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How Startups Can Leverage SEO to Drive Customer Growth

July 25, 2022 No Comments

If you’re dumping all of your startup’s funding into paid ads, you’re missing a massive amount of SEO-driven customer growth opportunities.

In 2021, $621 billion in venture capital was deployed to startups raising funding. More than 50% of that funding went straight into ads.

The problem? People hate ads. Ad blocking technology usage has increased dramatically year over year. Even worse, 68% of online experiences start with a search on Google, Bing or another search engine. Only 6% of those searches result in an ad click.

If you’re dumping all of your startup’s funding into paid ads, you’re missing a massive amount of SEO-driven customer growth opportunities. Here are three ways to drive customer growth for your startup using SEO.

1. Publish keyword-driven content often

The key to driving organic traffic from search engines is to provide content that is genuinely helpful to readers. That all starts with identifying what readers are searching for, understanding their problems and providing information they can use to solve them.

Most startups publish random content on their website that isn’t optimized for what their target market is actually looking for. Blogging isn’t the same as it was 10 years ago. It’s not meant to be an online diary. It’s meant to target specific searches that your ideal customers are typing every single day.

Keywords are the lifeblood of SEO, as they help you understand existing and future opportunities for traffic around topics and phrases that relate to your product or service. For instance, someone searching for a do-it-yourself guide to building a bookshelf is probably going to convert on recommendations in the article for products. If it’s too complex, they may even book a contractor instead.

Creating keyword-driven content that targets your ideal customer profile is how you win in SEO. Use tools like Ahrefs and Semrush to research topics that your typical customers might search. Then, create blogs and pieces of content that address those problems. Publish at least five to 10 pieces per month and you’ll start seeing traffic flood to your website.

2. Optimize your public knowledge base

Creating more new content as a startup without outsourcing can be difficult. After all, you’re already wearing too many hats at a startup and your job description grows by the day. If you run a software or tech-based startup, an easy win for SEO is optimizing your public knowledge base.

Your knowledge base contains vital information about your industry, how to use your product, and how to solve key problems in your space. For instance, maybe your software helps companies with logistics management and warehousing. Within your knowledge base, you already explain key information that can pick up organic traffic and searches. And best of all, it’s directly related to your product or service, meaning the potential to convert traffic is huge.

In your keyword research tool, plug in topics that your knowledge base already covers. See if you are missing any keywords and topics that you can expand on to go further in-depth on the content you’ve already published. On your knowledge base, make sure it’s set to index in search engines rather than being content locked away in a user portal or back-end system.

Your knowledge base shouldn’t be exclusive to customer service or users looking for support. Make it public, indexed in search engines and reap the rewards of organic traffic that are hyper-relevant to your business.

3. Generate niche digital PR coverage

Doing digital PR for your startup is critical for SEO. Digital PR includes things like getting mentioned in relevant publications online, podcasts where you share industry advice as an expert and so much more. Digital PR serves multiple purposes, and can directly enhance your SEO and ability to rank for organic search terms.

When doing digital PR initiatives like podcasts or interviews in written publications, or being an expert source for journalists, you earn a brand mention and backlink that directly improves your website’s authority. In simple terms, you can rank better organically and drive more traffic.

In addition, these efforts will build brand awareness and drive referral traffic to your site. The trap that most startups fall down is not niching down enough. PR isn’t just getting mentioned in TechCrunch and getting 30 under 30 listings.

You can also go straight to niche sources where your ideal customers hang out, consume content and connect. Start searching for “best blogs in [industry]” and “top [niche] companies.” Identify a list of 50 to 100 of these websites, media companies and startups that you can cross-promote.

Write a guest post for their blog. Feature them on your podcast and get featured on theirs. Tap into their niche relevant audience rather than going for the biggest publications you can find. You’ll get more pitches accepted and the traffic you receive will be highly relevant to your product or service.

By Jeremy Moser

Sourced from Entrepreneur

In News

The disappearance of a top livestreamer shows the risk of doing business in China

July 25, 2022 No Comments

By Jane Li

In the span of less than two weeks, Li Jiaqi went from being China’s top e-commerce influencer to semi-taboo topic.

Li, who has more than 43 million followers on Chinese social media platforms, abruptly ended a livestream session citing technical issues on June 3rd. Since then, he’s been absent from his daily livestreams, during which tens of millions of people would watch him promote products ranging from face masks to hand sanitizers.

Li disappeared after he displayed a tank-shaped layered ice cream. Tanks are often used as a symbol for the 1989 June 4th Tiananmen protests, during which the Chinese military cracked down on students. Chinese authorities have forbidden any discussion or commemoration of the massacre, and those who violate that unspoken rule are punished.

Although for now Li’s accounts and name can still be found on Chinese social media, no mainland Chinese media covered the possible cause of Li’s suspension. Meanwhile, both Li’s agency and Taobao, the e-commerce platform that hosted Li’s livestream under Chinese tech giant Alibaba, have been mum on the incident. This has prompted speculation about whether Li is banned by Beijing because of what seems to be an inadvertent mistake rather a calculated political statement. “He disappeared just because of a tank shaped dessert? They are too sensitive and stupid. Originally not many youngsters knew about that history, now many are being encouraged to learn about it after this incident,” said a user on Weibo.

Li’s sudden disappearance showcases the high level of uncertainty of doing business in China. Despite signals from Beijing indicating its willingness to relax scrutiny of the tech sector recently, the fact that the country’s most influential live e-commerce figure could vanish overnight lays bare the growing risks companies face in China, where political red lines are quickly expanding to include even mundane moves like Li’s ice cream display.

Another layer of risk facing companies, especially those engaged with content business, comes from the young generation’s lack of awareness of many historical events, including the Tiananmen protests, due to years of Beijing’s censorship of those events. This means youngsters who grew up under China’s tight internet control, including Li who was born in 1992, struggle to navigate taboos when creating or moderating content—a situation now named by internet users as “Li Jiaqi Paradox.”

Brands set to suffer loss from Li’s absence

One immediate consequence of Li’s disappearance could be a short-term blow to the many brands that have contracts with him to promote their products, including Dior and La Mer, according to Nikkei Asia, a financial magazine. The brands will now have to find new channels for the goods days before the 618 shopping festival, one of China’s two annual shopping extravaganzas.

