JUMP START Blog and Online Community

With the much-anticipated Royal Wedding having finally graced us all with its presence, we thought this quote uniquely apropos. So in the spirit of all-things-Royal, let’s break down this idea from social media guru-ess Mari Smith –

“Content is King but engagement is Queen, and the lady rules the house!”

Think about this: Engagement is Queen…

Honestly? This just could not ring truer. Because the truth is, you could post a blog every day, tweet multiple times a week, pin every gorgeous board you can imagine and Instagram the heck out of your insightful thoughts and nuggets of experienced, useful wisdom, but if your audience isn’t engaging with any of it…

...really, what is the point?

You can't just Ronco your content marketing - it simply isn't a set-it-and-forget it deal. You have to think about it, research it, plan it, craft it, edit it, revise it, post it...and that’s all just the background work.

THEN, you have to make sure it’s reaching your audience.

How? It’s exasperatingly very simple yet remarkably complicated, all at the same time.

The tricky part about engagement is it's about more than just what content you put out there…it’s also about how you put it out there.

Your goal is to give users what they want and need (even if they don't know it yet), which in turn fosters engagement. Your content marketing stategy should be developing content that's relatable, convenient and, ultimately, that solves a problem.

THIS is what nurtures engagement. And brands that engage, rule the house.

If you want to stay in the know on the best ways you can help your brand, check out our list of the top 5 search engine optimization news updates for this week.

1. Google confirms it shortened search results snippets after expanding them last December (Search Engine Land)

Have you been spending extra time crafting longer meta descriptions for Google search results? It may have been time wasted after all—Google recently confirmed they've shortened the snippets they show in search results, after having increased them just last December.

But if you're already thinking of going back to shorten all your longer meta descriptions, Google says don't worry too much about it - many of the snippets they choose to include in search results are dynamic, pulling from your content on your site rather than from your meta descriptions anyway [TAKE AWAY: content is STILL important...do you need help optimizing strategic onpage content? See how Flair can help you!]  

If you're wondering how to post a blog in HubSpot...I have two things to tell you: 

1. You're not alone
2. It's easier than you think

Let's take a look at just how easy it actually is...so read on, and you’ll be Content-is-Kinging it all the way to the coveted page one in no time.

For digital marketers, HubSpot is a phenomenal tool. For content marketers? It’s a dream. It's robust, versatile, scalable and powerful, with analytics that will basically blow your mind. And, did I mention…it can totally change how your content gets out there and who ends up reading it?

So often, as content marketers and online digital strategists, we see the same thing in our clients. Fear.

Despite what they may say the reason is for not biting the proverbial bullet and taking the reins on their digital presence, more often than not, it’s the result of one little thing: fear of charging the unknown.

In this week's #TBT post, we take a look back at Digital Marketer's 2013 blog "They won't buy without these 3 elements (and they won't even know why)."

What are those three magical marketing strategies?

Have you been staying on top of the latest content marketing news updates? If not, the team here at Flair Interactive has you covered. Here are five of the latest content marketing news updates for this week:

The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) enforcement clock is ticking, and with the May 25 deadline looming,

businesses across the globe are wondering if and how the 99 articles included in the new legislation will affect them. 

Did you know that anyone who has site visitors from the EU is affected by the GDPR, even if you don't sell products online?

The GDPR overhaul is the EU’s largest change to privacy policy in more than two decades. Intended to better protect its citizens by ultimately dictating how organizations collect, process and store personal data, the essence of the regulation is transparency from organizations and individual control over users’ own data and privacy. And with hefty fines outlined for noncompliance, companies are sitting up and taking notice.

Stay in the know about content marketing with these helpful infographics that have gone viral this month. 

1. How to choose a content marketing platform or marketplace (and what's the difference?) (MarketingProfs)

2. A brief history of content marketing (The Content Strategist)