Content marketing comes with a lot of formulas, advice, truths, and myths, all ready to lead brands down sometimes questionable pathways. Like other marketing channels, content marketing a la articles, blogs, guest blogs, social media content promotion, email content promotion, etc. is evolving. If the value your content brings isn’t immediate and aggressively apparent, you’re done.

Over the course of decades, in this evolution, many myths and misconceptions about content marketing have crept in. Old ideas have faded or outlived their usefulness, while others are hanging on waiting for any day now when they lose effectiveness. Here are some common content marketing myths to watch out for as well as advice on how to maneuver around them.

Content Marketing Myths You May Not Realize Are Ruining Your Campaign

More is better

The more content you put out, the more noise you’re creating but noise isn’t always good, especially when it’s just noise. Go for quality over quantity. If you’ve got more content to put out, absolutely do it but be smart about when, why, and what. Don’t inundate your audience with massive amounts of low quality, generic content every day. Instead of investing all resources towards shoving out content after content, develop strategically chosen articles released on a schedule.

There’s no point in trying to rank for SEO

Keyword stuffing, amassing low quality backlinks, and other SEO strategies that no longer work might suggest to some that organic SEO rankings are a waste of time as a content marketing objective – wrong! Search engine algorithms are still very much responsible for what content is seen or ignored. Get yourself an experienced SEO team ready to elevate your content with engaging content approaches, properly written code, keyword optimization, and more. SEO is not a digital strategy to be forgotten about.

When someone clicks, they’ll read to the end

There’s no guarantee a user won’t click on your content and click off immediately. Because of this, make sure every line you use, every opening line in a paragraph, every image, and every headline’s giving reason to the person reading to continue. Optimize EVERYTHING! Assume your reader’s waiting for a reason to abandon your content. The window of opportunity to capture attention is short. In a matter of seconds, they could click off. A few quick tips is to ensure a user doesn’t have to search hard for the information they’re expecting to find when clicking on a link, ensure the call to action is easy to find, and to use images sparingly to engage.

Content marketing is all writing and text

Whoa, whoa, hold up! So much of content marketing’s focus is on text but from a consumer perspective, they want more than paragraph after paragraph. They want presentation – i.e. images, video, GIFs, infographics, or otherwise. Be diverse. Keep attention by illustrating what you’re writing.

All you have to do is write it and they will come

Content doesn’t just have to be written and created. It has to be promoted. If your content’s failing to resonate, it doesn’t automatically mean you’re not a good writer or that there isn’t enough content under your brand out there. Content marketing does need to be written well however this isn’t the sole decider of what succeeds or not. Content marketing must be supported, amplified, and distributed across multiple digital marketing channels. Even the best content fails when it doesn’t have any other channel working for it.

Content has got to be timely and relevant

This one’s a little tricky because it’s not entirely wrong but it’s also not entirely right. You do want timely, content, newsworthy content that’s current to what’s happening in the cultural conversation at any given moment. You also want what’s called ‘evergreen content’ which is content you can use again and again, that can last for years and still be accurate and relevant. Look at the content you’re producing and think of it like expiry dates. Some content will expire within weeks, others may expire in a decade or longer. Combine content that’s meant to pop a rating in the immediate with content you know you can republish and re-share for months.

Well-written content with promotion will always connect

Sometimes, even the best written content can struggle to find an audience. Even with time and research, things don’t always pan out. That said, if it doesn’t, find out why and pivot. Look at analytics. Why is your content marketing not resonating with an audience? Is it a problem with subjects you’re developing content on, an issue with promoting or sharing your audience, or alternatively a case of you not knowing your audience as well as you thought you did? What is your audience’s interests, how do they spend their time, and what are their values and motivations? These questions all deserve answers.

You don’t need a content marketing strategy

You may think to yourself, “My brand, product or my services are so good. They don’t need content marketing to publicize and share it.” Just because you’re the best at what you do, if consumers don’t know about you, how are they going to find out? No, you’ve got to promote. Content’s got to draw attention. It’s got to bring eyes to you. Keep that in mind when creating content marketing. Thankfully, there are plenty of digital channels to get you noticed by with consumers waiting for something that resonates them. Take advantage of it!

Facebook’s a dead digital marketing channel

Facebook’s received a lot of bad press in the past two years – young people have switched to Instagram, organic reach on Facebook has virtually disappeared, there are privacy concerns, and it’s not the most advertiser-friendly environment. No doubt about it, that’s a lot of bad publicity. Even so, Facebook’s the largest social media network to this day with almost every business connected to Facebook in some way. To spread word of your content marketing, Facebook’s a social media goldmine and a lack of presence on the site could equate to consumers thinking less of your brand.

Only certain types of businesses need content

Time and time again, it’s shown that in any industry and for any business, content marketing has got a purpose. A basic website and social media presence isn’t going to cut it. Even with limited resources or finances, a brand should have the backing to turn out a website blog at least once monthly. This can help get eyes on your products or services, give you awareness on search engines, give you a reason to put out a social media post, and more. Be it a construction company, a drone company, a lawyer, a waste management company, or otherwise, every brand that’s actively competing in the business marketplace should have a content marketing plan.

Long-form content’s the only type of content to create

Long-form content is the most valuable content marketing there is, with content at least 1,800 words ranking the best on search engines like Google and Bing. That said, not every subject is going to require 2,000 words to explain. Some may only need 500 words. In addition to the longer content you produce, using smaller articles that don’t waste the time of your reader can be equally important. Get these out on occasion to your audience. Don’t feel restricted by the minimum word limit of 1,800 words or higher. Do what feels right.

Content marketing must produce a sale

Content marketing strategies are created for many objectives. From a ROI perspective, they do not necessarily need to produce a sale. This doesn’t mean they aren’t worth investing in. A well-written piece of content can help create brand awareness, help SEO, help email marketing, increase your social media presence, and more. There’s a lot content can do. Unlike other strategies, it’s not always success by sale. Sometimes, you’ll find your best return comes from alternative channels.

Source: https://unlimitedexposure.com/basic-digital-marketing/1103-content-marketing-myths-you-may-not-realize-are-ruining-your-campaign.html

Chatbots have become an expected integration into most businesses’ web design, providing users the opportunity to find information that cannot be located on-site or gain access to a software-supported AI.

What is a Chatbot – See Why Chatbots Are the Future of Web Design

What is a chatbot?

A chatbot is a computer program that’s designed to communicate with human users. Programmed to work independent from any human interaction, a chatbot is essentially a type of artificial intelligence.

The use of chatbots among small business websites

The industry and market around chatbots is expected to grow to $1.2 billion by 2025. Why there exists this level of growth around chatbots has to do with many consumers’ preferences to communicate with chatbots for customer service inquiries. The demand of users has resulted in business website owners ramping up chatbot use, conducting AI-influenced conversations in greater numbers than ever. They are boosting sales and engagement in a big way, helping business achieve objectives in impressive fashion.

The 3 elements making up the perfect chatbot

The ideal chatbot is going to have to do three things, the most important of which is to help. A helpful chatbot involves giving them the information and capability to act in facilitating positive customer service interactions. Second, they must be friendly. In order to be friendly, you don’t want to frustrate a consumer by using an AI-based chatbot that isn’t capable of getting anything done. If the recommendation is always going to be to ‘send an email’ or ‘call us’, that’s not friendly and that’s not helpful. Lastly, the language a chatbot uses must be conversational. A chatbot that’s conversational, helpful, and friendly wins the day.

