Social media Archives - Page 2 of 8 - McLellan Marketing Group

Who is an influencer?

March 6, 2019

Here are some truths we need to grapple with in today’s economy:

Consumers trust word of mouth recommendations from family and friends more than advertising
Consumers trust recommendations from perfect strangers more than advertising
Anyone can create a position of authority and attract a community if they demonstrate expertise, credibility and consistently produce content to keep that audience engaged

All of those truths have led to the popularity and effectiveness of influencer marketing. If you aren’t familiar with the term, influencer marketing is a new twist on an old tactic. Remember celebrity endorsements? When someone you liked, an actor or athlete, endorsed a product or service, you thought more favorably about it. Expand that definition of “celebrity” to anyone who has created subject matter celebrity or notoriety and has a defined audience that trusts their endorsements.

This could be a teenager who reviews technology for other teens on YouTube, it could be a person who reviews convention hotels, or it could be a mom with a popular blog aimed at other moms. These people have some things in common that will help you identify them as a genuine influencer:

They regularly produce content on a specific topic
They give away a lot of information for free
Typically, they will have a core channel (YouTube, podcast, blog, etc.) but also have a very active social presence
They have attracted a group of people who are all interested in their niche topic and consume their content regularly (through subscription, attending live events, etc.)
They rarely stray from their core topic or subject matter expertise
They write for other publications, channels, or media outlets

No matter what their specific subject matter expertise is, all of these people have the ability to influence the behavior and/or opinions of their audience because they’ve earned their trust.

One of the biggest shifts in this tactic is the emergence of micro-influencers. Back when we only had three to four channels (TV, radio, print, outdoor) all of the influencers were bigger names and had a broad base of appeal. In 1960, you might have seen a magazine ad featuring Claudette Colbert telling you why she chose to smoke Chesterfield cigarettes or Humphrey Bogart reminding you to buy a box of Whitman’s chocolates. Today, we’d call these kinds of celebrity endorsements macro influencers.

Interestingly, they are not the focus when it comes to influencer marketing now. In a world where niching and targeting are greatly valued, the power seems to be in the micro-influencer. Consider Mischa Pollack who has 74,000+ subscribers on his Drunk Tech Review channel on YouTube where he leads a roundtable discussion (with alcohol being liberally consumed) and testing of gadgets, technology and toys (anything from Bluetooth speakers to jet packs) or Alexandra Lerner who uses Instagram to talk about yoga and wellness, while collaborating with brands who want to reach her audience.

Micro-influencers could have as few as 500 followers/subscribers but most have between 10,000 -500,000. You name a topic and there is someone out there who has built a following around that subject. One of the challenges of influencer marketing is that it’s a bit like the wild, wild west. In some cases, the influencer will have a media kit, pricing, and contracts. In other cases, you will have to work with the influencer to define the rules and deliverables of the campaign because they haven’t formalized their process yet.

This can be a very effective tactic, but it can also go south in a hurry. Next time, we’ll explore some best practices for working with influencers to make sure you get a great ROI from your efforts.

Should your brand be on Instagram?

January 30, 2019

A while back, I wrote about some of the trends that I thought would be shaping marketing in 2019. Visuals and video were among the tactics I said we would all be wise to explore in the coming year. I still know that’s the case and I thought we should take a more detailed look at how some brands are using Instagram to connect with their community and introduce themselves to potential new customers.

According to the Instagram Marketing 2019 Trends and Benchmarks report, there are over 1 billion users on Instagram, and about 80% of those accounts are personal accounts. 51% of Instagram users access the platform at least once a day and the average user has over 600 followers and follows over 350 accounts.

Users can post photos, and videos on Instagram and photos still earn more engagement than the video content. There’s a huge opportunity for brands to create business accounts and interact with a highly engaged audience.

But what kind of content makes sense for the channel?

Behind the scenes peeks: One of the most popular uses of Instagram is to create a sense of intimacy and connection by giving your audience a sneak peek at the inner workings of your company. Factory tours, photo shoots, upcoming launches or on the go videos are all good uses of the medium.

Testimonials or customer spotlights: Instagram is an ideal vehicle for turning the camera towards your best customers. Help your audience envision what it looks like to be a part of your tribe by introducing them to other customers who are delighted by your work. Because you can use text in the photos or have sound with your video, it’s also a smart place to share testimonials.

