Our top 10 content marketing posts of 2012

We have a lot to say about content marketing, as you may have noticed. We tweet about it every single day (several times), talk about it on LinkedIn/Google+/Facebook, pin related images on Pinterest, and if you were a fly on one of the walls in any of our offices, your head will be abuzz with talk about content strategy, social media, SEO, marketing and conversion. And, notably, 2012 has seen us publish a white paper, two infographics, 95 blog posts (this is the 96th) and 260 news articles – all about content marketing.

The most exciting thing for me, both as coordinator and contributor to the website, is that the more we wrote, the more people showed they want to not just listen but also get involved in the content marketing conversation. It’s been great sharing our thoughts and expertise with our readers over the last year and we look forward to bringing you lots more in 2013 from our team of experts.

Thanks for reading, commenting, liking and sharing! {image: iStockphoto/Thinkstock}

These were the top ten posts of 2012.

10. To tweet or not to tweet?

The popularity of this post, published as recently as June, is an indication that not every business has been convinced of the potential of social media, in particular Twitter. While large brands such as Coca-Cola are investing in content marketing to achieve specific goals (more on that later), many are still um-ing and ah-ing about whether or not to jump on the bandwagon. The truth is, while it is important to jump with an end goal in mind, the sooner they take the plunge, the better their chances at achieving success.

9. Shell gets it wrong on social media – or does it?
We’ve seen a fair few social media blunders by big brands, so when Shell’s apparent crowdsourcing experiment went wrong, it was a sight to behold. But not all was as it seemed…

8. BBC content strategy becomes evident in design
The BBC has transformed its site over the last 18 months. We took a closer look at how its redesign was influenced by its content strategy.

7. Content marketing and gold production
An unlikely pairing, perhaps, but content marketing activities can be likened to gold production. Don’t believe me? Just check out our infographic The Gold Standard of Content Marketing and the insightful blog post featuring additional analysis and stats.

6. Is Twitter bringing celebrity journalism to its knees?
Twitter has been a game changer in many ways. We’ve seen how members of the public broke big stories by tweeting grainy mobile phone pictures of huge events, people getting jailed for tweets and politicians campaigning in 140-character bursts. But has Twitter also changed celebrity journalism?

5. A royal content marketing strategy
Many people thought all the good PR of the royal wedding and Golden Jubilee got undone when Prince Harry was snapped getting … well, undone … in Vegas. However, somehow his antics endeared him to the general public. Was an intelligent content marketing strategy to thank?

4. The Daily Mirror gets dressed up
Could a new look give the Mirror the boost it wanted?

3. O2 wins in the battle of the wits
If you’re a national mobile network with hundreds of thousands of your customers growing increasingly agitated because of service outages, who do you call upon? A very expensive PR guru? A statement by a grovelling CEO? Or a hilariously witty social media team? I think you know the answer.

2. Samantha Brick: cunning content strategy?
If there’s one thing the social media realm loves, it’s getting all worked up about stuff published in the Daily Mail. This year, Twitter almost imploded when a columnist called Samantha Brick lamented being hated because she’s just so darn pretty. A deluded writer or a cunning content strategy? You decide.

1. Coca-Cola shows content marketing is the real thing
If you work in content marketing, you will be familiar with Coca-Cola’s bold plans to conquer the world with content by 2020. This strategy confirms that content marketing is the route to increased engagement and ultimately revenues for businesses. Exciting times.

What has been your biggest content marketing story this year?

——————————————————————————————————

Karen Webber is the Head of Marketing and Creative at NewsReach. She has been working in content marketing for the last decade and is a passionate believer in the power of content to form meaningful connections between businesses and their target audiences.