Gulf Coast Local Blog

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Facebook and Cambridge Analytica: What exactly happened?

If you’ve been keeping up with the national news for the last two weeks, you’ve heard the reports of political campaigns acquiring private data on millions of Facebook users.  It has now sparked new questions about how the social media giant protects user information.

First of all, as a business advertising on Facebook, we are all thankful for the data which identifies personalities and buying trends of users.  This doesn’t mean people’s personal information like credit cards, social security numbers and other secure information was ever shared via Facebook.

What does it mean?

When you “like” a certain post, take a quiz or share a family, friend or business page’s post, Facebook keeps track of this content.  Why? Well, when they know what you like, they know what to put in your newsfeed. 

This all plays a big part in Facebook’s algorithms, which have changed drastically in the last two years.  The algorithms now only allow content that you are interested in to be in your newsfeed.  To me, this isn’t a bad thing at all.  It is a highly intelligent way of keeping users happy and engaged.  For businesses, it also makes it more difficult to advertise because you need to pay attention to what users want to see on a daily basis and tailor your content to that audience.  Otherwise, your content will go unseen.  This is what I do on a daily basis for dozens of business accounts, study trends in order to make sure the business pages are reaching the most customers. 

Now, back to Cambridge Analytica. What’s the big deal? The firm offered tools that could identify the personalities of American voters and influence their behavior.  This behavior was then, allegedly, used to target voters for the election.  This app has since been removed from Facebook but there are reports that the data still exists, so this is why Facebook is being scrutinized.

What kind of information was collected and how was it acquired?

The data included details on users’ identities, friend networks and “likes”.  The idea was to map personality traits based on what people had liked on Facebook, and then use that information to target audiences with digital ads.

Researchers in 2014 asked users to take a personality survey and download an app, which scraped some private information from their profiles and those of their friends, activity that Facebook permitted at the time and has since banned. 

The technique had been developed at Cambridge University’s Psychometrics Center.  Facebook says no passwords or “sensitive pieces of information” had been taken. 

Facebook has always prohibited this kind of data to be sold or transferred “to any ad network, data broker or other advertising service” so the question everyone has been asking is, was Facebook hacked? No one really knows for sure.

What is Facebook doing to fix the situation?

Really, there isn’t much they can do about it at this point. Once the data is out, there isn’t really a way to recall it. They can conduct all the forensic audits they want, but the information will remain out there in some form, and will likely remain useable and indicative. For damage control, Facebook needs to show users that it is improving, learned its lessons and their systems are actually now better for it.

We’ll see in the next year whether or not users pull away from the social giant or whether it will blow over and everyone will go back to using Facebook as usual.  As already stated, no sensitive information was really obtained but it is simply a matter of users trusting Facebook to keep up with their social habits without exploiting it for political reasons.

What do you think? Does it bother you that Facebook tracks your likes and, in turn, creates a personality profile of your daily habits in order for businesses to advertise to you? We want to know! Let us know on Facebook!

RELATED:

12 Reasons Why Your Business Needs A Content Marketing Strategy

Author: Stephanie May - smay@askbisdesigns.com 

 

Phillip Long - CISSP, CEO of BIS Technology Group, along with his team of marketing and information technology experts, will walk you through an overview of  what your business should be doing to protect your data and plan your digital marketing strategies.

About BIS Technology Group

BIS Technology Group is the technology leader on the Gulf Coast and is comprised of four divisions: Information Technology, Web Design & Digital Marketing,  Office Equipment and Business Consulting. Together these divisions help local businesses exceed expectations and allow them to group to their full potential while minimizing risks. To learn more about BIS Technology Group, visit bistechnologygroup.com.

You may reach out to us at:
Phone: 251-405-2527
Email: plong@askbis.com

 


4 Marketing Tips To Get More Leads

The most common question from marketing clients is “How do I get more leads for my business?” 

There are plenty of practical methods for generating quality leads.  Blogging. Sharing and caring on social Media.  Strategic landing pages. Event marketing. Email.  Most marketers are using all of these channels and more. So why aren’t the majority of brands drowning in qualified leads?

Research shows that 65% of marketers are still struggling to figure out which content is effective.  60 percent are unable to produce engaging content.  Only 23 percent of B2B marketers have moved to a customer-centric organizational structure.  A lot of marketers are still missing the mark, using content to appeal to customers, rather than to provide value to customers

If you want to get more quality leads, you need to do better quality marketing.  The trick to doing that is to first step back, in order to move forward.  Go back and refine your buyer personas.  How can you better meet their preferences and expectations? Look at where you can improve your blog, email and social media content to better serve your audience. 

