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Apple, Microsoft, Google and Amazon are all names you've probably heard. No matter where you are in the world, chances are that you've heard of these companies.

Have you heard of Centene, AmerisourceBergen or Centene Danaher, Fortive, Archer Daniels Midland, AmerisourceBergen and AmerisourceBergen?

I'm sure you haven’t heard of any of these companies.

These companies aren’t small. Here's how much revenue each one generates in a given year.

• Danaher – $29.45 billion
• Fortive $5.25 Billion
• AmerisourceBergen $213 billion
• Centene $118 billion
• Archer Daniels Midland $85.25 Billion

That's quite a bit of revenue. These companies weren't born. They still make a lot of money, even though they may not be as glamorous as Apple or Nike.

My ad agency doesn't work with all of the brands I mentioned, but we do work alongside some of them and dozens of billion-dollar companies that you may not have heard of.

Although our primary goal is to assist our clients (which we do; Inc Magazine awarded us agency of the Year and 21st fastest-growing company), we also learn a lot from consulting with more than 100 publicly traded companies.

These are the marketing insights you might not be thinking about when it comes to billion-dollar companies that leverage them.

First lesson: The riches do not reside in the niches

Marketers talk about the importance of finding niches and how easier it is to market within them.

This is completely wrong. A niche market is difficult.

It's easy to see it this way: rank number 1 in the search term "credit cards" and "heatmap analytics software".

It is much easier to rank terms such as "heatmap analytics software", which is, ironically, what my former company does.

What if few people search terms such as heatmap analytics? It's possible to claim that high rankings will make it easier for you to market your product. But, if you don't get any traffic or sales from the term does that really matter?

See, rankings don't mean much. What really matters is whether your marketing efforts are paying off.

Let's keep it simple: Are your marketing efforts generating profitably?

Even though niche industries are less competitive, it's still harder to generate traffic or sales. It's easier to get traffic if you are broadening your search and targeting industries that are universally applicable, like health insurance.

Although you won't get as much traffic as your competition, even if you do get 1/10th the traffic, you can still build a large business.

This is why niches are not my focus. I pursue massive TAMs (Total Addressable market).

Although health insurance is not sexy, United Health Care, which most people don’t know, generates $287 million in revenue annually.

The larger the market, the more customers you will have and the easier it will be to make money. It will be more difficult for you to win the market and be the best in it, but you don't need to win to make enough money to be happy.

One of my best friends had a website selling speeches that he used to sell to best man speeches. His site was the most visited in the space, and he could not figure out how to make more than $200,000 per year.

He still earned a good income, but when he invested the same effort in education, he wasn't nearly as popular. People even took him for granted… but he was still generating millions of dollars per year in profit.

Rich Barton, founder of Expedia and Zillow, once stated that it takes the same effort as hitting a single or double to swing a homerun. You might as well swing for fences every time.

Lesson #2 – It's easier to market multiple products

As in lesson 1, the market size continues to grow as you introduce new products.

Many products are offered by the big, well-known brands you already know.

Amazon offers ecommerce, streaming and cloud computing as well as grocery stores.

Google search, android, self driving cars, Nest and other services are available from Google.

Apple has phones, laptops, iPads, computers, headphones, etc.

It's not just well-known brands with multiple products.

Take a look at the number of business units Danaher owns. Similar to Fortive, they also have tons of business units.

I don't know of a multi-billion-dollar company that doesn't offer multiple products and services.

If you can think of one, I'm sure they will have multiple products. It is only a matter of when. This is how successful businesses grow. There is no other choice than to grow.

If you are looking to increase your sales or traffic, consider what products you could offer that would appeal to your customers.

Cross-selling can be done, which will increase revenue. You can also increase your marketing. Think about the paid media and SEO campaigns that you can launch once you have more products.

This is one of the easiest ways to scale up your growth.

Lesson 3: Word-of-mouth Marketing is the best form of marketing.

When I was first starting out in marketing, I learned SEO. I have since become proficient at it.

Then I got into social media marketing using Digg. It doesn't exist anymore, but it drove 20,000+ visitors to your site every day if you were on the homepage.

Then, I began to study conversion optimization, email marketing and paid ads.

Marketing is a key component in building big businesses. You need to be omnichannel in your marketing efforts.

It's not the way to grow a billion-dollar company, even though it can help.

Working with multi-billion-dollar companies has allowed me to get to know both the CEOs and CMOs.

Do you all know the number one channel they use to market?

It is word-of mouth marketing, or variations thereof. It's basically people telling others about you, your product, or your service . This is how you win.

Then I asked them how they generate word-of mouth marketing. After collecting all their responses, I compiled the data and here are the top three ways to get more word of mouth.

1. Keep your business in business for the long-term. Word-of-mouth marketing takes time. No matter what product you sell, and no matter how good it is. It takes time and patience for word-of-mouth marketing to kick in fully.
2. You should have a great product or service. Word-of-mouth marketing will be more effective if your product is outstanding. If your product is bad, there will be little or no word-of mouth marketing. Or worse, people will talk negatively about you.
3. Have thousands of people working for you. You can have your company listed on LinkedIn by people or your employees sharing information about your company with others. This is a great way for your brand to be known.

Lesson #4 – Ugly is sexy

Are you in dire need of a new pair? While it would be nice to own the latest Jordan shoes , do you really need them?

Are you going to buy the new iPhone? It would be great to have the new iPhone, but your current iPhone can still order food, send texts, and check your email well enough.

The camera may not be as sharp as the latest phones, but you won't be using your phone to do high-end photography or even just for taking selfies… the new camera is not really necessary.

What about payroll? Is it possible for a business to stop using its payroll provider?

If they stop, their employees will not be paid and their business won't exist.

Ceridian is a popular company because of this. They generate $1.02 trillion annually, which is something you have probably never heard of.

Why?

They provide payroll services. They are indispensable for businesses.

Even if Ceridian is not used for payroll, there are good chances that whoever you use will pay them for their tax infrastructure, as they are one the two companies that calculate payroll tax in the United States.

It is difficult to build a system to calculate payroll tax payments in America. Any company that makes a mistake can face severe penalties.

You must consider each state in the United States, as well as every county and city, when building this system. Each state has its own tax rules that are constantly changing.

Also, it is expensive to build ugly businesses that people actually need.

Children don't talk about software that can help with payroll taxes when they are young. Instead, they talk about building a fashion brand or being paid to be an influencer.

Lesson #5 – The United States isn't the center of the world

I love the United States of America and live here.

Yes, there are issues. But all countries have problems.

The United States is not the center of the universe. Most of the 7.7 million people on the planet don't reside in the United States. They live in other countries.

My ad agency NP Digital has people around the globe who work with me. We have offices in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Australia, and many other places.

These offices are not available for outsourcing, as many would think. These offices are available to assist people in their marketing efforts within these regions.

Why would companies such as Cisco want to market in India, for example? It is a growing market.

My CEO was also the president of a division in a publicly traded company. This division employed over 4000 people. Can you guess how much of their revenue was from the United States?

About 26%. This means that roughly 3/4 of their revenue came from outside the United States.

Globalizing your business will allow you to reach more people and is often less competitive.

This was one of the key strategies that allowed us to grow quickly at NP Digital. We expanded internationally (and are still adding new regions).

This strategy was used to accomplish this. It helped us to get traffic and leads from all over the globe.

Lesson #6 – Your marketing is only as good and effective as your team

An old startup I started called KISSmetrics, which failed years ago.

It was a web analytics firm that raised $16.4 Million from investors.

Phil Black, True Ventures' investor, was a board member. He was a great guy, and I loved being a board member.

He would always give me one piece of advice, which I still remember.

Entrepreneurs don't need to do it all. Instead, you can hire great people. You need people who have done the exact same thing you want and have done it before in your industry.

Phil was simply pushing us to find amazing people for every job.

If you're an ad agency looking to improve sales, you can hire the head salesperson from a competitor who is doing great. Although it may be more expensive, there is a greater chance they will have the right information to help you succeed.

Instead of hiring someone from an unrelated industry to be a head salesperson, they will not know the industry and what they need in order to succeed.

Phil taught me so much that I wish I had understood it when I founded the company in 2008. It would have helped me so much in my career.

We took this advice to the extreme with NP Digital. Our CEO was President of iProspect (aka a competitor), the largest performance marketing agency.

There was also our head of client services.

Dentsu's COO was responsible for all performance marketing fulfillment, which meant that she was responsible for more than $1 billion in revenue.

My co-founder, and I, continue to search for the best people. This is how you can really grow quickly.

This is what large corporations do.

This is also true for your marketing. This includes the person who runs your marketing department, as well as each individual player like your SEO or paid media manager.

Are they industry-experienced? They may not be able to perform in that industry.

Are they still getting promotions from their former jobs? They may not be as good as they claim to be if they didn't. It doesn't matter what people are like, if they don't get promoted at their previous jobs, it could mean that other people didn't consider them as valuable.

These are two things you should consider when hiring marketers or any other role. You want people who can fit in with the culture, but also people who have worked for other companies and received promotions or raises in the past. This usually indicates that they did a great job.

#7: To be successful in the long-term

What do you think is the most searched term on Google in the United States?

Take a guess at it.

It is actually "Facebook".

Guess the second most searched term?

It is the term "YouTube".

Amazon is the third most searched term. Google is the 5th most popular search term, followed by Walmart (6th), and Gmail (7th).

Do you see a trend?

Not only in the United States but worldwide, brands are the most searched terms.

Look at Nike. It is searched 6,000,000 times per month in the United States. The term shoes is searched only 1.2 million times per month. Nike is therefore more searched for than any other shoe category each month.

What do you think is the most searched term that brings traffic to your business?

It's not Neil Patel.

The second most-respected term we have is another brand… Answer to the Public.

My personal brand, Neil Patel, is the third most searched term.

A brand is essential to building a large business.

SEO can only take you so far. Paid advertising will not get you far. If you want your brand to succeed, people need to love your product or services.

It doesn't take long to build a brand. Do not expect to see the results you desire in the first three years. Your brand will take 5+ years to really start to take off.

Here's an article I wrote that will help you create a brand. And here is a video to help you.

Conclusion

It is wonderful to learn from companies like Apple. They are an incredible company. I am writing this blog post from a Macbook.

It's difficult for people to duplicate the magic Apple does with their marketing and business.

It's also easier to duplicate the marketing strategies of these multi-billion dollar companies because they are applicable to all types of businesses and are easy to implement.

What other strategies can you learn from companies that aren't well-known?

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By: Neil Patel
Title: 7 Marketing Lessons Learned from Billion Dollar Companies You’ve Never Heard Of
Sourced From: neilpatel.com/blog/marketing-lessons-billion-dollar-companies/
Published Date: Mon, 08 Aug 2022 23:35:02 +0000

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No marketing campaign is guaranteed to produce positive results, no matter how much research you do.

This is why A/B Testing is an excellent method to determine the best online marketing and promotional strategies for your company.

You can use it to test everything, from website copy to sales email copy. This will allow you to identify the most effective version of your campaign without spending all your budget on marketing materials that don’t work. Although A/B testing is time-consuming, the benefits are worth it.

Overall, A/B testing can make a big difference in your marketing effectiveness. A combination of the most powerful elements in a promotion can result in a greater return on investment, lower failure rates, and, above all, a stronger marketing strategy.

What is A/B Testing? Why does it matter?

A/B testing allows you to test two versions of a website or advert against each other in order to determine which version is more effective.

You might try two different popups to see which one drives more sign-ups for webinars or two different Google Ads to see which leads you to more sales. These insights will give you key insights into where and how to spend your marketing budget, and allow you to make potentially risky decisions.

My own website was the first to test my popup. It helped me determine what motivated users to interact with my brand.

We found that offering a free website assessment (which offers tons of value for our target audience) was the best way to show our expertise and to establish our worth to visitors. To determine which header was more effective in keeping visitors on our site, we were able compare conversion rates and clicks.

What is A/B Testing?

A/B testing is a random display of two versions of the exact same asset (ad or website, pop-up, offer etc.). to different users. Because the random part provides more precise information without skewing it, it is vital.

