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How Influencer Marketing Can Drive Sales for Your Business

Millennials are going crazy with BTS, the Korean boy band. Most sports lovers glorify Cristiano Ronaldo. Mr. Beast tops the YouTube leaderboard. All of them were called influencers. Brands and businesses partnered with them to promote products and services. So, how can influencer marketing drive sales for your business? We’ve got you covered!

WHAT IS AN INFLUENCER?

An influencer is a person or group with the ability to sway the buying decisions of many consumers. They may have authority over a specific subject, expertise in a certain niche, or simply be popular in their own craft such as acting, blogging, singing, and dancing.

There are 5 types of influencers based on their number of followers. These are the following:

  • Nano-influencers of those with 1,000 to 10,000 followers
  • Micro-influencers of those with 10, 000 to 50,000 followers
  • Mid-tier influencers of those with 50,000 to 500,000 followers
  • Macro-influencers of those with 500,000 to 1,000,000 followers
  • Mega-influencers of those with more than 1 million followers

Influencer endorsement is a powerful social proof as it can boost brand awareness and reach new potential customers. It is because they command much more trust than faceless brands. Their recommendations can sway the audience because they have already captured the audience’s trust.

HOW DOES INFLUENCER MARKETING DRIVE SALES FOR YOUR BUSINESS?

Influencer marketing means partnering with influencers in the form of branded content and sponsored promotions. 

Build Consumer Trust with Authentic Influencer Content

Clinique Australia launched its Clinique ID range for imperfections. To raise awareness and encourage customers to try their new products, the company partnered with Cheryl Law, a local content creator. With 19,000 followers on Instagram, Cheryl created a short video using punchy pop music while applying a Clinique moisturizer to her cheeks. She pitched it as a way to refresh during the colder months. Cheryl further noted that for Clinique, skincare is self-care. Because of that video, Clinique earned an 8.7 times return on ad spend by building consumers’ trust.

Create Content that Uses Real-Life Experiences

ASUS wanted to convey its unique selling point as it launched the new Vivo Book laptop. It was very light and portable. ASUS partnered with Vamp from Meta business to connect with the right audiences. Vamp showcased the product daily uploading videos in home offices and on-the-go scenarios. Vamp also shared branding guides on what to and what not to do with a laptop. The campaign resulted as an instrument to expand the reach of ASUS in Poland. By showing target customers the real-life application of the Vivo Book laptop, influencer marketing can drive sales for your business.

Integrate Branding Subtly

L’Oréal worked with 15 global beauty creators to subtly promote their brand palette for consistent color, composition, and skin tone. Each creator detailed their own skin concerns and their experiences with L’Oréal Revitalift Hyaluronic Acid Serum. These helped the audience associate the creator’s content with L’Oréal products boosting its sales.

Mix Accessible and Aspirational Content

Konvy is a Thailand-based beauty products retailer. It aimed to boost awareness on its 11.11 Single Day campaign. Konvy collaborated with 8 female beauty and lifestyle influencers during their 2020 winter campaign. The influencers delivered fun and positive photos and videos showcasing Konvy product discounts. By mixing accessible and aspirational content, Konvy’s brand credibility and sales eventually increased.

Pair Branded Content Ads with Daily Campaigns

A challenge in working with influencers is that the content or post can only reach the influencer’s followers. But when you pair branded content with their daily campaigns, a brand or business can expand its reach and influencer marketing can drive sales for them.

Reference: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/facebook-publishes-new-guide-to-influencer-marketing-and-its-rising-benefit/611205/

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Actionable Tips to Improve Digital Marketing

2022 is fast approaching. In a blink of an eye, everything is hopefully going back to normal. But even with lockdowns and social distancing, content marketing is still the king. 

A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong highlights that 94% of marketers invest in content. It is because modern consumers become a lot smarter. Brands and businesses first need to create values before pitching a sale. Modern consumers want to feel a sense of importance. They also long to become a part of the community. 

Through content, a social media agency Hong Kong engages its target audience before turning them into loyal customers. The social media race calls for visibility online. Consistently posting content is the key to a better brand recall.

If you want to improve your content marketing skills, here are some actionable writing tips to improve your digital marketing strategy!

Know Your Audience

Writing is all about your readers. Who are they? What will resonate best with them? Answer these questions to craft content that will most likely resonate with them. It is important to build an audience persona to focus your writing based on their interests and preferences.

Plan Your Content Strategy

To create a deeper connection between you and your readers, you should spend enough time planning your content strategy. Don’t just write for any category or subject. Create a buying journey as you publish content. Like a drama anthology or a video series, you should hook your readers into a buying journey.

Puff Your Draft

Any content starts with drafting. Do a little research to validate facts, opinions, statistics, and values. Spending some time drafting your document can help you organize your thoughts easily. Organize the content flow by using headers and listing as needed.

Read and Edit Your Content Three Times

This is one step that most content marketers failed to undertake. After puffing your draft, you should read and edit it three times. The first edit is a simple checking of the flow, grammar, and links. The second is to read it allow to know if you are satisfied with the content. The third is a final check on how your content will look on the web.

