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Industry Insights

[row] [span1] [/span1] [span7]How Brands Big and Small are Leveraging Instagram to Connect with Consumers on Their Level [button text="See Full Article" link="https://www.marketingweek.com/2018/05/10/instagram-brand-building/" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1] [span7]Environmental Consciousness is In: De Beers, the Largest Diamond Dealer, is Launching a New Lab-Grown Diamond Company [button text="See Full Article" link="https://thehustle.co/de-beers-lab-grown-diamonds/"…
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Industry Insights

[row] [span1] [/span1] [span7]Billboard Advertising: How to Adapt the Oldest Form of Advertising to the Digital Landscape [button text="See Full Article" link="https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/3-steps-for-bringing-the-oldest-form-of-advertising-into-the-digital-age/" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1] [span7]Snapchat Sees Major Employee Turnover After The Double Redesign [button text="See Full Article" link="https://thehustle.co/Snap-Spiegel-specs/" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1]…
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Industry Insights

[row] [span1] [/span1] [span7]YouTube to Debut New Premium Music Streaming Service on May 22 [button text="See Full Article" link="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/05/youtubes-revamped-music-subscription-service-launches-on-may-22/" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1] [span7]Millennial Tech Workers Weigh In on How to Gain Financial Independence by Living Frugally [button text="See Full Article" link="https://thehustle.co/how-to-retire-early" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row]…
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Industry Insights

[row] [span1] [/span1] [span7]Going Beyond Keyword Search in Order to Optimize SEO: 8 New Ways to Create Satisfying Content [button text="See Full Article" link="https://searchengineland.com/beyond-keywords-what-really-matters-in-seo-content-297626" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1] [span7]How Our Society Has Morphed Into a Sharing Economy Despite Less Than Satisfying Consumer Experiences [button text="See Full Article" link="https://thehustle.co/sharing-economy-trust/" style="default"…
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Top 4 Predicted B2C Marketing Trends for 2018

Whether you are a Baby Boomer, a Millennial, Generation X, or any of the other LMNOP generations, it has been obvious that there has been an evolving marketing trend for consumer driven businesses. This is mostly due to the fast advance of technology in the common market place- almost everyone in the U.S., consumers and…
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Mobile Responsiveness is More Important Than Ever

We all knew this was coming. Trends for the last five years have forecasted it and many in the web design and development industry have braced for its impact. Mobile website views are dominating how your users are viewing your website. 2017 marked the first year mobile website views eclipsed desktop views coming in at…
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B2B E-Commerce Trends of 2017

New forms of digital customer engagement are changing B2B businesses, forcing B2B digital business strategy professionals to fundamentally rethink how they go to market – from the customers they target to the channels they sell through. Forrester Research estimates that U.S. B2B e-commerce sales will reach $889 billion this year, up to 7.2% from $829…
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From Promotion to Emotion: Connecting B2B Customers to Brands

This is a blog post that we use to motivate our style of B2B marketing. Written by the Sales Development Manager at Google, they give outstanding insight into why combining emotional messaging with B2B marketing produces the best results. Read for yourself. – Travis LeJune Written by Sam Nathan, Karl Schmidt Oct 2013 – Google, CEM…
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The New Frontier of Advertising: Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality

The topic of virtual reality seems to be getting more exciting by the day. It started becoming a popular topic in mainstream media over  the last couple of years, with phone companies and video games implementing these advancements into their technology. The term “virtual reality” was first used in the 80’s by Jaron Lanier, the…
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How the digital media industry should react to Ad Blocking

With the recent announcements of Google's new ad filtering and Apple disabling cookies, the topic of ad blocking and the effect on the digital marketing and advertising industry has revved back up. However, the fact that consumers rather not see ads has been proven over time. Ad blocking itself dates back to the 1950’s with…
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Corporate Identity Development: Historic Biltmore Village

by Jeff Goss, Creative Director Corporate Identity development, or logo design as it is also called, is truly an exciting part of the job for an advertising firm. It is a chance to create one mark that expresses an entire brand. What would Nike be without the swoosh? Would Citibank be as distinctive without the…
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The 3 Core Questions of B2B Digital Content Marketing

While the percentage of B2B content marketing usage has risen in the past year, companies are still struggling to find ways to reach their audience and fulfill conversion goals. The reason often surrounds the fact that through their marketing efforts they fail to answer the 3 core questions of B2B content marketing: Who are you?…
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Music In Marketing, Marketing In Music

Music has always played a huge role in marketing. We can all understand and agree that music is a natural influencer of mood and attitude. So when studying how music is used in advertising, the first aspect of its use we should focus on is psychology. According to hundreds of studies (such as McGill “Musical…
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B2B Content Marketing – Breaking Through The Clutter

by Ryan Laffler Content Marketing, both online and offline, was rated by marketers in 2017 as the most important technique for driving incremental sales. In fact, it was rated above big data, marketing automation, mobile marketing, and social media marketing – all techniques that have at-one-time-or-another been painted as “the future of marketing”.   Well……
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B2B Case History: Bekaert

By Jeff Goss Bekaert Wire Manufacturing, Belgium When you get into marketing you dream of working on the Disney and Porsche accounts in the world. How dull and uninteresting is marketing barbed-wire, field fence (that wire that runs along side the highway), and prison wire, comparatively? As it turns out, not so dull once you…
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DigiKnow?

