Top 12 Social Media and Search Engine Marketing Trends In 2016

Social media and search engine marketing are the two constantly evolving trends with plenty of changes that prompt shifts in consumer and marketer behavior. In order to succeed, you should adapt to these changes and employ the latest and most effective strategies.

Here are 12 social media and search engine marketing trends taking place so far in 2016 and what you should do to stay ahead of the curve:

1. Mobile optimization is a must!

In 2015, mobile generated more traffic than desktop and laptop search. Typically, everyone used their smartphones or tablets to find information online. Business owners must cater to the needs of their mobile audience to generate leads and increase conversions.

If your website still isn’t optimized for mobile, then you might be at risk of losing potential consumers

Be sure you use responsive web design to provide the best user experience to your visitors regardless of the device they’re using.

2. Voice search introduces huge changes in keyword research.

Digital assistants have become more popular among mobile users over the past couple of years, their success has risen due to their much improved functionality.

Siri, Now and Cortana are making the lives of users so much more convenient. However, this presents a new challenge to marketers as they must now optimize for voice search.

People use different search terms when speaking versus typing. Voice searches lean toward long-tail keywords, so be sure to include these terms to increase your chances of ranking.

3. Local SEO will be crucial.

With the launch of My Business, Google places even more importance to local SEO.

There has been a fair share of significant changes in how Google presents search results for local terms. Different search elements are used to provide immediate information regarding local businesses.

It is imperative to have your business listed on Google to improve search visibility. Google My Business is a great place to get started, it allows you to control multiple accounts from one central location.

4. Social posts receive higher rankings.

A clever move for businesses is ranking their blog posts and universal assets (videos, images, news, etc.) on the results pages. Don’t forget to rank your social posts as well.

Many marketers are already utilizing social media to gain more visibility in search engines. When customers enter your company name, you must make sure that your social media profiles are seen on the first page. This should be further leveraged for your reputation management and monitoring. Various social media sites also now encourage long form content, most notably Facebook with their revamped Notes feature.

5. App store optimization is crucial.

One study shows that in 2015, 52 percent of time spent online was on mobile apps. This shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, as people tend to prefer using apps over surfing mobile websites due to better functionality.

If you have a business app, optimizing for the app store is crucial to enhance visibility. A large amount of apps get created every day, making it more difficult than ever to stand out.

It’s vital to use in-app analytics as well to measure conversions, click through rates and app open rates.

6. Learn the new on-page SEO.

When talking about on-page SEO, what immediately comes to mind are content optimization, internal linking and improving site structure. There are more factors to consider to ensure that your on-page SEO is in check. These include click-through rates, engagement, social signals and relevant content. By measuring these important site metrics, you can see which areas of your site needs to improve.

These are also used by search engines when ranking web pages, better yet look beyond conventional on-page SEO strategies and be sure these factors are included in your next optimization campaign.

7. Sell on social media.

Different social media sites have enabled advertisers to sell directly on their platforms. Facebook and Pinterest, in particular, have introduced “Buy Now” features. This serves as a fantastic opportunity to reach your target audience and increase conversions. It’s a win-win situation since social media users can now buy products without even leaving the app. Without question, more social platforms are willing to follow this method in 2016.

8. Enhancements in in-app functionality.

It’s amazing how much you can do without ever leaving the app. Developers continue to create innovations and include new functionalities to their apps.

Facebook, for instance, introduced a lot of new features last year such as Instant Articles and automatic video playing when scrolling. They are now creating their own digital assistant.

Twitter, Instagram and other platforms refuse to fall behind, promising to have plenty of things in store for their users. By making improvements in in-app functionality, conversion rates are set to skyrocket, so it’s essential to make enhancements in your app to experience a boost in ROI.

9. Take advantage of new publication options.

Facebook created a game-changer when they launched Instant Articles, as mentioned before. This is their way of presenting users with content while ensuring that they wouldn’t leave the app. Instant Articles load measurably quicker than regular web links, thus improving user experience.

Major publishers are now using this feature to reach their target audience. Twitter is about to release a similar feature called Project Lightning. Be sure to check out these new publication options and see how you can utilize them to generate new leads and improve conversions.

10. Videos will continue their dominance.

YouTube still receives a massive amount of hits per day. Facebook receives 8 billion

video views daily as of November 2015. These two facts alone prove how much online users love watching videos. Plenty of studies also show that content within videos have higher engagement rates compared to those that only contain plain text.

