Just like most aspects of marketing and technology, search engine optimization has evolved over time. Marketing strategies that were effective for your company five or ten years ago may not be as effective today. The same applies to SEO. Search engines have changed the way they rank websites. If your company hasn’t been staying up to date with the latest trends, your SEO strategy is outdated. I see this problem all too often in my consulting work. Many companies still employ old strategies that no longer work. That’s what inspired me to write this guide. The outdated tactics on this list vary in terms of how they will affect your business. Some of these are ineffective but harmless, while others could potentially hurt your SEO ranking. Every business with a website needs to read this guide. Use it as a reference to see if you’re still using outdated SEO tactics and possibly hurting your SEO game. 1. Exact match domain namesExact match domains were popular for a while. With this strategy, websites were able to move up their search rankings very quickly. In some instances, rankings climbed in just weeks or even a few days. As the name implies, the whole idea behind an exact match domain is that your website matches the keywords you’re targeting. For example:
But Google adjusted its algorithm to make exact match domains obsolete. When it made this update back in 2012, the influence of exact match domains dropped nearly immediately: Now, an exact match domain has the same chances of ranking as high or as low as any other domain name. In fact, some of these exact match domains have a greater chance of being flagged by algorithms or manual reviews. Low-quality sites won’t be ranked high just because their domains are exact matches to the targeted keywords. Furthermore, it’s difficult to brand a company with an exact match domain. For example, think about Amazon. Imagine if it started with a domain like
That’s just not brandable. This strategy is less trustworthy, and it will make it increasingly difficult for you to build links. Instead, you want to make it as easy as possible to increase your brand exposure by having a domain that’s brandable. Don’t use exact match domains. 2. Link directoriesFor the most part, link directories are useless. There are some exceptions for niche-specific high quality directories. This strategy worked before search engines become powerful. People could find what they were looking for by using sites with directories. These were easy for site owners to install and manage, and they increased in popularity. However, a link directory doesn’t provide actual value to website visitors. That’s when search algorithms got adjusted to ignore link directories. Now, having a link directory on your site can get you penalized if you have low-quality links. The same goes for article directories. Marketers started to use software to submit articles to thousands of directories. But this low-quality content didn’t provide any value to people. It was a quick and simple way to build links. Today, link and article directories are usually perceived as poor content, and they won’t help increase your search ranking. 3. Flat URL architectureBy default, WordPress will set up your pages with URLs like this:
It may look simple and clean for your visitors, but it’s not helping your SEO. If you don’t change these defaults, it will be challenging for search engines to understand the hierarchy of your website. SEO crawlers and bots will rate all your pages with the same level of importance, but that’s not what you want. You need search engines to recognize the importance of each page compared to its relationship within other pages. You can manually change your defaults to something like this instead:
Then, the hierarchy of your site architecture will make more sense. Removing the flat URL structure will make it easier for crawlers to index your site, which ultimately will improve your SEO ranking. Search engines will be able to learn the value of each page within your site. I recommend making these adjustments sooner rather than later. If you change your architecture, you’ll also have to change all of the redirects which can potentially hurt your ranking. 4. Automated link buildingLinks clearly play an important role in SEO. Once this was discovered, many marketers tried to take advantage of link-building software to maximize their domain exposure on as many other sites as possible. They did this so their sites would be recognized by search engine algorithms. As a result, their links got randomly posted on forums, blog comments, link directories, and guestbooks. While I’m an advocate of using automation to improve your operational efficiency, this isn’t where you should be using that strategy. Link building is only effective if it’s high quality. You can’t automate this process. You have to build strong relationships and create valuable content. For alternative methods that work, check out my post on the process of consistently building backlinks every week. 5. Keyword stuffingWhen search engines weren’t as complex as they are today, keyword stuffing worked. Sites would just put dozens and dozens of keywords throughout new content. The problem with such keywording is it’s unnatural because it was only being done to improve the search relevance of the page. This doesn’t work anymore. As algorithms became more advanced, keyword stuffing lost its power. Now it just looks like you have low-quality content. You can potentially be penalized for keyword stuffing as well. A recent study from SEMrush showed the most important ranking factors: While keywords make the list, they’re not nearly as important as the other aspects of SEO are. In fact, 18% of domains that ranked for high-volume keywords didn’t have any keywords in the body. Only 3% of backlinks had anchor text with keywords. I’m not saying you shouldn’t include keywords in your content. But you need to make sure that you’re using them sparingly and that your content is written to read naturally. You’re much better off publishing valuable content without lots of keywords than low-quality content with too many keywords. 6. Keyword variation pagesDo not create a separate page for each variation of a keyword you’re trying to rank for. This strategy won’t work. Search engine crawlers are smarter, so you don’t have to do this in order to target these variations. Google’s AI system, RankBrain, can even detect and rank sites for keywords not displayed within the content. For example, let’s say you create a landing page dedicated to your B2B audiences about boiler services. RankBrain will understand that this page will also be relevant to users who search for things like:
You don’t need to have a separate page for each one of these keyword phrases. Having too many pages on your site will make your site navigation more difficult than it needs to be. For this example, you’d just need to have one page. Then, you’d include a subheader for each one of these variations. This strategy will make your content more relevant and improve your site navigation. 7. Paid linksThe last thing you want to do is violate Google’s webmaster guidelines. Buying links can improve your ranking, but not if you get caught. For this reason alone, I don’t think paid links are worth it. Some of you may have bought a few links without getting penalized in the past, but don’t think that means you’re invincible. Sure, you might be careful with the way you’re conducting your operation, but what about the seller? According to Google, both the buyers and sellers are guilty. It describes such practice as a link scheme: If someone is selling to you, they’re probably selling to other sites as well. All Google needs to do is catch one person, then follow the trail of links. If an unnatural pattern of inbound links is identified and leads to another buyer, it can get traced back to the same seller you’re using. It’s very easy for you to get caught. Build quality links the right way, and don’t try to take any shortcuts. 8. Building several interlinked sitesSome of you may own multiple businesses and websites. This seems like a good way to build links among them, right? Not necessarily. Interlinking sites need to be relevant to each other. If you have a website selling camping equipment, it wouldn’t make sense to link to your other business offering credit loans. You’re not rewarded for the total number of links you build. Relevant links hold more weight. You might not be penalized for this, but it limits your opportunity and resources you can use for promoting your primary site. However, there are certain times when this can be done properly. For example, let’s say you have a commercial contracting company and a plumbing company. These are relevant to each other, so interlinking them would be fine. I’ve seen some instances when people create multiple websites just for their link building strategy. This won’t work. It’ll be difficult for you to manage this many sites for this purpose alone, so each one won’t have a high authority ranking. Google will recognize this pattern, and your SEO ranking will suffer. 9. Prioritizing quantity over qualityPublishing ten pieces of new content a day is useless if they are all low-quality. You’re much better off sticking to a publishing frequency you can handle without letting the quality suffer. Write for people, not for bots. Writing for bots is unnatural. As I said before, these new algorithms and site crawlers are becoming so advanced that they can distinguish between poor quality and high quality content. Look at your blog for example. How long are your posts? These are the average lengths of blog posts published over the last four years: As you can see, the majority of these posts have 500-1,000 words. But that doesn’t mean that’s your sweet spot. Longer blog posts are slowly trending upward each year. For the most part, I would recommend going longer over shorter. But don’t force a long blog post for the sake of increasing your word length. By nature, some topics will be longer or shorter than others. But it’s definitely better to publish five 1,000-word posts a week as opposed to 50 100-word posts a week. Those 100-word posts won’t be high quality. You can’t possibly address a topic properly in that length. 10. Irrelevant guest postsGuest-blogging is another great way to build links, but you need to make sure you’re doing it properly. Irrelevant posts won’t help you. Instead, you should only be guest-blogging on sites that will increase exposure for your brand. You want to reach a new audience that falls within your target market. The only way to do this is by publishing relevant content. For example, I’m a content marketing expert. I have no business submitting my posts to cooking magazines. It’s irrelevant to my personal brand, website, and target audience. As I discussed earlier, Google will identify irrelevant links and potentially punish both parties. Take this into consideration when managing guest posts on your site as well. You won’t want to publish irrelevant guest submissions for the same reasons. 11. Ignoring local SEOIt’s a misconception that you always need to focus on the big picture. Many companies are just trying to get traffic and ranking by targeting mass audiences as opposed to their actual target market. This is especially important to local business owners. If you have a local business, you should be prioritizing traffic from people in the area. Don’t put too much emphasis on generating traffic from people out of your market. Sure, traffic can improve your site ranking, but local SEO will be much more beneficial to your overall strategy. Here’s a recent study from Search Engine Land looking at the factors of local SEO: Use this graph as a reference. Are you making the right effort to improve your local SEO strategy? If you’re ignoring these areas, it’s a big mistake. ConclusionSEO has changed. It’ll continue changing in the future. If you are still using the outdated tactics on this list, it’s time for you to put those behind you. You need to start implementing new tactics. I’m referring to things such as voice search and mobile-first indexing. I’ll be coming up with more in-depth guides on those topics in the near future. But for now, just worry about retiring the strategies on this list. They’re a waste of your time and could potentially be hurting your ranking. What are some new SEO strategies your website has had success with? via Quick Sprout http://www.quicksprout.com/2018/11/15/11-outdated-seo-tactics-you-need-to-retire/
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The best thing about using a website builder is knowing that, in a world where an online presence is absolutely mandatory, the technical proficiency to build and publish that presence isn’t. Sure, you can sign up for web hosting, implement a template, and launch your own WordPress website. But there is an easier way. We should know: We’ve built some of our own business sites with website builders. It’s easy, fast, and unobtrusive to use an all-in-one tool. Every one of our picks for the best website builders will help you get your site up beautifully and simply:
What we look for in a website builder
We also ask questions in 5 key areas
Our top picks for the best website builderWix
It’s easy to choose Wix as a website builder. It truly takes on the name. Wix’s artificial intelligence asks you a few questions and literally builds your website before your eyes — unique color palette, features, and design all in one. It’s the best tool we’ve seen to get a site that matches your vision, even if you don’t know yet how you’d articulate that vision. Honestly, building a site with Wix’s AI felt a little like getting our minds read.
