Like most businesses, you will probably have your marketing plan for 2012 already in place. But have you built your plan so that you’re ready to respond to the latest market trends?

While it’s important to stay focused, it’s equally as important to be prepared for the opportunities and challenges that will come from the latest marketing trends.

Wondering what the future looks like for marketing in the year ahead?

Here are my predictions for the top ten marketing trends of 2012:

1. A broader brand presence across channels

With the range of available marketing channels growing all the time, businesses will start to recognise the value of connecting up their marketing approach across the web, social media and other channels. This will be inspired by the need to better manage business resource in more challenging times – and to create a more streamlined brand presence. Instead of relying on one or two channel marketing approaches, more and more companies will link up their activities to create a truly coherent brand across multiple channels.

2. The rise and rise of user-generated content

User generated content took on momentum in 2011 – and this will continue into the New Year. Whether it is a YouTube video showing a customer using a product or customers sharing their experiences within a selective online community, content that comes direct from the potential or existing customer is likely to grow in value. The key test of this trend will be how successfully companies inspire and facilitate user-generated content. However they do it, it looks like the voice of the user will grow significantly in value in 2012.

3. Mobile marketing reaches critical mass

Mobile is going centre stage. A third of smartphone owners have used their device to buy a product online (Source: EPiServer) and this number is growing. The companies that fully prepare their marketing approach for mobile in 2012 are the ones that will benefit from a potential customer-base that browses – and shops – on the move. This demands targeted, mobile-ready content and a willingness to adapt internal marketing processes. With 59% of UK consumers now in possession of a smartphone and 18% owning a tablet device (Source: EPiServer), mobile marketing is a trend that businesses can’t afford to ignore.

4. The gap closes between business brands and social media

We all know social media is big news for business. But in 2012, it will be even bigger – and even slicker. Companies will start taking social media more seriously as a professional marketing tool. But it won’t just be the big companies using social media to actively connect with customers. Many more companies will start to interact, meaning customer service – and customer interaction – via social media will evolve even further. The gap between social media and the business brand will get ever smaller. Again, the user or the customer will take centre stage with the rise of the brand advocate in recommending, recruiting customers and connecting with companies in 2012.

5. A clearer vision on the value of analytics

Companies will seek to improve their understanding of marketing analytics in 2012. With increased channels and brand presence, businesses will look to clarify and streamline their marketing data. Companies will recognise the value of analytics that allow them to maximise on the flexibility of social media marketing by adapting their content according to live viewer response. Add to this an increasing focus on cost management and online marketing analytics look set to become the vital flipside of business marketing.

6. Up close and personal

Next year is the year that marketing becomes more personalised. Tailored content that is customised to the needs and interests of a specific market or audience will grow in value and popularity. This is for a number of reasons – the increasing growth of content’s role within online marketing and the growing presence of online, niche communities, for example. As people become more and more accustomed to selecting which brands and businesses can join them within their own online community, the value of personalised marketing approaches and content will continue to grow.

7. Content diversifies – again

Content has been big this year – and its role and value is likely to diversify even more in the year ahead. With the increase of personalised marketing, more companies will start to present content that is focused on telling stories about their business and products or services. But this won’t be a top down approach. Companies will need to draw out the stories from within their workforce – and encourage their workforce to share stories. In 2012, carefully crafted, managed and distributed content will play a vital role in successful business marketing.

8. The customer recommendation rules

In 2012, the voice of the user or the customer will get louder. Businesses are becoming smarter at integrating opportunities for customer feedback and response within their marketing approach. Social media word of mouth will keep growing, with people increasingly relying on their own online social circles to advise and comment on their choice of services or products. The companies that actively embrace this shift will be the ones that boost their profile and credibility in 2012.

9. The influence factor takes over

Closely linked to prediction number 9, social media influence will gain critical mass in 2012. Already gaining momentum, a powerful trend in the year to come is the ability for companies to influence, increase and map their influence across the social media channels. The power to inspire users in a real-world, but professional way will make a huge difference to their performance in 2012.

10. Video is centre stage

Anticipated to be big for quite some time, it looks likely that video is set to be one of the leading marketing trends in 2012. The growth of video within business marketing fits naturally with the broadening of social media channels and with increasing customer focus on feedback and recommendations. Expect video to take on some surprising approaches in 2012 – with many companies developing fresher and more user-focused forms of viral marketing.

