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  • How to Gain SEO Traction in a Saturated Market

    How to Gain SEO Traction in a Saturated Market

    We live in an era of content shock. Quite simply, there’s a lot of good content out there and it’s difficult to stick out in saturated markets. Whether you’re facing saturation in the “real world” or online, the more competitors you have, the more work you need to put in. Fortunately, with the right tricks and tips, you can succeed even in saturated markets.

    So let’s look at how Search Engine Optimization works and why it’s important. We’ll also cover how you can use SEO to stand out even in saturated markets.

    Understanding The Importance of Search Engine Optimization

    Many people now use their laptops, smartphones, and other devices to conduct research before purchasing a product or service. Whether someone is looking for “the best criminal defense lawyer in Atlanta” or the “top air fryer in 2022,” there’s a good chance they will start by searching around on the web.

    Search Engine Optimization can be a big help. With SEO, you make your website and content more attractive to search engines such as Google or Bing. How? It helps to understand what search engines are trying to accomplish. Simply put, search engines want to present users with the best content available related to their search inquiries.

    So, if a user types in “best DUI defense lawyer in Boston,” Google will scan various web pages, rank them, and then present them. In this case, Google will likely present a variety of law firm and attorney websites for people and practices located around Boston. The search engine may also present aggregate websites, like Findlaw.com, expertise.com, and others. These websites typically list lawyers and may provide client reviews as well.

    By the way, while we’re focusing on law firms right now, the same remains true for other areas of business. If a user is searching for the “best burger in Chicago,” he or she will get presented with a list of local restaurants, review sites like Yelp, and content from eatery magazines.

    Fortunately, if you’re a localized business operating in a specific town, county, or wherever else, you can often cut through the noise more quickly with a strong SEO strategy. Meanwhile, national search terms, say the “best business laptop”, are typically more difficult to rank for.

    How to Stand Out With The Right Keywords

    These days, there’s so much content available online that you might think that Search Engine Optimization is a waste of time and resources. Writing content can feel like shouting into a hurricane and no matter how hard you scream, you won’t make yourself heard above the storm.

    Fortunately, in some ways, SEO now arguably favors smaller businesses. If you sell toothpaste at grocery stores across the country, you’ll struggle to beat out the other big dental supply companies publishing content. Large organizations (e.g. Colgate) often have big marketing teams that produce a lot of SEO content.

    That said, if you run a dental practice or law office in Ames, Iowa, you’ll mostly be competing with other small businesses in that market. These companies likely won’t be producing as much content as a huge company like Colgate. Knowing how to adjust general SEO strategies to dentistry in particular is a great way to drive more traffic to your practice.  

    Looping back to our law firm example from earlier, localized niche Search Engine Optimization strategies, such as those laid out in Law Firm SEO, often present the best opportunities. This specific reference is just one example of many resources you can use to your advantage in your niche marketing plan. 

    By crafting keyword-rich, relevant, and high-quality content, you can start to build up an audience, and over time, you can drive conversions. Great content tends to draw in organic traffic, which is of especially high value. With organic traffic, people are in need of your specific products or services and thus are more likely to convert.

    You’ll want to start by finding keywords that are relevant to your business and your customers or clients. Fortunately, you can use Google Ads to generate keyword ideas. Using Google Ads Keyword Planner for “Criminal Defense Attorney” in Miami generated the following list:

    • criminal lawyer
    • defense attorney
    • criminal lawyers near me
    • criminal defense lawyer
    • DUI attorney
    • criminal attorney
    • DUI attorney near me
    • criminal defense attorney near me

    These keywords offer a great starting point. To go further, a criminal defense lawyer specializing in certain things, say fighting DUIs or representing children, can also focus on related terms to the specialization.

    Crafting High-Quality Keyword Rich SEO Content That Stands Out

    By peppering the above keywords (DUI lawyer, criminal defense attorney near me, etc.) into your content, you can begin to attract search engines. You’ll also want to use basic SEO guidelines, such as:

    • Keyword-rich headers
    • Images and corresponding keyword-rich alt-text
    • No grammatical errors
    • A fast, responsive, and mobile-friendly website

    Google also pays attention to length and generally seems to rank longer content higher (~1,800 words). Google values “backlinks”, which are links on other websites that lead to your website. Let’s say you’re an attorney and digitally publish an article in the local newspaper. If that article links to your site, Google will notice the backlink and take it into account when determining your authority.

    Backlinks from highly reputable websites are very valuable and could greatly increase your ranking. It’s wise to build a backlinking strategy and to start reaching out to other websites to see if you can publish content and also place links back to your website. You may also consider hiring a professional who specializes in building backlinks.

    Is SEO Right For My Company?

    SEO is an effective strategy even in saturated markets. That said, not all SEO campaigns will perform equally. In some instances, localized niche companies such as local attorney practices, veterinarians, and other geographically confined businesses will enjoy better results. Even then, the difference between a well-thought-out SEO strategy and an amateurish effort can be dramatic.

    If you are going to use SEO to grow your business, you should either study content marketing and Search Engine Optimization or work with someone who knows the industry. Quite simply, it’s easier to stand out in saturated markets if you have the right skills and assets.

  • What Are the Best Days to Post

    What Are the Best Days to Post

    There’s more to consider than just posting pieces of content consistently if you want your business blog to take-off. The posting time does affect levels of engagement. This article details what days are best for publishing blogs.

    Best Days to Post for Traffic

    Tuesdays through Thursdays are the best days to post for traffic, as people are more likely to browse the internet. However, if your company has a sale, you may want to post on Friday or Saturday when they are probably shopping. Mondays are best if you have something newsworthy to share.

    Best Time to Publish for Pageviews

    To increase page views on your website, post content at the right time. Posts published in the early morning tend to have a higher clickthrough rate. 

    The best day for a blogger to post is Wednesdays at 10 a.m. That is one of the peak times when people read blogs. That’s not to say other times won’t work.

    Best Time for Social Shares

    Our social web is alive when people are at their desks during the workday. The most popular times for social media engagement are early weekday mornings and late afternoons but vary depending on the sites you use.

    This is the best time of day to post for increased social media shares:

    • Tuesdays – 2 p.m.
    • Thursdays – 12, 6, and 11 p.m.
    • Fridays – 1 and 10 p.m.
    • Saturdays – 8 a.m., 12 and 5 p.m.
    • Sundays – 7 a.m. and 2 p.m.

    Best Day to Publish for Social Shares

    According to a study by Track Social, the best day to publish content for social media shares is Tuesday. However, every brand’s audience is different, so it’s essential to test what works best for your company.

    When to Post for Consistent Engagement  

    Every company posts content on its website. However, suppose no people are checking out social media platforms. In that case, there is no point in creating posts randomly throughout the day because nobody will see them.

    The best time to post comments is between 9–11 a.m. That’s because people check for social media posts at that time.

    How Many Times Should You Publish In a Week?

    Three days a week is best, but not standard. The best days of the week to publish are Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Tuesdays and Thursdays see a slight dip, while Sundays witness the least readership.

    Best Time to Blog on Facebook

    The optimal time for a Facebook post is typically Monday through Friday between 9–11 a.m. Understanding the best day to post on Facebook is important because there are clear trends based on age demographics.

    A study by TrackMaven looked at 400 million Facebook posts to determine the best time for every demographic. The information from Facebook page insights helps marketers save time when scheduling blog content.

    Best times for each demographic:

    • 18 to 24-years: Wednesday at 3 p.m.
    • 25 to 34-years: Thursday at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
    • 35 to 44-years: Friday at 8 a.m.
    • 45 to 54-years: Saturday at 7 a.m.
    • 55 to 64-years: Thursday at 3 p.m.
    • 65 and over: Wednesday at 10 a.m.

