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Posted onSeptember 2, 2020byBob kComments Off on 4 Types of Content you definitely haven’t thought of
So you want to improve your content marketing strategy. You’ve written blogs and followed all of the online guides to try to drive traffic to them. You’ve keyword optimised your website and have only had a minor SEO boost. Now what.
You’re left feeling deflated, demotivated and on the verge of giving up. All that time you’ve spent researching and writing those blog posts was for nothing. Or was it?
Blogging can take months, or even years, to reap the rewards. So what do you do if you want to see a return on investment from the start? Have you ever considered creating other types of content? I doubt it. Content marketing is one of the first things you should look into if you’re trying to get your business up and running.
Why is it that whenever someone mentions content marketing our minds jump straight to blogging? How many blogs do you read and engage with? It’s time that we stepped up the bar and started producing content that our audience wanted to interact with.
Rather than writing articles, think about other types of content you can create. Video has become increasingly popular over the years – but I’ll be honest, I have seen many brands fail creating them.
My company design and manufacture exhibition display stands for businesses to take to trade shows. We have a very niche product so it is impossible to keep thinking of fresh, creative content ideas!
Furthermore, our audience is a relatively small pool of business to business marketers and decision makers. We’ve found that they’re often busy and don’t have time to read lengthy how-to articles and they don’t want to sign up to another email newsletter.
Because of that, we’ve had to find a content marketing strategy that works for us. Blogging was one of the first tactics we tried. It went alright. But we wanted more. So we started looking for new ways of spreading our brand messaging and engaging with our target audience.
Did you know there are over one hundred different types of content you can produce and distribute for free? This is a list of the best types of content you should release if you want to increase engagement and drive traffic to your website.
1. Whitepapers
A whitepaper is a fancy term for primary research results. It sounds scary, but it’s so easy! And everyone loves up-to-date statistics. If you have a platform that allows you to reach a large audience (hello social media and email marketing!) then you are in a prime position to release your own research findings.
If you can get 100+ people to partake in a small survey or poll with 2 – 4 questions you can publish a whitepaper. You’ll get more shares, likes and engagement on your content if it contains statistics and information about a current situation.
2. Infographics
Sometimes people don’t have ten minutes to read a 4,000 word guide to extract one piece of information. That’s why infographics work well and encourage engagement. Many people are visual learners, as well as being time conscious. Giving them information in an easy-to-digest, striking graphic benefits everyone.
3. Stock-Quality Images
So many people invest heavily in writing a blog when they could simply share their photography with the world. There are hundreds of websites that allow people to download stock photos for free. We all use them for our blog posts!
If you have a professional camera, smartphones have reached the same level, and then start shooting. If you are working for a business then get snaps related to your niche. We can share images of exhibition stands, venues, busy trade show aisles… the possibilities are endless. People share your photos because you’ve offered them on the public domain. You might even get a backlink or two!
4. Formatted Spreadsheets
If spreadsheets aren’t your thing then this one might bring out a cold sweat. I’ve included it on this list because it works! Like you, people don’t like working their way through thousands of formulas to design a spreadsheet. They like using them though! And why wouldn’t they when it can turn a 2 hour job into a 30 second one.
Things like planners, budgeting sheets, checklists and timelines are great things to offer your audience. It’s about offering content that gives the audience value – a formatted spreadsheet certainly does that.
Summary
Have I convinced you to stop writing so many blog posts yet? Well, don’t stop. Writing blog posts regularly can still give you an SEO boost and your audience might engage with informative guides. All I’m suggesting is you should create a content marketing strategy that encompasses an array of content – not just articles!
Have a go at the types of content I’ve listed in this article. Maybe they work for you, maybe they don’t. You might have a list of your own that you want to share. Get in touch with us to share your favourite types of content to produce, and let us know which ones you typically see the most engagement on.
Posted onAugust 31, 2020byBob kComments Off on The Marketing Trend of Different Social Media Channels: Using BigSpy to Stay Competitive
According to the Digital Marketing Institute, 88% of 19 to 28-year-olds use some form of social media. There’s no denying the fact that social media channels have become a part of human culture. These platforms allow users to exchange ideas, stay in touch with loved ones, and share entertaining content.
From a business perspective, social media channels like Facebook have allowed marketers and businesses to connect with consumers like never before. These networks offer unmatched targeting options thanks to the amount of information they collect. But, marketers still need to implement a structured strategy in order to craft successful social campaigns.
There has been a lot of talk about the marketing trend of social media channels. Facebook has starred in multiple privacy scandals, so many pundits have predicted a sharp decline in the industry. However, recent trends suggest that consumer attention may be shifting rather than dissipating, so marketers that make adjustments early enough should be able to transition seamlessly.
