by MYB Agency | Jan 5, 2021 | Uncategorized
There is news that Facebook has started losing its popularity with the entry of Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest etc. It is being said that aged people mostly use Facebook and that people in business avoid branding on Facebook due to these reasons.
But is the reality? Such articles are not data-driven, and digital marketers always follow data, and that is what tell you the real story. Facebook is still super consistent and has barely seen any slowdown in the number of users.
Numbers say that Facebook has approximately 2.5 billion active monthly users. It is comfortably sitting at the top position compared to Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Reddit combined.
Now you must have got it right. Being in business, you cannot afford to ignore Facebook. It may be that it is not a favourite social media platform, but the audience is still having an active account that they are frequently checking.
You have a Facebook business page, then check it out whether it is impressive to attract the audience or not. There is a well-known saying “First Impression is the last impression”. Hence the cover page of your account becomes the face of your business. Let us go through some steps to be kept in mind.
Steps to Create an impressive and effective cover photo
One of the well-known legendary move directors states that an object’s size should be proportional to its impact on the entire story. Likewise, Facebook cover photo covers almost covers half the page of the desktop and practically full screen of your mobile. Creating a cover photo is not about just choosing an eye-catching picture, setting the right dimensions and then publishing it. Below listed are five keys considerations to drive the eyeballs of the audience.
- Simplicity is the best policy.
Earlier there was a rule with Facebook that 20 per cent of the cover photo could be made up of text, but the said rule was dropped in 2013. So with the ample space to tinkering around and no limit on the amount of text you can include, you may end up putting a lot of information on the cover photo. But hold on !!!! Do not do that. Focus on the image to be as simple as possible so that any audience category can understand what you as a brand want to convey. Apple is the best example which usually doesn’t involve much on social media marketing. However, the company’s cover photo is still spot on anytime and every time with the launch of any new gadget by the tech giant.
- Cover photo to compliment your brand:
It is always a challenge for brands which make multiple items in one photo. It is not possible to cover all the products in one image. The advertising team here needs to show their creativity and expertise to design so that the photo covers all the popular products together. It can be that the cover is divided into three or four parts covering the different types of products. The cover photo should encapsulate a mix of all the products and services a business offers.
- Keep your audience in mind:
Have you noticed that most of the cover photos include humans’ images rather than abstract images or inanimate objects? It is because we as humans find it easier to connect with the people. So to communicate with your audience through the cover photo try to first understand your audience. Thanks to Facebook, which will give you the option of Audience Insights. The Audience Insight tool allows you to drill deeper into the demographics, location, pages like and an insight into the activity of Facebook. It helps you figure out which set of FB users are interested in the products sold by you. The tool gives you a demographic analysis with data and how many users clicked on the CTS (Call To Action) button or the website link and viewed your videos till the end.
Now what all this information tells us supposes you discovered that 80% of the people who follow your page men, 75% live in Sydney, and 90% are between 18 and 35. You can probably incorporate such kind of mix in your cover photo. Your page can include a picture of a man standing near the Opera house in Sydney. The idea behind is to grab the attention of the people following your account the most.
- Pair the cover photo with your logo:
Name of the Company and the logo is advertised together on any platform. The same rule applies with a cover photo too. You must have seen the famous brand NIKE having a trendy three words JUST DO IT attached to its famous worldwide brand name.
So the cover photo of the brand on FB would be the golden words JUST DO IT with the classy ‘swoosh’ stroke. The two combined together are sufficient for anyone to recognise. Likewise, you also need to ensure that your business name and the logo and the Company slogan (which all the Companies usually has) should be highlighted attractively on the cover photo.
- Promotion through cover photo:
Facebook gives you ample space in their cover photo; then why should not we use it to talk about things we want to promote….so here is the catch!!! Whether it’s a new product launch or a special offer or a big piece of content or event, your cover photo is a fantastic place to show it off and promote your followers. You need to be utmost careful while designing your cover photo as it should not be like having too much of text or loaded with too many pictures on the cover photo so that the viewer’s get confused as to what you want to promote. Try to be creative in your approach; make a mix of text and pictures together to make the logo attractive simple and yet easy to understand regarding the promotion you want to make.
Suggestions to make an impactful cover photo:
Now covering the above points, you have understood the steps to create a striking Facebook cover photo for your business. Now it’s time for us to make it useful for our brand too. Follow the below mentioned simple four-step process to create the Facebook cover photo vision into reality for your business.