    Best Time to Post on Twitter  

    Twitter is a fast-paced platform with a lot of competition for attention. The best time to tweet on Twitter for your business might be different than the best time for other types of accounts. According to CoSchedule, these are the best times for a tweet:

    • 8 a.m.
    • noon
    • 3 p.m.
    • 5 p.m.
    • 11 p.m. to midnight

    Social Media Today suggests that the best time is 1:45 p.m. EST and 4:30 p.m. EST weekdays for retail companies.

    Buffer recommends posting at the following times:

    • Mondays to Thursdays, 5 to 6 p.m.
    • Fridays, 3 to 4 p.m.
    • Saturdays and Sundays, 10 to 11 a.m.

    Best Time to Publish on LinkedIn

    The best times to post on LinkedIn are Mondays to Fridays at 9 a.m., noon, and 5 p.m. These three times were the most optimal across every demographic studied by TrackMaven. Like other social networks, the worst days to post are over the weekend.

    Best Time to Post on Instagram

    Different brands will have different target audiences with varying levels of engagement at other times of the day. A Sprout Social study found that the best time for Instagram posts is weekdays between 8 and 9 p.m. EST.

    Buffer studied the Instagram algorithm and has excellent insights on the best time to post on Instagram.

    Best Time to Publish on Tiktok

    TikTok’s audience is incredibly diverse. A study by Locowise found that the best time to post is between 6 and 7 p.m. EST on weekdays. Buffer data shows that weekends are not optimal for engagement.

    Apps for Publishing Automation

    These tools are handy for scheduling blog posts. They ensure you publish posts at the ideal time even when you are out of office and can’t post:

    • SocialBee
    • Hootsuite
    • Agorapulse
    • CoSchedule

    In Conclusion

    It would seem the best days for blog posts are workdays. Remember that what works for one company might not for another. It’s essential to test what days and times generate the most traffic for your website.

    If you’re looking for a way to automate your blog publishing, consider using a content management system. These platforms allow you to preview and schedule posts ahead of time. You won’t ever have to worry about forgetting to publish, whatever the time or day.

  • How Do You Measure the Success of a Content-Driven Marketing Strategy?

    How Do You Measure the Success of a Content-Driven Marketing Strategy?

    Content marketing is reshaping ecommerce for companies large and small. That’s because marketing is about trust first and foremost and marketers are realizing that quality content builds trust quicker than traditional advertising. Tim Turner Forman of a new startup called The Tot and Matt Osias of Hawke Media recently discussed how to start a content-driven marketing strategy.

    Why is it important to resist the urge to have your content do the selling?

    Tim: What we do at The Tot is provide trust and advice and mindfully curated products. For it to be considered trusted advice it needs to come from a credible real place. It needs to be authentic and it needs to come from experts, people who know what they are talking about. At The Tot we work with a network of experts around the globe to create parenting content. What first-time parents are looking for most is information and they are just as likely to turn to a website as they are to go to a doctor and they are even more likely to go to a website than to ask their own Mother. If we are able to develop and curate content of moms sharing to other moms, that develops a relationship and provides values for them.

    How do you measure the success and performance of a content-driven marketing strategy?

    Matt: When you consider measuring in general, there are so many different formats that are out there that people can leverage. Oftentimes, people are saying… well I want articles for my blog. What type of article are you looking for? What is the goal of that piece of content? Are you trying to drive organic search and bring in new audiences so they can learn who you are or are you trying to engage them a bit more with videos and infographics? Every single format has a very specific measurement.

    Beyond that, your measurements are somewhat different than your basic media buying for example, where you spend a dollar and hope to make back three, or some version of that. When we are looking at content marketing, especially when it is brand agnostic, the real important ideal there is to think about how can I actually give something to my audience that resonates with them, teaches them and solves a problem. Then ultimately, your brand is there waiting for them.

    Awareness, Engagement, Advocacy

    The three things that I look at are awareness, engagement, and advocacy. The first thing you would want to do in building a content marketing strategy is to consider the idea of awareness, giving awareness to the people you are working with. Then having intent-driven content. People are asking questions in Google all the time and they are getting answers. If your site has the answers in its content, especially if it’s early stages, then that’s going to do something that most (ecommerce) sites aren’t doing, which is to put eyes onto your site, without the brand and product coming into play at first.

    With this brand agnostic content, the bulk of your content is primarily text-based content. With measurement I look at eyes on site and what they are doing when they get there. Are they jumping around to different pages or are they bouncing right away? When you bring in somebody to your site where it is solving something you have to have something that is engaging to keep them there and keep them coming back.

    Tim: We definitely watch inside of Google Analytics to be able to see the pageviews, what people are doing, and how they move from the editorial side of the site to the product side of the site. We also use content as part of our marketing program. It’s definitely an upper funnel prospecting piece.

    Quality Content is Just as Important as Ad Spend

    Tim: As somebody who came from an ad agency working with clients who had large ad spends and then coming to a start-up to help them grow and find customers, we didn’t have a large ad budget. What we did have though is this wonderful bank of content. This quality content has become just as important as the ad spend. Every month we put together a new prospecting campaign with a variety of articles and then we keep some evergreen pieces of what performed and that gives us a really good indicator of the type of people we are able to draw and attract to the site. It’s very contextually targeted so somebody that is clicking and looking at an article titled, “9 Ways to Prepare for a New Baby,” is probably going to be our customer.

  • What You Need to Know About a Career in Marketing

    What You Need to Know About a Career in Marketing

    Making the decision to pursue a profession in marketing (specifically, digital marketing) is one of the most popular career choices being made over the last few years. Because of this, digital marketing has quickly risen to become one of the most in-demand and rapidly rising professions available today, as you are most likely well aware.

    As a digital marketer, you have the opportunity to work on interesting and exciting marketing projects with wonderful brands and enterprises, and you can live the “laptop lifestyle” from anywhere in the world. It’s simple to see why the digital marketing field is so enticing.

    Is it Necessary to Have a Marketing Degree?

    What’s the short answer? No. General business classes are the most beneficial courses, but most of marketing expertise comes from self-study and experience after that. By far, the most effective approach to study digital marketing is to put it into practice! However, it is worth noting that a degree will definitely help in your job search. If you do go this route, make sure you have a plan to pay off your student loans quickly so that you aren’t playing catch up for years before you can enjoy the benefits this career provides.

    Whatever your goals are, whether you want to work for an agency or create your own digital marketing company, you’ll need to know what you’re doing. People who study one book or attend one class and then proclaim themselves “professional digital marketers” are far too numerous. If you truly want to be that top-level marketer, you’ll need to put in the time and effort to study, take what you’ve learned, and put it into action in order to see results. The most important thing you can do is simply start learning as much as you can.

    What are the Best Ways to Get Started in Digital Marketing?

    Sign up for an Instagram account, post some content, and observe what others like and don’t like about your work. Create YouTube videos and learn how to record and edit them, as well as how to optimize them for search engine optimization. Design and develop skills while building a website, as well as learn to rank that website using search engine optimization and keywords. Creating a digital marketing portfolio is one of the best ways to advance digital marketing career as it will show your work and expertise in the field. Take advantage of this opportunity to learn everything and everything that interests you in the field of digital marketing.

    Digital marketing is made up of a plethora of subcategories, each with their own set of rules. It might be everything from content, to SEO, to public relations, to email, to design, to development, to advertising, to social media, just to name a few. After years of research and study, most would still only consider themselves an expert on a handful of the topics covered by digital marketing. 

