10 Pro Tips for B2B Marketing on Pinterest

We think of Pinterest as a lifestyle social network, chock full of party ideas, crafts, home decor inspiration, recipes, and fitness routines. But Pinterest is so much more than that. It’s become an asset to marketers who want to show off their visual content and drive traffic to their sites.
And here’s a notable benefit of Pinterest marketing. According to this infographic, the half-life of a Pin is a whopping 3.5 months. That’s 1,680 times longer than the half-life of a Facebook post. And don’t even get me started on the 24-minute half-life of a Tweet. Which means that the effort you put into your Pinterest presence will pay dividends for a long time.
And the value of Pinterest marketing isn’t limited to B2C businesses. Pinterest can supply fresh traffic and leads to B2B businesses as well. In this post, I’ll share 10 tips for B2B Marketing on Pinterest.

1. Pin a Variety of Visual Content

Pinterest is for visual content. That’s why so many B2B businesses often think Pinterest isn’t for them. They feel like they don’t have enough—or in fact any—visual content to share.
So, first of all, if you don’t have any visual content, it’s time to get cracking. Content marketing is the future of marketing, and the sexiness of visual content is undeniable.
But don’t wait until you have a fresh bank of visual assets before you dip your feet into the Pinterest pool. Trust me, you have more visual content than you realize. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Product images. Post your product images and link back to your site’s product pages.
• Quotes. Create graphic quotes that would inspire your target audience. Canva makes the job quick and easy.
• Blog posts. Pin your blog posts to drive people back to your site.
• Events. Pin photos of company and industry events.
• Employees. Show off photos of team members. Let your unique company culture shine through pinned photos of your inter-company social events.
• Marketing materials. Pin the covers of your e-books, white papers, and brochures—with links to where the materials can be downloaded.
• Presentations. Put your decks to work for you. Create a board for each presentation and pin key slides to the board.
• Industry-related topics. Share infographics and other pieces that are relevant to your industry.
• Tips and recommendations. Be helpful to your prospects and clients. Curate tips and recommendations to make their lives easier. Create boards on books you recommend, great blogs for them to follow, podcasts, and apps.
• Targeted boards. Create specific boards that cater to the needs and interests of individual industries and your different personas.

2. Balance Quality and Personality

When you create a new board, aim to make it the best board on that topic, and include a wide variety of quality pins. But while you target quality, don’t be afraid to show your personality. Quirkiness and humour can be very effective at making you stand out on Pinterest.

3. Use Pinterest to Find Great Content

Don’t limit your Pinterest presence to your own content. Round out your boards with content that your audience will enjoy, from other sources.
Don’t have time to scour the Web for that content? Follow relevant Pinners to fill your feed with quality Pins that you can conveniently re-Pin to your boards.

4. Use Great Images

Attention-grabbing imagery is key on Pinterest. Make sure you’re using the optimal image size for your Pins, board images, and profile images.
Use stunning photography, beautiful fonts and place subtle branding in the corners of your images. And make it easy for your site visitors to pin your content right from your site. Make sure that all your posts and pages contain at least one Pinnable image.

5. Write Quality Copy

Of course, great imagery that your Pinterest audience wants to click is key. But don’t forget to make your copy work for you too. Think of your descriptions as ad copy. Make them engaging enough to earn a click. And add compelling calls to action to help convert visitors to your site.

6. SEO Your Boards and Pins

Pinterest can be an asset in your SEO efforts. The more people re-pin your site content, the more backlinks your site earns. And social signals can improve your rankings.
To help people find your Pins on both Pinterest and Google, optimize your profile, boards, and pins. Search Engine Watch offers up some great advice here on how to do that.
But how about the Pins that are created directly from your site? You can’t always count on Pinners to enter a keyword-rich description on those pins. Many won’t enter a description at all. Give Pinners a hand by enabling Rich Pins, which automatically pull some of the post content into the description.

7. Get the Data

To help you decide what new content to create and post to Pinterest, you need to understand how your current content is performing. And for that, you’re going to need to get the data. Here are three great sources of analytics data for Pinterest.
To start with, access the analytics data for your Pinterest business page here. You’ll find a variety of engagement insights about your pins.
Next, remember that not everyone pins from Pinterest. Find out what content people are pinning directly from your site by visiting pinterest.com/source/example.com. (Substitute example.com for your domain.)
Finally, use Google Analytics to monitor engagement and conversion metrics for your Pinterest traffic.

