Feeling overwhelmed with all the changes Instagram has been making lately? Don’t worry, we’ve got you! As social media specialists, we live and breathe Instagram. And guess what, we actually love keeping up with the latest changes on the platform and sharing our knowledge with you. So without further ado, here are the newest reels updates you should know about. 1. Instagram merges all video posts into reels Honestly, we saw this one coming a long time ago when reels completely took over the platform. Instagram is once again proving they are tripling down on video content with the announcement from Adam Mosseri that all new videos shorter than 15 minutes long will now be uploaded as a reel. So what does this mean for you? Well, in theory, this should make content planning easier for you and your business. Before these changes, there used to be four different video formats: Stories, Lives, Video, Reels. Now that they’re merging all videos, you will only need to plan for stories, lives and reels. And while images still matter, this transformation is proof that if you want to grow your account, reels are the way to go. 2. Introduction of reels templates This new feature allows users to copy the same Reels formats from existing videos. Instagram has now made it really easy for users to create reels, cutting down the amount of time it would usually take. Long gone are the days when you would need 5 different editing platforms to put together one reel! To find a template that you’d like to use, you first have to scroll through a few reels. Then, tap on ‘Use Template’ on the bottom left corner. This will take you to the Reels creation mode, where you simply have to record or add videos from your camera roll into the templated clip slots. Each of these placeholders already has time stamps set to match the piece of audio from the original clip. And finally, hit publish and you’re all done! 3. Dual camera In another attempt to keep up with the competition (this time for BeReal, which soared to the number one spot in the U.S. on Apple’s App Store charts), Instagram has introduced the Dual camera feature. This camera feature allows users to record content with their back-facing camera and record their reactions to the event with their front-facing camera at the same time. It is currently only available on Reels, but we’re certain that it won’t be long before it’s rolled out across stories. This feature is a fun way to stay authentic with your audience, which is extremely important for your online relationship-building. You can use it to give them a behind-the-scenes glimpse of what the day-to-day life of your business looks like. And remember, Instagram will always reward users who use their newest features…so if you’re looking for faster growth, try giving it a go as soon as you can! Instagram is constantly making changes to stay relevant as a social platform. We can only expect more changes in the future, and we’ll be watching closely to share all of the new reels updates with you. Stay tuned for more updates on Instagram’s newest features!

Most people are focused on increasing the number of followers on social media, without putting a big emphasis on growing engagement. Sure, it’s a great feeling when your account gets new followers, but without meaningful engagement, these new people following you won’t count for much. Hootsuite came up with a wonderful analogy that sums up how to approach social media engagement. It goes like this: “You should be treating social media engagement like a dinner party, welcoming people and encouraging conversation between the host and the guests.” This is pretty spot on, and above all, it makes social engagement approachable, real and applicable. So, with that said, what are some actual strategies you can follow to boost engagement on social media? Step 1: Measure what matters Align your metrics to your goals! This is absolutely crucial to make sure you’re actually taking meaningful steps that will get you the results you’re after. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to a social media strategy because every company’s goals are different. Therefore, what you use to measure the success of your campaigns won’t be the same as another brand, and will also alter depending on your goals. Depending on what you want to achieve, your social media engagement goals could look like this: Collecting feedback about your current products Developing brand awareness Increasing website leads Improving customer retention Once you have highlighted what you want to achieve, focus on the metrics that will help you to get there. Step 2: As obvious as it may be, BE SOCIAL! Social media was invented as a way for people to socialize online. With time, brands capitalized on its power to increase sales. But unfortunately, many of them lost track of what their customers actually wanted and focused too heavily on constantly