Common Social Media Marketing Terms Decoded
If you’re involved in digital marketing, chances are you’ve heard terms like ‘SEO’, ‘engagement' and ‘analytics’ thrown around, often with no explanations or convoluted descriptions. We’ve put together the complete guide of need-to-know social media marketing terms and what they mean for you and your brand. You’ll be bragging about your EDM strategies, your cost per click and conversion rates in no time with our quick guide of digital marketing definitions!
Common Social Media Marketing Terms
A/B testing
A/B split testing refers to testing multiple ads on your target market, where the social media platform (e.g. Facebook) records your best performing ads, and refines your creative as a result. To undergo split testing, you’ll need multiple creative executions of the same ad (variations in copy, different imagery, differing hashtags), and you can run as many of these variations as you like. The platform you’re advertising on records your audience responses such as reactions, comments, shares, or whether people hide or complain about the ad. Split testing is highly recommended, as it means the ads being shown to your target market are the ads which are most likely to succeed.
Analytics
Social media analytics refer to the statistics gathered from your ad sets, which tell you more about your target market and their social media habits. Your digital analytics will tell you who is engaging with your content, how they’re engaging with it (e.g. are they sharing the content? clicking through to your website? are certain times more popular than others?), and from this data you can make more informed decisions regarding your advertising. Analytics are one of the most valuable resources in forming your marketing strategy, and is a major part of the rise of social media advertising over traditional medias (such as billboards or magazine ads).
Clickbait
‘Clickbait’ headlines or tags are a marketing strategy which aims to drive an audience to a site or external link, through creating intentionally vague & dramatic, sometimes misleading headlines. Examples include: “You’ll never guess what Kim wore!” or “Oprah’s live interview: We’re SHOCKED by what she does next!”.
While clickbait headlines can be effective in encouraging people to click through to the next page, headlines like this can also drive consumer distrust or frustration.
Content creation
Content creation simply refers to the creation of images, text, videos, audio files, or any other content to be shared on social media. A lot of advertising or marketing agencies may offer content creation services, which is done by writers, photographers, videographers, editors, animators and stylists, and is posted strategically to engage an audience with a brand.
Conversion rate
The definition of your ‘conversion rate’ will vary depending on your marketing strategies. For example, if you’re running an ad set to encourage people to sign up for your newsletter, your ‘conversion rate’ will refer to how many people fill out the sign-up form. However if your ad set is designed to redirect people to your website, your ‘conversion rate’ will be a record of how many people have visited your site as a result of your ad. Your conversion rates will usually take into account how many people your ad was shown to, and is used to develop your ‘cost per click’.
Cost per click
Your ‘cost per click’ is a summary of how much your ad’s are costing you for every ‘converstion’. Ideally, you would like your cost per click as low as possible, because this means you are getting a higher ROI. Part of what A/B split testing takes into account is your ‘cost per click’, so the ads which are ultimately run are the most cost effective ads for your page.
EDM’s (Email Direct Marketing)
Email direct marketing is advertising in the form of direct emails to your client base. A common use of EDM’s is to promote an upcoming sale or special offer, inform customers of new products and releases, or simply to create a positive brand image by sending out relevant content. EDM’s usually record how many people click-through on your email, which contribute to your marketing analytics.
Engagement & Reach
‘Engagement’ and ‘Reach’ are two of the most common terms in digital marketing, and are both measures of the success of your ads. Engagement refers to how people respond to your ad, so ‘healthy’ engagement means having a high amount of reactions/comments/reposts for the amount of people who’ve seen your ad, and is usually calculated as a percentage. Reach on the other hand refers to the amount of people who’ve seen your ad. Effective advertising usually means striking the right balance between having lots of people see your ads, but also having those people respond positively to it. Social media marketers will focus on generating engagement or reach depending on your campaign; if you’re launching a new product you might focus on achieving a high ad reach, whereas if you’re encouraging people to attend a local event, your ads may focus on driving engagement.
Impressions
Your ‘impressions’ amongst your target audience are similar to your ad frequency. Impressions simply refers to how often your ads are shown to your target market, which is used to develop your engagement rates & cost per click.
