Market Motive Blog

Growth Hacking 101 – Answering the What and Why of How It Can Help Startups

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Growth hacking is a term that’s been thrown around quite a lot the last few years. While some businesses have jumped on the bandwagon, many others do a double take and shy away before really learning what growth hacking is. After all, we don’t really make positive associations with the word “hacking” and associating it with a growing business seems like a risky venture.

But growth hacking is actually a great thing for new startups, especially given the fact that the percentage of new businesses that make it all the way into their 5th year can be as low as 3%.  It takes a lot for a new business to gain traction and succeed, and growth hacking can be the trick that makes the difference between massive growth and a virtual sign that reads “closed for business”.

MarketMotive offers a Masters in Digital Marketing Program that includes a five-course pathway to certification.

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What Is Growth Hacking?

Growth hacking is a heavily loaded term, but maybe we can break it down into something that’s more intuitive and easy to understand by referring to it as growth marketing. This all starts with a basic understanding of how growth hacking differs from the traditional marketing strategies that new businesses often employ.

In the simplest terms, growth hacking is a phrase used to define a process narrowly focused on producing exponential growth. Growth hacking has nothing to do with slow and steady tactics that build an audience and revenue naturally over time.

Many small businesses don’t have the time or budget to wait around for results. Think about the small business that doesn’t break even for the first 5 years compared to the one that’s turning a massive profit by the end of year one. Growth hacking is what makes the difference.

A challenge that many new businesses face is that they’re limited in ways to reach the targeted audiences that are needed to grow a business. In the past, businesses relied on costly marketing and advertising strategies that may have reached a broad audience but failed to really focus in on those with the potential to turn into high-quality leads. This was a huge expense with minimal impact – two things that no startup needs.

Today, we have digital avenues of reaching past traditional marketing, bypassing the unnecessary clutter and focusing in on huge growth. This is what growth hacking marketing is all about – intent, purpose, and fast results that grow new businesses fast while protecting their bottom line.

How Is Growth Hacking Different from Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing is important for businesses, no matter where they are in their journey to success. But, marketing has a broad approach. There are multiple strategies that are implemented to reach audiences and encourage growth organically. In many ways, digital marketing is like planting a garden.

Let’s say you buy the seeds and sow the ground with the intent of nurturing the seedlings to the point that they produce fruit. Growing a garden is a lot of work. You need to know what each type of seed needs to grow and produce, and it needs tending to regularly. But, at the end of the season, you’ll have a bounty to show for your efforts, so it’s all worth it.

But, what if a small, new business is worried about having the resources to make it through the growth season, or they’re hungry now and don’t have the time to wait? Growth hacking is about tapping into the resources of growth and getting the bounty on your table today, without waiting to nurture it along.

Growth hacking strategies are directed specifically toward growth and nothing else. Digital marketing might share some of the same strategies but is generally much broader in the approach. Digital marketing also works towards wider targets like brand awareness, reputation and risk assessment.

It isn’t that a growth hacker doesn’t care about these aspects of your business but instead comes at it with an approach that these can all be addressed – often effortlessly – once you’ve already achieved massive success. While the end goal is the same, growth hacking forces the needle to move in the right direction.

Here are a few differences in approach between digital marketing and growth hacking 101:

  • Marketing strategies are aimed at making people want you’re selling Vs. creating a product or service that they want automatically.
  • Marketing is aimed at creating brand awareness and leveraging other vanity metrics to measure success Vs. growth hacking that works with a clearly defined funnel leading to growth.
  • Digital marketing uses a variety of free and paid advertising methods Vs the free or low-cost distribution channels optimized through growth hacking.

Benefits of Growth Hacking

The obvious benefit of growth hacking is of course fast growth. Businesses expect to see the results in their bottom line, but many of them don’t realize just how far reaching the benefits of growth hacking are. The truth is business often achieve the exact same goals of traditional digital marketing, but with exponentially richer results.

Take building a brand identity for example. Uber is a company that often comes up when talking about growth hacking, and with good reason. When Uber first launched they were looking to fill a need and do so in a way that was competently innovative.

Recognizing the transportation difficulties of exploding urban areas, they saw the potential to try something new. Public transportation came with scheduling issues and the unpleasantness of sharing a ride crowded with complete strangers. Taxis were an option, but unreliable. People wanted comfortable, safe transportation that was available whenever they needed it.

Instead of creating yet another taxi company and then try to sell people on the idea, they came up with a concept that was new, but almost too simple. Not only were people excited about this, but Uber created a concept that minimized their own cost. Drivers used their own vehicles, passengers scheduled rides through an app and all Uber really needed to do was sit back and collect profits.

But the real genius here is that now you rarely hear someone say, “let’s get a cab”. Instead, it’s “let’s get an Uber”. Through growth hacking, they’ve made their brand a household name.

There are other major benefits as well, like the fact that most growth hacking strategies play directly into SEO, bring in higher quality leads and compliment whatever marketing campaigns you might already be using.

Growth Hacking Tools for Startups

So, growth hacking is the current buzzword for startups. This means that so many new businesses are looking to optimize growth that the current mindset is grow fast, grow now or go home. What’s a startup with little to no experience in growth hacking to do?

Well, it’s a smart idea to hire a professional that’s focused specifically on growth. But even those professionals are going to use growth hacking tools to get the job done, and honestly, there’s no reason that you can’t use some of them yourself – no matter how limited your experience.

Here are a few of our favorite growth hacking tools for new startups.

Consumer Barometer with Google – To experience exponential growth you need to know about the trends and behaviors that influence how people around the world use the internet. Consumer Barometer is an e-commerce growth tool that provides analytics, insights and research that helps you build a funnel leading directly to growth.

Hotjar – In today’s e-commerce world, more startups are focused on services rather than just products. This means that the quality of their user experience is more important than ever. Hotjar offers software that combines multiple UX tools into one and helps you uncover the hotspots of growth in your new company.

LeadCrunch – This lead generating tool leverages AI to dig in and analyze consumer data. This makes it a great growth hacking tool because it reveals the customers that are most likely to invest in your company, allowing you to bypass the markets that would be slow or hesitant to commit.

The Future of Growth Hacking

As more businesses enter the digital landscape, it becomes even more crucial for new businesses to think innovatively about their growth strategies. Growth hacking isn’t just a buzzword, it’s the future of success for startups.

At MarketMotive, we’re expecting opportunities for growth hacking jobs to continually rise. We offer a variety of professional level courses that can help you learn about growth hacking as a career or for building your own business. Whatever your need, we can help with the solution.

What You Need to Begin an Exciting Career as a Social Media Manager

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What Is Social Media?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for at least the last decade, asking what social media is seems like a completely irrelevant question. We all know about social media because it’s ingrained in so many aspects of our daily lives. Do you know how many people use social media? Currently over 2.5 billion worldwide, but that number is expected to rise to about 3 billion by 2021.

MarketMotive offers an Advanced Social Media Marketing Certification Training that’s well suited for marketing professionals, digital marketing executives, content creators and business owners that want to add to their list of credentials.

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That’s a lot of people that already know what social media is. But, when presenting this question, our intent is a little different. Social media has a completely separate behind the scenes life, and it’s focused on how businesses are using it today to influence consumer culture. For the typical person, the average time spent on social media is nearly 2 hours every day. This equates to a substantial amount of time that brands can be interacting with their audience.

Today, social media isn’t just a social playground. It’s become the place where introductions between customers and businesses are made, and it has become an invaluable, necessary tool for digital marketing.

Knowing how to engage with the audience has become crucial for businesses, and this requires an in- depth knowledge of the various social networks and how user behaviors are different among them. The average person uses 3 different social platforms on a regular basis, and while you might automatically be thinking Facebook, Instagram, Twitter… the landscape of social media sites where customers can be met is actually much larger.

To demonstrate, here’s a list of social media sites that are used most frequently:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Pinterest
  • SnapChat
  • Reddit
  • Google+
  • Flickr
  • Tumblr
  • Quora
  • WhatsApp
  • StumbleUpon
  • The list goes on and on…

So, there’s a lot more social media sites out there than you realize. How does a growing business manage their presence and reputation among the platforms that are most relevant to their target audience? Let us introduce you to someone called a social media manager.

Who Is a Social Media Manager and What Do They Do?

