Content Automation, Video & Social Media
The term content marketing is frequently thrown around the boardroom and companies are increasingly recognizing the need for a content marketing strategy.
Businesses need to include content marketing in their campaigns to reach consumers, whether they are other businesses or individual customers. But what exactly is content marketing, and what steps should a business be taking to effectively leverage their content marketing strategies to turn their audience into customers?
“For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack”.
I love this Rudyard Kipling quote. It fits so well in describing so many different scenarios. And it works perfectly when you are trying to get support and backing from others for an idea of yours. One effective strategy is to take your idea and help convince others to take authorship of it and thus make it their idea. So how can you do this? The video here is one successful example of that. 
This is a case study we produced at The Pulse Network with a client of ours, OC Tanner. This case study is focused on Mindi Cox (VP of People and Culture OC Tanner) and how she was able to get “Buy in From The Top” to improve MyWellness within her company. Like most organizations, OC Tanner has a long history of wellness programs within their company. But Mindi Cox decided she wanted to take the lead and make this one program (MyWellness) even better. Her plan to get this done was built on a foundation of collaboration. Very quickly, improving MyWellness became the idea of many. There’s that wolf and pack thing again.
Here are some key takeaways that helped Mindi make this successful:
OC Tanner works with their clients to develop employee recognition and rewards programs that help companies appreciate people who do great work. Their fundamental belief is that the best way for companies to grow is to have programs and strategies in place that recognize great work. . I appreciate and enjoy working with OC Tanner mainly because they practice what they preach. They treat themselves like a client. They have a culture and work environment within their walls that recognizes and rewards their employees for great work. They have worked hard to build this culture and reinforce it. Whenever we spend time working with OC Tanner The Pulse Network learns and grows as a company.
Makes me feel strong, like a wolf!
How are social networks influencing the evolution of corporate websites? In the future, business websites will be less about promoting canned content and become more about integrating “users” and “consumers” personal networks into the sales cycle. As consumers demand more interactive relationships with brands, how should your corporate website respond?
To take it a step further, is it possible that corporate website could vanish entirely in the not too distant future? It may sound like an impossible prospect, but as more social networks pop up and infiltrate our lives and our customers lives at all stages, the need and usefulness of the corporate website shrinks. Already, brands are placing more and more of an emphasis on social strategy to connect on a personal level with their customers.
At IMS San Francisco 2012, we were lucky enough to bring together a powerhouse CMS panel that included Scott Liewehr of Digital Clarity Group, Dave Dabbah of EPHOX, Mark Ryan of Extractable, Michael Fern of Intigi, Inc., and Rowan Harper of Modal to discuss the future of corporate websites, and why we shouldn’t mourn the death of the corporate website just yet.
Make sure to check out all the video content from IMS SF 2012, and find out more about IMS Boston 2012, coming in October.
Fresh off our debut in New York, IMS is heading west once again to the city by the Bay and we have a pretty awesome program on tap!
As with other IMS events, I’ve tried to craft a program that features just the right mix of ‘big picture’ speakers like Chris Brogan and Tim Hayden, industry watchers and experts like Andre Bourque and Scott Liewehr and a few old friends like Esteban Kolsky, and Laura Fitton. Along with some cool demos, case studies and perspectives from the top vendors in the marketplace.
If you’re in digital or social or mobile marketing, or just trying to make sense of the new ‘content’ and ‘channels’ that are changing the face of multi-channel marketing, I think IMS is a must-attend event.
Tickets are going fast, and we are sure to sell out the Conference Center at the Fort Mason. To sign up and learn more, check out our registration page and join the conversation (Facebook and Twitter) to add your thoughts, hear what IMS means to other marketers and get the latest news on our program.
And don’t forget you can get a look at some of the great content and speakers coming to IMS by heading over to our YouTube channel and viewing our IMS San Fran 2012 video spotlight series.
Want more? Check out my video below with Tyler Pyburn which explains what’s new at IMS San Fran and what you can expect to experience on June 12-13, 2012.
