Why User Experience is Key to Digital Marketing Success

Today's consumers are smart, savvy, and time-starved, and they want their needs delivered in an instant.

Whether at a desk, on a bus or in a bank line, people like to access the internet for a variety of reasons; whether to shop, book flights, check in with friends, or just search for information. These various online functions all have one thing in common:  the quality of an individual's online experience makes a huge impact.

A critical part of that experience is the ease with which a consumer can find, access, review or buy products and services. For businesses wanting to attract and convert that interest into revenue, user experience (UX) is crucial to their success and, in many cases, survival.

When it comes to developing and executing modern digital marketing strategies, UX is often overlooked.  In fact, only 55% of brands are currently in the process of user experience testing—which is incredible when you consider that 74% of people will return to a website if its UX is optimised for mobile.

The ideal online customer journey is a user-friendly website that combines seamless navigation; a clean-cut purchasing journey; dynamic and digestible content; top notch customer support, and mobile device compatibility. By combining these elements, a business can create a digital environment that can make a brand stand out from the pack. So, why do organisations so often neglect UX when it comes to engaging with customers?

User Experience in a Mobile World

The rise in smartphone usage has changed the way people view, buy, and connect online. With a 504% growth in media consumption since 2011, the desktop is becoming the less-preferred touchpoint for an increasing number of digital users.

Mobile is so ingrained into the psyche of today’s consumer that mobile users are significantly more likely to abandon a website if it isn’t correctly optimised for their phone—and if you’re running a business, this could mean a major loss in conversions, or even damage your brand’s reputation.

That said, what’s alarming is that 52% of users said a bad mobile experience made them less likely to engage with a company—and with 60% of searches now performed on mobile devices, UX is a fact that simply should not be ignored.

Although mobile is a dominant force in today's world, it doesn't mean that desktop is no longer relevant. The majority of e-commerce transactions still take place on the PC, and as such, a balanced multi-platform strategy is essential to a successful buyer’s journey. Despite this, many marketers and brands still treat the desktop as their main area of focus, which is out of sync with today's consumer behaviour.

User Experience is More Than Just Usability

While many marketers shrug off user experience as an industry buzzword, this is not the case. In fact, the most successful marketers in the industry will tell you that user experience is the key to facilitating conversions and helping you to become that glistening needle in a giant (and vastly oversubscribed) digital haystack.

According to American professor and statistician Edward Tufte, “Confusion and clutter are the failure of design, not the attributes of information.” This rings true to UX as a whole, and when you’re trying to stand out from the crowd online, one of the best ways to do so is by being clear, concise, and accessible to your target audience. No compromises.

While usability is an essential component of the user experience, it is only one piece of the overall pie as it focuses on things at surface level, while UX digs deeper into whether an individual page or piece of content will satisfy the specific needs of a user. As an entity, user experience determines how a brand speaks to its customers and delivers the message it is trying to convey, effectively.

Content is Vital to User Experience

One of the best ways to convey a message to your audience is by publishing content that is engaging, while offering direct value. In fact, according to Quick Sprout, 82% of people enjoy reading relevant content from company blogs.

Well-crafted digital copy that is optimised for search engines is a key ingredient to a good user experience. Not only will this help your web page to rank well for relevant search terms on Google, but SEO-friendly copy will also give the consumer an informative answer to a question or query in an instant. This approach will ultimately result in conversions rather than website abandonment.

While it may seem obvious for online businesses to provide search optimised, engaging and consumer-focused content, it is often overlooked —don’t make the same mistake.

Where UX Fits into the Five Tiers of Content Marketing

A successful content strategy that yields incredible results is always best planned from the ground up. There are five levels to a successful content marketing model, which are:

1. SEO: This is essential because if your site isn't optimised for search engines, your target customers will never find you in the first place.

2. User experience: This is where UX fits into the mix. By now, you are most likely aware of its importance, but let's put it into perspective. According to a pivotal 2015  study by Adobe, when given 15 minutes to consume content, two-thirds of people would rather read something beautifully designed than something plain. And, that’s just one piece of the overall UX puzzle.

3. Content strategy: The blueprint of your commercial direction as once your site is SEO optimised and your UX is tip top, you can use metrics such as visitor numbers and bounce rate to craft your content to meet the needs of your target audience, and start achieving the results you desire.

4. Content creation: With a strategy in place, it's time to start the fun part—creating content. So, refresh existing content, create new blog articles, and make sure each piece is formatted for digital consumption.

5. Content distribution: Once you have created the best dynamic content, it's time to start getting it noticed. Share it with the right people using your various social channels and any other glistening connections you may have.

As user experience is the second step in a robust content strategy, it has to be done right. Otherwise, the whole strategy will come toppling down before it's even taken off.

Apple's User Experience Makeover

Taking note of just how crowded the smartphone and mobile device market has become, Apple made a pledge to enhance its user experience. In a drive to create a seamless experience across all of its platforms and grow their business after a growth reduction in 2016, the software juggernaut began tying up threads and pulling its platforms even closer together.

Not only did Apple improve its already successful portable desktop—the now ubiquitous iCloud—it also opened up its digital assistant, Siri, to third party developers.

Also, the brand’s latest software offering, iOS 14 (its biggest update yet), has completely reimagined the smartphone user experience with highly-customisable home screen functionality as well as interactive app widgets, and autonomous organisational features. A testament to Apple’s unwavering commitment to UX and a huge driver of its continued success.

It's plain to see from Apple's forward thinking just how crucial user experience is to today's consumer. Without constant improvements to the way companies interact with customers, any brand will fall by the wayside in this fast-changing climate.

The Rise of Visual Search

Once a dim star on the horizon, visual search is becoming an integral part of the user experience. For example, augmented reality style app Blippar is taking user experience to a whole new level with its intuitive style of brand interaction, which it plans to get people to use it for visual search, rather than searching through Google—and it seems a likely target too.

According to Clark Boyd, who has recorded a webinar with DMI on visual search, 62% of Millennials are looking for visual search over any other eCommerce technology, and 34% of Google searches already return image results. Marketers need to catch up to the capabilities of the technology and latest needs of consumers. The fact is that humans are intuitive creatures, and it seems that visual search will cater to our ever growing need for instant gratification in a world that gets busier by the day.

UX is not an optional luxury for competitive businesses. To give user experience the attention it deserves, time, money, and resources must be invested, which also means acquiring the skills required to ensure success.

Hungry to learn what else matters in the internet marketing industry in Hong Kong?? Learn more about how to better your digital marketing strategies by joining our globally recognised certificate course today - taught by the industry experts!

Source: Digital Marketing Institute

10 Engagement Hacks for the Facebook Algorithm

Facebook organises the content shown to its users based on certain rules. These rules, or “Facebook algorithms”, are a set of calculations used by Facebook to decide the content we all see. It is quite a complex matter which can either increase the value of your content or even push it into the dark completely.

As a digital marketer, you would like to increase your reach and views on your content, and boost your results. To achieve this, you should know how the Facebook Algorithm works.

Here is a look at key elements of the Facebook algorithm and 10 great hacks to help you attract more viewers!

Hack 1: The Frequency of Your Posts

What’s the best frequency for your posts? One, two, or three posts a day?

The first post matters the most. Every subsequent post is likely to get 60 fewer clicks than the previous one. Hence, in reality, the less you post, the more you get!

Ideally you should post once or twice a day. Aim to post the second one at least six to nine hours after the first one.

