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  • Google May Start Paying Publishers For News

    Google May Start Paying Publishers For News

    Google may soon join the ranks of Apple and Facebook in paying publishers for news content.

    Google and news publishers have been at odds for years, with the latter wanting Google to pay for content. While Google’s search sends an untold number of visitors to news websites, Google doesn’t pay for any of the content that shows up in its News service.

    The company is under additional pressure, however, after the passage of a new copyright law in the European Union (EU). Under the new law, search engines must pay a license to display a preview of a news article, something Google has so far refused to do.

    According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, that may be about to change. People close to the matter told the WSJ that Google is in talks with news publishers, specifically those outside the U.S., to license content for a news product. Whether that will be the company’s existing News service or an entirely new product is anyone’s guess at this time.

  • We Want To Make It Easier For People To Go From Inspiration To Purchase, Says Pinterest CEO

    We Want To Make It Easier For People To Go From Inspiration To Purchase, Says Pinterest CEO

    “I don’t know about social commerce overall but I definitely know that our users often want to buy the things they find on Pinterest,” said Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann while discussing going public on the NYSE. “A lot of people say they discovered a product or service while browsing Pinterest,” says Silbermann. “We just want to make it easier for them to go from that inspiration all the way to reality, which in this case would be a purchase.”

    Pinterest was initially priced at $19 per share, which gave it a value of $10 billion on Wednesday morning. The company closed Friday up 28% at $24.40, which vaulted Pinterest to a value of just under $13 billion.

    Pinterest Goes Public on the NYSE!

    Ben Silbermann, co-founder and CEO of Pinterest, discusses on Bloomberg how Pinterest is unique both in how consumers use the product and how advertisements have simply become part of the experience:

    The Ads On Pinterest Can Actually Be Really Additive

    We really talked with investors about how regular people use the product every day. People use it to get inspiration for a whole range of things, everything from the food they cook to the clothes they wear to their homes. It’s really more about your personal inspiration and it’s less about your friends. It’s not really about following celebrities in the news. We wanted to make sure that everyone understood that because that’s how our users see the product every day.

    The thing that makes it really special is that the reason people are on Pinterest is to get inspiration and do things with their life. It’s really lined up with what advertisers want which is to inspire new customers and get them to buy products and services they really love. What that means is that the ads on Pinterest can actually be really additive as long as we do a good job of making sure they’re highly relevant. I think that’s just really different from a lot of media companies where ads are candidly a little bit of a tax. That difference in alignment I think is the biggest difference between us and some other media properties.

    My Eye Is On What’s Going to Make Pinterest Great 10 Years From Now

    I still think there’s a real opportunity to grow over time and increase engagement. A lot of people might use Pinterest for one thing or two things but they don’t know the wide range of different ways people all over the world use the product. I also got to say that we’re super proud that we’re growing globally. If it (IPO) was just a few years ago the story would have been primarily a US-based service. It’s just really fulfilling for the company to know that the product works all over the world.

    We’re in the very first chapter of that story (selling internationally) so we’re just hiring our first local sales teams in places like Canada, Western Europe, Germany, and France. We’re just at the beginning of the journey but I think there’s going to be a real opportunity to show the same great results we’ve seen in the United States to advertisers all over the world. We’re going to continue to invest for the long term. We’ve shown really good margin improvement over the last few years but my eye is always on what’s going to make Pinterest great three years, five years, and even ten years from now. That’s going to be how we continue to run the business and we’re really excited to see it keep growing.

    We Want To Make It Easier For People To Go From Inspiration To Purchase

    We’re always working to make sure people can bridge that gap between seeing something inspiring and doing it. One area that we’re investing in is making sure that we match inspirational images with more and more products that are at a price point that matters for people and for retailers they really trust. We just enabled people who are retailers to upload all of their catalogs into Pinterest. We’re investing a lot into computer vision technology to match those products with images and we’re not just doing it with shopping, we’re also doing it with all the different use cases. If you have a recipe on Pinterest now you’ll see the ingredients and people can write reviews. If you have a DIY project you can see other people’s experiences, whether it was easy or whether it was a little harder than they expected.

    I don’t know about social commerce overall but I definitely know that our users often want to buy the things they find on Pinterest. A lot of people say they discovered a product or service while browsing Pinterest. We just want to make it easier for them to go from that inspiration all the way to reality, which in this case would be a purchase.

    Making It Easier For People To Go From Inspiration To Purchase – Pinterest CEO


  • Twitter Rolls Out Direct Message Anti-Abuse Feature

    Twitter Rolls Out Direct Message Anti-Abuse Feature

    After a month and a half of testing, Twitter is rolling out a spam and abuse filter for Direct Messages (DM), according to a report by TechCrunch.

    The new filter is designed to protect users from seeing unwanted graphic images or abusive content. The filter does this by adding a new view to the Additional Messages, where users can view DMs from people they don’t follow. Messages that contain potentially offensive or graphic content have their previews hidden when a user clicks on the DM, even providing an option to delete the message without opening it.

     

    We tested, and turns out filters help you cut through the noise to find gems. Who knew. So we’re rolling out this filter to everyone on iOS, Android, and web!

    — Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) September 30, 2019

     

    The feature should be a welcome—albeit long-overdue—addition to the social media service, already under fire for not doing enough to protect users. In recent years, there have been high-profile defections from the platform as users have reached their limit in dealing with trolls and online abuse.

    Hopefully, Twitter continues to take positive steps to rein in bad behavior. If so, it should help the platform remain a viable marketing option for companies large and small.

  • iOS 13’s Privacy Changes Have Big Repercussions For Businesses

    iOS 13’s Privacy Changes Have Big Repercussions For Businesses

    On September 10, Apple held their “By Invitation Only” event, unveiling new iPhones, Apple Arcade, Apple TV+ and iOS 13. While many of the event’s announcements were aimed squarely at the consumer market, there were a number of things surrounding the iOS update that impact businesses, especially when it comes to marketing and development.

    For years, despite Apple working to protect customers’ privacy, companies have found ways to continue tracking iPhone users, often without their permission. Recent news articles have highlighted how companies are using Bluetooth to track individuals. Similarly, some apps try to use GPS to track people even when not using the app. Facebook is one such company that was recently busted for using precise location data to track users without their knowledge or consent.

    As a result, in addition to iOS 13’s general facelift and improvements, there are a number of privacy-related features that will likely have a significant impact on marketing and development teams who have previously relied on these tracking methods.

    Bluetooth Tracking

    One of the biggest changes to iOS 13 is how Bluetooth connections are handled. Prior to this update, apps could access the iPhone’s Bluetooth functionality to track a user’s whereabouts thanks to tracking beacons. Customers in a store could be tracked as they walked around to different sections, giving the store information about what displays and product categories were driving the most foot traffic. Similarly, shopping malls can use beacons to track individuals and determine movement patterns, store popularity and more.

    That’s not to say that all apps requesting Bluetooth access are using it for tracking. Smartwatches, health monitors and the like will need to connect to their corresponding apps via Bluetooth. But it’s clear that many apps don’t need access. For example, Dominoes and Macy’s are two apps that request access for the purpose of tracking users’ whereabouts.

    Bluetooth Privacy
    Bluetooth Privacy

    For marketing firms and departments who have relied on this technology, iOS 13 represents the end of an era. Instead of using Bluetooth to track individuals without their consent, marketing departments will need to find other ways to engage with customers. In some cases, this may involve adding an incentive for the customer to allow tracking. In other cases, it may require adding a check-in option instead of automatic tracking.

    iOS 13’s change has significant implications for development teams as well. In many cases, Bluetooth tracking functionality was included in various software development kits (SDK) as a bundled benefit of using that particular SDK. With more and more customers choosing not to be tracked, developers will need to find other ways to make their SDKs stand out and provide value to their customers.

    GPS Tracking

    GPS tracking is another area where some companies have abused consumer trust. Facebook and others have been accused of using precise location data to track users, even when the app is not active.

    GPS Privacy
    GPS Privacy

    iOS 13 offers an updated option to GPS permissions. In addition to “Don’t Allow” and “Allow While Using App,” iOS 13 includes an “Allow Once” option. When a user chooses this, the app is granted a one-time access to GPS functionality and the user will be prompted to give it access again the next time they open that app.

    Again, for companies whose apps rely on GPS functionality, it will be increasingly important to ensure their app is using GPS for a specific reason, to offer their customers an improved experience. Otherwise, if an app’s request for GPS access is suspect or without a clear reason, customers may switch to an app that respects their privacy.

    Wrapping Up

    As with many iOS updates, iOS 13 brings a number of significant changes, not the least of which is improved customer privacy. This will undoubtably present a challenge to some businesses, not only those who may have been abusing these features in the past, but also businesses whose apps will simply be collateral damage in the battle to protect user privacy.

