Content marketing has become an essential strategy for business growth. But with so many options available, how do you choose the right content formats to achieve your goals?
This comes down to a question of, what do you want to achieve. Because not all content marketing is made equal.
Before you’ve even made a piece of content, let alone published it. You need to consider a number of factors, from your audience and prospective customers, buyer journeys, timeframes and what you want to achieve from your content marketing efforts.
The most successful content marketing examples are built and grounded in this strategic understanding of a business’s audiences and objectives.
Your content strategy should map to your audience’s buyer journey.
Understanding the different stages and how different content marketing formats and types fit within each stage will allow you to make the most of your content marketing strategies.
At this point, content should inform, entertain and engage. The purpose is to hook potential customers, not to sell to them.
Blog posts, whitepapers, and social media help raise awareness of a problem your product solves. Focus on educating your audience at this stage. This isn’t the place for hard sales and conversion CTAs.
This is where things start to get more information and detail-driven. At this point, a potential customer will be more serious and considered about their purchasing. They may not be quite there with a final purchasing decision, so this is the time to start dialling up the informative and story-driven content.
Videos, email marketing, and social media posts can showcase your product benefits and competitive advantages. Make your content informative and story-driven.
We’re at the the end of the funnel now. Buyers are tooled up and informed. Now you have to give them a real reason, and incentive, to buy.
Free trials, coupons, case studies address final questions and objections. Give decision-makers an incentive to choose you over competitors.
The more versatile your content, the more effective and efficient it will be.
You should not be making content solely exclusive to one channel or output. When you’re planning and putting together your content strategy. Consider how you can ‘sweat your assets’ and create a versatile multi-channel content strategy.
As for what adaptable content is, this can really vary. Hero video content can be broken down into smaller pieces of shareable snippets. This can then be used across all of your owned channels.
White papers and reports can be broken up into blog content and multi-channel social media campaigns.
Don’t put the blinkers on your content strategy. Repurpose, reuse and re-engage.
To ensure your content is shareable, ask yourself if the content gives you a reason to be shared.
Does it offer insight into an issue, concern or problem? Does it ignite the imagination and inspire ideas? Or does it show impact and results that really wow?
Then ask yourself, would I share this personally?
Unfortunately, there isn’t a one size fits all approach to creating shareable content. There is no one winning formula. Every business, every audience and every industry is different.
But fundementally, shareable content is interesting content. So prioritize creating content that is interesting.
Your content strategy should but tuned to your business goals. What is the purpose of your content? What output is it aligned too?
Is it brand awareness, pushing certain products or services, or are you looking for lead generation or driving conversations and engagement?
Don’t just create your content and then try to tack activation and strategy on at the point of delivery. Create content to match the desired outcome.
Analyze performance data to see what content resonates best with your audience. Refine your strategy based on insights.
AB test your content, to trial combinations of copy and creative. Take what’s working, remove what isn’t and learn from your analytics. A data-driven approach helps create a content marketing flywheel, where you continually optimize content for impact.
Even the most creative and insightful piece of content marketing can be brought low by bad timing.
Whether this is trying to come in with a hard-line sales message too early in the incubation period, or being unaware of how external factors, such as news agendas, sector-specific or even global issues, may have impacts on your content… external factors can and will impact your content marketing strategy. So there has to be a certain level of pliability in your approach.
From a funnel perspective. The 95-5 rule tells us that 95% of an audience will be ‘out of market’ and AirBnB learned the hard way, how external events can impact your content marketing.
Content creation is so much more than just pumping out images and videos to the world.
Effective content creation and content marketing strategies are built around goals and outcomes. Simply making content, for the sake of making content, will not give you the ROI you desire. So it’s really important to know your audiences and what kinds of content they are most reactive and receptive to.
You also don’t have to have Hollywood-level production, to create content. In fact, in many instances, a more stripped-back production value is more beneficial than something slick and expensive looking… an iPhone can be a content marketer’s best friend.
But, the most important thing to note… make interesting content.
Everyone is looking for reach, shares and engagement. You won’t get any of this with uninteresting content. You can force all the messaging and calls to action you can in there, but if the crux of your content is boring to your audience, it isn’t going to work.
So, the next time you’re in a content planning session, or strategising for the year ahead before you’ve shot a frame. Think about about what you want to get out of this content, and what would be the most interesting way to achieve this.
Bristol Creative Industries is supporting jfdi with the 7th annual jfdi/Opinium New Business Barometer. This report is an absolute necessity for anyone who has a focus on building their agency’s new business as it will arm you with valuable insights and industry-wide stats to benchmark your performance.