Pro Tip: Use Facebook Stories

When you have a lot to share, add a Story! Keep the best content for your feed and add all other things to your Story. This will help people get to know you, trust you, and like you! Surveys have shown that 62% of people using Facebook are more likely to engage in a business or product that pops up in a Story.

Hack 2: Provide Value in Your Posts

Think about ways your posts can help people. Post content that is different but still valuable to help keep your followers engaged. If your posts provide value, users will continue to follow you.

Pro Tip: Don’t be Hung up on your Brand

It is very important to have a brand, but it’s more important to have valuable content. Always look for what your followers respond to and then start working on how to work your brand in.

Hack 3: Create Genuine Conversations and Ask Questions

Facebook is a platform that aims to bring the world closer together and the algorithm fulfils this purpose. Facebook wants its users to create conversations that are authentic. Asking questions and encouraging discussion on each of your posts will get a lot of attention from your audience.

Pro Tip: Try beginning your questions with:

• Who…?

• Would…?

• Should…?

• Which…?

Also, remember that questions starting with “Why?” or “How?” can be either a blessing or a curse. This is because they need a longer answer, so very few people would like to provide one. Facebook likes longer comments as it sees your post as more valuable. Giving your audience options to choose from or giving out a ‘string’ to cling to for answers will give them a direction in which they can contribute their thoughts.

Hack 4: Don’t Use Links in the Description

You should not use links in the description of your posts, ever. Facebook does not like its users to leave the platform. Thus, when the Facebook algorithm even “smells” a hint of any link, it stops showing it to the users. Once you focus on the rules, you know how you can achieve your goals.

Pro Tip: Put links in the comment section

You can respond to each comment with your link. But before that, ideally, create conversations and add value before you finally “reveal” the link to those who are curious.

Hack 5: Create evergreen content

It might take a long time, sometimes between 48 to 72 hours, for Facebook to show your posts to others. The simplest way to plan for this, and ensuring full content value, is by creating content that is relevant even after days or weeks it was posted.

Pro Tip: Create conversations in the comments

It is important to keep the post running in order for it to be seen by more people. For this, you need to reply to some comments one day, and to others another day. This will help make your post look relevant for a longer time.

Always remember that if your content is not getting enough engagement, it might affect your page. So, if a post does not get a good response after 72 hours, you might choose to just delete it.

Hack 6: Length of Your Videos

Most people often ask how long your videos should be. The length of your videos really matter, but it depends on the content. Facebook supports videos that are almost 10 minutes long, however, if you don’t have much to say you can keep it short, or even record a longer one if you have a lot to say.

Pro-tip: Be “unfiltered”

Sometimes it is perfectly okay to go natural and “unfiltered”, without a lot of editing. This helps to connect with your audience to the next level but again, you need to see when you can use this and when your brand calls for perfect editing. 

Hack 7: Post your Video Vertically

Nowadays, most experts record their videos in vertical mode. This way it feels native to social media apps like Facebook and Instagram. Yet sometimes, landscape mode might also work better so it is totally up to you.

Pro tip: Suggest the viewer taps for sound

A neat way to work around the silent auto-played Facebook videos is to suggest viewers tap for sound with a pop-up. Pop-ups can sometimes be annoying so it has to be designed and timed appropriately to create a non-disruptive effect

Hack 8: Avoid Phishing

It is not recommended to use phrases like “share this video”, “comment below” or “tag your friends”. Not only should you refrain from writing them but also saying them in your Live videos since the algorithm is “listening” to every word you say. And such phrases will decrease the number of people it shows your videos to.

Instead, use different phrases like “sharing the love” or “smash the heart button”!

Why does the algorithm do this? Only because it wants to promote real content for professional conversation starters like us.

Pro Tip: Try using Graphics and Emojis

You can substitute words with certain emojis - like using a sun emoji in place of an “o” when you want to write “comment below”. This way you show some personality but don’t overdo it, or it might make your content too spammy.

Hack 9: Training the Algorithm

Engaging with some key contacts a few minutes before posting your content might be beneficial. Go to your Facebook Messenger and see who is online and say “Hello” to them. This helps in warming up the Facebook algorithm.

Next, post your content and start replying to the comments under it. The more active you are; the more views you are likely to get!

Pro Tip: Comment and like on other people’s posts

Before you go posting on social media or doing Facebook lives… make sure you comment and like on other people’s posts
Facebook rewards those who engage – not just expecting others to engage with you.

Hack 10: What is the Best Time to Post?

A lot of people suggest posting your content when more people are online. Yet posting outside of business hours can give great results.

Pro-tip: Try posting between 9 pm and 11 pm instead of the usual 11 am, 3 pm, and 7 pm.

The Facebook algorithm is consistently looking for valuable social connections among its users. This is the main reason it exists and hence does not promote “tactics” of artificial engagements. The best way to get your message across on this powerful social platform is to genuinely indulge in conversation with your potential audience to make sure they see everything you post.

The ten tips above can be handy when you want your posts to show up more on newsfeeds, and we have even more tips about how you can enhance your digital marketing strategies further more - just join our globally recognised certificate course today - taught by the industry experts!

Source: Digital Marketing Institute

Put PRIDE in your Inclusive Marketing Campaign

June is Pride Month and at Bonfire we are always interested in seeing amazing examples of inclusive marketing and its impact. In this article, DMI tutor Sean Kenny takes us through a brief history of inclusivity, the numbers around it, how it really can affect (and improve) customer perception and interaction, and what you can do yourself in your own digital communications. 

What is Inclusive Marketing

Inclusive marketing covers all sorts of areas of society and can trace its origins back to the early 19.

Coca Cola launched their catchphrase "I'd like to buy the world a coke" with the now iconic Hilltop commercial in 1971. It was the first example of a brand that was truly representing the people who are their customers. 

When Gucci made the choice to feature the Down's Syndrome model, Ellie Goldstein, it went down especially well with their consumers, with this post receving over 800k likes, their most popular post to date. 

Elements of Inclusive Marketing

It's worth reviewing the main issues to be considered with your marketing when thinking of being inclusive:

• Tone - of your marketing, your voice, the text in ads.

• Language - what type of words you use can vary depending on the context and audience.

• Representation - who are you including in your imagery?

• Context - be aware of a certain element might be misconstrued in a certain geographic or demographic market.

• Avoid Appropriation - using an element from a particular culture can misfire if not considered carefully.

• Counter Stereotype - breaking existing (negative) stereotypes can be powerful in certain communications.

• Symbolism - again, be careful with the elements you use according to modern and local sensibilitiies.

Inclusive Marketing - the numbers

We can see proof that inclusive marketing is very effective.

• Adobe research in 2019 showed 66% of African-Americans, and 53% of Latino and Hispanic Americans feel their ethnicity is portrayed stereotypically in advertisements.

• 38% of consumers are more likely to trust brands that do well with showing diversity in their ads.

• 69% of brands with representative ads saw an average stock gain of 44% in 2020

• An Ipsos/Google study in 2020 showed 64% of the sample group took some sort of action after seeing an ad that they considered to be diverse or inclusive.

• This percentage was higher among specific groups: Latinx+ (85%), Black (79%), Asian/Pacific Islander (79%), LGBTQ (85%), millennial (77%), and teen (76%) consumers.

Source: https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/inclusive-marketing-consumer-data/

What actions can you take

Know Your Target Audience! 

Make an effort to align your communications to your local market's composition of diversity. Consider age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, location, language preference and gender expression.

These should then feed into the personas you build. Think more closely about what your customers are experiencing. What is culturally and emotionally meaningful to them?