Scan for Easy Reading

Once you have uploaded your content online, perform a scan for easy reading. For example, if you are sending an email, do a test sending on another email that you can open. It allows you to see if the content is easy to read even on mobile devices. The same goes for blog content that you will publish on a website. 

Pro-Tips: Use bullets and headers to add white spaces to your content. Limit your paragraph to 7 sentences. 

Writing Do’s 

  • Be active. Active voice is much better than passive voice when writing content. It is they sound more dynamic.
  • Be informative. Provide facts and not just subjective opinions.
  • Be personable. Show the real you. Aim for a one-sentence paragraph that can show how emphatic you are. 
  • Be vivid. Keep your readers engaged by adding some excitement to your content piece. It may be a meme, quote, trivia, etc. Be creative enough to stir your audiences’ imagination.

Writing Don’ts 

  • Avoid redundancy. Redundancy can sound boring. It can also kill the interests of your readers.
  • Avoid using exclusionary words. To promote inclusivity, use neutral job titles instead of Mr. or Miss. Avoid implying demographics like age, ethnicity, gender, etc. as much as possible.
  • Avoid using jargon. Your readers may not know your niche deeply. Using industry terms or jargon can drive them away or make them puzzled.
  • Avoid using “There is” or “There are” at the beginning of a sentence. Weak sentences typically start with these words. Instead, find the real subject and start off with it.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Content writing is not an ordinary job. It requires passion, patience, and skills. By following the actionable writing tips mentioned above, we are pretty sure that you will improve your digital marketing strategy.

Reference: https://blog.red-website-design.co.uk/2019/07/18/actionable-writing-tips-infographic/

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The New Rules on Social Media Marketing

Social media has become a mainstream of online activities. There are 4.48 billion social media users out of 7.9 billion people in the world. For social media marketers, the year 2021 is a little bit different. A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong has noted that the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 brought about a lot of changes. Marketing shifted from physical store visits to digital shops. There is a lot of clamor for climate change and racial equality. Vaccines have also rolled out globally, giving hope for the new normal.

As such, a social media agency Hong Kong highlights the positive light to bounce back from lockdowns and social distancing. Social media users are very optimistic that the coming days will dramatically be different this year compared to last year. Yet, change is a constant element in marketing. A resurgence brought about new rules in social media marketing. They aim to keep the right balance of advertising, content, and engagement. Below are some social media trends that have taken greater significance for consumers and marketers this 2021.

Trend No. 1: Social media marketing bridges the gap to a new customer experience to boost ROI.

The main goal of social media marketing is the return on investment (ROI). It still is the focus of social media marketers today. What has changed is the rule on how to achieve such a goal. Gone are the days of hard-selling and spam emails. Social media marketing now bridges the gap to a new customer experience. That is 24/7 customer support and lead generation through automation. It brought about two equally urgent approaches:

  • Short-term ROI through targeted performance tactics
  • Long-term loyalty through innovative digital experience

Trend No. 2: Brands find their place in social media conversations through silence.

Another new rule in social media marketing today is that silence is golden. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many brands increased their social media activities to connect with their target audiences. But this 2021, they will focus more on authentic connection instead of consistency. Many businesses will divert their ad spending to social listening. They first need to keep an eye on what works and what doesn’t. By keeping their silent, they can come back to a one-time big boom approach to capture their audience. It means marketers striving to put more value on their content approach. That is, instead of posting more content without value on their social media pages.

Trend No. 3: The boomers ignored by digital advertisers and marketers now boom on social medial.

Marketers used to target people between 1946 to 1964 through traditional advertising. It is because they thought that traditional ads are the most effective ways to reach baby boomers. Yet, brands and businesses failed to realize that boomers are increasingly using social media today. There was around a 66-point increase of baby boomers discovering products and services on social media platforms. More than a quarter of them spend long hours browsing social media. So, the new rule is for social media marketers to continue exploring ways on how to target the digitally savvy baby boomers.

Trend No. 4: Tying social media engagement to identity gives advanced marketers new momentum.

Social media has become the strongest bridge to connect with customers and prospects today. So many traditional strategies have collapsed. But the new rule shows social media as the best marketing medium until five years from now. A video marketing agency Hong Kong even noted that video consumption has risen among social media platforms. It has also become the most popular content format among social media users. By 2022, videos are predicted to cover 82% of online traffic. Around 9 out of 10 social media users wanted to see more video ads from brands and businesses. Plus, an average person spends 100 minutes per day watching videos online. So, the new rule is branding video content with the social media identity of brands and businesses.

Trend No. 5: Bold brands start in the boardroom, not the front lines of social media pages.

The last new rule in social media marketing is that it is a team effort. Bold brands start in the boardroom with consistent branding rules. Each member of the marketing theme should adhere to these rules, whether it be content creation, graphics management, or updating social media groups and pages. They also automatically become brand advocates on different social media networks. Gone are the days of only one admin page to manage ads and campaigns. Most brands and businesses have a team working on advertising and marketing today.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Change is a constant element of social media marketing. It means that from time to time, the rules are changing. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, social media marketing has experienced a major shift!

