YouTube announced yesterday that it has modified the eligibility requirements for its Partner Program (YPP), which will change the ways and ability Creators can monetize their content on the platform.

Here’s what we know so far — and how marketers can prepare.

What YouTube’s New Partner Program Requirements Mean for Marketers

Changes to the YouTube Partner Program 

Beginning February 20 of this year — 30 days from now — Creators must have accrued 4,000 hours of watch time over the past year, in addition to 1,000 channel subscribers, the official statement explained. Compare that to previous eligibility requirements of only 10,000 lifetime views, as of last April.

Creators who do not currently meet those requirements have the next 30 days to reach those numbers. Otherwise, YouTube says, they will no longer be eligible for monetization, effective February 20.

However, even if Creators do meet that deadline, there doesn’t appear to be any guarantee that they will be eligible for YPP — rather, YouTube says, the only promise is that they’ll be “re-evaluated under strict criteria” to determine acceptance into the program.

Why YouTube Is Doing This

Last week, we reported on some changes to the Facebook News Feed that will make content from friends and family — as opposed to brands — more visible to users. That action, we predicted, was largely in response the scrutiny the network has received after being weaponized to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

YouTube, for its part, faced similar scrutiny in 2017 — its parent company, Google, is expected to appear before U.S. Congress today with specific, actionable information on how it plans to prevent such meddling and weaponization in the future.

That could explain the timing of this particular announcement, as stricter YouTube monetization requirements will likely play a role in Google’s overall content and guideline modification efforts.

However, YouTube also came under fire last month after one of its highest-earning creators, Logan Paul, posted graphic and offensive content to his channel. Since then, the channel has severed ties Paul has a preferred ad partner. 

What Marketers Can Do Now

YouTube, for its part, is downplaying the impact that these changes will have on Creators, at least when it comes to the loss of revenue.

According to the statement, 99% of Creators who do not meet the new requirements have, on average, earned less than $100 annually (over the past year).

And what income they have accrued prior to the February 20th deadline, YouTube says, they will still receive — based on Google’s AdSense policies.

YouTube has not made it clear, however, if Creators who reach these numbers after February 20th will still be eligible to apply for its partner program, though we will be keeping an eye on more specific information in its guidelines over the next few weeks.

In the meantime, accruing thousands of hours of views and subscribers within a 30-day period is no easy task. But the same rules apply here as they would to building an audience on any social media channel: create high-quality, personalized content that’s relevant to the audience you’re trying to reach.

Our comprehensive collection of tactical YouTube marketing content dives into these specifics, ranging from how to optimize videos for SEO and ranking, to how to run an ad campaign on the platform.

As always, feel free to reach out with your thoughts and questions on Twitter.

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?

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.

The phone rang a couple times before he picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hi,” I said. “Is this Pat Corpora?”

“Yes, it is.”

“It’s Eddie Shleyner,” I said. Silence. “I sent you a message on LinkedIn … about the Sampler. You replied with your number … told me to call.”

In 1995, Pat published The Doctor’s Vest-Pocket Sampler of Natural Remedies, a piece of direct response mail designed to sell a bigger, more complete book called New Choices in Natural Healing.

In other words, the free “sampler” book was designed to garner the attention, engagement, and trust necessary to sell prospect’s on the real product, the money-maker.

“Oh!” he said. “Hi, Eddie.” He sounded enthused. I could tell he was a nice guy. “How can I help?”

“Well,” I said. “I’m sure you know, the Sampler is famous.”

Pat smirked. “Okay.”

“At least it is among copywriters,” I said. “That’s why I’m calling: I’m writing an article about the Sampler — because it’s a master class in written persuasion — and I want to make sure I get the facts right.”

“Sure.”

“Well, first of all,” I said, “how many did you send out?”

“Oh, I’m sure we mailed 50 million copies,” said Pat. He paused. “Yeah, about that many.” He paused again. “It was a huge number.”

“And how many books did that sell?”

“Oh, millions.”

“Millions?” I said.

“Millions. It was our most successful mailer ever.”

How did Pat sell all those books?

He hired Gary Bencivenga to write the copy.

Bencivenga is a Hall of Fame copywriter. He’s on par with John Caples and Eugene Schwartz, David Ogilvy and Joe Sugarman. He knew what he was doing. That is, he knew how to write copy that captured attention, garnered engagement, and drove readers to take action.

Like any effective copywriter, Bencivenga was part writer, part psychologist. As a writer, he was able to produce clear, concise sentences. As a psychologist, he excelled at thinking like his prospect. He understood her, empathized with her. And that’s what this article is about.

It’s about the big-picture concepts you can learn by studying one of Bencivenga’s most successful controls. In other words, this article won’t teach you how to write like a copywriter as much as it’ll teach you how to think like one.

You’ll learn the rules of the trade, the fundamentals of crafting ad copy people notice, read, and trust.

How to write copy people notice, read, and trust.

