Google and Facebook colluded to undermine competition in advertising, according to documents uncovered by the New York Times. Obtained during an antitrust lawsuit in Texas, the documents lift the lid on ‘Jedi Blue’ – a cloak and dagger sweetheart deal between two tech giants that monopolize online advertising.
So what’s the deal?
Google and Facebook are accused of abusing their market position to strike a backroom deal to further their business interests.
The agreement is said to have seen Facebook win more favorable terms when bidding for advertising in return for its support for Google’s Open Bidding platform for selling adverts over header bidding – where advertising space is auctioned across multiple ad exchanges.
Google has long agitated against this method of buying advertising, maintaining that it slows down web pages and causes batteries to drain faster, as well as elevating the risk for fraud and billing errors.
As a result, Facebook gained more time to bid for adverts and was able to strike direct billing deals with sites hosting the ads. The underhand arrangement is also said to have seen Google furnish its rival with its data to enable Facebook to better target audiences.
In a quid pro quo, Facebook consented to bid on a minimum of 90% of ad auctions when it could identify users, with a pledge to spend at least $500m a year.
Such terms handed Facebook an unfair advantage over Google’s other advertising partners according to the New York Times, which spoke with six of these to help build its case. This meant Facebook was almost guaranteed to win a consistent number of adverts.
Evidence of collusion was first obtained from documents filed as part of an antitrust complaint lodged by the Texas attorney general Ken Paxton, amid suspicion the tech pair were getting too cozy.
This relationship even included a clause that committed both companies to ’cooperate and assist’ in the event of any investigation into their business practices.
Why it matters
Should apparent collusion be corroborated it would further undermine confidence in digital advertising – particularly if a guaranteed win rate is confirmed.
In response to the allegations, Google contends that its agreement has been misrepresented, while Facebook maintains that such deals serve to enhance competition.
Irrespective of the truth of the matter, the lack of transparency shown by both parties will do little to instill confidence in competitors or legislators.
Addressing the claims directly, Google director of economic policy Adam Cohen wrote: “Our agreement with Facebook Audience Network (FAN) simply enables them (and the advertisers they represent) to participate in Open Bidding.
“Of course we want FAN to participate because the whole goal of Open Bidding is to work with a range of ad networks and exchanges to increase demand for publishers’ ad space, which helps those publishers earn more revenue.
“AG Paxton inaccurately claims that we manipulate the Open Bidding auction in FAN’s favor. We absolutely don’t. FAN must make the highest bid to win a given impression. If another eligible network or exchange bids higher, they win the auction.
“FAN’s participation in Open Bidding doesn’t prevent Facebook from participating in header bidding or any other similar system. In fact, FAN participates in several similar auctions on rival platforms.”
Both Google and Facebook have been in the eye of an antitrust storm, with Google fending off multiple lawsuits from the Department of Justice and three dozen states centered on its near-monopoly of search and search advertising, as well non-search advertising.
Joe Taylor has quickly adapted to the changing environment, taking his and his clients’ businesses to new heights.
2020 has been filled with challenges and opportunities alike, with many ambitious entrepreneurs and businesses recognizing the niches begging to be filled with the increasing shift to digital trading and services. Though the demand for connectivity is great, not many of these ideas have the space or foundation to grow and thrive under these conditions.eGrowth Media, a UK based marketing agency, helps many established and developing businesses make the transition to the digital sphere, connecting brands to their audiences and increasing profits through through the effective use of social media tools.
eGrowth Media was founded by award-winning entrepreneurJoe Taylor. At only 21 years old, this driven, young businessman has found much success utilizing his background in social media management, implementing and promoting events. Fresh out of college, Joe’s events business grew to 4 employees within its first year operating and was already making waves in the corporate sector, securing contracts with established UK institutions including PA Hub, the Royal British Legion and BT.
In 2020, Taylor used the changing global economic situation to refocus his goals after the lockdown crippled the events industry. Joe decided to reinvest into himself, receiving mentoring and training from one of the UK’s top advertising specialists, Jordan Platten. Joe incorporated all of his wisdom and experiences into his already developed skillset and launched eGrowth Media with the mission of making a one-stop shop for all things social media, putting the extensive tools and strategies for growth in the hands of small, ambitious businesses.
eGrowth Media operates primarily within the real estate sector, helping property investors and developers to generate more leads online, but they also work with small businesses and entrepreneurs who are looking to increase their online visibility, develop their brands and connect with their niche. eGrowth Media achieves this through the use of specialized Facebook and Instagram advertising strategies, effective email marketing, custom content generation and social media management services. They implement results-based strategies that ensure higher conversion rates and guarantee return on investment. The wide range of services offered by eGrowth Media allow them to operate as a comprehensive resource for businesses of any size to grow further, from established brands looking to expand into new markets, to brick and mortar stores looking to establish their digital footprint.
With eGrowth Media‘s successes after less than 6 months of operation, Joe is set to scale eGrowth to consistent 6 figure returns over the next 12 months. He also has just co-founded a property investment named Eaton Taylor. Taylor is constantly honing his craft as a strategist and entrepreneur. When he is not developing new business ideas and strategies for providing value to his clients, he offers up personal insights and experiences on the podcast that he hosts, “Diary of a Young Entrepreneur” where he highlights issues that young business owners face, and dives into the understanding of entrepreneurship, meeting many talented and motivated people in their field.
Joe’s penchant for online connectivity has solidified him as a results-driven businessman and rising star to watch in the UK business sector.
A strong social media presence is the foundation from which you can build a world-conquering brand.
As per the Digital 2020 July Global Snapshot, nearly half of the world is on social media. Today, to build a personal brand, there’s nothing quite like social media. The potential audience and exposure that the platform can generate would be unimaginable to yesteryear’s advertising and marketing teams.
Through social media, brands can connect and interact with their audience on a sincere and personal level. In turn, this creates customer loyalty, generates leads, and provides the sort of marketing and advertising money cannot buy.
