Tag Archive for: Digital Marketing

YouTube Select: YouTube’s New Premium Advertising Program

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YouTube just recently launched their new premium advertising program, YouTube Select. “Helping you connect with your audience is our top priority. This is especially important as digital takes precedence in how we interact, communicate and stay connected.” Vishal Sharma, YouTube’s Vice President of Product Management wrote. The purpose of YouTube Select is to make this easier for brands. Offering more flexibility to reach hard to find audiences, with the confidence advertisers’ buys are brand-safe. 

New Features

Emerging Lineups: YouTube Select packages content in what it calls “lineups.” These are tailored by market for topics such as beauty & fashion, entertainment, technology, sports and more. They’re now introducing a new offering, called “Emerging Lineups.” These provide an easier way to extend the reach of campaigns among upcoming or niche channels.

Sponsorships and Programs: There are also custom sponsorships and programs available to help brands target audiences across top YouTube apps and vertices, such as YouTube Kid, Sports, Music, and Originals. 

TV Audience Targeting: According to YouTube, over 100 million people in the U.S. watch YouTube and Youtube TV every month. They also have a higher household reach and share of watch time than the next 3 ad-supported streaming services combined, according to Comscore. To take advantage of this surge, a dedicated streaming TV lineup is being introduced as another offering for advertisers. Streaming TV combines the best of YouTube TV and lineups content, both on TV screens. That means being able to easily reach your audience with a single, scalable offering on the big screen across the best content. This includes popular creators, YouTube Originals, live sports, feature length movies, timely news and more.

They’ve also recently announced Brand Lift measurements on TV screens, which will soon be available globally for the app and YouTube TV. Ultimately to give advertisers better help measuring their brand results. 

Better Buying Options: In addition to more capabilities on the TV screen, there will also be more choices on how advertisers purchase their ads. It will vary by region, but many countries are making certain YouTube lineups available via Google Ads, Display & Video 360 and reservation.  

Why this is Important to Marketers

Connected TV viewing continues to increase considerably, especially in the midst of the pandemic. Over the last year or so YouTube has started focusing more on marketing objectives, rather than media. Ultimately to become a stronger and more strategic marketing partner for brands. YouTube Select is making it easier to ensure brand-safety when ad buying. Granting marketers access to advanced suitability controls, as well as the option to only serve ads on videos that have been machine classified and human-verified across all lineups. Overall, it offers an easier way for you to authentically connect with your audience at scale. 

According to YouTube, brands are already seeing results. “In 2019, global lineups delivered an average awareness lift of 13 percent and an average purchase intent lift of 9 percent. And in an MMM meta-analysis we commissioned with Nielsen in the U.S., YouTube Select lineups had greater ROI than TV in 73 percent of MMMs that measured YouTube Select lineups, Other Digital, and TV in 2016-2018.” 

Whether you’re new to the YouTube advertising space, or have been here for a while, YouTube Select is definitely something you should consider. 

More from Onimod Global 

Onimod Global releases the latest digital marketing news and essential marketing tips every Tuesday and Thursday! To catch up on the top digital marketing news and trends, click here. To find out more about who we are and what we do, click here.

Social Media Marketing: Should Your Business be on TikTok?

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TikTok is the fastest growing social media network in the world right now, with the app having been downloaded over 1.5 billion times in the App Store and Google Play. If you’re not already there, you’re probably wondering, should my business be on TikTok? We’re going to help you answer that question. Let’s discuss the app, its audience, and what kind of business can benefit from adding TikTok to their social media marketing strategy. 

What is TikTok? 

For those unfamiliar, TikTok is an app that allows users to create and post videos within a news feed. Users are allowed to create clips 3-15 seconds long and compile clips into a video up to a minute in length. Users can add music or sounds to the videos that are available within the app. Most of the content is comedic or dance oriented, but the variety of content is growing. For example, we are starting to see videos featuring creators using or reviewing their favorite products. 

Who is on TikTok?

Just a few years ago, the majority of TikTok users were around the age of 13. Today, 60% of the app’s monthly active users in the U.S. are 16-24 year old. Another notable demographic is that 55.6% of users are male and 44.4% are female. This is an appreciable difference compared to other social platforms that show a female-favorable user base, such as Instagram with a 65%-35% sway. It’s also worth noting that 43% of users are in India. No one is certain why this is, but 40% of new downloads are based out of India. All in all, the largest number of users come out of the U.S, India, and Douyin, China. 

How Can Brands Use TikTok? 