[row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Snapchat lets advertisers control the types of content their ads appear next to. [button text="See Full Article" link="http://marketingland.com/snapchat-lets-advertisers-control-types-content-ads-appear-next-222554" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Facebook offers in-stream-only video ad buys as it looks to rival YouTube, TV. [button text="See Full Article" link="http://marketingland.com/facebook-looks-to-rival-youtube-tv-with-in-stream-only-video-ad-buying-option-222079" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline"…
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Tracking In-Store Conversions Using Adwords

by Ryan Laffler Tracking the ROI of your digital marketing campaign isn’t always cut and dried. This is especially true for brick-and-mortar stores, which have long relied on clunky, opt-in methods to tracking conversions like asking customers to fill out a form at checkout saying how they heard of the business. CEOs want to know…
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8 Best Practices for B2B Landing Pages

By Gabrielle Diepenbrock, Account Manager   What is a landing page? The term is thrown out a lot, but do all marketers know the meaning and purpose behind it? A landing page is a standalone webpage — separate from an organization’s main site. A landing page has a focused objective that leads the visitor to…
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Classic Creative: Amoco

By Jeff Goss, President/Creative Director Who thinks about what’s under the pavement, or those orange woven plastic fences alongside the highway, or those black plastic fences about knee-high attached to metal poles on construction sites. The answer is: not too many people. These are the products behind the scenes that make a difference in the…
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Industry Insights

[row] [span1] [/span1] [span7]Using Facebook for B2B Lead Generations [button text="See Full Article" link="http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/facebook-b2b-lead-generation/309368/" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1] [span7]37% of Consumers say Ads Placed Next to Offensive Content Impact Brand Perception [button text="See Full Article" link="http://marketingland.com/37-consumers-say-ads-placed-next-offensive-content-impact-brand-perception-217504" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Twitter Gives…
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Swipe and Scroll: 4 Ways Mobile is Shaping Advertising

By: Claire Wilcox These days mobile devices seem to be an extension of the human body. A millennial without a phone is like a baby without a pacifier. No wonder marketers are pushing themselves to take on the challenge and opportunity of reaching audiences on the go. It is determined that by 2021, 81% of…
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Industry Insights

[row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Facebook’s lead ads just received a major improvement: offline conversion data. [button text="See Full Article" link="http://marketingland.com/facebook-offline-conversion-solution-lead-ads-214133" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Pinterest’s object-recognizing Lens feature now also scans QR codes. [button text="See Full Article" link="http://marketingland.com/pinterests-object-recognizing-lens-feature-now-scans-qr-codes-214164" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1]…
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Employee Q+A: Meet Ryan Laffler, Account Manager

Good afternoon, Ryan. What is your role at The Goss Agency? I am an Account Manager and also the agency’s Digital Director, developing digital marketing strategies and staying on top of the ever-changing digital landscape. What has been your favorite project at The Goss Agency? That’s a tough one. Perhaps my most fulfilling project has…
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Industry Insights

[row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] YouTube pauses search ads to implement brand safety measures. [button text="See Full Article" link="http://marketingland.com/youtube-pause-search-ads-brand-safety-implementation-213976" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Snapchat debuts a self-serve tool to buy ads on the mobile app, called Snapchat Ad Manager. [button text="See Full Article" link="http://marketingland.com/snapchat-rolls-self-serve-platform-vertical-video-ads-213501" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"]…
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Industry Insights

[row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] YouTube unveils new rules to vet channels who advertise in order to protect brands from appearing next to questionable content [button text="See Full Article" link="http://adage.com/article/digital/pewdiepie-declares-adpocalypse-youtube-makes-rules/308591/" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Facebook gives agencies more transparency following metrics blunders [button text="See Full Article" link="http://adage.com/article/digital/facebook-moves-offer-agencies-transparency/308578/" style="default" size="normal"…
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Classic Creative: Special Edition

By Jeff Goss, President/Creative Director Have we gone full circle? In the 1940s and ’50s brands rushed to place their ads in the latest of thousands of magazines and ever-growing TV and radio broadcast stations, which soon became crowded with ads vying for the same attention. The answer came in the form of conceptual advertising…
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4 Best Practices for B2B Direct Marketing

By Claire Wilcox, Account Support Intern "Whether it's B2C or B2B, you're still talking about stories," said John Osborne, president/CEO of BBDO New York, Ad Age’s 2017 B2B Agency of the Year. BBDO revealed how compelling marketing for businesses is just as important (if not more) as connecting to consumers with creative and resonating storytelling.…
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Admirable Series: Killing Two Brands with One Ad

By: Claire Wilcox, Account Support Intern In a rising digital age, millennials don’t want more stuff, they want more experience. And brands will pay the price if they don’t adapt. Not only does Gen Y favor a trip (including lots of selfies) over a new car or wardrobe, it favors existential ads that connect with…
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7 Steps to Take When Executing a Paid Social Campaign

By Gabrielle Diepenbrock, Account Manager and Social Media Manager In 2016, 40% of marketers reported social media has become more challenging — with changes in search algorithms, emerging trends, and a decline in organic traffic. Organic traffic has especially become difficult for marketers. A Facebook page with over a million likes averages a 2.27% engagement…
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Industry Insights

[row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Pinterest Launches “Propel”, a Hands-On Support Program for New Advertisers [button text="See Full Article" link="http://marketingland.com/pinterest-launches-propel-hands-support-program-new-advertisers-210598" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Mobile Now Accounts for Nearly 70% of Digital Media Time [button text="See Full Article" link="http://marketingland.com/mobile-now-accounts-nearly-70-digital-media-time-comscore-210094" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1]…
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Industry Insights

[row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Google Ramps Up Header Bidding Alternative as Pressure Mounts From Facebook. [button text="See Full Article" link="http://adage.com/article/digital/google-ramps-header-bidding-alternative-ebda/308434/" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Facebook Unveils a New Ad Format, Called “Collections”, Meant to Drive Product Awareness and Sales for Brands. [button text="See Full Article" link="http://marketingland.com/facebooks-shoppable-collection-ad-latest-iad-like-format-209886" style="default" size="normal"…
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Industry Insights