Influencer
An ‘influencer’ is refers to a social media account with a significant amount of followers or likes, usually due to the quality or unique value of their content. Generally, an influencer has a minimum of 10k followers, while a ‘mega-influencer’ usually has at least 100k followers. Some brands use influencers as a highly targeted way of advertising to their particular audiences. Influencer marketing can yield a high ROI (return on investment) and has a good track record of fostering consumer trust. We’ve written another piece about digital influencers, which you can find here.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
SEO (Search engine optimisation) is a popular digital marketing technique, and is usually completed by a digital marketer with specific experience or training in writing for SEO. By choosing specific words or phrases over others, and careful decisions about where these words appear on your site or page, your website may appear before others when consumers are searching for a particular product or service, via a search engine such as Google or Bing. Investing in SEO allows can increase the likelihood of consumers choosing your brand over competitors, however this service can sometimes be expensive, so make sure you review all your analytics if you take this path!
Want to pencil in some time to chat to our team about your marketing strategy in 2018? Contact us at [email protected] or visit our Consulting Sessions page to make a booking.
The anatomy of a great website
Whether you are a startup company or are in need of a business refresh, an important component of any digital marketing strategy is a great website.
Why? Essentially, all content marketing strategies begin with a website. This is where you host important info about your brand, and create content to share across your social media channels.
Having a great website will not only optimise leads and increase enquiries for your brand, it will also engage your potential consumers and encourage them to revisit your site time and time again.
Unsure what your website needs? Read on below for the anatomy of a great website.
It’s easy to navigate:
Approximately 55% of consumers spend around 15 seconds on a website which means you need to be able to captivate them instantly and not lose them amongst menus that are difficult to navigate, unnecessary visuals or information. The key to a great website is to have a straightforward and succinct menu, so when your consumer lands on your website they know exactly what to click on to find what they are after.
It’s responsive:
If there’s one thing that you must do when fixing up your existing website or creating a new design it’s to ensure your website is responsive and mobile friendly! More than 60% of people browse the internet on their mobiles and tablets now, so it’s vital to ensure your mobile site looks great and works well. That includes ensuring it fits nicely on the screen, is engaging, captivating, has social sharing buttons, easy navigation and everything else required for a great website.
Great content:
So you’ve got people to your website (congrats!) now you have to keep them there! That’s where great content is invaluable as it helps to keep people on your site longer as you have something engaging and useful for them to read, watch or connect with. Great content includes about pages, information on landing pages including product and service descriptions and of course a great blog. A blog is one of the most powerful ways to captivate your consumer, generate sales and increase SEO.
Social Networks:
Now that you’ve got all of the above essentials it’s time to make sure your website and its content can be shared easily on social media networks and that visitors know where to find you on social media so that they can follow along. Why not put sharing buttons above all images and include visible social media icons on your website so consumers can join your online community.
Is your business in need of a new website? Whether you are starting from scratch or are wanting to update your current site, get in touch with Melbourne Social Co today and we can create the perfect website and content to suit your business.
Content Marketing For Business
Here at Melbourne Social Co, we are big believers in the importance of content marketing for businesses. Why? It helps to increase SEO, it builds brand awareness and provides extra value to your consumer.
Are you ready to start using content marketing for your business? We've listed the key reasons why you should…
It increases SEO:
If you want to increase your website’s SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) then high-quality and search-friendly content is a must. This content should be unique and original and should include relevant keywords which will boost your ranking on Google, so you can continue to attract more visitors.
It provides value to your audience:
As consumers become more and more savvy, it’s important that you give your brand a point of difference, and offer something via your digital strategy that will add value to your consumers' daily life, encouraging them to keep coming back for more. This is where content marketing comes into play. Think of engaging blogs, eye-catching imagery and emails filled with tips and tricks as ways to entice your consumer to stay engaged with your business.
