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sociallyinsmmagency · 4 years

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TIKTOK ADVERTISING: A BADASS GUIDE TO SUCCESS ON THE PLATFORM

You’re ready to kick some serious ass on TikTok, but aren’t sure where to start, right? No worries. We've got you. 😉 Just keep reading. ⬇

We’ve got the secret sauce to success, and TBH it’s better than the best steak we’ve ever put in our mouths, which is saying something. 🥩

Why is TikTok Advertising Such a Successful Method for a Majority of Companies? 🤷‍♂️

It’s estimated that over one BILLION people are active in a given month on TikTok as of January 2021. This gives businesses an almost unparalleled opportunity to get in front of their audience in a way they haven’t been able to before.

With advanced targeting options, unique and creative ad features, the opportunity for very visually appealing, eye-catching and thumb-stopping campaigns and a platform much less overwrought with ads from competitors, TikTok has truly given marketing and advertising experts a run for their money. Literally. 💸

It wasn’t until very early 2019 that TikTok began experimenting with the concept of adding ads to the platform, granting an opportunity for large brands, including Apple, Nike and GrubHub to embrace new levels of potential with TikTok advertising.

Of course, your brand may not have as much success with TikTok advertising as some. Not because you have less ad spend, but because it’s all about demographics and target audiences and all that complicated stuff we’ll get into momentarily. ⏰

When it comes to deciding whether or not TikTok is a good fit for your business, consider your audience and maybe even give it a test shot. You never know when things are going to go viral on TikTok. Take the newest sea shanties trend, started by Nathan Evans, a 26-year-old Scottish postman and aspiring technician.

Sea Shanties haven’t exactly ever been “popular” and haven’t been promoted outside of a niche audience prior to this TikTok going viral. A classic example of how we never quite know WHAT could potentially go viral or get traction on TikTok. Especially when it comes to TikTok advertising.

🤔 Does My Business Have a Chance to Succeed with TikTok Advertising?

There are two answers you need to determine whether or not your business can truly benefit from TikTok advertising:

#1 What is the target demographic of YOUR audience?

The demographic of your audience will be the main determining factor for whether TikTok advertising will be a successful avenue for your business when it comes to ROI and brand growth on social media.

If your audience is between the ages of 13 and 30, TikTok advertising is definitely an avenue you should explore as the percentage of U.S based TikTok users by age makes this age bracket the most likely to see your services and products. See below table for a glance at what ages represent each percentage of users.

Something you should always keep in mind, though, is that EVERY social media platform, save professional platforms such as LinkedIn and like apps were adopted by a younger audience before being adopted by an older audience. For instance: Facebook, Instagram, MySpace, etc.

This trend is beginning to take shape on TikTok as more and more millennials and even generation X counterparts have started experimenting with the creative take on relatable video content.

We’ve seen it play out plenty of times. For anyone wondering, we give it a year before moms everywhere have officially taken over the app. Watch out, kids! 🤪

#2 TikTok Advertising: How Much is it?

Now the almost age-old question: how much is it to advertise on TikTok? And the age-old response: “it depends on your goals” which is TRUE, but also not enough information for people like you who need solid answers to get started.

We hear you. And we’re here to help. 📈

Huge businesses have already taken advantage of TikTok advertising on a grand scale, (which is no surprise as they have the $$$ to spend) but it might be a bit less doable for smaller businesses.

Because TikTok advertising is a (relatively) new concept, you might see yourself spending around $10 per CPM as an average. In addition, they require a (minimum) investment of about $500.

💲 A quick run-down for what different types of campaigns and ad types might cost:

Brand takeover ads can cost anywhere from $20,000-$200,000. The rate will depend on the duration of the campaign, among other factors.

Hashtag challenges cost $150,000 for six days.

Depending on the agency, you can sometimes get as low as $50-$100 a day.

TikTok influencers for brand promotion can cost anywhere from $600-$1,000+ a day, depending on their number of current followers.

In some cases, TikTok is offering ad credits to potential advertisers. We can help you claim this and create an optimized campaign for brand promotion! Interested? Shoot us a message.

You know how much it costs, if it’s right for you and how it can help. Now it’s time to get into the HOW behind the WHY. 🔎

Getting Started with TikTok Advertising 🚀

Now we’re ready to GET STARTED with TikTok advertising, right? You’ve got your account created, you’re geared up and have your budget ready, so let’s hit it. 🎶🎧

#1 Create Your TikTok Ads Account

For this step, you’ll need to visit the TikTok ads homepage and click on the “Get Started” Button, located in the menu in the top right hand corner of the homepage.

From here, you’ll click “create an ad” and then fill out the pop-up questionnaire about your business. It takes an average of about 48 hours for an account review and confirmation to be completed.

#2 Create a TikTok Advertising Campaign

Within the TikTok Ads platform, you’ll click the “Campaigns” tab. It’s located at the top of the page, right in the middle.

The next prompt will be “create, and then from there, you’ll need to select an objective. There are three options:

Traffic

Traffic leads people to your website. Yay! More clicks. 👆

Conversions

Means you’ll be making money off of sales. Whoop! 🤑

App Installs

People are going to be downloading your app. 🎉 If the app costs money, bam. Bucks made. If the app is attempting to teach or reach, also bam because it’s another step further on the buyer's journey. 🥂

#3 Set a Budget

To set a budget for your TikTok advertising campaign at a campaign level, you’ll need to select either the daily budget, OR total budget for the entirety of the campaign.

You’ll find these options under campaign settings. There is a minimum requirement of $50 for either/or, so keep that in mind when you’re in the “perusing” phase of the campaign set up. (This applies for budgeting at an ad group level, as well.)

There is also an option that allows you to refrain from setting up a budget, but we don’t recommend. You never know when you’ll make a mistake or, especially in the learning phase, realize what you originally planned isn’t working as well as you hoped.

Setting a budget for your TikTok ads allows you to find out what is and isn’t working and improve upon the best performing ads. Always, always give yourself room to adjust and improve.

Choose a pacing option: It’s of VITAL IMPORTANCE that you remember to set a pacing option when being creative with TikTok advertising if you don’t want your ad spend to disappear overnight. Or, in extreme cases, within hours. (We’ve been in business long enough that we’ve been around the block a few times. You know what they say: “Don’t try this at home.” 🏡)

Your choices for pacing include:

Standard delivery: TikTok will space your ad spend out evenly throughout the entirety of your TikTok advertising campaign.

OR:

Accelerated delivery: TikTok will spend the budget as fast as possible, beginning at the start of the campaign.

#4 Establish TikTok Advertising Placement, Details and Targeting 📍

After you’ve established a budget, created a campaign and chosen a TikTok advertising objective, it’s time to create an ad group and decide on placement and targeting, as well as tie up and loose ends on the details spectrum. 👟

There is an option for automatic placement or a chance to select placement. This means your ad will either air on TikTok, or on TikTok and it’s family of news apps.

TikTok will provide prompts for filling out last minute details, including images, copy, relevant URLs, categories and display names, among other (less important) things. 😜

TikTok will allow you to select up to 20 keywords that will be a determining factor when it comes to figuring out what audience your TikTok ads belong in front of. So take your time with keywords and think carefully about what searches an individual would make when hunting for your products.

Targeting details are the fun part. 😎🎯 You’ll be able to set specific guidelines on who should be viewing your ad. These details will include location, age, gender, particular languages and even interests.

🔥🔥🔥 Hot Tip: When advertising on TikTok, you can upload existing users' IDs and target them specifically. 🔥🔥🔥

#5 Schedule Your TikTok Ads

TikTok advertising is not unlike other platforms in that you can set specific times and days when you want your ads to appear for your target audience.

These times can be inserted within the budgeting and scheduling options.

#6 Designing Your Ads 🎆

TikTok will provide you with everything you need to make killer ads with a “video creation kit” that features customizable image and video templates, 300+ free music options and more that will bring your TikTok advertising efforts over the top.

You’re not obligated to use their tools, though. So no worries if you’re prepared and excited to use creative license on your own advertising efforts! 💃

TikTok Advertising Best Practices 📊

When it comes to TikTok advertising, making the most of your budget and getting the biggest bang for your effort is the #1 priority at all times. We’re going to help you get there.

