stephani nunez marketing
November 16, 2021
8 Ways That Brands Can Utilize TikTok in Their Marketing
I hate to admit, but I’m among the former, and it wasn’t until just recently that I began looking at it from a brand perspective (as opposed to lamenting the fact that everyone can sing and dance except me).
Aside from its clear youth appeal, TikTok provides a growing range of ad options, and is taking extra measures to educate its users on how to safely use the platform.
Are you thinking about adding TikTok into your digital marketing mix? Then read on to learn more about the short video app.
What is TikTok?
TikTok, similar to Vine before is, is all about short videos.
Most of the app's former Musical.ly users simply uploaded videos of themselves lip-synching to music videos, while the more talented, enthusiastic, and technically proficient members uploaded videos of original content. The latter cohort went on to become influencers on the platform.
multiple clips together for up to 60 seconds of total recording. Users are also able to upload longer videos which have been recorded outside the app itself.
There's also a live-streaming option and a range of filters and tools to help improve your video presentation.
The app is attuned to modern usage trends, and caters to an audience looking for a new and exciting way to connect. And clearly, based on the download stats, it's hitting the right notes with users.
How Can Brands & Marketers Make the Most of TikTok?
Using TikTok for marketing is actually much simpler than you'd think.
There are currently three key options for brands looking to utilize TikTok for promotion:
- Create your brands' own channel and upload videos relevant to your business
- Utilize influencers to open your content to a much broader (but well-targeted) audience
- Pay to advertise utilizing TikTok’s new campaign options (though, personally, I’d recommend holding off on this until the market is a bit more established)
We’re full of fun and creative ideas for marketing on TikTok. Here are a few that we hope you can use or draw inspiration from:
- In a world where consumers are becoming increasingly skeptical of ads, the raw, unedited videos on TikTok can be a great way to showcase people using your brand in their everyday lives.
- TikTok videos can also be a great place to showcase business behind the scenes or in-the-moment content - for example:
- Human Resources can make trainings more interactive by going live on TikTok to conduct their sessions
- Landing pages can have you popping on to drive traffic to lead magnets
- With such a young demographic, TikTok can be great for higher ed marketers and students within colleges and universities. There’s already a lot of content to be found on campus - sports, BTS, dance marathons, these all do well.
- Boutiques can use TikTok for the ever-popular try-on videos - you can film a whole seasons worth of sales in a fun sped up video and you can even add your own hype music
- Of course, larger clothing brands also see almost immediate success as well. Last fall, Guess was the first brand TikTok collaborated with in the US for its #inmydenim campaign
- Does your product require assembly? User-friendly step by step videos can be produced on TikTok, and even linked to on your packaging.
- Restaurants also have significant opportunities. Chipotle was the first major chain to jump onto the platform, and it recently launched its second major TikTok campaign with the #GuacDance challenge, which encouraged fans to show off their avocado-themed dance moves inspired by Dr. Jean’s “Guacamole Song.”
- #HashtagChallenges are great because they prompt engagement. They’re simple to join in and fun. If you’re not yet a well-established brand, you can also consider using influencers to help kickstart your challenge campaign.
As a marketer - but also as someone who is heavily influenced by marketing AND as someone that regularly writes on social media trends, I like to test new marketing channels and ideas. Generally, if there's something that's growing fast, I'll do a 1-3-month test before writing or publicly speaking on it.
In my time with TikTok thus far, I've seen promise, and an opportunity to connect with audiences in new, fun and engaging ways.
It still has a way to go yet before it becomes a key channel, but it may well be worth considering for your 2020 campaigns.
Written by: Lucy Rendler-Kaplan See full article here
Instagram is trying to make it easier for small businesses to spread the word about how people can support them during the COVID-19 pandemic. Today, the company announced that business and creator accounts can now include stickers in their stories that direct people to a website where they can order food delivery or buy gift cards.
Tapping the sticker will bring people to a website where they can complete their order. Businesses can also include stickers that link out to a fundraiser built on Facebook. These stickers can be added to businesses’ profiles, too, as a permanent button.
Food delivery and gift card stickers will be available in the US and Canada starting today with a global rollout planned for the “coming weeks.” Fundraisers are “coming soon.”
