Brooke Desmond
At GreenMellen, we love all things WordPress. Every website we build uses this content management system (CMS), we keep up with the latest news and trends happening with WordPress, and we even take part of the Atlanta WordPress community by attending Meetups and going to WordCamp Atlanta every year. The unfortunate truth is that many people don’t trust or fully understand WordPress, so we decided to dedicate a post that debunks the top misconceptions about the CMS that powers over a quarter of the live websites today. Here are some common myths about WordPress that you need to know. Myth #1 – WordPress is Not Secure We’re sticklers for secure, safe websites, and WordPress provides us with the security we need for our clients’ sites. WordPress is just as reliable as any other reputable CMS as long as you follow best practices such as having a protective host and only […]
Read MorePsychology comes into play with a lot of marketing efforts, and since email marketing is all about building a long-lasting relationship with new and existing subscribers, it’s no exception to using it. When your old strategies become worn out and your conversion rate is lacking, this is the time to take a new, “psychological” approach to your efforts. See how you can utilize psychology in your email marketing strategies. Marketing Psychology and Where Email Marketing Fits To better explain how you can use psychology in email marketing, let’s take a look at what marketing psychology is and its goals. Marketing psychology is the study of how your audience thinks and acts and tailoring marketing strategies based on their behavior. The key objective is to make your customers remember essential information about your brand, have them associate your brand with certain stimuli, and influence their buying behavior in your favor. To […]
Read MoreIt seems like nowadays everyone has a short or long selection of podcasts they listen to on a regular basis, and their lists usually have a combination of business and lifestyle series. Podcasts are growing in popularity because of their easy-to-access format and ability to work into people’s on-the-go lifestyles. Why not take part in this growing trend and start a podcast of your own? No matter what industry you’re in, you can create podcast content that will keep your audience intrigued. Need more convincing? Discover the top four reasons why you should create a podcast your business. It’s Very Easy and Inexpensive The first excuse why you maybe wouldn’t want to do a podcast is because you don’t have time to learn how to do it. Producing a podcast may sound complicated, but with the right tools, it’s actually effortless to create one. Besides the small investment in a […]
Read MoreWebsite content is unique for a good reason. With attention spans shrinking and people’s demands to receive information fast online, website copy has to deliver what consumers are searching for quickly. Use this cheat sheet as your guide for writing for the web. Make Sure the Most Important Info is Seamless to Find As stated before, people are looking to find answers to their questions quickly, so make sure to give them what they want up front. Demonstrate your value by making sure your website content is always be tailored to meet your audience’s needs. Simple things such as organizing announcements from most recent to older or removing past events from an upcoming events page will do wonders for your user experience. Make It Short and Follow Best Practices The truth is, people will rarely read every word on your web pages, as they tend to scan the pages. Because […]
Read MoreContent marketing proved to be important for all businesses in 2018. According to the Content Marketing Institute, the most successful B2B marketers spend 40 percent of their total marketing budget on content marketing, and the most successful B2C marketers spend 26 percent of their overall marketing budget on content marketing. This year, content marketing is projected to be even more vital to businesses’ digital marketing success, and here are the top trends we’re forecasting in 2019. Original, Valuable Content > Clickbait Over 75% of consumers say that personally-relevant content increases their purchase intent. This year, take the time to create original, relevant content for your audience. Don’t just follow what every other marketer is doing; dare to create content that sets the bar in your industry. People are catching on to clickbait topics (such as “The Unbelievable Superfood That Will Shave Off 10 Years”) and tend to stay away from […]
Read MoreThe concept of human-centered design (also called participatory design) has been around for a while, and it makes sense as to why it should be used when designing your website. If you’re not familiar with the term, human-centered design inspiration comes from people’s everyday behavior, emotions and thinking. By involving the user at the beginning and keeping them at the center of the design process, the final product will offer a tailored, in-tune user experience. When you take the time to discover your customers’ needs, problems, and goals, you can build a deep connection with them through your website design. Not only will you be the clear winner in solving their problems, but this kind of design will improve your bottom line. How to Start the User Research Process To achieve successful human-centered design, you need to ask the right questions and take advantage of user research in your process. […]
Read MoreNo matter how strict you are with your brand, brand guidelines will allow you to make sure it stays cohesive throughout all your marketing efforts. In case you don’t know what they are, brand guidelines are a set of rules within a brand guide that a business refers to when presenting their brand. This guide details things such as the voice, appearance, and audience of your company to make sure your brand is 100 percent consistent. Let’s walk through the components of brand guidelines and why your business needs them. Mission The mission statement of your brand is exactly that; it’s your business’s mission and why you exist today. And, this statement isn’t to make money – it’s much deeper than that. Why are you passionate about what you do? How do you believe in this differently? What problem do you solve? This statement is usually one sentence and serves […]
Read MoreeCommerce websites are becoming more and more prevalent in our lives, and it shows no signs of slowing down. If you have or plan to have an eCommerce website, your product pages need to be strategically designed for maximum eCommerce sales. These pages are more than a place to highlight the details; it is an opportunity to sell your brand. You’ve worked hard on your digital marketing to get people to your site; now wow them with your product pages. Explore how you can make your product pages as efficient as possible. It All Starts with the Product Name The name of your products matter! It may sound like a no-brainer, but the simpler the name, the better. Try to avoid fluffy, obscure titles so customers can understand what the product is at first glance. This doesn’t mean your product names need to be stale, but they should still include […]
Read MoreNot only can third-party copywriters improve your content’s SEO, but they will provide clear, value-driven messaging for your audience.