Social media creates its momentum and can take what once was a niche brand and make it a household name. Here are three reasons why social media has become the most formidable and powerful tool any person can leverage when building their personal brand.
Social media adds an air of authenticity to your brand
In a digital landscape where everyone is jostling for attention, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for any brand to stand out. The biggest compliment any audience can give you is to believe in your brand. They will only do this if you’re an authentic and genuine article. “Once you have authenticity on social media, the world is your oyster,” shares wealth coach Rob Coats, founder of Connect and Grow Rich Consulting Agency. Coats made his name on social media through positivity and perseverance. “People tend to follow me on social media because I break it down in simple terms how they can generate wealth, and I make their financial goals tangible,” Rob continues.
He further adds that you should steer clear of bluff or bluster to gain your followers’ trust on social media. “You have to be honest on social media, or you’ll be called out as a fraud,” he explains.
Social media elevates your brand into a way of life
Social media is a place where people who share similar lifestyles connect and broaden their horizons. Lifestyles are a tangible commodity and encompass a broad spectrum. Social media can document a lifestyle like no other medium. Founder of TripleOne Inc, James Awad, who lives the sort of lifestyle that many entrepreneurs endeavour to emulate, uses it as an example of what his social media followers can achieve if, in his words, “They commit themselves to their passion and leave no stone unturned to master it.”
He explains, “With the rise in social media usage, individuals, as well as brands, must figure out what cult they want to build around themselves and then work harder and be more innovative than anyone else.”
Social media gives your brand worldwide exposure
The most dynamic thing about social media is its reach. It is a platform where ambition can truly thrive. In today’s world, you do not need a marketing firm or team of advertisers to make your brand a global one; you need to be social media savvy. Above all, social media is a level playing field. It doesn’t care where you’re from or what you’ve done; it just cares about where you’re at.
“Social media offers everyone a chance to make it big,” shares business coach Julian Kuschner. The millennial mentor knows all about having his back to the wall. He has survived getting kicked out of college and being fired from a series of dead-end jobs and came out the other end as someone who has achieved great success on his own terms. Julian now inspires others on social media to find the inner strength and resolve needed to build a successful business.
He explains, “Social media has given me an opportunity to help people all over the world. More and more people are financially struggling than ever before, but I believe it’s not so much the struggle but how you respond to it. Through social media, I aim to inspire people to stay positive, stay strong, and rebuild one step at a time.”
Have you ever wondered howI influencers are able to afford all of those designer clothes and extravagant trips? Well, tax deductions might have something to do with it.
“I was today years old when I realized YouTubers do clothing hauls on their channels so that they can write off the clothing on their taxes,” she said in the video. “They literally get all this cool [clothing and] make a video of it so it’s considered work and then they get to write it off. THAT’S SO COOL!”
This might sound too good to be true, but Holmes is right. According to tax advisor Handy Tax Guy, all you have to do is prove that your clothes are necessary for “accomplishing your job as an online influencer” in order to write them off as a business deduction.
That’s not the only thing influencers can write off when they’re doing their taxes, either. Travel expenses like transportation and lodging can be considered essential for an influencer, which makes them a tax write-off. Prizes used in giveaways, charitable donations and meals eaten while discussing work can also be written off as business expenses. For bloggers and influencers, the list of write-offs is seemingly endless.
On Holmes’ video, many influencers noted that the amount of things that can be written off during tax season is “insane.”
“And as a travel content creator I get to write off my travel,” travel blogger @whereintheworldisnina said. “And lots of other stuff!”
“Being a small business owner has its perks,” another person added. “I write off my entire house mortgage because my office is in my basement.”
Other people who aren’t as familiar with the business of being an influencer were just plain shocked.
Before you make a YouTube channel just to get “free clothes,” you should consult a tax expert to learn more about how write-offs work. Write-offs lower your taxable income, thereby lowering how much you owe in taxes. At the end of the day, you will still be paying something for those trips and clothes.
Yesterday, I witnessed one of the finest pieces of digital marketing that I’ve seen for some time.
For 24 hours my social feeds on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook were clogged with branded content that’d been shared by my friends, connections and followers.
It was an onslaught of user shared content and a tour de force of brand dominance. The campaign in question was called ‘Your 2020 Wrapped’ by Spotify.
The music app’s campaign was simple – show their users what they’d been listening to – and offer them the chance to share this information on social media. Their user’s accepted.
On the same day that Spotify launched this campaign, MyWallSt reported that their share price had risen by 13%.
This graph (from Google) highlights a marked spike on 2nd December, the day Spotify launched ‘Your 2020 Wrapped’.
Contents
Are Social Shares Worth Anything?
I’m faced with a lot of emails – a large percentage of them are about one thing – ‘links’.
I receive requests about guest blogging, updating old content, link exchange proposals, monetary offers – you name it, these people are willing to give it in exchange for a simple URL inserted on our website.
This is an example of a very, very bad outreach email.
Why is it then, in an age when every other marketer and website owner is tilting towards a link-building, Google optimised strategy, that an established brand can increase their share price by 13% in one day with shareable content?
In the remainder of this article, I’ll investigate the value of the social media share, whilst uncovering the 5 steps to the most shareable content on the internet.
And as usual, we’ll have take-aways, videos, supporting images, examples, explainers and tons of shareable content…
Shares and Long Term Results, Is There a Correlation?
The main objective of this article is to provide you with something that you can take-away and action (if you’re mildly entertained – that’s a bonus) because I know social shares can have a big impact on your long-term success.
It might not say it in the textbooks, or the guides, or even list it in the depths of the marketing annuls, but social shares have a noticeable effect on long-term results. Many of the best performing content on Einstein Marketer (in terms of evergreen content scores) are located on pages that boast the highest social share counts.
For example, this is one of our most shared blogs and coincidently, one of our most visited too…
I’m not suggesting that social shares have a direct impact on search ranking, but the evidence shows that more shares = more results.
A study by CognitiveSEO discovered that the top 4 results on search engines have significantly more Facebook activity (with shares being a key part of that).
