Digital Marketing Strategy 101: content marketing | Digital marketing made simple!

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Winning Content Ideas for Social Media

in brands , content , content marketing , digital marketing , facebook , marketing , social media - on September 17, 2018 - No comments

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It's not easy to come up fresh ideas for your social media posts every day. Here are seven easy to follow tips on types of winning content you can create easily.

1. Questions and Answers

Questions and Answers make up great stories. One easy way to create interesting posts is to pose interesting questions. Remember, your audience loves sharing experiences and opinions on social media – so provide a platform for their expression. Having a relevant and interesting image to go along with your question will get immediate attention, and more people will engage. You can ask your audience which of your products, for example, they really like.

But don't always post questions just about your brand. They should involve the audience's genuine interest and passion. You can also get a lot of interest by asking them to predict something. For some questions, you can provide two options as answers, rather than leaving them open ended.

Another way is to provide answers – again with relevant and useful visuals. These resolve the audience's problems, or answer queries. Many brands use this content bucket to respond to Frequently Asked Questions about their products. 'Answer' posts can be useful 'how-do' demos, instructional videos, simple solutions explained visually and more.

2. Fill in the Blanks and Poll Posts

Asking your audience to fill in the blanks actually engages them and gives them a sense of direction on how to express themselves. "My favorite player in Superbowl LI was ___________". Or get a sense of which social platform they are most engaged on "The social media platform I use most every day is __________". You get the drift.

3. Create a theme for days of the week

If you create bucket themes for days of the week, you can come up with content for those days easily. As well, people will know what to expect – it gives them a feel of consistency about your posts. Movie Mondays, Tuesday Tip of the Day, Wednesday Windows, Thursday Thanks, Friday Fun, Saturday Showtime etc. Often you can actually find day themes that are common hashtags, and you can get more mileage by using those hashtags.

4. Special Holidays, Unusual and Funny Name Days

There are names for almost every day of the year – and a lot of them have hashtags attached to them. You can create pretty cool content by building your posts around these day themes. You can ask them questions around the days theme – and perhaps have a quirky call to action. Be sure to use appropriately relevant visuals to make these posts interesting. Check out this site to get a list of days in the year you can build your posts on. Remember, it can be days, or weeks, or even occasions that you create.

5. Jump on the Local Events Bandwagon

There's usually a lot of interest on events around town – a concert, a special occasion, a gala or a big sporting event. You can use the buzz around these events to generate interesting content. Use hashtags when possible. Actually, these can be global events as well where a hashtag will get you a whole lot more interest than a normal post. You can plug the local event, provide tips, may be even a couple of free tickets...

6. Feature your customers

This works like magic. People want to be heard and seen on social media. You can feature customer testimonials, demos, unboxings or even a simple 'how-to' tip that they provided. Use their photos or videos – this adds visual value and authenticates the post as well.

7. Share resources

You really need to come across as their friend, as someone who provides useful content. Don't hesitate to provide information, tips and resources from third parties that will be of relevance to your audience.

These are simple tips to follow. And they make for interesting content buckets that go beyond the usual types you do on a regular basis. Create useful, interesting content and you'll engage your audience better. And that's That's Digital Marketing Strategies 101.

Please share this post with your friends, and please comment on this if you want to add something...

Now read more on social media and content:

• 6 Critical Steps to a Winning Social Media Strategy

• Winning Content Strategy: Always share something valuable and useful

• Content Marketing Strategy: What kind of content should you create?

3 Kinds of Content that help you plan your content marketing strategy

in brands , content , content marketing , marketing , media , social media - on April 08, 2018 - 6 comments

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Content marketing is still quite the favorite marketing tool for most brands – so here are three types of content that you should be planning for. These content buckets really cover the kinds of content that you need to create and publish regularly to stay on top of the content game.

1/ Bursts or Topical content

Topical content is planned and created in a timely manner and built around events. It is usually short form content, and it has a short shelf life. It is very much the here and now content that attracts immediate attention. These 'bursts' generate quick traffic – and often lead to your longer form 'stock' or 'evergreen' content.

Topical content consist of every day posts, tweets, quick reminders, news caps, pointers to happenings around your brand or just something that your target audience is interested in. Tweets that lead to an article on your blog or web page are typical 'burst' content. The actual article is the 'evergreen' content.

