editor, Author at Mediastreet

In News

Does Social Marketing Really Make Dollars and Cents?

June 6, 2018 No Comments

By Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey

Digital marketing is an investment. It takes time to mature before it can pay you back.

This is a question that has plagued us for years and we have spoken to many “experts,” but they seemed to be speaking in another language. We are not the professional online marketers they usually have as students. We are regular small business owners looking for advice we can understand and apply. We decided to ask Claudia Sheridan, a social marketing practitioner who specializes in small and medium-sized businesses like ours. After our initial meeting with Claudia, she was able to explain the various facets involved in digital marketing and how they work together to produce results — in terms we could understand!

1. The Big Picture

Michael & Bonnie: We’ve spent hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years on social marketers. We found that generally speaking, they understood one or two parts of the puzzle but didn’t have a comprehensive picture and certainly couldn’t deliver all the details necessary to make it happen. Typically, they would create and charge us for a funnel and put a lot of emphasis on landing pages but could not get many people into the funnel. Can you outline for us the various different aspects of social marketing that have to be in place to make it work?

Claudia: Social marketing is a part of a much larger concept, that isn’t really talked about. We think about social media and lead generation but rarely do marketers talk about all of the different aspects involved with Digital marketing, which is what businesses, in my opinion, really need to focus on. It’s not one aspect of the available websites and tools, but rather how to make the different components work together in an effective and efficient manner that produces the desired results.

When looking to work with a marketer, look for one that understands the digital marketing landscape and can identify how the elements can best work for the goals you’re trying to accomplish. For example, a company may want to utilize a social media channel, such as Facebook, to generate awareness and build their brand. They may decide to place an ad and make an offer but they rarely consider the stages at which the prospect is within the buying journey.

This reminds me of a stranger on a street corner who offers to sell you a fake watch from the lining of his coat. It may capture your attention, or you may walk away. There is no friendship here, no relationship, no trust. What there is, however, is doubt. And, who wants to build a business relationship based on doubt? So then, what does this process look like? And, the answer is that it varies on the strategy that is being used.

2. Metrics vs. Results

Michael & Bonnie: When we’ve dealt with social marketers in the past, they have tried to tell us that the likes, clicks, and shares, somehow resulted in increased business. But we found that it actually increased our overhead to maintain a current and interactive online presence. Further we’ve seen no substantial increase in business as a result of our investments in social marketing. What would you say to a client who has had that unfortunate experience before coming to you?

Claudia: I think that entrepreneurs are always on the lookout for that one thing, that silver bullet, that will generate a large amount of business for them. In 2011-2012, commenting, liking and sharing would have done the trick, but today, that is no longer the case. Today, to be successful on Facebook, it means that you need to play within Facebook’s rules and adapt accordingly. More importantly, it means that you need to have a clear marketing strategy that can be executed, tested, measured, optimized and is able to adapt to Facebook’s changes. This isn’t a linear strategy, but an iterative one that is constantly evolving.

3. Changing Rules

Michael & Bonnie: It seems like every six months the rules change on social marketing. Just when you get set up, it seems like the rules change and you have to go back and reorganize. How can you anticipate and mitigate these changes?

Claudia: The rules do change, and although the changes seem to be significant, they’re really not. If a business has actively been participating in Facebook marketing, executing their strategy and making adjustments along the way, then as we learn of a new Facebook change, it just becomes a slight adjustment in the strategy. Facebook’s changes, however, can appear colossal to companies who are not actively monitoring their Facebook marketing or do not have a solid strategy in place that they’re following.

It’s kind of like joining the gym every January. If we had just stuck with the workouts that the fitness trainer laid out for us on day one, and we committed to working out a few times a week and eating right, then going to the gym after the holidays would be just another day. But if we joined in January, stopped going in February, only to join back up 11 months later, the goal of getting into shape is much more daunting. We don’t expect to walk into a gym on day one and walk out two hours later with six-pack abs, do we? Yet with Facebook, we expect immediate return with very little effort and get frustrated when the work-out has changed.

4. Overload

Michael & Bonnie: Don’t you think people are getting too many emails from social marketers? I know that I now have a setting on my Outlook that can take all those emails and put them on a lower priority profile. How do you get your clients prospects to open the emails in the campaigns you organize for them?

