Content marketing is everything in today’s digital age. Whether you’re using email marketing, pay-per-click advertising, social media, or announcing new products, here are 5 exciting and engaging ideas for marketing in the month of June! Click on full article to get all the best content marketing ideas for the summer month of June.

Major brands are constantly advertising content that is somewhat relevant but are also over-targeting at the same time causing consumers to become ever more mistrustful and fed up with online advertising. Kantar Media’s CEO Mark Inskip states, “By adopting an integrated approach, balancing niche targeting capabilities with mass marketing tactics, brands can provide consumers with a helpful, additive experience. Those who are building verified first-party data into their approach and, where possible, that of walled garden platforms are able to paint a complete picture of the total consumer journey across all media.”

Read the full article to learn more about Kantar’s report.

We live in the digital age, and that means marketers have to adapt to current marketing techniques and strategies. Digital marketing is one of the best ways to propel your brand forward simply because it allows you to reach out to your customer base quickly and efficiently – and in turn, they can quickly respond to you.

There are many different types of digital marketing, all of which have their own strategies and uses. Knowing when and how to use specific campaigns is crucial to bringing new and existing customers into your marketing funnel. Below, we’ll be taking a look at four types of digital marketing campaigns that are leading the way in 2019!

As we kick off 2019, let’s look at some of what we expect to be important for promoting your business or brand on social networks this year. The days of writing a typical post are over with video leading the way. The  Millennial generation is still a driving force for companies to target but now more than ever it’s important to engage with members of the “Generation Z”. Read this article to find out how to boost your social media marketing game and reach the right audiences in 2019.

Do you have your holiday marketing strategy already set in motion? Now is the time, don’t procrastinate until November before you start crafting holiday email messages.

For many businesses, the holiday period, spanning from early November to early January, is one of the busiest and most profitable times of the year. So it’s important to get your marketing right for the holidays to give your business the best opportunity to maximize profits. Sharon Hurley Hall gives us 13 tips to boost sales through email marketing.

1. Know Your Holidays

2. Start Early

3. Segment Your List

4. Create Holiday-Themed Campaigns

5. Create a Holiday Gift Guide

6. Launch Exclusive Holiday Sales

7. Use Urgency

8. Create an Online Advent Calendar

9. Theme Your Subject Lines

10. Don’t Forget the Footer

11. Optimize for Mobile

12. Pre-test Your Campaigns

13. Test and Measure

As a business owner, actively marketing your business should be one of the highest priorities. With the primary goal being, to let as many people know about your products and services as possible. To stay ahead of your competitors in the digital world, you must invest both time and effort to see growth in your online presence.

In this article, Issac Thomas shares four tips for successful content marketing:

• Find your keywords
• Go for sustainable content
• Focus on quality
• Professionals can do it for you

The marketing strategy can be difficult to execute if all departments aren’t on the same page. In order to execute the strategy, the marketing and creative teams need to collaborate instead of working in silos. This Forbes article provides a list of ways that teams can come together to make mediocre projects turn into successes!

• Adopt a growth mindset
• Help them drink the Kool-Aid
• Share the research
•  Accept ambiguity
• Share success metrics

There are more than 200 million daily active Instagrammers visiting a business profile each day and if you want to drive real business results you have to stand out in the right way!

Here are a few tips from the Instagram team on how to make your creative content stand out:

1. Make your brand the lead actor
2. Create for mobile first
3. Fully utilize your vertical canvas
4. Design for an objective

Marketers should be supported when they work directly with other teams as this will allow for new ideas to arise and develop, while potential issues will be caught early on. You’d be amazed how many mistakes are avoided when teams are tapped into each other’s concerns, rather than receiving a top-down plan through vertical channels. Higher-bandwidth communication is simply more efficient, for reasons that should be obvious. Read the full article to see if lateral leadership is the way forward for your company!

Digital marketing is constantly changing and evolving. In this Forbes article, Scott Darrohn discusses the top four digital marketing strategies of the year including hyper-focused content, voice in SEO strategies, millennial drivers, and artificial intelligence. Scott points out that by next year, mobile will account for 72% of digital ad spend. Over the last year, 60% of people started using voice search. Social media is the most popular content marketing tactic for 90% of business-to-consumer (B2C) businesses, and 94% of business-to-business (B2B) marketers use LinkedIn as part of their content strategy.

By now you’ve seen plenty of notifications from web-based companies from Twitter to LinkedIn about privacy policy updates. The General Data Protection Regulation has been put in place to protect consumers privacy and give them control over how their data is collected and used. How will the GDRP transform digital marketing in near future? Dipayan Ghosh of the Harvard Business Review says, “GDPR will force marketers to relinquish much of their dependence on behavioral data collection. Most critically, it will directly implicate several business practices that are core to current digital ad targeting.” Want more? Click the full article below.

