Revolutionary Digital Marketing Trends to Watch Out for in 2024

Fasten your seatbelts, folks! As we zoom ahead to 2024, the digital marketing universe is going to get even wilder and woollier. To keep up with the pack and catch the attention of your ideal audience, it’s crucial to stay on top of the latest trends and tactics.

Get ahead of the game with these 2024 Digital Marketing Tips for Businesses!

• Personalization: Gone are the days of generic, one-size-fits-all approaches. Customers crave personalized experiences, and businesses that deliver tailored messaging and content are the ones that shine. It’s not just the customers who benefit; businesses see a boost in engagement, conversion rates, and sales. It’s a win-win game! So, if businesses want to level up, it’s time to hop on the personalization train and reap the rewards.

Statistic credit: http://www.mckinsey.com

• Video Content: Social media has made it easier for businesses to connect with customers, and video is the hottest tool to captivate audiences. Understanding the audience is key to creating content that resonates with them and encourages conversions. Video content can be used to increase engagement, boost brand awareness, and drive conversions.

• Voice Search Optimization: Voice search optimization is essential to make content easily discoverable by voice search, which is becoming increasingly popular with the rise of smart speakers. It is expected to become the primary way people search for and interact with content by 2024.

Statistic Credit: http://www.vye.agency

Some tips for optimizing content for voice search include using conversational language, focusing on long-tail keywords, and providing direct answers to common questions. By adopting a voice search optimization strategy, businesses can improve their visibility and reach a wider audience.

• Augmented Reality: AR technology is becoming more prevalent, and businesses that can incorporate AR into their marketing strategies will have a unique and innovative way to engage with customers.

Example 1: A furniture company could use AR to allow customers to see how their products would look in their own homes before making a purchase.

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Example 2: A clothing store could use AR to suggest outfits based on a customer’s size, style, and preferences. This will add value to the customer experience and help businesses increase sales.

As AR technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see even more innovative and exciting ways for businesses to use it to engage with customers.

• Sustainability: Studies show that consumers, particularly the younger generation, are willing to pay more for eco-friendly products and services, creating an opportunity for companies to gain customer loyalty and contribute to sustainability. Adopting sustainable practices can lead to cost savings and financial benefits while reducing waste and energy use. Ultimately, eco-friendly companies are a win for everyone.

Finally, businesses should prioritize mobile optimization, as the majority of online traffic now comes from mobile devices. By following these tips, businesses can ensure that they are delivering the right message to the right people, at the right time, on the right platforms.

Kindly share your thoughts on any marketing trends that I may have overlooked in the comment section.

8 Ways to Boost Your YouTube SEO

Did you know that every day, YouTube is flooded with a whopping 720,000 hours of video uploads?

So, if you want your content to shine like a diamond in the rough, you’ve got to get savvy with YouTube search engine optimization (SEO). It’s the ultimate key to unlocking success in this fierce platform. Get ready to be the star of the show! With these eight game-changing tactics, your YouTube presence is about to blow up!

• Unleash the Power of Keyword Research: Conducting keyword research can provide valuable insights into the search behavior of your target audience. Utilizing keyword research tools such as Keyword Analytics for YouTube can help you identify the number of searches for specific keywords and their level of competition.

It’s worth noting that YouTube’s auto-complete function not only predicts what you’re typing but also provides insight into the most popular searches related to your query.

• Insert Your Keywords in Video Content: After identifying your keywords, it’s crucial to incorporate them into various elements of your video, including the title, description, tags, title cards, and text overlays. Additionally, consider including relevant keywords in the video chapters and script.

Note: 70% of search queries consist of long-tail keywords. Incorporating these keywords in video descriptions or tags can help target niche audiences with high intent.

• Include Timestamp: Have you ever found yourself clicking on a YouTube video and then struggling to fast-forward to the most engaging parts? Timestamps can be a valuable tool in this regard. These interactive markers serve as chapters, outlining what to anticipate from each segment of your extended YouTube videos.

When a viewer searches for a specific phrase that has been utilized as a timestamp in your video, Google search results will exhibit your video with the relevant timestamp. Enabling this feature enhances the viewer’s experience by serving them the exact section of the video that best addresses their query.

• Harness Hashtags and Categories: Similar to Instagram, YouTube videos can benefit from hashtags, which can increase their reach and visibility. Relevant hashtags can help viewers discover your content more easily and improve search engine optimization. However, overusing hashtags can be seen as spam and reduce the visibility of your content.

Categories serve as an essential SEO tool for YouTube videos, enabling viewers to locate videos based on broader topics. For instance, if you’re providing lessons on the correct technique for a tennis serve, selecting the “Sport” category would be more suitable.

• Follow Best Practices for YouTube Thumbnail: Selecting the ideal profile picture is a common practice, and the equivalent attention to detail should be given to the thumbnail images on your YouTube channel.