Perform a careful channel audit. Look at your landing pages and website from an audience diversity perspective. Do your website's photos and imagery match the audience representation from ad campaigns?

Hiring a more diverse team will also enable you to tell authentic stories and design products and marketing messages without falling into biases.

Some specific digital communication tips from HubSpot:

• Have more than one person in an image.

• Use authentic and genuine imagery. Avoid stock imagery.

• Reflect everyday life, not actors or models hired to play a part.

• Create a visible relationship between people that is positive.

• Include people in photos rather than featuring the product only.

• Make sure everyone is featured with the same prominence, not just as tokens.

• Represent the spectrum of people that your potential customer base could be.

Examples of Inclusion for Pride Month

Nail polish brand Essie made history by naming Queer Eye star, Jonathan Van Ness, as its first male ambassador. This effort to reach the brand's male category (a subset of their main audience) managed to tick a lot of boxes in engaging consumers in a more meaningful and relevant way. 

Global brand L’Oréal (who owns Essie) got involved in a very special way with the huge 2019 World Pride celebration in New York, which marked the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. Consumers from across the world who could not come to New York were invited to be represented by L'Oreal employees at the celebration with a specially-built float .

Nike's ongoing #BeTrue campaign rolls each year, and in 2020 it tied together an Olympics theme with the global event of Black Lives Matter. 

UK/Ireland bookmakers Paddy Power created ‘From Russia With Equal Love’, publically pledging to donate £10,000 to LGBT+ charities across the globe every time the Russian team scored a goal in the 2018 Fifa World Cup. This stroke of multi-channel marketing genius encouraged a widespread LGBT+ following for the Russian Team, making unexpected allies of the World Cup’s host nation - picking up a host of profile support from the likes of Caitlyn Jenner, Mark Foster and Louis Spence in the process.

Now you have a better idea of how to launch a inclusive marketing campaign, learn more tips about how to improve digital marketing strategies by joining our globally recognised certificate course today - taught by the industry experts!

Source: Digital Marketing Institute

How to Use Social Media for Storytelling

When we think about the stories that we read as children or even young adults, they had certain characteristics: a beginning, middle, and end; a denouement, climax or conflict; and usually there was some sort of moral lesson. Great ads can also convey a similarly rich message, albeit usually in a bit of a different style.

The wonderful thing to remember about advertising is that a story isn’t just about words – a great story teaches us something about the world and ourselves. And great advertising tells a good story.

Today, we’re seeing more and more innovative uses of storytelling incorporated into brand building because people are more exposed to the world. More and more, people want to get behind a brand that has a meaningful mission, rather than just buying something because it’s “cool.”

So, what’s the best way to tell a story in today’s ever-crowded digital landscape? Read on for a few pointers.

Develop a (Long) Story Arc

A story is essentially a sequence of events with some key elements. With social media, you have plenty of options to tell stories in new ways that cross the boundaries of traditional storytelling and traditional advertising. While you may be restricted in certain ways (for instance, length), you also have a number of tools at your fingertips.

So, before you develop your social content and as a part of your advertising strategy, it’s important to look ahead at your end goals and work backward from there. What is your business goal looking like one year or five years from now? Where would you like to be in terms of preferred or target audience? What is your growth plan demographically and even globally?

Every single clip, blog, video or image needs to be a mini-story in itself, but what about taking your audience and customers on a journey that lasts even longer than that? When you think about the fact that each piece of content and each ad contributes to your brand and business story, you have the potential to “hook” people over the long term.

To this end, you can think of your “story arc” – the beginning, middle, and end – not only with regards to each piece of content but also in connection with the longer-term goals and possibilities of your unique offerings.

Show Don’t Tell

The concept of storytelling is, in many cases, a little bit of a misnomer because it implies that you’re supposed to talk. Really when it comes to any kind of advertising, whether it’s social media-based or not, it’s much better if you show our story rather than telling it. What does this mean?

In the realm of social media, this might be as simple as creating a compelling video, info-graphic, or even using a stunning visual in combination with a catchy title to really get across your message (or at least the gist of it) in a matter of seconds. After all, you only have a few seconds to get your message across, so why not make it as clear and visually inviting as possible?

Write Like a Writer

Do you have experience writing copy? Fiction? Non-fiction? The truth is that while of course a bit of experience helps, you don’t really need to be an expert in any genre to nail your storyline on social media. What will grab attention, though, is creativity, boldness, and the type of message that cuts to the chase – or at least gives a hint of the amazing things to come.

Depending on your audience, sometimes this will incorporate more of a story which includes some typical narrative elements. Think of the hero’s journey, for instance: it typically incorporates an unexpected hero (the protagonist) who finds themselves in a situation where they must do something life-changing (save the world from destruction). If you are able to invite your audience in using the same tools that fiction writers do, you probably will get them engaged from the get-go.

Influencer Marketers & Other Partners

Some of the most innovative social advertising we’re seeing today tends to combine two or three elements: a celebrity or influencer, a genuine cause, and a product.

A perfect example of this is how water.org partnered with Stella Artois as their spokesperson for the organisations’ clean water campaign to connect the brand and the cause in a memorable way. This is a sort of triple-whammy where audiences get in an effort to also promote the company’s focus on providing clean drinking water to underprivileged communities.

Connect With your Current Followers

Social media platforms offer plenty of built-in tools that allow you to understand the types of posts that invite the most engagement and to this end, the popularity of your brand story and other information you share on your pages should be quite obvious.

Simply refer to your insights and try that same thing over and over again. Was that one post, longer blog or poem something that resonated in the past? Or perhaps it was a humorous visual that got a lot of shares? You can go back into your insights to get a sense of what is hitting your audience and build a new story from there.

Consider using dynamic interfaces like Facebook Live or even animated videos to help explain your mission and message in a fresh way. People who’ve followed you for a while are likely to get bored seeing the same old things in their social feeds, so it’s important that you spice it up at every chance you get.

Make it Meaningful (to the World)

So maybe you’ve conducted extremely thorough audience research, and you’ve gotten to know your current customers well enough.

If you’re developing a brand story or campaign, the key element behind reaching people is that you have to find what makes your product meaningful to the audience. What matters to them, not just in the short run but also the long run?

For instance, an airline offering discounts on one-way flights may not want to just focus on how it’s less expensive, but on tailoring the ads towards digital nomads who may actually be taking advantage of such flights as a part of their ongoing lifestyle choice of staying “on the road.”

Once you figure out what is deeply meaningful to your audience, you can then develop a story-line – a brand story-line as well as a set of story-line snippets – to illustrate a need with an underlying emotional base.

Use Tools that Allow you to Get Up Close and Personal

There are plenty of social tools that can help you convey emotion, authenticity, and immediacy in a short period of time. The two main social media tools that come to mind are Instagram Stories and Snapchat Stories. Each of them are real-time videos that last only for a short period of time.

This type of ephemeral marketing is ever-popular especially with the millennial and younger demographic mostly because it’s a snippet of real life. People crave authenticity more and more in the digital world, so offering a real glimpse into someone’s personal world can sometimes feel like a breath of fresh air.

Another thing that these tools can do when used well is evoke a strong emotion in a short period of time.The Blair Witch Project remains a prime example of this. As one of the first truly effective social media marketing campaigns (at a time when the internet was barely a thing), its creators used “realistic” clips to market the movie to the audience in such a way that made it look like a real story. The way that they used a first-person camera to show snippets of the movie immediately evoked both fear and curiosity in its viewers, encouraging them to hop online and investigate as to whether it was a true story or not.

