NextJSjointviews, Author at NextJSjointviews

15 Strategies to Run a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign

Posted on February 15, 2018 by NextJSjointviews

Crowdfunding is an exciting alternative for start-ups to raise finance. The method allows founders to raise capital from general public who believe in their idea and support their cause.

Crowdfunding is growing as an idea every year. In 2015, $34.4 billion was raised through crowdfunding. Start-ups on Kickstarter, an online platform for crowdfunding has received donations $3 million in funding so far.

Not all crowdfunding campaigns are successful though and getting people to pledge money requires a lot planning. In fact, only one in three crowdfunding campaigns reach their goals.
Here are 15 Strategies to make sure your crowdfunding campaign is successful.

#1: Involve your Investors

Crowdfunding appeals to the regular audience because it gives them a chance to participate in innovation and business creation. Give your investors a say in your business by involving them in market research, product design and marketing.

You will not only receive valuable feedback but will also multiply your word of mouth by involving many other people.

For example, NikeID by Nike provides a platform for customers to design their own shoes. These practices can be extended to crowdfunding easily as public involvement is at the centre of this concept.

#2: Support a Cause

Pledging your capital and efforts for a social cause will convince more people to support you. Don’t worry if your business is not a social service.

You can show sustainability and care for community in many parts of your business.

Mexiuan is an e-commerce platform raising funds on Kickstarter. They support socially committed Mexican brands that employ underprivileged Mexican artisans and children with disabilities.

Supporting a social cause makes success of your crowdfunding campaign more likely.

#3: Make it a Personal Story

People take decisions emotionally rather than logically. They make decision based on the emotional ‘why’ and justify it later with the logical facts of the matter.

This is the reason why crowdfunding for college bills and funeral expenses also sees tremendous success.

Sharing your story is essential as it answers the ‘why’ in your business. Always make sure you talk to audience in the video and share your journey as an entrepreneur.

Apply the techniques of good storytelling to make your case more compelling.

#4: Benefit Investors

Though the main objective of your campaign is to raise money, remember that crowdfunding campaign must be designed to benefit your investors too.

A deep understanding of your investors is necessary for this. What are the investor’s needs and pain points? How can you solve it? Your customers and potential investors are often the same for a crowdfunding campaign.

Benefits offered could be limited edition of product, discounts and offers, exclusive content or equity in company. A benefit doesn’t have to be monetary all the time.

Recognition for a cause, a thank you note or satisfaction of helping is also benefits that entrepreneurs are using successfully.

Make sure that the benefit fits into your story and is compelling enough for people to take action.

#5: Visual Presentation

Make your campaign as visual as possible. Include videos, pictures, testimonial and screenshots wherever possible. Your campaign page must give your viewers a peek into your business.

Good explainer videos have been shown to increase conversion rates by upto 30%.

Make a video that reflects the ethos of your company. Here is a funny video from Sensibo for their crowdfunding campaign.

Remember the video doesn’t have to be fancy. Many entrepreneurs have raised good amounts based on a sincere message on a clear video shot at their desk.

#6: Set realistic Goals

Here is an important tip on crowdfunding campaigns. People support campaigns that are closer to achieving their goals.

Most of the platforms show the percentage funded relative to the goal you set.

Setting up huge targets for your campaign can be a mistake sometimes. People are less likely to fund you if page says $10 pledged or 4% funded.

Set up small targets that are achievable and repeat another campaign if required. Running small and successful campaigns will also build your reputation as a regular fundraiser on the platform.

#7: Launch with a Bang

This is where most of the entrepreneurs go wrong. They think that money will just start rolling in once they have uploaded a great video.

It’s important to understand that crowdfunding campaigns need traction to get going. People want to put their money in a campaign that is likely to succeed.

Therefore it is important to launch your campaign on the right note. According to Indiegogo, 42% of funds are raised in the first and the last 3 days of campaign.

Raising funds must start before the campaign is launched. Ask your offline investors to invest via the crowdfunding platform as soon as the campaign is live.

Your campaign should ideally reach 30% of its goal within a week. This will give it more visibility and accelerate conversion.

#8: Use all Digital Marketing Channels

There are hundreds of crowdfunding campaigns launched every week. How do you make sure that yours is noticed?
Outreach or marketing of your campaign is required to get traffic to your campaign page.

Spread the word on your campaign on social media. Plan PR in popular publications, blogs and websites in your industry. Email marketing is another channel that will give you lots of traffic.

Build a targeted email list of at least 5000 email address to support your crowdfunding campaign.

You have to promote your campaign just like you promote your website to get traffic.

#9: Influencer Marketing

Support from right influencers can get you highly targeted audience that is ready to invest. Start a blogger outreach campaign a few weeks before your campaign.

Narrow down on 15-20 bloggers in your industry and request for guest posts, campaign mentions and backlinks to your page.

#10: Build a Community of Investors

Crowdfunding does much more that raise capital for your idea. It also builds a community of enthusiastic supporters for your business.

Putting your investors in touch with each other will build a stronger support system for you.

This also gives your investors a platform to communicate their shared value and support for a cause. This can be done on Facebook closed groups or forums on websites.

This active community will create excitement around your campaign and make it more attractive for their friends to join. It can also be a source of feedback from early adopters of your product.

#11: Update your Investors

It’s important to keep your investor community updated and engaged. Your investors have risked their money to invest in a start up that has no previous record.

Investors for iBackPack that raised $720,000 were left hanging when all communications from iBackPack were stopped with no delivery date promised

Regular communication builds investor’s confidence and assures them of good investment. This also helps in spreading goodwill and word of mouth in the community. Investors can easily pull in their friends to a campaign that is running profitably.

#12: Use the Right Platform

There are many options available to launch crowdfunding campaigns. Some of the famous ones are Kickstarter, Indiegogo, GoFundMe, Patreon and Tilt.

Each platform has its advantages depending on your business and project.

For example, Patreon is mostly used by content developers of videos and podcast who require recurring investment every month.

Fundly.com is the largest site for raising funds for non-profit social cause.

#13: Create Excitement

Some campaigns gain a lot of attention because of the innovative product that they are marketing. Think of how Apple builds excitement for its product launch.