Get a read: Think of Instagram as your informal focus group room. Ask your audience for their opinion on new options, helping you celebrate a local charity or deciding which product to feature in your new ad campaign. You can use Instagram stories to invite your audience to a landing page or poll as well.

Teach: Why not educate your audience while you entertain them? Adobe uses work that their clients have created to highlight some of the capabilities of their software. By inviting their best customers to share their work, they are guaranteed a stream of fresh content and fans who are willing to share that content.

Sell: You can craft special offers, create coupons, buy ads or highlight new products and services within your stream. Instagram is owned by Facebook so you can advertise on both channels at the same time.

Inspire: Visuals can create a deep emotional connection. You can use photos to form a bond with your audience and inspire them to make a difference. Many non-profits leverage the channel for this reason. Interestingly, one of the most inspiring accounts is Playdoh. They use stop animation content to draw in their audience and get them to re-connect with their inner child.

Make them laugh: There’s power in being entertaining and making people smile or laugh. It creates an endorphin rush that creates a sense of affection that the audience associates with your brand. Why not share a bit of your personality and invite your followers to do the same?

Instagram’s audience is growing every day. If you haven’t considered giving it some time and attention, so you can explore how you might use it to bring your brand to life – you may want to make the investment before your competitors do. Odds are, it’s not going to drive a ton of immediate sales, but when it comes to creating a relationship with your audience, it’s a smart option.

How to avoid the social media storm

December 26, 2018

Previously, we dug into the details of two very different but very visible social media storms and how the brands (Crock-Pot and Old Navy) dealt with the unexpected spotlight.

Don’t think for a minute that your local business is immune to the same sort of trouble. The good and the bad of social media is that it is an equalizer. If the story is good, bad or salacious enough – it can quickly get national or international attention.

The web is filled with examples of how small, local companies are hit with an unfavorable review, Facebook post or photo and suddenly the world knows about the dishonest mechanic, lousy pumpkin pie or whatever the complaint is about.

Whether you work for a Fortune 500 company or own a small retail shop, you need to be ready to handle the unexpected, the unwanted, and sometimes the unwarranted wrath of social media.

Here are some best practices for protecting yourself and handling any social media crisis so that you come out on top.

Listen: There is not a business on the planet that can afford to ignore what is being said about them online today. At the very least, set up a Google Alert for your business name and the names of anyone in an ownership or leadership position. If you want to elevate above Google Alerts, there are a plethora of tools available. Be sure you are also monitoring ratings and review sites.

Have a plan in place: You won’t have time to put together a comprehensive plan once the crisis is in motion. You need to know how you’re going to react long before you have to react. If you own the organization or are their CMO – this is not just a plan for you. Your entire team needs to understand the plan and be trained to react quickly and appropriately.

Be human: Before you rebut, correct, sympathize or deflect – take a minute and try to understand the emotion behind the attack. That was Old Navy’s biggest mistake. There was no empathy. No heartfelt apology. Just corporate speak. On the flip side, Crock-Pot’s condolences for Jack were perfect. It didn’t matter that he is a fictional character. What mattered was that people were hurting and Crock-Pot acknowledged that.

Decide – online or off: Just because someone says something to you or about you online, does not mean you have to deal with it in that same environment. In some cases, if you deal with sensitive customer data or privacy concerns, you have no choice – you have to take it offline. But even if you don’t have that restriction, you can acknowledge the complaint, show your humanity around being sorry that they are disappointed (or whatever emotion they’re expressing) and then invite the attacker to reach you by phone, email or in person so you can have a detailed conversation and resolve their issue.

Keep your emotions in check: They’re going to say things that you find insulting, inflammatory and in many cases, inaccurate. It’s human nature to defend your honor and intentions. Don’t. In many cases, it’s a good idea to have someone by your side that is not as emotionally invested. Have them read your responses before you hit send and their job is to make sure you come off as caring, competent and in control.

Whether it’s a little local flare up on Facebook or under the nation’s microscope, every organization needs to be ready to deal with a crisis before it arrives at your front door.

The good news is that the audience’s attention span is short. The bad news is that Google forgets nothing so how you handle that moment in time can last a lifetime.

Old Navy gets it wrong

December 19, 2018

Previously, we took a look at how Crock-Pot dealt with the untimely death of a beloved TV character due to a faulty Crock-Pot cord and the social media backlash that erupted from that pretend but apparently emotional death. A situation that could have gone very wrong but Crock-Pot got it right. They didn’t get defensive or remind the people leading the outcry that Jack didn’t really die. In fact, they sympathized with the grieving audience and then used the incident to talk about their actual safety features.

