dlvr.it leverages search engine optimization, social sharing technologies, and content distribution partnerships to help businesses get their content more places.

Promoted Stories amplifies the content to reach engaged, targeted prospects across real-time content streams including social media audiences, search, mobile, blogs, RSS feeds and news sites.

1. Search: dlvr.it hosts your story on a search optimized page and submits it to all major search engines, including Google and Bing.

2. Social: We prime your story for sharing on social networks, including Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest and help increase your followers, fans and friends.

3. Mobile & Tablets: dlvr.it formats your story for any screen. We make it easy to read on mobile and tablet devices, including iPhone and iPad.

4. News Sites & Blogs: The stories are targeted to readers engaged with social news feeds, blogs and news sites. Reach millions of readers of The New York Times, cNet, WashingtonPost, ABC-local, Inc, Reuters and thousands of other destinations.

Promoted Stories is one of several new services dlvr.it is launching to bridge the gap between earned and paid media to create ROI from social media and real-time time data streams.

Read more.

What do you love about Content Marketing?

Jeremy: Content marketing is the most genuine way to reach out to prospects and customers and even include them in your marketing efforts. Done the right way, content marketing creates a mutual benefit between a company and its prospects and customers. There are very few types of marketing that truly do that.

 What do you dislike about Content Marketing?

Jeremy: I dislike when content marketing does not consist of full, meaningful content.  It is so easy to research topics, reach out to sources and generate really great information that there is no excuse for not generating meaningful content from that information that makes your customers and prospects more knowledgeable and better at their jobs.

 Looking ahead to 2013, what does Content Marketing look like?

Jeremy: I see content marketing getting pushed more and more to center stage. The homepage of websites, online ads, PR — it’s all going to be powered by content, not self-serving marketing messages. It really all comes down to engagement, and content is proving to be the best way to accomplish that.

  ======

There is still time to register for the Content Marketing Strategies Conference. The conference is the only event to specifically focus on helping companies of any size understand the pivotal role content marketing plays in demand generation, sales, SEO and social. Attendees are guaranteed to walk away with an action plan to kick-start or enhance a content marketing program. The content is structured to walk you through the content lifecycle step-by-step: Strategize Create, Curate, Manage, Distribute and Analyze.

What do you love about Content Marketing?

Heather: The common sense nature of it. Give people what they need, in a way that they want and you’ll be rewarded for it. Oh! And how “green” it is. Hee… Hee… Meaning, the whole concept around creating strong core content that can be leveraged, or “re-imagined”, as Anne Handley & CC Chapman like to say. The crafter in me likes to think of it more like upcycling. You know where you take the elements of something and create a whole new thing that is better than just the core thing by itself.

What do you dislike about Content Marketing?

Heather: The buzz-word nature of it. Folks are always looking for “The Precious” (think: Lord of the Rings and the one ring). That all powerful thing that is going to solve all their problems and enable them to rule the world. Web 2.0, Social Media, now Content Marketing. I like to think of Content Marketing as more of a philosophy or an approach than a tactical solution. It’s funny. I find myself applying the principles of good content marketing to just about anything (much to the chagrin of my husband. HA!).

1) Define what you want to achieve with whom;

2) Give them what they want, the way they want it;

3) Measure & tweak until you get what you want

Sadly, this is easier said than done. I think I’m more successful in the B2B space than I am with my husband.  

Looking ahead to 2013, what does Content Marketing look like?

Heather: Wow. That’s a tough one. I can only say that for me, 2013 is going to be about getting the organizational workflows outlined to truly support adoption so we can execute measure and optimize. I would expect to see change management and process rise to the top of the discussion. There is already a plethora of content out there on how to write a better blog. Honestly, that’s the easy part. How do you get your business to truly adopt content marketing in an outcome-driven and measurable way? Whew. That’s some serious work.
======

There is still time to register for the Content Marketing Strategies Conference. The conference is the only event to specifically focus on helping companies of any size understand the pivotal role content marketing plays in demand generation, sales, SEO and social. Attendees are guaranteed to walk away with an action plan to kick-start or enhance a content marketing program. The content is structured to walk you through the content lifecycle step-by-step: Strategize Create, Curate, Manage, Distribute and Analyze.

What do you love about Content Marketing?

Jennifer: I love the real-time nature and immediate feedback of content marketing.  I love posting a piece of content, then watching the likes, plus-ones, views, and retweets tally up.  It’s so rewarding to be able to see real-time feedback from our fans – we know immediately whether we’ve made a mistake, posted a ‘dud’ or hit the nail on the head!  I also like engaging in the full cycle of content creation, publication, syndication, and analysis – all of which we can do in a matter of minutes – and then feed back into the process to either tweak and adjust or start something new depending on what’s resonating well.

What do you dislike about Content Marketing?

