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4 Priceless Personal Finance Content Marketing Examples

Jan 24, 2012 at 9:00 AM by Outbrain Staff | No Comments

Unless you’re an accountant, financial planner, or perhaps Warren Buffett, personal finance is probably not at the top of your list of exciting topics to read about. But not all personal finance content is boring and inaccessible. Here are a few businesses that show how content can be a relevant, beneficial and effective channel for personal finance companies to pursue in order to find consumers on the web who are likely to be interested in their products or services.

Mint
This popular online money manager keeps a robust blog that features extensive tips and how to’s for topics such as saving and investing. The trends section uses expertly designed infographics to highlight unique data, which in turn showcases the depth of the product offering.

What You Can Learn From Tim Tebow (This Week in Content Marketing)

Jan 19, 2012 at 9:45 AM by Outbrain Staff | 1 Comment

And we’re back — this week with news on house ads, metrics, engagement, and…football? There are content marketing takeaways lurking in the most unexpected of places, if you know what to look for.

What Tim Tebow Teaches Us About Content Marketing by The Mythic Marketer

No matter what team you root for, Tim Tebow has undeniably struck a chord online. Here’s a look at what has helped him become the topic of so much conversation.

Lies, Damn Lies, and Marketing Metrics by iMedia Connection

As the saying goes, when you cheat, you’re only cheating yourself. How can marketers select and analyze meaningful metrics rather than deceptive ones?

Publishers Need a House Ad Strategy by Digiday

Sometimes, selling to the lowest bidder can cause you to lose out on long-term value that you could have gained by instead developing your audience.

Pseudonyms Drive Community by AVC

When building a commenting community on your site, supporting users in cultivating pseudonym-driven personas could be a boon to engagement.

How to Create Compelling Content Using Fear and Desire by Content Marketing Institute

Can all content strategy be encapsulated in these two elements of human nature? One content marketer holds that the answer is yes.

Content the Real Thing for Coca-Cola (Videos)

Jan 12, 2012 at 9:56 AM by Outbrain Staff | No Comments

Social media has changed the game when it comes to marketing and brand development. It’s no longer what you say, but how you say it. Little wonder that the world’s most iconic brand is taking the lead in engaging its consumers through content.

Coca-Cola’s mission for 2012 is “Content 2020,” the brainchild of Coca-Cola’s Jonathan Mildenhall, VP Global Advertising Strategy and Creative Excellence, who recently explained to a panel that “All advertisers need a lot more content so that they can keep the engagement with consumers fresh and relevant, because of the 24/7 connectivity.”

Content 2020 is a new strategic direction for Coca-Cola with a focus on content excellence and hope that it will help the brand become a more significant part of people’s lives. Its first project will begin as part of the brand’s London 2012 Olympic sponsorship.

To learn more about Content 2020, watch these videos created for the internal Coca-Cola marketing team in order to lay out the strategic vision.  Joe Pulizzi of Content Marketing Institute says every marketing professional — brand or client side — should watch these videos, below.
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Content Is King for Big Brands in 2012 (This Week in Content Marketing)

Jan 12, 2012 at 3:45 AM by Outbrain Staff | No Comments

2012 is already well underway, and there’s no time like the present to make sure your content strategy is airtight. Check out these articles for guidance on where to begin:

CMO Predictions for 2012 – Part 3: General Mills, Gogo, L’Oréal, NASCAR, Visa Hail Content as King by Forbes.com

Stay ahead of the curve this year by checking in on which brands are pegged to put out the best examples of content marketing.

20 Women Who Rock Content Marketing by Content Marketing Institute

Follow these women on Twitter so you can tap into their rock star know-how. Also, check out the comments section for more strong recommendations that didn’t make it into the post itself.

How to Use Content to Increase Your Sales by Social Media Examiner

For the visual learners out there, here’s a video that should speak to your business needs pretty directly.

