Memes have taken over the internet, but their awesome power isn’t exclusive to just getting a good laugh. Many entrepreneurs have found success by using memes to reach their audience and leave a lasting impression. Here’s how to use and not use memes for online marketing.

Go With What Fits Your Brand, Not Always Just With What’s Trending

Using or adapting the newest meme so that it’s relevant to your business might seem like a good idea, but this must be done with care. If done right, it is extremely powerful, but if it’s irrelevant to your brand then you may just be posting a meme about a donut when you are trying to sell skin products… You want to avoid coming across as insincere and just trying to ride the coattails of the trendiest images on the internet. On the contrary, if the meme can be used or applied in a way that relates to your brand or puts a funny spin on something, then using a trending meme can actually bring more visibility to your page if you hashtag it.

For example, the trending ‘Tide Pod’ memes where people were posting photos and videos of them eating Tide Pods (It’s unbeknownst to us WHY, but it happened so we are just going with it…). A dessert company or restaurant trying to highlight their dessert menu, may jump on the bandwagon and say “Why eat tidepods when you can eat the ‘XYZ’ cheesecake from ‘Yada Yada Bakery’?”

This puts your product (mouthwatering cheesecake) in the front of the consumers mind while ‘making a funny’ and showing your customers your brand has personality and is personable! It’s becoming more and more prevalent that consumers are more willing to spend money with a brand they can relate to – USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO YOUR ADVANTAGE!

Memes Are Dessert, Not the Main Course

A meme is no substitute for quality, original content. They should only be used to enhance your content or clarify a point you’re trying to make. They’re a great way to get attention, but make sure you’re providing substance beyond a quick laugh. Otherwise, your content will just get ignored along with the thousands of other people using memes every day.

Know That Memes Appeal to an Internet Subculture

Will your current audience like memes? Or will using them make readers feel isolated or that you’re just trying to be trendy? If you want to use memes, decide whether it’s to appeal to current users or attract a new audience. Also think carefully about how this will affect current or new users or take your brand in a different direction.

Used with care, memes are a powerful tool to keep in your marketing arsenal. If you want to tap into their potential while maintaining authenticity and staying true to your brand, reach out to digital marketing professionals. Specialists can go over your business goals with you and help you decide whether memes are an untapped marketing resource for your enterprise.

Memes and Big Businesses: Do They Mix?

When corporations try to piggyback off of viral social media movements, the outcomes are usually unoriginal and/or overly promotional. The latter is the worst offense because it showcases a brand’s lack of understanding about social media.

For the most part, users don’t log onto social media to see brand posts. They log on to see what their friends are up to, and if they happen to see a brand’s post, it better be damn interesting. There’s a reason why social media marketing is nicknamed “interruption marketing”– you are interrupting a person’s news feed to talk about your product.

Rule of thumb: Keep your organic posts light, fun, and interesting. Make your key promotional posts into social media ads. 

I mention all this because, social media is an art form. It takes a clever and creative person / team (hint, hint, nudge, nudge) to make brand posts interesting — to make them SO interesting that a consumer will willingly share your company’s post on their own profile (your mom, friends, and employees don’t count).

All this leads me to the inspiration for this post…

Memes

These occasionally funny images with sans serif text overlays have been around for a while, and brands have tried to incorporate them into their social media strategy since the beginning. Most brands either overuse memes, share other people’s memes, can’t come up with anything funny, or all of the above.

Here’s an example a brand failing with a meme. Student loan company got killed on Twitter after tweeting (and eventually deleting) this tweet.

Looks like @FAFSA deleted its tweet. Screenshot: pic.twitter.com/ucFOTbLAvq

— Jacob Fischler (@ItsFischy) June 25, 2014

When used sparingly and intelligently, memes can be a good way to connect with their audience. Typically, if the meme is a winner, you’ll get increased engagement and viral reach.

Zoom-in memes

The latest meme craze is the zoom-in memes. These memes are like pinch-and-zoom scavenger hunts. You get directed to zoom in on a certain part of the image (ex: bottom right corner), only to get re-directed to another part of the photo (ex: upper right corner), only to be re-directed to another part of the image, and then redirected to another part of the image (ex: the subject’s ear) that contains a final message.

Here’s an example of a good zoom-in meme by Denny’s (works best if you’re on mobile)…

zoom in on the syrup pic.twitter.com/omRBupjrXq

— Denny’s (@DennysDiner) March 1, 2017

This simple tweet with this zoom-in meme became a viral hit. Why? They opted to come up with an entertaining message rather than a “Come eat at Dennys”-type message.