#1 Put the spotlight on a single CTA and leave it there.

No distractions. More than one CTA is going to pull users' attention away from your goal and that won’t help you get money in your pocket or get the most out of your redirect link, so stay focused so they can, too!

#2 TikTok ad descriptions are limited to 80 characters.

If you’re looking to be successful, don’t plan on using the description to get there. The power on this platform is contained within video content, so unleash your inner beast and make some killer content. 😈

#3 Place key creative elements in the center.

This is where the eye will be drawn to look during the endless scrolling game, so keep your key creative elements FRONT and CENTER stage. This also helps avoid congestion as the description will be locating near the bottom of the screen.

#4 Your creative assets deserve to be high-quality.

When and IF you decide to try a brand takeover ad, or one of the in-app display ad options, we recommend ensuring the high-resolution of every image, video or otherwise creative asset that you decide to use.

Why? Because ultimately, your creative asset will be taking over the entire screen of a user, making everything- that includes imperfections, not only visible but front and center for everyone to see. Keep it high-quality, folks.

#5 Don’t Settle. Embrace better for your brand.🌠

TikTok advertising is similar to a variety of other platforms in that you don’t want to settle before you know what’s out there.

So on that note, take time to test other variations of images, music, video, targeting, vibes and placement before settling on “the perfect match”.

Frequently Asked Questions 🤔

We know you have a million questions, but unfortunately, we’re not mind readers. So we’ve picked some obvious ones we hope will help, but if you have any more, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Feedback is our favorite! 📣

#1 Do I Need to Hire an Influencer for My TikTok Advertising Campaign?

Nope! You don't need to worry about hiring an influencer to get started with TikTok advertising. Everything you need to get started can be done within the TikTok ads manager.

#2 How Many Hashtags is Too Many for the Ad Description?

When it comes to advertising, hashtags are much less useful. However, when it comes to organic content, we would recommend 3-5.

#3 Should I Consider Hiring a TikTok Advertising Agency?

For smaller businesses, if you feel confident in your abilities and are following the steps outlined in this blog carefully, we wish you the best of luck and have no doubt that you'll enjoy every step of the process.

However, for individuals or brands that are ready for rapid growth and success, we'd love to work with you to help you find the perfect, thumb-stopping solution. Let's get in touch!

#4 How Do I Make Viral Content for my TikTok Ads?

Unfortunately, it's extremely difficult to PLAN viral content. It never happens because we never quite know what sort of content will strike a chord in people in a variety of different demographics. It's not rocket science, it's just science. 🚀

However, creating some thumb-stopping, "viral" content for individuals in your target audience is not only doable: we've done it.

#5 What IS TikTok?

TikTok is a platform that allows users to create vertical, short-form (15 - 60 seconds in length) videos.

#6 What a TikTok Challenge?

Challenges on TikTok are, put simply, iterations of viral videos created on the app. There are dance challenges, dare challenges, lip sync challenges and more.

#7 What Gets Shared on TikTok?

Music, dances, challenges, tips, tricks, photos, jokes...really just a little bit of everything! So the real question should be: "What ISN'T shared on TikTok?" 😂

Tap Into the Limitless Success of TikTok Advertising 📱

If you're looking to give your brand a pedestal on everyone's new favorite app, we're here to help. We managed an over $6,000,000 ad budget for our clients last year and we're hyped to double that in 2021. We've LOVE for you to be a part of it!

What are you waiting for? Get in touch with our social media experts and let's take your TikTok advertising efforts over the finish line in 2021! 🎊 Click below for details.

The post Is TikTok Advertising: A Badass Guide to Success on the Platform appeared first on the Sociallyin Insider blog

#TikTok advertising #Sociallyin Insider Blog #build your brand #tiktok ads #how to advertise on tiktok #ads on tiktok #ads tiktok

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uterusclub · 5 years

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As any Native Chicagoean can attest, the winter never fails to destroy our souls – at least temporarily so. But as that weary tail-end concludes, one gradually regains hope, energy, and enthusiasm. These are the trappings of no more woe.

Our first expedition involved a visit to the Otherworld Theatre Company to see a choose-your-own adventure style production of ‘Quest for Thrones.’ We were beckoned to make several decisions for the Game of Thrones characters which mostly involved death or killing and to no surprise of mine, our crowd was an outwardly, murdery bunch. So we got along just great. The only downside to the show was the mold-induced smell of the lobby area where I quite literally gawked around the room to see if anyone else was just as disturbed as I. They did not appear as such which daunts me even more. Following the very short but delightful show, we made our way home but the night just didn’t feel complete. So we made a stop-off. Well, 2, actually. Sharon had demanded a hot dog the entire day so we stopped at my beloved Susie’s and then headed a few blocks down to my treasured karaoke joint, Sidekicks! It had been quite some time since my last sing so it was well-overdue. Upon arrival, we noted several people already singing which took me by surprise. While Sharon hit the bano, I was met by my long-time waitress friend who’s name I can’t completely remember – Christine – Christina? Christy? Something like that. I’m horrible. In any case, she offered me a mis-remembered test-tube shot (Sex on the Beach) to which I declined (my favorite is the Buttery Nipple) and ordered us a few drinks. I immediately trolled through the song book to figure out my agenda which, let’s be honest, is usually the same couple songs. Due to low attendance, I was announced very quickly. The night continued much the same aside from several interruptions from ‘the mutants at table 9’ who attempted to Facebook us (we DID give them Uterus Club as our contact but perhaps they considered this a joke as nothing ever came of it). We had met our end all be all of interactions with these folks when one of them dedicated a song to me. It was at this point, we slipped out, past the bouncer and I quite literally ran to my car even though Sharon had my keys and fumbled around for horror-movie record time. Surely, we would have been killed. Regardless, wonderful, hilarious night.

Onward. Sharon has been madly obsessed with a man by the name of Max Frost whom she played a few songs of a little while back. She missed a previous concert of his as my schedule wouldn’t allow it but recently discovered he was once again, back in Chicago! Naturally, she grabbed tickets and demanded (or rather, asked super nicely) we go. The last time we had been to Subterranean in Wicker Park was for Allison Weiss which was a blast! I recalled our hanging out on the upstairs area and peering down at the entire performance. Max Frost was equally rewarding in this sense. Unfortunately, getting awesome seats around the threshold of the upstairs area meant getting there early and listening to the opener – a girl we had already pre-researched and were not impressed with. Ironically, she ended up sounding way better live. Further irony kicked in when we discovered there was an ADDITIONAL opener who no one knew! THIS guy? Oh man. This was your stereotypical, dirty hipster trying-to-be-real with the ‘people’ who attempted to be deep and introspective while sitting on stage without shoes on. Absolutely horrendous! It should come as no surprise that we were a tad bit ecstatic when Max Frost FINALLY showed up on stage. Yes, we were ecstatic for approximately five songs and then all fizzled out into exhaustion. Capping the night and our very classy ride home via the most wonderful CTA, we listened to a homeless man reflect on his rejection of a plus-sized lady whom he compared to several, large animals. Always an adventure.

But wait. There’s more. ‘March madness’ couldn’t possibly be complete without a little festive shout-out to the Irish. And we went all out people. Having said that, I believe I’m some ridiculously low percentage Irish but I’ve also BEEN to Ireland so I think I get a free pass on that one. In any case, Sharon suggested we hit up the downtown dying of the river in the morning since neither of us had actually seen it live. Sure, the videos are fun but it couldn’t possibly be the same. So bright and early, we headed downtown to park and walk over to one of them many bridges to catch a peek. I had no goddamn idea shit was going to be that cray! Seriously, it was college town USA and like, early. The only good part of the situation is that everyone was very merry but not obnoxiously so (yet). The bad part of the situation is that the color saturation hadn’t exactly made itself evident enough from our viewpoint and therefore, we saw a little bit of green far off in the distance. Major fail. Our follow-up idea was to hit up Public House for their themed

cake shakes, however, we later realized it was already privatized for some wrist-band drinking event all morning and not open to the public! So we hit up the ‘poor man’s’ Public House ie. JoJo’s Milk Bar. The place was small and unimpressive to say the least. Sharon ordered us a ‘shake’ which was sad. We took a few obligatory sips before headed out. Next stop? Milwaukee! That’s right!

