The term Inbound Marketing was introduced by HubSpot for the first time in 2006 as “an approach focused on attracting customers through content and interactions that are helpful and relevant.” This is a multi-component strategy that includes search engine optimization (SEO), blogging, creating text, visual and video content, email marketing, social network marketing (SMM).

 

Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing is not an invasive way to attract consumers to a brand. It is not intended to interrupt users constantly without their permission as we know Outbound marketing does (billboards, ads, press releases, etc.). Inbound messages are not intrusive at all. On the contrary, they attract those who are looking for answers. By using Inbound Marketing tools, you help your potential customers find you more easily online. Provide them with enough information about your product or services and they will be able to make an informative decision about purchasing what you are offering.

 

 

Nowadays, it would be very unusual if a company does not use Inbound Marketing as part of their overall marketing strategy. To find out where you should put your efforts in 2018, do not stop reading. Here are four Inbound marketing trends that will help your business become even more successful in 2018.

 

Chatbot

We hope that you are still not tired of listening about artificial intelligence (AI) and the benefits it has on business. Chatbots are a type of AI technology that is becoming a powerful tool for Inbound Marketing. Why?

Over the last few years, people have begun using messaging applications more than social networks to keep in touch with one another.  What is interesting is that they use them more and more as a way to communicate with brands too. A chatbot is a computer program that makes it possible for brands to provide 24/7 customer service on the biggest messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger, Viber, Skype, and more. These virtual assistants answer user questions via automated messages. At the same time, they collect valuable information and statistics about their preferences. Companies can then use the gathered data to improve and update their marketing strategies.

 

Guest blogging

Everybody knows that having a blog where you publish articles regularly is an extremely successful method for generating organic traffic to your site. Millions of articles are published online every day. Blogging has grown into an actual industry. It evolves continuously and competition is becoming fierce. A good way to spice things up while attracting new customers is through guest blogging. This means that your article will be published on another website or blog. Although this is not a new practice at all, 2018 has set big expectations about it.

NOTA BENNE! Publishing an informative and quality article on a website that has less than 1000 visits per month and users who do not share its content would be totally meaningless. When you blog on popular websites with good rating and of relevance to your business, you will bring quality traffic and adequate potential customers back to your page. And this is directly related to the number of sales if the page offers some kind of product or service, such as “eCommerce website development” for example.

 

Podcast

A podcast is an audio show that is broadcasted over the Internet. More and more companies are incorporating such type of content creation in their brand awareness strategies. Consumers can listen to podcasts anywhere, even in the shower! Although this is a relatively new tool for Inbound Marketing, 11% of marketers are planning to include it in their marketing strategy in 2018.

Podcasts provide informative content in a very convenient way. They are extremely user-friendly. It’s nice to listen to something interesting without the need to constantly stare at the computer screen, phone or tablet. Podcasts are the favorite blogs of people with limited spare time.

Creating a podcast does not require any investment. The best part is that after broadcasting it, you can transcribe the dialogue and publish it as a blog post with a link to further increase the traffic to your website. Eric Siu, co-host of Marketing School along with Neil Patel, says that once they began making podcasts, their website traffic increased by up to 25-30%!

 

Live video

When we talk about trends in Inbound Marketing, we cannot miss mentioning live videos which will still keep a top position in 2018. People like live streaming and statistics show it clearly:

• 82% of users prefer watching a live video to reading a blog post;
• Live videos are viewed three times more than regular videos on Facebook;
• The most viewed live videos are about breaking news and conferences (56%) followed by concerts (43%);
• 67% are more likely to buy a ticket for a concert or conference after watching a live video about.

That’s why your brand should start live streaming interesting brand happenings. Share about an event you are attending or an interview with an expert someone, show people behind the scenes stories, anything that matters to you and your target audience.

 

What other Inbound marketing trends you think will rule in 2018? Share with us in the comment section below.

We have gathered for you a few of the questions we get asked frequently by our customers about Instagram. Hopefully, you will be able to find the answers you have been looking for among them.

 

Why do I need Instagram for my business?

First of all, Instagram is one of the fastest growing social networks. Second of all, there are more than 400 million active users on the platform daily. And lastly, 60% of them claim to have first learned about a product or service on Instagram.

