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Affiliate marketing: Top 7 must-know trends for 2024

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By Rob Davinson 

In 2024, affiliate marketing will see brand-creator alliances rise, TikTok vs. Amazon competition, programmatic opportunities, and more, says Awin’s global head of content, Rob Davinson.

Affiliate marketing mirrors the broader digital landscape, with trends at the macro level resonating in our microcosm. In 2024, we’ll see emergent trends (artificial intelligence (AI), social commerce and retail media to name just a few) that will impact affiliate marketers.

Here we breakdown the key changes (and challenges) that affiliate marketing is likely to encounter this year, and what they mean for the industry.

1. Brand-creator affiliation will rise amidst social media slowdown

With global digital ad spend growth slowing (Dentsu predicts only 6.5% growth in 2024, after a historically low-growth year in 2023), and social media facing a similar slowdown as new user growth plateaus, brands can combat this by directly partnering with creators, as influencer marketing proves more resilient than paid social.

Major brands like The Body Shop and Walmart are two examples that launched large-scale creator affiliate programs in the last year, tying social awareness to controlled marketing outcomes. We see this trend further developing in 2024, as it not only counters platform-dependent risks, but benefits influencers seeking stable incomes,

Awin’s platform witnessed a surge of registering influencers in 2023 (over 10,000), foreshadowing continued growth in 2024.

2. TikTok vs. Amazon: Affiliate model’s value amid new competition

As major tech giants mature, Amazon transitions from a shopping marketplace to an ad space, while TikTok evolves from entertainment to a product purchasing platform. This encroachment on each other’s territory is likely to intensify competition, with TikTok employing an affiliate-type model, mirroring Amazon’s commerce flywheel.

Both platforms embracing affiliate strategies validates its efficacy. Brands may channel more ad budgets into these tech giants, necessitating a choice between entering new marketplaces or driving traffic to their e-commerce sites.

Opting for the latter requires enhancing the shopper experience, supported by affiliate tech partners, as exemplified by Nike’s livestream shopping collaboration with Contester, enhancing the Cyber period with engaging content on their site.

3. Programmatic challenges will propel affiliate ad spend growth

In 2023, the programmatic ad industry faced serious challenges, as reported in the ANA’s Programmatic Media Supply Chain Transparency Study. Among its findings was the fact that there is $22bn of wastage from the $88bn programmatic supply chain.

Advertisers often grapple with misaligned incentives, prioritizing cost over value, resulting in diminished ad quality. In contrast, affiliate marketing’s performance model, linking ad spend to tangible outcomes like sales, proves more valuable.

It says a lot that global spend in affiliate marketing last year is estimated to be around $14bn, a third less than was wasted in programmatic. As senior marketers consider their budgets this year, the data suggests affiliate marketing should garner greater consideration for its effectiveness.

4. News and media publishers will leverage affiliate commerce content

In 2024, with a record number of global elections, including the US presidential election and 40 national elections, political interest will drive traffic to news media sites.

Despite heightened ad spend forecasts, news publishers may not see increased income due to past challenges with programmatic display ads. Affiliate channels offer a solution for publishers facing declining ad monetization and brand block listing.

Additionally, major sporting events like the European Football Championships and the Olympic Games in Paris promise increased traffic, creating opportunities for affiliate efforts to offset ad revenue challenges and enhance the value of journalism amid growing demand.

5. AI revolution in search will pose a threat to affiliate longtail

When it comes to online, the significance of high Google search rankings has been paramount. As the old adage (meme caption) goes: “The best place to hide a dead body is page 2 of Google’s search results.”

Google’s search console, shaping our online information-seeking behaviour for two decades, faces challenges from Google’s monetization motives and emerging AI-powered search consoles, like ChatGPT. These AI consoles provide instant answers, diminishing the reliance on external links and altering the traditional internet ecosystem.

Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) introduces AI-generated responses, potentially reducing organic traffic to publisher websites. Publishers face limited options – allow crawling for SGE or risk exclusion from Google search. SEO adherence to E-E-A-T values becomes crucial for publishers navigating this transformative shift, emphasizing the affiliate industry’s need to adapt and maintain audience-centric effectiveness.

6. Travel resurgence will inspire pop culture-inspired trips and affiliate growth

While some predicted its near-extinction after the 2019 lockdown, the travel industry is booming as we begin 2024.

IATA predicts that this year will exceed 2019’s travel record, with 4.7 billion people expected to board airlines in 2024. Awin observes a surge in affiliate-driven travel bookings, a trend set to continue as consumer confidence rises, airline capacity grows, and major events drive demand.

Expedia and Amadeus foresee a significant year for experience-based tourism (think set-jetting and music festivals). Affiliates play a crucial role in the complex shopper journey, offering inspiration, comparisons, and personalized options.

Brand partnerships, where one advertiser promotes another complementary one as part of the customer’ booking experience, thrived in 2023. Travel brands are well set to capitalise on this growth with lots of potential match-ups from other brands keen to tap into consumers’ resurgent appetite for travel.

7. As cheap fashion challenges sustainability efforts, green affiliates will emerge

Despite Cop28’s pivotal agreement to shift from fossil fuels, inertia persists around climate change. In 2024, the rise of ultra-fast fashion platforms like Shein and Temu, fuelled by the TikTok trend of buying cheap dupes, contributes to growing landfill fashion.

