By Josh Cline

The end of the year is a time when many companies review their performances, analyze their numbers, and strategize for the future. Since we often write about the latest trends in marketing, public relations, and communications, we wanted to see which of our articles have been the most popular over the past year – and discuss how they may hint at possible strategies in the future as well.

So, without further ado, here were our most-popular marketing blog-posts of 2011 (in descending order based on the number of external page-views):  Read more...

By Josh Cline

When you think about the strategy behind your current or future online presence, you likely think about beating your competitors (perhaps in search-engine rankings or in direct sales on your website) or becoming a recognized thought-leader in your specific industry.

Today, however, such a strategy is becoming increasingly difficult – if not impossible – in a world of millions of websites in which a select few have usually dominated their online markets for years (and will most likely continue to do so). If your company sells books, you will likely never beat Amazon. If your firm wants to create the next Facebook (and you are not Google) and replace the popular social-media network, it will take years even to come close to Mark Zuckerberg’s behemoth. The “first-mover advantage” exists for a reason.  Read more...

By Josh Cline

Is every single one of your Facebook and Twitter posts delivering something that your target market will find valuable, or are you posting items in social media just to put something there? The answer will likely determine the future of your social-media marketing efforts.

In a recent Harvard Business Review blog-post, Brian Solis relates how he had once attended a presentation by a Facebook sales-representative and was shocked at his useless recommendation:  Read more...

By Josh Cline

You might already know that companies that blog generally have more-consistent sales. But did you know that start-ups that blog and use related public-relations effectively have a better chance of attracting angel investors as well?

In today’s financial climate, it can be extremely difficult to obtain seed investment – so every available and relevant resource needs to be directed, at least in part, towards that end. Inc.com writer Matthew DeLuca understands this point well:

Edward Williams, partner at Brook Venture Partners, says that he looks at all the standard data when considering an investment, but treats blogs a little differently.  Read more...

By Josh Cline

In crisis public-relations – whether in a corporate or political context – there is an effective, recognized method to limit damage and salvage reputations. Former Congressman Anthony Weiner, to his obvious detriment, did not use it at all.

For those who may not know, the website BigGovernment.com published a report on May 28 stating that Weiner had sent a sexually-suggestive photo on Twitter to a young woman who was “following” him. On June 1, after the story had flooded the mainstream and digital airwaves for several days, the representative gave a series of interviews to media outlets about the issue.  Read more...

By Josh Cline

In a prior post entitled “You’re on the First Page of Google – Now What,” we warned traditional and online marketers not to think of search-engine optimization (SEO) and search-engine marketing (SEM) as digital Holy Grails that will magically bring profits. The same is true for social-media networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn (despite the doubling of the latter’s stock price after its recent IPO).

Just as owning a website was not enough to survive the dot-com boom (does anyone remember Pets.com?), so does the use of search-engine keywords or a Facebook page by itself not guarantee instant success today. Quality marketing has always involved – and always will involve – the use of different methods for different purposes.  Read more...