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We Need More Empathy in Marketing Right Now

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By Pat Timmons

McDonald’s and GoFundMe do it well

In today’s digital world, we are constantly bombarded with noise, information and marketing, making it near impossible to remember every message that you scroll past on social media. However, if they do it right, you remember what those brands made you feel.

People do not want to be sold to.  They want to feel safe. They want to feel heard. They want to feel some sense of normalcy.

No industry practices empathy marketing better than the music industry.

Think about the latest album that you listened to on repeat. What made you love that music so much? Most likely the campaign, music or artist made you feel something. The artist and their team use empathy to relate to their target audiences, and they frame the music in a way that makes the album/single super relevant to their audience. Even in music, there are campaign best practices. There is no one end-all-be-all growth hack to make a song soar to the charts. What made artists successful was their ability to connect with their audience on an emotional, intimate and meaningful level.

For example, Justin Bieber put out a song called “Lonely” this year, and it spent 23 weeks on Billboard’s Global 200 Chart and peaked at Number 5. Bieber used vulnerability to share his own story and empathy to connect with us all on a deeper level.

So how does this translate to brands? How can brands embody empathy to build trust with their audiences? Here are recent examples of brands doing it well:

McDonald’s has been leaning into the most impactful emotion there is: nostalgia, making us crave their experience as we scroll through social. Something as obscure and random as popping the buttons on a soda lid conjures up the emotions associated with McDonalds, e.g., road trips, memories with friends, etc.

GoFundMe felt the fear and anger of the world as cases of hate crimes toward the Asian American & Pacific Islander community surged. They did not simply make a statement, but they also used their platform to build the AAPI Community Relief Fund to create a centralized resource for people to turn to and support. They felt the universal emotions of fear and anger and acted upon it with empathy.

Webflow created a whole new event experience for its community. The company used empathy to understand that its community was burned out. Zoom fatigue was real. Webflow created a custom Gather Town space that made the event interactive, gamified and fun. The physical action of sitting at their desks was the same, but the experience was personal and full of empathy and will be extremely memorable for the company’s guests.

You can use your superpower of empathy in a meaningful way. It’s the importance of writing to people’s emotions, not just the target demographic. By using language that involves them and makes them the focus of the conversation, you can make your audience feel something.

By Pat Timmons

Sourced from ADWEEK

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How Marketing Funnels Evolved During the Pandemic

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By Joy Chatterjee

Whenever a crisis looms, it is the ideal time for bold and creative marketers to learn from it and disrupt the market

The COVID-19 pandemic has subsequently influenced the way marketers and advertisers strategize and execute the marketing plans for their respective brands. Last year, the industry witnessed a surge of changes in business paradigms, which also unveiled new ways of marketing channels to approach consumers.

Without a second thought, the crisis has changed the business landscape and the consequences have been felt around the world. Whenever a crisis looms, it is the ideal time for bold and creative marketers to learn from it and disrupt the market.

The COVID-19 has altered the consumer behaviour pattern, pushing marketers to not stop but re-invent themselves. Hence, there is a definite shift to e-commerce across industries. Though the e-commerce model has been a hit among various brands, but it was seen as a go-to approach when everything was closed. Other than this, it initiated brands to work on D2C channels and create their shopping portals rather than just relying on other e-commerce channels.

Another thing which marketers have focused on instead of betting big on premium products, brands are conveying more on everyday used items. Marketers are adjusting marketing spends as per the industry dynamic. For example, companies during the testing times are not focusing on contextual advertising but are more focused on personalised ads to relate with the audience on an individual level. With such insights, brands are in favour of creating positive engagement with consumers, and by this brands have the window to develop a feeling of connection.

Vernacular ads

While Internet penetration deepens across tier II and III cities, the demand for regional content has been growing at a trajectory speed. In the last few years, regional content has led to a surge in media consumption among native people, and the COVID-19 induced lockdown has further accelerated the thirst for more content among viewers. This has led advertisers to prioritise their ad spends accordingly, in which regional spending has seen an upward rise in the latter half of the year. This year as well, the trend will continue to grow. With the increasing reach of content to every corner of the world, brands have started realising the potential. While defining the advertising strategies, brands are effectively focusing on regional ads to diversify their reach and talk to their audience in the affable regional expression with the right regional nuance.

When the retail shops were closed for consecutive months, brands were in predicament to run the business. Though e-commerce played a crucial role and aid people to order from the comfort of their home, the situation gave an added advantage to e-commerce portals in the consumer supply chain.

However, many brands decided to expand their business shelf with the help of D2C channels, this phenomenon increased the number of online shoppers and-sales gradually increased. Mankind Pharma also launched their D2C channel to target the consumers directly. COVID-19 has transformed consumer behaviour buying patterns and people have become more inclined towards e-commerce to buy daily essentials. This trend indicates a massive opportunity for D2C brands to succeed.

