
Ep #04: Digital Strategy with Eva Marie Guido
Ep #04: Digital Strategy with Eva Marie Guido
We’ll be back monthly to tell you more about what’s going on behind the scenes at Root & Roam.
We’ll be back monthly to tell you more about what’s going on behind the scenes at Root & Roam.
Heading tags serve several different purposes.
Let’s start with the content creator or the web designer, the person writing and determining each heading tag. Here, heading tags act similarly to an outline of the content being created. They establish how the information and the content surrounding that information are to be structured.
To search engines such as Google or Bing, heading tags act like labels or signs. They help point search engines to the specific places within web pages to quickly locate the content that people are searching for. Heading tags inform the search engine robots about the hierarchy of the information that they’re processing – a heading tag helps delineate what is the most important content and where it is located.
Finally, to someone visiting a website to read the information or content, heading tags are topic signifiers and points of interest – by reading the “What are HTML heading tags?” above the previous paragraph, a reader can easily determine what the overall topic being presented will be and can deduct what to expect in the post. Heading tags are also an important accessibility feature that helps accessibility software like screen readers parse and categorize the most important information on a page.
We use our crawler to scan your article pages and determine the correct headlines for your content. Follow our best practices to help us display the correct title from your content:
Google HTML Rules
Match the anchor text that points to your article in your section pages to your article/page title.
Avoid using the article title, or a substring of the title, as an active hyperlink on your article page.
Do not include a date or time in your article title.
Article titles should be at least 10 characters and between 2 and 22 words.
Do not include a leading number in the anchor text of the title to make sure your article title displays properly on mobile devices.
Use only one H1 tag per page.
Keywords should be aligned by the rank of importance corresponding to your tag hierarchy.
Keep your heading tags concise and keyword specific.
H1 headings should be approximately twice as large as your body text.
There’s plenty of reasons to use heading tags, and it mainly comes down to structuring your content in a way that makes it coherent and legible for every interaction with them. They are also an important part of your overall on-page SEO efforts, especially when you consider how it impacts your entire audience’s ability to find and digest the information you put out there. A quick summary of why using heading tags is important:
Heading tags structure your content
They help make your content more accessible
They are an important part of SEO best practices
They enhance readability and improve accessibility
They play a part in enhancing the overall user experience
As of 2021, 1.074 billion people are on Instagram worldwide making it the perfect place to sell your products. Instagram has all of the tools you need to get your product in front of the consumer and make them remember it. Selling on Instagram takes hard work, dedication, and marketing skills. This guide will show you how to sell on Instagram.
Begin by creating a new account that does not contain any personal information.
Follow the steps and input the necessary information.
Voila! You are now ready to start selling on Instagram.
Once your Instagram business account is set up, you will need to set up your Instagram shop. To do this, you will also need a Facebook business page. Create your Facebook business page in two simple steps:
Your catalog can be uploaded three different ways:
You can bulk upload your items using an excel spreadsheet. You will need to create a spreadsheet and input the item name, description, and price. Then follow the instructions to upload your spreadsheet to your shop.
You can opt to manually input each item into your Instagram shop. If you choose this option, you will need to fill in the required blanks within the shop upload form to upload each item individually.
The third option is to integrate your instagram shop with your ecommerce website. To use this option, you will need to have already set up an ecommerce shop with any of the website platforms that Facebook integrates with. Your options are Shopify, Channeladvisor, Feedonomics, Admixt, Quipt, Woo Commerce, Bigcommerce, CommerceHub, CED Commerce, Data Caciques, and Zentail. The integrate option will automatically pull the inventory listed on your ecommerce website into your Facebook and Instagram catalog.
Once you have created your catalog, you will then need to set up the Instagram shop. Click the shops icon on the left hand side of your mobile screen. Follow the instructions to create the shop. You will be able to organize your Instagram product into categories, choose your shop colors, button styles, and fonts. When you are satisfied with your setup click – save, and publish.
