Sujan Patel says, “Acquiring leads is relatively simple for most businesses. However, getting marketing qualified leads — ones more likely to convert — is a far more difficult task that requires a great deal of research and complex funnel development.What is a marketing qualified lead?A marketing qualified lead (MQL) is a prospect who is more likely to become a customer because he or she has already been primed through various methods. Warming up this person to your brand, developing trust and positioning him or her to accept your solution is often accomplished through... [...]

Cynthia Johnson says, “Native advertising: The refreshing and unobtrusive form of advertising that syncs beautifully with web content and is receiving the attention of many publishers.The traditional advertising system has been dismantled by the heightened interest of the likes of adblockers. Therefore, an increasing number of publishers and advertisers are now using native ads on their websites and blogs to augment their existing ad revenues.The biggest thing that works for native ads is their ability to flow seamlessly within the blog/website content to the extent that it doesn’t really... [...]

Carol Roth says, “I wear many professional hats, but one of my favorite ways to work with clients is to help them monetize their customers. And, while I work with some of the largest brands in the world, I derive a lot of personal satisfaction from smaller clients — the ones whom I have helped make millions with small, niche customer bases.So, how do you get to six- or seven-figure success? Here are some of my secrets.Do the math.How many active customers do you have? For every thousand customers, for example, every $100 worth of products or services that you sell them per year... [...]

Andrea Holland says, “Since the induction of the the new administration, brands have quickly realized that a single tweet from the commander-in-chief can impact their stock. General Motors, Lockheed Martin and now Nordstrom have all been subject to criticism and for better or worse, their share value fell for a time.We’ve watched several companies over the last few months learn this lesson the hard way. When the new immigration restrictions were announced, Uber learned its lesson through a series of missteps and communication lags, whereas main competitor Lyft donated $100 million to... [...]

Dan Scalco says, “Not sure if content marketing is right for your business? As one of the few marketing strategies with very little up front cost and the potential for high ROI, I highly encourage you to rethink your stance.Seth Godin famously said, “Content marketing is the only marketing left,” and for good reason. Creating your own content provides your business with a variety of untapped opportunities to increase sales. Whether you publish a few blog posts a week, record a podcast, or film original video, any form of original content helps in turning information-seeking consumers... [...]

Manish Dudhrejia says, “Marketing is the key to success for any business. If you’re already an entrepreneur or planning to launch your startup this year, it’s crucial to have your marketing strategy in place right away.It’s very important that you set a budget and try one marketing channel at a time to see the ROI and decide whether to keep at it or move on. I believe Facebook advertisements will surpass all other digital marketing channels in 2017.Here are the 8 reasons why it makes the most sense for businesses to use the social media giant to advertise their products.1. Custom-targeted... [...]

Lanre Onibalusi says, “In our computer-driven and mobile world, digital marketing is how relationships get built. Gone are the days of old-fashioned marketing plans consisting solely of in-person events and traditional media. Instead, outreach through email and social networks are now crucial to every company’s marketing efforts. It’s a real adapt or die situation, and so far, the overwhelming majority of companies have adapted and shaped up for these new marketing channels. According to a recent study by Smart Insights, 82 percent of businesses have a defined strategy for digital marketing,... [...]

Salma Jafri says, “In this video, Entrepreneur Network partner Salma Jafri discusses how just how important live video is in 2017.Live video is a great to maintain a two-way conversation with your audience — something you simply can’t do when you’re reading a script — and major social networks are taking note. Snapchat is now a multi-billion-dollar company with live news feeds, Twitter has invested heavily in Periscope, and Facebook is pushing its own live feeds. So, get on board now and learn how to use this tool in 2017, because it’s going to be bigger than... [...]

Kimberly De Silva says, “There are so many new marketing techniques out there: experiential marketing, viral marketing, cause marketing, relationship marketing, evangelism marketing, cloud marketing … the list is endless (and inspiring). One of these newer strategies involves the use of user-generated content (UGC) to advertise and market your company.What is user-generated content?TINT describes it best: “User-generated content (UGC) is defined as any type of content that has been created and put out there by unpaid contributors or, using a better term, fans. It can refer to pictures,... [...]

Lenre Onibalusi says, “In our computer-driven and mobile world, digital marketing is how relationships get built. Gone are the days of old-fashioned marketing plans consisting solely of in-person events and traditional media. Instead, outreach through email and social networks are now crucial to every company’s marketing efforts. It’s a real adapt or die situation, and so far, the overwhelming majority of companies have adapted and shaped up for these new marketing channels. According to a recent study by Smart Insights, 82 percent of businesses have a defined strategy for digital marketing,... [...]