Proliferation

May 28
0

3 Reasons for Why Marketing Agencies Must Include PR In Their Game Plans

By | public relations | No Comments

If you were to go up to just about anybody on the street and ask them to speak of the differences between marketing and public relations, odds are that you’d find yourself hunting for the answer for quite some time. Though subtle, the differences between the two advertorial fields are gargantuan enough that, in recent months, some of the world’s largest and most successful marketing agencies have opened their own PR divisions.

In December of 2014, for example, Havas Worldwide Johannesburg made way for Havas PR to come into full effect. Likewise, just this month, the Black Snow Group decided to take the PR plunge. Could the biggest of PR’s pillars and marketing differentiators—relationship/reputation maintenance, networking and procurement of owned media—really be enough to push the globe’s biggest powerhouses of marketing into full-fledged PR involvement? Apparently, many certainly feel so. Here’s why:

1) The Field of Communications Is Changing

Simply put, traditional marketing no longer works and marketing agencies have taken notice. Yes, there are a few industries that might still benefit from a radio advertisement or highway billboard, but they are few and far between. What was once television commercials and flyers is now sponsored tweets and link-driven articles. No longer do consumers—regardless of industry—want to feel that they’ve been sold.

Instead, they’re demanding transparency and quality with the information that’s being given them. For that very reason, social media and SEO-driven article integration have taken the marketing world by storm. In the near future, in order for complex marketing solutions to be both developed and implemented, public relations will need to play an important role.

2) From a Business Standpoint, PR Is a Necessity

While marketing and advertising certainly fall under the canopy of “professional communications,” public relations, when combined with the aforementioned disciplines, ensures that all communicative channels are efficiently addressed. Long gone are the days when funds devoted to public relations where considered expendable.

Says Chris Verrijdt, Head of Havas PR, “These days, with information being consumed at the rate and across the channels it is, it would be naïve to keep PR out of the mix. Earned and owned media are integral to the conversation our clients have with their customers. Real time and right time communication is a necessity rather than a luxury.”

3) Through PR, the Client Always Comes Out On Top

Truthfully, it’s nearly impossible that a client fail to benefit from the services offered by a reputable PR team. Marketing agencies—specifically content marketing agencies—from all over the world can agree on one thing: “content is king.”

At this point, it’s the biggest buzz-centric phrase that the realm of professional communications has to offer, but it’s true. Public relations places a great deal of emphasis on content and, through content, the solidifying of a specific brand as an industry leader.

By creating helpful, informative content, not only is reputation enhanced, but leaders, potential clients and investors are drawn to a business. Needless to say, whatever your specific company’s marketing needs may be, public relations can help.

May 09
0

12 Statistics Solidifying the Ever-Increasing Need for Strong Digital PR Strategies

By | public relations | No Comments

For most, the differences between marketing, advertising and public relations are seemingly insignificant and hard to define. While marketing and advertising agencies might have their own specific explanations as to why one is more important than the other, generally speaking, both marketing and advertising take a first-person, representative approach to product and service pushing, while public relations opts for a more distant, removed approach.

Though both can be performed by marketing agencies in a respectable, ethical manner during this—the digital age of communication—digital public relations strategies are proving to be the more favorable option.

An Advertorial Atrocity

In recent years, both advertising and marketing have made it a point to interrupt potential clients in an effort to divert their attention from smartphones, tablets, laptops or flatscreen television sets to something of a more commercial nature.

Well, unfortunately for those who subscribe to this sort of advertising philosophy, the customer revolution is in full swing. Recent studies have shown that 60% of consumers feel more negatively about advertising than they did in the past. Additionally, 61% view advertising as a forced, intrusive and out of control industry. Lastly, and perhaps most disheartening, 65% of people genuinely consider themselves overwhelmed by advertisers. Victims of the process, if you will.

The Value of Digital Media

The perfect solution for marketing agencies is not only public relations, but more specifically digital media. Presenting itself through valuable formats such as graphic design, web design, video production, content marketing and—most powerfully—social media, digital media appears to be here to stay.