No more bull running in a china shop approach and generating mediocre content and tossing it at your audience.  No more throwing dollars at Facebook ads and waiting for the leads to roll in.  Here are the hacks that will help you refine and improve your marketing and truly excel at lead generation. 

UP YOUR CONTENT GAME

You should always be on the quest to enhance the type of content you are using.  Content marketing goes far beyond blog posts.  Consider investing more so you can deliver a premium level of content. 

  • Infographics
  • Event Marketing
  • Webinars
  • White papers
  • Interactive Tools

Your content should be engaging and “pretty”.  All photos should be of great quality, captions should be short but interesting.  Ever notice how television commercials use a short amount of time to catch your attention? The attention span of the average human is not very long, so you need to catch their attention with your graphics, photos and captions on social media within a glance.  Blogs and email campaigns need to have clear and concise titles or subject lines. 

SIMPLIFY YOUR WEBSITE DESIGN

Dynamic isn’t always a good thing when it comes to trying to get across a message.  With website design, the more complex, the bigger disaster you may have on your hands.

Keep your website design clear and to the point.  That doesn’t mean you can’t be creative.  It does mean avoid excess text, confusing visuals and too many concepts.  What you do what is a clear message and navigation bar.  Lots of white space.  Use website real estate for the essentials for getting leads, like forms and contact info. 

You don’t want your design to scream when a prospect lands on your site. 

BETTER PERSONALIZE YOUR EMAILS

How are your email open-rates? Small businesses get around a 2 to 3 percent open-rate percentage, and larger companies get closer to 10 percent or even more.  Overall, the average hovers around 4 percent. 

The goal should be to improve your email rates to help get more leads.  How to do it?  A simple trick is to use more personalized messaging.  With the style and tone expectations of your target audience in mind, see if your emails make more of an impact with a more conversational tone.  Try adding an image in the closing signature – a staff member whose name is on the emails.  Use names and first person tone of voice in the subject line, greetings, and closings.  Segment your emails with your marketing software to ensure the right people are getting the right messaging depending on where they are in the sales funnel.

Research has shown that personalization leads to six times higher email transaction rates.  Worth a shot!

KEEP REFINING

You don’t necessarily need to revolutionize your marketing strategy to get more leads. You may see the results you’re after simply by making a few changes or trying new techniques.  Try these hacks.  Measure their impact.  Then keep making them better.  You’ll get more leads as long as you continually prime your marketing for the people you’re trying to reach.  For more tips and to hire a team of marketing professionals to handle this part of your business for you – contact our office.

RELATED: 

5 Benefits of Business Blogging 

12 Reasons Why Your Business Needs A Content Marketing Strategy 

 

Author: Stephanie May 

 

Phillip Long - CISSP, CEO of BIS Technology Group, along with his team of marketing and information technology experts, will walk you through an overview of  what your business should be doing to protect your data and plan your digital marketing strategies.

About BIS Technology Group

BIS Technology Group is the technology leader on the Gulf Coast and is comprised of four divisions: Information Technology, Web Design & Digital Marketing,   Office Equipment and Business Consulting. Together these divisions help local businesses exceed expectations and allow them to group to their full potential while minimizing risks. To learn more about BIS Technology Group, visit bistechnologygroup.com.

You may reach out to us at:
Phone: 251-405-2527
Email: plong@askbis.com

 


5 Benefits of Business Blogging

These days, having a company website is no longer enough to stand out among the thousands of competitors you compete with in the digital space.  Blogging isn’t just a place to host your company press releases, it’s about providing valuable content to your future customers.

What is business blogging? Blogging is a marketing tactic that uses articles to get your business more online visibility.  A business blog is a marketing channel (just like social media, email campaigns, etc.) that helps support business growth.

No matter what kind of business you have, whether you’re a local mom and pop shop, or giant corporation, there are some serious benefits are seemingly endless.

Here are 5 benefits of business blogging:

1. Creates Brand Authority

Consistently updating an active blog for your business allows you to personify your business by giving it a voice.  Your blog is a space to discuss industry related topics, market trends and upcoming products.  Focusing on these topics actively builds brand-trust.  Trust generates leads.  Leads grow sales.  Can you see where this is all going?

When you utilize your blog effectively, you are creating a two-way conversion between you and your customers, prospects and other industry professionals which can be very helpful for gathering insights for future business development.

Having an active blog helps you stay ahead of the curve when it comes to industry news and competitors.  By staying ahead of the curve, you are positioning your company as a leader as opposed to a follower.  Your blog also serves the purpose of having a place to share your brand story, although it should be noted that it’s not advised that you blog only about yourself as a company. 

2. Business Blogging Fuels Your SEO

There are some pretty obvious SEO benefits blogs can offer, such as viewers spending longer amounts of time on your website, increasing page views and lowering bounce rates.  However, it’s also important to mention that search engines love valuable content and reward it with higher search result placements. 

