The marketing industry has a language all of its own.

The jargon can come to us in many shapes and form. Sometimes, complete fabrications, or words with “- able” at the end of it. Other times, they’re jumbled up English terms and confusing acronyms.

Whatever shape the jargon takes, there’s one thing that’s for sure: It doesn’t make marketing any easier.  

One of the biggest problems with marketing jargon is that the marketing experts will expect you to know them and will often throw them around as casually as they would the word “the”.

This gets confusing (and a little frustrating) for newbies (or even intermediates for that matter).

That’s why we’ve compiled a list of some of the most common online marketing terms you’re likely to encounter (and some that you might not) to make the introduction into marketing just that little bit easier for you!

Oh and you’ll see Spokey pop up now and then to let you know what the important terms are!

Thanks Spokey!

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I have a bit of a confession to make: When I started at Spokal I didn’t even know the basics of SEO. 

Hey don’t run away so quickly!

Let me explain: Before Spokal, I wrote for a number of other online blogs, but I always had editors who would insist on handling all of the SEO work.

But then, suddenly, I became my own editor and I knew I had to step up my game.

Photo courtesy of Stuart Miles

I knew that I had to learn, and that I had to learn fast. 

To my relief, I had the Spokal editor with its real time SEO advice prompting me to make changes that would help to make sure the blog was optimized for search engines.

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A Game of Thrones is without a doubt the most intricate stories to have been adapted for screen in some time.

But what makes it stand out so much isn’t the violence, sex and intrigue – we had plenty of that on our screens already.

It’s the brutal reality.

Of course, it’s set in a fantastical world – I know that, you know that, and that is what gives us some semblance of comfort. 

But when we really look at A Game of Thrones, I mean really look, what we’re seeing is a reflection of ourselves.

We see our own society staring right back at us.

As Damien Walter once wrote in an article for The Guardian: 

When we look up from the page we recognise those same conflicts in the world around us and in ourselves.

And what we see is a brutal truth: It’s survival of the fittest.

But what does fittest really mean? The strongest? The fastest? The biggest?

No, no and no.

The fittest are the innovative and subtle schemers, the ones who can adapt to new circumstances the fastest and the characters who take on leadership roles with an air of caution.  

Is content marketing so different, really?

With this in mind, let’s look at some of the lessons that the 5 major houses in A Games of Thrones  can teach us about surviving, adaptation and leadership.

I’m all about getting bang for your buck.

And if you’re a start-up, I’m sure you are too.

Well luck is on your side!

There are a ton of free tools for start-ups on the web, so you can easily save money now (when you need it most) without having to sacrifice the quality of your business. 

1. Evernote

Photo courtesy of Gustavo da Cunha Pimenta(CC ShareALike)

Evernote has got to be my number one recommendation for free tools for start-ups.

Why?

Because it works to organize the very basics of your  business.

It takes all those bright new ideas that start-ups spurt out on a regular basis (which is a good thing, don’t get me wrong!) and it organizes it all into one easily accessible place. 

And because it syncs across all of your devices (laptop, phone and tablet), you don’t have to worry about remembering where you put that note or idea. 

Photo courtesy of Sarah Burke

Putting your writing on the internet for everyone to see, comment on and criticize isn’t an easy thing to do. It takes courage to face an audience and say: “Here it is. Here are my words. Here are my thoughts”.

We’re all afraid of being judged, and it’s really hard to hear that your writing isn’t up to scratch.

But even though we all know negative criticisms aren’t exactly fun, we have to remember that they are a huge part of the learning process.  

Photo courtesy of Sarah Burke

Sourcing free images can take a lot time and hard work. 

But we do it anyways, because we understand it’s probably one of the most important things to succeeding at content marketing for your business.

After writing excellent content, that is.

But chances are, no one will stick around long enough to read your excellent content if you’re just providing them with a huge block of text. 

Times have moved on. 

We’re much more easily distracted now.

In fact, our attention spans are worse than a goldfishes.

Photo courtesy of CJ Isherwood(CC ShareALike)

And our brain processes images 60,000 times faster than it does words.

Good job, brain.

This is a guest blog post by Maggie Chuang.

Photo courtesy of Flickr.com

In our increasingly cyber-reliant world, true personability is becoming harder to convey. A lot of exchange and transaction are increasingly taking place digitally, often without speaking at all.

Blogging is a wonderful tool to deliver humanity in a digital age. Its freestyle format lets length, content, and volume become entirely within your control. This freedom allows for the real you, the voice of your company, to shine through.

But if your blog entries consist mainly of product or service promotion, chances are you’re taking the risk of boring your readers.             

Photo courtesy of Steve Czajka

Once upon a time, there was a lonely prince locked up in a tall tower. On his shoulders was the burden of the world (or at least, his business. Which kind of felt like his entire world).

Day in and day out the Prince would sit hunched over in the dark, shut in from the world, his nimble fingers working hard to produce content that would one day lead him to freedom.

Photo courtesy of Kara Harms

But the days soon turned into years, and he became so tired.

So one night, while gazing out of his window, wondering what he was doing wrong, he saw a shooting star pass before his eyes.

Feeling a little foolish, but like he had no other options on hand, he very quietly made a wish.

This is a guest blog post by Michelle Nickolaisen

Photo courtesy of Mike Rohde

You’ve probably been told that blogging is a must-do for your business – after which you nodded, put it on the list of things to do, and moved on to something else. But did you know that small businesses with blogs generate 126% more leads than those without? (Source)

Today’s post addresses one of the most common problems business owners have with blogging: making the time from “just started blogging” to “actually getting customers and clients through my blog” as short as possible.

The key to a blog that actually sells your products and services? An editorial calendar.