Consider the following: one in nine people on earth are on Facebook. Of those people, each user spends an average of 15 hours and 33 minutes a month on the site. YouTube, a different network with similar social roots, lays claim to 490 million unique visitors every month. Their activity on YouTube generates about 92 billion page views per month. All across the digital media board, trends are strikingly similar.

Public Relations as a Viable Solution

“The customer is always right,” claims an old sales adage. Wiser sales-centric words have yet to have been spoken, especially for outdated marketing agencies. As far as the world of public relations is concerned, however, there needn’t be any glittering generalities, reading of subtle nonverbal communications methods or sly hard closing maneuvers.

The field focuses on providing something of value to consumers, more often than not, through reliable journalists, news outlets and publications. Take, for example, the new, up-and-coming practice of content marketing: on average, American marketers spend one-fourth of their budgets on content marketing. In fact, 70% of people say that content marketing makes them feel closer to a sponsoring company.

Furthermore, with respect to the value of widespread public appeal, testimonials have been known to increase sales by 250% or more. With that in mind, it’s no surprise that 75% of buying decisions are based on emotion.

All the world’s marketing agencies are more than familiar with the cutthroat state of their craft of choice. In order to gain a competitive edge, an additional, conscious emphasis must be placed on a target audience through digital public relations. Soon enough, with an increase of satisfied clients on the horizon, you’ll be glad you did.

Fusion 360 - The Growing Need for Digital PR Strategies (Fusion 360 Agency)

May 06
0

6 Unique Sites for Web Developers Seeking Exceptional Free Images

By | web development | No Comments

From all parts of the country, be it in Utah or New York, everyone knows that great images are an essential part of any solid web development strategy. Unfortunately, most website design specialists aren’t freelance photographers in their spare time and have little to no access to a robust portfolio of remarkable photos.

Options are as follows: you could take the photos yourself, purchase them from a talented photographer or simply download them from a stock image site. Generally speaking, the later is preferred. That being said, when shopping around on the Internet for a digital archive of complementary images, some sites are simply better than others.

1) Unsplash

For many web development experts, Unsplash has proven to be an incredible resource. Visit its home page and the first thing you’ll be met with is the website’s mantra: “Free (do whatever you want) hi-resolution photos.” Unsplash specializes in blog-style photos of landscapes which almost always come with astounding lighting and extraordinary effects. Not only are 10 new photos submitted every 10 days, but each image contains a link to the credited photographer, just in case you’d like to learn more about the genius behind your newly acquired visual aid.

2) IM Free

Truthfully, IM Free is relatively new to the stock image scene. Separating the aforementioned site from its competitors is the fact that it contains helpful templates, buttons and icons—in addition to stock photos, of course—to more fully further the web development industry. If digital depictions are all you’re after, however, you’ll be pleased to learn that this library is known for well-organized photos that are conveniently grouped by category.

3) The Amazing Pattern Library

Technically, this site’s not actually for stock photos. In reality, The Amazing Pattern Library differs heavily from the other domains on our list in that, you guessed it, it’s main focus is to provide web development enthusiasts with a wide variety of patterns, many of which have impressively been created by some of the world’s most talented designers. Though spacious and detail-oriented, this collection’s high-quality pictures quickly download with just one simple click of the mouse.

4) Foodie’s Feed

Exclusively, Foodie’s Feed features edible items in its image arsenal. Believe it or not, visually showcasing delicious foods in a presentable manner is substantially harder than you might’ve originally thought. In fact, says DesignModo.com of the culinary compilation, “From beautiful deserts to simple garden veggies, Foodie’s Feed has images of almost any edible item you can imagine.” The website uploads a minimum of five new images—many of which come from a single take—each and every week. Foodie’s Feed is supported by user donations through PayPal.

5) New Old Stock

Though a bit oxymoronic in name, New Old Stock does a splendid job of combining the perks of modern-day file sharing with the splendor of vintage photography. If any one of your current web development tasks requires black and white images from decades past, consider New Old Stock your ideal supportive reserve. On this site, the vast majority of images are readily available on the public domain for widespread use due to their age.

