Why a Comprehensive Content Strategy Includes Podcasting

What if there was a way to cut through the noise, get noticed, and make a real connection with your audience?

For many businesses, on-demand audio content is the way to do just that.

Podcasting is gaining in popularity, as you may have noticed, but the medium is not oversaturated.

There’s still plenty of room in the market for you, so don’t worry that you’re too late to get started.

It could be argued that podcasting is not right for every business. It could also be argued that blogging is not right for all businesses.

Yet, if your business takes content marketing seriously, then podcasting can be a strong component of your content strategy.

Here are four reasons to embrace podcasting as an integral part of your strategy.

1. Expand your reach

2015 was the year podcasting made its way toward the mainstream.

Edison Research has reported that one-third of all Americans 12 years of age and older have listened to at least one podcast. If there are still two-thirds of the population remaining who haven’t explored podcasts yet, then there are lots of new ears to reach.

The best time to start a podcast was four years ago. The second best time is now.

The sheer number of people listening to podcasts — and the even greater number of people still to discover the medium — makes podcasting an essential part of any content strategy.

With new cars starting to roll off the assembly line with podcast players installed in them, and both Google Play and Spotify getting into the podcast distribution game, podcasting is just getting started.

As of today, the potential reach of a podcast makes it enticing, but the part that should really excite you is the wave of new listeners still to catch the podcasting bug. That’s when podcasting will officially live in the mainstream.

2. Ease of creation

Podcasting is a great way to test new ideas. Simply hit record and talk.

When you find a topic or angle that resonates with your listeners, you can easily turn it into an article, report, or ebook.

Podcasting can even make you a better writer.

The technology that we have at our disposal enables anyone with a laptop and a $100 microphone to start their own radio show.

Don’t overthink it, and don’t worry about hating the sound of your own voice when it’s recorded — we all have that problem.

3. Build your content library

Even if you understand the importance and value of creating a content library, you may be wondering how you will produce all the content to fill your library.

It’s quite simple when you have a podcast strategy that attracts attention and builds your content arsenal.

Here are a few ideas to get you rolling:

1. Call an expert in your field and interview him or her via Skype.
2. Get your audio transcribed and turn the transcriptions into an ebook or ebook series.
3. Record audio versions of your most popular blog posts.

Podcasts help you create unique and valuable content. Each of these three ideas above could easily be created and added to your content library. Your audience would love it.

4. Cast your net far and wide

Podcasting can be used to cast a wider net for your business and bring more people to the top of your marketing funnel. This is essential for all content marketing strategies.

Audio content, unlike written content, can be consumed during commutes, showers, walks, and while at the gym.

You have multiple opportunities to reach out to new customers where and when they want to be reached.

Even your biggest fans won’t be able to read or listen to everything you create. This is why it’s essential to create content that can be distributed across multiple mediums.

Those who listen to your podcast may not read your blog, and those who read your blog may not listen to your podcast. So, create within both mediums and go where your audience already is.

Podcasting is an excellent opportunity for you to repurpose your work and find your audience where they are.

Getting started with podcasting

You may fear it’s too difficult or too much work to add a podcast to your content strategy.

Although creating a podcast is not easy, it can be simple. A lot of work, yes. But the potential rewards far outweigh any drawbacks that might concern you.

There are many compelling reasons why companies like Rainmaker Digital have decided to go all-in on podcasting, and you should too.

Including a podcast in your content strategy could even make your life easier, not cause the burden of more content to create.

If you want to expand your reach, the ease of creation, ability to test ideas quickly, and added value of audio content in your content library make podcasting a no-brainer addition to a robust content strategy.

Get Your Free, No-Frills, 9-Step Showrunner’s Guide … Today!

If you want to take the next step to develop, launch, or run your remarkable podcast, start with The Beginner’s Guide to Launching a Remarkable Podcast.

The free ebook is a guide to getting your podcast off the ground.

