Yesterday Plovdiv was the meeting point for hundreds of IT professionals, enthusiasts and entrepreneurs, the reason being Digital4Plovdiv 2017. This year the conference was dedicated specifically to online marketing and e-commerce. It took place on 30 November at the St. Petersburg Hotel, Plovdiv. Ivan Totev, the mayor of Plovdiv, gave a welcoming speech and started the discussions.

Our team was pleased to be a part of the conference and learn in more detail about the hottest topics and the latest practices in digital marketing and online shop optimization. More than 30 specialists presented the most effective tips and tricks for the successful development of e-commerce businesses and increase in sales.

The conference program was held in three different halls. There were lectures, presentations, workshops and case studies. Everyone found something new and interesting to learn and apply to their work or business, including our team. Among the most discussed topics were Behavioral economics, SEO audit, SaaS, ERP systems, Internet security, video marketing, remarketing and many more.

All lecturers were prominent experts in their field with extensive work experience. It was a real pleasure for us to be part of over 300 participants at the event. More information about Digital4Plovdiv 2017 can be found on the website.

In July 2018 the mobile community will celebrate 10 years since Apple launched its App Store (the first app online store in fact). It all started with 500 applications available for download, while currently there are around 1.9 million applications on the platform.  But that’s not all. There are more than 2.6 million apps in Google Play too.

That’s quite a lot, right?

Then how can your new mobile application reach its target audience? How will it compete with the other well-known and widely used applications? If you want to promote your mobile app successfully, here is what you should do:

 

Website

You definitely need a website for your mobile app. But if you already have a well-developed and perfectly working corporate one, you can just add download buttons on it.
Another interesting idea is to make a “Teaser” page of the app. This will keep your audience interested and thrilled about what is yet to come. Why is all this so essential? Because having a website is:

• A reliable and effective way to promote your mobile app on the Internet
• Highlights your applications’ authenticity as well as your professionalism
• An additional channel through which users can find your product
• Another place from where your app can be downloaded and installed
• Provides you with a link that can be shared anywhere online (social networks, forums, etc.)
• Easily optimized for search engines (SEO) and helps with better Google ranking
• Allows you to create paid PPC campaigns through Google AdWords
• And even more

 

Social media

What would we do without social networks in the 21^st century?!  Every product, brand, family business, corporation has an updated social media profile. Moreover, they all enjoy the numerous business benefits that platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram bring along (even Linkedin). You should do the same. Don’t run away from your potential customers.

For example, Facebook allows you to create and run targeted marketing campaigns for mobile apps (both iOS and Android) specifically. There is a separate Facebook section dedicated to this. Your targeted campaigns may be aimed at increasing the number of app installs or boosting user engagement within the app itself. Facebook paid ads will definitely help you with promoting your app more quickly and increasing downloads. You can target your audience by factors such as age, location, operating system of the mobile device, and more.

You should not underestimate the power of Youtube too. Create and upload videos that inform the audience about the functionalities and benefits of your mobile app. Video marketing has many advantages for business. If you want to learn more, read our article on the topic here.

 

ASO – App Store Optimization

Have you heard about SEO (Search Engine Optimization)? ASO (App Store optimization) serves the same functions but for mobile apps and their better ranking in app store search results.

What does that mean?

Remember that the total number of mobile apps is about 5 million? So, it’s quite common to have apps with similar functionalities and usefulness. Therefore, ASO is a must-have method for app promotion and its improved visibility in stores like Google Play.

What should your successful ASO strategy include? Still, generally speaking, the most common way to download an app is after finding it in an app store. ASO will help you outrun your competitors in search results and position your app higher in the App Store or Google Play. So, here are the factors that play a major role in your better app store ranking:

• Your mobile application name
• Its logo/icon
• Research and analyze specific keywords
• App description text
• Screenshots of your application
• Video – could be a Promo or about app features
• Number of installs
• Number of uninstalls
• User retention rate
• Rating/reviews
• Updates and bug fixes

 

Search Ads and Google AdWords

Apple has developed a platform called Search Ads that allows you to pay and promote your mobile app in their App Store search. Thus, the chances of your app occupying top search results positions in the store are significantly increased.  You probably know by now that most app downloads happen mainly after one has searched for an application specifically in an app store. Therefore, investing a certain amount of money (at least initially) in a Search Ads campaign will definitely give a push to the number of downloads and will boost your brand awareness.

