Marketing Plan

DEFINITION of 'Marketing Plan'

A marketing plan is a business's operational document for advertising campaigns designed to reach its target market. A marketing plan pulls together all the campaigns that will be undertaken over a period of time, with additional information on how they will be measured and monitored. The marketing plan interacts with other business operations in several ways, including:

Providing market research to support pricing decisions and new market entries.

Tailoring the main messages to different demographics and geographic areas.

Selecting the platforms for promoting the product or services - digital, radio, internet, trade magazine, etc. - and the mix of those platforms for each campaign.

Setting up the success metrics and the results reporting timelines.

A marketing plan is built off of a company's overall marketing strategy.

BREAKING DOWN 'Marketing Plan'

Marketing plans and strategies are often used interchangeably. This is because a marketing plan shouldn't exist without the big picture strategy backing it up. Sometimes you'll find the strategy and the plan are one document, especially for smaller companies that may only run one or two major campaigns in a year. In the strictest sense, however, the plan is what you are going to do on a monthly, quarterly or annual basis. The marketing strategy tackles the bigger question of what the value proposition is.

Creating a Marketing Plan

A marketing plan takes the value proposition of a business and sets out the schedule for a set period of time. Some marketing plans only cover a single quarter while others might cover a whole year. Ideally market research will have identified the platforms to reach the target audience - radio, social media, online ads, regional TV spots, etc. - as well as helped in crafting the key messages. The marketing plan covers the rationale for decisions and the overall marketing strategy in brief, and then focuses on the creation, timing and placement of specific campaigns and how the outcomes will be measured.

Executing a Marketing Plan

A marketing plan can be tweaked at any point based on the results. If digital ads are performing better than expected, for example, budget within a campaign can be moved to the higher performing platform or a new budget can be initiated. The challenge for the people managing the plan on any specific campaign is to give every platform the time to show results properly. Digital marketing tends to fire off results in near real-time, whereas TV ads require regular rotation to get any kind of market penetration. So there is a fine line between giving a specific element of a marketing plan too much or too little time to succeed.

In the traditional marketing mix model, a marketing plan would sit primarily under 'promotion' as one of the four Ps.

Source: Marketing Plan

Are You Ready to Give Location-Based Marketing a Try?

There are so many different ways to conduct your marketing campaign. Whether you use social media, email marketing, offline strategies, or even another avenue, there's really no wrong or right way to spread the word of what your company has to offer. And, as the Internet keeps taking over our lives, those methods will continue to grow. The problem is, getting a grasp on each different kind of marketing method is definitely a challenge.

We've got a new one for you, too. Are you ready to give location-based marketing a try? We think so! Just read on.

Understand the Purpose of Location-Based Marketing

Before you get all in on this new marketing trend, you need to understand what the purpose is. Location-based marketing is when you target your audience based on where they live, or where they are shopping from. It's using everything you know about their location to help target them effectively.

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For example, you're a shopping website and someone is purchasing gear from snowy Colorado? Then use that information to send them emails on a sale you're having on winter jackets. Do you see that most of your audience is coming from this type of climate altogether, while you're busy advertising t-shirts and wondering why you haven't made a sale? Then maybe it's time to change up your marketing campaign for different types of products altogether.

Know Your Own Location Market, First

Before you start taking note of your audience's location, you first need to evaluate your own distance. Is your company a local business? Or, do you reach out to people worldwide? Do most of your customers come from just in your state, or have you spread throughout the region? You need to be aware of this information about your own company before you move forward. Get a very good idea about where your current customers reside, and where your future audience may be located.

Be Sensitive to Location

In general, most people don't like their location being known. Having your location posted for all the world to see, or even given just a store you've just recently made a purchase from, can be risky. And, these days, it's getting much harder to avoid having your location listed. Not everyone is on board with this, but if you go about it the right way, then it can actually be quite nice for your customers.

If you plan on using location-based marketing to your advantage, then you need to be absolutely sensitive to your customer's location and be transparent with them about how you plan on using this information.

Combine eCommerce with Regular Commerce

While people often resort to shopping online, people still do most of their shopping at physical stores. This can make it difficult for companies to pull in location-based information about their shoppers. Therefore, there needs to be a way to combine eCommerce and ordinary commerce, so companies can essentially kill two birds with one stone.

How do you do this? Well, it's easy. When customers come into your store (if you have one), ask them to provide you with their e-mail address, or best way to get in contact. These days, some people are resistant about giving this information, but here's where you can be transparent with them. Of course, offer them incentives for providing you with such information.

Focus on the Millenials

Location-based marketing isn't just about location. It's also about the people behind those locations. And, in this day in age, it's all about the millennials. These are the people that are spending most of their time online. Millenials usually don't mind "checking in" when they go places, as they know it can help enhance their experience, wherever they may be. That being said, these millennials spend a lot of time doing research before they buy any product. So, if you're using location-based marketing, just make sure to keep all these points in mind. Like any type of marketing campaign, it may work with some but not with others.

The Mission Suite can help you get a solid grasp on your location-based marketing. Request a demo today to get started!

Source: Are You Ready to Give Location-Based Marketing a Try?

The Most-Read Digital Marketing Blog Posts of 2016

Hello friends! Happy New Year!

We're looking forward to a lot of exciting new products and services to share with you in 2017, including an upgrade to our blog. The exciting commitment we've made — Bruce made — is more posts by him. Stay connected with weekly posts from Bruce by subscribing to the blog here.

In 2016 we were busy bringing digital marketers answers to the toughest questions surrounding SEO, content marketing and PPC. Out of more than 100 articles, these are the top twelve most-read articles on the Bruce Clay Blog this year.

From managing SEO projects to understanding the Facebook algorithm, keeping your website fresh to disavowing links, here's the year's most popular posts for you to read up on as you head into the New Year!

Just getting started optimizing websites? Here's a SEO checklist to keep on-hand during your projects. It's a good list to keep in-hand as you embark on an SEO project. We update this SEO list regularly so it reflects all the updates to ranking factors as they emerge.

PageRank is the score Google gives pages to when determining the quality and quantity of links pointing to a web page. Find out PageRank is a critical SEO component and how to better your PageRank.

If you're looking to hire an in-house SEO analyst, we want to help you find the right one. That's because our most successful SEO consulting happens when there's a competent SEO manager working in-house. So, we compiled the questions we would ask of a prospective SEO analyst in an interview. It's a must-read for anyone making hiring digital marketing hiring decisions.

The digital marketing conference calendar is your one-stop shop for planning your digital marketing conference attendance. Discover more than 100 search engine optimization, paid search, social media and content marketing events happening around the world. This conference calendar is updated regularly, and undergoes a massive update each January. Next week, the digital marketing conference calendar will be published anew to reflect the conferences of 2017! Subscribe to the blog to get the 2017 edition delivered straight to your inbox.

One of the factors Google takes into consideration when determining a site's maintenance (an important ranking factor) is how up-to-date the content is. This article explains the process of cataloging content, identifying what needs to be updated, evaluating content performance, strategizing content updates and monitoring the results post-update.

If you're researching a site you're working on, investigating a competitor's site, or trying to locate something specific online, advanced search operators can come in extremely useful. Develop ninja-like search skills with this handy guide.

Digital marketing thought-leaders Bruce Clay, Eric Enge, Cindy Krum and more shared where they were anticipating in the industry for 2016. It's interesting to look back on this January article now and see how accurate their predictions were. Next month we'll have a new predictions post for 2017. Subscribe to the blog to get the predictions for 2017 when we publish them next month!

Learn about mobile SEO and how to take your mobile user experience and mobile search rankings from good go great with this hands-on optimization checklist! We updated this post in light of Google's change to a mobile-first index  as well as new technologies including AMP and PWAs.

A September 2016 update of Penguin — Google's link analysis algorithm — brought the sophistication with which Google judges links into sharp focus. It's vital that SEOs closely evaluate every link pointing to their site to determine its quality and relevance. If the link is found wanting, it's time to disavow. This article is your complete guide to disavowing links for Google and Bing.

Facebook's News Feed filtration system takes into consideration as many as 100,000 individually weighted factors to deliver the most authoritative, relevant, and timely content to individuals. Learn more about these factors and how to optimize your content on Facebook to increase your organic reach.

If you want to hire a social media manager but want some guidance on vetting candidates, this article will guide you through the criteria we would look for in a social media manager and the questions we would ask.

We are excited to see what 2017 has in store for digital marketers. Bruce will be a familiar face on the blog tackling critical "why does this matter?" questions to help the C-suite make strategic decisions. And we'll continue to cover breaking SEO, PPC, content marketing and social media news, and provide in-depth, tactical guides to fuel your next digital marketing win.