There are four main ways brands can utilize TikTok:

  1. Directly: You can create your own channel and upload relevant videos through the channel.
  2. Influencers: Influencer marketing is growing in popularity on TikTok. Major brands like Google, Coca-Cola, Universal Pictures, and Sony have worked with popular users to raise brand awareness and extend reach of their recent promotions. 
  3. Paid Advertisements: There are three main types of paid ads brands have to choose from on TikTok as of now: 
    1. Launch Screen Ads: These appear when a user initially opens the app. Users can tap on the ad to get sent to an external webpage or participate in a hashtag challenge. 
    2. Video Ads: In-feed videos are also offered as a native way to advertise content on the app. You can pay to have your content promoted on the “For You” page.  
    3. Branded AR: Brands also have the ability to create branded lenses, filters, and stickers, which are similar to Snapchat. 
  4. Hashtag Challenge Plus: While this is still a paid feature, it is strictly e-commerce focused. Brands can sponsor a hashtag or a theme that creates a challenge for users to create videos participating in the challenge. Users can then browse products associated with the brand. 

Is it Right for Your Business? 

To answer this question, you need to ask yourself as a marketer or business owner a number of other questions. Will you be able to create original content that promotes your brand? Do you understand the style of content on TikTok? And most importantly, what is your target audience? If you’re looking to target Gen Z or Millennials, TikTok is a great way to gain mass exposure. Additionally, it’s a great way for brands that have a corporate tone to create a more youthful and fun feel for themselves. If your brand strictly targets an older demographic, it may not be worth the investment just yet, but it may be in the near future. 

More from Onimod Global 

At Onimod Global we are experts in social media marketing. We know which platforms are best for brands, and create visibility for brands where customers are searching, interacting, and ultimately converting. Find out more about what we do, or contact us today!

 

4 Ways PPC Will Rescue Your Business During Economic Crisis

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People may be clicking, but when are they buying? Are consumers buying too much too fast? When do they really decide to convert and make a purchase? When will brick and mortar stores reopen and foot traffic resume? As some questions are answered, they are replaced by new questions under such fast-changing circumstances. The good news: Search marketing is adaptable, measurable, and when done correctly, VERY cost effective. Even with shifting data models, PPC pros can use timely trends to guide strategic decisions.

Trends Emerging

One very helpful tool for marketers during COVID-19 is the Tinuiti COVID dashboard. Here they provide a look at trends in paid Facebook media since the pandemic took hold. It requires you to sign up for free with email, and offers insights into media spend. They have discovered some emerging trends from the data across some volatile sectors. April proved far different compared to March; May will undoubtedly look far different compared to April. The following trends, according to the data shared by Search Engine Land:

Automotive: Spending plunged month over month by 41%, but surged almost 50% week over week across the past two weeks.

Travel: Spend almost evaporated, down 82% month over month, but is showing signs of a cautious uptick.

Consumer packaged goods: Up 27% month over month, and up 50% week over week.

In some cases, it seems that the natural reaction is to slash media spend. But clear thinking and data prove to prevail while figuring out the best strategies for your company.

E-commerce

Fast impact on e-commerce is dizzying to say the least, since e-commerce covers basically everything on the market.

  • Google announced search results on the Google Shopping tab will now include free listings, so any business that sells things should fast-track getting their Merchant Feed into Google. Read more about this hot topic on our news page here.
  • Product hoarding has shifted to “next best alternative” purchasing. For example, consumers got creative about toilet paper shortages, driving interest in bidets and other solutions-oriented products.
  • Market-dominating providers are suddenly prioritizing what gets shipped and when. Smaller providers that can ship fast have the potential for an edge over Amazon, Walmart and other large companies.

Here are some PPC tips from Onimod Global:

  • Make sure you are only showing the ads for things people can actually buy. There’s no point showing ads for toilet paper if none is in stock, or for your new summer shoe line launch if your warehouse is on lockdown.
  • Pay attention to setting better bids and prioritize the campaigns that can still convert.

Home services

Quarantine has people searching around the house looking for anything and everything to fix up. This includes but not limited to: Carpet cleaning, painting, dusty air ducts, spring prep for outdoors. Some are DIY projects, but many are best handled by the professionals, including emergency repairs.

Onimod Global’s PPC tips:

  • Stay on top geo-based performance that is affected by any local regulations impacting performance in your service areas.
  • There’s no point showing ads when all you can do is disappoint a prospect with the inability to fix their problem soon. Ensure your ads are suspended while your limited staff is completely booked.