- Pick a technique that works for you: There are no set rules that is the right way to design a cover photo. It depends on the brand and the business you follow. We had given you the example of NIKE which advertises in minimum words and pictures because it is so famous that writing the brand name itself will suffice. But for other businesses, you need to apply a mix of techniques:
- Having a product launch include in your cover photo.
- Want to connect to the specific audience include it in your advertisement campaign.
- Make it attractive enough to make your branch recognisable in a way that your branding does the talking.
- Photo editing tools: You must be thinking that it won’t be easy to design the cover photo keeping above things in mind. But frankly, you do not need to be a graphic designer to create this. There are many photo editing tools available which are simple to use and can be cropped and edited as per requirement. Examples of them are Canvas, PicMonkey, Visme, Snappa, Bannersnack and many others.
- Selecting images: Here too, you can rely upon tools. Selection is important. Decide upon the theme you want to follow and then start looking for pictures. Like how much and what text you will include and accordingly select a suitable image. Please make sure the selection is based on the brand you are promoting and keeping in mind the above points which we have discussed.
- Righ Size: To start with, you need to be aware of the size of the cover photo else automatically Facebook will automatically stretch your image to fit, and your efforts for designing will not give you the desired results. Facebook is more accessed on phones than desktops or laptops, so make sure that the pic and its size fits in the mobile version and looks equally useful and attractive.
Desktop the cover photo size is 820 pixels wide and 312 pixels tall.
On mobile, it displays 640 pixels wide and 360 pixels tall.
But instead of going in all this, it is better to use 820 pixels wide by 462 pixels tall which will look good in all gadgets.
Conclusion:
Just remember that the intention here is not to use bright colours and bold themes to impress that audience. It has to relate to your branch, connect to the audience, effectively portrays the message you want to deliver and nothing like that leaves the audience scratching their heads confused.
Hope you found the post helpful in some way or the other and you got some clarity regarding the importance of a cover photo for your brand and business recognition.
If you would like to have properly developed facebook cover photo and set up your facebook business page, do contact us on [email protected] or log contact us here
by MYB Agency | Jan 5, 2021 | Uncategorized
Live streaming is becoming very popular medium to collect with the masses. It has turned out to be a blessing in the current pandemic situation where the people have found very convenient to pass on their knowledge and expertise to a mass audience at the same time: motivational streams, meditation and well-being, tutorials, fitness and whatnot. The list seems to endless. It had turned out to be a beneficial medium to keep the audience engaged. People have found it be a useful option to gain some knowledge and value addition. While the people were locked in their houses and were feeling depressed and having no clarity what the future post lockdown would be.
Live streaming became a very popular to give some form of recreation and knowledge addition for the people.
But this digital marketing area faces competition, and it is not easy to keep the audience engaged till the end. Perhaps you have been uploading videos but have not tried the live streaming option till now. You might be losing a massive section of your target audience.
The success stories behind the live streaming are quite impressive, and if you have not tried it so far, you should think of implementing it right away. Below are some points which will help you leverage live streaming to crazy levels of customer engagement.
What does it mean?
Live streaming is a medium to connect with the audience and pass on a personalised message uniquely compared to other marketing channels. Here you have an option to get live feedback immediately on any particular product or service offered. It can give you excellent results if the streaming content is planned to keep the audience connected until the end.
The growth which the marketers have noticed is phenomenal. Research says that there has been a noticeable growth of 28% of marketers ready to invest in live streaming.
Why should it be used?
It is gaining popularity due to its personalised approach as it allows the face behind the brand to come face to face. Famous brands have huge followers and when these brands come live the interest in knowing more about the Company becomes obvious. The reason why the option should be used is summarised below:
- It has been noticed that 80% of the audience prefers to watch live streaming rather than blogs or posts.
- In 2019 it had topped the charts with 1.1 billion hours.
- People enjoy watching videos which have increased in the brand association.
- Consumers tend to share more video content than pictures and posts.
- It gives a deeper connection with the brand, and you already have a social media platform to leverage it.
Which platforms of social media give you the option of live streaming?
The best thing about social media is that live streaming can be done with a minimum set up if you already have an account. Like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and many others already have the options to live stream. However, the features and opportunity which they provide to reach the audience may differ. Some of you already must be having a significant presence on these platforms, if yes, you can immediately connect with the audience by live streaming.
