My name is Paul, and I’m addicted to the Investigation Discovery cable channel.

“ID”—for those not in the know—is Discovery Communications’ 24/7 collection of original and curated true-crime mysteries. Recently, my ID addiction led to the discovery of “Serial,” a new true-crime show that investigates a 15-year-old murder case. The show isn’t on TV. In fact, it’s not on radio or YouTube, either. It’s actually in a trendy digital format that’s risen in popularity by 25 percent from 2013-2014, according to Edison Research.

Topics: Content Marketing, Demand Generation, Interactive Media, Content Tools, Video, virtual events, podcasts

Advances in technology have made one thing abundantly clear in the last 15 years: We are never “finished” with improving. This holds especially true in content marketing.

Topics: Content Marketing, Content Strategy, content ROI, marketing automation

The value of face-to-face connections for lead generation potential keeps events at the top of marketers' priority list. According to Forrester, 20 percent of the average B2B marketing budget is dedicated to industry events.

Topics: Social Media, Content Strategy

Let’s not reinvent the banner ad.

Reading the New York Times recently, two tech articles caught my eye. Farhad Manjoo wrote about "The Fall of the Banner Ad," and Microsoft announced that it would make Office free for mobile devices.

Topics: Content Marketing, Content Creation, Content Strategy

Anyone who started their career in a newsroom and then switched to marketing knows that the methods and values in most newsrooms are challenging to fit into a corporate environment. In a newsroom, when you write something that gets powerful people mad, you know you’re doing your job well. In marketing, not so much. So why are more and more companies interested in brand journalism?

Topics: Content Campaigns, Content Marketing, Content Creation, Content Strategy

The efficacy of traditional outbound marketing channels is in decline. As a result, savvy B2B marketers have turned to inbound tactics to provide customers with compelling, relevant, valuable content. But the question is: How do you know if your content is compelling?

Topics: Content Marketing, Content Creation

Thought leadership content is not just about sharing ideas. It’s about offering a credible, well-reasoned, and occasionally provocative point of view on topics your audiences care—or should care—about. Not for the purpose of making the quick sale, but to start conversations, impart a vision, and engage others. You can use it to position your company as a potential valued partner or your executives as influential authorities in their fields, but in the end, it’s about building trust and relationships. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Topics: Social Media, Blogging, Content Marketing, Content Creation