It follows the framework mapped out inside The Showrunner Podcasting Course. Yet, at the same time, it is a standalone guide to getting started today.

Get your free copy:
The Beginner’s Guide to Launching a Remarkable Podcast

The post Why a Comprehensive Content Strategy Includes Podcasting appeared first on Copyblogger.

from Copyblogger http://ift.tt/1o5XUz1
via IFTTT

Are All Email Unsubscribe Services Created Equal?

I am sure that from time to time, all of us have been tempted to try out one of the many “unsubscribe” services out there, in a desperate attempt to get a handle on our out of control Inboxes. There are several of these services that float around out there. I find it strange the way these services can just about “go viral” with a mention in an article or a video. On the Oracle side, we will get several inquiries in a short period of time, asking about what senders should be worrying about, and how to stop people from using these services.

It’s an interesting dynamic in which people will use a service that they know nothing about, and trust them more than they do the sender of the email. People will give one of these services blind faith access to their email account, instead of clicking an unsubscribe link. What does that say about certain email programs? I think there’s a lot to be learned from this behavior. There’s also a lot to be learned from recent developments in the “unsubscribe” world.

Unroll.me is one of the more popular of these services. Unroll.me has been around for many years. I know that I have tried them several times over the years as part of my due diligence.  Recently, unroll.me has been on quite a roll themselves. They have released new version of apps that purport to make unsubscribing from email even easier than ever before. People seem to be flocking to try out the new features. Here at Oracle, we saw one of those increased periods for tickets and questions about the service.

I must admit, as the first few questions came in, we gave the standard answer. Something was different about this time however, as the questions took a different track than before. Senders were seeing large amount of data coming in that they had never seen before.

What was happening?

Unroll.me, the service that had always promoted the fact that they would unsubscribe you from email, wasn’t actually unsubscribing anybody! That’s right; the service it turns out has been suppressing mail somewhere between the junk folder and the inbox, in kind of a state of suspended animation. Now recently, for whatever reason unroll.me decided they should go ahead and send the unsubscribes to the senders. The problem is that these are so old; some of the addresses don’t even exist anymore, leaving responsible senders scratching their heads.

I’ll fast forward in the story. Due to some great work by the Email Service Providers Coalition (ESPC), the team at Unroll.me has agreed to build a feedback loop platform which is a great outcome for everyone. It does beg a few questions. How did this happen? How should you treat these services? What’s next with these unroll.me addresses? Let’s address.

How Did This Happen? – People become so frustrated with their inboxes, that sometimes these services seem like a way to press the reset version without changing email accounts. I don’t believe people get that satisfaction very often, the mail generally keeps coming. When you are desperate, you will try anything. This says a lot about the way some senders treat email. If you treat the medium like it means nothing, your customers will return the favor with your messages.

How Should You Treat These Services? – No matter what, if someone is trying to unsubscribe from your messages, you need to let them go. The fight to keep a disgruntled subscriber is a losing one with real consequences. Email reputation can be ruined by continuing to mail to unengaged or disgruntled customers or prospects.

What’s next for Unroll.me? – In the next few months as unroll.me decides how and how far back they truly want to go, you should treat any of these requests like legit unsubscribe attempts. Again, it’s not worth the risk of trying to decipher who wanted to do what. The simple fact they were in this app should be enough to show intent.

This interesting tale ties back to my recurring theme for deliverability success, and that’s engagement. This is the most single important factor in the success of your email program. People shouldn’t feel so untrusting of you that they need to go to a 3rd party to unsubscribe from an email. They shouldn’t get email they don’t care about. They should be engaged and feel in control of the process. Opening up and ceding control is a difficult decision, but in the long-run will help you avoid pitfalls such as this one.

For more help and insight when it comes to email deliverability, download Email Deliverability: Guide for Modern Marketers.

from Oracle Blogs | Oracle Marketing Cloud http://ift.tt/1KpPYT3
via IFTTT

How Do I Monetize My Blog (Or Podcast)?