Even impacting Amazon, Teemu users spend nearly double the time compared to Amazon, prompting the e-commerce giant to lower fees for clothes under $20. However, some affiliates continue to promote mindful consumer choices innovatively. Examples include Refoorest, planting trees for site visits, and Axon Mobile incentivizing eco-friendly commuting. And another new promising solution for 2024 is spearheaded by Birl, who are introducing the circular economy to e-commerce through their smart resale system.

By Rob Davinson 

Sourced from The Drum

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Understanding Consumer Behaviour Is an Irreplaceable Success Tool — Here’s How to Get Into Your Customer’s Minds.

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BY JASON MILLER

In business, a key part of effective marketing is knowing the customers needs, wants and desires. Much of this can be predicted by the behaviours in the market and knowing the ideal customer for your product or service. Knowing how your ideal customer thinks and their buying trends will drastically increase sales in your business.

In the landscape of marketing, a profound understanding of consumer behaviour stands as an indispensable element. Far from being merely about product promotion, it involves a deep exploration of the intricate motivations that drive consumer choices. This nuanced understanding is critical for developing marketing strategies that not only engage but profoundly resonate with the target audience, thereby driving sales and fostering enduring brand loyalty.

The realm of consumer behaviour is a tapestry woven from diverse influences, encompassing psychological factors, social and cultural dynamics and individual preferences and experiences. These multifaceted aspects collectively shape how consumers perceive, interact with and decide upon products and services, making their understanding vital for marketers.

Psychological dynamics

  • Emotional and rational decision-making: The balance between emotional impulses and rational thought processes in consumer decision-making cannot be overstated. Recognizing and understanding this interplay is crucial for effectively influencing consumer behaviour.
  • Cognitive biases and heuristics: These mental shortcuts, while facilitating decision-making, often lead to predictable but sometimes irrational behaviours among consumers.
  • Impact of social networks: The significant influence of family, friends and broader social networks in shaping consumer decisions is a key consideration in marketing strategies.
  • Cultural backgrounds: The profound impact of cultural heritage on consumer preferences, perceptions and purchasing behaviours necessitates a nuanced approach in global marketing strategies.
  • Personal experiences and history: A consumer’s past experiences significantly influence their current and future behaviours towards brands and products.
  • Lifestyles and values: The individual lifestyles and personal values of consumers play a crucial role in their decision-making process.

Effective strategies for utilizing consumer behaviour insights

Effectively leveraging consumer behaviour insights involves several strategic approaches. Simplicity in communication is essential, as clear and concise messaging resonates more effectively with consumers, influencing their decision-making. A customer-centric focus, where the spotlight is on meeting the specific needs and desires of the consumer, enhances engagement and loyalty. Assembling a diverse team with a broad spectrum of insights is vital in crafting strategies that resonate with a varied consumer base.

Streamlining consumer processes ensures a positive experience from initial awareness to the final purchase. Moreover, leadership deeply rooted in an understanding of consumer behaviour is fundamental. Such leadership ensures that consumer insights are translated into effective marketing strategies, guiding companies toward success.

Ethical implications in consumer behaviour analysis

The ethical dimensions of understanding consumer behavior are significant. Marketers must balance the pursuit of insights with respect for consumer privacy, employing strategies that are ethical and responsible. This balance is crucial in avoiding manipulative tactics while maximizing marketing effectiveness. The future of marketing is set to witness an even deeper understanding of consumer behaviour, especially with emerging technologies like AI and advanced data analytics. These tools promise more precise insights into consumer preferences and behaviours, opening up new frontiers in marketing strategies.

Digital platforms have become pivotal in analysing consumer behaviour. The wealth of data generated by online interactions provides rich insights into consumer preferences and behaviour patterns. Understanding digital interactions, from social media engagement to online shopping habits, is essential for effective digital marketing.

In my personal experience, I have always made it a point at the Strategic Advisor Board to have my customers at the forefront of my business decisions. I seek to match their interest and to maintain whatever working relationship we have. Customers have high standards and for good reason, they have the autonomy to choose you or choose your competitors and it’s up to you to give them a reason why they should go with your services when other companies could easily provide you with similar results.

Analysing consumer behaviour and being able to quantify it gives you a specific edge over your competitors as being able to know what satisfies your customers makes it possible for you to apply it to your business operations which could lead to a multitude of beneficial results such as increased business performance, be it through simply retaining your original customer base and using them as an example for future marketing campaigns and hopefully gaining more customers.

Ways to get ahead with psychological methods of marketing and customer experience

1. Brand storytelling

Brand storytelling has emerged as a potent tool in marketing, influencing consumer behaviour by evoking emotional responses and creating deeper connections with brands. Effective storytelling can transform products or services from mere commodities into integral elements of a consumer’s life.

2. Consumer reviews and testimonials

In the digital age, consumer reviews and testimonials significantly influence purchasing decisions. Managing online reputation and encouraging positive customer reviews have become crucial aspects of modern marketing strategies.

3. Sustainability and consumer preference

The growing consumer preference for sustainability and ethical practices is reshaping marketing strategies. This shift towards environmentally friendly and socially responsible products compels brands to market not just their products, but also their commitment to sustainability and ethics.

4. Adapting to changing consumer behaviours

Adapting to ever-changing consumer behaviours is a challenge that modern marketers must meet. This requires a dynamic approach to marketing, where strategies are continually refined based on the latest consumer behaviour trends and insights.

The essential role of consumer behaviour in future marketing strategies

Understanding consumer behaviour is foundational to successful marketing. It involves creating a synergy between marketing strategies and consumer preferences to meet consumer needs while fostering long-term relationships. In the rapidly evolving consumer landscape, being informed, adaptable and ethically aware is crucial for the future success of marketing endeavours. Staying ahead of consumer trends, embracing technological advancements responsibly and upholding ethical marketing practices will be essential for businesses to remain competitive and relevant in the market.