Take the next step and find ways to present information to your audience through entertaining videos. Trying to rank these videos on the results pages can also drive a significant amount of traffic to your website.

11. In-the-moment content is bound to remain popular.

 

By nature, social media are “in-the-moment,” with users eager to share what they’re doing as of the moment. Over the past couple of years, live streaming has become very popular. Periscope, the most popular live streaming online platform, allows users to record a short moment of their lives and share it

Snapchat and Instagram have already jumped on the bandwagon. This could mean huge changes in how you use social media. Accustom your business to something new and consider posting in-the-moment updates and take advantage of the fact that millions of online users love this kind of content.

This could mean huge changes in how you use social media. Instead of scheduling posts in advance, you might want to consider posting in-the-moment updates and take advantage of the fact that millions of online users love this kind of content.

12. Dark traffic will eventually become clear.

If your company uses Google Analytics, then you know how frustrating it is trying to decipher dark traffic—the kind of traffic whose source you do not know. Analytics simply includes it under direct traffic. This can affect your marketing campaigns. As a marketer, you want to know as much as possible about your audience.

Thankfully, dark traffic has gradually come to light over the past few months. Digital marketers are expecting that this year will mark the end of dark traffic. This will be possible with the help of analytic tools getting more precise information regarding their source.

This Article Originally Appeared on http://digitalmarketingsapiens.com/top-12-social-media-search-engine-marketing-trends-2016/

5 Marketing Strategy Questions That Small Businesses NEED to Answer

What is the difference between confident entrepreneurs who lead growing businesses and business owners who are trapped in survival mode? It’s simple. A successful business almost certainly has a clear marketing strategy that guides their decision-making and makes everything they do more effective.

Unfortunately, many small business owners get caught up in maintaining their day-to-day business and forget to set aside time for strategizing. Selecting tactics takes time but will improve their performance overall.

At the end of the day, strategies are absolutely necessary for businesses that want to improve their functionality and grow. Owners need to realize that their marketing strategy is their foundation for creating awareness, generating interest, closing new sales and contributing customer engagement. Fulfilling all of these strategies will almost guarantee some sort of improvement for one’s business as well as gaining an advantage over their competitors. Another thing for business owners to take into consideration is their marketing strategy guides their company culture, their products and services mix and their pricing.

Not only should business owners consider their marketing strategy but there are other things that can craft a successful strategy. However, these five key decisions have helped small business owners grow their sales and create sanity in their business.

In order for business owners to have effective tactics, grow their business and have sanity in their working environment, they have to decide on the single, simple answer to each of these five marketing strategy questions. Of course, they cannot change their minds and instead stay committed to their answer.

Focus plays a huge factor and is always the difference maker between a business that grows profitably and one that never seems to gain any momentum. Instead of hoping that next email is going to work better, business owners should develop a clear focus and a realistic strategy.

1. Ask yourself who is your target customer?

The first decision in any marketing strategy is to define your target customer. “Who do you serve?” always needs to be answered clearly before you can execute any tactic effectively. What this means is you have to say “no” to other potential customers who might buy from you but who are clearly bad fits for your narrow focus. It may appear as a non-ideal thing to do, but it takes time to develop the discipline, but business owners can’t do effective marketing without it.

Focusing on a well-defined target may make you uncomfortable at first, but stay the course and follow through.

If business owners are spending time and money on marketing but your efforts are not driving enough sales, the problem is almost always that you haven’t narrowed your target market definition enough to be effective. The narrower a business owner defines their market eventually they can focus on those that they can best serve, which leads to more efficiency for an owner’s business.

2. What is a business owner’s category?

Their category is simply the short description of what business they are a part of. What few words would someone say to describe an owner’s business?  For example, Starbucks is “high-quality coffee” Chipotle is “fresh Mexican burritos.”

Most business owners can’t resist over-complicating their company descriptions. This leaves people unsure of what you actually do, which can weaken their marketing effectiveness. Here’s a simple rule: If someone can’t clearly remember a business owner’s category description a month after meeting them, they were never clear about what the owner’s business does in the first place.

Clearly defining the category can amplify a business owner’s marketing and sales efforts. Think of what it would take to be the best – the leader – in your category. You’re not the leader? Then narrow your category definition (or your target market focus) until you are the leader. A focused laser can melt steel at a distance, but the same light undirected has no effect. Be laser-like in your focus.

