Amina Al Tai, an expert on mindset and business coaching, shares tips and strategies to help you unlock your full revenue potential.
I help entrepreneurs build their personal brand and revenue. And although that may seem daunting, the process is relatively simple. You just need to leverage my A.T.M. model.
Actions – The activities you must perform to be successful
Tools – The applications and resources that increase the impact of your work
Mindset – The self-perception or belief you hold about yourself
Pretty straightforward right? Well, I’ve noticed most people tend to prioritize actions and tools while they almost ignore the importance of mindset. Here’s the issue with that; your mindset can tank your chances of success way sooner than any external challenges.
Sure, you might know you need to build your email list. That’s an action to take. And you may determine that you need an email marketing program to help you send and optimize your newsletter. As you may have guessed, that’s a tool.
But what happens if you start thinking “I’m never going to figure out how to use this email marketing program” or “I’m not sure if I have useful information to share”?
This is why mindset is so critical. It allows you to push through those self-limiting beliefs so you can take on new challenges and continue to grow on a personal and professional level.
And, that’s exactly what I chatted with Amina AlTai during this week’s episode of the Launch Your Business podcast. Amina is an expert on leadership, mindset and business coaching. And as you’ll notice, she clearly wants you to win.
During our conversation, which is full of techniques you can immediately apply, AlTai provides input on:
Developing a money mindset and charging your true value
Increasing endurance to push through extended challenges
Removing upper limits that decrease your impact
Identifying and capitalizing on your zone of genius
I’ll share one of my key takeaways from our chat below.
Your mindset can have a negative impact on your clients and revenue
Amina says that on a sales call, it’s not just about your money mindset. It’s also about the mindset of your prospective client.
Unfortunately, if your mindset leads you to believe you’re not good enough or you just want to get a “yes” out of the client, you’ll accidentally project lack or scarcity.
This is why you need to believe in yourself and your offer wholeheartedly. If you don’t believe that you can bring a transformation to your client, you need to dig in deep to understand where that story is coming from. Fortunately, Amina provides guidance on how to do so during our conversation.
Once you’ve developed your own money mindset, you can coach your potential clients through their potential fears and limiting beliefs. This will allow you to close more deals and deliver better results.
Next steps
Ready to learn more from Amina? First, listen to the full interview below.
Then, be sure to check out her new podcast Amina Change Your Life. She serves up bite-sized lessons and inspiration on career, entrepreneurship, ethical wealth building, and well-being.
Are you struggling with email marketing? Do you want to increase your conversion rates and ROI? Look no further than ChatGPT for email marketing.
With email marketing boasting an average ROI of $38 for every $1 spent and 81% of SMBs relying on it as their primary customer acquisition channel, it’s a strategy you can’t ignore.
However, navigating this marketing channel can be confusing, leaving many businesses lost in the woods without a clear map or compass.
In this blog post, we’ll guide you through using ChatGPT to create killer email content that speaks directly to your audience’s fears, anxieties, hopes, and dreams, helping you move the needle.
Benefits of ChatGPT for Email Marketing
What are the benefits of using this AI chatbot in your email marketing efforts? Let’s take a look.
Subject Line Generation
Did you know that the average office worker receives a whopping 121 emails a day? With so many emails in their inbox, having a subject line that grabs attention is crucial.
Studies show that 47% of email recipients open an email based solely on the subject line. Luckily, ChatGPT can generate subject lines that are eye-catching and relevant to the email content.
Body Copy
According to HubSpot, personalized email messages can improve click-through rates by 14% on average and conversions by 10%. With ChatGPT, you can generate personalized and engaging body copy that resonates with your target audience.
A/B Testing
A/B testing is a must. It lets you identify the elements driving conversions and optimize your campaigns accordingly. Studies show that A/B testing increases open rates by a whopping 29%. With ChatGPT, you can quickly create different versions of an email to see which performs best.
Ask ChatGPT for Critiques
This powerful tool can provide valuable insights and recommendations for improving your email marketing efforts. For example, ask if your email draft contains any spam trigger words!
Golden ChatGPT Email Formula
If you rely on ChatGPT to do all the heavy lifting, you will end up with thin, generic content that won’t resonate with anyone.
Who am I talking to? What do they do for a living? What are their interests and pain points?
What action do I want this person to take? Do you want them to book a consultation? Or subscribe to your list? Download a free e-book?
What does this person need to know or believe in to take action? The benefits of the new product, how it compares to similar products, and why it’s worth the investment. What biases or objections might they have about your service? Is it the cost? The time commitment? The trustworthiness of providers they’ve had in the past?
These are essential questions that every email marketer should be asking themselves before they even start writing.
To use the Golden ChatGPT Email Formula with ChatGPT, feed the information into ChatGPT as context before you ask it to generate outputs.
The Most Important Thing in Email Marketing
The secret sauce in email marketing is knowing your subscriber like the back of your hand.
If you want your subscribers to feel like you really get them, you’ve got to talk to them about their fears, anxieties, hopes, and dreams. Maybe they’re struggling with acne, their weight, or their finances. Maybe they absolutely love Pomeranians!
And not just any old way, but in their own words.
That’s how you build trust and empathy, which gets your emails eagerly anticipated, opened, and acted on.
But you can only do that if you know your subscriber like they’re your best friend.
So how do you get to know them?
The best way is to talk to them directly via a survey.
Email Survey ChatGPT Prompt
Here’s a great ChatGPT prompt for this:
“Imagine you represent a [niche] brand that wants to improve its products based on customer feedback. Compose an email to a customer who recently purchased an [Offer] from [Brand]. In the Email, cover the following points:
Thank the customer for their recent purchase and express your appreciation for their support.
Ask the customer to share their thoughts on the product.
Ask the following questions in the email:
What made you choose [OFFER]?
Have you tried similar products before? If so, which ones and how do they compare to [OFFER]?
Has [OFFER] made a positive impact on your life? If so, how?
Is there anything we can do to improve [OFFER]?
Assure the customer that their responses will be kept confidential and will help you improve your products and services in the future. Lastly, thank the customer for the feedback. Use [niche] puns and write as if you’re talking from friend to friend.”
The Ultimate ChatGPT Subject Line Formula
Here’s a powerful formula that can significantly increase the chances of your emails getting opened:
Curiosity + Self-Interest = lots of opens.
John Caples, a legendary copywriter, and author of Tested Advertising Methods, introduced this formula.
Next, we’ll discuss how you can apply this formula to your email subject lines.
ChatGPT Subject Line Generation Prompts
Here are some email subject line prompts you will love.
1. Deconstruct + Repuporse
If you already have a list of effective subject lines, you can ask ChatGPT to repurpose them for your niche + audience.
