YDMA Group - Blog #business strategy

Instagram Reels: Most Powerful Tool on Instagram... Why?

Fri, 12 Nov 2021 00:57:33 +1100

Instagram reels are short entertaining video clips created on the Instagram app. The feature allows you to create 15-second multi-clip videos with audio, effects, and various creative tools. These videos can be shared with your account followers in Feeds or if your account is made public, the reels can be shared on the Explore page where you have access to a wider Instagram community.

Why your business should be using Instagram Reels

People want to stay informed but they want this information delivered to them in a quick and convenient way. Videos allow for this; however, Instagram takes things to the next level by allowing you to engage with your target audience in a creative and fun way. Using trending sounds also ensures that your messaging is relevant, contributing to more views.

Since Instagram Reels is a new feature, Instagram will ensure that it prioritises reels. Therefore, it’ll be in your best interest to take advantage of the opportunity to get your brand, business, products and service offering see by Instagram’s large community.

Additionally, using Instagram Reels allows for more visibility, share-ability (as your content can be viewed and shared over a longer period of time. Your business will also be more discoverable as the Explore page can attract users outside of your existing following.

How your business can use Instagram Reels

Create Instagram Reels to promote your new products. Use trending sounds and creative video editing features to walk people through how your products work. Establish your business as an expert in your industry by addressing your target audience’s pain points for which your products and services can offer a solution to. The reels can be turned into short FAQ clips or simply just how-to videos.

The reels can also be used to share user-generated content. This can further reinforce how popular your products are and serve as a form of customer review.

Another way of promoting your business using Instagram Reels is by partnering with influencers who have a large following but are also align to your brand and its values. Collaborating with the right influencers can boost your credibility, build authenticity and at the same time, educate your audience about your brand.

Creatively display your brand or business’s fun side by posting clips of your team and office space, i.e., “where the magic happens”. What you do to relax, or unwind or show people what a hectic day in the office looks like. Walk them through the production process and show them what it takes to make your amazing products.

Instagram Reels provides an easy way for your brand and business to grow online. The key is to find the right trending sounds, videos or influencers that resonate with your brand. At YDMA, we do in depth research about your brand, industry, target audience and the latest trends to help you stay relevant in the eyes of your target audiences. Furthermore, we use these insights gathered to inform the content we create for your business. Contact our team to help you execute and effective digital marketing strategy that includes the most creative Instagram Reels that’ll boost your online growth.

How To Go From SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) To CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation)

Fri, 12 Nov 2021 00:51:57 +1100

SEO (search engine optimisation) is a process whereby your website rankings are improved to increase the amount of unpaid traffic to your website. This is done by ensuring that your site ranks highly when searched for organically. CRO (conversion rate optimisation), is the continuous testing of your website in an effort to obtain leads or conversions for your business. With CRO you’re trying to improve the chances of website visitors performing a desired action.

SEO to CRO

The first thing you need to understand is that in order to attract new visitors to your website, you need to provide answers to what they’re searching for on these search engines. If your content is relevant, you’ll rank at the top which will result in your website attracting more traffic.

Search engines such as Google, don’t only look at how relevant your content is, they also look at whether your site provides a good user experience. By providing solutions to search queries, you’re moving from SEO to CRO as your content matches search intent.

Another way of moving from SEO to CRO is by adding call-to-actions to your content, making it easier for your target audience to perform your action. This is because, by adhering to your call-to-action (which would be a link or button) your visitors are linked to conversion focused content. For example, initially your content would address or solve a problem, i.e., provide a solution to your target audience’s search query as part of SEO. To get to CRO, you would make use of strategic call-to-actions where you are able to elaborate on your service and product offering. Having clear call-to-actions is a great way to increase your conversion rate.

In conclusion, SEO and CRO work well together to achieve your business goals. For example, when using SEO to attract your target audience organically you can use CRO to convert them into purchasing customers. We, at YDMA specialise in ensuring that the right people are targeted for your business and further ensuring that they are converted into loyal paying customers. You can get in touch with our consultants, and we can put together a full-proof digital marketing strategy that includes the use of SEO and CRO techniques, tailored to meet your business goals.

The Power of Media Marketing

Fri, 12 Nov 2021 00:50:29 +1100

Media is a means of communication through various platforms, from traditional media to the transition of new media. Traditional media includes television, print, radio, to name a few; and new media includes social media and any other form of advertising delivered digitally. Traditional media allows brands to target a broad audience whereas new media allows brands to narrow their target audience to be more defined (but on a much larger and significant scale).

Traditional Media

Even with all the benefits that new media offers, traditional media can still be useful to your business. For example, the use of billboards can assist in increasing brand awareness for businesses in local operating areas; while print advertising can reach those customers who prefer reading books and magazines.