How’s 2012 looking to you?

2012 is looking like a year where marketing channels and messages will diversify – and where user connection, influence and feedback will rule. Companies can stay ahead by embracing and facilitating how their customers interact with them on social media. Combine this with a more targeted content and better connected cross channel marketing can help grow your leads, customers and revenue in 2012.

Whatever your choice, the New Year is a great opportunity to review what’s been working for you – and what you want to leave behind in 2012. Look back at past marketing activities and at their ROI and other results to see what’s worked best. Then you can move on to make more leads and more customers your New Year’s resolution for 2012. Start with 40 ideas for New Year resolutions now – download this eGuide 40 New Year’s Resolutions for Marketing in 2012.

Guest Author: Sookie Shuen is the community manager at Tomorrow People, an inbound marketing consultancy. Read her Inbound Marketing Blog.

More Reading

• 18 Key Observations about the State of Blogging in 2011
• 6 Social Media Networks to Watch in 2012 [Plus Infographics]
• 10 Things You Must Know about the State of Social Media in 2011
• 7 Top Trends in Social Media
• Is This the Future of Books?
• 5 Insights on the Future of Social Media
• Is Blogging the Future of Publishing
• 30 Predictions of the Future for Twitter
• 45 Social Media Trends and Predictions

In 1997 the first social network was created called sixdegrees.com and was the forerunner of the modern social networks that started to gain traction in 2002.

The first of the modern next generation social media networks that followed in 2002, had the the funky name of Friendster, which to my ear sort of sounds like a hybrid cross between a “Friend” and a “Hamster”.

As with any good idea it was quickly copied (“ripped off” is another phrase that comes to mind) and MySpace was created and launched in 2003.

This social media network dominated for the next 5 years as teenagers became addicted to the interactive and multimedia rich, self publishing web platform that allowed them to share music, content and information with their friends.

The addictive power of the social network was on display to many parents as dinner tables around the world were deserted by teens after gulping down their meat and potatoes, as they rushed off to their computers to continue their “MySpacing”

In 2008 Facebook surpassed MySpace and became the dominant social network.

Since then we have seen the rise of the “smart phone” connecting people to the web without wires or a desk bound computer.

This mobile social web has allowed everyone to become a publisher no matter where they are.

The Information Tsunami

At a conference in 2010 Eric Schmidt the then CEO of Google stated

“Every two days, we create as much information as we did from the dawn of civilization up until 2003”

This information includes content such as emails, tweets, Facebook updates, Photos, YouTube video uploads and text messages.

Social networks have largely contributed to this tidal wave of  information and content

• Videos Uploaded to YouTube – 48 hours of Video uploaded every minute and YouTube receives 3 billion views per day
• Photos Uploaded to Facebook – 250 million photos are uploaded to Facebook every day
• Tweets on Twitter – 200 million tweets per day
• Email – Over 100 trillion emails a year or more than 300 billion emails a day
• Text Messages in 2011 – more than 7 trillion

Many teens are averaging over 3,000 text messages per month.

Much of this is content is not of great quality in fact it is estimated that 89% of all emails are spam.

So as a Social Media marketer, business owner or CEO, how do you harness, focus and take advantage of this information and content “Tsunami”

Is Traditional Marketing Broken?

If you want to get serious about social media marketing for your business or organisation the foundation of any focused effort is having great content to publish and promote.

Other terms for this marketing approach are

• Inbound marketing
• Content Marketing
• Pull marketing

These all provide a description for an alternative paradigm to traditional marketing that is all about interruption marketing including telemarketing, cold calling and traditional advertising that pushes messages “at” you.

Technology now allows us to block calls, skip channels on your TV or record and watch later.

The secret behind content marketing that is published and promoted on social networks including blogs, Facebook and Twitter is attracting loyal tribes of readers and viewers.

This allows you to attract and pull customers to you that will engage, read and view and then buy.

The 10 Commandments of Content

Here are 10 building blocks that you need to include in your plans for marketing your business on an increasingly social and mobile web.

1. Get Focused

Who are you speaking to? Provide content that communicates with your customers and prospects in a language they understand.

