CREATIVITY

Social media channels have specific purposes on the planet, in the sense that Facebook is where family members and friends can share life updates and Instagram is a virtual space for those who prefer to upload photos more than words. When it comes to communication between businesses, though, there is no other networking site to go to but LinkedIn.

What is commendable about this platform is that the users, who all happen to be professionals, are not merely after the images or videos that you post. They genuinely pay attention to the textual stuff you say. Thus, here’s how to master content marketing on LinkedIn.

1. Talk About Significant Ideas

Think of the platform as a multinational company in which you are applying for an important position. Similar to how you want to sound friendly and credible through your answers during a job interview, it is best to use the same manner of conversing when writing status updates for LinkedIn. After all, if you post regarding your lunch or random things that you saw on the streets instead of the seminars or new products and services that your company offers, the people may not find the content valuable.

2. Publish Articles

With so many CEOs and other executives maintaining an account on LinkedIn, it is safe to assume that they sometimes log in to scout for recruits, check out competitors, or look for tips to help them grow the enterprise. Now, remember that whatever your business is, you may produce content on the site, considering the topics have a connection to your primary services. For instance, if you own or work for a staffing agency, you can construct an article that focuses on the characteristics of an outstanding staff or the benefits of hiring personnel via such a company.

3. Set Up An Advertising Plan

Content marketing is not all about the stuff you write. You need to build a specific plan concerning the days and times when you will publish the content. Apart from the Home page, keep in mind that you can also start Company and Group pages, and their formats cannot always be alike. The odds, however, are in favor of the users who maintain a specific schedule.

4. Answer Comments And Private Messages

When you post something on LinkedIn – or any website for that matter – there will always be individuals who leave public comments or send private emails. Once you receive these texts, be sure to answer them sincerely so that the audience feels that a real person is operating the account. Seeing such interactions can encourage others to converse and hopefully make business deals with you.

Bonus: 3 Things To Check When Marketing Via LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the go-to platform for professionals who wish to expand their business and communicate with other entrepreneurs in a related field. It is such a great online space to promote a company, as well as its products or services that the number of individuals creating an account here continues to grow each day. If you want to start marketing on LinkedIn, there are three things you need to check off your list.

1. Budget

The social media channel offers various ways to market a brand. Some are free, e.g., joining related Groups and publishing content on your page(s) daily. Others, however, are not, given the fact that you need cash to create Sponsored e-mails, articles, as well as ads that you have to pay per impression (CPM) or click (PPC). The decision regarding which among these options can provide the most benefits still relies on how much you are willing to spend on the virtual promotion.

2. Format

LinkedIn permits anyone to advertise the business in the form of an ad, content, and e-mail. The first one improves brand visibility as it works when you want the textual campaign to pop up randomly in the users’ pages. The second alternative, the Sponsored Content, is beneficial in case you already know your niche but do not have specific people to promote to just yet. The last-mentioned applies to marketers who like to contact and converse with other professionals directly.

3. Audience

The large number of Groups and Companies on LinkedIn can complicate things, especially when you are a novice advertiser who is still trying to make connections through the platform. However, you need to get a grip of your bearings and produce campaigns that are concentrated on your potential customers. This channel can help you with the process too by giving you the tools to key in your target location, company size, member skills, age, etc. and ensure that the advertisements are noticeable to your target market.

Final Thoughts

Using your creativity and writing skills to promote yourself – or your business – via LinkedIn may be more fruitful than spending time on building a website. You will have access to millions of people on the platform, you see – individuals that you may not be able to connect to if they don’t find your site. When you use the channel for marketing purposes, though, your success might come faster than you expect.

People’s minds are set to want what they can’t have.  That’s why the marketing sector has been using this tactic to make people buy.  The strategy of using scarcity has been proven effective and has rarely failed in creating an email marketing campaign. 

“The psychology of scarcity is aversive. It encourages us to feel stressed. It encourages us to think that certain things are important that may not be. And it encourages us to believe that we may not be able to obtain these things, since they may be in short supply,” writes Ron Breazeale Ph.D.

Marketing Campaign

Have you received frequent emails from people you don’t know?  Some of them might have gotten you curious that you click on them just to get frustrated.  Because all you find are marketing newsletters offering you to avail of their limited products, good deals, sales, and more. 

Marketing campaigns through emails or websites are effective in communicating with your potential customers.  If you create a well-written campaign, you will persuade your reader to engage in your company. 

Scarcity On Websites

You might see ads(sometimes pop-ups)informing you of the company’s limited supply or time offerings.  Often, this type of scarcity tactic by some online shops, on your social media, and other websites you visit will make you impulsively click purchase. 

