Wednesday, February 28, 2018
4 Reasons Why Copywriters and Graphic Designers Should Collaborate
The online world is dynamic and constantly evolving…
The tactics that hold the high ground today, will lose effectiveness tomorrow.
But in spite of this volatile nature, one thing remains the sine qua non of online success – content.
However, the question remains whether there’s a type of web content that is one-size-fits-all?
The answer is NO.
Big brands churn out high-quality content in the form of blog posts, infographics, videos, social messages, and much more, as a tool for lead generation. Doing this, they know that using a one-way approach to content creation in today’s age of big data and visual culture will take them nowhere.
That’s why, for a freelancer or solopreneur, combining the power of designers and copywriters makes so much sense. It’s a pathway to competing with bigger budgets and creating high-quality diverse content.
When graphic designers and copywriters work together, they flourish. Part of the reason is that design connects directly with a side of the brain which is responsible for creative thinking and image recognition. While writing occupies the other side that handles logic and critical thinking.
For any content to hook prospects and compel immediate action, these forces must come together. And that emphasizes why designers and copywriters should not transfer work but handle it hand-in-hand.
Here’s a thumbnail analysis of why designers and copywriters should work together to create all-in-one content, and the benefits of going down that road.
1. All-in-one content offers greater value
Because the Internet is jam-packed, attention is perhaps the most expensive thing online. According to Jakob Nielsen, an average web visitor is only likely to read 20-28% of a blog post. The only way to extend the duration lies in truly compelling content.
What’s that?
Any beautifully crafted article that’s saturated with high-value, attention-grabbing images and visuals.
But if you’ve never tried this before, you might doubt its efficiency. Luckily for you, experts say that articles with images get 94% more total views than text-only posts. And there’s more. Infographics deliver up to 120-180% more engagement, thereby increasing viewers retention, engagement and, ultimately, sales.
Image Source: Ethos3
2. It creates better understanding
What makes the above possible is the extraordinary power of visual content in creating a digestible understanding of text-based messages. Indeed, “A picture is worth a thousand words.”
Readers are believed to retain 65% of any information three days later when communicated through visuals.
3. It’s brain-friendly
One of the top reasons brands’ create content is to provide the insights that make it easier for prospects to comprehend how their products and services work. Another reason why copywriters and designers need to work in collaboration to make content more digestible. Visual content is the answer.
The reason, as implied in point two, is that the human brain processes visual data 60,000 times quicker than text, according to WebDAM. Brain Rules also notes that “We [human beings] are incredible at remembering pictures. Hear a piece of information, and three days later you’ll remember 10% of it. Add a picture and you’ll remember 65%.”
Image Source: Ethos3
It’s clear… Web visitors do not struggle to remember details when they’re given all-inclusive memorable content.
4. SEO, SEO, SEO
Going from merely adding glamour to a blog post to creating other essential values, visuals can also boost rankings on search engines when seamlessly integrated into a body of valuable text.
If SEO were key to content marketing success, creating all-inclusive content is a task that you cannot ignore – and that’s easier done through collaborative efforts between designers and copywriters.
Other benefits
There are a plethora of benefits to this match made in heaven, but the following are the key benefits of copywriter-designer collaborations:
- Unlocking new ideas
According to William and Phyllis of Mack Institute for Innovation Management, choosing the right partners is the first step to successful innovation.
The innovation experts argue, “In today’s globalized business environment, firms are no longer developing innovations in a vacuum. Instead, companies often work with partners from all over the world to develop innovative strategies and products.”
Are innovative ideas important to copywriters and designers? There’s no other option than YES, and experience has shown that more ideas emerge when these set of creatives work together.
Even in Science, it’s easier to make new discoveries when scientists share ideas rather than working as a lone genius. “The best ideas don’t come from working in a silo,” says Michele Kamenar.
- Enabling premium services and increased authority
To deliver excellent services and drive bottom-line results for all parties, it’s hard to thrive in isolation as a copywriter or designer. You MUST collaborate!
Sara Duane-Gladden of Specky Boy says:
“The jobs of copywriters and designers are very similar. They are both masters of their crafts. They express complex concepts and ideas in bite-sized bits that convey meaning in a moment. The fact that one does all this with words while the other accomplishes it with images isn’t important: They are kindred, creative spirits that can amplify their abilities when they work together.”
So if you want to improve the quality of your service and build authority, you should collaborate.
- Reducing the burden
As a copywriter with a long list of deadlines, you’re always on the search for an expert designer to turn text into visuals. Even if you find one you’re still not off the hook. You probably keep reviewing their work because only an impeccable job will satisfy your clients and win you more referrals. On the other hand, a designer goes through a similar situation each time there’s a need to come up with a masterpiece that will complement an infographic or other visuals.
The process is time-consuming and difficult. With collaboration, however, it can be streamlined. A teamwork approach will enhance efficiency on both sides.
Going forward
Designers and copywriters are important personalities in the world of digital business. Media and SEO companies, PR organizations, marketing, and advertising agencies, all need them to satisfy their client needs.
If you’re one, not only can you generate new ideas through effective collaboration, you can also increase the quality of your service, minimize hassles, expand your business and even make more income.
Guest Author: Shakir is a writer, content marketer, and the founder of 501 Words. He’s an agenda contributor to the World Economic Forum, focusing on millennials and business. He also writes for Entrepreneur, Huffington Post, Forbes Africa, and other sites where he shares insights on startup, marketing, and growth strategy.
The post 4 Reasons Why Copywriters and Graphic Designers Should Collaborate appeared first on Jeffbullas’s Blog.
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3 Tips to Come Up With Ideas for Blog Video Content
Wanting to produce great video content for you blog is one thing, but coming up with ideas is something else entirely. At times you may have tons of ideas that you feel would make for great videos, but at others you may draw a complete blank.
