Instagram Checkout: What it Is and How to Use It
Instagram’s introduction of its Checkout feature added a new tool that online retailers can use to monetise their hordes of followers on the popular social platform. If you’ve yet to put the feature to use, this blog is a gentle introduction to its range of benefits. Enables Consumers to Complete Purchases Without Leaving the App Checkout on Instagram enables consumers to complete purchases in the app, without having to be redirected to the seller’s website. This would promote Instagram from a social media platform to a centralised online marketplace where an unlimited number of brands can make sales quickly and easily – on the spot. When a user taps to view a product that interests them, the “Checkout on Instagram” button comes up, and they can complete the transaction right there if they choose. Not only will payment take place within Instagram, but also after-sales services such as tracking of orders. First-time users will have to enter billing and delivery information, much as they would on any other shopping site. These details are then saved for later use, regardless of the number and variety of sellers they buy from. Lower Traffic to Your Site Is Offset By Quicker Conversions This may present both good and bad possibilities for you as an online business operator. On the one hand, it could mean a reduction in traffic going through to your website from Instagram. But, on the other hand, it would make for quicker conversions – and thus possibly even an increase in conversions over time. It cuts out all intermediate steps, meaning you get a more immediate sale. According to Instagram’s stats, 60% of users discover new products on the platform, making it a very useful promotional method. It now goes one step further, because it not only promotes the product, it can close the sale too. The service is currently in closed beta testing, rolled out to a select few brands earmarked by Instagram. Once it rolls out of beta in general use, it is not certain what the cost of the service will be to retailers. But, it seems likely to be worth the expense. We’ll be sure to keep you posted. Thinking of adding Instagram to your suite of social media marketing platforms? The platform’s new Checkout feature, which is still in beta, is one of many features that appeal to online marketers. Contact WSI OMS today to learn how you can put Instagram’s powerful marketing features to...
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Discover Digital Marketing’s Powerful Green Credentials
Despite their considerable promotional power, printed marketing materials like posters, leaflets and magazines are some of the world’s top pollutants. If you are a business that values the health of the environment, you should be thrilled that digital marketing presents a far greener way to promote your business. It will take more green-conscious businesses like yours as well as education for the rest to move the needle towards a truly green future. To paint a picture of why a full migration away from printed marketing materials to digital marketing platforms needs to be expedited, we share facts and statistics on the advertising industry’s impact on the environment below. According to the Green Press Initiative, the paper and pulp industry is the fourth largest contributor to greenhouse gases in the United States. The World Counts environmental statistics and advocacy project says that, as things currently stand, the demand for paper (which businesses contribute towards massively with their advertising campaigns) is expected to double by 2030. It also estimates that Americans waste enough paper in a single year to build a 12-foot wall extending from New York to California. Paper is not the only costly resource in traditional advertising. Billboards, for example, incur a host of other environmental costs, such as the materials used to build them and the power required to light them up. This is not to mention the other major cost in print advertising, namely ink and cartridges. According to The Energy Collective, a factory that produces ink cartridges emits as much CO2 as 500 average North American homes. These are pretty good reasons not to take out that full-page ad you’ve been contemplating and to stop the presses on those flyers you’ve been handing out for years. If you need any more convincing, it helps that digital is not only greener, but also cheaper. Furthermore, it has reliable metrics for measuring ROI, which print could simply never have. What we have discussed above are compelling reasons why marketers must reconsider their dependence on paper for their advertising materials. Thanks to digital media, there are now far greener ways to promote your products and business. WSI OMS is the perfect partner to manage your migration to a paperless marketing strategy and help you make a positive contribution to the health of the environment. Contact us today to discuss ways to craft a winning digital marketing strategy for your...
