9 Tools to Create a Result-Driven Visual Marketing Strategy

Having the right visual strategy for your brand is extremely important, especially when it comes to social media marketing.

Using visuals effectively can not only increase the power of your core marketing message but also create more engagement with your online audiences.

Creating powerful visual marketing materials wasn’t always easy but fortunately, today we have access to several free and premium tools that allow you to quickly create awesome visuals for your brand.

In this blog, we’re going to take a look at 9 of the best tools that can take your visual marketing strategy to the next level!

Importance of visual marketing in 2021

To understand the real importance of visual marketing in 2021, you need to take a look at two important statistics:

• As much as 81% of people do not pay attention to what they’re reading online and usually just skim through content.
• Posts that contain visual elements, such as images and videos, receive 650% higher engagement when compared to posts that only contain text.

When you factor in visual-first social media platforms such as Instagram, it is easy to see why visual content performs better than non-visual content in 2021. With that being said, let’s take a look at the top 9 visual marketing tools that you should be using today.

9 Top Visual Marketing Tools

The following list contains many different tools that have different purposes such as image editors, graphic design software, image resizers, etc. They are not ranked in any particular order as they serve different purposes but each of them has something to offer when it comes to visual marketing.

1. Taggbox Commerce

Taggbox Commerce is a visual and social commerce platform that helps brands to curate visual content like images and videos from social media platforms into a gallery, tag products to these visual posts to make them shoppable, and publish the visual commerce galleries on eCommerce stores.

The tool allows brands to turn their Instagram feed or user-generated content into shoppable galleries to inspire customers and grow their conversions. There are multiple visual marketing features in this tool that maximize the visual content impact on users.

2. InShot

Creating engaging videos is a key part of any visual marketing strategy. InShot is an app that makes the process a bit easier. It is a relatively new video creating and editing app that comes with some powerful features such as the ability to create 360-degree videos that can be shared on social media platforms like Instagram.

With InShot, you can access basic video editing features such as splitting or trimming video clips. You can also merge different video clips, add visual effects, add sounds effects or music, and more.

The only downside with InShot is that all videos made by the free version will contain a watermark. To remove the watermark, you’ll have to buy the paid version of the app.

3. PicMonkey

PicMonkey is a graphic design tool that comes with some photo editing features, design features, and also a handy collage maker.

While the free version is great when it comes to just rotating and resizing photos, the Royal version offers additional features like templates, backgrounds, tutorials, and more that make the process of creating awesome visuals a bit easier.

4. Evernote Skitch

If you want to create quick images for social media, Evernote Skitch can be a pretty helpful tool to use. The program is available on iOS and comes with a free plan. However, if you want more powerful features, there is a premium version available.

Evernote Skitch is not the best app when it comes to creating visuals from scratch but it is really good at quickly editing any type of image or visual on-the-run. The mobile app is also handy if you want to work on your visual marketing strategy on the go!

5. SCRL

To create the best visual content, it is important to stay up to date with trends and use the features of the social media platforms to your advantage. For example, Instagram’s carousel feature allows you to post up to 10 images in a single post.

One of the current trends in visual marketing is to use the carousel feature to the full extent and use multiple images to tell a story in a single post. As you can imagine, creating graphics that perfectly line up in an Instagram carousel can be a time-consuming task that requires design skills.

SCRL is an app that can be used to create seamless Instagram carousels. It provides a drag-and-drop interface and you can add images, text, colors, and more. You can also choose from a wide range of fonts and use stock images from Unsplash.

Unfortunately, the app is currently only available on Apple’s App Store and not available for Android users.

6. Piktochart

Did you know that infographics are 30 times more likely to be read than a full article? Infographics definitely play an important role in visual marketing and Piktochart is a great tool that helps you create amazing infographics that engage and inform your audiences.

You can get access to more than 100 different themes and an extensive graphics library that is updated regularly. With Piktochart, you don’t need any design skills to create attention-grabbing infographics in no time!

