Pandemic. Protests. Election. Insurrection. Impeachment. Platforms v. Publishers.   It’s hard to believe that these and other major societal and social shifts happened in the last year alone. If you are a business owner or an individual responsible for the operations and image of a company trying to adapt to these changes, it’s been a herculean effort to even keep the doors open up to this point with so many external factors weighing upon us.   Whether it’s local business owners trying to keep their teams and businesses afloat amid […]

For those of you still lamenting the retirement of the Products and Services tab from LinkedIn Business Pages in 2014, we have good news for you! LinkedIn is rolling out a new feature called Product Pages (and will soon be rolling out another feature called a Services Showcase Module, which you can learn more about here.). Some of you may already see the new Products tab on your company’s page in the Page Admin View, but if not, don’t panic—it isn’t available to everyone just yet. We’ve scoured the internet and can’t seem to find a timeline for when […]

Pivot is an understatement for 2020. Marketers and consumers were forced to change behaviors in dramatic and unexpected ways. People are resilient, though, and marketers proved again their ability to adapt and thrive in an everchanging landscapes. While vaccines are on the horizon, a return to pre-pandemic behavior probably isn’t likely for a while. What changes should we expect to continue into 2021?   Virtual Events Turns out there is still value in virtual conferences. High quality live and on-demand content still managed to draw crowds. Virtual conferences eliminated the […]

We’ve all heard the classic saying that “content is king,” but is that still the case? If so, how can you maximize your output of quality content?   It’s still true. Content is king, and given how 2020 has played out, it may be even more critical than ever as more and more people spend time at home, online. According to Forbes, global online content consumption more than doubled during the pandemic. The average daily content consumption is six hours and 59 minutes.   Content promotes your brand. It’s how […]

What is LinkedIn Sales Navigator? LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a sales management tool designed specifically for lead generation and sales prospecting on the LinkedIn platform. Sales Navigator is available in three different versions, each with varying features, but each version allows users to search for, connect with, and save leads within their LinkedIn account while also offering integration with different CRM programs.   Why You Should Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator If you have a sales team, you probably already have multiple tools and technologies that your team uses every day. 74% of B2B sales teams say that LinkedIn products top their list of sales intelligence tools (LinkedIn). […]

If you have any experience with digital marketing, chances are that you’ve probably heard the term “link building” before, but what is it exactly? And why is it such a big deal in the world of search engine optimization? To answer this question, we’ll first have to examine what search engines use links for.   How do search engines use links? There are two fundamental ways that the search engines use links: 1.     To discover new web pages 2.     To help determine how well a page should rank in their […]

2020 has been a challenging year for small businesses, to say the least. Let’s face it, every year is tough when you’re running a small business, but COVID has made 2020 even worse. Well, finally, there’s some good news for small business owners. Facebook has introduced a free tool called “Paid Online Events”.   What Is Facebook’s New Paid Online Events Tool? While there’s no doubt that they will profit from the tool in the future, Facebook says it will offer the new service for free for at least the […]

Losing track of time has been one of the most disorienting aspects of the pandemic. In the early pandemic, losing track of days was common. “Is it Tuesday or Wednesday?” As the year has progressed — with no graduation ceremonies or summer vacations, cancelled sports seasons and muted holidays — the normal markers of time have been completely absent. To my daily life, the difference between March 24th and September 24th isn’t all that significant.   For client retention, that’s bad. Like forgetting-your-mom’s-birthday bad.   This year more than ever, […]

Understanding link building and identifying link building opportunities is only half the battle when it comes to implementing an effective link building strategy. What really separates a great link building campaign from a not-so-great campaign is your ability to determine what is a “good” link building opportunity and what is not. To help with this, we’ve boiled the complicated link qualification process down into a simple eight item checklist:   Use common sense! Ask yourself: 1.    Is the placement relevant to the niche? This is arguably the most important factor […]

You’ve completed the content writing process after countless hours of research, analyzing, writing, and proofing to end up with a conversion generating masterpiece, but now how do you start driving traffic to your content, outside of organic search? The answer is social!   The promotion of each post on your social network is just as important as organic search. To help you get more from each social media post, here are some quick tips for promoting content on social media.   Draft a social media promotional schedule using all relevant channels Using social […]

Consider the various ways you generate leads – inquiry forms on your website, webinar registrations, tradeshow events, outbound prospecting, etc. As diverse as the opportunities are for lead gen efforts, so too are the need states of the leads themselves.   Ideally, lead states should guide follow-up attempts. For example, someone at a tradeshow who’s interested in a product demo may be expecting a call soon, whereas someone who just attended a webinar is looking for nothing more than the educational opportunity you provided. How and when you follow up […]

Contrary to popular belief, keyword research is not just for SEOs. You can use keyword research practices to get a better understanding of your audience’s wants, needs, questions, concerns, and more. I also cover this topic with a little more detail in my How SEO Can Boost Your Marketing Automation Efforts talk and blog post. Free Keyword Research Tools Google Google Search Console Google Trends Answer the Public Keyworddit ahrefs Keyword Generator   1. Google Just search a general topic in your industry or a keyword for which you’d like […]

69% of B2B Marketers are increasing content marketing budgets or holding steady from their budgets last year. Meaning, the content marketing space is noisy and full of marketers trying to gain attention/get their message across. Add on the shift to work from home and increase in digital services and online ordering and marketers have a unique opportunity to intercept more prospects than ever before.   It’s important to have a clear plan to ensure you capitalize on your content marketing efforts. Before we dive into how to maximize reach for […]

