5 Chinese Social Media Strategies to Grow Your Business

China is a huge market for foreign businesses in this day and age. Many are now operating successful campaigns and attracting many new Chinese consumers through their digital efforts. With a huge population of 1.3 billion combined with a growing middle class of consumers seeking to spend money on quality products many brands are seeing great potential and results.

The key to success in China is digital, the digital revolution in China has been unprecedented, over 60% of the population now have access to the internet with the traditional brick and mortar shop being sidelined in favour of e-commerce and online business.

In terms of putting together a comprehensive digital campaign social media in China is the key. Social media platforms are so integral that without a presence here you are virtually unknown in the new, digitally orientated modern China we now find.

Here are 5 strategies to help you grow your business in China on social media.

1)    Be present on a number of different platforms.

The largest platform in China is WeChat with over 700 million active users. Ensure you set up an official account here and disseminate quality, content. Users follow official accounts and will often share content on their feed. 

Weibo (literal translation ‘micro blog’) is a more open social network than WeChat as users can see content from anyone, they do not have to be connected first. Here you can post content but crucially cross promote your WeChat account by embedding a QR code which links to this.

‘QQ’ is another platform that for marketers that functions more like a forum for e-reputation and building relationships with consumers.

Developing a presence here is about cross promotion, quality content, answering questions and offering online incentives such as discounts and offers, the Chinese like to feel rewarded and special and often follow brands on social media because of such incentives. WeChat is the most important site for promotion so link consumers back to your fan page with your specific QR code.

2)    Utilize WeChat’s micro e-stores

The WeChat e-store is growing phenomenon. Users increasingly will access brand stores through micro stores within the WeChat application. This has the added benefit of being linked with the E-wallet, users WeChat accounts are now linked to their banking so it is simple to make purchases. The stores are highly customizable with a user friendly layout and this is a growth area for brands, consumers making purchases via a social media platform is a relatively new phenomenon.

3)    Manage E-reputation

Reputation in China is key and consumers will turn to social media and forums to research products before buying. You need to cultivate a positive sentiment towards your brand on QQ forums, WeChat, Weibo and on other general forums. Chinese consumers care greatly about the opinion on other consumers, especially their circle of family and friends. If positive reviews of your brand are shared within social circles you will attract many more customers.

4)    Utilize the QR Code

The QR code as previously mentioned is very important, it is a huge phenomenon in Asia largely because WeChat as the largest social platform developed with QR as a key element of their functionality.

Offline to Online campaigns are particularly effective with QR codes placed on physical products that when scanned link users to your WeChat page. Again it is important to offer promotional incentives and competitions as a reward for scanning the code.

5)    Tailor your content to the Chinese Market

In China there are certain tastes and types of aesthetics that the Chinese consumer is drawn to. Cartoon graphics remain very popular as do short humorous videos. Content needs to be translated into Mandarin Chinese and tailored to their interests. Spend some time looking at Chinese social networks and the type of content that is popularly shared.

It is important to realize that, with regards to social media and the Chinese digital landscape in general, this is a very different online eco-system to what we are used to around the world. This is because it developed under state regulation. Having said this a lot of traditional marketing strategies are still effective in China, they just need to be altered and tailored.

Benji is a digital marketing specialist based in Shanghai, China. For more information see his blog and website here. 

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4 reasons why is better to get your PPC strategy done by an agency:

Do you want to stay on top on search engines because your products or services are of high quality and you want people to know them? After trying many ways to improve traffic on your site and raise the conversion rate on your own with no success, if you're thinking about  trying Pay Per Click ads and not sure how to go about it, the best thing to do is to leave this in the hands of an agency because they can help you to keep your site in top positions in most frequently used search engines by using PPC advertising.

As you may know, Pay Per Click (PPC) is a method of digital marketing which allows your business to reach the top positions on search engines when the users search for keywords that fit best with you are offering and you pay whenever the users click on your ad.

As the picture shows, PPC ads can make your business more visible on the most popular search engines.

In order to have a good PPC strategy and to achieve the best results in terms of click/clients conversions the best idea is consulting with a PPC agency due to the following reasons:

1.- They spend the time you don't have.

Search engine marketing it's not as simple as it can seem and requires spending a lot of time on it. Everyone's the time of is precious, your business needs you. Keeping an eye on Adwords all the time, to get the best results, is a tough  job, which experts are better at. Monitoring and understanding ads on search engines insights isn't an easy task at it requires a lot of time, which is why having marketing outsource can guarantee your business will have quality content running.

