Digital Marketing Blog.
Our digital marketing blog breaks down countless marketing concepts, talks about industry news, and explores material that otherwise remains surface-level. A large part of the fun of our work is the education process, sharing ideas and concepts with clients and readers while bettering Rizzo Young in the process.
The End of an Era?
The past few years have been rough for Facebook from a PR standpoint. From Russians using its platform to interfere in the 2016 election, to the selling of user data, to the infamous one-day outage, and more, the mega-corporation has become an easy target for public distrust. All of these events have led to to the latest bit of news surrounding Facebook: Congress clamoring for a breakup.
Marrying Marketing & Sales
Often, we find that when we speak with a potential client, they’ll frequently say something along the lines of “I don’t need marketing. I need sales!” If we had a nickel for every time we heard that one.
But the truth is that there’s a reason why every successful Fortune 500 company has a distinct department for both (and sub-departments within those departments). So, today we’d like to talk about why it’s important to marry marketing and sales together.
Review Management 101
This past week, two of our clients received negative reviews on their Google listings. The first is an on-again/off-again client whose website we designed, whereas with the second, we’re actively helping them generate a positive digital reputation.
Small Business Marketing Essentials
Believe it or not, starting a small business is always a huge step forward. Despite the plethora of competition, in time, you’ll find that you have much more freedom, cash flow, and ownership than you ever would working for a much larger organization.
For me, one of the early lessons I learned is that I can’t do it all. For instance, you might be effective at running the day-to-day operations of your business, however, marketing might be a foreign concept.
But it doesn’t have to be daunting. As a matter of fact, there are four easy ways to launch your digital marketing strategy.
The Free Ride is Over
At the end of November, LinkedIn introduced a new privacy setting pertaining to user email addresses. Whereas businesses could previously download and export data on all of their connections (including their email address), LinkedIn now gives users a choice as to whether their email is downloadable.
Black Friday's Hottest Marketing Trend
During this time every year, countless consumers begin the process of crossing off their Christmas shopping. For many, including several friends and family members, Black Friday becomes the unofficial kick-off ceremony for said shopping spree.
Last week’s Black Friday shopping extravaganza led to consumers achieving a record-breaking $6.22 billion in online sales. As a matter of fact, just in the lead-up to Black Friday, Thanksgiving Day has become “the fastest growing shopping day” of the year, seeing an impressive 28% year-over-year growth.
Building a Brand
When I was in college, one of the first marketing concepts I learned was about the power of a brand. “A brand is a promise,” my professor would say. “It’s a promise to your customers to uphold certain values that represent how you want to do business and be seen by the rest of the world.”
These values can range from creating the expectation of excellent customer service to following a code of ethics with each transaction. The important thing is that those values are consistent throughout a business’ life.
‘Tis the Season
With Halloween just a mere eight days away, the holiday season is soon to follow. During this time, many retail businesses will be extremely busy as countless holiday shoppers stop buy to purchase gifts for their loved ones.
Some see this as the time to scale back on marketing because business is going so well that there’s no need to get the word out anymore. We’re here to tell you differently.
“Say, “Cheese”!”: Experiencing Instagram Culture
This past Saturday night, I attended Jack's Pumpkin Nights Pop-Up near Goose Island. For me, the experience left much to be desired.
But as I looked around, I realized that this event was never built for someone like me. It’s built for the Instagram Culture.
A Website’s Bare Bones
Many business owners have at one point in time or another discussed building a website. While countless follow through on it, there are just as many who don’t.
Maybe, it comes down to budget. Perhaps, it’s more about indecisiveness with the site’s direction. In either case, perpetual inaction has a severe opportunity cost in credibility and even missed leads.
For those who don’t have an extensive budget (or time) to build a grand website, or aren’t sure how they want to portray their business, there are still three vital pages worth incorporating to provide your website with the bare bones treatment.
Heighten Engagement
When starting a business, it’s easy to fall into the trap of “I need to be 100% business-oriented all the time.” Many people see owning a business as they’re brainchild, so they want it to be just perfect.
News flash!
People don’t like that.
Goodbye, Google+
It was only a matter of time, but now, Google+ has officially been marked for execution.
Although it started out promisingly enough, Google+ never really amounted to more than a discounted Facebook clone. And it’s surprising, really.
A platform designed by one of the greatest companies in the world should’ve had continents full of user data, preferences, and other resources need to create the best social media platform to ever exist.
Parallax Isn’t Passé
Web development and design techniques are constantly in flux. Within a single year, a multitude of new trends will pop up to phase out the “old” ones.
In the case of parallax, it’s been incorporated in web design since 2011. Yet, this design technique is still picking up steam with the mainstream public.
Expats for a Week
For those who have followed us on social media throughout the week, you’ll know that Maria [Rizzo] and I just returned from vacationing in Positano. However, you may not know that this is the first vacation we’ve attempted to take in a little over a year and a half.
Admittedly, I was pretty high-strung going into it. When I thought of all the emails I receive on a daily basis, the thought of it just seemed nauseating.
How I Beat Anthony Rizzo
Our marketing agency is based in Chicago, a town shared with extremely popular World Series champion, Anthony Rizzo. And articles on the champ dominated search results.
When we first formalized our company at the beginning of April, Rizzo Young Marketing’s SEO was virtually nonexistent. Being a new company, this makes perfect sense.
But with our combined backgrounds, Maria and I knew exactly where to start: Organic Content. We created social media profiles across every mainstream platform, created a secure, mobile-friendly website, and set up our Google My Business listing. But there was one major issue.
Easy Email Marketing
When I first started out as a digital marketing consultant, I thought that social media is the easiest value-added service to bring to clients. An astounding number of small businesses aren’t on social media right now, while their competitors have been absolutely crushing it. Plus, there are numerous platforms and each platform has its own “rules for success”. The market seemed to be wide open.
5 More SMM Tips
Standing out on social media isn't easy for a small business. Naturally, small businesses don't have the capital nor the brand awareness that a Fortune 500 company has. However, there are several steps that you can take to ensure that you're conveying a professional and credible tone across all of your social media channels.
Back in June, we shared five key tips for social media marketing. For those just starting to up their social media game, here are five more tips to get you going.
Is the Internet “Safe”?
The majority of our clients didn't grow up with social media, apps, and even the major influx of the internet as a whole. By the time it came around, it was introduced as a world-changing disruptor, and it is.
Don't Sell Yourself
One of the most common things Rizzo Young Marketing sees are businesses constantly trying to sell themselves. Whether it be through posting on social media, email marketing, or any form of print advertising, the only content they are providing is a sales pitch.
5 Key Tips for Social Media Marketing
Despite what some may think, there's a huge discrepancy between personal and professional social media marketing. On a daily basis, countless businesses phone it in with their social media strategy, leading to a lack of reach, engagement, followers, and ultimately, sales.
But today, we're going to change the tide in your favor with these five basic, but key, tips for social media marketing.