Featured Report: Survey: 41% of consumers actively using mobile apps while shopping

Chain Store Age

Survey: 41% of consumers actively using mobile apps while shopping

July,01,2014
by:MARIANNE WILSON

Ann Arbor, Mich. -- The use of mobile applications for shopping purposes doubled in the past year, with 41% of consumers actively using mobile apps while shopping, according to CFI Group’s Retail Satisfaction Barometer survey.The study found that 67% of 18-34 year-olds use mobile apps during their shopping experience. While Millennials are typically the focus of retailers' mobile efforts, most consumers of all ages indicated that they have two to four shopping apps installed, proving that mobile isn't a generational-only trend. Read More

Business News Daily

Word of Mouth Still Rules for Brand Advocacy

June,30,2014
by: Chad Brooks

Even if consumers really like a product or service, they're not likely to share those feelings on Facebook or Twitter, new research suggests. Instead, social media users are more likely to express their opinions about products in face-to-face social situations, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Psychology. Researchers said this is because most users usually have a wide range of friends or followers on social media sites, and may not feel as comfortable expressing their opinions to these connections as they would with their close family members and friends. This lack of close connection, as well as their vulnerability to adverse comments, often deters people from sharing their opinions about brands on social media sites, the researchers said.  Read More

Site Pro News

How to Optimize Your Content for Social and Search

July,02,2014
by: Julia Spence-McCoy 

Website owners used to focus on every technique solely for increasing their search engine ranking. Optimization was all about cramming an ungodly amount of high dollar keywords and phrases into every inch of every web page. Today the focus has changed. Keyword stuffing is gone with the wind and a new standard of search AND social optimization is in. If you have no social presence, you simply cannot gain rank as quickly or solidly in the SERPs as you can if you have a strong presence. So, how do you optimize for social and SEO? The first step is getting into the right mindset.  Read More

Social Media Examiner

8 Ways to Improve Customer Relationships With Social Media

July,01,2014

by:Keith Quesenberry

Do you tell your fans how much you value them? Are you looking for new ways to say thank you on social media? Give and take is part of any successful relationship–online or off, business or personal. In this article I’ll show you eight ways companies are using social media campaigns to thank their customers and foster better customer relationships. Read More 

KaratBars International

Welcome to Karatbars Karatbars International GmbH specializes in the sale of small 999.9 pure gold bars and gift items. We offer unique product lines, including specialty collector’s items that celebrate special moments such as the Birth of a baby, Weddings, Easter, Christmas and Birthdays. Karatbars has steadily expanded its product line by using the highest standards in the industry for gold production. Karatbars also offers a line of limited edition or privately branded collector gold cards. Collector cards, especially rare limited edition cards, will often appreciate over the market value of gold.

Featured Report: Internet, Why So Blue?

The AWL

Internet, Why So Blue?

June,27,2014
by: John Herrman

Children ask why the sky is blue, and there usually isn't anybody around to provide a satisfying answer. The sky is blue because… the atmosphere? And gases. The sky is blue because of the air and the Sun. The sky is blue because the sky is blue, and it's time to go to school. Maybe they'll tell you there. But what kind of child would look at the sky today, when there's so much going on down here? The sky suggests infinity but the little screen on dad's phone seems to supply it. What is the answer, then, when a child asks: Why is the internet blue? Read More

Social Media Examiner

How to Publish on LinkedIn for Maximum Exposure

June,30,2014
Henley Wing

Are you publishing on LinkedIn? Is your content getting the shares it deserves? Publishing your articles on LinkedIn helps build your personal reputation and increase exposure for your business or website.In this article I’ll share four tactics for publishing content that gets read and shared.

Read More

dex Media

Most Social Media Mentions are Neutral

June,25,2014
by: Jim Shannon 
With the numbers of social media users projected to continue to rise steadily, climbing to over 1.75 billion by the end of the year (an increase of more than 12 percent, as projected by eMarketer), comments about a business on these platforms can have a significant impact on perception and, subsequently, play a role in determining the popularity or notoriety of a business. Media-moderating mogul mention, in a newly released study of postings about companies, uncovered some interesting trends, offering potential insight for businesses that keep a finger on the pattern of mentions in posts, pins, and tweets. Read More

