Category: Video Marketing

Using Instant Experiences Ads on Facebook and Instagram

January 17, 2022 / Esther Day

Facebook and Instagram both house a range of ad and campaign types. One of these is instant experiences ads. A social media agency Hong Kong suggests using such an ad type if your ads are underperforming. This is because using instant experiences ads on Facebook and Instagram is a better way to engage your prospects.

According to a digital marketing speaker Hong Kong, instant experiences ads are an immersive alternative to Facebook and Instagram campaigns. They display on full screen and are mobile-optimized. As such, they make it easier for brands and businesses to engage their target audiences. Even a video marketing agency Hong Kong notes that instant experiences ads can load 10x faster than ordinary ads on Facebook and Instagram.

What is Instant Experience?

Instant Experience (IX) is a type of mobile ad that is available both on Facebook and Instagram. Via IX, people can do the following:

Complete a form
Explore lifestyle images with tagged products
Quickly view product catalogs
Swipe photos through Carousels
Watch engaging videos

They can be used in almost all types of Facebook and Instagram ad formats such as carousel, collection, single image, slideshow, and video.

Most instant experiences ads on Facebook and Instagram are relatively simple. Users can see an image, slogan, or video with a link. Once they click the link, they will be taken to a catalog, newsletter sign-up, or online shop. As it opens a full-screen piece of content, it makes the audience engage better.

Benefits of Instant Experiences Ads

There are lots of benefits that Instant Experiences Ads can offer on Facebook and Instagram. First, they help capture the audience’s attention. This fast-loading mobile-optimized ad allows first-time visitors to avoid the wait of slow-loading images and videos.

Second, they can help highlight your products and services through full-screen visual experiences. Connecting your catalog with elected templates can share more information with viewers who are interested in your brand.

Third, you can tell your brand story using creative elements, descriptive texts, and link buttons. When creating a custom Instant Experience, brands and businesses can choose between multiple templates that guide people with better experiences.

Using Instant Experiences Ads on Facebook and Instagram

To create a custom Instant Experience, go to the Ads Manager. Start with choosing any of the following campaign objectives:

App installs
Brand awareness
Catalog sales
Engagement
Reach
Store traffic
Traffic
Video views

Each campaign objective features an IX template.

Second, you will need to choose from a range of ad placement options.

Single image or video that can be placed on the Explore tab, group feed, main feed, Marketplace, newsfeed, and Stories.
Carousels that can be placed on Marketplace, newsfeed, search results, and Stories.
Collections that can be placed in the Explore tab, main feed, and newsfeed.

The recommended image width for an IX image is 1080 pixels. While the recommended image height is 1920 pixels. They should be in either.png or .jpg format. For videos, the maximum length is 2 minutes. The same goes for a slide of up to 20 images. The runtime for the slide should be at the most, within 2 minutes. The video should be at least 720p and must be in .mp4 or .mov format.

The third step is choosing a list of IX templates.

An AR Experience template offers camera effects and interactive elements from Spark AR. They are currently offered on video ads and not on static images.
Custom IX templates allow brands and businesses to customize their IX ads based on their preferences.
Customer acquisition templates focus on the discovery of new products among old and new customers. They are similar to a classic landing page.
Lookbook shows off products in context instead of displaying them in a grid.
Sell products templates allow brands and businesses to share catalogs on Facebook and Instagram.
Storefront IX templates link directly to your Facebook store catalog.
Storytelling IX templates allow you to create an informational mailer or newsletters.

Now, the rest of using instant experiences ads on Facebook and Instagram is up to you!

Reference: https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-use-instant-experiences-on-facebook-and-instagram/

Google’s Guide to UGCs

December 21, 2021 / Esther Day

Gone are the days of traditional marketing. People no longer enjoy TV ads. They seldom go out for window shopping and impulsive buying during a sale in physical shops. A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong highlights that the 2020 pandemic has significantly disrupted consumer behaviors. From brick-and-mortar stores, modern consumers prefer to search and purchase products and services online.

