The Pace team behind the print edition of Four Seasons Magazine recently went through the process, so we’re happy to help you get started. For most of us, this was not our first journey down Redesign Road, but we found that it never hurts to remind yourself of these five basic steps before you begin:

1. Set clear goals

It may seem obvious, but in the heat of the moment, it’s all too easy to forget that you’ve got to start at the beginning by asking yourself “Why are we doing this? What do we want to get out of it?” Pin down clear answers from each member of your internal team and, if you’re a custom publisher, from all key client contacts. If your magazine is ad-based, don’t forget the sales team. And, if you can, ask readers what they’d like to see you do differently. Then look at each list of goals and find the common ground. In our case, the “why” distilled down to the fact that the magazine should lead the evolution of a new brand identity for Four Seasons. And what did we all want? In a nutshell, a more modern, multi-layered, engaging way to tell stories, one that reflected the exceptional experiences offered by Four Seasons and its global destinations.

2. Gather inspiration from all quarters

As for the next step in your discovery phase, take a look around. Not just at other magazines, but also at websites, books, TV shows. Consider the ways they present content, everything from structure and topics to colors and typefaces. For example, our team was inspired by pubs from cutting-edge magazines like Monocle, Wallpaper* and Lucky Peach to classics along the lines of Cooks Illustrated and National Geographic — not to mention websites like NOWNESS.

3. Reconsider everything

Seriously. Everything. Nothing should pass through to your new design simply as a “given.” Now’s the time not just to revamp your page design but also reconsider your mission statement, your editorial structure and content, your contributors, and how your magazine connects to your digital platforms.

4. Call in fresh eyes

This helps ensure you don’t give a free pass to any “givens” in step 3. In our redesign, we were fortunate to have the expert help of designer Matt Willey (co-founder of Port magazine) and editorial consultants Dan Crowe and Maureen Rice. All brought fresh vision – and, as appropriate for a global magazine, a non–North American perspective – to bear on the process. If you don’t have the budget to bring in formal collaborators, even a review with other designers and editors at your company or in your network goes a long way.

5. Remember there is no “The End”

You’ve executed on your vision, the first new issue is in your hands, and you’re done, right? Never. Don’t be afraid to keep tweaking. Clearly you want to stay within the basic parameters you’ve set in place that delineate your magazine’s new identity, but you will learn and grow by doing, and small changes can help push you further in the direction of your goals. In addition to adjustments to text and images on the page, this includes being open to shifting staff roles and responsibilities.

The rewards for all the hard work? You’ll have many, no doubt. For example, we were thrilled to see our redesign covered by Grids, the official blog of SPD (the Society of Publication Designers) and Luxury Daily. And even better than recognition by industry groups is hearing – and seeing, as we did in some recent Facebook pics – that readers from Boston to Beirut to Bora Bora are enjoying our new look.

Flip through the pages of our newly designed Four Seasons Magazine and tell us what you think!

The evolution of Klout has be interesting, to say the least. Back in 2011 the network adjusted its scoring algorithms causing many influencers’ scores to drop. This caused many Klout users to reconsider the value of the scoring system as a whole. Some see Klout scores as the only way to place an actual number on social engagement. Others feel that the proof is in the content that is shared.

No matter your views of Klout, what is clear is the impact it holds on business relationships when it comes to social engagement. Your Klout score can be used to profile you. If you’re aiming to get a job as a marketer, you can likely expect that your potential employer will check to see if “you’ve got Klout.” Whether you classify Klout’s latest move as a pivot or a reflection of company growth, this is a big step for the group that launched as recently as 2008. The scorekeeper we have all come to know is now playing the game itself.

Answering Questions Improves Klout Score

With the launch of Klout Experts, this influencer identifying network will pair questions asked through the platform with experts who can answer them. Klout will notify pools of expert influencers through their vast database of scores when someone is asking a question they have the knowledge to successfully answer. For instance, I may get a memo when someone posts a question about Facebook versus Twitter image use. By answering this question I’m asserting my expertise which further solidifies my role as an expert in the social media field. And, of course, the person is getting a direct answer.

Wait, How Is This Different Than Quora?