If you don’t already own The Doctor’s Vest-Pocket Sampler of Natural Remedies, you can buy one on Amazon for a buck or two plus shipping. If you’re a serious student of copywriting, I recommend ordering your copy as soon as possible, reading it daily, and transcribing it often.

When you receive it, smile. You’re holding one of the finest direct marketing assets ever created.

What makes it great? It follows three important principles:

1. It hones in on a single, primary desire.

That’s why people notice it in the first place.

People buy things to achieve their desires. Period.

“Every product appeals to two, or three or four of these mass desires,” writes Eugene Schwartz in his classic book, Breakthrough Advertising. “But only one can predominate.”

The Sampler’s target audience was older, likely suffering from an ailment, likely fatigued from the side-effects of conventional medicine, and likely eager for alternatives. Natural alternatives. Bencivenga honed in on this.

How to Hone In

Once you know, with absolute certainty, what it is your prospect desires:

a) Make the desire plainly visible and unmistakably clear.

This will ensure that the prospect sees it.

The Sampler displays the words “NATURAL REMEDIES” in big, bold, capital letters on its cover. In fact, those words appear twice, which brings us to my next point …

b) Repeat the desire over and over, using synonymous terms.

This will keep the prospect engaged without wearing her out on the same verbiage.

The Sampler alludes to the concept of “natural remedies” using many different terms, including “self-help remedies” and “non-surgical remedies” and a half-dozen others. Each is a new and engaging way to remind the prospect about the same thing. Each variation whispers, “This is what you want, Dear Reader. Remember? This is what you need!”

c) Sound realistic.

This will allow the prospect to take your copy seriously.

The Sampler doesn’t over-step its product’s promise. For instance, the word “antidotes” sounds more compelling than “remedies” but it’s also less plausible, which is why Bencivenga never uses it. After all, he’s selling a book with thousands of medical suggestions. They’re not all winners. Reasonable people know this.

If you say something that plants doubt in your prospect’s mind, even once, you might lose her. Fantastic claims are risky because they’re hard to believe. Temper your promise to give the message a chance.

2. It doesn’t look like an ad.

That’s why people read it.

The Doctor’s Vest-Pocket Sampler of Natural Remedies doesn’t look like a mailer. It looks like a book:

The cover is card stock and paper inside is thick, too. The back is blank, clean, except for the publisher’s mission statement: “We publish books that empower people’s lives.”

The Sampler is also 50 pages long, neatly organized into four enticing chapters:

Chapter 1: Natural Remedies for Whatever Ails You …

Chapter 2: Secret Healing Triggers …

Chapter 3: How to Instantly Get a Second Opinion, or a Third, Fourth, or Tenth!

Chapter 4: For a Lifetime of Greater Health, Try This …

Each chapter is well-formatted and written in plain English that’s scannable and digestible, peppered with bolding and italics that highlight value. Bencivenga gave the Sampler all the characteristics of a real book, which is why Debra-from-Nebraska pulled it from her mailbox, then sat down, put on her glasses, and actually took the time to read it.

“Allow the reader to enter into your ad with the least possible mental shifting of gears from ‘editorial’ to ‘advertisement’,” writes Schwartz. “A single change in format can add 50% to your readership, and your results.” Schwartz calls this concept Copy Camouflage. It refers to taking elements from trusted mediums and using them to lend clout to your ad. This is also known as “borrowed believability.”

Online advertorial articles, or “sponsored” posts, are a good example of this: they look and read like typical articles but have a hidden sales agenda. Bencivenga uses the same tactic, except he camouflaged the Sampler to look and read like a book.

How to Camouflage

Once you know the medium your prospect recognizes, likes, and believes:

a) Borrow the format.

This will help your promotion look familiar to the prospect.

The Sampler looks like a book because it was published before the internet took root (circ. 1995), when physical mediums (e.g., books and newspapers) were among the only recognized, credible sources of written information.

b) Borrow the words and tone.

This will help your copy sound familiar to the prospect.

The Sampler sounds comprehensible, colloquial. It uses simple words — not medical speak — to convey clear, concise advice that makes sense to people. And that brings us to the final principle …

3. It’s valuable.

That’s why people trust it.

Bencivenga packed the Sampler with advice that can help people live more comfortable lives:

• On page 14, he shares a juice recipe that treats asthma.
• On page 15, he shares a tonic recipe that quells cigarette cravings.
• On page 16, he shares a cocktail recipe that relieves leg cramps.

In fact, almost every page lends a valuable suggestion, something that makes the reader feel excited about the future, hopeful. Something that makes her say, “Wow, I had no idea …” Over time, these feelings compound and intensify in the reader, engendering trust.

“Couldn’t it be that if someone took care of you, very good care of you; if this person would do anything for you; if your well-being was his only thought: is it impossible that you might begin to feel something for him?” – Bob Benson, Mad Men

How to Deliver Value

Once you know what your prospect values:

a) Highlight it.

This, again, will ensure that the prospect sees it.

