Insights & Guides
The ThisCom Blog
Practical guides on email marketing, automation, SEO, branding, and growth, written by the team that builds and runs these programs for small and medium businesses.
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BrandingBranding for Small Business: The Complete Guide →
Branding is not just a logo, it is the reputation and promise customers associate with you. Here is how a small business builds a brand that earns trust and commands a premium.
Mara Whitfield
BrandingBrand vs. Branding vs. Brand Identity: What’s the Difference? →
These three terms get used interchangeably but mean different things. Understanding the distinction is the first step to building a brand intentionally.
Mara Whitfield
BrandingHow to Build a Brand Strategy (Step by Step) →
A brand strategy is the foundation every logo, message, and campaign should rest on. Here is a practical, step-by-step process for small businesses.
Mara Whitfield
BrandingBrand Identity Design: Logo, Color, Typography & Voice →
Brand identity turns strategy into something people can see and feel. Here is how the core elements, logo, color, type, and voice, work together.
Mara Whitfield
Email MarketingHow to Build an Email List From Scratch (Without Buying One) →
A permission-based email list is your most valuable marketing asset. Here are the lead magnets, opt-in forms, and tactics that grow it ethically and fast.
Valter Brandt
BrandingBrand Positioning: How to Stand Out in a Crowded Market →
Positioning is the art of owning a distinct space in your customer’s mind. Here is how small businesses find and claim a position competitors can’t.
Mara Whitfield
BrandingBrand Voice & Messaging: Sounding Like You Everywhere →
Your brand voice is how your personality comes through in words. Here is how to define a voice and messaging that stays consistent across every channel.
Mara Whitfield
BrandingRebranding: When and How to Refresh Your Brand →
Rebranding can revitalize a business or squander hard-won recognition. Here is how to know when you need one and how to do it without losing customers.
Mara Whitfield
Email AutomationWelcome Email Sequences That Convert New Subscribers →
The welcome sequence is the highest-engagement email you will ever send. Here is a proven structure to turn new subscribers into customers automatically.
Valter Brandt
Digital BrandBuilding a Digital Brand: The Complete Guide →
Your digital brand is how people experience you online, across your website, search, social, and reviews. Here is how small businesses build a strong, consistent one.
Mara Whitfield
Digital BrandYour Website: The Center of Your Digital Brand →
Social platforms are rented; your website is owned. Here is why your site should anchor your digital brand, and what makes one that builds trust.
Mara Whitfield
Email AutomationEmail Automation 101: Workflows Every Small Business Should Set Up →
Automated email flows run 24/7 and drive a large share of email revenue. Here are the core workflows every small business should set up first.
Valter Brandt
Digital BrandSocial Media Branding for Small Businesses →
Social media is where your brand’s personality is most visible. Here is how to build a consistent, recognizable presence without burning out.
Mara Whitfield
Digital BrandOnline Reputation Management: Protecting Your Brand →
Reviews and search results shape your brand before customers ever contact you. Here is how to monitor, build, and protect your online reputation.
Mara Whitfield
Email AutomationAbandoned Cart Emails: Recover Lost Revenue on Autopilot →
Most online carts are abandoned before checkout. A well-built abandoned-cart flow recovers a meaningful share of that revenue automatically.
Valter Brandt
Digital BrandPersonal Branding for Founders →
For many small businesses, the founder is the most trusted brand asset. Here is how to build a personal brand that grows the business.
Mara Whitfield
Email MarketingEmail Segmentation: Send the Right Message to the Right People →
Blasting the same email to everyone is the fastest way to train your list to ignore you. Segmentation lifts engagement and revenue dramatically.
Valter Brandt
Digital BrandBrand Consistency Across Channels (Omnichannel) →
Customers experience your brand across many channels at once. Consistency is what turns scattered touchpoints into one recognizable, trusted brand.
Mara Whitfield
Digital BrandYour Brand in AI Search: GEO for Brand Visibility →
AI assistants increasingly answer questions about businesses directly. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) makes sure your brand is the one they cite.
Mara Whitfield
Email MarketingWriting Email Subject Lines That Get Opened (With Examples) →
The subject line decides whether your email is read or ignored. Here are the principles and proven formulas that lift open rates, plus what to avoid.
Valter Brandt
Link BuildingThe Value of Links: Why Backlinks Still Matter for SEO →
Links are the web’s votes of confidence and remain one of Google’s strongest ranking signals. Here is why links matter and how small businesses earn them.