8. Research Your Ideal Client

Are you trying to get a better understand of who your ideal client is as a person? Pinterest can provide a wealth of data. Just check out the boards of your clients and people who have repinned your pins. What else are they pinning? What insights can you glean from their boards?

9. Research Content Ideas

If content creation is a priority for you, you’ll hit occasional droughts in content ideas. (It happens to the best of us, believe me.) Pinterest’s guided search is effective for unearthing content ideas and curation opportunities around a topic.

10. Get Inspired by the Greats

Why reinvent the wheel when you can follow the lead of other great brands? Check out these great Pinterest business pages to see how it’s done:

• Hootsuite
• Intel
• General Electric
• IBM
• Fedex
• Marketo
• Hubspot

11. Bonus tip: Collaborate with Clients and Partners

Ok so this isn’t really a marketing, so consider it a bonus. Pinterest is a fantastic tool for collaborating with clients.
I use it whenever I build a visual asset for a new client – whether it’s a video, presentation, infographic or Website. So that I don’t waste time building a piece my client won’t like, I strive to get into my client’s head before I begin. I try to get a sense of the design styles that resonate with them.
Sure, I could have them fill out a client brief. But that exercise feels too esoteric to some of my clients. What’s worked brilliantly for me instead is to create a secret board on Pinterest, and add my client as a contributor. My client then spends time Pinning images, photos, colour palettes, fonts, and websites they love. Before long, I know exactly what they’re after and can deliver on their vision.

Over To You

Have you been using Pinterest in your B2B marketing? If not, why? If so, have I missed any key points? I’d love to hear from you. Please share in the comments.



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5 Creative Strategies to Stay Inspired to Write All Year [Infographic]

If there's one thing we know about inspiration, it's that it's not very good at giving advance notice of anything.
It crops up at the most inopportune time -- like when you're without a pen or a device to otherwise record a brilliant idea.
And other times, when you need it the most -- it's nowhere to be found.
It also has its very own version of low seasons, when writers are left without special events or holidays to stimulate creativity. Now that the holidays are behind us, for example, many of us are feeling deprived of prolific cheer?

Download our free guide here for tips to become a better writer. 

 But as it turns out, these claims are little more than excuses. Inspiration, it turns out, can be sought any time, anywhere.
One of our very favorite infographic artists, Henneke Duistermaat, knows this to be true -- and thus compiled her thoughts on the matter in the captivating visual below.
Have a look, and discover how you can find the inspiration to write and blog -- with consistency -- all year.
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5 Tips to Improve Your Visual Content Strategy

Visual content has become one of the most powerful tools out there.
With 500 million daily active users, Instagram has revolutionized the way we share content, by utilizing imagery alone!
The visual trend has already grown exponentially from the days of simply posting static images.
Social media is now dominated by eye-catching graphics, breathtaking pictures and gut-busting memes.
Most recently, incorporating GIFs, 360 photos, and live video.
Businesses rarely ask whether visual content is an effective part of their strategy.
In fact 65 percent of senior marketing executives believe that visual assets like photos, video, illustrations and infographics are important when it comes to sharing their brand story.
However, not everyone knows how to effectively leverage the power of graphics, images and videos.
Here, we will share 5 tips to improve your visual strategy and promote your business using the most effective types of visual content!

1. Publish striking images

Our first tip is to simply share images!
BuzzSumo found that updates with images have 2.3x more engagement on social media in comparison to posts without.
Clearly, that means that you should be publishing content featuring images in order to properly build your following!
However, it is crucial to always use high quality, eye-catching, brand flattering images for your website, blog, or social media efforts, in order to portray a professional feel.
Whether you use royalty free images featured on photo-sharing websites, take pictures yourself or hire a designer to create custom graphics and photos – the source is entirely up to you.

Image source

Strategies with a limited budget benefit from free images – like the one above – but if you run a company that highly values brand nurturing the best idea is to contract a designer who will help create fully branded, original images.
Whatever your budget, always be sure the images are:

• Crisp & clear – Avoid dark, pixelated or blurry images
• High quality – Be sure the images are optimized for today’s visual technology
• Relevant to your niche or brand (We’ll get into this more later!)

