4 Reasons Why Podcasts Are a Marketer’s Best Friend

posted on February 28, 2022

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Marketers know that it’s important to go where the people are — so why should podcasts be any different? This audio platform is growing in popularity, with around 68 million Americans alone listening to them every week.

So what does that mean for brands, exactly?

It means an additional platform to market their product or service, of course! More and more people are growing to love podcasts for the intimate communities, diverse content, and ease of multitasking. Anyone can listen to any type of podcast while doing any kind of task! Whether they’re driving or walking, cooking or cleaning, or just looking to listen, there are so many interesting, informative and entertaining podcasts available to choose from.

Not a lot of people recognize its power as a platform for promotions yet, though podcasts are an excellent way to get people thinking and talking about your brand.

Since people are averse to in-your-face advertising, it can feel difficult to sell to people when they don’t want to be sold to. Most people are likely to trust a personal friend’s opinion about something, and who else might seem like a better choice to trust than a person they spend tons of time listening to, right? The power of social proof isn’t only among personal friends, but is also effective in small communities, of course.

Wondering if you should take the leap and use podcasts to market your business? Here are some reasons why other marketers have decided to make the shift:

1. Low Competition

While there are a lot of podcast listeners, there aren’t that many podcast creators. Compared to other social media platforms like Facebook that have over 60 million business pages talking to almost 2.9 billion users, podcasts have far fewer listeners that are more loyal to their programs.

There are actually around 2 million podcasts around the world!

From a marketing perspective, it’s much easier to get noticed on a podcast than on Facebook or Instagram. People can easily swipe past content that you publish on your pages, but if mentioned or talked about in a podcast, then it’s not so easy to skip over. When well-integrated into both podcast scripts, promotions are given the opportunity to feel more natural in stories rather than outright advertising. 

2. Diverse Options Help Reach Specific Niches

While there may be fewer podcasts than there are pages, there is certainly a wide range of options that listeners can choose from. The top podcast genres include comedy, news, true crime, and self-help! There are tons of other podcasts, as well, like educational podcasts on business, science, history, and more.

If you’ve got a certain target market, collaborating with podcast creators who can help you promote your brand shouldn’t get too difficult.

While social media might offer targeted ads and analytics, it’s a lot of work to put out posts and ads that might not even appeal to the intended audience. Podcasts allow for marketing to audiences who are intentionally seeking out content that’s aligned to your product or service. Communities surrounding the podcast can also signal boost the content where you’re mentioned.

3. Content Consistency and Accessibility

One more advantage that podcast marketing has over social media is that it offers consistency in terms of content. On other platforms, you have to experiment with what kind of content appeals to your audience. Do they prefer video? Are they partial to photos, and if so, what kind? You have to test different copywriting and engagement formulas, as well. Promoting through podcasts ensures some kind of stability in the kind of content you’ll be planning for and producing.

There are also several podcast platforms available to users: Spotify and Apple Music are some of the more popular names, but there are also alternatives like BuzzSprout and Podbean that help make podcasts more accessible to everyone.

Creating consistent content helps your audience develop familiarity with your brand, as well as loyalty to it. Once people know that your podcast is a source of reliable information or entertainment, then it’s much easier to keep coming back to and even share with others, so don’t miss the chance to integrate audio platforms and podcasts into your social media tactics.

4. Customer Relationship

Since podcasts provide a more intimate venue for creators and their audience to interact, communities can easily form. This gives podcast creators an opportunity to stay more in touch with the interests and opinions of their audience. That’s a clear advantage for marketers and creators who want to generate a following for their brand.

People are also very likely to share podcasts with their friends — podcast listeners tend to be more loyal to podcasts in comparison to other creators with different content on other platforms. Creating dialogue with listeners is perfectly possible, making you a known reliable source within your niche, and even recognized outside of your own niche.

If you’re looking to create a more meaningful relationship with your audience (and potential customers, of course), podcast marketing is one of the most efficient ways to approach that goal.

Summary

As they grow increasingly popular, podcasts become more of an attractive platform for people, which makes them a great new way to market your brand.

Not only do podcasts offer diversity and entertainment, they’re also able to create meaningful communities and a larger spectrum of people who are interested in what you have to offer. When correctly integrated into your social media plans, it’s a great chance to be able to connect with your audience and potential customers.

Like other aspects of marketing, it’s all about how you approach it and appeal to the audience you want to connect with. Learning how to get it right is well worth the effort considering the many benefits possible for your brand.

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What Makes Promotional Products a Vital Part of Every Marketing Plan?

posted on February 10, 2022

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It’s hard to keep up with the latest fashion trends and stay on top of promotional products. It becomes even more challenging when we’re looking at markets that change from high demand to out of fashion within a blink of an eye while already having the next released lined up. It takes some serious strategic planning in order for companies to be successful with their campaigns despite the constantly changing market requirements.

Finding the most suitable promo items to display your brand name might appear like a back-breaking endeavor. The best way of finding the right pieces for you and your target crowd, is to keep the following in mind: Consider which items customers keep on hand and use regularly because they’ll be more likely than anyone else who will benefit from these promotional products.

What Exactly Are Promotional Products?

Take a peek around, and you’re bound to find a promotional product or even a promotional product supplier within proximity. These marketing products are highly popular in modern culture, giving firms an opportunity to achieve significant exposure at a relatively low cost. Handing out these nifty items is incredibly effective because the receiver will be reminded of your business each time they use your little gift.

Modern corporations and other entities have found how to strategically utilize promotional products to achieve major advantages in branding, marketing, and employee engagement. Brands may use promotional products to engage with their core demographic on an emotional and tactile level. They can provide giveaways that make people feel valued while also providing something substantial in return. Promotions create powerful memories that can last years.

Delivering wholesale promotional products has many different forms, whether it be giveaways at concerts, limited-edition products handed out online or through social media channels, or premiums offered during meetups in exchange for content creation. Giving away promotional merchandise is an excellent method to keep your company’s brand in the forefront of existing and prospective customers’ minds. By following this guide you can determine the best course of action to publicize your company with promotional products.

Will Promotional Products Have Any Effect?

Affordability

Promotional products are the best way to get your brand name and message out there. They’re cost-effective, offering an enviably low “cost per impression”, which means you can use them without breaking the bank.

Brand Association & Awareness

Promotional items are a sure-fire way to market your products and services with little effort. They provide an instant advertisement for you; if placed on an item that’s used several times a day, i.e. a nice pen, the repeated exposure to your logo will create brand recognition. Reaching out to the best merchandise suppliers is a solid way to procure the most suited range of products.

Lead Generation

Promotional products are a fabulous way to strengthen customer loyalty and create more leads. Make your brand known as an authority in your niche. This will help you compete with other businesses by strengthening bonds with clients who may be interested in working with you down the line when they are in need of another product or service from you.

Which Products Work Splendidly When Branded with Your Company’s Logo and Given Away at Events?

Custom Keychains

A custom keychain is an excellent way to make your keys more accessible and functional. They are important for everyday carry, as you wear them on a ring that can link with other items or people in order to protect yourself from harm when out in public places. Keychains have become popular over time because not only do they provide style but also great functionality which makes this accessory very sought-after.

Car Air Fresheners

Those who drive frequently can benefit from having a custom car air freshener in their vehicle. The essence of these items is designed to make drivers feel less stressed, which leads them to live longer lives! You might find yourself feeling more at ease when you enter your car if no odors are coming out or lingering around due to the pleasant scent this product produces.

Face Masks

When it comes to various types of face masks, many are currently becoming highly popular. They are fairly fitted and may be disposed after usage. Such protective covers aid in preventing big particle droplets containing viruses and germs from entering your nose and mouth. Purchasing such face masks from promotional products wholesale suppliers would undoubtedly help your marketing efforts – especially during a pandemic.

Diaries

Keeping diaries is one of the best ways to stay organized and productive during the day. It will help your clients measure their productivity and prepare for future tasks by tracking what’s happening on a day to day basis. They surely will love this new time management tool while also being reminded of your business each time they use it to take notes or look something up.

Notebooks

Notebooks are not for casual scribbling, but rather for storing meaningful information. You may simply transform your note-taking habits into a practice of self-expression to help you discover your creative skills. They may be used as a private journal regularly to record good quotations and messages for oneself. You can effortlessly transport them in your bags wherever you go. Any notion or remark that comes to mind can be promptly jotted down in them.

Ballpoint Pens

Ballpoint pens are an excellent approach to show your appreciation and build a great relationship with your clientele. You may increase the value of your investment by imprinting your company’s logo on each pen. They offer a smooth flow of ink and also extend a great writing experience.

Custom Cosmetic Bags

Cosmetic bags enable you to arrange all of your makeup, toiletries, and travel-friendly supplies into one convenient location. There are several types of such products in the market to meet all of your needs. If you believe cosmetics to be your best mate, then these personalized cosmetic bags should be equally significant to you right now.

USB Flash Drives

USB flash drives are used to transfer data between systems, store data, and backup data. Using them regularly will leave a positive image and assist in reinforcing your message in the minds of potential clients. These items are compact and work with all laptops and PCs. These little gadgets are resistant to dirt, shocks, and markings. They are waterproof and do not crack when dropped even from a great height.

Earbuds

The biggest advantage of wireless earbuds is that there is no cable that could get tangled up. They are in considerable demand as promotional goods, and advertisers use them to highlight their products. The imprinted brand name or emblem assists in creating brand awareness.

Conclusion

Promotional items are extremely effective at “targeting” your unique market. You may choose from a wide range of solutions that will “resonate” with an audience that has similar interests. Sticking with tried-and-true promotional materials is always a smart option. They’re always a hit and typically extremely affordable.

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Brand Marketing Strategy Guide for Startups: Harness the Power of Your Brand with These Strategies

posted on December 29, 2021

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What’s a brand? Is it a logo, colors, or typography? Not quite. Brands are more than their assets – they promise an experience to a customer.

A brand is a concept that differentiates a company or product from the competition. With branding, you can shape how your company is perceived by your customers to drive growth and positive ROI.

Many startups focus exclusively on developing a product and its story, instead of creating a brand that fosters positive perception in customers. Product development and time-to-market take precedence over long-term brand strategy.

How to Build Success with Your Brand

Focus on the Customer for Your Brand Story

The brand story is more than your story about why you started a business. A brand story tells the world who you are and what you stand for, so customers have an idea of what they can expect.

Customers aren’t just searching for bargains – they want to forge a connection with a brand that appeals to their sense of self and engages them.

The goal with your story is to create an emotional connection with your customers and use strong messaging to attract customers. Remember that a brand story doesn’t need to be elaborate to be successful. Developing a great story is a matter of telling your customers the problem you wanted to solve, how you approached solving it, and how successful you were.

Customers aren’t looking to buy your products just to make you rich. They want to find products that tackle their pain points. Your story is a way to tell your customers that you understand and relate to them.

Let Customer Insights, Not Product Features, Inform Strategy

When you have a product you’re proud to reveal, it only makes sense that you’ll want to create marketing campaigns that tell the world. In most cases, this means highlighting the product features, but that doesn’t do much for the customer.

A bunch of bells and whistles may excite you, but they don’t provide context for customers. Talking about your features is salesy and makes the customer connect the dots for what the features are and how they provide a real-world benefit.

Marketing means attracting people to your products because of how they can help them. Show your audience why purchasing the product can change their life.

Of course, you can still discuss your product features. After all, they’re part of the benefits of your product. Just keep the focus on what they can do for the customer, instead of highlighting them for the sake of it.

Develop the Touchpoints on the Customer Journey

Touchpoints are all the places where a customer interacts with your brand, which forms their overall perception. When you identify and map out the customer touchpoints, you can make sure the interactions reinforce your message and build brand loyalty.

Touchpoints include the awareness, evaluation, and post-purchase phases. With customer journey mapping, you can see where customers interact with your brand during each phase and create a seamless, positive customer experience.

All touchpoints should:

  • Represent your brand
  • Attract your customers’ attention
  • Motivate them to take an action

Ask yourself some questions to think like a customer, such as:

  • What is the first impression at each touchpoint?
  • Is the experience different than that of competitors?
  • Will it attract customers?
  • Does it motivate customers to act?

By thinking like a customer, you can evaluate your brand from the customer’s perspective and develop your touchpoints for a positive experience.

Powerful Brand Strategies

While the specifics of each brand can vary, these broad strategies can help you develop the appropriate brand strategy for your business:

Focus on CX

For startups, everything is about the user experience (UX) instead of the customer experience (CX). UX considers how customers interact with a product and the experience that comes from that interaction, while CX considers every interaction a customer has with a brand, such as the post-purchase experience and customer service.

UX is part of CX, so if you’re only paying attention to UX, you’re missing a big part of the experience. If you have a lot of market competition, you’re missing an opportunity to elevate your brand by providing a superior customer experience than your competitors.

