Top Web Design Trends Your Business Should Implement

If you haven't changed up your website in a few years, it's time to consider an update. Just make sure it includes these 3 features.

Ever since businesses started using the Internet for commerce solutions, one thing's been constant: the need to evolve with consumer behaviors. Much like local brick-and-mortar stores need to adapt to compete with off-site retailers, so, too, do businesses need to adapt to the way customers interact with their sites when making a purchase.

As we move into a more mobile-driven landscape—and one where frictionless buying truly is the holy grail—website design mindsets need to change with the ever-evolving buyer. With that in mind, here are three of the top Web design trends for next year.

1. Truly Interactive Storytelling

There's a lot of buzz online at the moment about how businesses need to tell better stories to connect with their customers. The problem is, while this advice is generally good, it also places a lot of pressure on business owners to try to work out what your story is and how to tell it. Some companies have found a way to do it—just take a look at Tesla Motors.

The company's Go Electric page answers consumer questions about the evolution of the Tesla motor, how the electric-powered cars work, the benefits to users and much, much more. Check it out for yourself—simply scroll down the page and see how the story plays out with multiple forms of media.

This is the way to tell your brand's story, and you don't need the design budget of Tesla to do so. If you run a WordPress powered site, Aesop Story Engine is a wonderful solution that enables you to blend multiple media together to tell one cohesive story. From text and full-width images to overlaid videos, PDF embeds and historical timelines, it's an excellent and inexpensive solution for your business.

If you're not on WordPress, then Readz offers another solution for combining multiple media together into an embeddable presentation that can be used on pretty much any main Web platform. (You can see an example of the "9LIVES" project here.) 

This online form of brand storytelling is a powerful and inexpensive way to interact more with your customers and a great way to set yourself apart from your competitors.

2. Richer Backgrounds on Web Pages

One of the most underused components in Web design is the background of your site's pages. Many sites are content to have a simple dark font on a white background (or vice versa) and let the copy do the talking. However, you're missing a big opportunity to really attract your visitors' attention.

While there's been a rise over the past few years in using background images, the ability to really make backgrounds more than just static images opens up a whole new world of design potential. HTML video, for instance, allows you to have fully responsive HD video embedded in the background of whatever your sales page or call-to-action may be.

Think of sports teams selling season tickets: You enter which game you went to that year, and the site loads video replays of that game's best plays on-screen. Depending on which seat you choose, the video can highlight that, and the call-to-action could might be "Relive the magic again—your seat is reserved." The design is simple, effective and plays to the buyer's impulses, given their connection to the product, their sentiment around a victorious day and the very seat from which they watched it all happen. 

3. One-Page Scrolling Instead of Clicking

Scrolling website design, which is when all the information about your company, services and more is on one page, has its critics, mainly because of its potential impact on SEO and how one-page design is implemented. But there's no denying that it's becoming more popular—and understandably so.

Instead of having to worry about poorly implemented navigation menus that use multiple drop-down tabs, the one-page site can offer an elegant and effective experience for the end user.

Additionally, one-page websites are perfect for the kind of interactive storytelling highlighted at the start of this article.

Themeforest offers a great collection of HTML, site templates, WordPress themes and more that offer one-page scrolling with excellent support and documentation. Some good examples of one-page scrolling sites include:

• My Life Without Me 
• Beatrate 
• Whitmans

The Future Is Bright

These three trends are just a few examples of where the Web is heading from a design point of view in the coming 12 months and beyond. Also making inroads in Web design are:

• retina display, which allows for much higher-resolution browsing on tablets, smartphones and hi-definition monitors;
• material design, which takes the current-darling flat design and adds slight gradients and layers to achieve a richer effect; and
• a more personalized experience—driven by cookies—that remembers a visitor's preferences and loads up a customized UX on their next visit.

Creative Web design offers everyone a chance to make their business stand out. The great news is, the cost is becoming less prohibitive and the potential is only beginning to be realized.

by Danny Brown, Manager, iGaming

Keeping Up With Graphic Design Trends

What's hot in graphic design right now could be obsolete in six months, but that doesn't mean you can afford to ignore it. Just as in fashion, graphic design trends come and go. Here are a few trends that are in flux right now:

Skeuomorphism: On the Way Out

A skeuomorph is an icon or design that represents its purpose — the little envelope icon that represents email, for instance. When the computer revolution was in its early stages, that icon served a purpose: reminding people what they could do with email. Now, simple text reading "mail" would work just fine, which means that the little envelope is a skeuomorph. The practice is on its way out as designers refocus on elements that serve a clear purpose.