Digital media 

Digital media has taken the centre stage in the brand’s marketing strategies. The key focus areas which have been in the highlight are social media, influencers and content marketing. The shift happened due to the restrictions imposed due to the lockdown leading companies to extensively focus on influencer marketing, one of the best ways to reach the target audience.

Though the brands have associated with influencers earlier as well, COVID-19 has completely transformed the industries approach. Companies considered influencer marketing as a short-term framework but now the marketing campaigns revolve around it. Due to the vast shape up, brands are focusing on regional influencers also. To share a glimpse of it, we have also roped in multiple regional influencers for our diverse brands such as Manforce, AcneStar, Gas-O-Fast, Prega News intending to connect with them on better grounds.

Considering all of these changes happened so swiftly; it is always better to go with the time, instead of just relying on the traditional methods. As innovation is essential to evolve and grow the business.

By Joy Chatterjee

General Manager-Sales & Marketing, Mankind Pharma

Sourced from Entrepreneur India

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Why the CMO is a key, but precarious, role in facing the privacy changes Apple and Google have instituted

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By Michael Bürgi

This article is part of the Digiday Privacy Preview, a digital issue of stories examining what the coming changes to Chrome and iOS will do to the worlds of media and marketing. Read the rest of that coverage here.

As privacy-related issues slide up into marketing conundrums across the advertising landscape, every participant in the buy-sell equation is trying to figure out how to proceed with minimal change and maximum results.

At the top of the food chain are CMOs, the execs holding the purse strings of advertising and in the seat of power. But they’re also under greater pressure than ever before from their CEOs and CFOs to deliver results for the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars they spend marketing their products and services.

How are CMOs dealing with the raft of privacy regulations, as well as Apple and Google’s recent moves to inhibit behavioural tracking? How big a priority are these issues to them?

It’s telling that the CMOs contacted for this story either declined to comment on the record, or didn’t return calls requesting interviews.

Speaking with other marketing experts though, one gets the sense CMOs know the identity issue has huge implications for the future health of their companies, but haven’t come close to solving it. For starters they’ve learned they need to stay flexible to adapt to changing circumstances. “Clients aren’t unsettled,” said Eileen Kiernan, global CEO of IPG agency UM. “At the end of the day, modern marketing is about being fluid and agile — whether it’s in response to changes in market, consumer or competitor activity or changes in regulations and technology.”

Greg Stuart, CEO of MMA Global, an industry non-profit that tackles major issues on behalf of its marketing leader and solutions company clients, has been mapping the consumer privacy landscape closely. Stuart recently polled his global board of directors, which is made up of two-thirds top-level marketers, and the topic of identifiers ranked as their No. 2 priority, just behind marketing effectiveness (identifiers play a key role in measuring marketing effectiveness) but ahead of issues like data and marketing organization

“Based on conversations with my board, I think marketers’ biggest concern around privacy issues is around risk management and assessment, and avoiding liability issues,” said Stuart, himself a CMO in a previous career stop at Cars.com. Given their desire to avoid paying possibly significant penalties that might incur the wrath of the CFO, Stuart said, CMOs are paying particular attention to ensuring they are in compliance with current laws.

To what degree are agencies involved in helping their clients figure out solutions? “Intimately involved — but I would say we’re looking for solutions, not workarounds. We’re working with our clients and CMOs to ensure that they’re well informed about what the changes mean in real terms,” said Kiernan. “For some clients, it’s about strengthening their first-party data capabilities, for others it’s about helping them scenario-plan media and data partnerships, alternative solutions in the market, and how to manage for the lack of certainty.”

Kiernan agrees that the issue goes beyond marketing: “CMOs are drawing on the cross-functional expertise in their teams, whether it’s their data scientists working in partnership with us, but also increasingly having their corporate legal and privacy teams as part of the conversation.”

In recent months, major brands have made clear their desire to secure more first-party data directly from consumers, as a way of getting around these identity obstacles put in their path. But there’s also talk among agencies and brands that the narrowing of privacy limitations offers a wakeup call of sorts to inch away from lower-funnel tactics that relied on the very information that’s now being blocked.

“Maybe it’s about going back to this idea of context,” said one marketing executive speaking off the record during Digiday’s Media Buying Summit in March. “Years ago, contextual buying was the way you [bought media], then we morphed to this purchase-based targeting where we used third party, purchase-based targeting vendors that was very cookie-based. Now it’s going back to contextual again for more equity-based advertising.”

“There’s no question that all these changes will drive a change and evolution in marketing,” said Kiernan. “It’s about being pragmatic, commercial and identifying solutions that respect the law and individual rights while ensuring that marketing can both drive and be accountable for business results.”

