JUMP START Blog and Online Community

Are you frustrated because you have a web site, but it's not showing up in search results and you're not getting any traffic? Or you're not familiar with the latest changes to Google's algorithms?

We can help. We've recently created a new SEO Analysis package, and for ONE DAY ONLY, you can order your SEO Analysis package (which is valued at $500!) for only $99.

Learn more and order your SEO Analysis now:

http://landing.flairinteractive.net/seo-analysis-flash-sale

This sale is only going to last until 11:59 p.m. on Friday, and it is ONLY available to our 6,000 subscribers and social followers. Why are we doing this, you ask? It's simple...we want to get the word out about our new package and help you get better results from your web site. We love our subscribers and we want to help you succeed.

If Collette, the CMO of a leading ERP software company, opened up a meeting with, “We’re not getting a lot of traffic on social media. I don’t think it’s necessary to maintain a presence anymore,” more than likely she’ll be laughed out of the meeting (at best). At worst, she’ll be packing up her desk.

Social media has made its mark as a viable marketing channel, and it’s not going anywhere any time soon. And for good reason…it works when executed in the right way.

But all too often, businesses set up their profiles and, after a few months, throw their hands in the air when they don’t instantly see a return on their efforts and investments. Having a social media presence simply becomes one of those "marketing things” that gets a checkmark on the list with very little strategy or structure behind it. Companies who don't wrap strategy around their social media profiles will undoubtedly see it less as a lead generator and more as a resource drain.

So how does Collette get the traffic she needs to meet her top-of-the-funnel goals?

The world is undoubtedly in some emotional turmoil right now.

Whether wanted or not, emotion stirs up a great deal of visibility. It ignites—and in
some cases—even drains energy. While political campaigns are the typical catalysts for stirring up feelings around a particular topic, corporate marketing campaigns can be equally fueled by emotion.

More and more companies are pulling the emotional trigger to create more relevance, context, and connection with their audiences. And as suggested by Beth Comstock, Vice Chair for General Electric, their efforts aren't going unnoticed.

In recognition of a very passionate political landscape right now, here are some of the most emotional marketing campaigns over the last few years. Get out your tissues. While effective and compelling, as you'd expect, they're not always easy to watch.

You have some ideas. You want to share them. They seem interesting to you. You think others will be interested as well.

So you write and post a few blogs. And…crickets.

Why aren’t your blogs getting the red carpet treatment you thought they would? Well we at Flair Interactive gave you some potential reasons why in our #TBT April 2015 blog post, Why Aren’t my Blog Posts Generating Any Traffic? We offered some insights on how to set your blogs up for success.

Now, we’re sure you’ve since applied some of our tips to your overall approach and you’re now topping the ‘best bloggers of 2016’ list. In the event you’re not, or you’re just looking to hold that steady crown for 2017, here are a few more tips to get your blogs the recognition they deserve:

As digital marketing evolves, new and revisited modern marketing techniques continue to surface. Content marketing now sits at the peak of these rising marketing trends and is projected to play a lead character in more and more organizations’ strategies moving forward.

As you develop your 2017 plan, how are you staying competitive and poised for growth? What contemporary approaches have you built into your 2017 budget? Take a look at these top trends in content marketing and determine what techniques might be a good fit for your organization.

Most of us have figured out at this point that Content Marketing isn’t a magical powder that gets sprinkled on our marketing plans and suddenly, all of our
goals are instantly met. No, content marketing is nothing more than a tried-and-true formula. Effective application of that formula is what truly yields success.

Queue nebulous time warp squiggles back to the year 2015 when Flair Interactive posted the blog, What Should be Included in My Content Marketing Strategy. While the blog is on point in terms of building and executing on an inbound marketing plan, in 2017, we’ve taken some measures to perfect the formulaic fairy dust even more. As you dive into your plan this year, keep these additions in mind:

Create data-driven goals—this is still very much the starting point of your content strategy. While not much has changed here since 2015, you’ll want to make sure your goals are clearly defined and mutually agreed upon by everyone. Ensure your ‘wins’ or ‘milestones’ are marked and attainable. Finally…do your homework. Avoid arbitrary, executive-driven numbers. Look at your competitors, your metrics, what’s worked, and what hasn’t worked before getting to an achievable number.

If you need me and my team to help you, we will. We love this stuff!

Here’s how we can help:

http://landing.flairinteractive.net/can-i-help-with-your-inbound-marketing-strategic-plan

Over the last 20+ years, I can't even count how many people have asked me to help them create a strategic marketing plan…

…and too often, I had to say...

"I'm just too busy…" 

If you can make them laugh, well then you've won half the battle, and probably you've won them over too.

One of the best times to witness big companies using their funny bones to their advantage is in January/February. The most sought-after and highly awaited commercials are played during the NFL's championship final: the Super Bowl, and without disappointing, year after year they deliver cutting-edge humorous content that speaks to millions of consumers in a way that only humor can.

Out are the professional, serious and stiff images that were de riguer when marketing first became an acknowledged activity for mainstream businesses to do. Since then, due the nature of the online world, where 'going viral' is the holy grail for marketers, humor has been one way in which they have achieved their legend status. There are commercials and campaigns from years past that still get talked about today and are the benchmark for marketers right now.                                                      

As inbound marketers, it’s our responsibility to provide our clients the best-of-the-best in modern, customized marketing services. 

In 2009, we published a "Typical Projects Handled by Flair Interative" blog post and video that described our services. While we still offer all of the services described in that video, our core focus has shifted during the last eight years to focus on inbound marketing. But one thing remains the same...our number-one priority is to deliver high-quality solutions that get results for all of our clients, and we do that by delivering tightly integrated inbound marketing campaigns and services.

To us, marketing tactics shouldn’t be isolated instances. They shouldn’t be disparate solutions to immediate problems or what we like to call short-term, reactive goals. They should be proactive and strategic in nature with both immediate incremental and long-term wins in mind.

Interactive marketing is trending right in line as it was forecasted seven years ago. In 2009, Flair Interactive posted the blog, Interactive Marketing Has
Finally Come of Age. The blog cites an article by Forrester Research who forecasted that digital spending would nearly double in five years while ad budgets would decline. In fact, its exact predicted growth was a 9% increase in five years (from 12% of overall advertising spend in 2009 to 21% overall spend in 2016).

So, based on Forrester Research's prediction, let's get a pulse of where we're at as we enter 2017:

Overall Marketing Spend

• Digital marketing spending is predicted to grow 12% in the next year, while budgets for traditional advertising will fall to 2%. (The CMO Survey)
• B2B digital ad spending has increased 15% to $5.8 billion in 2014 — due largely to growth in native advertising, while display advertising is becoming less important. (MediaPost)