“It is fairly easy to just put an arbitrary deadline on an option. Therefore, it is easy to utilize,” writes Jeremy Nicholson M.S.W., Ph.D.

The psychology of scarcity has been an effective marketing campaign either on websites or email.  It’s our human nature that when there is lesser supply, the more we are attracted to buying the item.  It’s always the name of the game for us; we want to have those things that are hard to get. 

A customer has the tendency to panic once he hears that an item is the last of its piece or it was produced at just a minimum amount.  

You can see some of this kind of campaigns on Booking.comasthey do this with their hotels.  They will sometimes show how many times a hotel has been booked on that day.   This is to show which hotel people prefer to stay for their vacation.  So, when you’re someone who’s going to visit the same area, you’ll immediately book your stay before all rooms got booked up. 

“Starbucks and other purveyors of pumpkin spice take full advantage of this principle, only allowing us access to these things at certain times of the year. This way, we look forward to them, crave them, talk about them, and even count down until that fine September day when the lattes are released to the world again. If we could have them all year, chances are, we wouldn’t want them quite so much,” writes Jaime L. Kurtz Ph.D.

Another way they communicate scarcity on their site is by telling how many rooms are left unoccupied or how many people are viewing the same type of room you are currently looking at. 

Scarcity In Email Campaigns

The same smart scarcity strategy is used in most email campaigns we receive on our inbox. When you subscribed to some newsletter, enroll, or shop online, you probably have received some of these emails. 

Simple email letters can make you feel special when it tells you that you are one of the lucky few to own a particular item.   You may also feel important when you are offered to enroll in a course or register to attend a webinar with limited seats. 

Who would not want a good deal from the Banana Republic when they offer exclusive secret savings when you make a purchase through their email campaigns, not to mention the free shipping and free returns.  

Well, I admit that even I got hooked on most of the scarcity email campaigns I receive.   I am just happy and lucky enough that they are not only well written to get my attention but happen to be true.  

Being true on your scarcity campaign is essential to keep your customer’s trust not just in your products, but in every word you put on your campaigns. 

And yes, I can say that scarcity tactic still works as long as there is sincerity to it. 

Reference: 

Fernandez, M. (2018, May 1).  34clever scarcity examples to skyrocket your conversions.  Retrieved from https://optinmonster.com/scarcity-examples-to-boost-your-conversions/.

When everything for the launch of your business – your products, staffing, and website – all that is left to think about are the ways to market it online. Besides the undying word-of-mouth technique, that is how most startups survive these days, you know. You post ads on social media channels where your target audience may always be. You try the pay-per-click (PPC) scheme, which pushes viewers to you through pop-up or banner ads.

While these tasks do not honestly ask you to be physically active, they usually require entrepreneurs to have an excellent marketing budget. After all, you need to pay for every time someone clicks an advertisement on the web that promotes your business. If you want another influencer to talk about you, it cannot happen with a mere ‘thank you’ either. 

This reality gives anxiety to individuals who have spent most of their funds to product development and other business expenses. Thus, in hopes of reducing your worries, we will speak of internet marketing ideas today that require low to zero budget.

1. Search Engine Optimization

The first thing you deserve to hear about is the beauty of learning search engine optimization (SEO). It is ideal to begin optimizing your website to become more visible in search engines, but there is always a room for improvement for entrepreneurs who already have an existing site, albeit non-SEO.

What’s great about search engine optimization is that it is not a tool or software that you have to buy to boost your web performance. It is more of a practice – a process – that will help you see a consistent number of potential consumers entering your domain. Hence, using SEO to boost traffic cannot be a bad idea.

2. Social Media Marketing

The folks who have gained popularity by posting videos and photos on YouTube, Facebook or Instagram are the living proof that social media can help for marketing purposes. It does not take hours to sign up to one or all of them, you see. You can choose to either create a personal or business page as well.

The reason why many entrepreneurs go for social media marketing has something to do with the fact that millions of people spend hours in such channels daily. Some visit their feed right after opening their eyes; others forget doing their work while stalking a friend or an idol online. If you manage to post exciting or catchy texts, images, and clips on your pages, your account may be one of the things they will follow.

3. Content Marketing

Last but not the least, you should never underestimate the power of good content. Editing images on Photoshop all day or going live on social media to give updates about your business is cool, yet your target audience want to be able to read something worthwhile too. You’ll find that that is especially true when the customers you aim for are above the age of 18.

