Category: Social Media Marketing

4 Ways to Rank on YouTube Searches

June 15, 2021 / Esther Day

YouTube ranks 5th among the top social media networks of 2021. Launched in 2005, it now has 1.86 billion monthly active users. It’s the world’s 2nd most visited website right after Google – its parent company who bought it in 2006. It’s also the 2nd most used social media network right after Facebook. A video marketing agency Hong Kong imagines how people watched YouTube videos for billions of hours daily. That’s an incredible amount of content consumed online. On average, YouTubers aged 18 years old and above spend 41.9 minutes on the platform daily. They stick around checking an average of 9 pages to look for videos.

In 2020, YouTube made a significant impact on video marketing. There were more than 9 billion video views on the platform from March to July 2020. These majorly include cooking, gardening, how-to’s, learning guides, self-care, and tutorials. But what is most popular on YouTube are gaming channels. Because of the high demand for video content, YouTube has been an important platform for video marketing. It is the perfect way to catch the attention of 4.88 billion mobile users. They are also a budget-friendly way to expand reach. Below are 4 ways to rank on YouTube searches according to a digital marketing speaker Hong Kong.

Choose Relevant Keywords to Generate Ideas for YouTube Videos

A social media agency Hong Kong notes the importance of choosing relevant keywords for YouTube videos. Start by doing a Google search of what your business does. Use questions commonly typed by people searching for your niche. The search results will show popular articles. List the headlines and titles of those articles. From these lists, you can create YouTube videos under those headlines and titles. They will have the potential to rank higher on search results.

You can also create YouTube videos based on frequently searched keywords related to your business. They can be a city, question, phrase, sentence, series of words, single words, or zip codes. Through the use of a Google tool, Keywords Everywhere, you can get additional data about potential keyword searches. The tool is available in a free or paid version. Once you install it, a list of high-ranking keywords will appear on the right side of your Google search results.

Another way to rank on YouTube searches using relevant keywords is by creating videos that answer frequently asked questions (FAQs). Generate the list from your customers, and write down the top 10 FAQs. If you are just starting your YouTube channel, frontloading 10 FAQ videos can be a great way to establish yourself. To get further mileage, embed these videos on your social media accounts or website’s FAQ page. You can also upload their links to your email campaigns.

Choose Titles That Trigger Personal Reactions from Viewers

A video title also plays a key role in ranking on YouTube searches. Because the attention span of online users is only limited to 10 seconds, YouTube creators should choose titles that trigger personal reactions from the viewers. They have to be compelling enough for viewers to click them.

First off, people love lists. This is because a list of content is easy to digest, expect, and skim. So, a good trick is to put numbers on your title to highlight a list. Some good examples are “Top 5 YouTube Videos,” “The Single Most Important Thing to Remember for a COVID Test,” or “5 Steps to Make You Rich.”

You can also create a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out) on the title of your YouTube video to rank on searches. Phrases like “the first,” “the last,” “the latest,” “the secret to,” “the single most important thing,” or “your key to success” are good starting points.

Similarly, titles with “how to,” “what is,” “where is,” etc. can trigger curiosity. These questions can trigger emotions if they include the “best” or “worst” within a video title.

Craft a Call to Action (CTA) on Your YouTube Videos

The top priority of brands and businesses in YouTube marketing is conversion. Conversion may either be to prompt viewers to give information like names, email, contact details, etc. They can also be an invitation for viewers to subscribe or watch more videos on a playlist. But the ultimate conversion goal is to influence the viewer to make a purchase of products and services. Like content marketing, YouTube marketing is no different. A CTA can be an extension of the solution to a viewer’s problem. Here’s a proven formula to create a CTA on your YouTube videos.

Start the video by addressing the viewer’s problem.
Evoke the viewer’s emotion by describing how it feels to experience such a problem. Is it embarrassing, frustrating, heart-breaking, etc.?
Show the viewers how the video can help them. You can identify your expertise and willingness to help or highlight the brand’s features and how they can be the best solution to the problem.
In the end, craft a CTA that the viewers can’t resist like “exclusive offer,” “grab now,” “limited time offer,” or other similar phrases.

Repurpose Your YouTube Videos

The best way to rank on YouTube searches is to continuously repurpose your YouTube videos. Some great ways to do this are by including the video link on your email campaigns, writing a blog post about the video, and sharing them on your social media pages.

The Bottom Line

YouTube is a great way to increase reach through video marketing. Creating the right video for your target audience can open up a wide range of opportunities for brands and businesses.

