A Dozen Don’t-Miss Digital Strategy Posts: E-commerce Link Digest

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Howdy, Big Thinkers! Had a good week? I sure have. Even better, we’ve got a long holiday weekend to look forward to. But, so you can make the most of your time away from the office, you must check out these dozen don’t-miss digital strategy posts we’ve rounded-up for you. Enjoy:

1. The biggest news of the week came from the EU ruling Google a.) a monopoly in “general internet search” and b.) illegally leveraging that monopoly to hurt competition. The result? A record $2.7 billion fine. But thinking about the ruling solely in terms of the dollar amount misses the point. What is the point? Our own Tim Peter asked that very question in “OK, Google, After the EU Fine, is Google OK?” the latest episode of Thinks Out Loud.
2. If you’re looking for lots to read this holiday weekend, this post, “How Can You Succeed at Digital Marketing Next Year? 17 Great Posts Offer Answers” should keep you plenty busy — and up to date too.
3. Brand Quarterly suggests that when it comes to “Forging Brand Loyalty: Data Is The Key.”
4. Sticking with data for a moment, another great Thinks Out Loud episode looks at “Why Data Matters for Marketers.”
5. Marketing Charts highlights data showing that “Marketing Technologies Abundant; AI Use to Rise” among marketers worldwide. Probably worth considering for your brand, too.
6. Search Engine Watch explores “Marketing With Intent: the Combined Power of SEO and Content.”
7. On a highly-related note, Econsultancy looks at “Four Brands Pushing the Boundaries of Content Strategy.”
8. Clearly, content marketing is topic near and dear to our hearts around here as evidenced in this Thinks Out Loud episode, “Content is King, Customer Experience is Queen.”
9. Axios uncovers unbelievable research showing “People Will Spend 3.5 Trillion Hours on Mobile Apps By 2021.” I don’t know about you, but that seems significant, no?
10. In other news, you’ll want to give a listen to this recent Thinks Out Loud episode, “Amazon Goes Grocery Shopping” when you have a moment to learn all about why Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods matters for your business.
11. CMO.com rounded-up a set of “7 Digital Trends That Will Change Business Forever” that are worth your time.
12. And, finally, we’ll echo CMO.com’s thoughts with a set of “6 Posts Featuring Fantastic Future Digital Marketing Trends” for you.

You might also want to check out these slides I had the pleasure of presenting recently about the key trends shaping marketing in the next year. Here are the slides for your reference:

Finally, you might enjoy some of these past posts from Thinks to help you build your e-commerce strategy and your digital success:

• 6 Mobile Commerce and Strategy Insights: E-commerce Link Digest
• Content is Still the King
• The Digital Strategy Myth
• Why Mobile Payments Will Rule
• Driving Seamless Experiences in 2016 (Thinks Out Loud Episode 149)
• Mobile is So Much Bigger Than You Think (Thinks Out Loud Episode 140)
• It’s Not “Mobile First.” It’s “Customer First.”
• 8 Killer Entries About Improving E-commerce Experience: E-commerce Link Digest