Hmmm, sounds a lot like a network we’ve heard about before. According to Klout CEO Joe Fernandez, Quora’s questions can be classified as more “existential” than Klout’s nuts-and-bolts queries. Quora is built on questions and fans will go as far as seeking the meaning of life, whereas Klout wants to help you find the best tools for that DIY project.

Then again, Google supplies over 30 million links to the query, “How do I boil water?” But Klout has taken regular search engines into consideration as well by partnering with Bing and giving Microsoft’s search engine access to answers from Klout Experts. This is the next step in social search efforts.

Raising the Bar … Or Score

Providing a good answer which is rated by the asker will ultimately boost your influence and your Klout score. So are we to say that in addition to gauging your supposed quality on Facebook, Twitter, and the rest of the social sphere, Klout will now be measuring Klout clout? Seems that way.

Ultimately, Fernandez stresses the goal of Klout Experts is to “enable every person to share their passions and expertise with the world.” Klout Experts hopes to create a path to not only increasing Klout influencer scores, but also to helping others by sharing your insights and opinions.

Stirring Up the Social Stew

Klout changes have often raised some strong responses. But win or lose, it looks like Klout is stepping off the sidelines and wants to be known for managing more than just the social scorecard. What are your thoughts on Klout’s latest venture and how seriously do you take the scoring system? Will you be answering questions, asking them?

Share your comments below!

One of the things we’ve tried to do on Four Seasons Weddings Blog is surface a mixture of real weddings, unique wedding ideas and expert advice from bridal influencers to help couples navigate the style dilemma. And thanks to the latest Four Seasons Weddings initiative on Pinterest, couples can actually navigate their way to a $1,000 Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Gift Card while they’re searching for pin-spiration.

In collaboration with the in-house Four Seasons social team and Zeno Group, their PR and social agency of record—we launched the Pin Your Wedding Color Palette Contest. Here’s how it works: Contestants create a Pinterest board with pins that represent the colors from their wedding palette. To help contestants get a jump-start, they can easily browse the entire Four Seasons Weddings Blog by color to get their boards off to a beautiful beginning. The contest runs until June 11, 2013 so if you’re not aisle bound—be sure to nudge your newly engaged friends to enter.

And for you content marketers out there, consider this marriage of social promotion and content strategy for your own happily ever after brand story by following in this campaign’s footsteps.

Collaboration from the Start

We worked with the Four Seasons social team and Zeno on every stage of the project, including contest ideation, editorial planning and social promotions so that everyone’s messaging was in synch. Though we each had different roles to play in the project with Pace designing, developing and executing the creative, content and technical strategies; Zeno managing public relations and securing contest judges; and the in-house Four Seasons social team sharing social strategy and day-to-day social promotions—regular touch meetings kept everyone on the same page.

It also allowed our different areas of expertise to push the project to new heights such as when an article for the blog was leveraged to bring Style Me Pretty into the fold as a contest judge. Bottom line: it’s a good idea to bring all of your project partners to the table early and often for successful content campaigns.

Start with a Bang

To drive anticipation and excitement, the contest was announced during the end of the LuxBride Trend Chat Recap—a highly publicized live Twitter chat with influential bridal guests such as Marchesa, Peggy Porschen and Reem Acra. The secretiveness of the contest and the live announcement first to social followers within Four Seasons Bridal quickly spread the word through the powerful wedding network, many of which were individually invited to attend the chat thanks to one-on-one social outreach.

Lead with Content

In the weeks before the contest, we significantly ramped up our style content on Four Seasons Weddings Blog with interviews from icons such as Style Me Pretty Founder Abby Larson, celebrity makeup artist Gucci Westman and videos with advice from our stylist on location at our latest Four Seasons Weddings Magazine cover shoot. We also provided content leading up to and recapping the LuxBride Trend Chat so there would be an influx of the latest and greatest luxury weddings content on the blog. Since the contest runs till June 11, just imagine what we have up our chic sleeves in the weeks ahead!

This contest is about leveraging the best content of Four Seasons Magazine Weddings Blog and then sharing through its perfect match, Four Seasons Bridal on Pinterest. Share your social contest strategies in the comments below and any amazing Pinterest Pin To Win events you’ve come across.

