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  • Business

    Augmented Reality, the NEW Real World

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    Applying extended reality into day-to-day marketing and customer experiences is a subject matter; both LTI Business Solutions and Invoke Media Group will be delving deeply into for 2023. 

    Mobile Phone Featuring AI

    Introducing the Hybrid of Real-World Objects Enhanced With Computer Generated Perceptual Information

    In our last installment, Video Game Technology is Not Just For Gaming Anymore, we covered different applications of virtual reality for training and customer service experiences. Today we are focusing on augmented reality (AR), a type of interactive, reality-based display environment that takes the capabilities of computer-generated display, sound, and effects to enhance the user’s real-world experience. AR is a technology that overlays virtual objects on real-world scenes and adding content to create a new “artificial” environment.

    Snapchat, A Pioneer in Augmented Reality

    Putting dog ears on a person’s face in a moving screen image may seem like a simple technology modification, but there’s a lot of programming that goes into this playful tool. Snapchat accomplished this feat utilizing AR Lenses and filters that place masks or virtual elements over the user’s face or in their environment, thus altering the appearance.

    BMW “Virtually” Drives Into Snapchat

    BMW launched the first brand-related lens in Nov 2017 as part of a new ad campaign to launch the BMW X2.  The BMW X2 is part of a Snapchat lens, and consumers can change its color and size. They placed an ad in Snapchat, utilizing its augmented reality technology. If a Snapchat user swipes on the ad, it opens the camera and the BMW car appears in the frame. Snapchat users can then virtually walk around the car and see all its detail. There are filters to change the car color, after-market upgrades, and so forth.

    BMW Ad Featuring augmented Reality

    Pokemon Go – Combination of GPS and Cute Graphics for Augmented Reality Experience

    For those not living under a rock, you have experienced or at least discovered augmented reality through Pokemon Go. A (once undeniably popular) game in which users could view the world around them through their smartphone cameras and project Pokemon creatures, as overlays, making it seem as if the Pokemon were in their real-life world. This infamous smartphone game app required the creation of an Avatar to play. As people move about the world, their Avatar did too. When your phone vibrated, a Pokémon was nearby. If a player tapped on the image of the Pokemon, they might be able to capture the Pokemon. Different Pokemon were worth different amounts of points. This fad sent millions of adults, teens, and kids alike walking (and absentmindedly stumbling) through their real-world neighborhoods in search of virtual prizes.

    Pokemon-Go-Featuring Augmented Reality

    Using Augmented Reality to Drive Foot Traffic

    The makers of Pokemon Go are creating virtual sites where players may congregate. Corporations can stage an event and drive consumers to their store locations. On a day when business might be a bit slow, entities like McDonalds and Starbucks can stage a Pokemon Go Raid that will drive consumers to a specific store location. Players who capture a particular Pokemon can earn a store credit or discount on any promoted product/service at the store location. Niantic gets advertising revenue, and the businesses get foot traffic.

    Check Out This Eye-Catching Application of AR Technology

    Eyewear creators at Focals have elevated AR technology into a practical application by embedding it into eyewear that displays notifications from your phone directly into your field of view. Focal customers can continue to enjoy the real word without missing out on any important reminders.

    Furnish Your Home Using Augmented Reality

    Have you ever purchased furniture for a room, only to have it delivered and not fit? The Wayfair app allows users to scan a room and design their space by placing catalog objects over the digital image. The items are placed, according to the room specifications entered into the app. To use the app, consumers point their smartphone camera toward a space in their home and select a product from the online Wayfair catalog; the AR tool then overlays a 3D digital version of the selected item, such a table or chair, into the live view of that room. 

    Today’s homeowners can use apps for deciding on the best shade of white. Consumers can take a photo of any room in their home, scan it into an app that will virtually paint it to see if they like the result.