Claudia: If marketing was a pie, then email marketing should make up another piece of that pie. There are some companies who are amazing at email marketing and others who could use a little refinement. To get a prospect to open emails, you need to send them the right message at the right time. The question then becomes, how do you know when that is? Well, with a good email system, you can segment your audience to deliver messages that best resonate with their needs. Often with email marketing, businesses will craft a single message and broadcast it to their entire list, without consideration to where each person is within the customer journey. But, if the email message aligned with the stage the customer was in, then the email is more likely to be opened and valued.

Expense or Investment?

Michael & Bonnie: What advice can you give to our readers so they will have a better understanding of what to expect from social marketing?

Claudia: I think the most important thing to remember is that social media marketing should never be the only method of marketing a company engages in. Work with someone who understands the digital marketing landscape and how the different elements fit together to accomplish the goals you’re trying to accomplish. Digital marketing should be viewed as an investment, not an expense. And as with any investment, it often takes time to mature before it can pay you back. Finally, make sure that there’s a strategy and work that strategy.

Feature Image credit: Westend61 | Getty Images

By Michael Houlihan & Bonnie Harvey

Sourced from Entrepreneur Europe

In News

Why You Should Never Buy an Email Database (And What You Need to Do Instead)

June 5, 2018 No Comments

By Ivan Kreimer

Do you remember when you first learned about email marketing? In most cases, one of the first things you learn is about the importance of building an email list.

Building an email list represents the foundation of a successful email marketing campaign. But doing so takes time and effort, and there aren’t a lot of shortcuts.

Some marketers believe they don’t have the time to build an email list, so they decide to hack the process by buying one. They reason that at the end of the day, a subscriber is a subscriber, and the email marketing stats prove it works, right?

If you agree with this, then you need to make a step back and reconsider your decision. Buying an email database is one of the most dangerous business decisions you can make.

We’re sharing why you should never buy an email database, as well as advice on what to do instead.

Why buying an email database is a bad decision

There is only one way to have an email list, and that’s by growing it. Buying lists is an out-of-date tactic that won’t get you far.

Buying a list is, as the name suggests, when someone purchases a list with a certain amount of email addresses. This can include name, phone numbers, location, verification, and more. Some services promise many things, like deliverability rate, accuracy, and more, yet they rarely work.

When you build a list, you need to attract and convert people to give you their email addresses. You also need to validate the emails with a double-opt-in process, which gives you the permission to email them.

Here’s why buying an email database is a bad decision.

It’s ethically wrong

Buying an email database is morally wrong. After all, you’re buying a list of email addresses without subscribers’ consent. This is a violation of their privacy, and it won’t endear them to you.

Not only is buying an email database unethical, but it’s also likely to result in bad results for your business.

ESPs will ban you

Email service providers (ESPs) won’t allow a user to add a list without a double opt-in, unless you are migrating a list from another ESP and can guarantee that you verified the list in the past.

If the ESP finds that their user is sending spammy emails (based on the responses of the recipients), it can ban you from their email system. Therefore, you will quickly lose all your email business.

You will spend your money on useless emails

The companies that sell lists can have old inactive emails in them, which means some of the emails won’t get opened. Therefore, you will spend money on emails that are worth nothing.

What’s more, spam-detection software like SpamAssassin can detect if the sender is a spammer and send all their emails to the recipient’s spam folder without any action from the recipient.

Subscribers will ignore you

Your ultimate goal is to make people do something valuable for your business, whether that’s signing up for a webinar, buy a product, or hire you for your services.

When you buy an email list of people who don’t know (or trust) you, they will ignore your emails. Even if the ESPs don’t ban you or if the emails are verified, these subscribers are highly unlikely to respond to your messages.

How to build an engaged list that you own

Give away value that serves your audience

You need to put your audience before yourself if you want subscribers to trust you. With so many companies using email, it’s hard to stand out in their inbox. If you focus on providing subscribers with valuable content, you will gain your audience’s attention. Once you have their attention, then you can start getting the results you desire.

The idea of giving before taking can manifest itself in many ways, the most common ones include giving away:

Discounts and offers, particularly by first-time shoppers in e-commerce stores
Ebooks, also known as lead magnets
Free courses sent by email

Segment, segment, segment

Realtors have one golden rule: location, location, location. Email marketers, consequently, have their own: segment, segment, segment.