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How to Write Impactful Email Marketing Campaigns
Want to learn how to write a high-impact promotional email and improve your email marketing strategy? We’ve put together a guide that will not only help you formulate your message more clearly, but that will also convert subscribers into loyal, paying customers. Tips to Improve Your Email Marketing: Grab Their Attention from the Start Your subject line and preview copy need to stand out and make your reader want to open the email and see what you’ve got in store. Keep in mind that you are competing for attention in a mailbox crammed full of promo emails. So, take your time to carefully formulate these two sections. In need of inspiration? Look around for catchy email subject lines and create your own content from those examples. Know Your Audience If you want to have your reader’s eyes glued to your email, you’ll need to know what makes them tick and how you can solve their problems for them. Research your audience and pinpoint what the struggle with, then offer them the solution from the get-go. Adding value is a certain way of getting casual readers converted into paying customers. The other side of knowing your audience is to understand what will make them click the trash button on your email. By avoiding spammy behaviour, copy that sounds unnatural as well as ‘salesy’ and other triggers, you’ll see a higher conversion rate from your email marketing efforts. Paint a Picture Colours, literary devices, buttons and designs can help you communicate your message clearly and concisely. Email content should be limited to only a few paragraphs, so make good use of the space you have by introducing visual aspects combined with the right copy to pack a powerful punch in your email. Don’t go overboard with visual aspects though! The idea is to be memorable, not overstimulating. Emotive words, good design elements and a strong call to action will help you to communicate your message in an impactful but tasteful way. Set a Goal and Be Laser Focused Each email you send out needs to have a specific goal in mind. In addition, it must be finely tuned to reach the target audience. There’s a world of difference between an email you’ll send to a new customer and the one you’ll send to a repeat customer, so don’t get those wires crossed. If you are not clear on your goal, your copy will be all over the place, and you’ll confuse your reader who will merrily run over to your competitors with clearly formulated messaging. Get a Little Personal It is becoming more and more important to show a little personality when trying to stand out from the myriad of competitors in your field. If readers feel like they can relate to you and make a personal connection, they will reward you with their loyalty. This personal connection also extends to treating readers as individuals with desires and needs. Personalising content for different segments of your audience can help to convince even some of the toughest readers to spend their hard-earned money with you. Seal the Deal with a Strong CTA Your entire carefully-crafted promotional email can amount to nothing if you don’t have an intriguing call to action that will get readers to convert to paying clients. You need to...
read moreWhy EAT Factors Matter in Digital Marketing
Digital marketing can be as easy as ABC or, in reality, as easy as EAT. EAT stands for expertise, authority and trust, and these are the top three factors used by search engines like Google to rank your website. Here’s a look at what EAT represents as well as why it matters for your digital marketing strategy at large. Why EAT Matters for Your Digital Marketing Strategy and How to Improve Your EAT Factors: In 2018, Google released a broad core algorithm update (dubbed the Medic Algorithm Update), which affected the search engine results page (SERP) rankings for both local and organic searches. While there was no specific mention of context for the update or what the update was for, the online community soon theorised that this update was focused on ranking websites according to the quality of their content based on EAT measurements. As a service provider, Google’s main aim is to provide excellent search results for its users. From this perspective, it makes sense that Google (and other search engines) would reward sites that make it easy to provide relevant, updated and trustworthy information to their users. This is where EAT factors come in. Google uses expertise, authority and trust as measurements to determine how high to rank your website in search results to give its users the best possible information. EAT factors are especially important when looking at YMYL (your money, your life) sites, which are sites that provide information to users that can affect their health, wealth, happiness or financial stability. EAT matters to your digital marketing strategy because you want to rank highly on the SERP so all your potential clients can find and support you – instead of your competition. How to improve your EAT factors: Create high-quality, relevant and reliable content by doing proper research, collaborating with established writers, referencing sources and editing your content to be accurate and up to date. Establish your authority by displaying the credentials of your writers and by linking them to their professional networking pages (such as LinkedIn). You can also display your business or site’s awards and memberships. Research topics that your audience will benefit from and publish your findings for the larger community to access and benefit from. Create content that your audience will find truly useful. Use SSL for your website Make it easy for clients to get in touch with a staff member who can answer their queries or assist them with issues they might experience. These tips will help you to improve the value offering you present to your clients. It will also help to support your SEO best practices as well as the quality service you already offer to your clients to improve the results from your digital marketing strategy. For support on digital marketing activities, which include social media marketing, content marketing and SEO, contact WSI OMS...