It may take some time for Facebook and Instagram to process your shop for approval. Keep the platform’s bylaws and rules in mind when adding products to your catalog. Once your shop has been approved, your customers will be able to shop directly from your Instagram business account.
Reaching your audience is more than just posting content. Take the time to develop a strategy that shares content that grabs your target Instagram audience’s attention, and pair it with keywords, hashtags, and timing.
Strategically build your Instagram shop awareness and audience with Instagram’s paid and unpaid advertising options. Take advantage of various posting methods such as posting, stories, reels, IGTV, post promoting, and Instagram paid ads to get the word out about your Instagram shop. Devise a strategy for what methods you will use and how you will measure success. Continually adjust your strategy as you find what works best.
Reaching your audience is more than just posting content. Content that grabs the views paired with keywords, hashtags, and timing are what makes a perfect post.
Instagram’s algorithm is designed to show the most recent posts at the top of the news feed. The Instagram insights feature shows you the time and days when your audience is most active. Post your content during the most active time for a better chance of getting in front of a larger amount of your audience and bringing in new followers.
Optimize your Instagram shopping posts using keywords just as you would optimize your website. Keywords are also necessary for your Instagram post to be discovered in a Google search. Research keywords relevant to your niche and use them to strategically plan your next post.
Hashtagging is not just a trendy activity. It could mean the difference between reaching additional audiences who would not discover your business otherwise. When you add a hashtag to your post, your post will appear in that hashtag’s feed. This means that anyone who follows the hashtag has the potential to see your post.
There is quite a bit that can go into your hashtag strategy. A few dos and don’ts when using hashtags in Instagram:
Use just a few relevant hashtags in each post that you upload to Instagram, regardless if your post is in your Instagram feed, a story, or a reel.
Make sure the correct audience finds your posts by ensuring that the hashtags mean what you intend.
Pay attention to the amount of posts within a hashtag. When you search a hashtag on Instagram, you will see the number of posts with that hashtag. If there are a large number of posts, the likelihood that your post will be seen decreases. Instagram’s algorithm currently shows the most recent content first. When many posts are being added to a feed quickly, your post will get rotated down quicker. If you are just starting or are a small business, we recommend using smaller hashtags.
Do not use hashtags that are irrelevant to your post, products, or services.
Build a shoppable Instagram feed by tagging your catalog products in your posts. When consumers tap the image, they will be able to follow the tag directly to that product in your Instagram shop and purchase within Instagram. Creating a shoppable post only takes a few simple steps:
Create a new post
Choose your image
Tap Products – find the product in your shop catalog and tag it. If there are multiple products in one photo, be careful to place the tags in the correct place to avoid confusion.
Creating a shoppable Instagram story is similar:
Create a new story
Choose your image
Under links, choose – product
Search and tag the product in the story
Use this method every time you post product photos, and you will have created a completely shoppable Instagram feed.
To achieve the results that you desire, everything you do with your Instagram business page and Instagram shop should be strategically planned. Remember to always develop a strategy prior to starting any social media project. Keep your goals in mind and plan your actions accordingly. Selling on Instagram is the way of the future.
Here at Root & Roam, we understand that even with all of the tools available, selling on Instagram can be time-consuming and quite overwhelming. If you have any questions on how to sell on Instagram, we are here to help. Contact us today for more information on our Social Media services. Let’s move your product on Instagram!
You may have heard the terms “Owned, Earned, and Paid Media” tossed around in the past and could be concerned that they are new types of media that you must have to optimize and create a well-rounded online presence for your business. However, there’s a strong likelihood that you already have developed and are using at least a few of these types of media already!
Owned, earned, and paid media all play a strong role in your company’s SEO, and all work together to provide a clear overview of your company to a customer. Let’s dive into the differences between earned, owned, and paid media.