One version refers to the "control" group or the version that is currently in use. The second version modifies a single element. Although you can modify multiple elements, it is harder to determine which one made the difference. Multivariate testing is a method of testing multiple elements. More on this later.

You might offer half your visitors a blue button to buy now, and half a red button. You'd then compare conversion rates over a period of time, usually at least two weeks. This would allow you to determine which button brought in more sales.

Marketers use a tool to create different versions. We'll discuss A/B testing tools later.

Why is A/B Testing Important?

Accurate A/B testing can make a big difference in your return. You can determine which marketing strategies are most effective for your product and company by using controlled tests.

It's reckless to promote without first testing if there is a chance that one variant works two, three or four times better than the other without putting large capital at stake.

Testing can significantly improve your results if it is done consistently. It's much easier to decide what works and which doesn't, and to have the evidence to support your decisions. This will allow you to create more effective marketing strategies over time.

These are just a few of the many benefits that regular A/B testing can bring to your website and marketing materials.

• They help to understand your target audience. You can see which emails, headlines and other features your audience responds best, giving you insight into who you are and what you want.
• Increase conversion rates: A/B Testing is the best way to increase conversions. You can streamline conversions by knowing what works and what doesn’t.
• Keep up with the latest trends: It is hard to predict which type of content, images or other features people will respond. You can stay ahead of the changing consumer behavior by testing regularly.
• Lower bounce rates: Site visitors will stay longer if they see the content they love. You can create a better website by testing to determine what type of content and marketing materials users prefer.

You'll ultimately regain control over your marketing strategies. You won't have to close your eyes and wait for your customers to respond.

How do you plan an A/B test?

When planning an A/B testing, the first thing you should do is to decide what you want. Is it an on-site or off-site test?

You will need to consider all sales-related elements of your website before you can determine which elements you want to split-test.

It is possible to do the following:

• Headlines
• Text with calls to action
• Calls to action
• Pop ups
• Featured images
• Copy
• The number of fields included in a form

Off-site testing can be used to test either an ad copy or a sales email. To help you target your advertising efforts, test the copy of ads to determine which one drives the most conversions. It's much easier to justify spending more money if your ad converts well.

Emails are the same. You can send two versions of your email to your list, randomly selecting which half will receive which email. Then track which one converts best. Emails allow you to modify your email structure, subject line, images, and even your offers.

You can write more effective emails if you know what your audience is most responsive to. Once you have a clear idea of the marketing material that you wish to test, you can make a list. You might also test:

• The location
• The exact text
• The button color and surrounding space

A/B testing can be a complex process. It is common to run multiple split tests before making your final decision.

A/B Test Checklist to Get Started

You should have an idea of what results you want before you begin split testing. Your baseline result is what you currently get. While you want to compare A and B, it is important to also know which option performs better than your current results.

Alternativly, you could use A as your control (leaving behind whatever you're using currently) and then switch to B.

To account for timing variations, tests must be performed simultaneously. Because you cannot factor in variables that may have changed between now, and then, it is impossible to test both variations today and tomorrow. For example, a new Facebook page or a blog post that goes live.

Split traffic to your different variations simultaneously.

Before you run your first A/B test, here's a checklist:

1. Choose the feature that you wish to test.
2. You can create two versions of the exact same ad or landing page, app, or other content.
3. Determine the length of your test. It should take at least two weeks. However, it could be shorter or longer depending on the traffic and industry.
4. You can choose a test tool to assist you in running your test (more details later).
5. Launch!
6. Take a look at these results after a few weeks. Which version was the winner?
7. Rinse and Repeat. Continuous A/B testing is the best way to ensure your effectiveness.

Top Elements to Use A/B Testing

It is possible to test almost any content on your website or marketing materials: images, headlines, CTAs and body copy, headers, CTAs, text, CTAs, CTAs, CTAs, URLs, navigation bars, etc. You can test it if you are able to change it.

This doesn't mean that you have to spend months trying every possible thing. Instead, you should focus on the changes that are most likely to have a significant impact on traffic and conversions.

This is likely to be found on your website:

• The headline
• Your CTA
• Any graphic that you use should be in direct relation to your sales efforts
• The sales copy and product descriptions
• Featured image
• Button size and placement

You might test your email title, images and links. You have less options to modify a paid ad, particularly a text ad (like an search ad), so you might test the headline, offer, image or targeting.

It is important to test different offers. It is important to ensure that everyone receives the same offer. If you offer a group A a free gift and group B a discount, make sure they both have the same promotion.

The entire conversion process can be tested. You could test newsletter A with landing pages A and newsletter B with landing pages B. You might want to later test newsletter A with landing pages B and vice versa.

This will give you an idea of how things are working, especially if results are not as expected. These are some other tests that you can perform.

Useful A/B Testing Examples to Inspire your Next Campaign

Let's take a look at some examples after we have explained what A/B testing can do, how it works, and what you need to test. These examples should highlight the power and potential pitfalls of A/B testing.

GRENE – Horizontal Layout Tested on Category Pages

GRENE, an online retailer ran an A/B testing to determine if there was a better way for customers to find the products that they wanted. The original version (left) took up almost the entire page for mobile devices. It was difficult for users to navigate through all the options.

The variant (right) reduced white space, allowing users to see multiple products at once and scroll through all the options.

ResultsGRENE noticed a 15% increase in product box clicks and conversions. There was also a 10% increase in visitors to the thank-you page. This indicates that users have made a purchase.

WallMonkeys Increased Conversions Rates By Replacing a Slider with a Search Bar

WallMonkeys is an online wall decal site. They wanted to increase conversion rates and improve customer experience. CrazyEgg's heatmap allowed them to identify the top customers.

With this information, they decided that the slider featured image (top) would be replaced by a search bar. (bottom image)

Results They were able increase their conversion rate by increasing the number of visitors to the site by swapping out the featured images and moving search bar to the center of the page (based upon heatmap data).

Unbounce compared a tweet to an email opt-in

Unbounce was searching for ways to increase landing-page opt-ins. Unbounce tried to find out if people would rather tweet about products than their email addresses, as most businesses require this information.

They compared the opt-in page that required an email address to this one:

You can download the same course from this version by simply sending a tweet.

What did the change do to sign-ups

Results Unbounce discovered that users prefer to provide an email address in order to receive the course. The conversion rate for the email version was 24 percent higher than that of the tweet version. These results are not surprising since most people are comfortable giving out their email addresses. However, Unbounce was confident that their landing page was moving in the right direction after testing.

How Long Does A/B Testing Take?

A/B testing takes time. You might need to test for a few days or even weeks depending on how much traffic you receive. For the best results, only one test should be run at a given time.

A test that is too long can cause skews because you don't have enough visitors to make statistically valid results. Too long a test can lead to skewed results. This is because there are more variables that you cannot control over a longer time.

Keep track of any changes that could affect your test results so you can account statistical anomalies in the results. If in doubt, take the test again.

It's worth spending a few weeks conducting A/B tests to see the positive impact it can have on your bottom line. Each test should be run in its entirety.

Can I test more than one thing at once?

This question can be answered in two ways. Let's say you only want to test your headline. However, there are three options. It is possible to run a single test, but split your recipients (or visitors in the case for an email) into three groups. This would still be an A/B test.

This is much more efficient than three separate tests (Avs. B, Avs. D, and Avs. E). It is possible to extend the test's run time to get enough results to determine what works.

Multi-variate testing is a way to test more than one thing at once, such headlines or calls to action. It is also more difficult to run. Multi-variate testing is possible with a variety of resources.

It is important to think about how your system can handle split testing. You also need staff that can analyze multiple results and put the data together into manageable amounts.

Multivariate testing can add a lot of work to your plate, but it should not be avoided. If you have the right procedures to manage the additional work load, you can go for it. But if you prefer a simpler approach, you can do one A/B test at time.

How to Analyze A/B Test Data

You'll have lots of data after your A/B test. What can you do to determine which version won? Sometimes, the winner is obvious. If a landing page generates 50 percent more sign-ups than the other, it is easy to determine who won, without having to analyze much data.

Sometimes it isn't so obvious. Here are some ways to ensure you know which version won.

1. You need to have enough data The best way to determine which variant will perform over the long-term is to have at least two weeks' worth of data (or 30 conversions).
2. Use an A/B Testing Significance Calculator: There are a few calculators that come with your browser, but you can also use my free tool. Simply add the conversion numbers and visitor to find out how much variation increased sales.

Go beyond the obvious metrics: Not all metrics are equal. I recommend looking at conversion rates as well as traffic. Some businesses may want to look at other metrics such as average order size. You might want to look at other metrics, such as average order size. However, you may find that customers who change the color of your "buy" button from blue convert more, but they spend less per order.

The Best A/B Testing Tools You Can Use

You're not the only one who thinks A/B testing is complicated. Many marketers and business owners avoid A/B test because they feel it's too complicated or that they might make mistakes. These tips should help you feel more confident that you can do it right. Let's now talk about the tools that you can use for A/B testing.

The features you are testing will determine which tool you choose. If you wish to test headlines for email messages, your email provider will likely offer this tool (both MailChimp or Constant Contact offer it). This feature is also available in Facebook ads.

You can also use a variety of free or inexpensive tools to test your website elements and determine which version is the most effective.

A/B Testing Significance Calculator

A tool I created to assist you in your research about how changes to web copy or design have affected sales is available here. You can enter the numbers of your visitor and convert to calculate if there was an increase in sales.

FAQs

What is A/B testing and why does it matter?

How do you plan an A/B test?

What should I do for my A/B test?

What is the Average Time A/B Testing Takes?

Can I test more than one thing at a time?

Which A/B Testing Tools should I Use?

Conclusion

Marketers' best friend is A/B testing. This allows you to determine, for instance, which ads convert the most, which offers your audience responds best to, and what blog headlines drive traffic.

Google Optimize is a free tool that you can use to start your project. Optimizely.

Learn how to use Google Analytics to start A/B testing. All marketers should use A/B testing.

Have you ever tried A/B testing before? What are you waiting for?

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By: Neil Patel
Title: What is A/B Testing? A Beginner’s Guide
Sourced From: neilpatel.com/blog/ab-testing-introduction/
Published Date: Mon, 08 Aug 2022 19:00:00 +0000

Imagine if you had the power to influence people’s subconscious minds. It would be great, wouldn’t it? 

As a marketer, you could reach out to consumers and persuade them to click through and buy your product, or they’d see an advert offline and instantly want to rush and buy what you’re selling.

What if I told you there’s no need to wish for it? You already have this ability. 

It’s called marketing psychology, and it’s a proven technique for spurring shoppers to action, or at least encouraging them to find out more.

Power words are a part of marketing psychology that you often see in adverts. In fact, they’re a go-to for many marketers. Think of words like ‘smart,’ ‘fresh,’ ’innovative,’ ‘bold,’ and ‘pioneering.’ 

However, there’s more to power words than that: they’re also effective in creating brand loyalty, and who doesn’t want loyal customers?

In this article, l look at three power words that may significantly impact conversation rate optimization.

Before I get into that, though, let’s have a quick look at what marketing psychology is. 

What is Marketing Psychology? 

In its most simple terms, marketing psychology studies how people interact with products and services.

It encompasses a range of disciplines, including advertising, public relations, market research, and sales. It’s also called neuromarketing, and the goal of marketing psychology is to help marketers understand what makes consumers tick. 

This gives marketers the ‘magical’ ability to know what is most likely to resonate with their prospects and secure the conversion.

If nothing else, when used correctly, marketing psychology is an incredible technique to engage consumers and intrigue them enough that they want to find out more. 

Now, before you start thinking that you need to get all scientific and deep, there are some easy ways to capture your prospects’ attention with psychology.

What Are Power Words?

I’ve already mentioned power words, but maybe you’re not familiar with them, so I’ll explain. 

Power words have a strong emotional impact and marketers use them to influence people’s buying behaviors. 

There are several benefits to using power words for your marketing efforts. Here are some key ones:

1. The way we speak to and about others has a profound impact on their emotions and behavior. 
2. In marketing, using persuasive language is critical to creating desired customer outcomes.
3. There are certain words and phrases that can have a very positive or negative effect on people’s moods and attitudes.
4. Knowing which words to use can be hugely beneficial in crafting dynamic, inspiring marketing messages.
5. Knowing how to use power words effectively can help create persuasive messages influencing people’s decisions.