[row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] xAd Reveals a New Location-Based Ad Model Where Brands Only Pay for an Ad When Customers Walk Through the Door [button text="See Full Article" link="http://marketingland.com/cost-per-visit-xad-brings-search-like-performance-mobile-advertising-209306" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and Others Are Facing Pressure to Allow 3rd Party Audits of Their…
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Employee Q+A: Meet Chloe Ayres, Senior Designer

What is your role at The Goss Agency? I am the Senior Graphic Designer (and co-chair of the social committee :P). How did you become involved in Advertising/Marketing/Design? My mother is a painter, and I grew up (luckily) being really supported in my need to create. From an early age, I was creating my own…
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ADmirable Series: Vans “Off The Wall”

By Luke Suggs, Account Intern Image Source For nearly 60 years, the Vans slogan “Off The Wall” was thought to be a skateboarding term because Vans has historically been a skateboarding brand. However, in recent years, Vans has transitioned from an exclusive skateboarding brand to a broader lifestyle brand. And after all these years, Vans…
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7 Best Practices for B2B Social Media Marketing

By Gabrielle Diepenbrock, Account Coordinator & Social Media Manager Generally people consider B2C companies when thinking about brands on social media. But social media also provides a huge opportunity for B2B brands that should not be overlooked. According to Salesforce, “Social media accounts for a third of all time spent online.” And while B2B brands…
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16 Ads That Take Creativity To The Max

By Mel Sala, Graphic Designer The main purpose of branding is to increase sales and make the brand visible to the users. Not only do you want to make the brand visible to users, you want to make the brand alluring. One of the most important factors that plays a role in today’s branding game…
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What Is A Website Audit, and Why Do I Need One?

By Ryan Laffler, Account Manager [caption id="attachment_9093" align="aligncenter" width="630"] The Historic Biltmore Village Website, developed and designed by The Goss Agency[/caption] The internet is a busy place. To say that it’s a “saturated marketplace” is a bit of an understatement. As of September 2014, the internet clocked in at 1 billion websites (website here refers…
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Classic Creative: Georgia Power

By Jeff Goss, President/Creative Director The utility industry was going through a government deregulation to prevent monopolies. In a nutshell, this meant sudden and new competition for our client Georgia Power. The challenge was to prevent client defection for cheaper alternatives now available. We came up with a solution directly derived from the question “Why…
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DigiKnow?

[row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Much to the Delight of Brands, Facebook Videos Will Now Play With the Sound on by Default [button text="See Full Article" link="http://adage.com/article/digital/facebook-videos-play-sound-default/307983/" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Report: Facebook Engagement Down Across the Board, but Influencer Marketing Continues to Perform Strongly for Brands [button text="See…
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Corporate Social Responsibility as a Vital B2B Branding Tool

Luke Suggs: Account Support Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has been an important topic of conversation for the past few years, and a topic that brands and businesses have taken initiative to implement at the forefront of their mission. CSR, especially in today’s political climate, has leaped in significance, particularly, in B2B branding because of its…
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DigiKnow?

[row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Competitors Leave Twitter in the Dust [button text="See Full Article" link="https://www.statista.com/chart/5358/twitters-user-growth-in-perspective/" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Facebook Opens Itself to Ad Measurement Audit, Giving Brands More Control Over Video Ad Buys [button text="See Full Article" link="http://marketingland.com/facebook-opens-measurement-audit-gives-brands-control-video-ad-buys-206387" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1]…
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DigiKnow?

[row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Pinterest Begins Testing Search Ads on the Social Media Platform [button text="See Full Article" link="http://adage.com/article/digital/pinterest-doubles-search-advertising-biz/307771/?utm_source=digital_email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=adage&ttl=1486581732?utm_visit=1984901" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Facebook is Refining its Ad Measurement Offerings to Give Markets More Information About Their Campaigns [button text="See Full Article" link="http://adage.com/article/digital/facebook-marketers-data-tools-compare-tv/307767/?utm_source=digital_email&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=adage&ttl=1486489455?utm_visit=1984901" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"]…
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Employee Q+A: Meet Mel Sala, Designer

What is your role at The Goss Agency? I am a Graphic Designer at TGA. How did you become involved in Advertising/Marketing/Design? Ever since I can remember, I’ve always loved TV commercials. I like commercials as much as I like the shows in between. I love seeing how creative brands can be in their attempts…
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DigiKnow?

[row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Facebook updates News Feed algorithm to focus on video completion rates [button text="See Full Article" link="http://marketingland.com/facebook-video-completion-rates-204788" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Inmoji allows brands to create sendable, emoji-like stickers that they refer to as “Interactive Emojis” [button text="See Full Article" link="http://marketingland.com/inmoji-launches-first-self-service-platform-interactive-emoji-like-icons-stickers-204638" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline"…
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Award Series: Virgin Islands Telephone Company

By Jeff Goss, President/Creative Director The Virgin Islands Telephone Company had been our client for about 3 years. Our focus was a print, TV and PR campaign focused on stemming complaints about the quality of service in the U.S. Virgin Islands, as the weather, humidity and annual storms, wreaked havoc on above-ground lines. The biggest…
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ADmirable Series: “The Force” by Volkswagen

By: Luke Suggs, Account Support It’s Super Bowl time! A time when friends and family come together for wings, beer, football, a halftime show, and, most importantly, commercials. The Super Bowl is an exciting opportunity for brands and agencies to showcase their best creative work to millions of viewers. Volkswagen nailed it with this 2011…
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The Do’s and Don’ts of Branding in 2017

By Chloe Ayres, Senior Designer Just as our personality is a mixture of inherent traits and characteristics that develop over time, your brand is a mix of existing factors and developed characteristics. Branding is how you shape and communicate that personality to your customers. While some truths of branding will always stand the test of…
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Brand Engagement Grows as Fans Use Social Media During The Super Bowl

By Gabrielle Diepenbrock, Account Coordinator & Social Media Manager It’s hard to believe that the Super Bowl is this week. And like most advertising aficionados, we are getting pumped and excited the way anyone in the entertainment industry would the week of the Oscars. And now, as a majority of Americans are on social media,…
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The Importance of Music in Advertising and Branding

By Luke Suggs, Account Support For most people, music is an essential part of everyday life. Although people may have stylistic differences, music has the ability to connect people and has power to make us feel. Similar to smell, music can trigger memory. Just the other day my friend said whenever he heard the song…
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DigiKnow?

