2014 is just around the corner and with the new year will, undoubtedly, come new challenges for digital and brand marketers. Before we bid 2013 adieu, though, we wanted to take a moment and see what the top 10 lonelybrand blog posts of 2013 were. Here’s what we found.
10. 4 Small Business Saturday Promo Ideas
This year, many big name department stores leaked their Black Friday sales ahead of time, and some retailers to opened at 6 am on Thanksgiving. With this kind of competition, SMBs need to let their customers know that they’ll be participating in Small Business Saturday. We compiled a few ways to help boost your biz’s visibility for Small Business Saturday.
9. 12 LinkedIn Influencers Every Brand Marketer Should Follow
Each time you log into LinkedIn, you see a batch of so-called “Influencers” smiling at the top of your news feed, begging you with their eyes to read their latest and greatest blog post. There are dozens upon dozens of Influencers that you can follow, but we combed through the master list to find the 12 brand marketing influencers you need to follow today.
8. Key Elements of a Social Media Editorial Calendar
As community managers we go to work with a fully loaded tool belt packed with shiny apps and platforms. But at the end of the day, our most important tool is one we build ourselves: the editorial calendar. Here’s how we organize our editorial calendars to build brand stories on a yearly, monthly, weekly, daily and even hourly basis.
7. Vine Contests for Brands: Tips & Examples
When Vine made its official debut this past January, we all knew it would only be a matter of time before brands started rolling out video contests. Social competitions involving user-generated content are a a go-to tactic for brand engagement, and they’re not hard to come by on other platforms. A handful of notable Vine contests have been executed so far. Here are a few key takeaways from the pioneers.
6. 10 Tips for Getting Press as a HARO Source
Regardless of your company’s size or scope, Help A Reporter Out can be a great resource for scoring press mentions that might otherwise be unattainable. Here are ten tips for vetting and answering queries, as told by a handful of Help A Reporter Out sources.
5. How to Encourage Customers to Write Product Reviews
With the enormous growth of sites like Amazon and Yelp, reviews have become an increasingly vital component for online sales. We spoke with a handful of online retailers, from SaaS companies to independent authors and apparel distributors to find out which review solicitation strategies get the job done.
4. Tips for Naming Your E-Newsletter
Does your newsletter have a name? While certainly not a requirement, adding a memorable moniker to regular updates can help subscribers grow familiar with and even come to expect your monthly or weekly bulletin. Rather than defaulting to the lackluster Brand Newsletter, get creative and really say something about the newsletter’s value. These guidelines should help get the creative juices flowing.
3. Starting a Brand Ambassador Program from Scratch the Lululemon Way
When we build communities around products, we dream of creating something larger than a product or even larger than a brand name. We want to create deeper meaning in people’s lives. There are many ways to start building meaning around your product, but there is really no more effective way than empowering individual brand ambassadors to run with your vision and to better their own lives as a result. But if you’ve never done it before, how do you begin?
2. How To Remove Yourself as a Facebook Page Admin
Have you had the realization that you’re still technically an admin for several Facebook pages that you’re no longer responsible for? Sure, the irrelevant notifications are obnoxious, but more importantly, if anything unsavory happens on that page, you’re still connected and could be liable. It’s time for some Facebook admin spring cleaning. Here’s how it works.
1. 5 Online Digital Marketing Courses Worth Taking
Ready to step up your digital marketing game? Rather than throwing your hat (and life savings) in the ring with a graduate degree in digital marketing, you might want to start out by honing a few specific skills with these comparatively fast-paced and affordable online classes.
