Marketing ArticlesFrom building a strong lead generation effort to evaluating your entire marketing plan, we have something for everyone. Whether you're just starting out or trying to get to the next level Smarketing CONNECT has the best resources for startups and small businesses.
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How Vehicle Wraps Benefit Your Business
by Dawn Pease - Dawn's Sign Tech
If you are a business owner, chances are you are looking for ways to market your services. From paid digital advertising to billboards, setting up advertisements can be a costly and confusing endeavor. Luckily, if you have a vehicle, you are well on your way to some of the best marketing your business could have. Here are a few of the benefits that vehicle wraps could offer your business.
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Ten Steps for Optimizing Your Blog Post for SEO
by Olympia Caswell - Local Business First
In today’s internet culture, it is extremely important for you to utilize search engine optimization tools in order to direct traffic to your site. One way of doing this is through effective blog writing. The content within your blogs needs to be optimized accordingly, populated with relevant keywords, phrases, and images. These seemingly small things will work wonders for getting your blog noticed by various search engines, which will in turn drive traffic to your website.
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Top Video Hosting Alternatives to YouTube
by Peter Stassa - Davideo Company
We understand the importance of YouTube (it's the #2 search engine in the world!), and we believe that ALL businesses should have a presence there, but NO business should be embedding or sharing their videos from YouTube. The reasoning is simple: YOUTUBE ONLY WANTS TO BRING TRAFFIC TO YOUTUBE!
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Wow! A No-Brainer Deal To Defeat Design Frustration
-by Craig Carpenter - RelayThat
We have a lot to be thankful for this year, especially our discovery of RelayThat - a game-changing design tool that will get you doing a happy dance and shaking your turkey tail feather. Check out all these stunning designs it instantly created from our brand!
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Why Custom Websites Matter
Robin Clapp - Web Design by Robin
Invest in a Custom Designed Template – If you want to accelerate the performance of your website, you should use a custom-designed template not a purchased template that is customized. There is a big difference. Let me explain.
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How to Attract Attention With Business Signage-by Dawn Pease - Dawn's Sign Tech
Is your store or business placed in a central location, and you’re always looking for ways to drive more traffic in? No matter how busy or slow the surroundings are, signage can be the make or break factor for whether or not a potential customer takes interest in your business. Your signage needs to be expertly designed & professionally installed in order to make the impact you want. The intention behind your sign design should be to get noticed in a positive way.
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How to Optimize Your Google Business Listing in 8 Easy Steps
-by Olympia Caswell - Local Business First
60% of Americans use smartphones to search for local products and services. And that number only continues to grow. Having a Google my Business listing is paramount in today’s data driven age. Here is what you can do to help your clients find YOUR business.
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Fortune Favors the BOLD
-by Tamara Gardner - Boldly Branded
It breaks my heart to witness a great business or career fade out, become irrelevant, and eventually die because I know how much it means to the person that owns it. I’ve known brilliant humans and successful businesses that have fallen victim to the economy, downsizing, or lack of funding. But there is ONE that seems to win the trophy for greatest common denominator of failure: bad branding.
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How to Get Your Company Recognized and RememberedWhat is a brand identity? Simply put, it is the way you express your company visually, through the use of fonts, images, and color. A brand identity applies not only to your logo, but to all your marketing materials, including signage, business cards, brochures, and every page of your website
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5 Types of Content to Drive Website Traffic-by Robin Samora - Partner Promotions
Good content on your website is an important part of your marketing strategy, helping boost SEO and your LKT (like, know, trust) factor. The more authoritative content people see from you, the better. It helps your audience see your expertise, business, and lifestyle — what you’re like as a person.
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Does Traditional Advertising Still Work?-by Rachel Leone - Leone Marketing Solutions
In today’s high-tech world, there’s something to be said about old school marketing techniques to help your brand stand out. Five traditional advertising methods still work like a charm. Let’s explore what they are:
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Seven Secrets to an Eye-Opening LogoOne of the best ways to achieve recognition in the crowded marketplace is to present an eye-opening logo to your target audience. An effective logo will wake customers out of their daydreams and make them take notice of your company. For example, think of Nike, Apple and Target.
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What Comes First, Sales or Marketing?-by Susan McKenney - Diversified Sales Solutions, Inc.
You’ve launched your company, now what to do first, Sales or Marketing? OK…You started a business and now aren’t sure how to produce revenue. Do you worry about sales first then marketing or marketing first then sales? When do I start? How do I start? Which do I start first? Simple questions yet no simple answers.
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Time to Rebrand Your Business?-by Robin Samora - Partner Promotions
If you’re feeling uninspired about how your business looks and feels, and lightyears ahead of your current website, it may be time for a change. A new brand, image, and energy can revitalize your business, drive sales, and give you a renewed excitement about your work.
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The Art of the Subject Line-by Stephanie Creech - Screech Marketing
From friends and family to clients and potential customers, getting someone to open your email is not always easy, or is it? Let’s talk about the subject line. It’s the first thing everyone sees, and in a split second a decision is made - to read or not to read. Now, a great subject line will get your email read immediately, a good subject line might get your email read within 24 hours, and a bad subject line, even to your friends and family, means your email may never get read.