They keep a mystery element until their launch and have their customers waiting in excitement by the time the product is shipped.

Your product may not be inherently as exciting and will require even more marketing in that case.

Most successful campaigns plan their marketing strategy 8 to 12 months in advance.

Use storytelling and influencer marketing to build up excitement until your launch day.

#14: Leverage Offline channels too

Many entrepreneurs make the mistake of thinking that crowdfunding will raise 100% of funds from strangers online.

The truth is that you need the support of all your friends, family and contacts to get your campaign going.

Do not underestimate the role of offline channels such as networking events, pitching to investors, support from friends and mentors.

Besides, having reputed investors and PE firms already invested in you greatly increases your credibility on crowdfunding platforms.

#15: Do the Math

Last but not least, research on all facts on crowdfunding before you jump in. What are the average contributions that you can expect? Which platforms convert the most for your kind of projects?

You must calculate the estimated collection, budget and ROI for crowdfunding just like you would do for any other business activity.

Also remember to factor in video making costs, prototype development, marketing expenses while budgeting for your campaign.

Here are some numbers to help you plan your campaign in advance:

1.The average conversion rates is 3%. That means 3 out of 100 people who visit your page will back your campaign (Forbes)

2.Having a video increases your contribution by 20-30%

3.30 Day campaigns are the most successful (Indiegogo)

4.Campaigns that work in teams raise 3 times as much funds as solo campaigners (Indiegogo)

Bringing it all together

At its core crowdfunding is all about cutting out the traditional financing institutions and setting up a democracy for funding ideas.

It is a great way to raise funds, build supporters and get a customer base that believes in you.

Do your research, start planning a detailed strategy early and launch with a bang to maximize your success.

Do not forget to do online as well as offline methods of promoting your campaign to build excitement.

How to Host Webinars to Increase Conversions

Posted on February 12, 2018 by NextJSjointviews

Deciding on the format of content is one of the key aspects of content marketing. There are many formats that your content can take.

This includes blog posts, podcasts, video, e-book, webinars, etc. How do you know which one is best suited for you?

Well the best format depends on your target audience and the stage of buyer’s journey they are in. Webinar is known to give great results in converting leads to customers.

According to Content Marketing Institute, over 60% of marketers are using webinars as a part of their content marketing programs. In this blog we will talk about webinars and how you can use them to convert more customers

What is a Webinar?

Webinar is just like a seminar event except that it is conducted online. It is a presentation that is done live for the people who sign up for it.

Presenter and attendees are also able to communicate through live chat.

What makes a webinar unique is:

It gives a personal touch
It gives you more focused attention as it is live
It gives you more time. A typical webinar is between 45 mins to 2 hours
t gives you a chance to resolve objections in real time
It builds relation through a two way communication
You can reach anyone across the globeYou can see that a webinar keeps your audience more involved than a blog or video post. It is the closest to meeting to your leads face to face.

What are the conversion rates for Webinars?

For this reason webinars also have a high conversion rate. Whereas email marketing has a conversion rate of 3-5%, most webinars convert between 10- 20% of attendees down the line..

Companies like Adobe, Buzzsumo and KISSmetrics have confirmed above 20% conversion rates through webinars.

How to Use Webinars in Your Marketing Funnel?

Webinars can be used at two stages in a digital marketing funnel. Firstly, they can be used to connect with your visitors.

Webinars can even be used as lead magnets to convert visitors into leads.

Secondly, they are especially effective in the conversion stage, the last stage of marketing funnel.

Someone attending your webinar has set aside an hour for you, which means that they trust you to deliver value.

Most of the webinar attendees are hence qualified leads that are ready to buy.

How do I host a Webinar?

Hosting a webinar is not difficult. There are many webinar software that are user friendly and intuitive.
Here are the steps to follow to host a webinar:

1. Decide on the Topic and Presenter- Pick a burning question that your readers have or a pain point they face in their lives. A headline that speaks out to the visitor is half the job done.

2. Make your presentation – Make you presentation ready. A BIG mistake for any marketer would be treat your webinar as a sales pitch. A webinar is first and foremost a valuable training session for your attendees.

Remember they signed up to learn what you promised in the title, not to buy your products and service. Make sure you are giving tons of value in return of one hour that they have allotted to you.

3. Choose webinar software – There are many options to host your webinar like Webinars on Air by Google, Go to Webinar, Cisco WebX, Mega Meeting etc.

Go to Webinar is the most popular one with impressive features and reasonable pricing. It has a free 7 day trial and a monthly fee of $79 after that.

The software is easy to use with intuitive design. They allow you to share your screen with attendees, set up email notifications and reminders, take polls and surveys, chat with attendees and view webinar dashboard.

Practice a mock presentation a few times for successful live webinar.

4. Promote Webinar- Start promoting your webinar on social media, web-site pop-ups, email lists and any other channels you may have to reach your audience.

Make sure your topic matches your audience’s requirement. For example, a high school student is more likely to sign up than an undergrad for a webinar on ‘How to prepare for SAT Entrance’.

5. Host Webinar and Follow up- Use the tips shared below to host your webinar. Most of the attendees don’t sign up immediately but do end up buying up from you eventually.

Add the attendees to your email marketing list and follow up with your offer within 48 hours. Nurture these leads over time by sending webinar recording and other valuable content.

Tips to Host a Successful Webinar

Be well rehearsed

If you are a B2B company share your company story along with your personal story too.

Learn all the functions of webinar software and make sure you know how to get over technical setbacks even if they occur. Being well rehearsed will also make you sound confident.

Arrive before time

Arrive at least half an hour before the scheduled time. This will give you time to check if everything is working.

It is also a good opportunity to strike up a conversation with people have arrived early and are eager to start. Ask them about their expectation from the webinar.

Keep it interactive

The beauty of a webinar is that you can get direct live feedback from your attendees. Keep your webinar interactive by asking questions and also receiving questions.

Keep moderators on your team who will answer questions in chats and keep everyone engaged. Take names of people who are responding, mention geographies from where people are logged in. All this will make attendees feel connected and part of a live event.

Bring your personality

An event is way to know each other personally. So share your story and connect with your audience.

Tell them how you landed up here and highlight the similarities between you and your audience.

If you are a B2B company share your company story along with your personal story too.