I got my hands on these:
At-home workouts don’t work, unless…
Top 4 beginner workout “errors” revealed
Maybe the laziest way to double your fitness results
Add This to Your Coffee for Health
Next, I asked ChatGPT to repurpose these subject lines for a dog audience (and what they care about). This is where you insert the expertise we gathered from the survey!
2. Weird Mechanism + Desired Benefit
A weird mechanism is an unconventional way to achieve a desired benefit. For example, when people encounter something unexpected or unusual, they’re more likely to take notice and investigate further.
Here are some examples of subject lines that showcase the [weird mechanism] + [desired benefit] formula for a dog audience:
“Weird doggy treat banishes bad breath (and improves their mood)”
“Tibetan method trains dog to clean up their toys”
“Strange Tibetan secret gets your dog to love crate”
Next, use this formula to instruct ChatGPT to generate subject lines for your niche. Again, it’s best to prompt ChatGPT with relevant examples to your audience.
Lastly, emphasize the goal to pique curiosity, and voila!
3. Problem + Hint at Solution
This classic space ad formula is one of my all-time favourites.
Here’s how it goes: you start with a specific problem and then drop a hint at the solution. After that, it works like a charm.
Sure, you might see a dip in open rates, but the specificity of the problem can lead to more clicks and conversions.
Here are some examples:
Tired of being tired? Natural cure
Can’t focus? Do this!
Now, you can instruct ChatGPT to follow the formula I’ve provided.
Make sure to add context surrounding the following questions:
Who are you writing for?
What do you want to emphasize?
What is the intent of the email subject line?
How To Hook Email Readers with ChatGPT (From The First Word)
You can have all the opens in the world, but if your readers aren’t hooked from the first word, they don’t read the rest of your email. They aren’t going to buy anything, either!
So, what’s the secret to getting your readers to dive right in? That opening line has got to be on point.
Here are a few rules to hook more readers:
It should be congruent with your subject line
Keep it short and sweet
Stimulate curiosity or promise a benefit, or better yet, both!
1. Open with a Surprising Fact
First, try opening your emails with a surprising fact; ChatGPT can help you. Facts can capture readers’ attention and pique their curiosity, making them more likely to read on. (We go into detail on how to find facts with ChatGPT).
2. Lead with an Irresistible Story
Next, ask ChatGPT to craft an irresistible story, but ensure it’s centered around your subscriber. For maximum impact, the story should demonstrate how your reader can gain a desired benefit or avoid pain or problem they fear.
Using ChatGPT for Email Marketing (Prompt and Email Ideas)
Here are some ideas for you to try with different types of emails.
1. Re-Engage a “Dead” List
Do you have an email list that’s been idle for a while? I have a template that can help you out.
Before you blast emails using these ChatGPT prompts, re-engage your “dead” list.
The power of this template is to make your email heartfelt.
Begin by admitting, “Hey, I know I haven’t honoured my end of the bargain,” so that your subscribers know you’re a genuine person who realizes you haven’t delivered the emails your subscribers signed up for.
From there, emphasize the value (or the promise of value soon) you’ll provide. It could be new product launches or exclusive tips and tricks that your subscribers will appreciate.
However, giving subscribers an easy way out is crucial if they prefer to opt out. This shows that you respect their time and inbox and empowers them to take control of their relationship with you.
So look at the template below, customize it, and let’s revive your email list!
Start with a greeting and introduce yourself.
Acknowledge the lapse in communication and apologize for it.
Emphasize the importance of consistency and engagement in building relationships.
Reiterate your content’s value and express your commitment to providing more of it.
Offer either new content/resources or a question to engage the subscriber and encourage a response.
End by thanking the subscriber and offering an opportunity to unsubscribe if they are no longer interested.
2. The Welcome Email
Your welcome Email is the workhorse of your business emails. It’s like a first date that determines the course of your relationship with your subscriber. Will they see you as a trustworthy friend or leave you in their inbox with hundreds of others?
Don’t forget to include all of these ingredients in your Welcome Email to make sure it’s a success:
Make a great first impression
Set expectations
Request action
Polarization
Be bold and come out and say what you stand for (or against). Alexander Hamilton stated, “Those who stand for nothing fall for everything.”
If some people unsubscribe at this stage, that’s a great thing! The objective here is to build a list of people who are aligned with your core values and feel a strong connection to you.
Here’s a prompt to get you started:
Briefly acknowledge and compliment the recipient on inviting you to their inbox, making them feel good about their decision to invite you in.
Acknowledge any previous interactions with the recipient and express excitement to continue the relationship.
Here’s where you mention your freebie. Use this section to overcome the major objection we all must overcome: recipients downloading “freebies” and totally ignoring them.
Use authenticity, storytelling, humour, and tone to connect with the recipient and make your message memorable.
Reinforce the benefits of the content or resources you’re offering and how they can help the recipient achieve their goals.
End with a clear call-to-action, directing the recipient to consume the resource.
And here’s the output!
If you’re struggling to tweak the prompt, don’t be afraid to take my output and use the “Deconstruct + Repurpose” method I highlighted in the subject line section above!
3. The Hold my Hand Email
Now, let’s write a killer “Hold My Hand” email that speaks to those sceptical, jaded, and burned-out subscribers. These prospects want results but feel overwhelmed and confused about how to get there.
Now, the conflict between desire and doubt is something that many buyers face in any market – whether it’s weight loss, dating, business, dog training, or beyond. It’s a tough nut to crack, but it’s not impossible.
The “Hold My Hand” Email is your secret weapon in this battle.
Here’s the structure:
Reaffirm the benefits your subscribers want to achieve. What are their hopes and dreams? What motivates them to make a change in their life? Or what pain are you helping them avoid?
Acknowledge the roadblocks to success that your subscribers have faced in the past. What fears and anxieties have held them back? By acknowledging these roadblocks, you can show your subscribers that it’s not their fault they haven’t achieved the results they want.
Use your subscribers’ words to show that you understand their fears and anxieties. This is a powerful way to build rapport and establish trust.
Amplify their desire by using future pacing to paint a vivid picture of what your subscriber’s life will be like. Use “Imagine If” statements to help your subscribers visualize the positive outcomes of their hard work and dedication.
Finally, link to your offer (program, coaching, etc.) and promise a step-by-step plan or method to help your subscribers achieve their goals. You’ll want to show your unique process, so things will be different this time.
ChatGPT A/B Testing Prompts
Remember my “hold my hand” Email? Well, I asked ChatGPT to give me a variation.
Specifically, I wanted to test a different layout structure and add some “imagine if” statements to get the reader to visualize the desired result of their dog behaving perfectly.
