Top 5 WordPress Plugins For Social Media Posting

7 Sep 2020 Social Media

Social media has revolutionized the way users share information online.  Research by Statista shows that social media has progressed from having 2.34 billion users in 2016 to 3.96 billion users as of July 2020. It is therefore considered as one of the most powerful tools for modern marketing and branding of a website and needs to be integrated well to generate high traffic. Using the WordPress framework makes the process simpler by offering numerous choices in the form of plugins to share content through the use of social media buttons on the website.

Before we explore the top 5 social media plugins, let us identify the functionalities and benefits of using social media plugins.

  • Social sharing button– help in improving the online exposure by users sharing the content from the website through their social media profiles.
  • Social icons– these show the website visitors your social media presence and allows them to click the icon to automatically be directed to your profile. It is one of the easiest ways to build followers on social media
  • Social logins– allow people to sign in using their social media accounts. This helps in keeping the site secure and minimizes spam. It also makes it easier for the user since they don’t have to create a new username and password to access the website.
  • Social feeds– help showcasing social media feeds directly on the website. It adds visuals and gives a sneak preview of what can be expected on the social pages.
  • Social comments-boost the conversation in the comments by adding social media comments to the posts. This helps in driving higher engagement and comments.
  • Social locking-best content can be restricted with the social locking tool. It can be unlocked by a specific action taken by the website visitor like sharing content or following on social media.
  • Automated Posting– using plugins to automate social media posting. For example, sharing older blog posts on Twitter benefits the followers as the content is always being shared.

Top WordPress Plugins for Social Media

  1. Easy Social Share– Is one of the best free social sharing plugins for WordPress. Simple yet powerful, easy to use this plugin is suitable for beginners as well as experts. Easy social share buttons offer a choice of 30 different default positions such as above/ below content, floating icons, post share bar, etc. and is supported by 50 social media networks. This plugin has been ‘Performance Approved’ by WordPress plugin Wp rocket which highlights how well regarded it is for being optimized and not affecting website performance. Some of the notable features of Easy Social Share are
    • Over 55 button style templates offering a choice to the user to make the buttons look exactly as they want.
    • Share count displays the share count for individual or overall networks.
    • Follow icons to let visitors follow you and the count can be displayed.
    • Share count recovery enables the recovery of old share counts in case of switching domains or from HTTP to HTTPS.
    • Custom content helps control what content is shared.
    • After share action enables a display of message/ offer after content is shared by the visitor.
    • A/B testing uses split testing to know which social networks and buttons perform best.
    • Social media profiles can be linked using this plugin
    • It costs less than $ 20 and yet it offers more features than other WordPress social media plugin
    • It provides a simple button to subscribe to an email newsletter.
    • Use analytics and metrics to see what content is working best.
    • A live chat button can be displayed for Facebook or Skype live chat.
  1. Social Warfare-Is among the best available social media WordPress plugins due to its simplicity. It does not slow down the website, unlike some other plugin. It is designed to increase shares by adding social sharing icons on the website. The buttons can be placed above/ below content or both, manually with a shortcode or floating share buttons. With the paid version some more options are available. It supports 6 social networks with the free version and 9 with the paid version. Social Warfare helps track the results with UTM parameters. Analytics can be used to see how well the sharing icons are performing to tweak them if necessary. Some of the other notable features are
    • Attractive buttons that look great.
    • Share counts display total share counts or individual network share counts. Tweet count can be displayed with the paid version.
    • Popular posts by share count can be displayed using a widget.
    • Share count recovery enables the recovery of old share counts in case of switching domains or from HTTP to HTTPS.
    • Minimum social proof offers the option of displaying share counts only after a certain number is reached.
    • Share customization controls what content shows up when a user shares content.
    • Pinterest specific share image is when a separate image shows up on sharing it on Pinterest.
  1. Mashshare– A free social media plugin by WordPress, it can be customized for social media and help optimize content. It provides attractive designs for the display of three social media buttons for Facebook, Twitter, and Subscribe. It displays by default the total shares against each of these buttons to give an idea about total shares at a glance to the visitors of the site. These plugins do not have an impact on site speed. The buttons can be placed above/ below content (or both) and can be placed manually with a shortcode. The premium versions allow for positioning of the buttons like a floating sidebar or sticky sidebar. The free version supports Facebook and Twitter while the paid version includes Google +, Pinterest, Reddit, LinkedIn, Whatsapp, and some small networks. Some of the other notable features are
    • Social media plugin with add-ons helps choose the features that are required without having to pay full price for features that may not be used.
    • The plugin has caching built-in for the fast delivery of the buttons.
    • Select and share – let users share specific parts of your text.
    • Pageviews are displayed.
    • Share count recovery enables the recovery of old share counts in case of switching domains or from HTTP to HTTPS.
    • Share count is displayed just like Mashable.
    • Shortcodes allow for buttons to be placed anywhere on the website.
  1. Ultimate Social Share– Is a popular social media plugin that is simple and easy to use. It offers a range of buttons with its premium version. It is active across a huge number of websites with high rating reviews for its aggressive approach for asking for reviews. The free version allows for buttons to be placed at a specific position on the page via a widget, a shortcode, after posts, or via a pop-up. The premium version supports over 100 social media networks with the free version supporting the popular social media networks like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Pinterest. Some of the other notable features are
    • Share counts across social media platforms.
    • Custom shares help choose the pictures and text to be shared.
    • Exclude pages from sharing share icons.
    • Share count recovery enables recovery of old share counts in case of switching domains or from HTTP to HTTPS
    • Exclusive design styles.
  1. Add to Any– Is one of the most popular social media share button plugins on WordPress. It is active on over 500,000 sites. It most enviable feature is the number of social networks it supports and that too free. These buttons can be placed above/ below content (or both), vertical and horizontal floating bar, widget, or shortcode. The buttons can also be placed at the bottom of media pages and excerpts. AddToAny button allows the user to choose any network. Some of the other notable features are
    • Share counts across networks
    • Google Analytics integration- to track share analytics
    • AMP support
    • Responsive design
    • Share buttons help increase traffic to the site.