2. Create Goals for your Content

What are you trying to achieve– capture emails, provide leads, nuture prospects or improve your visibility to search engines.

Do you want to make the content so entertaining that it makes your brand memorable and remarkable and do you want the message to become viral. A funny video may achieve this.

When designing your content make sure it is not content for contents sake, but is assisting you in growing your business

3. Become a Publisher

The democratisation of publishing and marketing means that you now don’t have to wait for your local printer to print off 10,000 marketing brochures and then organise them to be letter boxed .

Now you can write a blog article, email it to your “opt in” subscribers, tweet the link to your Twitter followers and promote it on Facebook.

4. Solve Problems

Everyone has problems and helping your customers and prospects solve them will take them from interested readers to raving fans. Write content that shows people how to fix their problems that are relevant to your industry and market.

5. Include Calls to Action

Don’t forget to include calls to action with your content. It could be to subscribe, share or register for an eBook or whitepaper.

Creating small calls to action will lead prospects towards the ultimate goal for any business and that is to put some money down or place an order.

6. Talk like a Human

Corporate speak was invented by copy writers but a while back people started switching off.

Being “Authentic” is the new black and being real is the “new marketing” that is a message that cuts through

7. Show What Works

Case studies that “show” how your product is used are much more effective than “telling“. Create content that showcases how other customers are using your product and services to achieve success.

Nothing like a bit of “social proof” to create credibility, trust and action.

8. Have some Fun

The original 10 commandments didn’t mention having fun but it helps enormously to present you and your company as having a sense of humour. This doesn’t mean making every piece of content a comedy act but lighten up and show your other side.

Orabrush YouTube Video – This companies use of humour and social media helped them sell 1 million toothbrushes that reduces bad breath.

Click here to view the embedded video.

9. Publish Everywhere

Publishing was expensive and just placing an ad in your local newspaper could cost you thousands.

Now you can publish on dozens of social networks at no cost within minutes. Despite there being thousands of social networks, publish on the social media channels that are used by your customers.

Make your content ubiquitous – place it everywhere from hub (blog or website) to outposts (Facebook, YouTube and Twitter) where your customers hangout!

10. Create Multi-Media

Not everyone likes reading, in fact the younger generation generally reads and views content in many formats including online videos on YouTube. The social web is about rich multi-media that engages interest and communicates visually and not just the “written word“.

Publish your content in several different formats and media types that your customers will like and enjoy. Some examples of these are video, audio (podcast), photos, whitepaper, info-graphics and eBooks.

I know I have 10 commandments listed here but I am sure that you may have discovered some more.

How have you used and optimised your content for your social networks and marketing?

Look forward to hearing your stories.

More Reading

• What are 10 Addictive Types of Content?
• How to Increase Your Blog Traffic by 55% with One Button
• 5 Motivations for Sharing Content
• 20 Ideas for Social Media Content that Engages
• Is it Better to Share on Google, Facebook or Twitter+
• 9 Questions to Ask your Customers When Creating Content

Image by ideacreamanuelaPps

If there is one company that understands the key elements on how to ‘Blog’ in a B2B market then you can’t go past the Hubspot blog.

Hubspot was founded by Brian Halligan and Darmesh Shah  who met at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2004 and incorporated HubSpot in June 2006. It was backed by venture capitalists including Sequoia Capital, Google Ventures and Salesforce.com. The company provides a range of monthly subscription (from entry level to premium) services to small and medium business that helps customers use, measure and monitor internet marketing techniques and tactics such as social media, blogging and search engine optimization (SEO).

What Makes the Hubspot Blog a Success?

The premise of the company was built on the idea that permission or inbound marketing was more powerful than interruption or outbound marketing such as cold calling and telemarketing. I was fortunate to have discovered Hubspot’s blog in 2008 and was impressed with the amount of content that they made available for free.  I have been a fan ever since and continue to visit often.

So what makes the Hubspot blog a shining example of what a corporate blog should do and be?

One of the features that the blog demonstrates is ‘social media synergy’… which is the practice of using optimized and integrated social media channels and multimedia that make a brand ubiquitous. This produces results that are far greater than the sum of the individual parts. It is about using every major social channel such as Twitter, Facebook, Blogs and rich media to provide content where the audience is hanging out and making yourself attractive for Google.