2/ Evergreen or Stock content

Your brand's stock content – which is meant to have longer shelf life (thus 'Evergreen') is what your brand or product or your proposition is really all about. This kind of content provides real value to the consumer or customer. This is usually what your audience is after when they go and search for a solution. These can be how to articles, best practices, examples of product use, learnings, fixes, hacks etc.

Stock or evergreen content is meant to stay and be of continuing value. It doesn't have a sell by date – there's no real expiry. These always should provide some value which your audience is looking for and will appreciate. This is what makes your overall content sticky.

3/ Curated or aggregated content

This is a bucket for content that provides value to your audience – but you don't create. You aggregate and collect useful content, and curate and publish. Here your brand plays an useful role as a resource. When you regularly create good, useful curated content, your brand is recognized as a 'go-to' destination for information, references, learnings and knowledge. Curating isn't easy, it requires time spent on knowing what your audience is looking for, and then providing a collection of content that will resolve their needs.

Overall, you'll need to figure over time, what your typical target audience is really after, so knowing that ahead of time, as you plan your content calendar is very useful. Yes, you need to be flexible. You should not have a mathematical formula for the three content types, but instead go with a plan to deliver content that is balanced, useful and valuable.

Please share this with your friends and colleagues, and please comment below if you have something to add.

Now read these related posts:

• Content Marketing Strategy: What kind of content should you create?

• 6 Simple Steps to Win with Content Marketing

• Winning Content Strategy: Always share something valuable and useful

6 Simple Steps to Win with Content Marketing

in brands , content , content marketing , digital marketing , marketing , social media - on March 04, 2018 - 6 comments

4m to read /

Content marketing is still, in some quarters of marketing, a darling of the industry. In fact, it morphs and gets better with time – as types of content change and evolve. Here are six ways to get your content marketing strategy to work harder for you.

1. Start with focus. Focus on the User.

Your clear focus should be the user. Your content should really be out there to benefit the user, and thereby endearing the user to your brand. Whether you get all other boxes ticked, and you have great content from a brand perspective, and it's created well, published in proper context, if you have lost your focus on the user, you've lost the plot from moment one. So make sure your content addresses where your target audiences are, what they are looking or searching online for, what will resolve problems or needs they have, how they behave online – and that your content is after all a rewarding experience for them.

2. How to focus on the user?

Have clear content goals, research your content and plan ahead.
Content needs to be planned and not written or created on a whim. Have you done your Google keyword planner homework, or are you just hoping and praying your content will resonate? Content needs to focus on user needs, and you need to know those needs first. Does your content have a clear goal? What do you want to achieve? More sales? More awareness? Better engagement with loyal customers? All these questions have different answers, and need different pieces of content. Align internally with your departments and have a feel for what their goals are. Plan ahead and then brief your content creators properly. Properly, so that content is effective and efficient.

3. The content brief is critical.

Coming from an advertising background, I cannot stress the importance of a good brief enough. Be clear in your brief on what you want to achieve, who the content is aimed at, where (which channel) it will appear, the tone of voice it will adopt, guidelines to follow... The brief is a reflection of what you have planned for, what research you have done, and what you know about the target audience segment you want to address. Content for Gen Z audiences cannot be the same as one that young moms will like and share.

4. Great content? Grab attention with great headlines and subject lines.

I've seen great content on YouTube that has pathetic subject lines. I have stumbled upon blog posts that are mega useful, but the headline was all over the map, and had nothing to draw the user in. Content is a first go-to for the fashion and automotive industries, but sadly these scream of poor headlines. What does "For the Love of Mike" have to do with, say, a new model car review? Or a fantastic video on how to apply mascara titled "Good morning ladies"? Your headline or subject line should be standout quality – enough to draw the user in and make sense to search engines as well.

5. Select the right content channels and be consistent across them.

It is not, repeat, not important to be across every channel, every social medium. Again, focus on where your true target audience is going to be, and as well, where, as a brand you could or should be. Do you fit in on Snapchat? Is your message suited for the here and now of twitter? Should you experiment with tumblr? Get your channels to work keeping message, audience and your brand in mind.

And then be consistent. Your message, your content should be suited to both the medium and the audience that's on it. Your story should be the same, it may vary depending on channels, it may vary from a tone of voice perspective, but your content needs to be consistent in what it's saying. And, yes, consistency needs to keep the medium in mind – you cannot use the same tone on twitter that you would on a blog post.

