After testing it out with selected users over the last few weeks, Instagram has officially announced that it will be rolling out its new in-app scheduling tool to all business accounts! Here’s everything you need to know about it. Ever since the rise of Instagram, business owners and creators have long relied on third-party tools to schedule posts on Instagram. This is why the new scheduling tool will likely be a game-changer for everyone who uses the app. Instagram’s new post-scheduling option will enable you to schedule photos, carousels and Reels directly in the app, up to 75 days in advance. Here’s how to use it: Once you have created a post, tap on ‘Advanced Settings’. That’s where you will see a new “Schedule this post” toggle Select the time and date you want the post to go live You can then navigate back to the Instagram post flow and tap “schedule.” To view all your scheduled posts, you can tap on the top-right menu toggle where you can reschedule posts if necessary What are the advantages of this new in-app scheduling? As business owners, your time is often split between so many things. And while a strong social presence to push sales should be at the top of your priority list, it doesn’t mean it should be all time-consuming. The new Instagram scheduling tool will allow you to manage the posts you put out in a more efficient way. The automation aspect allows you to bulk create and schedule content so you can spend the rest of your time working on other things. One of the ways you can take advantage of scheduling posts on Instagram is to publish more consistently during prime engagement periods. Identify when your audience is most active and routinely publish content during those hours. Should you still use a scheduling tool? So the question begs: is it still worth keeping that monthly subscription to your scheduling platform? In our opinion, yes it is. The Instagram scheduling app is such a handy new tool, but it doesn’t allow for the management of your entire social strategy. If you’re posting across both Facebook and Instagram, you might find that using the Instagram in-app scheduling tool takes up more time than if you were to do it on one platform for all your social profiles. Additionally, certain scheduling platforms give you access to in-depth data that Instagram analytics doesn’t show you. This is extremely helpful to make data-based decisions to guide your social strategy. So if you’re still on the fence about trying Instagram’s in-app scheduling tool, we recommend giving it a go and seeing how it works for your business.

A blog can be an extremely valuable tool for your business. You’re likely to dedicate a good amount of time to identifying and generating the best information to provide to your target audience, so you want to be sure your blog gets the traffic it deserves. But while creating highly valuable content is the most important aspect of a successful blog, the bad news is that even if your content is the best in your niche, it won’t ever have a chance at reaching your ideal readers…unless you learn how to properly promote it first! With that in mind, here are our top ideas to promote your blog and boost your website traffic. 1) Do a website audit First things first, you need to conduct a comprehensive technical website audit before you officially start to promote your blog. A glitchy, slow-to-load website is your ticket to a high bounce rate. 2) SEO Optimise your blog pages Once you’ve completed the website audit and fixed all of the errors that cropped up in your findings, it’s now time to start working on your blog’s internal search engine optimisation (SEO). With good SEO, it will be much easier for a blog to rank high on search engine result pages and attract more traffic. 3) Use email marketing Email marketing can be one of the most effective ways of promoting your blog and converting visitors. This blog promotion strategy helps you notify readers of new blog posts or share any good news easily. Personalizing messages for blog readers can also improve engagement on a blog by fostering genuine relationships with them and keeping the audience interested with excellent material. 4) Repurpose your content Save time and put a new spin on previously published content with repurposed content. One big benefit of this approach is that instead of coming up with content from scratch, you may save time, effort, and money by recycling older content. You can also add interest and appeal to a wider audience by adding value and targeting new keywords. 5) Take part in guest blogging Since you’re already blogging on your own website, why not lend your expertise as a guest blogger? A guest post is a fantastic method to promote your business and get people to visit your blog. This method also helps to establish yourself as an authority figure and connect with other thought leaders in a niche. 6) Share your blog on social media Social media can be a great tool to help you promote your blog. After all, the number of people who follow you on different social networks is a good indicator of your professional credibility and authority. Consider including an eye-catching image or video, especially on more visual platforms like Instagram, and link it back to your blog. 7) Invest in paid advertising Despite the fact that we all prefer free things, paid advertising has some advantages. Paid advertising spaces may increase visibility and bring more visitors to your blog. Ads on search engines like Google are one way to employ paid advertising to promote your site. These marketing strategies can also show your advertisement to visitors who have already been to your website, giving them a polite reminder to return. There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to promoting a blog. Give these strategies a go, see which works best, then adjust accordingly and keep improving until you reach your desired results!