There’s absolutely no musical I love more than Phantom of the Opera. I legit have this shit memorized. On our way up to Milwaukee, I googled us a place to stop and eat nearby before the show. The Internet gods brought us to Ale Aslyum Riverhouse. It’s difficult to explain the complete awe of driving from a crazed downtown Chicago to a completely abandoned downtown Milwaukee. Streets were desolute! We had apparently come to the right place. Upon grabbing a quick lunch and Sharon randomly bumping into an ex-client of hers, we made our way to the Marcus Performing Arts Center. As usual, I had completely forgot what sort of seats I had purchased us but apparently I did well since we ended up in the back row on the end of the aisle. The performance was most enjoyable – although some of the singing was a bit inconsistent and I think we both spent a questionable amount of time wondering what the race of the Phantom was. We stayed long enough to hear by favorite trio part before seamlessly ducking out and venturing over to one last stop before home: Mars Cheese Castle. To say this place is anything other than completely overwhelming would be a lie. We came away with a few bags of curds and not much more due to ambivalence. Next time I’ll do some research.

St. Patrick’s Day! The OFFICIAL! Our festivities for the day mainly included eating and drinking. Oh yes, we also threw in a little Boondock Saints as well and some Pandora Irish playlist to accompany our cooking. Menu included Guinesse drumsticks, spinach puff-pastry shamrocks, mashed cauliflower and corned-beef eggrolls. Don’t forget, topping off our day-drinking of Magners Hard Cider which was doused with a few drops of green food coloring! We completed the meal with alcohol cupcakes purchased the night before at the previously mentioned Mars Cheese Castle. And that’s a wrap!

So guess what? We loved Milwaukee SO much that we decided to visit it AGAIN! But THIS time, we really meant business. First stop? Plato’s Closet. It’s tradition after all. Next stop? A little Milwaukee Burger Company. Ginormous, Deep-fried cheese curd cubes, anyone? Stomach – my apologies but worth it. Where to now? Our most beloved Lost Valley Cider Co. where we met an Irish wolf dog who was HUGE and wonderful! We also got our hands on a peanut butter and jelly cider as well as a Hibiscus cider we enjoyed so much we ordered some to go!

Catching a nice buzz now, we made our way to Swing Park where a bunch of hoodlums roamed and I tried to do fancy moves for photographic integrity. Sharon captured what appears to be a child abduction in progress which is absolutely priceless. Our journey now took us to the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum which, not gonna lie, I didn’t know anything about and frankly, still don’t. But it was pretty and had a cheap Groupon and had a fantastic view! Finalizing our self-guided tour here, we finally headed to our haunted (that’s right), Bed and Breakst: Brumder Mansion.

We were met by innkeeper, Tom who was an absolute joy! Unfortunately, he didn’t give us much intel to go on as far as ghosts were concerned – only to say there were 13 and none sounded menacing (how very disappointing). He also mentioned there being some children that tend to fidget with items left out if you ask them to which Sharon left out a ridiculous amount of things. I’ll save you the suspense – nothing was moved. In any case, we hung out for a little while before heading out for our dinner reservation at the Pasta Tree. This has always been a favorite of mine, however, both service and food was mediocre at best for some reason. We followed up dinner with drinks at a nearby Irish bar by the name of Paddy’s Pub which ended up being one of my favorite parts of our trip! Decor was beautiful and sweet and the employees were homey and gracious.

The pinnacle of this trip was our finalized stop-off at the Oriental Theater to see a viewing of the Room with actor/director/writer, Tommy Wiseau present! The line for this event was literally down the street and around the corner! It took me a second to realize that Tommy was signing autographs and taking pictures BEFORE the actual showing so we jumped ship from our spots in line to meet the man himself who was kind and sweet (and apparently dug my tattoos). After re-joining our original line, we eventually made our way back into the theater and headed up to the balcony for anti-social viewing. Oh! And I mustn’t forget the spoons. While we had been in line outside, someone was passing out handfuls of plastic spoons which we didn’t take out of confusion – only to research and later discover it was a ‘thing’ that went along with the movie. Our bad. Next time! Show was scheduled to start at 9:30pm. Show started at, I’m going to say 10:45pm after all the delay and opening shenanigans. We were tired as all hell. And made it just about 15 minutes into the movie before calling it a night. Unfortunately, leaving out of the theater, Sharon predicted Tommy might be hanging out in the lobby and of course, lo and behold, there he blew! Goddamnit! So we attempted to casually saunter out only to be met with a very saddened, ‘Where you going? Home?” It actually broke my heart. Poor Tommy. Heading back to the B&B, we both eventually passed out and roused for our adorable breakfast. Parting fairly quickly after our meal, we had a final, triumphant stop off at the Potawatomi Hotel and Casino and endeavored in a little morning Bingo. Again, I’ll save you the suspense – we didn’t win. And I’m sure I demanded vengeance per usual.

Wrapping up the wonderful month of March was our visit to the United Center to see Mumford and Sons! I had purchased tickets for Sharon for her birthday back in February. She had been talking about wanting to see them for as long as I can remember. It was only after I had purchased said tickets that she vocalized her hatred of their latest album. Fortunately, they didn’t play much of it. As a precursor to the show, we stopped

off at Viaggio for some Italian dinner. Twas splendid! We then took a buzzed walk over to the show and awed over the comfort and view of our seats! No one in front of us and at the end of the aisle! Cat Power was the opener who I am familiar with but don’t know much about. I described her as ‘more depressing than Aimee Mann’ which Sharon could barely wrap her head around. Crowd became super anxious as a result but as soon as

Mumford showed up, the energy was electric! I’ve never been the hugest fan of theirs but I will say they put on a damn, fine show! Again, left after a handful of songs but know, I would have stayed til the end. And as we left, drenched in the cold rain whoring our make-up, I knew that this and everything else had all been worth the wait.

Oh Hi, March As any Native Chicagoean can attest, the winter never fails to destroy our souls - at least temporarily so.

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voymedia1 · 6 years

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Instagram Ad Examples

Are you looking for incredible Instagram ad examples?

Instead of browsing your Instagram feed in search of sponsored posts to gain industry insights, here you’ll find some of the best Instagram ads used by top brands.

Take note on some of the strategies and styles used in their Instagram ad design.

As you read through this article, ask yourself:

Why is this ad so good?

What makes the copy stand out?

Why did they use this design style?

How can I apply this to my next Instagram Ad campaign?

Now, let’s start analyzing some of the best Instagram ad examples.

1. Bevel

Why is this ad so good?

Bevel has created an ad design that forces your eyes to look at the left-hand side. The image of a man shaving his face and the simple message below makes this a powerful example for grabbing attention and directing it to the main point: shave your face with the Bevel system.

Key takeaways:

Simple, to-the-point copy – This ad makes its points using just 9 words.

Identify a customer’s pain points – Giving your audience something to relate to and connecting with the pain points can catch their curiosity and decide you are the solution.

Create clever hashtags – Take advantage of using hashtags that can tap into new audiences. Here, we see Bevel making a play on their brand with #BevelWorks.

2. Chatbooks

Why is this ad so good?

Chatbooks offers an enticing introduction to their product by offering a free book to first-time buyers. They’re quite clear of the pricing in the text below then follow up with a coupon to get the free book they boldly claim in the image. Brilliant!

Key takeaways:

Offer a free introductory product or service – A great way to encourage new customers to your business is by offering something free.

Make your offer clear – You have only a few moments to capture someone’s attention and having a clear headline can do the trick.

Use coupons – You can see that this ad uses a unique coupon code for their ad, this is great for tracking performance.

3. Headspace

Why is this ad so good?

Headspace’s Instagram ad uses a single word to connect with their audience: anxiety. It’s a sure scroll-stopper to make anyone stop and wonder what it’s all about. The accompanying ad design is complementary to the message indicating that peace of mind can be achieved with your phone.