Now, let’s get into these three power words for your marketing, shall we?

1. “IMAGINE”

Why it’s a power word:

Imagine is one of the most impactful words in the English language. 

When you imagine something, you immediately picture it in your mind, creating a level of engagement that’s hard to replicate with other words.

There’s a good reason why the word works so well.

‘Imagine’ evokes emotion and creates positive mental images. When people feel good about something, they’re more likely to take action, whether that means buying a product or service or simply sharing it with others.

You can also use the word to tap into people’s emotions and inspire them. For example, imagine being able to travel the world, or imagine how good it would feel to get in shape.

When we imagine something, we not only see it in our minds, but we feel the emotions associated with it. This can be a big motivator, especially regarding buying decisions.

We can all relate to this.

Maybe you’ve seen an advert for your dream car and imagined yourself behind the wheel. Or perhaps you’ve seen an advert for the lottery, and you’re already imagining that you’ve won. Most of us have done it. We’re already spending the money from our million-dollar win, often before we’ve even brought the ticket.

Finally, ‘Imagine’ is one of the top power words because our reactions to it are immediate: It captures attention quickly and easily.

Of course, you don’t have to use the word ‘image’ directly in your marketing. 

An example:

From telling you the latest news to playing your favorite track on demand, Alexa’s already got many skills, but imagine if it could read your mind. That’s the premise behind a recent Superbowl advert.

In it, actress Scarlett Johansson and comedian Colin Jost imagined what life would be like if Alexa knew what they’re thinking and said it out loud.

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The results weren’t all good, with Alexa inadvertently telling a variety of people things you wouldn’t necessarily want them to know.

Besides its comedic moments, the ad shows us that you don’t even need to use an actual power word for your marketing: just the suggestion of it is enough.

2. “YOU”

Why it’s a power word:

You is a placeholder for your name.

I know—it’s an obvious one. Perhaps the three most captivating words in sales are you, free, and guaranteed.

It might not be the most apparent power word that springs to mind, but think about it.

‘You’ represents your name. It personalizes your advertising, which is why marketers often use it in headlines and throughout copy.

‘You’ makes people feel important, heard, and seen. When used in advertising, it can tap into those feelings and create a connection with the customer. When customers feel they are being spoken to directly, they are more likely to respond positively.

In fact, ‘You’ is such a strong power word that most copywriters use it in their advertising.

Do you know why? Because, yes, you’ve guessed, the advertiser is talking directly to YOU, the consumer.

The reason words that refer to us are so powerful is a psychological effect called Fundamental Attribution Error, a type of cognitive bias. Basically, while we are naturally critical of other people, our critical minds take a break when we evaluate ourselves.

And guess what? There’s nothing as stimulating to us as our interests, desires, ambitions, goals, yearnings, and emotions. For our whole lives, that is all we have; as long as your copy addresses those things for your prospect, it is guaranteed to carry them along in a rapt, semi-torpid daze of introspection.

An example:

[TAG1]

Look at how MailChimp uses the word you and your in its website’s copy. 

Throughout its site, MailChimp spells out:

• Why you should use its product. For example, MailChimp breaks down how it helps you create better campaigns, its host of features, and integrated marketing capabilities as reasons why a consumer would want to subscribe to its product.
• The benefits of using its product for your business. For instance, MailChimp highlights its 300-plus app integrations, expert guidance and award-winning support as selling points. 

Then, it promises to keep you:

• Informed, motivated, and ahead of the competition.

MailChimp then finishes by telling prospects, ‘they’ve got your back.’

See how it works? Wouldn’t it tempt you to sign up and start taking advantage of everything the product offers? Think about how you can do the same in your copy.

3. “BECAUSE” 

Why it’s a power word:

There are many reasons why ‘because’ is a power word, but three, in particular, stand out. The first reason is that it’s a psychological trigger. When someone hears or sees the word ‘because,’ their brain immediately starts looking for a reason; once they find one, you’re more likely to persuade them with what you’re saying. 

The second reason is that it’s concise. ‘Because’ is the perfect word to use to get your message across efficiently.

The third reason is its versatility. You can use ’because’ in both formal and informal settings, with adults and children. It’s a word that everyone understands and can use effectively.

There’s more to it, though. Here are a few more reasons why ‘because’ is a power word.

1. Because is a logical connector.

   The word because helps to make your argument or point more convincing by linking your reasoning clearly and concisely. When someone understands why you did something, they’re more likely to be on your side.

2. Because is emotional.

   Psychologically, we tend to react more strongly to things that are accompanied by a strong emotion. ‘Because’ stirs up feelings of certainty and confidence, which can be very persuasive when trying to get someone to do something.

3. Because is contagious.

   When we hear others use because effectively, it subconsciously influences our behavior and speech.

You’ve probably heard of “reason why” advertising—a phrase I believe comes from John E Kennedy, though I learned it from Drayton Bird. As human beings, we crave order. We want to know why something is the way it is, and what caused something to happen. And we crave it, particularly in our own lives.

These kinds of reasons, cause and effect relationships, are encapsulated in the word because. When our mind’s gatekeeper—the “critical factor”—hears that word, it treats it as a cue to let the speaker (or writer) through to the unconscious mind.

If you think back to your childhood or watch how kids negotiate with their parents, you’ll immediately see that this works precisely, as Langer showed. Perhaps this sort of situation sounds familiar:

“Mom, can I have some biscuits?”

“No, darling, not now.”

“But mom, I love biscuits.”

“I know, sweetie, but I said not now.”

“But mom, why?”

“Because I said so.”

Is that a real reason? No, it ain’t! It’s just a reiteration of what the kid already knows, right? But at this point, most children accept that it’s time to give up. And that’s something “programmed” into us, even as adults. It makes the word “because” very powerful.

An example:

[TAG2]

Who hasn’t heard of L’oreal’s ‘because you’re worth it’ tagline? There can’t be many people out there in that category.

L’oreal’s slogan dates back over 50 years. Since its creation by junior copywriter Ilon Specht, the slogan took the world by storm, and you can see it in 40 languages.

As L’oreal states, the tagline resonates today and encourages self-worth and belief. 

The takeaway? Think about how you can make your slogan timeless and meaningful when using power words.

Power Words FAQs

What are power word examples?

How can we increase conversions?

What are strong power words?

What affects the conversion rate?

Power Words Conclusion

These are not the only power words. There are others. But these three are particularly powerful and valuable to us as marketers and salespeople.

Imagine. You. Because.

They are also conveniently easy to work into copy, videos, and even face-to-face sales presentations. 

You’d want to start using power words in your copy for many reasons, but the most obvious one is conversion rate optimization. 

With some practice, you can start using these words to create more effective marketing materials and improve your bottom line.

Do you use power words in your copy? Which ones get the best results?

————————————————————————————————————————————–

By: Neil Patel
Title: Use These 3 Power Words To Boost Conversion Rates
Sourced From: neilpatel.com/blog/boost-conversion-rate/
Published Date: Sat, 06 Aug 2022 19:00:00 +0000

[TAG0]

Como se faz um guest posts?

Como se escreve um artigo como convidado?

Voce provavelmente tem muitas perguntas sobre esse assunto. E vou responder a todas elas, e mais. Mas antes de eu te ensinar como fazer guests posts e quais sao os beneficios dele, vou explicar os principios basicos.

O que sao guest posts?

Guest posts sao publicacoes de artigos nos sites de outras pessoas.

Simples assim.

As pessoas fazem isso para gerar mais reconhecimento de marca e trafego (tambem conhecido como trafego de referencia) para os seus sites.

Tenho para voce um video com dicas para aproveitar os beneficios dos guest posts, abaixo, ou voce pode simplesmente ler este artigo.

Is guest blogging worth it? How to Boost Your SEO Rank Through Guest Blogging

Defina suas metas para guest posts

Antes de comecarmos, sua primeira tarefa e decidir qual e sua meta para guest posts. Saber essa meta antes de tudo, e a chave para decidir quais sao os tipos de blogs para onde enviar suas publicacoes. Geralmente existem tres objetivos para guest posts:

1. Se posicionar como uma autoridade e nome conhecido em seu nicho;
2. Ganhar exposicao (trafego) para levar para o seu site;
3. Gerar backlinks para o seu site (que nunca deve ser seu foco principal, ja que o Google desaprova essa tatica).

Com o tipo de conteudo certo nos melhores blogs, voce vai conseguir as tres coisas.

Se voce quer conquistar o no 1 ou o no 2, precisa encontrar blogs com publicos vastos e muito envolvimento.

Se voce quer apenas o no 3, precisa encontrar blogs com autoridade de dominio alta. Voce pode verificar isso gratuitamente usando ferramentas como o Ubersuggest.

Conhecer suas metas desde o inicio vai te ajudar a decidir quais sao os melhores blogs para onde enviar seus guest posts.

Como encontrar oportunidades para fazer guest posts

A primeira coisa que voce deve fazer e encontrar oportunidades para guest posts. Ao procurar lugares onde publicar seus posts, sua meta principal deve ser encontrar sites relevantes para o seu nicho ou industria. Voce esta procurando blogs que cumprem os seguintes criterios:

• conteudo focado em seu nicho/industria;
• publico que vai se interessar pelo seu nicho;
• blog com leitores envolvidos (posts compartilhados nas midias sociais e comentados);
• o autor do blog e ativo nas midias sociais (assim voce sabe que ele ou ela vai divulgar seu trabalho no site).

Se voce vende sementes, por exemplo, deve procurar blogs sobre jardinagem com um publico bem envolvido nessa atividade. A proxima secao vai te ajudar a encontrar as oportunidades certas para guest posts.

Pesquisa no Google

O Google e um otimo lugar para comecar sua pesquisa por oportunidades para guest posts. Voce pode usar qualquer uma das pesquisas de palavra-chave abaixo para encontrar blogs que aceitam guest posts. E so substituir palavra-chave por palavras-chave do seu nicho.

• palavra-chave “enviar guest post”;
• palavra-chave “guest post”;
• palavra-chave “guest post de”;
• palavra-chave “aceitando guest posts”;
• palavra-chave “regras para guest post”.

Essas buscas devem te levar a paginas com regras para guest posts, paginas para envio de guests posts, ou guest posts de outros autores.

Guest bloggers populares

Voce conhece alguem que faz muitos guest posts em seu nicho? Se voce le muitos blogs na sua area (espero que sim), vai ver alguns nomes que sempre aparecem em guest posts.

Alguns dos guest bloggers mais influentes no marketing sao Neil Patel, Jeff Bullas, Mark Traphagen, Tony Right, Jenny Halasz, Brian Harnish, Kevin Indig, Adam Riemer, Robyn Johnson, Benji Acciola, Kevin Rowe, Anna Crow e Kirk Williams.

Usando a busca do Google, pesquise os nomes de guest bloggers populares em seu nicho com a frase “guest post de”. Isso vai revelar todos os sites onde eles publicam. Melhor ainda, se voce conhece um guest blogger no seu nicho, pode pedir para ser apresentado aos donos dos blogs onde ele ou ela ja publicou.

Backlinks de concorrentes

Se voce (ou sua agencia de marketing online) ja fez uma analise dos backlinks de um concorrente enquanto trabalhava em sua campanha de SEO, deve ter visto que alguns dos seus concorrentes tem backlinks de guest posts que publicaram.

Se tiver acesso a ferramentas como o Open Site Explorer, voce podera ver os backlinks dos seus concorrentes e procurar guest posts que eles ja fizeram.

Se nao encontrar nada, voce pode pesquisar no Google. Use:

link:dominio.com.br -domain.com “guest post” (substitua dominio.com.br pelo dominio do seu concorrente). Isso deve revelar sites onde seu concorrente publicou guest posts.

Exemplo:

link:backlink.io -neilpatel.com “guest post”

Pesquisas em redes sociais

Muitos blogueiros compartilham seus guest posts mais recentes nas redes sociais. A mais facil de pesquisar e o Twitter. Assim, faca uma busca no Twitter com a palavra-chave “guest post” para encontrar os tweets mais recentes sobre guest posts em seu nicho. Ai e so seguir o link para ver que blogs estao aceitando guest posts.

