Every once in a while, a brand– or in the most recent case, a whole state– will draft and post a social media or standard marketing campaign so poorly thought out you wish you had been in the boardroom when it was approved. Rarely aiming for offense, the brands quickly become social media cannon fodder, apologizes, and the populace moves on to the next blunder. They succeed in that these gaffs get people to talk about the brand, but the effect on their reputation is rarely worth the chatter. Here are five marketing mess-ups to avoid and why they didn’t work.
Category: Marketing
Craft an Instagram Bio Like a Boss
Ah, the wonderful world of Instagram. Did you know that June of 2018, Instagram had one billion users scrolling and double-tapping photos for that month alone?
One. Billion. Users.
That is a significant amount of people utilizing the platform. Instagram is different from other platforms such as Facebook in various ways. For example, Instagram is a heavily image-based platform where people and communities gather around images specifically, where other platforms such as Twitter or Facebook are more copy based with many more options to build out a profile. This is one of the more unique things about Instagram versus other accounts is its simplicity. Being largely a photo-based platform connected now with Facebook, along with the rise of 3+ smartphone cameras, we’d say that Instagram isn’t going anywhere soon.
An Instagram bio is something that many users don’t think much about. You have 150 characters and a link to communicate your brand. If you think about it, the bio is the “greeting” of your account. Social media accounts can be and often are extensions to your brand, so how you craft your bio is a reflection of the brand you are wanting to communicate with the one billion users who are scrolling. An Instagram bio is not a separate part of your profile: it is apart of your profile. Your Instagram feed and your Instagram bio are one message; and that message matters. So what are some tips on crafting an Instagram bio like a boss?
- The first rule is that there are no rules when it comes to creating a bio. There are best practices, but as is relevant for all social media, there isn’t one set, hard drawn line in the sand saying that this is the only right way to do something. So we encourage experimentation! Think about your brand. What do you want to communicate? Do you want a lot of information? Remember: you have 150 characters to work with.
- Let your bio be a call to action. This means using verbs, for example, is a good idea. Think about what the “one thing” you want your brand to communicate, and then craft that for your bio. Then add a call-to-action directing your audience to the link you have there.
- This brings us to the next principle: Make your bio link count. This is important. Let this be an extension of the one message you want to communicate. If you have any links you’d like to direct people to try signing up for a free multi-link account such as Linktree to house the various places you’d like to direct people to.
- Another tip would be to be creative with the layout of your bio. It can be tricky, but adding things like line breaks within your bio can help take it to the next level by creating a list format that is quite popular. But if you’re like us, you’ve bumped into the frustration knowing exactly how to create a different bio layout within the app. To get around this, try logging into your Instagram account through a desktop browser. There, you will be able to add all the line breaks your heart could desire.
- Next, try adding an emoji to your bio to really catch people’s attention! Sometimes this can feel inappropriate, but understanding that the goal of social media and the context of these emoji can be different than traditional business formatting will help you make the jump. Just make sure that if you do use emojis that they are on-brand with your profile and/or business. Some great ways to use emojis for the more professional profiles can be the telephone emoji to add a business number, a laptop emoji to link a website, or a world emoji to indicate that your business is worldwide.
- Our last tip would be to utilize hashtags if you see fit. This can be a great way to create greater discoverability of your page, brand, ideas, or products. Hashtags can also be a great marketing tool if you have a business or idea you are promoting. Don’t forget to change your bio regularly, especially if you have a promotion going on. Remembering that your bio is a part of your profile, not a separate entity, will help you grow in valuing the importance of the bio. So use those hashtags to help your profile become more discoverable!
There is no one way to craft the perfect Instagram. The choice is completely up to you and the message you want to communicate.
Remember that you only have 150 characters and a link to use – so make your bio count. Craft it around the “one thing” you want to communicate. Don’t forget to make it a call to action by potentially using verbs that direct your audience to specific links. Log into Instagram on your desktop to be able to get creative with your bio’s layout that you aren’t able to perform in-app. Sprinkle in some emojis that are on-brand that will catch people’s eye, along with creating greater discoverability by utilizing hashtags. As you implement some of these best practices, you will be crafting a bio like a boss quicker than someone can create a new boomerang.
