When it comes to Internet strategy, businesses must weigh the benefits of joining a review site against the risk of being given negative reviews. Stories of businesses who have faced financial trouble because of negative online reviews encourage the idea that limiting a business’s exposure to “trolls” and other negative brand advocates is best.

While negative reviews can be problematic, statistics show that avoiding a presence on these websites can do even more damage. Creating a listing on review sites helps to establish trust and provide information many customers rely on when finalizing a purchase.

E-mails were once exclusively text-based, so marketers focused on compelling writing to make conversions. Thanks to improvements in message capabilities, effective e-mail marketing strategies depend on visuals more than ever before, and predictions indicate that this will only increase in 2016. A big part of this shift is the increased popularity of emojis. These little text-based pictures are so popular the “tears of joy” emoji was named the 2015 Word of the Year by the Oxford Dictionary. No, we’re not kidding. 

One of the top benefits of working with marketing firms is gaining a broader level of professionalism for your project. A professional firm has the expertise necessary to develop high quality campaigns that guarantee a larger ROI in a significantly shorter time period because they do not have a learning curve built into each project. Companies that require a larger tool or skillset for ongoing projects will often find outsourcing tasks to Lansing marketing firms is a more cost-effective solution than expanding their own marketing department.

What benefits can you expect when working with a professional marketing firm?

When looking for a marketing firm to partner with your business, it's essential knowing whether a company will be easy to work with and will provide the expertise you need is essential. Follow these 10 points to help you gain essential information that will help you evaluate a firm and determine if they are the right fit for your business.

If you think of your inbound marketing strategy as a vehicle moving your business marketing efforts toward new sales opportunities, then consider your content the fuel that powers it up. The content you create for your website and social media is ultimately responsible for communicating your message to visitors, leads, customers, and promoters. Without content, there is nothing to present or attract. 

Some of the benefits of content creation include:

• Increasing visibility of your brand
• Developing lasting relationships with your audience
• Establishing thought leadership within your industry

Developing a website is a lot of work for both the web development company and the client. Making a website takes hours of planning, creating, editing, revising, and developing. As with any project of such a large scope, challenges will arise along the way. Pre-planning with your web development company can help you avoid running into some of these issues. Other problems are unanticipated; you might be trying to solve them a few days before launch. The keys to solving the biggest problems with web development can be found in your communication strategies and in the hands of your web development team. A two-way street of communication should be taking place at all times to ensure goals are shared and objectives are understood.

Looking to solve the biggest problems with web development? Here’s a good start:

Define the requirements. Communicate with your web development company what you are looking to achieve with your website. Be as specific as possible: Do you need a search option? Administrator login? Integrations? A mobile version? Share every possible detail with the company developing your website so that when it’s time to launch, they know exactly how the website should look and function.

Sizing up your competition can play an important role in developing or redesigning your own website.

Your website is often the first interaction a potential customer has with your business, so a deep dive into how your competition is greeting and nurturing their own site visitors will tell you a good deal about their company and strategy, as well as the customers they’re pursuing.

Identify the top-tier competitors in your industry and plan a thorough exploration of each of their websites.

As you conduct your research, note similarities and differences between your site and theirs.

Now, ask yourself these KEY questions:

The best creative work comes out of a strong partnership between you and your creative branding agency. You provide the overall direction and objectives; they provide the experience and talent to achieve them. Clearly defined roles—and commitment from both parties to their particular roles—create great results. In other words, concentrate on what you do best and let your creative partner concentrate on what they do best.

Explain Your Business’s Organization
Much of your direction will be subject to interpretation. The more your creative team can learn about your organization, its structure, and its personnel, the more accurate their interpretations will be. That said, the very first step is to get the agency up to speed with how you and your business work, who’s who in your command structure, and how your approval process works. The more people you allow to have a voice in the final decision, the more viewpoints and opinions you will need to process. Try to limit the number of people who can review a project. To avoid conflicting opinions or messages, have one person act as the clearinghouse for all project communications. Have all messages to your creative partners come through that one person, whether it’s you or a designated member of your team.