Live streaming on Facebook:
Facebook has a live streaming option since 2016, and it created a significant impact on users. IT has been observed that live videos get ten times more comments and three times longer watch time than regular videos. Such is the power of live streaming.
Live streaming on Instagram
Followers on Facebook are far more than on Instagram, but it does allow your business to reach different demographics. Instagram has more followers of the age group 18-34. So if you want to cover a larger audience then Facebook is a better option as Facebook has a larger number of users.
Live streaming on YouTube
We can say that YouTube is the mother of videos in the digital marketing world. It was through YouTube that videos became a part of social media users and eventually for marketers. It is the second-largest digital platform after Facebook with 2 billion monthly users. Second most popular search engine after Google is YouTube. The best feature of both is that the live streaming videos are then saved after the stream. Hence if the live streaming is missed, you can watch in the form of videos later.
Some tools and tips to optimise engagement with live stream
Digital marketing platforms give you a lot of tools to help you optimise the live streaming session. The intention is not just madly get subscriptions but doing some research work and finding a package that best suits your business. To help you better understand below are some live streaming tools.
Restream.lo: This is an excellent tool that streams to over 30 social media platforms simultaneously. As a vlogger, you can live-stream your old recorded videos, engage the audience through live chats and bring all the analytics in one place. With the help of this tool, you can monitor the performance of all the channels together. Restream gives you an insight in-depth to know how our live streams perform in different social media forums.
Image creation tools: Images play a very crucial role in the success of your videos. Research says that posts having relevant visual content get 94% more views than content strategies. Pablo and Canva are well-known tools to create perfect images to get results on the SEO front.
Editable: The main motto of the live stream is that it is life. But you may wish to save this for your future use. Once you save it, it will be in your control like any other video. In case you want to edit any content then you can do it by using video editing tools like Lumen5, WeVideo etc.
How to make engaging content:
You have done the necessary set up to Go Live. But the success depends on the quality of the content. Next step is to drive engagement. First, try to understand the audience. If you have been live streaming from quite a time now, you must know very well what the audience demands and what holds them to remain connected to the end of the session.
Remember the points below:
- Make a rough plan initially and ready to answer the questions are coming up once the streaming is over. Including the audience engagement is the primary key to the success of any live video.
- Plan your content correctly with the flow of your presentation. It should not be in a haphazard manner where the content doesn’t seem to be relative in context.
- Be responsive always. Your body language speaks it all. If you are positive and enthusiastic in your tone, speech and loud enough to make the audience feel interested, you will grab more eyeballs. The live stream’s promo plays a vital role wherein the main content is conveyed attractively. They wait for you to go live once it starts responding to the primary audience who have joined by speaking out their names aloud and thanking them for joining immediately.
- The main goal of the streaming should not be to sell a product but to design the content so that it leads to the benefits your product or session is offering. Here the main motive is to connect with maximum audience simultaneously and leave an impact in their minds to join back and select the live streaming notification option.
Conclusion:
So friends having said almost all, live streaming is getting more and more popular is not by chance. Still, there is a fair amount of technology, research work to get the best content delivered in the minimum amount of time as it is challenging to keep people engaged for a very long time. So the streaming should be preferably for a maximum of half an hour. There is continuous development in technology taking place. More and more people from different areas are choosing this option because of its varied benefits and approach.
Not only brands but also motivational speakers, gym trainers, fitness experts, nutritionists, doctors, and beauticians are all using this option. They have been immensely successful, especially in the lockdown period. It became far more comfortable to connect with a larger audience, which would not have been possible otherwise in normal circumstances.
Finally, make sure that you are always presentable, neatly and impressively dressed, having a good quality video, excellent content, good network for uninterrupted streaming and all the necessary tools in place and handy before the video goes live. Keep it shorter initially, and then you can increase the time once you are through with the technique and engaged audience to join you.
Many people are arranging paid streamings in different sessions and have started their business online which was earlier done in huge halls and limited audience. So if you haven’t thought of doing it, then this is the right time to decide.
Happy streaming !!!!
by MYB Agency | Jan 5, 2021 | Uncategorized
Luxury items though a dream for many are not in everybody’s possession. It hardly happens that we see an advertisement for luxury items on television or social media. Why is it so?? Just try to think about the reason behind it?