Traditional media and new media can provide much value to your business when combined together, that’s why most successful companies still invest in both today! The most important thing to do is to evaluate the performance of both continuously and adjust marketing spend accordingly.

New Media

The transition of new media has benefited many aspects of businesses as it is an effective and easy way to market a business at a much lower cost and reach a wide range of audiences. The target of audience with social media platforms for instance is strategic and purposeful. New media has thus adapted to meet the needs of businesses in an increasingly tech-savvy world.

New media includes (but not limited to) the following:

Websites
Blogs
Email
Social media networks
Music and television streaming services (OTT)

Your Digital Marketing Agency (YDMA)

At YDMA, we offer various media marketing options that’ll not only boost your brand image, but also gain you more customers and strengthen your relationship with existing customers, ensuring they become advocates for your brand.

OTT (over-the-top) media

Audiences are moving towards streaming services, which is where your business should be. OTT allows you to target a niche audience that is more engaging as ads are shorter and "non-skippable".

Radio

Radio is and always has added a personal touch to marketing any business. This is because radio builds a relationship with its listeners, who tend to feel a connection with their favourite radio stations. The use of radio as a marketing tool for your business, will not only gain you exposure to a wider audience, but it’ll also ensure that your brand messages reach important demographics.

Television (TV)

It’s not just larger brands that should make use of TV as a marketing tool. Most businesses can benefit from the exposure to the captive TV audience. The vast number of TV channels allow any business access to various types of audiences and with being one of the most trusted mediums of communication, it could boost your business’s credibility. Therefore, we recommend TV ads for your business, as a great way to influence your target audience.

One of the best ways to deliver a personalised message is through email. That’s because 90% of emails get delivered and once your target audience signs up to your mailing list, that means they want to hear more from you. Email is our secret weapon to getting increased conversions of your prospective customers.

Social media

Social media is one of the most effective ways of building and managing your brand image. We use platforms based on what’s most appropriate for your brand, and create an exciting and engaging experience for your target audience. Your business’s social media platforms, reinforce your brand message ensuring you remain top-of-mind to your target audience.

The right media marketing strategy is determined by the type of audience you wish to attract. That is how you’ll get to see the power of media marketing and its contribution to your business’s success.

How To Develop Mesmerising Brand Identity

Fri, 12 Nov 2021 00:47:26 +1100

What is brand identity?

The visible elements of your brand are what make up its identity. These elements include the logo, design and colours. It is what your brand stands for and how you would like your target audience to perceive it. Brand image is the result of your brand identity, as this is how your brand is actually perceived by your target audience. Unlike your brand image, your brand identity is what you have control of. That’s why it’s so important.

Do a brand audit

Analyse the performance of your business, the industry as well as the performance of your competitors. Doing a brand audit also entails getting to know your target audience, their interests, and their response to yours and your competitors’ products.

Know what makes your brand or business unique

Once you’ve completed the brand audit, the next step in creating a mesmerising brand identity is to define your business’s unique value proposition. You need to understand what makes your product or service unique to your target audience. Knowing this will assist you in drafting your vision, mission and values.

Brand look, feel and voice

When creating the look, feel and voice of your brand, it’s important that you keep in mind what your brand stands for. This will ensure that you remain authentic and stay true to your brand. It will also make or break your relationship with your target audience, so it is essential that you put some thought into creating the right brand voice, look and feel.

Establish your brand identity

This can be done by ensuring that all customer contact points have the right look and feel. From your website to your product packaging. It’ll also ensure that your brand’s visual design and voice, is aligned to your brand vision, mission and values. Additionally, the brand voice needs to convey the right message in the right tone.

Monitor, analyse and refine

Lastly, you’ll need to monitor and analyse how people respond to your new look, feel and voice. If your target audience is not responding well to your new brand identity, you can always make adjustments. That’s the great thing about digital marketing. Through trial and error, you’ll eventually get your target audience interested in getting to know your product and service offering – create awareness; and through consistency, it’ll eventually lead to people becoming loyal to your brand.

In conclusion, having a strong brand identity increases the chances of your target audience choosing to use your products or services over that of your competitors. This leads to a positive brand image which ultimately results in positive brand equity for your business.

The Difference Between Organic Marketing & Paid Advertising

Fri, 12 Nov 2021 00:46:07 +1100

To achieve better brand awareness, perception, increased website traffic, leads and sales, two methods, in digital marketing, can be used, namely paid advertising and organic marketing. Knowing the difference between these two methods can ensure that you choose the right option for your business.

Organic marketing

The goal of organic marketing is to naturally attract your target audience without using paid advertising. The goal here is, to keep your brand, business, products and services top of mind, for when your target audience is ready to make a purchase.