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7 Things You Need to Know About Getting on TV-by Robin Samora - Partner Promotions
There are multiple ways to get press, including pitching to the Wall Street Journal, but I suggest that you become media ready and ready-to-go, before you contact any reporter.
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Does Your Website Have “Signature Burger Syndrome”?-by Michael Sweeney - Design-product Systems
You’ve probably seen the signature burger on the menu at your local upscale bar/restaurant. It features way too many ingredients or some outlandish combination of them that draws in the truly adventurous. Eater’s trendy restaurant menu parody called it the “Burger That’s Crazier Than It Needs To Be”. Company websites, too, have gotten crazier than they need to be.
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Are You One of the 87%?-by Robin Samora - Partner Promotions
Did you know 85% of all internet users in the US watch online video monthly, and 54% of consumers want to see more video content from a brand or business that they support? In fact, a whopping 87% marketing professionals use video as a marketing tool, and 88% are satisfied with their ROI on social media.
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5 Reasons Why Your PowerPoint Presentation Failed Miserably-by David Gilman – Cognito
You did the research, you prepared the deck, you printed out the handouts, and finally you delivered the presentation. But somehow there seemed to be a big disconnect between you and the audience.
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Magnet Marketing - A Proven Way to Increase High Value B2B Prospect Meetings-by Michael Phelan - Go-to-Marketing Pros
work with CMOs & CROs on their demand generation plans for 2019, I hear concerns that traditional inbound marketing supported by BDRs may not be sufficient to meet revenue growth plans for 2019
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How Colors Affect You and Your Company-by David Gilman – Cognito
Color can have a surprisingly profound impact on your business and your target audience because color sends an instant message. Without a single word, color can express an emotion and evoke a response. In many ways, color is more important than any other factor in making a brand memorable.
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Small Business Marketing Strategy on a Budget-by Dave Orecchio – Bristol Strategy Inc.
During a recent Smarketing Connect event, Susan McKenney interviewed Dave Orecchio. The question came from the viewers and it relates to the challenges small business owners have marketing their businesses online. The question Susan asked is: Marketing strategy can be almost overwhelming for small businesses with limited resources, what is the simplest version of a digital marketing strategy that can be implemented by an owner?
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50 Local Business Directories [Most are Free]-by Robin Samora - Partner Promotions
Who doesn’t love free marketing, especially when it comes to promoting your own business? Check out this article from our friends at HubSpot, who always provide valuable content and are a go-to source for everything digital to grow your brand.
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How Fonts Impact Your Business-by David Gilman – Cognito
It’s hard to imagine, but worldwide, there are over 20,000 fonts, and each one expresses its own personality and expresses its own unique attributes.
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How to Create a Magnetic Email Marketing Strategy Even if You Have a Lifeless Email List-by Gayle Nowak - The Story Stylist
We’re bombarded every day with marketing messages. Think about it. How many email lists are you signed up for right now? And how many of those do you actually open and read regularly? That’s exactly what your audience is doing too.
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Sales Enablement Marketing: How to Leverage B2B Social Selling to Reach Your Prospects-by Natalie Nathanson - Magnetude Consulting
As social media’s reach and relevance continues to grow, B2B buyers are using social networks more than ever to gather information before making a purchase. In fact, according to an internal study conducted by LinkedIn, half of all users are likely to buy from companies they engage with on their platform. If you put the right strategy in place, your B2B business can see increases in website referral traffic of more than 500%, get new leads, and drive traffic back to your company website. Just based on this information alone, it is clear that neglecting social channels can be a significant missed opportunity
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How to Find Customers, Generate Leads & Close Sales-by Dave Orecchio – Bristol Strategy Inc.
57% of salespeople believe that buyers are less dependent on sales during the buying process than they were a few years ago. What are the top 3 biggest challenges CEOs are facing today?
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How FOMO Drives Traffic to Events-by Robin Samora - Partner Promotions
If you’ve got internet, like 4.39 billion other internet users worldwide, you know content is at your fingertips. And, thanks to social media and smart phones, you can’t escape it. You’re compelled to read about your school’s homecoming queen 20 years ago or watch a video about that goth A/V girl who became a tech millionaire.
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Are You Making This Mistake at the Start of Your Story?-by Gayle Nowak - The Story Stylist
After doing four back-to-back story workshops in two months, I realized that entrepreneurs get just how valuable story can be for their businesses. No one needs convincing.
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How to Spy on Your Competitor’s Marketing-by Robin Samora - Partner Promotions
If you’re looking for marketing tips, tools and strategies to build your small business – and are open to looking beyond your own brand, how about doing some competitive analysis?
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Who’s On Your List Says Much About What Will Be In Your Wallet-by Ceri Ruenheck - It's Your Call
I will be the first to tell you that B2B cold calling is productive but not easy. When cold calling with a well targeted list as part of an overall marketing strategy, it will produce viable leads.
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How to Win Business with Story-by Gayle Nowak - The Story Stylist
I’ll never forget the first time I lead a pitch for new business. It was back in my agency days. A $250,000 public relations contract was at stake, and the agency partners were hot to rekindle the name with this international brand and former client.