To start, click create site. You’ll be asked a question: What kind of website do you want to create? From there, the AI will help you build your website. (You can opt-out and go it alone at this point, too, but we appreciated the AI’s help.)
We loved how easy it was for us to find a template that matched our vision. The AI stayed with us as we edited the page, a little pink square in the bottom (it looks like a chat pop-up) helping us pick the next thing to edit and showing us how to do it. The Wix AI matched our business to its online presence, used our logo to create a color palette for our site, and gave us a template pre-populated with our logo and address. Connecting images from existing social media accounts made it easy to pull in all the assets we already owned.
There’s a lot of variety between the Wix themes, and the personality of each theme matches its name well. The Business Advisor had a spot-on graphic of an analytics dashboard, while Astrologer features an astral hero image.
Editing your desktop site with Wix requires some patience. To change the text on a text box, you’ll need to hover precisely in the right spot. We did some deep breathing and were able to find enough inner zen to make all the changes we needed. The mobile editor has the serene helpful feel we wish the rest of the editor maintained. It’s super easy to click through the options for how your menu, quick actions, and scroll options work on your mobile page. What you change in the mobile editor doesn’t affect anything that happens on the desktop.
Wix does have a free tier, but we don’t recommend it. It has some of the most in-your-face “this was not paid for” company branding we’ve seen — an instant trust breaker. Wix free sites also have one of the most cumbersome domain structures: yourusername.wix.com/sitename so we’d be QuicksproutEditorial.wix.com/Quicksprout. Connecting your actual domain also allows you to attach a Google Analytics profile and add email accounts if you’d like ($5 / account / month, or about half that with an annual plan). Unfortunately, none of this pricing is very upfront. Wix wants you to connect your domain before you see the email pricing, for example. We found answers to pricing questions in the support center, not the user flow. Take note: all of Wix’s plans are automatically set to auto-renew. Sticker shock is real, especially if you signed up with an introductory promo pricing (at the time of publish, premium plans were a full 50% off, for example). There are many frustrated customers on TrustPilot who’re unhappy with this. It is possible to turn off your auto-renew, but you’ll need to do it more than 14 days before your plan’s anniversary — and if you do it during your 14-day free trial, your trial will be cancelled immediately. As for which paid plan to pick, you have 7 options: 4 “regular” and 3 “ecommerce.” The difference really boils down to whether you’ll be accepting payments on your site or not. If you’re not sure about how much bandwidth you need, you can always start with a smaller subscription: if you go over the limit, you’ll get a notice from Wix (with no penalty) and use that as your signal to upgrade. Squarespace
“Build something beautiful” is right. There’s no doubt that Squarespace wins the design and beauty contest here. The user interface has a bit of a learning curve and there’s not much of a Squarespace community to help you out, but the page you’ll end up publishing will be phenomenally good-looking.
But, building a website with Squarespace can feel a little like building IKEA furniture: in the showroom it’s all so beautiful and simple, but somehow it feels a little more complicated to put together than it promised. It can be hard to understand where exactly you are in the editor. We kept getting notifications that we were editing demo content, or that we would see the social logos once we connected our social media, or that we could unlock this or that feature with a paid subscription, but Squarespace didn’t go the extra step to make it easy to make that required move. It was a lot of fumbling through a beautiful interface, not exactly sure what changes were real, or where to head next. We also had some issues saving changes — an error message popped up and we had to move on, without our changes.
Unlike IKEA, Squarespace is pricier than other website builders. That all being said, we love the way sites built with Squarespace look, and think it’s one of the simplest ways to create a beautiful, contemporary site. Ucraft
We love the free Landing Page option from Ucraft: create a single, mobile-ready page and connect your domain for free. The free version doesn’t get rid of the Ucraft branding but it’s minimal and not invasive. The template has all the features we’ve identified in our anatomy of a high-converting landing page. You can drop the branding by upgrading to a $6 / month Basic Website plan, and sell up to 50 items on the $14 / month Pro Website plan. If you have more items to sell, upgrade again, but note that once you upgrade, you can’t drop back down to a less expensive plan.
We’re also impressed with the $229 Lifetime plan. If the subscription set up (and realization that if you love the site you build, you’ll be paying that monthly fee for… forever) isn’t your favorite, then this is a nice compromise. You still get the easy-to-use editor and tools of a website builder, and the one-and-done payment. Onepager
We were so surprised to name Onepager a top pick. The templates look dated and the product tour video hasn’t been updated in six years. But Onepager is so dead simple and easy to set up that we were able to publish a workable website for a local pizza shop in minutes. Yes, every webpage builder claims you can get started that fast, but with so many options, templates, and features, we’ve found that we’re distracted and deep in the weeds of perfecting our site, not publishing it. That wasn’t the case with Onepager.
The Onepager templates aren’t very modern, but they’re straight-forward and the user interface is helpful, and we were pleased with the overall look of our super-quick site. (And, as we written about before, websites with simple homepages convert better.) For a small business that just wants to stake out its territory online — as opposed to, say, building an online empire — we think Onepager fits the bill. We’d also recommend it to anyone who gets asked all the time to build a website for a friend, a family member, so-and-so’s neighbor who has a family business. For $15 a month, you can build up to 5 sites. With the $199 per month agency plan, you can build up to 150 sites with a white-labeled version of Onepager’s editor platform. The 26 other website builder platforms we considered
Recap: The best website builders
via Quick Sprout http://www.quicksprout.com/best-website-builder/ Cryptocurrencies have been a hot topic lately to say the least. You probably heard about Bitcoin years ago—the most popular cryptocurrency with the most media coverage. In the early days, it was primarily used for transactions on the dark web. But today, cryptocurrencies have evolved and are starting to gain traction. Everyone knows someone with a cryptocurrency story. Either a friend, family member, or a friend of a friend invested in Bitcoin years ago and made a fortune off it. Or maybe you’ve talked to someone who regrets selling too early before some of the most recent surges took place. That said, I didn’t create this guide to spark a cryptocurrency debate. Everyone has an opinion on this method of payment, and I don’t want to get into all the pros and cons. Instead, I want to focus on one specific area that makes this technology work. Blockchain. On the surface level, people associate blockchain with buying and selling cryptocurrencies, but it’s much more than that. As a marketer, you need to recognize the latest trends and understand how blockchain technology works. It will potentially impact your business today and in the future. It’s in your best interest to start educating yourself now. Even if you’re not planning to implement cryptocurrency as a payment method just yet, knowing the concepts of blockchain is still important because it’s changing the digital marketing industry. Here’s what you need to know. What is blockchain?Let’s start with the basics. Blockchain technology can be compared to a shared ledger or an open record system. These records are used to keep track of different transactions. There are multiple uses for the records on file. As I said before, cryptocurrency is what comes to mind first. But blockchain can also be used to keep track of data such as home records, voting records, and medical information. Each transaction is segmented by blocks, hence the name. These blocks get verified by other users within the system. Blocks cannot be changed once they are verified. The permanent blocks become added to a chain of other blocks that have already been validated as well. It may sound a bit confusing, but here’s a great visual representation of the way blockchain works: Right now, people are constantly buying and selling goods on the web. You might be one of those people. But let’s look at third-party marketplace websites such as eBay. Marketplaces turn a profit by charging buyers and sellers fees to use their platforms. If you buy something on eBay, the platform will use your bank and the seller’s bank to verify the transaction. They will also confirm that the buyer and product actually exist. Blockchain technology allows buyers and sellers to cut out these middlemen. This makes it possible to process transactions without the need of a third-party marketplace. There won’t be any banks involved or transaction fees associated with the purchase either. Neither party will have to worry about exchange rates, even for international purchases. It’s supposed to be a safe and fast way to make transactions. Blockchain is the backbone behind peer-to-peer electronic payments. The first blockchain was created when the first cryptocurrency was created. The software is open-source, allowing anyone to see the coding and make modifications to it. Next, different people and companies came out with different versions of blockchain without using the original coding. Any user can see transactions made with blockchain. They are visible to everyone, even when completed between two people. While the blockchains are visible to anyone, the identities of the users can remain anonymous: Instead of having a name, each user in the system has a public address. Algorithms can be written to automate the transactions. This is similar to the way you pay a Spotify subscription each month with your credit card. Now that you understand the basics of how blockchain works, I’ll show you how this technology is being used to revolutionize the digital marketing industry. Middlemen in digital marketing can be eliminatedBlockchain technology makes it possible for advertisers to avoid middlemen. Right now, marketers go through third parties to handle their advertisements. Let’s go through an example. Let’s say a company wants to offer banner advertisements on its website. But it doesn’t want to sell its ad space to just anyone. Ads linking to low authority or sketchy businesses won’t add credibility to your website. How does this company proceed? It goes through a platform such as Google. In this case, Google will act as the middleman. By participating in Google Adsense, the company is assured that it will be connected only with credible businesses that want to buy advertising space. This process makes both parties feel secure about the ads. The site selling the space knows it won’t have any malicious content from unreputable brands being displayed on its pages. Furthermore, the company buying the advertisement knows that its ads will be run on legitimate sites. Google processes the transaction and charges a fee for its part in the deal. That’s the current system that marketers are using without blockchain