Try These Inbound Marketing Tips How would you describe your organization’s online marketing mix? Is it like chicken noodle soup? While it may be satisfying it just doesn’t have that extra oomph and excitement of a dish like chicken curry.more
Originally published on July 17, 2011 and continues to be relevant. Enjoy! How do you develop quality online content? What does a good content strategy look like? How is your content strategy tied to your Web marketing and SEO efforts?more
With the holiday season fast approaching, I’m sure you’ve started planning for how you’re going to take advantage of the time when consumers are eager to pull out their wallets and pony up their hard earned cash to purchase your wares. If you haven’t thought about it yet, or if you’ve been struggling to come up with ideas on how to take advantage of the period of retail abundance with your website, don’t worry, it’s not too late!more
As you work through your strategic planning process, you're probably required to submit your marketing budget for the next year. The following are the top items you’ll want to consider as you determine what your team can handle, and where you’ll need to bring in outside expertise.more
Your success with digital marketing can be amplified dramatically if you're doing this right...more
I’m sure by now you’ve heard the phrase “Content is King” millions of times and, you’ve possibly struggled with how the heck you’re going to create the amount of content required to help you achieve the goals necessary to get in a favorable position with your boss. Or, you may be wondering if “content marketing” is all it’s cracked up to be and worth investing your limited resources on planning, creating and promoting content. The facts are that 81% of shoppers conduct online research prior to buying. A whopping 94% of B2B buyers conduct research prior to making a purchase. The main tools both types of buyers use are search engines and social media. The bottom line is … If you aren’t consistently creating and distributing compelling content online, there is about a 100% chance these buyers won’t find you and you won’t be considered.more
If you happen to be in charge of marketing for your organization, you’re probably judged by the volume and quality of your lead generation. Unfortunately there are far too many organizations who depend on a subjective analysis of that quality, and that typically leads to a finger pointing match, instead of a constructive conversation over how to increase the volume and quality of those leads. The following are some tips you can use to make you the “hero” by increasing both!more
One of the top questions we receive from prospective clients when they reach out to us is, “can you help us increase our website traffic?” You’d think, based on what we do, that this would be a logical request and one which we’d happily answer, “Sure we can!” Strangely, there are many times when this question is asked and our response is, “that’s not really what you need.” Although traffic is an extremely important piece to the puzzle, it’s critical to make sure that when you open the “spigot”, that you’ve got a solid platform to send them to that delivers an awesome user experience and makes it easy for your visitor to accomplish what they arrived there to accomplish. Let’s assume, for the purpose of this post, that you’ve already addressed the middle of the funnel and the bottom of the funnel and you are ready to tackle the top of the funnel and tap into a steady flow of visitors to your website. If you haven’t, you may want to bookmark this post and come back once you have. Remember: It’s not about the quantity of traffic you get to your site, it’s about the quality. If you want to drive more quality traffic that converts, follow these four steps.more
Hubspot released their 7th annual report on the State of Inbound Marketing over the weekend. And while the report clearly indicates that marketers who prefer inbound are the smartest, best looking people in the world, there’s fantastic data that you will find very helpful and relational for any size B2B, B2C, or a non-profit organization.more
Unlike the neglected sneakers I keep under my desk for the day I will begin to take brisk walks after my lunch of kale and quinoa, the shoes of real runners are treated with respect. They know that their choices in footwear are a critical part of their success to prevent injury and to improve performance and enjoyment. A recent conversation about using data at the office brought up an idea we recommended to a running shoe retailer. After discussing how to create a valuable customer experience, we realized that the best approach was to foster a relationship that extended well past the sale.more
Big data. It’s a phrase you’ve heard a lot the last few years. It's a $125 billion industry. But what is it, really? Big data is simply the practice of collecting large data sets that can be analyzed to show patterns, trends, and associations, especially for consumer behavior. The latest stats indicate that 90% of the world’s data has been generated in just the past few years.more
One of the most frustrating experiences for a marketing professional, or a business owner, is to invest time and energy into your marketing and receive less than desirable results. As much as you’d like to deny it, without effective marketing, you will struggle to accomplish your sales goals.more
Can you remember a time where you visited a site and it felt as though the company knew you very well and were able to anticipate your every move before you made it? How about a time when you visited a site and the user experience was so clunky and disjointed that you ended up with your blood boiling as you clicked the “back button” on the browser while making the decision to NEVER do business with a company that cared so little? The following steps will help you create a user experience that wins you customers instead of alienating them through frustration!more
Whether you’ve just opened for business, or you’ve been selling online for years, you’ve probably thought about or tried to increase your sales using Facebook marketing. The bad news is that most businesses get this very wrong — often alienating their Facebook fans by pelting them with a barrage of sales pitches and promotions. The good news is that it IS actually possible to increase sales through Facebook (without turning your profile into a huge electronic billboard).more
At MINDSCAPE, we have been advising clients to build mobile-optimized sites for years, mainly because of the dramatic improvements to the user experience when using a mobilemore
Everybody wants more leads these days! Whether it’s growing your email subscription list, identifying buying prospects, or just forming relationships with individuals interested in your industry, collecting the contact information for individuals is one of the best ways to effectively sell your products and services.more
WOW! Have you ever had one of those years where you are celebrating New Year’s Eve and you’re struggling to understand how an entire year could have passed since your last celebration? If so, then you know exactly how I feel about 2014!more
McKinsey’s annual Global Survey came out in June, and what I found most interesting was that although respondents say their CEOs are more involved in digital marketing efforts than ever before, there are some pretty major hurdles for most large organizations to really see the impact of what digital can do.more
Can a company brand a feeling? Because AirBNB has just announced their new logo includes the Bélo, a symbol that represents “belonging.” “Belonging has always been a fundamental driver of humankind. So to represent that feeling, we’ve created a symbol for us as a community. It’s an iconic mark for our windows, our doors, and our shared values. It’s a symbol that, like us, can belong wherever it happens to be.” Founded in 2007 by two guys who wanted to share their idea of seeing the world via coach surfing, now valued at $10 million, AirBNB is a company that helps you rent your home or find one to rent when you travel. Beyond online travel booking, it offers a non-touristy option for travelers who want an authentic “like the locals” experience.more
Online marketing success has an ever increasing importance to your business’ success. For a lot of businesses this is known, but it’s hard to be effective since the web is evolving at an exponential rate. As online marketers, we have found digital data to be one of the primary keys to grow such success. Due to these benefits of data, more data is being created and analyzed every day. Now we are in an era where the term “big data” is a common term in everyday business. With the vast amount of available data points, we have realized that watching all of them is inefficient and can cause more harm than good when just one of these data points experiences significant change. To combat this fear, we have developed computed aggregates of metrics that represent one, more complete metric. It’s easier to watch and tells a broader story. This may seem like a new approach or that we’re masking the details unnecessarily however, let’s remember that this is not a new method. The stock market has done it forever and at such a success level that the DIJA, NASDAQ, and S&P 500 have continuous coverage on every news outlet.more
