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How to Get Started With Video Marketing
There’s no doubt about it: a successful video marketing campaign will absolutely transform how your business operates.
If you’ve been dreaming about an increase in brand awareness, organic lead generation, and personal connections with your customers – creating video content could be the solution you are looking for.
How?
Let’s take a look at the statistics.
On average, video content is shared 1200 percent more than text and image posts combined – making it the perfect pursuit for businesses looking to increase their organic reach.
Similarly, positive ROI statistics for video content have been booming for years – from 33 percent in 2015 to 87 percent in 2021. Businesses and marketers alike have taken note, diverting budgets towards hiring videographers to create new marketing materials for their website, email outreaches, social media, and even “OTT” video adverts on streaming platforms.
Why?
It seems the positive results have been due to audience preference, with video content being considered “easy to consume” as well as creating a welcome break from “overabundance of textual information online.”
For any smaller company with a low budget, creating video content can seem a little intimidating.
It’s hardly something you can leap into blindly, and understanding the process behind successful video marketing campaigns will help you avoid costly mistakes in the future.
1. Create a Plan, Set Goals, and Measure Them
As with any successful marketing campaign, you’ll need to start with a plan.
Holding your mobile phone, pointing it in the right direction, and clicking “record” might feel instinctual – but there’s a lot more work that goes on behind the scenes of video content.
Plans will help you slow down, breathe, and give you direction.
If you want your video marketing campaign to be successful, you’ll need as much attention as possible.
Having a plan in place will help you maximize your outreach by posting your video in the right places. Assuming you don’t have completely overlapping audiences, if you want to be sure that you’re reaching every one of your followers, you’ll want to post your video content on all of your social media accounts.
If you play your cards right, you might even see some of your videos go viral.
Additionally, instead of losing progress on a day where you are feeling flat and uninspired, a plan can help you structure content ideas, ensure you have the right tools for the video, and allow you to schedule time to actually edit your footage before posting.
This will considerably improve the quality of your video content.
Next, you need to make goals based on your plan – and keep track of measurable results.
Consider this: how would you define success?
More sales? A higher CTR? Better engagement on your social media posts?
Take a look at these SMART goals:
SMART is a universally recognized system for creating measurable, trackable, and attainable goals.
If that’s too intense, here’s a condensed cheat-sheet version for your business:
- Is this goal specific? General goals like “get more subscribers” or “increase traffic” won’t give you much insight in the long run.
- Is this goal achievable? There’s nothing wrong with being ambitious, but expecting to get 1 million subscribers on YouTube in your first 6 months might be a bit much.
- Is this goal trackable? The sweet spot of goal-setting is a realistic goal that you can track. Whether you achieve it or not, you’ll end up with valuable data by the end.
Remember: don’t just make goals but actually hold yourself accountable for them.
If you started creating video content today, and six months from now, you had no definitive idea on the future direction of your content, I’d suggest that your campaign was in serious trouble.
Achieving consistent growth with video marketing comes down to two things:
1). Finding what works and recreating it in future videos.
2). Finding what doesn’t work and making sure that it’s not in your future videos.
These are the absolute basics of consistently increasing the effectiveness of your video content.
2. Stick With What You Know
When you draft your plan of action, you’ll likely bounce around ideas for upcoming content or even choose to create a full content strategy.
Before proceeding, you need to remember the importance of staying true to your brand voice and giving your audience what they’ll actually want.
If you’ve been creating educational content on your blog, your best bet would be to start with educational video content and see if that resonates with your audience in the same way.
Stick with what you know.
So many companies are trying so hard to be innovative that they don’t pay attention to the tried-and-tested content types that already work.
Trying to come up with brilliant ideas and then executing them poorly could be harmful to your future video marketing efforts.
When choosing what type of content to make, study the three types of widely-recognized video in the marketing community:
1). Educational Videos
Educational videos are all about adding value to your audience.
Give them a reason to watch your content, to share, or “follow for more”.
Hint: Nobody wants to get to the end of a video and feel like they’ve wasted their time.
Informative guides, product demonstrations and interesting thought pieces are likely to do really well online as they are great at engaging your audience and making them think.
2). Inspirational Videos
For so-called “inspirational videos”, your job is to capture breathtaking views, change lives, play with emotions, reveal awe-inspiring moments, and produce motivational content designed to fire people up.
3). Entertaining Videos
In this category, you’re trying to get people to laugh or smile.
Your content should intrigue them to investigate your brand further and create a positive experience that they’ll then associate with your brand or product in the future.
If you have no idea where to start: don’t worry, it’s not the end of the world.
Trialing content from each category will help you find your feet, as well as gain audience insight.
As time goes on, you’ll develop a stronger understanding of what type of video content works and what doesn’t.
Trust me, if your audience wants a different type of video, they’ll ask for it.
Pay attention to your comments section! I certainly do.
3. Start Creating and Stop Holding Yourself Back
Okay, now that we’ve gotten all the planning out of the way, it’s time to dive into the fun part.
Video creation might seem overwhelming at first, but I’ll let you in on a little secret.
Your first video is supposed to be your worst.
Think about it! If every video is an improvement on the last one, it only makes sense that your first video is your worst, right?
Instead of stressing out over every minor detail, just dive into the creative process.
You’ve already made a plan. You have an idea for your first video.
Instead of trying to figure out the perfect way to start your video content creation journey, just get that first video out of the way.
Trust me, it’s only going to get easier.
Don’t get me wrong. You should still try to provide as much value as you can and be as professional as possible.
But expecting this video to be perfect is just unrealistic.
In the world of written content, you provide value by doing everything from offering tangible advice to being a great storyteller.
As far as I’m concerned, the sooner you start actually making relevant content… the better.
Creation means you’ll get feedback. Getting feedback means you can make changes where required, rather than nit-picking when there are no nits. Your audience will be vocal about what they do and don’t like, so you won’t be stranded for long.
It really is that simple.
Don’t have any of those fancy filming tools yet? No problem. I’ve got just the thing!
Go ahead and reach into your pockets for me.
Feel that rectangular piece of metal in there?
If you’ve got a smartphone, you’ve got what it takes to make a video.
It might not be perfect (although their rapidly improving cameras are certainly making a huge difference for low-budget marketers) and that’s absolutely okay.
As your video marketing strategy develops over time, you can upgrade and invest more time and money into video creation.
You can use InVideo as your one-stop solution for video editing and customization.
The best part?
You don’t need to have a ton of experience with design or editing to make awesome videos.
Why stop when you’re ahead?
If you’re seeing positive results but don’t have the time to handle video creation in the long run, look into hiring professionals to put together your videos, invest in a professional camera and lighting equipment to make your editing job easier, and increase your resources with licensed music, images, and fun little animated intros.
There might never be “the perfect moment” to post your first video, so don’t waste time and just get started.
4. Search Matters
I love discussing the creative process and useful tricks to use in the world of video marketing.
However, there’s more to executing a successful video marketing strategy than what you can see on the surface.
Behind the scenes, SEO is still massively important, whether you’re a fan of it or not.
It’s so important that I made a video for local businesses on how to pull it off without a huge marketing budget.
Let me be clear. If your video content is not being optimized for search, you are almost certainly missing out on free exposure.
Scary, right? Don’t worry. I’ve got a quick fix to get you back on track.
If you’re familiar with SEO for your blog, this is all going to seem oddly familiar.
The same way your article title should have keywords that you’re looking to rank highly for, your video title is going to determine your ranking on sites like YouTube.
Even if you’re familiar with SEO through your blog, this next part might be news for you.
Those description sections under videos on YouTube? Google’s Algorithm trawls through them for its users. For high-performing video marketing through SEO, the general idea here is the same:
- Avoid keyword stuffing.
- Make sure your keywords are actually relevant.
- Do your research and get into the mindset of your customer.
Typically, the best descriptions are those that accurately explain your video in conjunction with keywords.
Overall, balance storytelling and metrics. Maybe even consider getting a copywriter involved if you are unsure what to write.
SEO is the cornerstone of any truly effective content strategy, and it’s especially important when it comes to video marketing.
5. Partner With Influencers
It wasn’t too long ago that “celebrity endorsement”’ was something that only the world’s biggest brands could actually afford.
Smaller brands and local businesses could only sit back and watch athletes and actors use their mass appeal to help these businesses sell more of their products.
Don’t worry, though, things have changed.
Micro-influencers are on the rise.
They have their own loyal following and a unique understanding of how to appeal to the people in their industry.
Frankly? They can be pretty darn effective.
With the explosion of the internet and social media, our marketplaces look completely different, consumer habits have us browsing for the best price online, and marketing landscapes are almost unrecognizable.
The best influencers are able to run with your vision for content and provide you with unique and valuable insight on what would work best for their audience.
Plus, there’s no denying that having your brand presented to a group of anywhere from 100,000 to several million dedicated followers can be massively impactful.
Just take a look at how Dude Perfect partnered with Hasbro to promote the company’s new Nerf product, the Mega Magnus.
Effectively teaming up with influencers comes down to two things.
- Choosing your influencers wisely! If your brand is family-friendly, don’t reach out to someone who’s known for being controversial.
- Communicating! Don’t assume that you and the influencer are on the same page. It’ll inevitably lead to miscommunication, and you may end up with content you didn’t want.
6. Use Ads to Their Full Potential
Just because you’re trying something new in the form of video content, there’s no reason to forget the principles of marketing that you’ve used with previous content.
If you’ve been implementing a well-rounded marketing strategy, you should be drawing from both organic and paid traffic.
If you’re completely new to this, or you just want a refresher on how to maximize your ads, this part is for you.
Let’s take a look at the Facebook ads targeting mechanics.
Using Facebook, brands can easily tailor their ads to suit a variety of different users.
Your ads can target users based on key demographics such as their age, gender, location, interest, and much more.
Because of social media analysis, you’ll even know what your typical daily reach is.
The best part?
You can customize each individual ad to maximize its relevance.
For example, let’s say that you created two videos.
The first video is for people getting ready to retire, and the second video is for people who just graduated college.
Instead of presenting your entire audience with an ad that likely won’t be very useful for them, you can ensure that each video gets its own category and is presented to relevant parties.
When you increase the quality of your video marketing by ensuring your ads are targeted, you’ll inevitably convert more users into customers.
Of course, Facebook isn’t the only place where you could choose to invest in ads.
Which brings up an important question: where should you be spending your money on ads?
Well, remember all the way back in the first section, when I mentioned that posting in a variety of different places would help you in the long term?
This is where that seemingly minor detail comes in handy.
Now that you’ve collected enough information on which platforms work best for your video marketing content, it’s time to put that data to use.
Armed with those metrics, you’ll be able to identify where your content is getting the most attention.
From there, it’s as simple as having a higher ad budget on those platforms.
If your audience likes to consume your videos on Instagram, Instagram ads it is.
If they love Facebook, promote your content on Facebook.
If you’re getting the most exposure out of YouTube, invest in YouTube ads.
Ride the wave of momentum, capitalize on your minor victories, and sooner or later, your video marketing will take off.
Video Marketing Frequently Asked Questions
How can I start video marketing?