The best part of about these tools (as well as Facebook Stories and Facebook Live) is that you don’t really need to create anything special, or even use a lot of text or words. Simply letting someone see a real-live person talking or doing something in real-time is more than enough. And it’s a perfect opportunity to demonstrate your product or service in a real-life context.

Final Thoughts

Consumers have much more choice than ever when it comes to purchasing power, and this is a good thing for them, but sometimes a bad thing for marketers because there’s plenty of competition. The good news is that there are still only a small number of companies that are really able to use social media in such a way that they tell a story that truly connects.

Hungry for more tips? Learn more about how to better digital marketing strategies by joining our globally recognised certificate course today - taught by the industry experts!

Source: Digital Marketing Institute

Omnichannel Marketing: How Can Your Organisation Benefit?

Very few things change more quickly in business than digital technology and the associated terminology. A great example of this is omnichannel marketing. Simply stated, it’s a way of engaging customers using multiple touchpoints – such as text, chat, voice, video, email, and social media – to create a seamless user experience that builds customer loyalty.

In this blog, we’ll explore the demand for omnichannel engagement, as well as how organisations can use it to boost revenue, increase ROI, and meet growing consumer demand.

The Channel Evolution

Consider the definition of “omni,” meaning “all” or “in all places.” Not long ago, offering customers a modest choice of digital channels might be considered a luxury. However, as technology rapidly accelerates, the need to target customers through a wider variety of integrated touchpoints has become essential to ensure the personalised and effortless experience they’ve come to expect.

Building an effective omnichannel marketing strategy requires the elimination of information silos and the development of digital collaboration across departments. This illustration shows the evolution of the anticipated user experience.

Starting at the Top

According to research by Worldpay, omnichannel shoppers spend somewhere between 50-300% more than traditional shoppers. With those numbers in mind, well-informed CEOs will act on that information in the coming years. This inevitably requires strategies that employ the latest technologies to understand and leverage consumer information collected during multichannel interactions.

Like any strategic approach, omnichannel engagement requires commitment from an organisation’s key executives, including the CEO, CMO, and CIO. While each role brings its own priorities to bear, ultimately they share the organisation’s common goals.

The CEOs perspective is broadest: the implementation of every strategy must consider the needs of internal and external stakeholders. From a slightly narrower perspective, the CMO must focus on growing business through insight into customer behaviours, regardless of the channels they select.

To that end, integrating customer information is essential to personalising the user experience, simplifying marketing workflows, and nurturing long-term customer loyalty. At the same time, the CIO must facilitate seamless back-office systems, secure sensitive customer information, comply with regulatory requirements, and share information efficiently throughout the enterprise.

Regardless of an executive’s specific role, the ability to bring in revenue remains a key factor in any strategic decision-making. Forrester research shows that three-fifths of B2B marketers find that shoppers spend more when interacting with multiple channels. Furthermore, omnichannel consumers are more likely to become long-term customers. All these findings indicate that enabling omnichannel engagement is essential for protecting and growing revenue in years to come.

The Mobile Effect

Smartphones are quickly surpassing computers as the primary source of e-commerce traffic. In fact, by the end of 2017, mobile devices are expected to account for 60% of internet traffic. This means that retailers must embrace mobile optimisation, including flawless mobile payment systems.

While this trend provides businesses with tremendous opportunities, it also introduces obstacles. Difficulty finding information, lengthy checkout times, and unwieldy procedures can each dissuade customers from completing their transactions. In a study commissioned by Genesys, researchers found that more than half of retail customers abandon online purchases if they encounter these problems. That means an organisation that puts the right information at customers’ fingertips will have the edge in attracting and retaining customers.

Embracing Self-Service

Once considered primarily a cost-saving measure, self-service technology has become a customer preference. A recent survey by Nuance Enterprise and published by Zendesk found these surprising statistics:

* 75% of customer respondents said that self-service technology is a convenient way to address customer issues.

* 67% said they preferred self-service over speaking to a company representative.

* 91% said they would use an online knowledge base if it was tailored to their needs.

The fact is, customers are ready to embrace self-service and wish to do so in the digitally-enabled, omnichannel environment. The catch is that the systems in place must be seamless and inviting to meet the needs of more sophisticated customers.

Channel Switching

While some executives fret over bygone days of in-person engagement, others embrace developing online trends. This includes the fact that 67% of retail customers start shopping on one device and finish on another – or even complete their purchase in a physical store. The same research shows that across all channels, shoppers use around 10 sources of information to make a purchasing decision.

The ability to use digital technology at home, on the go, or in-store – to research products, compare brands, read reviews, check product availability, and pay for items – enables the seamless experience many shoppers now demand to complete their purchases.

The new requirement is for companies – including retailers, banks, and others -- to provide for horizontal and even diagonal communications by integrating emerging technologies such as smartwatches and other mobile payment methods.

Case Study - Bank of America

Facing significant commoditisation, banks must gain a competitive advantage by delivering a superior customer experience. Bank of America has led the way, enabling self-service technology for tasks such as bill pay, mobile check deposit, and appointment scheduling through the company’s mobile and desktop apps. Additionally, it became clear that more traditional customers could be persuaded to move to digital channels.

To accommodate these customers, the company took an unusual approach to drive customers from the local branch to its ATMs. In 2013, Bank of America deployed its Teller Assist® program in four major cities. This program allowed customers to chat with a live person at the ATM, using videoconferencing technology.

In addition to providing the human interaction some customers prefer, these Teller Assist ATMs also extended traditional banking hours for customers who would normally visit the branch, but who need access outside regular banking hours.

While customers can’t apply for loans or carry out other more complex banking needs using digital channels, the company’s commitment to the omnichannel experience ensures maximum convenience for customers regardless of the channels they use.

“We’re seeing a change in customer behaviour because of technology… transactions and services are moving to other channels. But customers still want to acquire products at the branch. In many cases, these are products that need experts to sell them like investment advisors or mortgage brokers.” - Tyler Johnson, former Vice President of e-Commerce at Bank of America.

In conclusion...

In its 2015 Global Consumer Executive Top of Mind Survey, KPMG revealed that 62% of consumer market executives said that omnichannel strategy and technology will be either “very” or “critically” important to their company's success over the next two years.

“Omni-channel needs to be viewed in the context of merchandising. Leading retailers are analysing customer responses to different mixes of promotion, pricing and ranges — turning the dials to test and tweak options to better understand the optimal value proposition. Those businesses that have been slower to offer a greater mix of shopping channels or options are missing out on realising the commercial value of these benefits.

As a demand for omnichannel engagement grows, new technologies emerge that make more sophisticated interactions possible. The growing presence of mobile devices and networks creates greater opportunities to erase the lines between in-person and digital interactions. Retailers, financial institutions and other businesses will need to adapt in order to stay profitable and satisfy customers over the long term.

Know how to engage your target audience on different channels by enrolling in a globally recognised certificate course today - taught by the industry experts, to give yourself the best start possible.

Source: Digital Marketing Institute

How to Create Data-backed Social Media Campaign Ideas

Deciding to embark on a social media marketing campaign can be equal parts thrilling and daunting. Steering an audience to focus on a particular idea and engaging with followers is an exciting concept.

But before you send out your first tweet or publish your first Facebook post, you need to come up with an idea that will resonate with consumers. It's the starting point to planning any social media campaign.

Coming up with creative ideas on the spot isn't easy. There might be times when your brain is firing on all cylinders, but others days it can feel like the well has run dry. What you need is to create a process to help you deliver quality work consistently.

