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Google Introduces Rich Results Tool for Testing Structured Data by @MattGSouthern

12/31/2017

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Google Introduces Rich Results Tool for Testing Structured Data by @MattGSouthern

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Google has introduced a catch-all tool for testing rich snippets, rich cards, and other “rich” additions to a website’s content.

Keeping things simple, Google has coined the phrase “rich results” to refer to all of these, which means its new tool is called the rich results testing tool.

Google’s new testing tool will test for all types of structured data that can be shown as rich results. It tests data sources such as JSON-LD, Microdata, and RDFa. It offers a more accurate representation of how a page is displayed in search results, as well as the ability to test structured data within dynamically loaded content.

Currently, the rich results testing tool is able to test the following types of structured data: recipes, jobs, movies, and courses. Google notes this is just the first step, and support for more data types will be rolled out over time.

Using the rich results testing tool is just like using any of Google’s other testing tools. Enter the URL, run it through the tool, and review the results. Invalid code will be highlighted, so you’ll know exactly what to fix if there are any issues.

If and when you’re satisfied with the results of the test, the page can be submitted to Google’s index directly from the testing tool.





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December 31, 2017 at 07:00PM
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Google Integrating Third Party Reviews in Local Search Results by @MattGSouthern

12/31/2017

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Google Integrating Third Party Reviews in Local Search Results by @MattGSouthern

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Google has been spotted integrating reviews from third party sources in the Knowledge Graph cards for Google My Business listings.

Third party reviews from sites like TripAdvisor have been showing up in Knowledge Graph cards for hotels and resorts. These are included along with reviews left directly on Google.

To be clear, this is different from the other update this year which saw Google aggregating reviews from third party sites within the “Reviews” tab. Third party reviews are now appearing after clicking on “View all reviews,” which is somewhere they weren’t appearing previously.

As you can see in the screenshot above, reviews include full text as well as the source where they were originally published. If the full text of a third party review doesn’t fit, then there will be a link to read in full at the original source.

In addition, reviews can also be filtered by source by clicking on the “All reviews” drop down menu. Choices include Google, Expedia, Booking.com, Agoda, and Hotels.com.





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December 31, 2017 at 07:00PM
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Negative Google Reviews from Former Employees Are Now Against Guidelines by @MattGSouthern

12/31/2017

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Negative Google Reviews from Former Employees Are Now Against Guidelines by @MattGSouthern

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Google has updated its Google My Business review guidelines with more specific information about conflicts of interest.

According to Google’s new review guidelines, posting negative reviews about a current or former employer is considered a conflict of interest.

Moreover, since these types of reviews are now against Google’s guidelines, businesses can request to have them removed. So if some disgruntled employees are messing with your review score, you can get those troublesome reviews wiped out.

These guidelines are now in line with Google’s review policies, which suggest not reviewing your own business or employer. Although that’s slightly different from the most recent update, which specifies negative reviews are not allowed.

Does that mean positive reviews about a current or former employer are perfectly fine? Technically both are conflicts of interest, but who’s going to report a positive review?

Another distinct difference between the old and new guidelines is that former employees are now prohibited from leaving reviews of their ex-employer. The older guidelines stated that reviews are only a conflict of interest when left by current employees.

The bottom line is reviews of employers are not allowed, whether the person currently works there or not. Those wanting to leave reviews of their employer, negative or positive, would be better off doing so on a site like Glassdoor.





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December 31, 2017 at 07:00PM
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Googles Most Searched Fads of 2017 by @MattGSouthern

12/31/2017

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Google’s Most Searched Fads of 2017 by @MattGSouthern

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Google’s Year in Search continues as the company looks back on the most searched fads of 2017.

Often times, search trends can be an indication of what’s going to be popular in the future. Other times, trending searches can pick up steam and fizzle out just as quickly.

This is a look back on search trends that hit their peak in 2017 before the craze began to die down. Will any of these have staying power in 2018? Read on to be the judge.

Unicorns

We reached peak unicorn in 2017, Google says, as Starbucks’ Unicorn Frappuccino led to an influx of searches for all kinds of Unicorn-style food and beverage.

Unicorn cake, hot chocolate, and cheesecake were among some of the more popular items. Searches for Unicorn cuisine spanned all corners of the globe, with “how many calories are in a Unicorn Frappuccino?” being the number one calorie-related query.

