Trader Joe’s Fearless Content, Political Digital Spending, LinkedIn Tops for B2B

The Content Strategist picks the day’s most relevant and interesting stories about the world of content from around the web. Here’s what you should be reading today:

Trader Joe’s Content Marketing

Business 2 Community’s Scott Aughtmon takes a look at Trader Joe’s and its Fearless Flyer, a mix of content marketing and branded content, keeps customers interested in its products.

The Fearless Flyer contains stories and the history of its products, along with descriptive adjectives to entice customers to make purchases. These aren’t normal product descriptions: They paint a vivid picture and persuade customers as to why they should shop at Trader Joe’s.

Political Digital Media Spending in 2012 [INFOGRAPHIC]

According to findings from Mashable, $9 billion is projected to be spent on political campaigns in America this year. Of that money, 12 percent will be allocated to digital media, and “up to 33 percent of digital media budgets will be allocated to mobile programs.”

From 2008, online spending is up 616 percent, from $22.2 million to $159.2 million. The infographic also compares Obama and Romney’s social stats: While the president has 20.9 million followers on Twitter and 30.8 million likes on Facebook, Romney has 1.5 million followers and 9.5 million likes on Facebook.

Making Business Connections on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the top social site for B2B marketing, so businesses/employees need to be on there connecting with one another, says ClickZ’s Jasmine Sandler.

She writes, “To have the real opportunity to create solid, long-term direct client and quality business referrals in LinkedIn, you need a personal brand, a value, a mission, ethics, and a real commitment to delivering value to your LinkedIn connects.”

Some steps to building up a LinkedIn presence include putting up a “summary that goes beyond your resume,” forging ongoing recommendations from clients, and creating interesting content with blog posts, videos, and PDF’s.

Content Marketing and the Triple Play 

Content Marketing Institute’s Ellen Valentine combines sports and content marketing in her new piece about how brands can become triple threats.

She writes, the “’content triple play’ means thinking about the pieces of content you’re creating and spinning off two other iterations, by repurposing and/or repackaging that content.”

Marketers need to figure out the format (webinars, videos, white papers), the channel (mobile, email, social media), and the buying cycle phase (interested, educated, lapsed). Brands should determine where customers are on the Internet and how to reach them. They need a grasp on the sales stage and that will help when it comes to pinpointing what content to create.

Must-Dos for Brands Creating Content

Guest blogger on Jay Baer’s Convince and Convert Ann Handley made a list of the top 10 content marketing must-do’s for brands.

She stresses that brands must uphold the same standards that traditional publishers do: They should be truthful, cite sources, seek out the best sources to interview, look at opposing viewpoints, and carefully edit content, to name a few.

For B2B Marketers, Content Marketing is Excellent for Leads

Forbes’ Steve Olenski writes about how content marketing is the number one driver of leads for B2B marketing, citing a study by B2B Magazine.

Content marketing accounts for 51 percent of lead generation, followed by brand awareness at 38 percent, thought leadership at 34 percent, and sales at 29 percent, according to the study.

In addition, “In terms of the specific content B2B marketers prefer, social media was named as the most important, followed by articles, e-newsletters, white papers and blogs and several other digital or online types or methods.”

News Corp. Going Down Under

The Wall Street Journal reports that when News Corp. splits in two, Rupert Murdoch will focus more of his energies on Australia.

The company has a pending purchase of Australia’s Consolidated Media Holdings, “which owns stakes in cable-and-satellite TV company Foxtel and Australian network Fox Sports.”

In terms of News Corp.’s overall revenue, Australian media holdings will account for 34 percent, while American ones will make up 40 percent.