- 2.1.12 - Webolutions Participates in 2nd Annual Grocery Cart Race for Charity
- 1.27.12 - Denver Social Media for Business Group Talks Sharing Across Social Networks
- 1.24.12 - Top 12 Free Mobile Apps for Business
- 1.19.12 - SOPA, PIPA and Your Website
- 1.9.12 - Three Search Engine Marketing Resolutions For 2012
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Marketing Trends
01/24/2012
Top 12 Free Mobile Apps for Business
Categories: Marketing Trends Social Marketing
I've been asked a few times recently what free mobile apps I find most useful for my business. Excluding the calendar, email, text, browser and camera, which have, I believe, become a minimum expectation for anyone carrying a smartphone, here are the tools I use and what I get out of them: QR Droid – Admittedly, most of my QR code activity is verifying the QR codes we create are routing and tracking correctly, but I needed to work it in here because a properly packaged QR campaign can be super for creating engagement and excitement around your business, and can provide valuable da …
Read The Rest of This Post01/06/2012
Top Marketing Trends for 2012
Categories: Marketing Trends
Top marketing trends for 2012 predominatly revolve around social media and mobile devices. New mobile and social technologies continue to arise, thus the biggest trends for the year are all vastly interrelated in these two areas. Below are our top five trends for the year. 1. Social Media Marketing Because social is such a big focus for the year, we have broken social down into additional sub-categories. Social Mobile - With smart phone sales expected to surpass computer sales in 2012 (more than 450 million smart phones are expected to be sold this year alone), social mobile i …
Read The Rest of This Post12/12/2011
Current Marketing Trends: Mobile Websites a Must for Businesses
Categories: Marketing Trends
All marketing trends occur as a result of consumer behavior. Businesses must anticipate the consumer needs and react by meeting these needs (demands). This is certainly true when it comes to the consumer’s demand to access information via mobile devices. This is not a future trend. This is the here and now. Last quarter, for the first time, over 55% of all phones sold were smart phones. From January through October 2011 there were 1.2 million non-iPad tablets sold and Apple is on pace to sell nearly 40 million iPads in the 2011 calendar year (a 342% increase over last year). &nbs …
Read The Rest of This Post11/08/2011
Current Marketing Trend: Consumers Demanding Value
Categories: Marketing Trends
Marketing trends occur as a result of consumer behavior, and with the new trend towards value, businesses are being forced to take notice and act accordingly. Consumers are not just expecting affordable prices, they are demanding good quality at a good price. The value of a product isn't just in its price. While a low price is important, consumers expect the kind of quality they used to get in the pricier products, simply at a more attractive price. As Americans are struggling to pull out of the recession, they have adopted a post-recession mentality. In reaction …
Read The Rest of This Post11/05/2011
Relationships: A Timeless Marketing Trend
Categories: Experience Marketing Marketing Trends
Each year, on the Friday before Halloween, you'll find Webolutions at the South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce's Annual Business Expo. This year, the "Webolutions Marketing Speakeasy" was voted Most Creative Booth. Visitors to the "Bootleg Candy Bar" took a quiz that asked, "What era is your marketing in?" and CEO John Vachalek delivered a seminar on Mobile Marketing. The "speakeasy" theme for the Webolutions booth reflected the 1920's theme for the Expo. "We chose the 1920's theme," said John Brackney, CEO of the Chamber, "to highlig …
Read The Rest of This Post10/27/2011
Facebook Advertising, Online Reviews Lead 2011 Holiday Marketing Strategies for Retail
Categories: Marketing Trends Online Marketing Social Marketing
According to recent studies by BIA/Kelsey and ConStat, 97 percent of all purchases have an Internet component. 90 percent of all purchases are researched, at some level, on search engines. The average American uses 7.9 media sources to research a purchase…and most purchase at a local business. Combine those facts with the growing use of social media, especially Facebook, among demographics with purchasing power and the time for retailers to push social media to the marketing fore is right now. Online Advertising is Effective for Driving Offline Sales • Online a …
Read The Rest of This Post10/13/2011
Current Marketing Trends – Transparency of Your Brand
Categories: Marketing Trends
Transparency is still a relatively new notion for many businesses. However, this idea is critical for all businesses to understand and carry forward with them on a daily basis. As one of the current marketing trends, it is a fundamental marketing concept that can have an extremely powerful impact on your brand. So, what do we mean when we say transparency? Transparency is the notion (fact) that we live in an age where your customers and everyone else with whom you interact have the ability to publically share their experiences with your brand. This can be done through reviews, blog post …
