Photo by Sofiaperesoa (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Content marketing and social media marketing can be highly labor intensive and time consuming for businesses. In fact, according to a marketing survey conducted by Curata - creating original, valuable and high-quality content on a regular basis is one of the biggest challenges that most companies are facing. Publishing content regularly, marketing content through the right channels, responding to consumers and readers, managing social media pages, etc. can become a monstrous task for a company. So how can companies ensure that their brands are being promoted effectively without too much effort? Look to your loyal and satisfied customers.
If you encourage them properly, they will create and share your content and will become your brand advocates on social media channels – all without being paid a single penny! Read on to know how to promote brand advocates from your customer base.
Critical decisions for targeting an international audience Countries to consider
The moment you decide to have an international social media marketing campaign, you need to choose the countries you want to target. It is impossible to target users in all countries as there are so many different social media networks and your campaigns could become unmanageable. Also, you cannot possibly learn the cultures, languages and societal nuances of every country.
So choose a few countries that matter the most, become knowledgeable about these countries and target their people with your campaigns. Most companies choose growing economies and countries where their services and products have a great demand. Surveys show that people in Russia, China and Brazil are most active on social networks and these countries are also growing rapidly. So it is a wise choice to target these countries.
Choice of social media channels
Facebook and Twitter are the obvious choices as they are very popular in most countries and have vast user bases. Still, companies should not limit their campaigns to these channels
only. Pinterest, Instagram and other image sharing social media platforms are excellent for showcasing products and services and both these channels have user bases that rival that of Twitter and Facebook.
Visual content is always more appealing than textual content so create videos, Infographics and images and market them through platforms like YouTube, Instagram and Pinterest. Also, after you have chosen the countries you want to target your campaigns at, use the most popular social networking platforms for your campaigns – preferably in appropriate local languages.
Type of content
No matter what language you are creating your content in, it needs to be relevant, original and valuable to customers. You need to be very careful about the culture, laws and acceptable norms of a country before creating content that is going to be read by its people. Provocative and erotic content can land you in a lot of trouble in certain countries and your content could get banned or censored.
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Marketing is a complex and confusing activity, especially for small businesses and start-ups. Most entrepreneurs are looking to make business contacts and attract a more professional audience. LinkedIn is a great platform for this purpose.
It is no longer just a place for recruiters anymore - the “Company Pages” feature can help businesses garner attention as well. This feature helps companies communicate with and reach out to the right kind of customers, prospects, partners, peers, etc. on LinkedIn. A business can post information about job opportunities, its niche market, company blog updates, company news, and much more on its Company Page. Posting company information on LinkedIn pages means that you are making sure the information reaches a target audience. Here are some useful tips to help you set up a great Company Page on LinkedIn.
Complete your profile
This is the first and most basic step to creating a strong presence on LinkedIn. First impressions are important. Imagine the reaction of a prospect when he/she looks at a drab and incomplete Company Page. An incomplete profile shows that you are not interested. Completing your profile will not only make a good first impression, but will also help LinkedIn connect you with like-minded people.
Get people to follow you
This is much easier said than done. One way to increase the number of followers you have is to encourage employees to follow the Company Page on LinkedIn - this will create a buzz on the page and more people are likely to follow suit. Similarly, you can encourage existing customers, peers and other similar LinkedIn users to follow your Company Page on LinkedIn. Having a substantial number of followers on LinkedIn will help your company become an authority figure in your niche market.
Post good content
You can get as many followers as you want by asking them to follow you, but you will have no credibility without valuable content that is of some use to your followers. After you have created a complete profile, make sure to post useful content that your audience will appreciate. You can post content – textual and visual – about your company, products, future plans, niche market, etc.
Photo [public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The survey also shows that most social media users follow brands on social media platforms for content. Facebook is the largest social media platform with over a billion active users. Effective content marketing on this platform allows companies to potentially reach a very large and global customer base. So how can a brand or content marketer ensure proper content marketing on Facebook? Here are a few tips that can help companies to improve their content marketing efforts on Facebook.
