As content marketers, there’s one question we never stop hearing from clients — “Does content marketing really work?” While people can easily see how content marketing propels brands to success, they often doubt if it will work for them. That’s usually because content marketing doesn’t always have a very direct correlation between effort and result. What’s more, it usually takes some time before the results start to show. However, a sustained content marketing effort is one of the best ways to build a brand in the long run. This infographic takes a deep dive into what makes content marketing one of the most powerful brand-building techniques of our time. Share this Image On Your Site </p><br /><br /><br /> <p><strong>Please include attribution to www.justwords.in with this graphic.</strong></p><br /><br /><br /> <p><a href=”><img src=’https://justwords.in/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Why-Content-marketing-works-Justwords.jpg.pagespeed.ce.3ANrKi4KBO.jpg’ alt=’WHY CONTENT MARKETING WORKS’ 540px border=’0′ /></a></p><br /><br /><br /> <p> “Content marketing is the only marketing that’s left.” – Seth Godin 91% of B2B marketers use content marketing to reach customers. And 86% of B2C marketers think content marketing is a key strategy. Is this focus on content marketing warranted? Content marketing has lower long-term costs and deeper long-term benefits than paid marketing. It generates 3X the number of leads and costs 62% less. Content marketing brings 55% more visitors to the website 72% of marketers say content creation boosts SEO ranking Businesses with blogs receive 97% more backlinks, leading to more authority and higher search engine ranking So why does content marketing work so well? Reciprocity Content marketing creates value for your customers without pushing them to buy your products. This creates long-term goodwill that pays off as a loyal customer base. Establishes Authority It establishes you as a problem solver and thought leader vis-a-vis a product pusher. Content marketing showcases your expertise and builds your brand voice. Unity Good content equals good stories. And good stories bring people together. The more people can relate to your brand and identify with it, the more long-term equity you build. Why content marketing remains a big challenge 65% of companies find it a challenge to produce meaningful and engaging content 62% of companies don’t know how to define the ROI from content marketing 60% of companies can’t produce content consistently Tips to make Content Marketing work for you Personalize Use words like “You” and I to make the content more relatable. Produce visual content 84% of all online communications will be visual by 2018. Use infographics services, informative videos, and illustrative images to amplify the impact of your content. Subheadings Divide the body of your content into subheadings so that readers can skim through your content. Short paras Short paras with less than 5-6 lines make for much easier reading. Long form content Google prefers ranking content that’s at least 1890 words on Page 1. If you’re in a competitive industry, try to make your blog posts between 2000-3000 words. More data The more stats and data you use, the more authoritative you sound. Encourage engagement with your conclusion End with a question, inviting answers from the readers. This is a great way to get comments and build engagement. Mind-blowing headlines 8 out of 10 people will read your headline. Only 2 out of 10 people will actually click through to your article. To get that number up, you have to write headlines that are absolutely compelling. Know more about our content marketing agency and content creation services.
Category: Content Marketing
Top 5 Ways to Use Instagram Marketing to Improve Your Business
Over the years, we’ve seen many standpoints towards Instagram marketing. Some clients feel it’s just a fad while others feel it may not work for their product. On the other end of the spectrum, we’ve also had clients who see Instagram as the only thing their marketing strategy will ever need. In our experience, both perspectives have usually been off the mark. On one hand, Instagram is one of the most effective social media marketing platforms with engagement rates that are far ahead of other marketing channels. Instagram has 500 million users accessing the app every day. What’s more, an Instagram user spends an hour on an average scrolling through their feed. This kind of unprecedented engagement makes Instagram one of the most powerful tools out there today. People who believe Instagram won’t work for their product usually think it’s because Instagram has a perceptibly “younger” audience base (64% of 18-29 year-olds use Instagram) or because it only works for “lifestyle” brands. While Instagram is undeniably popular with young people, it now has diverse demography that is only getting more diverse with time. At the same time, a large range of businesses now advertises on Instagram; from mental health organizations to hardware stores. It’s all about using Instagram’s platform to tell your brand story in a compelling way. Here are some of the most effective ways in which brands have used Instagram to dramatically transform their business. Branding View this post on Instagram ? A post shared by Zomato (@zomato) on Sep 23, 2018 at 11:30pm PDT Generating brand awareness is the biggest opportunity that Instagram’s high levels of engagement provide a business enterprise. Crafting content on Instagram must echo the brand voice since it is a key imperative to build credibility for the brand that will go a long way. The content need not be blatantly promotional — in fact, one should constantly avoid thrusting one’s product in users’ face — rather, they need to create content that resonates with the vision, mission, and values of the business. Humour, beautiful visuals and crisply edited videos are all useful tools. Before creating your messaging, though, it’s important to find your brand voice. Are you quirky, trendy, edgy, professional, etc? Brands like Chumbak and Zomato does a great job of this. Albums and Captions View this post on Instagram Opposites attract. A post shared by Ben & Jerry’s (@benandjerrys) on Apr 24, 2019 at 10:30am PDT In the early days, taking a meaningful photo, adding an appropriate filter, and posting it was enough. That’s not true anymore. Instagram now allows up to 10 photos in a single post, and you should leverage this feature to tell a visual story through each post. Also, you need to make sure that visual captions are created that add to the story while lending it a finishing touch. Today, every post on Instagram can tell a unique story through a series of photos and captions that goes with it. And that’s what effective marketers are striving for! For instance, Ben and Jerry’s Instagram posts are not only drool-worthy but tell you everything you need to know about their latest products and flavours. Influencer Marketing View this post on Instagram Hydration never tasted so good ?