If it's been awhile since you reviewed your marketing strategy, it's time to kick it up a notch. Whether it's a holiday promotion, product launch or annual strategy, your next marketing campaign needs to sizzle. Move beyond the catchy, yet expected, social posts and standard weekly branded video spots. The basic strategy you've been embracing needs a makeover. Here's how to improve your marketing strategy.

4 Bells and Whistles to Amplify Your Approach

You are the ultimate small business owner. By day, you develop and offer amazing products or services to an appreciative audience. In the evenings, you manage the books, crunch budgets and learn about branding. Kudos to you!

So, how's your marketing strategy performing this year? How many leads have you converted into sales? Is your social presence getting stronger and influencing your ideal customers? If you're feeling a bit deflated, don't. Many small business owners need marketing help. They have more responsibilities to manage than ever imagined, and marketing often gets pushed to the back burner during a busy week. We get it.

Don't Be Afraid To Ask For Help!

You have no hesitation calling your accountant friend when a question pops up during tax season, or asking your buddy from college for software recommendations. If you're feeling confused and lost about your marketing efforts, it's OK to ask for help. And you really should if you're facing any of these milestones.

Given the rapid adoption of social video by organizations of all sizes, it's safe to say video marketing is no longer "a trend," but a powerful strategy that connects brands and audiences like never before. A staggering 97 percent of marketers reported video helped them increase understanding of their product or service, according to HubSpot.

But while you may have focused the majority of your social video efforts on Facebook and YouTube, it may be time to add a third platform to the mix. The brand-new Instagram TV (IGTV) launched in summer 2018 and gives brands the ability to upload full-screen videos 15 seconds to 60 minutes in length — a powerful way to engage with your audience in a place where they're already likely spending a lot of time.

As a higher education marketer, you know engaging prospective students is harder than ever. While you may have more opportunities for advertising to students online, this young audience is bombarded by messages all day long.

Standing out from the noise can be challenging, but higher education institutions that successfully reach and establish a connection with prospective students enjoy higher enrollment rates and greater brand recognition.

Here's how to connect with prospective students from Gen Z. 

Which Types of Ads Perform Best When Advertising to Students Online? 

Here are the top five digital ad formats used by colleges and universities for engaging prospective students, according to eMarketer PRO:

Seasonal automotive marketing that isn't aimed directly at car sales usually isn't a priority. However, by leveraging seasonal trends and educating car owners, you can increase business for your service department. Stay top-of-mind with customers and drive traffic to your service department by reminding them of changing service needs that match the seasons.

For most car dealers, seasonal automotive marketing that isn’t aimed directly at car sales usually isn't a priority. However, tapping in to seasonal trends and needs is a great way to increase business for your service department. You can stay top-of-mind with your customers and encourage them to visit your service department by reminding them of changing service needs that match the seasons. In this 2-part series, we’ll outline the right solutions to share your message and then provide ideas to reach your customers with seasonal automotive maintenance promotions that's helpful to them — and profitable for you.

Fall is almost here, and along with cooler temperatures, it means kids have been heading back to school. While parents may have mixed feelings about their kids returning to school — or perhaps going for the first time — there's one thing that they all share in common: the hassle of back-to-school shopping.

Though there's nothing that can take away the stress of fighting for the right color notebook or a pack of crayons, there are back-to-school trends marketers should take advantage of to make this annual ritual a little bit easier for parents and increase their own sales.

In the broadest sense, the goal of marketing is to connect customers with products and brands that will improve their lives. In the past, marketers have used a variety of media to cast a wide net, hoping that customers who would benefit most from their products would see them. In today's world, marketers have a greater ability than ever before to focus their dollars on specific audiences, thanks to the overwhelming amount of data available. While this is great for spending efficiently and focusing on qualified customers, there's another benefit to aggressive targeting: increasing customer lifetime value.

The lazy days of summer are finally here, and for most, that means the time for vacations, grilling and plenty of relaxing. However, if you own a home improvement or services business, that may also mean less activity since home owners are preoccupied with summer fun. While this trend may have been true in years past, here are three solid home services marketing tips to implement this year so consumers come to your business, even as temperatures rise.

Reaching an online audience is hard. And while marketers may use a number of innovative strategies to seek out that consumer base, it's all too easy to sabotage yourself through simple marketing mistakes.

These mistakes can run the gamut from small oversights to huge blunders, but they all have one thing in common: They can torpedo your marketing campaigns, slashing your ROI and hurting your ability to find relevant consumers who are interested in what your company has to offer.

The list of potential mistakes can run into the dozens, if not the hundreds. But here are three simple mistakes you can correct right away.