Why chatbots are the future

Chatbots are the future of web design and digital marketing, being used today in so many amazing ways including for online customer support, phone interactions, information filing or retrieval, to help with eCommerce purchases, or as tech support. Almost every brand with a website could stand to benefit in some way from chatbots which are surprisingly easy to deploy. The future of chatbots is only going to see the release of more complex, AI-driven chatbots. Banking, finance, retail, government and other sectors make use of these type of chatbots. Knowing this, we ask, why can’t you do the same – you can.

Does my business need a chatbot?

Chatbots are a 24/7 customer service rep there and ready to engage at notice. They collect information and valuable data, are pleasant and helpful, don’t need sleep, don’t take breaks, and are like having an interactive 24/7 business card. If you don’t understand how a chatbot could help your business, chances are employing one without purpose isn’t going to lead to much. Thankfully, there are some examples of companies who have successfully used chatbots you can find below which might be able to help inspire a way to use them with your brand.

Task-specific chatbots are an opportune starting point

If you don’t know where to begin on your journey with chatbots, consider a task-specific approach. This is what Sephora’s done. Sephora used a ‘reservation assistant’ chatbot which enabled customers to send a message through a chatbot to a beauty specialist and reserve appointments. They also have a ‘color match’ chatbot which combines with AR to help in the selection of the right color of makeup for their face and/or outfits. Ask yourself, does your brand have any single tasks that could be better managed through the use of chatbots – if so, write them! A task-specific chatbot will keep the conversation moving between a user looking to buy and a brand looking to sell.

To order something with a chatbot

The master players in ordering product with a chatbot is Starbucks. Starbucks’ MyBarista app utilizes a chatbot which allows users to order by voice or text. The chatbot will even send a message once the beverage is prepared. You can arrange payment and everything in the app. For brands selling foods or smaller products common to re-ordering, a chatbot in an app or chatbot on its own through a website can help facilitate orders quicker and more accurately in some cases than having customer service agents on stand-by.

Ordering with a chatbot should be easy

Combine a chatbot like this with the knowledge of customer preferences, previous order information, and more, and that’s a personalized digital web experience you can’t beat. Dominos’ chatbot is built right into Facebook Messenger, allowing a user to order pizza without creating a user account or having to leave Messenger. It’s all done right there in Messenger. To this point, when you can use a chatbot to make customer service ordering easy, you’re more likely to generate orders without busying up phone lines or shutting down emails with a plethora of difficult-to-manage orders.

Chatbots are becoming more popular in healthcare

In healthcare, every dollar must be stretched to an infinite degree. In areas implementing technology, software, and apps into their healthcare interactions, chatbots are being used to answer questions, make appointments, provide different healthcare options, make medication recommendations, and helps to put the user in charge of their own healthcare. If you have a customer base that’s coming to you monthly, semi-regularly, or on a subscription basis, using a chatbot like this can potentially provide more value at no additional cost to you.

A chatbot as a way to practice

Another great example of an interesting way to apply a chatbot to a small business website is Duolingo, a Spanish language-learning platform. Users can speak with their chatbot and in conversation, practice their new language. The majority of their 150 million users regularly use these chatbots. Can your brand use a chatbot to help users learn a new skill or practice a skill? Advantages in a chatbot is that it offers no embarrassment or judgment. A person can just practice, whether it’s playing music, trying a new language, or otherwise.

The proof is in the result

By next year, 25 percent of all customer service interactions in North America will involve a chatbot. If all this hasn’t convinced you enough of why to use chatbots for your website, let’s look to the thing that matters most – sales.

There are two surprising findings of a study released in October 2019. The first is that if a buyer realizes they are talking with a chatbot, for some companies, their purchase rate drops by 79 percent. This is assumed to be because most chatbots are less empathetic and less knowledgeable than their human counterparts.

The second finding is that in most cases, chatbots outsell human customer service agents by 4 times on eCommerce and online shopping platforms. If you are selling through an online catalogue, guess what – a chatbot can help. You will move more product and you don’t need to pay a customer service agent to oversee any of the transaction.

5 reasons to try a chatbot in your digital marketing

 Advertise your brand but do so in interpersonal, human-to-human like interactions. Chatbots can be programmed to have a tone, style, and attitude akin to your brand. Want fun and quirky – you can have it. Direct and old-school – you can go that way as well.
 Collect a ton of user feedback and customer data. Every chatbot interaction gets categorized, allowing you to see what users are saying about you, what’s selling, what information they’re interested in, and what questions keep coming up.
 Chatbots will improve your customer service ratings with more timely interactions, to hopefully satisfy the needs of users looking to buy or obtain information that may not be openly available on-site.
 Handle the entirety of a product sale, no matter where the customer is from. Use your chatbot on social media even, helping to guide the user from interested to buyer.
 Generate more leads. Leads can be had 24/7. Integrating a chatbot into your website, generate leads all night long. Someone want to buy your product at 4 o’clock in the morning – no problem! You have a chatbot there ready to facilitate the sale.

Source: https://unlimitedexposure.com/basic-digital-marketing/1102-what-is-a-chatbot-%E2%80%93-see-why-chatbots-are-the-future-of-web-design.html

The love-hate of social media is what we thrive on, integral to the lives of millennials to seniors. Connecting us all to the ones we love no matter the distance, it’s that potential of connection which brings us together with it.

From a business standpoint, social media marketing campaigns have proven to be huge lead generators. Brands must divide their time, effort, and money strategically though. Some social channels simply aren’t going to work while others will show themselves to be optimal.

As an example, Facebook’s a very popular platform but even this channel can be a wrong investment for the right brand. Here’s the top social media platforms to watch for in 2020, in developing your campaign.

What Are the Top 10 Social Media Sites to Use in Your Digital Marketing for 2020 – see the list!

Questions to ask when building a social media marketing campaign

 How old is your audience?
 What genders are your average customers?
 Where are your competitors generating the most engagement from on social media?
 Is there a platform that’s more geared towards your industry than others?
 What content will you be sharing on social media and which platform suits that type of content?
 How does your brand fit on a given platform?
 How do your products or services fit on a social media site?

Instagram is the fastest growing social platform

Instagram has hundreds of million monthly users, with a lot of young people, image-obsessed influencers, photographers, and celebrities. What Twitter once was in terms of being new and trendy, Instagram is that in 2020. Instagram Stories, live streaming, sharing photos and videos, fostering engagement, and getting those follows – this is what your Instagram marketing campaign should be all about. More than 35 percent of North Americans have an account. The percentage rises significantly among younger users. Looking for the perceivably self-driven, hyper-superficial nature of a lot of Instagram, there’s still a lot of incredible photos and digital marketing here.

Facebook is still the #1 social media site there is

Facebook has over 2 billion monthly users from all over the world and pulls from all demos. Facebook’s a great ‘general social media site’ that will help you get to mainstream audiences although there’s plenty of competition here. Every business with a social media marketing campaign should have a Facebook strategy set up. The platform’s always coming up with innovative, new features that are sure to please brands. Although it carries faults, family from all over the world go to Facebook to connect. It’s so popular that ‘Facebooking’ has become part of the lexicon in cultures around the world.