Email marketing has proved to be a strategic method for generating leads. This approach continues to enjoy a strong track record despite the rise of social media platforms. Email marketing is still an efficient way to generate leads at a reasonable cost.

Overtime email marketing has evolved but one thing that hasn’t changed is that you need to be strategic about how you word emails from start to finish. One of the best things about email subscriptions of today is that you can count on your prospects having some level of interest in your product or service that encouraged them to sign up for your subscription list to begin with.

In this article, Karina Tama-Rutigliano, Senior Digital Marketing Manager at Caring People Inc. gives us several ways to be strategic about the email marketing process.

Nitro Circus is back at it, kicking off it’s North American Next Level tour in St. George, Utah. This show was nothing short of amazing, with all-new ramps, tricks, and stunts this tour is sure to be a crowd pleaser. The tours runs from May 12 through June 23 making it’s way from the west coast to the east coast with a couple of dates in Canada. Check out the full list of tour dates here.

Digital marketing has grown in importance for today’s businesses and so has the role of search engine optimization. SEO plays a large part in driving traffic to your website, blog post, guest articles and other content assets. And if you don’t play by Google’s rules, you’ll see your web traffic plummet.

The most successful marketers are on the cutting edge of the latest algorithm changes and best practices so they can make sure their clients’ content is visible. Check out the up-and-coming SEO trends that 10 Forbes Agency Council members believe will impact their work this year.

If you’re just starting out, you need to follow some copywriting tips that will help you convince the prospect to buy whatever it is that you’re offering. After all, that’s what marketing boils down to. If you can do that, especially in the beginning, you’ll be far ahead of the curve.

In an Entrepreneur article written by R.L. Adams, he says, “I’ve thought long about this. As an agile writer, I’m often tasked with writing in different capacities. Sometimes I’ll write product descriptions for my ecommerce businesses. Sometimes I’ll write articles to help drive organic search traffic. And other times, I’ll write email sequences and sales letters. Stepping back, I had to look at it all and think about the best tips that have helped me write killer and persuasive copy.

But, to really do that, I had to go back to my roots. No, not to Dave Ogilvy. To Kennedy and Kern. What were they doing in their copy that was so compelling? After picking it apart, and delving into my own, I found 15 of what I look at as the core tips for writing the best copy possible.”

Check out this article on 15 tips for writing killer sales copy!

Nitro Circus is putting their new breakthrough ramp technology and tricks to the test, and it looks like it’s going pretty well! This sweet action shot shows us how to land a superman double backflip and make it look simple. This one was unexpected and the crowd went wild.

We are stoked to see how the rest of 2018 unfolds for the Nitro crew!

Will Instagram add video and voice calling to their platform?  TechCrunch reader Ishan Agarwal recently spent some time digging through Instagram’s code and found references to several unreleased features for audio and video calling. The files can be found inside Instagram’s APK (Android Application Package) but this doesn’t necessarily mean the features will be released — they could be just remnants of features which were abandoned at some point. This could make Snapchat and Instagram almost identical with the main differentiator at this point being video calls. For more on the recent Instagram development, check out the entire article!

Are you looking to advertise during the 2018 Winter Olympics? In this article by Chandler Sopko, you will find several key strategies to help your brand take home the gold in marketing.

Quick tips:

• Partner with competing Olympic athletes to boost brand visibility.
• Pick an athlete or team that aligns with your brand identity, and then run campaigns targeting their fans and fans of their events on social.
• Maintain an always-on strategy is a key element in Olympics advertising strategies.
• Deploy your social campaigns around popular events to put your brand on the radar during a time when users are most likely to turn to social to discuss their favorite sports.

Nitro Circus’ latest creation is an epic all-new event simply too big to fit indoors. The Next Level Tour takes inspiration from the game-changing progression and breakthrough ramp technology first dreamed up at Travis Pastrana’s “Pastranaland” compound, perfected at Nitro World Games and now coming to a town near you!

 The Next Level Tour will feature the best athletes in action sports facing off against the biggest ramps on the planet, a groundbreaking setup is now touring for the first time.  Nitro’s daredevils will also brave a bunch of outrageous contraptions and much more. All of this makes for a show that is bigger, crazier and funnier than any event Nitro Circus has ever done before.

 For the ultimate Nitro Circus experience, the all-new Nitro VIP Club package can get fans up close and personal with the Nitro crew thanks to the Nitro VIP Club package. In addition to having premiere seats, VIP Club pass holders will now have the chance to take a behind the scenes look at the show with an exclusive pre-show track walk. VIP Club pass holders also have the opportunity to meet some of the riders during an autograph signing session, receive a souvenir poster and get a chance to win cool Nitro Circus swag.

