5 Steps on How to Gain Your First (or Next) 1,000 Instagram Followers

It's no secret that business opportunities are continuing to grow on Instagram. 

But here's the deal: Unless you're famous, it's really hard to amass a huge following on Instagram without some hard work.  Luckily, there are a few things you can do right away to collect at least 1,000 quality followers for your personal or professional Instagram account. It's all about knowing where to invest your time and effort.  In this post, we'll discuss a few strategies that will help you gain those followers, from creating a follow-worthy Instagram profile to using contests, to staying true to your brand.

1. Create and optimize your profile

Customize your Instagram profile to make it look good. Tell your potential followers who you are, and give them a reason to follow you.

2. Designate a content creator

Just like there should be one (maybe two) people managing your other social media accounts, there should only be one or two people managing your Instagram account.  If possible, choose someone with experience on the platform who will "get" it — and be sure they stay updated on all new features Instagram has to offer from Reels to IGTV.

3. Follow photography and editing best practices

On Instagram, post quality matters. A lot. Your Twitter followers might forgive a few bad tweets, but a bad photo on Instagram is a big no-no.

4. Set a regular posting schedule

It's a good idea to have a solid number of great posts up – maybe 15 or so – before you start engaging people and working down this list. That way, when people visit your profile, they'll see a full screen of photos and will know you'll post great content regularly.  To start posting on Instagram, download this social media content calendar template first and plan out your posts. It's best to build a backlog of content ready a few days or weeks ahead of the publishing date.  This will ensure you always have content during holidays, vacations, and even creative blocks.

5. Allow outside contributors to curate your content

Although it's best to have only one or two people manning your account, one or two people can't be everywhere at once taking photos. What about that fun sushi night the engineers had last night? Or the event your head of sales spoke at earlier this week?  There's a whole breadth of content you'll want to post to Instagram, and more often than not, one person won't be able to keep track of it all.  One solution? Create a system where you can curate photos and content from members of your team.  

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Top 5 Best SEO Tools for Auditing & Monitoring Your Website in 2022

There's nothing quite like a sudden Google algorithm update to leave you feeling equal parts confused and concerned. It seems as though search engines like Google wait for you to get all of your ducks in a row and then unleash an update that makes your efforts instantly obsolete.  Plus, there's still some secrecy behind how Google evaluates websites and determines which sites appear — and how they appear — on the search engine results page (SERPs) for different queries.

Here are the Top 5 Best SEO Tools for Auditing & Monitoring Your Website in 2022

1. Google Search Console

Google Search Console has a number of tools available to help you appear in the SERPs for the search terms and phrases your target audience is looking for.  If you’re the owner of a business or an SEO on your marketing team, Search Console can help you conduct an initial SEO analysis from scratch or update your existing SEO strategy with fresh keywords. Google Search Console monitors, debugs, and optimizes your website — and you don't need to know how to code to benefit from this tool.

2. Google Analytics

Although Google Analytics has a paid version, the free version of the product can help you manage your website’s SEO — this is especially true if you pair Google Analytics with Google Search Console. In doing so, all of your website’s SEO data will be centrally located and compiled, and you can use queries to identify areas for improvement with the keywords and phrases that you want your website and web pages to rank for.

3. UpCity Free SEO Report Card

The Free SEO Report Card by UpCity lets you analyze your website to determine how it stacks up against the competition.  In exchange for your email address and a few data points, SEO Report Card will serve up a report

4. Internet Marketing Ninjas

Internet Marketing Ninjas is an SEO-focused company with a variety of free tools you can use to compare your website against the competition, optimize web pages for certain keywords, generate meta tags, and increase organic traffic to your website.

5. Bing Webmaster

Microsoft Bing Webmaster gives you access to many tools that offer insight into your website such as reporting, diagnostic, and SEO tools. The SEO tools that you can use for free have the power to help you analyze your website, manage backlinks, and review keywords to ensure your site is well-optimized for organic search.

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We've all been there. The struggle of not having any fresh topic ideas. This can continue for days, weeks, or even months. This is the start of your flat.