@meyagirls #earthsfinest A post shared by FIJI Water (@fijiwater) on Oct 10, 2018 at 2:00pm PDT Influencer marketing is set to become a $10 billion industry by 2020. In fact, most marketers are looking at influencer marketing as an integral part of their marketing strategy and with good reason. 22% of users aged 18-34 often make a large purchase after seeing an endorsement from an influencer. When it comes to influencer marketing, few platforms are as effective as Instagram. If you think you can’t afford to invest in influencer marketing, think again. Influencer marketing is no longer about huge online celebrities with millions of followers. Instagram has a number of micro-influencers who have between 15k to 100k followers. These micro-influencers are far more accessible and much less expensive. Best of all, even though they have a smaller following, chances are that their followers are more loyal and highly engaged. As long as you’re able to find the right influencers to match your product, you will be able to get great results from influencer marketing. If you want to understand how to use micro-influencers to grow brand awareness at a phenomenal pace, check out Fiji Water’s influencer campaigns. Stories/IGTV Most marketers have found that Instagram stories, and more recently IGTV, are performing exceedingly well. Even within stories, videos are especially attractive. Stories also have a number of features that make them more discoverable. For instance, by tagging your location in a story you can appear in your city’s Instagram story, instantly making your content more discoverable. Similarly, you can also add URLs to your stories so that people can instantly go to the website that offers your product or service. Shoppable Posts For a long time, one of the key issues most marketers have had with Instagram is that it isn’t as advertisement friendly as Facebook. In fact, the platform has intentionally prioritized engagement over ads for many years now and that was seen as a major disadvantage from the brands’ perspective. However, Instagram has recently introduced “shoppable posts” which is set to change the dynamic completely. Shoppable posts allow people to buy products from an Instagram post, without leaving the app at all. As a business, you simply have to tag a product catalogue to their Instagram account. You can tag your product the same way you tag a person and people can directly shop through your post. In fact, now, influencers can also create a shoppable post which expands the scope of this feature even further. Nars and Michael Kors have been experimenting extensively with the feature. Of course, it isn’t wise to make Instagram (or any one platform
How to Turn an Idea into Two Weeks Worth of Content
We all know that panic strikes when we are running out of ideas for the next blog post. There is pressure to constantly find ideas that captivate your audience can be very intense. In extreme cases, one can even start feeling burnt out or run into a creative block. One of the best ways to get around this situation is by turning one content idea into a four or five-part series. This can help you navigate the pressure of finding new content ideas every three days while also enabling you to create well-researched, and in-depth blog posts. Why series are so great Here’s why carving one content idea into a series can pay off in a big way. Building anticipation and increasing traffic Someone who reads the first part of the series will want to keep going till they finish the entire series. Similarly, someone who stumbles across the 4th or 5th article will probably start from the beginning and go through them all. In fact, people who are waiting for the next post in the series may even end up subscribing to your blog. Eliminate stress and improve productivity When you decide to write a series, you have to go through the ideation process just once. After that, you already know the overall idea and its breakdown into different posts. All you need to focus on is writing. With the stress of constantly coming up with new ideas out of the window, you’ll actually be able to focus solely on quality content creation. Go in-depth Have you ever had one of those content ideas that are really meaty and important, but there’s no way you could fit everything into one blog post? That’s exactly what a series is meant to achieve. You can finally go into details and share in-depth insights without overloading your readers with too much information at once. More conversions and profits Believe it or not, series are often far more amenable to your business goals than stand-alone posts. Whether it’s getting more subscribers, generating leads, building your brand, or creating online products that generate recurring revenue. More ideas With a series, you have more time to play around with ideas and concepts. Many of our best writing ideas come to us subconsciously when we’re not actively writing. With a series, your subconscious mind has enough time to formulate ideas and arguments, whether you’re gardening or in the shower. Chances are that the ideas will flow a lot more easily when you do sit down to write. How do you know if an idea can be made into a series If you’re not sure how to figure out which content ideas will make for great series, here are some tips. You’ve written a post with a meaty list Say you’ve done a post saying “Top 5 Content Marketing Formats in 2019”. You suddenly realize that each of these 5 formats merits a full post in itself. And suddenly you have your idea for your next 5-part series. The idea is too substantial for one blog post Many times, you don’t start off thinking of a content idea as suited to a series format. Maybe it’s intended to be just one post, but as you begin writing the outline you realize there’s too much substance to restrict the idea to one post. These kind of ideas are best outlined in a series. If there isn’t too much material, you can always stick to a short, three-part series. Your readers have many related queries This is another great organic way to develop a series. Many times, readers respond overwhelmingly to a post. In fact, they may come up with a number of questions on related topics that are not covered in the original post. It’s a great idea to take some of these questions to create a 