JUMP START Blog and Online Community

You have some ideas. You want to share them. They seem interesting to you. You think others will be interested as well.

So you write and post a few blogs. And…crickets.

Why aren’t your blogs getting the red carpet treatment you thought they would? Well we at Flair Interactive gave you some potential reasons why in our #TBT April 2015 blog post, Why Aren’t my Blog Posts Generating Any Traffic? We offered some insights on how to set your blogs up for success.

Now, we’re sure you’ve since applied some of our tips to your overall approach and you’re now topping the ‘best bloggers of 2016’ list. In the event you’re not, or you’re just looking to hold that steady crown for 2017, here are a few more tips to get your blogs the recognition they deserve:

Most of us have figured out at this point that Content Marketing isn’t a magical powder that gets sprinkled on our marketing plans and suddenly, all of our
goals are instantly met. No, content marketing is nothing more than a tried-and-true formula. Effective application of that formula is what truly yields success.

Queue nebulous time warp squiggles back to the year 2015 when Flair Interactive posted the blog, What Should be Included in My Content Marketing Strategy. While the blog is on point in terms of building and executing on an inbound marketing plan, in 2017, we’ve taken some measures to perfect the formulaic fairy dust even more. As you dive into your plan this year, keep these additions in mind:

Create data-driven goals—this is still very much the starting point of your content strategy. While not much has changed here since 2015, you’ll want to make sure your goals are clearly defined and mutually agreed upon by everyone. Ensure your ‘wins’ or ‘milestones’ are marked and attainable. Finally…do your homework. Avoid arbitrary, executive-driven numbers. Look at your competitors, your metrics, what’s worked, and what hasn’t worked before getting to an achievable number.

As inbound marketers, it’s our responsibility to provide our clients the best-of-the-best in modern, customized marketing services. 

In 2009, we published a "Typical Projects Handled by Flair Interative" blog post and video that described our services. While we still offer all of the services described in that video, our core focus has shifted during the last eight years to focus on inbound marketing. But one thing remains the same...our number-one priority is to deliver high-quality solutions that get results for all of our clients, and we do that by delivering tightly integrated inbound marketing campaigns and services.

To us, marketing tactics shouldn’t be isolated instances. They shouldn’t be disparate solutions to immediate problems or what we like to call short-term, reactive goals. They should be proactive and strategic in nature with both immediate incremental and long-term wins in mind.

Interactive marketing is trending right in line as it was forecasted seven years ago. In 2009, Flair Interactive posted the blog, Interactive Marketing Has
Finally Come of Age. The blog cites an article by Forrester Research who forecasted that digital spending would nearly double in five years while ad budgets would decline. In fact, its exact predicted growth was a 9% increase in five years (from 12% of overall advertising spend in 2009 to 21% overall spend in 2016).

So, based on Forrester Research's prediction, let's get a pulse of where we're at as we enter 2017:

Overall Marketing Spend

• Digital marketing spending is predicted to grow 12% in the next year, while budgets for traditional advertising will fall to 2%. (The CMO Survey)
• B2B digital ad spending has increased 15% to $5.8 billion in 2014 — due largely to growth in native advertising, while display advertising is becoming less important. (MediaPost)

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...

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.

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. 

Facebook is in the process of rolling out new design changes for business pages.  So, the question on every marketer’s mind - what’s going to change? Let’s take a look at some of these layout changes that you and your business can prepare for and make sure that you’re ready for Facebook’s new age:

Find out what you've missed in the world of content marketing for the week ending September 23, 2016. These are a few of this week's top stories, hand-picked by the team at Flair Interactive Services.

Find out what you've missed in the world of content marketing for the week ending September 16, 2016. These are a few of this week's top stories, hand-picked by the team at Flair Interactive Services.