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Hashtags: What Are They, Why Use Them?-by Rachel Leone - Leone Marketing Solutions
Are hash tags part of your marketing strategy? If not, they should be! You’ve seen them everywhere – on billboards, commercials, baseball hats and t-shirts. But, maybe you’re wondering what a hashtag really is. Here’s my definition. A hashtag is simply a word or phrase prefixed with the # sign. OK, so why the # sign?
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Trade Show Secrets You Need to Know-by Rachel Leone - Leone Marketing Solutions
I’d like to share some tried and true trade show secrets with you. My goal is that you get the most out of your trade shows experience this year and maximize your ROI! Let’s begin!
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9 Ways to Make Your Small Business Look Bigger-by Robin Samora - Partner Promotions
You can have all the confidence in the world and think big, but if your prospects and customers perceive you as too small to do business with, there’s a disconnect. So, what’s a small business owner to do?
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Has Disruptive Advertising Gone Too Far?-by Tom Kaminsky - Kaminsky Brand Group
I love advertising. I love design. I love everything about marketing and branding and I think there’s a ton of great stuff out there. But I want to focus on “disruptive advertising.” Definitely has its place in the mix and really gets your attention.
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How I Generated $7,894 in Sales in Nine Days from a Single Email Campaign about My Personal Story-by Gayle Nowak - The Story Stylist
By my second year in business, I’d burned through more than $28,000 in savings and racked up nearly $14,000 in debt.
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9 Must Ask Marketing Strategy Questions Savvy Small Business Owners Ask to End the Random Acts of Marketing-by Gayle Nowak - The Story Stylist
Have you ever done random acts of marketing? You know, those marketing activities you do that are not rooted in clear strategy and not tied to any of your business goals.
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The Psychology of Color-by Stephanie Creech - Screech Marketing
There is a lot written about the psychology of color. If you google it, you can keep yourself busy for hours reading articles on the conscious and unconscious reason behind it, as well as arguments to ignore it. However, if you are just starting out or rebranding yourself, it can’t hurt to understand the psychology of color.
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Assessing Your B2B Firm's Digital Marketing Efforts-by Natalie Nathanson - Magnetude Consulting
Marketing is undergoing rapid change at a seemingly ever-accelerating pace, driven by evolving social media behaviors and marketing technology advances. These shifts have created a marketing culture that necessitates cycles of data-driven testing, measurement and optimization. The digital marketing skills of the past—or even of a few years ago—are now largely viewed as inefficient or ineffective.
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Where Does Your Digital Footprints Lead?-by Stacey Bruzzese - Final Details Marketing & Design
Managing your online reputation in this highly “social”world. Stay up to date on what’s out there – and understand the message being sent...
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Facebook Messenger Marketing Tips & Tricks-by Robin Samora - Partner Promotions
With every change in technology, comes new ways to reach our target audience and customers. Chatbots and Facebook Messenger Marketing aren’t new, but the trend is hot, and it’s working – not just for big companies like the WSJ, but for smaller brands like you and me.
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Top 5 Marketing Mistakes Small Businesses Make Not Having a Plan-by Stacey Bruzzese - Final Details Marketing & Design
Promoting your business takes time, money and persistence. Without a plan any successes would be a result of luck. Luck is hard to track, change and reproduce. Every business needs a plan that can grow with their business and provide measurable benchmarks for evaluation
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Find Your Marketing Talent: A CEO's Guide to Outsourcing vs. Hiring In-House-by Natalie Nathanson - Magnetude Consulting
When a company is looking to invest in marketing—whether for the first time or to embark on a more comprehensive marketing initiative—the question of when to hire versus when to outsource marketing inevitably crosses the minds of executives. There are numerous considerations based on a company’s stage, go-to-market model, and the type of marketing needed to support the business.
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Want to build trust and loyalty? Tell your story on video-by Gayle Nowak - The Story Stylist
Not long ago, both my girls were achieving some major milestones with bulldogged determination and without as much as a hint of a hiccup. They learned to talk, walk and eat on their own all within the first 16-18 months of their lives. No, they didn't get it down the first, fifth, or maybe even 500th time they tried. Yes, they fell, they failed, and they cried. Yet, they just kept going and kept doing until one day I clearly heard the word "mommy" or saw them take their first wobbly steps.
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Marketing to Launch Your Company-by Stephanie Creech - Screech Marketing
As an entrepreneur, you have a vision. Often that vision translates to your marketing. You may have strong feelings about some components, while others, not so much. Being consistent is essential to building a recognizable brand. Here is what you need to get started…
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Picking Web Friendly Fonts-by Stephanie Creech - Screech Marketing
If you are creating a new brand or updating an existing brand you need to think about your font choices. Fonts are part of your image and they need to be consistent. Not all fonts are web friendly so consider backing into your choices depending on how your customer will access your digital assets. Mobile has the least friendly fonts and it is very device specific. Desktop offers you the most options but if you pick a desktop friendly font that is not available on a mobile device a substitution will be made...
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