Are you adding Snapchat to your social media marketing? Wondering what Snapchat's audience responds to? In this article you'll discover recent insights on Snapchat and how marketers can use the platform to reach targeted audiences with ads and other content. #1: Snapchat Nears Facebook Levels for Daily Video Views In January 2016, Bloomberg News reported [...]
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- Your Guide to the Social Media Jungle
To the digitally devoted, the idea of print marketing might seem like something from a bygone era.
But rest assured - print is not dead.
Inevitably, the medium has had to move over to make room for the explosive rise of digital, but it's far from becoming a niche format. Some traditionally digital based companies have even started to see the benefits of producing printed magazines or content rich brochures to market their brand (more about that later).
As Content Marketing Institute founder Joe Pulizzi stated as far back as 2012, print may have become the new 'non traditional' marketing strategy; for content marketers at least.
In this article I want to explore how print should still have pride of place in any marketing drive and how it can actually work in unison with digital platforms in the marketing mix through cross pollination.
We'll begin though by looking at some rather revealing statistics.
According to the CMI's annual report in 2015 the top three paid advertising methods in the B2B sphere in North America were Search Engine Marketing at 66%, Print or Other Offline Promotion at 57% and Traditional Online Banner Ads at 55%. This single stat alone should make it clear that the bottom has definitely not fallen out of print advertising in financial terms.
Of course this doesn't say anything about print's efficacy as a marketing medium when compared to digital. There are a couple of interesting studies that do however.
The first is a survey conducted by Nielson in 2014 looking into the retail sector and how US consumers arrive at purchasing decisions. The results were unequivocal in presenting the power of printed materials over digital in this area, with 56% of consumers surveyed citing mailed materials as the chief source of information used to make purchasing decisions (some 20% higher than the nearest digital influencer).
Print also has the power to influence B2B end-users, with 45% of those polled in a 2013 ABM survey stating their regular sources of information to obtain business information were magazines. When looking for info on new products or services this rose to 69%. In this second instance, print magazines were just 11% behind websites.
None of the surveys I've cited should be reason to abandon your digital marketing strategy of course; just as evidence showing the efficacy of digital shouldn't be reason to reign in your print marketing budget. As I have made clear in the past, there are many reasons not to cut back on your print marketing budget, regardless of the attraction and scalability of digital.
Below are a few techniques to help you not only make the most of both approaches, but encourage cross pollination across media, driving and tracking consumers from print to digital and vice versa:
As I've mentioned, magazines are being seen by some digitally based companies as the perfect medium for content marketing, despite the increased costs associated with production.
Whilst magazines are far from the only option when it comes to creating offline content, they do offer some very interesting case studies with some very prominent digital companies deciding to use them. Below are some examples:
Air BnB released its quarterly travel magazine Pineapple, sending 18,000 copies of the first issue to its registered hosts worldwide.
Net-a-Porter launched its bi-monthly fashion magazine Porter in 2014.
CNET launched its quarterly print magazine of the same name in 2014, which will regularly include exclusive content that won't feature in its digital publication until a later date.
Clearly these companies aren't abandoning the digital marketing model, given that they are digitally based companies, but are instead utilizing the power of glossy high quality print magazines to promote their brand and encourage greater takeup of their core online offering.
The payoff from print and digital approaches might at first seem mutually exclusive due to their fundamental difference as mediums of communication. And compared to running two digital strategies alongside each other, the potential for analytical convergence and cross pollination will inherently be more limited.
But, as we've seen, there are a number of techniques that allow print and digital to work together and produce joined up marketing that is greater than the sum of its parts.
Guest Author: Chris Holloway is Managing Director of Bristol printing company, Manor Printing. He has a wealth of experience in print and design, having seen the industry change beyond all recognition in twenty seven years since joining the company. Manor has been providing printing services to national and international businesses for forty two years and is a market leader in eco friendly printing practices. You can connect with them on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
The post How To Combine Print And Digital Marketing Campaigns appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.
Are you a busy marketer? Wondering which tools and apps will help you stand out on Instagram? Using the right Instagram tools can improve your images, sell products, and save you time. In this article you'll discover 14 Instagram tools to help busy marketers use Instagram for business. #1: Photo Apps Not long after Instagram started [...]
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- Your Guide to the Social Media Jungle
Poor Adobe Flash Player. Everyone seems out to get it -- and now that includes Google.
Google is moving toward the use of HTML5 in the ads displayed on its ad network. Starting June 30, 2016, display ads built in Flash can no longer be uploaded into AdWords and DoubleClick Digital Marketing.
Starting January 2, 2017, display ads in the Flash format can no longer run on the Google Display Network or through DoubleClick. Video ads built in Flash will not be impacted at this time.