Looking for places to integrate visuals alongside usual content? How about:

• Featuring an image for your blog posts
• Share an image with a quote on social media
• Promote an eBook cover when advertising a digital product
• Show inspirational images in your email newsletter

2. Share knowledge using an infographic!

Infographics are a visual way to present data or explain an otherwise complex concept.
This makes them extremely effective when it comes to your overall content marketing strategy.
In fact, some reports state that infographics are liked and shared 3X more than any other type of content on social media.
Infographics are suitable for presenting research results, sharing a workflow, showing the passage of time or even teaching a step-by-step process.
This type of content is most appropriate for bloggers who want to enhance their writing with graphics that better help explain complicated concepts.
Readers will appreciate the clarity and love learning new things in a unique way!
The layout should be clear, with various different shapes and colors that allow you to highlight different aspects of the presented data:

 
An inspiring design helps even the most mundane statistics and percentages seem interesting and engaging.
Also, as they share their own view of the topic, your users will actively be promoting your infographic as well, thus helping you expand your audience.

3. Evaluate your use of memes

Memes are commonly known as images that are accompanied by humorous, unpredictable captions.
They even have their own way of being relevant in the world of online marketing!
Some of the most influential blogs in the industry use memes as a funny way to present a certain point, along with entertaining the readers at the same time.
With memes, it’s almost as if you are creating an inside joke specifically for your industry and tailoring it to the topic you’re addressing.
The best memes are targeted correctly and appropriate for your audience, so be sure you take those factors into consideration before posting.

 

Not only will you engage your readers by utilizing humor and using creativity, but if utilized properly, you will also get likes, shares, comments and even more engaged followers!

4. Create relevant presentations

While on one side we have memes and humorous content, on the other we have presentations, which are an equally important tool when it comes to your visual content marketing strategy.
The recommended approach for presentations is similar to that of infographics – visual elements, shapes and colors are used to create an attractive design and gain the attention of your readers.
Presentations are typically best for promoting short texts, quotes, definitions, etc. and unlike infographics, can be a bit more lengthy, which allows you to present more information and data.
Utilizing online platforms for sharing presentations, such as SlideShare, you can provide a presentation that is accessible to a significant number of online users, enabling them to easily share the presentation on their own blogs or social media.

5. Consider vlogging or filming videos

Vlogs and live videos are increasingly popular on social media, as they allow direct interaction with your social followers.
Videos are particularly useful for creating dynamic presentations especially with accompanying music or a voice over message.
Filming vlogs or doing a live video event is a perfect way to create a more intimate bond with your social followers.
You could film a part of your speech at a conference, share the atmosphere from an event or simply do an online Q and A.
Online platforms and advanced functions on smartphones allow you to create video content quite easily, without requiring any special technical skills.
Before you get started, find a great vlog to subscribe to and take notes!
Need a recommendation?
Click through to check out our vlog on YouTube!

Wrapping it Up

All types of visual content allow for the possibility of boosting engagement.
As a result, you’ll get to see a ton of benefits such as a gain in followers, an increase in traffic and even more leads.
Define your strategy in such a way that you take full advantage of visual content.
Use formats that are suitable for the topics you want to address, and make sure that visual content is relevant to your overall business strategy and intended audience.
Whether you use memes, infographics or presentations, you want the style to fully match the overall message you’re trying to convey.
You’ll see the best results when the strategy is aligned with – and reflective of – your business goals.
Think about using visual content as a way of showcasing the essence of your brand while engaging viewers at the same time!
As always, we’d love to hear from you next:
What type of visual content do you find to be the most appealing to you?
When it comes to your business, which type of visual content do you use the most and why?
Still trying to get the hang of this visual content thing and looking to learn more before posting your next image?
Click to read our tips for small businesses on Instagram!
Learn from your own experience and monitor which content helps you boost your business. Once you’ve had some practice, come back and let us know.
We can’t wait to hear from you!



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Explore the Content Editor Cosmos to Produce Out-of-This-World Writing [Infographic]

“Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup. They slither wildly as they slip away across the universe.” – The Beatles, “Across the Universe”

 So, who’s responsible for taming wild words and presenting them in a straightforward format that’s engaging and educational? 