Reference:

https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/youtube-seo-how-to-rank-in-youtube-search/

The Basic Elements of a Website Design

May 19, 2021 / Esther Day

Websites are an important marketing element among brands and businesses. It is a tool to get more clients and customers. It is also the first point of contact your company has. Like a physical storefront, you should put your best foot forward when building a website. A solid and well-executed web design is a great asset to success as a digital marketing speaker Hong Kong noted. Designing a website is alchemy. It’s much like creating a mysterious recipe for gold. Modern websites are more than aesthetics and visuals. They affect brand reputation and SEO ranking. Below are the basic elements of a website design.

Interaction

Modern consumers want fast answers to their queries. A business website is their first point of contact. So, brands need to add an element of interaction to their website. A chat function can engage your customers immediately. If they have questions about a product, brands can connect quickly to assist them and turn the conversation into a conversion. Today, Facebook allows the integration of a website’s chat function with Messenger. This can help brands connect to their audiences all in one place. They can also activate chatbot services to provide 24/7 interaction with their customers. Interaction is the most important element of a website. It’s because it captures human connections, which is the main goal why a business creates a website.

Mobile Optimization

Today, around 3.8 billion people are using a smartphone. This is equivalent to almost 50% of the world’s population. As more people access social media platforms and online websites via mobile devices, a video marketing agency Hong Kong suggests focusing on mobile optimization to create a good website. The mobile optimization element of a website is the process of making a website content flexible and responsive based on what device a user has. It allows quality display and formatting for both big and small screens. Less is more when it comes to mobile. Keep your website as simple as possible. Cut down content to shorter sentences. Compress visuals to display them well even on small screens. Upload video content that is less than 120-second in length. As much as possible, avoid pop-up messages.

Navigation

The navigation element of a website refers to how a visitor can jump from one page to another. A good website allows navigation between pages in just one or two clicks. Each page should quickly load in displaying information and visuals. A menu or a site map is a great idea to make it easier for users to know the functions available on a website. There are several ways to improve the navigation on a website.

First, you can use image compression software to decrease the size of images on your website without compromising their quality. Second, avoid too many plugins. Plugins are pieces of software that add extra functionalities to a website. The more plugins a website has, the slower your website will be because more apps need to run. So, it is best to avoid adding plugins. Keep your website as simple as possible. Third, web page caching is a process of storing web files in a temporary folder. Such a folder allows quick access to information among website users.

Quality and Relevant Content

Content is the backbone of a website. This element plays a major role in influencing the buying decisions of your target customers. It is also the key to rank on search engines and increases traffic to your website. The content of a good website should be accurate, educational, and easy to read. The content should be well-researched and validated. It should inform customers on how a product or a service can solve their pain points. It also doesn’t stop in writing. It involves focusing on how your messages interact with the visual design. Content strategists should ensure that the “About” and “Contact” pages of a website are always updated. For blogs, try to break long sentences into simpler statements. Break up long lists through bullets. Used eye-friendly colors and fonts for the readers to avoid eye strain.

Visual Appearance

According to a social media agency Hong Kong, modern consumers prefer media-rich content and good visuals. A website typically has 1/10^th of a second to impress its visitor. By using great graphics, it makes your home page more appealing. People will see your website as professional and reputable. As such, they will stay and explore your pages which can likely result in sales. The visual appearance of a good website should be clean, intuitive, and simple. When we clean, it should be pleasing to the viewer’s eyes. They should not be so bold and cluttered to produce eye strain. An intuitive visual element of a good website makes it easy for users to navigate between pages. For example, product visuals should be clickable to easily lead visitors to the checkout page. Moreso, a simple website visual appearance has enough white spaces to give room for breathability. Each image should complement each other, and the text should be relevant to the images. There should always be a visual hierarchy on the site. Most website designers place the brand logo, the navigation bars, or search menu boxes on top of the home page.

Reference: https://www.dreamhost.com/blog/elements-of-webdesign/

Facebook Social Skills Video Series

May 11, 2021 / Esther Day

Last March 2021, the best social media brands on Facebook shared their secrets to success. This is through a series of Social Skills videos hosted by Facebook for Business. Each episode was launched every Wednesday from 24 March 2021 to 30 April 2021. Facebook has recorded 2.85 billion monthly active users in Q1 of 2021. This makes it more important for brands to enhance their social media management skills within the platform. According to a digital marketing speaker Hong Kong, social media management is the process of analyzing the audience behavior on social media platforms. Its main goal is to develop a strategy tailored to their interests and needs. On the other hand, its end goal is to drive better brand performances and return of investments (ROI).