The Sampler is full of bolded, italicized, and underlined words and phrases. It’s full of headlines and subheads, sidebars and images. Remember, people can’t begin to draw value from information if they never even see it.

b) Make it clear and concise.

This will fill the prospect with hope and excitement over her newfound knowledge.

The Sampler uses clear language and short, crisp sentences. Even though it’s a medical book, a native English speaker will comprehend every word. Remember, people will only get value from information they understand.

c) Make it actionable.

This will satisfy the prospect, making her happy.

The Sampler tells readers what to do but also explains how to do it. For example, want to treat asthma? “Blend two ounces of onion juice with two ounces of carrot juice and two ounces of parsley juice, then drink this blend twice each day,” writes Bencivenga. “Of course, use this remedy in conjunction with proper medical treatment.”

Remember, people will get the most value from information they can put to use.

“So, what did working with Gary teach you?” I asked.

“Well,” said Pat, “like many other tests I was involved in, it proved the power and importance of copy.”

I nodded, silently, on the other end.

“When we launched new titles, we always tested two or three different copywriters, “ said Pat. “Sometimes the different approaches were close, within 10 percent. But sometimes, it was a 100 percent difference in response rate. That’s what it was with the Vest-Pocket Sampler. That’s the power of great copy.”

The landscape of web design is constantly evolving.

Something that looked modern and fresh yesterday can appear dated seemingly overnight, and trends once dismissed as irrevocably passé can unexpectedly cycle back in vogue.

To help you prepare for wherever the web design tide takes us in 2018, we’ve put together a list of 15 trends to keep a close eye on. Check them out below, and get inspired to tackle your web design projects this year with style.

15 Web Design Trends to Watch in 2018

1. Bold Typography

More and more companies are turning to big, bold typography to anchor their homepages. This style works best when the rest of the page is kept minimal and clean, like this example from Brooklyn-based agency Huge. 

2. Cinemagraphs

Cinemagraphs — high-quality videos or GIFs that run on a smooth, continuous loop — have become a popular way to add movement and visual interest to otherwise static pages. Full-screen loops, like this example from Danish agency CP+B Copenhagen, create immediate interest on an otherwise simple page. 

3. Brutalism

To stand out in a sea of tidy, organized websites, some designers are opting for more eclectic, convention-defying structures. While it can seem jarring at first, many popular brands are now incorporating these aggressively alternative design elements into their sites, such as Bloomberg. 

Brutalism emerged as a reaction to the increasing standardization of web design, and is often characterized by stark, asymmetrical, nonconformist visuals, and a distinct lack of hierarchy and order. In other words, it’s hard to describe, but you know it when you see it — like the below example from apparel designer Biannual.

4. Saturated Gradients

Kaleidoscopic gradients were everywhere in 2017, and they aren’t going anywhere in 2018. Zurich-based agency Y7K illustrates a perfect example of how to make this two-tone effect look fresh and modern, with their full-screen, gradient-washed homepage.

5. Vivid Layers of Color

Staggered, stacked layers of color add depth and texture to a simple site layout, as seen in this stylish example from the São Paulo-based team behind Melissa Meio-Fio.

6. Text-Only

Some websites are cutting out images and prominent navigation sections altogether, relying on a few choice lines of straightforward text to inform visitors about their company.

Danish agency B14 uses their homepage real estate to simply describe their mission statement and provide links to samples of their work. It’s a modern, uncluttered approach to presenting information.

7. Illustration

More companies are turning to illustrators and graphic artists to create bespoke illustrations for their websites. After years dominated by flat design and straightforward minimalism, adding illustrated touches to your site is a great way to inject a little personality, as seen in this charming example from NewActon (designed by Australian digital agency ED).

8. Ultra-minimalism

Taking classic minimalism to the extreme, some designers are defying conventions of what a website needs to look like, displaying just the absolute bare necessities. The site from designer Mathieu Boulet is centered around a few choice links to his social profiles and information.

9. Duotone

These parred-down, two-tone color schemes look cool and contemporary, like this example from Australian Design Radio.

10. Mixing Horizontal and Vertical Text

Freeing text from its usual horizontal alignment and placing it vertically on a page adds some refreshing dimension. Take this example from director Matt Porterfield, which mixes horizontal and vertical text alignments on an otherwise very simple page.

11. Geometric Shapes and Patterns

Whimsical patterns and shapes are popping up more frequently on websites, adding some flair in a landscape otherwise ruled by flat and material design. Canadian design studio MSDS uses daring, patterned letters on their homepage.

12. Serif Fonts

Due to screen resolution limitations and an overall lack of online font support, designers avoided serif fonts for years to keep websites legible and clean. With recent improvements, serif fonts are having a big moment in 2018 — and they’ve never looked more modern. As seen on The Sill, a serif headline adds a dose of sophistication and style. 

13. Overlapping Text and Images

Text that slightly overlaps accompanying images has become a popular effect for blogs and portfolios. Freelance art director and front-end developer Thibault Pailloux makes his overlapping text stand out with a colorful underline beneath each title.