    On the other hand, companies who are quick to adapt, work to protect user privacy and look for new ways to engage their customers will likely find new opportunities open to them.

  • View Velocity Is The Secret To Ranking On YouTube

    View Velocity Is The Secret To Ranking On YouTube

    “To determine rankings on their platform, YouTube uses a metric called the View Velocity,” says HubSpot SEO expert Braden Becker. “The View Velocity metric measures the number of subscribers who watch your video right after it’s been published. The higher your videos view velocity the higher your videos will rank. YouTube also accounts for the number of active subscribers you have when they rank your videos.”

    Braden Becker, Senior SEO Strategist at HubSpot, reveals the secrets of YouTube’s Ranking Algorithm in his latest video:

    The Secrets of YouTube’s Ranking Algorithm

    Since marketers are at the mercy of algorithms on nearly every publishing channel, knowing how each of these unique algorithms work is crucial to attracting and maintaining an audience. Luckily, while some channels are rather reserved about the secrets of their algorithms, YouTube has been remarkably transparent. To figure out which videos and channels that users are most likely to enjoy watching, YouTube follows their audience. This means they pay attention to which videos each user watches, what they don’t watch, how much time they spend watching each video, their likes, their dislikes, and “they’re not interested in” feedback. 

    What YouTube Pays The Most Attention To

    Ranking High In YouTube Search Results

    YouTube’s algorithm also uses different signals and metrics to rank and recommend videos on each section of their platform. With this in mind, let’s go over how the algorithm decides to serve content to its users on their search results, homepage, suggested videos, trending, and subscription sections. First, are the search results. The two biggest factors that affect your video search rankings are its keywords and relevance. When ranking videos in search, YouTube will consider how well your titles, descriptions, and content, match each user’s queries. They’ll also consider how many videos users have watched from your channel and the last time they watched other videos surrounding the same topic as your video.

    Positive Engagement With Your Videos Is Key

    Next is the home page and suggested videos. No two users will have the same experience on YouTube. They want to serve the most relevant personalized recommendations to each of their viewers. To do this they first analyze user’s activity history and find hundreds of videos that could be relevant to them. Then they rank these videos by how well each video has engaged and satisfied similar users, how often each viewer watches videos from a particular channel or topic, and how many times YouTube has already shown each video to its users. 

    Ranking On The Trending Page

    Next is trending. The trending page is a feast of new and popular videos in a user’s specific country. YouTube wants to balance popularity with novelty when they rank videos in this section, so they heavily consider view count and rate of view growth for each video they rank. 

    High “View Velocity” = High Ranking

    Last is subscriptions. YouTube has a subscriptions page where users can view all the recently uploaded videos from the channels they subscribe to. But this page isn’t the only benefit that channels get when they acquire a ton of subscribers. To determine rankings on their platform, YouTube uses a metric called the View Velocity, which measures the number of subscribers who watch your video right after it’s been published. The higher your videos view velocity the higher your videos will rank. YouTube also accounts for the number of active subscribers you have when they rank your videos.

    The Secrets of YouTube’s Ranking Algorithm with HubSpot SEO expert Braden Becker
  • Recap: Social Media Week Lima

    Recap: Social Media Week Lima

    When Jessika Phillips, Founder of NOW Marketing Group and Host of Social Media Week Lima, went to a large social media conference she had a thought — here was a truly amazing and informative event, and what if she could replicate it in her hometown of Lima, Ohio? Her goal was to bring hundreds of people to a similar event in the Midwest, and she pulled it off. People like Brian Fanzo, Bryan Kramer, and more all participated and it was a huge hit in the social media world. Now in its seventh year, the attention to detail and the level of detail that goes into this conference is second to none, making it the premiere social media event of the Midwest.

    The theme of this year’s event was “Creating Craveable Content” and talks included “Captivate on Command: How to Motivate the Masses with Only Your Words” by Stephanie Liu, “Utilizing Emotional and Social Intelligence to Create Authentic and Craveable Content” by Tiffany Lanier, and many more great talks about how to engage with your audience like never before. There was also an hour long “Table Talks” session during which guests could shuffle from table to table listening to talks by different marketing industry veterans. My talk was about “Being Irresistible To The Media.”

    The biggest takeaway from the conference was the importance of being human and of making human connections. Your message reads as more authentic when you are more human, and a little bit of empathy goes a long way in real human interactions. Another major theme of the conference was to learn to “push the damn button” — stop waiting around for everything to be perfect before you get started.

    There was also a lot of livestreaming going on at this conference, not only of the conference events themselves, but also between colleagues on related topics such as being more human and making those human connections. LinkedIn Live is a great way to drive engagement among your professional base of colleagues, but livestreaming of any kind is preferred by 80% of social media users over written posts and gets far greater engagement than other forms of social media posts. The added bonus of livestreaming? It also makes you seem more relatable to your followers.

    (L-R: unknown, Lauren Vanags Davis, Jennifer Brogee, Cortney Mumaugh, Ross Woods, Kiera Suffel, Ai Addyson-Zhang, Zavier Buzard, Barb Casey Flynn, Brian Wallace)

    This conference is a great place for marketers to connect with others in the field who are truly passionate about what they do.

    “Going to SMWL is a breath of fresh air,” says Bryan Kramer, CEO at H2H Companies. Bestselling Author, Keynote & TED speaker, Coach of Coaches. “It’s the most welcoming community of humans who appreciate getting to know each other and learning from each other at a deeper level than most.”

    Of course, the conference was designed to be just that.

    “My personal mission is to help inspire others to love more, give more and do more within their personal and professional lives though the art of authentic relating,” says conference Founder Jessika Phillips. “A conference like SMWL is a great place to build the foundation of relationship marketing and I believe people are ready for it — that’s why the event has grown each and every year with other like minded people.”

    Conference attendees and speakers alike appreciate the value of Social Media Week Lima as well as the attention to detail and hard work that go into creating it.

    “Add the best elements of a national industry conference to those of a local mastermind and the result is the Midwest’s premier social media marketing event, Social Media Week Lima,” says Livestream Universe Founder Ross Brand. “The event feels both big and small in good ways. Jessika Phillips recruited an A-list group of keynote speakers and panelists who fill the main hall at the UNOH convention center, while her team at NOW Marketing facilitates a great experience for each attendee with opportunities for learning, collaboration and relationship building, both one-on-one and in small groups.”

    “SMWL19 is the quintessential example of how a well-connected team like NOW Marketing can leverage influential thought leaders from around the globe to bring world-class social media expertise to a local community,” says I Am Here, LLC CEO Chris Strub.

    Strub gained notoriety when he became the first person to live stream in all 50 states, an experience which he turned into a book and later a movie, “50 States In 100 Days.” Strub premiered the movie at Social Media Week Lima on June 19.

    This event was so well put together and so well received, that people are already committing to return next year for Social Media Week Lima 2020. Getting together with your online community offline is a great way to build those human relationships.

    (L-R: unknown, Zavier Buzard, Brian Wallace, Charles Kroeger, ET, Mackenzie Ball, Philip Shaw, Lindsey Stahl)

    Photos courtesy of Sara Campbell and Brian Wallace

    This story originally appeared on CMS Wire

  • Neil Patel’s Content Marketing Strategies for 2019

    Neil Patel’s Content Marketing Strategies for 2019

    In 2019, you need to think differently about your content marketing strategies. Google has so much content on the same topics that it’s difficult for average content to rank. You need to constantly create new fresh content that is unique. More importantly, according to Neil Patel, you need to aggressively promote your content. He says you should use the 80/20 rule, 20 percent of the time writing, 80 percent promoting.

    Neil Patel, one of the original internet marketing influencers, released a new video (below) that offers tips on how to successfully do content marketing in 2019:

    Content Marketing Strategies for 2019

    In 2019 content won’t rank as well as it used to. Yes, they say content is king, but we already know there are over a billion blogs. Google isn’t just picking from, hey what content do we want to rank because we lack content. They’re like, we have content on everything under the sun and the same thing a hundred other times. So now they’re just not picking what content do we want to rank. They’re looking at authority and user metrics and their even looking at when the content was created.

    Tip 1 – Create New Fresh Content

    Why would they want to rank content that’s two years old when they can rank something that’s less than one week old? When it comes to content marketing in 2019 you need to make sure that your content is also being up-to-date. If you don’t update your old content you’re not going to get as much love as people who are continuing to put out new fresh content.

    Tip 2 – Don’t Regurgitate the Same Information

    The second tip I have for you is don’t regurgitate the same information over and over again. People are tired of reading 12 SEO Tips That Will Double Your Traffic. You can Google it. There are probably different variations of that number but there are probably hundreds of articles on that subject. Write something new and fresh that hasn’t been seen before and you’re more likely to get traffic rankings and even social shares.