Flat Design: On the Way In

Flat design is what you're left with when you do away with skeuomorphism. It's minimalism on hyperdrive, reducing the user interface down to the bare essentials. Designers are moving away from using all the bells and whistles in their toolboxes and focusing instead on what works. Flat design is about functionality.

Retro Simplicity: On the Way In

Back in the early days of computer-based graphic design, graphics were simple, because that's all the medium could handle. Such designs, reminiscent of early video games, fit in perfectly with the minimalism of flat design.

Emotional Connection: On the Way In

There's never just one trend, and sometimes they're contradictory; graphic design trends are no exception. While minimalist, flat design is hot in user interfaces, graphics that tell a story are being adopting to provide an emotional punch. They're about real people doing real things that everyone can relate to. According to Shutterstock, demand for "real-life" images is up 347 percent.

Craftsmanship: On the Way In

On the surface, craftsmanship — meaning intricately detailed drawings — might seem contradictory to flat design. But both hearken back to the early days of graphic design, when the ability to create intricate images depended entirely on personal on computer power.

It is of utmost importance to stay on top of new trends and developments and to adapt your skills to give your clients what they want. A solid foundation in the elements of good design can give you the skills you need to meet the demands of any new trends.

Source: Briarcliffe College

Resolve to Communicate Better Despite Technology Lowering Standards

As we roll into 2016, it’s clear that a trend has become a pandemic – millions now speak and write in the workplace with an alarming lack of clarity, grammar and graciousness.

What’s to blame?

Social media has had a lot to do with it, making everyone his or her own star, and loosening (and thereby lowering) the standards and boundaries of public expression. But it goes deeper than that, to an accepted carelessness that’s rendered clear, lean, strategic communication increasingly rare, and thus more potent.

The New Year is an ideal time to review our careers, and implement changes that can strengthen them. By integrating the following old school communication resolutions with current technology, you can shoot the vocational lights out in 2016:

Be simple: With more options than ever by which to convey a message, the more confusing the message seems to get. Simplicity has never been more important. It’s increasingly rare because it takes a ton of time and hard work to get there. It’s worth every second. A straightforward, consistent, easily understandable story is the foundation of communication success. Once established, it can be effectively rolled out across a myriad of platforms.

Be brief: With each passing year, our collective attention span diminishes. To influence your audience – whether it’s one or 100,000 -- keep your narrative tight and bright. Brevity delivers impact. Write long, and cut short. When speaking, never go over the allotted time. It’s resented.

Be prepared: You’re a brand in a transforming world. Be able to tell others what value you bring – in no more than three points. Monitor, manage and protect your online identity – it can enhance your standing, or undermine it – for example, with drunken bathing suit shots from Cancun.

Be certain: Speak like the leader you are, or want to be. Start slowly, and put plenty of space around key words and phrases. Inflect down, not up. “Up talk” can make the most accomplished executive sound like a 12-year-old. And never begin a sentence with the word “like”, as in, “Like, I texted her, but she didn’t text back.”

Be listening: Give the people around you the time and respect to fully express themselves. Interruption is verbal mugging. When your boss, client or prospect is talking (and you aren’t), you’ll learn stuff. Silence is a killer app of the early 21st century. A famous quote goes: “Only silence is great.”

Be grammatical: One grammatical or spelling error – especially of someone’s name – can undermine the credibility of an otherwise sound document. Ditch online acronyms in business correspondence. If you’re speaking and flub, calmly correct yourself and move on. The bigger deal you make of it, the bigger deal it will become in the minds of your listeners.

Be positive: It’s easy to buy into today’s pervasive negativity, and hard to maintain an enthusiastic outlook amid an uncertain future. But leaders, in speech and correspondence, emphasize the positive while realistically acknowledging challenges. They seek to conclude every interaction on a high, knowing it can galvanize and inspire others. Negativity is a drag – so low end, so limiting, and so damaging to an organization. Optimism is contagious.

