Tag: digital marketing rochester ny

  • Tips For Content Optimization by Platform

    Creating content is hard. Between staying true to your brand values, cultivating engagement, and being creative, you’ve got your hands full. Even harder yet is keeping your content fresh across platforms. Why is content optimization so important and how do you do it? Let’s examine!

    Selecting the Right Platforms For Content Optimization

    a person consuming too much content

    Part of the challenge of consistently creating engaging content is selecting the right platforms. You have to not only know who your customers are and what they want but also where they spend their time. The latter part is especially important; you don’t want to be wasting time creating content few people will see or interact with. 

    Selecting the right platforms for your content goes beyond posting on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. It’s choosing the most effective media types to raise brand awareness, drive engagement, and engineer more conversions. That means taking advantage of things like videos, blogs, events, and even interactive content. 

    For example, maybe a blog would help interested customers move closer to making a purchase. But creating and implementing a blog on its own isn’t going to move the needle. What you need is content optimization. That means creating the blog post as part of a series directed at specific customer personas–and supplementing it via other platforms and channels. 

    Content Optimization Tips

    The most important thing to remember about content optimization is that you’re creating content not for your brand but for your audience. That means what you find interesting might be boring to your audience. Know your customers inside and out. That means knowing what they want, why they want it, and who they want to be. You’ll get more people interested in your content, which will ultimately drive more folks through the conversion funnel! 

    an infographic showing the different kinds of digital marketing content across channels like social media and email marketing.

    In terms of content optimization, be sure you’re using the right platform for its intended purpose. For instance, blog posts don’t belong on Twitter. A blog would be better suited to your website, supplemented by links and posts on Facebook or Instagram. The actual copy itself stays on your website.

    Another way to keep your content fresh and interesting is to lead with emotion. Whether that’s humor, empathy, or something in between, getting your customers emotionally involved is the key to creating an effective relationship with your brand. After all, emotion is the most important driver of purchasing decisions! Look to connect with your customers beyond their wallets and create emotionally-driven content. 

    Properly optimized content is effective content. If you plan your content optimization strategy in advance, however, you’ll be able to stick to your calendar to help create an effective plan. For example, you might want to improve website traffic and unique visitors–content optimization will help ensure all the content you create aligns with these goals. 

    Don’t Forget About User-Generated Content!

    The best part about user-generated content is you don’t have to create it yourself. The next best thing is, if properly optimized and implemented, it can be more effective than branded content.

    an infographic displaying the power of word of mouth marketing as a branding tool

    Plus, user-generated content shows that there are others with a connection to your brand. Real customer testimony is many times more likely than any brand messaging to inspire other customers to take action because it’s impartial. Why else would word of mouth advertising be so effective? While customers may doubt the authenticity of branded statements and messages, they’re more likely to believe the objectivity of a random customer who isn’t being paid to create that content. 

    User-generated content captures the attention of both your brand’s followers and the creator’s following, which means it’s a great way to boost your visibility! While you might not be able to nab a big-time influencer to create content on your brand’s behalf, sometimes quantity can trump quality. In other words, if you can create buzz around your brand from average people, it’ll be just as effective as if you landed a celebrity spokesperson!

    No Content is Bad Content

    Your brand can’t survive if your customers aren’t aware you exist. You also can’t expect to build a relationship with customers without having a personality for your brand–a personality you build through effective content marketing. Your content tells your customers not only what you do but who you are and why you do it, both of which are significantly more important than what products or services you offer. 

    Unless your content is out of left field, hypocritical, or contradictory, it’s probably not bad content. But if you can optimize your cross-channel content to drive customers through your conversion funnel, you’ll essentially be automating the sales process and building relationships simultaneously!

  • Five Copywriting Tips to Create Winning Content

    Sometimes writing copy is the toughest part of creating effective content. There’s a lot to balance–using the right language and keywords, selecting the right channels, and keeping it all interesting. Let’s look at five winning copywriting tips to help make your content more effective!

    Copywriting Tip 1: Keep it Simple

    Who is your audience? The average person reads at the 7th to 8th-grade level, which means your long-winded copy is probably going to get skipped. Unless your audience is more educated or verbose, keep your copy simple and direct. Use short sentences, try to use commas instead of periods, and keep the fancy words to a minimum. 

    Even for longer copy, make sure to capitalize on headings, subheadings, and short paragraphs. Before your reader actually reads content, they scan it. If it’s a lot of words, they’ll skip it. If it’s formatted properly and “easy to read”, they’re more likely to give it a go. 