Do not forget YouTube with its video potential

YouTube isn’t often considered a social media site but it is. We create accounts, comment and share, and consume media. With almost as many monthly users as Facebook, YouTube’s continued to grow and grow. Love making videos marketing your brand? In addition to getting those on Facebook and Instagram, use YouTube social media marketing. Jump on top of it and you can embed the video on your own website, adding a further interactive component to content you publish.

Twitter’s still surviving and thriving in some circles

Twitter’s not the happening place it once was but it’s still the top social media site for politics, journalism, news, and trendy conversation. Using Twitter as a brand, you have to be consistent, direct, and ready to connect with others. A Twitter digital marketing component for brands interested in academics, politics, news, or entertainment has rewards worth exploring. So-called ‘experts’ have been calling for the death of Twitter for the past five years but it remains as a key platform. Twitter’s 280-character limit isn’t exactly conducive to reasoned debate but Twitter’s more or less unrivaled when it comes to access to journalism, celebrities, and sports star athletes.

Snapchat struggling for attention

Snapchat’s user base is very young. It has perhaps the youngest demographic of all the social media platforms. Boasting over 300 million users monthly, the ephemeral content-driven Snapchat’s private, is able to send photos and video call, and for brands targeting teens or millennials, can be a goldmine. Snapchat’s struggled to reinvent itself in recent years however users who once fell in love with it still have a soft spot in their heart for the ol’ Snapchat. A young person’s hangout, they’re ideal for brands wanting to share live content, time-sensitive content, and images and video marketing experts.

LinkedIn is a professional’s social dream

LinkedIn has everyone from CEOs to aspiring entrepreneurs and engaged, young professionals there. With hundreds of millions of monthly users, LinkedIn continues to rise as a social media platform and thrive in an era where a lot of sites burn bright before fading. LinkedIn content marketing and LinkedIn digital marketing strategies are helping entrepreneurs set up new businesses, new websites, and get attention for influential users. LinkedIn’s finally beginning to see its own potential as a marketing platform and continues to build out new features attracting attention from brands looking to connect to users.

Reddit is an online community of the engaged!

Reddit is another website that isn’t thought of as a social media network because its characteristics suit calling it a forum more than a social platform. Reddit has over 250 million monthly users, continues to be a massively popular site, is big, and appeals to wide demographics. Reddit’s biggest advantage is perhaps its’ ability to provide backlinks, engage new leads, find audience, and make headlines. Reddit’s a place users come to have a discussion, get advice, submit content, and influence what’s popular in the culture at any given moment. Literally every subject matter is covered somewhere on the site.

Pinterest is a photo-driven paradise

Second-tier social media platforms like Snapchat, Reddit, and Pinterest are gorgeous kaleidoscopes of digital marketing opportunities. Pinterest has hundreds of millions of users engaged in finding recipes, sharing beauty secrets and hairstyling approaches, looking at travel destinations, and sharing collages of photos. Collecting photos is the name of the game on Pinterest which makes the site a great place to share your own images and advertise products, services, initiatives, and branding. Though not as interactive as Instagram, there’s still something to Pinterest that keeps people coming back.

Tumblr is a multi-use platform with potential

Tumblr has just over 115 million active users and is an unusual social media site without a clear identity. In part, it’s a blog. In other parts, it’s photos, GIFs, and more. Encompassing various content types, Tumblr’s highly visual and stimulating which is why it continues to boast growth. Email publishing, mobile publishing, and other features also make it easy to share and direct content marketing campaigns on Tumblr and as a user, to build out your own pages. Supporting HTML editing, you can even customize the look and layout of your page to match a website, social network of your own design, or to provide an ideal platform to share blogs, photos, and videos.

Sina Weibo markets direct to Asian audiences

Sina Weibo may be the most surprising name to find on this list by most but it’s a key platform appealing to Chinese people and population living worldwide. It’s sort of like China’s version of Twitter and carries more than 400 million users worldwide. It’s one of the most popular social networks in the world, Sina Weibo is. Although the Chinese government heavily censors the platform, a lot of Chinese people continue to use it. If you are looking to appeal to a Chinese audience in part, Sina Weibo should be a necessary inclusion in your social media marketing planning.

TikTok is a trendy, underground platform in growth

TikTok receives an honourable mention on our list of top 10 social media to watch in 2020. One of the world’s most downloaded apps of 2018, TikTok has since gone on to bring in millions of users. Taking the place of what Vine used to be, TikTok’s a place for short-form video and video ephemeral content to thrive. For some brands, they may see TikTok as more advantageous than Instagram or Snapchat but make no mistake, it’s still developing. TikTok can be a key strategy going forward to pluck new followers from.

Source: https://unlimitedexposure.com/basic-digital-marketing/1101-what-are-the-top-10-social-media-sites-to-use-in-your-digital-marketing-for-2020-%E2%80%93-see-the-list.html

It’s no surprise digital marketing continues to take the business world by storm, growing and evolving every year. New trends, techniques, and strategies are on the rise all to counter new algorithms. To keep up with how to best reach audience, staying on the cusp of emerging marketing trends in 2020 is central.

What Marketing Trends Are Most Likely to Dominate in 2020 for Digital-Based Brands

VR/AR

Continuing to emerge as a major trend, augmented reality and virtual reality both are surging forward although are far from coming to reach their full potential. IKEA is one of the more publicized uses of AR, using it to help consumers visualize IKEA furniture in their own homes. How can you use AR or VR in a small business digital marketing campaign? 2019 never quite got us there, in terms of giving general websites and brands that opportunity. It remains to be seen if technology and coding will progress to the point where this is the case in 2020.

Is there meaning?

Consumers want to know the companies they’re buying from align with their views and understands their perspective. Is there meaning behind your brand, products, services or marketing – there should be. This may be attaching your brand to a non-controversial social cause, donating to a charity or cause, or building a community around something that’s passionate to you. A corporation that just exists to be a corporation is quickly losing favor in consumer eyes. Explode your growth and give a purchase from your brand meaning.

Video in 2020 and beyond

Consumers are gradually making the switch from text and images to wanting to consume only video. For this reason, so many platforms have opened up with new opportunities to launch campaigns with video. YouTube has helped so many brands build multi-million dollar annual revenues but it’s also not the only platform. Live video on Facebook and Instagram are a powerhouse, keeping users there up to 3 times longer than non-live video and producing 6 times as many interactions.

Voice search

Like video marketing, voice search is still very much coming into its own. By 2021, it’s estimated more than 50% of all searches will be done through voice assistant software of some kind. Worldwide, 4.9 billion voice assistants will be in use by next summer 2020. This is expected to continue growing. Long-tail keyword optimization, voice search SEO, and voice search-based marketing has the potential to shoot a brand today to where they’re going to need to be tomorrow to maximize results.

Ephemeral content

Ephemeral content are posts that disappear after a certain period of time. Snapchat’s built a whole platform off ephemeral content. Facebook and Instagram also have components of ephemeral content, which have proven to be extremely effective at triggering immediate, boosted engagement. Although ephemeral content doesn’t stick around for long, it doesn’t require a big budget or much planning either. Low-budget, smartphone-shot video is good enough to craft a meaningful story that connects.

Content marketing that shows expertise

In 2020, content marketing that seeks to inform, to communicate with, and to entertain will achieve great things for a brand. The key to amazing high-level content marketing is to deliver content from a place of authority. If you know what you’re talking about, become a subject matter expert (SME) in your field, and write unique articles that a user can only find through your website – no plagiarism, no duplicate generic blogs, and no re-writing – this draws attention.

