The Blog - Where Business Collides with Human Nature

7 Video Marketing Stats that Can Help You Plan Your Strategy

Despite the many challenges that living through the COVID-19 pandemic entails, there are still opportunities to successfully promote your brand. As most of us are locked up at home, we’ve already got used to buying and discovering products online.

One of the most interesting types of marketing content that has become popular in recent years is video. Due to their entertaining yet informative format, videos can help you increase awareness about your brand and start new levels of conversation with your audience. And as incredible as it may sound, 2020 might be the best year to place your bets on video!

Topics: Marketing Statistics Video Marketing

How to Overcome Division & Workplace Conflict

Recent events have reminded us how divisive unresolved conflict of any kind can be. Regardless of the scale of the conflict, whether it is a board room or a city street, all division is rooted in the same human need for compassion, acceptance, understanding, and respect. Without this we cannot feel seen, heard, and appreciated, which are essential emotional needs that are fundamental for our existence.

Simply put, we all need to know that we have value.

While unresolved conflict between teams at an organization is in no way on par with institutionalized racism or any other wide-scale marginalization or multi-generational repression, it stirs the same basic human responses of fear, distrust, anger, and helplessness. Of course, this fear may be over losing your job instead of your life, but it is a form of fear nonetheless and fear tears people and entities apart.

Workplace conflict is no exception.

Topics: Leadership Guest Writer Conflict Resolution

Business After COVID: How Companies Should Brace For It

Photo by Yaroslav Danylchenko from Pexels

Right now, COVID-19 has had a big impact on just about every aspect of American life. A massive portion of Americans are working from home and getting accustomed to video meetings and new workspaces. Newer methods of shopping — like contactless and curbside pickup, mobile payment, and delivery services — have all quickly become normal options. And while in-person sales are down, online sales are up significantly. 

Average income is down for almost everybody and demand has quickly shifted. Luxury purchases — with a few exceptions, like skincare, hair care and makeup products — are down, and demand for food items and household goods are way, way up.

These changes are not expected to last forever, but it is likely that things will not ever return to business-as-usual. Instead, we are probably headed for a new normal — a future that is somewhere between the present and the world pre-COVID.

Here is how the crisis is likely to change the American economy, and how companies can prepare for business after the COVID-19 crisis.

Topics: Business Planning Business Trends

10 Overrated Marketing Tactics You Should Avoid Right Now

Experienced marketers know there is a fine line between engaging a customer and annoying them. Even the most seasoned professionals can make mistakes that cost them potential business, however. Here are 10 marketing tactics to steer clear of as you iron out your plans.

Topics: Marketing Ideas Marketing Plan Marketing Trends

Elements of Making a Company Story Video that Wins Your Customer’s Hearts

Nowadays, in a post-social-networks world, making your company and brand feel relatable to your customer base is much more than just a boon. It is a necessity.

Regardless of your commitment to social media strategies and overall marketing approach, producing content that reflects your company as engaging, empathetic, and responsive, is something your marketing team should be (and probably is) actively pursuing.

Why? Because audiences are more likely to do business with you when they feel like they know your company and brand on a more personal level.  

Your customers may know what you offer from an explainer video or other sort of content.


But if they feel like they understand (and relate to) what your company stands for on top of that, they are a great deal more likely to engage with it and come back for more later. So, the question becomes how to go about doing just that?

The goal is to tell a story.

The goal is to humanize your brand. Put the values that motivate you and your teams in front of your customers for them to connect.

The best way to hit all those targets in the least amount of time?

…company story videos.

Topics: Branding Video Marketing

What Type of Office Space Is Most Productive?

Most employees prefer private offices to open-office layouts, according to a recent survey by Clutch. Not all businesses can afford private offices for all employees, though, so they must find ways to adjust their office layouts for optimal productivity.

In this article, we explain how small businesses can create office layouts that increase, instead of hinder, productivity. Use the information to understand how you can tailor your office for increased productivity.

Topics: Productivity Business Culture Teamwork

Multi-hat CEOs

The fewer people you have working for you, the more “hats” you wear.

