by Francois Muscat | May 27, 2019 | Content Marketing
Clickbait is a pejorative term that is used to describe content that is aimed at generating online advertising revenue at the expense of quality. Clickbait content usually relies on sensationalist headlines to encourage click-throughs and the forwarding of material on online networks.
Clickbait headlines typically aim to exploit the curiosity of readers by providing just enough information to make them curious, but not enough information to satisfy their curiosity without clicking through to the site to the link content.
One of the cons of clickbait is that it annoys people. When a website visitor sees an interesting headline on your website and clicks through to the link only to be left disappointed, they may lose trust in your site. You can expect a lot of dislikes and negative comments because people feel tricked.
Clickbait is a one-sided deal with your audience because you waste their time without delivering on your part of the agreement: to provide quality, useful content.
Clickbait isn’t the same as fake news and it isn’t always bad. It is a proven way to get people to click on content because the curiosity gap is a powerful thing. To make your content seem like clickbait, focus on including grandiose statements and many superlatives. Just make sure that the content that the readers click through to delivers on your promises!
“When done correctly, it is one of the best ways to get people to take notice and give you their most precious asset: attention,” says Neil Patel.
According to Neil Patel, clickbait tickles our curiosity while it dumbs down concepts to a common language, such as fear, greed, jealousy, envy and lust, that everyone understands. There’s nothing wrong with making your headlines more appealing but be sure that whatever content you are offering is not a time waste to your audience. At the end of the day, all of your content needs to be well-written and serve a purpose.
Need help with your content marketing or social media marketing? Then contact WSI OMS today.
by Francois Muscat | May 20, 2019 | Content Marketing
It is imperative that you get a handle on how to create clear, concise briefs if you hire a freelancer or a content marketing company to take on all of your digital marketing on your behalf. Here’s a brief breakdown on how to create better briefs:
Indicate Your Expectations
What do you want this specific piece of content to achieve? Should it inform? Describe? Entertain? What is the ultimate call to action? Do you want the reader to click through to view a product? Sign up to your mailing list? Follow you on social media?
Highlight the Main Message
What is the most important aspect of the content? What is the main message that you would like to get across? Or the most important piece of information that you would like to communicate?
Give a Clear Description of the Target Audience
The target audience will have a great effect on the tone of the piece, so it is always important to provide your content marketing lead with this info.
Give Info About Your Brand
What is the brand’s general tone of voice? What is its desired perception? Also, be sure to send through a style guide if you have one handy.
Keep it Concise
Some clients think that the more information they give their content creator, the better the outcome will be. However, giving a 30-page brief for a page worth of work is not going to do you, or the piece, any favours. If the brief is too long, there is a good chance that the writer won’t read through all of it, and it is easy for the most important information to get lost this way.
Need assistance when it comes to content marketing and digital marketing in general? The team at WSI OMS can help! Contact us now to learn more about our content writing services.
by Francois Muscat | May 20, 2019 | PPC
Have you ever wished that you could flip a switch and have instant traffic to your website? And not just any traffic. The traffic you want needs to be from people who want to do business with you because they trust your brand.
Paid Google advertising, also known as pay per click advertising, isn’t only just for getting traffic and moving products. If your brand is not yet top of mind amongst your target audience, then you should consider using it for branding purposes.
Many companies who use PPC don’t bid on their branded terms. They undoubtedly reason that they would rather earn traffic for keywords of products and services that they offer. Subliminal brand exposure leads people to act in certain ways and it can have an impact on your bottom line.
When embarking on a PPC campaign to build your brand, you need to focus on making it easier to choose you than your opposition. If your brand is at the top of Google and you have a clear and compelling call to action, a dedicated landing page, and all the trust signals and easy payment processing tools that website visitors need, you will make it easy for them to choose you.
Don’t make the mistake of always looking for the next niche longtail keyword if you aren’t getting the basics right. Organise the site links in your ad copy according to a potential customer’s level of interest.
Another way to build your brand with PPC is by answering helpful questions. If you are already bidding on your branded terms, take a look at the most common questions related to your products and services that people are asking. Instead of a hard sell, create landing pages that serve an educational and helpful purpose to your website visitors.
Need help with your online advertising or digital marketing? Then contact WSI OMS today.
by Francois Muscat | May 13, 2019 | Link-building
The goal is to boost your website’s SEO and organic rankings with the help of high quality backlinks. The question is, how do you actually go about landing those high quality backlinks? The secret is to find a way in which to build beneficial relationships with journalists, editors and content contributors who have the power to publish your content and, of course, link back to your website on various respected platforms. Here’s how Twitter can help with this:
Optimise Your Profile
Journalists and editors will take you much more seriously if your Twitter profile is complete, informative and, most importantly, grammatically correct! Give both professional and personal info on your profile and be sure to list your contact details as well. Also, ensure that you are regularly active on the platform and use your timeline as an opportunity to really showcase your personality.
Follow the Right People
Twitter lists make it easy to keep up to date with your prospects and their Twitter activity. Keep journalists who have published or shown interest in your content in a separate list to those with whom you would still like to build a relationship.
Engage
The key here is not to come across as though you want something from those that you engage with. Try your best to be authentic in all of your interactions. ‘Like’ the tweets that you truly connect with, retweet the tweets that you agree with and reply to tweets that really spark something inside of you. If your reply is genuine and contributes something of value, there’s a good chance that it could be the start of a conversation and, hopefully, a solid, mutually-beneficial relationship between you and the original poster.
Remember – it is also all about timing. Don’t send a pitch through to a journalist after you just had your first two-minute conversation with them. Take your time to really build and work on that relationship so that trust is forged before asking for any favours.
When it comes to SEO and link building, WSI OMS can help make your life easier. Just as search engine optimisation, web design and social media marketing experts, we have the tools and expertise necessary to make sure that your brand really stands out. For more information about our services, do not hesitate to get in touch with our team.
by Francois Muscat | May 13, 2019 | Digital Media Marketing
In the past, it was very hard to become famous. Thanks to social media and YouTube, however, any of us – and any of the creative things we do – can become famous literally overnight. Of all the hours of videos that get uploaded to YouTube every day, only a small percentage gets millions of views and becomes a cultural moment. What sets these videos apart?
Tastemakers, communities of participation and unexpectedness are the three key things that can make your content go viral. In 2012, Jimmy Kimmel shared a video of a rainbow that a person in the Yosemite mountain park had uploaded. The video instantly went viral because Jimmy Kimmel, as a tastemaker, alerted a huge community of the video and many of them went to check it out.
Unlike the one-way communication of the twentieth century, the community participation that social media provides lets everyone become a part of a new phenomenon. People become a part of a phenomenon by spreading it or doing something new with it, such as creating memes and parodies.
To create content that goes viral on social media, you have to focus on content that ignites creativity within a community. This creativity and interest can be used for new versions of your content, to make fun of whatever you have posted and to set a trend. People don’t just enjoy content, they participate in it. By being totally surprising and humorous, you could get your content viewed by millions of people who want to participate in what you are doing.
Need help with your social media marketing or digital marketing strategy? Then contact WSI OMS today.