For his part, MMA’s Stuart doesn’t believe there will be a huge return to contextual advertising as a way of sidestepping privacy limitations, but he adds that today’s tools enable a much more robust way to execute it. He argues that it boils down to whether marketers are pursuing attribution goals versus orchestration goals — the latter being the ability to serve up an ad in a targeted way, which is exactly what’s being inhibited by Apple’s and Google’s moves.

“There’s a real understanding that this is not just about media investment, addressable media and attribution, and that it’s also about a shift in public sentiment on data and privacy,” added Kiernan. “It’s my role as a CEO — and our role as an agency committed to helping futureproof our clients’ businesses — to balance both the art and science of data-driven marketing — in a continually evolving landscape.”

By Michael Bürgi

Sourced from DIGIDAY

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Important Digital Marketing Shifts for 2021 and Beyond

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1. If brands are hoping to stay relevant and keep up with the content creation phenomenon, 2021 needs to be the year of Empowering Employees to Power your Brand. It is plain and simple—employee censorship on social channels is a disaster for brands. We can no longer control the message folks. The social framework is “bigger and stronger” than our puny frameworks. Instead of fighting it every step of the way, USE it to your advantage, or you’ll pay a steep price in diminished return… especially during these times of change and uncertainty. Your employees are the best way to humanize and personalize your brand… and truly the best way to scale relevant, contextual content creation

Did you know that employee created content (ECC) receives eight times more engagement than content shared from the company itself? On top of that, employee content extends brand messaging by over 500%. Crazy, right? So why aren’t more companies getting employees engaged in content creation? It’s well known that companies with engaged employees outperform their peers; involving employees in content creation can help to create a sense of common purpose.

The truth of the matter is that the social evolution is a business evolution. Only by changing our old frameworks can we possibly hope to keep up—because social media and the way communication is evolving, along with so many other applications during the pandemic, have completely altered the business landscape. #ROE… Return on Employees.

2. Changing shopper behaviour creates a land grab for retailers and brands alike. Established brands like Nike are making huge strides to connect directly with shoppers, preparing for a future where a good portion of retail is direct. Upstart brands including AllBirds, Warby Parker and Dollar Shave Club have been pushing incumbents to embrace more flexible channel strategies as well, and the trend is expanding exponentially in 2021. Incumbents and challengers alike are exploring all kinds of channel mix combinations although with a common tactical thread… all brands are seeking direct relationships with shoppers instead of relying on third party retailers… especially with how the #Covid19 pandemic has dramatically altered shopping behaviour.

3. Customer Experience with our Marketing… we worry all the time about customer experience with our employees, product, purchase, and service, BUT we have overlooked a critical part of the customer experience, and that IS how “our” marketing affects “them.” We’ve got data coming out of our ears, so tracking the results of our marketing efforts in terms of dollars and cents is becoming easier and easier. However, all these efforts only measure the upside of banging consumers over the head (how many more clicks, shares, engagements, and ultimately sales, do we get). No regard is given to the downside numbers. What we are NOT tracking is the point at which our customers turn from just annoyed, too fed up with our bot stalking and algorithm tweaking.

I think we need to spend as much time finding ways to track the negative effect of our marketing efforts as we do the positive ones. Every brand that continues to bang your customers or followers over the head again, and again, and again – without regard to the damage it is doing to brand equity – is going to suffer as we move forward in this customer, “my media, my commerce, my way”, world.

Marketing will truly win when humans control the machines, instead of the machines controlling the humans. 

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Sourced from Ted Rubin Straight Talk

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All the data Google’s apps collect about you and how to stop it

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By Matt Burgess

Google’s business is built on data. But it doesn’t have to be this way

Google makes its money through selling advertising – the more targeted an ad is to you and your interests, the more money Google makes. And to do this, Google needs data – lots of data. Every search, every click, every swipe of an app, it’s all combined to turn Google into one of the richest companies in the world.

In recent years Google has improved the ways you can control the data it collects but there’s still more that can be done to help people understand what they’re handing over. Enter Apple.

In December Apple introduced privacy labels in its App Store to show what information each app collects and how it might be linked to you. This can include everything from browsing history to your location. Google, perhaps unimpressed by Apple’s move, was slow to update its apps with the details of what it collects and how. Consider this: more than more than 60 apps and nine of its products have one billion people than a billion people use Google’s apps. That’s a lot of data.

Here’s all the data that three of Google’s biggest apps – Gmail, Chrome and its search app – collect about you and what you can do to take control.

Google app

Google’s search app adds widgets and its own voice search to iPhones, as well as giving personalised recommendations for news stories and topics you may be interested in. As with a large number of Google’s apps the data that’s linked to you can be very rich, however for a number of device-level settings (such as photos and videos) you’ll need to give the app permission to access them.

Data that is sent to advertisers (who aren’t Google): Location information, search history, browsing history, and other usage data.

