Email marketing: it’s the overlooked darling of the marketing world. In addition to offering a higher ROI than virtually any other type of marketing (an average of $38 for every $1 spent), email is widely-used, beloved by customers, and ultra-effective for your business. Before you can dive in with email marketing, though, you need a well-developed email list. Building that, though, can be easier said than done. Here’s what you need to know:

Freelancers: they make the world go around when it comes to modern marketing. Over the last year, use of gig work platforms (like Upwork and Fiverr, for example) has grown by more than 30% in economies around the world. As if that weren’t enough, it’s now possible to find freelancers working in all industries, including finance, agriculture, education, transportation, marketing, and more. With this in mind, it’s clear why freelancers have become so popular. Freelancers provide an attractive “third option” for companies who need skilled workers but don’t want to hire full-time employees. If you’re new to hiring freelancers, though, the process can be a bit intimidating. How do you know you’ve found a good match? What if you choose the wrong person? What do you even look for, if you’re not hiring a traditional employee? In situations like this, knowing what to avoid is every bit as necessary and knowing what you want in a freelancer. That said, here’s our top list of red flags to avoid at all costs with your next freelancer.

Video content marketing. Old hat, right? Boring, useless, not the slightest bit engaging, and definitely totally without value for your customers. Ask anyone, and they’ll tell you that you only engage in video content if you want people to notice you. And who wants that, right? Don’t worry, though. We’re here to save you. Here are the top reasons to avoid video content marketing this year:

It’s every marketer’s worst nightmare: Churn. It’s what happens when customers, who are notoriously fickle with their loyalties, come to a company, only to leave eventually for your competitor. If you’ve experienced this, it’s probably not specifically about your company. Every company experiences churn. Customers are easy to lose, and that’s just a fact of marketing. Today, experts estimate that out of 26 unhappy customers , only one will complain directly to your company. The rest will simply leave. This may lead you to wonder what you’re doing wrong, why your customers are leaving for your competition, and how you can improve your level of customer service. If you’re asking these questions, you’re not alone. This post is designed to help you understand how to retain customers, why they leave, and what you can do to stop at the whole churn cycle.

Your Facebook page: it’s your company’s digital doorstep. Whether you’re setting up a new home page for your brand or trying to ensure that your existing one is as good as possible, you know that quality is everything, and it’s essential to ensure your page reflects your business to its absolute best. The question, then, is how? Remembering that Facebook sees nearly 2 billion monthly active users, you know that it’s essential to put your best digital foot forward and ensure that your customers are getting what they need from your page. To put this another way, if your Facebook page isn’t displaying a comprehensive strategy designed to get you liked, noticed, engaged with, and followed, you’re missing out. Here’s what you need to know about creating a professional, high-quality Facebook page:

Did you know that Halloween is currently worth more than $9 billion annually? Today, customers are spending more money than they ever have before on all things Halloween. This includes Halloween costumes, decorations, candy, and events. Because of this, you can’t afford to miss out on everything this exciting holiday has to offer. Even if you don’t exactly sell plastic cobwebs or fake zombies, Halloween can represent a real opportunity for your brand and your bottom line. Here’s what you need to know about how you can make the holiday work for you:

Once upon a time, companies only had to worry about responding to the needs and desires of shareholders. Times have changed. Today, customers expect more of companies than ever before, and they want to know that the brands they work with are supporting causes and missions that are important to them. To this end, modern customers tend to support companies who are involved in their local communities. That, then, begs the following question: what does it mean to be involved in your local community? The answer, of course, is varied. Being involved in the local community can mean anything from sponsoring local 5Ks to volunteering for causes and hosting outreach booths at related organizations and companies. If you’re interested in driving more business and expanding your reach, here’s what you need to know about getting (and staying) involved in your local community.

Today, social media is synonymous with online marketing. If you’re looking for a way to improve your brand’s online presence and encourage more people to interact with your company, engaging on social media is one of the best things you can do. It’s also important to remember, though, that social media is a very crowded field, and standing out requires getting creative. The more you can set yourself apart from the competition, the better you’ll fare. One of the best ways to do this is simple: brand your images on social media. Here’s what you need to know about this straightforward approach, and how doing it can improve your efforts, both now and in the future.

Building a website for your business is a great way to attract new customers and keep in touch with old ones. What many business owners miss, though, is that customers expect certain things from your website. This is not a one-way relationship. If you’re going to build a website, you need to ensure that it offers the things that your customers expect to find. Here’s an overview of the top five things customers want to see on your website and will leave if they can’t.