Let us help you not only craft that incredible Instagram bio, but also take your company to the next level. Give us a call to discuss all the ways we at The AD Leaf ® can help you not only create compelling bios, but also capture a greater audience through engaging, creative, and unique content tailored just for you. Call us today at 321-255-0900.
A Business-Owner’s Guide to Instagram Stories
More than 500 million people post and view Instagram stories every single day. That is the population of an entire continent! Instagram stories are one of the most popular and most beneficial tools for both users and marketers. As a business owner, it is now critical to add Instagram Stories into your marketing strategy.
Instagram stories are short posts that are pinned to the top of every user’s home page that disappear after 24 hours. They are ultimately “prime real estate” considering that your posted Story is now the first thing that all of your followers see when they log in. There is a colorful ring around a profile to indicate if something is added to a story. Having something posted to your Instagram Story increases the likelihood that your profile will draw attention to users.
Creating Instagram Stories is just like creating a regular post. From the home page, swipe left or click the camera icon in the top left-hand corner. You can either choose to take a picture or video in the moment, or upload from your camera roll. There are several filters, stickers, and tags to choose from. Like traditional posts, the user is able to add hashtags and location tags for anyone to see that looks up that tag on explore. Making your posts more exciting and more visually appealing will catch the attention of more users and will be more likely to drive engagement.
Now that you know how to create Instagram Stories…what’s next?
Using Instagram Stories to promote a business or even to just get your name out there is fairly simple because there are so many options. Research shows that posting on an Instagram Story at least once a day is the most beneficial. This shows followers and other users out there that your page is alive! People will be more likely to engage with your content and join the community of your page. Stories allow for quick, in the moment updates of how your business operates. The priority is to show your audience something more about you and what you offer. This helps to create an informative and engaging community that people will want to join by following.
So get posting! Here are our ideas and tips about how to use Instagram Stories for business:
#1 Behind the Scenes Action
Give your followers sneak peeks or access to content that usually wouldn’t be posted on your feed. This adds more excitement and creates a better chance of someone becoming interested in your page and your business.
#2 Turn posts into stories
Is there something you posted on the main feed that you don’t want to lose into the vast sea that is Instagram posts? Encourage your followers to visit your post by sharing it on your story. Simply click the arrow icon next to the like and comment button on the post you would like to share, and choose “Add post to your story.” Users can then tap on the post in the story and it will take them directly to the full post on your profile.
#3 It’s a way to post more frequently
We all know those accounts that bombard your feed with posts every hour, and you have no choice but to unfollow. Unlike regular posts, instagram stories allow you to post multiple things to share more information in one convenient place without annoying your followers. You can use Instagram’s bulk stories uploader button found in the upper right-hand corner when browsing through your camera roll to select multiple items to make multiple Stories.
#4 Share posts from followers and fans
Instagram Stories are a great way to share what your followers are putting out there. Featuring followers on your profile encourages them to continue posting about your business which is also seen by all of their followers. Promoting this encourages your business to be advertised to a larger audience for free! You can repost things on your Instagram Story such as when someone leaves a good review, shares a picture of your product, or posts at your location.
#5 Engagement tools and stickers
In addition to stickers and hashtags, Stories have engagement features which drive audience participation. These tools include a poll, multiple choice quiz, questions, countdown, and a slider tool with an emoji of your choice. Use these to learn about what your audience enjoys and what they want to see more of.
#6 Link directly to shop or website
Business profiles with more than 10,000 followers have the option to link a website directly to an Instagram Story. The user simply swipes up and it redirects them to your website instantly. People are more likely to purchase a product or visit a website if it is convenient for them. With this tool, it takes no more than a second for them to be on your website or wherever you want them redirected to.
These all sound like wonderful ideas, but do these Stories really disappear after only 24 hours? Well yes….and no. The story itself on the top of the homescreen will in fact go away after 24 hours. However, you have the option to create Instagram Story Highlights which save these archived posts directly to your profile under your bio. These highlights allow for viewing of the previously posted story forever! There is no limit to how many highlights you can have, so if you’d like, you can have different themes of highlights for different types of posts. This allows your followers to easily view something that they are looking for or for something that interests them.