A social media manager is the person at the heart of a company’s social media strategy. Their the one who is entrusted with the delicate art of building awareness and optimizing brand presence while developing a meaningful, authentic dialogue with the audience. To put it simply, a social media manager serves as a brand’s voice in the massive social universe.

If you think this sounds like the perfect fit for someone who already has a natural love affair with social media and maybe a bonus touch of charisma, you’re right. However, there’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to creating and managing successful social media campaigns. Individuals who choose this career path must be able to work with all types of social media analytics, set goals, strategize, be adaptable and wear many different hats.

The social media manager job description looks something like this.

  • Strategize, plan and set social media goals
  • Leverage analytics to define a target customer
  • Develop awareness of the brand while building their online reputation
  • Understand the art of nurturing leads and cultivating conversions
  • Have an above average understanding of search engine optimization
  • Content management capabilities that allow them to create and publish high quality, engaging content
  • Measuring, analyzing and adapting campaigns to produce the greatest return on investment (ROI) for paid social media
  • The ability to work well with others, including marketing and PR team members, and social media directors.

How Much Do Social Media Managers Make?

There is a bit of variance in the pay scale for individuals with social media jobs. One of the reasons is that there are opportunities to be employed in this field by businesses of all sizes. Generally speaking, a small startup is going to require a different approach to social media management than a large corporation. The size and scope of the position can have an affect of the average salary.

Training, experience and education are also factors. Some social media savvy individuals might be able to self-teach themselves the art of social media management and excel at the job when given the chance. Other businesses will require evidence of experience, training, education or a combination of all of them. What a social media manager brings to the table will influence their earning potential.

That said, according to PayScale, entry level social media jobs earn just under $40,000 a year. The average social media manager salary based on numbers from both PayScale and Glassdoor is in the range of $48,000 to $54,000 per year.

Top Tips for Honing Social Media Marketing Skills

Regardless of your starting point, if you’re interested in pursuing a career as a social media manager, you need to begin with a solid foundation of social media marketing skills. While some employers are going to require some type of degree before they’ll even consider you, other employers might not be so stringent. The one thing that all of them will be looking for is evidence that you know the social media turf, so step one is learning everything you can and getting some hands on experience in the social media marketing sphere. Here are few social media marketing tips to get you started.

  • Find brands that you love or admire and follow them. Pay attention to what they’re doing and why it works. Which posts get the most engagement? What elements seem to define their social media strategy? Get in there and engage – right now you’re the audience and there’s a lot that can be learned from the other side of the fence.
  • Get some hands on experience. Find a small business that knows nothing about social media and try your hand at building their reputation. Start small by managing just one social media account for them. If you can’t find a small business that’s willing to be your project, start branding yourself. Create content, build an online presence, gather followers and create a persona for yourself.
  • Learn about influencer marketing. Influencer marketing is built on the premise that “bigger” names can help build awareness for brands. The thing is, “bigger” doesn’t necessarily mean huge. An influencer can be anyone with a sizable, loyal following or authority in a niche. As you start building your social media persona, start thinking about entering one or two influencer relationships and see how they work.
  • Put it all together. They say the proof is in the pudding, and in this case the pudding is your portfolio. Whether you’ve built a social media presence and persona for yourself or another business, be prepared to showcase it, along with any influencer relationships, in a portfolio that’s worthy of being presented to prospective employers.

The Final Steps – How to Become and Social Media Manager

We’re going to be honest here. A degree in communications or marketing is going to go far in earning you a sought after position as a social media expert. Today, many university level marketing courses include elements of digital and social media marketing. There are some programs that even offer a specialized social media marketing certificate as an accompaniment to the degree.

Education is important when you want a top paying social media marketing job. There’s a lot of people out there who say they have the skills to be a social media manager, but a background of education is proof that you can.

When you’re ready to further your career, you might also want to consider an online learning experience with a professional social media marketing course. There’s a wide world of opportunity in social media marketing, it’s up to you to acquire the skills needed to make it yours.

Career Growth Hacking – How to Become a Digital Marketing Specialist

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The digital landscape is constantly evolving, and for businesses, it’s becoming more competitive than ever before. A smart, thorough approach to digital marketing is essential for every business, and more of them are realizing it. According to Forester Research, businesses will be investing $120 billion in digital marketing (DM) by 2021.

MarketMotive offers a Masters in Digital Marketing Program that includes a five-course pathway to certification.

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This means we can expect the demand for careers in digital marketing to grow right along with the trend, however the standard digital marketing skill set isn’t going to be enough if you really want to propel your career and get noticed by top recruiters in the field. Businesses are going to be looking for digital marketing experts, with more experience, education and a keen intuition about marketing. The person they want is a digital marketing specialist.

Who is Digital Marketing Specialist?

It isn’t enough for businesses to simply be found online. Consumers are becoming savvier and their expectations are changing. The strategies that worked to generate traffic and conversions just a couple years ago are now stale and ineffective. Businesses now need a marketing approach that’s specialized with a laser sharp focus on their target market. They need digital marketing experts that can narrow in on this target, but also create recognizable brand value by leveraging the latest advancements in digital marketing technologies.

Digital marketing specialists are upper level professionals, with advanced training in multiple specialized DM disciplines. They’re equipped with a mind that’s both analytical and creative, and they possess a solid working knowledge of all areas of digital marketing. A DM specialist understands that each business is unique, and that their marketing strategy needs to be focused on the nuances of the business and their target audience. Some DM specialist choose to specialize in certain areas, while others choose to apply their expertise to a more holistic approach.

A digital marketing specialist is the one who analyzes, strategies and develops the digital marketing game plan. They’re innovators and leaders in building great brands.

What Does a DM Specialist Do?

A DM specialist has the same set of basic goals as any other digital marketing professional. Their focus is to build brand awareness, generate traffic and promote the value of the business to exactly the right audience. The difference is that a DM specialist is someone who has made the commitment to learn digital marketing inside and out, and to strategically apply every domain to achieve real life results.

The primary role of a digital marketing specialist is to evaluate the needs and motivations of the consumer market with the help of sophisticated digital marketing tools. They use these insights to develop effective digital marketing campaigns to promote brands in the digital universe.

Primary responsibilities of a digital marketing specialist include:

  • Creating brand awareness through multiple or specialized digital marketing channels
  • Developing and overseeing various types of marketing campaigns
  • Tracking results by monitoring all components of the DM strategy including, SEO, PPC and SEM
  • Optimizing customer interactions and user experience
  • Proactive and responsive approach to digital marketing challenges

What Skills Are DM Specialists Expected to Have and Why Do Companies Hire Them?

A digital marketing strategy is one of the most important things any business can have. Today, more businesses of every size are realizing that the potential of successful digital marketing is huge, yet their own skill set is relatively limited. They also realize that an average level of digital marketing knowledge isn’t enough to produce the results they’re looking for in the competitive digital landscape.

With this, they turn to a digital marketing specialist. For anyone interested in how to become digital marketer, these are the top skills that employers need and expect from the DM professionals they add to their teams.

  • In-depth understanding of crucial digital marketing functions, including social media, paid marketing, inbound marketing strategies and web analytics.
  • Comprehensive knowledge and the ability to use a wider variety of digital marketing tools.
  • Copywriting and content creation capabilities
  • An unyielding desire to learn and stay up on trends
  • Familiarity with digital marketing terminology
  • Basic coding skills
  • An understanding of how different areas of digital marketing work to fuel each other, and the ability to develop a strategy that optimizes the right disciplines to meet marketing goals.
  • The ability to visualize, plan, execute, manage and analyze multichannel digital marketing campaigns.
  • Comfort with the role of leadership and management of digital marketing teams.

How Do You Become a DM Expert?

Digital marketing experts need to have advanced knowledge of all DM disciplines and the tools that help individuals in these top-level positions do their jobs more efficiently. If you want to know how to become a digital marketing manager or specialist, the first step is a foundation of education.

Anyone looking to expand their opportunities in digital marketing should start with a course specifically designed to help them meet the challenges and expectations of such a rewarding career. A history of working and excelling in the field of digital marketing is the first stepping stone. From there marketing managers, marketing consultants, team level digital marketers, entrepreneurs, business owners and other professionals will benefit from participating in a comprehensive digital marketing specialist course that includes the following elements.

