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Tag: digital marketing

  • Marketing to Males: How Can Your Cosmetic Surgery Practice Draw in More Men?

    In a society that remains focused on physical appearance, plastic surgeons have plenty of healthy competition to appeal to the audience in their community. Because plastic surgery procedures are being purchased overwhelmingly by women—in 2016, women purchased 90.7% of plastic surgery procedures compared to 9.3% purchased by men—most marketers target female prospects. However, research shows that doctors could be doing a lot more with their marketing strategies when it comes to targeting men.

    A New York University Medical Center study demonstrated the highly female-centric marketing campaigns being implemented by plastic surgeons. After analyzing 453 websites and 4,239 images on plastic surgeons’ websites, only 5% of the pictures included males, and 0.9% depicted both men and women together—not to mention that only 22% of these websites included any services related directly to males. In fact, some plastic surgeons completely ignore the male market in online marketing efforts or minimize them significantly.

    While popularity in some procedures has risen in male patients, plastic surgeons are seeking appealing and effective ways to market their services to men. What exactly is drawing in the men who are getting these procedures? Research shows that the following factors could help influence men to feel comfortable undergoing plastic surgery procedures for issues they want to resolve, ultimately helping them to gain more confidence.

    Dos Equis Man Jazzed About Plastic Surgery - Search Influence

    Pay Attention to What’s Already Popular

    When it comes to marketing to male consumers, it’s important to note trends. At the top of the list of surgical procedures performed on men in 2016 were liposuction, breast reduction, eyelid surgery, nose surgery, and facelifts. Popular non-surgical cosmetic procedures included injectables like Botox and Sculptra, as well as skin rejuvenation procedures like dermabrasion. Choosing to focus on these procedures and providing a plethora of before-and-after photos of men who have had these procedures done could prove beneficial to your plastic surgery ad campaign. Plus, the images can demonstrate the natural results that men may be seeking if they associate cosmetic procedures with highly noticeable and dramatic results.

    Focus on Youth and Energy

    The last thing that any male—or person, for that matter—wants to hear is that they look “tired.” Appearing to lack energy can be detrimental in a lot of ways, especially in a busy workplace that may be riddled with young people vying for the next promotion. By decreasing wrinkles and folds through plastic surgery, the fatigued look improves dramatically. Many men want to restore that youthful, energetic look that they had in their twenties, and this could provide effective fuel for your ad campaign. Again, consider highlighting before-and-after photos that demonstrate the great results men might not know they’re looking for!

    Target the Dads

    After years of raising kids, it’s hard for the stress and work not to take a toll on the body and appearance in general. Child raising years are common for the appearance of wrinkles and weight gain. Fathers are an excellent and relatively untapped market for plastic surgeons, in a similar way that mothers have been an effective marketing target. Try changing the dialogue in your ads to focus on hardworking fathers who deserve to treat themselves to a naturally younger look—a.k.a. the “Daddy Do-Over.”

    New Girl's Schmidt Celebrating Himself - Search Influence

    Emphasize a Natural Yet Rugged Look

    While many men may attribute plastic surgery to women and femininity, in reality, strong, masculine features can be enhanced with procedures that can provide natural-looking results. Some of Hollywood’s most notable and masculine heartthrobs haven’t come by their looks completely naturally. Even Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson confessed to having liposuction performed on stubborn flab, and George Clooney admitted to having an eyelid lift to help achieve his youthful glow. Men’s grooming is increasingly popular and less taboo than it has been in previous years, and the idea of shaving off ten years is now a highly acceptable idea.

    Beauty And The Beast Gaston Showing Off His Manly Chest - Search Influence

    Market to Couples

    Perhaps one of the more effective tactics is to reach men through their girlfriends or wives. It isn’t uncommon for a husband or boyfriend to use his girlfriend’s or wife’s products and to become hooked on the results. This can translate to cosmetic procedures as well: if a female significant other comes back from a cosmetic treatment with a refreshed glow, this becomes a recommendation in itself. Target your marketing to couples by age, encouraging them to enhance their bodies together or to reclaim their youthful looks.