The stakes could be high. Li sold a whopping $1.7 billion worth of goods during a 12-hour-or-so livestream last year, once again proving his clout in the live commerce industry. This year, Li’s first-day pre-618 sale is estimated to have exceeded 4.1 billion yuan ($611 million), surpassing the same period last year, Tracy Dai, director of operations at marketing and research firm China Skinny, told Quartz. (Platforms’ pre-sale periods before shopping festivals usually start at least half a month ahead of the event.)

The impact could be even bigger for Taobao, which lost Viya, another top livestreaming influencer, late last year after she was fined for tax evasion by authorities. She has since disappeared from the industry. With Li’s suspension, it’s unlikely another key opinion leader can step up to fill the void, said Dai.

The transformation of the livestreaming industry

Meanwhile, analysts say Li’s disappearance could in turn transform the livestream e-commerce industry, which reached around $171 billion in value in 2020 according to McKinsey.

“The trend of pursuing top livestreamers has probably passed…Live e-commerce is developing towards the direction of becoming more diversified,” said Tang Xiaotang, an independent consumption analyst based in China.

The industry used to reply heavily on top influencers’ personal charm, with brands often having to pay them handsome commissions and granting exclusive discounts to land a spot livestreamers’ sessions. Now, many lesser-known, cheaper influencers are finding creative ways of attracting audience.

One such example is Chinese private education giant New Oriental, which was hit hard by Beijing’s crackdown on the after-school tutoring market last year. The company’s shares have jumped recently after some of its former tutors became popular influencers by using English during their livestreams, including to sell rice for the company’s newly founded e-commerce platform.

“Product type will also be diversified, with companies like New Oriental targeting the middle class in big cities to offer pricier goods,” said Tang.

By Jane Li

Sourced from Quartz

In News

Lawsuit alleges Amazon uses Alexa interactions for ad targeting without users’ knowledge or consent

July 25, 2022 No Comments

By Lisa Stiffler

In-depth Amazon coverage from the tech giant’s hometown, including e-commerce, AWS, Amazon Prime, Alexa, logistics, devices, and more.

Amazon’s Alexa is the target of a new lawsuit alleging that the company is using information gathered from users of its smart speaker devices to serve them targeted advertising without their consent.

The plaintiffs are pursuing the case as a class action suit, which if approved could include millions of Amazon customers.

The lawsuit relies heavily on an April study by researchers from the University of Washington and three other institutions. The study concluded that Amazon is analyzing users’ commands and interactions with the smart speakers to infer their potential shopping interests. That information is used to target “on-platform audio ads and off-platform web ads from Amazon or its advertising partners,” the researchers explained in an FAQ.

In response to the study, an Amazon spokesperson confirmed for The Register that information from Alexa was used for ad selection. On Thursday, the company offered GeekWire a similar response, and went on to challenge the accuracy of the research.

“We think that the best advertising is tailored to customers’ interests, which is why in some cases we will use the actions of customers, whether it’s shopping on Amazon or streaming on Amazon Music, to inform the ads we serve,” said spokesperson Lisa Levandowski by email. “For example, if you ask Alexa to order paper towels or to play a particular song on Amazon Music, the record of that purchase or song play may inform relevant ads shown on Amazon or other sites where Amazon places ads.

“This is not an atypical practice — the biggest advertising services in the world do this to best serve their users and their advertisers,” Levandowski continued, noting that customers can opt out of the targeted ads.

As regards the lawsuit, Levandowski said, “We do not comment on active litigation.”

Advertising is a big and growing business for Amazon. In April the company reported that its ad arm brought in $7.8 billion in revenue for the first quarter of the year, up 23% over a year ago.

The lawsuit, which was filed last week in U.S. District Court, cited numerous past occasions where Amazon officials have denied using insights gathered in this manner for ad purposes.

“Amazon’s admission that it does, in fact, use Alexa voice prompts to inform targeted advertising placed by Amazon throughout its vast advertising network is shocking, especially coming after years of repeatedly disavowing any such usage,” said the plaintiffs.

“At no point in these many various terms and policies does Amazon disclose that users’ voice recordings are used to inform targeted advertising.”

The suit was filed by two individuals residing in Ohio and Massachusetts. The legal action was reported Thursday morning by Axios.

The lawsuit notes that 13 separate Amazon documents describe the terms and conditions for Alexa users. “At no point in these many various terms and policies does Amazon disclose that users’ voice recordings are used to inform targeted advertising,” the suit continues. “In fact, the words ‘ads,’ ‘advertising,’ ‘advertise,’ and ‘advertisements’ do not appear a single time…”

This isn’t the first time that Amazon’s Alexa has triggered legal action. In June 2019 a pair of lawsuits claimed the voice assistant violates laws in nine states by illegally storing recordings of children on devices such as the Echo or Echo Dot.

The new research into targeted ads included the University of California-Davis, the University of California-Irvine and Northeastern University in addition to the UW. The study’s lead author was Umar Iqbal, a postdoctoral scholar at the UW’s Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering. Iqbal works with professor Franziska Roesner, who also contributed to the research.

To conduct the work, the researchers created personas with particular interests that interacted with Alexa, and a control that did not. Then in a multi-step process the researchers looked for targeted advertising based on the Alexa commands.

Amazon’s Levandowski challenged the veracity of the study.

“As far as this specific research is concerned, it’s not accurate because it’s based on inaccurate assumptions of how Alexa works,” she said. “For example, we do not sell customers’ personal information and we do not share Alexa requests with advertising networks, even though the report suggests that we do.”

The study’s authors said they’re trying to make the public aware of how the increasingly pervasive technology works behind the scenes.

“Studies like ours,” they wrote, “help to bring transparency into the space of voice assistants and the implications of using them.”

Read the full lawsuit: Download this PDF

Feature Image Credit: (Nicolas J Leclercq Photo via Unsplash)

By Lisa Stiffler

GeekWire contributor Lisa Stiffler is a reporter, editor and Northwest native who nearly two decades ago swapped a lab coat for a reporter’s notebook. Covers local efforts to use technology to solve environmental, health, societal and other do-gooder challenges. Follow @lisa_stiffler and email [email protected].

Sourced from GeekWire

In News

TikTok exec: We’re not a social network like Facebook, we’re an entertainment platform

July 22, 2022 No Comments

By Alex Sherman

Facebook is openly copying TikTok, and calling it out as a significant competitor.
But Blake Chandlee, TikTok’s head of global business solutions, says his company specializes is entertainment, not social media.
TikTok hasn’t seen an advertising slowdown despite what other companies are saying, Chandlee said.