Social Monsters: The 25 News Sites Winning at Social Distribution by Newswhip

The UK is doing something right when it comes to content — outside of the Huffington Post, it’s British publications that are picking up the most viral momentum.

Top 5 Brands by Facebook Engagement by Digiday

Sheer volume of your audience isn’t enough. Which brands leverage their fan bases in the most effective ways?

Driving Innovation at Outbrain

Jan 10, 2012 at 8:00 AM by Dalit Heldenberg | No Comments

How many times you thought to yourself during work – This process must be improved! or I wish we had the time to think this through… or even better, I have this great idea, I wish I had the time to implement it? For me, a lot of times.

In the last two weeks of 2011, our R&D (located in Israel) and whoever wanted to jump in from the company, took the time off and had Quality Time which was spent learning new technologies, improving inner processes, and (the best part) participate in 3 days of a Hackathon where we each chose an idea/project, implemented it in a limited time, and presented the final product or working demo outcome to the company worldwide.

To begin the Hackathon, we divided into groups with one caveat that each group should be composed with people that do not usually work together. The result was a great bonding opportunity for everyone.

I joined from product management and had the pleasure to collaborate with 3 great software engineers (Dan L, Harel B, Asaf L). In our team you could actually see the real team spirit — after intensive brainstorming, we had a goal and we really wanted to come up with a working product. We stayed up late (a pizza night) and implemented a real-time dashboard that catches the essence of the large amount of traffic that runs into Outbrain pipelines, but in a visual way.

The Hackathon finished with a fun session of good food and drinks, and each group presented its product in front of the entire company, including all Outbrainers around the world.

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Importance of Content Recommendations Predicted in 2012

Jan 9, 2012 at 12:07 PM by Kelly Reeves | No Comments

CMO.com aggregated predictions from 32 leading marketers on their outlook for digital marketing in 2012. 6 of the 32 responses directly mentioned content marketing and recommendations as something to look for more of in the coming year. Here is a sample of their responses:

Content Marketing, Refined

“Content marketing… is now the most-used marketing strategy and has paved the way for growth in practices such as content curation–the process of finding, organizing, and sharing information online. In the upcoming year, we will see the strategies that marketers utilize to create and distribute their own, as well as third party, content become more concentrated. Marketers will become more focused as they harness the emerging technologies that are now available in the field…  As always, the most relevant, timely and fresh content will always have the greatest impact.” 
- Pawan Deshpande, CEO, HiveFire

Brand Journalism

“…brand journalism and content creation will continue to be important ways to connect with consumers and build trust and loyalty. Quality of audience and how brands maintain a conversation also will matter more than simply number of hits. It seems that anyone (or any cat) can now get 1,000,000 views on You Tube. As an ROI measure, volume in isolation of engagement will become increasingly irrelevant.”
- Simon Sproule, CVP, Global Marketing Communications, Nissan Motor Co.

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Outbrain Launches in France with TF1

Jan 9, 2012 at 9:21 AM by Kelly Reeves | No Comments

Today we are announcing our expansion into the French market with TF1. We’re proud to partner with France’s national TV station who is using Outbrain on two of its properties, TF1 News and Plurielles, to increase page views and revenue and to attract a new audience.

Olivier Abecassis, COO at e-TF1 said: “As one of the first publishers to be using this innovative technology in France we are seeing that Outbrain’s technology is having a real impact on our user engagement and allowing our readers to discover interesting online content. As a direct result of this enhanced user experience, we are also seeing clear benefits to us such as increased page views, video streams and a stickier, more engaging site.”

See the full press release for more information.

2012: The Year of Content? (This Week in Content Marketing)

Jan 6, 2012 at 10:45 AM by Outbrain Staff | No Comments

As the New Year gets underway, it is a good time to plan your content strategy for 2012. What worked in 2011 that you want to continue? What areas do you want to focus on in 2012? Are there any new platforms or strategies you want to implement?

