Why Content Curation Is Not The Answer

There are no silver bullets in marketingThe biggest problem in B2B content marketing is that it requires content. Somehow, this most obvious of truths has become the thorn in the side of B2B marketing (and the inspiration for 1,000s of pieces of content).

So what if you could be a content marketer without actually creating content? Hallelujah! All your problems are solved!

Enter curation, the glittering solution for today’s content marketers.

On the surface curation sounds perfect. Publish or share carefully selected content created by others with your clients and prospects. By consistently and carefully curating over time, become the source your audience looks to for the news and information that matters to them. [Read more…]

The Path to Value from Content Curation

Increasingly, marketers are adding content curation to their marketing activity, often with objectives of sharing a certain amount of content each day. Ardath Albee (@ardath421) has a sample to-do list for a content marketer in Show Quantity the Door.

Three weeks ago I published Three Reasons Content Curation is Overrated, my reaction to research published on eMarketer and advice we frequently see about curating content in order to establish thought leadership.

That doesn’t mean curation is not valuable. It may be one of the primary ways you stay in touch with your audience. But the path to value from your curation is a winding one. [Read more…]

Three Reasons Content Curation is Overrated

B2B marketers are looking for a shortcut to thought leadership, but the shortcut many are taking lead somewhere else completely.

According to a recent report on eMarketer, 85% of marketers curate content in order to establish thought leadership!

Does sharing someone else’s content make you a thought leader? No.

Marketers, in their race to the shortcut, are confusing respect and attention with thought leadership. [Read more…]

Inbound Marketing for B2B: Discussion Recap

Join #B2BChat on Twitter every Thursday at 8:00 PM EasternInbound marketing is a clear trend in B2B marketing. In fact, Sirius Decisions, a research firm focused on B2B markets, predicts more than 75% of leads will be sourced through inbound channels by 2015.

What are the key challenges to B2B inbound marketing, how does inbound marketing change the type of content B2B marketers need to create and what tools are critical to inbound marketing?

These are some of the questions discussed during #B2Bchat on March 15, and I had the privilege of moderating. Here are my key takeaways from the discussion. [Read more…]

A New Definition for Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing is a hot topic in B2B marketing. However, as more B2B marketers grab the inbound marketing flag, many will miss the two keys to making inbound marketing effective:

  • Be found through the recommendation of others.
  • Delight those that find you.

According to Hubspot, a leader in inbound marketing, the definition of inbound marketing is “marketing focused on getting found by your customers.” The most common functional definition of inbound marketing is the combination of search, social and content. [Read more…]

Five Step Guide: Gaming Google for the Long Term

Google makes approximately 500 search algorithm changes a year. Looked at another way, Google averages two algorithm changes every business day. Wow.

Many of these changes, like the well publicized rounds of Google’s Panda updates, are designed to remove ways companies have found to game Google’s search results. So how do you keep up with all the changes Google makes?

Focus on the one thing Google is focused on. [Read more…]

Reducing Twitter Spam: Triberr’s Missed Marketing Opportunity

Let’s face it, Twitter has a spam problem, and over the last six months Triberr has been criticized as a source of that spam.

Triberr is a polarizing platform and automatic tweeting is Triberr’s lightning rod feature. Proponents applaud the easy exposure and traffic, detractors point to lower quality content being broadly shared and higher sharing volume. (For a great balanced review of Triberr, see Neal Schaffer’s (@nealschaffer) Review of Triberr.)

This week, it could have changed. On November 1, Triberr removed automatic tweeting. However, for all the discussion Triberr has created in the past, the silence that has followed has been deafening. No one is talking about the change and Triberr’s detractors are not even aware of it. [Read more…]

Social Media is Lowering Our Content Standards

Sharing has ceased to be an endorsement of the quality of content. Social media has created the expectation that we share content, and in the drive to meet the content demands social media places on us, our content standards are falling.

Here are signs that sharing content may have become more important to you than the content itself:

  • You have started reading in order to find content to share, not because you want to spend time reading content.
  • When you find content you REALLY like, you have to share it differently, emphatically stating how great it is to differentiate it from the only OK content you shared before. (ie “LOVE this post! …” or “+100 RT …”)

If so, it is time to stop listening to the social media experts, the ones [Read more…]

Content Curation: The Oldest Media Activity

Media companies have always curated content. With limited time and space, newscasts, prime time schedules and papers have been carefully assembled from the best available content.

Kitty on a pile of newspapers - from Brit Randolph on FlickrAs marketers become publishers in their own right, it is natural they become expert content curators also. In Content Curation – It’s What’s for Breakfast These Days on Social Media Explorer, Stephanie Schwab says brands the curate interesting content from outside sources ultimately expand their brands. That is one of your objectives, right?

[Read more…]