People who see the stories can share the stickers to their own stories to further spread the word. This could be a useful feature for businesses because people likely follow the places they enjoy. Also given that people have more time on their hands and therefore are likely on Instagram more, they also might see these stickers in stories more frequently than they otherwise would have.
To expound on this article above, what does this mean for Instagram advertising? As a digital marketer I would recommend restaurants jump on this immediately and put some ad spend into promoted posts to get as many people to your IG account as possible. People are bored at home due to COVID-19 browsing social media and eating/ordering in. If you're not getting your account in front of IG users, then your competition is.
Here is how to attach Instagram Profile Buttons
- Go to your Instagram profile.
- Tap Edit Profile.
- Under “Public Business Information,” tap Action Buttons.
- Under “Select a Button,” choose Gift Cards.
- Select a partner to sell your gift cards. ...
- Add the partner link for the gift card service you selected.
- After you've entered the website, tap Done.
-Stephani Nunez @Jemappellestephani
- Go to your Instagram profile.
- Tap Edit Profile.
- Under “Public Business Information,” tap Action Buttons.
- Under “Select a Button,” choose Gift Cards.
- Select a partner to sell your gift cards. ...
- Add the partner link for the gift card service you selected.
- After you've entered the website, tap Done.
-Stephani Nunez @Jemappellestephani
Marketers always strive hard to boost website traffic. A significant metric which quantifies the performance of websites is the bounce rate, indicating the percentage of users who leave without delving any further than the initial page.
In this context, it is important to understand web accessibility. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law in 1990. It prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities and provides equal opportunities for accessing the web to all users.
Disabled users find it inconvenient to access disabled-unfriendly websites and their sessions naturally tend to bounce. A 2016 study from Click-Away Pound, a surveyor focusing on the online shopping experiences of people with disabilities, found that 71% of disabled customers with access needs usually clicked away from a website when they found it difficult to use.
These customers who click away have an estimated spending power of £11.75 billion in the UK, which figures to approximately 10% of the total UK online spend in 2016. The survey also found 82% of customers with access needs will spend more if websites were more accessible.
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) elaborates on making the web accessible to disabled users. Adhering to the WCAG standards not only helps site owners improve the reach of websites, but also steers them away from unwanted legal repercussions.
What is AI marketing and how can it help reduce bounce rates?
AI marketing is empowered by the building blocks of artificial intelligence, helping develop creative services to simplify website accessibility. It leverages customer data with the help of machine learning to automate processes like extraction of data and prediction of customer behaviour that improves customer experiences.
Here are a few ways AI marketing contributes towards engaging disabled users and reducing bounce rates on websites:
Improving web accessibility
Website accessibility ensures equal access to users with visual, hearing, motor, or cognitive impairments without any barriers. Empowered by technologies like natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning, AI marketing helps marketers deliver personalised and contextualised experiences.
For example, Facebook has incorporated the automatic alternative text tool backed by object recognition technology to help the visually impaired. This tool uses screen readers on iOS devices to generate detailed descriptions of the elements in photos as the user swipes past them.
Private website owners should consider accessiBe, an AI-powered, pioneering web accessibility tool that simplifies the way business owners deliver accessible content to disabled users. This automated tool creates accurate alt text descriptions for images on websites, improving accessibility for visually impaired users. The application also ensures the website is compliant with WCAG 2.1.
Among the features that accessiBe offers to apply website accessibility are:
- Optimisation of websites for keyboard navigation to accommodate users with motor impairments
- A built-in dictionary which explains expressions, slang, and phrases for users with cognitive disorders
- Granular adjustments in colours, fonts, and typography to make content more accessible for users with visual disabilities
Boosting customer engagement
Customer engagement is naturally a defining metric to reduce bounce rates. With a diverse online community, identifying customer types and engaging them based on their requirements is a challenge for marketers.
AI marketing helps marketers deal with this challenge by categorising disabled users and self-optimising websites to improve conversions. For example, users with hearing difficulties may find it difficult to access video or audio content. It also helps users with hearing difficulties by offering textual scripts. Adding this script not only helps augment the customer base, but also boosts search engine ranking.
Previously, such scripts were entered manually. With the advent of AI-powered technologies, however, these scripts can be generated automatically. YouTube uses this speech recognition technology to create captions for videos.
