When we talk about brand, technology isn’t generally the first thing that springs to mind. Brand is, more often than not, considered to belong to the realm of “creatives”.
However, without touching on the levels of “creativity” required to conceive of and build the applications and services our modern world runs on today, we’ll spend some time looking at why technology is crucial to the success of a brand.
Technology tools are ubiquitous in our lives and day-to-day work, so we’ll take it as read that technology plays a role in crafting a brand, but once that brand lives and breathes, what critical role does technology play in ensuring its growth and prosperity?
Starting with a grandiose analogy, technology is to brand what “organisation” was to the Roman Empire: an enabler of massive growth and innovation or, when overstretched or ill-conceived, a potential cause of damage. In this way we can see that technology is an amplifier for brand, in both positive and negative directions.
Let’s continue with this handy framing and look at some examples of positive and negative impacts on brand facilitated by the duplicitous technology and see exactly why it is so crucial to the fundamental success of a brand.
Technology is to brand what organisation was to the Roman Empire: an enabler of massive growth and innovation or, when overstretched or ill-conceived, a potential cause of damage.
“Speak clearly, if you speak at all; carve every word before you let it fall” – Marcus Aurelius
The words of Marcus Aurelius ring true for every good brand operating today. What you say matters. But so too does how you say it – and crafting and broadcasting brand messages, communicating brand personality and demonstrating brand principles are all enabled through skilled use of technology.
It’s often helpful to look at brands in terms of component parts, something we love doing in the tech space. Lets consider a brand as having physical and non-physical properties. In the physical space we have written, visual and auditory assets and capabilities; in the non-physical space we have experience, behaviour and embodiment components.
When we break it all down like this, we can start to see how technology can play key roles in supporting brand, primarily in distribution, governance and implementation.
Let’s consider a brand as having physical and non-physical properties. In the physical space are written, visual and auditory assets and capabilities, in the non-physical space we have experience, behaviour and embodiment components.
In the physical space, distribution, governance & implementation is really about moving the assets that support our brand around effectively and efficiently, ensuring that whenever and wherever our brand needs to be referenced it’s being done so using the frame that countless hours and much effort went into establishing, and furthermore ensuring that those mechanisms are doing this work in such a way that supports our desired brand. I’m fairly confident in saying that few brands would say that keeping a customer waiting (to view an image of their logo) is in line with their brand message and values.
This is achieved through:
In the non-physical space we’re really talking about communicating and enabling those representing our brand to do so in line with our expectations. Technology enables this by providing ways to up-skill and support those people representing our brand. Learning tools, managed communication systems, and again asset management, consider a Tone of Voice document.
This can be achieved through use of:
When these systems are in place, well implemented and well managed, we can create a robust, well-oiled machine through which we can ensure that our brand is carried through to all digital touch points.
Because no story would be complete without a cautionary tale, let’s look at one now. Ticketmaster, the global purveyor of all things live entertainment, suffered some very serious brand damage at the hands of technology.
“He who is not a good servant will not be a good [Ticket]master” – Plato
It should go without saying that poor customer service is detrimental to a brand. I’m sure we’ve all sworn off a company after a bad experience, and possibly still warn others off said company to this day.
Customer service used to be fairly linear, and all about the human touch – direct customer contact. Nowadays, the number of touchpoints between customer and brand has grown and much of that increased surface area is digital. It’s perhaps for this reason that we’re seeing a move from ‘customer service’ to the increased use of ‘customer experience’ as a more appropriate term.
Now, back to our cautionary tale…
It’s November 2022. Having selected Ticketmaster as her exclusive ticket sales partner, Taylor Swift is set to launch the pre-sales of the US leg of her ridiculously highly anticipated Eras Tour. It’s fair to say this was one of the most visible tour launches in history. Droves of her fans were hoping for an experience they’d never forget. And they got one. A bad one. An unforgettably bad customer experience.
What followed wasn’t Ticketmaster’s finest moment: website outages, fans being booted from queues, cancelled sales and the resulting Twitter storm of frustration – delivered by panicked, angry Swiftie acolytes.
The damage of this incident to Ticketmaster and its brand cannot be overstated. The narrative that Ticketmaster finds itself still dealing with, is one of incompetence, poor planning, and bad implementation, rather than one that focuses on the fact that it helped Ms. Swift sell 2.4 million tickets in one day, an all-time record.
