Heather Baker says, “Content marketing starts with having good content to market. And good content stems from a good brief. Much like a house requires a solid foundation, content too, needs a sound and comprehensive starting point to build upon. Without it, you’re just grasping at smoke, trying your best to read minds when everyone knows that’s not your forte (it’s not anyone’s, so don’t feel bad). Aside from being a complete waste of valuable content creating and marketing time, the absence of a good brief leaves one understandably frustrated. The more effort you put into the... [...]

Hassan Mansoor says, “There is no easy way to launch consumer products in the competitive market. What can you do to ensure your product is sustainable in the competition? Obviously, the answer is to develop the growth strategies that work for your business growth. Start by writing the outline of a growth plan to introduce your products; you should clear about your business strength, vision, and the level of competition in the market. A growth plan includes more than just imagining long-term achievements. It is necessary for you to develop competitive strategies and measure the outcome... [...]

Smith Willas says, “Two-way communication is necessary for building any healthy relationship. For business owners, open conversation is vital to understand customer needs and provide services and recommendations that solidify trust and confidence. It’s this understanding and intelligence that make good business owners even better and make customer relationships strong. These important conversations are probably commonplace in most in-person customer interactions, but when it comes to your marketing communications, does the conversation stop? Often, when marketing to their contacts, business... [...]

Silvio Porcellana says, “Social media is becoming more and more important in marketing strategies: this year, 85 percent of marketers plan to invest more on Linkedin, 78 percent on Twitter and 70 percent on YouTube. This is because many marketers have started to appreciate the results. In fact, 80 percent of them registered an increase in website and blog traffic thanks to activities related to social media. This is also due to the growing awareness of the dynamics of each of these channels, which allows marketers to carry out creative and brilliant campaigns and explore new opportunities... [...]

Larry Alton says, “In order to compete for the modern customer’s attention amidst an array of other brands, products, and services clamoring for their consideration, brands must get creative. Selling experiences are just one way leading brands are achieving this goal. Selling an Experience Let’s say you and your friend purchase two tickets to a baseball game on Friday night. While at the game, you have a blast. The music is great, the in-game entertainment is unique and engaging, there’s a free giveaway at the gates, and there are even fireworks after the game concludes. In all, you... [...]

Brent Lollis says, “Of all the ways you can improve your digital marketing message, there is one that is especially simple, affordable, and effective when compared to the rest. What’s this magic bullet you can use to make customers take notice? Custom photos that make a strong connection with buyers. Most of us realize intuitively that photos are powerful. We see how they make an instant and emotional connection, causing us to pause, smile, or take notice in a way that text alone cannot. And yet, a lot of marketers don’t hesitate to use low-quality images to support high-quality messaging. That’s... [...]

Joe Hessert says, “Savvy marketers constantly evaluate and re-evaluate their website’s performance, optimizing for a strong user experience and high conversion rate. This is especially true for SEOs who understand that quality signals like a high organic click-through-rate and high levels of user engagement can have an impact on where their website ranks in Google’s search results. If you’re using Google Analytics to identify web pages and blog posts which aren’t delivering a high-quality user experience, one of the metrics you’re likely looking at is Bounce Rate. Google defines... [...]

Zac Johnson says, “The goal for every business and brand on the internet today is to rank at the top of Google for their most treasured keywords. However, this is extremely unlikely. There are currently over a billion active sites on the Internet today, and Google is only listing around ten organic listings on each page of their search results. Throw the importance of ranking only on the first page of Google into consideration, and you might find the concept of ranking a local business even harder. The good news is, with a little bit of work, hard effort and focus. The good news is, with... [...]

Danny Wong says, “Sales is an increasingly competitive game, and there are plenty of ways a sale can go wrong. In order to close the most business possible, you need to examine every step of your sales process and ensure you’re making the most of every opportunity. To help you out, here are seven of the biggest mistakes salespeople make and how you can avoid them: 1. Listening Passively Your most important job when you’re speaking to a customer is listening to them. If you’re completely driving the conversation and talking the whole time or constantly thinking about the next thing... [...]

Abdullahi Muhammed says, “Does it feel like your content marketing efforts are falling on deaf ears? Has your bounce rate actually worsened since you got serious about engaging in effective content marketing? What gives? Chances are that you’re relying on the wrong techniques. It’s easy for content marketers to sing the praises of various strategies, but applying them to your particular situation is a whole other story. What works for one brand may fall flat for another, so how can you pinpoint effective techniques? A great first step is sticking to content marketing tactics whose... [...]