Steve Olenski says, “Billy Joel once famously sang, “It’s always been a matter of trust.” The context in which he sang those words was a relationship between two people—a personal relationship. But the same thing can be said to describe the relationship between a consumer and a brand: “It’s always been a matter of trust.” If trust is absent, there is no relationship. It’s that simple. And from the findings of a recent MarketingSherpa survey, it appears as if digital marketing is still sitting at the kids’ table when it comes to trust. (highlight to tweet) Traditional Marketing... [...]

Jeffrey L. Cohen says, “Lately, many people describe marketing as part art and part science, but that feels like an oversimplification of what we do. The art side of things is the creativity required to conjure a compelling message, develop stunning visuals, or even design a thing—whether physical or digital—that stops a prospect in their tracks. The science is shorthand for the fact that we are now required to use data. This is not a bad thing because it makes marketers focus on outcomes. If your outcome is not measurable in some fashion, it is hard to know if your efforts were a success.... [...]

India White says, “Back in 2013, while working at an influencer marketing startup, my friend Daniel Hebert and I were discussing virality—that somewhat taboo, pie-in-the-sky idea of creating content that gets millions of shares and likes. It’s a marketer’s dream, but for most of us, it will never be a reality. From this bitter truth came the notion of “perceived virality”: the idea that a piece of content shared by just a few people within a highly interconnected community could create the sense of content being popular, or viral. If I see a piece of content that is interesting... [...]

Brandon Leibowitz says, “The fight to become a top-ranking site in search engines had compelled many site owners to play dirty for a few years. From paid links and keyword stuffing to spam comments and invisible text, people used to manipulate their techniques in such a way that they’d be guaranteed one of the top-ranking positions in search engines. However, changes in Google’s algorithms have ensured that sites making use of these techniques will get penalized and delisted. With these changes, site owners can now ensure better ranking with the help of healthy, white hat SEO techniques. At... [...]

Stacey Marone says, “You have now seen the light and brought your business to social media platforms. You have a well-populated Facebook fan page, a Twitter account, and a great Pinterest board. You have taken all the lessons to heart about maintaining these social networks by keeping them updated, responding to all comments and inquiries promptly, and following followers. However, how do you know that your social media marketing strategy is actually working? How do you know what you need to change or improve? The best way to do that is to check the metrics. It is not hard, because there... [...]

Zontee Hou says, “Recently, I had the pleasure of presenting a webinar entitled “6 Ways to Grow Your Business Through Blogging” for SCORE Association, a nonprofit focused on supporting small business owners. In it, I covered six case studies showcasing ways that blogging can strengthen your business as a showcase of your expertise and a community-building forum.1 While this particular session was aimed at small businesses, the lessons apply to businesses of all sizes. Following the webinar, I got a ton of interesting follow-up questions and feedback from attendees, and today I’d like... [...]

Joei Chan says, “Wouldn’t it be great to take a peek inside the minds of really smart marketers and borrow their brilliant ideas? Please say yes. Because that’s how I convinced my boss to start Real Smart Marketing, a video series where top influencers record bite-sized marketing advice. To kickstart our first episode, we invited Rand Fishkin, Larry Kim, Benji Hyam, Sam Mallikarjunan, and Sujan Patel. Naturally, I asked a selfish question that I needed the answer to: “How will content marketing evolve in 2017?” As a content marketer, I’m dying to know what these experts think will... [...]

Jay Baer says, “At this moment, the only things more plentiful than Olympics coverage and Presidential faux pas are predictions of Snapchat’s imminent withering and demise, due to the near pixel-for-pixel mimicry of the newly launched Instagram Stories. Here’s but one doomsday account. Use your favorite search engine to turn up dozens more. It’s a convenient—although not particularly insightful—narrative to proclaim that “new thing will kill old thing.” It’s a trope as old as media itself. (While you’re searching, look for some “TV will kill radio” coverage.) Inconveniently,... [...]

Matt Heinz says, “As the function and importance of content marketing increases for B2B companies, organization of that effort has picked up speed as well. Many companies are developing entire, internal “newsrooms” that effectively mimic the organization, cadence, and efficiency of professional journalism environments. But today’s B2B content marketing needs so much more than that. It happens faster, and requires far more work post-publication to maximize impact, conversion, and shelf-life. To be successful in content marketing, you need at minimum six roles. (highlight to tweet) These... [...]

Jai Rawat says, “Acquiring customers is good, but it’s just the beginning. You only win big if you can nurture them into loyal customers. According to the White House Office of Consumer Affairs, it costs six to seven times more to acquire new customers than it does to retain current ones. Or consider this: According to Harvard Business Review, increasing customer retention by five percent can increase profits by 25 percent to 95 percent. When merchants engage users at every touch point of their journey on their website, merchants deliver users a satisfying emotional experience, thus creating... [...]