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What are YouTube Shorts?

06/28/2022 by Gray Okenge

We’ve said for a long time now about the importance of video as part of your marketing strategy and recent insight from YouTube cements this further.

Over 1.5 billion users each month are watching YouTube shorts. You-Tube Shorts is a short-form platform offered by YouTube which simply means that videos are limited to 60 seconds. They are also shown as vertical videos. If this format sounds familiar, read on!

The YouTube Shorts app is fairly new. It launched in 2020 and has appeared in response to TikTok and Instagram Reels. YouTube Shorts is still in early stages and will evolve with the might of YouTube behind it – let’s face it there are 2 billion active users on YouTube each month.

Unlike its social counterparts, YouTube Shorts stay visible on the channel, they don’t disappear like Instagram Reels or Stories.

We know that video is important for increased engagement on social channels and so to is content in ‘bite-size’ chunks. So, we encourage you to trial using videos on Instagram Reels and perhaps explore YouTube Shorts to dip your toe into creating content on one of the most popular social media platforms for video.

To help you kick start your video content, head to our blog with tips for creating video for your business that are simple and effective to engage with your audience.

Video for digital marketing

If you need a hand with video content, we can help you factor these into your overall marketing plan from ideas and script creation through to video production and editing.

Tips for LinkedIn social posts

08/01/202206/17/2022 by scmarketing

Social media marketing is a key element of a digital marketing strategy. It allows for another avenue of reaching your target audience in a way that they choose to receive information and at a time of their choosing. It can offer a more personal approach and informal way to market to your audience.

However, with a multitude of social channels to consider you do need to choose and test the right channels for your business – one size does not fit all! For the purpose of this blog, we’ll look at LinkedIn and provide an overview of the type of content that can help with your approach.

As a professional networking social channel, it’s an online way to connect, network, gain insight into your sector and search for career opportunities.

Be insightful

For a LinkedIn business account, as opposed to your own personal profile, keep posts insightful about your industry, perhaps weave in information about your products and services but all the time thinking how your business can help your specific target audience. Think about what tips and advice you can offer your followers rather than being solely product and service focussed.

Downloads

Recent research has also highlighted that 3x more clicks are generated by uploading native documents such as PDFs directly to LinkedIn.

So, if you have any infographics or industry insight perhaps create a one-page document that you’re happy for prospects to view. This can act as a teaser to enticing people to head to your website and look at what other resources you may have. However, a lot of the time we would recommend that you have content download behind a gated page so you can capture email addresses. It’s a bit of a balancing act. Just be mindful of this rather than giving away all information without the return of an email.

Engage with your first sentence

You can create longer posts on LinkedIn and followers are accepting of that. However, it’s worth noting that the first 140 characters are seen on mobile apps so make those words count to get people to read more.

Hashtags

Hashtags are much more popular on LinkedIn but as with other social media channels, keep them relevant to your post. Perhaps two or three hashtags so as not to detract from your message.

Emojis

As for emojis, go for it. While they can help create standout perhaps choose to use sparingly and dependent on the type of post and your brand guidelines of course. We’ve certainly come across some on the network having an issue with the overuse of emojis – so be cautious but don’t let it stifle your creativity.

Introduce video

Introducing video into your marketing strategy is more important than ever. LinkedIn users are 20 times more likely to share a video on LinkedIn than any other type of post and video views average 15.6%. Simple video can be created on your smartphone. Shots of speakers at events or your exhibition stand through to teaser campaigns or tips and advice brought to life.

We have further advice on creating video for your business here. However, get in touch if you want to talk about a holistic marketing strategy incorporating video.

What should I write on a social media post?

08/01/202206/01/2022 by scmarketing

When it comes to posting on social media for your business, do you often find yourself struggling for what to say as you feel you’ve exhausted all your ideas for the month?

Well, here are a few tips to help you schedule your social posts over the next month or two to write engaging content for your audience. And, for more inspiration, why not download our eBook with 365 days of social media ideas so you never get stuck again.

1. What’s topical?

At the beginning of the month, do a quick check to find out what national days there are and if the month is associated with any initiative. For example, June is #Pride month and if you’re in the UK there are Jubilee celebrations galore as we celebrate the Platinum Jubilee with street parties and events. It’s also World Environment Day (5 June) and World Social Media Day (30 June), so get thinking of some relevant posts for your business and use those hashtags.