Data that is sent to Google for advertising or marketing: Location information, contact info (including physical address, email and name), search history, browsing history, user identifiers (user ID and device ID), and usage data (product interaction and advertising data).

Data used for analytics: Location, contact info (physical and email address), contacts, audio data, search history, browsing history, user identifiers (user ID and device ID), usage data (including product interaction and advertising data), crash and performance data, and ‘other data types’.

Data gathered for product personalisation: Location, contact info (physical and email address), photos or videos, search history, browsing history, user identifiers (user ID and device ID), usage data (including product interaction and advertising data), and advertising data.

Data collected for app functionality: Payment information, location, contact information (including physical address, email, name and phone number), contacts, user content (including photos or videos, audio data, customer support details), search history, browsing data, user identifiers (user ID and device ID), usage data (including product interaction and advertising data), diagnostics (crash data and performance data), plus other data types that aren’t defined.

Gmail

Data that is sent to advertisers (who aren’t Google): location, user IDs and advertising data.

Data used for analytics: purchase history, location, email address, user content (including photos or videos, audio data, customer support and ‘other’ content), search history, user identifiers (user ID and device ID), usage data (including product interaction and advertising data, crash data and performance data and ‘other’ data types.

Data used for product personalisation: email address, contacts, emails or text messages, audio data, search history, user identifiers (user ID and device ID), and usage data.

Data collected for app functionality: purchase history, location, email and name, contacts, emails or text messages, photos or videos, audio data, customer support and other user content, search history, user identifiers (user ID and device ID), product interaction, diagnostics (crash data and performance data), and other data types.

Chrome

Data used for analytics: location, audio data and customer support, browsing history, user identifiers (user ID and device ID), product interaction data, diagnostics (crash data and performance data) and other data types.

Data used for product personalisation: location, browsing history, user identifiers (user ID and device ID), and product interaction data.

Data collected for app functionality: payment information, location, audio data, customer support data, browsing history, user identifiers (user ID and device ID), product interaction, crash and performance data, and other data types.

What this data means and what you can do about it

While much of the data Google collects will be used to help the company personalise and target advertising towards you, particularly data that’s linked to user IDs, there’s also some data that will be used by Google for making sure its apps continue to work as intended. This can include diagnostics and crash data that will tell the company why the app stopped working at various times.

Google’s rivals have been quick to point out that their apps – as shown through their own privacy labels in the App Store – don’t collect anywhere near as much data. For instance, search engine and browser DuckDuckGo says it doesn’t collect any data that can be linked to users. The app store shows its app collecting usage and diagnostics data but this is labelled as ‘data not linked to you’.

So what can you do about the data collection? In Chrome, Google’s privacy settings can help you limit what’s collected about you. Here you can turn off the third-party cookies that follow you about the web and send out requests for you not to be tracked online (although this setting is largely ineffective). In settings you can also turn off sync so that your browsing history isn’t passed across all your devices.

Perhaps the biggest control you can put on what Google collects comes from its Activity Controls. Here you can stop Google from saving your web activity, turn off its access to your location, and stop personalised ads.

All of the above will limit what Google can access about you to a degree, but it is only a sticking plaster. If you’re going to use Google, you’re agreeing to have data collected about you. Of course, this is the case for many of the free apps and services you use.

An alternative is not to use Google’s apps or services. While this can be beneficial for data collection and privacy, it does come with some trade-offs. Google’s vast resources mean it has developed some of the most feature-rich and well functioning services around – competitors can’t recreate exactly the same results as Google produces in search, for instance.

That doesn’t mean that it’s not worth trying out or making the move to more privacy-friendly alternatives. Arguably the easiest Google product to move away from is Chrome. There are a number of privacy browsers that limit the collection of user data and stop advertising tracking you across the web. Our favourites include Brave, DuckDuckGo, Tor and Firefox Focus.

Moving away from Gmail is harder as there aren’t as many well-developed competitors. Switzerland-based ProtonMail, which uses end-to-end encryption for messages, is the main Gmail alternative to consider.

Feature Image Credit: Google / Getty Images / WIRED

By Matt Burgess

Matt Burgess is WIRED’s deputy digital editor. He tweets from @mattburgess1

Sourced from WIRED

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Mobile Only: It’s Time To Shift Your Marketing Strategy

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By Richard Breitengraser

What was once a trend is now a way of life. Mobile is No. 1 when it comes to media consumption as 72% of people across the globe will use just their smartphones to access the internet by 2025. Now is the time to ask yourself: How mobile-focused is your marketing strategy, your campaigns and your content? Are they still made for desktop?