Shares aren’t just valuable in the short-term. These social signals have an impactful knock-on effect.
Social Shares As Social Proof
Regular readers will understand the delicate balance required to succeed with social proof, and this knowledge is pretty handy when it comes to understanding the importance of social shares (and how to get more of them).
If you weren’t there, here’s what you need to know:
Social proof is the theory that we are impacted by the decisions of the people in front of us
72% of people copied the action of the person in front of them (in our real-world marketing test)
Our Facebook ads performed better when social proof was inserted into the advertising copy (watch the videos if you don’t believe me!)
Social proof doesn’t work well when used in the incorrect places (i.e. in promotions for luxury brands)
Showing your target market that you’re popular by using social proof signals, can help your marketing performance
If you missed it, here’s a video of me handing out leaflets on the streets, to prove the theory of social proof:
Social media shares act as digital recommendations.
Yes, they look amazing on the page and that definitely has an impact on the psychology of your target audience, but more importantly, they allow us to see what the people we trust most recommend.
Who would you trust more:
Your mother
A stranger
This kind of social proof is invaluable for digital businesses – and reveal one reason why it’s so important for content creators and marketers to aim for ‘shareable content’.
The 5 Steps to The Most Shareable Content on the Internet
Before we dive into our 5 steps to the most shareable content on the internet (a grand claim, I know), I need to draw your attention to an article I published a little while ago called, The Psychology of Sharing.
In this article, I analysed a three-part research program conducted by The New York Times known as ‘The Psychology of Sharing’.
The study revealed that the most likely reason people share content is to:
Bring Valuable or Entertaining Content to Others
Define Themselves to Others
Grow and Nurture Relationships
Enjoy Having Others Engage
Spread/Share Good Causes
With that knowledge in the bag, and these 5 points acting as a useful reference point for the rest of this article, it’s time to get into the content marketing tactics that will create irresistibly shareable content.
1. Personalisation
Let’s go back to the very start of this article when I praised Spotify for their excellent ‘Your 2020 Wrapped’ feature.
The one word in this campaign that made all the difference was ‘Your’ – this possessive pronoun (thank me later for the English language lesson) is the reason that they received so many social shares.
If Spotify had created a feature called ‘2020 Wrapped’, and sent their users the best performing artists, songs and genres of the year in total, their results would’ve been very different.
As revealed in The New York Times study, a top reason why people share content is ‘to define themselves to others’ – and let’s face it, there are few better ways to define yourself than by sharing the music you listen to.
Ever seen a t-shirt like this? This is a real-world equivalent of Spotify’s Wrapped campaign.
Personalisation is a key stepping stone towards the holy grail of virally shared content and Spotify hasn’t been the only ones to notice.
A bigger brand has made a bigger splash, with a bigger marketing campaign based on the shareability of their personalised content.
Coca-Cola’s ‘Share a Coke’ campaign is one of the most famous marketing campaigns in recent memory – and I couldn’t write an article about creating shareable content without mentioning its name.
The campaign involved Coca-Cola removing their brand name from labels and replacing them with the 250 most popular names of each country they were released in.
A bit too sugary for my taste, but a purchase is tempting when the product has my name on it.
In the first year of the ‘Share a Coke’ campaign, photos were tagged with the hashtag ‘#shareacoke’ more than 500,000 times, and Coca-Cola gained more than 25 million Facebook followers (Source: Investopedia).
The personalisation of their products gave them the leverage to increase product sales AND the platform to build on their growth – thanks to the shareability of their personalised bottles.
Before 2011, Coca-Cola had seen ups and downs but never surpassed its peak share price in 1998. After their ‘Share a Coke’ campaign, their share price did nothing but rise until 2020.
How to Personalise Your Content For Shares
Creating shareable content via personalisation requires one very important thing: data.
Without information, you simply can’t personalise anything.
For instance, regular readers will know that my name is Josh, and therefore have enough data to personalise a message to me. A message or comment like this will capture more of my attention than one addressed as ‘Dear Sir’.
Data is a touchy subject – but nobody seems to care when it’s used to let us show off, as Spotify’s campaign proved.
Spotify succeeded because they had collected tons of data from their customers. Coca-Cola succeeded because they had enough resources to create a blanket personalisation campaign.
We don’t all have the budgets or data holding of companies like Spotify and Coca-Cola, so here are a few ways that anybody can use personalisation in their marketing campaigns and content to increase shareability:
Know your audience: Start with a customer avatar, create stuff that will help your ideal customer.
CRM Tags: Tag actions and behaviours in your customer relationship management software, and use this to inform future promotions, e.g. tag everyone who buys specific products and tailor their future communications around it.
Pixel/Cookies: Track behaviours and actions on your website and create custom audiences based on this behaviour, e.g. clicks, scrolls, URL visits, conversions. Retarget each segment with personalised content.
Collect More Data: Use sign-up forms to collect as much information as possible – first names, last names, company names, location etc. Use this information in communications.
Analytics: Use Google Tag Manager and Analytics to track what content your audience is most in tune with, and create more of it!
Implement a Live Chat: Create a live chat/messenger option for website visitors and personalise their conversation and future interactions with your website.
2. Let Them Share!
I see too many talented creators and marketers fail to offer their audience the chance to share their work.
It’s as easy as this:
Click on the share buttons below to spread the word:
BTW: The social share buttons (above) are provided by a company called Social Warfare. They act as a WordPress plugin. Install these (or a similar plugin), activate them and add them to your website – it’s not rocket science.
Calling your audience to share shouldn’t be restricted to written content, it should be done in videos and podcasts. too The best times to do this are at the start and end of your content.
These sharing recommendations are known as a ‘call-to-action’.
We can explain why calls-to-action work, thanks to a 1966 book by James J Gibson, called The Senses Considered as Perpetual Systems.
Good luck to anybody who tries to read this – it’s not for the faint-hearted.
Gibson coined a term known as ‘affordances’. This explains why certain objects have properties that direct us to take action.