Below, we’ll go over the current state of marketing trend of different social media channels, analyze the future of the industry, explore some of the most exciting features, and introduce some tools to build better ad campaigns.
The Popularity of Social Media Channels
One of the main reasons social media has gained and maintained popularity is the fact that this industry moves with technology. Social platforms feature personalized news feeds, live streams, video ads, and other innovative elements.
Today, social media channels are still very popular. But marketers find themselves in a crucial time where there appears to be a major shift in the industry.
All social platforms have their specialty or defining characteristic. More “orthodox” social media channels like Facebook have multiple features that attract users, while specialized platforms like Instagram focus mostly on one element. The popularity and demand for each platform fluctuate according to what consumers’ interests, so marketers need to look at the individual performance of each platform to determine if their reach is big enough.
Facebook
Facebook first became available to the public in 2006 and has since become the most popular social media platform in the world. Today, the company is worth almost 95 billion US dollars. The social network has invested billions back into its operations, acquiring WhatsApp in 2012 as well as Instagram, which we’ll discuss later in this post.
This platform has almost 2.5 billion monthly active users and it adds about half a million new accounts every day. As if that wasn’t enough, 51% percent of US adults report using Facebook multiple times per day while 40% of all accounts are used for reading news and informational purposes.
Considering the above, it’s worth noting that the announcement of Facebook Zero has drastically changed the way marketers will be able to use the platform. Those who get ahead of the wave and start developing potential content early on will have a crucial advantage over their competitors.
Twitter
Unlike traditional social media accounts, Twitter’s specialty is the dissemination of information via small text snippets widely known as tweets. Although consumers have to get used to the minimalist nature of the platform, Twitter allows companies to create a stronger connection with a more exclusive market, which is regarded as being more affluent than the average user base.
While Twitter doesn’t have Facebook’s reach, many marketers argue that content on this social media platform is much more engaging. 500 million tweets are being sent out every day, which comes from roughly 330 million monthly active users. 1 in 5 adults uses Twitter in the US and 42% of users check the platform every single day.
Instagram
Anyone who’s ever used Instagram understands why this social network is almost addictive. It focuses on sharing images, videos, live feeds, and other super-engaging content that consumers simply love. Instagram is ideal for companies that want to attract young customers through their content as 71% of users on this platform are under the age of 35.
Instagram was acquired by Facebook a few years ago, but the picture-centric social network has never been more popular. There are 1 billion monthly active users on Instagram, half of which use the platform daily. And, even though Twitter invented the hashtag, Instagram users have transformed this quirky practice into an art form. The average Instagram post includes about 10 carefully-selected hashtags that allow the content to reach a broader audience.
YouTube
YouTube is the premier video sharing platform that’s used by consumers, media outlets, companies, and every other entity on the planet. It’s estimated that every minute, users upload around 500 hours of video content to this platform. Whether users are looking for a funny cat video, a recap of a match they missed, or a how-to video, YouTube is the place to go.
From a business perspective, it’s important to understand that each visitor spends just under 12 minutes on each visit. About 7 out of 10 videos that people watch are suggested by the platform’s recommendation algorithm, which means that YouTube has a profound understanding of its viewer base. This can be translated into better placement and more effective ads.
Pinterest
If there is one platform that has remained user-centric since its inception, it has to be Pinterest. Despite the fact that it revolves around creating boards, Pinterest attracts users because it’s relatable, easy to use, and practical.
According to official numbers, there have been more than 200 billion pins saved on the platform by more than 335 million users. In the US, Pinterest is already the third-biggest social channel, with close to 43% of internet users having an account. To top it off, households that have a higher income are more likely to have a Pinterest account, so users tend to have more acquisitional power when compared to other platforms.
Social Media Global Statistics
In addition to looking at each platform individually, marketers should also analyze the overall performance of the campaign to make the right adjustments. Cutting-edge advancements, changes in policy, global incidents can all affect the way consumers behave on social channels. Savvy marketers and business owners should monitor the industry’s landscape and learn to read the patterns that start showing.
Our team has taken the time to analyze current trends in order to make projections for the future of social media. Here’s what we’ve found:
Usage
Out of the 4.5 billion people actively using the internet at the beginning of 2020, 3.8 billion are on social media. The adoption rate of social media channels has increased by 9% compared to the same time last year, reeling in more than 320 million new customers.
With more than 49% of people in the world using some form of the social network, marketers need to take advantage of and start generating leads through these platforms. However, there are already more than 3 million companies actively advertising their products and services on Facebook alone. For this reason, having the tools to research each channel properly can help companies invest funds in the right areas.