    Pay Attention to Male Shopping Trends Online

    Men are increasingly turning their shopping experiences into social experiences, comparing prices and discussing them with others via social media. While this type of online behavior has been typically associated with women in the past, it is becoming increasingly popular among males. An online study from ManScan shows that 72% of men compare prices online, 56% read reviews of products and services, and 44% share this information with others. In many cases, the products and services discussed involve health and wellness. This information bodes well for the sharing of information about potential surgical procedures. By using a cost/benefit analysis with cosmetic procedures, plastic surgeons may see positive results with the male market.

    The male market provides an excellent opportunity for cosmetic surgeons to grow their practice through online advertising. By focusing on trends and behaviors, targeting men in ads can prove highly beneficial when done well. Consider these ideas and get more clicks to your website.

  • 5 Medical Professionals Who Use Twitter Effectively and What You Can Learn from Them

    With 319 million people on Twitter and 100 million daily users, it’s clear that this social media platform offers huge potential for growing a medical practice. For doctors striving to attract more patients, 42% of individuals viewing health information on social media look at consumer reviews to guide their medical decision-making. For doctors aiming to spread medical knowledge online, 60% of consumers say they trust the information in doctor’s posts—almost twice the number of people who trust information from pharmaceutical companies. And these numbers are expected to grow, as 18–24-year-olds are over two times as likely as 45–50-year-olds to use social media for health-related discussions.

    Yet, in spite of Twitter’s huge potential, it can be difficult for physicians to justify taking time away from patient care to focus on social media. In the medical industry, it’s especially important for tweets to reach the most people possible in as little time as possible so that doctors can spend less time on marketing and more time on medicine.

    Check out five of the most successful doctors on Twitter for some great inspiration and examples.

    1. Dr. Mehmet Oz

    Handle: @DrOz

    Followers: 4.05 million

    Before you write off Dr. Oz as more television host than medical professional, consider this: He has more followers than any other doctor on Twitter. While Oprah certainly helped him gain this following, he couldn’t keep it if he wasn’t engaging his followers with the media they find valuable. Dr. Oz knows what his audience wants to read, and he regularly posts health tips, news, and advice catered to this demographic. Check out Dr. Oz’s tweets for examples of medical articles you can share to engage your own following.

    2. Dr. Kevin Pho

    Handle: @kevinmd

    Followers: 151,000

    Unlike Dr. Oz, Dr. Pho rose to social media stardom largely through his own savvy use of integrated digital marketing. While he also regularly posts engaging articles, with topics ranging from science to politics to personal health journeys, much of this media comes from his own blog. Dr. Pho also publishes many posts written by guest bloggers, which not only cuts down the time required to maintain an active social media presence but also offers a great opportunity to collaborate and network with other doctors online. Visit Dr. Pho’s Twitter and blog for a great example of an integrated marketing plan.

    3. Dr. Joseph Kim

    Handle: @DrJosephKim

    Followers: 31,000

    If you’re worrying because Dr. Oz and Dr. Pho share a lot more personal stories than cold, hard science, never fear! Dr. Kim proves that you can take a largely academic approach to social media and still become a Twitter star. His posts strike the perfect balance of career resources and medical studies, appealing to both doctors and patients. Check out Dr. Kim’s twitter feed for strong examples of how to post academic information while still keeping your following engaged.

    4. Dr. Mike Sevilla

    Handle: @DrMikeSevilla

    Followers: 26,000

    Much more than the other doctors on this list, Dr. Sevilla projects a goofy, jovial personality into his tweets. He makes Family Medicine seem friendly and approachable, posting kooky holiday selfies and words of encouragement for residents going through the stressful match process. He is also a generous re-tweeter, interacting not only with other online physicians but also with local news and fundraising organizations. Scroll through Dr. Sevilla’s posts to see how to have fun with social media while still maintaining the knowledgeable persona of a physician.

    5. Dr. Val Jones

    Handle: @drval

    Followers: 25,800

    Women make up roughly 1/3 of all physicians in the United States, but they are underrepresented among the top doctors on Twitter. Nevertheless, Dr. Jones has fought her way to the top as a prolific author and lecturer, as well as the founder of Better Health, LLC, one of the largest networks of medical bloggers. Like Dr. Pho, she offers a great example of an effective integrated marketing plan, using her tweets to drive traffic to her blog and other writings, and her writings to provide engaging content for her Twitter following. Check out Dr. Jones’s Twitter feed and blog for examples of how to use social media to build on your professional accomplishments.