If you’re an agency owner, managing director or part of your agency’s senior management team, please take a few minutes to complete the survey and you’ll receive a copy of the unique report as soon as it’s available in the new year.
In return, as well as the free report, you’ll:
jfdi will run a dedicated online roundtable for the BCI community if we get 30 responses from the region, so we encourage you to complete the survey and help make this happen.
jfdi help agencies grow by winning new business. The team are privileged to have worked with over 1000 agencies – both large and small and across marketing disciplines. The one thing they all have in common is their ambition to grow. For these bold and ambitious agencies, jfdi offer a mix of strategy, creativity and action that works in the real world not just in workshops and away-days.
The marketing sector would not exist as it does today were it not for third-party cookies. Over the past two decades, businesses have developed a heavy reliance on these bite-sized chunks of data for user insights, audience analysis and strategy development.
However, this method has faced frequent controversies and raised countless concerns regarding user privacy. As a result, the digital hemisphere is shifting, with tighter GDPR regulations leading to a future free from third-party cookies; by the end of 2024, this method of data collection may be a thing of the past.
In light of this change, alternative methods of data collection, prediction and analysis must be harnessed, filling the gap left by cookies. Machine learning algorithms, particularly those within Google Analytics 4, will play a significant role in compensating for this loss.
Before exploring the key components of this so-called ‘cookieless’ future, it is important to clarify the difference between first and third-party cookies. First-party cookies are accessible only by a website’s owner and play a vital role in collecting analytical data and optimising site functionality. In contrast, third-party cookies, created by separate domains, track a user’s behaviour across the internet. In this context, ‘cookieless’ refers to eliminating third-party tracking by internet service providers (ISPs).
Eliminating third-party cookies is certain to leave voids in online marketing. Google heavily relies on cookies for its advertising platform. However, to ensure privacy compliance, alternative methods must fill these gaps; tools such as statistical modelling, predictive analytics, and machine learning will play critical roles.
As of July 2023, Google permanently retired Universal Analytics, replacing it with Google Analytics 4 (GA4), a property now used by over 20 million websites worldwide. This transition brings significant changes for digital marketers. With a focus on user privacy, GA4 utilises AI algorithms to connect data points without third-party cookies.
By blending directly observed and modelled data, GA4 builds comprehensive and accurate datasets while complying with user privacy regulations. Moreover, AI integration and machine learning enable more precise data collection than third-party cookies, utilising predictive analytics, analytics intelligence, and behaviour modelling to compensate for cookieless browsing data loss. Below, we delve into the specifics of these features.
Among GA4’s many innovative features is the property’s capacity to predict future metrics and audiences through machine learning algorithms. As soon as data collection begins, GA4’s algorithms start learning from the information gathered, enabling the generation of projections like revenue, events, and trends based on account-specific datasets.
Additionally, GA4 utilises the data from its machine learning algorithm to create predictive audiences, forecasting which of your audience is likely to churn based on past events. This information is set to prove infinitely valuable in the development of remarketing strategies.
Moreover, GA4’s ‘consent mode’ is vital for data compliance. This feature allows businesses to create predictive data even when a user doesn’t consent to data collection. When consent is declined, GA4 uses relevant existing data to predict the user’s behaviour.
This method of behavioural modelling fills data gaps when direct observations are lacking or non-existent. Instead of cookie-shaped voids, GA4 combines observed data with behaviour models, offering comprehensive insights into user journeys and site interactions.
Alongside the above, GA4’s Analytics Intelligence functionality is set to play an important part in navigating a cookieless future. As Google describes it, analytics intelligence uses machine learning and custom configurations to understand and act on data effectively. In other words, machine learning can identify anomalies and errors while simultaneously adapting to these variations; as GA4 receives more distinctive data, its ability to detect outliers improves.
This advancement in GA4 distinguishes authentic data from anomalies, reducing reliance on third-party cookies for true ‘insight’. Unlike cookies, which are about 60% accurate at best, machine learning and analytics intelligence offer continuous enhancement opportunities.
As previously mentioned, past iterations of Google Analytics faced scrutiny for their handling and retention of data. GDPR regulations have, naturally, tightened over the past few years; Google has adjusted its software accordingly.
Alongside the implementation of machine learning algorithms, GA4 introduces a host of features focused on data compliance and user privacy. Most notably, IP anonymisation means that IP addresses are neither logged nor stored. In the tech giant’s own words, ‘analytics drops any IP addresses that it collects from EU users before logging that data via EU domains and servers.’ Whereas universal analytics collected IP addresses by default, this is no longer possible in GA4. Regarding EU privacy legislation, this is perhaps the most momentous update.
