Creating Compelling Calls-to-Action

Posted by Hannah Hudson

Feb 27

A call-to-action is a must have when attempting to draw customers in.  Let’s face it, just getting a visitor to your website does not increase sales or ultimately grow your business.  A call-to-action is used to provide focus to your website, a way to measure a sites success and ultimately to provide direction to your users.  It is used to keep customers engaged and gives certainty as to what the next steps are.  In other words, a call-to-action is a useful and presentable sales pitch that provides a benefit to the customer and works towards a goal for the company.

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Topic Categories: social media

Social Media Challenges Faced by Startups and Large Corporations

Posted by Shannon Starr

Feb 23

It’s rare to find a multi-million corporation that doesn’t have an online presence of some sort. Chances are that these corporations have strong marketing structures and teams that focus on various aspects of the marketing channels.

Startup companies may have a difficult time establishing their online presence due to their search engine optimization (SEO). Large corporations have a strong SEO due to their popularity and familiarity with the brand. SEO is a type of “free” advertising and helps websites maintain a strong position on search engines.

See below for a video produced by Search Engine Land to gain a further understanding on SEO.

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Topic Categories: social media

A Company's Top Marketing Challenges

Posted by Shannon Starr

Feb 16


INTRODUCTION

According to the 2016 State of Inbound Report, companies face many marketing challenges on a daily basis.  HubSpot has cited that a company's largest marketing challenges are generating traffic and leads and proving the ROI of marketing services. 

Although there are other top marketing challenges that companies face such as securing an adequate budget, managing the website, and identifying the right technologies, it is important to focus on the top two challenges for businesses to thrive. 

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The Future of Social Advertising

Posted by Nick Mattar

Feb 16

Personal Social Sharing, Advertising Credits and Facebook Video: The Future of Social Advertising

10 years ago, social media marketing consisted of businesses asking individuals to post on their behalf on popular social media sites and blogs.  Bloggers would write about products while younger consumers would be paid to post about products on their MySpace or Facebook accounts.  At first, these methods were clever and could bring hordes of new hits to websites.  However, the general public quickly grew weary of this practice and personal sharing of professional products went out of style.

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Topic Categories: advertising

Ask Outrageously! A Few Simple Tips to Help Anyone When Negotiating

Posted by Farahman Kian

Feb 13

Negotiations can be difficult but with this one simple tip, anyone can become an expert at it!

Most people negotiate with others every day of their lives. You may not realize it but when you ask the barista at a coffee shop for some coffee you are in fact negotiating.  By this logic most negotiations go quite well, but for those tougher negotiations there is one tip that can really help you get what you want!  What is this tip?  Well its basically as simple as Asking Outrageously! 

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Topic Categories: Negotiation

5 Reasons You Need Influencers to Revive Your Content Marketing

Posted by Krista McComas Rowe

Feb 9

5 Reasons You Need Influencers to Revive Your Content Marketing

More and more consumers are turning to social media channels as their primary source of news and entertainment content.  But thanks to the algorithm updates on social platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, only a small percentage of your 100,000 followers may actually see your brand’s message, particularly if that message is pushing a product or using any of the same content from your traditional advertising.  Brands need to get creative if they want to break through the clutter.  They need to go beyond traditional digital marketing and enlist passionate subject matter experts to speak on their behalf and in the appropriate channels.

Enter: Influencer Marketing.

Influencer Marketing is “partnering with social content creators, those with key audiences on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram, to help brands connect and engage with consumers through an authentic and trusted source.” (Source: TapInfluence).

Over time the influencer builds a relationship with their followers.  They form a bond of admiration, loyalty and trust which is built on the values and interests they share with their following.  Big brands will often hire influencers to extend their own marketing efforts, either to push out the brands content or create additional content along the same theme. 

Read on for the top 5 reasons to use influencers as part of your overall content plan.

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Topic Categories: content marketing

3 Secrets to Great Storytelling

Posted by Krista McComas Rowe

Feb 6

3 Secrets to Great Storytelling // Advice from INBOUND 2016

As marketer and storytellers one of the biggest challenges we face is gaining (and keeping) the attention of our audience.  The solution lies in putting your audience at the center of your storytelling.

Knowing what your audience is feeling, using a relatable main character, and writing in a way that lifts your audience up are all key storytelling components that can make or break your bond with your audience, and thus your content’s performance.  To truly connect and form a relationship with your audience through customer-centric content you must (1) Listen to what’s happening in social media, (2) Choose a main character that emulates your target, and (3) Infuse positivity into your writing. 

[These themes and slides have been pulled from talks given at HubSpot’s INBOUND 2016 conference.  Of all the storytelling advice at the INBOUND 2016 conference, these are the three topics I found most impactful. (See the INBOUND 2016 Content Library for more)]

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Topic Categories: Storytelling

The Future Challenges of Social Media

Posted by Vincent Carozza

Feb 2

The Future Challenges of Social Media

Introduction:

Social media has the potential to create a multitude of issues for organizations and has so already, from politically incorrect posts, inappropriate jokes, and the common spelling mistakes.  These issues have surely already impacted organizations and will continue to do so.  Organizations have had to make adjustments and dedicate additional attention to their social media marketing strategies to avoid these issues.  These issues will continue to haunt organizations in the future but with strong emphasis on detail and accuracy, these can be avoided.  However, these are most likely not the most important issues that a organization will face in the future.  As social media continues to change and grow so rapidly, organizations will certainly be faced with a great challenge of deciding which social media platforms to choose.  One of the primary challenges will also be connecting all the social media platforms and maintaining congruity between them.  With such, organizations must ensure that they uphold the congruity between their multiple sites.  Organizations will also need to determine how often to post and the content that will be posted.

Photo Credit: https://www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/272286

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Topic Categories: social media

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