You may have heard it said that “Citation services are a secret SEO marketing tool.” In 2016 it’s true. Citation services are incredibly effective, incredibly important and incredibly overlooked. Because so few businesses even know where to begin with citation services, we recently conducted a short webinar where we let the cat out of the bag and shed some light on what citation services are—and why they are important.
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The potential of content marketing is by now well-established. Most business owners know that an investment in regular content development and deployment can yield big dividends—increased brand awareness, a better online reputation, increased client trust and loyalty, and so on. While the potential of content marketing is very real, however, it’s by no means a guarantee. Many businesses invest in content marketing, but—often due to tactical errors or strategic lapses—don’t get those dividends.
For many of us, the summer season is a not-so-distant memory; many of us were just at the beach a couple of weeks ago! It’s hard to believe it, but the holiday season is right around the corner. It presents marketers with a number of opportunities, and in the weeks leading up to it, it’s important to get your marketing tools ready.
The term automated email has gotten something of a bad reputation. People hear that term and think of something cold and impersonal, which of course can be true. When done correctly, though, email automation is anything but irrelevant to the recipient. Ideally, automated emails play a critical role reminding your recipients why they signed up for your email list in the first place, potentially leading them down your sales funnel at the same time.
One of the most difficult parts of launching a video advertising initiative is that you feel like you’re starting from square one; if you don’t already have video collateral, as well as processes in place to measure video results, then the thought of mounting an entire video advertising campaign basically from scratch can seem daunting.
It’s easy to take email for granted. It’s become ubiquitous; we’re pretty much always synced to our inboxes, receiving new messages throughout the day via our desktops, mobiles, and even our smart watches. It’s not unusual for professionals to receive dozens, if not hundreds of emails each day, many of which are marketing emails and plenty of which are discarded without even being read.
One of the great social media follies that businesses make is assuming that they must be present on every single platform and every single channel—something that may frankly be a poor use of time and resources, especially for smaller or more niche brands. For years now the discussion over which platforms are most essential has raged, and it’s unlikely to be settled any time soon—especially as new platforms continue to develop and to make an impact.
Your company website may be three pages or it may be 300; regardless, your homepage is inevitably the centerpiece, and likely the most important online asset you’ve got. It’s your company’s virtual storefront, and it sets the first impression that many customers will have of your company. As such, it’s important to do anything and everything in your power to maximize your home page’s impact—and that includes optimizing it for search engine visibility.
Even if you have no particular interest in video games, you’re probably familiar with Pokemon Go, a mobile app that was released in July and became a global phenomenon almost instantaneously. While there are many popular games and apps out there, Pokemon Go is uniquely powerful in blending the “real world” with the fictitious environments of the game. That’s because for all intents and purposes this is an augmented reality game, one that cannot be played simply by sitting at home, phone in hand. To play Pokemon Go, players actually have to get up, move around, and visit different real-world locations where they can find and “capture” different Pokemon creatures, making for a game experience that is distinctly interactive.
Ever since content marketing rose to prominence, it has enjoyed a DIY ethos. Content marketing is something that anyone can do, at least at a basic level: Any small business owner can create a Facebook account, send out some tweets, share behind-the-scenes snapshots on Instagram, and pen some company blog posts. While there is ultimately much more complexity involved with content marketing than just these few things—including particularities of strategy and reporting—the bar for entry is relatively low.