Adobe Flash Player has had a slow demise. Complaints about security, openness and battery usage on cell phones have floated around for years. In November 2011 Adobe signaled the approach of the end when it cancelled Flash Player for mobile devices and shifted engineering staff to Web standards like HTML5. Flash Player Pro has been renamed Animate and has been expanding its abilities to produce HTML content instead of Flash content.
Other well-known platforms that either don't use Flash or are phasing it out:
Apparently the ubiquitousness of Flash has made it a target of "exploit kits," packets of code sold to aid hackers in placement of malware or ransomware. Fixing those weaknesses have been a problem.
Google is providing some help in making the transition to the new format. But don't procrastinate too long.
To update your Flash ads to HTML5 in AdWords, you have two basic options.
Youh can upload your own HTML5 ads or use Google Tools including Google Web Designer to build HTML5 Ads of your own.
Image: Google AdWords/Google+
This article, "Google Will Discontinue Flash Ads in 2017 (So Update Your Displays)" was first published on Small Business Trends
Local search drives more clicks and calls than any other marketing channel, making it the most effective marketing technique for small business.
Not convinced? Just ask the BrightLocal team, which found that local search delivers a greater ROI than other digital marketing channels, according to its September 2015 survey.
Further underscoring this finding: 34 percent of small business owners told BrightLocal that if they could only choose one marketing channel, they'd pick local search. Is your company feeling equally bullish about local search?
If not, that's understandable. Google's rollout of "Google My Business" -- a combination "master dashboard" for Google Plus, Google Maps and Google Search (and confusingly the latest iteration of Google Places) -- has left plenty of small businesses confused.
Keeping up with Google's ever-changing search algorithm can be hard enough, not to mention keeping tabs on the latest local search changes. Location proximity and industry categories play just a small role in Google map listings. In order for your business to rank highly, when it comes to Google My Business local SEO, you need to master the art (and science) of local SEO, starting with Google My Business.
"For over 13 years I've been doing local SEO for many of our clients, and I've seen every change from search engine algorithm updates to the look of Google's search results, including local and mobile. One solid way to attract visitors to your website and to your business, especially if you're a brick and mortar business, is by having an optimized Google My Business page." said Seth Rand, Founder and CEO of Rand Marketing.
For example, let's say you live in Philly, you've just been in a car accident and need a great injury lawyer. Google "Philly injury lawyer" and before you even see a listing of websites, you'll see a map with the top three local results.
Here's the kicker: these local results are oftentimes different from the search results below the map, which could be informational pages on finding credible personal injury attorneys or a Pennsylvania attorney directory. The local listings are what your prospective clients or customers will see first; that's why ranking highly in these listings matters so much. In this case, the top ranking is for The Law Offices of Joel J. Kofsky.
So how can your company get to the top of Google map rankings like The Law Offices of Joel J. Kofsky did with "Philly injury lawyer"? Here's what you need to know.
Google My Business is a master dashboard that connects your business directly with customers, whether they're looking for you on Search, Maps or Google+. Think of it as a master information hub from which you can manage all things Google. Once you've verified your account, you'll need to confirm that your account's NAP (name, address, place) information is correct, along with your business hours. This information will be visible in search results, so it's absolutely critical to keep up to date.
A number of different factors will impact your map ranking, including complete NAP information. Reviews can impact your ranking as well, and can also give you some valuable insights into what clients think about your business.
Consider this search for "find a doctor charlotte NC".
Carolina Physicians Group is listed in the top three search results with three reviews. Click on these reviews, and the top one is pretty critical about the ability to get appointments, even though it was from two years ago. While a single bad review won't sink your local ranking, cumulative negative reviews can discourage customers and ultimately hurt business.
Once you've claimed your company profile, the next step is to optimize your business information. This includes inputting the correct location, choosing the relevant business categories, adding images (with appropriate keywords), inputting correct hours of operation, and keeping tabs on your reviews.
Once you've mastered your Google my business local SEO properly, it's time to target third party visibility through other local search sites like Yelp, Yellow Pages, Bing, and Refer Local. Create local content, strategize keywords, build quality links and capitalize on social media outreach to drive local traffic.
Image: Google
This article, "Savvy Local SEO Tips for Google My Business" was first published on Small Business Trends
Social media networks started off as a place for people to keep connected online, to easily talk, share news, discuss events and everything else that falls in-between that.
Today, social media platforms have become a multi-billion dollar industry of their own. Almost half of the planet's population (roughly as many people who have an internet connection) use at least one social media network that they use once a day.
With such insane popularity, social media absolutely shouldn't be disregarded by marketers, especially when you are trying to improve your rankings in search engines, because Google and "the rest of the gang" pays a good amount of attention to your social presence and posts, just like they do to any other content.
Anything that you post on social media (article links, pictures, videos - everything) is essentially a part of your content, much like the written words in this article. Like any other content, your social media posts absolutely need to be of high quality and provide value to your audience. This is the first and most important thing that you need to keep in mind.
