FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Atlanta GA – Jan 20, 2012  –AIS Media, Inc. CEO, Thomas Harpointner, today moderated an executive marketing panel, “Marketing Trends of the Future” at the Printing and Imaging Association of Georgia (PIAG)” headquarters. Panelists included:

• Ellen Lewis, Chief Creative Officer, IBM Interactive Atlanta
• Louis Sawyer, Chief Strategy Officer, Brummer
• Sanarr McLaughlin, Performance Marketing Manager fo Web & Interactive, Intercontinental Hotels Group
• Ed Farley, SVP Marketing & Corporate Communications, Unisource Worldwide
• Sue Friesen, Marketing Director, Broadspire (a Crawford company)

“It was a privilege to moderate this distinguished panel of marketing experts and lead the discussion on such a highly relevant topic”, said Thomas Harpointner. “The future of marketing consists of deeply integrated digital and traditional channels and we look forward to our continued relationship with the PIAG and its members.”

About AIS Media
Founded in 1997, AIS Media (http://www.aismedia.com) is an award-winning digital marketing and creative agency specializing in performance-driven digital strategy, design, execution and management. AIS Media’s competencies include design, application development, search marketing, email marketing, social media and mobile marketing.

Which digital marketing trends are poised to make the greatest impact in 2012? 

This is the “MUST-ATTEND” presentation for any digital marketing professional, executive or educator. As founder and CEO of AIS Media, Inc., Thomas’ insights stem from over 15 years of experience working with leading companies, global brands, governments and organizations.. Thomas’ digital marketing strategies and tactics have been real-world field-tested and proven to produce measurable performance and ROI for companies of all sizes. Thomas’ unique high-energy, hands-on presentation style is known to deliver actionable insights and immediate value in an entertaining format.

NOTE: Bringing your smartphone and/or tablet PC is encouraged to get the most out of this interactive presentation.

Seating is limited. Register: http://bit.ly/AvWUiA

Share your opinion.

Tell me what you think is the TOP digital marketing trend in 2012. Post your opinion in the comment box below and get mentioned in my Jan 19th presentation (be sure to include your twitter handle).

Your company has a social media presence, whether you know it or not.

Most companies today understand the value of social media, at least as it pertains to individuals.  Whether they are on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn many business owners have a profile at least for themselves personally.  However, it’s becoming more and more critical that businesses have an official presence, and not simply something started by a client, employee or (shudder) an unhappy customer.

Bank of America was recently embarrassed when it was revealed that it’s Google+ page was ‘brand-jacked’ and a fake Bank of America page was not only on Google+, but that it had more activity (posts) and 28x the fans than the official Bank of America page.

As a Google+ user, if you searched for Bank of America the first page to come up was the false page.  Because of the traffic to the site, the posts (none of them flattering for Bank of America) were also being indexed and could be found through Google.

Some say Google+ should have better screening for business pages.  Others say the person that posted the page should be blamed.  Some believe Bank of America should police their brand better.  While there are differing camps on who’s to blame for this, it still boils down to an embarrassment for Bank of America.

At a time when more and more customers are using Facebook, Google+ and other social media to find business, read reviews and post their experiences with a brand, it’s critical that companies not only place value on their social media image but that they are the ones managing it.

Your social media presence provides users insight into not only sales and specials, but thoughts and feedback from other customers.  How happy are they?  How an unhappy customer was made happy.  How is your business engaged with the community?

An engaging social media presence tells your customers and clients that you care – not just about your business, but about them.  If a customer can’t find an official page online, and is only left with false pages, it tells them not only don’t you care about your brand, but you don’t care about what people think of it either.