What will people remember about Swiftie Ticketmaster-gate? Incompetence, technology failures and a terrible customer experience.
What will no one remember? That it helped sell 2.4 million TS tickets in one day – an all-time record.
To rub salt into the wound, the blunder and increased exposure has kicked off a series of events that has resulted in a class action lawsuit brought by Taylor Swift fans and a Federal antitrust investigation into monopolistic practices. To further kick the downed Ticketmaster and its salted wound, parent company Live Nation suffered a 17% slide in stock valuation in the two weeks following the incident.
To further kick the downed TicketMaster and its salted wound, parent company Live Nation suffered a 17% slide in stock valuation in the two weeks following the incident.
Let’s cut Ticketmaster a little slack and have a look at the heavy site traffic driven by the “astronomical” demand of legions of Taylor Swift fans desperate to snag tickets. Ticketmaster reported 3.5 million users registering for the pre-sale programme, a large number. Compare this with Semrush’s list of most trafficked pages on the web and the number pales in comparison with Google’s 18.11 billion visitors in December 2022. A little calculation shows that the infrastructure in place at Google would likely have dealt with this demand … and probably does daily.
(18,011,000,000 /31) / 24) = 24,208,333
Google approx hits per hour: 24.2 million
Whilst high website traffic and the strain on Ticketmaster’s infrastructure are clearly what kicked off this series of events, it was avoidable. I don’t work for Ticketmaster so I have no insight into where the failing was, but I’d be very surprised if the team responsible for setting up the autoscaling rules had a full understanding of the scale of potential impact of this type of incident, as the cost to add the extra resources to cope with load will have been pence on the pound to the cost of the damage.
Brand is inescapably dependent on technology in our modern world, it requires it, to live, breathe and survive. If a brand falls in the woods, does it make a sound?
If you’re responsible for your brand, you need to understand the myriad ways that technology can help it grow and develop, but just as importantly you need to understand the various technologies at play in your world and what unique risk management considerations they might represent.
I’ll finish on another pithy analogy: technology is fire, it can light your way, bring you and your brand out of the stone age and provide warmth and safety. But, don’t drop the match or it’ll
Burn. Your. House. To. The. Ground!
Whether you need advice or support with positioning, visual identity, a digital refresh, or all of the above, we’re here to help. Get in touch and book a free consultation today.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +44 (0)117 923 2282
Greetings from the mysterious world of search engine optimisation (SEO), where achieving online presence might resemble trying to find a needle in a digital haystack. But do not worry! With the help of my beginner-friendly SEO copywriting ideas, your website will rise in the search results faster than you can say “Google it.”
If you believe that SEO is merely a fancy Silicon Valley acronym, let’s take a closer look. Search engine optimisation, or SEO, is the process of making your website as appealing to search engines (such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo) as well as to actual customers who are actually looking for your services. In this sense, copywriting refers to crafting content for your website that not only educates visitors but also persuades them and helps it rank well. Putting the two together? You’ve just turned into a copywriting pro at SEO.
You must first familiarise yourself with keywords. Your potential clients are typing these little jewels into search engines. Keywords are the road map to your wealth of material, regardless of whether your audience is searching for SEO experts or the greatest vegan restaurant in Bristol (hint, hint). However, it goes beyond simply packing them across your website like candy. The secret to drawing both humans and Google bots to your writing is to skillfully include them into your text.
Do some study on keywords before you go out. Determine the terms and expressions that best describe your company’s offerings and the queries of your target market. To choose your perfect keywords, use resources such as Google Keyword Planner or ask yours truly on a discovery call.
Your writing should sound human (which it should), but it should also have the technical polish that attracts the attention of search engines. This entails producing interesting, pertinent, and educational content that seamlessly integrates your keywords. Don’t fill your text with keywords; this isn’t 2005.
Consider the structure of your website as the backbone that holds everything together. Not only do headings and subheadings (H1s, H2s, H3s, oh my!) help readers easily scan your content, but they also serve as indicators to search engines regarding the order in which your information is presented. Your headline gig is your main heading; it should be attention-grabbing and contain your core keyword.
Make thoughtful use of headers to help readers and search engines navigate your material. Every heading ought to be pertinent and contain keywords without being repetitive. The secret is to get search bots and readers both to stay on your page for the duration of the presentation.
