Jess Ekstorm says, “At my company, Instagram is the social media platform that results in the most engagement — despite the fact that we actually have fewer followers on Instagram than we do on Facebook. On Instagram, we have more of our audience liking our pictures, commenting, tagging their friends and posting pictures of themselves... [Read more]

Winston Burton says, “One of the most common problems in the SEO industry is that clients often do not implement their agencies’ SEO recommendations — and then they complain when they don’t get the results they expect from their SEO campaign (i.e., increases in visibility, traffic and conversions). There are several reasons clients do... [Read more]

Darren DeMatas says, “85% of ecommerce brands are looking to add value to customers beyond discounts and promotions. Yet, 97% of rewards programs are transaction-based. Giving discounts to attract customers is often a knee-jerk reaction to boost sales. But competing on price is a race to the bottom. Most ecommerce businesses can’t survive... [Read more]

Luther Landro is selling a marketing course that he describes as a “Copy & Paste Formula That Banks Over $2,500 Every Week From Facebook Without Spending A Penny On Ads.” That’s a big claim for this training ( he calls it his 100k Facebook Formula), but he backs it up with screen shots from Clickbank and Amazon earnings. Landro... [Read more]

Anjali Lai says, “Many times, what we want says more about us than what we do. This is why readers are fascinated with news from the Consumer Electronics Show, which gives us an aspirational glimpse at the technology of tomorrow. This is why Google publishes the most frequently searched “how-to questions,” which reveal what people are striving... [Read more]

Jeff Rajeck says, “As marketers, we know that our jobs require so much more than, well, ‘doing’ marketing. We spend a lot of our time developing campaign ideas, sure, but then we also spend a lot of time getting buy-in from the business. In order to do that, we need to be able to talk sensibly about the platforms and channels... [Read more]

Greg Randall says, “The topic of placing products on the homepage always comes with debate, but when thinking in the context of customer experience design, the reasons against presenting products are straightforward. I’ve previously taken an in-depth look at product page design, and now it’s time to turn the spotlight on the homepage. Purpose... [Read more]

For many years, Sean Mize has been a staple on lists of leading trainers in how to sell products online, about 100 training courses over the last 10 years, most of them sold on the Warrior Forum. He has decided to take a different direction in his life, and as a result he will no longer be offering training to internet marketers... [Read more]

Stephanie Walden says, “When it comes to your business’ customer service strategy, social media can simultaneously be your brand’s most valuable ally and its most intimidating nemesis. On one hand, when handled skillfully and tactfully, customer service via social media can produce positive PR and create fervent brand loyalty that’s... [Read more]

Daniel Burstein says, “Black Friday. Cyber Monday. At the end of the year, holiday marketing related press releases are flying fast and furiously across my desk (by which I mean, inbox). But one branded marketing day had my special attention this year — Giving Tuesday — because of the copywriting contest we’re now running with a nonprofit... [Read more]

Lindsay Kolowich says, “The past few years have been exciting ones for great design. Some of the web design trends from last year have proven themselves popular enough to stick around in 2016, like flat design, background videos, and robust mobile app design. More importantly, we’ve seen the rise of a few new trends that marketers and... [Read more]

These are scary and they are real threats to your site: Hackers, Botnets, Malware, Code Injections, SQL or XSS attacks. Technology experts are warning us about the risks to our site integrity and even survival if the bad guys get into our site's back office. And unfortunately, WordPress (and the many plugins and themes we add to it) are particularly at risk... [Read more]

Matt Umbro says, “At the end of 2014, I wrote that dynamic copy needed to be an integral part of paid search advertisers’ 2015 arsenal. I spoke to the positive results I had seen with Google AdWords ad customizers. Then in June, I presented a case study of the AdWords countdown customizer that showed the CTR and conversion rate to be higher... [Read more]

Parry Malm says, “For the last three years, I’ve made predictions about various aspects of online marketing (see here for 2015 and 2014.) They’re mostly right, except for most of them. This year, instead of soothsaying, let’s focus on things I wish would happen… but likely won’t. So here’s some predictions for email marketing... [Read more]

Demian Farnworth says, “Shortly after the release of The Lego Movie (2014), more than one professional marketer went on record to say that it was the best piece of content marketing they’d seen in a long time. Well, I finally saw the movie, and I don’t buy that claim. Why? To be honest, I have a hunch it won’t pass a simple test — a test... [Read more]

You may start online with affiliate marketing, and that may continue to bring you some income for years.  But to bring in a substantial income, you probably need to have products of your own to sell... [Read more]

Erica McGillivray says, “Every morning, I listen to the news. I’ve been doing this since high school and now well over half my life, as I’ve changed from radio antennas to apps. Sadly, with all the recent tragedies — from mass shootings in the US and terrorist attacks to devastating earthquakes and other natural disasters — my... [Read more]

Mike Renahan says, ““The right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing.” – Joshua Harris Have you ever called a lead on a Tuesday morning and heard nothing, but tried that same lead two days later and they responded back almost immediately? That’s not luck — there’s some science behind why this happened. According to research... [Read more]

Brian Hughes says, “With all the hype around content marketing and social media, are pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns still relevant to digital marketing in 2016? Absolutely! While SEO tactics and content marketing are important for building long-term marketplace dominance, these strategies won’t deliver overnight results. PPC campaigns remain... [Read more]

3-year old, profitable, authority online brand in the raw foods niche. Caters to millennials. Here are the vital stats: - 22 Million page views since launch. - 560,000+ combined audience. - 23,876+ customers. - $1.2Million combined revenues since launch 3 years ago... [Read more]

Kristen Dunleavy says, “Have you ever shared an interesting link on social media? Congratulations! You, my friend, are a content curator. Content curation happens when you sift through the vast world of content, find information you deem useful, and share it with your audience. The actual content you share is created by someone else. You’re... [Read more]

Michael Brenner says, “Without fail, the question I am asked the most from marketers who are struggling to build their business case is, “How do I measure content-marketing return on investment (ROI)?” We know that as consumers, we’re all consuming more information online. We are looking to get informed and we are looking to be entertained. But... [Read more]

Barry Levine says, “Focus groups, online questionnaires and standard video recordings are so — you know — last century. A new announcement indicates it may be time to add emotional analytics to your metrics. Major media agency MediaCom and emotion measurement firm Realeyes said today that emotional measurement will become a regular part... [Read more]

Steven Wright says, “It’s that magical time of year for many companies when year-end closing and Q1 sales kick-off planning are in full, folie a deux swing. For this analyst, 2016 will be the first time in over 20 years when I haven’t been involved in planning and delivering a sales kick-off event. My sigh of relief far outweighs any twinges... [Read more]

Spencer Dunfee says, “The more information a business has about its customers, the better that business can sell, right? It’s why marketers work so hard to develop buyer personas and then segment contact lists a million different ways—everything is designed to reach the customer exactly where they are and exactly when they’re ready to make... [Read more]

Kate Lawrence says, “Twitter the company is sometimes burdened by sharing a name with Twitter the app. It knows a lot more about building mobile apps than its simple-seeming flagship might suggest. That’s the not-so-subtle message of Twitter’s first edition of a playbook for mobile apps that developer advocate Bear Douglas posted last... [Read more]