How Small Business Marketing Efforts are Migrating Online

Word-of-mouth is still the most effective marketing channel for SMBs. For those looking to go beyond chatter though, search engine optimization and online local directories were the second and third most effective marketing channels for bringing in new leads and customers.

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Google Mobile Requirement for Websites Impact Search Results

A new study found that nearly half of Fortune 500 websites were not mobile-friendly according to Google’s standards. Their new Search algorithm will likely force Fortune 500 sites to finally get on the mobile optimization train.

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Why Exposure via Online Search Trumps the Traditional Media

Edelman found that online search engines had surpassed traditional media to become the most-trusted media source globally. The firm’s 2015 report revealed that 64% of internet users worldwide trusted online search engines the most (vs. 63% the prior year) for information.

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Why More Marketers Focus on their Organic Search Results

When it comes to driving internet users to a website, nothing beats organic search for consistent results. According to data from BrightEdge, organic search drove 51% of website traffic referrals worldwide. Meanwhile, display, email and referred search ranked second with 34% of referrals, paid search was third with 10%, and social media was last with just 5%.

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Why the Digital Marketing Talent Shortage is still a Challenge

The right content makes all the difference when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO). Just over one-quarter of marketing professionals worldwide said that lack of quality content was among the most challenging obstacles to achieving important SEO objectives.

Instead, limited budgets and digital skill sets were the top hurdles to reaching content marketing success.

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Digital Content Standards will Accelerate the IT Buying Cycle

IT buyer frustration with finding the right marketing content to make informed purchase decisions is of great concern. Without the ability to pre-judge content, buyers  waste time wading through assets that don’t help, which adds over 20% to the time it takes to make decisions.

Buyers who dream of saving time as they gain an informed understanding for better decisions will reward you with revenue.

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Exponential Marketing in Action – a Cisco Campaign Case Study

Exponential Marketing methodology – create, publish, reuse, share and measure online content with all key stakeholders. I created this presentation for Cisco Systems as an educational guide for their Telecom Service Provider customers.

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Business Case for Integration of Inbound Marketing Campaigns

Inbound marketing tactics — including content marketing, search engine optimization — are all critical for businesses looking to generate leads. But these tasks are also difficult to pull off, particularly the creation and marketing of content.

Sixty-seven percent of the companies that saw themselves achieving strong inbound marketing results had integrated the inbound marketing program, whereas only 9% of the least successful inbound marketers did so.

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More Agencies Use Social Media, Despite the Poor Results

For agencies targeting new business opportunities, the best tactics are a mix of traditional and new media — with a heavy emphasis on digital marketing.

The broader takeaway, however, is that only a fraction of agency executives find social truly effective for generating new business. And yet when asked which new business tools they used overall, social ranked first, at 87% of respondents, followed by SEO tools, at 67%.

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How B2B Digital Marketers Fill the Sales Funnel

Business-to-business (B2B) marketers are enamored with social media. They tell stories of introducing new products via social, saving money when questions are answered by followers, and earning credibility when influencers tout their brand.

While search engine optimization (SEO) and email still bring plenty of prospects to the door, social media entices them to enter a dialogue, pick up some information of value and step into the sales funnel.

via eMarketer