Hubspot knows how to educate, inform and produce content that amazes and  inspires companies to be the best they can. They understand the essence of a blog which is to give till it hurts.

11 Elements of a Successful Corporate B2B Blog

1. Multiple Rich Media

Hubspot doesn’t just use text in its blogs but produces and publishes videos, cartoons, Infographics, Slideshare and other rich media that keep the audience educated, engaged and sometimes even entertained.

2. Posting Often and Regularly

They used to blog once a day but now it is not unusual to see several blog posts every 24 hours.

3. Multiple Social Media Channels

Facebook, Twitter, Blog are all in their social media arsenal. Just because they are a B2B company, they do not just take the blog and LinkedIn approach. Facebook is an important channel for B2B and publishing and participating on the appropriate social media platforms makes it easy for their content to spread as their fans share, embed and comment on the social web.

4. Solves Problems

Hubspot know that business needs help to solve it’s problems and the tips and ‘How To’s go a long way to displaying that Hubspot knows how to assist small business in making them successful.

5. Don’t Sell

There is nothing worse than a hard sell as it turns potential customers away never to return. The content is about educating and providing answers to everyday business problems. It is no wonder that they now have thousands of customer and have raised tens of millions of dollars in venture funding.

6. Focused

They know their target markets and their messages and their content is all about addressing in words, videos and images the needs of their audience. As a corporate blogger you need to keep in mind it is not about you, it is about your audience.

7. Have a Call to Action

The blog includes calls to action that include ‘Download Now!’  and ‘Subscribe by Email’. The content is free and the service is great but it is still about business. This captures email and information that is used for marketing.

8. Entertaining

Cartoons and fun staff videos emerge from time to time to make sure that their audience realises that they are not a faceless corporate and heartless entity but a living and breathing human infused company that has not forgotten what it is like to be real and authentic.

9.The Power of Email is Not Forgotten

Corporate email is still the lifeblood of corporate communication so subscribing by email is still essential and included in their tactics.

10. Continues to Evolve

Facebook wasn’t in their toolkit 2 years ago but today with over 25,000 fans they don’t underestimate the power of being involved and publishing to the 650 million user social network.

11. Topical

As news breaks in their industry they are often publishing content that lets their customers know within hours that they have their finger on the pulse.

Check the Hubspot blog out because they understand what a corporate B2B blog is about.

More reading

• 10 Compelling Reasons Why Your Business Should Blog
• The 17 Most Important Questions I have been Asked about Social Media
• 3 Big Reasons Why Social Media Marketing is Essential for Your Business
• Are You Failing At Blogging? 3 Successful Blogs You Can Learn From

Why is the business blog not given the marketing attention it deserves? In an age of shiny new toys such as social media marketing and Facebook  it is often overlooked as being slightly dowdy and just a touch unattractive.

Blogging requires commitment both in thought and time. CEO’s that blog are very rare as they are typically time poor. Often the first challenge is finding someone with the passion, expertise and skill  within the organisation willing and able to make the effort to blog. Once that person (or persons) is onboard the next hurdle is what do they write about?… often a good place to start is by asking some questions.

Who is my Target Market Audience?

There will be often more than one target market if you are a typical business. Along with that you will need to ask more questions about your audience such as

• What are their goals and aspirations?
• What are their business problems?
• What media do they rely upon for for answers to their problems? (Eg. Forums, publications, LinkedIn)

More reading: 9 Questions to To Ask your Customers When Creating Content

What are the Goals for the Blog?

Starting with the end in mind is vital and helps with avoiding a meandering blog that doesn’t quite know where it is heading. A ship’s captain sets course for the destination before he leaves port and in the end this seems to work rather well and a blog is no different. Goals for the blog could be.

• Increase sales
• Display company expertise
• Increase brand awareness.

This is important as this will reflect in how often you write and what you write about. Quite often corporate bloggers fall into the trap of trying to sell and write about the company products and services and their features and benefits. A much more powerful strategy is to start providing solutions and tips for their potential clients problems first and then sales will naturally follow. The reality is that quite often potential customers will be reading the corporate blog for 12 months before they pick up the phone or drop you an email.

