October 21, 2015 11:46 am
Published by Kirsty Sharman
This blog post was originally written by Ruan Fourie.
Have you ever Googled your blog’s name? Your brand. It’s important to know what results are returned when people Google your brand. The more info people can get about you by just searching your brand, the better.
There are typically 10 search results on the first page of a Google search, and every single one of those 10 results should point directly to an online property that you manage. Brands, marketers, potential new readers or followers will likely Google your brand at some point. Brands and marketers will Google your brand if they are considering including you in an Influencer Marketing campaign.
How do you dominate the page one of Google with your brand?
It’s not as hard as you think. Most influencers already own multiple branded properties online. A blog, a Facebook page, a Twitter account, Instagram account and YouTube channel etc.
All these properties can potentially appear on the first page of search results when your brand is searched. You just have to make sure that Google (and other search engines) understand that your brand owns all those properties.
You have to tell Google where you can be found
Most of these social media profiles have a field where you can link to your website. That is the first and most important step to helping search engines understand that the social media account is part of your brand.
Google now has direct access to Twitter’s data stream. Google can only crawl certain parts of public Facebook pages, and the same applies for Instagram.
For this very reason it’s important that you use the one property that you completely own (your blog) to help Google understand your whole brand and where you can be found online.
Link to your social accounts from your website
You control how much of your website Google (and other search engines) can crawl. You control where you are linking to, and from where on your site.
You control how Google interprets your brand.
You should already be linking to all of your social media profiles for your brand from your website, so that your readers can easily find those profiles.
Your “About” page on your Website is there to give your users all they need to know about you. From here you can easily link to all your social media profiles, not only for your readers, but also to help Google understand that your brand extends to those social media profiles.
But it doesn’t have to stop at your “About” page. You can also use your “Contact” page as an opportunity to help Google understand where you can be reached. Because some of your audience will prefer Twitter as a channel for communication, it would also make sense to inform your audience of all the social channels they can use to contact you.
A Webfluential profile page is a gold mine of info for Google and your audience
Your Webfluential profile page gives a lot of information about your brand and your audience. Things like your audience demographics, links to all your brand social media profiles and also a link to your Website. Google loves pages like a Webfuential profile that provide a lot of information about a search.
By simply linking to your Webfluential Profile page from your website, you will be giving Google a great resource to return relevant information for your brand. So make sure you also link to your Webfluential profile from your “About” page, your “Contact” page and even your “Advertise” page if you have one.
It’s not just about the search results
You are doing a good job with your brand. You have an audience and that audience is still growing. You create cool content for your audience. Now brands and marketers want to start working with you so that they get access to your audience.
The first thing a marketer is going to to do before reaching out to you is Google your brand.
When your brand is searched it’s a sign of a strong brand if you dominate the first page of the Google results by not only showing your blog, but also all your social media profiles and your Webfluential profile.
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September 16, 2015 9:59 am
Published by Kirsty Sharman
Have you ever browsed the web and felt that whatever website you visit; you see ads from the online store you visited the day before? Whether you are catching up on news on CNN or browsing Facebook pics of a friend’s holiday, ads keep popping up (like magic) with the shoes you decided were not essential. However, this is not the act of your Fairy Godmother waving her wand to ensure you have this seasons latest kicks, but it is rather part of a strategic remarketing campaign.
One of the most crucial questions for any business is “How do I attract more customers?” The corner store wants to increase foot traffic, a steakhouse wants more reservations and the online shoe shop wants to have less abandoned shopping carts. However, in the over-competitive online world, discovering a website may be easy, but leaving it is as simple as clicking a button. The more important business question in this case is “How do I get them to come back?”
Remarketing is used to reach past website visitors or app users. It is a smart way to reach out to people who may not have made an immediate purchase or taken up your call to action on first visit. It gives you the opportunity to reconnect with potential customers by positioning targeted ads in front them when they are browsing elsewhere on the web.
Put simply, one uses marketing to bring a visitor to your website, and when they do not make a purchase, you then use remarketing tactics to bring them back to your website and convert them into paying customers. Remarketing is a great tool to add to your Influencer Marketing campaign. Lets find out why.