Mobile Marketing Watch

Up, Up, and Away: Move to Mobile Hits New Highs

June,27,2014

by:Jared Reitzin

Remember that old song by the Fifth Dimension: “Up, Up, and Away?” Well, it would be a good theme song for what’s happening now. The consumer shift to mobile reached new heights in May — in a literally “up, up, and away” kind of way. According to comScore, a global digital analytics company, time spent on mobile apps in the U.S. accounted for the majority of time spent (51 percent) in digital media up from 43% a year ago. And get this: Smartphones and tablets reached 60 percent, up from 50 percent a year ago. Read More

KaratBars International

Welcome to Karatbars Karatbars International GmbH specializes in the sale of small 999.9 pure gold bars and gift items. We offer unique product lines, including specialty collector’s items that celebrate special moments such as the Birth of a baby, Weddings, Easter, Christmas and Birthdays. Karatbars has steadily expanded its product line by using the highest standards in the industry for gold production. Karatbars also offers a line of limited edition or privately branded collector gold cards. Collector cards, especially rare limited edition cards, will often appreciate over the market value of gold.

Featured Report: How to Calculate the ROI of Your Social Media Campaigns

Tech Crunch
Source: Facebook Is Building FB@Work
June, 25,2014
by: Ingrid Lunden 

The phrase “Facebook at work” usually suggests people frittering away the day on the social network and not actually doing their jobs. But according to an anonymous source inside Facebook, the company is working on a way to put the social network into a more positive light in the office. It is building an at-work version of Facebook. “We are making work more fun and efficient by building an at-work version of Facebook,” the source says. “We will touch code throughout the stack and on all platforms (web, iOS, Android, etc.).” The source, who refers it as “FB@Work”, says the effort is based in London. Read More

QuickSprout

How to Calculate the ROI of Your Social Media Campaigns

June,27,2014
by: NEIL PATEL

Is it just me or do companies have a hard time accepting social media as a marketing channel? From what I’ve experienced, most companies aren’t willing to leverage social media because they don’t believe it can make them more money. Well, I hate to break it to you, but that’s a big misconception. Social media can make you money. To show you how you can track the return on investment of your social media campaigns and use that knowledge to maximize your ROI, I’ve created an infographic that breaks down the steps you need to take to achieve these goals. Read More

Social Media Examiner

Marketing You: How to Play to Your Unique Strengths

June,27,2014
Michael Stelzner
To learn how to promote yourself based on these strengths, I interview Sally Hogshead for this episode of the Social Media Marketing podcast. Keep reading to discover more.  Read More

Mobile Marketing Watch

OPINION: Mobile Is Personal. It’s Time Advertising Is Too

June,26,2014
by: Michael Essany

We’ve all heard and read about the importance of mobile time and time again, and it’s a message that is continuously underpinned in research, surveys, and studies.The undeniable truth is that mobile is personal. We keep our device of choice in our pocket and under our pillow. This means opportunity exists like never before for brands to reach the consumer on their terms. People take their device everywhere, which means now advertising opportunities are everywhere too. Read More

KaratBars International

Welcome to Karatbars Karatbars International GmbH specializes in the sale of small 999.9 pure gold bars and gift items. We offer unique product lines, including specialty collector’s items that celebrate special moments such as the Birth of a baby, Weddings, Easter, Christmas and Birthdays. Karatbars has steadily expanded its product line by using the highest standards in the industry for gold production. Karatbars also offers a line of limited edition or privately branded collector gold cards. Collector cards, especially rare limited edition cards, will often appreciate over the market value of gold.

Featured Report: How to Generate Leads with Social Media [INFOGRAPHIC]

Socially Stacked

How to Generate Leads with Social Media [INFOGRAPHIC]

June,24,2014

by: NEIL PATEL

In today’s infographic the company QuickSprout outlines an eight-step social media strategy to generate more leads. Their first step,”Utilize multiple channels,” is one of the steps we like most. In the past few years, the social media landscape has changed and grown a lot. Facebook is no longer a marketer’s only platform to choose from when deciding where and how he/she wants to promote their campaigns online. Nor is it the one and only platform businesses are on now — they’re on several.