Read The Rest of This Post10/11/2011
Social Media and Mobile Marketing Still Gaining Importance in Company Marketing Plans - Nielsen
Categories: Marketing Trends Social Marketing
The Nielsen Q3 2011 Social Media Report confirms that businesses wanting to go where the customers are, will beat a direct path to social media, understand who is using the medium and how, and consider how they are accessing it. Attention Share: Follow the Fingertips Social networks and blogs account for 23 percent of total time Americans spend on the Internet—more than twice as much as the #2 category, Online Gaming. Time spent on the 75 “other” categories accounts for 35 percent of Americans’ total Internet time. Nearly 4 in 5 active Internet users visi …
Read The Rest of This Post09/19/2011
Webolutions And Kickball For Kids
Categories: Marketing Trends
For the second year in a row, Webolutions will be participating in the annual Make-A-Wish Kickball Tournament. The event will take place on Saturday, September 24th at 8am at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, CO. Webolutions believes in giving back to the community and working with local charities to make a difference in the lives of others. The Colorado Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of Colorado children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. Webolutions supports them in this mission. Weboluti …
Read The Rest of This Post09/19/2011
Experiential Marketing Example – Continued - Glenwood Canyon Brewpub - Case Study
Categories: Experience Marketing Marketing Trends Social Marketing
Experiential Marketing and the impact it has on your social media (thus your overall reputation) is replacing the attention most businesses paid to their conventional advertising strategies. This series of posts will serve an interactive case study in the areas Experience Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Marketing Trends and more. Read on and see what you think. On 7/26/2011 we published a post outlining the experience I had on 5/30/2011 when my family visited the Glenwood Canyon Brewpub at the Hotel Denver in Glenwood Springs. As part of this …
Read The Rest of This Post07/26/2011
Experiential Marketing Example – Glenwood Canyon Brewpub - An Interactive Case Study
Categories: Experience Marketing Marketing Trends Social Marketing
Experiential Marketing deals with an overall customer or client experience. It focuses on how the customer feels and what they experience during their entire engagement with your business. This engagement might begin to occur before they actually meet with you via the correspondence you have before they come in. It occurs while they meet or visit with you and it has the ability to continue as long as the communications continue. This continuance of the communication provides a huge opportunity for businesses to stand out and keep the experience of their brand alive in the custo …
Read The Rest of This Post06/08/2011
Current Marketing Trends: QR Codes and Your Business
Categories: Marketing Trends
Marketing agencies like Webolutions help clients determine what marketing trends would be most beneficial for their businesses. QR codes can be helpful in many industries; connecting with your consumers is essential in today’s business world. A Quick Response (QR) code is a 2-D barcode that can be scanned by a smart phone’s camera and transfer information to the user via cell phone. QR codes have been used widely in Japan for over a decade, and the technology is now gaining popularity in the United States. QR codes were created in 1994 in Japan by a Toyota subsidiary, Denso-W …
Read The Rest of This Post04/05/2011
Current Marketing Trends :The Evolution of Business Marketing
Categories: Marketing Trends
Marketing agencies like Webolutions ensure our clients connect with customers on a more personal basis. We create true engagement between the brand’s marketing and the marketplace. In an era of social media marketing and extreme word-of-mouth connectivity, this is critical. In 1859 Charles Darwin published his book On the Origin of Species. Over the next few years, the general public came to accept evolution as scientific fact. However, not until the 1950s (nearly 100 years later) did natural selection become recognized as the basic mechanism of evolution. Current ma …
Read The Rest of This Post02/22/2011
Community Involvement as a Part of Doing Business
Categories: Marketing Trends
More and more companies today are including community involvement as a normal part of the way they do business. Consumers respect companies that give back and contribute to making their local communities a better place to live, work and play. People want to support these companies because it shows they are invested in the local community they share. Letting the public know you care about and support your community is a great way to improve your reputation with consumers. You don’t have to spend a lot as a company to become more involved in the community. You can set aside a budget for d …
Read The Rest of This Post02/02/2011
Marketing Trends 2011: The Shift to Online Continues.