Starting on your video marketing journey is easy. Just follow our 6 steps to maximize your chance at success:
1). Create a Plan, Set Goals, and Measure Them
2). Stick With What You Know
3). Start Creating and Stop Holding Yourself Back
4). Search Matters
5). Partner With Influencers
6). Use Ads to Their Full Potential
How do I start an online video marketing campaign?
Starting an online video marketing campaign has become easier due to social media. Instead of paying hundreds and thousands of dollars to get your video advert on TV, you can upload video content to your Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, or YouTube accounts anytime you want, at any budget you want.
How do I get started with creating a video?
Creating video content requires five main steps:
1. Create a goal
2. Film
3. Edit
4. Publish
5. Promote
There’s no limit on who can post video content online, so just start recording and strike for gold.
How does video marketing work?
Video marketing works by providing users with content in a popular format. On top of paid reach, video marketing is great for generating organic leads and boosting brand awareness. It gives businesses the chance to create authentic, personable relationships with their customers.
What budget should I allocate to video marketing?
Video marketing doesn’t technically require any budget at all. While higher quality videos tend to perform better, using your mobile phone and free editing services can, and does, work for many businesses. Marketing budgets should be approximately 11 percent of your overall annual budget, but how much – or how little – you spend on paid adverts, videographers, professional cameras, and editing services is entirely up to you.
Video Marketing Conclusion
I’m not going to give you the impression that video marketing is easy. It’s tough, and it will challenge you.
Creating compelling content can be an uphill battle sometimes, particularly when you’re first getting started. Your first video isn’t going to be amazing.
Which is totally okay!
Leave perfection to the artists. Out here in the marketing world, I’ll settle for meaningful progress.
Come up with a strategy, and then execute that strategy by creating content as soon as you can. Measure your results, and take advantage of the (free) platforms and resources at your disposal.
Video marketing may not be an easy way to build your brand, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll wonder why you waited this long to get started.
It’s time to add video marketing to your content strategy.
If you’ve already experimented with video marketing, what’s working for you? How have your paid ads on sites like Facebook and Instagram worked out?
10 Link in Bio Services to Try For Social Media
If you’ve spent any time on social media, especially Instagram, you’ve likely seen your favorite influencers post “link in bio” or even use the hashtag #linkinbio.
What does the phrase mean, and can it improve your Instagram marketing? It’s not just a weird trend; directing users to click the link in bio is a powerful tool to help you drive traffic from social media to your website, product pages, and more.
Here’s what you need to know about the link in bio CTA, including where to use it, and what tools make it easy to make the most of your social links.
What Does “Link in Bio” Mean?
Originally, Instagram only allowed posters to add links in one place: their bio. That made it hard to drive social media users from Instagram to your website. Instagram users began using the phrase “link in bio” on posts to tell followers to go to their bio to find the link they were referencing.
For example, a blogger might post a picture and a small snippet of a recent blog, then say, “Read more in my latest blog post. #linkinbio.”
Here’s an example of an e-commerce store using “link in bio” to share a product link:
Today, Instagram allows users to post links in a few other places (with restrictions). However, many users still use the link in bio feature because it makes it easier for users to find the most updated content. It’s also popular on other apps and platforms, such as TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter.
How to Add a Link in Bio to Your Instagram Profile
- Sign up for one of the tools from the list below.
There are several free tools if you want to send users to a landing page, or you can use a paid version if you want to track links, etc.
- . Add URL links to your landing page.
For example your podcast, specific blog posts you’ve mentioned in posts, sale pages, etc.
- Copy and paste the link from your tool to your Instagram bio.
Head to your profile, then click “Edit Profile.” Add your link to the “website” field.
Why Should I Use Link in Bio Tools?
Instagram is a powerful tool for building your brand, connecting with your audience, and driving sales. However, you only get one link to drive users from your Instagram page, so use it wisely.
The good news is, there are several tools that turn that single link into a traffic-driving powerhouse. Rather than linking to your home page or a single page, you can use a link in bio tool to send users to a landing page highlighting all of your top content, including blogs, downloads, and even your email list.
Rebel Girls, an online e-commerce store and blog promoting powerful girls, uses one of these tools in their bio:
That one link is used to send their audience to a landing page with eight different links to pre-order their book, their podcast, and free activities:
The link in bio tool allows them to share tons of relevant information with their audience all in one place. The tools make it easy to update your content. Some include added features such as analytics and the ability to add forms.
Top Link in Bio Tools
How do you turn your one Instagram bio link into a powerful traffic-driving tool? By using link in bio tools. These tools allow you to make the most of your single Instagram bio and, in some cases, track metrics on how many users click those links. Let’s take a look at the best tools on the market.
1. Later
Later is an Instagram scheduling tool used by top brands like MeUndies, USA Today, and GQ. In addition to scheduling and analytics features, they also offer a Linkin.bio tool that helps drive clicks and discover what type of content your users are interested in.
Linkin.bio turns your single Instagram link into a mini-website for your business. Share products, downloads, or other content you want to promote. Linkin.bio also tracks clicks to help you understand what posts and links drive the most traffic.
Cost: A “lite” version of Linkin.bio is available in Later’s Free Forever plan. Paid plans start at $15 per month.
2. Shorby
Shorby is a tool for creating mini landing pages for social media bios. It pulls your latest content from any RSS feed, and you can include pillar content pages or prices and service lists.
All pages are mobile-friendly (which is important for both user experience and Google). You can also add links to chat, making it easy for users to contact you. The tool also offers basic analytics for clicks.
Their website is a little short on details, but don’t let that turn you off. They aim to create a mobile-friendly experience, so I recommend viewing their site from a phone or tablet for best results.
Cost: Paid plans start at $12 per month.
3. Tap Bio
Tab Bio is another streamlined link in bio tool. If you don’t need the scheduling and analytics capabilities of Later, Tap Bio is a solid option. With Tap Bio, you can create branded cards featuring links, images, pictures, or messages you want users to see.
Like Shorby, their website is designed for mobile, so it looks a bit sparse on desktop. However, they do use their site to show exactly how the tool works. Here’s their home page, with links to all the features you need to get started:
What makes Tap Bio stand out? For starters, they offer a solid free plan. Their Basic plan offers a profile card, plus one additional card—which means you can use it on multiple sites. It’s also pretty easy to set up.
Cost: Free for the basic plan; paid plans start at $5 per month.
4. Feedlink
Feedlink is a feature of Embed Social that creates a clickable URL filled with links to product pages, landing pages, and more. It can be used beyond Instagram on platforms like your podcast, YouTube, and more.
Like most social media tools, Embed offers tiered plans with different features. While all plans include Feedlink, paid plans include features like automatic Facebook sync, Twitter albums, responsive and light box mode, and additional layout options.
Cost: Free limited plan; paid plans start at $19 per month.
5. Linktree
The OG of link in bio is Linktree. This tool turns your single link into a landing page with clickable buttons to your most important content. Add links to product pages, collections, videos, email signups, downloads, and more.
Linktree also allows businesses to collect payments, which is handy for businesses looking to collect donations for projects or creators monetizing their content. The platform is super easy to use and edit, offers analytics, and integrates with tons of other tools like Mailchimp, Google Sheets, and Facebook.
Cost: Free plan with limited features; their Pro plan starts at $6 per month.
6. Milkshake App
Milkshake lets you easily create a website to use as your bio link right from your phone. The mini-site can be used to introduce your business, share services or products, or promote your YouTube, podcast, or recent blog posts.
Unlike other link in bio tools, Milkshape lets you create a fully customized website, not just a list of links. It’s also super easy to use right from your phone. Each website features “cards” that users can swipe through, just like an Instagram story.
Cost: Free for IOS and Android users.
7. Sked Link
Sked Link is a feature of Sked Social, an all-in-one Instagram tool for planning your feed, automatically publishing posts, and analyzing follower behavior. Sked Link is easy to use and allows you to share links to popular content, new blog posts, and other platforms.
If you only want to create a link in bio page, Sked might not be the best choice as the paid plans are pretty pricey. However, if you are looking for an all-in-one Instagram tool, Sked Link is a good add-on.
Cost: $25 a month; but they do offer a free seven-day trial.
8. elink
Elink is another full-featured tool, so it’s not the best choice if you just want to add a link to your bio. However, it’s got a lot to offer, including a bookmark manager, email newsletter generator, content automation, and a website builder.
It also integrates with a ton of other platforms including Gmail, Intercom, Mailchimp, and Aweber.
If you are looking for a content and landing page design tool, rather than just a bio tool, elink might be a good choice.
Cost: Limited plan (one user, five links per post) is free, paid plans start at $12 per month.
9. ContactInBio
Contact in bio is a micro-landing page creation tool that helps connect followers with content from all over the web. Add links to blogs, products, and other platforms to build your brand across platforms.
ContactInBio also lets users add forms, collect payments, and even book appointments all in one place. Sites are fully customizable, allowing you to adjust fonts, add music, and more.
Cost: They offer a pretty solid free plan; paid plans start at $4.55 per month.
10. Campsite
Campsite aims to solve the “one link problem.” According to their site, you can create a super simple social landing page in just five minutes. They offer an easy-to-use interface, tons of customization options, and advanced analytics.
The Pro plan offers additional features such as adding an email sign-up, using your own domain, and the ability to add custom images to your links.
Cost: Limited free plan (includes Campsite branding); paid plans are $7 per month.
Link in Bio Frequently Asked Questions
Where’s the link in bio on Instagram?
It is located at the very bottom of every Instagram bio.
What does #linkinbio mean?
This phrase tells followers they can find the content a specific post mentions in that user’s bio. It is often used on social media apps, especially Instagram, where most users only get one link.
Why should I optimize the link in my bio?
Optimizing your Instagram bio link can help drive traffic, increase sales, and create a stronger connection with your followers.
What is a link in bio page?
A link in bio page is a landing page used as the bio link on Instagram that links to several other pages on a website. This landing page can share recent blog posts, increase email subscribers, promote your podcast, and more.
What are the best free link in bio tools?
The right tool will vary based on your needs but Later, Tap Bio, and Milkshake are all good options. Later offers a free plan that includes link in bio, scheduling posts, and more. Tap Bio, a streamlined bio link tool, offers a free plan if you don’t need all the bells and whistles of Later. Milkshake is a free app for iOS and Android that lets you create a mini-website right from your phone.
Link in Bio Conclusion
Struggling to stand out on social media or build a successful Instagram strategy? A link in bio tool can help. By making it easier to drive users from social media to other platforms, including your website or email list, these tools help create stronger relationships and drive sales from social media.
If you’re looking to make the most of Instagram or TikTok, a link in bio tool is crucial. There are several free tools, so there is no reason to wait.
Do you have a favorite link in bio tool? What do you love about it?
How to Build Better Ads With the Facebook Ads Library
What if you could see every ad currently live on Facebook? Imagine the data, ideas, and revenue you could generate.
You no longer have to imagine. Facebook Ad Library gives you free access to view any ad currently live on the Facebook ecosystem.
With one of the largest advertising audiences on the internet at an estimated 2.74 billion people and a ridiculously competitive CPC of $0.43, Facebook is one of the best places to advertise online.
Today I’m going to show you how you can use the Ad Library to make it even better and send the conversion rates of your Facebook ads soaring.
