AI may be all the buzz right now, but it’s nothing new. 

For instance, have you ever communicated with a chatbot? Taken advantage of your email suggesting the first sentence or subject line? Used editing software to help improve your writing skills? If the answer is yes to any of these questions, you have experienced the power of AI – whether you realized it or not.

The truth is, AI comes in many forms and has been changing the way businesses work for a while now – especially when it comes to driving meaningful results for your marketing. 

ChatGPT Is Leading The Technical Revolution

Taking the business world by storm one prompt at a time, ChatGPT is changing the inner operations of businesses across the globe with digital marketing at the forefront.

Integrate marketing campaigns that bring results. Reach out to Exults today for a custom quote.

The Evolution Of ChatGPT 

Whether or not you believe it’s been a game changer, ChatGPT has certainly made a name for itself. After previous versions meant for applications such as video games, OpenAI released a new version built on top of the former with a language model chatbot included. 

The results have been met with awe. The first takeaway is the AI’s ability to perform infinite demands with a prompt command. With a little further utilization, users have been continuously wowed by the AI’s ability to follow along and adjust its outputs based on conversation history. 

While it does not currently perform the conversational functions that chatbot-specific AIs have excelled in, it doesn’t mean that won’t be happening soon. However, conversational functions or not, ChatGPT is making strides in the marketing industry – especially in social media marketing and search engine optimization (SEO).

Curious about how ChatGPT can optimize your business? Contact Exults for a custom quote today!

Why So Many Companies Are Using ChatGPT In Their Marketing

Technical advances are constantly changing the digital marketing landscape. From automation and optimizations to augmented realities and a reduction of human labor hours, the technical revolution can’t be ignored. 

With so many advances, why is ChatGPT creating a bigger buzz than the rest? Simply, it’s streamlining the existing functions in a way that’s never been seen before.

The amount of work ChatGPT can help with would have been unfathomable only a few years ago. These days, AI users can explore the intricacies of ChatGPT without sign-up fees or restrictions. Meaning, digital marketers have seen the results and it comes down to the detailed input. Overall, the more detailed the prompt, the more detailed the response. 

Market Research Analysis

Need to see how your brand is stacking up against the competition? What used to be a job role in its own right can now be completed with a well-thought-out ChatGPT input. 

To perform your own market research analysis, ask ChatGPT to create an assessment of the similarities and differences between competitors and your own business. Include parameters such as branding, messaging, pricing, and marketing positioning. Furthermore, ask ChatGPT to provide a detailed report that includes charts, graphs, and tables. And ask, “What actionable steps can my brand take to improve and be better than the competition?” 

From the results, you will not only have a clear understanding of your brand’s current standing, but you’ll also have visual representations to present to your business partners and investors. 

Content Creation

How do you stay relevant in today’s world? Many businesses are finding success through social media. But the caveat is you have to consistently create and post across your social media platforms. 

Finding the time to do this has held many businesses back…until now.

With ChatGPT, you can fill in the social media section of your editorial calendar with specific prompts. To do this, tell ChatGPT to create social media captions for the platforms you use. Then include in your input to focus on unique, eye-catching, on-brand, witty, and aesthetically pleasing copy. 

Take it further by telling ChatGPT that the goal is to capture the attention of your current audience and any potential new followers with hashtags for the most visibility. Add that you want it to continue this process and create a content calendar with the same parameters for 3 posts a week for a month – or however many posts per week you need. Finally, tell ChatGPT that all posts should utilize varying verticals for this content creation.  

The ChatGPT response will lay out a social media content calendar that would take a person hours to complete. 

Email Responses

How do you focus on tasks when the emails just keep rolling in? 

It can be time-consuming and distracting to shift gears to respond to emails. But now with ChatGPT, you can have AI draft these responses for you.

Write a prompt demand telling ChatGPT to respond to the following email. Include any parameters necessary. This may include the tone, whether you want to agree or disagree with any questions, and so on. Then, copy and paste the sender’s email under your prompt. 

Capabilities like these allow ChatGPT to work in the background while you work in the foreground. Like having a personal assistant without the added expense, ChatGPT is giving businesses more multitasking power than ever before. 

What To Expect From ChatGPT Moving Forward

Nothing breeds innovation like competition. With that in mind, we expect OpenAI to continue releasing improved versions of ChatGPT. 

It will not be a surprise to see new functions that were once primarily known to be specific to other AI platforms. For example, ChatGPT may hone in on focused conversational abilities to offer more abilities to OpenAI users. 

Overall, expect ChatGPT (and other AI platforms) to introduce new versions that pull from each other’s capabilities. 

A few of the specific AI benefits that we can expect to further improve include:

• Expedited content creation
• Reduced human labor hours
• Improved automation and optimization

When used in digital marketing, professionals are already able to exceed what was once the standard. When treated as the tools they are, it’s an exciting time to see how AI continues to positively impact the businesses that utilize the platforms to optimize their marketing. 

