How To Leverage Your Content Marketing Strategy In Instagram Reels And Tiktok

Does your company understand the difference between Instagram Reels and TikTok videos?

If it does, good for you! Suppose it cannot, then it can limit the effectiveness of social media marketing campaigns.

IG Reels and TikTok videos have different purposes, and their viewers aren’t the same. If you focus on one, it’d be a waste of a good opportunity.

TikTok continues to wear the crown of the fastest-growing social media platform. It’s popular among the millennials and Gen-Z, whose hunger for tiny informative content in bulk is quite widespread.

41% of TikTok users belong to the age group between 16-24years. For brands who wish to target this demographic segment, TikTok is a no-brainer.

Instagram or IG isn’t far behind TikTok. It can be worth your time, money and effort to invest in social media marketing, specifically on Instagram. When you use Instagram Reels, which are 30-second video bytes, you also reach IG’s 1.5 billion users! We’ll tell you how it works later.

According to this report, IG’s user demographics are as under:

As you can see, IG’s user demographics are nearly the same as TikTok, so your company should also market on this platform. (Read this for more information on the state of Social Media for marketing in 2022!)

But how to promote on these platforms?! Can short-form videos help you to leverage these social media platforms?

TikTok has the answer: “Don’t make ads, make TikToks!”

Short-format videos with catchy music have proved to be highly effective in drawing attention, influencing the audience and creating desired effect. It’s one of the dominating reasons behind TikTok’s overnight success. However, they are not the same as Instagram reels. Both platforms cater to different audiences, which calls for creating separate content for them.

Why should you create content for both platforms?

Instagram and TikTok videos may have common features. However, these platforms are viewed by a wide variety of audiences. To boost the effectiveness of your digital marketing efforts, create video content for both.

Why should you be doing that?

Here are four reasons!

Reach out to more people

A handsome chunk of your target audience may use TikTok, while others may use Instagram. So, it makes good sense to focus on both platforms.

To augment your engagement rate, create separate content for these platforms and this will also benefit your brand visibility.

Impress your audience with creativity

Instagram and TikTok both offer you a range of editing features. You can create appealing videos if you have a strong content strategy and ideas.

Once you publish a video, the social media platforms place a watermark on it. And that means if you import or share videos from Instagram on TikTok, IG’s watermark will be shown on them.

It’ll look unprofessional to your prospective customers! Instagram users may not like it if you import TikTok videos on IG.

So, it is better to develop diverse video clips for these platforms.

Do you want to keep your viewers engaged, and asking for more?

Then on to the diversity of the content! Produce content on topics that appeals to them. Focus on trending topics and on those that matter to your viewers. You can use them to inform, entertain and encourage interactions over the two platforms driving traffic and attracting followers.

Create videos that go viral

If you can identify trending content on both IG and TikTok, you can leverage them to create videos that can become viral. As mentioned before, both platforms have different audiences; you must brainstorm for content that will appeal to them respectively. So, identify and create accordingly to strike the right cord with your audience. That’s it!

We have elaborated why you must have separate videos for both of these platforms, now we’ll talk about ways to create them.

Three ways to develop drool-worthy content for Instagram and TikTok

Here are three ways to get the most bang for your bucks on IG and TikTok.

Seek out hot trends and hashtags

You already know the benefit of using trending hashtags and hot trends. With relevant hashtags, you reap the following benefits:

- Amplify your content’s reach
- Increase your followers
- Learn about your competitors
- Promote your brand to the public
- Those searching by such hashtags will find your content.

There are two ways to find such hashtags. Firstly, by using the manual way, you spend time researching current trends and the latest developments. You also focus on what your audience is talking about. These will also take you to the relevant hashtags; don’t forget to note them.

Secondly, tools like All Hashtag, IG’s Explore feature, and TikTok’s Discover feature can help you find relevant hashtags.

Use influencer marketing to create your content

The best way to use platforms like TikTok and IG is to generate user-generated content.

Here’s why!

On both of these platforms, you’ll aim to reach Gen Z.

They prefer to create content and participate in online conversations on burning topics. They are urged to get and feel involved, belong, and participate in trending discussions.

Influencer marketing can be an effective tool to reach this group audience. Doing so will:

- Help you to gain their trust
- Encourage existing customers to talk about their recent purchases
- Ensure that your product has maximum views on social media.

Use the skills of Tiktok influencers and collaborate with them for effective branding. You won’t be disappointed.

Show that you care for your fellow IG and TikTok creators

Social networks love those who generate regular content. It rewards those who engage viewers in conversations. For companies and marketers, one way to do this is by engaging viewers in comments.

TikTok users love talking about posts that interest them and they don’t shy away from commenting and engaging in conversations with other brands. Comments are ranked on TikTok by the number of likes. Make your comments meaningful and relevant, and more importantly, ensure that they connect your readers with your brand.

The same rules apply to IG Reels. You have to engage with the viewers, comment and like their comments. With time, you’ll build up a strong online brand presence and your audience will see you as an influencer!

Remember, that videos are the heart and soul of platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels.

Social media marketing isn’t rocket science once you understand the platform’s demographics. If you can cross that boundary, you can use your content marketing strategy in Instagram reels and TikTok and transform your brand like a pro.

To sum up:

- Study and analyze thoroughly
- Consistently generate content
- Engage with thought leaders and influencers,
- Hold conversations interesting conversations
- Use hashtag strategy and influencer partnerships.

Leverage your content marketing strategy in Instagram reels and TikTok with these tips and techniques. Write to us for personalized solutions and more.

January 16, 2023May 12, 2023

Four social media trends for 2023

Do you know who is in charge of your brand? We’ll give you three chances!

Your CEO? Nope!

Company stakeholders? Na-da!

The government? Niet!

http://www.jicsi.co.id/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/social-media-customer-service-jicsi.jpg

People who are actually in charge of your brand are your customers.

This is the ‘Age of the Customer’ in which they are really in charge. And here’s how.

Your customers want:

– Personalized content

– Faster service

– Better experience

– And fast!

If you want your brand to survive (which you do, of course!), you have to listen to and cater to their demands.

In this article, we will show you some social media trends that will take 2022 by storm.

The more you are prepared for these, the more success you will have in fulfilling your customer’s demands. And the more success you have in that, the more you earn.

It’s simple math.

Well, let us begin.

Upcoming social media trends for 2022

Trend 1: TikTok is poised to take over social media

https://techcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/tiktokjump1.jpeg?w=1390&crop=1

Move over Facebook, TikTok is here to stay. In fact, from 2022 onwards, this platform might just be known as the ‘king of social media.’ TikTok is dominating right now, but it will surpass all other social media platforms the next year, forcing its competitors to adapt.

TikTok is the go-to app for connecting current and new customers, and it has also broken download records for short-term videos.

The platform’s highly personalized content recommendation mechanism shall connect with a qualified and engaged audience for content developers and companies. Right now, TikTok is gearing up to introduce an e-commerce system in the platform in addition to a monetization model.

If you want to connect with prospective customers who are tech-savvy, TikTok is the place to go.

Trend analysis

Since its inception, the platform’s awareness has been growing. Conversations on this platform increased in numbers, spiking right during the 2020 pandemic. There has been a 61% rise in mentions from 2020 to 2021. This has not only brought more users to the platform but has also made it the first-ever apart from Facebook to reach 3 billion global downloads.

Trend 2: Social ads shall develop, and cookies shall face a crunch

https://cdn.searchenginejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/shutterstock_456779230-760×400.png

By 2023, Google will work towards removing cookie tracking. However, the future of social advertising remains to be defined. There is an immediate need to balance offering personalized services and adhering to consent and compliance for companies and brands.

Undoubtedly, a future without cookies is a bright one for customers, advertisers, and publishers. However, it is not such good news for companies who have been making a profit so long off private data collections and sales. Companies now have to rethink their strategy.

Trend analysis

Advertising has come a long way over the years. With the continuing evolution of social media, brands can reach more prospective customers and increase engagement and awareness.

Since last year, advertisers have been using social media platforms more intensively to reach out to customers.

As the internet collects billions of data points on users, it proves to be a veritable gold mine for companies. Advertisers are now seeing how social ads are essential moving forward.

Trend 3: Social selling shall make customer’s journeys easier

https://blog.coursify.me/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/customer-journey-map-coursifyme-1.jpg

Social commerce used to mean placing ads and promotions. But now, social media platforms have begun to offer innovative selling solutions that make a customer’s buying journey easier.

For instance, Instagram provides new shopping features that enable social media users to buy items without leaving their dedicated app. Over to 2022, companies and brands should reconsider their customer’s purchase paths.

From now, the emphasis needs to be on offering a more accessible and more streamlined buying journey. Promotions can be done through various means. On Instagram, for instance, brands can use Stories, Reels, and posts.

Trend analysis

Social media platforms are beginning to offer innovative shopping features to e-commerce merchants, and platforms like Instagram have become one of the most popular social media for influencers.

These influencers endorse their brands by strategic partnerships and promote their services and products by catering to a large follower base. Such influencer marketing strategies create significant opportunities for brands as well to align their offerings with the influencers for reaching their customers.

70% of online marketers plan to spend more money on Instagram influencer marketing. 2022 might be your year to jump in as well for this marketing strategy!