TikTok is fully aware that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is retooling the Facebook and Instagram apps to be more like its own popular short video service. But TikTok has no interest in mimicking Facebook.

“Facebook is a social platform,” Blake Chandlee, TikTok’s president of global business solutions, told CNBC in an interview on Thursday. “They’ve built all their algorithms based on the social graph. That is their core competency. Ours is not.”

Chandlee, who spent 12 years at Facebook before joining TikTok in 2019, said his former employer will likely run into trouble if it tries to copy TikTok, and will end up offering an inferior experience to users and brands.

Facebook launched Instagram Reels in 2020 as its first real foray into the short-form video market. Last year, it brought the service over to its core Facebook app.

“We are an entertainment platform,” Chandlee said. “The difference is significant. It’s a massive difference.”

Facebook app chief Tom Alison told The Verge this week he sees TikTok increasingly stealing share from the world’s largest social network. Facebook plans to modify its primary feed to look more like TikTok by recommending more content regardless of whether it’s shared by friends.

“I think the thing we probably didn’t fully embrace or see is how social this format could be,” Alison told The Verge.

Facebook’s recent performance backs that up. Meta’s stock price is down 52% this year, underperforming the Nasdaq, which has dropped 32%. In April, the company said revenue in the second quarter could drop from a year earlier for the first time ever.

Earlier in the year, Zuckerberg acknowledged the increased competitive pressure from TikTok and said, “This is why our focus on Reels is so important over the long term.”

TikTok is owned by China’s ByteDance, which is privately held.

Chandlee said history is not on Zuckerberg’s side, and compares its current problem to the challenge that Google faced when it was trying to take on Facebook at its own game.

“You remember when Google was creating Google+,” Chandlee said. At Facebook, “We had war rooms at the time. It was a big deal. Everyone was worried about it,” he said.

But no matter how much money Google poured into its social-networking efforts, it couldn’t compete with Facebook, which had become the default place for people to connect with friends and share photos and updates.

“It became clear Google’s value was search and Facebook was really good at social,” Chandlee said.

“I see the same thing now,” he added. “We’re really good at what we do. We bring out these cultural trends and this unique experience people have on TikTok. They’re just not going to have that on Facebook unless Facebook entirely walks away from its social values, which I just don’t think it will do.”

Facebook didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Chandlee added that he has deep respect for Zuckerberg and views both Facebook and Google as strong competition. However, he noted that TikTok has an array of competitors across the world, including businesses in e-commerce and live streaming.

Chandlee said he hasn’t seen a slowdown in ad spending on TikTok, despite what’s being reported by companies such as Snap, which told investors that ad revenue is being hurt by inflation and the threat of recession. Snap’s stock has lost almost three-quarters of its value this year.

“I’ve heard there’s going to be a slowdown in the ad market, anywhere from 2% to 6%, but we have not seen it,” Chandlee said. “We’re not seeing the headwinds that some others are seeing.”

WATCH: Snap has a TikTok problem, says Lead Edge Capital’s Mitchell Green

Feature Image Credit: Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

By Alex Sherman

Sourced from CNBC

In News

The 4 Best Mac and Windows Browsers With a Built-in VPN

July 22, 2022 No Comments

By Jowi Morales

Security is vital online, so a VPN is a useful tool. If you’re not sure how to set one up, here are the four best browsers with one built-in.

When you’re browsing the internet, you may encounter geo-locked content. If you need to access it, you have no choice but to fire up a VPN and spoof your location to where the content is allowed.

However, you don’t have to use a third-party VPN just to see the content. Several browsers out there have built-in VPN services, allowing you to visit websites without downloading another app. Browser VPNs also improve your privacy and protection, especially if you’re accessing a page with questionable security.

So, here’s our list of the four best browsers with a built-in VPN.

1. Opera Browser

This browser is the oldest option in this list, established in 1994 and made publicly available in 1996. It first received the built-in VPN feature in 2016, included in Opera 38.

Although the VPN is turned off by default, you can easily activate it via the Quick Settings Menu. Once you’ve activated it, you’ll see the VPN icon on the address bar. If it’s turned off, you’ll see VPN outlined by a box, but if it’s switched on, you should see a blue box with VPN written on it.

You can turn on the VPN by default for instant secure browsing. You can even instruct Opera to bypass the VPN when using default search engines or accessing intranet sites. It allows you to assign additional VPN bypass rules, so you don’t have to turn it off when you want to access trusted pages that won’t work with the VPN turned on.

You also don’t need to create an account to use the VPN, thus improving your privacy. Beyond that, it has other nifty features, including a built-in ad blocker and a tracker blocker. But best of all, Opera’s service is free and unlimited.

Opera Browser has one significant disadvantage, though: you can’t set a specific country for the VPN. You can only pick between three general areas—Americas, Asia, or Europe.

Download: Opera Browser (Free)

2. epic privacy browser

epic is a Chromium-based browser made by Hidden Reflex that uses the same DNA as Google’s browser. This makes it an excellent Chrome alternative, allowing you to switch browsers easily while keeping the same feel and functionality.

Although its source code isn’t open-source, despite being based on the open-source chromium platform, Hidden Reflex claims that anyone can request for and audit it.

In the past, epic always had its built-in VPN and ad blocker turned on. However, because they need to sustain their operations, these features are now pre-installed as extensions, and users must activate them manually. Nevertheless, they’re easy to switch on once and for good.

One other characteristic of this browser is its default Yahoo! search engine. While some consider this a drawback, others think this is a feature. epic explains the situation when you open a new tab in the browser for the first time:

When you use the default Yahoo-powered search in Epic, you’ll get better search results and support our mission including more frequent releases and hundreds more servers for our encrypted proxy/VPN. All searches sent to Yahoo are encrypted for your privacy and security. According to their requirements, Yahoo search does bypass both our proxy and adblock. Upon ad click in Yahoo search, the proxy and adblock remain disabled for several seconds. Their goal is to insure the integrity of their search ad marketplace. Due to their policies, a few other Yahoo sites including Techcrunch, Engadget, Autoblog, HuffPo and AOL bypass our adblock. No other sites bypass our adblock or proxy so Epic works almost entirely as it always has except in respect to the Yahoo sites.