Google AdWords is almost the same as Search ads, but for Android mobile apps. The platform is versatile and with it, you can create paid ad campaigns for Google Search, Display and Youtube networks, Google Play as wells as ads in other apps. Google AdWords allows you to target a campaign by specific criteria and to set up its goal. Once you have created the ad, you need to “bid” the price you are going to pay only after a user has:

• Installed the application (CPI – cost per install)
• Performed a specific action in the application itself (CPA – cost per action)
• or both

 

Do you have any questions left unanswered after reading this article? If so, do not hesitate to contact us. We will be happy to help you with your next mobile app promotion.

In June 2017, Facebook announced that more than 2.01 billion people are actively using the platform every month. And the average stay of 20 minutes per visit! The impact of this social network is inevitable for both end users and businesses.  Considering the fact that most people visit it more than once a day.

What do people see in their individual News Feeds? Once they have opened Facebook the news are determined by a complex algorithm that is constantly evolving and improving. Why? Because Facebook wants to create a community, where the information you receive is specifically tailored to your preferences and interests. You have noticed that, right?

Let’s look at the changes Facebook made recently and what their effect on business is.

 

Fewer links to low-quality websites

 

One of the main goals is to reduce the negative experiences of users that have clicked on links leading them to poor quality web pages. Pages with non-informative content, and compulsive or shocking ads. After carefully researching and analyzing thousands of links, Facebook created a special AI (Artificial Intelligence). The algorithm that checks every single link. Those of them shared on the platform and will be ranked according to their content quality. In this way, links with bad ranking will appear lower in the News Feed. While those of good quality will be shown up in the News Feed. The result: users will see less misleading and more informative posts.

 

Effect on business:

These changes will take effect gradually. It is expected that in the upcoming months, posts leading to good quality websites will notice some increase in traffic. While those that do not – a slight decline in traffic. Of course, this will vary from user to user. And corporate pages will still be able to freely share stories and posts of interest to their followers. Therefore, you should carefully review your online shop and website content. Providing excellent online user experience will help Facebook rank your shared website links higher.

 

More informative links

 

According to one Facebook survey, there is a group of users who share a large number of links daily thus spamming other users’ News Feeds. To reduce the impact of spammers and the spreading of problematic links such as clickbait, misleading headlines, and sensations, the Facebook team constantly strives to decrease the visibility of those links. However, post ranking is not determined solely by this fact. So initially this new change will only affect links (link to an article, for example), and NOT domains, pages, videos, photos, check-ins, statuses.

 

Effect on business:

Most Facebook users will not notice any major changes in their News Feed. But this is not of no importance to the business. Тhose who reach a larger audience by sharing spammers’ links may see a small decline in the number of people reached by these specific posts (posts shared by spammers). In other words: Be careful what you share on your corporate Facebook wall. If you share a link posted by a spammer on your professional profile, this particular link will reach fewer people. And this leads to losses of potential customers. You don’t want that happen, right?

 

Prioritizing links to faster loading pages

 

About 40% of website visitors will abandon the page if it hasn’t loaded in three seconds. To reduce the user waiting time and improve their satisfaction, Facebook is taking actions. Prioritizing those links in the News Feed witch loads more quickly compared to slower ones. You too would rather spend your time reading something interesting than waiting for it to load, right?

Whether a link loads faster or not depends on both: website loading speed and users’ Internet connection. These two are also taken into consideration when Facebook places a link higher or lower in the News Feed.

 

Effect on business:

This adjustment will not cause any dramatic changes in your News Feed. But websites that load more slowly can see a drop in referral traffic. Therefore, it is important to improve your website loading speed as well as its mobile version. This is not important only for link rankings on Facebook but also in Google. Most of all it is fundamental for your customers’ satisfaction with your user-friendly design.

You wouldn’t like to miss sales in your online store because your website is loading slowly, right?

