POP Marketing Blog & News
Recent Blog Posts
Why Human Marketing Beats AI for Small Businesses
The Humans Are (Not) Dead: Human Marketing Vs AI for Small Business Perhaps it’s being exposed to the Terminator movies at too young an age, but somehow I’m not quite digesting the slop that AI technocrats are trying to force-feed me about how it will help humanity. And while I won’t pretend I’m not afraid of a robot apocalypse, for me, the more prescient fear comes from AI’s ever-forward assault on human thought and creativity. However, one bright spot in the war of the machines is that in the battle of human marketing vs AI for small business, human content writing continues to be the clear winner. Some might say that my descent from our robot overlords is because they threaten my business, but in truth, AI has sold more jobs for me than even the most clever marketing campaign I can come up with. POP’s differentiator of AI-free content
How to Choose a Marketing Agency (And Avoid Costly Mistakes)
Choosing a marketing agency is a big decision. Learn what questions to ask, red flags to avoid, and how to find the right partner.
Posting on Social Media But Getting No Leads? Here’s What’s Missing
If social media posts aren’t turning into leads, visibility isn’t the issue. Learn what’s missing and how strategy changes results.
Why is My Marketing Not Working? Work Smarter, Not Harder
If your marketing isn’t getting results, the issue may be strategy, not effort. Learn why marketing fails and how to fix it.
The grand opening of the Power-Up Lounge at The Berglund Center!
While our digital footprint spans the internet, particularly locally, the Power-up Lounge at The Burglund Center is a place where you can see POP’s art and interact with some of our favorite clients’ work!
What Does Valentine’s Day Have to Do with Why My Website Isn’t Getting Leads?
If your website isn’t generating leads, the issue may be SEO. Learn how first impressions in search affect clicks, trust, and conversions.
2026 Marketing Goals
It’s a new year, so it’s time for new goals! And with POP being a local marketing company, it only makes sense for me to make the first blog of the year about 2026 marketing goals.
Diving In to Community engagement marketing
If you’re a local business, you have one thing big business don’t – a local presence. Roanoke’s POP explains community engagement marketing.
POP’s Small Business Marketers Express Thanks
As 2026 comes barrelling closer, I find myself doing the things I always do in fall: However, as a simple man with simple needs, I am finding that my list of what I’m thankful for this year isn’t so different from last year or the year before. So creative workflow manager Jenn Read and I decided to give everyone else at POP a chance to express their gratitude! My wife Felcia, for whom I am forever thankful and without which there would be no POP had these lovely words to say, “I’m grateful to be sharing life with someone I deeply love and respect who is a leader and demonstrates a rigorous practice of ethics and kindness to an awe-inspiring level.” In addition to my continue gratitude for the mental illness that manifests in her attraction to me, I continue to be thankful to her help every time POP (or
Who Owns the Website? – The Website Ownership Boondoggle
Today is not the first time I’ve brought up the question of website ownership in a blog. I include “who owns the website” as the most surprising question you, as a business owner, need to ask before paying for website services in my July 2023 blog, 7 Essential Questions to Ask Before Buying a Website. And it matters just as much now as it did 2 years ago. So why do you need to ask who owns the website? What does that even mean? And why would you pay for something that isn’t yours?I’ll break it down in today’s blog. The Essentials of Website Ownership Chances are, as a participant in the modern business world, you have a general sense of how the internet works. Most of the terms we discuss today will be familiar to you, and this blog section will hold a few surprises.Still, it helps to spell
Marketing with storytelling
POP has tried a few different slogans over the years. And though we eventually settled on “Your friendly neighborhood marketer” to fit our superhero comic theme, all said a little something about our company, and we continue to use them in our business in other spots. One of the most important is, “we tell your story.” It represents something we base our strategy around – marketing with storytelling. Not everyone associates marketing with storytelling. Instead, they think about flashy graphics, sales gimmicks, or even deception. But ignoring the story element of your marketing is a mistake. What’s the best way to convey important information? People learn in different ways, with visual learners, auditory, and tactile all being primary ways to interact with the world, but when you’re not teaching a process, but are conveying large amounts of facts, there’s one way that’s been around for millennia – storytelling. Think about
How Has SEO Changed for Small Business?
It’s hard to believe that it’s been over 2 years since I wrote my last SEO-centric blog, particularly since (in a meta mind twist) SEO is one of my most vital services and that will affect my SEO for “SEO.” Confused yet? Wait until I get into how SEO changed in recent years, and how it hasn’t. Ok, first off, if you’re unfamiliar with SEO, check out my What Is SEO and How to Make SEO Easy blog from a few years ago. It’s a deep dive that gives you all the necessary background info. But, if you’re short on time, here’s a quick definition: SEO stands for search engine optimization. However, unlike the name may imply, it’s not about improving the search engines. SEO refers to improving a site’s ability to be found on search engines. All caught up? Cool. Now let’s talk about how SEO has changed in