Using dynamic remarketing to customise ads
Dynamic remarketing takes things a step further by including products or services that people viewed on your website within the ads. This delivers a customised and more relevant ad to the potential customer. They are more likely to take note of the ad as they recognise the product displayed from their previous browsing or abandoned shopping carts. This connection makes them more likely to buy. Linking back to the shoe example, this would be viewing ads for the green Nike trainers you left abandoned in your shopping cart, whilst browsing other websites.
How does remarketing work?
Remarketing ads can be delivered to a defined audience in both text and image display formats. The ads are managed by Google AdWords and are displayed on web pages visited by your target audience that accept Google advertising placements.
The technology behind remarketing works by placing *cookies that are stored on the visitor’s computer when browsing. Their cookie ID is added to your remarketing list to serve relevant and customised ads.
How successful is remarketing?
The central principle of remarketing is to retain the attention of people that have already expressed an interest in your business. Therefore, for remarketing to be successful you need to ensure that your ad is highly relevant to what your visitors are looking for and that there is some enticement for them to return to your website. For example, perhaps I decide to buy the green Nike trainers as the remarketing ads show me a 10% discount code or offer me a gift certificate on my first purchase.
When used correctly, remarketing is a powerful tool for repeat website traffic, sales conversions or creating brand awareness. This is why remarketing is sometimes referred to as ‘conversion marketing’ and is a great tool for driving return on investment (ROI).
A Google case study, of Loews Hotel Group, showcases how they shifted 70 percent of their offline ad spend to online last year. The hotel group started using remarketing and the overall results were very favourable. Revenue increased 10 percent, bookings went up 9 percent and unique site visitors increased by 5 percent. However, the most impressive number was the $60,000 in sales that the $800 remarketing campaign produced.
Remarketing is believed to be the ultimate tool to address the problem of abandoned shopping carts and increase sales conversions. A study showcased on Selligent found that the return rate of customers that abandon shopping carts without remarketing is 8 percent, but with remarketing the return rate increases to 26 percent.
In an era where our time is continually diverted to something new and we are bombarded with messaging, it is important to remain relevant and at the forefront of a potential customer’s mind. Remarketing allows marketers to strategically target people that have already expressed interest in their business and remind them to purchase the green Nike sneakers they abandoned in their shopping cart. With a little added enticement from a remarketing campaign, 26 percent of those customers will return to purchase the shoes.
*A cookie is a small bit of code that helps a web browser store data about websites.
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September 2, 2015 9:37 am
Published by Kirsty Sharman
Editor’s note:
Download this case study to learn how Vodacom used Influencer Marketing to create online talkability for the music streaming service Deezer, a Vodacom partner
Vodacom wanted to increase awareness with various youth, entertainment and music audiences on why they should consider music streaming and why Vodacom Deezer is the best option. With Deezer being an online download, the objective was to create the conversation online where potential users could access the download easily.
To achieve the goal of igniting online conversation, Vodacom used Webfluential to search for music loving influencers, who could create relevant content about music streaming and Vodacom’s partnership with Deezer that they would share with their audiences. The Webfluential team then briefed the approved influencers, managed the campaign logistics and workflow, tracked the results and reported on the findings.
Once the influencer content starting rolling-out, the campaign hashtag trended on Twitter countrywide and the various blog posts, Facebook posts and Tweets collectively reached nearly 4 million people. Whilst reach is important when your objective is to build awareness, the success of the engagement of the campaign is worthy of highlighting. Over 11, 250 people engaged with the influencer content (that’s over 11, 250 likes, comments, shares and link clicks).
Jeanine Ferreira, Portfolio Manager of Content and Digital Marketing for Vodacom, was impressed with Webfluential and the success of the campaign. “Webfluential offers excellent service and a thorough understanding of Influencer Marketing. They have made our journey into this new way of advertising both exciting and rewarding,” says Jeanine.
Download the Vodacom Influencer Marketing Case Study to find out more.
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