Trend 4: Consumer needs will be shaped by post-pandemic content

https://northernvirginiamag.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/retail.jpg

The pandemic has forced marketers to adapt to the evolving content trends, which has challenged their existing customer relationships and brand development. While social media was undoubtedly used for promotion and advertising, its use for marketing had to be augmented during the pandemic.

During the pandemic, half a billion more people are using social media worldwide, which is a 14% rise in social media use from pre-pandemic times!

Trend analysis

To remain visible, brands need to communicate in local and comprehensive terms. It is now more essential to target specific potential customers based on relevance.

This means creating content based on generation, age group, gender, hobbies, etc. For all this, getting and using customer data is paramount for a customized experience.

Customers love videos and live audio more than text. Brands have to keep in mind when devising their content strategies.

To sum up

These are just some of the many trends that shall come in 2022. Brands that adapt to these changes and innovations will undoubtedly rise to the top because these trends are dictated not by any global industrial movement or innovation but by customers worldwide.

The need of the hour, in short, is to provide customized solutions.

July 4, 2022May 12, 2023

Event Branding Ideas for Your Business

“The corporate event last night was fantastic, wasn’t it? At least I feel so.”

“So do I! They truly came up with innovative ideas for branding their event.”

“Oh yes. And by the way, as I was checking their event page on social media, I noticed that their customers and clients were interacting heavily in the comment section. It looks like they are impressed as well!”

“Yup. Talk about outdoing yourself! Their company sure did raise the bar for event branding!”

This could be people talking about your company!

The above is no pipe dream, and this can be your reality if you know what to do and how to do it. Whether you’re planning to organize your first promotional event or your 100th one, you must know what works and what doesn’t.

Look at it this way:

Event branding budgets are typically between $1000 and $20000. Depending on your company’s success criteria, it can even be more. You don’t want such hefty amounts to be a waste because of ineffective strategies.

That’s where this article comes in. You’ll learn:

What are branding events?
How do you brand a business event?
What makes a branding event successful?
Why is event branding important?
Top corporate event branding ideas
Best event branding examples

But why should you believe us?

MIU is a revered digital enabler based out of Singapore. We assist brands in enhancing their reach and influence over respective industries with immersive experiences at corporate events. We ensure happening audience interaction using the dynamism and superiority of augmented reality and audio-visual experience.

This article is about your venture and how you can get better at event branding.

Before we come to the exclusive tips, let’s cover the basics.

Frequently Asked Questions

Image source: https://www.superoffice.com

What are branding events?

Event branding is all about showing the essence of your company’s brand through proper event marketing endeavors. Event branding can be:

digital
on-site, or
hybrid

How to do event branding for your business?

We’ll go through this in detail later, but for now, here are some tips to stimulate your mind.

Determine your brand identity
Keep your message consistent throughout the campaign
Create an affirmative presence on social media
Develop an inbound marketing campaign ahead of the event
Use the power of print media to create attractive flyers and posters
Give a unique name and tagline to your event.

What makes a branding event successful?

At the very least, you have to stand out from your competition when you host an event. All of your marketing elements should harmoniously stand together. Beyond that, you should leave a long-lasting impression on the audience, leaving them waiting for the next one.

Why is event branding important?

If you want to build brand loyalty, events are one of the most potent ways to keep generating that for a long time on auto-pilot. They give you ample scope for interaction with the audiences and thus enhances brand engagement.

One of the essential advantages of branding an event is that you have audiences’ complete attention, have a reasonable amount of time to work on the details and thus plan a more effective event. You must seize the opportunity to emphasize its position and enhance its impression on the customers.

Since the basics are covered, we can finally get to the meat of the matter- some of the top (and pretty unique!) corporate event branding strategies.

Corporate event branding ideas

Here are some unique corporate event branding ideas to get you thinking. These will work regardless of whether you’re hosting an event or have a display stand at someone else’s event.

Make these a part of your event branding arsenal to make memorable, positive impressions on your audience.

Here’s how to do it!

How about an immersive brand strategy?

Also known as live marketing, engagement marketing, and participation marketing, experiential marketing is sometimes lumped together with event marketing. However, it is much more than traditional conferences.

Experiential marketing focuses on creating unique and memorable customer engagement, direct in nature, and on promoting brand affinity and awareness.

Image source: https://squarespace-cdn.com

Experiential marketing strategies can take several forms. They can be:

A series of live events
One-off events extending over a couple of hours
Hosting corporate retreat events
Creating experiences that reflect your brand
Offering demos and samples
Holding activities at trade shows.

Regardless of the formal approach, experiential marketing boosts an event’s ROI.

While traditionally, experiential marketing works in a physical event, nothing stops you from using this strategy to create online events.

There are several benefits of experiential marketing, such as

Builds brand loyalty
Expands brand affinity
Generate leads
Creates brand awareness
Promotes cross-channel marketing efforts
Giving people a unique way to try out your product

Now, let’s come to our next strategy. It may not be as complicated as this one, but there’s no arguing about its effectiveness. Let’s talk about…

Branding the Bun

A fantastic way to promote your logo at events is by branding the free food you’ll be offering.

While guests will be attending for the valuable content and networking, good food served at the event can enhance audiences’ satisfaction. Attention goes there as well, so how about leaving behind your brand signature there?

The best way to satisfy your audience?

Satisfy their tummies and create a good impression!

Here are some ideas to get inside their minds through their mouth:

Print your logo on top of the jelly on gelatin cups
Put your logo on the back of fortune cookie papers
Imprint your logo on hard candies
Put your logo on toothpick flags or club sandwiches and buns, making them instantly Instagrammable!

Speaking of making things Instagrammable.

Hire a Pied Piper

image source: https://www.marketing91.com

You’ve all heard about the Pied Piper story.

How about replicating the same effect on your target audience?

You may not need a magic flute anymore, but you do need influencers and brand advocates.

Influencers and brand advocates; are public figures appreciated and trusted by a large number of followers. They take your brand to target audiences as a user, without the feel of promotion. As a result, they have more acceptability to the audience. They frequently share your content and products through social media or by word-of-mouth.

We suggest you leverage your brand advocates and influencers to:

Build up a pre-event hype
Spread word about the event post-event

Ask them to share personal pictures of them participating in activities related to your brand.

For instance, if your company produces fitness equipment, ask your influencers to share their pictures using that equipment. You can then share these images on your company’s Instagram page and promote your brand.

Sometimes it is essential to let your audience see what activities your company is involved in.

Show them the entire picture

Use a 360-degree camera to shoot the event and stream it live. It will let remote attendees freely rotate the view to experience your event from multiple angles.

You can bet your money that all the colors, logos and other brand signatures you have put around the area won’t waste. Online viewers streaming the event live from your event website shall see all your logos each time they change the camera angle! It’s a win-win for you both.

This is how you…

Give them some love

Attendees get take-home gifts from events, so this strategy may not be that unique. But you can’t deny how effective this is! Would this marketing and branding technique still be used if it wasn’t that effective?

Things you can gift are:

Pens
T-shirts
Tote bags

Personalize the items you’ll be gifting, and yes, don’t forget to put your logo on them.

You can imprint an important photo into promotional items like t-shirts, mugs and notepad covers. Personalization makes common items seem far more valuable because they have your company’s logo on it.

“But hold up!” you say. “We’re a small company that doesn’t have a big budget! We want to start small with these event branding ideas.“

Well, who said the budget could be a constraint? You need creative ideas that you know your audience will be receptive to and still have successful event branding.

We’ll show you how to do that right now!

Low-cost event branding ideas

The following ideas are not just cost-saving, but they have another huge benefit: they have a fast turnaround time. You can have these created and set up quickly if you’re under tight deadlines.

Lectern branding

image source: https://www.signpac.com.au

A lectern is a stand from behind which a speaker presents on stage. All eyes are on the stage during such times, and your audience will be hanging onto the very words your speakers utter.

Branding a lectern is a clever way to show your brand in such a crucial area of the event hall. The audience will click, and they will shoot videos at the lectern. And you know what that means, right? Every time a user shares those photographs, or videos, online or offline, your brand image will be seen. It’s a great exposure to your brand!

Interestingly, lectern branding is not expensive. You can just print the logo on the lectern’s surface or stick it with tape, tack and velcro. Since the logo is so light, you need not worry about it falling off.

By the way, you can customize your logo in any way you want.

Your investment is within $5! Now isn’t that a great deal?

Speaking of money well spent, you can also install a…

Social media prop

The best thing about social media props is that they are instantly Instagrammable! It’s a fantastic way to encourage attendees to instantly take photos and share them.

Social media props have your logo and company and marketing details, which means that when clicks of these props are shared online with event hashtags, your brand image and messages are promoted too.

Your investment: Between $10 to $30 for a small frame.

Our next point is somewhat similar and is just as effective for showing off your brand logo.

Sponsor backdrop

Is this truly an inexpensive way to promote your event?

Yes and no.

These can be pretty expensive if you go with a traditional pop-up or want a remarkable backdrop, but if you are going to tread the affordable path, go for an extra-wide banner stand. These are available in widths of 3.2 meters and offer the perfect background at a fraction of the cost.

Generally, background banners can be both cheap and easy to make. They give your event branding an extra edge by allowing special guests and celebrities to be photographed in the foreground.

