Here we’ll show you the ins and outs of content marketing, and some ideas for how to get started.

What is content marketing?

We all know how traditional marketing works. It’s the billboard that says “Buy this car because it’s got the best gas mileage” or the radio spot that says “Sign up for this cable plan because we have hundreds of channels.” While traditional marketing takes a pretty blunt approach in appealing to customers (ours is the best and you’d be bonkers not to choose us), content marketing is a bit more subtle. 

Content marketing instead provides free value for the audience before they choose to become a customer. By informing, clearing up misconceptions, or filling in gaps of knowledge, content marketing’s aim is to spark interest in a type of product or service that you just so happen to sell.

Consider the following blog titles. If you’re planning on rescuing a dog, which blog are you more likely to read? Which one do you imagine would help you make an informed decision about the right chow for your new buddy?

Super Pup Dog Food — The World’s Best Dog Food

or

4 Things to Know About Dog Food Nutrition Before Welcoming Home Your New Best Friend

While the first blog sure sounds super, it’s only going to give you knowledge about a single brand. The second blog, thanks to its content marketing approach, is intended to give you the knowledge to make an informed decision on your own. It’s a free resource that helps you become a more educated consumer, and you’ll come to your own conclusion about the product that suits your needs.

Through blogs, social media posts, videos, and other digital assets, content marketing turns audiences into more qualified leads for your business. By providing free information, you position your brand as a thought leader in your industry, build trust with your audience and help them make the decision to choose you over competitors.

Content marketing in motion

This year, we worked with an awesome local adoption agency called Adoption Support Center (ASC). While their website made it easy for pregnant women to get the information they needed to confidently choose adoption, it didn’t do much to address prospective adoptive families. To quote a family that had adopted through ASC, “Oh, we didn’t even know they HAD a website!”

As part of our rebuild for ASC’s site, we dove deep into the needs of families who are considering adoption. The costs, the timeline, the legal side of the equation — we made it easy for hesitant families to do their research and ultimately choose ASC as a modern, ethical adoption agency.

But content marketing isn’t just a play for more leads. It should increase the quality of those leads, too. For ASC that meant overcoming misinformation and outdated perceptions of what adoption looks like in the 2020s. To that end, ASC’s new site prepares families to be the best adoptive parents possible, even before they get onboarded.

How to start with content marketing

Getting started with content marketing can feel like a daunting task, especially on top of any other advertising you’re doing. But in our experience, all it takes is a good brainstorming session to get the creative juices flowing. You’re probably sitting on a wealth of knowledge about your product, service or industry that would make great content.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• What’s a big misconception about your offering? Can you set the record straight?
• What are three things people should consider before buying a product like yours?
• What’s one simple trick that helps people get the most out of your product?
• What are some of the latest advances in your industry that consumers should be aware of?
• What’s an unconventional use for your product that you can endorse?
• Is there any situation where your service isn’t the hero, but is a valuable sidekick to another service?

Once you’ve jotted down some ideas, think about how this information could be presented. That “Top 3 Things” idea might work as a carousel on Instagram, with each item taking up a single image. Or if you have a lot to say about each point, it could be a Buzzfeed-style listicle that you post to your website’s blog.

Content marketing takes time and intention, but it’s a game-changer in attracting and improving the quality of your leads. If you need help kick-starting content marketing efforts of your own, Kicks has your back.

The post What is content marketing, and how do you start? appeared first on Kicks Digital Marketing.

What is the Instagram Algorithm?

Every time you open Instagram, your feed is populated with posts from accounts you follow. But the posts you see first can feel random — it’s not always the most recently posted photo that shows up first.

Instagram’s algorithm is the method behind the madness. Its goal is to help you make the most of your time on the platform. To do that, the algorithm instantly combs through every single piece of content, then uses a bunch of signals to predict what you want to see first. 

The algorithm ranks different pieces of content differently depending on what part of the app you’re using. For example, on the static feed or in stories, you’re probably just catching up with friends or keeping up with the Kardashians. When you’re on the explore page, you’re probably looking for new things you might be interested in. The way that content is ranked will be very specific to your interests.

How Does the Algorithm Rank Feed and Stories?

What are ranking signals? There are four different categories of metadata that the algorithm considers when it analyzes and scores content. 

Instagram is structured to find posts for your eyeballs, and it starts with how each user behaves while using the app. It looks at things such as, what kind of posts is the user engaging with, does the user like to comment or do they watch creepily without saying a word, how many accounts does the user follow, and how long do they spend time on Instagram. 

The algorithm looks at information about about the post — was it posted recently, are the people who see it engaging with it, what hashtags are being used, is it a video, a photo, or carousel, how long are people looking at the post, are people rewatching it, saving it or coming back to it? 

Then Instagram looks at information about the creator who posted the content — *cough* that’s you. It looks at how often you post, do you have friends, have you been flagged or reported, do people search for you, do people look up your profile, and then finally Instagram looks at the relationship between you and your potential viewer or target audience. 