Keep it Light

One hour is a long time to ask for focused attention from your audience. If your presentation is long and boring they will either exit or drift off.

So keep your webinar light and entertaining. Use a lot of stories, short videos, jokes and real life examples.

There will be parts where you will be giving heavy information, but make sure you prepare your audience and spread out the heavy material throughout the presentation.

The rule of thumb is to keep no more than three slides of heavy concepts.

Final Notes

Hosting your first webinar may seem like a difficult job. However, it is easy once you get used to it. With a conversion rate of 20% you are sure to do more of them once you get started.

What Content Marketers can do differently in 2018

Posted on February 9, 2018 by NextJSjointviews

Content marketing has emerged as the top marketing activity today. Every business is bullish on content marketing and is investing even more into it this year.

Here is the result of survey conducted by Smart Insights asking 850 marketers to pick the most important marketing activity.

Image Credits

As you can see all marketers are aggressive on content marketing. This has increased the competition marketers face despite great content.

In this blog we will discuss what you can do differently this year to stand out and pull more traffic through your content.

• Long form in-depth Content

There was a time when a decent quality 650 word blog post had a chance to rank on page one on Google. This is not the case now. Ranking high on Google requires quality backlinks, domain authority, time and so much more.

When it comes to blogs, think of long form anchor posts of 1500 to 2500 words. These should be like a helpful guide covering A to Z of your industry or topic.

Anchor posts are blog posts that are the pillar of your site and pull in tons of traffic consistently. Do not expect to get traffic within a month.

It is typical to see your traffic rising after 6 months of posting. Do everything to make your content really helpful for your audience. Use infographics and videos to explain concepts.

Any content which does not make your reader say ‘ Wow! That was helpful’ has little chance to rank in top three searches. This is how you can differentiate your content and rank higher on Google in 2018

• Go niche

Differentiating your content in an already overcrowded web can be challenging. In any industry there will be in- depth blog posts that have been on the web for five years or more.

How can you possibly compete with those pieces? The answer lies in narrowing the focus of your content.

Write about nutrition for dancers instead of writing on general nutrition. Focus on long tail-keywords that will have less competition.

For example, instead of writing on ‘ladies shoes’, focus on ‘office shoes for working moms’. This way you will not only rank higher on search engines but will also attract highly targeted visitors that are easier to convert.

• Semantic Search

Google no more relies on just keywords to rank results. It uses something known as semantic search.
Semantic search takes into account the intent of the searcher.

This means weighing in the context, location, searcher history, language style and device.

That means Google now understands that a user typing in ‘green dress online’ is more likely to purchase the dress online than if she had typed ‘green dresses’.

For marketers this means that they have to be more aware of the context of searchers and conditions under which they are searching. Content should now match situations instead of just keywords.

• Target Google Featured Snippets

There is something better than position one on Google search. It’s position 0 .
You may have noticed that Google also gives the answer to your queries in a highlighted search box above all search results.

This gives the searchers the answers at a glance without having to go to another page.

Ranking in featured snippets increases your traffic and decreases bounce rates. The great news is that you don’t even have to rank number one on Google to be able to feature in rich snippet.

To increase your chances to be featured in a rich snippet make sure your content:

Has a structured format with sub-headings
Keep your answers to the point, short and snappy
Mark up your article with structured data
Answer popular questions asked

• Explore other formats of Content

Audio podcasts have made a big comeback last year. There are more than 42 million people who listen to podcasts weekly in the US alone.

‘How to’ searches on YouTube have gone up by 70% in 2017. YouTube is also the second most popular search engine after Google.

The trend is clear. Users prefer video and audio form of content and marketers must produce this if they want to reach their audience.

Bringing it all together

Content marketing is here to stay as the most profitable channel to get leads. However, digital marketing landscape is changing continuously and marketers must concentrate on long-form quality content and niche topics to stay at the top.

Understanding Google’s semantic search and featured snippets will help to reach more audience. Lastly, experimenting with fresher format of content such as podcasts and videos will differentiate you from the other content.

Above all, it is important to keep experimenting in digital marketing. New trends emerge quickly and demand agility from content marketers.

15 Social Media Trends You Should Focus in 2018

Posted on February 7, 2018 by NextJSjointviews

Long gone was the time when social media is used only to share your pictures of vacation or honeymoon.

Even though, that trend still remains, nowadays, social media is used by many brands to promote their items.

Brands have chosen social media as a channel to promote and endorse their products because people 24*7 check on portable devices such as mobile to browse and more time is spent on social media.

If people have any frustrations or dissatisfaction with any of the brands, they express their emotions on social media.

Mostly people search on social media to get ideas about new brands.

More brands are using social media to build relationships with their customers which will help them to create loyalty towards their brands.

Let’s take a look at the social media trends you should focus in 2018.

1. Ephemeral Content

The phenomenon of Ephemeral content is introduced by Snapchat. Wondering about what exactly is that?

The content which user has created vanishes after 24 hours and followers only have that limited time period to view that content.

Snapchat pioneered this phenomenon but Instagram copied that idea and introduced it as Instagram Stories.

Each month more than 200 million people are using Instagram Stories; which is more than 50 million of Snapchat users.

If it’s continuing by this rate, by the end of 2018, more than half of Instagram users will be using Stories.

Since launching the Instagram Stories, the average time per day spent by users on Instagram has increased to 28 minutes.

This is definitely 7-13 minutes more time spent before introducing Stories.

Each month, stories feature is actively used by more than 1 million advertisers.

The advantage of using stories for brands is that any Instagram user can see your brand stories even if they are not following you.

2. Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is one of the best ways for the companies to get connected with next generation audiences.

World famous companies such as Rolex, The North Face, and HubSpot have made huge profits by making use of influencer marketing .

On the other hand, companies who have used traditional marketing strategies struggled to get connected to social media users.

This clearly indicates that 2018 is definitely a year for influencer marketing to bloom.

3. Understand Learning Styles

When you are trying to build and enhance personalized experience and categories for your targeted customers, you need to take an extra care in understanding learning styles.

Learning styles indicates the pattern how each people learn and process information is different.

The way you handle different learning styles on social media must be different.