It’s Not About Hype — It’s About Agility

Whether chatbots, Clubhouse, App Clips or AI, new technologies are necessary for your marketing strategy and you have to master them. But ultimately, it doesn’t matter if TikTok becomes more popular than Snapchat or if Twitch is the latest and greatest social platform. In the long run, the brand that reaches people on the right channels with the right messages and understands their wants, needs and demands will prevail. New technologies are just hardware, a new tool to deal with. What counts in mobile marketing is flexibility, agility and creativity. Fixed annual plans, rigid budgeting cycles, exhaustive decision-making processes and approval dynamics do not fit into this mobile world. Agility is the keyword, but this does not mean acting rashly.

Video Is King

We learned that brand loyalty suffered during the pandemic. One lasting mistake many marketers will regret is cutting back their content budget during the pandemic. To get people excited about your brand again, mobile video content is the best tool. We can’t resist video. It’s one of the most powerful and evocative mediums. We can still remember slogans and jingles years later. Video can increase credibility, serve as a source of information and can be an inspiration. In short, videos have a magical attraction.

According to a 2018 study, American adults spend an average of three hours a day consuming media on either a smartphone or tablet. Additionally, “64% of adult smartphone users who watch video on social networking sites and apps, do so at least once per day,” with that figure up to 72% for younger adults (ages 18 to 34). If you want to appeal to both your loyal and new customers with your messages, mobile video should be your first priority.

Video And Values

When my team and I talk about videos, we also talk about brand health. Brands should use video to communicate their values rather than their products. Here are three steps to success for value-driven videos:

1. Be selfless instead of selfish. It’s about the customer, not about you.

2. What’s the value? Tell a story. Award the people’s time. Give, don’t just take.

3. Empathy wins. Create an emotional connection between people and your brand.

But for mobile video to convert prospects and bring in ROI, there are also craft aspects to consider. Here are a few craft tips to keep in mind:

• Create content regularly. Use the full range of content — think fun, hero content, but also storytelling, campaign or how-to videos.

• Pay attention to different ratios during conception and production and consider where the video should run. As an Instagram story or post, Facebook or YouTube? At a ratio of 1:1 or 4:3? One-size-fits-all does not work.

• Run a “stop scrolling test.” The first five seconds must work without sound!

• Include a call-to-action. Videos should trigger an action from the viewer — visiting your landing page, subscribing to your channel or learning more from a blog post.

• Avoid too much generic content. This includes generic or stock footage. No message means no effect.

• Refrain from using an iconic voice as a voiceover. Let real people speak.

• Establish fixed content formats and faces. Use the same hosts/role models again and again.

• Use a mix of quality storytelling and user-generated content.

• Don’t script the words. This can come across as fake to a viewer.

• Use real people/customers to tell real stories that authentically convey the brand’s core values.

Mobile Marketing In 2021 And Beyond

Looking forward, the most important aspects of mobile marketing will be personalization and localization. The main task for brands will be to create as many mobile touchpoints as possible. Content partnerships, blogs, QR codes and audio are all ways to make your brand communication mobile-friendly.

While mobile video is still the best way to communicate with your customers, there are already several new mobile megatrends on the horizon that are worth your attention. The first is mobile audio. Branded podcasts are the perfect way to reach your target audience. Some successful examples include “The Message” by GE and pasta playlists — Spotify playlists by pasta brand Barilla that play music for the exact length of time it takes to cook different kinds of pasta. Another upcoming mobile trend is to use SMS. While posts and stories disappear or get lost in a never-ending feed, SMS is firmly entrenched in our phones and captures subscribers’ undivided attention.

Feature Image Credit: Getty

By Richard Breitengraser

Richard Breitengraser (CEO, VOID International Media Group) is a global brand, content, video, marketing & strategy executive. Read Richard Breitengraser’s full executive profile here.

Sourced from Forbes

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The Great Debate: Instagram vs. TikTok & the Future of Social Media Marketing

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By Nikara Johns

“Should we be on TikTok?” It’s the question brands and companies in all industries are asking themselves as the platform continues to grow. TikTok is available in more than 150 countries, has over 1 billion users and has been downloaded at least 200 million times in the United States alone, according to Wallaroo Media.

For many marketing experts, it’s a no-brainer to give it a go.

“It’s almost imperative for brands to be on it because now is the time to capture that organic growth,” said Aliza Licht, founder and president of consultancy firm Leave Your Mark. “TikTok is ripe for the taking.”

What sets TikTok apart from other social media platforms is its overall virality, according to marketers. TikTok has a knack for connecting people around shared interests through discovery because it is not based on who you know or follow, but rather on the content. With that, users with small followings can often receive views in the hundreds of thousands to millions. User Anna DeCarlo, for instance, has a modest 9,000-person TikTok following and she received nearly 115,000 views on a video that showed off her shoe closet.

It’s not just about singing and dancing either, which is a common misconception. Content is created within a variety of different categories — including fashion, which is a breakout tier that brands can capitalize on.

In 2020, the app could be credited for many of the biggest style trends during stay-at-home orders — whether it was the explosion of Nike Air Force 1s or tie-dye sweat suits — and the fashion category is only continuing to grow on the platform, earning a whopping 17.5 billion views as of June 2020, according to a report by Statista.

