If you bought a product online in the last year, you weren’t alone. 2.14 billion people bought something online in 2021. COVID accelerated the growth of eCommerce, but we’ve been headed towards a “click and mortar” world for a while, and even long-established brands are sitting up and taking notice. You can’t just sell in-person anymore. You Continue Reading...

Marketing is an investment, not an expense — or at least, it should be. A lot of people approach marketing like they’re throwing darts blindfolded: they know roughly where the board is, but they don’t know if they’re hitting the target and can’t evaluate afterward. That’s not effective. You need to know exactly where your money and resources Continue Reading...

Facebook started in 2004 as a place to connect with college friends. It’s not that anymore. Facebook quickly grew, absorbed Instagram and created new markets. Every few years a new challenge arose, and it weathered every storm. Until now. For the first time in a long while, Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram) is showing Continue Reading...

“Open the pod bay doors, HAL.” “I’m sorry, Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” This iconic movie exchange from 2001: A Space Odyssey was science fiction at the time. Today it’s not. It can be easy to forget, but every time you ask your phone for directions, a machine is understanding what you say. That’s a very new phenomenon. Google has Continue Reading...

“Failing to consider Facebook is marketing malpractice.” I said that a few years ago, and I stand by it today. Facebook is the biggest social network with the broadest audience. Its analytics are powerful and easy to use. And if you’re trying to build a following, it’s the first platform you should consider. But, should it be the platform you Continue Reading...

“Hey, check this out,” my brother’s email said. “Just found this really cool site with a lot of great outdoor products.” He had forwarded me something from a little company called Huckberry that was trying to drum up customers. I looked. Their membership was free at the time; I was in college and free was a price I could afford. I subscribed. Continue Reading...

Google not only runs the search engine market — it runs the analytics market too. Over 50% of the Internet uses its products Universal Analytics (UA) and Google Analytics 4 (GA4). Universal Analytics is going away in July 2023. For most technology companies, that might be a footnote. But this is Google we’re talking about. It’s a big deal, Continue Reading...

You’ve probably heard the phrase “content is king.” That phrase used to be provocative. It's an established fact now. Most companies today have a digital presence of some kind, usually a website and some type of “content marketing” effort. Most businesses are generally aware that you need to produce content to be visible online. We need a new Continue Reading...

“Hi!” “My name is — “What? “My name is — “Who? “My name is —” I’m not an Eminem fan, but even I know his name is “Slim Shady.” This was the first thing most people heard from him, and for the next four minutes and twenty-nine seconds he explained exactly who he was. When you write your About Page, you’re doing the same Continue Reading...

Attention is the fuel your marketing needs. And it’s getting scarce — even as marketers work harder to capture it. Social media is a case in point. My Instagram feed is two-thirds sponsored posts or recommendations; I feel like Meta is trying to see how much people will put up with before they stop using the platform altogether. And often when I Continue Reading...