For many small business owners, email marketing can feel like a luxury that falls outside the budget. There never seems to be enough time, money, or know how to make it happen. And with everything else that has to be managed, it often gets left by the wayside. This is unfortunate considering the many benefits that a business owner can derive from implementing an effective … [Read more...]
7 Elements that Make a Social Media Strategy Successful
As we move towards 2020, it is more evident than ever that social media is paramount to business growth. Every brand needs a custom social media strategy based on its current social media standing, business goals, and resources available to them. To leverage social media in your favor, it is necessary to have core building blocks in place to ensure your business gets the … [Read more...]
5 Simple Ways to Steal Market Share from Competitors
One of the strategies you can pursue to build your business is acquiring new customers. You can do this by attracting completely new customers who don’t already purchase the types of products and services you offer and by persuading customers who already buy from your competitors to buy from you instead. When it comes to stealing customers from your competitors, it can help … [Read more...]
3 Common Reasons Why Your Content Marketing Isn’t Working (And How to Fix It)
Are your content marketing efforts not paying off? Many businesses are in the same boat. Only 30% of B2B marketers say that their organization’s content marketing is effective, according to the Content Marketing Institute. After you’ve invested so much time and money in content marketing, not seeing the results you wanted is frustrating. There are some common reasons that … [Read more...]
The Power of Long-Form Content in Your Marketing Strategy
If you’d like to improve your conversion rate, social shares, engagement and search engine rank, consider harnessing the power of long-form content in your marketing strategy. What is Long-Form Content? Long-form content, as the name implies, uses lengthy articles as part of a broader, comprehensive content marketing strategy. Typically, an article is considered long form if … [Read more...]
5 Steps to Conduct a Brand Audit in Your Annual Business Wrap-Up
Sponsored by VISA Business: As the year draws to a close, it’s essential that you include a brand audit in your annual business wrap-up. Have the strategies and tactics you’ve implemented during the year effectively grown your brand? Has your brand veered off course in any way? Without the answers to these questions, you could be moving in the wrong direction in 2014. The … [Read more...]
The 3 Elements of Infomercials Every Business Should Employ
Blog from Maribeth Kuzmeski of Red Zone Marketing Infomercials help brands sell over four billion dollars of products and services every year. While some members of the advertising industry view infomercials as second-rate campaigns, in general, they work. That’s why they are on all of the time! So whether you use the medium or not, following these 3 elements of … [Read more...]
Imitating Innovators is Smart Business
Did you know that 97.8% of the value of innovations goes to imitators? (“Imitation is More Valuable Than Innovation,” Harvard Business Review, April 2010.) White Castle led to McDonald’s; Diners Club lead to Visa, MasterCard and American Express. Walmart’s founder admitted to borrowing most of its practices from others and improving on them. In the financial services … [Read more...]
Planners vs. Actors – How to find a profitable balance between over-thinking and jumping the gun
Blog from Maribeth Kuzmeski of Red Zone Marketing Are you doing without planning or planning without doing? My own first reaction is to take quick action without taking the time to plan – a “Let’s Do it Now” mentality. I constantly have to stop myself from acting without planning, and allow some time to think through the strategy first. Others spend so much time … [Read more...]
How to write a quick and effective press release
Part of any promotional strategy for any size business in any industry or market should be the Press Release. This simple tool is used to communicate information – news. The classical definition of “news” is that this is information that is new…something heretofore not yet announced or known. A press release should also impart value to the reader. That value can … [Read more...]