Social Media Learning Styles from Nan Ross

4. Generation Z or Gen Z

This is one important area to focus more in 2018. Generation Z or Gen Z is more valuable to brand owners because this group is influenced more by the social media than they are by other sales and discounts.

Gen Z is also known as Post-Millennials, iGeneration, or Homeland Generation which includes freshly passouts from colleges who will enter corporate life or have already entered.

As they enter into workforce, their buying capacity also increases.

More than 80% of Gen Z says that they spend at least one hour in watching videos. This in turn will make more influencers move towards the brands.

Influencer marketing is an instant hit among Gen Z as they deliver 11 times Return On Investment (ROI) over other usual digital media channels.

5. Live Streaming

Live streaming was one of 2017’s top marketing trends and it will continue the same in 2018 as well.

Videos are always preferred over photos. In comparison with photos, Facebook videos get more than 135% of views.

Brands stream live videos on social media platforms which helps them dramatically to increase user engagement and followers.

Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other platforms offer in-app live video streaming which help them in creating more user engagement.

6. Chatbots

Chatbots is a software application which is used to interact with customers; usually it adopts texual conversations with users.

Already, Facebook messenger have more than 100,000 active bots on a monthly basis. These chatbots have helped in increasing prodictivity of the organization up to 3.5 times.

More than 60% of Millenials says that they have already used chatbots in their business and other 71% wants to try hands in experiencing chatbots used by brands.

Don’t mistake chatbots to be robots. Using machine learning technology, chatbots are programmed to speak like human agents.

Brands are able to customize their bots in such a way they perfectly reflects personality of the brands and also send personalized messages to its users.

7. Messaging Platforms

More than 2.5 billion people use various messaging platforms such as Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp and, Kik to communicate with companies.

Instead of simply posting marketing content into profiles and feeds, companies should take an extra care to make it simple for customers to start one-to-one conversations.

It is more suitable to integrate chatbots and voice assistants into messaging platforms to create a unique and personalized experience for users.

Engaging more number of users through these platforms will contribute a huge difference in taking your business into new levels of success.

8. Social Listening

Social listening is the science of tracking conversations of the users which involves certain phrases, brands or words.

Then you can make use of these phrases/words together in finding new opportunities to create content suitable for your users.

Social listening tools help brands in synthesizing their customer’s digital footprint.

Using social listening, brands are able to track brand health in social media, develop marketing campaigns suitable for customers and therefore able to provide excellent brand experiences.

9. AI Marketing

Wondered when you search for something in internet and has seen related ads on pages you visit?

It’s because social media marketing has collaborated with Artificial Intelligence (AI) that enables corresponding ads to appear.

More than 50% of marketers already make use of AI in their businesses.

With the advancements in technology, the growth of AI is expected to reach around 53% in coming years.

10. Sentimental Analytics

In 2018, social media marketers will be concentrating more in analyzing emotions and feelings of customers towards brands rather than looking just into Likes, Views, Shares and Clicks which are great.

Social media marketers will be analyzing the following questions:

What is the customer sentiment towards the brand?
How social media can change that sentiment?
What’s the strength of our Brand Health Index?
Does our brand have high Net Promoter Score?
Do people think about our brand frequently?

The answers to these questions do matter as these answers can help you in analyzing what people feel about your brand and how you can improve the image of your brand.

11. Augmented Reality / Virtual Reality

Most brands are not aware of the marketing possibilities Augmented Reality(AR) / Virtual Reality (VR) possess and still thinking it’s expensive and take years to adapt to it.

AR/VR are able to drastically enhance content marketing, media relations and customer service.

AR/VR is expected to give whole new dimensions to SEO, social media, public relations and enhance better experiences to audiences.

12. Visual Content

Visual content gives brands a major opportunity to grow in 2018. As tons of contents are cluttering the social media, people don’t pay attention to these contents as they scroll very fast through the social media pages.

This trend can be avoided by videos (pre-recorded or live stream) as they stand out in between the junk contents.

So, visual contents are going to be a stand out trend in 2018.

13. Support Key Influencers

Another important social media trend to focus in 2018 is to support key influencers related to your industry.

It is important because by providing data, ideas, products and support to people who can easily connect large groups of followers to your business brand is a major trend to be focused.

Definitely a key influencer can outreach your marketing strategies by their influence in the followers.

They can do so much for your products, services and brand but you have to make sure that they also receive equal value for the relationship they have with your brand.

14. Video Ads

Video was one of the hit trends for 2017 and it still continues to be same in 2018 as the need for videos are only increasing.

43% of users prefer to see more video content from marketers.

Social media ads is the area where brands can capitalize more on social media in 2018.

As social media ads are already trending and expected to continue the same throughout the year.

It’s clear that video ads can influence people greater, because 95% of the message conveyed through the video stays in minds of people compared to 10% while reading content texts.

15. LinkedIn

Last but not least, LinkedIn. You will be thinking why LinkedIn not any other platforms?

It is because LinkedIn is a mix of culture, business, life insights and lot more. LinkedIn doesn’t have any limiting algorithms like other platforms to bind its activity.

Content can be published by anyone and also can be seen by anyone; this makes the platform as an open source for its users.

While other platforms need someone to follow to even see their published content.

As it is an open source, there is more chance for achieving success. This makes LinkedIn one of the hottest social media trends in 2018.

Why You Should Care About Social Media Trends?

Social media trends are definitely the ice breakers in gaining large number of customers.

To achieve success in your business, not only you should take care of social media trends but also in keeping up trust and transparency for your customers.

As you now know the top social media trends to be focused in 2018, we hope that this will definitely help you in achieving heights of success.

Please let us know if you have any questions or queries.

How Will Wearable Technology Change the Ways of Marketing

Posted on February 5, 2018 by NextJSjointviews

Wearable technology has arrived in mainstream gadgets such as smart watches and fitness wrist bands during the past years.

According to Tractica, total shipments of all wearble device is set to cross 560 million pieces with an estimated device revenue of $95 billion by 2021.

From eye-wear that gives additional information on the world around you to smart-wear t shirts that track your athletic performance, technology is going to fused with daily objects.

Levi’s has already partnered with Google for Project Jacquard (smart jacket).

The denim jacket has a smart tag on the sleeve cuff that allows cyclists to control their paired smartphone.

