Anyone claiming to be a growth hacker today must read Sean’s definition of the term because it strips much of the bull away from how the term is abused today.

We should be encouraging entrepreneurs to start businesses not startups. We should be arguing in favor of premium instead of freemium. We should be fighting for monetization from day one. We should come to terms with the harsh reality that instead of good being the enemy of great, sometimes good enough is simply good enough. Above all, we should emphasize proven, scalable, repeatable and sustainable ways of growing the business rather than trying to hack growth.

Read the full post at Marketing Land.

Technorati Tags: growth hacking, online marketing

Native advertisements should tell compelling narratives that are tailor-made to contextualize the brand for a particular audience in a way that makes the brand personally relevant to that audience.

Brands understand the native part of the equation – “[contributing] to the experience of the site or platform where it appears” – but they need to learn about and embrace the advertising part of the equation as well.

Read the full post at Econsultancy.

Technorati Tags: native advertising, online marketing

As a digital marketing strategist it confounds me that even as 2014 is in full swing, marketers, publishers and startups are sadly (still) debating the issue of return on investment (ROI) from social media.

By understanding consumer intent and behavior at each stage of the funnel you can set the appropriate goals (beyond leading the customer further down the funnel), choose the right tools, and use the correct metrics for success.

Read the full post at The Future Buzz.

Technorati Tags: the future buzz, social media, metrics, analytics, roi

Google changes its search engine’s ranking algorithm over 500 times a year according to Moz, and keeping up with each change can be an exhausting task — unless you understand the purpose behind the changes and implement a more holistic approach to your search strategy.

Understanding Google’s intentions with these updates will better equip you to create a long-term search acquisition strategy that is progressive instead of reactionary. This approach will work for 99% of publishers and businesses and is meant to specifically cover “on-page factors” for a content-based search acquisition strategy.

Read the full post at Search Engine Journal.

Technorati Tags: search engine optimization, seo, content marketing

Perhaps someday native advertising will mature into a viable alternative to traditional web advertising but today it creates more problems than answers.

What matters here is not just the distinction between marketing material or informational content (and the bias the former brings with it), but also how the intent behind the content is communicated to the reader.

Read the full post at Econsultancy.

Technorati Tags: native advertising, online marketing