Let’s use some linking strategies to take your company to new heights next. Similar to your website’s hidden passageways and trapdoors, internal and external links direct users to helpful material and demonstrate to search engines that you are a well-respected authority in your industry.
Maintaining visitor engagement and building authority are two benefits of a strong linking strategy. In order to maintain readers’ interest for longer, provide internal links throughout your text and link to reliable websites (hey, credibility!).
Stale bread? No thanks. The content of your website is no different. Maintain it current, unique, and new. Both search engines and people enjoy fresh content. Thus, you can maintain a healthy and strong rating by periodically updating your blog or sprinkling case studies across it.
Similar to your favourite soap opera, regular publishing will keep viewers interested. To make sure you’re always offering up the tastiest, most delicious digital material, create a content schedule.
Nobody wants to converse into a void on a digital device. You’re having a conversation rather than just crawling into the void when you use SEO copywriting. Thus, become an expert in SEO-friendly copywriting by making sure your material is readable, valuable to your audience, and scannable. Bold writing, bullet points, and brief paragraphs can draw attention to your pearls of wisdom.
Now that you have the map, it’s time to set off on your journey to reach Search Mountain’s summit. When creating a blog article highlighting the best Bristolian jewels or a ‘About’ page that extols your virtues, keep in mind to carefully consider the keywords you use and the structure you develop. If you are in need of a specialist to guide the way and unlock the infinite possibilities of your website, a discovery call is just a click away. Forward and upward to the highest point in sight!
We initially developed our own Abandoned Cart module back in 2019 after researching and testing various that were available. From our tests the modules lacked certain features or didn’t work how our clients would want the module to, and also how we expect the module to work.
The first version of the website was developed and installed on a number of our clients websites, generating them additional revenue that would have been lost without the module.
As the OpenCart platform has progressed and new versions launched we finally switched to using the latest most stable version of 3.0 in 2022 for our ecommerce web design projects, with the new version also included a new code structure which meant our bespoke abandoned cart module would no longer work with any new website that we built.
So, as we continue to upgrade existing ecommerce web design clients and provide ecommerce websites to new web design clients we set about upgrading our abandoned cart module to work with the newer version of OpenCart. The upgraded version was a good opportunity to simplify, streamline and improve the module to benefit our own clients and a wider audience.
Continue reading this article at https://www.eckhomedia.co.uk/our-abandoned-cart-module-upgraded-for-opencart-version-3/
Businesses that successfully work with freelancers are reaping the benefits of having expertise in one or more areas on tap, without committing to a full time or even part time salary. But for every success story you hear, you’ll hear how another company has been let down by a freelancer who didn’t deliver. So how do you make sure you build a relationship that works?
Top tip no 1: Find the right fit
The first step to building a long-lasting relationship with a freelance copywriter is finding one that fits with your business. What to look for depends on what is important to you. For example, is it more important that you find the right personality type to work with you, or do you want more experience in the field.
A good copywriter should be able to work with all sorts of teams and personality types and be able to learn new industries or products, but if these things are important to you, it’s worth taking the time up front to find what works for you. It’s not fair on you or the freelancer if you have decided the relationship isn’t going to work before it has even begun.
Top tip no. 2: Bring them into your team
I can’t really stress how important this point is without using lots of capital letters, and I don’t want to start shouting at you, so please hear me when I say, this is one of the most important ways to make a relationship with a freelancer work!
A freelance copywriter can’t do their job without any input from the company they work for. If you want their expertise on tap for the long term, you need to treat them like part of your team. Give them access to the information they need, respond to their queries to help them stay on track, and employ a consultative approach to the work you have hired them to do so that you get the most from their expertise and they get the most from your insider knowledge.
Top tip no.3: Communication
This is a follow-on point from top tip no.2 because a freelance copywriter isn’t going to feel like part of your team if there is no communication between you. This doesn’t have to be time intensive, in fact after a detailed initial briefing, a good copywriter should be able to drive their project through independently. But there will always be questions that pop up, or feedback needed and so it’s important to keep the lines of communication open.
Some things to consider to ensure you achieve good communication are agreeing up front the best way for you to contact each other and clarifying who the main contact within the company will be. It’s bad enough when you work as an employee and internal business politics come into play but working as a freelancer with no day-to-day context, it becomes very difficult when different people are telling you to do different things and you’re not sure who to listen to.
