Posted by Brandan Jones on September 26th, 2011
For the uninitiated, video games have come a long way since the days of Pong. They are no longer simple repetitive tasks, dressed in sprites, accompanied by remixed bleeps and bloops, and mastered to achieve a high score that comes with a treasure chest of bragging rights. They have become a means of interactive storytelling.
In 2010 alone, the video games industry as a whole made nearly $67 billion and is expected to increase to nearly $81 billion by 2016. Even the Obama administration saw merit in advertising its election campaign in a video game in 2008.
So then, with an underutilized industry in the billions, and an indirect presidential endorsement, where might you be diverting advertising funds in the next few years?
Posted by Brandan Jones on September 15th, 2011
The Golden Circle
Standard operating procedure (SOP) when it comes to marketing seems to indicate introducing the product first and foremost into the consciousness of its intended audience.
Next, SOP traditionally introduces the features and their advantages of said product against and over its competitors to further sway curiosity into purchasing power.
Finally, SOP seems to indicate that profit in abundance will follow. However, according to Simon Sinek, this is actually not the way the most successful individuals or companies in the world do things.
Posted by Ryan.Graczkowski on July 15th, 2011
So you’ve heard that saying about pictures and how many words they’re worth. It practically borders on a cliche, but it’s true. So, what’s worth more words than a picture?
How about a lot of pictures moving in sequence, one right after the other? Moving so close that you can’t tell where one ends and the other begins?
That’s video. That’s the potential power you have at your fingertips. What’s amazing about it, though, is how truly underutilized it is. It’s not something you see on a lot of commercial sites. Maybe you’ll see it on their recruiting pages, but not in demonstration of the product.
That’s kind of dumb. Commerce sites should take that more seriously. Here’s why:
Posted by Ryan.Graczkowski on July 14th, 2011
Web Analytics is a really cool internet way of saying that you’re tracking your results. It’s the exact same kind of thing you’d see on a sales sheet or on any of those records, except that it’s online.
Still, if you’re involved in digital marketing, it’s important. For one thing, it’s your results. For another thing, it tells you what you’re doing right, and what you’re doing wrong. It can give you concrete data on what’s happening, and you can react to that data to change what’s going on.
It’s a cyclical thing, a game of setting up your goals, working to meet them, and meeting or missing entirely, in which case you figure out what you did wrong and do it again.
Here are some ways to make it better.
Posted by Ryan.Graczkowski on July 13th, 2011
Google+ might be the new thing, but it’s still going to take time for businesses to get used to it. So for the moment, let’s go back to Facebook. Facebook still offers a huge amount of utility for businesses to take advantage of.
But not just businesses. It’s also for the entertainment industry. Sure, some of you might say it’s not a business per se. But that would be incorrect. Everything from Jersey Shore to the Thor movie is calculated. Businesslike. Planned.
That means there’s an opportunity for profit. And that means that Facebook can be used by the entertainment marketers too.
Posted by Ryan.Graczkowski on July 7th, 2011
So, Facebook. We all know about it and we all know about the challenges that being on there represents now.
When it started off, it was cool. I remember being invited as a college student by a friend I’d not seen in a while. And it had that awesome new-site smell to it and everything, you know? Being there felt like I was part of a club, like I was doing something unique and awesome that hadn’t been done before.
And that was all true. Facebook wasn’t the first to do social media but they were the first to do it right. Nobody questions this. And if you have any doubts, just check out The Social Network. That’ll set you straight.
Posted by Ryan.Graczkowski on June 30th, 2011
Ah, Facebook. It’s grown up so much since those early days. They used to say that it was just another MySpace. But not anymore. That’s not the way it works now.
And of course, most people don’t know what to do with it. Sure, you probably know enough to know that a fan page is more than just a good idea. But that might just be the end of your ideas.
You’re not alone in your confusion. A lot of hoteliers know that Facebook and social media at large represent a lot of potential, but they don’t know what to make of it.
Well, if nothing else, consider this: Google is taking stock of Facebook interactions when it comes to creating search results. By being social, you create search engine optimization. It’ll give you an edge over your competition. Here are some other tips.
Posted by on June 29th, 2011
So, you’ve got this web page. You’ve got some great content. People other than your friends have said that you just might end up going somewhere.
And nobody’s visiting.
Now, don’t panic. Remember, this is the internet. The internet is a big place. The fact of the matter is that making yourself distinct enough for people to come visit you is a daunting task even in the best of times. Everything that you’re saying has been said before, about a million different ways.
Also, that cool head that you’re keeping on your shoulders is going to help you see through all those hucksters who are going to sell you their traffic systems. And how unwise is that! No two businesses are going to have the exact same needs. If that’s true, then no one system can adequately meet the needs of all businesses. On the other hand, principles are universal. And there are certain things you can do to prosper without need for any system at all. Here are some ideas shared from increasetrafficrank.com.
Posted by Ryan.Graczkowski on June 28th, 2011
Twitter is big news these days for marketers. It’s still the same idea, essentially, as an RSS feed, but it’s a million times more accessible. And because of that accessibility, people love to follow it. That gives you another avenue to have a conversation and to deal with people.
It’s worth pointing out. Especially given that you can link your Facebook status updates to your Twitter account, thus organizing it and making sure that everyone’s getting the same conversation. And because of its experimental nature, it plays around with formatting changes all the time.
Case in point: Promoted Tweets, Promoted Trends, and Promoted Accounts. These are new ways to leverage the unique strengths that Twitter brings to bear. But marketers are finding themselves overwhelmed, it seems. Nobody really seems to know what to make of this new opportunity.
We’re not alone in these ideas. But we think you ought to hear them.
For the uninitiated, video games have come a long way since the days of Pong. They are no longer simple repetitive tasks, dressed in sprites, accompanied by remixed bleeps and bloops, and mastered to achieve a high score that comes with a treasure chest of bragging rights. They have become a means of interactive storytelling.
According to a recent 