Be memorable: Business is about relationships. Look to expand and deepen yours. Compliment others, sincerely, not gratuitously. Take the time to hand-write notes. If you need to discuss a difficult issue with someone, it’s of course best to do so in person, or at least over the phone. However, if you absolutely have to do it by email, don’t copy the world, lest you escalate a situation that could have been resolved amicably.

That’s a worthy objective for 2016, and for years to come.

by Jim Gray, Special to The Globe and Mail

14 Power Facebook Tips to Build Your Brand and Business

If you are not using your personal Facebook as a tool to build awareness for yourself or your company's brand, you are missing out on arguably the world’s most powerful, free marketing tool. Yes, I did say “free.”

Facebook is used by more than half of the world’s online population, and by the end of 2015 it had more than 1.5 billion monthly users. In addition, the average smartphone user spends one out of every five minutes on Facebook. AOL had a dream to monopolize the Internet in 1985. Facebook has realized that dream today.

“I have a business page and my personal page is for friends and family.” Well, it’s time to start using your personal Facebook to build your brand, business and awareness. There’s Snapchat, Whatsapp, and a host of other fun platforms to interact with friends and family.

Your business page can sometimes be effective but since these pages are a major source of revenue for Facebook, it’s difficult to get a lot interaction on them without paying a lot. Spending $100 in Facebook advertising to get 2000 views (what value that has is unclear), 27 likes, and 6 clicks is not worth it. Facebook decreases the organic reach of posts on these pages – they are like playing the slots at a casino: you always hear about someone who walks out ahead, but the house wins 97 percent of the time.

The good news is that your personal page can get a lot of attention if you use it right - and it is free. Here are 14 Facebook tips, that will maximize your reach, likes, and interactions, which will drive awareness to you and your business.

1. Be Professional

Your Facebook page should look serious and be representative of your brand, business, or whatever it is you want to promote. Do not post things you wouldn’t want co-workers, customers, or suppliers to see. You don’t want to alienate or turn off potential followers. As a rule, don’t ever make a post about partying, drinking, or anything vulgar. One off-putting post and you will lose a friend or follower -- and you won’t even know it.

2. Smart Security

Allow your posts to be publicly visible. Nothing your posting should really be private and you want as many people to view your posts as possible. At the same time, go to the setting: “Who can add things to my timeline?” and set to “only me.” Turn on approval of all tags before they appear on your timeline. You don’t want other people’s thoughts on your wall and you don’t want to be tagged at the strip club -- as someone’s joke.

3. Be Friendly

Friend people often and approve all friend requests from real people. Like any social-media platform, the goal is to have as many followers as possible, but be wary of fake accounts and decline those invitations.

4. No Politics

No one should be able to easily determine your political views. I always take into account what a potential customer, who is opposite of my political views, would think of my posts. If you need to vent, there are many closed groups on Facebook where you can.

5. No Whining and Complaining

No one wants to hear about bad service at the DMV, the traffic, the boil on your toe that burst, or how bad your life is. If I wouldn’t say it to a first date, I won’t post it on Facebook. Face your problems, don’t Facebook them.

6. Play Tag Fairly

It is appropriate and good technique to tag people who are in pictures or are with you at an event because it increases viewership and makes your post available to their followers too. However, do not tag people in posts that have nothing to do with them for the sake of getting their attention.

7. Rock Your Profile Picture

If your profile picture has you shirtless or is of you taking a selfie in a mirror, immediately stop reading this article and go change it. You look ridiculous. This is not LinkedIn, so you don’t necessarily have to have a professional headshot, but you do have to have an interesting picture. You want to have a picture that represents you or your brand and creates a conversation. The goal is to get people to interact with you anyway you can. Sometimes when I have little to post about, a change in my profile picture can generate a lot of interest. Here’s an example of how I worked a post with my profile picture.

8. Like a Lot

The more you like someone’s posts the more of their posts you will see -- and they will see more of your posts. When you pass by a post and don’t click "like," Facebook thinks you really don’t like that person’s posts and will stop showing them to you. I like hundreds of posts everyday (unless I really don’t like it). I also don’t stand on ceremony -- even if someone doesn’t like my stuff, I’ll like his/her posts anyway. It’s good for me.