Categories: Marketing Trends
B to B marketers are placing more and more confidence in online marketing and less and less in "traditional media." That's not just an agency with "Web" in its moniker talking. Its the result of a Marketing Sherpa survey, released February 1, 2011. As the attached graphic indicates, budgets are increasing for Web-based efforts and decreasing for print and broadcast. Direct mail is a wash. Why? Among our beliefs and observations are: We like what we can measure. No tactic is more trackable than Internet advertising. Increasingly, our online activities d …
Read The Rest of This Post12/23/2010
Marketing Trends 2011: Apps we'd like to see
Categories: Marketing Trends
Part I of ?? Inspired by this Pete Blackshaw blurb from Ad Age, we decided to take a peek inside the minds of some Webolutions' staff members. Turns out we think we're pretty clever. What app should be invented in 2011? Responder: Erik Landru, IT App: iHysteria What it does: Shows countdown to next Apple media event with links to discussions and media posts on what the Apple genies will release next. Sez Erik: "I am a bit of an Apple fanboy so if this were actually real and free - I would have it." Responder: Patrick Yuan, Online Marketing Coordinator Mobile App: iCanCa …
Read The Rest of This Post12/14/2010
Marketing Trends 2011: Merging Search and Social Media
Categories: Marketing Trends Social Marketing
One major area of our business is achieving optimal position for relevant Internet searches for our clients. Another is improving online reputations. It's not difficult to see how the two complement each other. The pursuit of positive comments, "check-ins," the change in Websites from billboards to interactive information hubs is evident in the marketplace of nearly every industry, especially in the B to C sector. Just outside of the mainstream media, but easy t …
Read The Rest of This Post11/29/2010
Marketing Trends 2011: Advertising Becomes Personal with Billboards that See You
Categories: Marketing TrendsThe following is re-posted from July 27, 2009. We live in a “me” society, where everything is on demand, and customized and personalized just for me. I have MySpace, iGoogle, my Yahoo, my iTunes – everything directed towards me, in the way I choose to consume it. I no longer read a print newspaper; instead I simply log onto my Google desktop, and can see my top interest news, specifically in the way I have decided to filter it, and specifically in the order I want it displayed. I no longer listen to the radio, I play my iTunes, which are songs I have chosen …
Read The Rest of This Post11/26/2010
Marketing Trends 2011: 3 Factors to consider for Email Marketing Tools
Categories: Marketing Trends Online Marketing Social Marketing
I was recently part of an online discussion in a LinkedIn group about Email marketing tools. Recommendations and insights were sought to aid the comparison of ExactTarget, Constant Contact and MailChimp. (Disclosure: Webolutions uses ExactTarget. We also manage client accounts on ExactTarget and Constant Contact.) All of the responses were thoughtful and each endorsed a service based on ease of use and design options. Choosing an Email Marketing Tool Especially if you're doing it yourself, ease of use is essential. We wouldn't be much of a design company if we didn't stress the i …
Read The Rest of This Post10/27/2010
Denver Social Media: The rapid and inevitable evolution of college athletics
Categories: Marketing Trends Social Marketing
Today, John and I addressed a gathering of about 50 coaches, administrators and marketers of the athletic department at the University of Denver. Our message: In the near future, a university's approach to social media will be the differentiator in recruiting, marketing and alumni/booster relationships. As marketing professionals and sports fans, we observe with great interest the developing relationship among student-athletes, their programs and social media. The landscape is littered with young people in high profile positions sharing the consequences of poor decisions. North Ca …
Read The Rest of This Post08/23/2010
Denver Social Media: Foursquare for Business - What, Why and How
Categories: Marketing Trends
I’m sure by now you have heard of Foursquare, and know a lot of people using it. If you’re anything like me, you have yet to get on Foursquare, and are unsure as to why you would want to in the first place….”Why do I want people following me around knowing where I am every second?” Well, I’ll tell you why… What is Foursquare Foursquare is a service that allows you to “check-in” to different locations you visit, using your phone. You can check into pretty much any location – bars, restaurants, parks, golf courses, …
Read The Rest of This Post07/08/2010
Denver Social Media: Content Sharing - What, How, and Why?
