YouTube’s latest strategy to reduce commercial interruptions gives users the choice.   As video length has expanded on YouTube, the platform has been challenged to find an effective ad display solution that doesn’t mimic the inconvenience of commercial interruptions. This week’s announcement – doubling up on pre-roll advertising spots – sounds like more ad content, but the results appear promising so far. Brands and agencies who host long-form content

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If you’re only tracking the impact of your social media activity within the confines of each social network, you’re likely missing key pieces of the puzzle. Here’s why.   “Know your audience.” It’s something drilled into most marketers’ heads from the first day of work. Understanding your audience is key to knowing what your target customers want, like, and think at every stage of the buyer’s journey. And that’s how

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Social media is short attention span marketing. It fits well with the attention span of today’s people… In fact, if you’re a marketer you probably realize you have just a few seconds to grab someone’s attention. Though social media feeds can be busy, you still need to participate. Because if you’re not part of the noise, do you even exist? Many people use a business’s social media profile as a

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In the ever-changing digital landscape, what worked before might not work tomorrow. As 2019 approaches, there could be a dramatic shift in the digital marketing scene which encompasses SEO, social media, content marketing and more. In a constantly changing high-tech era, companies continue to wrestle for attention online. With less than two months until the year closes out, it’s critical to consider the advertising landscape and rethink your marketing strategy,

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  It’s the most wonderful time of the year — for finding the best deals, eating too much food and supercharging your marketing. The holiday season is generally considered to run from late November through the New Year. Unlike birthdays and anniversaries, this gift-buying frenzy is spread across the whole of society at the same time. That means a lot of consumer spending.   • This year’s holiday retail sales

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Digital marketing isn’t just about running ads wherever your competitors run ads. In fact, the best marketers find niches and jump into new channels before anybody else, in order to capitalize on the under-priced attention. That’s what a number of brands are doing with Twitch.   What Is Twitch? Owned by Amazon (of course!), Twitch is a video streaming platform used primarily by gamers to stream themselves, well, playing games.

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Virtual carts filled with groceries. The ripples created by big box retail’s downfall. Voice shopping getting a little help from screens. Now’s the time to gaze deeply into the e-commerce crystal ball and uncover the tech-fueled trends that will drive online shopping in 2019.   But before delving into what’s trending online, let’s note one interesting shift in the opposite direction. The coming year will see even more integration between

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  Back in 2008, a team of researchers at Google started a fascinating project called Project Oxygen, in order to determine the qualities of their highest-performing managers. Recently, that team updated its research and modified and added some qualities. Here is that more recent list of the top behaviors of Google’s best managers:   Is a good coach Empowers team and does not micromanage Creates an inclusive team environment, showing concern for

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Artificial Intelligence and digital marketing are beginning to go hand in hand. With the ability to collect data, analyze it, apply it and then learn from it- AI is transforming digital strategy. As it continues to advance, so will the capabilities to use it to improve digital marketing strategies and valuable customer insights for companies.   Here are 3 ways AI is changing digital marketing for the better.   Better User Experience

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For his book Mimesis, the German-Jewish literary critic Erich Auerbach undertook a grand survey of western literature from his wartime exile in Istanbul. He wanted to show that literature was becoming ever more democratic in its representation of reality, ever more attentive to the human individual. From Homer’s gods and monsters, we had moved through Shakespeare’s warriors and kings, to Austen’s ladies, Dickens’s merchants and Zola’s workers, down into Woolfian

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