    Wrapping Up

    By studying and developing your abilities as a digital marketer you will become familiar with the fundamentals of marketing, which are the most important marketing principles! These fundamental marketing ideas are just as applicable today as they were 10-20 years ago, and more significantly, they will continue to be just as relevant and useful in 10-20 years as they are now.

  • The Ins and Outs of Marketing for Eager Entrepreneurs

    The Ins and Outs of Marketing for Eager Entrepreneurs

    What makes marketing so crucial when running a business? In most cases, it’s recommended to tackle marketing before just about everything else. Still, it might not be apparent to some entrepreneurs why marketing is vital. The fact of the matter is that without marketing, most companies are dead in the water. There’s little to no chance of getting the attention of the target demographic, as even the best products and services won’t matter if no one knows the business exists.

    Such is the reason why marketing – digital marketing in particular – is so crucial for the starry-eyed entrepreneur. Without a strong marketing campaign, it’s likely that your business ends up neglected by your demographic in favor of the more visible competition.

    It can be frustrating to try to tackle the problem on your own, especially when your competition is making partnerships with some of the best marketing agencies out there. Therefore, it’s vital to learn the ins and outs of marketing to ensure that you make the most out of all the opportunities presented as you maneuver your company through the industry landscape.

    Treat Your Website as a Marketing Tool

    One of the first things to consider on the road to marketing success is the idea that your primary website is the last line of defense when it comes to keeping the attention of your prospective clients. While a good marketing campaign will have people clicking on your adverts, keep in mind that it’s still your website that determines whether they stay and make a purchase.

    If the website is not properly optimized, it will likely result in a high abandonment rate. A few things to consider regarding web optimization includes:

    ●  Loading times. Quick loading times will almost always translate to online users giving your website a chance. Most people only give upwards to ten seconds for a website to catch their attention. If a good five seconds are spent waiting for the site to load, they’ll likely exit the tab and look elsewhere.

    ●  Accessibility. An accessible website can help open the door to plenty of new opportunities. For example, translation services for video content could help you grow a new demographic abroad. Closed captions will make it much easier for those with hearing problems to follow your content. Additionally, something as simple as a font size changer on your website can mean a lot for those with vision problems.

    ●  Ease of use. Developing a website for marketing is as easy as making it simple for online users to get to the checkout page. Ensure that your website is easy to navigate with a minimalist template.

    Your primary website is the last line of marketing defense, which means it’s up to you to develop a robust strategy to keep the attention of online users once you’ve turned their heads.

    Make a push for search engine optimization (SEO)

    What makes digital marketing such an integral part of business management is that it can be surprisingly easy and affordable to get your start. All you need is a robust SEO marketing agency to help make the push toward marketing success. A link-building agency is necessary to ensure that your company spreads the word far and wide, and agencies such as Ocere can offer you the opportunities you need.

    Develop Your Company’s Personality Online

    Another crucial part of marketing involves building your company’s personality with the help of social media platforms. Staying active in such platforms gives eager entrepreneurs the chance to interact with potential customers and even offers a convenient hub for feedback. How your company responds to feedback will determine how your demographic views your business.

    Aside from the various tips above, it’s all about learning from your chosen marketing agencies. The professionals can teach you the best-practice methods you need to make a difference and develop a sound marketing strategy. After all, it would be a wasted opportunity to let the professionals do all the work when you have just as many opportunities to improve your company’s reputation.

  • Stop Making These 7 Online Marketing Mistakes and You Will Crush It, Says Neil Patel

    Stop Making These 7 Online Marketing Mistakes and You Will Crush It, Says Neil Patel

    If you avoid these seven online marketing mistakes and you follow these tips you’re going to generate more sales, says popular digital marketing expert Neil Patel. A common theme of Neil’s tips is creating a brand. “Google doesn’t want to rank sites that aren’t brands,” he says. “There’s an issue out there called fake news and that’s why they’re pushing brands over anything else.” Patel says that if you follow these tips you’re going to crush it!”

    Neil Patel, digital marketing expert and founder of Neil Patel Digital, discusses the seven online marketing mistakes in his latest video release:

    Stop Making These 7 Online Marketing Mistakes

    I’m going to break down seven online marketing mistakes that you need to stop. You’re probably wondering you’re doing all these things but why aren’t you seeing results? Even if you’re doing the right things, if you’re also doing the wrong things at the same time it’s going to hurt you and it’s going avoid you from getting the results that you deserve.

    Mistake 1: Not Collecting Emails

    The first mistake you are making is not collecting emails. It doesn’t matter how good you are with SEO or marketing only a very small percentage of your visitors are ever going to convert into customers. By collecting emails not only can you get people to come back to your site but you can convince them to convert over emails.

    The moment someone gives you their email address think of that as a micro-commitment. They’re much more likely to convert into a customer because they committed, they already gave you something. That’s why you want to collect emails. You can do this through sliders or exit pop-ups. You can do this for free using tools like Hello Bar.

    Mistake 2: Not Collecting Subscribers Through Push Notifications

    The second mistake you’re making is you’re not collecting subscribers through push notifications. There are free tools like Subscribers.com that’ll make it easy. Just add in a JavaScript or a WordPress plug-in and then when people come to your website they will automatically subscribe through the browser. Then anytime you have new content or products or services that you want to sell then you can notify them through Subscribers.

    Mistake 3: Not Building a Brand

    The reason tip number one on collecting emails and tip number two on getting more push notifications subscribers are really important is because you need to build a brand. This gets you into the third mistake. Google doesn’t want to rank sites that aren’t brands. Why is this? There’s an issue out there called fake news and that’s why they’re pushing brands over anything else. It’s not just going to be Facebook and in Google. Eventually, it’s going to be Twitter and LinkedIn and all the sites out there.

    When you get people back to your site seven times you’re much more likely to build a brand. It’s called the Rule of Seven in marketing. So with your site, you want to provide an amazing user experience. When you provide an amazing user experience, create a great product, create a great service, it’ll help you build a great brand over time.

    Mistake 4: Not Interlinking

    The fourth mistake you’re making is not interlinking. You may notice on Google I’m ranking for terms like online marketing on page one. You’re probably wondering how do I do this? A lot of it comes out to interlinking. In my sidebar, I link to my most popular pages of content. When I write blog posts related to online marketing I link back to the online marketing guide that talks about what online marketing is. By having all these links it helps me rank higher.

    Mistake 5: Just Focusing On Text-Based Content

    The fifth mistake I have for you is just focusing on text-based content. The future of digital marketing is moving to video. It doesn’t mean you should stop doing text but it means you should also be doing video. When you do video you’re going to get more traffic because everyone’s lacking it. LinkedIn wants it right now. YouTube wants more of it. Facebook wants it. Instagram even wants it.

    Why is this? They want to crush the television networks. You look at things like the Oscars or traditional movie theaters and they’re not doing as well. You look at traditional TV and they’re going to get crushed. Why? It’s because of Facebook. It’s because of Google. It’s because of Netflix. If you’re there creating that video content you can be part of it and you’re going to get extra traffic. They want as much help as possible to crush these big old-school companies.

    Mistake 6: Sticking To Just a Few Marketing Channels

    The sixth mistake that you’re making is you’re really sticking to just a few marketing channels. Marketing is competitive. People raise venture capital hundreds of millions of dollars just so they can compete in marketing and sales. You need to do more than one or two or three marketing channels. The more you do the better off you’re going to be.

    Mistake 7: Not Asking For the Sale

    The seventh mistake I have for you is not asking for the sale. Whether it’s a lead or whether it’s getting people to buy your product, there’s nothing wrong with asking people to buy from you. If you don’t you’re not going to generate any sales. Everyone’s like I get all this traffic through my online marketing but no one’s converting. Why? Because you’re not asking for a sale.

