (i.e. how far along someone is in your sales cycle), buyer personas also allow you to map out and create highly targeted content.

Seventy-one percent of consumers expect companies to deliver personalized interactions. And seventy-six percent get frustrated when this doesn’t happen.

Conclusion

Defining your target audience and creating precise personas helps you elevate your marketing strategy. It clarifies your understanding of your customers’ needs and wants, as well as their motivations. Well-documented personas are indispensable for preparing content that delivers a personalized experience for the customer, which helps draw them to you. That’s a win-win as you have the potential to help them.

If you need help in constructing your buyer personas or collecting input from your team to create effective buyer personas that can inform your marketing strategy, consider holding a team workshop.

Hold a buyer persona workshop

Get started now: Download our free ebook on creating buyer personas, along with some useful templates

Blog originally published on the UP There, Everywhere website

A short guide to creating great content

On September 5, 2022September 16, 2025 By Shari MonnesIn content marketingLeave a comment

Whether you’re creating content for a blog, website, email, social media or another business use, writing is only part of the equation for success. Your content creation process must start with strategic planning, which means taking into account factors such as your audience needs, your business goals, as well as your brand and messaging objectives. Creating a content calendar or content plan will get you started on the right foot.

But when it comes time to put pen to paper — or more likely in today’s world, fingers to keyboard — you need to have a clear picture of who your intended audience is and what topics, issues or concerns they have. Start by creating a thorough description of your audience (or buyer persona) and understanding what their main challenges or “pain” points are.

You can discover what your audience wants to hear about by conducting research or simply asking them directly. This will give you a good idea of what your readers are interested in, and will help you to create content they’ll enjoy reading and share. Impart your knowledge and expertise in a way that is useful and relevant to your target audience.

Free guide to creating personas

Getting started: What should I create?

The first question you should ask yourself is “What do I want my content to do?”

Establishing a goal for your piece will help you decide what approach you need to take, or tone of voice to use. For example, if you are writing a blog post, your goal might be to educate your audience on a topic that helps them better understand your industry. If you are prepping an email newsletter, then the content should have a timely or even urgent feeling. Maybe you are promoting an event or new program and the goal is to get inquiries/signups. Whether you are creating content for B2B or B2C, planning your content to meet your audience’s needs is always the right approach.

The second question is “What do I want my reader to do?”

The call to action for each piece of content is an important consideration. If you want your audience to take an action, or you’re trying to educate or inform them in a way that helps them gain enough information to make a decision later on, be clear from the start about what your piece of content is meant to do. Write headlines and callouts that support your goal. Include a call-to-action button or link to offer more information or guide them to the next step.

A third consideration is “What keywords are critical?”

If you’re creating content for a website or blog, incorporating the right keywords into your text could be the most important factor. Answering popular questions that your potential audience or customers have is a sure way to create content that meets their needs and supports an SEO objective.

Addressing topics that people are actually searching for can make a huge difference in search engine rankings, which will attract more readers. In order to perform keyword research, you should use a tool like Moz Keyword Explorer or KWFinder.

Consider your goal: what do you want the reader to do after reading your piece, such as sign up for a workshop.

Tips for keeping a reader’s attention

Many people read online by skimming headlines and key information. This may not give the reader the full scope of your blog post, which is why it’s important to break content into sections, or “chunks” and include subheads, bullets and callouts (or quotes) to highlight important information.

Some important tips for writing content that people will read:

Use concise, clear and accurate language. Avoid jargon or overly stiff, formal language when writing blogs, newsletters or for social media.
Make it personal and relatable (address your reader as “you”).
Explain concepts clearly through a series of short paragraphs or bulleted lists.
Use tags and hyperlinks to direct readers to additional information.
Use subheads as “hooks” to attract readers’ attention.
Keep your content focused on what the reader wants to learn.
Include images, illustrations and videos to help explain points and keep attention.
Answer important questions your readers may have.
Avoid making your content all about you (or overly promotional).

Is your content ready to publish?

You’re about to publish your blog or send the newsletter. Before you hit the “send” button, be sure you run though a basic quality checklist.

What are some things you should consider before going live? Here’s a brief list:

Is the tone of voice consistent throughout (using “you” instead of “them” or vice versa)?
Have you checked the spelling and grammar? (It’s a good idea to get a second set of eyes to proofread).
Do you have all of the pictures needed for the post and you have sized them appropriately (no files sizes over 1 MB for web use)?
Have you given images that need it captions, proper attributions and alt tags that use relevant keyword terms?
Is the post the right length or should you condense it? (Blog posts are best between 1000-2500 words)
Have you included subheads – and are they formatted correctly (H1, H2, H3, etc.)?
Have you made sure to include references for all of your sources or linked to the source material?
Is there a call to action (is it formatted and worded correctly)?

Other considerations may include making sure you’ve followed your company’s style manual (for spelling and use of punctuation, title case, etc.) and considered the best time of day for your post (based on your audience time zone).

Serve your audience first

Content is what makes good marketing in the digital age. It is important that your content strategy balances educational and promotional material in order to attract the right audience.

Be sure you include a variety of formats from blogs to downloads to videos and infographics, and address the kinds of questions and pain points your audience struggles with. Focus on creating helpful information first and keep promotion until the later stage of the buyer’s journey. Remember, great content is meant to help your reader (learn, do, or feel), it’s not all about you.

Originally published on the UP There, Everywhere blog

What motivates people to share content on social media?

On June 4, 2022September 16, 2025 By Shari MonnesIn content marketing, social mediaLeave a comment

Social media marketing is a powerful way for brands to get their message in front of customers on a regular basis. It’s also a great way to generate leads and increase sales. But, if you want your content to be seen and shared on social media, it needs to be interesting and valuable.