 

What do I need to know when setting up my Instagram business account?

• Before you start promoting your Instagram account, you need to have at least 12 published photos that explicitly illustrate what your page is about.
• The content should be catchy and your Bio should be straight to the point.
• Make sure that the link you’ve put in your Bio is active and leads to your website, product, or anything else, which will make your users complete a certain action.

 

How do I increase the number of my followers?

The mere truth is that you have to be very active. And by active we do not mean regularly publishing pretty pictures online, but you rather need to:

• Search for and follow users who have tagged you in their photos or mentioned you in a post.
• Don’t forget to do the same for the posts added to your location (if you have one).
• Engage with the people who have interacted with your profile in any way (commented, followed, liked, sent a message) and do the same.
• Comment, like and follow your competitors’ followers. The more, the better!

 

How many #hashtags shall I use in my picture descriptions?

Instagram photos with at least one hashtag lead to 12.6% more user engagement compared to those without. So, do your research and find around 30 hashtags with high ratings and post them. For an even better effect, we recommend that you do this as a comment, not in the picture caption.

You can also use free online tools for hashtag popularity checking such as Keyhole.

 

Are there any Instagram practices I should avoid?

We would advise you not to purchase any followers or image likes. Even if it does work at first, it will be temporarily. You will not only lose what you have gained but might also discredit your brand.

 

Are there any tools that can help me manage my Instagram account?

Yes, there are. You can try the following online platforms:

• Sprout Social
• Hootsuite
• Schedugram

 

Want to learn more about digital marketing. Contact us and we will help your business grow.

I am pretty sure you have had a conversation with a customer service representative at least ones in your life – to get more information about the shipment status of your parcel. To check shoe size in-store availability. Or to simply order food online.  For sure, these customer support representatives have passed several training sessions. They have reread the customer service guides and regulations and have mastered their company business ethics.

However, the customer service process cannot be optimized completely.  Still, the speed and quality of service do not depend solely on the human factor. Exactly the opposite! In most cases, it highly depends on the CRM system and the methodology used by the employee in their work. The answers you are looking for as a client can be 10 clicks away. May require a few minutes of loading the right information or the filling in of some data inside a form.

Is there a solution to these problems? Yes, there is! It is called a Chatbot.

 

What is a Chatbot?

 

A Chatbot is a computer program that automatically responds to customer questions. Simulating the feeling of having a conversation with a real person. This communication can be done through text, audio, or other visual elements like images or emoticons. There is no need of having a specific person dedicated solely to replying customer inquiries or redirecting their requests. To get a better idea of what exactly a conversation with a bot looks like, check out the image below.

 

 

Currently, most Chatbots communicate with end users through the biggest messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger, Viber, and Skype. Their main purpose is to take the place of applications. What does this mean? Instead of closing Facebook Messenger and opening a particular restaurant app to order food, you can just message the restaurant directly in Facebook Messenger. Quite useful and practical, right? It saves you time, as well as space on your smartphone.

The possibilities of implementing a Chatbot in your business are endless! Top brands have already developed their own customized Chatbots – from Uber and H&M to CNN news, Burger King, Skyscanner, and many others. Chatbots are an effective assistant to clients and help them with:

• shopping in online stores
• tracking orders
• booking cinema tickets
• booking a hotel room or a restaurant table
• providing information about the weather, health-related issues and what not

 

Chatbots and AI (Artificial Intelligence)

 

Some Chatbots have an AI (artificial intelligence) algorithm integrated into their software. Yes, that’s right – artificial intelligence. This means that they do not base their responses on the preset software template only. They have the “ability” to remember their customers’ questions, as well as the answers they have given them. What is spectacular here is the fact that they use the accumulated data and apply it next time when they have a conversation with the same client. These Chatbots can “evolve” without the need to be continuously updated as the other ones.

 

How will a Chatbot benefit your business?