    In most cases, write the same way you talk. Don’t write words you wouldn’t use conversationally. Think of most content as a conversation with your audience. How can you make sure they feel respected and understand your messages?

    Copywriting Tip 2: Don’t Overoptimize

    an SEO infographic

    Remember, your content should be written for humans, not computers. While it’s important to include the proper keywords for SEO purposes, forcing keywords not only makes the copy harder to read, it hurts your SEO efforts. Search engines can pick up when you’re trying to keyword-stuff–and they’ll penalize you for it. 

    Instead, try to incorporate the keyword(s) as often as you can–naturally. It’s okay to break up keywords or phrases with punctuation, articles, or prepositions, especially if it makes the copy read more naturally. Search engines can pick up on this and won’t penalize you for a slight alteration. 

    Titles, tags, and headings are also great places to capitalize on your short and long-tail keywords, so don’t try to stuff it all into the actual copy. This is most helpful for blogs–for longer, more specific keywords, it helps to put the blog title in the actual URL! 

    Copywriting Tip 3: Show What You Can Do For Your Audience

    Your natural instinct might be to boast the accolades and accomplishments of your brand, but how does that help your audience? Rather than write what you’ve done, write what you can do for your audience. People are much more interested in what you can do for them, and in most businesses, past performance is only as good as the customer’s last experience. 

    Be direct in stating how your brand, products, or services can solve real problems and meet your audience’s needs. Instead of “our product is great for X,” try something like “Never deal with X again thanks to our product!” 

    If possible, personalize your copy–especially if it’s interpersonal communications like emails or push notifications. Even taking the time to include your customer’s name goes a long way. 

    Copywriting Tip 4: Start With a Hook

    two people using tools for content creation to create digital marketing content on a computer.

    Scientists theorize that the human attention span is now shorter than that of a goldfish. Most people can’t pay attention to something for more than nine seconds, especially if they don’t find it interesting. Let’s face it: your customers probably won’t be inherently captivated by your marketing content. If you can hook them with the first sentence, however, they’re more likely to keep reading. 

    Capitalize on direct quotes, stories, statistics, and especially emotion. Copy that makes your reader feel something is more likely to inspire them to take action than something bland or uninspired. Plus, if nothing else, it’ll get them to pay attention! 

    Copywriting Tip 5: Inspire Action

    Before you write any copy, ask yourself what the purpose is. What are you trying to do? Are you trying to raise awareness, build interest, or capture more conversions? Since the goal of your content is to drive action, your copy can make a difference. Always include a call to action and try to create a sense of urgency. Even if your offer isn’t time-sensitive, you don’t want a potential customer to think too long on it. 

    Lead your customers to take the logical next step and act as soon as possible. Otherwise, they’re likely to forget about your offer altogether, and when they finally decide to take action, it might not be with you. 

    Follow These Tips and Start Seeing Results!

    Creating effective copy boils down to a few key components: keeping it simple, direct, and engaging. Hook your audience in the first sentence, keep them hooked by showing how you can improve their lives, and speak to them respectfully–and as a real person would. 

    If you follow these tips, you’ll create more effective copy–and you’ll start seeing more results, like improved engagement, more brand interest, and ultimately, more conversions!

  • How to Build a Successful Content Marketing Campaign

    Creating great content starts with interesting your audience. Building great content marketing campaigns takes it a step further. Not only are you getting folks interested in your product/service offerings, but you’re also building relationships. Let’s examine how to build a successful content marketing campaign from the ground up! 

    Strategy

    a cartoon rendering of a woman sitting on a stack of papers next to a computer showing social media SEO.

    The first part of developing a successful content marketing campaign is figuring out who the content is for. Define your audience and their needs. What are they looking for? Once you know who you’re trying to reach, it’s time to figure out how to reach them. That means selecting a format or medium for your main lead magnet. What’s going to attract people and make them want to be a part of your brand?

    Another way of looking at your content marketing strategy is through three rings inside one another. The outside ring refers to what your brand does. Inside that ring is a smaller ring; that refers to how your brand does what it does differently than everyone else. At the center is the most important ring–the ring that defines why you do what you do differently than everyone else. That’s where the heart of your content marketing campaign strategy comes from. 

    With your lead magnet and audience needs in mind, come up with a strategic and useful content plan to get people interested. Once you’ve got your content marketing campaign all planned out, it’s time to execute. 