Failing to consider both UX and CX can be detrimental to your business, so optimize both to provide a positive customer experience.

Use a Customer Advisory Board

Finding out what is special about your product and why it appeals to customers takes a lot of listening and effort. You can streamline the process with a customer advisory board.

A customer advisory board is a group of customers that come together to share insights into your product and brand. Customers are encouraged to provide feedback, both good and bad, and make suggestions for improvements and features. With the right guidance, customers may also share insights into how the product fits into their lives and why they need it in the first place, which can inform your development process.

Embrace Strategic Brand Communications

Strategic brand communications are vital to any branding effort. By taking a proactive stance, you can make sure you’re connecting with the right audience at the right time on the right device.

Brand communications plans include targeting your audience, creating goals and objectives, developing key messaging, forming a tactical action plan, and choosing metrics to determine success. With all this mapped out, you can provide better brand experiences with your audience across all touchpoints.

Create Framework for Reviewing Feedback

Customer feedback can go a long way in giving you suggestions, ideas, and recommendations to develop your brand or product. Not every idea is a gem, however, and some are good but only represent a small part of your audience. Furthermore, some ideas are the opposite of what you’re trying to achieve.

With a high volume of feedback, you can end up on a path that isn’t the best choice for your brand. Implement a process to review feedback and ideas. Set up guidelines to decide which ideas have merit and which don’t, so you can ensure only the most appropriate and innovative ideas get your attention.

Make Your Employees Brand Advocates

Employees are excellent brand advocates. Customers see positive employees and develop more trust in your brand. By empowering your employees to promote your brand, you can gain an edge over the competition with customers and talent.

You can start by seeing if any employees are interested in being brand advocates. From there, offer training and development tools to help them spread the word about your brand through events, social media, and customer interactions. You can also offer one-on-one coaching and meetings to help your employees realize their potential as brand advocates, listen to their stories, and gather ideas for branded content.

Manage Change

Change is inevitable in any business, but it can be more volatile in startup environments. The business itself can not only experience changes that force restructuring or pivots, but the larger market can have detrimental impacts that require massive organizational change.

Contingency planning ensures you have a plan in place to address threats, risks, and opportunities for organizational and market changes, fluctuations in the market, and cultural shifts. With a backup, you’ll be prepared for the dramatic, unexpected, and damage changes that may occur and you can keep your business moving forward.

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Pros & Cons of Rebranding Facebook to Meta

posted on December 1, 2021

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One of the most well-known internet platforms, Facebook, is rebranding to signal and embrace futuristic ideas, with the term metaverse. The name Metaverse is the latest keyword to capture the imagination of the tech industry in such a way. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed that he changed his company name to Meta Platforms Inc., or Meta for short.

What is Facebook’s Plan for the Metaverse?

Mark Zuckerberg describes it as a “virtual environment” that you can step into. It’s an endless world of interconnected virtual communities, where people can meet, work, and play, using virtual reality headsets, augmented reality glasses, smartphone apps, or other devices.

The virtual environment created by Facebook can also do things like go to virtual concerts, travel online, view or create art and virtually try on or buy clothes.

Facebook has launched a meeting software for enterprises, called Horizon Workrooms, for use with its Oculus VR headsets. Create a metaverse experience of seeing coworkers in a video call box, employees can join them in a virtual office, and users will be able to move between virtual worlds created by different companies.

The Benefits and Drawbacks of Changing Facebook’s Name to Meta

In the development of the virtual environment built by Facebook and at the same time changing the company name to Meta, there are pros and cons. Here are the results of my analysis of the pros and cons:

The Pros of Rebranding Facebook to Meta

The Metaverse Environment Is Centrally Designed

Many existing metaverse platforms are based on blockchain technology which makes central control impossible. Dave Carr, communications lead at the organization that runs the virtual world Decentraland, said: “In this virtual world, people are using cryptocurrencies to buy land and other digital objects in the form of non-fungible tokens (NFTs).â€Â

By combining blockchain technology and NFT crypto, it will make it easier for people to sell limited edition digital objects like NFT, display them in their digital space, and even resell them to the next person safely as quoted by Reuters Carr also described Decentraland’s metaverse environment as decentralized and Facebook’s plans are likely centered.

Virtual Reality Is Getting More Popular

The reaction from early metaverse adopters said the inclusion of Facebook could increase interest in the virtual world concept in general, attract more users and support the development of multiple virtual worlds.

Tristan Littlefield, the co-founder of the NFT company nft42 and a metaverse user since 2018, said his first reaction to Facebook’s announcement was that a giant like Facebook is stepping in and just throwing billions of dollars away, could be a positive thing “because of the emergence of new people it will bring into space.

Support the Development of Multiple Virtual Worlds

This technology will also incorporate other aspects of online life such as shopping and social media. According to “The Metaverse†Document the right way to break through consumers’ ignorance of VR is to deliver what the users expect and want.

The document also states, that envision users developing virtual advertisements through a digital world, which is filled with virtual goods that can be purchased. In addition, there will also be virtual people who get married and spend time in this space called the ‘Metaverse’.

According to an analyst who follows new technologies, Victoria Petrock, “this is the next evolution of connectivity where it all starts to come together in a seamless doppelganger universe, so you live your virtual life the same way you live your physical life”.

The Cons of Rebranding Facebook to Meta

Increased Scrutiny of Facebook from the US Congress

Facebook is also facing increased scrutiny from the US Congress and the media after a former employee, Frances Haugen, leaked documents or reports dubbed the “Facebook Papers†revealing various problems on Facebook that were ignored and not resolved properly.

Internal research also reportedly shows that Facebook is aware of drug and human trafficking issues on its platform but has failed to take adequate action to address the issues.

To add to the growing story surrounding Facebook, a new report from The New York Times now claims that an internal study commissioned by the company found the “Like†button on the platform to be causing “stress and anxiety†among many users.

Meta Has Been Registered as a Trademark in The United States

The Guardian reported that the change of Facebook’s name to Meta was challenged by Meta PCs Arizona, a computer startup for gamers based in Arizona, USA.

Zack Shutt, the co-founder of Meta PCs, said the company was listed in November 2020, and their team was not aware of Facebook’s plans to use Meta for rebranding, until last week when Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced it.

He revealed that Meta had been registered as a trademark of his company’s products, and received an official certificate in August 2021, or about two months before the change of Facebook’s name to Meta.

Zack Shutt and another Meta PC founder, Joe Darger, said they would not sell the Meta name, for less than $20 million, if Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg tried to acquire the name.

META Gaming PCs

Changing the Company Name Does Not Necessarily Increase Trust

Forrester’s Vice President and Research Director, Mike Proulx said that if Meta doesn’t take its (privacy and security) issues seriously, no doubt the same problem will come to Metaverse as well.

From the results of Forrester’s research which surveyed 745 people in the US, Canada, and the UK, the majority (75 percent) thought that changing the company name did not necessarily increase trust in Facebook.

One of the lawmakers from New York, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez argues that Meta has the potential to be a bad threat to state institutions and also its users.

Summary

Will the pros outweigh the cons for the user? It’s hard to say when so much of what we know about the metaverse is speculative. It’s a big job, and we need the tech giants to take control because they’re the only ones with enough resources to bring the metaverse to life. As for how it turned out, only time will tell.

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How to Create and Optimise Instagram Stories for your Brand

posted on November 24, 2021

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Instagram Stories are vertical, full-screen photos and videos that disappear in 24 hours. They appear at the top of the app and last 15 seconds maximum.

500 million people already use stories daily and their popularity keeps increasing. This makes Instagram Stories a great tool for businesses to reach and engage larger audiences.

Given its potential, we think it will be interesting for your brand to learn how to create and optimise stories for better results.

How to Create an Instagram Story

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to create a story:

Step 1: Click the plus button at the top of the screen and choose “story” from the different options available or swipe left.

Step 2: Tap the switch-camera icon on the bottom right for a selfie shot.

Step 3: Tap the white circle at the bottom of the screen to take a picture or press and hold it to record a video. There may be smaller circles to the right and left of the white circle. Those circles are some of the filters that you can use for your shoot.

Step 4: Click the blue plus button to use photos or videos from your camera roll.

Step 5: Tap the sticker icon that appears at the top of the screen to add GIFs, polls, questions, reactions slides or location, and hashtag stickers within others. Tap the music icon if you would like to add music too. Finally, if you would like to add a link to an external website, click the link icon.

Step 6: Choose a typography and add text (if needed).

Step 7: Once the story is finished, click the “your story” button.

Tips to Optimise Your Stories

Now that you already know how to create Instagram stories, let’s dive into the best practices to optimise them. Make sure you follow these tips for an increase in your overall sales.

  1. Plan the content. Posting stories regularly is key to keeping your audience engaged, but you will waste a lot of time if you create one story at a time. To be able to be consistent and see results, brainstorm and prepare the content in advance.
  1. Shoot vertically. Shoot all your content in vertical format (9:16) right from the beginning for better results. Be mindful of the file size too. Instagram will only accept up to 30MB for images and 250MB for videos. Lastly, do not add text or stickers at the top or bottom of the screen as your username or the reply button may prevent users from seeing it.
  1. Keep branding consistent. Consistent visuals help followers identify your brand and strengthen brand recall. Therefore, consider using brand colours and fonts on your stories to help followers recognise your brand as they scroll through their stories without reading the username. People are always in a rush and they usually do not pay attention to who has published what.
  1. Add captions. 40% of people watch Instagram Stories without sound. Adding captions to stories is a great way to leverage your messages to this 40%. Besides, captions make the content accessible to a larger audience. Hearing-impaired people, for example, will only be able to understand your stories if they have captions. Although it only works for video, there is an Instagram feature to generate captions. To add them, click on the sticker icon located at the top of the screen and tap the captions sticker. Once added, check if they are correct and make changes if needed. You can also change the caption font and colour and relocate and resize the text by pinching and dragging.
  1. Add animation. On average, images last 5 seconds while videos last up to 15. But the truth is none of your followers have ever watched images for 5 seconds. Something you can do to hold your viewer’s attention for longer is to add animation. For example, consider using GIFs, reaction slides, or animated texts.
  1. Encourage audience interactions with polls, questions, and reaction slides. Poll, question and reaction slide stickers are key to drive engagement and increase a brand’s visibility. Besides, they are really useful to get insights into your audience and to assess what interests them.
  1. Include a call to action (CTA). When you create a story, you have to clearly indicate to viewers what you want them to do afterward. What most brands do is drive users to their website. Those who have more than 10K followers usually add a link to their stories along with a “swipe up” sticker at the bottom of the screen while those who have less than 10,000 followers drive people to the link in their bio as in a normal post.
  1. Create highlights. Instagram Stories do not have to disappear after 24 hours. You can pin them at the top of your profile under the highlights section to extend your bio information. Try to create a highlight per theme to present the information clearly and add brand-related visuals as covers. These highlights will be key for those users interested in your brand and that want to learn more about your values, products or services.
  1. Go live. Instagram Lives are another way to drive engagement. Besides, Instagram is currently trying to push them as the next big thing, so each time you go live, all your followers will receive a notification that will help you increase your brand’s visibility.
  1. Track your success with Instagram Stories Analytics. Assessing what is working and what is not is key to improve your overall performance. Therefore, switch to business mode, view the analytics for your Instagram Stories, and tailor your strategy accordingly. To see the Insights for your Instagram Stories, head to your profile and select the Insights icon in the top right corner. Next, scroll down and tap “Get Started” in the Stories section.

Wrapping Up

Instagram Stories’ popularity is increasing every year. Creating content for this platform is then key for a business to keep up-to-date and reach and engage larger audiences. Thus, if you are a business owner, consider following the previous step-by-step guide and tips to increase overall performance or sales.

The post How to Create and Optimise Instagram Stories for your Brand appeared first on SiteProNews.

Is Your Brand Getting Influencer Marketing Wrong?

posted on November 15, 2021

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Millions of people interact with influencers on social media every day. Social media influencers can be a powerful way to reach new customers or convert skeptics. With the spectacular rise of Tik Tok, image-based brands—like cosmetics, fashion, music, and gaming—have been able to target masses of Millennials and Gen Z.

But how can you know if influencer marketing is for you? And if it is, how would you choose which influencers to work with? Between the nano, micro, mid-tier and macro levels, there are probably thousands of influencers that might work for you. That’s why it’s important to write down a list of traits you’re looking for in an influencer before you start looking. Here are some key considerations as you decide whether to embark on an influencer campaign:

1. Goals, Measurements, and Contracts

Like all advertising, you have to know your goals before starting. From there, figure out things like platform, influencer target, messaging that fits specific influencers and what your call to action is and how that’s communicated through the content.

Proper measurement is also key. You need to make sure you set the right KPIs for your team so that you’re clear about the ROI you seek from engaging influencers. Are you engaging influencers to:

  • Drive sales?
  • Build awareness?
  • Help with a specific consumer demographic for new customer acquisition?
  • Change consumer perception of your brand?
  • Answer your brand’s critique? 

