Content Marketing Archives - Page 5 of 9

How to use visual content

It’s the age of the visual culture which means more visual content. With shortening attention spans, marketers and content creators have to constantly think of new ways to capture our attention. According to an article published by Hubspot this year, coloured visuals increase willingness to read a piece of content by 80%.

You’re definitely on the right track if you’ve been integrating visuals into your content strategy, but when does an image work better over a video?, or a GIF over an image?

Images

With social networks becoming increasingly image-centric, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that brands should be including high-definition images in their marketing mix. Images are visually-captivating and easily shareable.

When should I use images?

Besides images being easily shareable on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, Pinterest is another brilliant image-sharing medium with 100 million daily active users. The shift to visual content is clearly emulated here as brands can ‘pin’ beautifully captured images to their ‘boards’.

Tory Burch, an international fashion brand, has had success in marketing their products through images on Pinterest. With almost 200,000 followers, the brand’s images on Pinterest are carefully curated and categorised.

GIFs

Remember the moving photos in photo-frames and newspapers in the hit movie series, Harry Potter? Well, the brilliant invention of the GIF brought us a step closer to the wizarding world! GIFs are the hybrid between images and videos. They move, of course, but they’re not as lengthy as videos. Because they’re short and have no sound attached to them, GIFs are easy to digest. A GIF typically focuses on a specific moment in a larger picture. GIFs are also cheaper to produce than videos and take up less resources.

When should I use GIFs?

GIFs work best in e-newsletters. They are quirky and provide marketers with the opportunity to draw attention to specific products. Here is an example from an email sent out by NastyGal, an online clothing store, to promote their gift card:

Videos

According to a report published by Cisco, video will account for 69% of all consumer internet traffic by 2017. You don’t need a host site like YouTube to publish videos because you can now post directly to social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. These platforms have become more video-friendly, with Facebook pushing out Facebook 360 and Instagram allowing longer video posts.

When should I use videos?

Videos are great pieces of marketing and allow brands to tell their stories in more comeplling ways. A video is more immersive and offers viewers a more engaging experience. With YouTube amassing 4 billion daily views, your brand’s online reach is endless. Always consider the audience you are trying to reach out to and make sure you get your message across articulately. Creativity is a must! GoPro’s YouTube channel has more than 4 million subscribers. What makes the brand so popular? Their videos are cleverly grouped into several categories that showcase the different uses of its main product. Here is an example:

It’s great to integrate images, GIFs and videos into your content marketing strategy but remember not to overdo it. The last thing you want is to overwhelm people and have them flag your content as spam.

Get in touch with us at [email protected] for all your content needs.

Is your brand Insta-worthy?

“What’s your Instagram account?” is probably one of the most frequently asked questions by everyone, everywhere. While Instagram used to be known as a mere trendy “millennial” hangout platform, it has evolved into an incredible social networking and advertising tool for businesses to utilise. In fact, it is the fastest growing social media site worldwide with over 500 million active users, 300 million of which use it at least once a day.

We all know that Instagram offers visual content, but what exactly makes it so successful, engaging, and popular? Here are some compelling reasons why your business should hop onto the Insta-bandwagon:

1) A picture tells a thousand words

Sure, you can always slap on a paragraph of text for your readers to digest, but having your consumers recognise your brand personality through jaw-dropping images effectively takes engagement to a whole new level. Coca-Cola sure knows a thing or two about Instagram – they successfully demonstrate the fun, unique, and vibrant brand through great imagery.

Source: @cocacola on Intagram

2) We live in a mobile world

Every business is looking for creative ways to produce thumb-stopping content. Luckily, Instagram is one of the very few apps where the interface itself is designed to be optimised on mobile. As such, visual content is the main focus simply because it’s easy to digest. Swiping through Instagram has never been easier and successful businesses can capitalise on this opportunity to directly reach key audiences.

3) In-app opportunities are endless

Instagram provides a whole range of activities which allow you to not only reach out to your audience, but also let them interact directly with you. For instance, one of the most effective Instagram uses is to host giveaways or contests. Lancome launched the #bareselfie campaign to promote its DreamTone serum and the results were miraculous – generating more than 500 fan Instagram photos, 50% of the serum’s sales, and a 4% conversion rate on Lancome’s site. Initiatives such as contests help to increase visibility, and gives your audience a chance to react to and participate in your campaigns.

