Unfortunately, social media is constantly changing and it can be difficult to keep up and stay competitive. Because of this, it’s important that you stay on top of the latest trends and let them inform your own social media strategy.

Fortunately, we’re here to help. Below we’ll list a few social media marketing trends that you’ll need to keep a close eye on in 2021.

1. Live Streaming Events

One of the most popular social media trends that should watch in 2021 is live streaming. The use of live streaming events on social media platforms had already been growing quite a bit over the past few years. However, COVID-19 lockdowns have accelerated its progress.

Now, live streaming events on platforms such as Facebook and Zoom are very common, and more and more businesses are getting on the bandwagon. Smart social media marketers are learning to embrace the many types of live content that can be used to connect with consumers. The popularity of live streaming will likely grow even more in 2021.

Whether streaming includes Q&A sessions, interviews, educational seminars, or other business events, live social media is sure to be a mainstay on the marketing stage during the coming year.

2. Social Gaming Communities

Another social media trend to watch is the rise of social gaming communities and platforms. Platforms such as Twitch and Facebook Gaming have risen in popularity during the 2020 pandemic. As a result, more brands are seeing the significance of this segment of the online community.

As these social gaming platforms become even more popular and as new platforms and communities emerge, companies and brands may get in on the action. It may become more common for businesses to spend significant effort to cater to these unique consumers.

Social gaming and social media are becoming increasingly intertwined. It will be important to watch how this relationship continues to develop in 2021.

3. Meme Marketing

It should come as no surprise that meme marketing is becoming more popular as well. Memes are as popular as ever among social media users and great businesses are learning to use their popularity to connect with their audiences in new and exciting ways. Memes are highly sharable and easy to make, meaning they are a great tool for businesses who want to build their business online.

On the other hand, there’s a dark side to the use of internet memes as well. Memes are also being used as a negative reaction to brands and this can be a big threat to the reputations of businesses online. Memes are powerful and sharable, and they can be used to spread disinformation or alter the mindsets of those who see them.

It’s important that you’re aware of both the good and bad sides of memes. Look for ways to use them to your advantage while also minimizing the negative impact they could have on your business reputation.

4. Growing Disinformation

In recent years, the line between fact and fiction has become increasingly blurred. Especially on social media, disinformation is on the rise and tensions are high.

With so much information spreading across social media, not all of it gets verified as fully accurate. This is significantly changing the digital landscape in unexpected ways. Especially in the age of COVID-19, disinformation is a reality that will need to be dealt with. If you find your brand wrapped up in a disinformation campaign, it could wreak havoc on your business.

It’s important that social media marketers remain aware of the growing disinformation on social media. They should also do everything they can to prepare for it and to reduce its impact.

5. Socially-Conscious Branding

These days, nearly everything has become politicized. It’s no surprise that many consumers are voting for their own values through the products they buy and the services they use. As 2021 goes on, more and more businesses will start to recognize this and align themselves with causes they believe in.

More companies will begin making stands on social justice issues, mental health awareness, and other important global, national, and local issues. If done authentically and in alignment with overall brand values, socially-conscious marketing can allow businesses to reach their ideal consumer while also making a positive impact on the world at the same time.

6. Conversational Marketing

Another trend that you can expect to see in social media marketing in 2021, is increased conversational marketing. Businesses are looking for ways to have one-on-one conversations with consumers and are making use of a variety of tools to do it. These conversations are happening in a variety of ways including through live chat options, live calls, and even chatbots.

While being authentic has always been important on social media, marketing online is becoming more conversational and businesses are now looking for new ways to have personalized 2-way conversations with customers.

Luckily, these conversations are becoming easier to have than ever before through the use of more social media features that facilitate this kind of personalized communication.

7. Nostalgia-Based Ad Campaigns

One of the biggest social media trends to expect during 2021 is a change in tone due to the aftermath of COVID-19. Because things have changed so drastically during 2020, consumers are mourning the loss of normalcy. Many are looking to the past for comfort.

Many brands will embrace this nostalgia and will keep it front and center in their marketing campaigns going forward. Through social media marketing, more brands will appeal to emotions when communicating with customers. Nostalgia and sentimentality will become a key element in social media content and ads.

If done right, this type of marketing may connect well with consumers who miss simpler times.

Keeping Up With the Latest Social Media Marketing Trends

If you want to build your business effectively online, it’s important to keep up with the latest trends. Be sure that you’re aware of the latest social media marketing trends listed above and consider using them in your own social media strategy if you want to have success online in 2021.