Your owned media is just that – any content or platforms your brand owns. If you have complete control over the media, you “own” it. Owned media is great because you control the entirety of the messaging and branding. The more places your brand can be found online, and the more engaged on these platforms your audience is, the better your website will rank on a search engine results page (SERP).
Examples of your owned media include:
Website
Ebooks
Blogs
Podcasts
Apps
Social media accounts
Owned media allows your brand to shine. If you have a branding kit, make sure that you’re referring to it consistently to so your messaging, brand personality, color scheme, and fonts are all on-brand. It’s important to show consistency across all of your owned platforms to increase your brand awareness.
Whether you’re working to develop all your owned media platforms or you’re continuing to grow them, now is the time to do an audit. Make a list of all of the owned media your company has, and make sure that you’re utilizing them all to their fullest potential. This is a prime way to get seen by current and potential customers, so make sure you are putting your best foot forward and providing up-to-date and engaging for your audience. Create a plan to monitor and engage with your social media accounts. If you have a social media account you’re not currently using, consider whether or not you have the bandwidth to re-engage with this platform.
Root and Roam Tip: There are many types of owned media, but you do not have to use them all. Focus on the owned media platforms that resonate with your audience.
Earned media is any mention your brand has earned through work of your own. You’ve heard before that “nothing good comes easy,” and your earned media is a prime example. Over time, your earned media grows exponentially. Putting in the hard work to develop customer relationships, loyalty, and provide excellent customer service pay off for you with earned media.
Examples of earned media include:
Blog posts about your product or service others have written
Press mentions
Online reviews
Social mentions
It may feel uncomfortable, but the fastest way to gain earned media is by asking. Check in with your most loyal customers and ask them to write a review on your Google My Business page, an online business review site, or even your social media platforms. You can do this in person or through an email.
Root and Roam Tip: It may feel easier to ask a customer to leave a review in exchange for a discount or small token of appreciation. Resist this temptation. Doing so can inadvertently be considered to be bribery. Your company is great and your organic reviews will show this!
Your paid media is any content or brand mention you’ve paid to have. They may fall anywhere on the cost spectrum, from just a few dollars to the largest paid campaign that you could dream up.
Example of Paid Media Include:
Google search ads
Streaming ads
Google display ads
Banner ads on a website
Network display ads
Paid articles or advertorials
Your paid media is an important part of your overall marketing strategy because it expands your reach. Paid media allows you to get your company seen by potential new customers. Targeting options allow for you to hand-select who your audience is, and there are multiple ways for you to do so. You can target your search and display paid media in many different ways, including geographic location, specific keywords or searches, demographics. You even have the option to do a retargeting ad to follow up with those who have already visited your website or Facebook page.
Your paid media also includes any ad buys that you make on any online industry publication and streaming TV or radio ad.
Root and Roam Tip: There are many places you can use paid media. The opportunities are endless. Start off simple with platforms that you know your current audience or target audience are utilizing, and do some A/B testing to see what resonates best and provides you the most conversions.
As we talked about the differences between earned, owned, and paid media, you may be thinking “How do these all work together to give me a well-rounded digital marketing strategy?” The combinations of earned, owned, and paid media is the key. All types of media play a pivotal role in your SEO strategy but also in your overall brand strategy.
Some examples of owned and paid media combinations include:
Sponsored social media advertising
Boosted social media posts
Influencer partnerships
Some examples of owned and earned media include:
Testimonials on website
“As seen on..” Sections of the website
More branded searches for your business
Engagement on your owned media from influencers or social ads
Website conversions through paid advertising efforts
Increased web traffic on a dedicated landing page to capture leads through an ad
Each option of the type of media you choose, if leveraged alone, can achieve a company goal. However, when combined with another type or better yet, when all three are utilized, you’ll see much better results regardless of if you’re targeting brand awareness, lead generation, lead nurturing, or transactional opportunities. Interested in learning more about how these three types of media can improve your business, get in touch with a marketing strategist at Root & Roam!
