Ahmad Kareh

The social media giant has vowed to make local news a priority, making your ability to reach your local customer base through the platform a little more difficult in the future. You need to be proactive in your approach and consider that you have news to present as well. Keeping your posts about information that is locally concentrated and topical for your community can ensure you get the results you are looking for with Facebook without abandoning for another medium.

Every company must be prepared for the possibility of a public relations crisis. Whether it's a data breach, an executive scandal or just a bad piece of press, any negative event connected to your brand requires a swift and carefully crafted response if you want to keep your reputation intact.

Winning a business award is an exciting achievement. It feels good to have your team's hard work and dedication recognized by a prestigious organization. Even more important is the fact that this award can serve as a great marketing tool if properly publicized.

With 87 million people affected by the Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal, online privacy is becoming even more of a question. What you post on social media and the data you provide may leave the door open to an invasion of your personal freedom.

Today's consumers are constantly bombarded with marketing messages on every single device they use. With this ad overload, it's become increasingly difficult for brands to stand out in a sea of competitors with similar offerings. Even if you manage to rise above the noise and reach a customer, you then face the challenge of building brand loyalty.

When a company makes a significant change to its core product offering, it may make sense to launch a rebranding campaign to let existing customers — and the new ones it's targeting — know about its new focus. However, a full-on rebrand takes a lot of time, effort and resources, and your business may not have the bandwidth or desire for this massive undertaking.

The use of ad blockers has increased a lot over the years, with a 30% global jump in 2016. Experts anticipate that savvy consumers will continue to opt out of browser ads, which presents a significant challenge for brands that rely on web advertising.

The wisest people know that no matter how experienced they are, they're never done learning. Some learning is formal, like earning a degree, taking an online course or participating in a training workshop. Other learning happens as you reflect on your day-to-day life, and it can sometimes teach you the most valuable lessons of all.

Leveraging influencers is a popular option for brands to develop a fanbase for their products and services. While these influencers are an excellent way to reach out to consumers via social media, social platforms aren't the only way to work with an influencer to promote your brand. Collaborative areas, including joint events and contests, are excellent options for reaching out, as is allowing influencers to share "behind the scenes" moments related to your organization or services.

With the foray into digital marketing becoming easier and more affordable, many companies are tossing their hat into the arena and giving it a try. Your business, like many others, may benefit from using digital marketing to your advantage — if you keep your wits and focus on the audience at hand.

By now, most brands know that content marketing is an essential part of a company's overall strategy. A company blog presents a huge opportunity to establish your industry expertise and extend your audience reach through social sharing. You might even see some ROI on your blog posts if you do it right.

It can happen to even the best agencies: You sign a client only to discover that your working relationship is less than ideal. Whether the client is demanding and difficult or you're simply exhausted by the projects you have to do for them, you can see that it's no longer worth your time and energy to continue working together.

Developing your company’s marketing content takes a special skill that builds trust and positions your brand as an authority while avoiding a sales pitch.

Creating personas for the different users or customers interested in — and buying — your products can be a beneficial way to understand and recognize the likes and dislikes of a consumer group. Every company should take the time to evaluate who its typical (and atypical) customers are and what needs you should target to get their business.

If your business isn't taking advantage of using SEO strategies on its website, blogs and social media pages, you're missing the boat in terms of ranking your business in internet searches. SEO is one of the most effective ways to ensure your customers find your business and buy your products.

Developing your company brand is key to driving customers to your business. The more a consumer resonates with your brand, the more likely they are to buy from you again. Creating this loyal following of customers can ensure continued success and help drive sales of your company’s products and services forward.

In the modern marketing world, it's not a matter of whether or not your business is on social media (of course it is). The question is which social media platforms you're on, and how you're managing your content.

Growing up, the home phone was a permanent fixture that hardly ever needed to be replaced. It’s interesting to consider that keeping up with each iPhone update would mean you’re replacing your phone more often than an average light bulb.

Most business owners get into business to make money, profit-seeking business owners welcome cost-based pricing for its straightforward path to calculating profit. All they need to focus on is targeting a sales price that is a markup over cost. Some business owners, however, possess a price sensitivity that leads them to assume their customers share in that trait. Combining price sensitivity with a desperate need to succeed, lead some to the misconception that they need to charge just enough to turn a profit. In either case, the problem is: there is more to pricing than just cost.

We've all encountered awful online ads in the form of pop-ups, autoplay videos and intrusive banners. As more and more consumers seek to eliminate advertisements from their browsing experience (the use of ad blockers grew 30% worldwide from 2015 to 2016), Google has decided to do something about it: On February 15, the internet giant started blocking any ad from its Chrome browser that doesn't comply with the standards set forth by the Coalition for Better Ads.