6) Free Refe Real Life Photos

Believe it or not, a person can actually accomplish a great deal of artistic good with nothing more than a cell phone camera. Free Refe Real Life Photos is virtual proof of such an assertion. All of this website’s provided images were taken with nothing more than a mobile device. Said images primarily cover simple objects and landscapes which make them useful in divers amounts of web development ventures. Unfortunately, many presented images might be too small for print.

Whatever your web development undertaking may be, stock images are bound to play a role. Armed with the necessary visual outlets to make any project pop, you’re bound to see a sharp increase in both pleased clients and site visitors.

Fusion 360 - 6 Unique Sites for Web Developers Seeking Exceptional Free Images (Fusion 360 Web Development)

May 04
0

4 Sure-Fire Ways to Successfully Market Your Business to Digital Audiences Online

By | video production | No Comments

For marketing professionals from Utah to the farthest reaches of America’s East Coast, video production is of the utmost importance. While web development, graphic design, content marketing and public relations might be at the forefront of the marketing world, as traditional marketing gives way to that of a digital variety, video production continues to cement itself as a game changer for those willing to adapt their advertising strategies.

For marketers, little is certain. That being said, there are a handful of sure-fire ways to convert the attention of potential consumers into real revenue. The canopying answer? Video production.

1) Digital Sales Presentations

Even here in Utah, a mass delivering of consistent sales messages can be a costly affair. When executed virtually, vital sales and marketing information are transmitted at a fraction of the cost of a typical, more traditional sales call. In fact, small business profiles with videos get 30% more profile clicks, 18% more calls and 24% more sales.

2) Step-By-Step Instructional Videos

Custom-made videos, whose formation came about with key decision makers or sectors in mind, optimize efficacy and increase the likelihood of literal marketplace success. Furthermore, video in email marketing has been shown to increase click-through rates by over 96%.

3) Virtual Product Demonstrations

Technical products and complex services are made all the more straightforward by way of motion graphics, screenshots and voice-over presentations. Studies show that visitors who view product videos are 85% more likely to buy than visitors who do not.

4) Featured Corporate Videos

In the digital age of communication, both here in Utah and elsewhere, the Internet has quickly become the ideal platform from which branding strategies are launched. A corporate video is a simple, yet direct representation of a company’s personality, character and culture. In fact, studies show that 59% of senior executives prefer to watch video over reading text. Though difficult to master, a sound video production effort is well worth your brand’s time, effort and funding.

Fusion 360 - 4 Sure-Fire Ways to Successfully Market Your Business to Digital Audiences Online (Fusion 360 Video Production)

May 03
0

3 Less Popular Social Media Platforms Worth Tapping Into for Overall Brand Success

By | Social Media | No Comments

Social media has transformed the world of digital marketing; realistically, it’s unlikely that it ever reverts back to what it once was. With mega social sites like Facebook and Twitter taking up mammoth chunks of time for worldwide consumers and marketing agencies with any kind of Internet access, it’s hard to imagine a better way to expand your brand’s market reach.

Consider the aforementioned industry leader of all things social: Facebook. Not only does it come fully-equipped with an impressive Alexa Global Traffic Rank of two, it’s pegged that Facebook brings in an estimated 900 million unique monthly visitors. Rounding out the World Wide Web’s best social media networks are Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google+.

That being said, the best, most progressive social media strategies and marketing agencies shouldn’t be limited to the select few sites with which most people are familiar. There’ much more that, unbeknownst to many marketing agencies, has yet to have been tapped for advertorial excellence.

1) Tagged

Tagged is one of the top social networking sites in the world with a current Global Rank of 550 and a bounce rate of only 10.3%. Founded in 2004, Tagged has many features which make it similar to Facebook. Profiles are created and browsed through the site’s main interface. Additionally, once again—similar to Facebook—people are encouraged to post descriptive biographies, share interests and upload photos.

Perhaps you’re asking yourself the following: If so similar to Facebook, then why would any company target this site as a means through which potential clients be identified? Well, with the average visitor spending 20 minutes and 48 seconds on the site—not to mention the 18.6 registered members around the world—the community is clearly engaged and active. In order to more fully put things in perspective, the average online visitor abandons a website within a minute of arrival.