7. Impresso

Impresso is a handy visual marketing app that provides an easy way to quickly make professional-looking videos for social media. You can upload and use both images and videos with Impresso when it comes to creating promo videos for brands.

One of the best features of Impresso is its huge collection of professional ready-to-go templates that covers hundreds of styles that are designed for all types of businesses. You can also customize the colors and fonts to create the perfect video that is in line with your brand’s identity. The app also offers dedicated libraries for both images and music.

Lastly, Impresso comes with a social share feature that lets you quickly post your videos to all major social media platforms. The app is currently available on Apple’s App Store and contains in-app purchases for additional features.

8. Canva

If you’re a digital marketer, you have probably already heard of Canva. Canva is an online graphic design tool that can be used to create visual content of any type you can think of. It comes with an easy drag-and-drop interface which makes it accessible to people who might not necessarily have graphic design skills.

While the core tool is free to use with some restrictions, Canva also offers premium products such as Canva for Work which adds many additional premium features for you to use.

9. Made

Instagram launched the Instagram Stories feature in 2016. By 2019, Instagram Stories had more than 500 million daily active users and has become a vital visual marketing channel for brands. Made is a dedicated app for creating powerful Instagram Stories for your brand.

The app makes the process easy with several free templates, backgrounds, fonts, and filters. Instead of worrying about things like design, Made allows you to focus on the content and the message. New templates are constantly added every month which means you’ll never be out of options when it comes to creating beautiful Instagram stories.

Marketing in an increasingly visual world

If we follow the trend that we’ve been seeing with social media platforms, it is fair to say that most marketing content in the future will be visual.

Thankfully, creating visual content is easier than ever with the great visual marketing tools available today with most of them offering free plans!

We hope this blog was helpful in guiding you towards creating a more powerful visual marketing strategy for your brand.

Guest author: I’m Anne Griffin and I’m a digital marketer and technical writer. I’m passionate about exploring and writing about innovation, technology, and digital marketing trends.

The post 9 Tools to Create a Result-Driven Visual Marketing Strategy appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.

source https://www.jeffbullas.com/visual-marketing-tools/

10 Proven Ways to Enhance Your LinkedIn Marketing in 2021

Reid Hoffman launched LinkedIn to make it easier for people to showcase their skills and get better job opportunities.

However, in the last two decades, there has been a lot added to the purpose of this social media platform.

At present, LinkedIn is not just a medium to get jobs or new clients but also a platform for marketing activities. It has played a very important role in people’s lives when it comes to developing an ability to advertise oneself.

LinkedIn marketing strategies, when executed properly, can help you build your brand and long-lasting relationships with your connections.

Let’s take a look at why LinkedIn is so significant before we talk about how to create a good LinkedIn marketing campaign.

The importance of LinkedIn

One of the main benefits of being on LinkedIn is that you can connect with all sorts of people. From a beginner to a senior-level expert or huge organizations, everybody is available on LinkedIn to help others grow.

You can focus on your LinkedIn marketing campaign if you want to attract the interest of top-level executives. To achieve better results for marketing, you can use LinkedIn marketing plan models that are readily available on the internet.

Unlike many other social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, LinkedIn provides B2B advertisers with a bonanza of prospective clients.

It goes without saying that a strong LinkedIn marketing approach is critical to a B2B company’s growth. It will aid in developing brand recognition, growth in website traffic, the generation of high-quality leads, and so much more.

That being said, there are many tactics that are needed to be implemented for better results. This article provides insight into the top 10 ways of improving your LinkedIn marketing in 2021.

Must-follow ways to improve LinkedIn marketing

There are a few tried-and-tested techniques that will make users stand out on LinkedIn. Below are some of the ways which you need to swear by.

1. Set Your Goals

The first thing you need to do whenever you are starting with any project, be it marketing your business or skills, is to SET YOUR GOALS.

You need to define your aims and ambitions when you plan to promote yourself on this social media platform. There are certain questions that you need to ask yourself, such as:

• How many people do I want to reach?
• What is the type of audience that I need?
• In how much time do I need to complete my goal?