In this article, we've come up with some tips to help you come up with data-backed social media campaign ideas.

Start With the Big Idea Behind Your Campaign

A good social media campaign will attempt to drive meaningful change. It should encourage followers to step up and take action.

When we talk about “big ideas” we're talking big picture stuff designed to leave an impression and motivate your audience. The concept doesn't necessarily have to be anything extravagant or ambitious. It just needs to be memorable and focused on a clear message that will get people moving toward a desired goal.

These types of ideas can't just be picked out of the air. They require a lot of mental labour and thorough research before they can be considered viable for a campaign. The end result should be an idea that accomplishes the following:

• It hits on something your target audience finds interesting

• Can be linked back to your brand, products or services

• Drives the desired change in your favour

Coming up with such a concept is no small feat. But we're here to help you get the ball rolling.

Perform Strong Audience Research

Before going any further, you have to know who you're shouting from the top of the hills to down below. Knowing your own audience is key to getting the message across. There are several ways to do this:

Facebook's Built-In Analytics

The world's largest social media platform gives users access to a powerful analytics tool. Go to your page and click on Insights and then People in the navigation bar. Facebook will provide you with aggregated data about people connected to your page.

You get demographic breakdowns, including location, age, gender, education level, relationship status and more. There's also information about people's hobbies, interests, and lifestyle.

Analyse Twitter Following

Software tools are available to help you analyse your followers on Twitter. They can give you demographic data, which includes location, age, gender and languages spoken, along with the hours they're most active on the platform.

All of this information gives you a better picture of your audience and when best to hit them with your campaign's content.

Create Polls

Sometimes the best way to find out what makes followers tick is just to ask them. Several different social networks have a polling feature, such as Typeform which you should take advantage of. They're a quick and easy way to get feedback.

Just think of a few topics that might interest your followers and craft a question asking which one they find most interesting. Yes, it really can be that simple.

Conduct a Survey

This type of action can help with your marketing strategy, both on and off social media. There are a number of survey platforms to choose from, such as Polldaddy and SurveyMonkey that will make answering questions fast and easy for followers. The key is writing good questions focused on figuring out what your followers want.

Some great questions might be asking about their general interests and which products they enjoy using. You should also ask them about the challenges they face and the types of solutions they desire.

Consider Creating Personas

Creating a persona basically means coming up with a fictional character description to fit your target audience. This can be a great method for visualising and understanding a target audience. In a social media context, it can be extremely helpful.

Do Competitive Research

Know your enemy — thankfully the public nature of social media networks makes competitive research pretty easy. Monitoring the accounts of your competitors can tell you a lot about them and any successful strategies they may be employing.

You should take notes regarding their creative messaging, visual style and engagement with their followers. Try to parse between what they do that works and what doesn't.

Survey the Playing Field for Your Industry

It pays to stay on top of the latest discussions on social media regarding your industry. Here are a few simple ways to keep your ear to the ground.

Read Industry News

If you aren't already, you should be following news sources, such as magazines, websites, and blogs, related to your industry. It's the best way to stay current about hot topics and breakthroughs. Anything newsworthy to your audience should be of interest to you.

Follow Thought Leaders

Find out which players in your industry have the most pull on social media. These people often have their content shared the most, so figuring out who they are should be easy. Give them a follow and keep tabs on them. More often than not they're the ones driving discussion among your target audience.

Keep Track of Keywords

Keep track of certain topics and keywords on social media. They can give you a heads up on where certain discussions are trending.

Brainstorm Creative Ideas

It's finally time to start putting things down on paper, even if they're not your final ideas yet. Brainstorming is a collaborative effort; even if you work alone, there are ways of pulling ideas from outside sources. Here are some tips.

Find Crossovers Between Your Brand and Audience's Interests

After reading the demographic data available about your social media followers and combing over the responses they provided to polls and surveys, you will likely find they have diverse interests.

The common thread is the connection to your brand, so finding areas where your brand and their interests overlap is a good base for coming up with ideas. Don't forget your campaign messaging must be targeted at the intersection of what the audience is interested in and your brand's proposed value.

Here's how you can apply this principle toward creating a social media campaign. Start by identifying an interest common among your followers. This is where your trawling on social media and survey data comes into play.

Next, think about how that interest might overlap with your product or service. Do your customers use your product or service in conjunction with a different type of product or service? If the answer to this question is yes, you have a few options. You could reach out to the other brand and pitch a collaborate effort on a campaign.

If you have the capacity, you could also have a campaign built around a giveaway of the same type of product or service. The point is you must create a campaign that leverages interest in said product or service to raise your own brand awareness.

Develop a Brainstorming Process

There needs to be a method to the madness. Have some guidelines when it comes to brainstorming sessions so you and your team can stay on track and have something to show for it when it's all said and done.

Here's an example of an easy 30-minute brainstorming session:

• Spend the first 10 minutes silently brainstorming, writing down every idea you can think of and only basic information

• The next 10 minutes can be spent sharing your ideas and getting rid of the duds.

• The final 10 minutes can be devoted to focusing on the real winners and sharpening them

In the end, you might have several awesome ideas ready to take shape.

Break Out the Whiteboard

If you're more of a visual thinker, laying out ideas on a whiteboard can be most helpful. Write down thoughts and ideas related to your campaign along with sketches of what you think the visual design might be. Take a step back and see what everything could look like.

This can be a relieving and fulfilling process, especially if you spend most of your day in front of a computer like many people. A whiteboard can get you away from staring at your monitor and get you to move around while you think. It forces you to actually be creative rather than sit around waiting for an idea to pop in your head.

Time to Get Started

It's hard sometimes to come up with creative ideas on a deadline, which is why it can help a great deal to come up with a routine or protocol designed to help you think of something, anything, once it's all said and done.

Providing structure to your creative process will help you consistently pump out ideas, which will make everybody happy at the end of the day.

Learn the tools and technologies needed to meet the challenges of with a globally recognised certificate course - taught by the industry experts.

Source: Digital Marketing Institute

The Ultimate Guide to Writing Exceptional Copy

Writing exceptional copy is ridiculously difficult.

Arguably the single-most important skill required of any digital marketer, it is often one of the least developed and practiced. Most digital marketers spend their time writing blog posts, sharing content on social media, and networking with fellow marketers and industry influencers. While all of this can contribute to a solid digital strategy, unless you’ve mastered the art of writing sales and marketing copy, you and your organisation are missing out.

After all, what’s the reason for your brand’s existence? To sell. Of course, you want to educate your customers. Yes, brand recognition is important. But, even if you have the largest following in the world, if they aren’t buying, you’ll have a hard time staying in business.

While writing great copy is challenging, if you approach it with the right mindset, it’s certainly possible. This article discusses how to write exceptional copy across a variety of platforms and channels!

How to write great copy that sells

The goal of copywriting is to sell something – whether that’s a new software, a marketing service, sponsorship opportunity, or other product. While landing pages are often the first form of copywriting to jump into a marketer’s mind, they aren’t the only place where good copywriting is important.

In fact, when creating ads for search engines, Facebook, or Twitter, understanding the key elements of copywriting is equally as important. The shorter your message, the more time you need to invest into each element of it.

Regardless of the platform from which your copy will be presented, there are five universal elements that are critical for successful copy that sells.

1. Know your audience – and write to them

What are the needs and wants of the individual reading your copy? What problem are they trying to solve, and what has caused them to be in this situation in the first place?

