The High-Tech Agency with Homespun Appeal

August 7, 2019 No Comments

The new SMS website is optimized for engagement, with easily digestible marketing messages and contact buttons placed liberally throughout. The modern-rustic design supports our brand as one that helps primarily—but not exclusively—small-to-midsize B2B marketers who are looking to complement their existing marketing efforts with a wide range of affordable and customizable services, while treating each … Read More

We’ll Call You: Is Outbound Marketing Dead?

May 29, 2019 No Comments

If we build it, will they come? This is the question on every B2B marketer’s mind when they invest thousands of dollars into their website. There’s an anxious passivity associated with the major shift in today’s marketing methods as outbound marketing—billboards, print ads, email blasts, cold calls—is steadily supplanted by inbound marketing: SEO, Google Ads, … Read More

Need A B2B Video? Four Things To Consider First…

May 15, 2019 No Comments

Video presentations for B2B companies are no longer the luxury sales tool they once were. The world learns visually more than any other way, and visitors to a company’s website are more engaged, easier to convert, and remain longer when there’s a video to play. Product demonstrations, explainers, and webinars are among the most popular … Read More

Psst…B2B Websites Need Updating, Too.

May 1, 2019 No Comments

Small to mid-sized B2B manufacturers are a busy bunch. Part of the reason SMS came into being was to help these kinds of companies focus on marketing as they often become too mired in the complex, insular, day-to-day activities of sticking to production schedules and finding increasingly efficient ways to make stuff. To say that … Read More

Let’s Bounce: When Short Sessions Are A Good Thing

April 16, 2019 No Comments

A client recently asked us to define “bounce rate” and undoubtedly the question arose from a supposed red flag on their analytics report. We’re trained to perceive bounce rates as bad things – flat-out rejections of our content – bringing on plenty of professional anxiety. This can be true in some cases, but not all. … Read More

Why “Scientific” Marketing Services?

March 26, 2019 No Comments

While attending PittCon 2019 last week in Philadelphia, I experienced a flood of professional nostalgia. Forty years ago my father, Robert Norton, founded Scientific Marketing Services, Inc. to address the specific marketing needs of companies in the scientific marketplaces. He saw an opportunity to service clients with a unique structure that quoted on a project-by-project … Read More

Hey, Siri…is my website optimized for voice search?

March 12, 2019 1 Comment

By now, most of us are talking to our electronic devices. I don’t mean the kind of brash insulting we sometimes resort to when our phones or tablets fail to do what we want them to, but the kind of talking that actually expects an answer. Personally, I find it a little unsettling. Perhaps that’s … Read More

Wading Into the Web: Transitioning Into Digital Marketing

February 27, 2019 No Comments

As advertising and brand building goes from print to the web, many B2B companies are feeling increasing pressure to reallocate marketing resources towards the new digital frontier. The company website – once a place to promote the company’s message and capabilities – is now a dynamic and sensitive marketing tool. With the advent of search … Read More

B2B Branding: Values Over Bonafides

February 12, 2019 No Comments

Before we get started, consider this perhaps oversimplified and playful adage that branding your company is like building a fort: no one really cares about the materials you used to build it, they just want to know if it will keep their parents out. Or maybe the bonafides are the fort’s solid construction and plenty … Read More

Want More Effective Google Ads? Focus On Application.

January 15, 2019 No Comments

Let’s do a little paid traffic marketing review, starting with the basics: Google Ads (a.k.a. Google AdWords, Pay-Per-Click programs) are designed to drive traffic to commercial websites to help sell their products and services. To do this, a significant portion of that traffic needs to land on pertinent and engaging content that’s been optimized to … Read More