Content marketing is a practice supported by many businesses and marketers. However, while some may think it’s a simple task, the truth is that it takes time and research to build your brand. If you want to see immediate results, you must put in more effort. 

Digital content has constantly become easier to create as well as more accessible than ever before. This makes content marketing an even more important activity for businesses trying to build their client base. In this blog post we will explore 16 ways content marketing builds your client’s brand in detail, from how content can be used to build your brand from the inside out to how content can be used as a tool for branding once your business has grown into its own entity.

1. Content Marketing Helps You Connect With Potential Clients

When you’re first starting out, it can be difficult to get your name out there. You may not have the budget for a large advertising campaign, and even if you do, you may not be sure how to target your ads so that they reach the right people. This is where content marketing comes in. By creating informative and interesting blog posts, articles, infographics, and other types of content, you can reach a large audience of potential clients who may not have otherwise heard of your business.

2. Content Marketing Establishes Trust and Credibility With Your Audience

In order for people to want to do business with you, they need to trust you. And in order for them to trust you, they need to feel like they know who you are and what you stand for. If people see that you are consistently providing valuable and relevant information, they will start to trust you more as a source of information. In turn, this will make them more likely to do business with you and recommend you to others.

3. Content Marketing Establishes You as an Expert in Your Industry

If you consistently produce valuable content, people will start to see you as an authority figure in your industry. This is because you are demonstrating your knowledge and expertise through your writing, and people will trust you more as a result. In turn, this will make them more likely to do business with you in the future.

4. Content Marketing Builds Relationships With Potential Clients

In order to turn a potential client into a paying customer, you need to first build a relationship with them. And one of the best ways to do that is through content marketing. By providing potential clients with helpful and informative content, you can start to build a relationship with them and create a bond of trust. Over time, this bond will grow stronger and eventually turn into sales.

5. Content Marketing Helps You Stay Top of Mind

Even if a potential client isn’t ready to do business with you right away, you can still stay top of mind by providing them with helpful content. By staying in touch and providing value, you’ll be the first business they think of when they’re finally ready to take the plunge.

6. Content Marketing Allows You To Target Specific Clients

When you’re creating content, you have the ability to target a specific type of client. By writing about topics that are relevant to your ideal client, you can attract them to your business and start to build a relationship with them.

7. Content Marketing Helps You Stand Out From Your Competition

In any given industry, there are always going to be a few businesses that stand out from the rest. And one of the best ways to make sure that your business is one of those standouts is through content marketing. By creating content that is unique and interesting, you can set yourself apart from your competition and attract attention from potential clients.

8. Content Marketing Helps You Build an Audience

Creating helpful and interesting content is a great way to build an audience for your business. By attracting potential clients to your content, you can start to build a following of people who are interested in what you have to say. And as your audience grows, so does your pool of potential customers.

9. Content Marketing Drives Traffic to Your Website

The more high-quality content you produce, the more likely people are to find your website. This is because your content will show up in search engine results when people are looking for information related to your industry. In turn, this will increase the number of leads and customers you have.

10. Content Marketing Generates Leads

When people find your website through your content, they are more likely to become leads. This is because they were already interested in the information you were providing and are more likely to be receptive to your sales pitch. As a result, content marketing can be a great way to increase your sales.

11. Content Marketing Helps You Close More Sales

Because content marketing builds trust and establishes you as an expert, people are more likely to do business with you when they see your content. In turn, this will help you close more sales and increase your revenue.

12. Content Marketing Improves Your Search Engine Ranking

One of the main benefits of content marketing is that it can help improve your search engine ranking. This is because search engines will favor websites that provide valuable and relevant content. As a result, you will be more likely to show up at the top of search results, which will drive even more traffic to your website.

13. Content Marketing Helps You Connect With Your Audience on a Deeper Level

When you produce high-quality content, you are essentially starting a conversation with your target audience. This allows you to build a deeper connection with them and understand their needs and wants better. As a result, you will be able to create content that is more relevant and engaging to them, which will only strengthen the relationship further.

14. Content Marketing Increases Brand Awareness

When you produce high-quality content, people will start to become more aware of your brand. This is because your content will be shared and circulated throughout the internet, which will increase the number of people who see it. In turn, this will lead to more people becoming familiar with your brand and what you have to offer.

15. Content Marketing Humanizes Your Brand

When you produce content, you are essentially putting a face to your brand. This allows people to see that there are real humans behind your company, which can make them feel more connected to you. As a result, they will be more likely to do business with you and recommend you to others.

16. Content Marketing Is Cost-Effective

One of the great things about content marketing is that it’s relatively inexpensive. Compared to other forms of marketing, content marketing can be very cost-effective. And since it’s so affordable, it’s a great way to reach a large number of potential clients without breaking the bank.

Tips on How You Can Use Content Marketing To Build Your Clients Brand

Now that you know the benefits of content marketing, it’s time to put it into practice. Here are a few tips on how you can use content marketing to build your clients brand:

1. Establish yourself as a thought leader in your industry by sharing valuable content-

2. Increase web traffic and leads with well-crafted blog posts, infographics, and videos

3. Connect with potential clients on a deeper level through storytelling

4. Position your brand as being helpful and caring towards customers

5. Stand out from the competition by using unique branding strategies

6. Increase brand awareness by sharing your content across different channels

7. Make sure your website is optimized for search engines so people can easily find your content

8. Use social media to promote your content and build relationships with potential clients

9. Use email marketing to stay in touch with potential leads and customers

10. Always be measuring the results of your content marketing efforts so you can improve upon them

Top Content Marketing trends to leverage in 2022

Influencer Marketing

There is no doubting the success of influencer marketing. From $1.7 billion in 2016 to $9.7 billion in 2020, the market increased. It rose to $13.8 billion in 2021, showing a consistent increase. It is anticipated to grow to a massive $16.4 billion industry this year.

As its name suggests, influencer marketing involves partnering with influential people in your industryto promote your brand. These people have a large following and can reach a lot of potential customers.

One of the reasons influencer marketing is so successful is that it’s very personal. People trust the recommendations of their friends and family more than they trust ads. When an influencer recommends a product, it feels like a recommendation from a friend.

Podcasts

Another content marketing trend on the rise is podcasts. In 2019, there were an estimated 274.8 million active podcast listeners. In 2021, that number rose to 332.2 million. This year, it’s estimated that there will be 424.2 million active podcast listeners.

Podcasts are a great way to reach a large audience. They’re also a great way to build relationships with your audience. When people listen to podcasts, they feel like they’re getting to know the host. This makes them more likely to do business with the host in the future.

Short-Form Video

While long-form video is still popular, short-form video is on the rise. According to a survey by Hubspot, Short-form video has the highest ROI of any social media marketing strategy.

Short-form videos are popular because they’re easy to consume. People don’t have to commit a lot of time to watch them. They’re also easy to produce. You don’t need a lot of expensive equipment to make them.

User-Generated Content

User-generated content is any content that is created by your users. This can include things like product reviews, social media posts, and blog comments.

User-generated content is a great way to build trust with your audience. When people see that other people are happy with your product, they’re more likely to do business with you.

Interactive Content

Interactive content is any content that requires the reader to do something. This can include things like quizzes, polls, and surveys. Interactive content is a great way to engage your audience. It’s also a great way to collect data about your audience. This data can be used to improve your marketing strategy.

Content Marketing Makes Its Mark

Content marketing is a great way to build your brand and reach new customers. By producing high-quality content, you can reach a large audience without breaking the bank. And by leveraging the latest content marketing trends, you can ensure that your content stands out from the competition.