As more people are putting out content to capture the attention of search engines, the algorithms are getting smarter.  Your business blogging content should focus on having frequent high-quality content as opposed to having constant poor-quality content.  Opt for longer blog posts because Google actually favors in-depth blog articles but a regularly updated blog, no matter the length of the articles, ranks higher in search engines than websites with no blog at all. 

3. Supports Your Social Media Advertising Efforts

Using blog articles as part of your content strategy on both Facebook and LinkedIn platforms has been proven to be very effective.  Depending on the nature of the industry, boosted blog posts typically generate more engagements as opposed to generic click campaigns.  This increased engagement impacts your overall organic reach for the post, which essentially means you are getting more viewers and spending less money as you’re running your ad campaigns.

Aside from using blog content for your ads, leveraging your blog posts throughout your social media content also increases the chances of gaining extra exposure.  When you can write a blog article that is so interesting that others will want to share it, you are ultimately gaining free exposure. 

4. Generates a Great ROI

Business blogs are cost-effective marketing investments.  Many business owners choose to outsource their blogging efforts entirely because it can be a time-consuming task when you are already wearing multiple hats for your business.  According to Hubspot research, B2B marketers who use blogs as part of their content marketing mix get 67% more leads than those who don’t.

5. Blogs Serve as a Lead Generation Tool

Blogging is an integral part of your digital sales funnel.  In addition to driving traffic to your website, business blogging offers a great opportunity for capturing leads.  By using non-intrusive lead capturing tools such as lead capture forms and call-to-action buttons, you can gather valuable data on the quality of the leads your blog posts are generating. 

How many times have you read a blog post and downloaded a free e-book because you were interested in gaining more insightful information about the topic you were reading? If you recall a moment where you have personally done this, congratulations! You were successfully moved from the inbound marketing stage of attraction to the stage of conversion. 

Each blog post you create is an additional page that can be indexed by Google, which can be used with a combination of lead generating call-to-action buttons such as free webinars, fact sheets and e-books.  Asking for emails isn’t an easy task but when you offer valuable data in exchange for emails, you can leverage it for better prospecting. 

The Takeaway

Although it can be difficult to find the time to keep up a business blog, you don’t want to neglect the benefits blogging has to offer.  By utilizing a local outsourced marketing company, like BIS Designs, your blogs can serve as a central piece for all your other marketing efforts which can include social media, SEO, email marketing and much more.

When business blogging is done properly, it creates an opportunity that will have lifelong benefits to boosting your business marketing efforts.  

RELATED: 

12 Reasons Why Your Business Needs A Content Marketing Strategy

 

Author: Stephanie May 

 

Phillip Long - CISSP, CEO of BIS Technology Group, along with his team of marketing and information technology experts, will walk you through an overview of  what your business should be doing to protect your data and plan your digital marketing strategies.

About BIS Technology Group

BIS Technology Group is the technology leader on the Gulf Coast and is comprised of four divisions: Information Technology, Web Design & Digital Marketing,   Office Equipment and Business Consulting. Together these divisions help local businesses exceed expectations and allow them to group to their full potential while minimizing risks. To learn more about BIS Technology Group, visit bistechnologygroup.com.

You may reach out to us at:
Phone: 251-405-2527
Email: plong@askbis.com


12 Reasons Why Your Business Needs A Content Marketing Strategy

Research by the Content Marketing Institute has reported that B2B marketers who have a documented strategy and an individual to oversee the strategy, are the most effective group of content marketers out there. Whether you are just now starting your digital marketing process or you have made sure your brand has a recognizable presence on the web, you’re missing out if you aren’t using a content marketing strategy.

There is a lot more to it than running a few social media accounts and publishing a blog for your brand. Even with great, well-driven content, if you don’t have the SEO skills to drive organic traffic to your website, the landing pages to capture leads and the email marketing, white papers, dynamic offering of webinars, infographics, event marketing and more to convince your customers that your brand is an industry leader and has long-term value to offer, then your content lacks dimension.

You need a system for gathering and analyzing your customer metrics, and using this data to constantly update your strategy. Without this system, you’re failing to offer what customers expect today from marketers. Your content may slip through the cracks, going unnoticed as your competitors are appealing to your market with a direct approach at content that touches every point. Stringing everything together to create something that matters is the ultimate goal.

Richard Pattinson, CEO of Brafton, says “The intention behind content can be good, but the scaffolding is missing, weak or flawed.” Pattinson sees this as a major flaw for businesses.

