If that’s the case, then how do you compete?

How do you differentiate?

This rapid normalization of AI-assisted content creation has turned what was once cutting-edge into the baseline for competition. Good enough content is the new normal.

With 2025, right around the corner it’s time, you need to take a hard look at the content that you’re creating. Does this add value, or could anyone have generated this answer to a question?

This commoditization of content and the rise of alternatives to Google Search, like ChatGPT Search, or Perplexity AI, have further heightened the stakes.

For your busines, the challenge isn’t just keeping up—it’s about staying ahead.

How?

You need to not start thinking of simple content, but you should be building a content moat: a strategy that ensures your content not only survives but thrives in an increasingly crowded and homogeneous digital ecosystem.

What is a Content Moat?

I can almost hear you thinking, a content moat? When you think of an effective moat in general, a few things come to mind:

• Difficult to Replicate: Moats are built on distinctive assets or processes that competitors find difficult to duplicate. Achieving similar advantages often requires considerable effort, expertise, and investment.
• Delivers Clear Customer Value: A true moat directly benefits customers and plays a crucial role in their purchasing decisions. Features that don’t solve real problems or add value fail to create lasting competitive barriers.
• Strengthens Over Time: The best moats grow more effective as they mature, with benefits compounding over the years. This increasing advantage makes it progressively harder for rivals to catch up.

So when talking about a content moat, I’m talking about a sustainable, strategic advantage in content creation and distribution that makes your brand’s content unique, defensible, and difficult for competitors to replicate.

Much like a physical moat protects a castle, a content moat safeguards your business’s authority, engagement, and traffic in the digital marketplace. When literally everyone can create a thousand articles at the drop of a hat by using AI, creating a content moat is not optional—it’s essential.

AI-Assisted content is the new normal

The Evolution of AI in Content Creation

AI-assisted content is no longer a novelty. Tools like years ago already like Jasper, and more recently ChatGPT, Claude have democratized content production.

They dramatically lowered the barrier for entry, by enabling even non-technical business owners to generate articles, social media posts, and marketing materials in minutes.

However, with this surge in AI-generated content, the Internet is now saturated with repetitive, boilerplate material. Everyone is just regurgitating the same old, same old boring content.

While these tools are invaluable, they often lack the nuance, depth, and originality that distinguish impactful content from noise.

Opportunities and challenges

For businesses, the rise of AI content brings both good and bad news. On the bright side, AI helps create more content faster. But at the same time, it has caused “SERP (Search Engine Results Page) staleness.”

This means search results are crowded with articles that all look and sound the same, making it hard to stand out.

To make your brand stand out, you must go beyond the basics. You must prioritize humanization, expert perspectives, and unique value propositions to create content that resonates with your audience.

Example of companies that built Content Moats

There are countless examples of companies that have managed to establish strong Content Moats—and even more that have failed to do so. HubSpot, and Monday are two standout examples of success.

HubSpot

Competing with HubSpot in the sales and marketing content space is no easy task. In the U.S. alone, they rank for nearly 200,000 top 10 keywords.

As pioneers of the Inbound Marketing movement, HubSpot has created a highly efficient content engine that consistently raises the bar in quality and value. Take their content hub on “sales process” as an example—it’s organized into beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels. This structure transforms their articles into a comprehensive library, almost like an educational course.

Monday.com

Another great example is how pre-IPO the project management software company monday.com scaled up its content production. In the 12 months leading towards the IPO the produced 125 new blog posts per month. 1,000 that year!

That traffic growth as you can see in the above graph was crazy. And if you want to find out more about the story on how they did this, I suggest listening to the “How the Fxck SEO podcast” talking about it.

Building Your Content Moat

But of course, we’re not all Hubspot, or Monday.com. We don’t all have a team of hundreds of writers, but how can you as an SME, or a SAAS, or any other business that doesn’t have those insane amounts of funding, still build your content moat?

How can you start building your content moat?

First you need to start looking beyond keyword tools. When everyone uses the same tools to search for keywords, search volume, they are all looking to hunt down the same traffic.

Start talking to your customers, and let your Sales, Customer Success and Support teams report back to you about the conversations they have daily with customers.

What are their FAQs? What are people asking them the most? Interview these team members and then create content on your website that these client facing people can refer to.

It sounds simple, but do you have pages on your site that your sales, or support team send people to for further subject they commonly talk about with customers – or potential customers?

I’m not talking about your sales pages, I’m talking about pages that leave no stone left unturned on whatever the subject is.

Next steps?

1. Prioritize Humanized Content

AI-generated content lacks the human touch—personal experiences, emotional nuance, and subjective insights. Incorporating these elements can elevate your content above the commoditized crowd.

Adding quotes from industry experts, sharing case studies, or weaving in personal anecdotes are powerful ways to make your content resonate.

Plus as E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) is stil a thing in the world of SEO, so don’t forget to showcase your own Experience, and Expertise into your content. Why would anyone trust you for writing what you did?

Pro tip :
Differentiate your brand’s voice. Ask yourself, if your content appeared on a competitor’s site, would your audience still recognize it as yours? Sharp recognition is the goal.

2. Invest in Content Packaging

The way content is packaged is just as important as its depth. A well-packaged piece of content is visually engaging, easy to navigate, and rich with multimedia elements. Consider:

• Original Graphics: Custom visuals can simplify complex ideas and make your content more shareable.
• Embedded Videos: Videos increase dwell time and provide an alternative way for users to consume information.
• Interactive Elements: Tools like calculators, quizzes, or interactive infographics encourage engagement and keep users on the page longer.

3. Focus on Unique Research and Data

Creating your own research or analyzing data in innovative ways builds a strong content moat by providing insights that competitors cannot easily replicate. This can include:

• Conduct surveys: Collect data that directly aligns with the needs and interests of your target audience.
• Aggregating industry statistics: Combine existing data in a unique way to present valuable insights.
• Share internal analytics: Share exclusive data from your own operations that is relevant to your audience.

Original data not only positions your brand as an authority within your industry, but also provides content that is distinctive and adds lasting value.

4. Embrace Alternative Traffic Channels

With the rise of alternatives to Google, diversifying your traffic sources is essential. Platforms such as YouTube, Reddit and Instagram offer excellent opportunities to repurpose your content and reach new audiences.

For example:

• YouTube videos in blogs: By embedding a YouTube video in your blog, you not only improve the user experience but also increase the time visitors spend on your page. This can contribute to better SEO results.
• Reddit discussions: Share insights or answers to targeted questions within relevant communities to showcase your expertise and drive traffic to your website.
• Instagram content: Create visually appealing posts, reels or stories based on your existing content to engage a wider audience.

Diversifying channels strengthens your presence and increases the impact of your content, even beyond traditional search engines.

Putting this into practice

A fantastic example of all of this, is this article by Maze, targeting the keyword UX research methods. It’s packed with everything you’d want from a comprehensive piece of content.

First off, there’s a video version for those who prefer watching over reading.

Quick tip :
if you’re not embedding YouTube videos in your content, you should start—even if they’re not your own. Why? When visitors hit play and spend time watching an embedded video, it contributes to your page’s dwell time, which I talked about earlier and is a big plus for SEO.

Back to the Maze article.

It also features custom graphics that clarify complex ideas, subtle calls to action that promote their products without being pushy, and neatly organized tables for presenting data in a visually engaging way.

Then there are TL;DR callouts—these concise summaries break up the text and make it easy to skim. And the cherry on top? A quote from an outside subject matter expert that adds authority and credibility.

Now, why does this matter for SEO?

Two key reasons come to mind:

1. Backlink potential: Content that’s fresh, visually engaging, and different from the competition is more likely to earn backlinks.
2. Boosting dwell time: While we don’t know every detail of Google’s algorithm, one thing’s clear: the longer someone stays on your page or site, the better. By adding elements that hold a visitor’s attention, you’re improving their session time, which can positively impact your rankings.
   In short, crafting content that’s both engaging and thoughtfully designed isn’t just good for users—it’s a win for SEO too.

In short, creating content that is both engaging and thoughtful is not only good for your users-it’s also an SEO winner.

You can even take it a step further, an not just as for visuals you can insert in your content, but also let Claude or ChatGPT fully create them for you, or even ask “Can you make an interactive tool I can embed into my article that helps people do X“, when you have the paid version of Claude, you can also upload the CSS of your website, so it knows all your styling and it can use that as part of the tooling it creates for you!

Different ways to leverage AI to strengthen your Content Moat

While AI can be used to create the flood of same-old same-old articles like everyone else is doing online, it can also be used as a way more powerful tool that can help you rize above your competitors.

If you leverage AI thoughtfully, you can not only enhance the efficiency of your content creation process but also add the layers of creativity, personalization, and innovation necessary to build a truly defensible content moat.

So how can you turn AI into a strategic ally for your business?

1. Ideation and Planning

Use AI to brainstorm unique angles or identify trending topics within your niche. Tools like ChatGPT and Claude can help you refine your ideas and develop a content calendar tailored to your audience’s needs.

2. Enhancing Visual Content

As discussed, AI tools can assist in designing graphics, generating video scripts, or even creating mockups for interactive elements. These assets not only enrich your content but also make it more shareable across platforms.

3. Audience Engagement

AI-driven analytics tools can help you understand how users interact with your content, enabling you to make data-driven improvements that enhance engagement and retention. I even saw a tool the other day calld keak, that allows you to keep on running split tests on your landing pages automatically, to see what converts better and use that as the basis to run the next test again.

The long-term benefits of a content moat

Creating a content moat isn’t just about surviving the current wave of AI-assisted content—it’s about future-proofing your brand’s digital presence. A robust content moat offers:

• Increased Authority: By consistently delivering unique and valuable content, your brand becomes a trusted source in your industry.
• Improved SEO Performance: Engaging, high-quality content attracts backlinks, boosts dwell time, and enhances user satisfaction—all of which contribute to better rankings.
• Sustainable Growth: A content moat ensures that your traffic and engagement remain strong, even as competition intensifies.

In a digital world dominated by AI-assisted content, standing out requires more than just participation—it demands innovation, originality, and a commitment to excellence. By creating a content moat, businesses can rise above the sea of sameness, capturing the attention and loyalty of their audience. Whether it’s through humanized writing, innovative content packaging, or leveraging AI as an assistant rather than a crutch, the key is to stay ahead of the curve.

As the AI bubble continues to grow, those who invest in building a content moat will not only weather the storm but emerge as leaders in their industries. How are you using AI as part of your content machine?

As humans, we love the holiday spirit, festivities, and any special occasion on which we can celebrate. It’s the time of the year when you can dress up a bit more fancy, get festive, be surrounded by family, friends, and loved ones, and do fun things.

Whether your company is a B2B or B2C, with your marketing efforts throughout the year, you’re promoting your products and services to someone, to people.

At User Growth, we’ve been helping our customers for years plan their best holiday marketing campaigns, and in this article, we will share our expertise so you can break your 2023 sales targets.

We will be looking into why and how you, with your company, can join the holiday cheer, delight the right customers, and boost your business’s product or service simultaneously with a highly effective holiday marketing campaign.

Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or just starting out, let’s dive into how you can create a marketing strategy for the holiday that truly resonates with your audience and drives unparalleled results.

Why is holiday marketing important?

The holiday season is the perfect time to connect with your company’s prospects and celebrate those feelings of companionship and gratitude. As a marketer, you can leverage these feelings to have a deeper connection with your customers on an emotional level. This will help build trust and credibility.

People pay extra attention during the holidays to everything holiday-related, like visuals, texts, promos, or anything else that can come to mind. With your company, you want to appeal to everyday emotions while also standing out from the crowd.

Why?

• 89% of U.S. millennials planned to shop on Black Friday/Cyber Week 2022
• 75% of Gen Z planned to shop Black Friday sales in 2022, compared to 53% for all people surveyed.
• The 1.39 billion holiday season returns represent a 63% YoY increase in 2022.
• Mobile shopping spikes on key holidays, with 60% of revenue coming from mobile purchases on Christmas day

And these are not just trends in the US:

• 44% of French women planned to shop exclusively online during Black Friday.
• 60% of German consumers intended to do most of their Black Friday shopping online in 2022
• 70% of U.K consumers said they planned to shop on Black Friday because it offers better deals and prices for gifts
• Nearly 60% of Dutch consumers planned to do most of their Black Friday electronics shopping online in 2022
• 40% of Belgian consumers intended to buy apparel or shoes as a gift to themselves on Black Friday 2022.

So yeah, creative holiday marketing campaigns are kind of a big deal, and you could end up missing a huge part of your sales if you don’t plan and execute an effective holiday campaign.

Below, we will dive into seven steps that will help you get focus during your holiday campaigns and help you get the most out of it.

How to create a holiday marketing campaign from scratch

Launching a successful marketing campaign during the holiday shopping season isn’t just about hanging festive banners or offering seasonal discounts.

It requires strategic planning, a deep understanding of your target audience, and the ability to weave a cohesive narrative that resonates with the spirit of the season.

Having worked alongside lots of businesses, from fledgling startups to established brands, we at User Growth have honed a systematic approach to building holiday campaigns from the ground up.

Leveraging our years of expertise and countless success stories, we’re here to guide you step-by-step on how to construct a campaign that not only captures attention but also drives measurable results.

Whether this is your first attempt or you want to refine your existing approach, this blueprint will provide invaluable insights to ensure your 2023 holiday campaign shines brilliantly.

1. Review your previous holiday marketing campaigns

No matter how busy you are, or how much experience you think you’ve already got from previous companies or previous campaigns, past experiences remain our greatest teachers.

That’s why it’s always good to delve into the data from your past holiday campaigns to discern your victories and pinpoint areas ripe for refinement, before starting any other work. You might have remembered things not 100% like they were last year. Data never lies.

A thorough assessment of earlier strategies ensures that you tread forward with wisdom, sidestepping prior missteps.

Moreover, it’s crucial to immerse yourself in the evolving world of your customers.

Has there been a significant shift in your customer landscape over the past year? Are there new demographic trends to be aware of? What drives and resonates with them now?

Grasping these nuances is paramount; they’ll inform a holiday message that truly resonates and engage customers.

2. Define your target audience

Understanding and defining your target audience is the cornerstone of any effective marketing campaign, especially during the bustling holiday season. By diving deep into your buyer personas, you can unravel the distinct preferences, habits, and pain points of different segments of your audience.

For instance, if your audience skews younger, encompassing Gen Z and Millennials, leveraging platforms like TikTok or Instagram and running vibrant social commerce campaigns with festive deals might be your golden ticket.

On the other hand, if you’re in a fiercely competitive market, standing toe-to-toe with industry giants, an irresistible, unique offer could be the game-changer that sets you apart.

But it’s more than just age groups and promotions. You must delve deeper. Where do your personas spend their digital time? Are they incessantly scrolling through social media feeds on their phones, or do they lean towards the traditional desktop browsing experience?

Such insights are instrumental in guiding your content creation, promotional efforts, and channel selection.

If you’ve already sculpted detailed buyer personas in your overarching marketing strategy, it’s pivotal to fine-tune your focus for the holiday season.

Question the relevance of your campaign to each persona. Will it appeal to all? Or are there specific segments that need to be prioritized, while others are set aside for now?

These decisions can make all the difference between a campaign that resonates and one that fades into the background.

3. Decide on your holiday campaign theme

Now that you know what your audience likes and dislikes, it is much easier to identify which holidays and events will captivate your audience.

You can’t participate in every little cheer if it does not fit with your target audience, so let’s start by identifying which holidays and events are vital for you and your customers.

You can use Days of the Year, or National Day Calendar to help find specific holidays for your business, next to the big ones like Black Friday, or Christmas.

Best practice is to plan this in advance. Holidays always happen on the same dates yearly, so there is no reason not to think about this early.

Some simple searches can already put you in the direction of getting all the necessary dates. Try searching for events and holidays that are:

• Relevant to your country or the countries in which you operate. There are a lot of events that tend to be country-specific, or even events that are celebrated differently in the various countries;
• Relevant to your buyer personas, and to your target audience. If your ideal buyer personas are made of several segments, identify which events work for all and which are only for a subset of your audience. Let’s say that your product addresses young professionals; then you should check for significant events in your target area for these young professionals. But if these young professionals are only a subset of your entire target audience (let’s say all employees), then try to find events that are exciting for all employees and mark those events for young professionals separately;
• Big enough. Of course, if you’ve got a big enough marketing team, it is easier to rally behind every little event you can find throughout the entire year. As a small business, however, you need to pick your battles. If you can only support a smaller number of events per year, go for the bigger ones. If you’re a local business owner, try focusing on local events like major sports events, for example, in your city. If you’re a startup and as a founding team, it’s still all hands on deck. Try sticking to major holidays that are worth your time in both reach and ROI;
• Diverse. Try approaching the search for your events with an open mind. The first thing on your mind with a search like this will result in the traditional holidays (mostly focused around religions). Try thinking about a wider range of events as well, things like sports events, music festivals, spring break, back to school, Cyber Monday, April Fools, mother’s day, etc., etc.;

Write down all the holidays you can find, set down priorities, and try looking at the overall bigger picture. It’s important that there is a good spread of these events throughout the year so that you can support them with your small team or just by yourself.

After you are able to identify the holidays and events throughout the year that you want to support, you should, of course, include them in your content calendar as well. Add some lines for which segment they are most relevant so that you won’t forget!

When you know which events, or holidays you want to participate in, you can develop a campaign theme, the big driving message that your assets, goals, and marketing efforts will revolve around.

The theme needs to be the center of your strategy; picking one that matches your brand’s image and creates a buzz will be the best motif for the holidays.

Sure, it might sound trivial, but anchoring your holiday campaign with a robust theme is critical.

Having a theme not only provides a foundational reference for your team during the campaign’s evolution, but in our experience, it also offers a beacon for consumers, helping them connect the dots. Your theme’s success hinges on its memorability, universal appeal, and adaptability across diverse channels.

That’s why it is essential for your theme to resonate with both your brand’s identity and your customers’ values.

Time-honored themes for the festive season include charity, comfort, togetherness, nostalgia, and familial bonds.

Beyond a cohesive narrative, it’s pivotal to harmonize your visual elements with the chosen theme. Remember, visuals leave a lasting imprint — studies suggest that our brains process visuals almost 60,000 times faster than text. Hence, typography, color palettes, and imagery should echo the theme, creating a unified and compelling presentation.

4. Choose your campaign goals

Before crafting the perfect offer, it’s important not to just jump into creating an offer. Instead, take some time to consider for yourself: What are you aiming for with this campaign? What does success look like for you and your business?

To make sure your campaign works well, make a clear list of things you want to achieve. Use the SMART way – this means your goals should be clear (Specific), something you can count on (Measurable), possible to reach (Attainable), right for your business (Relevant), and have a finish time (Time-bound).

Here’s an easy example of a goal:

“Get [number] people interested in [what you’re selling or doing] by [a certain date].”

So, for the holiday season, your list might look like:

• Get 2,000 people excited about our holiday sale by December 10, 2023.
• Have 1,000 people sign up for our holiday shopping app by December 1st, 2023.
• Raise $30,000 for charity XYZ by December 24, 2023.

Making a clear list like this helps you know what you want to do and how to do it best.

5. Create your offer

Your offer is the heartbeat of your campaign, guiding all the efforts you’ll put forth. An offer can be anything from a prize, a discount coupon, or maybe things like free ebooks, online courses, videos, webinars, etc.

Another enticing option is a digital holiday gift card, similar to what platforms like BHN Rewards provide. With many choices available, picking one that genuinely resonates with your audience is key.

Put yourself in their shoes: Suppose you know your target audience is often crunched for time, especially during the festive rush. In such a scenario, wouldn’t a set of user-friendly templates be more appealing than an extensive ebook?

Spend some time thinking about what kind of offer, or prize will attract your ideal customer.

When crafting your offer, be sure to think about the PROFIT from what you create.

A lot of marketers skip this step, and they end up with significantly more orders, which means more COGs, more shipping costs, more CC transaction fees, and yes, more revenue… but less profit.

Their ROAS looks higher, so they pat themselves on the back, congratulating themselves on a job well done… unless they get a nasty note from the finance team.

That’s brutal. Work backwards from profitability to figure out where the sweet spot is.

William Harris, CEO of Elumynt, the e-commerce growth engine behind over 13 acquisitions and counting

If you are targeting small business owners, an ebook on social media marketing could be appealing. Offering a coupon could be an effective strategy to attract more customers to your store.