To stay in-the-know subscribe to get posts from the Bruce Clay Blog delivered straight to your inbox.

About the Author

Social Media Editor Kristi Kellogg is a journalist, news hound and social (media) butterfly. Her articles appear in newspapers, magazines, across the Internet and in books such as "Content Marketing Strategies for Professionals" and "The Media Relations Guidebook." Head to Kristi's author profile to connect with her on Twitter and Google+.

Source: The Most-Read Digital Marketing Blog Posts of 2016

10 Digital Media and Marketing Predictions for 2017

2016 has been a year of shifts in social media, technology and digital marketing. Influencer marketing went mainstream, the internet became all about video and every digital marketer is looking for a way to connect business outcomes to their social media efforts.

So what's in store for 2017? We queried a panel of digital marketing and technology experts about their predictions for the future of influencer marketing, digital customer service and more. Here's what they had to say.

Video:

According to Five9 chief marketing officer Kevin Gavin, video customer service will go mainstream:

As the modern customer increasingly feels empowered to communicate with brands via various channels like phone calls, texts, social media and more, the rise in video communication will become more mainstream. Just as social media brought on a new way to communicate with consumers, video will be a powerful tool to ease pain points in an easy and efficient manner. In 2017, more businesses will move to adopt video as the new normal in customer service or risk getting left behind.

AdRoll CMO and president Adam Berke says marketing technology will bring even more democratization for video:

Advances in marketing tech that have made tools cheaper, more effective and more accurate give small and midsized marketers access to sophisticated, powerful technology without requiring the budget of their Fortune 500 counterparts. This will be especially true for video advertising: Many marketers who never would have previously considered TV advertising can now easily integrate an online video strategy as offerings become better and more ubiquitous.

Attribution:

Joe Zawadzki, CEO and founder of MediaMath, believes 2017 will be the age of attribution:

Marketers are signing up for outcomes, not inputs, inside of their own organizations, and they are increasingly asking the question of who watches the watchers, who grades the homework of a dynamic and diverse supply chain? Programmatic done right is attributed based on impact on true business goals, and it lets marketers see through channels and partners to the consumer behind all of those screens.

Berke also believes attribution will be super-important in 2017:

When marketers see increased spend that doesn't correlate to faster growth rates, they want to know why. This is because a lot of clicks are from people who would've converted anyway. For the next 50 percent of offline ad spend to move to digital, marketers need to be able to measure efficacy beyond last-click measurement. Major players like Google and Facebook need to demonstrate how non-direct-response formats like video drive business results, and that inherently means better attribution.

Predictive analytics:

Gavin believes analytics will help bring about predictive customer service:

With the rise of analytics, businesses will reap the benefits of things like seeing a customer's history immediately when they contact customer service and providing personalized experiences for consumers based on likes and preferences. This technology will also predict what consumers need based on patterns in their customer journey, allowing for agents to proactively reach out to consumers before the problem is even realized.

But predictive analytics will be more than a customer service tool, says Leanplum CEO Momchil Kyurkchiev:

Smart applications will proactively anticipate user desires to satisfy the moment. Predictive analytics won't just be an add-on for brands; it will become a must-have to understand and retain users.

According to Xomad CEO Rob Perry, 2017 will bring about a re-evaluation of traditional qualitative metrics and analytics:

Cost-per-engagement models instead of potential impressions will provide more accurate pricing and greater return on investment for influencer strategies. New standards will allow reach and engagement to be meaningfully compared across Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.

Influencer marketing:

Perry says live and real-world initiatives will combat the lack of authenticity, and brands will turn to micro-influencers to build authenticity.

Brands will rely on real-world influencer events and activations to build more organic, nonscripted content with higher engagement, while agencies gravitate toward livestreaming and real-time social media platforms. At the same time, brands will become increasingly dependent on micro-influencers with high engagement in niche verticals, which will be utilized in mass quantities (thousands per campaign) to generate more organic and engaging content.

Marketing technology:

Kyurkchiev believes mobile teams need more intelligent marketing automation:

Mobile teams will invest heavily in automation campaigns that contain personalized parameters to move users toward conversions, save acquisition costs and drive more ROI on every new user. For example, travel experiences will draw from travel history, price trends, seasonality and more, with smarter travel apps tailoring each and every piece of your trip.

And Perry says marketing tech will combine influencer authenticity with target precision:

With improvements in influencer marketing tech, agencies will be able to hit precise target demographics, verticals, locations, etc. Smaller agencies will need to adopt the use of marketing tech platforms in order to compete, especially as the industry looks toward using mass numbers of micro-influencers.  

Readers: What do you think 2017 has in store for digital marketers?

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Source: 10 Digital Media and Marketing Predictions for 2017

MindVision’s Professional Web Designs Help Increase Valuable Website Traffic and Return on Investment

One of the most trusted and highly recommended full-service digital agencies of Adelaide – MindVision has a new web design and user experience team dedicated to ensuring that the websites they create work for their clients' business, look fantastic and convert visitors into customers. This is the reason why when it comes to professional Software Development, Web Design, SEO and Data-Driven Digital Marketing Strategies – MindVision is always the first choice of several successful companies.

MindVision's team has been offering top-notch digital solutions since 1996 with Adelaide Web Design and development being at the forefront. The best thing about MindVision is that unlike other website developers – MindVision professional team fully understands that a website should not be only 'good looking', but it is also highly necessary for a website to be easy to navigate – which will ultimately have a positive impact on the sales and will help the company increase Return on Investment.

"We are dedicated to putting your business first. Listening, understanding, and learning about your market, opportunities, and goals are vital to our, and your, success. So, if you are looking for a full-service digital agency in Adelaide, and a company whose team puts clients' needs as first priority & is always ready to go an extra mile to help get their customers increase their Valuable Website Traffic and ROI. Then come to us and you will never be disappointed by our services", stated the spokesperson of MindVision.

In summary, if any company is in search of a full-service digital agency in Adelaide, that offers a comprehensive range of services including Software Development, Web Designing, Mobile App Designing, Social Media Marketing and SEO; believes in adopting new techniques and technologies in order to improve their customer service; and most importantly – has a highly qualified & well experienced team that puts customers' demands as its top priority & has successfully served hundreds of companies by now. Then MindVision could the perfect choice, as it offers all of this and more.

About: MindVision is an experienced and capable software, website development and digital marketing firm based in Adelaide. MindVision has been offering top-notch quality Software Development, Web Design, and SEO services; and professional Data-Driven Digital Marketing Strategies – since 1996. The highly-experienced team of MindVision has by now helped hundreds of companies in achieving their website development and digital marketing goals, and have helped them increase Valuable website traffic and ROI. For more information about MindVision and its services, please contact:

Media ContactCompany Name: MindVisionContact Person: Media RelationsEmail: Send EmailAddress:Level 6, 90 King William Street, Adelaide, 5000Country: AustraliaWebsite: https://mindvision.com.au/

Source: MindVision's Professional Web Designs Help Increase Valuable Website Traffic and Return on Investment

Train improvements and marketing credited for 2016 peak ridership

The Eagle Cap Excursion Train rolled out of the 2016 year with peak sales and attendance, much to the credit of the Friends of the Joseph Branch, the volunteer staff and train crew, and creative commercial partnerships throughout the region.

During 2016's train season, May through October, the Friends organized 16 runs, carrying a record-breaking total of 1,609 passengers, an average of 100 passengers per run. To attract this number of riders, the Friends board of directors cast a broad marketing net, including a website presence, advertisements, brochures and visitors' guides. A bonus was being featured on KGW's "Grant's Getaways."

"Internet searches accounted for about 19 percent of the 477 booking transactions last year," said Janet Dodson, marketing coordinator for the excursion train. "Thirteen percent of the bookings were made by people who found out about the train by word of mouth, while 12 percent of the bookings were made by people who identified themselves as local residents, living within 50 miles."

With such a visible presence near the newly built depot, more than 4 percent of the riders who made reservations said that they saw the train or depot while traveling through Elgin. Another 3 percent made bookings after seeing the train featured on "Grant's Getaways." More than 22 percent of the bookings were directly traceable to printed promotional marketing.

The breadth of the organization's successful marketing effort has drawn riders to the train from all across the U.S. "Nearly 30 percent of riders traveled more than 250 miles (to Elgin)," Dodson said. "More than 20 percent traveled from 101 to 250 miles away, and almost 32 percent came from 51 to 100 miles away."

One big project that heightened public awareness and the curbside appeal of the train was its new paint job. Volunteer engineer David Arnold of La Grande organized the fundraising to do it and partnered with Crisp Colors of La Grande to do some of the painting.