Our attempt at a zoom-in meme

I’ve now spent 300+ words bashing brands for coming up with unoriginal memes. The pressure is on. Here’s what I came up with:

ZOOM IN ON TOP LEFT

Kop (the office dog) approves this message

Need social media marketing help?

If you’re looking to boost your business’ social media presence and/or brand awareness, you should probably have a conversation with one of our experts. Reach out at (866) 999-4736 or head to our contact page.

The post How To (And How Not To) Use Memes For Online Marketing appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

Our digital marketing agency was founded upon a stringent work ethic of attention to detail, proficiency, and going above and beyond to achieve Excellence. With this, we bring the Results you want to see! This is the root of the Exults standard.

Excellence + Results = Exults

Due to the fact that our very own, wonderfully crafted brand name shares its identity with the verb, “To Exult”, our tracking tools will often alert us if the media uses this verbiage to describe anyone or anything in the news.

Every so often though, our brand name gets utilized to describe celebrities, politicians, and in this case, famous NFL players.

This Monday morning a was a little more interesting after the New England Patriots’ victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, landing the Patriots their ninth game in the Super Bowl.

After Sunday’s 37-31 victory, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, EXULTED! TWICE!

First he exulted on ESPN in an article titled,

Tom Brady Exults, says ‘odds were stacked against’ Patriots

“That was as emotional of a game as I think I’ve been through, certainly in a long time. … All the things that kind of transpired over the course of the game. To get a chance to win it there, like we did, and then to pull it off, was just a great feeling,” Brady (Exulted) Monday in an interview with WEEI.

Next he exulted on ESPN’s Sports Fan 100.5 in an article titled,

Brady exults, says Pats overcame stacked odds

Once again, the media referenced Brady exulting over the Patriots’ unexpected victory in overtime.

Tom Brady Exults Over Time

All sports affiliations aside, we thought this moment of “Exults” fame was the perfect opportunity to spotlight the many times Tom Brady and the Patriots have had reasons to EXULT.

(Side note- this is all fun and games and represents no one’s “fandom” at Exults….)

Patriots have played in 8 Super Bowls with Tom Brady and they’ve all been instant classics

This article by Super Bowl Nation highlights how Tom Brady has played in not one… not two… but EIGHT Super Bowls with the New England Patriots.

Tom Brady passes Peyton Manning for most passing yards of all time

In this CBS article spotlighting Tom Brady passing Peyton Manning for most passing yards of all time.

According to CBS, with 283 passing yards in a win over the Jets, Brady increased his combined total of passing yards in both the regular season and postseason to 79,416.

In doing so, he passed Peyton Manning, whose combined regular and postseason passing yards total was 79,279.

No NFL quarterback has ever thrown for more yards than Tom Brady….

That’s definitely a reason to EXULT!

Tom Brady, Joe Montana head top 10 quarterbacks in NFL history

When NFL analyzed the head top 10 quarterbacks in NFL history. Tom Brady accomplished being one of only two players in NFL history to have won five Super Bowls, not to mention being the only player to have won them all with a single franchise.

It’s not just Tom Brady who exults either. A few years back our very own former President Obama exulted as well.

With more than 7 million sign-ups for ObamaCare, President Obama exulted, and with this mention of our brand, the Exults team was immediately alerted by our brand tracking tools.

All political parties aside, we capitalized on the free PR Obama graced us with when he exulted and dove into a deeper analysis of some of Obama’s greatest reasons to exult.

Monitor How Your Brand Name Is Portrayed on the Internet

In conclusion, we’ve used Tom Brady to highlight the importance of monitoring your brand name and how it is publicly portrayed on the Internet. You may not always be able to control what other people say or write about you, but we can’t emphasize enough how important it is to be attentive to how people are talking about your brand in the case that negative exposure is released.

Not sure how?

Start off by setting up tools to track your brand name across search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo) and social media.

There are loads of tools for tracking brand mentions, such as:

1. Google Alerts– This is a free tool for marketers and anyone who wants to track mentions of their company name. Simply enter your company name the same way you’d enter terms in your niche you want to get alerts for.
2. Social Mention – Social Mention. This is a paid tool for monitoring your brand, competitors, and campaigns on both search engines and social media.
3. Pin Alerts – This is a free web service that sends email alerts when a website receives new pins on Pinterest
4. SentiOne – This is a paid tool that helps you to pay attention to what your customers or others are saying about your brand. You’ll get access to not just real-time data but historical data too.

