The Mobile Revolution is Upon Us! Just like technology, the modern customers are evolving and have very high expectations coupled with short attention spans. Mobile optimized websites used to be a nice perk, but have become a necessity. Responsive web development means that your site will change it’s layout automatically based on the size of the viewer’s screen. This allows you to have one website that will work on all platforms, with updates being made to a single content management system. Some sites have advanced functionality and do not lend themselves to responsive design, but in those scenarios other mobile development techniques can be used. Use this site as an example of responsive design by making the window smaller. Mobile customers expect your site to be quick, easy to navigate, and most importantly near their current location. This article covers insights discovered by Google where they found that 93% of people who use mobile to research go on to complete a purchase, most happening in physical stores. People are searching and buying locally. Are your pages optimized for local buyers? Search is the most common starting point for mobile research with 48% beginning their quest through a search engine. The report also finds that 69% expect businesses to be within 5...
Learn MoreThe latest victim in a growing club of exploited tech giants. Earlier this week, during the happy hubbub of holiday cat snaps and New Years Eve selfies, a huge database of Snapchat phone numbers and usernames was exposed. The hackers didn’t stop at stealing the information, they made it publicly available on the internet through the currently suspended site SnapchatDB.infoCached copy of SnapchatDB.info with the statement: “You are downloading 4.6 million users’ phone number information, along with their usernames. People tend to use the same username around the web so you can use this information to find phone number information associated with Facebook and Twitter accounts, or simply to figure out the phone numbers of people you wish to get in touch with.” — SnapchatDB.info Has my snapchat account been compromised? You can enter your username into this lookup tool to find out if you are one of the 4.6 million unlucky users whose account information has been made public. According to an analysis on Reddit of area codes found in the leaked database; accounts with phone numbers in the following states have not yet been compromised: Alaska Delaware Hawaii Kansas Maryland Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Mexico North Carolina North Dakota Oklahoma Oregon Rhode Island Utah Vermont West Virginia Wyoming...
Learn MoreDon’t let the evil man punt Baxter! Give a like, Give $1 to Charity. Maybe you will get off the Naughty List this year. For every person who likes the San Diego Humane Society Page between last Tuesday and Dec. 23rd, $1 will be donated to the organization from the Rachel Ray Nutrish Charity. The goal is to raise $10,000 and you don’t have to spend a single dollar. This social media campaign will succeed for a few major reasons. It is endorsed by mega celebrity, Rachel Ray, and thus can take advantage of her many media channels. Very minimal effort is needed by the user to donate: just a single click. Will Ferrell has been promoting the Anchorman launch for months and the audience is very aware. It is the holiday season and people are in a giving mood, especially when it is free to them. People love dogs. Especially ones that can eat a whole wheel of cheese (we aren’t even mad, we’re impressed). The tough question is how long do these users stay fans of Nutrish and do they ever purchase the product? Often marketers need to clarify to upper management what the ROI will be on the money invested in Facebook. Normally they make assumptions, algorithms or...
Learn MoreIt’s good to be young. The youth are cool, they create trends, they find innovative uses of technology, and most importantly they influence decisions of their parents expendable income. Marketers are constantly chasing the next big thing and often rely on teenagers/young adults to point them in the right direction. Watch most television ads and you are bound to view a product influenced by a younger generation. As you probably know, the disappearing photo-sharing app SnapchatSnapchat lets people send photos and videos that self-delete between one and 10 seconds after being viewed. is BOOMING. The company currently reports that 18.6% of all iPhone owners in the US used the app in June 2013. This is up 10.5% month-to-month and therefore the ninth most popular iPhone app in terms of usage. If 1-in-5 people in the U.S. with iPhones used the app 6 months ago, how does the app perform now? Snapchat officials say that users are now sending more snapsSnapchat's term for photos and videos shared over the network. than Facebook users are uploading photos. Business insider intelligence reports that Instagram users upload 55 million photos daily, Facebook users upload 350 million, and snapchat users send 400 million snaps daily. This number is not exactly a direct comparison because...
Learn MoreInbound Strategies Level the Playing Field for Small Businesses. Let’s say you decide to place an ad in the local newspaper or local cable provider. Besides outputting a hefty sum to place the ad, you receive only a rough estimate of how many viewers may have glanced at your advertisement. And in no way can you tell if any of them visited your website or are a potential lead? How can you tell if they are getting ready to make a purchase? With the old marketing model, to assess the success of your campaign it would take months to analyze your sales numbers and that may be too late. In the modern digital world, traditional marketing doesn’t cut it. Using a well-executed and cohesive inbound marketing strategy you will achieve a more targeted reach with a far lower initial investment! Follow these 4 steps to get your inbound marketing strategy underway: Attract people interested in your products and industry to your website. Use targeted keywords throughout a regular stream of blog articles and content updates, promoted through social media channels. Convert visitors to your website into sales leads. An email sign-up form placed strategically around your website will engage visitors, while membership to a club or newsletter...
Learn MoreSpreading Good Cheer Goes a Long Way in the Cluttered Holiday Shopping Market With thanksgiving falling later in the year, there will be a shorter holiday shopping season and businesses need to react to a quickly changing market. Mobile technology and greater product research is making the customer smarter, better able to find the deal, and more willing to return merchandise. People are expecting holiday deals and but are unsure when they will come in the season, most will wait for the infamous black friday to trample others at the local Walmart. One technique Toys R Us is using to combat early shopping sprees is to move it up even earlier, with a Holiday Preview occurring in September. Their messaging is directed towards shopping early for members to earn rewards they can redeem later in the season around December. “Kmart aired its first holiday ad in early September, more than 100 days before Christmas. Walmart started promoting holiday layaway even earlier, in mid-August.” Forbes.com According to the Accenture Annual Shopping Survey “even those planning to spend more this year than last, will be hunting for deals. In fact, 62% of respondents said it will take a discount of 30% or more to persuade them to make a purchase, up...
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