Reference: https://www.marketingweek.com/new-rules-social-media-marketing-2021/

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The 4 Pillars of a Great Google Campaign

The World Wide Web was launched in 1989. It was created to meet the demand for online information sharing. After a year, the first search engine tool, Archie, was released. In 1998, Larry Page and Sergey Brin wanted to rank the importance of pages in the World Wide Web. It resulted in the creation of Google, the largest search engine in the world today.

According to a digital marketing speaker Hong Kong, Google marketing evolves from a vast expanse of information into knowledge that only a brand or business can provide. To succeed, they need to make it easier for modern consumers to find everything they need about their products and services. How can someone do business if they do not know where to buy and how much is the price? All the more, how can someone buy something if they do not know how it can solve their problems or use them in actuality.

Most brands and businesses target to rank on Google searches. It is what we call search engine optimization or SEO. This is because 87.8% of online searches happened on Google. More than 86% of online searchers looking for the location of a business on Google. Being the world’s largest search engine, there is no doubt that Google can help in the discovery of a brand or business. Below, here are the 4 pillars of a great Google campaign!

Build Mobile-Optimized Creatives

Out of 7 billion people in the world, 4.48 billion use mobile devices. It means more than half of online users do their searches using Android devices or smartphones. Thus, the 1st pillar of a great Google creative is to create mobile-optimized content. They are easy to read content when accessed even on small screens. Basically, these creatives minimize the amount of scrolling involved and use uncomplicated designs. 

The best way to build a mobile-optimized creative is to use a responsive web design. It displays a single design that automatically alters its look when clicked on a phone. However, a site optimized for mobile must still contain information about a brand or business. These include the address, business hours, contact information, and the list of products and services it offers. Allowing a user to click the phone number for direct calling is a must. So is a checkout option to add items to a cart and readily checkout.

Mobile-optimized creatives typically contain images with no overlaid text. If there is a need to put a caption, the text should not be over 20 characters. Such creatives performed 1.2 times better than those with longer overlaid texts.

Connect to a Wide Variety of Assets

A social media agency Hong Kong highlights the importance of connecting to a wide variety of assets as a pillar of a great Google campaign. Modern consumers can get bored seeing pure ads on a brand or business page. They are no longer purely interested in articles and blogs when doing a Google search. A great Google campaign includes images, videos, and text. Text formats may be memes, infographics, quotes, etc. Most people look for the helpfulness of content. More than 78% of online searchers expect brands and businesses to show them how they can help in everyday living.

For a video marketing agency Hong Kong, videos are now a part of SEO on Google. They are the most popular types of content when people want to learn how-to, product assembly, unboxing, etc. It is because many people retain information from moving media rather than a static image. Using people in your video can also boost engagement. More than 64% of consumers took action after seeing a diverse or inclusive ad featuring people in a video campaign. Through ratings, reviews, and testimonials, a lot of brands and businesses can better resonate with their audiences using people as assets.

Find Time to Test Your Creatives

The 3rd pillar of a great Google campaign is finding time to test your creatives. Google recently enabled automated bidding and video 360. It is an A/B testing framework that helps evaluates all dimensions of a campaign. Using these types of experiments, brands and businesses can test the dimensions of every single creative. These include interval settings and targeting. Google recommends waiting for 2 to 3 weeks to test your creatives. It is to minimize fluctuations in their performances. It will also allow the Google ad system to learn more about the creative. After finding time to test your creatives, Google can provide more accurate reports on:

  • Click-Through Rate (CTR)
  • Conversion Rate (CVR)
  • Cost-Per-Action (CPA) 
  • Cost-Per-Click (CPC) 
  • Cost-Per-Thousand Impressions (CPM)

Use a Clear Call-To-Action

The 4th and last pillar of a great Google campaign has to do with influence and motivation. How can you influence or motivate someone to do an action out of your Google creatives? The answer is through clear call-to-actions (CTAs).  They tell your target audience what to do next. The simplest call to action is “Buy Now.” Other common words for a CTA are:

  • Call today
  • Click here
  • Download
  • Fill up form
  • Find out how 
  • Get 50% off
  • Order
  • Register
  • Shop
  • Subscribe

Putting distinct or personalized CTA in the description or headline of a Google creative can also relate clearly to a target consumer. 

Reference: https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/google-ads-creative-performance/

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8 Social Media Predictions for 2022

No man is an island. This is true as humans are social beings. They cannot strive and thrive without fostering relationships. A social media agency Hong Kong notes that it is also the basis on how social communities evolve. Its root can be traced back to 1844 when the 1st telegraph was sent by Samuel Morse. His code paved the way for international communication. 

In 1969, the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) allowed experts from different universities to share data, hardware, and software. In 1987 a nationwide digital network powered the US through the NSFNET. After a decade, the first and true social media network was created. It was the short-lived Six Degrees, a model of adding a list of contacts and relationships online. It has recorded 3,500,000 registered contacts until it ceased online in the year 2000. 

Friendster followed in 2001. Then there were LinkedIn and MySpace in 2003. Facebook, the king of social media, was launched in 2004, followed by Twitter in 2006 and Instagram in 2010. In less than a generation, social media quickly evolve as a vital marketing tool of the 21st century. From direct information exchanges, they became a place for virtual gatherings and a platform for online retail. 