Product Discovery
Social media platforms have evolved from an entertainment and communication hub to a functional part of society. It’s common for consumers and businesses to find the services and products they need through these platforms. This can occur by asking friends, conducting a search, or joining a group, so making these networks a great place to promote your goods.
29% of 16 to 44 year-olds discover new brands and products through social media. Not only this, but 43% of all consumers are reported doing research for a product or service through social media channels. As for conversions, more than 13% of all consumers agree that having a “buy” button directly on their feeds would increase the chance of them making a purchase.
Engagement
Research suggests that digital consumers spend almost 2.5 hours on social media every day, which is spread across an average of 8 different profiles. Keeping users engaged has been a huge challenge for marketers since the inception of social media. Creating entertaining and valuable content is key, but scheduling posts at the right time and spreading them out properly is the only way to get attention from your audience.
The Marketing Trend of Social Media Channels
Video Ads and Live Ads
The general census among marketers is that consumers prefer to watch a video than to read an ad that takes them the same amount of time. While it represents a bigger investment in terms of resources, video ads can help engage users and showcase your product more effectively. Additionally, Facebook predicts that by the end of 2020, video can potentially draw up to 82% of all mobile traffic.
Live ads, which are adverts that are presented similarly to commercial TV breaks during a live stream, also maintain prospects super-engaged. That said, it’s important for companies to develop useful content early on and prevent consumers from developing a bad perception of this format.
The Power of Influencers
Marketers have known for a while that consumers value the opinion of small-scale influencers more than celebrities. Influencer marketing has already become a common element in advertising plans across all companies. As a matter of fact, 65% of marketers increased their budget for influencers this year. That said, advertisers also have to learn to single out the best influencers in order to get the results they’re looking for.
The Key to Success: Customizing Ads by Target Audiences
Ad target and customization are regarded as two of the most powerful features of digital advertising. Tailoring your ads and making sure that they are only displayed to a group of people that are more likely to be interested in your product can boost your conversions and improve the performance of your entire campaign.
With this in mind, knowing what demographics are more interested and which ads attract their attention requires extensive testing. Alternatively, you can use an ad monitoring and transparency tool like BigSpy to determine what’s working for others running similar campaigns. As a powerful ad spy tool, it provides detailed demographics for reference.
Enhancing User Experience with AI
Artificial intelligence (AI) is advancing in leaps and businesses are starting to leverage this turn-key technology to improve their marketing as well as their entire operation. This, combined with tryvertising, can give users a one-of-a-kind, efficiency-driven experience.
Take Uniqlo, who set up UMood kiosks in select stores, by using AI technology and censors in the UMood kiosks, the company could identify customers’ mood via analyzing neurological responses and make suggestions based on the results.
How to Use Ad Spy Tool to Improve Social Ad Campaigns
We’ve talked briefly about BigSpy in this article, but we’ll go over the specifics of the ads analysis platform in this section. BigSpy is a powerful business tool that allows users to see a comprehensive list of statistics from competitor ads across multiple platforms.
AdMob, Facebook, and other social ads networks have incredible reach and could produce stellar conversion numbers, but having the right strategy is crucial. BigSpy gives companies, marketers, and other stakeholders valuable insight that allows them to craft effective ads and well-structured campaigns, so if you want to find out more about building a robust social media ads campaign, what the future holds for social media channels, just test the ad spy tool-BigSpy. There you have it. We hope that this article has provided you with value about the marketing trend of social media channels as well as some guidance on improving your ads campaign with BigSpy. If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to ask in the comments section.
Posted onAugust 31, 2020byBob kComments Off on Key concepts to gain a competitive edge in the Online business
Today, in this modern era, the online industry is experiencing massive growth and many businesses are operating online in recent years. Seeing the great demand for online products and services from global users, entrepreneurs are now showing a great interest in running their businesses online. Also, with the advancements in technology, it is quite easy for them to carry out their online operations in a simple and convenient manner.
But, as an entrepreneur, you may still wonder if it is really a good idea to plunge into the online industry. Some business owners running traditional brick and mortar businesses may also think, Why should I take my business online?
Actually, there are many astounding benefits that you can gain by running an online business or by having a strong digital presence for your business. Some of those key benefits include cost savings, global audience reach for products and services with no geographical limitations, can boost brand image, highly effective product promotional activities, meeting the growing shopping needs of users worldwide, increased chances to manage and operate the business from any corner of the world, enhanced customer support, and so on.
So, for many aspiring entrepreneurs like you, it will be a smart idea to invest in the online business. But, you must ponder some important aspects if you want to set up your online business in the current market trend. You must also know some online business success tricks and you should be able to solve the key challenges that you might face while starting your online business in 2020.