"Crisp Colors figured how to paint the train at the yard," Arnold said, "and it was going to cost a fair amount of money to do this. I sought funds from various sources, including private sources, Anderson Perry, Barreto Manufacturing and some matching funds from the county to match a private donation. All together, we were able to raise $19,000 to do this job."

After the funds were secured, the painting work began in phases.

"I had Crisp Colors do the basic silver, the main color on the train," he said, "and (for the design) I chose a traditional look based on the old Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Passenger trains, which was a blue stripe down the whole train that framed the windows and then a yellow trim above and below that. It's a look that would be consistent with the era of the rail cars that we're using so it fit perfectly for that. I also had enough paint out of that money to paint the locomotives."

After Crisp Colors did their part, Arnold went on site day after day painting the whole train by himself with some help on details from Ed Spaulding and his wife, Leslie Wood. Arnold also painted the caboose inside and out as well as the interior and trim inside the cars.

"It's like the curbside appeal of a home you're trying to sell. It had that kind of effect," Arnold said. "It was really remarkable. It made a big difference in people's attitudes toward the railroad and also on the marketing side with an attraction that people wanted to be part of."

The train's new design was completed just before the filming of "Grant's Getaways" and new photographs of the train were quickly circulated throughout all their marketing venues.

Besides this project, another big draw has been the inclusion of partnering businesses on the train runs. Partners like the Copper Belt Winery, Terminal Gravity, Umapine Creamery, Joseph Trading Post and Chuckwagon Sisters Catering, in addition to their long-standing partners, Ten Depot Street and Alegre Travel, all participate in some way with runs that feature or serve their products. Then there are businesses like Anderson Perry who sponsor the Veterans' Train run. It's been a huge success.

Another change that was made in 2016 that contributed to a robust business year had to do with the depot itself. The Friends have opened the depot four days each week during the season, and they have a part-time attendant on staff there to welcome people, answer questions and assist them at the gift shop inside.

Dodson said that all the proceeds from the train and depot sales, after expenses are paid, go to the Wallowa Union Railroad Authority (WURA) to help with the general railroad maintenance, equipment repair and maintenance costs.

Source: Train improvements and marketing credited for 2016 peak ridership

Affiliate Marketing - 13 Highest Popular Networks for Affiliate Marketers

Make Money Online vi Affiliate Marketing- Top 10 Best Affiliate Systems or Networks for Affiliates. When you have a blog or business, you would obviously want to increase traffic and make sure that you have the network and connections. With a website, you will need to create a network in order to further your success and get the right people you need when the time comes. How to Start Making Money as an Affiliate Marketer. That is why affiliates are very important to have. Being an affiliate will definitely help both you and the person you work with. You get paid for every click (or however you agreed upon), and they get more traffic going to their website. But what exactly is affiliation and where can you find it? We show you the top 10 best affiliate systems or networks for affiliates. affiliate marketing - Top 10 Networks for Affiliates Marketers        Importance of Affiliates: Affiliation is connecting or hiring companies or people to sell your product in order to create profit. You do so through creating a network with others and in exchange of something, they will feature or advertise you. Affiliate marketing can be transacted through the form of cash, featuring of their websites, or through other means as accepted by both parties. This is very important, as it boosts your business without the need of looking for other marketing strategies. It's a quick way to gain traffic and sell your items and services. There are tons of ways where you can find good affiliates to work with. You can find them online and in other websites, through companies or freelancers. You can even affiliate with bloggers and pay them through features, cash, or the products and services you have to offer. This is where the Internet can be the key to your finding of good affiliates. Top 10 CPA Networks for Affiliates

Top 10 Best Affiliate Systems or Networks for Affiliate Marketers.

Here is the List of The 10 Best Affiliate Networks for Affiliates:       1. CJ Affiliate Network CJ.com The Most Popular of them all Affiliate Networks Worldwide

CJ helps your website create profit through their various advertisements that can be found on their website for you to post. They are a legitimate company that can track sales through the people who visit their page from your website.

CJ (Commission Junction) often have impressive list of many demanded environment-friendly donations of the "Green" product categories. Such as: Beauty, Clothing/Apparel, Food and Drinks, Electronics and Computer, Health & Wellness, Home & Garden, Recreation, Gifts & Flowers, and Leisure and travel. Consumers demand has often shown a steady growth for many years with no slowing down signs.

Advantages to join this affiliate system or network: ➤ CJ targets a larger merchant compared to ShareASale.➤ Better quality products compared to ClickBank.

       2. ShareASale- 

ShareASale Affiliate They have over 4,000 affiliates to work with, and they are one of the most popular and admired companies out there chosen by bloggers and other website owners.

ShareASale is one affiliate program mainly servicing more than 2500 merchants (advertisers) and over million affiliates. ShareASale is a merchant mix, which goes well with many niches such as web development, green products, Internet marketing, or niche fashion.

Advantages of joining this network Affiliate ➤ Product or services convert well in many niche that is many "likes" to affiliates. ➤ Provide niche brands with the strong ability of connecting with major brands unlike Google that offers niche products. ➤ Affiliate interface is very user-friendly.➤ Offers more transparent ranking compared to its competitors such as LinkShare. 3. ClickBank It deals with digital products that can be easily downloaded after purchase. It holds a wide variety of products mostly software products such as gambling, Health & fitness products, eBooks, green products, wine, cooking, food, and e-business, self-help eBook products and e-marketing. Advantages of joining Clickbank ➤ Easiest network to do as an affiliate marketing program. ➤ It has always shown high or quality score system shows of products. ➤ Unlike Adsense, can easily promote many products of your liking.➤ Deliver almost 70 percent commission per product price.

4. Rakuten Affiliate Network For those who want to be paid through surveys, then Rakuten is the one for you. They don't have the huge number of advertisers as compared to the other top websites, but they are reputable and easy to work with.

Rakuten Affiliate Network is useful especially for aspiring merchants who often research on popular brands with niche affiliate marketing options.

Advantages of joining this affiliate network ➤ Convenience to both merchants and affiliate. ➤ All demanding merchant services saving time and efforts.➤ Affiliate can easily choose partners through comparing commission rate, products,    and benefits.        5. Affiliate Window They are one of the best found in Europe, with thousands of publishers working with them. They give you marketing strategies you'll be able to work with as well.Affiliate Window is among the largest and award-winning affiliate marketing companies in the UK with more than 75,000 registered affiliates and 750 blue-chip merchants. Affiliate Window is a perfect option for publisher (affiliate) or advertisers (vendors/ merchants) networks. Advantages to join this Affiliate Window ➤ Offers a wide range of products or services in ecommerce marketplace thus enabling partners to grow through engaged traffic, technology, and profitable ROI. ➤ Analytics help in taking critical business decisions.➤ Affiliate will get you get lump sum commission. 6. PepperJam Affiliate Network

PepperJam has that peppy interface that makes you want to work with them because of their modern professionalism. They have over 200,000 publishers and over a thousand advertisers to work with.PepperJam is becoming popular and biggest affiliate website with most trusted brands. It offers best products for bloggers and website owners who earn through affiliate marketing. Advantages of joining PepperJam Affiliate Network ➤ Link all your favorite products. ➤ No nasty and cheap books to read. ➤ Options of direct link products that has variety of links, which includes text, images, banners or buttons.➤ Reasonable statistical information.        7. Amazon Associates Program This may be one of the most popular of all affiliation programs because of the website alone. You can get up to 10% commission working with them.Amazon Associates Program is the most well-known and largest affiliate networks over the world with more than 40,000 products and 100,000 book titles in hundreds of subcategories or categories. Advantages of joining this Amazon Associates Program: ➤ Amazon is the top rusted brand according to the Reputation Institute. ➤ Affiliate often offer personalized ads for visitors, have online stores and display    product reviews. ➤ Offers modest user interface when compared to other competitors such as CJ.➤ Affiliate will give you an access to the Associates Central – Amazon's associates for building links, viewing traffic, latest news and earning reports. How to Increase your Sales on Amazon        8. eBay Partner Network Depending on the items you are selling, you get to earn a lot for every share and sale you make with your customized link. ➤ Ebay affiliate Ebay affiliates can always diversify their offerings with many developing new marketing channels alongside the CJ merchants that often focus on green products or services. Advantages of joining PepperJam Affiliate Network: ➤ Wide a variety of products/ companies/services to promote. ➤ Exclusive network, which offers green products. Tips to Sell on eBay 9. Neverblue Affiliate Program NeverBlue is another global affiliate marketing network, which bring online advertisers and affiliates together as partners. Advantages of joining Neverblue Affiliate Program: ➤ Competitive commission approximately 10 percent on each sale, which you  generate distinct other network of 8.5 percent. ➤ Loves their affiliates thus giving instantaneous support and great in their problems. 10. Link Connector LinkConnector is another well-constructed affiliate marketing program that fits professional business model, helping affiliates and merchants increase online sales.  It includes cloth & fabrics, electronics, food, common metal, extreme sports, Alternative fuel, farm and gardening. Advantages of joining this LinkConnector: ➤ Offer pay-per-click pay-per-sale and , pay-per-lead commission. ➤ Offer assured earnings and better with no CDR policy worry. ➤ LinkConnector Treat affiliates fairly well and trusted in all the time payment.

