Social Media Archives - Digital Marketing Experts

Proactive Versus Reactive Marketing: Understanding Strategies & Their Implications

Caitlin Maclean — Thu, 03 Aug 2023 14:50:13 +0000

In the ever-evolving world of marketing, businesses must navigate various strategies to stay competitive and relevant. Two primary approaches that companies often adopt are proactive marketing and reactive marketing. Both strategies have their merits and drawbacks, and understanding their nuances can help businesses make informed decisions about their marketing efforts. In this article, we will explore what proactive marketing and reactive marketing entail, discuss their respective benefits and risks, and provide examples of reactive marketing in action.

Proactive Marketing: Taking the Initiative

Proactive marketing is a forward-thinking approach where businesses actively plan and execute marketing strategies in anticipation of future opportunities and challenges. This method involves analysing market trends, understanding customer needs, and creating targeted campaigns to reach and engage potential customers.

What Are the Benefits of Proactive Marketing?

By staying ahead of the curve, proactive marketing allows businesses to gain a competitive edge over their rivals. They can capitalise on emerging trends and be the first to meet customer demands by using data available to them and beating competitors to the chase.

Consistent and well-thought-out proactive marketing efforts help strengthen the brand’s reputation and create a positive image among the target audience. By implementing a marketing strategy, sticking to it, and providing useful or engaging content for potential customers to interact with, businesses can establish themselves as a thought leader and of being reliable within their industry.

With a clear marketing plan in place, businesses can allocate their resources more efficiently, optimising their budgets and efforts towards activities that yield the best results. The strategic blueprint provided by a clear marketing plan acts as a roadmap, guiding the company towards its goals and objectives.

Risks of Proactive Marketing

In the realm of marketing, proactive strategies, characterised by meticulous planning and a clear-cut approach, undoubtedly offer numerous advantages. However, like any venture, they are not exempt from potential risks and drawbacks.

One of the primary uncertainties associated with proactive marketing lies in its uncertain outcomes. Despite the best-laid plans and meticulous preparation, there remains a possibility that initiatives may not deliver the desired results. This is often attributed to unpredictable shifts in the market landscape or changes in customer behaviour, which can throw even the most well-crafted campaigns off course.

Another aspect that businesses must reckon with when employing proactive marketing is the significant upfront investment it demands. Research, campaigns, and product development all require a substantial financial commitment, which can pose challenges for some enterprises, especially smaller ones. The potential for substantial costs can make proactive marketing a risky proposition for those operating on tighter budgets.

While proactive marketing undoubtedly has its merits, businesses need to weigh these potential pitfalls against the anticipated benefits. Striking a balance between proactive and reactive marketing strategies can help companies navigate the complexities of the ever-changing business landscape more effectively. Working with a professional agency can help ease these concerns and provide you with more time to focus on the day-to-day running of your business.

Reactive Marketing: Responding to Current Events

Reactive marketing, on the other hand, involves responding to current events or trends that capture public attention. This strategy capitalises on the moment, utilising unplanned opportunities to create marketing campaigns. Reactive marketing can be particularly useful in the age of social media, where trends or memes can quickly go viral and offer companies a chance to gain immediate exposure.

What Are the Benefits of Reactive Marketing?

Reactive marketing offers businesses several benefits, leveraging the power of timely responses to current events and trends. By swiftly reacting to trending topics, companies can portray themselves as up-to-date and in tune with their audience’s interests. Such responsiveness resonates with audiences who are actively engaging with the discussed subjects, enhancing the brand’s appeal and connection with potential customers.

Another significant benefit of reactive marketing is the potential for increased visibility. When executed skilfully, reactive marketing campaigns can generate substantial media coverage and social media engagement. By capitalising on viral trends or popular events, businesses can grab the attention of a broader audience, significantly boosting brand exposure and widening their reach.

Risks of Reactive Marketing

As with any marketing approach, reactive marketing carries its share of risks. One of the primary concerns lies in maintaining brand consistency. The fast-paced nature of reactive marketing demands quick decision-making, which can potentially lead to rushed messaging that deviates from the brand’s established identity. Inconsistency in messaging can confuse customers and dilute the brand’s core values, eroding the trust built over time.

Moreover, there are reputation risks associated with reactive marketing. When companies chase trends without thoroughly considering their implications, they risk coming across as insensitive or misinformed. Ill-judged reactions to sensitive topics or events can cause controversies, damaging the brand’s reputation and alienating its customer base. Therefore, careful consideration and sensitivity are essential when engaging in reactive marketing initiatives.

Examples of Reactive Marketing

Reactive marketing often involves creating content or campaigns based on popular events, memes, or news stories. Here are some examples of our favourite executions by brands online:

Lastly, Dicksons of Inverness delivered a brilliant example of reactive marketing. When traffic heading to the Belladrum music festival reached a standstill, with guests enduring up to five hours of wait time to move a few miles to the festival site, Dicksons seized the moment to create a tongue-in-cheek advertisement. They humorously suggested that next time, people should make the long wait in one of their cars. This witty response not only entertained the audience but also showcased Dicksons’ ability to be responsive and relevant to current events.