We believe it is impossible at present to offer honest, free private search. We’ve received many requests to support so-called private search engines such as Startpage, DuckDuckGo and others. To our knowledge there are no exceptions to Google/Bing mandates to share a user’s IP address and or location both to retrieve search ads and upon search ad click. It is misleading to claim to be private if you’re sharing your users’ data with Google/Bing. Despite multiple requests for years, they refuse to explain to us how they work. We can’t legally or ethically work with them without transparency.

epic lets you choose eight countries to connect your VPN: US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Netherlands, India, and Singapore. If a page you want to load doesn’t work correctly with encrypted VPNs, you can disable the encrypted VPN for that site and add it to your safe list.

If you want the ultimate privacy, you can opt for paid private search via epicsearch.in. You have to pay $2.50 monthly for the service, but epic assures you that your queries will remain private. That’s because they only forward your search to their third-party provider, nothing else.

Download: epic privacy browser (Free)

3. Tor Project

Tor, which stands for The Onion Router, aims to provide anonymous communication via a free global volunteer overlay network. This setup allows users robust privacy, as their data is routed at least thrice to over seven thousand available relays. To use this network, you need to install the Tor Browser.

This browser is one of the most robust options regarding privacy. This is because it uses multilayer encryption to protect its users’ data. Furthermore, it uses random routing, ensuring it’s almost impossible to track data movement within the Tor network.

When you open the Tor browser, you must manually connect to the Tor relay. If you’re in a place where Tor is inaccessible, you can also use Bridges, which allows you to connect to unlisted relays. You can also use your VPN over Tor, although it will require some setup.

The Tor browser is popular with activists, journalists, whistle-blowers, and anyone with serious privacy risks. If you can’t access the Tor Project homepage, you can also find mirrors to other download sites on GitHub.

Download: Tor Browser (Free)

4. Avast Secure Browser PRO

Avast, a popular antivirus provider, launched this Chromium-based browser in 2018. It feels similar to other Chromium-based browsers but adds on several premium features. Avast claims that it can unblock any site and block all ads. You also get unlimited bandwidth, have more than 30 locations to choose from, use the browser on up to 5 devices, and have direct support.

You must download the Avast Secure Basic browser and sign up for the Pro version on the Avast website after installation. Although the VPN service isn’t free, this browser offers the most options in terms of location. It’s also more affordable than getting a standalone VPN service from Avast.

Download: Avast Secure Browser (Free, 30-Day Free Trial for Pro Features)

Enhance Your Access and Privacy With Browser VPNs

VPNs are great tools for privacy and access. And while it’s ideal if you install a dedicated VPN service on your computer, it’s not always practical and may even cost you. So, if you only need a VPN for a short while, consider any of these built-in alternatives instead.

By Jowi Morales

Sourced from MUO

In News

Elon Musk says users should be allowed to tweet ‘pretty outrageous things’ in address to Twitter employees

July 22, 2022 No Comments

By Kurt Wagner, Edward Ludlow, Maxwell Adler and Bloomberg

Elon Musk discussed his stance on what types of content should be allowed on Twitter Inc.’s social network, saying that people should be allowed to say “pretty outrageous things” but that the platform doesn’t have to give those posts reach.

Musk elaborated on his beliefs Thursday during an all-hands gathering at Twitter, according to staff who participated in the virtual meeting. It marked the first time the billionaire, who is chief executive officer of Tesla Inc., has addressed Twitter employees since agreeing in late April to buy the company for $44 billion.

Twitter needs to allow more space for people to say whatever they want, Musk said, as long as it doesn’t violate the law. But he added that the company needs to balance that by making sure people “feel comfortable” on the service, otherwise they won’t use it, according to people familiar with the discussion. His goal is to expand Twitter’s user base to 1 billion users, he said. The company had about 229 million daily active users as of March.

Employees who attended the meeting said Musk—who attended the video call wearing a white button-down shirt and appeared to be joining from his phone—also talked about possible product changes, including the idea that users should have to pay to be verified as a real human user, through a tool like subscription service Twitter Blue. He also proposed that Twitter use verification as a way of ranking content on the platform. His goal is to “maximize usefulness of the service,” Musk said.

When asked about potential layoffs, Musk didn’t dismiss the idea, saying that Twitter “needs to get healthy.”

“Anyone who is a significant contributor should have nothing to worry about,” he added.

Twitter started allowing full-time remote work more than two years ago, and Musk was asked multiple questions at the meeting about the staff’s future ability to keep working from home. Musk said that the priority would be for people to work together in person, but if someone is “exceptional at their job” then it’s possible for those people to continue working remotely.

Many employees posted in an internal Slack channel as the conversation unfolded, and Musk’s comments about remote work being reserved for “exceptional” workers prompted a number of heated replies, according to people with knowledge of the situation.

Musk wasn’t directly asked and didn’t address the question of whether he is committed to buying Twitter. He has created concern over recent weeks that he was no longer interested in acquiring Twitter, or might want to lower the per-share price. First he said he wanted to put the deal “on hold” while he investigated the number of bots on the service, and later he sent a formal letter to Twitter executives saying he might walk away from the deal if the company didn’t do more to prove the size of its user base.

The Tesla CEO, who is also the world’s richest person, has publicly criticized Twitter’s products, executives and policies since striking the deal agreement, frustrating some employees who are concerned that he doesn’t understand the complexities of running a large social networking company.

Musk reiterated that he’s not against advertising as a model, noting that it’s very important to Twitter’s business, but that ads and subscriptions are both key to boosting revenue. He said ads should be entertaining, and he doesn’t want to let businesses advertise “bad products.” He told a story about how he recently bought a “scammy product” from a YouTube ad and it didn’t work as advertised.

“That’s totally not cool,” Musk told employees.

Musk was also asked if he plans to take the CEO role at Twitter. He didn’t give a clear answer, saying he’s not hung up on titles, but does want to “drive the product in a particular direction.”

“There’s a lot of chores if you’re the CEO,” he said. “I don’t really care what the title is, but obviously people do need to listen to me.”

By Kurt Wagner, Edward Ludlow, Maxwell Adler and Bloomberg

Sourced from Fortune

In News

How to use Instagram to promote your business: 6 tips from Haus CEO Helena Hambrecht

July 21, 2022 No Comments

By Cecily Mauran

Words of wisdom from the viral aperitif brand.

While scrolling through Instagram, if you’ve ever come across images of a laid-back yet sophisticated cocktail party filled with effortlessly cool people drinking colourful cocktails and spritzes, that’s probably because of Helena Hambrecht.