There are many tools and strategies for monitoring your brand to stay prepared and ready to respond in the case of a bad article or review. Although the article about Tom Brady was positive brand exposure and no problem, there are many tactics to employ when faced with bad PR.

With more than 17 years of industry experience, our team knows the tactics to deal with negative brand exposure while burying or hiding negative search results on search engines results pages (SERPs).

If you’re in need of Reputation Management services, contact the Exults digital marketing office at 866-999-4736 for a free consultation and your first step to taking control of your online reputation.

The post Tom Brady Exults Over Patriots Victory Over the Chiefs appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

It didn’t matter how many times NPR told me to NOT stare at the eclipse sans special glasses this past Monday. My natural instinct was to look up. Luckily for me, I was able to combat the urge. Based on Google Trends data though, it appears as though many Americans couldn’t resist.

Just take a look at when searches for “my eyes hurt” spiked.

And if you were wondering, Flori-duh (where we’re proudly headquartered) wasn’t the worst culprit. In fact, we were far from the worst.

By looking at the map on Google Trends, the states that were in the general path of totality seemed to have the most searches. Makes sense considering there were a lot more people excited about the eclipse in those states.

Of the related search queries, these were my favorite searches…

I kind of wish Google would’ve gotten sassy after the search “did I hurt my eyes” and show blurry search results. Then we all would have been really confused.

All jokes aside, I’m not writing this post to make fun all the people that accidentally sacrificed their pupils to the sun (because I was almost one of them). I’m writing this post to highlight a fun and clever SEO technique: Newsjacking

Imagine you had the foresight to know that “my eyes hurt” was going to be a popular search shortly after the eclipse. Imagine if you created a piece of content on your website that incorporated the phrase “my eyes hurt” (or a related query).

For a marketing agency like us, you might have a piece of content titled My Eyes Hurt When I See a Website on Wix (seriously, if you have a Wix site, call us right now and ask to speak to the bearded guy in the hoodie).

For a company that sells sunglasses, you might have a piece of content titled Did I Hurt My Eyes? Not Yet, But You Will With the Wrong Sunglasses

For LaVar Ball’s Big Baller brand, you could have a piece of content called My Eyes Hurt From Staring At So Many Lonzo Ball Highlights. It would be a fitting article alongside My Wallet Hurts After Spending My Entire Paycheck on Big Baller Shoes.

If you do it right and get lucky, you might attract a ton of new organic traffic when people are searching those phrases.

This technique has been popular since the dawn of SEO, but it became really popular after the Huffington Post created a piece of content right before the 2011 Super Bowl called “What time does the Super Bowl start?”

Since 2011, Google has gotten a lot smarter with relevant search results, as well as incorporated smart search results– results that don’t require you to click into a site.

Wrapping up

There are plenty of SEO tactics you should be doing before you focus on newsjacking. That being said, if your business has a great SEO team that’s doing all the right things, it doesn’t hurt to experiment with a little newsjacking every now and then (when it makes sense).

Need help with SEO? Chat with one of our SEO specialists by dialing 866-999-4736 or heading to our contact page.

The post Keeping Up With the Trends: “My Eyes Hurt” appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

BRB, I have to grab another band-aid.

If the answer is a resounding YES to any/all of those questions, do not be ashamed. You and the entire Exults office have something in common– WE ARE FIDGETERS!

Stand up, twirl your hair, and scream out…

Shake off all the awkward stares you might be getting right now, and explain to your judgmental co-workers why it’s great to be a fidgeter.

This is why it’s great to fidget?

You might not believe it, but there are scientists that have dedicated years of their lives to studying the benefits fidgeting. The New York Times chronicles one of the most recent studies. So you don’t have to leave our site (please stay), here are some of the science-backed revelations regarding fidgeting.

Fidgeting helps you…

1. Focus on a complex task (digital marketing qualifies)
2. Lose weight (burn as many as 350 calories per day)
3. Increase blood flow (ain’t nobody got time for heart problems)
4. Live longer (#2 and #3 insinuate this, but it’s worth mentioning alone)

Now go cancel your gym membership.

Everyone fidgets to some degree. These stats should convince you to embrace your fidgeting, as opposed to trying to stop it.