3. What is your unique benefit?

A business owner’s unique benefit should highlight the one (or two) main things of their product or service that actually delivers (benefits) that targets what their customer really wants, not a long list of all the things their product does (features).

4. Who is the competition?

When someone is searching to buy a solution to a problem, they will quickly make sense of the alternatives to compare against, your competition. However, most entrepreneurs have not specifically defined who their real competition is and don’t focus their messages to create clear differentiation for their buyers. This frustrates the buying decision process and makes business owners marketing efforts appear weaker.

Business owners should have a clear mind about who their biggest competition is. If you are a tax accountant, is your competition really the other tax accountants in town? Or even other CPAs or financial planners?  DIY tax software? Doing taxes manually?  National tax accounting chains? Each competitor type would create different comparisons, so it’s ideal to narrow it down to one or two main competitor types.

5. What does your marketing strategy statement look like?

When you put the five key decisions of marketing strategy in a sentence form, it looks like this fill-in-the-blank statement:

An owner’s company name is the leading category for target customers that provides unique benefit. Unlike competitors, your company does unique differentiator.

Try it for yourself: Fill in the blanks to create the marketing strategy statement for your own business. Get some perspective from employees, friends and best customers. List all the possibilities and then make some decisions. You should feel clarity and power coming through. It will also show you a few things you could stop doing in your business that would create more focus.

Hopefully be realizing answering these marketing strategies you will see why it makes no sense to Tweet, to send a broadcast email or build a new website if you are not clear about your marketing strategy that has laser-like focus? Doing these tactics without a road map, your marketing strategy, will not deliver the right customers and will give you fewer sales than if you had invested the time to implement a focused marketing strategy.

Creating a clear marketing strategy is not what companies do after they become well-known, it’s what small companies do to grow and get bigger in the first place.

If you need help creating or executing your company’s marketing strategy, reach out to Digital Marketing Sapiens in San Antonio, Texas at 210-582-5842.

This Article Originally Appeared on http://digitalmarketingsapiens.com/5-marketing-strategy-questions-small-businesses-need-answer/

What Makes A Good Logo?

A good logo is important for every business. It is important to remember that a logo is the face of your company and something that is going to be attached to every piece of marketing or content your company produces.

In order to have an effective logo, make sure it is:

1. Simple yet elegant
2. Timeless
3. Appropriate

It is important to make sure your logo has these three attributes or a great idea can turn into ahorrible marketing display.

Simple and Elegant

A good logo is simple. A simple logo is one that can be instantly recognized by anyone that sees it. A simple logo is one that does not have more than four colors and can also look good in black and white print. A logo needs to have less than 20 characters, and it must be memorable. An elegant logo also has a meaning behind it.

For example, the logo for Apple is an apple which represents knowledge,while FedEx’s logo has an arrow showing moving forward. Both of these logos use a minimal amount of colors and words. They also have simple and relatable attributes such as apples and letters.

It is important to make sure that your logo is effective in conveying the message you want when people see  it.

Timeless

It is important to have a logo that is timeless. Fads are always coming and going and even though your logo might catch traction at one time, in the long run it is hard to keep a persona if your logo is outdated. When creating a logo it is important to consider if it will be effective a year from now, five years, 10 years, and 50 years from now? Logos should try to avoid using key word fads or regional fads as well. Forexample, “ya’ll” might work in Texas, but if your business expands to California; your business will have a Texan connotation.

When looking at the Pepsi and Coca-Cola example, it is clear that a logo needs to be timeless, as changes can cause issues in rebranding along with connecting the company across many target audiences. Pepsi’s logo is trying to always be modern and revolutionize while Coca Cola is keeping their original logo with some types of adaptation keeping it connected.

This can cause two ways of thinking toward Pepsi. People will either think Pepsi is trying to adapt to their newer targets or that Pepsi is having a hard time maintaining one image. In a recent survey, 64% of people were not able to guess which Pepsi Logo is the most recent one.

Appropriate

The meaning of appropriate can be taken in many different directions. It is important that a logo suits, or is appropriate for, their target audience. The logo must be able to attract its target audience and they must be able to relate to it.

There are many ways to showcase an appropriate logo — by font, colors design, etc.. A logo for a Disney or ToysRus will not have the same font or color choice as a United States Government Department. Logos should be appropriate for the client’s entire product line and not feature their products. Although a business may think they will not be expanding their product line, it is important not to be too specific about your products and services too soon.

By Sahil Maherali, Digital Sapien

This Article originally appeared on digitalmarketingsapiens.com

What Makes an Outstanding Landing Page?

