by DG | Oct 11, 2016 | Business, Online Marketing, SEO, Tips
Content marketing has evolved a lot over the past few years. While quality content has always been a hallmark of successful online marketing, the way people use quality content has changed.
Plenty of businesses and individuals have relied on content as a go-to marketing tool for years. And, for a long time, text-based content remained king. Most online marketing funnels, such as blog posts and link building, relied on text-based content to network and, eventually build an audience.
The evolution of technology has changed all of that. A decade ago, people didn’t have access to other forms of content, such as videos and images. Most people had dial-up Internet access, so it was difficult to access that type of content on a regular basis.
Today, most people use faster Internet connections that have evolved with the times. Video and image-based content are the norm now, and with most people watching or viewing some type of image-based content nowadays, businesses need to adapt and start marketing with that form of content, too.
2016 was a revelation for many businesses in that respect. And, there’s a reason behind that. In this article, let’s learn about why content marketing’s so important nowadays.
Why is content marketing important?
Content marketing is a necessity for businesses if they want to have a successful online marketing campaign. It even helps businesses convert prospects into leads far faster than other marketing methods have in the past and it will help your Google ranking. Here are a few other reasons why that’s the case.
Content: more than text
Content, in the early days of the web, mainly referred to text-based content like articles, blog posts and web copy. Nowadays, content is more than just text. You can lots of interactive elements and of video which is the most engaging of all.
Include text, images, audio and video . And, they’re not just useful separately, either. People now combine all four elements to create multimedia content for their audiences to view and consume.
If you write some great content, you can also re-purpose it by turing it into a slideshow and posting it on slideshare, make a video with it and post it on YouTube, Vimeo and lots of other video sites. Turn it into a PDF and post it on document sharing sites like Scribd. Maybe use it to capture leads by making it downloadable after users give you their email.
Now that technology has evolved to allow people access to information at any time, so has content.
Studies have show that longer content is gets better results. Articles with over 2,000 words get shared a lot more that shorter articles of only 500 words. The most obvious reason being that longer articles provide more value because they can get into a lot more detail.
Don’t forget about mobile, too
Mobile platforms exploded over the course of this decade—and it’s only going to go up from here.
More people access content from their mobile devices nowadays. In fact, mobile devices like smartphones and tablets are some people’s only form of web access. With the aforementioned fast becoming a reality, it’s imperative for businesses to get on board with promoting their goods and services via mobile platforms.
Of course, it’s an even better idea to start developing content befitting a mobile device. That means utilizing responsive web design. Responsive web design is a type of practice used to create websites and web pages that fit any device where people view that website or web page.
Responsive web design displays content properly, and in ways attractive enough for people to, well, want more out of that content. There’s a reason why many businesses want their websites and web pages to be responsible. Not only does it look attractive, but it’s the best practice, too.
Your content, your story
Another thing about content marketing in this decade is the phenomenon of telling your story to your audience.
Creating content that reaches out to your followers is one of the elements of having a successful content marketing campaign. Don’t believe that?
When people are encouraged to act after reading content, they’re acting because something within that content encouraged them to act. In most cases, the content appealed to them enough. It spoke to them.
You can speak directly to your audience if you create content that engages. That content can be as simple as a blog post to as intricate as a series of video advertisements geared toward showing others your work process.
People want to relate to the brands they love to buy. They also want their favorite brands to be transparent. By staying transparent, relatable and honest with your audience, you’ll gain the potential to grow that audience in the future.
Promote your old and new content
Of course, you can’t really create content that’ll languish in the depths of the web. You have to, eventually, promoting your older content alongside your new content, too.
There’s always an audience for something on the web. And, your content isn’t going anywhere, either. Content from the mid to late 1990s still exists on the web somewhere, so it’s not like your content will disappear in the next decade.
Even if the information is outdated, it doesn’t hurt to update that content. That way, you’ll have twice as much content to promote when you do decide to finally update.
As you can see, content marketing is a vital part of promoting and building a business via the web. Content marketing is so effective that it actually helps small businesses save money on online marketing. So, that alone makes content marketing worth trying at least once.
by DG | Sep 30, 2016 | Online Marketing, SEO
Last updated: Sept 30th 2016
Online marketing covers a range of possibilities. Some of your online marketing plans will make demands of your web design ambitions. Others will cover the potential of social media marketing. There are literally dozens and dozens of tips out there that are yours for the taking. Your responsibility, which some might call an unenviable one, is to choose amongst all the suggestions and concepts to find the ones that are right for you.
It’s not an unenviable task by any means. Although online marketing has become increasingly elaborate and complex over the past few years, it is by no means impossible. Whether you’re looking at online marketing plans in a broad sense, or if you’re considering your options with social media marketing specifically, you can find tips that are viable in your situation.
