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8 Innovative & Inspiring Examples of Augmented Reality in Marketing

Augmented Reality
August 29, 2020/by
8 Innovative & Inspiring Examples of Augmented Reality in Marketing For now, augmented reality (AR) is still largely a novelty -- AR's newness alone contributes to its ability to surpass print, online, and television advertisements in terms of shock-factor. As The Drum reports, AR can capture people’s attention for over 85 seconds, increase interaction rates by 20 percent, and improve click-through rates to purchase by 33 percent. Right now, people will stop and look at AR-inspired experiences, regardless of the campaign's overall quality. But as more companies incorporate AR into their marketing strategies, and as AR technology becomes more ubiquitous, you’ll need to produce more thoughtful campaigns to impress your audience. Eventually, AR will become mainstream, and its prevalence in the industry will make it harder to compete.Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO, has said that AR will one day be as important in our everyday lives as “eating three meals a day.” So, the question is -- how can your marketing strategy effectively capture an audience’s attention, once AR has become commonplace? Here, we’ll look at eight companies that use AR in innovative and inspiring ways. These examples should be all the inspiration you need to brainstorm and execute a brilliant long-term AR marketing strategy. Augmented Reality Examples Augmented Reality for Product Marketing 1. Home Depot Decorating a home isn’t easy -- how do you know if you’ll actually like the yellow paint that looks beautiful online, but might be too bright in your bathroom? What if that coffee table...
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The Ultimate Timeline of Google Algorithm Updates (+ Recommendations)

Google Updates
August 28, 2020/by
The Ultimate Timeline of Google Algorithm Updates (+ Recommendations) Google is a fickle beast. The search engine is imperative to the success of your web content, but no one truly knows how the Google algorithm works (except for the elusive Google search-quality team, of course). Google’s search engine is also ever-changing. Google didn’t become the number one search engine in the world without prioritizing its user experience. It achieved this leading position by continually updating its algorithm to meet its user’s needs and delivering the best possible results (not to mention engaging users with new daily doodles on the Google homepage). If your content doesn’t keep up with these Google algorithm updates, you risk losing valuable space on the search engine result page (SERP) … as well as potential visitors, leads, and customers. In this guide, we’ve covered everything you need to know about the Google algorithm, its nine most recent updates, and how your company and content can follow suit. While the exact number isn't certain, SEOs believe there are certain ranking signals that Google considers when displaying results. These include factors like keyword usage, domain history, site usability, and more. This is why, as businesses and marketers, we must optimize our on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO to make it easier for our pages to rank and so consumers can find our content. Did you know over 3.5 billion Google searches are made every day? The search engine is by far the most popular...
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Understand Market Penetration and How to Create a Strategy

Product Marketing
August 28, 2020/by
Understand Market Penetration and How to Create a Strategy Everyone wants their business to grow. This seems pretty intuitive considering effective and successful growth means your business is experiencing boosts in revenue, brand awareness, brand loyalty, and more — and we know this to be true by looking at the most successful and well-known companies today (e.g. Apple, Amazon, etc.). The question is: What do these highly-successful companies do to ensure they put themselves in a position for strong and consistent growth? Of course, there are a number of answers to this question based on who you ask. However, the one we’re going to focus on in this blog post is market penetration. So, what is market penetration? How to Calculate Market Penetration If you’re using market penetration as a measurement, use the following formula to discover how much a product or service is used by customers compared to its total estimated market. In other words, take the current sale volume for your product or service and divide it by the total sale volume of all similar products available in the market. (Number of Customers / Target Market Size) x 100 = Market Penetration Rate Frequently monitoring your market penetration is important in order to identify any increases or decreases in penetration. If you’re wondering how often to calculate market penetration, a good rule of thumb is to calculate it after every marketing and sales campaign you run. This will highlight any changes in penetration...
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15 Effective Ways to Cut Costs in Business

Business Growth
August 27, 2020/by
15 Effective Ways to Cut Costs in Business When I first moved out of my parent's house, my spending was out of control. I bought take-out regularly, new clothes often, and fun products frequently. However, I quickly realized that I was spending too much money on unnecessary things. After racking up some credit card debt, I realized that I needed to cut costs somewhere. As a business owner, it can be just as easy to overspend as it was for me. When that happens, it's time to review your bottom line and see how you can reduce your spending. In this post, let's go over some of the top ways you can cut costs in your business. 1. Analyze and track the efficiency of your business. Before you can reduce costs in your business, you need to take a step back and analyze what you're currently spending money on. Take a look at your balance sheet and your budget. Look at your production costs, and do an in-depth analysis of your current processes. Asking yourself questions like, "Is what I'm doing efficient?" and "Am I spending needless money somewhere?" Once you have a full picture of what your spending looks like, you'll have a better idea of where you can cut costs. 2. Negotiate with your vendors. A great way to cut costs in business is to negotiate with your vendors. You should price shop and compare vendors in almost every area of your business. For example, if...
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How to Use Instagram: A Beginner’s Guide

