Your 10 Favorite Topics This Month (August 2013)

Ah, yes, it’s that time again. Every month, I round-up your favorite posts from the previous month in case you missed one. Without further ado, here’s the list:

1. The most popular post in August, by far, was my look at why search isn’t about search any longer.
2. Another biggie was this Travel Tuesday post, examining why travel distribution is getting really interesting along with another Travel Tuesday post asking whether mobile should be more than last-minute.
3. August was a big news month. Steve Ballmer announced his retirement from Microsoft. Expedia bought Travelocity. I took a vacation. Well, maybe that last one wasn’t such a big deal. But the others caused me to explore The More Things Change…. And I followed that up with an episode of our Thinks Out Loud podcast which talked about how your digital strategy needs to account for change.
4. Actually, another actual news story was a mistake. A number of outlets reported Facebook was going to offer a mobile payment platform. They’re not. But what they are offering is far more interesting.
5. It must have seemed like I did a two-parter of Thinks Out Loud with episodes 38 and 39, “E-commerce? Retail? It’s Just Shopping” and “Why E-commerce Keeps Growing. And Why it Still Will.”
6. Speaking of e-commerce, I recapped the news that e-commerce grew 16% YOY, M-commerce 24%, and what those numbers mean to your business.
7. Guest blogger Susan Payton offered up a fantastic list of tools called “Free and Easy: The Beginner’s Small Business Toolkit.”
8. I dug into what Google Maps’ In-line Ads mean to you in another popular post.
9. Something of a follow up to the first item on this list looked at the new ways consumers interact with computers, especially those without screens.
10. And, finally, another Thinks Out Loud episode proved popular. The topic: “The Web is Maturing. Shouldn’t Your Digital Marketing?”

Interested in learning more about the future of marketing in a multiscreen world? Register to receive a special report I’ve produced in conjunction with hotel marketing firm Vizergy, “Digital Hotel Marketing in a Multiscreen World.” While it’s targeted specifically at hotel and resort marketers, the lessons apply to just about any business. You can get your free copy of the report here.

And, if all that’s not enough, you might also enjoy some of our past coverage of the social, local, mobile web and what it means for your business, including:

• Today and Tomorrow: Mobile and the Changing Customer Journey
• What’s the Future of E-commerce? Look to the Past to Find Out
• How to Get In Your Customers’ Pants… Pocket
• Kiss Your Current Conversion Rate Goodbye (Travel Tuesday)
• What Watson, Xbox, and Google Are Telling You Right Now (Travel Tuesday)
• Thinks Out Loud Episode 28: Say “Hi” to Conversational Search