Buy my book today! http://bit.ly/bestbrandingbook Contact me: http://www.edwindearborn.com/contact/ Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwindearborn/ Branded content is a form of advertising where the content doesn’t focus explicitly on a product or brand, but instead entertains or informs in a way that aligns with a brand’s values and audience. Branded content campaigns may include video, articles, social media posts, infographics, and podcast episodes. Branded content marketing has become a divisive issue in the industry. Is it advertising? Or is it content marketing? The Content Marketing Institute has argued passionately for the term to be dropped, insisting it gives content marketing a bad name. And in an interview with Advertising Age, Mark Fortner, jury member at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity and head of innovation and branded content at Mediacom, said, “Many of the entrants in the branded content and entertainment category just slapped a logo onto something, or made an integration just for the brand’s sake without any larger narrative or natural partnership.” The considerable challenge for those in the industry is to find the balance between entertainment and promotion – the practice of ‘logo slapping’ is a big no-no. Is it the same as content marketing? It’s worth noting that branded content marketing isn’t necessarily the same thing as content marketing. As Jan Godsk from the BCMA explains: Branded content marketing campaigns are often associated with entertainment-type content, such as creative video advertising. The aim is to resonate with the consumer on an emotional level rather than focusing on the actual product and USPs. Content marketing campaigns are more focused on the product or service and the content is usually more rational and informative. This takes place further down the customer decision journey and, unlike branded content, ROI is more about lead-generation and sales than building a positive image of the brand. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biiNcC4ru-w

Sales Professionals Vs Order Takers | Converting Leads Into Sales Call me at 714-300-9566 or check out http://www.edwindearborn.com/contact/ Salespeople, consultants and order takers have much in common. Both salespeople and consultants need to have extraordinarily high business acumen. The more complex the sale or the business problems, the more business acumen is required. Lead conversion in real estate, insurance, and other industries is a matter of generating leads and then persisting with follow through. Both salespeople and consultants improve their client’s business performance. Both need to have the experience and the situational knowledge to do so. And both can be trusted advisers, even though this isn’t always the case for either group (it is something that is earned over time, and your clients determine whether or not you are one; you only decide if you behave like one). But before we get the main difference, let’s dispel a few incorrect beliefs about consultants. Salespeople talk about consultants as if they are completely impartial, simply providing the trusted advice of someone with the business experience and acumen with no particular bias. This is, quite simply, wrong. Consultants are completely biased, perhaps even more than salespeople. The good folks at the McKinsey Group aren’t very interested in recommending that their clients hire Boston Consulting Group. Consultants are very partial to their solutions, so much so that they build consulting practices around their ability to help their clients improve their business. They are anything but impartial. I know dozens of people who have entered the consulting world only to fail miserably. They knew their subject matter as well as anyone in their field, and in some cases, they were probably far better than most. The problem that they encountered was that to be a consultant you have to have a client with whom to consult. It’s true that consultants are thought leaders. It is true their publishing brings them some clients. But most spend time pursuing new business because without it, they are no longer consultants. As the real estate world changes and more and more potential buyers and sellers are spending their time online, the need for the practitioner to know how to convert leads is more important than ever. As the head of a company that has thousands of coaching students and a marketing wing that does nothing but create leads for people, I get inundated with questions on a regular basis about the best way to convert these leads. What’s interesting is that as the industry as a whole evolves, the more it actually stays the same. We are still a people business that thrives on relationships — and that will never change. This is evidenced by the fact that, accordi ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfBpgDGFti8

Buy my book today! http://bit.ly/bestbrandingbook Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwindearborn/ Cold Calling - Does It Still Work? My Tips and Tricks Cold calling is not dead. It’s just changed a bit. No one likes receiving cold calls. No one really likes making cold calls. And while inbound marketing is a necessary part of your overall marketing strategy, it has not replaced cold calling as an effective, efficient way of reaching customers. Today, cold calling has morphed into the second step of the sales process. Today, the cold email starts the ball rolling in the process. The salesperson can send the cold email to the decision maker and that person will either respond, forward or delete the email. If the cold lead is interested in learning more, they can provide a time to take the next step and meet, naturally being more receptive and more attentive to the meeting. Essentially, this process turns the “cold” in cold call to “warm”. When a lead takes an action with your email, they are engaging with your (or your brand). Since they’ve engaged, these leads are no longer cold, right? With cold email, you’re after a response, not a sale. If the contact opens the email, great. You can send them a personal follow up email. If they reply or click on the resource offer inside, they’re ready for a warm call. Create a targeted list of prospects. This goes without saying. Naturally, you would want to drill down to your target prospect as specific as possible. To start searching qualified prospects, the best place to start would be on social media. It will depend on the business you are targeting, but most likely you will find your prospects on LinkedIn and sometimes on Twitter. To do this, you’ll need to understand the needs and pain points of the businesses you are serving. Then, you can begin to search those industries and job titles to make connections with decision makers. Do your research. Once you have your target customer established, you will want to do your research. Focus on the industry, location and the title of the decision maker in the buying process. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRSrDTA862w

Buy my book today! http://bit.ly/bestbrandingbook Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwindearborn/ ​ Creating Content for Social Media: What is Your Strategy & Plan? To tap into the power of content on Social Media requires a strategy and a plan. Whether you like the buzzword or not, content is important. It is what you give your followers in return for their support and interest. It is a way to impart information and entertain. But most of all, it is the most consistent and fail-proof method of building a brand, not only in substance, but in authority. Social media content isn't actually a different animal to what you would find elsewhere. It is just another strain of species, a form of equally valuable content presented for optimized for social sharing. You can build an unstoppable social media content strategy in five basic steps. In the last few years, there has been quite a bit of buzz concerning content marketing, what it is and how it is properly leveraged by brands. “Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action.” - Joe Pulizzi, Content Marketing Institute Content marketing strategy breaks down into two broad actions: Creating branded content Distributing branded content As a marketing strategist working with several companies and industries, I have observed where content creating and content distribution were confused or not given the proper estimation of effort. The Purpose of Branded Content Branded Content is conducted for one sole purpose: to attract, acquire and engage a target audience so as to drive profitability. Even if you are running a non-profit, you will eventually need to recruit individual donors, volunteers and corporate supporters. But, as we saw in the Colgate example, your content should be much more editorial, educational and entertainment than sales-oriented. The true power of Branded Content lies in the fact that people love a good story. So, tell your story like a story. Power Brands market content in a story format. And stories can be dramas, documentaries or even comedy. Your goal in storytelling is to present a captivating story that also directs your audience toward an intended response. Subscribe to my YouTube channel. ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLC9omASTwk