For marketers this is an opportunity just like mobile device was in early 2000s.

Wearable technology has the potential to change how marketers gather data, reach out to users, advertise and convert customers.

Here are the aspects of marketing that wearable technology will change:

Content Marketing Strategy

Content marketing strategy will have to adapt to wearable devices. Smaller screens on smart watches and eye-wear mean that information has to be less than 140 characters.

Marketers cannot rely on blogs and videos to pull in users. This will put pressure on marketers to come up with snippets of information that are relevant to readers.

This is not necessarily bad news though. Wearables will also give marketers lots of real time information (as we will see in next point) that will allow them to come up with extremely targeted messages.

Content may also be delivered in voice as most wearables lack screens.

Integrating wearables in your content marketing plan requires changing your content length, format and delivery.

Data on Users

Until now we have only been collecting data on user demographics and online behaviour. Wearables will give offline data on users that was previously impossible.

Data on physiological changes, daily routines and decision making process can be ground-breaking revelations for your brand.

Imagine knowing the eye pupil dilation of a consumer as she walks across shelves in departmental stores.

This will give an indication of level on interests in products and her reaction to new product.

This data is possible with wearables that monitor user bodily functions 24×7.

Such detailed data will allow marketers to define their audience, build better products and give more personalized content.

Buyer’s Journey

How we purchase products today is very different from the way we purchased ten years ago.

Today, a typical consumer goes through search information, multiple websites, mobile apps and sometimes in-store visits before deciding to buy.

In fact, Google’s ZMOT research suggests that an average consumer has more than 10 brand touch-points on his customer journey.

Wearables will also alter this buyer’s journey by adding to it or maybe even making it shorter.

Timely push notifications by a brand may speed up the process by giving enough touch-points in a shot span of time.

More importantly, brand interactions will become part of the usual day where brands don’t have to sit around waiting for users to log in online for interaction.

An example could be a blood sugar level alert after every meal by a healthcare brand.

Wearables App Development

Most wearables do not have screens fit for traditional website and mobile applications.

For this marketers will have to invest in wearable optimized application. The content of the application must be customized to buyer’s stage with clear call to action to move the customer further along the funnel.

Wearable apps could be used to send push notifications that compel users to check brand apps or website.

The marketing funnel itself may not change much but the steps and call to action will change according to the device.

Whether users will actually make purchase on smart watches remains to be tested.

However, going by the number of people using mobile apps for sensitive tasks such as banking, it is possible that people will embrace any channel that is convenient and safe.

Paid Ad Strategy

Marketers will also have to rethink their digital paid advertisement strategy. Consider the following advancements in technology:

No screen for wearable will mean more emphasis on voice search
Internet of Things (IoT) means all your gadgets are interconnected
Emergence of Artificial intelligence means ad platforms are continuously learning about you

All these changes mean that users will no longer be targeted by keywords but by real- life situations they are in.

For example, your smartwatch would know through connection with smart coffee machine that your coffee beans are over.

In turn your ad could be ‘read out’ by the virtual assistant (like Siri) as a suggestion to order coffee beans.

This could be wearable’s own ad platform or an extension of current platforms like Google Adwords to wearable.

Let’s Wrap it Up

Wearable technology is still in its early phase but will be common by 2021.

The interplay of wearables, AI, machine learning, voice search and internet of things is going to bring about a massive change in how businesses market their products.

Marketers must use this to serve relevant information. Pushing intrusive content on a personal wearable can ring data privacy alarms for consumers.

How Blockchain Technology Could Change Marketing in Future

Posted on February 2, 2018 by NextJSjointviews

Blockchain is the technology underlying crypto-currencies like Bitcoin.

However, it has the potential to change every industry and every function of a business. The technology which is still in its early stage is all set to change the way we work, transact and sell.

Here is a simplified explanation of blockchain:

“Blockchain is a ledger or record keeping technology that records all the transactions in a global distributed network.”

You may be wondering why a decentralized book-keeping is such a big deal and what exactly the use of such a technology is.

To understand this lets take an example of the banking industry.

When you transfer $100 to your friend you simply give your money to her.

Have you thought why you need a bank at all in between?

The bank’s job is to record the transaction and validate it.

The bank verifies that you have $100 less in your account and your friend has $100 more in her account.

Now, imagine a technology that records this transfer of money in a distributed network so that anyone can see how the money has moved.

There is no requirement of a bank in this case. Blockchain is a technology that can record the movement of assets and value online.

It restores trust in the system without the need of an intermediary to do so.

It is a radical way of doing transactions that is going to change our systems, institutions and business models.

Here is a video by World Economic Forum for more clarity.

From financial institutions to healthcare industry, blockchain technology is set to disrupt all sectors.

Marketing is another area where the technology will bring about change.

Marketers will have to rethink their marketing strategy in a blockchain enabled world, just like they had to embrace digital marketing with the introduction of the internet.

Here are some changes in marketing we can foresee with the blockchain technology:

1. Verification of Ad Delivery

Many startups are working in digital advertising space to change how digital ads work.

Blockchain can embed a tracker in ad creative and trace its journey across web to give you data on its impression, audience and action.

This means less dependency on ad platforms such as Google Adwords and Facebook Ads.

2. Paid Ad Platforms could be Eliminated

To take the above idea further it is even possible that ad platforms such as Adwords and Facebook Ads are eliminated in the future.

This is because theses platforms are currently owning the customer data and selling it to businesses for advertising.

In a blockchain economy, internet users could keep their search data private and sell it directly to businesses.

This eliminates ad platforms and allows buyers and advertisers to contact each other directly.

3. Proof of Claims on Products

Marketers usually use claims like ‘100% organic’ or ‘500 customers served successfully’.

However, how do the customers trust these claims? They usually have to fall back on the brand authority or a friend’s recommendation.

Blockchain will allow claims to be verified in real time by the customer.

Imagine a QR code on fruits that can be scanned to see the whole supply chain, right from where it is sourced, its chemical processing to its distribution channel.

All claims made by marketers could be verified by shared document that cannot be modified or tampered with.

Wal-Mart is already using this to verify supply chain for pork inventory using IBM Blockchain platform.

4. Loyalty Points could be Traded

It would be possible to trade loyalty points by customers using blockchain technology.