    Tip 3 – Create Video and Audio Content

    I know you’re not gonna like this third tip, but the third tip is to create video and audio based content. Text is overrated. It doesn’t help you connect with people as much as video. I still love text and I still crank out text, but the future is video. It’s much more personal and people get to know your personality and your company better. Create video-based content, upload it to YouTube, LinkedIn, and you can even do Twitter and Instagram if it’s short enough, and of course Facebook.

    Don’t share the same video over and over again like sharing your YouTube video on Facebook. You’ve got to take that video all over again and re-upload it into Facebook. With LinkedIn, for example, you have got to re-upload the video all over again versus sharing the link to that Facebook video or that YouTube video.

    With audio, you want to create a podcast. It’s easy. You can just bust out your phone, create an audio file, upload it to iTunes or Libsyn, and you’re off into the races. Same with video. You don’t actually have to go into a studio like I am and shoot all these fancy videos and pay money. You can just bust out your phone. I would even say most of the times from all the tests we’ve run that the videos that you end up running on your iPhone convert better if you’re selling a product or service. There’s nothing wrong with doing that. Just look at Tai Lopez. He’s known for just busting out his phone and recording videos and it does very well for him.

    Tip 4 – Spend More Time Promoting than Creating

    The fourth tip I have for you is promoting your content. In 2019, you’ve got to spend more time promoting than writing. Again, I can’t emphasize this enough. There’s too much content on the web. It doesn’t matter how good of a content piece you write it’s not going to be seen unless you promote it. so spend more time promoting than writing. Use the 80/20 rule, 20 percent of the time writing, 80 percent promoting.

    One way to promote content is to email all the people who link to your competitors content and ask them for a link. You can use tools like BuzzSumo. Just type in a keyword related to your space and see all the other popular articles within your space. You then take that and put that URL into Ahrefs. It shows you all the people who link to that URL. Then you hit up all those people who link to it contact them asking for a link also.

    Tip 5 – Get Social Shares

    You also need to get social shares. Getting backlinks isn’t enough. Facebook, Twitter, all these social sites drive a lot of traffic. You then want to go to BuzzSumo and click on the view shares button and it will show you every single person who shared those articles. That simple thing will help you get more social traffic.

    You Can’t Just Do the Old Stuff That Worked Before

    In 2019, if you don’t leverage these tactics you’re not going to do well. A lot of people have the old mentality of, hey, I’m just going to keep creating new content and just crank out ten posts a day. If you do that you’re probably going to regurgitate content and you’re not going to get rankings. Google already has more authoritative sites to choose from. You can’t just do the old stuff that worked in 2018 and 2017. You have to leverage these tactics.

    Even the video stuff I described, I know a lot of you’re like, I don’t want to create video it’s too much work. But you know what, with YouTube SEO I get over a hundred thousand visitors a month just from YouTube SEO. It’s amazing. It’s a channel you have to leverage. Best of all, unlike Google SEO, with YouTube SEO you can get results in less than a week. I kid you not. I created a video on SEO and I started ranking for the term SEO on YouTube in less than one week.

    Neil Patel’s Content Marketing Strategies for 2019


  • How to Build a Content Marketing Strategy (And Stick to It)

    How to Build a Content Marketing Strategy (And Stick to It)

    In recent years, content marketing has become one of the most powerful techniques for growing your business. Because of its effectiveness, businesses are now allotting as much as 40 percent of their advertising budget on content marketing. The investment makes sense because well-executed content marketing can bring more traffic to a website, raise brand awareness among consumers, position your business as an expert, raise customer loyalty, and greatly improve sales.

    However, in order to get the most of your content marketing efforts, you’ll need to have a clear and defined strategy. And, you’ll need to stick to it! This will not only make it easier to create more content but also help you analyze, set goals, and measure your ROI.

    How to Build Content Marketing Strategy

    Determine Your Objectives

    The first step to developing a content marketing strategy is to determine your company’s objective. In other words, you’ll need to have an end goal. Are you trying to create more awareness about your brand? Or, are you trying to gain more subscriptions to a service you provide? Decide on one or two core goals that will affect your bottom line and two or three supporting objectives you want to meet.

    Content Marketing Trends Most Important Objectives

    Define Your Target Market

    You want to market to the right customer using the right content at the right time. To do so, you would need to define your target market. You can do this by creating buyer personas and using them as a model for your content marketing plan. Conduct qualitative research to build these personas. Make use of surveys, customer feedback, focus groups, social media activity, and customer interviews. Even user profiles and transaction histories will help you in understanding who your real customers are.

    Study What Your Customers Need

    Make use of social media, search browsers, surveys, customer conversations and insight from your sales and customer service personnel to understand what your customers need. You can then use the collected data to segment your customers and send them content that is specific to their needs.

    Decide on What Content to Prioritize

    Once you have determined your end goal and identified your buyers, you can start focusing on content. There are a lot of content types to choose from—blogs, ebooks, infographics, games, courses, mobile apps, webinars, podcasts, and newsletters to name a few. Choose two or three types that are most suited or relevant to your audience to ensure you can always provide high-quality content. Once you have decided on the content channels you want, you can start creating a content schedule.

    According to a 2018 B2C survey by Conductor, businesses use blogs and videos 3 times more than any other type of content marketing.

    b2c content marketing

    Develop a Plan for Executing Content

    Utilize your buyer personas and customer information to design a plan for executing your content. Start brainstorming for ideas, like what keywords to use or topics for your blog. Think about how and where your audience will receive their information. Consider that customers require different kinds of content per funnel stage.

    Design Ways to Measure Your Content Marketing

    Your objectives will help define your metrics. Develop a measurement framework to help you keep track of how your strategy is helping with your goals. There are different categories of content marketing metrics that you can find online.

    common-content-marketing-goalsAmplify Your Content 

    It’s not enough to just develop content. Even an in-depth blog post or expertly edited video will fall on deaf ears unless you amplify its reach. Consider that there are at least 4 million blog posts published every day, how will you get your post to rise above the noise? You can get the word out through social media channels or explore other avenues, like using influencers or creating events.

    3 Tips on How to Stick to Your Strategy

     Image result for stick to the plan

    Once you have established your content marketing strategy, you’ll have to stick to it to reap the benefits. Unfortunately, this is where a lot of companies falter. Here are three tips to help you stay on your path:

    1. Make sure everybody knows what to expect

    Every departments’ goals should align with each other. For instance, the goals of the marketing and sales department should be in tune with each other and should fall in line with that of the upper management. Every member should also know the metrics that will be used.

    2. Concentrate on initiatives that are already successful

    Check which previous marketing strategies gave you the best results and build from there. After all, why fix something that isn’t broken? For instance, if one PPC campaign resulted in a good ROI, update it by either boosting the ad spending or launching a similar campaign using a different product.

    3. Delegate or outsource

    Good marketers know they should play to their strengths and delegate or outsource the rest. For instance, if you have good graphic design skills, make your own business logo or visual banners. If you are terrible at getting your ideas across in words, hire a writer. There’s no reason to do it all yourself when you can tap the services of others who can do a better job.

    Conclusion

    A solid content marketing strategy is essential to a successful business. Brainstorm for ideas and do not be afraid to experiment with different approaches or try a variety of tools. Keep track of customer engagement to ensure that you will stick to the strategy you devised. These will help in the continued improvement of your content marketing strategy and the success of your business.

  • How To Promote Your Content When You Don’t Have Money – Neil Patel

    How To Promote Your Content When You Don’t Have Money – Neil Patel

    “You know you need more traffic to your blog posts but you don’t have the money to spend to get those eyeballs,” says online marketing strategist Neil Patel. “What should you do? Today I’m going to teach you five ways to promote your content when you don’t have any money. Have you tried all the basic stuff that most of these marketers, including me, are talking about, and find that you’re not getting any results?”

    Neil Patel, online marketing strategist and founder of Neil Patel Digital, discusses how to promote your content when you don’t have money in his latest YouTube video:

    Tip 1 – Answer Quora Questions

    The first tip I have for you is to answer Quora questions. Quora is such a popular site, one of the most popular sites in the world. There are questions around everything; What is it like to be an Olympic gold medalist? How do you get traffic to a blog? Who is Neil Patel? There are questions on every topic under the sun.

    If you go on Quora, and you start answering all these questions, and you even link out to your blog whenever it’s relevant, you’ll find that you’re going to start getting more and more traffic. Why is this? Well, these Quora posts rank for everything in Google. It’s one of the simplest and easiest ways to get more traffic to your site.