Another great offer is using product bundles, or holiday combos to increase the average order value (AOV) of your store.

They are very popular with customers because they deliver greater value than standalone products. And they are offered at discounted prices too.

By offering bundled products at discounted rates, you’ll increase the number of sales you get and bump up your average order value (AOV). It is critical, especially for e-commerce businesses.

If the offer you want to use is a prize, then take the following into consideration:

• One common mistake companies make is hosting a generic giveaway, such as a “win an iPad” contest. While this may result in many entries, it does not guarantee that they will be from your target audience. So, make the prize fit your target audience.
• Companies can generate attention by offering several affordable prizes, such as the opportunity to test-drive a car, sample a new food, or receive a cooking lesson from a renowned chef.

6. Create a campaign landing page

When you know your offer, you need a place to host your specific holiday campaign. This is where landing pages come into play.

Of course, you can also create a separate campaign website, but you need your main domain to get all the attention and backlinks it deserves.

So, creating a separate landing page on your main website is a better play in the long run.

To make sure your landing page is convincing, include at least the following:

• a compelling headline – This is your first opportunity to grab your visitor’s attention. The headline should immediately communicate the value or essence of your holiday campaign. Think of it as your elevator pitch — concise, impactful, and evoking curiosity or emotion.
• interesting visuals that are on-brand, and related to your holiday campaign – A picture speaks a thousand words, and in the digital realm, it could very well be the factor that keeps a visitor engaged. Ensure your visuals not only resonate with the theme of your holiday campaign but also align with your brand’s identity. They should complement the content and enhance the narrative, rather than diverting attention.
• the benefits your offer will give your (potential) customers – What’s in it for the user? This section should succinctly answer this question. Highlight the tangible or emotional benefits a customer would receive from your offer. Will it save them time during the holiday rush? Will it bring a smile to their loved ones? Make sure to emphasize the value they’ll get, making the decision to engage a no-brainer.
• a form to collect information – While gathering information from interested visitors is essential, it’s equally vital not to overwhelm them. Design a user-friendly form that asks for only the most necessary information. This increases the likelihood of completion and signals respect for the user’s time and privacy.

Bonus Tip : Make sure not to include the current year in the URL of your landing page. If you want to re-use the same campaign next year, you can use the same URL and benefit from all the backlinks you already generated without you losing them because you have to change the URL.

7. Holiday campaign promotion

The success of your campaign depends on how you promote it.

“If you build it, they will come,” said no marketer ever.

Just like when creating content in general, you want to spend 20% of your time creating content and 80% promoting it.

So, you do need to take the time to promote your holiday campaign if you want it to be successful. Make it part of your overall content calendar.

Some things on our todo list always include:

1. installing a website header notification bar like Hello Bar, to make all your visitors aware of the promotion you’re running
2. If your website supports it, you can use sidebar display ads or pop-up notifications on exit intent.
3. Adding call-to-actions on your articles and blog content
4. Updating your social media channels with relevant cover photos about your campaign
5. Posting content on your social channels about your campaign
6. Paying for social media ads to target your ideal customers
7. Using your email list to send out an email campaign to your subscribers
8. Publishing a press release
9. Using influencers to help spread the word

8. Create lead-nurturing content

What happens after someone participates in your holiday campaign? To the leads you’ve generated or to the people who bought from you (once)?

Once the holidays are over, what will you do with these people?

Will they never hear from you again, or will you try to convert them into lifelong happy customers?

As part of any successful campaign, you also want to consider what happens next and create a plan to nurture those new clients or leads.

You can easily do this in most email marketing software: build a set of emails and workflows to re-engage them with helpful related resources.

And, of course, also track your progress by setting a goal for these workflows.

9. Put your campaign live, measure, and report

Now that everything is done, it’s time to do some last internal testing before putting the campaign live and starting your promotion to help drive traffic and sales.

Be sure to set time aside to dive into the performance and see if you need to adjust certain things, if you need to up your promotional budget on certain channels and lower it on others, and, of course, see if those goals we set in step four are actually going to be met.

Six strategies to make your holiday marketing campaigns highly effective

Of course, what we’ve discussed until now are just the basics you need to cover every time you need to create a holiday marketing campaign.

Want to take it to the next level?

Then, keep reading for six strategies to make your campaigns highly effective.

1. Hit key emotions with your campaign.

Many people believe that the way they make a decision is purely based on reason. However, the truth is that all individuals make decisions emotionally, after which they justify their decisions with reason. Keeping this in mind, a successful holiday marketing campaign should be an emotional one.

Try focusing on feelings that fit with the particular holiday, like giving back, or gratitude. Other emotions you can concentrate on are friendship, being home for the holidays, goodwill, etc.

2. Using online media to connect with your customers

Using your existing and different online channels will make connecting with your target audience easier. There are several different ways you can do this:

• Use online influencers – more and more people look online every year for inspiration and advice on what kind of presents they should buy. They trust bloggers more than a commercial because it is more authentic. Try approaching bloggers to help you get in front of a potentially untapped audience;
• Email marketing – consumers are always connected and always have access to their email. Accessing email straight from their mobile or tablets makes email the most efficient form of direct communication with your target audience. Timing is crucial, though, and just in case they might miss your email, try sending them an email before, during, and just around the time that your sale is about to end. The thought of missing out on a great sale is a powerful way to get some last-minute sales boosts;
• Facebook – The biggest social network of them all. Try investing in your Facebook audience throughout the year to build a meaningful relationship with your audience. This way, you’re sure that your post will be seen more when the time arrives for those special holiday promotions. To get the most out of Facebook, don’t forget to use Facebook Ads and sponsored posts specifically targeting your buyer personas;
• Twitter – For certain demographics, Twitter is still the place to be. Try tapping into the conversation by using the right hashtags your audience uses.
• Pinterest – Of all social networks, Pinterest is probably the one that leads the pack regarding social networks that influence holiday purchases and where consumers turn to for inspiration on what they want. From searching for gift ideas to creating boards filled with a wish list. Be sure to inspire your audience throughout the year and use the online influencers as well on Pinterest!
• Instagram – Visual social networks like Pinterest and Instagram are critical to inspiring people. After all, before someone wants to buy anything online, they first want to see it. Just like Pinterest, Instagram can be a great way to showcase your products and how to use them in consumers’ lives.
• TikTok – TikTok’s raw, authentic content style deeply engages a diverse age demographic, offering many brands a chance for viral exposure. The platform’s unique features, like challenges and duets, encourage interactive holiday campaigns. Collaborating with TikTok influencers can amplify reach, making it a fresh avenue for festive promotions.

3. Build hype with relevant contests and giveaways

Giveaways and contests are very cost-effective methods to help engage with your followers, get new followers, and build hype for an upcoming event.

You can get your target audience easily excited about the upcoming holidays and your brand by using giveaways and promotional contests. Depending on how big your team and budget are, these can easily range from a simple Twitter hashtag contest or a photo caption contest on your Facebook page to a complex multi-staged puzzle game.

Try to find fun and creative ways to make the contest or giveaway around the holiday while keeping it relevant for your brand.

Have your fans take pictures of themselves using your products or dressed up for Halloween, ask them to submit their favorite Christmas recipes, and in a second part of the contest, have people vote for their favorites. The possibilities are limitless.

4. Create an easy-to-share campaign.

Although it’s always tough to predict if your campaign will go viral, there is a way to try to maximize the chances of it going viral. The most important element is the ease of sharing your campaign.

If you think of the fact that 74 percent of consumers rely on word of mouth as the top influencers of their purchasing decision, it means that when someone sees your campaign from a friend, they are more likely to act upon the campaign than seeing it in a pre-roll on YouTube or a Facebook ad.

Adding social and email buttons is one easy but often overlooked way to make your content easier to share. These sharing buttons make it easy to share your campaign with just one click.

People love having a bigger chance of winning by sharing a contest with their friends or showing off something they love. This is mostly done in today’s social world by sharing content across their social networks.

Creating shareable, branded content can exponentially expand your brand’s reach. From memes to videos to microsites, as long as it connects with your audience, people are quickly moved to share your content.

Make it easy for your audience to know about your business, by making your content more entertaining than promotional, so people will want to share it.

5. Create a consistent experience across all channels.

Building a marketing campaign across all your channels means you’re providing your target audience with a seamless, consistent, and cohesive experience wherever they go and see your messages. It’s crucial to create a consistent user experience regardless of your customers’ channels.

Consumers expect to receive a consistent experience, whether they’re online, reading email, engaging with you via social media, seeing ads, or even visiting your brick-and-mortar store.

But there’s more to it than recreating your branding and color scheme on social media or in your ads. The deals you’re offering should stay consistent, too.

Even if you don’t have a big budget to spend on your marketing campaigns, you can still focus on consistent branding and message to offer an exceptional buying experience to your customers.

6. Last but not least, marketing segmentation is essential

This means that when you’re thinking about how to market your holiday promotions, you don’t want to waste your profit margins by sending discounts to shoppers who just look for a one-time deal and never come back.

Building profiles around your customers throughout the year makes it easy to segment your customers by lifetime value. You want to give the most special treatment to the brand-loyal repeat purchasers. This can either be a special loyalty campaign or, for example, an extra thank-you discount for the holidays. Any investment you make for the higher value customers will result in higher returns.

Of course, don’t forget that you can build campaigns with relevant content even for your less loyal customers.

The holidays are one of the best times to make and invest in an emotional bond with your target audience. The positive feelings of family, giving, and gratitude are already on the top of the mind of your target audience, and your marketing campaigns can easily piggyback on those emotions.

By segmenting your customers for a truly personalized experience, making your campaigns easily shareable, and delivering hot (online) deals consistently across all of your channels, you’re positioning yourself for maximum success with the upcoming holiday season.

How do you plan to market your business this holiday season? Leave your thoughts and ideas below in the comments to help inspire others!

Frequently Asked Questions about Holiday Marketing Campaigns

How to do a holiday marketing campaign?

Starting a holiday marketing campaign from scratch is quite easy if you follow the step-by-step guide discussed in this article:

1. Review your previous holiday marketing campaigns
2. Define your target audience
3. Decide on your holiday campaign theme
4. Choose your campaign goals
5. Create your offer
6. Create a campaign landing page
7. Holiday campaign promotion
8. Create lead-nurturing content
9. Put your campaign live, measure, and report

What is the objective of a holiday campaign?

The objective of a holiday campaign is to leverage the festive atmosphere and increased consumer spending to boost brand awareness, drive sales, and strengthen customer relationships. The objective for your business, your brand, is to aim to connect emotionally with your audience, presenting enticing offers and engaging content that resonates with the holiday spirit.

The ultimate goal is to maximize revenue while creating positive and memorable experiences that encourage long-term customer loyalty.

What are the 3 keys to a successful campaign?

1. Understanding Your Audience: Know who you are targeting, what they need, and what motivates them to make a purchase. Use data and previous interactions to personalize your messages and offers, ensuring relevance and appeal.
2. Creating Compelling Offers and Content: Design attractive promotions and create high-quality, festive content that resonates with the holiday spirit. Your offers should provide genuine value, while your content should tell a compelling story, connecting emotionally with the audience.
3. Optimizing Multi-Channel Engagement: Utilize various online and offline channels effectively to reach your audience wherever they are. Ensure a consistent and seamless brand experience across all platforms, and pay attention to the customer journey, optimizing for conversion.

These three elements, when executed well, work synergistically to enhance campaign performance, drive sales, and build stronger customer relationships during the holiday season.

How do you attract customers on holidays?

Attracting customers during the holiday season requires a strategic approach, blending creativity with customer-centric tactics. Here are some effective ways to achieve this:

1. Holiday-Themed Promotions: Create special offers, discounts, or bundled deals that are exclusively available during the holiday season. Make sure these promotions provide genuine value to the customer.
2. Limited-Time Offers: Instill a sense of urgency by introducing deals that are available for a short period of time. This could include flash sales, daily deals, or countdown timers on your website.
3. Personalized Communication: Use customer data to send personalized emails or messages, showcasing products or offers based on their previous interactions or preferences.
4. Festive Visuals and Content: Redesign your website, social media profiles, and marketing materials to reflect the holiday spirit. Use festive visuals, colors, and themes that appeal to the emotions associated with the season.
5. Engaging Social Media Campaigns: Create engaging content on social media, including contests, giveaways, or interactive posts that encourage participation and sharing.
6. Collaborations and Partnerships: Partner with influencers, bloggers, or other businesses that align with your brand to reach a broader audience.
7. Exceptional Customer Service: Ensure that your customer service is top-notch, providing quick responses, hassle-free returns, and personalized assistance. Happy customers are more likely to make a purchase and recommend your business to others.
8. Mobile Optimization: Ensure that your website and online store are optimized for mobile devices, as a significant number of customers shop from their phones, especially during the busy holiday season.
9. Gift Guides and Ideas: Create and promote gift guides or lists of gift ideas that make it easy for customers to find the perfect present for their loved ones.
10. Charitable Initiatives: Align your brand with a cause, donate a portion of the holiday sales to charity, or organize a charitable event. This not only contributes to a good cause but also resonates well with customers who prefer to shop with brands that give back.

By combining these strategies, you can create a festive and inviting atmosphere that attracts customers and encourages them to make purchases during the holiday season.

When should I start marketing for the holidays?

Starting your holiday marketing at the right time is crucial for capturing customer attention and maximizing sales. Depending on the size of your brand, the timing might differ a bit from the timing below, but you can still use this as a rough guideline on when to kick off your holiday campaigns:

1. Early Planning and Preparation: 4-6 Months Before

• June to August: Begin planning your holiday marketing strategy, reviewing your previous holiday marketing campaigns, identifying target audiences, deciding on promotions, and finalizing your product or service offerings.

2. Preliminary Marketing and Teasers: 3-2 Months Before

• September to October: Start teasing your audience with sneak peeks of what’s to come. Engage them with behind-the-scenes content, and begin to subtly incorporate holiday themes into your marketing materials.

3. Full-Fledged Campaign Launch: 1-2 Months Before

• November: Launch your full holiday marketing campaign. Ensure your website, social media, and all other channels are fully decked out in holiday cheer. Start sending out holiday promotions, deals, and exclusive offers to your mailing list.

4. Peak Promotional Period: Weeks Leading up to the Holiday

• First Half of December: Intensify your marketing efforts. Utilize flash sales, countdown timers, and last-minute deals to create urgency. Ensure your customer service is ready to handle increased inquiries and that your inventory is stocked.

5. Last-Minute Push: Days Before the Holiday

• Mid to Late December: Focus on last-minute shoppers with express shipping offers, gift cards, and instant-download products. Continue to engage with your customers through social media and email reminders.

6. Post-Holiday Opportunities: Days After the Holiday

• Late December to Early January: Don’t forget the post-holiday period. Many customers are looking for after-holiday sales, or they might have gift cards to spend. This is a great time for clearance sales or promotions on upcoming products or services for the new year.

By following this timeline, you ensure that your brand stays top of mind throughout the entire holiday shopping season, maximizing your reach and potential sales.

Should I run ads on holidays?

Running ads during the holidays can be beneficial, but it’s crucial to approach it strategically. Focus on creating standout, targeted ads, and be prepared for potentially higher advertising costs. By doing so, you can leverage the holiday season to increase visibility, attract new customers, and boost sales. Here are some key points to consider:

Pros of Running Ads During Holidays:

• Increased Traffic: There’s a surge in online activity as people search for gifts, deals, and holiday-related content.
• Higher Purchase Intent: Consumers are in a buying mood, looking for the best deals and ready to make purchases.
• Opportunity for Brand Visibility: With more people online, it’s an excellent time to increase your brand’s visibility and capture new customers.

Cons of Running Ads During Holidays:

• Increased Competition: Many businesses ramp up their advertising, leading to a crowded space and potentially higher ad costs.
• Potential for Higher Costs: The increased demand can drive up the cost-per-click or cost-per-impression.
• Need for Standout Creative: Your ads need to be compelling and stand out to capture attention in the competitive holiday market.

Strategies for Success:

• Start Early: Begin your holiday advertising before the peak season to build awareness.
• Optimize for Mobile: Ensure your ads and landing pages are mobile-friendly, as many users will be shopping from their devices.
• Use Targeted Advertising: Utilize customer data to target your ads to the right audience, ensuring relevancy and higher conversion rates.
• Offer Exclusive Deals: Provide special promotions or exclusive deals to attract users and encourage clicks.

Why are Christmas campaigns important?

Christmas campaigns play a vital role in a brand’s annual marketing strategy. They offer a unique opportunity to boost sales, engage customers, build brand awareness, and create lasting emotional connections. Ensuring your campaign is creative, emotionally resonant, and strategically planned can lead to significant benefits for your business during the festive season and beyond.

Here’s why they hold such importance:

1. Boost in Sales:

• Peak Shopping Season: Christmas marks a peak shopping period as consumers actively seek gifts, decorations, and festive products.
• Promotional Opportunities: Businesses can capitalize on this demand through special promotions, discounts, and exclusive deals.

2. Building Brand Awareness:

• Visibility in a Crowded Market: Creative and engaging Christmas campaigns help a brand stand out in a saturated market.
• Emotional Connection: Festive campaigns often tap into emotions, creating a stronger bond between the brand and its customers.

3. Enhancing Customer Loyalty:

• Rewarding Loyalty: Christmas is a great time for businesses to show appreciation to their existing customers, strengthening loyalty.
• Creating Traditions: Memorable Christmas campaigns can become annual traditions that customers look forward to, enhancing long-term loyalty.

4. Encouraging Engagement:

• Social Sharing: Festive campaigns with a strong narrative or unique angle are more likely to be shared, increasing engagement.
• Interactive Elements: Many Christmas campaigns include interactive elements like contests or social media challenges, fostering engagement.

5. Clearing Inventory:

• Seasonal Products: Christmas campaigns help promote and sell seasonal products, clearing inventory before the year ends.

But don’t you worry!

If you’re wondering:

• How do I choose the best SEO agency?
• How can I find a top SEO company that doesn’t need ads to rank the websites of its clients?
• What do I look for in an SEO agency?

Then, we’ve got you covered! In this easy-to-follow guide, we’ll help you learn how to choose an SEO agency that’s perfect for you.

We’ll explain what they do, why they’re essential for growing your business online, and the questions you should ask before hiring one.

So, get ready to discover the secrets of finding the right SEO agency to make your business shine online!

What does an SEO agency do?

So, you’ve probably heard about SEO agencies. That might be the reason why you want to hire one in the first place, but do you know exactly what they do?  Let’s break it down in simple terms.

An SEO or Search Engine Optimization agency is like a superhero for your business’s online presence.

Their goal is to ensure that your website ranks high on the free (non-advertising) part of search engines like Google. Because when your website appears at the top of search results, more people can find your business, visit your site, and become your customers.

Sounds awesome, right?

Now, you might be wondering how these SEO specialists work their magic. Here’s a quick overview of some key tasks they perform:

1. Keyword research: SEO agencies find the best words and phrases that people use to search for products or services like yours. This process is called keyword research. Targeting these keywords help your website show up when people search for them.
2. On-page optimization: This is all about making your website super-friendly for search engines and users. SEO agencies optimize your site’s content, structure, and even the behind-the-scenes code to ensure everything runs smoothly.
3. Off-page optimization: SEO agencies also work hard to build your website’s reputation online. They get high-quality backlinks, manage your social media presence, and promote your content on other websites.
4. Technical SEO: Like a skilled mechanic, SEO agencies fine-tune your website’s technical aspects to ensure it’s running at top speed. They fix any issues that might slow down your site or make it harder for search engines to understand.

What can I expect from an SEO agency?

Now that you know what an SEO agency does, let’s talk about what you can expect when working with one. SEO agencies are here to help your business grow. They’ll do this by offering various services tailored to your needs. Here’s what you can expect from a top-notch SEO agency:

1. Customized strategies: Every business is unique, and so are its SEO needs. A good SEO agency will create a customized plan that targets your specific goals and objectives.
2. Regular communication: You can expect open and transparent communication from a professional SEO agency. They’ll keep you in the loop about their progress, share reports, and be available to answer any questions you have.
3. Measurable results: An SEO agency should deliver quantifiable results that show the impact of their work on your business. This could include improvements in your search engine rankings, increased website traffic, or a boost in sales.
4. Ongoing support: SEO is an ever-evolving field, and a great SEO agency will stay updated with the latest trends and best practices. They’ll also provide ongoing support to ensure your website continues to perform at its best.