The post The Top 16 Ways Content Marketing Builds Your Clients’ Brands appeared first on Verblio.

Machine Learning In Content Marketing Today

Whether you want to believe it or not, AI has already arrived in the realm of content marketing. How, where, and when it’s being used, however, varies greatly from service to service and platform to platform. For instance, you can probably spot AI-generated text from a mile away. But what about an AI-generated content brief? AI-generated art? AI-generated content calendars? Because this technology is still so new and unexplored, the horizons seem infinite. It’s vital to explore this new facet of the marketing landscape to create informed opinions and make thoughtful decisions when considering incorporating AI into your marketing strategy. 

Can Artificial Intelligence Replace a Human Workforce? 

It is interesting that many people are so fixated on the idea of AI replacing a human workforce in various industries right now. The truth is, technology has always served a role in replacing human beings in certain lines of work. Just think about telephone board operators as an example. Human labor used to be required to route telephone calls where they needed to go from one phone to another. That idea is arcane and inconceivable to us today. Better technology came along and wiped out the need for human switchboard operators. 

This means that the reality of content marketing is also likely to change rapidly as artificial intelligence is used more broadly in the content marketing space. That said, most believe that human marketing professionals will still be necessary, at least to some extent, in the content marketing process.

Contentmarketinginstitute.com puts some minds at ease by explaining that the complete replacement of writers in the process of content marketing is highly unlikely: 

The role tech will play is much more nuanced. Content is essentially a form of communication between two human beings; while automation can certainly enhance many aspects of its creation and delivery, it probably will never replace writers entirely. 

So, what is AI’s role in content marketing and how is it contributing to the process today? 

Machine Learning in Content Marketing

Machine learning is not some futuristic vision of a world that could be. Rather, it is something that is already happening all around you. If you work in content marketing, then the odds are highly that you have already seen examples of machine learning playing out all around you. From chatbots to newsfeed algorithms, machine learning is playing a role in content marketing already. 

Why Newsfeed Algorithms are Increasingly Relevant

Take the most popular social media network on the planet, Facebook, and think about how its newsfeed works. First, as of 2022, it is no longer referred to as “newsfeed” but just “feed”. This is a subtle change, but it is one that Facebook made to emphasize more posts from close friends and family, and fewer from news outlets. 

The chronological feed is a long gone thing of the past. Instead, an algorithm determines which posts you will see on your feed. The goal of this is to provide users with an enjoyable scrolling experience, but also to sell them products via targeted ads. 

The types of posts that users are most likely to see in their feed include the following: 

• Posts from people and businesses they interact with frequently
• The types of content that users interact with most frequently (such as video, text posts, pictures, etc.)
• Posts with a significant amount of engagement on them, particularly engagement from people the user interacts with

Facebook says that the goal of this is to provide users with content that they care about. That may be, but it is also true that the algorithm plays a major role in how content marketing works. Content marketers need to find a way to be highly engaging with a broad audience to try to get their messages onto the feed. Thus, the work of being an effective marketer becomes less about how much one can afford to pay to place their ads, and more about how relevant they can be to individual users. 

What Does Google Rankbrain Look Like in 2022? 

The algorithm that powers Google rankings is changed roughly 500 to 600 per year! The constantly tweaks are meant to keep the search results that one discovers on Google as relevant as ever. They are also meant to prevent people from gaming the system in order to promote subpar content. Thus, it is important to consider the Google Rankbrain algorithm when thinking about content marketing. 

It is virtually impossible to reach people effectively without a significant Google ranking for the topics that are relevant to your material. Therefore, all content marketers must think about the AI that powers Rankbrain and how it is constantly changing. For the most part, it all boils down to remaining relevant, timely, useful, and well linked to other pieces of information on the Internet. Those who accomplish all of that should find the results that they are looking for with their Google rankings. 

Content Automation is a Real Possibility 

While it is believed that human writers are a necessity into the future, it is also true that significant amounts of content may be automated. Many companies view AI writing as an excellent way to cut down on their marketing budgets and make significant progress on reducing overhead costs in general. Multiple companies have leapt at the opportunity to provide AI-powered content production services to their customers. A few examples operating in 2022 include: 

• Jarvis
• HustleClick
• WriterZen

Some of these companies specialize in specific aspects of content marketing. For example, HustleClick is best known for writing product descriptions that appear on Amazon and other online retail websites. However, they all pose a potential threat to the need for certain types of human writers in the future. Journalists and other writers are fearful that certain types of writing may become extinct, at least as far as humans doing the work is concerned. 

Creative Writing is Still in Demand

While there is cause for concern among some writers who spit out generic copy for a variety of websites, the threat to creative writers is far less intense. Creativity in writing is not something that any AI creator has figured out how to manufacture. Thus, those with a creative spirit to their writing can rest a little easier that they are unlikely to be replaced by robots anytime soon. 

Valuable content with real insights and real value to the reader will always remain in demand, and that is why AI writing is not necessarily the danger that some fear it could be. 

The post The Future of AI in Content Marketing appeared first on Verblio.

Let’s face it, you may have the best product and offer amazing services, but if people don’t know about your brand and its offerings, you’ll struggle to stay in business. A good product or service needs airtight marketing and advertising strategies to reach your target audience.

With 93% of online experiences beginning with a search engine and billions of people active on various social media sites, this is an excellent way to connect with others and grow your business. But let’s not forget that marketing and advertising are two standalone entities, with the latter being one aspect of the former. Simply put, marketing is the overall, sustainable approach to promoting your brand to prospects. At the same time, advertising is usually a short-term form of paid messaging intended to drive leads into sales.

So the big question is, how do you make marketing and advertising work together to boost your bottom line? The answer lies in understanding what each does for your company and how you can combine them to create a more effective strategy.

Marketing and Advertising: What They Do For You

When combining marketing and advertising, the first thing to understand is that both serve different purposes. While some companies use them interchangeably, the two have distinct differences.

• Advertising is typically used to attract new customers and increase awareness of a particular brand. It includes any type of message designed to draw attention to a specific product or service.
• Marketing, on the other hand, is the process of communicating information about a company’s products and services to existing and potential clients. This could include anything from print ads to showrooms to customer relationships.

While these definitions sound simple enough, they go much deeper than just describing their purpose. In reality, many businesses often use marketing and advertising interchangeably because they share similar goals. However, important distinctions between the two should be understood before combining them.

Tips on How to Combine Marketing and Advertising to Boost Your Revenue

When working together, marketing and advertising can help each other achieve the common objective – boosting your company’s bottom line. Here are five surefire tips on how to combine the two entities to get the most out of your marketing and advertising campaigns:

1. Know Your Audience

Before launching a campaign, you must identify who you’re trying to reach. For example, if you sell cars, you should focus on car buyers. Similarly, if you’re selling real estate, you’ll need to find those interested in buying homes.

Once you’ve identified your target market, you can tailor your marketing and advertising strategy accordingly. For example, you can leverage social media to share information about your products and services with your target audience. But at the same time, you can purchase ad space on your preferred social platform to target a specific demographic. That way, users can access valuable information about your offerings, potentially influencing their purchase decision.

2. Focus on the Right Media Platforms

Once you’ve determined your audience, you must decide which platforms will be best suited to reach them. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are great places to start. These platforms allow you to easily communicate directly with consumers and build relationships with them.