Looking for ways to improve your digital marketing strategy? Click here to learn how you can create powerful email marketing campaigns when building your business online.

The post Moving On: Social Media Marketing Trends to Watch in 2021 appeared first on VerticalResponse.

Content is what attracts people to your site and socials. It’s what educates the masses about your products & services. What’s published is what compels individuals to share (and talk) about your brand to others.

The problem with content? It’s intensive.

You can spend a whole lot of time putting together content. You could dump a bunch of money into content creation.

Or… you could explore user generated content.

What is User Generated Content (UGC)?

User-generated content (or UGC) is content created and shared by communities. Specifically, it’s content typically submitted, tagged, or solicited by a brand from its community. It’s community-driven content marketing.

User generated content examples can include (but not limited to):

• Blog posts
• Video posts
• Photos
• Interviews
• Case studies
• Artwork
• Reviews

Brands small and large embrace UGC as part of their site and social campaigns. This can include a simple use of a #hashtag to share UGC or become something elaborate like a full-scale marketing campaign involving the community.

The takeaway is that you’re creating a culture where people want to participate.

The Advantages of User Generated Content

We all know that content plays an important role in getting noticed online.

The problem with content? You’ve got a business to run.

Site & social content might be a lower priority for daily operations. This is where you’d turn to outsourced content creation so you can focus on the important business tasks (to you). Though, it gets a little expensive especially for a small company operating on an even smaller budget.

UGC offers many advantages for those willing to explore it:

• It’s free — The content is community-driven and doesn’t cost you anything (besides running the platform)
• It’s diverse — Creatives of all type come together in creating and sharing neat things to/for your brand
• It’s fun — Everyone gets to be involved so it’s like one big party, it’s ever-evolving and engaging

UGC is also amazing for boosting search engine value.

Every piece delivered by your community is another that’s indexed and ranked in search results. So, you’re getting new funnels to products and services by way of user submissions. These may work even better than your own content efforts because it doesn’t have an off-putting “sales-y feeling” to potential buyers.

How to Encourage User Generated Content

There’s a vocal part of the community behind every brand. Often, all that’s needed to give them a voice is by offering them the platform you control. Give fans the opportunity and they’ll engage with your business!

Here are a few ways to spur community engagement and user-generated content:

Setup a Knowledgebase

Got intricate products or services that really get users engaged and tinkering? If so, then you’re in a perfect opportunity to get UGC by way of tutorials, guides, and insights. Specifically, by offering and collaborating on a community-driven knowledgebase.

Try this:

1. Set up a knowledgebase using a subdomain + theme/template
2. Encourage the community to create tutorials and guides for your products and/or services
3. Promote and reward participation such as with coupons and shoutouts

Not only is your community answering questions and helping one another. But, they’re also creating content that’s getting picked up by search and social. These helpful pieces can convince and convert visitors into trying your products & services. They also see how open your brand is to the community and how active it is — making them want to be part of it even more!

Repurpose Reviews & Testimonials

Your business is already likely on several local sites and platforms. These tend to include user reviews and ratings. You may also have client testimonials either already published or sitting in a document somewhere. All of this feedback is UGC, and is ready to go to work for your brand and marketing efforts!

Try this:

1. Collect and prune the best reviews, ratings, and testimonials
2. Create catchy graphics including the feedback or do clever content formatting when editing
3. Publish the work and see if those included are willing to promote it

This strategy scales when you begin exploring video reviews and testimonials. Not only do you gain the video format but you’ve now got visuals and sound bites to work with when remixing the content!

Survey the Audience

Got a hot discussion going on in the industry? Want to open your platform to community voices? A survey is a great way to get people engaged while also creating content! This works especially well when there’s debate, new product launches, or big news.

Try this:

1. Put together a survey touching on one or two main topics
2. Send an email to followers asking for their opinion and participation
3. Publish results via blog posts and social media shares

You can turn this into a regular event, too, by way of holding discussions or Q&A’s. Whatever’s the choice, you’re bound to get the community fired up and sharing their opinions by opening the platform!

Hold a Contest

Contests are a fun, engaging, and low resistance way to get your community to submit content. A content-focused contest operates much like any other except the “entry” is the content submission. Whether it’s using a hashtag when sharing a photo or submitting a write-up, this added engagement layer is quite effective in encouraging UGC.

Try this:

1. Ask users to submit a photo of them with your product + a hashtag
2. Let the community pick the best submission or do so with in-house voting
3. Announce the winner and distribute a cool prize + participation extras for all entries

Get creative and see what your team comes up with for the brand!