Of course, this fortification of user privacy is just the tip of the iceberg. Alongside the above mentioned IP anonymisation and consent mode, Google have introduced:
Google Analytics exists as the dominant property for good reason; its newfound capabilities balance cutting edge technologies with tightened data restrictions. That said, GDPR legislation differs in relation to server location. To ensure compliance in your region, it is essential that your property is set up in a way that does not breach privacy laws.
Without a doubt, the accessibility of machine learning in GA4 is an exciting development. Unlike previous instances that required third-party solutions, Google’s integrated features now place AI power in the palm of marketers’ hands.
Machine learning, especially that within GA4, will be crucial in filling the gaps left by third-party cookies. While the property is far from flawless, businesses should not underestimate the potential of machine learning in this platform. In a cookieless future, a certain adaptability and open-mindedness towards technology is essential.
The transition from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4 is complete, marking the end of an era for businesses, marketers and data analysts worldwide. Following this change, it’s only right that we should question its capabilities.
What is Google’s next-generation data property really capable of? How will it change the ways in which we record and utilise data?
Most importantly, can it really predict the future?
Of the many innovative features present within GA4, its predictive capabilities and integrated machine learning algorithms are the most striking. In the right hands, these tools offer enriched data collection and advanced insights for businesses, though there are certain limitations.
Of course it’s important to remember that predicting the future is impossible, even for Google. That said, GA4’s machine learning algorithms and predictive analytics features bring us closer than ever. Using data collected from past user behaviour, the property is able to predict which customers are likely to convert, channels that will lead them there, and the devices they are most likely to browse from.
It is worth noting that these predictions are limited by both the accuracy and totality of the data from which they are drawing. In other words, the better quality the input you give GA4, the more accurate the output.
As it stands, GA4 is able to generate predictions based on three primary metrics: purchase probability, churn probability and predictive revenue.
This metric refers to the probability that a user who was active in the last 28 days will log a specific conversion event within the next 7 days.
As the name suggests, this metric refers to the probability that a user who was active on your app or site within the last 7 days and will not be active within the next 7 days.
Predicted revenue forecasts total revenue from all purchase conversions within the next 28 days from a user who was active in the last 28 days.
As touched upon earlier, future metrics are driven by predictive modelling. What this means, is that by training machine learning algorithms to respond to certain datasets, GA4 is able to forecast activity, behaviour and trends. This information can then be used to create predictive audiences.
In Google’s own words, a ‘predictive audience is an audience with at least one condition based on a predictive metric. For example, you could build an audience for ‘likely 7-day purchasers’ that includes users who are likely to make a purchase in the next 7 days.’
There are a multitude of scenarios in which predictive audiences can be used to enrich data and engage with potential customers, such as remarketing or re-engagement campaigns.
As is the case with all machine learning tools, a certain amount of pre-existing data must be collected in order to generate predictions.
Firstly, you’ll need to have at least 1000 positive and negative samples. In other words, GA4 requires data on at least 1000 purchasers or conversions (positive) and 1000 users who have not purchased (negative). Additionally, the number of non-operative or inactive users on your site must be at least 1000.
Moreover, GA4 requires the above mentioned model quality to be maintained for a certain amount of time. Usually, this is around 28 days. Audiences that do not meet these prerequisites will be deemed ‘not eligible to use’ until sufficient data is gathered.
For those working within data-driven marketing, predictive analytics exist as an opportunity to leverage insights and increase the effectiveness of your campaigns. Whether you’re looking to reduce churn rates, optimise campaign performance or ready yourself for the fast-approaching cookieless future, there are a plethora of ways in which businesses can use predictive analytics to their advantage.
Let’s be real, GA4 is by no means the finished article. Nor is it an omniscient force, here to transform the world of marketing and SEO forever. The property leaves plenty to be desired in terms of user experience and is certain to be refined over the coming months and years. The extent to which these refinements will impact its predictive capabilities is a matter of speculation, though it is safe to assume that they will only get better.
As a data driven SEO agency, we make it one of our primary missions to maintain a comprehensive and up to date understanding of Google’s latest analytics property. To this end, we possess the knowledge and experience required to leverage the full power of GA4’s cutting edge features, granting our clients valuable insights and actionable analytics that help us drive real conversions and sales.
Like it or not, the digital age is built around search engines. They’re the beating heart of information sharing online. The visibility and potential success of your digital business relies on them – and nowhere is this more prevalent than with your keyword strategy.
Through keywords, information can be categorised correctly by search engines and other algorithms, for audiences to subsequently find and consume information online. Get it right, and watch as your search rankings climb the proverbial ladder towards greater exposure and readership over time. Fail to focus on your critical keywords, however, and – well, have you ever searched on page three of Google?
Of these keywords, long-tail can often be the most effective to deploy. But what exactly are long-tail keywords and why should you care about them?
