In 2014, you'd better understand your audience before you start marketing. In this era of preference marketing, buyers are in control. When online information became ubiquitous, the customer suddenly didn't have to simply accept what marketing delivered; she now had choices. To win her business, we need to create a connection that goes well beyond a transactional relationship. To me, that's the rationale behind content marketing: instead of an organization broadcasting inward-focused messages, it must deliver value to the marketplace in order to create the customer connection.

Native advertising is one of the biggest buzzwords this year in digital media, with many brands moving toward a new paradigm of creating sponsored content and in-stream ads that are more integrated with the user's experience consuming digital content. Below are some tips to help brands to capitalize on the trend to go native -- and to help their marketing messages make the transition:

It can be a hard, time-consuming process to create great content. Or, with a well-thought out strategy, it can also be fun, fast, and gratifying. Here are three quick tips to help you write, repurpose, and repackage content that engages your prospects without taking you all day to do it.