Content editors, of course. 

 A content editor aids in the effortless comprehension of a writer’s message, and in today’s infographic, we’ll explore the content editor’s universe to discover key takeaways you can use the next time you review and refine a piece of writing. 


 

Like this infographic? Get more from Copyblogger in our new, free WORD ebook that features our best advice for writers.

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25 Ideas to Transform Ho-Hum Infographics into Something Extraordinary

A few weeks ago here on Copyblogger, Demian Farnworth presented the infographic as the Salvador Dalí of content marketing — the most interesting person at the cocktail party.
More than just a superficial presence, an infographic is a significant asset pillar with diverse possibilities that help you grow your media empire.
Today, let’s equate the Internet to the world of pop music. In this case, infographics are The Beatles.
They’re irresistible. They create massive hits. At their best, they balance style and substance.
They can be relentlessly imaginative. And like John, Paul, George, and Ringo, they can communicate sophisticated ideas to a mass audience.
Yep, they’re lovable. How lovable?
The factoid below comes from a 2012 infographic by NeoMam Studios.



Even stories about infographics sizzle. I wrote “The Most Important Thing You Need to Know About Infographics” and it climbed to the number one spot on my chart last year.
Before we brainstorm infographic ideas, let’s discuss why infographics work.

Why do we love infographics?

Here are 15 reasons I’ve assessed:

1. They’re so webable. First, I must offer my theory and ask you to live with my funny new word. Although data visualizations exist in traditional media, they’ve exploded in the digital age because they perfectly suit new media and the devices we use to consume information.
2. We’re visual creatures. The fun, interactive infographic, “13 Reasons Why Your Brain Craves Infographics,” makes this case with powerful data points.

3. They simplify complex ideas. Infographics aid comprehension by pairing text with straightforward pictures.
4. They’re easy to share. We love to share information we find valuable. It feeds our appetites for being conduits of wisdom. Creators and publishers of infographics encourage you to share their content and often simplify the process by providing code you can embed on your website.
5. They’re familiar. The general recipe for infographics features ingredients we’re comfortable with: illustrations, icons, charts, diagrams, and captions. The familiarity speaks to us and obliterates any objections.
6. They travel well. Infographics are multi-screen portable. They translate nicely to slides and also tend to work on paper.
7. They’re fast. Up above, in Number Two, you see an interesting data point about how fast we’re able to process visual information. The process of reading takes time. Given our short attention spans, the speed with which we can absorb visual information makes infographics attractive.
8. They’re less taxing. A related, but slightly different idea than the one above about speed is we give ourselves a little break when we digest information aided by visuals. We encounter a lot of information daily. We can only read so much. The data below comes from:
   • Welcome to the information age — 174 newspapers a day, The Telegraph.
   • Measuring Consumer Information, International Journal of Communication, Vol 6.
   • How Little Do Users Read?


9. People thrive on data. We’re drawn to data and proof points. I like this presentation from Juice, Inc. that explains how data drives exploration, understanding, presentation, discovery, motivation, learning, and above all, “doing.”
10. They tell stories. A lot of infographics use storytelling tactics including characters, conflicts, problems, and resolutions. Stories hold our attention as we relate to characters and go on journeys with them.
11. They promote branding. When infographics are republished, a brand travels with the image, which usually includes a logo and URL.
12. People search for them. Because they’re so useful (and often entertaining), people search for infographics, as evidenced in the statistic presented above. Since search engines can’t index the content within an image, headlines often appear with the explicit label “Infographic”.
13. People collect them. Do you do this? I sure do. I stash infographics for safekeeping on Pinterest and in my swipe files if I suspect I’ll want to reference them (or use them) again in the future.
14. They dominate the page. I believe one of the many factors that make infographics appealing is they tend to dominate a webpage.
15. They’re generally large and colorful. Unlike plain text, infographics defeat distractions and help us focus on the content.

Ready to create your own infographic?