Hambrecht is the CEO, co-founder, and branding mastermind of aperitif brand Haus. Before Haus, Hambrecht cut her teeth in brand consulting for big names like Facebook, Google, Twitter, Uber, and Airbnb. In other words, Hambrecht has “this really weird, but useful skill set of learning how the internet sausage is made.”

Haus isn’t like other alcohol brands, it’s a cool brand

“Historically, there just hasn’t been a lot of innovation in liquor,” says Hambrecht. From ingredients to distribution, Big Liquor is very much a gatekeeper industry that Hambrecht and her co-founder saw an opportunity to shake up. (Pardon the pun.)

Other brands add sugar, preservatives, aren’t transparent about their ingredients or where they’re sourced, and have high alcohol content, which is a pretty nasty combination for a hangover. Instead, according to the website, Haus uses responsibly-sourced “natural fruits, herbs, and botanicals,” has lower alcohol content (more than wine, less than whiskey), and is made sustainably.

But it’s not just a better-tasting booze with less of a hangover. According to alcohol distribution laws, aperitifs that are mostly grape-based, like Haus’s product, can be sold online. And that’s how Haus became a business-to-consumer brand for the Instagram era.

“Because we have the freedom to sell online, we just re-thought what a brand could look like.”

The Instagram effect

Since launching in 2019, Instagram was an inherent part of brand strategy. Today, Haus has 65,000 followers. “I wanted to make something that you could recognize from 200 feet away,” says Hambrecht. “That has made Instagram really successful for us, because when you see the Haus bottle, there’s nothing else that looks like it, even if it’s 10 pixels high, you can recognize it.”

Image of a bar cart filled with bottles that people are picking up

From day one, Instagram was a part of Haus’s strategy. Credit: Haus

Building an online presence had a major advantage of working with distributors that normally wouldn’t give indie alcohol brands like Haus the time of day, said Hambrecht. “We could go to them and be like, ‘Look, we built the brand for you. We already have this national audience that knows who we are and they’re all waiting for us to get into wholesale. So all you have to do is clear it for us and take a chunk of our money.”

Currently, Haus is in the middle of launching wholesale in 24 states.

Yes, TikTok is currently the most popular app, but Instagram is a key asset for consumer brands who want to build a following. We asked Hambrecht our burning questions about the importance of promoting your business on Instagram and here’s what we learned.

1. Define an aesthetic.

Instagram is all about aesthetics, which is why it works best for consumer brands like Haus.

“A big reason why people will buy food or beverage or really anything online is that they can see how it lives in the world,” says Hambrecht. “For us, we’ve been able to use photography on Instagram to show, ‘this is how you drink it, this is where you drink it, this is who you invite over, where you put the bottle.’ All of those things can be answered visually and that’s where Instagram is just so much better at education and brand marketing than most social channels.”

Hambrecht says they wanted to create a visual style that was aspirational, but attainable. “What we found is it resonates a lot with people, it makes it feel approachable, it makes it feel like maybe something that they could bookmark as inspiration.”

2. ‘The less you sell, the more you’ll sell.’

Sound counterintuitive? Allow Hambrecht to explain. “It’s obvious that you want them to buy [the product], you don’t need to say that.” Customers should want to buy a product based on what they see and feel, Hambrecht explains. “It’s less about selling and more about how can we use this as a brand extension to give our community what they want?”

3. Give the people what they want.

A key part of promoting your business on Instagram is figuring out what your followers may want. “You may not even have a community yet, but say you’re making a food product. You can take a wild guess that the community might want to have some food recipes, or they may want to have your recommendations for other products that could accompany food,” says Hambrecht.

“What can you give your community that isn’t necessarily tied to your product, but makes them really love your brand and think of you as creative and generous and thinking about what the community cares about,” she continues. “That’s how you build that brand loyalty and that’s going to make people want to follow you.”

If you’re thinking of Instagram as more of a content and community engagement channel instead of a sales channel, your posts will be genuine and align with the followers you’re looking for.

4. Build community around your brand.

According to Hambrecht, Haus learned from its customers that they loved seeing other members of the community, so the company started featuring them in more Instagram posts. “It’s really awesome for our audience who wants to see who else is part of this community, who else is drinking this product and they can follow them or they could reach out to them.”

Haus didn’t spend any money on marketing for the first six months, which Hambrecht attributes to investing in branding and customer experience early on, which generated lots of word-of-mouth buzz. Having a strong engaged community proved to be critical when the worst happened…

5. Always be willing to adapt.

Haus was just six months old when the pandemic hit. For a business that built its brand around gathering, Haus suddenly faced huge challenges. Hambrecht says they had to rethink how Haus would live in their customers’ lives during that time. “We shifted our focus to things that were still relevant, like educating our community on the product, how it’s made, the ingredients and where they come from, and recipes they can make at home.”

There was also the practical issue of how to photograph and create new content during social isolation. Hambrecht says they crowdsourced their customers and team about how they were staying connected to each other during the pandemic, which became the genesis for an interview series called “My Haus.”

“We were like, ‘Well, we can’t go and like meet these people in person, it’s dangerous to send a photographer. So why don’t we start sending disposable cameras?'”

“It’s an interview series where we send members of our community disposable cameras, and they photograph a day in the life in their home. We interview them about their home rituals and how they stay connected with the people in their lives in this strange time, whether that’s over zoom, or in person with whoever they live with at home.”

Of course, these were extreme circumstances that forced businesses to adapt for their very survival, but it taught Haus some important lessons.

“Don’t feel so stuck in one strategy. Whatever works today, may need to change six months from now or a year from now,” says Hambrecht. “It’s just a matter of paying attention to what’s going on in the world, and paying attention to what your community cares about or what they need help with.”

6. Play it cool — and be patient.

In other words, it’s all about the long game. “We didn’t take shortcuts, we weren’t begging for followers. You just gotta be cool. Play it cool and be patient.”

Hambrecht built Haus’s following through “building genuine connections,” which has carried the brand through a global pandemic. “Whether it’s with your customers, reporters, retailers, partners, or investors, you’ve just got to play the long game and know that those the relationships you’re making today might come around in two to three years for you.”

Feature Image Credit: Mashable composite: Bob Al-Green / Haus

By Cecily Mauran

Sourced from Mashable

In News

5 Examples of eCommerce Chatbots That Will Increase Sales and Revenue

July 21, 2022 No Comments

By Srushti Shah

Chatbots today are revolutionizing the manner in which people shop. They are providing improved customer experiences in product selection, shopping, customer service, and more.