The website and the social media profile should work together to generate optimal results. Which WordPress social media plugin you choose will depend on what you are looking for. By making sharing of content easy will boost engagement and drive more traffic. The above-mentioned WordPress social media plugins are sure to help you add some interesting buttons to your website.

Content is not only King, It is the Kingdom

5 Sep 2020 Digital Marketing

More than 2 decades ago Bill Gates asserted, ‘Content Is King’. While this may be true to a certain extent, the most important aspect to consider is that content is king only if it is read. The focus of any business needs to be on creating good content to establish and build an ongoing relationship with its customers. ‘Content is not the king, but the kingdom to weave a story around.’ With the changing dynamics of the web and the evolution of social media, it becomes all the more imperative for organizations to focus on creating exceptional content, the kind that will get the attention of the target audience, engage them, provide them with the information they are looking for and generate results that you are looking for. As the famous marketing icon Neil Patel says “Good content should be interesting, challenging, entertaining and worthwhile. Otherwise, the producer (writer) has wasted his or her time.”

Good content is never enough as everyone in today’s day is putting out good content. It is important to have the knowledge to get content to reach the target audience using the various channels and ensure the traffic converts to customers/subscribers. Promoting the content through the right channels is as important as getting the content right. This requires a plan of action that clearly defines the steps to be taken to capture the audience, promote the content, analyze, and track how the content is performing and helps in conversion. As they say, ‘Conversation is the new lead’.

Marketers today understand the value of good content and the importance of having a content strategy in place to provide the target audience with the most relevant content as per their needs through the channels they interact with. Content strategy helps in aligning and standardizing the content delivery efforts of the organization in order to present a brand story and influence the target audience. Some of the key elements in creating a content strategy for an organisation are:

  1. Align content strategy with the overall business objectives – It is important for any organization to have clearly defined objectives for the content strategy to ensure that it aligns with the marketing and sales of the overall business. Just producing good content is never enough. A well laid out a drafted plan which gives clear reasoning for creating content, the channels to be used and how best to optimize content to the advantage of the organization is essential for the success of a content strategy.
  2. Get management to buy-in on the financial aspect of the content strategy – Getting approval from the leadership team and the management is the toughest part of content strategy. Clearly laying out the cost, benefits and the value drivers of the content strategy is imperative for it to be considered by the management. Value divers would be boost from effective targeting, timing, and content, lower cost through channel shift, deriving efficiencies through a focus on valuable and prospective customers.
  3. Effective segmentation – Targeting content to specific audiences is an effective way to ensure that it is viewed by the audience. It is important to understand how well the content was received by the target audience in the engagement cycle. A road map should be designed to help understand the customer journey and support sales. This will also help devise plans for future delivery of content through the right platforms to the target audience and maximize the financial value for the organization.
  4. Selecting the right platform – Having an understanding of the unique segments to be targeted along with their typical behaviour across the online and offline channels will help select the right platform giving the much-needed boost to the content. Viewing each platform from the user’s perspective will help in getting a better understanding of what they experience and adjust the strategy to help them view content as you want them to view it.

Having understood the key elements of content strategy, let us now look at the current trends that are changing the content marketing scene:

  1. Visual Content – Has become an integral part of a content marketing plan as the target audience are drawn to the visual elements of all kinds. The advantage it lends is that it presents new and creative ways to help form a brand voice and personality. Higher engagement can be achieved for new content through the use of social media channels which can help drive traffic to the website.
  2. Mobile-first content – Content today needs to be optimized for a mobile experience as many users access content through their smartphones or tablets.
  3. Metrics for reporting – Having different touchpoints for the content makes it difficult to measure its ROI. However, a successful content marketing strategy must show ROI and data to support it.