Connect With Your Audience on a Deeper Level

Building a strong community takes a ton of dedication but is 110% worth the effort. Once it’s there, and people are active, you should have no problem exploring user generated content. Then, the sky’s the limit!

So… are you ready to connect with your audience on a deeper level? Want to build a community that cultivates UGC?

Email marketing makes it possible.

Start your free trial of our award-winning email marketing management system and build your community today!

The post User Generated Content: The Community is Full Of Creators! appeared first on VerticalResponse.

In this article, we give you a landing page design guide for your website. Read on to discover some valuable landing page tips.

Know Your Goal

As with any business venture, you need to know your goal. Identifying your goal will allow you to form your landing page. When building your website, your landing page should be one of the first things you think of.

Are you looking to promote a new product or service? Your goal could also be to promote a discount or subscription. You may also aim to grow your email list.

Whatever your goal is, it will serve as the foundation of your landing page. This allows you to think of the right keywords to lead users to your website.

Optimize Your Page for Loading Speed

Reports show that you only have 3 seconds to convince a user to stay on your page. Most online users will leave a page if it takes more than 15 seconds to load, you could be losing visitors. One of the first things you should do when building your landing page is to optimize your speed.

This includes compressing images to make them smaller and faster at loading. A single page with a lot of images could have 100KB in size. Anything from pages to content and other files could bulk up and slow down your website.

Conversion Funnel

An effective landing page should have a strong conversion funnel. This funnels a browser to where a site owner wants them to go. Based on your goal, your conversion funnel will lead your visitors to where you need them to be.

Make sure that your funnel leads your visitors to only one place. A landing page design with too many functions could clutter your site. This overwhelms your visitors and could lead them to bounce from your website.

Have a narrow focus on your landing page. Make your goal and desired user action clear and concise.

Have a Good Headline

One of the best parts of a good landing page design is having a good headline. Your headline, often in big and bold letters, is one of the first things a user will see. Upon visiting a site, most visitors read an offer and CTA after reading a headline.

Have a focus on your target customer when thinking of a website headline. Short, one-lined sentences are the best to grab a reader’s attention. Describe the value of your product or subscription to convince users to browse your page.

Have Compelling Visuals

Images can boost your SEO value and the overall look of your site. However, overloading your website with too many images could overwhelm your readers. Avoid adding too many images to your website.

This will not only deter users from your page but also add to your page loading time. Instead, use high-quality images that add value to your brand. A good brand image should encourage the right emotions.

Most readers will notice your main image after reading your headline. An effective header image will provoke emotions like curiosity or satisfaction.

Consider Your Target Audience

Your products or service could cater to a wide variety of audiences. However, many companies aim their brand to a specific group of people. Depending on your target audience, there are different factors to entice your audience.

If your target is the younger generation, you could cater your landing page design to them. Gen Z audiences prefer vibrant and modern page designs. You could also incorporate minimalism or illustrations of your products or brand.

Add Trust Signals

Browsers who visit a new website often look for cues to prove that they can trust that website. Having these could make a visitor feel more comfortable while browsing your page. Visible company logos and credentials are some things you can add to your landing page.

You may also include past customer testimonials to serve as social proof of your brand. If you’ve worked with other companies before, you can add this to your landing page. This can encourage potential business partners to engage with your brand.

Depending on your product or service, you can add an expert’s endorsement on your page. You may also include a celebrity’s advertisement.

Add Promo Codes and Discounts

When you get new visitors, the best way to engage them is with a great offer. Without a compelling offer, your landing page may not give you the best benefits. A great offer gives your users a solution to one or more of their problems.

When giving your visitors this offer, ensure to keep it short. Try to avoid overwhelming your visitors with persistent ads or self-promotion. Users may leave a site when they receive an irrelevant or annoying offer.

Add Social Buttons

One of the most important things about running an online website is having social media. Many consumers look at a business’s social media for information. Some consumers may even avoid a brand if they can’t find any social media presence on it.

Browsers may take this as a sign that your business isn’t updated or active. One of the best things you can add to your landing page is social media buttons. You can lead your users to various channels like Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.

Create an Effective Landing Page Design Now

Here are some of the best practices for a good landing page design. From fast loading times to trust signals, use these to turn visitors into loyal customers.

Thank you for reading our article! Looking for more tips on growing your business? Sign up with us today to boost your website with more of our services.