It is because luxury items cannot be treated like other products because the customers buying these products are of different segment of the society and needs to be approached differently. But it does not mean that they cannot use the digital platform for marketing their brands and products.
Let us go through some marketing tips for luxury brands online:
Which products can be named as luxury Brand?
When we speak about luxury items, the brands which come to mind is BMW, Mercedes, Gucci, Rolex, Ferrari etc. But what are the features or qualities needed to be named as a luxury brand? As per me, it can be summarised in 3 E’s….Excellent, Expensive and Exclusive.
But the most common thought which comes to mind when we talk about luxury items is a high price, but it is misleading many times as one cannot predict every expensive thing to be termed as a luxury item.
It is rightly said that the luxury item cannot be named as a luxury; if it is a common item possessed by many. The products need to be exclusive either in features, looks and tagged with a brand name, and this exclusivity comes with a price.
Luxury timepieces are designed by best designer, luxury cars by best well-paid engineers and luxury fashion by designers creating exclusive clothes.
Trends in luxury marketing
Research says that it is expected that the sales of luxury items will get doubled by 2025. Thanks to the pandemic where even luxury items have reached way to the digital platform as the stores were closed, and people who were used to using luxury items had to choose the online forum to order. Likewise, the stores had to make way too from store shelves to online.
The coming era will be of the digital market with more and more companies entering the platform.
Marketing strategies for luxury brands
Still, the time hasn’t come where we can say luxury marketing is a synonym to digital marketing. Till date, the advertisements for these products were seen on luxury magazines covering full pages, on television, duty-free stores, expensive resorts or restaurants. But soon it will be said goes are the days where luxury is not everyone’s eye to see.
Competition is increasing by all the businesses, and service providers and luxury items are no exception. To survive and to meet the sales target, the industry has to make way to the digital platform, keeping in mind the requirements and preferences of their customers.
Understand the customer
Since the digital market is still new for these items, the Companies need to enter into the buyer’s persona. A luxury customer of today is a sophisticated, techno-savvy and more selective about the brand to buy and the money to spend. The digital marketers will have to include personalisation, authenticity and latest technology with the motive to maintain the traditional expectations of the audience. To keep them engaged, the marketing team will have to use Omni channel strategies to figure out customer buying temperament and how he/she covets the products they are looking for. While studying the buying persona check on which website the customer mostly prefers to buy, what is the terms of the customer mainly used while doing the shopping? Try and categorise the shopping into different items like handbags, footwear, accessories apparels, etc.
Customers are of different categories, and we cannot apply one buyer persona to every customer. It is very much essential for you to understand and analyse each buyer precisely so that the right product reaches the right customer as the right time.
Marketing strategy for luxury products
Now if you are new to the digital marketing world for marketing your luxury products, do not start with selling all the products on all the platforms together. Instead, try to focus on one word or two social media platforms. Since you have studied the customer’s temperament and the brand and the product you want to pitch them, you will be able to develop a good marketing strategy to drive profitable results.
Now the next step is to define the goals. Let us start with increasing brand awareness, which will ultimately lead to an increase in sales. Once your market digital marketing plan is set up, then the final step is to figure out how to measure your success. If the marketing strategy which you are going to apply is SEO based on increasing the revenue find out how much revenue Google and Bing are responsible for you to generate. If you already have a Google Analytics tracking account but have never set up to track your success, then now is the right time to do it.
Traditional marketing vs the Experimental
Traditional marketing techniques are excellent and useful for marketing luxury items are considered to be having their limitations now in this digital marketing. Apart from that, it is a costly medium for the marketer as full-page ads in premium magazines, or hoarding at an expensive resort increases the cost. On the other hand, the results are not satisfactory.
One of the excellent option suggested is a brand app apps which offer to speak to the customers directly through their smartphones. Apps can be made in a way that it is as responsive as a chatbot option on your website.
Loyalty and its role in the success:
It is a perception that most of the luxury items have loyal customers, the more reliable the customer, the less marketing efforts you need to do. It is often said that loyalty cannot be created; it has to be earned.
Do not worry friends, here I am not recommending to create a Loyalty program for customers neither do we intend to under value your luxury brand, which is anyways having good sales. What we mean to say here is to turn your consumers into fiercely loyal brand ambassadors. The best way to get loyalty is through the quality of your products and the second-best way to do is through the quality of your marketing.
