by Francois Muscat | Jul 10, 2019 | Social Media Marketing
Influencer marketing is the hottest trend in digital marketing right now – with a benchmark report seeing a whopping 1 500% increase in web searches for “influencer marketing” since 2016. As the concept evolves, so your strategy needs to keep up to date. Here is what you need to know to have your finger on the digital pulse:
What Are Influencers?
Social media users who create content that gains them a loyal following of hundreds to even millions of followers are known as influencers, and they have taken over the role of trusted confidant, friend or mentor – so much so that global surveys have found that 61% of people interact with an influencer at least once a day. Their appeal is in the trust they have built with their authenticity; 25% of influencers have declared that they would reject partnerships that are too restrictive. It follows, then, that they can sway the purchasing decisions of their highly engaged audience. As many as 87% of consumers have admitted to having bought something on the suggestion of an influencer.
What Is Influencer Marketing?
With the ability to wield such power, social media influencers are ideal brand ambassadors if they like what you have to offer. Up to 84% of marketers are reportedly confident that partnering with influencers is an effective marketing solution.
Although it is expected that the field of influencer marketing will reach between $5 and $10 billion (R75 – 150 billion) by 2022, it should be money well spent. The reported media value returns are as much as an impressive 18:1. In other words, for every rand you spend on influencer marketing, you can get up to R18’s worth of media value.
Not that influencer marketing likes to focus on money. When it comes to selecting an influencer with which to collaborate, their audience relationships are the key. Think of influencer marketing as your secret weapon in locker rooms and book clubs across the country.
WSI
Need help with your social media campaign? Then contact WSI OMS today.
by Francois Muscat | Jul 8, 2019 | Facebook, Social Media Marketing
If you have a Facebook page for your business, chances are good that you need to use Facebook ads to grow your following and sell more. Here’s why:
- Your Organic Reach Is Getting Smaller
Facebook is decreasing the organic reach of your posts, in other words, they are only showing your posts to a very small percentage of your fans. To increase the number of people who see your posts, you need to consider boosted Facebook posts or promoted posts.
It is one of the most inexpensive ways to advertise. You can start with only $5 and only increase your Facebook marketing budget when you get a clear indication that you are getting the results you wanted.
Creating a Facebook ad is very simple as you only need an image and a few lines of text.
It is a great way to get instant feedback. If you are unsure about whether there is a market for your business idea or whether your product will sell, you can test your idea before you spend money. Instead of investing a considerable amount of money in product stock, for example, you can see what the interest is before you start selling.
- Detailed Targeting Options
You can target people based on their job title, marital status, the mobile device they use, the people they follow and so much more. You can target people who are your ideal customers simply by using Facebook’s targeting options.
You are now able to remarket to people who have followed a specific action and have prequalified themselves for remarketing from you.
Need help with your social media marketing or digital marketing campaigns? Then contact WSI OMS today.
by Francois Muscat | Jul 8, 2019 | Social Media Marketing
Every which way you turn, there is something being marketed on the latest and greatest networking platform. If you are new to digital marketing, the prospect of implementing a social media strategy can seem overwhelming. Even seasoned social media marketing campaigners can begin to feel jaded at the task of keeping up to date. How can you keep it simple and manageable?
Before You Start
Before jumping in the deep end, ask yourself if your business actually needs social media? Obviously, we at WSI would love to run your social media campaign for you, but not if your clients and prospects aren’t that into social media. Do not feel bullied because “everyone does it” – choose what will work best for you.
Assuming you do go ahead, consider which platforms are the best fit for you, your customers and your brand. Know your ideal customer inside out, and target the places where they research their purchases.
On Your Marks
For the best results, it is essential that you know what you are aiming for. Is your goal to increase brand awareness in general? Is it to increase the number of viable leads? Or is it to promote something specific?
Keeping your goal in mind will make it a lot easier to create an effective social media marketing strategy. Plan what type of posts you want to share, what mix you will be sharing and how often you will be posting.
Having a clear plan laid out allows you to set up and schedule all that you need for the next fortnight or month so that there is no “radio silence” when you are busy with the running of your business.
Get Set
Prepare content in advance – from blogs to photos and everything in between. This ensures continuity, and again, it will take the pressure off you in busy periods.
Go!
Finally, spend a little time every day checking your social media pages rather than lumping it all together in one big batch. Quick responses are an appealing part of social media for consumers, so they want to hear from you within 24 hours.
This also gives you a chance to evaluate (test and measure) how your strategy is working out, enabling you to tweak it as necessary.
Delegate
If the world of social media marketing has become too complicated to manage, there is always the option of hiring a reputable digital marketing company to manage it for you.
Contact WSI OMS today to learn more.
by Francois Muscat | Jun 24, 2019 | Content Marketing
Want to use interactive content to increase the conversion rates of your digital marketing campaign? Then follow this advice:
The Welcome Page
The welcome page is the first page that people see when they click on your interactive content. You want to have a clear call to action to increase your conversions. Also, make sure that you have a really good background image and sufficient text to highlight the value that they are going to get from using your solution. You need to communicate exactly how the visitor will benefit from clicking past the welcome page.
Lead Magnet
You may have certain restrictions that your sales team applies to determine what constitutes a sales qualified lead. The problem with trying to get a user to complete seven fields of personal information is that they will likely click away because it could seem like too much effort. The key is to get just as much information as possible. More often than not, you will need them to complete four fields: name, location, phone number and email address.
A good tip is to ask for a name and an email address upfront after trust is established or after you have shown some type of value. Later on, you can ask the user for their phone number and location. You want to make sure that your lead questions are intelligently designed instead of asking a bunch of questions upfront.
Length of Content
There is a balance between how many questions to ask and how much a person will be willing to give you. Sometimes, a business owner or your market research department will get involved in interactive content that the marketing team is generating. They might want to know the user’s role, the size of the department they are working in and other information. To maintain a high completion rate, make sure you ask between three and ten questions.
Personalised Results Page
Use conditional messages. If you are doing an assessment, for example, and a person gets a good score, then you want to personalise the results page for their good score.
Need help with your content marketing or digital marketing strategy? Then content WSI OMS today.
by Francois Muscat | Jun 24, 2019 | Digital Media Marketing
Whether you recently launched a new website or whether you have had a website for years, it is always a good idea to relook the ways that you drive traffic to the site. Here are a few ideas from the digital marketing experts at WSI OMS:
- AdvertiseThis may seem like a no-brainer, but many business owners want to avoid paying for advertising – even if it can make a direct difference to their bottom line. Paid search advertising, banner advertising and paid social media marketing are all great ways to get your brand in front of potential clients. Be sure to use keywords that have commercial intent so that your website visitors can easily convert to paying clients.
- Get Social
Creating content is great, but it’s of little use if it isn’t being shared and read. Be sure to share your content on social media to drive more traffic to your website. Twitter can be used for short, snappy tweets whereas your product photos, promotions or other appealing visuals can go onto Instagram. Update your social media profiles regularly to continue to drive traffic to your website.
- Experiment
What works for one business owner may not work for you. Mix it up by experimenting with different types of content, different lengths of content and different times of posting. Check out what your competitors are doing and learn from their successes and mistakes.
- Target Long-Tail Keywords
When was the last time you used Google’s keyword planner to find new, niche keywords? Find relevant long-tail keyword phrases and create content specifically geared towards these phrases to see your website visitors number grow.
Need help with your digital marketing, SEO, or content marketing? Then contact WSI OMS today.
