What does your brand stand for? Before you compose a Facebook message or send an email, defining why people should care about your brand is a question that can’t go unanswered. Because good marketing messages aren’t composed of a laundry list of features. Convincing marketing messages derive from a brand that knows their worth and…
Unlike more traditional forms of marketing, digital marketing gives you the ability to easily create, publish, and share mass quantities of content in just a few clicks. In an instant, your content embarks upon a long spiraling journey through cyberspace destined to land, in many cases, at the bottom of a news feed – if…
“Your business doesn’t need more content, it needs better content,” says Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs. For small businesses, this sounds like really good news. It’s hard enough to come up with what we have much less churn out more. But I sense a catch here. We may not have to create more content, but…
Just being on social media isn’t enough. While it only takes a couple minutes to set up an account, it takes months to build up a credible presence. And it’s tempting to want to be everywhere because everyone else seems to be. It appears that peer pressure doesn’t end when we leave grade school. It’s…
The ball has dropped, the corks have popped, and a new year is upon us. Just as celebratory confetti has cleared the streets of Times Square, 2014 has graciously bowed out, leaving 2015 to take center stage. And for small business owners like you and me, you probably have a list of things you’re going…
When you’re ready to make a big purchase, do you…? A) go on a gut feeling B) see what people are saying about it online C) trust the salesperson The Answer Chances are, most of you picked “B.” Studies have shown that 90% of consumers say online reviews impact their buying decisions. And this doesn’t…
Why Pinterest? With more than 70 million users to date, Pinterest is now one of the top online social networks, rubbing social elbows with Facebook and Twitter. Despite this, many traditional business owners are unsure about how to incorporate Pinterest into their online marketing strategy. Pinterest is a powerful digital marketing tool, especially for…
Brand. That’s a term we, as marketers, love to use but sometimes aren’t so good at explaining. And to small business owners, great at what they do, but struggling to reach and retain customers, how they think of their brand and its impact on their business can make a big difference. But first things first…
When you hear the word corporate, many of us think back to the days when we worked in a sea of cubicles in a sleek office building downtown. Although we worked hard, there were also holiday parties and potlucks. Employee newsletters and lunch & learns. There may have even been a softball game or two….
It’s official. Spring is on the horizon and warmer days are ahead. Time for daffodils and buttercups, yard sales and remodeling. Time to clean out the closets and de-clutter the work shed, pull up the weeds and plant the garden. It’s indeed time for new beginnings. And as a small business owner, what better way…
Now more than ever, customers are swimming in an endless pool of information. Just about every topic you can think of is searchable online and findable on Google. Yet when it comes to solving their specific problems, many customers feel left to drift at sea, clinging desperately to our websites, social platforms, or physical locations…
One of the biggest challenges facing smaller businesses today is raising brand awareness. It’s a tough market out there and smaller names tend to get lost in the shuffle. And while most of the buzz about branding revolves around social media, for smaller firms, especially those that serve a local, maybe regional, market, adding event sponsorships to your overall strategy…