With its fast-changing pace, let us now discuss 8 social media predictions for 2022!

Facebook Remains on Top (For Now)

Facebook is still the largest social media network in the world today. With 2.9 billion monthly active users, it covers more than 60% of the 4.48 billion social media users globally. Its large number of followers makes Facebook an ideal platform for advertising and marketing. Around 200 million brands and businesses tap into the power of Facebook marketing today. 

Growing Utilization of User Generated Content (UGC)

A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong defines user-generated content (UGC) as an image, text, or video created by consumers instead of brands. They can be in the form of a review, status update, testimonial, unboxing, etc. Recent studies showed that UGCs influenced the buying habit of 8 out of 10 consumers in the modern world. By 2022, one of the social media predictions is the rise of UGC posts among brands and businesses. They can increase return visits by 20% and the time spent by consumers on a website by 90%. This means better opportunities to convert a prospect into a loyal customer by 81%. 

More Augmented Reality Options

Augmented Reality (AR) is an enhanced version of the physical world. It involves overlaying audio and visual elements to enhance the sensory experience over social media content. One of the social media predictions for 2022 is the growing momentum of AR despite being in the infancy stage. Augmented reality searches grew by 81% in the last 5 years. Today, most social media platforms enabled AR tools for online shopping. Pinterest spearheaded the revolution by introducing AR-try on of makeups, hair pattern search, and online car test drive. Snapchat patented the Bitmoji fashion. With Facebook smart glasses and hats, 2022 maybe a year for AR shopping. 

Shorter Attention Spans Result in More Bite-Sized Content

Recent studies showed that the attention span of people today has shortened to 8 seconds as compared to 12 seconds in the year 2000. This may be the reason why one of the social media predictions for 2022 is the rise of bite-size or snackable content. These can be an article with less than 600 words, GIFs, infographics, memes, or videos that are less than 30 seconds in length. Social media sites are adjusting to such types of content to make it easier for their target audience to digest a brand’s message. With clear messages and simple creatives, they can increase traffic among social media pages and websites daily. 

Social Media Emerges as a Shopping Platform

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly changed the way people shop today. Most brands and businesses transformed from having physical stores to digital shops. Facebook and Instagram have rolled out Shops and live shopping. Twitter enabled product pages. Even Google launched Shoploop, an online shopping experience. As the number of US social buyers reached 80 million today, it is predicted to exceed 100 million by 2023. The same social media prediction for 2022 is expected to happen globally.

Social Media Becomes Part of Daily Life

An average online user spends 2 hours and 25 minutes on social media daily. It is about one hour longer as compared to that in 2012. This figure is expected to rise in the coming years. It is one of the social media predictions for 2022 and can be credited to the rise of mobile devices. 

The Proliferation of Short-Form Video Content

According to a video marketing agency Hong Kong, video ads have convinced 84% of modern consumers to avail a brand, product, or service. With TikTok capturing the spotlight, people became addicted to short-form video content. Facebook and Instagram created Reels. Snapchat enabled Spotlight. YouTube introduced Shorts. All of these video formats last up to only 60 seconds. By 2022, studies showed that short-form videos will cover 81% of social media content.

The “Unbundling” of Reddit

Reddit is a social media forum and platform for discussing and voting news and trending content. Registered members can publish images, links, text, and videos within the platform. All these pieces of content can be voted down or up by other members. Reddit has the potential to become a giant beast among social media platforms. It is because it is now unbundling into different niches. Recently, Discord became the biggest chunk out of Reddit. It became an instant Slack app for gaming. Now valued at $3.5 billion, it became a subreddit among the community of gamers. Expect more subreddits to come in 2022!

Reference: https://blog.red-website-design.co.uk/2021/09/10/social-media-trends-2022/

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How Long Should Your Next Social Media Video Be?

Videos are now an irreplaceable part of every marketing strategy. It became the most popular content choice among online consumers today. During the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, modern consumers have increased their online video consumption by 96 percent. Today, an average person spends 100 minutes watching online videos per day. By 2022, Cisco predicted that online videos will cover 82 percent of internet traffic. This is 15 times higher than it used to be in 2017. 

A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong, around 54 percent of consumers expect to see more videos from brands and businesses they support. It is because they retain more of the video messaging than any other type of content. No wonder, 84 percent of people have been convinced to buy a product or service after watching a brand’s video. 

Marketers who use video as part of their ads and campaign strategies have grown their revenue 49 percent faster than non-video users. Through videos, a brand or business can get 66 percent more qualified leads every year.  This may be the reason why 86 percent of businesses today employ video as a marketing tool. 

Video is a great marketing solution. But like other types of content, they evolve, and their consumption changes. As human attention becomes more selective, how long should your next social media video be? We’ve got you covered here!