We’ve all seen social media posts that suddenly went viral and were shared with millions of people across the internet. Some of them were even created by companies or brands, including these:

https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=smonnes&dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=996829304054009856&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.upthereeverywhere.com%2Fblog%2Fmotivates-people-share-content-social-media&sessionId=32865da68abb29cae39445e173c171457911aedb&siteScreenName=UP_For_It&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px

The National Geographic #PlanetOrPlastic campaign is one good example of engaging brand content that went viral.

Beyond these viral campaigns, what makes content likely to be shared by your target audience? How can you create content they think is worth engaging with or sharing?

If you’re like many marketers, creating engagement is one of your top challenges with your social media content.

Get a social media planning template

Common reasons people share content on social media

The motivation behind sharing content on social media platforms varies from person to person. If you want to create successful social media marketing campaigns, it helps to understand why people share different types of content.

Some common motivations people have for sharing on social media platforms include:

1. To be helpful and share knowledge

Some people share content to inform, amuse and help others. For 94% of us, that’s the main reason for sharing on social media, according to a New York Times survey.

2. To define who they are

Letting others know who they are and what they care about is a motivation for at least 68% of people who share content online. For many people, using social media is a way to create a personal brand or express opinions.

3. To stay close to friends and family

People also share content on social media to keep in touch with others and build stronger connections. The NYT’s research uncovered that a big motivation for people who share content online is to connect with other people with similar interests and to stay in touch with old friends.

4. To feel more fulfilled

People share content because it makes them feel more involved in the world around them. Sharing content is one way to feel as if you are making a difference or involved in your community.

5. To support favorite causes or brands

People express their support for causes and ideas they believe in by sharing content online.

What types of content get shared?

Videos are six times more likely to be retweeted than posts with images, and three times more likely to be retweeted than gifs. Tweets with images get shared 150% more often than those that are only text.

Different types of posts stimulate likes, shares, and comments on social media. The type of post that gets the most engagement on social media is typically one that is both personal and relatable.

Personal stories that are not too long (or too short) tend to get a lot of engagement. How can you adapt stories to your brand’s own content strategy? Consider telling background stories, customer success stories, or founder stories that provide context your audience can relate to.
Humor and memes, of course, rank among the types of content that get the most engagement, including shares. But creating humorous content that strikes the right balance between wit and entertainment without crossing a line can be a tricky endeavor. Still, when it’s done well, it often “wins the internet.”
Articles. One of the most popular types of content that gets engagement and shares on social media is articles. This can include blogs, news, and “round-up” or opinion posts. Everything from how-to posts to top-10 lists help you generate traffic and gather eyeballs for your content.
Videos are increasingly the most popular type of content on social media. From Facebook/Instagram Reels to YouTube or TikTok videos, this is a format you can’t ignore. Be sure to keep in mind the specific file size, aspect ratio, and length limits on various platforms. For example, native Twitter (uploaded) videos are limited to 2 minutes and 20 seconds and support aspect ratios between 1:1 and 2:1 (but a square format performs best).
Infographics are another type of content that is frequently shared on social media. These data-rich visualizations of interesting facts, figures and key points are a compelling way to educate, inform and build brand awareness.
Interactive content, such as quizzes, polls or games, is still among the type of content most frequently shared on social media.

Top reasons for sharing

An Ipsos study revealed several interesting takeaways about why people share:

61% of people worldwide will share “interesting things”.
43% of people will share things that they feel are “important” or “funny”.
30% of global users indicated they shared content to recommend a product, service or movie.
29% shared something “to support a cause, an organization or a belief”.
26% will share “unique things”.
22% want “to let others know what I’m doing”.

Sharing differences by country

The same study showed that while the top reason for sharing content in nearly all countries surveyed was “important things,” it wasn’t the case in Saudi Arabia. There, the top reason (65%) reported for sharing something on social media was to let “others know what I believe in and who I really am.”

That answer also ranked highly in Brazil, where 60% agreed. Comparatively, only 37% of the rest of the world said this was their top reason for sharing.

The survey also showed some regional differences in the willingness to share “interesting” content. That reason topped the list in China, Indonesia, South Africa and Turkey, whereas it was at the bottom of the list in Japan, Germany and Saudi Arabia.

In Sweden, people are most likely to share “interesting” things and least likely to share “to show I’m in the know.” That might not surprise anyone who knows Swedes don’t like to brag (even if they are the Capital of Scandinavia). Turkey is the most likely to share information for that reason (33%).

Create shareable content

If you’re looking for help or inspiration in creating social media content for your brand, reach out to UP for support. Have a question? Leave a comment below, or feel free to ask me.

Originally published on the UP There, Everywhere blog

The top 10 digital marketing trends of 2022

On February 1, 2022September 16, 2025 By Shari MonnesIn content marketing, inbound marketing, social mediaLeave a comment

The last few years have been unparalleled in many different ways, and 2022 will likely continue the trend. But are the recent developments we’ve seen emerging globally likely to stick around, or were the last two years anomalies?

Well, no one can say for certain, but in all likelihood some digital marketing trends are poised to fade away, while newer ones emerge. And of course, some of the top digital trends of 2022 have actually been around for a long time, but are taking hold with greater force this year.

Here are the top 10 digital trends of 2022 and what they mean for you.

1. Privacy

It’s becoming more and more difficult for marketers to access data that they’ve been able to gather easily in the past. First came GDPR (the data protection requirements in 2018 that rocked the EU). Then, consumer demand for more privacy led Google to banish third-party cookies starting this year, a change which has serious implications for digital marketing and advertising.

And most recently, Austria has banned the use of Google Analytics altogether, claiming that encryption-at-rest and other workarounds for data privacy laws are not enough to stay compliant with GDPR. The Austrian data protection authority (DPA) determined that IP addresses and identifiers in cookie data are sufficiently personal to constitute a GDPR violation. (And that the transfer of data to Google, a US-based company, violates GDPR data access rules). The real question is, is this the start of a trend across Europe?