Exults’ Take On The AI Platforms

As a digital marketing agency that truly drives results, the Exults team doesn’t back away from innovative tools that improve our processes and increase productivity. 

For over 5 years, we have utilized AI in various ways to help our clients reach their goals. With that being said, when there are tools available to you, such as ChatGPT, use them!

By optimizing our process with automation and more, we are able to support our client’s growth goals. Because when it comes to improving your business through digital marketing – you need a team willing to go the distance and use the best tools available.

Ready to boost your efficiency with a team that can support your growth goals? Contact Exults for a custom quote today!

The post ChatGPT: How AI Can Drive Meaningful Results For Your Marketing appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

Although this information has been neither confirmed nor denied, this is a possibility that companies must prepare for by making adjustments to their current SEO strategies.

The following information will explore the significance between SEO and social media, our current digital environment, and what this potential deal would mean for all organizations.

Benefits of Social Media Accounts

Organizations utilize social media outlets because they provide a means of reaching and engaging with a vast range of audiences, increasing public relations, and promoting their brand. There are several ways that these outlets can be used to improve business operations, including:

• Sharing Community Engagements
• Posting Articles, Blogs, Press Releases
• Networking with Other Professionals
• Sharing Promotions and/or Coupons
• Increasing Google Search Rankings

These methods have the potential to increase the visibility and reputation of your organization. The majority of traffic that websites receive from social media is due to networking and sharing with other users.

What Are TikTok and Instagram?

Many businesses already use social media outlets Facebook and Twitter. These outlets allow businesses to share their photos, videos, articles, and more with audiences all over the world. Both Facebook and Twitter are indexed by Google.

Instagram and TikTok are newer applications. Many businesses have yet to take advantage of these social media outlets because of their lack of Google indexing, the short lifespan of posts, limited capabilities, and younger audience demographic.

Instagram

Instagram is a social media application that was not integrated for Windows 10 until October of 2016. Developed by Facebook, Inc., Instagram appeals to a lighthearted audience of mostly female young adults. This is because Instagram is driven by a community of users who share photos, rather than written content, making it easier to avoid politics, news, and quarrels.

TikTok

TikTok is a social media site that has become fairly popular in recent years among younger audiences. The application launched in 2016 and has over a billion users all over the world. Users post short videos, sharing routines, recipes, performing, advertising and more.

Social Media’s Effect on Google Search Rankings

For several years, companies have utilized social media to increase their relevance on Google search engines.

Twitter

Currently, Twitter is the most indexed social media website on google. This is due to a deal made in 2015 when Google agreed to post individual tweets in their results feed in exchange for compensation.

Facebook

Googlebot also crawls Facebook pages in search of content that is potentially indexed in their database. Although not as deeply connected as Twitter, there are vast opportunities on Facebook to network with big spenders.

TikTok and Instagram

It is likely that a potential deal with TikTok and Instagram would result in the search engine listing TikTok videos and Instagram photos in their search result feed.

This May Benefit All Businesses

This possibility would potentially create a new environment for Google Search where potential consumers can discover both written and video content. This would provide all businesses and audiences the opportunity to explore the same search platform.

Expanding Google’s index to include TikTok and Instagram content could be beneficial for organizations in numerous sectors. This could lead to an increase in search volume on the platform, increasing visibility for all brands. For example, this could entice younger audiences to interact with new brands.

How To Get Your Social Media Account Indexed by Google

Google scans the web regularly for new websites to determine which are reputable and relevant sources of content. It can be difficult for many businesses to increase and maintain their web presence online. There are things that can be done to increase this likelihood, including:

• Update Content Regularly
• Reindex Your Page on Google Search Console
• Network
• Like, Share, Comment

The most important aspect of acquiring and maintaining relevance in search engines is through regular page maintenance and engagement. Many businesses choose to hire professional SEO services and/or social media management agencies.

Social Media Management

There is a significant link between an organization’s social media presence and SEO. Google evaluates your brand’s worthiness based on how relevant your company is in terms of the number of likes, shares, retweets, and comments. It is important to choose your outlets based on the unique demographic of audiences.

There may be more than one account that would be beneficial to your business. Some companies choose to hire an in-house digital marketing account manager. This is an effective strategy but often more expensive than hiring an outside agency. There are digital marketing agencies that offer their clients a full range of internet marketing campaign services.

Exults Provides Social Media Management Services

Exults is a full-service digital marketing agency that specializes in developing effective social media campaigns for organizations across numerous industries. Exults is proud to assist in the creation, management, and public relations aspects required to operate a successful social media campaign.