“Fashion is unique in the sense that it is so dynamic and so tied to culture that everyone’s got a way to play into it,” Matt Cleary, director of Retail & Dining, Global Business Solutions at TikTok, told FN. “Fashion is such an opportunity for TikTok to be a force in itself, but also a huge channel for brands to either reinvent themselves or create new relationships.”

An estimated 60% of TikTok users are Gen Zers, which has been a key demographic for brands who are looking to tap a younger audience. What’s more, TikTok users are ageing up — with more millennials using the platform.

But beyond brand building, the question for many companies is: Is there a revenue opportunity? And the numbers show there is an appetite among users to shop: The popular #TikTokMadeMeBuyIt currently has 1.9 billion views, for instance, and features a variety of trending purchased product, including everything from Walmart sneakers to Aerie leggings.

The Case for Instagram

While TikTok is a fast-growing platform with a fresh take on content, Instagram remains the No. 1 tool for social media marketing. At the end of 2020, 96% of brand campaigns included Instagram influencers, for instance, compared to 6.8% TikTok influencers, as reported by Influencer Marketing Hub.

Kyle Hjelmeseth, founder of G&B Digital Management, explained that influencers have been sticking with Instagram because it is so well-established.

“Influencer talent is so ingrained in Instagram and brands are spending money there. So there’s not a lot of incentive for Instagrammers to move to TikTok,” he said. “They’re already making a lot of money. And Instagram now has Reels [videos], so we can arguably do the same thing, while keeping to your core audience.”

On the brand side, Instagram remains a safe investment: Companies already have established relationships and an understanding of how it works.

“The credibility is still there,” explained Gil Eyal, founder of influencer marketing database HYPR. “If you’re looking to build a brand reputation and you want to surround it with people who are fashion thought leaders, you’re probably going to do better on a place like Instagram. Every photo is carefully looked at before it’s posted, and your brand is going to be seen the way that you want it to be seen. If you’re looking for visibility and people talking about your brand and giving away control, TikTok is a much better place because of the nature of the platform.”

Indeed, TikTok has many advantages. Recent data from influencer marketing platform Upfluence showed much higher engagement rates on TikTok, where micro-influencers garnered engagement rates of 17.96%, compared with 3.86% on Instagram.

Eyal said, “It depends on your target audience, but if all things are equal, there’s no question that TikTok is way better than Instagram right now [when it comes to engagement]. In very straightforward terms, Facebook and Instagram have implemented algorithms that limit your viewership in an effort to get people to pay for additional exposure.”

However, Licht added that Instagram is still hugely important from a performance marketing standpoint. “When we say it’s the No. 1 platform, it is because that is what’s driving revenue,” she said. “Organic posts are tough, but paid works. So if you are an e-commerce brand, then you’re not giving up Facebook and Instagram.”

Finding a Balance

Even if Instagram is a successful platform for brands, experts say the goal is to diversify your audience, so TikTok should be part of the plan.

They suggest that brands create their own account on the platform and use organic posts as a testing ground to find what resonates. Then tap TikTok creators to make a splash for specific goals, such as a product launch.

One way TikTok is enticing brands and influencers is through it’s Creator Marketplace, which helps to establish direct collaborations and partnerships between brands and creators.

“Creators are the lifeblood of our platform” said Cleary. “When we think about how brands can participate, we generally point to creators either as a muse or as a tool for brands to leverage. They’re platform natives; they know exactly what works. They know that when they lean in to what makes them different and authentic, their content becomes very viral, and we want to make sure brands are leveraging them for that.”

Licht also advised brands new to TikTok to start small, research hashtags and not be so cautious with content. “It’s OK to make mistakes,” she said. “It’s OK not to know how to use it. It’s initiation by fire and you have to test stuff.”

But experts said one thing companies must realize is that Instagram or YouTube content doesn’t translate well on TikTok. For instance, repurposing content and cutting a fashion campaign video or runway clip into 30 seconds will not connect with TikTokers.

“We want our brands to create TikToks, not ads,” said Cleary. “They have to be comfortable taking down their traditional guardrails and testing and sourcing, listening. All the best brands, they’re listening to see how their fans are already talking about them on the platform and then leaning into those trends.”

For marketers, the success of TikTok doesn’t mean the end for Instagram. But they warn that Instagram fatigue is out there, and expectations from consumers are changing.

“It’s creating a competitive environment for other platforms to attract and maintain creators. Previously, this was less of a concern,” said Eric Dahan, CEO of Open Influence. “There’s a bigger sense of comfort with Instagram, [but] TikTok is forcing platforms to think how they cater to their influencers [and] audience.”

Feature Image Credit: TikTok/AP; Instagram/Adobe Stock

TikTok and Instagram both have approximately 1 billion active users.