For example, when we see a button, we instinctively know (and want) to press it, when we see a doorknob, we know to twist it, when we’re faced with a switch, we want to flip it.
Thanks to digital, affordances have stretched much further than simply flicking and turning switches. We know to pinch our fingers to zoom in, double-tap to like (on Instagram) and drag down to reload pages.
It’s up to you to provide your audience with the correct sharing ‘affordances’, so they’ll instinctively want to share your content.
Unfortunately, there isn’t an option to add 3D knobs and switches to your content, but, as you’ve already noticed, there are some powerful ways to use share buttons in your content:
Make it visible: Use floating bars at the side or bottom of your content to keep your share buttons in-view at all times. When the ‘I want to share’ moment hits, the option needs to be there.
Embed share buttons: Don’t ram sharing buttons down your audience’s throat, embed them where appropriate
Ask, be polite: Don’t tell your audience to do stuff, ask them politely. Many of them will understand the importance and impact of a social share and will do so if you ask.
Use incentives: A click-to-tweet is effectively a free piece of content for your audience, offer them the incentive. Alternatively, offer them offers/deals etc within your email content in exchange for shares.
Colours: Green’s and oranges are the most commonly used CTA colours, why not try using them in your social share buttons. It might be worth testing.
Show share numbers: If your content regularly receives high levels of shares, put a share counter beside your share buttons. This technique uses social proof to encourage more shares – just don’t overdo it!
3D Buttons: Design your share buttons so they look like they’ll depress when they’re clicked on. Alternatively, change their design when a mouse hovers over them.
3. Stand Out!
Doing the same thing as everyone else achieves below-average results – especially when you’re relatively new in content.
It pays to stand out – and the currency for your achievements are social shares.
The number one reason that people share content in The New York Times study was ‘to bring valuable or entertaining content to others’. People are inherently social creatures, and they are always looking at ways of helping their social circles (and raising their standing within it).
Standing out requires creativity, skill, ingenuity and having the bravery to go against the grain, or in the words of a Nobel prize winner:
‘The opposite of a great idea is another great idea.’
Niels Bohr
A sports brand like Nike would be well advised to use athletes in their ads as aspirational figures that are aligned with their products. However, one of their most virally shared campaigns was their ‘Find Your Greatness’ ad, where they did the exact opposite:
Or a drink brand like Guinness should – to any rational thinker – hide that their product is slow to pour, but instead they advertise it like a badge of honour.
And it’s one of the foremost reasons that at a time when everyone is publishing as much content as possible, I’ve decided to reduce the number of blogs being published on Einstein Marketer, in order to raise the level of quality that’s associated with our brand.
Great ideas come at both ends of the spectrum. Find which end suits you and create content that warrants the ‘stand out’ motivated share.
And if you need further inspiration, here’s an apology from KFC that received tons of shares for ‘stand out’ reasons:
How to Make Your Content ‘Stand Out’
The Austrian psychologist, Ernest Dichter, released a study in 1966 about word-of-mouth marketing.
He discovered that the most common reason for somebody to recommend a product to a friend was ‘product involvement’. This occurred when an experience with a product was so novel and pleasurable that it simply had to be shared.
You must aim to elicit that same feeling with your content.
A brand that have achieved this with their content is Blendtec, with their infamous YouTube videos, ‘Will it Blend?’:
But, how can you use content to stand out and gain those all-important social shares? Here are a few ways that we’ve used them in the past:
Think of a good idea and do the opposite: Let’s face it, you aren’t the only person online creating content – your good idea has probably been executed before. Why not flip it on its head and try the opposite?
Do something immeasurable: Almost everything online can be tracked, but why not try something that can’t be tracked – have longer conversations with prospects, post less, post more, publish elsewhere, go offline, create branded merchandise.
Create nonsense: I only know one brand of blender, because Blendtec is the only one who created nonsense content with their product. If you have a product, try some nonsense for yourself.
Be honest: Trust is one of the hardest commodities to find online – being honest about yourself, your brand and your journey will stand out from the crowd.
4. Positivity
I’m smiling already.
‘Positivity’ is an especially relevant point for me because I regularly share it. My most recent retweet (at the time of writing) was about the world’s first Covid-19 vaccination:
And I’m not the only one, in Contagious: Why Things Catch On, Jonah Berger and his colleague analysed seven thousand articles to discover what elements contributed to their most emailed articles.
Add this book to your reading list
They discovered that there were two primary factors that led to the sharing of articles:
How positive the article was
How excited it made the reader
Joy is a feeling that we instinctively want to share it with others. Spreading happiness builds and nurtures relationships and gives us enjoyment (both of these are top 5 psychological share factors according to The New York Times study).
News sites like Good News Network are often seen shared on social media.
The message itself doesn’t have to be positive to incite positive sharing feelings. As brands and marketers, it can be difficult to find feel-good topics when we’re creating content about our products or problem-fixes.
Instead, we can use easter eggs (hidden gems in our content) or our medium delivery to spark joy in our audience. Check out this promotional video about train safety:
This video for Dumb Ways to Die has been viewed more than 200 million times on YouTube and even has a mobile app.
Try watching that video and telling me that you don’t want to hit these share buttons…
If your singing voice isn’t quite up to a catchy new jingle, and you’re fresh out of inspirational stories, there are other ways to generate positivity.
Excitement and positivity are similar emotions, you can use either to create the shareable content you’re seeking.
Here are a few ways to make your content more positive and your shares more frequent:
Release dates:If you have a product, content or changes to your business that will impact your customer positively – create content about them and build excitement. Computer game companies earn $$$ in pre-orders from shares of their release date promos.
Product teasers: If you have something that’s in development, a completed prototype or potential change to your services – create a content teaser and post it on social media. Think positively!
Staff stories: We’re social creatures, and people love people. Try using your own funny industry-related stories, or those of your staff.
Video: It’s much easier to share positive emotions about a mundane topic when you’re on video on doing it.
Curate: Use your social channels to curate positive news from other sources. You won’t own the content, but you’ll be the messenger.