What Is the Facebook Ad Library?
Facebook Ad Library is a free, public database of every ad currently active on Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram. Users can view every detail of the ads, including the copy, the image, how long it’s been live, when it launched, and any versions being A/B tested.
Facebook initially launched the library to improve the transparency of advertising on the platform and avoid claims of election interference. But the Ad Library is so much more than this. It’s an incredibly powerful tool marketers can use to transform their Facebook Ad campaigns.
How Do I Get Started With Facebook Ad Library?
You don’t need a Facebook account to access Facebook’s Ad Library, but you won’t be able to take advantage of all its features, so you should get one. (That said, if you want to advertise on Facebook, you should have one anyway.)
Start by searching for a brand and clicking on the relevant name from the drop-down menu.
You’ll now see a page displaying information about the advertiser, including when they created the ad, how many ads they have running, and the location of moderators.
Scroll down a little further to see ads in a grid. You can click “See Ad Details” to see more information about a particular ad.
8 Ways to Use the Facebook Ad Library to Create Better Ads
There are many different ways you can leverage the power of the Facebook Ad Library to create better ads. Here are eight to get you started.
1. Explore Ads From a Variety of Industries
The first thing everyone does when they access Facebook Ad Library is search for their competitors and see what ads they’re running. Not only is this a perfectly natural reaction, but it also makes business sense to spy on your competitors.
Don’t get hung up on your competitors, however. There are hundreds of industries out there, and you can learn a lot from all of them, whether it’s high-end luxury retail, insurance, or the law.
Start by searching for any brand you love, then look at that brand’s competitors. See what they have in common.
Next, look a little closer to home and analyze brands tangentially related to your own. For instance, if you run a dog-focused e-commerce store, you could look at cat or reptile brands to see which strategies they use.
Find one or two angles you’re not using and start testing.
2. Find Similar Ads and See Which Was More Successful
One of the most underrated features of the Facebook Ads Library is seeing different versions of the same ad brands are split testing. A/B testing is a fundamental part of succeeding with Facebook Ads, but working out what to test is easier said than done.
That’s what makes Facebook Ads Library so powerful. In 10 minutes, you can build a checklist of ad features to A/B test the next time you create an ad.
Best of all, you know they are all worth testing because the biggest brands in the world are testing the same thing.
3. View Active Ads to Determine What’s Trending
Spend half an hour browsing the Ad Library, and you’ll quickly see a few trends emerging in terms of layout, offer, and imagery. It’s essential to bear these trends in mind, particularly if ads in a specific format have been running for a long time.
But don’t feel the need to run the same ad as everyone else. While it’s important to understand what works and what doesn’t, you don’t want your ad to be lost in a sea of faceless ads.
4. Check Out Ad Copy and Tone
Are your ads enticing? Do they sell? One way to tell is to compare them to ads by the biggest brands in your industry (or any other industry, for that matter).
Read a few dozen ads to quickly see the similarities in word choice, copy length, and tone. All the best copywriters take inspiration from the ads that came before.
Take note of how long the ads have been running, too. Tried, tested, and proven ads are worth paying attention to, even if you don’t think they read the best.
5. Identify Other Promotion Opportunities
Selling products or courses isn’t the only use for Facebook ads. Browse the Ads Library, and you’ll probably find dozens of other ideas and promotional opportunities.
For instance, you may find your competitors promote things like videos, ebooks, or other content. Advertising your versions of these products is a great way to build an email list and position your brand as an authority.
You’ll also find dozens of examples of branded ads that don’t promote anything in particular and just increase brand awareness. If you’re looking to grow your following through ads, you can find a lot of inspiration for that, too.
6. See Which Ad Formats Have Longevity
No one wants to have to create new Facebook ads every week. That’s way too time-consuming.
The trick is to find a message that resonates well over a long period, and doing so is easy with Facebook Ad Library. Simply search the database for a major advertiser, select active ads only, and scroll to see ads with the longest run time.
Make a note of the media, copy, and offers used, then do the same with other major advertisers in your industry. If many of the long-running ads share the same tone or offer, this can help you create a valuable ad of your own.
7. Discover Effective Media Types
Use Facebook Ad Library to find what media other brands in your industry use in their ads. If many advertisers use stories or carousels and you aren’t, for instance, it may be time to experiment.
Conversely, it may be you’re already using the most popular media type. If so, you can still get inspiration for other ways to implement it differently.
8. Find the Best Time to Run Ads
The creative isn’t the only thing to think about when it comes to ads. Timing is also critical. Your ads can live or die on the running times you set for them, so it pays to see what successful advertisers are doing and take cues from them.
Around big sales days like Valentine’s Day or Black Friday, you can also use the Ad Library to see when competitors start running their ads, so you aren’t left behind. You can even use historical data to beat them to the punch next year.
FAQs About the Facebook Ad Library
How do I access the Facebook Ad Library?
You can access the Facebook Ad Library by clicking the link or visiting www.facebook.com/ads/library.
What is the Facebook Ad Library?
The Facebook Ad Library is a free database of every live Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger ad.
How does Facebook Ad Library work?
You can search the library by typing in an advertiser’s name. This will display a complete list of every ad they run.
Is there a Google Ads Library equivalent?
Google offers a politics-focused archive of ads, which it hopes will increase transparency. Unlike Facebook, however, you can’t search all ads on the Google platform.
Is creating my own Facebook ads worth the money?
Absolutely! Facebook ads are some of the cheapest, most targeted, and highest converting ads on the Internet.
Facebook Ad Library: Conclusion
Advertisers weren’t happy when Facebook made ads accessible to everyone, but you should be delighted. The Facebook Ad Library offers a huge opportunity to anyone looking to upgrade their ad creatives, nail down their copy and send conversion rates soaring.
Whose ads are you going to look at first?
How to Build a Conversion Funnel That Will Triple Your Profits
A conversion funnel is a visual representation of the stages in a buyer’s journey, from the moment they land on your page until they complete a purchase. How do you create a conversion funnel, though, and how do you get the most from this tool? Let’s take a look.
Should I Use the AIDA Model to Create My Conversion Funnel?
The AIDA model is the traditional way to track the customer journey. It’s based on the four classic stages people move through during the buying process: awareness, interest, desire, and action.
- Awareness: First, a person discovers your brand and becomes a lead.
- Interest: Next, you build their interest in your product.
- Desire: Then, your goal should be nudging prospects from simply thinking they like something to actively wanting it, possibly by making proposals or carefully placing glamorous adverts for repeat exposure.
- Action: Finally, you encourage a prospect to take the desired action―turning them into a customer.
Realistically, not everyone who visits your website will convert to a paying customer, which is why we use a funnel shape. Based on the AIDA model, then, a traditional-style sales marketing funnel might look something like this:
The problem? This is a rigid and fairly unrealistic way to view how people move through the stages of a sales cycle.
Leads are human, and the sales process is rarely linear. Often, people loop back to different stages in the sales cycle before they’re ever ready to complete the sale. In other words, people need nurturing before they’ll buy a product. As a marketer, you must understand their behaviors, their personalities, and their needs to convert them into paying customers.
Rather than a straightforward sales funnel, you need a more flexible conversion-based funnel, which will look something like this:
Don’t let the graphic intimidate you! While you might be tempted to start with a simple sales funnel, you’ll increase your chances of success if you start with a more flexible conversion funnel. Let me take you through exactly how it’s done.
How to Create a Conversion Funnel
There are nine main steps to creating a successful conversion funnel, based on a blend of AIDA and less restrictive techniques.
1. Determine Your Ideal Buyer Journey and Map It Out as a Funnel
The point of a conversion funnel is to build an effective buyer’s journey and increase your conversions. To increase your conversions, you must first identify your starting point and your end goal. In other words, you must identify three things:
- what your typical buyer’s journey looks like right now
- what your end goal is, or what action you want a prospect to take
- how you can improve your existing buyer’s journey in order to increase the likelihood of leads becoming paying customers
Once you’ve identified what your end goal is, you can map it out as a conversion funnel. Visualizing or mapping out your funnel can help you stay on track further down the line.
2. Set Goals for Each Stage in Your Funnel
Think of your funnel in three separate parts: the top, middle, and bottom.
Decide what you want from each stage of the funnel; for example, maybe you want to increase your traffic at the top of the funnel, boost your engagement rate in the middle, and increase your conversions at the end.
Once you’ve set some concrete goals, consider using tools to track your progress and ensure you’re meeting those objectives. For example, you might use Google Analytics or email automation software to measure your success rates.
Unless you’re clear on what you need from each stage in your funnel, it’s impossible to know if you’re meeting your targets. Spend some time reflecting on your overall goal before you build a conversion funnel.
3. Make a Content Plan for Each Stage in the Funnel
Each part of the funnel (top, middle, bottom) requires its own marketing plan to keep prospects moving from one stage to the next.
Top
The first stage is all about building brand and product awareness. You’re trying to generate some buzz and encourage prospects to learn more about your company and how your products can help them.
At this early stage, use visually engaging content such as videos, short blog posts, and social media posts to introduce your company and emphasize your brand story.
Middle
You have a person’s attention, so now it’s time to gain their trust and show them why they need your product.
A prospect could ultimately be in this stage for a while, so the focus should be on creating valuable, informative, and reliable content such as case studies, video tutorials, and downloads.
Bottom
The final stage should be focused on giving prospects a reason to buy your product, sign up for your service, or take any other action you desire. Marketing strategies at this stage could include free trials, actionable emails, and CTAs, or calls to action.
4. Implement Strategies and Create Content to Generate Awareness
At this first stage in your funnel, you’re trying to build hype around your brand and product. Why should a customer care about your company? How do your products solve the problems they have? Answer these questions to help build a content strategy for this stage.
Do some competitor research, too. Consider what you can learn from their landing pages, social media channels, and blogs. How are they reeling in potential customers?
With all these questions in mind, here are some examples of ways you might generate awareness and create appropriate content for the first stage of a conversion funnel.
- Consider using PPC ads to increase traffic in the first instance.
- Optimize your content for SEO so it ranks high in the search engine results. This way, people are more likely to find you online.
- Get on popular social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Post regularly and interact with followers to build some engagement.
- Set up a referral program to reward people for recommending your products and services to their social network.
Other ways you might build interest in your brand include, for example, trying influencer marketing, hosting interviews, creating informational guides, and designing printable checklists.
5. Generate Interest and Desire
While the AIDA model labels “interest” and “desire” as two separate outcomes, in real terms, they’re the same thing.
Generating interest, or building desire, comes down to one key thing: creating compelling content. You build some awareness around your brand, you show people why they “need” what you’re selling, and as a result they decide they “want” your product.
How do you create great content to nudge people along this stage of your funnel? Here are some ideas.
- Craft authoritative blog posts to educate your audience. If a user finds your content valuable, they’re more likely to trust you enough to spend money on your products.
- Show your product in action by creating a YouTube video. Video content helps people visualize how the product could benefit them, which in turn makes them feel like they “need” the item.
- If you have a prospect’s contact details, send them curated email content such as roundups of your top blog posts, customer testimonials, or and hints and tips that could benefit your reader.
There are some other ways you can generate interest, too, such as starting a podcast, creating some product guides, running a free trial program, or offering product samples.