Organic marketing also assists in driving traffic to your main website (over time). This can be done through social media or SEO. SEO is the most effective form of organic marketing as it is said to drive 1000%+ more traffic than social media alone.

Additional forms of organic marketing include:

Blog posts
User-generated content
Emails
Newsletters
Articles
Case Studies
eBooks
Online PR
YouTube

The pros and cons of using organic marketing

The benefit of using organic marketing is that you’ll always have traffic sent to your website and it is a low-cost method of driving this traffic. Organic content is more often created to inform or educate making it seem less like a sales pitch and therefore reinforce your brand's credibility and improve consumer trust.

The downside of organic marketing is that it takes a long time to really see results as search engines take months to rank a certain article. Another drawback is that it’ll require you to constantly update your content to remain relevant and to achieve a high ranking.

Paid advertising

The goal of paid advertising is to convert your target audience for a specific campaign; i.e., you’re buying website traffic. Unlike organic marketing, you’re not waiting for your target audience to find your website or relying on search engine rankings. One of the many ways the success of a campaign can be measured is by calculating the return on ad spend (ROAS) – which is Revenue Generated by Ads / Cost of Ads.

The pros and cons of using paid advertising

Paid advertising provides results as soon as you’ve launched your campaign. It provides precision and flexibility in that you can target your specific audience and purchase as much traffic as your budget allows.

The downside is that it can be expensive for smaller businesses and if you were to stop sending out ads, you could lose the traffic you bought. Some people actually tend to ignore paid ads which is why it’s important that your ads come across as coercive not forceful.

Making use of one method determines how you’ll use the other. For example, if you’re using organic to create awareness, you can then use paid advertising to re-target those people who’ve shown an interest in your products or services through your organic marketing efforts. Therefore, a combination of both paid advertising and organic marketing is advisable for your business.

Small Business Help: 7 Signs It's Time to Hire a Digital Marketing Agency

Thu, 04 Nov 2021 14:00:18 +1100

As a small business owner, you may not know when it’s time to hire a digital marketing agency. You also may not be ready to allow a third party into your business to help you run things. But this could stagnate the growth of your business. Sometimes you need to allow experts in their field to impart knowledge on innovative ideas to take your business to new heights.

Here’s how you’ll know that it’s time to hire a digital marketing agency for your business:

You run all aspects of your business – wearing different hats
This is common in small businesses, however; it can be draining. It can also lead to you dropping the ball in other areas of your business. One does not need to be an expert in running every division of your business. That’s why we have digital agencies. They’re passionate about digital marketing and they’ll strive to achieve next level's results for your business.
You’re seeing a decline in your sales
This is an obvious reason to hire a digital marketing agency. A drop in sales is detrimental for any small business and not having a digital marketing agency means that your marketing efforts are not reaching your key customers where they are (online). By partnering with a digital agency, you’ll ensure that your sales strategy is well integrated with your marketing strategy to gain your business enough leads to convert into paying customers.
Your business is growing but you need to enhance your reputation
You’ve built your business from the ground up and now that it’s growing rapidly, you’re struggling to keep up with its growth. It’s a good problem to have, but this is a clear sign that you need external help from experts, who know how to creatively bring your brand to life by creating and maintaining its unique voice. While you focus on managing operations and the finance of your business, a digital agency will ensure that you have a winning digital marketing strategy.
You last updated your website 2/more years ago and your content is outdated causing a decline in traffic to your online platforms
If your digital platforms are unresponsive to the vast change in technology, then you’ll lose out on attracting potential customers to your sites. You’ll also be ranked unfavourably by Google algorithms. Having a digital agency will ensure that your sites are easily accessible on any device used by your tech-savvy customers. You’ll have a team dedicated to creating relevant content that will improve your Google ranking and improve the rate engagement with your brand on all online platforms.
You don’t have a digital marketing team
Not having a team dedicated to running the marketing and digital marketing aspects of your business means that your business needs to hire a digital agency. The cost of hiring a digital agency is much lower than the cost of maintaining an in-house marketing department. That’s because you only pay for the services rendered by the agency unlike having to pay monthly salaries, maintenance, taxes, etc.
Not tracking results
If you’re not tracking the performance of your campaigns, you’ll end up wasting resources. An agency can help you maximise your efforts, even in the smallest campaigns.
You’re getting leads, but they’re not good enough
Your marketing efforts may seem to be working but they may be producing bad quality leads. A good digital agency is able to analyse what you’re currently doing, highlight where you’re going wrong, then suggest improvements that need to be made in your marketing and digital marketing strategy.

Trust is a huge factor in allowing a third party to assist you with your business. You need to trust the experts and the results will show.