Instagram Marketing
August 26, 2020/by
How to Use Instagram: A Beginner's Guide Over the past few years, Instagram has seen exponential growth -- from one million users in December 2010 to over one billion in 2020. If you're interested in getting an Instagram account, or just created one but aren't sure how to use it, you're in luck. Here, we're going to cover all the basics, so you can see why Instagram is the top social media platform for engagement today. It's hard to remember a time before Instagram. "Do it for the 'gram" has become a common saying, which means, essentially, "Do something so we can take a picture and post it to Instagram." If you're not part of the one billion on Instagram, you might want to reconsider. The app is a great chance to stay apart of friends' lives -- when I want to see how my college friends are doing, I don't check Facebook, I check Instagram. Plus, you can follow your favorite celebrities or political figures to see candid photos of their everyday lives. Additionally, it's a phenomenal platform for investigating what other brands are doing -- for instance, Nike uses the Instagram Stories' feature to promote inspirational athlete stories you won't find anywhere else. How to Sign Up for Instagram Go to the Instagram site on your desktop, or download the Instagram app from the App Store (iPhone) or Google Play Store (Android). If you're on desktop, click "Log in with Facebook", or...
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The New Rules of Marketing [2020 Edition]

Marketing Strategy
August 26, 2020/by
The New Rules of Marketing Marketing your business is both an art and a science — and the industry is rapidly evolving as the audience you're trying to reach is changing. In some ways, this makes it one of the sciences with the fastest rates of turnover, since you are actively trying to match, or exceed, the pace of the culture to which you're marketing. But if you aren't able to adapt to or anticipate the pressures of the market, your marketing efforts are essentially setting money on fire. As a company — especially now in the wake of COVID-19 — you can't afford to be inflexible with your voice and presence when reaching customers. While adaptable, your marketing efforts also need to be a tight ship. You don't want your messaging to come across as insensitive. The newest generation of customers is highly alert, especially of their influence as cultural drivers, and they will quickly shut down any brand they perceive as "invasive." Here, let's dive into the new "rules of marketing" you'll want to lean into as you move forward in your marketing efforts in 2020 and beyond. Rules of Marketing While the marketing landscape is ever-changing, there are some foundational elements that are timeless: static ideals that aren't going to become obsolete. For instance, one of the unchangeable rules of marketing is that you must use personal context in your marketing efforts to receive the highest quality results. The difference now is how you plan...
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The 30-60-90 Day Plan: Your Guide for Mastering a New Job [Template + Example]

Job Search
August 25, 2020/by
The 30-60-90 Day Plan: Your Guide for Mastering a New Job With all the joy and excitement of landing a new job, you can feel just as much fear and anxiety. The same can go for the hiring manager. Overcoming a new role's learning curve and the desire to make a lasting impression on your employer can put a lot of pressure on you. What if you can't adapt in time? Fortunately, there's a way to organize and prioritize your time and tasks, helping you seamlessly adapt to your new environment. It's called a 30-60-90 day plan. And following it enables you to soak in as much information as possible, master your core job responsibilities, and sets you up to make a lasting impact on your new team. Think of a 30-60-90 day plan as a new employee's North Star, keeping your sights set in the right direction and guiding you toward success. But before we show you how to write this plan, let's go over what exactly it is and how it'll enhance your performance during your (or your employee's) first three months on the job. In this post, we'll cover everything you need to know about 30-60-90 day plans whether you're writing one for yourself or a new hire on the team. There are two situations where you'd write a 30-60-90 day plan: during the final stages of an interview process and during the first week of the job itself. Here's how each type...
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The Marketer’s Guide to Using Pinterest to Grow a Business

Pinterest Marketing
August 25, 2020/by
The Marketer's Guide to Using Pinterest to Grow a Business When I was getting married, one of the main tools that helped me in my planning was Pinterest. In fact, that's usually the number one place I go to when I'm planning a party. However, Pinterest isn't just used for event planning. You can use the social media platform as a way to market your business, drive traffic to your website, and increase sales. I'm not the only one who goes to Pinterest when I need new ideas. In fact, more than 200 billion pins have been saved on Pinterest. And 90% of weekly Pinners make purchase decisions on Pinterest. That's why it's important for businesses and marketers to be active on the platform. Below, let's learn how you can use Pinterest to meet your business and marketing goals. How to Use Pinterest for Business If you're new to Pinterest, then you'll need to create a business account to get started. Don't worry, this is a pretty simple process as outlined below. Create a business profile. Instead of using a personal page, you'll need to get set up with a business account. With this account you'll get access to analytics and ad services. Claim and link to your business website. This is an important step in verifying your business page. Connect your social media accounts. This is helpful so you can cross-share content and refer people to your other pages. Edit your profile. Add engaging...
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Discover Your Writing Genius: 8 Tips for Doing Your Best Work in 2020

Content Creation
August 25, 2020/by
Discover Your Writing Genius: 8 Tips for Doing Your Best Work in 2020 As marketers, it can be difficult to continue to produce high-quality content when we don't feel creative or inspired. And it can be especially challenging when we're on a tight deadline.  Henneke Duistermaat, writer and founder of Enchanting Marketing, knows the feeling well — as she describes it in her latest infographic, we often believe writing simply means creating "great stuff", when in reality, it entails research, multiple revisions, messy first drafts ... and even time for procrastination.  Fortunately, there are strategies you can implement to relieve the pressures of writing, get outside your comfort zone, and befriend your inner critic. If you're in a writing slump or looking for some inspiraiton, take a look at Henneke's hand-drawn infographic to learn 8 tips for creating your best...
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