Using influencer marketing works wonders for luxury items. It is a very cost-effective method and gives good results. Check if the influencer you have chosen anyways has followers and who already use luxury products. There are full chances of a half match already won.
The Content :
Being in this business, you are well aware that buying a luxury item is a tough decision. Every consumer purchasing doesn’t swipe his card directly. Many will be studying your product and feature before clicking the BUY NOW button. You need to tell your brand story to your customers and the craftsmanship involved in making a particular item.
Your content adds value to your product. Many luxury items once purchased requires utmost care and maintenance. Blogs, posts and mailers to your existing customer will add value to your brand and create an impression in the mind that you are a Company which is not interested only in SALES but also AFTER-SALES services and guide.
Use the keywords in your content effectively. There is some form of content for every key term. Research and time to time analysis will help you master this.
SEO results :
Search engines are underutilised tools for marketing luxury products. It has been noticed that the website of these products lack content and are not attractively designed for a visitor to crawl around the website. Search engines are massive traffic drivers for your brands and should not be ignored. They have an impact both on the purchase and research phase of your marketing journey. The time and money invested in SEO are bound to give you excellent results.
Conclusion:
Luxury marketing is at a stage of up-gradation and is not confined to TV channels. Magazines and billboards. Now it is taking the next step and is investing in digital marketing its tools and techniques. However, success depends on your marketing team and their flexibility to adapt to the changing needs and trend in the market.
Innovation is creative ideas rule this class of products. If you succeed in offering something exclusive from time to time, you will sustain in the business for decades to come.
Digital marketing is a mix of many tools and techniques, and if one option doesn’t work, there are many more to opt for. You need to be ready to accept and implement the change as today’s world is the world of the digital market, and no business can sustain in this competition without entering it.
Hope you got a clearer picture on the topic and the post will be helpful to the people in similar fields. Do contact back to us for any queries and concerns we will be more than happy to assist and serve you.
Happy Selling !!!!
by MYB Agency | Jan 5, 2021 | Uncategorized
In the realm of online business E-commerce, retailers face many hurdles in their business. The most common persistent issue is deadstock products.
The accumulation of Deadstock is the most significant concern area and can lead to a rise in operational and warehouse costs. The cost of storing increases with more products entering the warehouse, and if it is not controlled in time, it will lead to the financial resources to drain off soon.
It becomes difficult for the retailers dealing with seasonal items to clear off the Deadstock completely.
Let us go through some tips as a preventive measure to accumulation of Deadstock and to clear it off on time.
First, let us understock which stock falls under the definition of Deadstock?
Dead inventory in simple terms is known as the Deadstock. Every business should have a proper inventory system in place. There are items which are seasonal and not been sold and are not likely to sell shortly. Such things soon will be seen piled up in the corner of the warehouse and forgotten.
Another reason for piling up the stock is to wait for the price rise of the inventory and hence keep it stored for the right time to sell arises. But here we will not be going through this area.
Next question which comes to mind is Is Deadstock excellent or bad for business?
Any stock comes with a price, and so does Deadstock. Unwanted items will increase the cost, occupy the space in the warehouse and the longer the storage, the higher will be the cost involved. Other values of stock maintenance, insurance, rental, equipment and security cost will still add on to the overall costing.
It has an opportunity involved in case the stocks lying go for a sudden price rise and in turn, increase in demand. However, the chances of this are not quite feeble. More or less, space which the Deadstock occupies could have been utilised for a headstock or a highly profitable selling item.
How to avoid the Deadstock piling up
Deadstock should be avoided as much as possible. The business of fashion reports that dead inventory costs around $50 billion every year in the US retail industry. Similar is the case with the rest of the countries too.
Below are some tips to avoid Deadstock:
- Inventory Management: Improper inventory management is a significant cause of Deadstock. An effective management system can guarantee you well-monitored stock management. Some of the popular inventory management systems are
- InFlow Inventory: It is a potent inventory software system which is capable of managing up to 100 products
- Sortly Pro: It is a cloud based inventory management system known as a Simplest Inventory Management Software that can manage up to 100 transactional entries per month
- Odoo; A well-known Open Source ERP and CRM solution software
- ZhenHub: A cutting edge software which is a hassle free solution for calculating rates and tracking and getting the products delievered wherever the need be. The small and medium-sized business mostly uses them.
