5 Top Dominators of the Digital Age (Sorry, Content – You’re Last)

Content is king.

That was decades ago before social media giants like Facebook and free blogging platforms like Tumblr exist.

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Today, content still stands as an important factor in digital marketing. However, it no longer wears the crown of kingship that it enjoyed years ago. If before all strategies and campaigns kneel down before the ‘king,’ now it’s different.  

Previous members of the royal house have gained too much popularity and support over the years that now they have stolen the lead from the ruler.

Today, the power of the digital age is no longer centralized in one superpower but FIVE. Let’s have a quick look.

User Experience

The online marketing battle is no longer just about producing lengthy and informative content for readers. With the apparent influx of information across all news, entertainment and blogging platforms, reading or listening to everything has proven to be impossible. There’s just too much information and too little time for us to process them all.

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Information spread like wildfire, and the winner is the platform that gives people the best user experience for the information they need. Is the site navigation easy? Are the categories highly comprehensible? Do the pages load quickly with a tap?

The better the user experience, the higher the subscription percentage.

Curation

Before, it’s all about finding something new. Winning the market is about being unique and fresh and likable to the people. Same truth still holds at present.

BUT, there’s a shorter, easier option – CURATION.

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Today, marketer and bloggers don’t have to always toil over researching for days just to create two to three-thousand word informative posts for their site, every week.  With curation, one can create knockout posts by using quality existing content from other site and placing his own short inputs about it.

There is no need to fret about not having enough material to write about. The win goes for those who know how to dig out golden posts from around the web and introduce it with a concise, spot-on copy.

Cost

Years ago, one doesn’t get to read quality content without having to pay for it. Today is different. Anyone can provide information they want about something completely free of charge.

In other words, between a provider who offers good content for free and that who requires some payment, people will mostly likely go for the former.  Digital marketers will need to devise a new strategy to earn other than the write ups they produce.

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Access

The basic premise is that, your content is only as good as the target market it reaches and the number of those who subscribe to what you offer. Now that web browsing has proliferated across different devices, info providers would need to consider the overall accessibility of their goods.

Apart from the readability in desktop format, can the data also be accessible on mobile? More flexibility in access opens the doors to more followers, thus, more opportunities for product or service promotion.

Content

Nothing can take content out of the full picture when it comes to digital marketing. But it’s important to have a clear understanding on what exactly does this content cover in today’s trend. The following are the most common ones employed in marketing:

• ·         Web articles
• ·         Infographics
• ·         Video animation
• ·         Digital posters and brochures
• ·         Social  media updates

Everything you share with the public is content. But as to whether or not they are good or just a part of the mainstream digital noise flooding the online system depends mainly on how you satisfy the other four factors we have on this list.

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Decades ago, trends could last for years. Now they come in and out in a snap. The remarkable change in speed poses a great challenge for all digital marketing company Philippines who are in competition with global information providers.

The next time you find your content not selling enough, ask yourself one question, ‘Are my posts satisfying the top digital dominators?’

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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Guest Blogging 101: Seven Tips to Getting Proposals Accepted

“…the SEO benefit for guest blogging is not from the obvious bio links, it is from everything else that comes from being known…” –Craig Fifield

Guest blogging is one of the many aspects of driving additional traffic to your web pages. On a whole, when it comes to search engine optimization, guest blogging is still a paramount aspect as according to Neil Patel; this is a way to increase your overall branding, referral traffic and sales.  So, it is safe to assume that as a whole, guest blogging for SEO is not entirely dead. And if online marketing agencies would do well to exploit this. However, before getting all hyped up for guest posting, we are all aware that we need to pitch guest posting proposals and have them approved in order to secure a guest post.

Some of them get rejected or ignored while a few of them may get accepted. This is a focal point when it comes to guest posting as it ensures that your post will be featured and as a result more traffic would be directed to your website. So, just how do you come up with a proposal worthy enough to get accepted? Take a look down below for a few guidelines that may just help you.