    Top Takeaway

    While these five physicians are great sources of inspiration, it can seem daunting to apply their successes to your own practice. If Oprah doesn’t introduce you to daytime television, where do you start?

    One main takeaway from successful physicians on Twitter is targeting the right demographic. Dr. Sevilla runs a Family Medicine practice, so his ideal audience includes parents and young children. Therefore, a friendly, goofy personality is appealing. No parent wants to bring her kids to a stern, intimidating doctor. Dr. Oz, on the other hand, is more interested in an audience that watches his daytime television show. Thus, his posts feature more “popular science” topics, such as popular diets or healthy recipes.

    The good news is you can easily apply this strategy to your own practice. As an expert in your field, you know what topics would interest your target demographic, be it low-sodium snack suggestions for dialysis patients or skin care tips for dermatology patients. So, post about it!

    With your target demographic in place, you are well equipped to take the next steps in growing and maintaining your Twitter following. Like the successful physicians in this post, you can collaborate online with other medical professionals, or write relevant, engaging blog posts to share on Twitter as part of an integrated social media marketing campaign.

    If you don’t want to go through this process alone, we can help you there as well! For a do-it-yourself approach, download “Up Your Social Media Game With This Handy Reference Guide.” It’s an infographic to equip you with insights into which social media platform and what time of day would be most effective for targeting your ideal demographic. For a more assisted approach, see how our social media services can help you.

    Happy tweeting!

    If you don’t want to go through this process alone, we can help you there as well! Contact an expert from our team today.

  • Fake News, Audience Targeting, and the Death of the 4th Estate

    Content marketing. Political marketing. Fake news. Content amplification. These are all instruments in providing pertinent information to audiences who will become newly inspired and be provided with valuable takeaways. What happens when you elevate content? Your audiences increase, consumption rises, and you essentially engage and “steal” influencers. Here are 3 key ways to leverage more devoted and more precious followers.

    1. Understanding the Traditional Media Tailspin

    Though traditional media has been effective throughout the history of marketing, it is important to realize the descent and, in some cases, collapse it has experienced in the last few years. Newspaper advertising looks to take the hardest hit with a decline in revenues between now and 2020, falling from $18.8 billion to $14.9 billion. (Source: Marketing Charts) While print dropped, digital advertising soared. As consumer behavior shifted online, this new media rose and grew tremendously over the years. Digital advertising has demonstrated continued growth where revenue rose 6 percent last year to $209 million. (Source: NYT) Surviving the tailspin and crash of traditional media and understanding digital marketing is essential to getting re-established as a marketer and to attracting audiences.

    Image Of Papers Writing - Search Influence

    2. Attach Yourself to Amplified Content

    Seek audiences floating by in the online and social media currents and latch onto them by serving them pertinent, targeted content. You will need to learn what interests your targeted audiences and how to keep them engaged at the right time. Once you know your audience, have and maintain a large online presence.

    Social interaction vector image - Search Influence

    To obtain online existence that lasts,  you will have to create valuable and amazing content. Venture into using infographics, videos, memes, guides, reviews, etc. These are all great ways to persuade and capture. But, you must realize your wonderful content will need help.

    Though your content is at it’s highest quality, it is competing with countless information out there. To wean out the competition, you should look into Content Amplification Tools. Taboola, Polar, and Nativo are some tools to name a few. These resources all strive to streamline the creation of producing ads, optimize ads in real time, deliver ads across devices, and drive traffic to your content.

    3. Learn from Political Marketing and Fake News

    Want to “steal” and keep influence and get away with it? You can!

    We’ve seen “fake news” in the news in the last year and a half and the tremendous amount of influence it’s had on audiences worldwide. We’ve seen it influence the 2016 presidential election, and we’ve witnessed big brands such as Pepsi and New Balance endure its pitfalls when their statements were misconstrued as political biases that went viral. What is the lesson here? Though brands should be careful not to get involved in sticky situations, it’s vital to realize what has made audiences so enthralled and how to keep them.