You can even use 1m banner stands as signages for helping people move around the event venue.

You have seen some of the top creative event branding ideas for your business. Let’s now move further with some examples.

The best event branding examples

User conference

It’s a no-brainer that networking events are great for making connections and alliances. As long as they reflect your brand, they can be formal or informal. Even in the digital world, face-to-face meetings are still highly sought-after.

Lean Startup offered attendees inspiring experiences to promote first-rate guest interactions, at their newest conference. Lean Startup’s blossoming global community was its event’s central immersive networking theme. They even regularly updated their public potential attendees’ guest list to ensure everyone would meet like-minded individuals on arrival.

Publisher conference

image source: https://publishingperspectives.com/

There are mainly two types of events or, say, two kinds of corporate events.

One is a user conference focusing on customer engagement, developing thought leadership and nurturing prospects.

The other one is publisher conferences, where the focus is on driving revenue for media companies. Publisher conferences bring together readers of an organization’s materials and provide enormous educational sessions reinforced by partnerships with other firms.

Content Marketing World is the annual publisher conference of CMI (Content Marketing Institute). Every year, they have different themes. However, these themes are not randomly chosen concepts but after months of careful planning by their operations, content marketing, PR, and event planner or event management teams to ensure they align with the company’s goals. Themes can be offbeat as long as they reflect the event’s purpose.

Virtual events

https://blog.hubspot.com/hubfs/how-to-promote-virtual-events.jpg

Virtual events, like online conferences, use digital channels and platforms for participating in seminars and live lectures. Such events are significant for those with budget or travel issues.

Organizers of Google I/O used 360-degree cameras to capture keynote speeches live for virtual attendees. These videos were also put on YouTube for free-and-easy access. While their event was mainly for in-person attendees, their virtual counterparts were not left out and left wanting the same experience.

Wrapping up

In this article, you’ve learnt what we promised:

What are branding events?
How do you brand a business event?
What makes a branding event successful?
Why is event branding important?
Top corporate event branding ideas
Best event branding examples

Branding an event is very doable if you know when and which rabbit to pull out of the hat. Hopefully, these strategies will help you out for your next event, whether physical or virtual or a hybrid one.

Best of luck with your next event!

June 27, 2022May 12, 2023

6 Effective E-Commerce Platforms For Small Business in 2022

Let’s say that you somehow have made or procured a time machine. You take a seat, push the lever, and off you go to the 1960s! Of course, you’ll see many exciting things, but one of those will be how businesses functioned back then.

Shop owners had to open physical shops located at a specific place, and, and did a substantial amount of investment for building the stores even before any sale occurred. It was indeed very tough back then!

Having seen enough, you decide to come back to your timeline and do a comparative study. When it comes to physical shops, you’ll know that we still have them. In fact, despite flourishing online stores, millions of small traders and merchants still have physical shops. While there is no accurate and authentically available data, the number of physical stores worldwide is undoubtedly more than that of its online cousins.

Realities are transforming fast. The advent of, and constant evolution of, the internet has given rise to a new and exciting industry: e-commerce. It is an industry that rewards creativity, passion and entrepreneurship. Now, anyone can start their own company by launching a company website and selling goods and services. Such companies are location-independent, and there are no worries about physical footfall.

Let’s say that you’re an entrepreneur and have something to offer to customers. An online store is a viable option but it comes with certain costs. You cannot just create a website anywhere. Even though there are free websites, those are not good ideas for a business. You must consider a few things like hosting, domain name, SSL certificate, etc. Over the years, e-commerce stores have become virtual platforms for merchants, entrepreneurs and other business owners.

What is an e-commerce store?

6 effective e-commerce platforms — image source: https://cdn.searchenginejournal.com

E-commerce stores are websites that enable people to purchase goods and services from their comfort zones. Through such stories, you can accept and process orders, accept payments, manage shipping, transportation and logistics, and provide customer service in a completely regulated environment.

The scene today

Thanks to e-commerce platforms like Shopify, Wix and Square Online, business owners can now operate conveniently in the digital space and make the most.

The only problem?

Selling online is cost-effective, thus popular and efficient to sell more and generate more revenue. It simplified business, but that also means there’s a lot more competition. Now anyone can have their -Commerce store and get a piece of the proverbial pie. Many online platforms multiplied, each claiming to be the best e-commerce platform.

It creates yet another issue.

Small business owners are spoilt for choice when it comes to e-commerce platforms. Which one should they choose?

Here’s how to Choose The Best E-commerce Platform for your online shop

Choosing an e-commerce platform that suits your business is like choosing the postal address of your physical store. There are several points to consider, like its reputation, the support that it can provide and a few more.

Often we mistake following fellow ventures and their strategies, while businesses can be similar but never the same. The requirements of your competitor’s store might not be the same as yours. For instance, a company may need a user-friendly open-source website where one can experiment with inventory management systems, various web hosting and abandoned cart recovery, and more.

Others may desire a service which holds their hand throughout the journey. Open source platforms may not be suitable for all companies. Hosted solutions are better for beginners since they are user-friendly and come with various tools and features.

To help you pick the best e-Commerce platforms for your company, here’s a list of popular e-commerce platforms for small businesses.

6 popular e-commerce platforms for small business

Shopify

Shopify is as revered an e-commerce brand as AliExpress is for dropshipping. Shopify offers you some of the best sales features you can find, including powerful tools and a famous app market full of plugins.

If you’re serious about selling online and business growth, Shopify won’t let you down. It offers SaaS to customers and is specially designed for those serious about building their online store. With multiple advanced sales and site management tools, access to discount codes, 24/7 customer service, an integrated payment processor, and free SSL security certificate, Shopify leaves no stone unturned in delighting its customers. Optionally, you can also access new sales strategies.

Pricing: The introductory price is $29 per month.

Pros:

14-Day Free trial
Many plugins to pick
Integrated payment gateways
Unlimited products on every plan
Suitable for all kinds of businesses
Wide range of themes to choose from

Cons:

Minimal blogging platform
Fees can add up fast if you choose additional features and services.

Square Online

Square Online can be the perfect solution if you’re looking for a platform to combine both online selling strategies with offline sales. This website-building service is brought to you by Square and you can get your website here for free if you have a Square Point of Sale System.

Weebly powers Square Online. Is that good?

Yes and No. Let us explain.

Weebly is known for its limited customization options, which means you’ll face the same on Square Online. The brighter side is that Weebly is perfect for beginners. Building a website here is a no-brainer. You can have your website up and running. Your website can get ready in just a few hours! You’ll also have access to advanced inventory management functions, thanks to your access to the Square Point of Sale System. How does that benefit you? Well, let’s say that when someone purchases from your website, your inventory will get updated as well.

Thanks to its integrated and advanced AI, Square Online’s advanced features and benefits are there.. It allows customers to enjoy a better experience without spending a lot on each service separately. The same AI makes adding products and features to your e-commerce store a breeze.

Pricing: Square Online gives you both monthly and yearly payment options. You can save between 25% and 30% if you pay early.

Pros:

Fantastic for AI design
One of the best choices for beginners
Enviable inventory management tools
Combines the benefits of both online and offline selling
Excellent deal if you’re already using the Square ecosystem’s features

Cons:

Limitations in customization, especially with shop checkout
Don’t have many choices in payment processing options.

Wix E-commerce

Wix can be ideal for you if you value both money and performance for your e-commerce store. It delivers exceptional performance and is not unkind to website creator newbies either. Wix gives you total control over your store, tons of exciting features, hundreds of website templates, a range of payment systems, a secure checkout process, a drag-and-drop site builder, and an agile design.

When it comes to online stores, the presentation of products and proper showcasing of product galleries are essential. It is where Wix shines. Thanks to its comprehensive store management tools collection, you can now create stunning product galleries.

Another feature that customers love about Wix sites is that it gives you the option to calculate global tax and shipping on the back-end too.

You won’t find as many shopping features here as you can get on Shopify, but remember, Wix is not primarily an e-commerce website builder.

Wix may not have the most advanced tools on the market, but it makes e-commerce site building very easy, making it perfect for beginners.

Pricing:

Pros:

Multiple secured payment options
Large selection of plugins and apps
An exciting range of quality themes
Plenty of discount options and coupons available

Cons:

No data export option
Limited e-commerce features
Difficult to add extra functions since it’s not open-source

Squarespace

For those who want creative control more than other benefits, Squarespace can be a perfect choice. Squarespace is a cloud-hosted website builder and it has a similar style to Wix and provides you with some advanced marketing tools like quick integration with social media channels.

Squarespace is excellent in providing gorgeous online business and portfolio websites, but not so much in offering e-commerce features compared with industry giants like Shopify. However, you get an SSL certificate and a free domain if you pick their annual plan. Regardless of your plan, you get an agile and responsive checkout with zero transaction fees.

Pricing:

Pros:

Budget-friendly plans
Multiple templates to choose from
Above-average social media integration
Free domain when you choose annual plans
Great for those who require 24/7 customer support

Cons:

No app market
Large transaction fees
Limited payment options for you

Weebly

Weebly is a young company in this industry yet famous, especially among small business owners. It’s excellent for beginners as you need neither tech talent nor too much time to get started, and it is easy on your pocket.