Hospitality

It’s very evident as to why spend in the hospitality industry is almost completely evaporated. Remember that this is only temporary! History tells us that people will venture back out. It is human nature to do so. Travel is a necessary escape, and essential for business at times. People need hope, that they will soon be able to do this again. Here are our tips:

  • Stay on top of shifting search queries to avoid paying for ad clicks from consumers looking to cancel.
  • Keep audiences for Google Ads up-to-date with your customer/prospects database. This will ensure you’re showing the most relevant ads at the right time to the right groups of consumers.
  • Remember that there are customers who are ready to buy, just maybe unable to because of local restrictions. We suggest to consider shifting away from last-click conversion attribution.

Local brick & mortar businesses

Most likely the largest impacted in business are the brick and mortar businesses forced to close for the near future. Family-owned restaurants may lack infrastructure for delivery services at scale.

Some tips from Onimod Global for PPC are:

  • Build audiences from customer data. Even your manual customer email list in Google Sheets can be uploaded to a Facebook campaign for more effective targeting.
  • Agencies can deploy Rule Engine (for Google and Bing) to automate optimizations. It’s another way to offer lower-cost agency services that can scale.
  • If you’re new to social media advertising, contact Onimod Global to ensure your advertising budget is spent in the most efficient way possible.

More from Onimod Global

Need help from experts on PPC and how to optimize your advertising budget? Contact Onimod Global today, we are here to help you navigate this uncertain time. To find out more about who we are and what we do, click here.

To catch up on the latest digital marketing news and trends, click here.

E-Commerce Marketing Strategy: Where to Start

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With the recent lift of the nation-wide shut down, the country is slowly opening up on a state by state basis, but the majority of businesses still remain physically closed. Due to the uncertainty surrounding the situation, you may be considering, or have already entered into the e-commerce space.

There is an increasing number of people online and numbers will most likely continue to grow as the year goes on. In light of this growing audience, many businesses are boosting digital ad spend and their online presence in general. Making the e-commerce space even more crowded than before. This can be intimidating for those just getting started, which is why Onimod Global is here with helpful tips for getting your e-commerce marketing strategy started. 

Step 1: Choose Your E-Commerce Software 

There are endless e-commerce platforms out there to choose from. When you’re comparing software, it can be hard to tell how seemingly minor differences in features can have a major impact on overall performance, but they can. When it comes down to it, what’s best for you will depend on a variety of factors, such as the industry you’re in, the size of your inventory, etc. We’re going to talk about the three most popular e-commerce software platforms and give pros and cons to each, but there are many online articles that discuss others and go into greater detail on each. 

BigCommerce: Ideal for larger retail brands. Also a good choice for those who have a brick and mortar store and are looking to expand operations. The interface is user-friendly and allows you to customize your shop without having to know code by using templates in design your store. 

Pros:

  • Excels with multi-channel selling
  • User-friendly 
  • Scalable 
  • Variety of quality themes 
  • Comprehensive abandoned cart feature 

Cons: 

  • Can get pricey 
  • No 1-click selling/up-sells 
  • Cart abandonment feature isn’t included in entry plan

Shopify: If you plan to drop ship, rely on Facebook Ads, or Instagram marketing, this may be the best choice. Two big downsides are weak SEO and rigid URL structure, meaning it’s not as user-friendly. You can change some sections of it, but not others. 

Pros:

  • Quick load time
  • Easy set up
  • Many certified partners 
  • 1-click selling 
  • Allow multiple channel and social selling 

Cons:

  • Poor SEO 
  • Unable to customize checkout process
  • Apps can get costly
  • A developer is needed for advanced features 

3dcart: Has many practical features, such as unlimited storage, no transaction fees, and advanced shipping solutions. The main downside is it’s not for beginners. Set up and customization takes a lot of time to understand and get used to. 

Pros:

  • A nice blog feature 
  • Supports any integrations you would need 
  • Good business user management tools (email, QuickBooks, inventory_

Cons:

  • Dated templates 
  • Lacks customer support 
  • Not beginner-friendly

Step 2: Optimize Your Site for Search and Mobile

Online shoppers are constantly bombarded with advertisements, promotions, product options, etc. This means when they do make it to a site, they’re not going to wait around for a slow performing site because they can easily go somewhere else.  46% of shoppers have said they’ll never return to a slow website. Going even further, Google reported that for every one second delay in page load time, conversions can fall up to 20%. While there can be many causes of a slow site, these are the most common: 

  1. Heavy Page Image: Optimizing images will allow the pages on your website to receive bytes faster, and this makes your page more efficient with a faster load time.
  2. Large Files: We highly recommend a JavaScript compression or a minimization tool to help decrease your download size.
  3. Plug-Ins: Enabling caching with a plug-in allows pages on your site significantly faster. This saves you copies of pages with the same request, which allows your server load in a much more efficient manner.