    Image Of Fake News Keyboard Button - Search Influence

    When we revisit the 2016 presidential election, we remember just how loyal audiences were to the candidate they supported. They were essentially brand loyal, and the victory of their candidate was the product they sought and trusted. How can other big brands gain such loyalty and following? It’s using social media, like Facebook, to promote content. It’s considering sponsored posts to reach even more audiences and raise awareness. More importantly, it’s big brands considering and creating a plan of action to think more strategically and to elevate the truth of their brand. The big lesson here is, “Will our audiences believe us?” If they believe, “How do we build and keep their trust?”

    Brands will, more than ever before, think critically, keep demonstrating authenticity, and share valuable insights while taking back what fake news has stolen.

  • What You Can’t Do On LinkedIn: Hacking LinkedIn and Getting Results

    Hypertargeting. Automated bid management. Ad scheduling. We take for granted these social media advertising features available on platforms like Facebook. But, what do you do when these “advantages” are not available on other sites, like LinkedIn? Here at Search Influence, we decided to design some experiments to see if we could manually hack these features within the LinkedIn advertising platform.

    Targeting Options

    We all know how great Facebook’s targeting is with purchase behaviors and in-market audiences backed up by actual third-party data. There’s no way that LinkedIn can touch Facebook in this realm, right?

    According to Business Insider, LinkedIn is gradually increasing its user base, even as other platforms like Facebook and Twitter have seen decelerating growth. What LinkedIn has to offer is the opportunity to reach one of the fastest-growing groups of business-minded professionals when they are in “work-mode,” browsing for new career opportunities, exploring professional affiliation groups, and researching industry-specific content. In fact, Buffer reports that 60% of LinkedIn users are interested in seeing industry-related content with company news as a close second. So how can you capitalize on this information-hungry audience?

    LinkedIn offers the opportunity to target all levels of the professional hierarchy, from young company influencers, performing research and reporting on their findings, to higher-level corporate decision-makers looking for their next business partnership. The targeting opportunities on this platform are specifically geared towards a professional audience. With these options, you can:

    • Target specific Companies by name and narrow in your Job Titles to reach the exact people you want to hear your message,
    • Use specific Degrees or Skills to seek out only the users who meet your qualifications or
    • Sift through Member Groups to find people with similar or desirable professional or educational affiliations.

    With all of these occupation-oriented targeting options, LinkedIn offers advertisers the ability to closely align your social engagement goals with your company’s brand and mission to reach users who are demanding industry-relevant content.

    Ad Scheduling

    Facebook offers ad scheduling, and while it’s not as granular as other platforms, such as AdWords, which allows you to schedule your ads in 15-minute increments, it still provides a heightened level of control over when your ads are shown.

    Unfortunately, LinkedIn does not afford advertisers these same features, so we took it upon ourselves to apply manual ad scheduling to see if the benefit was worth the time. Research has shown that the best time to publish content on the LinkedIn platform is Mondays through Fridays, during business hours. Makes sense, right? Target working individuals with work-related content during work hours.

    Linked-In-Best-Times-to-post imge - Search Influence

    Our online advertising team put this premise to the test. Many of our clients suffer from budgets that are too small to run ads for the duration of the month. When you factor in LinkedIn’s $10 daily minimum and the fact that the platform allows you to spend up to 20% more than your daily budget on any given day, and you most often will, this effectively makes the minimum daily spend $12. If we extrapolate that figure across a 31-day month, an individual campaign needs AT LEAST $372 to run. To be most effective with our clients’ monthly spends, we wanted to capitalize on the users who are most likely to engage with the content, i.e. people who are on LinkedIn during the weekdays.

    We implemented a “Weekend Pausing” test for a few of our clients. This test included Sponsored Updates campaigns, and we ran our test from November of 2016 through December 2016, pausing on weekends and holidays when users are least likely to be browsing the platform with intent.

    We began by establishing baseline performance for each of the clients and decided that our main metrics for measurement would be engagement and cost per engagement.

    Image Of Engagement Metrics For Online Advertising LinkedIn - Search Influence

    So, what did we find? One client saw a 28% decrease in cost per social action and an 18% overall decrease in spend for a 14% overall social action increase. One client spent 23% less budget and received 63% more social actions for a cost per social action that was 53% less than the baseline. However, when we looked at overall engagement, which includes clicks as well as social actions, we saw an overall engagement decrease of 13% and a 39% decrease in engagement rate, refuting the idea that LinkedIn users are most active during weekdays. An extended period of testing would be required to investigate the full impact of weekend pausing on LinkedIn engagement rates.