Most brands and businesses now build shops using their social media pages. According to a social media agency Hong Kong, these digital shops are directly connected to their eCommerce websites. Such a system is called social commerce. As they make the buying experience easier and faster, people are getting more interested in such schemes.

Even a video marketing agency Hong Kong notes that online SEO can greatly boost brand discovery and sales. That is why most brands and businesses seek to optimize their SEO ranking on Google. Being the world’s largest search engine, Google also uses user-generated content to promote brands, products, and services. Below is Google’s guide to UGCs.

WHAT ARE UGCs?

UGC stands for user-generated content. They are content uploaded by users on a social media platform like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. They are not curated because they are not meant as an advertisement. In an organic way, they can promote products and services. This is by boosting the discovery and reach of a brand. They also validate the good reputation of the business.

GOOGLE’S GUIDE TO UGCS

As a Google publisher, there are things that brands and businesses need to consider when running ads on the site.

First and foremost, running Google ads must follow Google’s Publisher Policies. It is to ensure that comments, forums, and social media posts strictly follow the Program Policies of Google. Any content violation is subject to Publisher Restrictions. To comply with the guidelines, brands and businesses should strictly monitor UGC and other content on Google. Alternatively, they can partner with a third-party website to do so.

Second, Google strongly recommends publishing a content policy on every social media page or website for a brand or business. Users should clearly be informed on what is allowed and prohibited. If possible, encourage users to report bad content. They should also set aside time to review their UGC pages consistently. A page moderator can perform such tasks.

Third, Google provided filtering tools to monitor UGC content. It includes a CAPTCHA to eliminate bots posting spam content. With an automated filtering system, you can detect harmful UGCs.

HOW TO IMPROVE SEO VIA UGCs

More than 1/3 of shoppers start with online searches. That is why it is very important for brands and businesses to improve SEO via UGCs.

When posting UGCs on social media pages, brands should see to it that the right caption, meta description, and title should contain relevant keywords. When we mean relevant, it should relate to the brand, product, or niche. It also means that these keywords are commonly what searchers type when looking for your product or service category and line.

Every social network attracts a specific group of audiences. So, brands and businesses should be smart enough to choose which social network they should post their UGCs on:

Facebook members are divided between 777% females and 66% males.
Millennials cover around 60% of Instagram users.
Twitter houses more male users than females.

It is also important to build social proof in Google using UGC. Brands and businesses can do this by activating user ratings and reviews on their Google listing.

Reference: https://blog.google/products/adsense/your-guide-user-generated-content/

YouTube Answers How Its Algorithms Work

November 5, 2021 / Esther Day

To give more insights into how its algorithm works, Rachel Alves, Product Manager of YouTube Discovery, answered some of the most commonly asked questions on YouTube. Here is how YouTube answers how its algorithms work.

Question No. 1 – Is it a good idea to share videos outside of YouTube?

A video marketing agency Hong Kong highlights that brands and businesses should absolutely share videos outside of YouTube. YouTube’s recommendation system focuses on how videos perform as they are offered up to viewers on YouTube and other suggested platforms. Sharing videos on suggested platforms outside of YouTube allows them to learn how videos are doing, do viewers choose to watch them, how much and how long of the video did the viewers watch, and if they are satisfied with it.

If the videos of brands and businesses are getting more traffic from external sources like social media, it is likely to increase the potential of such videos to be discovered by more viewers. Another benefit is that those videos are now in the viewers’ watch history. As such, there is a higher likelihood that the videos may be recommended in the future.

Question No. 2 – What is up with random videos being recommended from 10 to 12 years ago? Will it have a weird audience effect on the algorithm? Or a deliberate algorithm side quirk?

Whenever people are on YouTube, old videos are being recommended. These are videos uploaded weeks, months, or years ago. The reason behind this is that YouTube’s ranking system is designed to match viewers with the videos they are most likely to enjoy. It is regardless of when the videos are published.