6. Don't sell. Create great experiences.

Consistently selling is overselling when it comes to content. You can wrap an entire 600 word post around a single goal – sell your new product – but it won't work if it's all just a disguised buy me now message. Whatever medium you've selected, you need to create a rewarding experience for your audience there. Is your YouTube content too long to sit through. Does it stick beyond the five second click out? Is your blog suffering from poor typography and sheer bad design? Is your owned content (website) totally boring while you are trying so hard to be tragically hip on Facebook?

Check and pre-flight your content. Ensure it is error free. If it's video, it doesn't have to be shot in 4K, but it needs good lighting, clear audio, and the story told quickly and effectively. If it is written content, what's the user experience? Does it deliver on promise? Does the user feel that checking out your content was well worth it?

Good content, in closing is one that resonates, that answers to what the user is looking for, that is precise, that is sharable, and one that endears the user to your brand. It does not interrupt, it allows for participation and enjoyment. Remember, content is king. But apparently, getting the context right is God.

I'm sure there are many more ways to get content right. Please feel free to add your bit in comments...

Now read these related posts:

• 11 Amazingly Easy Ways to Skyrocket your Content Marketing Results

• Winning Content Strategy: Always share something valuable and useful

7 Easy Steps to Launching your Brand's Social Media Campaign

in brands , content marketing , digital marketing , facebook , instagram , marketing , media , social media - on January 23, 2018 - 19 comments

3m to read /

Follow these seven simple steps to launch a successful social media campaign for your brand. Whether you are a SME or a large business, a digital marketer or an agency, these easy to follow steps are essential for a social media campaign that will get you the results.

1/ Start with setting goals and budgets

Social media isn't a stand alone effort. Check with your colleagues and teams as to what their business goals are for the campaign you will launch. What are you building this campaign for? Awareness? Sales? Increasing customers or launching new product. Clearly define your goals and have a sense of direction. With this in mind have a budget in mind. How much are you willing to spend? What are your conversion goals based on that budget. Work towards your campaign with these parameters in mind.

2/ Assign a team

Once you have goals, you'll probably know who would be the best people around you – who have a decent amount of knowledge, and ideally both experience and expertise in social media marketing – to be on your campaign team. Remember, not every one will have the same enthusiasm for every campaign. Note that you'll need someone for strategic direction, for content creation and production, and someone who will manage the community and connect with your audience and track progress. Pick your best, before you begin.

3/ Define your channels based on your goals

Your campaign can't do everything for everybody. As set out in your goals, you have a specific task for the campaign. Based on this, select which channels or platforms you want to be on (or should be on). Every kind of content has one or two specific channels that are best to deliver that content on. What you can do on YouTube is very different from what you can do on Pinterest. Or Twitter. Do a proper bit of research on your target audience. and what goals you have defined, and then set a channel strategy for the campaign.

4/ Define the objective in detail and what value will the campaign bring?

The first step in this direction is to get solid customer insights. Once you know more about your target audience, and what value you can provide for them in your campaign, you need to set out these objectives in detail. What is exactly the one single purpose of the campaign? Are you offering a discount or a special offer? Is his a seasonal campaign? Are you trying to create better brand awareness? Is it a 'how to use our products better?' or a customer service oriented campaign? This wil help define the next step – content creation.

Read this:

• Customer Insights is your First Step in Digital Marketing

• Win with Content for your Brand: Give away value and usefulness

5/ Develop your content

Do you have a content strategy? One that will resonate with your goals and your objectives? Is content going to be for long or short term? Does it provide value? Is it useful? Will your audience come back for more?

Ideally, any content you create as a brand should be able to attract your target audience. That's the opening position. You need to come across as someone who's there with the right information for what they're looking for, and that you are the authority on that information, that topic. Your content needs to engage and build a sense of 'need' – that's how you build affinity or loyalty to your content. Finally, a brand's content after all, isn't there for charity. You want your audience to take some sort of action – to buy your product, to share your content, to believe in your brand. You need to drive towards that end game.

Content usually responds to a need. Your content should be there as a solution, as a response to that need. Your content needs to be there in our search driven world. Before you set out on developing a content calendar or create a content strategy, you need to have a grasp on what your audience expects from you as a brand. A good content plan is built around the customer.