Heinz, for instance, demonstrated their prowess in reactive marketing by cleverly riding the wave of Barbie memes that became popular due to the blockbuster film this summer. They took advantage of the trend and showcased two of their beloved condiments in a cheeky way that perfectly aligned with the Barbie franchise.

Aldi, known for poking fun at themselves, seized an opportunity to playfully target Meta’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, on the new social media platform Threads. Given Aldi’s history of products that border on copyright infringement, such as their Colin the Caterpillar knock-off, the jibe at Zuckerberg was both timely and relevant. The recent criticism directed at Zuckerberg following the introduction of Threads, which closely resembled Twitter (now known as X), made the post even more impactful.

Reactive marketing is undoubtedly an effective way for brands to connect with their audience, and these examples demonstrate how it can be used to capture attention and create engaging content that resonates with consumers.

Embracing Proactive AND Reactive Marketing

Proactive and reactive marketing are two distinct approaches, each with its own set of advantages and risks. Proactive marketing allows businesses to stay ahead of the competition, build their brand, and allocate resources effectively. On the other hand, reactive marketing provides opportunities for immediate relevance and visibility, capitalising on timely events and trends. Striking a balance between these strategies can be advantageous, as a well-rounded marketing approach considers both planned initiatives and timely responses to the ever-changing marketing landscape.

Looking for advice when it comes to your marketing strategy? At teclan, we adopt innovative approaches to ensure your brand is not only relevant but also on-trend. Let us help you navigate the complexities of the digital world and elevate your marketing efforts to new heights. Contact us today to discover how teclan can transform your brand’s online presence and drive impressive results.

The post Proactive Versus Reactive Marketing: Understanding Strategies & Their Implications appeared first on Digital Marketing Experts.

A Beginner’s Guide to Content Marketing

Caitlin Maclean — Tue, 21 Feb 2023 10:19:53 +0000

Content marketing is a powerful strategy that can help businesses build brand awareness, drive traffic by foot or online, and generate leads. However, getting started with content marketing can be overwhelming for beginners. In this guide, we’ll cover the basics of content marketing and provide tips on how to optimise your blogs for search, optimise social media posts, create content with purpose, and create a content calendar.

At teclan, we understand that content marketing can be a daunting task, especially for small and medium-sized businesses with limited resources. That’s why we’ve put together a beginner’s guide to content marketing below, alongside our own content marketing services to help businesses of all sizes create and implement a successful content marketing strategy.

Create Content With Purpose

First things first, before you start to share content across platforms, you need to understand what you are trying to achieve with the content you share. If your content does not have a purpose, value, or call to action then it almost certainly won’t help your business grow. When it comes to content marketing, it’s important to create content with a specific purpose in mind. Whether you want to educate your audience, promote a product or service, or drive traffic to your website, your content should be tailored to achieve your specific goals.

Here are some tips on how to create content with purpose:

Identify your target audience and tailor your content to their needs and interests.
Set clear goals and objectives for each piece of content you create.
Use storytelling and personalisation to make your content more engaging and memorable.
Use a variety of formats, such as blog posts, infographics, and videos, to keep your content fresh and interesting.

By creating content with purpose, you can establish a strong connection with your audience and achieve your business goals.

Optimise Blogs for Search

So, you’ve decided that you’ll be writing a blog for your brand? That’s great! When it comes to content marketing, blogging is one of the most effective tactics. However, writing great blog posts is just the first step. Do you know how to make sure it climbs the search engine rankings so that you reach a wider audience?

We’ve put together a few tips to help optimise blog posts for search:

Conduct keyword research to identify relevant keywords and phrases to include in your blog post.
Include your target keyword in your blog title and meta description.
Use headers and sub-headers to organise your content and make it easier to read.
Include internal and external links to relevant content.
Use alt tags to describe your images and include your target keyword.

By following these steps, you can improve your search engine ranking and attract more organic traffic to your blog!

Optimise Social Media Posts

Social media is a powerful platform for promoting your content and reaching a wider audience. However, with so many businesses competing for attention, it’s important to optimise your social media posts to ensure that they stand out.

Here are some tips on how to optimise your social media posts:

Identify your goals: what do you want to achieve with your social media posts?
Use attention-grabbing headlines and images to encourage clicks and engagement.
Use relevant keywords and hashtags to increase the visibility of your posts.
Include a call to action to encourage your followers to act.
Use social media analytics to track your performance, adjust your strategy and make data-driven decisions for future content.

While the above list is not exhaustive, these tips will help you on your way to becoming a social media whizz! We understand that it can be hard to stay on top of trends but our content marketing experts are always on hand should you need support to drive your business forward across social media.

Create a Content Calendar

To ensure that your content marketing strategy is consistent and effective, it’s important to create a content calendar. This should map out all the major events and tie-in dates, while also incorporating a broader plan for your content initiatives at a steady cadence.