It helps to build brand awareness:
Content marketing is all about creating and distributing relevant content to attract and increase your consumer engagement. This increase in consumer engagement means more people are listening and connecting with your business and in turn are more likely to buy your product or your service. Types of content marketing you could use to increase your brand awareness include blogs and email marketing, which help to capture the attention of your consumer, increase brand awareness, provide value, generate sales and increase SEO! Sounds perfect right?!
Are you ready to take the next step and build your business’s content marketing? From website content, to blogs, engaging imagery, email marketing and creative copy for your social media channels, Melbourne Social Co does it all.
Get in touch with us to find out how we can help your business today.
Want to learn how to get that great content of yours 'out there'?
Take our Social Co Academy short online course.
Why Content Is King
You’d have to be living under a rock, or a very full shopping bag, to not have seen the rise of the art of content marketing.
Whether it be a blog, beautiful imagery for Instagram and Pinterest, or engaging copy for your social media channels – by now you’ve no doubt heard that content is king!
But why is creating good quality content important for your business? Here are our top three reasons why content creation is a vital part of your marketing strategy.
- It gives your brand personality and sets you apart from the crowd. If you want to create a point of difference for your business in a crowded market place, developing your brand’s personality is a great place to start and the best way to do this is through content marketing. Use blog posts, images, videos and social media interaction to connect with your customers and share your passion, knowledge and skills in a way that people want to connect with.
- It aids Search Engine Optimisation. Not only does great content give businesses a way to connect with consumers online and share information about the business and it’s services, it can also be a fantastic SEO tool and can work to improve your Google ranking.
- It provides you with engaging material to share on social media. For maximum reach on social media, we recommend businesses post online at least 2-3 times per day. This may seem like a lot of work, but when it comes to social media marketing, consistency is key. You can assume that each time you post online only 20-30% of your following will see your content – so now you see why it’s important to have a presence throughout the day to ensure visibility. By consistently creating quality content for your brand, you will have plenty of engaging material to share out to your audience online, putting your brand one step closer to social media success!
Here at Melbourne Social Co, we understand that when you’re running a business, finding time to create engaging content and consistently manage your social media presence can be stressful and time consuming.
That’s where we come in.
Melbourne Social Co has a team of highly experienced content creators at our fingertips. From bloggers, to photographers and stylists – we have the right content creator to suit your business.
We will customise a content creation package to suit your business. Contact us today to find out more!
The Lowdown on Search Engine Optimisation
Chances are you’ve heard of the term Search Engine Optimisation (or as it’s commonly referred to – SEO) however you may be a little confused about what it actually is, why you need it and how to implement an SEO strategy for your business.
But never fear! If you are having some trouble understanding Search Engine Optimisation read on below as we break down some of the basics so you can improve your website or blog today.
SEO Basics:
What is it?
SEO refers to the process of implementing strategies to optimise your online content to make it easier for people to find your website when they search on Google. As there are many websites competing with yours to be ranked high on Google's pages, it’s vital to use key techniques to increase your visibility online and make your website stand out from the rest. These techniques focus on the concept of creating high quality and authentic online content, with the help of keywords, social media accounts, new and engaging content, original images and more.
Why do I need it?
SEO is vital for any business that wants to increase their visibility on Google, resulting in increased traffic and overall sales. Whether you are a new business or an established company, it’s essential to start implementing these strategies today.
How can I do it?
In order to increase your website visibility on search engines there are a variety of key tactics you can implement. However it’s important to know that Search Engine Optimisation takes time and your main goal should be to produce amazing and unique online content that consumers love and engage with, in conjunction with essential SEO techniques. If you combine these two concepts, not only will your ranking continue to grow, but you'll be engaging potential customers/fans as well, encouraging them to keep coming back to your site.
Here are some great SEO tips to get you started:
- Identify and use relative keywords throughout your website content
- Distribute your website content through a variety of online channels including social media, blogs and email marketing
- Create quality, authentic content that engages your fans and consumers
- Add a blog onto your website so you can integrate quality content, keywords and unique images
- Use unique and original images across all your online channels
- Ensure your site is mobile friendly
Do you need some help implementing the above strategies and more to increase your website’s Search Engine Optimisation? Melbourne Social Co can help you! Contact us today.