Black Friday has put itself on the map as one of those days that businesses and consumers look forward to. But between increasing competition in the online space and rising customer acquisition costs, your offer, more than ever, will determine how effective your marketing campaigns are for this Black Friday. Don’t worry though, you don’t need to slash your prices by 70% or start planning months in advance to make sure you get the most of it. With this guide, we’ll go through some winning Black Friday strategies you can implement to see your sales skyrocket for Q4. 1) Create a bundle for your products One of the simplest methods to provide customers more value and raise the average order value at your store is by bundling products. This is how you’ll be able to maintain a healthy profit margin for your company. There are multiple ways you can bundle your products. For example, you can do a ‘new product bundling’, which entails mixing new products with well-known merchandise to gain some exposure for the new product. You can also look at doing ‘cross-sell bundles’ where you sell a complementary product as an add-on to the main product. You can tailor your product offerings according to the preference of your customers to align with their wants. 2) Send loyal customer-only offers and sneak peeks Black Friday is a great time to reward your most loyal customers. Use Black Friday to send targeted messages just for members, such as additional discounts or limited access to new collections and so on. The key to getting this right is to personalise your messages according to what stage in the funnel each customer is at. For new members to your program, send offers along the lines of, “Black Friday deals for our newest loyalty program members only!” For regular or VIP customers, use phrases like, “For our favourite customers!” or “Just for our loyal customers.” Be sure to send the best deals to those customers that are willing to spend more. 3) Make gift-giving easy Black Friday means that the holiday season is soon approaching, so a lot of people out there are looking for great deals before Christmas comes. With gift-related upselling and cross-selling, such as gift-wrapping services, personalized cards and greetings, and the option to choose a target delivery date for the item to arrive, you can make this simpler for both new and current clients. 4) Launch an offer on social media While some buyers like the excitement of the hunt, others like to make plans in advance and take advantage of early bird discounts. By promoting your sales on social media, you can draw in both types of customers. Businesses may create excitement and increase foot traffic to their stores on Black Friday by publishing countdown timers, previews of exclusive deals, and other interesting material. Furthermore, interacting with clients on social media is a terrific approach to address any inquiries they may have regarding your Black Friday deal. In conclusion, Black Friday is a great opportunity to use the power of digital marketing techniques to make the most out of it. Taking the right steps to prepare for it will help you sell your best this holiday shopping season.