    Execution

    Planning and mapping out content is one thing–executing it is another. The best way to execute a successful content marketing campaign is through devoted landing pages. Think of your content as a magnet that attracts people to that landing page. If additional content can inspire them to want/need your product or service, that’s as good as a cross-sell/upsell! 

    a robot and a human, symbolizing automated marketing

    Great execution starts with great research, organization, and copywriting. You have to really know what your audience is looking for. If you want to move folks through the funnel, your content has to be organized properly. In other words, each piece of content should have a specific function, whether it’s to raise awareness, drive interest, convert, solicit feedback, or something else. Finally, your copywriting needs to be on-point. Keep things direct, personal, and interesting!

    Each piece of your digital presence plays an important function in any successful content marketing campaign. For instance, your social media–a preferred channel for content–complements your website, which is subsequently complemented by email marketing, and so on and so forth. The more you take advantage of each channel, the more likely you’ll be to inspire customers to jump on the funnel! 

    Follow Up

    a customer giving digital feedback as part of online reputation management

    Content marketing is essentially a way to put your content to work as a salesperson. Since the customer isn’t being overtly sold to, he or she is more likely to pay attention to the content, and in turn, go through the sales funnel. Like a sales pitch, content marketing needs to follow up with the prospect. 

    However, unlike a sales pitch, your content marketing followup doesn’t involve knocking on the prospect’s door, calling them, or asking for the sale. Instead, the content itself moves them through the funnel. In other words, your follow up typically consists of more content–albeit with a sense of urgency. Let your content tell customers they need to act now. Keep the salespeople at home!

    Content Marketing is an Ongoing Process

    Though a content marketing campaign might be finite, content marketing is an ongoing process. That means one campaign should follow another. To that end, part of what makes content marketing successful is data and analytics. At the conclusion of a campaign, review all available data. What worked? Were you able to get enough leads? How many of those leads were you able to convert?

    As with any successful part of marketing, the more honest feedback you get from your audience, the better. While you can’t directly ask a customer what pieces of content were the most useful in helping them make a purchase, you can review engagement and interaction metrics. Which pieces of content drove the most traffic to your website? Was there a particular medium (text/audio/video/infographic, etc) that got more engagement?

    The most successful content marketing campaigns are data-driven. They take the data from past campaigns and then leverage it to create more effective content in subsequent campaigns. Whether you’re promoting a new product or building brand awareness, the principle is the same: content marketing works!

  • Instagram or TikTok: Telling Stories With Video

    People love video content. Whether it’s a funny cat video or a how-to on the latest tech gadget, your customers probably can’t get enough of it. Need proof? Both TikTok and Instagram have over a billion active users! When it comes to videos that get your customers engaged, which is better: TikTok or Instagram?

    Why is Video Marketing So Effective?

    First of all, let’s look at what makes video such an effective marketing tool. 

    a customer watching video on instagram or tiktok

    People are 95% more likely to remember a message from a video than from written text. Shorter videos also account for the average person’s shorter attention span. Plus, the multimedia nature of videos makes them more likely to appeal to a wider audience. Finally, more than 50% of internet users watch online videos on a daily basis! It’s safe to say more people watch videos than read long-form internet content–especially on a regular basis. 

    That’s because video has the power to not only tell stories but show the way things are. Just like customers are less likely to believe a brand statement than a peer review, they’re less likely to believe written content–let alone pay attention to it. Whereas a list of brand features tells you what a product can do, a video of a customer using that product shows you what it can do. For example, including a video on your website or landing page can increase your conversion rate up to 80%! 

    There’s only so much emotion you can evoke from a still image or even the sharpest copy. Conversely, videos are a fantastic medium to evoke emotion, especially if they’re synced with music, sound effects, or natural human noises like laughter or conversation. Put it this way: which are you more like to interact with–a cat video or a picture of a cat?

    TikTok or Instagram?

    Again, there are over a billion active users on both Instagram and TikTok. So which is better to help gain exposure, interest, awareness, and conversions for your business? Let’s take a look at some statistics. 

    The TikTok logo
    TikTok

    -The biggest influencers typically see an engagement rate of about 18%.

    -Almost half (~47%) of TikTok users are between the ages of 10-29. 

    61% of TikTok users identify as female. 

    53% of TikTok creators are between the ages of 18-24. 

    49% of users made a purchase decision because of a video they saw on TikTok. 

    Instagram logo
    Instagram

    -The biggest brands & influencers typically see an engagement rate of about 22%.

    -Over half (~62%) of Instagram users are between the ages of 18-34. 

    55% of Instagram users identify as female. 