6. Encourage Users to Take Action
At the end of the funnel, your goal is to convert a lead into a customer by encouraging the required action. While you could skip this step in the funnel if it works for your business, here are some ways you might optimize your strategy for this stage.
Create a PDF Download
Put together some valuable content in a PDF download and offer it in exchange for their contact details. Make sure your document promises to answer common questions your customers have, to encourage them to actually download it.
Here’s an example from LegalSuite, a legal services provider. Their customers typically want help with streamlining their operational efficiency. To help their customers, LegalSuite offers a free eBook with ways to make their legal operations run more efficiently.
The catch? Prospects must provide some contact details, which means that LegalSuite can follow up with them:
This is a great example of how to encourage an action without being pushy.
Add a Call to Action (CTA) to Relevant Resources
CTAs clarify the action you want people to take, so don’t forget to add them to the content you create.
At this stage of the funnel, you’re trying to entice customers to take a final step to complete the cycle, so give your CTAs a sense of urgency. Emphasize how your product can solve their problem and why they should act now.
Make it easy for customers to act by displaying the CTA somewhere prominent, like the top of a landing page, the end of a guide post, or in a colorful, clickable button at a strategic point in a YouTube video.
Finally, remember to test your CTAs to identify which strategy resonates most with your audience.
Send Actionable Emails
In many ways, great marketing is all about helping people help themselves.
Send them clear, concise, actionable emails emphasizing how they can solve their problems through buying your products or using your services.
Again, ensure there’s an obvious CTA so potential customers know what action you expect them to take.
Incorporate Customer Testimonials
Did you know that 72 percent of customers won’t make a purchase until they’ve read some reviews? Give those customers the reassurance they need to take the final step by adding some testimonials to your page.
You can either just ask customers for reviews, or you can take a look at your existing reviews on websites like Facebook and LinkedIn and ask for permission to share them in your content.
Where should you display testimonials?
It all depends on your audience, brand goals, and marketing strategy. You could, for example:
- include some quotes from positive reviews on your landing page
- embed a widget from a website like Trustpilot on your page so prospects can read your reviews before they buy
- link to videos of happy customers using your products (remember to thank them for trying out your product, too!)
Other Ideas
Finally, you might offer other incentives like free trials, competitor comparison guides, demo videos, and product samples to nurture leads into becoming paying customers.
7. Keep Customers
Great marketing is not just about finding customers. It’s about retaining them, too. Here’s why.
- Acquiring new customers can cost up to 30 times more than retaining customers.
- Your existing customers are, roughly, 50 percent more likely to try your new products.
- 40 percent of sales, on average, can be attributed to repeating customers.
Sounds great, right? Here are some strategies for retaining those all-important loyal customers.
Next-sell
Next-selling is when you follow up with a customer after a purchase and offer them a similar product with, perhaps, an attractive discount attached. Not only does this allow you to communicate with your customer and make them feel valued, but it’s a way to potentially increase revenue.
Say you want to know whether customers who buy coffee machines are more likely to buy a discounted toaster. You can send the customers who bought a coffee machine a discount code for toasters, and send a control group a full price ad on toasters.
Next-selling can provide you with helpful data to build effective funnels.
Create Loyalty Programs
Loyalty programs are crucial to any customer retention strategy, with 81 percent of millennials spending more money when they’re a member of a loyalty scheme. However, since loyalty schemes are nothing new, you need to get creative if you plan on building a winning program.
When you’re creating your own program, consider:
- using high levels of personalization
- giving customers flexibility around how to use their reward points
- offering extra perks and benefits to loyalty scheme members
Amazon Prime, for example, stands out because customers enjoy benefits like free same-day delivery, exclusive savings, and access to members-only shopping events.
With the Starbucks Rewards program, members pay through the Starbucks app, and they earn points towards perks like free food and drink. What’s really great about this scheme, though, is how it’s centralized through the app, meaning Starbucks can access large volumes of data about user behavior to inform their marketing strategy:
Make your loyalty program work for you by using it to monitor customer preferences and buyer behavior.
Product Updates
When you update your products, you’re keeping up with evolving customer demands and changing expectations. You’re showing your loyal customers that you value their continued loyalty.
For example, maybe you can update an app glitch, based on user feedback. Or, you could launch an add-on to improve a software download.
In short, product updates are a great way to improve the user experience.
Other Techniques
How else can you keep those all-important customers? Well, you can try marketing strategies such as:
- introducing member-only events
- sending out exclusive emails
- running contests or prize draws
- starting a customer service RSS feed
8. Grow Customers
Finally, don’t forget to capitalize on your existing customers by encouraging them to make more purchases. There are a few strategies you can try, so here’s a rundown of your best options.
Cross-sell
With cross-selling, you look at a customer’s most recent purchase and show them similar products they might be interested in. Or, during the sales process, you offer them other items which complement the item they’re currently buying.
For example, say someone buys a laptop from your website. As part of your sales funnel, you might also recommend a charger or laptop case to go along with their purchase.
Here’s a real example from REI Co-op. Say, for example, a lead decides to view a set of strength trainers. Under the product listing, there’s a “people also viewed” list, which highlights similar products the lead might be interested in:
It’s not a pushy strategy, but it nurtures leads in the right direction.
Upsell
Upselling means offering a customer a more expensive alternative to the item or service they’re interested in.
For example, if someone selects a free subscription to your service, you might highlight the cheapest paid subscription option to them.
- When you’re upselling, it’s helpful to compare products or services side-by-side.
- However, don’t try to upsell a product if it’s substantially more expensive than what the potential customer wants to buy. Otherwise, the strategy could backfire!
Just remember, though, to avoid being too pushy at all times when you’re upselling.
Here’s a good example from Best Buy. The customer views an entry-level MacBook Air. Above the product, they see other more expensive products from the MacBook range, one of which also has an enticing discount attached to it:
The products advertised aren’t massively different in price from the viewed product, and it’s a good, subtle example of upselling.
Other Strategies
There are a few other strategies you can try to grow your customer base and build your business, including:
- sending out discounts to loyal customers
- personalizing your marketing emails
- issuing more voucher codes
Test out a few strategies and identify which ones resonate best with your customers.
9. Address Funnel Problems
In reality, there’s no such thing as a perfect funnel. However, if your funnel is underperforming, it could be due to common errors such as:
- leaving out a strong CTA
- forgetting to start with a clear brand message
- using too many steps in your funnel
- misreading your funnel analytics data
- failing to follow up with leads
To find out why your funnel isn’t working optimally, you need to run some A/B testing or use an analytics tracking tool like Google Analytics (GA) or Hotjar.
Alternatively, you can perform some lead outreach. Send out surveys or ask for feedback about the website user experience, and always take negative comments on board when you’re refining your funnel. They’ll give you very clear insight on what your audience does or doesn’t want.
Conversion Funnel Tracking With Optimizely
Want to experiment with different funnel variations and track their performance? Give Optimizely a try.
It’s easy enough to use. Once you’ve registered, simply head to your “Experiments” dashboard, select “Create New,” and choose whichever experiment you want to run, such as A/B testing or a personalization campaign:
After you create your experiments, you can track them from your dashboard and make whatever changes best suit your marketing strategy. For example, you might refine your CTA or emphasize a new product. You can run multiple variations simultaneously, too, and track which one works best.
Whatever your conversion goal, Optimizely can help you realize it. Sign up for a free version, or choose a paid subscription with more advanced features if your marketing budget can stretch to it.
How to Track Your Conversion Funnel With Google Analytics
Google Analytics is another handy tool for funnel tracking. With GA, you can easily track customers from the moment they visit your page to whenever they decide to either abandon their journey or complete the purchase.
- Once you’ve set up which website you want to track, set up some conversion goals.
- From the “Admin” menu, go to “Views” then click “Goals:”
- Click “New Goal” and work through the steps to generate the desired goal.
Since we’re trying to visualize a funnel, you want to set a “Destination” goal such as registering for a newsletter.
- You can view your funnel by going back to the “View” menu in the “Admin” section, choosing “Reports,” then selecting “Goal Flow” from the “Conversions” menu.
From here, you can identify where people leave your funnel or where they loop back to different stages.
Conversion Funnel Frequently Asked Questions
What are the four stages of the AIDA model?
The four stages are “Attention,” “Interest,” “Desire,” and “Action.” You’re trying to attract attention, generate interest, encourage the customer to want the product, and have them take the desired action.
What’s the difference between goals and funnels?
The goal is the objective you’re trying to achieve e.g., a customer completing a sale. The funnel is the journey the prospect takes to reach this goal.
How do you visualize a funnel?
Start by checking out funnel visualization tools like Google Analytics.
What is the purpose of a funnel?
A conversion funnel shows you the paths people take on their journey from visiting your website to becoming paying customers.
Conversion Funnel: Conclusion
Think of your conversion funnel as an evolving process. Just as your customers want and need change over time, so should you adapt your goals and funnel strategy to match.
When you strive to give your customers the user experience they’re hoping for, you won’t just build a loyal client base: you’ll stand out from your competitors, too.
Have you built your first conversion funnel yet?
A Beginner’s Guide to Google Analytics
Are you making the most out of the data you can get about your website from Google Analytics (GA)?
The free tool gives you valuable insights into metrics like conversion rates, traffic sources, engagement, audience demographics, and more.
Let’s learn what GA is and how to use it to improve your website’s metrics.
What Is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a free tool to track user behavior on your website. With a range of metrics to explore, you can start to get a picture of how people use your website and how you can make changes to increase sales.
On a basic level, you can track how many visitors you have, how they found you, the number of views a page receives, and more.
In many ways, Google Analytics is the portal giving you insider, back end, and real-time access to what your users want.
Why Should You Use Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is the most powerful tool to track website metrics, and it comes from the king of search engines. On top of that, it’s free.
Although it takes some work to get set up, there are plenty of online tutorials and resources to walk you through the process. Once you get Google Analytics connected to your site, you can head to the Google Analytics dashboard and start checking things out. It can’t go back in time, though, so you will have to wait for data to gather.
Google Analytics can free you from relying on gut checks and intuition and instead tell you what pages and which content hit the mark or fall short. In this way, you can make informed choices.
The Basic Google Analytics Interface
Once you set up your Google Analytics account, you can connect different URLs and choose which one to explore from the drop-down.
The first thing Analytics shows is basic traffic data, including dates. You can alter the dates based on your needs.
On the left side of the screen, Google Analytics provides a list of report options. This is where you can start to get into the details.
On the far right, there’s a blue box with real-time metrics showing how many people are on the site, how many pages are viewed per minute, and the most popular pages to view. You can then click on the blue box to learn more about the data.
If you’re looking for something specific, just type it into the handy search bar.
As you scroll down, you can check out different analytics, including where your users come from and what devices they use.
Common Metrics Tracked With Google Analytics
There are many metrics you can track using Google Analytics.
No matter which type you focus on, you need to choose a time frame for your data. This way, you can check a specific timespan against prior spans to see what’s changing and if what you’re doing is working.
As you analyze the data, try to remember what your marketing goals are. Otherwise, you may get overwhelmed by the whirlwind of numbers.
Let’s look at some of the most popular metrics just to get you started.
