Erik Qualman's Blog, page 492
February 9, 2016
Apple’s Tim Cook Gets Crushed for Terrible Super Bowl Pic
What to say to your friend that doesn’t know how to use photo filters…
You are in good company. Apple CEO Tim Cook is the newest member of the Bad Photo Club. Cook attended Super Bowl 50 … yep stopped using Roman Numerals since we not smat… for those about to appear on Jeopardy it’s L for 50. While at Super Bowl L, Cook snapped a picture of the action. This photo’s quality or lack there of … think snapping from a moving semi-truck at 70 mph … is why Cook is trending in a bad way. See pic below.
Twitter users have been cracking some “shot on iPhone” jokes, while another said “someone should upgrade him to the 7+ so he has some image stabilization.” How do you like them Apples Tim? (Source Tom’s Guide)
I’ve got a secret …
Secret, secret. Privacy has been a buzzword in 2016 and the new app Crypt is pushing for better protection in a surprising place. The plugin developed by Sussex University student Max Mitchell encrypts your Facebook messages to create a more Iron Man like connection. The plugin first scrambles the message then uses a mutually agreed upon password to instantaneously decode the message within the browser. Or simply put, it’s trying to put a little Snapchat-like privacy into your Facebook convos. I guess one could say no more Tales from the Crypt? (Souce Tech Crunch)
Worried about your family’s online privacy? We’ve got a book for that: What Happens on Campus Stays on YouTube #ShamelessPlug
Call Uber from the Shower
The Amazon Echo was highlighted in a Super Bowl commercial featuring Alec Baldwin and people are going nuts for the new connected device. So, for all you new Echo owners, we’re sharing Life Hack #55487: How to Connect Your Echo with your Uber Account.
Steps
1. Open the Alexa App and tap the menu on the top left corner
2. Tap Skills
3. Search for Uber then tap enable skill
4. Tap Agree & Enable ***make sure Alexa knows your home address
5. Sign into your Uber Account
6. Tap Allow and exit the App!
Now you can order your Uber from just about anywhere you can think of – except Bali as it just got banned. (Source Tom’s Guide)
Missed the Super Bowl Ads? We’ve got the video skinny for you here: Most Talked About Super Bowl Ads
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Social Media User Statistics 2016
Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube…the list of social media networks goes on. Just how many people are using these social networks? Global Media Insight broke it down for us with this infographic.
Monthly Active Users
1. Facebook | 1.609 Billion
2. YouTube | 1+ Billlion
3. WhatsApp | 950 Million
4. Google+ | 440 Million
5. Instagram | 430 Million
6. LinkedIn | 420 Million
7. Twitter | 325 Million
8. Tumblr | 230 Million
9. Pinterest | 110 Million
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Get Your Social Game Ready for the Internet of Things
Welcome to the Internet of Things
Even as social is becoming just another fact of life for both consumers, brands, and marketing pros, a new wrinkle is starting to emerge.
There is already an acronym for the new game-changer: IoT, or Internet of Things. The short version is that virtually anything with an On/Off switch can be, will be, or already is wirelessly connected to the internet, providing a stream of data and behind-the-scenes conveniences that consumers are just starting to take notice of.
Already you can purchase refrigerators that sense when you are running out of milk; travel apps that let you know when you need to change your commute to work to avoid a traffic accident; even bathroom scales that track your weight and report changes to your fitness wearable.
A Healthier Social Conversation
This last example is perhaps the most important one, because as the market for health and fitness wearables grows, it creates a whole new kind of demand and expectation among consumers.
If your bathroom scale and smartwatch know so much about your body, your exercise habits, and whether you are losing or gaining weight, shouldn’t your doctor be similarly up-to-date and ready to talk about your individual data, then support your efforts with personalized advice, insights, and perhaps even a reward acknowledging your successes?
That is just one part of the conversation going on right now, as the breakthrough technologies of the growing IoT increasingly look to be coming out of the healthcare field.
In the commercial sector, many businesses are still catching on with the idea that social media is the best, most direct, and powerful way to connect with customers. This has been transformative to everything from how companies market to consumers, to how they fight PR fires and manage brand image.