    Stop Making These 7 Online Marketing Mistakes and You Will Crush It, Says Neil Patel


  • How To Leverage AI To Optimize Your Email Marketing Strategy

    How To Leverage AI To Optimize Your Email Marketing Strategy

    Email has taken communication to newer heights as it is one of the most widely used methods for digital communication. It is estimated that there will be more than 4.3 billion email users worldwide by 2023.

    Hence, the significance of email marketing is no surprise for your business to influence your target audience. Moreover, utilizing the power of artificial intelligence to optimize your email marketing strategy further enhances the impact on your target audience.

    Businesses that use AI to drive email marketing are likely to grow by US $1.2 trillion annually.

    In fact, 49% of marketers are already implementing automation in their email marketing strategy.

    Artificial intelligence can be used for smart segmentation, optimization of email subject lines, and email automation workflow, which can help you to increase click-through rates and open rates.

    Let’s deep dive into how you can leverage AI to optimize your email marketing strategy.

    1- Write Appealing Subject Lines

    With the help of AI, you can optimize your subject, body copy, and CTA.

    The subject of the email is one of the most crucial parts of the email content. More than 35% of email recipients open an email based on the subject line alone.

    By integrating artificial intelligence, you can analyze the performance of past emails and determine which subject lines have performed the best in the past. It also assists you by recommending a subject line that can be engaging and interactive. You can also find spam words that can be avoided while writing subject lines.

    2- Optimize Your Body Copy and CTA

    Similarly, the main content of the email can be tailored based on the past behavior of users. AI evaluates the content explored by users on your website and changes the e-newsletter from week to week when the user begins to explore a new category of content. 

    Moreover, provide a unified company-wide email signature to brand every message that you send to your subscriber. Focus on Office 365 email signature management to centrally manage and sync your company email signatures.

    For optimizing CTA, utilizing AI helps you to find the change in user behavior and interest and present the next CTA accordingly.

    For example, a user was not checking the technical document on your website. But gradually started showing interest and became engaged in your technical content. Taking it as a signal, AI prompts to offer a technical whitepaper in the next email CTA. 

    3- Create a Segmented Email List

    You can win customers through data segmentation as it enables you to send targeted emails to the audience. However, manually segmenting your data requires a lot of time and effort.

    Therefore, by AI it is more stress-free and an easy task. Using AI, you can easily segment users based on:

    ●  Demographics, such as age, location, or gender.

    ●  Past purchase behavior of the users.

    ●  Email behavior, such as open or click activities in their mailboxes.

    After evaluation, AI-powered apps come up with a segmented list, allowing you to boost email marketing efforts to the fullest. It also enables you to create real-time and accurate marketing segments based on customer insights drawn from cross-channel activities.

    Moreover, it helps you to segment your subscriber based on their position in the sales funnel. Thus, AI-powered techniques allow you to target users individually for hyper-relevant marketing.

    4- Personalize Your Emails

    Integrating AI in your marketing strategy enables marketers to study the behavior of users and predict the perfect time to send them an email.

    It also helps you to reduce the spillage and reach a definite audience based on their locations, interest, likes, preferences, and search patterns. Using this data, marketers can predict the type of content that their users would like to see. Thus, making it possible to personalize your email.

    In addition, you can use professional and personalized templates that will increase the chances that your subscribers will open and read your mail.

    Utilize AI-powered email marketing tools, such as ConvertKit, Sendinblue, or Moosend, that help you create more personalized emails.

    5- Automate the Workflow

    AI-based data insights enable marketers and strategists to schedule the mail at regular intervals. If you have a wide range of users from multiple time zones, then it is better to set and optimize delivery times as per their time zone.

    AI helps you to figure out the time when your users are actively looking at their emails based on their past behavior. 

    Therefore, with the help of AI, you can optimize the send time and send sales or limited time offers when your subscribers are active and more likely to click on it.

    6- Better Reporting and Actionable Analytics

    Traditional methods of reporting included capturing statistics, such as opens and clicks. However, it can be improved with the help of AI. It enables you to generate data that can be utilized to get better insights and achieve the intended goal.

    Some of the improved techniques that you can use to get detailed insights into user behavior and create better emails are funnels, cohorts, and churn analysis.

    ●  Funnel analysis: It analyzes the actions taken by the users before reaching the desired goal. Funnel analysis helps marketers to determine where they are losing the most users and where they are converting them. With the help of this information, you can implement necessary steps to drive traffic, encourage subscribers to take action or entice them. 

    ●  Cohort analysis: It helps you to find out a group of subscribers that share the same characteristics. For example, some users signed up for emails in February and opened their emails in the following months of March, April, and May. Using this data, you can understand what products, promotions and marketing initiatives attract your subscribers.

    ●  Churn analysis and prediction: It helps you to identify signals that a subscriber is about to unsubscribe you. An example of such a single is subscribers that stopped interacting with your emails. Thus, it enables you to take action in advance to retain your subscribers. 

    Final Thoughts

    Your emails must be distinctive, specific, and target-oriented to stand out of the clutter in the mailbox of your target audience. It is because a common emailer with a repetitive message will not fetch you the desired click-through rate. You can easily achieve that by integrating AI with your email marketing strategy.

    It helps you to provide more customized, targeted, and personalized emails to the subscribers. It is one of the effective strategies to deliver quality and insightful campaigns. It uses a combination of automation and advanced tools to synchronize and create appealing email campaigns. Thus, it is advantageous to incorporate AI technology to witness exceptional growth.

  • Is SEO Important for Every Business?

    Is SEO Important for Every Business?

    Search engine optimization is not just for big companies. If you want an online business that is going to succeed, then you need search engine optimization. With the different ways of improving your website and being an integral part of marketing, SEO is something that most any business should invest in. Even if you have a small startup company or a local three-person shop, it’s important to know about search engine optimization and how it works for businesses.

    There are many benefits to investing in these techniques when increasing traffic to your site through organic searches from Google.

    Benefits of SEO

    There are three main benefits for any business to seriously consider investing in search engine optimization. These include boosted traffic, increased search engine rankings, and better brand exposure. All of these benefits add up to more visitors to your website or place of business, more sales, and more revenue.

    The fact is that anyone who wants their website to be seen should invest in these techniques because it’s not very difficult and can have a dramatic effect on your website’s traffic. Furthermore, it is the best way to increase organic traffic, leading to more sales or whatever other benefits you are looking for from your site.

    SEO Expert Witness

    SEO is such a popular method for businesses to gain more visibility in the search engines that an SEO expert witness can provide technical analysis in courts to give an opinion on the subject.

    If you’re on a small budget but want to reach more customers, then there’s no need to worry because SEO has your back. The five techniques that will help you get started with increasing traffic and helping your site rank higher include content writing, link building, social media exposure, keyword research, and onsite optimization.

    These techniques come before any publication or posting ads should always be the first step when trying to improve your site’s rank. Next, with the content you write, you want to ensure that it matches what people search for when using their favorite search engine. Then with link building, you need to create inbound links from other websites for your website to be exposed more organically. Social media is extremely important for any form of marketing online today and will help in multiple ways when it comes to SEO, especially in improving rankings.

    Keyword research is how experts determine what kind of content needs to be written so that you can build a strong base from which your entire campaign will work. Finally, onsite optimization means making changes within your own site so that Google knows exactly what each page represents and understands its intent.

    How Much Does SEO Cost?

    You may wonder, how much does it cost? The truth is that it depends on the type of company or industry you are in, as well as the existing ranking of your own site. If your site’s rankings are poor compared to your competition, then you will need more work done than someone who already has good rankings for their particular niche.