Think positively: Don’t force the feeling. Positive vibes radiate off you when you’re in the zone and will flow into your content too. Enjoy the process!
5. Stories
In 1996, a few weeks before the Olympic Games, a young athlete was diagnosed with stage 3 testicular cancer. A year later, after undertaking chemotherapy and having the cancer removed, he was declared cancer-free and started his own foundation.
The man was Lance Armstrong, his foundation, Livestrong. Fast forward 7 years and Armstrong had just picked up a record-breaking 6th consecutive Tour de France.
This seemingly impossible story led to Nike selling more than 80 million yellow wristbands with his foundation’s ‘Livestrong’ branding:
It’s probably best not to mention what happened to Armstrong a few years later.
This yellow bracelet went ‘purchase viral’, and the same thing happens to content and marketing campaigns when they’re attached to the correct story.
In the UK, many people eagerly await John Lewis’s Christmas advert (if you’re not a Brit, John Lewis is a large department store) because they’re always built around touching stories.
When these ads drop, you cannot move on social for shares of their video.
My favourite John Lewis ad wasn’t even created by them. In this ad, Twitter teamed up with a man named John Lewis, who lives in Virginia, US and owns the Twitter handle @JohnLewis. Because of his username, he is regularly inundated with tags, mentions and requests from UK twitter users:
Since @johnlewis tweeted this ad, it has been shared more than 25k times from his account alone.
BTW: If you haven’t seen a John Lewis Christmas advert, check them out on YouTube.
Stories are an amazing way to elicit emotion. They give us the opportunity to share good causes (like the Livestrong band), build relationships and entertain others – 3 big psychological reasons why we share content.
I opened this blog with a story about Spotify to capture your attention, and I’ve weaved in several more to keep you engaged. As a creator, marketer and entrepreneur, you must understand the value of attention.
A great story can pull new audiences from their ferociously busy newsfeeds – giving you the chance to convert that into a share.
Watch me briefly explain the value of attention on stage at EMC 2020.
How to Use Stories In Your Content
Stories are everywhere, it’s just a matter of knowing how to find them. Here are a few ways that anybody can use stories to create irresistibly shareable content:
Brand stories: Your business must’ve started for a reason, and there has to be some background to this. This is your brand story – you simply have to use it. Think of the emotional steps that took you from where you were, to where you are today.
Customer stories:This type of story are great on landing and sales pages because they increase conversion rates. Ask your existing customers to talk about their life (in relation to your product’s problem-solving ability) before and after they found you. Use quotes and videos to build trust in your brand.
Progress updates: Nobody ever started at the top of the tree. If you’re on your way up, show your audience every step along the way. We are all living, breathing stories. Use updates to build a community who are invested in yours.
Vlogs/blogs: Vlogs and blogs are a great way to go into more detail about your journey. You can reveal problems you’ve faced, shortcuts and advice.
The 5 Steps to the Most Shareable Content On the Internet
There we have it – the 5 steps to the most shareable content on the internet.
We’ve been through highs and lows, witnessed some great modern marketing campaigns, and put the theory of shareable content to the test with examples and explanations.
As a quick recap, here are our 5 ways to create shareable content:
Personalisation
Let them share!
Stand out!
Positivity
Stories
If you can tie two or three of these elements together, you’ll create something that is irresistible on social media.
I’ll be back soon with more super-valuable content like this – as always, scroll down to the bottom of this page to subscribe for updates…
…and please share this article to spread the knowledge (and love).
Josh is an award winning content marketer and the Director of Content at Einstein Marketer, previously working as a content manager, freelance copywriter and marketer. He writes, edits, proofs and strategises content for Einstein Marketer’s agency and their clients, sharing the most successful tactics and strategies with his lovely audience. He hates writing in the third person, follow him on the social links (above) so he can get back to writing as himself.
If there’s one niche of the business world that never stops evolving, it’s marketing. Digital marketing is highly dependent on the maturation of online technologies and is continuously pivoting and responding to new developments. Having said that, are you prepared for 2021?
The Digital Marketing Trends Set to Define 2021
Now is the time to begin planning ahead to account for the digital marketing trends of 2021. By staying current, you can develop a digital marketing strategy that takes the latest tips, trends, and frameworks into account.
“A good digital marketing strategy gives your company a cohesive plan that is consistent through your many online and offline channels,” Marcel Digital explains. “After all, you want your branding and message to be the same on your point-of-purchase advertising in your stores as it is on your social media pages and website. A cohesive message saves time and effort by not having employees recreate a marketing message for every channel.”
But our focus is not to discuss how to create a cohesive message. While important, we want to dig into the how. In other words, how do you execute once you’ve zeroed in on your message?
Though classic marketing principles and approaches will always prove effective, sometimes it’s helpful to study the latest trends to get a feel for innovative opportunities that can take marketing to the next level. And in this article, we want to focus on a few of the top trends for 2021. Take a look:
1. Live Video
Live video streaming has exploded over the past three years (and will continue to do so over the next decade). Powered by social media platforms, live streaming is available to the masses and provides an avenue for the continued democratization of content. Just consider the following data points as curated by HubSpot:
Internet users watched approximately 1.1 billion hours of live video in 2019.
By 2027, the live video streaming market is expected to hit $184.3 billion.
By 2020, live streaming is expected to account for 82% of all internet traffic.
Those are significant numbers – too significant to ignore. And there are plenty of reasons why businesses are making the jump to live video, including:
There’s almost no learning curve to record live video. There’s no need for a script, props, or post production. You hit the record button and push out live content. It’s casual, relaxed, and relatable.
There’s no requirement for advanced technology. While you can certainly enhance quality with some tech upgrades, a smartphone is all that’s needed to get started.
Live video feels exclusive and commands longer average view times when compared to pre-recorded videos. (There’s a sense of urgency from the viewer that they might not be able to see the content later.)
Live streaming video is used in a variety of capacities and is highly dependent on your brand, goals, and content strategy. However, it’s ideal for things like Q&As with an audience, customer support, special announcements, interviews with influencers, live events, and backstage events.