    Get A Home Repair Consultation

    Innovations in AR are offering remote technical assistance for traditional home service calls. Homeowners essentially become the eyes and ears for home repair professionals observing remotely, via their upheld smartphone. By giving pros that telepresence to diagnose a busted pipe, the repairman can gain scope and price the job from afar, thus reducing costs for drive time.

    Discover Your New Look 

    The beauty industry uses AR technology to allow customers to try out different looks. Sephora customers can select shades of color for their eyes, lips, and cheek products and overlay them onto their digital face. Upscale hair salons have software that will take a digital photo of their customers and allow them to choose from different cuts and colors for their new hairstyles.

    Don’t Get Left Behind in the Real World

    Considering the plethora of applications that augmented reality drives traffic and enhances customer experiences, it seems inevitable that businesses of all sizes get on board. Connect with us today to learn more about leveraging new technologies for improving your business operations.

    References and Sources

  • Launch Tips

    Is Your Social Media Truly Social?

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    Man Being Social with a Megaphone

    For the past few years, I have been teaching various clients how to use Social Media.

    • Knowing the ins and outs of the social media marketing landscape.
    • Where and how to find their target market.
    • Becoming savvy at developing the right message.
    • Creating custom and eye-catching visual ads to emphasize their message.
    • Link-building strategies to drive their customers exactly where they want them to be.

    Having a grasp of all things social is wonderful – but it’s only a drop in the bucket.

    For 2025 our focus is on Social SERVICE, not Social MEDIA.

    • What do you do with your potential or existing customers when they find or return to your website?
    • How are you engaging with them online?
    • Is your social media or website structured to provide immediate feedback when your customers require it?
    • Do you follow up with a personal “touch” via a phone call, direct email or letter?
    • Do you truly know and understand your client needs?

    Social SERVICE (consumer focused) approach:

    I LIKE when I stumble upon a piece that has value to ME. I like when a business has taken the time to craft a well written and visual promotional piece that actually offers ME something worthwhile. A piece that makes ME say “I just learned something new!” A piece that entertained ME. I want to be left with the impression – if I do business with this group, I’m getting my money’s worth.

    Social MEDIA (business focused) approach:

    • Don’t tell me why your product or service is better than anyone else’s. Instead – tell me what makes your product or service unique.
    • Don’t criticize your competition by saying “things they should not do”. Instead – boast/highlight the great things that YOU do.
    • Don’t cram another e-book or download to occupy my computer’s space. Instead – ask my permission to share what you have to offer with me.
    • Don’t send me a group or auto email after I have engaged with you! Instead – send me a well crafted personalized message for ME.
    • Don’t ignore my attempts to engage with you socially or via your site. Instead – acknowledge that you have received my inquiry.

    If you want to be successful in social media, you have to build up your social currency. – Scott Stratten

    Build your currency by investing the time and resources to be TRULY social both on and offline.

    Put out useful information that offers a solution to a need for your target market. When you have captured your audience, engage with them and show your gratitude by offering them the BEST customer experience.

    Be proactive about following through with online or offline inquiries. Tweet back replies to those who Tweet out. Leave replies to those who have commented on your Facebook. Write responses to those who have sent you a message via LinkedIn. Etc.

    Be sure to THANK your clients for choosing your business. Follow up! Ask for feedback regarding their experience conducting business with you. Offer an incentive toward their next purchase of a product or service. (Know your customer enough to appreciate what they purchased from you and offer LIKE products or additional services that will FURTHER benefit meeting their need).

    Invest in this concept of Social Service over Social Media and expect great things for your small business in 2025 and beyond!

  • Launch Tips

    Does Your Social Media Speak Web Speak?

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    What is web speak?

    Web speak is a craft with principle and methods that have little to do with grammar and mechanics and everything to do with identifying and meeting your readers need. Web speak is writing with a consistent style and clear sense of purpose. Most simply: Web speak is copy that is written to address your reader’s needs and support your business goals.

    Why does web speak matter?

