Category Archives: Marketing Advice

  • The Growing Importance of Content Marketing

    For most companies we talk to, content marketing is becoming a bigger priority. Content is needed across many areas of the business and serves the purposes of engaging, informing, convincing, and selling to your target audience. Since it is so important and needs to be implemented across so many marketing channels, it is important to take content development seriously. Content is not only text, it should be a mixed media combination of mostly text but also imagery and video. Building a plan for content marketing should be included in your immediate and long term goals. It has become painfully obvious that short cuts and cheap content won’t cut it. Investing in good quality content is going to be key to make it work for any …

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  • Body Language Tips for Success

    Whether you are interviewing for a job position or engaging in regular business communications, it is always important to keep your body language in mind. The actions and positions you take can influence the impression you are giving to others you meet. Some body language positions may inadvertently be sending the wrong message. Body Language to Avoid: There are several body language signs that you may already know or have heard about that can send negative signals to others. Postures such as crossing your arms, slouching, or standing with your hands on your hips can all have negative consequences. However did you know to avoid these behaviours too? Don’t cross your ankles while standing. It can make you seem shy or even insignificant, explains executive …

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  • Top Logo Changes for Brands in 2014

    Each year different brands decide to change their logo for various reasons. Some just want an updated look and some companies decide to rebrand and get a new logo to go along with the rebranding. In 2014, these companies redesigned their logo, some are subtle, quiet changes, and others were bold changes that went along with a host of PR and rebranding advertisements. Pizza Hut Pizza Hut, is a U.S. based pizza chain that has restaurants and also competes with some of the largest delivery-only chains in the big pizza market. In late 2014, Pizza Hut introduced a host of new pizza flavors in an attempt to differentiate themselves from other delivery chains. With new flavors including salted pretzel crust, Thai curry, and fiery red …

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  • Holiday Email Tips

    As the holidays are quickly approaching, we thought we would feature some great ideas for giving your email campaigns a last minute boost for the holidays. Email is one of the best ways to communicate directly with your customers and email subscribers that can cause a direct impact on sales. Even customers that have already purchased from you this holiday season are very likely to make a second purchase before the season comes to a close. Here are 5 ideas to help give your email campaigns a boost for the holidays: Keep up the sales and special offers. No one likes to miss out on the “best” deals, so don’t end your holiday sales after the big push. If you run a big holiday kick …

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  • 4 New Customer Experience Trends

    The role of the customer is increasing in importance. Listening to the voice of your customers is vital to the success of your company. For much of this year, we have talked about the role that customer service should play within your organization. Gartner predicts that by 2017, 50% of consumer product investments will be redirected to customer experience innovations. 65% of large enterprises polled have a chief customer office or similar role. The most telling fact that illustrates the change in the customer service dynamics is that 58% of the time, that chief customer officer reports to a marketing executive. Here are 4 important customer experience trends to watch: Blending of Online and In-store Experiences. Customers are expecting a seamless experience between online and …

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  • Seth Godin on the Future of Marketing

    Seth Godin recently was one of 6 marketing visionaries to participate in an ebook published by The Economist Intelligence Unit and Marketo. Here are 5 points from the interview with Godin about the future of marketing. Marketing is About Everything. Godin explains that up until the last 20 years, marketing and advertising was the same thing. In the last 20 years marketing changed from the strategy of old, which was to interrupt people from what they were doing and is now involves everything. Marketing is about everything. It’s a conversation with customers; you are telling them what they should expect when dealing with your business. Make Things That Matter. Godin explains that the marketers that are the most effective will know how to distribute their …

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  • 5 Tips for Paid Marketing Beginners

    Are you just starting a paid marketing or pay per click campaign? It can be a daunting task, but paid marketing is on the rise. Many companies are turning to paid campaigns for social media as well as the search engines. Setting up a new Google or Bing paid search campaign is pretty simple. However, there are quite a few nuances that can help save you some money and some headaches. Paid campaigns don’t have to have million dollar budgets. In fact, you can start out as small as $100, or even a test sample as low as $20 or $50. The low risk of a low budget can help you get started and give you some reassurance that you aren’t going to lose your …

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  • When Should Your Company Start Celebrating Christmas?

    This is an interesting question posed by Australian firm Digital Tiger earlier this week. In America, Christmas celebrations usually begin after their Thanksgiving holiday, which falls on the 3rd Thursday on November. They are even struggling there with people or brands starting their advertising too soon. For us here in Australia, Christmas celebrations or decorating typically begins when the schools are out for summer break sometime at the beginning of December. Businesses can start getting into the festive mood around that time if not a week or two earlier. It really depends on your company culture, but remember that festiveness helps morale and everyone tends to be happier when there is something to celebrate. Of course, your public facing celebration is different than your marketing …

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  • Common Resume Mistakes that Might Cost You the Job

    When you are building a resume for a new job, there are certain guidelines that you should always follow. Sometimes mistakes slip into the document. Even if you have all of the skills and qualifications, some pet peeve mistakes can turn off a potential employer. You have to put yourself in their shoes and think about how they must skim through many resumes looking for one that stands out. Here are 5 mistakes and how to avoid them: Typos: Mistakes, misspellings, and poor grammar can get your resume tossed out faster than any other reason. Have someone else proof read your resume for you. They can catch typos much easier than you can yourself because you know what you think you wrote. Don’t Use the …

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  • 7 Rules for Dealing with Difficult People

    It’s something that we all dread: dealing with those toxic people that dot our professional lives. Never-the-less, they are present; gratefully not in large numbers. When having to deal with difficult people in your workplace, here are 7 rules that will help lessen the stress and the burdens. Contain Complaints: If you have a co-worker who complains constantly, don’t feel obligated to continually listen to the incessant list of problems. Set limits on how much time you spend (or waste). Instead, try asking them what they are doing to solve the problem they are complaining about. This can either send them down the right path of correcting their own situation or cause them to stop complaining if they are the type of person who complains …

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