Social Progression or Social Status?

By | marketing agencies | No Comments

On August 26, Colin Kaepernick refused to stand during the singing of our national anthem, which is sung during the pre-game of every professional sporting event. Kaepernick also refused to stand, instead electing to take a knee, the following week before his team was set to play the San Diego Chargers. The reason Kaepernick is adamant about protesting the national anthem is because he sides with one certain aspect of social progression.

Kaepernick said, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color.”

The stance Kaepernick is taking is one several athletes across the sports world have taken. In recent years racism has been believed to be the motivation behind several shootings involving cops. Other athletes that have protested also have more at stake than Kaepernick. Marketing agencies target athletes because of the multiple generations they can reach. Even Lebron James, the owner of LRMR marketing agency has protested similarly in the past.

That is the power of sports. That is the power an athlete can have, not to mention marketing agencies. If an athlete can inspire a consumer to buy a certain shoe, can he or she help change beliefs and opinions?

The reaction from the media has been swift in both directions. The far leaning right-minded will point out Kaepernick was wrong, while left-leaning individuals will point out Kaepernick had as much right to sit as any of us have voicing our opinions. Despite this, Kaepernick has yet to be dropped by any major sponsors. On each side a different reputation and character of man is debated and tossed around.

One thing is certain, Kaepernick has had his reputation tarnished as well as strengthened. To some he is a cavalier standing for justice of those he believes were unjustly killed. To others, he is a disrespectful, spoiled millionaire. This begs the internal question we all must ask ourselves. Do we stay true to ourselves or go with the flow?

Marketing on Instagram Like a Boss

By | digital marketing, Video | No Comments

A new report shows that Fortune 500 companies have doubled their use of social media since 2013. Way to go, guys. The report shows that these big wigs still have room to improve. Where you might ask? Well, they could really do better on Instagram. Digital marketing firms are here to help.

It doesn’t matter if you are on the Fortune 500 list or a small start-up. All companies can benefit from the marketing field of opportunity that is Instagram. Starting something new, however, means there will be a learning curve, and some mistakes will be made. Here are a few tips to help you market on Instagram like a boss.

Most Important Facts About SEO

By | SEO | No Comments

From the social media savvy millennials to the grandma that’s buying a blanket for her grandson, SEO is here to stay, and that’s because it’s become a part of our everyday life.

Whenever we want to find out about what happened to that one actor from “Growing Pains” or when we’re looking to cram for our geography final, the majority of us will use search engine sites like Google or Bing to help us find the answer. Our reliance on search engines has led businesses of all sizes to push their advertising efforts towards building strong SEO potential. It’s a good business model, and companies who aren’t focusing on SEO are sorely missing out on large growth opportunities.

Here’s why:

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How to Offer Useful Feedback to Your Advertising Agency

By | advertising | No Comments

As the premier advertising agency in Utah, we work with a variety of clients. We love our clients. We wouldn’t exist without them. Productive feedback and communication is key to successful advertising. We love when our clients give us feedback because it helps us realize their visions and meet their needs.

We have heard tales from other agencies, though, of clients whose feedback wasn’t exactly helpful. Here are a few professional tips for how you, as the client, can offer the most helpful feedback to your advertising agency.

Know What You Like

When you approach your advertising agency with feedback, make sure you know what you want. It is easy to say, “I don’t like this.” That’s not the most helpful feedback, though, because it leaves your agency thinking, “So, what don’t you like about it?” and “What do you like?”

If you don’t like something, have specific reasons why you don’t like it. Explain the exact elements that concern you, and don’t forget to offer up something positive as well. People will be more responsive to making change when they feel that their initial efforts were valued.

Have a Plan

If there is something you don’t like, offer a solution or a direction to achieve what you do like. For instance, if a design came back in a shade of royal blue, don’t just say, “We do not like royal blue.” Instead, say, “Royal blue really isn’t our thing. We prefer to use a solid navy. Could you make this navy?”

Back It Up With Numbers

If you want to make major changes, it’s helpful to have some data to back up your thoughts. It could be as simple as past customer feedback surveys or an industry trend report. Professionals love numbers, and they’ll want to create products that work with the data, not against it.

Be Open to Advice

At the end of the day, always be open to advice. Your advertising agency may create a product that is different than anything you’ve ever done before. Your reaction may initially be, “I don’t like it,” but give your agency a chance to explain its reasoning. Sometimes, it takes stepping outside of your comfort zone and trying something new to beat the competition.