BY JASON MILLER

CEO of the Strategic Advisor Board

Jason Miller is a seasoned CEO with an overwhelming passion to help other business owners and CEOs succeed. He was nicknamed Jason “The Bull” Miller because he takes no BS and no excuses from the people he serves. He has mentored thousands of people over more than two decades.

Sourced from Entrepreneur

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This Is The One Marketing Mistake Everyone Is Making at Trade Shows

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BY TREVOR RAPPLEYE 

Getting the most from a trade show audience requires a strategic approach, so follow this advice from an industry insider.

I’ll never forget the first time I attended a franchise-related trade show. In 2019, I maxed out another credit card to register for the International Franchise Association’s annual convention. I had landed a couple of project videos for some franchise brands and knew I needed to learn more about the industry if I was to create quality video content on their behalf.

The trade show floor at the annual IFA Convention was overwhelming – even bigger in person than I’d expected. I was determined to see all of it over the next three days, to pick as many brains as I could because I clearly needed an education. But it didn’t take me long to notice that I wasn’t the only one who could use some pointers. Even though I’ve been in the video marketing business since my early teens, I grew increasingly surprised as I passed through one section of the floor to another. The exhibitors, which range from everything from emerging brands to funders, consultants, vendors, and suppliers all appeared to have one thing in common. There was no high-resolution imagery displayed. In fact, by my count, roughly five percent of them were utilizing any form of video content in their trade show booths.

It was right then and there that I realized that I had a value proposition to offer the franchising industry.

The fundamental aspect of a trade show booth

Companies – franchisors in particular – spend a good deal of money to exhibit at the industry’s wide variety of trade shows. Floor space doesn’t come cheap, and brands typically set out with the best of intentions when it comes to recouping their investment. These reserved spaces only offer a minimal amount of space to captivate the thousands and thousands of trade show attendees – and you’ve got to make the most of every inch. Once you get beyond staffing the booth with your most gregarious sales representatives, there’s the requisite table, banners, signage, and brand collateral to think about. This is a golden opportunity to showcase who you are, what your brand represents, and how you have something of value to offer to an extremely captivated audience. Months of planning often go into the design, layout, and execution of exactly how you’ll present yourself to the masses. But to forego any type of video content in the trade show booth? That makes no sense at all. Seven-eighths of our knowledge comes from visual cues. So, it stands to reason that video is the best possible way to showcase your brand’s value proposition, key differentiators, and provide your target audience with the social proof you need to communicate a compelling story.

Know before you go

Long before the trade show kicks off, and you’re still in the planning stages of creating your video content, there are a few hard and fast truths you need to understand. The most important factor to consider is the short amount of time you’ll have to make an impression with video — perhaps as little as five seconds for attendees casually strolling by. And you can forget about audio, music, or voiceover narration. Most trade show floors are crowded, noisy, and crammed with endless branding and messaging collateral, easily capable of causing sensory overload.

To get the attention of your prospective target audience, videos must be brief, eye-catching, impactful, and branded. Any caption layovers must be short, clear, and easily digestible to the naked eye. Everything you shoot must be edited down to a concise clip that differentiates your brand’s value proposition amidst an endless sea of options.

Creating a sensory experience through video

Whether it’s a trade show, convention, or expo, the floor is typically packed with exhibitors, each vying for the attention of the passing attendees. How do you create a sensory experience that draws people in and makes them want to learn more about your brand? To borrow a quote from Admiral William F. “Bull” Halsey, a top naval commander in the Pacific Theatre in World War II: “Hit Hard! Hit Fast! And Hit Often!”

Initially, you’ve got to grab their attention before you can showcase your product or service in a way that piques curiosity and is capable of spurring an interaction. The first few seconds of your video content must present strong, clear graphics, as well as high-energy clips and edits that can excite, attract, and engage – before following up with a call to action. Carefully crafted videos – no more than one to three minutes in length – that play on an endless loop are highly recommended. And it’s also advisable to have more than one video display, in an elevated position to draw attention from multiple directions.

Selling a product? Develop videos that go beyond product placement and show it in action. Demonstrate its’ capabilities, while using clear captions to explain its value proposition in writing. Selling a service? Create a brief – but impactful – montage that demonstrates the process of the service you’re selling. Use storytelling and visual cues to highlight the customer’s journey in patronizing the service you provide.

Shoot onsite

A well-crafted video for your booth, designed with the trade show audience in mind, can give you a decided edge against the competition. But your dedication to utilizing video shouldn’t end before the trade show kicks off. It can be a wise investment to consider shooting raw video and scenes right there on the convention floor. Any footage captured during the event can pay untold dividends on the back end. Brands with plenty of onsite content can distill these videos into a montage or “sizzle reel,” which can then be repurposed for follow-up opportunities, via email, your website, future blogs, or even social media posts, because nothing tells a brand story like your sales efforts in action.

BY TREVOR RAPPLEYE 

Trevor Rappleye has been an entrepreneur since 2003 – beginning his first company at age 13, converting VHS to DVD and filming family events. As the president and CEO of FranchiseFilming.com, he’s obsessed with storytelling, leadership, video marketing and filming social proof for brands and franchisors. The company includes A-list clients such as Neighborly, CVS, Home Depot, ADP, and FASTSIGNS. For more information on FranchiseFilming’s VIP Subscription Model with no travel fees, no scripts and videos in just 10 days, visit www.franchisefilming.com.

