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

Selecting the right inbound marketing agency is an important step to a successful inbound marketing strategy.

Many inbound marketing agencies are out there. Each of them promise to boost your online traffic and increase your leads, and it looks like any of them will meet the specific needs of your company. How do you select the right one?

Here are some tips to help you narrow your search:

Step 1: Review their website 

When researching a potential inbound marketing agency to hire, the first place you should look is their website. Consider their website a representation of their services and standards, and an example of what you can expect for your own website. When reviewing an agency’s website, ask yourself:

Inbound is one of the most innovative and creative marketing strategies in practice, but it can be complex, especially when it comes to the creation and execution of an effective plan. Implementing an inbound marketing strategy can be a big learning curve for marketing departments that are new to inbound marketing or already stretched too thin with regular business functions.

Case studies have shown that hiring an inbound marketing agency can deliver results and achieve ROI faster than internal marketing efforts. They have the experience, training, certifications, and manpower to take on the methodology components. Inbound is a practice that includes content creation, search engine optimization, lead generation, and social media monitoring.

While equally essential to the social media marketing process, social media monitoring and social media measurement are two completely different social media practices. Social media monitoring focuses on social “buzz” conversations and the emotional side of social media. Social media measurement, on the other hand, focuses on actual customer experience, the rational side of social media. Knowing the difference between these two practices will help you plan and execute your social media campaigns accordingly.

In order to clear up any confusion, let’s take a closer look at each approach: 

Marketing and advertising firms play a critical role in communicating information between business and customer. What are the differences between the two? To begin, let’s run through a brief definition of each.

Entrepreneur.com defines advertising as, “calling the public’s attention to your business, usually for the purpose of selling products or services, through the use of various forms of media, such as print or broadcast notices.”

Marketing is defined by Investopedia.com as, “the activities of a company associated with buying and selling a product or service...marketers try to get the attention of target audiences by using slogans, packaging design, endorsements and media exposure.”