If viewers continue to show interest in a given video, it will likely continue to be recommended even if they are uploaded 10 to 12 years ago. YouTube will recommend them until the viewers’ interest started to decline, or viewers started to choose to watch more of other videos being offered to them.

A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong states that there is great value in all videos for YouTube creators and channels. They can drive in new viewers who are discovering you for the first time. Viewers can binge through your catalog and other stuff that you have uploaded. They may also start a habit of watching your most recent uploads. YouTube ranking work as expected and intended. If an old video gets recommended, viewers are likely to continue to enjoy it.

Question No. 3 – Does YouTube need a new creator tab highlighting new creators to get more views?

YouTube also hears from viewers that they want to discover new artists, channels, creators, and interests. They want to branch out to what they regularly watch. That is why, recently, YouTube added “New to You.”

“New to You” shows recommendations of videos that the viewers have not yet seen before. The recommendations align with their personal interests and preferences. After a viewer refreshes the homepage feed, the viewer will discover more new content and creators outside of what he or she is currently watching. A social media agency Hong Kong also notes that YouTube is currently working on special projects to help small brands and businesses to find audiences.

Question No. 4 – Does it makes a difference to add separate action and location tags?

Most brands and businesses treat tagging on YouTube as less important. Tags can help influence the viewers’ focus on decisions that they think about. When viewers are choosing what to watch, the title and thumbnail of a video are what rank on SEO. Changing and swapping tags on a YouTube video is unlikely to impact a video performance.

Brands and businesses should instead start searching for relevant successful videos and see what is working on them. As an example, listicle formats on video titles seem to be doing well. YouTube suggests using Google Searches or Google Trends to generate tags that fill in the gaps among popular video content. If your video can fill a niche, that is the time video tags can work.

Question No. 5 – Did YouTube recently change its algorithm?

First off, YouTube changes the recommendation system and makes improvements hundreds of times every year. But what the platform optimizes for does not typically change. Every time YouTube makes an update, the platform usually gets better at predicting what viewers are most likely to watch and enjoy.

Second, viewers’ schedules typically change every September. It is because of the beginning of the school cycle. September is also the month when a lot of creators experience a steady decline with viewership, spiking on the weekends. New uploads also take up a little bit than usual during these periods. But take note that YouTube do no changes in algorithm during those times.

Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaYvtl6mZZ0

10 Web Design Predictions and Trends for 2022

September 17, 2021 / Esther Day

Brands and businesses commonly focus on content creation. They see to it that their web pages rank on searches by using backlinks and keywords. They commonly post visuals like photos and videos. Little do they know that web design is also important. It impacts how people see brands and businesses. These impressions can break or make your online presence.

A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong highlights that web design is an important factor in SEO. With Google’s updated algorithm, a poor wen design displays a low level of authority. As such, it also lowers the ranking of a web page during searches. Below, let us take a basic look at 10 web design predictions and trends for 2022.

WHAT IS WEB DESIGN?

A social media agency Hong Kong defines web design as the process of arranging, conceptualizing, and presenting online content. It goes beyond the aesthetics of a website. Today’s web design focuses more on functionality and user experience. It includes mobile apps, user interfaces, and web applications. The elements of a web design can be categorized into appearance and function. Integration of these elements should optimize the performance and usability of a website.

When it comes to appearance, color plays the most important role when designing a website. It should match the personality and tone of your brand. The second element is content. Text goes hand-in-hand with the visual elements of a website. The font should complement the graphics and images. To boost engagement, a web design should have quality images and powerful icons. Such visuals and written text should be in harmony with each other. According to a video marketing agency Hong Kong, videos are becoming increasingly popular as website content. They convey a lot of messages through moving images. A web designer only needs to be sure that they don’t compete with important highlights of a web page.