Remember, the right SEO agency will be your partner in success, working tirelessly to help your business reach its full online potential.

The benefits of hiring an SEO agency

So, you’ve learned what an SEO agency does and what to expect when working with one. But why should you hire an SEO agency in the first place? What are the benefits? Let’s dive into some of the top advantages of partnering with an SEO agency to boost your business’s online presence.

SEO experts are always ahead of the game

The world of SEO is constantly changing, with search engines like Google regularly updating their algorithms.

This means that staying on top of the latest trends and best practices is crucial for success.

SEO experts at an agency are dedicated to staying ahead of the game, so they can keep your website optimized and performing at its best, even as the digital landscape evolves.

SEO companies do all the hard work for you

Let’s be honest; SEO can be time-consuming and complex. By hiring an SEO agency, you’re putting your website in the hands of skilled professionals who know the ins and outs of the industry.

They’ll do all the hard work for you, from researching keywords and optimizing your site to building backlinks and monitoring your progress.

This leaves you free to focus on running your business and serving your customers.

The best SEO agencies can offer an integrated marketing approach

A top-notch SEO agency doesn’t just focus on improving your search engine rankings; they understand that a truly successful online presence requires an integrated marketing approach.

By combining SEO with other digital marketing services like:

• content marketing
• social media management
• and paid advertising

These agencies can help you create a comprehensive strategy that drives more traffic, generates more leads, and ultimately boosts your bottom line.

10 characteristics that make the best SEO companies

The best SEO (Search Engine Optimization) companies possess several characteristics that set them apart from their competitors. Here are some key traits to look for:

#1 Experience and expertise

Top SEO companies have a proven track record of delivering successful SEO campaigns and staying up-to-date with industry best practices. They have experience across various industries and niches, which enables them to adapt and implement strategies effectively.

Their teams are well-versed in the latest algorithm updates, emerging trends, and techniques to improve search rankings and drive organic traffic. This is one of the reasons User Growth has a wide variety of skilled people with experience in all matters of SEO. Search Engine Optimization is such a broad topic that it is difficult for one person to become a master in all of the different needed skills.

#2 Customized strategies

The best SEO companies understand that each client has unique needs and goals. They develop tailored strategies based on a comprehensive analysis of the client’s website, competition, and target audience.

This in-depth understanding allows them to create customized plans that address specific challenges and opportunities, ensuring maximum impact and long-lasting results.

#3 Transparency and communication

Reputable SEO firms are transparent in their processes and maintain open lines of communication with clients. They provide regular progress reports and updates, ensuring clients understand the work being done and the results being achieved.

These companies value client trust and are committed to fostering strong working relationships through honest, open dialogue.

#4 Ethical and white-hat techniques

The best SEO companies adhere to industry-approved, white-hat techniques, avoiding manipulative practices that may result in penalties from search engines.

They prioritize long-term success over short-term gains, focusing on strategies that provide lasting value and protect the client’s online reputation.

#5 Analytical and data-driven

Top SEO firms use data and analytics to guide their strategies, measuring the effectiveness of their efforts and adjusting as needed. They track key performance indicators (KPIs) to demonstrate the value of their services and make data-driven decisions to optimize campaigns continuously.

This commitment to data-driven analysis helps ensure maximum ROI for clients.

#6 Adaptability

The SEO landscape constantly changes, so the best companies stay informed about algorithm updates and industry trends. They are agile and can quickly adapt their strategies to maintain and improve their client’s search rankings.

This adaptability helps clients stay competitive and capitalize on new opportunities in the ever-evolving world of search.

#7 Comprehensive service offerings

The top SEO companies offer a wide range of services, including on-page optimization, off-page optimization, technical SEO, content marketing, and more. They may also provide related services such as PPC management, social media marketing, and web design.

This comprehensive approach allows clients to benefit from synergies across multiple digital marketing channels, maximizing the overall impact of their online presence.

#8 Testimonials and case studies

Successful SEO companies have a portfolio of satisfied clients, showcasing their success through testimonials and case studies. This shows potential clients the company’s ability to deliver results, providing evidence of its expertise and credibility.

By examining these success stories, you can better understand how the company has helped other businesses achieve their goals and the potential benefits they can bring to your own organization.

#9 Skilled team

The best SEO companies have a team of skilled professionals, including SEO specialists, content creators, web developers, and digital marketers.

This ensures a comprehensive and cohesive approach to each project, with all team members working together to achieve the client’s objectives. Their collective expertise allows them to tackle even the most complex challenges and deliver outstanding results.

#10 Long-term focus

Effective SEO is not a one-time fix but a long-term commitment. The best SEO companies focus on building sustainable strategies that deliver consistent growth and results over time. They recognize that SEO success requires ongoing monitoring, analysis, and optimization, and are committed to providing ongoing support and guidance to help their clients achieve long-lasting success.

By considering these characteristics, you can identify the top SEO companies and make a well-informed decision when choosing an SEO partner for your business.

Tips for choosing the right SEO agency

You now know the benefits of hiring an SEO agency, but how do you choose the right one for your business? With so many options out there, making the right decision can feel overwhelming.

Don’t worry; we’re here to help! Here are some essential tips for selecting the perfect SEO agency to support your business’s growth.

Follow your gut

While researching and gathering information about potential SEO agencies is crucial, it’s also essential to trust your instincts. Please pay attention to how an agency communicates with you and whether they seem genuinely interested in understanding your business and goals. If something doesn’t feel right, moving on and exploring other options is okay.

Read up on SEO

Before you start talking to SEO agencies, take some time to educate yourself about the basics of what is SEO. This will help you ask better questions, understand the agency’s offerings, and make more informed decisions. You don’t need to become an expert, but having a general understanding of the key concepts will go a long way.

Talk with multiple different agencies

Don’t settle for the first agency you come across. Instead, make sure to talk with several different agencies to get a better understanding of what each one can offer. Comparing their services, strategies, and pricing will help you make an informed decision that best suits your business’s needs and budget.

Research the agency’s reputation

Researching its reputation is a great way to learn more about an SEO agency. Look for online reviews, testimonials, and case studies to see what past clients have to say about their experiences. You can also ask the agency for references or examples of their work to better understand their expertise and success in the field.

Ask critical questions

Don’t be afraid to ask critical questions when talking to potential SEO agencies. This will help you gauge their knowledge, experience, and approach to SEO.

Doing this with all the different agencies you’re talking to will also help you with that gut decision of the first point. See how they react; what answers are they giving you?

Want to know what types of questions you can ask?

Critical questions to ask an SEO specialist

When talking to one or multiple different SEO agencies, you must ensure you’re asking the right questions upfront, as this will prevent surprises down the line.

To help you get started, we’ve written down 12 questions you can ask.

1. Do you guarantee ranking results?

Asking this question helps you identify agencies that use unethical practices or make unrealistic promises. Whenever an SEO agency says they can guarantee a number one spot, this should immediately be a red flag. Agencies, just like yourself, are at the mercy of Google’s and other search engines’ ever-changing algorithms.

One small change in these algorithms can have a huge negative impact on search engine results pages. As a result, no agency can truly guarantee results. Reputable SEO specialists will explain that they cannot guarantee specific ranking results but will focus on using proven strategies to improve your website’s performance over time.

2. Can I see the analysis and the data?

Not all data might be understandable if working with it is not something you do daily, and a good SEO agency will always make sense out of the data for you so you know what you’re looking at. However, this question ensures that the agency is transparent and data-driven in its approach. A good SEO specialist will happily share their analytical process and provide data to support their recommendations and strategies.

3. Can I take my data with me whenever our contract ends?

If all goes well, you will be happy for a very long time with your agency, and as a result, this question is never not really needed. But what happens when, for whatever reason, you decide to end a campaign with one agency and want to switch to another agency?

Knowing whether you retain ownership of the data generated during your partnership is essential. A trustworthy agency will confirm that you can take your data with you once the contract ends. This way, you can ensure that all the time and money invested is not wasted. Do make sure before you start a collaboration that you will be the owner of your own data.

4. How long does it take before I can see results?

This question is a complicated question for any agency to answer. Nonetheless, it is always good for any agency to set realistic expectations when starting a collaboration.

SEO is a long-term strategy, and results can take time to materialize. Asking this question helps set realistic expectations. A reputable SEO specialist will likely indicate that results can take several months or more, depending on various factors.

After you’ve had your onboarding, and they had time for a thorough market and competition research, they should be able to give a clearer answer but still, use these with some caution, as mentioned in the first point. Results can’t be guaranteed, but you should definitely be able to see progression.

5. Which SEO tools do you use?

Knowing the agency’s tools can provide insight into its expertise and capabilities. Are they using off-the-shelf tools you can easily use yourself, or are they investing in professional tools that are costing lots of money and time investment to use properly?

A professional SEO agency should be able to name the industry-standard tools they use for keyword research, analytics, and other essential SEO tasks. Some important tools and names you want to hear:

• Google Analytics – critical for tracking organic search traffic growth and conversions
• Google Search Console – essential in tracking performance and technical SEO
• Google Page Speed Insights – to check the performance of your website using things like Core Web Vitals
• Google Tag Manager – for easily installing and maintaining tracking on your website
• Semrush/Ahrefs/SE Ranking – used for keyword research, rank tracking, etc.
• Frase / Surfer SEO / NeuronWriter – used for content optimization
• Screaming Frog SEO Spider – critical for finding and optimizing technical and user experience issues

6. How do you measure results?

You don’t know what you don’t measure. Understanding how an agency measures success is crucial for aligning your goals. How will you know if your SEO campaign is a success and that you’re moving up the ranks with your website if there is no proper tracking in place?

A good SEO specialist will discuss key performance indicators (KPIs) like organic traffic, conversion rates, and keyword rankings. They will also review (and potentially optimize) the tracking plan on your website as part of the onboarding process to ensure that conversions can be appropriately measured.

Interesting to know as well, is how often they are reporting back to you and what their reports will look like. And yeah, just measuring visitors is not enough. What good does it do your business if you all of a sudden start to get 200% more visitors to your websites, but you still don’t get any business out of it?

7. Which results did you get with other companies?

This question helps you gauge the agency’s experience and success in the field. A reliable SEO agency will be willing to share case studies or testimonials from previous clients to showcase their achievements. By looking at reviews and asking them how they achieved results with other clients will help you better understand their processes and what it took to get there.

After all, SEO is a long-term play, so you need to be sure that this agency is the one you want to work with for the coming years.

8. Which information do you need from me?

An SEO specialist can only do a proper job for your business if they thoroughly understand it. They need to know:

• what makes your business unique
• what you’re highest selling products are
• what business competitors do you have
• how your ideal customers look like, and what words they are using to describe your product or service
• what your business goals are, and what would you like to get out of the collaboration
• how your sales process looks like
• what marketing channels are you currently using or have already tried out in the past
• if you worked with another digital marketing agency before, and what it is that they did exactly

Just to name a few. An SEO specialist who seeks your input demonstrates that they are interested in understanding your business and tailoring their approach accordingly.

9. What is my current SEO situation?

A competent SEO agency should be able to assess your website’s current SEO status and provide insights into areas that need improvement. This demonstrates their expertise and ability to analyze your site effectively.

10. Do you know the webmaster guidelines?

When an SEO agency hears the term “webmaster guidelines,” it should certainly not bring any questioning faces. After all, these guidelines from Google are essential to adhere to. Asking this question helps ensure that the agency adheres to ethical SEO practices.

A professional SEO specialist should be familiar with Google’s Webmaster Guidelines and other search engine policies.

Does the agency violate the rules? Then chances are your website will receive a Google Penalty. That means it will disappear from search results altogether. Of course, that should not happen, so be very alert to this. Check out Google’s guidelines for webmasters yourself here.

11. What would you currently recommend to me?

During your initial meeting, you will not only get to know your potential (new) agency but also the other way around. And just like any good meeting, people need to come prepared. They should have already taken at least (a quick) look at your website. A reliable SEO agency will provide initial recommendations based on what information is publicly available.

Some questions to ask and find out:

• What are the search terms I’m currently already ranking well for? A lot of agencies can easily point out all the things that are wrong and could be done better, but that is something usually easy to say. Let’s start with something positive and let them tell you what you’re currently already doing well.
• Who are my biggest SEO competitors? Sure, you know what your competitors are in general, but in the search engine result pages, you’re not only fighting for a place in the top rankings with your local competitors, but you’re up against a global market of potential competitors you’ve never heard of before. An SEO specialist has tools in place that let them map out your competition and their scores. For example, which keywords are they already ranking for that could be of interest to you?
• What would be the first thing you would start to improve on when we start working together? Answering this question will help deduce how knowledgeable the agency is and if they already have an overall plan. On top of that, you also know if they have already looked at your website.

These recommendations can give you an idea of their approach and whether it aligns with your expectations.

12. How will you communicate?

Effective communication is essential for a successful partnership. Asking this question helps establish expectations for communication channels, frequency, and the types of updates you’ll receive.

A good SEO specialist will be open to discussing your preferred communication style and adapting accordingly.

Finally, before you start: Know your goals and desired outcomes

The final thing we want to address before you can make a well-educated choice about which SEO company is best to work with for your business is that you must figure out your internal goals and desired outcomes before starting a collaboration.

Picture yourself wanting to go on a last-minute date with the person of your dreams. You book a ticket for a concert of the band they talk about and listen to every day. Everything goes smoothly, and you arrive at the concert hall. However, when the band starts to play it isn’t Coldplay or Beyoncé. It is a death-metal band playing the type of music your date hates.

You’d be frustrated by the wasted opportunity, right?

Selecting an SEO agency could be looked upon similarly. Each agency has the potential to elevate your website’s organic rankings. To take your business to the dream date and future, you imagined that would come out of it. But before you start on this potential journey, it is essential to:

1. Understand your business objectives (your goals), and
2. Define your expectations once you achieve them (your desired outcomes)

In the world of SEO, your goals require a specific approach (or agency). Some of the primary ones include:

• SEO-focused content marketing
• Link building
• Local SEO
• E-commerce SEO

This list is by no means comprehensive. As digital marketing, online trends, and search engines continue to evolve, these categories may expand or transform.

As for your desired outcomes, you might aim to:

• Boost your website’s overall ranking or specific keywords
• Attract more targeted traffic and leads, or
• Generate sales directly through organic search results.

Your ultimate business goals and outcomes will guide your SEO strategies and tactics. Since no SEO agency can cater to all strategies, industry sectors, and company sizes, understanding these fundamentals is crucial for determining the right partner for your needs.

Conclusion

Choosing the right SEO agency involves more than just identifying a company proficient in search engine optimization techniques. Finding a partner that offers honest, open, and transparent communication is crucial, sets realistic expectations for results, and keeps you informed as progress is made.

Remember that SEO takes time, and results typically don’t become noticeable in the first month. On top of that, there are no guarantees, and the process can vary depending on the industry’s competitiveness. For example, highly competitive industries like medical, legal, or those falling under the YMYL (your money or your life) category may take longer to see results than e-commerce or local businesses.

Understanding how to identify the best SEO company is crucial to your success, as not all agencies are created equal. Beware of companies that promise overnight success, as they likely lack a deep understanding of SEO. The most reliable SEO companies won’t make outrageous promises; instead, they’ll show you what’s achievable and work diligently to reach those goals.

By giving your chosen SEO agency time, you’ll see results in qualified traffic, leads, and sales. Once the momentum starts, it becomes a self-sustaining cycle, improving as long as you continue to collaborate with a top-notch SEO company.

If you’re looking for a full-service SEO agency to help grow your business, User Growth can help you! Click the orange button below

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Just in Belgium alone, there are 64 agencies listed that focus on Search Engine Optimization, 59 Content Marketing Agencies listed, and 63 Digital Marketing Agencies. In 2023, we’ve been awarded not just as the best SEO Agency but also in multiple other categories like Top Digital Content Marketing Agency in Belgium.

Clutch rewarded User Growth with the following awards:

• Top SEO Agency Brussels 2023
• Top SEO Agency Consumer Products & Services in Belgium 2023
• Top SEO Agency Belgium 2023
• Top Digital Marketing Agency Brussels 2023
• Top Digital Content Marketing Agency Belgium 2023
• Top Digital Marketing Agency Belgium 2023

These awards are a testament to User Growth’s commitment to delivering top-notch services to its clients across various industries. The agency’s expertise in using the latest SEO techniques, building high-quality content, and executing effective digital marketing campaigns to drive organic traffic and generate leads has helped its clients achieve outstanding results.

As a boutique digital marketing agency, User Growth believes in the power of personalized solutions tailored to each client’s unique needs. By understanding our client’s business objectives and target audiences, User Growth develops customized strategies that deliver measurable results.

“We are thrilled to be recognized once again for our commitment to excellence in digital marketing,” said Hans van Gent, Founder of User Growth. “We take pride in our team’s ability to provide superior services and deliver results that help our clients grow their businesses. These awards testify to our team’s dedication and hard work.”

With a focus on innovation and creativity, User Growth has developed tools such as the Evergreen Content Poster and Audience Builder to help clients increase their social media engagement and enhance their social media marketing activities.

User Growth wants to give a big thank you to all our clients who have made these awards possible through their trust and support. Want to read what our customers are saying about us? Have a look at our reviews on Clutch.

We are committed to continuing to deliver outstanding services and helping our clients achieve their digital marketing goals.

Do you want to drive real profitable growth for your business?

What is stopping you? Contact us today! Looking forward to taking your business to the next level in 2023!

As long as you’re creating better content than your competitors, using the appropriate keywords, doing proper digital PR to work on securing those backlinks and at a little bit of magic User Growth sauce, your organic traffic will increase steadily and you’ll rank higher in no time.

Here at User Growth, we believe that there is no such thing as a one size fits all solution when it comes to growing your business online. We’ll help you connect the right people to your product or service, and build the foundations of your long-term success.

We do this by using the skills and talent of the people working for User Growth and by building products like:

• the Evergreen Content Poster (a social media automation plugin that makes sharing your evergreen content super simple) or
• Audience Builder (a free tool that helps to increase the effectiveness of your Facebook marketing activities).

Clutch finds the best firms in the industry to help business owners find the perfect marketing company for them. The directory shows client reviews, price points, location, and contact info for the agencies within your search parameters.

Every year they award the highest performing B2B companies by industry and location. In order for a business to become a “Top SEO Agency” on Clutch, you must have verified reviews, data-driven content, and better business solutions than your competition.

Out of the 200,000+ agencies on Clutch we are honoured to have been chosen as a Clutch Leader!

We are now part of the growing list of 2021 B2B leaders and it’s all thanks to our wonderful team and amazingly supportive clients.

2020 was a difficult year for most businesses, struggling to keep their heads above water. The fact that we got this industry-leading award, showing that what we do makes an impact for our clients is something truly awesome and gives great recognition to the entire team

Hans van Gent, Founder of User Growth

For example, for this creative agency, we continue to deliver compelling and engaging SEO strategies that ultimately nabbed us a perfect 5-star rating:

We would like to extend our most sincere thanks to our clients who made this all possible.

We could not have gotten this far without your positive feedback. Let’s make 2021 a productive one!

Are you looking to drive real profitable growth into your business? Contact us today! If you want to read the rest of the review, please visit our Clutch profile and take a look at what our clients are saying about us.

This just in, Best in Ireland also named User Growth one of the best SEO companies in Dublin!

Sure, LinkedIn, when looking at Monthly Active Users (MAU), is not the biggest social network out there. LinkedIn has around 310 million MAU, compared to 330 million on Twitter, 2.7 billion on Facebook or the 1 billion on Instagram.

But the audience is one of the most lucrative ones.

Facebook, Twitter, and the rest are crowded and noisy. And while there was a time that it was definitely a lot quieter on LinkedIn, LinkedIn right now is starting to become busier as well.

BUT, unlike Facebook, where most people still go to connect with their friends or watch funny videos, LinkedIn is a destination for people to connect with like-minded people in their industry and to learn about their industry.

So if you’re looking for a place to drive qualitative B2B traffic to your website or blog, this is THE platform.

Research by Econsultancy a couple of years ago already stated that

“LinkedIn is now responsible for a staggering 64% of all visits from social media channels to corporate websites.”

Even more so, the overall decision-makers in most companies (CEOs) use LinkedIn the most of any public social network. The same holds for 41% of millionaires.