Your list is made up of people with different needs, demographics, and behaviors. That’s why you need to segment it based on those attributes, which then will let you follow the other golden rule of email marketing: be relevant.

Email marketing works, but only when people want to open your emails, click through them, and act on your offers. If your emails aren’t relevant, why would anyone want to open them? Even if you gave money away, relevance plays a crucial role in making your emails more effective.

Segmentation allows you to find the right audience for your emails, which then helps you deliver the email at the time they most need it. The segmentation could be based on demographic, behavioral, or professional data you have.

The high relevance of welcome emails explain their performance: on average, 320% more revenue is attributed to them on a per email basis than other promotional emails.

Make email subscription easy

If you want to get people to subscribe to your email list, you need to make it easy to do so! If you hide your opt-in boxes and use ambiguous copy, it will hard to persuade people to give their personal information to your company.

To make the opt-in process easy for your users, the first thing you have to do is to add an email list building tool on your site, like Sumo and OptinMonster, among others.

Second, you need to use more than one opt-in tactic. You can use email pop-ups, slider, welcome mats, or embedded opt-in forms. Whichever tactic you choose, make sure to use more than one.

The reason behind this idea is in the difference in which people experience different opt-in forms. Some people will dislike welcome mats, while they won’t mind a slider. Other people will have a completely opposite experience.

Wrap up

In simple terms, buying an email list won’t do any good to your business; people won’t open your emails, trust you, and act on your offers. Even if it takes you more time, you need to build and own a list. Most importantly, you need to get started before you even need one, so if you haven’t gotten started, challenge yourself to start today.

Feature Image Credit: mcmurryjulie / Pixabay

By Ivan Kreimer

Sourced from Business 2 Community

In News

5 Reasons Why Your Content Marketing Strategy Isn’t Driving Results

June 5, 2018 No Comments

By Angel Lawrynkiewicz

Content marketing, if used wisely, can be extremely beneficial to your digital marketing strategy. But, with the Content Marketing Institute reporting that 92% of marketers view content as a business asset, it can be competitive. However, just because almost everyone in the industry is doing it, doesn’t mean that you should sit back and let your competitors take the reign. In 2018, virtually no business can stand to neglect the value of content. If you’re having issues with your content, or just not seeing results, you may be making a rookie mistake.

Here are five reasons why your current content marketing strategy may not be working, and how you can turn it around to better achieve your goals.

Many marketers believe that the whole point of content marketing is to convince your audience to buy your product or service, but that isn’t entirely true. Rather than treating your reader as just another sale, you should build a relationship with them by providing informative and engaging content.

By answering the readers’ questions and problems, you will gain their trust which will hopefully persuade them to make a purchase from you in the long-run. Read your content over and make sure that it’s written with the customer in mind, and that you sound like a human rather than a typed commercial.

You can’t write for your target audience if you don’t know who your target audience is. Marketers sometimes think the vaguer their content is, the broader the audience they’ll reach. However, when it comes to content, quality trumps quantity. Instead of throwing up mediocre content on your blog hoping to reach a large number of people, focus on narrowing in on who your potential customers are and what they’re interested in.

Take a look at your current customer base, and identify their demographics and interests. Head over to your competitors’ sites and scope out who they’re targeting. Once you have an idea of who your content is speaking to, you can start brainstorming what topics they’d like to read about and developing a voice that resonates with them.

No matter what industry you’re in, there’s a good chance that you’re up against some tough competitors. But that doesn’t mean you should just throw in the towel and not even bother with content marketing; it just means that you have to think outside the box a little. Do you know how many business funding lenders have blogged on the topic of “What is a business loan?” It’s been written to death. That’s why in addition to the common evergreen topics, my employer Fast Capital 360 makes an effort to cover unique subjects such as “What You Can Learn From Scott Foster and the Chicago Steel” and “How Culture Creates Championship Organizations.”

Think about it – if you’re only addressing cautious matters in your content, what is going to make you stand out from your competitors who have all essentially written the same post as you? Some may argue “Well, my industry isn’t very exciting,” but that isn’t an excuse. Think about different angles you can use to approach your content, and brainstorm with others in the office to develop exciting new blog ideas.

