Sarah Sikowitz says, “In collaboration with Susan Bidel, Richard Joyce and Jim Nail. Yesterday, the ANA released the findings from an eight month research study into the issue of transparency within the media agency industry. The findings are damning, but not surprising for those who have been following this issue. The phrase in the report that... [Read more]

Pete Caputa says, “Connecting with prospects is harder now than ever before. In today’s technology-driven world, fewer and fewer prospects answer their phone and even less respond to voicemails. Not even 1% of phone calls are returned! Although I’ve resisted telling my salespeople for years that the phone is less important than email when... [Read more]

Sonia Simone says, “Tara Gentile is known for helping people grow terrific businesses — without sacrificing ethics or heart. Tara works with “idea people” — people who have an idea that they want to turn into a product, program, or service, but who may not always see themselves as business owners or marketers. She helps her audience and... [Read more]

Star ratings, also known as schema ratings, can have a big influence on buying decisions.. Maybe you’ve seen them on a Google search or on Amazon. When people see those stars, it attracts their attention, especially when it’s a high star rating. Beyond that, Google has said that schema ratings and other structured data may influence the ranking... [Read more]

Selena Blue says, “At the heart of every test or optimization effort should be an informed hypothesis. However, best practices can lead us astray. So where can marketers find inspiration for their next experiment? The answer often lies with our customers. This week, our sister company MarketingSherpa has a team of reporters at the Internet Retailer... [Read more]

Winston Burton says, “With the rise of SEO platforms and enterprise-level technology, we are drowning in a sea of SEO data, with a lot of information right at our fingertips. But are we really getting a true and accurate picture of our SEO performance? As marketers, we pore over data all the time — but in order to glean meaningful insights,... [Read more]

Andrew Dennis says, “Securing real links requires outreach. No matter the site, industry or audience, the only way to earn worthwhile links is through some form of human-to-human communication. Google is continuously improving its ability to detect spammy tactics, reducing the efficacy of manipulation and increasing the power of editorially given... [Read more]

Luke Maguire and Anthony Morrison have been studying Facebook and its potential for creating a dramatic improvement in marketing success. It's a fact: Not all social media traffic is created equal. At the top of the pyramid is Facebook. And its dominance is growing... [Read more]

Patricio Robles says, “Professional sport is a multi-billion-dollar business and in the past several decades, brands have become an inseparable part of the market. Numerous brands, from Nike to Red Bull, can even attribute much of their success to aligning themselves with the right sports, leagues, teams and athletes. The marriage between brands... [Read more]

Bill Sebald says, “There’s no shortage of advice on the Internet. This holds especially true in digital marketing; after all, we’re the folks who came up with “content is king,” right? If we weren’t the inventors, we clearly co-opted it. I’ve been wanting to write a piece that takes us back to the roots of digital marketing.... [Read more]

Regina Love says, “When you go to a restaurant and your customer experience before the meal arrives is terrible, you’ll most likely refer to that restaurant as being terrible, even if the meal was amazing. Customer service has the power of leaving a bad taste in your mouth. Customer service and marketing now work together more than ever. At... [Read more]

Pixal is impressive software, but even more impressive is the license they give you.  You are allowed to not only use it, but also sell it. During the launch, you are getting a reseller's license. r. After the 5 days of the launch period, this software will no longer be available for a purchase. Instead, it will go to a monthly subscription, with an ongoing fee..... [Read more]

Ben Davis says, “I was privileged to hear Avinash Kaushik speak at Syzygy’s excellent Digital Innovation Day last week. Avinash discussed some of his favourite mobile experiences. Here are 12 of them. 1. Hilton HHonors app: check-in and digital key The Hilton HHonors app allows users to check in and check out, pick a room, pick a floor and,... [Read more]

Greg Sterling says, “Yesterday, Pinterest announced a relationship with Oracle Data Cloud to measure the company’s impact on in-store sales. Oracle owns Datalogix, among other martech brands. Along with the announcement, Pinterest also publicized the results of a study that “measured in-store sales for 26 Promoted Pin campaigns across major... [Read more]

Pamela Vaughan says, “Visual content is in high demand. Just about every piece of content you create can be enhanced by some kind of visual element. In fact, content with relevant images gets a whopping 94% more views than content without relevant images. And in social media, visuals pretty much make or break your presence. According to Buffer,... [Read more]

If you don't know much about Instagram, you could be giving your competitors an unfair advantage. But there's a solution, and it's free. Tuesday- Friday, this week only, you can attend 'Instagram Success Summit', online... [Read more]

Jeff Rajeck says, “In a recent Econsultancy report, marketers rated ‘increased customer lifetime value and loyalty’ as the most important benefit derived from understanding the customer journey. But how does this work in practice? What are brands doing in the real world to increase customer loyalty? To find out, Econsultancy invited... [Read more]

Peter O’Neill says, “Lead-to-revenue management automation player Marketo has certainly been in the news recently. First, in May, it held its annual Marketing Nation Summit in Las Vegas and announced plans to provide a marketing automation system, powered by a new architecture, which will enable marketers to engineer a great customer experience... [Read more]

Shaun Haase says, “A B2B technology report from Informatica revealed that 25% of marketers don’t know their lead conversion rates, largely because they don’t have the right CRM strategy, which limits sales growth and work efficiency. If a CRM does not provide immediate value and is overly complex to implement and maintain, it will fail to... [Read more]

If you need to build websites for local merchants, the Ink Themes team, led by Neeraj Agarwal has a kit of online assets that will make your life a lot easier... [Read more]

Ed King says, “The Classic Problem: Duplicate Records Marketers know the duplicate record problem well. Multiple records for the same person or account signal that you have inaccurate or stale data, which leads to bad reporting, skewed metrics, and poor sender reputation. It can even result in different sales representatives calling on the same... [Read more]

Andy Beohar says, “You’ve poured thousands of dollars into your Pay-Per-Click (PPC) search campaigns and have managed to generate a substantial number of leads. You’re rocking your conversion rates and your cost per lead is great. So what’s the problem? It’s only when you start analyzing your results and dig a little deeper that you realize... [Read more]

Mark Smith says, “Right now, as you read this, athletes all over the world are working hard and persisting through pain to prepare themselves to represent their country and find personal glory in the 2016 Olympics. Yet, let’s be honest: Except for their families and a few close friends, unless the athletes end up on the podium in one of... [Read more]

Vedran Tomic says, “Need to figure out whether inbound marketing fits in your marketing mix? Here’s some inbound marketing advice for small businesses. Inbound marketing is a term coined and evangelized by the founders of HubSpot (a company that develops and markets inbound marketing software) that refers to strategic use of content in lead... [Read more]

Tim Peterson says, “After overhauling the look of mobile Pages last fall, Facebook is experimenting with a new design for the desktop version of Pages that drops right-rail ads from the page, among other changes. According to screenshots posted on Twitter by The Next Web’s head of content Matt Navarra, the redesigned desktop Pages adopt the... [Read more]