Gone should be the days when landing pages were unattractive, unappealing, and just plain boring. And yet, these horrible web pages still exist! It’s 2016 —  a perfect time to make every digital media source top-notch. But how do you pull this off? In the smartest way possible, of course. Here are a few features that make your landing page engaging, enticing and even a bit exciting.

Have a Landing Page That’s Relative to your Hyperlink

This is called message match. If you’re offering a promotion that offers 50% off your product and you send your potential customers to your homepage, it makes them less likely to search for this deal and more likely to press the back button. The copy for your landing page should highlight this deal and be the first thing they see. It works even better if a “buy now” button is one click away.

Bring an Information Scent

Your customers’ buying process  starts with them first seeing the ad. Once they click the link that sends them to your landing page, you want them to be assured that they went to the correct site and that they should be just as comfortable on your site as they are from the place they saw your ad. This means that there needs to be some association between the site that brought them to your product and the landing page.

Example: If your ad was placed on xyz.com, placing their logo somewhere on your landing page will show your customers that they landed in the correct place.

Make your Contact Form as Simple as Possible

Simple contact information is critical. The less work customers have to do to contact you for services, the better. Assigning long forms to fill out or hiding your contact form is almost like you’re giving the impression that you want to display an awesome thing that no one is allowed to have.

If your product is a tangible object, it’s still important to have a simple, easy-to-find contact form. It establishes the fact that a customer can reach out to you whenever something is wrong. This is something that a customer looks for when considering to buy.

Make your Call to Action Impossible to Miss

Show them the reason for clicking your ad, and then give them the chance to make the conversion right then and there. Forcing them to scroll down, open a new window, or fill out information will just be one more thing keeping them from buying your product.

Get Feedback for Each and Every Landing Page

Your definition of an outstanding landing page may be different from everyone else’s, so it’s important to know if your landing page is universally appealing. If it’s not captivating to anyone you ask, it certainly won’t be attractive to your target audience.

Save Your Best for Last

Wait until your potential customer is aiming for the exit button before showing that pop up that allows them to receive a discount, free resource or better alternative for staying on the page. If you present your wild card too early, you’ll be giving them the opportunity to spend less before they even decide that they want to buy. Or, worse, your spontaneous pop-up will discourage them from staying on the page for another second.

Check out an example of an eye-catching landing page here, or click here to see what Digital Marketing Sapiens can do for you.

By Ramil Rodriguez, Digital Sapien

This Article originally appeared on digitalmarketingsapiens.com

Embracing Technology In Your Business Without Losing Older Clients

Technology is amazing! Businesses acquire new tricks and tools virtually non-stop. Tracking the trends of the Millennials, Baby Boomers, and Generation Xers is vital to staying relevant. As increasingly more millennials join the work force,business need to adapt to the new ways of reaching audiences. But, by constantly moving forward, are businesses accidentally leaving older clients behind?

First, it’s important to understand who is who in a discussion about generations.

• The Silent Generationor Greatest Generation is anyone born in the mid-1920s to the early 1940s.
• Baby Boomers are individuals born between 1946 and 1964, during the post-WWII boom.
• Generation X, also known as Gen X, is not very clearly defined but can generally be used to refer to the early 1960s to early 1980s.
• Millennials, who grew up during the turn of the millennium, were born between the early 1980s and late 1990s. They may sometimes also be referred to as Generation Y.
• Generation Z’s name is still developing. However, some ideas are iGeneration, Digital Natives, and Plurals.

As one might expect, as time passes, businesses are patroned less and less often by the Silent Generation and Baby Boomers, while the number of Millennial customers increases. Businesses must cater to the growing demographicsbut ideally without alienating older, established client-bases.

How exactly can a business balance the rapid increase of millennial clients while losing boomer business?

Don’t Transition Too Fast!

The fastest way a business can fall off track is with sudden movements. A business must understand its clients, perspective clients, and past clients to create an informed plan of evolution. Baby steps are needed in a significant transition as every transition comes with hiccups. To properly evolve, you must fix problems as they occur while alsoteaching your older clients how to use these changes to their benefit. A Millennial will understand Groupon, for instance, but a Boomer may need assistance the first few times.Help them overcome their technical fears and confusion so they do not feel lost or a sense of miscommunication.

Tailor Your Business To Adopters, Early Majority, And Late Majority Clients!

In marketing jargon, there are 5 types of buyers.