With blogs on any topic imaginable, there is sure to be something out there that tickles your fancy. I’ve frequented a few blogs in my day on an assortment of topics. I mostly peruse interior decorating and design blogs, with the occasional stop by the mommy blogs for recipes and ways to cut down on my grocery bill.

With all this blog reading, it’s clear that some folks have the blog process down cold while others would be better off picking up a different hobby. One blog in particular caught my attention a few years ago and I’ve been following it ever since. Here are the highlights that keep me coming back for more:

1. site design, layout and navigation
2. use of visuals
3. frequency of posts
4. high quality ads
5. social media presence

But first, where are my manners? Allow me to introduce you to Young House Love. When Sherry and John Petersik bought their first home in 2006, a bit of a fixer-upper, they decided it would be fun to document their renovating and decorating progress for friends and family. Nearly 7 years later, it has become their full-time job! According to a 2011 Washington Post article, they have more than 3.5 million page views per month and a best-selling book. Not bad for a couple of self professed “do-it-yourself dorks.”

Getting Around

Not only is younghouselove.com easy on the eyes, its incredibly easy to navigate. Every one of their posts is properly cataloged with tags and can be found in a few easy clicks. This couple is nothing if not organized, and it shows. The overall site design is very clean and modern, and they carry that same look throughout. Forget the clutter (in your house or your blog)!

Eye Candy

I’m equally impressed with their varied use of visuals. While each post is pretty much guaranteed to have great photography, they also throw in the occasional video or infographic. To say these folks are multi talented would be an understatement. They create all of their own graphic elements and still manage to maintain the same look and feel of the blog itself.

Maintaining Consistency

John and Sherry treat Young House Love like the career it has become, and they have a set schedule for posting. Readers know not to expect any posts over the weekend, and that new posts go up two or three times a week. And when they’re not posting, they’re completing the projects they write about. They even plan ahead and sometimes double up on projects so the blog schedule remains constant if they happen to take a vacation.

Keeping a Cash Flow

Since this is a career for the Young House Love team, they have to keep the lights on and food on the table. Part of their income comes from ads. No, these aren’t “Lose 20 Pounds of Belly Fat in Two Weeks” or “Sexy Singles In Your Area” kind of ads. Young House Love’s sponsors sell products that their readers would actually be interested in (imagine that!). And the ads themselves are visually appealing which helps to not detract from the blog itself.

Cross Promote and Get Social

But what’s the point of creating such a high-quality product if you’re not ensuring your readers remember to visit? Of course, they thought of that too. John and Sherry are as active on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest as they are on the blog itself. They announce each new post on Facebook, and are almost constantly taking Instagram photos to share with fans. If you’re following them on any of the social media sites mentioned, they are always top of mind.

I could list twenty more reasons why I’m a faithful follower of Young House Love, but unfortunately, that’s a story for another day. There are a lot of blogs out there and even if you’re not into home improvement, Younghouselove.com is one of the best to follow for blogging technique.

What are some great blogs you admire? Share in the comments below.

Site Implementation

Google Analytics is a free tool and can be easily implemented on your website. Obtaining data can be as easy as implementing the Google Analytics Java Script onto your site. However, Google Analytics does permit the flexibility to do a custom implementation that allows a user to get the most out of the tool. Custom implementation allows for custom variables, cross and sub-domain tracking, virtual pageviews, and event tracking. Google Analytics offers up to 5 custom variables for free and only limits events to 500 per session. New features include custom dimensions and metrics as well as cost uploads for various paid campaigns.

SiteCatalyst implementation requires cost and more in-depth development work. The implementation is always customized and differs depending on specific needs, metrics, and goals. The upfront work and investment for SiteCatalyst is greater than Google Analytics, but if done properly, the information gathered will be more tailored to your specific metric needs. In addition to tracking web actions the Omniture suite offers various options for data integration across an enterprise’s data infrastructure.

Custom Variables

SiteCatalyst has the advantage of required custom implementation, which provides the option for the creation of custom traffic, event, and conversion variables. These variables are set in advance to give specific information about your visitors rather than looking at all visitors in aggregate. You can see the visitors who clicked through on a campaign versus the visitors who purchased a product. SiteCatalyst allows up to 75 traffic variables, 100 event variables, and 75 conversion variables, all of which can capture whatever data you would like.