2.- Getting information constantly. 

Apart from reporting the flow of your clicks on Adwords to you every so often, a worth agency is always available to give you information about your business's online marketing and your PPC's results. Furthermore, it is easier to follow the clicks, visits to your website and the clicks/clients conversion when the information is analyzed before and someone explains it to you clearly. At the same time, working strategically with a marketing agency will make it easier to know what you can do to improve your online business.

3.- Response capacity.

Outsourcing marketing allows you to react quickly to sudden changes that can occur in your business sector. The agency that handles it continuously monitores and notices any if for any reason your business sector experiences any issues and alongside your experience in the sector they can be vital in responding rapidly. Regarding PPC strategy, what people look for can change fast and competitors can launch several products competing with you, which is why a PPC agency will provide you with the necessary information to act and face the changes in your area.

4.- You are not alone.

Being visible for everybody on internet is fundamental for any business nowadays and it's better when you have someone to advise and help you reach your important goals. An agency running your internet marketing and combined with your knowledge of your business will yield better results. You know what you want, what your products are and where you want to go, so  together you will be more successful.

As you can see, outsourcing marketing by hiring an agency may give you a lot of advantages, which make running your business online easier. In today's world having a good online strategy in order to place your website on top of search engines is  fundamental, because it allows you to reach targets and get effective conversions in to real costumers. A PPC agency will do a perfect optimisation of your business.

So, what are you waiting for? Let's try it and invest your money in to your goals.

This article has been written by Juan Antonio Salvador copywriter for a Digital Marketing Agency in London. 

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How to write and maintain an effective blog

Blogging is all about expressing one’s personal ideas and views in his own way of writing. A person develops this style by himself. But to be successful in it, one needs to produce compelling and engaging content consistently. Writing a powerful and effective blog isn't easy and requires analyzing before penning your thoughts down. These few tips might come in handy for you to write an effective blog post.

Decide on a Topic

This is the first and foremost thing that you need to decide, the most crucial component of a blog. What are you writing about? Decide who you are writing for. Your target audience would decide on how effective your blog is. Once you have a target group in mind, start deciding on the topic. Your topic should be engaging enough for the readers to carry on reading, and that too, with interest. Think of a topic that has not been discussed about too often. You do not want your readers to roll their eyes at your topic. So, zero in on something that is unique.

Content is King

This is quite a cliché by now, don’t you think? But this tradition has its roots dug quite deep already and is very true. Your content should be appealing and powerful. You already know that your content cannot obviously be a copy and paste from the internet. It needs to be original. The most you can attempt is to take some reference from the internet and its vast resources, but never a duplicate. Choose a distinct topic, and you already win half the battle. Your content will be a detailed reflection of the topic. If you still wish to write about something that has been virtually talked about often, then think of a unique content. You could try a different aspect or a fresh and original perspective to go with your topic. Your content should not be redundant. Try facts that are recent. This would automatically make your content up to date. So summing it up, your content should be:

• Original
• Not repetitive at all
• Directly addressed to the reader. This makes the post interactive and, therefore, more engaging.
• Thoroughly researched and mistake-proof (I mean, correct, mostly)
• Clear and concise

Remember ‘less is more’. So, refrain from exaggerating.

Use Examples

Bring in a little life to your blog. Try examples. Real life examples are instrumental in breaking down complicated concepts and simplifying them for your readers. Give examples that the common people generally encounter frequently. Maneuver those to talk to them, surface that interest in them, or, if that is not applicable, build that interest. This is in your hands. Include case studies, surveys, and statistics. These appeal a lot to the readers. Relate all the difficult concepts that you have put forward with these examples. This would help to make your blog compelling.

Think of a Great Heading

A catchy heading would make your blog stand out among the rest. Think up a heading that would grab the reader’s attention while he is scrolling down and rejecting the blogs by just going through the title. Your title should be able to make him linger on it, so that he clicks it open. Now, if he opens it, half your battle is conquered. Your content will do the rest.

Another thing that you should keep in mind is that you can include sub-headings to separate your paragraphs. I’ll tell you why. It’s a busy world we live in. People are running around all the time and so are their eyes while going over your blog. Your readers might skip a few paragraphs if they find it too lengthy, but in doing that, they might miss out on a few points that you have covered right there. A sub-heading would help the reader understand your intention for every paragraph clearly. So, misinterpretation would not be a risk.

