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Smart Cow reviews 2018 digital marketing trends – Part 2

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Here’s our review of digital marketing trends for 2018.

Let’s get personal

We all want to feel loved. Browsing online has never been so personal, with e-commerce websites already picking out what me might want to buy or where we want to travel. Moving into 2018 we’ll see personalisation hit brochure websites more and more with chatbots playing the field.

Although key to remember when it comes to personal detail is the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) which come into force on 25 May 2018. For further information on GDPR check out Flexicom Solutions tips on key changes and steps you can take now to be compliant.

Automation

The rise of the machines will continue in 2018. Automation will see chatbots emerge from its understudy role with user experience really shaping its future.

Feeling social?

With 75% of B2B customers using social networks to make a purchase decision*, the authority of these channels continues. Being present amongst your competitors is one thing but having good and relevant content that you are posting is a must. But, it’s not just about likes and shares, you’ve got to start conversing with your followers in the right manner. Understanding your audience can be achieved by developing a persona.

Influencers will continue to be a force to be reckoned with and used much more by brands in campaigns. Ultimately social media is all about getting involved in the conversation and with influencers on board to share your message, means a stamp of approval indicating loyalty and advocacy. Let’s face it, we all feel happier when a friend says that they’ve used a certain service or bought a product. That’s what influencers help with.

Don’t forget, there’s 2.8 billion social media users** so it makes sense to join the conversation. But one size does not fit all. Talk to us about your digital marketing needs and we’ll advise of the best combination of channels and tactics to utilise to make you stand out from the crowd.

Check out part 1 of our digital marketing trends review for 2018 for tips on video, SEO and content.

Digital marketing Croydon

As a digital marketing agency in Croydon, we’re well placed to offer local businesses digital marketing services and online marketing advice.

Get in touch to chat about your business goals.

Sources: *Digital Marketing Magazine; **We are Social: Digital in 2017 Global Overview

Smart Cow reviews 2018 digital marketing trends – Part 1

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Here’s our review of digital marketing trends for 2018.

Visual, visual, visual

We’ll be getting much more visual in 2018. Video content will become even more prevalent across all channels from social media through to being hosted on websites and featured in email marketing.

With 85% of customers more likely to make a purchase after watching a product video*, it makes sense to consider this as part of your digital marketing strategy.

But what you should be mindful of is the story. Don’t just post videos because you’ve been told they will gain more likes or shares, you still need to have good and relevant content.

Content is still king

This leads us neatly onto content. Whether a blog, brochure, flyer, tweet or email, content has always been key to draw in the target audience and engage with. Now, more than ever, appropriate, quality content is required to create stand out in the crowded market place.

Keeping blog content relevant, informative, advice-led rather than sales-led is the order of the day and will go a long way on positioning you as an authority in your field. Your readers want to take something away that will help them. But content also relates to videos. Just because it is being spoken, you can’t rely on the look alone if the content is dire.

Social channels such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter are concentrating efforts on visual with Instagram ‘Your Story’ gaining 250 million daily active users in its first year**. With such popularity, it makes sense to get yourself in the mix.

Good video content can also help increase your visibility in search. Optimise a video and you increase the chances of your brand being seen on the front page of a Google search result by 53 times***.

Don’t forget your SEO strategy

Relevancy is so important when it comes to rising the search engine ranks. So, specific long tail keyword phrases will become more predominant to really target your customer. Keywords will still be important but getting to the in-depth nitty gritty of what your customers are searching for and coining your long tail keywords will be crucial to your growth strategy.

Watch out for part 2 of our blog on the digital marketing trends for 2018.

Talk to us about your digital marketing needs and we’ll advise of the best combination of channels and tactics to utilise to make you stand out from the crowd.

Sources: *Video Explainers Via MarTech; **Recode; ***MinuteHack

Get clever with social media but don’t lose sight of message

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If you’re not a regular follower of @KFC, then you may have missed this subtle social media marketing stunt. Well we say stunt, but it’s been a somewhat long-con until one follower questioned the real meaning of its random number of followers.

@KFC only follows 11 accounts. While large companies are renowned for only following a few key people relative to their business, they’ve got to be selective, however, 11 is a somewhat odd number. Until you take a closer look.

The food company has chosen to follow six accounts of people with the name ‘Herb’ alongside all members of the Spice Girls, totalling 11 accounts.
We think the word you’re looking for is genius! The company’s key message is there for all to see, just surreptitiously. You see, the fast food giant’s recipe comprises of a secret mix of 11 herbs and spices.

But how can this be reflected in an SMEs own social media marketing? Well, it is all about a good mix of clever content and tactics. This particular campaign illustrates a clever way to get people engaged on social media as followers share, like and tweet their thoughts about the bizarre collection of accounts.

If you’re an SME starting out on social media for your business or would like to get some consistency in your feed, then our advice is to put in place a content strategy. This can be as simple as creating a timeline of key events, national days, product launches and so forth. Then map this out for the year. Then you can begin to tie in relevant blogs so that they are timely. It also means that your social media accounts are joined up and you have a consistent business message being delivered at one time.

Drop us a line on 020 3137 1826 if you have any questions about social media for your small business and we can help guide you through.

Steve Parish inspires SMEs at The Business Show

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The Business Show 2017 hosted some top seminars from industry leaders with vital advice for attending start-ups and SMEs. In case you missed anything or weren’t able to make the show, here’s a summary of one of the keynote talks that caught our attention.

As a Croydon based business, we had to make sure we caught the talk by Crystal Palace FC’s co-owner and Executive Chairman Steve Parish. He spoke about his career and what a motivational and inspiring speaker he is. Key take-aways for SMEs included:

Create a brand proposition: Look at everything about your business and create a brand position. In Crystal Palace’s case they became ‘South London and Proud’. But Steve notes that ‘if you want a successful brand you have got to live it’. If you don’t love the business you’re in, then you can’t make others love it.

Immersion and hard work will pay: You must immerse yourself in the subject and you will be ‘delusional if you think you don’t have to work hard’.

Understand what may be wrong to make it right: Address every issue to understand what may be going wrong. You must face up to the fact that if you haven’t been doing it right then things may need to change.

Keep an eye out for our next blogs with further nuggets from this year’s Business Show.

If you want help with your brand proposition and getting your message out there, contact the Smart Cow team a call on 020 3137 1826 or email saymoo@smart-cow.com

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