The most effective thumbnails incorporate striking visuals, unambiguous text overlays, and a consistent branded aesthetic. According to YouTube, thumbnails should have the following requirements:

• A resolution of 1280×720
• Formats like JPG, GIF, or PNG
• Keep under 2MB for videos

• Curate Keyword-Optimized Playlists: Keyword-optimized playlists have two benefits for YouTube SEO. First, It helps the platform understand what topics your channel covers. Second, It helps viewers navigate your content more easily, as they can search by topic or find videos related to their search queries.

Because the algorithm favors videos with higher watch time and session duration, video playlists can help you boost organic visibility on YouTube. The best part of playlists is that they auto-play to the next video, encouraging viewers to stay on your page and consume more content. This contributes to a longer overall session time and, ultimately, a boost in your video views.

• Use Cards and End Screen: Unlock the secret to skyrocketing your subscriber count and captivating your viewers with cards! These little gems of joy make for a seamless and enjoyable experience, as they whisk your audience to more of your content without ever leaving your channel.

It’s like an all-you-can-eat buffet of your videos, and your viewers are hungry for more! So, get ready to elevate your subscriber game and keep your audience glued to your channel.

Ever heard of Canva? They offer an effortless way to create some jaw-dropping end screens with their super user-friendly outro maker!

End Screen – This is where the magic happens in the last 5-20 seconds of your masterpiece. It’s your chance to give viewers a high-five and say, “Thanks for watching! You rock!” while also pointing them in the direction of more of your amazing work or even a top playlist. Don’t miss out on this epic opportunity!

• Embed Videos Across Your Site: Incorporating your YouTube videos on your website can improve your ranking on Google’s search engine. Cross-promotion between a website and a YouTube channel can be a powerful tool in the world of SEO, increasing the chances of appearing on the first page of Google search results and bringing in more subscribers and brand exposure. Studies show that embedding YouTube videos can double or triple website visibility.

Remember, building a successful YouTube channel takes time and effort, but with these strategies, you can set yourself up for success and achieve your goals. With these strategies, you’ll have grown your YouTube subscriber count in no time, all while increasing brand awareness.

Feelings That Every Social Media Person Have

Being a social media manager is no piece of cake. You’ve got to tweet 5 million times a day, reply to all those demanding customers and toughest of all, answer your boss’s never ending questions on ROI. Every holiday when your friends are going to parties but you have to be in office cuz “real-time marketing”.

If you work in a social media team, here are top thoughts you’ve had for sure:

[1] When explaining what you do to your grandparents

[2] The inexplicable joy when someone finally gets what your job actually means

[3] Or better, when someone asks you for social media advice for their small business

[4] When the numbers have been looking good

[5] When an influencer reposts you unprompted your little chest puffs out with pride

[6] When your colleague takes a look at what you’re doing and goes “Woah! I can’t imagine how you make any ROI out of all that data

[7] Oh the rage when you need to wait and wait to get approval for that super funny tweet, and when you finally get permission, the moment has passed

[8] When your boss says tweeting shouldn’t take that much time

[9] When your sales team says it gave them no leads

[10] When you’re made to answer the dreaded ROI question for the millionth time

[11] When you have to put all your work into one tiny presentation because performance review

[12] But you show them with the most insightful report that includes engagement, share of voice, sentiment and all the magical numbers

[13] When you finally finish that massive report you’ve been working on for days and then decide to cc everyone so they can see how awesome you are

[14] Finally when your boss says they might increase the budget for social advertising

[15] At the end of the day, when you realize no matter what, you love your job

Facebook’s New Emotional Emojis: Love, haha, wow, sad and angry

Here’s something you might love: You don’t just need to “like” Facebook posts anymore.

Almost one year ago Facebook announced that users would soon be able to express a wider range of emotions through emoji, now they are delivering on that promise by rolling it out to all users.

The new ‘Reactions’ give you buttons for ‘Like,’ Love,’ Haha,’ Wow,’ ‘Sad’ or ‘Angry’ and to use them you just need to hold down the Like button (on mobile) or hover over it if you’re on a desktop.

How to Add Reactions:

To add a reaction, hold down the Like button on mobile or hover over the Like button on desktop to see the reaction image options, then tap either Like, Love, Haha, Wow, Sad or Angry. For the mobile app, you’ll need to download Facebook’s latest update.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post. “Sometimes you want to share something sad or frustrating. Our community has been asking for a dislike button for years, but not because people want to tell friends they don’t like their posts. People want to express empathy and make it comfortable to share a wider range of emotions.”

 How It Impact Businesses:

In the company’s press release, Facebook Reactions is also touted as an opportunity for “businesses and publishers to better understand how people are responding to their content on Facebook.”