If you want to come up with ideas for blog video content, these 3 tips can help a lot:
Keep (and update) a swipe file
A swipe file is basically just a text document where you jot down any ideas that you may have. It could even be a notepad, if that’s what you prefer.
The fact of the matter is that inspiration could strike at any time, and when you do it is important that you record the idea. Later you can go over and evaluate it, but having it on paper will give you a resource that you can use to generate more ideas too.
Involve your audience
It goes without saying that you want to create blog video content that your audience wants to see – so what better way than to ask them? Part of the beauty of a blog is that it encourages two-way communication via comments, so invite your audience to comment about what type of content they’d like to see.
Check out what your competitors are up to
Odds are there are several other blogs related to your niche out there that are publishing video content – so why not check out what type of content they’re publishing. When you do, you’ll not only be able to get ideas but you’ll be able to see how well each video is performing and gauge whether or not that type of video is something your audience would be interested in.
As a rule you shouldn’t copy a video topic outright from your competitors, but should look for ways that you can improve on it. In some cases you may be able to provide a different angle, or a more interesting way of getting the message across.
As you start to gather more and more ideas using the tips listed above, you should make it a point to constantly evaluate them. If you do discard some ideas, be sure to keep a record of them – as those topics could very well make for interesting videos or could help spark further ideas at some point or other. Simply put: There’s no such thing as a bad idea.
Once you have narrowed down your ideas, you can then create a video. If you’re worried that part sounds difficult, you could try using Movavi Screen Capture Studio. Not only will it act as a screen recorder for Mac, but it will also allow you to record video footage from other sources too. On top of that it has a built-in editor that you can use to compile, process, and improve the video footage to transform it into compelling video content that would be perfect for your blog.
Original post: 3 Tips to Come Up With Ideas for Blog Video Content
This post is courtesy of: https://www.dailyblogtips.com
How a Winery Crushed Its Content Marketing With Video
Do you wish your videos made more of a difference for your business? Do you find yourself running out of ideas for videos your audience will love? Ever wonder what it takes to make a video so good that news outlets can’t wait to get their hands on it?
Enter, 20-year marketing veteran Lisa Mattson. With the help of her team, Lisa has reinvigorated Jordan Winery’s brand through videos. This post shares some ideas from her Content Marketing World talk, How Jordan Winery Crushed Content Marketing With a Video-Centered Strategy – ideas that you can steal to reinvigorate your brand.
Before: ‘Just a bottle shot in a magazine’
Many established businesses face the conundrum Jordan Winery found itself facing a decade ago. The almost 40-year-old brand had not kept up with the times. The winery competed with only 225 businesses in 1972. Over the next four decades, its competition increased by over 2,000%.
During most of those years, “we hadn’t changed the way we told our story,” Lisa says. “We were a faceless brand. Faceless brands are the next dinosaur.”
Faceless brands are the next dinosaur, says @LisaMattsonWine. Read more>>
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In 2007, Lisa joined this family-owned California winery because her colleagues were ready to update the way this luxury brand spoke and behaved. It was time to stop coming across as stuffy.
Take this bottle shot from the 1990s. “There’s a hunk of cheese on a barrel,” Lisa says. “I don’t know how the wine got in the glass. There’s no plate, no fork. Where are the people? This kind of marketing makes wine intimidating.”
Lisa’s challenge was to make old-school cool. In those days, Jordan Winery was known for its food, hospitality, and elegant wines, not for its people. No one knew the Jordan family. The company image was “just a bottle shot in a magazine.” Lisa set out to capture the personalities behind the wine.
.@LisaMattsonWine set out to capture the personalities behind @jordanwinery. Read more>>
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After: ‘Way to go, Jordan! Super fun video’
The winery aimed to accomplish business goals familiar to marketers:
- Entice people to join its loyalty program
- Increase visits to the winery
- Increase wine sales
Video was a natural medium to help this business differentiate itself from the competition in part because few wineries were making videos a decade ago. Besides, video is a natural medium for telling stories about people. “Bringing our people to life was important to us,” Lisa says. “Motion is important to message.”
Motion is important to message, says @LisaMattsonWine. #video
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The videos are available on the company’s YouTube channel – Jordan Vineyard & Winery – as well as on its two video-centric blogs – The Journey of Jordan and Wine Country Table – which are helping Jordan build segmented subscriber bases.
Rather than pay to advertise its content, the marketing team focuses on creating videos captivating enough to earn coverage on the news and in industry media. For example, Jordan’s popular parody videos, Despacito Embotellado (“bottling slowly”) and Shape of Cab, were featured on Bay Area news stations and covered in several internationally known wine magazines.
The team at @jordanwinery created captivating #videos to earn media coverage, says @LisaMattsonWine.
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While it’s impossible to trace the exact impact of the videos, CEO and second-generation vintner John Jordan sees the marketing payoff when all the indicators rise together: sales, visits, social media interactions, earned media, direct sales, and per-person spending.
The best way to get a sense of how far Jordan Winery has come from its bottle-shot-in-a-magazine days is to sample its videos. People who view these videos post comments like this one (from someone who goes by the name Red Agent): “Way to go, Jordan! Super fun video. Very nicely done …”
Disclaimer: CMI bears no responsibility for any of our blog readers, fans, contributors, staff, or other humans associated therewith quitting their jobs and applying to work at Jordan Winery after watching the following videos.
Highlight the unexpected
What stories could you tell about your business – and bring to life on video – that would surprise your audience?
What stories could you tell about your business that would surprise your audience, asks @marciarjohnston.
