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5 Surprising Signs You Are on the Road to Burnout

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By Kelly Main

Seemingly innocuous habits and tendencies common among entrepreneurs can be signals of a serious problem.

Feature Image Credit: Getty Images

By Kelly Main

Sourced from Inc.

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How to Be a Better Partner to Clients and Customers by Learning to Say ‘No’

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You can push back without driving customers out the door as long as you take a partnership mindset.

Very few areas of life have been untouched by Covid-19, especially in the world of business. Early on in the crisis, for instance, we saw customers abandon brand loyalties as items flew off the shelves and shoppers migrated to online channels. This is a pretty common cycle: When circumstances change, people explore other options because that process helps them determine whether their current option is actually a good fit.

Unfortunately, this experimentation has real-world consequences for businesses. One survey of small business owners found that 82% lost their most profitable client after Covid-19 swept the nation. And despite Paycheck Protection Program loans injecting hundreds of thousands of small businesses with cash to maintain their payrolls, many still couldn’t manage to keep their doors open. By July 2020, just five months after initial lockdowns, one analysis estimated that more than $1 billion in PPP loans had gone to now-defunct businesses.

These kinds of stats aren’t exactly comforting to small business owners and entrepreneurs, and as a result, many have resolved to bend over backward for their customers in the hopes of keeping them around long term. But while I understand the sentiment, becoming a yes-man won’t have the effect you desire.

The art of saying ‘no’

When increasing customer retention by just 5% can increase profits anywhere from 25% to a whopping 95%, it’s natural to want to meet every request with a confident “coming right up!” But customer demands can’t always be fulfilled precisely as expected, and it’s dangerous to try to fit a square peg in a round hole.

As the leader of a software company, I’ve seen time and again that customers generally know what kind of outcomes they desire, but sometimes, their requests and desired outcomes aren’t the same. In those cases, we need to be good partners and push back. Business leaders trying to improve their retention should adopt a similar mindset — focusing their effects on being a good partner, not a sycophant.

Still, saying “no” can be tricky, so here are a few strategies you can adopt to push back without driving customers out the door.

1. Set the stage

In my own business, I’ve found that the best way to ensure client projects don’t go off the rails is to set clear expectations upfront. At the beginning of each project, we dedicate time to ask probing questions that get to the heart of what the client is trying to accomplish. Typically, that will prevent us from going down the path of doing something just because the client asked us to, even if it doesn’t necessarily make sense for the project’s goals. That openness around why we can or can’t do something sets the tone for the entire relationship.

Discuss any what-ifs, too: What if the project fails? What if you go over budget? And what will happen if things go sideways? As you progress through the project’s stages, make sure to check in with your client or customer regularly. Sometimes, the scope and expectations of a project will change, and that’s okay, but you need to make sure you’re updating the contract alongside those changes to protect your business.

2. Get radical

You’re an expert in your industry, but it’s a mistake to act like you know everything. So when a client makes a pipe-dream request, resist the urge to be brutally honest about how bad their idea really is. That kind of obnoxious aggression will just make you look arrogant and rude. Instead, work to establish mutual trust by developing a relationship grounded in radical candour, a communication style popularized by author Kim Scott back in 2017.

In short, practitioners of radical candour are able to simultaneously challenge people while still showing that they care. Traditionally, this communication style has been applied to supervisor-employee relationships, but it’s just as relevant for clients and customers. A client request might be next to impossible to deliver on, and you need to communicate that in a way that demonstrates to them that you have their best interests at heart. It’s about pointing out how a particular route could potentially sabotage their long-term success, and because you’re framing that “no” in a way that shows you care about their future, the point is more likely to land.

3. Offer alternatives

Apple is probably one of the best examples of a company that understands how to develop a seamless customer experience, even in the tricky world of tech. Its Genius Bar employees, who service customers experiencing tech issues, use the three F’s — feel, felt and found — to empathize with frustrated customers. Then, they employ the mnemonic APPLE (which stands for approach, probe, present, listen and end) to guide customers to a conclusion that they believe is their own.

When you have to turn a client idea or request down in your own business, you should always have an alternate solution waiting in the wings. Being a true partner, after all, means acting as a resource. And when it comes to offering choices, research from the University of Minnesota shows that three is the magic number.

Companies are scrambling to drive better customer retention because happy customers are their biggest sellers and their biggest advocates. But saying “yes” to every request and idea won’t get you there. Instead, learn how to gently push back on your customers or clients using the tips above and watch transactional relationships transform into lifelong partnerships.

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How to Become a Machine Learning Engineer

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A machine learning engineer is a programmer proficient in building and designing software to automate predictive models. They have a deeper focus on computer science, compared to data scientists.

Machine Learning Engineering has grown in great popularity and is surpassing Data Science. The job title is high in demand with many people from Data Science careers transitioning to become Machine Learning Engineers. It is currently #6 in the top 50 Best Jobs in America, according to glassdoor.

A Machine Learning (ML) Engineer is a programmer proficient in building and designing software to automate predictive models. They have a deeper focus on computer science, in comparison to Data Scientists.

The majority of ML Engineers come from one of two backgrounds. The first is those with a Ph.D. in Data Science, Software Engineering, Computer Science, and/or Artificial Intelligence. The other is people who have prior experience as either a Data Scientist or Software Engineer who has transitioned into the role.

What Does an ML Engineer Do?

A Data Scientist and ML Engineer both work with dynamic data sets, carry out complex modelling, and have exceptional data management skills.

The main role of an ML engineer is to design software to automate predictive models which help carry out future predictions. This is how the ‘machine’ ‘learns’ from ‘engineering’.