Try Using Bullet Points

Using bullet points or numbering your data systematically makes your content more engaging and pleasing to the eye. Thick paragraphs make it monotonous. Break them into smaller ones. Remember it’s all about making your blog more captivating.

Read and Re-read for Mistakes

A few stupid mistakes in a delightful blog post is a disappointing let down and you do not want that. Therefore, read what you write. Check for mistakes. But there is a shortcoming in this suggestion. If you read your content after writing, you are likely to miss out on a few mistakes. But you might not always find a proof-reader or an editor to go over your work. Try this. Keep your content down and finish your other works. Come back when you are done and go over the blog again. You are bound to find the mistakes this time. Trust me when I suggest this since it is a well tested procedure.

Keep the above guidelines in mind and follow your instincts. You are bound to get a whopping number of visits for your blog post. Remember to be dynamic and consistent all the way. 

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How to Budget Your Business Expenses for 2015

Having a monthly budget for any business is essential. The sole purpose for having a budget is to measure goals and evaluate spending on advertising, outsourcing, or expansion plans. Having a budget dramatically reduces anxiety. Once the details have been worked out on paper, you will then know every single month where your money is going. There is no longer a need to borrow money from one account to pay another account. Creating a budget can be a little time-consuming, but it is worth it. It's a good idea to have vendor invoices and recent bank statements nearby when starting the process.

1. Identify Spending Categories. Evaluate where your money is going every month. Make a list of monthly expenses and categorize them. This list will vary by business size and type. By using your bank statements and invoices, you can accurately list expenses rather than relying on your memory. 

2. Estimate Expenditures. Now that your expense list is completed, a price will be assigned to each category. How much do you spend every month on a specific item? You may want to start off with expenses that are usually the same every month, such as rent and salaries.

Now, you can start working with expenses that vary from month to month such as utilities, office maintenance, office supplies, and sales commissions. Although you cannot predict future expenses, bills that vary every month can be totaled up for the last 12 months and then divided by 12. This will give you a good estimate for the year. 

There may also be some expenses that accrue infrequently, such as building repairs. These can be some very large expenses, so you may want to start budgeting for them now. For instance, if building maintenance was $3000 last year, you may want to budget the same amount or a little more for the upcoming year.

3. Track Spending. Keeping track of your expenses is not only important for tax purposes, but it also allows you to see where your money is going. Give yourself a couple of hours per week to enter your expenses in your accounting software, for this will make things easier for you in the long run. When paying bills or making large purchases, you may want to think about whether the services or products are necessary. Wanting something is completely different from needing something.

4. A Balanced Budget. Now that all of your numbers are in place, you can begin subtracting your expenses. Make sure that you are not spending more than you earn. If your expenses exceed your income, then you will need to cut back. If you have made every possible cut, then you will need to evaluate your business goals. How many sales are needed to balance the budget? How many additional clients do I need? How many products do I need to sell?

If you input your receipts in your accounting software on a daily basis, you will always be caught up. This is the best way of managing your money. Most of today's accounting programs allow you to budget expenses, so budgeting is not as difficult. By taking these steps, you will be well on your way to having a balanced budget. 

Aubrey Moulton is a writer for Nethosting.com. In her spare time, she loves to go hiking on local Utah trails and spend time reading.

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10 Best Ways to Promote Your Local Business

Throughout a financial decline, consumers have less money to use. This signifies that when they’re prepared to purchase, you want your local business to be at the forefront of their mind. 

Below are ten of the best ways to promote your local business. 

1. Create an Elevator Pitch:

You must be advertising constantly. Consequently, you will require an enthralling elevator pitch. Studies reveal the typical attention span of an adult is around 6 to 8 seconds. If you effectively draw them in, you only have a short time to persuade them to look into purchasing your merchandise or service. 

2. Influence Your Neighborhood:

What’s happening in your neighborhood? Become familiar with your idyllic client and dwell on how and where they occupy their free time. Then look for chances to get ahead of your client with your promotional message.

3. Aerial Advertising:

People don’t catch sight of aerial billboards on a daily basis as they do with roadside billboards, so it captivates them. They finish what they are doing, draw attention to it, and mention it to their friends. Be sure to have your brand name prominent so viewers know who created the amazing banner flying above. 

