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The chaos of 2020 has largely been left behind, and now you need to strategize about the new year. Although 2020 was not a typical year, it provided us with some information that will help inform this year’s decisions. Probably the greatest lesson was how the influence of social media has increased during the pandemic. Developing a social media strategy has changed as the audience has increased and, as always in business, you need to adapt or risk falling behind your competitors. Social media marketing requires a new, more agile outlook to work effectively. The landscape of social media is ever shifting, and marketers must shift with current trends to stay relevant. But although the medium has changed, the questions that drive a marketing strategy have not. For example… How do you keep your target demographic engaged in your product? How do you market appropriate content in such a polarized political climate? How you answer these questions will greatly influence how successful you’ll be. Social media is the new marketing frontier. Half of the world’s population is on social media, so you need to work on developing a social media strategy that gives you an advantage over your competitors. Social media can be used not just for marketing but for attracting new customers, creating brand awareness, and increasing sales. However, developing the right social media strategy can be tough without guidelines to help you navigate the waters. Best Practices for Developing a Social Media Strategy in 2021 January 22, 2021, by Lauren Zylyk

What if you could reverse engineer your competitors’ successes on the SEO front and discover what they’re doing to get better rankings than you? The good news is you can. It’s simply a matter of conducting SEO competitive analysis. Let’s take a closer look at what this type of analysis entails, why it’s beneficial (as if it weren’t already obvious), and how to go about it… What Is SEO Competitive Analysis & Why Do It? SEO competitive analysis is a type of research that allows you to look at what is and isn’t working for your competition when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO). That way, you can develop a solid SEO strategy to help you rank above them in the search engine results pages (SERPs). This type of research involves looking at your competitors’ results and trying to analyze what led them there. To do that, you need to review keywords, links, content, and the technical aspects of their websites. There are many reasons to do an analysis like this, but the main ones are to… Achieve higher rankings Bring in more traffic Generate more conversions By doing an SEO competitive analysis, you’ll discover who your SEO competitors are, what keywords they are targeting, what content they are publishing, and where they are getting their backlinks from. It allows you to identify your strengths and weaknesses, as well as your competition’s. Then, you can improve on your weaknesses and capitalize on the weaknesses of your competition, filling in the gaps. Without doing this type of work, you’re going about your marketing haphazardly. You might get lucky and rank above your competition, but then again, you might not (and probably won’t). How to Conduct an SEO Competitive Analysis So, it’s obviously to your advantage to do an SEO competitive analysis. But how should you go about it? Here are the key steps… January 21, 2021, by Caitie Schoch

Want to ensure this year is your organization’s best one yet? Get valuable insight from the experts and discover the top digital marketing predictions for 2021… The year 2020 might have been one for the record books, but that doesn’t mean that 2021 can’t explode with new possibilities for you and your business. We, along with many other marketing experts, anticipate some great things for this year. So, we wanted to share some of these digital marketing predictions and trends to help you put your best foot forward. What’s in store for 2021 in terms of digital marketing? Let’s talk about what you can expect and how to shift your business to keep up with the trends so you can ride the profit wave right into 2022. Digital Marketing Predictions for 2021: What You Need to Know If you want to survive and thrive in this new year, you must understand the industry’s shifts and turns, which are primarily driven by your audience’s changing needs and desires. Seek to understand how your audience’s needs and concerns have changed during 2020. Start there and then apply the information from the digital marketing predictions we talked about in this article.

In 2020, the U.S. e-commerce market grew more than 30 percent, with researchers projecting e-commerce sales to account for over 19 percent of all sales by 2024. Although the prospect of so many shoppers is exciting, it’s more important to remember that you’ll be competing for their attention with other e-commerce companies. The key to gaining market traction is ensuring your e-commerce marketing methods are effective. But what if you’ve invested in marketing initiatives and your sales are stagnant? Continuing down the same path with the hope that sales will increase could leave your budget depleted and may cause your business to fall behind. To avoid these pitfalls, you need to figure out WHY your efforts aren’t working and adjust accordingly. Below is a look at the most common reasons why your e-commerce marketing methods aren’t working and how you can overcome mistakes to increase sales. January 13, 2021 by Lindsey Perron

