Our Top 3 Digital Marketing Articles | August 14

Welcome to #MarketingMondays at Meredith Communications! One of the toughest challenges of being a marketer in the information age is staying current on the newest trends, hot research and new tactics. I spend hours every week reading new sales and marketing articles. On Monday’s we feature an article round-up of the top 3 – 5 articles I read the previous week. Some of the articles may be brand new and others may have been out there a while, but you can be assured that the articles found here are still very relevant.  You’ll also find my thoughts on each article and don’t hesitate to let me know what you think about them as well!

How to Integrate AI Into Your Digital Marketing Strategy by Cynthia Johnson

Artificial intelligence (AI) used to be pure science fiction. But now AI is science fact. This once futuristic technology is now implemented in almost every aspect of our lives. We must adjust. Luckily, we’re used to adjusting, pivoting, and expecting a change of any kind – and quickly. The use of AI in our digital marketing strategies is no different. We have to think of AI as we thought of mobile years ago. If we don’t learn about it and apply it, then we are destined to be out of a job. So, What Is AI?

My reflections: This article is a must-read for those of us wanting to stay ahead of the game! You’ll soon learn that AI is everywhere – so even if you think you haven’t heard of it, chances are, you’ve used it at some point. In a business perspective, AI may take some learning, but after you’ve got it, it’s going to make everything so much smoother in the long run!

45 Local SEO Pitfalls & How to Avoid Them by Miriam Ellis

I’m not a professional economist, but I’ve read their statistics on how half of US businesses don’t make it past their 5th year. I’m a local SEO, and what I’ve learned is that to be agile enough to beat the odds, local business owners have to swing over the obvious pitfalls that less savvy competitors are doomed to become mired in. A plumbing company fakes a string of locations by using their siblings’ houses to build citations, a dentist hires a notorious marketing agency to pay global workers for fictitious reviews…Missteps like these can force a local business to bog down, coping with cleaning up mess instead of making a beeline towards lasting success.

My reflections: To call this list comprehensive is still an understatement! Miriam gives us an in depth look at SEO pitfalls in ALL aspects and stages of our business – from the planning stages, to building your website and local business listings, and beyond. No matter how long you’ve been learning about SEO, my guess is you’ll find something new to implement after reading this article!

The online fashion startup Stitch Fix has $730 million in annual revenue and is profitable by Jason Del Rey

For several years, I’ve chased down rumor after rumor about new funding rounds for Stitch Fix, the online retailer and styling service that sends personalized boxes full of clothing to customer doors. And each time, they led to a dead end. Stitch Fix still hasn’t raised any funding since a $25 million round led by Benchmark in 2014, it turns out, but many e-commerce industry insiders couldn’t figure out how. Here’s one answer: The company has been cash-flow positive since 2014 and profitable on a net income basis since 2015, a company exec said today.

My reflections: This article is spot-on in how Stitch Fix has left all the industry insiders scratching their heads, wondering just how this relatively new company is doing such massive things! In fact, this company is so impressive that it earned the entire Chapter 1 spot in my new book, FANtastic Marketing!

So why is the popularity of online personal stylist services like Stitch Fix exploding? According to Harvard Business Review, there’s a definite answer. As the Review points out, StitchFix is so successful because it combines technology, data science, and the human touch of seasoned stylists to make personalization feasible and scalable. There are serious business lessons to be learned from the success of the Stitch Fix business model!

Meredith Oliver is a digital marketing expert, sales and marketing professional speaker, and author. If you’d like more information on speaking engagements or books, visit MeredithSpeaks.com For sales and marketing tips, you’re at the right spot! Take a look around Meredith Communications. Follow her on Twitter: @MeredithCSP and follow her killer shoe collection on Instagram: @MeredithsShoes22.

Categorised in: Marketing Mondays, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Technology