Sourced from FN

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SEO in 2021: What You Need to Rank Higher in Google

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Discover what it takes to rank higher in Google during 2021, versus that of previous years.

SEO is a key component of advertising that aids in increasing the site’s awareness for related queries. If your website does not appear on the Search Engine Result Page’s top page, you cannot do anything correctly. And this post will help you solve your issues.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a collection of approaches and tactics used to maximize the volume of visits to a site by achieving a high ranking in the search results. Having the website understandable to both consumers and search engine algorithms is an essential part of SEO.

SEO helps search engines assess what a given website is about and if it might help consumers. In today’s high world, it’s important to place as massive as necessary in search results, which requires an aggressive SEO technique Most users, though, are unaware of how to rank a fresh website on Google.

Let’s have a look at how you can rank your website on google in 2021.

Long-tail keywords should be targeted with low competition

Long-tail keywords are more descriptive (and typically longer) searches than more common “head” keywords. Long-tail keywords are less challenging and more focused than shorter-term keywords. When you’re just beginning your SEO strategy for a website, We would highly encourage you to concentrate on long-tail terms.

SEO is not about increasing the number of visits to a website. You would like to target people who need what you’re offering, which will turn into leads and, ultimately, clients.

That is only true if its rankings with the keywords that certain users will use while looking. Anything else, there’s no way they’d approach you. Because if your website was at the peak of the search results, there is also a threat.

As a consequence, SEO research continues by deciding what keywords prospective customers put into search engines.

Knowing words and issues important to your company is usually the first step in the method. Then, they are converted into original keywords. After that, do a detailed analysis to identify similar words that your target demographic would use.

Make your site speed super fast.

A slower website is inconvenient for the average consumer and is also damaging to search engine optimization.

As a response, a poor website can lead your website to perform slower in search engine rankings. This means fewer page visits and, as a result, fewer ad sales or user retention for you. There are many methods for optimizing a website for speed.

A load time, the time required for a consumer to be willing to access the website — is used by search engines to measure accuracy.

Most website components may affect it. Consider the size of a picture. For advice on how to boost the blogs, use Google’s Web Speed Insights Tool.

Create unique content.

How much do you make changes to your website? You actually don’t have a fantastic SEO ranking if you’ve not reached it since the day you created it. To boost visits to your website and its visibility, you must allow users to come. And if you are already using WordPress, then there is no excuse for not creating new and exciting content — it’s just way too simple!

Your content must be of high quality, fresh, and appropriate. The so-called moisture content is another aspect that influences your SEO score. This is the number of times users invest on your website every session.

While your site contains new, entertaining, or relevant content, users can stay on your website longer, increasing your dwell time. Websites with a lot of knowledge normally get a lot of users who stay for a longer time.

Use a straightforward URL structure.

Search engines do not appreciate large sequences of terms with complicated structures. As a result, leave the URLs as short as possible. Set them up to contain as few as necessary besides the target keywords for which you want to optimize the website.

Final thoughts on improving your site rankings

One important strategy is to maintain a strong monitor on your rivals. Find out where the rivals have their connections from and which marketers they are partnering with.

All of this data will be used to establish your own SEO roadmap for 2021. Hopefully, you will find this guide more suitable for a better ranking of your website on google.

If you enjoyed the content within this article, we’re sure you will love the latest resource guides we’ve written on how to use SERP checker tools, and also taking advantage of what Instagram growth services have to offer.

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Sourced from Influencive

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Poll: Employees would rather make less money than go back to an office

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By Napier Lopez.

For many people, one of the few good things about this pandemic has been the ability to work from home. The past year has shown both employees and employers that many jobs can be done effectively from home.

In fact, the desire to keep work from home has been so strong that it appears a significant majority of people would rather turn down a $30,000 salary increase than lose the ability to work from home.

A poll posted on Blind, an anonymous forum for employees, asks:

Would you rather make $30k more switching to a new job that requires you to work in office or would you rather keep your current salary but work anywhere after covid?

It’s far from a scientific survey, but with over 3,000 votes so far, 64.3% say they would rather keep working from home, while 35.7% would opt for the extra cash.

A representative for Blind further elaborated with some specifics, such as that 71% of Airbnb, 81% of Lyft, 89% of Twitter, and 100% of Zillow employees would rather keep working from home.

A simple poll like this obviously misses some nuances, such as how much money the employees are making in the first place, or how often employees would have to go back to work. Because the question asks about switching jobs rather than, say, getting a raise at your current job, the results may be further skewed.

Still, this is not the only poll to suggest employees largely want more ability to work from home.

A survey run by the Harvard Business School Online and research firm City Square Associates polled nearly 1,500 professionals between March 2020 and March 2021 and found that “81% either don’t want to go back to the office or would prefer a hybrid schedule going forward.”