  1. Specialized learning paths, including SEO, PPC, social media, content marketing, email marketing, mobile marketing, web analytics, and web conversion and optimization.
  2. Advanced level certificate courses that include SEO, PPC, social media and web analytics.
  3. Opportunities to hone in on an area of specialization with advanced level elective courses.
  4. A complete foundation of knowledge in the top tools used by digital marketing specialists, including:
  • Facebook Analytics
  • YouTube Analytics
  • Google AdWords Keyword Tool
  • Google Trends Keyword Tool
  • Google Tag Manager
  • SimiliarWeb
  • Hitwise
  • CrazyEgg
  • Fen-Gui
  • Moz
  • SemRush
  • SpyFu

After completing coursework, the next step to appearing on the radar of the top companies that are looking for digital marketing specialist is to achieve certification that serves as proof of your skills and competency as a digital marketing expert.

A Master’s Program to Help You Become a Digital Marketer Professional

There are multiple routes a digital marketer can take to earning their professional certification. Participating in an online course is one option that fits in nicely with already hectic workday schedules. 

If you’re ready to embark on a rewarding career with an average annual earning potential of $111k-$135K, we’re here to prepare you with the expertise and skills that top employers are looking for. Contact MarketMotive today to learn more about our Masters in Digital Marketing Program and our other course offerings to elevate your career potential.

6 Fantastic SEO Tricks That will Take Your Blog to the Next Level

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Search engine optimization is extremely important to any blogger trying to build a name for themselves online. You could even say it is a communication technique between humans and search engine bots. SEO experts have spent years perfecting their techniques and dominate this field. To many, entering this field seems like a daunting task, but with the right SEO course and plenty of hard work, it’s actually a breeze.

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Here are some tricks of the trade to help you make your mark in the field of blogging.

1. Make Content Visually Appealing

Infographics are visual representations of your blog. According to the Social Engine Journal, 90% of information transmitted in your brain is visual. Because of this, people absorb visual information faster than other modes.

Infographics work because they bring more exposure to your website. According to the website, Top Marketing Schools, an infographic has the potential to reach 15 million people. When used correctly, this could mean a huge chunk of backlinks for your website.

There are tips to keep in mind when creating impressionable infographics. You don’t want your infographic to be just another wallflower.

  • Include solid statistics
  • Back your statistics with reliable proof (You can create hyperlinks at the bottom of the page)
  • Don’t stuff your infographic with words. The key appeal of infographics is communicating lots with the least amount of words
  • Don’t be afraid to include humor – An unexpected twist of humor in your content can make the information more memorable.
  • Brownie points to you if you can make an interactive infographic. They are a novel idea and people are more drawn to things they can play with!

2. Use Social Media to Capture the Pulse of Your Audience

Few people understand the importance of social media in marketing and even fewer are aware of the right way to use it. Social media has tons of uses. Not only does it help you put your article out there, it also brings you closer to your audience and find out their likes and dislikes. When used correctly, social media can shape the way you write and increase the number of people who read your articles.

3. Write for Your Audience

Mere words cannot be used to stress on the importance of user research. As a blogger, you want (need) to promote your blog, whatever the topic. But your audience is key. If you can’t get your audience’s attention, then your blog is of no use.

Keep your audience’s goal in mind. Value their time. When they read an article, they do so because they plan to learn something useful from it.

Sites like Google Trends and Moz Keyword Explorer are great for keyword research. With google trends, you can identify topics related to your niche that are being talked about on the internet. Once you determine the topics, use Moz’s Keywords Explorer to optimize your article’s SEO value.

4. Analyze Your Blog and Fix Potential Issues

Most people shy away from doing a complete SEO audit on their website. SEO experts believe it is time-consuming and don’t attempt it unless their SERP ranking falls drastically. With tools like ScreamingFrog and Moz Site Crawl Tester, running off-page optimization tests take literally a matter of seconds. These tools can identify crawl errors or errors that stop your pages from being accessed by google bots properly. Once identified, you can get to fixing them before Google penalizes you for it.

Apart from off-page optimization, you should also look at on-page optimization audits. These include factors like URL lengths, keywords optimization, content length and content relevancy. We find SEMRush audit list comprehensive and a great help to our auditing efforts.

5. Landing Pages, Landing Pages and More Landing Pages

Landing pages are essentially gateways to your website. They are links from any source (other blog, an article or even google) that leads people into your website. Landing pages are important to your blog because they add layers to it and lends an air of credibility. Landing pages are representative of your commitment and effort into your blog. They also offer less distractibility to your audiences, so they are more likely to click on your page’s CTA and convert than if they would if they had to navigate several pages.

According to SEMRush, certain factors contribute to the success of an optimized landing page

  • Headlines – The first thing a reader looks at, the headline needs to be clearly worded concise. A vague headline brings down the trust value of your website
  • More Interactive – Use testimonials and reviews on your landing page. Make your customer care details visible so potential buyers are assured. Encourage your readers to interact with you on your page. This makes your blog seem more human.
  • Proper Structure – This is probably the most important point. Information should be structured and clear. Place important points at the top so they aren’t missed out and place your CTA button in bold colors in visible areas. Doing this will do wonders for your conversion rates.

6. Send a Little Love Toward Your Older Blog Posts

Your blog’s ranking counts on not just your popular pages but also your unpopular ones. While your best-performing articles may put your site on the map, the ones that are buried are bringing your ranking down.

So how do you improve the views for the older articles you have written?

Step 1: Look through your older, not-great articles and see how you can improve them.

Step 2: Improve the article (enhance readability, add more statistics, add new images) and then add contextual links in new articles you have written

or

Step 2(b): If you don’t want to add contextual links, then offers targeting recommendations at the bottom of your page.

Think about Amazon – you go in to buy a baseball bat and you see a list of things that you may like based on your past purchases. This is the same deal. You can retarget your readers into reading your older articles if they have read similar articles.

Step 3: Sit back and watch your ranking grow. When you offer relevant recommendations – More people spend more reading on your website, which raises your site’s ranking. Additionally, your website also benefits because each individual article is now getting ranked higher on the SERP.

Conclusion

The points presented here just scratch the surface of SEO. Play around and see what works for you. Remember though, SEO can only work if you have quality content that backs it.

5 Actionable Strategies for Attracting YouTube Subscribers to Your Brand

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youtube-subscribersIn 2005, when the first video was downloaded onto YouTube, it was impossible to predict the force that video would become in our lives. Today, audiences watch over 1 billion hours of YouTube every day, with 8 out of 10 14-49-year-olds spending time on the platform.

For businesses, this means one thing. YouTube provides a massive audience for your brand’s message – but only if you have the subscribers. You can learn more about YouTube Marketing by taking this Online Marketing course.

There is the challenge. While there’s tons of potential with YouTube, it’s also highly competitive and subscribers are key to building the type of awareness that generates shares and traffic back to your website.

If you’ve ever uploaded a video onto YouTube, you already know that this can be more difficult than it sounds. Fortunately, there are several strategies that businesses can use to gain more YouTube subscribers, get lots of love for their videos and reach their marketing goals.

Why Subscribers Are Important

A subscriber is a person who choses to follow your YouTube channel. While each view your content gets is important, it’s your subscriber base that really does the work of building your brand’s presence. When someone subscribes to your channel, they can stay updated on your most current video content. This has major advantages for your brand.

For starters, a subscriber relationship is crucial for building long term brand loyalty. The more time a user invests in your video content, the more connected they’re going to feel to your brand. Secondly, a subscriber that enjoys, comments and shares your video on social networks is a key player in building brand awareness in a growing digital community. Think of subscribers as valuable business partners.

With this in mind, let’s dig in and talk about how to increase your number of free YouTube subscribers starting today.

How to Get YouTube Subscribers

So, is there a great secret to how to get subscribers for YouTube? The truth is that there isn’t really a secret as much as a set of strategies that are proven to attract more subscribers and build awareness for your brand. Here are 5 ways to start getting more views and followers almost immediately.

Strategy 1: Start with a Plan

When the pressure is on to publish lots of engaging content, it’s easy to fall into the mindset that more is better, and the important thing is to just get it out there. The fault with this philosophy is that with all things in marketing, quality always wins over quantity. This means that to grow your subscriber base, you need to start with a plan.