One thing is for certain: Great web design is really only the beginning.
The Future Of Online Marketing
The future of online marketing is actually quite exciting when you think about it. Social media marketing is getting bigger and bigger. The algorithms of search engines like Google and Bing are becoming increasingly smarter. While it’s true that these things are becoming a bit crowded with possibilities, it’s still a fairly straightforward matter to develop strong marketing tactics for your website and business. Website design is no less important now than it was ten years ago. It’s just that there are more things to consider as you build your website and prepare for it to go live.
As stated before, some online marketing tactics can be implemented as you’re designing and building your website. It’s just commonsense in this day and age to let your visitors share things from your page on their favorite social media sites. It’s a good idea to research your SEO (search engine optimization) possibilities ahead of time, and have content on your site ready to go on launch date that keeps your SEO options in mind. Is blogging something you’ll want to incorporate in your online marketing strategies? You’ll certainly want to keep that in mind.
The list goes on. The possibilities are not quite endless, but they’re certainly going to feel that way.
Essential Online Marketing Plans & Strategies
If you’re new to the world of online marketing or social media marketing, the following suggestions are worth keeping in mind as you research and learn. If you have an established website with a good social media presence, it never hurts to see if your online marketing strategies could use a little tweaking or enhancing:
- Look for social media outlets that are ideal to your marketing: Twitter is perfect for businesses that are keenly interested in establishing strong human connections. Facebook is an established social media entity that allows you to share content and interact with your audience. Those are just two possibilities. There are dozens and dozens of others out there. Pinterest has become extremely popular with companies that sell furniture, clothing, or jewelry. Instagram allows you to connect to followers who are eager to share their stories (and pictures) with the world. Are you starting to get the picture? Research your social media options. Find out which ones are going to generate the kind of attention you’re after. Don’t overextend yourself. Focus on four or five that have the strongest potential.
- Build a dedicated following: While building an audience, keep in mind that you want to build what is called a proprietary audience. This refers to an audience that is only going to be interested in what you have to say. Your content, offers, and level of personal interaction should be peerless.
- Don’t publish just because: Steady content on your website, your blog, and your social media outlets are certainly essential. However, strong online marketing or social media marketing emphasizes the importance of quality over quantity. Don’t publish just because you feel as though you need to. Publish because you have something genuinely compelling to share. That means you’re going to have to work hard to create that content.
- Look for outside help: If you can afford it, you may want to consider a social media manager or online marketing company. In the same way that an expert can help you with your web design, these individuals can help you focus your online marketing or social media marketing strategies.
- Prioritize: A good rule of thumb for many websites lists content, the user’s experience, social media, links for traffic, and basic search engine optimization on-page material as being the order in which you should focus your priorities.
- Value organic over non-organic: Avoid any opportunities to build your audience in non-organic ways. Buying Facebook likes is a small but important example of this. It won’t do you any favors in the long run.
Build Your Audience
Never forget that your audience is indeed out there. Even if you’re a smaller company, you can still compete with the bigger fish.
by DG | Sep 20, 2016 | Online Marketing, Social Media, Web Design
Are you using the internet to its fullest capacity when it comes to marketing? The internet is a revolutionary marketing tool that all business owners now have at their disposal. Nothing levels the playing field between competitors quite like internet marketing, because it removes limitations of time and location. Having an online marketing plan in place is no longer an added luxury, but it is a necessity for any business looking to reach its full potential. Not only can you generate brand awareness with the help of online marketing strategies, but you can also increase profits immensely.
Direction of Online Marketing Campaign
When you are first getting started in the world of online marketing, you have to come up with a direction. You need to know what the goal of your marketing campaign is before you can choose the most effective strategy. Knowing if you should focus on a specific product/service or opt for social media marketing methods is all about creating a marketing campaign designed for success. The more online marketing strategies that you implement twill only increase your level of success and online presence. Using both old and new marketing techniques in combination will offer the best results.
Target Audience
No matter what type of online marketing strategies are put in place, not only do you need campaign direction but you also must target your audience. A target audience is the group that is most likely to be interested in your business. Knowing exactly who this demographic is will be the key to having an online marketing campaign that does the trick. You can only prefect your marketing strategies if you know the target audience that you should pander to. Once you have determined the target audience you can begin choosing the best online marketing strategies designed to offer results.
The Google AdWords
There are many online marketing strategies that are cost effective and will give you a lot of marketing potential for a low fee. Google AdWords are a pay-per-click marketing program that actually helps you market your business on almost any budget. The best part of this marketing option is that you have the ability to market using keywords. Keywords are so important, because they are the words that online users type in the search query to deliver results. This means that you can ensure an online ad for your business appears when keywords directly tied to your business are used.
