Agency Blog

As the year 2021 draws to a close, the world has been upended once more by yet another variant of the COVID-19 coronavirus, named Omicron. How will this impact merchants, shops, and businesses—particularly with the holiday shopping season in full swing?

Small Business Saturday—taking place this year on November 27^th—champions local stores, shops, and merchants. As many small businesses are still coming back in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, they should make the most of showcasing what they have to offer to their neighboring customers. If you own a small business—and you accept American Express®—discover the resources you can use to stand out—so that your neighbors will walk in.

If you own a store, shop, restaurant, or any other enterprise, you’ve likely used—and benefited—from Google My Business to make your presence known to anyone searching for what you have to offer. Well, prepare for a change. Google My Business is going away, to be replaced by Google Business Profile. What is this all about, and what does it mean to you and all other business owners?

What brand or business couldn’t use a new and fresh way to connect with customers who are shopping for the holidays? The answer to that question is TikTok, the breakout social media sensation of the last few years. If you’ve been promoting what your business has to offer for the holidays on social media, you should make room for TikTok.

In any online space—from e-commerce sites to social media—the focus is to provide a convenient and seamless user experience. A recent case in point: Instagram. This visual-centric platform is in the process of improving its video capabilities as a way to attract customers by making it easier and more accessible to post moving pictures to its platform.

Mark Zuckerberg announced his vision for the “Metaverse” at Facebook Connect this week, announcing that Facebook (the company, not the app) is changing its name to “Meta” in order to reflect its new focus.

You’ve more than likely heard the belief that once something is posted to the Internet, it’s there forever. This may be true, but it is also a major mistake for the powers that be at any brand or business to assume that once a website is built, it can take care of itself. Websites that go untended and neglected are at risk of what is known as “link rot.” What is link rot, and why is it a concern?

Customer privacy is the initiative of the moment for big tech, especially Apple. With every iOS update, there’s a new implication in regard to customer privacy—but a bigger implication to the marketing ecosystem.

Last week, the Facebook outage, compounded by the Congressional testimony of that platform’s former employee, Frances Haugen, topped the news for several days. The ripple effects, however, may last for some time—particularly for small businesses that advertise on Facebook, not to mention its “family” of platforms that include Instagram.

The world stopped for many earlier in the week. As Facebook and a number of other social media platforms went into the dark, light was shone on questions about everything from corporate intrigue to social responsibility.