Keep Up, or Be Left Behind
Healthcare has mostly managed to escape this wave of transformation, as medicine is still delivered primarily in person—with all the associated expenses (time and money) and limitations (access and transparency). The transformation is being slowed slightly by fact that the healthcare sector must balance privacy considerations with adoption of the new technology. Even so, efforts are already underway to address this new reality of 24/7 connectivity and personalization.
Now that internet-equipped wearables are offering consumers the chance to take ownership of their bodies and their health by tracking, recording, and charting all manner of biological and behavioral metrics, hospitals are under the gun to catch up and support this high-tech, internet-connected way of being health-conscious.
This is going to have a major impact not just on healthcare providers, but brands and companies in all sectors. By getting more engagement, more personalization, and more access through their IoT devices, consumers will come to expect a similar experience everywhere.
Keep Things Personal
That means that having a smart social strategy isn’t just about getting a message out, but handling incoming requests, communication, and being able to tailor messages not just to a demographic, but potentially to individual users and devices.
The best way to survive this transformation is to get more active on social media now, and learn to make different platforms work well for your brand or organization. The IoT hasn’t replaced the “old” internet yet, but that is no reason to wait around for the situation to become more obvious. There are three key elements you can start delivering now to prepare for the IoT revolution:
Accessibility: Don’t shoehorn your audience into one social channel over the rest—let them come to you, and learn to meet them where they prefer to interact and share. As IoT devices proliferate, you can bet that many, at least at first, will come with their own portals for sharing data, exchanging tips, and asking questions.
You need to prepare now to be versatile in utilizing social media, rather than anchored to just one account
Responsiveness: When people ask questions on Twitter or Facebook, be sure to answer them! Unanswered questions or unacknowledged users will be just as visible in social spheres as those who have a positive interaction, so make sure you don’t leave anyone hanging.
The IoT is all about data-sharing, so it will be important to establish a good track record for your brand in actively engaging, helping, and satisfying those who reach out to you on social media today.
Sincerity: As people grow accustomed to more personalized interactions and having their individual needs considered, they will become increasingly skeptical of canned answers, auto-responses, and generic feedback.
Make it a habit to keep things human on your social accounts, and demonstrate that they are not an afterthought of a busy, preoccupied company, but a priority of an engaged, compassionate organization.
If you can practice these health habits today, then you will be ready when healthcare’s IoT disruption starts to really change consumer expectations.
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February 8, 2016
Super Bowl Ads Are Trending
What to Say When Your Friends Talk Through the Super Bowl Ads…
Can you please go refill the guacamole? Today is everyone’s favorite holiday, the day where we talk about Super Bowl ads. A record was set yesterday with around 60% of individuals watching Super Bowl ads on their smartphones and tablets rather than PCs. PepsiCo’s, Doritos and Allstate’s Esurance were social media favs. If you remember, the Doritos commercial was staged at an ultrasound with the father munching on the Doritos, the pregnant mother chastising her husband and the baby uncanningly taking a plunge for the chips. Esurance won over tweeters with their #EsuranceSweepstakes. The Super Bowl ads have already tallied a million hours of viewership and YouTube saw an increase of 25% over last year. Hyundai’s “The Chase” is the most viewed and Mountain Dew’s #puppymonkeybaby ad was well…weird. Maybe the controversial ad was just the right amount of Buzz the company was hoping for. Miss the big game? Ads? We of course have you covered. We put together a list of the most talked about Super Bowl ads, check it out here. (Source Forbes)
#Hijarbie
Barbie has recently taken on a whole new makeover, but Hijarbie has taken over Instagram. This Barbie-inspired doll takes on a Muslim look complete with a headscarf and modest attire. Reminder that Mattel, the makers of Barbie, received many complaints around Barbie’s impossibly perfect figure sending the wrong message to impressionable girls. Cue Mattel making a multitude of different skin tone and body shaped barbies.