According to Statista, an estimated 2.14 billion people purchased goods or services online in 2021.

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The number of active chatbots is growing at its quickest rate yet. In 2017, Facebook Messenger had 100,000 chatbots, which quickly rose to 300,000 within 12 months. This rapid expansion shows that the collaboration between humans and chatbots is and will continue to improve as time passes.

If that isn’t indication enough of how useful people find chatbots, take a look at the stats below:

40% of millennials claim that they use chatbots daily
64% of internet users say round-the-clock service is the best chatbot attribute
67% of millennials say that they are more likely to shop from websites using a chatbot

Do you want to know how this theory of eCommerce chatbots works in practice? Let’s take a look at Masha.ai, a shopping assistant chatbot by Facebook Messenger.

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Masha.ai began as an experiment to help customers reduce the amount of time they needed to accomplish their shopping and soon grew in popularity among users. The chatbot, which was designed to assist buyers with shopping options and assist them in placing orders, also provided consultation to its users and sent them news of new stock updates.

The need for eCommerce chatbots

You can save a great deal of time for both your employees and consumers by using a chatbot while also improving your revenue.

Let’s look at the most popular eCommerce use case – placing orders online. As an eCommerce business owner, you must guide customers through the three stages of the customer journey before they make a purchase:

Awareness
Consideration
Decision/Purchase

On paper, the development appears to be straightforward. However, it might be challenging to properly guide online shoppers through all three stages.

So, what do you do here to help prospects along the customer journey so that they end up at the Decision stage more frequently?

Simple. You deploy a chatbot.

These bots can be built to offer a variety of services to prospects while gently nudging them towards the final stage. Here’s how to do it:

Engage during the Awareness stage: A chatbot can go beyond simply luring prospects to your brand and the problem(s) that your product(s) solve. They can even engage them in a unique way that distinguishes your business and prepares them for the next stage.
Inform during the Consideration stage: It is up to you to educate leads to assist them so that they progress smoothly to the consideration stage – a job well-suited to a chatbot. These bots can tell consumers your brand’s story, promote your products, and pique the curiosity of potential buyers as well. These bots can also service customer queries and satisfy the objections of prospects so that they are more ready to buy.
Convert at the Decision stage: Bots can make the purchasing process simpler and more appealing. Furthermore, they can follow up with individuals who were on the verge of converting and encourage those who did purchase to return and buy again.

5 Examples of successful eCommerce chatbots

Chatbots that are well-designed can have a favourable impact on customer experience. The channels on which they are most popular are often the ones with the best user experience and simplicity of interaction. What role do chatbots play in the world of big brands? Let’s take a closer look.

1. Nike StyleBot

Brand: Nike

Industry: Sports apparel, accessories, and equipment.

Major takeaway: Chatbots can improve conversions for retail campaigns.

Key stats:

The average click-through rate (CTR) is 12.5 times higher than other brand campaigns
Conversions improved by 4 times the brand average

In an effort to promote Nike AirMax Day, Nike considered adopting a conversational marketing campaign that utilized a chatbot for the purpose. An AI eCommerce bot, aka the Nike StyleBot, the brand brought its exclusive Nike ID platform to Facebook Messenger. Customers could create their custom shoe designs or go through previously submitted versions for ideas.

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Among other things, users can communicate with the chatbot in natural language and receive multiple-choice responses in the form of text, interactive buttons, gifs, and photos. Of all the functionalities, though, the customized sneaker-creation one remains the most fascinating part of the bot. All you have to do is submit a photograph of your favorite pair of shoes and select a color theme from NIKEiD. The opportunity to play with colors and create their own sneakers all through the chatbot helped make Nike StyleBot a huge hit.

2. Michael Kors

Brand: Michael Kors

Industry: Fashion

Key stats:

Gained more than 350,000 active users
55% decrease in inbound service volume
90% containment rate

Major takeaway: AI chatbots can reduce service volume and improve customer satisfaction.

Michael Kors spent the year 2018 focusing on creating and deploying an improved chatbot for its worldwide audience. The chatbot that came about not only provided existing deals and item suggestions but also supports consumers in making the right purchase by redirecting them to their eCommerce store to complete the transaction.

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Michael Kors’ chatbot also provides FAQ help and reroutes customers to real human agents when the need emerges. The chatbot allows you to learn about the brand’s products. Users can ask the bot their questions and it will respond and keep them interested.

The chatbot not only continues to attract new clients but also accurately responds to more than 80% of consumer concerns and retains them with a 90% containment rate.

3. Sephora Kik Bot

Brand: Sephora

Industry: Beauty and makeup

Key stats:

Achieved a 4.4-25% increase in conversions across platforms
18% of Sephora’s customers now make purchases online

Major takeaway: Chatbots can provide personalized recommendations to foster a unique virtual shopping experience.

Mary Beth Laughton, Sephora’s Senior VP of Digital Marketing, delivered a keynote speech in which she announced that Sephora would partner with Kik Messenger to create a chatbot to provide its clients with engaging shopping experiences. Users could now have one-on-one chat experiences via phone with Sephora’s Kik chatbot.

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If you have ever been inside a Sephora store, you’ve definitely been startled by the vast array of items. This is where Sephora’s Kik bot comes into play. Users can learn about makeup through Sephora’s video clips, special tips, and photo tutorials seamlessly. What’s more, Sephora’s Kik bot also assists users in discovering the items used in makeup tutorials and recommends top-rated items for a specific category.

4. Betty Bot

Brand: GearBunch

Industry: Apparel and accessories retail

Key stats:

Hit $100,000 in revenue within the first month of operation
Increased overall revenue by $5,000,000 in a span of 12 months

Major takeaway: Chatbots can act as personal shopping assistants to improve engagement.

GearBunch is a clothing company established in the United States that specializes in goods with unique patterns. Their highest-selling and most popular products are women’s leggings, but they also sell other apparel like caps, accessories, and shoes. They also designed a chatbot named Betty to assist with sales.

