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50 Mind Blowing Facts Most Digital Marketers Don’t Know

Marc Howard lives and breathes digital growth strategies and shows other digital entrepreneurs and small-medium sized business owners how to grow their online business, generate more traffic and turn visitors into leads. He shares the strategy and the mindset at http://whenyouliveinthenow.com. He published this insightful post about a year ago but it remains timeless.

50 Mind Blowing Facts Most Digital Marketers Don’t Know

Do you consider yourself to be one of those in-the-know digital marketers? Are you just starting as a freelancer or entrepreneur that’s looking for a bit of insight or do you consider yourself already an expert?

Well some of the facts below may be a major awakening. No matter what your area of expertise you may be amazed by some of the stats below.

The one thing that you will notice however in each of these facts is that they are full of opportunity to either improve your existing marketing strategy or seek out a new channel (hint: using a video to promote your product or service is on the rise this year like never before).

The Power of Video for Content Marketing

  1. The average human attention span is 8 seconds. The average attention span of a goldfish is 9 seconds. Source: Wikipedia
  2. Our brains process images 60x faster than text. Change-up your text-to-image ratios and choose images that tell your story. Source:3M Corporation
  3. 80% of your online visitors will watch a video while 20% will actually read content. Source: Digital Sherpa
  4. 75% Of Users Visit The Marketer’s Website After Viewing A Video. Source: Digital Sherpa
  5. 45% Of Viewers Will Stop Watching A Video After 1 Minute & 60% By 2 Minutes. Source: Insivia
  6. Videos Increase People’s Understanding Of Your Product Or Service by 74%. Source: Digital Sherpa
  7. Using video on landing pages can increase conversions by 86%. Source: Unbounce.com
  8. Up to 60% of all email recipients regularly turn off images. Source: MarketingLand.com
  9. Your Website Is 50 Times More Likely To Appear On The First Page Of A Search Engine Results Page If It Includes Video. Source: Digital Sherpa
  10. Adding video to your email campaigns can increase click rate by 300%. Host your video online and create a thumbnail play button for your email. Source: Wistia
  11. Website visitors are 64% more likely to buy a product on an online retail site after watching a video. Source: Digital Sherpa

How To Leverage Social Media

  1. Facebook post with photos get 53% more likes, 104% more comments, and 84% more click-throughs. Source: KISSMetrics
  2. Facebook posts with questions get 100% more comments. Source: KISSMetrics
  3. Tweets that specifically ask followers to “retweet” receive 12x more retweet rates than those who do not. Source: BufferApp
  4. 16% of marketers plan to increase efforts on Pinterest in 2015. Source: Business2Community.com
  5. Twitter users follow a median of 6 brands on Twitter, looking for things like interesting and fun content, news and updates, discounts and promos and more. Source: BufferApp
  6. Content that is greater than 1500 words on average receives 68.1% more tweets. Source: QuickSprout
  7. By using just 3 hashtags, brands can gain a 110% increase in likes on their Instagram posts. Source: Pigora
  8. By using just 3 hashtags, brands can gain a 180% increase in likes on their Instagram posts. Source: Pigora

A Blog Is No Longer a “Nice to Have”

  1. Blogs give sites 434% more indexed pages and 97% more indexed links. Source: NewsCred.com
  2. Companies that blog 15+ times per month get 5x more traffic than companies that don’t blog. Source: Hubspot
  3. Companies with an active blog report 97% more leads. Source: Content+
  4. 70% of consumers prefer getting to know a company via articles over ads. Source: Content+
  5. Articles with images get 94% more views than those without.Source: Content+
  6. 57% of companies have acquired customers via their blog. Source: Content+
  7. Content creation ranked as the single most effective SEO tactic by 53%. Source: MarketingSherpa
  8. 33% of email recipients open email based on subject line alone. Source: convinceandconvert.com

If You’re Not Doing Mobile You Will Be Left Behind

  1. 71% of global users access social media through mobile devices. Source: Search Engine Journal
  2. 92% of mobile shopping app users want to be alerted if retailers are having sales. Source: Latitude Research
  3. About 60 percent of all Internet activity in the U.S. originates from mobile devices, and about half of total Internet traffic flows through mobile apps. Source: Internet Marketing Association
  4. Mobile revenue is projected to reach $700 billion by 2017, increasing by more than 300%. Source: VentureBeat
  5. By 2017, mobile devices will make up 87 percent of the total sales of Internet-enabled technology. Source: LanderApp

