It used to be that if a company focused on their product and delivered decent customer service all was good.  If a customer was unhappy, they might complain to a few people and then they would simply move on.  Damage to the brand was limited.  That isn't the case anymore.  Social media has given unhappy consumers a much louder voice.  Angry consumers, voicing their complaints online with reviews,  YouTube, Twitter, FaceBook, and a host of other social media channels, can wreak havoc on your brand.  The repercussions of failing to meet customer expectations can be much more damaging today.  

Marketing automation is all the craze in the business world and is finally making it's way into the association and non-profit world. Many aspects of digital marketing can be automated to save time and improve results. Below are some current marketing automation trends.

Social Media has a huge impact on today's digital marketing landscape.  It has become an indispensable tool for marketers and it's use is only going to grow.  However, social media trends are forever changing.  So it's vital to stay informed of those changes.  The infographic below lists 8 social media trends on the rise this year.

One of the many benefits of online advertising is the ability to target your ads to the audience you're interested in reaching.  AdWords is an advertising service by Google which enables businesses to advertise their goods and services in a very targeted way.  By using keywords that are chosen by you, whenever someone searches using those keywords, your ad will appear in the search results.  In this way you are able to effectively target the people that are looking for what you have to offer.  Better yet, when using AdWords, you only pay when someone clicks on your ad.

Everyday millions of us receive emails that are marked as spam or tossed in the trash. Often time these emails aren’t personalized, however, personalization can improve clickthrough rates and increase trust and connection with members. If you want to learn more about personalization, check out my blog from last week, “The Perks of Personalization”. In short, personalization is rather simple but its benefits are plentiful. By personalizing a message, members are more likely to open and engage with emails, even if just out of curiosity. After all, it should be a no brainer for your platform to pull an individual’s name and insert it into an email. Along with personalization, creating compelling content is also important as it engages members and furthers them through the buyer’s journey.