Page loading speed

Among all these high-tech, advanced marketing strategies on the rise in 2020, forgetting the basics like page loading speed can be a mistake. Most users exit a page if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load. Not only that but Google SEO algorithms prioritize fast loading websites over ineffective, slow loading ones. For as much as you may try to deliver unique, creative high-performance web pages, don’t forget to keep it as speedy as possible.

SERPs and featured snippets of text on search results

When we Google, we see snippets come up at the top of the page alongside paid ads. Those snippets hold prime real estate. Users are likely to click on the first snippet and is oftentimes the only search result they’ll view. Needless to say, this is a highly coveted SEO position. SEO SERP strategies are helping brands deliver information in a new way. Unlike eCommerce companies focusing solely on selling product, if a brand can zero in on providing information and expertise with SERP-based content delivery, this can elevate you above others on Google, Bing, and elsewhere.

Location-specific marketing and web pages

Niche, location-based marketing cuts through the noise and gets your brand in front of the customers you want. Unless you’re marketing globally, you should be using SEO keywords with geographic tags attached. If you are marketing product and services nationally, creating location-based landing pages for major cities or geographic regions you’re in will help target those markets. Partnering these with local events and/or local-specific promotions, a brand becomes further embedded into local culture and can hopefully use this to dominate local competitors.

A rejection of the generic and a demand for personalized marketing

Consumers don’t want to be hit with one-size-fits-all ads. They want personalized marketing boasting a real connection to them. More than 90 percent find personalized emails appealing and 80 percent are more likely to buy your products or services when they’re offered a personalized experience. The best, simplest approach to personalized marketing are email marketing campaigns. Create segmented lists with personalized blasts. They perform far and above generic email sends that do not differentiate between subscribers.

User participation

Users on social media in particular want something to participate in. They want to like, share, comment, and respond. Encourage this participation. Advocate for comments or responses, getting in touch with you directly or publicly on social media. Your answer to their response can build a connection that continues to grow for days on-end. If you don’t have users interacting with and commenting on your content, you’re going to have a problem in 2020.

Customer testimonials as an influencer strategy

If you can’t afford to buy influencer marketing, let your customers be your influencers. Your customer stories as testimonials help with word-of-mouth, legitimizing your brand and reducing skepticism that may be surrounding a product or service. Today, everything feels like marketing. Even human-to-human connection sometimes can just be an exercise in selling. Customer testimonials are a far more effective brand-building strategy, helping to connect and provoke interaction.

eCommerce posts on social media to drive instant sales

The ubiquitous presence of social media in our lives has meant virtually any person with a smartphone, tablet, or computer connected. Every eCommerce online marketing strategy plugged into social media can reap big rewards. Up to 72% of Instagram users have purchased product advertised through an app and a similar percentage use Pinterest to spot unique products to buy. What social media sites are best for eCommerce social media product posts? Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest are the winning three.

Visual, interactive content that’s new and different

Up to 91 percent of Internet users want more interactive content. Expect more brands to implement visually stunning, stand-out interactive content marketing strategies. The more interaction, the more engagement. This keeps users on page for longer. Interactive content is more likely to be shared as well, is publicity-getting and attention-grabbing, and is likely to be enjoyed more than any written word or still image.

Influencer marketing will continue to hit its stride

Influencer marketing had a big year in 2019, exceeding the growth experienced in 2018. Next year, we expect influencers to be equally powerful in the digital marketing landscape. A big percentage of young Internet users 18-34 will consider purchasing a product after seeing it endorsed by an influencer. Micro-influencers with engaged followers are particularly high-value for digital marketers.

Source: https://unlimitedexposure.com/basic-digital-marketing/1100-what-marketing-trends-are-most-likely-to-dominate-in-2020-for-digital-based-brands.html

Instagram is the #1 social media platform in the world right now, with massive user growth, hundreds of millions of active monthly users, and a big youth movement. Attract customers through Instagram digital marketing, create conversation, and turn engagement into revenues. Here’s how.

How to Use Instagram to Attract Customers and Create Conversation Around Your Brand

Who’s on Instagram?

More than 35 percent of Internet users have an Instagram account. The majority of Instagram users are women between 18 and 29. A lot of Instagram accounts belong to users from outside the United States as well, which makes it an ideal platform to reach local and international audiences alike. That said, not everyone is on Instagram. Older audiences aren’t. Business professionals aren’t. Instagram is a specific platform, with an audience of under-30, visual-driven users. If this is the audience you are targeting, you’re in the right place.

Use Instagram software

Instagram apps, software, and tools exist to help you get posts out, grow followers, and get attention. There are tools to craft high quality images and video, editing them quickly to a professional level. There are content management software that allow you to post or time out postings. There are also media management programs that keep all your images and videos in one place. This is just where to start. There is a lot of other software and apps that do amazing things with social media platforms like Instagram. They’re well worth checking into.

The use of hashtags

Do you know how to use hashtags on Instagram strategically for marketing? Users can follow hashtags. If you use a hashtag that’s trending, that immediately puts your brand in on the conversation. Now hopefully you choose hashtags that are relevant to your brand. Choosing wrongly can have very negative consequences or make it appear as if you’re just creating spam.

User-generated content

Coming up with new content to promote your Instagram account can occasionally hit a wall. Frequently posting, you’re going to run out of things to talk about eventually. Being repetitive or going forward with low-quality posts can damage Instagram presence. User-generated content is a way around it. For example, ask your audience to post using a branded hashtag, use a promotional campaign to encourage likes and shares, or occasionally re-post a customer comment or customer story. By tapping into your user base, you get others to generate content on your behalf.

Running an Instagram contest

In an effort to boost likes and followers, if you have a brand building momentum and already popular, launching a contest will encourage existing followers to engage and hopefully get your brand out to others. If you choose to launch an Instagram contest, be clear about the action a customer’s expected to take, the prize, share your contest as far and wide as you can, ensure a short time window, and arguably most importantly, encourage people to tag their friends in comments.

Launch a hashtag campaign

In favor of a cause or charity you like, why not launch an Instagram hashtag campaign – they work! Campaigns that are not sales-centric foster engagement, connection, and through meaning. Create Instagram buzz without ever mentioning your products or brand directly. Create custom hashtags that push a charitable contribution commitment you’ve made, such as donating 10 percent of proceeds to a cause or pursuing a local charitable act. Encourage others to add the same hashtag to their posts and to make a contribution or do something kind in line with your cause.

Follow your analytics

Look at user behaviour and pay attention to what’s receiving the most attention. Even among Instagram’s best accounts, not everything they post is a hit. It’s no secret, some Instagram posts receive more clicks than others. Go forward with what’s working. Stop what isn’t. Revise your Instagram marketing strategy if you have to, based off the data that comes in. Ongoing improvement can pay off big-time as you see your numbers go up and up and up.

Do I really need to post this?

Ask yourself again, before you post something on Instagram, does it have enough meaning to warrant posting it – if the answer’s no, scrap it. If the audience thinks you’re a spam company, you’re going to lose them. Post content that’s high-value, unique, purposeful, and which capitalizes on a user’s pain points or interests.

Conversation, not sales

Like all social media marketing, Instagram marketing for business is about creating conversation rather than simply telling someone to buy your product. If all you want is an Instagram to sell, you’re going about it all wrong. It’s conversation that leads to conversion. By being honest and authentic on social media, this benefits everything from brand perception to cash flow. Your marketing strategy should be thoroughly informed with this.