Key takeaways:

Use the right call to action – Headspace is using this ad to promote their and you should use the right CTA for your campaign (i.e. the “Buy Now” feature to achieve direct sales).

Keep the design simple – Sometimes a cartoony design can be the right choice. Test different design styles and try to keep it simple while connected to your main message.

4. Indiegogo

Why is this ad so good?

Indiegogo’s Instagram ad is extremely bold and eye-catching. The intense red serves as a stop sign while the white text tells you what’s important on the screen.

Key takeaways:

Use bold colors – Don’t be afraid to let a single color dominate the screen if you can contrast it with thick text in an easy-to-read color.

Make bold statements – Try telling a story with your product, service or brand to connect with people on a deeper level.

5. Instabiz Marketing

Why is this ad so good?

Instabiz Marketing is focused on grabbing your attention by using, well, you can see it. Depending on your brand or the types of people you are trying to connect with, this could work. In this case, travel bloggers and aspiring social media influencers may be the target audience here.

Key takeaways:

Focus on your target audience – If you understand your audience, let your images and your message show it.

Use caps-lock carefully – Sometimes using too many consecutive caps can come across as spammy and unprofessional.

6. QuickBooks

Why is this ad so good?

QuickBooks is known for their tax services and this ad makes a clear statement to self-employed individuals and businesses. In this case, Quickbooks is using their Instagram ads to provide a free trial of their software while indicating the savings it would have come tax time.

Key takeaways:

Include relevant facts – In addition to mentioning the benefits of your product or service, don’t forget to add some key facts based on your customer insights.

Use consistent colors – An important part of creating a pleasing image is by aligning similar color throughout the ad image.

7. Spotify

Why is this ad so good?

Here’s a great example of using Instagram ads to promote brand awareness. Instead of focusing on subscriptions, sales, or signups, Shopify uses rolling messages to explain what they’re all about. Give this a try.

Key takeaways:

Promote your brand or business – Instagram’s ad costs are reasonable to set up strategic campaigns to increase your exposure.

Use motion in your ads – Not seen in the screenshot is the scrolling text that passes by. Using videos and GIFs can enhance the number of interactions with your ad.

8. MyPhotify

Why is this ad so good?

This ad delivers an exceptional before-and-after comparison for the product they have featured. This is a great way for prospective customers to see exactly what they could be purchasing and get them a step closer into your sales funnel.

Key takeaways:

Include emojis – emojis are a great way to highlight key elements in your copy while making it fun and interactive.

Include comparisons – If you can highlight the key features that will change your customer’s lives, do it!

Here are a few more mentionable Instagram ads you should check out:

9. EA Sports Insider

10. Giltman

11. BizReach

12. ThriveHive

13. Grammarly

14. Skydive Empuria Brava

15. Clever Ecommerce (Instagram Stories Ad)

16. Precision Nutrition (Instagram Stories Ad)

17. SendGrid

18. Vendasta

19. Rakez

20. Drip CRM

21. Artlist

Before you go, do you want to see some Facebook ad examples? Or, if you want to take your customers on a conversion focused journey, contact us.

The post Instagram Ad Examples appeared first on Facebook Advertising Agency | Facebook Marketing Company.

from Facebook Advertising Agency | Facebook Marketing Company https://voymedia.com/instagram-ad-examples/

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sempiternalsandpitturtle · 6 years

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Head of Strategy Insight: 8 steps to marketing your ICO or cryptocurrency brand effectively

Normally, stumbling across a cryptocurrency article means you’re about to be peppered with investment advice. This isn’t one of those articles.

This article will explore the marketing side of running a cryptocurrency brand, Initial Coin Offering (ICO), or blockchain technology firm.

Because these are such new technologies, and because the brands in this space differ dramatically, applying a strong content marketing strategy can help ensure potential investors fully understand what you’re trying to achieve.

The strategies outlined in this article will use cryptocurrency as an example, but the rules can generally be applied to most businesses.

The basics

If you’ve managed to get to this point of the article and have no idea about cryptocurrency, you don’t need to stop reading. You’ll be hearing a lot about cryptocurrency in the next few years so you should take the time to learn what all the fuss is about.

You can also use this information for your non-cryptocurrency brand, and the following should help you understand some industry-based terminology.

What are cryptocurrencies?

A cryptocurrency is a digital currency that uses cryptography techniques to ensure the data is secure and transparent.

The primary use for cryptocurrency is to replace traditional fiat currencies. It can easily be sent to anyone in the world, and the technology behind it ensures that the ledger cannot be manipulated.

In recent times, many uses for cryptocurrencies have been created that aren’t meant as currencies. Some examples include supply chain solutions (tracking goods through transport), provably fair casino games, data storage, and even decentralised internet access.

A list of the top cryptocurrencies can be found here.

What is the blockchain?

In the banking world, a ledger may be stored on a centralised computer. If that computer gets hacked or has other issues, it’s possible for the data to be lost. Cryptocurrencies use a public ledger (the blockchain) that is unable to be hacked or maliciously edited.

What is an ICO?

An ICO is similar to an IPO (Initial Public Offering) where a company looks for initial investors. In return for their investment people are rewarded with tokens or coins (think shares).

Before you start…

As with anything people are looking to invest in, there is plenty of skepticism. Given the decentralised nature of cryptocurrency, there are plenty of scams skinning people of their life savings.

This fact has made people want to scrutinise every detail of a cryptocurrency they are looking to invest in.

That means your marketing efforts should focus on one key area – trust.

Building trust is the number one key to successfully marketing your cryptocurrency brand. Since investors don’t have any government or regulatory protection, they need to be sure their funds are safe. Many documented scams have put a black cloud over the industry, and it’s your job to make sure your legitimate project is seen for what it is.

If you are running an ICO, you need to focus on trust more than if you are an established cryptocurrency project. People are blindly investing in ICOs and if you want to raise as much funding as possible, people need to know you aren’t running away with their money.

This is a legitimate concern as many projects go for a quick money grab. The graph below (from ICOdata) shows how quickly the amount of funding pumped into ICOs has risen. December 2017 saw 118x more money pumped into ICOs than February of the same year.

Step 1: Create your whitepaper

A whitepaper will be your most important piece of content. This is where you explain your concept in as much detail as possible. For a project without a working product, your whitepaper will do the talking.

There are two key elements to a successful cryptocurrency whitepaper:

1) Detail

Your whitepaper should be as in-depth as possible. This includes all technical details of the project, and a plan to make it successful.

It’s not uncommon for a whitepaper to be 50+ pages long due to the complexity of the project. If this is the length it needs to be to properly describe your project, then you should do it.

The more questions you can answer in the whitepaper, the better it bodes for your project. Your investors will want to know as much as possible before investing. Many will ask questions that can be answered, but many will decide to move on to another project if they can’t immediately see their answer.

It also ensures full transparency. If you leave out important details from your whitepaper, potential investors will wonder why.

Nano has a great example of a technical whitepaper that explores the project in full. Nano offers free and instant transactions on the blockchain using a unique technology. Due to it being a direct competitor of Bitcoin (the current ‘king’ of cryptocurrency), it was important that they fully explained how they can compete.

2) Design

While the Nano whitepaper has a lot of detail, it clearly lacks a modern design.

When you have a lot of technical text, it’s important to make sure people actually read it! This can be done with some basic design.

Layout is the primary design element to explore. Make sure your whitepaper is an easy read. It’s amazing how the exact same text can be absorbed much more effectively just by having a nice layout.

Another key design element is using custom graphics to explain difficult concepts. The use of graphs and charts can help the reader visualise what you are trying to convey

ClearPoll (an Australian-based blockchain project) has a well-designed whitepaper. It’s nothing groundbreaking, but the use of app imagery, flowcharts, and diagrams break up the whitepaper nicely and ensure the reader is very clear about the details of their project.

Finding a balance between detail and design is the key to an effective cryptocurrency whitepaper.

Step 2: Setting your goals and objectives

When we talk about setting your goals and objectives, we’re not talking about what your blockchain project is trying to achieve, but what you want visitors to do on your website.