There are three types of keywords: short-tail, mid-tail and long-tail.
Long-tail keywords are longer and more specific keywords or phrases used in search engines. These are search terms that users and visitors are much more likely to use when they are closer to a point of purchase. Or, when they are using voice search.
Generally, a long-tail keyword is around three to five words. The longer the keyword, the more targeted it can be.
For example, a short-tail keyword or ‘head term’ could be ‘pizza’. This would have an extremely high search volume and potentially answer a wide search intent. However, it’s also an extremely broad keyword and is unlikely to give you the specific answers you’re looking for (unless you just want to know the dictionary definition of pizza…and who doesn’t know that, right?)
A mid-tail keyword would be ‘gluten-free pizza’. This is more specific. It would see a reduction in search volume, but increased engagement due to its specificity.
Long-tail keywords are even more detailed. This would be ‘Best gluten-free pizza recipes for vegetarians.’ This is a highly tailored and specific keyword designed to better reflect how search engine users make queries.
So why the term ‘long-tail? Because if you were to plot out the search terms from any given month on a graph, it would create a left-to-right curve moving down and across, like an animal’s long tail.
Targeted search phrases match search intent. So, with highly specific and targeted long-tail keywords, you are better at presenting yourself and your business to new audiences and customers.
In the highly competitive keyword ranking ecosystem, the more you can match search intent, the better. This will mean that search engine users can better find your business and your content, over that of your competition.
By using longer, less competitive keywords, businesses can boost their chances of appearing higher up on search engine results pages. This can drive traffic to your website in greater volumes, leading to customer interactions and potential conversions.
If you are unaware of the term ‘matching search’, think of it in the context of user experience.
In shaping and implementing an effective long-tail keyword strategy you are creating an enhanced user experience for your potential customers. This is an indirect user experience, but it can be hugely effective when deployed correctly
Think back to a time when you used a search engine to find a new product or service. Did your location combine with a top-of-page result that immediately matched what you were looking for?
If so, that business has used long-tail keywords to match your search intent, attract your attention, direct you to their website and potentially convert your intent into a sale or a conversation.
This kind of SEO strategy has become even more important, following some core updates from Google.
In March 2023, Google released a core update that furthered the search engine giant’s commitment to returning relevant results from searches.
In short, it resulted in previously top-ranking pages and results taking a significant hit. By leveraging more long-tail keywords, businesses can either re-build their SERP strategy to regain their pole positions, or they can use them to usurp the positions of competitors that have fallen down the rankings.
Long-tail keywords almost always have less traffic, but don’t be fooled into thinking this makes them less effective.
In having less traffic, they are less competitive and will usually come with a much higher conversion rate. Think of this in the same way as your sales and marketing funnel,
– those at the end of the journey are more likely to make a purchase than those at the start.
Ever heard of the dark funnel? You’d be forgiven for thinking it sounds like a Jim Henson film or a Stranger Things rip-off. But it’s not as scary or mysterious as it sounds.
It’s no secret that marketers love data. We pore over numbers, analytics, and reports to build the most accurate picture of performance and inform our all-important marketing strategy.
This data is gathered from an array of sources, whether it’s a company’s website, paid advertisements, third-party businesses like HubSpot, or countless other avenues. In fact, businesses put huge amounts of money into collecting as much data as possible about their audiences.
By having an informed plan, underpinned by data, you’re able to craft a marketing strategy tailored to your audience and optimised to target specific demographics. But what about the touchpoints in a buyer’s journey or the sales funnel that can’t be tracked?
This is what’s known as the dark funnel.
Originally coined by 6Sense, the phrase refers to interactions over the course of the sales funnel that you can’t follow or gather data from. To my fellow data-loving marketers, this might seem like a nightmare. But fear not – you can actually harness the power of the dark funnel to further nurture your leads and open the door to new business opportunities.
View image in original blog here.
But before I get ahead of myself, let’s take a look at some examples of dark funnel data:
The above data points are either incredibly difficult to track, or untraceable altogether. But I think we can all agree any marketing that shares your brand with more people is important. You should also note that the dark funnel doesn’t just consist of these data points – it also includes all of the research a potential buyer may have undertaken during the consideration stage (before converting).
A valid question, indeed – why should this concept matter to you and how does it affect your business?
According to CXL:
“over 80% of a customer journey is spent navigating dark channels”
This staggering figure illustrates the huge potential that can be found in dark funnel marketing. This facet of marketing is largely focused on nurturing your leads.
By nurturing your leads, you can increase brand loyalty with your audience before they’re ready to buy. And as 95% of B2B buyers are not currently in the market to buy, it goes without saying that you still want these buyers primed and ready for when they’re prepping a shortlist.