Here are 25 infographic types, themes, and concepts:

1. Process. Create an infographic to explain a process. They’re ideal for breaking down and simplifying a multi-step process that may otherwise appear intimidating.
2. Comparison. These images may include sections such as: before and after, this vs. that, old way vs. new way, us and them, etc.
3. Timeline. Infographics help illustrate the evolution of a subject matter.
4. Roundup. Various types of roundups, such as quotes, reviews, favorites, etc. can be presented as a collection.
5. Components. Just as it’s useful to break down a process into steps, you can decouple the components of just about anything to aid understanding, i.e., an engine, recipe, or team.
6. Instructions. Use an infographic to simplify complex tutorials or communicate how to complete a task.
7. Charts and tables. Simple charts or tables featuring icons or images representing a topic create visual interest.
8. Categories. Take any category of interest to your audience and tell a story with an infographic. Check out one of my favorites, “The Genealogy of Pop/Rock Music”. Amazing.
9. Study of a “universe.” Produce massive visual collections on: beers, bands, books, bikes, beaches, etc. Here’s The Ultimate Infographic on Infographics from Curata.
10. Warnings. This popular article style tends to be irresistible. A list of dangers, myths, or mistakes is a powerhouse for infographics, too.
11. Metaphor. I love it when an interesting metaphor presents a concept. I bet you do too.
12. Résumé. Job hunting? The résumé as an infographic is such an engaging idea, services such as vizualize.me and kinzaa.com have sprung forth.
13. Report. Research and survey results offer great value in traditional report formats, but the same information, or highlights from it, make compelling infographics.
14. Product or service. You may not score a viral hit with an infographic that showcases what you sell, but you’re likely to have an engaging tool that presents your goods to potential buyers.
15. Trend. Showcasing a trend in an infographic makes a newsworthy story even more fun.
16. Past to present. This is another timeline idea that displays the history of a topic.
17. Place or event. Any place (from a nation to a campground) or any event (from a war to a conference) can be summarized in an infographic.
18. Guide. A rather obvious theme, I know, but any “how to” begs to be transformed into an infographic.
19. Family tree. These can be downright intoxicating. You can use a tree, flow chart, or similar symbols to explain relationships.
20. Cause and effect. You probably see a “this caused that” form of presentation more than you realize. It’s simple and smart.
21. Biography. Perform a search for “biography of Steve Jobs infographic” and you’ll discover some amazingly creative graphics. Study them for inspiration.
22. Story. Simple one here. Tell a story, like a picture book.
23. Manifesto. This approach can be a stellar branding tool. Write a manifesto that defines what you stand for and have a great designer create an infographic that makes you proud.
24. List. Don’t ignore this age-old, can’t-miss tactic for communicating fascinating, useful content.
25. Acronym. Spell out an acronym or abbreviation, with pictures, of course, and you’ll have a double-whammy simplification of a robust idea.

Grow your audience with infographics

Which type of infographic will you make to reach and educate a larger audience?


Flickr Creative Commons Image via Saad Faruque.
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19 Tools to Create Social Media Content

Are you looking for new ways to create content?
Interested in tools that can help you?
In this article, you’ll discover 19 tools to create and share content on social media.

#1: Convert Long Form Content to Slides

Presentations are great for readers who need a little more time to digest bigger pieces of content. They also let you introduce your business in a more visually appealing way. Break your content into slides and share your professional presentations with these tools.
SlideShare

LinkedIn’s SlideShare gives you a platform to build, upload, and edit presentation decks and share them on social media. The list of sharing sites includes Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and of course LinkedIn. Email, links, WordPress shortcodes, and iframe embedding are also available to share your work.
Cost: Free

SlideBoom
SlideBoom can convert your PowerPoint presentations to Flash so you can share them with colleagues, prospects, and customers. As private or public, SlideBoom lets you share your presentations with just the right audience.
Cost: Free and paid versions

Convert your PowerPoint presentations to Flash with SlideBoom.

Prezi
Prezi is available for your desktop or as an online editor. It makes creating an effective presentation a snap. Browse the knowledge base or upload your own presentations. You can add animations and share your content on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Cost: Public accounts are free and will be viewable, searchable, and reusable. Pro accounts run from $5-$20 per month.

Create dynamic presentations with Prezi.