    Bid Management

    Other platforms offer automatic bidding options to get you the lowest cost per result. Facebook does this across all of its placements, including Instagram and the Audience Network, to achieve the lowest average cost per result. There are also manual bidding options on the Facebook platform for those advertisers who want a little more control.

    Luckily, LinkedIn does provide some competitor bidding data so that you can make an informed decision when setting your manual bids, which is the only option available on this platform. Previously, the consensus for LinkedIn bidding best practices was to bid as high to the top of the bidding range provided by LinkedIn in the Bid & Budget tabs of the campaign manager as the client’s budget allows.

    Image Of Competitor Bidding Data For Online Advertising LinkedIn - Search Influence

    What we were curious to test was whether we could maximize clicks and decrease overall cost per click by strategically bidding down, towards the middle of the bidding range. Our online advertising team devised a test across multiple clients in various industries with different budgets. Since our goal was to maximize clicks and engagement, we chose clients with Sponsored Updates campaigns. We established baseline metrics for each of our client’s prior performance and began strategically lowering and raising our bids from the top of LinkedIn’s provided range to the bottom in predetermined increments each day.

    Once our bids were set towards the lower bound of the range, clicks and impressions significantly decreased. After moving up and down the range a couple of times, we hit a “sweet spot” right around the middle of LinkedIn’s bidding range where performance was optimized. We discovered that bidding around the middle of LinkedIn’s bidding range resulted in an average click increase of 39%, an average CTR increase of 14%, and an average CPC decrease of 30%. Through the manual manipulation of our bids, we were able to generate more engagement for our clients at a lower price!

    What Can You Do With LinkedIn?

    While many advertisers might suggest channeling efforts from LinkedIn to Facebook, I suggest rethinking the platform’s purpose. What our experiments have revealed is that if you can devise a strategy that considers the platform’s utility as a connector of business-minded individuals, and you’re willing to put in the effort to manually optimize your campaigns for the highest level of budget efficacy, you can churn out excellent results.

    If you have strategic questions about using Linkedin or need support getting started with Linkedin advertising, contact a member of our team.

  • Up Your Social Media Game With This Handy Reference Guide: The When, How, and Where of Social Posting

    Up-Your-Social-Media-Game-With-This-Handy-Reference-Guide - Search Influence
    Another year, another seemingly endless parade of social media posts gone by. If you haven’t jumped on the social marketing bandwagon yet, 2017 is the year to begin because things are continuing to go up and up. Here are some highlights.

    79% of Online Adults Use Facebook

    The Pew Research Center has done a lot of work tracking the social media usage of American adults. Of all platforms, Facebook has a staggering reach among adults across demographics.

    Handy-Facebook-Reference-Guide - Search Influence

    Of these Facebook users, 76% check in every day and use Facebook as a way to learn about the news, local businesses, trending topics, and more. Facebook is truly on the way to becoming all pervasive, even among adults aged 65 and older.

    57% of Consumers Are Influenced by Online Information

    More than half of internet users surveyed said that they are influenced to think more positively of a business after reading positive reviews or comments about the business online. This means that creating a space for customers to give reviews and interacting with these reviews has tangible benefits and can convert potential customers that are lurking in the background of your social media.

    Social Media Ad Spending Has Hit $35.98 Billion – and Keeps Climbing

    Businesses are learning the advantages of using social media to market to their customers and using that knowledge to their advantage. Social media advertising is becoming the new normal, and we have abundant experience creating campaigns that convert. Contact us if you are ready to get started with paid ad campaigns for your institution or business.

