Fair thee well, 2010. Another year of marketing blogging has come and gone, but not to be forgotten. Here’s a look back at the best of the The Marketing Spot blog in 2010, organized around the four essential spots of small business marketing, as illustrated by The Marketing Circle of Life. These were chosen the top posts of the year using a complicated and proprietary algorithm calculating four different factors (but mainly just popularity).
Overall, it was a good year for The Marketing Spot blog with traffic and visitor count up 28% over 2009. For the second year in a row, the most-viewed post overall was this one from 2009: The Basics of Marketing: What is a Brand?, with nearly 10% of all pageviews. Not surprising since it ranks at the top of Google’s search results for “What is a Brand?” But it is ineligible for this year’s honors because it was written in 2009. Now…on with the countdown!
BRANDING
1. What Makes a Brand Awesome? – What’s the difference between an ordinary brand and one that’s awesome? This article analyzes a local restaurant (with video) and identifies the factors of branding awesomeness.
2. Consensus is the Enemy of Branding – When it comes to branding, the only vote that counts is yours.
3. Want a fresh start? Reframe your business. – What to do when customers start losing interest and you feel like your business is going stale.
EXPERIENCE
1. What is Great Customer Service? – Courteous, prompt, eager? Nope. This article identifies what makes customer service great.
2. Loyalty Programs, Frequency Programs, and Cheese – Loyalty is an emotion, not a program. How businesses miss the mark with loyalty programs.
3. How to Make a Billion Dollars Through Marketing – Think it can’t be done? Then how do you explain what Tony Hsieh did with Zappo’s? Or better yet, let him explain it to you.
CONVERSATION
1. The Science and Art of Your Facebook Posting Strategy – The most popular post written on the blog this year. How to engage your Facebook page fans with a well-rounded status update strategy.
2. Keep On Blogging in the Face of a Social Media Wind – Don’t stop blogging! The long-term benefits are too important. Some resources to help you stay the course.
3. How to Get Fans for Your Facebook Business Page – Simple tactics to get more fans for your business Facebook page.
PROMOTION
1. 12 Exceptional WordPress Website Resources for Small Business – WordPress is the small business owner’s best friend. And here are 12 14 WordPress Resources to help you get to know your best friend.
2. What Should You do About Discount Pricing? – The best minds in marketing share their advice on how to handle discounts and pricing.
3. The Interruption Fallacy – Interrupting people with advertising is not always a bad thing. In fact, sometimes people are glad you interrupted them.
FOUNDATIONS
This group of posts didn’t fit so neatly into any category, but readers made them some of the most popluar posts of the year.
1. Our Future Depends on A Culture of Entrepreneurship – My plea to revive the entrepreneurial spirit in America.
2. The Entrepreneur’s Soul – A simple post searching for the ingredients of an entrepreneur’s soul.
3. There is No Magic Marketing Formula – If you’re searching for a magic marketing results formula, your search will never end.
Thanks for part of The Marketing Spot Blog in 2010! Please stick around for new year of small business marketing advice and ideas. Look for a few changes in 2011.
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