Ultimately companies are looking for two things; increase their brand awareness and more sales. The role that marketing plays in this is pivotal, and as we move closer to understanding marketing analytics across the entire spectrum of marketing, we are realizing that marketing performance is not only getting more cut-throat, and precise, with amateur or lazy marketers being caught out - but it is also getting more 'real'.

If you run a marketing team, you will realise a few things; firstly that no marketing team can be all the same, and secondly, a mixture of personalities and skills is required for optimum performance. When choosing a team, it's best to steer away from selecting people just like you, or like another person who you rate as being a good marketer on your team. The reason is simple; a strong, competent, successful marketing team has to have a mixture of personalities that collaborate, support, encourage, nurture and push each other to reach their full potential both individually and as a team.

While this may seem idealistic, it's a reality for any competent marketing manager who has the 'balls' to think outside the box when they are putting together a team of people to take a company to the next level.

What is there to not love about America? I am blessed with a life of travelling backwards and forwards from Australia to Atlanta, meeting amazing people and having a team of individuals in my office that are very talented and uber cool.

Data has played a vital role in turning marketing from an art into a science and now there’s more than ever. It can be difficult to know what statistics you should be paying attention to and how to use them. So how do you know your website is performing? What can you do to improve it? Here is Marketing Eye’s quick guide to Google Analytics statistics and how to use them to improve your online marketing.

The most important thing you need to understand about Google Analytics Stats is that no singular statistic will tell you everything. The key to making informed decisions is looking at several statistics to form a more complete picture of your online marketing, and compare this to your strategy to see if you are on the right path. If you’re getting all your traffic from Twitter, but no one is buying your products, maybe you need to rethink your social media strategy.

Receiving a call for an interview often triggers such mixed emotions. You are bubbling with excitement because you have an interview! Simultaneously however, you are overflowing with nerves because, oh dear, you have an interview. The best way to enhance your performance in an interview is being prepared before you even walk in the door.

Our extrordinary client Bob Muscat is Marketing Eye's featured guest blogger of the week. He is a strategy and operations expert with 30 years experience helping companies dramatically improve the profit in their business. His background is unusual because it is extraordinarily varied. He specializes in results – and nothing else! Take a look at his secret to improving the desired balence between work and life.

The sun is shining and we have all gotten over the winter blues, but with that comes the mid-year, summer holidays slump.

There is so much to do, yet all that many of us can think about is the long-waited summer holiday that is imminent.

Perhaps you have gotten out of the normal rhythm that your sales and marketing efforts have been in, or maybe it's not quite working like it use to.

Don't fear! You are the norm.

What you do next will really set the mark on how you will end the year from a sales and marketing perspective.

5 Ways to get over the mid-year marketing slump

Saturday night I attended a 30th birthday party for a dear friend of mine. The theme was nautical. After weeks of racking my brain as to what to wear, my friend and I ended up settling on being Boat Captains.

We had only one hour to spare on Saturday to put a costume together, so we headed to a costume shop and purchased a hat. Cheaper than renting it we decided.

Whether you are a big business or a small business, "none of us is as smart as all of us" (ref: Kenneth Blanchard, The One Minute Manager).

Truth be known, I don't think I am very smart at all, but collectively with the talents of my team at Marketing Eye, we help small businesses grow and most of our work is pretty awesome (if you ask me!).