Place excellent calls to action
Facebook users and your fans and followers may read your articles and want to engage further with your brand, but without effective calls to action they won’t know what to do. To ensure that your fans engage with your posts, you need to tell them exactly how they can do so. Your posts may contain the link to your article but without a good call to action in the post, Facebook users may not follow the link. Use questions in your calls to action and always keep them positive. Make sure that the call to action is informative and that the post includes an image.
For example, if yours is a fashion brand and your article describes winter fashion, the Facebook post linking to the article could be “Do you want to know how to be a fashionista in the winters? Our experts have come up with five tips that will show you how! Share these tips with fellow fashionistas!”
Post regularly and frequently
Posting frequently extends the engagement that fans have with your brand and ensures that they do not forget your brand. It is recommended that brands post at least once daily to expect good customer engagement. Companies that are able to create valuable and share-worthy content should post on Facebook as frequently as possible. If your brand is not able to create a lot of content, then you can share content from leaders and experts in your industry. Keep in mind that the posts should be short and informative so that fans know what to expect from the article by skimming through the Facebook post linking to it.
Include visual content
Visual content like videos, images and inforgraphics is far more attractive than textual content. In fact, people engage more with visual content than with plain textual content. The newsfeeds of Facebook users are crammed with posts from various friends and company pages and your posts must be able to stand out among the flood of posts in newsfeeds. The best way to ensure this is by using eye-catching images and videos in your posts. The company page of your brand must also have relevant cover and profile photos such as the company logo so that fans know exactly who the post is from.
Create content that fans find valuable
Fans will engage more with content that they find helpful. Content that addresses problems faced by consumers and offers solutions is the best type of content. You need to listen to your fans and understand what they need and create content accordingly. The easiest way to find out what fans want is by creating and publishing different types and pieces of content and monitoring the interaction fans have with the content. All business pages can use Facebook Insights to gather statistics and information about the success of each post. Use this feature to figure out user engagement with your posts and create content accordingly.
Pinterest [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
Pinterest is not as well-known as Facebook or Twitter but it has garnered a lot of attention in the past year or two read more here .The site has been growing at a rapid pace and a number of businesses have started paying attention to what this virtual pinboard has to offer. The terms of agreement clearly state that Pinterest cannot be used for selling products, but businesses can always get creative and increase their brand visibility and value through the site. Here are some of the ways which can help your business leverage what Pinterest has to offer.
Invest some time
Anyone who has used social media platforms for marketing purposes will tell you that spending time on your campaign is very important. This aspect is even more pronounced in case of Pinterest. You need to build relationships with users who have a reputation for quality 'pins' on the site. When these users are in touch with you, the probability of them posting about your business increases. So, go for those users who get a lot of 'repins' and 'likes'. The repins and likes originate from a common interest and it is easier to then take the conversation to a platform like Facebook or Twitter, where you can build upon the relationship. Remember, being authentic is very important if you want to build such relationships.In the long run, hiring a company that specializes in social media services may be very effective.
Keep things simple
One of the reasons that Pinterest has garnered so much success is because it is extremely easy to use. Every user gets a board where they can pin images, which are of the same size. The best thing for a business is to continue with the theme of simplicity at Pinterest and create boards that are clean and clutter free. Also, make sure that every pinned photo has a link back to your site or wherever you want the person to go. Many people have cited Pinterest as a major contributor of traffic in their social media campaigns.
Connect your Pinterest page and your physical location
The relationship between your business and Pinterest should work in both ways. So, not only should you promote your business through Pinterest, you should also try and advertise your Pinterest promotions through your website or through the physical store. One way to do this is use the Pinterest button on your company website.
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Twitter is an excellent promotional platform for branded content. When leveraged smartly, it can drive a ton of traffic to your blog or website. Here are five tips savvy marketers use to grab eyeballs and social shares.
Keep it short and compelling
Short tweets (less than 100 characters) have been found to enjoy a higher interaction rate. Focus on promoting your blog or video with crisp, short and punchy tweets that pique interest. While this is easier said than done, you can get inspiration from those who do it best, such as Copyblogger's Brian Clark.