There is not a week that goes by without the Fizzle team hearing some version of a seemingly simple question: “How do I monetize my blog?”

This question comes from would-be entrepreneurs making an honest effort to follow advice they find around the web. That advice goes something like this:

1. Start a blog (or podcast)
2. Build an audience
3. Monetize
4. Enjoy Mai-tais on the beach

Like the ambitious entrepreneur you are, you build a website, write a few posts, and get a couple email subscribers. Rinse, wash, repeat. Then, you wake up one day and realize, “Hey, I’ve been at this a while. When does the monetize part happen?”

And who better to email than your friends at Fizzle? So our inboxes fill up with a common question that has a relatively simple answer.

But wait, how did we end up here to begin with?

The Audience-First Approach to Building a Business

We ended up here because of what we like to call the “audience-first” approach to building a business.

There is a longstanding debate over the best path to building a successful business: should you build a product first or an audience first?

Many online entrepreneurs believe audience first is the way to go. The reasoning goes like this: if you pick a good topic and then blog or podcast about it, a few things will happen:

• You’ll test whether there is interest in the topic
• If there is interest, you will start to build an email list
• If you’re able to build an email list, you can build trust with those people by sending valuable content
• If you send valuable content to your email list, those people will tell their friends about you
• If people tell their friends, your audience will continue to grow
• If your audience grows enough (and they trust you), you can ask them about their problems
• If you know about their problems, you can make things to solve those problems and then sell those things

The audience-first approach is great in theory, but it can be a bit like the Silicon Valley mentality of “build something popular, then figure out how to make money later.” If that sounds a little bit like, “shoot first ask questions later,” it’s because it is.

That is the problem with audience-first, especially when you miss a key step right in the beginning. It leads to a big ol’ question mark: “How am I supposed to make money again?”

How to Monetize Your Blog or Podcast

Before you ever build a website or publish a blog post (or podcast episode), you should decide what you will sell to your customers. You have five options:

1. Services – this is what freelancers, coaches, consultants, web designers, and speakers sell. These entrepreneurs use their skills to perform a service for a client.
2. Information – this is what people sell when they make ebooks, books, courses, webinars, audio programs and more. These entrepreneurs sell their knowledge and expertise by making a product that allows their customers to learn what they know.
3. Physical things – this is what people sell when they make art, watches, computers, furniture, food, and everything else in the physical world. These entrepreneurs use their skills and knowledge to make a physical thing that their customers will take home with them.
4. Software – this is what bootstrappers and Silicon Valley startups alike make. These entrepreneurs turn code into tools and platforms their customers can use to be more efficient with their time or have more enjoyable lives.
5. Eyeballs (or earholes) – yes, eyeballs and earholes are the “product” when a business makes its money from advertising, sponsorships, affiliate marketing, or other similar arrangement. These entrepeneurs create content that attracts as big of an audience as possible and then they sell access to that audience.

This is the part many online entrepreneurs skip when you’re eager to leave your job, earn more money, and give your family more freedom. Gotta love the irony!

Instead of deciding how your business will make money, you build a website, start a blog and hope for the best. “I’ll figure the money part out later,” you say. I did the same thing when I started my first company. It’s more fun to get started and not worry about the hard part.

Unfortunately, skipping the hard part is a bit short-sighted. Like many Silicon Valley startups, there always comes a day when you have to figure out how to make money. That often leads to failed businesses, but it doesn’t have to. That’s why we encourage entrepreneurs to think about how they’ll eventually make money right up front.

Here’s how that process from the beginning of this post should actually look:

1. Choose a topic
2. Choose an audience
3. Choose how you will make money
4. Start a blog or podcast
5. Build an audience
6. Learn about your audience’s problems related to your topic
7. Use your method for making money to build a product or service that solves one or more audience problem
8. Sell that thing
9. Mai-tais on the beach (if you’re lucky)

In other words, why wait until you’ve put in hundreds of hours of work and everything is on the line to ask, “How can I monetize my blog?” It’s too risky to leave it for later when you can tackle the problem head on right now.

