Category: Curated Content

When we work with our clients on content marketing strategy here at Convince & Convert, two of our most consistently used maxims are “bricks and feathers” and “content atomization.”

“Bricks and feathers” describes the two primary types of content marketing. Bricks are hefty. Bricks are permanent. Bricks require more production time. Bricks are saved, shared, or printed. A webinar is a brick, for example.

Feathers are lightweight. Feathers are ephemeral and somewhat disposable. Feathers are easier to create. They are noticeable but less persuasive than bricks. This blog post is a feather, for example.

“Content atomization” (coined by Todd Defren) means taking your content marketing “big idea”—usually a brick of some sort—and deconstructing it into a series of smaller feathers. This gives you more juice for the squeeze, increases the efficiency of your content creation efforts, and allows the brick premise to live in multiple places and formats (social media, for instance).

Typically, we advise a one-to-eight ratio for atomization. That means you should repurpose and repackage each brick into at least eight feathers.

For… Read More

Ever feel like something is rotten in the state of your company’s marketing? Too often, untangling marketing’s role within the company and showing the metrics that prove real value can turn into a Shakespearean-level drama.

What happens when you decide to untangle the parts and players and start making sense of the numbers in front of you? Allie Butters, head of marketing and sales at BrightFunnel, joins in to help explain how to make your marketing math add up.

Is Marketing a Must-Have or a Nice-to-Have?

Measurement is the key to marketing, and subjectivity is the villain of your production. It’s like going to a Michael Bay movie. There’s a lot of flash and noise, and it looks pretty cool, but without solid metrics, there’s no plot or clarity.

In 2017, 77 percent of global B2B marketing decision-makers said that an inability to measure results is one of their top concerns. Without objective measurement, different divisions in the company don’t see the value the marketing team adds because they don’t understand what exactly it is that you do.

Worse still, some CEOs don’t see marketing as a key component of your company strategy—and you don’t want to get labeled a bit player. When surve… Read More

In 2012, $1 billion seemed like an awful lot to pay for Instagram, given that the photo-sharing network had just 30 million users.

But, Facebook was weak on mobile in those pre-IPO days, and the purchase of Instagram allowed an immediate shoring up in that area.

Mark Zuckerberg was lauded for his commitment to keeping Instagram independent, and not just Frankensteining the technology into the parent Facebook app. Now, six years later, his quotes are even more interesting:

“For years, we’ve focused on building the best experience for sharing photos with your friends and family. Now, we’ll be able to work even more closely with the Instagram team to also offer the best experiences for sharing beautiful mobile photos with people based on your interests.

We believe these are different experiences that complement each other. But in order to do this well, we need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram’s strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.

That’s why we’re committed to buil… Read More

Not so long ago, internet marketing was all about affiliates. It was one of the more effective ways to reach a mass audience, and brands could compete with one another through an affiliate publisher, or web portal, to increase exposure and drive sales.

Now, ordinary individuals can gain massive reach through a single social channel. Brands that once relied on affiliates to promote their products online are turning to influencers to lend more legitimacy to their wares.

Because of my background in affiliate marketing, I can say with confidence that influencer marketing is the new wave of affiliate marketing. The most engaging of influencers leverage the newest, most exciting technologies to provide a better experience for their audiences.

Brands that once relied on affiliates to promote their products online are turning to influencers.
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The Future of Influencer Marketing

It’s easy to see what I’m talking about just by looking at trends. Consumers are “cutting the cord” from cable television, instead choosing to create their own viewing experiences from their phones, tablets, and computers. Those still tethered to the tube… Read More

The best social media marketing blends storytelling and PR. It seamlessly integrates advertising and relationship building, fighting its way through the social noise while never losing sight of the human stories driving brand successes. Social media for the nation’s top hospitals is no different, with an extra bit of responsibility: As community cornerstones, hospitals have a unique platform for educating and inspiring the public. Hospitals with top-notch social media aren’t just using their channels as marketing machines—they’re creating healthier communities.

The team at Convince & Convert investigated what successful social media looks like for the best hospitals in the U.S. We collected our research in a detailed report, The Best of Social Media from America’s Top Hospitals, and rounded up the highlights below.

How We Identified the Best Hospital Social Media Posts

Using Rival IQ, we gathered all public Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter posts from the top 53 U.S. hospitals, as determined by bed size and the U.S. News 2017–2018 Best Hospitals Honor Roll. We then looked exclusively at posts from February 2018, giving us a data set of approximately 10,000 social posts. Engage… Read More