SlideSnack
SlideSnack is a presentation-sharing tool that lets you easily upload presentation slides accompanied by voice overlays. You can share them with Blogger, Facebook, WordPress, My Webs, Weebly, Jimdo, Tumblr, Hi5, Orkut, and YouTube.
Cost: Free

Upload slides and add voice overlays with SlideSnack.

#2: Present Your Business on Video

Video is perhaps the most important medium for sharing and presenting content online. YouTube is the top dog with over 1 billion unique users each month, but other top video-sharing services look to take some of the market share.
Could your bustling business benefit from these top online video tools?

PowToon
PowToon features a user-friendly presentation interface and minimalist design. You can use it to create branded video and share it with prospects and customers.
Cost: Free and paid versions available

PowToon lets you create branded video that you can share on
your social channels.

Magisto
Magisto lets you synchronize audio and visual aspects to make an emotional connection with the viewer. Share your videos on Facebook, Google+, Twitter, YouTube, or your own blog.
Cost: Free and paid versions available

Magisto lets you turn images and video into short movies.

WeVideo
With WeVideo, you get worry-free cloud access to your media, Ken Burns-style animations, voiceover capabilities, and a library of licensed music to make video editing stress-free. Sharing capabilities include Facebook, Twitter, Vimeo, and YouTube.
Cost: Free and paid versions available

WeVideo is a cloud-based video editor.

Wideo
Wideo works in tandem with your marketing strategy to create videos in minutes. You can create professional videos online and share them on your blog, Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. If you prefer to have Wideo create your video, graphic designers are on hand to assist with your marketing needs.
Cost: Free and paid versions available

You can create video in minutes with Wideo.

Share Your Video Content
Once you create your video, here are some places to upload and share it:
YouTube
Just about everyone is familiar with YouTube for its public and private video upload freedom, customizable thumbnails, and monetization capabilities. An incredible 300 hours of videos are uploaded every minute, and according to a recent report from Digiday, there is something for everyone.
Cost: Free and paid versions available
Vimeo
Vimeo’s platform is similar to YouTube and is ideal for video sharing, discovery, and sparking creativity. You can get inspired by individuals and businesses that are passionate about video.
Cost: Free and paid versions available
Dailymotion
Live and on demand, Dailymotion is the place to watch videos of sporting events, hilarious bloopers, fashion shows, and more.
Cost: Free
Metacafe
With a youthful tone and appearance, Metacafe showcases short-form videos, gaming, television, and music.
Cost: Free

#3: Show Your Story With Infographics

Give your content a huge boost with infographics, which encourage engagement. According to Content Desk, an infographic is 30 times more likely to be read than a purely text article.
In fact, the state of visual content has grown in importance from key marketing decision-makers worldwide, supported by a recent report from eMarketer and the communications firm Lewis. They report that 94% of marketing decision-makers produce visual content.
The reasons behind the popularity of visual content may come as a surprise. According to the study, the top reasons for visual content production are not its aesthetic appeal, but its ability to encourage engagement, the social media requirements, and the customer’s reduced attention.
There are easy and affordable ways to stand out visually on social media. With minimal training, these top infographic websites let you create and share craveworthy content.

Easel.ly
Easel.ly lets you easily edit and customize infographic templates. You can share your new canvas immediately on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Cost: Free

Easel.ly lets you edit and customize a variety of
infographic templates.

Piktochart
Piktochart lets you create innovative, design-intricate infographics complete with icons, images, charts, and interactive maps. Once finished, save and publish your newly minted content directly to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and YouTube, and even convert long-form infographics to multi-slide presentations on SlideShare.
Cost: Free and paid versions available

Design innovative infographics with Piktochart.

Canva
With Canva, you can quickly create infographics, along with presentation covers, social media images, online advertisements, flyers, and more. Canva lets you share your work on Facebook and Twitter.
Cost: Free and paid versions available

Choose from Canva’s library of design sizes and styles.

Visme
With Visme, you can easily create beautiful presentations, infographics, reports, web content, and wireframes all in one place. Share your content online as a URL or on social media, embed it on your website, or download it for offline use.
Cost: Free and paid versions available

Visme lets you create presentations, infographics, reports, 
web content, and more.