    Many variables go into this, which is why estimates can’t really be given because each business website needs individualized attention to get the best results. 

    SEO is not something you should ignore because it’s so effective in bringing more traffic to your website. For most businesses, it can generate results quickly and is often cheaper than other forms of marketing such as radio ads or newspaper print advertisements. It also has better long-term effects than these marketing methods, which is why more people are turning to SEO every day to help them with their online presence.

    If you’re thinking about starting an online business or having a successful local business, search engine optimization is certainly something that needs to be on your radar.

  • Reddit 1-800 Flowers Ad Goes Viral

    Reddit 1-800 Flowers Ad Goes Viral

    “Our ads on Reddit have gotten a lot of traction and puts a big smile on people’s faces,” says 1-800 Flowers CEO Chris McCann. “That’s what we’re trying to do is just make sure we’re relevant and create that cognitive speed bump when people think about our company. They see something different and I’m thrilled with the creative team for coming up with something like that.”

    Reddit Ad That Went Viral for 1-800-Flowers.com

    As usual, some opinionated Redditers expressed their thoughts on the ads:

    1-800 Flowers CEO discusses the company’s growth that was accelerated by the pandemic:

    Ecommerce Growth Accelerated During Pandemic

    What we’ve seen is an acceleration of growth in our company that began back in 2018 and really then accelerated even further in 2020 with the pandemic. It’s driven by the need for us as people to connect and express ourselves. As a company whose vision is to inspire more human expression, connection, and celebration, and as an ecommerce leader, we’re well-positioned in the trends that we see coming out of this pandemic. We think these trends are sustainable going forward.

    We started out as one flower shop many years ago. What we’ve done is created this e-commerce platform for growth, a platform for expression, connection, and celebration. It starts with this all-star family of brands that we have led by Harry & David, 1-800-Flowers, Cheryl’s Cookies, Shari’s Berries, and our recent acquisition just this past August of Personalization Mall. You see us now as a company in the expression and connection business with a leadership position in floral, a leadership position in gourmet food gifting, and certainly now leadership and position in expressions and personalized items which is a fast-growing market.

    You’ll continue to continue to see us grow by organic product development of products that help customers express and connect. And as we’ve done through acquisition, adding to that platform and leveraging that platform that we’ve built.

    Need To Express and Connect Is a Lasting Trend

    Hopefully, the vaccines accelerate and we turn to some sense of normalcy sooner rather than later. As we look at our business, the momentum we saw began in 2018 and 2019 and then accelerated with the pandemic. We’ve been on a good momentum growth even before the pandemic and we really see ourselves now as a bigger stronger company than we were prior to it. We’ve acquired Personalization Mall just this past August and by putting it on our platform and leveraging our digital marketing expertise we accelerated the growth of that company. It grew by 50 percent this last quarter.

    A year ago August we acquired Shari’s Berries and took a business that was stagnant and losing money to now one that’s got a nice growth rate and is generating a nice contribution margin as well. If we just keep our focus on what the consumer is looking for to help express and connect then we’ll be continuing to see double-digit growth for some time to come. That trend that we’ve all learned from being isolated, our need to express and connect is a lasting trend coming out of this pandemic along with the shift from offline to online.

    1-800 Flowers Ecommerce Growth Accelerated During Pandemic

  • Google Sheds Light on Organic Search Drops

    Google Sheds Light on Organic Search Drops

    Google has posted information shedding light on why sites experience drops in their organic search results.

    Google routinely updates their search algorithms, with the most recent being in June and July of 2021. Unfortunately, changes to Google’s algorithms often lead to some sites seeing major drops in traffic. For many, the causes and potential solutions are unclear, making it difficult for sites to regain the traffic they once enjoyed.

    Google is now shedding light on the causes behind a drop in organic traffic: technical issues, security issues, manual actions, algorithmic changes and search interest disruptions.

    Daniel Waisberg, Google Search Advocate, outlines how each of these can impact traffic:

    Technical issues: Errors that can prevent Google from crawling, indexing, or serving your pages to users – for example server availability, robots.txt fetching, page not found, and others. Note that the issues can be site-wide (for example, your website is down) or page-wide (for example, a misplaced noindex tag, which would depend on Google crawling the page, meaning there would be a slower drop in traffic).

    Security issues: If your site is affected by a security threat, Google may alert users before they reach your site with warnings or interstitial pages, which may decrease Search traffic.

    Manual Actions: If your site does not comply with Google’s guidelines, some of your pages or the entire site may be omitted from Google Search results through a Manual Action.

    Algorithmic changes: Google is always improving how it assesses content and updating its algorithm accordingly; core updates and other smaller updates may change how some pages perform in Google Search results. To keep track of future updates, subscribe to our Google Search News YouTube series or follow us on Twitter.

    Search interest disruption: Sometimes changes in user behavior will change the demand for certain queries, either as a result of a new trend, or seasonality throughout the year. This means your traffic may drop simply as a result of external influences.

    Waisberg’s post should be a valuable resource for all webmasters, both those whose sites have experienced a drop and those that want to avoid one.

  • France Fines Google Record $593M Over News Copyright Battle

    France Fines Google Record $593M Over News Copyright Battle

    The French Competition Authority has fined Google a record $593 million (500 million euros) for not negotiating in good faith with news publishers.

    Google has a long history of not paying news publishers for the content it uses. The company has maintained that publishers receive far more benefit than it does from the arrangement, a point that many news publishers and regulators have increasingly pushed back against. Google has been changing its stance, but that hasn’t been enough to stop regulatory scrutiny.

    According to NBC News, France’s Autorité de la concurrence has now fined Google a whopping $593 million for not abiding by an April 2020 ruling ordering the company to negotiate “in good faith” with news publishers. The Authority took issue with Google not discussing remuneration for content covered by “neighboring rights,” as well as for not including press image usage.

    To make matters even worse for the search giant, the Authority has ordered Google to come up with a remuneration offer for publishers’ protected content within two months. Should the company fail to do so, it will be fined up to 900,000 euros a day.

    The decision follows another fine of $267 million a month ago by the Authority over Google favoring its own advertising services over competitors’.

  • Google Has Completed Its July 2021 Core Update

    Google Has Completed Its July 2021 Core Update

    Google has finished rolling out its July 2021 core update, following a June 2021 core update last month.

    Google usually rolls out core updates to its search algorithm every six months. Some of the updates weren’t quite ready for the June rollout, however, necessitating a follow-up rollout in July.

    The rollout began July 1 and is now complete.

    Google has not given much information on what to expect, only that some sites may see their rankings go up or down, or not change at all. According to Search Engine Land, however, some webmasters were seeing significant changes on July 2 and July 9. There’s a possibility some webmasters are seeing an impact today, but it’s probably still too early to be sure.

    Webmasters whose sites have been impacted should check out Google’s page on how core updates work and mitigation efforts that can be taken.

  • Third-Party Cookies Get a Stay of Execution as Google Postpones Plans

    Google is pushing back its plans to eliminate support for third-party cookies, buying the advertising industry more time to adapt.

    Third-party cookies are one of the most commonly used methods advertisers use to track individuals as they move across the web. Apple’s Safari, the second-most popular browser behind Google’s Chrome, already blocks third-party cookies by default. This makes it more difficult for advertisers to track users and build a profile about them.

    Google had previously planned on following Apple’s lead by early 2022. Because advertisers have built an entire industry around surreptitiously tracking users as they browse the web, and building detailed profiles on them, the thought of being cut off from one of the primary ways to do so caused much hand-wringing among ad companies.

    Google is now saying it will not begin making the change until mid-2023, with the process completed approximately three months later in late 2023. The company said the revised timeline would provide advertisers the time they neede to adapt and adopt more privacy-conscious advertising methods.