Consumers typically have reward points from various companies in travel, retail and finance.

Keeping a track of all loyalty points and their terms and conditions becomes difficult in such a case and most of the benefits are not used.

A blockchain based loyalty platform will allow for traceable exchange of points among customers.

This will mean that marketers will have to get innovative with their loyalty programs and benefits given.

A valuable loyalty point will attract more buyers to the brand.

IBM is already working on a blockchain infrastructure for loyalty and reward program in partnership with a startup called Loyyal.

5. Smart Contracts with Influencers and Consumers

Contracts are a complex maze of legal words and conditions. Most of the parties don’t even read it and enforcing such contracts becomes a difficult task for everyone involved.

This could change with the introduction of smart contracts.

Smart contracts are self executing and maintain a traceable record of all actions and asset transactions in blockchain.

To understand take an example of a smart contract with a social media influencer that your brand has tied up with.

Smart contract can state that payment will be done to the influencer when the post containing your brand name will reach 1000 views.

The payment is done automatically form your account once 1000 views are reached and none of the party has to worry about execution of contract.

Smart contracts would also be used for brand and consumer transactions.

It’s because, smart contacts are self-regulating and verifiable across all the networks.

Smart contracts will restore trusts among everyone doing business.

Bringing it all together

These are some of the disruptive changes we can foresee in marketing.

Blockchain start ups and big tech companies have already started working on them.

However, we never know how the blockchain economy is going to shape up.

It is still too early to see the full scale of change that blockchain technology is going to bring, just like it was difficult to predict how the internet would revolutionize the world back in 1990.

10 Best Online Advertising Strategies for Marketers

Posted on January 30, 2018 by NextJSjointviews

About 10 million people visit the Great Wall of China every year.

Don’t you desire a traffic figure for your website that sounds as appealing as this?

No worries, we got this! All you need to do is tweak your marketing algorithm and follow the right strategy.

It can be overwhelming to choose from the myriad of schemes available, especially for beginners.

Moreover small businesses and startups need to be practical about advertising campaigns and spend wisely. What they need is a cost effective and functional campaigning strategy at the same time.

Let’s have a look at 10 most effective online advertising strategies that gave the most successful marketers a head start.

1. Target your audience

This strategy is the foundation to fabricate an effective brand image. If you do not target a specific audience for your product, you are utilizing resources in vain.

Many businesses miss on this important aspect of campaigning.

Based on your existing customer profile you can target audience with similar psychographics and convert more leads to prospects and then to customers.

Be it online or offline, make sure the presentation and visuals of your brand intrigue your customers.

2. Personal Branding

As digital marketers, do we even have to think twice before saying Neil Patel and how he channelized his popularity to build a multi-million dollar empire?

That is how amazingly this technique works. Branding yourself helps you leverage your personality to gain trust and credibility.

The way you present yourself determines if or not people will want to buy from you. As it’s easy to predict your viewpoints once they see you and listen to you.

Boring as it might seem in fiction, predictability is all what people want in real life.

3. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

The technical structure of your site determines the search position ranking of your website.

This structure is fabricated by SEO to bring your website under the lens of the search engine.

It is a form of paid online advertising which is achieved through optimization of the content on the website. It helps generate more targeted traffic.

4. Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Ads

Pay per click ads is the inorganic mode, used to drive traffic to a website. As an advertiser you pay the publisher when the ad is clicked by a user. PPC basically means the amount spent to get a click on the ad.

The advertiser bids on the keywords specific to the target audience. Bidding implies the amount he is willing to pay the advertising service for a click.

5. Native Ads

These kind of paid ads are embedded onto the website in a way that they blend in with its visuals and functioning. Hence, the name native ads.

If you sponsor your content on a website, you must keep up with the consistency of the native user experience.

According to figures reported by sharethrough, consumers looked at native ads 2% more than editorial content and spent the same number of seconds viewing.

They provide a decent experience as they do not interrupt website usability. Strategists may find it more appealing than video ads.

Furthermore, native ads can bag you more prospects owing to the use of click bait headlines.

6. Social Media Marketing

Social media is the heart of the marketing system. You have the scope of pumping your content through various channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram depending on the brand personality and the target audience.

This method might not get you quick results but has the maximum potential for a long sustaining brand image. Not to mention, your content is your trump card here. It is important that you give your audience a delightful experience.

This method helps gain visibility and drives brand equity. Given the reach of social media, you can build inbound traffic using your syndicates.

7. Email Marketing

For this one to work, you need a strong follower’s base.

Mind you! Email marketing can be tedious but has potential for ROI.

Keep content easy on the eyes and brand at the top of the mind.

Poor content quality will not leave you without your targets marking you as spam.

Target your purchase lead list or those in the current customer database.

Email marketing increases trustworthiness and enhances the chance of repeat business. It psychologically moulds the customer to believe that you value the relationship with them causing them to stay loyal and be your verbal advocates.

8. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is a kind of outsourcing program which emerged as a result of market complexity.

This is a performance based strategy whose success lies in the efforts of the affiliate. The affiliate gets the website visitors and buyers in return for a reward.

The merchant, network, publisher and the customer make up the core of the affiliate system.

9. Big Data

You may run as many ads online but if they are not seen by the right people, it is not a bang for the buck.

You might have come across ads for products you just viewed on an e-commerce website popping up on a different website you visit. Ever wondered why?

This is the result of up-front research of marketers and their inorganic marketing strategy put together.

They make sure their ads are viewed by the target audience with the aid of big data.

Big data is only a high-standard way of addressing a database containing relevant information, gathered from various sources in abundance.

Advertisers use the big data information to run online advertisements on screens of the audience of their interest.

For example,

They will use marketing data from different sources to determine the youth visiting a particular website are also interested in music instruments. They will run music instruments on sale ads micro-targeting that group.

10. Text Link Ads

This is basically hyperlinked text on a website or a blog. It works well in monetizing a website. When visitors click the link, you as an advertiser have to pay the publisher of the blog or website.

The pay is in accordance with the pay-per –click method.

The popularity of the blogger or the website on which you link these ads plays a crucial role.

In addition, these ads improve the search engine ranking of your content.