Structured videos perform better and get more YouTube views. This is because a structured, scripted video is one that makes sense and stays on a logical track. Take for example the difference between a conversation with a friend and speech you might give at work.

One is fractured and can go off on multiple tangents, making it difficult for someone outside your “loop” to follow along. The second is a planned dialogue that follows a logical sequence and says everything that you need to get the message across.

Which is going to keep the attention of someone watching one of your videos for the first time?

When planning your video script keep your intended audience in mind and adjust the tone of the video appropriately. For example, there’s going to be a big difference in tone between a video about a legal matter and reveal video about a gaming product.

Next, plan a script with the following in mind:

  • The purpose of the video and the main points you want to stress
  • The exact dialogue that you want the video to contain
  • Any corresponding actions or movements that will take place during the video
  • A conclusion that wraps everything up, including a CTA for subscribership

Strategy 2: Focus on Frequency and Consistency

What is the number one reason that someone subscribes to a YouTube channel? They love what they’ve seen, and they want more.

With this in mind, why would you let them down?

When someone follows you on YouTube, they’re expecting to see content from you regularly, and not meeting this expectation is a sure way to lose subscribers and give potential new ones a reason to pause and reconsider.

Let’s face it, we live in a time where audiences expect a consistent flow of entertaining and valuable content. For businesses, this means that the pressure is on to provide new video content consistently and with a reliable frequency.

What is the magic number for posting video on YouTube? Well, this depends on a lot of things, including the time and budget you have available to devote to content creation. It’s a decent goal to aim for one video per week, but twice a month can be a good starting point if you’re consistent.

Strategy 3: Optimize the First Few Seconds

Strategizing to get YouTube views alone isn’t enough. Knowing how to keep a viewer engaged through those first few seconds of a video is crucial to building the type of engagement that leads someone to become a subscriber.

When a user is watching a video, it’s super easy for them to back out and watch something else if what they see doesn’t grab their interest immediately. What you accomplish in those first few seconds matters a lot.

On YouTube, where the optimal video length is about 2 minutes, you need to get to straight to the point in the intro so that the audience knows that your video is worth their time.

The best strategy is to shorten your intro and avoid unnecessary chitchat in those first few seconds. There’s time to tell them a little more about yourself or become more conversational with your content once you’ve captured their attention by stating the purpose and value of the video within the first 5-8 seconds.

Strategy 4: Use Playlists Strategically

Stop and think about what it takes for a new viewer to come across one of your videos on a platform where 300 hours of new video are uploaded every minute. You might luck out and have them come to you via a shared video on social media, but chances are their journey involved a search and then sorting through multiple videos until they came upon yours.

This is a lot of work for just one video, so why not make it easy for users to watch more of your content and encourage new subscribers by providing strategically created playlists?

For example, a playlist created especially for new viewers can promote the videos that are most crucial for building long term relationships while a task-oriented playlist can include videos that offer complimentary helpful content to users looking for solution-based videos.

Strategy 5: There’s No Shame in Asking for Subscribers

One of the easiest ways of increasing your subscriber base is just to ask for it. It’s never safe to assume that the user will automatically subscribe to your channel if they like what they see – often they need a seed planted, and it’s your responsibility to make sure it happens.

Make sure each of your videos include a compelling call to action that leads them to subscribership. There are three words to remember when including a subscriber CTA in your video – what, how and why.

Your CTA should state explicitly what you want the user to do -subscribe to your channel, how they can do it and why they should. Remember that your audience’s time is valuable, even when they’re leisurely scrolling through videos, so it’s key that they understand how clicking on that subscribe annotation will benefit them and add value to their life.

Never Stop Learning

The strategies outlined here are time honored for generating success. However, we all know that how and why people use social media, including YouTube, is constantly changing. To stay successful and keep your finger on the pulse of what drives users to become subscribers, you want to always be learning and adapting. Simplilearn offers courses in digital marketing, including a Social Media Specialist program to help you learn more about getting the most out of YouTube for your business today and into the future.

How to Become a PPC Consultant

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ppc consultantWhat is PPC marketing and What does PPC stand for?

PPC is short for pay per click. It is a type of internet marketing through which website owners and marketers generate traffic to their websites by having their advertisements placed on search engine results pages. Advertisers pay each time someone clicks on their ad hence the name pay-per-click.

One of the most preferred forms of PPC is search engine marketing because it allows ad placement in the sponsored links section. Advertisers who use this form of PPC advertising place bids for a keyword and if their bid wins, their ad is placed in that section. Given that this area is at the top of the search engine results page (SERP), advertisements feature prominently. You can learn more about Digital Marketing by taking this PPC Certification course.

A well-crafted PPC advertisement has most, if not all of the following parts:

  • Headline
  • Product description
  • Link
  • Call to action
  • Benefits
  • Social mentions
  • Offer
  • Geotargeting (if the business targets a specific location)

Though most adverts will usually include only some of these elements, one thing remains certain: a PPC ad should be attractive enough for people to click on it. And as is evident in most SEO vs PPC debates, a PPC ad that is well crafted and has the right keywords is a great targeting tool.

What is a PPC Specialist 90

The most important part of being a PPC professional is to take a client’s budget and turn a profit out of it by running successful PPC marketing campaigns. A PPC specialist is a person who can demonstrate having achieved such a track record repeatedly.

Unlike other marketers who can have general knowledge of most online marketing areas, a specialized PPC professional must have in-depth knowledge of PPC. A PPC consultant for instance, is a specialist because they have amassed enough work experience to offer PPC advice and handle end-to-end management of large projects.

What does a PPC Expert do?

A PPC Expert job entails the following:

  • Researching keywords relevant to the client’s business, products, niche and location,
  • Selecting, not just the highest-ranking keywords, but also the most relevant
  • Creating campaigns based on selected keywords
  • Setting up and optimizing PPC landing pages

The important thing to note here is that if PPC ads are relevant, well targeted and satisfying to visitors, search engines like Google charge less. So, before you start creating any ads, make sure you have all the skills necessary to get it right the first time. With that said, let’s discuss the PPC skills and tools necessary to succeed as a PPC Expert.

What skills and tools do PPC experts need?

There is a wide range of hard skills (some of them technical), and soft skills, that one should have to create a successful career as a PPC professional. These include:

Analysis

The pre-launch analysis is a given for every campaign. But the majority of PPC campaign management post-launch is analysis. A lot of data is involved in each campaign, hence the ability to not only manipulate data but to also understand it and make projections, is necessary for a PPC analyst.

Without analysis, real-time campaign management would be impossible. It would also be that much harder to make a profit.

There are quite a number of PPC tools that a PPC analyst uses to aid the performance of their job. Some of them include:

Google analytics. This is a free tool with payment options for enterprise-level subscribers.

Certified knowledge. Starting at $79 per month, this tool is vital for data collection and analysis. Since it is a suite of tools, it is a must-have for anyone going into PPC advertising.

Adalysis. This is a suite of tools that do split testing, managing keywords, campaign monitoring and reports. It saves a lot of time because it only issues alerts when it finds anything that needs changing. It is a paid tool ranging from $99 to $549 and upwards, depending on the advertising spend.

Excel. The sorting capabilities within excel make it a must-use for PPC managers. Excel pivot tables, make it possible to manipulate large quantities of data to reveal patterns embedded in campaigns.

Time management

Things happen fast in the internet world. Only by being organized and managing time properly does a PPC professional stay relevant. A great way to manage time is by using tools like Adwords scripts. Scripts are pre-written code that performs PPC-related tasks such as pausing keywords that aren’t getting impressions, or, fix problems such as broken URLs.

Creative

You don’t have to an artist but at best, you should be skilful enough to create ads that people will find interesting and want to click on. Creative ads make people feel something. For instance, they should feel as though they will miss out if they do not click on featured ads.

There is no shortage of tools for creating visually appealing PPC ads. Some of the best include:

Canva. This tool allows you to drag and drop images and inlay them with text. It is simple to use and a good choice for any level of PPC experience.  

Facebook text overlay. Facebook ads that exceed a certain word limit are likely to miss their intended audience. Creating Facebook PPC ads with this tool removes the guesswork out of ad creation.

Industry understanding.

