CLEARWATER, FL, May 25, 2021

Originally published by Forbes

While working in a “sexy” field might be fun for marketers, many businesses and industries are decidedly “unsexy.” Crafting an effective campaign strategy within a marketplace that many people perceive to be boring to begin with might demand a more creative, formal or otherwise distinct approach.
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CLEARWATER, FL, May 21, 2021

Originally published by Forbes

TikTok continues to surge in popularity. As of January of 2021, the platform had more than 680 million users worldwide. With so many users on the short-form video app, it’s quickly become a relevant channel for advertising. However, it can be a challenge for brands to create a short video ad without it coming across as run-of-the-mill, highly produced commercial.
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Authority Magazine, April 29, 2021

Just keep swimming. We’re not going to have amazing highs every day or even tremendous lows, most days are going to be about chopping wood and doing the work to set up the next high. For me it’s a bit like a diet or gardening- I’m not necessarily going to see results every morning, but if we do the hard work and execute the plan then opportunities are going to come along. Likewise, when we suffer a low, we have to keep pushing the plan forward because the next open door is just ahead. Read more about how to navigate the entrepreneurial journey from Rob Fallon, Bluewater’s CEO, in Authority Magazine.
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PCMag, April 29, 2021

Thanks partly to the pandemic, email is now one of your most effective marketing channels, with a straight line to revenue and deeper customer relationships. In this edition of PCMag, David Tiberia, Bluewater’s Vice President, Analytics comments on personalization and relevant content in email marketing.
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CLEARWATER, FL, April 22, 2021

Direct marketing engages directly with the consumer. “People are jumping onto the bandwagon because they realize brick and mortar is becoming a thing of the past, especially since COVID.” Gina believes that direct mail will be a more significant part of an overall marketing plan since that marketing sector is resurgent. On this episode, focusing on interactive marketing, Gina comments that “traditional advertisers think that they are creating something new, but this is something that we’ve always done.” Listen to Gina and Bob Poole talk shop on The Water Cooler Hangout Podcast.
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CLEARWATER, FL, March 19, 2021

Four tips for running a successful influencer marketing campaign.

Digital marketing channels are becoming more and more saturated as brands recognize the cost efficiencies, the consumer reach and adapt to the new way that all consumer segments are engaging with products. In 2020 alone, marketers spent an average of 51% of their marketing budgets in digital according to the Wall Street Journal. Basically if you don’t have a digital footprint, then you should close-up shop because your competitors will swoop in and take your customers. But knowing so much emphasis is being put into digital marketing, how can you differentiate and engage with consumers on a next generation level? Enter influencer marketing, a seamless way to present your brand to new audiences through creators’ profiles. According to Insider Intelligence, brands are set to spend up to $15 billion on influencer marketing by 2022. Why? People trust their peers, people are swayed by those they admire, people are simply social creatures. Case and point, in a recent consumer study by invesp, 72% of consumers said they trust a company more after its recommended by an influencer and 40% say they even purchased a product after seeing it be used by an influencer online. Connection, engagement and sales all though a single interaction from a like-minded person that made a product relevant.
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CLEARWATER, FL, March 16, 2021

Originally published by Digital Media Net

Credit card usage is at an all-time high in the US since the pandemic hit late last March. I’ll be honest, this seemed odd to me when I read it. You would think more people would be cancelling their credit cards. Especially since the unemployment rate continues to climb and our economy appears to be on a significant downturn. The truth remains that consumers actually are using credit cards more often and for more every day purchase likes groceries and personal care items. That’s the biggest difference from 2019. During the pandemic, more than half of adults with credit card debt added to their balances, according to a study done by CreditCards.com. Most Americans aren’t using credits to go on a big vacation (that they can’t really afford) or buy that expense handbag, instead they are using it for the bare necessities. Not only are consumers using credits cards differently, but they have also become more conscious of reducing their overall debt amount.
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CLEARWATER, FL, February 24, 2021

Do you think your brand can hack it on Amazon or do you want to leverage Amazon as a secondary source for sales? Why not when Amazon accounts for 45% of all U.S. ecommerce sales. But it’s not as easy as putting up a listing of your product. With so many brands failing at their amazon launch, you can turn to Bluewater for the expertise to push a successful launch and optimize your listing to achieve long-term marketplace viability.
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CLEARWATER, FL, February 8, 2021 