Instagram isn’t just for young users

The statistics on Instagram show us more and more older people are using it. While Instagram is nowhere near Facebook in terms of engagement on older generations, it’s still a platform with a growing user base. According to estimates, 93% of Canadians born before 1996 use Instagram compared to 86% of millennials born between 1981 and 1995, 66% of people born between 1965 and 1980, and 69% of baby boomers born before 1964. Instagram’s on the rise in key older demographics which means we could be talking about it being a premiere platform to reach seniors come a couple years down the road.

Partner with other Instagram accounts

Asking permission to use other people’s photos, joining forces with a complimentary brand, promoting someone else’s Instagram on yours with their permission, or using an influencer encourages collaboration between accounts. A huge following awaits for brands that are available and open to fostering partnerships with others. This way, you share audience with you benefiting from exposure to their followers and vice versa.

Is it relevant?

From the posts you’re making to the hashtags you’re using, the audience and attention you’re receiving, and everything else, ask yourself, is it relevant? If you’re a hardware store and you’re using hashtags aimed adolescents and teenagers, you’re probably wasting effort chasing audience that isn’t going to purchase or be interested in what you’re selling. Always ensure you aren’t wasting time, effort, or money on accounts that aren’t relevant to you.

Incentive-driven likes

Launching an incentive-driven Instagram likes campaign provides a reward in favor of liking a brand. This could be a discount, a free product, an entry into a contest draw, or something else. Free stuff is something we all get excited about. For Instagram users, they’re no different. When someone likes your brand, it gives you free publicity and that’s worth something for brand new accounts. If you’re lucky, you can build enough of an Instagram audience here within a few weeks or a month to really give yourself a strong footing on the platform.

Fill out your Instagram bio in full

It may seem obvious but some businesses starting out don’t always fill in their Instagram account. Include a link to your website, useful information, and contact info. The easier you make it for a user to connect with your brand, the higher likelihood they will. Also, stay recognizable with the same photo and name at all times. Choose a permanent name and permanent photo. The consistency of this simple branding strategy creates awareness, legitimacy, and authority.

Instagram video marketing with a sense of urgency

On the first day Instagram allowed users to upload videos, more than 5 million were made and shared. Video is very, very popular. How to use Instagram video marketing to increase follower count is to do it with a sense of urgency. What we mean by this is have your videos be time-sensitive, have music and writing that adds to the urgency, and with your brand name obvious within the first few seconds of the video. Create a video with a clear call-to-action and that eliminates any moment that isn’t directly contributing to engagement or motivating action.

Source: https://unlimitedexposure.com/basic-digital-marketing/1099-how-to-use-instagram-to-attract-customers-and-create-conversation-around-your-brand.html

In the world of search engine optimization or SEO as the digital marketing world has come to shorten it to, there is what’s called ‘white hat tactics’ and ‘black hat tactics’. White hat SEO represents good, reliable SEO work while black hat SEO stands for risky SEO hacks that could penalize your site or if Google finds out you’re using these strategies could result in really bad consequences.

For years, black hat SEO was a serious problem. Spammy sites would use black hat SEO to rank high on Google, until the popular search engine started to get smart about it. Algorithms slowly adapted and nowadays many say there’s pretty much no such thing as black hat SEO. This is because if an SEO marketing hacker tries anything of the sort, Google will probably catch it. Unfortunately, there are still some who think they can hack Google’s SEO algorithms and that tends to put your site at risk.

White Hat SEO and Black Hat SEO, What You Can Learn From Both

The relationship between black hat and white hat SEO explained further

Black hat SEO wasn’t always considered ‘cheating’. In fact, black hat SEO strategies like blog comment spam were widely used. It was only once Google’s algorithms started to change and the company began to address SEO techniques they would no longer tolerate that black hat strategies became banned.

Today’s black hat SEO specialists try to find loopholes to exploit in the existing search engine optimization algorithms to get a higher ranking. Comparatively, white hat SEO specialist take a less aggressive approach focusing on how to satisfy the algorithm. A white hat SEO approach zeroes in on optimization on-site, keyword research, backlinks, high-value content, and more.

List of black hat SEO strategies

 Using duplicate content to elevate site authority and keyword use.
 Using invisible text and stuffing keywords to falsely elevate the value of a website page.
 Re-directing the user to another site or page unexpectedly or without reasoning.
 Obtaining links from sites with non-relevant content to boost backlinks.

List of white hat SEO strategies

 Creating unique, relevant content.
 Labelling images with keyword-driven captions, descriptions, and alt-text.
 Obtaining and including relevant links and references.
 Writing in complete sentences with good spelling and grammar.
 Using unique and relevant page titles.

Can you find SEO strategies that work?

Black hat SEO strategists built their reputation off of being ultra-aggressive towards achieving ranking. While there isn’t anything wrong with the approach, the means of achieving the result is where the controversy lay.

Don’t be afraid to spend money on SEO strategies that make money and which work. White hat SEO effective strategies in this vein include promoting content via organic links, investing in partnerships with micro-influencers, investing in digital ads that earn you links, and more.

Find high quality, relevant backlinks

Google SEO algorithms prioritize site authority. How to build site authority is through relevant backlinks. The more quality backlinks you have, the higher you will rank.

In the past, black hat SEO specialists would buy these backlinks instead of building them in reputable ways. Comparatively, the right way to find backlinks is to guest blog, do PR, build partnerships, ask others for backlinks, pitch newsworthy stories with a link back to your page, and/or listing your site on third party directories. All these satisfy the goal of getting you relevant links that demonstrate your site’s importance, quality, and relevancy.

Choose keyword research over keyword stuffing

Although it’s not done to the same degree as it once was, keyword stuffing would pack in the same keyword in content in the hopes it would rank a page higher. Instead of quantity, focus on quality. Complete your keyword research, and find short-tail and long-tail keywords you can sprinkle naturally throughout site content. This will yield far better results.

Finding the right SEO keywords involves not only making the right selection but placing them in readable, user-friendly content. Black hat SEO had it right when it came to the importance of keywords. Stuffing them in paragraph after paragraph though is a very weak strategy that will penalize your site. If you dare try it, we can guarantee it won’t lead to positive places. Choose quality keyword research instead.

Internal linking connects your website page by page

Google wants to see websites that link internally. This shows content organization in a way its algorithms understand. If you have pages you can connect, with relevant subject matter, link them. Build an interconnected web that encourages click-throughs.

Internal links are to be included on every page of a website, at an average rate of 2-4 per page. You don’t need to stuff them in or pack them in more than that. Just like you want with the placement of keywords, you want links to come off as a natural fit. If your web page looks like Wikipedia, you’re going to run into problems. You don’t need that many links! It looks like spam. Choose a smarter strategy.

Test your SEO campaign with measurable data

Digital marketing SEO is like a controlled experiment that needs to be measured and tested. Always test your campaign. You can’t simply go forward expecting something to work as expected. Sometimes they don’t, like it or not.

Some testing you may want to run include running two or three content marketing strategies simultaneously, changing linking strategies, using multiple keywords, or using split testing. Implementing analytics software, there’s a lot you can monitor in an SEO campaign. The more data you have on how users are responding to your strategy, the more justification you’ll have continuing with it or making a change.