There is nothing like a good or flawed inventory system. It depends on the business, the product you are selling and the costs involved.
Once you have decided’ upon the inventory system, keep track of the products on your shelves, their expiry dates and those are at the verge to be counted under Deadstock. Compare with the products which had low or no sale last year.
The inventory system if followed strictly, can identify your best selling products, flopped products, expired products and highest selling product at a glance.
- Deadstock items with discount potential: A successful businessman has his best selling businesses at his fingertips. His knows when to sell which product at what price. Keep an eye on the current trend. Which products are like selling hotcakes which will empty the shelves in no time? The excitement of buying any product fades away soon. Analyse your past trends and separate the products which have the discount potential and are the chances of them to turn into Deadstock is high. Clear this stock off fast with end of season promotion. This works will work with perishable products or which have a lesser shelf life.
It may happen that the profits you earn on these discounts will be lesser than average sales, but as we say, something is always better than nothing. So instead of incurring a total loss of goods getting perished and thrown off due to expiry dates, it is better to sell them at discounted prices. In the long run, you are saving a fair amount of cost of storage, insurance, maintenance etc.
- Identify the target audience: Being in business, you should know what your customer needs. Which product should be launched and when if the same did not sell well, then what is the reason behind it? It many times happens that the product, despite doing excellent promotions, doesn’t work well. Then probably here you have been targeting the wrong audience or at the wrong time.
Any product launch should be done post most research. It is very crucial step for the success of any business. Other factors such as gender, location, the interest of the audience, current trend and the socioeconomic factors predict the outcome of the sales of any business.
Next effective option is conducting surveys to find out what the audience needs in the current times. The survey can be circulated both to the existing as well as your new list of customers. Having the best selling products on the shelves will give you better sales and least Deadstock.
- Diversify your products: Keep a check in the variety of products you are offering for sale. The chart-topping products also need a check on whether they are of the same features or varied. Selling similar items may increase the chances of Deadstock. All customers are not of the same temperament; some are brand oriented and some features. Giving complementary products along with faster selling product, will sweeten the deal. For example, if you are a phone merchant, you can provide phones cases or other accessories as a complementary deal. So in future, the customers might contact you for both the items.
How to Get Rid of Deadstock?
Do you already have a Deadstock lying in your warehouse? Its time now to clear it off as soon as possible. We have already gone through the pros and cons of having a deadstock but clearing it off is a concern for all businessmen. Below are some things which will help:
Return: If you have this option, it will be the best one. You might have to incur a cost to return the stock, but that is much less than the loss incurred on the same goods being stocked unnecessarily, expired or to dispose of as waste. So try to keep the return policy as part of the contract with your suppliers. Suppliers may charge a return fee as per their terms and conditions, but all is affordable against the headache of clearing it off in future.
Put the Deadstock for clearance sale: This option is used by many of the retailers and a very well known and a thriving chance. Whenever you visits stores you often such stocks lying in the eye catching areas and are been picked up fast by the customers due to the disocunts offered. Likewise, in online purchase, such items are shown on the home screen of the mobile app for customers view on quick login. So in case, the product is perishable and hot selling; otherwise, this is the best option to clear off the sale. For example, you can sell the winter wear collection at discounted rates when the summer is approaching.
Offer freebies and giveaways. Customers always like free items, and they will revisit your store to get the benefit or may refer others to visit your store or site to take its advantage.
Donate in charity: This is the last option with a noble cause. After all your efforts to sell the product, you are still not able to sell then the best thing is to donate the stock in charity. However, this option is not available to sellers due to their products which cannot be given charity. You can also claim this amount as a tax write off and get an advantage of doing a noble cause in front of the people.
Conclusion: Being in business, we all know how to manage the business well, but it often happens that at times the things are not in our control and all our plans go for a toss. The recent pandemic is the most prominent example wherein people in business have faced lots of challenges in terms of managing the stock and clearing it off.
So be prepared for all and keep your systems under control. Be ready with the preventive measure on hand so that the loss incurred is not beyond limits and control. Here we do not say that the above points are the most effective ones. You are the best judge of your business, and we can only suggest the best.
Happy selling now and always !!!!
by Jvalin Sonawala | Nov 27, 2020 | Uncategorized
ASO: App Store Optimisation is becoming very crucial due to the increasing number of mobile apps daily. Can you imagine that there are around 4 million people mobile apps and if you are also planning to make yours available too in the lot then getting it discovered is the most significant task?
