E-LABZ - Learn How to Create Content that Drives Traffic to Your Website - 12345

Facebook Ads Now Target What You Like Offline

April 18th, 2013

Davgit

David Gitonga (DavGit)

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I have always wondered which of the two is the best medium for advertising; Google or Facebook. Turns out that while Google definitely knows the Web better than Facebook, the social network has more data about people interactions with brands. In other words, Facebook knows what you like about a brand making such interactions more meaningful as opposed to simply knowing what you search for.

Facebook however is taking this a step further and allowing marketers to target users across desktop and mobile channels and offline entirely, based on their activity outside of Facebook. We have known for a long time that as long as you are logged into Facebook, the social network is able to monitor which pages you visit without clicking the ’Like’ button as long as these elements are on those web pages. By making this deep data available, Facebook may be trying to gain more pull with advertisers.

Facebook acknowledges that this type of data for targeting outside of Facebook is already in use by many companies.

By taking cues from the industry at large, Facebook is able to target very specific audiences and this granularity will make it even more valuable to advertise with Facebook. By working with its partners, such as Datalogix, Epsilon and Acxiom, these data brokers will provide this user-based data to provide a pretty rich and robust approach to advertising. While advertisers will not get personal information from Facebook users, they will only see a larger target audience.

As Facebook continues towards the goal of more granular ad targeting, we can expect to see more ways of using big data which should make ad targeting even more relevant. This will further enhance the relationship between audiences and the brands they follow, both inside and outside of Facebook.

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How to Write Killer Headlines for your Web Copy

March 11th, 2013

Davgit

David Gitonga (DavGit)

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From a copy-writing and content marketing standpoint, your headlines will probably be the most important consideration if you are to make any impression at all. Statistics show that, on average, eight out of ten people will read your headline copy but only two out of ten will continue to read the rest of your post. In other words, your title determines if people read and share your content or they don’t.

Brian Clark, of Copyblogger, takes headlines so seriously that he recommends the 50/50 rule to any serious writer. This rule says that a writer should “spend half of the entire time it takes to write a piece of persuasive content on the headline.”

Clark recommends starting a post by writing out the headline first. A headline is like a promise to fulfill in your content what you just headlined. Since promises are made before being fulfilled, you are more likely to keep your content crisp and well-structured to your headline if you have it clearly in mind right from the start.

Great headlines also tend to be as specific as possible. Specificity increases credibility because specific details are more believable than broad assertions. Specific content is also of more value to a potential reader. Doing keyword research, not only on the popular keywords but also on niche phrases, puts you in a much better position of crafting much more specific headlines that have less competition but still powerful enough to engage and motivate the readers to check out your post.

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Inside the Writer’s Studio

February 11th, 2013

Davgit

David Gitonga (DavGit)

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I have recently been watching the television episodes of “Inside the Actor’s Studio” and one thing always stands out; these great actors/actresses were exposed to acting and television at an early age. You can tell by the passion and the inner drive they possess and this clearly makes them exceptional.

I think writing is similar to acting in that perspective. Being exposed to books, writings and creative arts is a real foundation for becoming an accomplished writer. I have always been amazed by great writers who are able to capture my attention from the beginning of a post all the way down to the end. You can always tell a great piece by the way it draws you; similar to the way acting draws you out making you feel like you can relate.

As a writer, I feel that learning from my contemporaries is as important as learning from ancient writers. At the same time, it is equally important to discover your own voice. As much as I would to write like Seth Godin or Jeff Goins ( 2 out of my many favorite writers), I also have to accept that I need to establish my own voice. As much as I hate reading unoriginal content, I would hate that my work is classified as unauthentic.

Acting did not come easy for most of these actors. Some had to struggle to get by when starting out and it was only by persisting in their craft did they start getting well-paying gigs. During this time, they were either taking small roles in movies or busting tables (Tom Cruise). In time though, persistence paid off and they got the big break that everyone is always looking for. Most had a difficult upbringing as well, with divorce being a recurring theme for most. This is similar to writing. At first, you may not get the promised traffic and you may have gotten into writing as a side project. Persistence however will eventually start paying off. In the meantime, work at improving your craft; read more, write more and write even more.

Check out one of my favorite interviews below featuring Tom Cruise:

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4 Ways Your Website is Losing Money

January 25th, 2013

Davgit

David Gitonga (DavGit)

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You’ve probably been onto an online store and as you looked around, you became frustrated by a few elements. This could even have prompted you to navigate away or even discouraged you from making a purchase. Some of these frustrations could even have been so obvious you wondered why the owner could not see them.

If you own an online store, what are some common pitfalls that are making your online business lose money?

1. Negative Reviews

If you are like me, then you probably read a lot of reviews when comparing different products and stores. What you may actually be looking for is a reason to choose one and ignore the other and negative reviews about one product may just be the reason you need to make your decision. Negative reviews can break your business and could just be what your next customer will use to avoid buying from you.

The solution? Do a search of your online store and see what potential buyers are reading about you. Set up Google Alerts to receive updates whenever a review about you is posted. Keeping tabs on negative (and positive) comments and reviews about you will help you fortify your reputation so you can avoid hemorrhaging money.

