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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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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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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 to Market Digital Shops

The way people shop today has greatly changed. The lockdowns and social distancing implemented in 2020 have boosted the rise of social eCommerce. This year, there are around 2.14 million digital buyers globally. That is why a digital marketing speaker Hong Kong has noted the importance of digital shops. Yet, it is challenging for brands to create digital shops. They need to consider many factors to keep them earning and running. It is also more challenging to market digital shops. So, here’s a guide on how to do it and thrive!

What Are Digital Shops?

Digital Shops are online storefronts that brands set up on an eCommerce site, social media platforms, and their website. They showcase a collection of products and services like a brick-and-mortar store. However, they only exist online and not in a physical location. Digital Shops are the perfect solution to streamline an online shopping experience. By integrating store inventories with direct payments, brands can boost their revenues online. 

There are different technologies that digital shops can use to keep them running online. The most common are AR/VR try-on, interactive fitting rooms, product tags, QR codes, and shopping stickers. There are also several ways to set up digital shops. First, brands can partner with eCommerce websites like Amazon, BigCommerce, Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce, and Wix eCommerce. Second, a social media agency Hong Kong can set up digital shops on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Pinterest, Snapchat, and WhatsApp. These social media online shops can be created through the business pages of social media accounts. Third, brands can create digital shops on their business websites. This is by enabling a product and services page, integrated with a checkout cart and direct payment system. 

A big step in digital shopping today is the integration of online shops into video ads. A video marketing agency Hong Kong now uses product tags to invite video viewers in buying relevant products and services. Brands can tell a story via short-form video clips and showcase a product with a 360-degree spin. They can also publish product explainer videos to relate their products and services to their customers. 

How to Market Digital Shops

Below are some marketing techniques for brands to drive sales on their digital shops. 

Create Educational Blog Posts

A very effective digital marketing technique today is to educate the customers to influence their buying decisions. Most brands focus on content marketing to give their audiences helpful information about their products and services. Using educational blog posts, brands create a problem that their target audience commonly encounters. Within the article, they will offer the best solution to the reader, which turns out to be the brand’s products and services. Educational blog posts can also optimize the SEO strategy of a brand. These powerful posts can boost SEO ranking by providing accurate and authentic content to answer the searcher’s keyword queries.

Expand Your Email List

There are 4.03 billion people who use email today. So, it is the easiest way to start connecting with people who want to check relevant products and services. Brands can use emails as a cold outreach technique to inform people about a product launch or new service. They can also use email to send reminders about an abandoned online shopping cart or a wish list. The best way to expand an email list using digital shops is to enable CTAs or pop-ups like “Learn More” and “Subscribe Now.” Messenger ads can also capture the contact details of an account user automatically. Brands can also contact page questionnaires when users want to join their social media pages. 

Gather Customer Reviews and Turn Them into User-Generated Content (UGC)

Word of mouth is a powerful marketing strategy. To market digital shops, brands can request customers to review their products and services. They can strategically post these feedbacks, ratings, reviews, and testimonials as UGCs. Like word of mouth, modern consumers prefer these authentic pieces of content and influence them to buy a product or service. Video testimonials of happy customers posted on social media pages even garnered the most numbers of likes, comments, and shares. 

Post a Variety of Creative Content

The best way to market digital shops is to post a variety of creative content on social media platforms. Modern consumers easily get attracted to visual content. Use images and videos to catch their attention toward your digital shops. How-to videos, product explainers, and unboxing videos can educate the customer and relate products and services to their needs and interests. Hosting contests, giveaways, and promotional sales are unique experiences brands can offer to increase awareness and discovery. 

Upsell and Downsell

Brands should market digital shops every time there is an opportunity. This is even if the customer is about to checkout. Do this by posting different items on your digital shops. Group relevant items so that once you have a digital shopper, they can see related products and services that interest them. Brands can offer an upgrade to a regular product offering for more sales. They can even offer a downgraded version of the shoppers’ interest with a simpler item. 

Work with Influencers in Your Niche

Collaborating with bloggers, KOLs, thought leaders, and vloggers is a great way to market your digital shops. Such a strategy aims to gain a large reach among the huge followings of these influencers. Brands can also partner with affiliate programs that promote stores using influencer marketing. Through their online expertise and reputation, their followers are more likely to be influenced by buying products and services they recommend.  