4-part series. Evergreen content In general, it’s not a good idea to invest time and energy into writing a four-part series for passing trends. In most cases, in fact, articles based on the latest fads and trends simply don’t have enough material for a series. Evergreen content ideas that focus on substantial issues are ideal for creating a series. The idea-to-series playbook Let’s say you are planning to write a four-part series. The topic you’ve chosen is video marketing. Here’s a general playbook on how you should go about it. Post 1- Establish authority In the first post of the series, spend time on introducing the topic, your own background, and connecting the two. For instance, while talking about video marketing, you could start by introducing the concept and why it’s become so important to have a video marketing strategy today. You could then talk about your own experience with video marketing. It could be about your journey as a video marketer or even your experience with video marketing for your own product. Use interesting anecdotes and make sure to use an interesting CTA (Call to Action) that makes people want to know more. Post 2- Prepare the background In this post, you don’t delve into the details of creating video marketing but talk about the things you need to know in advance. For instance, you could talk about things that need to be in place before you get started with video marketing. This could include considerations like budget, a video marketing strategy, equipment, cast and crew, and so on. Post 3- The details This is the post where you actually break down video marketing into a step-by-step tutorial that users can follow. The best part about saving the details for the third post is that readers already know a fair bit about the topic by now and are well prepared for the information-centric content. Post 4- Give advanced information and answer queries This last post helps you give value-added information to your readers. A great way to design this post is by going through relevant questions you receive in the comments section in the previous posts.
Why You Need to Sell Your Own Product to Become a Better Copywriter
Here is a thing to remember. You may have learnt a whole lot about copywriting; from books, online courses, and even real-life experience. You might have even worked for a multitude of clients across the board; handling their marketing and sales copy. But the truth of the matter is unless you’ve had the experience of selling your own product, you simply don’t know what it’s like to have skin in the game. It’s one thing to understand your client, their product, and their target audience; it’s another thing to be able to feel their pain and urgency. This kind of empathy can only come with personal experience and it can help you become a more well-rounded copywriter. In this article, we talk about how to sell your product online and why that will make you much better at your copywriting job. Invest time and money to create a product Of course, you can’t sell a product you don’t have. While it might not be possible to create a physical product, in most cases you’ll find it much easier to create an online product. This includes a number of options, ranging from e-books to courses. The key here is to invest enough time, effort, and resources so that failing to sell your product will actually hurt. Not enough to bankrupt you of course but bad enough that it’s a real setback. Unless that happens, you simply won’t have enough skin in the game to focus the way you need to. Here are some of the key steps that you simply cannot skimp on when you’re on this journey. Step 1 – Understand your audience The key to creating a valuable product is by listening to your customers. You don’t want to spend valuable time and money on creating something no one needs. Use social media listening tools to really understand prospective customers’ pain points. It’s also a good idea to go old-school and just talk to people. Go past what your customers think they need to get to what they really need. How this helps- You will now understand how painstaking it is to find the right product and features that satisfy customers. Keep this in mind when you write copy for your clients. Step 2- Create the product This is the scary part. You’re going to be spending hours and hours creating a product that may not yield any ROI. You may also find yourself investing some money to create a quality product. For instance, if it’s an e-book you may have to hire an ace designer. If you’re creating a video-course, you might find yourself renting high-end equipment. Of course, you also need to figure out the platform that you will use to deliver your product. For an e-book, you need to decide the format you want to publish it in, whether you want it to be on Amazon, and so on. If it’s a course, you need to decide which platform to use; whether you want to go with a Udemy or Teachable or use a self-hosted LMS (Learning Management System). You will also need to complete the email and payment integrations so that your customers have a seamless experience. How this helps- All the time and resources you invest will give you a glimpse into what your client has at stake. It will also help you realize how much they really have on their plate. Be mindful of that when you work with them. Step 3- Create a landing page and write sales copy Work on creating a landing page, or even a complete website if it’s warranted. When you create the perfect landing page, write all your launch copy. From the sales page to emails and social media posts. How this helps- Notice the care with which how you write sales copy when you actually have skin in the game. Remember, your clients deserve the same focus. Step 4- Launch your product The D-day is here. You will probably be juggling a number of different things; from sending out emails to promoting your product on social media, collaborating with bloggers, and even asking your friends to recommend the product. It’s important to remember that this is only the beginning and that it’s going to be a long road ahead. How this helps Launch day will give you a whole new level of empathy for your client. Juggling so many different things at the same time should give you an insight into what your client goes through every day. You can be a wizard with words, but you won’t really become an exceptional copywriter unless you understand what it means to have your skin in the game. Creating and selling your own product may not be the easiest way to become more empathetic, but it will definitely take your skills to the next level. And hey, you may just end up making a lot of money in the process!