There is no doubt that COVID-19 had a dramatic impact across industry sectors, to include the one we work in here at Root and Roam Integrated Marketing Agency. The pandemic decimated small so called “Mom and Pop” shops, while wreaking havoc on just about all brick and mortar businesses.
And although we hope the worst of this economic shake-up is behind us, it is still difficult to predict what the future holds when it comes to sector growth and keeping businesses up and running.
No one likes to operate in a volatile market, which is why we’ve outlined a few marketing tips that we believe can boost your business even during such uncertainty.
It’s all about transparency and accountability. Yes, two words that you’ll often find in a mission or vision statement. A lot of businesses may talk the talk but don’t necessarily walk the walk.
Even without a global pandemic, competition across industries is and always will be fierce, unless perhaps you’re Amazon. That is why now more than ever it is important to not just provide stellar goods and services, but to do so with purpose.
Research shows that brands that have a precise and carefully communicated purpose observe growth two times faster than businesses that don’t. And leveraging transparency and accountability should be woven into that purpose.
With all the options out there, it is important to stand out, so clearly communicating your purpose helps in doing so.
As well, present-day consumers are more aware of the social responsibility businesses should embrace. Gone are the days of repetitive purchasing because of limited options. Now customers not only become lifetime consumers, they literally align themselves, and their communities, with their favorite brands. And if you consider that currently Millennials make up the largest demographic and have the most buying power, you should take note that social issues are a big part of their buying decision. Issues like inequality, social struggle, and environmental problems should be integrated within your marketing solutions, if you want to reach this demographic.
We’ve seen how businesses have been impacted by COVID-19, but one of the first line items usually to go when creating a budget for a business is marketing. Now more than ever, every penny you spend in marketing needs to directly contribute to a return on investment (ROI). Working with a market research firm or having access to online databases in order to curate the exact information you need to create that marketing strategy is imperative to the success of your marketing efforts. And in the end, you’ll achieve better ROI by leveraging data.
Being able to take a deep dive in your customer’s purchasing journey, understanding your brand’s share of voice (SOV), or even creating customer personas isn’t something even the brightest marketer can do without the access to good data.
At Root and Roam, we leverage strong data to build strategies that make sense. We don’t guess, because budgets can’t support guessing, and businesses can’t thrive on the unknown.
Product and/or service launches can be costly; that’s why you need to get it right the first time. With smaller marketing budgets come fewer resources, so this is where testing your product or service prior to launch can help save millions in dollars and resources. Testing the market versus sinking millions into research and development (R&D) can often be more cost prohibitive and get you the answer you’re seeking faster.
Expect to see an increase in test marketing, as companies try to keep up with consumer demand, but don’t have the big budgets backing them like they used to.
And if you’re a company prepared to launch a new service or product, work with your marketing teams or a marketing firm that can help you facilitate marketing testing. You’ll be glad you did.
Video content has been and will continue to be some of the most important content you create. Whether it’s an answer to a question, a “how-to” video, or a cooking demonstration, people of all ages engage with video more than any other content.
Video also helps to humanize your brand and a perfect platform to demonstrate your accountability messaging.
Pro tip: to get the biggest bang for your buck, edit your video for various platforms (i.e. long-form for YouTube, short-form video for Instagram). Also, don’t be afraid to edit and modify for each platform. For example, if the majority of your audience is younger and spends their time on TikTok, consider modifying your message and video for a younger audience.
Also, don’t be afraid to go live! Facebook offers a great platform for live video, and people love to see brands in action.
The second quarter of 2020 saw an increase of budget of 24 percent for social media support as part of the total US marketing budget. Marketers turned their focus to customer retention, which, in terms of marketing spend, is far less expensive than trying to acquire new customers especially during a pandemic.