It Pays to Do Email Marketing–Literally

  1. The average open rate for welcome emails is a whopping 50% making them 86% more effective than email newsletters. (An automated welcome is a no brainer.) Source: Marketing Sherpa
  2. 51% of email is opened on a mobile device. (Design for the smallest screen first then you responsive design templates to ensure emails look great on any screen size.) Source: Litmus
  3. Nurtured leads make 47% more purchases than non-nurtured leads. (Create an automated series that delivers content to your subscriber over time and it will pay off.) Source: The Annuitas Group
  4. 58% of adults check email first thing in the morning. (Try sending your emails early in the day–you might see an uptick of opens). Source: Ezanga
  5. People check their email up to 150x a day. Make sure your call-to-action is clear. Source: kpcb.com
  6. Eye tracking data shows that viewers look to the same part of the screen where images of people are looking. That’s exactly where to want to put your call-to-action. Source: The Brain Lady Blog
  7. Email is nearly 40x better than Facebook or Twitter at acquiring customers. Source: McKinsey & Company
  8. You have just 3-4 seconds to grab your reader’s attention and interest them enough to open and read your email. Source: Litmus
  9. 64% of decision makers read emails via mobile device. Source: EmailExpert.org
  10. Using marketing automation can increase conversion rates by up to 50%. Source: Aberdeen Group
  11. If an email doesn’t display correctly, 71.2% will delete it immediately.Source: BlueHornet

Now That We “Google” Everything Search Engine Marketing Is Taking Over

  1. In 2015, search engine marketing (SEM) will continue to capture the largest share of online spend at 47%, or about 14% of the firm’s total marketing budget 2014. Source: Business2Community.com
  2. Mobile search ads will be $12.85 billion in 2015, over 50% of the search market. Source: Heidi Cohen
  3. 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine. Source: Imforza
  4. Search is the No. 1 driver of traffic to content sites, beating social media by more than 300 percent. Source: Search Engine Journal
  5. The average content length for a web page that ranks in the top 10 results for any keyword on Google has at least 2,000 words. The higher up you go on the search listings page, the more content each web page has. Source: QuickSprout
  6. 60% of all organic clicks go to the organic top 3 search results. Source: Business2Community.com
  7. 50% of all mobile searches are conducted in hopes of finding local results, and 61% of those searches result in a purchase. Source: Search Engine Watch

Of the tips above which one stood out the most and how might you tweak your digital marketing strategy based on it? Or do you have one even more mind blowing?

Good Selling!

 

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22 Content Marketing Facts And Stats You Need To Know

content-is-king-gThis post from Renee Warren is a bit dated now but it is a perfect walk through of the power of content marketing.

Content isn’t just king. It’s the entire monarchy. Let’s be honest: it takes an entire palace to build the relationships required for your startup to thrive in a competitive market made up of smarmy sales tactics and reluctant consumers.

Relationships rely on honest, relevant, and respectful communication. The content you create and curate as part of your content marketing strategy is your first line of communication. Providing and parlaying valuable information about your product or industry in a way that respects your consumers’ preferences for consumption is the way into their hearts.

Don’t just take it from us. On average, 76 percent of shoppers felt closer and more positive about a company after reading their custom content. Consumers have effectively kiboshed traditional marketing as they have become smarter and more cautious about their buying decisions. Wary of banner ads and spam emails, consumers are opting for and expecting a more personalized buying experience.

Millennials, the bread-and-butter consumers of the tech world and up-and-coming goldmine for retailers, are especially difficult to win over. Not surprisingly, “Millennials are willing to share good advertising, but dislike when advertising feels deceptive.”

More than ever, content marketing is taking its place as the key to building the relationships that connect with and convert your consumers.