9. Like Comments

Like every comment on your posts. If a person took the time to comment, you should acknowledge it because it builds interaction and rewards him/her for doing so. He/she will be more likely to interact again and Facebook will be more likely to show them your posts. The goal is to get as many likes and comments on a post as possible.

10. It’s a Happy Birthday

Wish every friend “happy birthday.” I do it as my morning ritual. It’s a chance to increase interaction with friends and see what they are up to. Sometimes it even reminds me that I need to contact them for some business or personal reason.

11. Always Post with a Picture

Never make a text-only post. Picture posts get much more attention from the viewer and Facebook promotes those posts more. Even if it’s just a holiday wish to your Facebook friends, make sure to use a picture. As an example, here is my Thanksgiving post, which is just a simple statement, but the picture sends it big.

12. Instagram Is a Post Booster

When possible, post a picture on Instagram and click the “share to Facebook” button. Not only does it give your picture two chances to get noticed, Facebook promotes Instagram pictures more than pictures posted directly.  And you have the ability to edit the post on Facebook later, adding comments and picture tags. A recent picture I took in Seattle, is a great example of this technique.

13. Timing Is Everything

The timing of posts is crucial because Facebook promotes your post to more of your followers  if and only if it gets likes and comments quickly. This sometimes requires trial and error to see when your followers react best. Posting business related posts late at night is a sure fail. Similarly, making a post that is more personal during the middle of the work day is not going to be effective either. I have had a lot of success with posting late afternoon and early evening on weekdays and mid-afternoon on weekends. Avoid posting anything business related in the hours before a holiday begins.

14. Be Interesting and Informative

Content is king. A post that says, “It’s hot out” is not going to get the same viewership and interactions as one with a cool picture of an egg frying on the hood of your car. Similarly, a post that tries to sell a product is a no-no. You can tell about the features of a product or service without obviously selling it. Every post you make should be thought out carefully on how it will build your brand and increase interactions -- and keep your friends wanting to see more from you. Use humor when appropriate because making people laugh always draws them to you. Finally, don’t be overly narcissistic. My rule is for every self-promoting post, I also try to have a few posts that make fun of myself. You want people to like you.

These 14 tips will get your posts more likes, comments, and shares on the largest social platform on earth. You will be creating an image of yourself, your brand, and your company that people are attracted to. That is what any good marketing campaign should do.

Facebook is free and now you know how to use it. So what are you waiting for?

By MATT SWEETWOOD

CONTRIBUTOR

Marketing & Business Consultant • Speaker • Author

7 Ways to Build a Million-Dollar Brand

Almost everything I did to reach these people was FREE. However, it did require a lot of patience, strategy, and creativity. If it is your goal to reach millions of people, you can do it with consistent effort and determination. It was less than a decade ago when you had to hire a public relations firm to reach millions of people. 

Big companies would buy full-page spreads in magazines, purchase television time, and even run advertisements on billboards all over the highways. Small business owners had no chance unless they started with bigger companies. However, times have changed. Nowadays, almost every social media opportunity is free. You can build a website for less than $10. You can find speeches, interviews, magazines--all for FREE.

At my company, Dignify Designs, we show business owners how to maximize their brands by employing the right strategies. To be noticed in this world, you're going to have to optimize your brand to appeal to those you want to serve. In short, the secret to your brand will be to show your audience who you are, not just tell them. Moreover, the power of branding must be used carefully. It's easy to get distracted with all of the avenues of self-expression. With the many vehicles out there, you must choose the one that works best for your brand and master it. To build a million-dollar brand, you need to caress your tools constantly until you build your dream empire.

1. Show Legitimacy

Think about the people you admire the most in business. They are very legitimate. They have a following. They have an actual business name. They write for big publications. They have professional photos. They have positive reviews. They have interactive websites. Some of them even have a Wikipedia page! If you show people you mean business, they'll trust you. 

2. Google Yourself

What shows up when you Google yourself? If you have party photos, old resumes, and other useless information, you're only hurting yourself. While it's great to share your personal life, you don't want to go too far and show the world what you're doing when no one is looking. Keep clear cut profiles that show the utmost professionalism.

