Ahmad Kareh

No brand wants to get bad press, but sooner or later, some negative feedback is bound to pop up. It might be a disgruntled customer complaining on social media or a review website, or a litigious employee suing the company for a perceived injustice. Either way, it's easy for an isolated incident like this to gather steam and explode into a full-blown public relations crisis.

There has been a lot of buzz about blockchain and what it can and cannot do. While it has revolutionized some transactions, its future still feels a bit uncertain for some entrepreneurs. What will it be capable of doing and how will that affect consumers in the long run?

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.

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.

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.

As digital marketing has grown in importance for today's businesses, so has the role of search engine optimization. SEO plays a huge role in getting people to your website, blog post, guest articles and other content assets. And if you don't play by Google's rules, you'll see your web traffic plummet.

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.