Finally, the contract negotiation should be very specific, and stay true to your goals and measurements, as discussed above. For example, you should set expectations on:

  • Type and number of posts
  • Which platforms will be used
  • Messaging
  • Usage rights
  • Links to e-commerce 
  • Revenue-sharing vs. compensation on activity 

In terms of negotiating, see what the sticking points are on price. Usually this centers around exclusivity requirements, licensing rights, number of draft reviews—keep in mind video re-shoots can be particularly pricey—and ownership rights. You can negotiate lower rates by having some give on these areas.

Also note that advertising needs to be disclosed by the influencer, per the Federal Trade Commission.

By narrowing among dozens of reasons to engage influencers to a key singular goal will help with specifics around setting team expectations and specific measurement. And if you don’t set proper expectations, things will not pan out as planned and the relationship could be ruined. That leads to wasted money and bad publicity. 

2. In-House vs. Out-Source

Your company hires experts in marketing, advertising, PR, digital, etc. You should also hire someone that knows influencers. This could be in-house or agency side. Managing influencer programs in-house helps maintain more control of the brand and the campaigns if influencers are a key pillar of your marketing strategy.

On the other hand, working with digital influencers can take a large toll on internal teams—in terms of heavy lifting of time—from forming deals for content creation to pushing paid ads across your brands’ social channels, and measurement. Stacy DeBroff, CEO of Influence Central, tells me “Many companies opt to engage seasoned specialists like my team to run their influencer engagements, as it ensures deep vetting of potential influencers, carefully framed and signed influencer agreements that include extension of content rights to the brand, seamless campaign management, online draft reviews before content gets posted, and detailed and guaranteed campaign metrics drawing directly from each influencer’s behind the scenes data.”

3. Authentic Match

Companies must compare their Brand Value Proposition and Buyer Personas and find authentic matches. Otherwise, customers will discount content from an influencer who seems to be just “doing it for the money.” Additionally, marketers must gauge each influencer’s passion for the brand and their desire to work with you. The key is not to just chase influencers that you think are up and coming, but to go after influencers that will help build an authentic brand.

4. Influencer Strategy

Rather than defaulting to the bottom of the rung with micro influencers or spending your way to the top (unless you’re a large brand) with social media celebrities, the best strategy is a mix of nano, micro, and mid-tier influencers.

Such a mix will usually give the best ROI, since these groups together have a decent mix of followers and are perceived to be more authentic, generally. And of course, marketers need to aim for a mix of influencers that fit the brand/business life stage. Below are the different levels of influencers:

  1. Nano influencers (1-10k followers): It costs dramatically less to engage this group, since many of them will create content simply for product samples in return. As such, they can offer you the ability to engage certain groups at lower costs. But be sure they have some experience with such campaigns prior to engagement. Of course, some first-timers will do a great job, but consider their experience level before you go all-in.
  2. Micro influencers (10-50k followers): Typically, micro influencers do not have agents—which can often try to pull more money from your pockets—and they tend to be more personal. Though they have smaller followings, comparatively, they can be very effective.
  3. Mid-tier influencers (50-500k followers): They have a substantial number of followers, but they typically use many brand partnerships to make money. So since social media can be their primary source of income, they can be dramatically more expensive than the previous tiers. Additionally, many mid-tier influencers have started to engage agents. 
  4. Premium/Macro influencers (500k-1m+ followers): They are best used for big, themed and/or seasonal campaigns. But it is often best to avoid them. They often communicate through agents, and the relationship is much less personal. As a result, they frequently dedicate much less of their time to the project. They can also miss the message of authenticity, which is critical, and should be a deal breaker.

While follower count is okay for gauging cost and reach, you can’t make your decisions simply based on this number. KPIs like views and engagement will usually give you a much better idea, and a simple conversation with the influencer in mind can go a long way.

Conclusion

Influencers can be a powerful tool in a marketer’s toolbox, but they must remember that this is about relationship building. That’s why it’s key to involve influencers in your brand, get them passionate, and to not treat them as just an execution point. But at the same time, don’t let them take advantage of you, which is why it is so important to gauge up front how passionate and authentic they are about your brand and have a very clear and specific contract. 

All in all, remember to:

  1. Set specific goals, measurements, and contracts
  2. Decide if you want influencer management done in-house or out-sourced
  3. Find authentic matches and foster passionate relationships
  4. Create a strategy that will maximize ROI 

The post Is Your Brand Getting Influencer Marketing Wrong? appeared first on SiteProNews.

Top 10 Trending Designs and Styles for Business Cards

posted on November 10, 2021

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Business cards are one of the trending and timeless things even in our digital era, and their role is still essential. Today business card designs are as inventive as ever. They are an excellent canvas for designers to push their creativity beyond the boundaries. They can showcase your business and its motto in an appealing way. So it is important to keep your business cards sleek, fancy, or a style that depicts your business and its services.

Ideally your business card should contain your company’s name and contact details like phone number, address, etc. You can finalize the material of cards, add some designs, experiment with fonts, play with colors, and create whatever suits your business and satisfies your creativity. To make sure your business card looks exactly the way you want, you can install business card maker software which can help you to design your business cards with different features like fonts, clip-art, colors, stickers, etc.

Business cards and their trends keep updating constantly, but some trends stay for a year or more. So, let’s look at the business cards trends for 2022 which are likely to be around for a long time.

1. QR Codes

Image Source: https://img1.etsystatic.com/106/0/11943140/il_fullxfull.1016060811_khak.jpg

How many business cards have you collected in your pocket or in your drawer? I assume many. And how many have you looked at recently? Only a few, maybe. And those few cards might have some unique features like QR codes. Yes, QR codes are the latest trend in business cards. QR codes can create a seamless transfer from a physical meeting to a digital connection.

As we know, QR codes are not new, but they are new and adaptable when it comes to the business card market. A QR code makes it super easy for the holder to go right to a business’ website or an individual’s personal portfolio, just by scanning the code.

Although QR codes seem like a small feature, they are actually pretty powerful.

2. Big Text

Image Source: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/39/84/ba/3984ba389e6e9652bf6ed6b194d888f6.jpg

Another business card trend for 2022 is forming designs by placing large text front and center on the card. On such cards, the text itself is the design. It includes text stretched across the entire card, leaving little room for white space. The lasting effect is of text-heavy simplicity that communicates straight to the point.

3. Gradients

Image Source: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ca/1d/75/ca1d7523df9f8016f792373831b16d0d.jpg

Gradients have been trending for quite some time now. Every year transitions between colors have become smoother. Gradients add volume to your business card by revealing your creative side. You can apply gradients as a background for your business card or use them to highlight your logo, text, or even graphics. Using magenta shades can make your business card look more voluminous and visually attractive. Also, you should consider placing colored gradients against a plain dark or white background.

4. Rustic and Natural style

Image Source: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/07/8a/ec/078aeca0bb94304f3a5b2503fbe5fd77.jpg

What started as a whimsical theme trend used in weddings and for furniture businesses has smoothly made its way to graphics. Now, companies are looking for a more rustic and natural style to implement in their business cards. This is useful in portraying long-standing relations.

5. Plantable Business Cards

Image Source: https://i.etsystatic.com/8519358/r/il/831d50/3044644452/il_1588xN.3044644452_2nud.jpg

What is better than a business card that can help the environment? Yes, a business card that one can plant! The plantable business card trend is growing. The material used is textured recycled paper with different seeds embedded below the surface. After taking all the necessary information from the card, you can tear it into small pieces and bury it. And that’s it.

Who knew business cards could also be a way to spread awareness and do your duty to protect the environment. This process forges a bond with your customer making your brand memorable for them.

6. Recycled Cardboard

Image Source: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/ba/9c/b8/ba9cb86d81a2c597c96aa7f05c782319.jpg

If your company believes in eco-friendliness, be sure to show that to your clients and partners as well. A business card made of recycled cardboard showcases your efforts in making our planet a better place to live in. You can avoid using bright colors in these cards. The beautiful cardboard texture will work best with natural shades.

Using soft and refined hues for text and adding effects like gloss or embossing can help you to enhance the beauty of your business card. Always remember that your card must create an instant association with nature.

7. Clever, Complex, and Cute Cutouts

Image Source: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/28/eb/2c/28eb2c83b586741d91425c40de336729.png

If you have been in business for a while, or even a short time, you might have stacks and stacks of business cards from partners, vendors, clients, etc., who you have met over years. And one thing that would be common in almost all of them is that they are rectangular.

But, a few will be eye-catching and trend setting, featuring abstract and iconic cutouts. You want to make your card ‘that’ card or ‘out of the box card’. In many cases, the snipped-away segment makes the card easier to grasp or to string on a keychain.

8. Unconventional Text Alignment

Image Source: https://i.pinimg.com/736x/71/00/bd/7100bde128827b9a5bd05a0114ef4b03.jpg

Taking typography to new heights in printed design, one of my favorite business card trends for 2022 is experimental text. Forget the usual left-to-right and explore here and everywhere inside your card’s edges. Just remember to keep clear readability in mind when free-styling on your designs because you don’t want to lose accessibility by hard-to-read creations.

9. Coordinating Color Ways

Image Source: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/7e/5d/68/7e5d68cc1381a4963fd1af91c7efe62e.jpg

What does “coordinating color ways†exactly mean? It is alternately colored versions of the same business card. For instance, if your brand’s color palette is mint green, charcoal gray, and off-white, you might get business cards made up that have identical text where some are green with off-white text with charcoal accents, and some have charcoal with off-white text with green accents. Choose your colors, experiment, and explore all the different variations.

10. Smart Geometric Designs

Image Source: https://image.freepik.com/free-vector/creative-minimal-modern-business-card-design-featuring-geometric-shapes_53876-63036.jpg

Geometric designs will be a trend in 2022, not only for business cards but also for book covers, logos, product packaging, etc. With precise and intricate repetitive patterns, this design feels futuristic. Making it in an asymmetric or symmetric manner is your choice.

Whether you are starting a new venture or re-imagining the one you have been pouring your heart into for years, business cards are meant to set the tone while introducing your brand to new people. It is time to show the world a fresh perspective about your business. You can start by creating a special eye-catching card for your business.

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5 Ways Drone Videography can Boost your Ad Campaigns

posted on October 18, 2021

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Engaging storytelling is the crux of any marketing campaign. As a business, you don’t just sell products or services anymore. The customers want more than sales-ey pitches and promotional campaigns. 

The customer wants stories. Stories that shape their ideas, share their opinions and ultimately drive action. And in the digital marketing space, there is no better way to tell a story than through effective videography. 

Advertisers are forever looking for unique and effective ways to tell compelling stories that capture the crux of customer demand. Drones or unmanned aircraft vehicles are becoming increasingly popular in the marketing space for this very reason. 

Drones can record a location from multiple angles and capture breathtaking aerial footage that is sure to make heads turn everywhere.  

Before drones, ad creators turned to helicopters to capture aerial shots of a product/location. This was a costlier, noiser option. Not to mention that working with helicopters requires special permissions and a lot of space and fuel- something that small ad agencies may not be able to fund. 

Enter drones, little flying machines that do exactly what a helicopter does (maybe better!) without burning a hole in your pocket.

Drones in modern marketing 

One of the most obvious ways to incorporate a drone in your marketing campaign is to use it as a tool. By this, I mean using the drone camera to record a location from different perspectives. 

Drones are far more accurate when it comes to collecting site data and conducting in-depth aerial surveys. This is useful not just for construction projects but also to create stunning ad campaigns for brands and company profile videos. 

Here are 5 ways you can incorporate drone videography in your ad campaign to boost engagement. 

1. Be unique 

Most marketing campaigns tend to use stock photos and video footage that can be easily found on the internet. These stock photos are unoriginal, stagnant and boring. Moreover, the average customer knows that these are stock images and videos. This reduces the credibility and authenticity of the brand. 

Earlier, marketing agencies did not have the budget to get helicopters for aerial shots. With drones, capturing aerial videos has become a lot more accessible and affordable. 

Drone aerial videography allows for a new and unique way to highlight a location and gives you a chance to be creative and original with an ad campaign. 

2. Put forth a dynamic brand image 

Drones are the future of advertising. These flying machines will soon become an everyday reality not just for TV ads and billboards but also social media campaigns. Customers love a brand that moves with the times. The faster you adapt to this emerging technology the better off you will be. 

Companies that fail to embrace drones will be stuck with ads that look generic. Drones help you put forth a dynamic brand image and get an edge over the existing competition.  

Image Source

3. Get a Bird’s-Eye View

There is something wonderful about getting a bird’s eye view of a location that puts things into perspective. Humans have always wanted to fly and we’re not equipped with wings to make that dream a reality. 