The designer of Hijarbie, Nigerian medical scientist Haneefah Adam, felt as if it was important to express her heritage since a Muslim Barbie wasn’t part of Mattel’s new lineup. So she hand designed modest clothes that she would wear, put them on a Barbie doll and posted it to Instagram. She says, “the outfits were inspired by the normal everyday look of the ‘hijabi girl’. Adam is also launching Hanie, a modest clothing line for her Hijarbie dolls. “I think this is a great platform to try and get the Muslim identity to the world and correct some misconceptions,” said Adam. Some people believe women are forced to cover up and wear headscarves, when rather it is a religious choice. Check out her page @Hijarbie. (Source CNN)
Quote of the Day: “You think my Chinese is bad?”
Mark Zuckerberg sports his fluency in Mandarin as he wishes everyone a Happy New Year with his wife and son. Today marks the Chinese New Year and the Zuckerberg family filmed a video of themselves talking about the big day all in Mandarin. They even went on to say they were planning on inviting some top notch chefs from China to the Facebook HQ so everyone could enjoy a variety of different cuisines. Even baby Max was granted a chinese name, Chen Mingyu. How cute. (Source Tech Times)
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How Can Social Media Be Useful For Students?
Today, social media has become an important part of our society, especially for the kids and teens. Kids are using various social media platforms that parents are not cool enough to know about them. Furthermore, students are using social media sites during class time. Social media platforms may distract students from classroom activities. Keeping that in mind, most schools are following a different procedure by introducing social media into the educational system.
Social networking sites like Facebook, and Twitter are usually viewed as a way to pass the time or stay connected with family and friends. So how can all these platforms be used in the education?
Here are some uses of social networking sites for learning and teaching that most students and professors have been following:
1. Create a Facebook Group: Facebook is known as a platform to post status, pictures, and videos. All these things can be used in the educational system. Teachers can create a class Facebook group for sharing assignment writing, making announcements, and reminding students regarding important deadlines.
A Facebook group creates a space for the students to ask and answer questions. When students reached home and started working on their projects, they can post a question on the group’s wall that the classmates can answer.
It encourages shy students to take part in serious discussions. Students who don’t participate in the classes may feel they can share their opinions with social networking sites.
It keeps parents, teachers and students all on the same page. Parents can easily access the Facebook page to observe what is going on in a class.
However, it is the best way to build the students’ confidence and encourage them to participate in class.
2. Twitter Feed: Twitter can be a quick way to tweet announcements and reminders as well as real-time information on project deadlines. Twitter provides students a convenient platform to interact with others by tweeting questions or comments.
By following the Twitter account of experts, students can get more about what is happening in the world around them. They can use this knowledge in their research papers, writing, and other academic projects.
3. Post Videos to YouTube: YouTube can be an ideal option for the students to watch lectures and tutorials. As, students need a safe and secure platform where they can take part in the social aspect of video sharing.
Students can show their creativity as they connect more deeply with their subject and course material.
Students will enjoy watching new concepts, reviewing the books, and reporting on news stories.
4. Classroom Blogs: Each class should have their own blog, which is controlled by the teacher but authored by the pupils. So the student who develops the best assignment on the given topic of that week will have their paper published online to the classroom blog. It will encourage the other students to work harder to accomplish online publication.
A Final World on Social Networking Sites
Social media can be a useful tool for the students as well as teachers. Students who don’t participate in class can convey their views through all above-mentioned sites. If you are going to use social media platforms in your teaching or learning, don’t forget to read out their privacy policies.
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Let Social Media Care for Your Parents
If your parents are heading into retirement, then it’s important to find them a quality retirement community.
Fortunately, social media is the perfect place to start researching retirement homes and elderly care facilities in your area.
With social research in mind, here are just a few ways social media can assist you in your parent’s retirement process:
Reach Out to Social Audiences
Social media is one of the most effective forms of communication, especially when you’re trying to reach a large number of people.
When it comes to researching retirement options for your parents, posting questions to your social accounts is a great way to gather valuable feedback.
For example, you can reach out to your friends and family on Facebook in order to get their opinions on retirement homes and communities in your area. There’s a good chance your social followers have first-hand experience in the retirement process.