If there is not enough revenue to support a financial advisor or accountant, one hour the entrepreneur/CEO keeps track of finances and may clean the toilet in the next hour.

This might be irritating? Who went into business to get involved with the “little things?” Wasn’t the objective to make decisions and come up with broad strategies and create success?

The reality is that the best entrepreneurs thrive in a multidisciplinary, multi-hatted role ...but the one-man-band business model limits the potential for success.

Topics: Entrepreneurship Entrepreneur

Humans vs. Big Business: The Controversy of Selling on Amazon

Selling online is a wonderful way for companies, small and large alike, to become more successful. They can appeal to new customers, advertise their products more widely and even cut down on costs. Some owners don't want to create their own website or wish to sell on a more established platform. This is where Amazon comes in to play. 

Amazon's Marketplace service is a convenient way for small- and medium-sized businesses to advertise and sell their goods. They can even choose for their orders to be fulfilled by Amazon. When half of all items sold on the website are from third-party sellers, it can seem like a great way to put your name in front of an established consumer base.

While this is certainly true, it seems as though Marketplace has just as many cons as it does pros. Let's take a moment to run through them so you can get an idea of what it's like to sell on Amazon.

Topics: Amazon Ecommerce Competition

5 Surprising Ways Managers Can Reduce Corporate Food Waste

Imagine the United States' food production in one year is a giant pizza. Now, imagine one-third of that pizza gets tossed in the trash. That's exactly how much food the United States wastes each year, according to the United Nations.

Meanwhile, one out of every seven children in the United States may not know where their next meal is coming from. Tackling world hunger is intertwined with fostering respect for food — and your corporation can play a role in that effort.

While your company may not have the bandwidth to repurpose oyster shells into clothing like the outdoor company Mountain Designs, there’s still a lot you can do.

With dedicated efforts, making a difference is possible. For example, The World Resources Institute was able to reduce waste by 75 percent in one year.

This article goes beyond the basics to refresh your office with food waste reduction techniques you might not have heard of.

Topics: Business Culture Waste

7 Strategies to Sustain Growth in A Volatile Search Environment

  • Google has made it clear that it is keeping more traffic on Google owned properties through an increase in SERP features.
  • The result has been a decline in the available traffic to the organic results.
  • This has forced businesses and site owners to refocus marketing efforts on alternate sources of traffic, increase conversion from current traffic and branding as a way to improve search visibility.

 The competition for keyword rankings are increasing daily and it is becoming more important to protect the traffic you currently generate in order to sustain growth.  

 For the first time ever the total amount of zero-click searches have become the majority result in the total queries made on Google’s search engine.

 This landmark event should be cause for concern as the trend may continue past the 51% of searches that are now click-less. This has resulted from the emergence of Google SERP features that are more frequently being displayed in a search result.

Topics: SEO Branding Google

3 Quick Ways to Green Your Corporate Office

It's no secret that sustainability is en vogue. This is especially true when it comes to commercial real estate trends.

Employees are asking for greener offices, and managers recognize the productivity and health benefits of green design.

Creating a greener office space doesn't need to be expensive or time-consuming. If you're interested in crafting an eco-friendly office, there are a few quick, easy ways you can get started:

  1. Increase Employees’ Exposure to Natural Light
  2. Invest in Live Office Plants
  3. Reduce Unnecessary Energy Use

This article discusses how you can kickstart these three initiatives in your workspace. Take action without delay, and happier, more efficient employees will return your investment in sustainability.

Topics: Business Technology Business Success Tips Culture Change Ecology

How Experiential Marketing Can Change the World

If you're anything like me, you find traditional forms of advertising a bit dull. We get exposed to TV ads, promotional sections in magazines and online ad banners so often that tuning them out comes naturally. Marketers have to work harder than ever to make impacts on audiences. Many choose to focus on experiential marketing, which is also called engagement marketing.

Experiential marketing's goal is to create immersive brand experiences for customers that they remember long afterward. Besides increasing a person's ability to recall a brand, experiential marketing typically forges a closer connection between brands and consumers. Here are some examples of why experiential marketing is such a world-changing idea.

Topics: Marketing Ideas Buzz Marketing