Calls to Action (CTAs) are essential for successful marketing projects. They are a way of directing an audience to do something, such as fill out a form, complete a survey, download software, register, donate, or buy a certain product. Providing this kind of direction often results in not only more, but more precise, actions taken by the target audience. 

Facebook announced the acquisition of Instagram, a photo-sharing mobile app, for $1 billion dollars yesterday. The news that spawned from Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook status posted at about 10:30 am PST on Monday echoed across the social media ecosystem.

With today's ceaseless growth of the Internet, SEO marketing (Search Engine Optimization) is now more crucial than ever for small businesses. These days, a beautifully-designed website is not enough to earn the attention of Internet viewers. If your website isn’t “findable” by others, your website traffic and online presence is likely to suffer.

Each Twitter profile lists basic information about a user: their name, their twitter handle, and their bio. But to the right of all this are some very important numbers: FOLLOWING (tweeters you follow) and FOLLOWERS (tweeters following you). The ratio between these numbers sends some important message into the Twitterverse, and is something that must be considered before embarking on a twitter growth campaign.

Social-inspired travel is a big business, and these companies all have different takes on what makes for successful social trip planning.

Beyond the immediate potential of catching Joseph Kony, what else is exciting about the Stop Kony movement? Seeing the power of social media to bring about social change. Watching this unfold is like having a glimpse into the future of how world-changing messages will be spread.

Surprise! Timeline for brand pages was released early this morning for page administrators. If you open a Facebook page for which you're an admin, you'll find both timeline "preview" and "publish" options available at the top of the page. But before you hit that "publish" button, there are a few things you must know.

2012 is the year of mobile, or so we keep hearing. But right now, that ROI isn't there--mobile ad revenue has been, overall, somewhat disappointing. That being said, the big three operating systems--Apple iOS, RIM Blackberry, and Google Android--are still jockeying for position in the mobile monetization race. 

Your twitter name, like your company name and website domain name, reflects your business and needs to identify you easily amongst other Twitter users. Consider the tips below before creating or modifying your twitter username.

Already have your page up and running? Twitter allows users to change their Twitter name! BUT beware that changing your Twitter handle will change your profile URL, so all those links to your Twitter account will need to be updated.

Review the points below and make sure your Twitter name complies.

One-third of affluent travelers already own a tablet or e-Reader (via Four Seasons' Luxury Trend Report)  As more travelers embrace these devices, hotels have an excellent opportunity to enhance their experience prior to visiting, while visiting and after leaving the property.

Identity is designed to brand information to and from people’s brains. It takes time to build your branding and it’s very important that when you do it, you do it right. You don’t want to change or update your brand logos, colors or layouts too often because people become attached to brand identities. Changing your identity is risky because it could cause customer dissatisfaction.

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Pinterest was one of 2011’s standout sites. For those of you unfamiliar with it, Pinterest allows users to curate collections of photos and videos on “pinboards”—it’s like a virtual collage, in a beautiful user interface. Each image has a description and can link to an external website (backlinks, anyone?). The social aspect comes through liking, sharing, and re-pinning those images (i.e. copying them to one of the user’s own boards). The site is made up largely of women ages 25--44, the very same women who often do travel research for their families, husbands, offices, and girlfriend getaways.

So how can this visual medium with as-yet-untested ROI help a hotel? Easy!

We are looking for an sharp individual with business to business (B2B) sales or social media experience to join Team Genius. Check out the Social Media Manager job description. If you think you have what it takes to make it in this business we would love to hear from you.

Google's move to secure search query data protects privacy, but some say it takes valuable information away from marketers. Take a look at what this really means to your website analytics and see the 5 most common mistakes people make in optimizing their websites.

Mobile marketing strategies are the next frontier. John Elston, the Founder and CEO of Yo!Dog Marketing, discussed the first steps necessary in setting a mobile marketing strategy at the Asia D Conference yesterday.

Nowadays it seems like there is an app for everything. Armed with a smart phone, there is nothing we can’t do. Cameras, agendas, and mp3 players are collecting dust, lost somewhere deep within a drawer thanks to Smartphone apps. So businesses are asking, “do I need an app?”

The answer is, it depends!

If responsive design is needed, then what’s the solution?

If you have read my previous post, then you understand the need for websites to work dynamically across mobile and traditional platforms.  A lot of techniques are emerging, yet there is hardly a central solution to dealing with responsive...

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By now I’m sure you’re aware of the revised ADA laws scheduled to be enforceable by March 15, 2012. If not, you can catch up on them here. Do you have a plan in place for your hotel website?

First – what do they mean?

While the brands will be responsible for format changes to the brand w...

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One of the questions we ask before setting out to design a website for a customer are what color palletes they like and we ask them to show us samples of sites that use those colors. Inevitably, as designers we are always asked what color palatte we would recommend for their website? While we may chose colors for visual appeal, there is power and meaning in color. Colors subconsciously elicit feelings and thoughts when people see them.

Did you know that color psychology can affect the way people think and feel about your blog or website?

Want to reach mobile users but don’t have the funds for app development?  Then, keep it in the browser! Responsive design is sweeping the web design community (and for good reasons). Smart phones and tablets are rapidly becoming more available to the public, and consequently impacting the traffic of outdated websites, making them obsolete.

As a Social Media Manager, I have witnessed a high success rate of contests that combine all of these elements. What's more, if they are used appropriately they work every time. When people see that they have a chance to win something they jump on the chance to participate. Here at Yo!Dog, we run contests that make people engage by communicating back and forth with us but better yet they start communicating and collaborating with other followers.

Let’s say you have never heard of planking- you go on your Facebook and you see your dorky, old, college roommate who is the CEO of a major corporation now and is lying down on a green wall with his face facing downward. Learn more about using online photo and video channels for drawing more customers to your website.

With vanity websites offering so much more in terms of flexibility of content and design and with only so many hours in the day, you may ask yourself how important it is to keep your brand website current and up-to-date.

Your business may not have the budget to scale a major campaign like Mattel did for the 50th Anniversary Launch of "Sweet Talkin' Ken", but it is important to think with a broader scope of view when considering your marketing strategy. Social media shouldn't be an after thought. It should be so much more!

It's always interesting how quickly people flock to new features on social networking sites. A couple of years ago, Facebook rolled out the ability for both individuals and pages to link their Facebook and Twitter accounts . Twitter benefited from a lot of new traffic when this happened. Facebookers who wanted to test out Twitter without...

You may want to do a little dance after you hear the news from Google about a change in their search algorithm, or you may be left scratching your head about what they are doing. Googlers, Matt Cutts and Amit Singhal, announced on the Google blog that there is a change in the search algorithms coming.  This change will affect primarily low quality sites that copy content from others and offer little value overall. Interestingly enough, this amounts to over...

Yo!Dog Marketing is looking for a Social Media Marketing Manager. Do you have what it takes?  Or it may be a guy. We are looking for the right person to join the Yo!Dog Marketing team and contribute as a member of the Social Media Team.

I get asked all the time; Can Social Media media results be measured and even more importantly can I track it back to an ROI? The answer is not always simple but the answer is YES. A well balanced e-commerce plan should dedicate a portion of it's total spend to Social Marketing and like everything ...

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Internet marketing and online research internship in Orange County, CA. Well, really we are looking for a few extraordinary interns . As things have began rolling around here, we have discovered that we need a little help. Not to mention that we'd like to build a little bench strength.

A new kind of of internet marketing company opened it's doors today.