Here are some tips on how to get started with a content calendar:

Identify the types of content you want to create, such as blog posts, social media posts, and videos.
Brainstorm ideas with your team: two minds are better than one!
Research. It’s important to understand the type of content your audience is interested in and, most importantly, will engage with. From there, you can determine the best channels to post on.
Determine the frequency of your content creation and publishing schedule.
Use tools like Google Sheets, Trello, or Monday to create a content calendar that is easy to follow for all members of your team.
Assign responsibilities to team members to ensure that your content is created and published on time.

Looking For Help With Your Content Strategy?

With these tips, you’ll soon be on your way to becoming a content marketing pro! While content marketing can be a powerful tool for businesses of all sizes, it can be mind-boggling for beginners. By optimising your blogs for search, optimising social media posts, creating content with purpose, and creating a content calendar, you can create a successful content marketing strategy. At teclan, we understand all of this can be overwhelming, and time-consuming, which is why we offer content marketing services to help businesses of all sizes create and implement a successful content marketing strategy.

Contact us today to learn how we can help you achieve your business goals using our effective content marketing services.

The post A Beginner’s Guide to Content Marketing appeared first on Digital Marketing Experts.

Authenticity Sells: The Biggest Online Trend of 2022 (so far)

Caitlin Maclean — Thu, 09 Jun 2022 16:03:32 +0000

In 2022, it comes as no surprise that to capture new customers, it is important that your brand has an online presence. Sharing engaging content is a key element, but so too is creating and presenting an authentic brand and maintaining that throughout all company channels. Although social media usage seems to increase daily, especially during the pandemic, it seems as though there has been a shift in the way users expect to engage and connect with one another online. Instead of seeking out idyllic, curated content which is seemingly ‘perfect’, users are opting to find platforms in which they can be themselves, no filters required. With the rise of apps such as BeReal, and the growing popularity of the ‘photo dump’ on Instagram, businesses are encouraged to keep it real both on and offline with authentic branding and content.

Keeping It Real Online

In a world where people are so used to seeing, and sharing, perfectly filtered moments and carefully curated highlights, it is easy for brands to entrap themselves in the same trend on social media. To ‘keep it real’ by sharing authentic moments with your audience, while representing your brand in a positive and engaging way may seem like going against the grain. The recent growth in following of major influencers and brands thanks to their candid moments speaks volumes so companies are now encouraged to let their brand speak for themselves through unedited, raw content online. Internet users are actively seeking outlets to share real moments with one another which has been highlighted by the rapid growth in smartphone app ‘BeReal’.

Founded in 2019, the app not only encourages users to be authentic, but in fact requires authenticity. Smartphone users who have downloaded the app are prompted by a notification once per day (at any time) to upload a photo right there and then to share with their friends. Upon opening the app, users have two minutes to upload the shot which takes both a selfie and front-facing photo simultaneously. The concept of the app is simple: in a world where it is hard to tell when pictures, or videos, have been edited, and in which people only tend to show highlights of their lives, BeReal allows users to candidly be themselves. And it’s caught on. With approximately 10.7 million app installations to date (according to Sensor Tower), April was a record month which saw a user increase of 157% from March. It is clear to see then that there is an appetite for relatability and authentic branding on social media, especially among younger audiences.

Photo Dumps and Candid Content

It’s not just the increasing use of BeReal that has highlighted a desire for authentic interaction online. Despite being one of the most popular social media platforms, Instagram does not come without its own criticisms. The app has often been slandered as the root of growing self-image concerns among young people, having a negative impact on the mental health of its users. However, the new trend of the ‘photo dump’ on Instagram which typically involves the uploading of multiple unposed, unedited camera shots and videos, further reflects a shift in attitude towards online content.

With the ever-increasing popularity of TikTok, in part thanks to numerous lockdowns, it has been interesting to note which creators have had the highest engagement or follower growth over the course of the past couple of years. Many have shot to fame thanks to their unfiltered, candid content. The likes of Brittany Broski in the US has amassed almost seven million followers on TikTok due to her candid content resonating with people and making them laugh, while Hayley Morris has grown her following by millions during the pandemic thanks to her comedy sketches in which she discusses relatable, usually ‘taboo’, topics. But what does this shift in attitude mean for businesses?

The Human Approach In Business

The trend of relatable and authentic content is not solely limited to online influencers and their audiences. In fact, authenticity is a key factor in the online strategy and branding of many major businesses. Smoothie giant innocent’s quirky branding alongside their informal, witty tone of voice across their social media channels has enabled various viral moments, keeping their brand in the minds of millions of consumers. Another brand which has benefitted from engaging with the audience of today’s preference for authenticity, and informality, is Duolingo. The app which enables users to learn new languages has seen their brand’s following on TikTok surge, garnering over 80 million ‘likes’ thanks to the somewhat unhinged, yet relatable content posted. The human approach taken by these brands has played a critical role in their recent success.