Read More

Entrepreneur

With Eye on Small Businesses, Google Gets Into the Domain Registration Game

June,24,2014
by:Benjamin Kabin
Look out, GoDaddy. Google is building a domain registration service aimed at helping small businesses develop or imprve their web presence. Google Domains is still in a beta invite-only phase, but once it officially launches, businesses will be able to find and buy the domain they desire including ones with popular suffixes like ".com," ".org" and new ones that will become available in the near future.Read More

SmallBizClub
5 Ways Credit Cards Can Accelerate Your Small Business
June,24,2014
by:Jaimie Yun
Hesitant about accepting credit cards? Don't be. They're a fabulous way to boost your sales and grow your business.Here are 5 reasons you should consider from your customers, whether it's in your brick-and-mortar store or online.
Read More

Site Pro News

Visual Content Tools: Using Images Effectively

June,25,2014

by: Adrienne Erin 

Content isn’t a passing trend – it’s an effective way of connecting with a target market in a way that provides actionable, relevant information on an ongoing basis. Because of its effectiveness, it’s probably a large part of your marketing strategy. It helps your brand focus and connect with potential clients, customers and online followers in a way that just wasn’t possible before. However, content alone – text-based content that is – might not be enough. Recently, companies have seen an increase in engagement and activity based on visual content and have started to add it to their content marketing strategies. While visual content may take on a variety of forms, it’s more than just slapping any picture onto a blog post and calling it a day; at least, it should be if results are of any concern.   Read More

KaratBars International

Welcome to Karatbars

Karatbars International GmbH specializes in the sale of small 999.9 pure gold bars and gift items. We offer unique product lines, including specialty collector’s items that celebrate special moments such as the Birth of a baby, Weddings, Easter, Christmas and Birthdays. Karatbars has steadily expanded its product line by using the highest standards in the industry for gold production. Karatbars also offers a line of limited edition or privately branded collector gold cards. Collector cards, especially rare limited edition cards, will often appreciate over the market value of gold.

Featured Report: 5 Free Content Tools to Enhance Your Social Media Marketing

The Telegraph
Twitter has got to change, says co-founder Biz Stone
June,20,2014
by: Louise Armitstead

Twitter must innovate to survive, one of its founders has said, even offering to return to the company to help.Biz Stone, who set up the micro-blogging phenomenon in 2006 but left five years later, has echoed investor concerns that Twitter is in need of “creative vision”. Shares in Twitter, which listed in New York last year, have plunged 40pc this year, wiping billions of dollars off a company that was worth $41.2bn at its peak. Read More  

Social Media Examiner

5 Free Content Tools to Enhance Your Social Media Marketing

June,19,2014
by: Kiera Stein
Are you looking for new ways to grab your fans’ attention? When was the last time you changed the way you share news and updates? When you present your content in new, engaging and interactive ways, it stands out in a constant stream of competing information.In this article you’ll discover five free tools to help you avoid the same tired ways of sharing content Read More

Mobile Marketing Watch

Op-Ed: 5 Content Syndication Mistakes to Avoid

June,20,2014

by:Michael Essany

For starters, it’s targeted (you can typically filter on basic demographic criteria at little to no cost). Also, it guarantees performance (most publishers will negotiate deals on a cost per lead basis.) But content syndication is no slam dunk (is anything?). Sure, a marketer can “buy” leads that meet demographic criteria for a fixed price – but the price paid, the quality of those leads, and the pace at which they arrive all vary widely. Read More

Web Pro News

Facebook Says Your Organic Reach Would Be Worse If It Showed Everything In The News Feed

June,05,2014

by: Chris Crum 

Facebook’s Brian Boland wrote a lengthy blog post about the much talked about decline in organic reach of Facebook Page posts. It’s happening for two main reasons, he said: more and more content is created and shared every day and News Feed is designed to show users content that’s most relevant to them.It’s not about money, according to Facebook. Do you buy that? Read More

KaratBars International

Welcome to Karatbars

Karatbars International GmbH specializes in the sale of small 999.9 pure gold bars and gift items. We offer unique product lines, including specialty collector’s items that celebrate special moments such as the Birth of a baby, Weddings, Easter, Christmas and Birthdays. Karatbars has steadily expanded its product line by using the highest standards in the industry for gold production. Karatbars also offers a line of limited edition or privately branded collector gold cards. Collector cards, especially rare limited edition cards, will often appreciate over the market value of gold.

