CONTENT MARKETING: A SALES STRATEGY WITH ADDED VALUE

There has been a lot said about content marketing, not just in social networks, but all over the internet, for a long time. The definition, however, can be somewhat elusive. Actually, we are always talking about content marketing in one way or another. In many ways, it’s considered the backbone of brand presence.

Content marketing can have many forms, for example: through videos, case studies, books, computer graphics, quizzes, polls, photos, and more. The range is very wide in the digital world.

What is Content Marketing?

We use content marketing to do things like increase sales of a brand, to generate a positive brand image and to position a company as an authority in a particular subject or particular line or range of products.

For SEM or PPC Marketing (Pay per Click Marketing) we also need good content. This means that quality content is the key whether we are working with social networks on the web, or with some other digital media. If we buy traffic, buy followers, then we have to have something to hold them.

Content marketing is a concept that takes time and experience online to accomplish, and is becoming more relevant everyday. When you are marketing your content, you should offer original, entertaining or useful content to users (even all three at once) targeting sale as the primary goal. When creating a content marketing strategy, it is essential to be clear about what our target audience is, what their needs are, what information you want to provide them, and how you can help.

The corporate blog is one of the best tools to convey valuable content that helps attract, convert and retain customers. However, the originality of both topic and presentation of information plays a fundamental role. Therefore, you have to take advantage of the various forms that can offer good content(videos, info-graphics, e-books, newsletter, interviews, etc.).Factors such as Social Media or SEO Positioning are very important for a good content strategy, which is why, you can always exploit the potential of all available opportunities. In addition, content marketing is a sales strategy with many benefits.

How do you know if it works?

Some basic metrics will help you know what you have to achieve(themes, formats, strategies, customer service, design, usability, etc.). Content marketing is often confused with other related online content generation strategies like Branded Content, Copywriting, Storytelling and Content Creation. The line that divides some other concepts is fine, sometimes fuzzy, but it should be clear in its meaning and must involve each of these actions at the time of raising your content creation strategy.

Branded Content Marketing Content

This technique is based, as the name suggests, on the production of “branded content”, in any format, which means that the branded content does not have to be digital. In fact, this type of content marketing is mostly used in the television field.

Content Marketing vs. Copywriting

This is a technique of creating persuasive content focused on the user performing a specific action such as a purchase in your online store, a call or requesting particular information. The most important nuance is that copywriting hides the fact that you are trying to sell something. It is more aggressive and more direct. Of course, you can also perform functions such as inform or entertain your users, but this is not its true goal. In addition, copywriting is only the creation of content in text format.

Content Marketing vs. Storytelling

Storytelling consists of turning a message or an idea in a short story that allows a connection between the narrator and the audience. Its turning branded content into a narrative that encompasses various stages and chapters. It is another way to reach your audience.

If you want to know more about content marketing, fill our free SEO analysis form and one of our experts will contact you.

A FEW SIMPLE TIPS FOR ON PAGE SEO

On Page Optimization is generally pretty flexible because you decide what you want to change on your site. Seo experts have done on page seo for many websites so they usually have an idea of what works. The goal is to make a web page and optimize it to be as attractive as possible for the visitors and the web crawlers. This is extremely important for the success of your website. The only way to improve is to test it regularly and follow up on the different elements to see what truly works best.

Content

Firstly, it’s important that your page is properly accessible. If no link is pointing to it, a search engine cannot see it. Try to avoid JavaScript links. Having great content contributes enormously to SEO. Mostly, people don’t think about content but the vitality of content is always an asset, without which it is very hard to move up in the SERPs (search engine result pages, search results).

Title

The title of your website should be relevant, unique and not too long (max 70 characters). We must not lose sight of the title (it is the first thing you see in the search engines), so it is useless if it does not reflect the information of the website. It is interesting to place keywords in titles, but they must remain relevant. The user and the robot must know what the page is about by reading its title. In practice, it is preferable to put the keywords at the beginning of the title.

Description

Tag descriptions are also important. Even if most robots neglect them, descriptions serve as a snippet in the SERPs. If a description is not given, the robots will select “relevant page-lines”. In a passage where keywords are in bold in the results, the user can see at a glance, the closest terms related to their search query. Like the title, the description must be unique and relevant and it must be an appropriate summary of the page. Avoid generic descriptions and putting the entire keyword list as a description for your web page.

