What rocked digital marketers’ worlds in 2016: Marketing Land’s top 10 columns of the year

What a year it’s been in the digital marketing universe. No matter whether you were in display, social media, content marketing or email, you were likely kept busy by all of the developments that occupied the industry. From Google’s local results and AdWords display changes to the rise of video (including live video) and the effect of mobile usage on marketing strategies, our generous and talented contributors looked at all the angles in 2016.

For the in-depth lowdown on what happened in search marketing and martech, be sure to visit our sister sites, Search Engine Land and MarTech Today, for wrap-ups of 2016. Meanwhile, here on Marketing Land, affiliate marketing and its future prospects drew the most reader attention this year, while customer reviews and the sites that host them also sparked a lot of interest.

To be honest, it’s hard to make generalizations about our top 10 columns, because they ran the gamut of the industry and its disciplines. So, to catch up on the year that was and get ready for 2017, I’d recommend you check them all out yourselves:

1. Is Affiliate Marketing A Viable Business Model In 2016? by Rae Hoffman, published on 1/26/2016.
   Social activity: Facebook 1060, Google+ 49, LinkedIn 402
2. 5 Yelp Facts Business Owners Should Know (But Most Don’t) by Brian Patterson, published on 2/16/2016.
   Social activity: Facebook 244, Google+ 41, LinkedIn 314
3. Instagram Advertising: What’s Working? by Andrew Waber, published on 1/6/2016.
   Social activity: Facebook 360, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 426
4. The comprehensive guide to video advertising in 2016 by Thomas Stern, published on 3/30/2016.
   Social activity: Facebook 246, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 246
5. Streaming social: What marketers can learn from Netflix’s social strategy by Chris Kerns, published on 4/11/2016.
   Social activity: Facebook 306, Google+ 50, LinkedIn 456
6. Top 10 payment processing companies in the world by Steve Olenski, published on 5/26/2016.
   Social activity: Facebook 1075, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 425
7. How to ask customers for reviews (and actually get them) by Brian Patterson, published on 4/21/2016.
   Social activity: Facebook 190, Google+ 53, LinkedIn 372
8. 6 possibilities for the future of social media marketing by Jayson DeMers, published on 8/22/2016.
   Social activity: Facebook 748, Google+ 175, LinkedIn 792
9. 6 custom Google Analytics reports you should use for every CRO project by Jeremy Smith, published on 7/7/2016.
   Social activity: Facebook 553, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 890
10. Gmail Ads: Email marketing without the emails by Laura Collins, published on 3/29/2016.
    Social activity: Facebook 165, Google+ 0, LinkedIn 258

Methodology: Columns published in 2016 are ranked in order of pageviews measured by Google Analytics. Data includes all columns published through November 30, 2016. Social data provided by SharedCount. 

About The Author

Pamela Parker

Pamela Parker is Research Director at Third Door Media's Content Studio, where she produces MarTech Intelligence Reports and other in-depth content for digital marketers in conjunction with Search Engine Land and MarTech. Prior to taking on this role at TDM, she served as Content Manager, Senior Editor and Executive Features Editor. Parker is a well-respected authority on digital marketing, having reported and written on the subject since its beginning. She's a former managing editor of ClickZ and has also worked on the business side helping independent publishers monetize their sites at Federated Media Publishing. Parker earned a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.