All marketers wish they knew how to better measure results, engage their audience, and measure ROI. Chuck Hemann opens up by warning that he won't solve all of our problems but he will provide guidance on how to approach them. Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance There are 5 key steps that each marketer must take to create a successful social media campaign . What does this include?

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[Note from Lee: TopRank Marketing has been working with PRWeb for nearly 5 years and their Director of Public Relations, Frank Strong )Now serving in Irag - stay safe!(, couldn't say enough good things when they hired a new Social Media Community Manager, Stacey Acevero : Smart, passionate about the industry, highly motivated, sense of humor and a true fan of the brand, Stacey has embraced her role as the social media voice of PRWeb in many ways,

[Note from Lee: I am happy to introduce readers of Online Marketing Blog to our newest contributor, AshleyZ. A human dynamo for getting things done, Ashley has literally hit the ground running and works for TopRank as a Marketing Manager. She'll be sharing her smarts here and helping to elevate TopRank's Marketing to more impressive levels of awesome.

A lot of the blog content planning for business blogs focuses on different ways to tell the same story about a company's products, services and key messages. If it's an SEO approach, then the focus is on content to justify visibility on search engines for specific keywords. Blogs are a great resource for people that are searching for answers, insight, how to's, others' experiences and opinion.

The first logo for predecessor to Google )BackRub( was this photo )via a copy machine( of of Sergey Brin's hand in 1996. Continuing our theme this week of Content Marketing , this post digs into some of the changes that have happened with search engines )but mostly Google( and how understanding both the diversity of search results and content formats can help internet marketers gain a competitive advantage with content optimization.

Note from Lee: I've known Michael Brito for about 5 years )he hired my agency TopRank Marketing when he was at HP( and followed his moves around silicon valley from Yahoo to Intel and his current role as SVP, Social Business Planning, Edelman Digital. Michael's new book on Social Business )Included in our list of Optimized Online Marketing Books ( is something I've been looking forward to and I asked if he'd share some tactical insights with our community.

Companies are jumping on the content marketing bandwagon in increasing numbers, investing in new content for articles, newsletters, whitepapers, blogs, and video to better attract and engage customers. Social media and networking offer an ideal channel for promotion but many marketers chase such tactics as if they were a one-night stand versus developing a valuable relationship that grows and builds momentum over time. In a B2B Content Marketing study by Junta42,

How many times have you heard people ) including me ( rant and rave about the internet marketing benefits of great content? A lot, I'm guessing. But how many of those pundits and the practitioners that read them stop to consider, What IS great content? What makes it great? How do you define that? Is it great because the author thinks so? Or because the content was retweeted 700 times and shared 150 times on Facebook? Was it great because there were 70 comments?

The growing Global Economy has significantly increased the number of companies seeking search marketing strategies to connect with target audiences all over the world. Many clients we work with at TopRank Online Marketing are either already global organizations or aspiring to deliver products and services in different countries. As a result, we routinely field questions as clients begin their journey into International Search.

A social media panel at a bowling alley? Yes, that's how I started my Thursday morning this week, thanks to WCCO Radio )Minneapolis/St, Paul( which was host to a panel on Social Media for Business at Pinstripes in Edina. Esteemed panelists included several familiar faces and brands including MIMA Board members: Brent Shiely ) @brentshiely (, Technology Director at General Mills; Ryan Arnholt ) @arbenangstrom (,

The web is flush with change and innovation. Gone are the days of linear information flow and incremental growth. Content flows in every direction through a variety of platforms, formats and devices. The mass adoption of the social and mobile web have facilitated a revolution of information access, sharing and publishing at a scale never before experienced. Access to information for discovery has traditionally been most associated with search. According to comScore,

Keyword and topic research is a significant part of Search, Social Media and Content Marketing. An understanding of what customers care about related to a brand's offering and how that manifests as keywords, helps drive how marketer's approach content, optimization and promotion. Over the past 5+ years, the search landscape has evolved significantly and optimization has extended beyond the web page to digital assets like images, PDF's and video, news,

Copywriting for the web is a true art form, whether you're writing web pages, press releases or landing pages. Add the practice of search engine optimization and it can get even trickier. Too much focus on SEO and that high ranking web page may confuse readers, resulting in lacking conversions. Too little focus on keywords and search traffic will suffer. Both questions remind copywriters to consider who their target audience really is: search engines or customers ?

Interview Screen Grab from the 2011 Vocus Users Conference When I was at a client's User Conference earlier this year, Steve Farnsworth caught up with me and asked a question about using analytics to refine content for increased sales. I'm a big fan of repurposing content and I noticed that the video itself never mentions me or my name and that people who read Online Marketing Blog might not see it. So I've paraphrased the transcription and shared below.

Note from Lee: When I heard from Aaron Strout that he and Mike Schneider were writing a book, Location-Based Marketing for Dummies , I knew it would be a great resource. We often do book reviews here on Online Marketing Blog but Aaron and I decided on this format instead, focusing on specific tips and tactics you can use today. Writing a book takes a lot of work, but with the work is done, it's satisfying to look back and read all the content that got created.

The pressure of competition and desire for business growth pushes marketers towards tactics that promise quick wins. Pundits advocate strategy first )been there( but doing so in a comprehensive way isn't always practical, especially when it comes to areas like social media and content marketing . For marketers in need of practical advice on customer-centric, practical content marketing,

One of the many great things about apps and an iPhone is that you can be productive or at least productively kill time, should you ever be blessed with such a thing as "free time". Mobile social media usage is on the rise and one of the most productive opportunities to be creative is using your iPhone at conferences to create interesting and fun graphics. At Content Marketing World, Intel's Pam Didner commented "Content is King,

One of the sessions I was most looking forward to at Content Marketing World was one given by Ardath Albee @ardath421 CEO of Marketing Interactions ) blog ( and Author of eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale. It's one thing to create a content marketing strategy, it's another thing to execute it in a way that works out the way you planned. Buyer experience is important! 43.7% of buyers say they're taking more time to research purchases.

Day one of Content Marketing World was a great mix of catching up with old friends, making new ones and of course, great content. On the BtoB track I sat in on a session including speakers with two different presentations from SAS and Intel. Since they were so different, I split them into 2 posts. This is part two of that session. Speaker: Pam Didner @pdidner Global Integrated Marketing Manager,