    This will allow sufficient time for public discussion on the right solutions, continued engagement with regulators, and for publishers and the advertising industry to migrate their services. This is important to avoid jeopardizing the business models of many web publishers which support freely available content. And by providing privacy-preserving technology, we as an industry can help ensure that cookies are not replaced with alternative forms of individual tracking, and discourage the rise of covert approaches like fingerprinting.

  • Are Big Physical Tech Conferences Dead?

    Are Big Physical Tech Conferences Dead?

    One of the many huge ramifications from pandemic lockdowns has been the advent of large physical conferences converted to virtual conferences. This has been especially true for enterprise software events. Box CEO Aaron Levie says that their annual conference last week held entirely virtual saw higher engagement with customers and much lower costs than last years San Francisco event held at Moscone Center.

    CEOs around the country and the world are debating whether they should abandon expensive physical conferences altogether once the pandemic restrictions are lifted.

    Aaron Levie, CEO of Box, discussed this new reality, asking the question, how does this look in the future when you can actually have physical conferences? Do you still rely on a virtual first environment or do you have a bit of a hybrid conference?:

    Box Virtual Conference Last Week Was A Huge Success

    We did just have our virtual conference last week. We saw somewhere between four and five times the scale of registrations that we would normally see in one of our physical conferences. We saw higher engagement in a lot of areas than normally we would see. Overall, great levels of attendance and engagement on our keynotes and product updates. Certainly, as you can imagine, a much lower cost and much easier way to get this content out to our customers.

    There are a lot of benefits to a virtual conference. We’re able to hit demographics of our customer base who previously wouldn’t have been able to fly out to San Francisco and come to Moscone for a two or three-day conference. There are real benefits of the scale of impact of customers we can interact with and engage with. There is a difference in terms of being able to have conversations one-on-one with customers. So it’s a different experience from that standpoint. But we were able to make do with the environment of having to move to virtual.

    Now we’re really asking the question, how does this look in the future when you can actually have physical conferences? Maybe it’s next year or maybe it’s the year after. Do you still rely on a virtual first environment? Do you have a bit of a hybrid conference? These are some open questions that the industry’s going to have to ask. But overall, we were very happy with the success of the event.

    Are Big Physical Tech Conferences Dead?
  • You Can’t Find A 24-Year-Old On Facebook Today

    You Can’t Find A 24-Year-Old On Facebook Today

    “You‌ ‌can’t‌ ‌find‌ ‌a‌ ‌24-year-old‌ ‌on‌ ‌Facebook‌ ‌today,” says social media marketing expert Gary Vaynerchuk. ‌”Every‌ ‌one‌ ‌of‌ ‌them‌ ‌was‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌platform‌ ‌eight‌ ‌years‌ ‌ago.‌ ‌So‌ ‌it‌ ‌ebbs‌ ‌and‌ ‌flows‌ ‌and‌ ‌as‌ TikTok‌ ‌gets‌ ‌older‌ ‌an‌ ‌audience‌ ‌can‌ ‌emerge.‌ ‌I’ve‌ ‌been‌ ‌putting‌ ‌out‌ ‌business‌ ‌content‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌platform‌ ‌from‌ ‌day‌ ‌one,‌ ‌it skews ‌entrepreneurial,‌ ‌which‌ ‌may‌ ‌work‌ ‌in‌ ‌teenage‌ ‌and‌ ‌early‌ ‌20s.”

    Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of Vayner Media, social media star and entrepreneurial guru followed by millions, says you can’t even find a 24-year-old‌ ‌on‌ ‌Facebook‌ ‌today:

    I Don’t Believe TikTok Is A National Security Threat

    The‌ ‌pitch‌ ‌started‌ ‌before‌ ‌all‌ ‌the‌ ‌brouhaha‌ ‌started.‌ ‌We‌ ‌were‌ ‌awarded‌ ‌the‌ ‌business‌ ‌(with TikTok) during‌ ‌this‌ ‌time‌. ‌Obviously,‌ ‌like‌ ‌every‌ ‌other‌ ‌American‌ ‌business‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌world, we‌ ‌will‌ ‌deal‌ ‌with‌ ‌whatever‌ ‌the‌ ‌rules‌ ‌are.‌ ‌Like‌ ‌everybody‌ ‌else,‌ ‌we’re‌ ‌standing‌ ‌by.‌ Personally‌, ‌I‌ ‌don’t‌ (consider TikTok‌ a national security threat). ‌But‌ ‌maybe‌ ‌I’m‌ ‌not‌ ‌sitting‌ ‌on‌ ‌information‌ ‌that‌ ‌others‌ ‌are.‌ ‌But‌ ‌no‌, ‌I‌ ‌do‌ ‌not.‌

    ‌Our‌ ‌small‌ ‌scope‌ ‌with‌ ‌TikTok‌‌ ‌at‌ ‌the‌ ‌Vayner‌ ‌Media‌ ‌level‌ ‌doesn’t‌ ‌really‌ ‌impact‌ ‌what‌ ‌I’m‌ ‌interested‌ ‌in‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌scheme‌ ‌of‌ ‌business.‌ ‌Facebook,‌ ‌Inc.‌, ‌Pinterest‌, and‌ ‌Linkedin‌ ‌all‌ ‌our‌ ‌platforms‌ ‌that‌ ‌all‌ ‌of‌ ‌our‌ ‌brands‌ ‌work‌ ‌on.‌ ‌I’m‌ ‌not‌ ‌overly‌ ‌emotional‌ ‌or‌ ‌I ‌have‌ ‌no‌ ‌feelings‌. ‌I ‌could‌ ‌care‌ ‌less‌ ‌if ‌Facebook‌, ‌Snapchat‌, ‌Linkedin,‌ ‌CNBC, ‌the‌ ‌New‌ ‌York‌ ‌Times‌ ‌disappeared‌ ‌off‌ ‌the‌ ‌face‌ ‌of‌ ‌the‌ ‌Earth.‌ ‌I’m‌ ‌focusing‌ ‌on‌ ‌attention‌ ‌and‌ ‌that’s‌ ‌what‌ ‌our‌ ‌clients‌ ‌are‌ ‌focusing‌ ‌on.‌ ‌Where‌ ‌is‌ ‌the‌ ‌actual‌ ‌attention‌ ‌and‌ ‌how‌ ‌do‌ ‌we‌ ‌advertise‌ ‌on‌ ‌that‌ ‌platform?‌ ‌

    Every Influencer Needs To Be On Every Platform

    As‌ ‌far‌ ‌as‌ ‌the‌ ‌influencers,‌ ‌every‌ ‌influencer‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌‌ ‌world‌ ‌needs‌ ‌to‌ ‌divest‌ ‌and‌ ‌be‌ ‌in‌ ‌every‌ ‌single‌ ‌platform‌ ‌and‌ ‌create‌ ‌contextual‌ ‌content‌ ‌on‌ ‌each‌ ‌of‌ ‌those‌ ‌platforms.‌ Whether‌ ‌it’s‌ ‌a‌ ‌government‌ ‌getting‌ ‌involved‌ ‌and‌ ‌shutting‌ ‌it‌ ‌down‌ ‌or‌ ‌if‌ ‌it’s‌ ‌the‌ ‌consumers‌ ‌shifting‌ ‌if‌ ‌you‌ ‌put‌ ‌all‌ ‌your‌ ‌eggs‌ ‌into‌ ‌MySpace‌ ‌you’re‌ ‌not‌ ‌doing‌ ‌so‌ ‌well‌ ‌today.‌ ‌So‌ ‌something‌ ‌I’ve‌ ‌been‌ ‌screaming‌ ‌about‌ ‌in‌ ‌my‌ ‌content‌ ‌for‌ ‌a‌ ‌decade‌ ‌is‌ ‌if‌ ‌you’re‌ ‌not‌ ‌creating‌ ‌content‌ ‌across‌ ‌the‌ ‌board‌ ‌you’re‌ ‌losing‌. ‌It’s‌ ‌something‌ ‌that‌ ‌brands‌ ‌need‌ ‌to‌ ‌be‌ ‌doing.‌ ‌

