Pitching it Right: The Psychology of 'Targets' in Today's Digital Marketing

Your product is only as good as the impact and actual sales it generates from  customers. 

All modern marketers know this.  Regardless of how appealing an ad may look at first glance, the only tangible means of measuring its real impact lies on the response of the target market  - which technically spells out the profit you get from any product or service. 

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Decades ago, companies battle to stand on top of their league against one or two direct competitors. At present, apparently, the battle arena has changed. May it be for better or for worse depends highly on how well a business conglomerate understands their market and uses the available  tool at their disposal to get things done. 

The tough market competition is one of the reasons why current SEO consulting services strive to build stronger rapport between the company they serve and their specific target audience. To do this, a thorough understanding of the following psychological factors is vital. 

Demographic

• What age group does your specific market belong to?
• What are their educational attainment?
• Are they employed? On what specific professions?
• How much is their income?
• What is their ethnic origin?

Going for something like 'college level adults'  is valid. But it's hardly enough.  Getting more specific by answering the questions above paints you a clearer picture of your market's  current economic status and capacities. This in turn makes it so much easier to pattern your marketing approach that fits their preference. 

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Psychographic

• What are their hobbies?
• What kind of lifestyle do they follow?
• How do they behave?
• What visible attitude is dominant in their personality?

Identifying the psychographic is like asking a friend of their hobbies and interest. What makes them tick?  To some industries, pointing out a specific interest may not be enough. Strive to get down to the nitty-gritty of what your customers want.  For instance, 'What keeps them awake at 2 o'clock in the morning - that something they just can't let go before hitting the crib?'

Feelings and Needs

• What are their specific needs?
• How do they feel about the current products or services offered in the market?
• How will they feel about your own products and services?

We've heard this before- that unless we connect emotionally with our market, we'll never get to win their trust. It's how politicians win, shaping their political agenda to directly address the need of the majority. Marketers surely are not politicians per se. But the dynamic on which they work to promote a message has this stark similarity - hitting on the people's feelings. 

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Concrete, Relevant Situation

• At what particular scenario can they make use of the product or service you offer?

Instead of crafting a message surrounding an overly general situation such  as 'creating a more attractive advertisement,'  why not go for something like 'creating a proven-effective 30-second video ad to combat drugs?' 

Some marketers, in their desire to avoid over-the-top claims, for fear of inspiring negative feedback, miss the chance of seeing the full potential of their products. 

People like it when you tell them what's in it for them. But they love it even more when you show them a distinct added value they can use often. 

So Get it Right and Pitch to the Right Target!

Seasoned marketers love to tell beginners; 'It's never about your product or service but your audience.'

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So the next time you start drafting that online press release or writing  that script for your next video ad, stop ,think about your TARGET and ask yourself the following questions:

• Who are they?
• How does my/our product help them? 
• What can we offer them that other competitors in the market don't?

Get to know your target. It's the first step to marketing right.

Five Secrets in SEO Your Business Should Know

“You cannot just SEO your website and be done. It is a forever moving goal post” –Stoney Degeyter

Search engine optimization has always been something a bit perplexing to business owners.  There is no exact formula to guarantee its success—more often than not, it is a hit or miss deal.

Some companies may not succeed in their SEO efforts, but even fewer companies would succeed. This fact, in itself, is evident of how to these various business owners, SEO is a magical incantation that drives appropriate traffic to their website much more than it is a technological science that would ultimately and potentially help their businesses thrive. In essence, the language spoken by the experts is something of a jargon to them and whether their efforts fail or succeed would not make the process any less complex to them. This is where SEO companies come in, to aid these companies in clearing the murky clouds of incomprehension and perplexity in the logistics of SEO and through their aid; they make sure that these businesses would get the appropriate audience they desire.

But if you are a business owner, you should not leave everything to your SEO’s specialists and discount yourself from learning some of these SEO secrets that could potentially help your business grow. In fact, it would be wise to know some of the secrets that will truly make your brand awesome.

1.)    Stop overthinking it

Perhaps the biggest hurdle in SEO is the fact that it remains to be an ambiguous concept to most marketers, but this uncertainty should not deter you from learning it. It is important to keep in mind that almost every marketer out there is in the same situation as you are which is trying to figure out SEO’s “hidden secrets” with little to no direction so, you should not feel irrelevant and out of touch at all. What you need to focus instead is delivering the best possible user experience instead of worrying about the complex logistics.