Sourced from Entrepreneur

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8 Visual Trends To Consider for Your Marketing in 2024 [Infographic]

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Have you considered giving your branding a refresh for 2024?

Visual trends are always evolving, and while that logo and color palette that you came up with may have been cool in 2012, its now 2024, and it could be worth re-considering your approach, in order to maximize your visual appeal.

Which is crucially important. Attention spans are shorter than ever, and if you want to gain traction in busy social feeds, you need to grab people as they scroll by.

This listing could help. The team from Piktochart have highlighted 8 key trends that they expect to see gain traction over the next year.

Some interesting considerations, which could boost your visual branding.

You can read Piktochart’s full report (including one more key trend) here.

Piktochart design trends 2024

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Sourced from SocialMediaToday

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How to Time Your PR Initiative Successfully

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Timing is of course everything in PR and marketing.  I witnessed a beautiful example of this recently coming out of Denmark.  Queen Margrethe II reigned for 52 years, abdicating just a couple of weeks ago in January, 2024.  She has been succeeded by her son King Frederik X, and if anyone ever needed advice on how to follow a queen of 52 years, it’s Frederik, who has to fill some very regal slippers indeed.

Fun fact:  both Queen Margrethe II and Queen Elizabeth II of England are great-great granddaughters of Queen Victoria of England, who lived from 1837 to 1901 and reigned for just under 64 years.  (Queen Elizabeth II still has everyone beat, reigning for an amazing 70 years before turning the country over to Charles III.) It’s an impressive family.

Back to the advice for the new King.  Trine Nebel, longtime political commentator and Assistant Professor and Management Rhetorician, Professional College Absalon in Denmark, and I have often exchanged views on each other’s political worlds over the years and become friends during those heated discussions.  So, I was not surprised when she published an op-ed piece in the Danish consortium of newspapers which covers most of that country on the subject of the succession.

In the piece, she offers 10 ideas for the new King to ponder based on the leadership principles that her college, Absalon, teaches its students as part of the leadership training course that all leaders in the government must take in order to retain their positions over time.  It’s a clever, fun way to give the King some advice, talk up the school, and spread the word on good leadership practices at the same time.

Because her timing was perfect, the op-ed piece received widespread notice throughout Denmark, and the school earned a nice moment in the spotlight.  Trine is already well-known in Denmark and has appeared on Danish television and in the press over the years, so she is a trusted source for journalists and commentators to reference, quote, and comment on themselves.

In short, her piece has all the necessary attributes to go viral in her world.  It’s timely, it addresses a hot topic, she is already a trusted commentator, and the clear structure of the op-ed makes it easily digestible and implicitly gives the reader a way to think about the new King’s role that is relevant and fun.

Here’s her advice in summary form.  I link above to the translated version of the piece, but please understand that Google translate doesn’t do justice to the sparkle and wit of her prose.

Learn from your people – they will mirror your successes and failures and your policies’ ups and downs as well.

Lead with empathy and create a strong professional community.

Your kingdom is a chessboard, where each piece has strengths and weaknesses. Make your moves accordingly.

Nurture your people.

The king is like the conductor of an orchestra – create the right harmony.

Think strategically, two moves ahead. As Trine notes, “we’re not quite done with the chess metaphor!”

Practice honest and open communication.

Be ready to change and adapt.

Don’t forget succession planning – help your son, the prince, develop in his role. A pawn can become a king. . . .

Make sustainability core to your reign. Think about the long term.                          

Good advice for any leader, no?  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our next president could take some of these lessons to heart in our divided country?

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Sourced from PUBLIC WORDS

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Marketers, let’s look beyond ‘the next big thing’

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By Claire Nance

As a comms leader at Activision Blizzard, Claire Nance tracks all the trends obsessing marketers. She explains why the next big thing isn’t always the best.

Our industry loves a good story. And so it should. Marketers are, after all, storytellers themselves.

But look at the industry’s big stories or trends from the last few years, and you quickly see a pattern emerge, one that places greater emphasis on latching on to ‘the next big thing’ without a longer-term view to real-world implementation or impact.

In 2022, it was the metaverse. Barely did an earnings call or marketing strategy presentation went by without the ‘m’ word being hastily inserted. There was (and still remains) pervasive confusion around what actually constitutes the metaverse, but that didn’t stop the rush to proclaim the launch of marketing campaigns in the ‘metaverse’ and the flood of metaverse-related categories at industry events and award programs.

In many cases, these activations were within virtual gaming and social platforms, legitimate growing areas of opportunity and interest for marketers that became wrapped up by the desire to be part of the buzz and hype around the industry’s trend of the moment.

The result was that the industry conversation skipped a few steps in understanding audience behavior in virtual spaces to unlock the real impact these experiences can have both now and in the future. The story was instead focused on the latest brand to activate in ‘the metaverse’ without contextualizing it within the current technological landscape and paying little attention to results, impact or objectives.

In 2023, it happened again. And yes, I’m talking about AI. Witnessing the abrupt shift from metaverse to AI across industry headlines, events and areas of expertise this year has been simultaneously amusing and dispiriting. Once again, the priority has been to jump on to the big story of the year and ride the buzz while overshadowing the real potential AI technology offers. Such was the attention given to AI this year that the term became a proxy for technology that involved even basic levels of automation or machine learning (both of which existed before the 2023 AI hype bubble), missing the opportunity for education around what it actually is and thus how marketers should be thinking about it into the future.