[row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Pinterest to expand their advertising services by rolling out ad group functionality to paid campaigns in about a month. [button text="See Full Article" link="http://marketingland.com/pinterest-ad-groups-203882" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Instagram accounted for 70% of GQ’s social revenue last year, bolstering the site’s credibility and value…
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How Colors Affect Your Brand

By Ryan Laffler, Account Manager/Digital Director Have you ever thought about how certain colors make you feel? If you’ve ever gone into a job interview, you might have considered wearing red to come across as confident. But why red? Why do colors elicit certain emotions, and how can you apply this psychology to your brand?…
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DigiKnow?

[row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Google appears to be introducing a simple website creation tool for small businesses. [button text="See Full Article" link="http://marketingland.com/google-taking-another-run-simple-website-creation-small-businesses-203468" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Facebook’s extended Ad Network now serves ads to over one billion people. [button text="See Full Article" link="http://adage.com/article/digital/facebook-serving-ads-washington-post-rolling-stone/307486/" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"]…
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DigiKnow?

[row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Facebook to expand their “Dynamic Ad” service, allowing brands to retarget users who have viewed products on other brands’ sites or apps as well as their Facebook followers. [button text="See Full Article" link="http://marketingland.com/facebooks-retargeted-ads-broadened-include-rivals-site-page-audiences-203045" style="default" size="normal" target="_blank" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Facebook plans to add mid-roll video ads…
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Classic Creative – Austin Quality Foods

By Jeff Goss, President/Creative Director We conducted our Brand Exercise “Benefits Testing” to arrive at the primary benefit “End the hungries.” It sounds pretty obvious now, but it wasn’t so obvious before. Product benefits led to options like after-school snack, perfect travel food, most fulfilling and convenient snack, sports energy (this was before all the…
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DigiKnow?

[row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Digital marketing continues to grow, with marketers spending a record-breaking $17.6 billion in the third quarter of 2016, a 20% year-over-year increase. [button text="See Full Article" link="http://thegossagency.com/2017/01/05/iab-advertising-report-finds-marketers-cant-stop-spending-on-digital/" style="default" size="normal" target="_self" display="inline" icon="no"] [/span7] [/row] [row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] Google will now actively work to pair brands with YouTube creators to produce…
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Chuck Archerd Digital Case History

Recently, The Goss Agency had the pleasure of working with Chuck Archerd on his race to become Chairman of the Buncombe County Commission. Over the course of the campaign, we leveraged Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, targeting users based on geography and political affiliation to achieve a whopping 642,000 impressions in only 8 weeks with…
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Study: 55 percent of mobile dollars wasted

More than 70 percent of mobile ads fail to create a positive user experience. Greg Sterling on December 21, 2016 at 9:55 am A recent study (reg. req’d) from Forrester Consulting, commissioned by Celtra, argues that $0.55 of every dollar spent on mobile advertising is wasted. Beyond this, negative mobile ad experiences are hurting brand…
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IAB Advertising Report Finds Marketers Can’t Stop Spending On Digital

By George Slefo. Published on December 28, 2016. [row] [span8] Digital advertising is on a relentless path toward gobbling up more ad dollars, with marketers spending a record-breaking $17.6 billion on digital in the third quarter of 2016. That represents a 20% year-over-year increase, according to a report released Wednesday by the Interactive Advertising Bureau.…
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The Death of the Click: The Impact of Voice Search

By Simon Schnieders Posted in Search on 4 January 2017, 08:00, 0 Comments It wasn’t too long ago that search engines were the jewel in the crown for marketers. Long before social media, digital channels and mobile apps, search engines ignited the digital revolution for marketing campaigns. However, every now and then a new technology…
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Google launches a new look for recipes in the mobile search results

Google launched a new way to find new recipes for your New Years feast. The new recipe results are seen on mobile search. Barry Schwartz on December 29, 2016 at 9:17 am Google has launched a new look and feel for the recipe search results done over a smartphone device. Alex Chitu first noticed the…
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Admirable Series: Tinder. Now on Apple TV

By Luke Suggs, Account Support Ads that demonstrate humor have the chance of falling flat, but Tinder hits the ball out of the park with its series of ads featuring the app on Apple TV. The dating app is now on the big screen for the whole family to see, and things can get a…
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19 Examples of Packaging Design That Will Wow You

By Mel Sala, Designer Have you ever purchased a product solely because of its packaging? I know I have. I love to be surprised by creative packaging design solutions when I’m shopping. Whether you’re trying a product for the first time, or you’re purchasing a product from a trusted brand — packaging matters. If you’ve…
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Google now showing product schema rich snippets in image search results

Google Image Search now supports product schema markup in the mobile image search results. Barry Schwartz on December 14, 2016 at 8:45 am Google is now displaying rich snippets via product schema markup in the Google Image Search results. If you do a Google image search on a smartphone and click on a result that…
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Facebook’s latest measurement error undercounted Instant Articles traffic