Customers are at the heart of any business because without them, a business cannot prosper. After struggling to find customers comes the challenging part, keeping them. Maintaining a strong relationship with customers increasingly becomes the cornerstone of any business looking to stand apart from the crowd. Providing a great customer experience helps you attract more leads and convert them into customers. Happy clients willingly refer you to other customers, which improves your brand and revenue stream—this is the importance of CRM. Creating a satisfied and consistent customer base is the goal of any Customer Relationship Management strategy (CRM). Several CRM platforms and techniques have been designed to help with structure and organization, as far as customer relationships are concerned. Whatever the size of your enterprise, it is essential to improve your CRM strategy continually. One way to achieve progress is to incorporate trends into your CRM strategy. Here are important trends you can use to enhance your customer experience. January 12, 2021, by Thomas von Ahn

With Apple’s new iOS privacy update including significant changes, every business should verify their domain on Facebook and take other steps to prepare. Learn why… Apple has started rolling out iOS user privacy changes that will affect how advertisers and businesses get and process conversion events data. Advertisers expect to face several challenges regarding monitoring consumer data, targeting, optimization, attribution, third-party placements, and app installs. The full impact of these changes has yet to come to light. However, it helps to know what to expect and how to navigate around them. If you target, report, and optimize ads using Facebook business tools, you need to read this article. What Are the Changes? In a nutshell, Apple’s iOS 14 devices will now require all apps to show a user opt-in before tracking their behaviors across websites, apps, and other platforms. People using iOS 14 devices will have to opt-in via a prompt to allow the apps to collect and share specific data. For some time now, Apple has prohibited third parties from tracking users on privacy-first browsers like Tor, Chromium’s Brave, and Apple’s Safari. The mobile operating systems have also been coming with an opt-out model. However, the switch to the more aggressive opt-in model may disrupt app ad targeting and attribution. What does this change mean to Facebook advertisers? January 11, 2021, by Lauren Zylyk

Full-service digital marketing agency Viral Solutions was named CIOReview Company of the Year on the magazine’s list of “20 Most Promising Web Design and Development Solution and Service Providers – 2020.” Viral Solutions is thrilled to announce the company was once again recognized in CIOReview. This time, however, the full-service digital marketing agency was given even higher praise. In the magazine’s December 22 issue featuring the “20 Most Promising Web Design and Development Solution and Service Providers – 2020,” Viral Solutions was named CIOReview Company of the Year. Each year, CIOReview aims to help businesses navigate through best-in-class web design and development vendors by providing a list of the most promising organizations in this sphere. Those highlighted in this annual listing offer solutions that help businesses… Satisfy their website users Improve their rankings Tap into new markets Moreover, they’ve demonstrated their ability to apply the latest technologies so that businesses stay current and relevant while delivering the best website experience possible. Recognizing Viral Solutions’ Commitment to Helping Businesses Grow Viral Solutions’ placement in this issue was due in large part to the agency’s work designing beautiful, fast-loading, mobile-friendly, and well-optimized websites that drive real results for businesses. To bolster an organization’s online presence, a great website is an absolute must. However, those at Viral Solutions understand there are a lot of complexities involved, which can leave business owners feeling confused. That’s why Viral Solutions simplifies the process by providing web design and development services that business owners can depend on to fuel growth. “We offer our clients more than just a design; we help them grow their business by enabling them to convert more.”—Christine Kelly, CEO and Queen Bee Beyond just website work, Viral Solutions being named CIOReview Company of the Year 2020 was also a result of the company’s commitment to helping businesses grow in general. There’s no question this past year posed countless challenges to individuals and businesses alike. Yet Viral Solutions’ mission to provide businesses with the guidance and services necessary to facilitate growth remained unchanged. For years, Viral Solutions has taken a strategy-first mind-set with a hard emphasis on data. Gleaning insights from analytics ensure the team understands what works and what doesn’t. As a result, they were able to react quickly to the crisis so that clients were positioned to flourish instead of struggling to survive. Looking to the Future Viral Solutions’ business experience coupled with the use of winning processes, adoption of the latest tools, and support of a talented team have helped small and midsize organizations grow prior to the pandemic, as well as thrive during it. The Viral Solutions team is proud to have been named CIOReview Company of the Year 2020 and looks forward to continuing to deliver high-quality work and grow with both current and future partners! “We have just one goal: double the size of our client’s business through effective marketing.”—Thomas von Ahn, CMO To read the article about Viral Solutions, you can find a digital version here: https://magazine.cioreview.com/magazines/December2020/Web_Design_and_Development/?digitalmagazine#page=18