The LinkedIn audience has been proven to be highly engaged with content – 6 out of 10 users actively look for industry insights.

We can go on and on, but you probably understand by now that the LinkedIn platform gives your brand access to a whole host of educated, skilled, and influential people with a high search intent (when you visit LinkedIn, you already have your industry cap on and are actively seeking knowledge).

So if you want to reach those people who aren’t that active on most other social networks but could significantly impact your organization’s sales, it is time to start taking LinkedIn seriously.

No time to read the entire article? No worry, we’ve got you covered, have a look at this summary video:

You do have some more time? Great, let’s dive into LinkedIn marketing together.

It used to be that creating a valuable relationship with these people was extremely difficult, though they were swamped, and there wasn’t more than just the InMail tool to start building a relationship.

However, LinkedIn has made some significant changes over the last couple of years, making it super easy to start using it for your content marketing.

You can:

• create long-form content using LinkedIn articles or LinkedIn Pulse
• post interesting content to the newsfeed
• use stories to show the human side of yourself or your brand
• use slide decks to create high-engagement carousel posts to educate your audience
• or use bits of advertising budget to push them out to your target audience to generate leads for your business just to name a few

In this article, we show you how you can make the most out of LinkedIn for your (small) business.

What is LinkedIn Marketing

LinkedIn is a bit different than most social networks.

Most social networks are focused on the ” fun” things you do in your spare time, while LinkedIn is focused on building business relations.

As a result, when you want to do marketing on LinkedIn, you need to think more along the lines of making connections with (potential) clients, generating leads, improving your brand awareness, fostering business relationships and partnerships, sharing content to develop thought leadership and lastly drive traffic to your website.

With all the recent changes since 2020, it is becoming more and more of a fun place as well, though, but the focus is still on companies and growing your business.

As a result, LinkedIn should be an essential part of your company’s marketing strategy if you want to become more successful.

When you use LinkedIn to market your business, you gain access to useful features related to analytics, connections, brand-building, etc. (Don’t worry, we’ll review all of these and more in-depth momentarily.)

Why LinkedIn should be an important part of your marketing strategy

LinkedIn is a place for learning, for growing yourself and your business. People come to LinkedIn not to be directly sold to, so if you want to be successful, you should create a solid (content) marketing strategy.

Content marketing, as you might know, is about solving the same problems that your product or service solves only through the media you create and promote

It’s not about blatantly pushing your business, spamming, and trying to sell hard; it’s about helping others.

Surveyed B2B marketers said that LinkedIn is responsible for 80% of their social media leads, though, so if you want to be successful on LinkedIn, it requires a little bit of a different approach than on other platforms to get the results that you want.

But when used appropriately, LinkedIn is an effective marketing tool that can take your business to the next level.

LinkedIn Marketing Goals

Before we get to work on producing content for your LinkedIn Content Marketing strategy, we first need to figure out how we can effectively reach this highly targeted audience that LinkedIn has to offer.

And for that, we need to set a content marketing approach driven by these goals:

1. Be interesting. You might be included to start sharing your white papers as the primary driver of your LinkedIn Content Marketing strategy. However, there is so much more to offer. You can spark conversation around a news event or a conference you’re attending. Maybe you can share some of the latest insights provided by an industry influencer, create some funny graphics about work-life, or share funny graphics by others and add your remarks to them.
2. Be helpful. It all starts by being helpful, producing content that presents new knowledge (to make your reader appear smarter) or that can assist in professional decision-making.
   1. Help them help others. Content professionals on LinkedIn are always on the lookout for content that can benefit their professional network. Make sure you’re considering the shareability of everything you distribute on LinkedIn.
   2. Help them help themselves. When someone shares your compelling content, it makes the sharer seem smart, well-informed, talented, etc. People on LinkedIn are always looking to enhance their brand, so make it as easy as possible for them.
   3. Focus on achievements. You should remember that the readers of your content on LinkedIn are consuming and sharing content to further their careers. Feed their desire for professional accomplishment with your content.
3. Be everywhere. Since the rise of the smartphone years ago, more and more people are consuming content on different devices than a desktop. LinkedIn is no different. Already in the first quarter of 2014, 43% of traffic from LinkedIn members came through mobile. If your content is not readable (not enough paragraphs) or if the visuals are unclear on mobile, you will lose trust and readers.

LinkedIn marketing tips for growing your business

Get noticed with LinkedIn’s Publishing Platform

One of the strongest elements of a good sale is that it is personal. You can share updates via your Linkedin Company page; There is no option yet to publish long-form content (more on that later), but this gives a unique opportunity. This lets you use your company’s strongest assets, your employees.

It helps empower your employees and, at the same time, gives a unique insight into your company. This, however, doesn’t mean you can’t share the content of your employees on your business page.

Benefits of LinkedIn’s Publishing Platform

#1 Position yourself as a thought leader

This one might seem like a no-brainer, but one of the main benefits of the LinkedIn Publishing Platform is that it allows you to position yourself as a thought leader in your industry.

Publishing content on LinkedIn adds credibility to your skillset and expertise. It is not just you saying, “I know something about Content Marketing,” for example, but it allows you to showcase your talent. This, in return, will help you to make your sales easier, because people trust you more.

Familiarity breeds trust”, when you and your company show up consistently in the newsfeed you will build trust, and trust brings business. Being active on LinkedIn and investing in my network brings me consistent leads

Jenny Björklöf – LinkedIn Trainer and Co-founder & Community Manager Freelancers in Belgium

#2 Reach a relevant audience with a high search intent

As we stated earlier, the people on LinkedIn are a highly targeted audience set. At first, the first people seeing your content will be your direct connection, but second, when they start to engage with your content, their connections will start to notice your expertise and your content as well.

These are the people you would like to notice your content, of course! After all, you already did business with them in the past, or they are leads to your business. What better way to get on their radar by showcasing your talent?

#3 Your content is displayed on your profile

One of the great features of the LinkedIn Publishing Platform is that it showcases the content you created at the top of your profile. This means that when a potential business client or someone else views your profile, the first thing they will see is the content you published.

By creating great, engaging copy, you can impress them enough with it that it will help you close your next deal faster.

#4 Extend your content’s reach by engaging “followers”

When content resonates through the social graph of LinkedIn, it will get picked up by people who aren’t contacts of you yet. If they like what they see, they can always hit the “follow” button.

By having more followers, will increase your content’s influence and reach, and it has the potential to show up in more people’s newsfeeds. By extending your reach to people without direct contacts, you can attract the attention of new potential connections, helping you grow your leads for free.

How to publish on LinkedIn’s Publishing Platform

LinkedIn makes the creation of quality content super easy.

After you’ve logged in to LinkedIn, at the top of the page, you will find the option to share an article, photo, or update. But there is also the option to “Write an article,” as you can see from the screenshot below:

After that, you can immediately start writing in the field presented to you, add a headline that will urge your readers to click, and add a compelling visual that will be used as featured visuals and you’re good to go.

Of course, you don’t always have to write content from scratch, and you can reuse existing content that you’ve already published somewhere else (make sure it is not a one-on-one copy though).

When it is ready to publish, LinkedIn will take care of the formatting, so it will always look great on their platform.

What to publish on LinkedIn’s Publishing Platform

Although the process of publishing is super simple, you still need to have content to post, of course.

So what type of content works best on LinkedIn? Like we said in our intro, according to LinkedIn themselves, six out of ten LinkedIn users are most interested in reading about insights of their industry. After that, 53% are interested in company news, and 43% are interested in new products and services.

The good news, you can “steal” your existing content, add relevant industry insights (if you did not do so already), hit “publish,” and see yourself and your leads grow quickly.

Use LinkedIn Stories to show a raw glimpse into your business

Rolled out at the end of October 2020, LinkedIn finally jumped on the “stories” craze that so many companies have done before them.

LinkedIn Stories is a fantastic tool for companies to invite their connections, clients, and prospects to get a more relaxed, behind-the-scenes look at their business.

What are LinkedIn Stories?

You have probably used the stories feature on Instagram, Snapchat, or Facebook before, so you might already be familiar with the concept.

LinkedIn Stories is not that different than all the other platforms. It’s an easy and highly engaging way of sharing a small piece of content with your audience on LinkedIn.

And just like all the other Story features on other platforms, they expire within 24 hours.

For now, it is only available on mobile, though. You can recognize them by the little circled heads of you, your connections, and the brands that you follow just beneath the search bar.

How do LinkedIn Stories work?

Using LinkedIn Stories is quite intuitive. To create a new story, open the LinkedIn app on your mobile phone and scroll down a little bit (sometimes it is right at the top underneath the search bar, sometimes, you have to scroll past the first regular post), and tap the little circle with your LinkedIn avatar. If you’re the administrator of a LinkedIn company page, there will be little circles for those as well:

After you click on the circle for who or which company you want to create a story, you can choose two types of content. You can take a photo or record a video using the camera on your phone, or you can upload an image or video from your gallery. (videos can be a maximum of 20 seconds long).

Of course, if you genuinely want to stand out, your work is not done yet. As you can enhance your photo or video by:

• adding text overlays as captions to explain what is happening in your content
• tag a connection of you on LinkedIn in your story (their name will show up on the screen)
• add stickers from a selection of illustrations and animations
• Share LinkedIn’s “Question of the day” as a conversation starter.

After you hit that post button, your story will be shared with your followers, who can share it with their connections.

Since most people probably still use LinkedIn from their desktop, this might be a minor inconvenience as you can’t post or view them yet on your desktop.

Unless…

Once a connection reacts to your story, you will see a screengrab of that reaction in your message inbox. If you view that message on your desktop, you can click the screengrab, which will play in a window.

Copy the URL at the top, and you end up with a permalink to your story, a link that you can add to a regular post encouraging people to watch it within the next 24 hours. This will really increase the visibility of your stories!

What makes a good LinkedIn Story?

As (LinkedIn) Stories allows you to show a raw glimpse into your or your company’s life, you should not just go on selling your product or service. If you want to create a LinkedIn story that is worth looking at, that is worth engaging with, be sure to:

• Be real; because of the quick, easy-to-digest format, Stories has a certain charm that is less scripted than a normal video or polished team picture you might share. People like to watch and interact with companies and individuals when there is a certain authenticity. Don’t worry about it being the perfect picture. Worry about showing your true self.
• Deliver value; just like any other (content) marketing message you share with the world, Stories should always bring value to your audience. So share tips, advice, knowledge, entertainment, or insights. Don’t just post because you feel you have to because if your audience doesn’t get value out of it, they will skip your Stories in the future.
• Selling last; this feature is called “Stories” for a reason. Telling stories and delivering value is not something you achieve by just using it as another place to push your standard (scripted) sales message. Focus on your story first, and maybe you can sell a little bit…last

Six ways to use LinkedIn Stories to enhance your brand

Out of the 760 million global LinkedIn users, only around 1% of them share content on a regular basis. And because LinkedIn stories are still such a new (and, for most people, untested) feature. The number of people that are currently using LinkedIn stories is even less.

This means there is an excellent opportunity to cut through the noise and put yourself in front of your company or your brand at the top of your connections’ and followers’ eyes.

You can do this by:

1. Taking people behind the scenes of your workday or how your company creates things
2. Showing the people behind your brand
3. Enhancing your recruitment strategy
4. Making your content easier to digest
5. “Live” Broadcasting from Events
6. Hosting Q&As

Engage With Influencers on LinkedIn Groups

Another great way on LinkedIn to engage with people is by using LinkedIn Groups. LinkedIn Groups are a great place to find people from the same industry, with the same interests as yourself but who are likely not yet a connection.

A LinkedIn Group aims to create a place for quality industry discussions. Although they seem a bit forgotten with all the updates LinkedIn released to their platform last year, LinkedIn Groups are still very powerful.

By going to the ” discover group section,” you can identify and join relevant groups for you, which gives you access to all the influential people in your industry.

Choose the most relevant groups for yourself and your company, depending on how much time you can spend; you can join as many as possible or maybe even create one yourself.

Next up is regularly contributing value, insights, and ideas. Groups are a great way to share your content, but even better, don’t just post your content and run away. It is about building real and lasting relationships with the people that matter to your business.

So add value to these groups, post interesting articles from others that you found online, contribute to the discussions, and mostly add value. Only by adding value, without expecting anything in return, can you build those lasting relationships.

The benefits of publishing to LinkedIn Groups

The power and advantages of LinkedIn Groups are bigger than just the ability to share content and potentially meet essential industry people. If you join the right groups, you can talk directly to people organically without paying for any ads (ideal for small businesses with a limited budget).

You can use these conversations to engage with a community, ask them for feedback on topics or ideas, or contribute your thoughts to other industry-leading surveys.

Using LinkedIn Groups to get feedback is one of the most potent ways to use them. Candid reviews are difficult to come by these days.

Make sure to be active in a group for some time, though, and help others before asking anything in return. And don’t use this as a sneaky way to promote your content by posting, “I just wrote this blog post. What do you think? Discuss below!”. That is not asking. That is self-promotion and is something that is frowned upon.

Another great benefit of a LinkedIn Group is that as the owner/moderator of a group, you can send messages to your group members for free once a week. Members have to opt-in for this with the groups they join, but our experience is that they usually do this.

This is an excellent opportunity to get your content to a highly targeted audience without building up your email subscriber list. You can use this to notify your members of new, valuable, or popular posts in your group to re-engage them continually.

Like everything, you want to use this to bring value to your group members first and use this for lead generation last.

You can also send a welcome email to people after they join your group. This helps set you up as a group authority and allows you to share links to valuable resources (including your sites) as well.

Lastly, LinkedIn groups can allow you to find out other people’s content and learn from their thoughts, insights, and ideas that you can include in your content marketing. Or use this as a form of curation to find content to share on your other social channels.

Use hashtags on LinkedIn to grow your client base

Since their inception in 2016 in the mobile app, you could start to include hashtags in your posts that ” were tappable and lead to search results so that you can discover other posts with the same hashtag”.

In other words, hashtags help you find content on a specific topic that could be relevant to your industry.

Plus, if you add hashtags to your content, you’re making your content discoverable to other people, including those that are not connected to you.

You can also follow hashtags on LinkedIn, meaning posts containing a certain hashtag will start appearing in your newsfeed.

Hashtags are a great way to let the LinkedIn algorithm know what your post is about and the audience it is intended for. Usually, it will recommend ~10 hashtags you might consider using based on the keywords already visible in your post.

I usually include most of those and a few more at the very bottom of my post so it doesn’t interfere with the look and feel of my content, but it gives LinkedIn the information it needs to distribute my content to those it will be relevant for.

Hailey Friedman – cofounder of GrowthBar, the #1 SEO tool for growth

For now, hashtags and the ability to search them only work on content posted on LinkedIn, so it’s not working on profiles and company pages. If you include them in your profile or company page, people won’t be able to find them using search, and they also don’t turn into a blue clickable link.

The good news is that they work excellently when posting content.

How to use hashtags on LinkedIn.

You can use hashtags on LinkedIn:

• to your advantage when creating content so other people can more easily discover your content
• to find relevant topics where you can potentially add value and join the conversation

Let’s look at how you can use both ways to your advantage. First, let’s look at how you can add hashtags to the content you’re creating.

You can add hashtags to your LinkedIn status updates or posts:

You can add hashtags to your LinkedIn articles (also known as LinkedIn Pulse).

You can do this simply by hitting the “write an article” option underneath your status update field.

When you’re done, and you click ” Publish” in the top right corner, a pop-up window will ask you to “tell your network what your article is about.” You can then add a short intro about the article, including relevant hashtags. Do this right now, though, as you can’t edit or remove the hashtags after the article is published.

You can add hashtags to your comments

Next up is finding relevant content to start interacting with. LinkedIn makes it rather easy to find hashtags of the topics that might interest you, as you can begin typing them straight from the search bar at the top of the page.

For example, when you type  #contentmarketing, you get a list of content marketing-related hashtags:

You can then select the hashtag that seems the most appropriate for you and your business, for example, #contentmarketingstrategy, and by clicking the ” follow” button at the top of the page, you can add the hashtag topic to your list of relevant topics to follow:

Now go use this tactic to find relevant content for your business, to help you find and connect with other people that share the same interest, and start responding and talking to these people that could be of clear value to you.

Don’t forget to add relevant hashtags to your content as you write posts and add comments to make the most out of every piece of content that you publish. Not sure which ones to use? LinkedIn also has an autosuggestion feature that you can use.

Use the power of your existing network

Your existing are people that you’ve already built valuable relationships with in the past. Why not use them to kickstart your email newsletter? By using the export contacts function in LinkedIn, you can create a .csv file with all your contacts:

1. Click the My Network icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage.
2. Click Your connections on the left rail.
3. Click Manage synced and imported contacts near the top right of the page.
4. Under Advanced actions on the right rail, click Export contacts.
5. You may be prompted to sign in to your account.
6. Click Request Archive.
7. You will receive an email to your Primary Email address, including a link to download your list of connections.

You can then import these contacts into your Email Service Provider (ESP) or Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool of your choice and contact them outside of LinkedIn.

Be sure to don’t automatically start including them in your regular newsletter from the start, though; you don’t want to spam your contacts and make them dislike you. Send a welcome email telling them about your business, make it personal, and tell them if they want to be kept informed that they can reply to keep subscribed, for example.

Send newsletters on LinkedIn

While not available to everyone yet, this is something to keep your eye out for LinkedIn Newsletters (previously series) is a set of articles you regularly publish on LinkedIn, typically about a specific topic (like most newsletters).

People can “subscribe” to your newsletter, and the moment they do this, they will get a push, in-app, and email notification whenever you publish a new article in the newsletter on LinkedIn.

Using LinkedIn company & showcase pages for your marketing

Although all the previous examples are examples focused on the individuals within your company and the action they can take to help your business to the next level and generate leads, there is also a way for companies to showcase their brand identity on LinkedIn.

Your company page should represent the highest-level information about your business.

A Company Page helps LinkedIn members learn about your business, your brand, and job opportunities with your business. Company Pages are also an excellent way to establish industry expertise.

If your company has different business identities, you can also use the “showcase” feature to show different brand identities that are connected to your mother brand.

The benefits of LinkedIn Company Pages

When LinkedIn Company Pages were created, they were primarily used as landing pages for the Human Resource department of businesses.

Although this is still one way of using your company page, your company page is also becoming the perfect place to drive business results, raise brand awareness, promote career opportunities, and educate potential customers on your products and services. You can do this by sharing the content of your employees created on LinkedIn or by sharing content created outside of LinkedIn.

Think of your company page as the page you might also have on Facebook. It is an outlet next to your main website, which helps drive traffic to your site and allows you to promote your products, services, and content.

Your LinkedIn Company page, as a result, helps you with free (although you can boost this with ads) marketing opportunities and increases the credibility of your brand.

If you don’t have a strong website yourself, you can also use this page as a way to promote awareness around your brand in search engines. By doing keyword research, you can identify the keywords that are important to your business and include them in your page’s copy.

How to create a LinkedIn Company Page

Most businesses probably already have a LinkedIn company page. If this is true, you, as a marketer, should ask for the correct access to start creating content on your company page.

If you’re starting, you still need to create a page. And just like publishing an article on your profile, creating a company page is pretty straightforward (you do need a personal LinkedIn profile for this, though):

1. Go to the “Add a Company” page, and enter your official company name and your work email address. (LinkedIn will send you an email to verify the creation of this page and that you’re eligible to create your Company page). Alternatively, you can also go click the Work icon in the top right corner of your LinkedIn homepage and then click “Create a Company Page.” You’ll also select this option to create a Page for a school.
2. Fill in your company details (mandatory fields are the industry that you’re operating in, company size, and company type)
3. Add a banner, logo, and tagline.

You can now click “Create Page,” and your new LinkedIn Company Page is online. After your company page is online, don’t forget to add some more info to your company page so people can get to know you better.

1. Create a company description. (You only have a maximum of 2K characters to describe what your company does and why someone should follow your brand. Be sure to include your Value Proposition and that you’re using your company’s brand voice.
2. Add a cover image for your page (recommended size 1128 pixels x 191 pixels)
3. Add the location of your company
4. Add a custom button to your company page
5. Adding hashtags that are important to your business
6. And finally, your first post

What to do on your LinkedIn company page, and what are some best practices?

As with everything online, just because you “build” something doesn’t mean people will come. This also holds true for your LinkedIn Company Page. Just because you have one doesn’t mean that followers will come. You can boost your chances of success, though, with the following LinkedIn business tips and strategies.