This will depend on what stage you’re at in terms of getting your project up and running. Here are some stages with some typical goals and objectives:

Pre-ICO

At this stage, no one knows about your project so it’s important to raise awareness. You want to convince people to invest in your project, as well as find a way to continually market to them.

Common tactics include having a very clear communication channel as well as trying to build an email list. The email list can be built by giving visitors a good reason to sign up. For example, suggesting they leave an email address so you can inform them ahead of important dates.

During ICO or token sale

At this stage your website becomes a focal point of your project. You need visitors investing, so you must make it as easy as possible to do so.

Your goal here would be the action of investing. This pathway should be as clear as possible, allowing visitors to invest with as few clicks as possible.

Launch (and thereafter)

Once your project is up and running, your website is now an information hub. Most of the communication and community engagement will be off-site (I cover this later in this article).

Your goals and objectives include sending people to your various communication platforms, building email lists, and constantly building trust through regular content.

You should also have a roadmap you’re constantly updating. While this applies to all of the above stages, you generally won’t have this mapped out in detail until post-funding. Nano has a great example of a detailed roadmap. Step 4 below explores some more graphic-focused roadmaps.

Step 3: Have a good-looking, well-functioning website

Now that you have your whitepaper and have mapped out your goals, it’s time to put it into practice through your website. This step will explore the elements you should have on your website, as well as some great cryptocurrency website examples.

Fast loading time

Blockchain technology is the future. Your brand is trying to demonstrate its technical expertise.

There is nothing worse than having people visit your site and having it take a long time to load. It can damage your brand much more than you might think.

Why would anyone invest money into a cryptocurrency brand that can’t even manage a quick website?

Modern style

Similar to the first point, falling short here is something that can do a lot of damage to your brand. Yes, in a lot of cases, the genius behind your cryptocurrency idea isn’t a website developer or someone with a good user experience eye. But this shouldn’t show.

You don’t need to go overboard with the styling, but ensuring that it’s modern-looking and that the style formats correctly across computer, tablet, and phone browsers is important.

Easy and clear navigation

You want people to be able to find the information they are looking for on your site. You don’t want questions left unanswered as they leave your site looking for another ICO or cryptocurrency to invest in.

Don’t get too fancy by hiding your menus, and just have a clear navigation menu with links to all important pages of your website.

Detailed team pages

Asmentioned multiple times in this article, trust is a huge factor in getting investors on board.

Knowing who is running the project is a must, and is at the top of all investor checklists.

Investors will use this information to further research the team and make sure that they exist (yes, this is a legitimate concern!), and they have the qualifications and expertise to deliver what they have set out in their whitepaper.

Obvious CTAs

Don’t let your visitors figure out what to click on – lead them.

Having compelling calls-to-action (CTAs) will result in visitors interacting with the parts of the site you would prefer them to.

Examples of these site sections might be links to social media pages, downloads, the contact us page, or to where they can purchase your tokens.

Legal disclaimer and privacy policy

Depending on what your project actually does, you might need to cover off some legal requirements.

We’re not experts in what you specifically need to do here, so our suggestion is to seek professional advice and cover all bases.

Examples

Here are some examples of good-looking cryptocurrency websites. They might not be perfect, but they definitely check most of the boxes and have a very trustworthy feel.

Aion

FunFair

Elix

Monero

VeChain

Oyster

Step 4: Create easy-to-understand graphics

Blockchain technology is extremely difficult to understand, even for a highly technical person.

If you limit your investors to people who understand the technical details of your project, you simply won’t raise any money. This is where graphics come into play.

Creating unique, high-quality, informative graphics can make a huge difference in the amount of funding you are able to raise.

With these graphics you want to decipher the technical details of your project into something everyone can understand. Take this gif for example (courtesy of this Reddit post):

One of the main selling points of the OmiseGo project is the number of transactions per second it will be able to process after launching its Plasma network. This graphic is an extremely effective way to compare that number with its competition.

Another complicated area of investing in ICOs or blockchain projects is the funding. Each project might have its own unique funding model that can be confusing for a typical investor.

The below token distribution model from Neon Exchange clearly shows how their token will be split. This creates transparency without having to read a more technical version in the whitepaper.

Pieces of information like roadmaps also work really well as graphics. They can be shared very easily, and allow people to introduce them into discussions about the project. Here is a basic example of how Oyster have turned their roadmap into an easy-to-share graphic.

I would strongly suggest speaking to someone who might struggle with the technical side of your project. If they can’t understand it easily enough, consider turning to graphics for help.

Step 5: Set up social networks

Communicating effectively with the community is another method to build trust and gain further investors while continuing to drive brand confidence.

This section will look at the key channels and how you should work it into your strategy.

Register a subreddit for a place where the community can post and discuss your project. Reddit has one of the biggest cryptocurrency communities, and if you don’t set up your project here yourself the community will do so.

In certain cases, it might be better for it to be community-driven, but in most cases you will want control. This will ensure people are not spamming or spreading FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) that can damage your brand.

Make sure to have active and fair moderators who can control the content without hiding any facts. It’s important that any serious concerns about your project are discussed. It’s always possible that the community has ideas you can feed off.

Telegram & Discord

These networks are used for real-time communication within the communities. They are similar, so use whichever you are most comfortable with.

You can use it to make announcements that are pushed as notifications directly to people who are part of these groups.

As a founder of an ICO or crypto token, you should be active in these communities. One of the best examples of effective communication from a founder is Jez San from the FunFair team. Jez is constantly discussing the project with the community in the official Telegram channel. He isn’t afraid of criticism and has even discussed the project with competitor projects in this public setting

While LinkedIn isn’t necessarily used as a communication channel, it’s important that all members of your team have their work history and experience fully detailed. As previously mentioned, it builds trust and doubles as a way for other corporate professionals to easily get in touch.

Tip: Enable 2FA!

2FA (Two Factor Authentication) is a setting you should enable across all social networks. This means that if your password is compromised, it’s not enough to allow someone to log in to your account. You will have to confirm you are the account owner in another way (email, SMS, authenticator apps).

In recent times there have been a few cases of Twitter accounts getting hacked and posting spam links. A recent example of this is Vertcoin who have since regained access and deleted the malicious tweet.

Step 6: Promote on social media

Recently Facebook banned crypto advertising on its platform in what is seen as a very controversial move.

Where possible, promoting on social media should always be explored as part of your cryptocurrency strategy. Unfortunately this is looking increasingly difficult, but ensure news on this topic is on your radar.

Step 7: Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is a great way to build brand recognition and trust, but you need to be very careful about how you do it.

People hate being deceived, especially when their money in on the line.

When your project is relevant or associated with someone well-known in the industry, it might be a good idea to reach out and try to get some kind of promotion happening through them.

When an industry leader mentions your project, it will gain attention and have people looking into it. However, this can go really bad if you choose the wrong person.

John McAfee, the controversial founder of the anti-virus software, McAfee, has been quoted as asking for $105,000 per tweet to promote an ICO or crypto brand. The first few times he promoted brands, the token price skyrocketed. People were even setting up trading bots to automatically buy any token mentioned in his tweets.

Once it was obvious that he wasn’t actually recommending these tokens, but instead being paid to promote them, the validity of his tweets dropped dramatically. So much so that many brand are actively avoiding any mention of their project by McAfee.

Bitconnect, which was a widely known pyramid scheme using its own cryptocurrency token, has had many promoters run into legal issues following its collapse. Various YouTube personalities who heavily promoted the scam are being sued by people who lost a lot of money.

Any tokens associated with these personalities prior to the Bitconnect collapse will always be questioned.

For those who still defend the validity of Bitconnect, the below video should help…

youtube

Step 8: Ongoing content

This step is one that never ends. Continuously creating content means you are staying ahead of the competition, as the majority of crypto projects fail to produce regular material.

Too many brands follow the first 7 steps of this guide, and then just leave it alone – that is a big mistake.

Video

You can build trust with regular videos. I’m not talking about explanatory videos (those are great too), but instead interviews or vlog-style videos. The idea here is that a key team member can talk about a topic in detail in video form. Showing your face proves you are real, and if you ooze confidence that can be a big plus.