Facebook Social Skills Video – Episode 1

Episode 1 of the Facebook Social Skills Video was hosted by Sana Javeri Kadri, the CEO and founder of Diaspora Co. The company was founded in 2017 to help Indian farmers market organic spices to global consumers. When Sana moved to the USA, she only knew two people – her two aunts where she was staying with. She started the business by creating an Instagram business profile for Diaspora. Most of Diaspora’s IG posts revolve around content that speaks about the company culture. Later on, Diaspora opened up a digital shop on the said page. Such an Instagram Shop has helped Sana integrate the business with its brand story. Here’s where she discovered that their followers craved ideas and inspiration on how to use the spices. This gave birth to the Diaspora Kitchen. It is a place where they feature cooking videos of community members highlighting how their spices add flavor to the food. The campaign ran for 4 weeks and produced amazing business results. A video marketing agency Hong Kong noted that Diaspora has successfully harnessed the power of storytelling to build a community of consumers and farmers. Diaspora Kitchen reaches out to food bloggers, recipe testers, and shoppers in an organic way.

Facebook Social Skills Video – Episode 2

Episode 2 of the Facebook Social Skills Video was hosted by Laurise McMillian, the head of social media management for a Facebook group of black millennial women – Unbothered. The episode highlighted “Community Building” as an important social skill in Facebook marketing. Lauren provided three tips to build successful Facebook and Instagram communities:

Crowdsource UGCs. User-generated content is an important community-building tool. They are the perfect way to build an online presence by collaborating with a brand’s loyal followers. Just like Unbothered’s “Black Friday” featuring start-up companies owned by budding black women entrepreneurs.
Enforce brand consistency for a consistent feel and look. Lauren discussed how consistency played a big role to brand recognition with Refinery 29, an online shop for women where Lauren works for. Here, they have what they call a “Bible”, a brand guideline with clear parameters on visual specifications.
Experiment with Creator Studio. Lauren noted that Facebook and Instagram Creator Studio can be very helpful in experimenting with content. It also helps creators collaborate and connect to their audiences thru direct messages.

Facebook Social Skills Video – Episode 3

Episode 3 of the Facebook Social Skills Video was hosted by the Director/Founder of Mainstream Online Buzz (MOB ), Jolene Sim. MOB was initially a print ad agency when it was founded in June 2010. To get a steady supply of clients, the company was forced to offer bundled services of print ads and social media campaigns. They then shifted their focus to digital marketing. They now served clients in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Like a social media agency Hong Kong, MOB’s keynotes in ad placement are the following:

Facebook Ads. Here, Jolene noted the importance of setting specific goals for each ad placement. This is to maximize the return of investment (ROI).
Dynamic Ads. Dynamic Ads allow brands to do an A/B experiment over a single campaign. This can help brands determine the best ads that can drive sales and generate leads.
Messenger Ads. Messenger bot ads are a great way to build connections within the Facebook community. They can provide customer service support 24/7 with faster and more natural interactions.

Facebook Social Skills Video – Episode 4

Episode 4 of the Facebook Social Skills Video was hosted by:

Jarvis Macchi, the Head of Social Media for Luxottica
Roberta Merlino, Social Community Manager for Persol
Roberto Di Raffaele, Brand Lead of Persol

Persol is a luxury eyewear brand manufactured by Luxoticca. The video highlighted the importance of audience engagement as a social skill. To boost audience engagement, the team of three gave the following tips:

Brands need to identify their target audience. This helps them customize their ads and campaign according to their interests and needs. As such, it boosts brand awareness and conversions.
It is also important for brands to listen to social media communities. Insights from these communities can guide brands to a better marketing strategy.
Organic ads promote paid advertising. By creating organic content that delivers relevant values, paid ads have greater chances to perform well.

Facebook Social Skills Video – Episode 5

Episode 5 of the Facebook Social Skills Video was hosted by the senior global social marketing manager of GoPro, Kate Marin Lander. For a brand to effectively perform in social media, Kate provided the following tips.

GoPro integrates Facebook Shops with short-form videos to drive education and sales among its customers.
Point-of-View Clips and UGC videos are awesome opportunities to inform customers about the benefits of a brand or product. GoPro created a site where customers can learn and upload videos using their GoPro cameras. The winning videos each month have proven to perform well.
Social media content doesn’t need to be perfect but A/B testing can polish content to make them more authentic and natural to the audiences.