To make all your posts crystal clear for search engines, try to make use of semantic markup every time you share something on social. Semantic markup is the name for putting a HTML tag on your content (like a description for articles or alt-text for images/pictures) that tells search engines what exactly your content is about.
Use a clear, catchy description and mix in a few keywords here and there. For example if your post is about making pancakes and includes a pancake image, you can use something like "Ever wondered how to make the most delicious pancakes at home in just an hour?" and make sure you pay attention to the image's alt-text, which should read something like "the most delicious pancake recipe".
It's important to understand that people don't only use the default "all" results page of Google. They also use videos, images, news and the rest of the categories. If your post can be found easily and receives likes and shares from people (which essentially means that they find your content valuable and you have social reputation), you will get a considerable amount of love from search engines too.
Don't forget to monitor your efforts to have a clear idea of how you are doing in your endeavors. Not every description you come up with will be a good one and you need to know whether you need to further tweak your posts.
Social media is an excellent way to pump up the number of external links to your content or website. The more external links you have (preferably from different domains) the more authority your website will gain in search engines.
In order to make this happen you will have to start with point N1, which is having great quality content, otherwise you won't have a chance to attract those links.
While being active on social media, share your content in relevant discussions if you know that it will provide value to the users. This will help you in becoming an authority figure on social media (as a brand who knows what it's talking about and has the right answers). It will also maximize your chance of gaining external links through social shares, which is your primary objective. Here is an infographic that will tell you more about social shares (point N4).
If you go to Google search and look up "Victoria's Secret" you will get their website as the first result.
Do you know what you will get bellow that? Yup, their social media profiles. This can be a hint of how important your social media profiles really are.
Of course, Victoria's Secret has an insane brand presence around the world, but it hasn't come out of nowhere. Quality products, quality content and consistent social media engagement throughout the years - that's all there is. You can do that as well.
Also keep in mind that social media profiles can be just as good for gathering information about a brand as Google. When a user wants to know more about a brand, they are as likely to click on the social media profile in the search results as the official website. In fact, some people might skip Google and go straight to Facebook to find out more about a brand.
Do you know the number one search channel in the world? Okay, yes it's Google. You are right. Google has around 67% market share.
But do you know the second one? It's YouTube, which is a social media channel, which is just video based.
That's right, people use YouTube to search for stuff more than any search engine, except Google. The same can be said (though it's considerably less) for Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, G+ and others.
The point here is that ones' social media presence and engagement has a strong correlation to your search results. The more fans, followers, likes and re-tweets your brand has on social media, the more love you will receive from search engines.
Another impressive advantage of being active on social media in terms of SEO is speeding up the process of getting your content indexed.
In case you don't know what indexed pages are, here goes. Whenever you publish a new piece of content it doesn't immediately appear in search engines, it has to be indexed by search engine bots first. While bots are constantly crawling your website, looking for new stuff to index, it takes time.
If your fresh piece of content is re-tweeted a high number of times on Twitter, it can cut the time needed for bots to index that specific page by as much as 50%, since Google and Twitter have made a deal about it.
What do you know about G+? I know that it's a relatively underused channel compared to the rest of the giants, its audience doesn't really suit most businesses as a "relevant social media channel". All that, and it's owned by Google.
If you do a few searches for brands and look at the results, the ones that have an active G+ account will be on the top. This is an excellent opportunity for brands to boost their search engine results. If you still don't have a G+ account or are inactive on it, fix that right away!
G+ may not be the most popular social media network in terms of fans and engagement, but if you really want to have good search engine rankings, you should absolutely pay attention to this network. Here is a chart showing search engines response to social signals from different networks (source):
Social media usage is growing day by day, and you don't need to be a fortune teller to know that it will become even more important as time goes on.
On a final note, it's never too late to start. Even if you didn't pay much attention to social media before reading this post, you can start improving today.
When you take a look at the bigger picture, it all comes down to how much value you can bring to your audience with your content. The better user experience will result in higher search engine rankings, simple as that. Having a good idea of what you need to do on social media will help you increase your customer base, further your social media reach and ultimately, drive your brand's name to the top results of search pages.
Guest Author: Vlad Rascanu is a seasoned online marketing and SEO expert. He is the founder of 80 Proof Digital, a marketing agency with deep focus on SEO. Vlad has helped hundreds of businesses grow their online
The post How to Optimize Your Social Media Posts for Search Engines appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.
Are you thinking about running Twitter ads? Wondering what your options are? Twitter advertising isn't difficult to set up, and for a very small amount of money it can provide an additional stream of traffic, customers and revenue. In this article, you'll discover three cost-effective ways to advertise on Twitter. Determine Your Campaign Budget To control [...]
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- Your Guide to the Social Media Jungle