UAVs come a close second, making the experience as realistic as possible. Be it capturing a city’s skyline from a high-rise building or getting a panoramic shot of a scenic location – drones can make it possible. 

Drone videography helps marketers create immersive narratives that leave your audience completely awestruck. 

A bird’s eye view also makes an ad narrative more personalised, almost as if the viewer was seeing things in real-time. 

4. Quick Video Editing 

Drone footage is easier to process and edit. Plus, with drone footage, you can effectively recreate 3D maps and models of a location. 

Aerial footage provides a more holistic view of a neighborhood. All you have to do is export the drone data to a BIM platform or photogrammetry software. It is easier to edit a drone video and the possibilities become endless when you bring 3D data visualisation into the picture.

I would recommend you hire professionals to create your content. This improves the quality of the ad campaign and reduces the scope for errors.  

With a team of professional drone experts, you also save a lot on production costs. In Australia, for instance, a drone operator can give you all the updates on the latest CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) regulations and other permissions you might need to shoot over a location. 

Image Source

5. Drones as a Platform

Drones can fly over almost every location under the sun (provided you have the special permits needed to shoot over the area). This makes them a dynamic advertising tool when compared to  more traditional marketing tools. 

Don’t limit your campaigns to just aerial pictures and videos. Instead make drones an active part of the campaign. Drones take a company’s core message and tells it to people directly and aggressively. 

You can use drones to send samples to customers within the local neighborhood. Furthermore, you can use drones to deliver packages to customers – something that brands like Amazon are already using! 

The post 5 Ways Drone Videography can Boost your Ad Campaigns appeared first on SiteProNews.

4 Inspiring Social Media Campaigns of COVID Times

posted on October 4, 2021

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The past 2 years were wild indeed! For many brands, it was a very challenging time full of uncertainty. Trying to find the balance between promotion and sensitivity, especially in the first months, was near-on impossible.

However, the best brands managed to find their way pretty quickly. We’ve seen some awesome social media campaigns out there ever since the pandemic started.

As the months passed, we’ve had a chance to look back and learn from previous experiences.

Get inspired by these 4 amazing social media campaigns of COVID times!

Getty Museum’s #MuseumChallenge

Dressing up as famous art? Count us in! The Getty Museum was probably the most successful art institution in mobilizing its audience. It has been challenging their followers to recreate famous works of art with objects and/or people they have around themselves.

The rulesâ€â€according to the Getty Museum’s Twitter accountâ€â€were simple: Choose your favorite artwork. Then, find three things lying around your house, and recreate the artwork with those items. Share it.

The Getty Museum has received thousands of entries, ranging from classical and renaissance masterpieces to modern art. The results are amazing and are worth checking out when you have a free minute.

Why Getty’s Museum Challenge Worked

It was a campaign that truly engagedâ€â€whether you were an observer or a participant. User-generated content (UGC) is always a hit with social media users because they feel the brand sincerely cares about them.

It establishes trust and social proof for brands and creates a community around their products and services. 

And, it gave social media users something to do over a lockdown evening with Getty providing entertainment and distraction for art fans worldwide.

Buzzfeed Tasty’s Saturday Night Seder

Let’s talk about live videos for a minute.

This form of communication has reaped massive benefits for brands over the past months. It helps brands to communicate with their audiences in-the-moment and create a more human connection with their customers.

Buzzfeed Tasty (most commonly known for its delicious short and snappy recipe videos) tapped into the medium to encourage their audience to connect online when they couldn’t connect with others in real life.

At the same time, they added another layer to the whole proceeding: charity. The Live Seder event brought together musicians, comedians, and celebrities as part of a fundraiser to help people who had been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Thanks to this event, they have raised funds for the CDC Foundation COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund.

The event was promoted across several different social media platforms and aired Live on YouTube and Facebook at the same time.

Why Buzzfeed Tasty’s Live Seder Event Worked

Live video was the perfect medium for reaching people while they were stuck at home. Not only did it make them feel a part of something, but Buzzfeed Tasty’s audience could get involved in something bigger than themselves.

The brand knew that a live video would hit the spot with viewersâ€â€especially since video forms a crucial part of their everyday content strategy.

Hello’s BC Explore BC Later Campaign

Tourism took a real hit during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tourist boards around the world were flummoxed at how they could continue to raise awareness of their destinations without coming across as insensitive and tone-deaf.

Many simply did nothing.

But that wasn’t an option for Hello BC.

Instead, the brand launched their #ExploreBCLater campaign that highlighted the need for social responsibility during trying times. It was a twist on their usual #ExploreBC hashtag that created a space for travelers to share their stories of BC and live vicariously through user images and videos.

As well as UGC, Hello BC also shared posts from industry partners and kept BC front of mind so that when travel restrictions are lifted, it’s the first place people want to go.

Why Hello BC’s #ExploreBCLater Campaign Worked

The pandemic was never going to be an easy time for tourism boards.

Promoting a destination that’s not accessible is an almost impossible task, but Hello BC managed to get the tone just right. They continued to celebrate the beauty of BC through traveler pictures and industry partners to keep the love for BC alive.

And we had something to look forward to.

Guinness’ Stay at Home Campaign

When the pandemic hit the world, we were all facing a huge amount of uncertainty. 

However, many brands didn’t let it paralyze them. Marketers were proactive and tried to use their talent to help spread hope, positivity and powerful messages. And Guinness was one of them.

Created by copywriter Luke O’Reilly, this concept Guinness ad is being praised online for its simple perfection.

It uses a technique called invisible branding which uses well-known images and replaces them with perfectly placed objects to create an optical illusion. Thanks to the illusion, your brain has to fill in the gaps.

In this case, the iconic pint of Guinness’ foam head has been substituted with a sofa, in the signature creamy colour, of course. The middle is stamped with the old Guinness logo and harp icon, and a simple, well-positioned ‘Stay at home’ message at the bottom provides all your brain needs to complete the image.

Why Guinness’ Campaign Worked

This ad is a very creative way of spreading the message ‘Stay at home’, fabulously combining humor and an important call to action delivered with sensitivity. It perfectly taps into the nation’s mood during the pandemic and makes them feel connected.

Also, let’s face it: such ads work because of years of investments in Guinness branding, awareness and engagement.

COVID Was a Challenge Accepted for Social Media Campaigns

The past 2 years were challenging years for most of us.

For a while, it was a minefield for brands that didn’t want to come across as insensitive or playing the Covid card too much.

But we think the brands here got it just right. From Tasty’s live videos to Guinness, this year might have been the most fruitful and creative year yet when it comes to social media campaigns.

Many brands also started using social media for social selling and moved from traditional ways of selling online. Ecommerce has become a vital part of the global retail framework too, yet the direct selling industry remains one of the best industries to stay profitable.

Examples used in this article show that in every difficulty lies opportunity.

The post 4 Inspiring Social Media Campaigns of COVID Times appeared first on SiteProNews.

Temptation as Chinese Tech Brands Rush to Sporting Tournaments

posted on October 2, 2021

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The strong presence of Chinese companies sponsoring international sporting events has galvanised audiences worldwide – a trend that experts predict will accelerate as brands expand their ambitions to become global.    

A new wave of Chinese technology companies are rushing to sell their shares in IPOs, and a list has caught the interest of three of greater China’s wealthiest people. Hire China, a big money-making company, shows that leading Chinese technology companies are reluctant to advertise political ties or promote their relations to the ruling communist party, which could lead to problems with the authorities. The party has helped internet companies grow and shut down U.S. platforms such as Facebook (FB) and Google.

Image Source: Statista

According to Dealogic, 26 Chinese technology companies have offered to sell $85 billion in new shares this year, equivalent to 9% of the global IPO volume. That includes phone maker Xiaomi, who is seeking to raise $61 billion through a sale of shares in Hong Kong to become the biggest IPO in the world in the past two years.

Chinese payments platform giant Alipay has signed an eight-year deal to sponsor all UEFA domestic football tournaments from 2018 to 2026, including euro 2020, Euro 2024 and the final of the UEFA nations league. The deal is worth 200 million euros, according to sources quoted by the financial times, and involves the company becoming UEFA’s official global payment partner. The four Chinese companies Alipay, Hisense, TikTok and Vivo, which are euro 2020 sponsors, make up a third of the official sponsors, making china the biggest sponsor of the tournament.  

Beijing is increasingly concerned about the size and power of Chinese technology companies, which are rising to become the largest in the world without regulation. Between 2015 and 2016, the number of brands operating in the Chinese sports industry increased by 217%, and the number of workers soared to 4.4 million. Big brands like Nike and Adidas are leading the way, beating big Chinese brands like Anta, Lining and Xtep.    

NFL China chief executive Richard Young expects games to be held in China at some point in the future. An estimated 900,000 Chinese fans watch NFL games each year, although the sport is not played at the highest level in North America. The change in its most popular spectator sport, driven by western influence and the growth of international sporting events, offers enormous opportunities for sports brands.

Image Source: ISPO

Although the country has yet to qualify for a single FIFA world cup, in which it lost all three group games, growing support for football could lead China to succeed in future tournaments. “Europe is becoming an increasingly important market for Chinese companies,” he said, referring to the TikTok explosion in 2020. Since his visit to Berlin in 2017, he has enjoyed youth football games in China and Germany. However, for brands to sell successfully outside China, it is essential that they understand Chinese consumer culture, technology and much more.   

Companies like Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu have long prided themselves as Chinese success stories and companies competing with their western rivals, but suddenly they are the public enemy number one. However, China’s plan appears to be working, as more than 30 Chinese technology companies have pledged allegiance to Beijing this month.       

TikTok, which claims its global platform should remain separate from its Chinese operations, has teamed up with tournament organisers for the UEFA tournament and compiled tons of advertising efforts on their platform, including branding, augmented reality effects and its live hashtag challenge. Unfortunately, the party that snoops on its citizens wants companies to become trackers, while the party that ruins international law wants them to abide by rules. 

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Elevate Your LinkedIn Profile to Promote Your Personal Brand

posted on September 22, 2021

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These days, like it or not, your digital image is everything. How we present ourselves on social platforms can make or break our chances of career success. 

Boosting your personal brand can open doors you may not know existed. A top-notch LinkedIn profile is the way to find those doors.

With a strong profile, you can widen your network by showcasing your experience, skills, and achievements.

Read on to find out how to promote your personal brand by crafting a strong LinkedIn profile that shows off your best professional qualities. 

Your Profile is a Branding Opportunity

Think of your LinkedIn profile like that nice outfit you’d wear for an interview or a business meeting at an upscale restaurant. That profile should make you stand out and look your best. 

It’s on a par with a well-composed resume. 

A lackluster, basic profile doesn’t make a great first impression, does it?

LinkedIn has many attractive accessories for that profile “outfit” to ensure your brand is engaging and enticing. Take advantage of these features—don’t sell yourself short.  

LinkedIn’s algorithm rewards users with complete profiles. You’re far more likely to show up in search results with a complete profile. LinkedIn assigns different strengths to profiles based on their completeness, and there’s a huge advantage given to those who utilize all the bells and whistles. 

So—

How do you make your LinkedIn profile pop? 

Avoid Humdrum Headlines 

By default, LinkedIn uses your current job title as the headline. That’s all well and good. But, customizing the headline can highlight your expertise or vision for your brand. Think of your headline as your brand’s motto.

Your headline is often the first thing potential employers and network connections see, so make it stand out. 

LinkedIn headlines have a limit of 120-characters (with spaces). This is equivalent to about 18 words.

Recipe for a delicious headline: 

  • Job title or area of expertise
  • Company name
  • Accomplishment/selling point

Example: 

ESOL Program Coordinator | Top Academy English School | Delivering Exceptional Curriculum for Over 15 Years | Second Language Acquisition Specialist 

This headline is much more impressive than if it had just had the job title. 

And your picture should match the professionalism the headline conveys. 

Pick the Perfect Pic

Having a professional picture on LinkedIn is essential to your brand. 

A photo done by a professional photographer is best—the lighting will be perfect and the picture will be flattering. 

If this is out of your budget, simply use a decent camera and soft lighting. Your picture should reflect your current appearance. Take a fresh picture if a couple of years have gone by. 

  • Specs: Square—400 x 400 pixels, under 8 MB in size. Make sure it’s high resolution. And your picture should take up at least 60% of the frame. 
  • Appearance: your expression should be friendly, yet professional. Often, a nice smile, with teeth showing is preferable to closed-mouth smiles. Try not to over-filter your picture. If you want to use a filter, select one with a natural look. 
  • Attire: your clothing should fit with your brand. Wear something you’d wear to your workplace…unless your workplace is home. PJs won’t give the best impression! 

The bottom line: a professional photo will get a user 14 times more views on average than other types of profile pictures.

Make the Background Section Count

You’ve probably seen that stark blue default background image plenty of times on profiles for those who’re starting off in their careers or are LinkedIn newbies. 

But, this space is golden for building your credibility and showing off something you’re good at. 