• Content Marketing Strategy: What kind of content should you create?

6/ Have a distribution strategy and create a schedule

One important way to succeed with your brand's content marketing efforts is to get content distribution strategy right. You may be creating amazing content, but unless you add the value of 'context' to that content – meaning distribute them across relevant platforms and media, your content will remain distant and irrelevant to your target audience.

Once you know where and how you will engage with your audience, define when. Do you need to post once a day? Twice? Or does your campaign feel right for just once a week? And when also means on which platforms at which time of day.

• Plan your Distribution Strategy to succeed with Content Marketing

7/ Publish, engage, track and follow up

Once you launch your campaign – across the platforms and channels that you have defined as best suited for the purpose and detailed objectives, you need to track your performance, you need to continuously engage with your audience – following up, listening to what they say, answering back, and tracking your performance. And you then use what you are learning either to replenish your campaign, perhaps revise it, fine tune it, and keep at it.

• The importance of listening in social media, and how to get it right

• Setting Social Media Goals and Tracking Success Made Simple

Please share this with your friends and colleagues, and do feel free to add your comment. Thank you.

2018 Trend: How AI will drive ad targeting and frequency to improve efficiency

in advertising , agency , brands , content , content marketing , customers , marketing , technology - on January 09, 2018 - 9 comments

2m to read /

How many times does your brand's message or ad needs to be exposed to your audience for them to act on it? While there are no definitive numbers out there, and many marketers use tools such as econometric modeling to figure out an "effective frequency" number for exposures, Artificial Intelligence is going to come into play to help you decide. That's what will trend in 2018.

Research has shown that the minimum number of exposures for a good recall is around 10. There's a school of thought that states that repetition is essential to generate audience response*. And then there's the audience who gets really turned off seeing a message over and over again. It's called 'copy wear out' in media terms. So where's the middle ground?

With consumer attention being the currency that every marketer is trading in today, we need help. And, like in many other areas of marketing technology, AI will probably rise to the occasion and come to our aid.

With multi-channel marketing now common across digital and social (and, traditional offline as well, of course), there's a huge amount of exposure that our message can actually get. Provided, of course, the media dollar is behind the push. But how much is enough? We are seeing advances in AI powered technology and tools that are able to predict ad effectiveness and the right frequencies on programmatic media exercises. AI is also playing a role in cross-targeting, remarketing and bringing a much needed sense of consistency of message to a particular audience. Even, one by one. One pair of eyeballs at a time. That's the magic of ad tech.

Ad tech works with data and targeting, using clever algorithms (sometimes generated on the fly) to empower brand marketers and publishers to improve the effectiveness of their campaigns by getting frequency right. The beauty of AI is that these Intelligent are learning every second – increasing and building on their intelligence. And because of this, they can modify and customize the campaign and the exposure quotient based on the learning. Rather than relying on intuition, these AI based algorithms are based on actual experiences.

They are also capable of quickly learning from not just exposure, but time of exposure, frequency within a certain time frame, and response levels. So, they can actually change creative quickly, on the fly. Or simply stop targeting a non-responsive member of the target group to make the spend a lot more effective. Overall, that's a lot of dollars and sense for marketers. The intelligence may be 'artificial' but for us, it is very much real.

Please share this post with your friends and colleagues, and feel free to add your comment below.

Now read these related posts:

• How AI and VR will disrupt and shift your brand's digital marketing

Top jobs in Digital and Social Media at agencies and Brands for 2018

in advertising , agency , brands , content marketing , digital marketing , facebook , marketing , media , social media , technology - on January 08, 2018 - 15 comments

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The number of job titles and descriptions at agencies that deliver digital marketing solutions is an ever increasing list. What are the roles involved and where do they fit in in the digital product cycle? Ever day in this connected age of marketing, we see new points of engagement come to the foreground, and naturally new positions are created, or current roles are customized to address the new areas of focus.

Here's a starting-point list of the most common job titles and roles at advertising, media, social media and specialized digital services agencies...