With jaw-dropping new ramps, unbelievable tricks and ridiculous stunts, Nitro Circus: the Next Level Tour is a wild, electrifying night of action sports excitement.

Catch The Next Level Tour in a city near you!

GET TICKETS

Karina Tama-Rutigliano, Senior Marketing Digital Marketing Manager at Caring People Inc. has mapped out a new digital strategy for 2018. In 2017, she focused on content marketing, SEO, PPC, and PPL. After collecting a wealth of data last year, Karina plans to shift her focus to anticipating user questions, needs, and emotions to engage with them in 2018. She says it’s also important to make sure your consumers connect with your website and feel comfortable when they visit. Adding the right images and adjusting website copy can make all of the difference in the world.

What are your 2018 resolutions? New Year’s resolutions tend to be vague goals intended to “get your life together” by losing weight, eating healthier food, or exercising more. Read this article written by Kevin Loria as he explains how science can help us stick with resolutions and transform our lives in 2018.

Do you get stressed-out during the holidays? It’s easy to get carried away and caught in the trap of doing everything for everyone else but yourself. Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen from Health shares 25 expert tips that will help you relax and actually enjoy the holidays.

Are you the type of person who waits until the last minute to get things done? Some of us have the energy and ability to be productive in any situation but for other’s it’s hard to get going until the deadline is in sight. In this article by Entrepreneur, James Parsons gives us 4 tricks to stop procrastinating and ways to power through to-do lists!

Twitter is a very popular app used by many but it also has the ability to monopolize a good chunk of phone space.  On Friday, the social network announced they are releasing Twitter Lite to Android’s Google Play store in 24 countries, mostly in emerging markets across Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. This lighter version of Twitter will allow users to choose which pictures or videos to download in their stream, so they don’t waste data auto-downloading everything.

The holidays are quickly approaching which creates the perfect opportunity to appeal to customers emotional side with marketing messages. Nikki Gilliland at Econsultancy shares with us 10 thought-provoking digital marketing stats from this week.

• Half of online shoppers abandon a purchase if they don’t like the delivery options

• 89% of B2B businesses attribute growth to ecommerce

• 83% of 18 to 24 year olds have bought an item of physical media in the last year

• CMOs overhaul digital strategy amid brand safety concerns

• Singles Day results in a 61% increase in mobile traffic

• Strong performance in search correlates to retail success

• Searches for GDPR rise 215%

• Ads failing to represent diversity in Britain

• Emotion is key to Black Friday email success – not deals

• In-app purchases boosted by ‘reward’ ads 

  Full Article

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could follow hashtags like we do people on Instagram? Instagram is reportedly testing a new feature that’ll let you do just that. According to The Next Web,  Twitter user Pippa Akram first spotted the unannounced Instagram feature and posted it on Twitter. As of now, Instagram only lets you follow people. It’s a system that works but doesn’t help users stay on top of trending hashtags or custom-made hashtags. Stay on top of Instagram to see if they release this new feature!

The social media rat race is exploding, and strategies to grow social platforms are constantly evolving. It’s nearly impossible to succeed unless you adapt to the latest trends to make your brand relevant in different social networks. Entrepreneur, Growth Hacker and Marketer, Syed Balkhi, has reviewed some major brands and developed a list of 7 campaigns ideas to gain users attention. Read the full article to get must-have social strategy tips for the upcoming holiday season.

Video marketing continues to be on the rise in the digital space. From producing videos to distributing and promoting them, the U.S. digital video marketing industry is expected to reach $135 billion this year, according to a new study by mobile video platform Magisto.

Forbes writer, Kathleen Chaykowski states, “The 2017 estimate — which includes the cost of video capturing, creation, hosting, distribution, analytics and staffing — is sizeable and would make video marketing nearly as large of a market as digital and television advertising combined. By contrast, advertisers are expected to spend $83 billion on digital ads and $71 billion on TV commercials (a total of $154 billion) in the U.S. this year. On average, each American businesses will spend $20,000 on video marketing this year, the study predicts. Magisto, which is based in Menlo Park, Calif. and makes a web-based video editing tool, published its study on Wednesday based on voluntary, anonymous responses from 545 marketing decision makers at small, medium and large U.S. businesses, surveyed this summer.”

Read the full article to see what platforms companies are using to spend their advertising dollars!

With over 700 million monthly active users, Instagram has become a hub for advertisers. Instagram advertising costs vary between targeting interests such as day of the week, time, gender, holidays and events, type of mobile device, and many other attributes that contribute to the price of ad cost.  Laura Forer mentions, “Ad pricing on the platform vary, depending on whom you’re targeting. For instance, the most expensive CPC (cost-per-click) ads are for female iPhone users age 18-34. The least expensive are for male Android users 65+ years old.” Learn more about Instagram advertising by checking out the infographic in this article written by Laura Forer.

