Featured Report: How to Keep Social Media Followers Engaged

Duct Tape Marketing

Growth Hacking is Just Effective Marketing
July,07,2014
by:  JOHN JANTSCH

The term “growth hacking” is all the rage these days, and in my mind it’s a bit of a silly concept. (There are even several books dedicated to the topic Effective marketers have always been “growth hackers” at heart.It’s not that I think focus on growth is silly and I certainly don’t think using creativity and ingenuity to gain attention and build a user base is silly either – it’s just that there’s nothing really new about it. The new generation of growth hackers types want you to believe that they are almost anti-marketing when, in fact, all they are is anti wasteful marketing – but that’s something that everyone should be able to agree upon.  Read More

ZD Net

Google steps up Facebook duel for SMBs

June,12,2014
by: Larry Dignan 
Google has launched "Google My Business," a free tool so small and medium-sized businesses can update their information, add photos, connect with customers and manage their profiles via a mobile app.  The move highlights how Web giants are increasingly looking toward SMBs to maintain growth and cultivate long-term advertising customers. For Google, the SMB effort is a nice way to get businesses to dip their toes into Adwords and the search giant's advertising tools. Google My Business essentially creates an SMB suite and gives the Google+ dashboard and Places a similar user experience.  Read More

Site Pro News

How to Keep Social Media Followers Engaged

July,10,2014

by: Francesca Di Meglio 

You have to be on social media to survive in business today. Unfortunately, most people don’t know how to keep their followers engaged once they’ve drawn them in. Experts say you should think of it like a personal relationship: You need to be both trustworthy and a good conversationalist. They liken it to starting a conversation with the person in front of you at the supermarket, who would deem you a weirdo if you just kept shoving advertisements in their face.  Read More

Web Pro News

People Are Trusting Online Reviews More Than Ever

July,08,2014
by: Chris Crum
It appears that people are not only turning to online reviews for local businesses more and more, but they are actually trusting them more than ever despite all the media coverage questioning their legitimacy.BrightLocal recently put out the results of its 4th annual Local Consumer Review Survey, finding that for better or worse, online reviews are only gaining momentum with consumers. Most (57%) of consumers have searched online for a local business over 6 times in the past year, while 39% have searched online for local businesses at least one time per month, and 15% searching almost every day. 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.

Feature Report: 4 Ways to Stay Up to Date on the Latest in Social Media Marketing

ReCap

4 Ways to Stay Up to Date on the Latest in Social Media Marketing

July,07,2014
by: Brooke Howell
Social media is an essential element of many organizations’ marketing efforts these days. If you’re already doing social media marketing, you’re off to a good start, but you can’t just coast on the knowledge you have now. Technology is constantly evolving and even the standard social media sites are frequently updating essential elements of their services.

Whether you’re a business owner or a marketer, if you’re engaged in marketing, you need to make sure you’re always on top of the latest developments in social media. That’s the only way you’ll ensure you stay up-to-date on all of these changes and make sure your efforts are making an impact. Read More

Small Biz Club

eCommerce and SEO: 24 Tips to Improve Conversions

July,02,2014

by Staff

All over the world, all year round, many online businesses strive to keep website traffic, engagement and rankings up, and in many cases they are successful. However, you'd be surprised at the number of companies who are underutilizing the advantageous position that they are in with a poor approach to conversion rate optimization—the art of turning audiences into paying customers.  Read More 

Marketing Sherpa Blog

Ecommerce: Why going global really means going local

July,08,2014
by: John Tackett
Global ecommerce is growing.

With that growth comes two insights:

One is satisfaction on my part in seeing fellow anthropologists land jobs at Microsoft and Absolut Vodka to aid in marketing research. The other part of that growth is the realization among savvy ecommerce marketers that delivering a consistent brand experience in a multi-cultural global marketplace is not going to be easy. I say this in light of the recent interview between MarketingSherpa Reporter Allison Banko and Rob Garf, Vice President, Industry Strategy, Demandware, in the MarketingSherpa Media Center at the Internet Retailer Conference and Exhibition. Read More

Mobile Marketing Watch

Study: When it Comes to Nurturing Leads, Email isn’t Enough

July,08,2014
by: Michael Essany
One of the most critical steps to convincing a prospective customer to make the purchase – “lead nurturing”- is a strategy that’s been employed by marketers since forever. However, a recent joint report from Oracle Marketing Cloud and Bizo - “The State of B2B Lead Nurturing” – shows that, when it comes to nurturing leads, email marketing falls a bit short. Their report states that, because of the way users are connected today, marketers should be developing multichannel lead nurturing strategies rather than relying on email marketing alone.  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: 6 Fantastic Landing Page Examples You'll Want to Copy

Blog It

How to Turn that Customer into an “Evangelist”

July,04,2014

by: JONATHAN FARRINGTON

New customers have a tendency to evolve through three phases once they decide to buy from you.Initially they feel very excited about their decision, before going through a learning curve where they may struggle with blending in your products/services.Finally, they begin to experience the value that you provide and the relationship settles down and finds its own balance. Read More

Social Media Examiner

Social CRM: How Marketing Can Benefit From Social Media and CRM

July,04,2014

by Michael Stelzner

Do you want to know more about your customers and prospects so you can serve them better? Are you wondering what social CRM is and how your business can benefit from it? To learn how social CRM can help marketers, I interview Kyle Lacy for this episode of the Social Media Marketing podcast.   Read More

HubSpot

6 Fantastic Landing Page Examples You'll Want to Copy

July,03,2014

by: Sam Kusinitz

Landing pages exist to serve one purpose: to get people on your website to convert to the next stage in the buying journey. Although their purpose is simple enough in theory, actually creating a successful landing page requires detailed planning and creative testing.

Regardless of what your business is selling or the conversion action you hope to instigate, it's helpful to get inspired by seeing what other great landing pages look like. And because there's no one "right" way of doing a landing page, you need to check out examples from lots of different industries for different stages of the buying process. Read More

Site Pro News

Ads on Fire: The Secrets to Viral Marketing

July ,04, 2014

by: Tina Courtney-Brown 

The elusive quest to create a truly viral ad campaign is always top of mind for marketers. If an ad or marketing campaign really resonates with the masses, a brand can go from zero to hero in as little as a week. There’s a highly honed craft to creating a viral ad campaign, not the least of which includes insane creativity and total marketing expertise.

There are, however, some tried and true viral tricks of the trade that, if practiced with intention and finesse, can help improve your viral odds. For assistance in compiling this list of expert tips, I consulted Alexander Debelov, the CEO of Virool.com.  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: 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.