Procure oportunidades para guest posts

Precisa de mais ideias de palavras-chave ou de uma lista com muitas oportunidades para guest posts?

Veja esse artigo com 14 outras formas de publicar seu conteudo.

MyBlogGuest

Finalmente, uma opcao importante e a My Blog Guest, uma comunidade de guest bloggers. Cadastre-se gratuitamente e pesquise blogs que aceitam guest posts. Ou melhor ainda: publique suas informacoes dizendo que gostaria de fazer guest posts sobre um determinado assunto para que donos de blogs possam te encontrar!

Como se preparar para oferecer um guest post

Perceba que nao vamos direto de encontrar oportunidades para guest posts a contatar os blogs. Existem algumas coisas que voce precisa fazer antes de oferecer um guest post a um site que acabou de encontrar.

Conheca o conteudo do blog

E essencial conhecer o conteudo do blog que voce selecionou. Sim, voce ja sabe que ele tem conteudo relacionado a palavra-chave que voce pesquisou em sua busca por oportunidades para guest posts. Mas voce precisa saber ainda sobre aquele conteudo, como:

• Qual e o nivel do publico para qual ele se destina (iniciante, intermediario, avancado)?
• Para que tipo de publico ele e destinado? Se seu negocio e B2B, voce quer um blog que tenha um publico de empresas, nao consumidores comuns.
• Que tipo de conteudo e publicado? Sao conceitos gerais ou tutoriais detalhados? O autor gosta de listas?

Veja o que outros guest posts fazem

Um blog pode ter guest posts, mas a pergunta mais importante e: sera que os guest bloggers tem sucesso com isso? Sera que os guest posts neste site recebem tantos comentarios e compartilhamentos quanto os posts do blogueiro dono do site? Alguns sites podem aceitar guest posts, mas ter um publico que so da atencao ao dono do blog, e ai voce nao vai ter muito sucesso se quiser construir autoridade ou direcionar trafego para o seu site.

Veja quem sao os guest bloggers

Os donos de alguns blogs podem aceitar mais guest posts de certos tipos de pessoas. Examine as bios de alguns guest bloggers para saber se eles sao outros blogueiros, freelancers, consultores, empresarios e etc. Isso vai ser importante no momento em que voce se apresentar com sua proposta. Para saber mais sobre as taxas de sucesso na prospeccao de guest posts, veja este estudo no SEOmoz.

Descubra que posts tem os melhores resultados

Para garantir que seus guest posts sejam aceitos, voce deve fazer propostas com assuntos que funcionam bem para o publico do dono no blog. Para ter boas ideias de assuntos que sejam populares com o publico de um blog, use os sites a seguir para ver que posts fizeram sucesso nas midias sociais:

• Oktopus: o Oktopus monitora e mostra sua performance nas midias sociais;
• Digg: o Digg vai te mostrar os posts que receberam mais votos Digg;
• Buzzer: o Buzzer programa suas publicacoes nas midias sociais e oferece dados e analytics.

Participe da comunidade de blogs

Para aumentar suas chances de ser aceito como guest blogger, primeiro voce precisa ganhar o reconhecimento do dono do blog. A melhor forma de fazer isso e comentar nos posts dele durante uma semana ou duas. Voce vai ter ainda mais vantagens se tambem compartilhar estes posts no Twitter – nao esqueca de incluir o nome de usuario do blogueiro ao fazer isso. Assim, quando voce apresentar sua proposta de guest post, voce ja nao sera um estranho.

Os melhores momentos para propor um guest post

Voce nem sempre vai ter uma oportunidade brilhante para propor um guest post, mas existem alguns momentos que voce pode aproveitar, incluindo:

• quando um blog menciona voce em um post ou nas redes sociais (Twitter, Facebook, Google+, etc. );
• quando um blog lista voce, seu negocio ou seu produto em um post;
• quando um blog anuncia que esta procurando guest posts;
• quando um blog publica o guest post de outra pessoa.

Melhores praticas para uma proposta

As regras a seguir sao essenciais na hora de propor um guest post a outro blogueiro:

Leia as orientacoes

A ultima coisa que voce deve fazer antes de contatar o dono de um blog e ler as orientacoes para guest posts, se elas existirem, e segui-las a risca. O dono do blog quer que voce envie uma ideia ou um post completo? Que formato ele deseja? Voce deve criar uma conta e enviar via WordPress? Voce precisa saber tudo isso antes de entrar em contato com o blog.

Personalize seu email

Como um blogueiro que recebe propostas de guest posts diariamente, nada me desanima mais do que um email que comeca com “Caro senhor ou senhora”, “Caro webmaster”, “Ao dono do site NeilPael.com”, ou simplesmente “Ola”.

Voce pode encontrar um nome e informacoes para contato com o dono do blog onde voce quer publicar seu guest post.

Talvez voce tenha que procurar um pouco mais na pagina Sobre Nos ou em uma das contas do blog em redes sociais, mas esses dados provavelmente estao disponiveis em algum lugar. Encontre-os e use-os no inicio do seu email.

Quem e voce?

Lembra da parte sobre ver quem publica guest posts no blog que voce selecionou? Alguns blogueiros tem preferencias especificas sobre quem pode publicar posts em seus sites.

Se voce percebeu que a maioria dos guest posts sao de outros blogueiros, talvez deva se apresentar como blogueiro do [insira aqui seu blog pessoal ou corporativo]. Voce sempre pode cuidar do seu negocio em segundo lugar; foque primeiro em suas habilidades como blogueiro.

Porque voce deve contribuir com guest posts

Em sua proposta, lembre-se de incluir porque voce deve se tornar um guest blogger. Adicione alguns links para posts que voce publicou em outros lugares, inclusive seu proprio blog. De preferencia, selecione publicacoes com bom envolvimento social, para que o dono do blog veja seu valor potencial para o publico dele.

Como propor um guest post

Se as orientacoes sobre guest posts pedem que voce envie uma proposta de assunto, baseie-se na sua pesquisa de posts populares anteriores e envie algumas ideias diferentes para que o dono do blog possa escolher.

Como enviar um post incrivel

Uma das perguntas mais comuns sobre guest posts e se voce deve usar seus melhores conteudos em seu proprio blog ou em guest posts. Tudo depende da qualidade do blog para onde voce envia seu conteudo.

Se seu blog nao tem nada alem de posts de 900 palavras com muitas imagens de captura de tela, seu guest post deve ser parecido. Se seu blog e so publicacoes com 500 palavras ou menos e uma imagem, seus posts tambem devem ser assim. Veja a seguir outras dicas para fazer um guest post incrivel.

Voce nao e o foco

A primeira coisa a lembrar e que um bom guest post nao e sobre seu negocio, seus produtos ou seus servicos. Guest posts devem ser fontes de informacoes valiosas, e nao publicidade.

Qualquer informacao sobre o seu negocio e itens relacionados devem ser guardados para a bio do autor. Nao faz mal fazer mencao ao negocio e contar historias ou exemplos, mas a maior parte do post deve focar em alguma coisa que nao seja a sua empresa.

Formate seu post como os que estao no site

De uma olhada nos posts publicados no blog que voce selecionou. Eles utilizam muitos titulos, textos em negrito, imagens, citacoes ou outra formatacao especial? Use elementos similares em seu post para combinar com os outros.

Inclua links internos e de fonte

Mostre ao dono do blog que voce conhece o conteudo dele com alguns links internos para posts dele. A forma mais facil de fazer isso e fazer uma pesquisa no Google com site:dominio.com.br intitle:palavra-chave.

Isso vai te mostrar os posts mais populares do blog com uma certa palavra-chave. E ai voce podera criar links para um daqueles posts com aquela palavra-chave. Alem disso, se mencionar qualquer produto, livro, etc, lembre-se de incluir links para eles (desde que nao seja auto-promocao).

Inclua um Call to Action para comentarios

Ao final do seu guest post incrivel, lembre-se de incluir um call to action pedindo comentarios. Quanto mais discussao seu post gerar, melhor!

Como criar uma bio de autor incrivel

A parte mais importante do guest post provavelmente vai ser a bio do autor. Geralmente este e o unico lugar onde voce deve incluir links de auto-promocao para o seu site, blog, produto, servico, livro etc. O que voce vai escrever nesta secao depende dos objetivos do seu blog.

Tempo necessario: 30 minutos.

Passos para criar uma bio para um guest post:

1. Inclua um link para o seu site
   
   Se seu objetivo for conseguir bons backlinks, nao esqueca de incluir um link para o seu site, com seu texto-ancora target.
   
2. Crie uma landing page personalizada para refletir seu publico
   
   Se seu objetivo for direcionar trafego ao seu site, voce deve considerar para onde quer que este trafego va. Dependendo do tema do seu guest post e do publico do blog onde ele for publicado, talvez voce queira enviar o trafego para uma landing page personalizada ou uma pagina sobre um produto ou servico especifico.
   
3. Inclua seus perfis sociais
   
   Se seu objetivo for aumentar seus seguidores nas redes sociais, adicione uma linha ao final da sua bio dizendo “Siga-me em [insira seu perfil social mais popular e um link aqui].
   
4. Crie uma bio concisa e descritiva
   
   Inclua um pouco sobre seu historico e experiencia que expliquem suas qualificacoes para escrever aquele guest post. Inclua seu cargo atual ou projetos que talvez sejam do interesse dos leitores.
   

Como ser o melhor guest blogger

Se voce quiser se tornar um colaborador regular de um blog, ou simplesmente queira que o dono do blog espalhe que voce e um convidado incrivel, faca de tudo para divulgar seu post entre o seu publico. O dono do blog vai adorar receber novos leitores.

Alem disso, lembre-se de responder a comentarios ou perguntas que as pessoas deixarem em seu post. Isso vai ajudar bastante se voce quiser construir autoridade em seu nicho.

Monitorando seus resultados

Quando o objetivo e ganhar trafego, voce definitivamente deve mensurar os resultados dos seus guest posts. A melhor forma de fazer isso e criar um Advanced Segment no Google Analytics.

Voce pode aprender a configurar um Advanced Segment neste post sobre como descobrir que estrategia de marketing online gera mais trafego. Voce so precisa de um segmento usando a dimensao fonte com varias afirmacoes para cada dominio onde voce publicou um guest post. O limite sao 20 por Advanced Segment. Veja como ficou o meu:

[TAG2]

Usando isso, voce pode ver todos os dados do Google Analytics baseados em referencias dos seus guest posts. Isso pode ajudar a determinar o sucesso da sua estrategia de guest posts em termos de trafego e de conversao.

Se nao souber ao certo como monitorar conversoes, veja esse post sobre como obter dados praticos para aprender como estabelecer metas.

Como conseguir guest bloggers para o seu blog

Finalmente, nao esqueca que guest posts podem ser uma via de mao dupla. E dificil manter o seu blog e tambem fazer guests posts em varios outros.

Convide o dono do blog onde voce publicou seu guest posts a escrever para o seu blog tambem. Isso vai garantir conteudos novos, o que pode te ajudar a ganhar perspectiva sobre o seu publico, e com sorte, novos leitores da comunidade do seu convidado. Todo mundo ganha com isso!

Conclusao

Publicar guest posts em sites com boa reputacao e uma forma excelente de aproveitar o sucesso de blogs que ja sao populares em seu nicho. Para conseguir espaco para publicar guest posts, voce precisa fazer propostas cativantes que mostram o seu valor.

Guest posts sao apenas uma entre muitas estrategias a incluir em suas campanhas de marketing de conteudo. Se voce quiser ajuda para formular ou monitorar seus metodos no marketing de conteudo, nossa agencia esta aqui para ajudar.

Voce usa guest posts como parte da sua estrategia de marketing de conteudo? O que mais voce sugeriria para negocios que querem aumentar seu sucesso com guest posts?

————————————————————————————————————————————–

By: Neil Patel
Title: O que são Guest Posts e 5 Formas de Usá-los
Sourced From: neilpatel.com/blog/o-que-sao-guest-posts-5-fotmas-de-usar/
Published Date: Mon, 01 Aug 2022 17:00:00 +0000

Marketing Insider Group published the post 10 Ways to Turn Visitors Into Clients.