The downside?

Weebly lacks some features which you’ll find with its competitors. For instance, you can’t sell across various channels like Facebook and Etsy. Another issue, which may put off some serious e-commerce website building purists, is the matter of website customization. On Weebly, website customization is noticeably more complex.

The good thing is you’ll get fantastic benefits like blogging and password-protected pages.

Weebly can be the perfect solution if you’re starting out with a few products. You can always move out to its competitors when your online shows scale up.

Pricing: Weebly has price tiers for those who need just a website, and for those looking to build an online store.

Pros:

Beginner-friendly and easy to use
Lots of responsive themes
Wide selection of integrated apps
Team collaboration and membership areas
Very affordable prices

Cons:

Limited design options
Not ideal for international websites

Ecwid

Ecwid is ideal for companies that want to integrate their business website, social media network and business page. You can also sync and manage your storefronts through Ecwid.

Ecwid is a popular solution as it is a cloud-based platform, which means you don’t need to download or install anything. If you have a company website, you can add Ecwid with a plugin such as WordPress, Wix, Joomla and Drupal. You can enjoy a good number of services and benefits essential for a serious e-commerce website owner. These benefits include:

responsive design
automatic language detection

Ecwid also allows you to add your site to multiple sites, social networks and blogs and lets you pick from a collection of online payment processes.

Prices: There is an annual and a monthly payment tier, with a free plan in both. You save 17% when you choose the yearly payment plans.

Pros:

Works with existing websites
Free plan in both monthly and yearly tiers
Reasonable premium plans
Ability to sell on social sites and marketplaces
Ability to create a mobile app for app stores
Automatic language detection
Multiple secure payment gateways

Cons:

High integrated payment fees
It is not a standalone solution or e-commerce (you’ll still need a website)
No customer support on lower-price tiers
Back-end stats are not comprehensive

To Sum Up

So there you have it! 6 effective e-commerce platforms for small businesses. There are pros and cons to all these solutions, so you have to consider them well before choosing one. Fortunately, we have given you the best e-commerce website building solutions on one page. These platforms offer you a free trial option before investing a dime; you can pay with either a debit or credit card. We hope you benefit from that and discover which platform will suit you best.

March 31, 2022June 10, 2022

UX vs UI: Which is more important?

Is there a difference between UX and UI?

Or, are they the same?

Which is better?

Which one comes first?

Image source: http://assets.kompasiana.com

We get it. UX and UI seem the same, and this confusion is real. That’s why we have made a comprehensive guide to solve the issue once and for all.

Let’s begin.

UX (User Experience) and UI (User Interface) are two sides of the same coin. You can’t have one without the other. If you have a website, you need both to work optimally. They define and highlight your brand, products and services to customers. As you can see already, if you want to have high conversions online, you need both.

Before we go any further, I will elaborate on the difference between UX and UI. Once you understand that, you can determine which to dedicate more time and resources to.

The Difference between UX and UI Web Design

Web Design spans many functions and features and all of these come together to create a unique and engaging experience for customers. A website with all these elements ensures smooth navigation, appealing aesthetics, and clear directions towards a page a visitor may wish to go. For instance, if you want to go to the FAQ page, you must easily find the links to that page.

Some people say that the most crucial web design features are user interface design and user experience design. The concepts are similar, and both depend on and complement each other. However, and as you’ll see, they are different parts of the web design job.

Here’s a rundown of the two.

UX web design: This prioritizes creating a seamless navigational experience for the visitors or users of your website, web pages and apps.
UI web design: The work here relates to creating digital spaces that visitors or users see, such as buttons and scrolling elements.

The difference between them?

UX deals with creating the whole user experience on apps, websites and web pages and the work here affects the entire website’s design.

The UI is all about creating design elements and the interface, which is essential for guiding a visitor or user from one page to another.

Let us now look at UX and UI in more detail.

UX Web Design Explained

There’s a lot of brainstorming, feature and usability testing behind creating a web experience. It is the job of UI web design and UX design generally.

It’ll be interesting to note that the term “User Experience” was coined in 1990 by Don Norman, the co-founder and cognitive scientist at Nielsen Norman Group Design Consultancy. As he explained it, UX is “All aspects of the end-users interaction with the company, its services, and its products.”

A good UX design has elements of:

Market research
Psychology
Technology

Apart from that, it also monitors:

User behaviour
Changes in user behaviour

Thus, they can respond to such changes in time, influencing customers to take the desired action.

UX designers have several responsibilities and play different functions. As such, success metrics can be tough to determine. However, the success metrics are commonly agreed to be the seamless user experience of websites, products and services.

Which are the common principles that help in developing a satisfying UX?

Clarity and simplicity
Scannability
Function over flash
Visual hierarchy
Audience knowledge

Before creating a User Experience, you have to know what your audience desires and their tastes. Here are some questions that you can ask yourself when designing the UX of your website, webpage and app.

Is it findable?
Is it useful?
Is it usable?
Is it accessible?
Is it desirable?
Is it credible?

For a good UX, designer’s projects need to be user-centric.

UI Web Design Explained

If User Experience designing is the grand strategy, User Interface designing is the battle tactic. You can’t have one without the other.

We have seen what the UX is all about. Let’s now learn about how the UI functions.

UI interface design focuses on satisfying the user’s experience. Let’s say that a prospective customer or client visits your website. You need a good menu, headers and footers, images and other elements linking to various website pages. You also need photos, graphics and animations, if applicable. Therefore, the primary focus is on the web page or whatever a company is offering.

UI is the framework around which the UX can function. Users enter through the interface, interact with it, navigate with the aid of the framework, and then have a good user experience.

How Do User Experience And User Interface Designing Impact Conversions?

“Which is better? UX or UI?”

It is a very common question.

But here’s the thing: both are important, and you can’t have one without the other.

Can you have a car without an engine? And what use is the engine alone without the chassis?

Think of anything with at least two components, neither of which can work alone.

UX and UI are just like that. There’s no winner here simply because you need both of them. Without a good UI, a UX is bland, uninspiring and flat. Without a UX, a User Interface has no relevance at all. If the UI is wrong, it creates a bad impression on visitors and vice versa.

However, some people will still ask, “Which is more important for conversions?”

It depends on the type of conversions you are looking for. It also depends on whether these conversions are related to UX and UI.

For instance, the user interface doesn’t matter unless people come to your website. That’s the domain of User Experience, which begins much before someone visits your site. It focuses on designing tactics that aid in driving traffic to your website and takes the help of online advertising and marketing.

You need both UX and UI.

If you have a website, the best way to engage and convert visitors is to have excellent UX and UI. The better your User Experience, the more effective your User Interface.

Conversions depend on many factors, but for conversions to improve, both UX and UI are essential. They have to work in tandem.

Here are some proven UX/UI elements that help in improving conversions:

Understanding customer journey
Gathering and analysing data
Optimizing content to decrease load times
Designing apps for mobile
Simplifying and streamlining
Usability testing

For having a good user experience and online conversions, you need both. However, create a website that focuses on the visitors first and then you’ll have your conversions.

March 21, 2022July 29, 2022

Here’s why You Should Prioritize Internal Linking in 2022

Here’s Why You Should Prioritize Internal Linking in 2022

Most SEO strategies incorporate internal linking, but that’s not enough. They deserve more priority.

SEO often tends to focus on a host of other ranking factors; internal linking is one. However, we often fail to realize how powerful internal linking boosts keyword rankings.

Take a look at the chart below.

According to this 2021 data, out of 15 SEO factors responsible for search rankings worldwide, internal linking figures are just at 13.7%. But that does not mean it is any less critical for digital marketing campaigns. It means that it is not being utilized optimally.

And this is what we are going to show you in this article.

We’ll tell you:

Why is internal linking so important?
How to set up an internal linking strategy?

What are internal links?

An internal link connects two pages of your website. It has many benefits, and we’ll come to that in detail later.

Let’s say that it helps both website visitors and search engines. It allows website visitors to look at related information and know more about your company. Doing so decreases your site’s bounce rate, especially if your website’s content is informative. It helps you rank higher on search engines since they use links to navigate your website.

There are many types of internal linking. No website can do without links on the menu, the home page, links to post feed, etc. But you can add links within the content called contextual links.

Contextual links are important because they lead readers to find related and exciting content.

Besides that, Contextual linking also allows search engines to find out which content is related, which determines which content is most valuable. The more links a page gets, the more valuable it will seem to search engines.

Internal linking vs and external linking

Before we understand why internal linking is necessary, we must clear out the confusion. If you’ve ever been confused between internal and external linking, this is where we sort it out.

Internal links connect pages within your website.

External links connect your pages to other websites.

In this post, we’ll focus on the former.

Why is internal linking so important?

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(Click on video to see the YouTube video explaining why internal linking is essential)

This video shows several reasons why it is essential to focus on internal ranking in most SEO campaigns. Search engines follow links to find content on websites, and then they rank these websites on search results. When search engines see a page or post having a lot of links, it sees them as being high-value content. It works for both internal and external linking.

You’ll also see how you can build an internal linking strategy. We’ll talk about that later as well, so hang on!

If you are new to all this and want to learn from the ground up, Ahrefs has this handy video on internal linking for beginners.