Top tip no.4: Build a long-term relationship
Of course, not all copywriting projects require a freelance copywriter to be on your books for the long term. However, it might be worth making a list of all your copywriting needs to see how much you could delegate on a regular basis to free up more of your time to run the business or manage your busy marketing department, while at the same time building a worthwhile relationship with a copywriter.
If you have a business blog for example, that often gets forgotten when other deadlines hit, this could be handed over to a copywriter to manage, research and write. This would be a great way for an external copywriter to learn your business too.
Or, perhaps you would love to have more feature length articles in relevant trade magazines but you’re never quite sure how to get what you want to say onto the page, or you simply can’t dedicate the time to writing it yourself. If you are looking for a high impact campaign you could pay a copywriter to produce one article a month for you, or if that sounds like too much for you up front, you could commission 6 pieces a year and either pay on a bi-monthly basis or spread the cost in monthly installments. There are lots of options available if you open a dialogue with the right copywriter.
Working with a freelance copywriter
For some businesses working with freelancers is a no-brainer and something they have always done for maximum flexibility and to benefit from a broad range of expertise. For others it’s daunting because it’s the unknown, or they have suffered a bad experience. Hopefully this article will reassure businesses looking to invest in a vast freelance community, whether for copywriting, design, accountancy, or anything else, that there are steps you can take to make sure you get the most out of your freelance support.
South West-based brand and communications specialist AgencyUK has announced record growth as evolutions in the company’s culture continue to drive unprecedented levels of performance, despite an economically turbulent period for many.
AgencyUK (AUK) achieved record numbers in their 2023 financial results, following two years of cultural alignment and investment in their new Senior Management Team led by founding members Sammy Mansourpour and Amy Stobie. The business has delivered 220% annual growth in revenue for each financial period since January 2020, putting them on track to becoming one of the UK’s largest independently owned agencies.
“Celebrating 16 years is a seminal moment for the whole agency. It really feels like a transition into adulthood. As an established agency business with a team rich in experience, it is in no small part down to our team embracing creativity and new technology. AI and data analytics have made a meaningful difference to our work, by fuelling our creativity and building in new features around advertising campaign performance. This has been instrumental for our clients, particularly those in the B2B space, where we have a particular foothold in the healthcare sector. And we’ve seen the agency grow exponentially because of it,” says Sammy Mansourpour, Managing Director.
In 2021, the Senior Management Team focused on expanding the agency’s client portfolio in the health, life science and pharmaceutical sectors, leading to a record signing of three top-tier new drug development organisations, as well as launching Our Future Health, a nationwide health research programme in partnership with the NHS, which now has over 1.2 million participants across the UK.
The agency now boasts a stronger B2B portfolio making up 50% of its revenue. The remaining 50% houses well-known food, drink, health and wellbeing brands, including beloved sweet brand Chewits, currently enjoying a renaissance since our amplified brand campaigns and award-winning work across social media.
In response, the agency has expanded its in-house teams by growing its creative department and assembling a new senior management team, recruited from its in-house fast track careers programme. Overall staff numbers have increased by 50% with a further 30% expected to be in place by January 2025.
“We are of course delighted with the performance of the business over the past five years, and we have no doubt that our long-term investment in developing the agency’s culture and staff careers plays a significant part in our success on the bottom line. We welcome turning 16 with open arms,” says Amy Stobie, Director.
The AUK leadership team has embarked on a comprehensive programme of cultural development, sustainability and community outreach. Framed around people, planet and community, these initiatives also form the bedrock of the agency’s commitment to being a certified B Corp since their accreditation in 2021, as well as an award-winning staff development and well-being programme.
One of the big benefits of Bristol Creative Industries membership is the ability to self-publish content on our website. We’ve seen lots of great content published in 2023 including some brilliant business advice.
Here are the 20 most popular advice posts of the year. The list includes some posts from 2022 that have continued to attract views thanks to their great tips.
Want to publish business advice on our website and make it into the top 20 in 2024? Become a member of Bristol Creative Industries.
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Written by Varn
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Written by Janusz Stabik – Digital Agency Mentor
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Written by Gravitywell
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Startup funding: What is the difference between pre-seed and seed investment?
