You're smart. You're already aware that content plays a huge role in today's world of inbound marketing. You know about the importance of social media, online videos, PPC ads, blogs, and interactive websites -- but the rest of the world is still catching on.
This week, a number of companies made progress by honing their digital content to be more beautiful, shareable, and easier to digest. With the launch of new web development tools, website redesigns, and ad platform support, there were some really exciting news this week. Bonus: if you want an in-depth analysis of the news, check out the video at the end featuring HubSpot CMO Mike Volpe and Marketing Fellow Dan Lyons discussing the latest trends in marketing. Enjoy!
Twitter Testing a New Look for Threaded Conversations, From Mashable
This week, Twitter started testing a new look on its website for messages and replies. In a post from Mashable, some users shared screenshots illustrating the new look on their Twitter feeds. In the new look, users don't have to click on a tweet to see a conversation -- the conversation and replies will appear directly in-stream. As far as we know, Twitter should be slowly rolling out the UI update to users.
This new UI update will be a welcomed by many marketers and community managers. Though there are already tools available to easily monitor entire Twitter threads without diving deep on Twitter.com, marketers should be excited about this update because it could help their followers better engage with their brand's tweets. Be sure to keep an eye out for the UI update on your Twitter feed in the weeks to come to see how the conversation thread redesign impacts your brand's Twitter engagement. Read more about Twitter's new look at Mashable.
New York Stock Exchange Joins Inbound Marketing Push, From Adweek
We know that content is a big piece of the inbound marketing puzzle, and it looks like the New York Stock Exchange is hopping on the bandwagon. The NYSE is definitely an old-school company, but they’ve recently launched a site called The Big Stage where visitors can find a variety of content about companies listed on the NYSE. Audiences of The Big Stage will be greeted with an interactive website featuring videos, Q&As, and profiles to help the brand engage its community.
This move by the NYSE is similar to other big brands that are adopting the inbound methodology and using content to attract and engage audiences. The site content is heavily supplied and curated by a team of 10 writers from Time Inc. Content Solutions, who pay special attention to social trends to guide their content. For marketers, it will be interesting to see how a fairly small team from an old-school company fares -- NYSE's efforts may even help you convince your boss to invest more resources in inbound marketing. Learn more NYSE's new initiative at Adweek.
101 Awesome Marketing Quotes, From HubSpot
Daily marketing responsibilities can be quite the daunting task when you’ve got a million other things to take care of around the office. We know things can get a bit stressful with all of the changes constantly happening in the world of marketing. To help remind you why marketing is amazing, we’ve compiled 101 insightful quotes from industry leaders to put some pep in your step on this lovely Sunday morning. Download the full collection today.
Bing Ads Will Copycat Google AdWords Enhanced Campaigns With New Bid Adjustments, From Search Engine Land
With Google making moves on its Enhanced Campaigns, Bing has decided to step up to the plate and make some new changes of its own. Bing is finally allowing users to import their AdWords’ campaigns into Bing Ads. This means that users currently on AdWords will be able to bring over their bid adjustments based on age, gender, location, and day of the week into their Bing Ad accounts. Bing is also adding the ability to make negative bid adjustments and increasing their maximum bid range to +900%.
For marketers who want to switch from Google AdWords to Bing, this is great news. Before this update, Bing wasn't able to import campaigns or bid adjustments from AdWords because they were supported differently in each platform. Bing will continue to support tablet targeting and soon introduce bid adjustments based on device. Learn more at Search Engine Land.
Google Will Soon Launch Google Web Designer, A Free HTML5 Development Tool for Creating Web Apps, Sites, and Ads, From TechCrunch
The search engine giant will soon be launching a set of web tools for creative professionals called Google Web Designer. Launching in the coming months, the HTML5 development tool will provide users with tools to create cutting-edge advertising content, web apps, and websites -- though it's initial focus will be on advertising content. Google Web Designer is built to be a stand-alone creative product for agencies and designers.
Marketers should definitely keep an ear to the ground for any additional information on a release date. Google Web Designer will put very powerful web development tools in the hands of brands and marketers looking to improve their online presence. With this new tool, marketers will have much more flexibility in their advertising content -- especially when it comes to native advertising. Learn more about Google Web Designer at TechCrunch.
YouTube’s New One Channel Design Now Live for All Publishers, From Marketing Land
YouTube rolled out its new One Channel design to all publishers this week. The video sharing network has been testing this new design since February and finally decided to release it to all users. The One Channel design adds a number of customizable features to YouTube profile pages that include showing channel trailers, and adding channel art and custom sections. YouTube reports that its One Channel early adopters have seen a 20% increase in visits and subscribers.
The new One Channel design should allow marketers and brands to better present their video content to visitors. If the reports from early adopters are anything close to what all YouTube profiles will experience, marketers could see a great boost in channel traffic and subscribers. With all of the new customizable features, brands should consider designing branded channel art and curating video sections based on user interests. Learn more about One Channel at Marketing Land.
Weekly Marketing Hangout with Mike Volpe and Dan Lyons
Want a deeper look into the weekly marketing stories? Check out the recording of our live Google+ Hangout below.
What other marketing stories did you come across this week? Share your favorites with us in the comments!
Image credit: Found Animals
