10 Things You Need to Know: 10 Top E-commerce and Marketing Strategy Posts (February 2014)

Keeping up with everything that’s going on in e-commerce and internet marketing every day is next to impossible. No matter how many blogs you try to read, how many emails your review, or how many conversations you have, it’s inevitable something will slip through the cracks.

To help you keep on top of all the changes in e-commerce and internet marketing, here are the top 10 posts your fellow Big Thinkers found most valuable over the last month:

1. Mobile continues to grow at ridiculous rates. No, really, really ridiculous. As this post, Holy Crap! Mobile’s Even Bigger Than You Thought, notes, major brands see greater growth from mobile today than they saw from desktop e-commerce a decade ago. And don’t let the “Travel Tuesday” fool you; the same changes are happening across most verticals.
2. Many companies have turned to guest blogging as a cornerstone of their link-building activities. But with Google’s recent statements about the value these tactics offer, it seemed like a good time to ask “Is Guest Blogging Dead?” The simple answer is “no,” but this complex topic is worth a longer look. Check out the whole post for more.
3. User-generated content, ratings and reviews represent another topic making significant waves lately. Which is what led me to ask “Will Review Sites Be the Death of Brands?”
4. Improving your customer’s online experience remains huge to your overall business success. The most important question you can ask to improve that experience is the subject of this next post, “What Makes You Think Your Customers Care About You?”
5. I may have mentioned mobile’s importance a time or fifty. Curious as to the reasons why? Then check out this post, “It’s Time You Take Mobile Seriously. Here’s Why.”
6. Keeping up with all the changes in digital marketing and e-commerce is rarely easy. But these 42 essential blogs and news sources I read religiously not only offers a helpful list of content, but a process for managing the volume, too. Worth checking out when you get a chance.
7. I had the pleasure of moderating a panel at HSMAI’s Digital Marketing Strategy Conference a few weeks ago and shared 10 essential digital marketing strategy lessons from the event.
8. If you’re not into reading, check out the two most popular Thinks Out Loud podcast episodes from last month, “Why Friction-Free E-commerce Matters” and “What Internet Marketing Strategy Isn’t.”
9. Responsive web design plays a huge role for many businesses as part of their mobile strategy. The key question though is “Is Responsive Web Design Right for Your Brand?”
10. Finally, if you’re conducting any social marketing and find yourself asking “where are the sales?” you owe it to yourself to take a look at this post, “Why Doesn’t Social Shopping Work?”

I’d also recommend you take a look at my slides for “Digital Marketing Directions: Three Trends Shaping 2014 Internet Marketing” on Slideshare. Not only was it the most popular presentation there this month, but it fleshes out many of the topics in this month’s top posts:

You can also register to receive a free copy of my special report, “Digital Hotel Marketing in a Multiscreen World,” produced in conjunction with Vizergy, here. While it’s targeted to the hospitality industry specifically, most of the lessons apply across verticals.

Finally, you might also enjoy some of our past coverage of the social, local, mobile web and what it means for your business, including:

• What Your Customers Expect from Mobile and E-commerce in 2014.
• The Secrets Behind “It’s All E-commerce” for 2014
• Should Marketers Really Trust Google in 2014?
• The Zen of Digital Marketing Strategy
• 7 Steps to E-Commerce Heaven
• Today and Tomorrow: Mobile and The Changing Customer Journey
• Mobile Makes E-commerce Even More “Frictionless”
• Your 2014 Internet Marketing New Year’s Resolutions – Thinks Out Loud Episode 56