Marketing.

It's a seemingly vague, all-encompassing word that takes on multiple meanings, depending on who you ask. In fact, unless you work in or directly with the marketing department, it's highly possible everything this team does is as elusive as the Loch Ness Monster.

Of course, each department in a company has a specific, important function. Ironically, the marketing folks have one of the most important functions in any business; yet, most people have no idea what they actually do.

Smart marketers know how to focus targeted messages to reach their audience. They are adept at identifying the needs of various demographics and reshaping their messages according to those needs. A large part of doing so successfully takes an understanding of basic sociology and psychology concepts. This is why we recommend marketers stay abreast of studies concerning how the human brain processes and digests information.

What’s your company’s biggest marketing challenge? Generating traffic and leads? Choosing the right technology for your company’s needs? Or do you struggle to find top talent? Though every marketer shares the same goals, the individual challenges are unique. With this in mind, we thought it would be helpful to put together three steps you can take to meet your inbound marketing challenges head on.  

As a business leader, we can only assume you love your company; otherwise, you wouldn't be successful.  When you love your business, you have to have affection for your customers (at least to a certain extent), and that relationship requires attention and nurturing just like any other relationship in life.

Humans respond emotionally to color and form almost immediate and lasting impressions from this deliberate choice of expression. For businesses, the stakes are even higher because color represents their brand and image – two intrinsic qualities that instantly communicate volumes about a business' style and underlying values.

Better click-through rates (CTRs) – be it for ads, email or social media – mean higher relevancy, which we all know matters to every successful inbound marketing campaign. Increased CTRs are an important goal, but don’t lose focus on what really matters: conversion rates. Higher CTRs that don’t result in higher conversion rates, while not completely meaningless, don’t help grow your company or its bottom line. Here are some quick tips on increasing your brand’s click-through rates.

The average American spends more than 5 hours a day engaging with digital content, and more than half of that time is with a mobile device. Google is aware of how much time people spend on their smartphones and rolled out an update last year, giving a boost to websites that are mobile friendly. The evidence is in: you must have a mobile-friendly website to compete in today's market. Here's a look at your two options.

No one wants to get into a debate with a writer about the anguish of writer's block, but you know firsthand that the “content crunch” is rife with anxiety, too.

Whether you’re the owner of your own business, or you're at the helm of a company's marketing department, you know keeping up with the Joneses and staying in sync with 21st century marketing initiatives is a challenge you face on a regular basis. Vying for the attention and business of new customers is not easy, but there are tools to help. One of the most noteworthy initiatives today predicted to continue to become the top marketing platform by 2020 is programmatic ad buying.