A big part of building a strong content strategy is experimenting with new types of content. Your audience may love your podcasts, but that doesn't mean that's the only thing you should create. Fresh content types can expand your reach and attract more, and possibly even better leads.  To help you shake up your content balance, here are 10 things you can put behind a landing page to help you collect new leads -- and ways you can optimize your landing page for each type.

10 Types of Lead Generation Content to Put Behind Your Landing Pages

1. Ebooks

Ebooks are a popular type of offer used to generate leads, educate customers and prospects, and gain credibility in your industry. But they can take time to become a reality, so be sure to choose a topic that will help a prospect go from downloading your ebook to having a productive conversation with a member of your sales team.

2. Courses

Your audience may also be excited to fill out a form in exchange for a video course or tutorial. It's up to you whether to produce, shoot, and edit the video in-house or hire a professional. You can hold the course live, or post a recording. Either way, ask participants to share their email address in exchange for the tutorial, so you can send them an email with the video recording that they can access forever.

3. Trials

Trials aren't just limited to things like courses. Sometimes, your prospects will want to try out your product or service before deciding whether they're a good fit. That's a good thing -- you want to grow a base of customers that are convinced and loyal, and that can take a little more work than trying to sell your stuff to everyone who will listen.  That's why it can be helpful to provide a free trial of your product or service with no risk, no obligation, and no credit card required -- the only thing the prospect needs to do is fill out a form.

4. Demos

If visitors are ready to learn more about your product or service, make it easy for them to schedule a demo with your team. You can place demo calls-to-action on key pages of your website, including your home page.  If visitors are ready to learn more about your product or service, make it easy for them to schedule a demo with your team. You can place demo calls-to-action on key pages of your website, including your home page.

5. Contests

People love contests. They can teach you a lot about your audience while engaging them, growing your reach, driving traffic to your website, and -- drum roll, please -- generating leads. You can run contests on your website, or on pretty much any social media platform, including Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. They can be as simple as you'd like.

6. Cheat Sheets

Cheat sheets are a type of short, concise offer that someone might bookmark for future reference. Think of them as comprehensive guides to terms, commands, symbols, or other things. They should be formatted for quick reference, which means clear headers and not too much detail. And the more visual, the better.

7. Checklists

Checklists are another type of short offer that you could put behind a landing page, which readers can print out or download to their desktops. Include clear headers, a colorful design, and keep copy brief.

8. Email Series

An email series is a multi-part series of emails sent to an individual who specifically opted in to receive them. It's different from an email subscription -- it has a finite number of emails sent.

9. Business Blogging

Business blogging not only drives more traffic to your website, it also can become a major source for lead generation down the road. But how do you convert blog readers into leads?

10. Guides

Guides come in many shapes and sizes. There are "ultimate guides," which are long, in-depth, and usually include detailed explanations, screenshots, and step-by-step instructions. Then, there are "simple guides," which are shorter and much more concise. There are also tactical guides, pocket guides, introductory guides and advanced guides. The list goes on.

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5 Steps on How to Identify Your Marketing Message

You know it is important it is to have a marketing strategy — but have you thought about the impact your marketing message can make in it?

Your strategy has to align with your audiences’ needs and interests, and understand the required approach for each channel you use

But how do you bridge the gap between this strategy and the content itself? What you need is a marketing message, and it’s just as important as your overall strategy.

What is a marketing message?

Your marketing message is the ability to craft your marketing message with care, specifically for the audiences you’re trying to reach. It should also address their pain points and present your business as a solution.

Your message is extremely influential in helping you meet your business goals, as it can be the difference between a new acquisition or sending a customer on to your competitor.

Because a marketing message is the words you use to communicate with your audience to convince them to do business with you.

What does messaging mean for marketing?

Messaging in marketing is how a brand communicates what customers want to know about your brand. It goes beyond just sharing information about the product or service available; it builds your brand identity through the “why” of your company; its mission, vision, and values.

