Daniel Beulah says, “What is a brand? Specifically, what is a brand in the 21st century, when we have the ability to converse directly with our customers? Is it a product, a culture, a destination, service or ingredient? Or is it something more metaphysical? Steven Jones said in his book, Brand Like a Rockstar, that, Brands are so much bigger than business, logos, names and locations. Brands go deeper, beneath the visible surface and exist in the mind. Brands are essentially perceptions and emotions. They are feelings and associations that come from interacting with a product or service. A brand... [...]

Selena Blue says, “Marketing is continually changing and evolving, and nothing has propelled that more than the Internet. This means marketers must grow with the industry. According to Formstack, those in digital marketing now need seven skills beyond the norm to succeed: Analytics Social media Data visualization Technical skills Teamwork Newsjacking Soft skills While the digital age has created a need for new skills, it has also enabled marketers to learn those skills with the click of a button, without going back to college”. Marketing Careers: 5 sites to develop and enhance your skills... [...]

David Kirkpatrick says, “Ecommerce offers a great opportunity because it allows marketers to sell globally much more easily than opening brick-and-mortar locations around the world. This video from the MarketingSherpa video archive features Rob Garf, Vice President of Industry Strategy and Insights, Demandware, covering this topic with some tips on global ecommerce and insights from the frontlines of selling online in new geographies. Preserving brand value across multiple cultures According to Rob, global ecommerce is growing, and the first challenge is preserving brand value while meeting... [...]

David Kirkpatrick says, “For email marketers, tackling mobile email is a relatively new challenge, but a challenge that needs to be addressed. According to research from Litmus, the email testing and analytics vendor, 49% of people access email via a smartphone — a figure that’s risen fivefold since 2011 and continues to trend upward. To provide some insight for you, the MarketingSherpa Blog reader, I reached out to five email marketers who address the mobile email challenge with two basic questions on the topic. Read on to find out what this expert panel had to say about mobile email”. Mobile... [...]

Courtney Eckerle says, ““The only reason any brand exists in the first place is because it helps people do something in their lives,”  Kevin Knight, Head of Agency and Brand Strategy, Pinterest said. In his session at The Digital Marketing Conference — Adobe Summit, Kevin spoke about what makes Pinterest unique to marketers and brands in the social media sphere. Mainly, unlike other social sites, it’s kind of a loner. Not in the standing alone in the corner at the school dance kind of a way, but in a “Best All Around” superlative kind of way: independent, and not only party-planning... [...]

Courtney Eckerle says, “From the opening General Session at Adobe Digital Marketing Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, the speakers reiterated, in one way or another, the thesis statement made by Brad Rencher, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Adobe: Consistent and continuous experiences only happen when marketing goes beyond marketing, and the reality is that brands have to earn it every day, with each experience. With each touch point, we either win or we lose. Marketers need to fight every day to be personal with consumers — this isn’t a plane you can reach or a level to be... [...]

Erin Hogg says, “Two things come to mind for me when I think of the word social: Social media Pizza Social media for brands is all about developing a thriving online community of fans and followers that engage with your content and (hopefully) become brand ambassadors. To do this, your content must have that “engage-ability” factor: what will make your content or social presence something that your audience will want to share and interact with? Pizza is also something that we socially consume. Arguably, sometimes we don’t share it, but overall, when you have friends over or you don’t... [...]

Selena Blue says, “If you haven’t noticed, #SherpaEmail has taken over Twitter. Well, maybe not in a break-the-Internet scale of Kim Kardashian, but your marketing peers have been tweeting their hearts out with all the good information they’ve learned at MarketingSherpa Email Summit 2015. With Day 2 of Summit underway, we wanted to share some key nuggets your peers found valuable on Day 1. (I might have smuggled a few of my own in too.) Check out some key takeaways from each of yesterday’s insightful sessions. Humanizing Your Email Program: How to transcend the digital revolution by using... [...]