If you are thinking of publishing a new app and want it to rank well, then this post is for you.
First of all, let us understand what App Store Optimisation is?
Being a publisher, you want to get discovered in the top ranking in the App Search engine. The higher you rank, the higher will be the potential of the users downloading your App. Once your visibility increases, traffic will be diverted to your app page on the App Store.
The process of ASO requires an understanding of figuring out your potential customer base, including the keywords in your content so that your App is noticed faster.
Why is ASO important?
According to research done by Forrester around 63% of of the apps are discovered as a search result on the app stores. So if you are using ASO to increase your ranking, then you are a lost a very big opportunity to make your App easily discoverable.
ASO is a secret weapon in the hands of the publisher, but you have to be ready to invest in ASO. The marketing team need to spend sufficient time to increase its ASO. People to search on Google too, but the results on the App store is incomparable.
Here is a step wise guide to help you discern its benefits going through the main ASO factors:
- Title: The game changer for your App is the title of the App. The keyword in the title will be a substantial search engine factor. Research and spend time deciding upon the name of the App and changing the name too frequently will be detrimental. Once your App starts getting more traffic and an increasing number of downloads, the rest of the work will be done by mouth publicity, and you will not require to put many efforts for higher numbers. Changing the title will lose credit achieved.
- Keywords: Improving search engine requires the use of keywords which are mostly searched by the audience in the search engine. The title and the keywords are considered to be the most critical ASO factors which can be modified easily as per the need. Here you also essential to keep a watch on the competitors and especially on the similar apps which are having a higher ranking and download then yours. Modify your keywords and titles accordingly, and only if there is a need to do otherwise avoid doing the same.
Apart from these primary factors, there are some secondary factors too which are not in our control.
- Several downloads: The number of downloads is of significant importance for the success of your App, but it is not in our hand. You can only put in ways and means to increase your visibility on the app store but cannot persuade your audience to download the App.
- Reviews and Ratings: Ratings and reviews are one of the fundamental factors for the success of any app. Any new user will be going through the reviews and ratings other users have given to your App before he goes for a download. Being a publisher, you can try to incentivise the audience to rate your apps and provide their reviews. It will help you build the trust of a new audience and increase the popularity of your App.
The primary factors discussed above play a significant role to draw users to your App:
Title: Title is the first impression of your App, and it is the critical factor which draws the attention of the audience to your App. Optimising the title with the keyword increases the results to as good as by 10.3%. There are some limitations attached to the App stores, which are very regulated. A publisher is given only 30 characters to frame a title in IOS 11 version and stuffing more leads to getting the App banned on the AppStore. Hence be smart in your title formation. The icon of your App should be sleek and elegant, which portrays what your App about is.
Description: Here is where things get mistier. The App Store algorithm technically ignores the description part. Keep your focus on explaining the features and benefits you App offers rather than focusing only on SEO. You may feel that there is lot of space to do this, but the fact is you don’t. Abbreviated snippets are shown on the app page, and only a few readers will ever click “more” to explore more about the App. All together you have only 252 characters to make a pitch to convince that you are worthy of a download. Several iterations need to be done to find out which works best.
Keyword Metadata: You get 100 characters to enter the keywords, including commas. Do not duplicate your efforts here and can choose the keywords already used in the title.
Subtitle: You have an option include the title limited to 30 characters that give you another chance to use more descriptive keywords. E.g. say you are promoting a game app and you mention the name is “Scrabble” as the title of the App and along with it the subtitle as ‘The vocabulary expert’.
Downloads: Ultimately, after making all the efforts what matters, in the end, is ‘Downloads’. Both the Google Playstore and IOS determine the ranking of your App based on several downloads and to be more precise on the current download rate. For example, it may happen that an app has crossed one million overall downloads, but a newer app can beat it by more number of downloads in the current month. The preview video and images play a significant role.
What can you do to increase this consistently? Work on improving your SEO. Apart from this is to work on marketing your brand and enhance the recognition, ratings/reviews, social media presence etc.