The pandemic also changed how much time viewers spend online researching products, services, and brands. In response, marketers can expand their reach, connect with first-time buyers, and continue engaging with loyal customers. Consider highly engaging content, customer loyalty programs, and social media “shout-outs” to your most loyal customers. Let them feel they are part of your brand’s success by sharing their content, incentivizing them when referring new customers, and showcasing their loyalty through social media.
Consider this, interactive content facilitates 2x more conversions than content that is passive.
Interactive content can include quizzes, surveys, polls, giveaways, contests, open-ended questions; basically any content that the user is compelled to respond to. The more engaging the content, the more time the user spends on your platform, and this helps your business grow in two ways: the more time someone spends on your site, the more search engines deem your site worthy for organic search, and the more time they spend on your platforms, the better chance they have to convert.
Highly engaging, interactive content is likely to be shared more across social channels, so consider this when creating content for your users.
With the pandemic came the dramatic increase in the use of virtual platforms. Just ask Zoom! And although some of these meeting-based digital solutions have been in play for quite a while, they haven’t always been leveraged for events.
This has presented a unique opportunity for businesses. By making events virtual, you’re able to open up your business and share your content to the entire world! If COVID-19 taught us anything, it was that people don’t need to gather in physical spaces to share, engage, or get things done.
Need ideas on virtual events? Consider doing a virtual Q&A on a topic that your managers have expertise in. This is a great way to demonstrate thought leadership within your industry.
There are two types of digital content; content created for Google’s algorithms and content created for humans. Yes, as digital marketing experts, we understand the importance of creating and publishing content that leverages search engine optimization (SEO) tactics for better organic search. However, we also understand that no one is going to take the time to read 1800 words of uninteresting content.
When creating content, whether it’s a blog or a Facebook post, consider reading what your customers are reading and providing content that compels them to read and engage. It’s okay to be creative, have fun with content, yet still be a brand serious about revenue goals. But if you create the same boring content day after day on your products or services, you will lose your audience.
In 2020, marketing agencies specializing in e-commerce development saw a mass influx of requests. Some were out of fear due to the decrease of foot traffic in brick and mortar locations, and some were due to the rise in direct to consumer (DTC) opportunities prior to the pandemic. Regardless of the need, we expect e-commerce development opportunities to continue to rise.
During the pandemic, we know that consumer behavior dramatically changed with more and more people going online to transact, but in 2021, don’t expect to see that behavior change. With the ease of pushing a button and just about anything you want can be delivered right to your doorstep, consumers are finding that online shopping is the way to go.
That said, if you’re considering taking your products or services online, now is the time to do it.
The good news is, there are a lot of great e-commerce platforms out there that won’t break the bank in terms of development costs. As well, these platforms utilize other technologies that integrate with them seamlessly, technologies that have automated what marketers used to manage.
In summary, your organization’s marketing activities in 2021 should be driven with the intent to reach new audiences and embrace the customers you already have, with purpose. Provide them with content that matters, leverage the platforms they use most, and consider utilizing video and live, virtual events to have compelling conversations.
If you’ve been thinking about taking your brand online for e-commerce opportunities, seize the moment, and do it now before your competition beats you to it.
And finally, if you’re not working with a strong agency that understands good digital marketing, consider working with one. At Root and Roam, we know digital marketing, so feel free to give us a call.
Do you care about the people your actions affect? Of course you do! Actions are what show people who you are and what it is you’re made of. You can help people relate to you by showing people who you are. One thing social media is great at is connecting kindred and like minded individuals. You don’t have to make things up or try to be someone you’re not – matter of fact, you don’t want to be anything but genuine. Don’t worry about checking every box or appealing to every person. Worry about conveying what we talked about in the Week 1 section.
Give people the opportunity to see what you’re about through what you make and what you do – and, if you’re passionate about something, that fact will show through. People want to see your passion, they want to see the insight you’ve gained from all of your experiences and how that goes into the things that you do. What you’ll provide someone is what people need to see the most. That doesn’t necessarily mean your products or services – oftentimes it’s the solution your product or service can provide someone. Remember that when you’re talking about what it is you do.
