editor, Author at Mediastreet

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7 ways to use data to create better social media content

February 1, 2021 No Comments

The social media content calendar is the crux of every social media marketer’s strategy. When done well, content brings your audience closer to your brand, demonstrates your brand’s personality and most importantly, supports your goals.

But what really drives your KPIs?

What is it that your audience feels when they come across your content that then converts to a like, a share or a link click? Why do they feel that?

And how can you continue developing fresh content that replicates success?

You can find the answers to those questions in your social media data. However, according to the Sprout Social Index™, only 49% of marketers are using data to create social media content.

Reporting on social data is not just about understanding whether you reached your goals and learning what worked or didn’t. On a deeper level, data analysis and reporting are about spinning insights into creative social media content that resonates with your audience more deeply and gives you a competitive advantage.

Keep reading to learn how to create content for social media marketing and supercharge your strategy using data as your inspiration.

1. Determining what worked and what didn’t is all relative

Content should always be aligned to a specific goal. If you’re creating content just because an idea seems fun, that could work out, but what’s your objective? At what stage of the marketing funnel does that content fall?

Ground your content strategy with intention and measurable objectives. Without those, it’s going to be awfully hard to know what data to look for that will show you if that content “worked.”

Create more effective social media content by first making sure you know which KPIs are the right ones. That way when you report back on content performance, you can hone in on the essential data, understand what happened and investigate why.

If you need a little help with content ideas or deciding on your KPIs for each stage of the funnel, check out our social media metrics map!

2. Identify top-performing posts by goal

The starting point for your content inspiration should be your top-performing content and as we’ve already pointed out, success is all relative to your goals. With analytics tools like Sprout Social, you can view performance data post-by-post, sort by KPIs and efficiently determine which content to create more of.

Let’s say you’re launching a new and improved product or service. Look back at your last product launch and past product content performance on social. Here’s how you might break down your evaluation of that content:

Goal: Drive conversion

Social KPIs: Link clicks and click-through rate

Analysis of top-performing content:

Evaluate the factors that contributed to your audience engaging and driving those KPIs.
Did you use snappy CTAs or were they more direct?
What accompanying creative assets did you use and how might they have influenced your audience’s actions?
Did you try something new with your content format or stick with a tried-and-true method?

If you can at least hypothesize the answers and establish patterns, you can apply your insights, build a flexible content framework and replicate your success.

3. Analyze your low-performing posts

It’s easy to focus on success, but it’s equally important to know which kinds of content might repel your audience. Continuing to spin your wheels on content that has little-to-no value for your audience is a lose-lose situation. In fact, 45% of consumers will unfollow a brand due to irrelevant content.

Sprout social index data: why consumers unfollow brands on social

If you want to be best in class, examine what is not working and diagnose why. Was a CTA missing? Is the content feel off-brand or irrelevant? Has your audience seen the content before? Was the platform the right place for this content type?

If you have a single post in a month that doesn’t perform to your standard, that doesn’t mean you should immediately throw that content out altogether. Instead, look for patterns over time, just as you would for successful posts.

Concerned about content performance plateaus? Use this checklist to jumpstart your content strategy and bounce back.

In a social media management tool like Sprout, you can retroactively add tags to your posts. This can help you keep track of the posts and content types that continue to underperform. Then, you can analyze that tag data to find commonalities that point to low performance and determine which content to discontinue.

4. Always look at engagement and sentiment

Engagement metrics aren’t always an indication that you met a goal, but they do indicate quite a bit about your audience and how to create social media content for them. Consumers revere brands that know how to engage their audience as best in class on social, according to the Sprout Social Index™. But going a layer deeper, sentiment, feelings and emotions are what drive a person’s reaction to your content.

Social is a really important tool for our organization and Sprout has helped us gain a much better understanding of who our audience is and what they are looking for from us. Being able to publish content in a way that is responsive to when and why our audience is engaging with the content has improved our engagement metrics.

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Darcy Young
Director of Social Media, Teach for America

On some platforms, like Facebook and LinkedIn, people can choose different reactions beyond the traditional “like,” which can give you a better idea of how and why the post resonated. Sometimes, people will even tell you what they like, so always check the comment section.

Engagement rates speak to the relevance of your content and track how actively involved with your content your audience is. If you have a smaller audience, relevance is especially important in building brand awareness and affinity.

5. Get inspiration from Google Analytics data

For 52% of social marketers, increasing web traffic is their top goal. Link clicks are a good indication that your content is driving traffic, but Google Analytics can help you dig deeper and inspire new social content.

With GA, you can see a breakdown of each web page’s pageviews, traffic referrals, conversions, page value and more. If there are high-value pages that you haven’t shared on social, use what you know about your audience and the kind of content they engage with to develop social posts around that page.

Collaborate with your other marketing colleagues outside of social to determine which web pages, blog content, webinars and other published marketing content to promote. Then, when you’re ready to publish your content, add UTM tracking to every URL you share. That way, you can track results in GA, report back to other stakeholders and refine your content as necessary.

6. Tap into brand-relevant conversations

Instead of solely using best practices or performance to formulate your ideas, use social listening data as well. Social listening can help you find relevant trends, themes and topics that are resonating with your target audience right now and ripe for content inspiration.