Brand

Channel Neutral Planners, Brand Managers, Strategic Planners (non digital specific)

Integration Director/Manager, Integrated Content Manager/Coordinator

Digital Strategy

Digital Strategists – define the role of the brand in digital specific channels

Audience & Insight: Insight specialist, data analysts, Analytics Managers,
Content Strategy Managers/Directors, Engagement Strategy Managers, Campaign & Eco-system Planners, Social Voice Strategy Managers, Behavior Analysts, Trends Analyst,
Performance Marketing Director/Manager/Specialist, Usability Engineer/Strategist

CRO Specialist (Conversion Rate Optimization), CRO Director, CRO Analyst, CRO Data Specialist

Data Planner, Affiliate Marketing Manager/Specialist,

Digital Creative

Creative Technologist

Digital Creative Director, Digital Art Director, Digital Production Artist, Graphic Designer, Digital Identity Development Art Director,

Video Director, Videographer, Video Editor, Video Producer

Digital Content Director, Content Creation Manager, Copywriter, Content Editor

SEO-relevant writer, SEO specialist

UI/UX Designers, UI/UX analyst

Digital Programmatic Creative Specialist/Manager/Director

Pre flight manager, Traffic Manager,

Project Manager

Social Media

Social Media Director, Social Media Manager, Social Media Account Handler/Associate

Social Media Strategists (Director/Manager), Social Media Planners, Social Calendar Developer

Community Manager

Social Media Data Analyst, Social Media Monitoring Manager/Director,

Social Media Distribution Manager, Social Content Publisher

Social Specific Content Manager, Social Content Art Director,

Paid Social Manager, Paid Social Planner

Customer Experience

Web & Mobile Experience Architect, Website Designer, Website Developer, Mobile Apps Strategist, Mobile App Designer, Customer Engagement Analyst, UI/UX specialist, CMS specialist,

Programmers, Specialist Programmers, Mobile Code specialists, Applications Designers, Loyalty Specialist Designers, CRM designers, Website Pre-flight Analyst, QA&QC Manager,

Experience Strategy Director, Digital Activation Manager/Director,

e-Commerce Director, e-Commerce Strategy Director, e-Commerce Designer, e-Commerce Creative Director/Art Director, e-Commerce Content Analyst, e-Commerce Code specialist, e-Commerce Product Analyst, e-Commerce Content Coordinator

eMail Marketing Specialist/Manager/ Creative Director, eMail Marketing Analyst

Innovation

Innovation Leads, Digital Product & Service Development Manager/Director, Innovation Lab Director, Innovation strategy Director, IOT Specialist, IOT interface designer, Wearables Strategist, Wearables interface designer

Media

Digital Media Director, Digital Media Strategy Director/Manager, Digital Media Engagement Director, Digital Media Data Analyst,

Digital Media Associates, Media Planners,

Digital Media Buying Manager/Director, Digital Media Buyer,

Digital Media Dashboard Manager, Programmatic Director/Manager, Digital Media Content Analyst, Digital Media Pre Flight Manager/Associate, Digital Media Distribution Manager,

Media Creative Director, Media Art Director, Media Engagement Manager/Director

Media Content Manager, Media Content Writer

RTB Director/Manager, RTB Specialist (Real Time Bidding)

Paid Social Planner, Paid Social Buyer

Search

SEO Analyst, SEO Specialist, SEO Consultant, SEO writer, SEO Coordinator, SEO tag specialist, SEO specialized Web Designer/Developer

SEM planner, SEM strategy director, SEM Buying specialist/Manager/Director, PPC Director, PPC Analyst, Keywords Analyst, Trends Analyst, Growth Specialist, SEO Editor, Bidding Director,

Demand Generation specialist,

Account Management/ Client Interface / Agency Management

CEO – Digital, Digital Managing Director, Digital Group Director, Digital Account Manager,

Client Services Director/Manager/Associate, Digital Services General Manager

Social Media Director/Manager/Associate, CRM Manager, Experience Director,

I haven't even mentioned niche job titles like "Snapchat Content Strategist" or "Digital Culture Analyst" – those jobs are either super niche and fall into the "invented here" bracket, or are just ways of luring brands through the front door.

If you're a brand looking for an agency and have really specific needs, you need to figure out if they are equipped to handle what you want, or are they just going to get someone within their staff to just try and "talk the walk". The roles above cover a wide spectrum – some are highly specialized roles needing unique skill sets – the others simply evolve from current roles and job descriptions. Either way, that's how agencies and brands today are defining and rising to the needs of digital marketing. And just knowing about these roles is basic knowledge – its Digital Marketing Strategies 101.