2. Slow Website Speeds

How do you take it when the old lady in front of you at the supermarket is packed and carrying an expired voucher? You know how long it’s gonna take to go through, don’t you? Well, your website visitors are having similar frustrations when your website takes forever to load. Did you know that for each second your site takes to load, your conversions decrease by 6%? You are literally losing money with a slow website.

Talk to your developers about optimizing your website so it loads faster. If you have lots of images on your site, try and use less heavy image formats (.PNG files work great for me). You can also subscribe to services like Pingdom which sends you SMS alert messages when your website slows down to dangerous levels.

3. A Frustrating Checkout Process

Picture this, you are about to subscribe to a magazine online and the website throws you a long form to fill out first asking your first name, last name, age, ZIP, address, company and the list goes on. I think you get the point. Complicated checkout processes cause friction due to large form fields.

Rather than spend time asking for buyer credentials, take time to make the checkout process easy by offering additional payment options, adding trust seals & logos, curating unnecessary options and indicating required and optional fields. Try to limit all the options to one page and if possible make them less than 10.

4. Where is the Checkout Button?

Believe it or not, but a lot of online stores lose money simply because their checkout button is not positioned on a visible section of the website. A corporate client was able to increase their online enquiries by over 75% simply by placing the Contact Form in the top right of every page. Make sure your checkout button is visible at all times and the visitor can buy wherever they are on your website without having to navigate to your checkout page.

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The Battle for Bandwidth

January 15th, 2013

Davgit

David Gitonga (DavGit)

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The desire to own more and more tech gadgets means that the demand for bandwidth is as strong as ever. And one of the places where people are demanding it the most is on college / university campuses.

How many of you, when deciding where to study, factored in wireless Internet access? I know some people who did. They turned down excellent university places, simply because the wireless Internet speed on campus wasn’t fast enough. The desire to always be online, to be able to check email and Facebook, seemed to vastly outweigh the positive factors.

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Wearable Tech – How far will we go?

January 5th, 2013

Davgit

David Gitonga (DavGit)

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From Google Glasses to the Pebble Watch, 2012 came with new wearable tech innovations. We will no doubt see more of such in 2013. Check out this INFOGRAPHIC that depicts how far we have come in this vertical:

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Looking Local – Shoppers Rely on Local Search Results

December 17th, 2012

Davgit

David Gitonga (DavGit)

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Shoppers are increasingly turning to the web and most of them are doing this via their mobile devices. With most shoppers using search to discover local stores and destinations, it is becoming increasingly important for businesses to make their local search rankings a priority.

Here is an infographic that shows why you need to invest in local search for your business:

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5 Predictions for Online Video Advertising in 2013

December 14th, 2012

Davgit

David Gitonga (DavGit)

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In the online video advertising marketplace, a drastic change is happening on many levels. The multi-screen and app-heavy Internet has come with a huge user demand for more freedom to consume free-ad videos. Only advertisers that respect and adapt to their consumer needs will see success in this area.

Below, I highlight five key predictions about the new dynamics:

Business Rise over Buzz

Social media experimentation has been going on for a few years now and many advertisers have reached the tipping point where they now expect more tangible results from these efforts. The sophisticated use of videos in 2012 was a big boost to online video ads and brands will be looking to generate ROI in 2013 from these efforts. The inclination has been to drive traffic toward business sites and brands will be looking to direct consumers to their own sites to learn more about the company, find a store, download a coupon or make a purchase.

Expect Longer Ad Content

Despite conventional wisdom that shorter is better, the numbers tell a different story. Expect to see ads that go beyond simple 15 and 30-second pre-roll spots. Advertisers are getting more comfortable running longer ads while incorporating rewards-based, opt-in formats.

The Native Advertising Debate will intensify

Online video ads are still in infancy as far as platforms like YouTube are concerned. As a result, there has been debate as to whether editorial or entertainment content is having any real influence. As video advertisers gain more experience, the perception of what makes an effective video campaign will change. Display-oriented placements will likely deliver better engagement and post-view performance. Expect to see more experimentation in this area.

Pre-roll Ads Won’t Cut It for Mobile

Pre-roll advertising is still big and has maintained its long-standing position as the unit of choice for online video ads. However, this trend will likely start to reverse in 2013 amidst the emerging mobile marketplace. Mobile users are less tolerant of interruptions and other bandwidth-using elements that take time to load. Opt-in ad formats which are rewards-based will likely take off since they are viewed as being more respectful.

Targeting of Non-English Speakers will Get Savvier

The Hispanic population is now the largest minority group in the United States. The recent CNN plans to woo bilingual speakers with a Spanish-language block tailored to broadcast stations is a clear sign that video advertisers are looking across multiple platforms to increase relevant target audiences. Expect to see more local targeting as advertisers look to increase ad dollars.

The online video marketplace is experiencing an evolution on how individuals view content, how advertisers are reaching their audiences and how these audiences are reacting. As this evolution moves from nice-to-have to a must-have, we can expect to see marketers continue experimenting with new tools and strategies and demand for more accountability. The result of all of this is innovation and evolution of the online space.

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