    Way‌ ‌too‌ ‌many‌ ‌are‌ ‌pot-committed‌ ‌to‌ ‌commercials‌ ‌on‌ ‌a‌ ‌TV ‌network‌ ‌when‌ ‌all‌ ‌the‌ ‌attention‌ ‌is‌ ‌shifting‌ ‌to‌ ‌your mobile device. ‌

    You Can’t Find A 24-Year-Old On Facebook Today

    What’s‌ ‌funny‌ ‌is‌ ‌if‌ ‌you‌ ‌look‌ ‌at‌ ‌what’s‌ ‌happening‌ ‌on‌ ‌TikTok‌, ‌‌we’re‌ ‌getting‌ ‌our‌ ‌advertisers‌ ‌that‌ ‌are‌ ‌trying‌ ‌to‌ ‌reach‌ ‌35‌ ‌to‌ ‌45‌ ‌going‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌platform‌ ‌pretty‌ ‌aggressively‌ ‌because‌ ‌every‌ ‌platform‌ ‌gets‌ ‌much‌ ‌older.‌ ‌Don’t‌ ‌deviate‌ ‌from‌ ‌what‌ ‌you‌ ‌know.‌ ‌If‌ ‌you‌ ‌and‌ ‌I ‌dance‌ ‌on‌ ‌that‌ ‌platform‌ ‌I ‌don’t‌ ‌think‌ ‌we’re‌ ‌getting‌ ‌that‌ ‌many‌ ‌views.‌ ‌You‌ ‌need‌ ‌to‌ ‌stay‌ ‌in‌ ‌your‌ ‌pocket‌ ‌and‌ ‌create‌ ‌the‌ ‌content‌ ‌‌and‌ ‌let‌ ‌platforms‌ ‌evolve.‌ ‌

    https://www.instagram.com/p/B_d-65RFQNd/

    You‌ ‌can’t‌ ‌find‌ ‌a‌ ‌24-year-old‌ ‌on‌ ‌Facebook‌ ‌today.‌ ‌Every‌ ‌one‌ ‌of‌ ‌them‌ ‌was‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌platform‌ ‌eight‌ ‌years‌ ‌ago.‌ ‌So‌ ‌it‌ ‌ebbs‌ ‌and‌ ‌flows‌ ‌and‌ ‌as‌ TikTok‌ ‌gets‌ ‌older‌ ‌an‌ ‌audience‌ ‌can‌ ‌emerge.‌ ‌I’ve‌ ‌been‌ ‌putting‌ ‌out‌ ‌business‌ ‌content‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌platform‌ ‌from‌ ‌day‌ ‌one,‌ ‌it skews ‌entrepreneurial,‌ ‌which‌ ‌may‌ ‌work‌ ‌in‌ ‌teenage‌ ‌and‌ ‌early‌ ‌20s.‌ ‌CNBC‌ ‌and‌ ‌‌your‌ ‌incredible‌ ‌show‌ ‌could‌ ‌dominate‌ ‌on‌ ‌TikTok‌‌ ‌if‌ ‌you‌ ‌put‌ ‌out‌ ‌information‌ ‌and‌ ‌just‌ ‌had‌ ‌the‌ ‌nuances‌ ‌of‌ ‌TikTok‌ ‌more‌ ‌than‌ ‌trying‌ ‌to‌ ‌become‌ ‌Charlie Demilio.

  • Why You Should Be Using UGC in Your Facebook Ads

    Why You Should Be Using UGC in Your Facebook Ads

    In a struggle to display authenticity without resorting to obvious pandering, while still hitting ROI targets, some brands find Facebook Ads difficult to approach, especially in a politically and culturally sensitive era

    Numerous reports can be referenced highlighting the importance of authenticity within marketing as a whole. This advice is doubly true when attempting to appeal to demographics that may span numerous cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds. The only way to truly be authentic is to have representation within these diverse groups of people that can tell their story about your brand in a way that is unique to them and their coveted audience. 

    The way for such brands to avoid failure is to adopt a UGC ad approach utilizing influencers. Influencer marketing, as you may recall, can be distilled in having someone else tell your brand story for you, which is precisely what UGC created ads are.

    There are multiple methods that influencers can utilize in the Facebook ecosystem, including live streaming collaborations, fan page postings, and group advertisements. However, the method we have found particularly effective involves using Facebook’s internal brand collabs manager as a multi-step campaign process.

    For this process to work, a brand will need to only have access to an account with Facebook Ads management credentials. However, in multiple tests, we have found it is faster and more efficient to prequalify influencers through an external network prior to engaging, rather than relying upon the Facebook marketplace alone for the selection process. The importance of this step is predicated on the importance of first calculating the probability of influence based on your predetermined campaign goals. The reasoning for external vetting prior to ad collaborations is as follows:

    1. While approximate reach and engagement is discernable through the brand side of the Facebook collaboration marketplace, what isn’t obvious is relevance. By first vetting Facebook influencers, a brand will likely find the self-identified categorical selections and content focus is not always congruent with the information displayed in the collabs marketplace.

    2. The next issue is cost. Once again, testing has determined that price is not as static as one might assume when simply utilizing the brand collabs marketplace. The reason for this is reflective of fit. As a thought exercise, imagine a digital marketer is being asked to set an hourly rate for her services. The ads collabs manager in this analogy represents the expected blended rate for all activities the aforementioned marketer would be asked to perform. The reality is her distaste for a service such as site infrastructure auditing may make other activities she enjoys more expensive on that blended rate. The same is true of influencers. A blended rate exists to satisfy the vast majority of collaboration pitches the influencer is expected to receive. Therefore, approaching an influencer external to the collabs marketplace can often result in a lower starting price point.

    The only caveat to this approach is not every Facebook influencer in external networks is a member of the ads collabs marketplace. If time is of the essence, it is recommended to ask on the status of this membership when pitching. However, as Facebook is willing to let most applicants into the program, if a brand feels strongly about an influencer, it can be worth pursuing the relationship while urging the influencer also gain membership into the program.

    Once an influencer has been selected based on campaign criteria of fit, economics, and expected outcome, the process for using this influencer in an ongoing ad is remarkably similar to that of a normal influencer campaign. The critical difference is centered on ad quality guidelines, as some industries are more heavily regulated from an ad copy perspective. Presumably, a brand will evaluate the true impact an influencer provides prior to elevating into an ad unit. Additionally, running a postmortem analysis  in the event expectations are not in line with reality helps for future transactions. After initial satisfaction has been reached the next steps are simple:

    1. Approve the collaboration in the Facebook collabs manager interface

    Branded Content Approval. Source: Facebook.com

    2. Create a new ad utilizing the influencer via the boost post ad type. Simply set a budget and you’re done.

    To test this concept for yourself, simultaneously run this process against a fresh ad campaign on the same exact topic. You may find, as we and others have, that the UGC-elevated ads end up outperforming the conventional ad types. The often occurs without running into the pitfalls of a brand trying to target multiple demographics, which can often come off as inauthentic. All that was required was simply incorporating some influencers into the process. 

    To learn more, take a self-guided demo of Intellifluence, which will help you understand how influencers can be applied to virtually any marketing use case in a simple campaign creation process. 