Source: @lancomeusa on Instagram

4) Ads are beautiful too

Let’s face it, everything on Instagram is breath-taking, even sponsored ads. Instagram utilises native advertising strategically, where ads are curated to blend in together with the platform’s original posts. People usually avoid ads the second they see one, but on Instagram you probably won’t mind taking a short glance. Ads, such are the examples below, are also paired with an effective call-to-action, helping to further drive engagement and increase website site traffic.

Sources: @magnum and @beautifullovewedding on Instagram

It’s time to strip away the stereotype that Instagram is only for attention-seeking teenage users.

This increasingly popular platform can do amazing things for your brand’s presence, visibility, and overall performance. If your brand is not already on Instagram, it’s time to jump onboard.

Follow our Instagram page @mutantcomms and drop us a note at [email protected] to see how we can help build your social media presence through great content.

5 steps to measure social media campaign success

So you’ve spent the past few weeks working on a social media campaign or advertisement. All the copy has been written, creatives have been approved and it finally goes live. Just as you mentally clink champagne-filled glasses in your head, the results come back and it becomes evident that your campaign just hasn’t worked the way you hoped it would – and if your target audience is not responding, something is definitely wrong.

The devil’s in the numbers and crafting great content is important, but so is making sure that there are quantifiable and measurable metrics that can help you see where you went wrong and how you can do better next time. Here’s what you should do:

1. Define your goals

Before you get too excited and start going into the creative side of things, it is vital that you first define your campaign goals. What exactly are you trying to achieve from this campaign?

To help you along, think about the kind of social actions (eg. like, react, share, comment, tag) you want your audience to take when interacting with your campaign. This can be measured in terms of impressions, shares, clicks, sessions or purchase actions.

2. Choose appropriate metrics that correspond with your goals

Most Facebook campaigns have two main goals: Driving traffic and increasing engagement & awareness.

To drive traffic, track all URLs you post on social media so you know how many clicks and conversions you’re getting. To do this, you can use Google’s URL builder to set your link’s parameters.

TIP: Google’s URL builder is linked to your Google Analytics account so it will reflect what your audience clicked on as well as other key insights. All this should give you a better understanding of what interests your audience

To measure engagement and awareness, look at the reach, number of shares, likes and comments under your posts. These are telling because it will provide you with insight into what prompts someone to take certain actions.

3. Measure

Now that you’ve got your campaign and the right metrics, the next step is to measure performance. What good is a campaign if you don’t know how or if it actually helps fulfill your goals?

Facebook’s Power Editor is a good tool for looking at different kinds of metrics that may be relevant to your campaign. However, you should also be looking at numbers from Google Analytics. Linking up your Facebook page to Google Analytics is key and it’s pretty simple.

TIP: Remember to link Facebook and Google Analytics BEFORE you launch your campaign.

4. Track and Optimise

Track your numbers over a period of time and review them weekly. You’ll have some good weeks and some bad ones so don’t stress if there are occasional dips in performance, but be alert to any trends that may be forming within your audience.

For example, if you notice that more women from your timeline tend to click into your website, while men visit via the Facebook ads on the right-hand-side column, the content that you push out can be better tailored to these specific behaviours. Knowing the small details will help you improve your content so you’ll be able to target your audience more accurately.

Next, optimise the results. Optimisation is a broad term and really depends on the situation. This might mean having to shut down posts or ads that aren’t doing well in certain placements. Instead, you can use that budget for others that are giving you good and consistent results. Try switching up your copy, your creatives or even changing your audience segments – see what works best for your business.

5. Evaluate

This is how you’ll know whether your campaign was a huge success or perhaps why it flopped. It may be a trial and error process in the beginning but dealing with analytics earlier helps you understand your audience so you can tailor your campaigns better.

When it comes to social media, the numbers don’t lie. You can have great content but it must be effective in reaching your audience, otherwise it’s like hosting an amazing party with no guests!

Need help getting your social media content in tip-top shape? Write to us at [email protected].

Have you been using Facebook the right way?

With 1.65 billion monthly active users, it won’t come as a surprise that Facebook is the most-used social media site across all age groups. I also bet this won’t be the first time you’re reading an article on utilising Facebook to increase brand awareness through social advertising.