3. Create Content

 Sumner Redstone is known for saying, "Content is king." Today, it's truer than ever. However, your content must be CONSISTENT and DIFFERENT. There's a ton of inspirational people who are trying to do the same things, but get little results. Your content must be original and thought-provoking. You also want to produce content that is 'shareable' with the world.

4. Leverage Social Media

These days, you can use social media from your phone. You can also set posts to deliver while you're sleeping. By utilizing my favorite social-media avenues (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube) and learning about new ones (Snapchat, Instagram, Periscope), I can reach hundreds of thousands of people each day. Start by making at least 10 posts per day across all social-media platforms and you'll be recognized by many. 

5. Build a Following

People who purchase my products and services have been loyal followers for a long time. I have thousands of loving fans who "check-in" every month. Every day, I'm winning the hearts and minds of those who are looking to obtain financial freedom. They tell me, "Daniel, you're the best at what you do. That's why I follow you." I love those kinds of fans.

6. Promote Advocates

As you become more well known in the marketplace, people will want to help. One quick trick if you're extra busy is to hire an intern at the local university. Interns will help your run your social media and put together some of the graphics necessary to appeal to your audience. You may also want to get your "competitors" to share, comment, and like your work. 

7. Never Compete

The surest way to fail in building a million-dollar brand is to emulate others. There are too many carbon copies in every industry. You must not look at the work of others with envy or contempt, nor should you compare your products and services with another person. However, you should create an empire so large that your former "competitors" start asking you for help. 

We live in a world where we can reach someone who lives thousands of miles away. If you're only doing business locally, you are hurting your chances substantially. Use these suggestions to build an international empire and you will be able to reach millions of people in just a matter of months, or years. If you're serious about building your brand, please feel free to reach out. 

by Daniel Ally

You Don't Need Much Cash to Implement These 5 Essential Marketing Strategies

When your business first launches, it’s important to build a good foundation for growth. You need to make your business visible, start attracting a first round of customers, and start creating a reputation that will carry your brand forward -- hopefully for many years. Unfortunately, new business owners face a number of unique marketing challenges that their more-established counterparts have long forgotten about.

• Limited resources: Most new businesses have little working capital and few team members. Spending that money on marketing or hiring a marketing expert is demanding for most early-stage businesses.

• Limited knowledge: Even if you have an expert on your team, you have no brand history, which means you have limited information on how certain messages might play with your demographics.

• Greater risk: You aren’t as established, so one bad message can completely blow your reputation. Plus, if your marketing campaign fails, you’ll be out a proportionally larger sum of money.

With all these challenges in mind, it’s no wonder why some new business owners avoid marketing altogether. But marketing isn’t a superfluous investment -- it’s a necessary one if you want your business to grow. Instead of opting for marketing or no marketing, think about the specific strategies you can adopt to minimize your risk, compensate for your lack of experience and knowledge and attract customers while still remaining affordable.

These five important marketing strategies usually get the job done.

1. Branding

Branding comes first, no matter what your business is or what other marketing strategies you choose to pursue. Branding is your differentiating brand identity. It sets you apart from the competition and gives your customers something familiar and consistent to start building a relationship with.

The trick is that your brand needs to convey some emotion or some idea in a concise, visual and interactive way and do so consistently across all your messaging channels. Executing this is difficult but important -- because if your branding is inconsistent or poorly thought-out, the rest of your marketing initiatives might fail before they even begin. Spend some time developing an ideal brand for your business.

2. Content marketing

Content marketing is the next foundational pillar almost every business needs. You need a business blog and other forms of content that communicate your expertise to your audience -- and attract new people to your brand. It shows people what they’re getting by working with you, increases brand trust and positively influences purchasing decisions.

Beyond that, it serves a role as fuel for search engine optomization, social media, email marketing and dozens of other marketing campaigns. In case that hasn’t yet convinced you, understand that there’s no minimum budget for content -- you can get started even if cash is tight.

3. Search engine optimization (SEO)

The vast majority of people find their news, information and potential purchases through search engines alone. Getting your business to rank for those searches is a near necessity in the modern world. Paid advertising can get you there quick, but organic ranking can get you there for a long time. And if you’re doing content marketing anyway, it won’t take much extra effort. If national SEO seems too competitive or too intensive for you, local SEO is always an easier, more affordable option.