Tracking Visitors With Google Analytics
Tracking visitors shows who’s visiting, how many visitors you have, and what they’re doing on your website. This includes factors like bounce rates and session durations.
These metrics are anonymous and vague. You can’t gather personal details for specific visitors to your website.
To dig deeper, you can go to the “Audience” section of Google Analytics.
Tracking Traffic Sources With Google Analytics
Another powerful metric Google Analytics can provide is traffic sources. It answers the question, “how are people finding my website?” You can find this information under the “Acquisition” tab.
For instance, you can find out how much traffic comes from social media, Google Ads, and the Google Search Console. Knowing where your visitors are coming from and what they do once they get to your site can help you know where to focus your marketing efforts.
Tracking Content With Google Analytics
Google Analytics can help you understand how well different pieces of content perform by tracking user behavior. For example, are they visiting certain pages more often than others? Is on-page time higher on some types of content? This can help you determine what works and what doesn’t, which you can use to inform future content creation and marketing choices.
You can find this information under the “Behavior” section.
Tracking Conversions With Google Analytics
Let’s get down to brass tacks here. Are people buying (or doing whatever else you want them to do) once they land on your website? That’s what conversion metrics on Google Analytics can tell you.
These metrics are not automatically generated like the previous ones. Instead, conversion analytics requires you to set goals, typically using the pages visitors are directed to once they convert. Telling Google Analytics to follow users to these final pages can provide more specific information about how people are getting there, how many are converting, and more.
Track Mobile Performance
As mobile use becomes the norm, you may want to see how well your website performs on mobile devices.
These metrics can be found in the “Audience” section under “Mobile.” Here, you can see website metrics broken down by device categories. For example, if you find certain device users are spending less time or money on the site, look into how your site looks and behaves on that type of device.
Creating Custom Reports
As you get a handle on following your website’s metrics, you may find you need custom Google Analytics reports. Custom reports can help you check specific metrics more efficiently, using apples-to-apples comparisons between periods, campaigns, and more.
These custom reports may help when presenting information to your department, organization, leadership, or investors thanks to the hard numbers you can compare and the visual reports you can run. Of course, not everyone may fully understand what you do, but many are likely to understand the basics of what these numbers and graphs mean.
Other Common Google Analytics Functionality and Uses
Google Analytics is constantly rolling out new features that may help you meet your marketing goals. Let’s dive into a few.
Learn What People Are Searching for on Your Site
If you have a lot of content on your website, you may have a search function available to users. Knowing what people type into that search function can help you understand why visitors are on your site, allowing you to plan for and create more relevant content.
Under the “Behavior” area, click “Site Search” to view this information.
Identify Your Worst Performing Pages
Is there content on your website that’s just not performing? Then, you may benefit from optimizing those pages for SEO, deleting useless content, or creating entirely new work.
To learn which pages are not performing, go to “Behavior,” then “Site Content.” From there, click on the arrow to reorder the pages by popularity. This shows which pages get the fewest views. Do with that information what you will—though perhaps consider finding a cause before throwing the page into the abyss.
Find Where People Abandon Their Shopping Carts
People abandoning shopping carts while shopping is a typical e-commerce problem. If you can find where visitors are dropping off your website, you can make improvements to help convert them.
First, set up your goals using a sales funnel. Include each step of your check-out process, including cart, check-out, shipping, and confirmation, in the pages you plan to monitor. Then, click to “visualize your funnels” to see how people behave as they move through the funnel.
You may see a pattern regarding when people abandon carts begin to emerge and make updates accordingly.
See Your Most Important Analytics First
As we talked about above, Google Analytics places many of the most common analytics on the dashboard. However, you can set up a custom dashboard to see exactly what you need. Under the “Customization” tab, find the link for “Dashboards.” You can use a dashboard template or create your own.
How to Create Custom Reports in Google Analytics
Google Analytics makes it easy to create custom reports for your own use or presentations.
- First click on “Customization,” then click on “Custom Reports
- Click on “+ New Custom Report” to get started
You can name your custom report, as well as each tab you want to create if you want different variables in the same report.
- Choose what you want to create the custom report to report on, including overarching metrics you can choose from a dropdown, more specific dimensions, and filters to fine-tune your data thoroughly.
If you scroll over the question mark in the dropdown, you can learn more about each choice.
- Click on whether you want to see all views or limit them.
Start with all, if you’re not sure. Now click “Save.” You’ll be taken to a page with the data automatically. From here, you can save, export, share, or edit the report.
If you save it, you can find this report under “Saved Reports.”
To rerun this custom report, go to “Custom Reports.”
Google Analytics Basics FAQs [wp editor: add schema]
What are some basic things you can do with Google Analytics?
Google Analytics can give you information about who visits your website, how many views your website receives, which content is the most popular, and more.
What is the best way to learn Google Analytics?
You can learn more about the basics of Google Analytics from Google themselves.
What is a Google Analytics tracking code?
Google Analytics uses a tracking ID, which you place in the code of your website or a plugin to allow Google to receive information about your website.
How much does it cost to use Google Analytics?
Most of the benefits of Google Analytics are free, though you can choose to purchase upgrades.
What is the benefit of using Google Analytics?
Google Analytics provides in-depth information on how well your website is performing.
Basics of Google Analytics Conclusion
Google Analytics provides nearly endless amounts of information about your website’s data. Once you set up Google Analytics on your website, you can access metrics covering nearly every part of your customers’ journeys.
You can create custom reports to analyze how well your strategies work. This may help you make informed changes to your website, which may, in turn, draw even more people to your brand and via your analytics-driven marketing strategy.
What’s your favorite Google Analytics feature?
7 Link Shortener Alternatives to Goo.gl
When you’re trying to drive traffic to your website and generate new leads, the goal is to make your content as attractive as possible. After all, with so much competition out there, it’s important you stand out from the crowd and grab someone’s attention right away, right?
The answer’s yes!
Just like you spend time and energy creating visually appealing content for users to enjoy, you shouldn’t forget the finer details: namely, your links.
Yes, really. URLs matter. Let me show you why link shortening is worth your time and what link shoortening alternatives to Goo.gl are worth trying.
What Is Link Shortening?
Link shortening takes longer links, with their confusing combination of numbers, letters, and special characters, and turns it into a short, readable link.
Here’s an example from NASA’s Twitter feed. The link is only a few characters long, it contains the NASA branding, and it’s clear where the link redirects to:
Here’s another example. When you click the link, it takes you to a YouTube video. The destination is fairly clear from the short link (youtu.be) even though it’s unbranded, meaning there’s no mention of NASA’s name in the link:
The original “longer” link looks like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Mqsd0ru_pc
Which one do you think looks more attractive on a website or social media post? Which one would you be more likely to click on?
Chances are, it’s the first option, and the reality is, your potential customers feel the same way.
Why Should You Use a Link Shortening Tool?
OK, so that’s how link shortening works, but is it worth your time? Here’s a bit more detail.
In most cases, URL shortener tools also track how many people click your links. You can track who clicked your link to calculate the success of ad campaigns or content marketing strategies you’re running. From a marketing perspective, link shorteners are invaluable.
It’s also ideal for social media posts, where you might have a limited number of characters to convey your message. Shortening URLs and focusing on content makes it easier to engage your followers.
Finally, short URLs are more attractive. They’re easier to read and make your content more user-friendly. You can also create branded links with URL shorteners to reinforce your brand message at the same time.
Since great marketing is all about creating a great experience for your customers and building awareness, short URLs are a crucial tool.
To be clear, it’s not always worth shortening URLs. For example, if you’re just linking from one page on your website to another, there’s no need to shorten the link.
If you need help figuring out which links to shorten and which ones to leave alone, check out my consulting services.
How Did Goo.gl Work?
Google’s own URL shortening tool, Goo.gl, launched back in 2009.
At first, it only worked with Google applications, meaning you could only shorten URLs for the Google toolbar. However, Google made the tool available to the public in 2010, which made it simpler for all website owners to access and use.
Goo.gl offered a simple means to create shorter, more readable URLs. All you had to do was input your long URL and Goo.gl generated a smaller URL without lines of extra characters:
You didn’t need a Google or G Suite account to create a one-off URL, either. However, if you wanted to keep track of all your custom URLs, you could create an account and view all your shortened links at a glance:
Website owners could also track how many people clicked the shortened URL, which helped with marketing strategy creation:
Why did Google shut down Goo.gl, though? Put simply, Goo.gl wasn’t designed for anything other than desktop browsing. As browsing habits changed and it became more common for people to access the web through mobile devices or apps, Google realized the tool just wasn’t flexible enough to stay competitive.
The answer? Firebase Dynamic Links, or FDL, which replaced Goo.gl back in 2019. As we’ll see in a moment, FDL improves upon Goo.gl in a few ways, although it’s not the only URL shortening tool worth considering.
7 Goo.gl Replacements
There are many other link shortening tools out there, so how do you choose the right one for your needs? To help you narrow your search, here are seven promising alternatives to Goo.gl you can try right now.
1. Firebase Dynamic Links
Since Firebase Dynamic Links (FDL) replaced Goo.gl, it’s a good tool to start with if you’re focusing on app creation and development.
Firebase works similarly to Goo.gl, since you’re still creating short URLs. However, these URLs are no ordinary links: they’re “smart” links, or Dynamic Links.
When a user clicks on a FDL link, they’re directed to exactly where you want them to go in your Android or iPhone app… even if they don’t already have the app installed. They simply download the app and the right page loads automatically.
Cool, right?
It doesn’t matter whether they click through from a desktop browser or mobile device, either. They will be directed to a compatible version of your website, so there’s no need for you to generate different URLs for each platform.
If you’re focusing on app-based marketing, definitely consider FDL. There’s a free plan available, although the paid plan has some nice features.
2. Rebrandly
Do you want to create unique branded links using custom domain names? Then Rebrandly could be for you.
Trusted by global brands like IBM and Shopify, Rebrandly is more than just a URL shortening tool. It’s a link management platform designed to help you build entire marketing campaigns around branded links in just a few clicks.
Without leaving your browser, you can create and share links across over 100 integrated apps including Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. Plus, you can measure your campaign results from the dashboard.
It’s free to sign up, but paid packages start at just $29 per month, which gives you access to more detailed metrics and a larger number of branded links. If you’re looking for an enterprise-level solution for larger teams, reach out to Rebrandly for a custom quote.
3. Ow.ly
If you’re already using Hootsuite, Ow.ly is worth a look.
You can shorten any link posted to social media right from the Hootsuite dashboard. This lets you view everything from your campaign ROI to your link metrics at the same time. There’s no need to switch between different tools (unless you’re also using other platforms like Google Analytics.)
Ow.ly comes free with every Hootsuite account, too, so you don’t need a paid subscription to benefit from the tool. Sounds good, right?
All that said, Ow.ly’s only available to Hootsuite users, so it’s not the right tool for everyone, but it’s worth a try if you already use Hootsuite.
4. Bitly
For enterprise-grade link management, consider Bitly, one of the most comprehensive tools out there.
With Bitly, you’re not just creating short, branded links. You’re turning those links into valuable marketing tools. Bitly offers some of the most in-depth campaign management tools available to help you track everything from clicks to organic shares.