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Jordan Winery uses egg whites to soften the tannins in red wine, an Old-World practice that surprises visitors. Rather than create a blog post explaining the process, Lisa’s video crew followed the Jordan staff to the farm where they get the eggs. “We basically walk people through what we do and why. And we make it fun,” she says. “You get to see what we do with all the egg whites. As for the yolks, you see us making ice cream when we’re done.”
Explore topics that hit people where they live
You want videos to address topics related to your expertise that hit home with audiences. For Jordan Winery, one such topic is kitchen gadgets. In this video, Jordan Winery executive chef Todd Knoll recommends gifts for cooks – the best and affordable kitchen tools for home cooks, chefs, and foodies. This video is posted on the Jordan YouTube channel as well as featured in a blog post.
Create #videos that address your expertise and hit home with audiences, says @MarciaRJohnston.
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Go behind the scenes
What goes on behind the scenes at your business that your audience would find fascinating? Build your brand’s following by engaging them in videos that reveal your unique expertise.
Lisa suggests filming people doing work they have to do anyway. That’s an efficient way to create interesting footage without requiring people to take much time away from their jobs.
“Turn your everyday work into content,” Lisa says.” People on camera don’t even have to talk a lot. Make a montage with text overlays. A lot of us watch videos on silent anyhow.”
Go behind the scenes at your business. Turn your everyday work into #content, says @LisaMattsonWine. #video
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In this video, Jordan Winery cellar master Patrick Fallon gives a peek into the making of oak barrels that will be used to age wine. Here, you see the barrel makers (coopers) in action, from bending the wood staves to toasting the barrels. Yes, toasting the barrels. As in setting them over a fire like so many giant hollowed-out marshmallows. It’s a thing. Who knew?
Parody a popular music video
Nothing draws people like humor. Imagine what might happen if your team were to indulge its inner Weird Al and spin off a true-to-your-brand version of a hit music video. You might discover what Jordan Winery has discovered: People love a good parody.
“Since parody is a protected class,” Lisa explains, “the video team can take other people’s content and create something new around it without having to worry about legal implications.”
Here’s the winery’s parody, Despacito Embotellado (bottling slowly) of Despacito, one of the biggest hit songs of summer 2017. If you can translate the Jordan lyrics into English, please share in a comment; I’d love to know what this creative crew is singing.
Share bloopers and outtakes
Who doesn’t love a blooper or a chance to check out fun footage that didn’t make the primary cut? Share your lighter side with the world. Here’s a compilation of snippets Jordan Winery left out of its official videos in 2017.
Conclusion
When it comes to digital media, nothing conveys your brand’s personality like video. Next time you’re looking for a killer video idea for your brand, consider things that have helped Jordan Winery crush content marketing:
- Highlight the unexpected.
- Explore a topic that hits people where they live.
- Go behind the scenes.
- Parody a popular music video.
- Share bloopers and outtakes.
Then come back and leave a comment. Share your success stories with your fellow marketers. We all love a good video.
Here’s an excerpt from Lisa’s talk:
Get inspired and get practical advice on how to create brand videos that garner an engaged following and much more at Content Marketing World 2018, Sept. 4-7 in Cleveland, Ohio. Register using code BLOG100 to save $100.
Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
The post How a Winery Crushed Its Content Marketing With Video appeared first on Content Marketing Institute.
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
The 5 Elements of Narrative Structure That Brands Use to Inspire Prospects
We all like to hear stories.
The concept of telling and being told them is as old as human civilization itself.
It should be of little surprise then, that this fact hasn’t escaped savvy marketers looking to create powerful and enduring brands.
Of course, there is always another agenda to telling stories in brand marketing, outside of evoking an emotional response in the viewer, and that’s to promote something.
In today’s a la carte content-rich digital environment, consumers don’t want to think they’re being sold something, which is why the emphasis on story has once again taken center stage.
Stories might not directly sell products or services but they do help to sell brands. Research undertaken by Headstream in 2015 revealed that almost 80% of adults in the UK believe that brands telling stories through their marketing efforts is a positive thing, with 55% stating that they are more likely to make a purchase if they enjoy and connect with a brand story.
Undoubtedly video remains the most effective medium for telling memorable brand stories, but creating a compelling film requires a compelling narrative arc. In this article, I want to look at the five essential elements that make up this narrative structure in brand marketing.
We’ll start, as many great takes start, with a quest.
#1. Quest
A quest is the driving force of every successful story, although it doesn’t have to be as dramatic as destroying a Death Star and or defeating Voldemort, it should still carry the same level of intrigue and impact. A quest creates a sense of purpose and direction to your narrative, captivating an audience and establishing an emotional connection with your protagonist(s).
Things to consider:
- What does the protagonist want, and why?
- Is the protagonist taking an active role, or are events uncontrollably happening to them?
- Will audiences understand the quest, and will it induce an emotional connection?
#2. Conflict
A source of conflict should sit between the protagonist and the resolution of their quest. Used to induce feelings of suspense and to heighten the audience’s emotional connection to the protagonist, conflicts come in many forms. On the more extreme end lies the Harry Potter and Voldemort duality, with Scrat’s acorn remaining perpetually just out of reach in the Ice Age movies a more light-hearted, yet still highly emotive, example.
Things to consider:
- What is standing between the protagonist and their goal, and why?
- Does the story contain enough suspense, or are things unfolding too simply?
- Is the source of conflict believable?
#3. Stakes
Brand stories don’t work without the effective establishment of an emotional connection. Audiences should be invested and feel compelled to root for the protagonists’ success, because otherwise, they simply aren’t going to care whether the quest is completed successfully, greatly reducing the impact of the narrative’s subsequent climax.
Things to consider:
- Why is the quest important and what are the wider implications?
- Why should audiences care about the protagonist and their quest?