Categories: Marketing Trends Social Marketing
What is Content Sharing The sharing of all content across social media; general information, pictures, audio and video content. “ShareThis” is one such tool that allows for the sharing of social content. Now when you see a blog post or a piece of content that is enabled with “ShareThis”, and you can choose to share the content on the media of your choice. Choose to share it with your Facebook friends by posting it on your Facebook wall, or via your Twitter account, Delicious, text message, Stumbleupon, etc. Whatever social media you are a part o …
Read The Rest of This Post04/13/2010
Marketing Trends 2011: 5 Ways to Grow Your Business
Categories: Marketing Trends
It is possible to grow your business while taking the environment into consideration? Companies all over the globe are thinking about ways to save money in their businesses while increasing their revenue. It is definitely possible to do; a little creativity is all you need. Consumers appreciate when companies give back to the community, actively participate in creating a better society and consider the environment when making business decisions. Consumers also want to know that the companies they work with are cutting edge, use up-to-date technology and can get the job done well. Some …
Read The Rest of This Post03/29/2010
7 Benefits of a Business Blog
Categories: Marketing Trends
With the dramatic increase in popularity of Twitter and Facebook, it seems blogs are getting lost and forgotten in the mix. Don’t dismiss blogs as part of the past just yet. They are still an incredibly useful tool, and when used correctly, can be a great asset to your overall new media strategy marketing plan. While blog use as a purely “social” medium is down, blogs for business are doing very well. In fact, 70% of bloggers are now organically talking about their brands on their blog, and 38% of bloggers post brand or product reviews. This means that if you don’t hav …
Read The Rest of This Post03/07/2010
2010 Marketing Trends - Why Social?
Categories: Marketing Trends
In our Top 5 Marketing Trends for 2010 blog post last month, we named social marketing among the top 5 marketing trends for 2010. Everyone hears about Facebook, Twitter and YouTube on a daily basis. However, most businesses are not making the connection between these tools and good old fashion word-of-mouth marketing, which has been a key to successful marketing for decades. We all know that a word-of-mouth referral to our business is almost as good as a check in the bank. This potential client will ask less questions, and the relationship will begin on a more personal level. In mo …
Read The Rest of This Post02/08/2010
Top 5 Marketing Trends for 2010
Categories: Marketing Trends
Webolutions is a fully-integrated, strategic marketing agency specializing in helping our clients optimize the highest impact areas of their marketing programs. Below is our list of the Top 5 Marketing Trends for 2010 1. Value – Thought, Leadership, Help, Innovations, Green After a year like 2009, all businesses need to be able to define the value they provide to their customers. Are your prices in line with the value that you provide to your clients? Are you sure your competition has not snuck up on you and is offering somethin …
Read The Rest of This Post12/21/2009
Go Green and Save Your Business Money
Categories: Marketing Trends
Greening your business is easier than you think. By doing a few small things you can save energy and resources and save your company money. The economic and business climate has changed over the past few years. Much emphasis has been placed on the downward spiraling economy and how this affects business owners today. Many small businesses and even corporations are closing their doors after years of hard work and dedication. There are several small steps your business can take to save a few dollars here and there; this will help improve your bottom line. There has also been a lot of …
Read The Rest of This Post11/17/2009
Giving for Free - Strategic or Silly?
Categories: Marketing Trends
You always hear people say, "there's no such thing as free..." While this may be true in some cases, there are a multitude of exceptions to this antiquated rule. When you're in business, sometimes giving things away for free is beneficial. In fact, many times, giving something away for free can actually save you money. We are fast approaching a time where the consumer expects to get a lot for free. iPhone apps are free, blogging is free, consuming blog content is free, consuming online newspapers is free, tv shows and songs can be downloaded for free, you can …
Read The Rest of This Post11/11/2009
Transparency in Marketing
Categories: Marketing Trends
There is a lot of talk today about transparency in marketing and what this means. A blog post that I recently read defines transparency as, “the degree to which a company shares its leaders, employees, values, culture, strategy, business processes and the results of those processes with its publics. It’s the opposite of opacity, in which companies operate behind closed doors and shuttered windows." (By Shel Holtz of Shel Holtz PC , http://blog.holtz.com/index.php) This definition is as good as any for this post on why marketing transparency is so important for your busi …
Read The Rest of This Post09/14/2009
Client Relationship Building - Critical to Your Long-Term Business Success
Categories: Marketing Trends
Changes in the world have made Relationship Marketing to your existing client-base more important than ever. Some of these key changes include: Unlimited access to information and options Decreased overall brand loyalty Perceived and actual commoditization of products and services Blogs, rating systems, and other consumer-driven publishing platforms The downturn in the economy The trend towards the personalization of all products and services Never before has the consumer had so much influence over the products and services they purchase. Previously, bu …
Read The Rest of This Post09/10/2009
When Customer Incentives Become the Expectation
Categories: Marketing TrendsA friend of mine recently moved to Denver and bought a new house. Being new to Colorado, she was unfamiliar with American Furniture Warehouse. As she was perusing the ads a few weeks ago, she was absolutely elated to see that AFW was having a huge Labor Day Sale. I just sort of chuckled to myself, and went on about my day. I figured I would let her stay excited; she'd learn soon enough. What she will come to know, is that AFW is ALWAYS having a sale; there is nothing really special about this particular "Labor Day Sale." Last month it was a "Back t …
Read The Rest of This Post08/08/2009
Product Customization – Are You Keeping Up?