First of all, ask yourself why you even set up your Facebook page in the first place and why it is helping you achieve. Your followers are fed with a continuous stream of content as they scroll through their News Feed so how can you make sure that they stop to look at yours?

1. Share timely content

Pokémon Go is the hot topic of the town this week. And it’s likely to stay this way if it continues to cause more trouble than it already has. Multinational fashion retailer Topshop was one of the many brands to jump on the bandwagon. You should always be on the lookout for opportunities to drive traffic to your site by creating and sharing trending content.

2. Join conversations

Engagement, engagement, engagement. Facebook is one of the best platforms for you to hold two-way conversations with your audience. Stay in the loop and know listen to what your followers are saying. Make your brand more ‘human’ by replying to comments when you see them. There’s nothing fans like more than a personal message directed solely to them. Skyscanner is a great example as they are always very consistent with their replies to followers on Facebook and use a very personable tone that in-turn helps create loyal fans.

3. Point to your own content

To help spark curiosity try referencing a point of interest from your article or blog. You have a very short three-second window before users decide whether your content is worth reading so opt for something catchy. Take a look at this example from Buro 24/7 when they gave their followers a sneak-peek into an interesting statistic about Singaporean women.

4. Use emojis

Be creative! Text alone may be boring and limits expressions. Of course, you shouldn’t fill your entire sentence with emojis because a) we get your point, and b) it’s annoying. Instead mix it up a little. Make sure that your emojis are relevant, don’t put them there just for the sake of adding cute little images to your captions as it doesn’t work. Take this example from Hostelworld’s Facebook page where they have a healthy balance of text and emojis that are both fun and relevant.

5. Mix it up

Imagine following a fashion brand on Facebook and finding out that every single one of their posts features its own fashion products in the same manner – photos. Isn’t that boring? If every piece of content you put up follows the same format, chances are your audience will probably scroll past most of it because they’ve seen it before. Add variety to your page by posting your content in different formats be it videos, articles or questions. Make it even more engaging by holding contests or dishing out tips to your followers.

6. Get creative and mobile-friendly

Paint your brand story on a mobile-friendly platform. When Facebook promised that advertising would be immersive, they weren’t kidding! Canvas ads fill the entire screen of your smartphone and exists within Facebook (instead of annoying pop-ups that take you to another app). Skincare brand L’occitane used texts, videos and images to capture its audience by sharing its brand story and used call-to actions (CTA’s) to promote their gift sets.

Brands should be making use of these great features to help share content that really stands out and drives action.

7. Go live

You’re a business operated by humans so show that to your consumers. Facebook Live allows brands to share a more personable side with fans, and Dunkin’ Donuts was one of the first brands to utilise this platform to engage with their audience. They provided a tour of their test kitchen and streamed the construction of a donut wedding cake live. Who doesn’t like an exclusive behind-the-scenes look?

Make sure the content you put up live is relevant and appropriate to your audience. You can hold live Q&A sessions and get fans to tune in, and you’ll also be able to see who’s watching your video. Promote your live sessions in advance to ensure that people are aware it will be happening.     Remember that visibility of your brand on Facebook depends on the content you post and therefore the engagement on your Page. Make the most out of Facebook and what it offers, and capture your fans by tweaking your content strategy to suit their interests. Get in touch with us at <a href="mailto:hello@mutant.com.sg">hello@mutant.com.sg</a> to find out how we can craft targeted and effective social media content.

Remember that visibility of your brand on Facebook depends on the content you post and therefore the engagement on your Page. Make the most out of Facebook and what it offers, and capture your fans by tweaking your content strategy to suit their interests.

Get in touch with us at [email protected] to find out how we can craft targeted and effective social media content.

8 tips for writing a killer award entry

Have you have spent the year executing great campaigns, or working on the most magical product available in the market? Your work speaks for itself, your customers love you, and the only thing missing is that industry award that recognises your efforts.

Just like Leonardo DiCaprio’s long-awaited Oscar, an accolade is what you have been patiently waiting for.

Industry awards can give your brand credibility and take your business to new heights, but the competition is fierce.

So what’s the secret?

We’re afraid there’s no secret sauce to guarantee a win, but there are a few things you can do to better present yourself, your content and supporting data or results.

1- Remember the submission deadline

Never forget this, and don’t ever assume you are an exception. Find out when the applications are due and set a date at least two weeks back in your calendar to begin prep. Chances are the organisers may extend the deadline, but never plan for that. Better to be safe than sorry! You might also want to take note of the applicant shortlist dates and the date for the awards night and add them to your calendar.