Facebook

The ideal video length for both an organic or paid Facebook video is 15 seconds. A social media agency Hong Kong recommends keeping your Facebook short and sweet as much as possible. A Facebook video with a length of 2 minutes has often seen great engagement. The longer your Facebook video is, the more dramatically its engagement decreases. Facebook has several types of videos. These include: 

  • Facebook Reels that can last between 1 to 60 seconds. Please note that this format is still under testing.
  • Facebook Stories that can last between 1 to 120 seconds.
  • Facebook In-Stream that can last between 5 seconds to 120 seconds.
  • Facebook Feed videos that can last up to 240 minutes.
  • Facebook Marketplace videos that can last up to 240 minutes.
  • Facebook Search Results videos that can last up to 240 minutes.

When it comes to a Facebook live broadcast, the limit is 8 hours. Facebook algorithms favor videos that are directly posted within the platform. So, to get better engagement and reach, be sure to post your videos directly on Facebook. 

Instagram

Instagram typically supports short video clips. It is because the social media network is originally a photo-sharing platform. It is only last 30th of June that Instagram Chief, Adam Mosseri, announced that Instagram is switching to a photo and video sharing platform. The ideal length for an Instagram video is 30 seconds. It is important that the videos you upload on Instagram should be visually appealing. Like Facebook, there are several types of videos on Instagram. These are:

  • Instagram Video Feed that can last between 3 to 60 seconds.
  • Instagram Video Feed Ads that can also last between 3 to 60 seconds.
  • Instagram Reels that can last up to 30 seconds.
  • Instagram Stories that can last up to 15 seconds.
  • Instagram Stories Video Ads that can also last up to 15 seconds.
  • Instagram TV or IGTV can last up to 10 minutes for regular accounts and up to 60 minutes for large verified accounts.
  • Instagram live streaming allows a limit of up to 4 hours. 

If you want to level up your videos on Instagram, be sure to take advantage of hashtags. The platform allows the use of 30 hashtags on regular posts and 10 on Stories. But don’t overdo it. Only use relevant hashtags to boost the engagement of your videos on Instagram. Looping videos are also a great feature of Instagram. They can keep your audience engage and lengthen their viewing time. 

YouTube

YouTube is the largest video-sharing platform in the world. As such, it is well-known for longer video content. The ideal video length for YouTube depends on the category of the video and the type of audience you are targeting. 

A video marketing agency Hong Kong notes that YouTube can accommodate long-form videos of up to 12 hours in length. This is equivalent to 256 GB of data. YouTubers may see videos longer than 12 hours. But these are the older ones. The 12-hour limit has only been imposed recently by YouTube. Among regular YouTube videos, shooting for 7 to 15 minutes is the best-performing ones.

When you are using videos on YouTube for marketing purposes, videos that are no longer the 2 minutes offer the best results. There are several types of video ads on YouTube. These are:

  • Bumper Ads are non-skippable video ads that last up to 6 seconds.
  • Non-Skippable video ads that can last between 15 to 20 seconds. 
  • Skippable video ads that can last between 12 seconds to 6 minutes. 

Reference: https://bemarketing.com/social-media-video/

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Rethinking Your Facebook Ad Strategy Without Apple Data

To the dismay of many global advertisers, Apple implemented a significant privacy update last April. It is the need for iOS apps to request the permission of the user of an iOS device to allow data tracking. This is via the use of Apple IDFA.

digital marketing speaker Hong Kong notes that the majority of iOS users opted out of data tracking. Such a scenario has significantly affected social media analytics, especially the most frequently used Facebook insights. That is why the platform openly opposed the implementation of Apple IDFA.

As Facebook has been affected by Apple’s data privacy update, so are small businesses that are marketing within the platform. The limited data access from their target audiences calls for a change in their ad and campaign plans. If you are rethinking your Facebook ad strategy without Apple data, here are some ways you can do this, according to a social media agency Hong Kong

TARGET BY CHANNEL

An advertising channel is a medium used by brands and businesses. In Facebook, these can be through chats, email, product tags, videos, etc. A video marketing agency Hong Kong noted that the best way to strategize Facebook ads is through video marketing. It is the best tool to raise brand awareness.

  • An average internet user spends 7 hours a week watching online videos.
  • After watching a product video, 74% of viewers have downloaded an app or software. 
  • Email campaigns with a Facebook video ad boost open rates by 19%, click-through rates by 65%, and leads by 66%.

One pro-tip to target audiences by channel on Facebook is using a unique coupon code. For example, if you run a Facebook video ad with a unique coupon code that can only be used within the platform, it will be easier to track the sales coming from such a coupon code. As such, you can collect insights about the Facebook users who redeemed the unique coupon code. Moving forward, this can be a basis for rethinking your Facebook ad strategy without Apple data.

TARGET BY DEMOGRAPHICS

One good thing about Facebook is that it already has a record of demographics in the absence of Apple data. Once a user registers for a Facebook account, the age, gender, and location of the user are basic information that they need to fill up. With these demographics on hand, brands and businesses can rethink their Facebook ad strategy by targeting through user demographics.

Millennial brands can target audiences who are 25 to 40 years old. Businesses offering female products and services can target female Facebook users. Local shops can target users based on their location. It may be broad to target by demographics. But with the absence of Apple data, these targeting elements can be very effective in converting Facebook audiences who will most likely need your offers. 

