I’m usually pretty irritated when I’m watching something and a pop-up blocks my view. I try to hit that x like I’m playing whack-a-mole. But when I’m scrolling through social media and see something that tells a story or makes me laugh, I’ll stop and watch no matter who posted the content — a person or a brand.

The first time I managed a marketing budget, I was handed a dollar figure and asked to accomplish X, Y, and Z with it. The following year, I was asked to do more with a slightly smaller budget. Sound familiar?

In my agency days, I once woke up at 5:00 am to meet a TV host at my client’s donut shop for a behind-the-scenes first look at their pumpkin-spiced lattes and donuts. (In Indiana, we love our donuts.)
The TV coverage was great, but you know what made an even bigger impact? The Instagram stories the media personality shared.

I recently ordered a swimsuit online to get ready for a beach vacation. Choosing between hundreds of swimsuit styles after months in sweats is overwhelming, so I breathed an audible sigh of relief when I saw the order confirmation in my inbox.

Dear Sir/Madam: If your inbox is like mine, it’s full of emails that sound like either a nineteenth-century love letter or a text message from a teenager.

If I reach the footer of an email in my inbox, it usually means one of two things: 1) The email was so engaging I read all the way to the end (that’s rare), or 2) I scrolled down to unsubscribe.

In the fiercely competitive landscape of online lifestyle and e-commerce brands, where promoting numerous products puts you in direct competition with retail giants like Amazon and Walmart, small businesses often face a daunting challenge.