December 31 – the last day of the year is finally upon us!
For many of us, this is a time to reflect and look at our accomplishments over the year. For others, it’s a time to make goals and resolutions to make the best of the coming year.
For the rest of us, it’s the best time to catch up on all of the Netflix series and blog posts we’ve been meaning to watch and read!
We published a lot of content on our blog this year. While we know you’re all loyal readers, it’s impossible to have read every one of them. For this reason, we’ve cherry-picked the best of the best posts from our blog for you to curl up next to a fire with.
Without further ado, here are our 18 most popular blogs of 2018.
Check out our latest data report on the retail industry! 
1. Social Media Hashtag Campaigns: 10 of the Very Best (+ A Few Fails)
Hashtags were all the rage in 2018, and it’s no surprise.
According to the author Pankaj Narang, It doesn’t matter if you represent a small business or a multinational brand, a hashtag campaign can help you accomplish many of your objectives.
In fact, the best social media hashtag campaigns build brand awareness, drive traffic, and go viral!
In this post, you’ll discover the most memorable hashtag campaigns by brands such as Burger King and Oreo. You’ll also learn which campaigns worked better than others.
Read the post here.
2. Build Your Social Media Crisis Management Plan in 10 Steps
Whether you’re a small business or a global brand, no one ever wants to be caught in a social media crisis.
However, for many companies it only takes one bad tweet or an employee gone rogue to destroy everything you’ve worked so hard to build.
For this reason, your company needs to have a social media crisis plan.
In this blog post, Patrick Whatman takes you through step-by-step what you need to do before, during, and after a social media crisis in order to stay cool as a cucumber – all the while keeping your customers and stakeholders happy.
Read the post here.
3. 5 Influencer Marketing Trends You Need to Know for 2018
2018 was a HUGE year for influencer marketing. It was one of the most talked about marketing strategies of the year – and it shows no signs of slowing down.
In this blog post, I explain why influencer marketing has become so effective, as well as the trends that shaped it in 2018.
Read the post here.
4. 6 Killer Marketing Newsletters That You Need to Subscribe to
Let’s face it. Most marketing newsletters can be so boring. Not only are they irrelevant to the type of content you want to read, but they typically don’t bring you any value.
This is why we decided to transform our previous marketing newsletter into The #MentionMemo.
By looking at other great examples of marketing newsletters from the likes of Later, Intercom, ,and The Daily Carnage – we dissect the elements that make an excellent email newsletter.
Read the post here.
5. 10 Instagram Tricks & Tactics That Increase Engagement Rates
Sure, everyone wants to have more Instagram followers. But does it matter if you had millions of followers but very few of them are engaged? This is where a healthy engagement rate comes in.
We joined forces with Taylor Loren, Head of Marketing at Later to chat the most effective tactics to increase your engagement in a webinar. Don’t have time to watch the entire recording? Skim through the blog post listing all the tips here.
6. How to Monitor Your Product Launch: Lessons from #AppleEvent2018
Running a product launch can be one of the most stressful times in a marketer’s life: you only have one shot, and you must get everything right.
In this blog post, Clément Réne explores how Apple consistently hits its annual product launches out of the park.
He takes a look at #AppleEvent2018 and analysis what was said online, how much was said, and more.
Read the post here.
7. 5 Growth Tactics for More Instagram Followers
As we mentioned, Instagram was a huge topic in 2018. Take it from Nathan Chan of Foundr magazine, who built 1.2 million Instagram followers in just a few short years.
In this post, he shares with us his 5-step plan to get more Instagram followers. From perfecting your user bio to creating a solid content strategy – you’ll find in this article tried, tested, and true ways to grow your Instagram community.
Read the post here.
8. 5 Marketing Strategies We Learned From Super Bowl Ads
The Super Bowl has consistently been one of the most watched television events in television history.
Not only is it the most anticipated televised event in the US, it is one of the biggest marketing and advertising opportunity for brands.
In this post, I explore what makes a winning Super Bowl ad. From collaborating with the right influencers to being relevant, I share what I learn from watching this years best ads.