technology: Now, let’s apply the blockchain concepts to this example. Companies won’t have the need to go through a third-party platform such as Google with the blockchain structure. That’s because blockchain users can be verified through its networks. People would know they’re getting what they’re paying for as opposed to potentially paying for clicks that aren’t genuine. It’s still a safe and secure way to process each transaction. Blockchain, ultimately, eliminates the need for intermediaries in the procedure: Don’t get me wrong. Google and its advertising platform aren’t going anywhere just yet. That’s not what I’m saying. It’s still arguably the biggest powerhouse in the marketing industry. I’m not telling you to ditch your Google AdSense strategy either. All I’m saying is the concepts behind blockchain technology will make it possible for companies to avoid these types of third-party platforms. Ditching the middleman will make advertisements more profitable since marketers won’t have to pay additional fees for the transactions. Consumers can control contentAs a marketer, you don’t want to hear this, but consumers don’t want to see ads all the time. That’s why ad blocking penetration continues to rise each year in the United States: People have different reasons for using ad blockers. According to a recent study, 51% of people justify their use of ad blockers because it’s their Internet experience and they want to be in complete control of it. Other top results from the survey include convenience and wanting on-demand content without waiting for an ad to load. In some instances, it seems ads have grown out of control. But that’s the nature of the modern digital world. Ad targeting has become much better with new technology. The ability, for example, to use lifetime value to create Facebook audiences that convert makes it much easier for businesses to reach their target markets. Sometimes when a customer makes a transaction or gives out their information to one party, they receive advertisements even when they never opted in to it. Blockchain technology can give consumers the right to charge companies for their contact information. If a company wants a consumer to subscribe to their newsletter, the customer can reply with their price to receive that content. For example, each consumer who reads an email could cost brands fractions of a cent. Transactions would be processed through cryptocurrencies automatically. This concept gives consumers complete control over who has their information. It will also make it more challenging for marketers to showcase their relevance and level of importance to the consumer. Brands will need to learn how to create a highly effective value proposition in these instances. Transparency and accountability will build trustIt’s not always easy for brands to gain the trust of their consumers. This is especially true for smaller, less-known businesses. With so much information out there, people have become skeptical about what they’re being told and which brands are telling the truth. People want answers. They want to know where their food is coming from. They want to make sure their clothes are coming from factories with appropriate working conditions for the employees. Trust has a major impact on purchasing decisions: Blockchain will force businesses to become more transparent about their operations. That’s because every step and record can be verified and documented for everyone to see on these open source networks. Consumers can have complete access to the supply chain of a retailer or distributor. This type of information will show everyone exactly how and where their products are being manufactured. Each step of the process is tracked with blockchain. Since this information will become public record, companies will be held more accountable for their actions. They can’t claim their goods were manufactured in a factory with good health conditions if that’s not true. Otherwise, it won’t be verified in the blockchain. Do you think this sounds crazy? Too good to be true? Think again. Companies have already started doing this. I recently read a case study on this subject conducted with IBM and Walmart. It covers the supply chain process with blockchain technology: Technology was used to track where the products were coming from. In this case, it was tracking food. The idea was to trace the source and supply chain of pork products through each step of the supply chain. It started all the way back in China—the world’s largest pork producer. Blockchain holds companies accountable and builds trust between the brand and their customers. This is a brand’s way of showing everyone it has nothing to hide. With blockchain technology, the public can see digital contracts between two parties. This forces everyone involved to keep up their end of the deal. Security must be a priorityWith this technology becoming part of our lives fast, businesses need to prioritize security more than ever. Don’t get me wrong, businesses always needed to emphasize website security and protecting customer information. However, since blockchain can be used to process transactions, malicious advertisements could potentially become an issue. People are already concerned about malicious malware and viruses when it comes to their privacy and ads: As a result of these concerns, we should see a growth in the fraud verification industry. They will implement blockchain technology. The verifications required to add blocks in this system can prevent criminals and bots from stealing precious information. Businesses will accept more alternative payment methodsRight now, you probably can’t walk into your local coffee shop and buy something with Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency. But we may not be too far from those days. Some companies are already preparing to adapt to alternative payment types: Only about 9% of businesses plan to accept Bitcoin within the next three years. We’re still not at the point where it has penetrated the mass consumer market. But this could be approaching us faster than you might think. Blockchain technology is making this possible. As a business owner, you need to recognize this and at least prepare yourself to adapt when these types of payments gain more traction at the mass consumer level. ConclusionBlockchain is almost always associated with processing cryptocurrency payments. However, this technology can be used for much more than that. Its applications have the ability to change the digital marketing world as we know it. Blockchain gives marketers the ability to cut out middlemen when buying or selling advertisements, such as a PPC campaign. Consumers will have more control over which companies can send them information. Since blockchain transactions are an open ledger for anyone to see, businesses will be held accountable for their actions and forced to be more transparent. Your business might not be ready to accept cryptocurrency just yet, and I’m not saying it should be. But it should keep an eye on this emerging trend in the coming years. How is your company preparing for digital marketing changes associated with blockchain technology? via Quick Sprout http://www.quicksprout.com/2018/11/15/how-blockchain-is-changing-the-digital-marketing-industry/ No social media marketing strategy is complete without Instagram. But there is much more to Instagram than just uploading pictures and videos to your profile. With a standard post, you’re somewhat limited to how much content you can upload in a given day or a week. Let me clarify. Technically, you can post as much as you want. But that strategy won’t work. On average, most brands post about 10 times per week. Uploading content more than once or twice per day to your Instagram profile will have a negative impact. According to a recent study from Sprout Social, 58% of consumers say it’s annoying when brands post too much on social media. And 46% of users will unfollow a brand for doing this. But you want to share your content with your audience. Sometimes, posting once or twice per day isn’t enough to get your point across. That’s when you should be leveraging your Instagram story. Unlike a traditional post, your Instagram story won’t flood the timelines of your followers. You can upload more than ten pictures or videos to your story, and it won’t hinder anyone’s experience. This isn’t the case with posts posted directly to your profile. Instagram has more than 400 million daily active users. One-third of the stories with the most views are uploaded by businesses. Taking advantage of this feature is a great opportunity for your brand to generate sales on Instagram. It’s worth mentioning that the longer your Instagram story is, the less of a chance it has of being watched in its entirety: That said, nearly 60% of people will watch your entire story that has 20 frames. That’s more content than you would upload with traditional posts to your profile in an entire week. You can create a new Instagram story every day since the old stories disappear after 24 hours. This means you get to start off each day with a clean slate. There are many different approaches to Instagram stories that drive sales. That was my inspiration for writing this guide. I’ve identified some of the best examples of Instagram stories from a wide range of brands. Using these approaches in your Instagram posting strategy will help you avoid stale content for upcoming posts. This is the approach you need to take if you want to generate more sales on Instagram. Set up a shoppable storyFor years, in order for businesses to directly drive sales on Instagram, they had to rely on adding links to their bios to drive followers to product landing pages. That was ineffective since the user had to take too many additional steps. But Instagram recently rolled out an update allowing brands to increase product sales with shoppable posts. With a shoppable post, you can tag products in an image, the same way you would a person. When a user clicks on the tag, they are directed to a landing page that gives them the opportunity to buy what you’re selling. Clicking on a shoppable tag has far less friction than having to navigate to your bio. While many brands are taking advantage of shoppable posts, many don’t realize they can also use shoppable stories. The same concept applies here. On your story, just tag an item from your product catalog. Users who view the story will have an option to click on the tag and be directed to a page where they can complete the purchase. If you want to directly drive sales, this is one of your best options. You can add dozens of different products to your Instagram shoppable story. Or maybe you’ll take another approach and use your entire story to promote one product. Whichever option you choose, you’ll be able to generate more sales with these strategies. Run a pollPolls on Instagram stories are a great way to drive engagement. Unlike with a shoppable post, participating in a survey won’t directly drive sales, but it will still pique your followers’ interest. Polls can triple your engagement metrics on a story. That’s because they are easy. All a user has to do is click on one of the two options to participate. Plus, that’s the only way they’ll be able to see how other people have voted. Here’s an example of how Microsoft Surface used this strategy in a sponsored story: It’s a very simple question. They’re asking what’s more important to users, power or portability? Here’s the catch. When users swipe up, following the “learn more” CTA, they’ll discover this product has both power and portability. You’ll see more of this swipe up style CTAs throughout this guide. Take advantage of the swipe up feature. According to a case study from Marketing Land, 15-25% of users who see these links on Instagram stories are swiping up. MeUndies participated in this study. On average, 20% of users who saw its story swiped up to learn more. And 90% of those people have