Lead generation is a hot topic that is getting hotter by the day. With the buzz lead generation has created comes misconceptions around best practices. Marketers and business owners need to know the correct information for the most successful lead generation campaigns. To help give those in charge peace of mind; here are five misconceptions and the reasons why:

Content marketing is like the latest smart phone; if you aren’t using it you are missing out big time. Not only are you left out of the conversation at the water cooler, but you are missing real benefits that could change your daily life, or in this case – your business. If you haven’t already jumped on the bandwagon, here are three ways to start planning your content marketing strategy:

Many business owners are asking, why marketing automation, is it really valuable? The answer is yes! Marketing automation allows business owners and marketers to strategize, create and implement successful campaigns. More importantly it enables them to measure their work, which creates benchmarks and true guidance instead of shooting in the dark.

Here are 4 myths and the facts so that business owners can make informed decisions before incorporating marketing automation into their marketing strategy:

It’s 2015 and technology is still evolving with an ever changing landscape for marketers. Due to these changes brands must adapt and stay abreast of trends in order to remain relevant. The digital age has created this phenomenon of relevancy for brands by adding new levels of engagement and interaction with customers. Without social, videos or online presence, a brand almost ceases to exist.

More and more companies are utilizing automated marketing campaign technologies and deploying them – with fantastic results. It’s no surprise that the implementation of this technology is growing, and the companies that are not adopting the technology are falling further behind.

With the ability to capture, nurture and close leads from a single platform, it's no wonder marketers are looking for ways to enter the marketing automation arena.

For most marketers, digital marketing isn’t a native language. It’s another tool we’ve adopted and added to our marketing tool belt to be used later as a part of a larger integrated campaign. With the rules of digital marketing changing seemingly every day, its tempting for marketers to jump on a trend to “see what works.”

The problem is knowing when to jump off—or jumping off too early! Below are the top three things you need to stop doing in your digital marketing campaign right away.

We work with a number of clients spanning a variety of roles, from Marketing Coordinator to Master of the Marketing Universe. Each client has a different need; a different audience to reach; a different result to incite. One consistent goal we see in creative briefs is the desire to hit a “home run” with marketing programs—whether it's to “push the brand” to generate more buzz in the industry, or to create a story that “goes viral.”

Imagine your brand as a movie, and your audience as a film critic who wrote single-word reviews. What would you want them to say about you? What would be that one big word in quotes on your matinee poster, summing up how your movie made them feel?

That’s your brand essence. It’s the promise you make to your audience, the idea that your brand provides a specific unique experience. It’s something your consumer relates to, understands, and desires on a fundamental level.

Branding might be your business, but are you guilty of these rookie mistakes? Find out if you’re committing one of these five branding sins.

We’ve all seen them and we’ve all second-guessed filling them out. But a good landing page is one of your most effective marketing techniques. It can deliver more b2b leads and convert them into clients.

A landing page should target a specific audience. Avoid going generic. If you’re driving people to a particular ebook, webinar, or promotion, your landing page should reflect the offer. It’s important to build a unique landing page for each of the offers you create.