Conclusion: To reap the fruits of ASO, you need to devote the time, money and efforts. With this, there are full chances of getting consistent traffic to your App. Be consistent to give regular updates and keep updating the features of your apps too else soon a better version will be out, and you will be out of the list of rankings.
by Jvalin Sonawala | Nov 27, 2020 | Uncategorized
People into business or any service industry are aware of the benefits of digital marketing if you want to reap fruits of its benefits you need to engage a team of talented people who can take charge and execute the digital marketing plan effectively.
But a question always arises as to whether to engage an “In house marketing team or hire a digital marketing agency?
There is no set rule as which option will be more appropriate. It all depends upon the need of the hour and the type of business you are in.
Digital platforms became increasingly included in the marketing plans due to increased usage of digital devices by the masses. Day by day, people started using the online channel for purchasing rather than visiting the stores personally. People have realised its worth in the recent pandemic and lockdown wherein people have found it very convenient to shop online and online companies have provided excellent services across the globe.
Let us try to understand the benefits of both one by one:
Benefits of working with Digital Marketing agency
A digital marketing agency drives result based marketing strategy as per the set targets. It is a marketing component which utilises the internet and digital technology options of the laptop, cell phones and other digital media to promote their products and services. It got a higher pace during the 1990s and 2000s, and it changed the way brands and businesses use digital marketing for promoting their products. They act as a substitute against an in house team of experts performing the same set of work responsibilities but from outside. They have excelled in their area of expertise and have a dedicated team to deliver the best.
Listed below are some benefits of engaging a digital marketing agency:
Excel and Expertise: They are connoisseurs in their field, which mainly comprises of Social media marketing, content marketing, data analysis, SEO rankings and much more. Here you have the option to ask for a particular service, and they will send their skilled staff to provide the necessary guidance to you. They are considered to have a high level of competency as every agency specialises in a particular area of digital marketing, and they deal and provide services to multiple clients. Therefore their expertise will higher, and the chances of getting the desired results increases. An agency can work with loads of clients at a time, and they are sufficiently staffed too to provide best services.
Diversified Skills: Whenever you hire an agency, you will never be hiring a single person you are hiring a team as a whole which may comprise of a fair amount of people say ten or more. Hence when you have a deadline to achieve this type of set up will be of great help as they set the entire team to work for you. A diversified group turns out to be very fruitful at the time of any problem or any issue. Being an experienced team, they can resolve the issues faster. Flexibility is another advantage of hiring an outsourced team. Since they have a team to cater to your need, in case one of the strategies is not giving fruitful results, the experts will immediately switch to an alternate plan. Hence you will not be missing the deadline in any scenario.
Scaling new heights: Every Company no matter small or big wants to rise high in the field. Success comes with a fair amount of customers and a dedicated team of talented people. If you tie up with an efficient marketing agency, you can scale these heights with quite an ease. Since you have a hired an outsource agency you are free from the headache of recruiting management personnel, developing plans and strategies, arranging a meeting to get the work on time etc. The agency will look at these things up, and you can utilise your time for other important work.
Transparency: When you are working with an in house team of digital marketing it becomes challenging to figure out whether you have hired the right personnel and you will have to give them time to prove their expertise. You might have done sufficient research work to test the talent of the personnel and might have done a reference check as well. But at times they prove to be wrong as the comments coming in from references may not be the actual truth always. If you are performing a reference check of an agency, then there are fair chances of getting the correct feedback by going through the reviews on social media and by getting in touch with their existing customers.
Active partner: An agency works as an active partner when it comes to designing the plan of action and strategies for a digital marketing campaign. But in case of an in house personnel’s, they may not always feel like expressing their views unless they are a part of the senior management. Hence the planning’s are more result-driven, and the chances to get diverted are minimal. Since they have dealt with various customers, they are capable of identifying the problems coming in at an earlier stage and keep their solutions ready beforehand. Being an experienced team, they are well aware of when to launch a particular sales promotion campaign and measures to be taken when the sales go down.
So friends have said that we have gone through some of the significant benefits of hiring a digital marketing agency. Another essential factor is the cost of hiring an outsourced team. It is suggested to plan the budget and then go for hiring so that you may not be running out of funds in the end. It is not necessary to appoint the most popular in town as they might be expensive for your pocket neither does it mean the one charging less will be less competent. Meet a couple of agencies and then decide to tie up wisely looking at the long term perspective as digital marketing is a continuous process and if you hire a good one will help you in the long run.
We shall be going through the benefits of hiring an in a house in the next post.
