By the end of 2018, mobile devices are to represent 79% of global internet use. That’s huge! Plus, most people won’t even recommend your business if they’re not able to properly view your site on the go. This makes it crucial that your site is easy to maneuver, is visually appealing and keeps users engaged … Continued

Back in April, our very own founder and fearless leader Andrea Kirsch had the opportunity to speak to the Senior Capstone Students of communications studies at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and gave the students some advice on what to expect post graduation from the perspective of someone who’s in the Kansas City Digital Marketing … Continued

This is by no means a guide on how to dominate SEO in 2018. What it actually is, is a list of important factors to consider as you tackle SEO in 2018. So, go ahead! Pick and chose the strategies you want to put forth into your strategy this year… we won’t be offended. 1. … Continued

By now you should be aware that the landscape of social media is ever-changing, ever-evolving, and rapidly transforming into new avenues for businesses to grow. Facebook in and of itself has seen such massive growth and changes to its platform, particularly in how businesses are utilizing it.   Facebook’s growth seems endless. As mentioned prior, … Continued

  So you hire a website design and development agency to create a custom website for your company. You procure the web design agency to help you in planning, designing, strategy, creation, development, testing, approvals, tweaks, and final deliverables. But, it’s not enough to “deliver” a website to a user. You should also make sure … Continued

  Brand personality is generally defined as a set of human characteristics associated with a brand. Having a defined brand personality guides your brand’s expression and representation in the real world. It actively shapes the way people feel about and interact with your company, and makes sure your company resonates with the right customer. Your … Continued

  In 2017, 81 percent of U.S. Americans have a social media profile, representing a five percent growth compared to the previous year, according to Statista. Whether it’s your personal account or for your business, your social media matters. We made a list of the top 10 ways you can improve your social media platforms. … Continued

  The rise of video marketing has been one of the most exciting trends in recent years and it isn’t slowing down anytime soon. The U.S. digital video marketing industry is expected to reach more than $135 billion this year, according to a new study by mobile video platform, Magisto. The pace of video creation … Continued

  Before jumping into which metrics are vital to measure, let’s first establish what social media metrics even are. According to TechTarget Network, social media metrics are described as the “use of data to gauge the impact of social media activity on a company’s revenue.” Measuring or metrics tools are usually set up within a … Continued

  As an evolving industry, changes in the web design field are almost inevitable. As we approach the beginning of 2018, everyone is once again looking forward to emerging technologies, design ideas, and platforms to use. There has never been a more exciting time for brands with the number of opportunities to connect with existing … Continued

  What is branding? Why is it so important for your business? There is confusion around branding because there are multiple definitions of it. Branding used to be defined as a name, slogan, logo, or design that identifies products or services of a company. It was also identified as the elements that differentiated the goods … Continued

  You may think for a small or even medium-sized business owner, you grow accustom to doing most everything yourself. You know your business and customers better than anyone else and you don’t have the funds to bring in hired help. So you spend your day managing all aspects of the business and this makes … Continued

  So you have a website? That’s a great first step, but – it’s like having a store, and no one knowing anything about it. So, the real question is how do you attract people to visit your website like you would attract people to visit your store? First things first… You’ll want to develop … Continued

  What is data-driven website design? Data-driven website design is the process by which the structure, layout, and functionality of a website is considered, based on actual usage and site analytics. In a time when we have more data than we know what to do with, how can you use all that information to improve … Continued

  The 2017 Digital Trends Report, based on the seventh annual trends survey conducted by Econsultancy and Adobe, highlights the key digital trends for 2017. This includes challenges and opportunities that marketers need to be aware of and covers topics like customer experience, personalization, mobile, and data driven marketing. The report is based on a … Continued

  With a shopping basket in one hand and a smartphone in the other, shoppers are now using mobile devices to do research, compare prices and even make their final purchase. While people use mobile in 45% of all shopping outings, the majority of sales still happen in-store. As a matter of fact, more than … Continued

  “Hey Siri, what’s the weather like today?” Sound familiar? It’s called voice search. “Voice search” refers to your smartphone or desktop computer that has a digital personal assistant or an entry point that uses voice, like Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Echo, Alexa. Here are some voice search statistics that you should know… Voice search … Continued

  83% of marketers believe that a cross-channel marketing strategy is critical to creating a successful marketing campaign. A well-delivered cross-channel marketing campaign is about understanding your customer first – their demographics, past purchasing history, needs, wants, and more. Every consumer has their own preferences and takes a unique path to purchase that involves a … Continued