selling. When you do this, customers can see right through it. To be engaging, you have to actually socialize, which means interacting with the people around you. Focus on having a two-way conversation with people on the platforms. Reply to comments, send your customers messages, comment on other brands’ pictures…engage in meaningful conversations with your audience and keep it consistent! Step 3: Monitor your impact You can’t tell how well your campaign is doing unless you track its performance. While it’s true that social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter offer metrics such as likes and shares, it can be tricky as a business owner to actually understand how that impacts your business. Being able to quantify the return on investment is generally the biggest thing that holds brands back from investing in social media engagement. It’s often not quite as straightforward as measuring website clicks on an ad campaign, or sales from an email promotion. That’s why it’s important to find out exactly how impactful your social media strategy is. The main metric that you should track is your overall engagement rate (the total number of interactions divided by the total number of followers). The higher this rate, the better. Social media marketers often look for an engagement rate close to three percent, although specific rates will vary depending on your industry and goals. Step 4: Focus on quality content It doesn’t really matter how frequently you post if your content isn’t high-quality and engaging. If your followers don’t like, save or share your posts, then all of the engagement efforts that you put into scheduling and promoting them will be worthless. Basically, the goal is to always have high-quality and relevant content online. This can be achieved by finding out what people are interested in and then doing your best to deliver it

Facebook has launched a new way to navigate the platform, making it easier for its users to control what they see and discover. Facebook’s new Home and Feeds was introduced in July of this year. According to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, one of the most requested features for Facebook has been a tool that ensures people don’t miss their friends’ posts. In his own words: “The app will still open to a personalized feed on the Home tab, where our discovery engine will recommend the content we think you’ll care most about. But the Feeds tab will give you a way to customize and control your experience further.” Let’s dig deeper into the two new feeds and what they mean for your business. What is Facebook’s Home Tab? The Home tab will display “Suggested for you” content in addition to a mix of posts from friends they’ve added, groups they’ve joined, and pages they’ve liked, much like how Facebook’s home page was arranged before the upgrade. Similar to TikTok’s “For You” page, Facebook will push fresh content and artists to users through algorithmic suggestions on the Home tab. Users will be able to edit short Reels videos from their homes and browse other people’s Reels and Stories. In general, when utilising the Home tab, you should be in the mood to view content that Facebook’s AI predicts you will enjoy, regardless of where it originates. What is Facebook’s Feeds Tab? Users won’t see any recommended content on the Feeds tab, which is found in the shortcut bar at the bottom of the Facebook app on iOS and at the top of the app on Android. Instead, they will be able to view articles, videos, and pictures in chronological order from individuals and groups they are familiar with. In this regard, the Feeds tab resembles an earlier version of Facebook, with some advertisements still being presented. Within Feeds, users can also personalize a favorites tab to exclusively show them posts from a select group of friends, pages, and groups they care most about. Users can add up to 30 favorites. What does this mean for your business? As with any other social media strategy, you should focus on creating quality content that speaks to your audience. Capitalize on the favourites feature to make sure that your audience consistently hears from you. While users will still be able to access content and discover new pages through the Feeds tab, you will be competing with posts from more than just your friends and story viewers, unlike with the Home tab. In addition to that, you can learn from Facebook’s Reels how to create videos that engage and inspire your audience, whilst helping you become a more visual platform. Facebook’s new home and feeds tabs is by no means the last update that Facebook will be making to its home feed. Users will have to continue to adapt, but across the board, the company’s Home and Feeds feed updates are designed to keep users engaged and engaged with that same content. We will continue to monitor the changes in the coming months, so make sure you stay up-to-date!