Instagram Stories are becoming one of the best places to increase exposure, drive engagement and improve brand awareness. Now that you know the basics, take your phone out and get snapping!
We here at the AD Leaf have a staff of trained social media marketing professionals to help you improve your social media utilizing tools such as Instagram Stories. We’ll help your business get the exposure it needs on all social media platforms. Give us a call at 321-255-0900 to schedule an appointment with us.
Spying on Your Competitors With Facebook Ad Library
Anyone who has done even one Facebook Ad has had the same question: How does my competition do it? Whether good, bad, or ugly, it’s both best practice and human nature to want to know how your competition is advertising and who they’re targeting. However, what used to be a guessing game is becoming a bit clearer thanks to Facebook’s push to be more transparent to its base, allowing you to “spy” on your competitors.
While you won’t get a direct listing of who a particular ad is targeted toward (you can only gain insight into that by being a part of the target audience and seeing the ad in your feed) you will get clues to help you piece together your Facebook Ad strategy, which, if you’re marketing nerds like us, is like Christmas morning! There are two ways to go about spying on your competitor’s ads: through their page itself and the Facebook Ad Library.
The first way is to look at the page transparency right on the Facebook page itself. Go to the page you’d like more information on, click “see more” next to Page Transparency, and voila! Here you’ll see the history of the page, the location(s) where the page is managed, and the ad(s) the company is currently running. It will also give you the option to click through to the Ad Library, where you can see a history of what ads the company has run in the past.
The second way is to skip the page and go right to the Ad Library itself. Once there, you can search either by a company or by topic. When searching by topic, you’re able to take a look at any ad that matches the criteria that you search for. It can take a few tries to get your search keywords right, but it is worth the added effort. In addition to what you can see through the Page Transparency, you can also click to see how much they have spent on individual ads and as a total of all ads. This not only helps you to set your own budget, but it also shows you how successful their ads have been at targeting, which is key information. A low spend on a long-running ad tells you there is ad space to be won with proper targeting.
The information you can gain from Facebook Ad spying isn’t perfect and does rely on you correctly drawing conclusions. Still, it can show you what types of ads your competitors are running, what they look like, and how much they’re spending, which are good weapons to have when creating your own ad.
If you’re reading through this and it’s coming off a bit like a foreign language, that’s okay! This information is designed for people who already have a high-level knowledge of Facebook Ads. That’s where we come in. Let us flex our marketing prowess and give you expert social media recommendations based on this in-depth analysis. Give us a call today at 321-255-0900 or email us at info@theadleaf.com to schedule your one-on-one Facebook Ads discovery session.
Three Tips to Help Your Writing Not Suck
So you are about to publish your client’s next post on their social media platforms. You skim it one last time, slide the mouse over the longed-for “publish” button, and…click.
It’s away.
Transmitted.
Flying through the internet.
Public. Seen. Exposed.
But what happens if you don’t have a basic understanding of composing well written and compelling copy? Failing to proofread your own work can be detrimental to the success of the client you are representing, and the firm you work with. We are professionals here, so the way in which we conduct our work, including our written conduct, should reflect this! But if you do not have a frame of reference and some basic best practices under your belt, and you publish your work…who knows what could happen.
See, if you are in Social Media Marketing, you most likely have to face this obviously large giant, glaring down at you. It’s up to you and up to me to develop our skill set so we can slay that giant, and prosper everyone around us. While it’s true that people make mistakes, as professionals, it is our goal to prosper others, we need to do everything we can to ensure that our work is the best it can be, and there are plenty of smiles not fading under a metaphorical sun.
So how can we better engage with our audience, produce eye-catching content, and keep the smile alive? Below are 3 tips for writing better, stronger content.