Leveraging the power of content and social media marketing can help boost your audience and customer base. Getting started without any previous experience or insight could be challenging, but thankfully there are 10 Laws to remedy this issue. Read the 10 Laws of Social Media Marketing by Susan Gunelius to better understand the fundamentals of social media marketing and learn how to create the winning social media strategy for your business.

Facebook is expanding its platform by adding Facebook Watch to include episodic streaming. In their press release, Facebook teased content categories and partnerships such as Major League Baseball, Nas Daily, Gabby Berstein, and Tastemade’s Kitchen Little. Watch was just recently released on August 28th with roughly 40 shows in the first roll out. This is the perfect time for Watch as video is becoming bigger and bigger in the way advertisers reach consumers. For all the juicy details read the entire article written by Katrina Niemisto.

In this article Andrew Quinn breaks it down, shedding light on how he assesses Executives at Hubspot. Quinn says, “My intention isn’t to be unnecessarily hard on executives, all humans are prone to error, but executives are at the greatest risk of believing a single version of reality — our own. I know it’s hard to believe, but yes, we often get it wrong.” Ultimately, Quinn’s 3 step process is in place to help executives improve and lean into what needs work. If you’re looking for some useful advice read the full article for the entire 3 step process.

Are you tired of sending the same old content in your email newsletters? Keep your customers engaged by sending a variety of content in newsletters such as infographics, interviews, new product announces, etc. According to a report from the Nielsen Norman Group, “Newsletters feel personal because they arrive in users’ inboxes, and users have an ongoing relationship with them…The positive aspect of this emotional relationship is that newsletters can create much more of a bond between users and company than a website can.”  Read this article written by Vertical Response to find out 75 different ways you can create content for email newsletters.

Thanks to a rise in mobile usage, Google created a unique concept called micro-moments to help label consumer behavior. Micro-moments occur when consumers want an immediate answer in the moments they want to know, go, do, and buy. In this article, Lisa Gevelber explains the behavior of the “well-advised” consumer, the “right here” consumer, and the “right now” consumer. Read this article to find out what consumers want and how companies are adjusting to meet their needs.

At the start of 2017 marketers set goals of what they want to achieve professionally and personally. This bucket list contains new initiatives marketers want to tackle or plans that didn’t quite happen in 2016. It’s the halfway mark of 2017 and it’s time to reassess strategies and goals for the last half of the year. Here is a list of digital marketing elements that can be optimized and refined for better results :

1. Keyword refining

2. Website audit

3. Content marketing strategy

4. Social media marketing strategy

Writing email copy is essential and necessary for most businesses these days. This isn’t always an easy process but it can be learned. The key is making the tone of your email warm and friendly as if you are writing to one individual. Mike Templeman takes us through the process of writing fresh, inspirational, and compelling content in this article. Learn how to unlock your creativity and write thought provoking email copy!

Once again, Instagram steals the show from Snapchat with their newest feature in Stories! You will now be able to respond to posts in Stories with disappearing photo and video messages. Your responses can be decorated with animated face filters or sent as looping Boomerang videos. Finish the article to see how this new feature works.

Do you have days when you feel like the work never ends, but can’t recall what you actually accomplished? In today’s work culture, we usually point the finger at email, social media, and meetings for our lack of productivity. In this article, Nellie Akalp explains 5 things that are killing our productivity and how to turn those things into positives!

Have you always been interested in graphic design, but don’t think you have the eye for drawing? Read through this well crafted list of 8 graphic design tips, written by Sapphire Reels, to get your DIY graphic design journey started.

After months of  hyping this mind blowing live action sports show, we are excited to celebrate the kick off of the Nitro Circus Live 2017 North American Tour! There are 24 shows across the continent of North America, taking place June 3 through September 28. We wish the Nitro Circus crew well and safe travels on their travels across North America.

Have you been thinking about programmatic advertising, but just don’t know where to start? In order to have success in programmatic advertising you need to find the right buying solution. Contributor and Google Brad Bender shares the four questions you should ask when choosing a programmatic buying platform.

Question #1: How many inventory providers do you plan on using?

Question #2: Where do you want your ads to show?

Question #3: How serious are you about audience targeting?

Question #4: What tools do you need to hit your goals?

Read this article to find the answers to your questions!

Mobile has changed the way we live our lives along with the way we think and act. What’s the next big thing? What comes after mobile? Read this article by Google’s Senior Vice President of Ads & Commerce, Sridhar Ramaswamy to find out where the future of marketing is headed.

This Instagram artist’s drawings come at the perfect time, after all it is Mental Health Awareness month. Instagram artist, Daisy, who lives with mental illness and endometriosis, was inspired to create the series after seeing how self-care is usually portrayed on social media. She has started a conversation by using the hashtag #boringselfcare to show people how to give self-care on a daily basis. Read the article to see more of Daisy’s drawings!