The post Looking For a Smooth Touchdown: Do’s and Don’ts of Landing Page Design appeared first on VerticalResponse.

You might have amassed many followers and created some awesome content. But your social media presence will never reach its full potential without a good content calendar.

A content calendar can boost your efficiency by giving your every post precision timing. Still not convinced? Keep reading to discover our complete guide to using a content calendar!

What Is a Content Calendar?

Our guide will help you learn the many benefits of using a social media content calendar. First, though, we must answer a fundamental question: what exactly is a content calendar, anyway?

This term refers to any method that allows you to write and plan your social media posts ahead of time. In some cases, a calendar can be as basic as an online document where you write ideas for future posts. However, most individuals and businesses now prefer apps to help them schedule content.

With such an app, you can target specific posts to specific social media platforms. And then you can schedule the posts to go “live” for a future time and date.

A content calendar can let you plan posts for the next year and beyond, but is it really worth your time? Next, we’re going to explore the many benefits of using a social media content calendar.

Consistent Posting

One of the problems with social media is that inspiration may strike you at random times, causing you to post erratically. But if you really want each post to be seen by as many people as possible, you need to post consistently.

For your biggest online fans, consistent posting gives them something to look forward to. For example, if you post every Monday and Friday at 8:00 am, your most loyal followers will keep an eye out for your content.

But consistent posting is also important for reaching your more casual fans, too. That’s because consistent posting of fresh content improves your chances of showing up in their feed as they scroll. And as more people engage with your posts, even more people will discover your brand.

Easy Organization

Ever try to craft a social media post and get stuck on what to write? There is nothing quite as annoying as frantically Googling things like inspirational quotes in the hopes of making a last-minute, half-hearted Facebook post.

With a content calendar, you can do all of the research and organization of your posts ahead of time. Furthermore, you can plan posts for many months in the future. That means you won’t be stuck trying to come up with a post at the last minute like a college student facing a midnight deadline!

Longterm Strategies

Most modern digital marketing strategies are part of a larger campaign. The philosophy is simple: your current and future marketing plans should be working together in service of your different KPIs.

However, if you’re just writing out social media posts when you feel like it, then your social media marketing is isolated from the rest of your digital marketing. But a content calendar plan can change all of that.

Once you start scheduling posts for months ahead of time, you have the luxury of planning for the future. That means you can create ambitious social media marketing that revolves around things like new product launches or online contests. And you can seamlessly integrate these posts into the rest of your digital marketing.

Reduce the Number of Mistakes

Most writers live by a simple proverb: the easiest way to notice a mistake is to hit the “send” button. And this certainly applies to social media posts!

The mistake in question may be as simple as an annoying typo. Or it may be as major as linking out to the wrong site or featuring the wrong image. And the worst thing is that once you post that mistake, the cat is out of the bag.

You can always delete and/or edit the post, of course. But there is no way of knowing how many people saw the post before you corrected it.

With a social media content calendar, you can do more than write your posts out in advance. You can also take the time to edit each post for minor and major errors long before it goes live. The final result: each and every post is nice and polished before a customer sees it.

Marketing Around Special Holidays

When it comes to social media marketing, most businesses schedule posts around the “big” holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, and even Halloween. But there are countless other holidays and commemorative days that you can schedule posts around as well.

For example, May 4th of each year is “Star Wars” day. Making a Star Wars-centric post on that day is a great way to appeal to everybody’s inner geek.

And January 20th is Cheese Lovers Day. What better day to post some “cheesy” content of your very own?

By scheduling posts in advance with a content calendar, you can go ahead and create quirky content for as many fun holidays as you want. And the simple act of scheduling posts instead of writing them on the fly will give you extra time to research the holidays you want to make posts about.

Get the Timing “Just Right”

Speaking of time, there is one more fundamental reason you need a good content calendar: it helps you to get your timing “just right” for every post.

If you wait for inspiration to strike you to post, you might end up posting very late at night or very early in the morning. At that point, it doesn’t matter how good your post is because too much of your audience is asleep at the time!

A calendar helps you schedule posts for the optimal time on any days you choose. For example, Facebook posts typically get the most engagement between 11:00 am and 2:00 pm. And for whatever reason, Wednesday is the best day to post!

Keep in mind that content calendars help you test what works best for you and your company. Eventually, you’ll discover the most effective days and times to post content.

Using a Content Calendar: What’s Next?

Now you know why a content calendar is so beneficial. But do you know who can help you make the most out of every post?