The sub-tasks included in doing this include:

  • Researching ML algorithms and tools and how they can be implemented.
  • Selecting the appropriate data sets
  • Selecting data representation methods
  • Verifying the quality of the data
  • Identifying the distribution in the data and how it affects model performance.
  • Iterating training on ML systems and models
  • Perform statistical analysis
  • Fine-tuning the model
  • Improving existing ML frameworks and libraries

What Skills Do You Need To Be A Successful ML Engineer?

There are a variety of skills required to become an ML Engineer.

Programming Skills

You need to have knowledge in multiple programming languages such as C++, Python, and Java with other programming languages such as R and Prolog which have become important elements in Machine Learning. The more programming languages you know, the better; however that can require a lot of studying.

Statistics

Machine Learning has a heavier focus on computer science, using probability and other statistical tools to help build and validate models. Machine learning algorithms are an extension of statistical modelling procedures therefore having a good understanding of the foundations of statistics and maths is important.

Problem Solvers

There are going to be times when models fail and it can become very complicated, therefore ML Engineers need to be good problem solvers. Instead of giving up, solving the problem efficiently by understanding the issue at hand and developing these approaches to help you save time and reach your goal faster.

Understand Data

ML Engineers quickly gander through large data sets being able to identify patterns to help them understand what next steps to take to produce meaningful outcomes. Using tools such as Excel, Tableau, and Plotly can also be used to provide greater insight into the data.

How To Start Your Career as an ML Engineer

How to start your career as an ML Engineer
David Iskander via Unsplash

Traditional route: University

Desirable degrees for ML engineers include Mathematics, Data Science, Computer Science, Statistics, and Physics. These degrees provide ML Engineers with the foundations, aswell as skills in programming, statistical tools, and analysis.

If you would like to get a better insight on the type of content you will learn at University, have a read of this article: Free University Data Science Resources.

Once you have completed a degree, you will need to build your skills and experience in fields such as Software Engineering, Data Scientist, etc. ML Engineers require a few years of experience with a high level of proficiency in programming to be successful.

You can further increase your knowledge by getting a Master’s degree in Data Science, Software Engineering, and/or a Ph.D. in Machine Learning.

Modern tech route: e-Learning

With the demand for tech experts in this day and age, another possibility is independent and/or e-learning. This can be done through BootCamps, online courses, Youtube, and more.

If you are looking to learn through YouTube, there are a variety of YouTube channels that can help you get there. There are YouTubers such as John Starmer, Krish Naik, and more. If you would like to know more, have a read of this article: Top YouTube Channels for Learning Data Science.

There are also a variety of online courses, some of which are provided by Universities. This shows the demand for tech experts as Universities have taken the time to create courses to help meet this demand. With the new remote lifestyle, online courses are becoming more and more popular to help accelerate people’s careers.

An excellent platform that has recently interested me is Great Learning, which provides courses in Data Science & Business Analytics, AI & Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, Software Development, and more. One of their most popular Machine Learning courses is: Data Science and Machine Learning: Making Data-Driven Decisions Program.

ML Engineers have to know a lot of knowledge surrounding Machine Learning, and the different types of algorithms. If you would like to know more about the type of algorithms you will learn in Machine Learning, have a read of this article: Popular Machine Learning Algorithms.

Books

Although many things have moved online, fewer and fewer people read books. Books are a great way to learn, however, it can be difficult to know which book to choose. I would highly recommend the book Machine Learning for Absolute Beginners by Oliver Theobald.

If you would like more Machine Learning book recommendations for different levels of learning; beginners, intermediate, and experts, have a read of this article: Machine Learning Books You Need To Read In 2022

It’s Not An Easy Route, But It’s Worth It

Becoming an ML Engineer won’t happen overnight, but once you have obtained the correct qualifications, skills, and experience, you will be in a field that provides you with a solid future. It requires a lot of hard work and determination, all you need to do is put in the work.

Nisha Arya is a Data Scientist and Freelance Technical Writer. She is particularly interested in providing Data Science career advice or tutorials and theory based knowledge around Data Science. She also wishes to explore the different ways Artificial Intelligence is/can benefit the longevity of human life. A keen learner, seeking to broaden her tech knowledge and writing skills, whilst helping guide others.

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TikTok launches Pulse, the program to share advertising revenue with content creators for the first time

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Sourced from Entrepreneur

The tool will guarantee brands that their ads appear in the most relevant content in twelve different categories.

TikTok’s reach is undeniable. The Chinese social network has revolutionized the world and its growth figures are impressive. Content creators have found a way to build communities on the platform and will soon be able to use it to generate revenue through TikTok Pulse , an ad sales program that will help brands reach the audiences they want while benefiting financially. to powerful tiktokers.

 

Through a statement , the social network explained what it is about: “To help brands stay on top of entertainment and culture on TikTok, we are pleased to introduce TikTok Pulse, a new contextual advertising solution that allows advertisers to place your brand next to the main content in the ‘For You Feed’. TikTok Pulse is designed to give brands the tools and controls to be a part of these everyday moments and trends that engage the community.”

The program will launch in the United States in June of this year and in other territories in the fall. It is reserved for creators who have more than 100,000 followers and advertising will only appear on 4% of the content on the platform; the one with the greatest range. Among the content categories that TikTok Pulse will use are: beauty, fashion, cars, video games and cooking.

The social network has explained that the contents will be reviewed before displaying ads next to them to guarantee safe environments for brands . Additionally, TikTok Pulse will include metric measurement tools so brands know exactly how their ads performed.