Your tweet doesn't always have to be the title of your blog, unless you deem it compelling enough, such as “SEO is Dead: Long Live OC/DC”, a Copyblogger tweet used to promote a blog by the same name. Or you can try what Hubspot does so well to generate interest in its blog posts, an example being “Do you have a good cold calling story?'' to promote its post “Tired Of Cold Callers? Add Your Phone Number To The 'Do Not Call' List”.
Use hashtags
Do #Oscars, #Superbowl, #RoyalBaby and #BostonMarathon sound familiar? They were the most popular hashtags of 2013. A study indicates that hashtag can double engagement by allowing you to connect with not just your followers but other Twitter users as well.
Hashtags operate like a keyword within your tweet. A hashtag is clickable, meaning that clicking on one will bring up a full search of people who are using it to tweet. You can add double or triple hashtags, such as #wimbledon#winners.
Use @mentions
Twitter mentions enable you to tag other Twitter users in your tweets. You can use mentions to get your tweets retweeted. For instance, if your blog post talks about a company or a prominent personality, you can mention them in a tweet linking back to your post. It wouldn't be unreasonable to expect that your tweet will be retweeted to their followers.
Include statistics and quotes where possible
Numbers and characters sometimes have more impact than words. Mia Farrow's “Over 500 human rights defenders are imprisoned in #Iran” is one among many examples. A tweet with a quote can get you 54 percent more retweets. Quotes from famous people seem to be irresistible for some reason, a behavior you can exploit to increase retweets and promote your content. A good example of a tweet with a quote is Godot Media's “Time wasted enjoying is not wasted – John Lennon”.
Take part in Twitter chats
A Twitter chat allows you to share your insights, tips and suggestions, gain new followers, get tips for future content and understand the type of information your new followers seek. It is a reputation and credibility building exercise that can generate more interest and trust in your blogs and other branded content.
Photo by Per Palmkvist Knudsen (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0] via Wikimedia Commons
Most businesses re now realizing the importance of eBooks in their overall marketing strategy. Unlike the short content that is published on blogs and social media platforms, eBooks can be very useful in increasing brand awareness as they can help you reach a wider audience.
eBooks are generally published to be read on e-readers and. Many people are now moving from desktops to hand-held devices like iPads and tablets that are perfect for such long form documents. There are several eBooks writing services available in the market today to help companies come up with excellent content for their books and publish them in the correct formats.
Benefits of Publishing ebooks
Lead Generation
All businesses need to find new customers and leads every day. eBooks have proven to be extremely successful when it comes to lead generation. Unlike in online articles and blog posts, people can place highly detailed content and images in books which are guaranteed to pique the interests of potential customers and leads. Also unlike online articles and posts, these books are downloadable. This allows potential leads to download such material and read them with more attention, at a leisurely pace, later on.
eBooks help you establish yourself as a credible source of information in the industry. People will trust your business and the information you provide. Any content that your business releases in the future will have a ready audience. Some businesses allow users to subscribe to company mailers through their eBooks. These mailers allow interested customers to get constant updates about the company via email.
Entice Potential Customers
eBooks are very effective in generating back-end sales. Create eBooks with content that will make your customers buy your products once they have read your eBooks. These books should clearly explain your products and services in a simple manner. Most eBooks are distributed for free as companies seek to benefit from the back-end sales that they create rather than generating revenues from the sale of these eBooks.
Make New Connections
eBooks are inexpensive to create and distribute and can easily be made available on the Internet. Make sure to keep the eBooks free of cost or at reasonable price so that more people are encouraged to download it. Businesses must also ensure that their eBooks have attractive graphics and designs to capture the attention of potential leads and customers. eBooks with interesting content are bound to be posted on various websites, blogs and forums. As the eBooks contain vital information, it is a good way to make new connections with peers within your industry. Use these eBooks to build your Rolodex as it were.