So, what does the content marketing landscape look like today? Here’s 22 facts and stats you need to know to gain your competitive edge in the world of content domination, conveniently broken up into four chapters:

The Broad Scope of Content Marketing:

content-is-kingIf you doubt that creating stellar content can really help in your industry, consider this thought from expert Jay Baer: “What matters is that big companies are embracing big content, and in so doing they are changing the expectations of YOUR customers.” Why not lead the charge in your industry? Let’s get an overview of what content marketing is really all about:

  1. Marketers are Spending BILLIONS

Marketing teams were forecasted to spend 135 billion dollars on new digital marketing content this year. [Jeff Bullas]

  1. The More Tactics, The Merrier

B2B marketers use an average of 13 content marketing tactics — from social media to e-newsletters and video to blogs — with 70 percent currently working on creating more engaging and higher quality content. [Content Marketing Institute]

  1. Email, dead? Hardly!

Every minute users send 204 million email messages, making it the most popular way to share content. [Domo]

  1. Two Words for Traditional Marketing: Slow and Expensive

Content marketing costs 62 percent less and generates roughly three times as many leads as traditional marketing. [DemandMetric]

  1. SEM is the King of Paid Distribution

If you’re looking to spend a few dollars, B2B and B2C marketers rate search engine marketing as their most effective paid method to promote and distribute content. [Content Marketing Institute]

Marketing Trends:

Content Marketing Facts & StatsIt doesn’t take much convincing before startups and small businesses realize that content marketing is a strategy they need to have. Now, where to start in developing the tactics to implement? Let’s take a look at some of the trends readers and prospects have proven true:

  1. We All Live in a Very Social World

There will be an estimated 2.13 billion social network users around the globe by 2016. [Statista]

  1. Marketers Prefer Content Creation

On average, content marketers are dividing their content into three areas: (61%) created, (27%) curated, (12%) syndicated. [Curata]

  1. An Infographic is Worth a Thousand Words

Infographic usage amongst B2B marketers increased from 51 percent last year to 62 percent this year. Here’s why: humans are highly visual learners. Engagement increases by at least 37 percent when copy is accompanied by graphics. [Business 2 Community]

  1. LinkedIn and Facebook Lead in Content Distribution

94 percent of B2B marketers use LinkedIn to distribute content, making it the social media platform used most often, while 58 percent of B2C marketers rated Facebook as the most effective marketing platform overall.[Content Marketing Institute]

  1. Social Media is Still On the Rise

All social media platforms experienced some level of increase in usage this year, with Instagram and Google+ gaining the most (raising approximately 17 and 13 percent, respectively). LinkedIn, while still very popular, did not increase. [Content Marketing Institute]

  1. Embrace the Blog

Companies with an active blog generate 67 percent more leads per month.[InsideView]

  1. Inbound Marketing Generates Leads

Inbound marketing delivers 54 percent more leads than traditional outbound marketing. [Jeff Bullas]

Marketing Hurdles:

Customers should not be a roadblockAcknowledging your organization’s biggest challenges can determine the tactics that will work best in your content marketing success just as much, if not more, than knowing its strengths. Here are some of the hurdles being faced in the world of content marketing:

  1. B2B Requires Brand Awareness

84 percent of B2B marketers listed brand awareness as the key content marketing goal for their business, with “lead generation” coming in as a close second. [Content Marketing Institute]

  1. Sad, But True: The Majority of Created Content is Wasted

Approximately 60 – 70 percent of B2B content that is created is never used because the topic is irrelevant to the target audience. [Inbound Writer]

  1. Webpage Views Amount to Mere Seconds

17 percent of pageviews last less than 4 seconds, and a mere 4 percent of pageviews hold a reader’s attention for 10 minutes or more. [Statistic Brain]

  1. Content Marketing Professionals are in Demand

More B2B marketers say they are challenged with finding trained content marketing professionals this year (32%) than last year (10%). [Content Marketing Institute]

  1. More Content Does NOT Equal More Web Traffic

Less than 20 percent of a company’s website content drives 90 percent of its traffic, and only 0.5 percent of a website’s content drives more than 50 percent of its traffic. [InboundWriter]

  1. ROI is Tough to Track

Most marketers have a tough time tracking ROI, with only 21 percent of B2B marketers and 23 percent of B2C marketers listing that they are successful at tracking the return on investment (ROI) of their content marketing program. [Content Marketing Institute]