Starting a new e-commerce business is so exciting. You get to pick the name of your company, design the logo and branding, and develop the website. And while it’s easy to consider your needs now, it’s also important to think about where your business is heading and what other tools you’ll need in the future. That’s why we’ve put together this guide of the best eCommerce platforms so you decide what’s best for your business! 1) Shopify If you’re brand new to the e-commerce game and want to take it to the next level, Shopify is what you need. This platform offers everything you need to create an e-commerce company. You can customize your website, add custom pages and style them the way you would like. The Shopify app store contains thousands of free and paid apps that you can use to further customize your store. It’s extremely user-friendly, but also super powerful too. It integrates seamlessly with most online platforms, websites and online marketplaces. You can get a free 14-day trial, and then the basic plan goes up to $24 USD a month. 2) Woocommerce WooCommerce is particularly well-known to individuals who are familiar with WordPress because it is essentially an addition to the well-known blogging platform. WooCommerce is WordPress’ response to people looking to do online business because WordPress is typically used for content-driven websites rather than e-commerce. Because it is open source, it offers limitless customizations. If you need to make changes to your WooCommerce store, it won’t be hard to find someone to do the work for you. And further, its widespread use and network of developers make achieving optimal WooCommerce security much easier. 3) Wix Wix is an easy-to-use drag-and-drop website builder that provides a registrar of domain names, web hosting, and templates that may be customized. A simple website can be created at no cost, but Wix’s eCommerce features require a premium plan, which you must upgrade to. However, while it is easy to use, Wix does have its shortcomings. Some of these include the absence of low-stock alerts and other key inventory management features. If you have more than 10 or so products, you’ll want a platform with more robust inventory-tracking tools. Plus, you need to use a third-party app for social commerce integrations. Overall, Wix is a good platform to start with, but if you’re looking to scale, it might be best to go with another platform. 4) Squarespace Squarespace eCommerce is a top-of-the-line solution for online store design. Its modern layouts highlight your products and are simple to customize, allowing you to change any layout to fit your brand. Although there is a little learning curve, the robust features and extensive inventory system make the work worthwhile. It’s a great place to start if you’re looking to take your sales online, but it’s the perfect option if your top priority is great design that lets products shine. There are a lot of eCommerce platforms on the market and it can be confusing to choose the right one. But with this guide, you’ll know exactly which one to use to take your online sales to the next level.

Brands can create a selection of shoppable products that are easily accessible from their Instagram profile using Instagram Shop. This makes it easier to sell on the app, and be discovered by potential customers too. So if you’re prepared to launch an Instagram shop and drive sales, here’s all the info you need! What is an Instagram shop? Instagram Shop is a feature that allows users to create a shoppable profile online, where items from the site can be ‘liked’ and then purchased instantly. Brands can curate a list of shoppable products that are directly accessible through the “View Shop” button on their Instagram profile page. How to set this up Step 1: Convert to a Business or Creator Account It’s time to sign up for an Instagram Business (or Creator) account if you don’t already have one. In addition to being eligible for Instagram Shopping capabilities, Business accounts have access to a variety of in-depth analytics that will help you make better decisions about your strategy. Step 2: Connect to a Facebook Page Next up, follow these steps to link your Instagram business account to a Facebook Page: Go to your business’s Instagram profile Select “Edit profile” Under the “Public business information” section, select “Page” Choose a Facebook Page from your Pages that you’d like to connect Step 3: Upload Your Product Catalog So this is the part where you actually upload all of your products. You’ve got a couple of different options here. You can either input every product manually into Facebook Business Manager, or integrate a pre-existing product database from a certified eCommerce platform. The second option is the easiest one, so we highly recommend going with that one. Step 4: Get your account reviewed Once you’ve connected a product catalogue to your Instagram, you will need to submit your account for review by following these steps: Go to your business’s Instagram profile and tap the menu icon Select “Settings” Sign up for shopping Follow the steps to submit your account for review Step 5: Turn On Shopping Once your account is approved, you can turn on the shopping features and you’ll be set to go! Go to your business’s Instagram profile and tap the menu icon Select “Settings Tap “Business” and then tap “Shopping” Select the “product catalogue” that you want to connect to your account. Select “Done” If you’re looking to drive more sales with Instagram, then you should put your products on the platform and advertise them. You’ll find this to be a great way to get new customers and increase sales, so don’t hesitate to try it out. Make sure that people are able to find your products quickly and easily by setting up and optimising your Instagram shop using this guide!