Exults also provides additional services to help brands reach their unique goals, including:

• Search Engine Optimization
• Website Design
• WooCommerce Development
• Digital Branding
• Social Media Marketing
• Metaverse Development

Their team of experienced marketing professionals are happy to create custom plans that cater to the needs and budgets of their clients.

Contact Exults Today

Reach out to Exults today to learn more about what social media development, campaign management, and search engine optimization could do for your organization. A full list of services can be found on their website.

The post Social Media Giants TikTok and Instagram May Require SEO Adjustments – A Deal With Google appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

When we look at something grand from the outside perspective, we often miss out on the beauty of all the hard work that went into creating it. Disney+ is just the type of service that would have seemed like a foreign concept merely a generation ago, and given all the effort that went into the platform’s creation, Exults decided to take a detailed look at how Disney+ was built. 

For those of us who grew up taking weekly trips to Blockbuster or Family Video to rent our favorite animated classics, we never imagined that one day we would have the entire library of these videos available for instant use at any time of the day.

To many, it appeared that Disney+ launched easily, especially due to much of its content having been around for decades. However, this was not necessarily the case. As the streaming wars set to ramp up even further in 2021, Exults will take a closer look at how Disney+ was built, and where it can go from here.

From Animation Studio to Industry Giant

At the heart of executives’ decision to create Disney+ was the age-old outsourcing debate. Essentially, they had to decide whether loaning their content to other streaming platforms for customers would be more lucrative than producing an in-house platform.

While it is unknown exactly how much streaming companies were paying for Disney movies, it is certain that those revenue streams were a large sacrifice for the animation studio. Rather than betting on the sure route and continuing to host its content on other platforms, Disney decided to bet on itself.

Disney executives determined that the ability to sell subscriptions on its very own platform was the best long-term option for monetizing its present and future content. Dramatic changes to the television cable market in the past two decades only reinforced this strategy. 

By acquiring 21st Century Fox and purchasing a 1/3 share in video technology company BamTech that cost upwards of $70B, Disney etched out a path that would not be so easy to turn back on. 

Barriers to Success

Before Disney+ initially launched in November 2019, it was certain that the company would have massive barriers to success. These are surely items that executives would have been aware of prior to the platform’s launch, but many of them may not have been immediate considerations of its customers.

Differentiating in a Saturated Market

Disney would have to figure out how to build a streaming platform with little to no technology infrastructure in place. It would also launch in an increasingly saturated market for streaming platforms, and thus have an immediate need to differentiate its services to stand out and gain subscriptions. Another challenge would come in the form of advertising to consumers already subscribed to one or multiple more streaming competitors.

Disney expanded its content selection beyond Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOM), or its original television shows. By housing both National Geographic and Pixar content, the company was able to appeal to both children and adults. The company took this even further by offering a Hulu/ESPN+ bundle in tandem with a Disney+ subscription at launch, which massively expanded the library of content available to new users of the service, particularly adults.

Maintaining an attractive variety of content beyond offerings for kids was and remains important to Disney+’s success, given their parents are most often the ones paying for the subscription.  

International Antitrust Regulations

One of the other more complicated barriers to success was Disney’s new size following its 21st Century Fox acquisition. After this historic deal was made, international antitrust organizations stepped in to make sure that the market could continue to remain competitive.

Of particular interest were the Fox Sports Networks which were ultimately sold in Spring 2019 for more than $10B. This was a stipulation of Disney’s initial purchase of Fox, mandated by the US Department of Justice. Disney also liquidated Fox Sports Latin America after Brazilian and Mexican regulators deemed that it would give Disney too large a share of the sports network broadcasting in Latin America.

Despite having to navigate its way through uncharted territory and relinquish assets, Disney still found a foothold during a global pandemic and ultimately solidified its presence in the ever-growing streaming market.

Thriving in a Pandemic, and Into the Future

Before its launch in November 2019, Disney projected that it was aiming for at least 60M subscribers by 2024. By creatively partnering with companies like Verizon, which offered a free one-year Disney+ subscription to its customers, the platform came out of the gate swinging. 

Additionally, by providing ad-free content and coming in at a lower price point than competitors like Netflix, Disney quickly surpassed initial subscription projects. Just one year after its launch, the platform had more than 85M subscribers worldwide, with a key significant customer base in India.

As COVID-19 continues to increase widespread demand for streaming options, it is unlikely that consumers will revert to old entertainment platforms in the future. If Disney+ capitalizes on some of its creative strategies like producing high-quality performance content for celebrities like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift, it just might reach its goal of more than 200M subscribers in 2024.

The post How Disney+ Was Built: Becoming a Disruptor in the Streaming Market appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

Memes have taken over the internet, but their awesome power isn’t exclusive to just getting a good laugh. Many entrepreneurs have found success by using memes to reach their audience and leave a lasting impression. Here’s how to use and not use memes for online marketing.