Read the post here.
9. Instagram Statistics: The Big Lessons from our Study of 115 Million Posts
Continuing with the trend of Instagram-related content dominating out top blog posts of the year, we look at our analysis of 115 million Instagram posts.
We released a comprehensive report in 2018 which dove deep into the numbers of many, many, Instagram posts – and we found quite a few interesting things.
From the average number of likes on a post, to whether using hashtags actually increases engagement or not – we explain the key stats and what they mean for brands.
Read the post here.
10. Mention Joins Leading PR SaaS Solution Mynewsdesk to Become Global Leader in Media Monitoring
September 2018 marked one of the most exciting times in Mention’s history: we were acquired by the number one Saas solution for PR management in the Nordics!
In this post, our COO Mathieu Vaxelaire explains why and how the acquisition happened, how we felt, and what’s next for Mention.
Read the post here.
11. 4 Essential PR Lessons I Learned From Journalists
This is actually one of the first guest posts contributed by Chris Van Mosselvede, Global Content Manager of Mynewsdesk – our sister company.
In this blog post, Chris summed up the key learnings from a roundtable webinar with notable journalists about best practices in PR.
This includes 4 practical and effective tips on how to get your next PR story picked up.
Read the post here.
12. Social Media Automation: 12 Experts Share Secrets for Small Business
Managing social media is a full time job. But for a lot of marketers, this is something they must squeeze into their day-to-day activities, alongside writing blog posts, improving SEO, creating ads, and more.
For this reason, we asked marketing strategist Kevin Payne to share his secrets when it comes to social media automation: how to do it well while still maintaining a human voice for your brand.
Read the post here.
13. How to Keep Your Website in the Top 3 in Google Results
Every company dreams of being in the first page of the Google results for keywords they’re relevant to.
While this isn’t impossible, it’s hard to get right. For this reason, we asked marketing expert Shane Barker to share his top tips on keeping one’s website in the top 3 Google results.
Trust us, you’ll want to read this one.
14. How to Create an Effective Ephemeral Content Strategy
Ephemeral content was one of the biggest themes in 2018 – and it’s not going anywhere.
Ever since Instagram copied its biggest rival, Snapchat, and launched Instagram Stories – everyone has been jumping on the ephemeral stories bandwagon.
But how do you create a solid and effective strategy for content that isn’t evergreen?
Find out in this post.
15. World Cup 2018: How Twitter Reacts to the French Championship
The soccer World Cup of 2018 was one of the most exciting moments on social media, not just for French fans, but the world.
Our content and PR manager – Meghan Ducille – tracks the relevant keywords around the remarkable French championship and shares with us, what was said, how much, and by whom.
Read the post here.
16. Marketing to Millennials: How to Reach and Engage a Generation
Yep, millennials are still here – and they’re here to stay. So if you’re a brand, you won’t want to ignore this key target audience in 2019.
In this post, Gaurav Sharma shares with us the best practices when is comes to winning over millennials via marketing.
From what type of content works to examples of millennial marketing done right by brands – you’ll learn some hands-on tips to help you for 2019.
Read the post here.
If you want to use social media successfully in an employee advocacy program, your whole team needs to be on board with it. However, this isn’t as easy as we think.
17. 4 Ways to Get Your Colleagues Excited About Employee Advocacy
In this post, marketing strategist Brittany Berger helps us understand employee advocacy and how to make it easier for your coworkers to share your company content.
Read the post here.
18. 7 Top Tips to Create a Killer Video Content Strategy
Last but not least, we have the video strategy tips post for you.
Video is an essential part of every marketing strategy and everyone wants to do it well – it’s no easy task.
In this post, Irina Weber shows us how to build a video content strategy that ensures your videos will be seen and engaged with.
Read the post here.
Over to you
Well there you have it, our best blog posts of 2018 all summed up in a neat little post.
It may just spark some content inspirations for your digital marketing in 2019 – why not read them all?
Check out our latest data report on the retail industry!