 

Having read everything so far, I am sure you grasped the main business benefits of having a Chatbot, namely assisting clients on diverse matters and improving customer experiences. Anything else? Oh, yes! Below, explore the additional benefits of implementing Chatbots in your business:

 

Eventually, only the happy and satisfied customers will be motivated enough to repurchase your products and services. Chatbots play a significant role in this case. Helping you with improving your customer satisfaction, as well as with:

• Conducting targeted marketing campaigns
• Promoting new products and services
• Sharing popular products and recommending them to your customers
• Getting free feedback from your clients
• Collecting analytical data about customer behaviors, clicks analysis, as well as their Chat history
• It is easy to use
• Provides the user with quick access to the information needed
• Chatbots provide uninterrupted 24/7 service
• There is no need to hire a specific person dedicated to customer service 24/7
• An opportunity to attract and contact customers from all over the world, regardless of their location
• And much more

 

Many people say Chatbots are the future of communication and information technology. Search engines were a boom in the past, now applications are hype. But Chatbots are an investment that’s worth your attention.

If you want to learn more on the topic and are interested in developing your own customized Chatbot, do not hesitate to contact us. We will help you to improve your customers’ online experiences.

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.

Just a few years ago you would probably be reading this article on your desktop PC, behind your massive monitor, while the coolers gently break the silence around you. And now you are probably on your laptop, mobile phone, or even your smartwatch. Enjoying this piece on a rock, in a pool or by the seashore…

 

Our point is that the digital environment changes in great leaps, new communication opportunities pop up every day and our imagination is the only thing that can limit us. Speaking of imagination it’s good to mention the increasingly creative ways marketers are employing in other to impress us enough to buy their products. So today we will be talking about video marketing!

 

Video Marketing in numbers

 

The simple facts show that in 2017 visual media will continue to hold a key spot in the sales strategies of commercial and non-commercial organizations alike. Let’s leave the numbers talking:

 

-> video promotions increase the click-through rate (CTR) with 200-300%
-> video ads are responsible for about 35% of all ad spending online

-> video clips increase the landing page conversions with about 80%

-> around 90% of online users have their buying decisions influenced by video materials

-> mobile phone video consumption is increasing with 100% every year

 

Impressive, right?

 

What’s more impressive is the ton of benefits you can gain when using video marketing for your corporate goals. Not only you are representing your brand in a more interesting in an engaging way, but you are also leaving a permanent mark in the minds of your viewers. People are increasingly turning to visual media to save time and to process the influx of daily information they encounter more easily. Connecting text to visuals is a way to more clearly convey the message of your brand.

 

What about our favorite topic – SEO optimization? For starters, videos are a wonderful source of content. Content that Google and the other search engines are constantly striving to receive. So optimize your videos just like you would optimize any other content piece – relevant tags, titles, and descriptions, call-to-action, images. After that results are just a matter of time.

 

Of course, we should not go and blindly produce video content just for the sake of it. Not only it has to have a clear purpose and end goal, but a good video will also follow a few rules of thumb.

 

Don’t sell – tell a story!

 

We know how tempting it is to go directly for sales, but don’t let your videos focus on that. Instead, try to find added value for the end client. Of course, it’s always recommended you have a clear call-to-action but it has to be just part of your story, not its core. Relevance, value, emotional engagement – good practices are valid for all content types.

 

Educate the viewer!

 

People appreciate it when a video is not just amusing, but also useful, capable of solving a problem they might have. Take advantage of your specific industry insights and educate your users. Over 65% of people nowadays prefer to learn from video guides compared to more traditional articles and books. Webinars, client testimonials, case studies, and in-depth analysis – you have numerous opportunities to demand attention.

 

Start with a bang!

 

20% of online viewers close the videos in the initial 10 seconds. If you miss your chance to wow them in those 10 seconds then you might as well count them gone. So don’t get wrapped up in complicated introductions while gradually getting to the point. Simply make sure that you have an explosive start that will glue the user to the screen from the first moment.

 

Don’t be boring!

 

This might be self-explanatory but let us specify what we mean exactly. If you are creating a video with a purely marketing purpose you risk to lose the viewer’s attention and make your piece non-shareable. This is especially true in B2B where clients and decision-makers are a little more specific. But just because there is a serious businessman on the other side doesn’t mean that they are lacking any sense of humor. Hubspot is one good example of how you can impress your B2B audience while avoiding the dry and boring presentation of info.