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Betty operates as a personal shopper for users, recommending certain products and even intervening when a user fails to convert. As a consequence, prospective buyers who would otherwise be lost can be reengaged and persuaded to buy. If a customer does not convert after their first encounter with Betty, the bot targets them by:

Offering discount coupons: GearBunch sends out sale notices and coupon deals to its customers. Given that 48% of consumers believe they are more likely to purchase a product sooner than usual to take advantage of a deal, this is a highly beneficial tactic for GearBunch.
Following up on cart abandonment: If a user adds something to their cart on the GearBunch website but does not purchase it, the bot will contact them again. It will send a cart abandonment notification to the consumer via Messenger that also contains a link to take them back to where they left off.

This has aided GearBunch in increasing conversions by offering its users a personalized shopping experience and assisting them in finding the perfect product, increasing the likelihood that they’ll convert.

5. Freddy Bot

Brand: HelloFresh

Industry: Meal-kit industry

Key stats:

Improved conversion rate by 64%
Increased message volume by 47%
Decreased response times by 76%

Major takeaway: AI chatbots can decrease response times to provide improved customer satisfaction and consequently boost conversions.

HelloFresh is a meal kit startup established in Berlin. In 2017, their Facebook page released Freddy, a chatbot, to assist them:

Increasing message volume from prospective buyers
Reducing the time it takes to respond to those messages

Freddy began this exercise by interacting with visitors in an innovative way as they progressed through the Awareness stage. It enticed prospects with engaging, seasonal content to lure them in. For Black Friday 2017 and 2018, HelloFresh made Facebook posts containing a question or a riddle. Whenever a user gave the correct answer, Freddy would contact them over Messenger and send them a promo code. This campaign was so successful in 2018 that it had a conversion rate of 64%.

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The HelloFresh team also gave Freddy a few amusing features in order to offer visitors a distinctive brand experience that would retain them by keeping them interested. Freddy’s Breakfast Quiz, for instance, is the perfect example of an engaging way for users to learn about HelloFresh’s products.

Freddy paid off big time as part of this bot effort in the following ways:

Once configured and deployed, the process of delivering discounts, generating leads, and closing purchases were essentially totally automated, saving the team at HelloFresh both time and energy.
It provided users with a memorable, delightful experience with the brand, increasing their likelihood of conversion and/or re-engagement in the future – an important part of this stage in the customer journey.

To bot or not to bot?

As the chatbot examples above demonstrate, the future presents nearly endless possibilities for eCommerce companies.

Irrespective of the industry you are from, a chatbot may increase your brand’s performance and revenue by attracting new customers, teaching them about your offerings, and improving customer satisfaction by lowering the time it takes to respond to support issues.

So, regardless of which method you adopt, this revolutionary technology can help your brand improve its performance to reap substantial benefits.

By Srushti Shah

Guest author: Srushti Shah is an ambitious, passionate, and out-of-the-box thinking woman having vast exposure in Digital Marketing. Her key focus is to serve her clients with the latest innovation in her field leading to fast and effective results. Working beyond expectations and delivering the best possible results is her professional motto. Other than work, she loves traveling, exploring new things and spending quality time with family. Reach out to Srushti Shah on Twi t ter or LinkedIn

Sourced from Jeff Bullas

In News

“The differences seem to be growing”: A look at the rising generation of news consumers

July 21, 2022 No Comments

By Kristen Eddy

Social natives ≠ digital natives.

Media organizations around the world can agree on one thing: Young people — despite being critical audiences for publishers and journalists, and to the sustainability of news — are increasingly hard to reach and engage.

Using data from the 2022 Reuters Institute Digital News Report, we show that younger audiences increasingly consume and think about news differently than older audiences do. They are more casual news users, rely more on social media, and are less connected to (and therefore less loyal to) news brands. They also have different perceptions of what news is and how it’s practiced.

Of course, it’s long been the case that young people’s behaviours and preferences are different from those of their older peers. They long have been.

But as more young adults who grew up with social media enter our sample, the differences seem to be growing, even between social natives — those aged 18–24, who largely grew up with social media — and digital natives, those aged 25-34, who largely grew up with the web but before the rise of social networks. Many of these shifts are so fundamental that it doesn’t seem likely that they will be reversed with time.

How do younger audiences get their news?

As we track people’s main sources of news over time, we find direct access to news apps and websites steadily becoming less important and social media becoming more important. These changes are largely driven by the emerging habits of social natives (18-24s) as they come into adulthood and don’t often form strong brand connections.

When we look at main access by age in the U.K., for instance, we see social natives (turquoise line) have become significantly less likely to use a news website/app — differing not just from the oldest groups but also from digital natives. This group is far more likely to access news using “side-door” sources such as social media, aggregators, and search engines than their older peers.

As the social media landscape continues to evolve dramatically, social natives have also shifted their attention away from Facebook — or never started using it in the first place. In its stead, visual platforms such as Instagram and TikTok have become increasingly popular for news use among this group. On average across 46 markets, social natives are now five times more likely to use TikTok for news in 2022 (15%) than they were in 2020 (3%). Here’s the data for the U.S.:

These patterns do not hold up for all young people. While digital natives have largely embraced many of the same networks, they remain far more loyal to Facebook, the network this cohort largely grew up with, and have been slower to move to new networks like TikTok.

And despite the meteoric rise of online video formats, text- and audio-based formats still have a big role to play in young people’s news habits. Under-35s still largely say they prefer to mostly read (58%) rather than mostly watch (15%) news. Some seek out a mix of formats to better understand information, while others are drawn to audio-based formats like podcasts that allow users to multitask while they listen. There is not a one-size-fits-all approach or medium through which newsrooms can attract younger audiences.

How do younger audiences think about the news?

Young people — particularly social natives — don’t just have different news behaviors than older groups. They also have different attitudes toward the news and how it’s practiced. They are more likely than older groups to believe media organizations should take a stand on issues like climate change and to think journalists should be free to express their personal views on social media.

Many young people also have a wider definition of what news is. We find younger audiences often distinguish between “the news” as the narrow agenda of politics and current affairs and “news” as a wider umbrella encompassing topics like sports, entertainment, celebrity gossip, culture, and science. Under-35s are less interested than older groups in what they consider to be “the news” — traditional beats like politics, international, or Covid-19 news — and are more interested in a broader array of “news” umbrella topics, including entertainment and celebrity, education, and fun news.

But contrary to conventional narratives of “young people” as socially engaged digital activists, particularly when it comes to climate change, mental health, and social justice issues, we don’t find greater interest in news specifically about these topics among young people broadly.