By Sean Jones
Interactive Enthusiast – Digital Geek – Creative Nut
With a background in computer animation, multimedia design and IT technologies Sean is AIS Media’s VP of Digital Solutions and Technology. AIS Media is an award winning Atlanta-based digital and social media engagement agency. Sean tweets from http://twitter.com/sjones_aismedia. Connect with Sean on LinkedIn at: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/sean-jones/2/757/47b
 

Cyber Monday 2011 is on track to be the single highest online shopping day in history with 83% of consumers saying they prefer shopping online over visiting crowded stores during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Holiday online spending is projected to reach $37.6 billion, reaching $37.6 billion online. That’s a 15% increase from 2010, according to comScore Inc. In contrast, brick and mortar retail sales are expected to increase a mere 2.6%.

In 2011, 48% of all retail sales are either online purchases or Web-influenced purchases. More than $1.1 trillion in retail sales could be attributed to “web-influenced” purchases (offline retail sales influenced by online research).

The stakes for retailers are high. Many will generate between 20 and 40 percent of their annual revenue during the next six weeks.

Read the full original story titled: Top 12 Black Friday & Cyber Monday Marketing Tactics for Retailers in 2011.

The 2011 holiday shopping season is ON! Cyber Monday 2011 is on track to be the single highest online shopping day in history with 83% of consumers saying they prefer shopping online over visiting crowded stores during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Holiday online spending is projected to reach $37.6 billion, reaching $37.6 billion online. That’s a 15% increase from 2010, according to comScore Inc. In contrast, brick and mortar retail sales are expected to increase a mere 2.6%.

In 2011, 48% of all retail sales are either online purchases or Web-influenced purchases. More than $1.1 trillion in retail sales could be attributed to “web-influenced” purchases (offline retail sales influenced by online research), according to Group M Search and Compete.

The stakes for retailers are high. Many will generate between 20 and 40 percent of their annual revenue during the next six weeks. Below are our top 12 marketing must-do’s in 2011.

1. Amp-Up Your Email Campaigns

Email marketing remains one of the most effective ways to drive traffic to both online and brick and mortar stores. But just because email is cheaper to send than postal mail, cutting corners on the email design can significantly cut response rates and sales. Conversely, investing in high-quality product photography and professional direct-response copywriting can deliver a BIG payoff.

The email subject line is an ad for the email; its single objective is to compel recipients to open their email and read the offer.

Even the most incredible email offer that doesn’t get opened is like a magic trick in the dark. Think of Put a KILLER OFFER in the subject line to grab readers’ attention and boost open rates i.e. “Black Friday 25% OFF Storewide Coupon 1 Day Only – EXPIRES Midnight November 25, 2011”

Increase the frequency of your mailings. Our experience has shown that about 95% of all people who will respond to an email will do so within 48 hours. After that, response rates drop off dramatically. Customers subscribe to email promotions from multiple merchants. As their email box fills up, the majority of older messages will get deleted or simply ignored. Customers fully expect to receive discounts and specials via email, especially this time of year. Therefore, don’t be afraid to increase the frequency of your email campaigns.

How frequently is TOO FREQUENTLY? You might be surprised. Sometimes our clients are concerned about emailing their list too frequently. And they should be. It’s important to know your audience. Review email analytics to monitor the unsubscribe rate and identify the ideal threshold.

Have a look at how frequency Victoria’s Secret emails its subscribers. Apparently their tolerance is quite high. The production quality of the emails is also spectacular, which helps significantly.

2. How to leverage mobile to drive both online and offline sales

It’s more important than ever to make your website and email campaigns mobile-friendly. If you’re in doubt about your customers’ mobile usage habits, check your own web and email analytics to determine what devices your audience uses to access your email content. You might be surprised.

Mobile facts to know:

• The U.S. has 327.6 million active wireless customer connections. That’s more than the entire U.S. population!
• About 1 in 3 online U.S. consumers have both checked for sales and specials and looked up store information such as hours, location and maps via mobile device in the past three months, according to e-tailing group and PowerReviews.
• A 2011 report by e-Dialog reveals that 34% of consumers now check email on their mobile device at least once a day; 21% of consumers say that they check email on their mobile device more than once a day.
• eMarketer reports that 33% of mobile users are looking to access local content relevant to their GPS positioned location.
• Research shows that 80% of consumers use mobile devices while in stores for further research.
• ExactTarget’s “Subscribers, Fans, and Followers: Mobile Dependence Day” (June 2011) found 57% of smartphone owners who had made a purchase because of a mobile marketing message said they had done so after receiving a mobile marketing email.