Long gone are the days when all the content we consumed was created by professionals (photographers, videographers, designers, etc.) for large corporations, ad agencies, and the like. Thanks to smartphones, everyone has the power to capture quality content. Enter the age of UGC. User-Generated Content is a powerful asset for brands looking to raise awareness and increase their sales. In fact, according to a recent study, 80% of respondents said that UGC played a major role in influencing their purchasing decision. Why you might ask? Because it’s all about social proof. So, what is User-Generated-Content and how can you utilise it for your business? User-generated content is original, brand-specific content created by customers and published on social media or other channels. This content is created organically, meaning no money is exchanged. It’s simply a genuine and honest recommendation system that brands and customers are both huge fans of. User-generated content can come in various shapes and forms, and will generally include images, videos, blog posts, testimonials and reviews and so on. Why is UGC so important? 1) It’s authentic In a study, 90% of consumers say authenticity is important when deciding which brands they like and support, and 60% say UGC is the most authentic form of content. In a cutthroat online environment, brands can gain from genuine evaluations, opinions, and attention that their customers generate. Because most consumers are prepared to accept recommendations for goods and services made by actual people rather than the business itself, UGC can help increase social media reach and growth. 2) Helps establish brand loyalty and grows community UGC allows brands to get in touch with their customers and can help build a strong customer community. It’s a great way of interacting with current customers and can help keep your brand top-of-mind. With the dominance of social media, UGC is even more crucial in creating a sense of community between brands and their customers. 3) More cost-effective than influencer marketing Businesses wishing to market their brands without shelling out thousands of dollars on paying influencers can do so by using user-generated content (UGC). The majority of UGC content is created naturally by unpaid users who are attempting to share their experience with a product or service, connect with like-minded people, or are merely hoping to take advantage of certain benefits. 4) Works in harmony with social commerce Social commerce is the future of online shopping. The main draw of social commerce is that it allows audiences to convert natively within a social media app, rather than going off-app to complete a purchase. Imagine this situation: you’re scrolling through Insta and you see someone you know the post about a cute pair of sunglasses. This post isn’t sponsored, so you tap to learn more about the product. You then decide to buy the product and complete the transaction in the app. That’s social commerce and UGC working in perfect harmony. UGC and social commerce work well together because UGC is influential in driving conversions. Nearly 80% of people say that UGC impacts their decision to purchase, making user-generated content and social commerce a match made in heaven. UGC is a great way to drive your business. It can help you connect with your audience, grow your community and create brand loyalty. UGC is also beneficial because it’s cost-effective, easy to distribute and works in harmony with social commerce. If you haven’t implemented a UGC strategy for your online presence yet, what are you waiting for?

Originally known as the go-to app for recipe ideas and decor inspiration, Pinterest has now evolved into something far beyond that. For businesses, it represents a major opportunity to grow. The app has been seeing crazy spikes in adoption ever since the pandemic, growing by many millions of users every year. In fact, it now has 433 million active users. Not to mention 83% of users have made a purchase from content they’ve seen on Pinterest. So, how can you make the most of Pinterest marketing? How does Pinterest work? Pinterest often gets labelled as a social media app, but in fact, this is not true. It’s a visual search engine. That’s part of the reason why it’s so powerful. Keywords play a major role in the success of your Pinterest marketing, so if your content isn’t optimized for pinners’ searches, you may be missing out. There are three vital components of Pinterest: Pins, Boards and Feed. The Pin: This is the main component and is usually an image, design or video visual. Each pin contains a link, which can direct a user to a website. You can also add a title and a description. Adding pins allows users to explore the products and services you offer. The Board: When you create multiple pins, you can then add them to a Pinterest board (which resembles a scrapbook or gallery). Usually, users will group similar pins together and create a theme. For example, you might have a board highlighting your latest arrivals or inspiration