So I kept adding more “imagine if” statements until I had a total of 5!
You can also refine an email by switching up the tone.
While you could ask ChatGPT to switch the tone to “persuasive” or “witty,” aiming for the best in the business is even better.
And who are the best in the business? This list identifies the top 20 copywriters who make the most money. Names like Joe Coleman and Laurence Blume are at the top of the list.
Using AI Templates (With Jasper)
With Jasper, you can forget about spending hours brainstorming and crafting the perfect email copy. Instead, you can leverage its pre-programmed templates to create killer emails in minutes.
I know what you’re thinking: “But Trevor, what about ChatGPT?”
Well, my friend, while ChatGPT is great for generating original content, Jasper’s templates can save you precious time and effort.
It has specific templates you can leverage for both subject lines and email!
Jasper also has an awesome document editor and Boss Mode, so you can write and switch between templates in one place.
ChatGPT For Email Marketing (Feedback and Compliance)
One of the best ways to get feedback on your writing is by using ChatGPT. For email marketing, this can be especially helpful to ensure that your emails are not triggering any spam filters or violating compliance issues.
Simply provide ChatGPT with your Email and ask for suggestions on improving it.
For example, I asked ChatGPT, “Can you please look at this email and point out any spam triggers or compliance issues that might be contained within it? How could I improve it?”
ChatGPT For Email Marketing – Final Thoughts
While ChatGPT can be a valuable tool in email marketing, it’s important to remember that it’s not a substitute for understanding the fundamentals of email marketing, copywriting, and your audience’s needs.
It’s important to remember that ChatGPT is only as good as the information and guidance it’s given. You will be head and shoulders above the average email copywriter using the tips I’ve provided in this article.
So, use ChatGPT wisely and clearly understand its limitations, and you’ll be on your way to crafting successful email campaigns that resonate with your audience.
It’s tricky to stick to a schedule when you can see all of the flaws in your own writing.
So, how can we publish content every week, or even every month, when we still have so much to learn?
Most of us run into this sometimes — and it can turn into an ugly case of writer’s block. We have a real desire to serve an audience with our work, but unhelpful perfectionism holds us back from meeting our writing goals.
Let’s knock that one out before we start talking about how to get comfortable clicking Publish — even if you’re not a “great writer” yet.
How (savvy) new writers stick to a schedule
Maybe you’ve seen Ira Glass’s famous quote about what he calls the gap:
“Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not.
“But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this.”
– Ira Glass
You know what “the good stuff” looks like, but you don’t have the chops yet to create work at that level. And that’s painful.
Honour the writer you are today
Now, there’s a school of thought when learning to draw that “you have 10,000 terrible drawings in you, so get them done as quickly as possible.”
And of course, in the place of “drawings,” you can substitute blog posts, podcasts, videos, or any other kind of creative work you add to your content calendar.
Some people find this idea liberating. If you’re one of them — get on it!
I find it unspeakably depressing.
In the first place, I think 10,000 is an insane number. You don’t have 10,000 genuinely bad pieces of creative content to get through. Maybe you have 10. Or 20.
When you stick to a schedule and get through those first rough pieces, you’ll improve your craft. And you’ll begin to write content that’s better than the content you wrote last month. That’s not terrible — that’s fantastic.
I also don’t believe in spending extended periods of your life gritting your teeth. If you want to learn to play the cello, but you’re going to be unhappy until you sound like Yo-Yo Ma, that’s an awful lot of time to spend being miserable.
Maybe instead, you could learn to appreciate what you can play today, and take pleasure in that, while still working on getting better.
In my experience, both in my writing and my teaching, I find it’s more helpful to honour the work that reflects where we are today. With all of its flaws and all of its imperfections.
You could look back on work you did a year ago, or five years ago, or 20, and cringe.
Or you could look at it and respect the care that went into it, while also seeing the elements that you hadn’t quite mastered yet. (And maybe even feeling great about the progress that you’ve made.)
Once you’ve decided to at least try to appreciate the early days, I’ve observed three things that will let you do well with your content today, even while you’re still working on your craft.
Give it some G.A.S.
The first element is caring, a lot, both about the quality of your content and the audience you serve with it.
Writers who stick to a schedule and put in the work, to the best of their abilities, still stand out, even in the overwhelming sea of content being published today.
And if you genuinely care about putting content out that benefits your audience, they’ll appreciate it and find use in it, even if it’s not “perfect” by some unreachable standard.
You don’t have to have the writing skill of an Ann Handley or a Malcolm Gladwell.
The second really important element is giving yourself enough time to produce a piece you’re proud of.
Check your facts. Check your spelling. Make sure your arguments are well supported. If you can, strive to get most of your commas in the right place.
Let your content sit for a little bit, and you’ll see the places where your argument is weak, or your phrasing is confusing.
Time is a great replacement for talent.
A lot of crappy content isn’t crappy because the writer lacked skill. It’s crappy because they weren’t given enough time to do a good job.
Plenty of the writers you most admire produce dreadful first drafts. Between you and me, it’s one reason I don’t draft in the WordPress editor. I wouldn’t want my colleagues to see some of the total dreck I write as I’m getting my thoughts together.
“Some of your best work will come by virtue of you wrestling with the words on the page, not in your head.”
– Kelton Reid
Go ahead and meander. Let your mind and fingers ramble across the keyboard. The ideas that emerge can be much richer that way.
But it only works if you stick to a schedule and give yourself enough time to really polish the final results, and remove the tangents and cruft.
Give it some standards
The third element might seem not-so-sexy (unless you’re Copyblogger’s Editor-in-Chief Stefanie Flaxman), and that’s having a clear set of editorial standards.
Copyblogger publishes a pretty good volume of content, between the blog and Copyblogger Academy.
Getting bogged down in perfectionism isn’t an option, but you can make a conscious decision about your standards — like never skipping content proofreading. Yes, a typo might slip through occasionally, but they should be rare.
Stefanie goes through every post checking for wrong dates, imprecise word choices, and funky typing.
No editor can check for everything. But our standards give us a list of the most important items to check off, to make sure they meet our standards.
When you decide on a set of writing rules to live by, you create more trust and authority with your work.
If you apply these three elements — caring, time, and standards — to your content, even if you aren’t a “great writer” (yet), you’ll be able to produce useful work that you can be proud of, and that will serve your audience.
A resource to help you stick to a schedule
If your writing and publishing process could use some direction, you might be interested in Stefanie’s Content Writing Masterclass inside Copyblogger Academy.
The in-depth course is for writers who want an insider’s view of how to build an audience of interested prospects who know, like, and trust you.