2 – Look at the weightings

Assess each question and look at how the scoring will be done. Is each section weighted equally? Or do certain sections carry more value? Where more value is given, remember to spend more time providing the right information – otherwise you will lose out on valuable points.

3 – Get factual

Read the application criteria and work out what data you need to supply. Is it financial? Is it relating to business or campaign performance? Whatever it may be, get your facts together and have the supporting data ready and available to add into your application. You can opt to keep sensitive information confidential but it always helps to present this to the judges, so never skimp on the details.

4 – Prepare

You can write all the words in the world, but if you don’t have detailed information available about your campaign, product, or event, then you will not convince the judges. Never assume the judges know your company – no matter the size or credibility of your business. Explain your offering in the application in a clear and concise manner, and avoid babbling.

5 – It’s all about results

This is one of the more important parts. Here is where you get to demonstrate that what you’ve done actually works. In most cases, this section holds the highest weighting, so make it count. Explain what you set out to do and what was achieved. Again, never assume the judges know anything about you, so go into as much detail as possible and use examples, figures, links and visuals to support your content.

6 – Stick to the word count

This is pretty self-explanatory. As a general rule, aim for better content and fewer words, and don’t go over the word count as you may be penalised. The judges will have a lot of applications to read so you need to get to the point quickly. Chances are they won’t read every single word, so including facts and figures in graphs, charts or interesting graphics can really help.

7 – Proofread

Don’t rush these things. Take your time, think carefully about each section and triple check your work. Does it make sense? Have you addressed all components of the application? Do you have solid figures or examples to support your words? Ask a colleague to check your work – they should be able feedback on any flow or grammatical errors.

8 – Follow submission instructions

Pay close attention to the instructions – all of them. Is it to be submitted online, or do need to email your application directly? Understand what company information you are required to include, and source all the images you need. Sort out payment (if required) and – voila! – you’re done.

Need help creating a crafty entry? Drop a message to [email protected]

How to give your digital content a makeover

In today’s digital society it has become increasingly difficult for brands to stand out and be seen by the right people. There is so much information online that it’s easy to get lost in the noise – our attention spans are getting shorter and our thumbs are clicking quicker. So, how can brands disrupt the digital landscape and really make an impact?

The answer: by creating thumb-stopping content.

Dare to be different

Content marketing is about being different and creating a new and interesting way of presenting information. Find something unique to your brand – that one thing that represents your brand and your brand only – and base your content around this.

As an example, Australian beauty brand, frank body have done a phenomenal job with their #thefrankeffect and #letsbefrank campaign. This feminine and flirty campaign has encouraged ordinary people to try the coffee scrubs and share their experiences on social media. Here’s an example from the frank body’s Instagram:

Helping @twocorporategirls enjoy some down time. #letsbefrank it’s just the kind of guy I am. #thefrankeffect

A photo posted by frank body (@frank_bod) on Apr 16, 2016 at 12:28am PDT

The result? From 0 to 350,000 Instagram followers in 12 months.

Create unique and quality content

Products and services no longer sell themselves. We live in a world where the traditional sales approach is a thing of the past, and consumers are seeking timely and accurate information to meet their needs. This means brands need to be at the forefront of what their target audience wants. Very few people these days really read, engage with or trust those direct and pushy sales emails and calls – it’s often intrusive and lacks credibility.

Creating original content in the form of imagery, blogs, illustrations or videos is a great way to stand out from the crowd without being intrusive.

On Facebook, for example, you are competing with everything on someone’s News Feed: pictures of their friends, family, cats, birds, babies…you get the picture. So why should they click on your content?

Personally, I love food – creating and eating it. So I naturally am drawn to food videos. However, there is a big difference between the good and the bad.

This one, for example, is not my favourite. The food looks good but I start to lose interest after about 3 seconds as the video is just not interactive enough for me:

However, I will always stop to watch videos from Tasty simply because they are quick, fun to watch, informative and appealing.

Be prepared for active engagement

Talk to your audience and engage them with your brand. Humans are a very social bunch and want to be involved and participate in different things. So why not create your content in such a way that encourages an action? We don’t all have to be selling fluffy bunnies or makeup to engage with consumers. Even the more serious industries can create great thumb-stopping content.

