Jessica Davis says, “”Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works!” Steve Jobs said. Each one of us interacts with information differently, and a design that works for one person may turn someone else off entirely. No matter how much effort you’ve put into designing your website or mobile app,... [Read more]

Martin Beck says, “If you hire celebrities or influencers to talk up your brand or if you hold contests with promotional tie-ins to social media, it might be time for a proper-disclosure check up. That’s because the Federal Trade Commission, the agency that enforces U.S. truth-in-advertising laws, appears to be sending get-tougher signals. Late... [Read more]

Corey Ferreira says, “With the announcement of Twitter’s acquisition of Periscope, a lot of business owners and marketers have been scrambling to figure out the best way to use this new platform to grow their business. If you’re unfamiliar with Periscope, it’s an app (for iOS and Android) that allows you to live stream video to strangers... [Read more]

As you may know, affiliate marketing can be profitable and can be a low-hassle, low-time investment business. But, on the other hand, many people attempt to become profit-making affiliates and actually have to struggle to break even. Last weekend, three marketers, Anwesh Rath, David Kirby and Rav released Affiliate Marketing X to shows you some fresh... [Read more]

Joey Taravella says, ““The conversion sequence is actually a function of understanding the offer. We are not optimizing the product, we are optimizing the offer. As such, we are focused on two aspects: the content and the presentation.” — Flint McGlaughlin, On Improving the Conversion Sequence The goal for most marketers is conversion.... [Read more]

John Fetto says, “The all-important holiday shopping season is less than six months away and we want to make sure your campaigns bring in a haul. Our latest infographic highlights key consumer trends and relevant insights that will ensure all of your holiday planning will spread cheer to your customers and colleagues alike“. Four strategies... [Read more]

Laura Ramos says, “C’mon, admit it. How many times have you heard this?: “We generate a ton of leads for sales, and they barely follow-up on any of them.” “Leads? You call those leads? Send us better leads so we CAN follow-up…” Despite advances in marketing automation and an increased focus on accountability,... [Read more]

Temper Thompson is a 17 year-old boy who is a protégé of famed marketer and trainer Matt Bacak. Together, they have produced Email Cash Blueprint, with the methods Bacak taught Thompson, methods that made Thompson’s business take off. With a mailing list of under 1000 subscribers, using this method, Thompson (a high school student) earns over... [Read more]

David Kirkpatrick says, “Customer reviews and testimonials can be a powerful source of third-party validation and credibility when added to an overall content marketing strategy. Today’s MarketingSherpa Blog post looks at how one consumer marketer — in a business area that is potentially hostile to positive customer feedback — initiated... [Read more]

Chris Handy says, “It’s no secret that email marketing is a critical component of the inbound methodology. After all, why work so hard to build up a database of leads if you never do anything with them? An email campaign can be a very successful approach to nurturing leads through the funnel if you take the time early on to outline a solid... [Read more]

David Griffith-Jones says, “This article explores the difference between personalisation and contextualisation and assesses the risks and benefits. Which one is right for your business? It’s become increasingly common for brands to personalise or contextualise the digital customer experience. By optimising the online messaging for a specific... [Read more]

Perhaps you have heard of "private blog networks", a tool to improve your visibility in search engines. Some SEO experts say that no other method of increasing your ranking compares... [Read more]

Patrick Kulp says, “Brands are tired of responding to dumb questions on Twitter. A new report from social media analysis firm Socialbakers found that around four out of five of the millions of questions posed to U.S. companies on Twitter go unanswered. Inquisitive customers are much more likely to get a response on Facebook, where brands act... [Read more]

MOZ team says, “Keyword Research is a very different field than it was just five years ago, and if we don’t keep up with the times we might end up doing more harm than good. From the research itself to the selection and targeting process, in today’s Whiteboard Friday Rand explains what has changed and what we all need to do to conduct... [Read more]

Jami Oetting says, “Instagram has been slow to open up the network to advertising. It was only in March that the company allowed select brands to include links to additional content in its ads. Now, the platform is moving into the ecommerce realm with its recently announced “Shop Now” buttons, more sophisticated targeting, and... [Read more]

Brian Howard found that ranking for keywords wasn't necessarily as profitable as the guides and gurus lead you to believe. Even though he ranked very high, he wasn't getting the traffic that people had taught should be expected... [Read more]

Danny Sullivan says, “For over a decade, Google has successfully convinced various governments that it is censoring its search results when it actually wasn’t. Finally, the governments have figured this out. Now that the myth is exposed, both Google and governments finally have to deal with the hard decisions of censorship. This week, a court... [Read more]

Tucker Schreiber says, “On average, it only takes someone a few seconds to determine whether they want to stay or leave your website—which can be the difference between a sale you’ve been waiting for, or the loss of a customer. Part of that decision is made on whether or not they find your website to be trustworthy. That’s why we wrote this... [Read more]

JP Mangalindan says, “Facebook revealed on Friday that it has tweaked the stream of information you get on the service once again — this time to factor in the amount of time you spend looking at a post. Previously, how high or low a post showed up in your News Feed — or if it showed up at all — depended on how much your Facebook friends... [Read more]

Millions and millions of tee shirts will be sold in the coming weeks. Some in brick and mortar stores, but many more online... [Read more]

Lori Goldberg says, “In digital advertising, we have an uncommon ability to collect user data that’s superior to other forms of advertising data; particularly compared to what’s available in TV or print. However, merely collecting the data can be overwhelming unless a marketing anthropologist can cut through the clutter and give meaning to... [Read more]

Ted Ammon says, “The push really is on for businesses to adopt mobile friendly websites, especially now that Google has announced the changes to its algorithm to penalize the unfriendly ones. This is great news for all shoppers who search and buy from their phones and tablets. The mobile commerce numbers are already staggering. Who’s Shopping... [Read more]

Adam Weiss says, “It’s no secret that global e-commerce is growing rapidly. Current e-commerce statistics state that 40 percent of worldwide Internet users have bought products online, which amounts to more than 1 billion online buyers and growing. This year, global e-commerce is expected to grow nearly 21 percent worldwide to $1.59 trillion,... [Read more]

Jessica Davis says, “A study investigating the psychology of social media sharing indicates that people share because they want to make valuable content accessible to others. When your audience members scrutinize your social media content, they form an opinion about your brand based on what you put out there, and they determine whether to share... [Read more]

Ginny Marvin says, “In another historic high, internet advertising revenues in the US topped $13.3 billion in the first quarter of 2015. The latest numbers, issued in an interim quarterly report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PwC US’s New Media Group, show ad revenues rose 16 percent year-over-year above Q1 2014’s $11.4... [Read more]

JP Mangalindan says, “Facebook continues to experiment with organizing the Trending area on its homepage by different topics, a test it began in April. Currently, the social network has five topics that users can toggle between — All News, Politics, Science and Tech, Sports, and Entertainment — and are represented by small, recognizable icons,... [Read more]