The better you know who your customer is, and what types of issues they are facing in their day-to-day, the easier it will be to craft copy that inspires them to take a specific action.

The best way to do this is to ask your target audience a series of questions to determine how they currently address this problem, what would make them try something different, and how much this inconvenience is costing them. Once you know what’s at the core of their problem, you’ll be able to provide an appealing and engaging solution.

2. Invest the time and money necessary to make your copy unforgettable

The most successful landing pages can cost thousands of dollars to write. That’s because incredibly skilled writers and sales people will spend weeks crafting each word and section header. They’ll use custom designs, images, charts, and call-to-action buttons to visually direct the reader down the proper path. Then, they A/B test to maximise the performance of the landing page.

If you’re creating the landing page copy yourself, plan to spend a substantial amount of time on it – and expect to return to it every few days to further perfect the vocabulary, imagery, and overall tone.

Meanwhile, if you’re handing over the project to a cheap freelancer or intern, don’t expect to receive the same response as you would from a professionally-developed landing page.

In short, to do it right, expect to invest enough time into it to validate the quality and clarity of the message.

3. Recognise the intelligence of your audience

Did your parents ever spell words out when you were a little kid so that you wouldn’t know what they were talking about? Odds are, you still knew the topic of discussion most of the time!

People are smart – and it’s important to assume this from your readers. Don’t speak down to them or treat them like lowly students who need to learn from your never-ending wisdom. Instead, communicate with respect. Treat them like peers with whom you’re sharing a new idea. This will ensure that your copy inspires, rather than enrages, your readers.

4. Get the headline right

Particularly when it comes to writing ad copy for social media platforms, but also with landing pages, headlines are the single most important element. It’s not unreasonable for a skilled copywriter to spend 80% of their time perfecting the headline. Why? Because if the headline doesn’t draw the reader in, it doesn’t matter how great the copy is – it will never get read.

To excel at copy, constantly focus on maximising conversions across the sales funnel. From the moment a reader sees your article in search results or shared on social media, until they click the final purchase button, the goal is to maximise conversions.

5. Never forget your focus – making the sale

As a digital marketer it’s a lot of fun to develop creative marketing strategies, viral campaigns, and witty ad copy. When this delivers results, fantastic! However, even the most witty one-liner is worthless if it doesn’t improve your conversion rates.

Therefore, when developing your ad copy, feel free to include creativity, education, and inspiration – but don’t leave it at that. The only copy that matters is the copy that results in a sale.

This ties back to why it’s essential to invest so much time in developing the copy in the first place. Although you want it to be engaging and shareable, you also want to ensure that it always incentivises the reader to take that next step.

Examples of exceptional copy across multiple platforms

Once you understand the basics of copywriting, the trick is to convert those skills across the many different copywriting opportunities available to digital marketers. While traditional copywriting ended up in magazines or on billboards, today’s copywriting efforts often land on social media platforms, search results, or featured landing pages. The style of copywriting needed for each one of these venues is substantially different.

The following examples illustrate how to maximise your copy for a few of the leading platforms.

Copywriting for Facebook

According to HubSpot, the four components of a successful Facebook campaign are:

1. It’s visual

2. It’s relevant

3. It includes an enticing value proposition

4. It has a clear call-to-action

As the online world continues to become more visual, the art of merging copy and imagery becomes even more essential. By using words and pictures to tell a story, you can drive home a point more clearly. However, this also means that choosing the right words is even more important.

A great example of a company that writes Facebook ad copy (and copy in general) well, is the Dollars Shave Club. As you can see from the example below, they use just a few words to convey a clear and memorable story. When most razor companies offer pink razors for women, Dollar Shave Club offers equality.

Notice how this copy very clearly encourages the reader to “Try the Club today” without being overly salesy. This ad that’s slightly humorous and insightful doesn’t seem spammy. In fact, it’s almost fun to read!

Copywriting for Twitter

As the marketers over at WordStream assert, Twitter advertising is unique because of the short half-life of a tweet. While other forms of media are visible for days, a tweet will often receive over half of its action within the first hour.

Therefore, Twitter advertisements must be:

• Attention grabbing

• Highly visual

• Surprising

• Offer reader engagement (such as a giveaway or direct request to respond)

• Potentially use a negative message

• Desirable to click – using a promise or discovery

The biggest trick with any message on Twitter is the 140 character limit. But this doesn’t need to hinder you. Instead, use a brief sentence or two to directly reach the heart of your target audience.

Copywriting for Google ads

One of the most important places to write exceptional copy is in your paid search campaigns. With just 25 words for the title, and the need to stand out from competing ads above and below your link, Google search advertising is the true battlefield for copywriters.

Unbounce has an incredibly thorough article on how to write high-performing AdWords campaigns, but to summarise:

• Remember that people see your ad after they perform a search – so give them an answer, not a repeat of the question they just asked Google

• Include “You” whenever possible to make the ad personal

• Make your ads hyper-local and time-relevant through the use of locations, dates, and count-down timers

• Continually A/B test

One of the easiest ways to evaluate and find the best paid search campaigns is to search for high-profile industry topics or keywords and evaluate the campaigns that show up – which ones would you be more likely to click on?

Copywriting for landing pages

Of the different variations of copywriting, the most popular, and often most challenging, is the landing page. Once someone has clicked on the social media or search link, and arrived at your site, the real work begins.

Craft your landing page effectively and sales will more than cover the cost of your landing page, sponsored posts, and AdWords campaigns.

Landing page copy can vary tremendously, from 5-word pages that ask the reader to subscribe, to 5,000-word articles that encourage the reader to make a thousand dollar purchase.

Kickoff Labs shares an exceptional list of landing pages along with 10 key characteristics of each. Meanwhile, to see examples of well-crafted landing pages at work, take a look at Ramit’s courses on IWillTeachYouToBeRich.com. Regardless of your views on his courses, his ability to create highly-engaging and captivating landing pages that convert is impressive.

Conclusion

Becoming a skilled copywriter takes time, but it isn’t impossible. Although a digital marketer should develop the ability to craft all forms of copy, start by focusing on one or two forms. Then, as you become comfortable, expand to other platforms.

If you find yourself unable to write the kind of copy you need to grow your business, you have two options: you can either hire someone to develop the content for you, or invest the time to become an expert copywriter yourself.

Once your online presence has the copy it needs, landing clients, making sales, and growing your audience will become a walk in the park.

Plan, execute and manage social media campaigns with our cornerstone certification in Social Media Marketing taught by the local industry experts.

Source: Digital Marketing Institute

5 Essential Skills of a Successful Social Media Manager

Over the last five years, a position that was once overlooked by many businesses has grown into one of the most important marketing roles in any company.

We’re talking, of course, about the role of social media manager.

With 85% of consumers active on social media and 58% of social media users following at least one brand, social media marketing has never been more important for businesses and brands of any size.

Like any senior marketing role, a good social media manager needs a diverse collection of skills and traits to allow them to identify opportunities, create engaging content and convert as many of your followers as possible into loyal, motivated customers.

Below, we’ve listed five essential skills that any successful social media manager should be able to bring to the table.

If you’re a business owner or executive aiming to hire a social media manager, consider the five skills below a checklist for candidates. If you’re interested in becoming a social media manager, take note of these skills and make it a priority to develop them as you search for opportunities.

Creativity

Creativity, particularly in being able to discover new opportunities and act on them outside the traditional “rules” of marketing, is an immensely valuable skill for any social media manager.