    Sources:

    http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/11/11/social-media-update-2016/

    http://webbiquity.com/social-media-marketing/47-superb-social-media-marketing-stats-and-facts/

    http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/11/11/social-media-update-2016/

    http://coschedule.com/blog/best-times-to-post-on-social-media/

    https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Social-Network-Ad-Spending-Hit-2368-Billion-Worldwide-2015/1012357#sthash.eESedQLL.dpuf

    https://www.emarketer.com/Article/Facebook-Twitter-Will-Take-33-Share-of-US-Digital-Display-Market-by-2017/1012274#sthash.0WToy3rM.dpuf

  • Want to Grow Your Medical Practice? Here’s 4 Ways Facebook Ads Can Help

    A How-To Guide for Growing Your Practice Using Facebook Image - Search Influence

    The world is filled with many ways to advertise a product or service. Simply hoping that your message makes its way to the perfect target audience certainly isn’t the best practice to ensure that your medical advertising efforts are a success. For medical professionals, it may be particularly tricky to target those individuals in your practice’s geographic reach, specialty area, or even other physicians looking to refer their patients to another trusted healthcare provider. Though it can seem nearly impossible to reach the perfect audience through traditional mediums like television or radio, Facebook is continuing to provide proven results for advertisers in the medical realm. A rich and unique resource of user personal interests and behaviors, Facebook is truly a health care advertiser’s dream!

    Image Of Baby Making A Joke About Doctors - Search Influence

    Whether you’re a specialist or a general family doctor, Facebook has the right tools to not only narrow down your ideal patient but also present your service in a way that truly connects these individuals with the personalized healthcare you can provide them.

    Here are 4 ways to use Facebook ads to your advantage:

    1. Use Facebook Display Ads to portray real people and satisfied patients in your ads.

    Facebook Display Ads can be the perfect way to send your audience to important areas of your website using striking images and creative calls to action. When using these types of ads, appealing to more potential patients is key. Using photos of real people and happy patients not only shows the success of your practice but makes ads more relatable to the audience. Finally, Facebook allows you to utilize their call-to-action buttons to tell users exactly what you want them to do when they see your ad. Consider using “Contact Us” or “Learn More” to drive potential patients to convert to actual patients!

    2. Use Facebook’s ‘Detailed Targeting’ to your benefit.

    Facebook comes equipped with a number of targeting options that can be extremely helpful in identifying individuals that fit your target demographic. Everyone needs to see a doctor at some point, right? How about targeting people who have recently moved into your geographic area who might be looking for a new physician? You could also try targeting women who have recently become pregnant or seniors who might make more regular trips to the doctor.

    Picture Of Facebook Detailed Targeting Tool - Search Influence

    3. Referrals are your friend.

    Targeting other healthcare practitioners might not seem like the most effective idea at first, but using Facebook’s ‘Detailed Targeting’ to show your ads to other physicians or important referral sources always helps to keep your name at the tip of their tongue when talking to their staff and patients. Likewise, we all know that people seek advice on health care providers from their friends and family. It might be beneficial to target the connections of people who currently follow or Like your page. These tactics can only help drive more business!

    4. Don’t forget about HIPAA!

    It is always important to remember to follow HIPAA rules and regulations. When writing Facebook ad copy, never imply that you have knowledge about a sensitive health condition. Also, never collect or share personal information such as phone numbers or addresses. There are many successful ways to use Facebook ads to grow your practice that still align with HIPAA’s guidelines.

  • Get More Views on Your Company’s #Facebook Page

    The term “pound sign” has become obsolete and even deserving of ironic quotes these days. The “#,” now the almighty hashtag, is generally associated with where it originated: Twitter. The hashtag’s aim was to unify groups of individuals discussing similar topics across the social media platform. However, hashtag usage has now expanded to Facebook, and using them properly can guide more traffic to your business’s page.

    How Do Hashtags Work?

    The popularity of hashtags is still on the rise, and more and more Facebook users are typing in “#[insert topic]” to seek common ground with others online. Want to promote your nonprofit organization? When typed into a Facebook search bar, hashtags such as #nonprofit and #donate will lead to news articles, Instagram posts, and more that discuss these topics. Used appropriately, your hashtag can generate engagement among social media users who are browsing for a service that your company offers.

    Image Of Schmidt From New Girl Being Excited #Excitement - Search Influence

    #Don’t #Get #Carried #Away

    When deciding what hashtag seems the most appropriate, using a trending topic just for the sake of site traffic is a bad idea. If you’re looking to promote your law firm, adding #KanyeWest to a post would probably generate views, but ultimately would make your page look spammy —and desperate. Plus, doing so could result in ruining your online reputation. It’s also important to keep it short and sweet. Will Facebook users be typing in “#IneedatriallawyerinNewJersey”? Probably not. But #NewJersey and #TrialLawyer could certainly yield some positive engagement while sounding natural.