Five Easy Takeaways to Monetize Your Blog or Podcast

So, what did we learn?

1. You can build an audience first or a product first; it’s completely up to you.
2. Regardless, you should decide what you’ll sell when you start your business instead of putting it off until later.
3. There are five things you can sell in exchange for money from your customers.
4. A blog is not a business. It’s a marketing channel. So is a podcast.
5. Use your blog or podcast as a tool to help your business make money.

How do you monetize a blog? By selling a thing to people who want it. Here’s the kicker: that doesn’t necessarily require a blog, now does it?

If you’re an entrepreneur, the goal is not to start a blog. It’s to build a successful business. The two are not necessarily the same. I’ll bet you’d rather have a thriving business than a popular blog that makes no money.

So, how will you make money in your business? Tell us about it in the comments!

from Fizzle http://ift.tt/1NPz8Ii
via IFTTT

Toby McDonald: Rockin' Wine Tours (and Kilts)

Toby McDonald took the blind leap, jumped in with both feet and started the successful Brewery Tours of Temecula. He's since expanded to include Rockin' Wine Tours of Temecula.Related Articles

1. Curt Keller: The Spark Behind Benchmark
2. The Most Interesting Benchmark Mobile App User in the World
3. What Do You Get with Free Email Marketing? Pretty Much Everything

from Benchmarkemail Blog http://ift.tt/1SWeGx3
via IFTTT

What CMOs Can Learn From Two Super Bowl Legends

Not sure if you heard or not but there is apparently some professional football game this coming Sunday. The Panthers of Carolina are squaring off against the Broncos of Denver for the right to hoist the Lombardi Trophy and proclaim to the world they are the champions of the NFL.

Obviously my tongue was planted firmly in my cheek for the whole world, seemingly, is aware that Super Bowl 50 is this coming Sunday. And to say things have changed since the very first Super Bowl until now would be a gross understatement. 

For example, the cost to run a commercial during Super Bowl I in 1967 was $37,500. The cost to run a commercial in Super Bowl 50 is $4 million. That's just one example of Lord knows a whole bunch of other things have changed both in our world of marketing but in the world at large, too. 

The More Things Change

But as much as things have changed, many have remained the same, such as the undeniable similarities between being on a winning team on the gridiron and being on a winning team in the marketing conference rooms and boardrooms across the land. 

Teamwork. Chemistry. Dedication. 

These are just three of the words that are applicable to both worlds. 

Last year I had the honor of speaking with not one, but two multiple Super Bowl winners - Joe Montana and Jerry Rice. My intention was to find out some of the lessons they learned while playing that they now apply to their private lives in the business world. 

Here's some of what these Hall of Famers had to say. 

SO: How would you say being an NFL QB is like running a company?

JM: You are in charge of a group of diverse talented people attempting to get them to play, execute and win at whatever that business is.  For example, getting people to believe in each other and trust in each, knowing mistakes will be made, yet helping people thru those mistakes instead of pointing fingers.  I used to say when people would ask me ‘What do you say out on the field when someone makes a mistake?’

Well, I tried to find out what happened, why it happened and how can I help them not to repeat the same mistake.  I would say… ‘we all are going to get yelled at when we get to the sideline so let’s work together and stay together.’ Believe and help each other cause we will all have our turns at making mistakes. We can’t get better by pointing a finger.

SO: Risk taking was part of your M.O. when you played. You took chances when perhaps others would not and you were successful more often than not. What would you say to a CEO/CMO, etc. who is perhaps risk-adverse and prefers to play it safe? And as a follow up can someone take too MANY risks? Is the key to know when to “go for it” and when not to?