4. Join Forces:

Assemble a band of synergistic, non-competitive companies in your neighborhood and start promoting each other’s businesses. By working together, you can increase your customer base as you’ll be influencing new individuals. 

5. Network:

Networking necessitates a time obligation and it doesn’t offer immediate fulfillment, but a dedicated network is one of the best advantages any business person can contain. 

6. Hand Out Advertising Merchandise:

Dispensing publicity products with your business’s labeling is an imaginative and lucrative way to upsurge transactions and generate brand recognition. Research has confirmed that together with cumulative transactions and leads, advertising domains produce benevolence and have a keen return on investment. 

7. Ask for Recommendations:

Most people state they are eager to offer a referral if requested, but not many refer customers on their own. Referrals make it simpler to meet new clients. If you aren’t inquiring them, you are neglecting prospects. 

8. Build Connections:

It is a lot less costly to retain a customer than it is to get a new one. That’s why creating great relationships with your client base is vital. One of the means you can do this is by opening an email promotion. 

9. Present Coupons:

Coupons are an effective way for numerous businesses to entice new clienteles. Studies show that people will go out of their way to utilize a coupon, evidencing that this technique is effective in increasing your client base. 

10. Try Free Trials or Samples:

If someone has the chance to come across your product or service, it is likely they will wish to buy more. In today’s market, people are more at ease buying something they were able to experience initially.

These ten marketing approaches will help you draw clients, build connections, and finally, keep your brand at the forefront of future clients’ minds. It’s not solely about the funds you have put in, it’s about the time and determination you invest, and especially, the significance it has for your clients. 

Bonnie Mahan is the owner of Skyvertising.com, a leader in aerial banners. 

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4 SEO Tactics to Avoid (and What to Try Instead)

When you're planning your site's SEO strategy, it's important to do some careful research. Best practices in the world of search engine optimization are constantly changing and evolving: Tactics that used to send a site soaring in the rankings may now get you penalized by Google. Let's take a look at a few SEO tactics that you should avoid at all costs.

1. Keyword Stuffing: Even though it's well-known that stuffing your content with keywords is a surefire way to lose your ranking, this practice can still be seen on many websites. Rather than focusing on keyword density, try to direct your efforts toward creating fresh, engaging content for your readers. Develop a set of related keywords and natural phrases that you can sprinkle into your content instead of relying on a specific long-tail keyword.

2.  Buying Backlinks: When you're building a backlink profile, bigger isn't always better. Resist the temptation to purchase a quantity of backlinks: This practice is likely to backfire and end up hurting your rankings. The SEO power of backlinks is derived from the validity and authority of the sites that contain the links, and cheaply-purchased backlinks usually come from sketchy sites. Link building should still be an important part of your SEO strategy, but you'll have better luck developing a smaller number of links from high-authority sites. Try reaching out to influential blogs and sites in your niche to ask for a backlink, or consider creating a guest post for one of these authoritative sites.

3.  Duplicate Content: Many websites make the common mistake of having the same content appear on more than one of their web pages. When search engines see duplicate content, they can't determine which copy of the content to index; in most cases, the content never shows up in search results. There's no way to bypass the hard work of writing original content for each and every page on your site, but the SEO benefits of unique content will justify the time and effort.

4.  Neglecting Mobile Site Design: The importance of a good mobile site can't be stressed enough. According to a study by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, 61% of consumers who visit a mobile-unfriendly website are likely to head over to a competitor's' site instead. If that statistic doesn't motivate you to create a user-friendly mobile design, there's even a SEO benefit to have a strong mobile site: Google now takes the existence of a mobile version into account when determining the ranking of websites. There's no better time than today to develop a mobile design that will work on a variety of different devices.

As you can see, many SEO strategies that were effective in the early days of search engines are hopelessly outdated today. You need to adapt your strategy to meet the changing requirements of the current search engine landscape. If a method seems too good to be true, it probably is. By avoiding some of these gimmicky tactics, you can focus on a solid SEO strategy that will get your website the results it needs.

Aubrey Moulton is a writer for Freeguestpost and has over six years of blogging experience. She enjoys Netflix marathons and reading.

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Topics to Absolutely Avoid on Your Blog

Running out of topics and subject for your blog can be terrifying, especially if you’re facing a time crunch. When this happens you may think turning to a last resort is a good idea. Perhaps you’ll go for something controversial, for example, to shake things up and get people talking?