- Grammarly – This one is basic but absolutely essential. Grammarly is a free extension that you can download (they also have a Pro version that you can pay for) that is essentially spell-checker. As you are creating copy for your clients and you are typing furiously across the keyboard, it will gently point out when you misspell a word. There is nothing worse than composing an email, an important response, or even worse…a social media post, and finding a glaring typo. The dread! Typos create an unprofessional view of not only yourself but also the clients you are representing. This is one problem that can be easily resolved by downloading the Grammarly extension. It’s free and keeps your content looking that much more professional for your client base.
- Open Loops – I remember watching The Office a couple of years back. There was an episode where Jim and Pam finally (and quite scandalously if I might add) kiss. It was the long anticipated moment that we all deep down hoped for because they were so obviously into each other, and well…Roy was not the nicest guy. But then the episode cut and at that point, I thought to myself, “Wait, what? Do they get together? Will they date? Will Roy punch Jim in his face?” So naturally, I binge-watched the next 10 episodes. Why did I do this? This was not an accident. The producers created a psychological effect called an Open Loop which “pulled” me to want to watch the next episode (or 10). The lack of resolution made me continue. Resolution is something we all crave. We can implement this same psychological principle to generate more leads. We need to create Open Loops within our copy that was to pull the audience to “watch 10 more episodes” of whatever “show” you are playing. Create a question or something that draws the reader in to continue reading by dangling something in front of them without giving everything upfront. This is an Open Loop.
- Star, Chain, Hook – The Star is you/your business/what you offer. The Chain is the surrounding, supporting evidence that validates the Star. Lastly, the Hook is the call to action. The key ingredient in this writing formula is the chain. The chain is the supporting facts/statistics/analytics/evidence that validates you and what you are offering (the Star). This is the factual and emotional argument that you are right, and your audience needs to join you. These facts form a chain that envelopes you to your future clients. This is where the call to action comes in. So you’ve presented the Star (you as a company or your services) and you have also laid out the Chain (the facts as to why going with you is more advantageous) and now it’s time for the Call to Action. At this point, you want to gently put pressure to encourage your readers to make a decision. Like Voldemort from Harry Potter. Just kidding. But you get the idea. Present who you are. Lay out the chain links of why you are the winner to go with, and then ask them to join your dark army.
Let’s say you are representing a coffee company’s social media campaign. What does this company’s definition of success look like? This is the motivation behind the star you are presenting to the public. This is the question that you are answering for others. Why should they buy their coffee? Figure this out, and present the star proudly and confidently to the general public. After this shiny beautiful star is presented, it’s time to reinforce why it’s the best coffee. It’s time to describe, link by link, evidence by evidence, why their coffee is the best. You could describe the low carbon footprint the company makes, the exquisite attention to detail they pour over every cup of coffee they make, and the social impact they strive to achieve. Lastly, the hook. A hook grabs people. Now we lay before our audience not only the reasons why this coffee is better than all others, but the reason they need it. This coffee is ethically sourced. This coffee supports these farmers. This coffee is the way coffee is supposed to be made. These hooks are nudging people to make a choice. This choice can be blatant: “Come on by today” or it can be not as obvious “We are open all day Saturday”. The choice is yours as you factor in other elements from your campaign.
With these 3 principals, your copywriting skills will hit the stratosphere! There are an endless plethora of social media marketing resources out there that are available. A lot of this content was inspired from content on Buffer’s website which is another great resource for those wanting to learn.
The marketing game is entirely other-centric. Our job is to help you and your job do well. To win. And because when you win, we win. By being proactive, we close the gap in preventing mistakes, creating better content, crushing the competitors, and making the world a better place. Let’s get writing!
Getting More Out Of Your CMS
Every Content Management System or CMS has its own sets of advantages and disadvantages. A CMS really gives the power to website creators and website owners to add content and change or modify it as needed. How well it can build a website for your business depends on your skills to deploy it and market it. Here are some useful facts to consider when trying to get the most out of your CMS.
Customization
Every CMS allows for some amount of customization, some allow a lot more than others with the availability of themes and plugins. Plugins are what really allow you to expand on what your CMS is capable of right out of the box. Many CMSs can be enhanced with add-ons and plugins that can turn a basic blog into an e-commerce site, a forum, or a web application. Your plans for the new site could steer you towards one or two Content Management Systems that offer the plugins that you’ll need.