With a documented strategy, there is a place and purpose for each piece of content. Everything flows into the next. A case study, vlog or email subject line sets up other aspects of your strategy and holds the entire plan together. A good flow will allow your entire strategy to be flexible enough to evolve along the way as your make an effort to continually work towards creating that simple, clear and yet remarkably complex brand environment that is the most effective way to attract your market and build long-term customer relationships at the same time.

A good content marketing strategy is:

  • - Well-defined KPIs and clear goals.
  • - Three-dimensional buyer personas that help you craft content for your market
  • - A content management system for tracking your customers’ experiences, automating some of your content publication, and for gathering data.
  • - A balance between creativity and pragmatism that yields an ongoing river of fresh content, with each part connected seamlessly, from the font styles on your website to format used in your webinars.
  • - An ongoing learning process, with the goal of utilizing multiple content tactics and identifying the ones that work the best for your target audience.

The better your strategy, the more potential you give each piece of content created.

WHY YOU NEED A CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGY

1. A better content marketing ROI – as you refine which tactics are the most appealing to high-quality leads and which are the most motivating, you’ll be able to invest in the content that works and either reduce or eliminate what isn’t working.

2. You’ll actually know what your content ROI is – only with a documented strategy are you going to have the metrics to give you an idea of how effective your content marketing is.

3. Repurposed content – with a dynamic strategy, you can plan ahead how you repurpose your in-person events into eBooks and podcasts, your video interviews into blog posts, and your white papers into infographics.

4. Better customer segmentation – with a content management system, you’ll be able to personalize your content for different segments, the key to boosting your conversion and retention rates.

5. More accurate buyer personas – you’ll also be able to create smarter campaigns with better buyer personas as you use your gathered customer data to continually evolve your ideal buyer personas.

6. Less churn – when you have a better idea of what your customers want because you’re using a strategy, you’ll be able to reduce your churn rates and boost your long-term revenue numbers.

7. Ability to leverage more marketing tactics – with a short and long-term plan, you’ll be able to see ten steps ahead, planning for that mega branding conference in five years and pulling off your brilliant influencer marketing campaign six months from now.

8. Optimized social media channels – when your social media posts are integrated with the rest of your content marketing strategy, your customers grow used to the value that comes out of following and engaging with your social platforms and are more likely to stay engaged. Rather than random posts, they’ll know there will be a consistent flow of value coming out of your Twitter feed and Facebook pages – industry news or tips, special deals, links to informative blog posts, early bird event registration they don’t want to miss.

9. Boosted brand reputation – with your comprehensive brand presence both online and off, you’ll do wonders for your brand reputation as you’ll have a larger social following, contact list, and more activity on your website such as blog comments, online reviews, and forum posts (depending on what channels are relevant for your business).

10. Improve lead generation – when you flow your social media posts and email marketing into your blog posts and to your landing pages and CTAs, you’ll attract more visitors to your website and invite more qualified leads down your sales funnel.

11.  Higher customer acquisition rates – as you get to know your market better, you’ll be able to turn more leads into customers.

12. You’ll become a better marketer. The more love you put into your strategy, the more you’ll learn about just how much content marketing is capable of. 

Getting the results you want from your content marketing all boils down to strategy. Even if your strategy is limited to a blog, a modest website and social media – make each piece work together and that strategy will do more than a disconnected collection of components ever could.

BIS Designs offer these services and more. As a business owner, having a team to handle the content marketing for you can be a better option than spending the time to do it yourself. We’re happy to discuss ideas with you. Give us a call!

 

Author: Stephanie May 

 

RELATED: 

Create a Winning Content Marketing Strategy in 5 Simple Steps 

 

Phillip Long - CISSP, CEO of BIS Technology Group, along with his team of marketing and information technology experts, will walk you through an overview of    what your business should be doing to protect your data and plan your digital marketing strategies.

About BIS Technology Group

BIS Technology Group is the technology leader on the Gulf Coast and is comprised of four divisions: Information Technology, Web Design & Digital Marketing,   Office Equipment and Business Consulting. Together these divisions help local businesses exceed expectations and allow them to group to their full potential while minimizing risks. To learn more about BIS Technology Group, visit bistechnologygroup.com.

You may reach out to us at:
Phone: 251-405-2527
Email: plong@askbis.com


How Is Voice Search Affecting SEO?

Have you talked to Siri, Alexa or Cortana lately? You probably have, and you wouldn’t be alone.  According to Google, more than half of teens and 41% of adults are using voice search daily.  For users, voice search is basically the best thing since sliced bread and now marketers are racing to optimize their content for it.

Why is voice search hailed as the next big opportunity? Let’s break down what voice search is, how it’s impacting search, and some quick tips on how to optimize for these new types of queries.

What is Voice Search?

People tend to use voice search when they are multi-tasking, like asking for directions, dictating texts, and getting quick information.  And because voice search is a drastic new medium to perform searches, the types of queries and ways in which people are searching are changing immensely.

