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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 22, 2016 10:01 AM
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Think of all the photos of smiling receptionists and perfectly suited business leaders you've come across. These images may compete for attention, but often fail to register, simply because your customers can’t identify with them. Use photos that more closely relate to your audience. It’s what we call "real photography" here at EyeEm: Unique captures, delightful moments, and surprising perspectives. Images that are more concrete will resonate with audiences much more powerfully since they show real life rather than staged situations. To visualize what we mean, we put together a handful of generic images alongside a ‘real’ counterpart sourced from our community of photographers. The proof is in the pictures, but we'll let you see for yourself....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 22, 2016 9:37 AM
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It’s no secret bricks and mortar retailers are struggling to maintain profitability and manage expenses for their retail stores. As the importance of omnichannel grows, who are the US retailers finding success with e-commerce? Today’s retail and e-commerce roundup answers that question. According to the US Department of Commerce, Q2 2016 e-commerce sales grew 16%. Walmart announced positive Q2 earnings and an 11.8% jump in its e-commerce business.Target had a strong first half 2016 with e-commerce sales for pickup in-store up 50%. While Perry Ellis online sales grew 35.6% in Q2, it also plans to close 15 US stores, 20% of its retail locations. Overall revenue decreased at Bon-Ton but sales on mobile devices were up 129% after enhancements to the mobile shopping site and simplifying its checkout for customers. Q2 2016 total sales for Nordstrom.com grew 9.4% to reach $683 million. Revenue was up 6.6% at Home Depot and it fulfilled 42% of online orders in-store. Staples saw online revenue grow to more than 50% of sales in its B2B e-commerce business....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 22, 2016 2:05 AM
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LandingFolio offers an organized collection of landing page screenshots that can be used for design inspiration. For each landing page there is a full page screenshot, assigned to one or more categories and the possibility to comment below it. That's it. My comment: Excellent design and marketing resource to find ideas, solutions and alternative approaches to the creation of an effective and professionally-looking landing page. Free to use. Try it out now: http://www.landingfolio.com/...
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 21, 2016 11:53 PM
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A decade ago, the internet was a very different place. The celebration of Envato’s 10th birthday has us feeling nostalgic, and so we’re taking a look at the 2006-2016 era of web design.
From MySpace and the iPhone, to minimalism and material design, a lot has happened in ten years. We won’t attempt to fit every design trend and technology innovation into one article, but we wanted to highlight some key moments in design. Put on your favorite early 2000’s playlist and read about some of our favorite web trends from the past decade:...
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 20, 2016 11:42 PM
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Selecting a color palette is one of the most impactful choices you can make while developing your brand aesthetic. Choosing the right logo colors can highlight your business’ strengths and help you attract the right customers. And, as you might guess, the wrong combination can have the reverse effect.
Everyone has heard of color psychology, which tells us that colors impact our emotions and behaviors. yellow is cheerful (because the sun is bright and yellow!) and green is calming (like laying in the grass and looking up at a bunch of leaves is peaceful). But do these “rules” really translate into logo color meanings?
Researchers Lauren Labrecque and George Milne looked into that and found that some do and some don’t. So yes, yellow will make your brand look youthful and approachable, but a green logo doesn’t inherently make customers think your brand is peaceful. Does that mean if you want to intelligently choose a logo color scheme you have to read and and interpret a long academic study?
Nope! We did that for you. And turned it into a handy infographic quiz. Just answer a few fun questions about your brand and we’ll tell you which logo colors you should think about using.....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 20, 2016 11:12 PM
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From its not so humble beginnings as a non-prank released on April Fool's Day in 2004 to its billion-plus users today, Google’s illustrious email offering has proven indispensable for most of us.
And sure, you may use it all day, every day, but are you really getting the most out of it? Here are 25 tips, tricks, and time-savers for even the most seasoned of Gmail pros....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 20, 2016 10:46 PM
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So, what does optimized Facebook advertising actually look like? If you're looking for some great examples, you've come to the right place. In this post, we'll quickly go over the two overarching formats for Facebook ads: right-hand column ads and News Feed ads. Then, we'll show you 8 different types of Facebook ads, each including real-life examples -- along with some insights into why that ad is so successful.
Before we get to these examples, let's chat for a second about the four components of a good Facebook ad (or any ad, really) regardless of its type. Remember, people are on Facebook to stay up to date on their social lives, not necessarily check out your products. This is why keeping these four things in mind is important for any Facebook ad you make....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 20, 2016 9:01 PM
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Never ruin an apology with an excuse." – Ben Franklin
In less than 24 hours, two of the biggest stories in the world involved some kind of "apology" for offensive behavior and/or lying. Last night in Charlotte, North Carolina, the notoriously unrepentant Donald Trump shocked observers by expressing "regret" for words that "may have caused personal pain." And this morning Ryan Lochte issued a widely criticized apology for "not being more careful" with how he described an incident in which he lied about being held up at gunpoint in Rio de Janeiro.
Neither of them qualified as a true apology since they both offered an excuse for their behavior, failed to give a detailed account of what happened, failed to acknowledge or specify the hurt and damage they’d caused, and didn't take responsibility for the situation.