Tips to Create an Effective ebook
It takes time and effort to create eBooks and ensuring that interested people can download them for free is critical to the success of an ebook. Pack these books with other content formats that draw attention, like Infographics, graphs, stats and tips. Many creative content marketers have even created podcasts and videos with eBooks. The content in these documents should be relevant to your target audience and should make them want to download and share these documents.
Good content should not be restricted to company websites. It should be distributed to potential customers and leads via eBooks. eBooks writing services can help growing businesses create attractive and informative eBooks that can directly boost company revenues. Several successful businesspeople have outlined the ways to successfully market your brand and products using eBooks.
Share Content that Adds Value
Most importantly, the content of your eBooks must be accurate and enlightening, because your target audience can pick out good eBooks from bad ones based on the content. eBooks should have content that gives its readers confidence in the brand. The content should also be targeted towards different types of people based on geography, profession, culture and other such factors. Customers will treat you as an authority on the subject if the content is solid. This is where the services of good eBooks writers are essential. They will help you create useful and relevant content for your eBooks.
eBooks Should be Informative
Make sure that you understand what the customer wants. Scan your social network pages and interact with clients and customers to figure out what questions are asked the most and to identify the topics that need to be covered. Only after this analysis should marketers create eBooks. If your eBooks answer the burning questions that your customers have, it will undoubtedly be very successful. Make sure you provide information that is relevant to your customers and potential leads in these eBooks.
Use Digital Bookstores
Imagine the number of times your eBooks will be downloaded if they are placed in reputed eBooks marketplaces. Instead of placing eBooks on company websites and waiting for customers to download them, fill eBooks with relevant content that will help them get listed in digital publication marketplaces. It is also possible to submit your eBooks to these eBooks distribution websites. Such listings will help you market your company to a much larger audience.
Adopt Reasonable Pricing
There are no shipping, printing or storage costs for eBooks. As they are distributed via the Internet, it is an extremely cost effective method to boost any marketing strategy. As a result, they can be distributed to others for free or at a reasonable price. This will enable a worldwide audience to obtain your eBooks, which will in turn expand the reach of your marketing strategy.
Place a Call-to-Action
Businesses create eBooks with the intent of using it as a marketing tool. The readers of these eBooks must be excited and ready to be a part of the company. The eBooks must keep readers in anticipation of your next media offering. Make sure that the eBook has a call-to-action so that potential leads and customers know what to do or expect next. Place client testimonials and your contact details in the content of your eBook. A call-to-action will trigger a domino effect making your marketing strategy a greater success.
Ensure Compatibility with All Devices
The sudden growth in demand for eBooks can be attributed to the various devices that allow users to read books, articles and brochures on hand-held electronic devices. iPads, iPhones, Amazon Kindles, Android devices, Nook readers are some of the many devices that can be used to read eBooks. To ensure maximum share-ability, businesses must make their eBooks compatible with all these different devices. eBooks should be made available in different file formats and must be compatible with all digital screens. Also, care must be taken while designing graphics and text fonts for eBooks in ensuring that readers are able to read the eBooks without difficulty.
Although your brand may implement effective email marketing campaigns and exceptional social media marketing strategies using Facebook, Twitter and other popular platforms, the lack of an eBooks marketing strategy is an important marketing opportunity that will have been missed.
Photo by Cortega9 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Does your company or business have a dedicated blog of its own? Do you update the blog regularly with fresh and intriguing content? With the increasing importance being given to blogs, as depicted in this video, it is extremely important for your business to have a well updated and informative blog. Blogging has become one of the most reliable and widely accessed sources of information, and as such, it has become one of the best ways for your company to gain recognition. However, as the popularity and significance of blogging increases, the value of having engaging, interesting and accurate information increases as well.
In the modern competitive market, every small feature counts as important and can be just what your company needs to gain an edge over competition. This video outlines the importance and benefits of blogging for any business. It provides you with hard facts to summarize how popular blogging has become and how it can help your business thrive. Whether it’s lead generation or establishment as a trustworthy source of information for consumers, the benefits of a regularly updated blog are wideranging and numerous. See why your business needs to hurry up and start creating captivating content to be delivered on its blog. The following video shows the benefits of blogging based on statistics that clearly show how important blogging can be for a person/business.
