Let’s talk about link building for a minute. I know, you just rolled your eyes, but it’s truly an essential part of marketing.

Getting more backlinks will increase your overall organic rankings. It’s just a simple trust thing for Google. More websites pointing to your website helps Google understand that your site is a valuable one. It’s kinda like Google’s version of word-of-mouth.

And one of the best ways to get more backlinks is by creating data-driven content. To do that, you have to create your own data.

Admittedly, that’s easier said than done. But Search Engine Journal wrote a great piece to help you out.

First, you gotta pick your topic. Yeah, you have to do research on what you’re going to research. Use Google Trends, BuzzSumo, and all the usual keyword planners to help with this.

Once you’ve figured out your topic, it’s time to gather your data. You can do this by:

• Conducting your own surveys. We recommend treating this survey like any other piece of content — put ad-spend behind it, email it to your list, promote it in all the usual places to get responses.
• Use your own data & reports. There’s a good chance you’re collecting data in some part of your company that would be interesting for your audience. What sort of data does customer service gather? What about Google Analytics, anything useful in there? Or, conduct your own experiments. Think hard about this, there’s interesting data somewhere in your company.

Now, look for interesting angles. What’s different about this data that will make it as newsworthy as possible?

Okay, so you’ve got your topic, data, and angle. That means it’s time to visualize the data. How you present the data matters a ton. Here’s one of the best data visualizations around.

Finally, once you’ve got this thing published, it’s time to promote it! Do things like:

• Manual outreach to industry blogs and news publications
• Partner with other companies to do webinars about the data
• Create a blog series about it
• Recreate the data in infographics, social media content, and more.

Truly just scratched the surface on this one. You really gotta read it:

Every so often we enjoy featuring marketing blunders because they become awesome learning tools (looking at you US Air Force).

But, don’t worry, we aren’t sharing anything cringe-worthy today. It’s very much the opposite actually. Hootsuite reported that “by 2019, it’s estimated that 80 percent of all internet traffic will be video.” With tricks up their sleeve, Hootsuite wants you to learn from their success.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Facebook’s reshare feature. Hootsuite recommends recycling top-performing content while being mindful of how and when you share it. Reasons to give it the ol’ try:

• The video was a top-performer the first time
• The content is still relevant (say NO outdated info)
• You want to try targeting a new audience
• You’re doing a throwback post

2. Use sneak peek videos. These are like snippets or the sneak preview before the longer project whether it takes form as a downloadable report or video. Have a big announcement coming up? Think of social videos as your own personal hype man. Hootsuite was careful not to overwhelm the audience by including very little text and using bright colors to make stats stand out.

3. Generation Z. This one stems from sharing relevant info that resonates highly with specific audiences. Gen Z is a different type of consumer, so stop smashing them in with Millennials. When doing this correctly, you’ll find an increase in visibility and expand your audience reach.

4. Give us value or give us death. Crew, you should be delivering quality content to your audience because it’s the job. An easy way to do this is by educating. People can search for answers with the phone in their pocket, so be the place they go to learn.

5. Split up top-performing content. Think Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows finale. One best selling book turned two fantastic movies. Hootsuite used this concept for their Ted Talk videos. Proving equally successful, the Hootsuite team was able to re-engage an audience that already shown interest in the first release video.

HootSuite’s full post provides great examples of how to create a winning social video strategy. Check it out for yourself…

Nothing is better than an ad that sparks a need to binge watch Parks & Rec. We just know this ad would be Ron Swanson approved because, well, he’s in it.

This is J-B Weld’s first national TV campaign in its 50-year history, so they’re a little late to the party. But we gotta say, they did pretty well with this first campaign series.

By snagging well-known actor, Nick Offerman, audiences are more likely to actually look up from their phones to catch a glimpse of the funny commercial. And the brilliance here is that J-B Weld chose well with Offerman seeing that he himself has a knack for craftsmanship. The ad also presents how the product functions in a lighthearted comedic way.

Watch for yourself. It’s short, sweet, and gives ya a good chuckle. Who doesn’t want that on a Friday morning?