It may be beneficial to get a professional digital audit done to identify any areas your site might be lacking and to get help with finding the right solution. 

Step 3: Identify Your Niche 

E-commerce sites with hundreds of products, dozens of categories, and no real focus rarely find success, at least not when they’re just starting out. Unless you have a massive budget, you have to find a niche to be profitable. Choosing your niche is one of, if not the most important step of starting your online store. You can start this process by researching different niches and identifying successful companies in that space. You don’t want to pick an overly crowded area, but you don’t want to pick a space with no competition either. This can indicate there’s no market there. The more specific you get, the less competition you’re likely to face and also gives the benefit of having shoulder niches. These are spaces that are similar to you, but not identical. This gives you the opportunity to work with other businesses in those niches to cross-promote, become an affiliate, and grow your customer base. 

Step 4: Utilize Social and Content Marketing

As we mentioned before, people are online now more than ever. Not only are they shopping, but they’re also spending time on social platforms. If you haven’t read last week’s blog, we go into greater detail on social media strategy, but for now we’ll just go over some general tips: 

  • Not every social network is the right one. E-commerce sites are highly visual, so choose social platforms that are image focused and give you the opportunity to show off your products, such as Instagram and Facebook. 
  • Be helpful. Give customers credible, detailed information about the things they need. Make it clear you’re there to help them. 
  • Be active. It’s important to let customers know solutions are available whenever, wherever, even if that means in the late evening or early morning. 

As far as content marketing goes, some might think it’s not needed if you’re just selling products online. Actually, content is extremely valuable for e-commerce sites. Content is one of the number one contributions of SEO, and when your business is strictly digital, SEO is essential. Here are some tips for using content to market your store: 

  • Write relevant blogs. 
  • Create guest posts for external websites. 
  • Publish product-related videos on YouTube. 
  • Include a keyword-driven FAQ section. 
  • Optimize product page copy. 

Final Thoughts

Even if you’re only shifting to e-commerce due to the pandemic, it can have great benefits for your overall business long after it’s over. E-commerce businesses have several marketing tools at their disposal. Using digital and inbound marketing just the right way, you can create campaigns that are designed to help your online store attract customers and grow better.

If you find yourself struggling with marketing in any area, you may want to consider outsourcing for your digital marketing needs. At Onimod Global we are experts in everything from SEM, social media marketing, Google shopping advertising, and more.

Learn more about what we do, take a look at how we’ve helped other brands, and become a client today!

Common Facebook Ads Mistakes and How to Fix Them

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The benefits of advertising your business on Facebook are endless. With over a billion active users, cutting edge features, and detailed targeting ability, why wouldn’t you market yourself there? Despite all its advantages, many businesses still struggle to gain qualified leads from Facebook Ads. 

Advertising on Facebook isn’t as easy as everyone believes it to be, but it can be worth it. If you don’t put in proper time and effort into your ads, it could result in the waste of a lot of budget. Here are the most common Facebook Ads mistakes made by marketers and how to fix them. 

Audience Selection is too Narrow or too Broad 

Facebook provides extremely detailed targeting capabilities. Most people believe that the more specific you get with your targeting, the more effective it will be. This, however, could actually be your downfall. When your audience selection is too narrow you risk exhausting the segment too quickly, driving up your cost per click. The other issue that can result from overly-specific targeting is lack of responses. No matter how pin-pointed your audience is, only a small percentage will respond. When it comes to upper funnel advertising, numbers are the most important, and if your audience is too niche, the numbers are not on your side. 

On the other hand if your audience is too broad, you risk serving your ad to people who aren’t interested in your offer. Again, you could drive up the cost per click because of a poor audience-message match, or you risk paying for clicks that won’t convert to leads or customers.

Wrong Bid Strategy 

Oftentimes marketers just go with the default option when it comes to bid strategy. This is fine in some cases, but if the automatic option for lowest cost isn’t delivering results, it might be time to rethink. Here are the the other available bid strategies and what they’re best used for:

  • Bid Cap: Best for when you want to set a max bid across auctions to control cost and reach as many users as possible at that bid. 
  • Cost Cap: Best for when you want to maximize cost-efficiency or you need to keep cost within a specific threshold. 
  • Target Cost: Best for maintaining a consistent cost. 
  • Value Optimization within Min ROAS: Best if ROAS is the primary measure of success and you’re able to pass back transaction values to our platform. 
  • Highest Value: Best for getting the highest ROAS, want to spend full budget and when unsure of min ROAS/bid amount.