To dig deeper into IMS San Francisco check out my video series on the upcoming event. Also feel free to reach out to me with any additional questions, Tweet or email abonde at thepulsenetwork DOT com.
When we talk about the second screen, we can not forget that a good amount of it can come from social media. Consumers like to have conversations about what they are watching and a great tool that tracks internet trends is comScore. In terms of overall audience, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are the big 3. However, in terms of engagment with channels, two out of the top three may surprise you. Facebook is still dominant throughout most channels, but Tumblr and Pintrest are a close second and third. Users are not necessarily going to Twitter.com but are accessing it through other channels and devices.
The most recent social network that has taken the world by storm is Pinterest. It is a rich, fun, and attractive place to hang out. Similar to the Pulse Network, they follow the motto that if you want to create engagement, you need good content. Having good content creates community.
In the video below, I discuss further the growth of social networking sites.
Watch the rest of my series on media use and marketing strategies. Also feel free to reach out to me with any additional questions, Tweet or email abonde@thepulsenetwork.com.
The Nielson Rating System has been measuring television consumption for decades. They are now starting to measure how viewers are consuming media along with watching television. For example, if we take a case of 25-43 year olds, Nielson has measured that they watch around 28 hours of television per week and only on the Internet 6 hours per week.
The creation of the tablet has caused a great amount of blending to occur in the media landscape. The tablet has become the new communication device for consumers and truly defines the meaning of a second screen.
Watch my video below to learn more about American video consumption.
Watch the rest of my series on media use and marketing strategies. Also feel free to reach out to me with any additional questions, Tweet or email abonde@thepulsenetwork.com.
The phrase, “there’s no room for trial and error” applies to analytics today. In today’s digital age, if you can’t measure it – don’t do it. If you can pay attention to what you’re measuring, you can focus more on what’s working for you. When looking at analytics, it’s not just about the social media numbers, but where they came from and who is viewing your information, which helps you determine where the value is. Some popular analytics tools include Google Analytics and Simply Measured.
Below I explain more about the value of Analytics:
Be sure to watch my complete series on the content automation life cycle and feel free to tweet or e-mail me ssaber@thepulsenetwork.com.
It makes sense to create content for an event that people will physically attend and meet up at. But what should your web content creation approach be for virtual events?
While it may seem like there may be drastically different strategies for the two types of event, the content development around the events is actually quite similar. One recent example of a virtual event that nailed the concept of creating content and driving engagement before, during and after was Madonna’s album release event with Jimmy Fallon. Madonna solicited questions from her fans leading up to the event, interacted with them live during it, and left them with a video to live on and re-watch once the event ended, all as part of an exclusive live interview on Facebook & Livestream that the vast majority of people could only attend virtually.
In this conversation, we look at how Madonna pulled this off, and the lessons you can learn from this virtual event content creation example.
Want the rest of this series? Check out the full playlist of this conversation on YouTube, or reach out to Butch Stearns on Twitter to continue the conversation.
Digital marketing strategies have made it that brands and companies need to implement content creation within their communication process. The only way to build brands in the digital age is by providing content the end-user wants and truly connecting with them; which in turn can be used to build strategy, SEO, and attract influencers.
Here at The Pulse Network, we break content down into two pieces: video and written; and our platform makes it easy for people and companies to create content. By creating video and written content for our clients, it makes it easier for the clients engage viewers and to have original content to push out to a number of different channels.
In the video below, I go in further about content creation and the strategies here at The Pulse Network.
Be sure to watch my complete series on the content automation life cycle and feel free to tweet or e-mail me ssaber@thepulsenetwork.com.
Events, both face-to-face and virtual, are opportunities to create content and drive conversation. No matter what type of event you’re planning, there are three basic steps for you to categorize your content creation surrounding that event:
Using events to create content all starts with the mindset that anything can be an event if you frame it correctly. Whether it’s something as small as a minor company announcement or something as large as a trade show, it’s an opportunity to create conversations.
In this video, we give an introduction to the concept of live event production and how it can coincide with your digital content creation strategy.
Want the rest of this series? Check out the full playlist of this conversation on YouTube, or reach out to Butch Stearns on Twitter to continue the conversation.