Offering recommendations based on buying personas and search history
AI marketing offers product recommendations based on the individual needs of customers. These recommendations are derived from the user’s purchase history and preferences from browsing behaviour, which makes them highly relevant. With AI, marketers can obtain intuitive insights from scanning volumes of data on customer behaviour.
The AI algorithm leverages data such as account information, customer preferences, purchase history, and contextual information about the customer. Product recommendations are based on this data. This technology ultimately helps improve user convenience and helps with online purchases.
According to the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI), web usability for the disabled is defined as the extent to which users can use a product to obtain specified goals. This guideline throws light on the need to include simplified and understandable instructions on websites to help people with cognitive and learning disabilities.
Providing AI-enabled product recommendations eases the complications of searching the web for products and information for disabled users. The website automatically offers recommendations based on the history of the customer which narrows down the search results. These recommendations prevent customers with cognitive or learning disabilities from getting lost in the deluge of online information. The recommendations aim to direct them with sufficient information to accomplish the intent of their online visit.
Helping derive customer information to enhance the quality of service
It’s no secret that personalised services result in exceptional customer experiences. Using traditional analytics for this purpose will be time-consuming and tedious. The result will also be confined to pre-defined metrics. AI marketing, however, enables marketers to deliver quick and seamless customer services that are backed by insights obtained from numerous customer journeys.
AI-powered marketing uncovers numerous relationships from data to predict customer behaviours with the utmost accuracy. It also finds the drivers and inhibitors of delivering seamless customer services. Unlike conventional methods of collecting customer data, such as feedback forms and sign-ups, AI-enabled marketing initiates the right questions to derive insightful customer data.
In the context of users with disabilities, AI marketing helps websites optimise their usability based on intent.
Conclusion
AI marketing opens up new avenues to accelerate website performances. The above-mentioned factors of AI marketing will help marketers extend their customer base, understand and explore a different segment of the audience, and reduce bounce rates while driving potential traffic.
Written By: Manish Dudharejia - Marketing Tech
October 23, 2018
Facebook Ads vs. Boosted Posts—Which is More Effective?
By now you probably know that Facebook Ads should be a core component of your digital marketing plan. If they aren’t, we need to talk. After all, with over two billion people using Facebook every month, why would you not want to capitalize on the reach you could have with them? There is a massive market out there just waiting to hear about your products and services.
When I make this kind of bold statement about the huge benefits of using Facebook Ads, people often come back with comments and questions about the relative merits of ads and boosted posts.
For example, they'll say:
“I’m already advertising on Facebook—I boost posts.”
I get this comment from 80% of the businesses I talk to about Facebook Ads. Obviously, there is a little confusion about what the two strategies are. I’ll start by saying that there is so much more you can do to generate attention on Facebook than simply boosting. And let me go on to be very clear about this: boosting is not advertising. Boosting, the way most businesses do it is vanity advertising.
"Boosting posts is not the same as advertising on Facebook! It only offers a fraction of the options—and wastes money." TWEET THIS
“What do you mean boosting is wasting my money?”
Yes, you can improve your post’s reach with boosting. But, that improvement is only superficial. With boosting, your targeting options are extremely limited. Yes, you can choose behaviors and interests, demographics, and geography. But, you can’t use your custom audiences.
If you take away only one point from this article, please let it be this: You should have your pixel installed. You should be building custom audiences based on your website traffic, your Facebook page and post engagement, your Instagram traffic, and your email lists. And you should be creating Lookalike Audiences. Period. This is how you get real results with Facebook Ads. And unfortunately, boosting does not allow you to use any of these audience options.
“I want to get more exposure on my post—what should I do if don’t boost it?”
You create an ad with it instead! Boosting only gives you two options for your objective—website visits and engagement. Within Ads Manager, you can pick an objective and maximize it: awareness, reach, traffic, engagement, conversions and more.
Even better, when you're building campaigns in Ads Manager, you can more directly follow the Buyer's Journey to match your campaigns to your audience's specific needs.
“What else can you do with Facebook Ads?”