Another reason to consider dark funnel marketing within your strategy comes from the fact that Google is set to phase out third-party cookies. With this huge shift in data privacy incoming, it’s important that your business doesn’t rely too heavily on tracking them. When these get phased out, you likely won’t have enough data to understand your buyers and measure performance, and you risk losing leads.
“…harness the power of the dark funnel to further nurture your leads and open the door to new business opportunities…”
If the dark funnel was a total mystery when you started reading this blog, that’s exactly why you should embrace it. Many companies aren’t doing this yet, which creates a great opportunity for businesses to set themselves apart from the competition and give their marketing a significant boost.
As previously mentioned, dark funnel marketing is all about nurturing leads without analytics, so that they’ll remember your brand and consider your business when they’re ready to make a buying decision. So how exactly can you get people thinking about, talking about, and considering your business over others?
Consistent organic posting
Putting paid promotion behind your social media posts will undoubtedly help your marketing efforts, but it’s crucial that you don’t underestimate the power of organic posting. This free method of marketing solidifies your brand’s online presence on platforms with millions of users. And it’s not just social media. Posting blogs on your company’s website, for example, is a great way to attract potential leads and build your reputation in the market.
High-quality work
This might seem obvious, but by always striving to meet and exceed client/customer expectations, you give people the best reason to talk about you and take control of your reputation. The quality of your work is a direct representation of your business and its values. By producing top-shelf products or delivering first-class service, you allow your work to speak for itself – and people are far more likely to help you spread the word.
Attending events
This is another great way of boosting your brand awareness and holding space in people’s minds, even without trackable data. By attending events, speaking on panels and growing your personal profile (and encouraging your colleagues to do the same) you start to make those all-important face-to-face connections. These interactions tend to stick in people’s minds far more, giving you a chance to leave a lasting impression.
Using the right channels
There are so many online channels where perfect prospects are talking and interacting (with each other, not your content). If you can enter these spaces without selling, whether it’s getting involved in LinkedIn groups, Facebook pages, or something else entirely, you can take part in your prospect’s conversations. But don’t be tempted to lead with your business or credentials. You can get your brand in front of all the right people, and engage with them to form positive relationships, simply by being your helpful, knowledgeable self.
“…Google is set to phase out third-party cookies. With this huge shift in data privacy incoming, it’s important that your business doesn’t rely too heavily on tracking them…”
Just ask
A highly effective yet often-overlooked way to make the most of dark funnel marketing is to ask your leads how they found out about your business. Plain and simple. You can do this by adding a section on your website’s contact form or a step in your checkout process. Alternatively, you can try reaching out via email. This will give you a really strong sense of which of your dark funnel channels are gaining a response from your audience, and which might need a bit more attention.
Hopefully you’re no longer in the dark about dark funnel marketing or its potential to influence your marketing strategy. Now all that is left is turn ideas into action.
While data can get you so far, there are plenty of ways to get front of mind and build your reputation without a cookie, or a dime.
We’re currently offering free marketing consultations, so if you’d like to find out how your business could discover untapped potential, get in touch at [email protected].
Apart from having over 900 million+ professionals on this platform, research shows that 4 in 5 LinkedIn members drive business decisions. This is especially important in lead generation for B2B, because the decision making is more complex and involves more people than in B2C purchasing.
View image in original blog here.
We know first-hand that LinkedIn marketing is a great place to start adding value to your business with both paid advertising and organic marketing having delivered measurable results for us and a number of our clients.
Here are our top tips and tricks to boost traffic to your page and convert your leads to customers.
What content should your business be posting?
Following the 80-20 rule is a simple, yet effective way to think about your content creation.
“The 80-20 rule, also known as the Pareto Principle, is a familiar saying that asserts that 80% of outcomes (or outputs) result from 20% of all causes (or inputs) for any given event.” – Investopedia
80% of content should be focused on brand awareness, aiming to educate, entertain and solve problems within your sector – your output.
And just 20% should promote your business, products, and solutions directly – your input.
Craft powerful benefit-led headlines
This is possibly the most important element of your content creation. In this attention economy, you need to engage your audience by using headlines that spur action.
When creating a LinkedIn ad, you need to highlight to your user that you have the solution to their pain-point, this will help you generate more ad clicks and build brand awareness.
Create a compelling, clear CTA
You need to consider the business goals of your campaign. What action do you want your users to take once they’ve seen your advert? Do you want buyers to visit your website? Download an ebook? You can let them know with a clear call to action.
It’s also important to make sure that the offer, link or download meets or exceeds expectations and benefits set out in the ad copy.
