One of the most crucial aspects of any effective marketing strategy is the ability to reach your target audience. However, this is often easier said than done. Even experienced marketers make the mistake of not identifying who their audience is before they release an ad or start a campaign, which can significantly lower the return on investment (ROI) of any marketing channel.

Today’s marketing is fueled by data. But the mass of information at every marketing team’s fingertips brings inherent challenges marketers must overcome. Performing effective market research in the age of data is no easy feat.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a package of new laws enacted by the European Union that outlines how and why personal data can be collected on individuals living in, or who are citizens of, any of the 28 EU member states.

Between voice-activated devices like Alexa and Echo and personal assistants like Siri and Cortana, voice search is on the rise. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers announced in its 2017 Internet Trends report that this trend isn’t limited to AI assistants: twenty percent of searches on mobile were voice searches, and that number is quickly rising.

Voice is poised to become the 'next big thing' in terms of technology, and consumers are showing their love for voice-controlled devices by purchasing 'smart' speakers at a rapid rate. Between Q1 and Q2 of 2017 smart speaker ownership increased from seven to 10 percent among U.S. households with a broadband internet connection

Google My Business (GMB) is a free online tool designed to help businesses and organizations manage their online presence through Google's various sites such as Google Maps and Search. As with all things Google, Google My Business sets its sights on helping visitors find just what they need quickly. By enhancing the accuracy of localized search results generated through its search engine, it provides searchers with high-quality results.

Full disclosure, I think Amazon is the best retailer, period, but I didn't always feel that way. And I am not just saying that because Teknicks works with them. I honestly have a wonderful experience shopping on Amazon, primarily through the app.

Marketing online demands a unique combination of skills, knowledge, and specializations, thanks to the fact that the online environment is both linked to, yet distinctively different from, traditional marketing mediums.

Marketing research is subject to a large number myths and misconceptions, due in part because it gets the reputation of being one of the costliest processes in business. Marketers and business managers often choose to forgo their market research projects because of the illusion that there is too little room in the budget to justify it. There are two problems with this line of thinking about marketing research:

Voice Search Optimization (VSO) is an approach focused on maximizing the number of visitors to a website or app by improving the visibility and suggestion rate (or recommendation rate) in voice search results. In general, the more often a site or app is suggested and the higher it is ranked among the recommendations, the more traffic it will receive. VSO can be applied to several voice search protocols including but not limited to Google, Amazon, Siri, and Windows Cortana.

Content marketing is nothing new. The first commercial website started back in 1993, so we’ve had nearly a quarter of a century to refine its application. That’s why it’s so surprising that of the 86 percent of marketers using content marketing, only 32 percent find it effective.

Credit: Moz

SEO is constantly evolving. As the owner of an SEO agency, it’s my job to stay on top of Google’s updates and algorithm changes to keep my clients on the front page. In fact, I’ve had to alter my entire business model more than once to keep up with this rapidly changing world.

Many companies are caught up in search engine optimization, but this approach belongs in the past. In my 15 years working with SEO, I’ve watched the process evolve from a black hat spam tactic into a nuanced, quality-based marketing strategy—and that evolution has only just begun.

The best advice I ever got came from my boss at my first real, full-time job. He was giving his monthly corporate overview of the startup, discussing the company's progress and describing its history. He recalled that when he started out, he had no employees, no clients and no revenue.

Many businesses today consider backlinks to be the gold standard in boosting organic keyword rankings. It’s believed that, if they can generate a high number of links, they’re sure to rank highly on Google searches. It doesn’t matter where the backlinks come from. As long as plenty exist, the company is sure to profit — right?

It’s easy to forget that different teams must rely on one another to get the whole job done. That’s because interdepartmental separation happens naturally at companies in which teams focus on different initiatives.