11. Trade Doubler

They have over 2,000 advertisers and are popular in both US and UK, making it easy to work with them when around the area. 12. iTunes Affiliate Program You earn a commission every time someone purchases songs or albums from iTunes thanks to your sharing!        13. SkimLinks If you are looking for a new and cool way to affiliate with a company, then SkimLinks and their 20,000 merchants have got it all for you. In Conclusion With your business or website, you must learn how to create close connections and be able to work with people who can help you boost your traffic and audience. With affiliation, you can do just that! It's a very important thing to do when you want to make yourself and your website grow, so hopefully, these top 10 best affiliate systems or networks for affiliates will have you be able to meet the right website owners you can work with. So what are you waiting for? Find the best affiliates for your website today. You'll definitely reap the benefits of it in the long run. In conclusion, these are the List of Top 10 Best Affiliate Systems or Networks for Affiliate Marketers. Did you enjoy the article or have any suggestions on finding the right affiliate to work with? Then comment down below, we'd love to hear what you have to say about the topic!

Source: Affiliate Marketing - 13 Highest Popular Networks for Affiliate Marketers

What Is AResponsive Web Design

What Is a Responsive Web Design: Understanding the Basics

Today, as users, we're constantly on-the-go. The majority of website visits start on mobile devices, and according to eMarketer, Mcommerce sales for US retail will be increasing with each coming year. As a result, optimizing website accessibility and user experience on tablets, smartphones, and every device imaginable is becoming increasingly important in order for all businesses to stay relevant. To accommodate users, websites that are designed responsively are typically the best option available.

Responsive design is an approach to web development by which a website is planned, designed, and developed to appear optimally in a range of devices. The phrase "appear optimally" refers to a page being readable, easy-to-navigate, and usable with minimal panning and scrolling. Responsive Design is not just a method or technique - it is a fundamental ideology about how a site is designed and built.

What Is A Responsive Web Design?

Responsive design is a front-end development process intended for molding website design and user experience to the user's device, whether desktop, tablet, or mobile.

In responsive, a cascading style sheet (CSS)--essentially what defines the format and layout of a web page, is leveraged to permit a website to scale to the width of a browser, independent of device type.

Javascript and js libraries such as JQuery and Modernizr are also used to accompany this behavior for resizing more dynamic objects like masonry galleries as well as converting mouse activities to touch activities.

Unlike adaptive design or mobile detection, responsive design does not leverage device detection, so rather than querying the device with backend logic, CSS media queries are used to determine things like the width and orientation of the device screen--your browser.

Basics of Responsive Design

Two basic principles exist in responsive design, the use of breakpo ints and fluid scaling:Breakpoints

CSS3 media queries create conditional boundaries at which the width of a specific device type's browser will then trigger alternate styles. Here at Blue Fountain Media, we generally use maximum-width breakpoint, to create a desktop-first (scale down) build versus a minimum-width boundary, for a mobile-first (scale up) build. Queries can also be used to determine height and even device orientation.

Breakpoint sizes (we'll use widths from here on out) can be set in px or em. The differentiation in modern browsers is negligible, though, compared to a few years back. Breakpoints can be set at any size but they tend to align with the most common dimensions of each Desktop, Tablet Portrait, Mobile Landscape, and Mobile Portrait. Generally speaking, these tend to be 1200/960px, 768px, 480px, and 320px, wide respectively, though industry standards are constantly changing as new devices are released.

Fluidity

Fluid scaling can be ach ieved in a few different ways, but it will always involve percentage or em values to permit a container to scale within the bounds of its parent elements, and ultimately the browser. Fluid scaling is necessary to achieve responsiveness between breakpoints, to maximize your real estate, as well as to maintain the flow of columns in a responsive grid.

A simple example of a fluidly scaling object would be an HTML page consisting of one block with width of 100% and a height of "auto". As the browser changes width, the block scales with it, proportionally. Where you choose to apply this scaling at the granular level is up to you but fluidity should always exist at the top level of any responsive container.

For more details on our products and services, please feel free to visit us at Best Online Marketing Company, Online Marketing Company India & Internet Marketing India

Source: What Is AResponsive Web Design

Top 15 Marketing Books of 2016

What a year it's been!

So what about marketing? Well, the world of marketing continues to evolve and change at breakneck speed, leaving marketers racing to keep up with what's new and what's actually working and what's becoming less effective.

Enter marketing books. This year has yielded a bumper crop of great books that are helping marketers masterfully navigate what must seem like uncharted waters.

As the host of The Marketing Book Podcast, each week I publish an interview with the author of a bestselling marketing or sales book. And yes, I read every book featured on the podcast (which, sadly, has caused my Scotch drinking to plummet).

This month the podcast celebrated its 100th episode in grand fashion with Dr. Philip Kotler, "The Father of Modern Marketing" talking about his new book "Marketing 4.0: From Traditional to Digital."

So I offer this list of the top 15 marketing books of 2016. This list includes books that were published in 2016 and which were featured on The Marketing Book Podcast.

Were there other great marketing books? Undoubtedly so, but these books I've read and recommend. Please share your book recommendations in the comments section below.

1. Marketing 4.0: Moving from Traditional to Digital by Philip Kotler, Hermawan Kartajaya, and Iwan Setiawan

Philip Kotler is the author of over 55 marketing books and is widely regarded as the Father of Modern Marketing. He has been on the faculty of Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management since 1962.

"Marketing 4.0" book does a masterful job at explaining the tectonic shifts that have occurred in the marketing world which are largely a result of technology and connectivity. If you want to better understand the new rules of how to market and grow your business in today's era of the empowered and connected customer, "Marketing 4.0" will explain it for you like no other book. (Marketing Book Podcast episode)

2. Malcolm McDonald on Marketing Planning: Understanding Marketing Plans and Strategy (2nd Edition)

Malcolm McDonald, the author of 46 books, enjoys a global reputation as a leading authority on marketing, particularly marketing planning.

In this updated second edition of his bestseller he states: "This book is, quite simply, about how to develop a strategy for making lots of money." In the book, he explains that most companies cannot answer the two simple questions that are required for a successful marketing plan. The book walks you through exactly how to go about getting (or developing) answers to those two questions. And don't be surprised when you find that the answers to those questions are found not in promotional activities, but in business strategy. (Marketing Book Podcast episode)

3. Hug Your Haters: How to Embrace Complaints and Keep Your Customers by Jay Baer

Jay Baer is the New York Times bestselling author of five books and is the most retweeted person in the world among digital marketers

In "Hug Your Haters" Jay explains that "haters are the canary in the coal mine." 95% of unhappy customers will not complain. They will just go away. But that five percent of your unhappy customers who do care enough to complain give you a roadmap for how to fix whatever ails your business and increase your customer retention. And a five percent increase in customer retention boosts profits by 25 to 85 percent. (Marketing Book Podcast episode)

4. Hacking Marketing: Agile Practices to Make Marketing Smarter, Faster, and More Innovative by Scott Brinker

Scott Brinker is the editor of the Chief Marketing Technologist blog, and may be best known for his marketing technology landscape supergraphic (which currently shows the logos of over 3,500 marketing technology companies).

It turns out that modern marketing has more in common with the software development than it does with classic marketing management. Not surprisingly, some of the first companies to discover this were software companies. But the idea of managing your marketing like the ongoing development and refinement of software is moving beyond tech companies. And fortunately, you don't have to be a techie to understand how this more effective approach to marketing management can be implemented. (Marketing Book Podcast episode)

5. Aligned to Achieve: How to Unite Your Sales and Marketing Teams into a Single Force for Growth by Tracy Eiler and Andrea Austin

The co-authors are the Chief Marketing Officer and the VP of Enterprise Sales at InsideView, a software as a service company that has profitably aligned its sales and marketing efforts.