Usability
You don’t need knowledge of HTML or CSS to edit your website if you use a CMS. a CMS offers editing tools are provided for you in a clean and simple way and there’s very little to learn. Some CMSs do include complex content editors that are similar to popular document processing software, and some let you edit page content in a live view. If you ever have a problem using your CMS, many of the popular platforms have very large and well-established communities full or users that extend their expertise and help users with solving their problems on the platform.
SEO Responsiveness
You should never use a CMS platform that does not assure you about the site’s search engine optimization. While it’s true that most CMSs are equipped with search optimization tools, their effectiveness varies. You won’t be able to make your website prominent in the search engines without the proper tools that are needed to boost a site’s rank position. You need to be careful in picking the platform that has inbuilt SEO features or SEO features that can be easily added with the help of a plugin.
If you aren’t using a content management system to manage your website content, making the switch will certainly save you a lot of time, money, and frustration. The key is to choose the right CMS that closely aligns with the functions, extensions, and flexibility that you require.
7 Reasons Why PPC is Vital To Your Business
Pay-Per-Click marketing is like the gold rush. Everyone is flocking to the land, but only a few come out with more riches than they know what to do with. PPC marketing is very challenging, unbelievably frustrating at times, but it’s worth it. Actually, it’s more than worth it. Think about it. You have the ability to show thousands of potential customers your ads all day, and night, every single day of the week. Why wouldn’t you want to do that? Continue reading and I will go over 7 reasons why PPC marketing is vital to growing your business.
- Pay-Per-Click
One of the reasons why this business model works and works well is because you only pay when someone clicks on your ad hence the name “Pay-Per-Click” or PPC Marketing.
Your ads can appear on searches but if a user doesn’t click, you don’t pay.
Your goal is to appear when your services are needed and wanted.
The whole point to PPC marketing is to appear in front of users who are in need, and properly offer your solution to their problem.
- You’re in Control
Yes I know we’re advertising on Google’s platform and all, but we’re not at their mercy. We (the advertisers) are still very much in control of our success. Here are the following things we are in control of.
- Which keywords trigger our ads to be shown
- Which keywords we DON’T show up for
- How much we spend
- When our ads show up
- What our ads say
- Who we show up for (E-Mail list)
The things we’re in control of is utterly important. Do your due diligence when it comes to keyword research, negative keyword research, the latest trends, and be sure to test until you find your winning formula!
- Google Analytics
One of your greatest allies!
Google analytics eliminates any and all confusion as to what works in your PPC marketing campaigns. Google lets you know which keywords are performing the best, what search terms your ads are appearing for, what time of day your ads are being clicked on, and much more.
This tool was created by Google tool to help us advertisers make informed decisions about our campaigns, and how to optimize them accordingly.
- Tracking Conversions
How do you know if your campaigns are successful or not?
That’s where conversion tracking comes into play.
Conversion tracking allows you to know which aspects of your campaign are working, and which ones are not (in terms of performance)
AdWords allows you track phone calls, app downloads, e-mail sign-ups, sales, leads, etc
Conversion tracking is one of the most important parts of daily campaign management, and conversion tracking should be set up as soon as possible.
We don’t want to spend money on clicks, and not know for a fact if they’re converting or not.
Be sure to set up conversion tracking as soon as possible!
- Unlike SEO, Pay Per Click Marketing Can Yield Better Results & Do it Faster!
Don’t get me wrong, SEO is one of the most important parts of a great digital marketing strategy, but it takes a long time (I’m talking several months) to see results.
On the other hand, Pay-Per-Click marketing can have your ads on Google in front of your ideal customer in just several hours.
Let’s go over some of the benefits of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- It’s cost-effective (you never pay for a click)
- Increase brand awareness
- SEO can decrease your Cost Per Acquisition
- SEO builds trust and credibility
Let’s go over the downsides of Search Engine Optimization
- Takes an incredibly long time to see results
- Appear below paid ads
- Most people don’t go past the first couple of results (aka the paid ads)
Benefits of Pay-Per-Click Marketing
- Fast Results
- Accurate Results
- Trackable Conversions
Downsides to PPC Marketing
- Costs money
- Daily monitoring
- Constant optimization
- Never ending testing
Both SEO, and PPC have their pros and cons, but the best way to see fast, accurate, and trackable results is through PPC. To rank your page on Google using SEO will take you months, and even when you’re in top position for organic searches; you’ll still be below the paid ads.