JM: There are times to take risks. Without putting yourself on the line, at the appropriate times,  you may be good but will never be the industry leader. To get to the front of the pack you have to take chances —calculated chances. Knowing when that time is is what determines a leader and whether people will follow.

SO: What are some of the lessons you learned playing football that you applied to life after the game re: the business world?

JR: I apply so many of the same principles from football to the business world every day. Some of the most important things are the values of professionalism, being on time, teamwork and work ethic. 

SO: The chemistry between yourself and Joe Montana, then later Steve Young is legendary. Why is chemistry so important and how does that apply to the business world?

JR: Without chemistry, we couldn’t have had the long-term success we did and won so many Super Bowls. But chemistry isn’t something that comes naturally. For us, it took countless hours of practice and working together to develop it. Joe was right-handed, Steve threw with his left hand, so we had to put the time in to create the perfect chemistry. We eventually had a good understanding of each other and it became second nature, but you can’t take short cuts to get there. The same can be said for business.

Teamwork and work ethic play a huge role in achievement. A business, for example, whether larger or small, can’t succeed if the CEO is the only person focused on a specific outcome. The entire company has to be working hard towards the same goal.

###

A lot of what both Montana and Rice spoke about was building the right team, the right organization and along those lines we invite you to download The CMO Solution Guide For Building A Modern Marketing Organization. Presented in partnership with The CMO Club, you'll learn from 20 progressive CMOs and senior digital marketing executives about building more effective Modern Marketing teams.

from Oracle Blogs | Oracle Marketing Cloud http://ift.tt/1o3fRy9
via IFTTT

Why Your Conversions Suck (And How to Fix It)

Average site conversion rates hover around 1-2%.

That means at any given time, you have another 98-99% of people just hanging out.

So… WTF are they doing?

They’re looking, searching, procrastinating, hunting, browsing, considering, analyzing, evaluating, thinking, questioning, investigating, and comparing.

Basically they’re doing a bunch of stuff — besides purchasing — that might, one day, hopefully, lead to a purchase.

Your goal, site owner, is to help move them along.

Here’s how.

Are You Treating Different People, Differently?

When a site is struggling with low conversions, one of the first red flags is segmentation.

Or rather, a lack thereof.

(I’ve always wanted to use that word in a blog post.)

Specifically, are you treating all website visitors more-or-less the same?

The classic example is when AdWords traffic is going to your homepage. Or when your entire email database is seeing the same ‘special offer’ email.

If the best forms of marketing promotion are the right message, to the right person, at the right time, your website is no different.

The problem is that every single visit or session is unique (to a point). They’re different people, with different levels of awareness, looking or searching for different things.

And when generic tactical decisions are applied to all, results suffer. Or are nonexistent.

But fear not. There is a way around this.

The key is to determine:

• WHO is coming to your site (specifically),
• WHY they’re coming (motivation),
• WHAT is their intent (what are they going to do when they get there),
• And WHERE are they going to go (the next logical step)

Here’s how to figure it out, and where you can improve.

Start Breaking Down Visitor Intent by Buying Cycle Stage

Most savvy readers are familiar with the buying cycle, or stages people go through before making a purchasing decision.

Typically your website visitors fall somewhere along the following:

• Awareness: Although they’re beginning to recognize a related topic of interest, many times they still aren’t even aware they have a need for your product or service.
• Consideration (or Information and Evaluation): Visitor begins to recognize a potential need for a solution, and is starting to evaluate potential solutions.
• Decision (or Purchase): Here (and only here), is the visitor looking to actively make a decision to work with you in some capacity to solve their problem.

The trick then, is to begin segmenting visitors by determining where groups of people might fit along this path.

Then, we can use this initial knowledge to help hypothesize the rest of the answers.

Awareness

Site visitors in the ‘awareness’ stage probably make up the bulk of your site traffic (assuming you’re doing a lot of promotion and have at least a few thousand monthly visitors), making up anywhere from 40-70%

Because these people aren’t need-aware quite yet (they might not even be brand-aware at this point), pimping sales offers is useless.