The Importance of Brand Guidelines

Maintaining consistency plays a key part in the development of a brand, alongside its authenticity. Brand consistency is the ability to deliver consistent messaging and design across all platforms over time. If you are consistent, you are more likable and dependable. Audiences are not naïve and tend to trust those who do not change at the drop of a hat, so when a business has a strong brand presence, audiences will be able to spot when a company is not being truly authentic. In order to maintain a consistent brand, it is crucial to develop a set of brand guidelines that outline every aspect of your brand strategy that includes your logo, colour scheme, tagline, typography and key messaging.

What Are The Benefits Of Authentic Branding?

Humans are fuelled by emotion, and research has continuously proven that feelings often score high over logic when it comes to developing brand loyalty. As demonstrated by the growth in following of brands and creators posting relatable content online, audiences are keen on ideas that touch an emotional nerve. We begin to trust brands who speak to us on a human level. Not only are customers more likely to buy from brands they trust, but they are also willing to pay more for products and services. On average, brands with stronger reputations offer a 31% higher shareholder return, enjoy a growth rate that’s three times faster than their competitors and a 31% greater revenue growth over a three year period compared to lesser brands.

The ultimate goal of any business is to grow an audience and produce more sales. A strong brand is key to that, and the latest trends highlight just how important it is for businesses to be transparent and authentic with their audiences. The popularity of apps such as TikTok and BeReal proves there is a shift in the way users want to interact with creators and brands online. Businesses can take advantage of this with strong branding, consistent content, and clear values.

At teclan, our team has years of experience crafting compelling brands that resonate with audiences, while creating content that engages and ultimately leads to wider brand recognition and boosting revenue. We would love to do the same for you. Get in touch with us today to learn what you could achieve with authentic branding and a clear content strategy.

The post Authenticity Sells: The Biggest Online Trend of 2022 (so far) appeared first on Digital Marketing Experts.

What Is Content Marketing & How Can It Benefit Your Business?

Caitlin Maclean — Fri, 14 Jan 2022 15:28:17 +0000

As the marketing landscape continues to become more competitive, many businesses are increasing their content marketing efforts as more and more savvy business owners realise just how important content is in engaging audiences, driving leads and boosting overall brand visibility.

Content marketing is crucial in answering questions about your business that potential customers may have. Additionally, it builds trust and helps cement you as a thought leader within your industry. In 2022, audiences expect high-quality, engaging and consistent content from their favourite brands across a variety of channels.

What Is Content Marketing?

In short, content marketing is the creation and distribution of material (including blogs, social media posts and videos) that is intended to generate interest in a brand’s products or services. It is not necessarily used to explicitly advertise a product or service like other more traditional forms of marketing, but instead highlights information related to the brand’s industry and services.

How can you benefit from a consistent content marketing strategy?

Below we discuss just a few of the many benefits you will receive by planning a consistent, high-quality content marketing strategy.

Increased quality and quantity of leads

Content marketing can help your business generate leads. Your future customers are more likely to purchase your products or services in the future if they have previously seen or engaged with your content. By creating free and useful information, you are inviting users to head to a relevant landing page. Additionally, by including CTAs (calls to action) within your content, you are giving audiences the opportunity to interact with your brand, make a purchase or provide a lead.

Brand visibility and organic search ranking will increase

By consistently producing high-quality content, you will see improvements in your organic search rankings on platforms like Google and Bing. The content you share helps your brand establish itself as a thought leader with internet users and by focussing on relevant keywords within the likes of blogs, your content will help your website rank higher within search engine results page.

Regular content inspires trust in your brand

Building a relationship with your audience can be assisted with the creation and distribution of content. The content you produce will help answer potential questions and enables a dialogue to spark between the brand and consumer. By offering added value to your audience without asking for anything in return, you are building trust. People will turn to your brand for recommendations and advice. Ultimately, content works when it aligns with the right audience and when it appears at the right place, at the right time, you’ll see your brand’s reputation soar.

Your potential customers are likely to stick around longer

Great content is a vital tool for businesses to capture and engage their audience’s attention. There is the potential to pull customers in and encourage them to come back time and time again for more, thus, encouraging them to pay for your services. With interesting and useful content, your audience is much likely to stick around your social media channels or your website longer – you’ll notice average session duration increase and with this, so too will customer retention.

Content marketing scales your audience for remarketing

While content marketing in and of itself is mostly an organic form of marketing, it ties in nicely with your paid advertising efforts. Display ads targeting audiences who have previously visited certain pages on your site without converting is one of the most effective marketing strategies to increase leads and revenue. With content marketing, you can build new audiences to remarket to. For example, you might write a blog answering the most frequently asked questions people ask when buying a couch. People who take the time to read the article are likely in the market to buy a new couch in the near future, so you can take this data and target this audience with a paid ad advertising one of your most popular couches.

Best Channels For Implementation

There are a number of platforms you can leverage to share your brand’s content. Looking at the PESO model provides some insight into the most lucrative for content sharing. PESO stands for paid media, earned media, shared media and owned media.