There are those who are Innovators. Innovators are those who are the smallest group as they are very involved in constantly learning about new products in the market. They are always the first ones to jump onboard. Only 2% of those in your target market will be innovators.

Next, there are Adopters. Adopters are willing to try a new product if it will help their life. They need to understand the product before jumping on board. They are about 15% of the market.

After that are the Early Majority. They will jump on board with a product after seeing their peers embrace the technology. With the early majority caring about longevity and reputation, they must see the product in place. The Early Majority and Late Majority both make up for about 39% each of the market. The Late Majority however, purchase later on. They usually wait till the Innovators are already on their way to a new product.

Lastly, the excessive traditionalistscomprise the final 5% who either adopt products after they are old news or never adopt it at all.

Businesses need to target adopters, early majority, and late majority buyers. These groups establish a product or service for everyone else. However, with a combined of 93% of the market, it is important to not push the late majority out of the picture. Although early adopters can be a risky target, later adopters are possible clients as well.

When you create your marketing plan and business plan, make sure to evolve at a pace that will not lose a strong market segment. Although it seems great to be a leading company, it is important to have a clientele base who strongly needs your work, especially if you are not a major company. With the economy being such a diverse place, living on the bleeding edge of technology isn’t necessarily the best strategy for every business.

Communication Is Key!

A business must move at the pace of the clients. If you want to push into new technological territory, you must work WITH your clients to make the change happen. Help those who need assistance adapt to the new setting while giving your savvier clients the freedom to help themselves.

When communicating with clients,remain understanding of their needs, wants, and desires. Businesses have to meet their needs so remaining in touch with those needs is important.Jumping onto social media platforms and newsrooms to keep an eye on your younger audience’s opinions but also explore keeping a traditional touch. Email or even direct mail can help leave an impression on older audiences.

Whether you work in manufacturing, retail, or marketing, you must understand your clients and how to move your business forward. Remember that everyone moves at their own speed!Adapt your business plan to the timesbut keep an eye on your older audiences and late majority.

By Sahil Maherali, Digital Sapien

This Article originally appeared on digitalmarketingsapiens.com

What Is Crowdfunding And How Can My Business Get On Board?

Crowdfunding has taken fundraising to a whole new level! Some of the most popular crowdfunding sources are Kickstarter, Indiegogo, RocketHub, and GoFundMe. These platforms are great way to fundraise money for a specific cause or start-up business.

What exactly is crowdfunding?Crowdfunding is a method of funding a project using contributions from a large number of people. No donation is too small since crowdfunding relies on quantity.

Depending on which platform you use, the fees are different. However, in general, the website will hold a percentage fee along with credit card fee. The amounts paid to a project is considered a donation.

Is crowdfunding legal?

Crowdfunding is a legal process of obtaining an investment for your project. President Obama signed the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act, also known as the JOBS Act, which helps the “Capital Raising Online While Deterring Fraud and Unethical Non-Disclosure Act of 2012”.

How exactly does crowdfunding work?

Traditional funding involved asking a few wealthy investors for a lot of capital. Crowdfunding does the opposite. It asks a lot of people for a little bit of money each, hence the name CROWDfunding.

On crowdfunding websites, projects are listed for prospective donors to skim through. They can see a written description, photos, or advertisement about the product or service. Fundraisers can explain their benefits as well as set up a reward system for different sizes of donations, like free products or recognition.

How successful has crowdfunding been?

Star Citizen, an independent video game, holds the record for the most ever raised through crowdfunding: over $100 million! That isn’t the norm, of course. According to Fundable, the average successful campaign collects about $7,000. That capital is a great way to jumpstart your project or finance your business. Crowdfunding is also a great way to create a loyal following base, as members who want to jump onto your business can buy into your product early and build a relationship you’re your brand by watching the project come to fruition.

Should crowdfunding be used for professional projects?

Although those over the age of 45 are much less likely to get involved in crowdfunding, don’t be discouraged! Many organizations have successfully used crowdfunded initiatives that would not have fit within their budget otherwise. It can be used to build a hospital or help a census count for a species slowly going endangered but does not have funding behind it. A famous example of crowdfunding is the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. His average campaign donation is only $27.

Crowdfunding is a great way to get the community involved as they feel they have taken apart in helping a group they believe in. Crowdfunding is a great way to get the community involved as they feel they have taken apart in helping a group they believe in!

By Sahil Maherali, Digital Sapien

This Article originally appeared on digitalmarketingsapiens.com