Measurable Content:

Content and the Sales FunnelSpeaking of ROI… measuring the effectiveness of your content is essential in determining if your marketing and business goals are being met. Easier said than done, but when over 25 percent of an organization’s marketing budget is spent on content marketing on average, measurement is worth a shot. Here’s what’s marketers are doing currently:

  1. Web Traffic as an Indicator of Success

60 percent of B2B marketers use web traffic to measure their success.[DemandMetric]

  1. Marketers Measuring Pageviews Over Duration

69 percent of marketers are using pageviews/unique visitors to measure the success of their content, while less than half are examining the time the user actually spends on the site. [Contently]

  1. Effectiveness Depends on Documented Strategies

60 percent of B2B marketers that have a documented content marketing strategy rate themselves as highly effective, compared to the 32 percent with a verbal strategy. [Content Marketing Institute]

  1. Testimonials = The Bee’s Knees in Content Marketing

Customer testimonials yield an 89 percent effectiveness rating for content marketing. [Jeff Bullas]

Capitalize on Content

Listening to the FutureThis is no bandwagon you need to jump on; no passing fad. Business success depends on successful relationships, and relationships require communication. Content marketing is your in with your customers.

Content marketing has usurped the traditional world of marketing. The most effective content marketers are using the latest statistics to target a clearly defined audience with relevant and consistent content.

Good Selling!

3 Ways You Control To Rank Higher On Amazon

How to maximize your chances of shoppers finding your products on AmazonYou can’t grow your sales on Amazon (or any ecommerce site) if you can’t be found.

The giant in online retail, Amazon is a great source for generating profits, whether as a supplement to other channels or as your main sales channel. But with intense competition and multiple sellers, it takes some creativity to stand out and grow sales.

It turns out the secret to ranking higher in Amazon’s search function isn’t what you think it would be.

Luckily, you can definitely apply certain strategies on Amazon to rank better. Here are tips to help set you up on the right path to success.

How to maximize your chance of shoppers finding your products on Amazon

3 key elements that go inHow Amazon ranks your product in a searchThere are 3 key elements that go into how Amazon ranks your product in a search:

  1. Product title
  2. Product description and bullets
  3. Hidden key words

Amazon’s product title is the most important search factor. While you would expect the product title to be a key contributor to the search ranking algorithm, would you guess that it’s weighted at 60%?

This suggests that you carefully craft your product title. Amazon suggests incorporating the following attributes in product titles.

  • Brand and description
  • Product line
  • Material or key ingredient
  • Color
  • Size
  • Quantity

Another way to think about this is: Brand Name, Model Number, Detailed Product Description, Color. You have to write really detailed titles and include relevant keywords.

Surprisingly Bullet Points and Product Descriptions don’t carry a lot of weight with Amazon’s search function

Are Your Getting Found on AmazonThe bullet points appear underneath the title. Because of the proximity to the title, image, price and add to cart button, you might think it should be treated as an important field for keywords.

Product descriptions are hidden deep on the page but are the one place where you can really provide a lot of detail on the product. Because the descriptions can be so rich, you would think that Amazon would mine this section for keywords to improve search results.

Surprisingly, bullets points and product descriptions are not critical to ranking better in search. Together the bullet points and product descriptions only carry a 10% rank in the Amazon search algorithm.

The optional Amazon hidden keywords carry more weight than you would guess in ranking well in an Amazon search

3 key elements that go into how Amazon ranks your product in a searchIf for any reason you could not use a keyword in the other fields, by all means add it to the keyword field. Amazon will use it in determining rankings. In fact, these keywords will account for 30% of your ranking factors.

This is a great opportunity to add additional information that is relevant, but would somehow clutter the other fields

I use this field to add richness around a product’s use or category. For example, we have a nautical home décor line that we can make more relevant in search results by using hidden keywords like coastal, beach, cottage, seaside, lake, etc.

Selling success on Amazon starts with being found but it doesn’t end there. Nor are these the only components that go into Amazon’s search function. But they are the critical few factors that you can directly control in ranking higher in any Amazon search.

Good Selling!

Active Search Results (ASR) is an independent Internet Search Engine using a proprietary page ranking technology with Millions of popular Web sites indexed.