Sprout’s Listening and Reporting features have enabled us to dig into our content and topics in much greater detail than before, which helps us identify key hashtags, influencers, trends, and metrics in a comprehensive way.

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Aida Ruilova
Director of Brand Research, Analytics & Insights, Teach for America

In Sprout’s Listening tool, users can use Topic Templates to create and continually monitor conversations and perceptions about your brand, products, industry and more even. Once you’ve set up your Topics, filters and keywords can help you get into more granular details that will help you create engaging social media content.

Let’s say you’ve set up a Topic around brand health and you notice that positive sentiment on Twitter has increased over the past few months. You can add a positive sentiment filter to hone in on the messages driving that up-tick and investigate what exactly it is that’s tickling people’s fancy. Then, use the insights you gather from those conversations to build content that continues to dial up the positivity.

sentiment analysis through social media is a great example of improving ux for marketers

Or, maybe you notice that there are recurring questions and misconceptions about the kinds of products or services you offer. That might indicate that you need to develop more educational content to fill your audience’s knowledge gaps.

The ability to explore individual topics like brand health, coronavirus, school fall plans and have Sprout provide key data in an easily digestible format (that’s also easy to share internally) has helped us present data more regularly and efficiently.

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Aida Ruilova
Director of Brand Research, Analytics & Insights, Teach for America

7. Look at competitor data

To stand out from your competition, first you have to understand them and know how you stack up. Listening can help here as well.

Set up a competitive analysis topic in your listening tool to find major keywords, content themes and hashtags in conversations about your competitors. With the option to filter by competitor, content type and sentiment in Sprout, you can determine what content resonates among your shared audiences, find customer pain points that future content can solve and discover new opportunities to differentiate your content and brand.

Stay connected and stay agile

Your audience’s tastes are not fixed, and neither is your audience. You can always count on them to change. But if you stay connected to your audience and continue to follow social data, you can continually find ways to create more inspired and successful content.

There’s more you can do with your data. Download this guide to learn about 40 different ways to use social media data that you might have overlooked.

Lauren Cover

Lauren Cover is a Content Specialist at Sprout Social where she writes to empower brands and equip social media professionals with tools for success. Her specialties outside of work include serenading her dogs, devouring buffalo wings and dad jokes. Read all articles

Sourced from sproutsocial

In News

Business of Blogging: How To Treat Your Blog Like A Business

February 1, 2021 No Comments

By Rogier Ramon Giersthove

If you struggle with blog monetization, here’s a look at 5 lessons learned from profitable bloggers on how to treat your blog like a business.

In the last few weeks, I have had some interesting interviews with two six-figure bloggers about why the majority of aspiring content creators struggle to monetize their blogs.

The blame is often centred on the current state of blogging with increased competition, but when I talked to these bloggers they insisted that competition wasn’t the main problem. In fact, both bloggers monetized their blogs in different ways, and both came to the same conclusion.

Instead, they suggested that bloggers who struggle to make money often don’t know how to treat their blog like a business.

If you struggle with blog monetization, here’s a look at 5 lessons learned from profitable bloggers on treating a blog like a business and how you can do it too.

1. Get a clear understanding of your value proposition

One of the most important parts of owning a business is providing your target audience with something they value (i.e., value creation).

It doesn’t matter if you are just getting started or have been blogging for a while. Take some time to consider the value your blog will provide to a specific audience.

Unsure where to start?

Here are a few questions to consider:

Why does your blog exist?
Who should know about your blog?
Why should they care about your content?
What end-result should people have after reading your content?

If you already have a blog try to find out what posts get the most engagement and what type of comments are people leaving on your posts.

You’ll be working the other way around but in some cases that can be even more effective than deciding what type of content you’re going to make and looking for your target audience after that.

2. Develop a blog monetization strategy

Start to treat your blog like a business as early as possible and decide how you’re going to earn money from blogging. The method you use to make money online will influence what kind of content you’ll create.

For example, some bloggers focus primarily on making money with affiliate marketing. While affiliate marketing blogs might provide lifestyle and educational content on their website the primary focus is to create and share product reviews that link to affiliate offers.

On the other hand, if you promote self-made products then reviewing other people’s products might not be the most effective way to make money from your blog.

Each monetization strategy works best when bloggers focus on a specific type of content. Learn about blog monetization methods and create content that complements that method.

3. Build a brand people can trust

Without credibility, people won’t easily part with their money in exchange for your services or products. This is why it’s important to build a brand that people can trust.

However, there is a common misconception about brand building that I’d like to address. Building a brand is so much more than a logo, font, and colours of your blog (i.e., brand identity or the visible elements of a brand). It’s also deciding what you stand for, what you want to be known for, and communicating that through your content.

Visible brand elements, like a logo and colours, do play a factor in branding because they help people identify your work, but it’s the combination of that and the communication of your values through content that shapes a brand.

4. Create measurable business goals and an action plan

Aimlessly blogging isn’t going to get you anywhere if you want to turn your blog into a business. You’ll need to set some goals to make significant progress.