If you need more detailed information about how to launch your next Facebook marketing campaign, check out our 8 essential elements of a Facebook campaign.

Digital marketing trends change constantly without following a specific course. The situation is so dynamic that the effective tactics of today may have the opposite effect tomorrow. That’s why we’ve prepared for you a list of those digital marketing trends that seem long-lasting and will help you define the successful strategy of your business.

 

Fewer words, more visual elements

 

Content marketing has been among the top digital marketing trends over the past few years, but recently its focus has shifted towards images and other visual stimuli. So forget about wordy statuses and lengthy blog posts unless necessary (for example, a thorough analysis of practical situations). 2017 is the year of visual content. Focus on infographics, photos, videos, digital guides, presentations, graphics, charts, and more. Tell your stories not only in words, illustrate them visually. Speaking of which, did you know that image posts on social media have 2.3 times higher engagement rates than those with text only?

 

Live Streaming

 

Live video is in an unprecedented boom right now. Following the success story of Snapchat, many social networks have also integrated a live video on their platforms – Facebook, Instagram Stories. News, personal stories, protests, concerts – everybody can become a reporter of their personal experiences and beliefs right here, right now. This presents brands with the opportunity to attract only people who are interested in a particular event happening at a specific moment in time.  Live Streaming does wonders for brand awareness, increases customer loyalty and creates a personal relationship between brands and followers. You offer exclusive information that is available only to those who are being active at a particular moment.

 

Influencer marketing

 

A worldwide study indicates that 84% of marketers are planning to make at least one Influencer marketing campaign in the next 12 months. Why? Because everyone has a favorite star, a role model or simply an inspirational persona. These Influencers are online and have profiles in almost all social media networks. Brands use them as models in ad campaigns to successfully promote products, and increase online sales. While still maintaining brand authenticity and deliver a unique message without it being a thorn in followers’ eyes. The best thing is that not only top brands can benefit from this marketing strategy. Small and medium-sized businesses already successfully implement this strategy on a local level. There are agencies that can connect you with popular influencers so you can also reach their large following.

 

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

 

In 2017, the use of AI in digital marketing is gaining more and more attention. For example, search engines such as Google, social networks like Facebook, various video games, customer service platforms, and many other industries have an integrated AI algorithm to streamline their business model and to improve their customer experience. AI has also been successfully implemented in a number of high-tech e-solutions that provide businesses with in-depth analysis for predicting consumer behavior.

 

Small and medium-sized businesses may not be able (or need) to create complex and intelligent algorithms such as Google or Facebook, but this doesn’t mean they can not benefit from AI too. This is where Chatbots enter the stage. Chatbots are programs that respond to user questions automatically. By introducing Chatbots, companies not only save resources but also get a new and completely free ad channel. They communicate with users through the most popular messaging platforms – Facebook Messenger, Viber, Skype, Telegram. The future is bright for Chatbots!

 

Internet of Things (IoT)

 

Most of the technology we use in our daily lives are connected to the Internet. Mobile devices, tablets, TV remote control, heating, lighting, locking devices, and more – all of them are plugged into the net. By 2020, over 75 billion devices are expected to have an internet connection, which means that their number will be ten times the current population of Earth.

 

From a marketing perspective, they present businesses with real-time data – user preferences, client interaction with different devices, ways to improve customer service, better targeting for ad campaigns, and more.

 

Analyzing Big Data

 

The digital era brought along huge amounts of data and information. Nowadays, one of the main challenges for marketers is to find the best ways to arrange, analyze and apply qualitative data in their digital marketing strategy. This will help them get a better understanding of the current market situation, guide them in targeting their products, where to promote them, which channels to use, how to design or modify products, what are the user needs, what advertising campaign to implement next.

 

The sources of such data are infinite – social networks, websites, mobile and other devices, web and mobile applications, emails, and more. New information is thrown at us at any given moment, in real time, making its quantity even more baffling, and its proper organizing – even more challenging. So you can understand how vital it is to find the proper data analysis tools and implement them in your business.

 

All this information leave us wondering – what new digital marketing trends will 2018 bring along? Do you have any suggestions?