4. Social-media marketing

Social media marketing isn’t a magic formula that will earn you thousands of customers or millions of dollars, but it offers a few unique advantages that make it a necessary staple for new businesses. It’s easy. It’s free (mostly). It can enhance other marketing strategies. And it can grow really fast if you support it properly.

To get started, syndicate your cache of content and start reaching out to people individually. The more you engage with your community, and the more unique content you push, the wider your audience will grow.

5. Email marketing

Despite email marketing being passed over as a relic by entrepreneurs chasing the next great technology, email marketing is still highly effective -- and cost efficient to boot. Using your content as fuel to give users something of value and tying in some kind of social media integration, email marketing can serve as a type of glue to hold your other strategies together.

It also gives you recurring opportunities to reach out to an interested, dedicated lead pool, giving you compounding returns as your number of subscribers grows. As long as your offers are valuable, this strategy will eventually pay off.

Every business is unique and will have distinct marketing needs, but for the most part, these marketing strategies can work for anyone. They’re foundational building blocks for even bigger and better campaigns and can be effective on almost any level of budget. If you’re just starting out, start small with a moderate targeted investment and only scale up as you feel more comfortable and acquire more capital to invest.

by Anna Johansson

5 Digital-Marketing Tactics to Ditch in 2016

Keeping abreast with what works in digital marketing can be a constant catch-up game. Fickle consumers jump from channel to channel. Google updates its search algorithm. Keeping up with Facebook’s monthly changes requires constant education. Because of all of this change, it can be hard to keep on top of which digital tactics still work -- and which are no longer relevant.

Read on to understand which digital-marketing tactics you should consider ditching in 2016.

1. Having a desktop-only accessible website

The mobile website living separately from the desktop website no longer flies with Google. The dominant search engine has made it very clear that a traditional website that doesn’t adjust to the user’s screen size won’t be as visible as one that does.

Google knows its users access their search engine while on the go and wants to serve its users in the best way possible. To make itself look better, it must reward the websites most accommodating to how customers search the web today -- in the car, the Starbucks line and even in the corporate meeting.

Websites must be fluid not only for the user, but for the business owner’s convenience as well. Having a mobile website built on a separate platform runs the risk that information from site to site will be inconsistent. Contradictions erode consumer trust. Handling social media and directory updates creates enough extra work. Having to upload new information to additional sites become cost and time ineffective. The bottom line is that the traditional desktop designed website will lose rankings and visibility.

Despite Google’s clear messages that websites must be mobile-friendly, many small and medium-sized businesses have not converted their websites to mobile-friendly design. To check if your website is mobile friendly, enter your url into Google’s “Mobile Friendly Test Tool.”Google will quickly tell you if and why your website does not render in an effective way on tablet or smartphone. Small fonts and links put too closely together are a few factors that make a website impossible to navigate and access on a small screen. Get your website mobile today to keep customers coming in.

2. Not updating your website.

Beyond mobile accessibility, Google also closely watches how often users click and convert on your website. While it was once speculated that Facebook channels would overtake websites, research tells us that consumers return again and again to a company’s website for in-depth information on the corporation, product and contact details.

Google takes this habit seriously and wants company websites to serve visitors’ needs. Again, like the mobility demand outlined above, Google is laser-focused on delivering quality answers from quality websites.

The place-holding or basic website that acts primarily as a two-dimensional, digital brochure doesn’t win higher rankings from the search engines. The site must be attractive, easy to navigate, timely and constantly updated with quality content.

A/B testing can help your site win better user engagement and sales or other conversions. More, Google interprets users quickly bouncing away from your website back to the search results as a signal the site offers content that’s irrelevant to the search query. To succeed in digital marketing, make sure your website fulfills a need and constantly addresses that need with timely, relevant content.

3. The spammy link

Google changed the determination of quality in 1999 when it decided that, rather than have an editorial team review websites and make subjective judgments, it would derive value of a website by the number of other websites linking to it. In other words, the digital thumbs up in the form of backlinks provided a more accurate reflection of a site’s usefulness.