for a new product. The Feed: A Pinterest feed is similar to a Facebook or Instagram feed. It displays all the pinning activity from the people you follow, along with paid Pinterest ads, promoted pins and pins the algorithm thinks you will like. Users can either search for specific terms to discover content or just explore their home feeds which are auto-generated. The basics of Pinterest Marketing: 1) Brand your profile You first want to make sure you create a business Pinterest account so that you have access to analytics, rich pins and more. Then you need to take the measures to brand your Pinterest profile so that it’s easily recognizable as belonging to your company. Each social media platform has its own customization features to allow you to add your own touch to it. Here are the main steps you should take to up your profile: Upload a cover board Upload a profile picture Optimise your description with your keywords Choose five boards to showcase at the top of your profile Brand your board covers Verify your website 2) Work on your keyword strategy Just like any other search engine, Pinterest is all about keywords. Your goal is to make your pins show up in the feed when users use a relevant term. If your pins don’t have a relevant keyword in your description (or if you don’t even have one), they will never show up in the feed. It’s really important to think about how you can connect your content to the right keywords. Do some research on upcoming trends, and brainstorm what your target audience would be searching for on the platform. Once you’ve done that, you can use those keywords in your pin titles, 3) Create eye-catching visuals Pinterest is a visual platform, so effectively using it for business means producing high-quality, engaging visual content to share. Pins on Pinterest are essentially links, so if you produce high-quality visuals, your potential followers can click through to your site, note your business and visit a sales page. First of all, you want to make

You’re scrolling through Instagram, and then you see an ad for this bag that you really like. You notice that there’s a ‘View Products’ tag underneath, so you decided to click on it. It takes you to a page where you see the bag in all these enticing images, so you decide that you absolutely need it. You select ‘View on Website’ and from there you decide to purchase the item. You may or may not know it, but you just experienced social commerce in action. What is social commerce? Social commerce is the process of selling products and services directly through social media. With social commerce, the entire shopping experience, from product discovery and research to checkout, takes place right on social media. So what exactly is the difference between social commerce and e-commerce? Ecommerce broadly encompasses the process of buying and selling goods online. The model is convenient, but it’s far from perfect. Over 50% of all internet traffic is from mobile devices, and mobile users have a much higher cart abandonment rate than desktop users. As buyers move to the small screen for everyday purchases, streamlining your checkout process is key. This is where social commerce comes into play. It removes the drop-off points that can result in abandoned transactions. Why you should take advantage of it 1) You can reach a wider audience Global eCommerce sales are predicted to grow to $1.6 trillion in the next three years—an increase of over 100% compared to 2020. While that’s great news, it also means that you need to find ways to market your products worldwide. With over 4 billion people active social media users across the globe, you can build a brand with a global reach. 2) It creates a frictionless experience Buying over social media is made simple by features like in-app checkout, Buy buttons (available in the US only), and instant messaging facilities. By using social commerce, extra steps in the purchasing process can be cut out. These extra steps often lead to customers losing interest in a purchase because they create more friction. With social commerce, customers are less likely to abandon a purchase when they are allowed to remain inside the app from discovery through to checkout. 3) Make the most of social proof 89% of online shoppers read reviews before hitting the add to cart button. So before clicking “Purchase,” consumers must trust a brand, and they will therefore check previous customer reviews, compare items, and even consult with other buyers. Social commerce comes with integrated social proof in the form of user-generated content. Comments, likes, shares and following will influence potential customers. So when other social media users are directly exposed to that when shopping, it speeds up their decision-making by building trust. Shoppers want to buy from brands they trust with a strong online presence, which is where social commerce comes in. It opens new opportunities for businesses, so if you’re not taking advantage of social commerce, you may be missing out on potential revenue streams!

