Digital marketing insights.

At a time when social engagement is becoming more crucial than ever before, at every business level, automated social posting and updating tools are increasingly responsible for the posts you see on Twitter, Facebook, and Google +. And even though it’s all being done in the name of “convenience,” I would argue that these types of interactions aren’t convenient, helpful, or meaningful to anyone. More often than not, they’re just a waste of time.

With graduation season upon us, the team at Kayak can look back on the past few years with a great deal of pride. We might not be donning robes, handing out diplomas, or giving commencement speeches, but we have trained a lot of business people in the practice of "being social" on social media.

I don’t know if whomever came up with the expression, “the customer is always right”, is more deserving of our scorn or pity. This misguided soul must have had a challenging time running their business, catering to every client's wish and whim.

Hardly a week goes by when I don't come across some kind of request from a company or organization asking for speculative work submissions (also known as "spec" creative, co-creation, or user-generated content).

If there’s one thing business owners universally fear, it’s an economic downturn. Although there are a few industries that benefit, or at least remain stable during a rough patch, even those tend to face increased pressure and competition in slower times.

Could you be crowded out of search listings – and your readers’ attention – by your own content?

In a perfect world, your social connections would be within arm’s reach of a smartphone, eagerly anticipating your next post or comment. And, anytime you wrote something brilliant or insightful, there would be multitudes of readers ready to jump in, comment, and add their own thoughts.

There is a lot of information and advice being thrown around when it comes to how marketers should handle social. That’s mostly a good thing, since we can all use more ideas and best practices about getting our messaging right.

I’m relatively outspoken on a lot of different topics, and one of them is the need for business owners and marketers to handle their own social engagement. Doing so allows them to keep their finger on the pulse of their industry, along with customer discussions and concerns and insights they just couldn't find 'not' being there.

Fill in the blank: “If I were just able to use a ______________ tool, my problems would be solved in an instant.”

Here at Kayak, we have a pretty open stance about ethics when it comes to sales and marketing – we prefer an inbound, attraction-based approach where prospects seek us out based on our being helpful and valued. We’re simply not in the habit of thrusting ourselves into the faces of prospects.

Imagine for a moment that we travelled back in time to the 1800s, into the dusty centre of an old Wild West town and transported the local snake oil salesman right off his wagon, forward into 2015. How hard would it be for him or her to adjust to the present day? Possibly not that challenging actually, for there’s still plenty of decent (though uninformed) businesses searching for SEO answers.

Recently, I found myself Googling for “big island real estate” as part of a new client project. Imagine my surprise when a trio of business listings appeared near the top of the page as local search results. Otherwise known as the Local Pack, this group of listings – presumably – is intended to display local (nearby) business listings.

Sometimes, the most important lessons you can learn about online marketing – and indeed, dealing with people – aren’t the ones you get from blogs, surveys, or brainstorming sessions. In fact, I was recently reminded how important things like perspective and insight are from a simple cup of tea.

Colour is a part of everything we do.

From selecting our clothing for the day, to picking out the vehicle we choose to drive, colour makes a continuous impression on us each and every day, but does it have any impact at all on the websites we choose to visit, and if so, why?