E-commerce Microcopy: A Simple and Effective Way to Increase Sales
What if we told you that you’re ignoring a very simple aspect of your e-commerce website? And that this aspect can actually help you increase your conversions by 14- 166%? This article talks about microcopy- an essential element of a website’s user experience that most businesses end up ignoring. We will also talk about how you can use microcopy to increase conversions. What is Microcopy? Microcopy refers to all the text on your website that doesn’t fall into any category. In other words, once you strip away things like headings, banners, titles, blog posts, and standard website copy; microcopy is what’s left. Microcopy occurs in different ways and forms and its main goal is to motivate shoppers to complete an action. This includes adding a product to the cart, signing up for a newsletter, or filling credit card information. The best example of microcopy comes from Joshua Porter who’s often known as the father of microcopy. When Joshua Porter was working for an online store, he realized that the store was losing money every month because 5-10% of its transactions were failing. After some research, all he did was to add one sentence next to the billing address field “Be sure to enter the billing address associated with your credit card.” Immediately, all the failed transactions reduced dramatically. In other words, microcopy strives to make the user experience as smooth as possible. And that is why it has so much power to influence conversions and help you reach your financial goals. How does microcopy increase conversions for your e-commerce website? Microcopy can become the key to better conversions simply by virtue of their strategic placement in the entire user experience. Here are some ways in which effective microcopy can help you increase conversions. Emphasize key value propositions You may have some killer deals and discounts for your customers. But it’s not enough to just put them in your standard website copy. Having these deals located at strategic places such as the shopping cart or when the customer is making the purchase helps emphasize them. Build trust You may be losing customers without even realizing it simply because they have a hard time trusting you. Microcopy can really help here. For instance, having a line that says “We won’t share your email id with anyone” right after they have been asked to fill in their email id, helps assuage their privacy concerns. Similarly, things like security and confirmation messages when a customer is actually doing a transaction go a long way to build trust. Reduce ambiguity The main goal of microcopy is to ensure that customers have a seamless user experience. Smart microcopy can enable a better user experience by reducing ambiguity and making things as clear for customers as possible. For instance, all the product categories in your e-commerce store should be classified in a way that leaves no room for doubt. Reinforce your brand voice Microcopy is also a way of cleverly reinforcing your brand personality in a subtle but effective way. For instance, if your brand is known for being slightly quirky and out-of-the-box, injecting humour into your error messages and form fields can endear you to customers. Similarly, if you want to be known as a credible brand with authority, your microcopy should reflect that. Tips on writing good microcopy Now that you know how powerful microcopy can be, it’s time to understand how you can leverage microcopy to increase conversions. Here are some tips on writing effective micropy. Brevity is the key As the word itself suggests, microcopy is meant to be short and to-the-point. Its goal is to enhance the user experience and wordy sentences are not the way to go. The more succinct the microcopy is, the easier it is to drive the point home. Use Click triggers Click triggers refer to text that is right next to a button and that motivates customers to click the button. Money-back guarantee, free shipping, testimonials, etc are all good examples. State your case directly Microcopy is not the place to be coy or ambiguous. It’s where you need to tell your customers exactly what you have to offer. Phrases like “Buy now” and “Sign up for exclusive offers” tell customers exactly what to do. Of course, you don’t want to come off as coercive or pushy but it’s important to be explicit and speak to customers directly. We often end up trying every trick in the book to increase e-commerce sales; from digital ads to content marketing. Sometimes, it’s the small things that we tend to neglect that can actually have a major impact on those conversions. Microcopy is one such thing that many people tend to neglect. Luckily, all it takes is some attention to detail and you can soon have many more customers shopping at your virtual store.