Third-party cookies are small bits of code that get added to a user’s browser when visiting a website to track page visits and other metrics. Marketing and advertising businesses use cookies to check visitor behavior and target ads.

These challenges to the use of cookies and Google Analytics leave many website owners and marketers scrambling for alternatives to manage effectiveness metrics. Anonymity and permission logging (through opt-in on your own website) are more critical than ever.

Marketers will be increasingly challenged to use first-party data to guide their campaigns. Companies who have not been gathering first-party data all along will find themselves scrambling to pull it together to avoid losing their competitive edge come next year. Google said they will be focusing more on API-based solutions that focus on aggregate rather than individual user data. 2022 could be the year that advertising completely pivots on the web.

Have questions about this? Reach out to the UP for DIGITAL team.

2. Mobile optimization

This trend has been around for a while, but it promises to become even more central to our marketing campaigns in 2022. A recent Pew Research study found the number of people who are online “constantly” has risen 5% from last year. This means that more and more people are living their lives on the Internet via their mobile devices.

Even as the mobile share of website traffic grows exponentially, there are still companies that haven’t managed to keep up. 2022 will be the year that these companies are left behind, at least partly because of the launch of Core Web Vitals from Google. With this change, Google places more emphasis than ever on creating a good mobile UX (user experience), ramping up the mobile optimization metrics introduced back in 2015.

Loading speed (for mobile) will become of prime importance, which means you won’t be able to rank in the search results without it. So seize the moment and ensure that your business website is fully optimized to remain competitive in 2022.

Free website evaluation

3. Influencers

At the end of 2021, influencer marketing was headed for the $138 billion mark, and it has only continued its steady growth since then. Influencer campaigns are still powerful, as evidenced by recent successful campaigns from SAP, Adobe, PWC, and others. The success of these marketing efforts also shows that influencer marketing remains surprisingly strong in B2B campaigns.

One important development concerning this trend is the rise of AI influencer marketing. AI can process information far more quickly than human analysts. This highly predictive model of influencer marketing has the potential to boost ROI by only requiring you to pay for sales and conversions.

To stay current with this trend, you’ll need to look for influencers to partner with.

4. Video

It’s now common for mobile devices to come with advanced data plans allowing consumers to stream video wherever they are with ease. All you have to do is look at the exploding popularity of apps like TikTok and Instagram Stories to understand how all-encompassing video has become in our world. It’s everywhere. And savvy marketers will take hold of the video marketing trend this year with enthusiasm.

Streaming services and social media sites will introduce new advertising platforms that make full use of video. Every industry, from retail to healthcare to finance, will innovate in the use of video to engage customers.

Besides being an effective way to reach users on their phones or tablets, videos are just plain fun. Everyone loves them. So if you haven’t found a creative way to implement video marketing, this is the time to do so. (Because you understood the assignment ;-).

The TikTok Video Trend Featuring The Assignment

https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7002756116329368838?lang=en-US&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.upthereeverywhere.com%2Fblog%2Fthe-top-10-digital-marketing-trends-of-2022

5. Metaverse

Facebook has been around for decades, but the new metaverse represents a huge change in the way this platform will be used for digital marketing. No longer is it just a place for Grandma to look at photos of your vacation. The metaverse will encompass an entire world, affecting every aspect of our lives. (Think: Ready Player One). Virtual reality, augmented reality and holographic avatars will change the way people interact with the Internet.

The possibilities that the metaverse presents to marketers are limitless. It allows them to track how long a user holds a digital object, and even how long viewers spend looking at an ad.

What does it mean for 2022? The visions that companies like Fortnight, Facebook (or rather, now renamed Meta) and Microsoft have for the metaverse may be years in the future, but the interconnected cyberspace of planning multichannel marketing is here now: YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram all offer specific, targeted interconnected advertising opportunities.

Will the future of science discovery be virtual too?

6. Digital skills

In the current job market, digital skills are in great demand, and it doesn’t look like that will change any time soon. The Covid-19 pandemic was instrumental in changing the way we work, ramping up the need for greater digital competence from all stakeholders. The number of job applicants who possess digital skills is sadly low in correlation to the need for these skills.

What does this mean? Smart marketers will constantly work on building their digital skills in order to remain current with industry needs. Company leaders will need to invest in growing the digital skills of their team members to ensure that constant new innovations don’t leave them behind. Certifications like those offered by HubSpot or Google are a good place to start. And you can outsource what you don’t have in-house to experts as the gig economy continues growing as well.

7. Content marketing

Yes, I know what you’re thinking. Content marketing is not a new trend, right? But 2022 will challenge us to think of content marketing in ways we haven’t before. It’s tough to create something compelling in terms of web content today. The Internet is overcrowded with content everywhere you look, so it’s difficult to drown out the noise.

That’s why simplicity and clarity are the order of the day. Pack a few words with a strong message. Avoid long flowery descriptive passages. Give your content a punch so that it stands out from the crowd. Don’t be afraid to get personal with your audience. It’s equally essential that your writing is clear and easy to understand. If readers have to work to derive meaning from your content, they will go elsewhere.

8. Voice search

Like most of us, you have probably gotten into the habit of speaking a question out loud to Siri, Alexa or Google, instead of typing the words into a search bar as you have done in the past. The growing popularity of voice search is a serious game changer this year.

When looking for a specific product or service, most consumers are now simply speaking their search as a question. Currently, voice searches make up about 20% of all web searches, and that number continues to grow.

In this new climate, it’s increasingly important for your content to address common spoken questions. Answers to questions like “How do I…” and “What’s the best way to…” will rank higher than content that takes a long time to get to the point. Don’t overlook the value of YouTube (videos) and images (Pinterest and on your website) in relevance for this search content.