If you’re one of those marketers who merely publishes a piece of content to your site and calls it a day, you really need to break that habit. Writing the content and publishing it is only half the battle. Unless you already have a strong following on your company’s blog, there’s no way that you’re going to attract readers without putting in an effort to promote it.

Have a company newsletter? Great, include your latest blog piece in the next email. On social media? Head over to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and give that article a share. Take advantage of any possible way that can get your content out there and in front of your target audience.

Speaking of getting in front of an audience, you don’t want to forget about optimizing for search when it comes to writing and publishing content. What many don’t realize is that SEO and content go hand-in-hand. Sure, having a company blog is great, but SEO gives it that extra push so that readers can actually find it.

Utilize a tool like Google’s Keyword Planner to conduct keyword research, and include those keywords naturally throughout your content to help people find it. Do you post your content on a self-hosted WordPress site? Download a plugin dedicated to SEO, such as Yoast. This will help you properly optimize your meta descriptions and titles, which in turn will help provide search engines a better idea of what the content is about.

Conclusion

Content is a valuable asset that should be in every marketer’s toolbox. However, there is a right and a wrong way to implement content marketing. It requires more effort than just publishing an article on your blog and hoping for the best. If you’re making any of these mistakes mentioned above, utilize the content marketing tools provided so that your digital marketing strategy can reap the benefits it has to offer.

By Angel Lawrynkiewicz

Angel is a Digital Marketer at Fast Capital 360.
Fast Capital 360 gives you the alternative financing that functions like an online business loans in days, not weeks or months. We’ve built our business funding company around the idea that you shouldn’t have to wait for the banks to… View full profile ›

Sourced from Business 2 Community

In News

Triggered Emails: A Case Study on Timely Content

June 5, 2018 No Comments

By Erica Bell

Using triggered email marketing campaigns can keep customers coming back for more by making sure you leave a positive impact from the…

Marketing automation is a hot topic for modern marketers. Businesses, sales pros, and marketing teams are all looking for ways to reach more of the right people in a more efficient way than they have in the past. Automated emails can be a thing of beauty — but only if your business does it right. It’s all about timing and relevance and if your business can get these two things figured out for its target audience, you’ll be more successful. We took a look at a case study released by BtoB online of how one business was able to turn its email marketing efforts around with a timely, tailored new user campaign. Here’s what the company achieved and what your business can take away.

The Case Study: Wasp Barcode Technologies

A 2011 BtoB Online case study analyzed the email marketing efforts of a company who wanted to reach its customers with more timely offers and information. Wasp Barcode Technologies wanted to leverage the idea of creating and rolling out a campaign of nine timed emails aimed at new customers. With goals of improving the onboarding process and encouraging users to engage with their new software immediately after activation, Wasp Barcode Technologies’ campaign took the form of nine triggered emails following a purchase for their software. The first email the company sent out, within 24 hours, was a message about the free training they offered. The next email provided the new user with information about downloadable tutorials and was sent three days after their initial triggered email. Emails three through nine were sent every 30 days with the idea of improving the user experience and satisfaction with information provided in each message.

The Results: The company found that the activation campaign opt-outs were 60% lower than in other campaigns and the open rates yielded a 105% lift over previous efforts. In addition to those successes, 50% of their new testimonials came directly from the email campaign and click-throughs for complimentary products averaged 25% higher than previous campaigns.

What You Can Take Away

New user email marketing campaigns are a great way for your business to deepen the relationship it already has with a customer. While returning customers may be the bulk of your business, new customers are key to a business’s success. Get your new customers on board and engaged right away to make sure they become repeat customers that keep coming back for more products, services and content from your business. If you’re considering developing a triggered email campaign, consider structuring your outreach in a way similar to the one Wasp Barcode Technologies took:

Email One: This can be your welcome email that encourages the user to get started with your product or service right away. Encourage them to check out a free training session, get in touch with a representative, or check out your FAQ or forum section.
Email Two: This is another warm, inviting email that encourages your user to interact with the content you have available. A relevant white paper, how-to video or podcast are all things you can feature.
Email Three: Offer an extended warranty or another one-on-one training session. Focus on relevance and context. If they have a certain period of time to complete registration for support or a warranty, this is your chance to send them a reminder.
Emails Four and Five: To improve the user experience, offer your customers more how-to’s, practical tips, and surprising ways in which they can make the most of your software or product.
Email Six: This is your chance to upsell the customer with an add-on or accessory. Just make sure you aren’t overstepping, especially if their recent purchase put a strain on their budget.
Email Seven: Offer your customer an upgrade. If they’ve been working with you and have become a loyal customer, you can do this at a discount.
Email Eight: Customer feedback is key. Use this email to ask your customer what they think of the purchase process you provide, the product or service they’ve invested in, and the content and offers you’ve been sharing.

