You may be feeling the heat of uncertainty about website and mobile app accessibility after a recent court case regarding ADA and digital assets was in front of the US Supreme Court. But don’t sweat it. We’re working closely with our friends at fjorge Digital, one of our dev teams, to stay up-to-date and keep you informed. This week on Brain Lava, Joe Barsness of fjorge Digital joins us to explain the slightly confusing WCAG, share best practices and give us some tools for helping determine the accessibility of your website. READ MORE >>
It was a big decision for us last month. Our August e-newsletter got delayed because we, like many of you, often push deadlines on our own marketing to make room for client projects. So, there we were — Friday, August 30th in the ODEA office. And not just any Friday… this was the Friday afternoon before Labor Day Weekend. We had a decision to make: To Send Or Not To Send. That was our question. We had two options: send out the monthly e-newsletter then and there, despite the fact that most of you were already on weekend mode, OR READ MORE >>
We all know our methods of communication have been wildly altered by technology. Friends catch up through Facebook Messenger instead of over coffee, co-workers give updates through Slack, and international friends chat through WhatsApp to avoid hefty text messaging fees. One of the reasons these channels are so popular is because they are instantaneous and accommodate every consumer’s deepest desire: they want what they want, and they want it NOW! Efficiency is key nowadays. If you can’t cater to your audience fast enough, someone else will. Smart businesses are quickly realizing this and relying on the power of live chat READ MORE >>
We love podcasts! So much that we decided to start our own. At ODEA, we like to think of podcasts as content of the future. They’re a fun, fresh way to get your message out to your audience. And when it comes to starting one, we’re always on #TeamPodcast! Recently, we came across a few podcast statistics included in the Infinite Dial Study conducted by Edison Research. The study found that in 2018, 26% of Americans listened to podcasts monthly. And that number is up from 24% in 2017. That’s a lot of tuning in! In 2018, six million more READ MORE >>
Why we edit a lot more than just our writing In our biz, we’re constantly editing. Be a new blog we just wrote, a podcast that we recorded, a video for a social post for a client… the list goes on. But the toughest edits we tackle often don’t involve content at all. On this week’s episode of Brain Lava, Chief ODEA-ite, Patty Rioux, explains why editing is important not just in your marketing but for your business. Whether you consider yourself an entrepreneur, a business owner or a marketer, your mind is constantly on the ‘innovate’ setting. We’re sharing READ MORE >>
A content management system (CMS) is the engine that drives your website. In our latest edition of Brain Lava, Emil and Patty take a peek under the hood at two types of content management systems – open source vs. proprietary. To put it simply, both open source and proprietary CMS are the back ends on which you build your website. An open source CMS is software created collaboratively by the people who use it and is not owned by any single person. A few of the most recognizable open source systems are WordPress or Joomla. Proprietary CMS is software that READ MORE >>
Being marketers means that you can find us “nerding-out” over something new just about every week. It also means that in the middle of any given conversation, there’s a 95% chance we could spout off a stat about the topic at hand. It’s a gift and a curse. This week our nerdiness and love of statistics rolled into one stat packed podcast! Nine MIND-BLOWING stats, to be clear. How did we arrive at this podcast topic? A random statistic that popped onto our screen led to a total nerdy deep dive of more interesting stats and the rest is history. READ MORE >>
We often say marketing is a marathon, not a sprint. But if there is one place where you need to do your best cheetah impression, it is with your website load time. When it comes to building websites – we’ve got the need for speed! We know that it goes without saying how important website loading time is. We’ve all visited that website that seems to load like a puzzle falling into place – little bits and pieces of the image and content downloading slowly. One word: Frustrating. And Google feels the same way! A website that loads at a READ MORE >>
While we wish we could tell you that we know absolutely everything there is to know about marketing and technology, let’s be real – we don’t. Stephen Covey said, “The key to success is dedication to life-long learning.” No truer words, Stephen. At ODEA, our love of learning is one of our biggest motivators. It keeps us moving forward as an organization and helps us as individuals to grow our passions. And one of the best things about learning? Sharing that knowledge with others. This week we want to share the wealth and give some insight into our favorite spots READ MORE >>