In the book, What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School, author Mark McCormack references a 1979 Harvard study where MBA’s were asked “Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?” Their responses

84% didn’t have specific goals
13% did have goals but the didn’t have it clear on paper
3% had set clear goals and created a plan to achieve them

In 1989 the group was interviewed again. The study found that the 13% who did have goals earned on average double that of the 84% that did not. The 3% who had set clear goals and created a plan, earned on average 10 times as much as the other 97%.

There’s a clear outcome for those who set clear goals and those who don’t. Goals will give you a clear direction, motivate you, and keep you on track.

It’s important to know how to create meaningful goals that will grow your blog. Start with the S.M.A.R.T. method. After you set goals, map out the steps needed to achieve them, create a schedule based on these steps, and stick to it.

5. Reinvest blog earnings

Like any other business it’s important to reinvest. Don’t be cheap and balk at spending money on your blog. The “cheap” mindset can leave bloggers wandering in circles with progress toward their end goals nowhere in sight.

The moment you start investing money into your blog, new opportunities to make money will open up. For example, you can start investing money in audience research tools, quality website themes, email marketing services, and more tools designed to increase the quality and growth of your blog.

You’ll notice the moment you start to scale your blogging business new tasks will follow. Plan ahead and decide how you’ll organize a team to prevent burnout and give you more headspace to develop growth strategies and run a profitable blogging business.

By Rogier Ramon Giersthove

Rogier Ramon Giersthove is a blogger, podcaster, and Youtuber based in The Netherlands. In 2018, he founded Real Digital Success an initiative that wants to give a realistic look at what it takes to make money online.

Sourced from YFS Magazine

In News

21 Best Website Ideas to Launch an Online Side Business in 2021

February 1, 2021 No Comments

Sourced from wpbeginner

Are you looking for website ideas to launch a side business in the new year?

There are tons of opportunities online with profitable website ideas that you can easily transform into a sustainable side income.

In this article, we’ll share the best website ideas to launch this year. We’ll also show you how to easily get started without a big investment.

What You Need to Put Website Ideas into Action

It is a common myth that you need to be tech-savvy or a programmer to start a website. This was probably true in the 90s, but these days you don’t need any special skills to build a website.

Here is what you actually need to make a website:

A domain name. This will be your website’s address on the internet, e.g. wpbeginner.com).
Web hosting account. This will be your website’s home and where you’ll store all your website files
A website builder. We recommend using WordPress.org which is the best website builder powering more than 39% of all websites on the internet.

We recommend using Bluehost to make your website. They are one of the biggest hosting companies in the world and are officially recommended by WordPress.

They are offering WPBeginner users a generous 60% off discount on hosting with a free domain name and free SSL certificate. Basically, you can launch a website for $2.75 per month.

They automatically install WordPress for you, and you can quickly start working on your website idea with in minutes. If you need more help, then follow the steps in our WordPress installation guide to set up your website.

That being said, let’s take a look at some of the most profitable website ideas to launch this year and turn them into a viable business.

Here is a quick list of website ideas that we’ll talk about. You can jump to the one that you find interesting or read as you scroll along.

1. Start a Personal Website / Blog

Blogs are a popular website idea that has been around for some time and still going strong. Entrepreneurs like Darren Rowse, John Lee Dumas, and Pat Flynn all started as bloggers and are now making six-figure incomes.

Our company’s CEO, Syed Balkhi, started this blog that led him to build an eight-figure business (see: WPBeginner income).

Launching a blog is pretty easy, and it can be on any topic that you are passionate about. The benefit of starting a blog is that you can later use it as a platform to launch many other website ideas.

There are also a ton of monetization options that make blogging a profitable website idea. You can use programs like Google AdSense to display ads, promote affiliate products, sell direct advertisements, or you can even sell your own products to your readers such as online courses, eBooks, etc.

Need help? See our step by step how to start a blog tutorial where we walk you through every step of the way.

If you need expert help, then we also offer a free WordPress blog setup service where one of our WordPress experts will set up your blog for you.

2. Build an Online Store

Another booming website idea is to build an eCommerce store. A lot of folks think that it is probably too technical to get started, which is not exactly true.

You can easily start selling things online with WooCommerce. It is the world’s most popular eCommerce platform that runs on top of WordPress.

It is super easy to use and allows you to sell any type of digital, virtual, or physical products that need shipping. You can easily accept online payments using PayPal, Stripe, or many other payment services.

For step by step instructions, you can follow our beginner’s guide on how to start an online store.

Need ideas on what to sell on your store? See our tutorial on how to source products to sell online.

3. Make a Membership Website

Another popular website idea that is getting a lot of momentum is to create a membership-based website.

Basically, you restrict access to some content on your website that is only available for paid members. This could be an online course, members-only forums, audio or video content, or anything else.

The easiest way to do this is by using MemberPress. It is a WordPress membership plugin that helps you create subscriptions, restrict access, and sell membership plans on your website.

For details, follow our tutorial on how to make a membership website with step by step instructions.

4. Sell Online Courses

Creating and selling online courses is another popular website idea that is growing really fast.

This growing website niche is fueled by the modern gig economy where people need to learn new skills to find new jobs, improve existing skillsets, or just learn something new as a hobby.

MemberPress is the best WordPress LMS plugin that allows you to easily create and sell online courses on your website.