While some controversy can be ok if you plan it out carefully, most of the time it ends up being very negative. So for 99% of the time you operate your blog, it’s best to avoid the following subjects. While there could be merit to a blog post about these topics, there’s little plus to taking the chance.

Politics

You likely feel strongly about certain things in your personal life. You don’t like this particular facet of government, or you think a political candidate would be great for so and so office. When you get into your business, though, it’s best to leave all this out.

Think you have an idea how your customers lean? You’re going to find out quickly when you write a blog post about recent government moves or political battles. One of the best lessons you can learn as a PR pro is you can never totally predict how people will react to anything. Just when you believe you have your audience pegged you’ll be surprised.

This is especially true for anything divisive like politics. Not only could you chase away customers who lean the other way, you could annoy some who are tired of seeing political rants.

Religion

Religion is another hot-bed of problems just waiting to nip you in the heels, but not for the reason you think. Sure, it’s another divisive area with some feeling strongly about their religion and others feeling the same about a totally different one, and still others tired of hearing about it online.

But something else could come back to bite you: your branding efforts. I would argue that bringing religion into your branding (unless that’s already part of it) could get you off track even more than politics. It’s such a personal matter that has such little to do with business 99% of the time that it’s almost like breaking the fourth wall in a play.

On top of that, you risk rebranding yourself. For example, if your taxi cab blog business blogs about the Mormon Church, you’ll be known as “the Mormon taxi cab service.” Whether or not that’s accurate or fair is irrelevant – it’s just how people will see you from now on. It’s not really worth the confusion and headache.

Dirty Laundry

I’ve seen one blog that actually does this and uses their “ugh, life stinks and people are idiots” attitude towards their branding. And it works, quite well. However, I’m still going to say you should not air grievances, especially if it deals with the company at large.

Nobody wants to hear about your dirty laundry. Feel free to yell at each other over personal IM, text, or in the office. As soon as anyone thinks it’s ok to move it to the public space – like in a blog titled “10 Reasons to Not Take Someone’s Soda Out of the Fridge” – you’ve gone too far.

I don’t care how “casual” you see your business and brand; it’s just an awful road to head down. Keep it at least partially professional and try not to mix your personal and business worlds like that.

What are some other topics you should avoid on your blog?

By Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases and author of PR Fuel

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How a Well-Optimized And SEO-Friendly Web Design Benefits Your Business

A good ranking in SERP or search engine result pages is needed for the success of your business. Each and every leading brand implements ethical SEO techniques to ensure higher rankings in the SERP’s. This shows everything including content, web design, and optimization tactics help improving the rankings in SERP. Here, we will discuss how optimized web pages go the extra mile in helping your online business take colossal shape.

Driving Maximum Visitors To Your Site

Driving maximum number of targeted traffic is not so easy, especially when the internet is flooded with close competitors, promoting similar products or services at cutthroat rates. Although, many SEO service provider vows to deliver the best possible results in the quickest possible time, but not all stick to their words. In order to drive maximum traffic, you need to have the right optimization techniques and implement right SEO tools. With the use of right tools and ethical SEO techniques, one gets ample chances of increasing traffic at good pace. This will help your site in gaining increased traffic as well as conversions.

         

Develops Brand credibility

Mind you the search results that come up on the Google’s first page and those appearing within the first 4-5 results are taken into consideration mostly by the online visitors. When your company business or website gets displayed on the first page, it means that you have good repute and you sell good deal of products and services that customers mostly need. Getting Front Page means a lot! So, this can be said that an improved ranking enhances the credibility and brand awareness of the business. 

Helps Growing your Business

If you are aware of the optimization techniques and technicalities, SEO can provide you multiple benefits. Concise and comprehensive web content with relevant keywords can ensure robust interaction with your target audience. When your products or services get promoted through article, blog, videos, web copy or info graphics, you get the chance to reach out to maximum number of audience in the most successful manner. With multiple benefits an optimized site helps growing your business.

Consistent Results

Frankly speaking, if you opt for GFP organic SEO, you may not see the results overnight, but you can see an improvement in your site’s ranking gradually. So, to be precise you can see more consistent and permanent results than the paid advertisements.