Are all of your retail store locations optimized for mobile local search directories such as Google Place, Bing Business Places, CitySearch, etc.? If not, you might be steering customers to your competition. It’s not too late to get your locals search listings updated.

What about in-store mobile usage? While some customers (window) shop online and buy offline, others may (window) shop at your local store, using mobile apps like Red Laser and ShopSavvy to scan UPC codes to find the best price and then make their purchase elsewhere.

Don’t bother trying to fight this trend — it’s online going to increase. Instead, embrace it. Consider that most of the customers in your retail store WANT to buy from you, otherwise they wouldn’t have spent their time to get there. They’re just afraid of finding a significantly better deal elsewhere and regretting the purchase. Here are some good ways you can give them the confidence to make the purchase

• Display your low price / price match guarantees in your retail store.
• Prominently highlight your “no hassle return” policy.
• Offer other incentives like free gift-wrapping.
• Reward customers for their loyalty with exclusive discounts and specials.
• If possible, carry unique merchandise which is not easily found elsewhere.
• If you sell common items like DVDs, create product bundles and offer free gifts with a purchase. Department store fragrance departments do a great job by offering unique and limited gift packages which can’t easily be found elsewhere.

Want to boost mobile email response rates? Schedule to send your email campaigns when your customers are most likely on the go and shopping.  Check your analytics frequently, test various send times make adjustments.

Mobile users have shorter attention spans. Communicate your offer within the email subject line. Test several subject lines simultaneously and make adjustments to maximize response rates. Of course, always include a clear call-to-action (CTA). At AIS Media, after taking over one client’s email marketing program, we instantly increased email campaign response rates 784%. The right small changes can produce big results.

If you’ve built a mobile app or a mobile-friendly website, be sure to properly promote it in multiple marketing channels. Connecting with customers through mobile apps enables you to push notifications directly to them, bypassing email spam filters and search engines, where competitors lurk.

3. Tap into the digital coupon phenomenon to propel sales

Consumers LOVE discounts and coupons –51% will utilize coupons, according to a 2011 PriceGrabber survey and according to Coupon Craze 94% of online shoppers will look for coupons/discounts before shopping on Cyber Monday; most of these will be looking for deals on electronics, apparel or health/beauty items.

Think most coupon users have blue hair? Wrong! With mobile and internet coupons gaining popularity, finding the best deals and coupons are hot hobbies across all ages and incomes, especially folks in their 20s and 30s. Frugality and digital coupon usage is now considered cool and a firm part of the online shopping experience.

Are you catering to a more affluent market? What may surprise you is that U.S. consumers with higher incomes are more likely to use online coupons, according to new survey results from PriceRunner.com – 48% of households earning $75,000 or more used online coupons 4 times or more in the past 6 months vs. only 23% of those households with incomes under $35,000.

Here are some other coupon related facts to know:

• 88.2 million consumers (47% of Internet users) plan on using online coupons in 2011.
• 74% of consumers search multiple coupon sources each week.
• 78.3% of consumers reported using coupons regularly in 2010, up 14.7% from pre-recession levels.
• 74% of consumers search multiple coupon sources each week.
• Digital coupon conversion rates are highest for those viewed and printed 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM
• Consumers are most likely to print coupons at work.

With consumers eager to save money, traffic to popular coupon websites is rising — and can be a good source of traffic to your online store. Consider listing your coupons on sites like www.RetailMeNot.com,  www.CouponMom.com, and www.FatWallet.com.

When is the best time to release digital coupons to maximize promotion ROI and drive in-store sales?

Digital coupons released at 8:00 AM Wednesday generate a 20% increase in that coupon being printed, according to a 2011 RevTrax Day and Time study.