Jennifer: One of the most challenging parts of content marketing is that it’s truly an art.  It’s difficult to articulate to teams who are creating content for me specifically what will work.  While we can use some metrics & analysis to help understand trends and fan preferences, there’s no real recipe to creating good content.  It has to be engaging, entertaining, and useful – but coming up with the right balance, while also integrating the Intel brand or message, is tricky.  Pieces of content that resonate with one person may not resonate with another, so we’re constantly testing, learning, and refining.

 Looking ahead to 2013, what does Content Marketing look like?

Jennifer: I think content marketing is becoming less content “marketing” and more about entertainment.  No one wants to watch or share a brand’s marketing message.  Consumers want to consume and share things that are enjoyable, entertaining, educational, funny, or interesting.  If we can create content that meets these needs, it will inherently be successful.
======
There is still time to register for the Content Marketing Strategies Conference. The conference is the only event to specifically focus on helping companies of any size understand the pivotal role content marketing plays in demand generation, sales, SEO and social. Attendees are guaranteed to walk away with an action plan to kick-start or enhance a content marketing program. The content is structured to walk you through the content lifecycle step-by-step: Strategize, Create, Curate, Manage, Distribute and Analyze.

What do you love about Content Marketing?

Rebecca: Content marketing is polite. It doesn’t interrupt you. It’s attractive – literally. It attracts, rather than interrupts, or yells, or gets in the way. Content must be interesting, creative, entertaining, useful, and sometimes even inspiring because if it weren’t, it wouldn’t attract an audience. Finally, content isn’t constrained like ads are. It can spill out of the box, run short or long on time. Unlike a :30 spot or a display ad in print or online, content can take the form it can and ought to take without the restraints of a third party.

 What do you dislike about Content Marketing?

Rebecca: I don’t dislike aspects of content marketing so much as I wish we could dispel some marketers of misconceptions about content marketing, e.g. that it’s “free.” Sure, you’re not buying media. But as with any serious initiative, content requires a serious investment of time and resources. Aside from content creators, these are often technological. No one’s ever described filmmaking as “free,” or journalism, or building mobile apps. It’s a frustrating fallacy that “free” is so often applied to content creation and distribution – and it’s holding back a lot of potentially successful initiatives.

 Looking ahead to 2013, what does Content Marketing look like?

Rebecca: We’ll see more content marketing in 2013, and more still in 2014. That’s why you’re holding this conference. That’s why I’ve written a book and a research study on content marketing. Marketers are not only realizing the potential of content marketing at every stage of the buying cycle, from branding and awareness through to purchase, but also after: cross and up selling, customer care, reactivation. Finally, the most important aspect of content marketing is it’s now in everyone’s grasp thanks to digital technologies. Content marketing’s been around a long, long time – only now, you don’t have to have a budget that can accommodate large scale film or television production, or printing and publishing. You can just DO it.

 
======

There is still time to register for the Content Marketing Strategies Conference. The conference is the only event to specifically focus on helping companies of any size understand the pivotal role content marketing plays in demand generation, sales, SEO and social. Attendees are guaranteed to walk away with an action plan to kick-start or enhance a content marketing program. The content is structured to walk you through the content lifecycle step-by-step: Strategize, Create, Curate, Manage, Distribute and Analyze.

What do you love about Content Marketing?

Pawan: What I love about content marketing is that it really levels the playing field. With other forms of marketing, companies with the most resources and efficient spend come out on top.  With content marketing, however, the company with the best content wins. If you publish the best and most relevant content on a regular basis, your audience will come to you – plain and simple.

What do you dislike about Content Marketing?

Pawan: Content marketing is a lot of work and is easier said than done.  It requires discipline, creativity and an intimate understanding of your audience. All three of these requirements are hard to satisfy.

Looking ahead to 2013, what does Content Marketing look like?

Pawan: Content marketing will continue to grow into a mainstream marketing practice. We are going to see content marketing become the core marketing component of one’s business plan. When marketers contemplate their go-to-market launch plans, there will be a strong content marketing component.

Similar to blog networks (for example AOL or GigaOM), where a media entity consolidates a number of other blogs into a suite of properties, we may see the same for content marketing destinations.  The difference here is that marketers will be the ones consolidating these properties together, not media entities.  This will further blur the line between marketers and publishers.

======

There is still time to register for the Content Marketing Strategies Conference. The conference is the only event to specifically focus on helping companies of any size understand the pivotal role content marketing plays in demand generation, sales, SEO and social. Attendees are guaranteed to walk away with an action plan to kick-start or enhance a content marketing program. The content is structured to walk you through the content lifecycle step-by-step: Strategize, Create, Curate, Manage, Distribute and Analyze.

The conference is jam-packed with exceptional content.   If you want to learn how to create a content marketing strategy that helps your inbound marketing efforts or learn more about the intersection of content with the practice of marketing, please join us May 8-9.  