You’ll discover practical techniques you’ll be able to use right away, so you can start creating content that attracts traffic, builds an engaged audience, and primes them to buy.
Sonia Simone was a founding partner of Copyblogger Media. These days, she helps content writers become fiercely creative and insanely productive. Check out her brand-new free report on 7 Things Prolific Writers Do Differently — written especially for content writers.
Publishing platform Medium is opening up its debut Mastodon instance, me.dm, to its members, the company announced today.
Last month, Medium first teased its plans around the Fediverse — the group of interconnected servers powering a range of open source, decentralized applications, including the Twitter alternative Mastodon and others. It said it wanted to make access to me.dm a perk included with Medium membership, offering a place for authors and readers to discuss the content published on its platform.
The company explained at the time that this would make for an interesting local feed — a reference to how Mastodon users can view a dedicated feed of just the conversations happening on their own instance (server), in addition to those happening more broadly across federated servers (those servers their local server knows about and is connected to).
In addition, Medium said it would tackle some of the onboarding challenges involved with joining Mastodon by making it easier for newcomers to find both the people and topics that matched their interests as part of its onboarding flow.
But while there are some similarities with these other Fediverse plays, Medium is the first major tech company to offer users a “premium” Mastodon experience — meaning access to the instance isn’t free as it is elsewhere when signing up directly. Instead, interested users would have to purchase a Medium membership, which currently runs $5 USD per month or $50 per year with its annual plan.
The company believes the exclusivity and the community it will curate on its instance will have immediate value. Already, it’s quietly onboarded 5,000 people from its waitlist onto the instance and is forecasting a community in the “six figures” in size at some point later this year.
Image Credits: Medium
“We want Medium to be the best place to read and write on the internet,” Medium CEO Tony Stubblebine tells TechCrunch. “We want to do it under a single subscription — I think people are tired of having dozens of subscriptions. And I think we’ve also found that ad-driven models have their own kind of corrupting influence,” he continues. “I think that’s why a lot of social media ends up toxic — because people are focused on engagement, rather than substance. So, in order to have the best place to read and write, you have to build the whole thing around an economic model for substance. For us, that means a subscription,” Stubblebine adds.
Plus, the exec points out, the instance will be among those run by an experienced tech company. That means it will run the instance on its own infrastructure and will have its own Trust & Safety team managing moderation. (Today, there’s one person dedicated to the task, but it could scale in time.)
Stubblebine notes, too, that instance’s domain name — me.dm — could have a draw.
“You have to share the domain along with your username in the Fediverse. To have a short domain is valuable,” he says.
However, the move also comes at a time when there seems to be a broader shift in Mastodon’s direction — and not just because Twitter has become unreliable.
That’s further highlighted by the fact that Medium itself was created by Twitter co-founder Evan Williams. (Williams exited Medium as CEO last year, but remains chairman of the board.) Another Twitter and Medium co-founder, Biz Stone, also sits on Medium’s board.
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, meanwhile, is backing Bluesky, another decentralized social concept but one that uses a different protocol than Mastodon. Its future, given its reliance on Twitter’s funding, seems questionable, though.
Stubblebine addresses the oddity of having so many Twitter founders now involved with companies building alternatives but says Medium’s impact on Twitter’s fate is not a huge consideration.
“We didn’t go into this year, thinking that we wanted to compete with Twitter or even that it was possible,” Stubblebine says. “But it seems obvious to me that there’s an exodus from Twitter — and enough of an exodus to create an alternative. We’re not particularly worried about whether or not Twitter lives or dies. We see it more as there’s going to be a new thing and maybe it lives alongside Twitter or maybe it completely replaces it. But regardless, it’s going to be important. And, regardless, that new thing is Mastodon,” he adds.
Medium plans to improve its Mastodon experience as it grows, hoping to provide a place for writers to find new readers for their stories and enable conversations, then roll out more features in time.
Meanwhile, Tumblr owner Matt Mullenweg confirmed to TechCrunch that it’s testing the ActivityPub protocol that powers Mastodon and other Fediverse-connected apps, in addition to others, like Bluesky and Nostr.
Medium itself, by comparison, isn’t integrating with ActivityPub — it doesn’t think syndication of blogs to the Fediverse is the future; its focus instead is on proving a place for the authors to build a community.
Stubblebine also says he’s not worried that offering a premium instance will corrupt the potential of what’s, so far, been a free and open source social web.
However, he does admit there has been some pushback from the wider community about Medium going the premium route.
“Most of the pushback is based on a fear of — sometimes it’s expressed as a fear of capitalism, but, when you dig into it, it’s always a fear of monopoly. This is one of the things that I think is exciting about the Fediverse — there’s really no hope for anyone to monopolize it. So it just leads to healthier business ideas,” he explains. “This is just a business idea that will be one of many on the Fediverse…I think it’s new, so it will probably be a little bit alarming. But in practice, there’s just no way for it to pan out that way,” Stubblebine says.
“I think there’s this unbundling of social media going on right now,” he continues. “And what that gives us is the opportunity to be more opinionated. For me, that’s exciting — I don’t want to be a town square for the entire world. I want to be the town square for people that love reading and writing — and a certain type of reading and writing — thoughtful reading and writing,” he concludes.
A lead magnet is a free resource or deal offered by marketers to customers in exchange for their contact information. They are a tool for capturing leads and building a list of interested prospects. Lead magnets can take the form of e-books, white papers, webinars, free trials and more. By offering lead magnets, businesses can attract and engage with potential customers, ultimately increasing the likelihood of converting them into paying customers. In fact, businesses with a mature lead generation process acquire more leads and are said to generate, on average, 133% more revenue.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the other benefits of using lead magnets and discuss how you can use lead magnets—particularly e-books and white papers—in your own marketing efforts.
The Benefits Of Using Lead Magnets In Campaigns
There are many benefits to using lead magnets. They can help you:
Attract a target audience. When lead magnets provide value to the target audience, it can incentivize them to exchange their contact information, effectively attracting and capturing leads.
Build relationships. Lead magnets can help you establish trust and build relationships with the target audience.
Increase engagement. Lead magnets encourage potential customers to engage with the business’s content, increasing the likelihood of them becoming paying customers.
Qualify leads. Lead magnets help businesses determine the level of interest and engagement of potential customers, enabling them to prioritize and qualify leads.
Establish thought leadership. By offering informative content, businesses can establish themselves as thought leaders in their industry.
Boost brand awareness. Lead magnets increase brand awareness by promoting the business’s products or services to a larger audience.
Provide valuable insights. Lead magnets offer valuable insights into the target audience’s needs and interests, enabling businesses to tailor their lead-generation campaigns and marketing efforts.