According to SiriusDecisions, when sales and marketing teams are aligned they are averaging 19 percent faster revenue growth and 15 percent higher profitability. That's why sales and marketing alignment is not some nice to have, feelgood corporate kumbaya. It's a requirement for faster, more profitable growth. "Aligned To Achieve" walks you through granular details of how to achieve greater sales and marketing alignment. (Marketing Book Podcast episode)

6. Disruptive Marketing: What Growth Hackers, Data Punks, and Other Hybrid Thinkers Can Teach Us About Navigating the New Normal by Geoffrey Colon

Geoffrey Colon is a Communications Designer and Social Data Expert at Microsoft. Prior to joining Microsoft in 2013, Geoffrey was vice president of digital strategy at Ogilvy & Mather.

This book is like a lit Molotov cocktail being thrown on the barricade of the sclerotic traditional marketing that is holding companies back as their upstart competition eviscerates them. The book walks you through all the change that has occurred, but more importantly points to where the future of marketing is going.  Geoffrey includes sections on the mindset and skills of successful future marketers, the end of the marketing department and the rules for disruptive marketers. (Marketing Book Podcast episode)

7. What Customers Crave: How to Create Relevant and Memorable Experiences at Every Touchpoint by Nicholas Webb

Known as the "Innovation Evangelist" Nicholas Webb is the author of several books and has been awarded over 45 patents by the US Patent and Trademark Office. He is a Senior Partner at Cravve, a customer experience consulting firm.

In this hyperconnected, hypercompetitive business world everyone has a megaphone, and if the experience your customers have is a bad one, they will not return. And, they'll tell the world on social media and review sites how awful you are. But, if your customers have a great experience and you delight them, not only will that be surprising, they will remain loyal customers and tell others.

But more important, customer experience is where the money is: 70% of Americans are willing to spend more with companies they believe provide an excellent customer experience. And, the probability of selling to a new prospect is less than 20%, while the probability of selling to an existing customer is 60 to 70 percent. (Marketing Book Podcast episode)

8. Get Scrappy: Smarter Digital Marketing for Businesses Big and Small by Nick Westergaard

Nick Westergaard is the Chief Brand Strategist at Brand Driven Digital, where he helps build better brands at organizations of all sizes — from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies.

In "Get Scrappy," he explains that there is a firehose of shiny new things online: new channels, platforms, tools and networks constantly coming at you. There's also a myth that only big brands with big budgets, big teams, and big technology can do big things with digital marketing. And there's a growing obstacle the author refers to as "checklist marketing" where marketers focus on checking things off lists instead of on what makes the most sense. "Get Scrappy" demystifies marketing today in a way that makes sense for businesses and lays a foundation for action that will produce measureable business results. (Marketing Book Podcast episode)

9. SEO for Growth: The Ultimate SEO Guide For Marketers, Web Designers & Entrepreneurs by John Jantsch and Phil Singleton

John Jantsch is a marketing consultant, speaker and bestselling author of four other books including "Duct Tape Marketing." Phil Singleton is a self-described "SEO grunt" who is the founder of a marketing agency whose services include search engine optimization.

I never would have thought I'd get so fired up by a book about search engine optimization, but "SEO for Growth" did it. Here's why - SEO has changed a lot recently and there are a lot of lingering misperceptions about what you need to do to get your company to show up on the first page of a search engine. Plus there is a staggering amount of money being paid to many SEO firms and experts that is wasted. In fact, a lot of that work being done is actually causing harm to their clients.

"SEO For Growth" is like the scene in "The Wizard of Oz" when Toto pulls back the curtain on the mysterious and all powerful Oz. For too many businesses, SEO has been perceived as Oz. But now the curtain has been pulled back for all to see how it actually works and discover why SEO is not such an ominous, intimidating thing. (Marketing Book Podcast episode)

10. UnMarketing: Everything Has Changed and Nothing is Different by Scott and Alison Stratten

In 2009 Scott and Alison Stratten wrote the bestseller "UnMarketing: Stop Marketing, Start Engaging." In that book, they explained that the landscape of business-customer relationships was changing, and it offered up innovative alternatives to the old "push and pray" approach. The book showed how to unlearn the old way of interruptive, irritating marketing and attract the right customers and build trust through listening and engagement.

In this second edition, Scott and Alison are back with all the brilliance and gut-busting laugh-out-loud humor of the first edition, but with new content and commentary to reflect the rapidly changing landscape we all live, buy, and work in today. (Marketing Book Podcast episode)

11. Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade by Robert Cialdini

Dr. Robert Cialdini is best known for his 1984 book on persuasion and marketing, "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion." The book has sold over three million copies and has been translated into 31 languages.

In "Pre-Suasion," Dr. Cialdini draws on the same combination of rigorous scientific research and accessibility that made his book "Influence" a bestseller. But what is surprising about the techniques presented in Pre-Suasion is that you don't have to change a listener's attitudes or beliefs – all that's required is to redirect their focus of attention before a relevant action. In other words, the secret doesn't lie in the message itself, but in the key moment before that message is delivered. If you liked Dr. Cialdini's book, "Influence," you'll absolutely love "Pre-Suasion." (Marketing Book Podcast episode)

12. Small Data: The Tiny Clues That Uncover Huge Trends by Martin Lindstrom

Martin Lindstrom is one of the world's premier brand building experts, a New York Times and Wall St Journal best-selling author of five other groundbreaking books, and was recognized by Time Magazine as one of the top 100 Most Influential People in the World.

In "Small Data" he demonstrates that marketers' preoccupation with digital data is endangering high-quality insights and observations, and that if companies want to truly understand consumers, big data offers a valuable, but incomplete solution. The small data that companies are missing comes from spending time with consumers in their daily lives, observing them and probing for their real emotional desires, not just what they say they want. (Marketing Book Podcast episode​)

13. Invisible Influence: The Hidden Forces that Shape Behavior by Jonah Berger

Jonah Berger is a Marketing professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and is the author of the bestseller "Contagious: Why Things Catch On."

At the beginning of the book, Jonah Berger makes a joke about the fact that most people don't think they are influenced by others but by themselves. He states, "Sure, other people might follow the herd, but not me." That's what I thought.

The book then walks you through the how and why of this invisible influence that is exerted on people. But it's not a matter of monkey see, monkey do. We're talking about humans here, so things are not so simple. Sure, in some cases we conform, or imitate others around us. But in other cases we avoid particular choices or behaviors because other people are doing them. (Marketing Book Podcast episode)

14. The Agile Marketer: Turning Customer Experience Into Your Competitive Advantage by Roland Smart

Roland Smart serves as the VP of Social and Community Marketing at Oracle.

The Agile Marketer is not the very first book to explore how engineering your customer's experience will give you an enormous competitive advantage. What's different about this book is that Roland Smart explains how using an agile approach to managing your marketing can dramatically improve your customer's experience. (Marketing Book Podcast episode)

15. Chief Marketing Officers At Work by Josh Steimle

Josh Steimle is the founder and CEO of MWI, a digital marketing agency. He has written over 200 articles for publications like Forbes, Entrepreneur, Inc., Mashable, TechCrunch, and Time.

In "Chief Marketing Officers at Work," we have a very revealing look at what chief marketing officers are spending their time on and thinking about. You'll be surprised. The book contains 29 in-depth interviews with chief marketing officers from companies like, GE, Harvard Business School, The Home Depot, Nestle´ and Target.

One of the most interesting insights I gained from this book is how given the changes in marketing and how it's much more directly connected to revenues and growth, it's no surprise that the CEO position is increasingly being filled by former CMOs. (Marketing Book Podcast episode)

These Top 15 marketing books are just a part of what you need to be succeed in Modern Marketing. Click below to subscribe to weekly highlights from the blog to keep up with the latest marketing trends and best practices.

Source: Top 15 Marketing Books of 2016

12 Marketing Podcasts You Should Listen to Every Week

2017 is fast approaching--and if you're looking to learn something new or expand upon your existing knowledge of the marketing world, this is the place for you.

Podcasts are an amazing way to condense and pack a wealth of knowledge into a short space of time. And the best part? You can download or stream these on-the-go.

Think of it this way: The vast majority of us spend hours commuting to and from work. That's valuable time that you should be leveraging.

Here are twelve marketing podcasts that I personally listen to every week to improve my knowledge, hone my skills and keep my mind sharp:

1. #AskGaryVee

If you haven't heard of Gary Vaynerchuk, you've probably been living under a rock. Gary's "podcast" is great for visual learners. He streams each episode on YouTube and typically spends 15 to 30 minutes answering and debating questions. You can Tweet him by using #AskGaryVee, and your question may be featured on the next episode.