How the responses will affect which posts show up in your News Feed is still to be decided — should more posts marked “love” be bumped up, or posts marked with “angry”?

It’s something new to measure, and definitely more diverse than a tally of Likes, but I’d like you to strongly consider how you’ll actually use the insight you get from spending time and energy analyzing the types of reactions used. Will this help you drive more business from social? Will it help you gain a better understanding of your audience?

As the co-founder and CPO of Smiply Measured, Adam Schoenfeld wrote over a year ago:

“Focusing exclusively on Likes, replies, and basic engagement metrics won’t tell the whole story.”

And while emoji responses are fun, as a marketer, you should be focusing on something much more impactful than the type of smiley face someone uses on your post.

But for now, you can release all those emotions you’ve kept in for so long on Facebook. Let us know how you feel about the new options in the comments below.

PSL Prize Money $10 Million Dollors: PCB’s Scam or Goof up

I was speechless when a tweet from the official twitter handle of Paskistan Super League @thePSLt20 had rolled onto my wall. It said:

“Some huge surprizes revealed in @najamsethi’s speech: $10 million prize money for winner, for ech player to earn over $50,000.”
–Pakistan Super League

I think there might have been some communication gap between Najam Sethi, the chairman of Pakistan Super League and Pakistan Cricket Board. The reason being the prize money for winning team at ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 was 3.97 million USD and the last IPL season offered a lump sum of 2.2 million USD. The fact that this tweet said this is only the winning team’s prize money was hard to believe that it was the correct figures.

The good thing is that they didn’t let this tweet sit on your twitter profile for long; nonetheless, it was foolish and embarrassing for PCB. Later on PCB cleared the rumors: the price money is $1 million dollars and their social media team respond quickly and removed the tweet.

From 2016 season, in IPL auction Pawan Negi was sold for 8.5 crore INR which was higher than one million dollar (seven crore). Otherwise, it was likely that he could have sponsored the Pakistan super league in the very next season.

Twitter Photos Get a Square Look, Likely to save a little More Time

Twitter is making a small but noticeable change to the way your feed looks: images will no longer be cropped. Aside from being larger overall, the new look is more like to Facebook’s album displays, with one large highlight image flanked by smaller displays of the rest.

Amit Kumar Dey

In the world of business, time is money. And in the world of tweets, every tweet means short texts to hit the large.

Twitter is, generally, a text based platform. However, efforts are being made in order for incorporating a rich media experience for tweeples. Over time, Twitter could figure out the catch and added images, short videos, GIF and now images in square shape along with larger multi-image display feature.

Time-saving? Yes.

For graphic artists and twitter profile owners (brands and individuals), photo resize is a matter of great concern. The reason being: image visibility at a glance in a noisy platform that Twitter has already turned into. Now, that worry is gone once and for all. Once a square image is created, it’s ready to go live on Twitter. Moreover, for rectangular images, an uncropping option is made available to save time. No need to heed to the…

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Optimal Frequency To Post On Social Media: Mileage For Your Brand May Vary

Your social media efforts can take you places, If you know when to put your foot on the accelerator. Good content can be found in a multitude of places, and once you find it all, the next question you may ask yourself is how often you can share.

Whether you are an expert or just a beginer in the field of social media, One of the most common social media questions we hear is ‘How often should I post on Facebook, Twitter, Google plus & other social channels?’

For my own brand of Brain Games, I have social media frequency is approximately 6-7 tweets per day on weekdays, 3-4 on weekends. And about 5-6 Facebook Page posts per week. Ideally, skipping a weekday or two, but not weekends. Facebook users are more active during evenings and weekends! You should find a balance of content and frequency that’s right for you.

In this cheat sheet, we’ll offer helpful suggestions for when and what to post on each social network, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and Pinterest.

 

Infographic is inspired by Buffer Blog and Sumall

My Optimal Frequency to Post on Social Media

• Facebook: 1-2 times per day, seven days a week, 10:08 a.m. and 3:04 p.m.
• Twitter: 3-4 times a day, seven days a week, 03:00 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. & 5:45 p.m.
• Google Plus: 2 times per day, 9:03 a.m. and 7:04 p.m., no weekends

You can see some of the science behind our sharing frequency. As far as an explanation for why we tweet at 3:00 a.m., we want to connect with our global audience. Three in the morning, Central Time, is 9:00 a.m. in London. If you don’t have a global audience, you might not get the same value out of tweeting in the middle of your night.

 Over To You:

Use these guidelines as a jumping off point for your own tests. And feel free to share the results!  if you don’t mind giving away some secrets. What do you think? Please leave your comments below.

How to Format Post on Google Plus

Just a few days ago there was a new beast in the market of smartphones. OnePlus One is a brand new mobile in which you can format the text, icon, size according to their personality. What if you can get the same features with a social networking sites?

