First things first. Why is blogging important for brands? Whether you’re a B2B or B2C marketer, you’ll need to include content marketing services as an integral part of your brand marketing strategy. The Content Marketing Institute (CMI) reports that 91% of marketers use content marketing to promote brand awareness and 76% opt for blogging to drive traffic to their brand website. It’s needless to say that nearly 24% of marketers are not taking blogging seriously but, should they? Here are 4 broad and simple reasons why blogging is the “Holy Grail” of content marketing for brands. 1. Drives Search Traffic Do you want more traffic to your website? Duh, yes of course. Well, that’s your first biggest reason to start blogging. Very Simply Put – Blogs+SEO+Social Media = Traffic and leads. Coming back to blogs, if you are promoting your business through digital marketing, then your business blog is your largest ammunition. HubSpot has already shared facts to prove this. This clearly shows that the more blogs that you post per month, the higher traffic you get. When there is more traffic to the website, there is also naturally a higher chance of getting more leads. You can either post new blogs or re-purpose your existing blogs by adding new content to increase the organic traffic to your website by 106% according to HubSpot. For instance, HubSpot posts 200 new posts every month which results in 54% lead generation while repurposing its existing blogs results in 46% lead generation. Isn’t that enough proof to take your business blog more seriously? This is because your buyers are constantly looking for unbiased, relevant, and insightful content online that can educate and empower them to make the right purchase decisions. On Brand states that building an audience is more valuable than direct sales for over 70% of brand managers. Vlogging and blogging help build a community of audiences for your brand, organically. There is a higher probability of them converting into loyal customers over a certain period of time. Let’s be practical! Most of you would have googled for the latest mobile phones in the market at least once in the past and then, read through a number of buying guides on the CNET website or other websites before buying them. It’s a well-known fact that a buyer will research, analyze, and finally, is more likely to decide on a brand that has well-researched, good quality content in that specific field since it showcases the brand as a pioneer in its field. That’s exactly what a good blog does. It informs and inspires the buyers to zero in on the right brand in the market for their needs and wants. It educates your buyers with how-to guides and narrates your customer success stories to persuade them to buy from your brand rather than from your competitors. Blog also feeds your social media and keeps it going. You are not only increasing your brand’s social reach, you are also earning new traffic through social to your website. Also, here is a quick fact to digest. How many times do you add pages to your website? In most cases, people add pages to their website once in a year. Now think of your blog. Every post you put there is a new page indexed for your website, which basically means it’s a chance for you to get traffic to your website and increase your probability of ranking for that particular topic. Also Read: Types of Content to Get More Traffic to Your Blog Hint: Analyze the list of search queries from your target customers using SEO research tools like SEMRush or Moz to develop the right content for your brand blog. Something to remember: It’s also important to note here that just creating the blogs and publishing them will not do. You will need to optimise the blogs with the right keywords and distribute them properly to get more reach. Here is where SEO services play their part in helping the blog rank for relevant keywords. 2. Builds Domain Authority Domain authority (DA) is a ranking metric that indicates how authoritative your domain or website is based on several factors such as quality of content, social signals, and other SEO best practices. You’ll need to spend a considerable amount of time and effort to create, distribute, and promote exhaustive content that will benefit your potential customers and convert them into loyal clients over the long-term. The DA of a website can range between 1 to 100. The higher your site’s DA, the better chances you have of ranking. You can check the DA of your site with a tool called Open Site Explorer. Ideally, DA score above 60 for a domain reflects an excellent domain authority with a high probability of search ranking for that particular website. Likewise, a DA score below 40 indicates poor domain authority and requires a well-planned content marketing strategy for a higher score. Blogging is one of the major contributors to establishing the domain authority for your brand. There are a number of content types such as podcasts, webinars, and animated videos to promote your brand across the customer journey. Your brand blog will score high among other brand-building content types for the simple reason that it’s more comprehensive and clear in communicating your brand authority. Hint: Explore guest blogging opportunities on trusted websites for your brand.It will improve your domain authority and overall search engine ranking. 3. Generates Leads Can your blog influence your customers to make a purchase decision? Do your blog visitors make a product/service inquiry online/offline? The objective of publishing ‘n’ number of blog posts in your brand blog is to build brand relevance and brand authority. But, the goal of each blog post content is to initiate conversion for your brand from leads from customers through Call To Action (CTA). Yes, blogging is but a piece to the lead generation puzzle for brands in the digital marketplace. You’ll have to capture leads
Month: July 2020
13 Digital Marketing Trends and Innovations For 2020