2. Louder Than Words

John Bonini's podcast is always entertaining because he interviews such an eclectic mix of successful people, from entrepreneurs to CEO's to creatives. This is your go-to podcast if you're looking to learn from the triumphs (and failures) of some really interesting people.

3. Copyblogger FM

Copyblogger has been going for more than a decade now, and their podcast section is great if you're looking to understand how you can fuse copywriting and marketing to optimize for success. Remember, the digital world is now driven by content. Become a pro so you can learn how to write genuine, authentic and persuasive copy that moves your customers towards a pre-identified action.

4. Duct Tape Marketing

The guys at Duct Tape Marketing run a really useful podcast for business owners looking to market and scale their business. Whether you're a seasoned marketing pro or a fresh-faced beginner, this podcast teaches you how to attract and convert leads, improve your social presence and make sure your website is performing at an optimum level.

5. SEO 101

I can't tell you how useful this podcast is for beginners in the SEO space. If you run a business or have any type of digital presence whatsoever, then the truth is you need to understand how SEO works. You don't need to be a technical wizard, either. This one is a great watch for newbies that don't want to feel overwhelmed.

6. Marketing Over Coffee

Hosts John Wall and Christopher Penn do exactly what it says on the tin. Every week, the duo records a rapid-fire, highly engaging podcast over a roast at a local coffee shop. It's a great, quick way to stay up-to-date with social networks, SEO, copywriting, email marketing, as well as "old school" offline marketing campaigns.

7. Edge of the Web Marketing

Edge of the Web is a weekly, hour long podcast that covers a ton of areas within digital marketing. Looking to brush up or wrap your head around website lead generation, SEO, search engine marketing, social media or just general internet marketing news? Then this is the place for you.

8. PNR: This Old Marketing

Hosts Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose cut through the crap and really show you how to perfect your content marketing strategies. These two gurus discuss how and why you should tell stories to attract and retain customers, and cover three or four stories in the news that showcase content marketing in action. A great actionable, results-focused podcast.

9. Social Media Marketing Happy Hour

This energetic, fun and uplifting podcast is designed for network marketers, small business owners, entrepreneurs, and anyone who's looking to grind and leverage the power of social media. Each episode is a quick, snappy 15-minutes, but it's packed with insight and nuggets to help you maximize platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

10. Marketing Smarts Podcast

If you're aspiring to be a savvy marketer, look no further. This weekly podcast features in-depth interviews with smart marketers from all walks of life. This podcast is very practical and results-focused, so you'll walk away with real insights and advice to put to work right away.

11. The 5 Minute Marketing Podcast

Yes, you read that right. If you're in need of a quick tip, this series is jam-packed with practical strategies and advice to keep you performing at a peak level. It's also hard to say no when you can easily find five minutes per day to pick up some new knowledge.

12. Getting Goosebumps

Shameless self-promotion? Maybe. But if you want to learn how the power of storytelling can unlock some remarkable changes within your business and your marketing strategy, then my podcast might be the one for you. Each week, I interview a range of figures, from HubSpot CEO Brian Halligan, to marketing guru Seth Godin, to Charity Water CEO Scott Harrison.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

Source: 12 Marketing Podcasts You Should Listen to Every Week

The When, Where & How of Using GIFs in Content Marketing

GIFs have evolved our visual language and the way we communicate with each other in a very short amount of time. They're everywhere now. Slack channels. Emails. Social networks. Articles. Comment sections. There isn't a digital content format or method of communication that hasn't been taken over by GIFs. They've become one of the internet's primary languages.

But – even though they're everywhere – a thoughtful, well-used and perfectly timed GIF is always a delight. This is because GIFs are effective. While a picture is worth a thousand words, Alex Chung (CEO of Giphy) pointed out that as the "average GIF contains sixty frames, then they're capable of conveying 60,000 words – the same as the average novel."

Given their popularity and ability to quickly and concisely convey emotions, elicit a laugh and so much more, marketers have started using GIFs in their content. Here's why:

GIFs are more interactive and visually appealing than images, but much cheaper than video

They're mobile-friendly given their small file size

Integrations with social networks make it easy to share GIFs across major players like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

There is an over abundance of existing GIFs to choose from, and creating original GIFs is very easy

Denny's, for example, is one of the best case studies of a brand that has used GIFs to engage with and entertain its audience. The brand has an awesome and hilarious presence on Tumblr with blog.dennys.com. The brand creates its own food-centric GIFs and has really tapped into the tone and humor that performs well on Tumblr. Engagement levels with each post are impressive.

In this post, you'll learn where GIFs fit within a content marketing strategy, where to make your own and how to avoid copyright issues.

It's Important to GIF Responsibly

As mentioned above, GIFs are a delight when they are thoughtfully employed and timed, but it should be emphasized that GIFs are ONLY a delight when thoughtfully employed and timed. Most companies have at least one person that abuses Slack's integration with Giphy, and they can be grating when misused.

When it comes to using GIFs within content, they should only be used when they serve the story you're telling. Don't use a GIF if it doesn't enhance the story you're telling or if your message would remain unchanged without it. Choose carefully. If a GIF doesn't serve a purpose, then it's just moving clutter. Here are a few use cases in which GIFs and content marketing make an excellent pair.

Explaining How to Do SomethingTutorials and guides are a staple in most content strategies. When showing your audience how a product works or how it can be used, it's much easier to do so with images than words. GIFs are great for step-by-step walkthroughs of software features, recipes, beauty product applications and so much more.

Bringing Data to LifeUsing infographics to visualize data in a palatable way is great, but animated infographics are next level. Showing how different metrics have changed over time, for example, looks great in GIF form. Also, breaking out a large infographic into smaller pieces – one GIF per data figure – is a lot easier and more enjoyable to consume.

Email CampaignsGIFs look great in newsletters and promotional emails (and most email clients are compatible with GIFS). Experian recently reported that 72% of email marketers that have used GIFs in emails boast higher click-through-rates and transactions compared to GIF-less emails sent to the same customers.

Making Your Own GIFs

There is no shortage of GIFs to choose from online, but it's very easy to make your own if you can't find what you're looking for or need to create original GIFs. These two tools have your GIF-ing needs covered.

Giphy's GIF MakerGiphy.com is the largest GIF collection online but it also has a GIF Maker that allows you to create GIFs from video files or YouTube links. Simply upload a video or paste a link and you'll be able to create a GIF within Giphy's easy-to-use interface. You can choose which part of the video you would like to GIF, set a duration and add a caption. From there, Giphy will create your GIF and add it to its library. Try it here.

CloudAppThis tool is particularly helpful for marketers that work in software. CloudApp enables you to turn screen captures into GIFs. This functionality is great for tutorials and walkthroughs. For each GIF you make, CloudApp will provide you with a unique URL making it easy to share and embed. Try it here.

GIFs and Copyright Laws

Using GIFs for marketing purposes can be tricky when using someone else's original content – like a movie, television show or a music video. Repurposing someone's content for a GIF takes away the copyright owner's ability to govern derivatives of their work, how it gets shared and any potential proceeds generated as a result of its use.

There have not been any legal decisions made (yet) about whether making a GIF from copyrighted material is copyright infringement, technically, but it's important to be aware of fair use rules when adapting someone else's work into a GIF, especially when it is being used for commercial purposes.

The repurposing of copyrighted material is considered fair use when the original material has been transformed for the purposes of parody, education, commentary or criticism – and does not compete with the copyright holder's ability to make money off of the material.

When creating a GIF from copyrighted material, it's important to be able to defend:

The purpose of your use of the material, and how it has been remixed into an educational or satirical (for examples) tool

The amount of material being repurposed in relation to the copyrighted work as an entire piece (the smaller the fraction of work being repurposed, the better)

The impact, or lack thereof, that your GIF will have on the copyright holder's ability to profit from their own material

And it's always a good idea to link to the original material to give credit where it's due.

Confusing? It's about to get even more complex. Using a GIF that features a person's face adds another layer of usage issues. The only way to not get into legal trouble when using a GIF that features a famous face is to get their permission to do so. If you don't have their permission you can possibly receive a cease and desist order from the copyright holder or the celebrity's management team.

So, GIF carefully and selectively to stay out of trouble and to keep your audience engaged.

Source: The When, Where & How of Using GIFs in Content Marketing

Digital marketing

By: DAVID EDELMAN ET AL

An international bank recently decided it wanted to see how customers would respond to a new email offer. They pulled together a mailing list, iterated on copy and design, and checked with legal several times to get the needed approvals.