You can focus your posts on retirement and assisted living options or general advice on how to help your parents’ transition into retirement.
If you know someone who has been through the process before, you can use Facebook to privately message them for in-depth advice.
Follow Retirement Communities
Getting an idea of how communicative retirement communities are will help you gauge their commitment to the senior community.
As the following article looks at, that’s why it’s important to follow participating retirement communities and assisted living facilities on sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Following the business pages and social activities of local retirement communities is a great way to see how they interact with residents and family members alike. You can even use social media to reach out to retirement facilities with any questions and concerns you may have.
Likewise, you can read through comment sections on certain posts to see how fast and efficient facilities are to resolve questions and respond to general comments.
Read Reviews
One of the best things to come out of the social media revolution is the ability for everyday customers to leave reviews and feedback on their experience with businesses of all kinds.
By visiting social review sites like Yelp, you can read first-hand reviews on other people’s experiences with senior care centers in your area. More and more retirement communities are popping up in review sites every day.
With that said, if Yelp doesn’t have a page for the retirement facility in question, there are websites dedicated to rating retirement homes, such as the government run Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and Senior Advisor.
Visit Blogs
Many retirement communities have blogs that discuss senior living topics and other helpful information. Following these blogs is a great way to gather advice and details on transitioning your parents into an assisted living or retirement home.
In addition, reading blogs is a great way to find information on retirement communities in your area.
Whether the blog is attached the retirement community’s website or it’s an independent blog that discusses retirement options, following blogs can lead you to retirement options you never even considered.
When it comes to helping your parents transition into a happy and stress-free retirement let social media help.
Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com
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Most Talked About Super Bowl Ads of 2016
With Super Bowl 50 comes with what some would argue are more important than the actually game – the ads. With a 30 second ad spot going for up to $5 million, it’s go big or go home. Here are the most talked ads from Super Bowl 50:
Budweiser | #GiveADamn
Helen Mirren slams drunk drivers in this PSA. “If your brain was donated to science, science would return it” aka everyone’s new favorite insult.
T-Mobile | Restricted Bling
Using one of the most talked about music videos of 2015, T-Mobile did a little parody using Drake and people thought it was hilarious.
Heinz | Wiener Stampede
Dachshunds dressed as hot dogs is all you need to know.
Shock Top | Unfiltered Talk
Silicon Valley’s, T.J. Miller and Shock Top’s Wedgehead exchange some funny words with one another.
Mountain Dew | Puppymonkeybaby
It’s a puppy? It’s a money? It’s a baby? All in one? Mountain Dew created a lot of talk with their Puppymonkeybaby hybrid. Debating whether it’s terrifying or funny, this ad was trending on Twitter most of the night.
Doritos | Doritos Dogs
Dogs dressing up as humans to buy Doritos = love it.
Bud Light | The Bud Light Party
Amy Schumer and Seth Rogen channel their inner politicians to share “The Bud Light Party” with America. Surprise appearances by Paul Rudd and Michael Peña also made this one a hit.
Quicken Loans | What Were We Thinking
Making a powerful point, Quicken Loans shows ways to get a home mortgage less intimidating.
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How to Create a Social Media Campaign That Can Get You 100% Social Engagement?
According to a report by Statista.com, there will be around 2.13 billion social media users worldwide in 2016. And a fair share of these social media users are your prospects and target audience. Quite obviously, it makes sense for you to devise a strategy to engage these users on social media platforms.
But over the years, social media marketing has become noisy, ineffective, and focused primarily on bombarding people with static social content. Naturally, users have become desensitized towards articles, blogs, white papers, etc. Resultantly, it has become difficult than ever for businesses to boost social engagement.
In fact, a survey done by CMI reveals that over 58% marketers believe that their content does not create any opportunity for engagement. The competition on the web has become fierce, forcing businesses and content marketers to become more creative than ever before in their content endeavors.
Sadly, most social media marketers fail in their content endeavors and think that creating social media campaign that summons apt attention and interest from target audience is difficult, even downright impossible. But is it so difficult to design social media campaigns that create opportunities for better user engagement? The answer is NO!