Are you looking to take your Instagram to the next level? Instagram collaborations could be the answer. Collaborations on Instagram are quickly becoming one of the most popular ways to grow your following and promote your brand online. So, what are they, and how can your business benefit from them? What are Instagram Collaborations? Instagram Collabs is a feature on Instagram that allows users to collaborate with one another. Using this feature, you can co-author a Feed post or a Reel with another user. More people will be able to see the post because it will display both of your handles and appear on both of your accounts. That means you get to benefit from collective engagement from each other’s communities. Instagram content creators often use this feature to collaborate with other creators and engage each other’s communities. Brands can also use this to announce their collaboration with another brand or even collaborate with a content creator. Benefits of collaborations on Instagram 1) Increases your reach An Instagram Collab post helps you to reach the audience of the other user because it appears on both of your profiles. As a result, it will be simple for you to introduce new people to your brand. If enough people are interested, you might even gain a large number of new followers. 2) Boosts engagement In addition to showing up on both your profiles, an Instagram Collab post also collects the engagement from both your communities. That means the likes, views, and comments collected from the other user’s profile get counted toward the total engagement rate for the post. This engagement can quickly build up since they’re coming from two different communities. Additionally, when a post gets really high engagement, the Instagram algorithm will push for your post to be visible to more users. 3) Builds your brand credibility Collaborating with another business can build your brand credibility. Not only does this exposure show people that you’re legitimate, but it also has the potential to boost your ranking on Google. This is because if the brand you’re collaborating with is posting your website all over their own website thanks to the collaboration, you are increasing your backlinks. And when Google sees that you are backlinked by another credible source, your ranking will be boosted. 4) Increases sales with minimal investment! Getting featured on an Instagram account with a large following can help greatly increase your sales. If the post you share is a product or an offer (for example a coupon code), you will be able to directly track the increase in sales from that particular collaboration. The best part of collaborating on Instagram with another brand is that it requires very minimal (if any!) capital. It’s an extremely cost-effective way to get your brand out there. In conclusion, Instagram collaborations have a high rate of success when it comes to growing your audience and engagement, as well as increasing your sales. That’s why a well-thought-out Instagram strategy is an extremely valuable marketing tool for your business. Need help from the experts? Contact us today!

High-quality leads are the backbone of every thriving business. You need leads to generate sales, but not all leads convert into customers. Some leads have a higher chance of becoming paying customers than others. And because acquiring leads costs your business money, you want to make sure you have a sound strategy. In fact, the goal of your lead generation campaign should be to attract high-quality leads and filter out the ones that are less relevant. So how can this be achieved? What is a high-quality lead? A lead is any person who indicates interest in a company’s product or service in some way, shape, or form. A high-quality lead on the other hand is someone who is further along the sales funnel and has a higher chance of becoming a paying customer. The better the quality of a lead, the more likely that a buyer is well informed about your product or service and is ready to make a purchase. Not all leads are created equal, which is why you need a way to classify them to make more sales. Here’s how you can do that. 1) Decide which channel you want to advertise on Make sure the advertising platform you are pursuing is perfect for your organization before you begin with the precise methods and strategies that can result in receiving a ton of new leads into your sales funnel. For example, if you’re a B2B business, LinkedIn could be the ideal platform for you as it lets you reach professionals. On the other hand, if you’re a B2C company looking to run a lead generation campaign to get more people on your newsletter, then Facebook advertising is the sound choice. Before you spend your hard-earned money on advertising to acquire leads, make sure you outline your marketing goals beforehand and choose the right platform to allocate it to. 2) Ask qualifying questions in your lead forms Adding qualifying questions in your lead forms can help you better qualify your leads. By making the forms more difficult to complete, you’ll inevitably raise the proportion of leads who are actually interested. We’ve found that this works particularly well with Facebook Ads. For example, if your goal is to get more newsletter sign-ups, you can ask your leads what type of content they’re interested in. If you’re in the B2B sector, you can ask what is the biggest challenge their business is facing. Obviously, don’t ask too many questions that will put off a potential customer, but select the most important ones that will help better qualify them. 3) Provide high-quality value Providing contact details should be treated no differently than asking someone for money to buy a product. What are you giving in return? Make sure you offer and communicate a clear value exchange with your potential customers. It is important for people to know what they are signing up for and what they will get in return for giving away their personal information. Make sure your ad title, creative, copy and call to action button all clearly communicate the value of the offer and signal the next steps. For example, you can provide webinars, e-books, and online tutorials that include in-depth information your customers wouldn’t find elsewhere. 4) Follow up on leads quickly When it comes to following up on leads, the famous quote ‘you snooze, you lose’ applies. If you don’t want to miss out on great opportunities make sure that your sales team is instantly notified when a lead is generated or that they can easily find the details of all of your leads once a