Please add your comment if I have missed a role or job title that you feel should be included in this list.

Here are some current openings across the region at the group of agencies where I work. A lot of these job openings are for digital roles.

Read this: How to get a job in Digital at an Agency

Here are some posts that address digital marketing needs and how they are best addressed by key people in the roles above:

Insights & Data/Analytics

• Intent is the new black in digital marketing. In-the-moment marketing is what's hot.

• Customer Insights is your First Step in Digital Marketing

• What do women want from brands online today

• Data made simple: What is first, second and third party data?

Customer Experience & Social

• 5 Simple Ways to get your Mobile Marketing Done Right

• The importance of listening in social media, and how to get it right

• 4 ways to build a cool Snapchat audience for brands

• 3 ways to improve your brand's online advertising

• Improve your social media engagement. Move from Selling to building Relationships

• 11 simple ways for brands to build better following on social media

and one transformative development that's redefining roles at agencies:

• Why media agencies are now doing creative: Programmatic and Data Driven Creative is a powerful combination

9 key Digital Marketing Trends for 2018 that you need to follow

in advertising , brands , content marketing , data , digital marketing , marketing , media , social media , technology - on January 07, 2018 - 22 comments

3m to read /

Just about a week into this new year, and we can see some clear trends emerging for digital marketing. Yes, 2018 will see quite a few new trends emerging, although some of them will really be reiterations of some trends we have seem emerge across the last couple of years. Here are some trends you need to follow and keep track of, to stay on top of your brand's digital marketing game.

1. Phygital marketing

This is my big one for 2018. Digital will no longer stand alone as a separate discipline. It really just cannot anymore. In order for 'digital' to work, it will need to be seamlessly integrated into real-life experiences – and this will really be this whole 'experiential' trend that everyone is talking about. In particular, at sporting events, at concerts, we are seeing the online and mobile experience leading into the actual physical – and, as well, blending the two, often with AR and VR playing a key role. This will become big.

2. AR (Augmented Reality) will be a lead in Social Media

Brands on social media will need to take a serious look at using AR. With our smartphones becoming increasingly powerful, social platforms will start to integrate AR technology, and this will enale brands to use AR and social in interesting new ways. Pokemon Go did this a couple of years back, and it's only now that we'll see wider scale adoption.

3. Data to drive most aspects of marketing

For brands, understanding their customers and their target audiences have never been as important as now. And, data – converted into intuitive marketing insights – will be at the core of this. Understanding the customer journey – across all aspects of the multi-channel marketing spectrum – will be key. And data science will become a key aspect of marketing. This will lead to better targeting, better and cleverer remarketing and, on to better loyalty.

4. Targeted ads with real power

The days of pray and spray marketing are done. This year, we will see a far more focused energy being driven into creating advertising that's resolution driven for the consumer and customer. Campaigns will be micro-targeted and hyper-personalized – speaking to individuals at their very moment of need – focusing on their need, their experience and with conversion in mind.

5. Again, video. Video marketing has arrived and here to rule.

I said this last year, as did Cisco and many leading pundits: video marketing is going to be very, very big. Video is the most popular and influential form of digital content for digital marketers today, and it holds the power to persuade better than any other content medium. With attention becoming an expensive commodity, what with multi-tasking, brands will need to re-focus energies on video content – to get better search ranking, better engagement and better content recall.

6. And, make that Live Video.

Every social platform now offers some form of live video – and most are trying to out-gun each other will various new features and ways of using live video. To really best utilize the power of live video, it will need to be high quality, delivering content that has value for the consumer, and be structured and organized – while still, of course with the reality of it being live. That's going to ba a challenge, but with advances in technology, and better pre-planning, I'm convinced good content creators will win this game.

7. Conversational experiences

Chatbots and their conversational use in marketing is becoming rather common. Watch out for more adoption of brand-customer or brand-audience conversations (see voice marketing, later) using platforms like Google Home, Amazon Alexam Microsoft Cortana and more. I'm beting that this aspect will become part and parcel of our lives – and speaking to a connected device in our moment of need (Google calls these micromoments) will be commonplace. As technology better grasps natural language processing, this will make it second nature for us.

8. Voice as marketing tool

With voice search increasingly taking over the the way we search, with our mobile phones now almost surgically attached to us, voice as a marketing tool should really come into its own this year. We are increasingly going to ask our phones, our cars, our smart fridges to do things for us, and brands have a huge opportunity to stand by, and become a handy resolution provider at that time of query or need. This will be a whole new kind of content marketing.