What a social media marketer needs when he post a status, article and image on google plus. He/she want to get the maximum visibility for his/her post. In order to make a message or a post outstanding and to grab your followers attention it is necessary that you format your Google plus posts.

Unlike posts on other popular social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, Google plus is the first social giant which gave the feature to its user to format the style of your text or the entire post.

Google Plus users can bold, italicize and strikethrough text to make their posts more striking and visually inviting. Here is how you can format your Google Plus posts:

Note: All the short codes will take effect only after you share it.

Post Editor for Google Plus Extension:

If you want to give your post a more personalize customization, use the post editor for google+ extension. It runs on Google chrome browser. This extension adds formatting buttons in your post box. You can simple select text or sentence and then choose the formatting option. You can also add some symbols like emotions.

Hope this post helped you to format Google plus posts. If you know any other short codes to format text in Google plus then please mention below in comments.

Top 3 Safest Plugins for Handling your WP Site During Downtime

There are times when you need to shutdown a website for updating bug fixes, trying hard for a new theme, and other common reasons. The process on WordPress can be annoyed because you would need to convey all the traffic onto a new default page.

Here I want to present a time saving solution. A collection of WordPress plugins which will be responsible for handle your website during downtime. The best part about the solution is each of these are open source and easy to install on any website. Using a pre-built method will save a lot of time so that you can focus on fixing the site to get back online.

1. WP Maintenance Mode

Many developers are familiar with the WP Maintenance Mode plugin because it is discussed almost everywhere. Maintenance Mode is a great choice because you can also decide on a number of programmed templates.

My Take: I would say this is one of the easiest choices to install and customize. Webmasters who are just getting the hangover of WordPress may enjoy this plugin the most. The most current version is developed for supporting the latest 3.6 beta release. And it is common to see this plugin updated very frequently.

2. Ultimate Maintenance Mode

Using a plugin that starts with a phrase “Ultimate” should make you think this is the most incredible of all. The best feature of this plugin is that it will utilize a screenshot of your website in the background. Users who are logged into the site may still access the full display, plus the wp-admin panel.

My Take: I think Ultimate Maintenance Mode is another superb choice. But it can be to some extent more complex than the other options. It is worth some time investing into the plugin if you want to learn how it all works.

3. YITH Maintenance Mode

Your Inspiration Themes (YITH) Maintenance Mode plugin comes as free and open source just like the others. I like their admin panel menu style for organizing the topical links. It is updated for WordPress 3.5.1 which is the most current stable release.

My Take: The WP admin menu is fantastic because it uses built-in tabs all along with page links. The best feature is it’s input fields which allows you to change the page text, style, and layout. There is a lot of customization for users who really need a detailed solution. You can also select who is allowed to view the full site, ranging from Administrators to Authors and contributors. This is my go-to choice when shutting down a website for brief edits or updates to the theme.

Final Thoughts

Taking care of your website maintenance is definitely tough. This is when you should be testing out some different plugins to see what can work best for your website. Thankfully WordPress has a large collection of maintenance plugins, even some which I haven’t listed in this post.

Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.

Top 10 Tips for Graphic Designers

Graphic design is all about the blend of technology and fine arts. Learning Graphic Design is not that complex and so there are many graphic designers in the industry today. Getting work that pays well is the harder part. Here are some useful tips which can help getting work that pays well:

1. For getting work graphic designers need to market their skills well. For this they can use various marketing tools.
2. An appealing social media presence and a regularly updated good blog about the designer’s skills is a good start as this type of marketing is free of cost.
3. Also networking and word of mouth help, so getting in touch with people from the same field, your friends and other designers is a good idea.
4. Joining a graphic design group or community or association also is a good idea.
5. Interaction with fellow graphic designers will only help the business. Getting work from online freelancing or jobs websites may also help.
6. Always remain in the know about the happenings in the field of graphic design. Read Design related magazines and blogs to get the news and know how about latest tools and techniques used in graphic designing.
7. Also graphic designers must keep their eyes open to the designs in their surroundings. By collecting designs, magazines, pictures and other artistic items the graphic designers get inspiration.
8. Travel is another form of inspiration for a graphic designer. As this is such a dynamic and ever changing field, the graphic designers need to follow trends and adapt to changing graphic design techniques to remain ahead of the competition.
9. Graphic Designers will get work ultimately only if they show dedication to the job and be brilliant at their work.
10. Graphic Designers need to be dynamic, adaptable and also always wanting to learn and improve their graphic design skills in order to be good at their business.

I thanks to my friend Vicky Kumar, who gave me a good topic to share my views on. I worked with him at the beginning of my career. Vicky is a graphic and web designer based in Pune, Maharastra. He is a passionate for building great looking, hand crafted websites, logos, Ads.  My good wishes for vicky to have a sunny future..