The arrival of TikTok Pulse represents an important evolution for the platform that until now had not explored advertising revenue schemes shared with content creators. During the launch stage, content creators will receive 50% of the income from advertising related to their posts.

Feature Image Credit: TOLGA AKMEN | Getty Images

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To Start Building a Community, Master These Two Concepts

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By Amber Atherton

Increasingly, building a successful startup involves not only building a product that people can’t get enough of, but also building an engaged, loyal community around that product. Today, most founders are acutely aware of the value of community. In CMX’s 2021 Community Industry Report, 86% of respondents (community managers from 508 different companies) said community was critical to their company’s mission, and more than two-thirds said their company planned to increase their investment in community in the next year.

But while many founders are eager to invest in community, they often don’t know what they’ll need to understand to build one the right way. Between starting and running Zyper, a platform that connected brands with super-fans, and now leading community growth strategy at Discord, I’ve built hundreds of healthy communities for businesses, brands, and creators. Before diving in and hiring a dedicated community team, I’ve learned, founders need to have a strong grasp of two essential concepts: 1) the community quadrant (to understand how community differs from other groups of people who interact with a product), and 2) the community funnel (to understand what makes a community compelling to prospective members).

To that end, I’ve put together a guide that breaks down both concepts. It doesn’t cover everything you need to know to build a successful community. Instead, it’s intended to teach early-stage founders just enough to begin allocating resources.

What a community is (and isn’t)

One common misconception, I’ve noticed, is the idea that “community” and “customers” are synonymous terms. They aren’t. Understanding how they differ is critical, so let’s start there.

The people who interact with your product generally fall into one of four buckets:

  • Customers/users buy and/or use your product.
  • Evangelists tell everyone they know to buy or use your product because they genuinely love it.
  • Community is the group of people who’ve found belonging and utility through your product.
  • Ambassadors are incentivized, through payments or rewards, to promote your product.

What distinguishes community members from those in other groups is the congregation element: Beyond using, liking, or writing glowing reviews of your product, they spend time forming connections with other people based on a shared affinity for it.

The quadrant, sequenced

Three of these groups reliably emerge in a fixed order: Users/customers come first, followed by evangelists, and then community.

Ambassadors don’t fit neatly into this sequence, so you’ll need to make a decision about their relationship to the other three groups. Even though ambassador endorsements aren’t organic, they still help spread awareness of your product to new segments and markets. Ambassadors range from nano-influencers and affiliates to well-known celebrities, and they can collectively become a community in their own right, with gamified rankings and events. Generally speaking, my advice is to build an ambassador program that functions separately from the other three groups. This article covers the basics.

The ideal time to launch a community varies, but you should wait until you have confirmed evangelists. People who love your product are your proof point. If self-professed evangelists haven’t announced themselves yet, email a group of your earliest customers (50 is enough) to find out if they love your product. Those who respond enthusiastically are your first evangelists; invite them to join your community. Evangelists don’t automatically become community members, but they’re the most obvious cohort to start with because you know that they like your product and want to talk about it.

Next, start a conversation with this founding group in a private space designed for that purpose, such as a Discord server, a Slack channel, a Telegram chat, or even a group DM on Instagram. Some community platforms are designed to be versatile while others are geared toward specific populations. Geneva, for example, is a private group-chat app gaining traction among businesses with female customer bases.

One thing you shouldn’t do is waste engineering resources on building out your own community infrastructure. At this stage, third-party community platforms will meet all your technical needs. Plus, your target community members might already use them. Meeting people where they are never hurts.

The early days of community-building should feel like user research. You’re not trying to build an audience or sustain engagement. Instead, you’re experimenting with different offerings to figure out what your evangelists want. Audio? AMAs? IRL meet-ups? Ask them directly. Not only will you learn what they find valuable, you’ll also give them a sense of belonging.

The specific offerings that appeal to evangelists vary by community. For example, members of Scream Movies on Discord — a community for super-fans of the franchise — get exclusive access to events like director AMAs. That’s a big deal if you’re a Ghostface diehard.

But AMAs might not be such an effective way to generate interest in every community. Take the SBUX Hub on Discord, an unofficial Starbucks community for baristas and fans alike. Perks of membership include behind-the-counter secrets and access to off-menu recipes. Here, learning about seasonal Frappuccino flavors months before they’re announced might drum up more excitement than, say, joining an AMA with Howard Schultz.

Once you have a handle on the quadrant, the second concept to master is the community funnel.

The community funnel: invited —> invested

Communities are primarily valuable to businesses for two reasons:

  • They create a built-in source of real-time user feedback, which is critical for building a product people really want.
  • They foster friendships rooted in an affinity for your product, which drives lifetime value and new customer referrals.

When it comes to community-building, it’s your job to spark the fire. But you can’t keep it burning alone. The key to a thriving community is members who care enough to take initiative — they pose thoughtful questions to the group, introduce new topics to explore, and sometimes even plan events, online or off, to help people bond. And they’re invested enough in the community to assume some of the responsibility of steering it forward. Early on, think about identifying folks you’d like to see take on more responsibility.

But new community members don’t magically turn into devotees. You need to set the stage for that to happen — both by letting early members play a role in shaping and growing the community, and also by creating an environment compelling enough to reel in anyone who enters. The community funnel charts a prospective member’s path from receiving an invitation to becoming an invested, active member. It’s important to think about your role in moving members through the funnel.