Email marketing can work and your business can stand out from all the others hitting inboxes. If a customer has chosen to work with your business, make sure you’re providing them with timely, relevant information that can help them be more successful. Keep customers coming back for more by making sure you leave a positive impact from the first purchase onward.

By Erica Bell

http://www.business.com

Erica is the Social Media Specialist, as well as a content coordinator and writer. She writes on topics such as small business marketing strategies, human resources related best practices and customer service.You can find her posts on the home Business.com blog as well as the Performance Marketing blog. Erica is a double-major graduate of the University of California, Irvine. Aside from blogging and social media marketing, Erica enjoys playing soccer and rooting for the New Orleans Saints, spending time at the beach, and cuddling with her dog, Moo.

Sourced from business.com

In News

10 Influencer Marketing Strategies You Should Know [Infographic]

June 5, 2018 No Comments

By Irfan Ahmad

Before buying anything, consumers are increasingly turning to blog reviews and/or social media these days.

And given the prevalence of online platforms, influencer marketing has become a much bigger factor to consider. It’s now one of the fastest methods of acquiring customers online – did you know that tweets from influencers and brands combined can increase purchase intent by 5.2x?

However, getting stellar results from your influencer campaigns requires effective planning, and an understanding of how, exactly, to activate these influential voices to advocate on your behalf.

To help with this, the team at Grin have put together this infographic of ten influencer marketing strategies you should consider to help elevate your branding efforts.

10 Influencer Marketing Strategies You Should Know [Infographic] | Social Media Today

A version of this post was first published on the Digital Information World blog.

By Irfan Ahmad

Sourced from Social Media Today

In Jobs

Graduate iOS Developer

June 1, 2018 No Comments

Distilled SCH | Salary not disclosed | Full-time | Wexford, Ireland

Teamwork / IOS Collaboration / TDD / Restful API / UIKit / Objective-C / Swift

About Distilled SCH

Distilled SCH is the leader in online marketplaces in Ireland. Formed in 2015, Distilled SCH operates the three iconic Irish online brands – Daft.ie, DoneDeal.ie and Adverts.ie. Combined, these websites not only offer unrivalled reach, traffic and data but are also the number one property, motor and generalist advertising portals in the country.

What’s the opportunity?

We are seeking to recruit a Graduate iOS Developer who is based out of Wexford / Waterford and who is up-to-date with developing modern native iOS applications, has a passion for creating great mobile experiences and will thrive in a fun, fast paced, challenging environment to join it’s highly experienced Technical Team.

This is more than a technical role, you will contribute to the overall product development effort. You’ll use your experience to inform our engineering process and decisions when building new features.

You’ll be part of one of our cross functional product delivery teams and work closely with designers, product owners, quality engineers, and multi disciplined developers.

The Role

What will I be doing?

Mobile Developers are an essential part of the Distilled Product Delivery Teams. Working closely with designers and product, we implement new features within all of our mobile apps. We make the most of modern technologies like Swift, Autolayout and Fastlane

As a Graduate Mobile Developer at Distilled you will:

Build and maintain core features for the Distilled mobile applications
Work effectively in agile, cross functional delivery teams
Ensure the codebase is clean, scalable and secure
Provide support for our CS and Quality teams
Keep up-to-date with new technologies and techniques in software development

What skills do I need?

What skills do I need?

BSc or MSc in Computer Science or related field
Be familiar with the iOS SDK
Knowledge of Objective C or Swift
Experience with xCode and Interface Builder (using Autolayout)
Be comfortable working with RESTful API’s
Excellent interpersonal, teamwork and collaboration skills

Bonus skills and experience

Bonus skills and experience:

Experience in source control (Git, SVN)
Familiarity with the Android SDK
Scrum Agile Framework
Familiar with Continuous Integration (Jenkins, Fastlane)

What’s it like to work here?