It’s a useful tool for tracking customer journeys without hopping between different CRMs, making it ideal for larger companies looking to track data and grow their campaigns efficiently. You can even generate QR codes to engage customers and drive sales.
What’s more, Bitly is trusted by the likes of Amazon, Disney, and Gartner, so you know it’s a platform that delivers on its promises! Packages start at $29 per month.
5. TinyURL
No roundup of link shortening tools is complete without TinyURL, the very first program of its kind:
You don’t need an account to shorten one or two short URLs. To get the most of the platform, sign up for a free account which allows you to create an unlimited number of URLs and track clicks.
The Pro package starts at $9.99 per month and offers advanced tracking options. For businesses looking to run high-volume ad campaigns, the Bulk package may be a better option at $99.00 per month.
If you’re looking for a no-fuss way to shorten your URLs and track some metrics, TinyURL is worth a go.
6. BL.INK
Are you a small business owner looking to launch marketing campaigns but don’t need a large-scale solution? BL.INK was designed for you.
With BL.INK, you can quickly share shortened URLs across social media channels and even send actionable links by SMS or messaging platforms. BL.INK seamlessly integrates with existing worktools and CMS, so you can easily track link performance and view the data alongside other metrics.
Packages start at $48 per month, making it one of the more expensive tools on the list. However, you can try it free for 21 days, which is a bonus.
If you’re not looking for an enterprise-level solution but want more than just a basic shortening tool, consider BL.INK.
7. Sniply
Do you want to add a CTA to every shortened link you create? Now you can, thanks to Sniply.
On the surface, Sniply works like any other link shortener. However, it offers a unique level of customization: you can embed a colorful CTA button with every link you share across social media.
Not only do your links look more appealing because they’re shorter, but they’re more actionable than ever:
Pricing is reasonable, too, with packages starting at $29 per month. However, if you want to add more than one team member, you’ll need to opt for a more expensive tier.
Link Shortener Frequently Asked Questions
What is link shortening?
Link shortening, or URL shortening, lets you change how a link displays to users. You can make a URL appear shorter or even add branding and still send users to the correct page.
What’s the point of link shortening?
A link shortening tool turns a long, rambling link into something memorable to share with prospects, which is handy on social media. You can also track the number of real people visiting your website, which provides more accurate analytics information.
Why did Google stop supporting Goo.gl?
Google made the changes in response to how people use the internet. Its new tool, Firebase Dynamic Links, is more flexible than Goo.gl and lets site owners redirect users on mobile apps rather than just desktop websites.
When should you not use link shortening?
Since one of the main reasons we shorten links is for tracking purposes, you don’t need to shorten links if you’re just linking from one page on your website to another.
Link Shortener Conclusion
Are the alternatives to the Goo.gl link shortener worth your time? Absolutely. With the range of link management tools out there, you can quickly generate short, readable links to showcase your brand and drive traffic to your website.
What’s more, there’s a link shortening tool to suit every marketing strategy, whether you’re looking for a no-fuss, budget-friendly option or want to invest in an enterprise-level solution.
Have you tried a link shortening tool yet? How has it improved your conversions or made it easier to track your performance?
How to Craft Lead Magnets Your Customers Can’t Ignore
Getting traffic to your site is nice, but there’s not much of a point if those visitors don’t convert.
There’s one tactic I use above all others to generate new leads:
A lead magnet.
They aren’t some newfangled tech trend. They’ve been an essential marketing tool for decades.
With lead magnets, you give people something for free in exchange for an email address and permission to send them more offers—for example, a free ebook or an SEO checklist.
However, not all lead magnets are effective.
Let’s take about how lead magnets work and explore how to create one that drives leads.
How Lead Magnets Can Grow Your Business
The lure of ‘free’ is compelling, according to Predictably Irrational author Dan Ariely.
He proved this by giving groups of people the option to select from different Amazon gift cards. Respondents could choose from receiving either:
- A $10 Amazon gift card for free, or
- A $20 Amazon gift card for only $7
If you were to look at that objectively, based on cold hard math, you’d see that the second option was the better value ($13 vs. $10.)
Check out the third column on the far right to see which one won:
It wasn’t even close! Everyone sampled chose the free $10 option instead.
Ariely calls this the Zero-Price Effect because humans don’t see the downside to something that’s free.
Ariely ran a related experiment. They staged a promotion for free tattoos and had people line up outside the store.
These people were waiting in line with full knowledge of what they were doing.
Yet when Ariely asked them if they’d be waiting to get the same tattoo if it wasn’t free, 68 percent of respondents said no!
In other words, people took time out of their busy schedule to commit permanent ink to their skin simply because it was free.
Good lead magnets, when done correctly, have the same effect (albeit without the same long-lasting effects).
They pass along a useful ebook, webinar, or email course, asking for very little (if anything) in return from visitors.
You leverage the power of free to kickstart the first step in your customer value optimization process.
Lead magnets are nothing new.
They get a lot of attention today because of how persuasive and powerful they can be.
One of the best ways to incorporate them today is with a content upgrade. People are already on your site, seeking something out.
Think about it:
They went to Google and typed in something specific to end up on your blog post.
A lead magnet sweetens the pot by providing additional insight on the same exact topic they were reading about.
Brian Dean used the content upgrade strategy to boost his conversions by 785 percent in one day.
Brian Harris of Video Fruit is seeing a 20-30 percent opt-in rate from blog posts where he links not one, not two, but three times to his lead magnet.
For example, the first comes right in the introduction:
Then he follows up that up with another two more for good measure down at the bottom:
The blog post goes through an in-depth analysis of how content upgrades can get you more leads. Then it distills those insights and actionable tips down so that you can easily start implementing the same tactics on your site (after downloading the lead magnet, of course).
If you want to see the same results, your lead magnet has to abide by a few rules.
The form or medium doesn’t matter necessarily. Instead, success typically comes down to a few >key ingredients:
- Does your audience care about it?
- Is there value to it?
- Does it solve a problem and/or give the audience something they need?
So how do you figure those things out?
Let’s dive into what the best lead magnets have in common to find out.
How to Create Lead Magnets That Drive Conversions
Now that you know why lead magnets are important (to get you more leads!) let’s talk about how to create one that drives conversions like mad.
Find Out What Your Customers Want
Saying you need to “know your audience” sounds obvious and trite. However, it’s one of those things that everyone talks about, but no one seems to know how to do.
The big clue is in the reception. If your digital copies aren’t flying off the shelf when it goes live, your issue typically comes back to a mismatch with your audience.
Thankfully, this can be an easy fix if you know where to look.
Start by looking for what people are already paying for.
That might sound counterintuitive because lead magnets are free.
However, if someone is willing to part with their hard-earned cash for something, it’s a sure sign that they’re committed.
For example, one of my favorite places to start is the Kindle Marketplace.
Let’s say I’m about to create a lead magnet in an industry I know nothing about: cooking. (Seriously, nothing.)
I could guess or make a few assumptions about which cooking lead magnet would work best. Or I could head on over to the Kindle Marketplace and see what’s already working well.
It’s not just the topic you’re looking for at this point, but also the ‘format’ that resonates with an audience.
Here’s what I mean.
Go to the Amazon Kindle Marketplace look at the sidebar on the left-hand side. There, you’ll find all the book categories and then subcategories upon subcategories upon subcategories. (In other words, drilling down to find your niche and your audience.)
Here’s what the bestsellers look like in European cooking and food:
Ok, now we’re getting somewhere.
Most are unsurprisingly recipe books. However, that first one is especially interesting.
It’s a “cooking for two,” book which means the people buying it are looking for quick, no-fuss meals in smaller portions.
See?
That tells you a lot about the audience and what their preferences are. The Mediterranean one on the far right is another indication — those meals tend to be easy and healthy.
So these people might be looking for a new recipe cookbook, but that doesn’t mean they want some haute cuisine that requires working for hours in the kitchen.
Instead, these (presumably) busy people want something relatively quick and healthy.
Next, the trick is to put something together that’s like these examples but somehow different, better, or unique.
For example, let’s dive a little deeper into books reviews to see what they say.
Here’s a positive review to kick things off:
Awesome! Two of our assumptions are already being proved correct.
People like this example because it provides recipes that are “quick to prepare. “
Busy moms might be foodies. However, foodies probably aren’t going to be buying this book.
That completely changes how you might create, package, design, and even promote this ebook already.
Positive reviews are helpful to start with, but many times you can learn more from negative reviews. Check this out:
First, this book’s organization and table of contents aren’t up to snuff for this reviewer. They’re even giving you the answer here, too: “… organizing the dishes into categories or even providing an index.”
Good ideas! These are the little details that you or I wouldn’t have thought of because we might not be experts on cooking already.
However, a little bit of research has already revealed a few nuggets of wisdom.
Then, this reviewer goes on to complain about some of the editing and attention to detail towards the bottom.
Easy — let’s also have a subject-matter expert help edit this work to ensure accuracy (critical in cooking) is on point.
Use Audience Feedback to Refine Your Lead Magnet Idea
Now let’s take this one step further by simply asking the audience which versions of our idea they’d prefer.
For example, write up a simple blog post that explains what you’re thinking about creating and ask for ideas or improvements.
This does two things at the same time:
- It helps you get feedback to incorporate into the creation of your lead magnet.
- And it helps you ‘seed’ the market so that people are already primed to download it when you push the lead magnet live.
Soliciting feedback from people who aren’t yet on your email list can help you better understand how to get them on the list eventually. Here’s what I mean.
Take this post on how an Instagram user-generated more than $300,000.
If you take a close look at the comments section of the post, you’ll find a couple of readers asking about how the Instagram user made her lists.
Multiple people are now requesting the same information in the comments, which means there must be built-in demand for this information.
Lead magnets are ‘free,’ but users still have to part with their precious contact info. They won’t do that for just anything.
So you need to create content that interests the audience.
Let’s check out Google Analytics to see which pages (and topics) are performing best:
Start by segmenting all your posts into categories.
Sometimes your site already has this done if you included categories in your URL string. For example, Unbounce uses the category “PPC” in this blog post:
So you can search for URLs in your most popular content that feature PPC.
You’ve now painstakingly compiled insight into what your customers want. Your next job should be insanely easy at this point: Give them what they’re asking for!
Being Specific About The Value
Picture someone on your site reading your perfectly crafted blog post about the latest trends in European cooking when a pop-up appears offering a printable “Be a Better Cook” guide.
Huh? That generic printed piece of paper is going to make them a better cook? How?
No, thank you.
What if it was a printable checklist on the “Ten Top-Rated Dinner Recipes from France and Italy?”
Now imagine you visit the landing page for Digital Agency Day because you want to see when the upcoming date is to make sure you don’t miss any of the great information.
You’re hemming and hawing about signing up for the live event because you’re not sure if you’ll be able to make it.
Then an exit overlay catches you before leaving, suggesting you sign up to receive the recordings when ready:
Ok, that’s something you can get behind.
It’s specific and relevant, so it immediately makes sense.
So you’ll probably hand over your email.
It’s no surprise that this example resulted in a 19.03 percent conversion rate increase.
People aren’t going to sign up for something they don’t think is useful.