5. Create a Dropshipping Website

Dropshipping is another growing website idea that you can launch without much investment. A dropshipping store is an online store where you sell products, but they are shipped directly by the vendor.

This saves you from the hassle of managing and storing stuff, keeping up inventory, and shipping things. It also allows you to sell a wide-variety of products.

For more details, see our step by step guide on how to create a dropshipping business for beginners.

6. Make an Affiliate Website

One of the most popular website ideas is to start an affiliate website.

Affiliate marketing is a referral arrangement in which an online retailer (advertiser) pays you a commission when users purchase their product from your referral link.

This is a massive industry which means you can make a niche affiliate website and start building upon it. You can find affiliate programs in nearly every industry.

For example: you can create a website that’s focused entirely on reviewing all the newest women’s handbags, new internet routers, new smartphones, etc.

When users make a purchase based on your recommendation, you get a referral fee.

For a more in-depth discussion, see our beginner’s guide to affiliate marketing which has step by step instructions for new affiliate marketers.

7. Launch a Fashion Blog

Fashion and lifestyle is another profitable website idea that has a ton of potential. There are a lot of fashion bloggers and influencers making six-figure incomes.

You can make money through display ads, affiliate marketing, Instagram partnerships with brands, and more.

With WordPress, you can add all the tools you need to grow your brand. You can use connect your Instagram feed, Youtube videos, find fashion website themes, use advertising plugins, and more.

For details, see our tutorial on how to start a fashion blog and promote it the right way.

8. Start a Travel Website

Making a travel blog is another great website idea that is easy to implement and build upon.

You can be an experienced traveler, vlogger, or marketer promoting different tourist destinations. You can monetize using display ads, travel partnerships, earning perks, and more.

Influential travel bloggers are using their travel blogs to launch different products and making significant passive income.

For more on this, don’t forget to check out our article on how to make a travel website using WordPress.

9. Make a Food / Recipes Website

Food and recipe websites are already a popular website idea with plenty of room for new websites.

You can easily start a blog or website, share recipes, discuss food, health, or other related topics. Most recipe websites make money through ads, affiliate marketing, and by selling membership subscriptions.

WordPress comes with plugins that allow you to easily write recipes in SEO friendly format. For details, you can follow our tutorial on how to create a food website and make money online.

10. Start a Podcast Website

Podcasting is another popular website idea that you can launch. It is a fast-growing niche with tons of monetization options.

A podcast is an episodic series of audio files that users can subscribe to download and listen to.

Successful podcasters are making significant money online through sponsorships, advertisements, selling products, and more. It does require a little bit of hardware and some practice with recording and uploading files.

We have a comprehensive guide on starting a podcast website with step by step instructions.

We also have a list of the best podcast hosting platforms to help you succeed.

11. Start a Job Hunt Website

Another popular website idea is to create a job hunt website. It is easy to monetize, and you make money based on user-generated content.

Basically, a job board website allows companies to post job listings and facilitate job seekers by browsing and searching for jobs.

There are WordPress plugins that help you quickly create a job search engine. You can even accept online payments from employers to post listings.

For details, see our guide on how to create a job board in WordPress.

12. Make a Coupons Website

A coupons website helps customers find coupons and deals for their favorite products.

It connects businesses to the customers and provides them tools to locate deals and discounts. It is monetized by affiliate links, partnerships, and display ads.

You can totally automate your website and allow businesses to submit deals directly. This allows you to make money online with user-generated content.

For more details, see our guide on how to create a coupon site in WordPress.

13. Create an Online Marketplace

Many successful marketers use ideas that involve user-generated content to make money. Creating an online marketplace website is one such website idea that you can easily replicate.

A marketplace website is where you provide an eCommerce platform for others to sell their products. You get a cut on each transaction made on your website while the sellers manage the shipping and fulfillment.

For more details, see our article on creating an online marketplace website with detailed instructions.

14. Start a Restaurant Website

Making a restaurant website is an idea specific to people in the restaurant and food industry. Making a restaurant website allows you to accept table reservations and even accept online orders for food delivery.

With WordPress, you can use tools like WPForms to accept bookings and food delivery orders. It also gives you access to many professionally designed restaurant templates that you can customize to your own needs.

Making a restaurant website also helps you easily promote your business, reach new customers, and strengthen your brand image.

15. Build a Reviews Website

Most users look at online reviews before making a buying decision. This makes a reviews website a really lucrative website idea.

A reviews website could rely on both user-generated and original content. You can make money using display ads, affiliate marketing, sponsorships, and more.

We have an article on how to create a niche reviews website with step by step instructions.

16. Make a Photography Website

Another exciting website idea is to launch a photography website. This could be a blog about photography itself, or it could be a place to showcase and sell your own photos.

You can also create a marketplace like Shutterstock where users can sell or buy photographs, illustrations, and other graphic design items.

For more information, take a look at our article on how to make a photography website in WordPress.

17. Launch a Portfolio Website

A great website idea is to make a portfolio website. If you are an artist, photographer, musician, or videographer, then a portfolio website helps you showcase your work and find new opportunities.

However, you don’t need to be an artist to make a portfolio website. The same idea can be used by any kind of professional like writers, web designers, developers, fashion models, and more.