In a word, plenty. Here are just a few of the features you can—and should—take advantage of:
Placement Options
Facebook can automatically place your ads where they’re likely to be most effective. However, you also have the option of choosing where your ads are shown. This includes the desktop and/or mobile News Feed, Instagram, Instant Articles, and other choices.
TIP: If your audience is large enough, split test your placements so that you control the delivery, not Facebook. Nine out of ten times, they will feed to mobile and sway your results on you.
Lookalike Audiences
One of the absolute best things about Facebook Ads is that it will help find your audiences for you. Once you create your own custom audiences based off of website engagement, email lists, Facebook Page engagement and Instagram, let Facebook do the hard work of finding more people to target.
Dayparting
Also known as Ad Scheduling, this feature allows you to turn your ads off and on automatically throughout the week on a recurring schedule.
Create Custom Conversion Tracking
The Facebook Pixel lets you track standard events that happen on your website—View Content, Complete Registration, Lead, Add to Cart, Purchase, etc. Instead of only using the 9 Standard Events, think of custom conversions as a way of enhancing your tracking. You can build up to 40 custom conversion values by combining the events with specific URLs visited to hypertarget.
Create Super Duper Custom Audiences
What if you want to be uber precise with who you are targeting? What if you want to serve a Middle of Funnel ad to an audience who has read a specific blog and viewed one of your service pages...twice? No sweat with custom conversions. (Sorry...you may be seeing some of our ads soon.)
How do Facebook Ads and Boosted Posts Compare? Simply put, there is no comparison!
If I seem overly passionate about this topic, it’s because there’s a good reason. Companies that believe they’re doing enough on Facebook by simply boosting posts are, in all likelihood, leaving money on the table...or throwing it away. The entire premise of Facebook Advertising is to be extremely strategic and precise. Maximize campaign objectives to follow the buyer's journey. Build hyper-targeted audiences. Nurture leads and builds raving, loyal fans.
Written by: Ali Parmelee
October 10, 2018
5 Ecommerce Secrets the 'Experts' Aren't Willing to Share With You
The days of everyone buying the items they need from a brick-and-mortar shop just down the street are long gone. Instead, ecommerce has continued to grow into an impressive juggernaut, experiencing 24.8 percent worldwide growth in 2017, with Amazon alone recording a net revenue of $177.87 billion.
The days of everyone buying the items they need from a brick-and-mortar shop just down the street are long gone. Instead, ecommerce has continued to grow into an impressive juggernaut, experiencing 24.8 percent worldwide growth in 2017, with Amazon alone recording a net revenue of $177.87 billion.
1. Build a pre-launch audience.
Far too many entrepreneurs make the mistake of setting up their store and only beginning their marketing after launch. The problem, however, is that digital marketing efforts often require a bit of time before they start delivering the desired sales results. In the meantime, you'll be paying web hosting fees and other expenses without the sales revenue to cover it.
Instead, you need to start your marketing early by building a pre-launch audience. We see this happen all the time with Kickstarter campaigns that collect funding and build buzz before the project is ready.
Even if you aren't creating a completely new or original product, you still need to spread the word. Social media contests, product giveaways and email list sign-ups can all help you build an audience so your store can make sales on opening day.
2. Focus on the customer lifetime value.
Converting customers is hard. In fact, most estimates put the average conversion ratearound 1 to 3 percent. Because of this, you need to make every sale count. You won't be in business long if your average customer only spends a few dollars.
To succeed in this area, you need to focus on the customer lifetime value (CLV), rather than just the initial sale. Naturally, this requires that you deliver a quality customer experience for that initial sale. But, it also means you need to do some follow-up.
One of the best ways to do this is through email marketing. A quality email campaign allows you to follow up with customers about their initial purchase, while also reaching out for holidays and other special shopping seasons. Increasing your CLV will lower your cost per conversion and help you generate lasting sales results.
3. Leverage the power of remarketing.
Most ecommerce professionals invest a fair amount of their budget into marketing, with the goal of getting new customers to visit their site and make a purchase.
But, what about the people you've already convinced? If you aren't targeting them through remarketing campaigns, you could be missing out on a significant profit.
Repeat customers aren't only more likely to buy from you again in the future -- they also tend to spend more money. Studies have found that repeat customers have a 60 to 70 percent chance of making another purchase in the future -- numbers that far outperform ecommerce's typical conversion rate.