Some Examples

1. Nike

Nike’s marketing message is “Where All Athletes Belong,” and it speaks to its target audience and lets them know that they have something for everyone —from professional athletes to first-time players.

2. Chipotle

Chipotle’s marketing message, shown in the image below, reads “Find your plant power.” The brand is speaking directly to those with diverse needs, inviting them to try its expanded menu with plant-based options and letting them know that they recognize the gap in the market for their needs.

3. Zoom

Zoom markets to an audience who wants to continue having fulfilling conversations, regardless of their physical location: “Meet OnZoom. A marketplace for immersive experiences.”

How to Craft a Marketing Message

Step 1: Know your target audience

Begin creating your marketing message without identifying your target audience. When you know who they are, you’re not marketing to customers you think are interested in you, but rather to those you know are interested in you.

Step 2: Understand your audience's pain points

our persona research should tell you about your audience’s pain points and challenges.  As a refresher, pain points are issues that affect your target audience’s day-to-day routines, business tasks, or general life desires. These challenges are typically things that your audience is actively seeking solutions for.

Step 3: Define Value Propositions

When creating your message, present your product or service as a cure for their pain points, and prove it. Continuing with the eco-friendly business example, you can specifically mention that your clothing is locally produced, separating you from the competition that mass produces its goods abroad.

It clearly says why they should do business with you instead of a competitor, and that is precisely the point of a marketing message.

Step 4: Clarity

Customers should read your message and find answers to their questions without needing to overanalyze your statements. Prioritize being clear, concise, and easily understood, as you want your words to speak for themselves. To reiterate, get to the point.

Step 5: Use conversational and familiar language

Even though your customers are in your industry, you shouldn’t assume that they know or understand the technical jargon related to what you sell. Therefore, it’s important to sound conversational and use familiar and palatable language to most audiences. Your message copy should be simple, straightforward, and not require an industry-specific dictionary.

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5 Tips for Writing an Effective and Compelling Email

Have you ever had to hype yourself up to send an email? Because, same.  There’s something that feels monumental about sending an email that you don’t always get with other forms of communication. And if you’re a non-native English speaker, that task can seem even more daunting.  This article will provide some helpful tips to help you improve the overall quality of your emails, no matter your perspective.

1. Have a compelling subject line.

Subject lines can make or break your email’s success. Unfortunately, this is a struggle for most people with the subject lines being the deciding factor on whether someone will open your email or not.

Even if you’re sending emails internally at your company, it still pays to write a great subject line so your recipient has an idea of what to expect. Like any busy person, your teammates receive a ton of emails every day, and would certainly appreciate the extra effort of a descriptive subject line.

2. Start with an appropriate greeting

Start the email with the right greeting. There are 2 components to it, generally the salutation and the opening sentence.

You can go a long way with just the right salutation. For example in a societal rich country like Malaysia, knowing when to write "Dear [X]" compared to "Hi [X]" will make all of the difference.

3. Have a strong attention grabber.

Having the salutation done and out of your way. It's time to start your email. It's where the meat is. 

This is where you start to build rapport and show that you're not sending a generic email to multiple people.

4. Keep your messages short and concise.

We spend a lot of time reading emails. And because of this, many people simply scan emails to get the essence of the message and move on to the next.

5. Be consistent with your font

Emails can be fun. You can add images, GIFs, and colours. However, there’s a way to do it that’s not too jarring or distracting.  Do not use several fonts used in the email, different font sizes along with different colours. As a result, the eye doesn’t know where to go and it’s a bit overwhelming.  Furthermore, the message gets lost, as your recipient is too distracted by all these elements fighting for their attention.  So, as a rule of thumb: Stick to one font. If you want to use a secondary one, use it sparingly. Follow the same rule for colour.

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7 Types of Advertising Brands Are Investing In This Year

As marketers begin to map out their 2022 marketing plans, it's the perfect time to dust off the crystal ball and predict what will shape the industry over the coming year.

There's certainly a lot to consider — the continuing impact of the global pandemic, the massive shift to digital advertising, and the rise of platforms like TikTok — to name a few. Simply put, what worked for your marketing strategy in the past might not fly in 2022.