Relationships between content

We’ll talk about Google for our topic. There are other search engines, but Google is the most dominant one.

Have you wondered how Google crawls your website? Or how does it determine which site deserves to be ranked higher?

Google does that by using its Googlebot. It is a web crawler that follows both internal and external links. When this crawler comes to your website, it renders your homepage and goes for the first link. The search engine can determine the relationship between your pages, posts and other materials by following the link. This lets Google understand which pages are related.

Link value

After understanding the relationship between content, it is essential to comprehend link value. Google divides link value across all links on a web page. The homepage tends to have the most backlinks and has the highest link value. This link value is shared between all the links on the homepage, and it then gets passed onto the next page and then gets divided between all other pages linked to it – the process repeats.

If you link your newest article on your homepage, it’ll get more link value. Doing so helps Google find your recent posts faster as well.

When you understand link value, you’ll see that more links in a post mean adding more value to it. Google thinks pages with more valuable links are more important than your competitors. That’s how you rank higher.

Advantages of good internal linking

There are many ways in which internal linking is valuable for your overall SEO strategy. In this article, we will focus on the top six benefits.

They improve usability through anchor texts.

Internal links help visitors navigate to your website easily. This is made possible when you add sufficient user-friendly links to your articles. You must ensure that these point to related, relevant content pieces when you add anchor text. The aim is to direct viewers to content that shall interest them.

They spread the link juice.

It is equally important to focus on both external and internal linking. Creating backlinks is essential. Yes, but don’t ignore internal linking. They aid in spreading the link juice to other pages of a website. While building backlinks to a page, ensure that the page has links to other relevant pages. Here’s the most important thing you should ask yourself: is the link juice reaching your monetization pages? Is it reaching your blog, information repository, and product or service pages?

They boost your page views.

You already know that anchor texts help visitors navigate to your website. They are more likely to read the articles you have linked from the original content if they are relevant. Linking through your content helps in increasing your conversion rate. Relevant links are great for assisting visitors in discovering a website. The more links they follow, the higher your page views get. You have to avoid those significant bounce rates and optimize page speeds for all this to work.

They improve PageRank

Before we move on to why internal linking is vital for PageRank, let’s define PageRank first.

PageRank is a metric devised by Google to find out how essential web pages are. This is based on the number of backlinks relieved by a website, and the score is from 0 to 10.

Pages with PageRank can increase the metric score through internal linking since that helps spread the ‘juice’ to other connected pages. As a result, the related pages slightly boost authority and rankings.

They improve time on site.

One of the best things about using internal linking is the lower bounce rate. Since you take viewers from one page to the next relevant one, they remain on your website for longer. To reduce bounce rate, link them to essential pages for them, relevant and valuable.

They help Google crawlers in indexing your site

We have saved the best for last!

Google bots are getting smarter every day. Already, they can replicate the way a human browses your website. These bots follow all the links on your pages and thus get a good idea of your site’s architecture. With a solid internal architecture backed by internal linking, crawlers can visit pages that website visitors do not often see. Thus, linking to pages increases your search engine ranking.

Now that we have seen why internal linking is so important, it’s time to make sense of it all. It is time for…

Setting up an internal linking strategy

Internal linking is for your website what cardio is in a fitness regimen.

It can jumpstart your SEO strategy when you’re stuck in a rut.

When you add relevant links on your website, you’re telling Google:

How relevant your pages are
How your pages are related
What is the value of your pages

If you want to set up an internal linking strategy, you need to proceed step by step. Of course, it all depends on your website, but there are some steps to follow.

Determine your website’s ideal structure

Imagine your website as a pyramid. At the top, you have your webpage, below which you have sections and categories. Further down, you have individual pages and posts.

It is a basic site architecture, and if constructed well, your website’s menu will reflect the structure.

Want to know how to create the ideal site structure? Click here!

Determine which one is your most important content

Once you have created the best possible site architecture, it is now time to determine which your cornerstone content is.

Not sure what cornerstone content is? Here’s a handy video!

In short, it is the content that you want people to find out the most. It is your best and most complete content. It can be the content that tells people about your company, its values, and its functions.

Now, the way to make Google know this is the critical content you have to add links to it.

Add contextual links

At the beginning of this article, we spoke about contextual linking, remember?

Well, here is where we’ll talk about that in more detail.

How can you show Google that your articles are topically related? By linking them to each other. It doesn’t need to be complicated either. You can add links in the content itself or at the very bottom of the post.

Remember, you want to show Google your cornerstone content. You have to link to your cornerstone content from all the relevant pages and the other way around.

Link hierarchical pages

Suppose your website has a hierarchical structure that interlink parent and child pages. Additionally, interlink sibling pages as well. These pages should be related to a well-organized site, and it makes sense to connect them.

Think about adding a related post section

Whether you’re using WordPress, Wix, or something else, plugins and modules add a related post section to your blogs. If you have a similar strategy, determine whether the associated posts are related. If you’re unsure, it is best to add links manually.

Add navigational links

Apart from interlinking related pages and posts, you can make your cornerstone content even more authoritative by adding links from your home page and even from the top navigation. Ideally, you should do it for posts and pages most valuable for your business. Doing this will give the pages more link value, which ultimately helps rank higher on search engines.

Add links to taxonomies.

Taxonomies, such as tags and categories, help you organize your website, and they also allow both Google and viewers to understand your content’s subject. If you have a blog page, it can be good to have internal links in taxonomies to which the post belongs. This helps Google’s bots understand your blog’s structure, and your website visitors navigate your posts with ease.

Think about adding links to recent and popular posts

It is a no-brainer. If you have recent or all-time popular posts, don’t hide them away—link to such posts from your homepage itself. There are several ways for doing this, and you can link them on the:

Sidebar
Footer

That way, viewers will see them on every page they visit!

Remember about the little thing called link value we spoke of? These pages get a boost in authority when they get more link value. Additionally, showcasing your popular and recent posts help viewers to find them easily. And more traffic is an excellent sign to Google.

We have seen the benefits of internal linking, and we have also seen how to start building an internal linking strategy for your website.

But that happens when a website has poor internal linking? How does that affect your SEO?

Let’s find that out next.

Consequences of poor internal linking

We have seen how essential internal linking is. However, they still require manual upkeep and maintenance. This is why you should have regular site audits, and not doing so can create the same kind of problems that inadequate internal linking brings.

Your website does not remain the same over time, and it goes through significant change, both in structure and content. Unfortunately, such changes tend to produce broken links, and broken links lead to a dead-end or a page that no longer exists. As you can understand, this can put off most website visitors.

So what can you do?

Each time you remove pages or migrate them to a new location, you also need to redirect their links. Find out which links direct visitors to the migrated or deleted page, remove the links or redirect them to a new URL.

Several tools will be of help to you when auditing website:

Discovering broken internal links is essential for your SEO campaigns, as is ensuring link equity from external links throughout your website.

A Recap: Why should you pay attention to internal links?

Internal links are as important as external links.

External links empower your website’s search engine ranking and visibility. Internal links influence your SEO as well.

To recap what we talked about in this article, internal links:

Help search crawlers in determining which pages are important to viewers and search engines
Deteriorate over time naturally, which necessitates the fixing of broken links
Build direct link equity, which is essential for your pages

You should undoubtedly go for external links, but don’t forget your internal links.

February 25, 2022April 26, 2022

Email marketing in 2022

The world’s first email was launched in 1970, ushering the world into a new era of communication. It eventually became a part of marketing. Once that happened, the number of email users only grew. Today, email is the mainstay of marketing globally.

As of 2020, revenue from email marketing was USD $7.5 billion across the world. It is said that by 2023, this will reach the USD 10 billion mark! While it is true that new marketing channels are coming to the forefront, few can match email marketing’s average ROI. Companies can expect to get USD 545 from every $1 they spend on ads. Thus, it is no wonder that this marketing channel has held its ground till now.

Email marketing metrics, usage and performance

Email marketing remains one of the most popular digital marketing channels. More than 80% of industry experts used it for marketing strategies in 2020. The CTR (Click-Through-Rate) of marketing emails in 2020 was 14%. The publishing sector claimed the highest share of these clicks. On the other hand, automated messages had more than 50% conversion rate.

What do viewers think of email marketing?

Email marketing is designed to connect with customers, share information, increase sales, and more. But what do customers feel about this marketing channel themselves?

Let’s find out!

When users signed up for mailing lists and newsletters, they showed interest in the company. A survey conducted in 2020 showed that for 46% of all responding mobile users, email had been the preferred business communication channel. It shows that this channel has massive potential in customer targeting and marketing.

However, studies show that the average time spent reading brand-related emails has dropped from 13 to 10 seconds. Thus, marketers have a much smaller window to engage and influence their audiences.

Did you know?

Data	Percentage
Percentage of marketers using email marketing- 82%	82%
Percentage of marketers using automated email marketing	65%
Percentage of companies using videos in email marketing campaigns	47%

– Rate of marketers using email marketing- 82%

– Percentage of marketers using automated email marketing – 65%

– Share of companies using videos in email marketing campaigns– 47%

What is the trend in 2022 and beyond?