When your ad is seen near the top search results this will help tremendously with increasing brand awareness and giving your business authority. Google AdWord online marketing methods offer real results that help drive traffic to your website.
Web Design Impact
Not only do paid online marketing methods offer results, but good web design will also have a positive impact on your online marketing campaign. Online marketing involves trying to drive traffic to your website and the design of your website is where you should begin. You can create a website that is designed with SEO techniques in mind that help your site gain recognition with search engines. SEO web design techniques will ensure that your website ranks on the first page of results. If your site is not on the first page of Google results you might as well be invisible. However, if you focus on design online marketing strategies, you will have constant traffic at your site.
Engage and Attract
Another online marketing strategy that really works involves taking advantage of new marketing trends. Social media marketing is becoming next-level, because it allows you to engage customers and open direct lines of communication. Social media sites like Twitter and Facebook are at an all-time high and are showing no signs of slowing down. You can create online marketing campaigns that are focused on social media sites. Signing up for accounts on Facebook and Twitter are free. All you have to do is invest a bit if time and creativity into crafting social media marketing strategies that work the best.
In order to make social media marketing work for your business, you have to post regularly and create interesting tweets that entice potential customers and offering meaningful information. Using photos and videos links on your social media accounts will also help to make a splash.
Start Now
The potential of your online marketing campaign really is limitless if you implement some of these simple strategies. Internet marketing helps you compete with businesses of all sizes and allows you to reach a wider consumer base. Enhancing your brand awareness is as easy as just letting your marketing reach take over. Now you have the ability to reach many more consumers than you ever thought possible if you only learn the best ways to use online marketing strategies to your advantage.
by DG | Aug 26, 2016 | Online Marketing, SEO, Social Media, Web Design
Small businesses just don’t know how good they have it. Gone are the days of offline marketing that would take weeks to months to see results. Now a small business can start marketing online use a Social Media Marketing campaign and see results as soon as a few days, if they do it right.
Even if you only make a few sales or leads per day, you are reaching customers that you may have never otherwise found. And, it’s still something exemplifying the power of social media marketing when utilized to its fullest potential.
Social media marketing
Social media marketing is online marketing with a social media twist. Instead of exclusively relying on online advertisements to push your business, most of the pushing is done via social media.
This form of marketing takes marketing to social media networks, which helps people achieve their goals for marketing, communication and, eventually, branding for their business. Social media marketing involves sharing content, images and videos across social networks. Of course, social sharing is a huge part of using social networks, but the most important aspect of this type of sharing lies in its marketing ability.
Businesses, especially small businesses, need social media marketing for those reasons. If they share content with their followers, their followers will more or less get a taste of what they can offer them as a business. That may lead to potential sales and, in some cases, a customer for life.
Social media marketing isn’t the easiest form of marketing, but it’s pretty simple to start using. I mean, everyone can open their own business-related social media account. But, it takes a smart marketer to use social networks to their full advantage.
Businesses can learn how to effectively integrate social media into their online marketing campaigns themselves but it is time consuming and there will be a lot of trial and error. A better strategy might be to hire a professional online marketing company to kick thing off in the right direction and take over the campaign gradually if it seems more cost-effective. This way you can also be sure that things are set up properly so that you can measure the results of your efforts.
Social media marketing trends for small businesses
2013 was when social media marketing made some sort of a shift. Many people weren’t seeing results from the practice, mainly because they didn’t understand how to effectively utilize social media marketing in the first place. It’s that reason why today’s social media marketing trends are heading in a direction benefiting businesses who finally want to use social media marketing to their advantage.
There are many great web based tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, Spokal and others that connect all these elements and make the process much easier. Our new favorite tool is Spokal. If you are using WordPress, and why wouldn’t you, it’s got some great integrated tools that are really done well.
I won’t go into great detail here but one of the features I like best is the calendar for scheduling tweets – it’s brilliant. I highly recommend trying it out.
Most demographics use social media in some way. That’s why businesses who use social media marketing need to reach their audiences via the platform ‘in some way,’ as they say.
So, how can small businesses best utilize social media marketing? Well, it’s simple. In order to fully take advantage of social media marketing, small business owners should study social media marketing trends.
In this article, we’re going to take a brief look at many social media marketing trends that small businesses can use throughout the rest of the year.
Invest in social media now
Social media has plenty of benefits. Thanks to those benefits, it’s important for small businesses to hop on the social media bandwagon now, and before it’s too late to reach their target market.
Social media helps small businesses reach their goals. When you use social media as a marketing tool, it has the potential to impact your referral traffic, lead generation, website traffic and, eventually, overall revenue. There are plenty of reasons behind that, too:
- Social media helps boost social signals.