Instead, they’re probably looking for some general information or education about some topic. That’s why many of them tend to come into your site through blog posts (again, assuming you’re actively promoting your site) and other unbranded pages.

For example, a visitor queries ‘san diego restaurant week’ and lands on a blog post on your site.

These people are so far removed from being a good sales opportunity, so your goal is to start setting up micro conversions, of different levels, to get something — anything! — from them so you’re able to continue following up.

First and foremost, keep them on-site! The Hard Rock’s sidebar features a Search bar, followed by Recent News to keep people clicking around (other topically-related content or events in this case).

They also feature a Tag Cloud with some of the biggest events also listed, including Comic-Con or the upcoming Valentine’s Day.

The blog post itself features other guest’s experience with instagram, and provides a way for the casual visitor to see more about the ‘scene’ or even join the fun themselves.

Last but not least, the blog post also features a Menu link to let people (a) browse to learn more and (b) entice them to recognize a need (“Hey – let’s go get sushi!”).

All of these little details have one goal in mind – keep people around long enough so they recognize that need and move into the next stage (of ‘Consideration’).

And if all else fails, you can use remarketing campaigns, like a restaurant week discount offer, to rope in visitors who’re leaving without providing at least an email.

One awesome tip with shared external content is to create a server redirect that will fire a ‘website custom audience pixel’ within Facebook ads before ultimately redirecting the visitor. Then you’ll be able to retarget these people on specific topics after they leave your site.

Check out this detailed guide on Facebook Ads cost if you’re interested in figuring out how to get a campaign like this up-and-running.

Consideration

Once people have recognized some need in their life, a tiny little opening has been created that your brand might be able to fulfill.

Generally speaking, somewhere between 10-30% of your site visitors might fall here at any given time (don’t check my math).

These visitors are beginning to consider their options and alternatives. Not only are they a little more knowledgeable about what you do at this point, but they’re also beginning to recognize the jargon or local slang used to differentiate between things.

Like, for example, neighborhoods within a city when they Google ’Gaslamp hotels’.

Not only are they looking for a hotel in Downtown San Diego, but they’ve also narrowed it down to a specific neighborhood, (hopefully) eliminating their other alternatives or options within a few square miles.

These people are ripe for a landing page, covering one specific topic (the one they were looking for!) in detail.

When you’ve got someone on the hook, you can also use similar landing pages to keep them browsing around for a bit before bouncing. Here, Hard Rock uses the secondary navigation on the left of the content.

The opening paragraph of the landing page perfectly positions the primary point on the page (wow, that was annoying).

Prominent (there it goes again) links pointing to the Hard Rock’s rooms and nightlife options help to take someone who’s already evaluating their options deeper into the site while also providing them a chance to show off what differentiates them best (like, a good time!).

Decision

The main reason your website conversions suck is because only around 10% or less of current website visitors might be ready to make a decision.

The rest, as discussed, are chillin.

But the good news, is that these people know you. Chances are, they’re looking for you by name with a branded search, like ‘Hard Rock San Diego’.

These peeps have looked around. They’ve considered a few alternatives. And in this example specifically, they’ve also utilized influential 3rd party sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor.

What better way to tempt someone so close to purchase with a special offer or package.

Hard Rock does a nice job highlighting the seasonal (and most profitable) ones first, while following it up with the more heavily discounted stuff at the bottom (so it’s there, but… don’t the other ones look way more fun!).

The drop downs help you quickly browse through the highlights of each package (even though it might be a bit wordy).

So you’re telling me that I don’t even have to think about or plan this Hallmark holiday and I can just check-in with my wife while you take care of the rest? Here’s my credit card number.

Also, if that red button with decent copywriting (complete with typo – whoops) doesn’t entice you, there’s a global footer CTA on the bottom of the page that funnels you into their booking system where you’re trapped for all eternity. Just kidding. I hope… :(

3 Takeaways to Increase Conversions

Phew. That was a lot of writing to make a very small point.