One priority should be optimizing introductions: A member’s first few interactions with the community can have an outsized influence on whether or not they stick around. Consider those early experiences through the eyes of a new member:

Is the initial invitation compelling? Does it spark excitement or curiosity, or make prospective members feel special? On Geneva, invites are often hard to find, which makes them fun to discover. This also gives new members something to bond over right away.

Do members land in space that’s easy to understand and navigate, and also fun to spend time in? Simply numbering channels and visually laying out the first steps a new member should take is a low-lift way to guide people through the on-boarding experience. Extra points if the space is beautifully designed. User-friendly design makes the Discord server for crypto collective Orange DAO inviting to first-timers:

The ultra-simple layout of Telegram channels, which only have one central chat, makes the platform a low-friction way to get a community going. Here’s what new members see upon joining Poolsuite’s chat:

Are members individually welcomed into the space by a human (rather than a bot) and introduced into the conversation? Stripe’s developer community on Discord exemplifies digital hospitality with an active developer relations team welcoming new members:

Once introduced, do community members feel compelled to participate in the conversation? Participation primes members to become friends, which makes them feel more deeply tied to the community and motivated to contribute to it regularly. Most people who join your community will be evangelists for your product. By the time they reach the end of the funnel, they’ll (also) be evangelists for your community.

Now that you understand these two foundational community-building concepts, it’s time to begin architecting your community strategy. Start by clearly articulating why you’re building the community and what the value exchange will be. In other words, what will community members gain from joining and participating, and how does it help your business (now and down the road) to devote resources to community that could go elsewhere?

The value of community isn’t always easy to quantify financially, but there are benefits beyond the bottom line. If you get the basics down and approach community-building thoughtfully, your company will become a catalyst for strong relationships that grow alongside it.

By Amber Atherton

A British entrepreneur and angel investor based in Silicon Valley. A community building expert and life-long founder, Amber is currently the head of strategic communities at Discord. Follow Twitter Website

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Customer Care Must Become More Social

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Nearly every business today, large or small, utilizes social channels to promote their brand, build customer relationships and enhance the customer experience. Savvy businesses have long used social channels to listen to what their customers are saying about their brand, measure how they are reacting to new product updates and stay on top of current industry trends.

Early awareness of these trends can inform strategic changes that lead to first-mover advantages, improved customer loyalty and increased revenue for businesses.

Businesses Need Better Social-Channel Customer Care

For example, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies that were engaged and analyzing their social media data were able to more quickly identify services that customers wanted and needed to stay safe, including curb side pickup, contactless delivery, improved return policies on online purchases and mask requirements for in-person shopping.

But while many businesses have successfully tapped social data to discover new potential sales opportunities and grow their business, there are many more examples of brands blundering when attempting to provide customer care over their social channels.

This is an area businesses need to make improvements, and they need to make them quickly. Consumers have grown to enjoy the convenience of shopping and receiving support on their mobile devices.

For most people today, providing digital customer service is no longer a nice-to-have option — it’s preferred. And consumers’ expectations for support are high. Studies show that customers will wait for a response up to just one hour on social media, just one day after leaving a review and less than a minute when messaging with a brand using their digital channels. In fact, most consumers will only spend 10 minutes or less searching for a solution to their problem on self-help channels (online FAQs, chatbots, IVR) before abandoning a purchase.

While digital customer support (DCS) became a priority for many businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, there are many organizations without a dedicated DCS team or plan. Below are three reasons why businesses should invest in DCS in 2022:

Digital Customer Support Saves Money, Improves CX

The truth is, contact centre managers are often heavily focused on cost reduction. However, rather than increase costs, DCS channels like Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and SMS can help reduce expensive call-centre volumes, and they provide opportunities for businesses to create custom workflows to handle simple chat conversations, concerns or commonly asked questions.

When implemented correctly — digital customer service interactions see higher CSAT, NPS and drive greater customer loyalty, as well as fewer repeat contacts and more case resolutions in the same amount of time that a call would take. With the right technology, agents can multi-task by taking on multiple conversations at the same time, whereas that is impossible for traditional phone calls. Thus, deploying DCS can enable contact centre staff to handle more customer concerns in less time, using fewer agents, leading to savings.

Digital Customer Service Unlocks the True Value of Social Listening

A holistic approach to social analytics is necessary for businesses to understand their consumers and competitors. Research has shown that social media trends are leading indicators of consumer concerns, behaviours and preferences. By aggregating social data with things like reviews, messaging and other digital customer outreach data, an organization can gain an on-the-ground understanding of what trends affect consumers and how those are manifesting in their outreach directly to their organization.

Altogether, this offers businesses more granular information on brand awareness and reputation, allowing brands to be proactive in their approach to customer care.

Unstructured Customer Data Becomes a Goldmine of Insights

Advances in natural language understanding (NLU) technology enable businesses to gather more in-depth insights into competitors and deeper brand awareness by analyzing the open-text, unstructured data from digital customer service interactions. When NLU models are tuned on DCS data, a new picture of the customer’s interactions with their support channels becomes available.

Brands can use this technology to measure things like emotional intensity, how empathetic the agent was, and how much effort it took to complete a support task. All of this data can be added to a business CRM or customer data platform. The ultimate goal is to make this information readily available to agents and managers, so managers can better develop their agents and so agents have a view into an individual’s entire history of transactions, experiences and preferences with a brand. With this comprehensive view, the entire support team can scale personalized experiences.

Final Thoughts: Path to Customer Loyalty

Customers today expect fast, convenient customer service from any channel. The companies that continue to invest in digital service technologies realize increased sales, establish stronger customer loyalty through personalized service and save money by increasing efficiency.