This skill is particularly important for PPC consultants because they act in an advisory capacity. Since customers are drawn from diverse industries, it is important to understand the business world in general, the specifics of each client’s industry, and, the nuances that define each business. Such understanding will: facilitate the correct choice of keywords, advise the creation of ad copy, and direct placement decisions.

Google, Bing, Wikipedia and YouTube are reliable tools for learning about clients and the industries they operate in. 

Technical skills

Though knowledge of HTML and JavaScript is important, it is possible to be effective in a PPC job with some understanding of tracking codes, tags and retargeting codes. Adwords Scripts mentioned above is a great hack for PPC professionals who don’t have coding skills.

Effective communicator

A good PPC manager should be good at explaining things to clients. They should communicate to clients daily (if not several times a day), about campaign progress. If changes to the campaign are necessary, it is up to the manager to package the information in a way that will minimize panic, then pass it on to the clients.

Adaptable

Last but not least, a PPC expert must be adaptable. Things may not always go as planned and a good PPC manager should be quick to notice such signs early and change the course of the campaign. Being adaptable also means constantly learning and updating your PPC knowledge.

You can learn PPC from sites such as WordStream, although to become a PPC specialist, you should take a structured training course. Online universities also offer a collection of other digital courses such as search engine marketing, that complement PPC.

Other important free and paid tools that we recommend for PPC include:

Optimizely. For Split testing

Split testing is part of the continuous PPC ad management process. It is not possible to know intuitively how ads will perform. With split testing tools, managers can retarget ads or pages and deliver a more personalized experience for visitors.

Google trends. For keyword research

Google trends tell you which keywords are most searched so that you can base campaigns around those keywords.

Adwords editor. Working offline is sometimes inevitable and this tool allows PPC professionals to do just that. It allows for bulk changes within minutes using functions such as copy, paste and drag. While this tool doesn’t have a lot of capabilities, it is a time saver.

iSpionage. For competitor analysis

With iSpionage, a PPC manager can monitor the keywords that websites in any industry are bidding on. Additionally, you can find out how relevant ads are as iSpionage shows how one website ranks vis-à-vis other websites.

What skills are a PPC specialist expected to have?

A PPC specialist is involved in all aspects of PPC marketing campaigns. As such, a specialist must have the following skills:

Customer service/relationship management

Good relationship management begins with understanding the client’s business. Upon landing a contract, fast response to requests and being painstaking with details are some ways that a PPC specialist can keep clients happy.

Sales

Customers shop around a lot before they settle on a PPC consultant. In fact, for the first few projects, most customers are only happy to work on a trial basis. With pre-sales skills, a PPC specialist will find it easier to sign up clients. Post-sales skills are important for tasks such as bidding for keywords and outselling the competition.

Web development skills

Though you don’t need to know how to write code, you should understand website related concepts such as:

  • Bounce rate and its related factors
  • Tracking-codes, their function and how to install them
  • Website layout and design and how it can affect conversion
  • Interpreting web analytics

Analysis

This is perhaps the most important skill when it comes to campaign management because a PPC manager will constantly have to analyze data vis-à-vis budget allocation. Everything involved in PPC analysis boils down to one thing: measuring the effectiveness of the PPC advertising campaign. PPC analysis involves:

  • Evaluating tools and applications used to determine their ongoing relevance to the campaign
  • Collecting and analyzing campaign and industry data
  • Preparing performance reports for clients
  • Budget management, including monitoring the current budget, analyzing past spend and projecting future spend

Why do companies hire PPC Specialists?

There are quite a number of reasons why a company might decide to hire a PPC specialist. They include:

  1. Companies trust a PPC professional who has a lot of PPC experience and who has built a positive track record of producing results.
  2. It is better to entrust important but time-consuming tasks such as keyword research to someone who does this type of job full time. With everything else they have to do, business owners will not give keyword research the full attention it deserves.
  3. No need to invest in tools. PPC consultants work with a collection of powerful tools that assist in keyword research, analysis, data collection and report creation. The approval process for most companies would not accommodate most of these third-party tools.
  4. Having someone else to run campaigns means that company owners can focus on other parts of the business.
  5. Lack of technical skills. The technical nature of tasks such as split testing and altering code means that only a dedicated resource can handle them.
  6. PPC consultants know what it takes for a landing page to be user-friendly, appealing and hence highly converting. Most business owners do not know the first thing about landing page optimization.
  7. PPC tools and methodology is always changing and companies cannot keep up unless they have a PPC specialist to keep them up to date.
  8. Running PPC ads requires certification. Not to mention, it has to be renewed yearly. For most business owners, it makes sense to hire a PPC manager than to have to learn PPC.
  9. Google support. PPC specialists are like an extension of Google and Microsoft hence they receive a lot of technical support from both companies.
  10. Search engine optimization (SEO). Most professionals who do PPC advertising are also knowledgeable in digital marketing areas such as SEO. Applying SEO techniques ensures that search engine marketing campaigns attract more traffic.

Bottom line: What Do you need to get started and what are the prospects?

When clients or employers are looking for a PPC specialist, certification and experience are what count. Certification builds trust. It’s not enough for you to say you are a PPC expert. Potential clients need proof and your certificates are it.  

PPC certifications relevant for all advertisers include:

Google AdWords Certification

To claim that you are a specialist, you need to be Google Adwords Certified. To hold this certification, you need to study all current Google Adwords material, then take and pass your fundamentals exams and any of the following four: shopping advertising, Search Advertising, Mobile Advertising, Display Advertising, and Video Advertising. Certificates are valid up to a year, hence you will need to take yearly exams.  

Bing Ads Accredited Professional (BAAP)

Microsoft also offers PPC training. To be PPC certified, advertisers must learn topics such as how to bid, best practices, keyword matching, optimizing ads, and more.

PPC certification by online universities  

This is a more rigorous and holistic PPC training offered by industry experts like Brad Geddes. Think of it as your PPC degree. There’s even a master’s level for those willing to differentiate themselves even further.

Certification is important for anyone with dreams of advancing their career. PPC jobs are well paying, although salaries differ depending on experience and certification. Therefore, by comparison, a PPC specialist salary is likely to be higher than that of a beginner PPC manager. Other factors such as industry, employer and geographic location also affect salaries.

Recent Data shows that Adwords-related jobs in the US get paid anywhere between $51,134 per year to $63,911 per year. In the UK, PPC manager salary ranges between £23,000 to £48,000 (approximately $30,000 to $63,000).

Though employers offer bonuses, PPC specialists report higher earnings when they run their own business. Below are 2 tables depicting PPC job salaries for UK and US markets.

What You Need to Know About Meta Tags for SEO in 2018

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Meta tags in SEOMeta tags are one of the most important elements of SEO, but they’re also a little mysterious. They’re usually hidden which means that it’s way too easy to adopt an out of sight, out of mind attitude about them – especially if you’re not really sure about the role of SEO meta tags in the first place.

When optimized, meta tags are highly effective at providing search engines with important information about your site. They make it easier for Google, and other search engines, to determine what your site and content is all about, so they still remain incredibly important to SEO. You can learn more about Digital Marketing by taking this SEO Certification course.

What Are SEO Meta Tags?

While they’re at the core of any complete SEO strategy, it isn’t uncommon to hear those still fairly new to the search engine optimization game to say “Help! What are meta tags?”.

To put it simply, meta tags are little snippets of text added to a page’s code that describe its content. Meta tags are hidden, existing in HTML, meaning they don’t appear where users can see them, although there are exceptions. Their purpose is to communicate with search engines about a site’s content, purpose and intent. In short, meta tags are data about the data on each of site’s pages.

Meta tags are placed in the head section of your HTML code, with each element containing an open and close tag, looking something like this – <meta>. While there are many types of meta tags, there are 4 that are the most important to SEO today.

