How Can Facebook Be Used For Marketing?

Using Facebook for marketing your business is honestly a no-brainer. You can do so much on Facebook, mostly free, that you just can't pass it up as a great marketing opportunity for your business.

Set Up a Business Page

In order to set up a business page on Facebook, you first need a personal page. But once you do have that, you can set up your business page. The business page enables you to promote your business actively while a personal page is not supposed to be used for that.

Set Up a Community

A Facebook community is very useful in terms of being able to discuss things with your customers, or potential future customers. You can easily set up a community in the same way you set up the business page - just choose "community." A community has more communication ability between your likes and followers than a business page.

Set Up a Private Group

A private group is a great way to run a small mastermind group without having to invest in the technology to have one of your own hosted on your website. You can make them private and even secret. If you have a secret group, you'll have to actively recruit people to join and you can even charge people money to join.

Promote a Post

On your business pages you'll have the capability to post things and you'll get a button that offers you to "boost" the post. You can bid a certain amount and choose your audience too. The capability to narrow down who you want to see your promoted post is genius and will enable you to truly target your audience with posts you want them to see.

Run a PPC Advertisement

Even without a business page you can create advertisements via your personal page on Facebook. You can narrow down your target audience in ways that you may not have realized that you could. You can target with age, sex, location, groups and affiliations. It doesn't get much more niched down than that.

Join Groups and Communities

A great way to market your business on Facebook is to join other groups that consist of your target audience. Then, simply help others without an agenda. Do not market yourself or break any rules of the page owners. Instead, just be helpful, and share when requested to do so. Let your reputation speak for you.

Comment on Pages, Groups and Communities

When it comes to marketing on Facebook, a good use of your time is to make smart, intelligent and useful comments on posts that the owner of the page or group post, as well as being helpful to others who post.

Share and Like

If you want people to share what you are doing, be sure to share and like what they are doing. When it comes to online marketing, people like helping others when they are helped too.

Facebook wants you to succeed using their advertising platform. This just makes sense. If you achieve your business goals while spending money on Facebook advertising, you're likely to use that marketing practice again in the future.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10313587

3 Things All Successful Bloggers Do

Blogging is a great way to earn income and promote your business, or just have as a place to discuss your passion.

If you do at least these three things, you can have a super successful blog. You can have a blog that attracts an audience who wants to read what you have to say and take your advice, and who comes back for more on a regular basis.

All successful bloggers have three things in common:

They post blogs regularly

They post unique content

They post audience-focused content

One way to keep up with blogging is to create a blog publication calendar. A blog publication calendar will take into consideration important upcoming events, product launches, and other issues, helping you work in advance to keep your blog full of interesting and relevant content.

In order to make a blog publication calendar, you need to first make a few determinations such as:

How Often You Will Blog?

First determine how often you plan to publish a blog post. This could be daily, weekly or whatever your choice. This helps you know how often you'll need to write blog posts, and when you'll need to publish them or schedule them.

Who Are You Blogging For?

Write down a few different personas for your audience so that you can know to whom you're writing the blog posts. It can help you keep focused better if you can look at these personas when you are ready to write.

Which Blogging Categories Will You Use?

Depending upon your niche, you'll need to choose some categories that a post will go under when you blog. Spreading out the categories can help you come up with more interesting content. For example, if you have a blog about Labrador Retrievers, some categories might be Rescued Labs, Feeding, Exercising, Training, Chocolate Labs and so forth.

Are There Any Upcoming Events or Product Launches?

Are there any upcoming events related to your niche? For example, is there a conference coming up, or are you launching (or someone else) a new product that is perfect for your niche? Keeping up with these dates can help you create content that will entice readers to buy the item at launch.

Once you have determined this information, you can start brainstorming content ideas to match upcoming events, product launches, and industry news. In between those types of blog posts, you can put other types of posts up such as educational, informational, interesting and fun blog posts.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10288543

How To Create A Compelling Brand

Everything You Need to Know About Landing Pages

What Is a Landing Page?

A landing page, simply put, is an attractive, elegant, and clean page that immediately gets the attention of visitors to your site.

When built innovatively, a landing page can act as the cornerstone of a successful online marketing websites campaign.

Why So Much Fuss About Them?

"Landing pages are the new direct marketing, and everyone with a website is a direct marketer." -Seth Godin

The landing page is a place where conversions happen. Having an effective landing page can turn your website into a money-making machine. According to Marketing Sherpa, 68% of B2B businesses use those pages to get new leads for conversions in the future.