For those keeping count, this is the fourth time Facebook has disclosed measurement errors in as many months. Tim Peterson on December 16, 2016 at 11:00 am It’s happened again. For the fourth time since September and the second time this month, Facebook has disclosed a measurement error. Facebook had been undercounting iPhone traffic for…
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Salesforce moves beyond first-party data with Krux integration

The CRM/marketing giant unveils several new features for its Marketing Cloud that incorporate its recently purchased data management platform. Barry Levine on December 16, 2016 at 10:46 am In October, Salesforce announced it was buying data management platform (DMP) Krux. This week, the CRM/marketing giant unveiled the addition of three new features to its Marketing…
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Reserve with Google: Deeper booking integration through search and Maps

Online booking is becoming mainstream, with the principal points of entry being Google, Facebook and Yelp. Greg Sterling on December 15, 2016 at 11:32 am Local search is becoming much more transactional. Google previously worked with a range of third-party providers to bring online reservations to the Knowledge Graph. Now the company has gone much…
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Advertisers are cooling on Snapchat Live Stories

With viewership for Snapchat’s Live Stories stagnating, the feature is not a priority for media buyers. In addition to Discover, Live Stories is one of two media-driven features inside the Snapchat app. Available alongside Discover on the Stories and Discover pages, Live Stories provides content curated around different events and topics — everything from a…
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New wave of referrer spam wrecking Google Analytics data

If you're seeing a lot of referral traffic in your Google Analytics data, you're not alone. Contributor Jonathan Hochman explains how referral spam happens, lays out methods to combat it and suggests potential solutions for Google's consideration. Jonathan Hochman on December 8, 2016 at 11:13 am A new surge of referrer spam is damaging Google…
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Instagram Story links get 15–25% swipe-through rates for brands, publishers

Vox Media’s Curbed, MeUndies, Outside and Whisper discuss their early strategies and success with linking to their sites from Instagram Stories. Tim Peterson on December 8, 2016 at 9:00 am Instagram may have arrived late as a traffic source for brands and publishers, but it’s already showing early signs of success, driving new visitors to…
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12 Ads of Christmas

In spirit of the holiday season, we compiled our favorite Christmas ads to create our "12 Ads of Christmas” series. Our list of ads include: 1. Apple’s 2013 iPhone commercial is our first choice. The ad shows a boy who seems a little too invested in his iPhone rather than engaging in the holiday activities…
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New features may be coming to AdWords Responsive Ads

Some accounts are now requiring a square image. Ginny Marvin on December 1, 2016 at 2:27 pm It seems Google may be getting ready to test some new features for responsive ads in AdWords. Spotted by Jonah Pessin at HeBS Digital, Google is requiring two image sizes in some accounts. In addition to the landscape…
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What Businesses Should Know About Local SEO

By Gabrielle Diepenbrock, Account Coordinator/Social Media Coordinator Of course businesses want to draw visitors from across the state, country, and even the other side of the world. But what about the local visitor? Businesses should optimize their local search ranking and provide content to encourage traffic from their local geographic region as well. According to…
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5 Marketing Predictions for 2017

By Gabrielle Diepenbrock, Account Coordinator Ready or not, 2017 will be here before we know it! Here is a compiled list of predicted trends that will help you adjust, prep and optimize your advertising and marketing plan for the new year: [row] [span1] [/span1] [span7] An increased focus on analytics — including the use of…
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ADmirable Series: H&M “Come Together”

By Luke Suggs, Account Intern Nobody likes delays, especially on Christmas! In H&M’s new holiday ad, “Come Together,” passengers on a train are informed there is a delay and will be missing Christmas with their families. The train operator sets his efforts to ensure that a young boy gets a Christmas even if it’s with…
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Award Series: Sky Dive North Georgia

By Jeff Goss, President/Creative Director Small client, small budget: How do you get the word out? It was the perfect fit: Creation of powerful headlines to go in, well, “Headlines,” Atlanta’s premier facilitator of restroom advertising. You might say our ads were in the toilet — strategically placed above the urinals. The look was simple:…
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3 next-level Yelp tricks for business owners

Struggling with Yelp reviews? Columnist Brian Patterson shares his tactics for understanding and improving your review score. Brian Patterson on November 21, 2016 at 9:24 am I’m always on the lookout for interesting tips, tricks and strategies that marketing managers and business owners can use to improve their Yelp pages. From dissecting Yelp’s own videos…
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Google is testing images in Sitelink extensions

Spotted on mobile, the extensions display in a swipeable carousel.   Ginny Marvin on November 22, 2016 at 11:31 am Image extensions have come and gone and come again. Google tested them in 2013, but they never got off the ground. Bing Ads brought its own version of image extensions out of beta just over…
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Snapchat Video Ads Average Less Than 3 Seconds a View

Automated video ads, new Play inventory and in-app purchase audience modeling are now available. By Garett Sloane. Published on November 28, 2016. [row] [caption id="attachment_10733" align="aligncenter" width="642"] Snapchat ads don't get to play for long on average, but two-thirds play with sound on. Credit: Snapchat via YouTube[/caption] [/row] Snapchat ads are averaging less than 3…
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Google gives app marketers more ways to promote their apps with ads

Automated video ads, new Play inventory and in-app purchase audience modeling are now available. Ginny Marvin on November 22, 2016 at 1:40 pm On Tuesday, Google announced three new features for app marketers to use when promoting their apps via Universal App Campaigns, the campaign type that automatically syndicates app promotion ads across Google search,…
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US Presidential election data: searcher intent vs. demographic polling

Politics aside, data from the 2016 US Presidential election illustrates that intent-driven search data “trumps” demographics-based polling data. Brian Ussery on November 23, 2016 at 2:00 pm During the hotly contested and seemingly never-ending campaign season running up to the 2016 US Presidential elections, Americans were exposed to more demographics-based “polling data” than at any…
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Snapchat shuts down Story Explorer feature in Live Stories