Written by JX Branding / Joanna Xenofontos
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The role of brand architecture in Facebook’s rebrand to Meta
Written by saintnicks
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Written by Adapt
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Written by Fanatic
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Written by Carnsight Communications
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Written by Varn
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Written by studio floc
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Written by Carnsight Communications
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Written by Halo
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Written by Trusty Social
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Written by AMBITIOUS PR
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Written by Blog Write Ltd
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Written by Varn
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Written by Proctor + Stevenson
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“Millennials don’t like being told what to do” – Time to rethink your strategy?
Written by saintnicks
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Written by Carnsight Communications
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Written by Flourish
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One size doesn’t fit all – usable HTML across different email clients
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As another year draws to a close we look back on some of the fantastic web design and web development projects we have worked on during 2023. Over the course of the past year we have worked with some amazing clients and delivered high quality, bespoke websites built on either WordPress or OpenCart content management systems.
To celebrate another great year of designing and developing websites in Bristol we have decided this year to put together a video showreel showing off our recent work.
This year we have worked with Dream Bites creating an ecommerce sweet treat website, brochure website for civil engineering company Lynwood Civil, ecommerce and informational website for Cardiff Nail & Beauty Training School, brochure website for mortgage broker Mortgage Gold, brochure website for The Natural Pool Company and many more.
Not only do we provide amazing web design and development we have also provided responsive and transparent website maintenance and support to a range of our clients this year to ensure their websites are up to date, new features are added or given technical assistance through our client portal and maintenance packages.
Grab the popcorn, sit back, relax and discover some of the exciting web design projects that we have been busy with!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PieOBe99qFo&ab_channel=eckhoMedia
Short-form social media video content is short, snappy, informative, or humorous videos that are posted on social media by brands and businesses to gain the attention of their target audience. The ideal sweet spot is somewhere between 30 – 60 seconds.
So why is it important to utilise this type of video content as a business on social media?
It’s a proven way to reach new audiences by incorporating it into a multi-media social media strategy. Plus, it’s a cheaper way to reach new audiences if you are currently operating on a limited budget and can’t yet afford to outsource to an agency or hire a marketing team. Whilst it may not promise the same reach and consistent results as running correctly optimised ads, these ads rely on a solid foundation of organic social media content to be successful- and this content will benefit from short-form video content!
But as great as that all sounds, what if you are a time-short business owner, or just have limited experience when it comes to social media content creation?
We’ve compiled our top 3 favourite video and reel / TikTok editing apps to help you create post-worthy content whilst saving time. They are all affordable and easy to use, with plenty of features and video templates to use.
Pros:
Cons:
Pros:
Cons:
Pros:
Cons:
If you are just starting out and need an app for some basic video editing, it probably won’t make a difference which one you use. They are all fairly cheap, and CapCut is completely free. Once you become more confident and decide to replicate specific social media trends or look for specific video editing features, transitions, or filters, it’s likely you will find one of the above suits your business better.
Thankfully, they all at least offer a free version or free trial to test out the app before investing in a monthly subscription.
Trusty Social is a social media marketing and management agency. We work with busy businesses to improve their online presence through social media, while positively impacting the world and donating 3% of our profits to social justice initiatives each year. Find out more by visiting here and get in touch with us here!
In less than 12 months, AI has taken the world by storm, marking what is arguably the most significant technological development since the birth of the internet.
ChatGPT has become the poster child of this technological eruption, with a userbase increase of 9,990% in the first 60 days of launch. At the time of writing, it has more than 180.5 million users.
Of course, this meteoric rise has been far from subtle. In what seems like the blink of an eye, AI technology has transitioned from a point of post-pint speculation to workplace reality, embedding itself across industries. From initial research and conceptualisation to data analysis, time management and content creation, marketers worldwide are unveiling innovative uses for these powerful tools.
The danger with such a rapid adoption of new technology is that unstable dependencies are formed. SEO professionals everywhere are jumping head-first into the world of AI, for fear of falling behind.
The question, therefore, is not ‘will AI change SEO forever’, but to what extent has it already?
If you were to ask a room full of marketing professionals what they thought of AI, it’s likely their answers would vary significantly. On one side of the fence are the utopians, with their boundless optimism for the technology’s endless capabilities. On the other, are the doomsayers, to whom AI tools mark the first step towards a dystopian Terminator-esque future. End of days stuff.