If you’re new to live video but want to get started, the best piece of advice is to jump in and do it. Try a couple of videos and see what happens. Were you comfortable? Did you enjoy it? Did the audience engage? What can you learn?
Your first shot at live streaming won’t be perfect, but you can always optimize over time.
2. Programmatic Advertising
Another sweeping trend is the growth of programmatic advertising. If paid traffic is part of your strategy for 2021, you need to gain some understanding and proficiency in this area.
As MarTech Advisor explains, “Programmatic advertising is the process of automating the buying and selling of ad inventory in real-time through an automated bidding system. Programmatic advertising enables brands or agencies to purchase ad impressions on publisher sites or apps within milliseconds through a sophisticated ecosystem.”
Over the past couple of years, programmatic advertising has become the preferred method of running ad campaigns. It offers real-time insights, enhanced targeting capabilities, increased transparency, better budget utilization, and provides a way to combat ad fraud effectively.
Programmatic advertising can be deployed in a variety of channels and formats, including display ads, video ads, social ads, audio ads, native ads, and digital out-of-home (DOOH) ads.
Contrary to how traditional media buying works, programmatic advertising doesn’t usually involve publishers and advertising working together in a one-to-one fashion. The type of programmatic deal – such as real-time bidding, private marketplaces, preferred deals, or programmatic guaranteed – determines how they’re delivered.
3. Voice Search
Would it surprise you to learn that approximately 27 percent of the online global population uses voice search on mobile? Or that more than 1 in 3 US internet users use a voice assistant monthly (up from just 9.5 percent in 2018).
Consider that by the end of 2020, roughly 30 percent of all internet browsing sessions will include voice search. And that more than half of adults use voice search on a semi-regular basis.
The writing is on the wall. Voice search will soon become the preferred method of browsing the internet. It’s faster, hands-free, and ultimately more convenient.
So what does that mean for digital marketing? Well, it changes everything, particularly on the content strategy side of things. People speak differently than they write. Consider, for example, someone searching for a pizza restaurant. Their queries might look like this:
Typed: pizza restaurant Bronx
Spoken: What’s the best pizza restaurant in the Bronx?
Voice search is ushering in a new age of SEO and content creation where long-tail keywords are the focus. Natural, conversational language wins the day. Brands that adapt to this style will see their SEO rankings improve and search traffic scale.
In terms of blogging strategy, brands should focus on developing content that answers questions. People go to Google when they have a question and the search engine knows this. So in an effort to satisfy their users, they’re elevating content that answers very specific questions.
4. Interactive Content
Online users are growing bored with basic blog posts and static content. They want to be stimulated. They also want control over their experiences. And these desires are currently culminating in the rise of interactive content.
Research shows that interactive content gains 2X more engagement than static content. This has led 34 percent of marketers to include interactive content in at least 10 percent of their strategies.
The most popular types of interactive content include quizzes, polls, interactive infographics, AR, VR, and online calculators.
Interactive content is typically just a subsegment of the larger content strategy. But in 2021 and beyond, it’s going to become an even bigger portion. While many brands are currently developing one piece of interactive content for every nine pieces of static content, that number will likely increase to 20 percent.
5. Shifts in Influencer Marketing
In 2016, the influencer marketing industry was worth an estimated $1.7 billion. By the end of this year, it’s projected to be worth somewhere north of $9.7 billion.
People like to hate on influencers, but they’re effective. The earned media value for money spent on influencer marketing was roughly $18 for every dollar spent in 2019. And over the last three years, there’s been a 1500% increase in brands searching for “influencer marketing” on Google. In other words, it’s effective and here to stay. But as we enter into 2021, this industry will undergo significant shifts that will ultimately change the way businesses approach marketing and advertising.
One of the biggest shifts will be the rise in micro influencers. These are influencers who have small yet loyal followings (anything less than 10,000 followers). And what they lack in reach (compared to large influencers), they make up for with high engagement and affordability.
It’s also possible that we’ll see an increase in performance-based influencer marketing. In the past, it’s always been sort of a flat fee deal. Businesses pay per post and the influencer gets the same amount of money no matter what happens on the engagement front. But as the influencer arena gets more competitive, brands will gain more leverage. Soon, we could see payment based on the number of clicks, comments, or even sales.
Ultimately, the changes in this space will be dictated by consumers. Followers make it clear what they do and don’t respond to by the type of engagement they offer. As brands and influencers gather more data and analytics from these types of posts, they’ll iterate and zero in on what works best.
Hit the Refresh Button on Your Digital Marketing
No digital marketing strategy is set in stone. As you approach 2021, take the time to understand the new trends so that you can shift your strategy into a direction that aligns with the trajectory of the larger consumer marketplace. Whether it’s live video, programmatic advertising, voice search, interactive content, or shifts in influencer marketing, there’s ample opportunity for growth and expansion.
Frank is a freelance journalist who has worked in various editorial capacities for over 10 years. He covers trends in technology as they relate to business.
Social media campaigns are an integral part of brand marketing strategies. A good post can elevate awareness and reaffirm the coolness of a brand, but what happens when you go viral for all the wrong reasons?
When it comes to PR disasters and brand blunders, it can be easy to forget there’s a person behind the post. Brands and social media managers alike will inevitably make mistakes.
From poorly timed tweets, to questionable GIFs and insensitive comments – these mishaps come in many different forms, in any type of industry and in companies of any size.
In today’s ‘cancel culture’ climate it can be difficult to weather the storm of a social media disaster. So, we asked our Twitter community for some practical advice on how to handle it in style.
Feature Image Credit: The Drum’s Twitter audience share tips on managing a social media crisis
It’s no secret that creating engagement on social media is not as easy as it used to be, and even those who are successfully sparking quality engagement on social may be missing out on key strategies that could increase engagement further.
Whether they’re posting high-quality content or not, it’s common for brands to distribute organic content and see little to no social engagement as a result. As more businesses turn to Facebook and Instagram for social media marketing, it’s becoming more difficult to spark engagement (likes, shares, comments, saves, direct messages, etc.) with your accounts.