Too Large of an Ask 

Facebook users don’t have the same intent as those on search engines. If you’re asking for a large commitment from someone that has just been exposed to your brand for the first time, you’ll likely get poor results. When you’re still at the top of the funnel, you should be focusing on smaller asks, such as newsletter sign-ups, likes, comments, shares, etc. Once they have had more engagement, you can begin pushing larger asks, such as purchases, event sign-ups, etc.

Failing to Test Your Campaigns 

Launching ads on Facebook is easy. Finding a successful strategy, however, is not. The only real way to know what works and what doesn’t is by testing it. This sounds like more work, but Facebook actually makes A/B testing simple. A/B testing lets you change variables, such as your ad creative, audience or placement, to determine which strategy performs best and improve future campaigns. An A/B test lets you quickly compare both strategies to see which one performs best. After choosing which variable you want to test, Facebook divides your budget to equally and randomly split exposure between each version of your creative, audience, or placement. A/B testing can then measure the performance of each strategy on a cost per result basis or cost per conversion lift basis with a holdout. If you don’t test your way to success from the beginning, you may never figure out how to make Facebook Ads work for your business.

Final Thoughts 

The Facebook Ads platform is simple, but getting quality conversions can be difficult, which is why many businesses struggle with it. Luckily, these common issues are easy to resolve. Remember, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to campaign optimization. The best strategy for you ultimately depends on your products, website, customer lifecycle, objectives, and intended user experience. 

At Onimod Global we are experts in SEM and social media marketing. We know which platforms are best for brands, and create visibility for brands where customers are searching, interacting, and ultimately converting. Find out more about we do, or contact us today!

Tips for Making Your Content Stand Out

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Right now, everyone is shifting the focus of their content to COVID-19. Rightfully so, as it’s impacting everyone and everything around the world. People are looking for answers and businesses feel compelled to respond. This creates a new dilemma, however. The “market” of coronavirus content is now heavily saturated. Consumers are constantly being bombarded with new articles and updates around the situation everyday. From this arises the question for many marketers: Should I continue to create content around the same thing everyone else is?

This is a difficult issue and there’s no simple, one-size-fits-all answer. We do know that content is still essential for long-term SEO success and in a time like this, you don’t want to fall silent. The key is finding a balance between creating relevant content but also standing out among the masses. Here are some tips for doing that: 

1. Focus on your audience’s current and most pressing needs. 

Content marketing is really just about helping your audience solve their problems. Currently, everyone is facing unprecedented challenges. There are no pre-existing rules or guidelines for businesses in this situation, so we have all been continually adapting and shifting our strategies accordingly. Marketers need to closely monitor their audience members, what they’re asking, and what they need. 

Your main focus should ultimately be creating content that helps your current and potential customers. Every time you publish a piece of content, ask yourself “is this helping my customers?” If the answer is no, and you’re just putting out content for the purpose of putting out content, it’s not worth it. 

2. Incorporate reliable research and accurate data. 

There is always massive amounts of inaccurate information circulating around the internet. When sharing or creating content, make sure it’s based on real research. Users want science and data to help them make the best decision, especially during times like these. Having solid evidence that supports your claim is extremely important. 

3. Don’t ask for anything in return. 

The biggest mistake a brand can make right now is appearing like they are trying to capitalize on the pandemic. Strive to deliver value without asking for anything in return. Instead of focusing on promoting your products or services, your main priority should be bringing value to users. 

4. Continue to publish regular content. 

Businesses are concerned that posting regular content will make them come across as insensitive or tone-deaf. While you should be careful with what you’re posting, continuing with regularly scheduled content is important for multiple reasons. The first is that, during this stressful and chaotic time, it’s nice to have tid bits of normalcy or light-heartedness. As long as the content is still sensitive to the current situation, it’s more than ok if it’s not addressing or focusing on the pandemic. The second reason being that SEO is still extremely important, and content is key for SEO success. If you delay or stop altogether publishing content, you’re only hurting yourself. 

Final Thoughts 

Right now, times are strange. Everyone is constantly searching for answers, but comfort as well. Making yourself stand out in an extremely saturated market is difficult, but not impossible. The key is finding balance between relevancy and uniqueness, while still providing value to users. Accomplishing this isn’t easy, but we can help. At Onimod Global we’re experts in social media, SEO, and content marketing. We help brands connect with their customers where and when they need them the most. Take a look at how we’ve helped other companies, and learn more about what we can do for you. 

Improving Your SEO Strategy During COVID-19

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A recent survey by Conductor revealed that due to COVID-19 and the extension of the social distancing guidelines, many marketers anticipate a decrease in their annual marketing budget, but still expect goals to remain the same. How are they expecting to reach their goals with a smaller budget? Shifting their focus to SEO. 