  • Title tag – The title tag is arguably one of the most important meta tags for SEO. A title tag is the text at the top of your browser and has a significant impact on search rankings. Title tags tell a search engine exactly what the page is about and how it relates to a user’s search query, so it’s important that they contain meta tag keywords that are highly relevant to the page description. Title tags are also one of the few meta tags that are visible to the user.
  • Meta keywords – These are one of the more controversial types of tags, and you’ll hear some SEO experts say that they’re not worth your time because Google no longer considers them a reliable metric for ranking sites. Once upon a time they did, but some sites started stuffing in irrelevant keywords in an attempt to boost their traffic. Google rewards honesty and transparency, so they removed meta keywords as a ranking factor. Still, there’s the possibility that they can help somewhere. So, as long as you’re not investing too much time and effort into using them, there’s no harm in doing so.
  • Meta description – Of all the meta tags, an SEO meta description is one that is the most visible and crucial to driving traffic to your web pages. Meta descriptions are short snippets of text that tell search engines and users about the content of the page. They show up directly under a site’s listing on SERPs and are meant to be a compelling element that encourages users to click on a page by providing them just a little bit more information about what they’ll find there.
  • Meta robots – These are meta tags that tell search engines what to do with your site, for example whether or not show your page in search results.

Why Are Meta Tags Important for SEO?

There’s a lot of pressure coming from search engines to do everything you can to provide for a better user experience. UX is so important that Google places a ton of weight on every ranking metric that contributes to a positive experience for each of their users. With such a heavy emphasis on UX, it has left many wondering if meta tags are still relevant for SEO in 2018 and beyond.

The answer to the question is yes, without hesitation. Specific meta tags, like those used in titles, still affect search engine rankings. But, we can take this further and broaden our perspective to see how meta tags contribute positively to the overall user experience.

For example, how many times have you initiated a search only to be presented with a page of results that gave you no real clues as to which you really wanted. Sure, Google did their best, but maybe those sites didn’t want to put the effort into meta tags and you’re left spending time surfing through each site when a few simple meta tags could have streamlined the process for you.

Search engine users have short attention spans, and they’ve grown impatient. They want what they want, when they want it and they expect search engines to provide them with it. Meta tags that help search engines deliver the best sites in SERPs are great for UX.

Plus, you can also think of meta elements, like a description tag, as a type of simple, organic ad text. One or two sentences can pack an incredibly powerful SEO punch when optimized.

How to Create SEO Optimized Meta Tags

You only need a basic understanding of HTML to write meta tags, and you don’t even really need that to write meta descriptions. The key to successfully using any tag is including the meta keywords that drive SEO. To wrap it all up, let’s talk for just a minute about hot to create SEO optimized meta tags.

When writing keyword meta tags, you’ll want to start by identifying the keywords that are going to perform for your business. Remember that you’re not working with a ton of space with meta tags, so this isn’t the place to practice your creative writing abilities. Instead, choose a few words that are unique, but sure to perform for your business to get the most from your meta tags.

It’s also acceptable to use synonyms for high performing keywords. Remember, you’re goal here is to make it easier for search engines to place you in front of the right audience, so words that carry the same meaning as chosen keywords will often perform just as well. Also, be weary of keyword stuffing. You can use one meta keyword repeatedly if it is part of a different phrase or sentence.

Meta descriptions are a little different. You have just a couple sentences to write copy that’s compelling enough to grab a user’s attention and make them click on you first. You want to be specific and relevant while focusing on a limited number of keywords. Remember, with meta descriptions you’re appealing to the user, not just an automated search engine.

The key to a successful meta description is to keep it short and sweet, but action oriented. It’s a great idea to include a call to action in your meta description or a question that makes the user say “Yes, this is for me and here is my solution”.

Never Stop Learning

The definition of search engine optimization is constantly shifting, and it’s important to keep up on these changes if you want to remain competitive. Meta tags are just one piece of the puzzle.

Real-Time Internet Live Stats and Its Infinite Possibilities

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internet-in-real-time
powered by Betfy.co.uk

Did you know the world wide web internet was 10,552 days old at the start of 2018, and that internet technology was made 7,131 days before the launch of the world wide web? Now, for every second you spend on the internet, more than 22,500 gigabytes of data are being transferred.

Now let’s put that into perspective. Betfy estimates that every hour on the internet, there are over 12 million new Facebook posts, about 3 million new uploads on Instagram, over 26 million new tweets, 186 million Google searches, 1 billion WhatsApp messages, and over 450 million YouTube video views. And guess what? That’s just to name a few. The numbers are crazy! You can learn more about how to make use of this traffic by enrolling in an online marketing course.

The infographic below provides the internet live stats of the interactions that go on over numerous channels on the internet on a second-by-second basis. All of this real-time internet live stats and data transfer details eventually culminate into staggering hourly, daily and monthly figures.

What this means for you is that you can strategically position and market your business using this ridiculous tool called the internet. How can you achieve that?

  • Social Media Marketing

Owning a personal or business account on social media is free, and this puts you and your business in touch with customers who spend time on social media without added costs. It is possible to also engage in low-cost advertisement on social media channels to further expand your reach to potential customers.

  • Video Marketing

People more often than not prefer to watch than to read, so videos are fast becoming a mainstay in publicity and marketing. In fact, after Google, YouTube is the second most popular search engine. So, showcase your business in videos and host them on online video sites such as YouTube, Vimeo etc, and social media channels that support videos.

  • Content Marketing and Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Deliver high-quality content that contains relevant keyword and phrases that customers use in search engines. Why? The more people see those keywords, the more they visit your website, and the higher their tendency of sharing your content to even more people. Tools like Google AdWords and Microsoft Bing Ads are helpful for finding keywords and phrases used by potential customers.

It is vital to remember that these modes of marketing focus on bringing customers to your product instead of you looking for them. While this is great for companies, it is vital that you provide customers with the information they can actually use, instead of bombarding them with salesy pitches.

A Beginner’s Guide to Landing Pages

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Most people aren’t aware of the implications of a good landing page. Heck! Most people aren’t even aware of what landing pages are. However, a true master of digital marketing will tell you that unoptimized landing pages are a bane to your website’s existence. If you can think about all the problems that could plague your site, you would be able to link them in one way or other to your landing page design.

Think about it!

Not able to convert traffic to leads? Your landing page may just be the one to blame.

High bounce rates? Guess what, landing page again.

You could learn all about optimizing your landing page with a Website Conversion Rate Optimization certification course, which will simplify the intricacies of a suitable landing page methodology.

Having said that, let’s take a look below. In this article, we will talk about what landing pages are and how they can help you optimize your website’s user experience.

What is a Landing Page?

Leadpages (one of the top lead generation resources online) defines a landing page as a web page that is created distinct from a website’s navigation. The landing page also called a ‘lead page’ or a ‘lead capture page’ is designed with the fundamental purpose of persuading a visitor to take specific action including:

  • To purchase something,
  • To click and go to another page on someone else’s website or on your own website
  • To sign up or give permission for you to follow-up through email, phone, etc.
  • To share or tell a friend,
  • To learn something new by downloading information,

The above definition is important because contrary to what a lot of marketers still believe, the landing page isn’t just any page that a visitor lands on after clicking on a promotional link or an AD. The fact is that your Homepage, Contact Us page or About page are not actually your landing pages. Understanding this fact is critically important if you want to have any success in persuading visitors or audiences to act in the manner that you would like when they visit your website.

To be more specific, landing pages differ from other web pages in two principal ways:

  • On a landing page, a visitor’s expectations of the message need to be met as a matter of urgency because they arrived at a landing page through a promotional link or advert that already set their expectations. That is, expectations need to be met with a matching message.
  • Each landing page should correspond to a conversion goal or the singular action that you want your visitor to take. If you use several distinct Customer Psychographics or customer personas, then the prospects will be less easily distracted because of an imbalanced conversion ratio. The most appropriate ratio should be one outbound link to one conversion goal.

The two principal distinctions of landing pages from other web pages logically lead one to imagine that building several landing pages for several different visitors is the best way to go. In actual fact, research actually supports this assumption. There is no doubt that you need to create more landing pages in order to be more effective in persuading more people to take specific action. Increasing to between 10-15 landing pages increases leads by 55%. Increasing to 40 landing pages almost triples the number of leads.

The reasons for the incredible increase in leads due to the use of more landing pages include the following:

  • More landing pages mean more conversion opportunities due to finely tuned and appealing messages to each marketing segmentation or persona.
  • The patch from discovery to conversion will also have less friction because visitors can swiftly move from what appeals to them to directly what you have to offer on your website that meets those needs.
  • When more landing pages are indexed in search, this only goes to improve a websites SEO.
  • More landing pages mean more opportunities or offers to fuel your inbound marketing efforts.