A Step-by-Step Guide to Launching an E-Commerce Website for Your Physical Store
You have just set up your brick-and-mortar store and are wondering how to take it to the next level. Or your physical store has been around for years and of late sales have plateaued. In either case, you’re probably wondering if an e-commerce website is an answer. The Indian e-commerce industry grew at a whopping CAGR(Compounded Annual Growth Rate) of 53% between 2013 to 2017. It’s obvious that more and more Indians are preferring to shop online, whether it’s for mobile phones, clothes, or groceries. So it’s but natural for you to consider setting up a website for your own store. At the same time, there are millions of e-commerce websites out there. How do you make sure your website doesn’t just get lost in the crowd? Plus, you may think websites take a lot of work to set up from scratch and market. So is it even worth all the effort? In this guide, we will discuss why it’s a good idea to launch an e-commerce website for your physical store and what’s the easiest way to go about doing it. Why your physical store needs an online website? If you’re on the fence about launching your e-commerce website, here are some compelling reasons to help you make up your mind. A major chunk of potential customers is shopping online The number of online shoppers in India will surpass 120 million in 2018, and this number will continue to increase exponentially. So chances are that many potential customers are already looking online for the products available at your store. Plus, if you sell high-quality, specialty products, chances are you will find customers in other cities and towns as well. You may be missing out on a huge customer base by ignoring them. Skills gained from running a brick-and-mortar store can be transferred to running an online store The fact is that it’s a lot easier to set up an online front for your physical store than it is to set up an e-commerce website from scratch. You already have so many of the skills you need; from an in-depth understanding of your customers to inventory management. Local customers will prefer an omnichannel shopping experience Most experts believe that the future of retail lies in an omnichannel (online+offline) shopping experience. As a physical store with an online presence, you are perfectly poised to take advantage of this. For instance, you can provide a few hours delivery option for customers who live nearby but prefer shopping online. You can also have a “pick up in store” service for locals who order online and then stop by to pick up their order. You can also benefit from cross-promotion; attractive deals advertised on your website for customers who come to your store and vice-versa. How to launch an e-commerce website for your brick and mortar store Once you’ve decided to launch an online store, it’s important not to get overwhelmed by all the information that’s out there. Follow these simple steps and you’ll be on your way with your own e-commerce website. Step 1: Choose an e-commerce platform The first step is to find the right e-commerce platform. You can choose between two kinds of platforms. The first is a commercial e-commerce website builder that makes it very easy for you to set up your website. Shopify is the best example of this. While this kind of website is simple to set up and operate, it may not be highly customizable or scalable. If you need a more customizable and scalable option, you can go for a self-hosted, open-source website. WordPress and Magento are great examples. While these websites are more scalable, they also require more time and technical skills to set up from scratch. Step 2: Choose your domain name Choosing the right domain name is very important because this domain name will be your store’s identity for a long time. Find something that is SEO-friendly, catchy, and has high recall value. Of course, if you already have a brand name for your physical store that meets these criteria, then stick to it. Step 3: Integrate payment options With platforms like Shopify, payment methods are already integrated into the website. With a self-hosted platform, you get to choose the payment methods. You can integrate Razorpay, Instamojo, PayTM or any other payment processing company. They usually have a host of payment options, from credit and debit cards to UPI and online wallets. Step 4: Decide how to phase out the launch Both Amazon and Flipkart began their online journey by selling just one category of items- books. Of course, things have evolved a lot since then but it still makes sense to keep your focus as narrow as possible, to begin with. Figure out which items in your store will be best suited for your online store; both from the demand side as well as from a supply chain point of view. Step 5: Get your delivery sorted Make sure you’re able to get a courier company that doesn’t charge exorbitantly for delivering the products. Customers are likely to be disappointed if they see a huge delivery charge while checking out. It’s a good idea to keep a flat delivery fee for each item, and then offer discounts to customers whose order value is above a certain threshold. Step 6: Set up an online marketing strategy The key ingredient of any successful website launch is its marketing. From content marketing and search engine optimization to social media strategy, you need to have it figured out. If it’s difficult to manage your online marketing on your own, consider outsourcing it to an agency that knows what they’re doing. Conclusion With all the tools and platforms at your disposal, launching an online front for your physical store has never been easier. The future of retail lies in an omnichannel experience that combines the convenience of online shopping with the experience of offline retail.
Why All Business Owners Should Consider Podcasting
Podcasts started in 2004 as a very niche form of content that only some techies were hooked to. In the last 15 years, that has changed dramatically. In 2013, Apple announced that over 1 billion people subscribed to its podcasts. Today, Apple has more than 525,000 active podcasts and over 18.5 million episodes. Podcasts by Pat Flynn, Srinivas Rao, Michael Stelzner, and others have already become huge hits, drawing in millions of listeners. Yet, podcasts are still fairly unknown as a marketing technique. Business owners invest a lot of money into social media, blogs, and SEO. Few, however, give serious thought to starting or participating in a podcast as a way of enhancing their brand equity. Here are some good reasons why every business owner in today’s day and age should consider podcasting. Podcasts have fantastic engagement rates When it comes to content consumption, attention spans have shortened drastically. People are unwilling to devote a lot of time to content that demands energy and attention. Yet, podcasts seem to be bucking this trend in a big way. In fact, 80% of podcast listeners finish or almost finish an episode they’re listening to. Here are some reasons why podcasts drive such high rates of engagement. The podcast audience actually goes out of their way to find podcasts that are relevant to them. If someone tunes into your podcast, chances are they’ve actively sought you out. Smartphone use has increased exponentially in the past 5-6 years. Smartphones mean it is now much easier to listen to podcasts on the go. Unlike blogs and videos, podcasts don’t demand your undivided attention. In fact, a lot of people listen to podcasts while engaged in otherwise mundane activities like driving, working out or cleaning. This makes it much likelier that they will finish your podcast while they’re doing this other time-consuming activity. Image Source With such fantastic engagement rates, a podcast literally gives you a captive audience. You can express your brand voice through your podcast and get loyal and passionate followers. Podcasts are a great way to build qualified leads In businesses where you need to educate a customer before you can close a sale, podcasts are a great strategy. This is especially true in areas like insurance, personal finance, legal services or B2B products. Podcasts will not be the tool that drives the maximum number of leads to your door. However, people who follow your podcast are much more likely to be aware of what you represent. Since