The functional elements of a web design are also vital. Navigation should be the main priority of a web designer. It means making it easier for an online user to jump from one web page to another. The user interface relates to how visitors interact using different devices. With more than half of people in the world using mobile devices, your web design should be mobile-optimized. No one will like a slow website. So, keep it as simple as possible to load fast.

10 WEB DESIGN PREDICTIONS AND TRENDS FOR 2022

Are you looking forward to modernizing your business website? Here are 10 web design predictions and trends for 2022.

Accessibility. Expect to see a trend towards enhancing accessibility. Web designs today allow voice and visual searches. QR codes are also rising as a unique way to find products and services. As predicted, web design in 2022 will continue to incorporate features that don’t rely on keyboard input.
Dark Mode. Most social media pages enabled dark mode on backgrounds to avoid the negative effects of blue light. As such, most web designers become obsessed with dark color schemes on websites. They offer an alternative yet vibrant layout that does not strain the user’s eye.
Design for the Thumb. Today mobile devices cover 53% of the Internet traffic. As such, web design today commonly focuses on thumb-scrolling features that have good views, even on a mobile device. An intuitive and simple layout is most likely a web design for the thumb.
Dynamic Content. The COVID-19 pandemic changes the way people search for products and services. Typically, they will search for businesses nearby or local stores. In 2022, one trend is creating a web design with dynamic content. It means that the website displays different information every time a searcher changes location.
Dynamic Scrolling. Modern consumers wanted to get the accurate and complete information as fast as they can. That is why dynamic scrolling is very important as a web design trend. With dynamic scrolling, brands and businesses can show a message or tell a story on a website pillar page. The pillar page contains a complete list of your website content for users to easily navigate.
Faster Page Load Time. Again, who would want a page that loads slowly? Website visitors will abandon a website that loads for more than 5 seconds. A web design trend calls for 2.4 seconds for a web page to load completely. It is the sweet spot that website visitors love.
Interactive Content. Designers will leverage interactive content as part of the web design when building a site. It is because most online audiences demand a mix of content. They also engage more when their opinions are heard. Polls, quizzes, AR try-ons are just some examples of interactive content.
Local SEO. In 2022, expect local SEO to dominate web searches. It is one of the success factors among brands and businesses today. As people search for products and services nearby, it increases website traffic to a certain website. Thus, a web design needs to include a map and the physical location of brands and businesses.
Voice Search Optimization. Alexa, Cortana, Siri, and other virtual assistants boost the use of voice searches. It is easier to find information by saying it instead of typing. In 2022, most web designs will be optimized for voice search. This means including conversation languages and long-tail keywords as an SEO tactic.
White Space. When it comes to appearance and design, minimalism and simplicity will prevail in 2022. Like blue light, vibrant layouts can strain the user’s eye. So, web designs need to highlight white space. It can lessen the online noise and unique appeal to online audiences.

Reference: https://blog.red-website-design.co.uk/2021/09/07/web-design-trends-2022/

The Three Key Types of Content Distribution Channels

September 6, 2021 / Esther Day

Content is king. We’ve heard this quote so many timed. Today, it still holds. Modern consumers need to be educated informed to lead them into the buying process. Yet, there is more to content being the king of digital marketing. A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong has noted that the means of content distribution is more important than the content itself.

5 million articles and blogs are written daily. These do not include posts from Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social media platforms. For brands and businesses, content live or die by their distribution and promotion choices. Thus, it is vital to understand the three key types of content distribution channels. This is to get your content in front of the right audience at the right time and in the right way.

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CONTENT?

There are many different types of content marketing. The long list includes:

Articles
Blogging
Checklists
Courses
Ebooks
Email
Free Apps
How-To
Infographics
Lead Magnets
Physical Leaflets
Podcasting
Product Demos
Quizzes/Tools
Slide Decks
Slide Shares
Social Media Posts
Video
Visual Content
Webinars
Whitepapers

and more. Their key focus is as free entertainment and information among target audiences to support a brand or business goal. They can build communities and relationships. They can drive traffic to landing pages and social media pages. They can spread brand awareness. Just like now, what you are reading is content marketing.