TARGET BY LOCATION

Target by location is a Facebook Ad strategy that is like the traditional billboards. Billboards are typically placed on key areas of the city where traffic is high. Exposing the product to such high traffic has a great potential to boost discovery and sales. Facebook Ad Manager allows targeting ads per location. For example, a brand or business may want to target New York to promote its products and services. After a month or a quarter, you can measure sales in the area to see if your ads have a good return on investment (ROI).

Modern consumers commonly search for products and services available near their location. It is because of the convenience to pick up the items or the cheaper delivery costs. If you are rethinking your Facebook ad strategy, targeting audiences by location can be an effective plan in the absence of Apple data.

TARGET BY TIME OF THE DAY

Studies showed that the best time to post on Facebook is between 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM on a Thursday or Friday. During these times, a majority of Facebook posts received a lot of engagements such as comments, likes, and shares. This principle is the same idea used when targeting Facebook audiences by the time of the day. Even without Apple data, such a strategy can yield positive results in boosting awareness, conversion, and reach.

According to experts, the best time to promote your products and services on Facebook is between 8:00 AM to 12 Noon on weekdays. These are the times when people are most actively searching for products online for personal and work use. Most people devote their time online in the early part of the day. After lunch, they are commonly covered up finishing important tasks that they need to do before the day ends. So, it is pretty simple. Targeting by the time of the day ensures that you’ve got good traffic to expose your Facebook ads. It no longer needs Apple data to be effective.

Reference: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/facebook-ad-success-without-apple-data-rethinking-your-strategy/

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Marketing Channels Where Brands and Businesses Should Invest Today

Wikipedia defines marketing channels as activities, organizations, and people that serve as instruments to get products and services to their end-users. A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong has a different concept about marketing channels. They are online platforms where brands and businesses can promote their products and services. Some of the most popular marketing channels are:

  • Business Websites
  • eCommerce Websites
  • Google for SEO
  • Messaging apps like Messenger and WhatsApp
  • Social Media Pages and Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter
  • YouTube for video marketing

There are many options available to promote products and services in this modern age. The challenge among brands and businesses is choosing the perfect one where they can get a positive ROI from their marketing budget. Below are 7 essential marketing channels where brands and businesses should invest today.

BUSINESS BLOG

A business blog is an informational website. It is a collection of articles, news, and updates about a brand or a business. Brands and businesses should invest in this marketing channel because they start the buyer’s journey to make a purchase. A business blog serves as a dedicated platform to educate your customers and prospects about your brand, industry, niche, products, and services. Out of 1.7 million websites globally, 500 million are business blogs. Six out of ten online shoppers noted that a business blog set them on a journey of making a purchase.

EMAIL MARKETING

Email marketing started in 1978. It is one of the oldest marketing channels today. Despite being the oldest marketing channel, email marketing has the potential to reach a large number of people. In 2021, there are 4.1 billion email users. This is almost 2/3 of the world’s population. Every dollar spent on email marketing yields an average return on investment (ROI) of $42. Thus, a well-planned email marketing strategy will make more money. That is why 9 out of 10 marketers use email as a marketing channel to distribute content. Welcome emails have an open rate of 82% while abandoned cart emails result in 69% more sales. According to a video marketing agency Hong Kong, the way to move forward with email is using interactive content. Attaching a video in an email boosts click rates by 300%.

MOBILE DEVICES

There are now 3.8 billion people using mobile devices or smartphones. Experts look forward to the possibility that the number will continuously rise within the next five years. With 50.88% of online traffic coming from mobile devices last 2020, this is a great marketing channel where brands and businesses can invest today. Modern consumers prefer brands and businesses that provide customer support and information through SMS, WhatsApp, and other mobile devices. 

ORGANIC SEARCH

Organic search is also known as unpaid search results. They are natural search results based on the authority of a website, keyword ranking, and quality of content. Whether it be for entertainment, research, or shopping, the first step a consumer does is to make an organic search. This is the reason why brands and businesses should also invest in this marketing channel. Just this year, Google has already received 360 billion searches. Out of these billion searches, the top 5 organic results received 67.60% clicks. Here’s a pro-tip, nowadays visual and voice searches are rising. Video content is most likely to show on organic ranking 50 times more than plain text. 

SOCIAL MEDIA

A social media agency Hong Kong notes that social media is the best marketing channel that brands and businesses should invest in today. There are 4.48 billion social media users, allowing them to reach a larger audience. The top 5 social media marketing networks for 2021 are Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, and TikTok. Social Media is a marketing channel that allows brands and businesses to build rapport with their audiences. When you interact in the same place where your target customers connect with people close to them, you also become a part of their personal network. As such, social media is a key to long-term brand and consumer relationships. 

VIDEO MARKETING

If you run a small business, you don’t need to hire a big production team. Most mobile devices and smartphones now have cameras equipped with video editing tools. Even social media apps have features to customize and edit video content. Video marketing is an effective marketing channel for explainers, FAQ, how-to, interviews, and testimonials. Around 86% of modern consumers expect to see more videos from brands and businesses. Viewers retained 95% of the messages on videos they have watched. It also helps them learn more about products and services.