Blogging

Regularly updating your blog is important. Not everyone will be part of your social networks and discussions, and many investors will be new to your project. Having a full blog allows them to read back through the history of the project, and look into the insightful topics that you cover there.

Social updates

Constantly posting on social media shows that the project isn’t dead. As ridiculous as it sounds, this is another worry for investors in the crypto world.

This doesn’t need to entail major project updates, just simple posts like a photo of the team working in the office, or something topical. This humanises the team and again gives confidence to investors.

Trust

To end this article, let’s look back to the theme of this guide – trust.

Every piece of your crypto content marketing strategy needs to continually improve trust in order to get investors on board.

Given the decentralised nature of the space, there is generally no regulatory body overseeing these projects. This may change in the future, but you should play the game as if it won’t.

Before making any content marketing move just ask yourself “will this help build trust?”. If the answer is no, you should rethink your idea.

Trent Paul

Head of Strategy

from http://bit.ly/2saTBXN

#content marketing

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sualkmedeiors · 7 years

Text

Three Steps to Identify Trending Content

A typical day in the life of a content marketer is somewhat like this: get into work, log in, grab a cup of coffee and, on a good day, get straight down to business to create top trending content that grabs thousands of eyeballs. On a bad day, you’ll often find us tearing out our hair, trying to figure out what makes for content that people actually want to read. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

The trick is to take off your marketing hat and think like a consumer while brainstorming for relevant content. This seems counter-intuitive, but if you take a step back, you’ll see that people really want to read about things they care about or more often than not: top trending topics. That is the (not so) secret behind creating content that converts.

Then there’s the small matter of finding content that’s relevant to your industry—and the near-constant influx of content on every social channel doesn’t always help matters. So, what do you do? More importantly, how do you ride the wave of a top trending topic before it starts trending? We all know serious content production can’t really happen overnight. In this blog, I’ll share three easy steps to identify trending content.

Step 1: Use Your Audience

The first step is to find out where your audience hangs out. Is it Reddit? Is it Twitter? Imgur? While looking for top trending content, it’s essential to bring all the knowledge you have about your audience to the table and use every bit of it. That’s what Asos did for their Winter 2012 campaign which won them a —one of the highest honors that can be bestowed upon advertisers and marketers—and additionally, a cool £5m in sales. They were well aware that the process of “getting ready” was a big deal for their target audience and they harnessed this fact to draft a highly successful campaign.

We can’t all be Asos, but we definitely know where to look for information that can help us formulate campaigns that do wonders for our business.

There are several free social media monitoring tools online that you can use to find ideas for content such as Google Trends, RiteTag, and TweetDeck. At Talkwalker, we use our very own Free Social Search tool to identify trending topics that have the potential of becoming the next big thing for our target audience.

Let’s take a look at another brand, Anastasia Beverly Hills for example. This makeup brand has an outstanding social authority and a bunch of top trending hashtags for the makeup/cosmetics category. If I’m looking to find the next prominent hashtag or marketing campaign, I can do a quick search on my own hashtag, in this case: #anastasiabeverlyhills.

I can scroll down to related topics and identify a couple of emerging hashtags—in this case, #wakeupandmakeup and #makeupartist—and draft my next marketing campaign based on my findings. I can also target Instagram as my primary marketing channel because 97.5% of my social activity is happening there.

Voila! I have now outsourced my content brainstorming to my audience.

Step 2: Stay Relevant, Stay (Top) Trending

The most important thing to keep in mind when drafting a piece of content is relevance. It’s vital to understand the difference between what customers want to read and what we, as marketers, think they want to read. Lines get blurry after several rounds of editing which in the end produces content that doesn’t add value to the readers’ lives and most definitely doesn’t make it to the top trending category. Most readers really just want to read content that is useful—something they can apply in their daily lives or even better, their Airbnb understood this and used it in their brilliant #livethere campaign from last year. They leveraged the fact that the millennial traveler doesn’t just want to tick things off their bucket lists—they want to experience a place like a local when they visit it.

Thus, Airbnb Experiences was born.

Note that Airbnb didn’t launch Experiences until last year—illustrating that timing (and relevance) really is everything.

Step 3: Keep it Simple

Content should be easily digestible. Period. You want to make sure that people don’t have to re-read sentences and paragraphs to make sense of what you’re trying to say. It works even better if you’re able to present your information in a relatable and humorous manner. You want your readers to be nodding along to your content as they read it because that’s what’s going to ensure that they keep reading till the end, and click on that CTA button you strategically placed. For a good example of this, take a page out of Kissmetrics’ book—not only is their blog content informative, but it’s also easy to understand and is genuinely useful for anyone who wants to learn more about marketing. They leverage the importance of segmenting and targeting your audience. Their content flows like a conversation, and unless you’re very, very sleepy, chances are you won’t stop reading, even though it’s long.

For an example of keeping it simple, that relates back to my first example for Anastasia Beverly Hills, something along the lines of a 2-3 minute #wakeupandmakeup brow challenge for make-up artists would be a good option.

Once you’ve figured out what the next big viral wave and top trending topic(s) could be and have designed your content and campaigns around it, it’s vital that you keep riding it until it dies down. This means outreach and influencer marketing should be added to your strategy as well. After all, content is only as good as the number of eyeballs it grabs, and a little help from influencers combined with lots of tracking and analysis doesn’t hurt.

Ultimately, good content and a high converting blog boil down to just two things: identifying top trending topics that your readers are talking about (or are likely to talk about shortly) and delivering crisp, informative content that resonates with them.

Do you have a formula for identifying trending topics? I’d love to hear in the comments below.

The post Three Steps to Identify Trending Content appeared first on Marketo Marketing Blog - Best Practices and Thought Leadership.

from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/modernb2bmarketing/~3/THnxvpCAoPU/three-steps-identify-trending-content.html

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maxslogic25 · 7 years

Text

Three Steps to Identify Trending Content

Step 1: Use Your Audience

We can’t all be Asos, but we definitely know where to look for information that can help us formulate campaigns that do wonders for our business.

Voila! I have now outsourced my content brainstorming to my audience.

Step 2: Stay Relevant, Stay (Top) Trending

Thus, Airbnb Experiences was born.

Note that Airbnb didn’t launch Experiences until last year—illustrating that timing (and relevance) really is everything.

Step 3: Keep it Simple

Do you have a formula for identifying trending topics? I’d love to hear in the comments below.

The post Three Steps to Identify Trending Content appeared first on Marketo Marketing Blog - Best Practices and Thought Leadership.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8217493 https://blog.marketo.com/2017/10/three-steps-identify-trending-content.html

0 notes

racheltgibsau · 7 years

Text

Three Steps to Identify Trending Content

Step 1: Use Your Audience

We can’t all be Asos, but we definitely know where to look for information that can help us formulate campaigns that do wonders for our business.

Voila! I have now outsourced my content brainstorming to my audience.

Step 2: Stay Relevant, Stay (Top) Trending

Thus, Airbnb Experiences was born.

Note that Airbnb didn’t launch Experiences until last year—illustrating that timing (and relevance) really is everything.

Step 3: Keep it Simple

Do you have a formula for identifying trending topics? I’d love to hear in the comments below.

The post Three Steps to Identify Trending Content appeared first on Marketo Marketing Blog - Best Practices and Thought Leadership.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8217493 https://blog.marketo.com/2017/10/three-steps-identify-trending-content.html

0 notes

archiebwoollard · 7 years

Text

Three Steps to Identify Trending Content

Step 1: Use Your Audience

We can’t all be Asos, but we definitely know where to look for information that can help us formulate campaigns that do wonders for our business.

Voila! I have now outsourced my content brainstorming to my audience.

Step 2: Stay Relevant, Stay (Top) Trending

Thus, Airbnb Experiences was born.

Note that Airbnb didn’t launch Experiences until last year—illustrating that timing (and relevance) really is everything.

Step 3: Keep it Simple

Do you have a formula for identifying trending topics? I’d love to hear in the comments below.

The post Three Steps to Identify Trending Content appeared first on Marketo Marketing Blog - Best Practices and Thought Leadership.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8217493 https://blog.marketo.com/2017/10/three-steps-identify-trending-content.html

0 notes

zacdhaenkeau · 7 years

Text

Three Steps to Identify Trending Content

Step 1: Use Your Audience

We can’t all be Asos, but we definitely know where to look for information that can help us formulate campaigns that do wonders for our business.