Utilizing E-books And White Papers As Lead Magnets
E-books are comprehensive, educational content that can provide valuable information on a specific topic related to the business’s industry. They can be a guide, tutorial or case study and can be used to educate potential customers on the benefits of the business’s products or services. Moreover, my company surveyed marketers and 55.9% said that e-book samples generate the highest conversion rate in short-form written content.
Follow these steps to create and promote an effective e-book:
Identify the target audience. Start by identifying the target audience for the e-book and their needs and interests. This will help you create an e-book that is relevant and valuable to them.
Choose a topic. You want to be strategic and choose a topic related to the business’s industry.
Plan (and write) the content. Outline the introduction, main sections and conclusion before you start writing. Ensure the content is informative, educational and relevant to the target audience.
Design the e-book. Use design elements such as images, graphics and headings to make the e-book visually appealing and easy to read.
Publish the e-book. Publish it in a format that is easily accessible, such as a PDF.
Promote the e-book. Promote the e-book through a variety of channels, including email marketing, social media, advertising and landing pages on your website.
Measure the results. Measure the e-book lead magnet campaign results by tracking the number of downloads and conversions. Use the insights gained to improve future campaigns.
Unlike e-books, white papers are in-depth, research-based content that provides insights and solutions to specific problems related to the business’s industry. They often demonstrate the business’s thought leadership and expertise in a particular area. You can often use the same process and strategy above for a white paper, and by offering white papers as lead magnets, you can further establish yourself as an expert in your field and provide valuable information to potential customers.
Best Practices For Using E-books And White Papers As Lead Magnets
There are several strategies for promoting and distributing lead magnets to your target audience. Here’s how:
Choose the right channels. Carefully research the channels through which you will promote and distribute the lead magnet, making sure the channels align with the target audience’s preferences and behaviors.
Offer the lead magnet on landing pages. Create landing pages on your website specifically for the lead magnet and offer it in exchange for the target audience’s contact information.
Use email marketing. Promote the lead magnet to your existing email list and encourage them to share it with their network.
Utilize social media and influencer marketing. Use social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to promote the lead magnet to the target audience. You can also partner with influencers in your industry to promote the lead magnet to their audience.
Offer the lead magnet through webinars. Offer the lead magnet as a resource during webinars or other events to encourage attendees to download it.
Utilize paid advertising. Use paid advertising, such as Google AdWords or Facebook Ads, to reach a larger audience and drive traffic to the landing pages for the lead magnet.
Monitor and adjust. Monitor the results of the lead magnet promotion and distribution strategies and adjust as necessary to improve the effectiveness of the campaign.
In conclusion, with the use of e-books and whitepapers, businesses can establish thought leadership, boost brand awareness and increase conversions by offering valuable and relevant content, delivered in a thoughtful, targeted manner.
Feature Image Credit: getty
By Vikas Agrawal
Co-founder at Infobrandz, an elite team of visual communication experts taking content marketing to the next level.
Stay up-to-date on the latest in search engine optimization. Learn about SEO strategies, best practices and the latest updates to Google’s ranking factors.
The Gist
SEO best practices still matter. To show up in search engine results pages (SERPs), following search engine optimization (SEO) best practices is necessary.
Still Google’s world. Google dominates the global search engine market with 84% market share, making it crucial to consider in an SEO strategy.
High-quality content. On-page SEO involves optimizing visible elements such as content, which should be relevant and high-quality, with expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness (E-A-T) guidelines in mind.
When someone wants to search for a product, look at videos or read about a topic, they go directly to their preferred search engine. And if you want to show up in said search engine results pages (SERPs), you’ll need to follow search engine optimization (SEO) best practices.
As we delve into best practices as of February 2023, our primary focus will be on Google. Why? Because it has dominated the global search engine market since its inception in 1997.
Google doesn’t share its search volume data. But experts around the web estimate the search engine sees anywhere from 40,000 to 99,000 search queries every second. For one day, that could amount to more than 8.5 billion searches.
SEO, which companies use to maximize content marketing efforts, ultimately breaks down into three categories:
On-page SEO
Off-page SEO
Technical SEO
Let’s take a look at some core components of these three categories and how SEO professionals can aim to follow best practices.
On-Page SEO
On-page SEO, also called on-site SEO, refers to the optimization of elements that you can see on-page, such as:
Content
Content is at the core of on-page SEO, and it’s what many people focus on when first optimizing their SEO strategy.
Relevance and quality are more important than any other Google ranking factor.
Google actively penalizes thin content that offers little to no value to searchers. While in the past it used to consider pages as a whole, it now looks at and ranks subsections within pages to match queries.
When you’re working on your content creation strategy or overall SEO strategy, consider these questions to determine if you’re headed in the right direction:
Do you have a target audience in mind that will find your content useful if they come directly to you?
Does your content demonstrate expertise that comes from firsthand experience?
After reading your content, will someone feel they’ve learned enough about the topic?
If you’ve answered yes to these three questions, you’re on the right track.
Some content worst practices to stay away from include:
Creating content specifically to attract people from search engines
Utilizing extensive automation to produce lots of content on a variety of topics
Summarizing what other content creators have said without adding additional value
Writing to meet a particular word count or because you’ve heard Google’s algorithm prefers a specific word count (it doesn’t)
Creating content that promises to answer a question that has no answer (for example, suggesting you know the release date of a movie that has no confirmed release date)
E-A-T Guidelines
E-A-T stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. This concept became a core part of Google’s algorithm in August of 2019 and continues to play a significant role today in evaluating content.
The authoritativeness of the creator of the main content, the main content itself and the website
The trustworthiness of the creator of the main content, the main content itself and the website
E-A-T plays a part in websites of all types, including gossip columns, satire websites, forums and Q&A pages. How a website meets E-A-T guidelines will depend on the type of website. Some topics or industries will require less formal expertise than others.
For example, a news website with high E-A-T articles will convey journalistic integrity, contain factually accurate information and utilize robust policies and review processes with included sources.
A site containing scientific topics, on the other hand, should be created by people or organizations with the appropriate scientific knowledge or expertise and represent established scientific consensus.
When it comes to establishing E-A-T for your content, think about the page’s topic and what expertise is needed to achieve the purpose of that page.
Search Queries
Search queries are the words and phrases people use when using search engines or smart assistants. These words and phrases shift based on the search intent — the “why” behind the action.
Types of search intent include:
Informational: The searcher is looking for information, wants to answer a question or learn how to do something. The best way to target an information query is to develop high-quality, SEO-focused content that provides helpful and relevant information to the user. Position yourself as a source of information people can trust.
