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Birmingham, MI 48009

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SmartFinds is a web-marketing agency with over 20+ years experience in the Internet industry. As a full service, broad competency and experience agency we are able to become our client’s strategic partner managing all aspects of the digital presence, technologies and vendors.
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Smartfinds Internet Marketing educational topics and information coming from over 20 years of experience. These experiences in advertising, marketing, and Internet have helped to share our knowledge. We invite you to read through the educational marketing articles in our website’s category we have written.

Digital marketing requires ongoing management of the web presence of a business website. Understanding how to manage the various digital marketing segments is what we do best.

SmartFinds Digital Marketing Process

SmartFinds Marketing is a digital marketing agency helping clients to understand their marketing programs. Managing the digital marketing world is an on-going process. This process requires understanding the industry changes.

Our marketing team manages the strategic execution of the digital marketing process. The process requires early adoption of new ideas and technologies.

SmartFinds focuses on the 3 A’s of Digital Marketing we have developed.

  • Accept Changes
  • Adapt to Changes
  • Adopt Changes

SmartFinds Inbound Marketing Process

Our energy and our ability to deliver sound strategies for our clients are directly tied to our entrepreneurial culture. We thrive on wit and passion for what we do. Our team is collectively involved in our leadership style of serving our teams, our employees, our partners and our clients.

Managing your website’s marketability, tackling social media marketing, and interpreting Google Analytics is only a few of the digital marketing management areas we support your business.

Our trusted years of experience in advertising and marketing solutions date back to 1987 and the Internet since 1994. Since the early days of the industry, we traversed the Internet to gain knowledge, expertise, and the imagination to apply the Internet’s resources to your business needs.

As your digital marketing agency, we develop strategies for sales, sales leads and sales support. As your partner, we research, develop a plan and manage the digital marketing execution. Digital marketing is an intricate process and we help you interpret and understand the results every step of the way.

Creative strategies. Innovative ideas. Use the full power of the Internet with us!

Powerful Social Media Marketing Nurturing Gets You More Results

A noticeable change in social media marketing is the overuse of automation tools like Hootsuite or SocialOoomph. Businesses have turned social media automation into something that seems to resemble broadcast radio. Posting large volumes of tweets and updates happen fast with automation tools. Now imagine every business, regardless of their industry, doing the exact same thing. Automated postings have inundated social communities to a point that no one is listening anymore. Unfortunately, businesses have overused social media automation tools to be the end of their marketing efforts. They are seeking efficient (not necessarily effective) ways of getting their message out, in a fast manner, and do so at a low cost. Low cost to these businesses includes low to no labor. Of course, these quick tactics are not effective and do more harm than good. The question we have to ask ourselves is how effective is broadcasting your message in bulk? How effective is it to wait for people to come to you? With every business broadcasting to the social communities, how likely is it for someone to listen on the other end? It is more likely people have become numb to the broadcasts and do not even recognize there [...]

By | 2017-01-01T11:22:59+00:00 November 5th, 2016|Articles, Content Marketing, Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, LinkedIn Marketing, Marketing, Smartfinds, Social Media Marketing|Comments Off on Powerful Social Media Marketing Nurturing Gets You More Results
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Digital Marketing Contract Your Business has With the Internet

A prospect recently asked what type of agreement our digital marketing agency uses for web marketing projects. My response was not expected in this phone conversation. I explained to the prospect our agreement with them was less of a concern. The real agreement they should be asking about is the one they have with the Internet. As you can imagine there was a pause in the conversation. What agreement with the Internet? The individual I was speaking to is a baby boomer like me. As we've learned about my generation, the perspective of web marketing is not what it should be for the present day. Rather their understanding relates better to traditional advertising channels like print, radio, and TV. Meaning the term marketing and advertising are identical to this generation. Traditional media is only about advertising. Marketing activities the Internet medium has opened up is not familiar to this generation. We do need to acknowledge, this generation has the authority and responsibility of marketing budgets. At the same time, we have a new marketing medium this generation does not understand well. Thus, they like to have short start and stop points in the form of campaigns. This generation has a [...]

By | 2017-01-01T11:23:04+00:00 October 14th, 2016|Articles, Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, Marketing, Smartfinds|Comments Off on Digital Marketing Contract Your Business has With the Internet
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3 Important LinkedIn Tools Your E-Commerce Business Needs

If you think LinkedIn Tools is only for business-to-business networking then you need to get better acquainted with LinkedIn for e-commerce. There is more to LinkedIn than resumes and people seeking for jobs. Granted LinkedIn isn't necessarily about direct sales. Consider expanding your network, opening up new opportunities and letting Google gather more information about the products on your e-commerce website. Let’s start with the basics. LinkedIn (NYSE: LNKD) operates the world’s largest professional business network with more than 450 million members in over 200 countries. Professional people are joining LinkedIn at a rate of more than two new members per second. Sometimes we need to overcome old information and adjust our perspectives in order to understand if new developments can benefit us. In the past couple of years, LinkedIn Tools have enhanced the services available to companies and members. These LinkedIn Tools include integration of Sales Navigator, Slideshare, Learning for skills, and Talent Solutions for companies. Understanding How To Use LinkedIn Tools For Your LinkedIn Company Page Your LinkedIn Company page raises brand awareness, provides updates about your company, promotes career opportunities in your company; educate potential customers on your products and services. Additional information includes links to your [...]