- What happens if the protagonist does not successfully complete their quest?
#4. Climax
The ending of a story is signified by its climax. This is the point at which the conflict is overcome and the stakes are realized. Ensuring the narrative doesn’t fall flat when it should reach a crescendo is imperative to delivering an effective and memorable brand story.
Things to consider:
- How is the climax reached, and are the events leading up to it relatable and believable?
- Is there a discernible conclusion, or is an ambiguous outcome more beneficial to the narrative?
#5. Emotional Resolution
Although the climax brings the narrative arc to a close in terms of satisfying the quest, a great brand story will only be complete when it delivers a final, satisfying, emotional resolution. Unlike your typical Hollywood blockbuster, successful emotional resolutions within brand marketing are slightly more complex, because they must align the narrative to the brand in a way that is unambiguous but not opportunistic or salesy. This is often done through the idea of shared values (ie the brand shares the values that are implicit in the story itself).
Things to consider:
- Does the narrative successfully build a valuable emotional resolution?
- Are the messages of the story clearly expressed?
- Does the message accurately reflect the brand’s core values?
Conclusion
Brand stories have the power to both humanize a business and form strong emotional associations with your target market.
But the process of convincingly communicating a relatable and compelling narrative, whilst also setting out clear brand values, is not an easy task.
However, by keeping these five principles of narrative structure in mind and maintaining a clear focus on telling a tale your audience wants to hear, you can create marketing films that really resonate for months and even years to come.
Guest Author: Evelyn Timson is the Managing Director of UK video production agency, Aspect Film & Video. She has years of experience working with some of the world’s most recognisable brands like UNICEF, Nationwide, North Face, TaylorMade adidas, Slimming World and Farrow & Ball. You can connect with Aspect on Facebook or Twitter or see a selection of their award winning work on their YouTube Channel.
The post The 5 Elements of Narrative Structure That Brands Use to Inspire Prospects appeared first on Jeffbullas’s Blog.
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Slow Your Content Marketing Down
More than 86 million blog posts are published on WordPress every month.
86 million. Every month.
Even the most digital literate, attentive, and committed customer probably only has the bandwidth to scan about 10 headlines and read one to two articles a day – and that’s being generous.
Where does that leave the millions and millions of other “content opportunities”? Floating limply in random distribution channels and woven throughout thousands of lackluster company tweets?
Innovative marketers are embracing a solution – the slow content marketing movement. Much as the slow food movement argues less-but-better food will deliver improved health results, the slow content marketing movement insists less-but-better content will deliver improved marketing results.
“When I first came into content marketing, fast content marketing was the way to go,” says Margaret Magnarelli, senior director of marketing at Monster and Content Marketing World speaker. “But over time, it’s struck me that there’s more value in doing fewer things. A longer piece might get fewer finishes because of its length, but it might have a greater impact on someone who ends up spending more time with it and builds greater affinity with your brand.
“If you’re working in a B2B business where your aim is to drive leads, you don’t need to make more content – instead you need to make more effective content.”
If your aim is to drive leads, you don't need to make more #content, just more effective content. @mmagnarelli
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The argument for slow content marketing isn’t just anecdotal. The concept of quality over quantity is a long-held business truth as proven with research:
Over 90% of its blog leads came from old blog posts via @HubSpot.
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- An American Marketing Association study found that brand marketers increased their publishing by 800% over five years only to find engagement per post declined by 89%.
Brand marketers increased publishing by 800% over 5 years. Engagement per post declined by 89%. @AMA_Marketing
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- Orbit Media research revealed that content creators who spend longer on each post see stronger results. Publishing frequency was not a differentiator.
Content creators who spend longer on each post see stronger results via @orbiteers. #research
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It’s only a matter of time before every content marketing strategy goes slow to ensure that the quality of its content going out in the world is high.
#Contentmarketing strategies should go slow to ensure the quality of content going out is high. @AwYeahSarah
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How to do slow content marketing
Slowing your content marketing doesn’t mean just pulling back on the publishing schedule. Invest the time and resources you otherwise would have put into high-frequency writing into making each article the best possible version. Though how you do that will vary depending on market conditions, here are five ways to do slow aka quality content marketing.
1. Hire better writers
Treat your audience like the humans they are – humans who want to read clear thinking. Push the upper limits of your budget to hire the best writer you can afford – one who specializes in your industry niche and speaks keenly to your target customer.
“The quality of your ideas gives you the right to produce less,” says Mary Ellen Slayter, CEO of Red Cap Media and founder of ManagingEditor.com.
The quality of your ideas gives you the right to produce less, says @MESlayter.
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Talented writers can generate and execute quality ideas. But better writers don’t just make for better text, they also:
- Have the necessary industry context to avoid content that your competition is publishing, to feature the latest high-quality research, and to highlight your brand’s value proposition with minimal onboarding.
- Have influence and authority in your industry, as your audience may be familiar with their other content. They also can amplify interest in the content through their well-developed industry networks.
- Know the best format, length, publishing schedule, and outreach efforts for your content and your audience.
Talented writers know best format, length, schedule, & outreach for content & audience. @AwYeahSarah
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2. Treat titles like the bait they are
Clickbait is a negative term, and rightfully so. Headlines that use tricks or lies to manipulate people into clicking are wrong. But the term “bait” applies to all titles by their nature – a little taste of what the content offers to entice a potential reader. If you don’t put time into creating the most accurate and alluring title, you compromise the reach of the article.
If you don't put time into creating accurate & alluring titles, you compromise article reach. @AwYeahSarah
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“We’re playing a game of headlines,” Margaret says. “Display copy is the only way you can get your content to register with someone, so you almost have to create a wolf in sheep’s clothing and do what everyone else is doing title-wise. But when a reader finally gets to the piece, it’s got to be good.”