Google Analytics also has the ability to set custom variables but only allows up to 5 custom variables with the free version. Like SiteCatalyst, these custom variables can be set to expire after different measurements: a page view, completion of an event, or at the visit level.

SiteCatalyst variables differ in that they can be set to expire after a specified period of time and can also be stacked on top of each other, so you can see the sequence of events taking place.

In the future, Google Analytics is moving to be more flexible in terms of custom variables. Google’s newer product, Universal Analytics will allow for 20 custom dimensions and custom metrics. These will be implemented easier than Google Analytics current version of custom variables, and they will be more similar to the custom variables we see in Site Catalyst.

Report Suites

SiteCatalyst allows for distinctive reporting suites of various data sets. If your company’s website has several sub-sites, SiteCatalyst allows the different sub-sites to have their own suite for data, which can then get rolled-up into one large suite. This allows seeing metrics broken down for each sub-site. Report suites allow you to see the different paths a visitor may take between sub-sites. These reports also allow the creation of one dashboard that can be applied with different report suites.

Instead of reporting suites, Google Analytics allows for the creation of different data profiles. Profiles are versions of your data with permanent filters applied.

Another way that Google Analytics allows a user to look at data in sections is with segmentation. A user can apply up to four segments and make comparisons across each of these segments. SiteCatalyst does not allow for the comparison of segments. In order for a comparison to occur in SiteCatalyst, a user must export the data from different segments and compare outside of SiteCatalyst.

Combining the Two

As a digital analyst, I have to balance the trade-off between ease of use and complexity. There are times when Google Analytics is best to use because the information is gathered quickly and easily. However, in-depth answers often need to be determined by SiteCatalyst. Limiting yourself to one tool can also be limiting for your business. I have found using these tools in conjunction gives the greatest value to your analytics work. You can check out a more in-depth dive on what these tools should be measuring by reading our Pace Perspective on measuring the value of custom content.

What tools have you found to be most beneficial for reporting your analytic data? We would love to hear your recommendations or suggestions in the comments below.

This year the team at Pace was lucky enough to capture video of some of the powerful stories that surround that bastion of offseason football entertainment, for our client Verizon Wireless and their partnership with the NFL. In the first set, the Pace team had the opportunity to profile running back Marcus Lattimore from the University of South Carolina. Coming off a tough knee injury that cut short his final season of college football, Marcus’ story was one of the most inspirational and intriguing heading into the Draft.

He also happens to be a pretty nice guy, which all combined for some great video storytelling. Both videos, shot in just one day on campus in Columbia, SC and Marcus’ hometown of Duncan, SC, can be seen below or at Verizon Wireless Your Guide. More great stories from the NFL Draft, shot in New York at the Draft itself, will be added in shortly. Just enough for fans of the NFL to get their offseason fix and perfect for anyone who appreciates great branded video storytelling.

With that setup…enjoy:

Start small. Big projects either die big or get killed by a thousand meetings. The classic paralysis by analysis. Do something small that nobody will notice. Experiment. Find the smallest answers to the biggest questions. – John Winsor in Digiday

As with any shiny new discipline or technology, content marketing has its skeptics. There are enough research reports and case studies floating around to overcome most of those, but (alas) what if they are inside your own organization? What if the skeptic is your boss, your budget holder? How do you prove your case when all the third-party validation in the world just isn’t enough?

A few weeks back I attended a digital strategy conference in New York, and one of the speakers – a marketing executive at a large financial services shop – was asked just this question. His answer was succinct, and echoes the great quote above from the CEO of ad agency Victors & Spoils: Find small wins, that can be backed up with hard data, and are built to rapidly scale up for greater impact.

His example: a B2B content program that ran in pilot mode for several months, which demonstrated a clear link between sales force usage and a measurable uptick in sales. That was his proof point for senior management, his springboard that bought him the credibility to get other content programs approved.