All of these go into the Instagram scoring system and it decides where your content shows up in your viewers’ feed.

How to Beat the Algorithm

There’s no secret button you can press to outsmart the algorithm — but there are ways to encourage it to give your post the love and attention it deserves. Those tricks all have one common denominator: engagement.

The more people interact with your posts, the more people will see them! Sounds like a chicken and egg situation, right? Luckily, it’s not as big of a challenge as you think. Try the following tips to increase your viewership and engagement.

1. Repost Stories You’ve Been Tagged In

This shows the algorithm that people actually care about you and what you

have to say. Andddd that you also care about them enough to repost.

2. Respond to All of Your DMs and Comments

Engaging with your audience is why you are here! This helps build rapport

and a community of engaged followers that will *drum roll*… boost your

engagement.

3. Try New Features, Like Reels

Instagram reels are a new tool in the marketer’s playbook. Reels are short videos that you can add music, text and even AR effects to. They’re starting to take up more and more real estate on the Instagram app, so it’s not a bad idea to take a crash course in reels sooner than later.

Instagram wants people to love reels just as much as they do stories. Why?

Because TikTok is Instagram’s shinier and cooler sister that steals much of the

precious spotlight these days. So, they must compete and they are taking you along for the journey and prioritizing reels in feeds.

4. Post Carousels

A single photo per post doesn’t always cut it. Carousels are a way to upload two or more photos to a single post, and users can swipe between them to see extra content.

We do the research so you don’t have to. Carousels get 3 times the

engagement and 1.4 times the reach of regular photos. 

5. Make Content People Want to Spend Time With

Shampoo, rinse, repeat. Instagram measures how long users look at or watch

your posts. Make content that will stop the scroll. Finding your niche will help

this greatly.

6. Make Save-Worthy Posts

It’s important to create content that people will want to save so that they can

refer back to it later. 

7. Post a Link in Your Bio

The algorithm pays attention to posts that result in profile taps — anndddd

this is an easy way to increase traffic to your site. Win-win.

8. Post When Your Audience is Online

The algorithm prioritizes recent posts over older ones. You don’t want to

show up to your audience’s house when they aren’t home with a full band

and song prepared. You get one shot for optimal viewership. 

To help you with this, Kicks Digital Marketing utilizes specific data software on your behalf to post your content at the most optimal times. Simply put, we make sure the right post shows up for the right person at the right time. 

9. Use Hashtags

Hashtags are essentially Instagram’s sorting process. They can help your post reach your target audience, attract followers, and develop a more recognizable brand image. 

Hashtags are powerful, but with great power comes great responsibility. They can take your business to new heights, but without a solid strategy they become pointless and inefficient.

Kicks can help you by building a solid hashtag strategy backed by extensive

research on your audience and competition to help your content break

through the rut of the algorithm and be seen by the masses.

Kicks is Here to Help

The Instagram algorithm is ever-evolving. By the time you read this, it will have changed and it will be time for a new blog. Think of it like trying to catch the snitch. The good news is, Kicks is a good seeker. 

We are consistently keeping up with the algorithm and applying it to all of our clients’ social strategies to help them win. If the algorithm is driving you insane,  know you aren’t alone and don’t ever have to do it alone. 

Kicks is here to help. Get in touch and let’s put the algorithm in its place for good.

The post How to Beat the Instagram Algorithm in 2022 appeared first on Kicks Digital Marketing.

• Print is branding in hand. You can leave a lasting impression that someone may come back to multiple times because they have it in hand, in their workplace, etc.
• Print can be disruptive. That seems counterintuitive, but since so many companies rely so heavily on digital marketing, using a print piece or two can really make a lasting impact by being unexpected and creative.
• Print is a great in-person tool. Catalogs, books, any print piece can be a good conversation starter, and of course, it’s still the easiest and quickest way to share your information. 

With that in mind, here’s a breakdown of a few print pieces you may have forgotten about that need updating: 

Business cards

In-person events are starting to occur more and more as the vaccine becomes more widely available. Networking is right around the corner, so now is the time to get those cards printed. Check out Moo for some inspiration, we love printing through them.

Event materials

Same thing, events are on their way back. Chances are your materials are ready for content and aesthetic updates after the past 2(!) years. The last thing you want is to set up your booth or pass out some brochures that misrepresent what and who your company has become.

Catalogs or books

These are great conversation starters or leave-behinds. They aren’t your traditional one-sheeter geared towards sales so heavily, and they are designed specifically to enhance your client’s experience with you. A catalog is a great option to sit on a coffee table in a waiting room or leave behind on the conference table after a meeting for clients to peruse.

Swag 

Shirts, stickers, mugs, gear. The most fun category and maybe the most obvious. Whether swag is used internally or externally, a fresh batch of swag is always welcomed (when used correctly, but that’s a whole other blog). It may have been a while since you’ve been in the office, so customized gear makes a great gift for the team. Think about having a special design created for your internal marketing swag—custom logo tees for your team, or a specific graphic modified for an event you’re going to. Personalization adds a special touch as well. 