Slime

Slime was all the rage in 2017, with “how to make slime?” being the number one “how-to” question of the year. Sure enough, that soon led to a rise in searches for “how to get slime out of carpet?” This may be a rare instance where correlation does imply causation.

Celebrity Animals

Unicorns had to share the spotlight with a couple of animals who had their 15 minutes of fame in 2017. A giraffe named April was trending in Google Search following a live stream of her pregnancy. A baby hippo named Fiona generated a lot of searches for being born prematurely, and a rescue dog named Marnie captured searchers hearts.

Memes

The top 5 trending memes of 2017 were:

  • “Cash me outside”
  • ”United Airlines”
  • ”Elf on the Shelf”
  • ”What in Tarnation?”
  • ”Mocking Spongebob”

Acronyms

The rise of popular acronyms had searchers taking to Google to find out what they mean. Some of the top trending acronyms of 2017 include:

  • WCW (woman crush Wednesday)
  • TFW (that feeling when)
  • GOAT (greatest of all time)
  • OFC (of course)

That’s a wrap for 2017! Any guesses on what the next big search trend might be in 2018?





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December 31, 2017 at 03:30PM
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Beyond Followers: How to Create a Killer Instagram to Funnel Customers

12/31/2017

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Beyond Followers: How to Create a Killer Instagram to Funnel Customers

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instagram customer funnel

More than 800 million people across the world use Instagram every month to share and view photos or videos.

But they also use the platform to shop.

According to Statista, Instagram will generate $6.84 billion in mobile ad revenue in 2018. That’s a huge increase from the $1.86 billion that they generated in 2016.

Brands also receive four times more engagement on Instagram than they do on Facebook. Better yet, as many as 14% of users are likely to buy items directly from the app itself.

Whether you want to sell products directly or to boost your brand’s exposure, Instagram is the best platform to do it.

Here’s how you can create a killer Instagram to funnel customers.

To get started, you should integrate Shopify with your Instagram account so that you can sell products right from your page.

Sell directly from your account with Shopify

Shopify is currently testing shoppable Instagram posts that allow customers to buy items directly off of Instagram.

This is a similar concept to what we’ve already seen with Buyable Pins on Pinterest.

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With shoppable Instagram posts, you can turn any post into a buyable one.

E-commerce stores can sell to buyers right in the Instagram app, and users will never have to leave the app to go to an external website.

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However, since this feature is only available to some brands as a beta release, LIKEtoKNOW.it is an alternative that you can start using right now.

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The service allows users to take screenshots from the Instagram platform and shop right from the app.

If you want to send users to your website from Instagram, you need to add a call to action (CTA) and a link in your bio.

Put a CTA in your bio to direct users to your website

There aren’t a ton of places to add in extra text on Instagram.

That’s why you should use the space that is available, like your bio, to add texts and links.

Use this space to insert a CTA that directs followers back to your website like this example from Topshop.

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They added “Click to shop” with a link to their site.

Your CTA doesn’t have to send people right to your site’s product page. You can use it to promote anything you want, like an app or a new blog post.

If you want to share multiple links from your bio, try using a paid tool like Link In Profile. With this tool, one single link on Instagram takes users to tons of alternate links.

Here’s what the single link will look like in your bio:

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Once a user clicks on the link, it will take them to a page that looks something like this:

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Another easy way to funnel customers is by working with influencers to gain impressions and increase your brand’s reach.

Collaborate with influencers to gain impressions and boost engagement

The Instagram influencer-marketing industry is worth over $1 billion.

Top influencers like Selena Gomez, who has over 122 million followers, can earn over $550,000 per post. Kim Kardashian earns an average of $500,000 per post.

The average cost of a sponsored post on Instagram is much less. It’s about $300.

Desi Perkins is a great example of an effective influencer. Perkins works in the beauty industry and has 3.6 million followers.

One of her sponsored posts from July 2017 earned over 72,000 likes.

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Your brand can find the same kind of success if you create partnerships with the right influencers in your industry.

You can leverage their following to bring awareness to your brand or products. And since their followers trust their voice, it won’t feel like an ad. It will feel like a recommendation.

