I spent a good three years working in PR and digital agencies across Germany and the UK. Now I’m on the other side – as a Channel Consultant at HubSpot my role is to help our partner agencies grow their businesses.

That not only includes teaching them the inbound marketing methodology and how they can use our software for their own marketing, but also offering them strategic advice on how to choose the right market, develop and deliver better services, recognise areas for growth, make the right team decisions, establish expertise and more. So really - business consulting.

Just a few months ago I thought agency life was hard (and it is, don’t get me wrong), but now I’m seeing that running an agency isn’t easy either.

Especially when you have to compete with thousands of other similar firms out there.

From what I’ve experienced so far, the biggest challenge agencies face is developing a unique positioning that allows them to truly stand out and be seen as an expert, with clients chasing them for their knowledge and capabilities, rather than the agencies having to pitch all the time for new business.

Do you like TV ads? How about magazine ads? Do you pay attention to them or do you just skip them?

Now let me ask you another question: Do you like stories? Do you enjoy being immersed into an exciting narrative allowing you to escape reality and enter a new world?

I like stories. I like to let my brain follow the imaginative flow of a good story and visualise the narrative, the heroes, the actions and happenings of what I am reading, watching or experiencing. 

As a marketer you are probably used to relying more on hard facts and lists of benefits rather than engaging stories. That might have worked in the Mad Man era, but in the world of real-time, non-stop social interactions and online content it no longer does.

Don’t believe me? Check out some facts from a Nielson study:

Sustainability... What a difficult word, don't you think? And how about social media?

Can you describe the two in a short sentence? No? You are probably asking: "What does social media have to do with sustainability?"

A lot, actually.

Social media and sustainability are both paradigm shifts. The challenge is how to leverage them and do so in synchrony in order to create business value. Utilising social media could transform any sustainability initiative. And because the foundations of social media and sustainability are guided by the same values of community, transparency, authenticity, innovation and collaboration, combining and aligning the two concepts could have a powerful impact on effectively balancing the triple bottom line.

To help you see the connection, let's go back to school and make things a little bit easier to understand. Below you'll find my list of ABCs with each letter representing an important characteristic that ties these two seemingly unrelated concepts. Additionally, you will find multiple actionable tips you can deploy in your business.

So pay attention now!

Believe it or not, I am still seeing many businesses shying away from social – either not even getting on it or, yes, having profiles there, but doing nothing. Why? Are you scared? Of what?

To be honest with you, the pros far outweigh the cons.

Today, platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn are your most powerful instruments for two-way communication and digital relevancy. This means, they offer you the opportunity to talk directly with your customers, but most importantly your customers have the means to talk back to you too, anytime, anywhere, about their needs, their wants, their pain points. And this is where the power of social media lies – in communication that is meaningful. 15 years ago were able to ever come so close to your customers? Did you ever have the opportunity to be so relevant? I’m guessing no.  

72% of marketers believe that content marketing is essential for their business; 33% of them say that it brings them at least double the return on their original investment and 86% are planning to spend more on content in 2015. These are some staggering statistics from a research by wyzowl, showing that content marketing works.

However, it’s one thing to know that something works, it’s another to actually make it work.  

Content marketing is entirely about different types of quality content created and distributed to meet the needs of a relevant audience. The major drivers for successful content marketing that marketers and communicators use are blogging and effective storytelling.

To help you become a content expert, here’s a list of all the things you need to know as well as some inspirational ideas around creating content, storytelling, blogging and writing.