    Image Of Jimmy Fallon And Justin Timberlake Singing The Hashtag Song - Search Influence

    Facebook as a Search Engine?

    With Facebook generating around 1.5 billion searches per day, it’s easy to say that the platform is getting used as a search engine. With the proper use, hashtags can be excellent in online promotions and business news. However, too many hashtags can generate less traffic, so choose no more than two relevant tags per post. Once you’ve gotten a couple of trial runs with your hashtags, watch your analytics and see where the strengths lie. If a post’s views are going down as a result of your tags, try different ones!

    Photo Of Spongebob And Patrick - Search Influence

    Being clever with Facebook hashtags can enhance your business’s discoverability. Try inserting them into posts and let the results speak for themselves.

  • Top 10 Search Influence Blogs of 2016

    The year 2016 was filled with memes, the Olympics, superhero movies, and the election. You can bet, with over 46% of people now online worldwide, there were plenty of changes to online marketing, too. If you haven’t kept up, here are the top 10 blogs of 2016 to make sure your business is poised for the #bestyearever.

    Lieutenant Dan And Forest Gump At New Years - Search Influence

    1. What Happened to Facebook’s 20% Text Grid Tool?

    Our Internet Marketing Team Lead, Michelle Neuhoff Boyd, created this informative blog post that eased the confusion of Facebook’s 20% text grid tool. Find out how this new rule may affect your business.

    2. An Update: How to Get Rich (Answers, That Is) with Google

    Jim Carrey Typing - Search Influence

    Not rich with money, but with Google. Over the years, Google has changed their algorithm, and our team at Search Influence is making sure to stay on top of every change. Read this post from 2015 to learn more about rich answers.

    3. Getting Hands on With the New Google My Business

    Having a hard time understanding the new Google My Business? This engaging blog post can clear up any confusion on listings, editing, and more.

    4. Three Top Picks for The Big Idea at New Orleans Entrepreneur Week

    During New Orleans Entrepreneur Week, The Big Idea picked 10 entrepreneurs’ ideas in front of a large crowd, and everyone got to vote their favorite. See the top three picks that Paula Keller, our director of sales and marketing, enjoyed the most by reading this post.

    5. Email Marketing for Small Business: 9 Things Not to Do

    Find out how not to email your customers when just starting your business. Originally published in 2010 by a Search Influence Alumni, read all about effective email marketing.

    6. A Dentist’s Guide for Choosing Target Audiences on Facebook

    Jean-Luc Picard Star Ship Enterprise - Search Influence

    Ever wondered how to market your dentistry on Facebook? This guide will help you understand the most successful dental campaigns in the industry. You’ll know what age group and interests to target.

    7. Should You Be Using Google’s URL Shortener in Your Social Media Campaigns?

    Are you still unsure if you should use Google’s URL shortener? This blog post talks about the benefits of using their shortener, such as the URL analytics, redirects, ease-of-use, and more.

    8. Barnacle SEO – Local Search Engine Optimization for the Sam’s Club Crowd

    Will Scott, CEO and co-founder at Search Influence, published this post back in 2011. Learn more about the term Barnacle SEO and which sites to trust for small businesses.

    9. Nix the Wix SEO Challenge: Tips & Tricks

    This post from 2015 helps you make the most out of your Wix website by guiding you on the meta tags updates, sharing your site on social media, making your site visual, and more.

    10. 10 SEO Blogs You Should Be Following

    Do you want to read reliable SEO blogs? Here’s a list of the most informative SEO blogs that Monica Shariffskul put together. Many of these are on my top list, too.

     

    Be sure to subscribe to our Search Influence blog, and you’ll be the first to know when a new blog has been posted. Also, Happy New Year!

  • Google’s Ascent With User Experience

    Being found on the internet is essential to any business. We all know it, but few understand what it takes to be found. Luckily, there is an easy approach to beginning your own online marketing journey.

    Start by looking at Google, not as a search engine where businesses tirelessly compete to appear at the top spot, but as a user tool. Back in the ancient times of the internet, Yahoo had a $125 billion market cap, and Google was hoping to be acquired for $1 million. As time marched on, Google surpassed Yahoo as the number one search engine because of one key difference between them: the user experience. Google didn’t provide results promoting Google brands or its own material. Instead, it happily delivered the most relevant search results to the user. Results that took the user to a different website.

