Staying on Top of Marketing Best Practices

As we officially start summer (in the northern hemisphere, at least), it’s a good time to take stock of marketing progress so far in 2016 and look for opportunities to adjust for the rest of the year. Marketing is a constantly changing industry and it’s essential to regularly monitor best practices and trends while looking at how you can further optimize your own strategies. To help you stay on top of some of the most impactful trends, I’ve put together a list. 1. More and more mobile Ever since Google’s #Mobilegeddon update in April 2015, mobile optimization has been a top priority.Websites that don’t pass the minimal requirement as set out by Google will see their SEO rankings (and traffic) take a huge hit. Why this emphasis on mobile search and marketing?Mobile is increasingly where your customers are.Users now spend more of their digital time on their mobile devices than on desktops, laptops or other connected devices. So, if you can’t reach your target audience through mobile search or mobile browsing, you’re bound to lose many of them to the competition. 2. Storytelling on social Storytelling has been always been a cornerstone of good content marketing. But 2016 has seen more social media campaigns being built around stories – whether foundational stories, customer success stories or inspirational staff stories. These can not only help humanize your brand and draw readers in, but, if they make an emotional impact, your audience is much more likely to remember your brand and come back again. 3. Getting personal Understandably, personalization makes content and marketing much more effective. Luckily, you likely have a lot of data at your disposal to better target and personalize your content and offers to align with your shoppers’ interests and wants. 4. Overcoming content saturation With 4.6 billion pieces of content being produced every day online, competition for audiences is becoming even more fierce. To stand out, you need original, high-quality content in the best format for your unique audience. Biggest takeaway: keep adapting With so much change to stay on top of, it can be difficult to decide how to best allocate your resources and adjust your marketing efforts.Start by reviewing your goals for the year and your progress towards them. Not all trends will work for you but if you can continually test and optimize, you’re much more likely to find success. If there’s room for improvement, look at what is working for other brands online and test it with your company.

Analysis of Looking Backward 20001887 essays

Analysis of Looking Backward 20001887 essays Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward: 2000-1887 was an attempt to show Americans who desired the utopian sense of community what it could truly be. Looking Backward addressed the yearnings of a society stricken by economic panics and social collapse by proposing an Eden-like community in which war, hunger, greed and malice were eradicated from society. While the story followed the wonderment of Julian West as he awoke in a Boston of 2000 AD after 113 years of sleep, the text focused on Bellamy's description through the kindly and omniscient character, Dr. Leete of a "post-revolutionary" society which emancipated the individual from the horrors of capitalism. As the story progresses, it becomes obvious that Bellamy is simply trying to suggest ways in which to improve his own society at the time whether it be politics or business practices. The first thing Julian inquires about his the problem of labor strikes, something very prominent in his time due to the newly formed labor unions. The National Labor Union (NLU) hailed the virtues of a simpler America, when workers controlled their workday, earned a decent living, and had time to be good citizens (Davidson, Nation of Nations, 626). Dr. Leete explains that with generous capital, any worker with a decent idea can become his own boss and the need for unions and strikes desisted. This was something that had begun occurring already in Bellamys time, as had monopolies. This was the second step in the eradication of strikes as companies began to aggregate and form large syndicates. Finally, the largest syndicate of all, the government took over all industry. When it was proposed that the nation should assume their functions (corporations), the suggestions implied nothing impractical even to the timid (Bellamy, Looking Backward, 67). With this in mind, Julian asks who the enemies of the government are, whether they are other nations or natural ills. Dr. L ...

Theories of Human Communication, the social media and the Arab spring Essay

Theories of Human Communication, the social media and the Arab spring - Essay Example The first wave of such a change was felt with the advent of mobile phones and the short messaging services (SMS) offered by them. Electronic media like e-mail and instant messaging followed next. Just when it seemed that communication couldn’t get any better, social media and networking via the internet took over, bringing people from every nook and corner of the world together onto a single platform. Though the world has been called a ‘global village’ since the beginning of this century, it was in this decade that the label served its true purpose. Human communication has attained a new definition, and is now at its full force through social media. Social media has been the major driving force behind the Arab uprising that is reverberating in the Arab world today, and it is only through social media that people are at freedom to voice their thoughts and fight for what they deserve. According to S.F. Scudder, "All living entities, beings and creatures communicate. They communicate through movements, sounds, reactions, physical changes, gestures, languages, breath, etc†1. This statement is a part of the theory of communication and is known as the ‘Universal Communication Law’. Indeed, communication is an integral part of living, and it is impossible to survive without it. Communication models and their relevance in today’s times Adler and Rodman, in their insightful book, Understanding Human Communication, describe two different modes of communication, namely linear and transactional. According to the linear communication model, â€Å"communication is like giving an injection: a sender encodes ideas and feelings into some sort of message and then conveys them to a receiver who decodes them† (12). Face-to-face contact and other conventional channels like writing are included in this form of communication. The transactional model of communication is more fluidic and relational. There is a â€Å"simultaneous sen ding and receiving† of messages. This kind of communication includes mass media2 and social interaction. Face-to-face communication is decreasing rapidly, with the advent of social networking and electronic means of communication. In fact, many major surveys have pointed out that those who are more prone to the use of social networks are less likely to maintain face-to-face interactions in daily life. This brings us to the relevance of the linear mode of communication. While it is still a necessity in daily commute, human communication in recent times is largely based on the transactional model. Everyone is turning towards video conferencing, instant messaging, tweeting, and social networking in order to â€Å"stay in touch† with acquaintances. How social media defines our lives today An assessment of the impact of social media, in recent times, indicates that a majority of the population depends on the internet for most of their daily needs. As described by Adler and R odman: Until recently, most social support came from personal acquaintances: friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, and so on. In the last ?fteen years, though, there has been an explosion of â€Å"virtual communities† in which strangers meet online to share interests and concerns, and to gain support from one another on virtually every problem. The most popular support topics include medical conditions, eating disorders, sexual orientation, divorce, shyness, addictions, and loneliness (140). As is evident from this scenario,