10 09, 2015

Building an Online Community

September 10th, 2015|THURSDAY THOUGHT|

So in all of the web and social efforts your business has been focusing on, you’re slowly growing your base of followers and fans … readers and subscribers. How do you go about nurturing these connections to build a larger online community? The first thing, and probably most important, is to see the value this […]

3 09, 2015

Direct Mail Keeps Performing

September 3rd, 2015|THURSDAY THOUGHT|

Forget all that talk about direct mail being a strategy that’s gone kaput. Sure, digital is getting most of the attention today, but as the Direct Marketing Association reports, U.S. businesses upped their total spending on direct mail as a whole in 2014 ($46 billion!) and the number of people who read and/or scanned these […]

27 08, 2015

The Best Times for Social Posts

August 27th, 2015|THURSDAY THOUGHT|

“What’s the best time to post social content?” is a common question we hear from marketers. While there’s no easy answer to this as it varies from channel to channel, a recent report from CoSchedule sheds some new light. We took a look at three of the biggies and here’s what we found. […]

20 08, 2015

Going Back to Basics with Content

August 20th, 2015|THURSDAY THOUGHT|

As we write marketing content today, especially of the web variety, it can be easy to get caught up in trying to check all the boxes for that “perfect piece” … choosing a compelling headline, following the best practices for length/flow, making copy SEO-friendly, etc. But in our quest to get everything right, have we […]

13 08, 2015

The Online Satisfaction Guarantee

August 13th, 2015|THURSDAY THOUGHT|

As consumers shift toward online purchasing, a top concern they often have is if the ordering process will be simple and secure. Another thing that makes them hesitant to buy on the web is the inability to see/try products in person. That’s what makes a satisfaction guarantee so important. Consider this one from Land’s End: […]

6 08, 2015

Catering to Back-to-School Shoppers

August 6th, 2015|THURSDAY THOUGHT|

If there's any question as to how brands are going out of their way to cater to the customer these days, the back-to-school season is a prime example. Consider Target. Running since mid-July, the retailer has launched a series of ads that position the store as a one-stop source for all school-related necessities that extend [...]

30 07, 2015

The Quest to Reach More Customers

July 30th, 2015|THURSDAY THOUGHT|

We already know that our customers are plugged into a variety of channels. Email might be the best bet for reaching some, while social is the right route to others. So if we understand that marketing requires a multi-channel approach today, why isn't this strategy being utilized more? It's because there are some big challenges [...]

23 07, 2015

Keywords: The What & Where

July 23rd, 2015|THURSDAY THOUGHT|

So you've optimized your site and it still isn't appearing among any of the top ranks. What are you missing? While there's no secret formula for SEO, there are several factors that can impact its effectiveness. The first is research. You can't properly optimize your site until you identify the phrases people are actually searching [...]

16 07, 2015

Today’s Online Shopper

July 16th, 2015|THURSDAY THOUGHT|

We already know that today's typical consumer is doing a lot more shopping online. But what are buyers' habits for digital purchasing and what tools are being used? An infographic from Epsilon on the Direct Marketing News website gives us a look. First off, the most popular web-based shopping tools are retailer sites [...]

9 07, 2015

Measuring Content Marketing ROI

July 9th, 2015|THURSDAY THOUGHT|

With many companies, the shift to content marketing has meant a laser-like focus on cranking out fresh articles, posts and other pieces in a timely fashion. But what about ROI? In this infographic from Curata, 29 different measurement metrics are introduced. We're talking everything from the basics of overall consumption like page views [...]