    While this may seem counter-intuitive—helping users leave your site and go to another—it has proved successful. Sure, users temporarily left Google by clicking on a third party’s link; it also guaranteed their return. Such a great user experience will entice anyone to return time and again for a similar experience. This is how Google surpassed Yahoo as the leading search engine, and it’s the best way for you to start your online marketing process.

    User Experience Vs. Design - Search Influence

    The lesson for you to take away as you embark on your journey is to put user experience first. When creating your website or content, don’t try to be overly fancy or technical. Start by making it simple and convenient. Websites become popular when users can easily navigate and find content that is relevant to their search. Don’t try to force your consumer into a Corvette when they are really looking for a minivan. Your customers will thank you when they can easily access your website, it loads quickly, and the information they are searching for is plain for them to see and understand.

    Going forward, as you build out your website, keep the consumer in mind each step of the way. How would you want to interact with the website of a business like yours? If you don’t know where to start, talk to the friend who doesn’t quite understand what you do. They can be your guide, explaining how they would want to navigate your site and their desired outcome. Use this to cater each step of the user experience to your actual users.

  • The Do’s and Don’ts of Content Syndication for SEO

    A few weeks ago, I received a question about the value of content syndication in marketing strategies. Because it’s one that I also asked when I first started at Search Influence and began learning about SEO, I wanted to actually address this question in a full blog post.

    The Magic Of Mobile - Search Influence

    What Is Content Syndication?

    Content syndication is the process by which a piece of content (blog, news article, graphic, video, etc.) is pushed out to other sources. You see this, for example, when online news outlets pick up press releases or other articles and repost them verbatim to their own sites.

    From a UX point of view, this can be a great way to increase your reach to potential customers. From an SEO point of view, content syndication can garner valuable backlinks and help to increase website authority. And from an overall marketing point of view, the efforts spent on syndicating content can also build great relationships with other websites and organizations.

    Backlink and Authority Building

    The process for syndicating content is similar to that of general link outreach and is for a similar purpose as well: to generate authoritative backlinks that, down the line, contribute to your own site’s authority. Coupled with the opportunity of increasing reach to your business’s original content, this can be a worthwhile tool in your marketing arsenal.

    The Caveats of Content Syndication

    That said, there is a right and a wrong way to syndicate content when it comes to SEO. Here are some things to think about when considering it for your marketing strategy:

    1. Duplicate Content

    Syndication is inherently creating duplicate versions of your content and putting them on other websites. In the case of written content, this can actually detract from your SEO efforts if done incorrectly. It’s important to understand the policies and practices of the websites you’re syndicating to and ensure they are declaring yours the primary version.

               Genie From Aladdin Multiplying - Search Influence

    This can be done a number of ways but the primary ones are:

    – Rel=canonical – This is a meta attribute that basically tells search engines that the page they are on is the same as another page. In this scenario, syndicated versions of your content will set your original URL as the canonical. For more information, check out Google’s own post on the rel=canonical attribute.

    – Noindex – This is a robots meta tag that tells search engines not to index a page at all so that it won’t appear in search results. Ideally, in this case, syndicated versions of your content will be set to noindex so your original post isn’t competing for rankings with them.

    2. Backlinks

    Remember to include an actual backlink to your content when syndicating. This can be forgotten when you get caught up in pushing your content out there or when syndicating images and videos. Ideally, this would go to the original content’s URL, rather than another page on your website.

    3. Site Authority

    This is an oft forgotten consideration when choosing a syndication site. Quality and quantity both have their place when creating your syndication strategy.

    In an ideal situation, if you were to get one backlink from content syndication, you’d want it to be from a site with the authority equivalent of Google itself, and you’d want it to have a follow link back to your website.

    But, we don’t live in an ideal world, so it’s important to keep in mind the actual authority of syndicating websites and find out if the links you’re getting are follow or nofollow. Check out this resource to learn a little more about the importance of follow and nofollow links.

    With all this in mind, content syndication can be a great opportunity for websites. But, like I said in my last post “The Importance of Content Marketing to Your SEO Strategy,” it doesn’t matter if you don’t have great content to start with.