Feature Image Credit: Adobe Stock

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Fabrice is the head of product for Qualtrics XM discover and customer care, and is responsible for the vision, roadmap and go-to-market strategy for Qualtrics XM discover and customer care and frontline solutions. Prior to Qualtrics, he was the Chief Product Officer at Clarabridge.

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Could the iPhone 14 line-up mark the return of the ‘Plus’ branding?

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By Chance Miller

As we’ve covered a number of times already, expectations for the iPhone 14 line-up are pretty clear. Apple is likely to unveil four different iPhone 14 models across two screen sizes at 6.1-inches and 6.7-inches.

While Apple (usually) does a great job at keeping marketing names under wraps until a product is announced, it’s fun to speculate ahead of time. Something I’ve been pondering recently is whether the iPhone 14 line-up could mark the return of the “Plus” branding…

The iPhone 14 line-up is likely to consist of two 6.1-inch iPhone models, one of which will be branded as a “Pro” model and the other one being the “entry-level” model. This is unsurprising and is the exact strategy Apple used with the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13.

But where things are expected to differ is with the 6.7-inch iPhone models. At the high-end of the line-up will be the iPhone 14 Pro Max, again repeating the strategy used with the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13. For the first time, however, Apple is also expected to introduce an iPhone with a 6.7-inch display that is not branded as a “Pro” model.

What this means is that the iPhone 14 will be available in two different screen sizes across four different price points. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has suggested that the non-Pro version of the 6.7-inch iPhone 14 could be priced at around $900, making it the most affordable 6.7-inch iPhone ever released by Apple.

Loosely looking at current iPhone prices, that means the iPhone 14 line-up could look like this:

  • $799 iPhone 14
  • $899 iPhone 14 Max
  • $999 iPhone 14 Pro
  • $1099 iPhone 14 Pro Max

iPhone 14 Plus?

But my proposal and idea for Apple’s crack marketing team is this. Instead of using the “iPhone 14 Max” name, let’s bring back the “Plus” and call it the iPhone 14 Plus. How about this:

  • iPhone 14
  • iPhone 14 Plus
  • iPhone 14 Pro
  • iPhone 14 Pro Max

Having two versions of the iPhone 14 with “Max” tacked on the end could prove to be confusing for consumers. The “Plus” branding has also been very, very successful for Apple in the past. The iPhone 6 Plus, for instance, is one of the best selling iPhones of all-time.

The iPhone 14 line-up is actually looking like an extension of Apple’s iPhone 6 strategy of attempting to bring a large screen to as low of a price point as possible. If the iPhone 6 Plus success serves as any indication, the iPhone 14 Plus could be one of the most popular iPhone models in recent years.

Again, this is all just conjecture at this point and Apple does a great job at keeping iPhone branding under wraps until officially announcing the new devices. It’s also notoriously hard to predict Apple marketing names, and it could be that Apple does something unexpected this year. Drop the numbers all together? Go with the “iPhone 13S” instead? It’s anyone’s guess.

What are your thoughts on marketing names for this year’s iPhone 14 line-up? Give us your best guesses down in the comments.

Read more 9to5Mac coverage of the iPhone 14: 

By Chance Miller

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How Augmented Reality Will Impact Search Engine Optimization

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By Shane Barker

Augmented reality (AR) is already making waves online. From Rihanna’s sparkly diamond headpiece to Kylie Jenner’s bold lipstick shades, AR filters are all over Instagram. That’s indicative of the trend that AR is gaining popularity.

In fact, a study estimates that there will be approximately 1.7 billion mobile AR users worldwide by 2024. That’s huge, right? With more internet users embracing AR, you can expect users to change the way they browse the internet.

There are big changes coming in the next few years, all of which are likely to impact search engine optimization (SEO). In this post, let’s look at some of the ways the evolving AR landscape is likely to change search engine optimization.

1. Local SEO will become more important.

Local SEO is already a focus area for anyone who wants to get ranked on Google. With AR, you can scan a code via a mobile device and get all the information you need about a business. You can check reviews and ratings and get images.

With apps like Wikitude or Yelp, you can give out location-specific AR experiences. For instance, you can give a special offer to someone who is close to your business’s location.

As a business owner, you’ll have to ensure that all of your business information is updated in local listings to make the most out of the popularity of AR.

2. Immersive digital experiences will become more mainstream.

AR will change the way you design your website. It opens up the possibility of giving users a truly immersive and engaging experience. Such experiences could have a mix of physical as well as virtual elements, and they have varied applications.

IKEA is one of the big brands that has already jumped on the bandwagon. They let customers preview their furniture items within their homes or any other living space. Through their special app, IKEA Place, users can check 3-D renderings of more than 2,000 IKEA products from different angles.

If you are buying a new sofa for your living room but aren’t sure whether it will fit in a corner, you can place it on the app and check. Similarly, fashion brands can offer virtual dressing rooms where customers can try out different outfits. Real estate companies can offer virtual tours for properties they want to sell.

This example is for an app, but there is a chance of such experiences being replicated on websites in the future. With a better user and immersive experience, you can expect to have a positive impact on your SEO. That’s because such elements can increase the overall time spent on a website and reduce the bounce rate.

3. Visual search and interactive content will become widely used.

In their quest to provide a better user experience, Google has included image and voice search features. To further elevate the experience, they are also investing in AR projects like Tango and virtual reality (VR) projects like Daydream. Overall, its vision is to maintain its lead as the most widely used search engine worldwide.