More reading: Why Solving Problems Beats Marketing

Where Do I Source This Content?

Most companies forget that they already have a lot of content… it is just happens to be off-line and out of view. So you need to start thinking digital  and move your appropriate  off-line content out of the filing cabinets and onto the web.

There is a lot of inspiration for sourcing and developing content that will assist the corporate blogger to write compelling content such as:

• Industry news
• Look at your competitors latest blog posts
• Video interviews of well known identities and experts in your industry

More reading: 30 Inspiring Ideas To Develop Content For Your Blog

The mantra that you should be memorizing and embedding is “Think like a publisher”

Does Research Evidence Support Business Blogging?

Recent research by Hubspot after surveying 644 business executives revealed some facts and figures that provide solid evidence for the benefits of blogging for business.

The other evidence unveiled by the survey:

• Outbound marketing (such as Direct mail, PPC (paid search), Telemarketing and Tradeshows) shows lead costs average $373
• Leads generated by blogs and inbound marketing (SEO and Social Media) averaged only $143 per lead
• Spending on direct mail and telemarketing is decreasing
• Small businesses are leading the way on blogging and inbound marketing

What are 10 Benefits of the Business Blog?

1. Creates Exposure for your Business

A company blog that adds value to other businesses will be linked to by other blogs and websites and tweeted about and shared on Facebook and LinkedIn. This has the inevitable result of putting your brand in front of more people

2. Increases Traffic and Subscribers

Visits to the blog will inevitably increase traffic and a well integrated blog that links to the company website and other corporate online properties will drive page views and hits as exposure increases. Increased traffic also increases email and RSS subscriber acquisition.

3. Improves Search Rankings

Google and other search engines are increasing the value and the priority of  blogs and social media assets such as Facebook and Twitter in their search results. This change to Google’s search algorithms alone makes blogging essential.

Read more: Google Becomes More Social And It’s Hurting Your Business

4. Results In New Business Partnerships

The increased visibility of your business online and its positioning as a thought leader and expert in your industry and niche attracts other businesses that want to partner with you.

5. Generates Qualified Leads

High quantities of leads looks good but what you really want are leads that are qualified and of high quality. A blog positions your company and attracts the right type of leads as it develops and publishes content for the  market you want to attract.

6. Reduces Overall Marketing Expenses

As shown in the Hubspot survey, blogs can reduce costs per lead by 62% over traditional marketing

7. Improves Sales

The synergy of higher traffic and increased lead quality inevitably produces an increase in sales. I certainly have noticed this over the last 2 years with sales doubling and average sales value increasing.

8. Educates

Blogs don’t sleep and the benefit of the web is that your blog can be educating your customers while you sleep. Add some YouTube video tutorials to your blog and you have an online classroom. One of the major costs of business is educating clients prior to the sale so an online property that educates one to many without you being there is the perfect tool.

9. On-line Research Tool

As you start writing and publishing your blog potential clients will tell you what they like and don’t like via their comments and feedback. Comments will display to you what is resonating and will allow you to adjust your companies product and services direction that is guided by real time customer feedback

10. Creates and Hones Expertise

This benefit is quite often overlooked but the art of writing and developing content for your blog creates expertise from research and the thinking that naturally happens as a consequence. Sharpening the edge oif your expertise inevitably opens up opportunities that you were maybe blind to before

One important element that should not be missing on any business blog is that you need a call to action either to subscribe, attend a seminar, make an inquiry or offering a free trial of your services.

The business blog might not be as attractive as the latest fads and shiny toys but it is certainly a marketing platform you should not ignore.

Image by keso

I have realized the importance of online video now for about 18 months after joining YouTube on September 28, 2009 and this year I have committed (and actually started) to interview on video and publish online, 50 business leaders in the online and internet sectors so that other people can learn from their experience and insights.

The power to educate and influence through video has been realized by big business and TV moguls for over 50 years but with advent of social media and YouTube the democratization of media is just beginning.

Any business large and small can easily, quickly and efficiently produce and promote their online videos to achieve business goals with various degrees of  skill and success but it is now available for all to use.