Similarly, there are many other things that you need to decide on your own before beginning with LinkedIn Marketing in 2021. Once done with this, then you can continue with the next methods.

2. Understand Your Target Audience

It’s time to identify your target demographic after you’ve defined your marketing objectives. This is a requirement for creating a successful LinkedIn marketing campaign.

You can segment your audience based on various factors such as job description, geographic area, profession, and so on. Along with identifying your target audience, it’s essential to get a deep understanding of your current audience. Recognition of what your customers want is critical to a good LinkedIn marketing campaign.

You have the option to know more about your followers and visitors by checking the analytics of your company page. It can be beneficial in helping you learn more about your target audience and the type of content they enjoy. As a result, you’ll be able to adapt your LinkedIn marketing approach to meet the demands of your target audience.

3. Make Your Company Page Attractive

You need to keep your page updated with lots of creativity and attractive elements on every social media platform. Since your page is one of the first impressions that go into the minds of audiences, it has to be the best to help you gain traffic. They should be able to grasp enough about you and your company, such as employees, services/products, location, and so much more.

Provide your logo, website URL, company size, industry niche, and many other details that LinkedIn asks. Including all of this information strengthens the company’s reputation. You should also write an appropriate summary that conveys important information about your business and its services. Apart from this, you can also upload a cover picture that is relevant to your company. Your brand’s reputation is strengthened by a robust and up-to-date Company Page, which reinforces your integrity and expertise.

For references, you can check the best companies on LinkedIn to do better for yourself. This is always a great help for everyone, be it an individual or a large organization.

4. Check Out Your Competitors Company Pages

To improve your LinkedIn sales strategy, you must first understand how you relate to your counterparts in the market. LinkedIn has a function called “Companies to track” that shows you a list of businesses that are close to yours. It also provides you with a few important metrics. The overall number of followers and social media interaction are all factors to take into account.

Taking a look at your competitors’ pages will help you figure out what strategies are effective and incorporate them into your own LinkedIn marketing plan. It is one of the most proven methods, which all the social media marketing experts suggest.

5. Look for Highly Targeted Connections and Customers

In the world of digital ads, LinkedIn’s targeting is unrivaled. Small companies can pinpoint the market, organization size, and job roles that are most likely to purchase their product or service.

For instance, if you are selling accounting services, you could approach medium-sized or large businesses in your location. Because the new or small-sized businesses may not invest in hiring accounting services at their beginning stage. So, make sure that you spend your time connecting with legit and genuine clients that can yield you good results.

6. Post High-Quality Content

Providing good-quality and informative content to your audience is one of the most important things you need to focus on.

Quality content can be very driven and achieve two objectives. It will firstly help you teach someone how to fix a problem or do their jobs more effectively, and it should then develop you as a market leader in that field.

If you add real value to your customers, each factor would inevitably contribute to more business. It’s just pure psychology, and it works.

7. Join Different Groups on LinkedIn

Joining different groups on LinkedIn is something that can help you learn new things from different minds and make advertising easier.

Make sure to have high engagement in these groups. Also, apart from learning new tips and tricks, you can post content about your business. At times, you can get clients for your business here since most companies added in these groups are related to each other.

There are many benefits that users can take advantage of from LinkedIn Groups. You should ensure that you are in several groups that are relevant to your business.

8. Post Videos and Image Content

For a LinkedIn marketing campaign, you need to be effective in increasing the viewer’s interest in your LinkedIn notifications. Using photos and videos is one of the most effective ways to get your audience’s interest.

Photographs generate two times more comments, and videos are five times more likely to initiate a discussion than plain text. To make the content more appealing, you can also post PPTs and PDFs in addition to photographs and videos.

LinkedIn always recommends creating brief videos of 1-2 minutes with clear subtitles. Ensure the videos are genuine and aptly represent the brand’s vision. Most advertisers lack this LinkedIn marketing tactic, even though it is simple to execute. This technique can be used if you’d like to get ahead of your rivals.