But while social media may be an excellent start, it’s not the only option. To reach a wider audience, consider purchasing ad space on popular search engines such as Google and Bing. By doing so, you can gain exposure for your business without having to pay for every click. Of course, you should combine paid advertising with other long-term, overly rewarding tactics like SEO, content creation, blogging, etc.

3. Use Data Wisely

Data is one of the most powerful tools available to marketers and advertisers today. With data, you can track everything from what people are searching for online to where they spend their money. And when combined with analytics software, you can use this information to make informed decisions about your marketing efforts.

For example, let’s say you notice that your target audience spends more time browsing through mobile devices than desktop computers. This could mean your ads should appear on mobile apps instead of websites. Or perhaps you should create separate landing pages for mobile users. The possibilities are endless!

4. Be Creative

While using data to inform your marketing strategies is crucial, creativity is equally important. After all, no amount of data can replace a good idea or creative approach. So don’t limit yourself to traditional methods of advertising. Instead, try new things like video marketing, infographics, telemarketing, influencer marketing, etc.

You also want to creatively blend various marketing and advertising techniques to create a rewarding campaign. For instance, combining social media advertising with influencer marketing can increase brand awareness and drive traffic back to your website. You can also creatively blend guerilla marketing with print advertising by placing bold, clever brand activations on brochures or flyers and displaying them in high-traffic public areas to promote brand awareness.

5. Leverage SEO as a Middleground for Content and Paid Ads

SEO (search engine optimization) is another effective method for driving traffic to your website. It involves creating quality, optimized content that ranks well within search results. To achieve this milestone, you must use keywords effectively, optimize all images, write strong meta descriptions, provide a user-friendly design, and practice link building, among other SEO best practices. 

Whether it’s content for your website or paid advertising, applying SEO to your strategy means you’ll meet your audience’s exact needs while increasing visibility and generating leads. The reward? More sales and higher conversion rates.

How You Market and Advertise Matters

Marketing and advertising are two very different but complementary disciplines. They work together to help businesses grow and thrive. While each has its own set of challenges, there are ways to overcome these obstacles and succeed.

The key is to find the right balance between the two. To do so, you need to understand how marketing and advertising work, allowing you to identify opportunities and pitfalls. Once you have done so, you can implement an integrated marketing and advertising plan to ensure success.

Have you tried any of these tips? What worked and what didn’t? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

The post How Marketing and Advertising Work Together to Boost Your Revenue appeared first on Verblio.

To grow and sustain your law firm, you need new clients. Of course, they don’t fall from trees. Simply being a great lawyer is an excellent start, but not enough. When potential clients need legal help, they don’t have time to do the thorough research that might cause them to analyze their options and choose you. Like it or not, they will likely make their first call to the law office they recall or find first.

Translated to marketing terms, you need to make sure you’re the winner in top-of-mind awareness when the need for your services arises. Several tactics can help you get there, but none are more effective than a strategy focused on building digital impressions.

The Basics of Digital Impressions in Legal Marketing

As a lawyer, you know that first impressions matter. That’s true in every industry and should not come as a surprise. What’s less obvious, though, is how much of an impact repeated messages to your audience can make in your client generation efforts.

First, the basics: digital impressions are the number of times your message gets in front of your audience through social media channels like Facebook and Instagram. That’s different from the total audience number your ad might reach in that it doesn’t matter who sees your ad — the simple fact that your ad shows up is enough to count as an impression.

If a single potential client sees an ad of yours five times, that ad has generated five impressions. At the same time, if that same ad gets seen once by five different clients, that also counts as five impressions. But don’t be fooled by its simplicity: the elementary nature of impressions should not lead to discounting the importance of the metric.

Your audience sees thousands of ad messages every single day. How can you maximize your share of voice in that competitive environment? The answer likely revolves around these impressions, as long as their quality is high enough to build actual recall.

One final thing before we dive into the details of an impressions-focused legal marketing strategy: No two impressions are created equal. One might be completely forgettable, a simple link that your audience ignores. The other could be an immersive video that potential clients just can’t help but watch. Naturally, the latter almost always generates more success than the former.

What Do Impressions Mean For Your Law Firm?

All of the above basics sound simple but lead to a complex (and essential) underlying truth: Impressions are absolutely crucial to the success of any marketing campaign. The reason? Impressions tend to translate to much more than just exposure.

Studies have found that familiarity builds credibility almost by default. Meanwhile, it takes between 20 and 500 marketing touches to influence a consumer’s purchasing decision. That leads to two clear conclusions:

1. An ad that shows up once for your audience will not be enough to convince them to work with you.
2. Making sure your audience sees your law firm’s name and messaging on a regular basis can help you become a credible option once they seek legal help.

Combine these two conclusions, and you begin to realize what makes digital marketing — and social media marketing in particular — so valuable in the legal industry. By building impressions, and making sure those impressions are memorable, you can make sure your audience learns to know your name and expertise. Perhaps even more importantly, they learn to trust you to work on their legal questions and problems.

How Impressions Can Translate to More Clients

All of the above might still sound a bit abstract to anyone not familiar with digital marketing. We get it. We don’t pretend to be licensed lawyers, either. So, let’s make it a little more concrete. Impressions don’t just help you generate more awareness — impressions lead to actual clients.

How that happens can be explained through a five-step process:

1. Lots of impressions mean getting more eyes on your content.
2. Over time, those eyes will see your messages multiple times.
3. When they see your messages multiple times, they become intimately familiar with you.
4. Once they see your message across different digital channels, they begin to embrace that consistency.
5. When they need legal help, they begin their search with the firm they’re most familiar with at first glance — yours.

Put differently, if you manage to be everywhere your potential clients spend their time, everyone relevant to you will learn who you are. Once they do, they know to come to you with their legal problems.

In an ideal world, clients are rational. When they have a need, they do thorough research to find the best possible lawyer for that need. Unfortunately, we know that’s not the case in the real world. People are inherently irrational, and even those willing to do the research might not have the time if they need help quickly.

That’s a major reason why impressions are so crucial to gaining new cases. They give you exposure, translate that exposure to credibility, and make sure you’re top of mind when the need arises. How you get impressions, of course, deserves significant consideration and explanation.

Building a Strong Marketing Campaign Focused on Impressions

We know impressions matter and that they can make a real impact on growing your caseload and law firm. So let’s talk more about the natural follow-up: How do you build a campaign that generates those impressions?

Choose your channels wisely

Social media, with its 244 million users in the United States alone, is a natural fit for a variety of reasons:

• For one, social ads are like digital billboards, an effective vehicle to get your message out on a broad scale.
• Social ads can be targeted very specifically, allowing you to limit your ad exposure (and spend) with variables like age, location, demographics, interests, and income level.
• Also, social media allows for interactive and visual possibilities to engage your audience and ensure they won’t just look away.
• Social media is inherently measurable, allowing you to see not just how often your ads were seen but who saw them, and what actions they took as a result.
• And, social media is by far the most cost-effective advertising tool available, requiring a much lower budget than TV or billboards.

Build your messaging

Remember that impressions only matter if the message that it delivers actually resonates with your audience. On social media, a few tips can help you make sure that your message truly breaks through:

• Focus on video, which is by far the most effective type of content on social media.
• Adjust your formatting based on the channel, from square ads for Instagram to cinematic ads on LinkedIn.
• Vary your messaging, avoiding identical impressions over time but making sure that your audience gets a deeper insight into your law firm.
• Make sure your ads are just as powerful silent, as 85% of Facebook videos are watched without sound.
• Include some 6-second video ads, which generate more attention per second than their 30-second relatives.
• Know your audience pain points to make sure you can answer them through your ads.