Snapchat has removed its Story Explorer feature that allowed people to view specific moments of a Live Story from different perspectives. Tim Peterson on November 30, 2016 at 11:00 am A year after introducing Story Explorer as a way for people to view the events documented in Live Stories from many different angles, Snapchat is…
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Pinterest launches Showcase to give brands a way to shape their stories

Pinterest has launched a showcase feature to give brands the ability to present their best selves. Tamar Weinberg on December 1, 2016 at 3:35 pm Pinterest has given brands an edge with a new update on its user interface. Announced today, the platform has launched a new feature it calls Showcase, allowing visitors who interact…
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IAB Proposes First Major Update to In-App Advertising Since 2013

George Slefo on on November 30, 2016 Consumers and advertisers have been rushing to mobile apps from desktop computing at a breakneck pace, but standards for the ads haven't been keeping up. Now the Interactive Advertising Bureau has proposed its first major update to in-app ad guidelines since 2013, touching on areas including viewability, location…
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Stand by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe

The Goss Agency proudly stands by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe members in North Dakota who have braved tear gas, rubber bullets, and freezing temperatures to protect their drinking water and culture. The Standing Rock Sioux are currently soliciting donations for legal, sanitary, and emergency purposes to ensure the safety and well-being of the protesters.…
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Advertising is Crucial for Mobile App Developers

Report: Most users will need multiple exposures to an app before they download TUNE study based on a mix of consumer survey and app download data. Greg Sterling on November 11, 2016 at 2:14 pm How does brand impact app installs? That’s a question TUNE sought to answer with a number of related consumer and…
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Brands Will Soon Have an Analytics Tool for Their Facebook Messenger Bots

Facebook has created its own analytics tool for Messenger bots Facebook's free Messenger bot analytics tool will cross-reference Messenger interactions with Facebook user data and can tie into mobile app, web analytics. Tim Peterson on November 15, 2016 at 2:12 pm With more than 34,000 Messenger bots on the market since their April 2016 debut,…
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The Power of Online Reviews (and How You Can Improve Yours)

70% of consumers will leave a review for a business when asked Want to get inside the minds of potential customers for your local business? Columnist Sherry Bonelli shares insights from BrightLocal's annual Local Consumer Review Survey. Sherry Bonelli on November 14, 2016 at 10:03 am A business’s online reputation is more important than ever.…
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Pinterest Testing the Waters With Autoplay Ads

Pinterest queues up autoplay video ads for new Explore tab American Express, The Home Depot, Macy’s and Sony Pictures are among the first brands to test Pinterest’s autoplay video ads. Tim Peterson on November 15, 2016 at 2:12 pm A few months after introducing click-to-play video ads, Pinterest is catching up with the times —…
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Facebook Attempts to Restore Trust With Advertisers

In major measurement update, Facebook overhauls metrics, makes corrections, adds viewability Facebook is also adding more third-party verification and forming a Measurement Council to stay in step with evolving products and metrics. Ginny Marvin on November 16, 2016 at 9:00 am In a sort of course correction, Facebook made several announcements Wednesday pertaining to audience…
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The 10 Branding Principles We Live By

1. A Brand is a creative expression of a value proposition. We start with the fundamentals. A value proposition is the foundation for the Brand. It is the key to business or organizational viability. We create value propositions by generating a large number of possibilities and then evaluating them based on three strategic criteria: a)…
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New Creative: Alliance AutoGas

By Ryan Laffler, Account Manager Our client, Alliance AutoGas, proudly offers fleet managers across America the ability to convert their fleets to propane autogas, one of the cleanest burning fossil fuels known to man. In creating this digital direct piece, we aimed to create an emotionally compelling advertisement that highlighted this product benefit, contrasted it…
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DigiKnow [Weekly Digital Updates]

1. Twitter To Shut Down Vine Twitter recently announced in a blog post that it will be shutting down Vine in the upcoming months. Vine is a six-second video sharing app and was the first mobile video sharing app when it was launched in 2013. Since then Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, and even YouTube began to…
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7 Ways to Improve Your Search Rank Using Social Media

By Ryan Laffler, Account Manager & Digital Director Social media is like a multi-tool; use it to engage with customers, sell products, market new products, for PR. But did you know that social media can also help your SEO? That’s right! And while its effect on your search results is indirect, it goes a long…
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Award Series: Farnam Custom Products

By Jeff Goss, President One of the biggest mistakes business-to-business clients make is getting too technical. They forget that, although their customers are buying a product for business and there are a lot of technical features, they have to add up to a benefit at the end of the day. But, most importantly, that benefit…
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Adobe Marketing Cloud’s Secret Agent: How’s your Customer Experience?

By Gabrielle Diepenbrock, Account Coordinator/Social Media Manager Everyone needs a laugh, and everyone loves a story. Brands that use storytelling and humor can connect with their target audience in a personable and impactful way. A brand that has successfully used humor this fall is Adobe Marketing Cloud. Adobe speaks to the problem many brands face…
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Client Tour of Foxfire Mountain & Wyile Cider

Last month, The Goss Agency had the privilege to take a day out of the office and become immersed in the magical world of the Appalachian Wyiles on Fox Fire Mountain in eastern Tennessee. Client, Marc Postlewaite, CEO and genius behind Foxfire Mountain and the Wylies’ story, guided the team, showing them the wonderful world…
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19 Examples of Installation Advertising You Have to See

By Mel Sala, Designer What’s a great way to make your ad stand out? Change the format. With Installation advertising, the sky’s the limit (sometimes literally). Installation advertising is all about incorporating an ad’s surroundings into the ad itself. This strategy can be extremely effective because not only is the viewer totally impressed by the…
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The Goss Agency Presents On Digital Marketing At AB Tech