    53% of Instagram influencers are between the ages of 25-34.

    72% of users made a purchase decision because of content they saw on Instagram. 

    TikTok or Instagram: The Takeaways

    While there’s no denying the burgeoning success and limitless potential of TikTok, Instagram arguably has more power–right now–to attract, engage, and influence your audience. While both TikTok and Instagram allow customers to purchase in-app, there are both more overall users and more users with actual purchasing ability on the latter app, as well as more functionality–like stories, reels, and posts, compared to TikTok’s singular video capabilities. 

    However, neither TikTok nor Instagram allows you to link external content to your TikTok/Instagram content, and TikTok only stores data for up to 28 days. That means if you want to keep engagement data long-term, you have to do it yourself. Finally, both TikTok and Instagram are pretty saturated with businesses. How can you make your content rise above the rest?

    Which platform is more likely to generate interest and conversions in your brand? Is TikTok here to stay or is it simply the flavor of the month? More importantly, where are your customers more likely to spend their time–and where are they more likely to be influenced? Before you dive headlong into a TikTok or Instagram strategy, make sure you have the answers!

  • Think Global, Act Local: Big Strategy For Small Business

    Even the smallest business has big dreams. Whether you want to take your brand global or lock up the bulk of your local market share, the principle is the same: you have to think big. In other words, think global, act local. So what does that mean exactly? 

    Think Global, Act Local

    Think global. 

    an earth globe

    Despite our obvious fundamental differences, human beings are by and large the same across geographical barriers, cultures, etc. We may look different and have different customs, cultures, and even expectations, but there are a few major similarities. For instance, human beings, as a whole, crave connection. Across cultures, human beings are looking to connect: both with each other and with entities that share a purpose or a way of thinking (i.e. your brand). 

    By thinking globally, you’re (hopefully) not having dreams of uniting the world. Even Amazon, arguably the world’s single greatest business entity, has its detractors. There are undoubtedly folks in the tech company’s namesake region for whom Amazon has no purpose–and certainly no market. Instead, thinking globally means cultivating a brand that will resonate with people outside your locality. It means coming up with a purpose for your brand that goes beyond providing a product or service. 

    As for acting locally, for starters, treat every customer like they’re in your neighborhood. Your brand isn’t just in a community, it is a community. If you can think of your brand as a family, community, or neighborhood, you can give your customers that connection they’re looking for. What’s more, you’ll create the kind of brand loyalty you see in brands that have successfully managed to take their business global. 

    Go Global, Stay Local

    a group of happy customers showcasing positivity

    A small, local business has significantly fewer problems than a global brand. For starters, the infrastructure is drastically different. Bigger brands have to keep up their customers 24/7–as their customers never sleep! However, as smaller businesses grow–adding more locations, breaking into newer markets, and even introducing new product offerings, it’s important to keep those logistics in mind. At the same time, part of the concept of “think global, act local” means, again, treating every customer like they’re local. 

    Some businesses have a tendency to put the needs of new customers ahead of the needs of their existing, loyal customer base. One example is businesses that put the need for a sale ahead of the need for a happy customer. Interestingly enough, one of the most effective ways to build your brand is via grassroots, word-of-mouth marketing. Even the best pieces of content won’t measure up to a trusted source vouching for you. Again, since you don’t know whether that trusted source is down the street or halfway across the Earth, your best bet is to treat every customer like they’re part of your community–because they are!

    Stay True to Your Values

    a map showing the effect of social media on the world

    Think of some of the biggest, most well-known brands worldwide. Now think of the brands that briefly came to worldwide prominence, only to fall by the wayside. What’s the common theme? Authenticity. 

    In fact, the very essence of “think global, act local” is authenticity. Customers can smell a fake from a mile away, and once they catch on that a brand isn’t what they thought it was, they’ll be looking for a connection to fix that broken connection. The important lesson: stay true to your values and customers will follow. Whether you express those values through content or brand identity, keep them consistent–even as you grow. 

    Start Thinking Globally and Acting Locally!

    A brand is nothing without its customers. A business is nothing without a purpose. Whether your customers are in your neighborhood or around the world, your way of thinking should be the same. Similarly, whether your purpose is to change the world or to sustainably do what you love while being your own boss, if you can think global and act local, your business will be in good hands!

  • Solving The Problem of Marketing Attribution

    With most marketing campaigns encompassing multiple channels, marketers have a bigger problem than trying to consistently produce engaging content: the problem of attribution. With so many different channels for lead generation and conversions, how do you figure out which ads, platforms, and channels are most effective at driving customer decisions? How do you solve the problem of attribution?