Treat your titles with interest-grabbing, “I-have-to-read-this-now” bait by making them as robust as they can be:
- Use a modified version of Jeff Goin’s formula for catchy headlines: number or trigger word + adjective + topic or audience keyword + benefit. Or use James Scherer’s tip for influencer titles: How (Familiar Brand) Is Doing (Something) to Achieve (Positive Result).
- Use CMI’s 10-point checklist or these headline-generator tools.
- Split-test your headlines using a plug-in or app on your blog and use different versions on social media.
3. Make use of your archives
Don’t underestimate the power of your previously published content. As the HubSpot example shows, old content can be a powerful driving force for customers seeking to educate themselves about your product, service, or industry. Look at your archives and update content to make sure it’s working for your brand 24-7.
“For B2B customers, it’s not just, ‘I came to your site, I clicked, and now I’m going to buy real quick,’” says Mary Ellen. “The decisions they make require thought and money, and the customers need to know who they’re dealing with. It’s important to think of your content as what Jimmy Daly calls a library of information – one you can go back and update to build that trust rather than a paper of record where content that was published three years ago must stay where it is.”
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4. Segment your audience (and segment it again)
One outreach method you may not have fully investigated is customizing outreach with your audience based on unique segmentations such as:
- People who didn’t click the article (or people who did)
- People who share the newsletter (or people who don’t)
- People who have not been active in the last five campaigns
- People based on job title, gender, location, or device
- People who subscribed to your list based on how they signed up (i.e., trade show vs. gated content)
You also can customize your content outreach while still staying within your established distribution frequency such as:
- Adding a link to footers or round-up posts
- Running promotions for readers who share or comment
- Featuring a new quote from the article in a different email
- Rewriting the email introduction to the article based on industry, job title, or scenario
Customize your #content outreach for audience segments following same distribution frequency. @AwYeahSarah
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5. Sharpen your distribution strategy
One of the biggest benefits of putting more resources into a single article is that it increases your odds of creating the kind of original and editorially sound content that opens the doors to content syndication, potentially introducing your blog (and site and product) to flows of traffic from sites like MSN, USA Today, Yahoo, AOL/The Huffington Post, LinkedIn, and more.
Conclusion
“There’s a sea of terrible content out there because sometimes we content marketers have just had to feed the distribution beast,” Margaret says. “Investing in one piece of content and making something special that you can publish everywhere is a higher ROI strategy because when an editor or customer sees your name in their feed they’ll know it’s worth reading.”
Like every other part of your marketing strategy, the decision to embrace slow content marketing or keep up last year’s pace will depend on your sales goals, your customers, your industry, your niche, and a million other details. But every marketing manager will find it’s worth stopping to ask, “What if we slowed our content marketing this year?”
What do you think? Let me know in the comments.
Discover how a “slow” approach also includes knowing how to develop a structured framework for your content. Make plans today to attend Intelligent Content Conference March 20-22 in Las Vegas. Register using code BLOG100 to save $100.
Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
The post Slow Your Content Marketing Down appeared first on Content Marketing Institute.
Monday, February 26, 2018
The Top 5 Apps For Your Next Social Media Contest
Running a social marketing campaign is a great way to build your email list and generate more engagement with customers and fans.
A social media contest could be as simple as running a small sweepstakes, or as complex as running a photo contest that includes social sharing, Instagram entry, and voting capabilities.
The good news is that there are a number of tools available that can help your brand easily create and deploy social media contests without having to write code or do much design.
We’ve done the research and found that these five social contest platforms are the best to help you quickly create and run a social media contest.
Read on to check out these five tools as well as a smart checklist for your next social media contest.
The Top 5 Social Media Contest Apps
1. Heyo
Heyo is a smart contest tool that caters to small businesses and agencies/consultants. They offer attractive contest templates, a simple, intuitive user interface, and great support.
A distinguishing feature of Heyo is that all of their contest apps are mobile responsive so you won’t miss out on any mobile leads.
Publishing Options: Facebook, Mobile, Website (Web version can also be embedded into your website)
Social Media Integrations: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, LinkedIn
Campaign Options: Sweepstakes, Photo Contest, Refer-a-Friend, Group Deal, Video Contest, Free Download.
Pricing: Heyo offers a 7 day free trial. After that you can choose from several paid plans that start at $30/month.
Customer Case Studies: Trind – Dedication Company – Solo Stove
Other Thoughts
- Heyo also offers a drag-and-drop contest builder so you can build your own contest app from scratch
- Heyo offers white labeling and high volume plans for agencies and large brands
- Heyo run regular webinars for customers to teach them how to be successful with contests
2. WooBox
Woobox is another option for creating social contests that offers an extensive library of contest apps to choose from. Woobox templates are also highly configurable and might be better for a business that has very specific requirements.
Publishing Options: Facebook, Website (Web versions are viewable on mobile but not all templates are mobile responsive)
Social Media Integrations: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube
Campaign Options: Sweepstakes, Coupons, Photo Contest, Quizzes, Polls, Brackets, Video Contests, Instant Win, Pin To Win
Pricing: Woobox offers a few contest apps that you can use for free. If you want to use any app that collects entries/emails, you’ll need to upgrade. Plans start at $30/month.
Customer Case Studies: Plant One – Paperchase – Fallsview Water Park
Other Thoughts
- Woobox offers a ton of different contest apps to choose from. They have a very wide selection
- Their platform offers a lot of options on their templates, but that also makes the interface more complicated
- Woobox also offers an option for running Facebook Ads through their platform, which is a nice complement to running a social contest
3. Shortstack
Shortstack is a drag-and-drop tool for building social contests and campaigns with oodles of features like event triggers, team plans, and deep analytics. With a wealth of available features and options, Shortstack works especially well for larger or more technical businesses.