Navigational: The searcher is looking for a particular website or page. For example, they might type “YouTube” or “LinkedIn.” You can’t typically target navigational queries unless you own the specific website or page the person is looking for. But you can make sure you claim the top results spot for your brand’s own navigational query.
Transactional: With this search intent, the user wants to make a purchase. The query might include a brand, product or service name or a generic item, such as “coffee maker.” You can target these search queries with optimized product or service pages. You can also use pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns to target these search terms.
By understanding search intent — which might include keyword research to best understand which words the target audience uses — companies can better craft content to meet needs and win more readers.
Links
You should include two types of links within your website or web page content: internal and external.
Internal links redirect to another page or piece of content on your website. For example, on an article about the latest chatbot trends, you might link to a related article about how chatbot technology works.
External links direct readers to a page that is not yours. These links should be highly relevant webpages or sites with high expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness (E-A-T).
Link building is also important — getting other websites to link back to your website or piece of content. These links signal to Google that your website is valuable enough to earn a citation, allowing content to rise in search rankings. We’ll talk more on these later, in off-page SEO strategies.
Visuals
Visuals (videos, gifs, pictures, infographics, etc.) are a large part of online content.
If you plan to use visuals on your site or pages, you’ll want to ensure that they’re:
Large and high quality (beware of large image file sizes, however, which can cause slow loading)
Relevant to the content
Shareable
Placed high on the page
Have a relevant file name
Have alt text, which aids visually impaired users
If you’re using video content, include a video transcript. Not only will a transcript make your content more accessible, but it will also make videos more “scrapable” by search engine bots.
Meta Title & Meta Description
Your meta title (the alternative title that shows up on Google) tells search engines and searchers what your content is about and what keywords to focus on. This title should be relevant to your content, include at least one word or phrase from your keyword research and be no longer than 60 characters.
Search engines don’t factor meta descriptions into your ranking — but that doesn’t mean you should ignore it.
The meta description is the ideal place to let Google and searchers know what your page is about. As a result, you’ll see higher click-through rates.
URL & Slug
Including your keyword within the slug of the URL — the last part of the URL that identifies the unique page — is a small bonus to SEO. However, if you can’t do so in a sensible way, it won’t be a big hit against you.
Ensure that your slug matches the title of your content. For example, if your blog post is about customer experience, your URL might be: www.yourwebsite.com/blog/all-about-customer-experience
Another thing to keep in mind is that shorter URLs receive high click-through rates than longer ones. A shorter URL comes across as more trustworthy and authoritative to users.
Other best practices for URLs include:
Avoid using dates in your slugs (for example: “2022-customer-experience-best-practices”
Use the hyphen between words in your slugs
Off-Page SEO
Off-page SEO refers to optimization strategies that don’t involve the content on your website. Some of the most vital off-page SEO tactics include:
Link Building
As mentioned above, earning backlinks from other authoritative sites can position your website or web page as trustworthy and increase your rankings on Google.
You don’t want to get backlinks from any site. In fact, getting backlinks from link farms — a group of websites that all link to one another to increase organic search rankings — can result in a penalty from Google. Google also penalizes any site that gets caught paying for links.
Some link-building tips to turn to instead include:
Create high-value content that others want to share
Promote your content via social media, which leads others to sharing it
Submit your website to business directories
Promote your content via paid campaigns, which may lead others to link to it
Look for relevant content on other sites that contains broken links, and send an email with the suggestion to use your content as a replacement
Ask people in real life to share your website or content on social media
Brand Building
Google rewards well-known brands. And branded searches (your company’s name, domain name searches and product searches) will lead right back to your website.
Google offers a great tool, Google Trends, that allows people to track interest in a topic, such as a brand, over time. SEO professionals can also use this tool to track searches for specific products or services.
Social Media
Social media plays a big role in how people learn about brands, websites and content. As of 2022, there were 4.59 billion social media users worldwide — a number expected to grow to 5.85 billion by 2027.
You should have a presence on the social media channels that matter most to your target audience.
Facebook: More than 2.9 billion monthly active users (MAU)
YouTube: More than 2.5 billion MAU
Instagram: More than 1.4 billion MAU
Not only should your profile include pertinent information about your brand (what it does, where it’s located, contact methods, the website, hours for in-store operation, etc.), but you should also post original and engaging content regularly.
For instance, if you offer a specific product, you could create educational content on how to use that product or answers to frequently asked questions. You can also encourage user-generated content from your community.
Encourage users that read and engage with your social media content to visit your website or web content to learn more.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO is exactly what it sounds like — it refers to the technical aspects that play into your website and web pages, like page load speed and responsiveness.
Google Search Console is an ideal tool for monitoring and maintaining SEO health. It can measure traffic, generate reports, including a technical SEO report, and fix issues.
Technical SEO includes:
Site Speed
Loading performance is part of Google’s Core Web Vitals, which measures different aspects of the user experience. A website or page should only take 2.5 seconds or less to load the page’s main content.
To ensure fast website load speeds, you should:
Choose a fast hosting option
Choose a fast domain name system (DNS) provider
Keep the use of scripts and plugins to a minimum
Use small image files (without creating pixelization)
Minify your site’s code
Compress your webpages
Mobile-Friendliness
As of the second half of 2022, mobile traffic accounted for more than half of global web traffic. Not only does a mobile-friendly design make for a better user experience, but it’s a significant ranking factor for Google.
If you’re unsure of your website’s mobile accessibility, you can use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test.
Most brands accomplish mobile-friendliness by using a responsive web design, which adjusts itself automatically depending on the type of device a person is using.
Google also offers a guide on customizing website software for companies that use content management platforms (CMS) like WordPress, Joomla or Squarespace.
Beyond using a responsive design, companies should also pay attention to how content and assets behave on-page for mobile users. Layouts that shift when a person is trying to read content or interact with the page are a significant part of Google’s Core Web Vitals.
SEO professionals can monitor these movements with a metric called cumulative layout shift (CLS), which measures visual stability and quantifies how often these shifts occur. Core Web Vitals recommends that pages maintain a CLS of 0.1 or less.
XML Sitemaps
An XML sitemap helps search engines understand your web pages while crawling them. It tells them:
Exactly where each page is
When a page was last modified
Which pages hold the most priority
How frequently a page is updated
Some hosting platforms create an XML sitemap automatically. If your chosen platform does not, you’ll want to look into using an XML sitemap generator.
These tools also track the general SEO performance of your site, allowing you to:
Test your site’s mobile-friendliness
Access search analytics
View backlinks to your site
Search in 2023: SEO Strategy Remains Top Priority
People want content that is high-quality and relevant to them. If you want to appear in their search results, it’s essential to pay attention to changing SEO trends and tactics.