For example, check out this 9-part lesson from Brennan Dunn:
It targets a massive pain point for freelancers (“charging what you’re worth”).
It’s incredibly detailed and in-depth (“9-lesson course”).
There’s social proof that proves its value (“20,000 other freelancers”).
Brennan could easily charge for something like this, and people would still buy it.
It’s that good.
Checklists or cheat sheets can provide immediate value by giving people something they could put to use right now.
A longer multi-part course (like this example) or in-depth ebook can provide that long-term value people will reference for weeks (and months) to come.
Side-step these three issues, and you won’t just churn out another cookie-cutter lead magnet.
Instead, you’ll create a marketing asset that kicks off a long, profitable relationship with a new customer.
Design A High-Quality Lead Magnet
Remember the complaint on the first cookbook a few minutes ago? The poor organization and presentation detracted from the content and overall experience for that reviewer.
Now imagine what happens if you gave your email to get a downloadable guide filled with poor image quality and lots of typos. Same thing, right?
Unsubscribe.
The goal here is to get these users to move on from the freebie and eventually make a purchase. You can’t do that without attention to detail. You also need to show your value.
Check out this checklist from Bryan Harris of Video Fruit.
Looks pretty snazzy, right? Not just another boring rundown filled with typos.
Don’t have the design skills or staffing to get this done? Hire a professional from Dribbble or Behance.
If you need a little extra help to enhance your own work, check out Beacon.
You can even hire a pro on Fiverr to do this for you, or you can do something similar by using a simple Google Doc.
Lead Magnet Frequently Asked Questions
What is a lead magnet?
A lead magnet is a free offer businesses offer in exchange for contact information from prospective leads. Examples include an ebook, discount code, free course, or checklist.
What makes a great lead magnet?
A great lead magnet must be valuable to your target audience. Aim to solve a problem or make their job or life easier in some way. For example, a business coach might offer “10 things to do before your next job interview.”
How much does a lead magnet cost?
They should be free to your leads. For businesses, the costs should be for research, creation, and distribution. These consts can vary widely based on the lead magnet and resources available. For example, if you have an in-house marketing team and graphic design person, the costs would be minimal.
What are the best types of lead magnets?
The best lead magnet is one your users find valuable, which can vary by industry, business model, and target audience. Common examples include ebooks, white papers, webinards, checklists, work sheets, coupon codes, and short courses.
Lead Magnets Conclusion
Lead magnets are one of the best ways to gather audience insight, generate leads, and even start the nurturing process to make the ultimate conversion (to revenue) easier.
Once they’ve signed up for the useful, relevant, and high-quality freebie, you establish yourself as a thought-leader on that topic and create a new customer relationship.
This means they’ll think of you when they need more information. They’ll come back for more. And they’ll come back to buy.
The good news is that these aren’t difficult to create, either. You need to take the time to dive deep into what your customers want and what they don’t want.
Then all you have to do is give them exactly what they’re already asking for.
What is your favorite lead magnet example?
A Complete Guide to Outbound Marketing
Is outbound marketing right for your business?
How do you decide which strategies are going to help you grow your brand?
If you’ve got questions about outbound, then you’ve come to the right place.
What Is Outbound Marketing?
Outbound marketing is where you (the business) initiate conversations with your customers to attract them to your brand. For example, TV commercials, cold calls, paid ads, and direct mail are all examples of outbound.
Inbound marketing, on the other hand, is when your customer initiates a conversation with you. For example, they visit your website, read an ebook, or download a white paper.
The goal for outbound marketing is to actively build authentic relationships through engagement, targeted communications, and putting your company in the right place at the right time.
There’s no denying that inbound marketing has grown in popularity in recent years (and with good reason, as it produces tremendous results.) However, outbound still takes up 90 percent of marketing budgets due to the high cost per outreach.
To improve your ROI in outbound, you need to allocate your budget to the methods that work for your brand. Below, we’ll cover some strategies to try, but first, let’s talk about its relevancy.
Is Outbound Marketing Still Relevant Today?
Every business owner loves to cut costs. When you, as a consumer, immediately delete a sales promotion email from your inbox without looking at it, you might wonder why that business would continually persist with an outbound strategy.
The likelihood is, they’ve built a huge mailing list and their promotions go to every single email address—paying no heed as to whether each customer is directly their target audience or not.
Why? They’ve invested in building a mailing list, and outbound marketing is still an extremely useful tool. It’s amazingly good at driving brand awareness (as long as your emails aren’t repetitive enough that a customer ends up hating you), maintaining brand relevance, and introducing products to new audiences. It helps you be at the forefront of your customer’s mind, for recommendations, word of mouth marketing, and lead generation.
Inbound marketing is great, and especially for smaller and low-budget businesses, but if customers don’t know your products exist in the first place, they can’t search for something they aren’t aware of.
Outbound marketing guarantees you reach people. You won’t be shouting into the void. Blogs are great for SEO and hoping Google’s Algorithm will take pity on you, but when you pay for a TV ad in a half-time break of a popular show: you know it’s going to be seen.
It can be expensive, but, when done correctly, it still provides a good ROI and is still relevant today as a complement to inbound marketing.
7 Outbound Marketing Strategies to Try
Most marketing success comes through a combination of different strategies. Whether it’s inbound or outbound, there are lots of different ways to reach your target audience, and often it will take lots of different strategies to achieve your goals.
Here are seven outbound sales strategies you can use to boost your marketing.
Outbound Marketing Strategy Number #1: Cold Email
Email seems to have been around a long time now, but it’s still bringing in an incredible ROI for marketers.
We’re all accustomed to receiving newsletters from websites, but we tend to forget about an important part of outbound strategy: cold email.
Cold emails are unsolicited emails you send out to prospects. You’re initiating the interaction, so it firmly fits in with the principles of outbound marketing.
“Everybody hates receiving unsolicited emails, spam is the worst.”
Well, what if your cold emails didn’t feel like unsolicited emails? What if they were highly personalized, respected your customer’s time, and actually offered value to them beyond a product that can fix “all of life’s problems?”
Outbound marketing doesn’t have to be pushy, impersonal, sales-based spam. It can have all the creativity of inbound marketing. Using your understanding of your target audience, you can craft cold emails that get responses and create leads.
Here are some things you will want to concentrate on with your cold emails:
- cleaning your list: make sure you’re reaching live emails
- engaging subject lines: earn the click
- personalization: make people feel like they’re not the millionth person to receive this email
- offering value: you want something from them, what can you offer in return?
- A/B test everything: subject lines, signatures, CTA’s, interval between each email, the time you send each email, and, of course: the copy itself
Small details make a big difference, for example, 30 percent of people open an email based on the subject line, so make sure you’re optimizing every aspect of your outbound marketing.
Outbound Marketing Strategy Number #2: Direct Mail
First, I recommend “cutting edge technology” with emails, and now I’m telling you to send people letters through the mail?
Well, yes!
So much of our lives might have moved online, but we still exist away from the internet and we still receive mail. As it turns out, we still enjoy seeing something in the mailbox with our names on it, and this is an effective way of using outbound marketing.
This scientific study found brand recall is 70 percent higher among participants exposed to direct mail than an online ad. It may not have the fancy analytics, and you may not be able to put a GIF on it, but it’s certainly a good way to gain traction for your brand, and can still be relevant to your ethos, voice, and how you want to present yourself.
Just take a look at KitKat’s amusing example:
Estimates for the average ROI from direct mail vary a lot, and, like with most outbound marketing, it’s all about how good your campaign is.
With direct mail, it’s important to:
- Remain targeted with your approach and segment people based on past purchases, location, demographics, etc.
- Be creative and make your ad stand out amongst the crowd.
- Include a way to track the success of the campaign (unique discount codes are a great way to see which customers are responding).
It might not seem like it fits with the digital age, but direct mail is still a useful outbound strategy.
Outbound Marketing Strategy Number #3: Search Ads
Paid search ads can be seen as a cross between inbound and outbound marketing. While the targeted user has likely actively searched for information related to your products, you’re still artificially placing your brand in front of them in a way more reminiscent of outbound marketing.
Search ads are great for immediate success.
With SEO, you write an article and watch as the search engines gradually start to rank it. When it does start to bring in traffic, it’s an amazing tool because you’re not paying for clicks, but it takes time and there’s no guarantee of success.
When you invest in paid search ads, you give your brand an immediate presence in the SERPs, almost guaranteeing you traffic. Of course, you will be paying for each click which means the most important thing with search ads is optimization.
Not only do your ads have to be on-point, but so do your landing pages (here’s how I make sure my landing pages are converting).
Clearly set out what you’re trying to achieve with your paid ads and make sure everything is streamlined toward driving action from your customers. Small issues such as a clunky checkout page can hurt your conversion rate and make a big difference to your ROI on your search ads.
The average conversion rate for search ads on the Google network is 4.4 percent, but the hard work you put in might see you push well beyond this.
Here’s my “Guide to Google Ads” to help you out.
Outbound Marketing Strategy Number #4: Social Media Ads
Billions of people are on social media every day. The average daily usage of social media is two hours and 25 minutes.
In marketing, we talk a lot about reaching your customers where they’re hanging out, and the data shows this is overwhelmingly on social media. If you’re not running social media ads, then you’re missing out.
Social media is becoming more and more “pay to play,” increasingly making it an outbound tool. Paid social media is:
- more cost-effective than organic social media
- increases brand awareness
- boosts reach
The average organic post reaches just five percent of your followers, so you need a huge following to make a difference with organic social media. Paid ads on the other hand allow you to immediately reach a highly targeted audience.
One of the most powerful aspects of advertising on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn is targeting. These companies have an incredible amount of data on their users and you can use this to be extremely targeted, serving your ads to the people they’re going to have the most impact on.
Outbound Marketing Strategy Number #5: Trade Shows/Events
Marketing may have shifted focus from the physical world to the digital one, but that certainly doesn’t mean getting out and meeting people is a dead art. One of the best ways to get your brand in front of a targeted audience is by attending a trade show.
This can represent a large upfront cost (on average it costs $100-$150 per square foot of floor space), but the exposure and new connections you make can be well worth it.
Maintaining brand relevance is something that takes constant commitment, and having a stand at a major trade show is one of the ways you can do this. Just think of any major trade show, and you’ll expect the biggest brands to be there. For example, what would an international farming show be without John Deere?
It may seem like these companies are so big it doesn’t matter whether they attend a trade show, but they recognize that to remain relevant you’ve got to be visible.
When planning for a tradeshow, make sure you’re setting goals and managing your budget appropriately.
Outbound Marketing Strategy Number #6: Cold Calls
Outbound doesn’t always have the best reputation and cold calls certainly fit this picture. Despite this, the inescapable reality is cold calling works for many businesses.
Sales and marketing are still about reaching new audiences and starting conversations and that’s exactly what cold calling allows you to do. Of course, there are good and bad ways of doing this, and you need to consider your approach carefully.
Again, it’s easy to look at cold calling and think it’s all about numbers. Sure, outbound relies on volume, but the most important aspect is still quality, in this case, the quality of the conversations you can have.
This is why there’s a push away from scripted sales pitches towards approaches like SPIN selling where the focus is on helping the customer to solve their problems (if you’ve read my inbound marketing articles then you know this is something I talk about all the time).