Instead, younger audiences’ interest in these topics varies dramatically by country and demographics. For example, interest in social justice news is 9 percentage points higher among under-35s than those 35 and older in the U.K., on a par across both groups in Brazil, and 7 percentage points lower among under-35s in Germany. And, on average, older groups are more likely than younger groups to say they are interested in environment and climate change news.

Why are young people turning away from the news?

As more news outlets and formats compete for audiences’ time and attention, we continue to see longer-term falls in interest and trust in news across age groups and markets — particularly among younger audiences, who are generally less interested in news, access it less frequently, and actively avoid it more often than older audiences. On average across all 46 markets, around four in ten social natives (40%) and digital natives (42%) often or sometimes actively avoid the news.

Even those who remain engaged with news increasingly choose to ration their exposure to it — not often necessarily avoiding all news, but instead avoiding specific topics. Most often, younger audiences (43% of under-35s) say they avoid the news because there is too much coverage of topics like politics and Covid-19. We call this behaviour selective news avoidance, and while this is not limited to younger audiences, we see substantial rises in avoidance among social natives, in particular, since we last asked this question in 2019.

The longstanding criticism of the depressing or overwhelming nature of news also persists among younger audiences. Our interviewees mentioned forming news habits to avoid negativity: “I tend to try and limit the amount of negative news I consume, especially first thing in the morning and last thing at night,” a 29-year-old U.K. woman said.

And we find that younger people — particularly social natives — are more likely than older groups to say they find the news hard to follow or understand. In moments of crisis, such as the pandemic or the Ukraine war, we’ve seen some news outlets using explainer and Q&A formats to try to address these issues. Our data suggest this process needs to go much further.

What does this mean for news brands?

Over time, key differences among (and within) younger news audiences continue to become clearer. Social natives’ reliance on social media and weak connection with brands make it harder for media organizations to attract and engage the newest group of news consumers. At the same time, young people’s perceptions of what news is are also wider. And while these groups do not all have the same needs, many are looking for more diverse agendas and voices and for stories that don’t depress or confuse them.

Recognizing the variety of preferences and tastes that exist within these incredibly diverse cohorts presents a new set of challenges and opportunities for media organizations. But it is clear that news brands can’t expect young people to eventually come around to what has always been done.

By Kristen Eddy

Kirsten Eddy is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, a senior researcher with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, and a research affiliate with UNC’s Center for Information, Technology, and Public Life.

Sourced from NiemanLab

In News

Goodbye Expanded Text Ads: Here’s What’s Next, According to Google

July 20, 2022 No Comments

By Eric Bush

They say the only constant in life is change itself, but that sounds an awful lot like a paradox, and my brain doesn’t like those. To me, the only constant in life is adapting to change. And that’s exactly what we need to do right now.

No, I’m not talking about the post-pandemic world’s “new normal” (anyone else getting sick of hearing that?). I’m actually talking about Google’s decision to say goodbye to expanded text ads (ETAs). Whether you’re just hearing about this for the first time or have been worrying about it for months, you’ve come to the right place.

Let’s take a look at what this change is, what it means for you and how you can adapt to it.

What’s Changing?

In 2016, Google introduced expanded text ads — a bigger, better way to communicate with your target audience. Now, 6 years later, Google is sunsetting this option. As of June 30, 2022, you will no longer be able to create or edit ETAs in your standard Search campaigns.

Hey, all good things must come to an end, right?

Don’t worry, though: Your existing ETAs won’t go to waste. Google says you’ll still be able to track their progress and even pause, resume or remove them at your leisure. You just can’t make new ones or edit the structure of those you already have.

Why Is This Happening?

According to Google, the sunset of ETAs is all part of “making it easier to show the right message on Search.” The goal is to keep up with changing consumer needs and expectations.

For example, did you know that 15% of daily search queries are totally new to Google? The company uses this stat to point out that search habits are changing — which means your ad strategy needs to change, too.

The key, Google tells us, is automation. Unfortunately, we’re not talking about robot butlers here; for now, automation is mostly focused on ad bidding and placement, so you can’t put your feet up just yet. You can, however, use automation to simplify your ad strategy.

That’s because Google is replacing ETAs with their younger, sharper siblings, responsive search ads (RSAs). These little guys use automation to “show the right message for the right query.” You provide your ad assets, Google uses its algorithms to choose the best combinations of headlines and graphics for a specific audience and voilà — an advanced ad strategy.

Even the biggest fans of ETAs will probably have to admit that this new approach has its advantages. Plus, RSAs can be bigger (300 characters vs. 150 for ETAs), so you don’t have to worry about cutting out your great content. Perhaps most importantly, Google says the return on investment (ROI) is promising: “Advertisers that switch from expanded text ads to responsive search ads, using the same assets, see an average of 7% more conversions at a similar cost per conversion.”

What Now?

Don’t panic: Your ad strategy can and will live on without ETAs. But say your goodbyes now, because RSAs are poised to become the next big thing in advertising.

To turn this change into an opportunity instead of a source of stress, brush up on these best practices:

Learn About Ad Automation

There’s a whole world of ad automation out there — one you might never have embraced if you were busy juggling your ETAs. Now you have a perfect excuse to do some research on Google’s algorithms, automated solutions and more. This will help you get more out of RSAs as you add them to your strategy.

Repurpose Your ETAs

Don’t trash all your hard work. Instead, Google recommends choosing high-performing ETA content and repurposing it in RSA format. You can also use the built-in ad strength analyser to make sure you’re on the right track. After all, as Google explains, “Advertisers who improve Ad strength for their responsive search ads from ‘Poor’ to ‘Excellent’ see 9% more clicks and conversions on average.”

Use RSAs to Tell New Stories

Advertising is all about telling stories, right? Well, RSAs make it easier for you to tell those stories without having to plot out every detail. All you have to do is fill in your characters and settings (that is, your headlines and images) and let Google’s automated system combine them in different ways depending on your audience, ad placement, campaign goals and more.

Remember, the only constant in life is adapting to changes like this one. But that doesn’t mean you have to idly wait for whatever the marketing and advertising worlds throw at you. Instead, you should stay informed — and with a resource like our newsletter in your inbox, you’ll be the first to know what’s coming around the corner.

By Eric Bush

Eric Bush is the Manager of Paid Search at Brafton. He has helped grow the Brafton consulting services department to focus on multiple PPC platforms/channels and expanded its partner program to include both Google and Microsoft. His expertise ranges from multichannel marketing and planning to data performance analysis, with a focus on paid search strategies.

Sourced from Brafton