Google continually updates its algorithm, meaning how they rank your site or content will depend on your use of the latest SEO strategies. With the latest tips above, you can ensure your content meets essential Google ranking factors and shows up in search results for your target audience.
Michelle Hawley is an experienced journalist who specializes in reporting on the impact of technology on society. As a senior editor at Simpler Media Group and a reporter for CMSWire and Reworked, she provides in-depth coverage of a range of important topics including employee experience, leadership, customer experience, marketing and more. With an MFA in creative writing and background in inbound marketing, she offers unique insights on the topics of leadership, customer experience, marketing and employee experience. Michelle previously contributed to publications like The Press Enterprise and The Ladders. She currently resides in Pennsylvania with her two dogs.
Meta’s new text-based social network might obliterate the remains of Twitter and also take aim at the fediverse.
The decentralized social media network, code-named P92, could be compatible with ActivityPub, which is what services like Mastodon are built on. Users will be able to log in using their existing Instagram credentials, which means that it will be trivially easy to join in with Mastodon instances around the world. It’s a boss move from Meta, but it could be as dangerous for decentralized social media as it is for Twitter.
“The one feature that Facebook lacks is the ability to give its users autonomy. Social media apps like Mastodon do not have a parent company operating them. It works on independent servers, and the users have the liberty to set their own code of conduct,” marketing expert Ryan Faber told Lifewire via email.
P92 Skirts the Fediverse
Twitter is on its way out. Since the Musk takeover, the trolls and bad actors who always strove to ruin Twitter for the rest of us have finally taken over. Lots of folks have moved to Mastodon, a decentralized collection of many federated servers, any of which you can join. In its simplest form, it’s kind of like email in that you pick your email provider, but you can email anyone else on any other email service.
This is fundamentally different from services like Twitter and Facebook. These are monolithic structures where everything happens inside a walled garden. The advantage of this approach is that you can easily sign up without having to vet and choose a server “instance.” The disadvantage is that anyone with enough money can buy the whole thing, or a single company can mine terrifying amounts of personal information from billions of users worldwide.
At the same time, Meta is under ever-increasing government scrutiny for its practices. By adopting the federated model, it might avoid the regulation it fears. If P92, or whatever it ends up being called, is just another ActivityPub-compatible service, or even just an Instagram-branded Mastodon server, the argument for breaking it up is weakened.
It sounds amazing, like a real win for open, decentralized social media and micro-publishing, comprised of a collection of servers and standards known together as the fediverse. And for Facebook and Instagram users, it removes the biggest barriers to entering that fediverse. Instead of trying to understand the whole federated thing, you just—presumably—join up from Instagram or whatever new app Meta comes up with. But this is also the biggest danger for the existing fediverse.
Meta’s Decentralized Social Media
In the 1990s, Microsoft used a strategy called “embrace, extend, and extinguish” (or “exterminate”). It was how it took over the fledgling browser market, for example. In the case of Meta and the fediverse, it would work like this.
Meta would embrace, say, Mastodon and instantly become the world’s biggest Mastodon server. It may then add features, and it would definitely make sure that anyone using its own instance would be just as heavily surveilled as they are using Meta’s other products.
Then, if all goes to plan, Meta could use this dominance to squeeze out the rest of the fediverse. It would become a de facto standard, and any independent Mastodon servers unable or not willing to implement Meta’s proprietary features would be shut out.
Maskot / Getty Images
“Facebook is not coming to Fedi because they want to administer a good, responsible instance that regards other well-run instances as peers and equals and has policies that aim to respect the autonomy and values of its users and other instance’s users right?” the Research Fairy, the creator and administrator of the scholar.social Mastodon instance, said on Mastodon.
The Best Defense
But it might not be so easy. While an easy sign-up will probably be enough to get the remaining Twitter users to jump to Mastodon via Facebook, the fediverse has some tricks up its sleeves. First, a Mastodon instance can block any other instance. This can be used to cut off servers that go bad or are full of trolls, but it could also be used to block Meta’s P92 network. And right now, I’d wager that many Mastodon users are anti-Meta (or anti-Facebook), and would prefer a server that blocks it.
Even an extensively-blocked Meta-owned Mastodon instance could be enough to finish off Twitter. And you never know, it might even end up introducing more people to Mastodon and all the other decentralized social media and federated goodies beyond.
Top brands will no longer advertise on Twitter because they fear a public backlash, claimed a leading UK media boss.
Nick Waters, who heads up Ebiquity, the Aim-listed firm that advises brands on how to spend advertising budgets, said most of its clients have abandoned the social media platform since Elon Musk bought it for £38billion in October.
‘I can hardly think of a client of ours who has supported Twitter through this,’ he said.
Nick Waters, who heads up Ebiquity, said most of its clients have abandoned the social media platform since Elon Musk (pictured) bought it for £38bn in October
He said the main advice from ad agencies has been to cut all ties until there is more clarity about content moderation on the site amid fears over what lax rules could do to brand reputation.
Advertising giant Omnicom, which represents 5,000 firms including McDonald’s, Apple and Pepsi, has told customers to pause promotions on the site, citing ‘serious risk to brand safety’.
Reports suggest more than 500 major advertisers have paused their spending on the site since the Tesla tycoon bought the site, with Twitter daily revenues 40 per cent lower than they were a year ago.
In order to combat this decline, Twitter has been trying to lure advertisers back, offering a Super Bowl ‘fire sale’ deal earlier this month to cash in on what could have been one of the biggest audience days of the year.
But not all social media firms are losing out.
Despite fears of recession, Ebiquity, which works with some of the world’s biggest brands including L’Oreal, BT and Nestle, said social media has been much more buoyant than expected.
Revenue grew by 20 per cent according to Ebiquity’s latest trading update.
Scanning the internet for more information now made easier.
Google is gearing up to bring “Search Companion” for Chrome which aims to speed up the collection of information on the web, TechRadar writes on its latest report.
The feature will support Google Lens that will allow users to explore other possible searches with image inputs. This way, more context will be included when you use the internet.
Google Chrome Search Companion
(Photo : Solen Feyissa from Unsplash)
Google is currently working on Search Companion feature on its Chrome browser to add more context on the web.
According to a report by 9to5Google, Google might have already found a way to merge Lens and Chrome in one update.
The search engine giant brings “Search Companion” which aims to yield more searches that the user wants to see when he/she accesses the web.
Some reports say that the new feature can be accessed in Chrome’s sidebar. Currently, it’s the most popular browser on the planet with 66% desktop browsing sessions, Statcounter reveals.
If you look closely at what Search Companion can do, it’s an effective tool to assess the type of data on a website and even give the users an idea about its title and other related metadata.