The actor who plays Jack, Milo Ventimiglia, went on tour telling the world that he loves his Crock-Pot and wants to encourage other people to get one too. Can you imagine what it would have cost Crock-Pot to hire the star of the season’s biggest hit to be their spokesperson?

On the flip side, Old Navy did not handle their social media storm nearly as well. An Old Navy store near Jordan Creek Town Center in suburban Des Moines, Iowa created a national incident when an employee racially profiled a customer and accused him of stealing a jacket that he actually got for Christmas and entered the store wearing.

After the man was forced to prove he owned the jacket, a post on Facebook alleged that a central Iowa man was racially profiled while shopping Tuesday at an Old Navy store at Jordan Creek Town Center by the clothing store’s employees.

After the incident, the man posted pictures and videos of the incident on his personal Facebook page and it went viral. The post had more than 150,000 shares and thousands of interactions. Old Navy’s reaction is a textbook example of how not to manage a social media crisis.

The post went live on Tuesday, January 30th and Old Navy’s solution was to close the store on Wednesday. The store and Old Navy corporate didn’t announce or explain the closure, which set the story on fire. The store re-opened on Thursday, also without any explanation. A spokeswoman for Old Navy emailed an official statement that said Gap and all of its brands maintain a “zero means zero” policy and that an investigation of the incident is underway.

The email went on to say “we are a company made up of diverse people — from all backgrounds and cultures. We encourage diversity in thought, celebrate diversity in each other and demand tolerance and inclusion, always.”

On the same day, Old Navy’s Twitter and Facebook feeds had a statement that explained what happened and that the incident was under review. Two days later, on both social networks, the company announced that the customer was treated in a way that violated their policies and values. They also announced the firing of the three employees involved in the incident.

Underneath those official announcements was a huge outcry on Twitter and the Old Navy Facebook page. Angry consumers took it upon themselves to tell similar stories, complain about the product and in general, kick Old Navy while they were down.

The next stumble on Old Navy’s part was that they went a little overboard in trying to prove that they weren’t racially insensitive. Suddenly, all of the models on their social media feed promotions and ads were African American. You can imagine the public’s reaction to that shift.

The good news for Old Navy is that as quickly as the firestorm started, it seemed to die down. But they could have turned the situation into a win rather than, at best, a draw. They missed some key best practices that could have saved the day.

Stay tuned as next we will explore how brands should respond to going viral when they don’t want to be in the spotlight.

A tale of two reactions

December 12, 2018

Social media is a powerful tool, but it can also hand a brand some serious problems that need to be dealt with immediately. Your reaction can make all the difference. When you respond in real time, you can do it well, or you can stumble and fall. When a brand doesn’t deal with the ember or spark or handles it badly, it can quickly grow into a raging inferno.

We watched the good and bad play out over the past year, and I’d like to dig a little deeper into each situation and then talk about some safety nets we all need to have in place in case our company finds itself in an unexpected spotlight.

First off, let’s look at the good.

The very popular show “This Is Us” killed off a beloved character this past season. The culprit? A house fire started by a crockpot’s faulty switch. People rushed to social media to mourn the death of this character and true to human nature, they were looking for someone to blame and the poor crockpot took the brunt of it.

I know it sounds ridiculous, but the build-up to how Jack died had been in the making for over two years. This is a show that pokes at the most sensitive emotions of its viewers, and so their hearts were definitely on their sleeve already, as they watched the tragedy unfold.

As the TV show ended and the fans scrambled to social media to give Crock-Pot a piece of their mind, the company found themselves in a very bizarre and unexpected position. They were being accused of causing the death of a pretend person. People were vowing to throw away their crockpots.

Crock-Pot had three choices. They could respond to the overwhelming wave of communication by reminding everyone that Jack is pretend, they could ignore the whole thing and let it blow over, or they could play along and use the opportunity to build their brand.

Their first tweet was:

We’re heartbroken over last night’s episode, too! But don’t worry, you can still make your favorite meals in your #CrockPot with confidence. We want to assure all consumers we rigorously test our products for safety. PM us and we’d be happy to tell you more about our safety standards.

Think this is absurd? It gets worse. The story of the killer Crock-Pot was also picked up on Colbert, Marketplace, and even Popular Science and Self Magazines!

