Are you evaluating your business marketing strategies and planning for the next quarter or the next year? Taking a good look at your current strategies and campaigns is always wise - then it may be time to look at how to further your business with new strategies.

We all do it. We check our Facebook on a regular basis and we are always looking for technology to make our lives easier. So it isn’t surprising that Facebook is making it easier for businesses to sell products online. This week’s business news from Half a Bubble Out is to give an update on social media marketing and to help you decide if your business is up to snuff.

In today’s market, many customers no longer rely on conventional advertising to find solutions to their various needs. The prevalence of search engines like Google has streamlined the process of pre-purchase research, giving users immediate access to the most informative, accurate answers to the questions they ask.

Because search engines have refined their methods of searching so well, marketers have to put their full effort into making sure their online marketing content appears as high as possible on a list of search results. This practice is called search engine optimization, or SEO.

So you want to develop an online marketing presence and get your site noticed. You want customers to start coming to your site in droves. You want to make sales from those website visits too so that you’re not spending all of those marketing dollars for nothing.

All of this sounds nice, but it won’t just happen on its own. If you're trying to build your online marketing presence, a blog is a great place to start. It can take the form of written content, infographics, images, or videos (or a mix of these). It can be “how-to” in nature, a checklist, or any kind of helpful information.

Social media has had a huge impact on marketing and communications since its inception. Over 2 billion people use social media, meaning a significant portion of the world’s opinions, thoughts, and purchases are being influenced by social media.

Google may be smarter than you thought. Next time you search for something, that search might be answered by a machine called RankBrain that can learn and figure out what you are trying to find. Call it creepy, or call it cutting edge and game changing, but it’s here.

This story broke in a recent Bloomberg article, which had the following to say:

"When Google-parent Alphabet Inc. reported eye-popping earnings last week its executives couldn’t stop talking up the company’s investments in machine learning and artificial intelligence.

Ghosts, goblins, zombies, and witches got nothin’ on the scary stuff that may sneak up on an inbound marketing company at any given moment. It’s not the danger that lurks in the deep web. It’s not the mystery behind the curtain of the all-powerful Google. It’s not even the creeper factor of the suspiciously timed emails we receive relating to a conversation we just had. If you dare, keep reading to learn what scares the inbound marketing staff at Half a Bubble Out, and how we slay these marketing vampires sucking the blood out of your business.

Is the content on your website, social media, blogs and other marketing assets staying up to date? When you think about your website, how long has that content been there? We bet it hasn’t been touched for a while, possibly accumulating some cobwebs. 

When you’re using email marketing to target your audience, getting an email address is the first step. This is done either by placing an option on your site to opt-in or by specifically requiring an email address in exchange for a valuable content download that is free of charge. But once you have the email, what’s the best email marketing strategy to re-engage your leads and continue the customer relationship? Here are a few things you can do to keep communicating with your audience.

In order to fully connect your entire marketing strategy with your social media strategy, it’s important to invest in social media training. Businesses often turn their heads to this, but it’s a critical step. Don’t make this mistake!