It’s easy to identify the similarities between the metaverse and AI and, thus, why they became the prime marketing story in their respective years. They’re both new forms of technology that are conceptually easy to understand yet inherently complex.

They present a level of accessibility and familiarity that makes it easy for them to be inserted into existing industry conversations while also occupying a high degree of technological sophistication that makes them feel exciting and advanced. The other important component of the narrative arc was that both the metaverse and AI gained prominence after major tech industry announcements – Facebook’s name change to Meta in the case of the metaverse and the launch of ChatGPT in the case of AI.

The speed and ferocity at which both the metaverse and AI became the dominant stories for marketing and advertising exposes our industry’s penchant for chasing the next big thing. There is an at-times outsized focus on ‘newness’ and being first regarding how we think about innovation in marketing, which can lead to the scenarios above, where one idea or technology dominates the year until the next ‘next big thing’ comes along. The result of this is not only that focus remains firmly in one direction, leading to an abundance of retrofitting ideas and technology to align with the newest obsession, but also that other forms of innovation that do not fit quite so neatly into the popular industry discourse can be overlooked.

As we sit at the cusp of 2024, how quickly will we see AI discarded for the next technological advancement, as we saw with the metaverse at the start of 2023? Or is there instead an opportunity to rethink how we think about innovation within marketing and the stories we tell ourselves?

As an industry, we consistently speak to the importance of identifying objectives and goals upfront, yet that may be forgotten when it comes to new technologies and ideas. Innovation, for innovation’s sake, serves little purpose, and the same can be said for innovation driven primarily by industry hype. The focus should be on outcomes, impact and exploration, rather than a need to follow the noise. After all, innovation aims to find a better way of doing things to achieve the desired results, irrespective of whether it can be attached to the current industry buzzword.

Future technologies are exciting, but without fully understanding them, it’s easy to miss areas of real potential. The appeal of the metaverse and AI was that they were easy concepts to grasp but spoke to a technologically advanced future, creating the potential to ‘skip ahead’ in the conversation around them. Understanding these technologies better as they exist today allows for more advanced innovation and execution tomorrow. But this can be easy to overlook when the intent is speed over evaluation.

None of this is to discount the potential impact of future technologies on our industry, nor the need for us to be talking about them. But there is an opportunity for the discourse around them to be smarter. As we look ahead to next year’s industry predictions, mine might somewhat optimistically be that how we talk and think about innovation evolves and that we don’t need another ‘next big thing’ to shape how we think about the future.

By Claire Nance

Sourced from The Drum

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The 8 Best Free and Low-Cost SEO Tools for Small Businesses

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By Jason Hennessey 

Here are some tools that business owners can use to optimize their websites and bring in more revenue

Small businesses face unique challenges when it comes to their marketing operations. For one, very few have dedicated personnel to manage marketing campaigns (there may be few team members wearing many hats). They might also have limited financial resources, making it difficult to subscribe to the latest and best marketing tools.

But running a small business also has its advantages. There is often far less competition within a small niche market, and successful marketing campaigns are significantly less expensive. Similarly, amazing results can still be achieved even with a small repertoire of marketing tools.

If you’re looking to increase organic traffic to your business via Search Engine Optimization (SEO), here are some cost-effective software solutions to have in your toolkit.

1. Google Keyword Planner

Google Keyword Planner is Google’s own SEO keyword research tool. Although Keyword Planner is primarily used to identify keywords to target with Google Ads, the same data can be used to inform your organic keyword strategy for your website.

Use Keyword Planner to find keywords your target audience may be searching for, validate the search volume and competition level for each and discover related keywords that can help you reach people interested in your products or services.

Cost: Free

2. Google Search Console

Google Search Console (GSC) is another Google-hosted SEO tool, but specific to your website performance and analytics. GSC measures your website traffic, identifies site issues and allows you to monitor your ranking keywords. Sign up for GSC using your Google account, add the code to your website, and start tracking. This data will allow you to make improvements to your website that can help increase your organic traffic.

Cost: Free

3. Google Analytics

Google Analytics is perhaps the most widely known SEO analytics tool, and for good reason. For one, it’s fed by first-party data directly from Google, making it one of the most accurate analytics tools. Also, it allows you to implement conversion tracking to monitor what actions users take on your website, whether filling out a form, subscribing to a newsletter, purchasing a product, etc. You can also monitor traffic from other channels, not just Google, such as referral traffic, direct traffic or social media traffic.

Cost: Free

4. Yoast (WordPress only)

With WordPress being the most popular Content Management System (CMS), it’s only fitting to mention Yoast. Yoast is a WordPress-specific SEO plugin that allows businesses to add essential on-page elements to their sites, including meta titles, meta descriptions, keywords and internal links. Once activated, the Yoast plugin displays a score (red, yellow or green) to reflect the degree to which your website is optimized. Some alternatives to Yoast include RankMath and SEOPress.

Cost: $99 per year

5. Semrush

Semrush is one of the best “freemium” SEO software options, with a wide range of keyword research functions, site auditing features, content optimization tools and more. Like Google Keyword Planner, you can research keywords relevant to your service or product and even discover the keywords your competitors are ranking for. You can audit your site for on-page and technical SEO issues and receive an easy-to-follow report on how to fix them. Semrush also includes backlink analysis, listing management and local SEO tools, which are not available via Keyword Planner or Google Analytics.