2) Quora

Arguably, Quora is the best question-and-answer website the Internet has to offer. Mimicking Yahoo Answers, the company was founded in June of 2009 and immediately saw tremendous growth. Between January of 2010 and January of 2011, Quora grew a whopping 37,000% in usership, giving the website around 160,000 users at the time. One short year later in 2012, Quora was valued at over $400 million.

Just as Tagged’s value comes from community engagement and passion, Quora has accomplished a similar feat. In fact, many American marketing agencies have made content marketing through Quora’s newly added blogging feature a staple of their respective publication strategies. Areas of audience expertise range from startups, entrepreneurship and venture capital to science and food. Impressively, Quora has been favorably published in the New York Times, USA Today, Time and The Daily Telegraph.

3) Yelp

Yelp is a review site with incredible mobile capabilities for both individuals and advertising agencies. Since it’s founding in 2004, the company has followed in the footsteps of other review companies like the Better Business Bureau and Angie’s List with booming success. Every day, people go online and talk about products and services that they’ve recently experienced. Apparently, there’s plenty of activity: Yelp averages 135 million unique visitors every month of each calendar year. As of October of 2014, there were 86,000 active business accounts on Yelp.

People can’t seem to get enough of the service. In 2014, there were 67 million cumulative reviews on Yelp. That’s about 26,380 reviews being posted every minute. By the third quarter of 2014, Yelp had over 73 million unique mobile visitors. What’s the end result of all of this, you ask? In short, impressive revenue spikes. On average, Yelp generates 200,000 business calls every day.

If you and your brand are looking for new social ground on which to stake a claim, never fear to venture outside of what most marketing agencies consider the best social media sites. Truthfully, there’s plenty left to discover.

Fusion 360 - 3 Less Popular Social Media Platforms Worth Tapping Into for Overall Brand Success (Fusion 360 Agency)

Apr 24
0

5 Facebook Marketing Tips for Frustrated Social Media Strategists Looking to Improve

By | digital marketing, Social Media | No Comments

Seeing as how Facebook is easily the world’s most popular and efficient media marketing tool for social media strategists and marketing agencies, it’s key that said platform be mastered and tapped for digital product- or service-pushing excellence. While the importance of Facebook is easily recognizable, the booming site can cause headaches from time to time.

User engagement, for example, is much more difficult to activate than it is with other social media outlets such as Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram. Likes, shares and comments can be difficult to come by. That being said, if you and your team of social media gurus find themselves in a creative rut of sorts, there are a few helpful measures which should be considered to get the proverbial ball rolling, yet again.

1) Use a Bit of Cash to Boost a New Product or Service Announcement

Though costing money and seen by many social media experts and marketing agencies as an easy out, boosted posts on Facebook are still effective, especially for small businesses and startups. Recently, a party equipment rental service in Gatesville, Texas boosted a post announcing the purchase of a new inflatable water slide. The $20 boost resulted in a reach of 4,490 people with over 1,000 likes. Furthermore, the friendly advertorial nudge generated 8 reservations at $300 a pop in just a little over 7 days. That’s $2,400 of total revenue for just $20 through Facebook.

2) Give Audience Insights a Gander

Understanding an audience allows for the sound optimization of an entity’s content strategy, resulting in a sturdier return on investment. Facebook’s Audience Insights allows brands and agencies to better see what their respective target demographics most actively engages with, be it custom-made images and photos, shared videos or promotional contests. Additionally, Audience Insights also allows social media specialists to see which specific topics of interest generate more user interaction.

3) Employ the Powers of ActionSprout for Email Acquisition

Few Facebook users visit company pages. Instead, the social marketing battle is either won or lost on an audience’s News Feed. Nearly all Facebook apps require that a user leave their News Feed to interact with a brand. ActionSprout places a specific acquisition action directly in the News Feed. All that’s required is an email address and News Feed comfort is allowed to continue.