1.)    Choose sites carefully

When it comes to selecting guest blogging sites for your guest post, you must exercise deliberate care in choosing only the best ones and of course ones that are aligned with what your guest post is all about. One aspect that should be in paramount consideration is your audience—you need to make sure that you are reaching the kind of audience that will drive real ROI into your website. Additionally, choose quality sites as failing to do so will damage your reputation and may devalue your own website with any backlinks that may potentially come your way.

2.)    Send an email

When it comes to pitching a guest post, your emails should be short, concise and straightforward as possible. The reader probably has a lot of emails to read which are of the same tone, so it would be nice if you cut through the chase and pitch your proposal. Send a message to the site owners or editors by using the submission form or any email address you can find on the website.

3.)    Use a professional subject line

Your subject lines are your tickets into getting your email proposals read, considered and possibly accepted. Come up with a straightforward subject that is honest, profession and clear. Anything less than professional is substandard and it would be the quickest way to have your pitch dismissed, ignored or rejected.

4.)    Sign it professionally

Your signature or your from line is just as significant as your subject line. This would also have an impact on the reader as well as their chances of accepting your pitch. Additionally, consider having an email that sounds professional and refrain from using emails that would make you seem like a nine-year-old in his initial discovery of the Internet.

5.)    Use the recipient’s name if it is available

When it comes to addressing them,  do not be cold and impersonal by saying “To Whom It May Concern” or too formal by stating “Dear Sir or Madam”. Keep things simple and polite but courteous and friendly by opening your email with “Hi (their name)”.

6.)    Introduce yourself

Remember, even if you are pitching a proposal, you would still be sending an email to a stranger so it is only polite and courteous to identify yourself in one line. Link any social media profile you have such as your Twitter account or LinkedIn profile as this will help them confirm that you are indeed a real person.

 7.)    Tell them why you matter

Of important consideration is to have your proposal approved and in order to do that, you need to validate yourself in the consideration of the site manager. Remember, they would probably be sorting through innumerable proposals and as this is the case, there would be an imperative need to convince them to approve your proposal. You can do this by telling them of other places where your work appears and provide them with links. Additionally, tell them about your current project. Let them know what it is about and how this is related to their niche.  

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Content Marketing Goals You Should Be Practicing

No matter what business you are in, content marketing is a paramount aspect when it comes to making it relevant—a fact which most online marketing agencies are aware of. In this fast paced world wherein competition remains stiffer than ever, utilizing poor content marketing strategies would render your business ideals ineffective or even cause it to be obsolete. However, as the logistics of content marketing remain vastly complex and diverse, we would see some other companies succeed where others had failed which would make one wonder: Is there a proper formula to having a content marketing scheme that would work?

The truth is there is not. It is relatively a hit or miss thing. Digital marketers may have heard the rather hackneyed phrase, “Content is King” when it comes to fashioning contents and although there is veracity in this clichéd notion, relying on content alone can only take you so far. However, what these successful businesses do have in common is a set of goal-oriented objectives that would make their content marketing strategies tick. Because content—no matter how innovative and terrific is just content and this would not make any radical changes to your business if it is not complemented with earnest business goals such as the ones listed below.

1.)    Attract new prospects to your marketing system 

No matter how great you think your current audience is, you need to branch out and attract more audience. Your content needs to be remarkable and compelling enough that it would attract shares in social media platforms, attract links and eventually generate conversation. Your content needs to engender a certain buzz around it enough for people to talk about as this is how you attract new people to your content. This is how your content gets immortalized over time and this is how your new prospects would discover your content.

2.)    Be Credible 

Content that is not supported and backed by thoroughly researched facts would not do you well. In fact, this is how you lose your audience. Before crafting your contents, make sure you have plied it with facts that it would be teeming with evidence as this is how you establish yourself as a pundit in a particular field. Build your credibility and your audience will thank you for it. Accurate information is paramount to creating top notch contents and it will certain strengthen your relationship with your readers making them refer back to you or your brand for answers from time to time.