Regardless of the status of the economy, people are still going to be making purchases, and more people are shopping online than ever before. Why wouldn’t you want your brand top of mind when users are making buying decisions? 

Here are 4 tips to improve your SEO strategy during this uncertain time. 

1. Build Trust with Your Content 

Many brands are offering deals and promotions to customers once the pandemic has passed and the world starts to go back to normal. Forrester released a report that found that consumers are doubtful that companies will follow through on the promises they make during this time. In a time of crisis, trust is more important than ever. With so much false information and uncertainty circulating, it’s essential to separate yourself as a brand that’s reputable. 

Another Conductor study reported that consumers find brands that deliver educational content are much more trustworthy than those that don’t. Right now, consumers are looking for answers to their questions from brands they trust. This isn’t the time for salesy content. Focus on creating content that brings real value to your audience. 

2. Make Necessary Changes to Current Campaigns 

If you had any campaigns active before the situation of the world changed, make sure to perform an audit on it and make any necessary changes. Be sure to review any social posts or content pieces you had scheduled out ahead of time as well. You don’t want to come across as insensitive or tone-deaf to the situation. 

SEO is much more than just technical efforts, and this is one of them. You want to be the voice of different customers across the organization. During times like these marketers need to have a heightened awareness of customer sensitivity. Even though it’s difficult to suspend a campaign that a lot of time and resources went into creating, it could be more harmful to your brand in the long run if you keep it running. For example, Corona received harsh backlash via social media when they went through with launching their Coming Ashore Soon campaign for its new seltzer line. 

3. Constantly Manage Your Reputation 

Managing your web presence during times of crisis is another crucial element of gaining and maintaining the trust of customers. Dated or inaccurate information can confuse or even hurt your audience, making you look bad in the process. Here are some tips for managing your online reputation during this time: 

 

  • Update any online listings or hours. Review your listings on all search engines, social media, review sites, and any other platform you may be on. Make sure your listings are updated with any changed hours, service suspensions, or revised contact information for any departments or location.
  • Monitor the status of COVID-19 and respond with empathy. Even in times of crisis, consumers are talking about business online. If you don’t already have one in place, it’s crucial to implement a comprehensive review and response strategy. Adjust your response technique as needed, remembering to be as sensitive and transparent as possible during this time. Ignoring comments and reviews puts your credibility and brand trust at great risk during a time of crisis.
  • Engage with customers across all platforms. Businesses are receiving an influx of questions on all levels across all platforms. Prepare to answer these questions on Google My Business, social, and any other platform with timely and accurate information. You might even want to consider setting up a FAQ on your website or third-party directories if you’re getting many similar inquiries. 
  • Monitor the Google Search Console. Web traffic, especially organic, is a big indicator of where demand for your product or services has shifted. Spikes or declines in traffic may show you what information is most important to your audience and help you decide your response strategy. 

 

Improve Your Security Efforts 

Hackers are trying to take advantage of the current situation and those that are in need. Many are using malicious malware to promote discounts, giveaways, etc. Some hackers are even using branding of trusted companies for phishing attacks, including the World Health Organization and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Now that many people are working from home, the threat becomes even greater. From a business perspective, here’s what you can do to ensure your website’s security: 

  • Monitor log files for crawl errors. 
  • Implement Single Sign On. 
  • Implement HTTPS. 
  • Update any plugins or apps being used. 

Final Thoughts 

Everyone is looking for answers right now. If you can position yourself at the top of a Google SERP with credible information, it can have endless benefits, even after the pandemic is over. Trust is what consumers want and need right now. SEO is a needed investment to build that trust. 

At Onimod Global we understand how vital SEO can be. Search engine optimization is our core attribute and a pillar of our strategy. We develop  organic search engine optimization campaigns that deliver increases in organic traffic through an increase in natural rankings on major search engines like Google, Bing and Yahoo. We are a trusted Google Partner and continually excel with their products. If you need assistance with SEO, or in any area of digital marketing, contact us today. 

4 Tips To Maintain Customer Loyalty And Trust

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Customer loyalty and optimism is at the top of most companies’ list of things to be concerned about during COVID-19. The way companies react to the current crisis and publicly treat their customers will significantly alter their reputation for years to come. By putting your customers’ interests first, this can be a time for your company’s brand to lead. Make sure your customers know that they matter with these 4 tips on customer relationship management.

Communicate to customers.

Sometimes it can be be as simple as letting your customers know you care—even if they aren’t buying as much product or services from you at the moment. Remember that your voice can also carry, and many of your customers may have customers as well. Your audience can reach much farther just by being in touch and creating customer loyalty.

Develop new ways to work with your customer.