Many people believe that creativity is a personality trait you’re either born with or without. Most scientific studies paint the opposite picture -- that creativity is a skill people can either develop and strengthen or neglect and weaken.

In the late 1960s, creativity expert Dr George Land carried out a series of creativity tests aimed at helping NASA select engineers and scientists with creative approaches to problem-solving.

The tests were performed on children at five years of age, then readministered when the same children turned 10 and 15. Dr Land also carried out the test on adults.

The results of Dr Land’s testing are interesting. He discovered that children aged five scored a 98% average creativity score. At age 10, the score dropped to 30%. At age 15, the score was just 12%. Finally, the average creativity score for adults was a staggeringly low two percent.

Through the testing, Land concluded that “non-creative behaviour is learned” -- that most people take a non-creative approach to problems not because of an inability to be creative, but because they haven’t developed their creative skills.

A brief glance of social media’s most successful campaigns shows that creativity -- particularly from the perspective of trying things other marketers wouldn’t normally think of -- can pay off in the form of significantly increased exposure, coverage and customer interest.

Volvo’s “Epic Splits” campaign, which showcased Volvo’s Dynamic Steering technology by using ageing martial arts star Jean-Claude Van Damme and his trademark middle splits, earned almost 90 million YouTube views.

Survey data from Volvo shows that the campaign had a measurable positive impact on both the company’s sales and its brand. Of commercial customers that saw the “Epic Split” content, just under half said they were more likely to choose Volvo for their next truck purchase.

Similarly, the equally creative ALS Association Ice Bucket Challenge generated more than $115 million in donations by taking an innovative, creative approach to creating social media virality.

While there’s no need to be a creative genius, a creative approach to social media can help you create content that stands out from the crowd and has a measurably positive impact on your results.

Copywriting

The better your copy, the easier it is to engage and connect with your following. As a result, the ability to write engaging and effective copy is arguably the most valuable skill any social media manager can possess.

Great copy attracts attention and draws people in, encouraging them to enjoy your content and click through to your landing page or website.

In the distraction-filled world of social media, great copywriting skills are even more valuable than they are from a general marketing perspective.

Although Twitter limits content to 140 characters, data shows that shorter tweets with 70 to 100 characters have the highest engagement rate. It’s a similar story on Facebook -- posts with 40 characters receive an 86% higher level of engagement than longer, more detailed posts.

Being able to cut your message down to its core and engage users without wasting words is a valuable skill -- one that can have a significant impact on your engagement, effectiveness and return on investment from social media marketing.

Design

There’s no need to be a master designer to be an effective social media manager, but a strong understanding of design -- and, in particular, the ability to create visual content that stands out and looks professional -- can help you run a more effective and engaging campaign.

Study data shows that social media content with lots of rich, detailed images outperforms social media content that’s heavy on text but light on images.

According to BuzzSumo, blog posts and articles with an image every 75 to 100 words get twice as many shares as articles with fewer images.

Beyond shareability, images also have an impact on the chance of your audience retaining the content you share. Data from Brain Rules shows that people remember approximately 65% of a message when it’s paired with a relevant image, compared to just 10% without.

With the growing popularity of social media video, video editing skills are also a valuable asset for a social media manager.

People rarely expect flawless design on Facebook or Twitter, meaning there’s no need to master the art of design for social media success. However, the ability to quickly whip up visual content that looks professional is a seriously valuable skill for any social media professional.

Analytics

Analytics skills play a major role in helping you take your social media marketing from effective to outstanding.

Like any other digital marketing channel, social media is all about generating a positive ROI for your business. Analytics software, particularly social analytics tools like Facebook Analytics and Twitter Analytics, make this easy by letting you dig deep into your audience and activity data.

Social media requires two different types of analytics skills. The first is the ability to analyse and assess social media data, ranging from page and content likes to retweets, shares and buyer personas that are most likely to follow your account and engage with your content.

The second is the ability to analyse conversion metrics, ranging from usage statistics such as time on site and bounce rate to business metrics like leads, revenue and conversions.

A great social media manager should have a firm grasp on both aspects of analytics, all while planning the creative side of your social media campaigns.

Leadership

Over time, a small social media presence can quickly grow into a lucrative source of traffic and leads for your business. This means hiring, growing and scaling your efforts.

A successful social media manager needs to be able to take a hands-on role and produce your social media content on their own. But as your campaigns grow in scale, they also need to be able to step back and delegate tasks to other people.

This means understanding systemisation and knowing how to create processes for other people to follow. It also means being able to execute a big picture strategy, all while managing the finer details of your campaign effectively.

Finally, it means being able to keep management informed of the results of your campaigns over both the short and long term.

Like creativity, leadership is a skill that many people mistake for a trait. Data from the Journal of Applied Psychology and Journal of Leader ship Education show that given time and exposure to effective leaders, people can develop strong and effective leadership skills of their own.

While leadership skills might not be important in a first social media hire, they become far more valuable as your social media campaigns grow. Look for good leadership skills ahead of time to ensure you can grow your social media efforts as they begin to produce a positive ROI.

Think you got all the skills to be a great social media manager? Hone your skills further by gaining more knowledge of how social media marketing works, especially in the Hong Kong market. You can join our globally recognised certificate course today - taught by the industry experts, to acquire such knowledge!

Source: Digital Marketing Institute

October Update: News in Google Analytics, Youtube DIY, & Amazon

October is the pumpkin season, and it also means that the biggest shopping season is just around the corner. October saw enormous quarterly results for the big tech firms - a net profit of $38 billion between the big four. Influencers are really taking to the online shopfronts of Instagram and other platforms. We are also starting to see ecommerce ramping up for the holiday season, with many new lockdowns around the world creating more difficulties for retail stores, especially those selling toys.

Independent bookshops in the US have found a way to group together and compete (to some degree) with Amazon, with the launch of bookshop.org. Claimed by some as a revolutionary moment, the site accelerated its plans to launch in the UK, to be ready in time for Christmas.

Introducing Google Analytics 4

One big bit of news this month was Google’s new update for Google Analytics (dubbed 4), which should help marketers get even more accurate data. New elements for the platform include AI-powered insights and predictions, deeper audience integrations with Google Ads, customer lifecycle-framed reporting, They also give an indication of how they anticipate ways in which machine learning will help deal with the cookie-less future, a topic we will be keeping an eye on here at Bonfire. 

Dad, How Do I?

A global pandemic, during which millions of people were staying at home, was clearly the ideal time to launch a how-to YouTube channel. In early April, Rob Kenny, a 50-something father of teens, videoed himself imparting practical advice on simple household tasks. The very first video couldn’t have been simpler - How to Tie a Tie. The YouTube channel he created, Dad how do I? was quickly shared beyond his family and by June it had amassed over 2 million subscribers and he has started joining up with retailers. A real home-hewn success.

Amazon's Swedish Meatballs

The undeniable business success story of 2020 is Amazon, the truly global marketplace. As well as reaching the one-million employee mark, they have opened their first bricks-and-mortar store in North Carolina, Their ongoing march through the world of commerce doesn’t always go smoothly. Hoping to simplify the online shopping experience for Swedish residents and gather together more local merchants, Amazon launched a Swedish-language version of the site. It quickly received a lot of bad press for its poor translation (clearly based on machine translation and not correct localisation). Products are being listed with many offensive or unclear words, and somehow the Argentinian flag was placed on the site, rather than the Swedish one.