Choose white hat SEO specialists in Unlimited Exposure. We’ll get you the same aggressive results that black hat SEO strategists once did. SEO is an organic momentum-driver for brands to find optimum first-page ranking. When you’re SEO compliant and being smart about the strategies you’re using, this is the first step towards success in this digital marketing category. Partner with Unlimited Exposure today.

Source: https://unlimitedexposure.com/basic-digital-marketing/1098-white-hat-seo-and-black-hat-seo,-what-you-can-learn-from-both.html

WhatsApp is the world’s #1 messaging application, exceeding the popularity of iMessage, Facebook Messenger, and other competing software. The app shows no signs of giving up dominance in this market which has led the digital marketing world to take notice. What if a company could take this platform and spin it into something that could generate clicks?

WhatsApp is a Growing Social Platform, What is its Digital Marketing Potential

A little history about WhatsApp

WhatsApp was founded in 2009 as a means of sending text messages, photos, and voice messages through the Internet by encrypted means. In 2014, WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook for an estimated $19.3 billion which at the time made it the most popular messenger app of all-time. In countries like Brazil, India, Pakistan, the UK, and France, it continues to be a preferred method of communication.

WhatsApp consumer statistics

WhatsApp as a potential digital marketing opportunity and social media platform should be evaluated on its consumer base and its use. Here is a little bit about what we know in terms of WhatsApp user behaviour.

 WhatsApp has more than 1.6 billion monthly active users which is comparable to social platforms like Facebook and Instagram. More than 180 countries are represented in WhatsApp’s user base, and in 133 of these, it is the primary one-to-one messaging application.
 Every day, over 100 million videos and 700 million photos are shared on the app.
 WhatsApp’s messaging system handles more than 10 billion messages every day, which many have compared to WhatsApp being to SMS messaging what Skype is to video conferencing and international calling.

 WhatsApp users spend more than 340 million minutes on video calls every day on the app.
 The country with the most consumers on WhatsApp is India, with more than 10 percent of the app’s worldwide users.
 WhatsApp is also incredibly popular in Israel, with it installed on approximately 92% of smartphones and with up to 86% of these reporting daily use.

Why marketing on WhatsApp makes sense

Chat apps have been in use for over 20 years and in the lives of modern consumers, they are unforgettably important. WhatsApp is an ad-free app currently although the software’s making changes to bring in new features, potential chatbot integration, and with further marketing opportunities.

While most brands ignore WhatsApp as a potential digital marketing channel, there’s no denying the user base is big and so is the potential. Unfortunately, how to use this channel isn’t yet clear. WhatsApp strategies in marketing can come across as spam or interference with what the application’s for. Here’s a little more insight into how you may be able to launch a branded campaign.

The Toyota WhatsApp case study

How does one run ads on an ad-free platform – well, you don’t. That said, savvy and creative digital marketers have already been turning WhatsApp on its head, using it to find and support customers.

Using WhatsApp in a digital marketing campaign in 2012, Toyota launched a contest. To participate, users had to include the word ‘Hybridized’ in their WhatsApp status. Then, registered users were added to a weekly ballot to receive an iPhone. The result of this was Toyota mentions across thousands of users’ statuses.

What about launching a messaging marketing campaign through WhatsApp?

Apply an email marketing campaign into WhatsApp. This is another way to exploit this growing platform. Instead of acquiring subscribers via email, ask for their mobile number to send them messages via WhatsApp.

Compared to traditional email marketing, a similar messaging strategy on WhatsApp results in decreases of up to 90% in lapsed subscribers and an increase of 40% in message open rate. A strategy like this may not be right for every business but for the ones it is perfect for, you can’t argue with results.

Using WhatsApp features to engage your consumer base

WhatsApp features can be used to increase brand awareness, get clicks, and share marketing messages. The status feature allows a user to upload statuses which disappear after 24 hours. Brands have used statuses like this to announce a sale or offer to customers. Other companies with brick-and-mortar representation have encouraged users to take a screenshot of a status update or related QR code and to receive a discount on purchases.

Another great opportunity WhatsApp has is the chance to share locations. For enquiring customers seeking to connect in person with you, a brand can ping them their physical location. The user can then open it in Google Maps and go from there. WhatsApp recently launched WhatsApp business which is a sort of customer service-oriented messaging app for companies seeking a way to connect via SMS to their clientele. You may be able to program a chatbot within this context.

Preparing today for WhatsApp marketing in the future

WhatsApp marketing is going to be a thing, with adverts in message set to launch in 2020 and Facebook looking to further monetize the app in the future. In time, WhatsApp could resemble Instagram in some ways. If this does happen, one can only imagine the limitless potential of already having some momentum on the platform.

Furthermore, WhatsApp is very much a worldwide app. If you’re seeking customers locally, you may not have so much luck with. If you’re an eCommerce brand in digital marketing shipping internationally, WhatsApp could work wonders. All this aside, the platform is really just starting to open itself up to businesses, advertising, and digital marketing. It remains to be seen how the integration of ads and digital marketing will affect the user base and consumer behaviour. Regardless, WhatsApp remains an important platform that we have our eye on and we think brands marketing nationally or internationally should keep tabs on as well.

Are you looking for creative digital marketing solutions for social media, eCommerce, and to achieve growth for your business? Speak with an expert at Unlimited Exposure. We’ll set up a campaign to boost leads and conversions, and get you the sales you’ve always wanted. The results are real! Jump on board today and tomorrow you can see those numbers begin to climb.

Source: https://unlimitedexposure.com/basic-digital-marketing/1097-whatsapp-is-a-growing-social-platform,-what-is-its-digital-marketing-potential.html

A decade ago, Facebook was a cool, young, and hip platform for millennials to get on and connect with one another. Then, everybody and their parents joined, and Facebook became a little less cool. Then, Instagram, Twitter, and other social platforms rose up and suddenly the concept of social media wasn’t so fresh anymore. The youth moved to these other platforms where growth in the user base among younger people continues.

This actually hasn’t been a bad thing for Facebook. Let’s face it. The world’s not only full of younger people. There are parents, grandparents, and plenty of other people who want to connect and enjoy social media. For all those other more mature, adult-oriented audience, Facebook’s still an important destination. The site remains one of the world’s biggest social platforms and one that every social media marketing campaign must have in its plan.

How to Use Facebook Video Marketing to Appeal to a Mature, Adult Audience

Why video is important to Facebook

There are so many areas to exploit in social media marketing on Facebook. Why video is so important is because this is where consumer behaviour is headed. More people are consuming videos in rising numbers. On social media, videos are the posts that get the most engagement and they are also what seems to have the most impact on consumers. As a high value digital marketing content marketing tool, video will be a key to going forward.

Facebook recognizes this which is why the platform has been feverishly developing its video functionality. Every social media platform from Instagram to Snapchat has tapped into video marketing but Facebook has something unique – an older, more experienced audience. If you want to reach younger people, there are better platforms to use. If you want to speak to a professional, family-oriented, or adult over-25 audience, Facebook’s exactly where to set your sights.

The power of Facebook video marketing

Second only to YouTube’s audience and capabilities, Facebook video marketing is one of the biggest opportunities any brand has. If we are talking getting video out to audience, there are billions of users on Facebook. Engagement rates are high. The video-based organic algorithms are also very friendly to getting your video content out above other posts and in front valued, interested consumers.