Want to know how to make mind-blowing Snapchat stories, then listen up! Sophia Bernazzani from HubSpot fills us in on 8 mistakes and how to avoid (and fix them).

• Your Stories are too long.
• Your Stories are too short.
• You post Stories too frequently.
• Your Stories offer no way to engage.
• Your Stories are too similar.
• Your Snaps aren’t creative.
• Your Stories require sound.
• You aren’t recording important Story metrics.

Read the article to find out how to quickly fix these Snap Story don’ts!

Instagram ‘pods’ have started popping up all over the place to fight back against the new algorithm. Last June, Instagram changed it’s algorithm so users would see popular content in their feeds vs. chronology. What is an Instagram ‘pod’ you ask? Writer Rachel Thompson from Mashable quotes a blogger as saying, “a pod as “essentially a group message on Instagram”. Members of the group follow each other, and constantly like and comment on one another’s posts to keep pod members’ posts showing up in other people’s timelines.” Read the entire article to see how you can become part of these exclusive Instagram ‘pods’!

Millennials, or people between the ages of 18 and 34, make up the largest population group in the United States. There are more than 75 million millennials in total, and that number is projected to increased to more than 81 million by 2036. This age group is considered the most active and engaged across social media platforms. Read this article written by Sophia Bernazzani to get the scoop on multicultural millennial media and purchasing habits.

When you’re a tireless go-getter, it’s easy to get caught up in your work. It’s easy to become distracted by your never-ending to-do list and this is also a dangerous place to be. Stillness and mindfulness are vital keys to our wellbeing – and they should be a priority for every businessperson. In this article, Anita Heidema explains why everyone should make meditation a habit.

First Snapchat, then Instagram, and now Facebook! Facebook Stories are user-generated photo and video collections that can be viewed up to two times and then disappear after 24 hours.

The story format, created and made famous by Snapchat, has been on Facebook’s radar for some time, with the Menlo Park-based company first testing a Snapchat stories clone within Messenger in September 2016.

Facebook Stories is focused around Facebook’s in-app camera which allows users to overlay fun filters and Snapchat-like lenses to their images/videos. Read full article written by Ash Read at Buffer Social to learn more about the latest Facebook feature.

Mondo, the largest national staffing agency specializing exclusively in high-end, niche IT and Digital Marketing talent has revealed the top 10 digital marketing professions for 2017. Read this article to see if you fall into one of the leading roles!

After months of  hyping this mind blowing live action sports show, we are excited to celebrate the kick off of the Nitro Circus Live 2017 Australia Tour! There are 15 shows across the continent of Australia, taking place March 11 through May 27. We wish the Nitro Circus crew well on their journey down under and safe travels.

Start using the latest and greatest Instagram feature: Slideshows

This feature is a game changer, it allows you to share multiple videos and photos in a single post.  Now you can show off your products,  teach your followers how to do something, recap an extravagant event, or create a collection post for your audience by using multiple shots.

Twitter’s number one priority over the course of the last several months has been combatting abuse on the platform. In early February, Twitter announced a new “safe search” feature that blocks potentially offensive tweets. And earlier this week, the company stopped notifying people when they were added to lists — though that change was reversed within hours.

Instead, Twitter decided it will no longer notify users about replies to threads started by accounts they’ve blocked or muted — unless those replies are from people they already follow.

Hello lovers and friends,

Starting February 13, you’ll see a message from Facebook wishing you a Happy Valentine’s Day. You will then have the option of sharing a card on a friend’s Timeline or your own.

Read the full article and find out how to create Valentine’s Day cards on Facebook. Treat that special someone or yourself!

It’s 2017 and it’s finally time to organized! Despite their best efforts, people often lament the fact that they just cannot seem to get organized. Even though they’ve given it a concerted effort and have tried many strategies, nothing seems to work. So how is it so easy for some and hard for others? Over the years, Nicole Anzia, The Washington Post has noticed these people have six habits in common. See habits below:

• Keep it simple
• Develop routines
• Have a place for everything, and put everything in its place
• Keep a current and detailed to-do list
• Don’t get bogged down by perfectionism
• Toss things daily and purge routinely

Read more and take a deeper dive into these habits!

It’s a sad time as we say good-bye to one of the most entertaining apps to come on the social media scene in the last 5 years. Vine will come to an end on Tuesday and to pay tribute to those 6-second videos, Mashable has posted an article of users saying farewell to the beloved Vine app.

Check out Vine user farewells:

For years marketers have struggled to come up with a winning approach for what metrics should be measured to ensure campaign success. Digital marketing expert Ryan Bonnici says it’s best to take a content-centric approach vs. channel-centric approach when measuring success.