Drawing on my experience with social media advertising, here are three powerful ways to increase engagement going into 2021.
1. Create Compelling Contests
Holding a contest in the form of a giveaway with a cheerful narrative and appropriate call to action is an effective method to instantly increase engagement on social media. The goal is to spark engagement by directing users to take action in order to be entered to win the prize. For example, you could direct users to tag friends in the comment section, share the post on their personal news feed and, finally, follow your page, which opts them in to staying connected with your brand and viewing content that you publish in the future.
The reason contests work so well is because those participating are obviously interested in the product or service being offered, and they are most likely in a position to redeem the offer, emotionally and geographically.
2. Run Engagement Campaigns
Running paid engagement campaigns on Facebook and Instagram is a sure way to increase engagement on social media. By running campaigns with the engagement objective, you can target your ideal clients based on their niche-specific interests, demographics and behaviors and consistently get qualified users to engage with your page, content or ads. Best of all, you can do this for just cents per engagement. We often get qualified engagements for less than 10 cents per unique engagement.
3. Leverage Influencers
Collaborating with notable influencers is another way to trigger social media engagement. Local influencers — especially those who have a genuine community of interested and niche-specific followers — work great. Many people believe that influencers are more helpful and trustworthy than brands, which is a compelling reason to use influencers to cross-promote your product or service. Not only are influencers a great tool to help increase overall client engagement, but they also can help boost opt-ins and, most importantly, sales and profit.
Compensation normally depends on the size of the influencer’s following and how well known they are. Some solely exchange products or services for promotion, and others charge high prices.
At our agency, we aim to partner with influencers who we believe will help drive meaningful engagements for our clients. To get started on this yourself, reach out to influencers and be clear about the opportunity you’re offering, and establish an agreement on collaborating that mutually benefits both parties.
So there you have it: three effective ways to increase engagement on social media. If you want to attract attention and spark engagement on your pages, consider employing these strategies in your upcoming marketing campaigns. Creating compelling contests, running engagement campaigns and leveraging influencers can all help increase quality engagement on social media.
Many marketing executives, social media managers and business executives have been struggling to adapt their marketing and branding efforts so their social media content remains relevant and appropriate during the pandemic.
In a previous article, I addressed how you can use social media to communicate during a time of crisis, but now where do we find ourselves? The sheer length of the pandemic means we can’t continue to function in full-scale crisis mode, but many of us simply aren’t “business as usual” yet. How do we move our efforts forward in smart, meaningful ways that are sensitive to this ever-changing climate?
According to the “Digital 2020” report, released at the beginning of the year, 4.54 billion people worldwide were using the internet. That’s a 7% increase from the previous year, and we’re nearing 60% worldwide internet penetration.
Once the pandemic hit, internet and social media use increased across demographics. More time is being spent on social media sites, but the ways people are using social media has changed. Here is what marketing executives and social media managers need to know now:
1. Logging In For News
It’s no surprise that back in March and April of this year, people flocked online to get updates on Covid-19. Many chose to visit specific social media channels, and they used those channels’ internal search engines to find updates, news and information. We had started to see this trend in news consumerism over the last few years. Last year, for example, 55% of Americans got at least some of their news from social media. But reliance on social media for news seemed to really take off in response to the pandemic.
With so many people using social media for news, it’s important that your content stay topical and also sensitive to the news cycle. While your brand may be fun or sarcastic, you’ll need to understand how your content might be viewed in a user’s feed when sandwiched between two news stories.
That said, embrace this trend and share news about your business! Your customers and even your employees might be looking at your social media for updates — to see if you’ve made modifications to your services during the pandemic or find out if you’re still in business.
2. Best Times To Post
In January, I would have said that while key times to post vary by industry, channel and demographic, we commonly see surges in use at lunchtime, in the early afternoon and between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. However, that’s all changed since the start of the pandemic.
With so many people working from home, using Zoom for conference calls instead of in-person meetings, I’ve found that social media peak times have shifted to the morning. In fact, one key window is from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., with much less use in the evening. Maybe we can assume that by that time, many people are seriously “screened out” and want to relax.
So, in order to target most segments of the population, I recommend focusing on distributing your content and key engagement in the morning. Don’t make the mistake of trying to reach your demographic when they aren’t online.
3. Give Them An Escape
When it comes to the kind of content users are consuming, I find that content that is inspirational, educational and fun (as opposed to just sales-pitching) always does better on social media. This applies even more right now. According to a recent study on consumer sentiment during the pandemic, “43% of survey respondents said it’s reassuring to hear from brands they know and trust.”
So keep posting, but stop trying to sell (this is great advice for content creation efforts anytime). Tell a story about how your organization is contributing to the greater good or about an employee who has overcome adversity. Share how your product or service can make life a little easier in the current conditions, or post a nice graphic that will make people smile. Such posts help link your brand with good feelings and entertain people who are hungry for entertainment. Remember, many may want an escape from the reality of their daily lives.
Also, be sure to share how your company is handling issues related to Covid-19. Are you open for business? And how have things, in general, changed for you? The same research mentioned above found that 40% of users want to know what brands are doing to adjust during the pandemic. Giving a glimpse behind the scenes is a good way to keep people interested in your organization.
At the very least, post regular updates. That might be a daily LinkedIn update or a quick video from a senior leader. Or choose to go live on Facebook so you can “talk” with your customers. Going live can also help you get good placement in people’s feeds.
4. Adjusted Ad Spend
Ad spend is always a hot-button question: How much money on a particular channel will lead to how many views and what kind of engagement? Or how many leads? While that’s different for each social media channel and each industry, it’s safe to say that ad spend is down at the moment.
In short, your social media ad dollars can go pretty far right now. Start by boosting your organic posts that already have the greatest engagement. Then, you can create micro-targeted ads and run an A/B test to see how your audience responds. This is a great way to test the waters if you’re new to social media advertising.