Conclusion

Each of the above strategy mutually compliments the benefits of the other. For optimizing your marketing process it would be best to glean them all tactfully.

Do share your experiences if you found the information helpful. If you feel we have missed out on some important strategies, please feel free to share in the comments.

How to Optimize Your AdWords Campaign Performance

Posted on January 27, 2018 by NextJSjointviews

Small businesses or medium scale businesses, AdWords can help you a lot in the way of generating leads for your business. Google has made it so easy that it takes only a few minutes to get started with AdWords.

On the other hand, it requires a great effort to manage business through it. Some people manage their own AdWord campaign while others outsource to companies who can take care of their business campaign.

AdWords can be a boon to your business if used correctly. Wondering whether you are using it correctly or not? Don’t worry! We have it covered for you. If you can take care of the following steps, then it’s hassle free to manage your AdWords campaign performance.

1. Keyword Research

Keywords are the building blocks of your campaign. The keywords you choose have a great impact on your AdWords campaign performance.

As an initial step, make a list of suitable keywords that you think is suitable for your business industry. If you are done with that, you can make use of Google’s free tool named AdWords Keyword Planner. Submit the keywords that you have in hand into it and it will generate a detailed list of similar keywords.

Along with that, AdWords Keyword Planner will give a detailed information on how often those keywords are searched on the internet and also number of competitors who are targeting on the specific keywords.

Carefully, select which all are relevant keywords and discard the irrelevant ones. Periodically, analyze which keywords are giving high generated conversions and which are not.

You can set a filter based on keyword conversion rate and can find out the well performing ones. Based on that, you can increase bids for those keywords and decrease bids for non performing keywords.

2. Assign similar keywords for campaigns and ads

Rather than dumping all your keywords list into AdWords bucket, assign similar keywords for campaigns and ads. For example, healthcare management, healthcare service and healthcare clinics should fall under same ad group and healthcare software should be under another ad group. Like this, if you segment your keywords wisely you will be easily able to analyze the data later.

3. Analyze Search Term Report for New Keywords and Negative Keywords

When you are doing a campaign, it’s crucial to regularly check search term report for newly searched keyword and negative keywords.

How to find out Negative Keywords?

If you are opting for Broad match or Phrase match targeting, there are chances that your ad might trigger queries that are irrelevant for you. If you don’t wish to show ads for such queries, you can mark it as negative keyword. Same applies for your campaigns also.

Finding out and filtering negative keywords will make sure that your ads are seen by right people only and will trigger subsequent queries that are relevant for your business.

How to find out new Keywords?

Search Term Report will also allow you to find out new search terms which have generated conversions. You can add these as new keywords into your campaign/ads. As said before, analyzing the search term report, adding new keyword and eliminating negative keywords, you can control your ad efficiently and generate more conversions.

4. Include ad text related to keywords in an ad group

Don’t forget to add at least a text exactly related to the topic of the ad group. This will in turn help your ad to achieve quality score and also allows customers to easily land into your ad.

5. Make Use of Ad Extensions

Navigating people who click on your campaign/ads to another pages that similar topics can help you to achieve better Quality Score. Make sure that you add links of only similar topic pages; otherwise, visitors will lose interest in the topic and may exit the page.

6. Exact Match Targeting or Broad Match Targeting?

For small businesses which are new to AdWords, Exact Match Targeting is a good choice as it will show ads only when someone searches with exact phrase/keyword that you have included in your campaign. It will give full control over their ads/campaign and prevent them to waste money on irrelevant keywords.

Once you get an idea of how your keywords are performing, you can try your hands on Broad Match Targeting which can be of more useful and also can optimize your campaign performance.

7. Make Bid Adjustments on different device platforms

One of the effective ways to optimize AdWords campaign is by measuring its performance on three device platforms such as computer, tablets and mobile. You can make bid adjustments based on the data received.

Periodically, check the performance of your AdWords campaigns and ad groups on these three device platforms.

For example, if you spend more money on computer bids without analyzing the trend but you get more conversions from mobile bids, you need to decrease the computer bids.

Always keep on check that your budget doesn’t runs out on device platforms. If managed correctly, these device platforms can make a huge difference in optimizing campaign performance.

8. Use Geographic Location Targeting

Setting geographic target in AdWords is an excellent way if you are planning to provide services inside a particular geographic location. Google allows its user to set location targets for each ad/campaign where you can adjust your bids for various locations.

Make sure to increase bids on location that works perfectly for you and get conversions. On the other hand, decrease the bids on locations that don’t give you conversions.

9. Set timings with Ad Schedule Bid Adjustments

Like geographic location targeting, Google also allows you to set ad schedule for each of your campaign. You can set bid adjustments for various hours of the day/days of a week which works well for you.

While optimizing the campaign, make sure to increase bids on hours and days that works well for you and decrease bids for areas where you spend money but doesn’t get conversions.

10. Remove or pause non-performing factors

Last but not least, if you want a sudden boost in your campaign performance, you need to remove everything which is not working. To achieve this, you need to check your account features one by one and remove/pause things that are not working for you. Also check on campaigns that you have invested large amount of money but have poor performance; then, pause on that campaign.

Confused whether AdWords will work or not for you?

Of course! It will work for you, regardless of the size of your business or location. If you can always keep an eye on the AdWords tool and periodically analyze it thoroughly keeping in mind of the above ten points, you can definitely succeed in this area.

If you have any questions, please revert to us.

Why Marketers Should Have a Content Plan for Social Media

Posted on January 26, 2018 by NextJSjointviews

Do you have a social media strategy prepared?

Do you know what to tweet, share on Facebook and write as your blog posts?

If you answered a yes, great! You are on the right track. If you answered a no, you’re just like the others in the market.

Marketers understand the importance of social media but don’t generally know how successful their campaigns are. They don’t focus on the content and cannot figure out what must be posted when.

If you’re also sailing in the same boat, here are a few questions that you need to ask yourself:

Do I have my existing and prospective customers here with me?
Is my post of any benefit to the consumers?

There are some other questions to ask as well but if you didn’t have the right answers to the above questions, you need a content plan.

