Social selling may seem like an oxymoron to many marketers. We are told that a good social media marketing strategy is supposed to focus on building a community not being salesy. Well, yes, that is true but it is also true that a business needs to make a profit to survive; so, that is where the idea of social selling comes in. Social selling is about leveraging and connecting with your online community to reach sales goals. Continue reading
Never underestimate of the power of a woman, especially when combined with social media. From the number of active users on a social network to the frequency of their interaction with other users and brands, women are a powerful force in the social media realm. Curious how much power women hold on social media? Continue reading
As we approach the half-way point for 2014 I wanted to take a look at what key trends are shaping the current social media space. The infographic below from Media Mosiac looks specifically at seven social media trends that are impacting the digital marketing industry this year. The following seven items are areas that marketers should focus on to maximize conversions: Continue reading
Social media continues to play an even larger role in not only gaining customers, but in retaining and building relationships with current customers. Best selling author Erik Qualman reported in his video #Socialnomics 2014, that 93% of shoppers’ buying decisions are influenced by social media and that 90% of consumers trust peer recommendations, while only 14% trust advertisements.
But what about your current customers? Continue reading
As we settle into 2014, marketers continue to reevaluate their strategies to determine how to better reach, nurture, and convert customers this year. When creating their 2014 marketing strategies, marketers are evaluating the different trends predicted by industry experts. One of the most discussed predictions for 2014 is the importance of creating highly personalized content across all different digital marketing platforms (i.e. website, blogs, social media, email marketing, etc.). In addition, a trend that I expect to continue to grow during 2014 is the importance of having an integrated marketing strategy that connects social media, SEO, content marketing, email, PPC, PR, and event marketing to create a cohesive experience for potential customers. Continue reading
Over the past year there have been a lot of changes in the SEO world, with the Panda, Penguin, and Hummingbird updates the game has changed for all marketers. SEO is now the life force behind all marketing efforts, from social media, to content marketing, to lead nurturing all aspects of marketing are interconnected. But, with changes to the marketing landscape happening at every corner, many marketers are looking for advice on how to prepare for the future. Luckily, now all marketers can get advice from the experts on the future of SEO, social media, and marketing with the following infographic. Continue reading
Blogs have become the life force behind a brand’s online identity. Blog posts fuel social media efforts, give search engines content to crawl and index, provide companies the opportunity to showcase themselves as thought leaders in their industry, and much more. As such, diving into creating a blog should not be taken lightly, but you also should not be scared of developing your own great blog. It can be a fun, exciting, and very educational journey (for those of you who love to learn as much as I do). Continue reading
What separates two brands in an industry, from one being successful and another not? Brand passion! The passion that company founders have for their brands is transferred to their customers, so customers not only purchase products but they become brand advocates because they are as passionate about the brand as the brand creator.
There is no one formula for creating a successful brand, and while passion is often a key factor, it does not guarantee brand growth. To achieve phenomenal company growth and brand awareness, brand founders need to strategically focus their passion for their product into the right marketing outlets, i.e. newsletters, social media, website design, product design etc.
To better understand how brand passion, combined with strategic marketing, can lead to brand success I want to look further into three passionate company founders: Brian Scudamore, founder and CEO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, Pete Cashmore, founder and CEO of Mashable, and Susan Gregg Koger, founder of ModCloth.
This is a basic of marketing, digital or not. For example, If you are selling custom hunting bows, you wouldn’t advertise in the Vogue magazine. Instead, you will analyze the reader demographics and psychographics of each magazine to determine which magazines will allow you to best reach your target audience. This same process should be used for determining which social media platforms you should focus the majority of your efforts on.
The infographic below from Social Barrel analyzes the audiences that frequent ten of the most popular social media platforms to help you decide where you should focus your efforts. Continue reading
With regular algorithm updates, search engine optimization is a game with ever changing rules. What helped websites achieve top position in search rankings last year (sometimes even last quarter) is frequently no longer a high priority or even relevant to current SEO strategies. To help digital marketers better understand the factors that determine which websites rank higher in search results than others Searchmetrics, a leading search analytics technology company, recently published their Ranking Factor – Rank Correlation study. The study evaluated factors that differentiate better-positioned websites from pages placed further back in the Google.com organic search results, and compared those factors to rankings in 2012 to current rankings in 2013 to determine changes and trends. Continue reading