Publishing Options: Facebook, Website (Web versions are viewable on mobile but are not fully mobile responsive)
Social Media Integrations: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest
Campaign Options: Sweepstakes, Voting, Photo Contest, Refer-a-Friend, Quizzes, Coupon
Pricing: Shortstack offers a minimal free plan that allows you to collect up to 25 entries and receive up to 5K pageviews. After that, Shortstack starts at $29/month or $13/month if you sign up for annual billing.
Customer Case Studies: Saving Abby – Cambria Inns – Madinks
Other Thoughts
- Shortstack gives awesome price breaks when you sign up for an annual plan, typically over 50% off.
- Because Shortstack campaigns are fully drag-and-drop they are highly editable and are better for customers who really care about the design details
- Shortstack offers design services for customers who want to save time or have an expert run their campaign.
4. Wishpond
Wishpond is a platform offering multiple products like contests, landing pages, website pop-ups and email marketing. Among this broad array of services they offer a good selection of template options for running social contests. The bonus is that once your contest is live, you can use Wishpond to run ads or execute on other marketing activities like landing pages or blog pop-ups.
Publishing Options: Facebook, Website, Mobile
Social Media Integrations: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest
Campaign Options: Sweepstakes, Photo Contest, Referrals, Video Contest, Coupon
Pricing: Wishpond is one of the more expensive options out there for running contests, probably because their plans come with other services as well. They offer a free plan that allows up to 200 entries. After that it’s at least $69/month to continue. However, Wishpond offers a significant discount of 36% if you opt for annual billing.
Customer Case Studies: Spring 2016 Contest Examples
Other Thoughts
- Wishpond offers a more complete suite of marketing solutions and is best suited for a business that wants to take advantage of their whole feature set.
- The Wishpond contest builder is very technical and requires some time to figure out. Once you do, it’s pretty powerful.
- Because they do so much, Wishpond offers a solid feature set including running ads, A/B testing, etc. If you’ve got the cash, then Wishpond is a powerful platform.
5. AgoraPulse
AgoraPulse is a full service social media marketing platform that offers social contest apps as a key feature. They are a pricier option, but also come with post publishing, social media monitoring, and a smart mobile app.
Publishing Options: Facebook, Website, Mobile
Social Media Integrations: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest
Campaign Options: Sweepstakes, Photo Contest, Quiz, Instant Win, Coupon
Pricing: AgoraPulse is the priciest option we’re covering, but you get what you pay for. They offer a free trial that only allows up to 20 entries. After that, you’ll need to sign up for a paid plan, the cheapest of which is $99/month.
Customer Case Studies: Best Facebook Contests of 2014
Other Thoughts
- AgoraPulse contest apps are pre-designed, allowing you to get a contest published faster.
- They offer a $29/month pricing option but it doesn’t come with contests.
- AgoraPulse offers strong agency options like seat management, advanced analytics, and page benchmarking.
Conclusion & Checklist
Now that you’ve got some great options for creating social media contest apps, you’re probably itching to get started. So I put together a quick checklist of next steps to help you stay focused.
Just follow these steps and you’ll get a successful social media campaign running in no time.
- Jot down your goals. A bigger email list? Building awareness? More likes on Facebook? This will help you stay focused on achieving the right outcome.
- Also, jot down a few thoughts about your target customer. Is it a middle-aged woman? Do they live near your business? What is most important to them? This will help give you some ideas about your promotion.
- Select a prize. With a clear picture of your target customer in your mind, you want to pick something that will be relevant and compelling to them.
- Select a contest platform from the list above. There are many great, affordable options available. I’ve tried to make it easy for you, but if you don’t like my suggestions, just search some other options out on your own.
- Build and launch your contest. This is the fun part! Create a contest page that is bright, inviting, and appeals to your target customers. If you’re feeling stuck you can watch this video to get some design tips.
- Promote your contest. Leverage every free channel you have available. Then consider smart, paid channels if you’d like.
- Analyze results. Take a look at your results. If you’re unhappy with how things went, analyze the outcomes piece by piece. Not enough impressions? Then you need to figure out how to get the word out. Is your conversion rate low? Consider a new design or a better prize/incentive. Remember, smart marketers test, and it might take a few tries to hit the perfect social contest for your business.
The post The Top 5 Apps For Your Next Social Media Contest appeared first on Jeffbullas’s Blog.
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How Click Fraud is Killing Your Blog Earnings and ROI
Most of us set forth on this grand quest of blogging, Internet marketing, and all the rest of it based on a certain set of assumptions.
We assume, for instance, that we will generally have reliable access to our email so that we may best pursue the opportunities that are presented to us.
We assume that when we place an affiliate link on our blogs that we will be suitably and accurately credited for any qualified referrals that we generate.
Soon enough we may find that we are no longer just running a website or blog, but now a fully functional business or brand that is now generating some real money.
In addition to the management of such a site, there are plenty of factors that will now come into play – such as how freelancing can play a role in the growth of your business, and also how to better manage costs and revenue in the process.
No matter what areas you want to improve or expand in, it’s likely you are going to need some help through the use of manual work or software automation.
When it comes to generating revenue on the internet, it’s all about getting as many page views as possible – and of course, targeting the right audience.
With this in mind, we can also assume that when we see a page view or a click-through on our sites that it is coming from a living, breathing human being on some computer (or other connected devices) somewhere in the world. But the reality is much more complex than that and by most estimates, anywhere from at least 40% to over 60% of web traffic is actually being generated by bots.