Some good examples of effective CTAs are:
Posting high-quality, relevant content on your LinkedIn Business page will improve your bid in LinkedIn advertising auctions. This is because the LinkedIn relevance score rewards marketers who regularly post content that earns ample clicks, likes, comments, and shares.
It’s essential to have a deep understanding of your target audience.
An informed approach will ensure you’re targeting the right people and not wasting money or resources. You can build these out by conducting competitor analysis, understanding your ICP (ideal customer profile), evaluating current clients, and reviewing your data and analytics. LinkedIn analytics alone can reveal a lot about your audience.
Ensuring you have these details is critical for informing campaign-creation tasks, such as audience segmentation and persona- or vertical-specific messaging.
This way, you know the content you create and the paid advertising you run will resonate with your audience as you’re targeting them based on their intent.
The importance of employee advocacy when it comes to your online reputation cannot be overstated. If your employees champion your brand and engage with your content, you can drastically expand your reach. And what’s more, it’s totally free.
According to the Edelman Trust Barometer, people are 3x more likely to trust company information shared by an employee than content shared by the CEO, so you can’t underestimate the power of employee advocacy.
Employees being active on LinkedIn and engaging with company content is just as important for their personal branding and career development as it is for your company. And if you take into account that every employee in your organisation has their own network, which is an average of 10x more connections than a company has followers – that’s a lot of potential reach for your content.
A simple way to do this is to create a communications channel with your employees and send a link to the post once it goes live on LinkedIn. Encourage them to share their knowledge, opinions, and insights on the thread.
For the most effective performance, commenting, tagging relevant people, and liking the thread will help maximise reach. And hopefully, with a bit of help from your internal teams, you’ll see your network grow.
It’s important to establish an employee advocacy program for this to be successful. LinkedIn itself boasts a helpful guide to leveraging employee advocacy for maximum impact.
Aside from organic performance on LinkedIn, you can boost your lead generation by running paid ad campaigns. According to research:
Brands have seen a 33% increase in purchase intent from ad exposure on LinkedIn.
Depending on your campaign you can choose a number of different objectives, but as we’re focusing on lead generation that seems like a good place to start.
However, it’s important to take the stage of your audience’s buyer journey into account. This means that running brand awareness and consideration campaigns alongside lead generation is a must.
Once you’ve set up your campaign objective, you’ll start building out your target audience. You can upload your own audiences, whether company – or contact-focused.
Alternatively, you can use LinkedIn’s own targeting options, making sure the right people are seeing your content at the right time.
Some of LinkedIn’s targeting options include:
Once you’ve set up your target audience, you can choose the format of your ad. Depending on your campaign objective you can choose from single image ads, carousels, videos and more.
For instance, a manufacturing company may choose a video ad, sharing an explainer video to promote a new product and demonstrate its benefits. This is more likely to be successful than a single image ad because the video can add context to a complex solution that’s tricky to summarise.
Next, you’ll be asked to set up a budget and schedule of your ad. A common rule of thumb is: B2B companies should spend around 2-5% of their revenue on their marketing.
So, depending on your size, you can decide how you want to split your marketing budget and which platforms will work best for your business (generally where the majority of your audience is most engaged).
You can also monitor how effective your paid advertising is using LinkedIn analytics, so you can continuously optimise your campaign.
But, absolutely the most important thing to remember when setting up your ads:
“Content is King” — Bill Gates 1996
Much like in TV, the real money-makers online are driven by beautiful, well thought out content. The kind that resonates with your target audience and influences decision-making.
So, make sure there’s always purpose behind the content you create and the copy you write. Keep your content strategy thoughtful, interesting, well-researched and, most of all, relevant.
You need to educate and provide value to your audience without asking for anything in return.
There are many lead generation tips and ideas that aren’t just focussed on LinkedIn marketing, and can be applied to any marketing methods, watch Phil Robinson, our Creative Director, provide some lead generation tips and tricks in the video.
If you have any questions at all, send an email at [email protected], or book in a meeting with Sophie Harris, Director of Business Development and Marketing for a (no obligations) consultation.
We’re excited to share that we will be supporting Caring in Bristol, as part of Studio Every‘s pledge of two weeks to two charities this year.
Caring in Bristol work in imaginative and creative ways with people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, with the public and community partners to bring about lasting change in Bristol and beyond.
We will be working with Caring in Bristol to explore ways that they can expand their corporate partnerships to create even more sustainable income for the future.
We look forward to contributing to the future strategy of this incredible charity, to help prevent homelessness.
When it comes to optimising websites for organic search traffic, each industry has its own specific needs, challenges and conventions to consider. In healthcare and medicine, for example, SEO strategies need to bear in mind relevant regulations across different markets, the specific language-use and search intent of HCP audiences, and how to ensure research papers, infographics and other kinds of content abide by Google’s best-practice guidelines.