Cost: free (limited); paid starts at $129.95 per month

6. SpyFu

SpyFu is a small-business-friendly competitive keyword research tool. Its complete SEO marketing suite includes a Pay Per Click ad analyser, robust historical data, competitive analysis tools, backlink outreach and even custom reporting. SpyFu is a close runner-up to Semrush, as it provides a range of helpful SEO features at an affordable price. However, Semrush is often the preferred option, given that it includes on-page, off-page, and technical SEO tools (the trifecta).

Cost: free (limited); $16 per month (annual plan)

7. AnswerThePublic

AnswerThePublic is not explicitly an SEO tool but rather a “search listening tool,” but it made the list because it is supremely helpful when it comes to small business content strategy. And content is one of the most important drivers of organic traffic. AnswerThePublic allows you to search for a primary keyword and discover a “web” of questions and/or topics to turn into blog posts or web pages.

For example, say you sell dog toys online; some topic ideas generated could include “Are dog toys machine washable?” or “Which toys are safe for dogs?” These might make interesting blog posts that appeal to the interests of your target audience.

Cost: Free

8. Screaming Frog

Screaming Frog is an industry-leading website crawling and log analysis tool. Its purpose is to imitate a Google web crawler, “crawl” your website and identify any issues hindering its organic performance. Such issues might include broken links (404 pages), missing page titles, oversized images, unused JavaScript and many others. Addressing these issues can help you speed up your website, make it more discoverable by real search engines, and increase your organic rankings, leading to more site traffic. Screaming Frog is best paired with a keyword research tool like Semrush to ensure a holistic SEO strategy.

Cost: free (limited); paid starts at $259 per year

So now what?

In small business marketing, the challenges are unique, often stemming from limited resources and personnel juggling multiple roles. SEO can feel intimidating, especially to small business owners facing limited technical and financial resources. However, the advantages of operating in a niche market with lower competition and cost-effective campaigns are undeniable. To harness these benefits, businesses can leverage powerful yet budget-friendly SEO tools. Elevate your small business’s online presence with these tools, turning challenges into opportunities for growth and visibility. So, dig in, get optimizing and start seeing the organic payoffs for your website.

By Jason Hennessey 

Entrepreneur Leadership Network® Contributor

Entrepreneur & CEO Jason Hennessey is an entrepreneur, internationally-recognized SEO expert, author, speaker, podcast host and business coach. Since 2001, Jason has been reverse-engineering the Google algorithm as a self-taught student and practitioner of SEO and search marketing.

Sourced from Entrepreneur

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From Nike to Cadbury, smart brand strategy is about emotion

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By Kate Eggleshaw 

We like to think of ourselves as rational creatures, but often our primary drivers turn out to be emotional. Here, Definition’s Kate Eggleshaw argues that smart brand strategy is emotive brand strategy.

Emotionally engaged customers are twice as valuable as those who are simply highly satisfied, and up to 95% of purchase decisions are emotionally driven.

It’s no surprise, then, that we’ve seen the fight to win customers’ hearts (and not just their minds) ramping up. From Nike to Coca-Cola, and Apple to Patagonia, you don’t have to look far to find big brands that thrive on emotional connection.

Despite its clear commercial benefits, attempting emotional connection is a strategy that should be approached with caution. Done well, it can be a powerful tool for strengthening customer relationships and engaging your teams, driving towards a ‘why’ that’s so much bigger than profit. Attempt it without credibility, though, and your efforts will fall flat.

A tale of two brands

Take Cadbury and Pepsi: two brands whose communications have attempted to drive emotional engagement with customers, with famously mixed results.

Cadbury’s drumming gorilla campaign was a masterclass in reigniting emotional connection. Following a salmonella scare, this campaign reminded customers of the sense of ‘joy’ and ‘nostalgia’ that had long been associated with the Cadbury brand, driving a 10% increase in sales despite the absence of product in the campaign. By skilfully, and subconsciously, redirecting customers to their previous positive associations, Cadbury was able to grow consumer confidence with credibility.

Contrast this with Pepsi’s infamous ‘Live for Now’ campaign. The brand attempted to carve out purpose and emotional connection by “projecting a global message of unity, peace and understanding” in a space where they had little understanding, no track record, and no credibility. It backfired in a dramatic way.

So, how do emotive brands drive commercial success as Cadbury did, and avoid that Pepsi mistake?

1. Start with the customer

As people who work with brands day after day, we can easily forget that the customers we’re targeting don’t care (or even think) about the brands we work with in the same way that we do. They care about themselves, their loved ones, and the goals that they want to reach. To really connect with them, you’ll need to gather insights that help you understand the emotions driving their decisions, and then appeal to these consistently.

Experts have identified ten high-impact emotional motivators that significantly affect customer behavior across all categories. They range from the way that people wish to be seen (“I want to stand out from the crowd”) to the way that they want to feel (“I want to feel a sense of thrill”).

Emotive brands build connection by putting the customer first. They identify the motivators that matter to their customers where their brand can play a credible role and then make sure that they help customers feel that way in, or about, themselves – time after time.

2. Have purpose, but make it relevant

Brand purpose is often seen as a tool for driving emotional connection with customers, and many brands now understand the importance of standing for something meaningful.

However, when brands mistake purpose for being about noble cause, rather than the ‘why’ at the heart of your organization, it can lead to action that lands as inauthentic, irrelevant, and arrogant (see Pepsi, or the more recent backlash against NatWest/Coutts and allegations of ‘corporate moralism’…).

Strong brand purpose is a direct and relevant extension of your products and services, and weaves consistently through your operations, as well as the customer and colleague experience you deliver. It also puts your customer first. Remember, it’s all about their emotional motivators, and how your product or service can meet them.