Instagram is officially starting to test its new creator marketplace, an online hub designed to help brands discover and reach out to creators about partnerships and campaigns. This is huge news for both businesses and creators alike, offering a new streamlined way to make money and taking influencer marketing to the next level. So what is the creator marketplace and how does it work? It seems that many of Instagram’s newest features are an attempt to keep up with TikTok, and this creator marketplace is no different. Similar to the competitor’s creator hub, Instagram Creator Marketplace is a dedicated space where creators can be discovered, connect with brands, and paid on the platform. It has four distinct features, which include: 1) Discovery Many brands find themselves searching the platform for hours trying to find the perfect influencer for their campaigns. The new marketplace makes this process so much easier by enabling brands to search for influencers based on categories. 2) Partnership Messaging Finding the perfect infleuncer is one thing, but keeping up with the back and forth communication in your DMs is another. With a special folder dedicated to partnerships in your inbox, you’ll never miss another opportunity to create the influencer relationship of your dreams. 3) Projects Within the messaging feature, brands will also be able to send the full scope of a project to the influencer. This will include all the important details, including deliverables and rates. 4) Payments Perhaps one of the most exciting features of this marketplace is the payments feature. In an attempt to capitalise on the growing creator economy, brands will now be able to directly pay influencers without ever leaving the platform. On the other side, creators can keep up with payments within a dashboard. Say goodbye to invoices not being paid on time! The creator economy is a booming industry, and the new Instagram creator marketplace is bringing this process to the next level. Creators will be able to efficiently connect with brands and receive payments in one place- making this marketplace a new standard in the influencer industry. Currently only available to brands by exclusive invitation, we’re excited to see what the future holds for this Instagram creator marketplace.

Google shopping ads are some of the most clicked ads that the search engine has to offer. Over the years, these ads have drastically improved, making them easier to set up and smarter at reaching the right people. In this guide, we’ll provide a detailed walkthrough of how to set up your products in Shopping ads. What are Google Shopping Ads? There’s a high chance that you’ve seen Google shopping ads in the past. They are the product ads that appear at the top of Google search results accompanied by a picture, a title, the price of the product, and oftentimes a review .Shopping ads don’t appear only in Google’s standard search results anymore, but are also visible on the Shopping tab, on YouTube, on partner websites and the Google Display Network. How to set up Google Shopping Ads 1) Create a Google Merchant Account The first step is creating a merchant account. Google Merchant Center is where your feed lives. It’s also where you can set tax and shipping rules, all of which are required before running Shopping ads. To set this up, you will need to: Have access to your domain registrar Know your tax and shipping settings Link your Merchant Center to your Google Ads 2) Create your Google Shopping Ads Once you have your Merchant Center account and product feeds created, you are now ready to create your first Shopping ads. To do so, follow these steps: Choose Sales as your campaign goal, then Shopping as your campaign type. Next, select your Merchant Center account. the country you want to sell your products in, and tick ‘Standard Shopping Campaign’. In general settings, set your campaign name, select Target ROAS and key it in. Finally, create your ad group by adding an Ad group name and setting your Bid, if applicable. What makes a great Google Shopping Ad? The secret to a winning Google Shopping Ad is building a great product feed. To create a product feed, you can do it manually using Google Sheets, or you can use a feed tool such as GoDataFeed that automatically pulls all your information. This is often the easiest method, especially if you have thousands of SKUs that you need to upload. When it comes to your product feed, here are the most important things you should focus on: 1) Product Title Your product title is the product name, and is the first thing users see when they visit your ad. This is arguably the most important aspect of your Google Shopping Ad, so you should spend time on making sure you craft the perfect one. Basically, you’ll want to include the most important information that customers want to know. You have a character limit of 150, so consider your title’s structure and word carefully, taking into consideration the fact that Google gives more importance to the words that come first. 2) Product Description Include a few keywords in your descriptions and make them pertinent. Consider which features and benefits are most crucial, then list them here. You’ll need to keep this really brief and direct. 3) Product Images Other than price, your product image will probably influence the amount of clicks your products get more than anything else. Make sure that you’ve cropped it according to requirements, and that it shows off your product’s most important features. In conclusion, there are a lot of different options when it comes to setting up and optimizing your Google Shopping campaigns. Getting the most from Shopping campaigns on Google requires some time and attention to detail, but we definitely think it’s worth