#1 Use the power of your employees

The biggest part of this entire post is dedicated to empowering your employees so that they will make your company stand out from the crowd on LinkedIn. Your company page is no different. You need your colleagues and your employees; they are your most significant and first brand advocates. You can indirectly use their network by adding them as followers to your page.

By asking them to add your ” Company Page” to their profiles as the current place they work at, they will automatically become followers of your page. Making it easy for them to get noticed about any posts you make so they can easily share it with their following.

#2 Let your brand personality shine through on your page

Just like your company’s Facebook page, your Twitter profile page, etc., LinkedIn offers the ability to adapt your company page to let your brand personality shine through.

By using the style guides you created for your visual brand, you can make your banner image more creative.

Ask yourself why someone would want to read your company profile. Include relevant links to your website, your blog, and so on.

#3 Provide valuable content

Your brand personality is mostly insufficient for the static parts of your company page to keep people interested. The best way to grow your audience and keep your followers interesting is by providing value to them.

Try posting different types of content that your target audience might be interested in—things like company news, thought expertise, and the content created by your employees. Make sure to be consistent with posting and posting regularly, and mix it up.

Next to that, try to actively engage with your followers by asking them what matters most or what they’d like to see.

By making it as attractive and valuable as possible, you will surely increase followers and gain company recognition over time.

Using LinkedIn Groups for your marketing

We’re not sure what your experience has been over the past years, but many LinkedIn groups seemed to be filled with self-promotion and spam rather than valuable discussions and meaningful interactions.

And sure, there are always some outliers, but that doesn’t mean a LinkedIn Group can’t be useful for your business.

Social media is changing to more and more closed communities such as Facebook Groups, and a well-maintained and great interactive LinkedIn Group might be the next best thing to engage with your audience.

Why use LinkedIn groups as part of your marketing mix?

Social media has been in constant change since its first inception. Where it was first a tool for broadcasting whatever you thought was important to you, it increasingly turns into marketing your messages to groups of engaging fans.

You can see the decline happening in reach on Facebook pages and the emphasis that they are putting on groups and niche communities, for example, and this same change is likely going to be followed on LinkedIn as well.

In 2018 they already reached out to group admin stating, “Groups is at the heart of what makes LinkedIn a trusted place for professionals to help and support one another.”

Next to that, you can clearly see that LinkedIn is growing; they are putting more and more emphasis on building your professional network and your brand and helping you to increase your industry knowledge.

This is the reason why communities like LinkedIn Groups are a great way of bringing your customers and the fans of your brand together, especially if you are a business-to-business (B2B) company.

And the best part?

As a LinkedIn Group admin, you have some powerful community management features that are unavailable on places like Facebook Groups.

Did you know LinkedIn sends a daily or weekly digest of your group’s activities to the people in your group to keep them engaged and updated? Or did you know you can send an admin announcement to your members once a week? Almost like a newsletter that ends up in their inbox and not as a notification in the app.

So yeah, if done correctly, LinkedIn Groups can have a hugely positive effect on the marketing of your business.

How to create your own LinkedIn Group

Creating a group on LinkedIn is rather easy, but before we dive into the steps that go with it. Take a step back and ask yourself what your group’s purpose will be.

After all:

A Group, however, should be focused around a topic that has a natural connection to your brand and less on directly promoting your brand or company.

People should join the group because they are interested in the topic, not your company. Over time, the audience will create a natural connection with the topic and your brand, through an earned connection, which is much more valuable.

Charlie Lowe at Social@Ogilvy

So ask yourself:

• What are the goals you have for your group?
• What conversations would be helpful to your current and future customers that the group can facilitate?
• What are some questions that your customers and your prospects are often asking you?
• What are the common topics that are related to your brand?

Write these down as a big part of the success of your group will depend on the value that it will create for its members.

Now that we have those out of the way, let’s start creating your LinkedIn Group.

Step 1: Create your Linked Group

Creating a group on LinkedIn is quite simple. Head to https://www.linkedin.com/groups/ and click ” Create group” in the top-right corner.

After that, you need to come up with the following:

• A group name
• A group description
• Select up to three industries your group will relate to
• A location where your group is primarily active
• The rules of your group
• How you want your group to be discovered by other people (listed – your group appears in search results and is visible to others on members’ profiles, or unlisted – your group does not appear in search results for non-group members and is not visible to others on members’ profiles)
• Group permissions (can members invite other people, and does every post need approval by an admin before being publicly visible).

One of the items in there that you might quickly overlook as something that ” I will do later” is your group rules.

But while the other items mostly help with the discoverability of your group (your name, description, and industry, for example), your group rules will help set the tone for how people behave in your group. This is crucial to help people understand what is encouraged in your group and whatnot, which will result in a better place for people to be and interact with each other. On top of that, it will make it easier for you to manage your group, and there will probably be less moderation too.

Step 2: Invite your connections and start building your group

Now that your group is created, it is time to start inviting members into your group.

To invite your connections, click on “Manage group” on your LinkedIn Group homepage and select “Invited” on the left.

From here, you can start inviting your existing connections into the group. Sadly you can’t include a personal message, but you can only select whom from the existing contacts you want to invite.

Suppose you already have some other marketing channels at your disposal, like a newsletter, a blog, or other social media profiles. In that case, you could also use these to promote your new LinkedIn Group.

And why not share it on your personal LinkedIn profile and encourage your colleagues to do the same?

This way, you can really jumpstart your LinkedIn Group.

Step 3: Start stimulating conversations by starting your own

The first sets of members are rolling on, so how can you stimulate discussions? The easiest way is to start welcoming new members and asking them to introduce themselves.

When they start responding to the content and the questions that you’re posting, also acknowledge their effort. Thank your members for their contributions through a like or comment and encourage original posters to do the same.

Although LinkedIn doesn’t allow you to pin a post anymore to the top of a group,  we would still recommend creating a “Welcome post” as the group’s first post, and maybe once every week (depending on how active your group is) welcome the new members into the group with a small welcome post. You can ask them to introduce themselves and gently remind them what the group is about and what the group rules are.

After that, it’s time to get the discussions going in your group. Posting (some initial) discussions in your group help your group in two different ways:

1. It helps kickstart conversations (as most people might be a bit afraid to be the first ones to post)
2. It signals to your group members what kind of posts are welcome and appreciated in your group.

The easiest way to get people to respond to a conversation is using a question-and-answer format, but feel free to experiment and see what works best for you.

When other people start to post topics in your group, you definitely want to participate by commenting and liking, as this will encourage people to post more often.

Sure, you might have a lot of things on your plate already, and starting discussions can participating in them can be quite time-consuming. But Rome wasn’t built in a day, and all the work you put in now will pay off in the future when discussions and posts come more naturally with the people in your group.

New members in a group always tend to mimic the behavior of existing members. When they only see self-promotional posts, they are less likely to contribute to the posts and try to use the group as a promotion vehicle for their business. But they will be more likely to contribute and add value to your group and its members when they see quality conversations.

Best practices for managing LinkedIn Groups

If you have any experience in community management, managing a LinkedIn group will probably feel quite natural. Nonetheless, let’s look at some of the best ways to manage your LinkedIn Group to make it a fun and engaging place for your group members.

Creating and inviting people into your group is only the first (and easiest) step. However, your group will never be successful if you don’t nurture it.

Here are some best practices:

• All the things below can be derived from one thing, being an active manager. Welcome new group members every week in the group with a small post asking them to introduce themselves.
• Regularly contact your members directly with helpful (not sales) information.
• When you see someone start to post more often, support and encourage them, this type of behavior makes it more interesting for everyone in the group if they see a lively community.
• Remember, a group is a bunch of people that, for a community, isn’t all about you. Yes, you should participate in all discussions, but participating is not trying to push your product or service at every opportunity you see.
• As your group grows, think of other ways to connect people. (Virtual) Meetups, webinars, and online chats are great options.
• Figure out what is of interest to your members by starting a poll
• Ask open-ended questions, as these can start discussions, and it gives your members the room to add their own perspectives;
• Maybe do brainstorming sessions with your key group members to get some more ideas on how to make your group even better;
• Don’t just take things for granted. Publicly thank people for their participation in your group and maybe feature them and their contributions
• When you start to get to know your members better, you’re in the key position to make introductions between people. Use this to make being a member even more valuable

But most of all, have fun.

Sure, you want your brand to extend and get more established as a valuable brand. Still, the whole idea why you want to start a group in the first is to create a spot on the internet where you, your peers, and other like-minded people can come together, share ideas, and learn from each other.

That’s it. LinkedIn may not have a reputation for being the biggest or the sexiest social network of them all. Still, it houses some of the most profitable decision-makers across numerous industries.

Just that fact alone makes it a perfect fit for B2B companies, especially when trying to reach upper management.

The least approachable people within a company become approachable again, and marketing with a well thought strategy on LinkedIn can be your secret weapon to breakthrough.

How are you using LinkedIn at your company for generating leads and getting a higher return on your marketing? Leave a comment below!

But what good will that do if your leads, your consumers, and those who could use your product or service don’t trust you?

Trust is a strange thing; it can make people comfortable handing over their hard-earned money, personal information, or some other valuable item. But if there is no trust, that all will stay shut.

Trust is an essential item in your conversion funnel, in the journey people take from becoming someone who passes by to someone who buys.

Even for building your reputation, it isn’t something that is automatically there; it is something that needs to be developed over time.

However, the big problem with trust is that the best way to earn it is through experience.

Think briefly about the brands you trust most in your life. Why do you trust them? High chances are that you believe them because you’ve engaged with them enough times in the past that they’ve earned that trust. If you just met this brand for the first time, how can you possibly believe them?

That’s the dilemma that a lot of startups are facing. How can you build trust with people if this is their first time seeing you?

What is social proof?

Building trust is something that takes time, but there are however ways in which you can speed up the process. One of the most common ways to do this is by using social proof.

But what is social proof? The idea behind social proof is that people will always follow the actions of the masses. If many people behave in a certain way, it must be the correct behavior, right?

Or, as Wikipedia defines social proof:

Social proof, also known as informational social influence, is a psychological phenomenon where people assume the actions of others reflect correct behavior for a given situation.

This effect is prominent in ambiguous social situations where people are unable to determine the appropriate mode of behavior and is driven by the assumption that surrounding people possess more knowledge about the situation.

You might remember it from those infomercials from the nineties, where you had someone trying to sell an exercise machine, or some “amazing” cleaning product, or a diet, and where you had other people explaining how that single product changed their life for the good.

Recent studies even show that 92% of online consumers look at product reviews before making a purchase. And that is not all. People think that product reviews are 12 times more trustworthy than product descriptions or sales copy written by the manufacturers themselves.

Social proof is not something new. There is already research done by Solomon Asch with his classic conformity experiment that took place in 1951.

So yeah, people are looking for proof from others, not just the copy you write yourself for them to buy products.

As a result, social proof can increase your conversion rate.

That’s why big brands like Amazon, Wix, MailChimp Buffer, and just about every other company use social proof on their sites.

So how can you create these kinds of proof online and help grow your sales and your business?

Why is social proof important for (online) marketing?

When you’re walking outside trying to find a place to have lunch, and you see a bunch of restaurants, most of them have lots of people inside and outside eating. Two of them are empty. Would you rather wait a bit for a spot at the busy restaurants or go to the completely empty ones?

Most people would rather not be the first ones to go into a restaurant. After all, if nobody else is there, there might be something wrong.

This type of social proof is easy, but online social proof has become even more critical.

When you’re shopping online, you don’t just have the option to visually compare the offering to a handful of other shops. All of a sudden, there is a lot more outside influence that affects your decision.

This also holds true for physical products. When you’re in a shop trying to buy a dress, you can feel the quality and try them on to see which fits better. All of these things are impossible to do online.

So before you buy that dress online, you start to look at reviews to see what others think of the quality, how it fits, how the return policy in your store is in case it doesn’t fit, etc.

This online behavior of you quickly checking out competing products and services is also finding its way back into brick-and-mortar stores. A study done by BigCommerce shows that 50% of shoppers use their smartphones while shopping in brick-and-mortar stores to research the items before they buy them.

Why use social proof in marketing?

There are a bunch of reasons why social proof is becoming more and more important as part of your marketing mix.

For example, the organic reach for brands on places like Facebook and Instagram has been declining, and the costs for paid ads are higher than ever before.

You would not think of it right away, but Facebook does everything in the users’ interest on the platform.

Why?

Well, advertisers pay money to show ads to all the people looking at Facebook. The more time you spend on Facebook, the more “advertising inventory” Facebook has, the more it can sell, and the more profit it can make.

So when Adam Mosseri, the head of Facebook’s News Feed team, announced in 2018 that they were going to show “less public content, including videos and other posts from publishers or businesses.” of course, the ad costs on Facebook spiked.

Fast forward to now, and as a small business owner, it becomes harder and harder to use Facebook advertising.

On top of that, consumer trust in media is steadily declining. As a result, consumers are looking more and more for user-generated content (UGC) before purchasing.

85% of consumers even trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations!

That is why social proof has become so important to use as part of your marketing.

Using user-generated campaigns through your own customers and highlighting buyers through social proof on your website and in your ads, as a result, will have a higher ROI than just retargeting them using ads on social media.

So now we know the power social proof can have for your business, what types of social proof are there, and where can you find them to include on your website?

Five levels of social proof

To look into that, let’s have a quick overview of five levels of social proof that you could be using on your website today:

1. Customers – your existing customers (for example, testimonials or case studies)
2. Celebrities, influencers, and experts – celebrities, influencers, or other experts talking about your product or services (for example, celebrities who have bought your product or visited your store, a famous journalist in your industry writing about you, etc.)
3. Crowds – large numbers of people using your product or services (for example, “over 10.000 people help grow their business using our newsletter”)
4. Friends – showing individuals who are friends of your customers/website visitors (for example, “249 of your friends like User Growth”)
5. Certifications – a credible, third-party that has credentials that showcase your expertise or that you’re trustworthy (for example, “Apple premium reseller”)

Now we know what types of social proof you can leverage, let’s make them more concrete and see how they can help your business.

Customers

One of the most common forms of social proof, and that’s why it is positioned at number 1, is just showcasing testimonials from your customers. You know what we’re talking about and see them everywhere online. From Amazon, for example:

To hand-curated social media content suggestion Startup Quuu:

According to research done by Nielsen, 92% of people will trust a recommendation of a friend (hence they are at the number four place on our list as well), but still, 70% of people will trust a recommendation of someone they’ve never heard of before.

That is the reason why so many brands are showcasing testimonials on their website.

Another study done by VWO tells us that testimonials on a sales page can help increase sales by even 34%. So no reason for you to start talking to your customers again and asking for testimonials!

Celebrities

Celebrities are walking advertisements. Everyone knows that. So any product that they seem to be using or, even better, proactively recommending will be getting a lot of attention.

These don’t automatically need to be big-time Hollywood celebrities, but even in your niche, there could be a lot of local influentials.

People who, in all likelihood, are a lot cheaper to get on board as well

According to Andy Crestodina from Orbit Media in his article on the Unbounce blog called “The Psychology of Social Proof & How to Build Trust in Your Business,”. The more relevant the celebrity or influencer is in relation to your audience, the better, of course. Andy even suggests actively starting searching for these people:

If your business has ever received a compliment from a well-known person who is respected by your audience, go find it, and add it to your home page.

Another form of celebrity or influencer or expert in your domain. These could be individual people, but could also be recognizable brands you’ve worked together with or are clients of you. A lot of startups use a dedicated section on their home page for this showcasing which websites featured them:

Don’t just put the logos, though. Put a link behind it to the original article so people can see what they had to say about you.

Which celebrity, influencer, or expert for your business can you think of that would fit well with your audience and would love to give you a testimonial?

Crowds

The third way social proof can help is by showcasing the approval of large groups of people.

It shows that you’re not the only one using this product or service. In fact, thousands or, in the case of Buffer, even millions of people have taken the action you want your visitors to take and are happy customers with them.

This type of social proof works because of something that is called FOMO, or Fear Of Missing Out.

And it is a form of social anxiety.

If all of these people love this product, it must be good, right? For example, FOMO can also be used with your content marketing efforts or on social media.

If so many people are sharing your content, it triggers people to want to share the piece of content, too, to help them look smarter

A third example for which the numbers of the crowds are often used is to showcase the number of email subscribers on a company’s mailing list.

It shows the potential subscribers that if they don’t subscribe, they will be missing out on all the great content and valuable tips that these people are receiving.

Friends

As we already stated in our first example of social proof, 92% of people trust a recommendation from a friend. Having people share the products they value on social media is a powerful option.

Whether it is something simple as a widget on your website that shows the faces of the people who liked your brand on Facebook (it automatically shows your friends first), Twitter’s display of people you follow that also follow another person, or companies using rewards for sharing their products. All of them can be used to great advantage for your brand.

For example, Dropbox rewards people if they share their website via the referral link. If someone signs up via the referral link you created, you will be rewarded with 1GB of free storage.

This has been one of the big growth drivers of Dropbox since the moment it was introduced.

Certifications

The final type of social proof we want to highlight is creating social proof by showing your certifications. If your company has earned certain industry-wide recognized certifications or accreditations, you should show them on your website.

Most companies who hand out certifications and accreditations have ready-made logos available you can use on your site (it gives them more visibility as well, so a win-win for both of you).

Research by MonetizePros in 2014 even shows that some of these badges can help increase your conversion by as much as 30%.

Showcasing logos of other companies should not just stop with your certifications. Maybe you have some integrations with your product and other well-known products or services out there.

By showing their logos on your website, you can let some of their success shine off on you, and it helps convince users of these products that they can get even more return on their initial investment.

How to use social proof to increase your conversions

What to do with all that social proof you’re gathering from your customers, you might think?

How can you use social proof to help increase your conversions?

As a business, you can use social proof in three major places:

• You can use social proof on your website
• You can use social proof as part of your (social media) content
• You can use social proof in your ads

Let’s have a look at all three of them

Using social proof on your website

There are a bunch of different ways you can use social proof on your website:

• you can use real-time sales notifications from companies like FOMO or Live Sales Notifications if you’re on WordPress
• you can display reviews using tools like RichPlugins (RichPlugins, also add the correct schema markup)
• you can create case studies with your customers, look for example, the customer success stories of Shopify
• you can showcase a list (including their logos for easy recognition) of your customers on your website
• if you’re selling products online, don’t forget to add seals of trust to your checkout pages

Using social proof as part of your (social media) content

• case studies don’t just make great content on your website. You can share these on social media as well
• retweet and reshares testimonials that people leave on their social media channels

• Let your most loyal customers become ambassadors of your brand
• People love to be recognized by the brands they love, so why not showcase your customers’ creations or businesses they could create using your product or service?
• Inviting industry experts to take over your social media profiles can be a great way to tap into their influence and their followers’ positive association with anything they do (i.e., the halo effect).
• You can also invite experts for just one-off sessions using Twitter Chats or Facebook Live video discussions
• To share milestones. When you reach X customers or X downloads of your app
• Using (micro) influencers to post about your product or service

Use social proof in your advertising

• to target your Facebook ads at the friends of the people who like your Page. Facebook will then automatically add the wisdom of friends’ social proof for you.

• feature an expert endorsing your product in your ads
• highlight a celebrity or (micro) influencer recommending your product
• use the number of customers or downloads you have in your ads
• create (carousel) ads using reviews of top-rated, best-selling products

Start using Social Proof now

In the end, remember, up until that final moment (and sometimes even after) that someone presses that Call-To-Action, everybody has doubts about whether or not they should do it. It is your job to remove that fear so they will become customers.

Social proof is a great way to assist you in this process.

If you want to start implementing social proof into your marketing, be sure to test the different forms of social proof to find the ones that make the most sense for your customers.

Some of these examples take a bit more time than others, but what is stopping you from trying to get more proof on your website?  Which items of proof are you using on your site? Anything we missed? Leave a comment below!

How about two Tuesdays from now? Tuesday next month? The first Tuesday of next year?

We don’t go that deep here at User Growth, but we do plan some time.

And with around 88 percent of business-to-business companies seeing the value of including content marketing in their overall marketing strategy, it might be time to start developing a process on how you will execute your content marketing strategy.

Why?

Well, you could be 60 percent more effective than those marketers who did not develop a content marketing plan.