Give your audience a video on something to learn

A purely promotional video or an advertisement is inarguably a waste of your marketing dollar. Don’t do it! Instead, zero in on what’s of value to your audience. Teach them something that is not your brand trying to make a sale. In fact, don’t even mention the possibility of selling.

When a consumer’s learning and processing information, their attention is locked in and they’re engaged. Do you know the 4 most popular videos viewed on Facebook? They’re cooking, political, fun facts, and life hacks. These videos are fun, entertaining, or informational. Use this consumer trend to your advantage. Take a product or service and make a video that informs rather than sells.

Upload your videos direct to Facebook

While Facebook does allow for third party videos to be posted on their platform, it’s a better resource to post your video directly on Facebook. Why? Videos posted directly to Facebook receive higher engagement than those that aren’t. Why is that? Facebook’s algorithms push Facebook native videos. If you are concerned with YouTube video marketing and your engagement there, that needs to be a completely different focus from Facebook.

Over the years, it’s grown more and more difficult to reach your followers organically on Facebook. Algorithms have changed to the point that when a brand posts something – video or otherwise – it will only reach 10-15% of your audience if you’re lucky. Video are different. They want your videos and because of that, Facebook’s algorithms will elevate your video to be viewed by more followers.

What is the best length for a Facebook video?

The length of your Facebook video definitely has a huge role to play on how many clicks it receives, the likelihood of it being shared, and overall engagement. The ideal Facebook video length is 2 minutes or less. These are the videos most likely to be watched from beginning to end. Comparatively, YouTube’s recommended video length is longer at 5-10 minutes or even longer than that. Unfortunately, Facebook users don’t have the same patience to watch a similar lengthened video.

This isn’t to say that you can’t do long-form content – simply break it up into multiple videos. Creating short content pieces, you have the opportunity to produce multiple videos that each maximize the impact of the message.

Optimizing your Facebook video marketing campaign

There are several ways to optimize your Facebook video marketing campaign to get more views and shares. Use vertical videos instead of square ones. If it’s more cinematic, you may want to deliver horizontal video aspect ratios. You also want to ensure you include a click-friendly title, keywords in the title and description, a description that’s short and sweet, and a message of encouragement to share.

Somewhat unfortunately, a Facebook video marketing campaign is going to pop its biggest numbers on Facebook. These videos aren’t the sort of thing you can share on other social platforms and expect them to perform in the same way a YouTube video could.

That said, the audience of millions of mature adults on Facebook makes this an attractive consumer connection that shouldn’t be discounted. Facebook has a massive scope and it’s somewhat underrated. Just because it’s not the latest social media site to capture the youths doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a massive audience. Start producing high quality, informational, and optimized video content today. Get those videos on a regular schedule and watch the benefits you reap.

Are you looking to get the most out of your Facebook video marketing? Partner with Unlimited Exposure today to tap into a mature collection of consumers waiting to connect with your video. The likes, shares, and exposure you receive from a video campaign can be translated into revenues and website traffic, helping you to grow your audience quickly and with sustained momentum. Find out what we mean. Sign up with Unlimited Exposure today.

Source: https://unlimitedexposure.com/basic-digital-marketing/1096-how-to-use-facebook-video-marketing-to-appeal-to-a-mature,-adult-audience.html

Social media’s a competitive place for influencers. Every account is on rented space. Every influencer’s competing for attention, likes, shares, and engagement. If you’re unfamiliar with influencer marketing as a tool for your brand to succeed in social media marketing, this may be a technique to go beyond the limitations of organic algorithms and PPC, and get you the revenues you want.

What You Need to Know About Influencer Marketing on Facebook – Tips, Tricks, and Strategies

Why influencers are important

Influencers are a sort of hack around the uncertainty of organic digital marketing strategies like SEO. Influencer marketing works from stone cold statistics. Here are 3 facts any brand marketer should remember about using influencers.

 Brands see a 37% higher retention rate when they receive a customer from a recommendation made to the customer from a trusted source.
 77% of influencers are more likely to buy from a sponsor, which means a paid influencer could potentially one day become a natural brand supporter.
 Word-of-mouth generates double the sales of paid advertising.

What is the best influencer for my brand?

There is no definite rule when it comes to which influencer is best for a brand. Something more appropriate to one industry may not be the same to the next. Ultimately, there are three types of influencers – micro-influencers which carry 1,000 to 100,000 followers, macro-influencers which carry 100,000 to 500,000 followers, and mega-influencers which have 500,000 to over 1 million followers. You don’t need a mega-influencer to succeed. Oftentimes a micro-influencer with a strong engagement level and one that’s relevant to your target audience is needed.

Will they reach your target audience?

In the lack of other criteria in choosing the right influencer in influencer marketing, choose one that will reach and delight your target audience. The more targeted and specific, the better. Regardless of the size of the following, an influencer should have an understanding of their industry, your industry, and followers. If an influencer isn’t valuable, sincere, or appealing to an audience, their message isn’t going to connect.

The right influencer for the social media platform

Every social media site will have popular influencers to pull from. Someone who is extremely popular on YouTube however may not pull the same numbers on Instagram. You want to review the numbers, and know what you’re paying for and receiving.

What sort of message to give an influencer to promote

Social media’s always evolving. Like we said, it’s rented space. If you have an influencer advertising and sharing your marketing message, ensure it’s a message with a focused call-to-action. Ideally, it will be for people to download an app, visit a website, follow or subscribe, or to buy a product or service. You want an instant way to measure how successful an influencer marketing campaign is. A simple CTA is best recommended.

The best type of content

The best type of content marketing in 2019 is that which is candid, lively, storytelling-focused, urgent, and/or intriguing. This approach should be the same for using an influencer. If you make your message intriguing or urgent in some way, and have it be lively, you have your greatest chance of making an impact and getting those clicks a campaign is built around.

Evolve your digital marketing campaign. Make it exciting. Make it relevant. Use an influencer to instantly boost your numbers and use a digital marketing partner like Unlimited Exposure to maximize the momentum.

Source: https://unlimitedexposure.com/basic-digital-marketing/1095-what-you-need-to-know-about-influencer-marketing-on-facebook-%E2%80%93-tips,-tricks,-and-strategies.html

Are you looking to kick-off the winter digital marketing season with a video strategy? What’s trending in the landscape of video marketing and beyond should lead the way in how you structure such a campaign. Across YouTube, Facebook, and other video sharing or marketing platforms, there’s a lot of similarities between content. Here are some top statistics in video marketing worth remembering.

2019 Video Statistics that Show How We Watch, Why We Watch, and What

 85% of Facebook users will watch videos with the sound turned off. For this reason, write captions and include them on your video. Find ways to get the message of a video across without having to use audio. Remember, a visual can speak a thousand words if you let it.

 Email marketing click-through rate increases by 63% on average when video is included within the email. This rate may fall as video becomes more popular however in the current landscape, it is one of the most high-performance techniques to up that click-through.

 The video marketing campaigns on social media that receive the most clicks and engagement come from Instagram. On average, videos on Instagram receive over 2 times as much engagement as other social media platforms produce.

 82% of Internet traffic next year will come from video. This says a lot about where content marketing’s headed and why it’s going to become more important to move to text communications to visual.

 Videos are shared on social media 1,200% more than images and text combined. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, and video marketing platforms are reaping big rewards as users come to consume and share video.