What’s Its Impact?

Voice search is making long tail, colloquial keywords more relevant.  People are now having conversations with their devices, whether it’s a smartphone or voice assistant, so preparing for longer, more descriptive terms is imperative.  Also, searchers are using more interrogative words within their searches.  Imagine you’re driving around town, jamming to your favorite song and realize that your gas light just turned on – chances are you might quickly ask Siri, “Where’s the closest gas station?”, and voila! In a couple of minutes your tank is full, you’re back on the road downing a Dr. Pepper and pretending to be Britney Spears.

How Do I Optimize For It?

An easy way to begin optimizing your site’s pages is making sure you’re tracking voice terms, which include long tail keywords and searches with question terms attached – like who, what, where, when and so on. Once you have a benchmark, you’ll be able to track your improvements.

Next, create or update an existing FAZ page predicting relevant voice searches.  This page can include questions like, “How much is shipping?” or “How does it work?” so when people are searching questions that might relate to your business, you have a page ready for them to land on.

And lastly, make sure your site passes the mobile-friendliness test.  People using voice search want quick answers to their pressing questions, so if your landing page doesn’t load fast enough, your user might bounce right off your site and get answers from elsewhere. 

 

Author: Stephanie May 

 

RELATED: 

Marketing Trends for 2018 

 

Phillip Long - CISSP, CEO of BIS Technology Group, along with his team of marketing and information technology experts, will walk you through an overview of    what your business should be doing to protect your data and plan your digital marketing strategies.

About BIS Technology Group

BIS Technology Group is the technology leader on the Gulf Coast and is comprised of four divisions: Information Technology, Web Design & Digital Marketing,   Office Equipment and Business Consulting. Together these divisions help local businesses exceed expectations and allow them to group to their full potential while minimizing risks. To learn more about BIS Technology Group, visit bistechnologygroup.com.

You may reach out to us at:
Phone: 251-405-2527
Email: plong@askbis.com


Emerging Trends in Digital Marketing

The year is flying by quickly and before we know it, 2018 will be here.  Top companies have a habit of starting to plan for the next year by Q2 of the year, so many businesses are already looking at trends coming up in the new year.  If you have initiated planning your marketing strategy and budget for 2018, be prepared to face questions regarding tactics you are opting to use that would go best with most of your customers.  And most importantly, which tactics can result in the most efficient conversion. 

To plan a top-notch marketing strategy for your business in 2018, go through the seven trends explained here and incorporate them in your planning process.  From personalized elements and mastering micro-moments to moving visual and analyzing the authentic data, we will go through all the best strategies for acquiring leads, conversions and engagement.

Master Micro-Moments

Mobile gadgets have proved to be a major influence in customer interaction and engagement with brands across the globe. But the surprising thing for most people is the concept of “micro-moments”, which has powered the shift to mobile phones. From long-term goals such as planning to purchase a home, or something as small as acquiring a quick grocery from the nearest store or even locating the ingredients of a dish from your phone, etc., countless of these micro-moments stimulate the impulse to reach out for our mobile phone.

As per Think with Google, micro-moments are highly critical and evaluative touchpoints where customers expect brands to cater their needs with reliable information, regardless of the time and location.

Whenever a customer feels the need to inquire about something, an astounding 96% of users reach for their smartphones to conduct the required research at that very instant. Only successful brands have the tendency to correctly anticipate and address the exact micro-moment needs by providing the right information at the right time to customer in need.

A useful, quick and one-touch access to the needed information becomes the basis of acquiring customer trust and building long-lasting relationships.

Visualization Is More Important than Ever

For all the exciting and informative things found online, whether it is a couple of kittens playing, a baby laughing or a top commercial featuring a popular model, there is always an element of video.  With a video, people tend to accept and attach on a much deeper level due to the usage of visually-rich and interactive elements depicting a proper message or story. And as a consequence, audience is tempted to take considerable action in terms of likes, sharing, etc.

With time, brands have been able to capitalize on the introduction of highly-engaging video features on different social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram.

For this trend, we are going to focus on video aspect only since businesses are seizing the opportunity to differentiate their brand in the competitive industry.

Mobile users are tending to spend more time than ever with their smartphones, with the excitement to watch videos online being proportionate as well. It is clear from the following stats that online video is growing rapidly in popularity.

YouTube registers more 18 and above years-old audience during peak TV hours than any cable TV network.
Advertisers on prime time broadcasting TV could gain 56% more audience of 18 to 49 years-old through advertising on YouTube.
Plainly from statistics, it does not come as a surprise that Facebook recently revealed the count of 1.65 billion active users (data from April 2016) watching about 8 billion videos each day.