Nike’s brand purpose is a brilliant illustration. “To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete* in the world. *If you have a body, you are an athlete” is credible, relating directly to the brand’s products. It powerfully speaks to its audience’s emotional motivators and identity, and sets a clear direction for the customer and colleague experience that it delivers.

3. Keep your promises

Simple as it may sound, the key to delivering an emotionally connective brand is to do what you say you do. It might feel obvious, but when brands fail to deliver on the promises made in their communications, customers become disconnected and trust – that valuable foundation of deeper relationships – evaporates.

Your communications are just part of the mix. Whether it’s the decisions you make, the way you operate, the experience you deliver to customers and colleagues, or your products, absolutely everything that your organization says and does, internally and externally, must be aligned to your brand.

Emotional connection with customers can be a dauting, high-risk strategy, but it’s proven to deliver high rewards. Consistently deliver on a credible promise that speaks to the real emotional motivators of your audience and you’ll establish strong, long-lasting customer relationships that your competitors will struggle to break.

Feature Image Credit: Tengyart via Unsplash

By Kate Eggleshaw 

Sourced from The Drum

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Why we’re marketing: We’re trying to sell something

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BY TIM RINGEL

You can’t go a step in the advertising and marketing world these days without running into someone’s hot new application of artificial intelligence (AI) technology.

It’s the shiny new object of the moment that has captured our attention, and it’s driving agencies and brands into a mad dash to be first to market.

Admittedly, AI can offer us lots of advantages and innovations, and I gladly acknowledge that it’s important for the future of business. However, just like when we raced to be the first to launch branded NFTs, hurriedly adopted social media once it started exploding, or rushed to get our web pages up in the mid-1990s, I fear we’re pushing forward without much of a plan.

Instead of focusing immediately on the kind of technology, channel, or tactic we’re using, let’s take a quick breath and remember why we’re doing what we do. Because whenever I have a conversation with a C-suite executive or business owner, they’re only focused on two things:

  1. Growing revenue and market share
  2. Defending revenue and market share

In our eagerness to show expertise and forward thinking, we too often forget a simple truth: No matter how much the technology or media changes, the fundamentals of achieving business goals and creating positive customer experiences do not. So, no matter how cool a new technology may seem, it accomplishes little if we don’t consider whether it improves the customer’s perception and purchase-readiness for the brand.

ALWAYS APPLY YOUR MARKETING BASICS

Over the last century, the basics of marketing have changed very little—because they work. We have a core set of tools that allow us to create awareness, generate sales, and create advocacy. We call it the customer lifecycle. And it clearly defines where the customer is in their relationship with a brand, guiding us to the next reasonable interaction with them.

Whether we’re talking radio, TV, digital, mobile, out of home, or any media you can think of, the fundamentals remain true. For every marketing challenge, we first look at where the customer is in the lifecycle, we determine which media is best for reaching them, and then we send out an appropriate marketing message.

The hype around AI would seem to suggest that it reinvents this process—that somehow AI can be applied in every use case and every situation. Let me assure you, it doesn’t and it shouldn’t.

AI provides executional advantages. Sending out more personalized messages, enhancing response time on customer requests, or generating creativity in the blink of an eye are amazing features. But these advantages become meaningless if your system sends out an invasively personal email at the wrong point in the lifecycle.

We always need to know why we’re using a media or technology each time we apply it. Because the customer matters and we need to follow their lead to know why, when, and how they would like to receive communications from us.

AVOID SOLUTIONS THAT DON’T SERVE YOUR CUSTOMERS

Some of the biggest advantages of new martech and adtech solutions come down to efficiency and cost savings. AI in particular is lauded for its ability to simplify complex tasks and make the workplace more productive.

The trouble is we’re kidding ourselves if we believe that our internal efficiency positively impacts the customer’s experience in any perceivable way. It certainly doesn’t contribute to growing sales, that’s for sure. It simply dehumanizes consumer interactions for the sake of cost cutting.

On the surface, a faster response time might be able to improve the customer experience when contacting a brand, and a more personalized message that’s timed perfectly may better inspire a customer to respond. However, when most AI today can’t even pass a Turing test, why would we entrust our entire customer pipeline to its flawed reasoning?

Again, the basics apply here. We are in the business of serving customers in marketing. Assuming this is true, we need to always measure our solutions against the lens of: Is this serving my customers and improving their experience as I try to meet my company’s goals? If not, we need to question the usefulness of the tactic.

EVOLVE THE RULES RATHER THAN JUST BREAKING THEM

Shiny new things are great fun. I get it. They allow us to push the boundaries of what’s possible and evolve the marketing world in interesting ways. But we need to embrace the basics first. The rules are there for good reason, and if we break them all without any consideration to why they were there in the first place, we may find ourselves doing more harm than good to our brands and our customer relationships.

Tim Ringel is a cofounder and global CEO of Meet The People.

Feature Image Credit: rawpixel.com, Javon Swaby/Pexels

BY TIM RINGEL

Sourced from Fast Company

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3 Major Ways Generative AI Is Redefining Search

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By Christian J. Ward

The future is AI-driven, trust-centric dialogue between brands and consumers

The generative AI race is well underway, and we’re already seeing applications in advertising and marketing for creative ideation and development.

This includes one of the key pillars of digital advertising—search. As consumers, we have grown accustomed to being overwhelmed with ads and information in search engines, while being underwhelmed by experiences and results from brands on their own sites.