From 65 million users in 2017, to over a billion in 2022, TikTok is a force to be reckoned with. While a knack for dancing, good tunes and creative filters can give you an advantage on the platform, there are other things you necessary to grow on the platform. You need Tik Tok marketing know-how, and we can help you with it. Keeping up with all things social media can get overwhelming, especially when things are constantly changing. That’s why we’ve put together this ultimate TikTok strategy guide so that you can nail your videos and skyrocket your brand online. So without further ado, let’s get straight into it! 1) Stay ahead of trends Navigating trends on the platform for the best TikTok strategy is not an easy task. There are so many to keep up with, and the content produced changes on a daily basis. To stay one step ahead of the competition, you need to be keeping your ear close to the ground. Capitalising on trends often means you need to be one of the first to hop on the bandwagon, and to do this is not a walk in the park. While spending time on the platform and studying it is the best way to identify trends, there are tools that will give you a more in-depth look at the ones that are picking up steam. A good example is Exploding Topics. This platform’s mission is to identify trends before they take off, giving you a higher chance of going viral. 2) Be consistent with your creative content Consistency is key when it comes to TikTok. If you produce high-quality and consistent content, you will have a higher chance of being seen by your target audience. While it’s important to stay true to your business’s purpose on the paltform, don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone if you want to take things up a notch! 3) Work with micro-influencers on TikTok Every social media platform is baking micro-influencer marketing into its strategies, and TikTok is no exception. It’s no surprise that micro-influencers are just as popular on the platform as on other social media sites. A micro-influencer’s personal touch is perfect to create social proof with your audience. 4) Create a community Community is becoming a bit of a buzzword in marketing, but that doesn’t mean that it’s any less critical. If you want super fans for your brand, then nurturing an engaged audience is the key to success. If you’re familiar with growing an engaged audience on Instagram, then doing the same on Tiktok should come easy to you. Connect in the comments and pay attention to what people are saying. While it’s possible, we advise responding to every message and comment. This interaction will encourage repeat visits from users and establish a bond between your brand and customers that will enable them to recommend it to their close circle. 5) Have fun with it but know who your customer is The number one reason why TikTok users are on the app is that it’s fun! So don’t be afraid to get creative when you make videos. However, this doesn’t mean that you have to have a personality that’s only focused on having fun. Have a brand mission and persona, just like you would on Instagram or Facebook. It’s important that you know how your audience identifies with your brand, so you can cater to them accordingly. TikTok marketing isn’t just fun, it’s also incredibly effective. Ensure you’re being consistent, target the right audience and get creative while you’re at it (and never

You thought you took all the right steps with your digital marketing to bring your business on the path to success, yet they’re not bringing you any results…You’ve signed up to every social channel, you’re trying to stay on top of trends, and you’ve upgraded your website, but nothing seems to work. Does this sound familiar? If you’re struggling with digital marketing and starting to despair, we’re here to tell you that instead of giving up, you should get to the root of the problem. But we understand that doing so can be easier said than done. That’s why we’ve compiled the main 5 reasons why your digital marketing efforts might be failing your business. 1) You haven’t defined your goals Before you go into digital marketing, you must define your goals, otherwise, your efforts will be scattered and won’t bring the results you hope for. If you’re trying to grow your business, understand how much you’ll need to invest and how many customers will be needed in order to achieve your goals. If it doesn’t seem doable at the moment, start with a smaller goal and build on it. Research shows that half of all marketers don’t have clear objectives and just try different tactics until they see something that works. This is not the approach that you should be taking. Instead, we suggest clearly defining the big goals that you want to achieve, and then further breaking them down into actionable items with clearly defined KPIs. 2) You haven’t clearly defined your audience One of the most common mistakes made by businesses is not knowing their audience. Before you start doing any digital marketing, you need to define who your customer is and what exactly your target market is. When you do this, it’s important to dig really deep. Go beyond demographics, and really think about your ideal customer’s behaviour. Create a buyer persona