You can use portfolio plugins to showcase your work or choose from these beautiful portfolio themes to get started.

18. Start an Online Food Delivery Website

The online food delivery business is booming and it could be a profitable website idea with a little bit of investment.

You can find local restaurants and create a website that showcases these restaurants and allows customers to order food online. You can then pass the order to the restaurant and they deliver the food.

You can use WPForms to collect food delivery orders. Upon form submission, you can show users a page with estimated delivery time and a phone number to the restaurant.

19. Sell Handicrafts Online

Want to sell your homemade items on the internet? It is really easy to do and could be the beginning of a successful business idea.

You can start an online store using WooCommerce, which is super-easy to set up. Unlike other platforms, WooCommerce doesn’t take a cut out of each transaction you make which is really important for home-based business.

For details, see our guide on how to make an Etsy like store in WordPress.

20. Start a Pets Store / Community

Making an online pets store is another easy to start website idea. It is such a massive industry that you can find many untapped niche ideas catering to specific customers.

You can sell anything on your pet store using WooCommerce. You can also use MemberPress to build a members-only community that generates even more revenue for your business.

21. Start a News Website

If you are into current affairs and politics, then creating a news website could be the money making idea you are looking for.

You can start a news website and monetize it using display ads and by selling membership subscriptions. Many traditional newspapers are already putting their content behind paywalls and monetizing.

You can start small with few articles per week and then build upon that. You can even invite guest authors, start a podcast, and sell merchandise to make a sustainable business.

With local newspapers struggling, there’s a high demand for hyper-local niche news website, and we believe this will be a huge trend going into 2021 and beyond.

We hope this article helped you find the best website idea to launch in the new year. Once you have launched your website, you can see our tips on how to increase your website traffic, and our guide on the best WordPress plugins to grow your online business.

Sourced from wpbeginner

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In News

Making responsible ads like clockwork – marketing on TikTok

January 29, 2021 No Comments

Sourced from ASA

A video-sharing social networking app with in-built video editing tools and a clever algorithm for surfacing relevant content to users, TikTok was launched in the UK in August 2018. According to YouGov, it is currently the 7^th most popular (and 4^th most famous) social media platform, and it offers a variety of creative and innovative ways to advertise – as they, themselves, say ‘don’t make ads, make TikToks’.

As the rules in the CAP Code are largely media neutral – from in-feed sponsored ads, influencer marketing and TikToks from brand-owned creators, to branded hashtag challenges and effects – the same rules and principles that apply in other media are equally applicable to advertising on TikTok.

But creating compliant advertising TikToks really can run like clockwork – so here are some of the key principles from ASA rulings to help you with your ads on this platform.

Make clear when a TikTok is an ad

As is true for all the other social media platforms, and indeed all media, advertising on TikTok – whether it’s a ‘Top View’ ad when the app is first opened, a branded effect, a TikTok posted by a brand or influencer, or affiliate marketing content – must be obviously identifiable as advertising.

Most ads within TikTok’s own ad formats seem likely to be recognised as advertising from the context and labelling applied by TikTok. Similarly, TikToks that have obviously come from a brand profile are generally likely to be recognised as advertising without any additional labelling, provided it’s clearly the brand’s own profile.

However, the ASA’s research on labelling influencer marketing found that people really struggle to identify when social media posts by influencers are ads. This means that TikToks uploaded by influencers (and others) which either are, or contain, advertising or affiliate marketing, are very likely to need an additional label to distinguish them.

For example, a TikTok from Emily Canham promoting GHD branded products and including a personalised discount code was judged not to have made it sufficiently clear because there was nothing in the content that made clear to those viewing it that it was an ad. This case also highlights that the ASA is likely to view ‘added value’ posts, particularly those sharing the same hallmarks and characteristics as ‘contracted’ posts, as part of the same agreement – and therefore subject to the same labelling requirements.

If it’s not otherwise clear we recommend, as a minimum, that influencer and affiliate marketing related TikToks include a prominent ‘Ad’ label upfront in the content or accompanying caption. The label mustn’t be hidden or obscured by anything (remember that the captions appear differently in the app than they do in the browser version) and it should not be easily overlooked, too small or the colour too similar to the background – the rules require advertising to be ‘obviously identifiable’, so if your label isn’t clear then your TikTok is unlikely to be obviously identifiable as an ad.

For more detailed guidance on the principles here, see the ‘Influencers’ guide to making clear that ads are ads’.

Make sure you capture the right audience

Targeting is important, particularly for certain types of content and for advertising of certain products like HFSS foods. The ASA will always expect you to use all of the tools available to target appropriately on any platform and to ensure that you have taken all reasonable steps to avoid your ads being seen by someone who, for example due to their age, shouldn’t.

It is not usually sufficient to rely on self-reported age and you should also take into account the type of content that the ad appears in or around. Also, as many social media ads can be (and usually are) targeted at a defined set of users, the ASA does not consider an argument that less than 25% of a total platform audience is under-age to be relevant, and expects marketers to be taking all reasonable steps to exclude under-age consumers from the targeted audience.