By | 2017-01-01T11:23:05+00:00 October 11th, 2016|Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, LinkedIn Marketing, Marketing, Practical Ecommerce, Smartfinds|Comments Off on 3 Important LinkedIn Tools Your E-Commerce Business Needs
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Google’s Penguin Algorithm With New Real-Time Results Now Released

It has been two years since Google updated the Penguin algorithm. The most significant change is Penguin runs in real-time, meaning the algorithm is no longer an add-on. Penguin will make decisions at the time of a search. This, also, means the Penguin algorithm no longer will receive updates, as it is part of Google’s core algorithm. August and September months have historically been when Google makes these changes impacting the search engine ranking positions (SERP) of websites. Including Penguin into the core algorithm, means the changes will happen immediately. You’ll know if you’ve been affected…NOW! Understanding The Google Penguin Algorithm? Google Penguin was a filter to run as part of Google’s ranking algorithm. Penguin was introduced in April 2012 designed at decreasing the SERP of websites using spamming techniques. These methods violate Google's Webmaster Guidelines with gimmicks like manipulating the links and volume of links pointing to a web page. "Steps To A Google Friendly Site" gives good points to staying on Google’s good side and staying out of black-hat SEO tactics. Google;s Announcement Of The Penguin Algorithm 4.0 "Penguin is now part of our core algorithm" is the headline on Google's Webmaster Central Blog. Here is the most [...]

By | 2017-01-01T11:23:09+00:00 September 27th, 2016|Articles, Digital Marketing, Internet Marketing, Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engines, SEO, Smartfinds|Comments Off on Google’s Penguin Algorithm With New Real-Time Results Now Released
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You Can’t Miss The GUESS Brand In Ariana Grande’s New Video

Ariana Grande has a new video on the market titled "Side To Side". It is not hard to miss the video's sponsorship by GUESS. Video sponsorships are not new in the marketing industry. The question is why sponsorships are on the rise? The other question is why is digital advertising not as effective. I don’t think there is any question digital advertising has seen a reduction in effectiveness. The cause is a combination of immunity to banners, lack of trust about the ads, and saturation of ads everywhere. The Meeker 2016 Internet Trends Report shows an increase in advertising spend. Unfortunately, there is an alarming rise in ad blockers at a faster rate than the advertising spend. Based on these changes, advertisers need to find new sources to raise brand awareness. Brands are always looking to overcome these challenges by considering many different digital marketing channels. This includes areas advertisers and media buyers are not used to spending ad budgets. This is because the return on investment may not be as fast as they would like. A part of the new sponsorship areas include native advertising in content marketing areas. You can find native advertising with sponsored content in the [...]

By | 2017-01-01T11:23:13+00:00 September 12th, 2016|Articles, Internet Advertising, Internet Marketing, Marketing, New Media, Smartfinds|Comments Off on You Can’t Miss The GUESS Brand In Ariana Grande’s New Video
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How Will You Market Yourself For A Career Change Later In Life

Market yourself in the digital world has changed for everyone. Understanding your personal brand and how to present yourself goes well beyond a basic resume. Recently James Martin quoted our CEO, Melih Oztalay, in an article for the AARP’s Life Reimagined. As a digital marketing entrepreneur, digital industry author, and industry guest speaker Oztalay was thankful. Needless to say, we couldn’t help but wonder what is as Life Reimagined by the AARP! Life Reimagined and the AARP Taking parts of the AARP and the Life Reimagine Institute websites, here is a quick explanation about their efforts. “Life Reimagined was launched by AARP in 2014 as a personal guidance system to help people navigate transitions, pursue their goals, dreams, and purpose in life. The Life Reimagined Institute brings together the world's leading experts in personal development, aging, transitions, and reimagining life. These advisors help develop the groundbreaking Life Reimagined programs, services, content, tools, and innovations that have helped countless individuals reignite their sense of purpose.” To put this in different terms. As we age and live longer, we can continue to matter, contribute to society and be successful. Our needs have changed, our life experiences change our perspectives, and perhaps we [...]

By | 2017-01-01T11:23:14+00:00 September 8th, 2016|Articles, Education and Learning, Internet Marketing, LinkedIn Marketing, Marketing, Smartfinds|Comments Off on How Will You Market Yourself For A Career Change Later In Life
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Will You Use LinkedIn Hashtags For Business Marketing?