Facebook Social Skills Video – Episode 6

Episode 6 of the Facebook Social Skills Video was hosted by Joshua Kong, the regional manager of Elixus. In the video, Josh highlighted the importance of learning Facebook algorithms to optimize brand marketing. He said that knowing how to measure KPIs and ROIs can help shape future marketing strategies for the better. To strengthen brand marketing, here are three tips from Josh:

Use visuals to grow a brand’s audiences. Images and visuals have a higher engagement rate on Facebook and Instagram. The fresh and eye-catching elements capturing the attention of target audiences.
Use customer segmentation to successfully pair ads and campaigns with the right customers. Elixus groups its customers into four categories:
- People who don’t know anything about the brand
- People who have recently discovered the brand
- People who have higher buying intents
- Existing customers of the brand
Use Facebook Analytics to track data. These insights can help brands improve ad creation and targeting.

Shoppable UGCs – The Future of Social eCommerce

May 7, 2021 / Esther Day

Remember the story of GoPro? GoPro is the world’s most versatile camera brand. Most camera brands today have been greatly affected by the rise of the smartphone. People no longer need to buy expensive cameras because smartphones already have them. But GoPro stands still as popular among outdoor travelers and sports enthusiasts. And why is this so? It’s because of UGC, the main focus of GoPro on its marketing strategy. GoPro created a platform to help their customers share unique moments they capture as an entry to the “page of fame.” This is a monthly contest among GoPro users. Roughly 6,000 GoPro videos are uploaded on their platform daily. The winning entry receives a prize and is uploaded on GoPro’s social media pages. Today, brands have mimicked GoPro’s stint. With the many trends in using user-generated content, Shoppable UGCs are now the future of social eCommerce.

WHAT ARE SHOPPABLE UGCS?

Shoppable UGCs are the blending of a brand’s product specification and user-generated content. With a product specification, shoppers can make a direct purchase within a social media platform. On the other hand, the user-generated content showcases the credibility of the brand that greatly influences the buying process. Shoppable UGC boosts a brand’s revenue by reducing cart abandonment. A social media agency Hong Kong relates how Diaspora Co. harnesses the power of UGC to becoming a popular spice brand globally. In 2017, Sana Javeri Kadri founded the company with the goal to market organic spices produced by small Indian farmers. Sara started an Instagram Shop for Diaspora with only 300 followers. They then started showcasing cooking demos of customers using their spices. By tying up the business with UGC stories, Diaspora has now gained more than 86,000 followers.

WHY SHOPPABLE UGCS ARE THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL E-COMMERCE?

According to a digital marketing speaker Hong Kong brands have shifted the spotlight away from them and turned it towards their employees, fans, and loyal customers. Through a video marketing agency Hong Kong, they use this group of people to fuel their social media content and marketing activities. This is because of the following reasons:

Shoppable UGCs Are a Cost-Effective Way to Market

Many brands spend a hefty amount to advertise their products and services. They pay search engines under a PPC scheme. They pay social media platforms to show their ads on news feeds. They also pay creators to curate eye-catching content. Shoppable UGCs don’t need creators nor paid advertising services. A brand can simply ask permission from its customer to use his or her content. They can offer a freebie or a mention in exchange. Brands only need to put a product tag or shopping link before publishing it and voila, they now have a great ad or campaign on a social media page.

Shoppable UGCs Improve the Buying Experience on Social Media

A shoppable content experience allows social media users to buy products and services directly within the platform. It eliminates the traditional buying process that involves lengthy procedures and steps. What makes shoppable UGCs the best is that buyers can complete the payment in one or two clicks. It is online shopping made easy, engaging, fast, and seamless. With 91% of buyers preferring interactive visual content, shoppable UGCs have significantly decreased cart abandonment.

UGCs Are the Most Engaging Content on Social Media

People love UGCs because they are more authentic than branded content. They can better relate to the audiences’ emotions by being within the same shoes. Statistics show that UGC highly influenced the buying experience of 79% of shoppers. As the line between eCommerce and social media content narrowed down, Shoppable UGCs are becoming a trend. Most brands highlight their stories using product tags and shoppable stickers. A majority create featured catalogs to showcase their products and services.

UGCs Provide Social Proof for Customers to Trust a Brand

Consumers today are a lot smarter. They commonly look for social proof before trusting a brand. With shoppable UGCs, brands can show that they make people happy. UGCs also show that a specific product can solve a customer’s pain point or problem. In another instance, shoppable UGCs allow consumers to experience the product via augmented reality. As such 56% of consumers look for shoppable UGCs before making a decision to buy a product or service. Today, the most influential content is not a picture-perfect image or video. Instead, they are realistic clips and images from genuine customers.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Shoppable UGCs are indeed the future of social eCommerce. They tap into the human desire to deeply connect with a brand. They are authentic and relatable. They also provide a great return of investment (ROI) without much cost or advertising budget. With 55% of the world’s population using social media, this is the best time to use Shoppable UGCs as the main strategy in social media marketing.

