5 SIMPLE STORYTELLING TIPS FOR 2014

Easy ways to impact your content and social results – today.

#MarketersAnon@emilycretella

#1: CHANGE YOUR SOCIAL MINDSET

Your story is your most important marketing tool.

Change Your Social Mindset

“You don’t need a Facebook strategy.You need a CONTENT strategy.”

Image: Unsplash

What is Content Marketing?

#1: Creating original content or sharing existing content that will benefit your audience at all stages of the buying process

Image: Unsplash

What is Content Marketing?

#2: Developing an appealing hub for your content, in the form of a blog, news section on your web site, etc., while integrating all available communication channels

Image: CharityWater.org

What is Content Marketing?

#3: Using smart marketing strategies to get your audience to engage with your content and take specific action

Image: twitter.com/charitywater

Benefits of Strategic Content Marketing

• Content & audience ownership

• Real-time metrics

• Search ranking improvement

• Site traffic increase

• Conversion rates

• Public & key influencer trust

• Position as leader

• Audience satisfaction

• Organizational buy-in

• Brand loyalty

• Social engagement

And Because Marketers Love Stats…

• 61% of consumers feel better about and are more likely to buy from a company that delivers custom content.1

• Interesting content is a top 3 reason people follow brands on social media.1

• Social media sites & blogs reach 8 out of 10 of all U.S.

Internet users & account for 23% of all time spent online.1

• 90% of consumers find custom content useful and 78%

believe that organizations providing custom content are interested in building good relationships with them.1

And Because Marketers Love Stats…

• Blogs give websites 434% more indexed pages and 97% more indexed links.1

• The avg. cost to generate a lead through inbound marketing ($143) is about half the avg. for outbound marketing ($373).1

• Per dollar, content marketing produces roughly 3x as many leads.2

• After 36 months, content marketing generates 31 leads per $1,000 spent, more than 3x as many as paid search.2

Change Your Social Mindset Today

START NOW:

• Start blogging – or revive your current blog

• Set measurable goals (i.e., engagement, social, conversions)

• Revisit existing content

• Develop a manageable editorial calendar

• Use social to share

#2: FOCUS ON GOOGLE

Circle this! Build your Authorship.

Join Google+

Join Google+Google+ = Google. Google = Search. Search = Buy.

• 2nd largest social network

• 318.4 million active users in 31 markets

• 50% of global Internet users have Google+ profiles (Facebook = 70%)

• 1,200+ million monthly visits (Facebook = 809 million; Twitter = 416 million)

Source: http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/09/20/12-awesome-social-media-facts-and-statistics-for-2013

Join Google+

“Social proof is the new marketing.” Your quality of social interaction on Google+ creates a higher level of social proof and trust in your content and your authority.

Join Google+Not sold?

• Google+ rewards quality of content, ability to network, connecting on a helpful/educational level

• Move from Search Engine Optimization to Customer Optimization: Google’s Hummingbird update• The move away from “keyword SEO” to creating useful, customer-centric

content that answers their questions is actually good for SEO

• Facebook’s “likes” are no longer free

So now that we’re in each other’s circles…

Psst! Connect with me! www.google.com/+emilycretella www.google.com

/+cursivecontent

Establish Your Authorship

Establish Your AuthorshipWhat is Google Authorship?

A way to connect your Google+ profile to the content you create:

Establish Your Authorship

Benefits to You

• Content will be more credible

• Easier to find your content from different sources across the web

• Establish yourself as an authority in your area of expertise

• More appealing for people to read your content and add you to their Google+ circles

• Helps you discover and stop plagiarism of your work

• Access analytics for your content in search

Benefits for SEO

• Search-engine results with pictures are more likely to be clicked

• More credible links get more clicks

• More than 17% of search results feature a verified writer in the top 100 results

• Your content will be indexed quicker if it’s linked to your Google+ profile

Sources: http://www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2013/09/30/everything-you-need-to-know-about-google-authorship/ and http://www.google.com/insidesearch/features/authorship/

Establish Your AuthorshipHow Do I Set Up Google Authorship?

• Google+ profile photo with a recognizable headshot

• Byline and name (matching G+ profile) appears on each page of your content (for example, “By Emily Cretella”)

• Verify email address on the same domain as your content (or, using rel=“author” code)

• Sign up for Authorship on Google (www.plus.google.com/authorship)

• Join the Google Authorship & Author Rank G+ community

Focus on Google TodaySTART NOW:

• Join Google+ or become more active

• Set up your Google Authorship

• Claim all your online content

#3: (SLIDE)SHARE IT

Present your content across platforms.