Always use a CAP Code lens on your advertising content

There are plenty of general and sector-specific rules and prohibitions that apply to different ads and products and these apply equally on TikTok. Ads should not, amongst other things, materially mislead consumers or cause serious or widespread offence. Also, ads for foods, drinks or supplements need to make sure any claims are in line with the rules in Section 15. The same rules apply to both brand marketing and influencer marketing.

If you’re running a competition or prize draw on TikTok, make sure you include the most significant terms and conditions that apply, include a link to the full terms and follow the other rules in Section 8.

Sourced from ASA

In News

7 Top Passive Income Ideas for Small Business Owners in 2021

January 29, 2021 No Comments

By Pratik Dholakiya

2020 has been a tough year, especially for small businesses. We have all had many eye-opening realizations about financial stability. And the most prominent one would be the fact that relying on one income stream is not an option anymore.

To survive and thrive in the post-COVID19 world, having multiple income streams has become a necessity. For small business owners, building a couple of passive income streams can ensure that your business can stick through the toughest times too.

When the times are tough, passive income streams can help you fund your small business, with almost little to no effort. In this article, let’s see some of the top passive income ideas that will support you during these unprecedented times.

What is Passive Income?

Passive income is the process of earning money from a business in which you aren’t actively involved anymore.

Many people mistake passive income for money that is earned from get-rich-quick schemes. That is not true. It cannot magically help you earn money instantly. Otherwise everyone today would be successfully owning multiple passive income businesses today.

Most passive income streams involve you putting in the initial hard work for weeks, months, or even years before it turns into a consistent passive income stream. Or, in the case of investments in rental properties or shares, you need to invest time and money to turn it into a passive income stream.

Passive Income Ideas for 2021

Let’s look at some of the top passive income ideas that are most suitable for small business owners in 2021.

1. Sell Online Courses

The eLearning market has been booming ever since the pandemic outbreak. Since everyone is stuck at home, more and more people are investing in online learning. So, why not make this your passive income idea?

As a business owner, you must be an expert in an area or two. You can easily monetize your expertise by creating and selling online courses. You can use platforms such as Udemy or Coursera, or you can even sell online courses on your website.

The idea will need an initial investment of time and money in creating high-quality digital courses. But once the course picks up, you’ll be earning a consistent passive income on the side.

2. Invest in Peer-to-Peer Loans

Using investment marketplaces such as Swaper, you can invest in peer-to-peer loans for other consumers. This idea will require an upfront investment from you. But you need not be actively involved in the process as the platform offers you auto investment options too.

Investing in P2P loans can be a great way to earn a significant income on the side to help you generate steady income to fund your small business during uncertain times.

3. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a great passive income idea as it involves earning commissions by promoting and selling others’ products. So, you don’t have to put in the efforts to create your own products. You can simply sell others instead.

Affiliate marketing can be a great option especially when you have a website with consistent traffic or a good digital following.

4. Sell Digital Products

Selling digital products is, again, a great way to generate steady income after you put in the initial hard work. Since there is no active inventory and physical shipping involved as in the case of physical products, the income turns passive after some time.

Your digital products can be ebooks, guides, templates, or even mobile apps. You can also sell audio tracks or professional stock photos, and generate royalties for them.

5. Create and Monetize a Blog or a YouTube Channel

Creating blogs and producing YouTube videos is one of the best options to generate a significant amount of passive income. Lots of people today, earn 6 and 7 figures through these ideas.

Unlike the other options, the kind of hard work and time required here will be much more. But, the potential to generate a significant amount of income is the highest here.

6. Invest in Real Estate

Real estate investments are one of the oldest forms of generating passive income. The initial investment will be expensive, but if you’ve got the money, then this is definitely a good option.

A downside of real estate investing is that it will go down if the economy is not good. But if you are ready to be patient and wait for the industry to get back, then nothing like this kind of passive income.

7. Rent out your Car

If you do not have the capital to invest in a rental property right now, you can rent out your car through apps like Turo.

All you need to do is some initial set up and you are good to go. Instead of simply sitting in your garage, your car can make some passive income on the side. This idea is a no-brainer and you can use this as your second or the third passive income stream alongside others.

Final Thoughts

To conclude, we can say that after the outbreak of the pandemic, relying on just one income stream is not the best idea.

If you are worried about your small business going into a loss, plan for it beforehand by building at least a couple of passive income streams that can keep you going even during the tough times. Use the ideas in this article to start working on your passive income idea.

Feature Image Credit: Depositphotos.com

By Pratik Dholakiya

Sourced from Small Business Trends

In Uncategorized

How to Sell Advertising for Your Podcast

January 29, 2021 No Comments

By Ella Ames

Want to put or increase ads on your show? Here’s what you should know

In News

Why Is Google Paying French Publishers but Fighting Australia?

January 28, 2021 No Comments

By Rebekah Dunne

Search Engine Journal has been reporting on the ongoing fight between Google and Australia regarding the News Media Bargaining Code.

Confusion ensued when Google continued to disagree with pending legislation that would force them to pay Australian publishers for the pleasure of showcasing their content in the SERPs, while simultaneously signing a deal to pay French publishers for their content.

However, when you look at the two agreements side by side, there is a clear difference.

