Digital marketing insights.

Earlier this summer, I took one of the major printed directory companies (or what’s left of them) to task for ripping clients off via generic, expensive, and ineffective pay-per-click advertising. It's not that PPC doesn’t have any value, but it was the ineffective way in which it was sold and delivered and how costs are artifically inflated by those big companies.

In June, I found myself meeting new people at the #SocialShakeUp social media marketing conference in Atlanta. Rather than collect business cards at events, I have a habit of pulling up my mobile and adding people to a twitter list made for the event. Before long, one individual in particular caught my attention, for he had more than 300 thousand Twitter followers. Which of course, quickly became a topic of discussion.

Online reputation is a big subject that’s only getting bigger. We have already seen in the last few years that having lots of positive reviews and feedback around your business can encourage business… and that, conversely, even a single bad review can damage it (big time).

There is an interesting dichotomy floating around on the Internet. On the one hand, the web (and social media specifically) is supposed to be fostering creativity and individual expression. On the other hand, the partisan and anonymous nature of the Internet is fuelling a stronger and stronger herd mentality. A distance that causes people to act as they were wearing a mask.

Recently, I had the chance to participate in a Google On Air Hangout hosted by LinkedIn fellow Greg Cooper on the topic of LinkedIn Publishing platform Pulse and, specifically, what marketers can do to make the most of it as a blogging platform. On the call with me were LinkedIn heavyweights Marc Miller and Paul Shapiro.

If part of your job involves helping your company to find new customers, especially over the Internet, then there’s a good chance you’ve been hearing a bit of chatter about agile marketing or agile web development.

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.

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.

One thing you’ll notice if you stop in to see us at Kayak, is that our team is quiet eclectic. From young people to industry vets, we run the gamut. What you won't see though, are unpaid marketing interns.

Can there be there a worse idea for your business than engaging in a traditional ad agency media buy? Typically, agencies buy space or air time in bulk (with client money), then either resell it to their clients at a higher rate, or, they set up an account to auto debit the client, and take a commission (20% is not uncommon) on the spend in addition to billing for creative work and consulting.

One of the more common sentiments shared at Social Shake-Up in Atlanta – and a personal cause of mine – was the advice not to outsource your social media and customer relations communications to a third party.