Go With What Fits Your Brand, Not Always Just With What’s Trending

Using or adapting the newest meme so that it’s relevant to your business might seem like a good idea, but this must be done with care. If done right, it is extremely powerful, but if it’s irrelevant to your brand then you may just be posting a meme about a donut when you are trying to sell skin products… You want to avoid coming across as insincere and just trying to ride the coattails of the trendiest images on the internet. On the contrary, if the meme can be used or applied in a way that relates to your brand or puts a funny spin on something, then using a trending meme can actually bring more visibility to your page if you hashtag it.

For example, the trending ‘Tide Pod’ memes where people were posting photos and videos of them eating Tide Pods (It’s unbeknownst to us WHY, but it happened so we are just going with it…). A dessert company or restaurant trying to highlight their dessert menu, may jump on the bandwagon and say “Why eat tidepods when you can eat the ‘XYZ’ cheesecake from ‘Yada Yada Bakery’?”

This puts your product (mouthwatering cheesecake) in the front of the consumers mind while ‘making a funny’ and showing your customers your brand has personality and is personable! It’s becoming more and more prevalent that consumers are more willing to spend money with a brand they can relate to – USE SOCIAL MEDIA TO YOUR ADVANTAGE!

Memes Are Dessert, Not the Main Course

A meme is no substitute for quality, original content. They should only be used to enhance your content or clarify a point you’re trying to make. They’re a great way to get attention, but make sure you’re providing substance beyond a quick laugh. Otherwise, your content will just get ignored along with the thousands of other people using memes every day.

Know That Memes Appeal to an Internet Subculture

Will your current audience like memes? Or will using them make readers feel isolated or that you’re just trying to be trendy? If you want to use memes, decide whether it’s to appeal to current users or attract a new audience. Also think carefully about how this will affect current or new users or take your brand in a different direction.

Used with care, memes are a powerful tool to keep in your marketing arsenal. If you want to tap into their potential while maintaining authenticity and staying true to your brand, reach out to digital marketing professionals. Specialists can go over your business goals with you and help you decide whether memes are an untapped marketing resource for your enterprise.

Memes and Big Businesses: Do They Mix?

When corporations try to piggyback off of viral social media movements, the outcomes are usually unoriginal and/or overly promotional. The latter is the worst offense because it showcases a brand’s lack of understanding about social media.

For the most part, users don’t log onto social media to see brand posts. They log on to see what their friends are up to, and if they happen to see a brand’s post, it better be damn interesting. There’s a reason why social media marketing is nicknamed “interruption marketing”– you are interrupting a person’s news feed to talk about your product.

Rule of thumb: Keep your organic posts light, fun, and interesting. Make your key promotional posts into social media ads. 

I mention all this because, social media is an art form. It takes a clever and creative person / team (hint, hint, nudge, nudge) to make brand posts interesting — to make them SO interesting that a consumer will willingly share your company’s post on their own profile (your mom, friends, and employees don’t count).

All this leads me to the inspiration for this post…

Memes

These occasionally funny images with sans serif text overlays have been around for a while, and brands have tried to incorporate them into their social media strategy since the beginning. Most brands either overuse memes, share other people’s memes, can’t come up with anything funny, or all of the above.

Here’s an example a brand failing with a meme. Student loan company got killed on Twitter after tweeting (and eventually deleting) this tweet.

Looks like @FAFSA deleted its tweet. Screenshot: pic.twitter.com/ucFOTbLAvq

— Jacob Fischler (@ItsFischy) June 25, 2014

When used sparingly and intelligently, memes can be a good way to connect with their audience. Typically, if the meme is a winner, you’ll get increased engagement and viral reach.

Zoom-in memes

The latest meme craze is the zoom-in memes. These memes are like pinch-and-zoom scavenger hunts. You get directed to zoom in on a certain part of the image (ex: bottom right corner), only to get re-directed to another part of the photo (ex: upper right corner), only to be re-directed to another part of the image, and then redirected to another part of the image (ex: the subject’s ear) that contains a final message.

Here’s an example of a good zoom-in meme by Denny’s (works best if you’re on mobile)…

zoom in on the syrup pic.twitter.com/omRBupjrXq

— Denny’s (@DennysDiner) March 1, 2017

This simple tweet with this zoom-in meme became a viral hit. Why? They opted to come up with an entertaining message rather than a “Come eat at Dennys”-type message.

Our attempt at a zoom-in meme

I’ve now spent 300+ words bashing brands for coming up with unoriginal memes. The pressure is on. Here’s what I came up with:

ZOOM IN ON TOP LEFT

Kop (the office dog) approves this message

Need social media marketing help?

If you’re looking to boost your business’ social media presence and/or brand awareness, you should probably have a conversation with one of our experts. Reach out at (866) 999-4736 or head to our contact page.

The post How To (And How Not To) Use Memes For Online Marketing appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

What type of targeting can we utilize with Google Display Network (GDN)?