You may choose to share content across paid channels such as Google display advertising, email marketing or by sponsoring posts on social media.
Earned media is what you typically know as either public or media relations. Getting your name out there via more ‘traditional’ media is also a great content marketing method – via good news stories, press releases for new product launches or appearing on a podcast.
Sharing content on social media is referred to as shared media in the PESO model. Companies now typically use social media as the main source of communication with their audience. Some popular social media sites include Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
Your content is what is known to be owned This is where a strong content marketing strategy begins – by deciding on the content you will create and using your own channels (such as your website) as a place for the content to live. You are in control of the message you want to tell.

Regularly producing fresh content can be time-consuming, but given the significant results seen by those who consistently post high-quality content, it is an essential part of any marketing strategy. If you’re ready to create a new content marketing strategy, the best place to start would be an audit of your current content to see what works for your brand – but also look at what others are doing in your industry. Is this working for them?

At teclan, our expert content creators take the hassle out of generating new content, leaving you free to run your organisation. We explore your brand and research your industry in order to channel your content to the right audience, at the right time, on the right platforms. Get in touch to find out how we best promote your brand message while accounting for audience engagement and search engine visibility.

The post What Is Content Marketing & How Can It Benefit Your Business? appeared first on Digital Marketing Experts.

What You’re Missing Out On If You’re Not Blogging Regularly

Fergus Weir — Wed, 22 Dec 2021 16:14:52 +0000

Keeping an up-to-date blog is a critical practice for any business or organisation in today’s hyper-competitive digital world. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a budding local business or a multinational corporation – you should still be blogging. More than just a strong foundation for all your marketing efforts, it’s also an enjoyable and inspiring platform for sharing ideas that can spread like wildfire.

If you are not currently blogging, here are just a few things you are definitely missing out on.

Higher rankings in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Page) / better SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

A blog is essential for positioning your website as the relevant answer to your target customers questions. Blogs that strategically implement a variety of on page SEO tactics leverage both higher rankings in the search results page and higher customer engagement simultaneously.

Blogging tells search engines like Google how relevant you are to people in need of your products or services by increasing average time spent on your site, offering more placements for long tail keywords and keeping your website fresh and current; all indicators of a quality website in the eyes of the search engine algorithms crawling your content for data.

Increased web traffic

As highlighted above, better search rankings equal more website traffic. More website traffic equals more conversions. The more you blog, the more organic traffic you will draw into your website. Businesses that blog get 55% more website visitors than businesses that don’t. (HubSpot)

Converting web traffic into leads

Every blog on your website is a chance to generate new conversions. By including a simple call-to-action (CTA) in all your posts, you are guaranteed to build your emails subscriber database, generate more enquiries, build your social media following, bolster sales etc. Whatever the goal, your blog is the ultimate way to turn your website into a 24/7 sales team. Companies with blogs produce an average of 67% more leads monthly than companies that don’t blog and marketers who prioritised blogging received 13x more ROI than companies that did not in 2019. (stats via HubSpot & DemandMetric)

Brand visibility/Brand awareness

Your blog allows you to provide relevant content that also includes your vision, objectives, personality and ethics, underlining your own uniqueness in not just your products and services, but your overall brand. 70% of people would rather learn about a company through articles rather than advertisements.

By offering free information resolving conflicts, answering questions and showcasing the goals of your organisation through regular blog posts, you are also generating backlinks (directly or indirectly) and engaging both potential and existing customers for longer durations.

Establishing yourself as a thought leader and building trust

Unlike the rest of your website (which should be minimalistic on the content), blogs offer space for in-depth teachings and explanations. Whether it’s a case study, a ‘how to’ guide or an opinion piece, the more insightful content you produce, the more you will be viewed as a leader in your industry. Not only does this build trust, but it also breeds innovation and inspiration.

When people have confidence in a brand, the brand reputation spreads quicker. Frequent blogging is the simplest way to build that trust.

Social exposure

As an explanation for not having a blog or social media presence, we often hear clients and potential clients say, ‘my customers are not on social media.’ But with 4.55 billion people around the world now using social media, and 400 million new users joining within the last 12 months alone, we can categorically guarantee they are. The trick is finding and engaging with them.

Consistent blogging is an excellent way to be noticed on social media channels. Every time you publish a new blog you are creating content that is incredibly easy to share on social giants like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. This gives you the chance to introduce your organisation to audiences even you may not yet know are there. You are both strengthening your social presence and bringing in even more website traffic. Two birds, one stone.

Link building

As mentioned above, link building is a key factor that search engines consider when ranking a website for the results page yet link building can also be one of the most challenging parts of SEO.

By creating articles that are valuable to both customers and other businesses, it’s much easier to gain relevant links. Links from websites with more clout (such as well-known newspapers, membership organisations, directories, etc.) serve as a vote of confidence for recommendation and tell Google that you are trustworthy and an industry expert. HubSpot has found that companies that have a blog on their website earn up to 97% more inbound links. It just makes sense that the blog you wrote about keeping slugs and other pests from destroying your garden will be far more helpful and shareable to a third party source than just a link to your homepage.