read moreEmail Marketing: Avoid the Spam Folder, Boost Conversions
Email marketing has consistently outperformed every new marketing channel that’s come out. And every marketer knows how reliable email is as a marketing tool – if you can avoid landing in the dreaded spam folder. Below we share tips on how to avoid the spam folder, boost engagement and reduce your bounce rates. Use Double Opt-Ins to Ensure the People Subscribing to Your Mailing List Wants to Be There The worst thing you can do is send emails to people who don’t want to hear from you. The best way to avoid this is to get a double opt-in. This is how to go about it: Firstly, only send emails to people who have signed up for it on the form on your website. Then, once you have sent your first email, send a follow-up or include a link in your email asking recipients to confirm that they do indeed want to hear from you. This will not only keep you off the blacklists, but will also ensure that you’re reaching a receptive audience. Update Spam Filters Regularly While Avoiding Spammy Language in Your Messaging Spam filters are there to root out emails that look like spam. This means you need to make sure that your mails are free of all the red flags that will trigger the filters. You can’t simply trust that this is an intuitive process; nor is it a set of one-time-only checks. Spam tactics change all the time, so spam filters need to be constantly updated accordingly. You can use tools such as mail-tester.com to test your emails and ensure that they are cleared for the Inbox. Shun the Practice of Buying Mailing Lists We would hope that no-one does this any more! But, there are still those who do. It’s a waste of time to buy email lists or acquire them in any other way. You may think you’re gaining access to a massive market. However, this is not how it works out in reality. Sending to any recipients that didn’t ask you to is a sure way to land in the spam folder, get bounced and blacklisted. Emails Thin on Text Content Normally Get Filtered As Spam. Avoid Them! Spam filters hate emails that are image-heavy, especially if there is a corresponding lack of text. Focus on your copy and keep the images to a minimum, choosing one or two strong ones that support the text. For the brands that use it responsibly, email is a marketing channel that keeps on giving. Contact WSI OMS today to learn how we can help you design high-converting email marketing...
read moreShape Your B2B Marketing for Success in Just 3 Steps
B2B marketing for small businesses isn’t without its own challenges. But, it is also a fair assumption that you chose a business-to-business model for its apparent advantages over a business-to-consumer model. B2B marketing targets a narrower and more clearly distinguishable market whose needs should be fairly easy to meet. The competition is also limited to far less competition than B2C firms have to deal with. But, however small the field of players you’re up against, you still have a marketing job to do. To help focus your marketing efforts, below we suggest three steps to take: Develop an Intimate Knowledge of Your Target Market How well do you really understand the potential clients you are addressing? No matter how well you think you know them, get even better acquainted. Study them, the language they speak, the platforms they frequent, in short, everything about them. Even if you serve a large industry, your market is still quite small compared to companies that target consumers. That only makes it easier for you to understand your audience inside and out. Once you’ve done your research, you will not only know how to address them, but also where. Show How Your Product Benefits Your Target Customers Look at your audience and your product. What is the connection between them? What will the one do for the other? You now know how to reach your audience and how to address them, so now you just have to relate your product to them. Here’s where your marketing creativity kicks in as you tell them via their preferred platforms (the appropriate social media sites, and the like) why they need your product. And, remember to open the channels they need to acquire it. Use Data from Your Online Marketing Efforts to Refine Your Offers This is probably the most important step. Make good use of your analytical tools. Count your clicks and conversions. And, either keep doing what you’re doing or change it as necessary. Keep a constant watch on your data. And, adjust your approach as you go. This forms a feedback loop that will maintain and strengthen your marketing efforts. B2B marketing plays to a different set of rules for B2C marketing. Though it targets a narrower market, it demands an intentional marketing strategy that focuses on the unique psychology of organisational buyers. Contact WSI OMS today and learn how you can leverage our experience and superior expertise to develop your own winning B2B marketing...