For marketers, the content has always been a key powerful element of the kingdom gaining more important today than ever before. Creating valuable content is not the end but a means to achieve business objectives and assist in the attainment of sales objectives. A well-drafted content marketing strategy will help the organisation achieve higher engagement and conversion. Delivering content through the right platforms to the right person at the right time is crucial for optimization and measurements of ROI.

10 Tips for Building an Online Marketplace

2 Sep 2020 Blog

The number of online marketplaces is increasing every day. They offer convenience and time efficiency over the traditional offline platforms to the buyers as well as the sellers. According to research conducted by Statista, E-commerce sales are expected to reach $4.1 trillion by the end of 2020. This only reflects the scope of online marketplaces. Let us get an understanding of “What is an Online marketplace?”

An online marketplace is a digital platform with websites and mobile apps, where several vendors, shops, people offer products to the buyers in exchange for a marketplace fee. The owner of the marketplace attracts the customers and handle all transactions. They do not hold any inventory and focus mainly on assisting the sellers to sell through the marketplace. Perfect examples of the online marketplace are Amazon, Airbnb, Etsy. Since the online marketplace offers a huge opportunity now just for the owners but for sellers and buyers, let us look at “Tips to Build an Online Marketplace.”

1. Conduct market research and research the target audience: Market research is essential while creating an online marketplace to get a clear understanding of the target market, users, their needs, and the solution they are looking for. It is important to assess the market size to better understand what business model to adopt. Understanding the market segments will help pick the most attractive niche in the target market. Popular online marketplace Amazon has grown big by initially starting from a small niche-an online bookstore. The study of the competitors will help gain insights into the marketing strategies and the business models they use as well as the strengths and weaknesses they have to use to your advantage. Market trends help to understand what is working and what is not, changes in regulations, new technological breakthroughs, and change in customer behaviour.

The most important element of conducting market research is to identify the target audience. Knowing who the users are and what are their goals and the challenges they face in buying the product. It is also important to know where they buy from, and what motivates them to buy. Creating buyer personas will give a better understanding of the audience and help solve the problems they face. All this will help draw up a business model that will work and prepare a marketing strategy to make the marketplace successful.

2. Choose the right business model: Designing a viable business model is very essential before starting the online marketplace. The various models to consider are:
• Sign up fees- a flat payment to charge the sellers to sign up on the marketplace. This way you get the money in even before the marketplace is thriving as long as you can sell your business idea. After the initial sign up one needs to look at other ways to monetize.
• Subscription- charging the sellers a specific amount regularly to generate revenue for the marketplace.
• Listing fees- collecting a set amount from the sellers for listing their products on the marketplace. These fees can be at a flat or variable depending on the price of the product, the category of the product.
• Selling fees- A great monetization strategy. Selling fees are collected each time the seller processes an order on the marketplace. It may pose a problem initially when the orders are small but eventually can ensure high returns when the order volume grows.

3. Planning the operations of the marketplace: A plan needs to be in place to successfully manage the operations of a marketplace and make it profitable. The focus needs to be on acquiring and maintaining the sellers to make the marketplace run. The first step is to convince the sellers to come on board. You need to present your unique value proposition to them and make them understand how the marketplace will function. The way the products are organized will impact the selection of the software, the layout of the marketplace, and how the sellers publish and manage their products. Payment processing, logistics, and shipping processes need to be carefully planned to ensure smooth operations of the marketplace. Marketing strategies need to focus on the target audience to get maximum traction to make the marketplace a success.

4. Outline the features of the Marketplace: Focus on creating features that the user needs to optimize time, effort, and money for a marketplace. Start with the essentials and improve the platform with time as the business grows. Make the onboarding of sellers an easy and simple process. Optimize product management features according to the product offering on the marketplace. Make it simple for the sellers to receive and process orders and communicate with their buyers. Similarly, the buyers should be able to find what they are looking for easily, place orders, and make payments. Adding some reporting features will help understand and analyze what is working and what is not for both you and the seller.

5. Select a payment solution: For a marketplace, payment is received from the sellers, payments are received for the sellers, and payments are received from the buyers. It is a must to have a sound payment solution in place to manage all these payments safely and securely. The types of payments, the processing cost, and the availability of payment providers in the region will govern the selection of the payment solution of the marketplace.

6. Invest in the right software: Selecting the right software will help you successfully launch the marketplace. Whether you choose from the cloud, hosted platforms, standalone solutions, multi-vendor CMS extensions, or your website will depend on the kind of marketplace being built, the features the platform needs, and the user experience.