Consumers are more tempted from videos because of the deeper attachment they experience from the visual on-screen elements. Realizing the need, the trend of promoting high-quality video content is very much likely to soar high in future.

The Best Visibility with Native Ads

To grab a plain sight exposure in front of the right audience, native advertising has become one of the most sought-after marketing methods. Most users find interruptive ads frustrating and irrelevant. For instance, browsing a website and instantly an out-of-context ad pops out of nowhere is a big no-no for the user.

This is a common concern, which is best catered by native ads. It facilitates brands to market their offerings in a quite non-disruptive way that blends in easily with the environment a user is most comfortable with.

Native ads blend in such a seamless manner, that customers may not even spot them when viewing let it be advertorial, instant content, search advertising, recommended content or sponsored listings form of native advertising. Rather than approving it as a deceiving aspect, the point is to put the right information in front of the viewer when they actually need it.

As per the data provided by Polar and BI intelligence, CTR rates for premium native ads on mobile gadgets were four times higher, than the count of non-native display ads. The data also stressed that native ads calls for better engagement rates on tablets and smartphones as compared to desktop systems.


Emerging Digital Marketing Trends (2 part series)

Emerging Digital Marketing Trends

The year is flying by quickly and before we know it, 2018 will be here.  Top companies have a habit of starting to plan for the next year by Q2 of the year, so many businesses are already looking at trends coming up in the new year.  If you have initiated planning your marketing strategy and budget for 2018, be prepared to face questions regarding tactics you are opting to use that would go best with most of your customers.  And most importantly, which tactics can result in the most efficient conversion. 

To plan a top-notch marketing strategy for your business in 2018, go through the seven trends explained here and incorporate them in your planning process.  From personalized elements and mastering micro-moments to moving visual and analyzing the authentic data, we will go through all the best strategies for acquiring leads, conversions and engagement.

Master Micro-Moments

Mobile gadgets have proved to be a major influence in customer interaction and engagement with brands across the globe. But the surprising thing for most people is the concept of “micro-moments”, which has powered the shift to mobile phones. From long-term goals such as planning to purchase a home, or something as small as acquiring a quick grocery from the nearest store or even locating the ingredients of a dish from your phone, etc., countless of these micro-moments stimulate the impulse to reach out for our mobile phone.

As per Think with Google, micro-moments are highly critical and evaluative touchpoints where customers expect brands to cater their needs with reliable information, regardless of the time and location.

Whenever a customer feels the need to inquire about something, an astounding 96% of users reach for their smartphones to conduct the required research at that very instant. Only successful brands have the tendency to correctly anticipate and address the exact micro-moment needs by providing the right information at the right time to customer in need.

A useful, quick and one-touch access to the needed information becomes the basis of acquiring customer trust and building long-lasting relationships.

 

Visualization Is More Important than Ever

For all the exciting and informative things found online, whether it is a couple of kittens playing, a baby laughing or a top commercial featuring a popular model, there is always an element of video.  With a video, people tend to accept and attach on a much deeper level due to the usage of visually-rich and interactive elements depicting a proper message or story. And as a consequence, audience is tempted to take considerable action in terms of likes, sharing, etc.

With time, brands have been able to capitalize on the introduction of highly-engaging video features on different social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram.

For this trend, we are going to focus on video aspect only since businesses are seizing the opportunity to differentiate their brand in the competitive industry.

Mobile users are tending to spend more time than ever with their smartphones, with the excitement to watch videos online being proportionate as well. It is clear from the following stats that online video is growing rapidly in popularity.

YouTube registers more 18 and above years-old audience during peak TV hours than any cable TV network.
Advertisers on prime time broadcasting TV could gain 56% more audience of 18 to 49 years-old through advertising on YouTube.
Plainly from statistics, it does not come as a surprise that Facebook recently revealed the count of 1.65 billion active users (data from April 2016) watching about 8 billion videos each day.

Consumers are more tempted from videos because of the deeper attachment they experience from the visual on-screen elements. Realizing the need, the trend of promoting high-quality video content is very much likely to soar high in future.

The Best Visibility with Native Ads

To grab a plain sight exposure in front of the right audience, native advertising has become one of the most sought-after marketing methods. Most users find interruptive ads frustrating and irrelevant. For instance, browsing a website and instantly an out-of-context ad pops out of nowhere is a big no-no for the user.

This is a common concern, which is best catered by native ads. It facilitates brands to market their offerings in a quite non-disruptive way that blends in easily with the environment a user is most comfortable with.

Native ads blend in such a seamless manner, that customers may not even spot them when viewing let it be advertorial, instant content, search advertising, recommended content or sponsored listings form of native advertising. Rather than approving it as a deceiving aspect, the point is to put the right information in front of the viewer when they actually need it.