An Ad-ology forecast for small business reveals some statistics that confirm the growing importance of online video in the mindset of business owners stating that nearly half (45%) plan to do more with online video in 2011 (significantly up from last year when only 28% of companies planned to do something with online video).

Getting started with online video is maybe the hardest part through not knowing what to do and also just plain procrastination and lack of inertia are the culprits.

I just viewed the latest online video by Stephanie Wonderlin from Austin, Texas who I met on Twitter about a year ago and I have watched her very professional and enchanting YouTube online videos educating people about social media with quiet admiration.  Her latest online video exploits display interactive video which is very cool. So if you want to see an awesome online video production check it out.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I hope it inspires you to start thinking about how you could use online video for your business.

If you want to connect with Stephanie (I am sure she won’t mind  as she is a social media fanatic) you can follow her on Twitter and check out and subscribe to her blog at Stephanie Wonderlin.com.

It was in 2008 that a book title caught my eye “The 4 Hour Workweek“, which is the story of the learnings and experience of  the author Tim Ferriss, where he looks at a new way of solving a very old problem: just how can we work to live and prevent our lives from being all about work?  The book opened my eyes to a world of infinite options and the manifesto for the mobile lifestyle in an information age.

This blog was partly inspired by the book and since commencing my blogging journey I can certainly vouch for its power as the foundation for developing a life that you want and are passionate about.

So who is this Tim “Guy”

He was recently interviewed by Brian Clark from Copyblogger in a podcast where he revealed the 4 key secrets to his success with his blog that he used as the platform to launch his best selling book.

1. Be Exceptionally Precise In Your Messaging

You will find  blogs where you aren’t quite sure what the blog is about and its messaging is not focused. So if you want a successful blog you need to make sure your message is precise and targeted to your audience.

2. Evergreen Content

A blog can very quickly become out of date if it is all about the latest news in your industry. When thinking of topics keep in mind will this still be relevant in 12 months or 2 years. So think about moving from “Time dependent” content to “Evergreen” content that is perennial.

3. Reach Out Personally To Bloggers

The social web is very much about collaborating and getting other people to share your content. It might be retweeting or Facebook sharing but Tim revealed that he actually found the bloggers online that he believed whose audiences would benefit from his content and then met them and hung out in person. He also did guest posts on blogs that he knew would benefit from his writing.

4. Give Away So Much You Are Uncomfortable

This strategy goes against what we all have been brought up with and giving away content for free is something that grates against the culture we have brought up in which is one of scarcity and limitation.

Give till it hurts!!

There are many other elements to the success of  Tim Ferriss and his blog titled “Experiments In Lifestyle Design“ that are worth emulating. So check out his blog and read his book “The 4 Hour Work Week”  you may be inspired, I know I am.

How is your planning for a lifestyle you love?

I am looking out the window of my office seeing buildings with many dark windows, behind those tinted panes of glass are people working and living and they all have problems and challenges…every one.

They don’t care about you or your company all they care about is finding a solution to their  daily life challenges and issues.

Problems come to people in many forms and it creates  nagging and ongoing pain and dissonance that they wake up with every day and it bounces around in their heads as they toss and turn at night.  The pain could be that they are overweight or they don’t have enough money, their business sales are slow or their relationship is so distracting that they can’t concentrate at work. People just want those problems to go away and find solutions to them so they can enjoy life.

Business is about solving problems for people not telling them that your product is the best widget ever invented because they won’t believe you..give them a hint or a tip for a solution to their pain and they will keep turning up to your website or blog to find out more.

So the main question to ask is… what answers and solutions can I provide today to prospective clients that will ease their pain?

Some of the specific questions that you should be asking yourself are

1. Who are you selling to?
2. What are their goals and aspirations?
3. What are their problems?
4. What media do they rely upon for answers to their problems?
5. How can we reach them?
6. What things are important to them?
7. What words and phrases do they use?
8. What are they really buying from you?
9. What images and multi-media appeal to each persona?

So stop marketing and start solving problems in words, images and videos that they understand, are easy to find in places they are, whether that be online or offline.

You might find that they will tell their friends about you on Facebook or in an email…now that is marketing.

Image by Martino!

I spent an inspiring  afternoon with Charles of Cubic Promote who is one of my clients and we discussed how he could optimize his social media marketing including his blog. He is one very savvy businessman and is using his 23 blogs to optimize his website for search engines in ways that are producing top keyword ranking results.