(Getting another band-aid. Cuticles bleeding again.)

The Exults team fidgets freely

We like to think that we’re early adopters to the pro-fidgeting movement. Team members like Danielle, Lydia, Romayne, and Mike are all loud-and-proud fidgeters. The 4 of them have implemented tools into their daily work lives that encourage them to fidget freely, while being discreet.

Danielle and Lydia’s Fidget Cube

Recently, Director of Ops Danielle and Engagement Specialist Lydia have received their own Fidget Cubes. This cube is small enough to slip into your pocket, but it’s packed with fidget-friendly features.

Get the full rundown on the Fidget Cube by watching their promo video (if nothing else, watch the first minute– it’s pretty funny)

Prior to getting the Kickstarter-backed Fidget Cube, both Lydia and Danielle had received generic knockoffs from their significant others (those cheapskates ?).

Here are some notes on Fidget Cubes from the team:

• Danielle thinks it’s made her fidget more often. You can definitely hear her flipping the light switch side on and off when she’s focused.

• The Fidget Cube has replaced Danielle’s need to chew gum super loud. This is good for all of us.

• Each Cube is a little different from the other with clicking noises and how smooth the sides are.

They haven’t had the cubes for very long, but the early results suggest that the Fidget Cube is helping them channel their fidgeting. Better fidgeting means better focus means better work for our clients.

See, it’s all for you– the client.

Old school fidgeting tool: Mini basketballs and stress balls

PPC Specialist, Mike uses a mini LA Lakers basketball that he nicknamed Smush Parker and a mini hoop to channel his fidgeting. Not only does scoring baskets on his mini hoop help him effectively fidget and focus on his AdWords campains, it also makes him remember what it was like to win in basketball– something the Lakers haven’t been doing for a longgggg time (#BringBackPhil)

SEO Expert, Romayne uses a good old fashioned stress ball for his fidgeting. When he’s not squeezing it, he’s spiking it against the office wall. Whatever works. We’d complain about the loud thuds the stress ball makes against the wall, but then we remember, it’s a lot quieter than when he used to fidget with a Jamaican air horn.

B-b-b-b-bahhhhh!!! B-b-b-b-bahhhhh!!!

Romayne also has a Fidget Spinner (pictured below). He thought he would enjoy it more, but he doesn’t get as much enjoyment out of it. Not its intended purpose, but Mike and him have started a game where they spin the toy and try to stack as much stuff on it as possible.

We’re trying to get Romayne to get a Think Ink Pen

Maybe you can help us convince Romayne to get a Think Ink Pen because he’s always fidgeting with his pen. Watch the video for a rundown on this pro-fidgeting pen.

We want to hear from you

Do you use a fidgeting product? Do you think Romayne should get the Think Ink Pen? Want to make fun of the LA Lakers? Comment below.

Rather to talk to us over the phone? Talk to one of our specialists by calling 866-999-4736.

The post The Exults Team Reviews Fidgeting-Relief Toys appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

Well, maybe Barry Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney, the cast of Moonlight, and all of the 305.

This post isn’t about the biggest award show blunder of all-time though. You can watch Mario Lopez for that kind of gossip.

This post is about the incredible film that won, and its ties to South Florida…

Moonlight’s historic win

Despite all odds, Moonlight trounced heavy favorite La La Land for Best Picture at the Oscars. On the surface, the win was shocking for the mere fact that NO ONE predicted that Moonlight would actually win.

Not even the never-wrong (winky face) Nate Silver could predict the upset…

Uhhhh never mind wow https://t.co/mwGL814ZOe

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) February 27, 2017

Surprising upsets don’t automatically make history though. The reasons that Moonlight broke ground this past Sunday night was because it was…

• the first all-black cast to win Best Picture
• the first LBGT movie to win
• the lowest grossing film to win

Moonlight’s Miami ties

This quote from the podium by Miami’s own Tarell Alvin McCraney (he wrote the story) best sums it up…

“Two boys from Liberty City representing the 305”

In case you’re unfamiliar with the plot, Moonlight chronicles the struggles of growing up in a tough Miami neighborhood. It follows the main African-American character, Chiron, from childhood to adulthood as he gets bullied and struggles with his own sexuality.

Not only was the story based in Miami though — plenty of productions pretend to film in Miami (looking at you, Dexter). The whole movie was filmed in various locations throughout Broward and Dade, most notably Liberty City where the Jenkins and McCraney grew up.