    Who is Neil Patel? - Quora Result on Google Search
    Quora posts rank for everything in Google, Says Neil Patel

    Tip 2 – Go Live On Social Media

    The second tip I have for you is to go live on social media. Even if you don’t have the biggest social following, live videos are super engaging and all these socialites show it to almost all of your subscribers because they want to compete with all the television networks. If you look at people like Tai Lopez, some people may hate on him, but he’s a really smart marketer. When he goes live, he can generate hundreds and hundreds and thousands of dollars in sales, just from his live videos. It’s a smart tactic. Not only is he getting people to go wherever he wants but he’s also generating real revenue from it because a live audience is very captive.

    Tip 3 – Do Video Teasers

    The third tip I have for you is video teasers. If you just bust out your phone and you do a video teaser, talking about what you’re going to release, or this content, or what is new, and why they should check it out, or why they should be patient and wait for the next week, they’re more likely to come the next week and actually read that blog post. You know, Apple, whenever they launch new products, they do this whole event. They create all this mystery. They’re doing videos and conferences, breaking down what they’re going to release in the future. These teasers are a great way to build up the pent up demand for the product right when they launch it, and you can do the same with your content. You just have to create videos that tease people to let them know what’s coming out in the future.

    Tip 4 – Answer Questions On Social Media

    The fourth tip I have for you is to answer questions on social media. Whether it’s Facebook, whether it’s Twitter, people are tweeting, asking questions. Whether it’s groups, it doesn’t matter where it is. If you go there and you respond and help people out, they’re more likely to follow you. Not just on the social web, but they’re also going to follow you on your website. And the beautiful part about this, especially when you do it on sites that are your competitors, you’re going to get more link clicks because when you leave a comment, you can typically link back to your site. When you do this on the social web, you’ll find that you’re getting more followers and that way when you release more content, you’ll get more views. But it’s a very effective strategy, especially when you do it to competitors because they have your ideal audience.

    Tip 5 – Do Direct Outreach

    And last but not least, direct outreach. When you link out to people, let them know that you linked out to them. Just email asking to share your content. You know how many emails I get of people saying, hey Neil, I linked out to you. I love your content. If you like the post, feel free and share it. I don’t share all the time but I do it some of the time. It works, it even works with me. That’s just showing you that outreach, if you take the time, you can get extra shares. Sure, not 100% of the people are going to share your content or link back out to you, but if you do it in quantity, you will get extra traffic from it.

    How To Promote Your Content When You Don’t Have Money – Neil Patel
  • Wyze Announces $20 Million in VC Funding via YouTube Docudrama

    Wyze Announces $20 Million in VC Funding via YouTube Docudrama

    Wyze has always been anything but boring. They have an affordable $20 security camera that makes Ring users wonder if they’ve wasted their money. One of their founders, Dave Crosby, has an adorable singing daughter Claire Crosby that has appeared on Ellen and has 1.5 million subscribers to her YouTube channel. Dave has also been a contestent on The Voice.

    Now Wyze has announced $20 million in Series A funding in dramatic fashion via a YouTube docudrama. It makes sense. Wyze considers their customers their community and being honest is part of the Wyze DNA. Letting customers in on the struggles of a startup via a documentary style video is a great way to reinforce that trust with their community.

    Wyze Announces $20 Million in VC Funding via YouTube Docudrama

    The funding round is led by Norwest Venture Partners and comes on the heels of Wyze’s massive success in selling over 1.5 million units of its first products, Wyze Cam and Wyze Cam Pan, since launching in October 2017. This funding is in addition to the previous seed funding investment from iSeed Ventures.

    “We’ve had a singular focus on making pragmatic hardware and software that actually improve people’s lives, and this new capital infusion will help us continue that mission,” said Yun Zhang, Co-Founder and CEO of Wyze. “Without our tremendous and wonderful community, we would never have been able to build a $100 million company in just one year. We’re looking forward to offering them more, and listening to the community’s feedback as we continue to expand into new areas of the home.”

    “This is the story about a lemon aid stand,” says Wyze founders and employees. “A story about a guy who put everything on the line. A story about 800,000 people that decided to give a no-name startup in Seattle a shot. A story about a brand that’s about to be a household name. At least that’s the plan. This is a story about you. This is a story about $20 million.”

    “Now thanks to you there are 800,000 people at our lemon aid stand,” Wyze says. “Because you gave us such great feedback on the forums and the different social media our product is just getting better and better. Over 80 percent of customers have shared Wyze Cam with a friend. That is amazing. Thank you. That kind of growth is hard to manage.”

    “Wyze proved that a smart home camera doesn’t have to be expensive to be great, which has driven adoption across a much broader base of consumers than ever before,” said Parker Barrile, Partner at Norwest Venture Partners. “I’m excited to partner with Yun and his team to build the next generation of smart home devices and services that everyone can afford.”

  • Neil Patel’s 6 Tips to Dominating Google

    Neil Patel’s 6 Tips to Dominating Google

    “Do you want to know what’s better than being on page one of Google?” asked digital marketing expert Neil Patel. “Not just ranking number one, but owning the first page.”

    In Patel’s latest video (below) he reveals six tips designed to help anybody with unique and useful content result on the first page of a Google search. Incredibly, Patel says that these techniques will actually help you achieve not just the number one result, but will rank your content in multiple listings on the first page.

    Neil Patel, digital marketing expert, entrepreneur, and business influencer discusses how to own the front page of Google:

    Tip One: Interlink Your Content

    The first tip I have for you is to interlink your content. Let’s say you’re trying to rank for a term like ‘SEO’ or ‘online marketing.’ If you have an article that’s super in-depth about that topic you can create other offshoots. For example, I have a lot of topics about online marketing. One of them is ‘Online Marketing Made Simple – A Step-by-Step Guide.’

    I also have other articles that break down online marketing tools. What I can do is cross-link those articles together. By doing that It’ll increase my chance that both of those pages can rank on page one for the term ‘online marketing.’

    Tip 2 – Create Multiple Pages That Cover the Same Topic

    In addition to that, you want to have multiple pages that cover the same topic. I just gave you an example. One could be on ‘Online Marketing Beginners Guide.’ Another one could be ‘Online Marketing Tools.’ Another one could be ‘How To Get Started with Online Marketing.’ Another one could be the ‘Advanced Guide to Online Marketing.’

    You get the point. By having multiple pages, and not just two, by having five or six or seven it’s going to increase your chances that you can rank on page one with more than just one listing.

    Tip 3 – Do Not Duplicate Your Content

    The third tip I have for you is to not duplicate your content. A lot of people when they’re trying to rank for a term like ‘online marketing’ they’ll take the same content and regurgitate it throughout their whole site. If you do that Google is not going to want to rank duplicate content from your own site multiple times. That will create a terrible user experience. If you do that you’re not going to do well, so don’t duplicate your own content. Write fresh unique content that you already haven’t written about before.

    Tip 4 – Build Links

    The fourth tip I have for you is to build links. If you build links to your site you’re going to rank higher. You know that, but you also want to build links to every version of your posts that you’re trying to dominate page one for. Using Ahrefs they have a feature called Link Intersect. You can put in your URL as well as other competitive URLs and it will show you who links to your competitors but are not linking to you.

    The beautiful part about this feature is if someone links to three or four or five of your competitors but not you, there’s a good chance you could potentially convince them to also link to you. This is because you know they’re open to linking to other sites within your space. By using the Link Intersect tool you can see who links to other online marketing articles or other online marketing sites.

    Then from there what you’ll want to do is hit up those sites and ask them, ‘hey you got a detailed post that you cover A, B, and C’ that your competition may not. Ask them to link to you as well.  Don’t just do that for your main post on that subject but also do it in regards to your secondary and third pages that are also around that same topic.

    Tip 5 – Promote Your Articles on the Social Web

    The fifth tip I have for you is to promote your articles on the social web. From Facebook to Twitter to LinkedIn, you’ve heard this before. You want to promote your main articles as well as your sub-articles that are also around that topic. But what most people don’t tell you when it comes to social promotions is that when you share an article on Twitter or Facebook, most of your fans or friends aren’t going to see it. You don’t want to just share it once. You want to share it four or five times over the next six months.

    By doing this you’re going to continue to get more eyeballs and more shares indirectly. Some of those people may link to the article or leave a comment. This will help with the engagement and better user metrics and that should help with overall rankings in the long run.

    Tip 6 – No One Likes Outdated Content

    The last tip I have for you is no one likes outdated content. When you publish content it gets outdated over time. It’s natural even if you write about tools and tips. For example, if I wrote about Vine, which is a company that Twitter bought, it’s outdated. It doesn’t exist anymore. Twitter shut it down. I’d have to update that content and talk about a different tool out there, maybe Instagram.

    The point I’m trying to make is whatever you write on is going to get outdated. That’s okay and that’s natural. However, once a year consider updating your main pieces of content because that’ll help them all rank higher.