In this article, we’ll present to you some time-proven strategies, tips and tricks to ensure that your social media campaign gets you 100% social engagement.
Tools to Boost Social Engagement
Most businesses understand the importance of exploring social channels to effectively connect and engage with their target audience. Needless to say, designing a campaign that can boost social engagement is an essential part of your social media marketing plan. But designing such campaigns is no mean feat. That’s why we’ve listed a few easy tools that come in handy when you’re looking to boost social engagement.
List: List is one the most effective tools to effectively engage with your audience. A list usually comprises of some funny points that you want to highlight about an issue or a subject. The issue should however be of crucial importance to your community, as you want your audience to take interest. So, prepare a list of top five things that people should be doing daily. The list should be prepared around current issues such as cyber bullying, in which case the list may include 5 ways to prevent youngsters from being victimized. But keep the title and the entire setup simple.
Opinion Poll: Opinion poll is a good tactic to keep your audiences busy on things related to your business. While designing the poll, make sure that you give your audiences many options so that they take time to think over the issue. Survey monkey suggests you to use opinion poll for feedback from your consumers about your products or services. But no matter what you use opinion polls for, just make sure that you incorporate opinion poll in your social media campaigns.
Pop Quiz: This is yet another impressive way to engage people. In fact, an article published at Designhill.com reveals that pop quizzes can help you increase Facebook followers by 200%. Pop quiz allows you to set a series of questions for audiences with many possible answers. You must provide them with one correct answer but ensure that you information on why that answer is right. While choosing the topics for pop quiz, make sure to choose issues that you have raised recently in your blogs, social media posts, etc., so that they go back to the content to get more information that they have missed. But focus on keeping your pop quiz positive.
Personality Test: Personality test is a brilliant way to engage with target users. Often people look out to know what type of personality they carry and the best way to make them enquire more about their personality is to ask them relevant questions related to their persona. After they answer all your questions, you tell them that their personality matches with a certain celebrity or a famous entrepreneur. Snap App suggests you to get acquainted with the best practices of creating a personality test to ensure a roaring success. Your social media campaigns must featuresuch personality tests for your audience to boost user engagement on social media.
Commenticle: Commenticle is a type of opinion poll that helps you get readers’ opinions and views’ about an article or a blog. This is a simple concept where you first create links to share an article. Then, you create questions relevant to the article with the aim of engaging your audience. For example, if your article is about different aspects of branding tools, then create a commenticle with questions asking them to take a good look at your article or blog that reveals about popular businesses, sites and even destinations. This way, you can compel them to read and think about your content once again.
The Internet simply swarms with a host of free and paid resources that can help you create polls, quizzes, lists, commenticles, etc. for social engagement easily and affordably. Some of these resources also allow you to share your quizzes, polls or lists directly on your social media platforms. You can also use these resources to analyze how your quizzes, opinion polls, lists or personality tests are performing on social media platforms. You get to know the number of views and shares your quiz is getting, or how many people completed your polls.
Platforms to Launch Social Campaigns
Before, you go ahead using one of the aforementioned ways to engage your social media audiences on social media, it makes sense to understand the preferred networks where your target audience is likely to hang out. An Expand Rambling report reveals that there are:
1.49 billion Monthly active Facebook users,
316million Monthly active Twitter users,
380 million users on LinkedIn,
More than 1 billion YouTube users,
300 million Monthly active Instagram users, and
100 million users on Pinterest.
Once you’ve identified where you target users like to hang out, then decide the way you want to approach to connect with your users. Facebook, for instance, provides many opportunities with a wide range of options for you to engage your audiences with quizzes and polls. Similarly, there are a number of tools that allow you to post surveys on LinkedIn.
No matter, what platform you choose, never forget to play by the rules. That means posting things that meet with the approval of the social media channel you’re using. Otherwise, you could get the account suspended.
In addition, do well to ensure that your social media posts are visually appealing. But remember to post relevant images, those that have a clear connection to the site and your brand. For example, if you’re into sports business, your company’s social media page must feature photos that showcase your services or products must also be part of the list, as should be your vital branding elements such your sports logo design.