To get started on your search for the right influencers, use a free tool like BuzzSumo.

Enter the topic that relates to your desired post, navigate over to the “Influencers” tab, and you’ll see tons of related influencers to choose from.

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Buzzsumo will give you statistics about each influencer, including their total number of followers, reply ratio, and the average number of retweets.

However, just because an influencer has tons of followers, doesn’t mean that they’re successful. A large portion of their audience could be fake.

That’s why the next step is to type an influencer’s username into Social Blade to view their analytics.

If their following is legitimate, you should see a steady increase.

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If there are a ton of increases and decreases, they’ve probably paid for a large portion of their followers.

The higher an influencer’s following, the more a sponsored post will cost. Choosing a user with a modest-sized, engaged following is probably your best bet.

Your followers can also raise brand awareness for you.

Boost brand awareness with user-generated content

User-generated content is an easy way for you to interact with your followers while also boosting your exposure.

A quick and simple way to do this is to create a shared hashtag that encourages users to share photos of your products.

For example, Wayfair’s hashtag is #wayfairathome.

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The tag is full of users sharing photos of products purchased from Wayfair.

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Brands can then repost this content and tag the customer who posted the photo. This allows you to get the most engagement possible out of one user-generated photo.

And as you’re building awareness, don’t forget about Instagram ads. They’re an obvious way to funnel customers. But there are a ton to choose from, which can be intimidating.

Target buyer personas in every stage of the funnel with Instagram ads

Facebook Ads Manager creates and manages Instagram ads. But you have to connect your brand’s Instagram page to your brand’s Facebook page to get started.

Once you’ve connected them, you can use all of the ad-targeting options that Facebook allows on your Instagram account.

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Once you select your audience, all you’ll have to pay for is the cost per acquisition.

If one of your Facebook posts got a ton of love, try using that post to create an Instagram ad.

Stories ads will appear in the “Stories” area of Instagram.

Create single-image and single-video Stories ads

Instagram Stories ads are the ads that users see between their followers’ stories. Instagram Stories are similar to Snapchat stories since they disappear in 24 hours.

There are recommended sizes for images and video in Facebook Ads Manager that you should check out before you create an ad on Instagram.

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With Stories ads, you can choose between single-image or single-video ads.

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When creating your ad campaign, select “Reach” as your objective. Then, choose “Stories.”

Single-image ads allow you to create as many as six ads with one image in each ad. Every ad will look like a regular Instagram story, but it will have a “Sponsored” tag on it.

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All you have to do is upload your images. Be sure to check out your selections in the “Show Advanced Options” area to turn on advanced tracking features.

Single-video Stories ads consist of a 15-second GIF or video.

1499966252 844 this man is taking instagram stories to mind blowing new levels

To create a single-video Stories ad, begin by uploading your video or GIF. Just like single-image Stories ads, you’ll want to check out your selections in the Advanced Options area.

If you have over 10,000 followers, you’ll also be able to add links to your Instagram stories

This means that you can inserts CTAs in your stories that direct followers to “swipe up” or “read more.”

If you want viewers to check out a product, blog post, or page on your site, all you have to do is insert the link on your photo or video.

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Here’s what a post directing viewers to a blog post might look like:

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You can also include hashtags in your Stories.

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You’ll want to make sure that the hashtag you use relates to your brand and the photo or video that you post.

Aside from Stories ads, feed ads are another way to funnel customers right from the platform.

Use photo, video, carousel, and slideshow feed ads

Instagram feed ads are made up of photo ads, video ads, carousel ads, and slideshow ads.

Photo ads are single-image ads, much like single-image Stories ads, but they will appear in a user’s photo feed. You can create as many as six ads with one image each.

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Single ads are probably the easiest ads to make. Start by choosing the images you want to include.

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Next, you’ll want to add a caption for the ad in the text field. You can add up to 300 characters, but Facebook recommends using around 125 characters per ad.

Add a website URL if you want to send people from the ad to your site.

The Display Link, Headline, and News Feed Link Description fields don’t apply to Instagram ads, so you can leave those blank.

Single-video ads, on the other hand, are made up of a GIF or video.

giphy

Choose a video from your library or upload a new one to get started. Then, select a thumbnail generated by Facebook or upload a custom one.