For content marketing to work, you ought to consider making a blog first. Utilize your newfound SEO skills to build up your articles better. Then, you may either try guest posting or buying old domain sites that you may fill with more blogs.

In Conclusion

You should be thankful for whoever thought of internet marketing. It genuinely is a brilliant idea to attract online subscribers who may later be your customers. To avoid experiencing budget anxiety – and to get lasting results – try the various forms of digital marketing above.

However, if you still find yourself constantly anxious despite solving your budget anxiety, there must be other underlying problems. Online counseling platforms, such as BetterHelp, can help you discover these root causes and solve them. With the help of experienced and registered professionals, they will guide you to develop healthy coping mechanisms.

Building your brand through marketing can be overwhelming for entrepreneurs. Testing every marketing strategy to find out which will best work foryour target market is a real challenge. Learning to speak your target audience’s language can help you buildyour brand successfully. 

“You can identify key trends by listening carefully to the evolving needs and goals of your customers. When they express a new need or goal, you can then develop new offerings proactively that will fulfill them,” writes Jim Taylor Ph.D.

Influencer Marketing

Some businesses utilize the help of people with large social media followings to drive their brand’s messages to the broader market and allow customers to come naturally over time. This is found to be more effective than paid links or boosts posts. 

“Pursuing a broader set of goals on social media is more productive… Whatever your goals may be, it is important to identify them and conduct your social media activity accordingly,” writes Utpal Dholakia Ph.D.

Some brands are reportedly shelling outalmost $100,000 and more just for a single sponsored Instagram post.   But don’t worry if you don’thave that much amount of money to advertise your product because there areinfluencers who will do it for a much lesser cost.

Huge celebrities, middle influencers, and nano influencers make up the groups of influencer marketing. 

Huge Celebrities are those celebrities with millions of followers globally.   Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, Kim Kardashian, The Rock (Dwayne Johnson), Beyonce, Will Smith, and Taylor Swift are just to name a few.  

Middle Influencers are your average popular personality, like bloggers, with almost 10 to 250 thousand followers.  They are your everyday influencers who give their audiences quality contents. 

Nano influencers have little followers.  They are generally your everyday social media users, bloggers, YouTubers, industry experts, enthusiasts, who only have around 100 to 10 thousand followers.  

The Most Influential Among The Influencers

You may think that celebrities with the highest number of followers can give you the conversion you desire.  Well, being a celebrity doesn’t count when it comes to marketing.

As a matter of fact, in a survey conducted by Digiday, nano influencers give you an 8.7% engagement as compared to 1.7% of celebrities despite their million followers. 

The nano influencers or micro influencers may have the smallest number of followers among the group of influencers, but they indeed are an asset when marketing your brand. 

Micro influencers just focus on one particular subject.   They build their followings on the niche they are knowledgeable and passionate about, which gives them the reputation that they are trustworthy and likable. 

“While learning from others can undoubtedly be an incredibly positive and prosocial event, it is imperative that individuals do their research and due diligence,” writes Goali Saedi Bocci Ph.D.

The Keller Fay Group and Experticityjoined together to conduct a study on the influencer markets.   Their findings showed that 82% of the respondents (customers) would instead follow the suggestions of nano influencers.   Another thing they discovered is that weekly, micro influencers talk about what to buy 22.2 times more than an average consumer. 

What Else Makes Micro Influencers Ahead In The Marketing Landscape

People may think that having a million followers can make him useful in recommending a product.   Yes, they may be able to relay the message to their million followers, but not enough to convince them to buy. 

Having the conversation on a more personal basis – such that of a micro influencer with fewer followers, giving a more direct recommendation and suggestions- appeal truer and trusting to the people. 

People follow advice from influencers for it has more impact and appears more credible and believable as they are better at explaining why you should purchase the product or how it could be used.  

Influencer marketing works effectively in converting your audience into customers as they are the ones with real voices.   They tell stories with authenticity, just as how it happens in real life. Their goal is to create awareness, emotion, and intent to buy comes last. 

The credibility of micro-influencers is built based on their uprightness, knowledge, and passion on their niche.  Those are the qualities that make them more powerful than other groups in the influencer marketing landscape. 

Reference:

Kirkpatrick, D. (2016, March 31).   Micro-influencers have major impact on buying behavior: study.   Retrieved from https://www.marketingdive.com/news/micro-influencers-have-major-impact-on-buying-behavior-study/416579/.

Many companies whose sales depend on signage are slowly abandoning the traditional print signage in favor of the digital signage.  You mostly see them now on the high streets, offices, fast foods, theaters, and other establishments.