As AR-based content becomes more popular, you can expect it to gain more space in the search engine results pages (SERPs). For forward-thinking businesses, AR should become a part of the overall content marketing strategy.

With multimedia elements like 3-D objects and videos added as a part of the mix, you can expect visual searches to become more mainstream. Eventually, interactive content is also likely to become an integral part of the virtual world. As a content marketer or an entrepreneur, you’ll have to make sure you deliver such immersive experiences and match up to the changing search trends.

4. Social media will impact SEO more.

Everyone already knows that your social media presence has an impact on your SEO. So, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that AR will likely increase this effect. That’s because AR allows social media companies to provide engaging and immersive experiences that can boost engagement and conversion rates.

For instance, Facebook’s 360-degree videos allowed users to fully immerse themselves in whatever they were watching on their screen. Because of this, you could take a tour of the Louvre in Paris while sitting in your bedroom.

When it comes to AR, this is just the beginning. If you’ve used Snapchat or Instagram, you know how popular their 3-D effects are. You can see social media users get creative and experiment with them to create unique Stories.

Brands have already been using them to market their products and increase their brand awareness. With the increasing popularity of AR, you can expect more social media channels to come up with AR-centric features. That means the impact of AR on your SEO strategy is likely to increase. In a nutshell, AR should be a part of your social media strategy to make sure your SEO strategy works well.

For inspiration, consider the creative AR social media campaign created by Browns Fashion. The luxury retail brand came out with a sparkling AR filter to boost brand awareness. It gained more than 2 million try-ons. Even celebrities like Vanessa Hudgens and Heidi Klum used it on their Instagram profiles.

Augmented reality has the potential to change the way people interact with products and make purchase decisions. It is a technology that can also enable businesses to better understand their audiences and provide better user experiences. If you are looking to level up your SEO strategy, think AR. It’s still a new and fairly unexplored territory, so you can get the early mover advantage, too!

Feature Image Credit: getty

By Shane Barker

Shane Barker is a digital marketing consultant who specializes in sales funnels, targeted traffic and website conversions. Read Shane Barker’s full executive profile here.

Sourced from Forbes

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Meta launches new tools to help small businesses communicate with customers

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New tools make it easier to manage ads and messaging as well as generate leads.

To commemorate National Small Business Week, Meta has announced a number of new tools to help businesses manage conversations and ads as well as generate leads.

According to a new press release from the company, businesses have had a lot of success getting discovered by new customers and having conversations using Facebook and Instagram ads that open to a WhatsApp chat. In order to make it easier to create these kinds of ads, Meta will soon make it possible to create full ads directly from the WhatsApp Business app.

As businesses using the company’s Inbox are already managing customer messages across Facebook Messenger and Instagram Direct all in one place. Now though, Meta plans to bring WhatsApp to Inbox as well so that multiple people at an organization can manage messages in Inbox from the same WhatsApp number on multiple devices to help save time and boost productivity.

Meta is also testing a new capability in Meta Business Suite that will allow businesses to send promotional message campaigns using Messenger to customers who opt in.

Improved lead generation and customer acquisition

By using lead generation tools, SMBs can grow their customer base by finding new customers and initiating relationships with them which is why Meta is expanding end-to-end management of lead generation on its platform with several new features.

First off, the free product Quote request on Instagram will allow businesses to put a “Get Quote” button on their Instagram profile as well as use “Get Quote” stickers in Stories. With either option, businesses can set up custom questionnaires for customers to fill out before starting a conversation about a quote.

Businesses will also soon be able to pursue promising leads using lead filtering in Lead Ads Instant Forms. Customer responses to a multiple-choice question can then be used to filter leads that may not be a good fit for an organization.

Meta is also in the process of testing a more flexible and personalized Instant Form that allows businesses to add visuals and content in the form so that they can share more visual information about their company and nurture the interest of potential customers.

Finally, Meta Business Suite users can now download lead information directly to their own CRM to follow up with potential customers more quickly.

Feature Image Credit: Meta

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After getting his start at ITProPortal while living in South Korea, Anthony now writes about cybersecurity, web hosting, cloud services, VPNs and software for TechRadar Pro. In addition to writing the news, he also edits and uploads reviews and features and tests numerous VPNs from his home in Houston, Texas. Recently, Anthony has taken a closer look at standing desks, office chairs and all sorts of other work from home essentials. When not working, you can find him tinkering with PCs and game consoles, managing cables and upgrading his smart home. 

Sourced from techradar.pro

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9 Essential Steps To Draw Followers To Your Instagram Business Page

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Sourced from KHTS HometownStation

Though there are many possible ways to boost your business page’s success, in the beginning, it is especially important to know exactly why people follow brand accounts and use this knowledge to reach a dedicated follower base that is likely to convert into leads and promote loyalty to and awareness of your brand in the long run.

To help you create and maintain the most efficient profile possible, here are 9 essential steps to draw followers to your Instagram business page and get them to stay, from launching the account to everyday operations.

Business

Research Your Market

First, it’s good to know the basics about Instagram as a platform.

Instagram is visited by 1.22 billion people every month, according to the most recent reports. It’s extremely popular with users between the ages of 18 and 34 and is used by slightly more men than women, though the difference there is minor. It’s most popular in India, with a fast-growing market there that increased 16% between quarters last year.

If you’re planning to use Instagram to promote your business, it helps to know who you’ll be advertising to. Spend time researching your specific industry market by exploring popular tags and accounts in the same niche. This will also give you a good idea of who your average viewer is going to be, and which formats – feed posts, stories, Reels, or Lives – they’re going to engage with most.