1. Video Ads

As marketers look for innovative ways to engage audiences, video has become an integral part of the conversation. Video advertising uses videos to promote products and services, educate or entertain consumers, and reach new audiences in an engaging way.

2. Social Media Ads

Social media advertising serves paid ads to your target audience on social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Aside from its reach, it also offers a wealth of opportunities to boost brand awareness, generate and convert leads, and foster customer relationships.

3. Mobile Ads

Digital advertising is all about meeting people where they are, and more often than not, they're on their phones. In fact, as of July 2021, 56% of all web traffic came from mobile phones. If we jump back to 2011, this number was just over 6%.

4. Display Ads

Display advertisements are mostly found along the top or sides of third-party websites. And due to their flashy style and placement, they aren't exactly subtle.

5. Print Ads

When I think of print advertising, I picture the infamous poster of Rosie the Riveter, recruiting women for defense industries in World War II. While the ad industry has evolved since the 40s, print is still an effective and universally-used medium. It's now migrated to the digital space, encompassing digital magazines, newspapers, and brochures, among others.

6. Broadcast Ads

Broadcast advertising uses TV and radio to promote products and services. TV ads, in particular, have a broad reach and can provide a more engaging, multi-sensory experience. But, these ads are expensive and the audience may avoid them (by clicking to another channel).

7. Native Ads

Have you ever seen an advertisement on Instagram that looks exactly like a normal post from someone you’re following? That's one example of native advertising.

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What You Need to Know About LinkedIn Retargeting

Yes, you own or work for a business that sells products or services. However, you are also a consumer. For just a moment, take off your business hat and put on your consumer hat.  Every day, you research items from pet shampoo and carpet cleaner in your personal life to CRM systems and social media schedulers for your professional life.

Isn’t it frustrating when you see how many people visit your website and look at a product, and leave without ever making a purchase? You’ve managed to attract them to your business, but what good is paid advertising and a beautiful website if shoppers don’t convert to customers?

Thankfully, marketers have a solution for this. It’s called "retargeting".

What is LinkedIn Retargetting?

Also known as remarketing ads, LinkedIn retargeting ads allow you to reach LinkedIn users who may have previously interacted with your brand in some way (so they have some level of interest), yet they haven’t purchased from you.

How does this work?

You might be wondering how the cookies know how to communicate with LinkedIn. This is done through a piece of code called an Insight Tag that gets installed on your website. The pixel is able to track conversions, website audiences, and website demographics for all your LinkedIn ad campaigns. It then passes this data from your website to LinkedIn, letting it know that you’ve got someone interested who needs to be reminded you exist.

Is it difficult to make a campaign?

you don’t have to be a tech genius to set up a LinkedIn Retargeting Ad. They’ve made it fairly user-friendly so as long as you have access to your website code, and basic knowledge of how to navigate inside it, this is doable. With good directions (they’re coming, don’t worry), you can be well on your way in a short period of time. If you have access to a website designer who will help you, that’s great too.

Best Practices

You’ll want to get the most bang for your buck when it comes to LinkedIn Retargeting Ads. Follow these best practices to make sure your advertising dollar stretches as far as possible.  Refine your ad content over time. If you notice certain pieces of content aren’t resonating with your audience, don’t be afraid to refresh it until you figure out what works. Images and ad copy should reflect the retargeting audience you’re trying to reach. Create multiple ad formats depending on the stage your prospective customers are in. Continue testing formats and use the format that will best move them towards your objectives. Be flexible. You’ll be learning what works and what doesn’t as you go. When you discover something isn’t creating the results you want, change it.

Conclusion

There’s no need to accept lost leads. When someone heads to your website, downloads content, or interacts with your brand in any way, it’s because they are interested in what you offer and how you can help them.  Rather than counting them out if they don’t immediately convert, focus some of your advertising dollars on recapturing their attention and gently guiding them back to your company and what you can do for them. You have the solution to their problem — make sure they know it.

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