So, in nutshell, this can be said that SEO helps in ensuring better rankings, improved conversions and driving maximum revenues and clients. To know more please visit: http://www.gettingfrontpage.com

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Hiring A Local Online Marketing Agency For Your Business

Businesses have another avenue to explore these days – the internet. Most have gone “mainstream”, putting up their stores online and marketing their brand the same way. In advertising, online marketing is a new concept – one that has only been around for the past five years so there are really no set ground rules and knowledge on what really works. For the most part, it is trial and error.

You would still need to hire an onlinemarketing agency for your business though. The clear advantage to advertising on the web is its wide reach and scope, not to mention it is more economical. Its advantage can be its biggest advantage too, because what you advertise in the world wide web need to reach that target audience or else it wouldn’t even be an effective marketing idea. This is where an internet marketing agency can help.

A digital marketing agency is the only company that specializes in online marketing campaigns. And a conventional or traditional marketing agency is skilled in producing various marketing campaigns in the media – TV, radio, print ads. They are two very different companies and provide completely different services to their clients.

Experts recommend hiring a local agency instead of going to bigwigs right away. Here are their reasons:

Big internet marketing agencies are expensive.

If you are starting a small business, startups can be expensive and budgets will usually be constrained. Advertising costs need to be limited. And big marketing agencies, like those in traditional media firms, are very expensive.

One of the benefits of choosing a small local marketing firm over one of the mega agencies is that the local firms have far less overhead and staff and can offer more competitive pricing.

Local internet marketing agencies understand your market.

If your small business has a local target audience, having a firm in your area manage your online marketing program is a wise decision because they know the market. They understand local consumers and what appeals to them because they themselves are local consumers in your market!

You also do not have to give them as much background or detail as possible since they already know the market. They can even give you tips on how to manage your advertising strategies and cut down on expenses.

Hiring local agencies mean that you are also helping your economy flourish. So when you hire local, you're re-investing in your local economy by keeping those marketing dollars right in your own back yard.

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Using various channels for digital marketing

Many people are engaged in digital marketing today, and it is an obvious fact, because online business is greatly prospering now. It is one of the main sources of regular income for majority. No doubt, many obstacles occur on the way to the success, and it is main fact here not to skip any innovation, new updates in this field. You should follow all new trends, which appear on the platforms in order to improve the quality of your work and service. Every year prepares for us some new technologies and it is important to follow them. Today Internet marketing professionals offer some new strategies, which help to boost your online business. So it is really worth to look through them and to distinguish the best ones for you.

Of course, in 2014 the social media advertising takes leading position. It had a great success in the previous year and it is still one of the best ways to increase your income. Social media advertising lets you to target your business to the large audience. It is generally necessary to complement your organic activity and it helps to demonstrate profitability of investments. As we know, such social media networks as Twitter, Facebook give a possibility to companies with big budgets to advertise their products on the platforms of these networks. It greatly increases the popularity of your products and helps to find customers, who are really interested in your goods.

Also we should mention about the significance of good design and interface. In 2014 flat user interfaces are still preferred. They should be simplified, with simple color schemes and white spaces. As for design, it is preferably elaborated for mobile devices this year, because mobile appliances are widespread used now. It is both comfortable for customers and sellers.

Conversion rate optimisation is on its top in 2014. Many companies made it as a key block of their businesses and CRO brought a success to them. It helps to drive good quality traffic to your site, to attract more valuable visitors. For these aims companies should improve their profitability of the investments on such digital channels as Social, PPC, etc. In conversion rate optimization, personalisation plays main role. When you know your customers' intents, interests, preferences, you will set your competitors apart. Make your content engaging and relevant. For CRO it is necessary to track main conversions, effective visitors, to analyze accurately the data.

Email and social media is still one of the best channels to attract customers. Different platforms actively integrate with email. Ads, set in email, are very effective. Many people use their smart phones for shopping now and it is a good way to deliver engaging information to them through personal email. Now many departments and teams are going to combine their work together in order to achieve quite holistic approach. This technology will improve the service and in-store experience, because it is not difficult to observe, that even prices for goods are thoroughly checked by phone users while shopping. This technology will almost completely satisfy consumers’ needs and wishes.

Video advertising is too actual in 2014. It is much more effective, than other ways of promotion. Anyway, it will increase your traffic, your regular income. Of course, it is necessary to place video ads on the popular platforms, and it is worth to make investments in it, because, no doubt, you will get good profit from it. Suchlike advertisement saves consumer’s time and gives better and open access to your products.