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Include a caption in the text box just like you would with a photo ad. Add your website URL and a CTA button if you want to direct traffic back to your site.

You can also create carousel and slideshow ads. Both of them show off more than one image or video at a time.

Carousel ads include two or more videos or images.

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You’ll need to create cards for your ad. You can add as many as ten cards per ad. The headline, which is the first line of your caption, will be different for every card.

Captions, on the other hand, stay the same for all images and videos.

Add a destination URL for your CTA button and leave the description blank. Your CTA button will be the same for each card.

You should also leave the “See More URL” and “See More Display URL” sections blank. Those are for Facebook carousel ads.

Slideshow ads are basically carousel ads that scroll on their own. You can add up to ten images to a slideshow ad.

slideshow example

To make a slideshow ad, upload a premade slideshow or create a new one in Facebook Ads Manager.

You can customize the aspect ratio, image duration, and transition.

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You can also arrange your images and insert music.

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Once you choose a thumbnail, create a caption and insert a URL if needed.

Another unique way to showcase your products to funnel customers is to let users build their own products.

Let users build their own products

If you want to take your Instagram ads to the next level, use the picture and interactive navigation ad.

With this ad, users can build their own customized product right from the Instagram platform.

Mercedes-Benz created interactive navigation ads that allowed users to build their own Mercedes-Benz GLA.

The ad began with a welcome page, and it gave users the ability to select the color of their car, the wheel type, the roof, the grill, and more.

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For every selection, the ad took users to a new Instagram page with choices for their model until the car was complete.

You can create a similar picture and interactive navigation ad to grab the attention of users.

Be sure to add lead forms to your ads on Instagram, too.

Add lead generation forms to all ads

No matter the kind of ad you choose to run, you should add lead forms to each one. Once you create one lead form, you can reuse it.

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Lead forms allow you to run lead-generation campaigns on any Instagram ad that you post.

These lead forms include a contact form that users can fill out to get in touch with a brand or business. This is a quick way to gain email or newsletter subscribers.

Aside from asking users for their email address or contact information, you can also ask people custom questions.

To create a new lead form, fill in welcome-screen details such as your headline, image, layout, and button text.

Next, select your questions, add a privacy policy or disclaimer, and create a “Thank You” screen.

You can also add a website link for people to click on once they have completed the form.

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Click “Finish” once you’ve filled everything out, but note that you can’t edit a lead form once you hit this button. If you’re still working on a form, click “Save” instead to edit it later.

You can download leads directly from Facebook once visitors begin completing your lead forms.

You can also connect leads to a custom relationship management system (CRM) like Salesforce or MailChimp.

By integrating a CRM, you can download and use leads faster than downloading them from Facebook since a CRM monitors leads in real time.

Then track how you’re doing by using an Instagram analytics tool to monitor the overall performance of your page.

Use an Instagram analytics tool to measure performance

After trying every tip on this list and spending money on Instagram ads, you’ll need a way to track your progress.

Sprout Social is a simple-to-use analytics tool that combines management tools with content creation tools.

With this tool, you can schedule new content on all of your social media accounts, including Instagram.

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You can also view the performance of individual hashtags or geotagged locations. Then, you can compare the performance for each metric by creating a downloadable report.

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And here’s the best part: Sprout Social offers a free trial, so you won’t have to pay anything to try out all of the features.

The Premium package is $99 per user per month for up to ten social profiles. The Corporate plan will cost you $149 per month for up to 15 social profiles. And the Enterprise plan is $249 per month for as many as 20 social profiles.

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You can change plans or cancel at any time.

Conclusion

Instagram is far more than just a social media platform. It generates billions of dollars in revenue for brands year after year.

Brands also get four times more engagement on Instagram than they do on Facebook.

That’s why Instagram is the best place to funnel customers, build sales success, and create brand loyalty.

The platform allows you to build a lasting, engaging, and convenient relationship with your customers.

For instance, you can sell products directly from your Instagram account or add a CTA to your bio to push users to buy.

If your goal isn’t to send users over to a product page, you can create a CTA that directs them to read your latest blog post or download an app.

Collaborate with influencers to leverage their following. Boost your brand awareness through user-generated content.

Target buyer personas with Instagram ads to reach users at every stage of the funnel.