With more than 675 million monthly users—roughly 64 million of which occupy decision-making positions in companies—LinkedIn is, without a doubt, the world’s largest professional network. This huge user base promises a fertile ground for B2B sales and marketing. In fact, you probably won’t find a better place to connect with professionals and businesses than this platform. But it’s worth noting there’s a right way and a wrong way to approach cold outreach on LinkedIn, and B2Bs need to avoid the latter. First things first, let’s talk about what LinkedIn outreach actually is… What’s LinkedIn Outreach? LinkedIn outreach involves generating leads through cold LinkedIn mailing. But this process isn’t as simple as it sounds. You have to fulfill certain requirements before you can qualify to send messages to users outside your connections circle. You need to purchase the Premium plan to send messages to any LinkedIn user. Otherwise, you can send messages with a connection request, but you’re limited to only 300 characters. Problems Facing Cold Outreach on LinkedIn Although LinkedIn seems to have the numbers, it may not be the best platform for seeking leads if you don’t know how to go about the whole process. Your effort may succeed in scaring off potential leads rather than guiding them down the sales funnel. Here are some reasons your attempts at cold outreach on LinkedIn may be pushing potential leads away…

f you want to make a greater impact moving forward, it’s worth checking out charitable giving trends 2020. Understanding donors’ motivations and behaviors over the last year can provide you with valuable insight that serves your nonprofit in the long run! We can all agree that 2020 was… well, something. The events of this past year certainly shaped every aspect of our lives in ways we never saw coming. And the charitable giving trends 2020 introduced are no different. Generous donors have always been quick to fund organizations that assist with natural disasters, humanitarian crises, and social movements. But 2020 brought with it a lot of changes in terms of how people give back, with some organizations seeing a drop in donations and others a massive increase. By looking back at this past year and analyzing what we’ve learned, the charitable giving trends 2020 demonstrated can help nonprofits make well-informed decisions moving forward. The Charitable Giving Trends 2020 Left Behind One thing is for sure—the charitable giving trends of 2020 have shown that Americans and people around the world are passionate about helping others. Let’s look at some charitable giving statistics to view the bigger picture…

The New Year has started, and we’re all looking forward to a fresh start. One of the top things you should consider as you step into 2021 is making your website stand out. Trends never stay the same for long, and this is especially true on the internet. As you move forward in your business goals, it’s time to take a peek at the latest website design trends that will keep you impressing and delighting your customers all year! Creating an Effective Website The most important aspect of creating a website that works is keeping the user experience at the top of your mind. Statistics show that 38% of people leave a website if they find the design unattractive, while around 66% of people prefer a beautifully designed website to a plain one. Creating a design that attracts is essential to keeping your audience’s attention. Of course, appearance isn’t everything. Customers also need information. 64% of customers would prefer a piece of contact information to be on the home page of a website, while 86% want services and products listed on the home page as well. However, while customers want more information, they certainly don’t want to be bombarded (or they’re likely to leave your site feeling overwhelmed with too much information). Here are few key tips for creating an effective design: January 4, 2021 by Marisa Fritzemeier

Wondering if the content is as important now as it was prior to COVID-19? Marketing may be changing as a result of the pandemic, but the content is certainly not going anywhere. Let’s look at the value of content and some tips for producing content your audience actually wants. Before the pandemic, the content was the best way to build a real relationship with your audience. But now we’re in a “new normal,” so has that changed? In short, no. Brands need to find ways to connect with their audience and customers now more than ever. That’s where the value of content comes in. An article by Campaign US explains that brand equity is lost when companies aren’t keeping in touch with their audience. In fact, a study on the impact of COVID-19 on consumer behaviors revealed that 76% of people have developed new habits in light of the pandemic. Furthermore, 89% of them plan to keep those habits post-pandemic and 36% will stick with the brands they tried since the pandemic. More and more people are remaining at home for most of the day. And Stanford research confirms that twice as many employees are now working from home than at the office. With fewer people out and about, there has been a shift in the way we do marketing, with most people finding brands via the internet. Is that good or bad? It’s actually a little of both… The Good – If you have a strong SEO standing, you’re golden. The Bad – Search and display advertising is getting a little crowded. So, first things first… You need to have content. And it needs to be readily found online. The value of content comes from being able to solve the main problem your audience has. That’s how you’ll be remembered, and it’s why your content will be welcomed. And that leads to loyal subscribers, brand ambassadors, and raving fans. What Is the Value of Content These Days?