As mobile internet usage continues to grow, invite customers to receive local digital coupons on the mobile device. Promote your mobile deal alerts via your website, your email marketing campaigns, your social media networks and in your retail store.

4. Leverage the viral power of social media to increase the impact and reach of your promotions

Studies have shown that the #1 reason consumers connect with businesses and brands on social media is to get discounts and specials. Research from the National Retail Federation and iProspect found that 57%t of shoppers in the U.S. turn to Facebook or Twitter to stay informed on holiday sales and promotions.

Customers also love sharing deals with their friends. This can really work in your favor if you’re running a group buy deal, which triggers after a certain number of orders have been reached.

This holiday season, unleash the power of social media marketing to maximize sales. Instead of just posting plain text messages on Facebook, use high quality images and illustrations that grab customers’ attention. Facebook posts that contain images or videos get about twice the click rates as text only posts. Additionally, content that entertains and/or provides real value gets shared more.

Many consumers look forward as much to the experience of shopping with their friends as they do to the thrill of finding a great discount sharing it with others – online and offline. Use social media to Reward your Facebook fans and Twitter followers stimulate sharing. Encourage your customers, fans and followers to tell their friends. Provide them coupon codes and special offers they can share on Facebook and re-tweet on Twitter.

If you’re tweeting your promotions, be sure to track which hashtags are trending on Twitter during Black Friday and Cyber Monday and include those hashtags in your own tweets. Take your Twitter marketing to the next level by offering special deals to your followers or creating special offers that are triggered by re-tweets and/or mentions.

5. Leverage your website and retail store to grow your fans, followers and subscribers

Some of your most active social media users will be your loyal patrons. Be sure to promote your social media channels and email promotions on your website an within in your brick and mortar stores to convert your visitors into fans, followers and subscribers. To do so effectively, make sure email sign-up and Facebook follow prompts are thoroughly incorporated into your website design.

Leverage your retail store locations and staff to grow your Facebook fans, Twitter followers and email subscribers. Signs strategically placed within your store can drive connections.

Leverage your friendly staff. Godiva, for example, rewards retail store customers with a free truffle each month for subscribing to their email list. The company’s friendly retail store staff encourages customers to complete a short form and instantly rewards customers with a free truffle. Within 24 hours, Godiva sends a welcoming email which promotes both the online store and retail store.

6. Create irresistible offers

Consumers obviously LOVE deals and discounts. But which drive the best response? A recent PriceGrabber survey found that 75% of customers will respond well to… you may have guessed it — FREE SHIPPING. This especially applies to higher priced products where consumers may already be able to avoid paying sales tax by making the purchase online.

Here are some of our top deal tactics which have proven highly effective at converting shoppers into buyers.

• Free shipping (free express shipping is even better)
• Free returns (Zappos includes a free return label with every order)
• Low price guarantee (eliminate the fear of overpaying)
• Guaranteed delivery date (eliminate the fear of order not arriving in time)
• Extended return period (nobody wants to get stuck with a product they can’t use
• Free gift (helps close the sale in a photo-finish buying decision between you and a competitor)
• Customer reward / loyalty program (point when can be applied towards future sales)

Don’t forget to highlight your offer across all of your marketing channels. Although this may sound like common sense, we’ve seen clients promote a phenomenal deal via traditional media such as radio and neglect their digital channels. Cross-promoting the deal across all channels can significantly increase the reach, impact and response rates.

7. Reinforce your search engine marketing campaign

According to a recent BIA/Kelsey study, the majority of consumers (97%) now use online media to shop locally.

With a surge of people shopping online for the best deals, increase your PPC budget over the holidays to make sure your store is found. Check your site analytics more frequently to identify key trends and apply tweaks to optimize conversions.

Make is easier for people to buy from your store. Link PPC ads directly to the web pages that contain the offer you’re advertising. This goes for email marketing, social media and online display ads too. We still see many ads that link to website home pages instead of product pages. This causes friction and contributes to bounce rates.