If 2022 comes around the corner and you find yourself in need of some print updates, we’re happy to help! 

The post Print Marketing is not Dead appeared first on Kicks Digital Marketing.

That being said, just because it is a good first step and a basic piece of the marketing puzzle doesn’t mean it’s as simple as it sounds. Intentional, successful content marketing needs more than just solid content writing, it needs quality, scalable content operations. We’re peeling back the curtain and explaining exactly what goes on to make a successful content marketing strategy run.

Let’s back up.

What is content marketing exactly?

“Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience.”

– Content Marketing Institute

The ways in which this content can be distributed could be one of many things:

• Social media
• Blogs
• Videos
• Podcasts
• White papers
• Email newsletters
• Webinars
• Courses
• Quizzes
• The list goes on…

So all of these are your puzzle pieces. Which pieces and how you use them form your marketing strategy, and your marketing strategy informs your content operations. This is what we’re breaking down today.

What is content operations?

Just like operations in any industry or specialization, content operations hinges on the people, process, and technology that get the job done. The goal of content operations is to orchestrate your content marketing to operate efficiently with high quality, scalability, and consistency. Basically, it makes sure content marketing runs smoothly while also moving the needle toward your business goals.

Why does content operations matter?

Creating consistent, high-quality content is hard. (This is just one reason why people hire marketing companies, no?) There’s a lot of content to be created—chances are you don’t just pick one option off of that list above. There is pressure to make sure it is performing. And since there are so many pieces of the content puzzle, it sometimes feels like there is never enough time to write the things between all of the research, interviews, editing, sourcing, posting, distributing, sharing, interacting, tracking, analyzing. Oh, and then the process starts all over again. (Overwhelmed yet?)

It can feel daunting to keep your head above water to make sure everything is posted on time. Being so involved in these small details makes it hard to see the bigger picture and be able to fine-tune your process. This is why content operations exist—to make sure companies have the right people, process, and technology (well, and maybe time too) to make the best, most strategic content marketing moves for success.

What (and who) do you need to make content ops happen?

At Kicks, we’ve got a Marketing Manager, Marketing Strategist, and a Content Strategist all working together to make sure our clients’ content marketing is in tip-top shape. The marketing manager/strategist is focused on the bigger goals like KPIs, brainstorming ways to improve and add upon the content and campaigns, and project managing the whole thing (though they may write and create some as well), and the content strategist is focusing on the content specifically in regards to the brand, the audience, and what types of content are best for each specific client. These are the people in charge of content operations in our neck of the marketing woods.

As far as what is involved, there are four core things needed for any content operation to run smoothly.

1. Strategy
   • Your strategy is not your operations and vice versa. A clear, written-out strategy helps everyone from stakeholders to content creators in understanding the mission of what we’re doing here. The strategy is easy to know if you are the content strategy person, but everyone in this process should be privy to that information for clarity and guidance.
2. Workflow
   • This looks different for every marketing company and department, but basically, ask any project manager to give you a basic rundown on a content production workflow. From research to writing to posting to analyzing (and everything in between). These steps need to be clearly identified and established to ensure efficiency and timeliness. 
3. Tools & Tech
   • This list could go on forever, but think anything that you will need to plan, create and distribute any kind of content. Some of our favorites include Adobe Suite, Grammarly, Hootsuite, Mailchimp, Databox, Google Suite and so many more. You can read about some of our favorite tools that help keep us on top of things here.
4. People
   • Having the right people in the right places is probably your most important puzzle piece. You need the right people in the right places to make all of this work. Including (but not limited to) a marketing strategist and/or manager to inform your goals and objectives, a project manager to make things run, and content creators to write, design, record all the content you need to produce. 

All of this to say, there are lots of puzzle pieces to the masterpiece that is your content marketing strategy. With the right people, process, and tech you’re more likely to reach your goals. More than anything, having your content operations process down to science helps free up more time for strategy, and that’s when we start to see results jump even more. Content operations got you drowning? We’re here to help.

The post Content Marketing Operations: The Muscle Behind Your Marketing Strategy appeared first on Kicks Digital Marketing.

1. No, I don’t write copyright laws for people. I have no idea what that entails and the closest thing to legal knowledge I have regarding copyrights is that you don’t wanna mess with them. Ever. 

2. No, I don’t take notes in court, that’s a stenographer and a skill I absolutely do not have. 

3. Yes, I write, but no I’m not just a blogger. I write everything and anything from emails to websites to billboards to commercials to brochures to digital ads to social media posts. 

4. Yes, I am a marketer. Yes, I am aware people don’t always like marketers. No, I’m not trying to make you spend your hard earned money or give up your first born for useless products you don’t need. 