Curbed Miami pinned the filming locations on a map…

Jenkins went to school at Miami Northwestern. Tarell Alvin McCraney went to New World School of the Arts.

Fun fact: McCraney was schoolmates with famed documentary filmmaker Billy Corben who was responsible for very Miami-centric documentaries The U, The U pt II, Dawg Fight, and Cocaine Cowboys (to name a few).

Congratulations to Miami’s own golden boys @BandryBarry and (my dear @NWSA_MIAMI high schoolmate) @octarell! #Oscars pic.twitter.com/sKzxfEsMF1

— Billy Corben (@BillyCorben) February 27, 2017

Wrapping up

You shouldn’t watch this movie only because it was filmed where you live though. Based on that logic, I’d also be recommending for you to go watch Marley & Me, and that would be ludicrous. Spoiler alert: the dog dies at the end (now you don’t have to watch it and will thank me later).

You should watch this movie because it’s well-deserving of its new title: 2016’s Best Picture.

The post A Night at the Oscars: South Florida Style appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

His long arms. -Danielle
This was a fan favorite, but Danielle beat Nick to the punch.

His love for cats and all things cat related. -Sarah
Sarah and I agree on this one, but it’s also fun being the only two in the office with cats as their Skype profile picture.

That he’s made exactly 2 shots in his mini basketball hoop with 100+ attempts. -Karlyle

Some may have been aimed at Karlyle’s head, but he appreciates that Mike keeps trying. Romayne also enjoys his determination to win the basketball tournament (grand prize is a T-shirt from the babyGap).

That his drink of choice is vodka with a spritz of soda. –Romayne
Romayne wonders why Mike even needs to think about those calories. Specifically, calories from Stoley’s and the Red Bull.

That he’s always asking me to add code to terrible sites. -Nick

Being in the Sponsored Search department day in and day out, Mike has to find Google Analytics code for each client. To Nick’s dismay, that means always getting roped into figuring out unfamiliar websites.

Mike, we’re happy to have you! Congratulations again on being here for three years and thanks for basically being the only one to pick up the phone when it rings.

The post Happy 3 Year Work Anniversary, Mike! appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

This year’s Super Bowl was full of never-seen-before occurrences. You had the first Super Bowl to go into overtime, the biggest comeback ever, the biggest choke job ever (I made that one up), a herd of drones, and a gravity-defying catch.

Seriously, that catch. Maybe the wildest catch I’ve ever seen.

Edelman’s insane #SuperBowl catch still needs a name…

“The Big Dig”

Hmmm, hmmm, amirite?#Patriots pic.twitter.com/j27rz77WQe

— Matt Chatham (@chatham58) February 7, 2017

But enough football talk. Let’s talk about the real reason a good chunk of the world watches the game: THE COMMERCIALS!

Super Bowl 2017 Commercials Got Political

This year’s spread of Super Bowl commercials were interesting, to say the least. You had your usual funny ads, and those end up being most people’s favorites, but you also had multiple ads that addressed major political issues.

This isn’t the entire list of companies that had ads that addressed issues like immigration, equal pay, and the diversity of America. These are just ones I can remember:

• Budweiser “Born the Hard Way” (immigration)
• AirBnB “We Accept” (immigration)
• Audi (equal pay)
• NFL “Inside the Lines” (diversity)
• Google Home (diversity)
• Coco-Cola (diversity)
• 84 Lumber (immigration)

In fact, that ad by 84 Lumber had to be heavily edited because it was deemed too “on-the-nose.” See the banned version below (skip to 3:37 to see why it was dubbed too political).

Super Bowl Ads Go Live

We saw two companies doing live commercials during this year’s Super Bowl. Snickers ran a trio of live commercials with Adam Driver and Betty White (one was during the game, the others were before). Hyundai ran one in the first quarter of the game.

If nothing else, they were cool gimmicks, and cool gimmicks get views (looking at you PuppyMonkeyBaby).

It’s a safe bet that the idea for these live commercials stemmed from the live streaming movement that’s happening on every social media network (ex: Facebook Live, Periscope, Instagram Live, Twitch, etc). Going forward, expect to see more live commercials.