One of my favourite examples to use is from Hubspot, an inbound marketing software platform. I receive emails from them on a daily basis and I open each email every day. Why? Because the content they supply is very eye-catching, informative, and gives me access to some great resources and events that make my job easier…all at no charge, meaning there is no trap or risk involved.

Being creative and standing out from the crowd is not as hard as you may think. It’s all about thinking strategically and daring to be different – but providing quality and useful content at the same time.

Don’t copy what someone has done – instead think about alternative ways you can reach your audience through social media, emails, or online.

Disrupt the digital landscape and give your readers a reason to click through.

Need some help? Write to us at [email protected].

Are you adding those snaps to your brand story?

You’ve realised the potential of building your brand’s presence on social media. You’re running a great Facebook page and you have an Instagram account with a massive following. Your Twitter page is updated every ten hours and engagement is high. Everything seems perfect…

Or so you think.

The idea of Snapchat was born half a decade ago and its founders turned down Facebook’s offer to buy it over for US$3 billion in 2013. Today, Snapchat is the fastest growing social network for millennials.

If you’ve not jumped onto the Snapchat bandwagon, you’re missing out on reaching the 100 million active users around the world. You might argue that you’re not trying to target Millenials – but hey, don’t all kids grow up? Trust me, the majority of them have friends or relatives of all ages and can surely share your content with them.

If you haven’t began your Snapchat journey, its not too late to start. Heres’s some tips to get you going:

1. Offer time-sensitive deals

A post on Snapchat, or more commonly known as a ‘snap’, lasts for a maximum of 10 seconds and is available for only 24 hours. This initiates a sense of urgency and FOMO (fear of missing out) – which means more people are likely to view your content.

Here are some brilliant examples of how to surprise your followers with small perks – a sure way to build brand loyalty. Better yet, get them to screenshot the snap (you can see who screenshots your posts). It makes your post more shareable and this stretches the reach of your content.

2. Rock behind-the-scenes

You don’t need to look pretty on Snapchat – save those filters for your Instagram feed. Build your brand’s personality into each snap and offer your followers exclusive content.

Take a look at these snaps from Free People. If you’re a fan of their clothes, wouldn’t you want these little sneak peeks? Well, I certainly would. They don’t have to be shot in great lighting or filtered perfectly. Be authentic – you’re showing your followers what goes on behind that six-hour photoshoot and we know it’s not all rosy!

3. Go live

Yet another way to provide an element of exclusivity – give your followers access to live events that happen right there and then. Leverage on your Facebook or Twitter accounts and tempt people to tune into Snapchat.

Vanity Fair got up-close-and-personal with celebrities at the 2015 Oscar Party, and of course its followers did too.

**4. Tell a real story**

Like most social media networks, the main purpose of Snapchat for brands is to engage viewers and ideally convert them into consumers. Boring content only leads followers to move to another story and You don’t want that to happen to yours!

Great tip: Ask your followers a question in one snap, and answer it in the next. Keep them on their toes and make the process fun and interactive.

GrubHub did a fantastic job in leveraging Snapchat to convey a message. It doesn’t shout for followers to purchase, but centres its snaps around the main product offerings. Check it out:

5. Empower influencers

Influencers rule social media and Snapchat is no stranger. Partnering with Snapchat influencers is more commonly known as a ‘Snapchat Takeover’. This is where influencers sign into the brand’s Snapchat account for a period of time, and post content aimed to increase followers, reach and engagement.

Disney approached Shaun McBride (@shonduras), a Snapchat influencer renowned for creating sophisticated art works on his snaps, to promote a Frozen-themed event. Fans got a chance to follow him go around Walt Disney World on Disney’s Snapchat story.

The best feature of Snapchat is that your story is always fresh. Vertical videos now allow brands to capture audience attention by taking up entire screens, which means that your audience is completely focused on your snaps without any distractions.

How do your followers find you?

If you’ve got a mailing list, let your subscribers know that you’re on Snapchat by including your username and reasons why they should follow you in your next emailer. Alternatively, you can add your Snapchat username into your bio on your various social media platforms, or share your Snapcode as an image on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Need help deciding on the best social media strategy for your business? Get in touch with us at [email protected].