you provide them with a wealth of information and insight, you are now adding value to their lives. When they do finally come to you, they will convert much quicker and will also tend to come back. In businesses where customer churn is a problem and CLTV (Customer Life Time Value) is high, this can be priceless. It’s not an overcrowded space While blogs, social media, and search engine marketing are all important, they are also quite saturated. Of course, content marketing is what helps you build organic traffic for your website in the long run. However, the form your content takes is becoming equally important. While you can’t ignore blog posts, there are over four million blog posts written every single day. This means even exceptional content can get lost in this crowd. Podcasts, on the other hand, are still relatively virgin territory. This is especially true in India. While it is relatively easy to start a podcast, there are still very few people doing it. And even fewer entrepreneurs who are podcasting with a long-term view of growing their company’s brand equity. If you integrate podcasts into your content marketing strategy, you already have an edge over your competition. Moreover, podcasts are likely to explode in popularity in the coming years. This is the time to get that first-mover’s advantage. Better yet, you can actually transcribe your podcast episode and repurpose it as a blog post. This will make sure your blog also benefits from the content created during your podcast episodes. It is easy and inexpensive to set up and manage When it comes to starting a podcast, all you need is a mic and a hosting. A fairly good mic can cost you as little as Rs 5000 and hosting cost is $20 a month. So, you can actually experiment with podcasting without making a huge dent in your marketing budget. The other question is whether the podcast takes more time and energy than it should. The fact of the matter is that running a podcast does involve a lot of work. From hosting the podcast, and finding guests, to publishing, editing, transcriptions, promotion, and show notes. However, you can outsource everything else and just focus on actually hosting the show. Podcasting can even be a source of revenue If your podcast takes off, it may even help you generate additional income. A whopping $220 million was spent on advertising within podcasts in 2017 in the United States. Significantly, a study found that 65% of podcast listeners would be willing to buy products advertised in the podcast. This means there is huge scope for growth when it comes to podcast advertising. This is especially true in economies like India and China where podcasts are still fairly nascent. So on the one hand, your podcast can help you generate qualified leads by building a loyal following. On the other, it can actually help you find sponsorships from brands that want to get noticed by an audience like yours. The podcast can soon pay for itself and then some. Conclusion To be honest, this is the best time to consider integrating podcasting in your overall marketing strategy. Podcasting is still relatively new and is yet to see explosive growth. Best of all, podcasting is fun! It is a great opportunity to meet interesting and well-informed guests and share insights about what you know well. If you aren’t ready to start your own podcast yet, start going
Why Great Brand Stories Need Videos
Videos are fast becoming the go-to medium for brands to connect with customers. With the digital age, videos have become so much more than the traditional 15/ 30-second advertising that dominated television. With the adoption of high-speed internet and social media taking to videos in a big way, videos are more accessible than ever before. Consumer tastes are consistently showing a preference towards videos vis-a-vis static content. In fact, according to a 2014 Levels Beyond survey, 40% consumers said they would rather watch a video of a brand than read the same information. This means that more and more brands are understanding that videos are no longer an option when it comes to effective marketing. In fact, video ad spend is set to reach $20 billion by 2020. Here’s why most brands need videos to tell great brand stories. Videos viewing rates are increasing The average time that consumers spent viewing videos in 2017 went up by a whopping 19% compared to 2016. Video completion rates (videos watched all the way through) reached a phenomenal 69% in 2017. Videos also have the highest CTR (Click Through Rate) of all digital ad formats. Finally, mobile viewing of videos is at an all-time high and in 2018 people will globally watch 25% more video on mobile devices. This means that videos are not just here to stay but are on a phenomenal growth path. That’s an opportunity no brand wants to miss out on. Social media loves videos View this post on Instagram Hi, this is RVR. Drive it, program it, hack it, and back it, because our latest and greatest robot is now on @Kickstarter. Link in Bio. A post shared by Sphero (@sphero) on Feb 19, 2019 at 4:18am PST According to a recent Facebook study, people spend 5 times longer watching video content than reading static content. Instagram and Snapchat are also seeing video take over as the most popular medium. Whether it’s Instagram poster children Inspirato and Sphero or bigger companies like Nike and Jimmy Choo, more and more brands are now creating inspirational video content that is getting them a lot of love from customers. Of course, as social media gets flooded with more and more videos, brands are making shorter ads. Facebook recommends that brand videos should be 15 seconds or shorter while Snapchat limits videos to 10 seconds. The advantage of shorter videos on social media is that A/B testing can be done more easily as it’s easier to produce 4 variants of a 10-second video than a 30-second one. Videos tug at the heartstrings The combination of great visuals and music that videos offer provides users with a great experience. Videos are more effective than any other content medium to make viewers emotional. When it comes to great brand stories, users will connect with and grow to love brands when they have a compelling narrative. And videos are the best way to put a great narrative out there. Barbie’s rebranding video is a great example. Videos allow you to use audience signals and customize content Today, it’s not enough to just create a compelling brand story based on general cultural insights and demographic assumptions. Nowadays, there are many audience signals from views to searches to clicks to shares to searches, and great brand stories come from paying heed to those signals. Luckily, advanced analytics on Youtube and other tools allow brands to understand their customers better and create customized videos. This makes for effective and personalized storytelling. For example, Frito Lay worked closely with Youtube to identify the major interest categories for their users; from gaming to 90s fashion, and used these insights to create different creatives to cater to different interests. For example, a user would see a gaming-related Lays ad before they watched a gaming video. Videos now allow you to build a story, not just tell it With the different channels through which to tell your brand story, videos are now in different sizes and formats. Moreover, you can use digital media to actually build on your story through multiple videos, based on who’s seen the previous ones, instead of telling your entire story in one go. Here are all the different ways in which videos can cater to different audiences and different attention spans. Traditional ads: Online or television commercials Promo videos: Viral videos, interviews, testimonials, product reviews, case studies. Explainer videos: Introductions, processes, tutorials, services, and overviews. Culture marketing videos: Content to showcase the brand, people, or causes. Social videos: Content to engage followers on social—Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube. In 2018, videos accounted for as much as 64% of all consumer internet traffic. In 2019, this number is estimated to go up to 80%. 64% of all marketers believe that video will be dominating their brand stories in the near future. If you haven’t yet considered getting a video strategy in place for your brand, now is a perfect time.