Share Infographic Content
Here are some platforms where you can share your infographics:
Cool Infographics
Cool Infographics is free to marketers in the design community who want to submit their work to a forum for review. In addition, the service lets you self-publish, connect, and discover visual content. It’s a way to drive more traffic to your business.
Cost: Free
Submit Infographics
Do you have an infographic you’re proud of and want to submit it for review? On Submit Infographics, you can publish and share branded designs to be stored in the site’s visual content library, which is available for the viewing pleasure of the site’s large audience.
Cost: Free and paid versions available

#4: Build Buzz With Quizzes

Want to gain interaction? Try a quiz!
Personality quizzes are fun for readers and informative to marketers. Marketers should expect to see an 80% completion percentage, so set your sights high. If your results drop below the 80% mark, consider shortening or reworking your message.
Pro tip: If you want to build your email list, remember to give your readers the option to have their results sent directly to their inbox. Quizzes give readers an incentive to share information such as email addresses, and give marketers another way to collect audience data.
Start building and sharing your own quizzes with these five sites.

BuzzFeed
BuzzFeed is one of the most popular quiz-sharing websites to date. The site’s editorial style makes it easy to create, view, and share quizzes. You can share your content on practically every device and network.
Cost: Free

BuzzFeed lets you create, view, and share your own quizzes.

Playbuzz
Playbuzz is a digital publishing platform where you can create content and embed quizzes directly on your website. The goal is to share stories that people love, and it seems to be working. Playbuzz is one of BuzzFeed’s biggest competitors. Just as with BuzzFeed, Playbuzz lets you share your content on practically every device and network.
Cost: Free

Playbuzz lets you choose from a number of quiz formats.

Quizworks
With Quizworks, you can choose from multiple question types, view statistics, and get access to sharing tools that allow you to engage with your audience in a highly shareable way on Facebook and Twitter.
Cost: Free and paid options

Quizworks lets you create an online quiz in minutes.

Qzzr
Qzzr is an exciting tool that lets you create personalized quizzes based on your website’s look, feel, and language. Qzzr’s sharing capabilities include Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. You can also embed code directly to your blog or website.
Cost: Free and paid options

Qzzr lets you customize your quizzes to fit your website’s 
look and feel.

4screens
4screens is a responsive platform that lets you create quizzes, polls, and surveys. You can engage with readers and track leads in real time on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or from the embedded quizzes on your website.
Cost: Free and paid options

4screens lets you track leads in real time.

#5: Share Your Voice With a Podcast

Podcasting is bigger than ever. With the rise of smartphones and tablets, podcasts have become a required accessory for any long road trip or gym session. In fact, the podcast audience is now close to 60 million people in the United States, and according to Edison Research, podcast listening grew an impressive 23% between 2015 and 2016.
Podcasting will continue to grow and become easier for marketers to create, edit, and share. Try these top tools and make your podcasting dreams a reality.

Audacity
Audacity is open-source audio software that lets you record audio, convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs, and add your own audio effects to cut, copy, and mix your own podcasts.
Cost: Free

Audacity makes it easy to record audio for your podcast.

Podbean
Podbean lets you create and share professional podcasts in minutes without any programming knowledge. You can publish directly to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Tumblr, or Instagram accounts. You can also listen for free, or upload, publish, manage, and promote your podcasts with one of Podbean’s paid plans.
Download availability: iOS and Android
Cost: Free and paid options

Podbean makes it easy to create, manage, and 
promote your podcast.

Share Podcasting Content
Here are some places where you can upload and share your podcast:
SoundCloud
You can record and upload audio content to SoundCloud. You can share your work privately or publicly to blogs, sites, and social networks such as Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, and Foursquare.
Download availability: iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Podomatic
Podomatic lets you create and discover thought-provoking podcasts and share your favorites with your friends on Facebook.
Download availability: iOS and Android
Cost: Free
Archive
Internet Archive is a non-profit library of free books, movies, software, music, websites, images, concerts, and podcasts. You can upload content, donate, watch, and listen.
Download availability: Web only
Cost: Free
Stitcher
Stitcher boasts the ability to stream the latest in news, sports, talk, and entertainment radio anywhere, on demand. Stitcher is the easiest way to discover the best of over 65,000+ radio shows, live radio stations, and podcasts. You can “stitch” together your favorite shows into customized station playlists and save them for easy access later.
Download availability: iOS, Android, and Kindle Fire
Cost: Free