and act as though this person is a real human being. Then, think about how to reach these people – do they spend their time on Tik Tok? Or do they prefer socialising on LinkedIn? Do they do a lot of research before buying something? If so, your best option could be to start a blog for SEO purposes. If you’re unsure how to do this, it’s best to ask an expert for help. 3) You are not analysing your data properly We live in the digital age, which means that businesses have a lot of data at their fingertips. When you’re doing digital marketing, you should be gathering as much data as possible from all channels. Once you have this information, it’s your job to analyse it and use it to make changes in order to improve your results. This is one of the most important things that marketers need to understand – but many don’t know how or when to do this analysis, or what metrics are important for them. 4) You are being impatient Forget what you’ve been told, there are no quick fixes when it comes to digital marketing. You have to be prepared to tackle it with a long-term vision in mind. Yes, putting money into ads will fast-track the process, but it still requires time and effort. Even if you don’t see the results immediately, press on. If you have the right strategy and yiu know your customer, there will come a day when everything will start to align and you will be able to reap the rewards. Invest the time and effort that’s required and don’t try to short-cut your way to stardom. 5) You have a

Social listening is one of the best ways you can gain deep insights into your customers. Social media platforms are a gold mine of information that you can utilize to better your brand, product, and customer experience. In fact, it has some of the most valuable data to build better relationships with your customers, in-turn helping you build a better business. But what exactly is social listening, and how can you utilize it to your advantage? Social listening: what is it? All too often as marketers or brand owners, we’re making decisions based on guessing what our customers want. We prioritise making tactical decisions over strategic ones backed by data. The reason that most people do this is because conversations on the internet produce massive amounts of unstructured data which may be intimidating to digest. Cue: social listening. As Hubspot describes it, “social listening is the monitoring of your brand’s social media channels for any customer feedback and direct mentions of your brand or discussions regarding specific keywords, topics, competitors, or industries, followed by an analysis to gain insights and act on those opportunities”. Social listening is a lot more than just monitoring your social media channels. It’s about listening to the data and then acting on it. It’s how you gain insights into what your customers are saying about your brand, competitors, and areas of interest, and then digest that information in such a way that will benefit your business. How does it help your business? 1) Brand sentiment analysis Through social listening, you can take a deep dive into what your customers are saying about you online, but most importantly, how they feel about your brand. You’ll gain understanding of the emotions consumers have for or against your brand as well as the distinctive qualities and features that catch their interest. This may force you to reconsider your presumptions and result in much more focused marketing. 2) Competitor analysis Social listening is more than just about how your customers feel about you. You can use it as a tool to gain insights into how your market feels about your competition and industry as a whole. For example, you can find out what new product launches they have coming up and whether they were successful or not. By analysing the conversations, you may find a gap within the marketplace that you could fill. 3) Product development Since social listening gives you insight into what your customers are saying about you as well as the industry, it can help you better understand the behaviour of your customers and how you should develop and market your products. By analyzing the conversations online, you will gain insight into what those in your niche want, how they feel about specific products that are similar to yours, and more importantly which topics will be most beneficial to help drive your business forward. How to start Social listening doesn’t have to be trivial. You can systemise the process to make it easy to complete by following these steps: Choose a social listening tool: there are many tools out there that have been designed to facilitate the process. These tools will help you synthesize all the data so it makes sense. Define your goals: Before starting, define your goals clearly so you know exactly what data is of interest to you. Decide which data sources to go after: It may be tempting to look at a broad range of platforms, but it’s better to hone in on the ones where your customers are having conversations. Choose your topics clearly: brainstorm the types of topics that your