Crock-Pot took to Facebook as well, with this message:

‘THIS IS US’ SPOILER ALERT. We’re still trying to mend our broken heart after watching ‘This Is Us’ on Tuesday night. America’s favorite dad and husband deserved a better exit and Crock-Pot® shares in your devastation. Don’t further add to this tragedy by throwing your Crock-Pot Slow Cooker away. It’s hard to pass something down from generation to generation if you throw it away (grandma won’t be too happy). Spending time with his family while enjoying comfort food from his Crock-Pot was one of his favorite things to do. Let’s all do our part and honor his legacy in the kitchen with Crock-Pot®. XOXO, Crock-Pot® Forever in Your Heart & Forever in Your Home

It’s bad enough when your company makes an actual mistake or deserves the heat of social media, but this example is a good reminder that we’re all vulnerable, even when it’s not of your creation.

Next, we’re going to take a look at a situation that was of their creation – the Old Navy racial profiling story that went viral and caused the store to close their doors temporarily.

After we have studied both the good and the bad, I’ll outline the best practices we need to keep in mind as we do business in this 24/7 connected world.

Digital engagement

October 31, 2018

It’s hard to imagine there is an active business today that doesn’t have some level of digital connection and engagement. But the truth is that how business leaders define engagement and the level in which they invest (time, money, staff, etc.) in that engagement is an incredibly wide range.

Deloitte did a study for Connected Small Business US, which was commissioned by Google to explore the levels of digital engagement among small businesses (250 or fewer employees) and the impact of each level.

The study determined that there were general levels:

Basic (no website/no social media presence)
Intermediate (simple website/basic digital marketing)
High (advanced, mobile-ready website/multiple social channels)
Advanced (use of data analytics/mobile apps)

As the researchers reviewed the activity level and the outcomes that aligned with each of the four levels of engagement, they came to some very interesting conclusions.

Digital engagement increases revenue. Seventy-seven percent of businesses in the advanced category reported expecting revenue growth over the next year—almost double the percentage of businesses in the most basic engagement level. The reason the advanced level businesses were confident in the potential of growth is because forty-five percent of them had already experienced revenue growth over the past year, compared to only twelve percent of businesses identified as having a basic digital engagement. Thirty-two percent of the organizations in the high category reported revenue growth.

Digital engagement increases employment needs. When a business experienced increased revenue, it only makes sense that they’d need a larger workforce. So no surprise, the category of companies that reported larger percentages of revenue growth (high and advanced) also reported an increase in employment growth. The research also pointed out that people employed by a digitally savvy company “tend to be relatively more productive, with the average revenue per employee at digitally advanced businesses being two times as high as small businesses with a basic level of engagement.”

Digital engagement creates new products and services. Over the past twelve months, businesses at the basic level had less than a ten percent chance of introducing a new product or service. On the flip side, almost seventy percent of the most digitally advanced companies reported did. New channels mean new opportunities, and if you’re not there, you can’t take advantage of them.

So what does this mean for your business? It means that maintaining just the “table stakes” level of digital engagement is costing you opportunity, market share, and money. If you are at that level, which was defined as just having a simple website and not really using effective email marketing, social media or exploring the data that these tools can give you, you need to recognize the consequences. This should not come as a surprise to you but perhaps the outcomes that this study points to can serve as the wake-up call to drive you to explore how your business can step further into the digital realm.

This study emphasizes what common sense has told us for some time. The way we do business has changed. The expectations that the marketplace has for us have changed. We may be the only element that hasn’t yet changed.

Today, as the research clearly demonstrates, businesses that ignore that truth are simply behind in revenue, growth, and innovation. But pretty soon, without making some changes, they may just not exist anymore.

You can’t be anti-social today

October 3, 2018

I’m wrapping up my series on the marketing channels you need to consider for 2019 with our last channel – social networks. Don’t forget to consider the other channels we’ve discussed as you map out your 2019 plan.

Just to refresh your memory, they are:

Digital video
Podcasting
Infographics
Webinars and webcasts
Ratings and reviews
Website
Social networks

I remember when we launched our agency’s blog in 2007. Back then it was novel and felt very cutting edge. People were just starting to explore Facebook and Twitter for business, and there were a lot of people who declared that those channels were for personal use only and they’d never put their business in that sort of setting.