A proper apology is "an exercise in honesty, accountability, and compassion," says interfaith minister Lauren Bloom, the author of The Art of the Apology. Of course, it's difficult and nerve-wracking and fraught with tension. But it's the right thing to do. So above all, be sincere: "It's the essence of an apology."...
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 19, 2016 3:47 AM
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Despite its impressive reach -- over 300 million daily active users and counting -- it took some time for marketers to realize the business potential of Instagram. Not only is including Instagram in your social media marketing strategy helpful in terms of achieving high levels of engagement and brand awareness, but it can also make it easier for you to attract new leads and customers. Why should your business be on Instagram? Check out the infographic below from Buzzoid to learn why Instagram deserves a place in your marketing strategy, along with some tips for how to make the most of your Instagram content. Then, check out our ebook How to Use Instagram for Business to master Instagram marketing so you get the most ROI out of the platform that you can...
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 19, 2016 3:26 AM
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Content marketing has seen a tremendous adoption by brands. Many have started their own blogs and taken advantage of the content climate. The problem is that most businesses don’t have patience. They can’t wait 6 months or more to see traffic rolling towards their website. Moreover, instead of taking data-backed decisions to modify their content strategy, most businesses fail to adapt. So, when they find it difficult to measure ROI, they abandon content marketing altogether. A better option is to understand your customers. Then, brainstorm how you can effectively meet their needs, taking the strategies that are working right now into account. In this article, I’ve combined five such content marketing strategies. These are all backed by data and case studies that not only prove their effectiveness, but also show you a practical way of implementing them....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 19, 2016 3:03 AM
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As many of you already know, Instagram rolled out Instagram Stories last week. It is essentially Snapchat but integrated into Instagram’s app, allowing users to post 24-hour disappearing photos and videos without disrupting their perfectly filtered photos in their feeds. Yesterday, NewsCred took a look at the landscape of brands already using Instagram Stories and included descriptions of what each brand features in their feed, especially B2B companies who are using it....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 19, 2016 2:45 AM
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Retailers worrying about millennials ditching their stores in favor of mobile purchasing may be focused in the wrong direction. Millennials are participating in mobile shopping in a big way but they still favor going to the store. As might be expected, most (63%) millennials shop on their smartphones every day, according to a new study. However, when it comes to purchasing, the majority (53%) of purchases are made in stores, according to the generational research conducted by Alliance Data. Some (39%) millennials are purchasing online, of course, just as are other consumers. And for millennials, most (65%) are comfortable making those online purchase with their phones....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 18, 2016 11:01 AM
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The infographic below shows the sales of bookstores in the US during the first half of the year from 2009 to 2016. After a number of years in decline, sales finally started to pick up again in 2015 when there was a 1.9 percent increase on the previous year. Far from a flash in the pan, sales increased again in H1 2016 by an impressive 6.1 percent.
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 22, 2016 9:55 AM
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There has been an explosion in purpose-driven brand communication the last few years. As Matthew Gardner at Droga5 put it, “Because of the challenge for people’s attention, purpose is the only thing that will get brands to break through. This is not a trend but more of an imperative and should be top of mind for every company. ”When every brand team jumps on the purpose bandwagon, however, the resulting communication can feel pretty shallow. There’s a risk of brands completely overstating why they exist. Particularly when their actual motivation is to capture consumer attention, brand purpose can come across as “ad-deep.” It starts to feel like just one more tick-box on a creative brief....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 22, 2016 2:29 AM
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What is a Graphiq Visualization?Pre-Designed: 10 billion visualizations at your fingertips Authoritative: built upon the world's deepest knowledge graph Live-updating: as the data changes, so will the visualization Embeddable: simple integration with leading content management systems Responsive: on any device and browser There are more than 10 billion visualizations in our library, from President Obama's approval rating to Apple's stock performance over time, and thousands get added every day. Graphiq Visualizations enrich editorial content, augment third-party applications, and power our own leading research sites. To find the right visualization, enter a term on Graphiq Search to see all matching results. When you've found the right visualization, copy and paste the embed code onto the page where you'd like it to appear. It's that simple....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 21, 2016 11:59 PM
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Influencers use different social media platforms to help promote and get the word out about the brands they are working with. Nearly a third of US influencers who currently work with brands cite Facebook as being the best platform for influencer marketing, followed closely by Instagram, per July 2016 research from SheSpeaks, a female-focused engagement network, which polled 347 US influencers who have an active blog, and are active on social media.
It’s not surprising that Facebook and Instagram were considered to be among the best social media platforms for influencer marketing, especially given that most influencers use photo and video content when marketing on behalf of brands. What is surprising is that only 10% of influencers cited Pinterest, a content sharing service that’s all about images and videos. In fact, more respondents considered Twitter to be the best social media platform, and they can only use up to 140 characters within that platform to promote a brand. What’s more, Pinterest even has more users than Twitter in the US as of this year....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 20, 2016 11:58 PM
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Infographics are used heavily in just about every niche now, and vary from deadly boring to downright amazing.