Number of email users worldwide from 2017 to 2025 (in millions)

Number of sent and received emails per day from 2017 to 2025 (in billions)

Importance of email marketing

So far, we have seen how this marketing channel is performing now. We have seen how relevant it will be in the future. It’s now time to know the importance of email marketing.

The growth of email marketing has skyrocketed over the years, and it will only grow in the future. Every brand will try to make the most from it, giving rise to a competitive environment. So, you must focus on email marketing campaigns in 2022 and beyond.

First, we’ll tell you about the value of email marketing. Later, we’ll let you know about its current trends.

People still use email

People who say that email is dead don’t understand the power of email marketing. 83% of customers say that they still prefer email for getting communications for companies. Email marketing is so important because it works.

If your company follows an email marketing strategy, you can continue using that. To succeed in marketing through this channel, you need to look at future trends and implement those strategies that will ensure success now and beyond.

According to Radicati, it is estimated that 4.25 billion email users will still have 1.86 accounts on average. In 2019, 4.33 billion people had internal[a1] access, while 3.93 billion people had access to email.

Email strategy is faster to build and implement

You can develop and deploy an email marketing strategy overnight. It may not be easy, but it is undoubtedly more straightforward than other marketing options. By 2022, a business email shall be worth around $200 billion.

There are ample opportunities for you:

– if you know how to grow your customer base

– if you know how to use email marketing strategy

That, in brief, is why this marketing channel is still important.

Now let’s look at the email marketing trends.

Email marketing trends for 2022 and beyond

To remain competitive when marketing through this channel, you must know the latest email marketing trends.

Trend 1: User-generated content

You should undoubtedly generate and publish your content on emails, and you should implement user-generated content as well. It is essential for several reasons.

First of all, doing so gives you a chance to integrate multiple perspectives. You can personalize your messages.

Secondly, user-generated content also shows viewers that their satisfaction is a priority for you. For instance, some companies send emails with pictures of happy customers with their products. They may also give built-in social proof showing what benefits one can have by using their products.

Trend 2: Hyper segmentation and personalization

Gone are the days of sending out just one weekly email to your subscriber list. Today, segmentation and personalization are more effective. You need to send the right content to the right user, at the right time and through the right channel.

For instance, if your customers tend to buy around 6 PM, sending emails around this time can be more effective. The more personalized your messages are, the more interested they’ll be. However, segmentation can only go so far. You will also need to gather as much information as possible about your customers. It, however, will be a challenge for marketers this year, primarily due to the end of third-party cookies.

Trend 3: Omnichannel communication

Email is undoubtedly effective, but the effectiveness can multiply when combined with other channels. Such channels include social media, SMS, web-push notifications, and more. With just a few channels, restricting yourself may also limit your growth and reach.

Omnichannel marketing campaigns are more effective than multichannel marketing. You can adjust the messages on every platform to reflect a user’s activity. Thus you can personalize messages, which lead to more leads and sales.

Trend 4: AR and VR

These two are the most exciting emerging developments, crucial for business and personal lives. Different companies are taking baby steps to implement these technologies, but the marketers face challenges in implementing them. Thankfully, AR and VR are becoming more accessible across various devices and systems.

For instance, Apple has integrated AR into their iPads and iPhones. It lets its customers view AR content from their email app and other native apps. Users can send basic 2D images in emails, expanding into 3D AR objects on tapping or clicking.

Before you use AR and VR, know that desktop and Android users can still enjoy such AR content. It goes for VR content as well.

While the use of VR has rapidly increased, it is still used by less than 20% of people in the US.

Trend 5: Interactivity

Interactive content certainly attracts more viewers; they stand out as creative and unique. If you want your emails to stand out, you need to focus on making your content more interactive and engaging.

You can get authentic customer feedback through forms, surveys and polls. You can also emphasise how much you care about their experiences through these.

Gamification is gaining ground. For instance, Neil Patel’s blog had a ‘wheel of fortune’ for viewers to win random gifts.

To sum up

Email marketing is evolving every year, and these changes are due to maturing regulations, new technologies, and a few other factors. To stay ahead of your competitors, you must know the latest email marketing trends and adjust your plans and campaigns accordingly.

February 17, 2022March 31, 2022

Why do brands jump to NFT trends?

Bitcoin has been making headlines for some time now. It is hugely popular around the world and many governments are making laws to regulate crypto trading. However, there is another digital asset that is rising simultaneously. This new asset is NFT, which looks like it will be here for a long time!

NFTs, or Non-fungible tokens, have a lot to offer to the world and work in tandem with blockchain. We’ll get to that in a bit, though.

In this article, we are going to tell you:

– What NFT is

– How it is used

– How brands are using it (with real examples!)

Now, let’s begin.

What is an NFT?

NFT, or non-fungible tokens, are non-interchangeable units of data. These are stored on the blockchain in digital ledgers. Thus, NFTs can be sold and traded. There are several NFT digital assets like photos, audio and video. However, NFTs are different from crypto-currencies since each of these tokens are individually identifiable.

Why are brands using this technology?

It is because of NFT’s versatility. You can use them to represent virtual creative works in fashion, virtual world-building, virtual real estate, virtual vehicles, virtual apparel, and so much more.

Before studying how different brands are using NFTs, know why they do so.

How can brands use NFTs?

The use of NFTs brings a number of benefits for a brand. Here are some of them:

– Create hype about the ownership of a virtual item

– Leverage the existing fan base to increase sales, hype or goodwill

– Allows you to create a larger market by reselling

– Create excitement among viewers about the pre-launch of events and products

– It opens a new revenue stream for you. You can earn by selling digital products or associated products that complement the physical item.

Here are how some brands are using NFTs.

How are brands using NFTs all over the world?

Below you’ll see how some of the top brands use NFTs?

Taco Bell’s Taco-llectables

Taco Bell – a fast-food brand popular in the USA and beyond, recently introduced its taco-llectables on Rarible. Rarible is an online marketplace. What happened was that Taco Bell sold out its first batch of virtual collectables quickly!

Here’s what the company did!

They created five distinct NFTs and sold them in five batches.

On Twitter, the brand said, “Our Spicy Potato Soft Tacos can now live in your hearts, stomachs, and digital wallets.” For all their troubles, the company will get 0.01% of all sales in the future. All of the earnings will go to the Taco Bell Foundation, an institution that helps people in pursuing their careers.

Smart, right?

Certainly, but wait to see how the following brand is using NFT.

Nike

Nike has been one of the first few prominent brands that understood NFTs significance. The company has been silently observing the growing desire for digital sneakers for some time. It even received a patent for tokenizing digital sneakers.

Here’s what happens:

Whenever customers buy a physical shoe, they unlock NFT tokens from Nike. The company gives them a digital copy of the purchase, which collectively represents CryptoKick. These tokens are assigned by blockchain to properly verify the authenticity and ownership of privileges assigned to those digital shoes.

The great thing about these assets is that the owners remain in complete control. For instance, they can sell rights to third parties who can mix show designs. They can also limit how many times the asset can be copied or cloned. NFTs record essential information about the product, such as its design, color and style. Thus, owners can mix and match to create their custom type. You can monetize this indefinitely as long as they have the ownership.

This idea from Nike is similar to CryptoKitties, but is a bit better than that! Owners get their unique shoe pairs which are secured forever through blockchain. They can see the ancestral tree of their digital footwear’s development as well.

Cool, isn’t it?

Yes, but wait till you see what the next brand did.

Louis Vuitton

The fashion industry is another entity with a keen interest in NFTs. Various fashion houses worldwide are studying this technology, and its use in the industry. They believe that NFTs natural scarcity, coupled with its ability to accrue value over time, can bridge the gap between the real and virtual fashion.

By collaborating with League of Legends from Riot Games, Louis Vuitton created a special skin. This skin is named the True Damage Qiyana Prestige Edition. It showcases the gaming champion’s weapon covered in the unique Louis Vuitton pattern.

We have seen how some brands are using this revolutionary technology.

Let’s now see how Augmented Reality is used in NFTs.

Augmented Reality & NFTs

Till now, we have seen what NFTs are and how we can interact with them.

We have also seen how brands are using them.

However, this is not the only way NFTs exist in the world. Right now, people are taking baby steps in using this technology. There’s a lot more potential, but that’ll come in time as brands start discovering more benefits.

Due to the lockdowns over the past two years, artists had more time to develop unique and creative digital products. For instance, in 2021, there were AR NFTs. These are interactive 3D visual items, can be used in virtual environments, and are cooler than traditional NFTs. You can experience AR NFTs in a virtual world like multiverses, but traditional ones are little more than the items on your desktop.

The virtual designs of Andrés Reisinger, an Argentinian designer, are an excellent example of this. He created and sold at an NFT auction ten pieces of surrealist furniture.

But what’s great about that?

Here’s what: if you own one of them, you can use them anywhere in the multiverse forever. These 3D models thus work through virtual and augmented reality. These can be used by gaming platforms like Unreal Engines and Unity to develop animations, games and even CGI movies. The developer, Andrés Reisinger, will also turn certain virtual items into physical ones!

As you can see, VR, AR and the avatar economy are trending now. And who knows, in the future, NFT may well be one of the ways to conduct business in the metaverse.

For brands, it means that those who take the jump early may benefit faster. Those who don’t may fall behind.

How will you know if your brand should use NFTs?