At Varn, we have many years of experience working with pharmaceutical companies on organic search projects. We have learnt that there are some key areas that particularly impact the SEO landscape around healthcare and medical websites. Here are six things to think about when optimising pharma websites for organic search, in addition to general SEO best-practices, which every website should follow.
Because different countries have different laws about how pharmaceutical companies can promote their products, anyone who works on healthcare websites will be familiar with the need to abide by these regulations. This often means creating new content or even whole websites for each geographical market. But did you know that it is possible to let search engines know which version of a page is intended for which location before the visitor even lands on the website? This can be achieved through a piece of coding called hreflang, and can help to ensure that the right pages are found by searchers in the right countries. Ideal for instances when you have multiple versions of a healthcare website targeting different locations, each slightly different in order to abide by the specific regulations in each region.
We often see duplicate content on the websites of our pharmaceutical, medical and healthcare clients – generally when scientific papers have been published within a journal as well as elsewhere on the internet. In this instance, you might find yourself competing with your own content elsewhere on the web. SEO strategists looking after pharma websites may need to strategically determine which version of a piece of content they want to display in Search Engine Results Pages, and then help to demonstrate this intent to Google using consistent canonical tags supported by an offsite backlink strategy.
As search engines have become more sophisticated, they have evolved an impressive understanding of how language is used, and the intent behind individual search terms. However, when it comes to niche topics with highly-specialised language, search engines may not be able to keep up. HealthCare Professionals (HCPs) may use language differently to the general public, which means that keyword strategies for pharmaceutical websites have to dive deep into user intent and understand the precise ways in which search terms are audience-specific.
Here’s a simple example: If a pharma website refers to a drug, disease, medicine or molecule by an abbreviation, this abbreviation may have one or more alternative meanings beyond the medical industry. This could lead to your pages getting lost amongst content related to entirely different topics. A clever keyword strategy would therefore need to use contextual on-page information, as well as alternative longtail versions of the relevant keyword(s), to make clear to Google which term your page actually refers to, helping you to rank for the most relevant searches.
When Google and other search engines decide which websites and web pages to place at the top of their listings, they are trying to determine which piece of content will be most useful for the searcher. Helpfully, Google has a set of content guidelines detailing the kinds of things that they are looking for. All web content should endeavour to follow the search engine’s E-E-A-T guidelines (demonstrating Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness) but pharmaceutical websites need to go one step further and follow Google’s YMYL guidelines as well.
YMYL stands for “Your Money or Your Life” and refers to any content which has the potential to impact people’s happiness, health, finances or safety. Google has much stricter standards for content which relates to these topics, which is why websites relating to healthcare and medicine must understand and carefully abide by their best practices, including clearly demonstrating expertise and professional accreditation. Most pharma websites will need a YMYL content strategy which incorporates everything from expert content creation to targeting backlinks from reputable professional bodies.
Sometimes a pharmaceutical website may place content behind a registration wall. In order to read the content, HealthCare Professionals will need to register and log in to the website. This can be a useful way to ensure the traffic reaching your content is reflective of the most relevant audiences. However, pages which live behind a wall of this sort – sometimes called gated content – can be hard for search engines to find, read and understand. In turn, this could mean that they choose not to index and rank your pages. Luckily, there are ways of coding your website to make sure that search engines can read all hidden content, even if human visitors to your site need to log in to be able to do so. This is a key item to check when considering the SEO strategy for your healthcare website.
Pharmaceutical websites host a range of content, from papers detailing the results of clinical trials to easy-to-digest, condensed summaries of diseases and treatments. The way these different types of information are presented is important for Search Engine Optimisation.
Imagine you have a graph which demonstrates the seasonality of a specific disease. This could be added to your website as a simple image – but will search engines be able to understand this content? Only if you give the image a suitable name, describe it within the alt text, and add useful contextual information elsewhere on the page.
Perhaps elsewhere you are considering hosting a medical paper in pdf form. Whilst pdf pages can rank in search engines, they will likely not perform as well as html website pages. This is because they are less mobile-friendly, unlikely to use proper heading formatting, and cannot be enhanced with Schema markup or structured data.
The list goes on – there are specific considerations to bear in mind when hosting videos, detailed scientific papers, or infographics on websites. The nature of medical and healthcare websites is that they will likely contain lots of data-heavy content in many different formats, all of which need to be considered and optimised from an SEO stand-point.