FunTech: Make that content cray

Making tech sound complicated is easy. Just whir adjectives, buzzwords, and punctuation into a blender and you have the first boilerplate for many startups. But making unsexy topics sound fun is totally do-able, it’s just a matter of finding a creative angle.

Almost all industries require content because words travel fast. So, to effectively create articles that are more fun and engaging, try these simple tips:

Warm up with your intro

The beginning of the article has the most room for weirdness. Feel free to start off with a joke, or a topic everybody can relate to. For example, if you’re writing about your newest cloud platform, talk about the issue that it’s solving rather than getting deep into the features right away. Or pick a hot news topic to spin off of. I.e. “While we can’t take #brexit back, at least we’ll be able to…” Riding a news hook for your blog is great for SEO and will lure the reader in right away.

Quote more interesting people

As a content writer you’re not going to be an expert at everything, so get the opinion of someone who does. A quote from an expert (especially a funny one) can really bring a piece of writing to life. If you don’t have anyone specific, quote someone who has an excellent view point on the subject.

Check your tone

Don’t be too formal. Geek speak will soak up the fun like a mouthful of Scottish Shortbread without a glass of milk in sight. Sarcasm, humour and wit can be carried across any topic. Be upbeat so it’ll be easier for your audience to read it. Happy readers means more shares.

Be concise

A super wordy post will cast your reader’s eyes from your blog to instagram memes in 30 seconds or less. If there is a word that can be taken out, remove it, if there is one word that can replace three, replace it. The fewer words the better.

Here’s a tip: Show don’t tell. Instead of saying something is ‘smart, innovative, state of the art, revolutionary’, explain how it works, why it’s different, and lead the reader to come up with his own adjectives.

Pick a picture outside of the box

Alright alright, the ol’ ‘hands on the keyboard’ photo is always a great default for online blog topics, but take your stock photo game one step further. The image should illustrate the article you write, but not imitate it. Use metaphors with your imagery and people will be able to channel more than just what meets the eye. For example, you’re writing about how a certain app can connect us all, a picture of laughing people in a crowd, skyscrapers, globes, or even traffic can still elicit the feeling of ‘ connection’. Making the reader work just a little bit will help them remember your article.

And there you have it! Making content go a little cray just takes some imagination, creativity, and thinking outside the box. Need more advice on adding a little zing to your content? Write to us at [email protected].

Everything you need to know about copywriting and SEO

So, you’ve nailed down your content – now what? Maybe you’re struggling with content optimisation and how to get the most out of your copy. Perhaps the thought of keyword planning and SEO makes you nervous.

Very few of us actually understand the mechanics behind search engine optimisation (SEO). After all it is a beast, and Google’s search ranking algorithm doesn’t help the situation either. Unless you are an SEO specialist, leave this task to the experts – they are at the forefront of all the updates and latest tricks, and you should concentrate on producing quality content.

With that in mind, here’s what you need to know:

What exactly is content optimisation?

Content marketing should play a key role in any marketing plan. To optimise content simply means to a) make it search engine friendly and b) drive action that ultimately leads to a sale.

It combines a mix of your chosen keywords and an opportunity to build brand trust and authority. Brand trust and authority are not built through a pushy sales pitch, but instead a long-term series of informative and educational content pieces.

Ok, so where do I start?

If you have hired an SEO agency, make sure you work closely with the team to identify your top keywords that will help your content rank. Next, put together a content calendar of topics that are related to your business and be sure to run these past your agency to see how they fit with the overall plan.

If you don’t have an agency and are working alone, make use of the free Google Adwords Keyword Planner and work out which keywords you’d like to rank for, then plan your content accordingly.

Next, try and feed in the keywords into the title and body of your content piece, but don’t go overboard and use it five times in one sentence. Your content will not only read poorly, but there is no additional benefit for your SEO.

The trick is to distribute keywords sporadically across the piece and feed them in a few times, as and when its applicable to mention. Never compromise on the quality of your piece for the sake of SEO – find that happy balance.

Suggested Read: 3 steps to creating targeted content that sells

Your last content optimisation action should engage the reader with a call-to-action, or CTA. This is something that prompts action from the target audience, It can be in the form of a downloadable resource, a link to enter a competition, or whatever you feel is necessary to move that person further down the sales funnel.

TIP: Avoid actually selling. Give your reader an incentive to click and download, or contact you directly.