 Although the optimal length for a digital marketing video shared on general social media platforms is 30 seconds of less, multiple studies have found the recommended length for YouTube videos is 5-7 minutes. This is believed to be because YouTube is a platform much more focused on long-form video storytelling where a user expects to find longer content.

 The majority of videos are 60 seconds or shorter, showcasing the power of short-form video. Be direct, straightforward, and don’t waste time. Regardless of industry, this statistic is the same. If you need longer than a minute, you’re doing it wrong.

 90% of consumers say product video helps them make a decision on purchasing. If you’re overseeing an eCommerce video marketing campaign, it’s a smart move to make an informational, advantage-focused video centering on product by product.

 45% of users watch more than 1 hour of video on Facebook or YouTube weekly. This is expected to grow in size in the years to come. People are watching and searching for quality, entertaining, and informational video. If you give it to them, they will come.

 Only 9% of small businesses in Canada have a YouTube account. As the biggest video sharing platform in the world, there’s a big gap here and a market untapped for small businesses and brands looking to move in. Adopt an approach, create an account, and launch a campaign. You may be surprised by what comes of it!

 On average, 64% of consumers are more likely to buy a product after watching a video featuring it. As you’ll find, simply by producing videos sharing info and benefits of a given product, you’re increasingly the likelihood of sales and revenues.

Source: https://unlimitedexposure.com/basic-digital-marketing/1094-2019-video-statistics-that-show-how-we-watch,-why-we-watch,-and-what.html

The world’s biggest corporations in marketing and business are making the most of virtual reality, integrating it into their digital marketing campaigns and beyond. A powerful engagement tool, they allow consumers get up, close, and personal with their favourite brands.

7 Ways VR in Digital Marketing Has Been Used Successfully by Worldwide Brands

The top 3 ways VR is used in digital marketing is to increase brand awareness, accelerate a purchasing process, and to offer a more personalized approach to a customer. To understand how VR can apply to your brand, here are 7 examples to draw inspiration from.

Lowe’s

Lowe’s set up a virtual reality initiative in some stores in what they called a ‘Holoroom’. Customers could come in and see what their house would look like post-home improvement. You could select designs and products to visualize placement in a home. Similarly, IKEA recently launched their own VR app which placed furniture in your room and allowed a customer to see the look, feel, and fit.

McDonald’s

McDonald’s created a Happy Meal Box that folded into a VR headset, providing a simple, affordable way for kids to experience virtual reality. This simple fun tool encouraged children to partake in the tech revolution. As evidenced in this campaign, incorporating VR into marketing doesn’t need a huge investment.

Merrell

Merrell, a hiking shoe brand, launched an innovative hiking shoe with Trailscape – a 4-D multisensory hiking experience. The company used Oculus Rift to showcase tactile elements of walking on different surfaces. The film helped to cross-promote the brand’s outdoor gear.

The New York Times

The New York Times delivered Google cardboard VR glasses to their subscribers, encouraging them to use these to watch specific films. These were given as a reward for brand loyalty, while sharing educational, info-driven news-friendly film. The emotional intensity of the film made it so that consumers came to associate a similar engaging feeling with the newspaper.

Volvo

Volvo used VR – in one of the most impressive applications there is on this list – to test drive a vehicle. If you don’t have a dealership nearby, you could use VR to put yourself in a Volvo essentially downloading the experience to your smartphone. This put Volvo on the map for innovation, popularizing that sort of 360-degree landscape view which can be used in so many different ways.

The North Face

The North Face offered fans a VR experience in the form of giving them opportunity to visit Yosemite National Park, Nepal, and other landmarks. Immersive and specialized, a person can explore, feel their way through an environment, and more.

Thomas Cook

This UK-based travel agency launched a VR digital marketing campaign allowing travel agents the chance to experience a trip in an initiative called ‘Try Before You Fly’. Although this didn’t set the world on fire, it does exemplify the growing need in hospitality and tourism to show accommodations, activity, and tourism attractions in an up-and-close way.

All these uses of virtual reality demonstrate the potential that exists to use the customer to customize their own experience with a brand. If you provide them content with options, like VR does, the customer will engage in the way they want to. Digital marketing strategies that incorporate VR into video, email, social media, content marketing, and more could soon to become the norm. Do you want to innovate your marketing plan? Speak to the experts at Unlimited Exposure today.

Source: https://unlimitedexposure.com/basic-digital-marketing/1093-7-ways-vr-in-digital-marketing-has-been-used-successfully-by-worldwide-brands.html

Social media has become all about the visual. Adding high-value visuals to your social media posts is a strong strategy to get clicks and see more attention. Images and video content fuels engagement. There are 7 main types of visual content for social media – shareable images, branded images, info images, print images, videos, PDFs, and other. Here are the best visual content ideas you can use on your social media marketing campaign to grow followers and acquire likes.

See the Best Visual Ideas for Content in Social Media Marketing – Images, Video, and More!

Shareable images

Shareable images make up a long list and focus on images that are most likely to be shared. Famous quotes, questions, a question and answer, affirmations, fun facts, helpful tips, reminders, short lists, teasers, controversial statements, written testimonials, or inspirational words all are images likely to receive the most clicks.

Branded images

Branded images put your brand’s logo front and center, communicating to others where an image’s from. Branded images include banners, buttons, badges, ads, cover images, promo images, blog post image links, physical product images, and more.

Info images

Info images are incredibly valuable because it communicates clear information, shedding disposable words in favor of only those that matter. Info images include infographics of course as well as top 10 lists, how to lists, tutorials, step-by-step instructions, fact sheets, tips, diagrams or charts, compare and contrast, myths, facts, and a list of rules.

Print images

Print images are similar to the more traditional advertising and print products, used by many brands, sometimes shared via social media as a quick method of marketing. Print images are things like business cards, holiday cards, recipe cards, posters, flyers, invitations, and brocures.

Videos

Video marketing on social media is trendy and having a bit of a moment right now, with consumption high and users ready to devour their next favourite. Possible social media video content ideas include slideshows, tutorials, behind-the-scenes looks, interviews, Q&As, presentations, graphics, explainer videos, previews or trailers, video testimonials, live stream recordings, and more.

PDFs

PDFs can be a little more extensive to produce but depending on the industry, they make for a social media and email marketing strategy that can help turn leads into conversions. PDF documents include ebooks, guides, lookbooks, catalogues, magazines, planers, organizers, checklists, instructions, templates, and worksheets.

Other

Lastly, you have visual ideas that don’t necessarily fit into any one box. These tend to be more creative but don’t necessarily produce the same engagement. Used sparingly though and featured right, they can produce favorable results in a social media marketing campaign. They include things like a media kit, a resume, an ‘About Us’ image, a manifesto, a declaration, a pledge, a comic, a sketch, a doodle, art of some kind, or a collage.

Use all of these!

Each of these visual ideas has a place and purpose on social media. Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, and so many other platforms have huge opportunities to spread visuals, graphics, images, and video. Use this high-engagement content to bring in new leads, inform, entertain, and convert. These high-value visuals are a great way to keep your brand involved, engaged, and cultivating new shares, likes, and follows.

Tap into social media marketing strategies like these with Unlimited Exposure, the experts in building brands on social platforms. Don’t want to go it alone? Let us be your guide and grow business in big ways, in the weeks ahead!

Source: https://unlimitedexposure.com/basic-digital-marketing/1092-see-the-best-visual-ideas-for-content-in-social-media-marketing-%E2%80%93-images,-video,-and-more.html