Featured Report: Using telehealth the right way

Modern Healthcare

Using telehealth the right way June,18,2014 By: Darius Tahir  Ateev Mehrotra, an adjunct policy analyst for RAND Corp. and a professor of healthcare policy at Harvard Medical School, likes telehealth but has a critical concern: how it's paid for. It won't work unless it's got the right incentives, he's said in testimony and in an interview. During his testimony to the House Energy & Commerce Committee earlier this year on how payment reform and telehealth can support each other, Mehrotra pointed out that as the care system shifts toward addressing chronic conditions, the potential benefits of telehealth increase commensurately. Read More MobiHealthNews Senate asks healthcare groups to weigh in on transparency data June,18,2014 By: Brian Dolan Last week the Senate Finance Committee sent letters to a wide assortment of healthcare stakeholders to source input on how the federal government could improve “the availability and utility of health care data” so that patients could more easily shop for doctors that suit their needs, providers could deliver higher quality care, and payers could design more effective care delivery models. Read More HealthDataManagement Georgia Regents Works to Make Telemed Network Sustainable June,19,2014 By:Joseph Goedert In 2003, two-hospital Georgia Regents Health System in Augusta began offering remote stroke teleconsultations with mid-sized and smaller hospitals in the region. Today, it serves 29 hospitals and has conducted nearly 4,000 examinations. The delivery system now is expanding to offer a range of other teleconsultations that include other neurological conditions, as well as pulmonary, psychiatry and pediatric care. Lessons learned from stroke consultations often apply to other remote examinations, say Steve McGraw, CEO at telemedicine vendor REACH Health and Jeffrey Switzer, D.O., a Georgia Regents neurologist who has conducted teleconsultations since 2006. Read More FierceHealthIT Feds, AMA look to telemedicine, health IT to treat hepatitis C June,19,2014 by:Katie Dvorak The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention partnered with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT and the American Medical Association to use health IT and telemedicine to treat patients with hepatitis C. The CDC is working to help patients who live in remote areas and have limited access to care. The lack of provider expertise in treatment of HCV--and limited access to providers who do--poses a challenge to care, according to a Health IT Buzz blog post by John Ward, director of the division of viral hepatitis at the CDC, and Amy Helwig, medical officer at the ONC. Read More KaratBars International Welcome to Karatbars Karatbars International GmbH specializes in the sale of small 999.9 pure gold bars and gift items. We offer unique product lines, including specialty collector’s items that celebrate special moments such as the Birth of a baby, Weddings, Easter, Christmas and Birthdays. Karatbars has steadily expanded its product line by using the highest standards in the industry for gold production. Karatbars also offers a line of limited edition or privately branded collector gold cards. Collector cards, especially rare limited edition cards, will often appreciate over the market value of gold.

Featured Report: Google study: Branding takes on larger role in search ads

Ad Week Google study: Branding takes on larger role in search ads  June,16,2014 by: Staff   A study released from Google today reveals that marketers are moving towards search campaigns that build top-of-mind awareness. The search giant’s new report with Ipsos MediaCT finds that branding-focused ads elevate awareness by an average of 6.6 percentage points. "What’s interesting is we found recently that some advertisers are starting to use search in new ways. Specifically, brand marketers are starting to take a fresh look at search and view it through a lens that they never have before," said Matt Lawson, Google’s director of performance marketing. Read More

Social Media Examiner How to Create Highly Shareable Blog Content Using Facebook June,18,2014 by: John Haydon Do you want to create blog posts people can’t help but share?
Have you used Facebook to find content that’s most appealing to your readers?
You can write shareable blog posts by taking the time to understand what your audience really wants from you. In this article you’ll discover four ways to find the ideas your fans want to discuss and share.   Read More 

The Drum The measure of success: The struggle to prove ROI on branded content June,17,2014
by: ANGELA HAGGERTY
Measurement is the latest challenge for brands investing in content, as Angela Haggerty discovers. With marketing budgets being pushed and pulled in a myriad of directions, increasing attention is turning towards how brands can be absolutely sure that they are gaining adequate ROI to justify spend through respective methods. Read More

Convince and Convert

The Best Way to Keep Up With Marketing Technology and Trends

June,18,2014

by: Mitch Causey

Since the days of yore, marketing strategy has been designed for the same purpose: sell more stuff. Marketing tactics, on the other hand, are a different kind of animal. This beast is in a constant state of flux, whether you’re heads-down in social, search, or any ad space with more than a smidgen of competition. Read More

KaratBars International

Welcome to Karatbars

Karatbars International GmbH specializes in the sale of small 999.9 pure gold bars and gift items. We offer unique product lines, including specialty collector’s items that celebrate special moments such as the Birth of a baby, Weddings, Easter, Christmas and Birthdays. Karatbars has steadily expanded its product line by using the highest standards in the industry for gold production. Karatbars also offers a line of limited edition or privately branded collector gold cards. Collector cards, especially rare limited edition cards, will often appreciate over the market value of gold.