Eight weeks later, they were ready to go. In a world where people decide whether to abandon a web page after three seconds and Quicken Loans answers online mortgage applicants in less than 10 minutes, eightweeks for an email test pushesa company to the boundaries of irrelevance. For many large incumbents, however, such a glacial pace is the norm.… Agile, in the marketing context, means using data and analytics to continuously source promising opportunities or solutions to problems in real time, deploying tests quickly, evaluating the results, and rapidly iterating. The truth is, many marketing organisations think they're working in an agile way because they've adopted some agility principles, such as test and learn or reliance on cross-functional teams.

But when you look below the surface, you soon find they're only partly agile, and so, they only reap partial benefits.

For example, marketing often doesn't have the support of the legal department, IT or finance, so approvals, back-end dependencies or spend allocations are slow. Or their agency and technology partners aren't aligned on the need for speed and can't move quickly enough. So, if you're not agile all the way, then you're not agile.

From "Agile marketing: A step-bystep guide"

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

Source: Digital marketing

Empereon Marketing plans rapid growth with Contact Center as a Service and MPLS solutions from Windstream

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Dec. 19, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Windstream (NASDAQ:WIN), a leading provider of advanced network communications, today announced that leading contact center solutions provider Empereon Marketing has selected Windstream to provide highly reliable, scalable and cost effective Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) and MPLS transport solutions.

Empereon Marketing provides "end-to-end" customer interaction solutions, including customer care, sales, technical support and help desk services, to customers across multiple industries, always delivering high-quality service to their client partners. The company has grown from 1,200 employees to more than 2,800 this year, and it also operates a debt collection division known as Constar Financial Services.

Windstream worked with long-time channel partner City Communications on the solution. The City Communications team has worked with Empereon for 15 years, and it helped identify Empereon's requirements and worked with Windstream to design the CCaaS and MPLS solution. City Communications will also provide day-to-day technical support for Empereon.

Bryan McRoberts, chief information officer at Empereon Marketing, said the company made the decision to utilize Windstream's solutions when it realized that its call center growth model needed to change if it wanted to keep up with the company's fast-moving clients.

"Windstream's hosted environment means we can not only address the growth in all of our existing call centers, but we can literally stand up brand new call centers incredibly fast," McRoberts said. "We simply have to drop in a few redundant MPLS connections and we are up and running in a matter of weeks. As an example of this technology, we provisioned a brand new 1,200-seat call center in the span of less than six weeks, from start to finish. We don't have to provision anything except our Cisco routers and SD WAN appliances; we literally just drop phones in and we are in business."

Empereon Marketing selected Windstream's CCaaS solution because it allows Empereon to only pay for those services the company is utilizing. Additionally, Windstream has the ability to offer both the cloud-based CCaaS solution and the underlying MPLS transport services at all of Empereon's locations ranging from Arizona to Pennsylvania. Additionally, the transition to Windstream's cloud-based services was simple and seamless for Epereon employees.

"I love that Windstream is essentially financing our growth with its 'pay-as-you-grow' cloud-based OPEX solution," McRoberts added. "We love the ability to scale quickly and to use Windstream resources rather than have to build our own infrastructure. In many ways, Windstream has become an extension of my internal IT department, and without them we would not have been able to meet the aggressive ramp-up timelines required by some of our newest customers."

Windstream's CCaaS delivers cost-effective, flexible, scalable cloud-based contact center solutions. As a hosted service, CCaaS allows customers to keep pace with rapidly changing technologies and applications without up-front CAPEX costs. It also allows customers such as Empereon to create custom analytics reports to analyze interactions across multiple channels, providing data for more informed business decisions.

Windstream offers a full suite of advanced network communications and technology solutions, including voice and data services such as VoIP access, SIP trunking, MPLS and dedicated high-speed Internet. Windstream also offers managed services, cloud computing, disaster recovery and networking services designed to help businesses increase productivity and improve operational costs. For more information, visit windstreambusiness.com.

About Empereon Marketing, LLCFounded in 1997, Empereon Marketing, LLC is a leading provider of contact center solutions specializing in multi-media, multi-channel, and customer-centric interactions. The company has excelled in achieving client goals, particularly in champion/challenger and pay-for-performance engagements. Empereon also is the parent company of Constar Financial Services, a full-service customer management and accounts receivable company. For more information, visit www.empereonmarketing.com.

About City CommunicationsBased in Phoenix, City Communications serves growing businesses with efficient, flexible, state-of-the-art telecom systems, including managed network, phones, Internet and cloud services. The company negotiates voice and data rates, coordinates and resolves time-consuming service and billing issues, and operates as a one-stop telecom and data information portal, giving one-click access to all things telecom and data. For more information, visit www.citycommunications.com.

About WindstreamWindstream Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:WIN), a FORTUNE 500 company, is a leading provider of advanced network communications and technology solutions for consumers, businesses, enterprise organizations and wholesale customers across the U.S. Windstream offers bundled services, including broadband, security solutions, voice and digital TV to consumers. The company also provides data, cloud solutions, unified communications and managed services to business and enterprise clients. The company supplies core transport solutions on a local and long-haul fiber network spanning approximately 129,000 miles. Additional information is available at windstream.com. Please visit our newsroom at news.windstream.com or follow us on Twitter at @Windstream.

Media Contact Sarah Davis, 303.522.0884 sarah.c.davis@windstream.com

[ Back to the Bpa channel ]

Source: Empereon Marketing plans rapid growth with Contact Center as a Service and MPLS solutions from Windstream

4 Ways to Jumpstart Email Marketing for 2017

The new year brings much-needed breathing time to address email marketing strategies. In this post, I'll explore email marketing trends and offer four suggestions for email strategy for 2017.

1. Nurture New Subscribers

During the holiday rush, your site likely acquired new subscribers and first-time buyers. These new email recipients are extremely valuable to your business. It's imperative to nurture them. Consider the following ideas.

Use appropriate frequency. New subscribers from the holidays are likely gift purchasers. They may require a lower volume of emails.

Send relevant offers. Analyze what new customers purchased, and the amounts, to send relevant offers.

Express gratitude. Let them know they are a valuable customer. Treat them to a special offer or a simple "thank you."

The White Company, a clothing and home furnishing retailer, sends a special thank you email to new customers, with a coupon for a subsequent purchase.

2. Emphasize Mobile

For 2017 your email strategy should emphasize mobile, making it as easy as possible for recipients to complete a purchase from an email opened on a smartphone. Roughly one-third of all online purchases are now done on a phone or tablet. If you are not designing emails for smartphones — to be read and to enable a purchase  — you are leaving money on the table.

But getting clicks from an email on a smartphone can be difficult. Here are tips to increase opens and clicks from mobile users.

Use responsive design so email renders correctly across all web browsers and email clients.  In a study from MailChimp and Litmus, responsive design increased clicks from mobile users by nearly 15 percent.

Preview email creatives (especially when not using responsive design) on tools such as Litmus, and design creatives to be optimized for the browsers or clients that make up most of your subscriber file. For most brands, this will likely be iPhone users on Gmail.

3. Develop an Email Road Map

Write a draft calendar for 2017 that includes the types of emails or promotions you want to run throughout the year. These can be repeats of successful campaigns from 2016, new ideas, or even replicating what competitors have done. The point of the exercise is to physically write a plan on a calendar, as a high-level schedule.

This plan will provide a basic roadmap that can be refined monthly. As each month approaches, you can finalize offers, themes, frequencies, and other details.

4. Commit to 1 Email Improvement for 2017

The return on investment from email marketing is typically positive because the cost to send is so low. Despite this, allocate money to make at least one overall improvement in your email for 2017. This could be an overdue project or another idea that will generate good results, such as the following:

Invest in an email preview service such as Litmus or Email on Acid;

Develop responsive design templates;

Clean-up your database, including email verification and data appends (matching customer info with an email address);

Attend an email-specific conference or webinar.

Source: 4 Ways to Jumpstart Email Marketing for 2017

4 Content Marketing Trends You Need to Know About

Content marketing trends vary regularly because it is a constantly developing platform. Its principal purpose, of course, is demand generation.

However, strategies and best practices constantly evolve as businesses evaluate what works best.

To optimise your own results, it is important to stay current on new developments and understand what generates the best outcomes for your organisation.

The following is a look at important recent developments and trends in content marketing which impacts your content marketing success.

The More the Merrier – But Make It Relevant

Content consumption continues to grow due to the sheer volume of people that look to the web more and more for information and resources.

For this reason, companies are expected to significantly ramp up content production in 2017.

Therefore it is imperative that the content you produce is relevant to your audience.

Companies that haven't yet realised the importance of content marketing will join this arena as well.

In a recent Content Marketing Institute report, 70 percent of B2B marketers said they plan to increase their content production in 2017. Another 25 percent will maintain at least the same level of production.