Execute the strategy

Every successful social media marketing strategy, in the legal industry or otherwise, needs to include a few core components:

• Space out your content, making sure your audience isn’t bombarded with a few messages before getting radio silence.
• Build specific marketing goals, such as the number of impressions, that can help you track your success over time.
• Set up the right targeting to ensure your budget is spent as efficiently as possible.
• Include regular benchmarks that allow you to check in on your ads, evaluate their performance, and make adjustments where necessary.
• Build potential paths from impressions to conversions to make sure your campaign is actually leading to new cases over time.

Are You Ready to Leverage the Power of Social Media Marketing?

To survive in today’s competitive legal environment, you have to make sure your audience knows about you. Social media marketing might just be the most effective channel to help you get there. And, given its rising importance in the world, it should play a major role in your efforts to attract, convince, and convert new clients.

Of course, all of the above is complex. It might even require the help of a marketing expert. You’re a qualified lawyer, but you can’t be expected to be just as proficient in attracting new clients through marketing channels. That’s where we come in.

In fact, our digital marketing service is designed for law firms and business operations like yours. We can help you build the right video messages and distribute those messages through a multi-channel digital campaign. Together, we can make sure your law firm gets the quality impressions it needs to build its client base and caseload. The program is currently by invitation only, so inquire into availability for your law firm today!

The post How Digital Impressions Can Translate to New Cases appeared first on Verblio.

We see it every day. Nearly everyone we work with tells us horror stories about prior agency partners. We try to take these stories to heart and learn from them, which is why some of our clients have stuck around for a decade.

That’s not the norm. According to the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA), the average client-agency relationship lasts less than three years. The number itself, and that it comes from the agency side, should tell you something.

When that happens, it’s time to cut the cord. You don’t want to spend any more time than necessary with an agency that doesn’t actually help you grow your business. So let’s get to it: what factors should you consider in verifying your suspicions that it’s time to move on from your current partner?

These six signs signify it’s time to leave your marketing agency and find a new partner instead.

1. A Pricing-Service Disconnect

We all fall victim sometimes to prices that are just too good to be true. That’s as natural as it can be devastating. If you chose your partner based on price alone, you’ll probably start to see signs that explain just why the fees were so low to begin with.

First, the problem of unrealistic expectations. Do you want your agency to be a strategic marketing partner? Many say that they are, but few actually follow through. Sub-par plan development and even advertising copy bring reality to light over time.

You’re also paying for the quality of talent your agency can hire. Low costs might mean supporting an infrastructure with not enough professionals included, meaning that the agency executes too slowly to get to market with relevant strategies in time. They might not support the professional development of their talent, meaning that they’re not up-to-date with current digital marketing strategies and tactics. Or the talent might just not be good enough to deliver quality work.

Yes, the budget-conscious side of you appreciates the monthly invoices that come in below others. But what are you really paying for? The quality of work and ability to provide a complete strategic marketing partnership need to be there as well. If it isn’t, it’s probably time to move on.

2. Your Agency Doesn’t Understand Your Business

I can’t begin to emphasize just how important this part truly is. In all aspects, not just marketing, you need external partners who understand your business. If they don’t, and don’t show the ability or willingness to learn about it, look for someone else who does.

Remember that this is a partnership. No marketing partner will know as much about your business as you or someone on your team does. That doesn’t mean they cannot attempt to come close.

The importance of this statement goes beyond your primary account executive. Ask yourself: does the entire agency team working on your account, from the copywriters and designers to the media buying team, actually know what your business objectives and larger strategy are? And if they don’t, how are they supposed to build projects and run initiatives designed to support these objectives?

At the very least, look for a willingness to learn. An agency that doesn’t actually want to come out and tour your business to learn more despite close physical proximity presents problems. The lack of strategy sessions with the entire agency team on your account involved is another red flag.

3. The Partnership Lacks in Accountability

How does your agency actually measure success? And do they do it at all? You’d be surprised how many potential clients I talk to that don’t have clear answer for this, simply because their marketing partner never emphasized it. That’s a huge red flag.

You’re probably paying your agency a significant chunk of your marketing budget. The least you can expect in return is accountability on how the work they do for you is actually performing, and helping your business. Without goal-setting and KPI tracking, you’re bound to be in trouble eventually.

This lack of accountability is probably the biggest reason why client/agency relationships fail. If you don’t know how your time and effort is performing, why stick with them? It’s why lofty articles about the “agency of the future” always include this as a key factor for success.

Be especially suspicious of reports that focus on vanity metrics instead of conversions and actual ROI. Nobody cares if your latest ad or piece of content reached 20,000 people if none of them took action. Focusing on these types of metrics means your agency doesn’t have to test their strategies, or engage in effective segmenting to improve results. In other words, there is no motivation for improvement, and it’s time for you to leave.

4. The Billing System Is Not Transparent

You probably get an invoice from your agency every month. What does that invoice actually look like? Can you easily glean from it what services were performed, and how these services affect and deepen the partnership? And do you even receive it regularly for better planning?

I’m always shocked how many agencies don’t engage in best practices that should be standard for billing. The cycle is not what you make it to be, but what the client expects for better planning. The fees should be clearly distinguishable from creative work and media placements. It’s not that difficult.

And yet, too often, that transparency simply doesn’t exist. Instead, you end up with an invoice that simply asks you to pay a lump sum, with little indication of where that money was spent. How are you supposed to glean ROI from that type of system?

Agencies that don’t prioritize transparency in billing fall into one of two categories: they have something to hide, or they don’t prioritize the financial aspect of the relationship enough. The first is an obvious reason to run. The second should at least make you worry that they’re good stewards of your marketing budget.

5. You Cannot Access Your Own Data

Your data is yours. That’s worth emphasizing. Any agency that disagrees is worth at least a debate over whether you should cut the cord. You need to own your own data, because the agency might change—but the need for marketing will always be there.

That means any inability to access your own data or information is a huge red flag. Yes, your partner may run your AdWords account or Content Management System. But you need to be able to get in there and draw anything you need from it for your own purposes.

That truth extends to your creative needs. You have paid for your creative, including ad copy, images, and more. They might have created it, but it should be yours to keep. The same holds true for your domain, analytics account, social media run through your agency, and anything else they might have created or optimized on your behalf.

The question of data ownership remains an unsolved problem for many client/agency relationships. It shouldn’t be. You have a right to it, and any partner that disagrees is worth questioning further.

6. It’s Not a True, Equal Partnership

Does your marketing agency simply execute what you throw in front of them, or are they actually partnering with you to improve your marketing efforts? It’s a complex question that doesn’t always seem easy to answer. If you cannot answer positively, though, question whether the relationship is worth continuing.

There are a few signs you can use to see whether you’re truly in a professional partnership. Ask yourself:

• Does your agency push back on your bad ideas?
• Is your agency interested in building new strategy with you?
• Does your agency come to you with new ideas for tactics you might not have considered?
• Does your agency want a seat at the table for larger business discussions?

Answering no to all of these invites problems in the future. You’ve found yourself an executioner who relies on you exclusively for directions and strategy. Given that you’re supposed to be working with marketing experts, that’s a problem worth questioning the future of the relationship.

Is every agency relationship doomed immediately?

I’ll admit that the above paints a gloomy picture. Too often, marketing agencies hope to coast by on clients that pay good money without actually questioning expertise or strategic direction. Of course, that doesn’t mean any relationship with a marketing partner is doomed from the start.