A video marketing agency Hong Kong highlights the importance of short-form video content today. This type of content has convinced 84% of viewers to buy a product or service after watching them. Even 93% of brands have acquired new customers after posting short-form videos on social media pages. With such a type of content dominating the market, brands and businesses should focus more on their creation.

WHAT IS CONTENT DISTRIBUTION?

According to a social media agency Hong Kong, content distribution is the process of promoting content to online audiences in multiple media channels. There are three key types of content distribution channels. These are earned content distribution, owned content distribution, and paid content distribution.

Earned Content Distribution means distributing content among third-party channels like guest articles, press coverages, product reviews, retweets, social media shares, etc.
Owned Content Distribution means distributing content to websites that belong to the brand or business. They can be a blog site, email newsletter, microsite, social media pages, websites, etc.
Paid Content Distribution means explicitly paying for content distribution. Under this key type of content distribution, the payment schemes can be under the Cost-Per-Click (CPC) or Cost-Per-Impression (CPM) model.

The Three Key Types of Content Distribution Channels

An effective content marketing strategy is knowing the three key types of content distribution channels by heart. Each channel plays a unique role. How brands and businesses should utilize each channel depends on the type of content marketing. To drive response to your campaign strategies, here is an overview of each distribution channel.

The first key type of content distribution channel is earned content distribution. They are the central content distribution channel among brands and businesses. It is where they have full control of what content to post, remove, or update. It is the best channel to build a community, communicate directly to your audiences, and nurture contacts and leads. Earned content distribution channels include brand mentions, forums, guest posts, industry communities, review websites, testimonials, and user-generated content (UGC). Under earned content distribution, the best KPIs should be brand awareness, conversion, lead generation, and user engagement. Earned content distribution can also be a perfect way to drive traffic to your owned content channels.

The second key type of content distribution channel is owned content distribution. Brands and businesses have a little bit of control over this channel type. It is the best channel to partner with influencers and KOLs. These channels include the blog site, business podcasts, emails and newsletters, social media pages and profiles, and websites of a brand or business. Under owned content distribution, the best KPIs should be brand awareness, conversion, lead generation, and user engagement.

The third key type of content distribution channel is paid content distribution. They may be the most challenging distribution channel. It is because brands and businesses need to carefully forecast their budget planning. But they are the best distribution channel for ads and campaigns. You can use them to kickstart a campaign and get measurable results within a day. These channels include display ads, paid influencer social media profiles and websites, pay-per-click (PPC), pay-per-impression (PPI), social media ads, and sponsored content. Under the paid content distribution, the best KPIs should be brand awareness, conversion, lead generation, and user engagement. To reap success in paid content distribution, the main focus should be its return on investment (ROI).

THE BOTTOM LINE

An effective content marketing strategy is knowing how to promote the right content to the right distribution channel.

Prioritize building and growing your audience group through “owned media channels.” Leverage other channels to drive traffic to your owned content pages.
Use “Paid media channels” to promote your most essential content. These may include landing pages content, lead generation offerings, etc.
Focus on creating mission-driven and shareable content to achieve success with earned media channels.

These tasks may be challenging for a brand or business to do by themselves. You can always consult a digital marketing agency to expand your content reach and lead you to greater marketing success.

Reference: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/key-types-of-content-distribution-channels-infographic/606106/

The Three Key Trends in Social Media According to Matt Navarra

August 5, 2021 / Esther Day

Have you ever heard of Matt Navarra? He’s a UK-based social media consultant and geek. Matt founded the Facebook Group, “The Social Media Geekout,” with more than 25,000 members. He is also the Social Media Director of TNW, a digital media agency that connects and inspires people all over the world. Matt became famous for being a social media leaker. Typically, he would tweet the latest features and tools that most social media giants are experimenting with. These include Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, and Twitter. He also keeps a watch on messaging apps like Messenger and WhatsApp. So, if you want to know the latest trends in social media, Matt is the person you should follow.