9. Hybrid events

This is yet another legacy from the pandemic. Everyone became comfortable with virtual events: so comfortable, in fact, that many are not ready to give them up just yet.

In response to this, more companies are hosting hybrid events, in which traditional in-person activities are supplemented by an online component. To remain competitive, marketers will need to ensure that any events they host are available digitally, as well as face-to-face.

It’s helpful that new technology in the areas of augmented and virtual reality make it possible for online guests to enjoy an immersive experience similar to what they would have if they were physically present. Event platforms like Hopin and Whova provide interesting and fun interactive functionality for online attendees. Don’t overlook the value of a well-planned webinar or virtual conference.

Events today can be hybrid with both in-person and online attendees and content optimized for both. Learn more about UP’s webinar and event planning services.

10. Sustainability

Now more than ever, consumers want to support companies with sustainable and eco-friendly business practices. In this context, brand messaging that focuses on your company values (hopefully sustainability ranks high among these), is a key element in successful digital marketing.

If these core values are to truly represent your brand, it’s important that they permeate every level of your business. This gives an image of integrity and authenticity, critical qualities that consumers will be looking for in 2022. How can you convey this image? Consider partnering with a non-profit. Such partnerships have been shown to boost customer engagement, as well as having a powerful impact for a meaningful cause.

To reap the full benefits, make sure that the partnership involves more than just words. Show a real commitment through joint marketing or even through donating a percentage of revenue. And be sure the partnership makes sense – your core values or audiences should be aligned.

Read more about how UP for GOOD, UP’s CSR and sustainability focused specialty area works with businesses and nonprofits to support common goals.

Get going on trend

These digital marketing trends look like they’re here for a while — for the year 2022, and possibly beyond. Hopping on board with them will go a long way to staying competitive this year and in the future.

Originally published on the UP There, Everywhere blog

5 common website design mistakes that kill your SEO

On January 16, 2022September 16, 2025 By Shari MonnesIn SEOLeave a comment

Website design isn’t just about how your website looks. How it functions and its ability to attract (and convert) website visitors into new leads are critical in today’s competitive digital landscape. Yet, many website designs still have some common (but easily corrected) mistakes that are killing their SEO.

The trifecta of powerful website design today is one that attracts the right audience, generates leads, and accurately represents your brand and tone of voice. While it’s not an easy task to create a site that successfully does all three things, it’s not impossible either.

For brand managers and website designers, the primary focus is often on the site design – how it looks and whether or not it presents an appropriate brand image. This may lead to a tug of war between form and function. But you must not overlook the importance of search engine optimization (SEO) in attracting the right audience and delivering leads. After all, your website isn’t just a pretty face, it needs to work for you as well.

Don’t let any of these five common website design mistakes destroy your SEO.

1. No on-page optimization

Some website designers are so focused on how a web page looks — and brand managers about the message it conveys — that they forget about how well it functions from an SEO perspective. If you want to keep your website ranking high in the search engine results pages (SERPs), then you need to implement essential search engine optimization strategies that help crawlers find your content easily and rank it higher. That starts with the content that is on the page.

Write your pages using the language and keywords your potential customers would use when searching for your products or services or for solutions that meet their needs. Make sure each page addresses a specific topic.

Add important keywords to your page headlines (especially the H1 and H2 headings) and subheads. As you write your content, focus on structuring it in a way that answers important questions, and include those questions in the subheads.

Having a plan to regularly update your content, especially adding deeper content for topics and keywords that are most important to your page, will boost your SEO, as well. Search engines reward websites with recent and frequently updated content with higher rankings (that’s one reason blogs are so important).

An internal linking strategy that includes linking the on-page content from subcategory topics back to core topic pages is also essential. You can do this by creating text links on your page from important keywords back to longer “pillar” pages with content that covers that topic.

On-page optimization is a permanent work in progress — not something you can do once and then ignore. You must regularly review your keywords to understand what you are currently ranking for. SEO tools such as Google’s keyword planner or Mangools KWFinder will help find the important keywords to start, and then track how you rank on them.

2. Ineffective page, URL and image naming

Failing to name your images properly (including both the image file names and the alt text that appears on image hovers), page meta titles (which appear in browser windows), and URLs with your keywords is a common mistake. But don’t think this means stuffing a list of keywords into your alt tags. That sort of outdated (and questionable) practice will actually hurt your rankings.

Instead, use alt tags to provide clear explanations about your page and image content. Don’t leave the name of your pages, images and URLs up to your developer or the person uploading your content, or worse, let them be randomly generated by your CMS. Create a focused plan for page naming that addresses your website keywords and page content. The titles, URLs and alt tags for each page should be unique and reflect the keyword topics of that page.

What matters is relevance. Describe and name page content in a way that is meaningful to your audience. Think about the questions your audience has, and answer them.

It’s also important to make sure that you are optimizing your alt tags to ensure your website is accessible for all, including those with vision impairments.

3. Bad user experience

In today’s fast-paced digital world, website visitors have expectations about what a site should look like, how it should function and what sort of content should be found on it. Websites with hard-to-find content, unanswered questions, or convoluted user journeys are just a few examples of poor user experiences that can negatively impact your engagement rates. This, in turn, can lead to a decrease in visitor retention or raise your bounce rate.

Readers “vote” for your site with their eyeballs and visit duration. The longer they stay on a page (because they are reading or watching relevant content), the more search engines will reward your site with higher rankings. But it’s also important that your content is relevant not only to your target audience but also relevant to the keywords for which you want to optimize your page. (Refer back to point number one).

Some SEO experts suggest that Google ranks pages based on the number of words on the page. So don’t think you can rely solely on flashy images or videos without any words to create high-quality content. Indications are that the best ranking websites have front pages with around 1,500 words.