5. No, no, NO, it’s not like Mad Men. For the love of all things holy, I am not Peggy from Mad Men. 

6. Yes, I am a writer—in more ways than one. I’ve been writing stories and essays since I was a kid, went to school for journalism and creative writing, and still write creative nonfiction in my down time. This diversity of the craft has allowed me to improve my career as a copywriter and understand the importance of storytelling, no matter what I’m writing. 

But it wasn’t, and isn’t, always easy. Copywriting is transforming your voice into someone else’s, your identity into others’, and essentially trying to crawl into the brains of varying demographics and audiences to understand their needs, wants, and habits. To do this well, I’ve learned some powerful techniques to help me become a stronger, more insightful copywriter. 

Eat. Sleep. Read.  

Reading is essential to being a good writer. You have to consume an abundance of books, articles, essays, poems, and even haikus to become the writer you want to be. Why? Because as good as you think you are, and I’m sure you’re great, there are many writers better than you. Better than me. Better than Stephen King and Hemingway. 

Reading the work of those with a higher range of talent than ourselves helps us improve. We see different styles, voices, genres, literary devices, and can learn how to communicate better, connect with audiences more aggressively, and convey emotion more accurately. This helps whether you’re writing an essay about that time you glued your finger to your desk in fourth grade or whether you’re writing an email announcing a grand opening for a new store. Good is good,  but actively reading can make you considerably better. 

Write for More Than Your Work

After spending all day wracking your brain to write creative, customized content for clients, the last thing you may want to do is go back to the computer and write some more. Do it. Write a poem. Write a memory. Write a short fiction story. Write part of a memoir. Anything. Writing creatively allows you to explore new ways to share stories, and at the end of the day, that’s what good copywriters do—they share brands’ stories to build awareness and loyalty. 

But who wants to be loyal to a brand with no story? Or a bad story? Or one that’s confusing? No one. So the more you can learn about how to decipher,construct,and effectively tell stories, the stronger your work will get and the happier your clients will be. 

Watch Movies (Yes, I’m Serious) 

Are you going to make the next great film that will be discussed on fawned over for decades? I mean, maybe, but even if not, film still has value to influence and improve other types of creative work. Script, character development, plot, cinematography, music all work together to contribute to a film’s success. Watch how this is done. Pay attention to how the story is carried by the voices and tones of its characters. Find how music carries emotions throughout. Take note on how you feel when certain color schemes or phrases and dialogues are spoken. Get inspired. Then get to work. 

The way a film makes you feel can be inspiration to make your audience feel similarly when reading your copy. No, you’re not aiming for an Oscar, you’re trying to help a client gain more customers by writing a compelling home page—but that isn’t less noble, worthy, or important. When you can get customers to feel something when reading your copy—trust, curiosity, admiration, need—you can transform them from potentials to life-long loyalists. 

Take a Class

Before you take after me and think it’s too expensive, stop—the abundance of free online courses from poetry to creative writing to journalism to prose to marketing to content strategy (the list goes WAY on) are available to you any dang time you want. Feeling stumped? Take a class. Can’t get over writer’s block? Take a class. Not even sure you want to be a copywriter? Take a class. When you have nothing to lose, you can only gain the knowledge and boost you need to take the plunge into a new career as a writer or enhance the one you have. 

Breathe 

Contrary to popular belief, writing. Is. Hard. It’s not something that just flows through you at every moment. It’s not something you can turn on and off at a moment’s notice, which can make deadlines, timelines, and work tough sometimes. So often we see writing portrayed as a talent that is almost magic, but the truth is even amazing writers have written and will write garbage. It happens. It’s how we then go on to write a masterpiece, whether it’s a novel, an essay, or an ad. 

If I’ve learned anything in my time as a copywriter it’s that panicking when you can’t think of the perfect headline immediately doesn’t make the perfect headline come. What does? The points listed above, going on a short walk when you’re stuck, stretching, making a sandwich, and giving yourself some time to breathe and regroup. 

Being a good copywriter is a never ending process of learning, trying new things, and failing. Get used to failing, because it happens. It doesn’t make you a failure, it just makes you better. 

Want to chat about content? Give us a call. We can sit down and talk shop. Need a content writer? Hi. Let’s do it. 

The post How to Become a Better Copywriter appeared first on Kicks Digital Marketing.

This is where keyword research and content planning come into play. Almost every project we start hangs on the balance of copy. Who creates it? Will it be new or a reworking of current messaging? Do you care to participate? If you want to make moves on-the-line with organic SEO, you better strap in for the ride along. After all, no one should know your brand better than yourself.

Understanding the Content Process

Content strategy is not merely sitting down and putting fingers to the keys and orchestrating a slew of sexy sentences that might attract your potential audience. There are vital components that make up the grand theme of content strategy, and it starts with research.