Today, conventional banks and credit unions have an ever-growing pool of competition. Thanks to the emergence of more and more challenger “banks” like Simple, Chime and Card, as well as the growing prevalence and usage of payment apps like Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo, Cash App and Zelle, consumers are presented with more options for fulfilling their monetary needs than ever before.   The increase in competition has made it harder than ever to acquire a new customer or gain a new account – which means that when you do, you […]

Based on our new normal, we can determine this year’s online holiday shopping experience will be very different in comparison to previous years. This is the time to start planning and get ready for the holiday season. This goes for all ecommerce retailers that have already open their doors post-phase I of the pandemic and those who are still in the process of doing so.   With the amount of uncertainties that lay ahead, one thing we can count on is that the holiday season formally begins with Cyber Week and […]

Virtual events are not a new concept. Prior to the pandemic, you might have attended the occasional webinar or virtual training session. However, since COVID-19 first made its way into the United States, we have seen a significant increase in all things digital—and events are no exception. Northstar Meetings Group surveyed 805 event planners and found that they are seeing an increase in demand for virtual events for the next 12-18 months. Event planners aren’t the only ones taking notice of the new trend—the technology sector is cashing in. In […]

From news sites to ecommerce stores and forums to social media, if you spend any amount of time on the web, you’ve almost certainly been exposed to what are called “cookie policy and consent interstitial pop up banners.” And if you’re like most, you’ve not only encountered them but been absolutely inundated by them. That’s because cookies on the web are ubiquitous.     Cookies are tiny bits of code that identify you and your browser for a variety of reasons. Some simply enable a website to function in a way that […]

I have been leading an agency in the Midwest for more than 20 years now. Reflecting back over the years, I can say that we have always welcomed the idea of a diverse and inclusive environment. We are inclusive. But I can’t say that we are diverse, at least not in a statistically balanced way. I know many other agency leaders in the Midwest and I see the same thing in their organizations. But it’s not just the agencies and leaders that I know personally: a lack of diversity exists […]

When emfluence was first contacted by UXPAKC (User Experience Professionals Association) about doing a presentation on web accessibility back in February, I was overjoyed. Not only had I spent seventeen years working in the accessibility field, but it was also an opportunity to present this topic in a different way.   Fifty-six million people in the United States are diagnosed with a disability with over fifty percent being 65 years or older. Although not all these people will need accessibility, it is still a significant number. More and more of […]

“With great power, comes great responsibility!” As the famous Peter Parker (aka Spider-Man) would say, building out an ecommerce website is no easy task, but the results of having one could bring you an average increase of 230% between year one and year three in revenue. Of course, actual revenue depends on your business, but the chart below should give you some great motivation to find out what having an ecommerce website could mean to you and your company.   Motivation, CHECK! Great, now comes the hard part. In this […]

On Thursday, May 28th, 2020 Google announced a new ranking signal that combines Core Web Vitals with their existing page experience signals (mobile-friendliness, safe-browsing, HTTPS, no intrusive interstitials).   This new ranking factor will not go live until at least 2021 and Google will provide at least a 6-month notice. See Google’s announcement here.   This is similar to other UX centered initiatives at Google (see the “Mobilegeddon” mobile-friendly update, the page speed update, the HTTPS update, and the interstitials update as examples) where they preannounce an algorithm update / […]

Even before the stay-at-home order was in place, I was an avid listener of podcasts. I subscribed to a few and frequently explored new podcasts as they became available. Podcasts were my go-to source, fulfilling my quest to learn more even when I didn’t have time to sit down, read books, or jump on the internet. They fit in when and where I need them, whether during my morning walk, while I’m cleaning the house, or when I’m in the car.   I have learned how to be better at […]

Did you know most of your data in Google Analytics may lie to you unless you know exactly how to interpret it correctly? Many times, a simple tagging error in Google Tag Manager or installing the Analytics code snippet in the wrong spot is the cause of inaccurate reporting data in your company dashboard.   As some of us continue to work from home during Coronavirus, getting your data right before things turn busy again is a must do as companies continue to use this time to improve operations and […]

For the past few months, the marketing landscape has been overrun by the Coronavirus pandemic. Businesses have spent countless hours making changes to their marketing strategy and formulating the correct messaging for their audience, to sound sincere but not trite. Just when we think we have settled into the new normal, we face a new obstacle: recession. The coronavirus has dissolved the longest economic expansion in U.S. history (CNBC) and companies are once again faced with how to survive. While this is the first recession to ever begin in the […]

In times of unpredictability, your customers are scouring budgets to find areas to reduce expenses. What can you do to make sure your organization is not on that list?   Be Proactive Reaffirm your value through regular communication. You don’t tell your significant other you love them once a year and hope they just assume everything is fine until further notice, right? You communicate. You share. You listen.   Communicate in a meaningful way. Generic newsletters are not enough. We say this often and it’s worth repeating: Personalize your communications. […]

In August 2019, Facebook released a new feature that makes it easier for businesses to chat with customers in Messenger. Facebook claims that their new lead generation in Messenger can assist businesses develop customer relationships.   According to Facebook, with Messenger you can: Reach the right prospects Ask the right questions Easily remind people to complete questions Nurture leads where they spend time Instantly close the loop with unqualified leads Integrate with your CRM   I don’t know about you, but that last bullet makes me incredibly happy as a […]

Can’t make it to one of our Weekly Emsights Q&A sessions? We’re recording as many of these as possible so that you can have them in one handy spot. We’re putting together this series based on your feedback, so if there’s a topic you’d like to see us cover about how the pandemic has impacted digital marketing, be sure to ask us in the comments section. Week Two: Diagnosing Dips in Organic Traffic   Week Three: Pivoting Your Content Strategy with Authenticity   Week Four: Rebalancing Your Email Strategy During […]