There are virtually millions of targeting options to find qualified customers or leads on the Google Display Network. We are able to target people based on demographics, interests, previous searches, geolocation and more.

With these incredible targeting tools that Google provides, we can develop a more efficient online marketing campaign that delivers solid ad revenue growth for clients of all industries because we are showing ads to people who fit the ideal “persona” of a qualified lead. Cool right?!

However, new generations are seeking out and responding to information more uniquely than ever which has forced Google to innovate. As of February 2019, Google Ads released three brand new features added for responsive display ads. These features are powerful and we don’t want you to miss out on the immense potential to increase your ROI with Google Ads.

Three new Features for Responsive Display Ads:

If you want to get the most value out of your Google Ads campaign, then you’ve got to learn about the newest features opening up a world of revelation in online advertising. These features allow you to drive improved performance, unlock creative insights, develop video responsive display ads, and increase your overall ROI by using Google Ads’ features to your advantage. Check out the three new features below:

In addition, the ability to optimize these ads by finding the best combination of text, images, and videos is crucial to successfully implementing the campaign. So, in efforts to help you increase your ROI with Google Ads, Google did just that with the following three new features:

Video Assets for Responsive Display Ads:

The inspiration for this came from a sobering statistic stating that over 60% of shoppers say online videos have given them ideas or inspiration for their purchase. In the new feature announcement, Google said, “If a picture is worth a thousand words, then imagine what could be done when you craft a 30-second video for your ads?”

Responsive display ads were originally built to help advertisers adapt to the increasingly diverse mix of content types and screen sizes (think all iPhone/droid screen sizes, iPads, laptops, wide screen TV screens, and more). Now, you can adapt video!

This is the very beginning of an incredibly efficient system because all you need to do is upload your content (select up to five videos from your YouTube page) and Google will automatically generate ads to be shown on the Google Display Network.  The overall benefits of responsive display advertisements are one of the main secrets to increasing your ROI with Google Ads (image and video). Some of these benefits include:

• Broader reach– Google automatically optimizes your content on an ad to format and fit just about any available ad space. Thus, no matter what device your viewer is on they will see the combination of ad most optimized for that situation.
• Save valuable time– Responsive display ads help you to adapt to the increasingly diverse mix of content types and screen sizes, thus marketing teams can scale ad creation, testing, and optimization.
• Dynamic marketing– Responsive display ads show tailored content to customers from a feed you control and add to your campaign. The cool thing about this is that if you add a feed to your campaign, your ads will show in both dynamic and static formats!
• Customizable – Take more control over the aesthetics of your Display campaigns by building and uploading your own image ads. Uploaded image ads are created outside of Google Ads and can be uploaded as a .zip file into Google Ads.

Combination reports:

Getting the most return on your investment in Google ads takes more than just having an optimized ad campaign. Google takes it a step further and allows businesses to see not only what’s working in their campaigns, but also why it’s working. This feature brings new insights as to which combination of content works best for certain ads. This report will populate separate sections for combinations based on your images, text, dynamic feeds, and videos. The benefit behind this tool is that not only do you know which creative combinations resonate with potential customers, but now you can try testing the top performers across different campaign types to see what works best!

Ad Strength Scorecard:

The ability to create relevant display ads which attract a target audience is a top priority for every advertiser. Thus, Google has ensured our responsive ads are set up for success, before they are published live. This is done through a unique algorithm that highlights the most efficient number of headlines, text, and images to use in your ads. The next steps are then provided to ensure a fully optimized and compelling ad.

Increasing site traffic with Google Ads: 

From a marketing Agencies perspective, Google Ads is one of the best ways to increase your return on your investment (ROI). Why? Well, there are three simple reasons:

• You can reach qualified leads with robust targeting capabilities
• You can put your brand in front of 90% of all internet traffic
• You can utilize machine learning campaign strategies or A/B testing for campaign optimization

The key to increasing your ROI with Google Ads lies in Google’s testing and analytics. It may seem hard to “go wrong” when you have such a powerful algorithm generating your ads and displaying them in the most efficient manner, but campaigns need a human touch. With the newly added features being introduced, content is better optimized and businesses are provided with even more insight which allows for smarter advertising. As a result, you can expect a huge return on your investment using Google Ads as incredible features such as these continue to be invented. Looking for someone to manage your Google Ads campaigns? Request a quote from our sponsored search experts at Exults today!

The post What Are Some of the Latest Features on Google Responsive Display Ads? appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

With the average small business now spending more than $75,000 a year on digital marketing, spending is only going to go up.

If you’re not constantly updating your digital marketing strategy, you’re going to fall behind. You need to have a strategy that takes into account what your customers want, or you’re going to fall flat on your face.

Here are three things to keep in mind when updating your strategy for 2019.