WORD-OF-MOUTH MARKETING

Never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth marketing. They are free, but they can double or triple the revenue of a brand or business. Offline or online, A happy customer will spread the word about how truly delighting a brand or business is. Around 90% of people trust these recommendations from colleagues, family members, friends, and even strangers. They are even more effective than paid ads, resulting in 5 times more sales. Out of all these 7 essential marketing channels, word-of-mouth is the most trusted. 

Reference: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/9-essential-marketing-channels-small-businesses-should-invest-in-infograph/604250/

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Improving Instagram Engagement

The story of Instagram begins with a picture of a dog. Kevin Systrom, the co-founder of Instagram, captured a photo of a stray dog sitting near a taco stand in Mexico. After a few months, he posted it as the first picture on Instagram with the caption “test.” That was the official launch of the photo-sharing app on 06 October 2010. On its first day, Instagram gained 25,000 users. 

In 2012, Facebook bought Instagram, which at that time, already has 30 million users. Instagram’s video function was launched in 2013. Within its 1st 24 hours, 5 million videos have been uploaded. By 2018, 45 billion photos will be posted on the app. Selena Gomez became the most followed person on Instagram with 138 million followers. Today, the crown was handed over to footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo with 312 million followers.

According to a digital marketing speaker Hong Kong, Instagram has now evolved as both a photo and video sharing app. With 1.074 billion monthly active users (MAU), it ranks second as the best social media marketing platform. More than 200 million businesses are on Instagram with 90% of IG followers visiting at least 1 brand every day. If you are one of those marketing on Instagram, here are some tips on improving engagement on the platform. 

BUILD INSTAGRAM REELS ENGAGEMENT

Reels are one of the newest features of Instagram. They are short music clips meant to inspire collaboration and creativity. Reels Ads are a great way to get engagement within the platform. They show up on the top tab of an Instagram feed. They are also recommended content on the explore tabs. By creating fun and relevant Reels for your target audiences, you can boost conversion and discovery, thus, improving Instagram engagement. Cultivate conversations among people who reacted to your Instagram Reels by responding to them. Or, at the very least, heart their comments to show appreciation.

CULTIVATE ENGAGEMENT WITH YOUR INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS

What marketers constantly ask is “the best time to post on Instagram.” Little did they realize that the best time to post on every social media platform is the time of the day where they can spend an hour cultivating engagement with their Instagram followers. During the first hour when an IG post is published, find people who have already liked your post. Send them a direct message (DM) with a question and a link back to the post to spark conversation. This leads them back to the post when replying to your question. The reply shows as a comment which you can reply to improve engagement. Brands and businesses can send a private message to up to 50 people asking for their thoughts. They just need to carefully choose the right target who will most likely reply to their private messages. It is during the first hour of posting on Instagram that engagements weigh heavier on Instagram’s algorithm. 

DEVELOP ENGAGING INSTAGRAM LIVE

Instagram Live is the perfect opportunity to connect with your audiences in real-time. A trick on improving Instagram engagement through IG Live is by using a Q & A sticker inviting your audience to ask questions. While scrolling on their comments, the host can directly answer their queries. You can also go live with three other Instagram users to expand the reach of your IG Live. Every time a new guest comes, their followers get notification about the broadcast. 

OPTIMIZE IGTV POSTS

Setting up IGTV is like having your own television channel on Instagram. This is the answer to long-form video content. What is best about IGTV is that you can include a link from other Instagram posts and websites. You don’t need 10,000 followers and up to do so. You can even upload a live video directly on IGTV. To optimize your IGTV post, be sure to choose the best thumbnails. Just like any other Instagram content, replying promptly to commenters, likers, and sharers can spark meaningful conversations.

SET UP A GREAT INSTAGRAM BIO

A social media agency Hong Kong notes that the best way of improving Instagram engagement is to set up a great Instagram bio. An Instagram bio serves as an introduction to what the brand or business is all about. It creates a first impression among the visitors of the page, so brands and businesses should aim to make the first impression last. An Instagram bio contains 150 characters. Brands and businesses should maximize such a short description to convince Instagrammers to follow them. Ensure that your name and bio are clear and concise. Focus on telling how you can help them, give them value, or offer something new or unique. Every post in your Instagram profile should then follow your bio. Your photo, IG Shop, Reels, Stories, and videos should fulfill the promise that you made in your bio.

TAG OTHER CREATORS ON YOUR INSTAGRAM STORIES

A video marketing agency Hong Kong has noted that Instagram Stories no longer showed up on major hashtags the way they used to. Today, the best way of improving Instagram engagement is by tagging other creators to your Instagram Stories. Instagram allows tagging up to 10 accounts. When you tag creators, they will receive a message that you have mentioned them in your story. As such, they can share your story and help them get in front of new audiences. Just be sure that the stories you are tagging on an account or creator are relevant to them. In replacement for hashtags, geotags can also get your business noticed, especially when the location is relevant to the post.