This space can be devoted to something directly related to your current field, or a side gig. Your profile will really pop and enhance your personal brand if you pick a decent background picture. 

LinkedIn recommends the following: 

  • A JPG or PNG file of an image that’s long and narrow, less than 8 MB and 1584 x 396 pixels. 

Adding that background photo is easy-peasy.

  1. Click the Me icon at the top of your homepage
  2. Click on “View profile”
  3. Select the camera icon located at the top right corner of your intro section
  4. Then upload photo, and click “Open”
  5. Click “Apply”

Don’t Skip the Summary Section 

This section is one of the first places that’s checked out by those visiting your profile. 

If you’re a job seeker, recruiters will definitely check out this section, so compose a summary that shows your hard skills first and foremost. 

So, not this:

“Energetic, innovative, and adaptable data analyst.”

But, this: 

“Data analyst with over six years experience performing analyses, with expertise in SQL, Oracle, and Python.”

The latter is a line for a summary they can sink their teeth into. 

Plus, your summary should include: 

  • Data—percentages, dollar amounts, and numerals for any of your accomplishments adds credibility
  • White space—Long blocks of text aren’t reader-friendly in our fast-paced, digital world. Studies have shown that using white space is more pleasant on the eyes. Short, to-the-point paragraphs will keep their attention.
  • Keywords—adding keywords from job descriptions into your summary can improve your chances of getting noticed by potential employers
  • Personality—people want to know who you are. That’s why they’re looking at your profile. Nothing conveys your personal brand better than your own personality. 

For example:

“My penchant for dark chocolate and espresso are what keep me plugging away at my artistic tote bag business!” 

From the “Summary” section, you can move on to sharing your professional and educational background, plus all the skills you’ve acquired.

Wow Them with Your Work, Skills, and Education

It’s obvious that your personal brand is a product of your experience, skills, and education. 

If you don’t add to these sections, your profile will be sorely lacking. And your personal brand will not be communicated. 

Experience section: Don’t rehash your resume

Don’t be tempted to copy/paste your work experience from your resume to the LinkedIn “Experience” section. 

You have more freedom with the LinkedIn Experience section. You can add experience outside of what is typically included on the “relevant experience” resume. Freelance work or side gigs can be included. This section shouldn’t be as weighty as your resume. Avoid giving details for every position. Summarize and highlight your biggest achievements.

Also, no need to shy away from the first person—using “I” and a conversational tone is welcome. 

After you document your past and current jobs concisely, it’s time to move on to the next section of your LinkedIn profile: “Education.”

Education section: Include every college or university

A neat feature of LinkedIn is that when you peruse their jobs, it will tell you how many school alumni are applying for the job. 

Hint, hint—

You can hit up the alumni who work there and mention your interest in the job, which can increase your chances if they have any influence on who’s hired. Therefore, it’s a sensible idea to add any and all higher education institutions you’ve attended.

And, for those who don’t have a college degree, make sure to add any formal training you’ve had. Showing you’ve taken the initiative and completed a course is worth displaying. 

After “Education” is the “Skills” section. 

Skills section: Let your skills shine—and endorse others’

The “Skills & endorsements” section will add a lot of flavor to your personal brand on LinkedIn. A healthy section will include 10+ skills. But, don’t add skills that you aren’t truly familiar with.  

The skills you select make you more searchable. 

After you add the skills, you can click and drag them to arrange them in whatever order you like. Ideally, place the most important skills regarding your brand at the very top. 

Lacking a skill you’d like to learn? Check out LinkedIn Learning, chock-full of videos, tutorials, and almost any professional topic you can think of. 

Next, skills endorsements matter.

On LinkedIn there’s a definite “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” approach to endorsements. 

In other words, if you want to get endorsed, do unto others. 

When you’re endorsed, it increases your credibility. People will trust your brand. 

To endorse someone else’s skills:

  • Click on their profile and go to “Skills & endorsements” 
  • Find the skill you wish to endorse and click the plus sign
  • Use the form that pops up to rate the person’s proficiency and explain how you’ve been able to see the skill in action

Of course, don’t be an endorsement spammer! Only endorse if you know the person’s work and can feel confident in the contact’s skill you’re endorsing. 

Once you feel confident with your profile, no shame in feeling a tad vain. Time to create a LinkedIn vanity URL.

Create a LinkedIn Vanity URL 

Whether you’re a fan of vanity plates or not, a vanity URL on LinkedIn is great for your personal brand. 

It’s a branded link that’s snappier and shorter than the URL that LinkedIn produces by default. 

This is a way to attract an audience because the message is clear. 

A vanity link displays a condensed, focused message—your brand. 

A LinkedIn vanity URL with your personal or company name makes it easier for networking contacts to find you, plus it looks more professional. 

Say goodbye to that messy string of characters, numbers, and symbols and change to a vanity LinkedIn URL: 

  1. Click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage with the drop-down arrow
  2. Click “View Profile”
  3. Click “Edit public profile & URL”
  4. The Public profile settings page will open
  5. Click the pencil icon on the right sight under “Edit your custom URL”
  6. Enter what you would like to be in your custom URL
  7. Don’t forget to click “Save”

If you’ve gone through all the steps above, your personal brand has gotten a major upgrade on LinkedIn. This will boost your chances of getting noticed and a new job in line with your skills and interests if that’s what you’re in the market for.

With all the profile pieces in place, build your connections, create engaging content, and your personal brand will shine.

To Wrap Up

LinkedIn is the place to promote yourself professionally. It’s the best way to promote your personal brand. Plus, the networking possibilities are endless.

And—

If you’re looking to attract job possibilities, LinkedIn is a top resource for recruiters. In fact, more than 95% of recruiters use LinkedIn’s tools to find the perfect candidate for a job. Over 57 million companies are on the site, with over 15 million jobs postings. 

So, get those LinkedIn profiles in tip-top shape to give your personal brand a major boost.

The post Elevate Your LinkedIn Profile to Promote Your Personal Brand appeared first on SiteProNews.

15 Reasons Why You Should Post Social Media Stories

posted on September 13, 2021

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According to statistics, Instagram users spend 24-32 minutes every day watching stories. This is the length of your average series episode. Facebook says that around 1 billion people post stories every day on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp.

As the stats show, leveraging the stories feature on these platforms can help you reach a wide audience, increase engagement, and enhance interaction with your brand through User Generated Content. 

In this guide, we’ll define what stories are and why you should consider using the feature. Let’s get started!

What’s the Point of Social Media Stories?

Social Media Stories are temporary posts. The concept started out on snapchat but was eventually adopted by facebook, instagram, and whatsapp. Stories allow you to use photos, videos, text, and tags to create content. 

A study has found that peoples’ attention spans have decreased from 12 seconds to 8 seconds. This is advantageous to stories, since they only allow you to upload 15 seconds of video at a time. 

On Instagram, stories appear as highlighted circles around your profile picture:

Image Source: Loomly)

The special features of stories are that they are usually uploaded from mobile phones, made in vertical format, and disappear after 24 hours.

Image Source: Vox

Stories can be found on the following platforms:

  • Instagram
  • Facebook
  • Snapchat
  • WhatsApp
  • YouTube

Why Should You Post Stories on Social Media?

It has been found that people interact with stories twice as often as they click on conventional Facebook posts. Around 15-25% of users click on links in stories on Instagram.

Let’s look further into why you should post stories on social media as a brand:

1. Stories don’t need to be fine-tuned

The convenience of stories is that they don’t need to be refined. It has been found that unrefined and personal stories have done better than those that are heavily filtered, edited, and contain lots of CTAs.

By adding a personal touch to your stories, you can connect better with your fans and the stats prove this. 

2. Brand Visibility

According to the 2020 IG Stories Study, posting up to 5 stories per day keeps your customer retention rate high at 70%. 

When Gap started creating video stories for their marketing campaign, they saw a 73% increase in Click Through rates. These click through rates increased their traffic and audience engagement with their profile, hence enhancing their brand visibility.

On top of this, statistics have shown that people spend around half an hour clicking through their stories every day.

Everytime your favorite brand uploads a story, it’s hard to miss it because it shows up on the top of your feed in a colorful ring. You also get notified when they do. Thus the stories feature definitely increases visibility for your brand.

3. Wider Reach

Around 500 million people use Instagram stories every day. Moreover, 86.8% of people upload stories every day. By posting your own stories, you can reach this huge audience successfully. 

4. Drives Website Traffic

Data shows that 1 in 3 people are more interested in a product after seeing it on Instagram stories. Another study found that people click on links in stories twice as often as they click on normal Facebook posts.

This means that you can easily redirect your audience to your website or blog by adding links to your stories. This enhances your website traffic and leads to higher engagement and sales.

5. Personalize your Brand

There’s no better way to personalize your brand than using stories to interact with your customers. Uploading raw, personal content allows you to approach your consumers as a friend. People trust other people more than they trust brands.

By adding a personal touch to your business, you can enhance customer loyalty. People will feel like they can connect better with you, which will encourage them to shop with you too!

6. Immediately Relevant Content

Social media users tend to be impulsive and have short attention spans. At the same time, they want to stay on top of the news. Stories offer them a quick, convenient means to view posts they’re interested in right away.

7. Cost Effective

Advertisingâ€â€even on social mediaâ€â€costs money. Stories, however, are free and also offer more engagement. On top of that, you don’t have to spend precious time editing your content. 

8. Contests and Promotion Participation

Customers don’t want to be out of the loop when it comes to sales. Uploading one-day specials and flash sales on your stories will keep people constantly engaged with your stories so they don’t miss such updates.

And since stories disappear after 24 hours, they’ll be frequently visiting your profile to look for news, which will increase their engagement with your brand.

Additionally, giveaway or promotional posts uploaded on stories add a sense of excitement since customers can’t tell how many people entered the giveaway or are taking part. This gets them even more excited to participate.

9. Helps you Dive into Video Sharing

If you’re shying away from making videos about your brand, stories are a less intimidating way to do it. Since stories focus on uploading raw content, you don’t need to focus on being or sounding perfect.

You don’t need any fancy equipment or editing software. Just be yourself, be comfortable and honest, and have a good time!

On top of this, video stories also have slightly more engagement than image stories. They also perform better when it comes to tap-forward and exit rates. Videos have a higher tap-forward rate and a lower exit rate.

10. Become an Authority in your Field

It is quite time-consuming to create, edit, and upload social media content. When it comes to trending topics, the best time to post is immediately as they happen. This way, you get the most engagement.

Each minute you spend editing is a minute wasted in getting the urgent news out. With stories, you can upload live content, or photos and videos as soon as things happen without waiting to edit them. 

People then start to notice that you’re always on top of the latest news and start to rely on you for authentic, immediate updates. Slowly but surely you become an authority in your field.

11. No Need to Beat the Algorithm

Social Media Algorithms are pretty unreliable. They fluctuate from time to time, causing your visibility to fluctuate with them sometimes. However, stories always appear at the top of everyone’s feed. 

This means they always get the views they need. You don’t need to upload at specific times of the day or with a bunch of hashtags that clutter the screen. And when you upload a new post, your story gets pushed to the front again!

12. Immediate Sales

A study found that 50% of people head off to a website after seeing the company’s products in its stories. 1 in 4 millennials look for stories of the products they wish to buy. 

This means users are more likely to buy products if they view them on stories. So the logical thing to do to increase sales is: upload products on your stories!

13. Transparent Competitor Analysis

Stories make it easy for you to find out what kind of business promotion your competitors are doing. You can simply view their stories to see what kind of content they’re sharing, the types of sales or giveaways they’re carrying out, etc.

For example, if one of your competitors is having a flash weekend sale, you can do something similar for your brand to keep customers coming to your stores. 

You may also notice something they’re lacking and implement them towards your own marketing campaign. For example, if you see that your competitor’s Instagram presence is quite poor, you can amp up the user generated content for your insta profile so that you can appear more unique in your customer’s eyes. 

14. Better Customer Service

According to the Sprout Social Index, almost half of all customers these days opt for social media to raise their issues. It is more convenient than sending emails that take days to get replies or making lengthy phone calls. 

If you engage with your audience on a daily basis and address their concerns, they’ll come to trust and respect you. Social media stories offer a quick way to address concerns, and show users that you keep their satisfaction as a top priority.

15. Appeal to Younger Audiences

It’s not a secret that young people today are interacting less with traditional advertising, opting for looking at online ads or stories for brand updates. That being said, it’s important that companies build an effective social media presence.

Businesses should focus on creating opportunities for user generated content and stories to appeal to the younger demographic. Since a majority of people using social media are from Generation Z, brands can enhance engagement and sales by engaging these groups of people. 

Bottom line

Around 48% of the world are active social media users. Social Media usage is the most common amongst youth, and 84% of users are aged 18-29. On top of this, these young ones prefer using social media when consuming ads.