 

Optimize away!

 

How do videos work? You shoot/create it, edit, montage and upload it online, right? Wrong! Long before we should think about the public distribution of our video, we should make sure we have taken care of its optimization. As we mentioned earlier, the important elements are the same as with other content pieces – make sure to put proper titles and descriptions, add relevant tags and add your video in a sitemap. You have to be ready for the search engine robots long before they first crawl your new content.

 

Well, do you feel more confident in using video content already? Bursting with ideas for your next video marketing campaign? Or you simply feel you need a refresh of your brand identity? Regardless of the case, we will be happy to learn more about your projects and ensure their success.

It’s already 2017 and there is no point talking about the Internet and social networks as if they are some new phenomenon. Most likely each one of you has a Facebook (probably that’s where you’ve come across this article) using it for your personal purposes. As an essential part of digital marketing, Facebook is also looking ahead and made efforts in becoming more accessible and popular in business circles too. Today we will talk about the effect of ads on your Facebook campaign and the elements that are essential to their success.

 

1. Clear goal

 

Once you decide it’s time to have a Facebook campaign there is always the possibility of simply “boosting” a certain post, which will inevitably have “some” success. To maximize it, you’ll need to fine-tune the details and that starts with defining your goals. The “right” way is always different whether you’re looking for an increase of conversions, traffic to your site, or simply a promotion of your page. This is why Facebook constantly updates its “Ads Manager” and adds new options and ad formats that are suitable for every budget.

 

2.Target audience

 

Before targeting your clients, it’s a good idea to get to know their behavior, to find out who they are, how old are they, whether they are positioned in your city or across the country, what are their interests. Once you’ve defined these variables, you just have to input them. Don’t forget the word “relevance”. If you already know your target audience through Facebook Pixel or other tracking tools, you won’t have to go through so much hassle. Custom Audience is the key factor to keep track of.

 

3.Time positioning

 

Despite the popularity of Facebook, people do not spend their entire day in it. This happens on average for about 2 hours a day and, as you can guess, at different times. Find out when your audience is active and target your ad during this time period. You can make an interesting experiment and run your ads 1-2 hours BEFORE the ideal time period to avoid competition and risk your ad being lost among many others.

 

4. Call to action

 

A well-known term in the eCommerce business, sales, and marketing. Each ad application needs a “Call to Action” type text/button. There is a subconscious influence of the phrasing, whether it is “Get a Discount …”; “Buy now!” or “Subscribe!” Is a must-have for every Facebook campaign because it’s the driving force that pushes the user to the final purchase!

 

5.Budget

 

The bigger the budget, the more people will see your ad. This is a valid general conclusion, but when we have cash limit, we have to figure out how to spend it in the best way. You have 2 main options: cost per click (CPC) or cost per impression (CPI).
You can distribute your budget by day and target specific audiences. It is a good idea to constantly monitor your budget and adjust it when necessary.

 

6.Fine tune Ads

 

As already mentioned, Facebook constantly updates its platform. Along with that, all the little details related to ad creation in social media are being automated more and more. You can now choose from the following types:

 

 

Each ad has its own technical differences about image size, proper dimensions and their correct setting, which can make-or-brake your Facebook campaign.

 

7.Testing and optimization

 

Good marketing practice is to create and test 2-3 variations of the ad. Use a different design, text, and message with slight changes in audience and interests. It is advisable to start with a small budget. Test different options. Analyze the data and determine the best set to achieve optimal performance. This will increase the chance for your ad to be seen by more people in their News Feed.
Needless to say part of the successful Ad is also the branding element or, in other words, the name of the company, product or service.

 

8. Customer satisfaction first

 

So far so good. Everything is ready, the ad is out there, you are accumulating the first likes and shares, getting first Inquiries. Traffic to your site is increasing.
Going for full success, the advertising campaign must end with well-served and satisfied customers. This means you have to check your resources – enough staff, a well-optimized system or a fast site. This is a great opportunity to turn the satisfied client into an ambassador for your brand. Which means only one thing – productivity and success of your advertising campaign!

Good luck!