    When you are trying to promote your business, products and services online, you do not have the luxury of seeing their facial expression or making eye contact with them. You do not know what they are feeling, what they may be going through, or what compels them to buy. Finding a way to write to someone you know nothing about is a bit of a quandary. “How do you earn the trust of a reader you know nothing about?”

    Consider your message.

    Before you even start to write, try to consider what you are really wanting to say. How many words will it take to make your message understood? How can you put into writing, an explanation concerning how your products and services can be useful to others?

    How do you find your target market?

    The old rule of marketing was all about saturation. If you can just get your message in front of the masses, you target market will emerge. The pitfall with this approach is that by trying to speak to everyone, you typically speak to nobody in particular. Before you leap onto that microphone, consider doing some market research first. Follow the conversations of consumers online who are talking about the products and services you offer. They may be speaking of your competition or just in general about your industry. Pay attention to what is being said – and you will start to see what needs are being met and which are not. Use this information wisely when formulating your own content.

    How do you sell your products and services without selling out?

    Nobody wants a smarmy piece about your business products and services. Connect with your readers on a personal level – write from an honest place. Leave out the marketing copy and focus on your targeted market. Highlight the benefits and usefulness of your products and services. How do your products and services affect people’s lives? How do your products and services distinguish themselves from the competition?

    Use your story as part of your sales process. Let your readers appreciate that you offer a product or service because you believe in it. Share a situation where your own products and services have helped you.

    Do not make your message one-sided.

    People read your message to get something out of it, not to be spoken to. Write in a manner that encourages interaction. Short descriptions are useful when explaining your products and services. Using a brief format allows your readers to immediately decipher what they can expect for their attention and money. But, if structured as an announcement, rather than an opportunity to open the door for discussion, your opportunities for online conversion is seriously dwindled.

    Therefore, if you are an online digital agency looking to re-design your website. Instead of saying:

    “Are you enjoying our new website design? Contact us and we can re-design yours too!”

    Try saying:

    “We have recently re-designed our website. How are you enjoying the new layout so far?”

    Most Important. Make it a good read!

    I have not written a blog in nearly a month. I have been too busy writing content for websites being developed at Invoke-Media Group. Fortunately, my burst in business has left me little time to formulate some useful or inciting blog posts for my readers. My mother always told me, “if you have nothing to say, then don’t say anything at all”. Therefore, I opted to just not write anything at all.

    While working with my clients, I have found myself sharing this same message regarding content. Therefore, I felt compelled to write an article which articulates the importance of great content in your digital marketing. Writing in “web speak” equates to online conversions.

    If you wish to learn more about writing web copy that meets your readers needs while supporting your business goals, please GET IN TOUCH for a FREE consultation.

  • Marketing

    Why Should Small Businesses Care About Social Media

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    Social media has become dominant, not only in life but in business.

    YouTube is second only to Google when it comes to search. Nine-thousand one-hundred Tweets happen per second. Three new members join LinkedIn every two seconds. Facebook is the third largest country (behind India and China) with eighteen percent of all internet users on Facebook.

    • Why use social media and get lost? I’d rather be a big fish in a small pond and stick to offline advertising.
    • Where else would your business be able to reach as many potential prospects for as reasonable a cost as social media?

    Simple logic aside, there are statistical arguments to support leaving the small pond mentality. Although it is nice being established in a stable, smaller environment, the overall consumer populations have moved to social media when making purchasing decisions. Soon, that small pond will dry up until it’s merely a puddle and business opportunities will dwindle to obsolescence. There is evidence that this is already becoming the trend. According to a recent study by research team Aberdeen Group, 47% of Best-in-Class companies have incorporated social media with their marketing strategies. (Best-in-Class is rated as businesses that cite 20% annual revenue growth and 73% annual customer retention rate).

    40354053 – closeup unhappy young man in suit talking texting on cellphone outdoors. negative human face expression

    Social media makes it easier to lower barriers to conversion.