Virtual worlds shall only continue to grow from here on. The opportunities to build, use and sell virtual assets shall also grow. With more people coming into metaverses, demand for these assets shall continue to grow.

Your brand must act now. Acting later may mean losing the initiative against your competitors. The metaverse is big enough for both buyers and sellers. The clock is ticking!!

February 11, 2022March 21, 2022

Omnichannel Marketing In 2022

Did you know that 86% of online shoppers channel hop? It includes hopping not only across online shops but across multiple channels too.

Sometimes, people make online purchases even when waiting in a shopping queue. They seldom want to wait anymore. If an online shopping portal offers a better experience, they will go for it.

Because of such an emerging trend, an omnichannel marketing strategy is essential for your company.

Businesses worldwide are waking up to realize that they need to offer a consistent experience across multiple channels to be on top of their industry.

Your business needs to understand the importance of omnichannel marketing. Only then can you maximize your ROI by creating a unique online experience for your customers.

In this article, you’ll see a comprehensive guide on Omnichannel Marketing. We’ll show you trends, tips, and marketing strategies galore. By the time you finish reading it, you’ll know how to use omnichannel marketing to take your company to new heights.

Let’s begin.

What is omnichannel marketing?

Don’t be scared of the complicated words. They don’t bite!

Before we come to omnichannel marketing, let us talk about single-channel marketing.

Let’s say that you have got a lovely email list of people for your newest sales campaign. Now, again let’s say 20-30% of the readers decide to buy your stuff.

It is single-channel marketing. Instead of emails, it can also be online ads and similar things. You get coupons and leaflets as sales promotion items, which induces you to purchase.

Now, omnichannel marketing can also be named ‘multichannel marketing’ because that is what it is. It is the tactic of creating and enhancing your brand’s presence across multiple channels. Such channels can include SMS, Email, social media, various apps, websites, and online ads.

Besides these, it can also have offline channels like special promotional events, retail store sales promotion tactics, call centre customer service, and others. The aim is to give customers a positive and seamless experience, no matter which channel mix you choose.

Words like ‘seamless’ and ‘positive’ are not thrown around casually. Studies show that 67% of online customers say that they move away from websites offering lousy customer experiences.

Omnichannel marketing is unique because it provides your customers with a positive and seamless experience throughout their journey.

Why is Omnichannel marketing important?

Omnichannel marketing is crucial because it lets you develop a positive experience for your customers. You can do so for every stage of a buyer’s journey.

Take what Starbucks did, for example. They were the first in their industry to develop an app through which people could pre-order coffee and pick it up later. Such a change was revolutionary and soon became immensely popular, especially in the corporate sector. They could now pre-order their favourite coffee brew, pick it up on their way home, and enjoy it at leisure!

Before, they had to go home, tired after a day’s work and make their blend. Through their new app, Starbucks made ordering and paying more manageable. 29% of in-app payments were made through smartphones. Therefore, the company enhanced customer experience and used omnichannel marketing to boost its revenue.

Why do you need Omnichannel Marketing?

Harvard Business Review teamed up with a significant US retail company to conduct a 14-month long study. The purpose of the study was to understand customers’ shopping behaviour. For this, they interviewed more than 46,000 shoppers.

It is what they found:

– 7% only did online shopping

– 20% only shopped at physical stores

– 73% used multiple channels throughout the shopping journey.

The study also found that the more channels goods and services went through, the more valuable they seemed to the buyers. For instance, it was found that customers going through more than four marketing channels spent 9% more time in stores than those who only went through one channel.

It proves that omnichannel marketing is essential. It is the need of the hour, and customers demand it. Now, retailers around the world have to re-analyze their customer journey. They then have to find new ways to acquire more customers and engage and retain them. It is possible only by offering positive experiences across all channels.

It is time to focus on omnichannel marketing strategies more than the traditional marketing avenues.

Pros and Cons of Omnichannel marketing vs Multichannel marketing

Multichannel marketing shines when you need to grow your reach, expand your customer base and multiply sales. However, there is no transparency between channels due to a lack of cohesiveness.

Instead of working together towards a common goal, these channels compete. All of these result in an inconsistent customer experience across the channels.

Omnichannel marketing ensures transparency and consistency by keeping all touchpoints together and by offering a seamless customer experience.

How to create the perfect omnichannel experience for your customers?

Start by understanding your customers.

Get a profound understanding of the issues they face and how you can solve them. Going back to the example of Starbucks, they found out that their customers’ pain point is that they don’t want to stand in long queues for buying coffee. The company then used this demand to develop an omnichannel experience.

When trying to understand your customers and their pain points, you also need to see:

– What are their challenges? Which devices are they using?

– What is their purchasing behaviour?

– Which platform are they using frequently?

– How do they interact with brands across multiple touchpoints?

Collating this data will help you discover the vital touchpoints to focus on.

Thus, you can make a seamless and customized experience. You can also identify common problems faced by your customers and their solutions.

Now, let’s see how you can build the best possible omnichannel marketing strategy for your purpose.

How to create the best possible omnichannel marketing strategy?

Let us take a brief look at how Disney created an omnichannel marketing strategy that suited their situation. The company did this to improve its customer experience at Disney’s theme parks. This is what Disney did: they streamlined the booking process, added ride timing information, and a host of other amenities on their dedicated app. All these meant that customers no longer needed to stand in long queues.

Exciting, right?

To create an omnichannel like Disney, you primarily need data and a marketing strategy based on it.

Here’s how to create an omnichannel marketing strategy?

1. Plan customer experiences: Understand your customers’ preferred communication channels and their behaviour on all those channels. Then you can create a plan for creating an experience across all those touchpoints.

2. Use data to strategize: You can discover how your customers behave by studying CRM data, customer’s online search behaviour, and social media data. You can then analyze these to understand their pain points and design a solution around them.

3. Personalize their journey by segmenting users: You can easily segment users into multiple categories after data analysis. This division should be based on common behaviour patterns. Segmenting will help in creating personalized journeys for each customer group.

4. Context is crucial: You don’t want to send the wrong message to the wrong customer at the wrong time. If you do so, customers won’t engage with your messages creating an unwanted impact on the brand. So make sure that the messages you send to them are super relevant. Send them when they are most active and on the channel, they frequently visit.

5. Pick the ideal marketing tools: Don’t go by what other companies do. The marketing tools that you need can be different from others. Before selecting, do a comprehensive analysis of your situation and what you require.

6. Your company needs to become customer-centric: Strategies won’t help if your employees are not trained enough to give a consistent experience to customers individually. So, prepare your resources to have a customer-centric approach.

By now, you understand what omnichannel marketing is and how you can create the best possible strategy for yourself.

It is now time to learn how to implement that in your organization.

Here’s how to boost your ROI with omnichannel marketing!

If you want to create the best possible online experience for your customers, you have to convince your management to invest in omnichannel marketing.

Explain how it can boost your ROI. To do that, here are four curated steps.

1. Give consistent messages: Messaging needs to remain consistent across all touchpoints. Train your staff to automate your customer relations by implementing a CRM solution and personalizing content for each stage of a customer’s buying journey.

2. Give a consistent experience: To improve your customers’ LTV (Lifetime Value), your company needs to deliver a consistent experience across the various touchpoints. Align your strategy with an appropriately trained team for smooth and consistent customer experiences. Quickly respond to their queries and feedback provide solutions without any noticeable delay.

3. Consistent communication: It is essential to have consistency across all channels. Thus, customers will remain guided across all the channels during their journey.

4. Data-driven marketing: Personalization is the keyword. Use raw data fetched by a CRM solution to understand your customers. Use the understanding to create engaging content and enhance their interaction with the brand on relevant channels.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

Despite having the best marketing strategy and automation tools, sometimes campaigns fail.

Marketers continue to face problems in developing a consistent omnichannel experience.

It can be due to two reasons. Either they cannot manage data across multiple channels, or they cannot use the data optimally to create the desired customer experience.

What’s the result?

The dreaded customer churn!

Here are seven common mistakes marketers make and what they can do instead.

– Ineffective content strategy: You can’t be successful in marketing without a plan. Understand your customers thoroughly, draft a proper content plan to bring your target audience on the same page, generate relevant and personalized content to invoke their interest and engage them with your brand.

– Not using data optimally: Did you know that more than 79% of the executives believe that companies will fail if they don’t use big data solutions? Sadly, marketers have, till now, not been able to use data for this purpose optimally. We often choose the wrong data or fail to create the most effective strategy optimally. It will pay more to take time and correctly use the available information.

– Isolated analytics: The lines between offline and online channels tend to blur. It is where you may lose tracking the effectiveness of individual touchpoints. It disrupts your strategy. So, why not take all the touchpoints into account simultaneously instead?

– Not taking action on new findings: If you fail to take immediate, actionable steps on available data, you won’t positively impact your strategies. To fix this and implement the latest technology, hire the right resources to analyze the user data and break it into actionable suggestions. The marketing team can then use it for making better effective strategies.

– Ineffective strategy: Poor strategy is the primary reason for poor and inconsistent customer experiences. As a result, you lose them. Take a data-driven and customer-centric approach to develop effective strategies and work with them.