Voila! I have now outsourced my content brainstorming to my audience.

Step 2: Stay Relevant, Stay (Top) Trending

Thus, Airbnb Experiences was born.

Note that Airbnb didn’t launch Experiences until last year—illustrating that timing (and relevance) really is everything.

Step 3: Keep it Simple

Do you have a formula for identifying trending topics? I’d love to hear in the comments below.

The post Three Steps to Identify Trending Content appeared first on Marketo Marketing Blog - Best Practices and Thought Leadership.

from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8217493 https://blog.marketo.com/2017/10/three-steps-identify-trending-content.html

0 notes

almostsuperdream · 7 years

Text

Biggest Takeaways from Podcast Movement 2017

For the fourth year in a row Podcast Movement brought podcasters from around the world together to learn, share and experience what it means to say the words “I am a podcaster”.

While not everyone at the conference identified as a podcaster, including Payne Lindsey from the hit true crime show Up and Vanished, along with the trio behind Undisclosed, the vast majority celebrated the fact that with a voice, a microphone, and value to share, you can make a huge impact.

But unlike previous years, it wasn’t all about the numbers in Anaheim, CA.

If you’re a podcaster, then you know what it’s like to sign into Libsyn, and then proceed to hit refresh on your stats over,

and over,

and over.

But this year’s focus didn’t have anything to do with refreshing your stats.

As Dan Carlin put it in his keynote Wednesday afternoon, “It’s not about how many people are listening, but about who is listening.”

This is a quote that stuck with me, and even today I continue to remind myself of this fact.

Without the connections we have with our audience – those who are actually tuning in to listen – what else do we have?

What went down at Podcast Movement 2017

To help set the tone for what we knew would be an incredible three days, we hosted a pre-conference workshop sponsored by the #1 online community for podcasters, Podcasters’ Paradise, called From Idea to Launch, and Beyond.

During the 8 hour workshop we shared actionable steps plus proven strategies to help the 60 podcasters who signed up to spend the day with us how to do just that: go from idea to launch, and beyond.

But way before we created the workshop outline, John and I knew that with the help of other podcasters – those who are currently in the trenches and have great experiences and lessons to share – we could deliver tenfold on the value.

And so we invited five other podcasters to help us cover different topics within each of the four sessions in our Workshop: The Idea, The How, The Launch, and Beyond.

Weeks of preparation, three group calls, and a lot of worksheets later, we took the stage to share every last detail for podcasters both old and new.

Some of the biggest takeaways for the attendees included the importance of having a launch strategy, how easy it is to get setup with the right equipment, and why building a funnel for your business is critical to its success.

Here’s JLD’s Funnel Formula he shared during the Workshop:

The morning and afternoon came and went, and before we knew it we were headed to the hotel restaurant and bar to host our annual Podcasters’ Paradise meet up!

With about 100 podcasters from the Paradise community in attendance, we were able to meet a lot of members who we’d previously only communicated with online.

After the Paradise meet up we made our way over to one of the event rooms to catch a screening of The Messengers Documentary, which went live on iTunes at midnight that night!

Big shout out to Chris Krimitsos and his crew for delivering a very important message: podcasting is a medium unlike any other; one that will allow you to share your message with the world and impact millions in the process.

Our last stop of the night: Bowlmor, and bowling alley just a few blocks from where we were staying.

This is where the Podcast Websites meet up was hosted, and we closed the night out strong wearing stripped shoes and knockin’ over pins. :)

Wednesday at Podcast Movement

Wednesday started off with a huge bang: Amy Porterfield, Pat Flynn and yours truly, JLD, took the stage together to chat about what’s hot in podcasting right now.

Amy chatted about the importance of batching and how that has helped her not only stay on schedule and consistent, but also how it has helped her grow her audience and brand.

One of my favorite tips from Amy: every single time she sits down with her team to create episodes outlines, they run each of them through a checklist to guarantee what she’s about to create will be a high level of greatness.

Pat chatted about standout episodes – the best and the worst – and it was cool to hear from each of the panelists what they thought was their best / worst.

Amy shared a 2-part series as her best: the first episode was a mini-training (how to), and the second episode was with one of her actual students who had put into practice what she had just covered.

You can check this 2-part series out on Amy’s podcast, which focuses on her pre-sale strategy: episode 149 and episode 150.

A really cool idea for anyone thinking about leveraging a 2-part episode series to help promote a product or community!

Pat focused on his top-downloaded episode, an interview with LeadPages founder Clay Collins. Clay talked about “laddering up” and shared some incredible insights on how he built a 7-figure business, step by step.

JLD chatted about funnels and the importance of taking your avatar – your ideal listener – on a journey. You can check out the JLD Funnel Formula above :)

Next up on stage? Me! And I received one heck of an intro from Shey Harms, founder of Lake Zen.

Incredibly nervous and standing in front of a crowd with standing room only, I clicked ‘right’ on a brand new presentation: Audience Growth and Meaningful Monetization with Podcasting Systems.

Through covering the 3 things every podcast needs to achieve this, I gifted 3 very different systems, each of which consist of 5 simple steps.

Those 3 things:

1. Valuable Content 2. Consistent Content 3. Purposeful Content

The most important thing to consider when it comes to implementing any – or all – of these 3 systems is COMMITMENT.

If you can commit to doing the 5 steps listed below under any given system – making these a habit for you and your podcast creation – then you will make progress when it comes to audience growth and meaningful monetization.

Valuable Content

Step 1: Define avatar – your one perfect listener Step 2: Identify niche – niche till it hurts Step 3: Go find them – online communities, events, conferences Step 4: Ask them – Skype chat, SpeakPipe, email, comments Step 5: Listen – what are the recurring struggles & questions?

Consistent Content

Step 1: Plan it – theming vs. batching; 1 month ahead Step 2: Schedule it – take out your calendar Step 3: Record it – plug in your mic – it’s go time! Step 4: Edit it – my fav editing hack Step 5: Publish it – upload & schedule to go live

Purposeful Content

Step 1: What should they do? – rotate 5 CTA’s in your eps Step 2: Map out your ladder – what happens next? Step 3: Create a series – content outline + a plan Step 4: Create the funnel – email campaign with content + offer Step 5: Create the next step – proof of concept, then create

That afternoon I hopped around to a few different presentations, but mostly focused on spending some time at our booth in the main hall and meeting others who were also sponsoring the event.

The biggest difference between this year and last was that our booth was actually a booth that sat front and center by the main entrance.

We were also very lucky to have 3 sets of helping hands this year:

Zach Hesterberg of So Zesty, a social media marketing company

Travis Chappell of the Build Your Network podcast, and

Berto Laguna

Knowing there was great representation sharing The Freedom and Mastery Journals with attendees took a ton of stress away and allowed us to make the most of our conference time.

By 3pm that afternoon we were settling in for the first two keynotes of the event: the trio behind Undisclosed, and then, Dan Carlin from Hardcore History.

While it was interesting to hear how Undisclosed got started, I can’t say there was a ton of value being shared through the presentation. At one point, there was even confusion around where everyone actually lived – something you’d think you would know about your co-hosts.

Dan Carlin on the other hand was very high up on my short list of favorites, which I have to assume was in part due to his amazing stage partner, Andrew Warner of Mixergy, who was leading the conversation.

Value bombs from Dan included:

“It’s not about how many people are listening, it’s about who is listening.”

“If it’s not for the listeners, it’s for no one.”

And something along the lines of “don’t cheat your listeners out of receiving great content. The quality of your content is so important.”

We capped Wednesday ON FIRE with a dinner at California Pizza Kitchen and an after party put on by iHeartRadio at The Fifth, a roof deck bar overlooking Disney Land.

While I was incredibly tempted to head back to the hotel around 11pm, I found myself on the roof deck until close to 1am catching up with friends both old and new and enjoying being outdoors for the first time all day.

Thursday at Podcast Movement

Luckily, I don’t have trouble sleeping, because Thursday morning brought another full day!