You will have the opportunity to work with one of Ireland’s fastest growing Internet companies. You will get the opportunity to make a significant contribution to our future direction. Projects are exciting and employees are given wide scope for creativity and innovation.

Our Values

Our company values give us a framework for leadership and daily decision making, they are what make us a great place to work. Although we hail from all walks of life and speak dozens of languages, our staff share and work towards a common goal and vision for the company. These values are the embodiment of how we as a company and individually behave and present ourselves both internally and externally for our colleagues, our users and our customers.

We have a blackbelt mindset
We like to simplify things
We make things happen
We collaborate across teams, business units and brands
We’re passionate about what we do

Our Benefits

Competitive salary in a dynamic and innovative work environment
We help you plan for your future by offering 5% contribution towards your pension
Peace of mind with life assurance and fully paid healthcare
Focused career development and progression opportunities
If you’re cycling or commuting, we’ve got you covered with the Cycle-to-Work and TaxSaver schemes
English lessons for any newcomers to Ireland
We have Friday treats and a monthly buffet breakfast supplied by Urban Picnic
We celebrate your birthday with cake and successful probations with champagne!
MacBooks are our standard, but we’re happy to get you whatever equipment you need to reach your potential
Our biggest benefit is our friendly and talented people!

APPLY FOR THIS JOB

In Jobs

Digital Campaigns Executive

June 1, 2018 No Comments

Balls Media | Salary not disclosed | Full-time | Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

DFP / AdX / DoubleClick for Publishers DFP / Rubicon

Following a record year in 2017 and a bumper start to 2018, Balls Media is now adding to the team.

As Digital Campaigns Executive you will be tasked with managing live advertising campaigns and building and maintaining relationships with your agencies.
The ideal candidate will have experience working in a related field – client services etc

From DFP and Adx to PMPs and DMPs – the ideal candidate will have excellent organisational skills and will know DFP inside out.

The role includes the following responsibilites

Manage and service clients to ensure accurate ad trafficking, campaign fulfilment and performance across multiple mediums
Work directly with third party ad servers (Especially DoubleClick For Publisher), rich media vendors (all media suppliers and internal planning team on all elements related to creative specifications, ad trafficking, optimization and reporting.
Track, measure, and analyze the performance of multiple advertising campaigns, including creating detailed performance reports and proposing optimization strategies.
Effectively track and communicate project timelines and deliverables to appropriate stakeholders
Assist with campaign set-up requirements as needed

APPLY FOR THIS JOB

In Jobs

Recipe Tester/Kitchen Assistant

June 1, 2018 No Comments

Zahra Media Group | Salary not disclosed | Contract | Quinsborough Rd, Bray, Wicklow, County Wicklow, IE

Food Styling / Trained Cook / Home Economist

Easy Food has been the best-selling Irish food magazine for over a decade and is Ireland’s go-to source for all things food. It is the ultimate cooking and kitchen guide for home cooks, from fail-safe recipes to expert tips from our very own custom-built test kitchen.

We are looking for a Recipe Tester to join the bustling Food Styling team. This role includes but is not limited to recipe testing; food purchase and prep; inventory and kitchen management; and general assistance in support of the team’s objectives. The recipes are then styled for photography or videography, so an interest in food styling is preferred.

Qualifications:

Trained cook, home economist, or very confident home cook
Basic knowledge of kitchen organisation and operation
Familiarity with a wide variety of cuisines
Comfortable adapting recipes and making changes as needed
Excellent time management skills with the ability to multi-task, prioritise and meet tight deadlines
Unpacks groceries in a timely manners and oversees food storage throughout the kitchen (i.e., fridge, freezer and pantry)
Manages purchases within the allotted budget for food and supplies
Meticulously measures and prepares ingredients to support team needs
Ensures the test kitchen is orderly, organised and clean for efficient use for recipe and product testing
Maintains clean counters and washes dishes, as needed
Performs other administrative tasks as needed to keep the kitchen running smoothly

Attributes and Skills:

Ability to lift and move heavy objects, to climb stairs, step ladders
Valid driver’s license and reliable car
1+ year related culinary/kitchen experience, preferred

APPLY FOR THIS JOB

In News

25 Marketing Frauds That We Are All Fed Up With

June 1, 2018 No Comments

Sourced from Bright Side

Sometimes marketers use tricky methods in order to persuade us to buy certain products. And even though we often get annoyed with these tricks, we still keep getting trapped in them again and again. Luckily some Internet users shared photos of terrible marketing tricks that they’ve encountered to help keep us from making the same mistakes.