2. The hashtag stalwarts

Speaking of hashtags, there are some great hashtag stalwarts of social media to tap into to not only help spread the reach of your business but give you inspiration when you get a little stuck for what to say.

#Throwback – did you attend a recent event, that’s worthy of another mention?

#MondayMotivation #WednesdayWisdom #ThursdayThoughts – Do you have any tips, business hacks or motivational quotes you can share?

#Photooftheday #PicOfTheday – Does what it says on the tin really! But make sure it’s a good image that will create standout.

#Instagood – We had to mention this as it’s one of the most popular hashtags at 1.150billion. However, a word of caution, just because it is popular doesn’t mean you will get more views. You may find that you are somewhat a needle in the haystack especially if it’s not a hashtag relevant to your post.

3. Video

With social media video generating over 1200% more shares than an image with text, it makes sense to be introducing video into your social content. You can do this quite simply on your phone with simply editing. When you post on social, don’t forget to post as a Story as week as a Reel on Instagram to help extend your reach.

In our eBook, we provide you with ideas on the types of posts you can share each day of the year, from national days through to polls and talking about your personal business journey.

These tips will not only help you engage with your existing audience, but they’ll also assist in increasing visibility on your social channels.

You may also be interested in these articles:

It’s easy for businesses to neglect their social media, as posting every day can be difficult and time-consuming when you’re unsure as to what you should post.

We understand the pressures on business owners to continually create ongoing engaging content on a regular basis through social media.

That’s why we created our 365 days of social media posts cheat sheet, so that you never run out of ideas again!

In this guide, we provide you with ideas on the types of posts you can share each day of the year, from national days through to polls and talking about your personal business journey.

These tips will not only help you engage with your existing audience, they’ll also assist you in increasing your visibility on your social channels and attracting new business.

Keep your social posts up to date with the latest events and trends with our cheat sheet of 365 days of ideas for social media posts.

PPC for business growth

08/01/202205/06/2022 by scmarketing

Pay Per Click or PPC advertising is a form of online paid for marketing. It means you pay a fee each time one of your ads are clicked online. There are many different types and formats to choose from depending on your industry and what you want to achieve through your PPC campaign including the ads you find in search engine results pages.

Google ads appear in relation to a relevant search typed into the search engine to find products or services. While Google Ads are the most popular form of PPC, you can of course also run PPC campaigns on other search engines such as Bing as well as social channels like Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn.

These paid ads work by having a small ad appearing next to or above organic (unpaid) search results. The idea is that you will only pay when someone clicks on your advert, so the aim is to get potential customers interested in what products or services you are selling which can help them make better decisions about their purchases.

The different types of Google Ads

Search Network campaign allows your ad to appear across Google search partners such as YouTube. So, when someone searches with a relevant keyword on a partner site, not just on Google search, your ad could appear on the other sites too.

Display Network campaign shows visual ads which display in the Google Display Network, including YouTube.

Shopping campaign means that Google uses your website’s product data, instead of a keyword typed into search.

Video campaign displays your business as a video ad displayed on the Google Display Network or YouTube.

App campaign shows you ad on Google Search, YouTube, Google Play, the Google Display Network and other places that display app ads.

Why Google Ads are great for business growth

Google ads offer a really targeted approach to marketing and lead generation. If set up with the right criteria, you will be directly targeting your core audience who are searching for your products and services. Constant monitoring of a Google Ads campaign will allow you to continually tweak the ad with the insights given to really hone the ad content to attract quality leads.

Google AdWords certified 

Each year at Smart Cow Marketing we ensure that we are Google AdWords certified. We are now a Google Certified Partner. While gaining the AdWords certification qualification year on year highlights our in-depth knowledge and expertise on the fundamentals of setting up and managing successful AdWords campaigns, being a Partner shows that Google trusts us even more with the support we offer clients.

PPC agency Croydon

Whether you’re looking to promote your services or launch of a new product to your target audience, a Pay Per Click ads agency (PPC) can help your firm be found and to stand out in local search results.