Develop a Strategy

Once you’ve looked into your market, you’ll want to develop a strategy for your advertising campaigns. According to advice from Instagram’s parent company Meta, your marketing strategy should involve three basic steps:

1. Establishing a clear SMART goal. 

  • Specific. You’re trying to build a following.
  • Measurable. How many followers you do want to garner?
  • Achievable. What can you do realistically right now to garner that number of followers?
  • Relevant. What research do you have that shows the potential to garner followers?
  • Time-bound. How long will it take to build a stable following?

2. Establishing a brand aesthetic. 

  • Establishing a brand aesthetic includes having a consistent color palette, post style, and brand voice across all of your content.

3. Creating a posting schedule.

  • We’ll talk more about this below, but for now, it’s enough to say that research suggests consistent posting on a reliable schedule, even if it’s not daily, offers a marked improvement in overall profile growth on Instagram.

Optimize Your Profile

Your Instagram profile itself is the best place to start when it comes to curating a following for your brand. Without a solid, well-optimized, and complete profile, no amount of advertising is going to make viewers convert to followers.

Here are some ways you can optimize your profile for both viewers and algorithms:

  • Have a clear, simple Instagram handle. This is the name that users can look up in the search bar and tag when they want to mention your products in their posts. It should be associated with your brand and easy to remember. Ideally, it’ll be your brand name written as simply as possible.
  • Choose a high-quality profile picture. For multi-product brands, this should be a high-resolution image of your company logo. For individuals running a business account, it should be a professional or semi-professional headshot that clearly shows your face. As an aside, try to keep the same profile picture or style of profile picture for as long as you can; this will help users quickly recognize at a glance when a post is yours.
  • Include important keywords and hashtags in your bio. Your Instagram bio is the 150-character space in which you need to summarize your business for newcomers and the Instagram algorithm alike. Including important keywords and tags – vegan, fitness, fashion, business, social, etc. – will help the Instagram algorithm recommend your profile to users most likely to enjoy it.
  • Include a profile link. You may choose to link to your brand’s website, your latest product landing page, or use an aggregation link like Linktree. This gives viewers another way to verify the authenticity of your brand.
  • Take full advantage of Instagram’s Business features. Fill out your brand’s category, add the appropriate contact information, and choose an Action Button to appear on your page. This way, users don’t have to go searching for your information on other sites and can instead access your brand with one click.

You should also aim to be verified by Instagram. Instagram requires that an account be Authentic (represented and run by a real person or business), Unique (the only profile of this person or business as a business entity), Complete (with a public bio, profile picture, and active feed), and Notable (representing a brand well-known on and offline).

Though the exact requirements for notability are vague, it’s worth attempting to be verified, as this will prevent scam accounts from phishing followers from your brand and makes it easier to interact with other brands and influencers.

Create a Variety of Content

Instagram offers four main types of content, with the two major options being feed posts and Instagram Stories.

Since different niche users appreciate different content, it can be worthwhile to create a variety of different formats to test which appeals the most to your audience, and which gains the most traction. You may find that you want to use only one or two formats, or you may choose to use all four.

Feed Posts

Feed posts are the square photographs that appear on your follower feed and your main profile page. These posts can either be single images or a group of up to ten (called a carousel post).

These posts include a caption that can be up to 2,200 characters and options to add a location tag, product tags, and tags for other users. Instagram has also introduced a collaboration feature that allows your posts to be seen on both your feed and the feed of your collaborator, but we’ll talk more about this below.

Instagram also includes a wide variety of editing options for their feed posts including filters, light and colour adjustment, and focus adjustment, among others. Take full advantage of these features to create high-quality images that suit your theme.

Curating an attractive feed using this kind of post is the best way to attract new followers, as Instagram is a primarily visual social media experience. Many content creators choose to have a set theme or aesthetic for their posts; this can be especially helpful for brands who wish to be instantly recognizable. This is where your brand aesthetic comes into play.

Stories

Instagram Stories are short images or video clips that stay on screen for a few seconds at a time before automatically moving to the next piece. Much like content on Snapchat, Stories disappear after 24 hours and make great vehicles for quick snippets like one-off jokes, new post announcements, behind-the-scenes content, and time-sensitive content.

Stories are some of the most versatile pieces of content you can create on Instagram, given the wide variety of features you can add in the editing phase. You may choose to:

  • Create a Boomerang, a looping video that plays backward and forward, for a unique aesthetic approach
  • Use Stickers such as hashtags, mentions, polls, questions, and meters to interact more directly with your audience
  • Share user-created posts to your Stories and comment on them to engage your community
  • Create an Instagram Filter that others can use in their own Stories

The possibilities are endless. One tip here is to have some level of consistency across your Stories. While creating a variety of content is fun and engaging, if you want to keep your brand recognizable, you’ll want to incorporate your aesthetic – a colour palette, set font, or logo set – into each Story.

Instagram

Reels

Reels are longer-form videos on Instagram, about 15-30 seconds per post, that are reminiscent of the TikTok format and follow many of the same creation rules as that platform. This longer space allows you to share more information more effectively than you can in Stories or feed posts.

As with its other content types, Instagram offers a variety of editing tools for Reels including clipping and adding special effects in post-production. Though you can shoot Reels directly in the app, you can also import short videos from third-party apps with more editing options or through the Meta Business Suite for more control over when your video is posted.

Shopping

Instagram Shopping is the app’s latest addition, allowing creators to manage storefronts within the app itself. Shopping entries are fairly standard product options; you can include an image (or multiple images), a description, the price of the product, and a link to purchase.