9. Humanize, personalize and win the game

I mentioned hyper targeting. But we really need to believe in, and adopt true personalization of our brand communications across all aspects of our marketing. From landing pages that are made-for-one – instantly, and on demand, to apps that are micro-developed in the instant using clever algorithms, to even digital OOH applications that speak to an individual, true personalization will change the game this year, and make brand communications genuine, interesting, engaging, and human.

That's just the top trends for 2018. And there are several other areas that will break out and become important to keep track of. Do share this, and comment below. Thanks. Have a wonderful and meaningful 2018.

Now read these relevant posts:

• A phygital world: Our digital and physical experiences are becoming seamless

• 5 Ways for your Brand to be Always Customer Focused

6 Winning Social Media Post and Content Ideas that help engage audiences

in brands , content marketing , digital marketing , facebook , instagram , social media , YouTube - on December 04, 2017 - 14 comments

3m to read /

Here are some ideas for social media posts that help your brand keep your audience engaged. You should not be posting content that's focused purely on your brand – that's boring. But even if you post on topics that are interesting, that somehow connect to your brand, you still need inspired content buckets to use to vary it up a bit. Here are a few content types that you can use to keep your audience interested and engaged:

Before you start, you really need to know your audience. Your customers, your targets are looking for content that helps them, content that is useful to them, in context of your brad or product. It is critical to realize that Customer Insights is your First Step in any Digital Marketing. Once you are armed with that insight, you can develop posts that serve to those areas of interest...

1. How-To

'How-to' posts have immediate value for your audience. They are practical, it helps them with their daily lives or solves a particular problem they may face. 'How-to' posts also makes your brand look an authority on the topic – and you become a go-to source for information and inspiration. You'll need to think about your audience and not just interaction with your brand. What do they really need to know, versus what you want to tell them? Think of them first, not your brand. Think value.

2. Tips

Tips are simple posts that could be quick lists or small nuggets of information for your audience. They should be readable quickly – one should be able to skim over them. Tips are tactical and different from How-To posts because they don't need to explain a whole process in detail. Tips are highly ever green and shareable, and have key word value as well.

3. Lists

List posts are for quick, immediate consumption. They can be shared easily, and people consume these "listicles" far more readily and easily than any other type of posts. They are optimized for web and mobile consumption and get shared more often. Good list posts are not long. The points can be one liners and can easily be converted to visuals. List posts can be built around your brand or product, but should ideally, go beyond that in providing value.

4. Tools

Tool posts are like Tips and How-To posts, but these don't necessarily have to be your brand related directly. You can curate these from around the web if you need to. Grab hold of useful sites, plugins, and downloads that make your life easier and share them with your readers. Keep the content useful and relevant to your topic and your brand.

5. Influencer content

You can get relevant and insightful content from influencers in your domain. Influencer content adds credibility to your brand and also builds relationships with the right influencers you use. They in turn can help build audiences and engage them for your brand or product. You can simply curate influencer content and serve it up for your audiences on relevant topics, or get the influencers to participate and contribute to your content.

10 Essential Steps to Influencer Marketing Success for your Brand

6. Thought leadership

These are point-of-view posts that establish your brand as a knowledgeable authority on topics that your audiences find relevant. The purpose of these posts is to demonstrate understanding and command of the topics you want to lead on. These may not have tactical impact on your audience, but have larger corporate impact as a brand. They make your company look great and reliable. They should be transparent and open, and have consumer/customer value as an end goal, and should not be about corporate drum beating.

6. Interactive and participatory

You can have your audience participate and contribute to your posts and your content overall. User generated content and opinion goes a long way in convincing your audiences about your brand or product. It's so much better that just one-way posting from you. Mix it up with polls, ask for UGC (User Generated Content), request them to share their opinion, create quizzes, and ask your audience to develop content with tips, experiences and hacks.

Keeping your content types varied and interesting is key to engagement. That's Digital Marketing Strategies 101.