Matt works as a freelance social media consultant for BBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Pinterest, Sainsbury’s, the UK government, and the United Nations. These are well-known organizations with large social media followings. He also helps top brands in refining their social media marketing strategies. Recently, Social Media Today, an online community of digital marketers, gets the chance to interview Matt. During the interview, Matt was able to answer questions about the key social media trends today and where things can head now. Below is a transcript of the three key trends in social media according to Matt Navarra.

SOCIAL SHOPPING

Matt Navarra ranks social shopping as the top key trend in social media today. A social media agency Hong Kong agrees with Matt that it is the most important element to grow in digital marketing.

Facebook and Instagram have made a big step to social commerce, through digital Shops. It features branded content, product tags, live shopping, etc. A range of similar developments was also made by Pinterest, Snapchat, and TikTok. Pinterest introduced product catalogs and pins. Snapchat rolled out branded AR filters and lenses, equipped with an eCommerce link. While TikTok is currently testing TikTok Shops.

Social apps have largely conquered the scene of online shopping. Matt has noted that their new features and tools open up new marketing potentials among brands and businesses. They have also revolutionized the way people shop today. Gone are the days where people had to visit physical stores. A major percentage of consumers today have shifted to online shopping.

Matt noted that the only downside of social shopping is too much reliance on social media networks. Although they give a great return on investment (ROI), brands and businesses still need to explore other marketing channels. It is because social media is constantly changing. Their updated guidelines and policies may eventually affect marketing analytics. If a brand or business depends solely on these pieces of information, they will then get stuck in Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.

CREATOR ECONOMY

Another key social media trend, according to Matt, is the creator economy. Most people who earned fame in social media are now eyeing to monetize their content on different social media platforms. Facebook has launched the “Stars” feature to help fans support their favorite creators via tipping. Twitter has introduced Twitter Blue, its first-ever paid subscription. YouTube has also rolled up a new addition to its Supes Family – “Super Thanks.” It is also a tipping feature to earn badges and stickers.

To retain the best talent, different social media networks have initiated creator funding. It is a bonus program to entice creators in publishing engaging and unique content. Facebook allotted $1 billion creator funding that expands and evolves per season. Snapchat has also offered $1 million a day for Spotlight creators. YouTube has also dedicated a $1 million fund for Shorts creators. Shorts are 15-second video clips similar to TikTok. It is the latest short clips addition to the video-sharing platform.

The question with the creator economy is how many people are willing to pay just to follow their favorite creators. Plus, how much are they willing to spend to support them? A digital marketing speaker Hong Kong answers the question that the key to success lies in choosing the right social media platform that will offer a sustainable revenue option. Within the next 12 months, it is a matter of race between the social media giants.

AUGMENTED REALITY

Matt included augmented reality (AR) as another key trend in social media today. AR is a precursor of virtual reality (VR). A video marketing agency Hong Kong highlights the main difference between the two as AR using real-world settings while VR uses computer-simulated dimensions.

Matt has noted that we’ve only just started the AR revolution in social media marketing. Facebook is currently developing AR glasses and hats. Pinterest spearheaded AR try-ons on makeups. Snapchat recently applied for the patent of bitmoji fashion. It is an AR try-on for clothes and fashion. Even Google Maps have also integrated advanced AR tools to give a different online shopping experience.

Matt sees more social media platforms focusing on the AR trend. The limitation may be technical expertise and technology. But social media teams will continuously innovate to give a better shopping experience and connect brands and businesses with people all over the world.