If someone would have told me in 2015 or 2016 that Voice Search, AI and data-driven marketing were going to be the future of the digital marketing industry, I would have probably thought “fine, ya, let’s forget it for now and think of it when that happens; we have more important things to do now man”. And suddenly that time has come now. It’s 2020 and all these are now part of innovative digital marketing trends that businesses are adopting to remain competitive in the online landscape. If there is one thing we know by now is that consumer behaviour has become hard to predict and marketing technology is moving ahead at a fast pace. If you are a digital marketer who is still applying the old methods and taking educated guesses, it’s time to move on. So, here is a list of the top 13 top digital marketing trends that your business/brand needs to consider in order to stand out in the cut-throat world of online marketing: 1. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning With such a large chunk of data harvested from ecommerce and online consumer behavior, it’s necessary to adopt a system that can compile and analyze all necessary information as quickly as possible. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are perfect for doing just that. Not only can the combination of these technologies analyze data without step-by-step instructions, but they can also work to develop more accurate ways to execute digital marketing goals. For example, AI and ML have driven product recommendations for companies as big as Amazon and been able to accurately generate content without human direction. To implement some of these strategies in your own digital marketing campaign, you can create AI-powered digital ads, or smart posters. Essentially, with this technology, you can customize content based on physical or virtual consumer interaction data. The system can understand what features are interacted with the least and automatically drive out that feature to only showcase those that are creating the maximum consumer interaction. 2. Blockchain While converting the bulk of your business’s marketing strategies to the digital world can create a vast amount of opportunities and efficiencies, it also opens the door to a number of security threats. Luckily, in recent years, many businesses have begun to implement blockchain technology. The technology can protect your general business functions and transactions from fraud and theft. For marketing, specifically, blockchain technology has helped businesses to earn more profit from their marketing data. Previously, when a business invested in Google’s search engine marketing ads for their site, Google ultimately handled the ad transactions to ensure that each site was charged fairly for the number of clicks generated from the ad. However, with blockchain digital marketing, this middleman, which is Google, is removed from the equation. Businesses now have complete ownership of the data and information they receive. They no longer have to go through Google to ensure that the data is valid and authorized by the user, because the users are able to authorize their data themselves. This allows businesses to retain 100% of the profits. 3. Personalization In order to ensure success for your business’s digital marketing campaigns, you must adopt personalization as one of your strategies. Not only will it help to build a relationship with each of your customers, but it has also proven to be successful at converting potential buyers into dedicated customers. In fact, 79% of consumers say they are likely to interact with a campaign only if it has been personalized. Similarly, about 63% say they become “highly annoyed” by a brand’s continued use of generic mass marketing campaigns. These two statistics alone give plenty of reason as to why personalization is required in today’s digital marketing. Also Read: Best Crucial Things To Keep In Mind While Building Your Digital Marketing Agency To integrate personalization with email marketing, many companies send out abandoned cart notifications. Every time a consumer shops on your site and leaves without purchasing any of the items that they added to their cart, you can send out an abandoned cart email. In doing so, you are remarketing the products that a specific consumer added to their cart. This email will be very different from the email another customer receives about their abandoned cart, which is what makes it personalized. However, this is not the only way to personalize a digital marketing campaign. So, be creative, and eventually you will appeal to those 79% of consumers. 4. Chatbots Chatbots and instant messenger are expected to grow and power about 80% of customer service this year. Given that we now know the powerful benefits of personalization in digital marketing, you may understand why the conversational component of chatbots is equally as powerful. Businesses that use instant messaging or chatbots have the opportunity to connect with customers in real time and cater to their specific needs. With the advanced intelligence that AI has introduced in chatbots, the technology is able to simulate an in-person conversation, which is typically preferred by a customer. A chatbot’s AI capabilities also give it the “brainpower” to market relevant products throughout the conversation. 5. Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) Given that about 60% of Google search engine queries come from mobile devices, one might assume that both the mobile device and mobile view are much more user-friendly and accessible than a desktop. While you can’t convert a desktop to a mobile device, you can most certainly add elements that make the desktop view similar to its counterpart. This is essentially the idea behind progressive web apps. They act as a middle ground between desktop and mobile views, allowing businesses to implement successful elements of mobile or app views at a fraction of the development cost. Small changes to a desktop page, like faster loading speeds, offline working, and push notifications can help improve the user experience and the digital marketing and sales process for businesses. 6. Internet of Things (IoT) When it