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By: Carter Grimm
Title: 10 Ways To Turn Visitors Into Customers
Sourced From: marketinginsidergroup.com/content-marketing/visitors-to-customers/
Published Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2022 14:00:00 +0000

The post What is a Content Marketing Agency? Why do you need one? Marketing Insider Group published the first post.

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By: Michael Brenner
Title: What is a Content Marketing Agency and Why Do You Need One?
Sourced From: marketinginsidergroup.com/content-marketing/what-is-a-content-marketing-agency-and-why-do-you-need-one/
Published Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2022 10:00:49 +0000

Marketing Insider Group published the post Association Marketing Tools & Metrics to Member Engagement.

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By: Guest Author
Title: Association Marketing Tools & Metrics for Member Engagement
Sourced From: marketinginsidergroup.com/content-marketing/association-marketing-tools-metrics-for-member-engagement/
Published Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2022 09:30:52 +0000

[TAG0]

The story is familiar: to rank high, you need to do many things. Because there are more than 200 ranking factors.

To make matters worse, Google makes over 4500 algorithm updates per year.

There is simply not enough time to do everything. You have to make compromises.

It is important to focus on what will make a difference and the easiest to do.

This is not just a code perspective. In many cases there is low-hanging fruits. A page on a specific term may rank at the top of the page for a keyword that can drive more leads and sales than you’re focusing on.

How do you identify which issues or changes to be focused on?

Top SEO Opportunities

[TAG1]

Ubersuggest now has a feature called “top SEO possibilities” to simplify things. This will allow you to do this.

Look at the image below. It will tell you where to focus to achieve the best results.

Take, for example, NP Digital, which is the top priority of our ad agency website.

[TAG2]

It states that I can rank for terms such as “performance marketing agency in America”. Although I would love to rank for broad terms such as “performance marketing agencies”, it is better to start with simple tail terms that can provide quick results and work your way up to more complex terms like “performance market agency”.

When I click on the “start”, it takes me to the AI writer, which will help me create content for that term.

[TAG3]

The keyword can be changed or continued. You can then select a title once you have completed the next step.

[TAG4]

Next, you can choose a meta description (which you can change later).

[TAG5]

Next, choose your headings.

[TAG6]

Ubersuggest will then write the content.

[TAG7]

Ubersuggest will not write articles for you. It creates copy that you can use to start the writing process. It will also automatically add secondary keywords to your website that it believes have a high chance of ranking.

The next step is to modify the content and add it to your webpage. Watch your rankings rise.

This feature doesn’t only focus on content creation, but it also covers all aspects of SEO. Your code, page speed, content, and link building are all taken into consideration. It helps you to save as much time as possible and reduce the amount of effort required.

How can you get customized recommendations for your site?

Set goals and conduct an analysis

Let’s discuss custom SEO recommendations that will deliver results.

You should go to Ubersuggest and click “create your first job”.

[TAG8]

Next, you’ll see a prompt asking you to enter your website URL.

[TAG9]

You’ll also want to include all of the places you do business.

[TAG10]

Next, choose the keywords that you want to target.

[TAG11]

If your site is already gaining traction in SEO, some keywords may be recommended. To add these keywords, simply click the “+” symbol. You can also manually add keywords to the right.

Then add your competitors. You can add your competitors by clicking the “+” symbol or manually entering them on the right side.

[TAG12]

Register now to save your data (it’s free).

[TAG13]

Next, go to your dashboard.

SEO dashboard

After you have uploaded your website to Ubersuggest, you will want to visit your dashboard to view your top SEO opportunities.

[TAG14]

You could wait up to an hour to see them. It is usually much quicker.

The best thing about the SEO Opportunities Report is its ability to change according to how often your website is updated.

Ubersuggest can help you prioritize your content and find new opportunities every day.

This allows you to focus your efforts on the most profitable SEO ROI.

Conclusion

It is great to have your website optimized for all the algorithm factors of Google. It is however, unrealistic.

Instead, focus on the low-hanging fruits. To get the most SEO traffic, what changes can you make?

This is exactly what the top SEO Opportunities report does.

You can add your site to this page.

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By: Neil Patel
Title: How to Prioritize Your SEO Efforts
Sourced From: neilpatel.com/blog/how-to-prioritize-your-seo-efforts/
Published Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2022 23:30:37 +0000

Do you ever wonder how some people on Instagram gain so many followers in a short amount of time or on a consistent basis? Some people are celebrities or influencers, but nowadays, many are not.

The below article explains 15 easy ways to increase your following on Instagram.

If you prefer watching a video instead of reading content, watch this, as it will help, but I still recommend reading the article as it breaks down the steps.

Today, you don’t need fame to gain Instagram followers over time. It might take a little extra work, though.

No matter which step you’re on in growing your Instagram presence, there is a way to create an attractive, high-quality, unique experience with your audience. I’m going to help you get your Instagram right where you want it.

Get More Instagram Followers in 15 Steps

• Step 1: Determine the overall purpose of your Instagram account
• Step 2: Come up with a content strategy
• Step 3: Design your profile for maximum engagement
• Step 4: Post photos that grab attention
• Step 5: Add long image captions to your post
• Step 6: Add strategic hashtags
• Step 7: Create a posting schedule
• Step 8: Locate and follow your target users
• Step 9: Follow 50 users per hour
• Step 10: Become an active member of the community
• Step 11: Partner and cross-promote with relevant users
• Step 12: Run challenges and contests
• Step 13: Run Instagram ads
• Step 14: Link your Instagram to your offline customer
• Step 15: Keep tabs on what’s working so you can continue to optimize your performance

Introducing Instagram

While I feel like this platform needs no introduction, some of you may be new to it.

So, I’d like to give you a few quick facts.

Instagram is a photo-sharing mobile app. It was launched in 2010 as a typical freebie app. There were a lot of other photo apps, but Instagram hit the sweet spot and started to grow exponentially.

They grew so quickly and organically that Facebook took interest and bought them for $1 billion in April of 2012.

As of February of 2022, Instagram has more than 2 billion active users worldwide!

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The Evolution of Instagram

Instagram used to be a basic app. You took a picture, you put a filter on it (to make yourself look better), and then you shared it with your small Instagram following.

That was it. No bells. No whistles. Nothing fancy.

That’s no longer the case.

Today, Instagram is packed with tons of features, from automation features to fantastic filters. Once Snapchat started attracting millions of followers, and apps like Periscope leveraged live video, Instagram rushed to offer these features as well.

For example, you can edit photos using more advanced photo editing features instead of relying on Instagram’s built-in filters.

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You can also post Stories. Stories appear at the top of your friends’ feeds and appear there for only 24 hours. If you want to keep your Stories discrete, you can send them only to select friends or curated groups.

You can edit your pictures with text, drawings, and other special effects, much like Snapchat.

Now, Instagram has a heavier emphasis on video, like its latest competitor TikTok. Like TikTok, Instagram’s Reels and Live Video features are also catching on. Since 2020, there’s been a high emphasis on influencers and the creator economy. User-generated content and influencer marketing have launched the platform ahead, where live video streams can also be used for social ecommerce.

Instagram is not like most live video platforms, because the video can be saved for IGTV after you stream. You can watch live videos while they’re being filmed and then share them with your audience that missed it, adding to your content.

My goal in this article is to show you how to get followers, not teach you how to use every feature.

Still, it’s important to be aware of these features, because you’re going to be using them to increase Instagram followers as you grow your audience by the thousands each week.

Let’s jump in.

Fake vs. Real Followers and How To Spot The Fakes

It’s the nature of the game.

Some people will try to prop up their accounts by misrepresenting their reach – and by extension – their influence.

They purchase followers and likes from black market sites so they can appeal to brands for affiliate marketing purposes. Others simply do it for superficial reasons.

These fake followers are typically bots that add no value to the platform. Worse yet, they take away from the user experience that we all love.

And do you know what?

Spambots can’t really “like” your brand. They can’t give real insight that can impact your business. And they can’t spend real money.

Here are a few strategies that you can use to audit individual profiles:

Step 1: Determine the Overall Purpose of Your Instagram Account

This is fundamental.

If you’re on Instagram purely for the social aspect, you can jump over to the next step.

But if you’re interested in tying your efforts to a business or marketing goal, you need to determine what the overall purpose of your account is.

Instagram’s data shows 90% of people follow a brand on the platform. However, because there are over 200 million business and company accounts on the network, your creative content must stand out from the rest.

By establishing a purpose or niche for your account, you can remind yourself why you started sharing your insights.

Once you gain a decent footing in your niche, you can then branch out and have the support of your loyal followers.

The point of this goal mapping exercise is to:

1. Make yourself accountable for a specific outcome. This way, you can measure your results, track your progress, and determine your ROI.
2. Improve the effectiveness of all the steps that you take moving forward. Your content strategy and everything else you do will be dependent on the goals that you’re working towards.

What does a goal look like on Instagram? It can be any number of the many uses that the platform provides.

The more specific, the better.

The more measurable, the better.

Here are some examples:

• Increase your brand storytelling efforts
• Improve audience engagement
• Generate a consistent affiliate marketing income
• Increase your product sales
• Drive more traffic to your website
• Convert more people to your email list
• Connect with influencers in your niche
• Show off your company culture so you can attract superstar team members
• Build buzz and momentum for an upcoming product launch

You can make these more concrete by attaching specific numbers to them.

For example, “start generating 5K/month in affiliate marketing income by the 31st of December.”

While specificity is important, your goals don’t have to be set in stone.

They can evolve as your business grows. They can take a complete turn if your vision changes. They can increase or decrease in scope.

You are the architect of this plan.

Step 2: Come Up With a Content Strategy

Now that you know what you’re working towards, it’s time to think about content.

I can tell you with all certainty that this is a critical part of the Instagram success equation.

Let’s briefly define content – it is anything you express through text, visuals, and whatever medium that Instagram allows.

If you create random content, you will attract random people who couldn’t care less about you. These people will be spectators and passers-by. They won’t take any action. They won’t move any growth needles for your business.

On the flip side, if you create content that is strategic and targeted, you will attract exactly the right kind of followers. They’ll care about your business, engage with your calls to action, and be of great value.

The task now is to map your content strategy into the business goals that you came up with in step one. This will ensure that you create the most impactful kind of content.

But first, let’s talk about something – often ignored – that’s critical to the success of your content strategy.

Context.

Most people either don’t understand what context means for social media or they ignore it altogether. In the end, their content ends up missing the mark.

Let me explain.

Essentially, these two should not exist without each other.

There are easy ways to understand content versus context and how they relate:

1. Content is what you create. Context is the meaning attached to what you create.
2. Content marketing is delivering quality information to your audience. Context marketing is delivering the right information to the right person at the right moment.

Do you see how they work as a team? How content would fall flat without context?

The question now is, how do you achieve that balance?

I like to think of content as the informational nugget and context as the stories that you use to deliver the message.

This means that to create the proper context for your Instagram content, you need to employ the elements of a story:

• What…
• Who…
• When…
• Why…
• Where…

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The “How” element is another piece of the puzzle. It refers to the medium in which you’re going to deliver that content.

On Instagram, users are conditioned for a medium that is largely visual, so you don’t have to spend time thinking about this. Photographs, videos, and stories are what will resonate with your audience.

As you can imagine, context is all very nuanced and becomes increasingly difficult when you have a large following. Even in a niche market, different people will connect to different stories.

Also, context switches as quickly as new information comes in.

The only way you can get these answers, and be on top of it when it changes, is to consistently engage with your audience.

Don’t just put out content and disappear.

Establish feedback loops, monitor the conversations, and be present in the communities that form around your business.

You’ll learn to tell the right stories and tell them well.

When it comes to your audience, storytelling is the way to remind them why they followed you in the first place.

Different types of Instagram content: When you understand context, your content strategy becomes amazingly simple.

In the first step, you came up with specific goals for your Instagram account. These goals will determine the type of content that you create.

What are your options?

People-centric content: Human faces are a big deal.

You can’t succeed on Instagram without humanizing yourself and your brand. Content that is true to you and your brand is what your audience wants to see.

By giving your Instagram followers free access to your life, you create an authentic, meaningful online community.