If you want to appeal to this age group, you’re going to need a social media presence. One of the most popular features of social media these days are stories and companies can leverage their power to increase engagement, conversion rates, and get the upper hand over their competitors.

This guide outlined the 15 major reasons you should consider using stories in your social media marketing campaign. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us! Follow us on our socials and share this post with your friends so they can learn from it too.

The post 15 Reasons Why You Should Post Social Media Stories appeared first on SiteProNews.

How to Create a Website that Wows

posted on September 10, 2021

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In today’s digital world, creating a website that stands out is a must for any brand. No matter what type of business or industry you are in, there is likely some steep competition on the internet. Making your website one that wows visitors and keeps them around is pivotal to your online success. 

So how do you create a website that truly captures the attention of web browsers? Thinking outside the box and adding unique features are sure to get you noticed. However, it’s important to stay true to your brand and its image and personality. So, here’s some strategies to create a site that wows browsers while still being authentic to your brand. 

Make it Fast and Functional

The first impression that users get from your site will likely be how quickly it loads on their device. In fact, 53% of customers will simply leave a site if it takes more than three seconds to load. Plus, the loading speed is a factor in Google’s search engine algorithms and a faster site can earn you a high spot in search results. 

Make your loading speed a priority to be sure users will stick around long enough to see just how awesome your web page is. Test and troubleshoot your load times regularly. Then look for ways to make it as quick as possible. Everything from compressing your files to evaluating your server type can make a big difference in load time. 

The other component of making a great first impression is ensuring that your site is fully functional on all devices. Mobile browsing makes up 54.8% of web traffic. Not having a mobile-friendly site could mean that you’ll miss the boat on all of those potential visitors. Make sure your site is easy to navigate on touch screens and loads quickly on mobile devices as well.

Create an Interactive Experience

One trend taking the online world by storm is gamification. This technique creates a more engaging and interactive experience that can draw web surfers in and keep them coming back. And the best part is that it can be incorporated into every website, no matter the type of brand. 

Gamification creates a competitive vibe that appeals to many consumers. Creating special badges for those that leave the most frequent reviews or tiers based on purchase history gives customers something to strive for. With this technique, they are enticed to achieve higher levels by returning to your site again and again.

You can also use gamification as a fun way to provide discounts and share promotions. Who doesn’t love spinning a virtual wheel to reveal the percentage off they’ve earned? The most important part of gamification is ensuring it’s enjoyable to the user, adds value to your site, and that the features work well across all devices.

Customization is Key

Image Source

Your users want a personalized experience when they visit your site. This is true whether you are selling goods or a service. Being able to feel that your site works to meet their unique needs will make it stand out from the crowd. 

Online shopping is a great tool, but many shoppers miss the trying before buying aspect of in-person shopping. If you are selling things like clothing or accessories, add a tool to your site where visitors can upload a photo and “try on†your inventory. For home goods sites, features that allow shoppers to add images of their own spaces and see how your items look in them can be a big win. 

“Build Your Own†type tools are another way to provide visitors with a customized experience. If you are selling food or drinks, allow users to craft their own meals or beverages virtually. Include nutritional info as an added bonus. If you see custom products, make sure customers can customize everything from color to size with the touch of a button. They will be more confident that the one-of-a-kind item they are buying will be exactly what they are envisioning.

Get Visual

A whopping 65 percent of people are visual learners. So while you want to communicate plenty of information via text on your website, visuals are what will likely get you noticed. Your graphics have the potential to make or break the whole feel and vibe that your web pages create.

Make sure you use relevant, high-quality graphics that align with your brand. Product images should be clear and taken from multiple angles. Moveable, 360-degree images are even better. It’s important that customers can really get a feel for what products look like in person from your photos. 

The vast majority of websites and brands can use infographics to their advantage. Create one that shows the steps of using your product in new and unique ways. Use catchy images to create an infographic full of statistics regarding your service’s industry. Infographics are great tools to add value to your website in an appealing and easy to interpret way. 

Create Valuable Content

One way to make your website wow users is to provide useful information to them with no obligation. This shows that you care about your visitors getting something out of your website. It will also keep them returning in the future to see the new and exciting content that you have to offer. 

Blogs have stood the test of time in content marketing and for good reason. They are customizable, fairly easy to implement, and can work for nearly every website. Post to your blog regularly and create a clear tone and personality. Drive kitchen enthusiasts to your cooking site with weekly recipes. Or, blog about the latest fashion trends on your retail site. Making the blog relevant to your brand and useful to visitors will encourage them to return again and again.

Videos are a powerful tool to take advantage of for your website. Product demos are a great way to familiarize visitors with features and usage tips. A fun video can even be used to set the mood. Seasonal shorts, holiday ads, and mini-music videos are all awesome ways to appeal to all of the senses and make your site stand out. 

Making a Memorable Website

Image Source

Internet users are fickle and there are plenty of choices out there to distract them from your site. Make sure it’s memorable, innovative, and speaks in a unique way for your brand to keep them sticking around. And it’ll pay off in longer browsing times, return visits, and a growing and loyal customer base that’s around for the long run.

The post How to Create a Website that Wows appeared first on SiteProNews.

10 Great Marketing Websites that Accept Guest Posts

posted on September 1, 2021

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If you want to build a name for yourself in the marketing or business industries, guest posting is a great way to start. Aside from the obvious benefits (we’ll get to them in a while), guest posting also helps you hone your writing skills and expand your network. While it’s hard to calculate the ROI of these things, they are valuable without a doubt.

Before we dig into the websites, let’s take a quick look at why you should bother with guest posting in the first place.

Top Benefits of Guest Posting

  • Get backlinks to your website
  • Increase your authority in your field. When your name pops on a lot of websites where you author articles, your reputation gets an instant boom.
  • Get new clients. I can testify to this firsthand: every time one of my articles gets published on SiteProNews or on another website where I contribute, my marketing agency instantly gets 2-10 inquiries. 
  • Get more social media followers. Most websites will allow you to add links to your social profiles in your bio and that’s a great way to expand your network.

How to Create the Perfect Pitch for Your Guest Post

The fact that all the websites below accept guest posts doesn’t mean yours will automatically be published. In fact, most articles don’t get accepted, especially on top websites that always have strict editorial guidelines.

Here’s what to keep in mind if you want your pitch not to end up in the trash folder of the editor’s email box:

  • Know who you’re talking to. Most websites that accept guest posts publish the names of their editors. If you have your eyes set on such a website, spend some time on LinkedIn or Twitter, even connect with the editor if possible. You will find that they often post about what they like/dislike about guest post pitches and that they go into more detail than the official guidelines. This will give you excellent insights into how to approach them. If you really want to succeed, do more than connecting with them: like and/or comment on a few of their posts (make it relevant!) so when your name pops into their inbox it’ll look familiar.
  • Do your research. Don’t pitch just…anything. Make sure you understand which topics and which formats the editors prefer. Some websites rave about “how-to” articles, while other prefer storytelling. Similarly, some editors prefer to see the full article from the first email, while others will ask you for an outline first. Also, make sure you don’t pitch a topic that’s been extensively covered in the past. The search button on the website is your best friend!
  • Don’t put all your eggs in a single basket. In other words, don’t pitch a single topic. Offer two or three choices. Any more than that is too much and will take up too much of the editor’s time to review.
  • Add your portfolio. In your pitch, add a few links (again, no more than two or three) to some of your best pieces on some of the most respected websites in the field. If you have really BIG names in your portfolio, lead with that. Any editor would love to add an already famous name to their list of contributors.

Now that we’ve got the basics covered, let’s see the list.

10 Marketing Websites to Pitch Guest Posts to

One final note before digging into the list: don’t pitch the same article to ALL these websites. Certain topics or approaches might fit more than one, but they will definitely not be a great fit for all the websites here. As is the case with any marketing tactic, personalize as much as you can (without getting creepy!)

1. SiteProNews

You definitely know SiteProNews since you are reading this, but have you ever considered guest posting yourself? You can submit articles on (almost!) any business-related topic.

I’ve been a regular contributor here for quite some time now and I love the friendly editorial approach. You’ll love the whole process, so give it a shot. But not before you read the editorial guidelines, of course!

2. G2

G2 is an excellent option, especially if you’re in the XaaS space. They are the name of the game in this industry, so you’ve got nothing to lose.

Based on my personal experience, the editors are strict, but always fair. You’ve got a real shot if you can write well and if you truly have something interesting to say. Editorial guidelines here. 

3. Entrepreneur

You’ve definitely heard of this one, right? Everyone who’s anyone has had an article published there or has at least been quoted. Luckily, you don’t have to be Elon Musk to see your name on entrepreneur.com.

However, this doesn’t mean it will be easy. As you can imagine, they are quite selective with their contributors and it will take some time to get your article accepted. More details here. 

4. Thrive Global

Not all big names are tough on their contributors. Thrive Global is an excellent choice, especially if you have an inspirational story to post. It’s not all business – more on the personal journey side, but it’s always good to diversify your portfolio.

I published my own story about entrepreneurship on Thrive Global almost three years ago and I still use it in my portfolio because it’s been very well-received. 

It’s super easy to post – just create an account and submit your post for approval directly into their CMS. Approval also happens quite fast. Full editorial guidelines here. 

5. Business2Community

You can contribute a fresh piece of content or syndicate your existing content on Business2Community. If you choose the former, I suggest you write about something that’s newsworthy or news-related. Your own perspective of a newly released feature of Instagram or Google will get you in through the door. Check out the guidelines here.

6. Mention

Are you a social media expert? If so, Mention is the place to guest blog for. They are a social media listening tool, so you’ll get extra credit if you have your own take on this.

You can find the full guidelines here.  

7. Digital Novas

You can pitch articles on social media, content writing, copywriting, SEO, and more on Digital Novas. Pro tip: pitch three to five topics in your email or contact form.

Check out their Write for Us page here.

8. Content Marketing Institute

CMI is not exactly easy to get published on. But it will be worth your while. If you live and breathe content marketing, you should definitely try and get an article published here. Since anyone in the industry knows it’s not easy to get featured on CMI, your reputation will get a significant boost if you succeed.

You won’t succeed without carefully reading their editorial guidelines, though, so here they are. 

9. GoDaddy Blog/Garage

GoDaddy has a popular blog and you could get your article featured there relatively easily. Better yet, you can even get paid for it – they accept contributions from both freelancers and guest writers. My personal experience with guest posting for them was quite pleasant, although not fast! But that’s to be expected with a website their size!

Check out the topics they prefer and the writers’ guidelines. 

10. Social Media Examiner

As the name suggests, this is an excellent website to write for if you are a social media expert. However, social media is a VERY vast topic, so make sure you really know your stuff before pitching.

Pro tip: they prefer topics about how small or medium-sized businesses use social media. More guidelines here. 

One final piece of advice: if you are new to guest posting and you don’t have a strong portfolio (yet!) don’t start with the big guns. Start small, with more niche websites and work your way up to the likes of Entrepreneur or Forbes. Good luck!

The post 10 Great Marketing Websites that Accept Guest Posts appeared first on SiteProNews.

How to Use Messengers for Business: Best Marketing Use Cases

posted on August 31, 2021

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The use of messengers for business is multifaceted. With their help, brands can build communication with customers, share content, and increase loyalty. This not only improves the quality of services provided but also significantly reduces costs. Consider the fact that some messengers and chatbots work without an Internet connection and your chances of reaching buyers increase. Check out such no internet chat apps on apppearl. 

Communicating with customers on messengers is becoming more effective than on the phone or by email. Messengers beat mailing by two key performance indicators at once – open rate and click-throughs.

Consumers are 4 times more likely to open messenger than email and to follow a link from messenger 10 times more often.

How do messengers help businesses grow?

Messengers allow you to speed up service, get more loyal customers and, as a result, increase profits. Let’s consider the main features of messengers for business development.

Sales and client support

The most obvious use of messengers for business is order processing and customer support. Brands advise consumers, answer questions, offer related products, and get feedback.

Marketing

Messengers can also be used for marketing purposes. Brands use them to send out promotions, news, tips, interesting offers, and other types of content. The company’s channel in this case acts as a blog, but with a more personalized approach.

The main thing to remember is that direct advertising irritates users. Therefore, you need to approach the creation of content creatively and not impose it.

Increased loyalty

A bonus of using messengers to communicate with customers is increased brand loyalty. Companies use automated responses to provide clients with instant feedback or send follow-ups to collect feedback, demonstrating their attentiveness to customers.

In addition, the messenger keeps a history of correspondence. To remember what a customer wanted, all you have to do is open the desired conversation. Brands use this feature to keep track of customers’ desires, requests, and problems. By understanding the specifics of each consumer, brands turn them into loyal customers.

Which messenger is best to use?

When choosing a messenger for business, it is important to understand that it is not only about which one is more convenient, familiar, and understandable for you. To successfully integrate the messenger in your marketing and sales strategy, you need to rely on its functions and features.