14. Organic Shapes

Gone are the days of strict grid layouts and sharp edges — 2018 will be all about curved lines and soft, organic shapes. In the example below from Neobi, the borderline-cartoonish background adds a generous hit of personality and vivid color to the uncomplicated design. 

15. Hand-Drawn Fonts

Custom, hand-drawn fonts have started cropping up more and more in recent months — and for good reason. These unique typefaces add character and charm, and help designers create a distinct look and feel without a complete overhaul. On KIKK Festival’s website, a hand-drawn font provides a whimsical anchor for the homepage. 

What web design trends do you think will really take off in 2018?

Facebook announced yesterday that it will be overhauling its News Feed that will once again shift the type of content users see first, and most often.

According to the official statement, Facebook will “be making updates to [its News Feed] ranking so people have more opportunities to interact with the people they care about” — as in, their friends and family, instead of Pages.

The news first broke by way of a post from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

What Facebook’s News Feed Changes Mean for Marketers

Brands Can Expect to See Less Engagement

Facebook has been quite transparent about the fact that marketers and brands will be impacted by this change — and not for the better.

“Pages may see their reach, video watch time and referral traffic decrease,” the official statement reads, which is especially true for Pages with posts that don’t see a ton of engagement — by way of shares, or discussion on the post itself, including when users share them with their networks. 

That means posts sparking the greatest amount of discussion among users — especially when shared — will likely rank better. But marketers should proceed with caution: Creating content for engagement for shareability and conversation does not translate to including such language as, “Tag a friend!” in posts. Facebook calls and interprets that type of content as “engagement bait,” and actually penalizes the Pages that use it in their News Feed rankings.

Facebook has made several modifications to its News Feed algorithm over the years, some of which have carried more permenance than others. Marketers might recall, for example, that last October, Facebook introduced its “Explore Feed,” which was meant to serve as a new, entirely separate feed where nearly all Page content would live.

This latest shift is different, however. As Facebook put it, “Page posts will still appear in News Feed, though there may be fewer of them.”

And if Facebook does actually stick with this change — which, given its history, could be debatable — it will most certainly present a new challenge for marketers. Content will have to be even more shareable, in a way that doesn’t classify it as “engagement bait,” and also organically promotes conversation among users.

Why Facebook Is Doing This

For a while now, Facebook has been making extensive efforts to communicate an ethos that it is “not a media company.” That was likely the result of the scrutiny it’s received since it was discovered that the network was weaponized to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential election. 

“Facebook has clearly put a stake in the ground that user experience is more important that the brands that pay them,” says Marcus Andrews, HubSpot’s senior product marketing manager. “By making this shift they clearly prioritized one over the other, and are potentially a bit nervous about the current (really negative) narrative about the negative impact of social media on society.” 

That helps to explain this move to shift the focus from branded content to the kind that is more personal, and closer in terms of each user’s own network. More content from friends and family, versus news from official or branded outlets = “not a media company.”

“Organic reach for business pages on Facebook has been under assault for a long time now,” Andrews says. “This is not new.”

What Marketers Should Do Now

With all of that said, not all is lost for social media marketers. There are certain types of Page content that are said to promote more shares and organic conversation — like live videos, which Facebook says get 6X the engagement as non-live ones.

“What Facebook seems to tell us is that content with a lot of engagement and conversation will be prioritized. This means comments and replies,” Andrews explains — and live video is one type of content that tends to receive a higher amount of that type of engagement.

But with so many rules around what the News Feed seems to prefer — authentic content that isn’t misleading or baiting engagement and clicks — it’s easy for marketers to become confused about what, exactly, they can do to please its algorithm.

“While it’s easy to see brands as the losers here, what we’re really seeing is an opportunity for brands to pivot their content towards driving a meaningful conversation,” says Henry Franco, HubSpot’s social and campaign strategy marketing associate. “Facebook’s new algorithm will prioritize posts that drive authentic engagement in the comments, rather than passive likes or shares.”

Which brings us back to a marketing principle that we’ve certainly touched on before: listening to users.

“Brands should take this opportunity to listen to their audiences,” says Franco, “and create content that’s catered to their interests and that will drive meaningful interaction.“

One additional, important thing to note is that users will have the option to modify settings to see content from certain Pages in their News Feeds (the aptly-named “See First in News Feed Preferences” feature).

Many users, however, might not know about this feature. That presents an opportunity for marketers to create engaging ways to let their audiences know about it, by way of sharing something like sales, one-time promotions, and the like with such language as, “Want to be the first to know about our sales? Make sure you see us first in your News Feed.” (Try using something like the image above to help explain how this works.)

Be careful, however, not to overload or patronize audiences with this type of information — and maintain your focus on creating the quality, applicable, and personalized content that Franco speaks to. The user has to benefit somehow from it, and feel motivated to share it in a way that remedies the negative impressions of social media that Andrews points out.

What’s your take on things? Feel free to reach out with your thoughts and questions on Twitter.