Recently, Instagram has introduced the option to buy products directly in-app, though this feature is as of yet only available in the United States. For all other countries, you can include a link to your external store page to purchase.

5. Use Your Captions Effectively

Though images are the main draw for your content, having a compelling caption can make or break your user engagement. As mentioned, the caption limit on Instagram is 2,200 characters, so it’s a good idea to experiment with both longer and shorter captions to see which appeals to your audience more.

You must put the most important information in your caption in the first line if possible. This is because Instagram automatically cuts off captions after the first few lines, meaning that you need to grab your followers’ attention immediately to encourage them to click “more.”

Beyond that, you’ll want to make sure your content is tagged appropriately. The standard etiquette for Instagram is to put all of your relevant tags at the bottom of your caption unless they can be worked in naturally to the caption text. Tagging your post will cause it to appear on that tag’s Explore page, which leads to more exposure for you and your brand. Try to choose a few relevant keywords, and avoid spam tagging (filling the entire caption with every imaginable tag), as this can come across as insincere at best and bot-like at worst.

You may also choose to include a question or prompt in your caption that invites users to comment on the post and contribute their feedback. This drives up engagement naturally, which looks good for your page and can, again, increase your wider exposure on Instagram.

Create a Schedule

According to social media marketers, the best strategy for the fastest possible growth is to post at least once per day, every day, but even posting a few times per week is going to boost your follower count steadily over time. To keep up with this amount of content, it’s a good idea to create a consistent content calendar and a backlog of prescheduled posts. This will give you time to plan your content, produce batches of it at a time that will be more consistent, and focus on interaction rather than daily posting logistics.

There are many third-party apps you can use to create and schedule your Instagram content, though you can also do so directly from the Meta Business Suite, which features an in-built posting calendar complete with suggestions for important days to post on and data about the optimal time to post based on your followers’ previous engagement.

Engage with Your Audience

Posting alone will not get your page noticed on Instagram the vast majority of the time. The site is, at its core, a social site; it’s designed for two-way interaction and community building. This is why bot accounts don’t do as well as actively managed accounts – active accounts interact with people, which causes them to find more followers, more quickly.

Here are a few ways you can engage with your audience to create a sense of community.

  • Follow accounts that are similar to your brand and your brand values. This will not only give you insight into your market and the type of content they can expect but also opportunities to collaborate with others in your niche.
  • Like and comment on these other accounts’ posts. Actively engage with other accounts and your brand will be seen as more personal, with real interests, rather than a faceless corporate account. It will also help the followers of these accounts to be exposed to your name, allowing the opportunity for more brand exposure.
  • Speaking of being personal, interact with your followers on your posts! Respond to comments and pin your favourites to the top of the post. Answer questions when they come up and direct people to your target landing page when you can. Interacting with your followers not only drives engagement on a post but encourages engagement on future posts and builds trust in your brand.
  • Run polls and Q&As from your Instagram Stories. This allows you to not only boost engagement but also receive direct feedback from your audience and tailor your social media plan to their expectations and preferences, making it all the more effective. You might even gather insight on interest in future products.
  • Run contests and giveaways in your feed posts. Common entry requirements for contests and giveaways on Instagram are comments, tagging friends, liking, and sharing a certain post to your own Stories. This increases the exposure exponentially and gives you a chance to make an impression with new followers using follow-up posts. Be warned that many followers gained from this tactic are likely to unfollow as soon as the contest ends unless impressed by your follow-up content.
  • Work with influencers in your niche. Offer an affiliate or ambassador program and collaborate with other creators to be featured on both their feed and yours. This also helps build brand loyalty; people are more likely to trust a brand they’ve heard of through someone they already admire and trust.

Advertise Your Page

Of course, the most traditional way to gain followers on Instagram is to advertise on the platform. Luckily, Instagram advertising is relatively easy and inexpensive; the ads can be easily created from existing posts and monitored from their Ad Centre in the Business Suite (or Ad Tools on the mobile app) for the best possible results.

To build an effective Instagram ad, start with what you already know about your followers by examining your Insights tab. Use this information to choose a high-engagement post and target a specific audience (by age, gender, location, and/or interests). From there, set a specific goal (in this case, “More Profile Visits” is probably the most appropriate option), set a daily or overall budget (you can choose to run ads for as little as one dollar per day), and allow the ad to run.

You might choose to test an ad structure with a low budget and, if it produces the results you want, repeat the campaign with a higher budget to win better placement. You may also choose to run multiple ads simultaneously to examine which structure works best. As with any other kind of content on the site, remember to tag your ads appropriately for the best exposure.

Hearts

Review Your Results

When you’ve tried everything you want to gain followers, examine the results of your efforts. You can do this by keeping track of how many followers you’ve gained over time through your Insights page, from which you can also glean more information about what kinds of followers you’ve been getting. Find out which strategies have been most effective and continue with them or tweak your approach to better cater to your findings.

You should be reviewing your results regularly, about once per month at least, to keep an eye on the patterns and trends that emerge. This will help you plan your next month of content and engagement and may help you decide which influencers and brands to partner with again in the future and which promotions are most effective not only in terms of followers but in terms of producing leads.

Conclusion

Instagram is a fantastic place to create and maintain an active brand image. The platform is most helpful for visually-based brands, of course, but it doesn’t hurt to maintain a profile there even if your brand is more abstract in its offerings.

By following these essential steps, you can draw high-quality converting followers to your Instagram business profile and grow your business in a cost-effective and modern manner, perfect for the digital marketing era.

Sourced from KHTS HometownStation

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