Make sure your Facebook and AdWords campaigns specifically target those who have already visited your site to ensure a stronger marketing ROI.
4. Let your customers do the talking.
Building a strong brand identity is an absolute must because it allows you to form an emotional connection with your target audience. When you're able to cultivate strong relationships with your most passionate customers, you can then leverage their enthusiasm to spread word of mouth for your store.
As studies have consistently found, few marketing methods are more trusted or effective.
The thing is, your customers won't always do this word of mouth marketing on their own. You often need to provide some extra motivation. Don't be afraid to reach out to your top customers with personalized messages asking for a testimonial, or simply to get their input on your products and services. Use social media contests to build enthusiasm and spread the word.
The more you do to personalize these interactions, the more likely your customers are to become true "brand ambassadors" who drive new business to your store.
5. If you choose to do dropshipping, don't botch it.
Dropshipping -- the process of having your product sent directly from the manufacturer to the consumer -- has simplified sales for many ecommerce professionals. However, it isn't without its own potential pitfalls.
The most common issues I've seen with dropshipping include slow shipping times, no tracking numbers for your customers and low-quality products.
All of these can completely kill your reputation with your customers. Because of this, it is essential that you perform a quality check of your supplier's products before you begin dropshipping. This way you can have confidence that your products live up to your brand promise.
For shipping, select a quality fulfillment company that offers a trackable courier solution. This way, customers won't have to endure lengthy delays, and they'll always know when their order will arrive.
Building a successful ecommerce brand isn't always easy. I should know -- I've seen my fair share of startups fail after their initial success. But, by incorporating this knowledge that I've gained from my past efforts, I've since been able to launch several successful stores and generate real, lasting revenue -- so can you.
Written by: Steve Tan
September 25, 2018
Richard Branson's advice for creating great marketing
Behind every successful business is an element of great marketing – and no-one knows this better than Richard Branson. But how do you make sure you’re getting your marketing right? The Virgin Group founder has some advice…
“The key to great marketing is storytelling. And as Hollywood, Bollywood and the books and magazine industries demonstrate, nothing sells better than a great love story,” he says in a recent blog. “You’re wise to be careful about where you spend your profits, but reinvesting in marketing – as long as it is done smartly – is vital to the growth of any business.”
Richard says that he’s found one of the most effective forms of marketing – especially for Virgin Atlantic – has been to position himself as a visible part of the business. But he also recommends telling customers’ stories and drawing on their experiences.
“Another angle to pursue is content marketing, which is a term for sharing wonderful stories that bring a smile to people’s faces, while also highlighting your brand values and products,” he says. “The best marketing you could wish for is already at your disposal: In this age of social media overload, it’s crucial to have a differentiator.”
You may need to use some of your budget to invest in paid social boosts to make sure the right people see them. “Using the targeting available on sites like Facebook, more people who might be interested will see your brand. In turn, old-fashioned word-of-mouth marketing can then come into play alongside social sharing,” he explains.
Another route you could do is to consolidate your efforts to make one ‘big splash’ like Naja, an ethical and eco-friendly lingerie, swim and activewear brand did. “When launching a campaign for a ‘nude’ lingerie suitable for women of all skin tones, I urged founder Catalina Girald to invest in one eye-catching billboard, then tell the news media that it was part of a nationwide campaign. It’s something we did successfully with Virgin Atlantic, too, and it works well if the initial billboard is clever enough,” Richard says.
“Taking my advice, Catalina created a striking visual poster campaign in one fashionable New York subway station. Social media picked it up instantly, and press interest soon followed. It worked so well that website traffic quadrupled, press coverage exploded and sales soared. Now, that’s clever advertising and budget management! Consider how a similar campaign could work for you, and think creatively about how, when and where to execute it.”
Great marketing is all well and good, but Richard notes that it’s more important to define the purpose of your business and make sure it’s at the heart of everything you do. “That’s the most effective way to begin building a long-term future for your company. Try to delegate key tasks, so you have room to think about the bigger picture (but keep your eye on the detail, too). And while it’s great that you and your husband are partners who can bounce ideas off each other, consider recruiting people with additional skillsets as your business grows.”
Written by: Natalie Clarkson
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