More specifically, 61 percent would like to be able to work 2-3 days from home, while 27% hoped to work remotely full time.

Only 18% of respondents wanted to go back to the office full-time. Curiously, parents with kids at home and married people were more likely to want to go back to work full time than singles.

As someone who’s been working from home for years before the pandemic, it’s hard to imagine going back to the office. Time is money, and the time wasted commuting is something that’s hard to put a price tag on.

on Blind

By Napier Lopez

Sourced from TNW

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Why You Should Use WhatsApp Business in 2021

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By John Boitnott

From customer engagement and brand awareness to commerce opportunities for products and services, there are many reasons to use WhatsApp Business in 2021.

Many social networks started off focusing on personal relationships and connections centering around lifestyles. However, companies like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat realized the value of inviting businesses and brands to participate in their social networks to connect them with consumers.

WhatsApp has joined in by offering WhatsApp Business, a free app for small business owners and startup founders that can be used on Android and iOS mobile devices. The app offers a way to interact and engage with customers in a direct, personal and targeted way.

Account options

WhatsApp Business provides two types of accounts for companies that suit different needs. The regular business account helps separate personal and work messages while providing a convenient way to be responsive to customers. Options also include automated greeting and away messages. The app does require a separate SIM or phone number if you want to have both a personal and WhatsApp Business account.

Growing companies might want to consider the WhatsApp Business API account designed for larger enterprises. This pay-to-use platform allows for multiple users, providing opportunities for both sales and customer service teams to interact with customers.

Here are some reasons why your business might benefit from adding WhatsApp Business to your social media marketing strategy.

Messaging tools for engagement

One of the most important aspects of WhatsApp Business is its messaging capability, which connects a brand to its audience and customer base. With open messaging options, a company can send unlimited free messages in multiple formats. Automation features also provide a way to deliver timely responses.

The messaging system encourages proactive contact with your audience. If you have a customer or lead’s phone number, you can use WhatsApp Business to send an initial welcome message to each contact. While you won’t want to overdo it by sending too many messages, this channel becomes an alternative or additional channel to connect with your target audience or existing customers.

There is also a broadcast tool, which allows you to send any type of content to up to 256 people on each broadcast list you have created. Although contacts will only receive the broadcast if they have saved your number, this is an efficient way to send out a campaign quickly. You can also segment your contacts and then create broadcast campaigns related to appointments, shipping information and booking requests that match those groups or personas.

Group messaging is another engagement and collaboration tool. Similar to broadcasting, this tool offers group chat capability so that everyone can interact and see contact details. Available for up to 256 contacts in one group, the tool is effective for networking, beta testing, focus groups and service meetings.

Business presence and awareness

Multiple statistics point to the benefits of using WhatsApp Business. According to WhatsApp, there are 2 billion WhatsApp users around the world as of 2020. The number of users has been increasing at the extraordinary rate of half a billion every two years. Of this audience, Statista noted that 1.6 billion users access the messaging app each month (Statista, 2019), which is 23 percent more than its closest competitor, Facebook Messenger.

As part of the Facebook family of companies, you can use WhatsApp Business to further grow your online presence and reach an even wider audience. One appealing option is to link the app to a Facebook Page. Doing so can help you funnel traffic through various tools like a WhatsApp Send Message Button, Facebook Ads, or a WhatsApp number listed on your Facebook page.

A showcase for your products and services

WhatsApp Business provides ways to market and sell your products or services through features like the WhatsApp Business Catalog and WhatsApp Cart. The catalog feature provides a way to share product and service listings with customers. You can spotlight what you offer with photos, descriptions and pricing information. Links from your catalog or even each item within it can be shared across all your other channels.

Customers can also add items to their cart after viewing them in the catalog as well as use the messaging tools to confirm a transaction with your business. The app also works well for those companies that have physical storefronts. For example, you can physically display your WhatsApp Business QR code so customers can scan it in the store, easily adding you so they may interact with your business online.

Analytics to help understand your customers

There are some options that provide a way to track key metrics about customers. The WhatsApp Business API product delivers analytics on the number of messages sent and delivered from certain phone numbers. Other metrics include the number of messages that selected phone numbers received from recipients. You will also be able to stay on top of the total estimated amount spent on messages. The metrics are stored in the Insights tab, but the data can also be exported and segmented by phone number, message type and country.

Expanding channel connections

WhatsApp Business provides another channel to make connections with your target audience and engage with customers. Start by researching and understanding how to use it, and then assess if it makes sense for your business. If you are looking for new ways to interact with customers, work across offline and online channels, and access additional metrics about your customers, then WhatsApp Business might be a good addition to your marketing tactics.

By John Boitnott

Entrepreneur Leadership Network VIP. Journalist, Digital Media Consultant and Investor

Sourced from Entrepreneur Europe

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