In Other News

• An interesting detail coming out of the US election campaigning period was the use of text messaging as a tool. In fact, it has shown itself to be the workhouse, at ground level, for many aspects of political campaigning. According to research company Gartner, “70-98% of text messages are actually read, compared with 20% of emails and people respond to 40-50% of texts, but only 6% of emails.” Read more at the BBC.

• Paul McCartney has sold an exclusive vinyl version of his next album via Spotify. His followers on Spotify got an email link to the exclusive offer. By using a digital streaming platform to sell a traditional vinyl album, he sold it out within a day. It might have helped that he does a “Sir” before his name.

• This short BBC video explains the busy history of Alibaba’s payment arm, Alipay, which has grown, over 16 years, to become a financial giant with over a billion active users.

• Speaking of Sweden...Ikea will open more than 50 stores, despite a fall in annual revenues and a surge in online sales. Most of these new stores will be smaller in size and located in city centres, as the world’s biggest furniture retailer plans to market its products closer to people’s homes. Ikea’s sales in the year to August fell 4% to €39.6bn, while online sales rose almost 50% in the previous financial year. The company promised in June to refund all the furlough payments it received from nine governments around the world. Read on.

• The world of remote working continues to evolve. These two NYTimes articles are worth reading: one looking at a company called Ultranauts that has been working remotely with a diverse employee base for years. And another piece has some excellent tips on how to progress your career while working remotely: the bottom line, show your presence, keep up your skills, and communicate.

• A new LinkedIn report lists the top five fastest-growing skills identified since the pandemic began. We were very happy to see that we already cover three out of the five in our course offerings and membership library: Digital Marketing, Data Analysis, and Agile Project Management.

And, Finally

Unless you’ve been living in a cave (which would be quite understandable), you’ll have heard about the oddly-timed news from Kim Kardashian of her island getaway with friends to celebrate her 40th birthday. Here are some of the highlights tweeted by others with their own island “celebrations”. 

On a more positive note, Twitter proved an undeniably effective tool for England footballer Marcus Rashford who essentially launched a one-man campaign to source free meals for British schoolchildren during the October mid-term school holiday, after the government failed to act. 

It is important to know what is going on in the digital world, but it is also important to gain some knowledge of how the digital marketing industry works - join our globally recognised certificate course today - taught by the industry experts to find out more about social media marketing to acquire the related skills. Better yet, you can take the courses online!

Source: Digital Marketing Institute

6 Critical Parts of A Digital Strategy

In a fast-paced digital world that is ever-evolving, understanding the fundamentals of digital strategy and keeping on top of emerging trends have never been more important.

Today's consumer is tech-savvy, demanding, and constantly on the go. In fact, 80% of internet users now use a smartphone. What does this mean? In short, it means that in the digital era, there are a seemingly endless number of channels you can use to market your company's services or products to potential customers.

But, without direction, any effort you make will fall by the wayside. To succeed in the modern world, you need to plan an effective digital strategy to ensure your efforts make maximum impact.

So, to help you on your path to digital enlightenment, we've put together an essential guide to creating a successful digital strategy.

Define your Golden Circle

What's the Golden Circle, you say? The foundation of any solid digital strategy, the Golden Circle is a way of looking at why your company exists.

When presented with this question, the majority of people will think about what they offer, when really, you should start with why.

Dig deep and consider why your organisation began in the first place. What was the motivation; what was the dream? By addressing this point, you'll be able to tell a brand story that strikes a chord with your audience.

To tell an effective brand story using the Golden Circle methodology, you should address these points in the following order:

• Why: as mentioned, why does the business exist?

• How: how will this help your audience, and how will you achieve your goals?

• What: what are you actually offering to your target audience?

Once you’ve answered all of the above and crafted your brand message, you'll be able to think about exactly who you want to share it with.

Create buyer personas

According to research, the use of buyer personas has made websites two - five times more effective and easier to use by targeted users.

If you don't know who you're marketing to, you'll never be able to grow and expand your business - and buyer personas will help you do just that.

Buyer personas are profiles on that represent your ideal customers. By creating your own buyer personas, you'll be able to tailor your marketing efforts to engage with your target audience and meet the needs of your customers.

The first step to creating a successful buyer persona is market research. By surveying and interviewing an audience of general target customers, you'll be able to gain a better understanding of who you're talking to. Then you can get creative.

Using your market research data, build your buyer personas based on these attributes (which you can also use for conducting your market research in the first instance):

• Name: giving your persona a name will help to humanise them.

• Goals: provide your persona with a goal based on the product or service you're offering, and of course, the findings from your research or survey.

• Challenges: decide what challenges your persona faces to identify how you can help them.

• Hobbies and interests: this information will help you gain a better insight into your customer base and what makes them tick.

• Priorities: find out what's important to your persona in relation to your business.

Map out your customer journey

You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology, not the other way around. - Steve Jobs

Now you understand the needs of your target audience, you'll need to plan a journey map to gain a better understanding of how people are currently interacting with your business. To do so, you should consider the following questions:

1. Where does a user first encounter your business online?

2. What touch or contact points are the most important when a user makes a decision about your services?

3. What do you do that makes your potential customers leave and what makes them come back?

By collaborating with people in your company with access to useful customer data and web analytics, then requesting accurate reports to use alongside your personal research, you will be able to map out a clear customer journey and decide which areas your strategy needs to address to help drive more engagement, awareness, and ultimately, revenue.

Create a content strategy

A strategy within a strategy? Yes, by creating content that engages your potential customers and promoting it through the most effective digital channels available to your business, you’ll be able to get the results you deserve.

In fact, content marketing leaders reap the rewards of 7.8 times more site traffic than non-leaders.

As you've taken the time to understand your target audience, as well as their dreams, goals, challenges, and interests, you'll be able to tap into their heads and craft insightful blog posts that they will be compelled to consume and share.

Sit down with your colleagues and using your Golden Circle, your buyer personas, and journey map, brainstorm a list of content ideas for your company blog, as well as editorial campaigns, social content, emails, and any other angle you can think of. Consider key dates or events taking place throughout the year and how you might be able to tie in compelling content around them to engage with new prospects.

Once you've conjured up and refined an epic list of content ideas and identified the best channels (Facebook, Twitter, email, blog, Snapchat, etc.), you should organise them by creating a content calendar which you can share with everyone involved with your strategy.

This collaborative approach will give you the ability to develop, change, and update your ideas, as well as your campaigns on a regular basis and keep them flowing.

Look at your resources

Now you've built the foundations of your digital strategy, planned your content, and decided when and how you're going to share it with your target audience, you'll need to determine who is going to help you roll everything out.

Take a serious look at the people in your organisation, those who will be best suited to delivering certain goals within your strategy - and delegate accordingly. By looking at your available resources and deciding where to place people's talents in relation to your goals and milestones, you will ensure a greater level of success for yourself and your company.

Measure your results

Last but certainly not least: measure your results. In today's digital world, there’s no shortage of data, so make sure you use it.

Much like you did when creating your buyer personas and customer journey, pull data from resources like Google Analytics and Webmaster tools, and request reports from key departments to understand what is working and what's not.

By measuring your results, you'll be able to figure out how to build upon content or campaigns that have driven traffic and encouraged engagement, and learn from your mistakes so you can make your digital strategy smarter, stronger, and more successful.

Remember, creating a successful digital strategy is a step-by-step process that takes time, perseverance, and a robust skill set. The ability to plan and deliver a successful digital strategy can seriously enhance your career prospects, so enrol in a globally recognised certificate course today - taught by the industry experts, to give yourself the best start possible.

Source: Digital Marketing Institute