In reality, quite the opposite is true. You can find the right partner, if you know what to look for. That means clear expectations from the start, transparency in how the work will be laid out, and good communication that provides constant info and forms a personal relationship while still respecting everyone’s time. You need someone who advocates for you, not someone just looking for the next invoice.

Modern marketing is more than just advertising or media buying. It needs to be a strategic partnership that builds business continuity and influences other parts of your business and its key objectives. Being nimble is a key part of that effort. So is mutual data transparency, which helps both parties learn what they need to in order to drive the business forward.

Yes, your marketing partners need to be marketing experts. They also need to feel personally invested in your business. When they are not, it might be time for a new agency. To truly grow your business, you need a strategic partner who wants to succeed in that effort as much as you do.

The post 6 Signs It’s Time to Leave Your Marketing Agency appeared first on Verblio.

Currently, 89 percent of our population is online, 87 percent of Western Europe follows, and the global average is at 51 percent. The fact is that everything is becoming digitalized. In the same way and for the same reason that mega-institutes like AT&T have to keep up with trends in advertising, mom and pop stores must face the challenges and opportunities that come with digital marketing, as well. The world of marketing today has grown from television and print ads to technological trends that include the use of:

Social Media – For more than five years, marketing experts have concluded that social media makes up a critical part of their strategies. To prove how important social media is to marketing, note that 3.4 billion people are active social media participants.

Chatbots – Combining text, voice and messaging, chatbots converse directly with customers. The success of this technology is due to the need for quick and accurate information. Chat features also collect data about consumers so that interaction with customers improves.

Voice Search – Today’s hurried world is depending more and more on voice search and voice commands. Voice assistance is expected to grow by 128.9 percent during 2018.

Blockchain and AI Technologies – Blockchain/AI actions can track whether consumers who click on a business’ ads are real and can trace the location of their ads.

Influencer Marketing – Business owners who can find a real person, especially a well-known individual, to share what they like about their brand, can experience a huge difference in sales.

Content – Content is still king. Nearly every business in existence uses insightful, relevant, and entertaining content to add value to their overall brand.

Content marketing is a strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.

Top Advertisement Campaigns of 2018

Measuring a marketing campaign’s success is sometimes a matter of personal taste; the amount of revenue received because of the advertisement; its creativity factor, or the look of the marketing package. But, across the board, the ads that follow were favorites of a majority of consumers.

1. Lenovo

The Lenovo YOGA 3 Pro and the YOGA Tablet Pro were introduced to the public via several trendsetting millennial influencers, like blogger Kileen (Cute and Little). The stories shared by this group of creatives resulted in a compilation placed into a Trend Hub that also included entries for a Lenovo product giveaway. The ad trended at no. 8 on Twitter, received 51 million social impressions, and garnered 61 thousand giveaway entries.

This campaign made use of influencer marketing, social media, and exceptional content. Most notable was the creative edge used to draw consumers in through the use of a giveaway, smart influencers, and content that was magnetic.

2. IHOP

This year IHOP, arguably one of the most recognized names in the food industry, announced it was changing its name to IHOb, yes, lower case “b.” Because it was introducing a line of burgers, the company said the name change was necessary. Disagreement with this move by IHOP brought the food chain 948,750 conversions. The simple trick also quadrupled its sales.

The changing of the chain’s name, of course, was not going to occur, but customers made it clear on social media, that such a ridiculously horrible change would not take place on their watch.

3. Intuit

This accounting, tax preparation, and financial software company aired a commercial seen during the  2017 Super Bowl to bring all its brands together into one big package. The idea was to convince customers that Intuit products are made to use as a consolidated group. Through the use of animation, the commercial featured a Snapchat filter starring the animated Intuit Giant who starred in the video. The campaign continued into 2018, along with added digital channels and executions.

The target audience for the ad came clear in this quote from the chief marketer of Intuit:

There are 750 million people who work for themselves around the world who juggle managing their finances while pursuing their passions. With today’s economy, and the pressures of managing time and money, sometimes it can seem like the odds are stacked against them. But Intuit exists to work for them.

4. American Express

Online conversations and communities that create inherent value to users are few and far between. But American Express rose to the occasion and created its Open Forum website for small businesses. This collaborative site invites authors from various sectors of the business world to share knowledge and wisdom. The forum is a content-rich mecca, and the expenditure for American Express was nothing.

This mega-company is not creating its content; it’s finding industry leaders who will contribute expert articles on their forum site. Small businesses can draw on user-generated sources in the same way American Express has. Financial investment is low or nonexistent, while a business’s online presence grows.

5. Arby’s

This year, Arby’s switched from serving Pepsi products to Coke. In doing so, it broke two Guinness World records. One of these record-breakers was the world’s most prominent signs, located in Nebraska farmland and covering 212,000 square feet. The sign read, “Arby’s now has Coke.”

The other was the smallest sign in the world carved onto a sesame seed from an Arby’s bun. The wording was the same for this tiny sign. The move toward discarding Pepsi products was not globally approved, but the company hoped the two signs would “win the remaining naysayers over.” CMO Jim Taylor said the company was merely trying to communicate a simple message in a one-of-a-kind manner.

Breaking two Guinness records at one time is interesting enough to get Arby’s name in front of a multitude of consumers. The change to Coke products is also of great interest to fast-food fans. This campaign was a shoo-in head-turner.

6. LinkedIn

This professional networking brand created a social media campaign focusing on its capabilities. The tagline was “What are you in it for?” Using the answers to that question they received from members, the company created a video ad campaign that featured professionals in myriad fields of endeavor. The main takeaway was that individuals could find their community on LinkedIn.

Incorporating User Generated Content (USG) can foster loyalty to your brand and create authenticity by allowing customers to brag about your business, instead of doing so yourself. LinkedIn wanted to establish that members are “in it together.”

7. IKEA

“Oddly IKEA” was the name of the store’s highly-visited back-to-school college dorm series. The campaign was made up of a series of 25-minute autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) videos. ASMR, when added to a video, results in deeply relaxing, sometimes mesmerizing reactions from the audience. Additional videos of shorter lengths existed, as well.

In the videos, IKEA’s products were on display, but viewers also found themselves chilling out and feeling soothed. The idea was to foster that tingly sensation for consumers that is sometimes triggered by soft whispering or ambient sounds. The campaign, created to highlight college dorm decor, also gave viewers a few minutes of Danish hygge.

8. Kentucky Fried Chicken

KFC wanted to get the news out about their new fried chicken and Belgian Liege-style waffles offering. The company did so with a little Dirty Dancing. The commercial makes fun of the iconic dance scene in the Dirty Dancing film starring Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. Colonel Sanders raises a life-size bottle of Mrs. Butterworth’s syrup over his head with arms extended.

Websites and ad agencies favorited this marketing campaign in large part because of its creativity. Humor grabs consumers’ attention. Digitalization provides numerous avenues for slipping a bit of laughter into a marketing idea. This type of ad not only becomes part of pop culture, and is a result of pop culture, but also results in multitudinous word-of-mouth interactions and recommendations.

9. Doritos #Spitfire and MTNDEW #IceCold

This hashtag ad campaign was a joint effort. The Mountain Dew Ice Corporation and the Doritos Company battled it out in face-to-face lip synch war between Morgan Freeman and Peter Dinklage. Both companies were setting up what they hoped would be a viral avalanche. The ad did not make it all the way to viral stardom but did get people talking, which is always a plus.

