Marketing Mic

The problem with telling people to write good content is that normally they already believe they are. Facts are, writing has diminished. Heck, writing is not exactly at the top of the list of things students like to do. Just 53% of girls love to write and 35% of boys. Yet the reality of things is that many students are graduating and holding job positions where good writing skills are necessary. The National Commission on Writing estimates that the nation’s top companies spend more than $3.1 billion a year on remedial training! 

What constitutes as good anyway? Good sounds so mediocre. Good doesn't tell you what to write or how to write it.'In the dictionary, good is defined as "of somewhat high but not excellent quality." As a marketer, your boss will ALWAYS want excellent quality. 

329 million pair of eyeballs scan blogs each month. Good content won't keep their attention. Better content advice is:

1. Develop content that your customers care about! Sure your company might want you to pump up your sales offers. Scratch that for the most part. Be relevant. What questions does your target audience have? Write content that will answer these questions.

2. Pics. Pics. Pics. Societal visual craze is at an all-time high. Look at our obsessions with Instagram and other apps that revolve mostly around pictures. Kim Kardashian drops a picture and it stirs up 1,000 (times infinity) words. Visuals make your posts easier to digest.

3. Add keywords. Keywords boost your SEO and allow you to arrive in search engines organically. 

Dear Companies, mobile ads suck. Someone's phone is basically their personal source of entertainment and mobile ads are the annoying commercials that they want to skip past. Being that mobile accounts for 10% of the time that people spend with media and 58% of American adults have a smart phone, it makes sense why advertisers would want to jump at the opportunity to pitch products via mobile. However, the tiny little banners aren't getting the job done. Everyday consumers pick and choose who they want to talk to and block out who they don't. So, how do mobile marketers break through the clutter?

Let's start with expanding the size of the mobile ads. With the iPhone increasing its measurements, that means great news for the size of screens that will be in the hands of more consumers. With bigger screens, will come more space for interaction with mobile ads. Once consumer attention is captured, companies should make sure that their advertisements become more personal. I mean, if mobile ads are going to exist, their success will depend on their ability to connect with consumers, especially since a phone is a personal platform.

Second, mobile ads need to become more targeted. People are annoyed if the ads aren't even relevant to things their interested in. It would be cool if the settings of a phone allowed users to choose categories they wished to receive mobile ads on. Perhaps ads should even consider being sent in the form of a push notification. They could serve as purchase reminders for companies that consumers are visiting through their mobile devices.

1.17 billion.

That's the number of monthly unique Google searchers. That's more eyeballs than your favorite newspaper receives and even that magazine you cling to. This is why you should make sure your company makes an Olympic-sized leap towards the front page that matters the most, Google! Whether you're a business owner, head marketer in charge, or an intern, your company's digital footprint exists when people can find it on the internet. Search engine marketing has grown tremendously in an effort to get companies in front of the customers they value most, whether it's organically or through paid advertising.

In my experience, it helps to stray away from general keywords and phrases. I know there's been plenty of times when I've scanned Google and wouldn't see the results I was yearning for. Brands need to do a better job at choosing their keywords. Part of it is placing yourself in the mind of the consumer. The other part of it is doing your homework! Research what consumers are typing in to their search engines to help them reach your brand as well as your competitors. 

Personally, even if you are successful at drawing eyeballs to your website, everything can go downhill if you don't have a great landing page. You'd be a fool to direct all your search engine marketing towards your home page. Landing pages need to have specific content that provides information for the people who have entered your site because of search engine results. Skip boring. Add pizazz. Treat landing pages like first impressions on a first date. For many, this will be their first time meeting you. Does your landing page leave them wanting more? Or are they immediately turned off? Bounce rates, bounce rates, bounce rates. Check them and you'll have the answer to those questions. 

Attractive landing pages have:

content and graphics that are short and simple

consistency with your company's look and feel

the language of your customer

ditched advertising for communication

a customer testimonial

a clear call-to-action

the minimum required fields (Don't ask the customer for too much info!)

When we think of the F word, our minds are automatically directed to the rebellious four-letter word associated with flipping the bird. In marketing, the F word that needs more spotlight is "fascinating." After all, marketing is about getting people to develop fascinations over different products, services and even over people! However, the word "fascinating" has almost lost itself in the pile of go-to adjectives that many like to use in conversation when they're discussing a great experience. It was awesome! It was terrific! It was great! It was fascinating. When we shift the focus from an experience to ourselves, the word "fascinating" gains more value. It starts to mean more. To be fascinating is to be extremely interesting, and how many people can say that about themselves? By embodying the art of fascination, we gain more power because we gain more attention. Subconsciously, we aim to fascinate people on a daily basis. The Fascination Advantage Assessment examines the 7 areas of fascination (innovation, passion, power, prestige, trust, mystique, alert) and lets test-takers zero in on the 2 advantages they're most likely to use to persuade others as well as their dormant advantage. Knowledge is power.