Need help creating and/or implementing an SEO strategy for your pharmaceutical, medical or healthcare website? The experts at Varn can offer support with everything from keyword research and content planning to coding optimisations and paid media advertising, as well as developing offsite backlink strategies. We have many years experience working with healthcare and medical publishing clients including Roche, Wiley, Pfizer and more, so you can be sure we understand the nuanced intersections between the pharmaceutical industry and search marketing. Get in touch to find out more.
A timely, well-considered and engaging newsletter can foster engagement, build brand loyalty, drive growth and even drive revenues.
This isn’t to say that newsletters are just relevant for businesses with e-commerce models. In fact, all kinds of businesses can benefit from creating their own newsletters as part of a wider marcomms strategy.
But what does a successful newsletter strategy look like?
The most important part of any newsletter is the content you put in it.
Firstly, the stories in your newsletter must be relevant and timely to your specific audience. Secondly, there should neither be too many, nor too few. Around three pieces of content is generally a good rule of thumb to follow.
Sticking with three pieces of content. One of those pieces should be hero content. This means it takes pride of place at the top of the newsletter itself. Followed by two supplementary content pieces underneath.
How you lay out your newsletter content will greatly affect how your audience consumes your content. A simpler approach will benefit you here.
Try to avoid having your content displayed in long lists. Instead, try to lay out your content so that it can be viewed either in one glance or with minimal scrolling.
Great images with strong captions and CTA links to your website or landing pages are a must. Try not to overload the design with images that are too large or videos and animations. Avoid anything that could potentially be slow to load.
It is highly likely that people will be consuming newsletter content on the move, so you will need to consider the actual size of your mailer. If you’re using mailing software such as Mailchimp or HubSpot, templates will do much of this heavy lifting for you. As well as scaling your output for mobile compatibility.
The old adage that people buy from people still rings true. When you’re sending out mass-email marketing ensure that the sender is a real person and not just a generic marketing or hello@ email address.
Whether or not you include the name of your recipient within that email is a decision based on the quality and organisation of your database. Newsletter software can use macros to populate information. But only if that information exists at source.
If you want to say Hello Sharon, welcome to our latest newsletter, you need to be sure that the naming records within your database are 100% perfect. Otherwise, people will receive emails starting a macro fault code, which really detracts from the personal touch.
When something like this happens, you can be sure that the email isn’t getting read and you may lose a subscriber.
One of the most frustrating marketing experiences for a consumer is to receive an interesting piece of content that you want to know more about. Then find that the outbound links are faulty.
You should include directional links to your website. Get into a habit of multiple test-sending to ensure every link is working and directing the audience to where you want them to go.
With mail marketing, consistency is key. Try to establish a regular frequency and cadence of your comms output without overloading the inboxes of your audience.
Try to establish one regular touchpoint with your audience, be it a weekly or bi-weekly update on the latest news and issues in your industry. Establish that as a must-read and then look to build out other mailers around this.
If you haven’t yet implemented email marketing, and if you’re trying to push a product or a service, avoid doing so with your initial newsletters. Don’t go right in with the hard sell, build rapport through engaging content, then introduce the sales elements.
Once you’ve started, keep up the pace. It can be easy to start with enthusiasm and a flurry of newsletters, only to let the frequency drop and your audience engagement dwindle.
If you’re only starting with a small list of marketing contacts, don’t worry, you can put in place strategies and tactics to help grow this.
Contact forms: if you have a lot of potential client and customer communication coming through your website via contact forms, include a marketing opt-in selection. This is an easy way to build your marketing databases over time.
Social platforms: link up your social media channels to your mailing efforts. If you’re posting thought leader content on LinkedIn, try ending those pieces by calling on readers to subscribe for more insight. On channels such as Instagram include a Linktree within your bio description. Then you can call on your follower base to subscribe via a link in the bio.
Other content: if you’re posting regular thought leadership content to your own website, then include calls to action and messaging within his content. This will help lure readers into subscribing based on your existing and ongoing content output.
Customers and clients: consider how you can build your mailing list from current customers and clients. This can range from having a subscribe button built into your email footers, to proactively canvassing and requesting customers and clients to subscribe.
Use your newsletters to give offers to your audience.
While this won’t directly build your follower base, it can help grow your bottom line with your existing customer base. This could be anything from discounts on a product, a flash sale, early bird discount for an event, or even a new service you might be offering.
Try to keep your offers limited and sparing. Otherwise, you may devalue your overall service in the long term.
Quite possibly the most important thing when it comes to building email marketing, is to test and learn.
You don’t have to, and nor should you, stick to the same formula. If something is working, then maintain whatever it is that is making it work. But don’t blindly stick to things that aren’t. You can afford to be a little adventurous and try new things, but make sure that you’re using your mailing software’s analytics to study your audience’s patterns, and are tailoring your content to this.
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