Next to the fact that having a content marketing calendar proves to be an effective marketing tool, what other reasons could be there to have a content calendar?

What is a content calendar?

What programs or tools exist to produce an easy-to-use content calendar for your organization?

In this post, we will teach you all about the importance of having a content calendar and why you wish you hadn’t started using one earlier.

What is a content calendar?

A content calendar, also known as an “editorial calendar,” is a way to plan out and organize all your future content. Content calendars can come in lots of different ways. For example, a social media content calendar is a place to plan all content that will be placed on the social media channels that you’re active on.

In general, though, they include all the upcoming pieces that you want to put out there, status updates, planned promotional activities, partnerships, and even updates to existing content.

It’s the secret sauce you and your business can use to plan one year of content in one day.

If you create a prioritized list of (blog) post topics in one calendar, you can keep organized, focus on your deadlines, and as a result, be more productive all year long.

Why are content calendars important?

Unless your blog is just something you do as a hobby, you probably going to need a content calendar.

Why?

Well, here are four key ways that content calendars can help you with your content marketing strategy:

#1 It gives your business a system you can follow to grow your blog traffic

Most businesses heard how content could do wonders for your company. It can bring in free traffic to your website, which you should then be able to convert into leads and potential customers. So what do they do?

They brainstorm many topics related to the problem their company is solving; they pick one with decent search volume and low keyword difficulty. They research the content, write it and publish it all in one day.

They do this once a month, once a week, and some even do this once every day.

Does this sound familiar to you? Is your business on a “content treadmill” like this?

This is not a decent system you can use if you’re serious about your content marketing efforts. If you want to scale your traffic, you need an editorial calendar.

#2 It gives the people in your organization the ownership of their role in growing your blog

A content calendar also makes it easier to collaborate with the entire team (and potential outside partners). Sure, if you’re just starting out and are only a one-person army, you may not need a content calendar (yet).

But if more people, inside (and outside) your organization, start contributing to your content marketing efforts, you need something that keeps everyone on the same page.

You want your team to OWN things.

For example, our editorial calendar is in the cloud (via Google Sheets). This is where we’ll include some introductory notes and general references for creating the content. And, of course, it has a column called “OWNER” with the person’s name, the content they are responsible for, and their deadline.

Next to that, we use Trello to keep our articles organized. This allows us to collaborate on the various pieces of content and go into more details while the Google Sheet keeps the overview of when something should be done.

#3 You can know the status of every piece of content at a glance

Without a content calendar (and the Trello board we use with it), you have no idea what the status is of each individual blog post. For our content calendar, we have five different stages:

• assigned to a writer
• in production
• review
• complete
• promotion

To simplify, we included this as a status column next to the URL of every blog post planned on the calendar. By having the ability for a glance overview of the different stages of your content, you can easily know if you need to stay awake at night being worried or if you can have a good night’s sleep.

#4 It allows for a birds-eye view of your content so you can fill in the gaps

A content calendar gives you new perspectives both in the way you think about your content and in the way you see your content.

You get to examine your updates, sharing, and blog posts from a 10,000-foot view, where you can’t help but notice the big picture.

It’s easy to get lost in details when you’re in the heads-down process of content creation, so having a more extensive visioning session to create the calendar, plus taking regular peeks at the calendar once it’s made can help bring your work into context.

What makes a good content calendar?

So what makes a good content calendar? Well, there are a lot of different tools out there you can use, and we’ll have a look into them in more depth later in this guide.

But the answer?

As with everything in marketing: it depends.

Not everyone and not all companies are the same, and what works for us might not work that great for you. The most important thing, though is that a content calendar doesn’t have to be complicated. After all, the job of a content calendar is to make things easier for you and your team, not more difficult.

So if you’re just starting, maybe start with a simple Google Sheet (like our example). The main items that we think should be a part of your content calendar, though are:

• The title of the piece of content
• Optionally the keyword that you want to target
• The status
• The deadline for the first draft
• The deadline for the live date
• Optionally the traffic potential
• Optionally the ranking potential

Why do we include those optional keywords, traffic, and ranking potentials in our content calendar? Well, if you want a sales curve that goes up and to the right, you can’t just randomly start producing the topics that end up on your content calendar.

It makes sense to prioritize the content by the amount of impact it can have on your sales. We will get to how to calculate the impact on your sales later on in this post, but for now, think of it as a combination of the traffic potential, the ranking potential, and the opportunity gap that lies with a piece of content.

Should you have a weekly, monthly, or yearly content calendar? Yes.

CoSchedule, makers of a super helpful WordPress editorial calendar plugin, advise that a good calendar creation process includes a handful of different timeframes. Their three-step process goes like this:

• Start with an annual review
• Begin collecting ideas
• Plug the content into monthly calendars

The purpose of the process is to think big-picture about the content you create and share. We mentioned the birds-eye view earlier, which is precisely what this helps achieve.

By looking at the broader picture and identifying themes for an entire year in advance, you can make sure that all content is linked better together. And internal linking is a proven method for having a significant impact on your search engine ranking.

How to create a content calendar

The most important part of the entire content calendar is the topics you will be producing content around. After all, before you can start writing, or recording any kind of material you first need to figure out what it is that you’re going to be writing or recording about.

Figure out what you’re selling

But before you can start with the ideation process of finding content topics, you first have to identify what it is that you’re trying to sell.

Sound easy, right? Of course, you know exactly what it is that you’re trying to sell.

But so many people will make the mistake and just start producing any type of content that they think will fit their niche. If you want to make any sales from the traffic, you will get at your blog, though; you need to focus on blog topics related to the product that you sell.

So are you selling a physical product, a digital course, a local service, or maybe you’re selling a Software as a Service (SaaS) product?

If you don’t know exactly what it is you sell to your target audience after they’ve consumed your content, you don’t know what it is that you’re going to produce content around.

That brings us to step two.

Figure out your target audience

Not all customers are created equal. Some will be ready to purchase anything you throw at them, and for some, you need to work a little bit harder to get them to ever consider your offering.

The second step towards success after you’ve figured out what it is that you’re selling is knowing how to find your target audience.

After all, how can you begin creating content before you know who your audience is?

Good content marketing takes time. A lot of it. You can’t afford to waste that time with content that isn’t entirely focused on your target market. You need to find who your people are. But how?

Start by looking at your current customers.

If you’re not sure who buys your product or service, someone in your organization almost certainly does. Consider asking your company’s executives or sales teams for this information. It may also be necessary to segment your types of customers.

For example, you may categorize customers based on location, budget, or needs. HubSpot created an excellent guide on how to segment your customers.

Or have a look at your Google Analytics. Google Analytics has a ton of data about your audience if you know how to find it.

Julie Neidlinger from CoSchedule created a great Google Analytics dashboard to quickly see the demograjphics of the people that visit your website without having to dig through Google Analytics. You can install the custom report here.

Check out your competition.

Don’t tell us you don’t have competitors. Everyone has them.

If you think about it, you can probably already find some apparent competitors. If you check out their social media profiles, you can already find out a lot about the audiences they are targeting.

Especially when you start seeing their ads in your Facebook news feed, click on the three dots at the top of the ad and select “Why am I seeing this ad?” you can see the customers they like to target with their ads.

Or try searching for a keyword or two that are related to your business. See which other companies come up. By checking their “About Us” pages and feature descriptions, you can learn a lot about your competitors and their target audience.

Create buyer personas

Use this information as a starting point to develop your ideal buyer personas. A buyer persona helps you to visualize your audience as you write.

When you have a clear picture of the individuals you want to target, you can tailor the content you’re creating to them. As a result, the person reading your content will often feel like you are speaking directly to them.

The best buyer personas include:

• Who
• What
• When
• Where
• Why

Figure out where your audience is hanging out online

If you know your ideal customer, you also know where they hang out online. Going to these places is an excellent starting point to brainstorm blog post ideas related to the pain points they’re struggling with.

Try figuring out the following:

• What influencers do they follow
• What Facebook Groups they’re active in
• What online communities they’re part of
• What content do they share

Setting goals and creating themes

As we’ve mentioned earlier, it is a good thing to have that birds-eye view of your content.

Next to that, it is generally a good thing to set goals for your content. This way, you can better track if what you’re producing is actually making an impact on your business.

So just like with any other form of business growth, you should always have an end goal in mind. Try not to create too many goals; this way, you can stay laser-focused while keeping it challenging enough to achieve your objectives. Around three is a good maximum to have.

Once you’ve written down your goals, pick a theme or overarching topic for the quarter ahead. Having a piece makes the content ideation in the next step so much faster and gives your content a clear focus.

The moment you’ve written down your themes, we can start focusing on the nitty-gritty of the individual topic ideas for the content we’re going to be creating.

Start producing content topic ideas

Coming up with ideas for your blog posts always seems very difficult to a lot of people. However, many different tools are available for you online to help you with brainstorming. Sites like Quora or places like Amazon book listings can help with coming up with lots of topics that you’re target audience is looking for.

The best way to do this and to not drift off into lots of other things is to just timebox your brainstorming.

Set a timer for 15 minutes and try to brainstorm as many ideas as possible that might interest your audience.

Next to the earlier mentioned places online, also just use Google Autocomplete for your seed keyword followed by every A-Z letter combination, together with the Keywords Everywhere browser extension will immediately show you how much traffic you can expect for specific topics and why one could be more interesting than the other.

Write down all topics in a master Excel sheet

Finding a lot of topics is just the first step, though. Write them all down in a master document that you will be using as your content calendar guide. Just copy-paste all ideas in there, and for every idea that you have, we also want you to include the monthly search volume for that topic and the total number of search results.

The number of search results can be found underneath the search bar at the top of Google search results in pages:

The monthly search volume can be found using Keywords Everywhere or using a free tool like Ubersuggest.

If you add those to your master Google Sheet, your spreadsheet will start to look like this:

Write down how much traffic potential each idea has

The next couple of steps are some brilliant insights from Dan Shure on his “Experts on the Wire” podcast during his interview with Noah Kagan.

There was a time when we would stop here, but after listening to his podcast some time ago, we’ve decided to go a little bit deeper still to make it more actionable, so you really know what topics will get you the highest return on your investment.

What you need to do first is start writing down the traffic potential each idea has.

For this, you take the number one Google result for your target topic and put that URL in SEMRush (sadly, this functionality is not available yet in Ubersuggest).

Go to SEMRush > Organic Research and put in the URL of the number one organic search result to find the “traffic potential” for your topic. After all, if you take over that number one spot, this could be the amount of traffic you’re getting monthly.

The reason why you want to do this is that the estimate of monthly traffic that blog post is getting is way more of an accurate indicator of how much potential traffic you might be getting versus just the search volume.

People searching for a topic have all the options on the first page of the search results, after all, to choose from when they are looking for an answer.

As SEMRush gives you the estimated amount of traffic per month, we multiply this number by 12 before adding it to our master sheet.

You don’t have to do this, but we think it is more interesting to look at the long-term growth a post can do for your business, and as a result, we look at the whole year.

Your master sheet should now look like this:

Prioritize blog post ideas by “Traffic Score.”

The next step is fairly simple as it is just a formula to help make a little bit more sense of the data you’ve already entered in your content calendar.

When you divide the traffic potential by the search results available and multiply that by 1,000, you can have an easy look at the number that gives you an idea of the topics that have low competition and high traffic potential.

Find potential ranking opportunity gaps in the current search results

Even though post topics might have a good traffic score and, as a result, have high traffic potential and low competition, it doesn’t automatically mean you can take over their spot in the search results.

Some results might be ranking well but might not answer the questions that your potential audience is searching for.

So in the next step, we’re going to be looking at all the search results on the first page of Google, and we’re going to identify potential gaps in the current content.

We’re going to be looking at the following:

• How fresh is the answer provided? Is the result a post from two years ago and potentially irrelevant?
• How qualitative is the content? Do you think there is an opportunity to go deeper, to deliver a more in-depth answer to the question?
• What is the domain rank of the sites delivering the answers? You can use the MOZBar SEO toolbar for this. See what the Domain Authority is of the website currently ranking compared to yours. If a similar or lower domain authority compared to your domain is ranking, it is a good signal that this particular topic is not overly crowded yet, and it is not too competitive.
• How well do the current results answer those questions that you’re searching for? How relevant are the answers, and could you easily improve on them?

Add these potential opportunity gaps to your master sheet. So that your sheet will look like this

Finding these gaps is probably the hardest part of the entire exercise, and it takes some good experience in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in order for you to be able to spot these gaps.

However, within SEMRush is a competition metric as well that you can use to skip this step and immediately go to the next step.

Start writing down the ranking potential of each blog post topic

Now that we have done most of the research and have identified the gaps in the current results, how much traffic we could get for a topic, etc., it is time to give each topic a ranking potential.

• a high ranking potential: there is an opportunity gap AND no authoritative sites currently ranking in the top five results
• a medium ranking potential: there is an opportunity gap, BUT there are authoritative sites presently ranking in the top five results
• a low ranking potential: there is no opportunity gap, AND there are authoritative sites presently ranking in the top five results

Put all high-priority topics in your content calendar

Only two steps left to have a highly actionable content calendar. In this step, we’re going to take the topics we brainstormed and researched and put them into our content calendar.

As we have a list of topics prioritized by traffic score and we know how likely we are to be able to rank for them, now let’s put those topics into the Content Calendar, assign a writer to the topic and publication date, and you’re off to the races.

Of course, we don’t want to just fill in any of the topics into our content calendar. We start with the ones that have a high traffic score and high-ranking potential.

And if you’ve got time and opportunity left, you can add the high traffic score and medium ranking potential topics as well. We aim to rank as quickly and highly as possible with the least effort.

Overall, we’d like to skip low-traffic potential topics unless they make sense from an overall content strategy, like when you’re building topic clusters around specific keywords or a pillar page.

Note: Topic clusters are broad topics you want to rank for, then you create content based on specific keywords related to that topic that all link to each other to create broader search engine authority.

Pillar pages are the basis on which a topic cluster is built. A pillar page covers all aspects of the topic on a single page, with room for more in-depth reporting in more detailed cluster blog posts that hyperlink back to the pillar page.

Content marketing is not a volume game; with content being everywhere nowadays, it makes sense to take your time to research topics before putting them on your calendar.

Using Trello to keep your articles organized

Now that we know the content that we’re going to be producing over the next couple of weeks/months. We need to put a proper system in place to make sure nothing slips through the cracks.

Making sure that each piece of content you produce is the best piece that you can create requires putting systems in place that prevent mistakes from being made, especially in the content promotion part after you’ve hit that publish button.

By creating a Trello account, we prevent that from happening.

The first step to creating a Trello account for content is to decide what stages each article will need to go through.

What you need is up to you, but we’d recommend these:

• An overview of all the articles assigned to each writer
• In production
• Ready for review
• Complete and ready for go-live
• Maximizing the potential of a post by repurposing

The Trello board, as we’ve created, allows you to keep a high-level view of every article.

It’s also helpful to see if an article is falling behind the scheduled time frame before it fails to meet the deadline.

As soon as a content topic is clear, you create a card for it on the Trello board.

Don’t forget to assign a deadline to the card; we recommend making this around one week before you actually want to publish the post. Many people are finishing things at the last minute, which also gives you some more space if things need to be tweaked a bit more.

Also, don’t forget to assign the correct writer to each piece of content as well.

And to keep things simple and organized, as soon as you or a team member starts writing the piece, include a link to a Google Doc for the article in the description or comments of the card.

This will allow each teammate to quickly and easily find the article through Trello.

We’ve included a checklist of items to do for promotion after a piece goes live on each Trello card as well to make sure it gets the proper promotion. After all, content creation is only half the battle – the rest is gaining notice.

Different content calendar examples

Maybe a combination of Google Sheets and Trello isn’t your cup of tea, and you want something different to use within your company to plan out your content.

Thankfully there are lots of different ways to plan your content. Although we really like to use Google Sheets together with all the outlined steps to determine what topics to start producing content around that will have the biggest impact, you’re organization might not like Trello as a way to manage the creation of your content.

That’s why we’ve listed the below tools as an alternative to Trello. With these tools listed below, you can regain control of your content marketing strategy.

Asana

Asana, just like Trello, is a project management tool that works great for organizing your content marketing strategy.

Although it might not work as easily as the Kanban structure that Trello has, it does, however, offer a high-level view of your publication calendar.

Asana works by creating projects, and within those projects, you can create tasks and subtasks.

So you can create a project called “Content Marketing,” for example, in which you create tasks for each piece of content that you want to publish in the upcoming period. You can set due dates, assign and develop subtasks (so you won’t forget specific content promotion tactics), etc.

Asana also lets you track the progress of each project, letting you know whether or not your team is meeting their deadlines and how many tasks still need to be done.

If your organization is looking for a good, reliable project management tool for the entire organization that can also be used for the content marketing team, then Asana is probably a good fit for you.

Asana is free for teams of up to 15 people and starts at $10.99 per user per month for larger businesses.

StoryChief

If you’re looking for a tool that does it all, StoryChief might be a good contender for you.

With its approval flow for better collaboration, multichannel publishing, build-in multichannel analytics all the way to SEO copywriting tools that help you write better readable content that performs better in search as well.

It even has tools in place for employee advocacy so that the entire company can share your new content via their personal social channels.

Plans start at a free tier, up to $300 per month for more than ten people. They do, however, offer a startup plan for $50 dollar per month for five users, so definitely worthwhile checking them out.

Brightpod

Brightpod, just like Asana and Trello, is another project management tool that is great for organizing content.

It lets you create projects with tasks inside, on a Kanban board like Trello, that you can then prioritize and set milestones for.

They do, however, offer an editorial calendar that is great for that high-level overview, and if you want to keep track of the time spent, your team members can log the time they spend on each task.

Every person on your team has their own dashboard, which means everyone can focus on the projects and tasks that belong to them.

Brightpod also has in-app communication for easier collaboration together with file-sharing.

Pricing: From $29/month for up to 5 users

CoSchedule

We’ve already mentioned CoSchedule earlier, but if you’re using WordPress and want to keep everything happening inside your own Content Management System (CMS) than maybe you should be looking at CoSchedule.

CoSchedule is a WordPress plugin that makes posting and promoting your content simple and easy to remember.

It features an editorial calendar where you can schedule not only your post’s publication but also your social media promotion.

You can then attach the scheduled promotion to the corresponding blog post.

In short, CoSchedule is the solution for busy content marketers who easily forget to talk about their own content on social media.

After your initial setup, you can filter it to view only blog posts, social media posts, or posts written by certain authors.

Instead of forgetting to publish or promote your post, CoSchedule will send you a reminder when it’s time to talk about that awesome piece of content you created.

CoSchedule starts at $30 per month for solopreneurs and $60 per month for startups with one user and ten social media profiles (every extra user is $9)

Pipefy

Of all the project management tools out there, Pipefy comes closest to Trello. Instead of having projects and tasks, though, Pipefy uses pods and pipes.

You can create different pipes for the various departments in your organization, like one for the team responsible for the content, one for the email team, etc.

Then almost the same as with Trello, you can customize the columns within each pipe.

Pipefy is free for teams of up to five people and $9 per user per month for anywhere between five and ten users. The price goes up from there.

Loomly

Loomly positions itself as a better alternative to CoSchedule. And while it doesn’t seem to offer a full native WordPress integration, all the other features seem quite impressive.

From interactive guides for creating blog posts to automated social media posting and even an ads manager.

It also has built-in analytics and a community management system making it easy for you to respond to the people engaging with your content on social.

They have a free 15-day trial, and then you need to pay $25 per month for two users, all the way up to $249 per month for a team of 26.

Editorial Calendar plugin for WordPress

The last option we want to discuss is the Editorial Calendar plugin for WordPress.

It offers a simple, drag-and-drop interface and has most of the features you want and need. And best of all, it is free.

If WordPress is your CMS of choice, this might be a good option for you to try out. They even have a demo installation (username and password test) available if you want to try it out before installing it on your own site.

If you want to start creating compelling content regularly, you need a great editorial calendar.

Scheduling content in advance is the only way you can produce such in-depth articles consistently.

A content calendar is a single source of truth for a company’s marketing strategy.

It provides a great tool and resource for organizing both short-term and long-term goals.

Choosing the right tool and process for your team can greatly help with efficiency and analytics tracking while producing content that’s aligned with your business goals.

Do you have experience using a content calendar? How do you currently organize marketing campaigns? Leave us a comment below; we love hearing from our readers.