Entrepreneurs who are already running their own online businesses must know some trends that are going to shape the future of the online industry.
So, if you are one of those proprietors looking to launch your online business in 2020 or striving hard to boost your online business growth, continue reading this blog
Do you need recap on web hosting? If so, read on. Many people have gained a grasp of the basics of web hosting but have forgotten what the purpose of it is over time, so if you do need to refresh your knowledge of web hosting, this guide is for you. Website hosting provides space for websites and ensures they can be accessed by your visitors. When you use a web hosting service, your website is stored on a server in a data centre that is powered by high-speed internet around the clock.
If you are to run a successful website capable of catering for simultaneous visitors, you will need to ensure the servers and software that you are using are maintained and managed by expert professionals. Web hosting companies provide space for websites but also ensure your site can function properly. Continue reading →
Having a website has become integral to most businesses, as the amount of business leads that can be generated from online marketing can be very significant. For bigger businesses, an IT department or dedicated web developer will take on the work involved in getting a website set up. For smaller businesses though, they don’t always have the luxury or resources to have a specialist involved.
However, with the level of progress that has been made in website development over recent years, it has become much easier for those with little technical knowledge to get a website up and running themselves.
There are now a whole host of themes offered by companies such as WordPress and similar ones that are really easy to use with a bit of willingness to learn some basic fundamentals. A simple website can be up and running in less than a day, as many website services use in their advertising campaigns. There are a few things that people will need to consider when they are setting up a website for the first time and one of the biggest is web hosting. Continue reading →
No matter what level of the business hierarchy your role occupies, you’re going to tackle problems at one point or another. Resolving problems is one of the main responsibilities of a business, and they come at you from all sides. Customer queries, technical issues and supplier problems all happen so regularly that you’ll need effective measures of coming to terms with them if you’re to operate efficiently and well, with peace of mind.
Having a responsive and awesome online business will allow you to keep on top form when it comes to business proceedings. An unhappy customer is much more likely to pass word of mouth about their experience with your business onto one of their friends. If they have a good experience, they’re likely to recommend your service but not with the verve and intensity that a negative review will bring. People expect your business to be good and responsive, which is why when it isn’t, they will happily let you and others know about it. Continue reading →
If you spend any time on the internet, it doesn’t take long to realize that technology is changing at a supersonic pace and shows no signs of slowing down in the near future.
It is this rapid change that makes many small business owners very hesitant to invest their hard-earned monies into new equipment because they are concerned that it will be obsolete shortly after making the investment.
WordPress is indeed a powerful and most preferred CMS framework on the internet. Based on builtiwith report it powers more than 17 million websites across the internet.
But do you know there are some common issues that causes white screen error? WordPress community relate to it as White Screen of Death Error.
If your website is suffering from white screen of death error I have four steps to resolve the issue and a tip that will help you prevent this error happening again. Continue reading →
Magento is a highly outstanding eCommerce platform, used by numerous eCommerce companies. As the success of eCommerce sites largely depends on attracting new customers, retaining the old ones and providing them the best shopping experience, it is important for e-shop owners to increase their site’s visibility in Google & other search engines to receive traffic and convert them into leads. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) determines the ranking of websites in different search engines. SEO Optimization of eCommerce websites are more complicated than doing SEO for a typical website with a few pages. So, when you run a Magento store, you need to apply some useful and effective SEO tips (given here below) to make your online store visible to your customers and improve its performance at an optimum level:
1. Pay attention to the quality of your website
Google always thinks about the website’s quality before indexing them into its search results. You must think- Is your website helping users what they are looking for? In order to determine the quality of your site, Google uses some key parameters such as time spent on your site by visitors, bounce rate, load time, design, ease of navigation, etc. Make sure you are addressing these issues carefully to give your user the best shopping experience on your e-commerce site. Continue reading →
Some people love to work remotely, and some don’t. The thought of getting through the working day without having a boss watching your every move can feel terrifying to some. And really liberating to others! The thought of having to manage your own time and motivate yourself to hit your own deadlines can be quite daunting. Working remotely does offer a certain kind of freedom, though. One of the most wonderful things about working remotely is having the opportunity to travel while you work. If you can build up a business for yourself while maintaining a steady stream of clients, you may never have to join the rat race again. Imagine living in a working world where you don’t have to spend and 2 hours in the car to get to and from the office every day. Imagine never having to travel on a pack train or hot and sticky subway during the dreaded rush hour. Working remotely have many benefits; you just have to learn to motivate yourself and stick to your goals. At the end of the day, you are working for yourself. If you don’t maximize the opportunity you could end up falling short and being disappointed with yourself.