Daniel Okafor
Link BuildingWhat Makes a High-Quality Backlink →
Not all links are equal. Here are the factors, relevance, authority, placement, and more, that determine whether a backlink actually helps your SEO.
Daniel Okafor
DeliverabilityEmail Deliverability: How to Stay Out of the Spam Folder →
The best email in the world is worthless in the spam folder. Deliverability is infrastructure, here is how small businesses earn and protect inbox placement.
Valter Brandt
Link BuildingLink Building Strategies for Small Businesses →
You don’t need a big budget to earn quality links. Here are practical, white-hat link building strategies that work for small businesses.
Daniel Okafor
Link BuildingHow to Earn Backlinks (Without Buying Them) →
Earned links are durable and penalty-proof. Here is how to create assets and do outreach that gets reputable sites to link to you naturally.
Daniel Okafor
DeliverabilitySPF, DKIM, and DMARC Explained for Non-Technical Business Owners →
These three DNS records are the foundation of email deliverability and security. Here is what each one does, in plain English, and why you need all three.
Valter Brandt
SEOInternal Linking: The Underrated SEO Win →
Internal links are fully in your control and one of the easiest SEO improvements. Here is how to use them to spread authority and help users.
Daniel Okafor
Link BuildingDigital PR for Link Building →
Digital PR earns authoritative links by creating newsworthy stories. Here is how small businesses can use it to build authority and coverage.
Daniel Okafor
Email MarketingDrip Campaigns vs. Newsletters: When to Use Each →
Drip campaigns and newsletters serve different jobs. Here is how each works, when to use them, and why a healthy program needs both.
Valter Brandt
Link BuildingToxic Backlinks: How to Find and Handle Them →
Spammy or unnatural links can drag down your SEO. Here is how to identify toxic backlinks and what to do (and not do) about them.
Daniel Okafor
Email MarketingThe Best Email Marketing Platforms for Small Businesses in 2026 →
Mailchimp, Brevo, MailerLite, Klaviyo, and more, how to choose the right email platform for your business size, budget, and goals.
Valter Brandt
DeliverabilityTransactional vs. Marketing Email: What’s the Difference? →
Order confirmations and newsletters follow different rules, infrastructure, and best practices. Confusing them hurts deliverability and can break the law.
Valter Brandt
Email MarketingHow to Measure Email Marketing ROI (The Metrics That Matter) →
Open rate is no longer reliable. Here are the email metrics that actually map to revenue, and how to calculate the ROI of your email program.
Valter Brandt
Email MarketingA/B Testing Your Emails: A Practical Framework →
Stop guessing what works. A simple, disciplined A/B testing process turns your email program into a system that improves with every send.
Valter Brandt
Email AutomationRe-Engagement Campaigns: How to Win Back Inactive Subscribers →
Inactive subscribers quietly damage deliverability. A re-engagement campaign wins back the ones worth keeping and cleanly removes the rest.
Valter Brandt
Email AutomationBuilding a Post-Purchase Email Flow That Drives Repeat Sales →
The sale is the start of the relationship, not the end. A post-purchase flow boosts retention, reviews, and repeat revenue automatically.
Valter Brandt
DeliverabilityEmail Marketing Compliance: CAN-SPAM, GDPR, and CASL Made Simple →
Email laws are less scary than they sound. Here is what CAN-SPAM, GDPR, and CASL actually require, and a simple checklist to stay compliant.
Valter Brandt
Email MarketingPersonalization in Email: Beyond “Hi {FirstName}” →
Real personalization is about relevance, not just inserting a name. Here is how small businesses use behavior and data to make every email feel one-to-one.
Valter Brandt
Email AutomationLead Nurturing With Email Automation for B2B →
B2B buyers rarely convert on first contact. A lead-nurturing flow builds trust over time and hands sales warm, educated prospects.
Valter Brandt
Email MarketingAI in Email Marketing: Practical Use Cases for 2026 →
AI is reshaping email marketing, from subject lines to send-time optimization. Here are the practical, available-today use cases for small businesses.
Valter Brandt
ResearchStill Worth It: A Clearer Story of Small Business Value →
Our research study confirms small business solutions still provide tremendous value, and shows what providers must do differently to help businesses scale.
Valon Badivuku
Next.jsNext.js Performance Optimization Strategies →
Master image optimization, code splitting, and caching strategies to build lightning-fast Next.js applications.
Valon Badivuku
ProductDesigning MVPs That Scale →
A practical guide to building minimum viable products that can evolve without rewrites.
Valon Badivuku
AnalyticsSmarter Analytics for SMBs →
Lightweight dashboards, actionable KPIs, and tooling that fits small teams.