Why is a Landing Page Important for SEO?

One of the core reasons for the exponential increase in the number of leads attracted by a landing page is an improvement in SEO.

Ultimately, landing pages are important for SEO in the following ways:

Targeted landing pages are likely to rank higher in SEO

At the end of the day, when it comes to fulfilling a search engine users intent, if a search engine user (who is likely to be a potential client/customer), visits a landing page that answers their query, then the more likely that the marketing efforts of the website and landing page will rank higher in SEO.

Targeted landing pages lead to better SEO quality scores

Your rank in search results is determined quite strongly by the quality of the keywords that you use. This Quality Score not only determines where you fall on the SERP (search engine results page) but also how much you must pay (PPC) for a better position. The Quality Score is determined by factors like CTR (click-through-rate) and relevance and specifically AD relevance and Landing Page Relevance.

Targeted landing pages convert better, a core goal of SEO

Directing marketing campaign traffic from email, PPC, social media, SEO, or through any other means, to the homepage of a website is not as effective as directing traffic to a landing page. One reason for this is that it is simply too distracting for a potential customer or client to land on a page that has a lot of messages (whether the person is interested in the messages or not) and remain true to their initial purpose.

Instead, visiting a landing page that has a specific message that already appeals to the visitor, on account of their clicking on an AD or promotional link, will lead to better conversion rates. Landing pages that convert are therefore great not just for lead acquisition and lead conversion but also for overall direct marketing. Lead acquisition and direct marketing are core goals of SEO that grow customers and build revenue.

How is a landing page used?

The main use of a landing page is to persuade a visitor to take specific action as described above (to buy, to click, sign-up, share or learn). However, landing pages can also be used for a more targeted marketing purpose including the following:

  • To present the benefit of using a specific product or service.
  • Create an email list that can be used for targeted marketing to potential customers with more than a passive interest
  • To create tailored surveys and mine for directed data on customers opinions of offered products and services
  • To acquire feedback from social media about offers, products, and services
  • To gather data about where your potential customers or clients visited before getting to the landing page.

Types of Landing Pages

There are many ways to create and optimize a landing page in order to squeeze more conversions out of it. Landing page design depends on how you decide to use it, where you choose to use it and when you use it. Remember that despite the different names, the types of landing pages listed below are still just landing pages for their primary purposes. The most common types of landing pages include the following:

Splash Page

A splash page is also called a ‘splash screen’ or a’ welcome gate.’ These landing pages get their name from the fact that they are a single page that a visitor see’s right before they can access a website. The splash page provides valuable introductory information or may also be designed for lead collection purposes. Business owners often display a splash page requesting a visitor to join an email list before getting to the main website.

Squeeze Page

These are landing pages that are designed to squeeze information (especially email addresses) from visitors. At their core, squeeze pages are designed for lead generation. They may, however, look distinct because they vary widely based on content type, shape, length, and size. For example, a squeeze page may contain testimonials, contextual information, progression information and such, all of which are designed to eventually convert or squeeze a lead into taking specific action.

Sales Page

Normally, a landing page uses the principle of reciprocation to eventually convert visitors into customers or client. To achieve this, the landing page will usually provide value to the visitor before asking something in exchange for the value. With that said, sometimes a more direct approach is more appropriate and expedient.

In other words, the landing page can sometimes seek to sell immediately. Such a landing page, called a sales page, contains testimonies, videos and other elements that focus on selling instead of lead generation.

Capture Page

The capture page is again synonymous with the landing page. It is a page that captures the attention of a visitor and guides them towards conversion.

If you are curious and want to compare several assorted styles and types of landing pages, you can go through 100+ conversion-focused landing page templates at ubounce.com

Components of a good landing page design

A landing page can be like a puzzle in that even if you have all the right pieces, they still need to be fitted together in the right way to make the most sense.

To understand how, when, where and probably even why it is useful to use a landing page, it is important to closely examine the core components or elements of the landing page. Several authorities in the field have suggested different elements to pay attention to. For example. Neil Patel emphasizes the following key elements of a good landing page as being the main ones:

  • Use testimonials
  • Use high-quality images
  • Try to limit choices
  • Limit scrolling length
  • Use shorter forms if possible
  • Add directional cues
  • Make them an offer they can’t refuse

For our purposes, landing page optimization and Landing page best practices are synonymous with understanding the core components of landing page design. The core elements including the landing page best practices are as follows:

Lack of navigation

As discussed above, the landing page is meant to have a specific purpose in mind. It should be a one-page summary of all that the visitor needs to know and then ‘buy-in’ or convert to the website owners offer. Including navigation negates this purpose.

landing-page-example-moz

Figure 1: SEO Moz

A catchy headline

Without a catchy headline, your visitors will not engage with your landing page in order to appreciate the other elements that you have made an effort to incorporate. This makes a catch headline probably the most important component in landing page design.

A catchy headline needs to:

  • Play to the visitor’s self-interest
  • Solve an immediate problem or challenge
  • Provide useful and relevant information

landing-page-example-2

Clear, compelling, and effective CTA (call-to-action)

A clear, compelling, and effective call to action is more than just words added to a fancy button. You need to carefully choose the right :

  • Location
  • Size
  • Shape
  • Color. And,
  • Words (Copy)

It’s important to note that the CTA should generally be above the fold so that visitors can see it and click on it without having to scroll. Of course, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have another CTA for the visitors that scroll down a page.

landing-page-example-spotmarketing

Figure 3: Spotmarketing.ca

Value-centric copy that is easy to skim through

Eye tracking studies show that most people only get to read 20% of the content on the page. When they do so they follow a so-called F-pattern:

Essentially, the typical online reader moves horizontally through the first paragraph. Then they go further down and read another heading or catchy text, albeit the text is normally much shorter than the first heading. Finally, they scan through the rest of the content vertically.

Simple and non-distracting language and design

Readability, legibility, and comprehension are important components that must be upheld on every landing page.

  • Readability: lines and blocks of text should be easy to read. Use the right line and paragraph spacing.
  • Legibility: Text should large enough and not too small (about 16px is a good place to start). There should be an effective use of contrast between text and the background and it should be easy for readers to distinguish characters.
  • Comprehension: avoid jargon, use short concise words, and get rid of ambiguous content
landing page unbounce

Figure 3: unbounce.com

Impeccable and engaging content

Content does not just means words. In fact, it is often better to prioritize imagery over words. In a survey conducted in 2015, ‘4 times as many consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it ‘

Of course, the video is not the only media that you should take advantage of because people absorb more information and absorb the information faster if the information is visual. Some of the engaging content that you can experiment with includes the following:

  • Landing page images and video’s
  • Product images
  • Infographics
  • Hero shots
  • Icons
  • Trust badges
Five9 call center software landing page infographic

Figure 4: Five9 call center software landing page infographic

Strong trust indicators

If you are going to persuade a stranger to buy-in to your offer, you are first going to have to gain their trust. There are several ways to gain this coveted trust. Some of the trust indicators that you can use on landing pages in order to gain trust include the following:

  • Using testimonials: the testimonials need to be relevant, positive, specific and recognizable
  • Security indicators e.g. links to a privacy policy, security badges from companies like Norton
  • Authority indicators e.g. Titles (Ph.D., Dr.), Uniform/expensive suit, expensive items like cars, buildings, landscapes etc.
  • Credibility signals: including high-profile clients and their testimonials, offering statistical proof, awards, publicity, and social counters

landing page example

Conclusion

Understanding why you need to use a landing page along with the different essential components of a landing page will make it a lot easier for you to get it right the first time around. Additionally, using as many as 40 landing pages should be your ultimate goal in order to take maximum advantage of this important tool. Thereafter, do not forget to test and measure how effective your landing pages are and then adjust accordingly.

Top Digital Marketing Interview Questions to Ace Your Interview

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Today, brands are putting more of a focus on online marketing than ever before. This means that the skill sets of digital marketing are widening, and those with the ability to perform at the top of the field are in high demand.

This increase in demand means that those in the digital marketing industry need to be prepared, not only with knowledge and skills but with the ability to spot an incredible new job opportunity and win over the prospective employer by effortlessly handling all the marketing interview questions that come their way.