Conclusion
Achieving higher reader engagement is all about knowing your audience. After you get a better grasp of your readers’ habits and online routines, you can begin to target them properly in ways they want to interact.
Consider this: According to Salesforce, almost a quarter of all adults online are on at least two social media networks. It’s no surprise that each social networking site is unique in its audience and content, making it crucial to diversify your marketing strategy to interact with your customers where they are in the medium that best fits the network.
Whether you’re looking to convert outdated or overused content, or think a complex piece of content would be best served in bite-sized pieces, don’t miss out on an opportunity to reach a larger audience by presenting content in a new way.

What do you think? Can you use these five content formats and multiple tools to reach your audience and improve engagement? Please let us know in the comments below!

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3 Simple Ways to Bust Stereotypes and Craft a Remarkable Message

 On the snowy, northeastern Christmas of my 11th year, our parents gathered all five kids around the kitchen table to deliver the news.

We were moving to San Antonio, Texas.

I was devastated. Texas? I imagined what our new home would look like.

We’d be miles from any neighbors — who would all look like they walked straight off the “Hee Haw” set — with a dusty, rock-filled front yard punctuated by the occasional tumbleweed rolling by.

If only I had access to online content back in those days, I wouldn’t have been terrified at all by the silly stereotypes I believed to be true.

Here’s the thing — our customers are terrified, too. They’re operating based on stereotypes, fears, and misconceptions.

But every day, the internet makes it easier to inform and educate them so we can bust through stereotypes and really connect.

Their false assumptions don’t stand a chance when you use the three techniques below to create a remarkable message that engages your prospects.

1. Showcase your product

Video is ideal for showing exactly how your product works and why it’s the best on the market.

One company that does this well is OtterBox, whose YouTube channel features lighthearted product demos and user-submitted stories that show customers putting OtterBox technology cases to the test.

Your video doesn’t have to be fancy. It’s more important to:

• Take the time to develop a compelling story
• Write a script; don’t wing it
• Edit carefully so your video comes in under three minutes — bonus points if it’s under two

If you sell a service, video can also make your offerings come to life. Interview customers who’ve gotten good results. Show all the benefits of your service by filming before and after videos. And build interest by aiming your camera at the end result, showing prospects what they can expect.

2. Share your reality

People enjoy doing business with actual people, not faceless corporations.

Show prospects you’re just like them by sharing a little about yourself on social media (once you discover where your customers are hanging out), on your blog, and in your email newsletter.

Keep it light, tie it in with a topic you know your audience is interested in, and include them in the conversation the first chance you get.

If your business is large, you can make your company more approachable by allowing employees to share personal details on your website or company blog.

Let them post photos, share their hobbies, or post short videos that show them outside of work.

Any time you share some of your own reality, your two-dimensional internet presence becomes more three dimensional, and that makes your company — and its offerings — more appealing to prospects.

3. Shatter your stereotypes

You may be in a business that people tend to stereotype:

• All graphic designers are flaky, artsy types who can’t meet their deadlines.
• All engineers are nerdy and use pocket protectors.
• All web developers spend long days in windowless rooms and don’t know how to hold up their end of a conversation.
• All writers are broke and have no business sense.
• All accountants think about numbers all day.

Of course, none of these clichés are true.

If your business is typecast a certain way, accept it and set the record straight online.

• If you’re a graphic designer, post an infographic showing how often you meet or exceed your clients’ deadlines.
• If you own an engineering firm, post photos of the cool hobbies your employees spend time on outside of work.
• If you’re a web developer, host a pool party and invite your best clients, then post a video on your website.
• If you’re a writer, write an article about how you make money with your keyboard and smart business sense.
• If you’re an accountant, post your music playlist on your favorite social media profile.

Showing your prospects how those tired clichés don’t work for you and your company is an excellent way to make your business memorable.

Push boundaries and get more customers

It turns out I loved living in Texas — especially after my ears got used to the accent — and I made many friends I’m still in contact with.

The experience made me who I am today, and I’m grateful for it.

When we ask our prospects to go beyond their ingrained stereotypes, we encourage them to grow and stretch as human beings.

That’s good for them, and it turns out it’s good for business, too.

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