How to write the perfect product descriptions for your eCommerce website
You have a product you want to sell. So, you have lured the customer in and he is flipping through your website. And, you know that he is interested! But what is that quick-kill chord that needs to resonate with him and make him hit the ‘Buy’ button? Aah. It is then that you rack your brain for those magic words. That unique piece of content writing that will talk about your product and more importantly, sell it! For, in the veritable ocean of products that hit Googlers like nothing less than a tsunami, your product needs to stand out. So, how do you get about product description writing that sets your product apart from a gazillion others of the same kind? Well, there’s an army of trade tricks to write that brilliant, selling copy. But remember, not all will work well for all products. There are, however, some general guidelines, that you must keep in mind when you go about scripting the sales-effective copy for your product. Here are a few questions that you can ask yourself while writing a product description. Who is my audience/customer? First and foremost- Always! Pay keen attention to the audience/clientele you are catering to. Think about who they are – age, interests, demography, where they are from, etc. Think about how your product (through your weapon of the description) can appeal to that clientele. Strike a chord with that group, use words/phrases that pique their interests (for example, use sports terms for customers buying fitness goods, perhaps), and give them an idea that you understand them and are on their side. For example, take a look at this one The Kellogg’s Oats Masst Masala product description clearly caters to health-conscious individuals, who are not ready to invest time in the preparation of food. So, the description talks about nutrition, heart-health, and that it cooks in 3 minutes! That is enough to grab the attention of the audience? What are they looking for? Why are they here? Now that you have given them the assurance that you are batting for them, aim your description at the pain points for which the customer is on your site, looking at your product. Talk about their problems such that your audience finds a kindred soul in you, bound by the same trials and tribulations (no matter how tiny or insignificant). Let them know that you have been through it, just like them. And you have looked for a solution, just like them. For example, take a look at this one The potential customer that has surfed through pages and landed on the page selling Vanish Oxi Action Stain Remover Washing Liquid, can be assumed to be tired of removing stains from clothes. The first thing the description does is calm down the frayed nerves of the audience by saying ‘Wash away your worries’, clearly indicating that the Vanish people understand their customer’s problem. It then goes on to describe the product’s plus points, from a problem-solving perspective. So, how can my product help them? The next logical step is to step in like a magician (well, almost) and tell your audience that you have just the product for them, that will work for them and solve the problem they are looking at your product about. Focus on the benefits of your product, try to go in as much detail as possible within limit constraints. Tell them that your product can improve the quality of their lives and give them a good idea about how and why it will happen. For example, take a look at this one The author of the product description of L’Oréal’s Magic Root Coverup doesn’t waste any time before delving straight into the benefits of the hair spray. The copy introduction starts with how conveniently the customer can die her roots and cover the grey bits and then moves swiftly on to a more elaborate focus on the benefits of the product. Why you, and not the others? While you had been doing all of the above, one crucial aspect should have guided your choice of words, tone, flavour, and graphics used. And that is – why should your customer choose you over others in your category? What is so special about your product that your client (who has been enticed by similar products galore), will think to himself ‘Huh! This product speaks to me!’ Keeping that in mind, think of the unique trait that you are offering and how exactly that trait can be useful to your customer. For example, take a look at this one This product description for Dove beauty bar soap might talk about moisturizing, but the focus is clearly on how only Dove understands ‘moisturizing’ and ‘skin-natural’ features more than any other competing beauty bar. In general, it will do you good to remember the following things as well: Set the tone of your description: From fun and playful, to romantic or steamy, from loving and cuddly to staid and formal, the tone of your copy should align itself with the product you are selling and the audience you are targeting. Be conversational: Everybody likes a good story. So, if time and space permit, tell one! Talk to your audience as if you are having a one-on-one conversation. Pack a punch in the introduction to hook your customer. And then carefully unfurl your ideas. Use bullet points: For listing characteristics of your products, nothing can be more useful than bullet points. Lists give a great snapshot of what you are offering, in an uncluttered way. This can prove useful in prodding the audience in the direction of finally making that purchase. Use words that convey emotion: A lot of people buy on impulse, driven primarily by emotion. So, use words that might appeal to your audience’s emotions. Don’t scrimp on your adjectives, but then again, at the same time, be careful that you do not go overboard
5 Common Content Marketing Mistakes to Avoid