He says, “If we’re being totally honest, for most marketers working on a channel-centric basis, most of their content sits somewhere in the middle of “pretty bad” and “truly remarkable” when it comes to performance (i.e. the traffic and leads it generates). That’s because very few marketers are taking a truly content-centric approach and analyzing the right metrics to tell them what their prospective customers want from them when it comes to content.

Once you crack that million-dollar question, you should see an uplift in the traffic and leads generated by all the channels you use to promote your content because you’re giving your audience what they really want.”

Take a deeper dive and get three key content-centric metrics to measure your effectiveness by.

The team at Total Product Marketing (TPM) has summarized 8 digital marketing trends you need to know in 2017.

• Facebook will become more and more relevant for businesses (and B2B marketing)

As the world’s most popular social media platform – with over 1.79 billion monthly users, Facebook will continue to create opportunities for business growth. With             Facebook’s powerful ad targeting features, messenger chat bots, and enhancements to their Shop section the skies the limit for companies looking to profit in 2017.

•  Twitter will become less and less relevant for businesses.

Twitter’s main objective is being the world’s go-to source for breaking news, which means less focus on marketing features and lead generation.

•  Social and (real) third party validation will become more and more important.

Anything seems to go these days when posting, influencer marketing validation will be key this year. Partner with real leaders who can drive your brand’s message to their networks.

• Advertisers will move their budgets more and more to social platforms.

It easy to be constantly engaged on social media with our phones glued to our hands. It will be crucial for marketers to get in front of their audiences on social platforms this year.

• Video content will increase – both in organic and paid search.

With the launch of Facebook Live and live video on Instagram, video content has continued to boom and increase revenue for businesses. It’s best to make videos short and to the point and include a CTA. This year make it a goal to experiment with video and see what results come your way!

• More and more awareness of the limits of A/B testing

An A/B test won’t work without a big enough sample size, sometimes you just have to go with your intuition and then measure. Small to medium sized companies don’t always have the data they need to do proper testing, so marketers will have to be comfortable in whatever situation they find themselves in.

• Make sure your marketing is mobile friendly

More than 50% of searches on Google are done using mobile, thus making mobile the leading medium for online discovery. Google is creating a new mobile-first index to bump mobile-friendly sites up in search results and lower the rank of sites that have limited mobile content.

• Make sure content is in long form – blog posts under 350 words will no  longer cut it.

Content marketing is in it for the long haul, but the rules are changing. Blog posts should be over 350 words and will need to be upwards of 1000 words to be considered SEO friendly.

As a small business owner you may feel discouraged; with limited marketing budgets it’s hard to compete with the big brands. However, as Ben Storey, founder of Digital Storey points out, rather than trying to emulate them, they should learn from them, and then build their own successful seasonal social media campaigns.

“You just need to examine the values on which these campaigns are built,” he says. “Those that stand out tend to be emotive and warming, and often get behind a cause or a charity. Follow in these footsteps, make your small business stand for something, and make your social media campaign thought-provoking.”

Gavin Hammar, founder of social media management platform Sendible, says: “People’s emotions are heightening in the run up to the festive season, and social media campaigns should tap into those emotions to drive action. The key ingredient is sharing a human moment that anyone can relate to. Since people are in the spirit of giving, they are more likely to hand over their cash, if they feel a sense of connection with your brand.”

Remember to adjust your content accordingly for campaigns across individual platforms, some followers may want to see a behind the scenes photo on Instagram, take a poll on Twitter or see content on a special offer on Facebook.

Read the article to get more Christmas campaign marketing tips!

Search engine optimization is rapidly evolving! As 2016 comes to an end, it is time to examine the digital marketing landscape for the upcoming year.

There have been many developments in SEO throughout the year and a lot of noticeable trends will continue to expand in 2017. As Google’s algorithm continues to update and keep business owners on their toes, several other trends are expected to take shape in 2017.

Read the full article to get the latest on 2017 SEO trends!

Just this year alone Instagram has added the Your Story feature that is almost identical to Snapchat’s My Story, a live video component that is similar to Facebook’s Facebook Live and now you can also like other users comments. The days of simply being able to just “like” a photo on Instagram are over! Many IG users are outraged by all of the new changes, but will these changes be enough to deter them from using the app? Let’s hope not, for Instagram’s sake!

The New York Times has a different approach on what to be thankful for this Thanksgiving! They have put together a selection of some of their favorite science and health stories from 2016 that should bring together your Trump-loving uncle and your Hillary-hailing cousin for a thought-provoking, scream-free conversation. They’ll go great with white meat, dark meat or even a tofurkey.

We are excited to announce our newest client, Bubble Guppies Live!

Bubble Guppies are returning to the live stage this 2017!