    Social media allows any business the opportunity to turn happy consumers into content evangelists, thus organically growing your search. The cost of purchasing Google Adwords is no small feat when you are offering a product in a highly dense keyword category. If you are a small start-up or mom and pop store, buying keywords is most likely not ranking too high on your marketing budget. Relevant and heavy content is your opportunity to stay afloat. Social media marketing provides numerous opportunities for small businesses to upload heavy and relevant content through their blogs, fan pages, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts, and ultimately get their pages ranked with Google.

    Always make it a part of your strategy to encourage online reviews. Offer thank you gift cards to consumers who have shared their positive experience and essentially “endorsed” your business. Acknowledgment goes a long way. Be sure to acknowledge their favorable review with a very public “thank you – working with you was a pleasure” sort of feedback.

    Driving the surge in social media is word of mouth advertising aka – trust.

    The value of trust between friends and colleagues is paramount when consumers are making purchasing decisions. It is exactly this sentiment that drives word-of-mouth advertising, and now social media. Understanding this, full disclosure is vital when conducting business online.

    If you are open for business, consumers are already talking about you.

    Consumers use social web so they can talk with each other about organizations in which they have conducted business. Consumers can share information about their personal experiences and their feelings about the products and services they received. Some business owners might answer, “Well I am not ready for my customers to talk about me or my place of business in an open forum”. If you are not participating in the conversation, you are implying that you endorse what is being said . . . good or bad!

    Don’t fall downstream by failing to get on the social media wagon!

    Advertising was once a means for consumers to learn about new products and services. Today, advertising is merely a start into the process of learning about products and services that consumers may want or need. Nobody sets out to make poor decisions when it comes to making a purchase. Rightly or wrongly, people use the internet to make informed decisions. If you are a business owner and you wish to be seen and heard, social media is a must. Rather than ask why should you care about social media . . . you should be asking how soon can I get started?

  • Marketing

    WHAT IS WRONG WITH SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING?

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    Angry Child at the Computer

    Why Social Media Marketing Feels Broken (and How to Fix It)

    Let’s be honest—many marketing professionals have questioned whether social media is even worth it anymore. Some have seriously considered removing it from their list of services altogether.

    Social media marketing can feel exhausting. It’s time-consuming, creatively demanding, and often frustrating. Even when you follow best practices, understand algorithms, and produce thoughtful content, it can feel like your work disappears into the void.

    But here’s the real issue: social media marketing doesn’t actually suck. The way it’s often valued, sold, and measured does.

    “Social Media Is Too Time-Consuming”

    Yes, it takes time—but time has value. The real problem is that many businesses don’t fully understand that time is money. Too often, marketers underprice social media services, sometimes to the point where they’re earning less than minimum wage.

    Why does this happen?

    • Some are trying to compete with auto-generated, low-quality content.

    • Others struggle to clearly communicate the real value of a strategic social media presence.

    Social media isn’t about posting—it’s about planning, creativity, and consistency.

    Social Media Isn’t a Sales Machine

    Here’s a hard truth: social media is not designed to directly drive sales.

    If a client expects immediate revenue from social media alone, it’s time for a reality check. Social media works on a cause-and-effect timeline, not instant gratification. Its true power lies in long-term brand building.

    The Real Value of Being Social

    When done right, social media delivers benefits that go far beyond quick sales:

    • Brand recognition, positioning your business as an industry leader

    • Stronger customer relationships, leading to loyalty and repeat business

    • Actionable analytics, helping you better understand and target your audience

    • Cost efficiency, especially when compared to traditional advertising like print or radio

    In many cases, a well-executed social media strategy actually saves money.

    Creating Content Without Burning Out

    If constantly generating ideas feels overwhelming, it may be time to rethink your approach—not your career.

    A simple framework like the 50-30-20 rule can eliminate content fatigue:

    • 50% entertaining or educational content

    • 30% promotional content

    • 20% thought leadership and expertise-driven content

    This balance keeps audiences engaged without overwhelming them—or you.