As per the data provided by Polar and BI intelligence, CTR rates for premium native ads on mobile gadgets were four times higher, than the count of non-native display ads. The data also stressed that native ads calls for better engagement rates on tablets and smartphones as compared to desktop systems.


Create a Winning Content Marketing Strategy in 5 Simple Steps

Create a Winning Content Marketing Strategy in 5 Simple Steps

 

To create a winning content marketing strategy, you must take a look at what you have done in the past and assess why you didn’t reach your goal. When we meet with business owners along the Gulf Coast, we provide them with a free digital marketing consultation. We look at what they are currently doing that is working, not working, where they are, and where they can improve. Our team of digital marketing specialist will analyze current market trends and determine where they can best dominate their industry. 

There is more to just posting on social media and paying for boosted ads on Facebook. It isn’t so much about the amount you post on Facebook anymore. By delivering the right content at the right audience, your opportunities are endless. Stop beating yourself up over not getting much engagement, or what little engagement is from a friend, family member, or co-worker. We’ve all heard the saying. “Content is king,” but the truth is not all content is created equal. 

In this blog post, we will discuss five simple steps for you to create a winning content marketing strategy.
 

Step 1 to Create a Winning Content Marketing Strategy is 

 

A Captivating Message 

People have very short attention spans. We live in an age of instant gratification. We have been taught that we can get any information we need at our finger tips in seconds thanks to smartphones. We are in an age of digital advancement that changes in a blink of an eye. How are your everyday business owners to keep up with these changes and appeal to the right audience? 

It is said that marketing to everyone is marketing to no one. You must decide which specific market you are going to target to and stick with it. A retailer of women’s clothing may decide to target women of a certain age, income bracket, and geographical area of residence. It’s not enough to just run an ad targeted at these ladies. You must appeal to them with your message. 

How do you captivate this audience to draw them into your business? Think like they do. Find out what they like to do and what they have in common other than just clothes. Maybe many of these women are soccer moms. What kind of car do they drive? Where do they like to eat out? Where do they hangout? 
By finding these commonalities, you can figure out how to speak to them and get their attention. Every clothing retailer is targeting them, but not everyone can target them the way you can. Dare to be different in order to be successful. 

Let your social media post or email targeting campaign be a message directed at them as if you are talking directly to one person. Allow them to feel like you truly understand and get them in a way that makes them feel important, appreciated, and understood. 

The way that you target the example audience in this step isn’t much different than you would approach anyone else. Just realize that some target audiences need more social proof, more or less words in order to create a winning content marketing strategy. Remember, to captivate an audience, you have to genuinely know them.
 

Step 2 to Create a Winning Content Marketing Strategy is 

 

Images

Images matter in all aspects to create a winning marketing strategy. Your images must be high-quality, high-resolution, captivating, and visually appealing. You want your images to portray the image and lifestyle that your brand offers. You want less of advertising, product images, sales pitches, and other gimmicks. Be more strategic with the authenticity and frequency of your advertising, but don’t limit yourself to the possibilities of lifestyle posts. 

When it comes to the resolution of images, any photographs you take should be with a camera that has a minimum of 12 megapixels. The higher the megapixels the better quality of images you will have. 
Stock images can be a great source of imagery, but be selective in your choices. Many images are overused. Dig a little deeper when choosing images that are available for stock because anyone can access them. 

When in doubt, hire a professional photographer. Choose a photographer that is experienced in the type of images you need. One who photographs people well may not be able to photograph product images for your e-commerce, and vice-versa. There are diamonds in the rough that can photograph anything. 
 

Step 3 to Create a Winning Content Marketing Strategy is 

 

Strong Call-To-Actions

Giving a clear and concise call-to-action is where many businesses miss the boat. They don’t want to come across as rude or bossy by limiting themselves on effective digital marketing. You want to tell you visitor what to do in the next step of the process so they don’t get lost along the way. You prompt them with buttons that say, “Buy Now”, “Request A Quote”, “Call Now”. 

If you are familiar with a conversion funnel, you know that taking a customer from the wide part of the funnel to the small part can sometimes be tricky. If you have delivered a compelling and captivating message and successful brought the visitor to your website, then you have done half the work. The rest is easy, you just have to point them in the right direction. 

CTA’s that give specific and short directions will get more traction than one that is vague or makes the user have to do more work. Try to avoid CTA’s like “learn more” or “read more” as they aren’t usually relevant to what your business does. These CTA’s work for bloggers and journalists, but not necessarily for a retailer or other services. You want your visitor to have the best user-friendly experience that entices them to return again and again.  Feel at ease consulting with specialist to determine what you can do best to create a winning content marketing strategy for your business.
 