Put on your water-wings and jump into a swimsational adventure! The Bubble Guppies are getting ready to rock n’ roll with some totally fin-tastic tunes, but when a special band member goes missing, the show can’t go on! With a little help from Mr. Grouper and giggly little fish, Molly, Gil, and the whole gang embark on an adventure as they search every corner of their underwater world for their missing friend!

Featuring rockin’ music, comedic high jinks, and audience participation, the Bubble Guppies will leave no stone left unturned and no bubble left un-popped in order to get the show on the road.

Including a wave of playful characters, energetic song and dance and theatrical magic, Nickelodeon’s Bubble Guppies Live! Ready to Rock will have kids, parents and grandparents singing and dancing along with this rockin’ interactive show!

Instagram wants to allow you to shop without always having to interrupt your scrolling with a browser window. The app has now started showing shoppable tags on photos from 20 retail brands like Kate Spade and JackThreads to iOS users in the US. See how to shop your favorite retail brands on IG!

As we go about our daily lives, the overwhelming pressures and constant reminders of needing to a have booming career in order to be considered successful can be daunting and often times stifle our happiness. Check out this essay to see how the “Rule of Four” can help keep you focused, happy and fulfilled!

It is with great pleasure that we announce our newest client, Ruby!

Lesley Rankine started out in London as lead singer for indie punk band Silverfish, and then went solo as ruby from ’94. Reaching a wide audience with the album Salt Peter, the single “Tiny Meat” became an alternative radio staple. Lesley draws from all the parts of her divergent musical career in ruby’s new music. Eclectic as ever, she continues to progressively use technology in song-crafting.

We are excited to be working with Ruby on her upcoming North America tour!

New product, Facebook Workplace is bringing true connection to the workplace. With Facebook Workplace you are suddenly connected in a way that hasn’t been possible before, whether you’re at the headquarters or work in an entirely different country you can now connect with all of your co-workers. You know the values of the company, the culture, you can see posts from the CEO and you can actually post photos of what you’re doing. See what direction Facebook is heading with its new Workplace software.

It’s important to learn how to identify useful hashtags for your business. Using the right hashtags is a key ingredient when it comes to boosting visibility and getting your product in front of the right crowd. Check out the article to see how popular hashtags can help improve your business!

The day all Twitter users have been waiting for is here! Twitter is no longer counting media attachments, polls and quoted tweets toward the 140-character limit; this change will allow users to post longer tweets. Read full article to get all the latest announcements from Twitter.

Get ready to have your mind blown! In this article, UCLA neuroscience researcher Alex Korb gives us some insights that can create an upward spiral of happiness in your life.

Join Greg Louganis and celebrate the 40th anniversary of his first Olympic medal and the launch of his new activewear line. Greg has his sights set on developing a casual activewear line for men and women. Become a part of Greg’s journey as he evolves and extends his message of reaching athletic and spiritual potential to people across the globe.

As mobile advertising has skyrocketed over the last few years, desktop ads have dramatically decreased forcing companies like Yahoo to lower their pricing for ads. Where will desktop ads be by 2018? Take a sneak peak into the future of advertising over the couple years.

Instagram has become an incredibly useful marketing tool that brands now rely on to connect with current and potential customers. With over 500 million monthly active users, it is extremely valuable for any business to have a solid Instagram strategy in place. These tips are sure to help your business gain more Instagram followers!

Stay in front of the competition and take your marketing game to the next level in 2017!  Have you been thinking about adding more video content, going mobile or where to invest in your overall marketing strategy?  DMA discusses several trends that you should be paying attention to over the next few months in order to have a winning 2017!

It is with great pleasure that we announce our newest client, 4x Olympic gold medalist, New York Times bestselling author, and motivational speaker Greg Louganis.

Since the start of his diving career, Greg Louganis has embodied strength, courage, and determination, exemplified most prominently during the 1988 Summer Olympics, when he struck his head on the springboard mid-dive.  Despite this setback, he returned to the board after and dove again with a tenacity that ultimately was rewarded with a gold medal.

Greg’s recent accolades — an Emmy nomination for his long-form documentary “Back on Board: Greg Louganis”, and his appearance on the highly-coveted Wheaties Box this summer — further reflect his marked ability to overcome.  Having been diagnosed with H.I.V. as a gay man in the 1980s, Greg today thrives as a mentor for the summer games diving team, a Special Olympics Ambassador, and as an actor, most recently playing Salvador Dali in “Sabre Dance”, which premiered in Cannes.

We congratulate Greg on his Emmy nomination and Wheaties box, and look forward to greater successes in the future!

One of the most prominent trends in social media, both for publishers and social networks, in the last few years has been the emphasis on visual over textual — that is, videos and pictures over text-only posts.  Given this shift in favor of the visually stimulating, it is no wonder that Instagram, in particular, has enjoyed greater success among its users, especially among young adults.  The wise marketer, in response, asks “Why?”  What underlying factors have engendered strong Instagram loyalty with millennials, despite competition from Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat (to name a few)?