What do you use for a content calendar? Which elements of the calendar are most important to you? We’d love to hear about your experience in the comments.

With over 330 million monthly active users, it could be a traffic goldmine for your organization. However, there are also 500 million tweets sent out every day, so how can you get your tweets seen? Should you still invest in it?

Just like LinkedIn and Facebook Groups, there are lots of different ways you can use it for your business, but at the same time, there are lots of companies struggling to make Twitter work as effectively as it used to be in the past.

So what is Twitter marketing?

The beautiful thing about Twitter is that it is whatever you want it to be.

Want to learn more about your customers? Bring a human touch to your brand? Build buzz about your new product? Provide super-fast customer support? Start cleaning up after a PR disaster? Hold a group chat and educate your customers?

It doesn’t matter what your marketing goals are; there is a pretty significant change. Twitter has got you covered.

There is no question that Twitter can be a very potent tool to help you achieve your marketing objectives.

The problem, though is that it might sound a bit overwhelming, you’ve got no idea where to start, or maybe you’ve already started, but you’re having trouble getting your business objectives.

No matter at which stage you are, this guide will help you either start from scratch or guide you to the next level of using Twitter to grow your business, traffic, and sales.

What is Twitter, and what makes it so unique?

First, if you’re new to this whole social media marketing thing and you might have heard the name Twitter sometime before on the news but never really used it before, what is Twitter, and what makes it so unique?

At its origin, Twitter is a short message communication platform that allows you to send out messages (or Tweets) up to 280 characters (it used to be 140, but that officially changed in November 2017) to people who subscribe to you (the followers).

Your Tweet can include a link to any web content (think of your blog posts, website pages, etc.) or a photograph or video. Just like people can follow you, you can also follow others. This allows you to read, reply to and easily share their Tweets with your followers (retweet).

However, next to this basic use Twitter has grown to so much more over the more than ten years of its existence. Twitter can be anything you want or make it to be. But before you can do that, you must create an account.

Setting up Twitter for your business success

Step 1: Creating an account

In an always-connected mobile-first world, of course, you don’t need to use your desktop computer to create a Twitter account (Twitter is even used for 80% using a mobile), but if you want some ease of use setting up your account, choosing the right pictures for your profile, etc. we still recommend using your computer.,

Your Twitter account and profile are the foundation of your Twitter experience for your followers. It’s your chance to tell your business story to the Twitter community and will most of the time be one of the first contact points when someone is figuring out if they want to follow you (or not).

As a result, It is important that your Twitter presence have the same look and feel as your other presence online. This helps people identify your business and builds trust. So, as part of your social media strategy, choose an account name and images consistent with your other online presence and your brand.

Basic account setup

Let’s start by going to Twitter.com where you will be greeted with a blank page, where you can give your email address, come up with a password and leave your real name.

After that first step, you will be asked for your phone number as an extra layer of security for your account (optional):

And to come up with a Twitter handle or username. On Twitter, your username, or handle, is your identity. If you can, sign up for Twitter by using your name or a variation of it as your username (assuming somebody else isn’t already using it).

That’s it your done; you just created your account. Twitter will now ask you for topics you’re interested in and will give you the opportunity to start already following suggested accounts or accounts of the people you already know by connecting your Gmail or Outlook email accounts.

We suggest you skip these for now. People will get a notification when you follow them, and it is better to show a full, interesting profile to them when they figure out who is following them instead of the empty profile your profile is still right now.

At a later stage, you can always still use the “Find people you know” button located on the right side of your profile page. This will give you the option to find people you already know using your address book from either Gmail or Outlook.

Profile image and background image

Now that you’ve created your account (don’t forget to hit that confirmation email), it is time to make your profile visually more appealing and in line with your brand…

Twitter uses two different images to make your account represent your brand. It’s essential that you take advantage of both of these images to tell your business story.

Your Twitter profile photo is a circular photo that appears next to every tweet you send. You can use either your company logo or your headshot for your profile photo.

If you’re a really small business, we might suggest using your business name as the name for your account, but using a personal photo for the profile photo, adds a personal touch and might resonate better with your customers.

The second picture you need to upload is the Twitter header photo; this is a large background photo. The big-screen real estate gives you enough space to tell a story about your business maybe. Similar to the cover you have on your Facebook company page, this visual will appear at the top of your profile page.

If you go to your profile, you will be greeted with a beautiful empty profile. By clicking on the “edit profile” button, your profile transforms into an easy way to upload a new profile picture and header photo.

Location

While you’re still editing your profile, don’t forget to add your location. Especially for a local business, this can help build a stronger connection with your potential audience. But remember, Twitter is a global phenomenon, if people from another city or country are visiting your profile, they might not recognize your specific neighborhood or community name.

So go specific, but not so specific that people don’t have enough information anymore to be able to find you.

Website

Of course, you want people that visit your profile also end up as visitors to your site. By adding your website or link to your blog, you make it easy for people to find out more about your business.

Maybe put a link to a special landing page for people coming from your Twitter profile? This is a great way to welcome those visitors to your site and make them feel right at home.

Bio

Next, to your visual branding like your profile picture and your header photo, your bio might be one of the most critical items on your profile. It gives you the opportunity to tell the people viewing your profile precisely who you are and what you do.

You’ve only got 160 characters though, so skip the mission statement and talk about the benefits you deliver. Why would someone want to follow you? And while you’re at it, add a little personality to help your profile stand out even more from the crowd.

Step 2: Five types of tweets to keep your followers engaged

Your profile is complete, and you might feel the urge to start following a lot of accounts to let the world know that you’re alive (and in the hopes of them following you back). But hold your horses a little bit longer, your profile is still empty on one important point, and that is the tweets themselves.

If you’re used to communicating on Facebook or LinkedIn for your small business, you’re probably used to maybe sending out one post per day or maybe even every couple of days.

Talking on Twitter, though, is something completely different. It is a fast-paced place where people share ideas, parts of sentences, quotes from others, etc. At first glance, it might look a bit hectic, almost like a bar, but that’s where the charm lies with Twitter.

For a lot of people hitting that publish or Tweet button might feel a bit scary at first, give yourself some time though.

Try using the search function of Twitter to search for people talking about words that you use in your business as well and start engaging or Tweeting with them. Getting yourself familiar with sending out tweets.

So, how can you engage with your audience or how can you talk on Twitter? Well, basically there are five types of Twitter messages:

General Tweets

Let’s first start with the basics; a Tweet is a message that you post on the network. It can contain text, pictures, a GIF and/or a video, or a combination of these.

@replies and mentions

When you see someone else posting something interesting, you can send a reply to that person, or if you want to talk to people directly, you can send an @reply to them. The @reply is a public message that mentions the Twitter username of the person you’re replying to or sending a Tweet towards.

Everyone who follows both of you will see this message in their streams, and it will appear on the notifications tab of the person you’re talking to.

If you want to say something to someone and you want the Tweet to not just appear in the timeline of everyone who follows both, be sure to start your tweet with a dot, and it also appears to everyone just following you.

Direct Message (DM)

Sometimes you want to send something in private to another person; this is where Direct Messages (DM’s) come into play.

A direct message allows you to send something to another Twitter user who appears in a special private place. Although it used to be that you could only do this to people who follow you, nowadays you can send a DM to everyone (unless they specifically blocked this in their settings).

Direct Messages are also a great way to form a group chat with your most loyal customers straight on Twitter. You can start a private conversation or create a group conversation with anyone who follows you.

Anyone who is in the group can send DM’s to the group, and everyone in the group can see all messages, even if everyone doesn’t follow each other. Lastly, anyone in your group conversation can add additional participants, newly added members won’t see the history from before they joined, though.

Retweets (RT) and Quoted Tweets

A Retweet (RT) or Quoted Tweet is a message created and sent by someone else that you think is relevant to your audience as well. You can hit the RT button, and it gives you the option to RT something straight away or add a comment and quote the Tweet of the other person.

This is a great way to share relevant content or endorse what your customers say about you.

Promoted Tweets

The last type of Tweets that are relevant to your business is Promoted Tweets. Just like boosting a post on Facebook, you can also use Twitter’s Ad platform to promote a tweet to reach a bigger audience.

Step 3: Start following other people

Of course, if you’re not following anyone else on Twitter, your timeline could look a bit lonely. Now that you’ve got your Twitter account created, you know the basic of how to Tweet and how to engage with other people. It is time to start following them.

When you follow someone on Twitter, you subscribe to what they share on the platform. Try finding relevant people using the Twitter search or by connecting your Gmail or Outlook address book as described earlier to start following your first set of people.

To follow someone, all you need to do is visit their profile and hit that Follow button.

Although there are certain Chrome extensions out there that let you automatically follow all the followers of another account (let’s say your competitors) be careful to use these since they are against policy of Twitter.

Take it slow, start following relevant people, and start engaging with the ones that follow you back. After all, you don’t want to get your account suspended in the first week because of violating their policies.

As a business, there are a couple of categories of interesting people you might consider following:

• Your customers
• Your business partners, suppliers, contractors, basically anyone who you work with
• Your competitors or peers
• Professional organizations linked to your industry
• If you’re a local business, be sure to follow businesses in your neighborhood as well
• People from your existing professional network

If all goes well, you should start to get your first sets of followers back by now as well, don’t be afraid if it is also people you’ve never met before, be kind to them, welcome them with a personal message to your online following and start engaging with them.

Step 4: Drive traffic to your website

Although the first line of business on any social network is being social and being helpful to your followers, it doesn’t sometimes hurt to share some of your content as well to help drive traffic back to your website.

Twitter is a great tool for this; you can do this by simply typing a good reason why your particular piece of content will bring value to the reader, adding your link, and don’t forget to add a Call-To-Action (CTA) in your copy that will make your readers want to read the entire piece.

When sharing your and other links on Twitter it is always best practice to use a URL shortener because of the limited space offered in a Tweet. Next, to the added benefit of having more characters in your Tweet for the surrounding copy, URL shorteners are available that give you some nice extra options.

One of our favorites is Pixelme; Pixelme gives you the option to automatically have everyone who clicks a link you share to be added to a retargeting pool on Facebook. They shorten any link, and they’ll include a Facebook Pixel, which in turn helps you grow your custom audience on Facebook every time someone clicks. Simple, but effective!

Promotional tools like Quuu, Hiplay, Buffer

Sharing a link to a content piece you created is a great way to get more traffic to your website. However, you might not get everything you can from each piece of content you create and share via Twitter.

Twitter is a fast-paced medium, and with so much awesome content shared on Twitter every day, it is impossible to see it all. And the same is true of your content. There is a high probability that although your audience is enjoying reading your articles or seeing your tweets, they are likely missing out on most of them because they are just not online all the time.

If you’re serious about content marketing, you also need to drive as much traffic as possible to these pieces of content. Here at User Growth, we do this in three different ways:

So much content is shared on social media every day that it’s impossible to see it all! The same is true of your content. Chances are, as much as your audience might enjoy reading your articles or seeing your latest tweet, they are likely missing out on most of them. That is why it could be vital to re-share your content multiple times to ensure the people who missed it the first time might see it the second or third time around.

Quuu Promote

The first one is easy and pretty straightforward. Quuu Promote lets you promote your content to an ever-growing, highly targeted audience base.

Quuu promote is the business backend for Quuu, and Quuu gives their members content suggestions based on the categories they want to share with their audience (a great tool in itself to find highly curated content for your audience to share).

By submitting your content using Quuu promote, they validate the quality internally, and if it is found like a great piece of content, it will be added to the content suggestions of Quuu. One submission gets your content easily get a couple of hundred or more additional shares; it is well worth the investment. (Starting at $40 per month).

Hiplay

The second tool we love is Hiplay. Hiplay lets you create a list of your evergreen content and slowly add those pieces of content one by one (on a schedule you create) to your Buffer profile.

This way, you can automatically re-post your best content to the Buffer queue and make sure that even months from the first release of your piece of content, you’re still giving it the love it deserves.

Buffer

When a new piece of content goes live, you want it to get seen by your audience. That’s why it is vital to re-share your content multiple times in the first couple of days. This ensures that people who missed it the first time might see it the second or third time around.

There used to be a time with Buffer when you could share messages multiple times using the Power Scheduler. Since the 3rd of April 2019, they decided to remove that option though.

So our final tip involves a little bit more manual work, see you don’t want to share the exact same message quickly after each other, but since Twitter is also a very quick-moving medium, it makes sense to not only share a (new) post straight after you’ve put your content online.

Share it 8 hours later, a day later, and seven days after you’ve posted it for the first time online. This is a great way to make sure your content gets seen by all your followers instead of just the ones being online the moment you shared it first.

Never share the same message twice, though. You don’t want your posts to become monotonous for your followers. The best strategy for doing this is to add variety by asking questions or including quotes from the article.

So the first time you share it, it can be just the article title with a visual and designator that it is a new post. The second time you share it, you will ask a question. The third time you cite a fact. The fourth time you can share a quote, etc.

Step 5: Let the world know

You’re on the right track, your Tweeting, you’re engaging with your (non) followers, and you’re sharing great content. The next step is letting the world know that you’re active on Twitter.

You can do this in a couple of different ways.

Add your Twitter account information on your website and blog

Next, to the other social icons you have for your other social media accounts. Most of the social follow tools and plugins for websites allow you to add this information to your website easily, or maybe the theme you’re using supports this out of the box, so it is even easier.

Twitter itself has a great little toolkit available as well that allows you to create follow buttons for your website quickly.

Include your Tweets on your website or blog

If you want extra exposure to the content you Tweet, you can also use the previously mentioned toolkit from Twitter to create an embedded box to showcase all your latest tweets on your website.

This is a great way to share your Twitter conversations with your website visitors, getting double exposure from the same effort. Before blindly adding all your Tweets to your website though, be sure that it makes sense from your business perspective and the goals you have for your site though.

It might be worthwhile to be selective about the tweets you share on your website, for example, only showing tweets that contain a certain hashtag.

Add sharing buttons to your website

You’ve probably already had a set of sharing buttons on your website, and in case you didn’t have a Twitter button with them yet, now it is time to add one. Don’t forget to include your Twitter handle in the settings so that when people share your content, your account is linked to it, and people know that it comes from you.

You can also use the Selection Sharer plugin on WordPress which allows people to select a piece of copy on your website and share it as they do on Medium as well.

Whatever way you choose, make sure that you allow your visitors to share a tweet about your content easily, share it with their followers, and give credit to your Twitter account.

Step 6: Standing out

While Twitter is for sure a unique social network that can bring lots of value to your business, the amount of tweets getting delivered every second is staggering. Even if you follow the above steps, making your Tweets stand out from the crowd from all the other accounts that your followers are following can be difficult.

So how can you get heard in such a fast-paced world, especially when everyone is trying to do the same?

Let’s focus on four different ways to make your Tweets stand out from the crowd.

Photographs

Why tell your followers when you can also show them?

Many people on Twitter ignore the potential for sharing photos on their profiles. Sure, the original promise of the website is a microblogging platform, but it wasn’t meant to be used like this. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t have the capability, though.

People like visual content as much on Twitter as Facebook or Instagram adopters. By including relevant images, you can catch the eye of your followers and encourage engagement. Especially when sharing photos of people. For example, you can tag up to 10 people per image.

Video and Personal video messages

Just like with photos, the popularity (and effectiveness) of multimedia, in general, continues to grow on Twitter. A survey from Twitter in 2015 already found that 82% of their users are watching video content on Twitter and that they wanted to see more videos from celebrities, other users, and brands. So why not offer your followers what they are asking for?

Wyzowl’s State of Video Marketing 2017 report has similar video numbers as the one supplied by Twitter in 2015. They say that 79% of consumers are rather watching a video to learn about a product than learning by reading text on a page. Even more (84%) of consumers were convinced to make a purchase after watching a video by a brand.

Why not make full use of this on your Twitter account? You can create your videos and upload them, create small video responses as a personalized thank you message to your followers, and retweet relevant video content your followers might find valuable.

GiF’s

If you’re adding photographs and videos, you can’t go without using GIFs as well. According to Twitter, 100 million GIFs were shared on Twitter in 2016 when you cannot record a personal message on video, at least use one of the little-animated GIFS in your communication.

With GIF support built in, right to the mobile client, it is easier than ever, so what are you waiting for?

Twitter Chats

The last item on our list to help your business stand out on Twitter is hosting a Twitter chat. Hosting one lets you better engage with your followers and customer while at the same time building a community and getting a higher reach.

As a result, Twitter chats are a great way to grow your social following, generate valuable discussions and feedback, and help you to demonstrate your thought leadership for your domain.

All you need is a proper hashtag (more on that in the next item), a host (could be yourself, or you could invite different people from your industry), a topic, and a date and time.

If you want to do it well, set a recurring date, like every second Tuesday of the month, and announce it upfront to your followers and email subscribers to help generate buzz.

And if you’re not up for hosting one yourself yet, try figuring out relevant Twitter chats in your industry and join them to showcase your thought leadership.

Twitter Polls

Twitter polls are a super fun and easy way to connect and interact with your audience.

And no matter how many followers you have, Twitter polls are an excellent way to get into their heads. So you can know what they think, what they want, or what they’re doing.

This will, of course, help you to determine what you should be doing for your brand and for your business.

Twitter polls are super easy. All you need to do is come up with a question and up to four response options (but if you want, you can also choose two or three options).

And because it is integrated directly into Twitter, people don’t go to another page. They don’t need to fill in a form. It won’t take ages of their time. It only takes a second or two – at most to participate.

Setting up is easy too. Just hit the “add poll” button in the “compose new Tweet” box:

Add some poll questions and duration for the poll:

Sit back and let the results run in:

Step 7: Using hashtags

Aah, hashtags. Finally, we can start talking about them. Hashtags are one of the best ways to increase exposure to your tweets AND find potential relevant leads to start engaging with. Without the use of hashtags, your followers would probably be the only ones to see your tweets.

Hashtags enable you to classify your Tweets so that your content is grouped with other relevant Twitter content around the same subject. This helps other Twitter users to find your content quickly, just as it can help you to find influencers and others in your industry.

If you’re using hashtags, anyone can search for that specific hashtag and quickly come across your tweets, and as a result, it allows your Tweets to reach an audience far beyond your standard followers.

Did you know that tweets containing 1 or 2 hashtags have 21% higher engagement than those with there or more?

So how do you identify the best ones for your organization?

Using tools like Twitonomy you can identify the hashtags of influencers, then using hashtagify you can identify related hashtags for the ones you identified with Twitonomy. Finally, by using Ritetag, you can identify the Tweet density for the hashtags you identified to pick out the little gems that are best to use for your business.

Step 8: Organising followers to conversation lists

After some time, when you start to follow more and more people, it might be challenging to focus on all the information coming your way from all the accounts that you’re following. This is where Twitter lists come in.

A Twitter list helps you separate your Twitter accounts into separate groups. Setting up lists is fairly simple and can be very helpful to quickly read all the tweets from your top customers or from press agencies that you’re following.

Besides the difference between a normal list (a person gets notified when you add them to a list, the list is public, and other people can follow your list), or a private list (a person doesn’t get a notification that they are on the list, the list is private and just for yourself), there are not much more things to know.

The options, however, are endless. You can use it to connect with all the people who attend your company events, monitor your competitors, etc. you can even add people to a list without following them!

Here are some ideas for building your lists. Why not start by building a list for your:

• Customers
• Potential customers
• Business in your neighborhood or community
• Professional or trade organizations
• People who inspire you
• People you talk with the most
• Your competitors

Using a Twitter client like Tweetdeck, you can easily create separate timelines for your lists. This helps you distinguish the most interesting people for your business from the crowd so you can pay extra attention to what they say.

Step 9: Finding local customers to engage with

The last item we want to focus on for you and your business is finding local customers to engage with. A lot of time, the internet focuses on the entire world, and you can engage with people on the other side of the globe. And even though that is true, one of the strengths of Twitter is also the ability to focus on the things happening in your neighborhood.

Not all businesses are operating on a global scale, and those people are local to local customers. Twitter is there to help you find potential customers who live and work near your business.

Using Twitter Advanced Search, you can identify these people and start engaging with them. For this to work, you need to enable location sharing on your account, but after that, you can use the “Near this place” feature to find your potential customers.

Use these search results to find people who could be potential customers. You can follow them or add them to your potential local customer lists. It is the first step, so you can start engaging with them and building those relationships.