Reference:https://blog.red-website-design.co.uk/2021/05/05/ecommerce-website-marketing-tips/

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Why Brands Should Make Instagram Reels

The same kinds of campaigns have been saturating social media marketing today. As such, the engagement rate of social media users among brands has significantly declined. Recently, the TikTok app took the world by storm. Through catchy and short-form video content, creators achieved a ridiculous reach within the platform. That is why other social networks tried to mimic the TikTok clips. YouTube created Shorts, and Snapchat designed Spotlight. But according to a social media agency Hong Kong, Instagram’s TikTok clone works the best. For them, Instagram Reels is getting its users back from TikTok into the platform. They are the perfect way to engage with a new kind of audience. They allow creators to collaborate with the community by creating reel-ish content. They are easily digestible and highly entertaining. So, there are a lot of reasons why brands should make Instagram Reels.

WHAT ARE INSTAGRAM REELS?

Reels are a new way to create and discover short-form videos on Instagram. Like TikTok clips, Reels allow users to record a 30-second multi-clip video using creative tools, effects, and music. A private Instagram profile can share Reels on their feeds. On the other hand, those with a public account can additionally share Reels on Instagram Explore pages. Reels in the Explore page showcase the best culture trends in the world today.

To create a reel, simply tap the camera icon, and select the “Create a Reel” option. A variety of creative tools will then appear on the left side of your Reels camera screen. These include the following:

  • Align to line up objects within your clip frame.
  • AR Effects to add augmented reality to your background and overlays to your clips.
  • Audio to add a pre-recorded from your device or a song from Instagram’s music library. The pre-recorded audio will be attributed to you once you share a reel. If your Instagram profile is set to public, people can use your audio to create another reel.
  • Speed to control the speed of the beat on the part of the video or the whole video. It can help users speed up or slow down the motion of a reel clip.
  • Timer and Countdown to allow users in recording Reels hands-free. 

WHY BRANDS SHOULD MAKE INSTAGRAM REELS

To Increase Brand Reach

The average reach of an Instagram post is currently less than 2% to 3%. For example, if you have 1,000 followers on your Instagram account, the reach of a normal video post is only limited to the active followers of your Instagram profile. A video marketing agency Hong Kong noted that if a brand posted a reel on IG instead of a normal video, there are 4 ways Instagrammers can discover Reels.

  • Reels can be discovered on a dedicated Reels tab at the home screen navigation.
  • Reels from the brands users follow are visible when scrolling an Instagram home feed.
  • Reels are featured on the Instagram Explore page.
  • Reels are featured on individual Instagram profiles.

The algorithm of Instagram Reels also works in mysterious ways. Among Instagrammers, they are most likely to see Reels from accounts they already followed, the content they interact with, and their location.

To Increase Community Engagement

According to a digital marketing speaker Hong Kong, Reels can increase community engagements among brands. This is because the higher the reach of an Instagram reel is, the more chances it can drive followers to an account. With a huge number of followers, Reels can also increase community engagement. A recent report shows that 75% of Instagram users buy a product or visit a brand website after watching an Instagram Reel. Most IG users are getting bored with images. Reels offer them a new way to genuinely enjoy catchy and funny videos. They are super scrollable, and Instagrammers can easily comment, like, or share a posted reel. Besides, Instagram Reels allow creators to showcase their true personalities in a relaxing way. This makes them more authentic, triggering actions through emotional connections.

To Increase Revenue and Sales

Instagram recently rolled out Shoppable Reels. Using this eCommerce feature, brands and businesses can now tag products when creating Reels. These make the Reels fully shoppable. Whenever a viewer taps on the product tag, the user can directly buy the item without leaving the Instagram app. Shoppable Reels are a game-changer for Instagram ads. Being featured on the Instagram Explore Page makes it easier for a large number of audiences to find a product. Brands can use their resources with Shoppable Reels in the most innovative way. They can add a product link, a CTA like “Shop Now,” a shopping bag icon, etc. Shopping from Creators is another new way to turn Reels into a shoppable post. Creators can now use branded product tags when creating Reels. The tags make it easier for viewers to buy the items featured directly on its checkout feature. This can be the next big step to influencer marketing. At the same time, it is also a way to revolutionize online shopping. 

Launched in 2019, Instagram Reels are now available to over 50 countries. In the past 6 months, such short-form video content has been boosting Instagram engagement and reach to the roof. So, if a brand is not using it today, it’s now time to make Reels!

Reference: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/367075