The Mountain Dew and Doritos ad is a fantastic example of the many ways digital advertising can get people talking about your SMB. The choices of how to make this happen are limitless.

The Bottom Line

Digital marketing assists in discovering a specific audience. It allows businesses to advertise locally through hyperlocal targeting. SMBs can readily access tools that make their advertising mobile. Companies are turning to digital marketing to increase awareness of their brand; influence buyers’ purchasing processes; increase leads; close new customers and nurture existing customers.

Because digital advertising is accessible, affordable, and powerful, you can test the waters by using digital assistants and marketing apps. Or you can find a marketing agency that will work with you to find a budget you can manage and a plan that fits your exact needs and goals.

The post Top Ad Campaigns of 2018 appeared first on Verblio.

I have found that posts of this level are great for simple safety tips, which make them great for personal injury lawyers. For my sample post, I found a recent bicycle accident in Salt Lake City and offered bike safety tips.

Read on: Bicycle Safety Tips From A Salt Lake City Attorney

600+ words:

For a post of this length, I can go into a little more detail. I will generally try to include more links to laws or other authoritative sources. For example, in the post about child custody in Massachusetts, I provided links to the Massachusetts legislature, allowing readers to see the exact wording of the laws.

Read on: Understanding Child Custody In Massachusetts

1,000+ words:

I think this is the perfect level for deeper topics, particularly those that may be not well understood by the average client. I chose to focus on brain injuries because I felt these are injuries those seeking the services of a personal injury attorney may have experienced.

Read on: Understanding Common Brain Injury Symptoms

1,500+ words:

These longest posts go into greater depth on a topic than the other posts. For my post, I looked at some misconceptions about domestic violence and offered some basic advice for those trying to get away from an abusive relationship. Because many potential law firm clients come to the site looking for quick information, these posts might not be something a law firm would use every week. They may want to buy shorter posts on a weekly basis and one 1,500+ word or 2,000+ word post each month. I think they would work well for a firm that has lawyers that focus on different types of law. One month could be a personal injury post, the next month might be divorce advice, and a third month might focus on DUI advice. After several months, they would have in-depth posts on several areas of focus.

Read on: Domestic Violence – Understanding Misconceptions & What You Can Do

Takeaway

In my experience, the two shorter length posts work well for small law firms that want to appear approachable and friendly. Customers can scan the posts quickly and see that this is someone who’s knowledgeable they would trust to handle their case. The two longer post lengths are great for law firms that want to demonstrate their thought leadership and expertise.

While neither approach is wrong, determining the tone of your blog can help you determine which length is best for you.

The post Picking the Right Post Length for Your Law Firm appeared first on Verblio.

Whether you’re a B2B or B2C business, you want to reach out to your markets on both an emotional and a pragmatic level, and you need your audience to feel confident in your brand’s ability to address their needs. Your online presence may be the first impression your company makes on your prospects.

Is your content barking up the wrong tree? It could be if your brand doesn’t have a consistent and distinct “voice” for your online brand identity, shaped to appeal to your ideal demographic.

Voice vs. Tone

Think of voice as an expression of your brand’s core personality. Blog posts, landing page content, and video scripts should appear to spring from the consciousness of a single character, whether that character is representing an individual, a small business, or a large corporation.

Tone is how your brand’s character articulates your message appropriately to the topic at hand.

For example, an insurance broker might use a lighthearted approach when writing about his RV policies, but he’ll shift gears when he’s stressing the importance of supplemental critical illness insurance. In both cases, however, the “voice” representing the agent remains consistent.

Modeling Your Character Profile

You don’t have to go through a harrowing life experience to develop character. What you do need to do is sit down, close your eyes, and visualize the personality you’d like to represent your brand’s persona as it “meets” your audience. As we mentioned, your digital communications are likely the first point of contact between your brand and your potential customers, and image is everything.

Let’s take a look at four types of voice, painted in broad strokes:

1. Authoritarian Elite

Certain industries maintain an austere, formal voice to convey respect, responsibility, and decorum. Imagine a silver-haired gentleman in a five-thousand-dollar custom suit. He’s providing an overview of recommended mutual funds. You, as the person sitting across the expansive wooden desk from this somewhat intimidating presence, might be a little bored and overwhelmed, but you trust that he’s been around the block and has forgotten more than you’ll ever know about investing.

He “speaks” with sophisticated words, and he rarely uses contractions. “We built the foundation upon which this nation’s prosperity flourished. We are rather fond of reminding everyone of our significance.” His firm’s website content is populated with dry, authoritative analyses of current market trends and predictions, with complicated bar graphs and pie charts.

If you can prove you are responsible, intelligent, and worthy, you may be in a position to deserve (or have earned) our esteemed services.

This attitude works for those shopping for high-end luxury items, B2B executives, and other audiences who feel their choices bolster their own positions as authoritative figures.

Chances are, this fellow’s tone doesn’t waver much, and he wears suits whether he’s attending a board meeting or… wait. We can’t picture him doing anything but espousing his financial expertise, unless perhaps you catch him on the links at his Connecticut country club with a corporate client and one or two of his business partners.

Just as investment firms adapt to economic conditions and investing trends, these authoritarian brands may make slight changes in the way they appeal to their evolving markets, but their language and voice will always remain reserved.

2. The Insider’s Opinion

Have you ever had an industry “inside man”? Perhaps it was an old college buddy, an aunt, or a family friend. You’re about to make a major decision, and you don’t want to be fleeced, so you seek this trusted person’s advice. “Knowing what you know from that side of the desk, what would you do?” you ask.

Brands using this approach convey authority tempered with familiarity. You trust them to guide you through the task at hand with the same consideration they’d give their own dear mother.

I could charge you full price, but then your Aunt Cloe would make me sit at the kid’s table next Christmas. Ha ha! No, seriously. I’ve never been one to take advantage of a bad situation. Let me take a look at your car, and give you some pointers so you can avoid getting ripped off in the future.

This voice is intimate. It’s almost a one-on-one conversation capitalizing on the “I want to believe in the good of humanity” ideal. You might as well embed this soundtrack on your site.

This tactic has kept The Shane Co. in business for nearly five decades. Their tagline “Now you have a friend in the diamond business” is reflected in their online content, and many of us grew up hearing Tom Shane read his authentic-sounding ad copy in radio spots. We trust “Uncle Tom” and his family’s humble dynasty. After all, he’s taught us how to pick the best stones and how to get the best value. He’s told us how the big shots in the industry operate, and why he’s looking out for our best interests. Now that his son has taken up the torch, we’re more likely to assume Rordan Shane maintains the same values.

3. Millennial Speak

Companies targeting this demographic should focus on easy-to-consume, responsive, “on the go” content created in an inclusive voice. (“Amirite?”). But watch out: They’re repelled by trite overtures, especially awkward attempts at millennial vernacular.

They value social consciousness, so occasional blog posts and company mission statements espousing outreach projects and sustainable practices go a long way.

Millennials respond well to a casual voice representing a slightly older, more experienced peer. Someone they’d hang out with at a wine bar, who’s sharing their own experiences rather than “talking down” to them.

If you’re like us, we really think you’ll 100% like X.

You’re part of our crew, right?

Keep things casual, and be subtle with your authoritative approach. Feel free to use “we’re in this together, come with me!” language, using the first-person perspective to validate your audience’s pain points and offer a solution on which they can act as soon as possible. This approach works just as well with blog content as it does with product landing pages.