How to advertise on Twitter

As great as any social media strategy might be, there will always be times when you can use that little bit of extra push that can come from a paid strategy.

Depending on the objectives you have, you can either:

• promote an individual tweet
• promote your account
• promote a trend  you’d like to amplify and associate with your business

There is even a mode where you can have Twitter automatically promote your tweets and your account (although this is only available in the US, UK, and Japan).

To get started advertising on Twitter, just follow this link.

From there (depending on the location you want to target), you can either choose the automated option(left) or the manual option (right).

If this is the first time you’re going here, you must also give some additional info, like your country and your timezone, before you can continue.

Twitter Ads Step 1: Choose your Twitter ad objective

Just like Facebook, Twitter ad campaigns are based on specific business objectives that you and your company might have.

So the first thing you need to do when starting a Twitter ad campaign is figuring out what you want to achieve with your Twitter ads. This is something you must think of carefully, as this will later determine the engagement types you can choose from and the actions you’ll end up paying for.

The objectives you can choose from are:

• Tweet engagements: Choose engagement if you care more about people engaging with your Tweet (like retweets, replies, etc.) than just plain impressing. You’re billed for all the engagement types but only on the initial engagement with each user (so if someone sends a bunch of replies, you only pay once)
• Promoted video views: You want people to watch your videos or GIFs. You’re billed for each video view.
• Awareness: If you just want the maximum number of people to see your Promoted tweet. You’re billed per 1,000 impressions.
• Website clicks or conversions: Maybe you want to drive people to a specific product page or a new blog post. If you want people to go to your website and take action there, this is the option you want to choose. You’re billed per click.
• In-stream video views (pre-roll): You want to run a short video ad at the start of videos from Twitter’s premium content partners. You’re billed for each video view.
• Followers: If you’re just starting out and you want to build your audience, this is the objective for you. You’re billed for each new follower but not for other engagements, like retweets and likes.
• App installs: If you don’t want people to go to your website but rather install your beautiful app, you have to choose “app installs.” You’re billed for each app install.
• App re-engagements: You want people who already have your app to open and use it. You’re billed for each app click.

Twitter Ads Step 2: Set up your Twitter Ad Group and bidding

After you’ve chosen your objective you will be taken to the following screen where you can do the initial setup of your campaign, give your campaign a name, and how much you’re willing to pay for each interaction.

After this, you need to set up your ad groups. If you’re just starting, you might want to stick to one ad group. Suppose you’re getting better at understanding how ads work overtime. In that case, you might want to start splitting up your campaigns to target different audiences or use other creatives, budgets, or timings.

If you’re already familiar with Facebook ads, this entire structure and interface might sound very familiar. You have a campaign level, ad group level, and ad level.

Or as Twitter explains it itself in this visual:

Setting up an ad group is pretty self-explanatory. You give your ad group a name and how much you’re willing to pay for each interaction for that particular ad group. If you choose automatic bidding, Twitter will automatically set your bid to get the best results at the lowest price based on the budget you gave them.

If you’re just starting out, the automatic bidding might be your best choice at this point.

Twitter Ads Step 3: Choose the target audience for your Twitter Ad

Next up is defining your target audience. Twitter offers a couple of options to help you choose the right audience for the ad you’re creating and helps to maximize your budget.

It starts out with demographics, like gender, location (from a whole country to specific zip codes), languages, and technology (like OS versions, platforms, devices your target audience is using or certain mobile carriers).

In the audience feature, you can target based on specific characteristics like events, interests, and behaviors, or even particular keywords and TV shows people tweet about.

While you make changes to the various options, the Twitter ad platform will show you the audience size that will be targeted based on the options you choose.

Twitter Ads Step 4: Choose your Twitter Ad creative and ad placement

And the final step before you can launch your campaign is to choose the creative that you want to use for your ad. You can search your existing tweets to find the one that you want to promote or if you prefer you can choose to create a new tweet specifically for your ad.

Don’t forget to select the places where you want your promotion to show.

Twitter Ads Step 5: Launch your Twitter Ad campaign

Now all you have to do is review all your options one final time and click that “Launch Campaign” button in the top right corner to launch your ad.

A bit similar to the “boost post” option on Facebook and not really recommended because of the lack of detailed targeting options (like on Facebook), you can also try out “Quick Promote” by Twitter. Still, in our opinion, this is really a waste of money, and you will get better results by using the detailed targeting and options that you get from going through the entire setup.

That’s it, your first introduction to using Twitter for successful business marketing.

Following these nine steps will help you to grow your business on Twitter organically. It will increase website traffic and, in the end, increase your sales.

And if you want some quicker results, the paid options of Twitter are here to help you as well get that extra traffic that you might be missing out on.

This is just the beginning, though. The possibilities with Twitter are endless, and if you think outside the box, you can easily think of more use cases to use Twitter within your organization.

Start measuring your Twitter performance to identify what works and what doesn’t work with your following. Learn which type of Tweets are more effective than others.

Content marketing is just solving the same problems that your product solves through media you create and promote.

You want to be a helpful guide, helping your potential customers improve their day.

This can be done by bringing a smile to their face or by giving solid advice, but whatever you do, always keep building a community in the back of your mind.

What do you think? Are you ready to give Twitter a(nother) try? Are you ready to start engaging with your fans and (potential) customers? Share your most defining Twitter moments in the comments below!

The very first banner ever even had a Click Through Rate (CTR) of 44%. Nowadays, companies are jumping through the roof when they are 0.44%, with an average CTR at the moment of 0.17%, according to benchmarks by DoubleClick.

Today’s consumers have changed. They are either “banner blind” and mentally blocking out the advertisements on the website or have ad-blockers installed. They look beyond logos, overlook your promotions, and won’t sign up for your newsletter. Today’s consumers only need the information when they want it, delivered to them in the format they want it.

And with as many as 81% of consumers conducting research before making a purchase, it’s fair to say that people today have much more to say about who they buy from than ever before.

If you’re broadcasting your products or services to your target audience, good luck trying to sell to them. Consumers want to start a dialogue with you and don’t like being told what to choose and what to buy. So how do you make your potential customers notice you?

You do this by being helpful, hence the birth of Content Marketing.

But with everybody diving into Content marketing nowadays, it becomes more and more difficult to cut through the noise and get your content delivered to your potential customers.

You need to deliver content that’s relevant to them based on the behavior they have at each stage of the customer’s journey.

And what happens next?

While different Content Marketing Strategies might have different purposes (lead generation, brand awareness, website traffic, etc.), the end goal should always be to increase revenue and drive more business.

In the old days, the sales team used to shoulder the sales funnel or customer’s journey, but nowadays, the customer’s journey has transformed into more touchpoints across different channels. Quality content provides more than just a great way for marketers to connect with new audiences; it also helps your sales department better. With the right content, your sales staff can:

• Be better prepared for their sales conversations;
• Get better-qualified leads
• Gain access to selling tools to engage more effectively
• Learn more about their audience through analytics

The Five Stages Of Every Customer Journey

Awareness

Before any customer ever comes to the point of wanting to buy from you, they need to know that you exist. If your potential customers don’t know that your company or your products exist, they will never buy from you.

This seems pretty logical, but there are many companies out there or startups that think that the moment they launch, hundreds or thousands of customers will come running toward them, ready to buy.

If you did not do any marketing before, how can they know you’re open for business? Companies must market themselves and create awareness before hoping for any sales.

Consideration

The next step in the journey is the “consideration”. Your potential customers are aware of your existence, and because of your brilliant product offering, they might even consider buying from you.

Based on the fact that your product or service is solving a real problem for them if the price is fair and if the pain is big enough that it needs to be resolved right now, they will decide whether to buy or not.

Marketing also plays a significant role in this part of the journey and can often be the tipping point that makes someone want to buy from you.

Look at a scenario of two restaurants, for example.

Every day on your way home, you pass both of them. You’re clearly passed the journey’s first stage, and you are aware of them.

Now, imagine one of them placing a sign outside showcasing their delicious food and talking about a promotion that week.

Which restaurant are you more likely to walk into?

The same thing holds for online. You might tinker with the thought of buying something, you’ve read reviews, you’ve read content from that company, and at the moment you’re almost ready to buy, you’re retargeted to help you hop on to the next step of the journey.

An excellent example of this is this story from Justin Veenema, who will for sure be buying a BoostedBoard right now!

Conversion

Yeah, high five! You’ve made the sale!

Now it is up to you to not only deliver a great product or service, but you have to provide a fantastic experience.

Delivering that fantastic experience is all part of the marketing and branding of your company. This will not only affect your brand, but it will also affect whether somebody will become an advocate for you and your brand.

Loyalty

The moment someone puts their wallet away again after purchase, that is the time when they will first decide how they feel about what they just bought.

Many businesses try to deliver products that will leave a great feeling behind with the people that just bought into their product or service offering, and so should you.

No business wants to be the reason that people feel “buyers’ remorse” because that will lead down the negative spiral of cancellation of your service or return of your product (if you’re lucky, it might be even worse and result in negative reviews on public places).

(Content) Marketing can be difficult during this phase, but it can help turn your customers into a loyal following if done correctly and innovatively.

Think of things like “explainer” video’s what is happening now you have ordered. Coolblue, a Dutch company, does a great job with this and offers secret overnight shipping as they do at Zappos to provide that extra bit of delight.

If your newly found customers have a great experience starting straight after the moment of purchase with your product, they will quickly move on to the next phase of the customer’s journey and become any company’s dream customers.

Advocacy

Having brand advocates is the goal of any business’s marketing program. Make your client so happy and delighted with your product or service that they not only purchase (and re-purchase) from you but also start referring you to everyone they know who might have the same need.

Moving someone all the way through your customer’s journey is no guarantee. However, someone will become a brand advocate or even wants to stay one when they are already one. You need to pay close attention to your marketing and ensure you’re able to ensure that all your customers are satisfied and that their needs are being met.

For some companies, this must be done by always innovating and developing new products, like Apple and Google. For others, it means consistently wowing their customers with fantastic customer service like Zappos.

Some others offer loyalty programs. Whatever you do, you should never take your (most loyal) customers for granted because as soon as you lose a client, all the effort and money spent in making them a customer in the first place has gone to waste.

Different content for different stages of the customer journey

As you can imagine, with the different stages come different types of content.

People are searching for different things.

For example, people buying a new washing machine are first searching for things like “the best washing machines of 2023” or “the best large capacity washing machines of 2023”. When they choose which size of washing machine they want, they start searching for more actionable like “best eco-friendly large-capacity washing machines” or “Miele vs. Samsung.”

Let’s have a look at the different stages and how this relates to the different types of content they are looking for.

In the awareness stage, people need to become aware of their pain, and when they do, they get interested in finding a solution and begin to discover trends, different products, and brands.

In the consideration stage, people start the evaluate specific products and services. They become willing to engage with potential sellers to solve their pain.

In the conversion stage, they want to commit to a specific solution. They want to find reasons that justify their purchase.

During the loyalty stage, your new customer expects good product performance and excellent customer service.

And finally, in the advocacy stage, they want to be nurtured, and they want to be kept informed about new products or services that could enhance their experience.

So where to start mapping your (existing) content for the customer’s journey?

• First, create a list of questions your customers are asking at each stage of their buying cycle;
• Then, audit your existing content and determine where it fits into the funnel;
• Next up, identify the gaps. Where does your content fall short of delivering valuable answers?
• Make a list of content that will help fill in these gaps, taking into account keyword analysis to identify the different sets of keywords that go with these topics;
• Get to work

The best content for each stage of the customer journey

These different stages and different types of questions for each stage also result in various types of content.

So let’s look at the types of content you can use for the best results.

The best content for the awareness stage

Since your buyer is just entering the market, the content for this stage needs to be a light read that whets the buyer’s appetite.

And since buyers at this stage are not yet highly qualified leads, your job is to relay information easily, concisely, and relatable manner.

Some types of content you can use at this stage:

• Blog posts – “How to solve problem Y”
• Blog post – “What does ABC costs?”
• Blog posts – Answering questions from your customers
• Video – “How to do XYZ”
• E-book – “A simple strategy to achieve ABC”
• Infographic – “10 tips to achieve XYZ”
• Guides – “The ultimate guide to topic X”
• Social Media – Different types of lightweight content for people to get to know your brand and company on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and wherever your customer is.

The best content for the consideration stage

The Consideration stage is a crucial time for both you and the buyer. Not only is the buyer trying to figure out whether your product or service is right for them, but you also need to find out whether they fall into your true target audience, whose genuine interests really match your offering.

In essence, your potential buyer at this stage needs to be convinced that you want more than just their money, and the only way you can do so is by producing content that shows how you stand out from the pack.

Here’s how it can be done:

• Blog post – “How solution X solves problem Y”
• Blog post – “How to calculate the ROI for solution X”
• Video – “How to integrate our solution X with software XYZ”
• E-book – “5 simple steps to implementing solution X”
• Guides – “How to calculate savings usings solution X”
• Webinars – “How to use solution X for your business”

But also digging a bit deeper for those people that are almost ready to start buying:

• Case studies “Customer case studies using solution X”
• Videos – “Customer Testimonials”
• Blog post – “Feature comparison solution X with competitors X, Y and Z”
• 3rd party industry report – “Top 10 industry solutions for problem Y”
• Studies – “ROI calculation after a successful implementation”

The best content for the conversion stage

The conversion stage is when your buyer is finally ready to grab that credit card and make the purchase. No pressure, but the content at this stage is what can make or break their decision to make that coveted “Buy Now” click.

Consumers and businesses today love personalization and interaction, which is why it’s essential for you to give them the perfect blend of both. The content you create should not just be highly customized, but it should also be persuasive enough to ensure you close the deal.

Here are some of the types of content you could use:

• Blog post – “Top 10 questions our customers ask about Y”
• FAQ – “Guide to doing business with us”
• Guide – “How to implement solution X”
• Video – “How to integrate solution X into your business”
• Webinars showing demos of the product
• Free trials allow your potential customer to interact with your product itself just enough for them to understand that they want it in their life.

The best content for the loyalty stage

For many businesses, the customer’s journey ends when a purchase is made, missing out on many opportunities to get repeat purchases, referral sales, and positive word of mouth.

The key to growing your business is convincing customers to buy again.

Customer lifetime value is a term that describes how much your customer is worth to your business from their first purchase to when they stop spending on your product or service. It’s an important metric to track, considering research has shown that profit is maximized in this stage.

Specifically, in a study done by Harvard Business Review, it is stated that increasing customer retention by just 5% can boost a company’s profits by nearly 100%:

Customer defections have a surprisingly powerful impact on the bottom line.

They can have more to do with a service company’s profits than scale, market share, unit costs, and many other factors usually associated with competitive advantage.

As a customer’s relationship with the company lengthens, profits rise. And not just a little. Companies can boost profits by almost 100% by retaining just 5% more of their customers.

Happy customers spend more on your service and are likelier to tell their friends about you.

So what types of content can you produce to keep your new customers happy?

• Having a (public) helpdesk available at all times, like a forum or using software like Zendesk
• In-app messages, guiding them through their first steps
• Onboarding emails
• Walkthroughs on how to achieve certain things with your product
• Product-focused blog posts
• Surveys to get to know them better

The best content for the advocacy stage

A loyal customer is one thing; having them become brand advocates is another.

If you truly want to create loyal customers that feel even more valued, you want to involve them in your business. You want to make your customers feel cared for, and safe, but mostly listened to.

Content to use in this final phase are:

• Exclusive content
• Exclusive communities on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Slack
• Co-creation with your customers to come up with new product ideas
• Special offers and reward programs
• Insider how-to’s
• News and event details

How can Content Marketing help and boost your sales?

Instead of just trying to push your potential customers to buy your product, the sales department of your organization needs to work closely together with your marketing department.

They need to assist in creating attention-grabbing pieces of content to help them better connect with their leads.

However, there are many different ways to help create that value for your prospects throughout the first three steps of the journey.

The parts of the funnel leading up to the sales and even afterward. How can you convert your audience using content, keep them on board, and even turn them into brand advocates?

Let’s have a look at some more practical examples.

Let a lead self-identify their needs

When you urge a lead to buy a product, you’re slowly pushing him away from that product.

People don’t like to be told what to do or not to do.

Instead, try to create a funnel, a pathway, to make your leads believe that they need your product and can’t live without it. Try to sell him or her your idea and your product using content, and let them realize what they are missing.

To be able to do this successfully, you need to go to the core of content marketing:

You need to create content around the customer’s needs and concerns. With this content, you need to entice them to go to your website.

Using drip email campaigns for this process to send ebooks, whitepapers, or training courses to your leads. Using landing pages or in-page forms to convert people to leave their email addresses in exchange for this material.

Making real connections

According to research done by the SalesBenchmark Index, you are 4.2 times more likely to get an appointment with a lead or a lead opting in for a product trial when you have a personal connection with your leads.

What was the last time you made a real personal connection based on some sales call? We’re sure this was never.

Sending more sales pitch emails or stalking them on the phone trying to get that sale will not cut it.

Using the power of storytelling, you can try to forge a connection by sharing something personal and letting your leads relate to you.

Sharing relevant content with your leads after you’ve had them on the phone, using, for example, customer testimonials telling them how their business changed for the better after using your product.

Trying to make it personal by making those real connections can do wonders for your business.

Adding value to the sale

Having that real connection with your prospects brings a lot of value to the sales process.

Traditionally companies did not care about the buyer’s needs. They just wanted to get the sales done and move on to a different prospect. Using “content selling,” you can focus on your buyers’ needs and requirements.

Using highly targeted advertising, using, for example, Facebook Dark Post, you’re able to send your leads highly targeted content that addresses their needs and concerns.

Using a technique like this will give you a headstart when you or your sales team picks up the phone and make the sales call – you’ve already captured their attention with a compelling read.

Using (unique) content to stay on top of mind

In today’s world, there is so much happening simultaneously, so many different brands trying to get the attention of the same type of people you are trying to target. It is only natural that people might quickly forget about you again after they first heard from you.

This results in only a limited opportunity window to follow up and connect with your potential customers and your leads.

Doing this without coming over as annoying can be tricky and tough.

Trying to stay on their radar using (unique) content is key here.

By now, you should already know a bit more about the interests and likes of your prospects. By sharing tips and tricks and knowledge-based content with your leads, you can help them shape your opinion about you.

An opinion of you being a trustworthy company, someone who knows what they are discussing.

Using more formal materials about your product can help you gain a better understanding of your product or service offering to your leads to build trust.

Providing Credibility

The final step before the sales in which content can assist is providing credibility.

When people are ready to buy, it is the credibility of the company that will help people move over their last sets of fear and doubts and buy your product.

To show the credibility of your product or service, you can use articles or videos recorded by your customers talking about how they use your product and how it impacted their business and sent them to your leads.

Even specific content like infographics, white papers, and ebooks published on other websites can help you increase your product credibility in the eyes of your leads.

As long as it is content produced by others, this can be an adamant trigger. Your internal team, of course, can help and assist in creating this content as long as it stays authentic.

Create content that puts your customers in the spotlight

While the above examples are targeted at converting new leads toward customers. What can you do at the moment after the sales to keep them as a client, to turn them into loyal customers and even brand advocates?

If you got customers who are giving their time and energy to interacting with you, suggesting new product ideas, etc. These are the types of people who are already engaged with your brand.

It is very easy to turn them into brand advocates by thanking them publicly and appreciating them in fun ways. How can you say thank you in a unique way? Maybe it could be something as simple as putting their face and story on your website.

Many companies are investing in customer/client sections on their website. Parts of the site where they tell the customer story and say thank you for drawing attention to their cause and story. It is an excellent execution of the reciprocal loyalty philosophy.

As you can see, content marketing can aid and assist sales.

Relevant content can be used to gain the attention of leads and help to gain trust in your company.

Instead of contemplating how to use your limited resources to connect with your leads, look at it from a different angle. Let your sales and marketing team work together to create content for all the steps in the customer’s journey to help get a lead on your side.

Great content alone, however, doesn’t lead to sales.

Providing relevant information just when your sales team needs it can help them engage with their leads more efficiently.

This, in return, will create more sales, and isn’t that what marketing is all about?

So know your audience, understand the pain points and challenges of your potential buyers, develop a sales funnel that’s relevant to your business, and finally develop a content marketing strategy for each stage of the customer’s journey followed with the proper types of content and you’re off to the races.

How are your marketing and sales team delivering value to your prospects? Share them in the comments below so we can all learn from each other!