Reference: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/smt-expert-series-matt-navarra-discusses-the-latest-trends-and-where-thin/604256/

Tips to Increase Facebook Organic Reach

July 8, 2021 / Esther Day

Facebook engagement rates are rising. But the platform’s organic reach is going down – not just down because it is showing a rapid decline. There are two main reasons why organic reach is declining on Facebook. First, the platform published more content today than ever. Every minute, there are 293,000 statuses and 510,000 comments posted on Facebook. As such, people’s attention is divided into a lot of content decreasing reach among Facebook posts. Second, Facebook has personalized news feeds. Content is tailored based on the user’s interests and preferences for a better experience. Thus, only content that matches them reaches selected users. This decreases the organic reach of irrelevant content. According to a digital marketing speaker Hong Kong, while the obvious answer to boost Facebook reach is paid ads, there are a number of ways you can do to boost organic reach. How? Here are some tips.

WHAT IS FACEBOOK ORGANIC REACH?

A social media agency Hong Kong defines reach as how many people saw an online post. It is also called a “unique impression” because impressions are counted as multiple views per user. Reach only counts the number of users. There are 2 types of reach on Facebook. Organic reach is the number of users who saw content without paid distribution. Your Facebook friends and followers plus their Facebook friends and followers might have seen your posts. Paid reach, on the other hand, are users who saw your content because of paid promotions. Through ad targeting options, it reaches people with the same activities, demographics, interests, and preferences. Facebook organic reach is very important to boost brand awareness and drive traffic to business websites. Without a cost, they can help find leads and direct them into the sales funnel of brands and businesses. This is very important because, without leads, you may not have the chance to convert.

TIPS TO INCREASE FACEBOOK ORGANIC REACH

Here are some helpful tips to increase Facebook’s organic reach.

Be Authentic When Going Live

A video marketing agency Hong Kong notes that Facebook Live is a superior vehicle to reach more customers. What’s better is they also get the best engagements. Live videos allow you to connect to your audiences in real-time. It is your opportunity to answer their questions right then and there. Once you go on a live broadcast, your followers and friends will be able to view it. Their followers and friends can also join as they share your live video on Facebook. Facebook’s algorithm will also suggest live videos to other people with similar interests. That is why it’s getting plenty of engagements and views. Besides, people are more likely to spend a longer time watching Facebook live than recorded videos. Last year, there were 2 billion viewers of Facebook live. Their search popularity increased by 330% and they produce 6x more interactions than traditional videos.

Find the Best Times to Post

Reaching the right audience at the right time also matters to boost Facebook’s organic reach. You may not want to post at 4:00 AM when everybody is sleeping soundly. Sharing an article in the middle of the night may get it lost on Facebook’s news feeds. Studies showed that the best time to post on Facebook is between 11:00 AM and 4:00 PM from Tuesday to Sunday. Monday seems to be a busy day for most people as it is the start of the workweek. As such, their attention and time are covered by work and other stuff rather than browsing on social media. Posting the right content at the right time can definitely increase your Facebook organic reach.

Mix Up Your Post Formats

To extend your organic reach, it may work to test out Facebook’s variety of post formats. Your target audiences may no longer find blogs and images interesting. They need to see a new content format that excites them. You can use GIFs, infographics, memes, quotes, and Stories to refresh the content of your Facebook pages. Your audience will also love a link post that highlights something they love. Recently, rolled-out formats like 360 videos and creative AR effects can get you on top of news feeds. By tracking the average reach of each format, you’ll also know which type works best.

Try a User-Generated (UGC) Campaign

Word of mouth is the best form of advertising. At Facebook, it is one best way to increase organic reach. Turn your happy customers’ posts into an invitation for others to see how wonderful your brand is. People are more interested in seeing reviews and testimonials from family, friends, and influencers. To get them more excited, try the following UGC campaigns:

Invite customers to review a product and share the best ones highlighting the product’s values.
Launch UGC contests featuring photos and videos of your brand.
Request customers to participate in a brand hashtag campaign.

Reference: https://www.falcon.io/insights-hub/topics/social-media-strategy/increase-organic-facebook-reach-tips/

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.