Thinking outside the box is an overly used term in the marketing world. Truly extraordinary creative ideas are dubbed as being ‘outside the box.’ But what if I told you that you could be more creative if you think inside the box? It’s crazy, but true. There are books and concepts, such as Systematic Inventive Thinking, that pay homage to thinking inside the box to promote creativity and innovation.

So, what exactly is thinking inside the box and how can constraints make you more creative? Below are a few principles, examples, and tools to help you get started. …

 

If you’re interested enough to read this article, you already know what JSON is. It’s been around for about 20 years now, but one thing you may be surprised to hear about is that it wasn’t standardized until 2013. [Mind blown]. It was a well-established format that was widely used for years leading up to it, so, who knew? Any API worth its salt will give you the option of returning your data in JSON, in fact, it’s been the de facto data format for RESTFUL services for as long as I care to remember. Who wants to work…

 

Even with approximately one billion people worldwide living with a disability, most websites and other digital platforms are inaccessible, making them difficult or nearly impossible for users with disabilities to use. Designing with an accessibility-first approach has the potential to benefit not only users with disabilities, but all stakeholders because accessible design typically results in an improved user experience overall.

The most obvious benefit of web accessibility is that it helps people with disabilities enjoy your website’s content, products, and services. However, the advantages of web accessibility…

 
Many brands ignore their About page, opting to simply copy and paste their company boilerplate and move on. But, this oversight ignores the power of the About page when it comes to persuading a user to move through the sales funnel. In crowded industries where differentiation is key, a strong About page can be the difference between a sale and a lost lead. In a world where 52% of users choose to visit the About page after the homepage, it’s more important than ever to make sure your About page exceeds expectations.
 
We all know Google has developed several automated bidding tools and strategies, but how do you know which one to use and which one will work for you? Do you have campaigns where you’re concerned you’re not bidding high enough on specific keywords to compete in search auctions? Maybe you think you’re bidding too high and attracting low converting traffic or that you have campaigns where the daily budget is being under-utilized. Maybe you find yourself constantly going into high performing, stable campaigns to make a few bidding tweaks here and there.
 
The foundation of every successful paid search campaign, whether it is on Google Ads or Microsoft Ads, is its selection of keywords. Paid search after all, is designed to make your ad appear when users of Google or Bing are searching for something that is highly relevant to the services or goods that you want to sell them. This brings up an important distinction. When a user types something into a search engine like Google or Bing, what they are typing isn’t a keyword. In technical parlance, they actually type what are known as “search terms” or a “search query.” But, that’s where paid search keywords come in. Keywords are designed to “match” what the user is looking for when they type their search terms. Making a distinction between the two may seem a bit persnickety, but it will enable us to talk about the topic with greater precision.
 
We live in a world where customers and their experience interacting with your business is becoming more and more of a priority. Of course, business goals are always important, but you can’t forget about what fuels your business – customers investing in your product or service. It can be difficult to find the balance of weighing out your business goals and user experience goals, but in reality, they can be equal to each other; and it’s important to understand the relationship between the two. In this article, we’ll cover how your business strategy is related to the user experience surrounding your product/service, how to create alignment and a strategic plan, and how to execute quality work in a low-risk way.
 

Digital Velocity is a conference with guest speakers and discussions on best uses and case studies on Tealium. As a Tealium Preferred Agency Partner, originally, members of the Zion & Zion media team were to travel to San Diego to participate in this three-day conference, which included lectures and training sessions, keynote speakers, and networking events with other Tealium Certified Users across the country. Due to the current world circumstances, instead we were able to attend virtually. Instead of three days, the Digital Velocity conference was shortened into one jam-packed day. Each session was 30 minutes long and covered specific…