The Snickers commercial

The Hyundai commercial

The Social Media-Friendly Super Bowl Ads

Hashtags and Super Bowl commercials have gone together for a while now. Some of the hashtags that were promoted during this Super Bowl were:

• T-Mobile’s #UnlimitedMoves
• Avocados From Mexico’s #AvoSecrets
• Buffalo Wild Wing’s #HitTheButton
• Kia’s #SmarterWay
• T-Mobile’s #TheSafeWordIsUnlimited”

My favorite from this group of hashtagged commercials was Avocados From Mexico (even though I’m not really sure how to use the hashtag):

Using hashtags in commercials is soooo basic, though.

What I found more interesting was the pre-social media hype surrounding some of the commercials. A few brands were building up anticipation for their Super Bowl ad before kick-off. The best example of this was Betty White’s live video promoting the live Snicker’s commercial.

The Top 3 Super Bowl Ads

It was tough to decide, but I’ve narrowed down my list of favorite Super Bowl 2017 commercials to just three. Counting down…

#3: Squarespace “JohnMalkovich.com”

This commercial wasn’t only a clever reference to the film Being John Malkovich, it was also a lesson on securing your brand name on all available online channels.

This ties into SEO, just saying. 

#2: Skittles “Romance”

This ad was creative and hilarious– the perfect combo for a memorable Super Bowl commercial.

#1: Sony “Paint”

I was so obsessed with this ad that I even watched the behind the scenes video of how they made it. The visual stunt blew my mind.

What were your favorite ads during this year’s Super Bowl? Comment below! 

Need help with your ads? Speak with one of our ad specialists by visiting our contact page or calling us at 866-999-4736

The post What Did We Think of the Super Bowl Ads? appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

Around this time last year, the Florida Senate proposed a bill that would make computer coding count as a foreign language in schools. This bill made a lot of sense. You don’t need us to tell you that the world is becoming more reliant on tech.

Unfortunately, there was enough people who didn’t think this bill was a good idea. Here’s what one prominent opponent had to say about the proposed bill…

“If you’re going to consider computer science as a language — a foreign language, not just a language — why not consider music? You can write it, you can read it, it’s been around for millenia, right? They’re different forms of communication and expression, but they’re not interchangeable.” – Alberto Carvalho, Miami-Dade Superintendent (source: Miami Herald)

We can respectfully disagree with Alberto (and we do). The tuba or drum don’t help you communicate with other cultures. Obviously, a foreign language does. And if you don’t think coding helps people communicate with other cultures, than you clearly haven’t heard of Facebook, WhatsApp, Skype, Hangouts, and Twitter.

We’re not saying that a kid SHOULD learn coding, but it should definitely be an option and it should DEFINITELY count towards a foreign language. Take 1 lesson on coding, and tell me that it doesn’t require the same level of focus, memorization, and a similar skill set for learning French. Think about all of the technology that is evolving around us. By adding computer coding to the repertoire of foreign languages, this gives each child the chance to participate in the evolving, digital world.

If you disagree with our sentiment, please comment with your thoughts in the box below. We’d love to have a healthy debate. 

Moving beyond the topic of whether or not coding should be a called a foreign language…

The future involves coding

We want the best for our kids. Learning a foreign language helps them better prepare for the future. Part of the future is getting a good job in this new tech-centric economy (and maybe build some cool websites). Computer coding is in high demand now, and that demand continues to dramatically rise.

If your kid can learn both Spanish and coding– more power to them. However, if it’s too difficult to learn both, coding should be considered as their foreign language. That’s all we’re saying.

Now for a little fun…

What language did the Exults employees take in high school?

Shocker! Most of our team took Spanish classes growing up, but a few didn’t. Take a look at our team graphic that unveils which language each of our marketing specialists took in high school. Instead of writing Spanish over and over again, we decided to have a little fun and include some key phrases from the language that they learned. Feel free to chuckle

If you want to speak in a foreign language (or English) with one of our specialists, feel free to call us at (866) 999-4736 or head to our contact page. 

The post Is Coding a Foreign Language? appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

In case you don’t know the definition of the word “exults”, here you go:

I’ll be honest. It can be a difficult / awkward word to use when you’re not talking about South Florida’s top internet marketing agency (did it again, ka-ching).

For example…

• “I nailed that exam! Let’s exult tonight at Hard Rock”
• “STAND UP, and EXULT for your Miami HEAAAAAT”

We should all be looking to expand our vernacular though, and for that reason, we want to highlight the biggest opportunities to use the word “exults” in 2016. Essentially, I compiled a list of all the people that had the best reasons to celebrate in the past year.