  There are many advantages to centering your marketing strategy around email. Email is the most direct channel. While it boasts a higher ROI than any other channel, it also helps build loyalty and relationships with your customers. Marketers try to capture email addresses across all channels because once you have an email address you … Continued

With today’s growing e-commerce shopping trends, 87% of consumers would rather purchase directly from a brand online if available. From the first cash register invented 137 years ago to mobile payment apps in today’s world, technology and digital advances have revolutionized the way we pay. Going digital is vital to many business’ long-term success in … Continued

  When creating an animated video, a lot of work is spent developing the animations and bringing the video to life. There are many steps to creating a video like this one, but one of the first and most important steps is meeting with the client to get a solid understanding of what they want … Continued

Do you know the difference between content marketing for B2B (business-to-business) versus B2C (business-to-consumer)? While B2B and B2C content marketing share a lot of common ground, B2B content typically focuses on informing and educating while B2C content focuses on inspiration. This is usually because a B2B purchase is based more on logic and a B2C … Continued

  While Snapchat is still somewhat new to the social media scene, it has grown to be one of the biggest competitors for users’ attention. It’s an app known originally for its popularity among pre-teens and teenagers as a key instrument used for taking bad selfies. Its appeal is in the fleeting existence of the … Continued

  Do you own a business that needs great marketing efforts? Are you not sure which ones to implement? Some businesses have a marketing team within the company, some hire digital marketing or advertising agencies to help them out. If we can answer one question that you might have, the answer is that every marketing … Continued

  Data and analytics are changing the game in today’s marketing campaigns. Whether it’s the next presidential election or a witty Mother’s Day campaign. Measuring the way customers interact with your marketing campaign has never been more complex. Luckily, with evolving technology and analytics tools, marketers are closing the gap between themselves and consumers.   Consumer Expectations … Continued

  While holograms and flying cars may still be a vision of a George Jetson lifestyle, ads and notifications tailored to your exact location are a very real aspect of the future that are present now. Location-based marketing is said to be capable of changing our world forever, but what exactly falls under this category, … Continued

  As Facebook is ever-changing we never know what the platform might look like the next time we log in or what new feature it may have. For now, what we do know is that Facebook rolled out a new update last week; its new algorithm will exclude links to low quality website experiences. In … Continued

myth /miTH/ noun : a widely held but false belief or idea. The myth is that when you add a person to a project that you will get that person’s worth of productivity.  In fact you get less than that. If you’ve ever worked on a project under a time crunch, then you may have … Continued

  Online shopping and ecommerce is a multi billion-dollar industry and is expected to grow by more than 20% in just this year. Sure, it all starts with a great product, but a powerful site supports its customers through every step of the way by creating a positive, effortless user experience. Here are some ecommerce … Continued

  Say hello to our newest MAKER, Brie! She recently joined us as the Digital Marketing Assistant. She’s a Kansas City native, fashion lover and travel enthusiast. Brie graduated from Mizzou with a degree in Journalism and minor in Textile and Apparel Management. She has previously done marketing and event planning for local Columbia businesses … Continued

As popular as online shopping is becoming, users are continually searching for more and more ways to easily purchase their favorite items with just the click of a button. Imagine how efficient it would be to be discussing a product with a company representative over instant messaging, then all of a sudden be able to … Continued

While the whole Delorean time machine hasn’t worked out quite yet, Kansas City did its own time traveling at this year’s annual Kemper Gala. Held on October 8th at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, the Kemper Art Institution held it’s yearly fundraising bash. The 2016 Kemper Gala celebrated art, music and design from the … Continued

  Where malls and shopping districts used to be the top tier of how a retailer could reach consumers, brick and mortar stores alone just don’t cut it anymore. There are several fast-growing digital trends that are becoming the norm in the market and keeping up with them is a must to stay competitive. But … Continued

Say hello to Corey, our new addition to the MAKE design team since this fall. Joining us in the role of Interactive Developer, Corey comes from an experienced background working with the Natural Baby Company over 2 years doing, well, everything. Graphic design, website development, product design, print media, digital marketing – let’s just say … Continued

As the workforce continues to grow with the incoming generation of millennials, who are projected to be the largest generation by 2028, businesses capitalizing on the opportunity of this demographic are already seeing positive innovations internally and externally. To seize this opportunity, a fundamental understanding of how millennials can positively affect the changing workplace is vital to attracting these game … Continued