Here is a round-up of articles this week to help you plan your content strategy for the upcoming year:

Cash in on Content and Social Media Marketing in 2012 by Forbes
Many experts are dubbing 2012 the Year of Content. Susan Gunelius explores five ways companies can use content marketing to increase their revenue – from focusing on branding to interacting with potential customers.

How a Portfolio Approach Can Help You Develop Better B2B Content by Content Marketing Institute
Bernie Theil describes how using the portfolio approach to identify topics and understand their audience needs can create a long term strategy that delivers relevant B2B content.

Five Social Media Hang Ups to Avoid like the Plague by Social Media Today
Social media will continue to play a pivital role in content marketing in 2012. Joe Cox describes five common pitfalls many companies run into and explains how to avoid each one.

Why 2012 will be the Year of the Artist-Entrepreneur? by Gigaom
Michael Wolf predicts that this year artists will continue the trend of distributing their work directly to consumers through technology and bypassing the middlemen.

Viral Video: “Making of the Hobbit” – Part Five by All Things D
This vlog is excellent example of using video to providing interesting content to an existing fan base to generate interest in an upcoming release.

For more great articles, follow us on Twitter where we curate digital and content marketing news on the daily.

What is “Content”?

Jan 5, 2012 at 9:00 AM by Outbrain Staff | No Comments

The idea of content marketing is certainly not a new one. Marketers continually embrace content and discover its power in connecting their brands with consumers. But as the tactic has risen in popularity, companies with no traditional connection to content find themselves questioning how they can get started. Varying kinds of content have become more prevalent in marketing circles, which begs the question: what exactly is content, and is it why is important to your business strategy?

In an October 2011 blog post on Entrepreneur.com, Mikal Belicove describes content marketing as “the creation and publication of original content - including blog posts, case studies, white papers, videos and photos – for the purpose of generating leads, enhancing a brand’s visibility, and putting the company’s subject matter expertise on display.”

But it’s not enough to simply create great content. Brands need to make sure they are creating the “right” content – the kind that puts relevant information in the hands of potential customers, in a format that they can easily digest and use. They need to make sure their content is getting into the right hands at the right time and in the right form – only then will it provide value back to the bottom line of the business.

With that in mind, here are some common forms content can take, and some inside tips on the best way to use them to enhance your brand:

Blog Posts

Blogs are quick to write, inexpensive to produce and can generate industry buzz quickly. But more importantly, blog posts can get people talking about your ideas. As Heather Huhman writes on Mashable.com, one of the benefits of a blog post is that you can get discussions going among industry leaders right in the comments of your post.

While regular updates to your blog matter, it is more important to come up with interesting, useful and provocative topics. Ideal blog topics are those that can be addressed in under 500 words, encourage your reader to join the discussion, and provide either professional or personal value to your audience.

Because you can control the content and the frequency of blog posts, many companies use blogs as a cornerstone of their content marketing strategy, and encourage readers to follow them daily or weekly. Other ways to increase your blog exposure include guest blogging on sites with a similar audience to offer insider information, such as special topics and tips.

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6 Turnkey Tools for Content Distribution on Mashable

Jan 3, 2012 at 2:58 PM by Kelly Reeves | 1 Comment

Today, Outbrain is featured in a great post over at Mashable that lists 6 Turnkey Tools for Content Distribution by Contently‘s Shane Snow.

For traditional and brand publishers alike, content creation can be difficult to strategize and execute on its own that finding the right audience for the content can often become overlooked. The post examines simple solutions for content distribution and scalable ways to reach new audiences.

From the post:

Charlie Baker, founder of Palimedia, which handles reader acquisition and paid syndication for several global brands, says, “The Outbrain script allows a publisher to reach out beyond its own network of properties to reach users on the Outbrain network in a highly automated fashion. In many cases, I can do more with Outbrain because I don’t have to play by some of the rules Google and Facebook forces on its advertisers.”

Head on over to Mashable to read more client quotes and insights. Thanks for including us, Shane!