Ryan Laffler and Gabrielle Diepenbrock, Digital Director and Social Media Manager respectively, at The Goss Agency presented at AB Tech’s Hospitality Marketing Class early this month. Ryan and Gabrielle discussed digital marketing strategy and channel structure/opportunity. Ryan began with a roundup of weekly digital news. The Goss Agency reviews and profiles digital media by channel…
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Classic Creative – Massey Ferguson

Massey Ferguson Tractors is an AgCo Corp. brand. At the time, John Deere owned about 80% of the market, and the remaining 20% was shared by everyone else. How to separate Massey Ferguson, which had been around a century but was a century behind John Deere in marketing? One advantage was that when farmers owned…
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The Facebook Video Advertising Scandal

By Ryan Laffler, Account Manager, Digital Director The Wall Street Journal recently reported on how, for the past two years, Facebook has been overestimating the average time people spend watching video ads by up to 80%. This revelation sent shockwaves through the advertising industry, leaving many ad buyers wondering if they should reallocate precious marketing…
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ADmirable Series: Google Photos’ Free Up Space

By Gabrielle Diepenbrock, Account Coordinator, Social Media Manager Successful ads often demonstrate a real problem people identify with. Google Photos has done an effective job humorously identifying a problem many face — the lack of memory space on phones for photos. We've all been there. You're about to capture the perfect moment on your phone's…
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Cultural Creative: Festival of Native Peoples

By Jeff Goss, President The Apache, the Bad River Chippewa, the Sioux, the Chickasaw, the Choctaw, the Creek, the Crow, the Cherokee, the Ottawa, Hopi, Miccosukee, Pawnee, Seneca, the Osage, Tulalip, Samish, Squaxin, the Zuni, Totonac, Git Hoan, Hälau Palaihiwa O Kaipuwai. We know name-dropping is in bad form, but we had to share a…
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Branding Process Kicks Off For Elizabeth City, NC

By Ryan Laffler, Account Manager Two weeks ago, The Goss Agency had the pleasure of visiting one of its clients, Elizabeth City, to present the results from our branding process. Located on the Pasquotank River in Eastern North Carolina, Elizabeth City truly is a gem of Southern charm and culture. The branding process uncovered Elizabeth…
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ADmirable: Dell and Intel’s “The New Experts”

Many brands use back-to-school ads to showcase flashy clothes and products that’ll appeal to students and parents. But this year, Dell went a step further. Rather than focusing on products, Dell tells the inspiring story of its “New Expert,” 22-year-old physicist Taylor Wilson. At the age of 14, Wilson was the youngest person to produce…
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5 SEO Mistakes You’re Making

In the early days of SEO, the mindset for most specialists was, "How do we trick Google into giving us better search results?" Well, if Google has ever been accused of something, it wasn't stupidity, which is why they've since begun penalizing SEO specialists who try to game the system. Nowadays, good SEO isn't achieved…
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Classic Creative – Haywood County

Haywood County, after our branding workshop filtering and prioritizing all the features and visitor experiences, determined that the authentic Appalachian culture and clean natural environment were the assets that rose to the top. Thus, “Haywood County, Authentic Appalachian, pure and simple” was born. A new logo was created by illustrating the landscape in a turn-of-the-century…
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Back To School Ads: A Refresh on an Old Classic

By Chloe, Ayres, Senior Designer From July to September, every year, we are bombarded by back-to-school ads for new products and sales. Now, as a person who sincerely misses shopping for fresh notebooks and highlighters and all the accouterments of organization, I pay attention to these ads. But, when I sat down to write this…
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How Brands are Getting Millennials to Flex their Voting Muscles

By Rachel Hornay, Copy Writer Intern It has become that time of the year when political campaigns are everywhere in the media. This election year there is a huge number of millennials who are able to vote. According to ABC News, millennials have edged out baby boomers as the largest living generation in U.S. history…
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4 Reasons Why Your Brand Should Use Instagram Stories

By Gabrielle Diepenbrock, Account Coordinator/Social Media Manager Was Instagram being a copycat of Snapchat when it rolled out its new feature, Instagram Stories? Of course. Should brands still use and be aware of this new feature? Most definitely. Just like Snapchat Stories, Instagram Stories are available to be seen by all followers of a user…
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ARE YOU FOR REAL?

By Rachel Hornay, Copywriter Intern Technology is always developing but the recent craze of virtual reality invites brands to explore a whole new platform. Virtual reality (VR) is defined as a computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly real way by a person using special electronic…
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Classic Creative: Ah TAh Thi Ki Museum

By: Jeff Goss, CEO and President It was such an interesting visit. It was not only a trip to the Florida Seminole lands, but also a journey back in time to the roots, the history, and the culture. The Seminole lived in relative peace for centuries, save a few Indian wars among their neighbors. Then…
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ADmirable Series: Dove’s #MyBeautyMySay Campaign

By: Gabrielle Diepenbrock, Account Coordinator & Social Media Manager It is admirable when a brand takes hold of a deeper message and a cause that goes beyond their product and penetrates the emotion and feelings of their target. Rather than just advertising soap and shampoo, Dove has been able to successfully take a stand for…
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Four Tips on How to Use Instagram to Reach Millennials

By Travis LeJune, Account Intern Who is using Instagram? Right now, about 46% of millennials have Instagram, and by 2019, it’s predicted that nearly two-thirds of millennials will be using Instagram. It is one of the most consistently and quickly growing social media platforms; but most importantly, it is one with the highest engagement, especially…
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4 Ways To Attract Millennials To Your Destination