Having a blog is not just a strong foundation for all your marketing efforts, it’s also enjoyable and inspiring. A blog is a great way to share ideas, generate new suggestions and build a community of engaged people. But it can also be time-consuming and understanding the perfect balance between appealing content for humans and optimised technical signals for search engines is a skill that takes years to understand. If you are in search of new audiences and want to stand out from your competition but struggling to implement regular blogs into your marketing schedule, the experts at teclan can help.

The post What You’re Missing Out On If You’re Not Blogging Regularly appeared first on Digital Marketing Experts.

Marketing Trends in a Post-Covid World

Caitlin Maclean — Thu, 17 Jun 2021 09:19:19 +0000

Over the past year, we’ve sadly witnessed the closure of many bricks and mortar shops UK–wide. However, countering this decline, innovation has certainly been taking off online. So how does the rise in virtual media consumption stack up against the very real demand for tangible experiences, and what behaviour can we expect from people as normality returns?

Our Relationship With Social Media

Facebook is still top among social media sites for daily visits, according to a study by the Pew Research Centre. 49% of adults who use the site indicated they visit it several times daily, second only to Snapchat, which also enjoys high engagement among its users (predominantly 18-29-year-olds), 45% of whom check in regularly.

Third in the lineup was Instagram, with 38% of its users visiting several times per day.

The study also found that the two platforms which have enjoyed the most significant growth since 2019 are YouTube, which has seen an 8% growth in users, and Reddit at 7%. In contrast, all other social media channels have remained mostly level since 2019, with a few (LinkedIn, Instagram and WhatsApp) seeing marginal increases.

Another particularly interesting trend to note, based on an Analysis commissioned by Visa that explored the shopping habits of people online over six months, is that one in four online purchases is now made via an interaction with a social media channel, with a staggering 17% of users actively turning to social media for shopping purposes.

What does this mean for business?

With people spending more and more time on social media and the significant increase in purchases made via social platforms, businesses would benefit from offering their products and services online where possible, and leveraging social media advertisements, particularly on Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube and Reddit.

Our Increasing Screen Time

Time spent on social media is not the only channel that has seen an increase, however. Based on data from Hootsuite, Internet usage has increased by an extra day per week on average, so far this year. Instead of last year’s 5 hours 28 minutes, people are now online for 6 hours and 26 minutes daily.

There is no question that the lockdown has accelerated these averages, as many people turn to the Internet to stay in touch with loved ones. At the end of last year, it was Google that saw the highest share of web traffic, followed by Wikipedia, BBC and Amazon. Other platforms that have enjoyed a significant increase in usage were YouTube and Facebook, who ranked 5th and 6th respectively and are the only platforms that appear in the top 10.

In terms of how people are accessing the digital platforms they are spending more and more time on, the whopping majority (89.35%) are using their mobile phones, up from 85% in 2020.

What does this mean for business?

There is no doubt people are spending more time online, about an hour a day more. In addition, nearly everyone is using their mobile phone to access the Internet, highlighting to business owners everywhere the very real need for a presence online and, in particular, an engaging online mobile experience.

Our Favourite Content

In terms of content consumption, one key type of media has seen a significant rise. According to research from Sortlist, since the beginning of the pandemic 76.2% of people spend more time listening to audio content, predominantly radio, but with podcasts hot on its tail – the gap between the two in terms of popularity being only 5.2%.

In 2020 alone, 900,000 new podcasts took flight (a 300% year-on-year increase), hinting that podcasts could increase even further in popularity and even overtake radio eventually, as more people plug into audio series about their favourite hobbies and interests. Other popular forms of audio content include audiobooks and news.

This study also revealed that 78% of people said they had bought, or were open to buying, products promoted alongside their favourite radio station, podcast or audiobook, which means good news for advertisers.

What does this mean for business?

With the recent rise in uptake of audio content and listener willingness to purchase products promoted alongside their favourite shows, now is a good time for advertisers to consider hitting the sound waves as well.

Our Changing Footsteps

Another interesting point is how the pandemic is affecting in-person traffic on the high street. After non-essential shops re-opened following the November lockdown, a study by The Retail Gazette reported a 29% decrease in footfall, year-on-year.

Even more concerning were some statistics from Springboard which indicated footfall across all retail destinations was down 41.3% when compared with the same week in November 2019, climbing to a 51% drop on high streets and 45.6% in shopping centres.

What does this mean for business?

With people spending more time online and less time in shops, it is vital that businesses develop their presence and offerings online; not just for survival, but also to leverage the multiple opportunities for growth available virtually.

In Conclusion

As we’ve learned over the past year, the global and domestic marketplace can be very volatile, and unforeseen events can wreak havoc on the market. The silver lining? New online ad opportunities are cropping up all the time and, when leveraged effectively, can result not just in a business surviving, but actually thriving in times of economic uncertainty. You should therefore already be planning/implementing an engaging mobile experience, targeting social media users with audio, visual and web–based channels to reach those potential customers who are now spending much more time (and money) online.

The team of experts at teclan are always on hand to offer advice and help you grow your business online. Whether the goal is brand awareness, increased revenue, a website that converts or an engaging social media campaign, we have the team with the tools to help.

Elements of this Blog content first appeared in the June 2021 issue of the Executive magazine.