7. Get a great team in place: Getting the right software is not enough. A team needs to be put in place to manage different aspects of a marketplace from design to marketing and sales, operations, and logistics. The focus should on getting people with specialized skills who have an understanding of the marketplace. This will not only ensure success but future growth as well.

8. Develop the Marketplace: After all the planning is in place with a great team, the next step is to develop the platform. Everyone involved in it should have a clear understanding of the requirements and the timeline. Ensure that there is a backup plan in place if things don’t work out as planned. Keep it simple when designing, implementing the marketplace software, and test with real users to resolve any issues faced initially before the official launch of the marketplace.

9. Launch the Marketplace: Prepare the launch plan of the marketplace keeping in mind the timeline, the marketing message, and the primary channels that will be used. Devise a social media strategy as per your target audience and create the buzz before the launch. Do a soft launch and try and get as much feedback as you can from the initial customers. Use the feedback constructively and make changes and improvements to the platform. Post that does a test run before the launch of the marketplace. Make sure to create enough hype around the launch especially with the target audience.

10. Grow the marketplace: Post-launch the focus should be on growth and retention of the customer base as well as the seller base. Use social media to create brand awareness and attracting new customers. Set aside a budget for social media ad campaigns and have the necessary tools to analyze how well these platforms are working for you. Gather feedback from both the customer and sellers for improving the marketplace. Feature and promote the best sellers by creating case studies and success stories together with them. Always come up with new and exciting ways to engage your customers.

Building an online marketplace is a complicated and time-consuming process. Remember your niche is what will set you apart from others. Each marketplace has its unique challenges. However, with proper research and planning processes using the right expertise you can create a success story.

10 Industries Thriving Post COVID

1 Sep 2020 Blog

COVID 19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruptions impacting businesses worldwide and wiping out more than $ 20 trillion of the value of global equity markets.

Businesses across various industries have been forced to rethink and readjust their strategies and respond in new ways to survive through this period. The timelines for implementing new emerging technologies have changed where companies have had to accelerate drastically to cope with the pandemic. Early implementers of digitalization have seen their investments paying off now and others have realized that digital capabilities need to be enhanced to stay resilient through these times.

The nature of the pandemic is helping certain industries succeed even after the restriction like remote working, social distancing is in place. Let us get an insight into the industries that are creating opportunities and are likely to thrive post the pandemic.

1. E-Commerce: Due to restrictions in place and fear of going to public places, the online marketplaces are booming. E-commerce companies have seen a huge growth in transaction orders despite the challenges faced with the supply chain. Many companies are expected to turn profitable in the next 1 year. This remarkable shift is not expected to retreat to the pre-COVID levels once things get back to normal.

2. Remote Working Technology: With billions of people working from home offices must stay connected. Schools around the world have moved to remote learning models making telecommunications and remote working platforms more important than ever before. Businesses that provide video meetings, file sharing, webinars, and other mobile collaborations have seen exponential growth. They are looking to hire more people to cope with the surge in demand. This new trend is likely to become the default method of communication for many industries in the future.

3. Industrial Real Estate: With growing interest in bringing industries closer to customers for better control in times of disruption, as well as for increasing safety stock, the demand for industrial space will likely grow. To accommodate more complex pick-pack systems and provide access to a greater variety of products, typically associated with any e-commerce distribution facility, the real demand for such a space will be thrice the size of a regular B2B facility. The change in the model could also see management either working from the distribution facility and/or from home.

4. Health Industry: The healthcare and pharmaceutical industries around the world are most essential in current circumstances. Companies are providing delivery services for medical supplies not just to individuals but to private clinics as well. With people switching to teleconsultations as a preferred way, companies that provide a platform to book appointments and consultations with doctors have seen record-high traffic and it is likely to grow in the future. The enhanced flexibility and convenience that this platform provides both for the patient and the healthcare provider will ensure the continuous growth even post the pandemic.

5. Product and Service Delivery: Companies that cater to deliveries of essential supplies has seen a huge spike in demand. Third-party services are being used by restaurants e-commerce, F&B companies to fulfil the substantial growth in orders as their current delivery infrastructure cannot cope with the surge in demand. In the post COVID world, it is anticipated that the delivery service will continue to stay in high demand.

6. Automation: Robots have been viewed as a threat to the workforce. With the current need for social distancing and least human interactions, the benefits of using such technology are superseding its threats of replacing humans. Warehouse operations have been transformed in current times. Companies are looking for low-cost, flexible automation solutions to replace humans where it is possible to do so. This trend will continue and diversify in the future. Many jobs will be lost, but once the companies switch to these technologies during current times, it is highly unlikely for them to revert to pre COVID times.

7. Augmented Reality: AI was incorporated into many online channels to cope with restrictions imposed due to COVID leading to a fall in sales in-store. It is likely to replace the need to feel and touch goods before making a purchase. The industry will see growth in the future with technological improvements and lower costs.