2.)    Keep content fresh

One imperative and pivotal aspect of SEO is content and to keep your readers coming back for your content, you need to make sure it is fresh, updated and relevant. When it comes to SEO, there is a universal truth in the clichéd phrase, “Content is King” so you would do well to take heed from it. People conducting research would want their information up-to-date and accurate and recency is becoming a core ranking factor in Google’s search algorithm. So, keep all content as accurate and as updated as possible, your audience would not want to read dated content.

3.)    Prioritize usability

All that researched, relevant and accurate information would be for naught if your website has a complicated navigation process and would be arduous instead of enjoyable to browse. Technology is a focal factor in the user experience equation, so you have to make sure that your website is optimized to accommodate mobile browsing and has a quick load time.

 4.)    Replace keyword research with customer research

Search engines are relatively useful when people have queries. From this standpoint, there would be a necessity for your website to generate informative content in order to be an authoritative source of high-quality information. This is because when people arrive at your website, they are likely looking for immediate answers to their queries and any flimsy and indirect responses just would not do. Earn your users’ trust and readership by producing information-rich content such as blog posts, how-to articles, and researched data.

5.)    The small details matter

Marketers are often too immersed on optimizing elements that would directly affect SEO ranking factors and would neglect or overlook what is ill-conceived as an inconsequential detail: meta descriptions. Meta descriptions are important as these would provide little snippets of what your audience should expect when they access your website and a brief insight into what a particular article is about. Creating a well-crafted meta description increases your chances of click-throughs to your website and would encourage users to access it. In essence, having a meta description, with a few short lines of text, will drive more traffic to your website.

Tips for Guest Blogging

“With guest posting, you should absolutely try your hardest to write something where people demand you come back…” –Tommy Walker

If you are an online digital marketer that would specialize in link building services, then you should know by now that guest blogging is an important aspect in search engine optimization. This is just one of the many ways you can generate more traffic for your website. However, as this is a common way to increase traffic, many digital marketers are similarly exploiting it as this is the case, there is a stiff competition for having your guest blog post approved and posted online. So, to give you an edge over your competitors and to ensure that your guest blog post is considered, approved and posted, here are some of the tips you can utilize to get a much higher approval rate for your guest blog submissions.

1.)    Write original and fresh content 

Writing gripping and compelling content with novel ideas is a crucial element when it comes to writing blog posts. But it is even more imperative when you are pitching your content for someone else to publish. Blog sites may differ in terms and conditions, but they all have a common rule which is to submit original and fresh content. Write and submit content that is both gripping and relevant to your readers as this will heighten your chances of getting your guest post approved.

2.)    Communicate with the guest blog site moderator 

Your chances of getting your guest blog accepted are enhanced when you have communicated with the guest blog site moderator and suggest to them of what you are going to write. Give them an insight into your topic and provide a title in order to impress them. Letting them know what they can expect from your guest post as well as how relevant your post would be to their readers would definitely increase your chances of getting your proposal accepted.

3.)    Read and follow the guest blog site instructions strictly

These websites have set their own terms and conditions for a reason and if you want to have your guest blog post approved then it would do you well if you followed them. These are the guidelines you ought to follow when you are writing your blog so you have to make sure that you would ready and follow them as accurately as you can. Stick to their guidelines and your chances of having your guest blog post approved will be relatively higher.

4.)    Drop the sales talk 

Blatantly advertising your business on your guest post is disrespectful to the owner of the guest blog site. Guest blog sites are not avenues for direct advertising your business and doing so is a very big NO amongst these sites. However, this does not mean to say that you should drop off advertising altogether-- do it in such a way that is not so palpably obvious and direct. Be discreet and subtle about it by indirectly promoting your website through your author biography or using an anchor text in your content body if it is allowed. Practice good etiquette by dropping the sales talk in your content in order to boost your chances of getting your guest blog post approved.

5.)    Love what you do 

Perhaps the most straightforward tip you can do and probably the easiest tip to accomplish. It is no question that when you love what you do, you would generate better and stellar results. Similarly, with guest blog posting when your passion is shown through the way you write your content, you will be very pleasantly surprised at how well you have done and how spontaneous the flow of your content is which gives your content more value and an edge over your competitors. So, the next time you pitch in a guest blog post, do not write for the sake of writing but write from your heart—your submissions will readily be accepted and posted when you do so.

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