read moreGet Targeted, Qualified Traffic with Long Tail Keywords
The primary goal for people providing SEO services has for a long time been to target and rank for head or short tail keywords, presumably for the large traffic volumes they attract. But, because they are so coveted, everyone else, including the big brands target them. And with such fierce competition, these keywords are almost impossible to rank for if you’re a small business with a limited budget. For this and other reasons we will discuss, long tail keywords represent a goldmine of an opportunity. Long Tail Keywords Are More Specific and Bring Qualified Traffic Long tail keywords enable you to tailor search items specific to your business, as opposed to those that would be common across your industry. For example, say you have a business that sells gourmet doughnuts. If you use a keyword like “doughnuts,” you are unlikely to get anywhere near the top of a search result list. However, if you focus on a speciality, say “air-fried doughnuts” or “Banting doughnuts” or “custard-filled doughnuts in Cape Town,” you have now not only created a long tail keyword, but you have also placed yourself into a far narrower search bracket. The word “doughnut” may have a search volume numbering in the millions, while any of the others may be searched less than 100 times in the same period. By using these keywords, you push yourself above your competitors in the rankings. Long Tail Keywords Are a Powerful Differentiation Tool that Improves Your Marketing Long tail keywords essentially come down to the principle of focusing on your unique selling point (USP), an old idea in marketing. The concept of the long tail keyword takes the USP into the digital realm, enabling not only powerful differentiation, but also competitive marketing. It requires you to think deeper about your business and refine your offerings, an effort that is sure to be rewarded with higher search engine rankings. WSI OMS specialises in creating SEO campaigns that pull in the right, qualified traffic for your business. We will help you optimise your SEO campaign around your business’ marketing goals. Contact us today for a free consultation. The primary goal for people providing SEO services has for a long time been to target and rank for head or short tail keywords, presumably for the large traffic volumes they attract. But, because they are so coveted, everyone else, including the big brands target them. And with such fierce competition, these keywords are almost impossible to rank for if you’re a small business with a limited budget. For this and other reasons we will discuss, long tail keywords represent a goldmine of an opportunity. Long Tail Keywords Are More Specific and Bring Qualified Traffic Long tail keywords enable you to tailor search items specific to your business, as opposed to those that would be common across your industry. For example, say you have a business that sells gourmet doughnuts. If you use a keyword like “doughnuts,” you are unlikely to get anywhere near the top of a search result list. However, if you focus on a speciality, say “air-fried doughnuts” or “Banting doughnuts” or “custard-filled doughnuts in Cape Town,” you have now not only created a long tail keyword, but you have also placed yourself into a far narrower search bracket. The word “doughnut” may...
read moreHow to Use Facebook Ads to Boost Your E-Commerce Sales
Facebook ads are an effective marketing tool for e-commerce brands that know how to use them. Facebook is a giant social network where millions of potential customers spend hours every day. As such, Facebook ads present an opportunity to reach your target customers where you know they are sure to hang out. Here are four ways you can use this hardworking social media marketing to promote your e-commerce business. Continually Boost Awareness Around Your Brand Facebook is a very powerful tool for building an identity, and creating an identity is the foundation of your business. Aside from any other strategies you use in your Facebook marketing, you should be using the platform to develop and improve that identity. Incorporate your branding into all social media content, whether direct ads or other posts. In the build-up to the sale, associate your brand with events, people, causes and products that are most likely to draw the right audience. By the time the sale starts, you will have more loyal followers and, thus, more potential sales. Target People Who Have Previously Shown a Willingness to Buy Facebook is a perfect place to retarget the customers you have already gained, but who have not yet completed purchases. You can offer special deals to users who visited your site but never subscribed, or who placed items in their shopping cart and never checked out. Target their Facebook feeds with special offers designed to bring them back. Get More From Your Marketing Dollars by Promoting More Products with the Same Ad Multiple-product ads can be extremely successful. There are indications that they are efficient and more attractive to customers. The more products they can see, the more reason they have to click. Get Creative and Tell Brand Stories as a Soft-Selling Tactic Instead of posting an ad that specifically tries to sell a product or products, create ads that lead towards a sale via a more indirect route. This may sound contradictory, but remember that Facebook users see advertising everywhere – and mostly manage to tune it out. So, instead of just putting your product in front of them, draw attention to something that is connected obliquely to your brand, perhaps an event in which your products will feature in some way. This creates interest in your brand in a gentler, more ‘soft sell’ way, which is likely to not only be very refreshing for your audience, but also to make more of an impression on them. At WSI OMS, we are specialists in creating and running high-converting social media marketing campaigns. We would like to help you use Facebook ads to boost your brand image and to increase your e-commerce sales. Contact us...
