Imagine That’s Top Ten Most Popular Blog Posts of 2014

 

Another year is in the books and as we look forward to 2015 and all that it brings with it, we would like to share the most popular digital marketing advice we dispensed in 2014. The following are the top ten most visited of last year’s Imagine That blog posts. Enjoy.

1. The Changing Social Media Landscape in 2014

Social media marketing took center stage in 2014 with businesses searching for information on the rise of social media marketing (SMM) and how to use it for their business’ marketing needs. From 2013 to 2014, social media went from a scoffed platform to mainstream, and in 2014 it was no longer a luxury, but more of a necessity in any digital marketing plan. Google+ saw a meteoric rise in growth, LinkedIn had a very steady hand, Facebook took a dive, visuals became the new norm, and some new major players made their moves (Vine, Instagram etc.). We are very excited to see what 2015 brings to the social media marketing front.

2. Archetypes: A Psychoanalytic Approach to Branding Your Business

A tried and true approach to establishing a company’s brand, our blog on archetypes, what they are, and how to use them to brand your business was a hit in 2014. The second most visited blog post of the year, anyone starting a business, or looking to perform a brand refresh, can find some very useful information in this post.

3. Display Advertising As Part of Your Marketing Campaign

Internet advertising includes a multitude of avenues to promote your business – Pay-Per-Click (PPC), Social Media Marketing, mobile advertising, email marketing – but it seems that businesses are still interested in one of the oldest forms of online marketing … display advertising. This graphical advertising method conveys its message visually using logos, text, animations, videos, and photographs (rich media) with the ability to highly target desired audiences and track their behavior. This post goes into greater detail of what display advertising is and the techniques to use.

4. Social Media Marketing for the Small Business Owner

Keeping with the SMM trend of 2014, this post ranked as the fourth most visited Imagine That blog post of the year. This is not entirely shocking as Summit County is comprised of mostly small businesses, and this post offered up some tools and tips to help them with the SMM process. What social media platforms you should use, being proactive in its use, managing your time correctly, and what kind of content to post are a few of this post’s offerings.

5. High Definition vs. Standard Definition Video

Video is a major player in the digital marketing realm, so no wonder this post garnered as many views as it did. A very basic introduction to the differences between High Definition (HD) and Standard Definition (SD) video are included in this article. Interestingly enough, Mashable recently posted an article entitled “5 Tech Trends That Will Dominate CES 2015,” and in this article Pete Parchal alludes to 4K (four times the resolution of full HD video) becoming the standard in high-quality video in 2015. So, look for another Imagine That blog post that will dissect the rise of 4K.

6. Imagine That Gives Back to the Community

As I alluded to earlier, Summit County, Colorado is a very tight knight community of small businesses, so naturally this blog on Imagine That’s “Hand Up Program” was a hit with our readers. Each year, Imagine That selects a local business owner and creates a new small business website, brand, and strategy for him/her at no cost. In 2014, Aaron Landau and his brand-new venture, Evo 3 Workspace, were selected as the recipient of the Hand Up Award!

7. Digital vs. Traditional Marketing: The Right Mix

While Imagine That is mostly immersed within the realm of digital marketing, this post goes into greater detail on why traditional marketing still has its place in any comprehensive marketing plan. We compare the differences between traditional and digital marketing and explain how to achieve the correct mix in today’s highly digital world. In another one of Mashable’s recent articles, “7 Biggest Marketing and Media Trends of 2014,” Todd Wasserman states that “in 2014 print had an odd resurgence … as advertisers still love print mags and love seeing themselves in it, especially if it has a longer shelf life and pass-around value to their own constituencies.” Internet advertising may just be driving the costs down for traditional advertising methods, so don’t look for these to go away anytime soon.

8. Rack Cards are Still an Effective Way to Advertise

I just talked about traditional advertising still having its place in the marketing mix; so no wonder this post cracked our top ten. Additionally, because we live and work in a heavily saturated tourist community, rack cards (printed promotional material) are still an effective manner of targeting consumers. This article explains what a rack card is and ultimately what the benefits are of utilizing this seemingly antiquated method of advertising your business.

9. Find Your Beach in Summit County!

A lifestyle post that is great for tourists visiting the area, this blog posts gives visitors a glimpse into the winter lifestyle in Summit County, and Frisco in particular. Imagine That had just completed a new website design for Abbey’s Coffee and happened to run into Boston culinary star, Chef Todd Hall, trying to soak in the rays surrounded by mounds of snow. Hall was able to put the snow drifts out of his mind, if only for just a few minutes, on Abbey’s outdoor patio.

10. The Importance of Keywords in SEO

Back to digital marketing, and search engine optimization (SEO) in particular, this posts reaffirms the importance of finding the right keywords for your SEO plan to be successful. We explain what keywords are, how to target the correct ones, and what to do with them. Since SEO is a major part of what Imagine That does for its clients, we are certainly happy that at least one of these posts made the top ten.

Conclusion

Digital marketing is an ever-changing business, and from year to year there are a multitude of changes and trends that digital marketers must keep on top of. 2014 saw its share of this, and we don’t’ expect 2015 to be any different. Hopefully the above list will help you get a head start on your marketing strategies for this coming year. Look for more of the same in 2015, and here’s to a very prosperous New Year from Imagine That!

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