Bright Side collected 25 photos for you where the real resentment of consumers has been captured.

There is no such thing as much ham. True…

When it’s very important to read what is written in small print:

A piece of cardboard instead of plastic

“They’re trying to make it look like there’s a lot more Nerf darts in the package.”

Half cherry-filled croissant:

This roll had only 20 stickers.

“The most honest sale I have ever seen.”

“Thought I still had 25% remaining. Nope, solid glass.”

Why can’t they add the 6th pill?

Fossils instead of chocolate snacks:

When they hide the real volume of the balm behind the sticker:

They promised 25% more:

A big box of disappointment:

The mark on the glass indicates the amount of ice — and only the rest is the actual drink.

Turns out 25% less doesn’t refer to the price.

“My expectations were low still, but I was disappointed.”

Storm Troopers just don’t look like they used to.

Do these confusing little windows annoy you too?

What a discount!

“Either the package is lying or someone has already licked my ice-cream.”

A lawn-mowing company scatters fake money with an advertisement for their services around town.

The distance between triangles got bigger while the length of the chocolate stayed the same.

Full-on disappointment:

This should be punishable!

This fake olive oil cost like a 100% pure olive oil.

Sourced from Bright Side

In News

How to Do Guest Blogging for Natural Looking Link Building

June 1, 2018 No Comments

By Anna Crowe

Guest blogging is still huge.

And I have every reason to believe that it’s going to make even more of my mystical creature dreams come true.

Larry Kim is what happens when you blend a 🦄 with high-quality content and an authoritative publication. Kim, the founder of WordStream, is a winning example of how to swirl content into a distribution funnel.

Just look at his post on Inc. 40 Amazing Places To Learn Something New Every Day, which received 40 backlinks.

Guest blogging can, as you’ve seen before, look scary.

But, enhancing your online visibility or backlink profile doesn’t have to be frightening — or require the writing skills of Shakespeare. You just need the proper arsenal to get that natural-looking link building.

Think Beyond the Links

It’s time we think beyond the links.

There’s been an onslaught of guest blogging for links on the market.

To make sense of it all, Moz surveyed agencies and freelancers to see if they still use guest posting, and 90 percent of respondents said yes, they still use a form of guest posting.

There are a lot of winning entrepreneurs using guest blogging in their link building toolkit: Even the aspiring Julie Joyces will find something to fall in love with.

Just take a look at how other entrepreneurs have used this strategy in the past.

Neil Patel publishes an average of 100 guest posts per year.
Mark Traphagen shared his thoughts on how Eric Enge built his reputation by writing guest posts.
Leo Widrich wrote 150 guest blog posts in 2 months to help build Buffer.
Julia McCoy at Express Writers gained $5,000 from one guest blog post on SitePro.

Your Guest Blogging Strategy

Here’s a quick snapshot of my guest blogging strategy:

1. Set Qualifying Factors Needed to Work with a Blog

Here’s a look at my qualifying factors I review for every guest blogging opportunity.

2. Check the Bio Section

Researching the bio section is key because it leaves opportunity for you to not only add a link, but add a link for users to sign-up to your newsletter.

3. Engage Before You Pitch

Before I send my pitch email, I connect with the website on every social platform by engaging in replies to tweets and signing up for their newsletter.

Summary

Timeframe: Ongoing starting Month 3

Results detected: 4-12 months

Average blogs posted per month: 4

Tools:

BuzzStream
BuzzSumo
Alexa

Benefits of guest blogging:

Guest blogging improves your brand awareness and SEO authority. If you have a solid strategy of posting to multiple websites within a similar timeframe, it gives the illusion that you’re everywhere.
Guest blogging increases your website traffic and leads. By adding a link in your bio to a landing page to sign-up for your newsletter, you’re increasing traffic and gaining leads.
Read more in Search Engine Journal’s The Top 11 Benefits of Guest Blogging.