There are many other digital marketing trends in 2014, and you should track all innovations, data, etc. in order always to take leading positions. Essay writing services.

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Effective strategies that make your content ‘bigger’

‘Big content’ is a 2014 buzzword – but what does it mean? And can it really help you engage users better, using the same budget and resources?

Making your content offering ‘bigger’ – producing an ebook instead of an article, making your blog post into a whole series – is a great way to make your content resources work harder.

You’ll be making the most of your in-house subject matter experts, your writers – however many you have – and you’ll save time commissioning and signing off on content, too.

‘Big content’ can include things like:

•       Ebooks
•       White papers
•       Long-form thought leadership articles
•       Reports
•       Blog series

The downside? It’s easy to stretch ideas too thinly, or use a longer format when one isn’t appropriate, adding to what content-marketing agency Sticky Content termed ‘the content bubble’.

Here some effective strategies for making your content bigger, while keeping every piece engaging, relevant and insightful.

Make good content ideas work harder

Producing longer, more in-depth content means you can commission greater volumes of content all at once – saving time in the process.

So, when you nail a good content idea, make the most of it. Is this really a blog post, or is it a whole series? What questions do your audiences have on this subject, and how best can you address those questions? Would a data visualisation be useful?

Once you’ve decided on an angle and a format that everyone’s happy with, your content producers can get on with the job at hand.

And if you put your agreed brief down in writing, you’ll all have one central reference point – this will be handy tool when you come to sign the content off, too.

Make the most of your in-house experts

If you’re researching a white paper or putting together a report, you’ll need some credible, expert input. Before you look externally, ask whether anyone inside the business has the knowledge you need. Look to sales teams, those speaking to customers all the time – or product owners, or customer service professionals. These people can be a mine of information on what your users are really interested in.

Anthologise existing content using a new format

Are there any clever ways you can use your existing content in a new way? For example, you could combine flowcharts, articles and video, and publish these together as an eBook.

Don’t exclude internal documents – such as presentations and email memos – from your list of possible content resources. You’ll often find something interesting in these, which can then be turned into a publishable blog post, or a section in a white paper.

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Is LinkedIn More Valuable than Facebook?

If you’re around the young frequently, you know about the exodus from Facebook.  By the young, I mean “those under 20”, and by “exodus from”, I mean general disdain for.  The platform which started as a private place for college students just isn’t that appealing to their demographic anymore.  Twitter’s brevity is the generic social platform of their youth. 

Back when I was a 20-something, Facebook was just catching on with my peers, and it was being projected as the next business platform.  Email would be dead, and business networks would begin to mingle with personal networks…Facebook was the way of the future.

Clearly, that was not a completely accurate projection.  But thinking of Twitter as the business platform of the future has its up sides and its down sides.  There are meetings I definitely feel could be reduced to 140 characters, saving us all time.  On the other hand, if I hear one more hashtag pronouncement, I may #explode.

Fortunately, we will probably not have to explore that realm.  LinkedIn, once the beleaguered stepchild of the social networking world, has become a real platform for grown-ups, and has a definite place to play in a social networking strategy.  Here are a few things you want to take into consideration when you’re building your company or brand social profile.

1.      Don’t neglect LinkedIn, even if you are in a creative discipline.  There’s a myth afoot in the creative community that LinkedIn is for office jocks seeking new jobs.  The truth of the matter is that LinkedIn is a form for people who have work (hence have paychecks), are looking for work (and might have talent to contribute to your endeavors), and know people.  Who know people.  The sales world has figured out how to mine LinkedIn connections for fun and profit – look to their tactics to help your business or brand make connections and contacts you need to grow and take root.

2.      Don’t discount LinkedIn just because you don’t need work.  Even if you’re not between gigs, LinkedIn offers a wealth of valuable knowledge.  How else would you find and connect with business leaders and thought leaders in varied regions and disciplines?

3.      Don’t be shy.  If you have a valid question, thought or consideration, you should put yourself out there.  If you’re hesitant about contacting an individual directly, join a group and ask a broader cross-section for advice.  Just as in real life, though, there’s not much that compares to direct one-on-one correspondence.  Stay within the bounds of professionalism and the golden rule, and make some new friends!

No matter what you think about the future of Facebook or Twitter, don’t neglect LinkedIn.  Take advantage of the opportunity to connect your brand with leaders and maximize your exposure, no matter what line of business you are in!

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