The post Marketing Trends in a Post-Covid World appeared first on Digital Marketing Experts.

Are you maximising Facebook’s potential?

Caitlin Maclean — Tue, 15 Jun 2021 10:38:32 +0000

In 2021, we are certainly living in a digital age. Many people have recently found themselves reliant on the internet to stay in touch with their loved ones, while businesses have had to increase their online presence and functionality while brick and mortar stores were closed. Despite this, telephone calls to drive sales and leads do not seem to be disappearing. In fact, around 60% of customers say they prefer to call smaller businesses even if they can find most of what they need online. With this in mind, it is important for businesses to ensure they are maximising the potential of all their online advertising channels, including Facebook.

While Facebook advertising is a fantastic tool to direct website traffic and increase sale consideration from your prospective customers, it also has the potential to increase calls to your business. If you know that calls are an important aspect of your customer journey then you should be utilising Facebook’s ‘Click-To-Call’ ads targeting users on their mobile phones.

So, what is 'Click-To-Call'?

With general Facebook ads allowing call-to-actions (CTA) directing to a brand’s website, ‘Click-to-Call’ allows businesses to upload and integrate their phone number into an advert. Instead of the CTA stating ‘Learn More’ or similar, the ‘Click-To-Call’ CTA states ‘Call Now’.

When users click the ‘Call Now’ button, a dial pad pops up on their mobile screen, pre-populated with your business number. This gives potential customers the opportunity to contact you directly from the Facebook platform while scrolling through their newsfeed.

To ensure you’re reaching the correct potential customer, these ads can be targeted to specific audiences, just like any other Facebook ad. For example, you can reach users within a certain mile range of your business if you want to encourage in-person exchanges, or you can target a specific buyer-persona.

Don't forget call extensions!

With some Facebook ads, there is the ability to add a call extension. This means that within an ad in which there is a goal to increase website traffic or sales, a ‘Call Now’ button will also appear as part of the ad. Much like the ‘Call-To-Click’ ads (or a Google call extension), potential customers are able to call a company with one click. This makes it easier for users to get in touch with your business, and draws in more enquiries for you – a win-win!

There are a number of ways to increase your reach and revenue online. Our team of experts are always happy to help you increase your business presence and achieve your digital goals. Get in touch if you have any questions about maximising your potential on Facebook or if you’d like to reach more customers on a wider digital scale.

The post Are you maximising Facebook’s potential? appeared first on Digital Marketing Experts.

Apple & Facebook At War: How Will This Impact Your Business?

Caitlin Maclean — Fri, 23 Apr 2021 11:15:36 +0000

From Monday April 26th, Apple will offer a software upgrade in the form of iOS 14.5. As part of this upgrade, Apple is rolling out a new requirement for App Developers known as App Tracking Transparency.

From now on, App Developers will be required to gain explicit permission from users in order to track activity across devices. Additionally, developers will need to be clear about how they intend to use any collected data, giving users more say on private information shared with companies.

You may have heard those within the business and marketing sphere speak of the impacts this will have for many advertisers.

What does this mean for you?

Firstly, it is important to note that these changes will only impact Apple device users. Your audience and potential customers who use Android or other devices will be unaffected.

Previously, Apple device users had to manually opt out of tracking features. But now, they will be faced with the question of opting in, with iOS 14.5 users actively thinking about data collection before making a decision. This has prompted concerns from companies like Facebook who rely on tracking as part of their advertising business model.

Concerns have been raised because the primary way advertisers have the ability to serve ads on an app, promoting a product users had been browsing for on an entirely different app, is through a unique identifying code known as the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA). This code is linked to a user’s device, collecting data from the first app and sharing it with the second.

Facebook has voiced their worries about the impact this may have for small to medium-sized businesses. The social media giant uses a similar process to track clicks and activity across their app and various websites with their ‘pixel’. Without explicit permission from users of iOS 14.5, the pixel may not be able to provide the best possible results and therefore lead to inaccurate user reports. This may make it more difficult to target specific audiences with your adverts.

Adapting to these changes

While a change like this can be worrying, there are steps we can take as marketers to respond to iOS 14.5. At teclan, we will be carefully monitoring our clients’ Facebook ads, communicating and implementing our recommendations if we notice a significant change. It is important to remember that there are a number of creative ways to promote your business online and across apps organically which should not be signifcantly impacted by these upcoming changes.

The team at teclan is ready to support you with any concerns you may have about these changes from Apple. Additionally, our experts can help you optimise your reach and drive results through our Digital Marketing services.

Get in touch if you would like to learn more about how we can help grow your business online.

The post Apple & Facebook At War: How Will This Impact Your Business? appeared first on Digital Marketing Experts.

Is Your Password Strong Enough?

Caitlin Maclean — Fri, 23 Oct 2020 11:10:07 +0000

It has recently been reported that President Donald Trump’s Twitter account was easily hacked into by Victor Gevers, an ethical hacker from the Netherlands. You may be thinking “I’ve read this story before” and you’d be correct. This is not the first time Trump’s account has been allegedly hacked. Four years ago, Gevers cracked Trump’s password ‘yourefired’ – an easy guess as this is a reference to his catchphrase on The Apprentice USA.

