ImageWorksBlog

If you are running a business website without a blog, you are missing out on some major opportunities to engage your prospects and increase web traffic. A static website that doesn't change or feature new content is essentially an online brochure. In today's social media-driven world where engagement with your customers is expected online, blogs are essential for marketing your business.

"A picture says a thousand words."

The classic saying has never been more true!  After all, social media recently witnessed a surge in both the number of and the significance of multi-media posts: the so-called visual content revolution.  While the more traditional blog post includes 500 to 1000 words, multi-media microblogs essentially eliminate the need for words.  Most importantly, keep in mind that 44% of users are more likely to engage with brands if they post pictures than any other media.  Visual content marketing, therefore, is essential to any social media marketing campaign.  So, which visual content platform is right for your brand?

You just published a new post on your blog?  That's great.  Did you read a bunch of blogging tips before you wrote it?  I bet your content is perfectly organized and well-written.  And good thing you used tons of keywords throughout your content for search engine optimization.  That's the key to steadily increasing your blog traffic.  Like a gazillion people will immediately worship you and your inspiring posts!

Q: Which social networking platform should you use in your social media marketing campaign?

A: All of them!

If a picture says a thousand words, then how many words can a video say? Five thousand? Ten thousand? No! A mere one minute video is equivalent to a staggering 1.8 million words. Video marketing thus serves not only as a source of entertainment, but also as a potent form of advertising. A one minute video, however, can become speechless without a sense of compatibility between its topic and its visual style. Essentially, choosing the best visual style for a video marketing campaign can optimize those 1.8 million words. Exploring the past work of a particular CT video production company is an easy way to determine whether or not the company's unique visual style will compliment the content of the marketing campaign. Here is a list of three popular visual styles seen in video marketing campaigns.

One of the reasons that successful marketing has become more and more difficult to achieve is because people are becoming increasingly annoyed of advertisements.  No one wants to be interrupted in the middle of a suspenseful TV show to find out what the softness new toilet paper is or what the latest sandwich is at a fast food joint.  Outbound marketing, now referred to as “old marketing”, is the traditional style of marketing where companies reach out to their customers through commercials, print ad’s, flyers, and cold calls.  This style of marketing hunts customers down and pushes products on them and these consumers have no say in the matter.   Inbound marketing has begun to take over the advertising world as it has proven itself as the master of efficiency.  Inbound marketing promotes an advertising strategy of “getting found” by customers.  Inbound marketing uses strategies that involve Ebooks, podcasts, blogs, online videos, and white papers.  It focuses on a two-way relationship between the company and the consumer so that people are more in control of what information they receive.  In the last two years the amount spend on company blogs and social media has nearly doubled, making it clear that outbound marketing is on the decline.

Valentine's Day has become a routine holiday that consumers have grown to celebrate every year.  It has become one of the most commercialized holidays in the world and many now refer to this day as a Hallmark Holiday.  When this time of year rolls around, Valentine's Day advertisements are everywhere you turn.  Companies go all out to try and reach out to their customers in order to maximize their sales.  And, so they should, last year it was estimated that consumers in the US reached $18.6 billion in spending for Valentine's Day.  Although many consumers may not agree with how commercialized this holiday has become, cultural norms have shifted and Valentine's Day spending is almost unavoidable.

Everyday the average person comes across thousands of advertisements. It's hard to go anywhere in today's consumer-oriented society and not see some form of branding pretty much everywhere you turn. Some of this advertising is more obvious, such as television commercials or billboards. Others are more subtle or subliminal, endorsing a certain brand or message without explicitly doing so. We are bombarded by advertisements throughout the day, in the home and out on the town, whether we know it or not. We've become so conditioned, so numb to this influx of advertising that we actually tune much of it out.