On the other hand, using too many words when fewer would be more clear, not including call to action buttons, and failing to include short subheads for easier page skimming, makes a site harder to navigate.

A successful website uses design to help showcase the important content and direct the readers to what matters. The easier it is for them to find what they are looking for, the longer they will stay on your site. (And perhaps come back again or tell others about it by “sharing” your content).

4. Missing mobile optimization and poor mobile experience

Today, more than 54% of all website traffic comes from mobile devices, and 92.1% of people access the internet using a mobile phone. This means that mobile optimization is more important than ever before.

The first step to mobile optimization is making sure that your website’s content is visible on a small screen. The content should be easy to read and quick to load as well. Other important considerations are the size and placement of images, video and amount of text on the page. Mobile sites often condense longer text or reflow columns in logical order.

A mobile-first design means creating pages first for mobile viewing, and then scaling this up for desktop viewing (which is the opposite of how some websites are designed). Responsive design (pages designed to adjust and reflow to fit the window size automatically) is another way to address mobile design. Be sure you take mobile optimization into account when designing your website.

How well optimized for mobile is your site?

5. Slow website load times and site performance issues

A poorly designed site, such as one with extraneous code or too many large, heavy graphics, will load slowly. This is a kiss of death to your website SEO. Speedy page load times are essential to an optimized website.

Google has stated that page load times factor into site rankings. The assumption here is that faster loading makes happy visitors, and happy visitors are what Google is after, and you should be as well.

Website owners can improve the speed of their website by using a CDN or caching plugin, which can reduce the amount of time it takes for a request to be fulfilled. However, this type of “lazy-loading” or “preloading” solution might not be quite as effective if your website has many dynamic requests, such as videos or other types of media.

These are just a few elements that you need to consider. SEO is a vast area that requires a lot of attention from SEO specialists in order to succeed. You can find out all about best practice SEO here, as well as how to devise a winning strategy.

And of course, if you would like some help, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our digital team of experts.

How well is your website working?

Get a free website SEO review

Blog originally published on the UP There, Everywhere website

Five digital marketing truths you shouldn’t ignore in 2019

On January 26, 2019January 26, 2019 By Shari MonnesIn content marketing, inbound marketing1 Comment

The pace of change in digital marketing continues to accelerate in ways that can make it seem impossible to keep up. Yesterday’s advice seems passé today. What you thought would be the next big thing, is nothing but a memory the day after tomorrow.

As we roll into 2019, let’s take a look at the emerging trends that you need to wrap your head (and your marketing budget) around.

Here are five truths that promise to shake up 2019.

1. Keyword stuffing is dead.

Gone are the days when you created pages of content stuffed with every keyword phrase you wanted to rank on. Today you need a more considered strategy that focuses on the topic areas essential to your business, while answering the questions your audience wants to know about.

Why? Because search has changed. People use longer, more conversational search queries. They ask questions of search engines and look for more specific results, such as “What Thai restaurants are near me?” or “What is the best inbound marketing agency in Stockholm?” not just “Thai restaurant” or “inbound marketing.”

This can be largely attributed to the rise in voice search. According to Location World, more than 40 percent of adults used voice-based search on a daily basis in 2016. And ComScore predicts that 50 percent of searches will be voice-based by 2020.

Today, you need to cluster your content around keyword topics and link supporting pages back to stronger “pillar” pages. It’s the internal page structures that matter more than the use of specific keywords. Your website content should reflect the way your customers search for information and answer their questions.

More about Inbound Marketing

2. Organic reach on Facebook is dead.

It’s all pay to play now. Sorry. The days of unfettered access to a large and highly targeted audience on your social media networks has ended. Facebook has been putting the brakes on your content for several years now. Even followers who have “liked” your page have no guarantee of seeing the content you share there, unless you pay to promote it.

Creating an advertising account on Facebook can improve the reach of your organic posts.

As Facebook Marketing Expert Mari Smith said, “Facebook organic reach is so 2012.” We know, it’s sad, but it’s true. It’s been true since well before the beginning of 2018, when Mark Zuckerburg announced that Facebook was changing its news feed algorithm to show more posts from friends instead of businesses. He said Facebook was doing this because they were shifting their goal from helping people “find relevant content” to “have more meaningful social interactions.”

So there you go, Facebook has decided it’s all about social interactions, not content. Unless you pay. That changes everything, of course. Facebook is very happy to allow you to pay to have your business content appear in user’s social feeds.

In fact, advertisers gain exponential increases in visibility of their content regardless of whether those posts are part of a “paid boost” effort or not. One study by WordStream showed that having a Facebook advertiser account (regardless of what sort of ads are run) increases Facebook Page impressions (which means content impressions) by 126 percent and Facebook clicks by 96 percent.

3. Video is the new king of content.

You’ve undoubtedly noticed that video gets a lot of attention online. For social media networks, especially, video is THE format to use. Facebook rolled out its LIVE feature (live video streaming) to users between 2015 and 2016. LinkedIn added native video in 2017, and Instagram added native video hosting way back in 2013.

From Facebook Live to Instagram to Watch, video is the new king of content.

To ramp up its video offering and compete against Netflix, YouTube and Hulu, Facebook introduced Facebook Watch, a video streaming channel in August 2017 that focuses on episodic content. That means creating short (often less than 3 minutes), but regularly scheduled programs to grow an audience. Facebook Watch is still looking for quality content for this channel so you have an opportunity to get your content featured, if it makes the cut. You can apply here.

According to HubSpot research (and others), video improves your chances of creating content that your audience will actually engage with. In a 2018 survey, 54 percent of consumers said they wanted to see more video content from brands or businesses they support. HubSpot even introduced its own native video platform at INBOUND18.

Research shows consumers prefer video content.