Content marketing is without a doubt one of the most effective marketing strategies out there. It brings your website invaluable organic traffic over a long period of time. In fact, 53% of marketers believe that blogs are one of the best ways to generate inbound traffic. however, there’s a flipside to content marketing. It is a very, very crowded field. Every day, more than four million blog posts are published online. Does this mean you shouldn’t invest in content marketing and stick to advertising and other marketing techniques? The answer is a resounding no. Content marketing, if done correctly, can help build your brand and reputation like no other marketing activity. But this extreme competition means you need to be very smart in your approach to content marketing. The key to this is identifying the most common and costly content marketing mistakes and avoid them from day one. Here are five common content marketing mistakes and how you can fix them Not putting your audience first Surprisingly enough many content marketers make this mistake while starting out. It’s one thing to have a vague understanding of your audience, and another to really solve their problems through your content. Most content marketers use prestigious publications or competitor blogs to find topics to write about. And then find themselves with very little traffic. Another common mistake happens when you have a limited understanding of your audience. Once the content is ready, you have very little idea about how to reach out to prospective readers. It’s important to use the first-principle approach when it comes to understanding your audience. Use tools like the Facebook Ads Manager or EpicBeat to get insights about your audience. These tools have detailed insights about audiences. See what they like, what they’re interested in, what content they read and share. Use this information to define what your next content piece should be and how you should share it. You can even do a group discussion or one-on-one with a few audience members to understand where they’re coming from. Just remember that a whopping 55% of people say that they receive content from brands which they don’t find relevant. Make sure you don’t belong in this group. No follow-up Some content marketers believe their job is done once the article has been written and shared. However, it is a long journey from content consumer to customer and marketers need to enable that. Experts say that it takes 7 exposures to go from being a website visitor to a customer. Setting up a follow-up campaign takes time but it’s the only way to go for a truly effective marketing strategy. Luckily, there are some great marketing automation tools like ActiveCampaign, SharpSpring, and LeadSquared that can do the heavy lifting. Your role is to understand the customer journey and create a follow-up strategy accordingly. Using only one form of content One of the biggest mistakes today’s content marketers can make is to stick to text-only blog posts. Even the usual blog post with 2-3 images is not enough today. As users spend more time-consuming content, especially on hand-held devices, they prefer more visually appealing content. Infographics and videos have both made enormous headway in popularity. They can even bring in a whole new audience that doesn’t usually consume long-form content. Infographics are especially useful because they are low-hanging fruit. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to repurpose a blog post into an attractive infographic. You can use tools like Canva and Piktochart to design your infographic fairly easily. Not having enough evergreen content Evergreen content is content that literally stays “evergreen”. In other words, it’s not based on recent news or trends that will get outdated soon. Evergreen content is centered around topics that have been relevant for some time and will continue to be relevant in the near future. Having evergreen content on your website is a very important aspect of content marketing. Creating content that will still be relevant 5 years down the line means that you will get long-term website traffic. You can search for specific keywords on Google trends to see if they can qualify as evergreen content. If so, you can focus on creating content around them. Not getting enough help One of the biggest mistakes you can make as a content marketer is to try and do everything yourself. There are several kinds of people who find themselves donning the content marketer hat. You may be a blogger who has tremendous writing talent and wants her blog to reach a huge audience. You may also be looking to grow your business through content marketing. Or a professional content marketer setting up or scaling the content marketing efforts at your company. In every case, doing everything yourself is a bad idea. If you have great writing skills, focus your energy on creating valuable content that your audience will love. Outsource the audience outreach to an expert. Similarly, if your skills lie in audience outreach but you’re not a writer, find a talented writer who matches your brand voice. If you don’t have either of these skills work with individuals or agencies that do. When you try to do it all yourself, your mind is easily diverted and the learning curve is steep. You will most likely end up giving up on content marketing without giving it a real chance. Stick to your strengths and hire experts as soon as you can. Conclusion If you do a Google search for your targeted keywords today, don’t be surprised to find over a million results. That is the kind of intense competition that you will have to deal with in content marketing today. Hence, it’s super important to use the right strategy and avoid the common mistakes discussed in this article. Also, it will be wise to keep the long-term horizon in view. So go ahead and start using the tips discussed above to create a valuable