 
It turns out that a variety of factors have played into this allegiance — Take a gander at some of them outlined in the following SocialMediaWeek article below.  It’s a good read!

Marketing to millennials, some would argue, has become a much more difficult endeavor, what with new apps being adopted and dropped at seemingly break-neck speed, attention spans shortening to microseconds, and the exponentially-increasing amount of information (read: marketing channels) this elusive target market is exposed to daily. It is not totally a futile act, per se — recent trends have shone some light as to how marketers can work more efficiently to attract and maintain interest among millennials.

Check out 3 somewhat surprising millennial marketing trends SocialMediaWeek has uncovered in their article here below:

From the advertiser’s perspective, media buying can sometimes feel like a one-sided affair — reach is ascertained, (hyper)targeting is set, and copy/creative are released into the digital wild.  Sure, there exist the few comments here and there in response to these ad units, the sum of which is deemed another, but not quite as significant, metric marketers look at when gauging campaign success.  After all, when one comments, is he/she engaged with the ad content or the Michael Jackson meme just there spectating?

Twitter has gone on the offensive in leveraging and measuring this there-but-not-really behavior with their new feature, i.e. Conversational Ads.  These new ad units essentially work like comments, in that they incite user responses by asking him/her to make a choice — for example, an ice cream manufacturer can use a Conversational Ad to ask its customers “Which is better: #Chocolate or #Vanilla?”, to which the user can respond by tapping either hashtag.  This then automatically fills out a new Tweet with the chosen hashtag and additional promotional messaging prefabricated by the advertiser.

The additional value with Conversational Ads is that advertisers can definitively track engagement for an ad via an end-user response — that is, the customer was in fact interested in chocolate ice cream and not Michael Jackson (RIP) — which is fantastic news.  

Get more information on Twitter’s Conversational Ads by clicking at the link below:

Full Article

The competitive landscape for wireless carriers has hit a considerable high in 2016 — one need look no further than the constant TV spots, for example, touting unlimited data-this and “We’ll pay for you to switch”-that. It all sounds the same, the offers sound the same, leaving many a customer to wonder what really differentiates a Verizon from a Sprint or a T-Mobile.  So how, in this kind of digital age, do you appeal to a confounded, indifferent audience?

 
We’ve uncovered some tactics to reach this elusive target market on Twitter, at all stages of the purchase journey.  Check them out at the link below:

FULL ARTICLE

The Swiss Army knife for many an email marketer is the A/B test — divide, compare and analyze, rinse and repeat. But what other tools can said marketer work into their toolbox? Enter several tactics, curated by Adespresso, to drive greater conversions and loyalty for your brand via your email campaigns. Up your knowledge here:

We here at Scenario Digital are big fans of best practices and benchmarks for optimizing advertising campaigns. Case in point, we got real excited when we came across AdEspresso’s article on metrics to watch for Facebook Ads, comprehensive of results from 2015 (Recency, YES!: Has charts? Double YES!!!). Share our joy by diving deep into the findings below:

When generating content for your blog or website, it can be difficult to figure out which topics to write about that are of the greatest interest to your target customers. Luckily, one no longer needs to quit content creation in total frustration – The folks at Search Englne Land have outlined three data-driven ways to jumpstart your content creation process. Get your keyboard clicking with the tips laid out below:

Broad match keywords in Google AdWords can mystify many marketers at first — Phrase Match and Exact Match are more specific (and hence, more cost-effective), so what value is there to Broad Match? However, as this article proves, they can add real value to your campaign when implemented.  According to Search Engine Land, Broad Match accomplishes two campaign goals better than Phrase and Exact: greater reach and, in turn, greater conversions.  Read below for a more in-depth look at the study behind these findings.

This is a story about two roads — Should and Must. It’s a pep talk for anyone who’s chosen Should for far too long — months, years, maybe a lifetime — and feels like it’s about time they gave Must a shot

Admit it. You’ve had days at work where it takes a Herculean effort to stay awake and concentrate.

A new study by the Virgin Pulse Institute found that 76% of the U.S. workforce is tired most weekdays. What’s more, 40% of employees (admitted) they’ve dozed off during the day once per month. And it’s not just during the post-lunch lull.

A survey by Blue Jeans Network discovered that 6% of people confessed to dozing off while on an audio-only conference call.

Most companies’ “About” page sucks. Composed of tiled mosaics of awkwardly grinning executives who clearly don’t want their pictures taken, and broken up with some insipid verbiage written by a company stooge with a penchant for empty buzzwords, the average “About” page doesn’t tell you very much about the people you’re considering doing business with.