As consumers we want to connect with brands we believe to be real, engaging and honest. Everyone wants what I like to refer to as the “Norm Affect.” There’s something special about walking into your favorite coffee shop, boutique or restaurant and the staff knows your name. I discussed in another recent blog post the […]
My first paying job was in retail at a local mall, long before the existence of social media. If someone had something positive or negative to say about their experience in the store, they had to call a toll-free number or come into the store and talk to the manager face-to-face. It didn’t happen often, and […]
Engagement drives relationships and relationships drive revenue.
No doubt you’ve already heard the day everyone in online advertising and marketing has been fearing has arrived. Google has cut off all keyword data. It’s no more. Google now provides encrypted searches using HTTPS (secure search) and keyword data will no longer be shared with website owners. Secure search eliminates the ability for organizations […]
Bear with me, I’m going to talk about a funnel, but maybe not the exact one you’re familiar with. I like fairs (with their funnel cakes) as much as the next guy, but what I’m referring to is a new twist on an old sales standby: the lead funnel. Let’s reimagine it as the digital […]
You’ve seen and studied the diagrams. Maybe you paid to hear subject matter experts talk about it. You’ve certainly experienced it for yourself. Every once in awhile it’s a trendy phrase, but it’s never really gone away or come back. It’s always there but marketers don’t always focus on it. I’m talking about the customer […]
Analytics is the flavor of the season, as marketers try to make sense of the ever mounting loads of data at their disposal. Data is growing at an exponential rate, as people interact more with social networks and other digital touchpoints. For the marketer, every interaction generates data that offers valuable insights into a customer […]
The world of marketing is in a state of continuous churn. Changes in customer behavior bring forth new paradigms by the day, rendering previous ones obsolete. It is not enough that a marketer simply adapts to change. They have to embrace change as a routine, and more often than not, implement change in real-time. The net […]
Audience relevance is the most important element of content success, followed by engaging and compelling storytelling that triggers a specific response. In a recent survey, over 30% of B2B marketers claim that their biggest concern with content marketing is that it’s not reaching the most appropriate audience. Dynamic content coupled with marketing automation allows you […]
Recently I received an email from Pandora, the Internet radio provider, that really caught my attention. In the email, Pandora offered a look back at my “musical journey” and reminded me, “it all started with The Smiths Radio.” Instantly, I was reminded of my first Pandora station, why I chose The Smiths to kick off […]