Stay Social

One of the best tools you have access to as a business owner is all the free advertising you can get on social media. With the help of social media, you can test out ideas with your digital marketing strategy in real time and see real results. Rather than having to guess whether you’ll be able to connect with your audience, make it happen on social media.

With social media, you get the opportunity to make powerful and directly targeted campaigns that work to connect with audiences of all types. Want to make something targeted to working-class women in Toronto? You can do it with social media.

Looking to try out a new flavor of your product in Ohio? Social media helps you figure out what kind of response you’ll get.

Start a Blog

When people use search engines, they’re either looking for a specific product or the answer to a question. When you start a blog, you get the chance to capture both audiences with your writing, offering answers to questions with your products and services as the solution.

When you start a blog, you also get the chance to increase your ranking on search engines. Search engines reward websites with lots of regular updates with higher results than other sites. They look for keyword intent and the context that you use terms in.

They’ll also be looking to match searchers with local results, so mention where you’re located as often as is relevant.

Don’t Give Up On Email

While it might seem slightly outdated, email is still a viable way to connect with your audience and run a promotion. When you maintain email as part of your digital marketing strategy, you connect with the people who’ve opted into what you have to offer.

When you connect with your customers via email, it feels more personal than social media.  Since it means you’ll reach them directly, you need to handle this contact information with care and target customers only with what they care about.

Your Digital Marketing Strategy Is a Moving Target

The metrics for success when it comes to digital marketing are constantly changing. If you’re not ready with a flexible and agile digital marketing strategy, you’re going to fall behind in the dust your competitors create. Use the three methods above but be ready to shift your content at a moment’s notice.

Check out our latest guide to ensure you’re also using best practices with paid advertising.

The post Ring in the New Year: What Your New Digital Marketing Strategy Needs to Look Like in 2023 appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

Curious about the newest PPC trends?

Google reported $33.74 billion in the third quarter of 2018 in ad revenue. Facebook reported $13.54 billion in that same quarter for ad revenue. This is significant for two reasons.

First, other PPC platforms, such as LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Bing are galaxies away from contending with these digital ad giants. Second, the sheer number of marketers you must contend with for PPC space is colossal. To get ahead of the competition, you must master the process. And use the most up-to-date information.

And that’s why we’re here today. In the sections below, we outline the biggest PPC trends for 2019, so you can be on the top of your game. Read on when you’re ready to discover the newest advances and blow away your competition.

PPC Trends: #1 Decline of Keyword Importance

The days of keyword stuffing are long gone. The keywords themselves also seem to be losing their value for PPC campaigns. What do we mean? Let’s take a look.

If you’re a marketer, you’ve already seen the expansion added to Google’s Remarketing Lists. We’re talking Customer Match lists, Search Ads, and Similar Audiences for Search. Well, now marketers must power to target their audience by both demographic AND life events.

That reduces the significance of keywords.

Google promises to soon offer the ability to target users based on their other behaviors:

• Frequency visiting real-world stores or restaurants
• Frequency researching and comparing products or services

With this, marketers can target prospects based solely on behavior. It may completely revolutionize your lead generation strategy.

#2 Voice Search

Finally, voice-supported technology reigns. Both pc and mobile devices offer a range of compatible voice recognition software. Think Siri and Alexa. Other stripped-down devices, such as Amazon’s Echo, Google Home, and Apple HomePod, offer voice-only web searches.

Voice support is becoming ubiquitous.

By 2020, over 50% of all web searches will be voice searches. That’ll make a difference to your PPC strategy. People use different language and phrasing when performing voice searches.

In other words, you’ll need to figure out how to add natural language into your website copy. After you update your web copy, consider adjusting your AdWords account:

• Match your keywords to voice searches.
• Use longtail, 5- or 6-word phrases
• Use phrases that incorporate “near me”

Try to focus on the prospects intent when searching. For instance, traditionally, users may have performed a search using the query, “Trendy Bars San Francisco.” With a voice search, the same user may say, “I need a trendy bar that serves marguerites near me.”

#3 Visual Search

Now, this is futuristic technology coming to life. Services like Pinterest Lens and Google Lens can now search the web for items you snap pictures of. You just take your phone, snap a picture of whatever you’re looking at, and Lens performs a search.

This will affect search dynamics, and therefore PPC. Unfortunately, nobody’s sure quite how. Keep your eyes peeled for this new technology and how it’s impacting marketing.

#4 Video

Did you know that YouTube has become the second most used search engine? Yeah, so if you’re thinking of branching out, the video ad market is the place to be in 2019. Things like Google’s recent vertical video ads are taking advantage of mobile content over performance.

We recommend you investigate this option before 2019, so you can hit the ground running in the new year.