And that is: A/B testing a single element on a single page won’t improve your site’s conversion rate.

The way you make big conversion improvements it by making a lot of tiny ones, first.

Here’s where to get started.

Tip #1. Make the Basics, Basic

Start by figuring out where you’re at within each stage.

You know: user flows, page level user behavior, click tracking, surveys. All the ‘blocking and tackling’ of basic site analytics.

Then implement ‘best practices’. A quick Google will provide amazing resources for all the basics, like the essential landing page elements.

Also, make sure your S#!^ is fast. Ain’t nobody got time to wait longer than three seconds for pages to load. Managed WordPress hosting company Kinsta has one of the best guides on the topic, in a Beginner’s Guide to Website Speed Optimization.

Oh, also make sure you have enough traffic in the first place. Generally, that means A LOT. Most site owners would be better served by simply pouring more resources into the top of the funnel first, before over-prioritizing conversion optimization.

If you haven’t got the basics covered, there’s no point in moving on to the advanced stuff.

Tip #2. Form Hypotheses

After analyzing user behavior for a few weeks, the next step is to make some educated guesses about what they want, what’s not working, and how you might be able to fix it.

Go on, stick your neck out. Come up with a few likely scenarios.

You may be wrong. But you also may be right. (Where have I heard that before?)

HOW can you improve a visitor’s path and get them to logical ‘next step’?

Should you remove pages, and make it easier? OR should you add options to increase Pages per Session (so visitors have a chance to become interested before moving onto the next step)?.

Convesrion XL has a thorough ‘customer journey maps’ guide if you’re looking for concrete ideas.

Once you have ‘path’s and micro-conversions set-up, you can begin to drill deeper to see where stumbling blocks are, or gaps that can be improved.

And because you’re focusing on the tiny interactions, it should be easier to iterate or make adjustments

Which brings us to…

Tip #3. Eliminate Distractions

It’s impossible to improve overall website conversions from 1 to 2% in one fell swoop.

However it IS possible to begin fixing site conversions from Awareness to Consideration, and then Consideration to Decision. Optimize the little steps within the customer lifecycle to move the big needle.

Breaking it down into manageable chunks not only makes it easier to execute, but it also makes it easier to focus on making the right choices in specific scenarios to set you up for future success.

Execution is everything.

And in a world where options are limitless, constraints help prioritize that the important stuff — the biggest gaps or stumbling blocks along the entire customer journey — are addressed first.

About the Author: Brad Smith is a founding partner at Codeless Interactive, a digital agency specializing in creating personalized customer experiences. Brad’s blog also features more marketing thoughts, opinions and the occasional insight.

from The Kissmetrics Marketing Blog http://ift.tt/1SCdygN
via IFTTT

A Visual Guide to the Industry’s Best Branding and Marketing Campaigns

The world, in case you didn't notice, has moved well beyond "just email" when it comes to digital marketing. Organizations today are using sophisticated, multi-faceted and cohesive digital communications to build brands and create and foster seamless customer experiences across channels and touch points.

As visual proof to this, I am pleased and proud to present Oracle Marketing Cloud’s first ever Japan/Asia Pacific LookBook.

As Ryan Smith, Studio Manager, APAC Creative Services for Oracle Marketing Cloud writes in his introduction: "Many of the campaigns inside (the LookBook) break the rules of design and content and challenge their audience. In tone, they range from simple to sophisticated, elegant to playful, but each campaign succeeds because good strategy is backed by design and content that convey the essence of the brand."

Some of the brands featured in the LookBook are Mitsubishi and FOREVER NEW.

 

Download the JAPAC LOOKBOOK 2015 today and see for yourself how these brands are challenging the status quo and in doing so are standing apart from their competition. 

from Oracle Blogs | Oracle Marketing Cloud http://ift.tt/1PSegHR
via IFTTT