Then create single-image and single-video Stories ads or feed ads like photo, video, carousel, and slideshow ads.

Let users build their own custom product by creating interactive navigation ads. And don’t forget to add lead generation forms to every ad you create.

Finally, use an Instagram analytics tool like Sprout Social to measure your progress.

If you do all of this, you’ll transform your Instagram into an effective funnel that turns your prospects into paying customers.

How do you funnel customers with Instagram?

The post Beyond Followers: How to Create a Killer Instagram to Funnel Customers appeared first on Neil Patel.





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December 31, 2017 at 09:01AM
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New Years Eve 2017 Google doodle brings back penguins for the holiday doodle series

12/31/2017

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New Year’s Eve 2017 Google doodle brings back penguins for the holiday doodle series

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Google started its holiday doodle series on December 18 when it first introduced the family of animated penguins. Since then it posted the second part of the series on Christmas, December 25, and now today’s third entry to mark New Year’s Eve.

“Our feathery friends have enjoyed their delicious traditions and are now ringing in the new year with sparklers in hand,” writes Google on its Google Doodle Blog, “As they all admire the fireworks overhead, they think about how much fun it was to spend this time together.”

While the first two doodles in the series led to searches for “December global festivities,” today’s doodle leads to a search for “New Year’s Eve 2017.”

It has also added the following two slides to its collection of images, showing the penguins celebrating the New Year:

According to the Google Doodle Blog, there will be one more doodle to complete the series that it plans to post tomorrow on New Year’s Day: “Tomorrow, follow along as our penguin friends start a new day in a new year.”


About The Author

Amy Gesenhues is Third Door Media's General Assignment Reporter, covering the latest news and updates for Search Engine Land and Marketing Land. From 2009 to 2012, she was an award-winning syndicated columnist for a number of daily newspapers from New York to Texas. With more than ten years of marketing management experience, she has contributed to a variety of traditional and online publications, including

MarketingProfs.com

,

SoftwareCEO.com

, and Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Read more of Amy's articles.





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December 31, 2017 at 08:31AM
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New Year's Eve 2017 Google Logo & Bing Theme

12/31/2017

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New Year's Eve 2017 Google Logo & Bing Theme

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Today is New Year's Eve 2017, the last day of 2017 and of course, both Google and Bing have special logos and designs.

Here is the Bing background:

Here is the static Google Doodle:

To see the full Penguin slide show of New Years, check out the Doodle post.

Forum discussion at Google+.





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December 31, 2017 at 07:32AM
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How to Connect with Rock Stars: 7 Influencer Marketing Hacks to Open Doors & Unlock Deals

12/30/2017

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How to Connect with Rock Stars: 7 Influencer Marketing Hacks to Open Doors & Unlock Deals

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influencer marketing hacks

Influencer marketing is capturing everyone’s attention.

All of your marketing buddies keep talking about it, and you can’t seem to escape their conversations or the onlinecharades.

But is all of the buzz worth it?

Does influencer marketing really work?

The short answer is yes, it does.

Think of Gary Vaynerchuk.

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Or consider Grant Cardone, for instance.

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These are just two people who are shaping the world of influencer marketing.

If your Facebook feed looks anything like mine, these two guys might show up more often than your own family sometimes.

They are remarkably active, and for that reason, they’ve forced themselves into influencer positions.

Of course, they are both only influencers in the entrepreneurial world.

But influencers exist for every industry, niche, and product.

If you want to use them to market your business, all you need to do is find them and connect with them.

Of course, that’s easy to say. It’s far more difficult to do.

But before we talk about that, let’s talk about exactly what influencer marketing is so you know how to use it.

What is influencer marketing?

An influencer is someone with — you guessed it — influence.

They’re people who have consistent access to a massive audience of consumers.

But they don’t just have access. They have the ability to influence the decisions of their audience members.

Why? Where do they get that magic?

Well, it’s really quite simple.

Usually, influencers can impact the decisions of their audiences for two basic reasons:

  1. People like them.
  2. People trust them.

And when people like you and trust you, they want to do everything that you do. Let’s be honest: they want to be you.

Here’s what this process looks like when your business comes onto the scene.

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Influencer marketing is a way for your business to access a massive number of people through an influencer.

Building your own audience is difficult, and it takes a lot of time.