10 Super Creative Instagram Accounts that Are Really Kicking It
Be it a brand like Old Spice or Haldiram’s, or a celebrity like Priyanka Chopra or Cristiano Ronaldo, everything (and everyone) is on Instagram these days. And, why not? With about a billion active monthly users to boast of, Instagram is the perfect social media channel for businesses and people to connect with the target audience, inspire them to follow and buy, and tell others. But which are the ones that are really kicking it out there on Insta? Which are the grams which are a must-follow? Which are the accounts which really publish amazing content? We know how everyone loves a quick list and so we spent some time researching and putting out this list of 10 super-creative Instagram accounts that are really inspiring. This should also get you loads of ideas for your own (or your brand’s) Instagram page. So, let’s get going. 1. Personal Care: Old Spice Known globally for its amazing range of men’s grooming products, Old Spice has upped its Instagram game by using humor, environment, diversity and retro vibes for engagement and promotion. They have managed to loop in celebrities like Kevin Hart recently to take their strategy up a notch. This post on how their Sweat Defense keeps men as dry as the desert has caught attention with the great visual and creative text. 2. Food: Haldiram’s A giant in the Indian sweets and snacks industry, Haldiram’swas founded in 1937, but it has kept up with the times brilliantly. Its Instagram account is progressive, witty, colorful and yummy too. This post for instance says how your gender shouldn’t dictate the work you do. You will also come across enticing images of roadside snacks like paanipuri, packaged nuts with a pistachio saying “Crack me up” and even the funny use of mathematical symbols like the pi. 3. Travel Photography: Navaneeth Unnikrishnan For those who are bitten by the travel bug, Navaneeth Unnikrishnan’s Instagram account will brighten up your mood instantly. From the tropical lushness of Malaysia and Borneo to the chilly landscapes of Iceland to the spiritual beauty of Spiti Valley, Navaneeth has travelled far and wide and captured stunning images that inspire you to hit the road. Beautiful historical places, open roads, stark winters, marine life and even automotives are the subjects of his photographic pursuit. The above post, captured in Italy, celebrates the glory of sunrises. 4. Sports: Cristiano Ronaldo Unless you have been living under a rock, there is no way you have missed this world-famous Portuguese footballer’s shots, his Golden Ball wins (5 times), his dedication towards fitness and his good looks of course! And he is a winner when it comes to Instagram too, with 227 million followers and inspiring images from his workout sessions and matches. His social media activities proclaim his love for his family and beautiful places too. The above post is a clever branding in partnership with CLEAR hair care brand, as Ronaldo emphasizes how a “clear head” is necessary to make a strong comeback. 5. Nature / Wildlife: stevewinterphoto If you start looking at nature or wildlife accounts, many thoughts will cross your mind -the endless transcendence of nature, the beauty of life in all forms, and the people who have the privilege of photographing the same. There is simply too much beauty in the moment out there to pick favorites. Even then, our pick for wildlife photography goes to @stevewinterphoto who is a conservation photojournalist. Steve’s photos are not just about the imagery but about his experience and sheer love for the art. He has been chased by rhinos, stalked by Jaguars, trapped in quicksand and survived at freezing temperatures – all to get that shot he really wanted. And he actually cares about nature and its creatures, spreading awareness about unkind practices, as this post reveals. 6. Celebrity: Priyanka Chopra Beauty with brains, PeeCee has not only made it big in Bollywood, but has also shattered any glass ceiling that was ever there in Hollywood. Be it her movies, her songs, her Padma Shri win, or her marriage to Nick Jonas, Priyanka Chopra has always been in the news! Her funky and stylish Instagram account speaks volumes about her passions, loved ones, confidence, progressive views, and whatever she endorses. The above post is a citrusy and refreshing one that not only promotes her partnership with Bon & Viv Spiked Seltzer, but also her love for everything healthy. 7. NGO / Cause: Wildlife SOS This non-profit organization enjoys presence in USA and UK too, besides India, and is popularly known for bringing the cruel practice of “dancing bears” to an end. While rehabilitating such bears was their initial objective, today, they have extended a helping hand to many other animals in distress. Their Instagram account is flooded with heartening pictures of elephants, tigers, monkeys, crocodiles and common and rare birds, to inspire thoughtfulness and kindness. Their recent Father’s Day post featuring a caregiver with a baby monkey has beautifully highlighted the pure and selfless connection between the two. 8. Fashion: House of Masaba Instagram is the perfect platform for fashion brands and bloggers to flaunt their creations, ideas and exclusivity. And House of Masabaunderstands that really well. This Indian label is the brainchild of Masaba Gupta, and thanks to her Caribbean connection, she has done a wonderful job of featuring quirky prints, bold hues and trendy designs on her account. From ethnic and contemporary to fusion, this Instagram account brims with life and innovation. A video depicting the perfect COVID-ready combo of a chic shirt and matching mask has already created a buzz online. 9. Shopping: Sugarbox_india As a social media platform, Instagram is a shopper’s delight indeed. That’s because you can buy what you see. If it catches your eye for good, you can get it for a price. With close to 99k followers, @Sugarbox_india will send you a box