never visited the website before. Adding a poll to your story increases your chances of getting higher engagement rates and, hence, makes it more likely that users will click your CTA. You’ll be able to generate more sales as a result. Showcase testimonials to increase brand credibilityTestimonials are one of the best ways to increase credibility of your brand, products, and services. In fact, 92% of consumers refer to testimonials when making a purchase decision. Further, 88% of consumers trust a testimonial as much as a recommendation from someone they know. And 72% of buyers say they trust a business more after reading a positive testimonial about it. Adding a testimonial to your story will definitely increase your chances of driving sales. Here’s a great example from Mack Weldon: It used a testimonial from Men’s Health to add credibility to its product. If a reputable magazine such as Men’s Health says this is the best underwear for the gym, then they must be, right? That’s the idea behind this testimonial. As you can see, Mack Weldon is also taking advantage of the swipe up feature. By clicking this CTA, users will have a chance to buy products directly from the landing page. This process limits friction, which improves conversion rates. It’s much more effective than asking your followers to navigate to your website by opening a separate web browser. Conversion rates for that method would be much lower. Partner with a social influencerYou can also use influencers to increase your product’s credibility. This strategy works for the same reasons as testimonials do. Followers will see a promotion from someone whom they trust and follow their recommendation as a result. With influencer marketing, you don’t even need to post any content on your story. Instead, you can have the influencers with whom you’re working promote your brand with their own stories. Take a look at how CALIA by Carrie uses this strategy: CALIA by Carrie partnered with professional surfer and model Anastasia Ashley. Anastasia shares this content on her own story, so it’s viewed by her followers. Now people who may have never heard of this brand are exposed to the promotion. This strategy is a great opportunity for you to increase your reach. With this widened exposure, you’ll have a better chance of getting more followers and increased website traffic. Both of these metrics can help you drive sales. Encourage interactivityThis strategy is similar to that of the story polls, which I talked about earlier. The whole idea behind encouraging interaction with your followers is they engage with your content. Keeping people engaged will help your brand, products, and services stay fresh in their minds. Check out this example from Tropicfeel: Tropicfeel is a startup company that makes the ultimate travel shoe. All of their promotions target people who like to travel. Everyone travels for different reasons. Adding this content to its story gave users a chance to share their answers about their travel preferences. The level of engagement it takes to complete this survey is much higher than just clicking on a poll. A user has to take a screenshot, then add the same image to their own story with their answers circled. Then, Tropicfeel shared those responses back on its original story: It’s a clever strategy. If you plan on doing something like this, you can’t expect the participation rates to be extremely high. That’s because it takes extra effort. But it’s still effective. Even if some followers aren’t participating, they’re watching the story to view responses from other people. All of this makes the company’s target audience think about traveling and potentially planning their next trip. Maybe its followers need new shoes before their next excursions, which would entice them to make a purchase from this brand. Repurpose user-generated content (UGC)In the last example, you also saw repurposed user-generated content. The only difference is it was produced as part of a campaign. But that doesn’t have to be the case. There will be instances when your customers tag you in their stories without any encouragement from you. Maybe they put on a new pair of sunglasses they just ordered from your ecommerce shop and want to show them off to their followers. So they upload an image to their story and tag your brand. You’ll be notified any time your brand is tagged in a story. From here, you’ll have the option to share that same content to your own story as well. Look at how Patara Shoes uses this tactic: Repurposing UGC accomplishes several things. First, this type of content will have the same effect as a customer testimonial, which I previously discussed. Sharing a story like this also shows your followers you’re willing to repost content your brand is tagged in. This gives them some encouragement to do the same for a chance to be featured. With more of your followers posting about your brand on their personal profiles, you end up getting social influencers free. These people may not have thousands of followers as the influencers whom you’re paying, but their content is still valuable and can lead to additional sales from anyone who sees their stories. Follow a progressionEarlier I talked about how you can upload lots of frames to your story each day, which isn’t recommended for a traditional post. But the frames shouldn’t be random. If you refer to some of the examples you looked at so far today, you wouldn’t want to combine all of them into one story. I see brands make this mistake all the time. They forget that their Instagram story should actually tell a story. This means it needs to follow a logical progression. Here’s an example from Thule: The story starts with a date. This will grab the attention of anyone watching and make them curious as to what’s happening on this date. As a result, they’ll continue watching to learn more information: As the story continues, they’ll learn there will be some type of celebration. Users will continue on: Now things start to get more specific. Thule shares the time of the celebration and hints at a product launch. This story had seven frames. We looked at just three. Imagine if all three of these frames were combined into one. That would be way too much text on the screen. Now imagine if seven frames of text were crammed into just one. It would be overwhelming and difficult for people to read. The message would be lost. A progression like this makes it easier for people to consume it and more likely that they will do that. If you’re trying to introduce a new product or event to drive sales, you can do it over several images or videos as opposed to just one. I’ll show you another example of this type of progression below. Introduce your teamI love the idea of showing your employees on your Instagram story. This concept adds a human element to your brand, which goes a long way. It allows your followers to see you’re more than just a company. Real people they can relate to are the driving force behind your operation. Let’s look at how Allbirds did this on its Instagram story: As you can see, this story follows a progression as well. Instead of showing its employees out of context, the company starts the story by saying it wants to share images of where the team has gone with the product. Here’s one example from the dozen or so posted: Maria, an employee from the supply chain team, wore the company’s product to the Great Wall of China. This story shows that its employees stand behind their products. They own them and actually use them. But if you don’t have this type of content to share on your story, it doesn’t mean you can’t introduce your team. Another way to do this is by showing behind-the-scenes looks at your operation. Any time an employee achieves something, you could share that accomplishment on your story. Again, this strategy will humanize your brand and make you more relatable to your followers. These types of posts are perfect for your story. Promote a new product launchAs I said earlier, you don’t want to flood the timelines of your followers with promotions all the time. This is annoying and will eventually cause people to unfollow you. But if you have a new product coming out soon, it’s a big deal. You want to start promoting it as soon as possible. That way, your customers are ready for it by the time it’s released. Use your story to accomplish this. Here’s a simple example from Vuori Clothing: It’s a great way to use the 2018 holiday season to drive sales. You can go into greater detail about your products in your story, depending on what you’re promoting. For example, you could upload a video tutorial to your story showing how to use the new product. Combine this strategy with some of the other tactics on this list and have a social influencer do the same thing for you. Building hype for your products before they launch increases your chances of generating sales when they finally become available for purchase. ConclusionInstagram has become a powerful tool for brands. But that’s only the case if you’re taking advantage of all the features available. Simply posting content to your profile isn’t enough. Plus, you should be uploading only one or two images or videos each day. You have much more flexibility with the amount of content you post to your Instagram story. Promote your products directly by using a shoppable story. Run a poll and encourage interaction to drive engagement. By showcasing testimonials, partnering with social influencers, reposting user-generated content, and introducing your employees, you’ll be able to add more credibility to your brand and products. All of your stories should follow a logical progression. If you follow the tips and examples I’ve outlined above, your Instagram story will help you generate additional profits. How is your brand using Instagram stories to drive sales? via Quick Sprout http://www.quicksprout.com/2018/11/15/how-to-increase-your-sales-with-instagram-stories/ Saying “thank you” can go a long way. For starters, it’s basic manners you learn at an early age. When someone does something for you, you thank them. But it’s also a crucial inbound marketing strategy. According to research, 68% of customers will leave a company if they don’t think it cares about them. That’s why your website needs to have a thank-you page. Website visitors will be redirected to your thank-you page after filling out a form on your site, e.g., opting into your email newsletter. Right now, if your thank-you page simply thanks the visitor and does nothing else, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity. These landing pages can be used for much more, such as building brand awareness, getting customer feedback, or even increasing sales. You just got a new lead. You’ve got to nurture that lead. Converting leads into customers is a top priority for businesses in the coming year: Sure, you’ll send them a confirmation email welcoming the lead to your email list, which will be the first of several messages in your drip campaign. But for those to work, the person needs to check their email, open the message, consume the content, and then convert. You can’t assume it will always happen. However, the thank-you page is right in front of their face, on the same screen, right after they performed an action. If you design this page correctly, it will be extremely beneficial for your company. If you have already recognized the importance of thanking your new leads, you’re on the right track. But this guide will elevate your thank-you pages and take your lead nurturing strategy to the next level. Here’s what you need to know. Give your leads a reason to buySometimes your new leads need a little bit more motivation to make a purchase. Clearly, they’re already interested in your brand. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have navigated to your website and signed up to receive emails. But when it comes to convincing them to buy something, you need to give them that added incentive to complete this process. Think of your thank-you page as the checkout line at a retail store. The consumer has already been sold on an action. They decided they’re ready to buy something or, in this instance, provide your company with their contact information. In a retail store, certain items are strategically placed by the register to encourage people to buy. Likewise, you need to place something on your thank-you page that will encourage a sale. Here’s an example from NatureBox: As you can see, it offers new leads a 50% discount. But the coupon code isn’t available to just anyone. To see this screen, the visitor had to provide the company with their contact information. Giving these customers a chance to win a contest is how NatureBox is collecting email addresses in the first place. This is a great strategy for running a profitable giveaway. Take a look at the top right corner of this page. NatureBox also displays social sharing icons. The icons make it easy for people to share this content on social media, but I’ll talk more about this tactic in greater detail later. Promote your top contentAnother way to nurture your leads is by getting them more engaged with your brand. Every website visitor is different. Some of these people might be more familiar with your company than others. The best way for site visitors to learn more about your brand is by giving them access to your top performing content. This could include:
There are certain metrics every marketing manager needs to track. You’ll use this information to determine which type of content you should be promoting on your thank-you page. Here’s a great example from Optimizely: As you can see, the three links at the bottom of the screenshot differ from each other. If you put three different posts on the page, but the person isn’t interested in reading, they won’t click. Offering different options increases the chances of them being interested in at least one of the links you’re suggesting. The content can also be related to what they signed up for. Use the information you received from their contact info to segment them accordingly. Here’s what I mean. Let’s say someone signs up to receive your newest blog posts delivered to their inbox, but another person signs up strictly to receive product updates and promotions. You can promote different content on your thank-you page to each of these people. The first person could be shown links to your blog posts, while the second person could be prompted to click a video demonstration of one of your newest products. Establish social proofThe thank-you page is a great opportunity for you to showcase that your products and services actually work. The best way to do this is with real success stories from your customers. Check out how Infusionsoft accomplishes this on its thank-you page: Put yourself in the shoes of your new leads for a minute here. They just signed up to receive emails from your business, but they haven’t bought anything yet. Maybe they’re waiting to see what kind of value you’ll offer them in your emails. Or, they might not be sold on your business just yet. You can sit there all day, explaining through your own posts and videos how great your products and services are. But consumers aren’t stupid—they know that content is biased. If you can put case studies, success stories, reviews, or customer testimonials on your thank-you page, you’ll show social proof of your product. Your leads will recognize your business is legitimate, and it will increase the chances of them converting. Drive ebook downloadsThis idea connects to the topic of promoting your top content. Offering a free ebook download is a nice incentive for the new lead to receive, especially if normally they would have to pay for the content. Plus, now you’re killing two birds with one stone. You’re nurturing your leads while driving downloads for your ebook. The free download link is well worth it if you can turn that lead into a customer. Greenhouse uses this strategy on its thank-you page: It offers two free ebook downloads here. Plus, by doing this, you show your customers you appreciate them. Here’s what I mean. All of us have gotten an insincere thank-you from someone. They’re saying thanks because they feel obligated. But when someone is actually thankful, they might do you a favor to show you their appreciation. Offering a free ebook download is a nice gesture that can potentially drive conversions. Encourage social sharingGive your leads a reason to share your content on social media. I mentioned this earlier when I pointed out the social sharing icons on the NatureBox thank-you page. This strategy will expand your reach, create brand exposure, and potentially generate even more leads. But people may not be willing to share the fact that they just signed up to receive emails from a business. That’s not very exciting. To be successful with this strategy, you need to understand why people share content on social media. Find a way to tie what you’re doing to one of these factors. For example, are you associated with any causes or charities? That’s a great way to use people’s emotions to drive sales. Here’s something else to keep in mind. Look at the types of content getting shared the most on social media: Combine the reasons why people share content with the type of content that gets shared the most, and you will increase the chances of this strategy working. For example, you could donate $1 to a specific charity every time someone signs up for your email newsletter. Put social sharing icons on your thank-you page that will post as a picture when added to a new lead’s social media profile. By asking your leads to share, you might encourage their friends to sign up as well. Embed a videoYour brand needs to be producing original video content. I like the idea of uploading all your videos to YouTube and then repurposing them across your other distribution channels. Add them to social media, blog posts, and your emails. The thank-you page is another place where you can embed a video. Video content drives conversions: Furthermore, 64% of people are more likely to buy a product online after watching a video about it. And 50% of business executives look for more information after watching a video, while 39% make a phone call. This is a great way to nurture your B2B leads. Qualify your leadsNot all leads are qualified leads. This means that some of your leads are more likely to become customers than others. You need to identify who those people are. Ask them to fill out a quick survey on the thank-you page. This additional information will help you qualify them accordingly. For example, let’s say you have a payroll company. To qualify new leads on your thank-you page, your survey can ask questions such as:
Then, you can score your leads accordingly based on the results. Lead generation isn’t cheap. It varies according to industry, company size, and revenue. Here’s a graph that shows the average cost per lead based on these factors: By using the survey method to qualify your leads on your thank-you page, you’ll be able to generate a higher ROI and increase your chances of getting more people to convert. You can send your leads content that’s related to their responses. Ask your leads to follow you on social mediaEarlier I talked about getting your leads to share your content on social media. But that doesn’t mean they’ll follow you. You need to make this process as easy as possible for them. Include a link to your social media profiles directly on your thank-you page. Then simply ask for a follow. This will make it much easier for them to follow you than going to those platforms separately, searching for your company. According to Sprout Social, these are the top reasons why people follow brands on social media: Once a new lead follows you on social media, they’ll see more of your content and promotions than they would if they only received your emails. Consumers are 57.5% more likely to buy from brands they follow on social media. More than 60% of consumers need to see something two to four times before they buy it. Social media makes it possible. Leads will be exposed to your content on different channels:
That’s four different times right there. Social media is a great place for you to nurture your leads. But for this to work effectively, you need to make sure they’re following you. ConclusionYour leads should automatically be directed to your thank-you page after filling out forms on your website. But you need to design your thank-you pages in a way that does more than just thank them. Give your new leads a reason to become customers by offering them an incentive to buy. Showcase your top content, such as free ebook downloads. Show social proof by featuring success stories, case studies, customer reviews, and testimonials. Add a video to your thank-you page. Create a short survey to help improve lead scoring. If you can get your leads to follow you on social media, they’ll be more likely to buy from you in the future. Once you make these changes to your thank-you page, you’ll be able to effectively nurture your leads. How is your business using thank-you pages to nurture new leads? via Quick Sprout http://www.quicksprout.com/2018/11/15/how-to-nurture-your-leads-with-thank-you-pages/ How are you currently communicating with your customers? If calling, emailing, or submitting a form on your website are the only means for your customers to reach you, you need to get with the times and make some changes. Offering live chat on your website is a better way to provide customer service. According to studies, 73% of consumers say live chat is their most preferred method of communication. This ranked highest compared to other methods. In fact, 61% of consumers said they preferred email, 48% preferred social media and only 44% preferred phone. Furthermore, live chat had a 92% satisfaction rating. This was also the highest satisfaction rating compared to other forms of customer support. It’s clear your company needs to have this feature on your website. But how do you implement it? You’ve got two choices: chatbots or live chat representatives. Chatbots are computer-generated responses. They allow customers to receive answers to their questions via AI software. Experts predict that by 2020, 85% of consumers will be able to manage their relationships with brands without human interaction. And 80% of businesses are either currently using AI or planning to use AI for customer service in the next two years. Further, 45% of customers say they prefer chatbots for customer service inquiries. With this technology on the rise, you need to have marketing skills to survive in the age of AI. Grand View Research expects the global market size for chatbots to hit $1.25 billion by the year 2025, with a 24.3% compounded annual growth rate. You need to decide whether you will use chatbots or an actual human to type responses to customers on your website. People ask me which option is better all the time. The reality is each one has its pros and cons. Chatbots and live chat representatives work well together. I’ll explain when it’s best to use one over the other in this guide. I’ll go through some factors and scenarios to help you decide the best fit for your website. Response timeYou don’t want to make your customers wait. That’s a big problem when it comes to customer service. We’ve all been there—sitting on hold on the phone for what feels like a lifetime waiting to talk to someone. Live chat drastically reduces wait times. In fact, 79% of consumers say they prefer live chat because they get their questions answered immediately. Just look at these average response times of live chat compared to social media and email: Live chat blows these other methods out of the water in terms of speed. But it’s still not perfect. Believe it or not, 21% of live chat support requests are ignored by businesses. While live chat has a fast response time, it can still be improved. On the