Add visual content

Images are just as important in your blog as the words themselves. We are a very visual generation and your content marketing plan should incorporate a healthy mix of written and visual content. Always make sure you have a great image to accompany your content, which should help drive click-throughs and engagement.

Remember that when you are uploading content online, your images should be titled with your keywords in mind – both Title and ALT tags. This will increase your chances of ranking higher on Google.

Making it all work

Make it a priority to write each piece of content with your target audience in mind, and then tie it in with your chosen keywords. You should never write anything without thinking about who it’s meant for, and why your content will help them. Be smart and kill two birds with one stone by mixing great content that is also search engine friendly and optimised for a sale.

Your content should give readers a sense of trust for your brand and have them coming back for more.

Get in touch with us if you need help in creating content that works for your business. Drop us a note at [email protected].

Less text, more visuals: Why infographics are important

Whether you’re a business owner or digital marketer, it’s getting increasingly difficult to produce unique content that excites readers. You write more, publish more, but so does everyone else. So how exactly do you make your content stand out and and engage with your audience?

One of the most effective and popular ways to capture attention these days is by creating visual content in the form of infographics. These highly informative graphics strategically combine text, images, and icons to present the most important information in an easy-to-understand manner, and here’s why you should use them:

They easily capture attention

Humans are impatient and visual creatures. This means we want the facts fast. Infographics do the job perfectly because they effectively summarise important messages and statistics. Figures are made bigger and bolder, text is significantly reduced, and images are placed in all the right places. Not only is this aesthetically pleasing, but it also doesn’t put us to sleep. We no longer need to scroll to the end of a five page article to understand the main message — we get everything in just one glance. Check out this great example below:

They increase your brand awareness

Infographics are designed to showcase relevant messages and information, and nothing else. More often than not, they also include the company’s logo, introduction, website URL, contact information, etc. Even if your target audience may not read every single word they will definitely remember your brand’s unique visuals and key takeaways.

Take a look at the example below where LinkedIn highlights the benefits of using the platform. The graphic is simple, to the point, and easy to digest – it’s much clearer than having to read a 1000 word piece of content.

DID YOU KNOW? When used properly, infographics can help to increase your web traffic by at least 12% because people become more aware of your brand and its online presence.

Others want to share them

One highly commendable characteristic of infographics is that the inherent design allows them to be portable and easily embeddable. Including an embed code along your infographic enables it to be shared on any platform, whether it’s a blog, news article, powerpoint deck, or even your own website. The embedded infographic is linked back to your site automatically, which also helps to increase traffic and click throughs.

Infographics may require slightly more time to plan, create and execute, but they’re definitely worth the effort. With the advancement of technology, it’s crucial for your business to hop on the digital bandwagon and capture readers with exciting and informative visuals.

Need help with your visuals? Drop a message to [email protected]

Emoji Marketing: Using tiny images to send a big message

The way we communicate with each other is constantly changing, thanks to technology. I mean, 10 years ago, would you have been able to decipher this sentence?:

OMG, IDEK. LOL IDC… actually, IDGAF TBH. BRB, TTYL.

Okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but the way we speak to each other is constantly evolving. Abbreviations are one thing, but in today’s social landscape emojis are taking over, too.

The popularity of social media has promoted the use of visual media. Our words are becoming substituted with small emojis, or digital images, that represent faces, animals, fashion, accessories, hearts, weather, food, sports…and the list goes on.

Emojis can tell a story. In fact, you could send a message to a friend filled entirely with emojis and chances are they would understand what you were trying to say.

Take a look at this creative text message:

Source

A new way to communicate

Could our shortening attention spans and love for visual media be the cause of this phenomenal obsession with emojis? Is this the future of content?

A picture says a thousand words and as we all seem to be so time poor, it just seems easier to use pictures instead of words.

Emojis have only previously been used for social purposes, but nowadays many brands are beginning to adopt emojis to add flavour to their communications.

Why are we so obsessed?

These miniature images suddenly appeared in our phones and, as a society craving constant change and new ways to communicate, we pounced. It simply proves that great content is about so much more than just words.

In fact, some of the most lucrative content out there is solely emojis. Kim Kardashian changed the game when she released the ‘Kimoji’ app you can buy from iTunes. Even bad boy Charlie Sheen has released his own ‘Sheenojis’. It’s truly becoming an obsession led by many famous and influential figures.