Off-page SEO is a powerful SEO tactic that plays a large part in getting a site to rank higher on Google. If you want to get people talking about your brand and services, you should go beyond your own website. Off-page SEO is one of the most important parts of a successful SEO strategy. In this blog, we share what it is, how it works and how to use it to increase your site’s visibility. What is off-page SEO? Off-page SEO is a huge part of getting a site to rank higher on the search engines. Off-page is about building links from other sites. These links can be from social media, forums, blogs and more. Put simply,off-page SEO simply tells Google what others think about your site. For example, if you’ve got a lot of valuable links pointing to your pages, search engines will assume that you’ve got great content that provides value for users. The Off-Page SEO techniques you should follow 1) Link Building Link building is the first and most important part of off-page SEO. Link building is essentially getting other websites to link to your website. There are many ways to get people linking back to your site, but the crucial part is to ensure the links come from high-authority websites. Earning backlinks from high-authority websites helps position your site as an authority because they act like a ‘vote of trust’ from one site to another. 2) Content Marketing Content marketing spans both on-page and off-page tactics. Publishing great content on your site is only one part of content marketing; any content you create and publish anywhere on the web falls under content marketing. For example, you can reach out to other brands in a similar industry as yours and offer to write guest posts. Whenever you’re making a guest appearance as a writer on another website or blog, the site often allows you to insert a link that leads back to your own site in the post or author bio. This is an added bonus point for your brand awareness efforts as your name and brand are being featured in a new place. 3) PR Digital PR or Public Relations (PR) is another great way to build links back to your website. If you want people talking about your brand and services, they need to know who you are and what you do. Develop a press kit and pitch it to journalists, bloggers and influencers that would be interested in covering your brand. Having a large number of articles written about your brand not only helps with building links, but it also increases brand awareness and drives referral traffic. 4) Local SEO Google My Business plays a vital role in building the online presence of your business. It can be easy to overlook how important it is, which is why we’re here to remind you that you should be paying attention to it! Update it regularly with your latest blog posts, offers and updates to ensure that you’re making the most of the platform as part of your off-page strategy. In conclusion, off-page SEO is a powerful tool that can help your business rank on search engines and get in front of the eyes of more people. Once you invest in it alongside on-page SEO, you will realise that the efforts you put in today will pay off in the future, ultimately increasing your search engine rank and leading you to the success you desire. If you need expert help with your off-page SEO strategy, get in touch with our team today.

Have you noticed a drop in your engagement rate on Instagram recently? If you have, you’re not alone! Many brands and users have experienced a decline in overall engagement, leaving them to wonder: “What’s wrong with Instagram?” Here are some reasons why this could be happening, and a few tips on what you should do about it. 1) Changes in the home feed There have been quite a lot of changes in the Instagram home feed this year, and two main ones could be the cause of a drop in engagement: the increase in suggested content on the platform, and the introduction of the three new home feeds. Due to this, certain posts and accounts may not receive the same type of engagement as before because of the lack of exposure. 2) Users are scrolling less With the rise in competition, notably Tik Tok, there has been a general decline in the amount of time people spend on the app. According to data, people are now spending an average of 45 minutes a day on Tik Tok compared to 30 minutes on Instagram. You can also compare this data to 2020, which reported that people spent an average of 53 minutes a day on Instagram. As the statistics show, there has been a drop in the number of times people use the social media app. This can also be mixed with the general sense of social media burnout from creators. 3) Instagram reels taking over Another reason why you might be experiencing a drop in engagement with your static posts can be explained by the rise of Instagram reels. These short videos have slowly been taking over the platform because they are usually more engaging than other types of posts. As a result, other feed formats have taken a hit in engagement. What can you do about the drop in engagement? If you’re experiencing a drop in engagement rate on the platform, do not despair! We’ve come up with two key solutions that will help you connect with your community once again. 1) Prioritise reels So with traditional photos taking a backseat to Reels, it’s time to think about incorporating short-form video into your overall Instagram strategy. While creating reels every single day may not be feasible for you, there are some easy tricks you can use to simplify the task. For example, go through your best-performing static posts from the past, and think of ways to re-purpose them into short-form videos! 2) Go hard on the keywords Instagram’s suggested content relies on keywords to accurately categorize and recommend posts. As such, you should develop a good Instagram SEO strategy to increase your chances of reaching high-interest users who are more likely to engage with your content.