Step 4 to Create a Winning Content Marketing Strategy is 

 

Landing Pages

When speaking with most business owners, we find that not many are familiar with the digital marketing term ‘landing page’, the purpose of landing pages, and how they can drive more business. What is a landing page? Essentially, a landing page is a one page website that gives the visitor a specific message and strong call-to-action. This page is different from your traditional webpage or blog post. We are delivering one particular message in order to capture the users email address in exchange for information or other special items. 

Even if the landing page does not generate a sale, you capture email addresses of those who expressed an interest in what you do. You can use an email marketing campaign to convert them later. For now, we will just focus on the landing page and how you can get it in front of your potential customers. 

Use a paid ads strategy to direct traffic to your landing page such as: Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads, and Google AdWords. Go where your audience is and find out what they are searching for that is relevant to what you do. The best thing about paid digital ads is that you get to select who seems them. This is why it is imperative to really know who your audience is so that you can better serve them. 

 

Step 5 to Create a Winning Content Marketing Strategy is 

 

Test and Re-Test

It’s going to take some time to adjust and create a winning content marketing strategy. You are going to need to continually test and adjust your strategies until you find one that works the best. Algorithms, rules, regulations, and requirements, are constantly changing.  It can feel disappointing to not generate as much or any sales from your paid advertising. 

We find that business owners get burned on paid social media ads because they don’t really understand them. They usually use to broad of an audience because the reach appears more enticing. In all honesty, you will get better results with a narrow audience reach of 1,000 people than 1,000,000. Otherwise, you end up wasting a lot of money on paid advertising to the wrong people. This is another reason why it is best to really get to know your customer base. 

 

Conclusion of How to Can Create a Winning Content Marketing Strategy

The end goal is to convert people from visitors to paying customers. You can have the best products and services in the world, but without a proper content marketing strategy, you miss out on full profit potential. Whether you want to appeal to your local geographic or worldwide, the sentiment of the content is the same, it’s just delivered on a different level. 

Use these five steps when you being to analyze your digital marketing plan. Rinse and repeat. The digital world has an excess of potential that’s waiting for you to capitalize. If you are utterly confused on how to do this and would like a free digital marketing consultation, please call us today to book your appointment with our specialist. 

 Phillip Long, CEO of BIS Technology Group, along with his team of marketing and information technology experts, will walk you through an overview of what your business should be doing to protect your data and plan your digital marketing strategies.

 

About BIS Technology Group

BIS Technology Group is the technology leader on the Gulf Coast and is comprised of four divisions: Information Technology, Web Design & Digital Marketing, Office Equipment and Business Consulting. Together these divisions help local businesses exceed expectations and allow them to group to their full potential while minimizing risks. To learn more about BIS Technology Group, visit bistechnologygroup.com.

You may reach out to us at:
Phone: 251-405-2555

Email: info@askbisdesigns.com


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BIS Designs Now Offers Mobile Development

BIS DESIGNS NOW OFFERS MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT

BIS Designs Offers Mobile App DevelopmentRobertsdale, AL (April 11, 2017)BIS Designs, experienced web design and digital marketing firm on the Gulf Coast, now offers mobile app development and management for local businesses. This new service allows organizations to better communicate with current clients while attracting new customers with state-of-the-art marketing.

According to Flurry, mobile users spend 90% of their time in apps instead of the mobile web. By adding this service, BIS Designs will give customers a complete digital marketing approach from web design and search engine optimization to social media marketing and app development.

With a mobile app, clients can push notifications to consumers. Plus, give users access to special discounts, events and loyalty programs. For certain businesses, it can even be a source of income by selling advertising on the app itself.

“It’s always exciting to be able to offer our clients a professional and in-demand service for a fraction of the cost,” said Phillip Long, CEO of BIS Designs. “I think apps will revolutionize the way we do marketing and I can’t wait to see how it helps our customers grow!”

To learn more about BIS Designs, call 251.410.7601 or visit www.askbisdesigns.com

About BIS Designs 

BIS Designs provides web design and digital marketing services to hundreds of small and medium businesses in the local market. With the solid understanding that marketing is vital to the success of your business, BIS Designs is de-bunking the “if you build it, they will come” myth by providing the highest quality web design and digital marketing solutions available. Headquartered in Robertsdale, Alabama, BIS Designs has been serving Gulf Coast businesses for over 6 years. Learn more at www.askbisdesigns.com

About BIS Technology Group 

BIS Technology Group is the technology leader on the Gulf Coast and is comprised of four divisions: information technology, web design & digital marketing, office equipment and business consulting. Together these divisions help local businesses exceed expectations and allow them to grow to their full potential while minimizing risks. BIS is located in Robertsdale, AL. To learn more about BIS Technology Group, visit bistechnologygroup.com

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