In cases like this, a digital marketing certification really helps. But, let’s face it. Most of us aren’t fond of the interview process. It doesn’t matter how confident you are, sitting face to face with someone who’s challenging your experience with digital marketing questions is a nerve-wracking experience.

What’s someone looking to further their career in online marketing to do? Be prepared, of course.

To help you with the process of preparing for your next interview, we’ve gathered some of the top DM questions and answers that are often leveraged when businesses are trying to find the perfect fit.

Here are the online marketing interview questions that will help everyone, from those just starting out in the field to seasoned professionals, land the job.

Digital Marketing Interview Questions for Beginners

It doesn’t matter who you are, taking the first plunge into a new career can be intimidating. No matter how nervous you might be when you show up to your interview, it’s important that you convey nothing but confidence to the person sitting on the other side of the desk.

For beginning careers in digital marketing, the interviewer is going to be looking for a basic understanding of DM concepts, along with a willingness to learn, adapt and grow. Here are a few of the questions on digital marketing you should be prepared to answer.

Digital Marketing Interview Question 1: Tell Me What You Know About Digital Marketing.

Answer: This basic question is actually very strategic. Digital marketing is broad enough that if you could talk at length answering this question. However, what the interviewer is looking for is evidence that you understand digital marketing well enough to form an answer that’s thorough, but concise.

For example, try something like “Digital marketing is a strategy of building and marketing brands on the internet. A comprehensive strategy should include SEO, search engine marketing, social media, responsive websites, link building and other purposeful measures that bring online exposure to businesses.

Digital Marketing Interview Question 2: Great answer, but you didn’t touch on segmentation. What can you tell me about it?

Answer: Digital marketing can be segmented into two distinct categories – inbound marketing and outbound marketing. The purpose of inbound marketing is to bring awareness to a brand by increasing visibility and providing the target market with valuable content through websites and social media.

Outbound digital marketing is a way for a brand to reach out directly to customers through email and paid advertisements.

Digital Marketing Interview 3: What is the importance of SEO in digital marketing?

Answer: SEO is a set of digital tools that increase online visibility by optimizing search engine results. Different aspects of SEO should be leveraged in digital marketing. For example, targeted keywords, local SEO tactics, link building and responsive websites are all part of SEO. It’s impossible to maximize a digital presence without a solid knowledge and understanding of SEO.

Digital Marketing Interview 4: What About PPC?

Answer: PPC, or pay per click, is a strategy for creating targeted paid advertisements. Using elements of SEO, like keywords, businesses promote ads that appear in digital mediums, such as search engines and social media. With PPC, business only pays when a user clicks on their ad. It’s a cost-effective strategy for generating quality traffic fast.

Digital Marketing Interview 5: Why is digital marketing preferred to offline marketing?

Answer: With advances in technology and increasing accessibility, more people are online than ever before. When anything that they want to read or learn about is at their fingertips, offline marketing starts to become less relevant.

Plus, digital marketing offers numerous unique benefits. For example, SEO helps brands reach a more targeted audience than possible with offline marketing.

Digital Marketing Interview Questions for DM Specialists

DM specialists are in high demand, and now is the time to make a move if you’re looking to advance your career. If you’ve spent most of your time working for one for a company, those first few steps into advancing your career are critical. You want to make sure that you’re prepared for the interview that’s going to propel your career forward.

You can start by being prepared for digital marketing analyst interview questions, as well as those focused on other specialties in the industry. Here are 5 to get you started.

Digital Marketing Interview Question 1: What is your process for determining the best channels for a brand’s digital marketing budget?

Answer: It starts with demographics. The first step is to actively put the brand on the digital channels where their audience can be found. This might mean a diving into social media or be developing a comprehensive email strategy. You use what you know to set a starting point.

From there, we’ll test and measure to learn more about the customer persona and adapt as necessary to optimize the brand’s digital presence.

Digital Marketing Interview Question 2: What is the difference between on page and off page optimization?

Answer: On-page optimization is the mechanisms through which structure and content is managed on a site to elevate a brand’s digital presence. Off-page optimization is a way of boosting search engine ranking by connecting the site with external links that point back to it.

Digital Marketing Interview Question 3: What are the two types of SEO practices?

Answer: SEO can be broadly classified into two categories of practices – white hat SEO and black hat SEO.

White hat SEO are legitimate practices that generate higher rankings in SERPs. To be considered a white hat practice, it must strictly follow Google’s guidelines for SEO. Examples of white hat SEO include HTML optimization, quality content and link acquisition.

Blackhat SEO are practices that go against Google’s guidelines and are often aimed at finding weaknesses in search engine algorithms to achieve a more favorable ranking. Spam links, keyword stuffing, and hidden links are examples of black hat SEO.

Digital Marketing Interview Question 4: Can you name a few ways to get natural backlinks to a site?

Answer: For a new site, it takes time to get quality links. One common strategy is to offer to write a guest blog post on a highly reputable site in the same niche. For example, a new graphic design business could petition to supply a guest post to several influencers in the industry. Smaller, micro-influencers are a great place to start, if the focus is on choosing partners that are reputable.

Digital Marketing Interview Question 5: What is the value of competitive analysis in digital marketing?

Answer: Competitive analysis is a critical part of developing a digital marketing strategy for businesses. The goal is to identify industry competitors and evaluate their strategy to determine where their strengths and weaknesses are in relation to product or services that the company is providing. Competitive analysis helps to identify a brand’s unique place in the market and focus on which attributes will attract their target customer.

Digital Marketing Interview Questions for Managers

As a digital marketing specialist seeking a management opportunity, employers are going to be looking for evidence of everything you’ve learned in your years of experience, and how you’re able to apply that experience to bring something valuable to their company.

For this interview, be prepared to have discussions rather than just give answers. Here are a few of the marketing interview questions and answers to help you prepare.

Digital Marketing Interview Question 1: Let’s take a look at your portfolio.

Answer: A potential employer isn’t going to consider someone for a digital marketing management level position without proof of the successes that back up their resume. It’s important to have a well-constructed portfolio prepared before the interview. Include examples with concrete evidence of how you’ve helped businesses grow with your digital marketing expertise.

Digital Marketing Interview Question 2: I’m assuming you’ve looked at our website. What would you do to improve it?

Answer: When interviewing for this position, you’re being tested not only on your experience in digital marketing but also your interest in the long-term success of the company. What most interviewers are looking for here is proof that you’re not afraid to use what you know.

The best answer isn’t one that completely tears their website apart or claims that there’s nothing that could be changed. Both extremes can make you look desperate and unprepared. Instead, take a thorough look at their website before the interview and be prepared with 1-3 suggestions for improvement.

Digital Marketing Interview Question 3: Let’s say that as your first task, our CEO wants you to evaluate some of our content. What would you say?

Answer: Before evaluating a specific piece of content, I would need to be briefed on specific details. For example, if it’s a blog we’re looking at, I would need to know about the blog’s metrics, current traffic generation and what the goals of the piece are. It’s crucial to use data when forming opinions and making decisions.

Digital Marketing Interview Question 4: Data shows us that none of our customers are using social media. Would you still encourage investing in a social media strategy?

Answer: With this question, the interviewer is looking for evidence of a broad perspective of digital marketing and the ability to see past today. Your answer should include several reasons why a social media presence can benefit a company, even if their primary audience isn’t there.

For example, just because their target market isn’t there yet doesn’t mean that they won’t be in the future, so building a presence now is crucial. Plus, being on social media helps to build respect and trust and plays a significant role in organic search results.

Digital Marketing Interview Question 5: Digital marketing is a dynamic industry. What do you do to stay current?

Answer: The interviewer is looking for evidence that what you know now isn’t the cap of your knowledge in digital marketing. This is time to mention which blogs or podcasts you regularly follow, as well as any books you have recently read or authors that you feel, have a finger on the future of digital marketing. This is also the time to mention continuing education opportunities you have taken advantage of or are planning to in the future.

This is an exciting time of growth and opportunity in digital marketing. Regardless if you’re just starting out, or you’ve been doing this for years, there’s a perfect job opportunity out there just waiting for you to come along and grab it. Armed with these digital interview questions and your ability to excel, we know you’ll land the digital marketing career of your dreams.

Best of luck in your job seeking adventure!