8. Online Grocery Stores: Online sales for grocery items have seen a drastic rise in orders in current times. Many companies have had to hire personnel to cope with high demand and ensure deliveries are made on time. With restrictions easing this trend is likely to stay with people opting for the convenience of the online stores.

9. Cloud Kitchens: a concept referred to as e-commerce of food where there are virtual restaurants and food can be ordered online and delivered to the customers. Centralized kitchens can serve as a hub for many restaurants who can reduce their cost of having a physical restaurant and staff to run it.

10. E-Learning: With children across the world forced to continue their education from home, e-learning has become essential. This holds true for colleges and universities as well. With this shift and the integration of information technology in education, it will make online education an integral part of the education industry.

Countries have increasingly felt the need to have their manufacturing rather than relying on other countries to have more resilience in their supply chain. This socio-economic trend to reverse globalization will ensure that no organization faces challenges like those that the pandemic presented.

The Post-COVID road is certainly going to be bumpy and unpredictable, but it is in these uncertain times great opportunities arise. The pandemic has compelled many companies to evolve, transform, and digitalize to conduct business. Some businesses will survive and emerge strong, transformed reshaped and some will not survive. The key lies in bringing about the changes necessary to overcome any future challenges.

Accelerating Retail- A Google Initiative

31 Aug 2020 Blog

COVID 19 has changed everything around us from the way we live to the way we shop.

The use of technology by businesses and people has soared and is visible with the increase in internet usage by 60 percent. There has been a substantial shift in retail spending from planning to buying products we need. These changes have brought about a complete change in the retail setting. Businesses today are using a variety of resources to understand the changing customer behaviour like google trends, survey, analysis of their data as well as social listening to be able to make decisions in real-time. Google has stepped up and has offered tools like “Rising Retail Categories” since May 2020 which highlights fast-growing product-related categories along with the location.

To help European, Middle East, and Africa retailers make the most of the digital opportunities, Google is all set to launch its new initiative “Accelerating Retail” in September 2020.

What is Accelerating Retail?

Retail accounts for 9 percent of jobs in the European Union alone and it will play a vital role in the recovery. Accelerating Retail is a platform designed to help retailers of all sizes across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa accelerate business recovery and growth and to be ready for the upcoming peak shopping season. The month-long program will introduce new products, tools, free training, real-time insights, and resources to plan for the future.

Why do we need a platform like Accelerated Retail?

1. Retailers need to respond to the changing needs of the consumers-The world around us has seen a major change after COVID 19 was declared a pandemic. Online shopping has seen exponential growth which has brought about challenges in decision making for the businesses. The needs of the consumers have changed and their buying journey which started from research to exploring options both offline and online have now gone through a change due to the uncertainty in the availability of the products. Consumers have become more open to exploring other brands and options available. Having said that they now need help in finding the right product, at the right place, at the right time. This provides a perfect opportunity for the retail industry to respond to the consumer needs and changes in behaviour while building their brand online and in-store through the use of tools of Accelerated Retail.

2. Recovery and growth through digital- Online retail demand have soared and the focus of any business now needs to be on providing great customer experience and build brand recognition. With the launch of a new version of “Grow My Store” in many countries, Google wants to help local businesses to improve digital shopping, grow customer traffic, and enhance the online customer experience to complete transactions. It is as simple as entering the business URL into the tool to get a customized report, digital traffic trends, industry benchmarks, and actionable tips to improve. This will help retailers reach their potential customers. Upgrading of Smart Shopping campaigns is being done to help with the acquisition of new customers and simplify advertiser onboarding. The use of “Rising Retail Trends”, which was specific to the U.S., U.K., and Australia has been expanded to other regions on the world to providing insights to fast-growing retail categories with locations where more interest is seen.

With the growth in online spending, the success of the retail sector will depend on the online and offline offering, and the customer purchase experience. Research conducted by Google in collaboration with Euromonitor shows that in the next five years purchases will be made in-store but retailers who offer in-store and digital platforms will gain the maximum. Through the use of digital technologies, retailers can become more resilient and ensure growth. Accelerated Retail will help make that possible and prepare retailers for what lies ahead.

Seven things digital marketers should do to improve their return on relationships (ROR)

31 Aug 2020 Digital Marketing

Loyalty, sharing, and recommendations represent relationships. The returns from such relationships are far better than what money can bring.  In today’s day and age social media is becoming a way of life for people and a way of business for companies who have realized the importance of it, especially for their marketing efforts. To be able to reach the target audience, companies need to focus their marketing efforts on building relationships and expand their metrics beyond Return on Investment to include Return on Relationship.

So, what is Return on Relationships? According to marketing strategist Ted Rubin, “ROR is the value you accrue by fostering a relationship with customers, whereas ROI is a measure of dollars and cents. ROR is the worth of each customer that will accumulate over time through effective social-media engagements.” Measuring the quality of customer relationships can help companies in establishing profitable, long term relationships based on trust.