Newly Added Speakers Include:

• Nigel Morris, CEO, Aegis Media Americas
• Jennifer Lashua, Social Media Strategist, Intel
• Meather Meza, Head of Digital Media Social Center, Cisco

We can’t produce a quality conference like this without the support of our sponsors. Sincere thanks goes to Kapost, Demandbase, BusinessWire, Original9 Media, Zemanta, Curata, and Scripted.

To Secure Your Ticket, Go To:

Content Marketing Strategies Conference
Berkeley, CA. May 8 & 9, 2012
http://www.ContentMarketingNow.com

SAS, Cisco, Intel, ServiceMax, Ogilvy, Kelly Services, and others will share practical advice and case studies on their content marketing strategies, successes and failures. Confirmed attendees include eBay, Cisco, Intel, AAA, Wells Fargo and many more.

1. What can she do with social media?
2. Does she need it?
3. How much does it cost?

From Café Gabriela’s Yelp page , it is clear Penny and her business partner, Kristi Lambert, have created a winning and well-liked business.  They are committed to supporting local suppliers, coining the term “locally engaged” on print media and store front signage.  They make kick-ass sandwiches, fresh salads and serve local pastries, all highlighted on the sandwich board prominently displayed on the sidewalk outside.  The Oakland dlvr.it office can personally attest to incredible Blue Bottle coffee, organic mango ice tea and dry cappuccinos.   In a recent article on Downtown Oakland from the East Bay Express, Café Gabriela was mentioned as a:

“sunlit little sandwich shop that’s already gained a cult following for its mouthwateringly delicious pulled-pork sandwiches and super-friendly service”.

Great tag lines, friendly personalities, cult following, organic growth, and hard working civic minded individuals make up the team behind Café Gabriela.  So, where does social media fit into this mix?  Answer:  EVERYWHERE.

The three most important reasons why small businesses need to leverage social media are:

• To connect with customers,
• To increase visibility, and
• To aid in self promotion

Every referral, smile, handshake and flyer to Yelp, Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter and beyond, are all an important part of the social media mix.  Consistency is the key. Small businesses do not have to spend much to get great results.  Zoomerang.com reports that a majority of small businesses surveyed spend less than $100 to market on social media channels.

Small independent hands-on business owners like Penny, need to carve out time to engage with their customers.  This may be the greatest challenge of all for a small business owner. Penny and Café Gabriela are on the right track.  However, due to time constraints, Penny is not able to update her Facebook page during the day.  The dlvr.it team discussed the use of the scheduled posting tool through dlvr.it.  This would allow Penny to post content to Facebook and Twitter on her own schedule after the dust settles from her busy day.  Dlvr.it just needs to know what days and times you want to post content, and it will be delivered right on time.  Timing is everything!

The Oakland dlvr.it team is always happy to sit down with local merchants and small business owners in our neighborhood to talk about your social media needs or better yet, just to chat and get to know each other!

…16% of fans currently see organic content posted by brands: Most of it is weeded out by Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm, designed to enhance users’ experience by putting only the most relevant content in their news feeds. Using the paid ad tool could increase a brand’s exposure percentage to as high as 75%.

You’ve spent time and money building a following on Facebook. You did sweepstakes, Fan-gates and paid Facebook for new followers. You’ve built “it”, now they will come, right? Not so fast. Where you thinking those fans you just paid for were your own? Not exactly according to Facebook. You rent them. Want more of your content seen? With Facebook’s new engagement product, Reach Generator, you must pay to activate your fans. In a recent Advertising Age article, Cotton Delo interviews a few ad agency execs on the subject.

“Many [clients] have spent significant sums to generate these fan bases, and many of them thought of those people as though they’re an owned asset, almost like an email list … but now it looks like rented media,” said Craig Atkinson, chief digital officer at PHD USA. “I think there’s a moment of pause while they’re digesting what’s a pretty material change in the orientation of it.”

There is no doubt Facebook has a ton of prospect on it and setting up a place there makes sense. However, just remember,  Facebook can change the rules at anytime and they have demonstrated they will. So how should you approach Facebook if paying for more engagement is not an option?   How can you get more of your content read?

1. Post relevant content frequently. Create better content that solves a problem, saves a customer money or reduces pain – this will increase engagement and viral traffic.
2. Listen. Listen to what your customers want – look at the 16% of your content that gets read and write more of it – Simple right?
3. Interact. Posting content on Facebook starts the conversation. You must interact with fans to score higher with Facebook’s Edge Rank.
4. Create action based incentives. Look at Facebook as a means with the end getting customers over to your site where you encourage them to register, sign-up for a newsletter etc – any action you have 100% control over.

What do you think of Facebook’s Reach Generator to activate your audience?

Many Content Marketing Strategies Conference.