We specialize in social media marketing, e-mail marketing, analytics, and much more. To see what we can do for your business, come learn more about our different special features.

The post It’s All About The Timing: Efficiency Via Content Calendar Use for Social Media Marketing appeared first on VerticalResponse.

In fact, nearly 70% of small businesses use email marketing as one of the primary methods of communicating with their customers. Your tone doesn’t always have to be formal, either— you can implement emojis in your messages as long as you use them creatively.

Not quite sure how to begin? We’ve got all the info you need.

Let’s explore everything you should keep in mind when it comes to using emojis in emails.

1. Use Them Appropriately

It should come as no surprise that emojis are only effective in email marketing if you use them appropriately— the emojis that you use should match the tone of your message.

For example, you wouldn’t want to include smiley faces or laughing emojis when you announce that a key member of your company is no longer working with you. The same can be said about using sad emoji alongside positive news.

In general, you should avoid using sad emojis entirely since you run the risk of eliciting a negative emotional response in your audience.

2. Subject Lines Are Prime Real Estate

Your email subject line is perhaps the best place to use emojis, especially since there are so many creative ways in which you can do so. Animal emojis, in particular, are some of the most attention-grabbing.

A business that offers horseback riding lessons, for instance, could include a horse emoji in the subject lines of its marketing emails. This emoji could also be used in other scenarios for different businesses when discussing horsepower vehicles, track & field events, etc.

It’s generally recommended to limit yourself to one emoji per subject line, though. Otherwise, this could be visually overwhelming and also make your business seem unprofessional.

A well-placed emoji could sometimes mean the difference between a user skimming their inbox or opening your message. So, don’t neglect the utility that they provide.

3. Don’t Spam

Limiting your overall use of emojis is also a good idea when it comes to the body copy of your email.

You can think of emojis as a sort of ‘spice’ to accent the overall flavor of your message. If you overuse them, you can ruin the experience entirely and make your message far less effective.

In some scenarios, this could also result in people unsubscribing from your email list.

Instead, use emojis to add a bit of punch to the end of a sentence or paragraph. They’re also good to use during the conclusion of your message, as it will help your message end on a positive note.

4. Avoid Emojis That Could Be Misinterpreted

Unfortunately, many businesses made the mistake of using certain emojis incorrectly. This often stems from researching the actual definition of the Moji and not its social significance.
 For example, tired emojis can often be misconstrued as being sad (or whiny, in some cases).

Others (such as the ‘information desk’ emoji) could come off as you being sassy or rude. So, it’s essential that you take the time to fully understand the social meaning behind each emoji that you’re planning to use in order to avoid any awkward interactions with your audience.

It’s not impossible for a single unpleasant interaction to leave a negative impression of your brand, which is something you’ll want to avoid at all costs.

5. Brand Your Emojis

If there’s an existing emoji that coincides with your brand, you should use it as frequently as possible so that you can effectively brand this icon. For example, the aforementioned facility that provides horseback riding lessons could use horse emojis consistently in their marketing efforts.

Over time, it will be difficult for their audience to think of that emoji or use it without associating it with that business.

Keep in mind, though, that this doesn’t work for every scenario. A clothing brand that specializes in designer clothing or skater fashion wouldn’t benefit from constantly using a T-shirt or denim jeans emoji. Although these emoji’s represent clothing, they aren’t specific enough for that particular company to support their brand with.

6. Focus on The Most Popular Options

As you may expect, not every emoji is viable in every scenario. So, you’ll need to prioritize using the most popular ones in order to achieve the result you’re looking for.

These include:

• Hearts
• Heart-eyes
• Crying
• Sunglasses
• Laughing
• Thumbs-up

It should be noted that the crying emoji is typically used in situations where a sentimental feeling is expressed. For example, someone on social media might use crying emoji alongside a picture of newborn puppies. If using the crying emoji doesn’t convey this type of situation, it’s best to avoid using it altogether in that particular message.

For example, you could easily make someone uncomfortable with the following headline if there’s a crying emoji at the end:

We’re Here to Help You Through COVID-19.

As long as you use them correctly, though, you’ll find that you can significantly increase your open rate and improve engagement throughout the rest of your message.

Using Emojis in Emails Effectively Can Seem Complicated

But the above information will make the process far smoother. From here, you’ll be able to ensure that the investment you make into email marketing provides the highest return possible.

Want to learn more about what we have to offer? Feel free to reach out to us today and see how we can help.

The post 6 Creative Ways to Use Emojis in Emails appeared first on VerticalResponse.