Want to be sure your IT company starts the new year off strong? Discover the 2021 technology trends that are shaping the market now and will continue to do so. Although the world is slowly becoming more stable, the events of 2020 will no doubt have a lasting impact. The economy never forgets its wounds. And as a result, businesses fear the challenges ahead, wondering how to accommodate and serve their customers who look entirely different than they did before the pandemic. Going backward is not an option, unfortunately, especially in the fast-moving IT industry. This “new normal” has forced the technology industry to morph into something a little different than it has known before. If you’re part of an IT company weathering this storm, creativity and optimism will be necessary to stay on top of the shifting market so you can continue to serve clients in their time of need. So, how can IT companies survive and thrive in 2021 and beyond? Let’s talk about the 2021 technology trends that can help you beat the odds and continue to grow in the coming months and years…

When you optimize pages for similar terms, your rankings may suffer because you will be “devouring” your chances to rank in Google. Make no mistake—if you don’t learn how to fix keyword cannibalization, your content will likely start competing with itself. What Is Keyword Cannibalization? Simply put, keyword cannibalization occurs when several pages of a website rank for the same keyword. As a result, Google has trouble deciding which URL is most relevant. Hasty creation of landing pages/blogs or multiple sub-pages for growing websites is a common cause of keyword cannibalization. If you don’t fix keyword cannibalization, you won’t be able to show Google the extent of your knowledge for a search query or topic. In that case, Google will have to weigh up your URLs to identify the one that fits a respective question in the best way possible. What does this mean? It means that it’s possible then to have a less relevant page ranking highly. And as a result, users will not access the information you want them to see. Keyword cannibalization leads to fluctuations in SERP rankings, reduced online traffic, lower conversion rates, and, eventually, revenue loss. Additionally, when you have multiple pages ranking for the same term, it will affect user experience and SEO in one way or another… The Effects of Keyword Cannibalization on SEO Although it may not seem like a huge deal, you need to know that keyword cannibalization can have devastating effects on your SEO. So, don’t be happy about a page ranking in the fifth or sixth slot for your target keyword—not when you can have one that ranks higher and yields better conversions. Let’s take a closer look at how keyword cannibalization affects SEO…

Social media is only continuing to grow in popularity, which means businesses need to find ways to stand out from the crowd. When you discover the benefits of using social media influencers, you begin to see how partnering with those who have authority in your niche can help you grow your brand and more! As far back as elementary school, we’ve all been trying to gain social status. And although our connections have become more sophisticated over the years, the underlying need to connect in tribes hasn’t changed. We all want to feel exclusivity and pride in something greater than ourselves—it’s human nature! That’s why we gravitate toward people who share the same values and can help us elevate our own status among our peers. When it comes down to it, this need for connection and belonging is what drives the success of social media-focused influencer marketing. Social media influencers attract and gather people who all share an affiliation with them. They draw a following of people who want to be like them and live their lifestyle. This prompts these loyal followers to buy what the influencer loves in order to align their lifestyles and values. Some influencers’ communities are as strong (or stronger) than tight-knit families; they support and trust each other, grow together, and consequently buy from influencers’ trusted recommendations. As you can imagine, this influencer-community dynamic presents a great opportunity for brands. Let’s talk a little more about the benefits of using social media influencers, and look at how influencer marketing can be a game-changer for your business… 7 Profit-Boosting Benefits of Using Social Media Influencers

Brand storytelling can go a long way toward helping you form a deeper connection with your customers.  You just have to learn how to use it to your advantage… A good story captivates us and pulls us in. An even better story elicits our emotions and makes us laugh, cry, or sit on the edge of our seats in anticipation. An amazing story changes us by motivating us, helping us understand ourselves in a new way or opening us up to new perceptions. If you think stories have “no business” in the world of business, you’re mistaken. These days, brand storytelling is absolutely essential if you want to beat your competition. Even in the B2B sphere, it’s still people who are doing the purchasing, and no one is inspired to do business with a dry company that has no personality. What they want is to purchase from companies that are unique and have a powerful story to share. We are seeing this more and more, and it’s transforming the way businesses market to their customers and clients. Even though we are going more and more digital and are constantly moving away from the human touch, there’s an ever-increasing human element to the type of marketing that is effective in this modern landscape. Make no mistake—in the end, it’s always about the people, and your story is what humanizes your business. What Is Brand Storytelling?