Content Research and the Client

First, we must know who you are and what you are trying to achieve. Are we selling products? Are we looking to boost services in a specific area or for a particular demographic? All of these questions help inform where we start digging, and one of the first things we look for after beginning the process is establishing a goal/outcome for each page or call-to-action. Once we can extract the minutia, we have a better sense of direction.

Audience and Competitive Research

Understanding your market is extremely important. Just because you have something to day doesn’t mean the entire world is listening. Who is your target audience? Are they really who you think they are? Do they buy the way you sell? Who do you consider competitors? You might be surprised to find that sometimes your thoughts and your truths are not always aligned. It’s not uncommon for us to uncover data that shows where you dominate and where you fall short. Having this in your back pocket is an asset as it will help inform where you are winning and where you need to improve.

With data, we make decisions. Are they always what you want them to be? Nope. But, it gives us a good sense of where you might be able to capitalize and allocate resources to improve your exposure. We might push back, and we might compromise, but our end goal is to make sure you are taking the right steps.

Keyword Research and Content Generation

Keyword research is a common buzz-phrase we throw around a lot. It’s relatively self-explanatory, however, there are layers to this simple concept. There are various tools available, such as Google Trends, Ubersuggest, and Google Keyword Planner. These tools help create keyword ideas to elevate your copy, giving it the opportunity to rank on search engine results pages.  These tools provide insight on where you might rank, how much volume you and the industry might see in a given month, and potential cost-per-click if you wanted to dive into pay-per-click advertising.

However, using the same tools and tactics will only get you as far as your competitors. When we pull data on your competitors, we look into what keywords they are competing for, and we find holes that can be filled with various keywords that push your message forward. Some might only go broad while others go ultra-specific. Using a mix of keywords that are related to the topic help inform more substantial copy. What we try to avoid is a website that repeats the same keyword over and over. We get it. You are a website design company based in X city. *Cough*Spam Copy*Cough *

Finding Unique Content Opportunities

There is a unique content opportunity that is taking shape on-the-line. You might notice that Google is now pushing fragments of larger text to the top of the page to answer questions keyed in by users. This blog post, for example, could, but likely won’t be afforded that opportunity because I’m speaking to a broader concept and not a direct problem. Answering your audience’s questions is a great way to establish yourself as an expert. This is where keyword use is natural and flows, and we are not necessarily forcing variants in an attempt to check off YoastSEO’s “best practice" list.

(Hint: YoastSEO plugin does not help your SEO, it enables you to build better pages when writing content)

We enable this tactic through Google Ads. Rather than forcing a product or service on you, we push to answer questions and use UX to lead you to the best options for a solution. Curology does a great job of this. If I key in, “how do I control my oily skin?" (this is an example, my skin is darn near perfect), you landing on a quiz that engages their user.

Talk about proper experience. Curology isn’t leading with their product. They are leading with “let’s help you figure it out" and providing you solutions. All this is to say, when it comes to keyword research, you want to look for unique ways to approach the topic.

What’s Trending Today

In 2015, veganism was a blip on the radar on Google Search benchmarking at 25 in terms of popularity. By July 2017, it reached 100/100 in popularity of search. Who cares? The general public, that’s who. Despite the naysayers and climate change deniers who loathe the very thought of sharing coffee with a vegan, there are a lot of variants that go along with veganism. Be it diet, dishes, clothing, news, movies; they are all preceded with or followed by vegan as an identifier in countless searches.

Finding trending keywords can provide you insight on rising topics and search queries from users around the globe. We mentioned Google Trends early on in this post. If you are a business owner or in-house marketer looking for new topics to write about for your company blog, I implore you to check it out. You might be amazed at what Google finds related to your search term or topic.

The Wrap-up

When it comes down to it, there is value in content writing. It just takes time and attention. Some companies see it as a challenge and rise to the occasion, and others might feel beat down. We’ve been there, and we’ve felt it before. This why organizations like Kicks Digital exist. Think of us as an extension of your business. You’re the Captain of the S.S. (Enter Business Name), and we’re your crew. Eh, maybe a better analogy is that you’re the car, and we’re the gas, or electricity if you want to be a Tesla. You know what, let’s just keep it simple. We’re here when you need us. How can we help?

The post New Ways to Content appeared first on Kicks Digital Marketing.

We’ve compiled a list of tips on how to write a better blog post. Hopefully, one that will keep people on your site, and maybe even lower that bounce rate.

Pick an intriguing topic for you and your readers.

Every good blog has to start with a strong topic. If you pick a topic and dread writing about it, your reader is probably going to dread reading about it. Even if you have to address some not-so-fun things in your blog, add in a supplementary topic to make the dry parts a bit more intriguing.

Write with personality.

If you really want someone to read and enjoy your blog post, give the audience a little razzle-dazzle. Depending on your brand voice, this can be a challenge. However, personality is a sure way to keep someone reading so use what you can to your full potential.

There are some dry topics that there’s just no getting around that. However, your clients probably see enough dry writing every day. Be a refreshing voice for them. They are more likely to retain what you are saying and actually read the blog all the way through. Who knows, maybe you could even get a like or a share out of them too.

