As we Speak

Online advertising in the US alone is now a $60 billion industry. With greater flexibility and a broader pool of options at a lower cost for advertisers than traditional media ads, online advertising offers businesses across all industries and sizes greater opportunity to get in front of their target audiences in the spaces they interact with most.  However, one of the biggest challenges with the rapidly growing online advertising market is figuring out which platforms to include in your... Read More

Whether it's the first time you are logging into Google Analytics or you find yourself diving into it on a frequent basis, knowing the key reports inside Google’s website performance reporting tool can be overwhelming.  It can be difficult for even marketers who are well versed in Google Analytics to take all the data the tool provides and translate it into answers for the broad questions we all have about our website content.  Don't let the data get you down! In this post, we... Read More

Why don't I see my Google Ads when I search? You’ve got your keywords researched, budgets set, billing info entered, your campaigns set to active, and then you go to Google to test your ads and…. Nothing. Sound familiar? If you’ve got an ad campaign up, chances are you’ve spent some time searching for it and have had the thought “if I can’t see it, is anyone?!”  We hear this question fairly frequently, but with good reason — so... Read More

The new year is here, which means it’s time to start planning for any shifts in digital marketing. While some things tend to carry over from year to year, there are always new trends or older ones advancing in popularity. Let's explore some of the upcoming trends and market predicitons for this year.  1. Meta/The Metaverse Meta. It’s all the rage. When Facebook shifted to Meta, they were betting on the idea that the Metaverse would rise up. An... Read More

Marketers, it's time to face 2023 head-on.  It can be tricky (to say the least!) to create a marketing budget with so much uncertainty swirling around the economic forcast of the upcoming year. When it comes to marketing budgeting and planning, you may be feeling some extra pressure this year. Balancing both your short-term and long-term marketing and growth goals amid a lack of certainty about the state of the economy is tricky, and often the first response is to start slas... Read More

As we near the end of the year and large projects wind down, you may be finding yourself with some extra funds left in your marketing budget for 2022.  While it’s always a nice feeling to have completed everything on your marketing to-do list for the year and have come in under budget, not making use of your full budget may mean losing it for the coming year. No matter the size of your remaining budget, there are several small investments you can make now that will maximize t... Read More

How do you objectively gauge how engaging your website's content is? Marketers don't have time or space for guesswork. Analyzing data to influence your future marketing decisions is key to an effective marketing strategy that isn't just a shot in the dark. In this blog, we're highlighting two reports that will give you the insight you need to assess engagement and plan for improvements. In case you're wondering, we'll be focusing on instructions that use Google&#... Read More

With the economy being... the economy, and inflation and other factors threatening budget cuts for organizations across all industries in the coming year, you've surely had your budget on the brain when making major marketing decisions.  If you've ever found yourself wanting to do more with your website and digital marketing strategy but are feeling held up by budget limitations, you’re not alone. Budgets serve a good and necessary purpose, but sometimes they leave us feel... Read More

We live in the day of big data. Each day, tons and tons of data are being scraped all around us. While we may not appreciate some data collection, other forms of data collection are incredibly beneficial to our ability to market businesses and organizations to the right audiences. If you’ve ever jumped into Google Analytics, you’ve probably experienced the deer-in-headlights feeling of being faced with the amount of data available and being unsure of what exactly t... Read More

After months of hints, press, and warnings from Google in your inbox to switch over before it’s too late, GA4 – Google’s new long-awaited data and analytics software – has finally arrived!  Google has touted GA4 as “the future of analytics.” A pretty bold declaration! We’ve spent the last several months switching our clients’ analytics over to the new software and have been getting to know the ins and outs of this promising new tracki... Read More

Although you may not have spring cleaning on the brain right now, a little seasonal cleanup can benefit more than just your home. When it comes to your online presence – your website and digital marketing channels – it’s important to check in on things often to ensure your marketing effort is tidy and running smoothly. Your website and digital marketing efforts are the online foundation to your business. If you don’t take time to frequently wipe the dust off t... Read More