At Superb Digital, we’re somewhere between the two.
As far as research, data collection, analysis and reporting are concerned, AI tools are brimming with potential. They can streamline processes, smash through monotonous tasks and massively improve overall efficiency. But, don’t believe the hype; AI can’t do everything and the quality of its output is wholly dictated by the information it is provided.
Working with, and getting the most from, AI requires a clear understanding of objectives and best practices. With this in mind, let’s take a look at some of the ways in which AI tools are actually being implemented by marketers at ground level.
The role of AI technology within a digital marketing and SEO context is, of course, nuanced. Where its usefulness ends and its limitations begin is frequently debated among professionals. That said, its capabilities with regards to research, data collection and analysis are undisputable.
As far as research and analysis is concerned, AI is more than capable of scouring live sites and retrieving key information such as page structures, meta data, content styles. Where necessary, this research and data can be stored and presented, for use in later stages of a campaign.
The above methodology is useful, but basic. The full potential of AI can only be realised with the correct combination of input and instruction. If, for example, AI tools are fed specific documentation and reference points, such as Google’s Helpful Content guidelines, they are able to learn from the information provided and proceed from a point of task-specific understanding. As is the case with most AI technology, well-engineered human-led prompting is essential.
You don’t have to spend long working with AI to understand its planning capabilities. After all, heavy lifting and monotonous task management is where tools like ChatGPT really come into their own.
AI can be of great use when generating content plans, brief outlines and structures, but this technology is limited by the efficacy of its instructor (there’s a theme developing here…). Generic, poorly structured prompts will lead to equally useless content.
From our own experience, working with AI requires a clear understanding of two things:
Simply instructing ChatGPT to ‘create a plan’ based upon a topic or title is sure to lead to bang-average results. Whereas, feeding the programme clear examples of high-quality work will provide insight as to the results you want to achieve. Whether this is a website quality report or long-form article outline, it is crucial that such examples are well-crafted and reflective of the results you wish to attain. This type of activity has already garnered a name: “prompt engineering”.
Now, this is where opinions begin to differ. While some AI evangelists will claim that its content creating abilities are on par with those of a human, this is simply not true. AI is capable of many things, but crafting and writing high-quality, insightful content is not one of them. If you’re looking for content that meets Google’s Helpful Content guidelines and actually reflects your brand, ethos and personality, you need a person.
But, this is not to say that AI has no place in the content creation process. As discussed above, this technology can prove endlessly useful during the ideation, research and planning phases. Here at Superb Digital, we often use AI tools for transcription and summation purposes. This allows us to extract key points from client interviews and collate research much faster. As far as the writing is concerned though, that’s all us.
As powerful as AI tools may appear, it doesn’t take a top-tier developer to understand their current limitations. Yes, this technology is cutting edge, and getting better by the day, but it is not infallible. As is the case with any software, AI language is capable of making mistakes.
Take ChatGPT, for example. The language model’s achilles heel is the pool from which it draws information. As of this point in time, ChatGPT is only trained on information up to January 2022. This means that, without the use of plugins and beta tools, it cannot retrieve up to date information from search engines.
Moreover, one of the most obvious flaws that arises when working with AI is the way in which it receives information. There is, understandably, a dissonance between the language model’s method of processing and our own human cognition. In other words, it cannot always recognise actions as we do.
It goes without saying that over reliance on this technology can be dangerous. Rather than becoming overly-confident in the abilities of AI, it is important to adopt a cohesive approach. By all means, use these tools to assist, streamline, cut down and create, but beware of leaning too heavily on their independent capabilities.
The million dollar question: what next? AI technology has already transformed the digital marketing industry, impacting the ways in which user data is gathered, analysis is carried out and optimised content is created. If this continues, what will be left of human jobs?
The reality is that SEO is, and always has been, evolving. This industry is built on the ever-changing foundations of internet algorithms and technological advancements. Keeping up is just as important as getting ahead.
As AI technologies develop and cement themselves in our personal and professional lives, emphasis will be placed on certain skills. In particular, prompt engineering. As capable as these tools may be, they require precise and focussed instruction to achieve above-average results.
Additionally, it is worth noting the impact that AI has, and will continue to have on the ways in which individuals search for products and services. If AI assisted search tools, such as Google’s Bard, are transforming the means through which consumers browse the internet, so will the ways in which businesses and marketing experts target them. It is difficult to say exactly what this change will look like, but an increased focus on the ways in which AI platforms search for information will become a necessity.