The Wonderful Women of Advertising

By | advertising | No Comments

Since its onset, advertising has remained an every-changing industry. Though Madison Avenue once wasn’t a place for women, that paradigm continues to change. The anti-feminist culture behind old advertising tactics is no more.

Women continue to bring new ideas and perspectives to what was once thought of as a man’s world. Confident women are now spearheading digital marketing firms and pushing cultural boundaries.

However, if it weren’t for the pioneering women of the past, we may have been doomed to be “damsels in distress” forevermore. So without further ado, we celebrate a few of the women who helped shape advertising into what it is today. Here’s to a future of endless innovation.

Helen Lansdowne Resor

Resor was determined to change things from her work environment to her life. She was active in the suffrage movement and fought to push boundaries that men had placed around her. Resor confidently led an entire department of women copywriters at J. Walter Thompson’s firm. She used sex and feminism in her work, and was the first woman to be successful in national ad campaigns. Modern digital marketing firms admire the footprint she left in the industry.

Caroline Jones

Living in a nation that was still in turmoil over racial boundaries, Miss Jones did everything in her power to break race and gender barriers. She started as a secretary and copywriting trainee who worked her way up to the position of Creative Director. Jones started her own agency. As the executive vice president and Creative Director, she saw success with campaigns for McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken and American Express.

Jane Maas

Mass is considered to be one of the founding mothers of advertising. If it weren’t for her work, digital marketing firms wouldn’t be what they are today. Maas was the brains behind the “I Love New York” tourist campaign that has grown to be legendary. With over 47 creative awards and five published books under her belt, she continues to inspire new generations of women to take on the challenges of the world of advertising without fear.

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What Instagram’s Story Feature Means for Advertising

By | digital marketing, Instagram | No Comments

There’s a great adage from Oscar Wilde that speaks continually more truth as our society evolves: “Talent borrows, genius steals.”

Instagram has taken Wilde’s words to heart recently by releasing its newest feature, Instagram Stories. The app will now let you post videos and photos of your daily shenanigans that people can view for 24 hours. After that, the content disappears.

If you’re a Snapchat user, that feature probably sounds wildly familiar because the company implemented that same conceit into its app months ago and users and digital marketing companies alike used the feature to help broadcast their brand on a larger scale and a more creative way.

“Instagram is a follower platform where Snapchat is more of a best friend platform,” VP of platform partnerships at VaynerMedia said to Advertising Age. “Snapchat hasn’t encouraged brands to build up huge followings.”

Instagram Stories is a no-brainer, especially since the company is considered to be very brand friendly for companies who look to advertise on the app. Digital marketing companies are also looking to take Instagram Stories more seriously than Snapchat Stories because the audience base is so much larger. Snapchat revealed they have 100 million daily users, whereas Instagram has 300 million daily users.

The differences between the audience reached between the two users has already been notable. Within 24 hours, a video from Nike on Instagram Stories had 800,000 views. Nike’s most viewed video on Snapchat Stories has been 66,000.

For digital marketing companies and other businesses looking to make a name for themselves, it looks they’ll be better off investing their efforts into Instagram then Snapchat. Not only does Instagram have more users, but they tend to have a larger base of both millennials and people in their 30’s and 40’s, whereas Snapchat is almost exclusively a millennial audience.

The Best SEO Techniques From SEO Professionals

By | SEO | No Comments

The greats in any field — whether they’re Olympians or mathematicians — might be gifted with some talents that others might not have, but at their core, they’re people just like you and I who spend their days and nights practicing, theorizing and outworking their competition.

The same has to be done for those who want to succeed in the SEO industry. You have to outpace your competitors, and you have to always find innovative answers to the impossible question. As the #1 digital advertising agency in Utah, we know a thing or two about dominating the SEO field.

Never Stop Studying and Strategizing

SEO is constantly changing. It’s still a newborn in the advertising field, so those that hold the keys to all of SEO’s abilities, like Google, are still trying to figure out what’s the best way to utilize the tool for brands and companies in Utah and beyond. The best way to keep up to date with changing search engine trends is by following the blogs that are navigating where the industry is going. Blogs like Google Webmaster Central, Search Engine Land, Moz Blog and SEMrush Blog are all crucial to helping you how to approach your next SEO strategy.

Understand What Is and Isn’t Working in SEO

Quick rule of thumb about SEO: Never trust your feelings, only the numbers. As I mentioned before, search engine optimization is a new field, so it’s important to trust the numbers over your past experiences.