9. Automate Your Reach

During the early stages of your LinkedIn account, you can make more important links. You’ll have to do tons of outreach to accomplish this. Manual outreach, on the other hand, can be difficult and time-consuming. As a result, automating your outreach is a fantastic concept.

10. Be Consistent

Your profile on LinkedIn contains a wealth of information about your venture. People will look at your latest activity and see if you have made many posts about yourself or your business.

If they’ve seen that you are trending, they’ll have a positive view of your business. Having a good first impression and attracting a large number of users are important aspects of the site. If you are not consistent, you will not be able to achieve your goals.

Summary

I hope that the ten tactics discussed above will help you kickstart your LinkedIn marketing efforts.

Guest author: Mandeep Singh, the founder of SEO Discovery, the leading digital marketing company is an experienced campaigner in the field of SEO marketing and the arena of digital selling.

The post 10 Proven Ways to Enhance Your LinkedIn Marketing in 2021 appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.

source https://www.jeffbullas.com/linkedin-marketing/

8 Must-Have Types of Content for Your Digital Strategy

If you are running a business online or just going to enter the market, then content marketing will help you with your marketing initiatives.

Whether it’s an email newsletter or a corporate blog with thousands of articles, content marketing opens up new opportunities for your business.

What are the main pillars of your content marketing strategy? What types of content should be must-have elements to make your business fly? Let’s dive deep into this question together!

#1. Videos

According to recent Google data, over 50% of readers who watch a product video are more likely to buy products and services advertised online. Video content has always been the king and still remains the most demanded type of content on the Internet.

Is it worth mentioning how the popularity of YouTube and TikTok is off the charts? Since its launch in 2018, TikTok has maintained its position at the TOP of the most downloaded applications in the world, with a multi-million army of users.

There are no secrets to the popularity of video content – it is easiest for a person to perceive multimedia information. Therefore, no matter what your field of activity is, a creative approach to creating video content will significantly increase leads, sales, brand recognition, and traffic.

It’s best to create short and catchy videos, no matter how long your post is. Video content can perfectly support your brand and highlight its benefits. A half-minute video will tell the consumer much more than a long article.

If you are looking for a tool that will help you produce tons of quality video content, then check out Movavi software. It is a cutting-edge solution packed with multiple tools for in-house video making and editing. 

#2. Live Broadcasts

Live broadcasts and streams are watched up to three times longer than traditional pre-made videos. They also create a feeling of direct participation in what is happening as if everything was happening next door. From a psychological point of view, this increases trust and interest in people and is better stored in their memory. It’s also a great way for brands to understand their audience and communicate with people openly.

Online conferences and seminars, webinars, training, master classes, and live communication – these types of interaction with your audience will become a must-have in any marketing strategy in 2021. So if you want to make your content perform at its max, make sure that live broadcasts are a part of your content marketing strategy.

#3. Infographics

Infographics are among the most used types of content marketing assets. They have had the biggest increase in usage among B2B marketers in the last four years.

Infographics are a marketing tool that brings together a lot of different information and can contain pictures, texts, graphics – just anything that can work for you. It accompanies the text and gives readers a clearer idea of ​​what is being said. It is no wonder that users following directions with the text and illustrations do it 323% better than those who do the same just without illustrations.

Visual data is becoming more popular thanks to the ability to take good pictures and videos using cameras on smartphones. Marketers explain the reasons for the popularity of infographics as follows:

• It makes posts more readable and draws additional attention;
• It reflects important issues;
• It brightens messages and removes monotony;
• It is accessible to everyone and conveys information easily.
• It adds persuasiveness to text.

So the next time you work on a landing page for your corporate website or want to start a blog, sit down and think about the main points and key ideas you want to deliver to your audience. Create infographics that best deliver the target information.

If you lack experience with this type of task, then the infographic maker by Canva will be of great service to you. The tool is easy to use and doesn’t require any tech or design knowledge from people.

#4. Interview with Experts

There are key opinion leaders in every industry. These are people who have thousands of followers – fans, readers, subscribers. Any information about them is always in demand. People wait for it, read it with pleasure, and then share it with friends.