Scanning for pictures is now made easier with Google Lens. This alone is enough for the user to absorb more context about a particular word on the web.
Is Search Companion the Same with Multisearch?
Somehow, the Search Companion might sound similar to “Multisearch” which became available in Google Lens just in 2022. This feature hastens your searching by using both the image and text to compress the potential results on the search bar.
With the arrival of the new Google Chrome feature, browsing on the internet is faster and more efficient than before. For instance, if you’re searching for a specific gadget online, you can lend a hand from Chrome to help you search thousands of results from several tech websites.
At the same time, it’s somehow tied up to AI which is currently the most trending word of 2023. With ChatGPT’s popularity, it’s safe to say that more browsers are jumping to the hype to keep up with what the people need.
Although Google has not yet announced some information about Search Companion, it’s certain that the company is dedicated to improving its browser to cater to the needs of many people who depend on it.
More Improvements For Google Search on Desktop
Meanwhile, Search Engine Journal reported that Google’s desktop search result now showcased new display features so that users can easily identify the web pages from the ads and other sources.
With that being said, differentiating ads from organic search results is now clearer. It’s even better with the added structured data that will increase the accuracy of web page’s name on the site.
Introducing these features will most likely improve the user experience of Chrome users especially for those who tend to get confused with online advertisements on the search results.
Small-business owners and marketing pros say user-generated content boosted their brands on social.
User-generated content is cost-effective and helps small businesses expand their reach.
It also builds up consumer loyalty and confidence in tandem with growing brand awareness.
This article is part of “Marketing for Small Business,” a series exploring the basics of marketing strategy for SBOs to earn new customers and grow their business.
There are a lot of reasons to love user-generated content, or UGC, as a small-business owner.
For starters, small-business owners told Insider, sourcing photos and videos from users can help businesses quickly generate content to use on their social channels, website, and more.
“We can scale content volume and frequency, even with a small internal team — and it’s less costly than scaling via traditional photo or video shoots,” said Angel Kho, cofounder of the baby-products brand Loulou Lollipop.
Angel Kho, COO and cofounder of baby-products brand Loulou Lollipop.
Angel Kho
It also gets results, according to marketing pros. When users post content about a brand on their own channels, it gets the brand in front of new audiences. UGC also provides strong returns when posted on a brand’s own channel.
In one recent campaign, Kho said she saw over four times the reach and nine times the engagement on UGC versus professionally shot content. “UGC is the modern-day ‘word of mouth,'” Kho told Insider. “Having authentic voices speak about, test, and share our products is key for growing our awareness.”
Insider spoke with several small-business owners to learn how they source user-generated content and use it across channels to maximize their marketing efforts. They shared three key tips.
Encourage users to create content — and help them out
Getting users to be advocates for a company may seem challenging, but in practice, many brands find that sourcing UGC is as simple as asking.
Clare Jones, marketing manager at Custom Neon.
Clare Jones
The neon -sign manufacturer Custom Neon includes a simple flyer with every product it ships that encourages customers to take photos or videos of their signs and post them to their social accounts along with Custom Neon’s hashtag.
“This is the perfect placement for such a request,” Clare Jones, the company’s marketing manager, said. “The sign is out of the box, switched on, and looking awesome. Whilst they are caught in that excitement, we want in on the action!”
Elizabeth McNevin, the founder of social-media-advertising consultancy Sociale, suggested that businesses try to ramp up UGC with small incentives, such as offering a discount on future orders for people who post their experience or running a giveaway where customers have to post and tag the brand in order to be entered.
Launching an ambassador program with incentives like free products, discount codes, or affiliate commissions can also be a way to turn dedicated customers into micro-influencers who create content for your brand.
Lilian Chen, cofounder and COO of Bar None Games.
Lilian Chen
Brands that communicate often with their customers can also help them create content to share. Lilian Chen, the cofounder, and COO of Bar None Games has her employees take screenshots of people participating in virtual quizzes and game shows to send to players after the fact. Since doing that, they’ve seen a huge uptick in customers sharing photos of their teams on LinkedIn and Instagram.
“It makes it so much easier for people who aren’t naturally content creators to post and distribute it to their network,” she told Insider.
Use it for more than just organic social media
Reposting UGC on social media is an obvious way to fill your brand’s social channels with engaging content.
Elizabeth McNevin, founder of social-media-advertising consultancy Sociale.
Elizabeth McNevin
McNevin believes that brands must have UGC if they want to run successful ad campaigns. “One of my clients came to me only having used professional, commercialized videos in ads, and their purchase conversions were relatively low,” she told Insider.
Since implementing UGC Reels and TikTok videos for ads, her company has seen a fourfold increase in click-through rates, a 50% decrease in cost per click, and a return on ad spend ranging from four to 14 times more than its previous two to six campaigns.
“I’ve tested so many different creatives over the years, and user-generated content stops people in the feed and makes them curious,” she said.
Jones found that having a bigger bank of UGC helped her land more press for Custom Neon, providing her team with more beautiful images of the product that they could use to pitch to niche home publications.
McNevin also suggests that her clients add UGC to product landing pages to show off how it’s being used by real customers. “Once you have the content, there’s so many ways that you can use it,” she said, encouraging brands to get creative about how they repurpose UGC.
But it’s important to be aware of copyright and licensing best practices before republishing UGC anywhere. Like other creators in media (photographers, videographers, etc.), UGC creators have the same rights to their intellectual property. McNevin said the easiest way to get permission to use a customer’s image on your own brand feeds, press, or ads is to just DM them and ask — but always check with an attorney if you’re unsure.
Mimic UGC in your brand-created content
If you’re just launching a new brand, still working on encouraging users to share their experiences, or worried about usage rights, McNevin suggested bringing the feeling of UGC into your brand-created content by using more authentic storytelling formats.
Lauren Kutting, founder of the bag-organizer brand ToteSavvy.
Lauren Kutting
For instance, Lauren Kutting, the founder of the bag-organizer brand ToteSavvy, shared that she and her team regularly create simple content showing how they actually use their products in their everyday lives, such as at a family outing.
“Our customers and community respond well to this content because it doesn’t look like we’re pushing a product. Instead, we’re showing them how these products make our lives easier,” Kutting said.
Over the past few months, the company has shifted to using more of this “mock UGC” in ads and has seen a 118% increase in return on ad spend compared to the first quarter of 2022.
“Small-business owners should capitalize on creating mock UGC in-house to fill the gaps between their professional content and true UGC,” Kutting said. “It’s an excellent, low-cost way to amp up your social media strategy while building customer trust in showing your products in a really authentic light.”
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