Now read these related posts on content and social media:

8 Must Have Steps to Unleash the Power of Content Marketing for your Brand

Winning Content Strategy: Always share something valuable and useful

7 Useful Social Media Post Ideas for winning Content Marketing

Customer Insights is your First Step in Digital Marketing

Dump your social media content calendar and go with inspired content

5 Ways for your Brand to be Always Customer Focused

in agency , brands , content marketing , customers , marketing , media - on October 02, 2017 - 7 comments

3m to read /

In our increasingly connected world, it is imperative for brands to be seen as customer focused – always and continuously. It is a relentless pursuit of happiness – for your consumer, your customer, and not necessarily for your brand and your team. But focusing on the customer does have its payoffs. Here are five simple things you can do to keep your customers, in the loop, informed, interested and happy...

1. Build a sense of trust.

Whether or not, you offer some kind of customer service via your online channels, it is important that you build a sense of trust with your customer. Relationships are built on trust. It depends on the way you 'speak' to your customers on your social channels, your website, your chatbots – and particularly offline. Be clear in delivering a message that is consistent about what you do, what your brand or product promises, how you deliver on that, and what your customers (and your target audience) can expect from you.

Keep your customers informed about changes, updates, and problems (if any) with your products and services. Be consistent, and deliver a mix of information that is relevant to their everyday lives, as well as good news from your side – that is of benefit to them. When you resolve a problem that a customer had had – beyond their expectations – they usually become loyal customers and advocates for your brand and product. That's what trust does for you.

2. Listen to your customer. Be open to feedback and criticisms.

Digital marketing is built around the customer, the audience you want to talk to, and getting proper insights about your customer, the consumer, their needs is what should be your first and fundamental step. You need to listen to your customers all the time. With proper intent.

Customer feedback, criticisms, suggestions are hugely useful because they are direct input and insight from those who have used your product or service firsthand. This allows you to and fine-tune your products, iterations, fixes and new versions to the specific needs and preferences of your target audience. You can use surveys, open social media channels that allow for interactions, communities, user groups – even user generated videos such as unboxings and 'first impressions'.

3. Be reachable, be open, be honest.

In this digitally connected age, there's no excuse to say "Sorry, we're Closed'! Yes, you are in a 24/7 world that's Always On. The more easily accessible information you provide across multiple channels, the better you look. And that information has to be open and honest – faults, fails, wins, losses and all. You have to be open to multi channel contact and engagement – and that's not easy. Are you on WhatsApp? Via SMS? On Facebook? Is your twitter channel ready to receive feedback and are you ready to deliver on that?

4. Give them value. Create usefulness.

To win with your brand's content marketing strategy – give something away – for free! Not prizes, not coupons. Value. What you need to do each and every time is to share content with your audience that is useful and valuable for them. That's how you create an experience that your target audience will enjoy, benefit from, and look forward for more. And be consistent with your generosity!

Content is hugely valuable in our currency of marketing today. How do you create a winning content plan for your brand? There are so many ways to use content to better market your products and services, to better connect to your target audiences, and engage consumers. Whichever way, whichever types of content you plan to create and share, remember that end-user value is critical.

As far as the types of content you can or should create, see Content Marketing Strategy: What kind of content should you create.

5. Always, always deliver what you promise.

Yes, you create value, yes you are open and honest, but are you delivering what you promised? And then some? This is important. When you make a promise, keep them within the boundaries of what you can manage to deliver – and make sure they match your goals. Your deliveries, your actions do not have to be flawless each and every time, but make sure you fix things, repair any emotional damage to trust, and then go the extra mile.

Customer experience today is a tough game. And social media has made it a game where the rules are constantly changing. Play it right, and your brand will resonate with your audience. Please share this with your friends and colleagues today.

Now please read (and share) these related posts:

• 8 steps to building Awareness and Customer Loyalty with Social Media

• Customer Insights is your First Step in Digital Marketing

• Improve your social media engagement. Move from Selling to building Relationships

What jobs to target in Digital Marketing at Agencies and Brands

in advertising , agency , brands , content marketing , jobs , marketing , media , search , technology - on September 04, 2017 - 24 comments

4m to read /

The number of job titles and descriptions at agencies that deliver digital marketing solutions is an ever increasing list. What are the roles involved and where do they fit in in the digital product cycle? Every day, in this connected age of marketing, we see new points of engagement come to the foreground, and naturally new positions are created, or current roles are customized to address the new areas of focus.

Here's a starting-point list of the most common job titles and roles at advertising, media, social media and specialized digital services agencies...