I was shocked that the test cost $37 just for you to answer 28 questions, but once you scan through Google and stumble upon one of the FREE promo codes, you're good to go!

I got labeled "THE ROCKSTAR." Cue the flashing lights. The rockstar is the unconventional thinker driven by innovation and creativity. After I click on the "Archetype" tab, I'm told how the world views me as well as the pros and cons of my personality. While I wouldn't describe myself as unorthodox, I must say, this test is pretty accurate. Toast to all the rockstars out there that are anxious to ignite the world with fresh ideas and perspectives. Check out more details on how we're viewed below!

Every marketer dreams of their name under the headline "Creative Genius" next to the Kanyes, Steve Jobs' and Thomas Edisons of the world. Or maybe that's just me. The good news is that great ideas aren't exclusive to a few masterminds. In my belief, anyone can generate a great idea and become a step closer to being labeled a creative genius. However, what constitutes as a great idea?

Marketers create and toss ideas on a daily basis. On the laundry list of a marketer's responsibilities is one of their main duties: tapping into a consumer's emotions and getting them to buy a product or service. A good chunk of successful marketing is also problem-solving; finding the area of concern for a group of people that a particular product or service eases or eradicates. Great ideas evoke emotions and solve problems but in order to catapult ideas to the next level, design thinking is necessary! Design thinking stimulates innovation and according to Tim Brown, CEO and president of IDEO, the goal of design thinking is "matching people’s needs with what is technologically feasible and viable as a business strategy." By adopting a design thinking mindset, marketers can inch closer towards the "Creative Genius" title.

A creative genius isn't afraid to go outside of the norm. As a child up until the age of 17, I had these huge, purple, wire-framed Harry Potter glasses that I couldn't part with all because a girl in the third grade had told me my eyes looked weird. Even when my friends begged me to take off the glasses, I wouldn't because I was stuck on the notion that I had these weird-looking eyes. This is comparable to how people feel about their ideas that differ from the norm. We become so guarded because we want to appear normal. The second we have the confidence to share a different part of ourselves is when we step closer to freeing our inner creative genius. 

Design thinking embodies confidence that one can create a desirable future based on creating solutions to problems. Design projects have to survive through three seemingly-chaotic phases: inspiration, ideation and implementation. Inspiration is the environment that motivates the search for solutions while the ideation phase that centers on experimentation and testing ideas that may yield solutions. Implementation involves mapping out the steps from ideas to actual fruition. 

Tap, tap. One two, one two. The internet has become the newest way for brands to amplify their stories and broadcast their voices to current and future customers. Before, organizations could rely solely on expensive advertising or media coverage to grab consumer eyeballs but as do all things, marketing shifts with time. Consumers are flocking to the web, now more than ever, and flooding search engines hoping to find more information that will help them accelerate the decision-making process. Shoppers enjoy the feeling of being in control and independently researching products and services at their own rate. They also seek out what other shoppers or owners are saying in regards to your brand. So ask yourself, is your marketing voice being heard?

Behind many computer screens or mobile devices are consumers that are surfing the net, scanning social media, browsing through emails, all while being exposed to your possible competitors. Companies are pouring more and more of their marketing budget into fine-tuning their digital presence. However, attracting an audience to your website is just the start of your digital journey. In fact, keeping them there is the hardest part. With the help of these tips, you'll break through the marketing noise.

1. First impressions count. A customer's first encounter with your website should make them feel as if they're getting to know you. After all, they're coming to your site to gain more knowledge about you. Brands that thrive best are the ones that have built relationships and pulled emotions out of their customers. Imagine that your site visitor has a crush on you and they're actively investigating your page to see if you're worth the pursuit. Put your best face forward, make sure your contact information is always present, and give them plenty of reasons to find you genuinely attractive.

2. Spice up your speech. If someone is monotonous, after a while you tend to tune out of the conversation. Apply this thought when developing your digital footprint. Great online content paints a brand as a trusted resource and entices people with catchy call-to-actions. Whether it be news releases, blogs, or simple details about your product, you never know where a customer's eyes may fall. Resist speaking to the masses, and zone in on your target audience. Your desired customers are most likely visiting several sites simultaneously, so maintain a unique virtual sound. Just remember, content drives action.