WhatsApp

This service is by far the most popular in the world. WhatsApp’s audience has already exceeded 1.5 billion users.

Around the world, brands are actively using WhatsApp mailing lists and group chats to communicate with customers. You can make audio and video calls in it, as well as share files.

On the downside, you can’t send paid messages or show ads on WhatsApp.

Facebook Messenger

Facebook Messenger is the second most popular messenger in the world. Its audience is 1.3 billion users. The platform allows you to exchange files, text and voice messages, geolocation. It is also possible to create group chats and set up auto-replies.

Brands can send users promotional materials, special offers, or discounts according to preset templates.

Facebook messenger allows you to watch basic statistics: the average response time and the total number of messages.

Telegram

Brands and users value this service for its speed, reliability, and security. Telegram has a well-developed infrastructure of bots and there are group conversations and channels. You can also create secret chats and self-destructing messages.

Another advantage is that it is cross-platform. Telegram is available for installation on all existing devices and operating systems.

Viber

With Viber you can communicate with a customer individually or through a group chat. A brand can also create a public chat which is essentially a microblog – only the administrator can publish messages in it.

Viber is suitable for informing customers about events, promotional offers, or range updates.

In addition to the standard functions, Viber has tools for promoting and informing customers – Service Messaging API. This service allows you to send advertising and service messages to users who have agreed to receive such information.

QQ and WeChat

These messengers are popular in Asian countries – Thailand, India, South Korea. They are known for their versatility – they can make video calls, send videos and photos, text.

Business Messaging: The Future of Customer Communication

The era of communication with users in social networks is ending. Communication needs to become more personalized again. But going back to phone calls or emails is a step backward.

More and more global brands are choosing to communicate with customers in messengers. And here’s why:

  • the messenger audience is growing daily;
  • messengers allow you to segment leads and tailor your message instantly;
  • messengers have the fastest response time thanks to push notifications;
  • messengers allow you to send a variety of content;
  • messengers allow asynchronous and synchronous communication if necessary;
  • messengers allow you to communicate in the most convenient form for the customer.

How world-renowned companies use messengers

Companies of various orientations have long used messengers for work. A jewelry company in Britain uses messengers to communicate with customers. According to their data, 10% of customers consulted with managers before buying through messaging.

What’s App is commonly used by Europeans choosing an engagement ring for a bride. This method seems to be the most convenient, relative to the home phone, e-mail, or social networks because it allows you to keep the purchase secret. The same organization works with Eastern men, whose approach to buying a ring differs from European and American men. They tend to involve not only their beloved ones but their relatives and friends as well.

Managers of Rare Pink use in this case the Chinese messenger We Chat, where you can organize group video conferences for discussion.

Mashable uses Viber for company employees’ chats. These are both announcements and discussions of the site’s publications. When reading these messages, subscribers leave “Like” marks, but only the original group members can add comments.

Transavia is a Dutch airline that communicates with passengers via Whats App. The company also invites its passengers to contact Twitter and Facebook for information. From morning until late afternoon every day.

The post How to Use Messengers for Business: Best Marketing Use Cases appeared first on SiteProNews.

Inexpensive Branding Strategies for Growing Your Small Business

posted on August 29, 2021

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If you think that branding is a luxury and something you can do in the future, when your business is successful, you’re not alone in thinking this way.

In fact, some small business owners struggle to understand how branding impacts their businesses. As a result, they have difficulty justifying spending a part of their budget on branding.

The problem is that these business owners often struggle to grow their businesses. If they’re lucky, they might see modest short-term growth. But, businesses that don’t invest in strong branding rarely see aggressive long-term growth.

Bad branding undermines credibility, customer awareness, and customers’ trust. Bad branding harms your business in the long run.

Good branding builds credibility, helps your best customers to identify, relate to, and remember you when they need your product or service. Good branding builds trusted relationships with customers that pay you back in revenue and repeat business.

The sooner you begin to develop a strong, authentic brand and brand identity, the sooner your business will start to reap the benefits.

Let’s examine these strategies.

1. Create an authentic brand

Whether you’re starting a business or growing an existing business, the most important branding investment you can make doesn’t cost a cent. It’s the time and thought you invest in defining your authentic brand.

As we’ve previously mentioned, every business has a brand whether they’ve made a single conscious branding decision or not.

That’s because a brand is made up of the visuals, words, actions, and products that represent your business, as well as customer experiences and perceptions.

If you’re running a business, these elements exist. But, is your brand:

  1. a confusing, misaligned mess, or
  2. a carefully contrived façade, or
  3. a consistent customer experience that communicates an authentic core identity of your business to your target market.

The best brands are authentic.

Authentic brands ring true for consumers (winning their trust and loyalty) and can be maintained with less effort because you don’t have to lie or put on a show.

Authentic branding choices will come naturally because they’re motivated by your actual values and genuine personality. So, take the time to think about:

  • what makes your business unique,
  • what makes your products or services unique, and
  • which guiding personality traits and values best describe your business – as it actually is.

Then, use the brand traits you discover as a guide for literally every other decision you make in your business.

This step is free. And it is VITAL. So, take the time to figure out what your brand really is.

2. Get a strong brand name

Your business name is the most fundamental representative of your brand.

While it’s impossible to control the entirety of your brand (remember that a brand is made up of public perception as well as the conscious branding choices you make), you do control your business name.

People will identify and remember your business by its name.

They’ll search for your business online by its name.

They’ll recommend your business (or not) by its name.

The name of the business is a big deal.

And, your business name (ideally) should communicate “who” your business is. A business name that doesn’t align with your brand will cause cognitive dissonance for your audience. This will make your brand name harder to remember and harder to trust.

But, a brand name that clearly communicates the essence of your business will resonate with and attract your best customers.

Your business name is absolutely a place to invest in your brand. Some people invest time (it took our founders nearly 50 hours to name crowdspring).

Take a look at this guide for tips on naming your small business or startup.

And, if you’re struggling to grow an existing business, consider whether your brand name is holding you back. This may be the perfect time to rebrand and start with a fresh new brand identity.

3. Build a unique visual brand

Humans are visual creatures.

Most of us rely on our eyes to navigate the world and our lives.

So, every business benefits when it presents a visual brand that people can recognize and identify.

In fact, if you’re starting a business and working on a business plan, potential investors and lenders will evaluate the strength of your visual brand when deciding whether to make an investment or a loan.

But, not all visual branding elements are equal. Let’s take a look at the visual branding elements with the biggest bang for the buck…

Logo

People identify other people by their facial features, body shape, posture, and style of movement.

But, most businesses don’t have a single face or body by which they can be identified.

So, we create a company logo people can use to identify and remember our business.

Your logo is the primary visual identification tool for your business. It’s your business’s face! We can’t overstate how important your logo is.

Invest in a custom-designed logo that effectively captures your authentic brand.

And, remember that you get what you pay for.

Be wary of free logo generators and $50 “original” logo designs. These free and cheap options will cost you more in legal fees (you can’t trademark stock art and generic templates, which you’re getting from generators and discount logo purchases).

Real custom logos can be trademarked.

And, computers don’t understand human emotion, color or shape theory, or psychology. Real logo designers understand how people think and how to create emotionally powerful brands.

For more insights and a list of questions to ask designers or agencies when looking for a logo, check out this guide on how much logo design should cost.

Brand color palette

A logo is the cornerstone of a visual brand.

But, it’s not the whole visual brand.

A complete visual brand provides a broader visual context that people can relate to your business. And, no visual brand is complete without a dedicated color palette.

Color is a major branding powerhouse.

Colors resonate with people, capture attention, and communicate emotion.

And, when colors repeatedly co-exist in combination, they take on an identity of their own.

Red and yellow conjures McDonald’s. Forest green and white evokes Starbucks. Looking for Best Buy? You’ll recognize it by the royal blue and yellow sign long before you can read the type.

Your business can also benefit from brand color recognition.  And, the best news is that this powerful branding tool should cost you very little – just a bit of time.

So, invest the time to develop a brand color palette.

How to use colors effectively

Your brand logo should inspire your color palette. It should include your logo colors, some neutrals (black, white, grey, taupe, etc.) for flexibility, and possibly an additional complementary color or two (based on how many colors are in your logo).

Don’t go overboard with too many strong signature colors. Balance strong colors that draw focus with calmer, more recessive colors to ensure your ads, social media content, website (and more) are easy to read.

Illustration system

For businesses with a bit more wiggle room in their branding budget, consider an illustration system.

An illustration system is a series of illustrated graphics that can be used, re-mixed, and re-used throughout your website, social media posts, business cards, blog graphics, and email templates.

Good illustration systems visually complement your logo. And, together with your logo, they create a bigger visual context by which people can recognize your brand.

This investment will deliver branding bang for your buck in three ways:

  1. It’s another way for people to visually recognize your business, increasing the likelihood that they’ll get to know your brand.
  2. Providing a broader visual context creates a larger neural network dedicated to your business in people’s brains, so they’re more likely to remember you.
  3. Illustration systems can be used and re-used in countless contexts. So, you’ll always have versatile resources to use for branding visuals without spending more after the initial cost of creation.

If you can’t afford an illustration system now, set aside money to invest in one later. It’s an investment that will keep paying you back.

4. Create a strong online presence

When deciding where to spend money for your brand, prioritize your website.

A website is not only a major brand representative; it’s also a functional sales tool. So, this investment pays your business back on multiple levels.

Every business website should be quick to load and easy to navigate. But, vital functional details like these are only part of the equation.

Your website also needs to act as your brand ambassador – helping people get to know your business, educate them about what you do, and reassure them that they’ve found the business they’re looking for.

Luckily, if you’ve invested in a unique custom logo, a memorable and brand-appropriate color palette, and an illustration system, you already have all of the building blocks you need to create a fantastic, on-brand website.

Because most prospective customers will see your website before interacting with your business in any other way, you cannot afford to cut corners on your website. Like your logo, place your branding dollars here.

5. Develop a unique brand voice

Brands don’t only communicate with graphics.

They also communicate with text and spoken word.

And, the words you choose must align with your brand personality and values. This creates the impression that your business has a consistent identity.

Trust grows from repeated exposure – but only when each exposure confirms our initial impressions. It’s hard to trust people or businesses who are erratic and unreliable.

So, your website copy, social media posts, email messages, packaging design (if applicable), and customer support language should all sound like it’s coming from the same “person.” Your brand.

Identifying and consistently using a specific brand voice is a core pillar of your brand identity. And, it’s free. But, it does require a bit of thought.

Define a few adjectives to describe your brand voice. Keep these handy whenever you’re writing new copy. And share them with anyone who interacts with your customers. A consistent brand voice will pay you back in customer trust and additional sales.

A final word

Your brand is an invaluable tool that can lift your business – or hold it back. These strategic branding investments will enable you to create a compelling brand without breaking the bank.

The post Inexpensive Branding Strategies for Growing Your Small Business appeared first on SiteProNews.

All About Internet Reputation

posted on August 26, 2021

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A lot depends on your reputation when you do business. First of all, we are talking about sales and audience confidence in the brand. Many things form a reputation: customer reviews, the availability of information about the company, the quality of the content it produces, the position in the search results.

So, reputation is the opinion of others about the company. And the management of this opinion today has almost 100% transferred to the network. It is on the Internet that users search for information about goods / services, monitor reviews, share positive experiences and, of course, broadcast negative if interaction with the brand left not the best memories.

Thanks to the Internet, the business forms a positive impression about itself and minimizes the negative, if it exists. Here is an article about it by the team from a digital agency.

How Negativity Spreads

Instantly. Thanks again to the internet and the tools available to everyone. Any disgruntled shopper with a smartphone who gets nasty at the supermarket can post a video of the scandal on social media and it spreads with incredible speed. There are many examples of how companies suffered from ugly situations.

And this is not only about small companies and businesses. Volkswagen lost billions of dollars and the credibility of the American market due to Dieselgate, StarBucks was forced to suspend the work of its cafes in many countries due to a scandal with two customers in one of the restaurants of the chain, United Airlines after an ugly situation with a passenger who was forcibly kicked out of the plane, got a global boycott to jail their employee. There are lots of examples, but the result is the same for all: an apology and serious efforts to restore  reputation.

How to Prevent This Situation

Firstly, you shouldn’t think that nothing threatens your reputation. Even if you have a close relationship with your customers, no one has canceled your competitors.

Secondly, reputation needs to be managed systematically and on all possible channels. It is necessary to monitor the following:

  • mentions in the media, social networks and messengers;
  • reviews and comments on the forums;
  • search results;
  • professional communities, etc.

Thirdly, postponing reputation management “for later”, if everything is fine now, is impossible. Work with the good name of a company should be carried out constantly, since an image developed over decades can be lost in a few minutes.