To stay relevant, business leaders, brands and organizations of all kinds must adjust to the new online landscape. People have shifted their use of social media, and your strategy, content and distribution efforts must shift with them. Don’t get left behind because you’re using best practices from before the pandemic. Meet your consumers where they are. Stay open to the next wave of changes, and keep telling your story. And remember, if you don’t, your competitors will.
It’s not always easy to grow your social media channels. There are a ton of factors that come into play and determine how consumers perceive your business.
There are plenty of ways to connect with consumers in today’s digital landscape and get more conversions on your website. One of the most effective ways people just like you are growing their business is through social media marketing.
An impressive 3.81 billion people use social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to talk to their friends, engage with content, and buy products. Business owners and marketing teams know that whatever target audience they want to reach, it’s possible to find them on social media.
Despite the advantages, it’s not always easy to grow your social media following organically. There are a ton of factors that come into play and determine how consumers perceive your business. If people don’t know that you exist, there’s no chance that they will ever follow your account, visit your website, or become a paying customer.
Today, we are going to take a look at five of the best ways to organically grow your presence across various social channels.
Get to know your followers
Before you can get more followers, it’s recommended that you learn everything you can about your existing subscribers. The people who found and actively followed your channel are interested in your products and what you have to say.
Understanding the mentality of your followers can help you find new ways to generate more traction. For example, adding a poll can help you learn about common pain points and goals that users face in your industry. Using this information, you can start planning new content and marketing campaigns designed to help consumers overcome these issues and reach their goals.
If people who haven’t followed your page face similar problems, seeing someone share a relevant post could be the deciding factor when the user can either keep scrolling or click your profile.
You should also take the time to engage with followers in the comments section of your posts. People on social media are vocal about what companies are doing right and where they can improve. Responding to these folks is a great way to build trust with your existing audience while finding new ways to organically reach more prospects.
Host interactive events
Have you ever attended a live online event, such as a webinar? Most people have, and for a good reason. These events are excellent opportunities for learning and connecting with likeminded people.
Businesses host interactive live events to educate potential customers while connecting with them on a deeper level than occasionally responding to comments. We know that events like webinars work to organically grow email lists. In fact, 20% to 40% of webinar participants eventually become leads. By this logic, you can expect to see plenty of people follow your brand after signing up for a webinar.
If you’re running an e-commerce storefront and don’t plan on hosting webinars, there are other interactive events you can create for your social media channels.
Giveaways, for example, are an excellent way to build your social media following organically while getting people excited for your business. On average, giveaways have a conversion rate of 34%. In other words, a staggering 34% of people who see your giveaway on Facebook or Twitter will enter.
You can choose to give away anything from your most popular product to a gift card for your store. Let’s face the facts; people like getting stuff for free. The chance to win something for taking a simple, free action is enough to convince many people to follow your profile and engage with your brand.
The key to using giveaways to grow your social media presence is the rules. You should establish rules that encourage people to follow your profile and join your email list for two ticket entries. Using this strategy, you can dramatically grow your social media channel and email list.
We also suggest that you encourage participants to share your contest for a third chance to enter. Sharing is the best way to ensure that everyone can participate in your event, even if they are already following your channel and subscribed to your email list.
Share visual content
Visual content is the foundation for many social media platforms. Without images and videos, platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube would be obsolete. However, sites like Facebook and Twitter also rely heavily on visuals to keep users engaged.
Content that features professionally made images and videos is more likely to be shared by consumers who are already following your brand. If someone is scrolling through their timeline and sees one of your graphics, they may pause to look at the image or watch the video.
When this occurs, the user may get curious and navigate to your profile. If you can impress these people with interesting content and an irresistible value proposition, they could become followers on the spot. At the very least, they will see your brand name and recognize you in the future. This type of exposure eventually leads social media users to follow brands shared by their connections.
Focus on creating high-quality videos that are jam-packed with valuable content. You can create guides, reviews, infographics, and much, much more. More people are using their smartphones to access social media, so we expect this format to grow in popularity over the next several years.
Connect with other companies
Did you know that 55% of buyers research businesses using social media? This statistic is telling because it shows us that while many people use these platforms to have fun, many use it to look for product and service recommendations.
Put in all of the work, and you’ll see more organic traffic. But there’s another way to boost your followers by reaching consumers outside of your network.
Connecting with other companies in your industry is a great way to spread brand awareness and grow your following. There are plenty of products and services that work together. For example, an email marketing firm might partner with a hosting company. Both businesses can benefit from reaching a similar target audience.
Why?
Because in most cases, customers looking for one service are also looking for the other. Merging your marketing efforts and posting content that promotes both companies is a great way to expand your network. There’s a good chance that the consumers following the partner brand you choose don’t know about your company, and vice versa. The result is a win-win situation for consumers and both businesses.
Analyse your performance and make changes
Finally, don’t forget to review your social media performance and make changes to your marketing strategy. Learn about your posts that see the most engagement, and find out why this is the case. Usually, enhanced traffic occurs on specific posts because they address common problems people face in your industry.
So, if you see a surge in traffic on posts about a specific sub-topic, you can assume that consumers are interested in that subject. Creating and sharing more related content can result in more social engagement and shares, which leads to new organic followers.
You can also test elements of your campaign to see if you can achieve stronger results. Let’s say you see low engagement on your scheduled 7 p.m. post. Try changing the time to 9 p.m. to see if this results in more engagement.
It’s possible to test virtually every aspect of your marketing to see if you can get more shares and comments. Experimenting with headlines, images, and content topics are three more of the most common ways to use your analytics to improve your performance in the future.
These experiments are based on your performance and worth pursuing if you want to get maximum value from your social media marketing strategy.
Hello, I’m Syed Balkhi, a 27 year old award-winning entrepreneur with a strong 8 figure online business. I was recognized as the top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 30 by the United Nations. I was born in Karachi, Pakistan. At age 12, my family immigrated to the United States. Ever since I can remember, I have been extremely competitive which makes me hustle at everything that I do.