A business that makes $1000/day could be losing over $25K per annum if the landing page responds slowly, says internet marketing guru, Neil Patel.

Here is an example that is old by now, but which still demonstrates the importance of building a landing page well. In the year 2010, President Obama was able to raise an additional $60 million JUST by A/B testing the page that was created for a particular campaign.

Remember: you have just a couple of seconds to make or break the deal. So... give it all you have!

What makes a landing page function as a converting machine? What are the best elements to be incorporated into your lead capture page so that even the most reluctant visitor to your site votes in your favor?

To answer these questions, let's take a look at seven of the top elements you need to consider when designing your landing page.

7 Ways to Captivate Users with Landing Pages

1. Create Compelling Headlines

The headline of your page is the first thing that your visitors will see and read. So, it makes sense to craft a killer headline that will impact them instantly. Years ago, Basecamp switched up its standard software benefit/feature driven landing page for a picture of a real customer. Basecamp made the headline a quote that summarized the major advantages that the customer's company received. The result was a massive increase in the conversion rate by 102.5%.

Here are some pointers on creating killer headlines.

• Be useful

When writing your landing page headline, remember to connect with the fears and wants of your visitors. According to Kissmetrics, Carelogger boosted its conversion rate by 31% when its headline focused on the fear and desire of its target audience.

• Be Urgent

Encourage users to act right now by providing a deadline or giving out some useful offers. This strategy can easily grow your reader base and compel them to act.

• Command Attention

Your words should trigger emotion among your users. It's always wise to pick up vivid adjectives for this purpose.

Some powerful words you can use are:

• Astonishing

• Never seen before

• High costs

• Power

2. Use Videos to Tell Your Story

Landing pages with videos can up the conversion rate by almost 80%, according to EyeView Digital. Also, recent statistics reveal that 95% of users retain the messages in videos.

Videos provide passive engagement. With minimum effort, visitors can discover exactly what you want to convey.

Many marketers don't know what a heatmap is. So CrazyEgg hired the Demo Duck crew to point out the reasons why small businesses need more than Google Analytics to improve their conversions.

Do you think visitors will abandon this page?

Never.

Some important pointers to note while creating video on a landing page are:

Use a tempting thumbnail to engage and convert your audience.

Put your video above the fold.

Keep your video meaty enough to be interesting for your target audience.

Try to include a transcript of the video. Some people might want to watch the video, some might want to read it, and some would love the idea of doing both.

What's the secret?

According to Entrepreneur, if an image is worth a thousand words, a great video is equivalent to 24k words per second. People love videos. The Guardian even claims videos will be the future of content marketing. Cisco states that videos will account for roughly 79% of consumer traffic on the internet by 2020.

3. Create a 3D Effect Using Parallax Scrolling

With the help of parallax scrolling, the background of your landing page moves at a reduced rate compared to the foreground. This feature results in a 3D effect as visitors scroll down the page.

What's so great about the scrolling effect?

It allows you to tell your story on your landing page. It allows your visitors to know more about your services or products. When you use effective copy with parallax scrolling, the result will be a very persuasive and professional page.

4. Trust Signals

The best landing pages make adequate use of trust signals.

Why do they use this tactic?

Trust signals indicate to visitors that your brand and offers are credible. These signals can take a number of forms, such as testimonials, endorsements from past clients, etc.

FiveStars has done a fantastic job of providing trust indicators on its landing page. The company showcases "proven results" and customer testimonials, as well as some personal information on website activity.

Another robust tool that acts as a trust signal is trust badges. These are nothing but logos of well-known companies with whom you've worked in the past.

When utilizing trust signals, always include the following:

• Customer testimonials

• Third-party seals

• Trust badges

• Privacy policy

5. Use Gifs to Demonstrate Your Products

Demonstrating the way your product works is extremely important. Gifs explain how your product can be used in a faster and more persuasive way compared to videos. Marketers are now realizing the importance of Gifs. They have become the go-to feature for companies seeking better engagement on social media.

With Facebook allowing brands to post Gifs and Twitter rolling out the auto-play videos as well, they definitely deserve a place on your landing page. Gifs are the best substitutes for videos on landing pages. In fact, they are much more cost-effective compared to videos when it comes to demonstrating a service or product visually. Gifs are also gaining popularity, particularly in this year's mobile marketing trends, so you should keep an eye on them. PineGrow uses a Gif on its landing page to explain how users can build responsible websites faster.

