There are three things that define millennials. The most obvious one is that they are the generation born between 1980 and 2000. Keeping with the obvious stuff, the second one is that they LOVE technology in all of its forms. The third one isn’t a secret, really, but big companies are perhaps the only ones that have understood it and taken advantage of it – millennials are incredible spenders.

A quick Google search should bring tons of articles taking about that last characteristic and how businesses can make the most out of it. Yet, even with that widespread attention, small businesses aren’t marketing to millennials at all. At least that’s what a recent survey conducted by Manta has revealed. According to it, only 15% of small businesses across all industries are marketing to millennials which, of course, means that most of them are missing out on perhaps the most important consumer demographic today.

Having influential people talk good stuff about your brand, company or service isn’t a new marketing strategy. We’ve seen actors, actresses, athletes, TV personalities and many other famous people speak on behalf of some product. The idea is obvious – the product wants to reach that famous person’s fanbase and appeals to his or her influence to do so. Basically, it’ trying to look cool just by hanging around the cool kids – being cool by association.

But with the Internet swooping into the marketing scene and changing everything forever, this kind of influence took an unexpected turn. Sure, famous people are still great to market product and services but the Web has empowered “regular” people to a point where they too can become influencers, albeit in the digital world. Thus, people with enough followers and leverage in social media are now being seen as key for marketing. That’s what influencer marketing is all about.

Does your site still has that Flash intro you devised to wow your visitors? Does it still have all kinds of tables and fonts all over the place? There are blocks of text in all of its pages? Then perhaps, my friend, you should consider tossing it out and starting a new one. A lot has changed in the Internet in recent years – and a lot  is still changing. And if you fail to adapt to the flow, you’ll definitely drown.

That’s why you should refresh your site once in a while to make it look modern, up to date and, of course, active. People won’t spend much time on your site if it looks like it was developed in 1999 or isn’t easy enough to navigate. So, if you feel like that’s your case, then it’s time for a major makeover. There are lots of things to consider when creating a new site for your small business but, to us, there are 3 crucial stages that will make or break your project.

Small businesses looking to get their marketing efforts in order surely have come across the harsh reality sooner rather than later – most of the time, you’ll have to spend money to get your strategy going. That’s what keeping many small companies back, since not many of them have their own budget exclusively for marketing. In fact, most of them surely work their campaigns with very few resources.

Money shouldn’t be an obstacle on your way up, nonetheless. You can always use your brains to make up for the lack of funding. It’s just a matter of putting your mind to work to come up with some ideas that can attract your audience – and keep it engaged. Can’t think of any? Here are some to get you started.

We’ve heard a lot about marketing automation in the first half of 2015. In fact, some are calling this the year of marketing automation, marking it as THE way to go for marketers everywhere. But even with all the talk that has been making the rounds about this trend, there are lots of people that are missing it out and are now asking what the heck everybody else is talking about.

Are you among them? Don’t sweat it. You still have time to catch on and reap all the benefits of marketing automation. But first things first – you have to learn the basics about it and understand how you can turn this automation in your favor. Thus, we’ve prepared a brief 5-question questionnaire that should solve any doubt you might have. You’re welcome!