Travel and in-person meetings are naturally the first problem many companies face when it comes to social distancing. In this case, educating your employees who need to travel on the ways to mitigate the spread of the virus is first and foremost. This is just the beginning of how the world we continue to operate. The effects of COVID-19 on the philosophy and operation of work. As remote work becomes more common, look to the departments in your company that work efficiently with remote teams.

Team up with local business.

We are, quite literally, all in this together. There isn’t one person or company not affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Team up with your local community stores to support small business and demonstrate an empathy towards your community. For example, a group of restaurants forced to close by government could combine kitchens and develop a group online service.

Be true to your brand and purpose.

This is an opportunity for you to show current and potential customers what your brand is really all about. What is your brand? What is your purpose? People are paying very close attention to how the crisis is handled, and companies with a purpose also showing empathy will most likely emerge as market leaders. For example, airlines have always had filters removing virus and bacteria with a 99.9 percent efficiency. This current crisis gave them the perfect opportunity to educate customers about sanitation procedures that have always been in place building trust and confidence in their brand. Your solutions largely depend on your product or service, and this is also a time to get creative. A never-before experienced situation leaves a lot of room for innovation in the solution.

More from Onimod Global

To catch up on the latest digital marketing news and trends, click here. To find out more about who we are and what we do, click here.

Tips for Successfully Going Local with Digital Marketing

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With the current situation of the world, not many are traveling outside of their residing neighborhoods, or even have the ability to. Being able to market your business locally and digitally is now more important than ever. Even not in times of global pandemics local digital marketing is essential. It can increase your customer base, revenue, and overall competitive advantage. Here are 5 tips for successfully going local with your digital marketing strategy. 

1. Optimize Your Site for Mobile 

Today, this is important for any business, but for local businesses it’s even more essential. Users looking for local service or products are much more likely to do a search on a mobile device over a desktop. Having a mobile-optimized website ensures users won’t leave due to inconveniences. Google has even updated their mobile algorithm so that sites that aren’t mobile-friendly may not even fire in the search results. Some tips for optimizing your site include:

  • Simplifying your content and number of pages 
  • Choose a reliable web host
  • Avoid java and flash 
  • Ensure your page load time is low 
  • Redesign or eliminate pop-ups 
  • Utilizing Google Ad extensions 

2. Create Local Business Pages 

Create business pages on Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook, Bing, and Maps. These are the types of results that rank best when local searches are performed. They’re also the types of pages users will look for and trust when searching. It’s important to remember to consistently keep these accounts updated. You don’t want to just create these pages and forget them. Inactive pages can make users weary that you’re unreliable or even out of business. 

3. Encourage Reviews from Local Customers 

Once you have these pages created, you want to start driving reviews, recommendations, and ratings. Besides word-of-mouth recommendations, social proof is one of the most persuasive elements you can leverage when promoting your business. Rarely do customers leave reviews on their own, so you have to get proactive and ask. Some strategies to drive reviews include:

  • Send follow up emails: Following someone receiving your product or service, send an email inquiring if they would be willing to leave a review on your Facebook, Google My Business, Yelp, etc. 
  • Include a note in the package you send your products in: Today, a handwritten note can mean a lot. Including one in your package that thanks the customer for their business and asks for a review is an effective way to get positive responses.
  • Remind followers on social media: Remind your followers to review your products or service. You only want to do this every so often because you don’t want to be overbearing or annoying. You don’t need to offer any incentives, just explain why reviews matter and why you’re asking for their help.

4. Utilize Locally Optimized Keywords 

To identify which keywords are successful, it takes some time and research. You have to test different keywords and combinations to determine which people use when searching for local businesses. Make sure you add the city or region names to your industry-relevant terms. This is an established method to generate localized search phrases. If you’re using paid search ads, you should use geo-targeting. This will limit where your ads are displayed to specified areas.

5. Connect with Other Local Businesses 

It can also be helpful to associate with other local and trusted businesses. Reach out to other businesses in your area that would find your relationship mutually beneficial. Explain that you can share each other’s business on social media, leave positive reviews for each other, and utilize backlinks. Backlinks are links from one website to a page on another website, and can be very beneficial from an SEO perspective. This can be accomplished through more than just other business’s sites. Consider  joining your local Chamber of Commerce and get listed on their online directories which include a link to your website. Another area of interest and value are .gov and .org. If your city’s website lists businesses by sector or service type make sure your business is listed. This will give your website added value. One thing to keep in mind is that you only want to utilize reliable sites for this. If you try to just get as many backlinks as possible, it can be detected and possibly get your site restricted. The key is gradually accumulating quality links. 