Just like our company his brands marketing strategy doesn’t rely on cold calling but inbound marketing by making his site so visible on the web that clients call him. ( by the way I hate cold calling, always have and  always will).

This post started with an article earlier this year on “30 Tips To Make Your Companies Blog Rock” and I had quite a few comments by readers and so added more tips on other keys to making a blog successful. I then added to that post with some ideas from readers and more of my own with a post titled “50 Ways To Optimize Your Blog“.

So here are even more ideas to add to those original articles for optimizing, writing content and promoting your blog  that will help your company be found online and hopefully admired and remarked about by your customers and prospects.

1. Write about industry News – whats happening this week, this month

2. Read and develop content on industry Trends – where is the industry going, what are the emerging hot segments

3. Find out about your customers Pain Points – Write posts that provide solutions for your customers problems

4. Write about customers successes – Write up a case study about a clients successful project, they will often let you publish their name

5. Publish content on what not to do! – highlighting where something hasn’t worked (the names shall remain anonymous of course)

6. Create a video blog post by interviewing a successful client – this can a powerful providing authentic evidence of authority and credibility for both you and the client

7. Write articles for the different types of customers that are relevant for each of  your vertical markets

8. Brainstorm blog post topics with colleagues and management and create a list for future reference and planning

9. Subscribe to the top industry blogs in your market, both company blogs and personal blogs for ideas

10. Look through your latest news releases for ideas

11. Sign up other staff to write on topics in your industry or market that they are passionate about

12. Develop a series of how to blog posts

13. Turn the “how to” blog posts into short videos

14. When you have a great idea, go straight to your “add new” button and write the headline and save it as a draft or write it down before you forget it.

15. Include a great iconic image at the start of the blog that catches the eye

16. Case Studies are always popular to write about and not just your own

17. Place Powerpoint presentations on your blog by posting  and then embedding links from Slideshare

18.  Run polls and surveys on your blog

19. Create great headlines that catch people attention and makes them want to read the rest of the article

20. Add credbility banners such as how many subscribers, number of hits, blog grade and any awards

21. Provide “share this” buttons to Facebook and Twitter as a minimum

22. Implement “subscribe” buttons via RSS and Email

23. Write in bite size chunks and use bullet points so readers can quickly and easy consumption

24. Break up large blocks of text with iconic and interesting images

25. Take screen shots to place in your post using Software like Snagit to highlight points .. a picture is worth a 1000 words

26. Be yourself even if it is a company blog.. be authentic.

27. Optimize your blog for SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

28. Promote and distribute your posts on to other social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn

29. Make the blog easy to find on your company’s web page with a large bannner or button

30. Finally, have fun, mix up the types of posts and add some humour occasionally Gini Dietrich from Spinsucks.com contributed to the list with the following eleven additional tips

31. Ask your readers what they want you to write about

32. Let your readers pimp their own blogs in your comments section (we’re going to do this on Thursday of this week)

33. Ask questions

34. Create contests (which goes along with your poll/survey idea)

35. Install the SEO All In One pack on your WordPress blog

36. Use StumbleUpon and AllTop to increase your readership

37. Create content for Associated Content by republishing your blog posts there (it helps with readership and news outlets will republish your content on their sites)

38.Comment on other blogs and news articles to show your thinking/expertise, but also link people back to your blog

39. Make sure, when you use Twitter to promote your blog post, that you’re tweeting about it more than once a day

40. Subscribe to SmartBrief newsletters, RSS feeds, and Google alerts in order to find ideas for new content (that’s how I found this blog!)

41. Post and link your content on the Delicious social bookmarking site. (This will again help spread your content by placing it on a highly trafficked site)

42. Try your hat at a guest blogger or two, this could add credibility to your site , especially if the person is influential in his or her space. Courtney Wiley of  iNgage Networks also made this suggestion

43.In the meta tags for your photos, make sure the labels/words are what you want them to be – search engines can’t “read” photos, only the labels/meta tags. Dave Heinrich from WebTechUniverse.com also contributed with this tip which is vital and I do this with every image in my posts

44. When people write a comment actually take the time to email them directly and thank them for the comment and if they ask a question, then answer it. You will find that this will create a WOW factor and spread the word about the blog. If you took 10-15 minutes a day to respond to 5 comments via email you would make great impact on over 1,500 people during a year who would each spread the word to potentially 1000′s more. This could be the making of a tribe!

