Way back in 2007 when Facebook announced that it was entering the online advertising game, it was greeted with mixed reviews – and some flat out derision. Indeed, Gawker went as far to include Facebook ads on its list of the “Top 5 Fails of 2007” (in case you’re curious, the other 4 were:  Apple TV, Googlephone, DRM free music, and the Tesla Roadster).

For many small businesses, their internet marketing experience to date hasn’t been triumphant. On the contrary, their story so far is somewhere between underwhelming and disasterous.

While email marketing has changed dramatically in the last few years – and is almost unrecognizable compared to what it was a decade ago – any belief that this method is no longer worthwhile, strategic or profitable is flat out wrong.

You already know that the loyal customers on your roster are among your most profitable. Not just because they (presumably) buy the most products or services, but also because the time and resource investment you must make to keep them happy is less than onboarding new customers.

As noted by the world’s most comprehensive supply chain management information resource SupplyChainBrain, today’s supply chain management and logistics companies are under constant pressure to tackle a set of key challenges, including: managing unpredictable demand, improving efficiency, and achieving a high level of customer service.

If your business isn’t focusing on how to increase organic traffic to your site, then you need to do two things immediately: 

As noted by Forbes contributor Alan Hall, “knowing and understanding targeted customers is the overarching rule of exceptional companies.”

The conventional definition of a content strategy (courtesy of Usability.gov) is that it’s centered on the “planning, creation, delivery, and governance of content.”

A call to action is a short statement – anywhere from a few words to a few lines – that urges and ushers prospects forward along the sales funnel. Sometimes, a call to action is sales-oriented. But other times – and usually all times in a B2B context – the conversion goal isn’t about completing a transaction. Rather, the aim is to have prospects download an ebook, subscribe to a newsletter, schedule a demo or call, and so on.   

You already know that marketing research is important. But what you may not fully appreciate is that it’s critical to your survival. As noted by MarketingProfs: “market research is essential to you and your brand’s long-term success. Market research will keep your brand afloat while companies who fail to make research a high priority drown.”