  • Top Email Design Trends of 2019

    Top Email Design Trends of 2019

    In this age of shiny web applications and mobile computing, emails have sustained their supremacy over all the other channels. It is the communication tool that has worked seamlessly for all your prospects.

    Email marketing is a dynamic, paradigm-shifting field with a rich scope of innovation. Through 2017 and 2018, it has fostered diverse trends like typography, gamification, dynamic content, CSS-based animations to name a few.

    In 2019, something even more fascinating, where extraordinary stuff is likely to get mainstream, awaits email enthusiasts.

    In the Infographic ‘Top Email Design Trends of 2019,’ exclusively provided to WebProNews by EmailMonks, you will get a sneak peek into what kind of email marketing designs lie ahead.

    Click the Infographic below to enlarge and unleash the future of emails:

    Top Email Design Trends of 2019 – Infographic by EmailMonks
  • Neil Patel’s 7 Trends to Embrace for Successful Digital Marketing in 2019

    Neil Patel’s 7 Trends to Embrace for Successful Digital Marketing in 2019

    Self-made marketing expert Neil Patel released a video titled, How Digital Marketing Will Change in 2019. Patel outlines 7 Trends that all businesses and content producers should embrace for successful digital marketing in 2019:

    “Digital marketing is going to change in 2019,” says NeilPatel. “What’s been working for the last few years is not anymore. Here’s how digital marketing is changing in 2019 and what you need to do to thrive and succeed.”

    Tip 1: Embrace Omnichannel Approach to Digital Marketing

    Digital marketing is moving to an omnichannel approach. You used to be able to build a business with just one channel. For example, Facebook grew by just telling everyone, hey invite your friends. They would take your address book and invite all your friends automatically even without your permission. That’s changed and those tactics don’t work as well as they used to. I’m not saying they don’t work at all, they just don’t work as well as they used to.

    Marketing has moved to an omnichannel approach where you now have to use tactics like growth hacking, pay-per-click, SEO, content marketing, social media marketing, and banner ads. The list is never-ending and the more channels you use the better off you’re going to be. Most of these channels are crowded because there are so many online businesses. If you don’t use all of them you just won’t do as well in 2019.

    Tip 2: Leverage Voice Search

    Most of you will not like this but search is moving to voice search. By 2020 Comscore estimates that half the searches on Google will be through voice search. Right now, two out of every five adults are using voice search. Yes, that means kids aren’t using it as much but still by 2020 they’re saying half of all searches, not just from adults, but half of all searches are going to be via voice search. So if you want to do well in 2019 you need to be leveraging voice search.

    The way you do this is one, make sure your site is HTTPS because most of the sites that are at the top are HTTPS these days. And two, your site needs to load fast. If it doesn’t load fast you’re not going to do as well with voice search. Three, when people are typing in questions, they’re typically typing in longer-term phrases. So your questions, and especially your answers need to be short and to the point. If your answers are a paragraph long you’re not going to do as well compared to if your answer was one sentence long.

    Tip 3: The Only Way to Compete is Through Conversion Optimization

    The third tip I have for you is conversion optimization. Advertising is getting more and more expensive over time and that’s not going to change. The only way you’re going to be able to compete and stay ahead is through conversion optimization. The more you optimize your landing page for conversions the better off you’re going to be. Make sure you’re using tools like Crazy Egg which allows you to do A/B testing so you can squeeze more conversions from the traffic you’re getting.

    Also, make sure you’re using tools like Hellow Bar which encourages email collection. Again, this will help you get more revenue from the users and visitors that you do have. If you don’t do this as the years go on you’re going to get drowned out by the competitors because they’re going to spend more money than you and they’re going to crush you. So focus on conversion optimization even though it’s not sexy and most people don’t like talking about it in marketing.

    Tip 4: Leverage Marketing Funnels

    The fourth tactic I have for you is leverage funnels. Marketing funnels are going to be more popular than ever in 2019. Before, people used to just optimize their campaigns to, hey I’m buying ads, how many sales am I getting? Now you need a look at up-sells, down-sells, cross-sells, lifetime value of a customer, and churn.

    Whether you have a physical product, digital product, or you’re doing lead generation, you need to track everything from a visitor all the way to a conversion point. That’s revenue for them to keep buying and that’s why funnels are really important. If you don’t know how to create a funnel go check out tools like ClickFunnels.

    Tip 5: Content Marketing Only Works if You Create Amazing Unique Content

    Content marketing just won’t work as well. Think about it, anytime you do a search most of the articles that are at the top are content marketing. Blogging is so popular and so played out that everyone is regurgitating the same information over and over again. Unless you’re creating amazing new information that people haven’t heard before, you’re not going to do well. Content marking just won’t work to get links or social shares unless you’re creating amazing content that’s new and that people haven’t seen before.

    Tip 6: You Need to be Leveraging Video

    My number six tip is creating video content. Video content is the future. You see me here in this video and you’re engaging with me. If you’re not, leave a comment and I’ll show you. I’ll respond back. Video content is the future. People want to engage through video. Facebook gives you more views if it’s video. YouTube gives you a ton of views and Linkedin does as well. You need to be leveraging video. You can’t take it for granted.

    Tip 7: You Need to Create a Podcast

    Podcasting is taking over. Did you know that 45 percent of the people who listen to podcasts have a household income above $75,000? That’s a ton, that’s a lot of money, and that means that the people that are listening to your podcast are going to be better buyers than most other marketing channels out there. You need to create a podcast.

    Everyone is using their phones these days and everyone is driving to work. Podcasting makes it easy where people can listen to your content on-the-go. It’s such a hectic world out there and you need to have a podcast so people can listen to you while they’re dealing with their hectic life.

  • Could Your Business Benefit From Using LinkedIn Dynamic Ads?

    Could Your Business Benefit From Using LinkedIn Dynamic Ads?

    The average consumer is inundated with hundreds of ads every day. Advertisements have gotten so prevalent that they have become just white noise to most shoppers. This is why personalization is now more crucial than ever before. If your ad is not customized to show what a particular shopper wants, then your offer is as good as invisible.

    LinkedIn intends to change all that with its Dynamic Ads.

    How LinkedIn Dynamic Ads Work

    Dynamic ads are essentially banners that change automatically. Also called dynamic banners or dynamic creatives, they adapt promotions and content to suit a specific user. This ensures that each user or customer sees ads that are targeted to their needs.

    Numerous companies have used dynamic ads to great success. Facebook has also been pushing these ads on its platform. Now LinkedIn is also offering its clients the same.

    Ayusman Sarangi, LinkedIn’s principal product manager, announced in September that Dynamic Ads will be made available through their Campaign Manager. He added that LinkedIn Marketing Solutions has also made it so that all the network’s vital advertising formats are available through self-service.

    Companies can run four types of ads on LinkedIn’s Dynamic Ads campaign:

    • Content Ads: Helps you generate leads by prompting and encouraging users to download your content, which is only through the platform’s sales representative.
    • Follower Ads: Designed to encourage consumers to follow you, making it quicker to build a following on the platform.
    • Job Ads: These connect possible applicants to your site’s job application page.
    • Spotlight Ads: Used to promote events, newsletters, products, services, etc. These ads send traffic to your chosen landing page or site destination.

    Once you have decided on the kind of ad you want, you can start your Dynamic Ad. First, you go to the Campaign Manager and click on the Create Campaign button. This is found on the page’s top-right corner. Next, Select the Dynamic Ads option. You can create the name of your new campaign on the following screen. Afterward, you’ll need to decide whether to place your new marketing campaign in a new group or place it in an existing one.

    Select your preferred language after putting a name to your campaign and choose the format you want based on your campaign’s goal. There are preset texts available but you can opt to make a customized one. You can also choose whether to show the user’s profile image. It’s a good idea to enable this feature as the profile picture will help to grab the customer’s attention.

    Ways Your Business Can Benefit from Dynamic Ads

    Personalization is crucial in reaching customers, and dynamic ads are a very efficient and effective way of delivering personalized messages. Here are other ways your business can benefit from this type of ads:

    Creates FOMO and Pushes for Immediate Action

    Dynamic banners can give consumers real-time information. This creates a Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) among shoppers and emphasizes the importance of acting immediately. Plus, showing that you understand the user’s preference proves that you know what they want. In turn, this helps pave the way to a better customer experience even before the shopper makes a purchase.

    People Prefer Dynamic Content

    Shoppers these days, especially the younger generation, prefer Dynamic Ads to the traditional ones. For one, people are generally more receptive to personalized messages that are tailored especially for them. Customized messages also cut down on the unwanted or intrusive ads. Sarangi says that their Dynamic Ads have resulted in twice the Click-Through-Rate of traditional ads. These ads can also help cut down on cart abandonment. The creative ad that appears could remind you of an item that you wanted to purchase previously but had forgotten about. The ads also allow businesses to improve the customer’s familiarity with the brand. This can lead to higher engagement and conversion rates.