Surely, in the aftermath of this first blunder, Trump’s team would advise him to create a much stronger password with two-factor authentication across all of his public profiles. Apparently not. The alleged cracked password this time? ‘maga2020!’ If we can learn anything from Trump’s supposed mistakes it’s that when setting up any public profile, your password should be strong. This is particularly important for public figures and businesses. Best practices for account security include strong passwords, two-factor authentication and limiting the access to said account.

While Twitter has responded to these claims stating there is no evidence of the most recent security breach, it is interesting to note that after Gevers was in contact with the likes of the American Secret Service, a two-step verification for the account has been activated. Only Gevers and Trump’s team knows whether or not this attack actually occurred but the story highlights important lessons to learn for businesses and public figures alike. Strong passwords are a necessity.

Don't be trumped by a weak password

A strong password should:

Include upper and lowercase letters, numbers and symbols.
Avoid using obvious personal information within a password which is easy to guess. (Trump has discovered this the hard way.)

There is also a benefit to using password generators or a password management app as these can auto-generate and store strong passwords. The teclan team practices this for ourselves and our clients.

The teclan team is always here to help with any concerns you may have regarding your online business. From cyber security and password protection to professional web design and social media marketing, our team will help your business succeed.

The post Is Your Password Strong Enough? appeared first on Digital Marketing Experts.

£25,000 Back to Business Kick Start Fund

Joel Sleet — Thu, 16 Jul 2020 14:01:59 +0000

Tourism is back, hotels, pubs and restaurants are re-opening, shops and shopping centres are open, hairdressers and barbers can now get to work and there is talk about non-essential offices being staffed again – and we are all breathing a huge sigh of relief………… or are we?

Or is it fair to say that the we are really concerned that the business that was there before lockdown is going to take some time to return and we are asking how to bring that business back sooner rather than later?

At teclan, we care about our clients and realise that many business owners will fall into the second school of thought and we want to help! We are a “results driven” digital marketing agency and we want to deliver you results. Our team of experts are on hand and ready to help drive business to your websites, social media pages and places of work.

In an ideal world, you would be able to know exactly who your customers are, which websites they visit, what their interests are and what they have been searching for – that way you would be able to talk to them directly, show them what you can offer and encourage them to buy from you. Wait a second! – that’s exactly what you can do with digital marketing. We can target your customers by geography, interest, specific sites, their searches and more besides.

Back in July, and in order to help drive the sales process, teclan set aside a “Back to Business Kick Start” fund of £25,000. This was to to discount digital marketing campaigns for a limited number of businesses in August 2020. We had a great response and have managed to help many businesses kick start their re-growth. Given the fact that we have now fallen into a recession, we realise that we need to extend this fund in order to help many more businesses. To apply for part of the fund, simply get in touch by completing the form below.

There are three options within the fund.

Option 1 – Client investment £300*, Fund value- £200 – Total marketing spend £500. In Option 1, teclan will manage your social media advertising over a 4 week period. Not simply creating posts for everyone, but targeting specific groups of individuals (your customers) with adverts, boosting organic posts, assisting and advising on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. You’ll receive invaluable advice to help you continue to succeed in social media.

Option 2 – Client investment £550*, Fund value – £450 – Total marketing spend – £1000. In Option 2, teclan will focus on PPC advertising over a 4 week period.. A revenue & return on investment focus. We will set up your Google text ads & Google shopping ads. Ordinarily this has an immediate impact allowing you to tackle your competition – you reach the right people at the right time as you advertise directly to people searching for your type of business. As part of this process, teclan will create a tracking code to monitor all leads and revenue generated via paid ads meaning you have a measurable ROI.

Option 3 – Client investment £1000*, Fund value – £1000 – Total marketing spend – £2000. This final option gives you the full digital marketing service that teclan offers over a 4 week period.. First, we will undertake a full digital health check of your website. We will then make the necessary changes to improve the loading speed and Search Engine Optimisation of the site, meaning you appear higher in organic searches. Should you require any security improvements, we will advise you of your options (there may be additional costs here, but you will have full control). You will also receive all of the services outlined in options 1 and 2. If you have a customer database, we will also assist you with the creation of a newsletter which teclan will send on your behalf. If you don’t have a customer database, we can help you begin to create one to help with future digital marketing.

*In addition to the client investment, the client would also be responsible for the Google or social media ad spend – teclan can advise on this, budgets can be set, and the client would pay this directly to the provider.

If you are interested, or would like to find out more information, please get in touch today – complete the form below.

There is a limit to the fund value so apply now before the limit is reached.

Terms and Conditions of Back to Business Kick Start Fund

The client investment element will be invoiced in advance.
The fund value is £25,000 so we may not be able to approve all applications should demand exceed the fund value.

To register your interest in this fund enter your details below.

[contact-form-7]

The post £25,000 Back to Business Kick Start Fund appeared first on Digital Marketing Experts.