Fast-forward to today, and it’s absolutely clear that our businesses need to have a social presence. Business owners and marketing leaders need to decide HOW they want to engage on the various social channels but I would argue that there’s no decision to be made about whether or not you’re there.

There are quite a few decisions you need to make (or review) as you map out your social strategy.

Which networks should you invest in? There are way too many to be active on them all. This is definitely an “it’s better to be a mile deep and an inch wide” rather than the other way around situation. Social is all about making connections. If you’re posting and no one is responding, that might be a clue that either you’re on the wrong channel, or you’re not actually connecting with your audience.

And don’t discount smaller more niche channels. If you’re a veterinarian, dogster.com might be where you need to be. If you sell into the knitting and crocheting industry, try ravelry.com. Work with attorneys? Check out lawlink.com.

Who should you be talking to? This question should inform the “which channel” question as well. Imagine trying to start a conversation with someone if you had no idea who they were or what they cared about. It’s a lot easier to be interesting if you know your audience because, of course, being interesting is all about focusing on them and their needs, interests, and worries.

Who should you be? This is not a trick question. You need to decide how your brand shows up on social. Do you keep yourself at arm’s length? Are you 100% professional 100% of the time? Does your social activity come from the business’ founder/owner or is it created by the marketing department? How/where do you draw the line on topics that are controversial – like politics? Do you let your own opinions or practices (Merry Christmas versus Happy Holidays) influence your posts?

The key to answering this question correctly is that what your audience sees and feels from you online should match their in-person experience. You want to show up in the same way on the phone, in your store, online and on social.

How will you avoid selling? This may be the most important question of the bunch. Think of social networks as a perpetual first date. You don’t propose on a first date, and you don’t sell on social. You let them get to know, like and trust you and your company. You help, and you serve, and you give away your smarts. When they’re ready, they will ask you to sell them something. Then, you can sell.

This is the most common mistake marketers make. They crash the social party and demand that they become the center of attention. Keep the audience’s needs and interests front and center, and you’ll be a social hit!

I’d love to hear which channels make your cut for the coming year and how you’re going to explore in the next few months.

Using call to action triggers to drive conversions

July 25, 2018

Recently, we reviewed some of the general best practices if you’re going to run Facebook ads. Now, I want to drill down a little deeper into one of the most critical tools you have to increase conversions – the call to action (CTA) trigger.

Bottom line – if your audience does not interact with your ad, you can’t convert them. You absolutely can and should use call to action buttons if that makes sense with your message. As you’re building your Facebook ad, the ad manager will give you pre-set buttons with a variety of options from contact us to download, learn more, sign up or request time.

I know it seems obvious but choose your CTA carefully. Match the offer with the button label, so people know exactly what’s at the other end of the click.

Don’t forget about calls to action that don’t require an actual call to action button. Your ad copy might invite the audience to click on the ad itself to take an action (give us your feedback, sign up for a free product, vote for a favorite, etc.) or to answer a question that you pose either in your graphic or text.

Another element of a successful Facebook ad campaign is social proof. Social proof is public, social engagement that other users can see. This includes likes or other reactions, comments, and shares of your ad. When someone sees your ad, they’ll also see who among their Facebook connections has already interacted with the ad. These small interactions can matter just as much, if not more, than the ad copy when it comes to gaining more conversions.

For most of us, if we see a Facebook ad with ten positive comments and a couple dozen likes, we’re much more likely to pay attention to the ad than if it had no reactions showing at all.

The power of consumer-generated reviews and reactions carry over to this channel as well. That’s why, according to a study by KISSmetrics, Facebook ads with some sort of social proof had 300% more conversions, and 50% lower clicks per actions and cost per clicks.

In addition, social proof has an additional, less obvious, benefit. Social engagement boosts your relevance score, which gives you a higher priority in the ad bidding system. It’s a great way to lower your ad costs.

Once the campaign is launched, the best way you can improve the performance of the campaign is to keep an eye on the metrics. One of the most under-utilized is the Relevance Score.

The Relevance Score is a calculated metric that monitors how your audience is reacting to a particular ad. The scores can go from 1 to 10, depending on the positive and negative feedback your ads receive. If your score is below a 5, you should do some testing to see if it’s your audience, the message or the visual that is causing the disconnect.

Choosing when your ads appear (based on your audience’s time zone) is another way to increase success. By watching which times of day perform the best, you can adjust your campaign to increase conversions and reduce your cost per lead.

