Digital marketing insights.

As far as the advice goes, “always look on the bright side” scores pretty well. It’s not a bad song lyric, either. But is there such a thing as too much positivity, especially when it comes to making business decisions?

Stop me when this sounds familiar: one of your colleagues or clients comes up with an idea that sounds mildly intriguing. But, the plan they put together is based on assumptions, the offer they’re making isn’t compelling to customers, or the whole thing just seems destined to go nowhere.

Here at Kayak, we are big believers in the value of content creation and advanced CMS’s like HubSpot. We talk about them enthusiastically, and share the results we see from our own campaigns as well as the ones we deploy for our clients.

As the principle of a web-based marketing company, I’m no stranger to the concept of change. My industry is driven and defined by new ideas, to the point that my colleagues and I are reinventing ourselves on a continual basis.

Most of us dream of writing a novel at some time or another. Who wouldn’t love the thought of sipping a latte, crafting a few words in a chapter of their novel, telling stories, and soaking up a healthy combination of royalty checks and public praise for the effort?

Most business owners and a few of us online marketers as well – who are concerned about search engine optimization and inbound lead generation – will obsess over the titles, keywords, and internal links used in their blog posts. And yet, many never stop to think about a critical conversion element that immediately draws attention and sets the mood: the image that accompanies the post itself.

We've received some feedback from users lately that it's not super clear which features come with which particular tier of HubSpot Marketing. I can't say I'm too surprised by this feedback. After all, HubSpot does have 5 different tiers of the product (Free, Starter, Basic, Pro, Enterprise).

Recently, I found myself in the midst of an online debate about the search engine optimization value of GooglePlus content. Some of my colleagues insisted links from the platform worked their way into Google’s algorithm and content; others were adamant that G+ listings – and perhaps all social content – was irrelevant from a pure SEO and ranking standpoint.

The length of a landing page is a bit like the recipe for a good chilli: everyone has their own ideas about what should go in, and some passionate reasons why their version is superior to all others.

How many blog subscribers do you have? What kind of conversion ratios are you achieving? How much money did you make from that offer?

Stop and think for a moment about how often you’ve seen something advertised on TV, or the Internet, and thought to yourself: “who would be stupid enough to buy that?”

Think back to the last great thing that happened in your business. Remember all the good work you put into making it happen, and smart decisions you made that led to the triumph.

Your website isn’t just a marketing item – it’s a potential hub of information, relationship-building, and sales activity. It’s also the most visible component of your marketing plan. Do you get the sense it's under performing? Let's check on a few of the most common and telltale signs...

One of the interesting things I've learned studying behaviour and unconscious bias in marketing is that most people tend to think of themselves as being average when it suits them, but extraordinary when it helps their self-esteem. And, because all of this happens on a subconscious level, we do it without even realizing it.

At some point or another, someone in your life – like a parent or spouse – probably reminded you that you aren’t indeed the centre of the universe. That’s something we all come to learn eventually, even if we don’t necessarily like it.