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Showing posts from September, 2015

The Value of Understanding Motivation in Marketing

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Have you ever lost an entire afternoon diving into an incredible book? Despite the numerous decades that have passed since the publication of countless works of classic literature, people still manage to lose themselves in the words. They imagine themselves as a part of the plot-- trying to understand the characters and their motivations. They root for their favorite hero or heroine while cringing every time that famed nemesis appears. We are all accustomed to trying to understand the motivations of our favorite characters. We know that if you do not make an effort to comprehend the ‘why’ behind the actions, the book will lose much of its appeal. Humans are naturally complicated! We relate far better to well-rounded characters than the more superficial ones. Although we all have the skills needed to complete this type of analysis, most marketers neglect doing it in one of the most essential aspects of their jobs: understanding Google. The Struggle of Marketers The p

Backlinks: An Online Handshake

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When you speak with SEO professionals, you may hear them talk about the importance of backlinks. Backlinks are when another site links to your site. These links are important because not only do they help drive traffic to your website, but they are a sign to Google that your site provides information that people appreciate and view as worth linking to. In the beginning of 2015, there was controversy following one of the Google ‘hangouts.’ John Mueller, of Google, seemed to indicate that webmasters should not focus on building backlinks. This took the marketing world by storm, as many people dedicate time and energy to developing a high quality backlink profile. Careful analysis of the problem, however, demonstrates that this might not have been what Mueller meant. At other Google hangouts in the past, he gave advice about how to appropriately go about building successful and useful backlink profiles. It is now largely agreed by many marketing professionals that Mueller was

Overcoming Negativity

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Irish author James Joyce once said that anything you don't feed dies. He was talking about spirituality, but the statement applies to just about every facet of your life from your stomach to your imagination. Positive energy is something each of us benefits from in several ways. It helps generate positive feelings within us, but it also transfers to the people we come in contact with. A smile can make a significant difference to someone who happens to need one at just the right moment. But what happens when you cultivate negativity, instead? Appropriately used, sarcasm can be quite entertaining and revealing. But at its base, sarcasm is an expression of negativity. Even when the ultimate message is a humorous, positive reversal, the delivery of that message through sarcasm is negative. Yet some people seem to thrive on delivering a kind of satirical sarcasm. However, while these folks may be seen as clever, they are rarely perceived as happy individuals. Negativity and

Building Anticipation for a New Product or Service Through Marketing

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Marketing materials that you put out into the world aren't just a great way to introduce a new product or service to your target audience. If done properly, they can also be an invaluable way to create a huge amount of buzz and anticipation surrounding an upcoming product or service launch. That can then translate into increased sales when it is eventually ready for release. By keeping just a few, key things in mind, you can use hype to your advantage and build the type of momentum that most businesses can only dream of. Master the Art of the Tease One of the major lessons to be learned about building anticipation for a new product or service through marketing is to master the concept of teasing. If you were still a year out from the launch of a new product, for example, you wouldn't necessarily want to send out a mailer detailing all of that product's functions right away. Not only do you not want to "give the game away" just yet, so to speak, but a year

Finding the Recipe for Successful Marketing

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Sara was excited. Her grandmother had just given her the recipe for her famous peanut butter cookies, and she could not wait to make them for her friends at school. She had never been much of a cook, but she figured that with the recipe she should be ok. After all, how hard could it be? Sara enters the kitchen and begins to gather her ingredients. She notices that the recipe says she needs two bowls, but when she looks in the cabinet and sees that she only has one, she figures that should be ok. She then sees that she needs some baking soda, but only has baking powder-- that should be close enough. Sara begins to get everything into the bowls. The recipe calls for her to mix the sugar with some softened butter, so she sticks the butter in the microwave. Thirty seconds later, the the butter is just a puddle. Well, that will make it even easier to mix it into the recipe, right? Twenty minutes later, she sticks everything into the oven and triumphantly sets the timer. When she

How to Create a Successful Marketing Event for Your Business

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If you truly want to draw attention to your business and potentially attract a whole new variety of customers, there are few better ways to accomplish this than with a great marketing event. Regardless of the type of industry that you're in, a marketing event is a great way to get a hold of some people who wouldn't normally have your business on their radar. To accomplish this, however, you need to keep a few key things in mind. Go Beyond the Sale One of the most important things to remember about a successful marketing event is that you need to give people an experience that is truly worth leaving their homes for. Getting a person to open up your direct mail material is one thing - after all, you've sent it directly to them and they don't even have to get in the car in order to open it. Getting them to come to your physical location, possibly for the first time, is something else entirely. Consider a marketing event that a bookstore might have. Instead of j

Wearable Devices: A New Frontier in Marketing Opportunity

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Though the Apple Watch has only been available to the public for a few short months, make no mistake: wearable technology is here to stay. Not only are these devices a bold, new way to impact the lives of consumers in terms of both productivity and monitoring their health, it also represents an incredible, new marketing opportunity that cannot be ignored. Behavioral Data One of the key benefits of wearable devices to consumers is the huge amount of behavioral data that they're designed to collect - even more so than a traditional smart phone. Location data has been a huge emphasis of devices like the Apple Watch, for example, as this information is typically leveraged to help people keep track of the number of steps that they're taking in a day, the number of calories that they're burning, and more. On the marketing side of the equation, this means that you can now use a customer's location to your benefit in ways that weren't possible just a few, short

Finding Your Way in School and in Business

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Imagine for a moment you're the new kid at school. You arrive on the first day and take a few deep breaths before entering. Around you, kids are happily chatting and comparing notes from their summer breaks. From the rockers to the geeks, each and every group seeks to have a strong representation at the school. Each social group seems to have established its own social hierarchy, and everyone knows exactly where they fit and what role they play within the school community. As the new student, you nervously look at your schedule and make your way to your first class. It's clear to you that you will have to find your own place of belonging within the already saturated student society. That's never an easy task for new students. Fortunately, you've been the new kid before, and you know the first step to finding your place is forming a few connections. You need to look for ways to demonstrate how you're a worthwhile friend for people to have. You head into that