Over-the-Top (OTT) media has skyrocketed over the past year as consumers look for more entertainment content or cut the cord to save money. With all the opportunity of reaching new audiences and reinforcing messages on linear TV, Bluewater has proven results on the effectiveness of this channel as compared to a linear TV only approach.
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CLEARWATER, FL, February 4, 2021
 

Several studies across the industry show that 79% of online shoppers use mobile devices, and mobile purchases account for as much as 50% of all internet sales. Yet, 70% of online shoppers abandon their carts after online browsing according to Baymard Institute. And that percentage continues to rise. The biggest leak in the website marketing funnel is the abandoned cart. In fact, Kissmetrics research shows that 40% of users will abandon if a URL takes more than 3 seconds to load. These customer behaviors drive the critical need for marketers to employ responsive, nimble and intuitive websites, as well as deliver smart targeted remarketing strategies to recapture customer interest and drive conversion. Here are three of the most critical tips from our digital and website development experts to build a successful commerce website for your brand.
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CLEARWATER, FL, January 29, 2021

Transporting Consumers into the Brand Experience with Nostalgic Storytelling
Originally published by International Hair Authority

“2020 has been quite a decade,” goes the common refrain. The sentiment is one we can all connect to on some level; the seemingly endless year has been nothing if not out of the ordinary. Practically overnight, the way we conduct business, celebrate events, and visit friends has drastically changed. There’s an appetite for the ordinary, for the familiar. We miss it, sometimes fearing it may never return. We crave normality every time we adjust our hot facemasks or air-hug a friend. Advertising, too, is caught in a strange no-man’s land right now when it comes to how to depict our new normal (or indeed whether we should at all!). As a creative director at an Adweek Top100 agency, navigating the details of how and whether or not to embrace the full reality of 2020 in a tasteful and responsible way has become a familiar struggle, one in which it’s easy to lose sight of the primary goal: how can we make people connect emotionally with what we’re selling? In times as fraught as these, perhaps we should be thinking about ways in which we can reach into consumers’ hearts and their warm memories of a more normal time, and bring our products and services along in a way that feels respectful and positive.
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CLEARWATER, FL, January 28, 2021

At Bluewater we are all about relationships. We take pride not only in our work, but knowing that our clients succeed. Although we’ve had to make adjustments over the past year, we’re thriving with an incredible team and great clients. Hear about the Bluewater story from Gina Pomponi, President and COO, on The Loudspeaker.

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CLEARWATER, FL, January 15, 2021

Over-the-Top (OTT) media, aka streaming media such as Hulu or You Tube, has simply exploded. Coming into 2020, OTT had 44M US household subscribers. No small potatoes. Then the pandemic hit and screen time drastically increased. According to Comscore research, OTT viewership held steady for several years then viewership jumped by 30% from March 2020 to April 2020 and numbers have continued to hold strong since. So why are consumers quickly turning to OTT?

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CLEARWATER, FL, October 16, 2020

How Prime Day Encourages Impulse Buying
Originally published by Lifewire

While millions of people eagerly await the delivery of items they bought during this week’s Amazon Prime Day, quite a few will come to regret their purchases, experts say.
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CLEARWATER, FL, January 15, 2021

Fortunes told, a Post-Election Media Prediction
Originally published by Digital Media Net by Gina Pomponi, Bluewater President & COO

There is one pressing question every client asks: what’s going to happen with rates and inventory?” It’s an honest ask, and in a normal year, I can confidently answer this question relying on my years of experience and historical seasonality. However, 2020 has been anything but normal. In the past 30 years, we have endured some horrible times including 9/11 and the Great Recession, but nothing that has impacted the media world quite as uniquely as COVID.
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CLEARWATER, FL, December 14, 2020

Great Creative Remains the Key to DTC Success
Published by PDMI in Results Magazine 12/14/2020

As we all look to turn the page on a historic — to put it mildly — 2020, I’m asked to make predictions on what the 2021 market will look like. Before we really look into the future, let’s take a minute to evaluate what we’ve learned from this year.
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CLEARWATER, FL, November 30, 2020

Shift Happens – Get ahead with Consumer Behavior Data
Published by Multichannel Merchant, 11/24/2020

2020 will go down in history for many reasons…most of them we’ll all try to forget. For brands and marketers, there are a few consumer changes that you’re going to want to remember. The most significant is the rapid and forced transformation of consumer experiences. According Safesforce, 63% of consumers say that the way they obtain goods and services has been altered as a result of the pandemic and 57% also say how they engage with companies has transformed during 2020. How should this shape your plans for 2021? Let’s dig into some of these changes.

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