How long should your videos be? The short answer is, it depends. One-size-fits-all video is not the way to go. Your audience, purpose and medium (whether YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, or your website) should all play a role in the length of videos you create. Live streaming videos and those on your website aimed at later funnel stages, when customers are looking for more in-depth information, can be longer than those designed to attract the interest of first time visitors.

On YouTube, instructional step-by-step videos are often more than 15 minutes long. For Facebook news feeds, some studies have shown that attention falls off after 2 minutes, Twitter has a limit of 2 minutes, 20 seconds, and Instagram 60 seconds, but for Facebook Live, 10 minutes or more is recommended.

Also keep in mind that your videos should tell a story, provide instruction or showcase examples. Make sure your videos are not glorified advertisements. When making a video, you need to think like a screenwriter not a marketing copywriter. Tell a story. Show how something works or go behind the scenes. Interview people, and make it entertaining.

Get a video branding checklist

4. Click bait is not a marketing strategy.

Now more than ever, trust in marketing matters. Using dishonest or disingenuous tactics to drive traffic will only hurt you in the long run. Misleading headlines like “You won’t believe what happens when this woman drops her pen!” only frustrate and anger potential customers. This tactic might help faux-media sites inflate their viewer count for banner ad payments, but for businesses looking for genuine customers, it’s the kiss of death. Plus, these types of click-bait headlines are increasingly being filtered out by Facebook and Google algorithms that favor genuine content.

Even if you don’t resort to such blatantly cheap tactics, you should also consider whether you’re focusing on the right goals. Driving large amounts of traffic to your website for the sake of vanity metrics like page views isn’t doing you any good if the visitors aren’t potential customers. Focus more on your conversion rates and customer growth rates, and develop your content around what your ideal customer wants to know.

Good conversion rates help your rank in search engines as well. Google cares about delivering quality content to users. This is measured by how fresh it is (recently updated), how authoritative it is (sources and backlinks), and whether it delivers a good user experience. Some of the ways Google measures this is by how long someone stays on your page after clicking through, and whether people continue onto other pages of your site after reading the initial one.

Focus on developing an honest relationship with your customers about what you offer. Show examples and real case studies. Be authentic. Keep promises. Own up to your limitations, create a niche and deliver real, not inflated, information to your customers about what you offer.

5. Chatbots are here to stay.

Internet access is round-the-clock and customers visiting your website from various time zones expect service on their own terms. The advent of chatbots and AI technology makes it possible to provide answers to customer queries using pre-programmed scripts – even when you’re not available.

From basic customer questions to providing extensive online guides, chatbots can fill a hole in your customer sales and support funnel. But you need to use them carefully. There’s a place for chatbots (specifically to offer customers quick answers to simple questions or route customers to support teams), but half of your customers probably still prefer to speak to a human, according to a study by CGS.

To stay current in 2019, consider offering a chatbot on your website. It doesn’t have to be anything extremely high-tech, just having a bot that can let customers know when you’ll be back online, or way to leave a phone number for a call back is enough. Did you know Hubspot Offers a free chatbot? Ask us how we can help you get started.

Chatbots like those offered by HubSpot make it easy to add a chat function to your website.

Marketing in 2019: It’s not all about you

If your marketing approach involves continuously talking about yourself (your company or your products), then you haven’t caught up to how marketing in 2019 works. Promotion in the digital age is not about self-promotion. It’s not about pushing your product or selling features. It’s about helping your customers. Stop talking about yourself. Put your customers first – answer their questions and help them find solutions.

A key way to do this is to use an Inbound approach to marketing. Give your prospects the information they need for the stage of the buyer’s journey they are in at the moment. Provide tips and information. Share customer stories. Create useful “how to” videos to help customers solve problems. Offer guides or handbooks using your expertise that provide real value to prospects.

By putting your customers first, and embracing new technology that helps you do that, you’ll be moving in the right direction in 2019.

Find out more about inbound marketing.

Get this free guide to inbound marketing.

Get the Guide

Have a question? Leave me a comment.

Seven reasons your B2B website needs a blog

On March 1, 2018March 18, 2018 By Shari MonnesIn Uncategorized1 Comment

Believe it or not, even in 2018, I still hear from business owners and B2B companies who think that a blog has no place on their website. They may think the effort it takes isn’t worth the investment. Or, they (mistakenly) believe that blogs are only for personal use or showcasing opinions. What they fail to realize is how many ways a blog helps turn a website into a useful marketing tool. Blogs are an essential component of any inbound or content marketing effort.

Still not convinced? Well here are seven reasons that demonstrate why a blog is essential for your business website.

7 reasons your business website needs a blog

Reason #1. Get found more easily.

One of the main reasons any business-focused website should consider a blog is for the search engine optimization (SEO) value it offers. Google and other search engines place a high value on website pages with content that is frequently updated and of high quality. Blog articles help improve the amount of time people spend on your website, increase the number of pages they share or bookmark, and make it easier to include the sort of keyword phrases visitors might actually use in search engines. These are all factors that affect your website’s rank in search results. Blogs also make it easier to get organic backlinks to your website, as visitors are more inclined to share blog articles or educational materials than other types of pages (especially purely promotional product pages).

Reason #2. Gain credibility as an expert.

Sharing your industry knowledge, experience and expertise in relevant, well-crafted blog posts shows your potential customers that you know what you’re talking about. Customers are more likely to engage with businesses they see as experts in their field. You can use a blog to go into detail with useful tips about your products, answer customer questions, and provide advice about choosing between various options. You can also use a blog to generate interest from people who may not yet be considering a purchase. By providing education and advice that is useful in nature instead of focused purely on selling or promoting a product, you can help establish an audience for your expertise. In addition, website visitors are more likely to share articles that provide useful business information with their contacts on social networks. That will grow your reputation as an expert, and also result in more traffic to your website.

Reason #3. Tell your story in another way.