Unfortunately, business owners and unethical search agencies sullied Google’s trust of backlinks as indicators of the authority of a website. These entities gamed Google’s system by creating backlinks from artificially created sites with poor-quality content and irrelevant information. Google’s strong staff of PhDs and computer engineers rectified this black- hat SEO with the Penguin update, which penalizes websites without authentic backlinks coming from relevant and reputable websites.

Today, Google rewards the quality, robust content that earns backlinks naturally. SEO companies have become big content generators. Keep in mind, too, that in addition to signals from other sites, Google’s staff of editors spot-check a website’s content to make sure it’s relevant to certain search queries. Companies without meaningful and helpful content, products and backlinks drop in the rankings quickly. After all, Google doesn’t want to deliver a poor product.

4. The superficial social channel

Social media marketing progressed so quickly, many companies were thrilled to get cover images and some content -- any content -- up over the past few years. They felt convinced having a presence on social media would prove their credibility.

Companies that overlook the opportunities social media provides to connect one on one with customers do so to their detriment. Studies show that social media has become one of the big three of customer support, alongside telephone and email.

But where those emailing a company expect a response within a day or so, a study conducted by Edison Research reveals that 42 percent of those contacting a company through social media expect a response within 60 minutes, and 24 percent expect a response within 30 minutes. Further, consumers expect the social-customer service team to work all night and through the weekend.

Long gone are the days when companies avoided social media for fear of negative comments. We’ve all learned negative comments happen whether we’re there to address them or not. Now, most marketers view criticism as an opportunity to educate customers and showcase a committed, responsive customer-service department.

5. Single display and Facebook ads

Typically just 2 percent or fewer website visitors convert on the first visit. Sales professionals have always known that it takes seven to nine contacts before the sale is closed. If the website is the digital salesperson, shouldn’t it have the opportunity to follow up on initial contacts?

Google and Facebook have made this possible through re-targeting -- which Google calls re-marketing. When a visitor lands on a website, a cookie or short piece of JavaScript is placed in their browser. After they leave your site, this cookie pings the re-targeting platform to put certain ads on the next pages the visitor goes to.

That’s why, when you spend some time on a hover-board site or when you next go to WebMD or Facebook or your favorite blog, you see an ad for the hover board. It follows you around the web. WebMD, Facebook and some blogs also have a relationship with the re-targeting platform that acts as a clearinghouse or middle man to deliver ads to appropriate publishing platforms. The WebMD page you see won’t be the same WebMD page a friend sees even if you use the same URL. Ads served to your friend will be different and based on her previous Internet activity.

When done right, re-targeting helps move the prospect down the sales funnel. It re-engages them after they leave your page. The era of a single display ad that shows up on one blog in the same place every time is coming to an end. Today’s technology enables advertisers to target one customer at a time and lure them down the attention, interest and desire path to action -- the sale.

Each digital-marketing tactic a business chooses must depend on the size of the business, its unique selling proposition, its audience demographics and its ideal buyer’s journey. No digital-marketing technique is a one-size-fits-all solution, but we’re confident that if you avoid these tactics and mistakes, your digital marketing efforts will be improved in 2016.

What are some digital-marketing tactics that you said goodbye to in the last year? What will you be focusing on in 2016?

by Matt Walker, CEO and Founder of Main Path, Inc.

6 Unusual Habits of Exceptionally Creative People

I expend a huge amount of my time and energy writing books and articles and working to keep my company innovative. I’ve developed an obsession with some of history’s most creative minds in the hope that I might learn some tricks to expand my own creative productivity.

Some of the things I’ve learned are more useful than others, and some are simply too weird to try.

Steve Jobs, for example, routinely sat on toilets, dangling his bare feet in the water while he came up with new ideas, and Yoshiro Nakamatsu (inventor of the floppy disc) would dive deep under water until his brain was deprived of oxygen, then write his ideas on an underwater sticky pad.

Weird ideas aside, I’ve developed a pretty good understanding of the habits of some of history’s most creative minds. There’s enough commonality between different people that I’ve distilled their habits into strategies that anyone can follow.

Six of these strategies stand out because they have the power to change the way you think about creativity. Give them a try, and you’ll reach new levels of creative productivity.

1. Wake up early.

Not all creative minds are morning people. Franz Kafka routinely stayed up all night writing, and William Styron (author of Sophie’s Choice, among other best sellers) woke up at noon every day and considered his “morning” routine to be staying in bed for another hour to think.

