Aaron Agius says, “You’ve created your first piece of content, and it’s pretty awesome.You’ve built yourself an outreach list with sites and sent the contacts a friendly email.Then you sit back.Wait.And …Nothing.Sound familiar?If it does, rest assured you’re not alone. We’ve all been there. That’s because this content marketing game is seriously hard work.CMI’s most recent survey of content marketing usage and trends found that 76% of B2C organizations and 88% of B2B organizations are using content to market their company. That makes for a highly competitive landscape... [...]

Ayaz Nanji says, “Suddenly encountering unexpected shipping costs is the No. 1 reason consumers abandon e-commerce shopping carts, according to recent research from VWO.The report was based on data from a survey conducted in 2015 among 1,000 mobile and desktop users age 18-65.One-fourth of respondents say unexpected shipping costs have stopped them from completing the purchase process when shopping online.And 22% say having to create a new account on a website/app has been a barrier.Some 10% of online shoppers say they sometimes add products to carts with the sole intention of getting... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “On Wednesday, Google launched AdSense Labs to give publishers access to test newer features, kicking off with two Labs: Show fewer ads and Inline ads.The Show fewer ads lab lowers the number of ads shown to users by at least 10 percent. Publishers can, in turn, expect to see a drop in revenue, but a drop Google estimates will be “negligible,” or less than one percent of revenue, because the focus is on eliminating ads that are likely to be deemed of lower value to a publisher’s visitors.Inline ads are dynamically inserted mobile website ads sized 320×100. They... [...]

Steven Chang says, “Marketing in China is still in its early stages.Compared to countries like the US or those in Europe, marketing as a discipline still has to develop the strategic maturity that is necessary to be successful internationally.However, the market in China is evolving incredibly rapidly, taking on its own dimensions and creating its own rules.This evolution is taking place as more people come online and the potential of mobile, social and data come together.This confluence of trends is called “Internet Plus” in China, and refers to how traditional industries are being... [...]

Daniel Burstein says, “Fiduciary duty. These words have been in the news lately, as the government seeks to require that financial advisors have a fiduciary duty to their customers in certain cases.A fiduciary duty is a legal duty to act solely in another party’s interests. So what this new regulation essentially means is, financial advisors must put customer’s interests before their own. And the financial industry has been fighting this.As marketers – this should be crazy to us! This is what we should do every day: Put our customer’s interests before our own. How can a business,... [...]

Matt Lawson says, “Getting clicks is great, but it’s way more important to know what happens after you get those clicks. That’s why I was so excited last month when my employer, Google, announced a deeper integration between Search Console and Google Analytics (GA).With these wonderful new reports, you can see how visitors reached your site, along with what they did once they got there.Search Console reports in Google AnalyticsIt’s a big win for inbound marketers of all shapes and sizes. But I, alas, am not an inbound marketer. Paid search is my bread and butter. Not wanting to miss... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “On Wednesday, Google launched AdSense Labs to give publishers access to test newer features, kicking off with two Labs: Show fewer ads and Inline ads.The Show fewer ads lab lowers the number of ads shown to users by at least 10 percent. Publishers can, in turn, expect to see a drop in revenue, but a drop Google estimates will be “negligible,” or less than one percent of revenue, because the focus is on eliminating ads that are likely to be deemed of lower value to a publisher’s visitors.Inline ads are dynamically inserted mobile website ads sized 320×100. They... [...]

June Ashley created Avatar Genie Pro, software to build professional mascot characters and avatars.Avatar Genie Pro is a web based app that lets you build your own cartoon character from its rich library of costumes, poses, hairstyles, and more.Someone called is “The Sims for Internet Marketing or Business”. You can point-and-click to build your own unique characters for many marketing deliverables, such as:• Product covers• Website• Logo• Packaging• Advertisement• Marketing materials• Social media• And, in general, representing your... [...]

David Mercer says, “Entrepreneurs and small business owners know how difficult it is to grow a business online. A lot of big competitors out there use sophisticated strategies and tools to squeeze as much traffic and leads as possible from their content and marketing campaigns.Against that backdrop, you need to get as much return as humanly possible from any outreach and influencer marketing activities you undertake. Understanding how to write effective, engaging emails is vital to ensuring those campaigns convert well.Before we get going, it’s also worth noting that according to... [...]

Craig McConnel says, “SEO is a critical consideration for any entity that wants to manage a strong web presence.Anyone that takes SEO seriously understands there’s more to it than selecting a list of keywords and throwing them into content.SEO is research and everything from compelling content to back linking and smart videos.It’s also a task better handled by a team of professionals with an understanding of your goals, industry and search engine optimization.But just how important is it in terms of your budget? It has been estimated that 93 percent of online interaction of... [...]