The importance of church branding shouldn’t be overlooked, as it plays a major role in building trust and growing your member base. If you want your church to stand out and your members to become more invested in your faith-based organization, you need to invite them into your brand story. As a church leader, you no doubt find it disheartening to see your church congregation dwindle week after week. Even before the global pandemic, you may have noticed a decrease in attendance and lack of engagement online. Though church success is not a numbers game, you can’t help but think to yourself, “Have I gone off track?” A decline in church numbers isn’t an indication that you’ve failed at your call. It may just mean that you need to put greater effort into increasing engagement and connecting with the people in your community online. You have a lot on your plate, and we understand the inner conflict of trying to keep everything afloat while doing your best to shepherd the ones you serve. That’s why we wanted to introduce you to a concept called branding and discuss the importance of church branding. Here’s the thing… Creating an authentic church brand helps people connect with the heart of your church and your desire to change lives. Your church brand has everything to do with how your community perceives you. Your brand defines your mission, your beliefs, whom you are called to reach—even the choices you make. It’s what you stand for and it defines how you wish to be represented to others. When Should You Think About Church Branding?

When it comes to online insurance lead generation, there are plenty of tactics that can end up wasting time and money. But these 7 methods can help you build a strong online presence and produce a high return on investment. In this day and age, you just can’t generate high-quality leads for your insurance agency without having a strong online presence. Bringing in leads is no longer about mailing out postcards, having a listing in the yellow pages, and doing cold calls. Those are now the methods that yield the lowest return on investment. But you already knew that… Here’s a question for you: Where do people go when they want to find a solution to a problem? That’s right—the internet. And if your agency isn’t showing up online in a big way, they’ll never find you. When you have a strong online presence, online insurance lead generation is much, much easier. But besides that, it allows you to… Make more money Build relationships with your leads Get a competitive advantage Access more sales opportunities Guide your leads to take certain actions The key is to take the right approach and be where potential new policyholders are… 7 Effective Methods of Online Insurance Lead Generation

There’s a reason chatbots for law firms are strongly recommended. A chatbot lets website visitors get the answers they’re looking for quickly and easily, allowing your staff to focus on existing clients without missing out on potential leads. Ninety-six percent of people looking for legal advice use a search engine, which means they’re exiting the streets and entering the internet to find an attorney. Further, the global pandemic has increased online activity, as many people aren’t yet comfortable replacing the computer with person-to-person contact. Your website is likely the first impression your potential clients will have of your law firm. And your home page essentially acts as your firm’s front door. The more you can make your home page experience mimic the in-person experience, the more leads you’ll close. Taking advantage of conversational AI can bring you one step closer to making users feel like they are interacting with your staff and getting the next best thing to a live experience. A chatbot can act as your “online receptionist,” answering questions and capturing information that connects users to your firm. Plus, chatbot software is typically cost-effective and easy to implement, which every law firm can appreciate. With all that in mind, it’s worth covering the benefits of chatbots and best practices for successful use… Benefits of Chatbots for Law Firms:

There are a number of marketing models out there that can be used to develop a company’s own marketing strategy. And yet, many businesses follow the same formula… They make sure they’ve got their social media running, their ads humming, and their content going, only to be disappointed by the results. Their efforts fail to deliver a positive ROI or sales on autopilot, and they feel both bewildered and disillusioned. And after they take a break to soothe their pain, the failed marketing cycle begins all over again. This scenario is all too common among businesses that throw hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars at marketing tactics without considering the bigger picture. That’s because marketing isn’t magical and doesn’t require fairy dust to produce an ROI. The “wish and hope” method does not work. Just because you are using the latest and greatest marketing tactics does not mean you will be successful. Marketing tactics are not standalone entities. They MUST be part of a broader strategy to work correctly. The good news is that you can create a well-organized, highly effective plan that is primed for growth and not reliant on magic. In this article, we will talk about some marketing models you can adopt to build a marketing strategy ready to help you grow. Why Is It So Hard to Get Results from Marketing?

Over the years, Google has undergone many changes and made countless updates. If you’ve been using the search engine for a while, you’ve probably noticed an increase in the number of ads at the top of search results. Unfortunately, this shift in prioritizing paid ads has led to many sites losing their organic search rankings for certain keywords… Now, we don’t want to paint Google in a bad light. Without the behemoth search engine, you wouldn’t be able to snag exposure to its 1.5 billion active users. That said, if you’ve been feverishly working on your SEO, but your traffic never really lived up to the hype, you may be feeling more than a little frustrated. We get it. Fortunately, there is a solution. And it’s all about leveraging the platform wisely to get the most out of your marketing campaigns. But first, let’s talk about organic search rankings… The Evolution of Google and Changes to Organic Search Rankings If you weren’t already aware, Google’s mission is to “organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” They strive to provide users with the most comprehensive search experience possible. That means displaying relevant information from non-advertising websites on search results pages. We call these organic search results, and they show up below the top advertisements.