But what makes the difference between the two?
It all boils down to this: infographics go viral because they catch the attention of the audience they are intended for. If the person or organization creating the infographic doesn’t know their audience and doesn’t know what that audience wants or needs, the infographic is going to be dead in the water. Before you ever sit down to create an infographic, take a good long look at hat
Before you ever sit down to create an infographic, take a good long look at who you’re creating it for and why....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 20, 2016 11:36 PM
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The concept of creating movie color palettes has made an internet splash in recent years. Websites like Movies In Color and The Colors of Motion have interpreted many films into correlating color palettes. With this trend in mind, we want to share our own take.
The following 10 examples create simple movie color palettes from classic films that have a color in the movie title. Enjoy!...
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 20, 2016 10:50 PM
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In the fourth quarter of 2015, Amazon.com Inc. posted a profit of $482 million, more than double its previous highest-earning quarter. In the two quarters since, profits continued to rise, to $513 million in the first quarter and $857 million in the second quarter. In the first six months of 2016, the company’s combined profit was $1.37 billion—no other half in Amazon’s history is in the same universe.
So after years of reporting little to no profit, Amazon is now posting record gains quarter upon quarter. At the same time, its expenses are growing faster—26.4% in the first half of 2016 versus 17.5% in the first half of 2015.
So what’s propelling Amazon into profitability? Let’s look at the numbers.
First, there’s revenue. Amazon’s compound annual growth rate from 2012 to 2015 was 20.5%.....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 20, 2016 10:38 PM
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It’s important to understand your link profile, as this will give you a clear idea of whether or not you’re on the right track.
In a perfect world, you’d see nothing more than high quality, relevant links pointing to your site. In the real world, however, this may not be the case.
Do you need help reviewing and understanding your link profile?
If so, this post is for you. Below, you’ll find nine backlink analysis tools that are full of features that provide an inside view of your link profile. Let’s check them out!...
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 19, 2016 10:00 AM
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As LinkedIn regulars know, LinkedIn isn’t just for job searches – it’s for news. Over the last few years, it has become clear that people are posting – and reading – more news on the platform. In fact, according to a recent Pew Research survey, nearly 20 percent of LinkedIn’s audience uses it to access news. At Business Insider, we’re seeing this translate into a growing audience, increased referral traffic and an opportunity to interact with users who are among our most loyal and engaged. For us, LinkedIn is part of a multi-platform (distributed) approach to content. It is no surprise given the makeup of our readership – the “next generation of business leaders” – that LinkedIn is among our top sources of social referral traffic. Furthermore, each of our three brands, Business Insider, Tech Insider and Insider, has developed a strong presence on the platform. Here are a few of the key reasons why Business Insider performs so well on LinkedIn...
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 19, 2016 3:37 AM
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Sometimes, when I tell people that I blog for a living, they roll their eyes. "That's so easy," they say. "You get a paycheck for sitting on the internet all day and writing. A monkey could do your job!" That's when I roll my eyes. See, people are quick to deem blogging as a no-brainer job. But when they actually sit down to write their firstcouple of posts, it hits them: This is way harder than Ithought. Like any person starting a new job, they mess things up. That's okay -- it happens to pretty much every new blogger. Luckily, it's pretty easy to avoid these roadblocks if you know they're coming. So for all of you beginner bloggers out there who are looking to get up-to-speed quickly, keep on reading. Below are 12 common mistakes most beginners make and some tips on how to avoid them....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 19, 2016 3:15 AM
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According to a report from Martin Prosperity, venture capital investment is heavily concentrated across several industral sectors. America's top five industries account for 76.3 percent of all VC investment across the nation, about $25 billion in total. Software receives the largest slice of the VC pie by far, accounting for 36.2 percent (almost $12 billion) while biotechnology comes second with 17.3 percent ($5.7 billion). Media and entertainment rounds off the top three with 9.5 percent ($3.2 billion)....
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 19, 2016 2:52 AM
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In my life, digital marketing is almost everything I do. For most entrepreneurs, however, it is a highly underutilized and misunderstood tool. Most people think digital marketing has to be an expensive endeavor that takes thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours to see any success with. This is simply not the case. There are a number of free tools and opportunities within digital marketing that most entrepreneurs are missing. Here are just a few of them to help get you started. ...
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Scooped by
Jeff Domansky
August 19, 2016 2:35 AM
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When you think about your favorite brands, what comes to mind? An image? A person? A story? The most powerful brands ingrain themselves into our lives with great content. Historically, this content has been limited to ads and commercials. Today, brands are creating content for a variety of channels, showing different facets of their personality with articles, videos, music, and microsites. There are hundreds of brands with excellent content marketing programs. However, that’s not very helpful if you’re trying to find specific brands to rely on for inspiration and guidance.In this article, we’ll take a look at content marketing examples from 10 top brands and dive into what’s so great about each one. By the time we’re done, you should have some ideas and inspiration to take away and use in your own content marketing program....
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Learn how to choose more authentic images for your marketing efforts by checking out these eight examples.