This type of content is especially powerful if your goal is to show off your company culture. Giving people a behind-the-scenes look at your team, their work processes, and how they interact with each other is digital gold.

Do what you do best and watch your Instagram followers grow. These posts evoke an emotional response in your audience and make them feel personally connected to your business.

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Need some ideas for content that is people-centered?

• Candid photos of employees hard at work
• Shots of team members outside of work, perhaps at a company retreat or team-building getaway
• Photos of your team supporting a social cause together
• Behind-the-scenes of workstations or tours of where products are made
• Pets at work (these aren’t people, but they evoke the same emotional response)
• Employee-curated content. Allow your employees to take over your Instagram account on different days and post from their perspective. HubSpot is a perfect example with their hashtag, #hubspotemployeetakeover.

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Product or service-centric content: Looking to increase sales? You can publish product-specific content.

Include strategically placed mockups of your products or showcase people raving about your services.

Here’s the thing.

Having a sales-oriented goal doesn’t mean you have to place the focus on the product or be overly promotional.

Prop up your product with a gripping narrative.

Nike does this visual storytelling brilliantly. They showcase their product by honoring great athletes. It’s the perfect balance of lifestyle and branded content.

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Some ideas for product, service, and brand-specific content:

• Give a sneak peek of a new product or behind-the-scenes of a product launch
• Show how your product is manufactured
• Shots of people wearing your branded clothing
• If you’re a service-based business, show off what’s in your work toolbox, e.g., photographers can feature their favorite camera or tripod

Text-based content: It’s no secret that quotes are a phenomenon on Instagram.

It doesn’t matter what niche you’re in, motivation and inspiration will always have an impact.

If you don’t have a lot of time or you’re just starting out on Instagram, I recommend starting off with quotes. They’re easy to create by using certain apps and are almost guaranteed to generate a lot of likes.

Some tips for creating text-based content:

• Share quotes that reiterate your brand message (Don’t forget to add popular hashtags like #instaquote!)
• Quotes from influencers or thought leaders in your niche market
• Shocking statistics or facts that aren’t common knowledge
• A quote from a customer raving about your business
• Newsworthy information about your business
• Quotes that highlight snippets of your brand story
• Recipes and other How-to posts that are relevant to your industry

User-centric content: Networks like Instagram run on user experience.

To outperform your competitors in that regard, you can:

1. Publish user-generated content (UGC)

This is where your content is created by other users. They could be your customers, brand advocates, influencers, site visitors, or any of your followers.

Buffer increased their following by almost 400% when they started user-generated content campaigns.

Not convinced? Here are some more benefits:

• Greater SEO capital – Looking at the world’s top 20 largest brands, 25% of their search results are links to user-generated content.
• Drives sales – Stackla found that based on their study, nearly 80% of respondents admitted user-generated content highly impacted their purchase decisions.
• Positively impacts engagement – No doubt, involving users in your content creation process will lead to greater interaction with your brand.

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So how do you get other people to create your content?

It’s simpler than it sounds. Here are some tips:

• Be clear and specific about what you want people to create. While you want to give users as much creative license as possible, you also don’t want your content to be off-brand or off-message.
• What’s your angle? Earlier, I referenced setting goals for the overall function of your Instagram account. Goal mapping can also be looked at from the lens of specific campaigns. If you’re going to start a UGC campaign, decide what the outcome will be for your brand.
• Credit your content creators. This is a great way to build goodwill and positive relationships with your audience. It’s also the right thing to do when you’re using somebody else’s work.
• Incentivize users to create better quality content. You can tie your campaign to a contest where the best content creators win something related to your brand.

2. Start “user action” campaigns

If you want to increase engagement, campaigns that encourage users to be active on the platform are the way to go. This is where you add captions that call your users to action or ask them a question.

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Some industry-specific examples:

• Landscape photographers may post a picture of a scenic place and ask users to “tag a friend you want to visit this place with”

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• A florist may post an image with different flower arrangements and ask users “which do you prefer: roses or orchids?”
• A food blogger may use a caption detailing a recipe and ask users to “tag a friend you’d like to prepare this with”
• A gym owner may post an image of a two-person workout and ask “tag a friend who you would like to do this workout with”
• A wedding photographer may post an image and ask users to “tag someone who’s getting married soon”
• Fashion bloggers or brands may post an outfit and ask their followers to “tag a friend who can pull this off” or “which pieces would you rock?”

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To be clear, these are not the only types of content that you have in your toolbox. But now that you have an idea of what your options are, here’s a simple three-step formula for coming up with what to publish:

1. Select your theme (product sales, company culture, engagement, etc.).

2. Think about the Who, What, Why, When, Where, and How that surround your theme.

3. Create and publish a mix of content based on your ideas.

Step 3: Design Your Profile for Maximum Engagement

The first thing you’ll need to do is to create an Instagram profile that people will be interested in. This matters. Your picture, your name, profile name, and your description are your digital billboard on Instagram. People will look at it, browse your photos, and check out your website.

Everything starts here.

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If you’re just getting started with Instagram, the process will be simple and straightforward during the signup process.

If you already have an Instagram account, you can change your profile name and username.

First, tap on the profile icon at the bottom right corner.

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Then, tap “Edit Profile” at the top of the page.

Now, change each of the following to something that accurately reflects who you are and the value you provide.

1. Name. I recommend using your real name.

2. A profile photo. Use a photo that is warm, approachable, and trustworthy.

3. Username. Your username needs to be unique. If your name is already taken, add some words or phrases that make it distinct.

4. A URL. Point this to your website if you have one. This URL is the only clickable link that you’ll be able to provide on Instagram.

5. A bio. A brief description about yourself. Make this description as warm and engaging as possible. An emoji or two won’t hurt.

How to increase the visibility of your Instagram profile?

Making your profile swoon-worthy is just one part of the equation.

You now have to drive as many eyes to your account as possible so you can increase your follower count and level of engagement.

Here’s what you can do to make it easy for users to find and follow you:

• Promote your account via your email list. Place a link to your Instagram profile in the footer or closing of every newsletter. You can even include a link in your email signature of your personal and business emails.

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• Place social media badges on your website. Do not overwhelm your users with a choice of 9 different social media platforms. Keep it to 3 or 4, including Instagram of course.

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• Place your account handle on business cards, stickers, brand memorabilia, thank you notes when customers purchase a product and any other physical thing connected to your business.
• Ask your followers on Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, and your other social networks that you’ve already built a following on to connect with you on Instagram. While cross-posting is not always a great idea, it’s possible to sync your Facebook account with your Instagram. This way your posts will appear on both platforms, and you can tap into your Facebook reach.

Step 4: Post Photos That Grab Attention

Stunning visuals are the lifeblood of Instagram.

That’s where it all started, and no matter how the platform evolves, it will always be a central part of it.

In this step, you need to build a collection of attention-grabbing posts.

Here’s how.

Step #1: Create a visual theme for your account

Our brains are built for visual stories. In fact, we process images 60,000 times faster than text.

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If you want to tell visual stories that stick in the minds of your followers, you need to develop an overarching theme for your account.

Here’s why it’s beneficial:

• You come across as having put more thought and effort into your account (Even if you didn’t). The result is that your perceived value increases and people are more likely to follow you.
• Your brand will be more memorable. When you have consistent visuals, your brand image is continuously being reinforced every time you publish a post. On the other hand, if you publish content with no unifying marker, there’s no way you’ll stand out among the 4.2 billion posts that are published daily.
• If it means anything, the statistics are in your favor. It’s been tested and proven that great design converts better.
• Consistency breeds trust. When you show up with a degree of sameness, your followers come to depend on you.

So how can you come up with a visual style guide for your profile?

It’s easy – and you’ll also find that consistency does not have to mean boring.

Here are some tips:

Tip 1 – Use similar brand elements that you use on your website and other social media platforms.

Disclaimer: You don’t have to be repetitive and robotic.

What you can do, however, is be consistent enough to evoke a feeling of familiarity in everything that you post.

This includes fonts, brand colors, logos, and even the way in which you use language.

Tip 2 – Experiment with patterns and shapes to create a unique layout.

The way that the Instagram feed is laid out in a grid makes it great for creating uniform patterns. The checkerboard layout is quite popular but can be made unique in so many ways.

To top it off, it looks great!

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Tip 3 – Stick to one color palette

I’ve seen accounts that post entirely in one color. The only variation is the different shades.

I’ll be honest – it takes commitment, but the result is beautiful.

If you don’t feel strongly about any particular color, you can always stick to a combination.

Either way, color-based visual themes are very effective.

Tip 4 – Use a dominant filter

Celebrities use this technique a lot.

That’s because their accounts have different purposes and are used to document their lives rather than for branding.

When you stick to one filter, all your images will have a congruent hue. If you’re building a personal brand and you haven’t niched yourself into a box, this is a great option.

Tip 5 – Use motifs

This is a literary technique that is used in movies, books, and other literature. For the purpose of your Instagram feed, it is a dominant element that frequently shows up in your visuals.

Here are some examples:

• A particular pose that you do in all your photos
• An action that you do all the time
• A type of prop that always shows up in your background
• A symbol (could be your logo or even a specific emoticon)
• A particular environment that recurs in your photos. Perhaps you want to subtly feature cityscapes or maybe grassland. (You don’t have to be a landscape photographer to use these elements)
• If you’ve crafted a particular narrative for your business, you can tell that story using motifs. Airbnb, Virgin, Nike, and Apple do this very well on all their online platforms, including Instagram.

Now that you have some guidelines for creating an overall theme for your Instagram posts, here are some tools that you can use to create them:

• Canva
• PicMonkey
• Stencil
• Photovisi
• BeFunky

Step #2: Use the following best practices when publishing your photos

Post original photos – No one likes to see an Instagram account that is stacked with stock photos or reposted viral pictures. They don’t connect and convert as well as real images. So, use your own photos.

Make sure your photos are relevant – Whenever you post a photo, think about the group that you want to attract. Who are these people? What will grab their attention?

Prompt followers to engage by using calls to action – We walked through this in detail when we looked at content strategy. The single best way to improve engagement is to write “user-action” captions for your posts.

Use the Geotagging function – When you add a location to your photo, you’ll get more visibility. Why? Because your photo “lives” in that location. Anytime someone searches for photos taken within an area, they will see your photo.

Instagram posts that include a location see 79% higher engagement than posts not tagged with a location.

Here’s how you can do it:

Tap “Add Location” on the new post screen.

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Instagram provides you with a list of possible locations to choose from.

However, you can type in any location you want to, and Instagram will show you a list of the popular nearby locations.

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I recommend choosing a popular location, so your post will get more visibility.

Step 5: Add Long Image Captions to Your Post

This is one of the most overlooked tactics in sharing photos. You should add several paragraphs of valuable written content to your post.

You’re allowed to write 2,200 characters. em>That’s a lot! For reference, 2,200 characters in this article will take you from the beginning all the way down to the paragraph that ends with “curated groups.” (CTRL + F to find it, and see how long 2,200 characters can stretch!)

Instagram will show only three lines of your image caption in users’ feeds. But that’s okay. If you can grab attention with those first three lines, you’ve won.

Instagram has a nasty thing about not allowing line breaks. The easiest way I’ve found to overcome this issue is by writing my post in my Notes app, copying it, and pasting it into Instagram.

To make things quicker, I open Notes on my MacBook which syncs with Notes on my phone. I type the caption completely and spell-check it.

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I open the note on my phone and copy it. Then I open Instagram and paste it into the caption.

Boom. Instant juicy content, and line breaks where I want them.

A long and interesting image caption is the number one way that I’ve found to get people to comment on and like my posts.

Other tips for writing great captions:

• Don’t bury the lede. Yes, you have 2,200 characters that you want to use up, but your most important content should be written first. Two reasons: most people hate to read, and Instagram will only show 3-4 lines of text in users’ feeds.
• Always include a call-to-action. Ask a question, tell users what to do next after they read your post, encourage people to share, or anything else that will motivate them to engage.

You have to lead with a great picture, but a good picture isn’t enough. Everyone’s already doing that. You have to add more value by producing more written content!

Step 6: Add Strategic Hashtags

You can Instagram all day long, but if you’re not using hashtags, you won’t grow your audience.