If you’re thinking about using cold calling as part of your outbound strategy then keep these important points in mind:
- Invest in the right software: this will save you so much time and make you much more efficient.
- Think about your brand image: don’t be pushy, work on growing relationships.
- Research your prospect list: make sure you’re reaching a targeted audience.
- Respect people’s privacy: take people off your contact list when requested.
- Protect the vulnerable: look after your customers, especially the elderly, and put protections in place (such as a 30-day refund guarantee) to allow them to change their minds.
Outbound Marketing Strategy Number #7: TV, Radio, and Print Ads
Online marketing has transformed the way businesses advertise, but traditional advertising is far from dead.
There are lots of online places you can advertise your business and continue to grow your brand. TV and radio ads may require a bigger investment than other forms. like PPC but they still bring in big results.
The average American might spend more than two hours a day on social media, but traditional TV consumption is even higher among the older generations:
- 50-64-year-old Americans watch an average of four hours and 59 minutes of traditional TV each day.
- Over 65s watch a massive six hours and 39 minutes.
Consumption of traditional media might be changing but it’s still there—and therefore it’s still a big opportunity for marketers. Make sure you understand your target demographics and are showcasing your brand with creative messaging and you can still see an excellent return on your investment.
Outbound Marketing Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between inbound and outbound marketing?
Outbound relies on the business initiating the interaction whereas inbound marketing relies on the customer searching for your brand.
Is social media inbound or outbound marketing?
Social media can be both inbound and outbound. Paid social media ads would be classed as outbound, whereas organic reach is inbound marketing.
Why is outbound marketing effective?
Outbound marketing is often effective because it’s immediate. You’re not waiting for people to find you, you’re putting your brand in front of people and initiating interactions.
Is outbound marketing dead?
No, it is very much alive. Many businesses still use outbound to achieve a good return on their investment.
What are examples of outbound marketing?
Examples include paid search ads, social media ads, cold email, cold calls, trade shows, and tv/radio/print ads.
Outbound Marketing Conclusion
Outbound marketing is something that’s still relevant today. It’s a great complement for your inbound marketing and an excellent way to grow your brand.
Marketing is a competitive field, and sometimes you can’t rely on people coming to you, instead, you’ve got to put your name out there and guarantee you’re getting exposure. In these cases, cold emails, search ads, social media ads, trade shows, cold calls, and traditional media ads can make a huge difference.
The most important thing to remember is that many of the same principles of inbound marketing still apply to outbound. You still need to understand your target audience, and you’ve got to be able to provide value and help solve people’s pain points.
If you can successfully do this, then outbound marketing can be an important part of your strategy.
What’s your favorite outbound marketing strategy?
How to Claim Your Google News Author Knowledge Panel
People tend to connect with news sources they trust. As an author, you could be that news source.
However, building a large following is not easy in a world where so many voices are clamoring for attention. That’s why you need to leverage all resources available for you to stand out from the crowd.
One way is to claim your Google News author knowledge panel.
What Is a Google News Author Knowledge Panel?
Google News author knowledge panels are information boxes Google displays at the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs) when a user searches for an entity. An entity can be a person, business, organization, or event.
Information that appears in your author knowledge panel is pulled from Google’s Knowledge Graph.
This is Google’s data bank, which features a system designed to understand facts about entities on the web and how they relate to each other. Knowledge Graph gets information from several different sources across the web, including (among others), reputable websites, Google My Business (GMB) profiles, Wikipedia, and social media.
Whenever source information changes, Google also automatically updates the author knowledge panel. To display the knowledge panel, search engines:
- receive a user’s query
- obtain search results for the query
- identify the first set of factual entities relevant to the query
- select the most relevant media to display in the knowledge graph
- verify that collected content is factual and relevant to the query
A knowledge panel features content such as:
- visuals (images and videos)
- your website and other third-party websites you appear on
- social media profiles
- contact details
- events
- facts about you or your business
Giving users a quick glimpse of who you are and what you do is essential in helping you build a solid online presence.
Why Should You Verify Your Author Knowledge Panel Account?
Verifying your author panel account is one way that can help you reach your marketing goals. Here are a few reasons why you should invest time and effort in verifying it:
Increases Search Visibility
One of the most significant reasons you should invest time and effort in verifying and managing your author knowledge panel account is that it helps boost SEO. When people search for a query related to you or your brand, the first thing they’ll see on the SERPs is a knowledge graph featuring information about you and your business. Of course, increased search visibility results in increased traffic to your site and, ultimately, an uptick in revenue.
Boosts Brand Visibility
Another reason to verify your author panel is that it’s a great way to increase brand visibility. Because knowledge panels occupy a significant portion of SERP real estate, they offer unmatched brand visibility. Knowledge panels display all kinds of media, giving you incredible branding opportunities. From your name to your social media handles to key website pages, you have an opportunity to present searchers with all branding assets in one place.
Helps With Reputation Management
Reviews play a crucial role in establishing your online currency. Unfortunately, not everyone will leave positive reviews about your brand or products. Negative reviews can tarnish your image. This is where an author knowledge panel comes to the rescue. Since it appears right at the top of SERPs, it helps establish trust with users, helping you with your reputation management.
Improves User Experience
Search engines are all about providing users with the best possible user experience (UX). Verifying your author knowledge panel helps do this. Fortunately, you also get to benefit from the positive UX as it helps drive traffic to your website.
How to Authorize Your Author Knowledge Panel Account
Now that you know what an author knowledge panel is and the many advantages of verifying yours, you need to know how to verify it. Claiming your knowledge graph is critical as it gives you more control of the information displayed in your panel. Let’s dive into how you can authorize yours.
1. Create or Sign in to Your Google Account
To verify your author knowledge panel, you first need to create a Google account if you don’t have one. To do this:
- Go to http://www.google.com/
- Click the “Sign Up” button.
- In the sign-up form, fill in all necessary details.
- Review and accept Google’s terms and conditions.
- Click the “Next Step” button. Your account is created! You can update your profile at any time.
A Google account is one of the ways Google uses to verify your identity and your association with the entity whose knowledge panel you want to manage.
2. Search for Yourself (or the Entity You’re Associated With) on Google
The next step in claiming your author knowledge panel is to search for the entity whose knowledge panel you want to claim. This could be yours as an individual or an organization’s knowledge panel.
The knowledge panel will appear at the top of the SERPs.
3. Claim Your Knowledge Panel
Once a knowledge panel featuring you or your organization is displayed, scroll down to the bottom of the panel. If no one has claimed that particular knowledge panel, you’ll find a “Claim this knowledge panel” button.
This will take you to a window where you will be asked to verify your author knowledge panel.
Clicking “Get Verified” will take you to a page where you’re asked to verify your identity using one of your social media profiles.
After successfully signing in, you can now start managing your author knowledge panel.
How to Get a Google Author Knowledge Panel
What happens when you search for your entity, and you don’t appear in a knowledge panel?
This usually happens when there isn’t enough factual information on the internet for Google to verify and add to its Knowledge Graph. As a result, it can’t generate an author knowledge panel.
You now might be wondering, “How do you build enough critical mass in Google’s Knowledge Graph for Google to recognize your entity?”
Get Featured on Wikipedia Page
Wikipedia is one of the trusted sources Google turns to when gathering information for its Knowledge Graph. One reason for this is the strict guidelines Wikipedia has put in place to ensure all pages published on the platform are accurate and contain no bias. Therefore, being featured on the platform hooks you up to one of the most reliable sources of information on the internet.
One of the best ways to be featured is to build Wikipedia backlinks. The easiest way to do this is by looking for and fixing broken links on Wikipedia. Use a tool like WikiGrabber to find pages that have broken links or need a reference.
Another way is to reach out to an independent Wikipedia editor to create a page for you or mention you on other pages.
Granted, getting featured on Wikipedia can be quite an uphill task. If you want an easier route, you can consider Wikidata. This is a data bank that feeds structured data to Wikimedia projects. Since Google shut down Freebase, their open-source repository that powered the Knowledge Graph, it also relies on data from Wikidata.
Leverage Your Website
Knowledge Graph also pulls information from websites. To leverage your website for building the necessary critical mass you’ll need, you must:
- Use schema markup: Schema markup, or structured data, helps Google understand what you and your website. Done well, it will point Google to all the corroborative data that serves as evidence of your authorship.
- Have a detailed “About Us” page: Your “About Us” page must explain who you are and what you do. Also, include links to relevant publications that can verify who you are and what you do.
- Piggy-back on your connections: If you have connections who already appear in knowledge panels, strategically mention them on your website, link to their entities, or add them to your schema markup.
Investing in an optimized website and well-structured content is an essential step to getting information about yourself pulled into the Knowledge Graph.
Get Yourself Featured on Third-Party Websites
Another way to build up enough critical mass to give search engines enough factual knowledge about you is to get featured in reputable publications. A few effective ways to do this is by:
- Guest posting: Publishing articles on authority news sites helps you create more digital assets to provide Google with data about you. It’s also a great way to establish yourself as a reliable source of information.
- Speaking at events: Both online and in-person events allow you to be mentioned on third-party sites, helping you collaborate on your authorship claims.
The more you appear on the web, particularly on reputable and relevant sites, the higher your chances of appearing in a knowledge panel.
Ramp Up Your Social Media Presence
Social media has become more than just a way to keep in touch with family and friends. It has become one of the ways you can prove your identity online. That’s why optimizing your social media profiles and being active is a great way to increase your Knowledge Graph.
Creating content that your audience will interact with and share will help boost your online presence, powering your Knowledge Graph.
Getting into the Knowledge Graph is essential to the generation of your author knowledge panel. Do everything you can to ensure you give search engines enough factual data about yourself.
Doing so will ensure that you are recognized as an entity worthy of a knowledge panel. Also, make sure to keep “feeding” the Knowledge Graph with updated information. This is essential in ensuring your knowledge panel is populated with the latest data on you.
Author Knowledge Panel FAQs
Before we wrap up this post, let’s briefly answer some of your burning questions concerning author knowledge panels.
How do I get an author knowledge panel?
While you can’t create an author knowledge panel for yourself, you can get one by being recognized as an entity by Google. You do this by increasing your Knowledge Graph on Google.
Where do I find my Google knowledge panel?
To find your knowledge panel, search for yourself on Google. A knowledge panel featuring all kinds of media and information on you will be generated.
How do you manage a knowledge panel?
Managing your knowledge panel involves you claiming and verifying your knowledge panel. Doing this grants you access and the right to manage your knowledge panel.
Can you edit knowledge panels?
Once you have claimed your knowledge panel, you can edit the information it displays by clicking on the “Suggest edits” link. Note, however, that you can only do this when you’re logged into your Google account.
Summary of Google News Author Knowledge Panel
The author knowledge panel is a great feature that makes it easy for users to find what they’re looking for on the internet. If you can harness its power, it’s also a great way to power your marketing strategy. From driving traffic to your website to brand awareness, claiming your author knowledge panel is a great business move you can’t ignore.
Remember, keep creating content on various reputable platforms to provide Google’s Knowledge Graph with current information to display in your author knowledge panel.
What has your experience with claiming your author knowledge panel been like?
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