Keep SEO in mind.

Blog posts help boost your SEO, and there are few different ways that you can make sure you are optimizing your blog posts to do so. There are over 40,000 Google searches a second, so if your blog posts can help you cut through all of the internet traffic, it is well worth it!

Here are a few basic tips to help you keep SEO in mind as you blog:

• Identify your keywords.
  • Form your blog post ideas around those words. Aligning your content with what you want to rank for helps you take on two birds with one stone.

• Add those keywords into your posts.
  • The more naturally you use them, the better. You still want to add value for your audience, so make sure you’re maintaining authenticity.

• Link to work that supports your ideas.
  • Link to your own pages or other reputable sources you like. Show your readers and Google that you’ve got the facts to back up what you are saying. And who knows, maybe the authors of the articles you link to may repost you!

Work that title.

Would you ever click on a blog that doesn’t have a good title? Probably not. So, why do you expect your readers to? A title is what will identify whether someone even wants to click on your blog or not so that makes it pretty crucial.

Here are a few ways to craft a title that works:

• Don’t give it all away, but keep your topic clear
  • The first thing you don’t want to do is come off as “clickbait-y." Aka: “You will never guess THIS tip will boost your blog views" No one wants to click on clickbait and be spammed with ads, even if that wasn’t your intent. Be sure to keep communication in the title clear and evident.

• Include your keyword…but don’t be annoying
  • Include the main topic of what you will be talking about in your title. Again, you don’t want to mislead people. However, don’t overuse that keyword or again, you sound spammy.

• Use descriptive words.
  • Adjectives exist for a reason. Bring one into your title. Depending on your topic, you should have lots of options. Adding an adjective will make your blog sound less news-oriented and more fun and educational.

Last but not least, adding in cute cat gifs definitely doesn’t hurt either.

Hope these tips help your future blog writing! What do your favorite bloggers do that catches your attention? Let us know! We are always ready to learn and grow our own writing skills.

The post How to Write Blog Posts People WANT to Read appeared first on Kicks Digital Marketing.

What is organic marketing content?

Organic content is anything that you produce that is not paid and can be found by users through a keyword search. This could also be considered content posted on a social media profile that is not boosted to a larger audience outside of the core followers.

In short,

• you decide a topic
• research keywords
• develop keyword-rich content

and then,

• users search Google (Bing, Yahoo, etc.)
• find your content based on quality

In a perfect world, you are producing such amazing keyword-rich content that your ideal customer falls in your lap, and you are closing leads hand over fist. Because organic content is still a valuable part of a marketing mix, this is where comments like, “organic is dead," confuse businesses. It’s not dead. Companies want to skip the line and get in front of users NOW.

Pull out wallet > Insert directly in trash can

By now, you should learn that money doesn’t solve all your problems, though it makes things a little easier. However, we are in a current marketing state where there is one big bullshit detector, people. Call it the “dawn of the ethical" or the “too many questions" generation, but the consumer is now more informed than the average consumer in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. Why is that? Blame the developers of in-pocket computers that can fact-check every statement that comes out of your mouth on the sales floor. I am a walking example of this type of consumer.

I, to my family and friends, might seem like I make substantial impulse purchases, but what they do not see is the multi-week research period that takes place when I get hooked on a new product that piques my interest. I would consider myself your favorite customer because I am there for you to reaffirm my purchase, not to be informed. I do one thing though. I will ask you questions to see how big of a bullshitter you are based on your knowledge of the product. (Pro tip: saying “I don’t know, but I can find out" is not a sign of weakness or stupidity.)

When you produce informative ads backed by informative landing pages or organic content, you will find that your response-rate from the end-user could be higher than that of a company who merely pushes ads to users and likely need to offer discounts to capture leads. So, why not be better than your competitor?

Oversaturation and competition

I hate to break it you, but you are not special; at least not to Google, and definitely not to the end-user who is digesting your content. Unless you’ve stumbled on some new revolutionary service or product, you will likely be competing with hundreds locally, if not thousands nationally for the attention of a single user.

This is where a quality content strategy can benefit you. Many businesses fail to see the importance of content strategy and planning and, in turn, fail to see the return they expect in a new website project. Your website content should relay your brand message, service offering, unique process or approach, and direct users to take action. Just because you whipped up a simple one-page website to establish yourself online does not mean they will come. Users want to be compelled, and they want to see a return for taking action. So, what will you do differently to entice your potential customer?



Producing awesome organic content

Leveraging the power of email marketing workflows, you can take the organic content you are producing and elevating it with information exchange. Here is a real-world example.

Joe owns a gym and wants to provide customers with valuable information on health and fitness. Joe develops a series of nutrition-based downloads for his potential clientele.

Abbigail wants to learn more about nutrition and how she can implement it into her new lifestyle. Abbigail finds Joe’s website and sees that she can download a document about nutrition in exchange for her email.

