marketing-trends-08262015

Do you want to get the most out of your marketing efforts?

Online marketing trends are a challenge to follow. The industry is fast-paced and always changing. Whenever you think you’ve got everything figured out, the industry slips a new trick on you. Despite ever-changing technology and new cutting-edge strategies, savvy marketers can ride the trends to success. The following are the hottest marketing tips for your business business.

Diversify Search Engine Tactics

Google is still king, search engine optimization is still essential, and successful digital marketers must still crack search algorithms. But, Google’s dominance might be changing and online searchers are turning to alternatives all the time. Bing, Blekko, Boardreader, BuzzSumo, and DuckDuckGo are examples of Google alternatives on the rise. You would do well to begin engaging these platforms to find your target audience.

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Do you want to take your marketing to the next level? Contact us now.

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Content Creation is Not Going Away

Despite some people complaining that there is too much content on the internet, the truth is content creation and content marketing is not going away. This trend does not bode well for society’s attention span, but it is great for content writers’ job security. The web, by its very nature, is constantly expanding. As the web unfolds, new platforms will constantly present themselves. New platforms demand content creation. Develop relationships with reliable content producers. You will continue to need them.

Here is how to make the most of your content creation efforts:

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  • Avoid fluff. Get to the point quickly and stay focused.
  • Create a strong intro. Withing the first few sentences your reader should get an idea of what to expect.
  • Some of the best content is stories. People love to read stories. It is a great way to get your point across.
  • Support your points with data and research. According to Demand Metric, 90% of organizations now market with content.
  • Keep it personable by using “you” and “I” within your writing.
  • Make your content longer than average. According to BuzzSumo, content over 1,500 words is shared more often.
  • Keep your writing at a low grade level. The New Yorker is written at 5th-grade level and the New York Times is at 6th-grade level. Even “The Economist” is only at an 8th-grade level. There are several sites that can help you determine the readability level of your content. Here is a free one: https://read-able.com/
  • Make your content skimmable. Use subheadings, bullet points, keep plenty of white space within your content.
  • Break the text into small chunks of text. Short paragraphs are easier to read.
  • Incorporate your accomplishments within your content.
  • Use instructional videos.
  • Bold, italicize, and underline your text to emphasize your points.
  • Re-purpose your content. If you have a video, create an outline, and a transcription. You can also turn the transcribed text into a pdf that you give to people who subscribe to your email list.
  • Create headlines with data within. For example, “How to Get 37% More Email Subscribers”.
  • Strive to create evergreen content. The best content stays relevant for a long time.
  • Keep updating your content. Yes, even your evergreen content should be updated at least once a year. Redistribute your content every time you update it.
  • Keep your target keywords in mind as you develop your content. Target long-tail keywords like “San Diego web designer” as opposed to “web designer“. There is less competition for long-tail keywords and they convert at a higher rate.
  • Your content creation efforts should revolve around frequently asked questions.
  • Respond to your customers problems. You content should be about solving customer problems. Not all problems you are writing about must be related to your products or services.
  • Make it exciting. You can bring your content alive, even if you have a B2B focus.
  • Content without images is boring and difficult to read. Add relevant images throughout your content. Create custom images or infographics to drive home your points.

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Email Marketing

Are you looking for one of the most effective way to market your business? Stick with email marketing. The greatest thing about email marketing is that you are in control. While you are at the mercy of Google for your search results you can be in charge of your email marketing efforts. Make email marketing part of your content marketing strategy.

Mobile Optimization is a Must

It used to be cool to have a mobile marketing strategy. Today, you can’t compete without it. Mobile strategy is more than just having a responsive mobile-friendly website. In the past couple of years Google has been placing emphasis on mobile friendly design. Google declared that mobile usability is now “relevant for search results”.

Mobile usability is now a search ranking factor.

Mobile marketing optimization includes the following:

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  • Responsive mobile-friendly website.
  • Mobile ads.
  • Social media strategy with a mobile emphasis.

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Marketing Automation is Expected

Marketing automation is here to simplify your marketing operations. There are more-and-more moving parts you have to have tools to keep you in control. Online marketing trends prove that digital marketers aspiring to be the best must use marketing automation. If you are not using marketing automation, do not despair, more and more marketing automation clients are appearing and many of them are affordable for even small operations. The worry used to be that consumers preferred a more personal touch, but now the prevalence of marketing automation has made it expected. The good news for you is you can use marketing automation to rid yourself of mindless, repetitive tasks.

Here are some of the most common marketing automation tools:

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  • Email – Mailchimp, ActiveCampaigns, Constant Contact, Aweber
  • Social media – Hootsuite, Buffer
  • Sales – SugarCRM

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Pay-Per-Click is In Decline

The writing is on the wall for pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. What started out as a great way for digital marketers to track how much they invested in PPC ads compared with the actual conversions those ads generated, PPC was a perfect compromise for wary marketers. With the decline of PPC, paid advertising forms are filling the vacancy. Until online marketing trends in regards to paid advertising become more solid, it is best to focus on the tried-and-true method of building the best brand you can offering the best value to your consumers.

Conversion Rate Optimization is Essential

Imagine, if you could double your sales conversion rate, you would double your revenue. Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the process of understanding, and then capitalizing on, the number of your site visitors who actually go on to purchase your product. The term itself is just a fancy way of describing the fundamental goal of digital marketing: to get more people to buy your product. A simple Google search and review of the list of CRO services shows how important online marketers have found CRO. Conversion optimization is often ignored by entrepreneurs which leads to loss of revenue.

Let us know if we can help you with increasing your sales conversions or website conversion rate. Contact us now.

Use Video

Video is the most popular content. It is the most widely consumed around the world. The best marketers include video within their marketing strategy. At the very least create a Youtube channel and post your videos. You can create training or how-to videos. They can be short to the point videos. You don’t have to hire a professional team to produce your videos. The key here is to post new videos often. Make the videos about what matters most to your customers.

The Power of Search Algorithms

Among online marketing trends that will never change is the always critical search algorithm. These algorithms, of course, are the means by which content is ranked highest for a particular search engine and are the route to placing your advertising in front of as many eyes as possible. Understanding these algorithms will always be a fundamental task of successful digital marketers. Google’s algorithm remains the most important, for now, but Facebook, Bing, Twitter, and other search engine alternatives have algorithms that demand to be understood, too.

Pay to Play Social Media

Over the pas few years marketers had to face the fact the Facebook now wants you to pay to reach people, even those who you already have a relationship with. As a result companies have to pay to maintain traffic from Facebook. This is not unique to Facebook. Twitter and other social networks are pushing their users toward paid ads.

The Lines Become Blurry

The lines between SEO, content marketing, email marketing, and social media marketing have become more blurry. Content marketing is the new SEO. While SEO used to mean placing your keywords in the right places within your website today SEO is more about creating and promoting content. Businesses without content marketing can’t succeed with SEO either. Content marketing won’t work without a solid social media marketing strategy. Content marketing relies on content promotion. All of your marketing tools must work together for them to work.

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Do you want help with your marketing strategy? Contact us now.

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