That’s why marketers ask influencers to play the role of middleman.

They pay or incentivize the influencer to market their product to the influencer’s existing audience. In turn, the company hopes that some of that audience will buy their products and join their audience.

Then, the business can access those newcomers whenever they like without the help of an influencer.

That’s the function of influencer marketing.

And social media is full of different influencers. They’re people like Nikki Giavasis.

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Tonioskits is another good example.

Tonio Skits tonioskits Instagram photos and videos

Luckily, though, all of those influencers can be good for your business if you use them to your advantage.

But what makes influencer marketing so effective, and why should you consider using it?

We’ll turn to that question next.

Why is influencer marketing so effective?

Influencer marketing is effective because people trust and like influencers.

They like them for a variety of different reasons.

Really, the reason depends on the influencer.

Some consumers like influencers for their style, others for their humor, and others still for their travel photos.

But despite the reason that people like and trust an influencer, there’s no denying the effectiveness of the strategy.

Over the past few years, interest in influencer marketing has risen by more than 90 times.

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And in 2016, 84% of marketers planned at least one influencer-marketing campaign.

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If influencer marketing didn’t work, that would be a lot of hype for nothing.

Most likely, influencer marketing is popular because it works.

And that’s no surprise.

When people trust someone and like someone, they listen to that person’s recommendations.

And if your business is the recommendation, you’ll gain customers. It’s that simple.

In fact, 20% of women consider purchasing products supported by influencers. And conversions can increase by three to ten times when brands use influencers to share content.

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The point is that influencer marketing works, and you’re missing out if you haven’t at least tried it.

But using influencer marketing to your advantage might sound daunting.

How do you connect with influencers?

And perhaps more importantly, how do you make sure you connect with the right influencers?

Well, that’s what you’re here to learn.

Here are seven influencer marketing hacks that you should use to open doors and unlock deals.

1. Find the right influencer, not just any influencer

It’s one thing to work with an influencer.

It’s another thing entirely to work with the right influencer.

But how do you differentiate between the right influencer and the wrong influencer? What do you need to look for? Are certain influencer qualities worth paying attention to more than others?

Well, the real answer is that you need to look for an influencer who fits your business.

One business might use Gary Vaynerchuk to advertise their products. But even though you sell the same products, he might not be a fit for you.

Maybe he’s too free with his language or perhaps he doesn’t match the image that your brand is trying to portray.

Whatever the reason, you need to choose an influencer who matches your business. Don’t just use any influencer.

For instance, Old Navy worked with Megan Rienks, who is an Instagram comedian, to advertise one of their product lines.

This influencer-marketing campaign works because Old Navy’s brand image perfectly matches Megan Rienks’s image.

They are both positive, fun-loving, humorous, and optimistic.

Similarly, Naked Juice used Kate La Vie to market their product on Instagram.

This connection also makes sense.

Naked Juice is primarily a company that caters to healthy, gym-going types of people, and Kate’s post encapsulates that image.

Even if an influencer has a large audience, if they don’t match your brand image, then don’t use them.

If you do, the inconsistency between the influencer’s voice and your business’s voice will hurt your following, not help it.

2. Double check influencers for fake followers

Unfortunately, there’s a dark side to influencer marketing.

You see, many people want to live the life of an influencer without putting in the work.

They want businesses to pay them for talking about their products, but they don’t want to spend the necessary time or energy to gain an authentic and loyal following.

Sadly, some of these people are relentless in their pursuits.

So what do they do?

Well, they buy their followers.

And you, as the business, need to be aware of these kinds of influencers so that you can avoid working with them.

To determine if an influencer bought their followers, simply click on a few of their follower profiles.

Pay special attention to these spots.

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If the profile is following way more people than it has in followers, that’s a sign that the account is fake.

Additionally, if all of the posts are shares or retweets (i.e., there’s no original content), that’s another red flag.

And lastly, if the profile bio is basic, grammatically incorrect, or outright awkward, be wary.

If all three of those factors are present, then more often than not, the account is fake.

Here’s another example.

image92

And if the account is fake, then the only way that the influencer acquired their followers was by paying cold, hard cash.

You, of course, want to work with influencers who have a real following, not a fake one.

After all, real people can buy your products and join your newsletter. Fake people can’t.

