Whether you love them or hate them, emojis have become part of our lives and our digital culture.

The first emoji was created nearly 20 years ago in Japan. But today, the use of these tiny, animated faces and characters has drastically evolved.

They have become so popular that July 17th has been officially named World Emoji Day.

It’s a fitting date. Apple users may recognize July 17th from the calendar emoji.

Origins and history aside, the fact remains that emojis have become a dominating mobile trend. As marketers, we need to understand this trend and apply it in our businesses.

People have full conversations using emojis.

Some emojis are even used as a type of slang. Depending on the country you’re in, some emojis are used to imply things other than what the creators intended.

For example, some innocent pieces of food are commonly used to represent parts of the human anatomy.

There is even a middle finger emoji.

Even if you’re not using emojis for business, I’m willing to bet that you and your friends send them to each other when you’re texting. Or maybe you use one in the occasional social media caption.

The odds are in my favor. That’s because 92% of the online population uses emojis.

Furthermore, it’s worth noting that women use emojis more than men.

In fact, 70% of women are frequent users, while just 50% of men fall into that category.

With all of this in mind, now it’s time for you to start using emojis to improve your business and not just your texting.

I’ll explain how you can implement an emoji strategy that helps you improve your click-through rates and ultimately drive conversions. Here’s what you need to know.  [click to continue…]

You can tell a lot about a business by how it sets its prices.

Psychologically, consumers are programmed to behave a certain way when they see the price of a product or service. Your pricing strategy can control the entire perception of your brand.

It’s similar to the way different color schemes can impact sales on your website.

Whether you realize it or not, I’m sure you think the same way when you’re shopping.

If you see the same item listed for $5 at one store and $50 at another, which option would you say has higher quality? The more expensive one.

However, even though one store is selling products at a higher price point, it doesn’t mean their quality is superior to that of the products from the store with bargain prices.

It’s all about perception.

Don’t blindly price your items. You need to have a reason and a strategy behind your pricing decisions.

Just look at how popular car brands are perceived by consumers based on their prices:

Ironically, the majority of your business efforts will cost you money. But your prices will ultimately be the determining factor in whether or not you’ll make a sale.

I see this problem all the time in my consulting work.

Many business owners don’t have any rhyme or reason behind their pricing strategies. As a result, their sales numbers aren’t where they should be.

I’ll explain how you can generate higher profits by putting more focus on your pricing strategy.

Depending on your brand, some of these strategies will work for you better than others. Review this guide, and decide which ones you want to use in your business.  [click to continue…]

Every business needs to come up with creative ways to drive sales.

Sure, you may be doing well today, but how are you planning on making money tomorrow? What about next month or next year?

Whether your company sells a product or offers a service, you should consider using the subscription business model to generate recurring sales.

Historically, implementing a subscription business model has proven to be highly profitable.

In the last five years, the use of this model has grown by more than 100%.

Businesses knowing how to offer valuable subscriptions end up with extremely loyal customers, which is why it’s such an effective customer retention strategy.

Even ecommerce brands have been using subscriptions to drive sales.

That’s because the consumer market has accepted this model, causing it to grow in popularity over the last year.

Once you’re able to get customers to pay for a subscription, you’ll get recurring sales on a monthly or annual basis.

As a result, your company will be in a great position for sustainable growth over time.

But if you’ve never implemented a subscription model in your business, it might be intimidating for you. Where do you start?

And if you have already set up a subscription model, it may not be working as well as you thought it would.

That’s why I created this guide.

Whether you’re new to the subscription concept or you want to make adjustments to your existing subscription model, I’ll explain what you need to do to be successful in this space.  [click to continue…]

Successful brands put the customer first.

They monitor their customers’ behaviors and leverage their needs to enhance the buying process. You can also boost your revenue by optimizing the customer experience.

If you want to take this concept one step further, you need to focus on one important element that will increase sales.

Personalization.

Personalizing the customer experience is a winning strategy. In fact, 96% of marketers agree that their efforts to personalize their customers’ experience advance their relationships with customers.

Furthermore, 88% of marketers say they’ve seen a measurable improvement in their businesses after implementing customer personalization tactics.

But only 33% of businesses feel confident they have the tools to properly personalize the customer experience.

That’s what inspired me to write this guide.

Some of you may already know you need to create a more personalized experience for your customers, but you just don’t know what to do. Or maybe you’re trying to improve your existing efforts.

Regardless of your situation, I’ll explain what you need to do.

These are the best ways to increase sales by accommodating the needs of your customers and personalizing their experience.  [click to continue…]

Do you have lots of social media followers? Want to learn how to turn those followers into dollars?

Right now, there are people making a living on social media without selling anything.

We’ve all seen those profiles of seemingly regular people with tons of followers.

It always seems as if they’re traveling or doing something fun. But what exactly do they do to fund this fairytale lifestyle?

They are social influencers.

Experts predict that in the next two years, global influencer marketing will be a $5-10 billion dollar industry.

In 2017, 86% of marketers relied on influencer marketing campaigns at some point during the year.

And 39% of marketers say they have increased their influencer marketing budgets for 2018.

All of this is promising news if you’re interested in making a living on social media as an influencer. Even if you don’t have lots of followers right now, this guide will show you what you need to do to make yourself more appealing to marketers and brands.

In the past, I’ve explained how to use micro influencers to increase your product credibility.

But now I wanted to write an informative guide aimed to help influencers make more money.

With influencer marketing making my list of the top marketing trends to look for in 2018, there is plenty of money to be made in this space if you position yourself accordingly.

These are the top 11 ways to make a living on social media without selling any products.  [click to continue…]