#5 Amazon Rising

Amazon is building its innovative advert platform to compete with Google and Facebook. The online store is offering marketers a greater scope of options to generate sales. Experts argue that Amazon is going to dominate the market, just as they dominate seemingly every other market.

Once again, keep your eyes peeled. This time, for Amazon’s advert platform in 2019.

What’s Next?

Well, now that you know the newest PPC trends, please spend some time evaluating how they’ll affect your marketing strategy. If you can get in on the ground floor, you’ll see a surge of both conversion rates and ROI.

Did you find this material valuable? We’d love to help you get your PPC campaign started. Contact us today for more information!

The post Top 5 PPC Trends to Watch Out for in 2023 appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

In order to gain lead generation, it is imperative to implement customer reviews on your website for multiple reasons.

If you are hungry for more leads, these five reasons will show you exactly how user-generated content can gain you those leads you’ve been craving.

Increases Brand Trust

It is difficult for consumers to make purchases solely on companies’ promises. Customers have ample places to conduct their business, so why should they give you their money over your competitor down the street?

Customers want to be something other than your company’s guinea pig. They want to purchase a product or a service that they know will get them their money’s worth.

So, how do you ensure that customers trust you? You don’t. Previous customers do.

They do this through their online reviews and testimonials. Reviews show that your products or services work and that your promises are real.

Boosts Online Search Rankings

Search engines are all about their algorithms and coding. However, they know how to promote companies with a humane element, aka reviews.

These reviews show search engines that your company is both trustworthy and legitimate. Your company will receive a higher ranking by proving this to search engines.

Differentiate Your Business From Others

Look at this aspect from an outsider’s point of view. If you were going to hire a personal accountant and narrow your search down to two candidates — one has reviews, and one does not. Who are you most likely going to choose?

The one who has reviews because this conveys a higher sense of professionalism and trust. You want to set yourself apart from your competitors in any way, shape, or form, and online reviews are a great way to do so.

Promotes Relevant Content

Google loves content, there is no surprise there. But having a review or testimonial page on your website makes for great content. This relates to getting a higher search ranking on Google.

The more reviews you have, the more content pages you have. And the more content pages you have, the better you rank on Google, which is just waiting to send your company more leads.

Displays A Human Element

Despite all the technical benefits, having online reviews for your company will show that you care about your customers. Authentic reviews allow you to interact with your customers and thank them for their patronage or apologize for their negative experiences.

You can even use these reviews to steer customers back toward your company if their initial experience wasn’t positive by apologizing and offering to fix their problem.

Online Reviews Are Key For Lead Generation

All in all, having online reviews on your website is vital to your company. Not only will it increase lead generation, but it will also allow you to hear your customer’s feedback.

This can help you to yield a better customer experience, which can drive even more customers to your door. Online reviews are a win-win when it comes to your business.

Are you looking for more advice from digital marketing experts? Take a look at our top tips to learn more.

FAQs

Why are customer reviews important for marketing?

Positive reviews can enhance a company’s social credibility and create favorable impressions on potential customers. Positive reviews can instill trust in your business for potential customers, who may feel more at ease making a purchase knowing that others have had positive experiences.

What are the benefits of responding to customer reviews?

When considering buying something, customers are interested in both customer reviews and the perspective of the business. Responding to reviews can help companies handle negative feedback, establish consumer confidence, improve ratings, and boost sales.

How do positive reviews impact a business?

Positive reviews contribute to establishing trust in a business and its merchandise, potentially leading to a higher chance of customer transactions. Research has indicated that customer feedback significantly influences sales conversion rates.

The post Why Are Reviews Important? The Benefits of Customer Feedback appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

As huge year over year sales from Cyber Monday show, the online market continues to dominate the holiday shopping season.

While it hasn’t quite clearly taken over the brick-and-mortar shopping experience, that future doesn’t seem too far off. Online sales during the holiday season have seen an average rise of about ten percent annually over the last decade.

What’s causing this speedy trend towards the digitization of the holiday shopping season? Read on and we’ll walk you through everything you need to know.

Mobile Is Booming

According to Forrester’s extensive study published earlier this year, nearly a third of all American retail sales this year will be done via mobile devices. Mobile devices are even replacing laptop and desktop browsers as the main source of online shopping for many Americans.

Brands are jumping to cater more towards mobile users, dropping apps and E-Commerce friendly sites intended to cash in on this new trend.

The investment seems to be working too. In the holiday season thus far, mobile users are showing a greater increase in conversion rate than desktop users.

The Internet Has The Answers

Another big reason more Americans are turning to the web for holiday shopping? Research and answers.

A whopping 85% of surveyed people turn to Google for answers when it comes to researching products they’re considering buying for family or friends. 72% of individuals also turn to Amazon’s customer reviews.

Amazon and other big web retailers are taking full advantage of this opportunity, which incentivizes potential buyers to click the “add to cart” button every step of the way.