other hand, chatbots have an instant response. Upon a customer posting an inquiry, a chatbot can generate an answer within seconds. This gets the conversation going right away. If you’re looking for the fastest response times, chatbots win. But live chat will still be faster than the other options you’re using. My recommendation is to use a combination of the two options. When a customer begins a chat session, start with a chatbot to give them an instant reply. This bot can gather preliminary information about the inquiry until a representative becomes available. Chatbots can also make sure the customer gets transferred to the right representative who is qualified to answer their question. I’ll talk more about how chatbots and live chat representatives can work together further in this guide. Cost efficiencyYour business decisions need to be cost-effective. Live chat will help reduce costs compared to phone support. In fact, studies show that it’s 17-33% less expensive to communicate with a customer via live chat than phone calls. Live chat agents have the ability to multitask and help several customers at the same time. This can’t be done over the phone. Implementing live chat will improve your operational efficiency. You’ve got to determine how much this new technology will cost you. Here’s a look at some average prices to give you an idea of what to expect: The pricing will depend on many factors, such as the number of agents you’re paying and the times they’re available. It will also vary depending on whether you’re paying staff in-house to handle these inquiries or outsourcing this service to a general customer service agency. If you’re paying more than $20 per month per user, I’d say that’s expensive. Outsourcing support to a customer service agency will be cheaper, but you may lose some quality of the responses compared to those given by one of your own employees. How many employees will you need to handle your live chat communication? Research shows 51% of businesses have just one agent dedicated to live chat. And 39% of companies have between two and five agents. That’s not surprising, considering 70% of brands that implement live chat have less than 5,000 unique website visitors each month. And we know that 52% of companies say price is the most important factor influencing their decisions to use live chat. Chatbots will lower these costs. Sure, you’ll need to pay for the AI software. But this will definitely cost you less in the long run compared to paying employees in addition to the cost of the live chat software. If you’re looking for the cheapest option, you’re better off with chatbots. But using human reps to respond via live chat is still cheaper than phone support. Human touchArtificial intelligence is definitely advancing. Responses by chatbots can mimic human answers. In some instances, customers won’t even notice they talk to a robot. That said, chatbots can’t replace that human touch. There is still some resistance from customers when it comes to using chatbots: As you can see, people have their reservations about using this new technology. There are times when customers would rather deal with an actual person. Consumers are also worried about chatbots making a mistake. About 37% of consumers expect to use a chatbot for getting a quick answer in an emergency. For example, a chatbot could help someone determine whether an item is in stock or help track the shipping of their package. And 34% of people say they would use a chatbot to help them find a customer service associate. This echos my earlier point about the two options working well together. Based on what the customer is looking for, the chatbot can appropriately direct them to an agent. For example, a sales inquiry may go to one department, and a question about technical support may go to a different department. Start with a chatbot, then transfer the customer to a live chat session with an actual human. AvailabilityIf you’re going to use humans on your website to chat with customers, they’re probably not going to be available 24/7. This is especially true if you’re planning to use your employees to handle these chats. Your costs will be significantly higher if you’re paying for human support 24/7, 365. Giant global corporations such as Apple can afford this, but smaller businesses cannot. That’s when you’ll need chatbots. The number one potential benefit of using chatbots is 24-hour customer service. Chatbots can respond to customers in the middle of the night as well as on weekends. That’s because chatbots don’t need to eat, sleep, or take bathroom breaks. To maximize your availability and provide 24-hour service without paying extreme labor costs, use chatbots. Even if you use human representatives during business hours, you can switch to chatbots when your customer support agents are offline. Resolving inquiriesFast response times are important. Being able to get an answer at any time of the day or night is a great benefit as well. But these are useless if the customer inquiry isn’t resolved. That’s why they’re reaching out in the first place. The customer has a question or a problem that needs to be addressed. Most people would assume a human representative is the only way to solve a customer problem. However, that’s not always the case. Research shows that eight out of ten chat sessions can be resolved by a chatbot. Chatbots aren’t perfect: 20% of these sessions don’t end in a resolution. It’s nearly impossible to please 100% of your customers. However, you want that number to be as close to 100% as possible. In some instances, a chatbot can transfer the conversation to a customer service representative. Those agents will be able to do things that chatbots aren’t capable of yet, emphasizing the need for the human touch. Chatbots can’t feel empathy or convey a specific tone the same way a human can. A chatbot won’t give customers the right response if it doesn’t understand what they’re asking. Here’s an example of that: As you can see, the chatbot provides useful information. The first question gets answered appropriately. But the second question doesn’t get answered properly. Chatbots could also run into problems if the customer’s query has spelling and grammar issues. If a customer is looking for help with something like custom pricing based on their unique situation, a chatbot may not be able to provide them with the assistance offered by an actual person. Can a chatbot resolve inquiries? Absolutely. However, at times you’ll need to transfer those inquiries to a human. Again, this highlights the fact that chatbots and live chat work well when paired together. ConversionsUltimately, you want your customers to convert after reaching out to your customer support via whatever option they choose. Live chat increases the chances that people will buy: In fact, 38% of consumers will make purchases on ecommerce websites as a direct result of their live chat sessions. Live chat is a great way to drive conversions. That said, live chat isn’t proactive. Allow me to explain. Once a site visitor determines they want to use live chat to solve their problem, they need to make an effort to reach out. As a result of the conversation, they’ll be more likely to convert. But the visitor needs to make that initial step. It’s obviously unreasonable for a human agent to reach out to every person who lands on your website. That’s when you can use a chatbot to be proactive. Here’s an example from the Levi’s website: When a customer lands on this website, an AI chatbot automatically starts a chat session. This is proactive. Now, if a customer has an inquiry, they’ll be more inclined to take advantage of this feature. If the chatbot is unable to resolve the problem, the chat can be transferred to a human representative. ConclusionYour business can provide better customer service by implementing live chat. Now you just need to determine whether you’re going to use human representatives or chatbots to handle this communication. Chatbots will provide an instant response, but live chat agents are still faster than your current methods of customer support. Live chat representatives are less expensive than phone calls from customers, but chatbots will be cheaper in the long run. However, chatbots don’t add a human touch to the conversation. Chatbots are available 24/7, which won’t be the case for actual agents. Surprisingly, bots are able to resolve the majority of customer inquiries. Both live chat agents and chatbots increase the chances of getting customers to convert. Ultimately, live chat and chatbots work best when they’re implemented together. I recommend you use both of these on your website to maximize efficiency and get the best results. Are you planning to use chatbots, live chat agents, or a combination of both to improve customer communication on your website? via Quick Sprout http://www.quicksprout.com/2018/11/15/how-to-know-when-to-use-chatbots-vs-live-chat/
Business
[WEBINAR] “Trending Video Designs: Top Tips to Enhance Branded Videos”
Nov 16, 2018
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And, now you’re ready to… The post [VIDEO] Moovly Webinar ‘Trending Video Designs: Top Tips to Enhance Branded Videos’ appeared first on Moovly - Create videos and video presentations. from Moovly – Create videos and video presentations https://www.moovly.com/blog/moovly-webinar-trending-video-designs-top-tips-to-enhance-branded-videos via IFTTT from https://seanbrian0.blogspot.com/2018/11/video-moovly-webinar-trending-video.html The world of technology is constantly evolving. As a marketer, you need to stay up to date on new advancements that could benefit your company. You don’t want to be left behind while your competitors forge ahead by adapting to the new world. In my consulting work, I often see marketers and business owners who don’t believe these advancements are relevant to their marketing strategies. But this couldn’t be farther from the truth. New types of technology such as AI and machine learning are reshaping marketing. While the technology is advancing rapidly, the basic concepts behind its applications remain unchanged. Everything is still focused on the customer. Your marketing efforts need to reach your target audience. Your campaigns must find ways to speak to these people, and you can achieve that by personalizing and improving their experience. Predictive analysis can make this possible. Some of you may already be running campaigns and have strategies in place that focus on improving the customer experience and personalizing content. However, predictive analysis technology will bring these ideas to the next level. You’ll see what I mean as I continue. Surprisingly, only 23% of businesses are currently using advanced and predictive analysis tools: That said, about 90% of businesses believe it’s at least somewhat important to implement predictive analysis tactics in their strategies. What does this information tell you? Well, it seems as though the vast majority of business owners and marketers recognize the need for predictive analysis, but they just haven’t proceeded. Since you’ve navigated to this guide, I’m assuming you fall into this category. Or maybe you fall into the 16% of marketers currently evaluating advanced analytics software. People want to use this technology, but they don’t know where to start or how to apply it. This was my inspiration for this guide. You need to be able to adapt. In fact, adaptability is one of the top marketing skills you need to survive in the age of AI. Making the decision to move forward with predictive analysis is the first step. Now you need to figure out how this technology will improve your marketing strategy. If you apply the concepts I’ve outlined in this guide, you’ll have a huge competitive advantage. Enhance your customer segmentation strategyYour customers don’t fall into the same group. Treating all people the same is not an effective marketing strategy. I hope you’ve already started segmenting your customers. Marketers have been doing this well before the days of big data. But this can be drastically improved with predictive analysis. Predictive analysis can make it easier for you to compile demographic data. I’m referring to parameters such as:
Typically, it’s easy to learn this information about your customers. But segmenting them by those factors alone is not enough. By using predictive analytics technology, you can identify trends for deeper segmentation. You’ll ultimately pair demographic data with psychographics. This type of information can be obtained from social media, website analytics, surveys, and focus groups. It doesn’t stop there. You can also collect behavioral data, such as how each customer uniquely uses your service or platform, e.g., your website or mobile app. When you combine all the demographic, psychographic, and behavioral data about your customers, your predictive analysis model will create segmented groups with greater accuracy than it would if it used only one type of information at a time. You can create customer personas once the data has been optimized from the predictive analysis formulas: Once the segments have improved, your customer personas will be more precise and targeted accordingly. Customer personas and customer segmentation are not quite the same although they’re often confused with each other. Ultimately, the two concepts work together. With the information you get from your advanced segmentation strategy, you’ll be able to build a customer persona. These personas will be used for driving sales and conversions. You can eventually use your predictive analysis software to improve lead scoring. Once someone has been properly segmented, you can send them the right campaign, which will make it easier for them to convert. I’ll discuss lead scoring in greater detail later. Improve automationCustomer personalization needs to be a key part of your marketing strategy. But efficiency needs to be a priority as well. It’s unrealistic for you to manually analyze every customer in your database. Most people leverage basic details with their automated platforms. They use basic factors, such as the customer’s name, email address, location, and maybe their age. For example, you could have an automated email go out to a customer on their birthday. This strategy is OK, but it can definitely be improved. By using your customer segments and customer personas, you’ll be able to have a more advanced automation strategy. With this type of data, you can create campaigns to show your customers you fully understand their wants and needs. Furthermore, you’ll know how to address those wants and needs. Once your automation efforts improve, it will be much more profitable for your business. That’s why such a large majority of marketing executives who have been using predictive analytics to improve their marketing strategies are seeing a high ROI. If the initial cost of this type of software is holding you back from investing in it, know that you’ll ultimately see a return on your investment. Reduce churnWhen businesses focus only on customer acquisition, allowing their retention strategies to become an afterthought, they underperform. If this sounds like you, you’re making a big mistake. It’s much easier to sell to your current customers than to new ones. In fact, you can even increase revenue without acquiring new customers. These tactics should be a priority for your marketing department. But even customers who have been with you for a while may eventually churn. What are your current churn rates? We know that 70% of SaaS companies have an annual churn rate of about 10%. Don’t think that’s a problem? I think that’s way too high. Those of you with a high churn rate are missing out on much potential income. If you can reduce your churn, you’ll have more money in your company’s bank account. Predictive analysis can help show you when a customer will churn based on their behavior. Then, you can have targeted and automated responses in place to prevent that from happening. This will give them an incentive to stay. You may not realize it today, but your churn rates can be detrimental to your company over time. Just look at this graph: Notice the difference between the churn rates of 1% and 5%. That’s huge. Check out the difference between 1% and 2.5%. I’m sure that’s not what you expected, given the small percentage number. As you can see, improving your churn rate even by a percentage point or two will be a huge advantage for your company. This is especially true as you continue to acquire new customers over time. Make decisions in real timeWith predictive analysis tools, your company can benefit from speeding up the decision-making process. That’s because you’ll get predictive results in real time. The longer it takes for you to make a decision based on the information you’re given, the less effective that decision becomes. Here’s a great visual illustrating my point: The graph shows the way the value of something changes over time. Without predictive analysis software, the gap in the analysis latency section is much larger. The gap is the time between when the data is captured and the information is delivered. Obviously, this delay will make it more difficult for you to act in a timely manner. Let’s revisit the customer churn problem. If you don’t get that data delivered right away, by the time you attempt to prevent a customer from churning, you might be too late. They already switched to a competitor. But that’s not the only application for real-time decision-making. Predictive analysis algorithms could determine when one of your customers might need a specific product you’re selling. Let’s say they are going on vacation in two weeks. They need that specific product before they go. If you wait too long to take an action to try to get that sale, you’ll be too late even if you did everything else right. You identified their need and sent them a personalized, highly targeted campaign. But if that was not done in a timely fashion, it’s useless. Create advanced regression modelsSome of you might be currently using regression models in your marketing strategy. Predictive analysis will improve this strategy. Even if you’re not doing this, you can start to do so once you implement predictive analysis software. Regressions can help you measure and compare different variables. For example, you could try to determine how social engagement relates to your website traffic. Or you could compare email open rates to conversions. And you can relate your page authority to the source of your leads. Improving the range of regression models was the most important feature according to a recent survey on the use of predictive analysis: The information gathered from a regression model can help you validate your marketing campaigns. You’ll have a much better understanding of what’s working and what needs improvement. Predict lifetime value (LTV)In addition to calculating when and if a customer would churn, predictive analysis software can estimate their lifetime value. Although this value is often overlooked, it’s one of the most important metrics for marketers to track: Simply put, lifetime value will show you how much a customer is worth over time. From the very beginning stages of the customer journey, predictive analysis can help identify which customers will be the most profitable. Segmenting those people accordingly will improve your targeting strategies. Now, you’ll be able to make even more money from your most profitable customers. Furthermore, LTV will also help you calculate a more accurate ROI of your marketing campaigns. I see companies make this mistake all the time. They stay away from certain acquisition strategies because they can’t justify the cost. But that’s because they don’t measure LTV, or at least they’re not doing it accurately. You need to look beyond the customer’s initial first purchase. Here’s a very simple example. Let’s say it costs you $50 to acquire a customer based on the campaigns you’re running, but their average purchase is $20. It doesn’t mean you need to abandon those strategies—not if the lifetime value of that customer is $1,000. Predictive analysis will make these figures much more accurate. Prioritize qualified leadsYou might be getting a ton of leads right now, but not all of them are qualified. Qualified leads are more likely to convert, and you need to prioritize them. But if you allow those leads to get lost in the shuffle, you won’t capitalize on them. I mentioned lead scoring earlier. Based on your predictive analysis, you can improve your lead scoring system. If you don’t currently have a lead scoring system in place, this will be a great opportunity for you to create one. Here’s a basic example of what a lead scoring system may look like: Prospective customers with the highest lead scores get the most attention. You can even target them with more expensive campaigns and acquisition strategies because they are more likely to convert. Remember I said not all your customers are the same? Not all your prospects are the same either. Predictive analysis will take this strategy to new heights. You’ll get more insight into how to keep these people engaged. You can even learn predictions on their preferred price points and the types of products that will get new leads to convert. This will help you generate more profits by focusing on your pricing strategy. By applying predictive analysis to your lead scoring system and qualifying your leads, you will accelerate new leads through the conversion funnel. Ultimately, more conversions translate to more money. ConclusionPredictive analysis technology can drastically improve your marketing strategy. Many businesses haven’t adapted to this yet even though they recognize its importance. This is a great opportunity for you to jump on board now to gain an advantage over your competition. Your predictive analysis models will help with your customer segmentation strategy. This software will improve your automation tactics and help you prevent customer churn by identifying it before it’s too late. You’ll also be able to make other important decisions in real time. Predictive analysis is great for advanced regression models. Use this technology to help you predict lifetime value of a customer and prioritize qualified leads. Once you’re ready to start using predictive analysis to improve your marketing strategy, I suggest you apply the concepts I’ve outlined in this guide. How is your business using predictive analysis to enhance your current marketing strategies? via Quick Sprout http://www.quicksprout.com/2018/11/15/how-to-use-predictive-analysis-to-improve-your-marketing-strategy/ If your business relies on subscriptions to generate revenue, you probably offer a free trial to test your product before you ask your subscribers to pay. This is a great strategy. People may be hesitant to pay for your subscription initially, but if they can try it first, it gives you an opportunity to win them over and turn them into paying customers. Some of you may even offer free plans for certain services. The idea behind this strategy is that these people will eventually upgrade to paid plans. But you can’t assume every free trial or free plan user will become a paying customer. I see this problem all the time in my consulting work. Businesses don’t have a problem getting people to sign up for free plans and free trials, but when it comes to getting paid, their conversions are lower than expected. Even you don’t use this business model yet but plan to generate recurring sales by implementing subscriptions, it’s important for you to get this strategy right from the start. Certain tactics will help you increase the chances of getting these free trial and free plan users to convert. I’ll explain what you need to know so you can apply these strategies in your business. Make the transition as easy as possibleThe first thing you need to do is analyze