In the last six months, the breadth and pace of innovation has been intense. Google has had more core updates and helpful content updates targeting potential misuses of gen AI. At the same time, they’ve expanded their own use of their Search Generative Experience, which is constantly improving and prompting important debates in the SEO community. Microsoft’s Bing has expanded its partnership with OpenAI, and CEO Satya Nadella’s annual shareholder letter could have been called the “Copilot chronicle” expansion. This doesn’t even cover the mind-blowing expansion of image generation and other advancements over this same period of time.

Brands must recalibrate their approach to harness the potential of these emerging technologies. Gen AI is revolutionizing online search experiences with three pivotal shifts every brand should keenly understand.

Dialogue over monologue

For over 25 years, people have become accustomed to using shorthand when searching for something online. Searching in keywords is a skill that grows increasingly complex as the amount of available online content skyrockets, and by using more keywords in each query, people have attempted to find more precise or helpful information. This is often termed the “long tail” of search and has also caused a gap between how people normally speak with how they search online.

For instance, if someone’s ankle is hurting, they might type into a search engine, “ankle pain lower heel.” Today, this kind of search will usually return a list of monologues, such as nearby orthopedic surgeons or conditions where pain could be indicative of something serious. Alternatively, conversational AI is now able to begin a dialogue, perhaps by asking basic questions like, “How long has your ankle been hurting?” Instead of just trying to rank with SEO for a string of keywords, gen AI will enable marketers to help people refine their concerns or questions through natural, humanized conversations.

For marketers, these dialogues will drive massive changes in their quest for personalization. With conversational AI as the interface, consumers can share exactly what they want to share, and brands can focus on great responses instead of suboptimal guesses. Once consumers become more comfortable with engaging in a dialogue, the days of creepy targeted ads and invasions of consumer privacy will be over. When a consumer freely offers details on what they seek and why, the brand can leverage that zero-party data to personalize their experience. Trust is built through dialogues, not infinite monologues algorithmically ranked in search engine results.

Most importantly, these AI-driven dialogues open unprecedented opportunities for brands to engage each person individually. AI-powered discussions will meet every consumer where they are in terms of their language, reading level, cadence and more—an entirely new level of cognitive accessibility.

Offers, not ads

The future of AI-powered conversations points to sweeping changes in brands’ approach to advertising. Today, significant portions of ad budgets are spent on merely defending objective search questions in top search engines: “What time does [brand] store open?” “Does [brand] have [service] available near me?” These types of questions often require defensive ad expenditure, even though the question is clearly for a particular brand. But competitors bid on these brand terms and similar keywords to try to disintermediate the consumer from their brand.

Instead of defending their brand, marketers will be able to shift from ads to offers with gen AI. 90% of consumers find targeted ads intrusive and annoying—often to the point of depleting the consumer experience. However, if a consumer has a trusted dialogue with a brand, sharing only the information necessary to get the answers they need, then brands can deliver truly individualized offers. For example, a consumer planning a trip could engage with a resort directly by first indicating interest in visiting, and the resort could ask questions such as what dates the consumer wants to travel and who they’ll be traveling with. After gathering specific information, the resort is well-equipped to share offers such as activity and room discounts relevant to the consumer and what they’re looking for.

Where in that exchange is an ad appropriate? Never. Conversations like these build trust and enable the brand to customize an offer that meets the needs of that individual customer. This is the future of offer-based interactions, directly controlled by a dialogue with the customer.

Moving from privacy-invasive ad models to trust-centric dialogue models will take time. But for objective questions—which often directly precede conversion and purchase decisions—brands will utilize gen AI aggressively to take back the consumer dialogue from centralized search systems that seek to monetize ad spend.

Subjective data over objective data

Gen AI’s transformation of search starts with a massive surge of AI or AI-human output. The internet is about to see infinite content growth that will clog classic, centralized search or force it to reconsider its algorithms. This is somewhat inevitable, as marketing monologues are still necessary to attract traffic. Despite cries of resistance from SEO strategists, the use of gen AI to create billions of relatively useless blog posts is well underway.

With infinite content comes infinite subjectivity and misinformation. However, objective facts about a singular business will only come directly from that business or brand. For instance, when a consumer searches “What time does Wendy’s open?” they don’t want to see irrelevant answers (or ads) from 10 other restaurants. Wendy’s should be known as the authority on this type of objective question, and a competitor shouldn’t spend ad money on these types of scenarios.

Compare this to subjective questions, where both ads and centralized search have inherent value. With searches like “best burgers near me,” there is a genuine benefit for centralized search systems. The issue here, however, is that gen AI will cause such an explosion in subjective content that major search engines will need to carefully prioritize how to answer these questions. Reviews and digital opinions already suffer from inauthenticity, but the next wave of AI-generated subjective content will be impossible to prevent.

Once consumers become more familiar with objective search benefits, gen AI dialogue will create opportunities for brands to have honest conversations and find out what consumers want. A dialogue (through search and chat) powered by gen AI and authoritative knowledge graphs of information is the best way to get started.

Tech savviness has long been critical for marketers to succeed. And while gen AI’s impact on the industry is just beginning, now is the time for marketers to better understand how it affects and will affect search and chat. By embracing the opportunities AI creates—trust-centric dialogues and personalized offers based on objective data—marketers have more opportunities to personalize their campaigns and build deeper, more trusted relationships with their customers.

Feature Image Credit: Dusan Stankovic/Getty Images

By Christian J. Ward

Christian J. Ward is executive vice president and chief data officer at Yext.

Sourced from ADWEEK

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