Black Friday is Now Every Day

The internet has also made more shrewd buyers out of most Americans. They are able to compare prices and find bargains easier than before. Holiday shopping is also easier and quicker online, dispelling the need for one day off from work to rush to the stores.

Most major retailers have responded to this change, issuing a number of deals across the holiday season as opposed to deploying everything on a single day.

Many major retail sales available on Black Friday were also available online and were available beyond the limited 24-hour window. More and more shoppers make plans to purchase their gifts online instead of having to deal with the rush of in-store bargain shopping.

The Future Of Holiday Shopping Is Mobile

The increased ease and access to mobile phones is changing the way most Americans go about their holiday shopping. It’s impossible to predict the changes this shift could cause in the future.

But for now, businesses need to be looking at the mobile world if they want to stay in the game during the season of giving.

How Your Business Can Capitalize on the Digital Holiday Shopping Trend

If you’re counting on the holiday season to give your business’ sales that extra push they need, you’re not alone. There are lots of companies that rely on the holiday season to provide a huge chunk of their revenue.

Holiday marketing is a great way to capitalize on the gift-giving season and track down those extra sales. If you change up your digital marketing strategy for the holiday season, you’ll have plenty of Christmas cheer by the end of the month!

Here are the best ways you can utilize digital tools to jump on the holiday shopping craze:

Use Social Media

The holidays are all about coming together as a community. Get in the holiday spirit by creating a social media strategy that’s equally festive.

It’s a good idea to write and schedule all of your social media posts before the season hits. That way, you won’t have to worry about it once you’re in the thick of things.

If you haven’t gotten that far yet, try creating a fun holiday message to share with your followers. Use the holiday hashtag for more visibility and make sure you include a link back to your website.

Spruce Up Your SEO

When was the last time you reviewed your website’s SEO strategy? If it’s been awhile, now is the perfect time to make sure it’s working for you like it’s supposed to.

If you have a holiday promotion happening, market it using your meta description. People will be able to discover your promotion from Google search results.

You should also look at which keywords you want to rank for. There may be seasonal keywords that you can incorporate into your content that will help more customers discover you.

Run a Holiday Sale

Who doesn’t love a good holiday sale? Everyone is looking for a good deal this time of year — make sure your business is offering one of them.

Holiday sales are a great way to get people onto your website. Make sure you connect it to the holiday in a way that makes sense for your brand. A cosmetics company, for example, might want to offer “30% Off Gifts For Her” to inspire people to look for gifts for the special woman in their lives.

Plus, once they’re drawn to your site, people spend more when items are on sale.

Plan Ahead

No matter which campaign ideas you choose, make sure you’re planning ahead for the holidays. The last thing you want to do is try to throw something together last minute.

Whether it’s putting together a content calendar ahead of time or creating a holiday-themed landing page, you’ll want to have as much as possible ready to go. The holiday sales season is stressful enough without trying to change your marketing strategy in the middle of it!

Start Your Holiday Marketing Now

The holidays are practically here, so get started on your holiday marketing today! Make sure you take advantage of the extra spending that takes place around the holidays.

If you’re not sure how to get started, don’t worry. Work with our engagement team to create a successful campaign that’s unique, fun, and perfect for the holidays.

Need help in breaking into the E-commerce world? Reach out to us anytime for a free quote.

Cheers and happy holidays!

The post How Holiday Shopping Has Become More Digital with eCommerce and Mobile Shopping appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.

Why are customers choosing to purchase online rather than in stores?  Let’s take a look to find out more.

Convenience

Online shopping is available to you 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  There are no lines, cashiers, or crowds.  The best part?  You can purchase just about anything from the comfort of your home all while wearing your pajamas.  Not to mention, you can purchase things in seconds from your mobile device or computer.

Better Prices

Products online are coming to you directly from the seller or manufacturer, which means lower prices for customers because there is no middleman involved.  Many online sites offer coupons for first time or returning customers, which can eliminate shipping costs, tax, and ultimately save the customer money.

Greater Selection

You can almost always find any product you are looking for online.  Customers can shop from retailers in other parts of the country or even the world without leaving the comfort of their home.  You’re no longer limited to shopping in your local area.  Another bonus is that online stores typically have a higher volume of inventory, with more size and color options.

Simplified Price Comparison

Shopping online gives you the ability to research and compare multiple products at the same time.  Customers can research which is the best product on the market by having access to product reviews and ratings.  Rather than having to drive all over town going from store to store, customers can navigate from one website to another in seconds.

The internet has truly changed the way customers shop.  Many customers prefer to shop online from their mobile device or computer rather than making a purchase in person.  The growth of e-commerce continues to increase, and so does the desire for instant access and 24/7 accessibility.

The post Why Are Customers Choosing to Purchase Online Rather Than in Stores? appeared first on Exults Digital Marketing Agency.