Tips to Enhance Social Engagement
Social Engagement is a critical part of social media marketing. But sadly, most businesses often overlook this critical aspect. Nothing could be more detrimental to a business than this careless approach. Isn’t the point of you being on social media is to engage with as many prospects and customers as possible? But how would you do that? Here are some easy to follow that can help you boost engagement on your social media accounts.
Create Interesting Content – Okay, you’ve heard this a million times! But people love to be engaged with interesting content. Remember, less than 1% of all created content receives more than 1,000 shares, according to TruConversion. They come to a site not just to be informed on a certain issue. For them, getting the information in an entertaining but engaging ways is equally important. They almost hate to be preached on by anyone and so they look for a friendlier way to get into an issue and find solutions. When we talk of engaging the audience, it simply implies that you are going to get their attention by providing them something interesting.
Research Your Audience -This means that just running any opinion polls, quiz, personality test etc. is no guarantee to engage visitors. Instead, you should launch a social media campaign after fully researching your market and knowing what people are seeking when they search for your products or services. Clearly, be fully prepared with adequate research on your niche market and customers. By understanding where your target audience is likely to hang out, you can in turn adjust your strategy to focus on them through a platform that they recognize and use every day.
Ensure a Dash of Fun – Clickz.com suggests you to make your quiz and polls funny and entertaining, which is a surefire way to keep people interested when they proceed towards answering your questions. Set the questions with little touch of humor and tease, provoke and encourage them to give answers.
Tricks to Drive Engagement on Social Media
Perhaps the best thing about social media marketing is that you can get free publicity and brand awareness. But, if your social media campaigns are not getting much engagement, then there really isn’t much help that your business would get from social media. So what do you do? Check out these sure-fire tricks that can help you increase social media engagement.
Be Authentic – Remember to keep it real. Connect on a personal level with your target users. Make your communication as simple as it can be. Try to keep it authentic, genuine, and be ever ready to communicate your brand’s message in the most simple and fun way possible.
First 10 Minutes are Critical – Welink.com suggests you to engage timely for best results. Remember, first 10 minutes of your posts going live are the most critical. Be punctual when it comes to responding to a post.
Be an Expert – Engage with your customers and share with them content as an expert. Do listen to them and handle their queries or concerns on a timely basis.
Connect with Influencers – Nora Flint suggests you to look for influencers who talk about your industry, products or services. Influencers are those who have large social following. Connect and engage with influencers, participate in conversations they start or lead.Once you’re able to strike a rapport with them, request them to retweet your social media content, ask them to link back to your social content, and start a conversation around your brand on social media.
With these tools, tips and tricks in mind, you surely will be able to boost engagement on social media. Your posts will pick up reach and people will want to stay at your social media pages and know more about your brand. Remember, the goal here is to communicate and build relations, which will in turn earn you a 100% social engagement.
We’d love to hear your feedback and comments on these tools, tips and tricks! If there are any other tips, tricks and tools that are worth adding, let us know in the comments below.
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Google AdWords Arrives on iPhone; Now with a Dedicated App
There are many search marketers who own an iPhone and now it will be easier for them to indulge into search marketing. The present scenario has been simplified to a greater extent with Google AdWords showing up on the iOS and that too with a dedicated app. AdWords, however, was pretty existent on Android, for over an year now.
Just like Playbox on iOS and Android made exciting ripples, the attention now shifts towards Google AdWords that can now be pushed onto the home screen, with minimal hassle. A slight catch exists as the mobile app isn’t the sole necessity and one needs to pair up the same with the existing desktop application. Nevertheless, this iPhone centric application will still allow immediate actions to be taken onto things that need to be monitored.
Initially considered as a companion to the desktop application, the iPhone AdWords application will soon take charge, as the search marketing staple. Succinctly put, the arrival of Google AdWords on iPhone is a bold yet innovative move, helping marketers keep a track of all their existing campaigns and make modifications, whenever needed. Even being a utilitarian addition, the iPhone AdWords app isn’t omniscient and will still need assistance from the desktop tool. One cannot use this mobile centric app to kick-start new applications, a purpose best served by the mother app. However, the mobile app is very useful on its own, perfectly aligned towards handling resourceful campaigns. Be it those minor modifications and viewing real time statistics, the mobile app can do it all, with minor pitfalls.