What is SlideShare?

The world's largest community for sharing presentations.

What is SlideShare?• Upload presentations publicly or privately

• Download presentations on any topic and reuse or remix

• Embed on blogs, websites, company intranets

• Share on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

• Leadshare: generate business leads with your presentations, documents, pdfs, videos

• Slidecast: sync mp3 audio with slides to create a webinar

• Embed YouTube videos inside SlideShare presentations

• SlideShare PRO: premium features like branded channels, analytics, ad free pages, etc.

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/about

The Stats on SlideShare

http://www.columnfivemedia.com/work-items/infographic-the-quiet-giant-of-content-marketing

The Stats on SlideShare

http://www.columnfivemedia.com/work-items/infographic-the-quiet-giant-of-content-marketing

(Slide)Share It TodaySTART NOW:

• Take existing content and repurpose:• White space• Strong visuals• Bullet points• Clean look and consistent theme• Minimal words per page

• Offer promotions, coupons, clickable links, Twitter prompts and more within your deck

• Integrate presentations across social platforms

• Set up Google Authorship for SlideShare

• Consider free vs. paid account

#4: TINY, VISUAL CONTENT WINS BIG

Chat apps … Vine …. Pinterest …. Oh my!

Trending Small

“There is a definite trend toward small.

If we can’t get big chunks of content through a limited ‘pipeline’ of brain cells, maybe we can get grains of sand through.

This would explain ideas like Vine (6-second videos), infographics, and even Pinterest, which is simply easy on the eyes without a lot of processing.”

–Mark W. Schaefer

Source: http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2013/12/content-marketing-predictions-2014/

Trending Small• One day = 1.5 billion pieces of content, 140 million tweets and

2 million videos*

• Short-form, mobile-friendly “micro” content will be 2014 trend• Vine; Instagram; Infographics; Pinterest

• Chat apps on the rise: messaging services that push content through a mobile device’s data connections• Snapchat Stories; Instagram Direct – as well as many others (WhatsApp, Kik,

Tango, LINE)

*http://www.jeffbullas.com/2012/03/07/9-awesome-reasons-to-use-infographics-in-your-content-marketing/#LtjTU24APRKeE8zH.99

Chat Apps

400 million photo or video “snaps” received daily

Most users under 25

Enable intimate, one-on-one relationships

Chat Apps &Brands

Taco Bell product intro

Acura prototype reveal

16 Handles coupon for photo

New Orleans Saints behind-the-scenes

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/99185699@N00/6485043861/lightbox/

Let’s Get Visual• 2/3 of world’s mobile data traffic will be video by 2017

• Five tweets per second contain a Vine link

• A branded Vine video is 4x more likely to be seen than a regular branded video

• Instagram videos are creating 2x more engagement than Instagram photos

• 21% of online adults use Pinterest, up from the 15% who did so in December 2012

Statistics: http://digiday.com/brands/15-stats-vine-and-instagram-video/ & http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Social-Media-Update.aspx

Create Tiny Content TodaySTART NOW:

• Decide if chat apps or visual platforms make sense for your brand:

• Audience demographics

• Content strategy

• Ability to produce strong visuals

• Optimize current content for visual sharing:

• Make blog photos Pinterest-friendly

• Create graphic images from key content points

• Turn research into infographics

#5: INSPIRE YOUR STORY

Seek out motivation to create your best work.

Write.Make your content “sticky”:

• Simplicity• Unexpectednes

s• Concreteness• Credibility• Emotions• Stories

Source: http://www.jeffbullas.com/2013/11/06/the-10-commandments-of-content-marketing/. Image: Unsplash

Focus.Know your audience:Create buyer personas

Ask yourself: What does my audience need to know?

Provide content that will help move them to the next stage of the buying journey

Image: Unsplash

Optimize.Write better headlines

Include subheads

Add eye-catching visuals

Keep your ideas short, simple and bulleted

Create strong calls to action

Image: Unsplash

Inspire Your Story Today

START NOW:

• Butt in chair, hands on keyboard.

• Read, read, read:

• www.Copyblogger.com

• www.ContentMarketingInstitute.com

• www.MarketingProfs.com • www.Econsultancy.com

• www.Brainpickings.com

What Inspires Your Story?

Let’s share ideas!

Add your thoughts on Twitter or Google+:#MarketersAnon

Read more at:www.cursivecontent.com/blog

Image: Unsplash

Presented by:Emily Cretella, Owner, Strategist & Copywriter

www.cursivecontent.com www.google.com/+EmilyCretella