The Story Behind the French Agreement

In 2020, French readers saw news results from European publishers pulled from the SERPs in response to a copyright law that was passed.

In October, Google announced that they were investing $1 billion over three years to pay publishers for content showcased on Google News Showcase.

The agreement with France allows Google to negotiate individual licenses whereby payment will be based on specific and measurable metrics. This includes Google paying on behalf of the reader for any content published behind paywalls, allowing users access to content they wouldn’t be able to see unless they made a payment.

Click HERE to read the remainder of the article.

By Rebekah Dunne

Sourced from Search Engine Journal

In News

Today is Officially Data Protection Day

January 28, 2021 No Comments

By Brian O’Doherty.

It will be interesting to see if any new ideas for solving the trans- Atlantic data privacy problem arise during the many conferences on the topic being held in over 40 countries, including Ireland, on International Data Privacy Day tomorrow. Data privacy is a very big issue for the European institutions, but maybe less so for the Americans (and British) where data surveillance seems to be the government priority for the last 30 years or so.

It’s not only a matter of human rights, and politics: its critically important for the world economy, in the medium term. All experts seem agreed that the move to the Cloud will bring great productivity benefits and growth opportunities for business and other sectors of all economies. But, there is a leading impediment to this move, and that’s Security of Data… the fear in corporations and other data owners that the privacy of their data will be lost- in effect their ownership of their data- if it is to sit on Cloud-based servers owned and operated by third parties.

The debate revolves around the rights of other parties- especially governments- to access your data at will when you decide to transfer its location to the cloud server from its traditional resting place in your office computer. The best way to secure your data is to encrypt it strongly at source and make sure it stays encrypted all the time it is stored or travelling in the Cloud, until it finally returns to your own computer or other destination designated by you. But very few tech vendors offer this facility. (One that does is the Donegal start up, Netsso.com– where I must declare an interest.!)

The matter will not be resolved this week. But its got to be resolved soon, alongside the other two great issues of taxation of and data sharing by the tech giants. Hopefully, the Data Privacy Day in Ireland will help focus the minds and, especially, improve the understanding of the issue by the general public.

By Brian O’Doherty

CEO of Netsso (www.netsso.com )

In News

Instinct Vs. Data – What Marketers Choose To Use

January 28, 2021 No Comments

By Laurie Sullivan

The most interesting part of a study from Sidecar not shared on Monday in Search & Performance Marketing Daily points to the percentage that marketers rely on data vs. instinct to make marketing and advertising decisions.

Sidecar surveyed 146 marketing professionals in the retail industry. The majority of respondents were based in the U.S., with the remainder in Canada. All reported that they contribute to ecommerce marketing efforts at their company. The study was fielded between September and October of 2020.

When marketers were asked whether their team makes decisions based on data versus experience and instinct, the balanced response was 50% data and 50% instinct, with 24% of respondents reporting this way.

From here the findings become quite unbalanced. Only 1% of participants in the survey said they base their decisions on 100% instinct and zero percent data, and 1% base their decisions on 90% instinct and 10% data. Some 7% base their decisions on 80% instinct and 20% data, and 18% base their decisions on 70% instinct and 30% data.

When flipping the percentages, the findings are a bit surprising. It turns out that none base their decisions on 0% instinct and 100% data. It does get better, however. Only 4% base their decisions on 10% instinct and 90% data, while 10% base their decisions on 10% instinct and 80% data, and 16% base their decisions on 30% instinct and 70% data.

Some 62% of ecommerce marketing teams are making half or more of their decisions based on instinct rather than data, indicating significant headroom to become more data-driven.

In this new year marketers need to think differently to drive growth and connect with consumers. Thinking differently has important implications for marketers in terms of hiring.

Automation will find a home in more companies this year, from ad testing to keyword analysis, and audience segments and performance trend analysis. Among C-level executives, 82% want to automate bid adjustments, while 59% want to automate ad testing, 53% want to automate retargeting, 47% want to automate bid analysis, and 41% want to automate performance trend analysis.

What will marketing teams look like in 2021 as they reach consumers? Ecommerce marketers, for example, plan to grow their internal and extended teams. Some 66% plan to hire vendors and 67% plan to hire in-house talent.

Enterprise and small businesses plan to hire marketers with affiliate marketing and SEO experience.

Enterprise companies plan to hire content marketing to round out the top three, whereas small companies plan to hire those with video production experience.

Midsize companies are looking for specialists with experience in social media, video production and data analytics.

By Laurie Sullivan

Sourced from MediaPost

In News

Google and Facebook accused of limiting ad competition with ‘sweetheart’ deal

January 27, 2021 No Comments

By John Glenday

Google and Facebook colluded to undermine competition in advertising, according to documents uncovered by the New York Times. Obtained during an antitrust lawsuit in Texas, the documents lift the lid on ‘Jedi Blue’ – a cloak and dagger sweetheart deal between two tech giants that monopolize online advertising.

So what’s the deal?