Digital signage improves efficiency in branding with easy recognition and recall.  And not like the print advertisement, it helps you save more money and at the same time save the earth with its eco-friendly process. 

Transportation Pollution

Transporting the print signage into different locations to be put up contributes to pollution, as a typical passenger car emits an estimated 4 pounds of carbon dioxide in each gallon of gas burned. 

Paper Waste

Printed posters have short shelf-life and generate more wastes.  Production and printing mean the need for more papers raising concerns for more trees needed to be cut. 

Digital signage messaging can be updated easily as necessary, eradicating the printing of signs and posters over and over.  And later on, those posters will just end up in the landfills (not to mention those that immediately go to waste because of wrong printing).  That’s added pollution and a blatant waste of papers. 

Energy Consumption

Digital signage uses power that adds up to the carbon footprint.  But compared to the environmental effect of printing, it is still far less, besides the fact that companies observe energy conservation as their way of helping the environment. 

Businesses take advantage of technological advances, using energy efficient LED screens.   These LED screens are a nature-friendly alternative to LCD.   They consume less electricity and last longer.   They will not be in the landfills anytime soon.  Many new screens are being introduced in the market which can automatically adjust their brightness to match the level of moving light around them.  This added feature in LED screens reduces energy usage, making it work even longer. 

So even if the digital signs use energy, it’s by far better and eco-friendly option than printed ads. 

Effect On Consumers

Besides the digital signage effect on the environment, another more important factor is its impact on consumers.  The light it produces allows better visibility that the audience is quickly drawn to the colorful image on display. 

The moving display or videos revolutionized the once just stationary print media, making the advertisement more effective.  Thus, business owners get the value of the money they spent on the ads back. 

Incredible effects (mirror screens, holographic effects, switchable glass screens) make creativity limitless.  

Simple creative moving ads at the entrance of a mall or fast food restaurant could immediately turn a passerby into a paying customer once he can make a connection with the ads on the screen. 

The 5 seconds pop-up ads on one’s phone may be annoying for some but not for others.  If your pop-up ads are designed in a way that is relevant and catchy, no way would you annoy the person who views it.  They may at first, but after some thinking, they would come back and visit the website.  Pop-ups are annoying but can catch one’s attention and turn him into a paying customer. 

Digital signs and advertisements have come along way when it comes to building brands and advertising your business, and more and more are investing because of its reputation of earning conversions.  

This is the future of signage, and it’s here now.  If you do not take advantage of it, you’re putting your company into a significant disadvantage over your competition, and your business is slowly wiping out the earth’s future with the pollution you are continually creating. 

Marketing research is essential when planning for your business. According to Carter McNamara, MBA, PhD, “Market research has a variety of purposes and a variety of data collection methods might be used for each purpose. The particular data collection method that you use during your market research depends very much on the particular information that you are seeking to understand.”

Doing marketing research is a way to know who your competitors are, find out what’s sells in the marketplace, understand your customer preference, problems and needs, the buying pattern of your targeted market, and more.  Doing market research is your compass on which way to go. 

Data Gathering

Data gathered during market research makes the creative process of your marketing strategyeffective.  These data will be thefoundation of your story for the product you are building.  It will tell you if it will or how will it fityour target market.  For your data to bereliable, it should be efficiently collected and must not be faked by anyone. 

Creating A Focus Group

A focus group comprises of six to 10 people gathered together in a room.  These people are not related and must not know each other.  They are the ones who will give feedback regarding service, product, concept, or campaign.  They are being led by a moderator in a discussion that lasts from 30 to 90 minutes.  Thegoal is to gather as much helpful information to aid in market research.   The participants have to answer questions prepared by the moderator.  It is expected that thoughtful responses will be elicited from every member of the group. 

Those who will form the group is selected based on demographics, purchase history, psychographics, or behavior. 

Advantages Of Focus Group On Market Research

Marketing research utilizing focus group allows you to get information from your consumers and the data gathered is more accurate for it actually comes from your respondent’s own words. 

This type of marketing research is designed to be more flexible, and the moderator can adjust it depending on the customer’s behavior and the knowledge of their product or brand. 

“Group discussions are especially useful techniques for researching new products, testing new concepts or determining “what would happen if…” They work because of the interaction between the group members.” says Carol- Ann Morgan Ph.D.

This marketing research is run just as part of a series of discussion where participants vary, but the topic of interest remains the same.  Creating several focus groups will help smoothen out any differences, especially when the moderator was not able to relax the participants, thus, he won’t open up to the group or one participant’s decision is skewed by the more domineering participant.  Conducting several focus groups (3 or 4 different areas) make the research and data gathered more accurate and dependable. 