45. Comment appropriately on the top blogs ranked by Google on the major key word or phrase you are trying to optimize for SEO. This will create a a link back to your site and linking is key to increasing your own rankings with search engines

46. Write a blog post listing some important bloggers in your industry (such as the top 5) and point out how they make their blogs successful and you might find they return the love!

47. Interlink to other posts in your blog when writing a post especially those that are relevant and have been successful (this again is great for SEO)

48. Outsource content development for sections of your blog that are appropriate such as ‘resource’ sections.

49. Update an original post that provides more value to your readers (this post is an example)

50. Take readers comments and include and promote them in your blog  (like we have just done)

51. Take a selection of your best blog posts and make an ebook out of it. Then distribute the ebook on the Amazon Kindle Store and Apple iBookStore. This will find you new readers for your blog. And you can monetize it in a whole new way by charging a dollar or two for your ebook. (Thanks to Vikram Narayam )

52. Collaborate with other Twitter users within your niche to promote each others content

53. Make sure that everyone within your company has their own Twitter account and promotes the blog and company social media accounts on that account

54. When speaking or presenting, record it on video and upload it to company YouTube channel. It will be a constant resource for clients as well as adding to your websites SEO.

55.  Make excerpts of  key points on the video and turn them into short blog posts.

56. On your YouTube make sure you have optimized the video for search engines through tags, key phrase in the description as well as the link to your blog in the  description section.

57. The SlideShare account where you have uploaded your PowerPoint presentation should also be optimized for search with your blog or website URL in your public profile

58. The Slideshare account should also have your top keywords and phrases in the  ”Public Profile” about section so that search is optimized.

59. Keep most blogs short with no more than 400-500 words as most people don’t have much time and will be only spending a minute or two on your blog (average time on this site according to Google Analytics is 1 minute and 39 seconds)

60. If embedding a video in the post again brevity rules with the rule of thumb now at a 1-2 minute video

61.  Take each post and post it on the New Digg (20 million visitors a month), it is quick and easy to do and will take you only a minute or two (it involves copying the URL and pasting it to Digg, add the headline and choose the section then hit

62. Take the results of your polls or survey and turn them into a blog post. A lot of people want know the results as over time the blog post is buried in the archives

63. Use a twitter app such as SocialOomph.com (Professional edition) to schedule tweets your posts on a regular basis

64. Collaborate and communicate with other successful bloggers in your niche especially those that enhance and add to your skill set (they will encourage and support you)

65. Implement an email acquisition strategy that includes a pop over form that hovers over the screen for first time visitors (offer free eBook or video tutorial as an incentive and a gift for people giving you their name and email address) . One platform that provides this is Aweber.

66. Another email subscriber tactic includes a suggestion to refer a friend to join the email list

67. Place a video on your Facebook fan page inviting visitors to subscribe.

68. Link to your blog on your Facebook fan page

69. On your email subscriber form don’t ask people for their life history keep it short and only ask for name and email address

And one other suggestion don’t give up “Persist” and your blogging journey may surprise you!

Image by Jetson

In this the third video of  the presentation on social media marketing for business we look at

• The value of a blog in increasing traffic to your website by 100%
• How social media amplifies your content and helps it spread.
• Why you should have two buttons on your blog to reduce friction for people to share your content online to their social media channels and then get their friends to share with their followers
• How 521 different sources can send traffic to your blog
• Why the ‘Yellow Pages’ gets used for door stops and booster seats for toddlers
• Why it’s crazy to spend $20,000 on a website but not a cent on Search Engine Optimization

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to watch video one

Click here to watch video two

In this second video on social media marketing for business we look at

• The decline of traditional mass media
• Why “Ideas that spread win”
• Why word of mouth is much more effective than advertising
• The rise of social media in spreading ideas
• Why using social media to market produces great results including Apple and the Rock Group Pearl Jam

Click here to view the embedded video.

For the third video in the series click here

If you missed the first one click here