    The Problem of Attribution

    Attributing which pieces of content are responsible for driving awareness, engagement, and conversions is an essential part of marketing. Fortunately, some channels make it easy. For example, it’s easy to see your open rate, CTR, and unique opens for an email marketing campaign. A billboard, on the other hand, is less straightforward. 

    a group of marketers working on a customer-focused marketing strategy and analyzing metrics

    Consider all the possible avenues a customer can take before making a buying decision. For example, a customer might:

    -See a physical or digital advertisement

    -Receive a marketing email

    -Read an online review

    -Ask a friend for advice

    -Visit a brand website

    Let’s say the prospective customer in question interacts with all these different advertisements in a short span. He or she ultimately ends up making a purchase from the brand in question, but not directly through any of the links offered in the aforementioned content. What made the customer decide to buy? Was it one piece of content or several pieces working together as a funnel?

    Therein lies the problem of attribution. The more channels in which you advertise, the more resources–time, money, effort–it’s costing you. Attribution helps you track what works and what doesn’t. 

    Solving The Problem

    an illustration of how paid social media can positively impact your marketing efforts

    In most cases, there is no single touchpoint or launching point for conversions. That’s because a well-planned conversion series uses pieces of content that complement each other, utilizing different archetypes, messages, and stages in the customer journey from generating awareness to reinforcing post-purchase. That’s what makes attribution modeling so valuable. 

    In a single-touch attribution model, credit is given to either the first or last touchpoint before conversion. That means either the first or last piece of content the customer clicked, saw, or engaged with gets credit for the conversion, regardless of how many touchpoints the customer engaged with from start to finish. 

    Multi-touch attribution models give credit to multiple touchpoints. These can be either time-based, linear, data-driven, or position-based. Though less widely used, multi-touch attribution modeling paints a more accurate picture of where conversions are coming from. There are so many touchpoints on the customer journey that single-touch attribution is akin to throwing darts at a wall. 

    Setting Up Attribution Modeling

    Setting up and tracking attribution models is as easy as taking advantage of analytics software like Google Analytics. You can look at things like how people are reaching your site, which combinations are effective at driving conversions and traffic, and how many touches each channel is getting. Cumulatively, these data give insight into which touchpoints are assisting conversions. 

    an infographic showing different trends for digital marketing

    Of course, part of attribution modeling can also be simply asking your customers, “where did you hear about us?” Collecting that data can help glean insight into where to allocate your resources and how to plan out your content. 

    The only remaining problem is figuring out which attribution model to use. Again, multi-touch is typically more effective and accurate, though there are myriad options to choose from. The best bet is to lay out your inventory and needs and choose a plan that aligns with your long-term goals. 

    If you know which parts of your marketing strategy are effective at helping you achieve your goals, you can better tweak your strategy. Setting up and tracking attribution models is a no-brainer for any business looking to grow, improve, and provide a better overall customer experience!

  • Five Ways to Make Your Brand More Memorable

    Let’s face it: most people don’t remember most of the content they interact with. So what do they remember? Let’s examine five proven ways to make your brand more memorable!

    Talk The Way Your Customers Talk

    an infographic displaying how marketing is listening, as a marketer is listening to a group of customers.

    One of the best ways to make your brand more memorable in the minds of your customers is to talk like they do. Using relatable language will make your communications more like conversations than sales pitches. Since customers don’t like being overtly sold to, part of providing value is how you speak to them in the first place. 

    Instead of making generalized claims, such as “we are the best at what we do”, put your customers in the driver’s seat. Talking exclusively about yourself only plants the seeds of doubt. Is everything you’re saying true? 

    Focus on your customers and how they can benefit from your content, products/services, and brand as a whole. It’s a lot easier for people to remember how they can personally benefit, as opposed to an obscure accolade or accomplishment. 

    Create a More Personalized Experience

    Is every customer exactly the same? Then why should they be treated exactly the same?

    Your customers have different interests, needs, and expectations, which means a “one-to-all” form of messaging simply won’t suffice. Sending the same messages to everyone is akin to throwing darts at a wall and hoping one sticks. 

    Instead, develop detailed customer profiles to gain insight into how to really appeal to your customers’ unique personalities. Use data to figure out customer habits and create personalized messages–especially using email. 

    Something as simple as a product recommendation, “you may also like”, or “customers also bought” can go a long way. So can including your customer’s name on a marketing email. Don’t be afraid to solicit feedback. It may help you understand how to better serve your customers’ interests. 