3.)    Build trust and rapport with your audience

This has probably been entrenched in every content marketing goals article you will find online, but that would just highlight just how vital and imperative this is to content marketing. Remember, when you are composing content you are doing it for your audience, so they would always be at the forefront of your mind. Your content should be something that addresses their common issues and queries. It should also be equally interesting and valuable enough that your audience would trust you and get a sense of your personality. Failing to build rapport with your audience kills your conversion or conversion potential—that by itself should let you know just how imperative this goal should be.

4.)    Strengthen loyalty with existing customers 

Fresh and new customers are great for your business, but having a solid audience and an existing set of customers who deeply trust you is the hallmark of a good business. Building and having a tighter relationship with your current customers doubles the growth potential of your business and this is what would get you referrals and repeat business. Give the people who have already bought from you a better and richer experience and they will gladly reward you for it.

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Five Content Marketing Myths That Need to be Debunked

“Marketing used to be telling a myth and telling it. Now it is about telling a truth and sharing it” –Marc Mathieu

Without a doubt, content marketing remains to be one of the most powerful ways in effectively thrusting your business to the public and a preferred audience. Today, more and more businesses whether big or small enlist the assistance of online marketing agencies to give their products the full brunt of a creative digital marketing campaign and it is because of this that many have joined this marketing bandwagon. And before we knew it, everyone anywhere seems to be a content marketer.

It is precisely because of this influx of content marketers that spurious notions are engendered. These notions are dangerous as they are the very reason your content’s potential is stifled which is why as early as now, these misguided notions, precepts, and myths should be debunked. After all, every smart content marketer should be wise enough to differentiate facts from fiction. So, in this article, we have listed a collection of common injudicious myths that you should be aware of. So that your content in the future would be in no way affected by it.

1.)    Boosting production should be a top priority. 

Considering how the “content is king” adage is very much ingrained in every content marketer, the convention wisdom would be to scale production as content marketing’s best approach. Google seems to reward those publishers that post content every day causing a lot of brands to yield an excess of content every single day. However, mass production of content, no matter how tempting it may sound, is hardly ideal as this is the primary cause why thin content ensues. Thing is insubstantial contents are hardly of any use to your readers which would inevitably cause your conversion rates to decline.  Focus on quality content over quantity as this will naturally lead to better rankings.

2.)    You need to have a presence on every social media platform

Considering the plethora of social media platforms online, most content marketers are under the impression that in order to have a successful campaign, they need to have a presence on each of these platforms. The reality is, it is so much better to have no social media presence than several social media accounts that have been neglected over time. Setting up a social media account for your business without committing to using it will not reflect well on your business.

Remember, every social media platform variant attracts a different kind of audience and a different kind of functionality. So, do your research and sign up on platforms most applicable to your business.

3.)    All of your content should be self-promotional.

Well, apart from being incredibly vain, you would appear to lose most, if not all of your customers. Traditional marketing would seem like it talks at people while content marketing should be aimed at talking with them. Make content geared towards engaging your customers and less content talking about your business. Content marketing should cater to your audience and what they want. They sure would not want to have in-your-face promotional content thrust on them every single day.

4.)    Content marketing is all about SEO. 

Although content marketing involves a great deal of search engine optimization, it is not entirely all about SEO only and nothing else. Content marketing is about people and how you create it for them. This should be your main focus and pepper it with the right amount of SEO and you will be good to go. After all, your content needs to be read and should you aspire for it to become viral, it needs to reach a wider scope of people.

5.)    Content Marketing Is Easy 

Every job may seem easy until you yourself get the chance to do it. The truth is, it takes a lot of work and a lot of creative genius, a bit of panache and flair in order to create compelling content marketing strategies and it would take a lot of patience to do as it can take months before you see any true results.

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