When a user is provided something in return (again, not always a coupon), they are more likely to give some personal information to get through the information gate. You might think that a single email is not valuable, but that email can be the one piece of information that becomes a valuable client through drip marketing.

Good faith marketing

I’ll break this into two sections here for quick reference.

I just started a business and have time on my hands

1. Open excel and make a new spreadsheet
2. Lable the following columns: Date, Topic, Description of post
3. Develop topics that pertain to your service or campaign
4. GET WRITING
5. Continue writing
6. Understand this is the long game

I am too busy to care about content, but I need help!

We get it. You are busy running your company. You do not have time to write content, nor do you have the time to build email templates and build workflow, but this should stop you from being successful. Hiring a company like Kicks Digital Marketing to assist you in marketing efforts is only one piece of the puzzle. Still, plan to have in-depth marketing meetings to review concepts, but know that this is not Quaker-Instant Marketing.

Did you catch the theme here? Building an arsenal of quality content takes time and requires a lot of attention and research. Whether you are doing this yourself or hiring a company like ours to help, you will still be involved, or you can click here.

Remember, be the customer you want to see in the world.

The post Organic content is dead. appeared first on Kicks Digital Marketing.

]]> 3553 //ffscdn.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/kicksdigitalmarketing.com/2019/03/kicks-organic-content-is-dead.jpg https://kicksdigitalmarketing.com/2018/01/17/win-mailchimp-email-workflows/ Wed, 17 Jan 2018 13:46:17 +0000 https://kicksdigitalmarketing.com/?p=2176 Converting leads into opportunities can be a long process even for a small business. One easy and effective way to do that is running trickle email campaigns to new leads. In MailChimp ( the service this article will focus on ) those are called automations. An automation can be triggered by a number of different... read more

The post How to Win with MailChimp Email Workflows appeared first on Kicks Digital Marketing.

]]> MailChimp ( the service this article will focus on ) those are called automations. An automation can be triggered by a number of different factors but we’ll be discussing triggering automations based on MailChimp groups. A blanket workflow for all leads would be better than nothing, but to really win with MailChimp automations we need to segment our list into interest groups. According to MailChimp marketing statistics, segmented list campaigns have a 10% higher open rate, a 74% higher click-through rate and a 25% lower unsubscribe rate than unsegmented campaigns. Now, we’re talking about automations here, which are not exactly traditional campaigns, but the same human behaviors still apply. There’s a very simple human truth at work here. People engage with content they’re interested in. Pretty simple. So how does Kicks use a lead’s interest in a service we provide and deliver relevant content?

Identifying Groups

Most of this article is step-by-step instructions, but the first, and arguably most important task, is figuring out your buckets. The best way to get started is looking over a list of the services or products you provide. Depending on your business, this list could get long pretty quickly. Narrow it down to three services to start. This can be your three most important services, the services with longer buy cycles, your three most profitable services, etc… Once you have your three, navigate to your MailChimp email list and select “Manage Contacts -> Groups" then “Create Groups" and give the group category a name like “Interests." Finally, add in the titles of your three groups.

Creating Content

Here’s where you realize why we cut our number of lists to three to get started. We need content for four emails per interest group so you can see how that can become a cumbersome amount of worky. We’ll assume you actively blog on your website about your interest groups in some capacity. That content can be recycled for these emails. If you don’t blog, which you should, then you’ll need to create twelve emails worth of engaging content. That’s not to see there won’t be some overlap, but it needs to be four unique topics, 200 to 300 words, per interest group. Most importantly is an eye-catching subject. Your content won’t matter if your subject line doesn’t pique enough interest to get someone to open it. All the emails should follow a similar approach, “You have a pain and we have a painkiller." Briefly describe the pain and then how your product or service relieves that pain always focusing on driving the reader to your call-to-action. The ultimate goal of the automation is to get the reader to fill out a form on your website or call your number so make sure the goal for each email aligns with that. One thing to keep in mind when writing content is to make sure it’s engaging for your audience/leads. Just because your interest group spawns from a service or product you provide doesn’t mean its the most engaging for your customer base. Make the group more focused on the outcome if that’s the case.

Email Design

Just like a landing page on a website these emails need to be very focused on reader conversation. The email should be very simple, text-heavy design with a noticeable call-to-action button. There shouldn’t be many outbound links outside of the call-to-action button. Our automation emails, for example, are our logo at the top, black text on a white background. The footer will have to include some standard information in compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act, but that’s okay.

Setup the Workflow Automations

You’ll complete this step three times. Once for every interest group you’ve assigned. Because this article is more content focused we’ll leave the setup basics to MailChimp. Click here to view a step-by-step guide to setting up an automation campaign. The part we’ll go over is setting up the initiating triggers. When we’re setting up the first email of the automation we’ll want to use the “List Management -> Joins List Group" trigger. Clicking that will reveal a drop-down containing the interest groups we entered previously. Select the appropriate interest group for the current automation. All subsequent emails in the automation should be triggered by “Subscribers are sent previous email." The delay between emails depends on what you think is best for your potential customer base. Make sure that they aren’t too short as to annoy your readers or too long that they’ve forgotten who you are.