4) Adopt Website Custom Audiences as a Means of Potential Client Identification

Simply put, creativity with targeting leads to better customers. As opposed to simply targeting specific fans through Facebook, use Website Custom Audiences to not only run Facebook ads through Power Editor, but to locate people who’ve already visited your website. After all, they’re much more likely to get in contact with your company. Their web history proves it and all of America’s advertising agencies know it.

5) Consciously Make Public Relations a Worthwhile Pursuit

Figuratively speaking, Facebook is a Rolodex of PR contacts with over 1 billion reporter profiles in its digital archives. Through Facebook Graph Search, it’s easy to discover who works where and what publications/websites they cover. Whether it’s a groundbreaking article share or a comment on an issue related to your brand, your company can position itself as a reliable source for newsworthy knowledge. As this and the aforementioned methods are put into play, Facebook engagement is bound to improve.

5-Facebook-Marketing-Tips

Apr 11
0

‘With Eyes Wide Open’: Visual Audiences In the Digital Realm

By | Video, video production | No Comments

Alright, so we might’ve changed the title from Scott Stapp’s “With Arms Wide Open” to better fit the needs of our attached infographic, but can you really blame us? Whether you’re from here in Utah or elsewhere, it’s impossible to deny that song was just gosh awful. Anyway, getting back on track, it’s insane how important video production is for both brands and digital consumers.

Not only do most of them have exactly two eyeballs, but the vast majority of the global population prefers visual stimulation as a means of obtaining information. While that most certainly applies in the classroom and at work, it also plays an important role for digital marketers looking to appeal to a larger audience through infographics and Internet videos.

With-Eyes-Wide-Open-In-the-Digital-Realm

Apr 09
0

Pinterest’s Popping Past

By | Social Media | No Comments

Okay, so the “clever title” juices weren’t flowing as much as they usually do. Please forgive the sorry attempt to bring alliteration into today’s topic of discussion: Pinterest. Anyway, in the past, we’ve hammered home the importance of the digital bulletin board for marketing agencies with clients from all types of industries, but there’s more to the booming social media platform than meets the eye.

As is generally the case with most success stories, what occurred long before public fame and glory were ever present laid the building blocks of today’s explosive success. As demonstrated by our newest infographic, Pinterest was certainly no different.

Fusion 360 - The Past of Pinterest (Fusion 360 Agency)

Apr 07
0

You Are Now Entering the Twilight Zone: an Infographic on Infographics

By | content marketing | No Comments

In Rod Serling’s series “The Twilight Zone,” the weirdness of psychological thrill meets suspense and horror to keep audiences captivated for hours. Though our area of expertise lies within the content marketing realm here in Utah and elsewhere, we’re more than open to spicing up our craft through the building of Serling-esque intrigue.

Currently, at least with respect to content marketing, the importance of visual stimulation can’t be overstated. Written content can only do so much. With 90% of information coming to the brain being of the visual variety, it’s no surprise that the simple act of seeing requires about half of the brain to fully get involved.

For content marketers, this means that—while written content is certainly still important—infographics must must make themselves a mainstay of any sound digital marketing platform. Mr. Serling, in your honor, we present our own wacky, mind-twisting thriller: an infographic on infographics (insert eerie theme jingle).

Fusion 360 - An Infographic About Infographics (Fusion 360 Content Marketing)

Apr 06
0

A Bird’s-Eye View of the World of SEO

By | SEO | No Comments

Even here in the overly innocent state of Utah, the world of SEO can be a confusing, troubling one. Though SEO experts might understand the intricacies of Google’s algorithm, most don’t. To be honest, who in their right minds even gets the subtle differences between an algorithm and a logarithm? Aren’t they the same thing? Most freshman math classes didn’t cover that sort of material, if we remember correctly.

Anyway, in order to not make a complete and total mockery of the world of digital advertising, we’ve provided a handy-dandy infographic for your viewing/educational pleasure. With the dirty work already performed, before long, you’ll sound like you know what you’re talking about during your company’s next digital marketing meeting. You’re welcome. SEO or bust, baby.

A-Birds-Eye-View-of-the-World-of-SEO-2