Return on Relationships requires careful planning and execution. Let us dive deeper and look at what digital marketers can do to improve the Return on Relationship.

  1. Listen and Hear: It is essential to listen to the consumers first, their feelings, pain points, and what they are looking for to be able to understand them and develop trust over a period of time. Once this is done, they will respond to the message you put out and listen to you. Marketers should gather customer feedback through the use of Google alerts and other social listening tools like SocialMention, Buzzsumo, etc. which help in gaining visibility into social media and online reviews. Have a strategy in place to respond to feedback on social media and online reviews to prove to them that you understand what they are trying to tell you. The response should be well thought off and timely.
  2. Know your audience: The key to a good ROR lies in understanding the target audience to build trust and connection with them. Thorough research of the metrics like bounce rate, time spent on the website, and the behaviour flow help in understanding if what you are providing is what the customers are looking for.
  3. Make it about the “Them”: Give the audience a platform to show what they want, need, and are interested in. Conduct online surveys to know what the audience is looking for, how they feel about the product, its price, functionality, and experience. Social media is a place where the audience share and influence opinion about the brand. This can be beneficial for a brand if they have positive reviews and can be detrimental if they gain many negative views. Use the reviews to gain valuable insights into what works and what does not work and respond promptly.
  4. Look for ways to best serve them: The relationship between a company and an audience should not simply be about providing service for their time and money but should focus on how best to serve them. Digital marketers should provide free useful resources to help serve them by sharing expertise and creating useful content. Sharing expert opinions and content is a good way to boost the reputation and gain a new audience. This can be done through live sessions on social media, websites, podcasts.
  5. Constant Engagement: to have meaningful relationships with the customers, it is important to engage with them. Focus on getting to know the customers and give them reasons to engage with you. Brands can constantly reach a customer through posts on social media, blogs on topics that are important to the customers, and by sending out newsletters that can carry information regarding upcoming events, customer reviews, new product launches, etc. Ensure that they are responded to promptly be it on social media or respond to the content that is shared by the company.
  6. Be Genuine, Be Real: If there are any mistakes committed, own up to them. The consumers don’t expect perfection from companies but what they do expect is for them to be honest. To build trust and a solid foundation for a good reputation, it is best to own up on any mistakes and provide reasonable solutions. This leads to higher customer satisfaction and shows the prospective customers that you care. Ensure that responsibility is assigned to a person/team to monitor social media channels and respond to customers, prospective customers so that no communication goes unanswered.
  7. Build Relationships, build brands: When the focus of the marketing strategy of a brand is to build relationships, they pay more attention to who the customers are, their needs and preferences. These customers buy the product and services the brand offers and promote the brand by recommending it on their network.

ROR ultimately enhances ROI. As you add the engaged, focused, relationship-building aspect of ROR, your ROI increases, often exponentially.

Return on Relationship enhances Return on Investment. It requires careful planning and attention. Keeping the focus on engaging with the audience, understanding their needs and desire will help build relationships, thereby increasing the ROR. Know your people well before investing in social media marketing to have a high Return on Investment.

5 Best Ways To Promote Your Mobile App

28 Aug 2020 Mobile Apps

With over 2.7 billion smartphone users and 1.35 billion tablet users worldwide, the mobile app industry is thriving. As of the first quarter of 2020, there were 2.2 million apps in the Apple store and 2.8 million in Google Play Store. App usage is growing at a constant rate, without any signs of slowing down in the future and so is the competition to get a user’s attention. To stand out, the focus needs to be on developing an effective mobile app promotion strategy. This not only requires an understanding of the consumer behaviour but also extensive planning.

Whether launching your mobile app for the very first time or promoting the usage of an existing app, it is important to create and continuously improve awareness of the app with your target audience. This can be done by promoting your brand while paving the way for users to connect deeper with your products. The strategies to promote your mobile app include