The use of emojis is relentless – but it’s simply a representation of our need to not only “tell” content, but “show” it. While emojis have become a ubiquitous part of social media and Internet language, it’s worth considering how you might be able to incorporate them into an appropriate campaign or messaging.

(PROTIP: Just be sure you know what the emoji means so your message doesn’t backfire! For example, the eggplant emoji does not simply represent an eggplant anymore… be careful!)

It’s fair to say emojis are here to stay, and we will continue to see them evolve in content both online and offline.

Now, go ahead and take this test and find out which emoji best represents you. Have fun!

Do you need help creating some crafty content? Drop us a note at [email protected].

The do’s and don’ts of social media

It should be no surprise that in this day and age our eyes are glued to anything that is square-ish, has a touchscreen, and fits comfortably into the palms of our hands. Chances are, the opened apps include Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat – the works, if you will.

If we’re going to be spending this much time browsing through social media, we might as well do it right. And to all the millennials who think they’ve got it down – think again.

Social media can be used by almost everybody. You don’t need to have 10 social media accounts or post something every half an hour to be deemed active. To obtain and sustain a successful social media presence and witness the results you really want, first understand the following do’s and don’ts:

Don’t focus on the number of likes

What an outrageous thought, but let me explain why. What really matters isn’t how many likes you receive, but rather who liked your post. If you scroll through a list of ‘likes’ and realise that you really only wanted to reach 5% of them, the rest are as good as none. This is because you’ve attracted the wrong audience, resulting in a lack of engagement.

To put it simply, let’s say you run a small ice cream cafe and post on Facebook announcing that chocolate scoops are 10% off, praying silently that your customer numbers will magically double overnight. But instead of dessert enthusiasts, you realise that the ‘likes’ came from your co-owner, boyfriend, and mother. Sure, these are all people extremely dear to your heart, but they’re not who you’re targeting. The ‘likes’ may look impressive online but they’re not serving your business’ purpose.

Reach out to YOUR target audience

Some posts on Facebook may be boosted to become ads, meaning that you pay to reach a wider audience. Boosting essentially means selectively choosing the audience who sees your posts on their News Feed. It’s a very cost effective way to reach the right people, and Facebook’s Business Manager page gives you the complete rundown on how to fully utilise the functions to effectively promote your business.

Take a look at the example below:

As a frequent budget air flyer who’s always looking out for cheap deals to Taiwan, this FlyScoot ad definitely appeals to me. FlyScoot consistently monitors footprints on their social media pages and website, and effectively churns this data to target audiences who need to save a buck or two but still loves to travel around Southeast Asia.

Don’t slap on texts and links

Humans on social media have attention spans even shorter than that of a goldfish – an incredulous three seconds. This disturbing yet very real fact should make you think twice about how you post. If you want to share a blog on your company Facebook page, you pretty much only have one shot to get it right.Just think about all the other pieces of content which you are competing with – you need to make your post stand out!

Customise the appearance of each post

Spot the differences between these posts. Which would you rather click on?

There is so much flexibility with social media these days. Certain functions allow you to not only enhance the visual appeal of your posts but also increase your readership.

For example, posting as the Page Admin on Facebook allows you to:

Edit the post caption to remove any URLs
Replace the default photo that automatically comes with the link
Rewrite the main header of the link
Change the subtext of the link
And so much more

These simple yet effective tweaks transform a boring, black and white post into one which really displays the most attention-grabbing information. Remember, you’ve only got three seconds to reel in your audience, so make it count.

Don’t be the same

Companies usually make the common mistake of posting the same content across all their active platforms – meaning the exact same captions, hashtags, and images. Sure, you’re getting the word out, but you’re also annoying your audience. Don’t get me wrong, it’s alright to share the same information across all your social media, but be creative about it and tweak it to match your audience.

Be selective and get creative

It’s important to understand how each platform works. Instagram for example, leverages on jaw-dropping photos and hashtags to capture the right audience. While Facebook extends beyond this by allowing users to share their reactions or emotions.

Look at this example below from The Yard:

Both of these posts talk about the same thing: new trampolines. But, they’re customised to sit well within each respective platform. Doing this will allow you to reach the maximum number of users without turning anyone off.

Now it’s your turn – go create magic on social media.

Need help with social media? Drop a message to [email protected]

Mutant Communications

Posts tagged: Content Marketing