Featured image credit: Facebook

Research shows that content marketing costs 62% less than outbound marketing, yet produces 3X as many leads.

Because the rewards for executing effective content marketing are so high, it’s no surprise that in a 2016 study, it was found that 70% of B2B marketers were planning to create more content in 2017. 

If you consistently publish quality content that helps and informs your target audience, you’ll likely see your KPIs rise over time. However, even if the long-term trends of your content marketing look positive — you can’t guarantee each individual piece of content will be successful.

Sure, you can research the type of topics your readers are interested in, use emotive titles and optimize your blog for sharing. But at the end of the day, it’s still a gamble whether or not a new post will generate engagement — and there are countless factors that determine its success.

If a post underperforms, most marketers shrug their shoulders and move onto the next piece in their busy editorial calendars. But in my opinion, it’s always worth trying to revive an underperforming post. Even if you’re unsuccessful, you should try to learn what exactly you did wrong so you can serve your audience more effectively in the future.

Here are some of the steps I take when a piece of content fails.

1. Leverage Influencers

Content marketing is a social game. Even if you’re a fantastic writer, it’s very difficult to succeed in a vacuum.

In a 2015 study, 67% of marketing professionals stated that they engage with influencers, for example, specifically for content promotion. If you’ve been able to build relationships with influencers in your niche by sharing their content and replying to their posts, you may want to call in a favor the next time you publish a piece of content and it falls flat.

If you’ve been sharing an influencer’s content for months and have helped promote his or her brand, there’s a chance that this person will share your content, too — if you ask nicely.

As an even better alternative, search for influencer quotes that you can insert into your underperforming piece of content — then, kindly ask for a share.

Influencers love the validation of being mentioned as an expert in someone else’s article. Sharing your content with their audiences can help to improve their reputations, so keep that in mind when reaching out.

2. Post at Ideal Times

Ask 10 different marketers when the best time to post your content is, and you’ll likely receive 10 different answers.

In an analysis of 20 studies on post times, CoSchedule found that the best times to post on Facebook were between 12-1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, whereas the best times to post on Twitter were between noon and 5-7 p.m. on Wednesday.

For email marketing, Kissmetrics found that open rates are the highest during the weekend.

All of this information is useful, but ultimately, you’ll receive the best results if you post when your audience is the most receptive. This means digging into your social media engagement data and forming your own conclusions.

For Facebook, the best place to start is Facebook Insights.

Click on the ‘Posts’ tab, and you’ll be shown which days and times your followers are most active on the platform. You can also compare different days of the week to determine behavioral trends — for example, comparing activity on Saturday or Sunday to a weekday.

Source: Facebook

Under the ‘All Posts Published’ menu, you can see engagement data for each post as well as the time and date the post was published. See if there are any commonalities in timing for your most popular posts.

To discover the best posting time for your audience on Twitter, I recommend using the tool Tweriod. There, you can sign in with your Twitter account, and the tool will perform an analysis of your followers and tweets. When complete, it will send you a complete report of the best times to post based on the data.

3. Make it Easy to Share

In order for a piece of content to generate maximum engagement, you need to make it as easy (and as worthwhile) as possible to share it. I recommend including bright, visible social sharing buttons directly beneath the post — and, if possible, in your sidebar.

For the most compelling quotes and statistics in your post, make them stand out and consider using something like Click To Tweet to turn them into tweetable links. This tool also provides full analytics data, so you can compare the performance of your links.

If your new piece of content is an infographic, include an HTML code to embed it beneath the infographic, so that other bloggers can easily insert it into their site — a tactic that can also be beneficial for SEO purposes.

4. Consider Facebook Ads

Depending on who you talk to, it’s easy to come to the conclusion that pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and quality content marketing are two conflicting ideologies that cannot coincide.

But in my opinion, PPC advertising can be extremely effective for improving the reach of your content.

If you spent a few hours on a blog post and it falls flat, it isn’t a big deal. But if you’ve invested a significant amount of both time and money into a piece of premium content, like an infographic or animated video, you simply cannot afford for your efforts to be wasted on low engagement.

In this kind of situation, I recommend putting a small investment into Facebook advertising, to try and boost your engagement.

After you publish a post to promote the content on your business page’s timeline, click the “Boost Post” button. Start small and place $5 into advertising per day, then check Facebook’s engagement statistics to see if it’s worth investing more.

If you have a decent sized Facebook following (10,000 Likes or more), you can achieve great results by boosting the post and targeting your followers. However, if your following is small, you might want to try promoting the post to people who like Facebook pages related to your niche. You can find out the most popular interests within your niche by exploring Audience Insights.

Source: Facebook

5. Repurpose Your Content

If you’ve tried all of the previous tactics and can’t seem to get any momentum rolling, the problem could be with the content medium. Perhaps you’ve posted your latest customer survey findings as a blog post that didn’t generate a ton of interest — but as soon as you convert the data into a colorful infographic, people become more engaged.

