By Ellen Fruchtman, President With the baseball season (and many sports seasons) clearly in the rearview mirror, there’s a great business analogy spoken by one of the all-time greatest baseball players, Babe Ruth. “Yesterday’s home runs don’t win today’s games.” At the time, he was likely talking about the game and never anticipated how it could be a great...
By Guest Columnist Lori Dixon, Ph.D., Great Lakes Marketing Research Consumers got a taste of having more power over place and time, and they will not easily go back to their old ways. There is not going to be a new normal. Normal implies: conforming to a standard, usual, typical, or expected. Ha! We are smart enough to...
by Ashley Bowen, Account Coordinator As you look to reopen your store and capitalize on sales, especially for Mother’s Day and anniversaries, consider offering your best customers a little something to show you care at no charge. There are numerous options to consider, both big and small, such as flowers, wine, or simply a nice handwritten card....
By Kate Peterson, Performance Concepts These are trying and uncertain times, and the challenges we are facing as an industry are undeniably massive. We are not new to overwhelming challenges though, and even in the most difficult of times, people still get engaged, get married, have babies, and celebrate significant occasions and achievements. Adversity often makes those moments...
By Shane O'Neill, Vice President Video is quickly becoming the hottest marketing trend for businesses. Why? Simply stated, video on social can generate up to 1,200% more shares than static images or text. In addition, 9 out of 10 brands have reported a significant lift in brand recall when using 6-second bumper ads on YouTube. If you’re still...
By Ellen Fruchtman, President Don’t let the title mislead you. At quick glance, I bet you thought I was talking about getting some well-earned rest. Not that we all don’t need that. This article is about to address the generation behind Millennials. You know, Gen Z. Because truthfully, the oldest of that generation (starting in the year 1995 leading up to...
By Shane O'Neill, Vice President Ahh, Facebook, the most widely discussed social channel. Every trade show is packed with speakers on the subject. “How to get the most from Facebook”, “How to Sell on Facebook”, “Get More Fans on Facebook”, the list goes on and on. Yet, almost all of you are using the channel wrong and...
by Lori Mitchell Dixon, Ph.D., Great Lakes Marketing Research So, online shopping is undoubtedly having an impact on your retail operations. Whether your customers are buying online or just educating themselves, your customers have been “Amazoned.” In a recent survey of 1,000 adults, it was found that the vast majority researched online or read product reviews before they even went into...
by Shane O’Neill, Vice President In case you haven’t noticed, brick and mortar retail is, well, challenging right now. The list of stalwart retail stores closing their doors is growing, including Macy’s and JC Penney. Shopping malls are becoming so 2010 and people would rather Netflix and chill than head out and go shopping. Now, we can...
by Shane O’Neill, Vice President Google changes or updates its algorithm hundreds or thousands of times per year. These are mostly small changes, sure, but it just illustrates the ever-evolving search landscape. Organic traffic via SEO is a huge opportunity for independent retailers. A larger algorithm change in March of 2019 revealed that content, content, content is...