your current process. Go through the steps a user needs to take to become a paying customer. If you’ve got too much friction, unnecessary form fields to fill out, and anything else that slows down the process, it’ll hurt your conversions. Everything needs to be as smooth and easy as possible for the user. For example, let’s say the free trial period is over. Now what? Do they need to pick up the phone and call a customer service representative to give their credit card information over the phone? That’s way too complex. If you run subscriptions through a mobile app, you can have the user scan their credit card with their camera. This is even easier than typing the numbers. To make this transition easy for your users, don’t force them to commit to a long-term plan. In fact, monthly subscriptions have higher conversion rates from free trials than annual plans do: If you’re forcing someone to commit to a year, they’ll think much longer and harder about the decision. You don’t want that. But if they need to pay only for one month at a time with the option to cancel at any moment, it will definitely be an easier decision for them. I get your thinking behind trying to drive annual plans. But realistically, if your product is good enough, customers will stick with you for long periods even on a monthly plan. Plus, you’ll likely make more money this way. You can generate more profits by focusing on your pricing strategy. Customers who commit to a yearly membership or subscription will probably be paying less during that period than those who get billed monthly. Give users a reason to end their free trials earlyHere’s something else I see all too often with subscription businesses. They wait until the trial ends before trying to get users to convert. By that point, it’s too late. For example, let’s say you offer a 14-day free trial. Once the trial expires, you give the user some buffer time to decide whether they want to become a paying customer. A week later, you send an email with a CTA to a paid subscription link. If this sounds like a strategy you’re currently using, it’s probably why your conversions are so low. Waiting this long is not a good idea. By this point, your service is no longer on the minds of the consumers. They’ve already gone a week without using it and realized it’s not something they need in their lives. Instead of waiting until the trial is over, you can give the user an incentive to sign up while their trial is still going on. But why would anyone want to end their free trial early? You need to make them an offer that’s worth it. Discounts and other promotions will usually get the job done. Here’s a great example from 500px: This email uses FOMO—the fear of missing out. You can guide people’s emotions to drive sales with this strategy. 500px is offering 15% off its membership, plus additional account upgrades. However, this promotion won’t last long. As you can see from the highlighted bit, this offer lasted for only 24 hours. Put yourself in the shoes of the consumer for a minute here. Let’s say they are on day 22 of a 30-day trial. They like the product and are thinking about upgrading when the trial expires. But why would they wait and pay the full price when they can get 15% off today? This type of offer gives them a reason to end their trial early and convert. You want to target these users while they’re still hooked and your brand is fresh in their minds. If you give them an incentive to end the trial early, you’ll increase the chances of them becoming a paying customer. Offer trial extensionsWhat happens if a user doesn’t take the bait of the incentive to end their trial early? Does that mean you should give up on trying to get them to convert? Absolutely not. Some people may need a bit more time to determine whether they want to use your product. Here’s what I mean. Let’s say someone signs up for a free trial. The process was simple and hassle-free, so they completed this action without thinking twice about it. But because of their circumstances, they didn’t get a chance to explore your product in full. There are a number of different reasons for this. It’s possible they were busy at work, had a medical issue, were traveling, or simply forgot about the trial. The reason why they need more time isn’t important. What is important is giving them the option to extend their trial. Here’s an example from Squarespace: Squarespace offers a 14-day free trial to anyone. But the team is willing to work with people who need more time to try its software. As you can see from the email above, it’s easy for users to add a seven-day extension to their two-week trial. This is a great way to get users who are on the fence to convert. I know what some of you are thinking. You don’t want to lower the value of your product by giving it away for longer than necessary. That’s the wrong mentality. The cost of an extra free week or two is well worth it if you can have this customer for years to come. It’s bad business to let a prospective customer walk away because you’re unwilling to go the extra mile to acquire them. In this case, these users are already interested in your brand. They’ve taken the steps to sign up, download your app, or start the process. It’s easier to turn them into paying customers than trying to market to someone else from scratch. Furthermore, take another look at the email above from Squarespace. To extend the trial, all the user needs to do is click on the link sent to them, making it super easy—one of the factors to aid conversions I discussed above. If the user had to send an email or call a customer service representative to extend the trial, they would be less inclined to do so. Run personalized promotions for the lowest tier plan usersDepending on the type of business you have, you may offer a free version of your product. This version is free for anyone to use for an unlimited amount of time. Obviously, this is different from a free trial, which has an expiration date. You should be coming up with marketing campaigns specifically designed to get these freemium users to convert. Again, as in my last point, these people are already familiar with your product and use it on a regular basis. You need to ease their transition from a free membership to a paid service. The best way to do this is with personalized content: Personalizing email messages is the most effective tactic used by marketers. Take that into consideration when targeting freemium users. Send them a personalized email about the type of content they’re currently consuming free. Then, give them an incentive to convert. Just because someone is using your lowest tier membership free doesn’t mean you can’t offer them a free trial of a premium membership. Let them see what features and benefits your other options have. Once they try these upgrades, it may be difficult for them to go back to the freemium version now that they know what they’re missing out on. Encourage inactive users to use your productIf you haven’t realized it yet, there is a pattern here with these strategies. It’s much easier for you to market your paid subscription to people already familiar with your brand, products, services, and software. That’s because there is no learning curve. You don’t have to explain yourself to people who have used your services in the past. This holds true for people who used a free trial that expired or had a free membership plan they haven’t been taking advantage of lately. Don’t let that user churn. Send them an email giving them an incentive to use your service again. If you have a mobile app, send a push notification to their device. Here’s a great example of how Pokemon Go used this strategy to bring an old user back to life: As you can see, they are enticing this user with a gameplay incentive to come back to the app. If the user opens the app within the next 30 minutes, they’ll have access to three active lures. Pokemon characters are drawn to these lures, making it easier to catch them. If any inactive user stopped playing this game because they were struggling to catch more characters, this type of push notification can bring them back. Contact customers with failed paymentsYour business is likely on your mind 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. But that’s not the case for your customers. The reality is they have other things to worry about. If their credit card gets lost or stolen or expires, they may not think to update their payment information for their membership with your company. In some cases, that card may be tied to their utilities, health insurance, car payments, or other recurring charges that will take priority over whatever you’re offering. That said, you don’t want to do nothing. The user may never update their payment information unless you contact them. Rather than losing a customer, send automated emails whenever a payment gets declined. It’s easy! Just look at this example from Netflix: It’s as simple as that. By providing a CTA in the email that directs the user to a landing page where they can update their payment information, you will reduce friction in the process. Without contacting these customers, you run the risk of them going back to the free plan or stopping using your service altogether. Nurture free trial users with email campaignsEmail marketing is an effective way to communicate with your customers. If you learn how to create an actionable drip campaign, you can target free trial users and entice them to convert. This smooth process will help move the customer through the conversion funnel. It all starts with a welcome email. Research shows that 75% of users expect to receive a welcome email after signing up for something. Give your prospective customers what they expect. Here’s an example of how Spotify uses this strategy: As you can see from this message, Spotify is simply confirming that the user has signed up for the service. There is no pitch for them to upgrade to a paid plan. The message explains the user can play their favorite music free and get personalized recommendations. Start slow. Remember, the user just signed up for a free trial or free plan. They’re probably not willing to upgrade their membership within the first hour. But that doesn’t mean you can’t start to nurture them with an email drip campaign. The subsequent emails will encourage them to upgrade down the road. ConclusionFree trials and free plans are both great ways for subscription-based businesses to get as many users as possible to try their products. But ultimately, those users are useless if they don’t become paying customers. Rather than focusing your marketing efforts on a new audience, you should be coming up with ways to get the free trial and free plan users to convert. Make sure the transition process is easy for the user. If they have to jump through hoops to become a paying customer, your conversion rates will be low. Give them an incentive to end their trials early. On the flip side, if they need more time to test your product, offer a trial extension. Target your lowest tier membership and inactive users with personalized campaigns. Don’t forget to contact your current customers when their payment methods don’t work anymore. Leverage your email marketing strategy to nurture leads and free trial users. If you follow the tips I’ve outlined in this guide, you’ll have a much easier time getting free trial and free plan users to convert. How are you encouraging free trial and free plan users to upgrade to paid memberships? via Quick Sprout http://www.quicksprout.com/2018/11/09/how-to-convert-free-trial-and-free-plan-users-into-paying-customers/ |
Sean BrianWhile radishes deter certain insects naturally, they require similar growing conditions as carrots. Although the crops both have roots, radishes grow and germinate quicker, allowing carrots to continue growing in the soil space available when the radishes are harvested, Archives
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