How to Choose the Perfect Blog Platform for Your Business
When it comes to blogging, the manner in which you use this tool and the blogging platform you use, both impact your success rate.
Choosing the right platform becomes even more important when you are blogging for your business. Surveys reveal that Wordpress is the number one blogging site that internet users read, with Blogger coming a close second. But these are definitely not the only platforms you should use to blog for your business successfully. The answers to the following questions will help you find the ideal blogging platform for your business:
What is your blogging objective?
This is the first question that needs to be answered when you are deciding on a blogging platform for your business. If your blog is to be used as an extension of your business marketing efforts, you may decide to include ads. Ask yourself if you will be able to sustain blogging in the long run. Remember that some blog sites are more suited to professional blogging while others are for those who blog as a hobby. This question will let you choose the right blog platform type among the two.
How much are you willing to spend?
When you start blogging you may have to pay for the blog platform, the domain name or to host the blog. Some or all of these may be available for free depending on the platform. For example, with a Wordpress.com blog, you get the domain name and platform free as well as the hosting service. But some platforms, (like MovableType) charge you depending on the purpose of your blog and the number of blogs you have. Your budget is an important deciding factor in your blogging platform selection.
Where are your competitors blogging?
When it comes to your business, it always pays to know what the competition is doing. If a rival business is using a blogging platform with immense success, he has probably found the right one. You can simply follow his lead and use the same platform. But ensure that your blog has something more and something better to offer to the same niche audience. Otherwise, you simply cannot match his blogging success.
Keep the answers to these questions in mind when researching different blogging platforms for your business. The one that is in sync with your answers is the right one for you. A professional blog writing service can not only identify the best blogging platform for you, but also blog successfully on your behalf.
Blog Topics Businesses Must Avoid at All Costs!
Blogs help businesses attract more web traffic and establish companies or employees as thought leaders or experts in their field. But most business bloggers get too caught up in promoting their companies and products, forgetting that their audience wants more than just promotion from the blog! The rush to produce a large volume of content for blogs also sometimes pushes content writers to churn out poorly written blog posts on irrelevant topics.
Writing on the wrong topics can put off your readers and can in turn harm your content marketing campaign. So how can a content writer figure out what kind of topics to avoid when writing business blog posts? For starters, here are five types that every business blog writer must avoid:
Topics that have already been covered
When a company blog has been in existence for a few years and has a huge archive of blog posts, writers can get lazy and be tempted to repeat topics and content. This is a complete no-no! Repeating content is not only a bad SEO practice, it can also irritate your loyal readers. Your readers will definitely recall the original article and will be discouraged to continue visiting your blog for lack of new and interesting information.
Company press releases
There is no doubt about the fact that press releases are important for any company. Press releases let customers know what they can expect from your company and about new changes. However, press releases should never be published on company blogs. Press releases are purely promotional and they need to be distributed via appropriate channels. On a company blog, press releases can make readers think that the company blog is being used only to promote the company. Readers want valuable insights and information from company blogs, so don’t turn them away with press releases.
Same topics used by competitors
People almost always look for more than one source of information and your readers will definitely read your competitors’ blog posts too. If you are writing and publishing blog posts on the same topics as your competitors, readers will get the impression that you are copying topics and content from your competitors. You need to fill your blog with valuable, original and relevant content that cannot be found on other sites. Having such content is bound to give you an edge over your competitors.
Premature announcements
Many businesses make this mistake. When they enter into new partnerships or acquire big contracts, they make the mistake of announcing the news too quickly. Sometimes the news is announced when the deal is still being hashed out. If the deal falls through, then such businesses are forced to retract their announcements which can only make the companies look unprofessional. As a small business owner, you must make sure that all parties involved are okay with you making the announcement on your blog and announcements should be made only after everything is finalized.
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