Ben Davis says, “Google announced a tranche of changes to its ad products yesterday. Whilst there were no massive surprises (updates were in line with recent tests seen in the wild), there’s still work for marketers to do to understand their impact. Here’s a summary of things to look out for in the coming weeks and months. Start preparing now for expanded text ads Text ads will include more characters for the first time since Google launched AdWords. For mobile, neatly summed up by the GIF below, this means two lines of headline and more description”. What do Google’s... [...]

Calvin Koepke says, “It was an early morning of coffee, loud music, and blasting the internet with everything I could muster. I had already published a few articles on my website, skipping the draft process. Then I scrambled to share them on every social media network and group chat that I could think of. Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Slack channels, Facebook groups, email newsletter(s) — you know the drill. It was a copy/paste nightmare, but that’s what the “experts” had told me to do. The familiar phrases of “Content is king!” and “Blog every day!” were among the... [...]

Christine White says, “As marketers, we can’t turn a corner without hearing about how to generate leads with existing content. But CRO [Conversion Rate Optimization] is about so much more than just leveraging content in different ways; optimization is really the process of finding out and testing how to convert people on your site pages, landing pages, blog posts, and marketing efforts. Don’t know where to start? Listen to these five actionable talks from a few of today’s top conversion experts. Hear directly from the landing page, copywriting, mobile, and conversion design experts... [...]

Alex Lopes says, “You put a lot of time into showing the amount of visits and leads that your content produces, but the content marketing team is still relegated to the child’s table. But sales? Sales always gets a seat at the grown-up table. How do they do it? After all, you’re just as responsible for driving revenue as the sales department. They wouldn’t have great sales-ready leads to close if it weren’t for your content marketing efforts. As professionals, we want our work to be viewed as critical to growing the companies where we work. But here is the brutal truth: Executives... [...]

Kevin George says, “First impression may not be the last impression in the world of emails, but it always matters—mainly because user behavior indicates that the maximum chance of emails being opened is only once. So what is it that ensures maximum open rates? Designing the perfect email isn’t just about finding the right images and colors for the message you want to deliver to your subscribers. The process includes everything from choosing a familiar “from” name to crafting the perfect subject line and ensuring your email does not look like a spam mail. Crafting the Perfect Email Visually... [...]

Valerie Levin says, “In the last century, the world saw a massive revolution of innovation. Beyond modern marvels such as digital advancements and the evolution of the smartphone, artificial intelligence is gradually changing society and how people navigate their lives. Machine learning is gradually being integrated into nearly every aspect of life. It’s already used in machine translation, email spam filters, ATM check depositing and facial recognition – and that’s just what an average person uses day-to-day. Predictive intelligence is making businesses more efficient, effective... [...]

Julie Joyce says, “Awhile back, I wrote an article about how link builders need to do more than just build links. It’s not a novel concept at all, at least not among people who understand that nothing should exist in a bubble in SEO or marketing. However, no matter how hard Google cracks down on poor linking practices, linking itself is still essential. You have no idea how many business owners say to me that “we’ve got everything working right except for the links.” And they still assume that if we just throw about 10 links at their site, they’ll shoot up from page 3 to spots 1–3.... [...]

Meghan Keaney Anderson says, “In an industry fixated on rapid growth, any slowdown in user acquisition or monitization sounds alarms. And Twitter, whether it likes it or not, has been sounding a lot of them lately. Not only is it facing stagnant monthly active user growth, but the revenue generated from those users has disappointed a market accustomed to steady tech progression. In the face of a negative narrative, the company has been quick to take action and has focused predominantly on changes geared toward the user. Over the last six months, Twitter has made a collection of changes, small... [...]

Ayaz Nanji says, “Freelancers with marketing skills are the most searched for on LinkedIn, according to recent research from LinkedIn Profinder. The report was based on internal LinkedIn search data from March 2016 as well as profile and geographic data from 2015. The number of freelancers on LinkedIn has increased 43% over the past five years, the analysis found. After marketing, the most searched for freelance skills by potential employers/clients are accounting, business consulting, design, and software development”. The Most In-Demand Freelance Skills on LinkedIn MarketingProfs  [...]

Peter Brooke says, “If your online marketing strategies aren’t generating the results you were hoping for, one or more of these common marketing mistakes may be to blame. Online marketing strategies can be highly effective when used correctly, but there is a definite margin for error. If you are making any of these common marketing mistakes, you may be effectively sabotaging your own efforts instead of helping your business succeed. To help ensure your marketing efforts are helping, not hurting your business, we’ve got examples of five mistakes business make, and some simple online... [...]