Categories: Marketing TrendsMany companies are finding ways to customize their products and services. This customization allows them to provide an individualized experience for every customer. Customization adds to the novelty of doing business with them, which helps them stand out from their competitors. Below is a list of products and services which illustrate this trend towards increased customization: • Nike & Converse – Design your own shoes …
Read The Rest of This Post07/27/2009
Social Responsibility - A Growing Marketing Niche
Categories: Marketing TrendsThe world as we know it is changing. The current economic situation has people changing their lifestyles to match these challenging times we are in. Unemployment rate is high and it continues to rise, people are cutting back in a variety of ways, and are conserving in areas of their life that they never considered conserving in before. People are re-evaluating their priorities and consumers are changing their buying habits. Companies that are quick to embrace these changes are going to be more likely to prosper in a difficult economic climate. Today many people are losing their jobs, taking pay cuts and as a result, they are learning to reduce their personal spending. Over time, people will become accustomed to this and eventually learn to appreciate and value a more simplified lifestyle. Living more simply will happily coexist with living smarter. Consumer trends drive profits and shape the marketplace. There is a $230 billion marketplace that exists for products and services that meet the needs of consumers who buy based on their personal, social and environmental values. What can your brand do to ensure it will still be relevant in the changing times? …
Read The Rest of This Post04/08/2009
Push the Reset Button on Your Marketing Initiatives
Categories: Marketing TrendsThe markets are topsy turvy. The employment and business landscapes have changed. Everything seems to be in somewhat of a state of flux. I heard once that the Chinese word for crisis is, “Opportunity Riding the Dangerous Wind.” I always remember this. I am truly of the opinion that when drastic change occurs, great opportunities arise, at least for those who are looking for them! Are you someone who stops growing your business when times change or someone who refuses to be beat, no matter what? In a recent South Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce (www.bestchamber.com) m …
Read The Rest of This Post08/03/2008
Starbucks Marketing Observations
Categories: Marketing Trends
Starbucks current branding, marketing and advertising seems to focus on a “return to our roots” effort. They are refocusing on what has made them such a huge success in the world. Using this as an example, we can identify some keys to marketing success in today’s marketplace. This video focuses on the experience of Starbucks. At Starbuck"s website select, “Discover Our Heritage” then, “In The Beginning”. As you watch this video, pull yourself away from the company itself and focus your attention on the messaging, and the specific language t …
Read The Rest of This Post11/20/2007
When you compete on price you lose
Categories: Marketing Trends
Creating unique, relevant and memorable marketing experiences attract new customers, reawaken the interest of existing customers and generate additional demand for products and services. …
Read The Rest of This Post10/08/2007
The more you give away the more clients you get
Categories: Marketing Trends
When people are shopping for a new product or service they want to make the best choice. They are likely thinking: …
Read The Rest of This Post10/07/2007
The most important question in marketing
Categories: Marketing Trends
In a previous post I talked about asking questions as a way to stimulate ideas. Questions open your mind to possibilities. One question in particular, when asked over and over again, can dramatically improve your company"s long-term profitability. That question is: …
Read The Rest of This Post10/06/2007
People never buy your product or service
Categories: Marketing Trends
Many business owners don’t know what they are “really” selling. Once you understand what your customers are “actually” buying, you have a much better chance of selling them. …
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