2017 B2B Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs

Your content should have purpose and intent. You must offer the reader a potential positive outcome in relation to what you are publishing.

Publishing content for content's sake is not the answer and won't get you the results you desire. With the stats stated in the graph above, it is imperative that your content stands head and shoulders above the rest.

Travis Wright, CMO & Cofounder at CCP.Digital says "We are advising our clients to dedicate a portion of their ad spend toward amplifying content to highly targeted audiences. It works great with B2C, and it's a terrific addition to any account-based marketing campaign for B2B companies. With the right targeted audiences developed, your content can see much results in 2017."

Increased Creativity and Interactive Content

As the internet becomes more saturated with content, you have to get creative to meet expectations of both search engines and readers.

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Compelling visuals and infographics attract more attention than the simple written word. Use visuals to help enhance the quality of your message.

Add interaction through polls, interactive quizzes and other tools that engage readers. Integrate video content, when applicable, to offer product demonstrations or testimonials.

Already popular in 2016, video content is expected to grow even more in 2017.

Google continues to refine its search algorithm to ensure readers get the most in-depth, useful and relevant content possible. Thus, the search giant has improved its ability to relate visual content to copy when evaluating your site.

Better Personalisation

As I've already stated, it won't be enough to offer general information content centred on SEO keywords in 2017.

Therefore, you must deliver personalised content that speaks to the interests, needs and preferences of targeted buyer personas.

You need a deep understanding of the typical buyer in your primary target market so you can craft messages and stories that resonate, improve brand recall and drive conversions.

Recognising the buyer stage of your targeted buyer is important to personalising your message as well.

In B2B, for instance, buyers typically begin with their online search after identifying a need and then continue to search for options before reaching the decision-making stage.

Fine-tune the personalisation and relevance of your content by addressing questions and concerns at the targeted buyer's stage.

The customer relationship is based on delivering value, so ensure you are addressing it throughout your content marketing process.

Influencer Marketing Growth

User-generated content, such as influencer marketing posts, are expected to grow in 2017.

Brand influencers offer numerous advantages in communicating your messages relative to traditional advertising.

As a result, companies want to get celebrities or vocal industry leaders to help spread the word through blog and social posts, and company or product testimonials.

In many cases, you merely need to align your brands with people who have already made a name for themselves in online communities for interests related to your products.

Wrap Up

In conclusion, to achieve strong demand generation from your content, you need to realise which strategies achieve genuine results.

In 2017, plan to create messages specifically suited to your target market, deliver creativity and innovation, and look for opportunities to leverage influencers.

There are lots of different areas to concentrate on for B2B marketers.

However, there are two fundamental details you must recognise when you are deciding what the best strategies are for your business.

Firstly, your content marketing efforts need to drive sales for your organisation. Clicks, share, likes and similar stats are not relevant.

Secondly, never forget that it's all about the customer – it always has been!

Author: Will Humphries

Will Humphries is the Head of Digital Marketing at Internal Results, a B2B Demand Generation specialist for technology companies. He has 25 years experience in Sales, Marketing and Business Development. It's all about the customer...always has been!… View full profile ›

Source: 4 Content Marketing Trends You Need to Know About

Internet Marketing Company, fishbat, Shares 5 Ways to Optimize Your Social Presence for SEO Greatness

ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- fishbat is a leading Internet marketing company which combines proven digital marketing strategies that include search engine optimization (SEO), digital ads, and social media optimization (SMO) to help businesses increase profits and expand brand awareness.

It's vital to focus on SEO to increase brand awareness and drive traffic. Marketers must be deliberate in how they approach their social presence online to drive better search engine results. Internet marketing company, fishbat, shares five ways to optimize your social presence for SEO greatness.

1.    Strategic keyword placement. Add keywords in title pages, URLs, descriptions and posts to prompt web crawling and make it easier to find you in searches. The increased traffic and web-crawler recognition will drive higher SEO ranking.

2.     Encourage liking and sharing. Add like and share buttons to all content to prompt social sharing. Likes and shares place a post or site in front of a wider audience, increasing brand recognition and driving traffic. Search engines recognize engagement and increased traffic as a value-added identifier and place that content higher in search engines.

3.     Add links. Links give posts and sites an SEO boost. Quality links show search engines that the content shows value and authority. Be sure to pay attention to the quality of links, however, as aligning with a post or company that does not reflect your values could be damaging to your brand reputation. Backlink to posts and sites that will provide your audience with value and support your goals.

4.     Appropriate category placement. Ensuring that you utilize the appropriate categories for your content will also ensure that you are visible for relevant searches. Boost traffic for better SEO ranking by selecting correct industry keywords and service entries on social media sites.

5.     Have a consistent voice to cultivate a large follower base. A large follower base indicates to search engines that the content is highly valuable and should be ranked higher in search engines. Businesses and professionals should ensure that they are consistently active on social media with value-added posts, participation in group chats, and engaging the audience with pictures, visuals, contents, and feedback. Maintain a consistent tone of voice and brand identity to retain the audience. As a brand's voice is solidified with the audience, it drives trust, retention, and social outreach through brand recognition. It is also more commonly shared, driving better search engine ranking through implied value and increased traffic.

fishbat Long Island SEO Company is a full-service online marketing company and social media agency dedicated to connecting all types of businesses with their target audiences in the most effective and efficient way. Through innovative strategies in social media management, search engine optimization (SEO), branding, web design, reputation management, and public relations, fishbat promotes a consistent and professional online voice for all of its clients.

Media Contact: Scott Darrohn, fishbat, 855-347-4228, press@fishbat.com

News distributed by PR Newswire iReach: https://ireach.prnewswire.com

 

SOURCE fishbat

Source: Internet Marketing Company, fishbat, Shares 5 Ways to Optimize Your Social Presence for SEO Greatness

Geo 101: Internet Of Things

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From geo-targeting to beacons, location-based technology is opening up a world of possibilities for marketers — but it's also complicated, as new capabilities and use cases seem to emerge every day.

With the goal of breaking down some of the most important "geo" concepts to provide a better understanding of the basics — and a jumping off point for exploring how far the power of location may take us — we introduce the next installment of our GeoMarketing 101 series: understanding the internet of things.

What Is The Internet Of Things?

Internet of things (IoT) is a catchall term referring to any device or object with network connectivity, meaning that it can interact/share data with other mobile and connected devices.

Examples of this include everything from smartwatches to smart refrigerators — the "smart" designation is commonly used to distinguish IoT devices from their "regular" appliance counterparts — and the industry has grown significantly over the past year.

What do these devices do? Well, the familiar smartwatch can communicate with a users' mobile device, receiving texts or emails, triggering the device to take a photo, tracking steps, and more. A smart fridge, for example, could determine when a food item has been placed in or removed from it — and if the user runs out of something, it could be automatically reordered through Instacart or a similar service via a touchscreen on the front of the fridge. Smart thermostat systems can be controlled via mobile, allowing the users to set temperatures or check in on the home remotely, and more.

Essentially, if you can imagine a reason the device should be connected to the internet, it probably exists — or someone is working to develop it.

Where Are We In The Evolution Of IoT?

As is so often true of emerging technology, this depends who you ask. Here's what we know — or has been forecast — based on concrete data: Cisco predicted last year that the global IoT market would reach 14.4 trillion by 2022. By a diversity of similar estimates, the market is big and getting bigger — but that doesn't mean we know exactly which devices will become the most popular, leading the charge toward "normalization" of smart tech, the point at which it will be present in the vast majority of consumers homes.

Smartwatches and fitness-related wearables led the initial charge, gaining mass popularity in 2014 and 2015. In fact, it appears that consumers are now comfortable enough with these devices so as to be open to advertising on them.

As we wrote this week, a report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau finds that two-thirds of Americans (62 percent) say they at least own one IoT device.

And a sure sign that consumers have deeply embraced products such as connected TVs, smart watches, fitness trackers, internet-enabled appliances, is the willingness of 65 percent of consumers who say they are interested in receiving marketing messages on their IoT devices.

The key here, as with mobile marketing, is to deliver clear utility: Customers report that they purchases IoT devices for the reason of "usefulness" — not "to be cool" or "for convenience." It appears to be time for marketers to explore expanded IoT-related marketing use cases, but the rule of delivering seamless utility needs to hold.

Read more about the Internet of Things:

Majority Of Americans Have An IoT Device — And They're Open To Advertising

Why Marketers Need To Start Thinking About Smart-Home Technology

Gartner Predicts Bold Future For Internet of Things — But Not Without Growing Pains

Source: Geo 101: Internet Of Things