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Bridging commentary on the art & science of content; content marketing, branded content, native advertising and the analytics, attribution and intelligence that powers it.

2021 guide to content performance marketing
2021 guide to content performance marketing
Strategy

The 2022 Guide to Content Performance Marketing

You’re not reading this post if you’re not trying to drive more performance from your content marketing. With all marketing teams thrust forward and into digital-first channels, performance is top of mind. As now it is even more important BUT also there is more competition. In the past, when we explored top performers, the consistent finding was that the top 25% invest more in data and insights than anyone else. Those that invest, find smarter ways to get ahead or… Continue reading

Ben Young
Ben Young
February 23, 2021
Reporting vs analytics, what's the difference?
Reporting vs analytics, what's the difference?
Analytics

Reporting vs analytics, what’s the difference?

Reporting tells you what happened. Analytics gives context and depth as to why something has occurred. Let me give you an example. Reporting: Today, 100 people shopped at our store. That’s reporting. Analytics: Today, 100 people shopped at our store, 30 came from Stowe, 70 from York. Analytics finds patterns and analysis in the data, to enable better decision-making. If it doesn’t do that, it’s not analytics. It’s just more data. Analytics is helpful in describing or understanding how an… Continue reading

Ben Young
Ben Young
February 23, 2021
Analytics

How to pick the right marketing analytics dashboard

The right marketing analytics dashboard is the one that provides the visibility to reflect the performance of your marketing activities. It enables the team to make adjustments and keep their eyes on the goals.    In searching for a solution, typically the process looks like this:  As marketers, we tend to google it, open a website with a list and open a bunch of tabs, look at each website. Then maybe explore a couple.  This helps canvas the… Continue reading

Ben Young
Ben Young
February 23, 2021
the best content analytics 2021
the best content analytics 2021
Analytics

The Best Content Analytics Tools of 2022

I was having a virtual coffee the other day, jamming on different measurement tools being used when it comes to content. Content creation, content marketing, content optimization. With agile marketing teams, focused on getting the most from their resources, having the right tools can make all the difference. Many use a web analytics tool like Google Analytics, yet find that it lacks the fidelity to identify where content can improve and see the impact it has on the customer. What… Continue reading

Ben Young
Ben Young
February 22, 2021
2021 Content marketing trends & insights
2021 Content marketing trends & insights
Strategy

Content Marketing Trends & Insights

In this piece we examine the three big content marketing trends for the year ahead. This year is the year of squeezing more from the lemon. Making things go further. Doing more with less. There I’ve said it three times, it makes it more legit, right? But honestly, that is the predominant trend this year. That is the biggest content marketing trend at a macro level, but day to day, there appear to be two buckets in content… Continue reading

Ben Young
Ben Young
February 22, 2021
This Week in Native Ads

Newsletter #316 – The Peoples Economy

One big thing At the Goldman Sachs Technology and Investor conference, Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey suggested they were exploring tipping tweeters. Thus providing a financial incentive to those who create the best content. Now, what does that sound like? Kind of like SnapChat’s Spotlight or TikTok’s Creator fund. If content creators are able to wrangle the cosmos to entertain, educate and draw attention they’ll be rewarded for it. Continue reading

Ben Young
Ben Young
February 19, 2021
Analytics

2021 brings a new focus on what metrics are important

With all of us lurched forward into the future, we find ourselves relying on digital channels to move our businesses forward. This has meant a leap forward for content marketers. The digital experience must deliver – content is the way to feed that funnel and get the customer closer to the business objective. With that being said, what does it mean for the metrics we use? 1. Fidelity on if the content is working It’s not enough to get… Continue reading

Ben Young
Ben Young
February 15, 2021
This Week in Native Ads

Newsletter #315 – The Peoples Stimulus Part 2

One big thing You might have seen a few mentions of Snapchat Spotlight in the newsletter in the last few months. Spotlight is where any (and yes any) user can send in content to be featured. And if they get featured, they get a cut. In this Guardian piece, they shine the light on 19-year-old Jack, whose video of his dog scampering across a conservatory roof earned him $20k. I mean, this is great. Commentators have… Continue reading

Ben Young
Ben Young
February 12, 2021
This Week in Native Ads

Newsletter #314 – Does Google need us?

One big thing What happens when Google doesn’t need you anymore? It’s still a ways away but it kind of is the trajectory. The same way Uber was considering a world without drivers. Google is moving towards a world without click out search results. When you consider things like GPT3, an AI that can create copy to fulfill a result, having been trained off data. A search results page that fully caters to your needs is… Continue reading

Ben Young
Ben Young
February 5, 2021
The best native advertising examples of 2021
The best native advertising examples of 2021
Best of

The Best Native Advertising Examples of 2021

Read on to see the best native ads of 2021. When people speak about native ads, they typically either talk about native content or native display. So, in an effort to avoid confusion, I want to make it clear that in this piece, we’re concentrating on content. Throughout, you’ll quickly notice that we use additional terms that are synonymous with native content, e.g. branded content, sponsored content, and custom content. Each week, we handpick exceptional content campaigns that we’ve… Continue reading

Ben Young
Ben Young
February 3, 2021