USE QUICK REPLIES ON YOUR DIRECT MESSAGES

Instagram Direct Messages are the best way for brands and businesses to connect and contact their community of followers. Today, it is easier to qualify and respond to incoming messages using Instagram’s Quick Replies. These are saved replies for the most frequently asked questions about a brand or business. Such replies will auto-populate on incoming messages using their queue words. This can help brands and businesses save time in qualifying incoming messages and responding to them. Of course, the goal of improving Instagram engagement is to spark continuous conversation. Responding using an audio or video message may also be smart to use. 

Reference: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/improving-instagram-engagement-to-build-community-conversions/

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7 Secrets to Succeed in Video Marketing

Video has been the most popular choice for online content consumption today. This year, an average person is predicted to watch 100 minutes of videos daily. Nine out of ten people wanted to see more videos from brands and businesses. As such, video marketing also becomes an irreplaceable part of a digital strategy among brands and businesses. According to a digital marketing speaker Hong Kong, by 2022, videos will occupy 82% of internet traffic. This is because modern consumers prefer to learn more about a brand, product, or service by watching a video. If you are one of the 86% of businesses that use videos as a marketing tool, this article is for you. Here are 7 secrets to succeed in video marketing.

FOCUS ON STORYTELLING INSTEAD OF SALES

social media agency Hong Kong reveals the 80/20 rule in social media as a secret to succeeding in video marketing. People do not go to social media pages to shop. Their main goal is to connect with the community and get ideas or inspiration. As a video marketer, you need to focus more on storytelling rather than sales. People prefer to watch videos that provide valuable information. They typically ignore salesy videos.

Videos that tell stories are the content most watched by viewers. Connecting to your viewers by telling your story helps them better understand your brand, products, and services. Some good examples of stories video ads are those from Budweiser, a popular American lager. Their videos were able to connect sports fans globally. By showing short clips of the Chicago Cubs victories, they have successfully generated a large number of press coverages and social media followings.

MAKE USE OF THE FIRST FEW SECONDS OF A VIDEO WISELY

A video marketing agency Hong Kong has noted the importance of using the first few seconds of a video wisely. This secret to succeeding in video marketing has to do with the short attention span of video viewers. Because of their busy lives and so many distractions online, people only hold videos in an average of just 8.5 seconds. So, video creators should create a hook at the very beginning. This is to let the viewers know that what they are about to watch is worth their time. Adding a video thumbnail has proven to be an effective hook. They are small still images showing a preview of your video. As they sit alongside your videos on Facebook and YouTube, they get the viewers excited even before the video starts playing. When choosing video thumbnails, avoid blurry shots. Pick a frame with clear and crisp subjects showing the viewers what’s coming up on the video. 

OPTIMIZE FOR SEO

Videos are now part of search engine optimization (SEO). More than 3.5 billion people search for videos on Google. YouTube recorded 3 billion video searches. Facebook also recorded 2 billion searches for videos daily. Here are some tips to optimize videos for SEO:

  • Use keywords in your video title yet keep it under 66 characters.
  • Add auto-captions and descriptions on your video that include your keywords also.

By doing these two steps, you make the video discoverable on search engines. They also allow video discovery among the hearing impaired or people who watched videos with sounds off.

PARTNER WITH INFLUENCERS

Around 90% of social viewers trust peer recommendations over company advertisements. This is how a trusted influencer becomes a secret to succeed in video marketing. Today, a brand is no longer what it tells the consumer it is. It is what the consumers tell each other about the brand. A great example of a video marketing partnership with a brand influencer was that of Nike, the famous sports brand. They partnered with YouTube influencer, Casey Neistat, to create a video in launching FuelBand. The Make It Count video created by Casey now has over 24 million views. 

TARGET RELEVANT AUDIENCES ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Most social media networks feature targeting tools where you can segment your video audiences. This is another secret to succeed in video marketing. By segmenting your audience to those who would most likely watch your videos, you are boosting both its conversion and performance. These are two important metrics of success in video marketing. 

Take Facebook for one. It is an incredible content distribution platform. One of its best features that makes it stand out from other social media networks is its in-depth audience targeting tools. The platform allows marketers to target audiences on ads, Pages’ posts, and even videos. You can segment the audience by age, gender, language, and location. You can also target them based on their interests and preferences. 

TELL ENGAGING STORIES IN VIDEOS WITH SOUNDS OFF

Most online viewers watched videos in public places. They may watch videos while commuting on a bus, having coffee in a shop, or spending their breaks while in their offices. This, they do, using their smartphones. As such, a large percentage of them watched videos with sound off to avoid distracting the people around them. As proof, 85% of Facebook users were reported to view videos with sound off. So, how do you keep a video engaging with the sound off? The secret is to use beautiful visuals, colorful captions, subtitles, and text-heavy descriptions.

TRIGGER EMOTIONS USING A CTA

A Call-to-Action (CTA) does not necessarily mean asking the viewers to make a purchase. It is an image or line of text that prompts viewers to take action. These actions may include commenting, downloading, event promotion, form submission, following a page, learning about a product or service, reading more, sharing, etc. Proper positioning of CTAs is another secret to success in video marketing. They can be placed at the start of a video for everyone to see. They can also be positioned mid-roll to target viewers when they are most engaged. Or, they can be placed at the end of a video to influence highly interested viewers.


Reference:https://buffer.com/library/video-marketing-tips/