    Saves Your Team Time and Resources

    Dynamic ads are very efficient. Marketers would only need to design their creative and write their copy once. The platform automatically does the rest of the personalization for the campaign. Pre-built templates make the creative more streamline while data mapping tools provide more customization.

    Easily Track Data and Results

    Marketers are often concerned with the kind of data their latest campaign will acquire. But a lot of your target audience’s information is already online. Dynamic Ads, however, make it easier to monitor and track their key data. Platforms that have Dynamic Ads, like LinkedIn, also offer analytics and data mining services. The latter is essential in personalizing Dynamic ads. LinkedIn uses member’s profile photo, job title, name, company information and job title to capture the shopper’s attention.

    You get more bang for your buck with Dynamic Ads. The highly personalized messages will instantly capture a consumer’s interest. It’s also more affordable and profitable than traditional ads. Brands only pay for ads that were seen.

    [Featured image via Linkedin]

  • 5 User-Generated Content Campaigns Your Brand Can Learn From

    5 User-Generated Content Campaigns Your Brand Can Learn From

    These days, shoppers are less impressed with celebrities and gurus telling them what to buy and prefer content that’s generated by their fellow consumers. A Nielsen report showed that 92 percent of consumers trust recommendations made by people they know while 70 percent believe the opinions consumers post online.

    Some brands have been savvy enough to take advantage of this changing mindset and have successfully leveraged user-generated content (UGC) into their marketing campaigns.

    User-generated content is essentially content that comes from customers. When customers have a positive experience with your brand, they are more inclined to tell others about it.

    A ringing endorsement from a happy client is one of the fastest and cheapest ways to boost your customer base. And since the content comes from real people who have actually used the company’s products or services, consumers know that the information provided is authentic and reliable, thus improving a brand’s credibility.

    There are several ways that smart brands can utilize UGC. Here’s a list of five companies highly-successful campaigns that show how to effectively leverage user-generated content in your marketing efforts.

    1. Starbucks’ White Cup Contest

    Starbucks hit a home run back in 2014 with its White Cup competition. The coffee giant asked their customers to doodle designs on their paper cups, take pictures, and post them on social media using the hashtag #WhiteCupContest. The best design would become the template for their limited-edition coffee cups. The contest generated around 4,000 entries in three weeks and created a lot of buzz even after it ended. When Starbucks finally unveiled the limited-edition cups, millions of customers took photos of the items and posting them on their social media accounts.

    Takeaway: A contest with an interesting gift or a freebie is an effective way to interact with your target market. You can also generate revenue by turning the UGC into something you can repurpose or sell.

    2. Apple #ShotOniPhone

    User-generated content can solidify and expand a loyal fan base effortlessly. When Apple released the iPhone 8 and X, the company decided to take advantage of the fact that people were already using their product to take great pictures. The company’s #ShotOniPhone campaign saw Apple fans sharing the photos they took on their iPhones. Apple then showcased their favorite photos on its official Instagram account. While the campaign placed the focus on the photographers and their skill, it also emphasized their product’s features and capabilities.

    Takeaway: Celebrate your loyal customers by showcasing their work in your website and social media accounts. The UGC will also drive more visitors to spend more time on your site.

    3. Cast Me Marc by Marc Jacobs

    Image result for cast me marc

    Marc Jacobs reminded people why he’s such a trailblazer with the Cast Me Marc campaign. In 2014, the designer decided to cast models in a distinct way – by using Instagram and Twitter. People who were interested in modeling for the brand were asked to submit their photos with the #CastMeMarc hashtag. The company received 15,000 submissions within a day and 70,000 photos by the time the contest ended. The brand was also credited for starting a new movement as other fashion brands followed in its footsteps.

    Takeaway: Pay attention to current trends. At the time, selfies were rapidly growing in popularity and Jacobs tapped into that phenomenon. You also shouldn’t be afraid to add your own twist to a new trend.

    4. L’Oreal DermaBlend Transformations

    The make-up brand placed their storyline in the hands of their loyal clients with its #DermaBlendPro campaign. L’Oreal encouraged users to share photos or videos of their makeup transformations. The company received thousands of submissions which were used in their brand story.

    Takeaway: Trust your customers and include them in your campaigns. Happy customers make the best brand ambassadors.

    5. Pura Vida Bracelets

    UGC a good way to showcase products in real-world scenarios. Pura Vida’s colorful and unique bracelets already stand out on Facebook’s newsfeed, but when the company added photos of their customers wearing their products on their carousel ad, it provided better insight into the brand and led to a surge in conversions. It also helped that customers were taking photos of their bracelets while on the beach or traveling around the world, thereby encouraging everyone’s dream of a carefree lifestyle. The company was also started working with more artisans and small businesses around the world.

    Takeaway: When your content is relatable, more shoppers will identify with your brand and hold it valuable. Transparency also attracts consumers who want to know where and how the product is made.

    UGC is undoubtedly one of the best ways to show a brand’s authenticity and secure customer loyalty. So put the spotlight on your customer, and reward them to increase engagement. Shoppers are always happy to come back and talk about a brand when they feel like they’re part of the brand’s community. They’re also more willing to contribute to it and refer it to other people. 

    [Featured image via Pexels.com]

  • 4 Fast-Rising Digital Marketing Trends Leading Into 2019

    4 Fast-Rising Digital Marketing Trends Leading Into 2019

    Digital marketing is now firmly embedded in our day-to-day lives; we start our day with newsletters and check our Facebook before bed. Its influence will continue to grow in 2019, and new advertising trends built on today’s digital innovations will grow along with it. It’s your job to learn to distinguish them and adapt your marketing strategy accordingly.

    Here are four digital marketing trends to watch out for in 2019:

    Snack Ads

    Most people prefer watching videos over reading, which would explain why marketers are producing more video content. While video has made digital avertising more dynamic, it’s also caused consumers’ already short attention to become even shorter. Luckily, snack ads are enough to keep your target audience engaged. As the name implies, these ads can be likened to snacks, something easy to digest but filling. These videos ads are less than 10 seconds long; they’re short enough to keep people interested while still getting a brand’s message across.

    Image source: videoeffect.tv

    Consumers will be seeing more of these short ads in 2019. Youtube is already pioneering snack ads, and Fox Networks Group will reportedly follow in its footsteps by incorporating them in their linear programs and streaming services.

    Voice Search

    The coming years will see a deeper interaction between people, devices and applications. Researchers have forecasted that by 2020, 30 percent of web searches will be conducted without even touching the screen. Half of these searches will be done via voice commands.

    It’s easy to see why voice search will play a vital role in our daily lives. Using voice to search and ask questions will elevate multi-tasking to new levels. For instance, you can do your shopping while cooking. A lot of people also find speaking to be quicker than typing. Domino’s Pizza is already using voice search technology, with customers being able to order their pizzas through Alexa.

    With Google, Amazon, and Apple continuously working on improving their voice assistants, and more people expected to use smart speakers, your brand should make full use of this medium by producing relevant audio content.

    Micro-moments

    People are spending more than three hours a day on their smartphones, and it’s changing the way companies are trying to get the customers’ attention. The deluge of content and videos mean that brands should be able to deliver their message quickly and in an interesting way, and all in a matter of seconds. This new consumer behavior is what Google has termed “micro-moments.”

    How Your Business Can Identify and Capitalize on Micro-Moments

    Image source: Google

    Customers generally have four such moments – “I want to go,” “I want to know,” “I want to do,” and “I want to buy.” For instance, a customer is trying to decide where to eat and wants to know which restaurant is nearby. Brands can take advantage of this micro-moment by being able to provide the customers with the information they need. A Business Page on Google can help since you will appear on “Near Me” searches. Companies should also make sure they’re on platforms where customers search for information, like Amazon, Google Maps, or YouTube.

    Augmented Reality

    Virtual and augmented reality technology has given consumers something they want—the opportunity to be engaged in a brand’s message. A number of businesses have already embraced VR and AR’s ability to boost brand awareness and sell products. IKEA is a good example. The company’s shopping app gave prospective clients the chance to try out different design solutions before making a purchase.

    Image source: YouTube

    Social media platforms like Snapchat have also shown that augmented reality can expand a brand’s marketing reach and improve their interactions with customers. Snapchat’s facial and geo filter features quickly developed a following and helped the company, secure sponsors. 2019 will see AR and VR becoming a common marketing tool for companies, especially since the virtual and augmented reality markets are expected to hit $298 billion or more by 2023.

    There are still several weeks left in 2018. That’s more than enough time to future-proof your brand. Take stock of these fast-rising digital marketing trends and develop a good strategy that incorporates them in your marketing plan.