- Social media helps improve company brand awareness.
- Social media promotes word-of-mouth advertising.
- Social media helps boost customer trust and loyalty.
- Social media helps boost business’ reach and influence over their audience.
These benefits pretty much describe why social media marketing is a necessity for small businesses today. So, start investing now before 2015 arrives.
Images + social media = success?
Including powerful images has proven to be more effective than just using text. While there’s nothing wrong with text only to deliver your message, images ultimately win out for various reasons.
The biggest reason is that images simply grab people’s attention more than text does. When people look at images, they’re immediately drawn in by the content—and may want to act.
Small businesses can take advantage of that just by adding attractive and informative images to their business’ social media marketing campaign. When I mean informative, I mean images that are relevant to the product or service you might sell. People like learning about things as soon as they stumble upon them, so make that image worth their time and attention.
Don’t rule out micro-video
2016’s halfway over, and we’re already seeing results from the rise of micro-video. Popularized by the micro-blogging network, Twitter, micro-video is another social media phenomenon used by many social network users today.
Micro-videos are no longer than 15 seconds, which allows people to convey powerful bits of content in mere seconds. Plenty of micro-videos have reached viral status, since the content’s short and pretty easy to consume.
Businesses can actually take advantage of micro-video as an inexpensive way to promote their products or services. Just remember to make the video memorable. Although it’s easier to be informative and present facts, it’s even better to make the experience worth watching. In other words, be creative with how you convey information to your eager and waiting audience.
Social media marketing is the present for small businesses who want to build an effective marketing campaign. Given the types of trends out there today, it’s important for small business owners to observe them, learn and use what they known to build a successful social media marketing campaign.
by DG | Jun 29, 2016 | Online Marketing
We talk at length about the importance of a great user experience for your website visitors. A great experience results from well executed plan that meets both user and business targets. However, building a website that gives users a good experience is not THE goal…
Why?
A good user experience is not actionable or measurable. It is a non-specific goal that is a required element of achieving actual goals. Don’t just try to “create a great website with good user experience.” Create a SMART one.
What is a SMART goal?
SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-based. SMART goal examples for your website might be:
- Get more Web site traffic – increase by 40% in 6 months.
- Improve online sales of selected product by 25% within 3 months.
- Boost product awareness of selected product to increase in-store sales 10% next month.
- Add 500 newsletter subscribers to the in the next 4 months.
- Connect with 40 people per week on Facebook.
- Gain 1,000 more Twitter followers in 2 months.
- Improve brand loyalty on social networks with incentives for fans to give feedback – target goal: 1 positive feedback message per day.
Set up SMART goals for your website.
Let’s use a T-Shirt product page a website as an example. The T-Shirt product page product page shows shoppers product details and a button to add it to their cart. It also has images of the shirt, price and description. The SMART goal examples :
- Encourage the user to complete the purchase the shirt to increase sales by 25% over the next 2 months.
- Encourage the user to follow on Facebook or Twitter to increase brand loyalty – goal: 1 message of positive feedback per day.
What is needed to satisfy these goals:
- Professional design that allows user to feel the site is trust worthy.
- Clear branding.
- A link to product information before sale.
- Good images that represent the product well.
- Product description and key benefits that satisfies all questions.
- Any product specifications that the consumer need.
- Product variations such as colour and size.
- Product Price
- Delivery date and cost.
- Customer service information and the return policy.
- Easy to find add to cart button.
- After purchase links to Like on Facebook or Twitter with incentive such as future discounts.
Specific
Make sure your goals are specific, i.e. ‘increase in overall sales by 10%’, rather than ‘increase sales’.
Measurable
There are many things that can be measured give insight to user behaviour – the users clicks to determine how what users are most interested in. We can measure how many pages they visit. We can measure how they got your website and what pages they exit from. We could measure the percentage of visitors who complete the purchase versus the number who stop just before the final step. We can easily see how many extra likes or newsletter subscriptions are attained.
Actionable
With specific goals we can understand what content and functionality will achieve our goals.
Relevant
These goals examples above are relevant for a product page, but obviously not for a services page or home page.
Time-based
It is important to set time limits for SMART goals to work and be measured.
You are not alone if you find yourself bewildered by web stats or simply avoiding them altogether. Do you cringe when someone asks you for reporting about the annual return on your web marketing investment? If so, it’s time to conquer your fears and follow our easy guide to defining, tracking and reviewing your web marketing objectives. Whether your website is a large, small, basic or custom, you must have clearly defined SMART website goals. This will allow you to monitor and establish whether the website is performing as it should, and in return, providing you with your return on investment! If you would like with determining your goals, or setting up your SMART goals, contact WebExpress today for a FREE consultation.
