In a cut-throat world where everyone is competing on price, businesses are seeking strategies to differentiate their products, services and solutions. At the heart of nearly all differentiation strategies are techniques for enhancing the overall customer experience. By improving the customer experience, organizations hope to increase customer satisfaction and boost loyalty. This should help generate more customer advocates who can spread awareness and send their business referrals. It can also create points of differentiation that will help you fight off competitors and win new business.

The evidence is clear. Your audience conducts research online to self-educate and formulate purchasing decisions — and when buyers contemplate a purchase, they are likely to visit your website. It’s the inflection point for business in today’s online world. The best web design strategy must connect with your target audience at this point of need. Foregoing a website investment puts your business at risk.

Marketing automation continues to evolve, and it is becoming increasingly popular among businesses of all sizes. Marketing automation refers to technological platforms that enable marketers to more effectively deliver content to multiple media channels and automate as many tasks as possible. During 2016, marketing personnel will be more accountable than ever for generating sales results. This level of accountability involves deploying technological platforms that engage with old and new customers to increase lead generation and inbound traffic.

If you are producing any kind of marketing material, whether print or digital, you know the power of video. Are you ready to explore the possibilities? Here are four tips:

Distributors have been branching into digital marketing for a while now. As part of their reinventions, some have hired developers, designers and other staff more traditionally associated with marketing agencies. Others sell digital marketing services and then subcontract the work to firms with those capabilities.