  • Taboola – Outbrain Merger Falls Apart

    Taboola – Outbrain Merger Falls Apart

    It was a merger that started out nearly a year ago as a perfect idea and was even approved by the U.S. government. In the end, it turned into a perfect storm because of the ad industry upheaval caused by the coronavirus and subsequent business closures followed by massive unemployment and fewer clicks on ads. Ad prices then dropped dramatically which changed the value proposition for both Outbrain and Taboola.

    The world’s two leading companies in the discovery & native advertising industry will remain fierce competitors in what still is a chaotic and unpredictable ad market.

    “As part of the process we exchanged financial information with each other,” says Taboola Founder & CEO Adam Singolda in a blog post. “Based on the relative performance of the two companies, we decided the original deal does not make sense anymore. We could choose to pay the same price of 30% in equity + $250M, but our shareholders thought it’s too much for what we would get based on the relative contribution of the two companies. Nothing emotional, not about culture fit, just data.”

    “Out of deep respect, we tried to do a deal that was equity only (but less equity), or equity and cash (but less cash) that matched Outbrain’s financial contribution to Taboola. We failed, and we called it off.”

    Outbrain Co-Founder and CEO Yaron Galai expressed his own thoughts on the collapse of the merger:

    “It is now public news that Outbrain’s planned merger with Taboola is heading to termination in the near future. This isn’t the outcome any of us anticipated for this process. We believed when entering this deal that there is great potential value to be had for our employees, our marketers and publisher partners, and our shareholders. However, this combination apparently was simply not meant to be. We worked hard to mix water and oil, but ultimately the companies proved to be too different to be mixed.” 

    “During a very stormy year for the Outbrain team, due to both the pandemic and the cloud of the merger, Outbrain’s character as the #1 most trusted partner for the world’s best publishers has shone through very brightly. We’re excited to continue innovating and building the best native advertising products for publishers and marketers as an independent company for many years to come.”

     

  • ViacomCBS Sells CNET for $500 Million

    ViacomCBS Sells CNET for $500 Million

    ViacomCBS has sold legendary tech news site CNET to South Carolina based Red Ventures LLC. The company announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire CNET Media Group from ViacomCBS for $500 million. Red Ventures purchased Bankrate in 2017 for $1.24 billion and Healthline Media for an undisclosed amount last year. Red Ventures CEO Ric Elias told WSJ that CNET’s value is due to the fact that digital technology has spread to many sectors of American business.

    Technology news leader CNET paved the way for CNET Media Group, a portfolio of digital media brands that advise consumers across leading consumer tech, business tech, gaming, and entertainment. Their brands include ZDNet, Gamespot,  TVGuide, Metacritic, Chowhound and several others.

    “Red Ventures believes in the power of premium content from trusted brands that help people make better life decisions,” said Ric Elias, Red Ventures CEO and Co-Founder. “Over the last 25 years CNET Media Group has built a dynamic portfolio of brands with well-earned authority on such topics as consumer tech and gaming that play an increasingly important role in people’s lives. Red Ventures is eager to invest in CNET Media Group’s growth with more personalized consumer experiences that will reinvigorate CNET Media Group’s brands and unlock unprecedented opportunity for all.”

    “I am incredibly excited about CNET Media Group’s future. I believe that the combination of Red Ventures customer experience platform and CNET Media Group’s rich content and deep editorial expertise greatly benefits both our audiences and our partners,” said Mark Larkin, Executive Vice President and GM of CNET Media Group. “Red Ventures shares our vision and is committed to realizing the full potential of our portfolio of world-class brands.”

    Red Ventures was formed in 2000 as a performance marketing startup and has since grown to include more than 100 digital brands with more than 3,000 employees across 10 US cities, the UK and Brazil. It has two sides to its business – one is a sophisticated, partner-centric platform for performance marketing, and the other is a robust, consumer-centric platform for digital brands. Red Ventures’ existing brands operate in the Home Services, Health, Finance, Travel, Education, and Entertainment verticals. The acquisition of the CNET Media Group accelerates Red Ventures’ entry into new verticals, including Consumer Tech and Gaming.

    “Every aspect of our lives – from our homes to our jobs, our income, and our well-being is impacted by the technology around us, so the content we consume and the brands we choose are highly personal,” said Marc McCollum, President of Red Ventures’ Media & Technology group. “Adding CNET Media Group to our portfolio will further advance our mission to help people make some of the most important decisions of their lives. It will be a win for our teams, for our businesses, and most of all, for visitors and fans of the CNET Media Group’s brands.”

  • Bing Webmaster Tools Provides Backlink Data On Similar Sites

    Bing Webmaster Tools Provides Backlink Data On Similar Sites

    Bing has unveiled a new feature that gives users competitive backlink data for similar and recommended sites.

    The announcement was made via the Bing Webmaster Team Twitter account:

    Backlinks is back in the new Bing Webmaster Tools https://bing.com/webmasters/backlinks… ! Backlinks not only for your site but also for other sites (tab Similar sites), including for sites we suggest. Have a look and give us feedback on this beta tool.

    Bing Webmaster Team (@BingWMC) June 1, 2020

    The feature will be a big hit with webmasters, as it will give them valuable competitive insight into other websites, while also giving Bing a significant competitive advantage over Google.

  • Trump Signs Executive Order Targeting Social Media Companies

    Trump Signs Executive Order Targeting Social Media Companies

    President Trump signed an executive order targeting social media giants, following a spat with Twitter.

    Once the darling of the president, and his preferred platform for connecting with his supporters, the social media company drew his ire when it fact-checked him Tuesday on two of his tweets. In one of the tweets in question, Trump claimed “there is NO WAY (ZERO!) that Mail-In Ballots will be anything less than substantially fraudulent,” prompting Twitter to pair the tweet with a link to more information about mail-in ballots.

    As a result, Trump claimed the company is stifling free speech and has signed an executive order designed to weaken the protections social media and like companies enjoy.

    The order is unlikely to have any real impact, at least for the time being. In case after case, the courts have so far refused to side with individuals who have claimed social media is biased against them.

    At the same, the situation could help stifle innovation. Recent years have not been easy for social media companies, with them alternately being accused of not doing enough to curb offensive hate speech and then having a president issue an executive order when they fact-check his posts.

    With that kind of ‘rock and the hard place’ situation, it may give some entrepreneurs pause before focusing on the field, or trying to create the next great thing in social media.

  • Google Expands Advertiser Identity Verification Policy

    Google Expands Advertiser Identity Verification Policy

    Google has announced it is expanding its advertising identification policy in an effort to improve transparency.

    The company initially rolled out its identify verification policy in 2018, although it applied primarily to political advertisers. In recent years, however, Google and other tech companies have been fighting an increase in misinformation, including misleading and fraudulent ads. As a result, Google wants to help shine a light on the companies behind ads that customers see, adding a degree of accountability and transparency. The feature will begin rolling out this summer, with an “About the advertiser” disclosure, similar to the current “Why this ad?” information.

    “This change will make it easier for people to understand who the advertiser is behind the ads they see from Google and help them make more informed decisions when using our advertising controls,” writes John Canfield, Director of Product Management, Ads Integrity. “It will also help support the health of the digital advertising ecosystem by detecting bad actors and limiting their attempts to misrepresent themselves.

    “We will start by verifying advertisers in phases in the U.S. and continue to expand globally. Because we are working closely with our advertising partners to scale the program while continuing to ensure we are surfacing helpful information to our users, we expect that this process will take a few years to complete. Advertisers can learn more about the identity verification program here.”

    This is good news for customers and will hopefully help cut down on misleading and fraudulent ads.

    Image Credit: Google