Reference: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/why-shoppable-ugc-is-the-future-of-ecommerce-experiences/598994/

Top Social Media Marketing Trends for 2021

April 28, 2021 / Esther Day

The year 2020 has been a memorable year for people all over the world. The COVID-19 outbreak led to social distancing measures and lockdown protocols. A lot of changes have happened as people were forced to stay at home. One significant shift is the switch of physical stores into digital shops. Such a switch brought about changes in the marketing strategies among social media platforms. To guide brands and marketers, here are the top social media marketing trends for 2021.

Ephemeral Content

People nowadays work from home and are very busy. They spend a short time browsing on social media platforms daily. According to a digital marketing speaker Hong Kong, most people spend an average of 2 hours and 24 minutes on Facebook daily. YouTube receives an average daily time spend of 40 minutes. On the other hand, Instagrammers spend 28 minutes on the platform daily. The way people consume content also changes. Modern social media users have the shortest attention span. These are the reasons why ephemeral content is trending.

Ephemeral content is rich media content accessible for only a short period. They can be photos, live streams, product demos, stories, or videos, etc. They only stay in a social media post temporarily, typically disappearing after 24 hours. Ephemeral content takes advantage of the FOMO nature among consumers. Short but engaging creatives create a sense of urgency and fuel the fear of missing out among consumers. As such, they trigger conversion as a marketing strategy. A social media agency Hong Kong commonly engages its audience through Facebook Stories, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. They also host live broadcasts to drop teasers or launch a product. Infographics and memes have also been very popular among social media communities.

Live Streaming

A video marketing agency Hong Kong has noted the increase in the consumption of live streaming. Influencers, social media marketers, and vloggers use them to connect to their audiences in real-time. They authentically engage viewers. Around 82% of social media users preferred live videos over a blog or a social post. Live streaming also has the power to expand an event’s viewership. They can connect global fans and worldwide offices during an online broadcast. They are also effective in driving sales. Reports show the 73% of B2B marketers enjoyed a positive ROI result during live streams.

The top 5 live streaming social media platforms for 2021 are YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. The best ways to use live streaming among social media platforms to market a brand or product are:

Announcement of limited discounts, promotions, and sales
Casual Q&A about a brand or product
How-to guides for products and services
Influencer interview related to a brand or product
Product unboxing
Ratings, reviews, and testimonials
Sharing a day in a brand or behind-the-scene stories

Micro-influencers

Influencer marketing is a type of endorsement or product mention coming from famous celebrities, industry experts, popular TV personalities, sports champions, etc. Influencers are categorized based on the number of followers they have.

Nano-influencers have 1K to 10K followers.
Micro-influencers have 10K to 50K followers.
Mid-tier influencers have 50K to 500K followers.
Macro-influencers have 500K to 1M followers.

Modern consumers commonly look for social media reviews among micro-influencers. It’s because they are happy to share opinions about products and services. They also shine well in their respective niche. People no longer focus on the huge number of followers. What they look for is someone who experiences the same level of thinking among products and services. For most brands, micro-influencers are the most affordable ambassadors.

Private Channels

A private channel is an app or platform that can only be accessed by the members of the channel. Their biggest selling point is privacy. Most social media users today are exhausted from the noise coming from newsfeed notifications and public feeds. They long for more curated and personal engagement. When it comes to brand connection, most social media users prefer direct chats over public commenting on posts. This is why private messaging apps are also trending.

An invite-only audio-based app has recently made news in the US market. Launched in March 2020 was Clubhouse. After a year from its launch, the app is almost everywhere. Clubhouse celebrated its first anniversary with 12.5 million downloads. Audio rooms are hosted by a celebrity to boost engagement in the app. Some celebrities using Clubhouse are Oprah Winfrey, MC Hammer hip-hop artist Drake, actor Jared Leto, multi-entertainer Chris Rock, and rapper Lupe Fiasco. Even Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg use Clubhouse.

Snapchat is a private messaging app where any message, picture, or video sent disappears within a short time. Its goal is to create a more natural flow of conversation. As of April 2021, the messaging app rises to 280 million monthly active users. The biggest growth of Snapchat this year can be accounted to the company’s global investment in improved language support and localized content. The app has also rolled out new features that boost engagement such as AR, Bitmoji avatars, and the TikTok clone, Spotlight.

Reference: https://sleekflow.io/blog/social-media-trend/