These days, most companies that have an online presence also have a blog. What began in the 1990s as a “weblog,” where individuals could log their thoughts on the Internet, has evolved into a powerful marketing tool for businesses. To online customers, blogs are a go-to source for information on new strategies and products on the market that could better their business. Blogs play a key role in demand generation as current and potential customers seek new ways to solve identified issues or discover better ways to run a business that they never considered.

Editors have a lot of power over content creation. Just ask any writer.

There are books that serve as guides for every life decision. Some people turn to Dickens for fortitude, to Wilde for a good laugh, to Poe for a scare. Marketers, too, can learn a great deal from the life stories of certain characters in fiction. Here are four lessons I’ve picked up from some of my favorite novels and how they can improve your social CRM.

I remember a time when Facebook, one of the early pioneers of social media, was exclusive to college students. But it didn’t take long for the company to realize its global influence and addictive pull. The students-only policy soon changed to include everyone: small and large businesses, community groups, your parents (gasp!) and even advertisers.

There’s a reason why certain consumer products have maintained the same design and function for decades: Despite all the advantages technology affords, some things are best enjoyed in their original form.

There is one question that continually dogs utility marketers: How can we establish ourselves as an industry thought leader for energy information?

One utility in California recently drove thousands of views to its website, invigorated interest in energy management and rose to the top of search engine rankings in just four months. How? Content marketing.

Utility marketers face a unique challenge in that they generally must work harder than other industries to engage small and medium-sized business customers. These business owners and managers are focused on their own daily operations and tend to forget about their utility services until a problem arises or a bill arrives. As a result, they often miss out on programs that can help them manage their energy and optimize efficiencies.

For utility marketers, envisioning a campaign for services that people can neither see nor touch can be difficult. But it is doable and the results can be impressive with a little support from content marketing.

Here’s an unsettling truth: There are just as many ways to mess up a marketing communication as there are ways to make it stand out from the rest. Here’s another unsettling truth: Most people don’t need a marketing background to detect a poorly executed marketing communication.