Here at Superb Digital, AI tools are swiftly becoming an integral part of our arsenal. That said, certain processes simply cannot be replicated by computers; we place great emphasis on the value of real human input.
Yes, these tools will continue to evolve and improve. But our focus must remain on the knowledge and experience of human experts. Prompt engineering, quality control, copywriting and strategy are among the many areas of SEO that cannot, and should not, be replaced by Artificial Intelligence technologies.
There are many pros to using social media to promote your business, with few cons. If you are just starting out, establishing a presence on the platforms can be completely free if you are doing it yourself. Once your business grows, investing more in your social media presence is a good idea. This could be by outsourcing this aspect of your business to a social media agency, or by having a marketing team take them over.
Businesses with better customer service tend to see better customer loyalty. Responding to direct messages on social media or comments on posts is a way to speedily and efficiently provide customer service.
Email marketing is currently one of the most successful ways to convert leads into customers. If you have the budget to run social media ads and promote lead magnets, this is a great way to grow your mailing list.
Facebook is one of the oldest and most established social media platforms, therefore it is important to ensure you have a business presence on this platform. It also has the most social media users at just over 3 billion, out of those on this list. Depending on your business industry and your budget, it will depend on the success you see on this platform and how is best to use it.
Organic reach on Facebook is difficult and most businesses utilise social paid advertising or post boosting on Facebook. (This is then shown on both Facebook and Instagram as the platforms are connected and both owned by Meta).
But if your budget is limited, one way to still make the most of Facebook is to set up a group instead of a page and drive people to join this group. This will act as a concentrated space to nurture the group members.
Firstly, ensure your profile is set to ‘professional’ status rather than just ‘personal’. This feature gives you access to support, analytics, and tools that a personal account doesn’t.
Instagram is all about optimisation. It has a wide range of features, which is great! But it’s especially important on this platform they haven’t been half-hearted, and they have been optimised.
This includes optimising your bio and profile, the links in your bio, your Instagram shop, and any direct messages or automated messages page visitors might receive.
If you already have an established presence on Twitter – great! If not, now might not be the best time to start a new account. With the change in ownership when it comes to Twitter, it has undergone a lot of changes. Furthermore, with the new verified paid structure the platform is prioritising the content of accounts that pay to use the platform rather than those that don’t.
If you want to set up a new Twitter account, why not consider Threads…
If you also use Instagram and are looking for a Twitter alternative, Threads could be the answer. The latest Threads stats show the platform now has 130 million users (that’s a lot). Despite being a fairly new platform, it’s showing no sign of slowing down or users changing their minds and closing their accounts.
Compared to Twitter, Threads also has a more generous 500-character count, compared to the smaller 280 offered by Twitter. Plus you can post videos up to 5 minutes long.
YouTube is often referred to as the second largest search engine after Google. It has the second most users after Facebook. Therefore given its high user rate, it’s an excellent place to promote your business. Short-form video content you post on your social media can be turned into long-form video content for your YouTube channels, providing customers with a more in-depth, exclusive insight into your business.
There are lots of SEO features and opportunities on YouTube your business can utilise which can assist in driving more traffic to your website.
Most users use Pinterest as a vision board or a source for ideas and inspiration. There’s nothing stopping you from using Pinterest if you have the means and resources to create content for this platform; but it is ideal for businesses to ‘showcase’ e.g. interior design businesses, fashion designers, virtual assistant tips and advice, home improvement businesses or planning a vacation and hiring a travel agent, just to name a few.
Anything related to showcasing, ideas creation, products, or just mood boarding, is ideal on Pinterest.
Last but by no means least – TikTok. The good thing with this platform is you can repost your Instagram reels onto TikTok, and vice versa, meaning you can appear on both platforms without having to create brand-new content for each!
This platform is an excellent place to partner with influencers (as well as on Instagram), showcase your products or services through catchy and fun short-form video content, and make the most of user-generated content (this is content created by your customers on their experience with your service or product).
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Trusty Social is a social media marketing and management agency. We aim to improve the online presence of busy businesses through social media while positively impacting the world and donating 3% of our profits to social justice initiatives. Find out more by visiting here and get in touch with us here!
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