Sometimes, when it comes to business, we spend so much time helping others that we either forget or run out of time to help ourselves. Indeed, we at Calgary’s Emphasize Design have been guilty of this! While we consistently hammer away at improving and adapting our clients’ Internet marketing campaigns, we have, admittedly, been a…
Website marketing can involve a lot of confusing jargon, and when you’re busy trying to run your Calgary business it can be frustrating to keep on top of all the acronyms and terminology that come with the Internet. “Inbound” is one word that is rarely used anywhere else except within the world of website designers,…
A few of the Emphasize team are breaking out of Calgary to visit Boston and attend INBOUND 2013 in August. Hosted by HubSpot, INBOUND is the world’s largest inbound marketing conference, and the four days will be packed with sessions incorporating keynote speakers (Arianna Huffington, President & Editor in Chief of the Huffington Post, is…
In the first half of Emphasize Design’s exploration of effective content elements for websites, we went through several options for engaging items for the user that can also help sell your product and your company. Effective content elements can come in many shapes and sizes, and range from a short and powerful company manifesto to…
What is Hubspot? In the “good old days”, marketing departments spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on traditional advertising such as billboards, brochures and radio spots, then sat back and watched the leads start pouring (or trickling) in. If a particular campaign failed to generate prospects, the ad was analyzed, criticized, taken down and torn…
Content creation is a critical element of successful online marketing campaigns. New content creation is what drives traffic to your site and engages your target audience — without it, your online marketing campaign is doomed to fail. Successful inbound marketing uses content creation to drive consumer behavior. Maybe you just started a business and have…
As the wave of internet marketing evolves, it is changing the field in a number of important ways. Savvy business owners are recognizing these changes, and are putting an increased emphasis on internet marketing techniques. Having an appreciation for the potential that internet marketing holds can mean the difference between having an ‘okay’ sales year…
If it ain’t broke, why fix it, right? Did you ever notice how the only people who ever seemed to believe that expression were in pretty deep denial about just how much help they really needed? When it comes to your business’ online marketing strategy, it is essential that you know exactly what is working…
Most of us know at least one person getting started in web design who says they can do your site for next to nothing. Just about anyone with some basic skills can call themselves a web designer. It may be your little sister, your cousin, or a friend of a friend. What may seem like…
With the growth of social networking, the novelty of email has worn off, and many have come to see it as an old-fashioned form of communication. The more fashionable venues like Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Tumblr, allow users more interaction, with the ability to share their thoughts, pictures and videos. In the current online marketplace…
There has been a lot of talk recently about Google’s latest search algorithm release, Penguin, and the negative impact that it has had on businesses. Some of the previously top-ranked websites have seen their traffic plummet dramatically, and are scrambling to recover. The question is, why are these business owners so surprised? Penguin isn’t some…
We’re living in the Age of Skepticism, where years of false promises and outright lies by marketers have left today’s consumer suspicious of any advertising claims or guarantees that are made on behalf of a business. Consumers have been burned so many times before, they are understandably mistrustful, and are increasingly wanting to know the…
Conclusion – Getting here took a lot of work, with a lot of elements that you will need to monitor continuously to ensure that you’re getting the best results. But the key is in the bottom line. According to HubSpot, businesses using outbound marketing can expect to spend $346 for every lead, on average. For…
Depending on your business and how you transact sales, this is the stage in the sales funnel where prospects are convinced to buy from you. Whether your sales process requires a salesperson to connect with a prospect or if the sale can be transacted online, if the first two steps of the sales funnel were…
Middle of the Funnel Continued… Fulfillment pages. Your first step is delivering on the opt-in offer that drew in your leads in the first place. Whatever you offered — an eBook, a webinar, etc. — make sure it’s something your new lead is likely to find worthwhile, so that they will pay attention to the next offer…
Once your prospect has cleared the first stage of the funnel, that doesn’t mean you’re ready to start selling. According to Gleanster Research, 50 percent of qualified leads will need more convincing before they are ready to buy. That’s where our second stage comes in. Now is when you start building a relationship with your…