    [Featured image via Pixabay]

  • Eric Enge Says Google’s Two Most Important Ranking Factors Are Still Content and Links

    Eric Enge Says Google’s Two Most Important Ranking Factors Are Still Content and Links

    SEO is constantly changing but search ranking expert Eric Enge still says that everything else should take second priority to content quality and links. In a recent video discussion (below) and blog post, Eric explains how the Google Ranking Score intersects with the Google Content Score which results in a Google Link Score.

    Eric Enge is General Manager of Perficient Digital, a full-service digital agency. Previously, Eric was the founder and CEO of Stone Temple which was acquired by Perficient in July 2018. Here’s how Eric explains Google’s current method for ranking content:

    Google Considers Content and Links the Two Most Important Ranking Factors

    Earlier this year I was part of a live hangout with Andre Ropeta of Google where he said that Google considers the two most important factors for ranking to be content and links to your site. I provided strong backup for the power of links in a study I published last year. From my experience, I think many organizations could dramatically improve their SEO just by creating better quality content and more effectively promoting it but so few bothered to do that.

    Are Content and Backlinks All That Websites Need to Think About for SEO?

    Of course, just thinking about content and backlinks for SEO would be a gross oversimplification. There are still a lot of other things you can do that will help your SEO. These are things like a better information architecture, making better use of SEO tags, good usability and all that. However, I think it’s undeniable that all of those take a second priority to content quality and links.

    How Do Content and Links Interact?

    To keep it simple, let’s imagine a hypothetical set of scores for content and links. Here ’s an equation that depicts the possible relationship between those two things:

    Ranking Score = Content Score * Link Score

    Now let’s pop that plot that on a graph (below). Notice two things, first the Y-axis is labeled Chances of Ranking, not Ranking. We’re dealing with probabilities here, the higher in the curve you are the more probable it is that you will rank high, but of course, they’re never any guarantees.

    Second, notice that I’ve made the content score way more influential than the linked score. Think about it, if your content isn’t at least good quality and it doesn’t do a good job of satisfying your users’ query or if it provides a poor user experience then it really shouldn’t have any chance of ranking in the first place, no matter how many links you get.

    While links are very powerful for establishing the basic authority of a page, Google is smart enough to know that they don’t tell the whole story. That’s why Google is invested so much in being able to discern the quality and appropriateness of content.

    How Should Websites Apply This in a Practical Way?

    My goal with my two step ranking model is to simplify SEO for most people without oversimplifying it. But making it simple in no way implies there’s not a lot of hard work to be done in order to be successful, far from it. It comes down to the two things that have always been true for successful companies, make really good stuff and market it effectively.

    In the case of content marketing, the good stuff is the content that goes above and beyond in creating delight, trust, and respect in your target audience. The marketing part is effectively sharing and promoting that content and getting it in front of the right eyes and if it’s really good that’s where the earned linked opportunities kick in.

  • Facebook Group Vs. Facebook Page: Which is Better for Marketing Your Brand?

    Facebook Group Vs. Facebook Page: Which is Better for Marketing Your Brand?

    For some time now, social media has been a popular way for marketers and brands to get more exposure and grow their customer base. Among the many social media platforms on the web, Facebook ranks as the most popular with nearly 70 million active business accounts.

    If you’ve been considering using Facebook as a marketing tool for your business, you’re probably unsure of whether to use the platform’s Page or Group feature. And given the overwhelming amount of information available online regarding the matter, researching it may only confuse you more.

    Let’s break down the two options in simple terms to make it easier for you to decide:

    Facebook Page or Facebook Group: Understanding the Difference

    A Page and a Group are two distinct features of Facebook’s platform.

    A Facebook Page can be described as the personal profile of an organization, a public figure, or a business. Since it represents an entity, it has the visual and style elements associated with the business or website it’s promoting. The Page also acts as a communication channel with a brand’s fans or followers. Users who connect to a Page instantly get access to all the brand’s news and content.

    Meanwhile, a Facebook Group functions as a forum. It’s primarily used as a communication channel for people with the same interests. Members freely exchange information and knowledge with each other. Interactions are more honest and opinions are willingly expressed since the Group is considered a safe environment. One or more moderators can manage discussions within this space.

    There are several key differences between Pages and Groups, like ads, member interactions, and privacy settings. Any posts or updates made on a Page are visible to the public. Anyone who likes or becomes a fan automatically receives updates or notifications. Groups, on the other hand, are typically private. Membership can be by invitation only or has to be approved by a moderator. Ads are not allowed in Groups, although you can promote your product. Conversely, Pages can carry ads and promos, although there are limits.

    Pros and Cons of Pages and Groups

    Facebook Pages and Groups both have their pros and cons. For instance, Facebook Pages can be set up easily. Updating them is also a breeze. Page creator tools can also be used for easy customization. You can also personalize the URL to make it easier for followers to remember. Pages are also a great way to openly engage with an online audience and advertise products.

    Groups, however, are more about communication and members can use emails, wall posts, and direct messaging. Interactions here tend to be more personal, making it easier to market directly to your audience. You can’t advertise directly but your network can spread the word about your brand, thus you get some free advertising.

    It comes as no surprise that Pages and Groups also have drawbacks. For example, it’s a well-known fact that growing Pages organically is difficult now. Facebook’s algorithm essentially leaves brands with little alternative but to invest in banner ads and boosts if they want to grow their Page quickly. Aside from that, moderators have to monitor all posts carefully since everyone can read it. Conversations between the Page owner and customers are also hard to manage.

    Facebook Groups can also be challenging, especially for marketers. For one, the platform does not offer Insights to groups so it’s more difficult to keep track of everything that’s happening between members. It’s also hard to customize Groups since they don’t have access to some of the design and SEO elements available to Pages.

    Which One Should You Choose?

    So which one is right for your business—a Page or a Group? That will actually depend on your goal.

    Pages are suitable for brands or companies who are out to promote their product or message. For instance, a brand’s Page is where they can talk about the benefits of their product and offer the latest deals. Meanwhile, Groups are better suited for in-depth discussions and for expanding networks. A budding businessman can join a Group for entrepreneurs to learn how to get started.

    Think of a Facebook Page as the front porch of a house and the Group as the living room. The porch is where you meet and greet people quickly. A Page acts the same way. People who visit your Page stop for a while to get the latest news and updates. There is nothing personal shared.

    Using the same analogy, the living room is where you let in the people you know and interact with them on a more personal level. It’s the same with a Facebook Group. People talk about their ideas, experiences, and passions. Interactions in this channel tend to run deeper and more passionately. There’s no active promotion allowed but members can build networks. Think of it as support groups for anything and everything, from mental health issues to SEO specialists.

    Facebook Pages and Facebook Groups are two powerful marketing channels. The former is similar to personal profiles while the latter is essentially a forum. Both can provide you with the chance to engage your audience and promote your brand.

    [Featured image via Pixabay]

  • 4 Inbound Marketing Tactics to Use for Your B2B Company

    4 Inbound Marketing Tactics to Use for Your B2B Company

    According to a new study by the Pew Research Center, eight out of 10 Americans now shop online. This means that the traditional ways of marketing—cold calls, trade shows, TV, radio—are not as effective as they used to be. In fact, more companies are now turning to inbound marketing to generate leads and close deals.

    To stay ahead of your competition, it’s now essential to have a good inbound marketing strategy in place. Here are four B2B marketing tactics you should be using right now:

    1. Create and Curate

    Useful and well-written content is a powerful weapon in B2B marketing. Posting long-format articles and discussing issues more deeply attracts more visits to your website and leads to higher conversions. A study by Moz showed a distinct correlation between social shares and content length. 

     

    According to the data, readers love this type of content and are more likely to share it.

    You should also post articles to your blog more frequently. A Hubspot report showed that businesses that blogged 10 or more times a month enjoyed three times more traffic than those that blog only once a month.

    And, you can continue to reap the benefits of your old blog posts for years to come. Assuming that they’re good, consider repurposing older posts to generate more organic traffic by sending the content to your email list or posting them on social media.

    However, creating good content takes time and effort, and sometimes a company might not have enough manpower to handle this. No need to worry, though, as curating content will work just fine. It’s a strategy that some marketers have used very effectively. Content curation involves sourcing content that is already on the web and organizing it in a meaningful way for your audience. Curating helps add new content to your site, builds value, converts readers, and helps generate traffic.

    2. Collaborate With People Who Matter

    Connecting and collaborating with experts and influencers creates more opportunities for your brand to be shared with a bigger market. 

    Look for authorities or influencers in your niche and reach out to them. Discuss how working together will benefit all parties involved. Invite an influencer to host a podcast, write a guest blog or take over your social media page for a day. This will add more quality content to your site and boost awareness of your brand.

