IEEE Spectrum Magazine reports half a billion people around the world spend more than 20 hours a week using a digital representation of themselves. You are probably very familiar with avatars, but did you know that people’s online interactions with each other have the same effect as if they were face-to-face. For example, studies show that your heart beats just as fast when your girlfriend or boyfriend winks at you from your computer screen as when he or she walks into the room.
Facebook is currently developing its own virtual reality apps so users can create virtual reality content for others to view and experience in a richer way.
You may have heard the term immersive 3D content or immersive 3D animations, and not only does it show the veracity, the goal is to actually immerse the user in “it” – whatever or wherever it may be. The thought process is if you truly want a captive audience, get them involved.
By next year we should be able to see Facebook’s News Feed support spherical, 360-degree videos.
So, the question is, are you ready to buy a virtual reality headset for social media?
Traditional marketing is changing, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to effectively market your brand. In order to do that successfully, you need to know where the audience is and how to speak to them.
We know the majority of the audience has gone social and we know content marketing has morphed into the official language for brand communication. So here are a few content marketing tips that can be helpful when executed correctly.
1. Know your brand
Your brand is the heart and soul of your company, and in order for the audience to understand who you are, you have to understand yourself first. When an audience sees your work, they should know what you stand for. For example, Martha Stewart is seen by her audience as a home expert. The media she posts relates to her brand because she consistently shares recipes, home improvement ideas, and DIY projects. People relate to her brand because it has a strong and clear stance. To do this, give your audience a focus on what you stand for and effectively continue with this same stance in all of your media. When an audience is well educated on who you are, they are able to believe in your brand and look at you as the brand expert. If there is not enough information circulating about your brand, then your audience will be just as lost as you are.
2. Keep them interested
Providing your audience with information they yearn for will keep them informed, interested and most importantly, satisfied. A strong title and introduction are crucial to keeping your readers hooked. The introduction should explain why you are writing about this topic, as well as demonstrate a strong knowledge on the information. 57% of marketers report custom content was their top marketing priority for 2014 (source: http://www.altimetergroup.com) so make sure you are able to write in your own style with a strong voice. If the article does not sound like you or your brand, the audience won’t be able to connect with it. If there is too much fluff in your words, you won’t be taken seriously. There are a lot of little things to think about when writing, but when looking over your post think about these three questions: is this our brand’s voice? Will my content be interesting to my audience? Is the article original?
3. Be consistent and post regularly
You want your audience to know your brand and to read your content, but it’s not useful unless you are consistent with your marketing. The more information being posted about your brand, the more likely your audience will see it. If you are sporadic with your posts, then they will be sporadic with reaching your whole audience. Simple things can connect people to your brand and help them stay interested. Come up with weekly posts that you can schedule on your social media sites that link to your website, blog or correlating site. According to the Huffington Post Tech “Tweets that include links are 86 percent more likely to be retweeted.” The more you reach out to your audience, the better chance you have for them to reach out for you.
4. Keep up with trends and come up with new ideas
Keep your marketing strategies fresh and trendy. Do your research so you know what the newest content marketing strategies are and to see what your competitors are doing. If it’s working for them, make your own twist and showcase your brand, in your way.
We all make mistakes in life and unfortunately, it’s the only true way to learn. The same goes for our content marketing strategies. The space grows, and simultaneously, so do our mistakes.
Below is a list of what we know hurts brands rather than help them, and how to avoid these four content mistakes in the future.
1. No Goals.
A strong foundation is needed to achieve a goal, and that strength comes from asking questions before you begin writing your content. First, what are you trying to achieve? Is it quality leads? Is it to engage new buyers and introduce them to your brand? Or is it simply wanting to let the audience know who you are, not what you do? If you can ask and then answer your own questions you have a better chance at providing value and gaining results.
2. Not Providing Quality Content.
Can you list the top 50 burning questions your audience would really like an answer to? If you can’t, then you need to find out. Throwing trivial information at them, rather than information they yearn for, will not help to gain their attention or keep them engaged. For example, if you are a bridal shop and you’re writing a piece on how to lose weight before the big day, it may not be as effective as if you provide tips on how not to trip down the aisle. Which according to Brides.com is one of the most popular concerns a woman has. Your content marketing strategy should simply answer your customers’ questions and most general concerns.
3. Not Posting Enough.
This one is really simple. The more quality content you publish, the more website traffic gained. Hubspot recently reported that brands that published 16+ blog posts per month received about 4.5X more leads than companies that published between 0 – 4 monthly posts.
4. Manipulation.
Content Marketers are not in the business of manipulating their consumers. They know their audience can sniff out a sales pitch instantly. Today, nobody wants to be sold or bombarded with shameless plugs, they want to be educated or entertained. When you provide compelling content, you draw in engagement and social media shares, which is key. So don’t be a salesperson, it just doesn’t work.
We all know a solid email list becomes a powerful sales tool for a lot of companies. On account of that, we never want to lose one subscriber. Besides, most of us do not do well with goodbyes. We usually want to know why it’s happening and how we can stop it. Sometimes, there is just nothing you can do, but often times you can stop the customer before that dreaded click. We say keep fighting the good fight and never surrender!
Here are a few tips you can try:
Show a fun, lighter side of the company. You don’t have to grovel, just use a playful tone that your customers can relate to. For example, your unsubscribe message can be something like – Was it something we said, Nancy?
Always use the customer’s first name in any unsubscribe message to make it personal to them. It’s more impactful and will make the customer feel more important overall. It’s surprising that one simple psychological technique can make the customer think twice, but studies show it does.
Offer alternatives on your unsubscribe page or form. For instance- stop daily emails, only monthly emails, only coupons, etc. The customer may want to stay on board but just change their preferences.
This one is bittersweet, but make sure you ask for feedback when they leave. It’s a great opportunity to learn and see what might be going wrong.
Last, have the founder of the company create a short video that will make the customer laugh. This provides an opportunity to humanize your brand and show the company’s personality. You can even hire a comedian like HubSpot did. Take a look.
A study by Google, the CEB, and Morista reported out of hundreds of B2C brands researched, most have emotional connections with 10%-40% of consumers. Meanwhile, B2B brands elicit an emotional connection with more than 50% of their buyers.
This means we can crush the misconception that clients need “corporate” content and provide practical information to help businesses make decisions they can feel really good about.
Take a look to see how emotion impacts the purchase decisions of B2B buyers.