Enjoy!

1) Peyton Manning exults because he just won a Super Bowl that he maybe didn’t deserve

I mean no disrespect (cue the disrespect) but, Peyton wasn’t any good during the 2015 NFL season. The Broncos’ defense carried that team in spite of Manning’s sub-par play.

That doesn’t mean that Manning didn’t deserve to exult his Super Bowl victory though. If you won the jackpot at a Dania Jai Alai slot right now, you’d be exulting. It’s totally cool to exult when you get lucky.

2) The Chicago Cubs exult because they’re 1 World Series closer to the Marlins’ 2

The ineptitude of the Chicago Cubs for the last 100 years was almost unbelievable. The Marlins… the frick’n Marlins… won 2 World Series in the last 20 years!

The Chicago Cubs and the whole baseball-loving city deserved to exult after that highly anticipated Game 7 win over the Indians.

3) LeBron exults because he got everything he wanted

This guy… this guy.

He leaves the Cavs, and he wins championships and MVPs. He leaves the Miami Heat, and he wins championships. Every move he makes, he gets what he wants.

4) Cersei exults because (spoiler alert) she destroyed all the annoying characters in Game of Thrones

That scene in this past season finale of Game of Thrones was so good. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, start binge watching  the show now.

5) Netflix exults because they continue to change the landscape of TV

Netflix continues to innovate and change television for the better. Their original programming is on point. The way they release shows all at once is great. Their machine learning recommends the best movies.

6) Uber exults because they’re fixing our public transportation woes

People typically think of Uber or Lyft as better taxis, but they’re more than that. They’re better forms of public transportation in spread out cities like Miami or LA. Certain cities are actually subsidizing Uber to be their primary form of public transportation.

What should we have included in our list? Comment below.

The post A Year of Exult Worthy Celebrations appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

The internet is full of distractions. As I was typing the first sentence to this blog, I got sucked into the Buzzfeed Quiz “What % Draco Malfoy Are You?”

For the record, I’m 53% and I’m upset about it. 

Luckily, Google provides us with worthwhile distractions like news about self-driving cars, innovative gadgets, and one of their latest projects AI Experiments.

What the heck is Google’s AI Experiments?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the future, and Google wants you to participate. AI Experiments is a site where you can play games that showcase machine learning. It’s also a site where coders can submit their own experiments for others to play around with. All the code is open source to make it easier for new games to be built.

Google explains it best in their informational video on the project…

So, what is Google’s Quick Draw all about?

Quick Draw is a game where you try to draw an object on your screen in under 20 seconds and the AI tries to guess it. It showcases machine learning with images. Over time the AI learns from previous doodles to correctly guess the object. This is the same vein of technology that is able to guess people’s faces in your photos or correctly identify objects in pictures.

Here’s how you play…

Step 1: Head to the Quick Draw page

Step 2: Hit “Let’s Draw”, and doodle whatever it asks you to draw.

Step 3: Repeat a total of 6 times

Step 4: After your results show up, click on any result

Step 5: See how and why the AI guessed what it guessed

It’s fascinating, scary, fun, and educational all the same time!

And if you think that you’re a terrible doodler and the AI will never guess… trust me, you’re wrong. Below is proof that terrible doodles don’t matter. This is one of my sessions with the Quick Draw, sped up. 

Why this is important?

AI’s can process, store, and analyze large amounts of data much faster than humans. By improving machine learning, we speed up the progress of AI.

Whether it’s your search results, Netflix recommendations, or translating software that helps you communicate with someone in China without knowing a lick of Mandarin, AIs help make the world around us more efficient and relevant.

How’d the Exults team do

I fully encourage you to play around with Quick Draw, but before you do, take a look at our team’s doodles. Some were better than others. Some were more inadvertently hilarious than others :-p

Chad, Search Specialist that has somehow caused me nightmares with his arm drawing

Danielle, Director of Operations that got real lucky with that “crocodile” drawing

Libby, Design Specialist who has apparently discovered hell’s unicorn

Lydia, Engagement Specialist who clearly needs to integrate asparagus into her diet

Nick, Lead Designer who could’ve done better if he wasn’t distracted by listening to ESPN New York 98.7 while playing

Romayne, SEO Director who yelled at his computer screen when the AI couldn’t guess the pineapple (I mean, come on)

Tony, Creative Director Cheater

How’d you do? Let us know in the comment section below.

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