Read MoreHooray! You’ve successfully attracted people to sign up for something through your digital marketing efforts- whether that be for a newsletter, deliverable, an event, or anything in between. After someone submits their information through your form, they’re usually redirected to a thank you page. This page usually includes simple text that says something along the lines of, “Thanks for signing up! Check your email for that deliverable soon,” and that’s about all that’s on this page. What many businesses don’t realize is the thank you page can become a powerful conversion tool to take these people to the next level of your business. Discover how you can make your thank you pages convert leads into customers. Offer a Limited-Time Offer Keep your audience’s momentum going by offering them a limited-time offer on your thank you pages. You’ve already earned their trust, and now is the best time to keep them […]
Read MoreBrand awareness is extremely important for your brand, and email marketing is one of the best outlets to remind your audiences about your business. According to MarketCharts, 82% of marketers indicated that email is one the most effective channels they use for marketing content to prospective customers. Leveraging email marketing will not only boost your brand awareness but your ROI too (as email marketing still has the highest ROI of any marketing channel). Discover our tips on how to increase your brand awareness through email marketing! Be Consistent (On and Off the Emails) Much like other avenues of your marketing efforts, consistency is going to be key. By creating a cohesive experience throughout your content and design, you’ll instantly build brand awareness and recognition. From the number of times you send out your emails to the way they look, every detail should be consistent. Even the landing pages you link […]
Read MoreSearch engine optimization (SEO) allows businesses of all sizes to connect with the people who need their products or services. What’s more is that SEO positions a website to appear in search engine results pages (SERPs) at various stages of the customer buying cycle, which will lead to more sales. We love helping our customers with their organic SEO efforts, but many of them ask us why this is a long-term strategy and not instantaneous. We hope to clear the air and explain why organic SEO is a long-term strategy. Let’s Talk About Google’s Process Back when Google was first used for the purposes it’s used for today, people would use what we now call “black hat SEO” tricks, which would include old SEO efforts like keyword stuffing and hidden text to links. Then, Google started making significant changes in the way it ranked pages and began ranking sites based […]
Read MoreWe’re excited to announce that a website we designed won a 2018 MarCom Award! Cumberland Group won a Gold award in the website design Business to Business category. MarCom Awards honors excellence in marketing and communication while recognizing the creativity, hard work and generosity of industry professionals. Since its inception in 2004, MarCom has evolved into one of the largest, most-respected creative competitions in the world. Each year about 6,000 print and digital entries are submitted from dozens of countries. We’re honored to win this award and provide our clients with cutting-edge website design!
Read MoreContent is one of the most important assets your business needs to make time for, but there’s no denying the positive impact visuals can add to your marketing. According to the Social Science Research Network, 65 percent of people are visual learners, and 90 percent of information that comes to the brain is visual! While content will state the messaging you want to convey to your audience, visuals will not only support the message, but present it in a way that will resonate with them. Here’s an in-depth look into the types of visuals you should include in your marketing campaigns. Images (Preferably Original) The simplest form of visuals is images, which can easily be added in your blog posts, print collateral, website, and digital marketing campaigns (email, social, etc.). Why are they worth adding? Attention spans are short, and blocks of content can quickly bore or overwhelm your audience. […]
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