LinkedIn Hashtags! The buzz in the digital marketing industry is about LinkedIn announcing they now will support hashtags in Posts! Ok, so, the truth is they are going to support hashtags, again. This will change how businesses can get their message out in a powerful way. LinkedIn members will now have the ability to search content within LinkedIn giving 450 million people the ability to share topics, thoughts, expertise related to the world of business. Millions of professionals use LinkedIn to share their knowledge, expertise, and experiences across different industries and topics from all over the world. LinkedIn hashtags from LinkedIn posts will give you the ability to tap into this knowledge at your fingertips using your mobile device. LinkedIn's new content search on the LinkedIn mobile app will allow mobile users to click a hashtag to search a topic. This will give them the opportunity to find relevant articles published on LinkedIn Posts LinkedIn Hashtags For Mobile Devices At the moment the functionality is only available for mobile devices and in English. LinkedIn does plan on expanding the functionality across the globe. If you’re on your desktop device and see a hashtag you cannot click it. While this limiting [...]

By | 2017-01-01T11:23:17+00:00 August 27th, 2016|LinkedIn Marketing, Marketing, Smartfinds, Social Media Marketing|Comments Off on Will You Use LinkedIn Hashtags For Business Marketing?
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Courageous Persuaders is Your Chance to Win Scholarship Awards and Make a Positive Impact on Young Minds

TROY, MI, Feb 2, 2016 – The Detroit Auto Dealers Association (DADA) Education Foundation reminds students that the deadline for entry into the Courageous Persuaders video competition is almost here. The deadline for entry is February 11, 2016. Courageous Persuaders offers over $27,000 in scholarship awards. "The DADA, along with many important partners, strive to take an active role in our local communities by educating our youth on the dangers of underage drinking and distracted driving," said Ryan LaFontaine, DADA president. "The messages conveyed in the commercials these young adults create are truly very powerful." Courageous Persuaders is a competition-based scholarship program that invites high school students to create a 30-second commercial about the dangers of underage drinking. The commercials are targeted toward middle school-aged children, with the winning entries aired on television and via streaming video on www.CourageousPersuaders.com. The Michigan Department of State also shows the winning commercials in select Secretary of State (SOS) branch offices. The winners will be announced at a gala Awards Celebration to be held in May. The Courageous Persuaders program was created in 2000 by the late Oakland County District Judge Michael A. Martone and John Barczyk, a retired local McCann-Erickson advertising executive. In [...]

By | 2017-01-01T11:24:48+00:00 February 2nd, 2016|Education and Learning, News and Events, Smartfinds|Comments Off on Courageous Persuaders is Your Chance to Win Scholarship Awards and Make a Positive Impact on Young Minds
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Powerful Four E’s Of Business Social Media Marketing Strategies

Social media marketing for businesses changes daily and is no different to many of the changes occurring in various web marketing channels. Businesses need to change with the times in order to make their marketing communications effectively. Social communities are being inundated with postings from businesses and many of them through marketing automation services. The question is anyone listening anymore? If there is any listening going on, is anyone engaging in a conversation? Big brands may not have this problem, however, the average business spending time and money in social media marketing needs to find ways to make this marketing process more effective. Time has come to stand out from the noise and change how social media marketing is executed. The changes will come in two distinctive areas. The first will be what is being posted and how to prepare the strategy. The second will come in the form of nurturing your social community presences. Understanding The Four E’s Of Social Media Marketing These four E’s can help guide your social community posting to build interactions, discussions and engagement. 1. Educate When posting to social networks it can be difficult to know what to post, or what content is of [...]

By | 2017-04-29T05:05:40+00:00 April 21st, 2015|Articles, Content Marketing, Internet Marketing, Marketing, New Media, Smartfinds, Social Media Marketing|Comments Off on Powerful Four E’s Of Business Social Media Marketing Strategies
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Google’s SSL Security Algorithm Will Affect Your Website’s Ranking

Google announced in August 2014 ranking websites in the organic search results was going to include if the website was using an SSL certificate for the entire website. This would mean using a SSL 2048-bit key certificate (preferably using SHA-2) and provide a small ranking benefit. Google did mention the algorithm change would carry “less weight than other signals such as high-quality content.” While this may carry less weight in improving the ranking position of a web page, what do you think the algorithm will do if your website is not using an SSL certificate? After all Google added they “may decide to strengthen” the signal because they want to “encourage all website owners to switch from HTTP to HTTPS to keep everyone safe on the web.” At Google’s 2014 I/O Conference one of their sessions was named “HTTPS Everywhere”. The concept is if all legitimate business websites implemented an SSL certificate the Internet would be more secure. The concept certainly has merit because in order to implement an SSL certificate your business has to disclose its information. Spam and fraud websites certainly are less likely to decide having an SSL certificate on their website under these circumstances. The last [...]

By | 2017-01-01T11:26:25+00:00 March 1st, 2015|Articles, Internet Marketing, Marketing, Search Engines, SEO, Smartfinds, Website Development|Comments Off on Google’s SSL Security Algorithm Will Affect Your Website’s Ranking
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