  1. Researching the market and the competition – It is essential to continuously analyze the target audience and the competition. Identifying the likes and needs of the target audience, conducting thorough research of the groups, forums, websites, blogs they visit and the influencers they follow would help in maximizing reach and increase user acquisition. Collecting data on the competitors gives an insight into their apps and helps get a better understanding of how they engage with the users. It also helps to identify features that have not done well so that they can be avoided or improved besides any feature gaps that can be enhanced.
  2. Understanding the User Personas – A user persona defines who the user of the product is. It includes the demographics, mobile preferences, user’s interests along with the goals and challenges they currently face. User persona creates the foundation for user journey which helps in customizing every aspect of the mobile app and caters to the specific needs of the users. It helps in answering important questions like what the user is looking for, the operating system they use, the content they engage in online, the influencers they follow and the platforms to be used to best leverage paid to advertise.
  3. Content Marketing – An overarching strategy should be in place to improve app visibility through continuous content marketing. This would include sharing content through blogs, posts, boasting about the app features, including screenshots and videos of the product. As recently announced by Google, people do not find apps on apps store but look for them on search engines. Apps should be optimized so they can be found easily on search engines. Make the app discoverable everywhere. Search ads are the most effective way to promote an app and get people to download. It not only boosts app awareness but also drives downloads as the ads appear when the users are looking for it
  4. App Store Optimization – An app store is a place where people make a decision about the app. The app store page should be impressive and optimized to rank higher in search results leading to a higher rate of downloads. Good app store optimization depends on the title and the use of keywords. A good title is a way to rope users and effective use of keywords ensures that the app shows up when users search using the keywords. Due importance should be given to the description and visuals of the app to catch the attention of the user
  5. Promoting via Social media platforms – Use different social media platforms to expand the brand presence and connect with the target audience. Make sure that it is clear through the social profile that you have an app and have a link to download the app through it. Promote the app, its purpose features to create excitement around the product with engaging content.

Focusing on promoting the app is not the end game. It is essential to regularly analyze the mobile app KPIs such as app downloads, active users, retention, and daily usage rate to review the outcome of the above strategy and continue to increase download and improve app user engagement.

The mobile app industry is constantly evolving and companies have to keep innovating to stay on top of the app store. There is more data available than ever before to study and analyze to formulate strategies to launch and promote the app. Top priority should be given to the end-user and how they feel about the app to gain success.

The ROI of Social Media

26 Aug 2020 Social Media

Return on Investment is a performance measure used to assess the efficiency of an investment. ROI tries to directly measure the amount of return on a particular investment. Social media ROI is a metric showing how much value is generated with the investments made towards social media. In other words, social media ROI is the sum of all social media actions that create value. Value isn’t always measured in monetary terms for social media. If the goal is to drive brand awareness, then success can be measured against reach and engagement metrics

Having a social media marketing strategy is essential for most businesses today. Measuring the success of this is even more important to understand what efforts are paying off and what is not working to shift resources or alter the efforts to gain maximum results. Let us get a better understanding of Social Media ROI

What is Social Media ROI?

Social media ROI is the metric that shows how much value has been generated with all the investments made for social media. This is usually measured in terms of money but can vary for companies depending on the objectives set.

Why do we need Social Media ROI?

There are numerous reasons why it is important to measure ROI on social media.

It can help a company

  • Establish the value of social media for the business.
  • Show the potential impact social media can have across the business.
  • Help evaluate where the efforts and resources are reaping benefits and where they are not being utilized so that the shift in the strategy can be done.
  • Help in understanding the audience.
  • Support social media budget requirements.

How to measure Social Media ROI?

ROI for social media is a very tricky element to measure as it has many different meanings for different companies. Hence it becomes imperative for the company to have

  • Clear Objective– social media can create brand awareness but it is not always enough. To show value created by social media, the company needs to have clearly defined objectives for it which are aligned with overall objectives of the company. They can be based on lead generation, customer acquisition, brand awareness, customer experience amongst other things.
  • Goal setting– while the objectives define what social media will help the company achieve, the goals represent how and when these objectives will be achieved. Each goal must be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.
  • Track the goals– social media metrics are required to ascertain if the objectives are being achieved and the goals are met. Some of the common metrics to track for ROI are reach, audience engagement, lead generation, revenue generation, site traffic among other metrics like comments, likes, and shares.
  • Social media spend– clarity about the investment in social media is necessary to determine the ROI. Four things that should be kept in mind are time spent by employees on social media, money spent on tools and platforms to achieve the goals, content creation, and funds allocated towards social ads.

Let us now look at the tools needed to calculate social media ROI

  • Social ROI calculator-it is a free tool that makes it easy to calculate the return on social media investment.
  • Google Analytics with UTM parameters–adding it to the social media ads’ URL will help determine how much traffic and conversions social media marketing efforts are generating.
  • Hootsuite Impact: it measures the ROI of social media across paid, owned, and earned social channels.
  • Facebook Pixel: allows tracking engagement and conversions from Facebook ads
  • Socialbakers Ads Benchmarks– measure your social media ROI in context by understanding how the return on Facebook ads investment is fluctuating day-by-day across regions and industries
  • Hootsuite Insights: helps identify conversations and trends within the industry, reach, brand sentiment, and more. It’s all backed by 100 million data sources, real-time results, and an easy-to-use interface.

How to report Social Media ROI?

  • Analysis of each social media platform, ad format, and ad placement is required to assess which of them is the biggest contributor.
  • Align the company’s objective with the metrics you want to Align metrics you want to incorporate in the report.
  • Present data for a period of time to determine the impact of social media marketing efforts.
  • Highlight the key Insights that show how social media marketing has led to the growth in business.
  • Identify profitable areas and those that fell short of with an explanation.
  • Work out a plan for the future that will help generate better social media ROI.