Research is one of the most time-consuming processes of content creation. When you repurpose content, you already have the raw data/information you originally included — so, whatever you repurpose it as can take less time and energy to produce.

Here are some of my favorite repurposing ideas:

• Turn internal or customer survey data into an infographic.
• Turn a blog post into a whiteboard explainer video and publish it on YouTube.
• Convert a list of related evergreen posts into a guide, and add new visual elements.
• Turn tradeshow presentations into Slideshare presentations for the world to see.
• Publish webinars as tutorials on YouTube.

As you’re probably aware, video content is incredibly popular at the moment — 45% of people watch more than an hour of Facebook or YouTube videos a week. And if you can repurpose text-based content into videos, you can put your brand’s message in front of an entirely new audience.

Before you start repurposing, consider that your blog post might perform better with some rejuvenated visuals. Adding images (that you have permission to use) is a great way to break up walls of text and keep people engaged.

6. Survey Your Audience

If your engagement metrics are truly erratic and you’re not able to predict (at least, to some degree) which pieces of content will be popular — there is a likelihood that you just don’t know your audience well enough.

You’ve probably heard that in order to be successful with content marketing, you need to give value. Unfortunately, many marketers forget that “value” is subjective. You might think, for instance, that you’re giving value by publishing a new blog post that promotes your products and services. But what your readers really want is educational content that helps them to solve their pain points.

If no value is received by your audience, then you didn’t deliver value — regardless of how hard you worked on creating the content.

Don’t assume you know what your audience values — find out for certain. In the digital age, there are no excuses for basing your marketing strategies on assumptions. And with such tools as SurveyMonkey, you can whip up a survey for your email list in minutes. Ask your customers about their values, desires, favorite types of content — and most important, their pain points. With this feedback, you can make inferences about what types of content you should deliver in the future.

I’m a firm believer in the law of reciprocity. When sending out a survey, I always like to appeal to the reader’s self-interests. Offer them a free giveaway or discount code in exchange for filling out the survey, and you might find that your readers will be more passionate in their responses. And the better you know your audience, the higher your chances are of generating engagement when you publish new content.

If you’ve published a new piece of content and it fails – it doesn’t mean that the content is bad. It could just mean that you posted it at the wrong time, you didn’t promote it effectively, or the content could receive more engagement when repurposed as a different medium.

You don’t need to throw in the towel when a piece of content underperforms. Try these tactics to revive it, and you might be pleasantly surprised.

Remember that exciting self-driving car news we broke yesterday?

AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah — which has, until very recently, been known largely for its roadside assistance services — has partnered with Torc Robotics to develop safety criteria for self-driving cars.

It all started when AAA launched its autonomous vehicle shuttle in Las Vegas back in November — which reportedly got into an accident on its first day of operation.

So when I had the opportunity to go for a spin in one at CES, did I accept it anyway?

Absolutely.

And I didn’t stop there. As long as I was in the area, I decided to hop on for a ride in a self-driving Navya taxi, too.

Here’s what it was like — and what I learned.

Here’s What It’s Really Like to Ride in a Self-Driving Car

These Vehicles Aren’t Really Driverless

When I told my friends and colleagues that I would be taking AAA’s driverless shuttle for a spin, it was met with mixed reaction. “I’ll pray for you,” “be safe,” and “that’s exciting” were among the responses.

Regardless, I was excited. Here’s how things started out:

Going for a spin in the @AAA_NCNU driverless shuttle with my friends from @KeolisNA #ces2018 http://pic.twitter.com/1JhroF29m0

— Amanda Zantal-Wiener (@Amanda_ZW)
January 10, 2018

The first thing I discovered was that most of these autonomous vehicles, at this point, are not entirely driverless. On the shuttle, for instance, riders are joined by a human operator who’s required to have a special class of driver’s license for autonomous vehicles.

So why, then, are these vehicles labeled as “self-driving”? Well, they are. The shuttle moves, brakes, and regulates its speed independently. But the technology is still new enough that, for safety reasons, it helps to have a human present who can override the system in certain cases. That became necessary, for example, when we made a stop a donut shop and the doors closed before I could capture a photo — and the human operator was able to manually open them for me.

We stopped for donuts. They were sold out. Sad. #ces2018 http://pic.twitter.com/gMyb3bMGVS

— Amanda Zantal-Wiener (@Amanda_ZW)
January 10, 2018

But these human operators are really present for safety reasons more than they are for photo ops. While I didn’t feel unsafe during the ride — we stopped for humans, traffic lights, and even birds — the Navya taxi, for its part, had trouble moving forward, even once the pigeon that had been in its path flew away. Our human operator was able to override the system to get us going again, and also had the ability to stop the vehicle in the case of an emergency.

The Biggest Selling Point: What You Can Do in the Car

One thing that continually comes up in the conversations at CES about driverless cars is how much they give back to commuters. Instead of idly sitting in traffic, for example, riders can spend that time on the road doing something else, like catching up on work.

