The Evolution of Personalization
The Evolution of Personalization It’s a predictable pattern—the concomitant rise of technology and user expectation. When Zappo’s revolutionized how we find shoes online, consumers expected it everywhere. When mobile devices delivered the mobile web, consumers demanded mobile experiences that work. Now, just as the technologies that enable enhanced targeting have rapidly evolved, so too have the expectations of consumers. [...]
An Introduction to User Flows
An Introduction to User Flows User flows are a crucial component of User Experience Design The diagram below represents the unique alchemy of science and art that moves a design concept from abstract to concrete in the digital design process. There are many sub-steps along the way, some are identified in the diagram, but there are many others. These steps [...]
eBook – Email vs. Marketing Automation, What’s All the Confusion?
Email vs. Marketing Automation, What's All the Confusion? This item is an eBook that I wrote, illustrated and published on the subject of the differences between email and marketing automation. It was written for a brand called "Membership Avenue," which is a digital marketing and marketing automation brand dedicated to the specific needs of nonprofits such [...]
The Importance of Online Reviews
The Importance of Online Reviews Your company is online to tell a story. Ideally, you’re in control of that narrative — finely crafting a story that resonates with customers and a brand presence that backs this up with every interaction. But even if you’re diligent with digital marketing, you can only control part of the [...]
Succeeding in Micro-Moments
Succeeding in Micro-Moments When people reach for their mobile devices to find information they need at the moment, is your brand there? If not, you could be missing out on countless of opportunities to connect. With the importance of smartphones in daily life growing all the time, your brand needs to be there for micro-moments to [...]
When No News is Bad News
When No News is Bad News Imagine a storefront with untouched merchandise and no customers. Now imagine a tumbleweed drifting by. That’s what a customer visualizes when they find a business with no online reviews. They equate no or few reviews with a lack of experience or credibility, or a lack of interest in what [...]
Turning Perception into Profit: Why Yelp Stars Matter
Your brand’s online reputation is everything – without a positive perception, a potential customer may not even try your product or service. So it makes sense that the more stars your Yelp rating has, the better for your business and your bottom line. What’s the value of a Yelp review? Yelp is the most used consumer [...]
I Moved – But My Reputation Didn’t
Moving your business to a new location can be filled with a lot of headaches. And as if moving your business itself isn’t stressful enough, once you’re in your new location you might have something else to worry about: your Yelp ratings — or rather, a lack of Yelp ratings. According to Yelp’s official policy, when [...]
Using Facebook for Small Business Saturday Promotion
Judging from the Christmas tree that went up the day after Halloween at the department store near the office, it’s that time of year again – the two months in which giant chain businesses square off against local businesses to claim consumers’ holiday spending cash. The big names have “Black Friday,” but local businesses have their own day as well – [...]
Social Media – What Will You Do With Your Extra Day?
Most Small Businesses Spend 6 Hours or More Weekly on Social Media. Statistics show that most small businesses spend at least six hours weekly on social media to spread brand awareness and draw in customers. Since 78 percent of U.S. consumers say that their purchases are impacted by a company’s social media posts, how businesses [...]
Can a Yelp Review be Removed?
What Kinds of Reviews Can Be Removed From Yelp? Receiving a negative review can make you feel terrible. You log onto Yelp, keen to read praise from satisfied customers, but instead your heart sinks as you set eyes on an angry or disappointed comment from a customer. Your first instinct is probably to find some [...]
Why Do I Need Reviews?
Online reviews are obviously essential for restaurants and hotels, but why would other businesses need them? The truth is that reviews have a search engine optimization benefit for all businesses, even those in industries that have not traditionally relied on reviews to attract customers. Modern consumers see reviews ant ratings when they search for businesses [...]
The Importance of Local Search
Consumers are online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week looking for the products, services and information they want. So how do you make sure they find you and your website? Simple: specific, targeted searches through search engines. Every businessperson knows how to employ Search Engine Optimization to attract the right kind of browsers [...]
Mobile Matters
Mobile matters. With more mobile devices on earth than people, and more people using mobile to access the Internet than a computer, it’s a platform that cannot be ignored. Moreover, it allows potential customers to find you, right when they are near you. If you are not taking advantage of the gift of having customers practically [...]
YouTube: Thinking inside the (search) box.
Optimizing for the world’s second largest search engine. With the news spreading fast that YouTube is now the second most used search engine on the Internet many folks are re-thinking a few things from the search perspective. The obvious message: people love video. Let’s start with the most obvious message this news brings us – people are looking for [...]
Google Funnel’s Impact on Conversion Optimization
Google Funnel’s Impact on Conversion Optimization Among the greatest advantages of interactive marketing is that it is extremely measurable. Return on investment can be clearly calculated by looking at analytics that measure innumerable actions within your website, including how many times you successfully converted a user. A conversion is defined as a user completing an intended call to action. [...]
The wisdom of “The Producers” ultimately fails against the wisdom of Google.
The wisdom of “The Producers” ultimately fails against the wisdom of Google. “What was that?!” Max Bialystock exclaims. Leo Bloom clears his throat and meekly repeats “under the right circumstances a play with poor reviews and that is a flop could make as much money, or more, than one that is a hit.” In a [...]