To start the morning off, I attended a session by Jodi Flynn of Women Taking the Lead. Her talk was all about how to avoid “podfading”.

Just in case you haven’t heard the term before, podfading refers to those who launch a podcast, then within a few weeks or months drop off the face of the earth with no explanation.

Jodi put together an easy-to-follow and super smart plan for making sure this doesn’t happen to you.

It included 3 checkpoints you can review if – or when – you start to wonder whether or not you can continue on with your podcast.

Those 3 checkpoints:

1. Your Why 2. Your Community 3. Your Goals

After Jodi’s talk I hooked up with 3 incredible podcasters who I’d be sharing the stage with for a panel later that day called Cashing in on Content: How to Leverage Your Niche Audience.

The trio of greatness:

Josh Brown, host of Franchise Euphoria

Vanessa Merten, host of The Pregnancy Podcast

Kara Lamerato, host of The Wedding Planning Podcast

We ducked into the speakers lounge to review the flow, and by 1pm I found myself on stage for the third time in 3 days!

This awesome pic is compliments of the PM17 App newsfeed:

The theme we stuck with throughout the panel is the idea that niching down allows you to stand out.

With a laser focus on providing the most amount of value possible, the panel shared what they’ve learned post-launch about the importance of niching down and engaging with your audience to help your show grow.

And because each of these podcasters has monetized their show in very different ways, it was incredibly valuable to hear how they each got there.

For Josh, his podcast has helped him bring in at least 23 new clients for his business, Indy Franchise Law.

For Vanessa, her podcast has given her the opportunity to bring on sponsors that have relevant offerings for her niche audience: pregnant women.

And for Kara, her podcast audience asked, and she listened! Just this year Kara created The Wedding Planning Video Vault, a video series to help newly engaged couples navigate every step of their journey to wedding day.

After the panel I couldn’t help but be drawn to Payne Lindsey’s room – the guy I mentioned earlier who doesn’t identify as a podcaster (even though he has a hit podcast that actually helped solve an 11-year-old cold case of a girl gone missing in Georgia).

Because I had just recently binged the entire podcast it was really cool to see him on stage and hear him talk about the process he followed in order to create and produce such an intense, high-quality and engaging show.

However, I couldn’t help but challenge him on the fact that he didn’t identify as a podcaster – he was on stage talking about the success and impact of the podcast with a t-shirt that read: “I am not a podcaster”.

While I didn’t get a straight answer from him, I guess I can’t argue how someone else feels.

Although it would be great if those who were leveraging the medium to create such amazing content – content that is having a huge impact on the real world – would proudly identify with being a podcaster. The medium and industry could certainly use the good press! Spreading the word about podcasting is the only way it grows.

Friday at Podcast Movement

Bright and early Friday morning I was front and center to see our Podcast Websites partner, Mark Asquith, present!

Mark talked about dominating your niche with series podcasting, which was extra appealing to me since a couple of years ago I moved to seasons on my podcast, Kate’s Take.

Mark brought out a ton of great points regarding how your podcast is published depending on whether it’s a series podcast or just an ongoing one.

For example, he recommended pushing your season to its own feed once published (while also keeping it live on your “main feed”).

This gives those who might just be searching podcasts for a specific topic an opportunity to find targeted, focused episodes on exactly what they’re interested in.

Mark also mentioned the sponsorship opportunities for a podcast that has focused seasons on niche content, which is something I hadn’t really thought about before.

After Mark it was on to the final two keynotes of the event – the first one by Aaron Mahnke of the hit podcast Lore.

I’ve heard a ton about this podcast – it’s always at the top of the iTunes charts and it comes highly recommended. But for whatever reason I haven’t tuned in yet – until just a few days ago.

Not only was he an amazing speaker on stage, but he had so much passion and feeling around the topic of podcasting and how to do it right. It was an amazing way to wrap up the event.

Aaron talked about there being 5 things every podcaster should focus on, and those 5 things are:

1. Be consistent

Set listener expectations

If you want podcasting to be your full time job, act like it

Don’t disappoint your listeners with your schedule, format, frequency, or quality

2. Be prepared

You’re taking people on a journey, and you have to be prepared in order to do that

Everyone is a storyteller behind the mic – no matter what their podcast is

3. Be respectful

Time, money and attention are our most valued and limited resources

Your listeners are tuning in for a reason; deliver it already!

If you have a sponsor, be respectful of them

4. Be original

Don’t copy – be unique!

5. Be focused

Your job is to make a damn good show, not to find out how to make money

Podcasting is like flying a kite. If you build a crappy kite, it won’t fly.

To close it out strong Podcast Movement brought back Shannon Cason of Homemade Stories.

Shannon focused on WHY people podcast.

Throughout his presentation he had audio clips from other speakers and attendees who were at Podcast Movement.

He asked them: “Why do you podcast?”

The range was wide – everything from “Because I like to hear my own voice” to “Because I have a message to share and an impact to make”.

I guess it goes to show that everyone podcasts for a different reason, and it’s important to remember why we do what we do.

Biggest Takeaways from Podcast Movement

After Podcast Movement I reached out to our podcasting community who attended and asked them:

What was YOUR biggest takeaway from Podcast Movement?

Here’s what they had to say…

My name is Jaime Jay and I host a podcast called Stop Riding the Pine.

My #1 takeaway from PM17 was that I really need to be open to new ideas.

I met so many awesome people that are doing great things in the podcast world. Just when I think I’m getting ahead, I learn more new things that keep challenging me to get better.

This event served as a great reminder that I need to keep pushing forward. It was a blast seeing old friends and making new friends. I loved this event and am very happy to have attended!

My name is Josh Brown and I host the podcast Franchise Euphoria.

My #1 takeaway from PM17 was that my podcast needs to now become the Hub from which all my digital and social media efforts spoke off from.

It became abundantly clear at PM17 that rather than having a social media campaign that includes just sending out my Podcast as part of my marketing efforts, I should make my Podcast the central hub from which all of my social media content flows in terms of topic, focus, etc.

As an example, if my next episode on my Podcast regards franchising a restaurant, then all of my social media marketing should revolve around that focused topic.

This may seem obvious to a lot of people, but it was certainly an “ah ha” moment for me at PM17.

My name is Mary Albee and I host the podcast Pure Dog Talk.

My #1 takeaway from PM17 was the smart tech opportunities coming with Alexa, Apple Homepod and Google adding optimized podcasts to voice searchable content.

My name is John Lee Dumas and I host the podcast Entrepreneurs On Fire.

My #1 takeaway from PM17 was that everyone needs to be Podcasting with a purpose.

Just turning on a mic and talking is not a winning strategy.

Your Podcast should have a funnel, which is the journey you take your listener on that ends with some kind of product, service, community, or VALUE BOMB.

Strategic planning wins.

My name is Mark Asquith and I host the podcast The 7 Minute Mentor.

My #1 takeaway from PM17 was to be a story teller!

It doesn’t matter your niche or focus, you have to captivate people with stories that MATTER!

My name is Shawn Park and I host the podcast Be Your Own Nerd.

My #1 takeaway from PM17 was to “Just Launch” my podcast.

I need to stop over planning, overthinking, and need to stop making sure everything is perfect because it will never be.

My name is H. Guthrie Chamberlain, III and I host the podcast Wisdom-Trek.

My #1 takeaway from PM17 was that it was a privilege to speak on the PMx stage and get to meet 11 other excellent speakers and hear their presentations.

It will help to improve my speaking opportunities in the future. Also, the networking and connections made are invaluable.

My name is Paula Chamberlain and I will host the podcast A Quilter’s Life.

My #1 takeaway from PM17 was that there was strong support for my soon-to-be-released podcast A Quilter’s Life, where I’ll be interviewing quilters and sharing their stories on why they quilt and how that passion integrates into their overall life stories.

If you attended Podcast Movement 2017 we hope you enjoyed it!

If not, there’s always next year! Podcast Movement 2018 will be in Philly, and we can’t wait to see you there!

The post Biggest Takeaways from Podcast Movement 2017 appeared first on Entrepreneurs on Fire with John Lee Dumas.

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steampunkfan · 7 years