Heading Tags

The tags include headings from H1 to H6 and must be chosen carefully. The way H tags are setup gives a clue about the content of your page. It also greatly improves the clarity of your page. In addition, as an article, the headings should appear in a limited quantity.

Images

In the category of forgotten content, you can also include pictures. Images are not visible to the robots, or for users of Lynx and other text-mode web browsers. All browsers however can interpret the information displayed through the img tag. It is therefore necessary to inform by using the attribute “alt” that will be displayed if for some reason X or Y image cannot be displayed (alt for alternative). The “alt” attribute is also used as an anchor, if the image is clickable. Although naming files can also be a plus, it can be used to (re) cram keywords and be well indexed on search engines images.

Contact information

There are times when customers just want to email you, call you via phone or visit you in person instead of filling out a form. Having items like an address and map on a contact page of your website can boost your local search rankings tremendously. There is nothing more frustrating than wanting to contact a website and not being able to find the contact information on it. So keep it simple and accessible.

The call to action

Think about what you want your visitors to do while your clients arrive at your site. You can for example, encourage them to sign up for your mailing list, invite them to leave you a comment that can serve as feedback for your products or services. This way, you obtain valuable information for your business. When you know what you want them to do, then, you must think of an incentive to put up with the order to complete the desired action (A ticket discount, free shipping etc). One thing is clear, if you want results you have to ask and encourage your customers to perform an action.

Google Places

Google Places gives you the ability to link the places page to your website as well as your profile on Google Places to your website. This helps you by making you appear better in the local search results. Google also gives you a local web page that you can customize with descriptions of the products, services, images and videos.

For more details about the on page optimization of your website, get a free assessment today!

MEDIA BUYING, A NECESSITY FOR ANY ONLINE MARKETING CAMPAIGN

Online Media Buying has become a basic necessity for organizations, companies and institutions around the world, as the Internet gains new users every day. The worlds internet users see banner ads in their day to day browsing and use these means to inquire about the products and services they require as well as to acquire them.

Advantages of Online Media Buying

Some advantages of Buying Online vs. traditional advertising media is that online media buying is much cheaper, you can target your market better, and you can also be at the right place at the right time. The goal of any advertiser is to place the business in front of the eyes of potential customers, and having a banner ad conveniently placed on the same page that clients are searching for answers can be advantageous in many ways.  Media buying also helps user interaction, as everything is measured, and quantified to make you know the exact source of traffic, how long they were on the page, and what keywords they used to find you, etc.

An Important Element to add to Existing Campaigns

Online media buying can complement traditional media campaigns such as TV, Radio, leafleting, Point of Sale, Activations, Guerilla, etc. In fact every day the trends shift toward comprehensive campaigns in which an interaction takes place with the user in every media format whether online or offline.

Meanwhile, companies all over the world are spending a higher percentage of their budget purchasing Online Media. Currently e-commerce businesses face a big challenge in media buying. Business partners have the challenge of buying traffic that is targeted to their sites purpose; advertisers on the other hand have the challenge of finding the channels that will provide the best results for allocation of funds and this is not easy to accomplish, both tasks can be difficult.

The business owner will usually choose to purchase traffic on a large scale which is not necessarily qualified. Certainly, this scenario will provide a gain in page views and clicks. However, this does not refer to a delivery optimized with respect to cost benefit campaign. It can be tough to assess the pricing of sales traffic, and this is a problem business owners see often, which is why they should hire professionals to optimize and manage their PPC campaigns and media buying efforts.

The side of the advertisers account is more complex. When your e-commerce business grows large enough, you also hold a presence across the web, a presence you must solidify and grow. Your brand can become present in channels such as aggregation sites, portals, search engines, affiliates, among  many others.

What is the best course of action? 

Most people will opt for a direct investment for a specific frame of time, which can deliver good ROI, deliver leads or even attract new customers, however poor choices could undermine the medium-term strategies and existing gains. Stop investing in the same channel and start diversifying your strategies. A good online marketing campaign has organic rankings, PPC, Banner ads and Social Media in mind.

What  is the best channel to invest in without jeopardizing any gains in your current digital strategies? This varies according to niche, segment, competition and product portfolio.

In countries like the U.S. and UK, the percentage of media buying exceeds 17% of advertising investment, which indicates that the trend remains entirely favorable to the buying of online media. You being responsible for the advertising budget must consider these online actions. If you need a professional agency that has media buying experience, contact us.