But when I first wrote about the AAA shuttle yesterday, you might recall that I identified autonomous vehicles as a potential new content distribution channel — an area of opportunity that Navya has seized for its fleet of self-driving taxis.

The service works much like most ride-sharing programs like Lyft and Uber do now: You hail a car from your phone, which you also must use to open the vehicle’s door (this is most likely a security play, since there won’t be a human driver to ask riders to identify themselves). Once you’re in the car, you can play the music of your choice, and use the many screens built into the vehicle to check on your flight status, buy movie tickets, and more.

But if this technology sounds redundant to you — you’re not alone.

For example, many of us (yours truly included) already do these things during rides on our phones. As someone who doesn’t own a car, for example, I already use the time during rides to the airport, for example, to check my flight status, make restaurant reservations, and — well, many of the other things that are built into the Navya taxi’s capabilities.

However, it is a fairly novel concept to those who are often the ones behind the wheel, and lose that time to watching the road instead of executing tasks on their phones. And to me, that’s one of the biggest upsides to self-driving technology on a macro level: the reduction of car ownership, and the added transportation accessibility it provides for aging populations and persons with disabilities.

It All Feels Remarkably Familiar — and That’s a Good Thing

But for all of this innovation, there’s a problem: Only 38% of Americans are enthusiastic about the idea of riding in self-driving vehicles.

Allow me to put those fears to rest. My broad takeaway from my driverless shuttle and taxi ride is that if you’re used to riding on buses and subways — this is anticlimactic.

Maybe riding in a standard, four-person sedan with no driver would feel a bit weirder — an opportunity that Lyft was providing to a lucky few at CES who weren’t met with this message:

But as far as my experience goes, riding in these autonomous vehicles feels like riding on public transportation. And ultimately, I believe that’s a good thing — the sense of familiarity means less of a “learning curve” for passengers, especially in the urban settings where many of these programs are being piloted. It won’t seem as scary or extremely new.

Instead, I anticipate that most riders will have more of a reaction of, “Well, that’s cool,” and then return to their standard public transportation activities of choice, like listening to music or reading a book. For my part, if I had my earbuds on and was simply staring out the window, I’ll be honest: This wouldn’t have felt like a particularly groundbreaking experience.

It takes four hours to charge an @NAVYA_Group taxi, which powers it for 11 hours. The fastest it will be able to go is 55 mph. Why not faster? It’s designed to operate in cities. #ces2018 http://pic.twitter.com/gnD3jtA9DK

— Amanda Zantal-Wiener (@Amanda_ZW)
January 10, 2018

Looking Ahead

The human operator element plays a part here, too. Earlier this week, during the LG CES press event, a new feature was announced in which home appliances are able — by way of machine learning, I suspect — to proactively detect and remotely repair mechanical issues, often before the user even knows that there’s a problem.

Self-driving cars, I anticipate, are learning how to do the same thing. But the stakes are much higher for a vehicle than, say, a washing machine — and that’s why, while the machines collect data and learn how to fix themselves, the human presence is both crucial and reassuring.

When it comes to autonomous vehicles, we’re just getting started. The topic dominated much of the dialogue at CES, with several brands announcing their latest innovations and progress within the realm.

And while public fears are not entirely unfounded — no technology is perfect, I would agree — I ultimately believe that market permeation of self-driving cars on a large skill will ultimately carry more environmental, social, and accessibility benefits than not.

As always, I’m open to your take on them. Feel free to reach out to me with your thoughts and questions on Twitter — and to see more insights and announcements from CES 2018.

“Ladder — a growth hacking company” had a nice ring to it when I started my company a few years ago.

As one of the few agencies in the industry using data-driven methods to launch and scale companies, I thought associating our brand with “growth hacking” would make us seem like a valuable, forward-thinking group.

Without an established brand, I needed something relatable, accurate, and marketable that our audience could use to identify the type of service we provided. By the time “growth hacking” had become a common term — but not yet a ubiquitous buzzword — our ads and articles using the phrase performed exceptionally well, which told me our audience thought growth hacking was important.

Little did I know, riding the wave of a shared industry term instead of our own identity would get us in major trouble.

As the term “growth hacking” eventually evolved into a tired buzzword, we had no other choice but to distance ourselves from a phrase that now carried negative connotations.

The Rise and Fall of Growth Hacking

After Sean Ellis coined the phrase in 2010, growth hacking caught on quickly. Before long, it was being used to describe all kinds of marketing: technical marketing, data-driven marketing, or anything else a rising marketing firm wanted it to mean.

The term’s versatility became its undoing. No one knew specifically what growth hacking was, which led shady startups to use it to describe all sorts of black hat, abusive marketing practices. A growth hacker might offer beneficial data-driven, high-value ad campaigns, or detrimental one-off social media services that didn’t scale.

Almost overnight, growth hacking became a cover for shoddy marketing practices instead of the catchall phrase for data-driven strategies that it once was. It led people to try tactics for the sake of trying them, throw data completely out the window, and toss marketing strategies at the wall to see what stuck. As the phrase’s reputation began to suffer, it started to drag our company down with it.