    3. Get Video Ready

    Scientific research shows that most people process the information they see 60,000 times faster than what they read. So it’s a good idea to incorporate videos and eye-catching graphics in your marketing strategy.

    In 2017, video became the most popular type of content on social media, and the demand for it will only continue to rise among consumers. Because of this, more companies are using the medium to showcase their product, disseminate information, teach consumers, and reach prospective clients. 

    Image result for video most popular type of content on social media 2017

    Don’t forget other visuals like infographics and slides. Infographics have become popular over the last few years because they are an effective way of communicating a lot of data within a short time. These visuals are also easy to share and can be used to recycle your content and make them fresh and engaging.

    4. Improve Your Site’s Speed and Load Time

    A fast website is crucial for any business. People prefer sites that have a quick loading time. Studies have shown that consumers are only willing to wait three seconds for a page to load. Any slower and they are highly likely to abandon the site and search elsewhere. Plus, Google also takes into account the site’s speed in their rankings. So if you want to keep your visitors and rank high in search engines, make sure your website is optimized for speed.

    Consumers today know what they want and how to get it. If you want to capture their attention, you have to step up your inbound marketing game. Adding visuals and writing longer posts are simple tactics but they can go a long way in generating leads and traffic.

    [Featured image via Pixabay]

  • How Answering Questions on Quora Can Drive Massive Traffic to Your Website

    How Answering Questions on Quora Can Drive Massive Traffic to Your Website

    Most people think Quora is a simple Question and Answer forum. However, the website is so much more than that. While it’s true that people can ask about anything under the sun, a lot of the answers are enlightening and useful. What’s more, if used correctly, Quora can be a veritable goldmine of website traffic.

    Quora: Not Your Average Q&A Site

    Quora is not your typical Q&A platform. Aside from asking questions or providing answers, users can also vote which answers are helpful.

    Image result for quora upvotes

    [Image via SEOClerk]

    Quora also boasts an insanely popular and large community. The site receives more than 100 million visitors a month. According to Alexa, it’s the 50th most popular site in the US and ranks in the top 100 globally. But what sets Quora apart is the kind of people who use the site. Most of its users are from India and the United States. While the age range is varied, the most active Quora users are in the 18-34 demographic and have a post-graduate education. 

    Why Use Quora

    Quora is a great platform for marketers and business owners like you. For one, you can use the site to build your personal brand. However, there are other reasons why you should take advantage of this platform.

    It’s a Surprising Source of Long-Term Website Traffic

    One of the benefits of using Quora is how you can drive traffic to your website through the answers you post. More importantly, posts that were written months or years ago can still generate traffic. After all, people are always looking for information. Plus, if they like your answer and “upvotes” it, your post will appear in that user’s feed for all their friends and followers to see, resulting in more traffic to your site and sign-ups to your email list.

    You Can Show Your Expertise

    The more relevant and well-received your posts are on Quora, the more people will see you as an authority on the subject. The site ranks writers based on the number of views their answers receive. You can also be awarded topic badges that members can see. Appearing on the best writers list and earning badges will have people respecting your expertise. Once you’re considered an authority on the topic, more people would be interested in what you have to say, whether it’s on the site or on your blog.

    Big Publications Might Notice You

    A lot of major publications are turning to Quora for content and are publishing choice answers on their websites. Some of the platform’s top writers have already been quoted or featured in sites like Business Insider, Forbes, and The Huffington Post.

    Image result for quora on business insider

    [Image via YoutTube]

    Tips on Using Quora Effectively

    Write a good profile.

    You want your profile description to establish credibility and trust since this is the first thing users will see. Make sure they’ll like what they read. Be sincere, friendly and polite. Proofread your profile before posting it. It’s hard to trust someone’s professionalism if they make mistakes with their spelling and grammar.

    Look for relevant questions and answer them.

    Select questions that are relevant to your niche and will provide you with the right exposure. Once you have picked a question to answer, check how popular or high it is on the feed and how many followers it has. More followers mean a larger audience will read your post.

    Image result for answers on quora

    [Image via Neil Patel]

    Give useful answers.

    Think of your posts as content, so make sure they are useful, relevant, and unique. Don’t get too technical, unless the subject calls for it. Make sure you attribute your quotes correct and try to include images.

    Don’t go overboard with blog promotion.

    Quora likes writers who provide value. This means that useful posts are the right way to go. You can include a link to your blog post if you want but it has to feel natural. Answering a question with just a link to your blog is a sure-fire way of getting yourself banned from the site.

    Engage the Quora community.

    Your content becomes more visible the more you ask questions or post an answer. A consistent presence on Quora will make members curious about you, maybe enough that they would check out your blog or site.

    Quora is a great place to hang out, learn new things, and even meet new people. More importantly, the platform can be another source of traffic to your site. However, simple answers won’t cut it here. You have to put effort into your replies, build your reputation and engage other users. But the results will definitely be worth it.

  • 4 Snapchat Marketing Tips to Help You Rise Above Your Competition

    4 Snapchat Marketing Tips to Help You Rise Above Your Competition

    Compared to the larger social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, Snapchat is a bit like The Little Engine That Could. That’s because it’s been underestimated by numerous brands and marketers alike. They dismiss Snapchat as a viable advertising tool because of its reputation for being a purely social platform, used mostly by teenagers and young adults. But the image-sharing app has the potential to generate leads and keep profits rolling in.

    In the first quarter of 2018, Snapchat reported 191 million active daily users—that’s a lot of potential customers. One survey also showed that 86 percent of the platform’s users fall into the 13 to 37 age group and more than seven billion videos were viewed on it daily in 2016.

    Image result for snapchat number of users 2018

    Despite these numbers, businesses are still not overly fond of Snapchat. A Clutch and Smart Insights study found that only 21 percent of businesses have Snapchat accounts. Compare that to the 89 percent of companies that are on Facebook, 80 percent on Twitter, and 56 percent on Instagram.

    The Social Media Platforms Businesses Value

    But this means that brands have fewer rivals and more room to maneuver on Snapchat. The platform is also evolving continuously, changing its user interface, featuring Stories for up to 24 hours, and adding eCommerce features. It’s also gaining popularity among older users as the teens who started using Snapchat when it launched in 2011 are becoming working adults.

    Savvy marketers know that Snapchat can be a powerful tool for rising above the competition. Here are four tips to help you tap into the benefits of Snapchat:

    1. Concentrate on a Younger Audience

    Snapchat developer Snap Inc. designed the multimedia messaging app for teenagers. Recent data has shown that the company is doing a great job of keeping their young demographic engaged. A Pew Research Center study revealed that 78 percent of the respondents between 18 to 24-years-old are using the app. Meanwhile, only 45 percent of the same demographic use Twitter.

    You can leave your competition in the dust by learning how to catch the attention of younger consumers. While a carefully worded call-to-action can be effective, creating an intriguing story or using entertaining filters in your Snap can exceedingly better. 

    In 2016, Taco Bell rolled out a comical Snap filter that turned the user’s head into a giant taco. The Cinco de Mayo promotion generated a whopping 224 million views. Now, image how that type of attention could change your business.

    Best Brands On Snapchat Taco Bell

    2. Launch Products and Push Promos

    Snapchat has a high engagement rate. As a matter of fact, it gets almost 4 times higher engagement than Instagram. This makes it a great place to launch your latest products or to push promos. Makeup brand NARS launched their new product line to great success on the platform. The company drummed up excitement by giving followers a quick look at their new line. Snapchat allows you to create short, informal videos that look unpolished but relatable to more users.

    Image result for NARS product line snapchat

    Image result for NARS product line snapchat

    3. Collaborate With Influencers

    Influencer marketing is a very effective strategy. Companies can draw in a big audience because their content will be viewed by followers of the brand and that of the influencer. It’s a quick way of develop a large following in a short amount of time.

    One company who successfully leveraged an influencer’s popularity was Audi. The car manufacturer partnered up with the popular show Pretty Little Liars and quickly amassed 115,000 followers on its Snapchat account.

    Image result for audi pretty little liars snapchat

    You can also have an influencer take over your Snapchat account and make posts on your behalf for a specific time frame. For instance, music producer Pharrell once took over one of the Adidas events.

    4. Keep Followers Interested Longer

    Snapchat is all about drawing people in and engaging them. You’ll have better sales results the longer people stay on your page or account. Other social network platforms keep followers engaged by having them take additional steps, like clicking on a link to send them to another website.

    Image result for snapchat ecommerce

    Snapchat keeps followers interested much longer because they have integrated eCommerce features in the app itself. For instance, users can use the app to call people, make dinner reservations, grab an Uber, or explore brands and their locations.

    With its impressively high engagement levels, business-friendly features and low competition from other brands, incorporating Snapchat into your marketing strategy could prove to be a worthwhile investment. 

    [Featured image via Pixabay]