    Work Smarter, Not Harder

    There’s no shortage of tools designed to make social media easier and more effective—use them.

    • Craft headlines with tools like CoSchedule or PromoRepublic

    • Design visuals quickly using Canva

    • Schedule content in advance with Hootsuite or Buffer

    • Track performance and prove ROI using HubSpot or Sprout Social

    These tools don’t replace strategy—but they make executing it far more efficient.

    Making Social Media Marketing Work Again

    Social media marketing becomes far less frustrating when:

    • Pricing reflects the true value of the work

    • Clients understand what social media can (and can’t) do

    • Content guidelines provide structure and clarity

    • Technology is used to save time and prove results

    Get these right, and social media stops feeling “sucky” and starts feeling strategic again.

    And if you’d rather not tackle it alone—Invoke Solutions is always here to help.

  • Business

    Linnk Building Strategies to Get You Found

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    Link building remains one of the most powerful SEO strategies for getting your website, products, and services discovered online—but it’s not a standalone solution. This blog series focuses on organic website growth, combining smart link strategies with relevant, high-quality content.

    Because links work best when they amplify something worth finding.

    Link Strategies

    Content Is Still King (Yes, Still)

    Despite constant algorithm updates and SEO trends, one truth hasn’t changed: you can’t rank without strong content.

    Many SEO professionals will tell you that links are the key to ranking—and they’re not wrong. But even the best link-building strategy can’t compensate for weak content. If your content doesn’t meet search intent, your rankings won’t last.

    Weak content includes:

    • Content that doesn’t match the keyword or search intent
    • Pages under 300 words with little substance
    • Poor grammar and unclear writing
    • Irrelevant or misleading images

    For example, if someone searches for information about puppies and lands on a page about cats, that’s weak content—no matter how strong your backlinks are.

    Earn Links—Don’t Chase Them

    Links shouldn’t be treated as shortcuts or technical loopholes. Instead, think of them as digital relationships—earned through value.

    Strong links come from:

    • Online partnerships
    • Press mentions
    • Podcast features
    • Influencer and expert collaborations

    The goal isn’t link building—it’s link earning. When your content is genuinely useful, others will naturally reference and link to it as a resource.

    What Search Engines Actually Want

    Search engines have evolved dramatically. Google’s major algorithm updates have reshaped how results are ranked, prioritizing relevance, authority, and user experience.

    Today’s search engines expect links to point users toward content that:

    • Deepens understanding of the search query
    • Adds context and value
    • Improves the overall search experience

    Low-quality links no longer work—and in many cases, they hurt.

    The Value of Technical SEO

    Technical SEO helps you get the maximum return from your link-building efforts. Think of it as a blank canvas—one that allows you to build a well-structured, search-friendly site supported by meaningful links.

    Results won’t happen overnight. Expect to see the impact of technical SEO efforts within 1–4 months, depending on competition and consistency.

    Why Link Building Still Matters

    When done correctly, link building delivers clear benefits:

    • Increased authority and trust
    • Higher search rankings through quality references
    • Stronger signals of relevance to search engines

    But success starts with technical SEO.

    Technical SEO: The Foundation for Link-Building Success

    Before investing in off-page SEO or link outreach, your website must be technically sound. On-page optimization should always come first.

    Key technical SEO steps include:

    • Ensure each page, post, or digital asset is individually optimized for search
    • Identify top-performing pages and use them strategically as backlink targets
    • Use Google Analytics to find pages with:
      • Low bounce rates and high engagement (ideal backlink destinations)
      • High bounce rates and low engagement (fix these before building links)
    • Crawl your site using tools like Screaming Frog or similar crawlers to identify and fix 404 errors
    • Analyze competitor sites for broken links:
      • Use the Wayback Machine to identify what content previously existed
      • Repurpose and improve that content, then pitch it as a replacement
    • Conduct a backlink audit using Google Search Console
      • Disavow spammy or low-quality links that may harm your site