These bots aren’t all bad, of course, because they are necessary for the day-to-day functioning of the web. Google unleashes its army of spiders so that it can feed the data into its search engine algorithms, for instance. However, some reports indicate that some 20% of overall Internet traffic can actually be attributed to malicious bots. And this could be seriously hurting your prospects of success.
The PPC campaign pain
The biggest and most profound scenario where you will find this in action is with pay-per-click advertising (PPC).
The two biggest players in this space are Google AdWords and Bing Ads. From the perspective of the advertiser, you set out your bid and budget for a given campaign and set it loose onto the online world. The way it’s supposed to work is that actual people click on those ads and you pay the corresponding amount for that click because you are extracting a certain amount of value from that paid traffic.
But click fraud, most typically from a bot or even one of your competitors, can completely wipe out your budget. That’s because you’re effectively paying for a click that has no actual value to you.
Let’s say that you’re running a PPC campaign to a landing page for a certain affiliate offer. If a real person clicks on the ad and arrives on the page, you have the opportunity to earn a commission. If it’s a bot (or a competitor with zero intent of giving you any money), then your chances of conversion are essentially zero.
Repeat this cycle over dozens, hundreds or even thousands of clicks and you can see how click fraud can completely kill your return on investment (ROI). You’re spending your budget on clicks that are worthless to you.
Google AdWords and Bing Ads have algorithms in place to detect some of this click fraud, but they’re hardly bulletproof and a lot of fraudulent clicks still make it through their filters.
You might watch several expert YouTubers or listen to PPC podcasts to help improve the performance of your campaigns, but click fraud can continue to play a hugely detrimental role in sabotaging your prospects at optimal profitability.
With more users going for their mobile devices and social platforms to find information and watch video, it’s now more important than ever for YouTubers and Podcasters to have a solid understanding of where their traffic is coming from, what they are doing on your site, and how long they stick around. This isn’t important for just their own analytics, it’s extremely important for any advertisers or sponsors they might have as well.
Click fraud is not just hurting advertisers
“Oh, but I don’t run any PPC campaigns, so this isn’t really relevant to me.”
Except it’s just as relevant to any bloggers (and site owners) who may be running CPC campaigns, like those powered by Google AdSense. PPC click fraud could be killing your blog earnings too. When fraudulent clicks eat up the budget of legitimate advertisers, it means that it is much less likely that their ads will appear on your site.
When that happens, the algorithms will then populate your available ad inventory with the next advertiser who would have put in a lower bid rate. Again, if we were to continue this process down the line, it means that you are displaying advertising at a lower rate than you really should be and this can be painfully detrimental to your bottom line too.
How to address click fraud
Let’s go back to the perspective of the advertiser. As mentioned earlier, both Google AdWords and Bing Ads have systems in place that help to reduce the amount of click fraud. The first tier is automatic. When one of the algorithmic rules is triggered to indicate a fraudulent click, the click may be disallowed and the click then won’t register in your account. At the second tier, the system looks for behavior that is an anomaly or otherwise suspicious. They may look into this further on a manual basis and the click may also be disallowed.
To better understand what click fraud is, and how it works, simply refer to this reference guide from Chargebacks911 – who is in the business of monitoring fraudulent charges online and keeping the advertiser safe. The article goes into some nice detail on the main different types of manual click fraud (rivals, affiliates, friends), and how automated click fraud (bots, hit inflation, click farms) are also on the rise as well.
Even with a solid understanding of what click fraud is, it’s important to have the necessary tools and monitoring in place at all time. The main reason for this is that both manual and automated fraudulent clicks can still make it through both these filters. You need another line of defense that is based on your own analysis, but how can you do that? This is where a service like ClickCease can prove tremendously helpful. It integrates with your Google AdWords and Bing Ads campaigns, stopping PPC click fraud automatically.
The main point here is that their system is able to detect fraudulent clicks that Google and Bing miss. This includes not only bots but also your competitors, as well as click farms that could be depleting your PPC ad campaign and removing your ad from search engine results.
We all know blog content is hard enough to monetize and promote through paid advertising and PPC as it is. Once you consider the options in place to back out the costs of click fraud, the mission becomes much more attainable.
In this case, the way that the technology works is that ClickCease will track every click on your ads to gather data about how your ads are typically interacted with. The smart algorithms are then able to distinguish between legitimate clicks and those generated by bots and fraudulent behavior. In the latter case, the ad can then be hidden from the fraudulent source to prevent future fraud. You can set custom detection rules and review comprehensive reports, plus utilize the automatic claim agent reports so you can file for your AdWords credit refund.
Since most legitimate site content is written in a specific way and usually has a call to action in place, visitors to the site should be reading and scrolling through it in a specific way as well. With this in mind, countering click-fraud should be an easier and more effective solution for bloggers who might already have paid advertising in place on their sites.
Investing in your bottom line
When you run any kind of business, both online and off, you strive to secure and protect every step of every process. That’s why you should always use secure checkout for e-commerce, and why you should have suitable protections in place for your website’s back-end. And the same is true when it comes to protecting your business from click fraud.
A relatively modest investment in a click or traffic monitoring service will usually cost you less than a dollar per day. However, this type of traffic or blog monitoring service shouldn’t be looked at as a cost, but actually, a solution that could save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars over the course of a year. Fight click fraud tooth and nail and protect your blog earnings and bolster your profits.
Guest Author: Zac Johnson is a world renowned blogger and entrepreneur with nearly 20 years of experience in the online marketing space and has helped his readers generate millions of dollars online. He shares his story and guidance at ZacJohnson.com
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The One Thing That Can Make a Big Difference in Your Infographics
Countless studies tell us infographics are highly engaging and that incorporating them into our content marketing strategy makes sense. But if the process for creating them is chaotic, the content is random, and the design guidelines are unclear, then each attempted infographic just eats up time and resources, and rarely delivers.