Our Journey Alongside a Buzzword

As we were trying to grow our own company in the midst of this transformation, we continued to do things the right way: looking at real data to make educated decisions and striving to do right by our clients. And yet, we continued to call ourselves “growth hackers” — a term that had eventually embodied the exact opposite of what we wanted to convey.

I realized we needed to change direction when our previously successful content was suddenly met with scorn. Editors and publications rejected our articles, telling us the term was an outdated buzzword. Our PR mentions dried up, and as they did, our revenue took a hit.

After working so hard to become the premier growth agency on the market, we knew it would take a deliberate effort to distance ourselves from the term. Not only would we need to eliminate it from our official collateral, but we would also need to find new phrasing to attach to our philosophy. We started using new terms like “scientific marketing,” “test-driven marketing,” and “data-driven strategy” in an effort to shed the growth hacker label.

Shunning a term we’d spent so long embracing wasn’t easy, but over time we realized the pivot was well worth it. Taking the lesson to heart, we vowed to be more cautious and conscientious about which terms we associate our company with in the future.

We learned several lessons from the dramatic rise and fall of growth hacking. The following strategies will help other companies learn from our example and avoid getting caught up in a marketing trend over which they have no control.

Don’t Assimilate — Differentiate

When everyone else zigs one way, zag to the other.

We tried to fit in with the mainstream, so people would notice us and understand us. The messaging worked at first, but was it because people believed in our approach, or because the term was popular?

Now we position ourselves exactly as we want to be described. Instead of jumping on the buzzword bandwagon, we put things in plain language, explaining to prospects who we are and what we do without any superfluous fluff. We are more than just growth hackers; we are a growth technology and services company, combining marketing with the scientific method to test new strategies and help businesses reach their goals.

No, that doesn’t sound quite as flashy as “growth hacking,” but it functions in more ways than one. Not only do we now have more control over our own image, but we also attract higher-quality clients who know what they want and what to expect from our partnership.

Aim to Inform, Not to Impress

Buzzwords with ambiguous definitions confuse and alienate audiences. By implementing clear, direct messaging, audiences now know exactly who we are and what we do. That increases our credibility much more than it did to throw out a term that thousands of others were using to describe themselves.

We learned to never try to impress someone by making services sound like more than they are. We strive to eliminate jargon and explain things in terms that even people outside the industry can understand.

For instance, we have found that the term “scientific approach” means more to people than “growth hack” ever did. It describes why our process is all about removing guesswork and outlining strategies with clear, easy-to-follow reasoning, and advertising our scientific approach reflects that.

“Science” may not have the same curb appeal as “hacking,” but it works. Prospects and clients understand what our brand is about, and no one feels uneasy trusting us to help them hack their way to success through some kind of inexplicable marketing magic. As a bonus, clients don’t have wild expectations that we will somehow hack their way to the first page of every Google search overnight — a win-win scenario.

Think Like a Prospect

Founders and marketing professionals see their companies far differently than prospects do. Rather than worry about positioning the brand, we have shifted our focus to discovering what solutions prospective clients want to see.

Do prospects want “an innovative, agile, full-stack app development firm specializing in UX” or would they rather have “a partner who creates and develops user-friendly technology quickly”? (Spoiler alert: Most people would prefer the latter.)

What sounds savvy and sophisticated to marketers often makes customers question whether the company offers the specific solution they need.

Startups love to call themselves “disrupters,” but disruption outside of tech innovation isn’t always a great thing. Similarly, while founders want to tout their “innovative” approaches, certain customer segments prefer safe and reliable over innovative and unknown.

During our transition, we realized that our prospects didn’t actually want someone to hack their growth. They wanted a partner to provide reasonable, data-driven strategies that would achieve measurable results. Once we realized that, it was easy to drop the label and be ourselves.

If you get caught up in the latest craze, you could lose sight of your genuine differentiators. Being honest in marketing communications and telling customers the plain truth might not be exciting, but people will appreciate the openness — and honesty never goes out of style.

When people see the word “introvert,” they often think of qualities that don’t actually describe introverted people at all.

“Shy.” “Quiet.” Even “antisocial.”

But how we have grown to think of introverts has strayed far from realities. In fact, according to Dictionary.com, is “a person characterized by concern primarily with his or her own thoughts and feelings.”

That’s doesn’t mean that introverts are shy or antisocial — it means they’re introspective individuals who can still be outgoing. They just don’t crave being around other people, speaking and presenting, all the time.

But the former impression might make one think that something like a job interview, for example, is particularly tricky for an introvert. That isn’t necessarily the case, however. Sure, it might require more energy — but there are certain qualities of introversion that might actually help them excel at job interviews.

CashNetUSA has outlined these ideas in the infographic below, which provides a job interview toolkit for those who, well, don’t exactly look forward to a day of answering and asking questions of potential new employers. Have a look, and discover what all of us can learn from an introvert’s guide and approach to job interviews.