Therefore, interviewing a key opinion leader or an expert in the industry is a great way to attract the attention of your target audience. For any entrepreneur, this is a great opportunity to get targeted traffic and gain respect and recognition.

#5. Messengers and Chatbots

Social media applications and messengers have become not only platforms for entertainment but also channels of communication between people and brands. Not only is it a way of direct contact with companies but also a way to do highly personalized marketing, which allows for:

• Building close relationships;
• Talking about your business, products, and services;
• Increasing sales rates;
• Making your audience more active;
• Maintaining customer relationships.

All these tasks can be solved with the help of an established marketing system in messengers and chatbots. Of course, email marketing copes with similar tasks. However, chatbots and messengers allow for a more personalized approach.

#6. Case Studies

Customer cases are one of the best ways to convince customers that you are capable of solving their problems in a quality manner. After all, it is through cases that you tell about your experience or about the experience of your clients. Case studies go hand in hand with how-to articles. The only difference is that the latter talks about various tips that help to solve a certain problem, whereas the former is more about the application of these steps in practice.

Cases are great for social proof in the service industry. You can show a client’s results before and after using the service or product as well as tell exactly what you did to achieve the result. As practice shows, readers willingly share a good case study on social networks, which allows them to attract new targeted traffic for you.

#7. Content Optimized for Voice Search

According to recent data, more than 30% of people in the United States use Google Assistant and Siri every day to quickly find the information they need on the Internet. Marketers predict that this number will grow to 50% in 2021.

This means that now the content on sites needs to be adapted for convenient voice search as well. To do this, it is important to enable the use of long-tail search queries and shift the angle to the use of interrogative key phrases. This will allow you to diversify your audience and reach a new market share level.

#8. Personalized Advertising

People are tired of seeing random advertisements that have nothing to do with their actual interests and needs. This forces us to switch channels during commercial breaks and buy paid subscriptions to turn them off.

Therefore, traditional commercials have become ineffective. Most Internet users and marketers claim that personalized ads generate more interest and desire in people to go to a brand’s page and make a purchase.

Marketers have already started to actively use new tools to personalize advertising content. Therefore, you should rethink your strategy to stay in the advertising trend if you have not already started doing it.

Get started with digital content today

Now that you know everything about the types digital content, let’s summarize what we have talked about.

First of all, you should mix up different types of content. The more diverse your content is, the more traffic it will bring. Don’t be afraid to test.

Create a content plan. Any business loves structure and discipline, so create a content plan ahead of time and stick to it. This will help avoid posting random content for the sake of it.

Implementing any of the approaches in your marketing strategy requires careful analytics, target audience research, planning, and elaboration.

Guest author: Egor Blokhin is a digital marketer with more than 10 years of experience. A contributor to Content Marketing Institute and regularly quoted as an expert in large media outlets. Egor’s job is to make your business known all over the Internet.

The post 8 Must-Have Types of Content for Your Digital Strategy appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.

source https://www.jeffbullas.com/types-of-digital-content/

How to Generate High-Converting Copy With AI Copywriting Software

Despite what many people tell you, copywriting is more of a science than it is an art.

Expert copywriters use a formula to compile a set of words in the most compelling structure possible to persuade action.

This formula has been learned and adapted over decades of testing and adjusting copy based on consumer behavior.

For the average marketer, who is expected to write high-converting copy every day, it can be a steep learning curve with a lot of guesswork and ambiguity into what works.

Yes, you can run split tests for your landing pages, ads, emails, and other marketing collateral. But how much time, money, and frustration goes into that process? What’s the opportunity cost of that effort?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology combined with natural language processing takes the guesswork out of writing high-converting copy and makes your job as a marketer a whole lot easier.

Let’s unpack what AI copywriting software is all about to see if it’s exactly what you need to take your marketing to the next level.

Looking for top-of-the-line AI copywriting software? Get started with Anyword today.

What is AI copywriting software?

AI copywriting software is sophisticated technology that generates text based on automated analysis of computer and human-generated inputs.