It’s no myth that the internet and the world of digital marketing is a constantly evolving minefield. What worked two years ago, or even ten months ago, might not work today as our online habits change and new patterns are tracked.  It's 2022, and as Speak’s resident SEO expert, I’m putting on my best Sherlock Holmes hat and uncovering some common SEO myths that aren't applicable to websites any longer. Some are old ways of thinking that, while once true, are s... Read More

Over a third of people in the U.S. say they listen to podcasts – an impressive feat for a media form that didn’t come about until 2004. Podcasting came following a boom in amateur radio broadcasting. It took off quickly on a personal level, with people deep diving into their niche interests in audio-form. Just a year after its zenith, big companies began to recognize the opportunity that podcasting could present as a means of thought leadership, recognition, and building a mo... Read More

It’s tougher than ever for new businesses to compete with more established businesses, and even established businesses have more competition than ever before. A good website with top-notch UX is vital for organizations to connect with their audience. A good website alone isn’t enough to get noticed, organizations also need to focus on SEO to make it easier for people to find their business. In the past, SEO strategies were almost exclusively focused on using the right keywords a... Read More

If you’re a member of a nonprofit, there’s one statement that is true: Budgets are limited. No matter your industry, we understand that nonprofits regularly track every expense, and squeezing marketing dollars out of your total revenue can seem almost impossible. However, we also know that digital marketing is the biggest way to measure your ROI. Luckily, there's a way to stretch your marketing dollars further than you ever thought possible. We’re talking Google Grants.... Read More

One of the most frequent questions we get as digital marketing experts is, “Should I be concerned with my E?”  The short answer: No, but maybe yes.  Convenient huh? Like many digital marketing strategies, the answer is much more nuanced than a simple yes or no. But hang with me, I promise the answer is below!  Engagement rate as an SEO Metric Engagement rate is a vanity metric that has been used for years to determine the quality of content on an SEO page. But altho... Read More

If you're here, you know that Google reviews are important for any local business. Potential clients are comparing your business with others in your area, and reviews are a great way to stand out. The Google My Business platform has stood the test of time and has become an important component for any local SEO strategy. Additionally, Google reviews aren’t losing any importance in 2022 and are a major contributor to attracting new business. You might be wondering - how do I ge... Read More

Your mind is your most powerful marketing tool. If it seems too easy to be true, it isn’t. Time and time again we see that one of the marketing efforts with the greatest ROI, the greatest potential to grow your audience, and the greatest ability to establish your position within your target market is thought leadership. But what is thought leadership, and why is it so important to a strong marketing strategy for B2B and B2C organizations alike?  Today, we’re dropping some k... Read More

Here’s a mind-blowing stat for you: More than 319 billion emails are sent every single day, and this number is only going up. With such major growth, what worked in email marketing five years ago no longer works. Somewhere along the way, for many marketers, this sentiment transformed into a misconception that email marketing isn’t effective, period. The reality of email marketing is that it’s incredibly effective – when it’s done right. For many top marketers, ... Read More

Defining website goals ahead of design = a website driven to build your business better. If you own a company or manage a team, it’s normal to ask “how effective are my employees to my business?” You’re probably monitoring progress, tracking performance, and expecting your business to grow because of their work. Hopefully, you view them as assets to your business. Are you doing the same for your website? Have you considered how your website “works&rdq... Read More

It's 2022, so I'm pretty sure you know by now that in order to have a significant online presence, you need to have a blog.  The #1 reason business owners do not blog is the time-to-value ratio. We hear all the time “I'm not going to spend 3 or 4 hours writing a blog that no one will read.” We get it, we really do and it’s the reason why marketing, research, and content strategy jobs are 3 of the top 10 fastest growing jobs, according to CNN.  At Spe... Read More

As we know, tracking engagement with any content you post online is key to understanding what your audience responds positively to, which aids your ability to continue to provide high-value content to your consumers. The same way we track page-clicks, if you offer downloadable content on your website, you’ll surely want to track how often it’s being downloaded.  The great news: GA4 has automatic tracking of files with the following extensions: pdfs, xlsx, doc, txt, rtf, csv... Read More