    Appeal to Emotions

    a group of happy customers showcasing positivity

    People don’t always remember the words you said, but they remember how you made them feel. The same can be said about marketing communications. Remember, emotion is the primary driver of sales decisions!

    Take for example a television commercial that tugs at your heartstrings or makes you belly laugh. You might not remember the exact specs of the ad, but two things should stick out: the brand and the emotion you felt. 

    When creating content, think about the emotion you want to affect in your audience. How can you tweak your language, delivery, style, or any other component to better draw out that emotion? 

    If you can successfully appeal to your customers’ emotions, you’ll also simultaneously differentiate your brand–which can also make your brand more memorable. Customers will start to associate your ads and content with those emotions. 

    Be A Thought Leader

    Is your brand a leader or a follower? Do you come up with new, innovative products, promotions, or ways to appeal to your audience–or do you do what your competitors are doing?

    Being a thought leader is a great way to both differentiate your brand and make your brand more memorable. If folks look to you for new ideas and inspirations, it means they both trust you and they’re impressed by what you’re doing. 

    It also sets a standard for your competitors to follow. You don’t want to compare yourself to the benchmark, you want to be the benchmark. Look for new, creative ways to break through to your audience and offer value in ways your competitors aren’t. 

    Deliver Consistency

    an infographic displaying the power of word of mouth marketing as a branding tool

    Being consistent is a great way to make your brand more memorable. Whether it’s delivering consistently valuable content, a consistently positive personalized customer experience, or a consistently superlative product or service, you want to reinforce your customers’ buying decisions. What better way to do that than putting your money where your mouth is?

    From a visual standpoint, keep your designs, copy, and content thematically and visually consistent. If you have a brand color scheme, don’t create a piece of content with a whole new color scheme–it’ll just confuse your audience. Stick to using the same language, messages, and themes and you’ll build a rapport with your customers. 

    That should extend across your digital content. For example, if your website has a number of different pages, those pages shouldn’t all have different designs and layouts. Keep things steady and consistent across all media and platforms and all you’ll have to worry about is the content itself! 

    Make Your Brand More Memorable!

    There’s no secret magic to make your brand more memorable. It takes hard work, consistency, and a fundamental understanding of your customers’ wants and needs. However, if you can deliver a superlative experience, you’re already on your way to cementing your brand in the minds of your customers. To really make your brand more memorable, keep doing what you’re doing! 

  • Marketing Doesn’t End With a Customer Purchase!

    5 Post-Purchase Marketing Strategies to Create Loyal Customers

    Your job as a marketer is not finished when a customer buys from your brand. In fact, some might argue your work is just starting. While acquiring a new customer is no longer five times more expensive than keeping existing customers, the importance of customer retention can’t be understated. Let’s take a look at five easy ways to create loyal, repeat customers with crafty digital marketing efforts! 

    Actively Post (And Encourage) Customer Reviews

    How important are customer reviews?

    a robot and a human, symbolizing automated marketing

    More than one-third (38%) of customers agree they wouldn’t buy from a brand with less than 4-star aggregate reviews. But what is most important to customers? Believe it or not, it’s not functionality, quality, price, or availability. The most important part of the customer process is the overall customer experience. 

    That means brands with an overwhelmingly-positive, visible customer review presence will fare far better than their counterparts. People trust other people’s opinions when making decisions. When a close confidante isn’t available, we turn to online reviews. 

    It’s not enough to simply encourage and collect reviews. It’s imperative to both respond to them and optimize their visibility. That means responding to as many reviews as possible–both positive and negative. It also means it’s okay to post reviews on social media. 

    In fact, the latter is a great way to generate new leads. Show potential customers what existing customers are saying about your brand. Start conversations and encourage people to learn more, visit your site, and engage with your content. 

    Personalize As Much Communication as Possible

    When it comes to communicating with your audience, you’re communicating with a complex, diverse group of people. That means a one-size-fits-all style of communication won’t cut it. Whenever possible, look to personalize every communication with your audience–from social media DMs to customer service chats to automated emails. 

    In fact, according to data from SalesForce, more than one-quarter of marketers saw an increase in revenue of over 20% from focused personalization efforts in 2020. Data from KO Marketing shows that over 70% of brands who ramped up their personalization marketing efforts over the past couple of years have seen a more than twofold increase in their ROI. 

    Personalization is not just knowing your customers’ names and where they live. It’s knowing their buying habits, their personality types, and so much more. The more you zoom in on each customer’s personal preferences, the more you’ll create a personalized experience. 