8. Boost your profits with these proven upselling tactics

Your best prospects are existing customers – especially those who just made a purchase. Follow up within 23-48 hours with special discounts on related products For example; customers who purchase a necklace might receive an email with a coupon code to matching earrings. Or, a customer who purchased a big screen TV might receive an email with a coupon code to a Blue-Ray player.

This tactic has proven extremely successful by big retailers like Best Buy but can be used by anyone. The keys are knowing your related merchandise and having a follow-up plan in place. If your marketing team is stretched too thin this time of year to plan, execute and manage an effective follow-up program, consider utilizing an agency that specializes in this area.

Digital purchase receipts represent a great opportunity for an upsell. It’s the one email most consumers tend to save. Provide a coupon code or link to a page on your website where specials are posted.

9. Drive Customer Engagement with Flash Sales

Consider leveraging your website, social media and email to promote flash sales – a deeply discounted time-limited offer for a specific product or small group of products. A flash sale can generate a tremendous amount of buzz and excitement while boosting customer engagement and loyalty. Flash sales are effective both online and offline.

Here’s an example of an effective online flash sale from BestBuy. As you might expect, the delivery of this email was perfectly timed – around 9:00 PM on a Tuesday, when their target customers were more likely to be home and paying attention.

10. Increase Your Average Order Value (AOV)

Driving customers to your online storefront is expensive. Website bounce rates (visitors who leave without making a purchase) and shopping cart abandonment rates are on the rise. If you’ve already taken steps to optimize your website to reduce bounce rates and abandoned shopping carts, you’ll want to take steps increase your average order value (AOV).

• Offer free shipping when the total order reaches a certain threshold i.e. “free standard shipping on orders $100 or more”.
• Use ascending discounts i.e. “save 10% on orders over $50; save 20% on orders over $100.”
• Offer related products to the one purchased during checkout and additional discounts when orders are combined.

11. Aim Past the Finish Line

While the holidays may consume the majority of your marketing focus, consumers have been conditioned to look for post-holiday discounts. Christmas doesn’t have to represent the end of your sales season. Use all of your direct marketing channels to stay closely connected with your customers and keep them coming back to your stores. While many consumers are home for the holidays, sooner or later they’re likely to venture online.

12. Fully leverage your brick and mortar location

The week before Christmas is one of the few times of year that brick and mortar retailers gain a strong advantage over their online competitors. Many consumers will still (window) shop online but hesitate purchasing out of fear that their orders won’t arrive in time for Christmas. Many consumers will compromise and pay higher prices for the instant gratification of being able to take their purchase with them. It’s at this precise moment when all direct marketing channels must aim at driving customers into retail stores; email, social media, search, website and mobile campaigns.

About
Thomas Harpointner is CEO at AIS Media, Inc., an Atlanta-based award-winning digital strategy and creative marketing agency. Thomas is a public speaker, author and has been featured in the global press and news media. Learn more about and connect with Thomas: www.About.Me/ThomasHarpointner

AIS Media consults, designs, executes and manages performance-driven digital marketing programs for leading companies and organizations. Capabilities include design & application development, search marketing, email marketing, and social media marketing.

The banking industry is in a state of crisis. With industry profits down over 50%, banks face a strong headwind from new regulation and an ailing economy. A fundamental restructuring of operations and marketing is required to improve performance.

Fortunately, this crisis comes at a time consumers are eager to embrace digital self-service platforms, providing a clear path and window of opportunity to reduce expenses while simultaneously enhancing the customer experience.

A new survey by the American Bankers Association (ABA) shows a dramatic increase in preference for Internet Banking over all other delivery channels among a majority of adults: 62% in 2011 vs. 36% in 2010.

“These survey results hammer home the point that retail banking has changed for good,” said Nessa Feddis, ABA senior counsel and retail banking expert. “They tell us for the first time that customers of all age groups prefer the speed and convenience of conducting their banking transactions on the Internet to visiting their local branch or ATM. They also tell us that customers trust the accuracy and security of online banking,” she added.