It’s that simple. Hashtags give you visibility. Instagram users hop around on hashtags like a bored person channel surfs. They click from hashtag to hashtag to hashtag, occasionally stopping in to check out an interesting user.

But which hashtags should you use?

If you use bland hashtags like #happy and #selfie, you’ll get some people to notice your post, but it won’t be the right kind of people.

Your goal is to get targeted followers, remember?

I’ll show you how to do it but first …

How do hashtags work – You may be tempted to use the same hashtag strategy as you do on Twitter or Facebook.

It differs on Instagram.

Think of hashtags as a catalog system.

When you post a piece of content, you use a relevant hashtag that describes your content.

For example, if you’re a full-time traveler and you post a picture of you writing from your laptop on a beach in Thailand, you may use the hashtags #Digitalnomad, #Barefootwriter, #Thailand, and #Beachbum when you publish it on Instagram.

Anyone who’s interested in the nomadic lifestyle or in visiting Thailand can find your content by searching for these hashtags. So, in essence, they serve as navigation and also improve the overall user experience of Instagram.

A hashtag can be:

• Location-specific
• Lifestyle-specific
• Brand-specific
• Product specific
• Community-specific
• Challenge- or contest-specific
• Campaign-specific
• Event-specific
• Subject-specific

You now know how hashtags work. Let’s get into some best practices for using them on Instagram.

Add hashtags in a comment, not in the actual photo – I recommend putting your hashtags in a comment on your own photo.

Why? First, it looks a little bit nicer. Your image caption should be clean and nice-looking. Hashtags tend to make things look messy.

Second, it keeps your caption distinct. Hashtags aren’t for people to see. They are for people to find you.

Third, you can add more hashtags. If you’ve filled out your image caption at the character limit, don’t worry. You have more room in the comments.

Be specific

Generic and popular hashtags like #instagood and #happy may have a larger reach, but they don’t have as much engagement as specific tags.

Specific hashtags mean:

• You’re appealing to a more targeted audience
• More emotional appeal – and as you know, emotion is the fast lane to the brain.
• You’ll have more engagement

Of course, you don’t want to be ultra-specific to the point that nobody would even think about searching for your hashtag. That would defeat the purpose.

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A long-standing hot topic on Instagram has always been the sweet spot for the number of hashtags to use. The Instagram Creators account recently announced that it’s best to only use 3 to 5 hashtags per post.

I know this may feel like a trick from Instagram, but let’s be real – using some hashtags do help boost your post. There may not be an optimal number, but paired with aligned content, hashtags can yield high engagement.

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How to find relevant hashtags:

Step #1 – The first thing you want to do is create a spreadsheet or note file on your phone to store your hashtags.

I recommend spending a couple of hours putting together a database of hashtags for your profile. It’s a more effective strategy as opposed to searching for them for individual posts.

Step #2 – Start by typing a general hashtag that relates to your industry or audience

Go ahead and type a broad hashtag that is relevant to your audience.

For example, you may type “#digitalmarketer.” Notice what happens in Instagram when you do this.

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Instagram shows you a list of popular hashtags.

You don’t need to guess which ones are popular because you can see the post count on the right-hand side.

Add as many of these hashtags as possible, as long as they are relevant. Doing this will give you a clear idea of the types of hashtags to use, and where to use them.

When you find a list of hashtags that gets high levels of engagement, copying these and save them in your note file. That way, instead of typing them out every time, you can copy and paste them into your comment.

Step #3 – Stalk your competitors

Your competitors have the same target audience as you do so, don’t be afraid to swipe the hashtags that they’re using.

If it’s working for them, it will likely work for you.

Sift through their feeds and take a note of popular posts and the corresponding hashtags.

Step #4 – Determine which hashtags work the best

Not every tag in your database will be a success.

The best way to know is to test them and see which ones outperform the rest. Key indicators would be engagement metrics like comments, likes, shares, follows, and mentions.

Step 7: Create a Posting Schedule

If you don’t post on Instagram, no one is going to bother following you.

Here is what I recommend:

• Post 1-2 photos or videos (including reels) per day.
• Add 5-30 Instagram stories per day.
• Post 1 live video per day at the same time each day.

Let me break this down for you.

Post 1-2 photos per day.

The most popular Instagrammers post a lot of pictures.

There is a correlation between how often you post and how many followers you have.

So why do you want to post every day? Because you’ll get more followers and more visibility (which also gives you more followers).

Don’t stick to photos only. As Nike’s feed shows, you can get a lot of engagement from posting videos.

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Add 5-30 Instagram stories per day… Wow. That’s a lot of stories!

Sure, but it’s relatively easy to do. You can post videos or still photos. I recommend a mix of both.

Your Stories will cycle automatically like a video playlist. Even though each story lasts only 15 seconds, you can string them together to form a long video.

Post 1 live video per day at the same time each day – Live video hasn’t taken off on Instagram like it has on Facebook, but it’s still powerful.

I recommend doing your live video at the same time each day.

Why? Because a live video appears only while it’s being broadcast. If you broadcast at random times — times when your followers aren’t actively on Instagram — no one is going to know you were even on live video.

There’s an easy way to overcome Instagram’s live video limitations.

1. Post a photo to your feed that announces the time you’ll be broadcasting live.
2. Post a story every day that announces your upcoming live broadcast.
3. To catch the audience that missed out, save your live on Instagram under IGTV

You’re ready to roll. Your audience will be prepared for your broadcast, and ready to tune in.

To start a live video, tap the plus sign in the upper right corner.

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Then, press “live” from the drop down menu.

You’ll press the live button, the app will notify your followers you’re live and let you know….

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You’re live!

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Live videos are the first in line in the story carousel. In other words, as long as you’re live, more people will see you.

The more often you can post live videos, the better. Experiment with different times of day to see which time works best.

Step 8: Locate and Follow Your Target Users

Believe it or not, everything we’ve discussed up to this point has been a simple introduction.

You may be thinking, what?! What about the massive amounts of followers?

If you follow the steps above, you will be attracting users at a rate of 20+ per day, and probably more.

First, you’ll get followers slowly, and then the speed picks up over time. During your first few days following this guide, you may only get 5 new followers a day.

Within a week, however, the velocity will pick up.

Now, however, it’s time to put things into hyper gear. In this step, I’ll show you how to find your tribe and prepare for an avalanche of followers.

First, locate your top competitors.

Who are the Instagram users who already has a big following in your niche?

Find them, and start to follow their followers.

Here’s how.

Tap the find icon from the Instagram feed screen.

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You’ll see a display of popular videos and posts.

Tap the “search” bar at the top.

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Tap “tags” and begin searching for a term that is relevant to your industry.

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I noticed that “#socialmediamarketing” has over 18,500,000 posts, so I tap it first. Here’s what I see.

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These are considered “top posts,” because they were posted by users with a lot of followers, or they have a lot of likes and comments.

One or more of these photos was posted by a power user — someone with a lot of followers.

I’m going to tap one of the photos at the top.

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Immediately, I noticed that this photo has over 1,000 likes. It’s likely this account sees high engagement regularly.

I also noticed that the photo was posted by @theadnetwork. I may have never heard of @theadnetwork, but they are obviously posting photos within my niche. And those photos are obviously popular.

So, I tap their name in the upper left corner. Here’s what I see.

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I notice that they have 48K followers. This is a large following. I want to follow their followers.

Here’s the rationale. If these people chose to follow @theadnetwork, then they might choose to follow me, too. I’m in the same niche, same industry, and am providing just as much value (if not more!).

I tap “48K” to see the list of followers.

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I can follow every one of these users by tapping “follow.”

You should follow this process multiple times to find more influencers in your space. Also, you should find the influencers who have the most engaged audience.

Repeat the above process every day as you seek to build new followers. Every time, the experience will be different. Experiment with it until you find the pattern that delivers the highest number of followers.

Here’s that process in bullet point format:

• Tap the search icon.
• Tap the search bar at the top of the screen.
• Tap or swipe to tags.
• Type a tag that is relevant to your industry.
• There are probably dozens if not hundreds of tags you could use.
  • This is where you should branch out and experiment with different tags.
  • I also recommend exploring the “related” tags that Instagram displays at the top of the screen. You can find valuable tags and users that people are engaging in using this list.
• Tap a top post within that hashtag.
• Make sure that the account that posted has a lot of followers (rule of thumb: They should have more followers than people they are following).
• Tap the number of followers they have.
• Begin following these followers.

Step 9: Follow 50 Users per Hour

How many users can you follow, and at what rate?

Nobody, except a few select Instagram developers, knows the exact numbers.

Obviously, Instagram wants to keep users from abusing the system by spamming people with useless information. Therefore, they have some restrictions in place that keep you from following too many people.

The limit seems to be 7,500.

It’s going to take you a long time to reach 7,500. So what should you do?

Follow at least 50 users per hour. If you try to follow too many people within a certain amount of time, you’ll no longer be able to follow people.

Instagram won’t ban your account. They will simply prevent the “follow” button from working.

What should you do then? Wait an hour, and try again. Most likely, you’ll be able to follow more people.

Do you think that following 50 users might take too much time? It doesn’t.

Here’s how it works. You can do this in just a few minutes each hour.

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Repeat this process as often as possible.

As you follow users, many will begin to follow you back. If you are actively posting, engaging, and providing value, then you will quickly begin to attract a following.

If you don’t have the time, or just simply don’t want to do this manually, you could use a service like Kicksta to do it for you.

Step 10: Become an Active Member of the Community

Instagram isn’t just a broadcast platform. It’s a community of people who are helping each other, providing value, learning, and growing.

Personally, I’ve found a lot of inspiration on Instagram. I’ve met new people. I’ve learned new things. It’s been a great place for personal development and networking.

Here are the things that you should do in order to become an active member of the Instagram community and to grow and cultivate your audience at the same time:

• If someone follows you, follow them back. Obviously, you want to avoid following spam accounts.
• If someone comments on your photo, reply with a comment directed toward them. Mention them, using @, in the comment.
• Like the photos that have hashtags that you’re interested in.
• Comment on the photos that contain hashtags you’re interested in.
• Like other people’s comments on photos that you’re interested in.
• Send direct messages to people who you’re interested in, or who provide a lot of value.
• In your photo, tag users who you know personally, or with whom you’ve formed a relationship on Instagram.
• Ask questions or invite feedback in your posts.

There’s a difference between being a publisher on Instagram vs. being a participant.

I encourage you to become a participant.

Step 11: Partner and Cross-Promote With Relevant Users

Want to grow your Instagram in record time?

Partnering with other influential users on the platform is the surest way to get there.

This way, you get to tap into their following and funnel it into yours.

Cross-promoted content is effective for a few key reasons:

• We trust the recommendations of our peers
• We rely on consensus and the opinions of others to influence our actions (including purchase decisions and who to follow online)

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The step-by-step play for cross-promoting your content with other users:

Step #1: Invest enough time in the groundwork so you can choose the right partners.

You want to select someone who’s not a direct competitor but has a following that matches your target audience.

This way, the relationship can be set up for an equal exchange of value.

You can either:

1. Spend time sifting through hundreds of profiles to find the best matches. It’s time-consuming, but it works best, particularly if you’re on a tight budget, or don’t want to spend any money at all.

Tips for searching Instagram:

• Research a hashtag and check out posts with lots of engagement (likes, shares, comments). If you don’t have much to leverage, it may be best to start off with a low-hanging target with moderate engagement.
• Look for users with a history of cross-promotion. The best method is to look at accounts that have content where someone else is attributed as the content creator.

2. Search through a marketplace of influencers. Several sites make it easy to find and connect with the right partners.

This approach is better suited if your goal is to increase brand awareness or ramp up product sales.

Be mindful that many influencer marketplaces listed may require monetary compensation rather than exchanging value without money.

A few options:

• CreatorIQ
• https://www.revfluence.com/ GRIN
• https://www.influencerdb.net/db/?page=1&idb_sort_instagram=ig_instagram_score&hashtag-count=1 Mavrck
• #paid
• In Beat

Step #2: After you’ve pinpointed the best partners, focus on what you can do for them.

Here’s the deal:

If you’re just growing your account and you want to tap into someone else’s following, they’re the ones with the leverage.

This means that you have to think about what you can bring to the table.