Storytelling is an engaging and effective way to interact with your potential customers. Tell them more about why you do what you do. What makes you passionate about what your company does? How did your company get started? What are the ideas, processes or methods you hold dear? A blog provides a way to share a series of articles that showcase your company and what you do in a human way to which other people can relate.

Reason #4: Engage in social media marketing.

Chances are good that your ideal customers are using social media. You should be there too, with relevant content that interests and engages them. Are ads and product pitches going to fulfill that role? Probably not. Think about what you are likely to read or share on social media. It’s probably not advertising. But if you come across a helpful blog post, or interesting story or video, you might share it. So will your prospects.

Having a blog lets you create the kind of content that you can share across all your company’s social media networks. It allows you to post relevant, updated articles that showcase your company’s expertise, or point of view, in a way that is more engaging than typical promotional content is.

Reason #5. Create ongoing connections.

Having a blog subscription provides a way for you to stay connected with visitors who come to your website. They may not be ready to contact you or reach out for more information about your product the first time they visit your website, but if you have a useful and relevant blog, they may be interested enough to subscribe to it. Placing a prominent blog subscription form on your website can be a way to generate new leads and stay in touch with prospects over a longer period of time in a non-intrusive way. A weekly or monthly email update from your blog will help ensure your company comes to mind when the prospect is ready to make a purchase decision.

Reason #6: Encourage visitor interaction.

Likewise, a website visitor may not feel they have a question or message worthy of sending an email or using your website contact form, but if you spark an interest, they may leave a comment on your blog. This gives you a unique opportunity to interact with them in a useful, unobtrusive way. Taking a few minutes each week to respond to comments will prove worth the effort as it generates a sense of interaction for your website. You shouldn’t worry too much about negative comments or spam, either, because there are a number of tools that can make dealing with both of these issues simple. Furthermore, responding to negative comments gives you an opportunity to correct misconceptions and show that your business takes customer needs seriously.

Reason #7: Use content marketing effectively.

On a blog, you can publish a variety of types of content, from videos, to how-to articles, to slideshows. You can offer infographics or ebooks. A blog gives you creative license to try a variety of different formats and styles of content that might not otherwise work well on a business website devoted to describing a company and products or services. A blog gives you the opportunity to show website visitors who you are, what you do, and what makes you special. That can go a long way in moving a prospect toward a purchase decision.

Starting a blog

Creating a blog on an existing website doesn’t have to be a difficult endeavor. A variety of blogging tools, such as WordPress or HubSpot, are available out of the box that can work as add-ons to your existing website and allow you to get an effective business-focused blog up and running quickly.

Need help? Contact me if you need help setting up a blog, creating content, getting a website set up for your business.

How mobile optimized is your website?

On May 6, 2016May 13, 2016 By Shari MonnesIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

About a year ago, Google implemented a “mobile friendly” update that promised to make mobile readiness a critical part of its site-ranking algorithm. Dubbed “mobilegeddon” by people in SEO and online marketing, it promised to have disastrous consequences for anyone who didn’t adopt mobile friendly practices, such as responsive design, by the deadline on April 21, 2015.

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So what happened? Did mobilegeddon, or mobilepocalyse as it was called by some, occur? Well, to some extent, yes, but it wasn’t the explosive event that was predicted for Y2K. (Do you remember that non-event?) Furthermore, many website owners say the immediate impact of mobilegeddon wasn’t felt as harshly as originally predicted. Instead, it may result in a gradual drop in rankings as Google slowly rolls through its plan to evaluate the mobile optimization of websites.

Google did start providing warnings to site owners if their websites aren’t well optimized for mobile viewing. The warning only occurs in search results shown to the site owner when viewing the site on mobile screens. (How Google knows who is the site owner is a whole other discussion <wink>).

Search Engine Land reported what this looks like:

However, the real message here is that having a mobile friendly website is an important element for SEO and how Google ranks your website, and it isn’t going away.

What elements make a website mobile friendly?

Of course, the obvious question is: what can I do to make sure my website is mobile-friendly? The key elements of a mobile-optimized website include:

Mobile site structure. One of the most important elements of mobile optimization is making sure the site structure works well on mobile. Once upon a time this meant having specific code to support a variety of mobile phone types. However, today this typically means using responsive design for smart phones. In fact, Moz says Google prefers responsive design. The other option is to design a separate site just for mobile. For example, some parallel mobile sites use an “m” subdomain.

Designing for mobile. This is a bit different than site structure and means creating pages that look good when viewed on mobile as well as desktop (for responsive sites). You’ll see this in the format of longer scrolling pages, revising what it means to be “above the fold,” and putting key elements at the top of a page (often left side for responsive grid CMS designs).

Page speed. Because of bandwidth and connectivity issues, fast loading is even more important on mobile than desktop. Enhancing for speed means minimizing code, optimizing images, leveraging browser caching and reducing redirects.

Show all page elements. In the old days, some mobile devices couldn’t support CSS, JavaScript or images, so many site developers created code to block these for mobile viewers. However, that’s no longer true, and Google likes them, so don’t avoid using these elements in your mobile design.

No Flash. One content option that still doesn’t work on mobile is Flash. If your site is built entirely in Flash (well not only is that bad for SEO in general), it’s a death sentence for mobile optimization.

Local optimization. On mobile, location is important, so optimizing for local search helps improve your site’s ranking (of course, not all websites need a local search component, but for any sort of retail establishment or local service provider, it’s essential). However, including your company name, address, and phone number in your metadata will provide the correct optimization signals to Google that could very well affect your site’s overall ranking on desktop or otherwise.

Follow good SEO practices. In general, optimizing for mobile takes SEO to another level and requires good use of meta tags (site descriptions), URLs, and page titles. You can include SCHEMA tags as well to help your mobile content stand out in search results (more on schema structured data here).