read moreLocal SEO – Your Best Inbound Marketing Investment for 2020
Because inbound marketing is all about creating connections that provide your audience with valuable content that solves their problems, it makes sense that local SEO plays a large role in inbound marketing. When businesses can reach local audiences, they create valuable interactions that benefit both the client and business equally. Why Local SEO Should Be Your Inbound Marketing Focus for 2020: It is more important than ever to be within reach of local audiences, and the key to visibility is local SEO. Different studies estimate the percentage of searches for local businesses to be around 46%, and since 2018, searches containing the words “near me” have more than doubled. Here are four reasons why local SEO should be a major focus for your business in 2020: Local Is the New Global There has been a significant shift towards sustainable consumerism in the last decade, bringing local businesses to the forefront. As audiences are becoming more aware of the environmental impact of their purchases, businesses are seeing an upswing in support from local communities. Instead of desiring globally produced items, consumers are seeking local alternatives to alleviate their impact on the environment while satisfying their buying needs. Google’s Algorithm Instead of driving traffic to websites based purely on their ad spend, Google will rank businesses based on a blended algorithm. This algorithm looks at your web results (including content, website design and link building), reviews from customers and proximity to the search query. Businesses with good quality content, higher engagement rates and better reviews get higher rankings in localised searches. This means that building authentic connections with local audiences should be taking precedence over massive budgets spent on pushing PPC ads towards audiences. Local Is Valuable Your business needs to feature on local directory sites because directory listings are ranked second only to Map Pack results in search engine rankings. This means that Google will firstly show results on the local map, and then feature directories like TripAdvisor, Snupit and Yellow Pages that include businesses related to a specific keyword. Best SEO practices are still very relevant for local SEO with some SEO experts estimating that 92% of customers will pick a business to support from the first page of local results. In order to benefit from local directories, you will need to appear fairly high in the organic results to attract their attention. Different Types of Searches Search engines are allowing people to search in different ways. Google now allows longer search terms for voice searches and completes geo modifiers for their customers. This means that customers can merely type in what they are looking for instead of adding a location. Benign terms are also being used more frequently, and Google will connect these terms (like coffee or dog walker) to highly-rated local businesses without users asking for these products and services in a specific location. Don’t get left behind in the local SEO rankings, contact WSIOMS today for help with your SEO and inbound marketing...
read moreTriggered Emails: What They Are and Why You Need Them
Email has been around for a long time. And, despite the rise of instant messaging apps, social media platforms and enterprise collaboration tools like Slack (which incidentally positions itself as ‘the alternative to email’), email is not going away any time soon. Part of the reason is that it is such an effective marketing tool. If you are looking to up your email marketing game, triggered emails are the way to go. Triggered emails deliver content and messaging that’s relevant to the stage a customer is in their journey with your brand. They target leads at specific points in the sales funnel to nurture and gently guide them towards conversion. Types of Triggered Emails Triggered emails may include welcome emails that are sent when someone new signs up to your mailing list, as well as cart abandonment emails, to remind potential customers that they have yet to complete an order. You will need to create these emails and organise them by pre-set triggers. This email marketing automation takes the pressure off you, all the while ensuring that your customers remain engaged and interested in your business and its offerings. Why Triggered Emails Must Anchor Your Email Marketing Campaigns Triggered emails work to your advantage because they are designed to push a potential customer ever closer to making a purchase. They are considered to be an important part of both email marketing and content marketing, and have been proven to boost sales. According to statistics released by Bouncex, marketing software manufacturer, batch-and-blast emails generate only about $0,04 in revenue per send for the average e-commerce retailer, whereas behaviourally triggered emails generate $0,95 in revenue per send. That is quite a substantial difference. It signifies just how essential triggered emails can be to any company marketing strategy. Here at WSI OMS, we are determined to help brands realise the untapped power of triggered emails. Powered with marketing automation, triggered emails do the heavy lifting in the backend, leaving you time to work on the other areas of your business. Contact us today to get more information on how to maximise the benefits of triggered...
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