Hello sweater weather and hello to our newest MAKER. Meet Ryan, MAKE’s Interactive Experience Designer! Ryan has only been in the Kansas City area for 9 years, but he’s a Kansas born, Midwest native –  his love for K-State sports would probably tip you off in a quick convo. Ryan gained amazing experience before joining … Continued

  Futurists have been telling us about the death of the print medium for years. The rise of millennials and digital natives as growing market populations has led many to speculate that print channels were going to be obsolete. You remember when Newsweek went purely digital, right? (And then called take-backsies a year later) Some … Continued

  “Docker is an open platform for developing, shipping, and running applications. Docker is designed to deliver your applications faster.” – Raison d’etre Docker is a startup, open source project that took the development world by storm in early 2016. Companies adopted the project at an incredible rate and Hacker News’ listed it as the … Continued

Competition in the startup arena can be, well as Beyonce puts it,  fierce. Everyone has an idea that’s going to change the world, a foolproof value proposition, and a brilliant plan to get their company to become the next household name. But when your startup enters that arena, you’re another competitor among thousands – even … Continued

  The use of hashtags in social media isn’t a 2016 phenomenon. From #Kony2012 to #ShareaCoke, brands and users have been hashtagging their social media content since Twitter introduced it in 2007. In the same way a well-timed hashtag can make a tweet go viral, poor use of hashtags can tank the credibility of a … Continued

Where malls and shopping districts used to be the top tier of how a retailer could reach consumers, brick and mortar stores alone just don’t cut it anymore. There are several fast-growing digital trends that are becoming the norm in the market and keeping up with them is a must to stay competitive. But the … Continued

In the world of marketing, the common phrase has become ‘Content Is King’ (or Queen if you prefer). Content marketing is popping up in marketing plans all over the business and every brand and their mother has a blog, or at least they should. In this sea of content, how do you get your website … Continued

It’s no doubt that Pokemon Go has taken the world by storm. With more than 20 million daily active users and 75 million downloads, everything points to the app being a runaway success. When you throw in the fact that it’s being used twice as much as the Facebook app on 5.38 million Android devices, … Continued

Another day, another MAKER to welcome to the team. Say hello to David, our newest member of web development! David has known a couple of us from working together on past projects but we’re happy to have him officially on Team MAKE. David has past web development experience with some amazing places, most notably being … Continued

In a year where international relations seem to be at fever pitch, the 2016 Olympics are, in our opinion, a welcome balm to the global community. The social media component that plays into our globalized community’s interaction with each other on a daily basis is going to be incredibly important this year more than ever. … Continued

Sometimes it doesn’t matter how well you market or what your product does: if your website is too difficult to work with, users won’t bother. User interface (UI) design and user experience (UX) design are two areas that are critical to the success of a website or app. UX design is the process of developing … Continued

Receive a FREE Digital Marketing Audit From a Leading Digital Marketing Agency to Help You Build More Traffic, Better Conversions, and More Sales. Are you struggling with any of the following: Low traffic? Poor click through rates and cost per click? High cost per conversion or no conversion? Wasted ad budget? Marketing that just doesn’t … Continued

Have you noticed a drop in organic reach from your Facebook Page? If so, you’re not alone. Over the last several years, Facebook changed its prioritization algorithm, so organic reach on Facebook pages has been in decline. Facebook’s newest algorithm change will cause the organic reach for many pages to drop to near zero. This … Continued

This June, two of our MAKERS, Andrea and Evan, attended the NYC Sales Machine Summit, the biggest convention that’s been held to date with the whole focus being on sales. Created by the minds behind Sales Force and Sales Hacker and with a keynote speaker roster that included the likes of Arianna Huffington of the … Continued

Any speaker worth their salt can make an impact with their message, however research shows that what really packs a punch in any presentation is visuals. Having complementary, fluent visuals that precisely sum up what you’re communicating to your audience can make a world of difference when it comes to people actually comprehending the information … Continued

  Average Campaign Stats By Industry: MailChimp Constant Contact Best Practices for 2016-2017: AWeber HubSpot Campaign Monitor Practical eCommerce Segmentation: MailChimp HubSpot Automation: Campaign Monitor MailChimp Mobile Optimization and Best Practices: Act-On Campaign Monitor MailChimp