(Originally published at UP THERE EVERYWHERE).

Five reasons your business needs content marketing now

On April 25, 2016May 13, 2016 By Shari MonnesIn content marketingLeave a comment

The art and practice of content marketing has become an important trend in the last few years. You’ve probably heard this term used in conjunction with SEO (search engine optimization), inbound marketingand social media marketing. But what exactly do we mean by content marketing ?

What is content marketing?

Here is a definition from the Content Marketing Institute:

“Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly-defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

Using content for marketing is not a completely new idea. It’s the way we think about content (or define it) that has changed, along with the tools we can use to make it available to others. As the Internet and social media become ever more important to people’s lives, the way they seek and gather information changes. Putting your content out in the world where people are looking for it helps them find you.

Why would you want to do that? Because you’re an expert and your customers need to know that. No matter what business you’re in, chances are you got into it because you’re an expert in an area or because you saw a chance to make a difference, and you’ve become an expert as a result of your hard work. By sharing your knowledge with your prospects, you’re not only improving your reputation, you’re helping your prospects in their journey to learn something new.

In fact, 88 percent of B2B marketers reported using content marketing as a part of their online marketing strategy.

Why you should use content marketing

If building your reputation and sharing knowledge aren’t enough to convince you to consider upping your content marketing game, here are five preemptive reasons you should do it.

1. Old-style advertising is dead.

You may have heard this one before and thought “hog-wash.” But listen, I’m not trying to jump on a bandwagon here, and probably not saying what you think I am saying, so before you dismiss this, hear me out. Promotional ads aren’t enough anymore. Banner ads have been losing their efficacy rates for years. (Bannersnack).

The average click through rate of display ads across all formats and placements in the USA is now just 0.07%. (Display Benchmarks tool). On the newspaper end, total ad revenue in 2013 was 49% lower than it had been a decade earlier, according to the “State of the News Media 2014” study by the Pew Research Center.

You have to bring more to the table. No one method will be enough to build your brand, develop leads and position your company in the minds of prospects. You need to offer something of value and, in the information age, that means — you guessed it — information.

Ads may help drive traffic to your website, or your storefront, but will that be enough? Probably not. To convert them into leads or sales, you need content that tells a story or promotes knowledge. Use advertising to boost your content, and you’ll be playing a different game.

2. Selling is dead.

Yep, another one that’s probably making you groan. But again, the way selling used to work — with cold calling and sales reps pushing a product that customers had never heard of — isn’t how it’s done anymore. Consumers are out actively seeking information to help them solve their problems and to understand what questions to ask before considering a new purchase. They have their own agendas, pace and options for how they want to receive that information. They don’t want anyone to “sell” to them. (Inc.)

Instead, modern sales reps need to form meaningful relationships with consumers – to provide information and guidance. If you wait for the phone to ring before you to start educating them about market differentiators and what they need to know to make a choice, you’re too late. Your competitors have probably already framed customer perspectives by offering information about the questions they should be asking.

In B2B, especially, 57% of a typical purchase decision is made before a customer even talks to a supplier. (Corporate Executive Board).

Content marketing can help you generate thought leadership, an important part of ensuring that your company makes it into your prospect’s frame of reference for consideration, and can help you get information in front of your audience at the right stages in the buying cycle.

3. Old-style SEO is dead.

Did I get you again? That’s right…the old-fashioned form of stuffing your web pages with keywords and paying for links on other websites no longer impresses Google. What matters is content. Good content that makes people stay on your site and click through to more pages. (Once upon a time, we called this “sticky” content). Organic search engine ranking is increasingly about creating content that people actually want to read, and it’s measured by how long they stay on your website doing just that.

That’s not to say you should ignore keyword research… you still need to create your content based on the search terms your audience uses, not the ones your internal organization uses, or it will be virtually invisible to your potential audience. However, optimizing your website needs to be less about tracking keywords and rankings, and more about engaging visitors once they’ve landed on your website. For that, you need valuable content that impresses and inspires. High converting landing pages are what matter.

4. Google is dead.

Just kidding. But creating a website primarily for Google has lost its potency. Don’t focus your efforts on “gaming” Google to appear at the top of search results. Furthermore, what is “top” for each person is different, based on location, past search history, and even the type of device being used. There’s no “one right page structure” or “one right keyword” that will win you the Google prize. It’s really all about knowing your audience, planning content that appeals to each of your target “personas” and offering what they need to make their experience on your website, or with your brand (whether in a store, event or elsewhere) meaningful. And then you need to make sure your content is where your audience is – whether that’s on Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or at tradeshows, industry journals or online media. Promoting your content through social media, PR and yes, even paid advertising, is an essential element of content marketing.

5. Print content is NOT dead.

(Did I throw you a curve?) In fact, content in all forms, offline, offline, mobile, video, TV, is in more demand than ever. Print is still a top-of-funnel medium. Print isn’t dead, experts say. According to the AMA, “Print circulations are down, but in many cases, that means that publications’ readership has been culled to only the most engaged, which is a desirable trait, from an advertising standpoint.”

What’s even more in vogue than Vogue is customized content (content for a specific audience) produced by businesses. (Money CNN). Businesses are once again finding increasing success in printing their own publications, and, in fact, customers are responding to print simply because it’s so unusual to receive it now.

Plus, according to Allbusiness.com, 56 percent of all consumers trust print marketing more than any other advertising method.

And the majority of Millennials (45%) in a 2014 survey by Androit Digital say a combination approach of digital ads and traditional ad channels is equally or more effective in influencing their brand decision making, compared to either as a standalone channel. Furthermore, 3 out of 4 small businesses use both print marketing and online efforts combined. This strategy usually offers the best return on investment and gets the best response rates.

So what do you think?

Is content marketing in your plans for 2016? What made you decide to do it? Leave a comment or click to tell us what you think.