Here’s an example of content crafted to address the average millennial’s pain points:

“You’ve purchased a pair of jeans from your favorite local shop, only to find out they’re made from unsustainable cotton and sewn by underpaid and exploited workers. 

We’d return them, too. Because like you, we care about how we source our products, and we’re committed to giving back. You can feel good about wearing our fair-trade Green Scene Jeans because for every ten pairs we sell, we donate one pair—or the equivalent retail value—to your choice of these organizations:

• Sad Panda Foundation
• Pantsless Refugee Outreach 
• Global Studies for Sustainable Agriculture

This week, we’re spotlighting Pantsless Refugee Outreach, so you can see how you’re helping us make a difference…”

Millennial brand loyalty is fickle. Members of the largest generation are experience-oriented and easily turned off by companies who break their trust

Contrary to the stereotype, millennials don’t have short attention spans. They’re wired to skim through content to identify the information they want. In response, your “character” shouldn’t be long-winded. Get to the point, be accurate, and be genuine.  Keep your headlines true to your content; this generation hates being tricked. Break up your content into subheaders, bullet-points, and text “call-outs” to avoid the “Too Long; Didn’t Read” (TL;DR) response that triggers your audience to move on to the next article.

Down-to-earth, “real life” stories help this demographic identify with your brand and envision the “what if” consequences of not heeding your call-to-action.

4. The Mainstream Appeal

If you’re trying to reach a general audience, your voice should more closely match that created for the Millennial segment. As with the Authoritarian Elite persona, you want a “follow the leader” attitude, but your mainstream audience is more concerned with value, convenience, and consistency than it is with novelty, luxury, or sustainability.

“You should buy X, because it’s the best-selling—and best value—in its category. And because you think I’ve got my act together, and I’m a solid role model. Do as I suggest, and everything will be okay!”

This voice speaks from a more authoritative position than that addressing millennials but with less sophisticated language.

This voice usually comes from a warm but socially or experientially elevated position. Take a look at Oprah Winfrey’s website content and the products she endorses. We all know that she can buy anything she wants, but, thanks to her shopping tips, we feel we have a chance to emulate a certain lifestyle.

Humor and lightheartedness work well for broader audiences, as long as the jokes aren’t too esoteric. A shared laugh is a great bonding experience (Hey, look! I get your joke!) and quirky, fun content makes your brand seem approachable and friendly.

Laying the Ground Rules for Content Continuity

Establishing your brand voice keeps your marketing consistent no matter where you’re reaching your audience. They know what to expect when they read your content or visit your website, and, over time, that familiarity breeds trust, drives engagement, and produces sales.

Not sure what your existing brand voice is, or if you even have one? Our team of marketing experts can help. Schedule a consultation with us today to get started crafting a one-of-a-kind voice that will speak directly to your target audience.

The post Is Your Brand Voice Off-Key…and Off the Mark? appeared first on Verblio.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer volume of social media platforms. Which ones are right for your business? One solution is to research your various social media options and then hone in on the top two or three that make the most sense for your brand.

We put together this post to give you an overview of your social media options, along with drawbacks and benefits of each.

1. Facebook

Facebook remains the largest social media platform, and many businesses have gained great value from using it. However, a lot of those businesses have discovered that starting in 2014, Facebook has regularly changed their algorithm to drive down organic reach and drive up paid reach.

There are still ways to grow your Facebook audience organically, but reaching the right audience and getting them to engage is unpredictable at best. Having a Facebook page (just like having a frequently updated website) is useful for showing that you’re current and active, but for now, Facebook’s algorithm is one of the reasons many businesses are focusing on building value on their own websites, as well as branching out to other social media platforms.

2. Twitter

The second-largest social media platform, Twitter’s 140 character limit creates unique opportunities for businesses to manage their information in a fast-paced environment without the constraints of a search algorithm filtering out results. Twitter users can instead filter their own results through hashtag searches, lists, and chats.

The chat function is very important for businesses who desire to increase their marketing and brand value on Twitter. In a Twitter chat, a brand’s account poses questions related to your business and industry and an expert gives their opinion on each question, but anyone on Twitter can join by using the chat’s hashtag and posting their own answers or responses to answers.

Twitter’s market includes many journalists, marketers, and online businesses, as well as a hugely diverse group of consumers. To use Twitter well, businesses need to focus on the fast-paced lead generation without losing sight of the fact that there is a real person behind each profile: treat them as you would in person.

3. Google+

Among all the major social media platforms, Google+ functions the most like a CRM (customer relationship management) platform. With full communication integration through Gmail, Hangouts, and Google Talk, Google+ often functions less as a social media site and more of an interactive business management system.

With Google Drive and Photos integrated into the Google system as well, businesses can use it as a collaborative tool. While the social media aspects of Google+, profile pages, and sharing, are incredibly valuable (especially for search ranking, and especially if you’re a small local business like a restaurant), many businesses use Google+ for more than just marketing.

4. LinkedIn

If you do not know and use LinkedIn, you are sorely missing out. LinkedIn is a networking site specifically for businesses and professionals. Networking on LinkedIn is designed to establish you as a thought leader in your industry and connect you with other businesses. This is essential for building trust and relationships with businesses and customers: you build trust, and they will come to you for help, for more information, and when your business can potentially fulfill their need.

5. Pinterest

For anyone with friends and family in the do-it-yourself crowd, Pinterest is a well-known platform. Pinterest is a site for sharing pictures and other media via “pins” to “boards.” This gives businesses and individuals the ability to create valuable infographics, advertisements, and how-to pictures.

These pins bring value and worth to your entire community and create essential momentum in building trust and communication. Pinterest users are 68% women, so this site is great marketing for businesses who desire to reach out to tech-savvy and artistic women, as well as any business owners in a visually-oriented industry.

6. Instagram

Pinterest and Instagram seem similar on the surface, but they differ in function. Instagram is designed for users to post photos, and now short videos and “stories“. Instagram was founded in 2010 and now has 700 million monthly users, and does a great job of attracting millennials. Instagram is driven by mobile photography, and is a great way to supplement your mobile marketing on other sites. With “official” photos combined with candid shots at the office, you can build your brand visually while creating powerful value and trust with your audience.

7. YouTube

Videos are a powerful platform for delivering information, building relationships, and creating emotional connections with your target audience. YouTube is a great platform for managing webinars, posting instructional videos, and providing value for your customers. Webinars are one of the most important parts of YouTube information management.

While hosted on their own site instead of YouTube, Moz’s Whiteboard Friday videos are excellent examples of using the video medium to engage your customers effectively.

8. Blogging

While many people do not think of a blog as a social media platform, blogs are designed to manage social interactions between a brand, individual, or company and their target audience. A well-designed and consistently updated blog is a place where you can drive traffic from all your other social media platforms without losing control of your content, presentation, and user access to specific information like CTAs and infographics.

By taking advantage of commenting on your blog, you can further turn your blog into a social media content driving engine: build relationships, create dialogue, and provide value for your prospects. Additionally, your business’s blog can be structured to integrate with audio/visual platforms for a full multi-media experience.

Key Things to Keep in Mind

Each of these platforms comes with its own unique quirks, but they all share a common goal of helping you better engage your prospective and current customers with relevant content.