    Create an Experience to Create Loyal Customers

    Digital marketing is a great way to augment sales efforts. At the same time, it shouldn’t be the sole focus of your marketing efforts. In other words, instead of creating sales content, create marketing content

    an illustration of how paid social media can positively impact your marketing efforts

    That means your marketing presence should create an immersive customer experience. Since you won’t be selling all the time, you can make good use of the rest of your content. For example, some content can entertain. Other content can engage and educate. As a whole, your content should move your customers through the sales cycle. 

    Create an experience and take customers behind the curtain. Show them the nuts and bolts of your operation, including the faces behind the brand. Create a wholesale customer experience with your content and they’ll keep coming back for more!

    Build a Community

    Here’s where social media is so valuable. You can leverage your pages on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, etc to build a passionate, loyal following of superfans!

    Of course, it all starts with building a page and maintaining your content. But if you can encourage folks to follow, like, and engage, you’re building the foundations for long-term success. 

    The more you can get people involved with posting, responding, tagging, and otherwise engaging with your page, the more you’ll build up your community content. And when your customers see other customers happily engaging with your brand, they’ll know you’re doing something right. They’ll then want to experience it for themselves! 

    Appreciate (And Reinforce) Every Purchase

    This one might be pretty simple, but it goes a long way. A sincere show of gratitude for every customer transaction can pay major dividends. You can also integrate your appreciation with a solicitation for feedback, comments, and advice. 

    “Thank you! We hope you enjoyed your experience! Please let us know how we can improve!”

    a clip art representation of hands joined together, meant to symbolize one of the content archetypes: the helper

    Add it to a receipt, automate it in an email with every digital sale, or just post a variation on social media. Some brands even go as far as to weave their brand story into their show of thanks. For example, if a portion of proceeds go to a charity, let your customers know what their purchase is supporting. 

    If possible, show pictures and videos of the people directly impacted from your brand’s generosity. Some people are more than willing to spend an extra few bucks if they can see where the money is going. 

    Plus, it shows the human side of your brand. Supporting public causes can help people see what you stand for. That can help them better relate to your brand–building crucial loyalty. 

    Start Creating Loyal, Long-Term Customers Today!

    The work of a marketing professional is never over. By using digital marketing content to create an immersive, personalized, appreciative, communicative brand experience, you can turn a one-time purchase into a lifetime of brand loyalty and create loyal customers! 

     

  • Five Tips For Creating More Inclusive Content

    As marketers, we want our content to reach as many people as possible. Of course, in order to reach diverse audiences, content has to be both engaging and inclusive. If part of your intended audience doesn’t relate to your content, they’re less likely to want to build a relationship with your brand. Here are five tips for creating more inclusive content. 

    Accessibility

    a black and white representation of diverse groups of people-illustrating inclusivity

    Some folks–like the colorblind or visually impaired–can’t enjoy your content if they can’t physically engage with it. While building a branded color scheme–and including brilliant visuals–is a crucial part of digital marketing, it’s important to remember to make those visuals accessible to the visually impaired. 

    The best solution is to painstakingly include alt text in (almost) all your visual content. The basic rule of thumb is that if the image supplements the copy, include alt text. If the image is decorative, it doesn’t need alt text. 

    Avoid combinations like red/green, green/black, and green/purple. Those combinations can be difficult for people with colorblindness. In addition, avoid stereotypical color associations like blue for men and pink for women. Some colors may even have cultural connotations–so take that in mind while developing your branded color scheme!

    Representation

    a group of happy customers showcasing positivity

    Your customers want to be represented. Just like they want to see other people like them doing business with your brand, they want to see themselves represented in your content. 

    Think about your typical television commercial. The person or people represented are typically models or supermodels. Does that represent the average person? Probably not. 

    Instead, look to represent a diverse group of people–your intended audience. Don’t be afraid to show real people (who aren’t supermodels). Dove’s “Real Women” campaign shattered societal norms and changed the way we look at those who use our products and represent our brands. 

    Don’t alienate real people by suggesting that only the elite or attractive represent your brand. Dig in deep and represent folks from all backgrounds and walks of life. If possible, use real customers in your graphics–with permission, of course. 

    Avoid Generalizations & Biases

    This one’s pretty simple. While we’re all guilty to some degree of harboring inherent biases, your branded content should be bias-free. As marketers, we need to be conscious of avoiding biases in every step of the content creation process. 