3. Stay active on your own social media profiles

A lot of times, the best way to connect with influencers is by meeting them on social media.

That’s where they hang out and make a name for themselves, after all.

If you want to befriend influencers for your own benefit, then spend some time posting your own content, commenting on influencer content, and “liking” and sharing other people’s posts.

As you do, you might be surprised by how many influencers reach out to you asking you about yourself.

Of course, this might take some time.

Relationships are complex. You simply can’t build them overnight.

The key is consistency. You need to post, “like,” share, and comment regularly over a long period of time to build a relationship with the people who can raise your business to the next level.

Plus, if you’re not active, people won’t follow you.

On Facebook, you should post once per day.

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On Twitter, you should post 15 times per day.

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On LinkedIn, post once per day.

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And on Instagram, perhaps the most lucrative influencer-marketing channel, you should post one to two times per day.

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And in terms of commenting, “liking,” and sharing influencers’ posts, follow one simple rule:

Do as much as you possibly can without seeming desperate.

You don’t want to seem like some weird business owner with a hidden agenda.

Treat them like the person they are, and they’ll do the same for you. That means that you’ll build a valuable relationship.

But one thing’s for sure:

If you invest enough energy into communicating with the right influencers on social media, then you’ll have connections in no time.

4. Include expert quotes

OK, so maybe you really want to use influencer marketing, but you just don’t have the budget for it.

After all, influencers can get expensive fast.

That’s especially true of the ones with large followings that you actually want to use.

But here’s a strategy you can use regardless of your budget.

Include quotes from influencers in a piece of content. Then, contact the influencer and tell them that you referenced something they said.

If you’re lucky, the influencer might even share the piece of content with their own audience for free.

This article from Shopify, for instance, includes a quote from James Brooks of The Elephant Pants.

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It also has a quote from Rachel Pedersen of RBP Productions.

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You can include quotes that look similarly flattering, contact the influencers you quoted, and then gently ask them to share the article if they enjoy it.

You might not have the budget for other types of influencer marketing. But with this strategy, you literally have nothing to lose.

5. Use influencer testimonials

Are you struggling to get your product off the ground?

Maybe people are visiting your website and interacting with your content, but they aren’t actually buying your inventory.

Or maybe people are getting halfway through your checkout process and then leaving.

If that’s the case with your business, you might want to consider using influencer testimonials to give visitors that extra push.

After all, if the visitor’s favorite people are using the product, then the visitor will be more likely to buy as well.

Simply find influencers who match your brand, give them a free sample of your product, and ask them for a testimonial if they like it.

Then, put the testimonial on your website like this.

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Or, it could look something like this.

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With testimonials from people your ideal customer knows and trusts, they’ll be hard-pressed not to convert.

Often, taking the leap is just a matter of having the right people to guide you.

And influencers make great guides.

6. Offer a special deal for the influencers’ followers

Here’s the thing about influencers.

They all have an image to sustain.

They don’t want to market your products if they’re outrageously expensive, unattractive to their audience, or will hurt their relationships with their followers.

The last thing you want to do is start a relationship with an influencer that ends up hurting the influencer’s following.

In that case, you might get them to work with you once, but they’ll never work with you again.

Not only that, but if you use influencers to market your product and business, but nobody ends up buying from you, then you wasted your whole marketing budget.

For those reasons, it’s in your interest and the influencer’s interest that you make your offer as appealing to the influencer’s audience as possible.

First, influencers will probably only work with you if you add some sort of exclusive discount or offer. And second, you’ll generate far more customers by doing so.

Offering a discount or special deal for the influencers’ followers is a great way to increase the chance that your campaign comes out on top.

It doesn’t need to be a remarkable discount, either. Just make it enough to incentivize the audience.

Even 10% will do.

Consider this influencer marketing campaign between Julianne Hough and Boxed Water.

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Although this marketing campaign doesn’t offer an additional discount, it would be quite simple to add that.

In this case, maybe the incentive wouldn’t be a discount. Maybe it would be additional charity donations for a short time.

Whatever the incentive, there needs to be something extra to make the campaign work to its full potential.

Lewis Howes does this with practically every podcast he records.

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This is a list of his sponsors. But what you don’t see is how, on every single podcast, he offers some sort of discount, free trial, or special offer exclusive to his audience.