If you’re running ads to build brand awareness or some other top of the funnel activity, then you aren’t measuring success by conversions, and this may be less important to your campaign.

But in most cases, you’re running Facebook ads because you’re trying to drive an action of some kind. You want to give yourself every advantage you can and how you entice the audience to click on your ad is the most important step.

Put your best Facebook forward

July 18, 2018

With over two billion monthly active users, it’s clear that Facebook is a vibrant marketplace. Whether you only serve clients who live within a couple of miles of your brick and mortar location or you can sell to anyone on the globe – Facebook is a viable advertising option that you should consider in your marketing plan and budget.

Beyond the sheer size and engagement level of the audience, one of the most appealing features of Facebook advertising campaigns is the ability to create a custom target audience. With the Facebook Custom Audience Tool, you can upload a list of contacts (emails, phone numbers, etc.) and create a lookalike audience that will allow you to target others who fit the same profile.

Don’t have a list? No worries. You can segment your target audience by elements like zip code, interests, demographic information or a combination of them.

The ability to hyper-target to a finite audience also allows you to manage your budget more effectively. There’s very little waste when you do it well. Every ad is going to be seen by the audience you want to reach.

Before you start to create your ad campaign, you need to decide how success is defined. Do you just want to put your business on the audience’s radar screen? Do you want them to click on the ad to get more information? Do you want to drive them to a landing page where you could offer them a digital asset (ebook, audio file, checklist, etc.) in exchange for their email address?

Once you’ve decided on the desired outcome, you need to follow some best practices to help you get there.

Remember that the ads will be appearing on Facebook and Instagram, mingled with your audience’s newsfeed. You want your ads to be a part of their social stream, so pick visuals that are personal and engaging. Make sure your photos are crisp and a high enough resolution that it creates the right impression.

You can use a combination of photos, text, videos, sounds, and a slideshow to create your ads. Like any advertising channel, your success is going to depend on your ability to capture your audience’s attention.

Think about your own social network habits. We scroll through the news feed pretty quickly. Your headline needs to grab their attention, and you don’t want to create a blur of text. Focus your message on the essentials and remember, the ad’s job is to get the viewer to click to learn more. You don’t have to tell them every detail within the ad.

Video ads are quickly becoming one of the most popular ad formats on Facebook. Over 100 million hours of video is consumed on Facebook every day. Remember the 2015 ALS ice bucket challenge? That’s what the experts point to as the tipping point for social video. It’s only going to become more mainstream and popular.

One fact you need to keep in mind as you build out your video ad campaigns. You should upload and host your videos on Facebook as opposed to using a video that you’ve uploaded to YouTube, Vimeo or any other platform. According to a study by Search Engine Journal, Facebook favors native video uploads, and those videos reach at least twice as many people and because of that additional exposure, will earn more likes, shares, and comments.

Next time, we’ll dive a little deeper into some more nuanced best practices so that every dollar you spend on Facebook yields the results you want. In the meantime, start paying attention to the ads that catch your eye and how you interact with them as a consumer.

How engaged are you in digital?

June 20, 2018

Deloitte released a study for Connected Small Business US, which was commissioned by Google to explore the levels of digital engagement among small businesses (250 or fewer employees) and the impact of each level.

The study determined that there were general levels:

Basic (no website/no social media presence)
Intermediate (simple website/basic digital marketing)
High (advanced, mobile-ready website/multiple social channels)
Advanced (use of data analytics/mobile apps)

As the researchers reviewed the activity level and the outcomes that aligned with each of the four levels of engagement, they came to some very interesting conclusions.

Digital engagement increases employment needs. When a business experiences increased revenue, it only makes sense that they’d need a larger workforce. So no surprise, the category of companies that reported larger percentages of revenue growth (high and advanced) also reported an increase in employment growth. The research also pointed out that people employed by a digitally savvy company “tend to be relatively more productive, with the average revenue per employee at digitally advanced businesses being two times as high as small businesses with a basic level of engagement.”

For every business, whether you only serve a local audience or an international customer base, embracing digital strategies is a business must. Tools like marketing automation, social media, mobile readiness, and letting the data help you determine what your prospects are interested in and what you can offer to encourage trial and conversion is more business survival than anything else. Today, as the research clearly demonstrates, businesses that ignore that truth are simply behind in revenue, growth, and innovation. But pretty soon, without making some changes, they may just not exist anymore.

« Previous 1 2 3 4 … 8 Next »