    Instead of designing for yourself, design for those you want to be represented. It can help to build detailed customer personas and profiles to better understand their complex needs. Once you know who your content is for, you’ll have a better idea of how to create it-and you’ll be able to create more inclusive content. 

    Use Common Language

    The last thing you want to do is have someone skip your content because it’s too long or too complex. If you can keep it simple and use common, basic language, you’ll have a better shot of keeping more folks from start to finish. 

    Don’t use a five-dollar word when a nickel word will suffice. Unless your audience is exclusively highly educated, use the most simple words, bullet points, and even infographics and visuals to supplement your copy. 

    Tell Relatable Stories

    a woman telling a story to a group of children

    Everyone loves a good story. In fact, people are 22 times more likely to remember a theme, statistic, or fact if it’s delivered via story. If you can tell stories with your marketing content, you’ll capture your audience’s attention more effectively than if you reproduced stats or self-promoted. 

    Think about each marketing message you want to deliver to your audience. How can you deliver that message while telling a story? More importantly, how can you make sure that story resonates with the folks you want to hear it?

    Inclusivity = A Bigger Audience

    If you can create more inclusive content, more people will relate to your brand. Look to represent your audience, keep things on common ground, and make sure everything you put online is accessible for everyone!

  • How to Create More Effective Social Media Campaigns

    Building up a social media following and getting more engagement is one thing, but what about your campaigns? There’s no doubt your campaigns will differ in size, scope, and purpose. However, more effective social media campaigns have a few things in common. Let’s examine how to set up, refine, and manage a social media campaign to accomplish your goals. 

    Target A Specific Audience

    Who benefits from your campaign? Your brand or your customers? 

    Illustration showing a target on a computer screen, depicting retargeting

    You want your customers to benefit from engaging and interacting with your brand–so they should be the focus. To that end, before you launch your campaign, you should have identified and fine-tuned your audience. Remember, you can’t reach everyone. Even if you could, it wouldn’t be effective. 

    Instead, focus on the customer persona(s) you want to reach. That could be a geographic area or a demographic swath. It could also be new/existing customers or any variation of folks you’ve reached or want to reach. 

    Most social media platforms make it easy to hone in on a select audience, which makes it even easier to target your campaign. Just make sure you set your parameters before you launch the campaign and watch as it reaches exactly who you want to reach. 

    Involve The Audience

    It’s not enough to know your audience or to gear your campaign exclusively towards them. You have to get them inspired, engaged, and involved. So how do you do that? You have to get them to care. 

    a robot and a human, symbolizing automated marketing

    Hashtags are a great way to involve your audience in raising awareness. Unfortunately, you need more than a few clever hashtags to get folks inspired to support your brand. Things like quizzes, games, and other interactive content are a great way to not only get people involved but to generate valuable feedback. 

    For instance, ask customers to weigh in on their favorite product, show off testimonials, and be transparent with your company culture. Instead of showing off your product or service, show off the people who make your brand what it is. 

    Long story short, more effective social media campaigns make the audience a part of the action rather than a passive onlooker. 

    Look At Your Competitors

    One of the best ways to create a more effective social media campaign is to look at how your competitors have run their own campaigns. While you’re not going to steal their content or ideas, it can help to look at what’s worked–and what hasn’t. 

    With those insights, you can craft your own content series down to the finite details, orchestrating more engagement, interaction, and interest. 

    You may not be able to see how your competitors fared from their campaigns (in terms of sales data, etc.), but you can likely see interaction and engagement numbers. Use past data–both your own and your competitors–to fine-tune your approach and create more effective social media campaigns. 

    Take Advantage of New & Popular Technology

    a magnet attracting customers

    Part of separating yourself from the competition is differentiating your brand. In other words, why should people do business with you–especially if the difference between service or product offerings is negligible? 

    What better way to separate yourself from your competitors than by utilizing new, burgeoning technology? From live-streaming to TikTok and more, don’t be afraid to go where your customers are. The more spaces in which you advertise, the more opportunities you have to get eyes on that content. 

    Want to Create More Effective Social Media Campaigns?

    Creating more effective social media campaigns comes down to doing the work. From researching your audience’s needs, wants, and interests to A/B testing copy, graphics, and delivery methods, there’s a lot that goes into it. 

    At J&E Media Corp, our battle-tested digital marketing experts can leverage our experience to craft more effective social media campaigns for your brand. Whether you’re looking to increase your brand awareness, get more folks interested, or convert more customers, we can tailor a campaign for you! Get in touch with us today to learn more!