7 Excellent Content Marketing Examples To Learn From
If you are reading this, you already know how content marketing has emerged as the long-term success mantra for both small and big businesses. But creating and marketing exceptional content needs a bit of inspiration now and then. So, here are some wonderful content marketing examples from leading brands like Coca-Cola, Heineken, GoPro, Honda and more. Get ready to be motivated! 1. GoPro UGC GoPro believes that it is better to show viewers how good their products are, instead of just talking about them. And what better way to build brand loyalty then get customers to generate content – otherwise known as user generated content. It, of course, helps that the product itself lends excellently to UGC, making it super simple for users to record videos and share. To gather the best user generated content, GoPro has multiple programs in place, complete with incentives. Users who capture amazing photos or videos can try their luck at winning GoPro Awards. Their Million Dollar Challenge is especially a huge hit, as every user whose entry becomes a part of the brand’s highlight reel at the end of the year, gets a chance to win an equal share of the million dollars. Only shots captured on the latest cameras are accepted and the GoPro app allows users to edit videos and photos, before uploading on Instagram, YouTube or Facebook. Also Read: Top 5 Ways to Use Instagram Marketing to Boost Your Business Results And Insights As of 2017, GoPro’s revenue was $1.18 billion. With 10832296 followers on Facebook and similarly impressive numbers on other social channels, GoPro has hacked content marketing indeed. Their strategy is perfect for boosting both awareness and loyalty across geographies and among all kinds of adventure enthusiasts. Source Url: https://youtu.be/Prt-G4cPIn4 Your Takeaways UGC is a great way to build one of the most authentic relationship you, as a brand, can hope to build with your audience. Building a fan base brings in actual results. GoPro’s growth numbers will prove that. So, go ahead and create a structure that can inspire or encourage your audience to share their content. Think about who can you collaborate with to create content that shows the value of your product/services. Think about what incentives you can give them to create that sort of content. The effect can be long-lasting and tremendously satisfying for your brand. 2. AMEX Open Forum Often cited as the poster child for content marketing, the Open Forum campaign is effectively what all content marketing campaigns aspire to be. Since its start in 2007, it has single-handedly proven the business value of brands by providing useful content to its customers. So much so that it continues to remain the #1 source of leads for new AMEX cardholders. So what’s the secret sauce for their success? It isn’t too complex – it is ensuring that your customer comes first, doing the right thing for them and doing it well. AMEX started by putting itself in the shoes of its customers. What are your customers reading most often? What is resonating with them? They used the answers to these questions to map their content strategy. They then created content stories around impactful small businesses like a cafe whose husband-wife owners are active civic leaders or a hip men’s apparel brand that has a bulldog as a mascot. By weaving a beautiful story around their lives and the lives they impact, they created an engaging audience who were drawn in with top notch imagery and videos. The stories allowed the audience to relate themselves as AMEX customers as the brand did not sell itself but actually sought out to help them. The forum moved on to create a platform where the small business owners could share advice, post questions,and even rate each other’s helpfulness – all of which is now extended to social connectivity. Results And Insights This campaign is considered one of the best content marketing strategies by a brand. While visits and even repeat visits increased manifold, each visitor spent almost double the time on the site. It eventually became one of the top sources of leads for AMEX. Your Takeaways Business owners are consumers too. Your job is to step in their shoes and solve a problem for them. Make yourself useful and they’ll come back to you. 3. Coca-Cola Journey In late 2012, Coca-Cola launched a digital magazine called Coca-Cola Journey. The key differentiator in this case was that a lot of content was branded and only some third party content was used. Its latest campaign is JxJ which is JourneyxJourney. Two Coca-Cola Journey storytellers and a full production team recently hit the road to find and tell Coca-Cola stories across America. The JxJ crew used their behemoth 2017 Ford Escape (as a part of their brand tie-up with Ford) as a ‘Mobile Brand Publishing HQ’ and fans followed their content live when they were on the road. It was a lot of hard work to drive 4000+ miles while filming, editing, actively posting on all social channels, managing schedules and ensuring the team ate breakfast. Even as the journey ended, the Coca-Cola journey continued as they asked fans to submit their own road trip memories. The site also uses infographics services to showcase their quarterly results, some interesting nutrition facts and what its sourcing map means for the global sustainable agriculture industry. Results And Key Insights In the first year, the site published 1200 articles and attracted 13.1M visitors who averaged an impressive 4:40 time spent per article. The site currently features hundreds of photos from loyal fans sharing their ‘Moments of happiness’. Coca-Cola also makes stories easily shareable on social media and reports in real-time. Your Takeaways Even if you are publishing your own content, it is important to include your customers as a part of your journey. The aim of the content is the same – it has to be useful for its readers and not just for you.