Google and Facebook are accused of abusing their market position to strike a backroom deal to further their business interests.
The agreement is said to have seen Facebook win more favorable terms when bidding for advertising in return for its support for Google’s Open Bidding platform for selling adverts over header bidding – where advertising space is auctioned across multiple ad exchanges.
Google has long agitated against this method of buying advertising, maintaining that it slows down web pages and causes batteries to drain faster, as well as elevating the risk for fraud and billing errors.
As a result, Facebook gained more time to bid for adverts and was able to strike direct billing deals with sites hosting the ads. The underhand arrangement is also said to have seen Google furnish its rival with its data to enable Facebook to better target audiences.
In a quid pro quo, Facebook consented to bid on a minimum of 90% of ad auctions when it could identify users, with a pledge to spend at least $500m a year.
Such terms handed Facebook an unfair advantage over Google’s other advertising partners according to the New York Times, which spoke with six of these to help build its case. This meant Facebook was almost guaranteed to win a consistent number of adverts.
Evidence of collusion was first obtained from documents filed as part of an antitrust complaint lodged by the Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, amid suspicion the tech pair were getting too cozy.
This relationship even included a clause that committed both companies to ’cooperate and assist’ in the event of any investigation into their business practices.

Why it matters

Should apparent collusion be corroborated it would further undermine confidence in digital advertising – particularly if a guaranteed win rate is confirmed.
In response to the allegations, Google contends that its agreement has been misrepresented, while Facebook maintains that such deals serve to enhance competition.
Irrespective of the truth of the matter, the lack of transparency shown by both parties will do little to instill confidence in competitors or legislators.
Addressing the claims directly, Google director of economic policy Adam Cohen wrote: “Our agreement with Facebook Audience Network (FAN) simply enables them (and the advertisers they represent) to participate in Open Bidding.
“Of course we want FAN to participate because the whole goal of Open Bidding is to work with a range of ad networks and exchanges to increase demand for publishers’ ad space, which helps those publishers earn more revenue.
“AG Paxton inaccurately claims that we manipulate the Open Bidding auction in FAN’s favor. We absolutely don’t. FAN must make the highest bid to win a given impression. If another eligible network or exchange bids higher, they win the auction.
“FAN’s participation in Open Bidding doesn’t prevent Facebook from participating in header bidding or any other similar system. In fact, FAN participates in several similar auctions on rival platforms.”
Both Google and Facebook have been in the eye of an antitrust storm, with Google fending off multiple lawsuits from the Department of Justice and three dozen states centered on its near-monopoly of search and search advertising, as well non-search advertising.
Facebook, meanwhile, has been embroiled in lawsuits filed by the Federal Trade Commission as well as attorney generals from dozens of states that accuse the company of abusing its command of the digital marketplace and engaging in anti-competitive behavior.

By John Glenday

Sourced from The Drum

editor

1. Determining what worked and what didn’t is all relative

2. Identify top-performing posts by goal

3. Analyze your low-performing posts

4. Always look at engagement and sentiment

5. Get inspiration from Google Analytics data

6. Tap into brand-relevant conversations

7. Look at competitor data

Stay connected and stay agile

By Lauren Cover

Sourced from sproutsocial

If you struggle with blog monetization, here’s a look at 5 lessons learned from profitable bloggers on how to treat your blog like a business.

1. Get a clear understanding of your value proposition

2. Develop a blog monetization strategy

3. Build a brand people can trust

4. Create measurable business goals and an action plan

5. Reinvest blog earnings

By Rogier Ramon Giersthove

Sourced from YFS Magazine

What You Need to Put Website Ideas into Action

1. Start a Personal Website / Blog

2. Build an Online Store

3. Make a Membership Website

4. Sell Online Courses

5. Create a Dropshipping Website

6. Make an Affiliate Website

7. Launch a Fashion Blog

8. Start a Travel Website

9. Make a Food / Recipes Website

10. Start a Podcast Website

11. Start a Job Hunt Website

12. Make a Coupons Website

13. Create an Online Marketplace

14. Start a Restaurant Website

15. Build a Reviews Website

16. Make a Photography Website

17. Launch a Portfolio Website

18. Start an Online Food Delivery Website

19. Sell Handicrafts Online

20. Start a Pets Store / Community

21. Start a News Website

Sourced from wpbeginner

Make clear when a TikTok is an ad

Make sure you capture the right audience

Always use a CAP Code lens on your advertising content

Sourced from ASA

What is Passive Income?

Passive Income Ideas for 2021

1. Sell Online Courses

2. Invest in Peer-to-Peer Loans

3. Affiliate Marketing

4. Sell Digital Products

5. Create and Monetize a Blog or a YouTube Channel

6. Invest in Real Estate

7. Rent out your Car

Final Thoughts

By Pratik Dholakiya

Sourced from Small Business Trends

Want to put or increase ads on your show? Here’s what you should know

Why Sell Advertising on a Podcast?

How to Sell Advertising for Your Podcast

Alternatives to Podcast Advertising

Affiliate Marketing

Premium Subscriptions

Crowdfunding

Merchandise Sales

Monetizing Expertise

How Much Money Can Advertising Make?

The Bottom Line

By Ella Ames

Sourced from small business

The Story Behind the French Agreement

By Rebekah Dunne

Sourced from Search Engine Journal

By Brian O’Doherty

By Laurie Sullivan

Sourced from MediaPost

So what’s the deal?

Why it matters

By John Glenday

Lauren Cover