In recent times, this technology has come a long way. In its infancy, AI-generated text would look and sound different to copy created by a human. But with advances in programming for natural language and high-performing copy scoring algorithms, AI copywriting software can now produce content that looks, sounds, and feels like it was written by a human.

How does AI copywriting software work?

AI copywriting software uses machine learning and natural language processing models trained by millions of successful social media posts, ads, emails, and other marketing collateral.

For example, with Anyword, all you need to do is add a URL from your website, such as a product or sales page, select the type of copy you need, and the AI software will generate original content optimized for performance.

Here’s a video of how it works:

For example, here’s how Anyword updated a headline from a project on Product Hunt:

Old text: Asynchronous video communication for remote teams

New text: The new and improved way to have a conversation remotely

Yes, a computer generated that second headline! Quite amazing.

What copy can AI software create?

Most AI tools used for writing copy generate short-form content. They’re not spitting out whole blog posts, books, or whitepapers. Instead, you can expect to generate copy for ads, email subject lines, product descriptions, and other short marketing copy that you are regularly testing for optimization purposes.

The reason AI copywriting software, such as Anyword, focuses on short-form copy is that it’s less likely to go off-topic than long-form copy. There are fewer variables, and by analyzing millions of similar inputs a truly optimized formula for successful copy can be determined.

Despite being short, it’s also the copy that can take the longest to write because it has the biggest impact on a customer. Headlines and subject lines are the first impression someone has of your message, so you need to make it a winner.

What are the benefits of using AI copywriting software?

I’ve insinuated numerous benefits of AI copywriting software already, and I’m sure you have other ideas floating around in your head. But here’s a summary of the key benefits of this technological advancement for marketers:

• Variations at scale. It enables you to create multiple text versions in bulk which is perfect for running multiple split tests.
• Text improvements and performance optimization. You can use AI copywriting software to improve the text and find the most effective wording with a predictive performance score. For example, I used Anyword to analyze the headline of my digital marketing tools page. You can see that the headline was scored at 82 out of 100. When I hovered over the score it also gave me a breakdown of the predicted engagement by age and gender. Pretty cool!

Let’s see what happens when I toggle the “Improve with AI” button on.

You can choose how you want the text to be generated based on a set of criteria. In this example, I’m happy for the text to be altered by choosing “Relaxed”, I want to incorporate the keywords “Digital Marketing Tools”, and I’m targeting both Males and Females aged over 35.

Here’s what Anyword came up with:

Now I have three headline variations for this page that are statistically proven to perform with a set demographic. In my case, the score of the page was pretty good in the first place, so there are only marginal improvements to make. But this information would be excellent to use for email or ad headline split tests.

• Keyword optimization. Including keyword phrases in your text is super-easy with AI software because it does the heavy lifting for you, just like in the example provided above.
• Cost reduction. Using software to write marketing copy is significantly cheaper than hiring expert writers to produce the same number of optimized text variations. For example, Anyword starts at just $19 a month for up to 15,000 words of copy.
• Time-saving. As well as cost savings, the software produces copy almost instantly, much faster than a human can!

As you can see, there are several reasons to give AI copywriting software a go. It’s especially powerful if you run large-scale ad campaigns that require lots of copy variations for testing.

Wrapping up

It may sound daunting to have a software tool write your marketing copy for you.

Many copywriters feel threatened by this new technology and instead choose to stick to old processes.

In reality, AI copywriting software isn’t here to take your job. It’s here to make it easier.

Instead of writing 20 headline variations, why not write one and let the software crank out the rest?

Of course, you can still tweak the copy afterwards, but the time and effort you will save is astronomical. It’s also a great way to break away from old habits and copywriting repetition. Not to mention the performance improvements you’ll see by accessing the insights of millions of high-performing examples.

Are you ready to take the next step? You’ll gain a competitive advantage and won’t look back.

Get started with Anyword today.

The post How to Generate High-Converting Copy With AI Copywriting Software appeared first on Jeffbullas's Blog.

source https://www.jeffbullas.com/ai-copywriting-software/