Steps to Improve the ROI on Social Media

The goal of a social media marketer is to improve the ROI. To achieve that the focus needs to be on social media optimization which means spending money where the best possible returns are expected. Let us look at ways in which ROI can be improved.

  • Social media management platform should be used to track the performance of posts and investment should be made where there is the highest potential to get results.
  • Content should be published at a time when maximum traction can be gained. It helps in making the most of the resources that are put in creating content.
  • The study of the competitors should be done to see what content are they promoting. This will help in making decisions about future posts and how to be ahead of the competition.
  • Social media is always evolving. The channels, content, and strategies that are used to connect with the target audience may be ineffective in the future.it is very essential for any organisation to adapt and change the strategy with time.

Social media is an incredible tool that helps a business achieve its objectives. Measuring social media ROI gives valuable insight into the success of the present and the past campaigns and pave the way for the future. But one must not forget that with its continuous evolution, there is always more to learn, assess, and more to achieve.

Using Artificial Intelligence to develop smart websites

25 Aug 2020 Web design

The web design industry is evolving constantly and growing at an unprecedented rate with the progress of technology. This evolution can be seen through the changing styles, adoption of new practices, and the use of innovative technology. The users aspire for enhanced experience along with content that is customized for them. Hence it becomes imperative for web designers to think out of the box to cater to the changing needs of the customers and that is where AI comes into play. It has unlimited potential which can be leveraged by the developers in streamlining the website management tasks and gaining higher response value from its target audiences where the focus is on User Experience.

What is AI?

AI is about building smart machines that are programmed to think like humans and perform tasks that require human intelligence. The distinctive feature of AI is its capability to rationalize and take actions that have the best chance of achieving a specific goal. Some of the activities of AI are learning, planning, voice recognition, problem-solving.

Why is AI important for the development of websites?

Artificial Intelligence as a technology is specially designed in a manner to think and behave like humans. With the increase in the use of this technology, our day to day life will see a tremendous change. More people are using the web and searching using AI like voice search, and on the other hand, the companies are using the technology to provide solutions/content/products personalized to the user. AI has many advantages like making searches faster for users, make interaction with users better, provide a personalized experience. Hence it becomes crucial for companies to use AI for their websites to gain the most the technology has to offer

Using Artificial Intelligence to develop websites

Traditionally websites were designed by a web designer using coding to create unique websites. With the development of AI technology, it has the power to design and build creative websites with personalization on its own. Let us look at some of the benefits of using AI for web design

  1. AI as a Designer– The technology is being used in easing website building and designing to enhance user engagement and experience and also work as a diagnostic tool. The AI is capable of helping designers in content, branding, layout as well as design. It helps in automating basic tasks and developing codes which can help save a lot of time and effort for the web designers. The quality of the website has become an essential element in the success of the digital footprint with the changes in the trends and stricter standards of search engines
  2. User Experience– It is the most crucial aspect of web design. AI with its advanced features has assisted designers to create interfaces that are more engaging, responsive, and human to improve UX. The site can identify the needs of the customers and provide a better understanding of how they feel about the products and services being offered. Analysis can help predict user experience on the site to ensure errors can be reduced to get the desired value. AI-enabled websites can process data to aid end users as per their interests. Today, web designers can transform websites for customers to have a more significant and enriching experience.
  3. Make search faster– Since most of the potential customers are using mobile devices, the trend that has seen the fastest growth in the development and optimization of the website through the use of AI is voice search. The core idea behind this to make it more convenient for the customer to speak and search the web. 58 percent of the consumers are already using voice search to find information regarding local businesses. Thus, AI is seen as a crucial element of web development in offering consistent voice communication between the customer and websites. Every business should look at investing in it in the near future.
  4. Chatbots– AI-powered chatbots are expected to help the online business save $8 billion worth of business cost by 2022. They have completely changed the traditional web design and made a dominant influence on how a customer interacts with websites. The introduction of chatbots has enabled more human-like interaction on websites based on natural language processing systems thereby generating meaningful conversations leading to higher engagement.
  5. Personalized content-Using AI, the website can show content designed specifically to a user. It suggests relevant content based on past behaviours of the users which leads to higher engagement and connects with the users. Similarly, with the E-commerce website, it makes the web experience more personalized for the users by suggesting and presenting customers with what they may be looking for leading to higher engagement and eventually leading to higher sales.

Artificial Intelligence is one of the most advanced technologies which is in high demand. It is being used to make site building easier and responsive, enhance user engagement, and use analytics to improve the performance of the website.

The effect of AI can already be seen across the web and it is clear that this phenomenon is here to stay. In the future, AI will play a vital role in every aspect of web design and development. Machine learning programs with AI will help develop an exceptional website that will help gain traction and serve to fulfill many objectives set by the company.

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