And I’ll bet he only works with sponsors who are willing to make those kinds of offers to his audience.

If you want to connect with influencers, then you need to make an offer that will appeal to their audience.

7. Run a giveaway

This tip is similar to the last one, but it’s a bit more specific.

Here’s the reality: influencers will only work with sponsors who have a great offer for their audiences.

And few things are quite as fun or appealing to an influencer’s audience as entering a giveaway for an item that they really want.

In other words, by running a giveaway, you appeal to influencers by appealing first to their audiences.

You know that the key to a parent’s heart is through their children, right?

Well, the key to an influencer’s heart is through their followers.

Consider what Passion Planner did with Celinereads as an example.

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Then, you can ask the influencer to announce the winner with something like this.

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Now, you might be thinking, “But I don’t want to give away a ton of products for free. I want to actually make money.”

But here’s the best part about running a raffle.

The people who sign up for it are primarily those who really want the product you’re giving away.

After they’ve been consistently coming back to your website for weeks dreaming of winning that product, they’ll get more and more excited about it.

If they don’t win, then there’s a high chance that they’ll end up buying the product for themselves after all that hype.

You might only give away one or two items, but all of that brand awareness and revenue potential is well worth a few free giveaways.

Plus, influencers won’t work with you unless you have an enticing offer for their audience.

Free giveaways are about as enticing as exclusive offers get.

Conclusion

Every marketer is talking about their most recent influencer-marketing campaign and how successful it was.

But you’re wondering if the buzz is all that it’s cracked up to be. And if it is, you want to know how you can start leveraging similar strategies.

Well, these seven ways are a great start to drive revenue to your business through influencers.

First, find the right influencers who have real audiences.

Then, stay active on your social media profiles and build relationships with influencers.

Once you connect with an influencer, add a special offer or run a giveaway for their audience to drive even more conversions for your business.

Finally, you can include expert quotes in your content or use influencer testimonials on your product page.

Follow these steps, and you’ll connect with influencers like never before. That means that influencer marketing will turn out to be a real, tangible asset for your business.

What influencer marketing hacks do you use to connect with influencers and drive revenue?

The post How to Connect with Rock Stars: 7 Influencer Marketing Hacks to Open Doors & Unlock Deals appeared first on Neil Patel.





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via Neil Patel https://neilpatel.com

December 30, 2017 at 09:01AM
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SearchCap: Google Express search promo SEO goals & search pictures

12/29/2017

0 Comments

 
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SearchCap: Google Express search promo, SEO goals & search pictures

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Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. The post SearchCap: Google Express search promo, SEO goals & search pictures appeared first on Search Engine Land.

Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.




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via Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing http://ift.tt/1BDlNnc

December 29, 2017 at 03:01PM
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Daily Search Forum Recap: December 29 2017

12/29/2017

1 Comment

 


Daily Search Forum Recap: December 29, 2017

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Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

  • Search Buzz Video Recap: Google Spam Update, SEO Tips, AdWords Tests & Christmas Workers
    This week Google may have pushed another algorithm update...
  • New Google Update Targets Link Spam & Other Unnatural Links?
    For the past few days, I have been tracking webmaster forum chatter around another update that may have started around December 26th or so. The dates are a bit fuzzy...
  • Google: Fetching Content From Other Web Sites Does Not Add Value
    You see this a lot in the publishing world, where you have the same article published on hundreds of web sites. Normally it is from a news source like AP, where they send out the feed, third party publishers fetch it and then post it on their site...
  • Google Maps Doesn't Allow Negative Reviews From Current Or Former Employees
    Google now has updated their review guidelines to prohibit and disallow negative reviews from current or former employees. The new section under "conflict of interest" reads: Maps user contributed content is most valuable when it is honest and unbiased...
  • Aleyda Solis -The Search Community Honors You
    This is part of the say something nice about an SEO/SEM series - feel free to nominate someone over here. Aleyda Solis...
  • The Google Office Is Empty During Holiday Season
    Nimrod Levy, a Jew, posted a picture of his floor at the Google office he works at, the Dublin Google office. It is a ghost town, it is all dressed up for Christmas and the New Year but no Googlers a

Other Great Search Forum Threads:





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December 29, 2017 at 03:00PM
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