Automation for Your Automation

The final piece to our automation is assigning interest groups to the contacts in your MailChimp email list. There are two ways to do that, manually or automatically. Whenever possible we lean towards automatically. We auto-segment new contacts into MailChimp based WordPress post categories. Our post categories in WordPress mirror our interest groups in MailChimp. If a reader signs up to learn more when reading an article we translate the WordPress category to the MailChimp interest group. Not only are they subscribed to our newsletter, they’re also enrolled in the appropriate automation. If a user already exists in MailChimp their record is updated to reflect this interest. Keep in mind that just because this article focused on automations with MailChimp doesn’t mean the same principles won’t work with other email automation software. We use WordPress and MailChimp because they serve us better than any other software does. Read this for more information on why we choose WordPress. If you’re interested in learning more about MailChimp automations or how we can help you get the most out of your leads, just ask us.

The post How to Win with MailChimp Email Workflows appeared first on Kicks Digital Marketing.

]]> 2176 //ffscdn.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/kicksdigitalmarketing.com/2018/01/kicks-blog-email-campaigns.png https://kicksdigitalmarketing.com/2017/10/04/power-of-video-content-marketing/ Wed, 04 Oct 2017 17:09:26 +0000 http://kicksdigitalmarketing.com/?p=1875 Over the last two years, we have seen a surge of video content on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds. With easy-to-use consumer technology providing high-quality video capabilities, there is no reason why you should not be leveraging the power of video content marketing for your business. We’ve compiled 5 steps to harness the power of... read more

The post The Power of Video Content appeared first on Kicks Digital Marketing.

]]> 1. Get the tools. (You may already have them!) It wasn’t until technology companies like Apple, GoPro, and Samsung started implementing the power of high-quality video into their devices, consumers would have to take a hefty sum just to acquire a camera capable of shooting decent video content. No, the clunky camera your dad used to record family vacations. Cameras like the Panasonic GH5, a beast that is known for its video capabilities can run you $1,999 along and that isn’t counting the cost of lenses, SD cards, and the like. Though there are more affordable options out there like the Canon G7X, you’ve already got your jump-off gear in hand, or pocket. You can now find 4k video recording technology in a device many take for granted. Wrap your mind around the fact that the phone in your pocket has the ability to record 4k video at 30fps (Apple iPhone 6s). That means for every second, there are 30 consecutive frames being shot. Sure, you can dive into the tech specs and compare it to a quality video camera, but that isn’t the point. Start small and build. If you find yourself recording consistently, it might be time to invest in something a little more substantial.

2. Be an authority in your field.

Take note from people like Gary Vaynerchuk, Casey Neistat, Tony Robbins, Peter McKinnon, and Tom Emrich. Being a thought leader is all about generating content, which is moving to video content. If you want to be an authority in your field, you need to have something to say, something that brings value to the viewer. But, most importantly, you need to start. Think about the amount of time you spend watching television, scrolling feeds on your phone while you’re bored, or wasting time on irrelevant tasks. Refocus and start developing a plan to build your video content arsenal. If your competitors are doing it, why aren’t you?

Here are a few pointers to get you started

• Make a list of topics you want to cover and put them on a calendar.
• Seek help from a video editing company or learn on the fly to provide a good user experience.
• Get to the point. You only have our attention for a short period.
• Share your content across all available channels. The more saturation, the more chances of being viewed.

3. Get in front of your customer.

Many people feel uncomfortable in front of the camera and judge themselves with extreme scrutiny. Remember, we are our own worst critics. If you are a business owner, odds are you need to interact with people on a daily basis. So, what is the difference? A presenter is a presenter. This time you are just broadcasting to a larger audience. Tap into the winning mindset you bring to your daily business activities and you will find yourself at ease in front of the camera.

4. Don’t ignore the data.

You can say, “oh, it’s just a trend" or “it will pass", but the truth is you will miss the chance to bank on its success. Video content marketing is not going away and the facts can back it up.  

5. Be intentional. 

As you can see, video content marketing not only drives activity and engagement on various channels, but it also influences buyer behavior. You should take into consideration your marketing objectives to dictate what video content you’ll put out there. Do your research about technical aspects of the video that will benefit you as well. In the graphic above, we point out that 85% of people viewing Facebook videos are doing so with the sound off, or may be hard of hearing. This means if your videos have no captions, you’re losing a large chunk of audience. Accessibility is key in any content creation.   So the question is, when will you start creating?

The post The Power of Video Content appeared first on Kicks Digital Marketing.

]]> 1875 //ffscdn.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/kicksdigitalmarketing.com/2017/10/kicks-animated-gif-large.gif