By: Courtney Jacobs, Account Intern Millennials are armed to be the driving force behind the travel industry. They use travel to go on adventures, learn other languages and study. Why are they so eager to travel? This generation was jaded by the recession and now places less importance on saving for retirement and instead values…
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“Webrooming” is Shaking Up the Retail World

By Ryan Laffler, Account Manager/Digital Director For brick-and-mortar retailers, the internet has been a mixed bag. Sure, it allows them to reach a much wider audience than a street corner ever will, but it also begs the question: “Why have a brick-and-mortar location at all”? With costly overhead and property taxes, it can seem as…
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Q+A: HOW TO OPTIMIZE PINTEREST FOR YOUR DESTINATION

By Gabrielle Diepenbrock, Account Coordinator and Social Media Manager 1. Why is Pinterest important for travel destinations? You may ask: Isn’t Pinterest just a website where stay-at-home moms find cool recipes and quirky DIY crafts? While there may be some truth in that, there is so much more to Pinterest that your destination can benefit…
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Some Web Design Trends in 2016

Photo Credit: UXPin By Eddie Maiale, Design Intern Web design trends are consistent in one aspect - They are always changing. You could say it is a living beast on its own. Tackling the beast this year is no different. Trends this year include: moving toward a more minimalist design versus the 3D look, adding…
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Why You Need to be Focusing on Native Advertising

By: Ryan Laffler, Account Manager & Digital Director Display ads, the advertisements that you see on the top and sidebars of almost every webpage nowadays, are in decline. One part of the problem is that they are rarely relevant to the user. While this has changed somewhat with Google Adsense’s targeting algorithm, it started to…
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Pin It! – The 3 Most Important Tips to Optimize Your Pinterest

By Travis LeJune, Account Intern Do you have a Pinterest yet? If you are a shopper, you should definitely get one. If you are a seller, you MUST have one! Sure, it is still a fairly young social media platform, but it has been churning up some extremely surprising statistics we think you should know…
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Pokémon Go – The Future Virtual Reality Marketing World

By Travis LeJune, Account Intern It’s July 2016, and I am doing the same thing I was doing in July 1999. I would be questioning myself if it weren’t for the fact that everyone else is doing the same thing. Pokémon is back! Who hasn’t heard? The Pokémon Company and Niantic have teamed up to…
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Should Your Business Use Snapchat?

By Courtney Jacobs, Account Intern Snapchat has existed for under 5 years, yet has achieved incredible numbers such as 100 million daily users and 10 billion daily views, making it an acknowledged rival of Facebook. Most businesses have created their own pages on Facebook for posting original and curated content, and many have joined Facebook-owned…
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Use These 21 LinkedIn SlideShare Tips and Facts to Supercharge Your Content Marketing

By Chloe Ayres, Senior Designer B2B Marketing is not thought of as one of the “sexiest” forms of marketing. According to June 2016 research by marketing intelligence firm Ascend2 that looks into the most important goals for a content marketing strategy, 58% mentioned lead generation, while another 55% named customer engagement. “Lead generation” and “customer…
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ADmirable: Chipotle’s New Campaign

Fast food giant Chipotle recently came out with an animated short about two kids who grow up locked in competition with each other. The heartwarming video works because it captures Chipotle’s brand distinction in an entertaining way that resonates with others. Memorable brands don’t just offer great products or services, they connect with their audience…
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Award Series: The Thoms Estate

By Jeff Goss, CEO/Creative Director The heir to a 100-acre estate in the heart of Asheville partnered with GDR (Global Development Resources), our client, for an environmentally responsible development design that paid respect to the property and her father, who established the estate in 1937. Her mother was an artist, as were many in her…
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Top 5 Mobile Advertising Trends in 2016

By Ryan Laffler, Digital Director, and Rachel Hornay, Art Direction/Copywriting Intern 1. FORGET YOUR WALLET Mobile wallets have become the new way to pay. Once companies proved that mobile wallet transactions were properly encrypted and secure, mobile wallets began to take off. Many top brands such as Apple, MasterCard and Android now offer mobile payment.…
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Q&A – What is the core of Award Winning Creative?

By Jeff Goss, CEO/Creative Director Q: What is the core of Award Winning Creative? A: Award, which award? Many awards are meaningless because the standards are so low (everybody gets a trophy). Others are an ego-stroking fest among “creative elites” congratulating one another for work they created more for themselves than the client and client’s…
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Digital Advertising Statistics You Need to Know (Infographic)

Ever since the turn of the century, Digital Advertising has been changing the ways brands communicate with their audience. The number of tools and techniques that have surfaced over this time can be a little overwhelming, but with the right strategy and agency behind you, digital advertising can produce tremendous returns for you and your…
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UX Design: What Can It Do For You?

By Eddie Maiale (UX = user experience) In web design, one of the first and most important topics is user experience design. What is user experience design? A designer's job is to make sure the user is satisfied and considered when developing a website, application or product. This is where user experience comes into play…
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YOUR EMOJI SAYS IT ALL

By Rachel Hornay, Art/Copy Intern They say that a picture is worth a thousands words, especially with today’s language evolving with the usage of emoji characters. Emojis are intended to illustrate, or in some cases replace altogether, the words we send each other digitally, whether in a text message, email, or tweet. Instagram calls emoji…
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What is Material Design? (Part 3 of 3)

By Eddie Maiale, Design Intern Welcome back! We are reaching the end of this series on material design, and the information in the last sections of material design is not to be ignored as it is just as important as something like style and color. Today we will be going through some guidelines for a…
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Sustain Your Brand using Instagram and Food

By Courtney Jacobs, Account Intern Brands are constantly looking for ways to engage with consumers on social media. However, one challenge is noticing the trends occurring on various platforms and capitalizing on them successfully before the competition. One such trend that is growing in popularity centers around food. It’s hard to find someone who doesn’t…
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