Valon Badivuku
AIAI in the Back Office →
Automating routine operations with AI while keeping humans in the loop.
Valon Badivuku
Digital MarketingDigital Marketing Goes Remote in 2020 →
When the world moved online overnight, digital marketing became the whole storefront. Here is what changed and what stuck in 2020.
Nadia Hoffmann
CrowdfundingCrowdfunding and Cause Marketing in 2019 →
Platforms like GoFundMe have turned generosity into a movement. Here is how brands can support causes the right way in 2019.
Nadia Hoffmann
Social MediaHow Stories Changed Social Media in 2018 →
Disappearing, full-screen Stories have taken over social feeds. Here is what the shift means for how brands show up in 2018.
Nadia Hoffmann
PodcastingPodcasting: Marketing’s Quiet Frontier in 2017 →
Podcasts are turning into one of the most intimate ways to reach an audience. Here is why 2017 is the year brands should pay attention.
Nadia Hoffmann
Digital MarketingThe State of Digital Marketing in 2016 →
Mobile, video, and social have rewritten the rules. Here is where digital marketing stands in 2016 and what it means for small brands.
Nadia Hoffmann
RetargetingTrack Behavior Across Devices and Retarget Interested Users →
People research on a phone and buy on a laptop. Here is how cross-device tracking and retargeting bring interested users back in 2016.
Valon Badivuku
Marketing StrategyThe Larger Trend: How Marketing Changed from 2010 to 2015 →
Six shifts defined marketing between 2010 and 2015, from broad targeting to precision and from desktop to mobile. A CMO looks back.
Valter Brandt
Marketing AutomationMarketing Automation Matures: HubSpot, Marketo, Pardot, and Mailchimp →
Automation has grown from simple autoresponders into full lifecycle platforms. A 2015 look at HubSpot, Marketo, Pardot, and Mailchimp.
Valon Badivuku
Video MarketingVideo Marketing Takes Over Social Media →
Social feeds are becoming video first. Here is how brands can use social video to capture attention in 2015.
Valter Brandt
Video MarketingUnlocking the Potential of Video Marketing →
Video is moving from nice-to-have to essential. Here is how small businesses can use it across the funnel in 2015.
Valon Badivuku
Influencer MarketingInfluencer Marketing Emerges →
Trusted voices on social media can move audiences in ways brands cannot. Here is how influencer marketing is taking shape.
Valter Brandt
Content MarketingLong-Form Guides: Why Depth Wins Attention →
Short posts are easy to ignore. Thorough, well organized guides earn links, rankings, and trust. Here is how to build them.
Valon Badivuku
RetargetingThe Facebook Pixel and the Power of Retargeting →
A small snippet of code turns anonymous visitors into an audience you can reach again. Here is how the pixel and retargeting work.
Valter Brandt
Video MarketingEducational Video: Teaching Your Way to Trust →
How-to and explainer videos turn a brand into a helpful expert. Here is why educational video is the most underrated content of 2014.
Valon Badivuku
ProgrammaticProgrammatic Advertising, Explained →
Ad buying is becoming automated and data-driven. Here is what programmatic advertising is and why it is reshaping display.
Valter Brandt
Paid SocialHow the Facebook Ads Platform Grew Up →
From simple sidebar ads to precise targeting and the news feed, the Facebook ads platform has matured into a serious channel.
Valter Brandt
Mobile MarketingWhy Mobile-First Marketing Matters in 2014 →
Smartphones have crossed the tipping point. Here is why marketers should design for the small screen first, starting now.
Valon Badivuku
SEOWhat Panda and Hummingbird Mean for SEO →
Google’s Panda and Hummingbird updates reward quality and meaning over keyword tricks. Here is how to adapt your SEO.
Valter Brandt
Social MediaInstagram’s Rise and What It Means for Brands →
A photo app has become a cultural force. Here is why Instagram matters for brands and how to show up well.
Valter Brandt
Marketing AutomationMarketing Automation Platforms, Explained →
A new category of software promises to nurture leads automatically. Here is what marketing automation platforms do and who they are for.
Valter Brandt
Mobile MarketingThe Mobile-First Revolution Is Here →
Smartphones are changing how people find and choose businesses. The companies that put mobile first will own the next decade.
Valter Brandt
Content MarketingContent Marketing Goes Mainstream →
Brands are realizing that useful content beats interruptive ads. Here is why content marketing is becoming the center of strategy.
Valter BrandtWant help putting this into practice?
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