Nikki Gilliland says, “When it comes to the biggest media properties in the world, the likes of Buzzfeed or Vice might be obvious candidates.  A brand you might not expect to appear in the list is UniLad. However, with more than 19m fans on Facebook and over 3bn video views in September alone – it now ranks an impressive number two in the world. UniLad also tops the chart for most popular video creators. So, what exactly makes Unilad’s use of video so successful? Here’s a closer look at how and why it is among the most-watched. Targeting a mobile generation Like Buzzfeed, UniLad targets... [...]

Beth Hayden says, “It was May 2015, and I was sitting in the audience at Rainmaker Digital’s Authority Rainmaker conference in Denver, Colorado. Sonia Simone was about to give a presentation called “Dr. Evil’s Guide to Landing Page Design and Optimization,” and I was excited to learn from one of my personal copywriting heroes. At the time, I was familiar with certain landing page “rules” — like writing compelling headlines, testing different button colors, and eliminating distracting design elements — but other than that, writing the copy seemed like some magical activity. But... [...]

Miriam Ellis says, “Implement generosity. If I could sum up all of the thoughts I’m about to share with local enterprises, it would be with those two words. Disasters and emergencies are unavoidable challenges faced by all local communities. How businesses respond to these stressful and sometimes devastating events spotlight company policy for cities to see. Once flood waters reside or cyclones trail away, once the dust settles, which of these two brands would you wish to call yours? How two brands’ reaction to disaster became a reputation-defining moment As Hurricane Matthew moved toward... [...]

Sam Oh says, “With the power of the Internet so readily available to every small business owner, it never ceases to amaze me how many companies insist upon using offline lead generation methods. They hand out fliers instead of sending out emails. They knock on doors instead of “knocking” on social media feeds. They write articles in local magazines instead of creating awesome blog posts. They basically do everything the slow way, hindering their own growth and guaranteeing that their competition will have the upper hand. Maybe you are a small, local business owner reading this and you... [...]

Entrepreneur team says, “Between Facebook, Instagram, Instagram Stories and Snapchat, building your personal brand on social media takes a lot of work — but is definitely worth it. The platforms not only allow you to reach a big audience but also a variety of people. Before jumping into social media though, it’s important to have a good-looking website with excellent pictures and a well-written bio. From there, start producing relevant and engaging content — that is easily shareable across the social media platforms, according to this video by 7Twelve Marketing. Creating... [...]

Danny Wong says, “Writing a sales letter is not an easy task. If it was, everyone would easily score six-figure contracts in a snap. In order to make a sales letter effective as well as specially designed for a large contract, here are some considerations you need to keep in mind. Be appropriately brief The kids don’t use the phrase TL;DR (too long, didn’t read) for nothing. Your sales letter needs a similar approach. While there is an endless debate as to how long the ideal sales letter should be with no magic bullet solution, one thing that all sales experts agree on is that... [...]

David Fothergill says, “Marketing attribution continues to provoke many discussions, theories and debates these days. As stated in the intro to Christi Olson’s recent Search Engine Land column, “Proper attribution modeling is one of the biggest challenges facing marketers today.” Along with difficulties caused by holes in data (such as connecting user journeys across devices), the oversimplification of traditional first- and last-click models is highlighted. These models fall into a class of “heuristic” rules. A heuristic, by its nature, is a simplification of problem to more... [...]

Amanda Zantal-Wiener says, “Tracing the history of SEO is kind of like trying to trace the history of the handshake. We all know it exists, and we know it’s an important part of business. But we don’t spend a ton of time thinking about its origins — we’re mostly concerned with how we use it day-to-day. But unlike the handshake, SEO is fairly young, and changes frequently. Quite appropriately, it appears to be a millennial — its birth is predicted to fall somewhere around 1991. And in its relatively short life, it’s matured and evolved rather quickly — just look at... [...]

Brian Clark says, “If you’re in business, someone’s got to buy something for you to make money. At least last time I checked. And if you’re sick of hearing that people buy because of emotion, well then … that would be a strong emotional response to a logical assertion, no? But I hear you. Over and over you’re told that people buy according to emotion, and it seems not to make sense when it comes down to selling your products and services. Maybe that’s because you’re thinking about emotion in the context of feelings rather than motivation. And that would definitely be confusing,... [...]

Marcia Yudkin says, “Whether you sell car widgets, consulting, cab service, camping stoves, or customized cabinets, the day will come when you have to write up something to sell them. My best advice is to be straightforward: Simply write who it’s for, what it is, why people should buy it, and how to order. If your clear and direct draft then seems just too boring to you, you don’t have to do the verbal equivalent of dressing up in a plastic burger suit and jumping up and down at passing cars. You can give your copy a little rhythm and oomph with one or more of these more subtle... [...]