Your 10 Favorite Topics This Month (August 2013)

Ah, yes, it’s that time again. Every month, I round-up your favorite posts from the previous month in case you missed one. Without further ado, here’s the list:

1. The most popular post in August, by far, was my look at why search isn’t about search any longer .
2. Another biggie was this Travel Tuesday post, examining why travel distribution is getting really interesting along with another Travel Tuesday post asking whether mobile should be more than last-minute .
3. August was a big news month. Steve Ballmer announced his retirement from Microsoft. Expedia bought Travelocity. I took a vacation. Well, maybe that last one wasn’t such a big deal. But the others caused me to explore The More Things Change… . And I followed that up with an episode of our Thinks Out Loud podcast which talked about how your digital strategy needs to account for change .
4. Actually, another actual news story was a mistake. A number of outlets reported Facebook was going to offer a mobile payment platform. They’re not. But what they are offering is far more interesting .
5. It must have seemed like I did a two-parter of Thinks Out Loud with episodes 38 and 39, “E-commerce? Retail? It’s Just Shopping” and “Why E-commerce Keeps Growing. And Why it Still Will.”
6. Speaking of e-commerce, I recapped the news that e-commerce grew 16% YOY, M-commerce 24%, and what those numbers mean to your business .
7. Guest blogger Susan Payton offered up a fantastic list of tools called “Free and Easy: The Beginner’s Small Business Toolkit.”
8. I dug into what Google Maps’ In-line Ads mean to you in another popular post.
9. Something of a follow up to the first item on this list looked at the new ways consumers interact with computers, especially those without screens .
10. And, finally, another Thinks Out Loud episode proved popular. The topic: “The Web is Maturing. Shouldn’t Your Digital Marketing?”

Interested in learning more about the future of marketing in a multiscreen world? Register to receive a special report I’ve produced in conjunction with hotel marketing firm Vizergy, “Digital Hotel Marketing in a Multiscreen World.” While it’s targeted specifically at hotel and resort marketers, the lessons apply to just about any business. You can get your free copy of the report here .

And, if all that’s not enough, you might also enjoy some of our past coverage of the social, local, mobile web and what it means for your business, including:

• Today and Tomorrow: Mobile and the Changing Customer Journey
• What’s the Future of E-commerce? Look to the Past to Find Out
• How to Get In Your Customers’ Pants… Pocket
• Kiss Your Current Conversion Rate Goodbye (Travel Tuesday)
• What Watson, Xbox, and Google Are Telling You Right Now (Travel Tuesday)
• Thinks Out Loud Episode 28: Say “Hi” to Conversational Search