Let us go through some of the key reasons to understand why creating a content plan for social media is so important:

1. Gives you a direction

Writing, posting, sharing – these actions become redundant if you don’t have a content plan in place. You must have clearly defined goals along with pre-decided metrics for success. You must know how and where you need to communicate with your target audience and what is it that they are expecting from you. A content plan adds a sense of purpose to your business and at the same time gives you a blueprint for the journey to your final destination.

2. Have a better sense of the target audience’s needs

If you have a content plan, you will know how to target the right audience with the right services. In the absence of a plan, customer demand for online services can be incorrectly evaluated.

3. Develops Opportunities for Conversations

A content plan helps you measure the success of your conversations. You know what works and what doesn’t with your audience. Social media platforms help you engage with the end consumer and if you are doing correctly with an appropriate content plan, you will notice an increased social media ROI.

4. Helps with Integration

A social media content plan enables everyone in the team and organization to remain integrated. All employees know what communication must be made with the target audience and there are clearly defined goals for everything.

5. Scope of New Strategies

If you are aware of your content plan and its ROI in terms of the metrics you set, you have the option of tweaking it to make it work. Without a concrete plan, knowing what works and what doesn’t is challenging.

Social media changes regularly. This means that you must also change with it. However, this change must be planned according to the current strategy. You must adapt to the changes introduced by the different social media platforms.

6. Identify your Audience’s language

If you keep tweeting without a specific content plan, you would be talking about anything and everything without knowing what your audience is searching for. It is important that you have a well-defined voice and use it when you are sharing content.

7. Eliminate the Guess Work

Once your content plan is ready, you know where your efforts need to be invested. You know how your content functions and are not wasting any time finding what you need to post. Social media platforms are time sensitive and if you are ready in advance, you are ready to make the most of this marketing tool.

8. Increased traffic

Website traffic is an important KPI for every business organization. Well planned and well placed social media updates attract more engagement, thereby generating higher click-through rates and leads for conversions.

9. Better Engaged Visitors

There are options to buy followers and traffic on social media. However, with a solid content plan, you can engage with your target audience realistically. The quantity of followers, clicks, and traffic does matter but the quality must be your focus.

10. Improved Customer Retention

Your bounce rate will start to lessen if your social media campaigns are being executed effectively. This means that you are reaching out to the right audience with the right information, and they are appreciative of the content you are providing.

Remember, social media does not have any magic formula. You need to understand what works for your business and what does not and this can only be done by devising a social media strategy and content plan.

How AI Can Improve Your PPC Campaigns

Posted on January 25, 2018 by NextJSjointviews

If you have ever invested in Pay Per Click or PPC advertising in Google or Facebook, you know that it can take up lot of your time and concentration. Setting up big budget ad campaigns and continuous monitoring of performance and budget is a full time job in itself.

As you may know, many of repetitive tasks can now be done by machines without any human intervention. Marker’s tasks such as email sending, impression counting and conversion tracking have all been automated in the recent past. This is also true for PPC campaigns. Machine learning and artificial intelligence are already monitoring and fine-tuning paid ads.

In this blog we will discuss how AI is improving PPC campaigns and also look at what the future of PPC campaigns look like.

How can AI Improve your PPC Campaigns?

Dynamic ads

Marketers put in a lot of effort in writing the perfect ad copy for their target market. Wouldn’t it be great if the ad changed itself to suit the person viewing it? It’s not magic and many PPC platforms are already doing it.

Facebook Dynamic ads show different products to different users based on their interest and browsing history. Dynamic Search Ads in Google Adwords generates ads that match user search with the products available on your site. This means that you don’t have to worry about missing out keywords. Google uses AI to learn about your website and serves up exactly what users are searching.

Ad delivery Optimization

Delivery of your ad to the right people at the right time can make or break your PPC campaign. Facebook ad optimization shows your ad to the right people depending on your ad objective set. For example, if your objective is website traffic, Facebook will show your ad to people who are most likely to click on the link to your site.

Automated Bidding

Wondering what bid would land you top spot in Google search? Set your campaign to automated bidding and let machine learning do the guesswork for you. Google automated bidding adjusts your bid to achieve any of the below objectives chosen by you:

Increase Site Visits
Top spot in Search Engine Results
More visibility over other domains
Get more conversions

This is free and convenient tool offered by Google. However, it does not meet the flexibility of manual bidding. Consider a case where you would want to apply automated bidding only to a high conversion keyword and not the rest. Automated bidding will not allow you this flexibility.

In such a case you can go for AdWords scripts or AdWords API. These features let you make automated changes in your AdWords account. This requires JavaScript coding knowledge to play around. These features can be time-saving and very profitable if you have a tech-savvy team.

Discover audience

Application of AI doesn’t always have to be in the PPC platform. Applying AI and machine learning on user searches and customers converted can also give insights into management of your PPC campaign.

Consider the case of Arteric, which is into cutting edge technology for healthcare companies. Analysis of 250,000 searches for a pharmaceutical company revealed an unexpected opportunity in Spanish language search volume. AI is good at discovering new opportunities which a human would easily miss. In fact it is impossible for us to look for every permutation and combination of possibility. On the other hand, AI can easily skim through large amounts of data and pull out unexpected opportunities for your ads.

Uncover relevant keywords

AI can discover relevant keyword by the same method mentioned above. Data analysis of search terms reveals real-world conversational language in your industry. For example, analysis of search terms may reveal that people search for ‘ideas for Christmas Gifts’ instead of ‘buy Christmas Gifts’. This can help marketers in finding keywords with buyers’ intent and wasting money on non-performing keywords.

Pause low-performing ads

Not all ads in you campaign perform the same. Some ads get more conversion than others because of the keywords, ad copy and landing page. Pausing or deleting low performing ads not only saves ad money from being wasted, it also boost your ad quality score (Quality rating assigned by Google Adwords to your ad).

Monitoring ad performance to delete low performing ads is a repetitive and time consuming process. This can be automated by using Adwords Scripts and API integrations.

Future of PPC Campaigns

PPC campaigns are far from being fully automated. Some of the functions such as optimized display and bidding rules can be set with free automated tool. Others can be automated using Adwords API and Scripts. However most of the tasks require humans to make sense of the data and take decisions.

As technology progresses we will see machine learning take up more tasks. Who knows, we might soon see a time where you simply input your goal and budget and the Adwords AI takes care of the rest.