6. Give Out Offers

An offer is something you give to your visitors in return for getting them to do what you want.

Offers can include discounts, coupons, a free version of your product, a free trial, a matching gift, or a whitepaper.

There are a few strategies you can use.

A website that pays bills can offer users $10 for the maiden bill they pay. Users would have to sign up for the service and link their accounts to it.

A consulting firm might offer a free consultation of 60 minutes, which could be a meeting to describe how the agency can help people.

7. Put the Headline and Form into Two Columns

By breaking up the screen into two columns, you can show multiple page elements with an equal degree of prominence.

Do you think that the form on your landing page deserves the same attention as your headline or sub-headline? Can they have a cumulative impact on your visitors?

Even though there is no exact formula to creating an ideal landing page, there are some common rules of the thumb to improve your chances of making one that stands out.

Are you looking to achieve a high percentage of conversions this year?

Then don't forget to follow the steps above when creating your landing pages.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10311700

The Psychology of Digital Marketing

In his keynote address at the CMO Insight Summit, Rory Sutherland from Ogilvy & Mather explained why "psychological insight is just as valuable as technological advance."

A great opportunity for marketers, this talk brilliantly combines ideas from psychology, marketing and business.  

Should You Stop Marketing During COVID-19?

The Impact of Coronavirus on Small Business

As a human, I'm sure you've been affected by COVID-19 (also known as novel coronavirus) in some way.

Whether that means worrying about elderly parents, changing travel plans or stocking up on essentials to work from home for the foreseeable future, it's hard to not feel the stress.

As a small business owner, you may be seeing fewer customers as people limit social interaction, change travel and leisure plans and focus on staying healthy rather than on shopping for products and services.

Unless you sell toilet paper or hand sanitizer, you may be concerned about the impact of the coronavirus on your small business; your revenue, employees, and empty marketing funnel.

So does that mean you should hunker down and stop your marketing efforts for the time being? No!

The World Health Organization has declared coronavirus a global pandemic, and it's a very uncertain time. However, I'm a firm believer in focusing on what we can do and change while finding the opportunities amidst adversity.

Every challenge can be met with common sense, rational thought and even kindness. This is not the time for irrationality. I was watching a webinar the other day and someone said, "Worrying is like a rocking chair-it gives you something to do but it won't get you anywhere!"

I know we are living in troubling times. The virus and how the global economy is responding to the preventative measures being placed is something that will go down in the history books.

But as business owners, there is one thing we do still have control over, and that's the ability to be resilient and make choices that will get us through these times as best possible.

In this article, I'm sharing some ways you can address the challenge of marketing during a crisis and keep your business going.

 Let's start by looking at two of the wrong ways to approach marketing during a crisis right now:

1. Making a joke about coronavirus. 

A few weeks ago, it was common to see online memes and humorous marketing campaigns being shared. A Las Vegas jeweller even created a campaign to sell rings!

As more and more people around the world were affected by coronavirus, these slowed down a lot. Making light of the situation is not only in poor taste, but you'll likely drive away a good chunk of your target audience.

2. Playing on people's fears. 

It's one thing to use a sense of urgency to sell your product or service, but it's another thing entirely to use scare tactics.

For example, don't scare people into buying a first aid kit with a message like "Only two left! Don't risk your family's health!" Rather, focus on the benefit of being proactive and prepared by stocking up on medical supplies.

Make sure the angle and tone of your marketing reflects your customer's current concerns and pain points without capitalizing on their anxiety.

How to Effectively Market Your Small Business During the Coronavirus Outbreak

No matter what type of small business you have, your priority should be clearly communicating with your customers to put them at ease.

Think about what your clients need to hear from you, and how you want to position your business during this crisis.

Here are 3 ways to market your business during the coronavirus crisis:

1. Reassure everyone that you're protecting their health. 

This is especially true if you have a brick-and-mortar location. This may mean sharing your extra sanitation practices, putting a hand sanitizer station at the front of your location or implementing a policy where all staff wear masks and gloves.

For example, WestJet shares their additional precautionary cleaning measures due to coronavirus on their website.

2. Be prepared to pivot. 

You need to be flexible to best serve your customers. That might mean instead of cancelling a customer conference, you change it to a virtual event.