- Constant Testing is Encouraged!
When you’re a PPC manager the only thing that’s constant is change and why are we constantly testing, tweaking, and messing around with ads?
The question is, why aren’t you?
As a PPC manager, your job is to find a winning formula and duplicate it over, and over, and over again. That’s the only way to increase business for your client and keep them happy.
Here’s an important tip to remember… Not everything you test will be successful!
Don’t be discouraged by this instead think of it as a blessing, you figured out a way that didn’t work, so that eliminates one more thing that you have to test.
Your winning formula is out there! You just need to keep testing!
How do you know if one of your strategies is working or not?
Use Conversion Tracking and Google Analytics!
Because of these two amazing tools, you don’t have to guess whether or not something works. You’ll have empirical data that will show you if it’s working or not.
- Remarketing
What is remarketing?
Have you ever been to Amazon started browsing around, maybe you even added an item or two into your cart and now everywhere you go those same products seem to follow you?
That’s remarketing folks.
Remarketing is showing your ads to users that have been to your website, took an action on your ad, or have added an item to their cart.
If you have 100 clicks on your ad, and 20 of those users become customers you have a 20% conversion rate. But you may be asking, what about the remaining 80%?
You’ve already spent money getting them to come to your website, they clicked on your ad for a reason, so why not pursue them some more?
It’s much easier to convert a prospect into a customer if they see your advertisements over and over again
What’s so great about remarketing?
Remarketing is amazing because you get to target users that already interacted with your ad in one way or another, and remarketing costs a fraction of what a normal PPC campaign costs
If a remarketing campaign is setup properly, it can get you results for cents on the dollar and be sure to use remarketing as a part of your overall marketing strategy for maximum return on your investment.
As you learn more, and more about how PPC Marketing can positively impact your business; you’ll quickly realize that it can generate quality leads at a fair price, and at an incredible rate of speed. PPC is a hard beast to tame, but once you get the hang of it the results can be astonishing!
Google My Business Setup Guide
You’ve heard all sorts of hoopla about the internet, and how it affects your business, but have you taken any action? How many customers are you missing out on simply because your business isn’t listed on the world’s most popular search engine, Google? Those days are over, and your shift to promoting, and showcasing your business online starts today with Google My Business!
Introduction
At this point, you’re thinking two things.
- What in the world is Google My Business?
- Why in the world should I care?
Google My Business is a feature that Google offers to businesses that puts them right on the search engine map (literally) as well as Google’s organic search results, and Google+. The reason you NEED to care about Google My Business (GMB for short) is because this feature makes it unbelievably easy for customers, and clients to quickly and easily find your business no matter which device they are using.
This fantastic tool goes beyond the old simplistic features such as including your hours of operation, and your phone number. Google has made it very simple for everyone to navigate and use this feature; users can even find driving directions, or call you directly from the listing. Best part of it all? It’s FREE! The initial investment of creating, and setting up a Google My Business account can yield some amazing returns.
Setup
Alright, you’ve made it this far, let’s get your company or business listed with Google! To get started, the first order of business is to navigate Google’s new business page as shown in the picture below.
By clicking the “START NOW” button, you’ll be prompted with the following screen…
- Simple stuff, enter the name of your business
- Next, you’ll be prompted to fill this location form
- Pick your location on the map
- Users will be able to see your business location on Google Maps as well
- Name the type of business that you run (i.e – carpet cleaning, hvac, dental office, toy store, etc)
- You can add your phone number here to add a contact method
- You can also add your business address
- After you fill everything you’ll see this screen, simply hit “Continue”
- On this interface, you’re able to add and edit photos, phone numbers, hours of operation, business addresses, and virtual tours
- Once the progression bar reaches 100% then you’re fully finished with the setup process and can show off your awesome business listing
- You can make changes at any time by adding new photos, changing your location, etc
Conclusion
Google My Business setup is now complete! You can now go to sleep knowing that people who are looking for your business will find it, no matter what time of day they might be looking for it. Update this page on a semi-regular basis with new photos, and/or any major changes that may occur within your business (i.e hours of operation changing) An up-to-date, and strong online presence ensures potential customers that you’re on top of your game.