Reasons for Loss of Reputation

As we mentioned above, company image can suffer due to bad staff attitude towards customers and a misunderstanding of employee roles in the company. A poor-quality product or service can do harm. Competitors are not asleep either – it is often in their interest to spread false information and cause negative news so that a target company will lose several positions in the search results.

Recently, cases of direct extortion by scammers have also become more frequent: pay money otherwise we will spread a lot of negative reviews about you. They can post a negative and offer to remove it in exchange for a ransom.

Fortunately, there is a universal reputation management scheme for any business and tools that allow you to automate this process:

monitoring reviews >> responding to reviews >> generating positive reviews and news. So…

How to Monitor

Knowing the tonality around your company name is extremely important. Monitoring reviews will help keep it under control. Simply type in the brand name and add the word “reviews” to your query. The search for reviews in social networks and on “Nigma.rf”, “Yandex.Blogs” and “Yandex.News” also works. It’s fast and free.

A very effective tool is Google Alerts. It will allow you to monitor mentions of your company on news media sites, portals, blogs, and in search. If there is a negative, the service will notify you about it by email.

Don’t neglect a tool like Google My Business. It will allow you to correctly configure data about your company, publish news, and also collect customer reviews.

The Medialogia service monitors reviews from more than 63 thousand media outlets and more than 900 million accounts on social networks and will study information in blogs, forums and even on the Darknet.

LOOQME will research the opinion of your brand in the media, social media and print media. If there is a negative, the service will identify the source, determine the scale of the problem and tell you what to do. The depth of data processing depends on the tariff paid.

YouScan is a social media monitoring service with the ability to analyze images. It studies more than half a million sources and carries out about 500 million operations every day.

RocketData examines reviews on maps, social networks and review sites. It features a single user-friendly interface that provides a readable picture of the situation.

Use those services that are convenient for you in terms of functionality and financial costs. It is better to use several, since none of them gives a complete picture and don’t neglect a manual search for negativity or closer communication with your audience.

What to do in the event of a Scandal

If an unpleasant situation takes place:

  • respond to negative reviews correctly and politely;
  • do not remove the negative, but work with it;
  • do not respond with fake praise or comments;
  • describe what was done so that the trouble does not happen again and tell how you improved the service / product;
  • don’t ignore negativity;
  • if you are guilty, apologize and offer to compensate for the damage.

Conclusion

Remember, satisfied customers are the key to your good name. Communicate with grateful customers, encourage them with bonuses, promotions and thank them for a positive experience. Publications about company events in the media also help to form a positive reputation. Regular posting of articles, news and press releases increase search rankings: companies whose sites are in the top search results suffer less in case of force majeure.

The post All About Internet Reputation appeared first on SiteProNews.

How to Find the Perfect Name for your Business in 2021

posted on August 10, 2021

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It’s a lot easier to step into success in business when you’re a professional at what you do. Your immense experience and mastery makes it a lot easier for you to do tons of amazing things like innovating on an already existing product or even creating a new one altogether. 

But while trying to start your business, don’t make the same mistake we’ve seen lots of professionals make by assuming that the experience and mastery they’ve gathered in their niche over the years is a sure guarantee of their success in business.

These people forget that there are many requirements a startup must fulfill to establish an emotional bond and win the trust of its audience because a shocking 95% of customers only buy products that they have a strong feeling for.

And one of the most effective ways of winning the hearts and minds of your audience is by getting the perfect name for your business, one that communicates your product’s superior quality, usefulness, and integrity. 

Why Get a Perfect Brand Name

Understand that getting a great name can make your business succeed despite the challenges in the market. The same way our names define us, your brand’s name can positively identify your business and provide it with a unique touch other businesses don’t have. 

We see an outstanding example of this when Oreo’s superior brand name helped the company outperform Hydrox, even though Hydrox was an older company with the first mover’s advantage.

The perfect name can help your company:

1. Attract Ideal Customers 

Getting the perfect name will help you avoid the most common blunders many entrepreneurs make by choosing a bad brand name that is too weak to attract their target audience.  

2. Get your Customers Excited 

Companies with the perfect brand name sell themselves every because they excite and enthuse customers, and these customers spread their enthusiasm throughout the market.

3. Distinguish Your Brand from Competition

The perfect brand name communicates powerful ideas that make your brand unique. For your business and products to stand out, you need an image, a living idea that can be personified in your products and services. 

Here’s how You can Find the Perfect Name for Your Business

Courtesy: Unsplash

1. Understand Your Target Audience

The level of success you’ll achieve depends on whether your audience appreciates your brand and the services it offers. CBInsights discovered that 42% of small businesses fail because their customers couldn’t see the importance of their products. 

So before starting your business, it’s important to always ensure you’ve taken the time to study your target audience and understand what their needs are, so you can balance your creativity with the expectations of your customers.

Good understanding of your core audience won’t just help you tailor your brand in a way that aligns with your audience; it will also help you determine if the tone of your brand’s name should be modern, classic, pragmatic, playful, or intriguing.

2. Get in On the Right Foot

Now that you’ve got an idea of your audience’s needs, it’s time you show them that your brand represents their best interests. And, a great way to communicate this is by capturing the essence of their needs in your brand’s name.

But don’t stop there; make sure this essence is incorporated into your company’s culture, values, and branding. This level of consistency is what makes your business authentic. 

3. Brainstorm: Search for the Perfect Name

Courtesy: Unsplash

It’s time to put on your thinking cap, switch on your creativity, and brainstorm the best name for your business. Look through dictionaries and thesauruses for words that align with the core principles of your brand, and don’t be afraid to combine and transmute words.

Brainstorming can be very demanding in terms of energy, concentration, and discipline. So prepare yourself before beginning your search for the perfect name. Get some drinks, creative music, and whatever helps you generate great ideas.

Don’t feel obligated to walk this road alone; get a team, discuss your business, your vision, your target audience, and the kind of name your business needs. 

Also, try to remove any limitations to your team’s creativity because it goes a long way in helping you unlock their potential and get the best results from them.

But, if setting up a team is too much trouble for you, then use a strong business name generator. Using a business name generator could set the spark that you need to find the perfect name for your brand.

4. Look Before You Leap

Hold on! Before you follow Mark Zuckerberg’s creed of “move fast, break things,” you need to be mindful of certain risk zones in naming. Businesses that neglect these zones face dire consequences that harm their brand, vision, tone, and mission.

So, take care to avoid:

  • Single English words: A lot of them are already trademarked
  • Generic words like icon, force, and United
  • Symbolic words like Bridge, Spring, and Rocket

Instead, stay on the safe side by making sure whatever name you chose for your business is not only easy to say and spell, but also sounds appealing.

Finally: Test your Name with an Audience

Now that you’ve gotten a quick idea of how to find the best name, it’s time to take the final step by testing your name with an audience to ensure that your customers will love and connect with it right away.

The post How to Find the Perfect Name for your Business in 2021 appeared first on SiteProNews.

The Dos and Don’ts of Establishing a Customer Service Knowledge Base

posted on July 25, 2021

tags:

A knowledge base has emerged as a must-have for customer-facing organizations today. Don’t believe us? Here’s what the data tells us about its growing importance and 360-degree benefits:

  • Customers love it: According to Forrester, customers prefer the knowledge base over other channels of self-service. Another study by Social media today claims that a staggering “91% of customers would use an online knowledge base if it were available and tailored to their needs.”
  • Reduces support calls and boosts traffic: As per research by the CRM Magazine, 45% of organizations that offer web or mobile self-service options witnessed a boost in website traffic and a reduction in phone inquiries. Further research by HBR claims that “Improving your Help section can reduce the number of calls by 5%.”
  • Unlimited scope: According to Gartner, 15% of all customer service interactions will be completely handled by AI by 2021–an increase of 400% from 2017.

Clearly, businesses that do not develop a comprehensive and robust knowledge base will be at a competitive disadvantage going forward. To that end, let’s look at how you can build a knowledge base– one that:

  • Empowers your customers to self-serve
  • And literally takes over some of the repetitive and routine tasks that your CX team is typically burdened with–leaving them with valuable time to focus on looking after disgruntled customers.

Top 3 Dos for Establishing a Robust Knowledge Base Software

1. Review and update the knowledge base regularly

Let’s set the record straight: An outdated knowledge base is worse than not having one at all. This means no hyperlinks to a dead-end, no outdated instructions or imagery, no typos, you get the drift, right? Lyft’s knowledge base page uses a “Tips” section to assist drivers in creating a better customer experience. What makes it interesting is the use of updated videos and blogs that offer readers a visually- and textually-enriching experience:

The whole point of using a knowledge base tool is to offer accurate and real-time support to customers–which is only possible if the information that’s been integrated is updated constantly. In other words, if your products and services are constantly being updated, your knowledge base too will require regular upkeep.

Pro tip: Make sure to do regular surprise audits of your knowledge base to find out which pages are most visited and which ones are least visited to make iterations accordingly.

2. Use chatbot and live chat for real-time support

The use of conversational AI, a.k.a, chatbots, and live chat can not only replicate the customer-agent experience but also enhance it. How so? Here are three compelling reasons:

  • Chatbots can work 24×7, assisting your customers and pointing them in the right direction without taking any sick leaves, casual leaves, coffee breaks, and so on.
  • Live chat and chatbots can offer instant, contextual, and reliable support, eliminating the need for customers to “hold the line” or “wait in the queue” to resolve their queries. This also reduces the customer’s frustration and makes the experience more positive, as Yoast’s knowledge base demonstrates below:
  • These ‘intelligent’ AI tools can personalize the customer experience by offering relevant suggestions and providing contextual support.

3. Keep your brand positioning in mind

Your knowledge base should align with your company’s branding–this includes the content tone, style, and voice. 

You should also pay close attention to the smaller details such as formatting, the kind of imagery being used, etc., to provide users with a consistent experience. Asana’s knowledge base is an excellent example to consider:

Here’s a helpful process to get you started:

Step 1: Write the content by factoring in the visuals and graphics you want to use.

Step 2: Think about segregating your content into neat and organized categories so that the information seems logically placed, not chaotically.

Step 3: If the information seems too overwhelming, start with the basics and then move onto the more advanced topics. 

Step 4: Keep updating your knowledge base as your company evolves to ensure that it is always up-to-date.

Voila, you have an intuitive knowledge base ready!

Top 4 Don’ts for Establishing a Robust Knowledge Base Software

1. Say goodbye to industry jargon

Nobody likes to read jargon-heavy content–much less your time-pressed customers. In other words, keep the language easy-to-digest and simple to the extent possible:

If your content centers around complex topics that are difficult to dumb down, include credible third-party links or short videos to explain the concept.

2. Do not make login mandatory for use

Along similar veins as the last point, assume that your customers need the information ‘yesterday’ and build a knowledge base that works overtime to provide users all the data they need right away. This, of course, includes doing away with the whole song and dance about logging into the account. 

As a thumb rule, make sure that your knowledge base is freely accessible to anyone and everyone, on-the-go.

3. Don’t engage in data dumping

Repeat after us: When it comes to deciding what kind of data you’ll want to use for your knowledge base, quality wins over quantity any day. While it may sound tempting to simply dump topic after topic that you think your users might find useful, it can leave them annoyed, or worse, overwhelmed mid-way. So make sure to structure the content you’re going to use and ensure that it is as user-friendly as it can get. Additionally, a logically structured knowledge base–complete with relevant categories and collections– is also easier to maintain and navigate. Take a look at Canva’s knowledge base for some serious inspiration:

At the end of the day, you want customers to save time and get answers upfront instead of fishing for answers in a maze-like knowledge base.  

4. Don’t overshadow your support options

Companies that try to hide critical support options such as contact number, email address, social media links, etc. within their knowledge base invite unnecessary moments of friction and frustration in the customer’s user experience. 

The more you are upfront about offering relevant support options to your customers, the more seamless and superior their experience will be–as Dyson’s knowledge base page demonstrates below:

Image Source

Companies can also create QR codes for use in product packaging or on the product, linking to the customer knowledge base for an improved user experience. 

Closing Thoughts

If growth is your business’ true North Star, you cannot hope to scale your CX support without an in-depth knowledge base. The end goal is to provide your customers with real-time, relevant information at the right time and as conveniently as possible. This is where a knowledge base truly shines.

Today’s customers are wired for instant gratification and getting immediate and accurate support for common problems relating to your product/business should be no exception. So follow these best practices outlined above and take your customer experience to newer heights, without driving your business into the ground.

avatar

Ashwini is passionate about Business, Entrepreneurship, E-commerce, emerging technology and Digital Marketing. She is working with Acquire as a digital marketing expert. She is a free soul and adventurous scholar who spends her free time with herself, loved once, music, as well as watching & playing sports. She is ocean addicted and on roads being a thrill-seeking traveler to get new experiences as she looks at life as our very own works of art.

The post The Dos and Don’ts of Establishing a Customer Service Knowledge Base appeared first on SiteProNews.

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