To successfully create memorable infographics that drive engagement, you need to stick to deadlines and keep up the momentum throughout their development. That requires a system to streamline the creation from start to finish.
That’s why you need to use infographic outlines.
Infographic outlines organize your content and optimize the design process. Good outlines ensure content quality, design quality, and improved turnaround. Effective outlines are the culmination of thorough research, organization, and planning.
Good outlines ensure better #infographics and improved turnaround time, says @jbear36.
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Your outline process will differ slightly depending on whether you’re using existing content or starting from scratch. I’ll walk through both approaches.
HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT:
5 steps to go from nothing to the perfect infographic outline
You want to put together an infographic to publish in the next week or two. It needs to be original, informative, and entertaining. How you kick off this process directly impacts how the final product eventually performs. When starting from scratch, follow these five simple steps:
- Choose an interesting topic.
- Conduct research.
- Determine a data-collection method.
- Include titles, headers, subheaders, and general findings.
- Include design notes.
1. Choose an interesting and relevant topic
When deciding on a topic, think about your audience first. What can you create that is insightful, solves a problem, answers a question, or entertains your audience members?
In this example, NeoMam Studios created an infographic about why people like infographics (clever). It’s a great example of what a stunning infographic looks like, and the content itself is relevant to its audience of marketers, designers, content creators, etc.
Click the image to see the full-sized infographic.
To create an example for this post, I settled on an internal audience and something smaller scale but engaging in any workplace setting – the Netflix habits of our employees. It’s the kind of topic that really impacts office chemistry.
2. Conduct research
To gather the data about your topic, pick a research method, such as:
- Using Google search hacks
- Finding existing surveys or polls
- Conducting research
- Accessing academic sources
For the Netflix behavior topic, conducting research was necessary. I sent a survey to employees. It was easy to put together and took only a few days to get the results.
3. Collect and organize your data
With your research complete, it’s time to pull together the data you gathered.
I exported my Netflix survey data into a spreadsheet:
Click to enlarge.
In a separate document, I listed each question and the volume of responses for each answer. I also included a tally of the qualitative responses to determine the most frequent answers.
With all the responses tallied, the body to the infographic outline was ready. Now it needed context.
4. Use headers, subheaders, and general findings to provide context
An infographic isn’t a group of random statistics, it must tell a story – to explain what is being shared and why it’s relevant. All that should be detailed in your outline clear as day.
An #infographic isn't a group of random statistics. It must tell a story, says @jbear36.
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This example of one of the worst infographics ever shared by Mammoth Infographics demonstrates the need for context.
It looks like an informative chart, but closer scrutiny offers no context, no insights, and no key takeaways. Not to mention, the percentages don’t add up, which is confusing and could have been clarified with a brief explanation.
Coming back to my Netflix survey infographics outline, I document clear titles, headers, and explanations so the audience understands the story I intended to tell:
I summarized the findings in words to reinforce the story that the data told, focusing on the most relevant facts.
While the outline is complete, there’s a final essential step – a few notes for the designer.
5. Include design notes
Design notes are critical because they help the artist better understand the intent of the infographic and get it done right the first time. These instructions help reduce (if not eliminate) the back-and-forth emails to figure out what’s needed, or worse, a final product you can’t use.
TIP: To avoid confusion between the notes and the infographic content, make the notes in the headers and footers of the outline.
Some standard design notes include:
- Preferred style: Refer to (link to example infographic)
- Inclusion of company logo: (link)
- Page format: landscape orientation, multi-pager
- Page dimensions: letter-size (8.5-inch by 11-inch)
For the Netflix survey infographic outline, those notes looked like this:
With clear notes, the designer can always come back to the outline to recall important points and details. After all, it might not be the only infographic that they’re working on.
3 steps to create an infographic outline from existing content
You might have a great slide deck, an old blog post, or a section of a flyer that would look great as an infographic. The research is done. It’s quality information and it performed well so converting it into an infographic to get more out of it is a no-brainer.
It’s still important to create an outline specific to an infographic by following these steps:
- Identify key takeaways of the content.
- Determine title, headers, subheaders, and facts.
- Detail notes for the designer.
1. Identify key takeaways
What do you need your audience to remember? Even if they forget the awesome intro and all the anecdotes in the content, what should they leave with?
I transformed this blog post itself into an infographic outline.
Obviously, cramming all the text into an infographic would be a bad idea. However, with the right headers and bullet points, I can still get across the essential points of this post.
Once I reduce the existing content to the most important bits of information, I’m left with what will become my headers, key takeaways, and supporting points. Now I can arrange them accordingly.
Reduce original lengthy #content into the most important bits for a great infographic, says @jbear36.
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2. Determine headers, subheaders, and facts
At this stage, finalize the content for the infographic. Once the outline goes to design, you shouldn’t need to add or delete anything for the infographic.
In my example, each header in the blog post became a major point in the infographic outline followed by a one- or two-sentence takeaway.
It may seem straightforward to summarize content, but this step allows you to drill down to the most essential points.
3. Include notes for designer
The role of notes for the design is the same whether you’re creating original content or working with existing content.
Here’s the snapshot of how notes would work in the blog post-turned-infographic example:
Conclusion
Don’t create infographics just because studies show they’re popular and effective. Create infographics because they are essential to your content marketing strategy and your team is well prepared to create highly effective infographics in an efficient manner. That requires a systematic approach. By creating clear and organized infographic outlines, you ensure content quality, a great design, and faster turnarounds, and get the most for your team’s time and effort.
Want to improve your content marketing programs with structured processes to create better efficiencies and more effective ROI? Make plans today to attend Intelligent Content Conference March 20-22 in Las Vegas. Register using code BLOG100 to save $100.
Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute
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