3 Quick Tips to Mastering PPC Marketing
PPC mastery takes a number of years and countless mistakes along the way. From learning all of the technical terms to managing the interface itself, it takes a lot of time and dedication to reach mastery level. This article is designed to give you quick info blast on PPC mastery, and give you the few key things you need to focus on when it comes to running your campaigns.
Quick Tip #1: Run Mobile Campaigns
According to a 2015 study, more searches were conducted on mobile devices (phones and tablets alike) than from desktop computers.
It makes sense the more you think about it. Nowadays people are glued to their smart devices. No matter if they’re on a train, at work, or even at dinner with friends and family; people can’t seem to put these devices down. People feel as though their phone is an extension of themselves and their personality.
Digital advertisers can make great use of this situation, and run highly targeted ads to the most amount of people.
Be sure to test which platforms work best for your business or clients and really dive deep into what makes those platforms so attractive to the end users.
Quick Tip #2: Retargeting/Remarketing
What is remarketing?
Remarketing is a clever way of advertising to those who visited your website but didn’t perform your desired action once they got there.
Essentially, it allows you to position very targeted ads in front of a highly relevant audience.
Why is this important?
The users clicked on your ad for a reason, in one way or another your ad interested them enough to click on it
Since you know the user has interest in your site you can bring them back for a much cheaper cost-per-click
Quick Tip #3: Use Ad Extensions for AdWords Campaigns
This quick tip is Google AdWords specific and is a very important piece of your ad puzzle.
Ad extensions give you more virtual real estate by making your ad the biggest and baddest one on the search engine results page
What are ad extensions?
Ad extensions are additional pieces of information about your product, or service.
Ad extensions can send users to another part of your website, increase the visibility of your ad, increase the quality of your ads score.
Here are a few ways you can use ad extensions:
- Location (Great for local businesses)
- Sitelinks (Take users to different pages on your site)
- Call Extension (add your phone number)
- Seller ratings (showcase your high rating)
By including ad extensions, your ads will gain a lot of traction and bring your more business.
Conclusion
Those are my 3 quick tips that you can implement immediately, and see the fruits of your labor in a short time frame.
Be sure to test the following tips above, and keep track to see how they impact your campaigns.
Best of luck to you on your journey to PPC mastery!
3 Content Marketing Trends For 2018
Content marketing will always be evolving. For 2018, content still remains to be king of all marketing strategies and continue to be inexpensive compared to paid advertising. The key to having consistent success with content marketing is to look out for future trends and embrace the changes as soon as possible.
Here are our 3 Content Marketing trends for 2018:
- Content Production: Producing content is a very inexpensive way to acquire new customers. Google, Facebook, and Apple are investing thousands of dollars in original content for a reason. Small business owners like yourself should do the same for the same reason. Having high-quality content posted on a consistent basis will help to grow an audience and provide you with free leads in the long term.
- Video Marketing: Although having well-written content is excellent and should continue to be implemented, the future of content marketing is video. I believe all marketers can agree that video marketing will be dominant for many years to come. When you can combine video with your content marketing strategy it will give you the best chance of gaining new customers. Besides video, companies can do live streaming. If your business is having a special event, it would be awesome to have a live feed for your customers if they couldn’t attend to it.
- User-Generated Content: User-generated content, especially on social media platforms, acts as proof that a business’ goods and services are what they say they are. People who are on platforms like Instagram can trust the individual promoting the product and would be very interested in learning more about it and how it can also benefit them. Testimonials also serve a similar purpose and can be posted on your website for display.
Conclusion
Content marketing like any marketing strategy changes over time. It’s always best to see what the latest trends are and implement them to see if they truly work or not. It is therefore imperative that you do all that is possible to stay ahead of your competitors before the trends become obsolete.