At Pace we’re frequently in this position with our clients – helping them champion the potential of content across their organization. We partner up to look for those small win opportunities, content marketing projects with several characteristics:

• Clear, measurable ROI that matters at the top: Look for content projects where, if successful, the measure of return-on-investment is 1) absolutely measurable, 2) quantifiable in hard dollars, and 3) understandable and significant to senior-level decision makers. Pace has some related thoughts on content marketing analytics.
• Repeatable and extensible: Put on your testing hat, and seek out projects that can be quickly modified and repeated, incorporating learnings from previous iterations. If you don’t get the positive results you hoped for, incorporate what you learned, adjust the project, and roll it out again. Rinse, refine, and repeat.
• Minimal development time and budget: Keep the content projects simple, fast, and low-cost. It’s much easier to sell the idea of experiments when you don’t have huge sums of money and vast chunks of staff or agency time on the hook.
• Ability to rapidly scale: A content marketing test is only worthwhile if the results can be applied at a scale that impacts the team or company in a significant way. If the test shows positive ROI, but applies only to extremely niche situations, it likely won’t do much to sell any larger efforts across the organization.
• Enthusiastic internal champions: Look for project opportunities where at least one champion exists, someone with both the motivation and influence (if not outright authority) to see the experiments through and sell the results upward.
• External supporting evidence: Unless the content project addresses a situation completely unique to the organization, chances are there is a wealth of external research, case studies, and data points available to both justify the initial investment in the experiment and add weight to the eventual selling of the results.

What do you look for when seeking to “sell” new marketing ideas into your organization? What characteristics of small win projects did we miss above? We’d love to hear in the comments.

*Photo licensed through iStockPhoto

In short, there is no lack for ideas and advice on what content marketing is and how to employ every minute element of it. But so much of that commentary dives straight into the detail, slinging tactics, tricks and tips without taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture: How to create an effective strategy that enables you to transform content marketing from a confused collection of tactics into a vital and coherent element in your marketing mix.

That’s the topic for this Pace Perspective, a point of view that explores the Pace approach to creating integrated content marketing strategy, rooted in a concise definition of the term:

Content marketing strategy is the practice of planning the creation, distribution, activation, and optimization of thoughtful and relevant content, in order to inspire positive engagement and profitable action.

In this paper I briefly outline all the elements involved in putting that idea into action, from clear objectives and data-driven insights to the three strategic plans that form the core: content, platform, and engagement strategies. It’s a framework and process we employ on behalf of our clients that brings all the key stakeholders key to content marketing success to the table — from analysts to strategists, marketers to content creators of all molds.

Please take a moment to download and read this Perspective. We’d love to hear your thoughts below or out in the social stream (@kevinbriody and @pacecomm), about the role strategy plays in your content marketing efforts.

Download this Pace Perspective: Crafting An Integrated Content Marketing Strategy

*Data snapshot from Sysomos MAP on April 9th, 2013

“Half the money I spend on advertising (or any marketing activity) is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.”

This quote has been true for over a century, and I suspect that it will continue to be true for many companies in the following decades.

I’m not sure that Wanamaker would have ever imagined the day when he would know which marketing activities were effective and which were wasted. It hasn’t been until recent years that companies making investments in analytics are finally being able to determine which marketing channels are creating value and which are wasted or ineffective efforts.

Pace is fortunate enough to work for excellent companies that are committed to measuring the effectiveness their marketing investments. As a result, we’ve had great success in measuring and understand the value of custom content. In this Pace Perspective, I share what we’ve learned to accurately measure the effectiveness of content marketing programs. This paper provides a framework measuring the value and ROI of content programs.

Download this Pace Perspective: Measuring the Value of Custom Content

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

And so it is with content marketing.

As the industry quickly evolves and matures, there is more intense scrutiny and focus on the mechanics of content strategy: platform integration, workflow mapping, governance and then asset production and management. These are all important aspects.

However, what is often being neglected is the very simple fact that a sound content strategy has quality at its center. It does not matter how sophisticated and multi-channeled your program is if you’re leaving the craft of powerful storytelling, education through engagement, or an audience-focused value exchange on the table. Being interesting is still the surest way of earning someone’s interest.

In this Pace Perspective, I outline a foundational arc for both Google and Facebook that curves toward higher standards of quality in content as well as explore how to institute a quality-first approach to your content marketing efforts.

I’d be interested to know how you’re instilling craft into your content program, and look forward to responding to feedback. Please post comments or questions below!

Download this Pace Perspective: Content Marketing: Quality Matters

Photo by Jim Nix via Flickr CC License