Be it a sudden budget appraisal or bid adjustments, the AdWords app offers a lot of flexibility without having to sit on the computer and work towards the same. An iPhone will always be there for you, even on the move and this is what makes the AdWords app, a resourceful inclusion.
With Google AdWords on-board, the marketers with iPhones can now pause the active campaigns, right from their handsets. A dormant campaign that has already been created using the desktop app can be initiated at will.
Once installed, the user needs to link the existing AdWords account with that on the iOS. A dashboard will then appear, showcasing the campaign performance on the whole. Marketers who strive for perfection can manage and customize the dashboard, at will. For the newbies, Google offers a section called ‘opportunities’ that will help them get acquainted with the highs and lows of this app. This section is more of a help center for the search marketers who might be a bit intrigued on seeing this app rather than making the best of the utilities around. AdWords offers a few suggested changes that can be customized upon requirements.
Similar to the handsets, Google AdWords on iPhone allows us to turn on the notifications, in case we have several important campaigns, running across the web. This cuts into the guesswork and offers a concrete approach towards managing the stats. Either your campaign requires immediate attention or its time to revisit the scarce budget, this app has a great way of notifying the users about these possibilities.
The famed application works seamlessly on an iPhone and even the iPad.
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9 Tips to Improve Your Content Marketing
The biggest mistake we make with content marketing is thinking that it’s easy. Creating quality, original content that’s also SEO-friendly and marketed well is no easy task. Unfortunately, content is where many businesses (especially startups) try to save money. Maybe the founder is writing the online content, or great content is being written but it’s executed poorly. If you want to optimize your content marketing, check out these nine tips:
1. Hire a professional writer: It’s obvious, right? However, many businesses learn this lesson the hard way. Hire a writer who’s an expert in both your industry and the kind of writing you need. A fantastic white paper writer might not be a great social media poster.
2. Hire a professional content marketer: Writing and marketing are two very different fields, and the odds of finding the perfect writer who’s also the perfect marketer are slim to none. If you have a marketing team, make sure you have at least one leader who specializes in content marketing. If you don’t, start looking for a contractor or permanent employee.
3. Make all content SEO friendly: Content marketing can include marketing photos and videos. If you use images (you should!) make sure they are also SEO rich with full descriptions and tags. If for some reason the image doesn’t load, you want to ensure visitors can still read the description to get the gist of the message.
4. Embrace white space: People naturally adore white space because it makes text seem less intimidating and jumbled. Aim to have no more than five sentences per paragraph, and break up text with quality images. Less is more.
5. Hire an editor: Writers are not editors (and vice versa). It’ll serve you well to hire a professional editor as well as a writer. However, if that’s simply not in the budget, get as many eyes on the content as possible before it goes live. It’s nearly impossible to catch your own writing mistakes.
6. Smart linking: Good content will have a modest amount of authority and/or internal links. This helps with SEO, and can aid writing by giving it clout and more information as the reader chooses to click. Links are a great tool when wielded with a soft touch.
7. Cite, cite, cite: Providing proper citations, again to authority links, can help bolster your trust factor. It also shows that you’ve done your research. Throwing in a few statistics not only gives you expert-level status, but also inches you closer to thought leader territory.
8. Ditch the passive voice: If you’ve been thinking about upgrading your bathroom hardware, perhaps ABC Company is a great choice for you. Upgrade your bathroom hardware with ABC Company, the industry leader. Which sentence is more appealing and makes you want to act? Passivity has no place in (most) online content.
9. Encourage comments: Fostering a community is an attainable goal, and one that many businesses don’t prioritize. Have a comment section on blogs, and keep your social media comment section available (it’s okay to require approval first to vet out trolls).
Improving your content marketing can dramatically improve your profits, and it’s relatively simple to do once you make it a priority. Your content is your online reputation. Make sure it’s impeccable.
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