How Facebook, Google, and LinkedIn are Transforming the Content Game with Instant Articles   It’s the year 2016 and by now, every company around the world is learning that having a presence on social media is a necessity. One of the major platforms that has established itself as a social media must-have is Facebook.  Being one … Continued

Facebook has become the U2 of social media platforms; constantly reinventing itself to stay relevant but simultaneously making us scratch our heads at some of the newly added updates and materials. There’s new social media platforms coming out all the time. Predictions are already being made on who the next big name will be in … Continued

If you’re in the web development scene like we are at MAKE Digital, you’ve probably run into a fair share of developers (like our awesome developer intern Michael!) who have been involved in what’s called a “hackathon”. Now, when most people hear the word hackathon (us included), they automatically think “Did this guy just spill … Continued

Not only do we love being located in the heart of Westport, but we are also located in a building that has such an interesting history behind it. The space that now holds MAKE Digital Group used to be an old fire station that was built during Roosevelt’s WPA (Works Progress Administration) in 1939 and served … Continued

Like most companies, you probably have questions about when to engage in social media & strategic services from someone on the outside of your organization. In this post, we provide answers to some commonly asked questions.   1) Can I take care of social media myself? The least expensive option, of course, is to take … Continued

Live to Bloom is a program that helps young women discover their unique strengths, develop their innate talents, and follow their passions with the goal to obtain a job that fits their personality and skills. They partner with fellow non-profits to provide workshops for the participants that provide them with a vast amount of tools … Continued

A new year means a whole new frontier for social media and technology to grow. With the inevitable innovations, it’s important for us to stay ahead of the curve on what to expect in the future of the industry. For 2016, these are several ideas for what’s coming up and what’s going out.   WHAT … Continued

A new chapter in mobile development has recently come on the scene in the form of Facebook’s React Native framework, a tool used for building mobile applications. Their framework lets developers write high quality apps that work universally across iOS and Android apps using the same core technologies as the web. So what makes React … Continued

Posting images to social media is one of the most important parts of successful social engagement, but to take your brand a step further, you have to learn how to use photos in the most efficient way possible. It’s statistically proven that images evoke a stronger emotional response from people, as well as form stronger … Continued

In today’s business world, it’s virtually impossible to be successful without the now vital tools that social media have become. These tools of communication reach both consumers and fellow businesses, which can make or break a company. There are several factors to consider if you want to maximize the impact of your social media presence … Continued

Organizational tools are a vital part of running any business. Here at MAKE Digital Group, we believe “process MAKES perfect!” We have discovered some of the best processes/organizational management tools and put them to test. Below are some of the most important and favorite tools we use on a daily basis. Asana – Project Management Asana … Continued

Our team of MAKERS loves First Fridays! For September First Friday, we are excited to be going to REACTOR Design Studio for Trials, Many Kinds by Jeran Avery. Check it out:   REACTOR Design Studio 1817 Grand Blvd Kansas City, MO 64108 Join REACTOR and Jeran Avery for September First Friday Show, Trials, Many Kinds. Kansas … Continued

Stellar Images When looking through a website for the first time, people will generally be more drawn to an eye-catching image rather than a full page of nothing but text. For your website to be most effective, you should make sure that you have enough relevant imagery to get your idea across. It is also important that … Continued

Every Friday, the MAKE team gets together to enjoy some great Westport food and talk about the progress of the week. We love to eat, that’s no secret, and choosing just one meal to talk about was a near impossibility, but there are a few locations we keep coming back to, from Friday lunches to … Continued

Part of the MAKE crew attended the July Social Media Club KC Breakfast on Visual Resonance in Social Media. We had a great time and want to share what we learned on the the importance of the visual side of social media… “Statistics tell us that posting images and videos significantly increase social engagement. But … Continued

1. Check out Kansas City’s impressive live music scene  With a concert for every palate and every budget occurring during the summer months around Kansas City, even the pickiest music snob can find a live music venue or artist to love this summer. Head out to Cricket Wireless or the Sprint Center for big name … Continued

As you may have heard, Google recently announced its stance on mobile-friendly websites. Starting April 21st, brands that don’t update their website may experience less site traffic than they were organically seeing before for new and returning visitors. This is because Google can’t serve up the results or website because the site doesn’t have the same credibility or relevancy. … Continued

You’ve battled the construction, heard the hype, and wondered when it will finally be here. A street car is coming to Kansas City, slowly but surely (of course, it feels like slowly more than anything). Located in the middle of the much talked about street car plan, our office is excitedly waiting its arrival, expected … Continued