What do they need right now? How can you make their lives a little easier? What are they working on right now that you can contribute to?

Answer these questions, and you have the perfect in.

I recommend establishing a relationship first or at least getting on their radar before you ask for something.

This way, you’re more likely to succeed.

Step #3: Set clear terms for your partnership

There’s nothing like miscommunication to sour a relationship.

Ideally, you want your partnerships to be long-term. Otherwise, you’d have to continuously be searching for new influencers every single time you’d like branded content with influencers.

To make sure that the process goes smoothly for both of you:

• Make sure that you both are clear on what’s being exchanged
• Establish a timeline
• Honor your deal

Step #4: Make the most out of the cross-promotion

If you want to increase the momentum and impact of cross-promoted content, it will require some extra work.

Promote the content on other social media networks, announce it to your email list, and ask users to engage.

Step 12: Run Challenges and Contests

If you’ve ever thought long and hard about growing your Instagram account quickly, this tactic has been on your radar.

Give out a freebie, and people will come knocking down your door, right?

Anyone who has run a successful contest or challenge will tell you that this is not the case. In fact, it requires a fair amount of preparation and strategy.

When done right, it can be an extremely effective way of getting traffic and new followers to your Instagram account.

Here are the details that you need to work out:

So… what type of contest will you run? The type of contest will determine how people can take part in your giveaway. Each of these methods of entry has its benefits and downsides.

(i) Follow to win – Participants have to follow your account to enter the contest. Be prepared for a percentage of people to unfollow you after the contest is over.

(ii) Like to win – Participants have to like one of your photos to enter.

(iii) Comment to win – Participants have to comment on a piece of content to win.

(iv) Enter your email to win – Participants have to submit their info to enter. If your goal is to get more followers, you may want to skip this method or combine it with another method that gives you that outcome.

(v) Participate in the challenge to win – This is where you call on people to do something specific, like posting a photo and using a hashtag that you’ve created for your challenge. You can also set your challenge across several days, asking participants to do something different on each day and posting their results. This is the most participative type of contest, and it has the highest level of engagement.

(vi) A combination of methods – Participants have to perform several qualifying actions to enter the context. Any of the methods above can work together. It’s up to you and the goal that you have for your contest. Be mindful that you don’t want the barrier to entry to be so high that people get turned off by the process.

What are the rules? Every contest needs a set of guidelines.

It ensures that there are no disputes after the contest has run its course.

Your rules should include:

• The contest duration (what date and time does it begin and end)
• The prize and how the winner will be chosen
• The method of entry

How will the winner(s) be chosen, and what is the prize? The tricky thing about using contests to grow your following is that you will be attracting people who aren’t necessarily interested in you or what you do.

They simply want to win.

The way to deal with that is to offer a prize that is closely aligned with your brand and business goals.

Some examples:

If you have a self-improvement blog, your prize can be some inspirational and self-improvement books.

If you own a tech company, you can give something that’s complementary to your product.

This way, there’s overlap between the contest prize and your Instagram content. Participants will be less inclined to unfollow you after the contest is over.

How will you promote the contest? Simply setting a contest in motion is not enough.

You need to gain as much momentum and traction as possible.

To drive awareness, you can:

• Create a viral-worthy hashtag and encourage participants to use it
• Promote the contest on all your social media channels
• Link to the contest on the homepage of your blog
• Announce the contest to your email list
• Write blog posts about it and pay to boost them on Facebook, so they reach more people
• Allow people extra entries for referring new participants

It’s also a good idea to write a follow-up piece on the winner, and the prize received. If your prize was a service or something results-driven, you could create a thorough case study of the winner’s before and after.

Step 13: Run Instagram Ads

Sometimes the most effective way is simply to pay to play.

That’s where paid promotions come in.

As you know, Facebook purchased Instagram in 2012.

This is significant because running ads on Instagram is the same as running Facebook ads. They’re controlled through the same ad manager.

If you’ve run Facebook ads in the past, you’re likely familiar with this method.

In any event, I’ll walk you through the process from start to finish.

The step-by-step play for running Instagram ads:

Step #1 – Connect your Instagram account to your Facebook page.

If you’ve already done this once, you don’t have to do it every single time you run an ad. But if you haven’t already linked the two accounts, go to “Settings” on your Facebook page and click on “Instagram Ads.”

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After you click on “Add an account,” you’ll be prompted to fill in your Instagram username and password.

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You’ll then be asked to select which Facebook ad account you’d like to use for your Instagram campaign. If you have more than one ad account set up, select the appropriate one.

Step #2 – Go to the Power Editor or Adverts Manager to create your Instagram campaign

Now that your accounts are connected, you can run your Instagram ads from your Facebook account.

You can either click “Create Campaign” in the Ad Manager or go to the Power Editor to create your ad.

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Step #3 – Select the objective for your campaign.

You have three different categories to choose from:

• Awareness – Increase your brand awareness, local awareness, and reach.
• Consideration – For driving traffic, increasing engagement, getting more app installs, increasing video views, and lead generation.
• Conversion – For conversions, product sales, and store visits.

Simply click on the category that you’re interested in. You can only have one campaign objective.

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After you click on your objective, name your campaign and click “Continue.”

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Step #4 – Create your advert set and define your ad audience.

Your audience can be defined by location, age, gender, language, and other detailed demographics. If you have saved audiences, you don’t have to create a new one.

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Next, select your ad placement, budget, and duration of the ad set.

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Once you’ve decided how much you’re going to spend and how long your ad will run for, it’s time to select the format of your ad.

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Finally, select your images and write your caption. You can preview the ad to make sure that everything looks good. Click “place order,” and that’s all there is to it.

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Step #5 – Set up a retargeting campaign

Retargeting ads are set up using more or less the same process as normal ads. Only this time, you’re targeting people who’ve already engaged with your business.

Maybe they visited your site, your opt-in page, or abandoned their cart before making the final purchase.

How do you know who those people are?

The Facebook pixel. This is a tool that allows you to track the actions that people take on your website as well as measure the effectiveness of your ads.

Ideally, you should install the pixel on your site even if you have no immediate intention of running an ad. This way, it can track as much data as possible, so your campaign will be more effective.

To get the pixel on your site, you can either install it manually or use a WordPress plugin.

Manual installation of the Facebook pixel:

Go to the Adverts Manager and find “Pixels” under the area labeled “Assets.”

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If you’ve ever run Facebook Ads, chances are you’ve already created a pixel. If not, you’ll be asked to create one.

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Select a name for your pixel and click “Create Pixel”.

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You will get a Pixel code that you can copy and paste into your website header.

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Alternatively, you can simply install a WordPress plugin called PixelYourSite. All you have to do after that is enter your Pixel ID in the settings of the plugin. Your ID can be found on the top right-hand corner of your Ads Manager dashboard.

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Once your pixel has been installed, it will begin collecting data immediately. Running a retargeting campaign is simply a matter of creating a custom audience to include anyone who has visited your domain or specific pages.

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The remaining steps are the same as what we walked through earlier for setting normal Instagram ads.

Step 14: Link Your Instagram to Your Offline Customer

Have you ever thought about how you can leverage offline interactions to grow your online presence?

Very few people do.

The thing is social media platforms and websites are not the only places that people come into contact with your business.

Particularly if you run an e-commerce site, you have plenty of opportunities to connect with users offline.

Here’s how you can make the most out of these interactions:

First, add your Instagram handle to physical product packaging.

The package that your product is shipped in is a unique part of the customer experience.

It’s a direct point of contact and presents the most opportunity because many people neglect it.

Next, consider placing a hashtag on the actual product.

Several popular brands have used this technique where they print hashtags on their products.

During the 2012 Olympics, Adidas and Nike featured their own campaign hashtags on their footwear.

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Finally, be sure to Incentivize customers to follow you and promote your brand.

Sometimes, your customers need an extra push to take action. Here are some ideas:

1. Run a monthly contest asking customers to take a selfie with your product and post it on Instagram. Make sure they tag your Instagram page and add your specific hashtag. Every month, you can announce a different winner. Their followers will be inclined to check out your page and follow you.

2. As soon as you make a sale, ask customers to post a video talking about why they decided to invest in your product. Again, ensure that they tag you and use your product-specific hashtag. You can give them cash back or a coupon for a subsequent purchase. This can both increase sales and improve your following.

Step 15: Keep Tabs on What’s Working so You Can Continue To Optimize Your Performance

These steps are not the end-all, be-all of Instagram marketing.

Instead, they are powerful strategies that you can bet on to increase your following.

But guess what?

The platform is continuously evolving. New features are always being introduced. Old tactics become obsolete.

It is up to you to track which methods are working for you. I’d say the best measure of success on Instagram is how engaged and loyal of a following you have.

Having hundreds of thousands of followers who don’t take the time to interact with your content is pointless.

Keep monitoring the results that you get after implementing each step so you can keep optimizing them.

Some Key Performance Indicators to look out for:

• Click-through rate – How many people are clicking on your links. You can shorten your website links using a URL shortener like Bitly. It also allows you to track how these links perform.
• Traffic – How many unique visitors are you getting from Instagram to your website?
• Follower growth – How many followers have you gained? Which tactics had the biggest part to play? Have you lost any followers?
• Interactions per post – What’s the total social capital of each post? This includes the usual stuff like comments and shares.
• Growth of branded or product-specific hashtags – If you’ve created any hashtags, how has your popularity and reach increased?

Learn from your analytics rather than the vanity metrics.

The level of insight from analytics will help you understand the type of content your audience engages with and likes most.

With the insight from analytics, you can see how your Instagram followers increase without building a community blindly.

FAQs

What is the trick to increasing followers on Instagram?

If you want to follow my formula: start with determining the purpose of your Instagram account. Form your content strategy that will drive maximum engagement and attract the attention of those in your niche. Be strategic not just with your content but in your captions and hashtags. Your reach in your niche and potential audience can grow when you target them.

Other than running Instagram ads, you can launch challenges and contests to nurture your audience. Remember, you can take your reach offline through events or product packaging. Just make sure you’re optimizing your performance by listening to the analytics because the data is coming from your audience.

How do I spot fake Instagram followers?

Do an Instagram audit. The signs of fake followers are when your account has unusual numbers that fluctuate but also don’t match your engagement. Accounts that post spam comments or have minimal details on their page can be run through a fake follower or bot detection tool. Your Instagram posts can be shared, liked, commented on, and engaged with by real people. People appreciate it when someone on the other end responds.

How often should I post on Instagram?

The Instagram post cadence I recommend looks like this:

• Post 1-2 photos or videos (including reels) per day.
• Add 5-30 Instagram stories per day.
• Post 1 live video per day at the same time each day.

Conclusion

Social media, in general, can sometimes feel like fighting a losing battle.

You try to create content that will grab attention, move masses of people to action, and get them hooked on you for good.

The results are not always encouraging.

But this time, it’s different.

Why?

I really do believe that there has never been anything as prolific as Instagram. It is a remarkable place for personal branding and sales. Any ordinary person who puts in the right combination of strategy and effort can win big on this platform.

Yes, it can be challenging to build a following.

Yes, there’s a lot of noise.

But is there a way to build a powerful tribe of targeted followers? Absolutely.

I have used these exact steps for myself and my clients to attract more than 300 followers every single day.

One of the best parts about it is that these Instagram followers are bot-free. As long as I’m providing valuable content and regularly contributing as a member of the community, they will keep showing up to engage with my content.

Not only that, they’ll spread the word, and my following will continue to grow.

Eventually, you’ll reach a similar point. You won’t have to follow other users as aggressively. Instead, people will start flocking to you.

By that point, all your hard work would’ve paid off, and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a powerful Instagram influencer.

Are you using Instagram as part of your marketing strategy? What are some of the tactics that are working for you?

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By: Neil Patel
Title: 15 Ways to Get More Instagram Followers
Sourced From: neilpatel.com/blog/how-to-get-300-real-targeted-instagram-followers-per-day/
Published Date: Wed, 20 Jul 2022 19:05:00 +0000

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By: Michael Brenner
Title: How to Get Better SEO Results: The Complete Guide
Sourced From: marketinginsidergroup.com/content-marketing/how-to-get-better-seo-results/
Published Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2022 10:00:17 +0000