However, early risers make up the clear majority of creative thinkers. The list of creative early risers ranges from Benjamin Franklin to Howard Schultz to Ernest Hemmingway, though they didn’t all wake up early for the same reasons. Ben Franklin woke up early to plan out his day, while Schultz uses the time to send motivational emails to his employees. For many creative people, waking up early is a way to avoid distractions. Ernest Hemingway woke up at 5 a.m. every day to begin writing. He said, “There is no one to disturb you and it is cool and cold and you come to your work and warm as you write.”

The trick to making getting up early stick is to do it every day and avoid naps—no matter how tired you feel. Eventually, you will start going to bed earlier to make up for the lost sleep. This can make for a couple of groggy days at first, but you’ll adjust quickly, and before you know it, you’ll join the ranks of creative early risers.

2. Exercise frequently.

There’s plenty of evidence pointing to the benefits of exercise for creativity. Feeling good physically gets you in the right mood to focus and be productive. Exercise also forces you to have disconnected time (it’s tough to text or email while working out), and this allows you to reflect on whatever it is you’re working on. In a Stanford study, 90% of people were more creative after they exercised.

It’s no surprise that so many creative and successful people built exercise into their daily routines. Kurt Vonnegut took walks into the nearby town, swam laps, and did push-ups and sit-ups, Richard Branson runs every morning, and composers Beethoven and Tchaikovsky both walked daily.

3. Stick to a strict schedule.

It’s a common misconception that in order to be creative, one must live life on a whim with no structure and no sense of need to do anything, but the habits of highly successful and creative people suggest otherwise. In fact, most creative minds schedule their days rigorously. Psychologist William James described the impact of a schedule on creativity, saying that only by having a schedule can we “free our minds to advance to really interesting fields of action.”

4. Keep your day job.

Creativity flourishes when you’re creating for yourself and no one else. Creativity becomes more difficult when your livelihood depends upon what you create (and you begin to think too much about what your audience will think of your product). Perhaps this is why so many successful and creative people held on to their day jobs. Many of them, like Stephen King, who was a schoolteacher, produced their breakout (and, in King’s case, what many consider his very best) work while they still held a 9 to 5.

Day jobs provide more than the much-needed financial security to create freely. They also add structure to your day that can make your creative time a wonderful release. The list of successful, creative minds who kept their day jobs is a long one. Some notable individuals include Jacob Arabo, who started designing his own jewelry while working in a jewelry shop; William Faulkner, who worked in a power plant while writing As I Lay Dying; and musician Philip Glass, who worked as a plumber.

5. Learn to work anywhere, anytime.

A lot of people work in only one place, believing it’s practically impossible for them to get anything done anywhere else. Staying in one place is actually a crutch; studies show that changing environments is beneficial to productivity and creativity. E.B. White, author of Charlotte’s Web, said it well: “A writer who waits for ideal conditions under which to work will die without putting a word on paper.” The same is true for any type of creative work. If you keep waiting until you are in the perfect place at the ideal time, the time will never come.

Steve Jobs started Apple in his mom’s garage, and JK Rowling wrote the first ideas for Harry Potter on a napkin on a train. When you have a creative idea, don’t wait—put it into action as soon as you can. Recording that spark of creativity may very well be the foundation of something great.

6. Learn that creative blocks are just procrastination.

As long as your heart is still beating, you have the ability to come up with new ideas and execute them. They may not always be great ones, but the greatest enemy of creativity is inactivity. Author Jodi Picoult summarized creative blocks perfectly: “I don’t believe in writer’s block. Think about it—when you were blocked in college and had to write a paper, didn’t it always manage to fix itself the night before the paper was due? Writer’s block is having too much time on your hands. If you have a limited amount of time to write, you just sit down and do it. You might not write well every day, but you can always edit a bad page. You can’t edit a blank page.” Picoult’s comment describes all creative activity—the only way to stay creative is to keep moving forward.

Bringing it all together

In my experience, you must get intentional about your creativity if you want it to flourish. Give these six strategies a try to see what they can do for you.

by TRAVIS BRADBERRY

Co-author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0 and President at TalentSmart