– Implementation failure: Sometimes, campaigns fail due to problems in implementation. It can be due to a lack of cohesion within your marketing divisions. It can also be due to a lack of understanding, or due to a lack of clear goal. Before creating such a campaign, be sure that your personnel know what the aim is, and what each of their roles are. Ensure that they have proper technical knowledge as well.

– Measuring KPI: The entire campaign can be pretty long, and it can be challenging to understand its effectiveness in its entirety. Instead, you can have KPIs to check how many you have achieved at every stage. Breaking down the process into different steps and evaluating their effectiveness exposes anomalies and gives you a better chance to correct them. It helps in ensuring more effectiveness.

Now you know how to create an effective omnichannel marketing strategy.

Finally, it is time to learn about the trends expected to make a significant impact on omnichannel marketing in 2022.

Omnichannel marketing trends 2022

Omnichannel marketing is the big thing that’s set to transform businesses. There are omnichannel marketing trends that stand to make a significant impact in 2022 and beyond. Whether you have just started investing in omnichannel marketing or have been doing so for a long time, it is essential to know what works. You are on the right page if you have yet to try this!

Here are the trends that have a great potential to improve business and related brands.

Omnichannel is better than multichannel.

Omnichannel marketing is customer-focused, while multichannel marketing strategies are brand-focused and channel-centric. In a multichannel strategy, you use various channels to spread your message without paying much attention to individual customer behaviours.

Multichannel marketing aims to reach the maximum number of people using the maximum number of channels. Since it is channel-centric, the success of your promotional message will depend on the channel.

Omnichannel marketing is not focused on platforms and devices. Its focus is on its target audience and thus aims to give a consistent message and a seamless experience throughout all touchpoints.

Omnichannel marketing is more agile and effective and thus will surpass multichannel marketing.

Video marketing is rising

Videos are a dynamic way of disseminating a message. It is becoming increasingly popular with time. More and more companies are investing in video marketing now. If you want to get your news out, a few ways can be better. Go for video marketing to unify your marketing channels and make your customers’ journey engaging.

Videos can :

– announce information about your brand

– showcase your products, services and ideas

– highlight important information

– lower bounce rate on your websites

– give an engagement that is professional and informative

– boost your SEO rankings with long-form video content

Finally, video content is excellent for omnichannel marketing. That’s because these work effectively on social platforms, mobile platforms and physical locations. Thus, you get a unified experience for your consumers.

Site search is becoming more important

A website search.

That’s what a practical omnichannel experience begins with.

It is essential to know what your customers are looking for and when. Only then can you present it to them at the right time.

A common mistake that both big e-commerce stores and smaller companies often make is ignoring internal search functionality. It is a grave mistake. If, even after searching, your website is not found, you can lose a lot of potential customers. As many as 68% of online shoppers won’t return if your website’s search results are poor.

Here’s what you can do.

– Add some more relevant keywords

– Give brand-specific messages

Then your customers shall find what they are searching for, which will boost your sales.

Digital payment trend is on the rise

You may have noticed that even your local shops are now accepting digital payments.

With the constant evolution of the global industry and economy, cash is fast becoming obsolete. Brands are more focused on increasing sales, and thus, we are now relying more on digital payment methods.

Because of changing customer preferences for digital payment, companies have started adopting an omnichannel approach to online payments. If you don’t want to fall behind, you need to ensure that your business supports all payment options. You may even lose customers if you aren’t accepting digital payments.

From 2022 onwards, more and more customers expect to pay digitally for almost everything. Thus, the use of cryptocurrencies, mobile wallets, virtual credit cards, and other online payment methods shall increase.

Offering these payment options will surely help you boost sales brand loyalty and retain customers.

Brick and mortar stores aren’t going anywhere

While this is a digital age and you can buy almost everything online, people still prefer physical stores.

Digital stores and e-commerce platforms give a lot of apparent benefits like lower prices, higher discounts, more choices, and so on. However, there are issues too. Customers don’t like waiting for delivery or buying things with colossal shipping and delivery costs. What may add to these challenges is payment processing issues.

In the case of physical stores, you only need to walk over there. There are no advertisements to bore you.

What does that mean for you?

It means that you can create a relevant omnichannel experience. Here the customers’ journey online needs to sync with in-person marketing tactics. You also need to improve your portal’s Customer Experience or CX.

Is Omnichannel Marketing worth the investment?

You or your company’s marketers may still be asking: is it worth the effort?

Here are some statistics that may show you why it is so important. With an omnichannel marketing strategy:

– Customer retention is +90%

– Marketers are seeing a +250% engagement rate when compared to single-channel marketing

– The value of the average order rose by +19%.

Creating an omnichannel marketing strategy means that your team has a more defined plan to work with. It also calls for combining technical and marketing experiences and studying massive amounts of data.

But in the end, you’ll be able to create refined customer experiences. And that’s what it all matters!

January 21, 2022February 11, 2022

Personal Branding vs Corporate Branding

Corporate and Personal Branding

Is there a difference between the two?

Yes and no.

Branding over time

The concept of ‘brand’ first originated amongst farmers and ranchers to designate the cattle which belonged to them. The branding technique was used throughout history in several countries, and the method is still used today. Branding cattle helped one to identify cattle among others.

Gradually, it gained corporate meaning as well. Corporate branding started with its logo and gradually evolved to include the entire company, its activities, corporate individuals, products and services. In other words, the concept has taken a holistic and more inclusive meaning. By holistic brands, we refer to identifying an individual or an entity by the attributes of their brands, their intrinsic values.

Corporate brands

A corporate brand is a collection of a company’s customer’s perception, purpose, values, performance, corporate social responsibility and market dominance, to name a few. It is an aggregate of what its customers perceive and think about a company. For instance, Tata is known for its wide range of services, products, and corporate social responsibility activities. It is a valued entity not just in the corporate sector, its peers and industry but even for society.

Additionally, a corporate brand also refers to how valuable its products and services are. For instance, Maggi is quite a prominent brand in the instant food industry.

Sometimes, brands become more well-known or prominent than the company itself! Take the Xerox machine, for instance. The Xerox Corporation manufactures it. But their product is so well known that the device is synonymous with photocopying. Very few people know the name of its manufacturing company.

Again, consider the brand Dettol. It is known worldwide as an antiseptic, and this product is available in almost every home due to affordable pricing, marketing, and a host of other variables. However, how many people know the name of its manufacturing company?

For some customers, sporting certain branded items like a Rolex watch or a BMW car show off their status. People love to own products from premium brands to upgrade their lifestyle and position in society.

Personal Brands

A personal brand is similar to a corporate brand, but it is certainly not the same thing.

It is similar because it comprises values, purpose, community service, and market dominance. Just like well-known corporate brands like Dettol and Xerox have high perceived values. An individual with valuable abilities is held in high regard. Take motivational speakers, for example. There are many motivational speakers, but the ones at the top have the highest perceived value, and this is due to their skillsets, their public image – that’s their brand.

One unique thing about personal brands, as opposed to corporate brands, is developing into a devout following. Take personalities like Michelle Obama, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and others. Personal brands influence public opinion, individual’s life and living. People with branded identity have followers who value every word from the influencer; they wait for their next action.

What is the difference between a Personal Brand and a Corporate Brand?

Image source: https://keydifferences.com

By now, you have looked at corporate and personal brands. While elaborating on them, we have even touched upon the differences.

But there are certainly more differences!

Most corporate organizations are very conscious of their corporate identity and pay great attention to it. They invest significant resources for building its image according to their agenda, increasing its popularity and creating a desire to own it. Different companies have a dedicated department for their branding.

On the other hand, most people tend to ignore their personal brand.

The biggest difference is that most people are unaware that branding involves attention, strategy and commitment. Companies know it, but people either know it or tend to overlook it.

Now that you know about the difference between the two, the next logical question is…

Should you focus on personal branding or business branding?

It is recommended that you begin with developing a personal brand. This is because if you start by building your personal brand, you’ll define your mission, values, vision and message. You’ll also know to whom you are offering your products and services and why. And as you can see, some of these elements overlap with business branding as well.

Thus, developing a personal brand is the primary step to creating a corporate brand.

As you define your mission and vision and build your personal brand, you start off on the right foot. Your business or company is an extension of yourself. It is also easier to start off by creating a personal brand because, in the beginning, your business or company does not have a personality. When you focus on creating a personal brand, you lend it character.

But creating a personal brand demands a clear vision and persistence, and it may expose your brand to more vulnerability. During adverse situations, there is nothing you can hide.

If this is not something you want to go for, you can create a corporate brand.

To begin with, you need to create an appealing story around the brand and personality of your company or business. It will interest your target audience to know about your brand. This can include making an avatar, a cartoon, or something similar.

Regardless of your path, the content you create should be informative, practical, engaging, and unparalleled. You can’t build a successful brand overnight; it takes years of consistent effort.

Where to begin?

Start by asking yourself these questions:

What is your purpose?
What are you here for?
What do you want to achieve?
Why are you offering this product or service?

What’s next?

Image source: https://insightbasedcoaching.com/

Should you build a corporate brand first to earn money?

If you hate the thought of being a public person or an online leader, then yes, start with business branding.

Personal brand building can be more effective, though, and it certainly brings revenue faster. Besides, it brings in sustainability. We recommend creating a personal brand and transforming it into a corporate brand.