Whichever social media platforms you choose to focus on, it’s important to keep these points in mind:

• It is easy to get overwhelmed with the sheer volume of information online and start treating people as numbers. Always remember that the social media users who interact with your brand online are real people. Spam, aggressive sales pitches, and offering content with little to no value all detract from an authentic social marketing campaign that actually resonates with people.
• Graphics sell information. There is a reason George Takei has over 8 million fans on Facebook and is a larger brand on the internet at 78 than many younger celebrities. He delivers hilarious, thought-provoking pictures and memes to all his fans regularly. If you want users to interact with your brand online, and share your posts, use graphics.
• Any site worth building your brand on is worth regular posting. Multiple posts a day get your information in front of users regardless of time zone and preferred social media use (at work or at home in the evenings). There are great tools for scheduling multiple posts to publish throughout the week, like Hootsuite, Sprout Social, MeetEdgar, and Buffer, so that social media management doesn’t become a distraction throughout the day.

In the course of marketing your business, there are many things to learn and ongoing changes on each platform that will affect your business. Using the various social media platforms effectively has the potential to drive plenty of traffic to your business, but there’s a definite learning curve when it comes to differentiating all those platforms and tailoring niche content to each one (if appropriate).

With so much to learn, it makes sense to outsource your marketing and content generation to a professional marketer. Rather than navigating the confusing field of social marketing all alone, contact us for your free business social marketing analysis today.

The post 8 Social Media Platforms: Who Should Use Them & How appeared first on Verblio.

Ugh.

The number of marketing types grows by the day and is enough to make the most seasoned marketer’s head spin. For small business owners who are bogged down with the everyday operations of running a company, wading through the marketing mire is impossible.

You know you should be doing some kind of digital marketing. After all, by 2019 mobile advertising will represent 72% of all U.S. digital ad spending, and 74% of consumers already use social media to make purchasing decisions.

How can you get started on your digital marketing strategy? Influencer marketing is a great place to start. The strategy is simple, and often requires very little time and monetary investment but has a huge potential ROI.

Consider this. 92% of people trust recommendations from individuals, even if they do not know them, over brands. Influencer marketing leverages that consumer behavior. Here’s how it works.

What is influencer marketing?Influencer marketing uses key “influencers” to drive your brand’s message to a larger market. The concept isn’t new. Advertisers have been using celebrities to influence consumers since the dawn of marketing. However, the emergence of social media has leveled the playing field. Companies no longer need to pay millions to get a celebrity to endorse their products. Now, anyone with internet access can have a voice, and become an influencer. Instead of marketing directly to your customers, you hire or inspire influencers to reach them for you.

Social media is full of common people who now have thousands of followers, simply because they are entertaining, informative, or have developed a reputation as a trusted advisor in a particular area. For example, an average health enthusiast may create her own blog that includes recipes, exercises, and tips. She promotes the blog via Instagram and Facebook, eventually accumulating thousands of followers. Makers of organic food products, vitamins or even large corporations like Dole might seek out this influencer to promote their products, or simply post that she’s using them.

It’s no surprise that 81% of marketers view influencer marketing as effective.

How much potential ROI can influencer marketing bring in?

Just how effective can influencer marketing be? To illustrate, let’s take a look at success from the influencer’s point of view. Here are a few social media rockstars featured by Marie Claire last year.

Arielle Charnas launched her fashion blog, Something Navy, in 2009. According to her, “Everything changed for me once Instagram launched, followed by Snapchat.” She now has over a million followers and recently landed a spot in a Tresemmé commercial.

Other success stories include Los Angeles blogger and creator of The Blonde Salad Chiara Ferragni. At 6.2 million followers, Ferragni has more influence than many movie stars.

Similarly, interior designer Aimee Song boasts 2 million page views a month.

More and more big brands are choosing these self-made social media stars over celebrities. Why? Because consumers trust their opinions. One study found that social media influencers now have as much influence as a neighbor or friend. Forty percent of respondents said they have purchased an item online after seeing it used by an influencer, and 20 percent said they have shared something they saw from an influencer.

So, products are not only seen by the influencer’s followers but their followers’ followers as well. The potential is exponential. That’s why Twitter VP of Market Research and Insights Jeffrey Graham calls influencers “an ROI machine“.

How to pick the right influencers

While big-name corporations are using influencer marketing and paying big bucks for it, there’s no reason small businesses can’t reap some of the rewards at a fraction of the cost. The first step is to pick the right influencers. Who best engages your target audience? Who is trending in your industry on Twitter? Who has the most Facebook and Instagram followers? Look at blogs in your industry. Who are your competitors using? Influencer marketing for small business can be as large-scale as getting a globally-recognized name with thousands of followers or a local industry leader that can help you reach more people in your region.

Here’s a small-scale example. Imagine a local health foods store wants to reach more customers in its region. The store manager may look for health food bloggers, personal trainers or other trusted advisors in the health and fitness sector. A good place to start would be the health food store’s social media accounts. It’s likely they already have a health enthusiast on its follower list. Tap that enthusiast to try new products, review them and simply start a conversation with his or her followers. The influencer may be willing to do it in exchange for free product, store discounts or a small negotiated fee per post.

Fees can range from $50 each for small-scale promotion to $50,000 per post (the going rate for Kylie Jenner to promote your product). This coconut oil products company got 218 mentions from influencers across multiple channels, and the company’s only expense was a box of sample products for each influencer.

Look for influencers that are actually engaging their followers, not just pushing content. Do people respond, ask questions or comment on the posts? Would you trust a recommendation from this influencer? It’s easy to investigate potential influencers since their social media history is easily available. Engage with them first. Repost, like, or comment on their content to create a connection and monitor what’s going on in their online community. This direct engagement is the best way to find out if the influencer’s audience matches yours. You can find the most famous celebrity to promote your brand, but if their audience doesn’t match yours, it’s money wasted.

Influencers don’t have to be people. Sometimes the influencer can be a publisher, blog, or trusted website. Check out this example from Video Fruit, a web-based marketing consulting company. The company’s founder wrote a guest post for Okdork, a well-known marketing blog. The same day the post was published, Video Fruit’s website traffic jumped from 285 visitors per day to more than 1,000. Of those, 73 percent were new visitors and they raked in 215 new subscribers, a 12 percent conversion rate.

Think about industry leaders to which you could form a mutually beneficial bond.

Have a clear focus

Have a marketing plan in place. Influencer marketing isn’t about just grabbing some people to push your products. Decide how you can best leverage the benefits of an influencer. Do you want one paid post on Instagram or a series of YouTube videos? Is there a clear call-to-action you’d like to drive home, or are you just looking to raise awareness?

Having a clear focus also means identifying the best channels. Will you use multiple channels with the same influencer? Know which platforms are most effective with your target audience(s). For example, a B2B company might lean toward Twitte, LinkedIn, or podcasts as its main channels. Or, as in the Video Fruit example, you might seek out authoritative websites or industry bloggers. Whereas, the health food store we mentioned earlier might choose to focus on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. A company looking to reach teenagers might focus on YouTube since eight in 10 of the most influential people for teen audiences are YouTube stars (or Snapchat!).

Lastly, allow for your influencer’s personality. You want to have a clear focus, but giving the influencer too much direction will make the pitch less genuine. This might be difficult since most marketers protect their brand like a hidden treasure. It’s a delicate balance. Be true to your brand, but don’t force an influencer to just pass on a canned pitch. Followers will see right through it. They will view it as straight advertising. Instead, give the influencer room to show his or her style.

Here’s one more statistic to get you excited about influencer marketing. 51% of marketers say they get better customers from influencer marketing since the relationship began with the trust of the influencer. Start your list of potential influencers today!

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