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How to Develop a Social Media Content Calendar

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Many marketers swear by the use of monthly content calendars. While there are real benefits of using content calendars, they still have their pitfalls. They require a lot of time and effort, and sometimes those things can’t easily be spared. Not only that, but working strictly off a set calendar isn’t always the solution for everyone. 

Whether or not you need a content calendar depends on a variety of factors, but if you discover a way to develop one that allows for flexibility and creativity, the benefits can be endless. 

The Pros of Using Content Calendars

Consisting Posting 

Planning your posts ahead of time ensures new content gets pushed out regularly. Having your topics picked out ahead of time saves time and allows for more than one person to manage social platforms. Regular content dispersion is important because it means you avoid the typical ups and downs in traffic and audience that come from inconsistent posting. Through a content schedule, you spread out your content throughout the month, setting yourself up as a resource to be trusted.

Diverse Content 

When you come up with content topics everyday, it’s only a matter of time before they get repetitive. You’ll most likely revert to the same topics and posting style when you’re struggling to come up with something. When you lay all content out for a month, you’ll be able to better spread out certain topics, preventing you from becoming predictable and boring. 

Better Teamwork 

If more than one person works on a blog or controls a social media account, having a content schedule is key. Assigning topics will become much easier, and you’ll be able to do it much further in advance. It will also prevent any overlap in content and make sure everyone’s on the same page. 

The Cons of Using Content Calendars

Can Restrict Creativity and Flexibility

While careful planning and deadlines are what makes content calendars work, too many restrictions can stifle creativity and eliminate flexibility. Sometimes planning your blog content ahead of time can turn out to be counterproductive when your company’s goals change, roles shift, or strategies get re-imagined. It can discourage your team to think outside of the box. It may also prevent from responding to timely or relevant topics, which can make your brand seem out-of-the-loop. 

Can Seem Disingenuous 

Along with the inability to respond to relevant topics, scheduled content may also come across as disingenuous. For example, you might have scheduled a tweet about nice weather, just as a natural disaster hits your community. So while automated posts save time, they can come across as stale because they’re written days or weeks before it’s actually published. 

More Demanding 

Content calendars are only successful if the whole marketing team is on board and uses it. All the time you spend carefully planning out when, where and what to post ends up being a waste of time, if no one is actually sticking to the schedule. A way to combat this is by making sure that the calendar is easily accessible to all team members and easy to use. Also make adhering to the calendar a priority for your marketing team and hold people accountable for the content they are responsible for.

As we said before, content calendars are not for everyone. If you have a small team or don’t publish content that often, they may be more work than they’re worth. However, they can be very beneficial to many marketing teams. 

Creating content calendars can seem daunting, but they don’t have to be. If you’ve established that this is something that would be helpful for your business, here is a process that allows you to quickly and effectively produce weekly content, that allows for flexibility and creativity. 

How to Develop a Content Calendar that Allows for Creativity

(via Marketing Land)

Identify Key Audiences 

Think of four different customers that serve as examples of types of customers that serve as examples of the types of customers you’d like to land for your company moving forward. Pinpoint each customer’s unique challenges, emotions and values, as you’ll want the content to speak to those needs.

Identify Solutions

After identifying four key audiences, think of three solutions your business can offer to these four audiences. This could include different services, products, or value propositions. Then match up each of your three solutions with each of your four audiences. 

  • Solution A for Audience 1
  • Solution B for Audience 1
  • Solution C for Audience 1
  • Solution A for Audience 2
  • And so on until you have twelve broad topics to explore

Identify Categories 

The final step is to come up with a list of four content strategies that will allow you to approach each solution/customer pairing from a variety of perspectives. Some examples include:

  • Expert Q&As
  • Step-by-step Guides
  • Industry News
  • Listicles
  • Case Studies

Combine this list of categories with your 12 solutions pairings to generate 48 unique topics for a full year of content. The first example could be: Expert Q&A that addresses Audience 1’s challenges from the perspective of what Solution A offers. Try to address each audience in one post per month. That way, each month, you will address and provide content for all four audiences. 

Marketing Land advises to keep in mind that content isn’t just supposed to be brand promotions. Your content is supposed to provide value to readers. 

Final Thoughts 

Today, almost all businesses release some form of digital content. While calendars may not be worth it for everyone, they can be very beneficial for those that need them. If you think your company could benefit from a content calendar, but don’t know where to start, consider outsourcing a digital marketing company.

At Onimod Global we create monthly content calendars for our clients. As experts in social media marketing we know how to create visibility for companies in places their customers are searching, interacting, and engaging. . Take a look at how we’ve helped others, and learn more about what we can do for you.