If you are planning an upcoming workshop or event, pivot with your audience in mind. It's possible you have already been forced to cancel or postponne, but don't assume everyone wants the solution you're providing.

Consider options such as making it a virtual version of the event or postponning your conference to a later date. Or some people may want ticket refunds.

Polls and questionnaires can be a great way to get honest feedback from your ticket holders before changing an event.

And of course, take a look at all of your contracts to ensure you're covered before making any changes.

If you're a service provider, create other ways to help your clients like this fitness trainer did. He offered them a way to stay fit that doesn't involve being around a group of people in a gym.

3. Make your employees a priority too. 

Don't focus all your efforts on marketing during this time. Your employees are what keep your business going, so how can you care for them?

Maybe you can give your staff the option of working 100% remotely while COVID-19 is a concern. Or, remind them you fully encourage them to stay home if they're feeling sick.

The more you can put your employees at ease, the better they'll be able to support your business and your customers.

What Small Business Owners Can Learn from Coronavirus

I know this is hard, and I hope you can hang in there and focus on the present, and on being of service to your clients and staff.

They're afraid, and what you do or share can help alleviate those fears. Remember to be careful and intentional about what you're saying.

If your small business is being adversely affected by coronavirus, it's also a good time to reassess your business fundamentals, including how CONVID-19 is affecting your digital marketing. How will you deal with a crisis the next time it happens? Are there things you'd do differently to be more prepared or prevent losses?

Like everything else in life, this is a learning experience. Stay healthy, safe and positive.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Susan_Friesen/260293

Major Digital Marketing Changes You MUST Know in 2020 with Marketing Influencer Rand Fishkin

Learn SEO Basics To Make Your Digital Marketing Campaign Successful

SEO is the abbreviation of Search Engine Optimisation. It is all about learning and using tactics, strategies to enhance the visibility of web resources like websites, web pages in various search engine results pages. If you are an SEO executive then you need to have the basics right to be successful in your digital marketing campaign. This blog discusses the SEO basics that are helpful in your for the professional search engine optimizer.

Understand What the Customers Are Looking For

It is to understand that as a professional SEO executive it is very difficult on your part to optimize a website without understanding what the customers are looking for. You as a search engine optimizer need to use common sense to figure out what your customers are searching for.

You need to adhere to the following points to comprehend what your customers are looking for:-

· Try figuring out the most popular method in which people search for your business.

· Comprehend other ways people search for the same thing using a search engine.

· Emphasize long-tail keywords while searching using a search engine.

· Do granular searches more according to the requirements of the customers.

· Search For popular as well as engaging topics in your field and write contents on those topics.

· Try expanding your keyword list. 

To be successful in search engine optimization you need to take into consideration people's views about a particular topic or niche. You need to discuss the problems that the people are facing. You need to talk to the customers and find out the language that they are using.

Following are some of the important ways by which you can become successful in search engine optimization:-

· Post in Forums

· Do keyword research and analysis

· Comprehend the metrics that are behind the targeted keywords. These metrics may include keyword difficulty, search volume, domain authority, page authority, keyword competitiveness.

· To do keyword research and analysis it is advised that you create an excel sheet, highlight the metrics that you are using, populate the respective metric's field with values as against the keyword that you are using.

· Create Webpages that are optimized for searches 

Focus on On-Page Optimisation

Keyword research and analysis is the first step to attract organic traffic to your business. Next focus on on-page optimization in a digital marketing campaign. If you are using a Word Press website then it is recommended that you install appropriate plugins on your website. Create on-page content that is relevant to your business. In this context, it is relevant to add that there are three types of searches and they are navigational, informational, and transactional. For more on this visit relevant resources available online.

Following are some of the tips to focus on on-page optimization:-

· Use short and descriptive URLs

· Create compelling meta titles as well as descriptions

· Use headers as well as sub-headers to create a logical structure

· Focus on optimizing your images

· Lay emphasis on setting up a schema 

Other Aspects that Help to Make You a Better Search Engine Optimizer

Make your Website accessible to humans as well as search engines. Make sure that your web portal loads promptly. Focus on installing an SSL certificate. Focus on creating a site map for your website. Apart from these, there are many other aspects of digital marketing that helps to enhance the search engine optimization skills of the professional web marketer.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Chandrasekhar_Bhattacharjee/1737216