The goal of the research is to know what the customer is thinking and feeling about a specific product or service as he is being influenced by and influencing other participants while they interact during data collection. 

Why Do You Have To Do A Marketing Research?

“Marketing research for small business offers many benefits. For example, companies can find hidden niches, design customer experiences, build customer loyalty, identify new business opportunities, design promotional materials, select channels of distribution, find out which customers are profitable and which are not, determine what areas of the company’s website are generating the most revenue, and identify market trends that are likely to have the greatest impact on the business. Answers can be found for the important questions that all small businesses face, “says David Cadden Ph.D and Sandra L. Lueder Ph.D.

Understanding why customers buy or do not buy a certain product is an opportunity to get into your customer’s head.  You will get to know what their problems are and have the chance to solve it for them.  You’ll be surprised by how detailed the information they will provide you.  This information will allow you to plan on how to develop your product or service that will make the customers buy from you. 

The more accurate the data you gathered through marketing research by focus group the more you will know your customers, the higher the success rate for your business. 

Knowing who your customers are, what do they want, what do they buy, and why they buy it can be achieved more accurately by the method of focus group marketing research.  You can stay ahead of your competitors by knowing what consumers are thinking. 

Some craftsmen entrepreneurs never thought that it’s their crazy idea that will give them their fortune and the happiness to do what they really love doing.  They do not have a clue that the dream that excites them can actually be turned into a business even with little money and no experience in doing business.  All it takes is putting their ideas into action and tons of determination, patience, and confidence in what they are doing. 

Business aspect can be learned over time.  But the ideas, skills, and talent you have are innate, and that’s where you must capitalize on.  Not everybody can make a creation such as yours. 

Just Have The Courage

Fear will bring you nowhere.  Every successful entrepreneur took that leap of faith and went for what they think God has put in their hearts.  They were determined to find what that thing is, and where it would bring them. “Truth is, there are things to be frightened about. The world is not perfectly safe, and intelligent precautions are part of living a good life,” Mark Banschick M.D. says. 

Time will come when the budget will be really tight, and people around you will withdraw their support.  Worse, they will even put you down, will try to discourage you, will say every hurting words, that would make you think are true.   Just continue believing in yourself and prove them wrong.  If trying hard is not enough, then try harder. 

Don’t Give Up

If you give up now, give in to those criticisms and pressure, you just proved them right. According to Alex Lickerman M.D., “The idea to quit remains present in our minds as long as reasons to quit exist, but the likelihood that we will quit only increases when we start to pay attention to them.”

Yes, it would stress you out.  But stress is a part of life whether you’reinto business or not, especially if the market you are at seems odd toothers.  Turn this stress as a challenge to equip yourself, get your hands on the job, and empower yourself withdetermination.  

Be firm and prove them all wrong, and step towards the unorthodox path to your success.

Get Your Focus

Figure out what product you want to focus on.  Getting into business is not just about producing and selling all kinds of things.  You will struggle in deciding on this matter, but don’t be discouraged.  If what you chose didn’t sell, try another, and another and another until you find what sells.  But as you are trying to see what sells, do your research. “Keep track of how you are getting goals achieved and what adjustments need to be made along the way,” William R. Klemm Ph.D. advised.

It’s okay to fail, that’s where you will learn. Take it as an opportunity to come up with more fabulous ideas.  Focusing on each design, turning it into something tangible one after another, and improving your skills.  Keep honing it and keep working, and see how you were able to develop not just your expertise, but the quality of the product you can create.

However, it is possible to find yourself having difficulty in coping with failures. If you think you need help, you can always reach out to online therapy platforms like BetterHelp. They have sufficient materials and talents that can help you better manage yourself in terms of failure.

Price Your Creation Thoughtfully and Fairly

Putting a tag price can be a trap.  Don’t think of how much people are willing to pay for it.  Price it according to your skill and the time you spent on it.  You know, more than anyone else, how much your product is worth.  Just be sure that the price tag is worth what your customers are getting. 

Make The Experience Worth The Price

Dream big!  Be a trendsetter, and be the best one in the market.  Making your customers feel that what they came for is worth the experience you gave them will give them a reason to go back and shop again despite the high price you put on the tag. 

Customers equate the value of online products on how professionally website is done, how the product is presented through imagery, and how they feel as they shop on your site.  

Give your customers the exemplary experience they paid for, and you will have less stress selling your other unique and beautiful creations online.