Banks now have a clear path and window of opportunity to reduce expenses while simultaneously enhancing the customer experience.

This special report outlines our top 5 recommended actions for banks to take to improve overall performance, grow their customer base and increase customer lifetime value (CLV).

(C) AIS Media, Inc. 2011

• Immediate actions banks can take right now to profit from industry disruption.
• How a bank can simultaneously drive profits and enhance the customer experience.
• 28% of customers leave banks due to this one  reason (it’s not due to higher fees).
• The top factors that affect customer decisions as they shop for a new bank.
• How to implement an effective cross-channel marketing program
• The growth in mobile; what’s expected in 2012 and beyond?

Get instant access to AIS Media’s free 10-page report here

Much has been revealed and written about Groupon lately. In a 2010 interview with Reuters, when Groupon was the next big thing, I stated that Groupon’s daily deals business model was broken and predicted that it would be unsustainable. Groupon rejected a $6 billion offer from Google because the company was aiming for an IPO with $26 billion valuation.

Fast-forward about one year later. The SEC has raised concerns about how Groupon reports revenue. Now Groupon’s business model is coming under fire as consumer online coupon fatigue sets in and merchants continue to complain about how they’re losing money. Forrester Research’s Sucharita Mulpuru now says, “Groupon is a disaster. It’s a shill that’s going to be exposed soon.”

Blueshift Research recently interviewed me and other industry experts as part of its research on the daily deals business model. The detailed 20 page report explores daily deal aggregators such as Groupon, LivingSocial, and Travelzoo. The report also shares real-life stories from numerous merchants and customers.

“Many businesses who’ve tried daily deals are not repeat buyers and that’s a problem for Groupon and LivingSocial because for them it’s a volume game.” – AIS Media CEO, Thomas Harpointner

Key findings include:

• Seven of 10 U.S. merchants will not use Groupon Inc. again or will use it only as a last resort as a result of past deals‟ low profit margins and little repeat business
• None of our seven customer sources said their daily deal purchases had increased compared with six months ago.
• Both industry experts said consumers are experiencing “deal fatigue” and are tiring of daily e-mails and deals.
• Margins for daily deal aggregators like Groupon and Hungry Machine Inc.’s LivingSocial are expected to decrease as merchants become savvier and renegotiate revenue splits.

The entire report, and other industry research, is available at http://blueshiftideas.com. You can follow Blueshift Ideas on Twitter at: @Blueshiftideas

About AIS Media
At AIS Media, we consult, design, execute and manage performance-driven digital and social media marketing programs for leading companies and organizations. Our capabilities include web development, search engine marketing, email marketing, social media marketing

Stay connected with Thomas Harpointner

U.S. QR code (“Quick Response Code”) usage is increasing – rapidly.  comScore reported in June 2011 that 14 million U.S. mobile users (6.2% of the total mobile audience) scanned a QR code on their mobile device. Not surprisingly, the study revealed that nearly 50% of a scanned QR code resulted from a printed magazine or newspaper. Over 23% scanned a QR code from a flyer, poster or kiosk. However, what may surprise you is that over 27% of users scanned a QR code from a website on a PC.

Here are some creative ways you can put QR codes to use:

1. Contact info. Use a QR code on your business card that links to a landing page which contains all of your contact information and social network profiles on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc. You can also link a QR code to a map, providing directions to your business along with hours of operation.
2. Product details.This can be particularly useful for retailers. Link a QR code to a webpage which contains more detailed information about a product including pictures, technical specifications, and user guides. QR codes can link to just about any type of content and provide additional information, including photos, reviews, directions, event schedules and even videos. Best Buy has already added QR codes next to most of their product labels and Home Depot plans to have a QR associated with every item in their store.Be sure to link to a mobile version of your website or webpage to provide customers the best possible experience.
3. Discounts, promotions and giveaways. Use QR codes on your website, your advertisements and throughout your store to reward customers for their patronage and increase customer loyalty. Bluefly.com used a QR code during a 45 second TV commercial for “The Real Housewives of New York City”. Viewers who scanned the code were rewarded with a link to a special video episode and received a discount of $30 off $150 at Bluefly.com.You can take it one step further and tie in the viral power of social media marketing by rewarding users for Facebook ‘Likes’ and Twitter retweets.
4. Use QR codes to increase your Fans, Followers and Subscribers. Link a QR code to a mobile-friendly landing page that contains Facebook ‘Like’ button, a link to your Twitter page or email sign-up form to create a greater level of engagement among your in-store visitors. Just be sure you provide people a compelling reason to scan your QR code and connect with you online. Keep in mind that the majority of people who connect with brands on social networks or subscribe to email lists do so to get special deals.
5. Integrate the viral marketing power of social media into your QR code strategy. If you’ve developed a great offer around your QR code, you’ll want to spread the word - as quickly and cost-effectively as possible. A great way to help achieve this is by empowering users to spread the word about your offer to their social network. Likify enables you to create a QR code that links directly to your business Facebook page ‘Like’ button.

Creative QR Code Example - AIS Media, Inc.

The comScore study also analyzed the source and location of QR code scanning and found that users are most likely to scan QR codes found in newspapers, magazines, on product packaging and do so while at home or in a store.

Reading a QR code on your smartphone requires a QR code reader app such as Red Laser or I-Nigma, both of which are available for free.

To create a QR code, you’ll need a QR generator such as Kaywa, which enables you to create QR codes that link to a web page, video, text, phone numbers, or SMS. Kerem Erkan offers more extensive capabilities and the option to customize the color and format of your QR code..

QR codes produce measurable results.

Since QR codes typically link to web pages, videos, images etc., it’s easy to measure performance. You can link your QR code to a specific web page (preferably mobile-optimized) and use a URL shortener such as bit.ly or goo.gl. Both services offer you the option of creating a QR code and provide useful performance analytics.

Have you used QR codes in your marketing? If so, please share how and the type of results you’ve seen.

The infographic demonstrates how daily blog posts with a consistent keyword strategy drove organic website traffic over four week intervals by boosting the number of referring keywords by more than 150 percent in eight months.”Investing in original, quality content is critical to SEO success in the current search climate.”

According to Google Fellow Amit Singhal, the four keys to good quality SEO content are:

1. Original content or information, original reporting, research or analysis.
2. Content needs quality control
3. Content should provide complete and comprehensive coverage on the topic
4. Content should be something people would want to share, recommend or bookmark.

Search engines are now including “social signals” as part of their website ranking factors, such as Facebook ‘Likes’, Facebook comments/shares, Twitter mentions, LinkedIn posts being shared, etc.

B2B marketers (44%) say that the impact of social signals has been positive to their business.

Key take-awys:

• 52% of consumers say blogs have impacted purchase decisions
• 57% of marketers have acquired new customers via their blogs
• 42% of consumers look to articles and blogs for info about potential purchases
• 60% of business decision makers say branded content helps them make better product decisions
• 61% of consumers are more likely to purchase goods from businesses the offer custom content
• 19% of beauty buyers who made purchases based on blog posts say they stumbled upon the content via search

No wonder marketers are investing $12.5 billion in online content. It’s easy to see how social media marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) go hand-in-hand.

Articles Related to Social Media:

10 Ways Businesses Can Benefit from Using Twitter
Columbo’s 9 Rules for Social Media Engagement
How Banks Are Capitalizing on Social Media
Is your Website At Risk of Google’s Panda Attack? 

Over a million people from all over the world have shared their memories, thoughts, and feelings about Steve. One thing they all have in common — from personal friends to colleagues to owners of Apple products — is how they’ve been touched by his passion and creativity.

Visit “Remembering Steve” to share your own thoughts and memories.