JUMP START Blog and Online Community

Hubspot reports that "marketers who prioritize blogging are 13x more likely to achieve a positive ROI on their efforts."

Those are great odds and definitely worth pursuing.

If you haven't started a blog for your organization, now is a good time to do so. To get you started, here is a step-by-step guide to developing and posting a blog through Hubspot. 

Planning out your marketing strategy for 2017 probably already happened in 2016, but despite being ready to meet the challenges of the new year, we encourage you to make sure you have considered these important trends and if you haven't, then make them a part of your strategy now, since they currently make up the key elements to a successful and effective Internet marketing plan.  
 
It never hurts to make tweaks here and there along the way, especially considering how fast content marketing is evolving—being digital, that's a given. So when planning and implementing moves, you're not just setting yourself up for 2017, but also for 2018 and beyond. A macro-oriented view will help you see the bigger picture on where you want your content marketing strategy to take your business. Here are the trends not to miss out on...

What better way to come out of the holidays than to focus even more on food?

Food and beverage manufacturers, distributors and service providers are always clamoring for new ways to better differentiate their products in a consumer-driven, health conscious, and safety- and sustainability-focused market.

Since 2016 brought some tasty and creative food and beverage marketing campaigns to the table, we thought we’d share some choice take-aways with you. Here are the top 5 campaigns of 2016.

It's been a busy week full of lots of interesting news and events, including the turn of a new year. See what you might have missed while out, when it comes to content marketing for the week ending January 1, 2017. Check out a few of this week's top stories chosen for the business savvy by Flair Interactive Services.

Whether B2B, B2C, SaaS, cloud-based software or consulting services, the tech sector is leading the pack in terms of progressive and innovative marketing campaigns and approaches. They're trendy, provocative and mold-breaking tones and tactics command attention and pave the way for other business sectors. As such, we've pulled together a handful of our top 5 tech-based marketing videos from 2016.

Keep in mind, we recognize that the majority of technology-based companies don't have interminal budgets like these forerunners. These are still brilliant representations of companies that see their products and services the way their customers see them, and not the reverse. Even the smallest tech company can learn from these examples. What can you do to mimic their success on a smaller scale or with your current resources?

Albert Einstein once said, "If you can't explain it to a 6-year-old, you don't know it yourself."

I realize this quote is somewhat overgeneralized and oversimplified. If you’re selling a groundbreaking medical device to a neurosurgeon, you’re bound to use technical four-syllabled—and beyond—words that aren’t necessarily rolling off of the tongues of most 6-year olds, or even most adults for that matter.

No, this quote is more about simplicity. Your knowledge of a product or service isn’t based on your ability to use gargantuan (see, it’s easy to do) words. It’s your ability to translate the essence and value of that product or service at the most basic level so that it’s easily digested by all of your audiences.

Sounds simple, right? Pun intended, but no…simplicity is not always as easy as it sounds. Here are some great examples of messaging simplicity at its finest:

A picture is worth a thousand words, and infographics are no exception. There's a reason that most inbound marketers are creating infographics these days: they're very effective and wildly popular with online viewers.

We've scoured the web looking for the most popular infographics about content marketing this month. Whether you're looking for tips on social media tactics, generational marketing strategies, PPC performance or content development, these infographics offer you the best of the best in visual insights for the month of December 2016. Check them out below. 

Are you putting a lot of effort into content marketing and not getting good results?

Undoubtedly, content marketing is an effective way to attract more visitors and transform them into customers. Almost every business wants to maximize its ROI, and so they invest a solid amount of time and money into this endeavor.

However, that doesn’t mean success is guaranteed since there are a lot of variables involved. Content marketing can be tricky, but there are a few ways to quickly address poor results.

We've identified five common issues faced by content marketers, as well as quick ways to resolve them. Follow some of the simple solutions below to improve your results and ROI. 

Are you starting to panic because you don't have a strong strategic plan in place for 2017? Don't worry--you're not alone! 

We've been leading inbound marketing projects and campaigns for our clients for more than four years, and we've found that most inbound marketers don't have a formal strategy or plan in place...and those that do aren't really sure if they're headed down the right path. Also, we've noticed that most inbound marketers tend to make the same mistakes, regardless of role, industry or level of experience with inbound marketing.

Our team of content strategists and inbound marketers has identified a list of the top five mistakes that we've seen inbound marketers make over and over and over again, and we're sharing it with you so you can save yourself a lot of time, money and headaches. Trust us when we say that taking shortcuts now will cost you more later.

So without further ado, here's our list of the five mistakes that you shoud avoid when creating your 2017 inbound marketing strategic plan:

This is a fun and quippish quote but poignant nonetheless. As marketers, it’s very easy to get swept up by the proverbial brand communication platform. While necessary, our style guides and storyboards can sometimes get in the way of truly relevant and meaningful conversations with our audiences. We’re engrained in delivering perfectly crafted, grammatically on-point messages and sometimes lose sight of what’s important: the customer.

While we’ve come a long way since the inception of content marketing, we can still make strides toward more deliberate and intimate marketing practices. In honor of the companies that are getting that second date, let’s take a look at some campaigns where they opened up the car door, picked up the check and truly listened to what their customers had to say:

#1—Reebok 25,915 Days

This video followed the reverse path of a woman throughout her athletic career. While Reebok’s mission was clearly demonstrated, not a word was used to bring this message to life. The messaging instead honored all consumers in their athletic endeavors.