Visiting SEMrush’s winners and losers report will help you get a better understanding of how certain website are able to build a large audience just because of their search engine presence.

Talk Is Cheap. Work Is Priceless.

It’s crucial to implement a strategy on how you’ll approach your brand’s search engine potential, but you can’t spend countless days theorizing the best approach. Sometimes the best way to succeed in SEO is by strategizing, implementing, failing and repeating. After a strategy or two, you’ll start to see some sort of success, but if you don’t, it might be best to go back to the previous steps, and see where you might’ve gone wrong. Keep your SEO actions consistent by developing a plan and timeline that you commit to.

Don’t Settle in Your Success: Break The Glass Ceiling

This tip is vital. If you follow the previous steps, you’re on the right path to SEO success, but if you stay satisfied with that success, you’ll become stagnant. Success is fleeting, especially in the shifting landscape of marketing. Take your success and invest it in resources and strategies that will make you even more successful.

You Need More Than Good Content For SEO

By | SEO | No Comments

If you go your entire life not seeing “Field of Dreams” then you’ve wasted your life.

Harsh, but accurate.

“Field of Dreams” was a pop culture phenomenon that still holds some resonance today thanks to its meme-tastic quote: “If you build it, they will come.” That quote is a good streamlined metaphor for how some SEO agencies treat their online presence. If you build good content, then people will come to your website.

That’s unfortunately become an oversimplification of what’s needed to help build your SEO potential, especially if you’re looking for your brand to reach beyond the nearest borders in your surrounding Utah neighborhood. Good content is vital, but so are a few other factors.

First, Let’s Define, “Good”

We can get all philosophical and existential on you, but we’ll keep to the basics of “good” content. It needs to be unique, useful, entertaining, and relevant. That’s just the bare bones of what good content is, and you need a lot more than just those factors in order to make any dent in a search engine’s rankings. But before we jump into the more technical stuff, it is important to emphasize that good content is essential to SEO potential, it’s just not the only factor.

Getting Your Content Shared

In a perfect world, only the best content online would get shared, and you’d be known as the SEO Guru because your content is just so good that people are dying to share your next inspired thought. Unfortunately, this isn’t a perfect world. We live in the world of Buzzfeed lists and Grumpy Cat movies, and it’s hard to get any other kind of content shared.

It’s hard, but it’s crucial. If Google’s algorithm sees your content is being shared, then it will place you higher in a search engine’s rankings. There’s a lot of different strategies on how to get your content shared on social media and on other sites, and it’s a good idea to see which one best suits your brand. A relatively common strategy though is to simply ask people to share your content. That strategy can work, but it’s important that your shares and links are always organic.

The Tech Behind Content

Template sites like WordPress give you a good foundation for spreading your content, but you need to make sure that your site has an extensive and updated sitemap, created metadata and title tags, intricate site security and exceptional site speed. Google and other search engines take these factors into consideration when they figure out where your content should rank. Your good content won’t do anything for your SEO potential if your website is riddled with toxic links, slow load times and convoluted site navigation.

Look Out Into The Future

It’s going to take you a while to become a notable presence on SEO. While you’re waiting for that to happen though, you need to ask yourself important questions about your content. You need to figure out who your audience is, what keywords you want to rank in, and how your content can be integrated in other parts of your brand’s campaign.

Think of good content as dirt. Dirt’s essential. Kevin Costner needed dirt to build his baseball field in “Field of Dreams.” He needed the proper tools though to turn that dirt into something more than just dirt. That’s what your content needs also: tools to turn it into something more.

Avoiding Poor Taste in Advertising

By | advertising, Utah | No Comments

Advertising agencies in Utah and throughout the rest of the United States are always trying to push boundaries. We want to do things that no other agency ever has before. Agencies have to be careful, though, that in their quest to be creative and innovative they don’t go too far and produce advertisements that are in poor taste.

7 Content Marketing Trends You Should Know About

By | content marketing | No Comments

At Fusion 360, we pride ourselves with being the leaders in content marketing. From our offices in Utah, we set precedent, make waves and basically make everybody wish that they were as cool as we are. Well, we’ll let you in on a little secret of how you can be: Set trends when you can and follow trends when someone else thought of an awesome idea first.

The year 2016 has set a lot of amazing trends in content marketing. Here are a few top trends that we think you should be aware of and use to produce the most effective content.

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