Showing what happens behind closed doors gives people a side of you and your business they’d otherwise be unable to know. It’s also the side of you that just might be most capable of creating an empathetic relationship between you and your customers. We’re all people, we all have human tendencies, we all have idiosyncrasies – but in the fast paced corporatized, commercialized world that can all tend to get overlooked and forgotten. Your company is more than a product, more than a service. It’s something that people have invested their lives into, it’s something that people are passionate about. Passionate people imbue passion – passion creates passion. Don’t overlook the opportunity and the power of your people to create that in others.
Your owned media is just that – any content or platforms your brand owns. If you have complete control over the media, you “own” it. Owned media is great because you control the entirety of the messaging and branding. The more places your brand can be found online, and the more engaged on these platforms your audience is, the better your website will rank on a search engine results page (SERP).
Examples of your owned media include:
Website
Ebooks
Blogs
Podcasts
Apps
Social media accounts
Owned media allows your brand to shine. If you have a branding kit, make sure that you’re referring to it consistently to so your messaging, brand personality, color scheme, and fonts are all on-brand. It’s important to show consistency across all of your owned platforms to increase your brand awareness.
Whether you’re working to develop all your owned media platforms or you’re continuing to grow them, now is the time to do an audit. Make a list of all of the owned media your company has, and make sure that you’re utilizing them all to their fullest potential. This is a prime way to get seen by current and potential customers, so make sure you are putting your best foot forward and providing up-to-date and engaging for your audience. Create a plan to monitor and engage with your social media accounts. If you have a social media account you’re not currently using, consider whether or not you have the bandwidth to re-engage with this platform.
Root and Roam Tip: There are many types of owned media, but you do not have to use them all. Focus on the owned media platforms that resonate with your audience.
Earned media is any mention your brand has earned through work of your own. You’ve heard before that “nothing good comes easy,” and your earned media is a prime example. Over time, your earned media grows exponentially. Putting in the hard work to develop customer relationships, loyalty, and provide excellent customer service pay off for you with earned media.
Examples of earned media include:
Blog posts about your product or service others have written
Press mentions
Online reviews
Social mentions
It may feel uncomfortable, but the fastest way to gain earned media is by asking. Check in with your most loyal customers and ask them to write a review on your Google My Business page, an online business review site, or even your social media platforms. You can do this in person or through an email.
Root and Roam Tip: It may feel easier to ask a customer to leave a review in exchange for a discount or small token of appreciation. Resist this temptation. Doing so can inadvertently be considered to be bribery. Your company is great and your organic reviews will show this!
Your paid media is any content or brand mention you’ve paid to have. They may fall anywhere on the cost spectrum, from just a few dollars to the largest paid campaign that you could dream up.
Example of Paid Media Include:
Google search ads
Streaming ads
Google display ads
Banner ads on a website
Network display ads
Paid articles or advertorials
Your paid media is an important part of your overall marketing strategy because it expands your reach. Paid media allows you to get your company seen by potential new customers. Targeting options allow for you to hand-select who your audience is, and there are multiple ways for you to do so. You can target your search and display paid media in many different ways, including geographic location, specific keywords or searches, demographics. You even have the option to do a retargeting ad to follow up with those who have already visited your website or Facebook page.
Your paid media also includes any ad buys that you make on any online industry publication and streaming TV or radio ad.
Root and Roam Tip: There are many places you can use paid media. The opportunities are endless. Start off simple with platforms that you know your current audience or target audience are utilizing, and do some A/B testing to see what resonates best and provides you the most conversions.
As we talked about the differences between earned, owned, and paid media, you may be thinking “How do these all work together to give me a well-rounded digital marketing strategy?” The combinations of earned, owned, and paid media is the key. All types of media play a pivotal role in your SEO strategy but also in your overall brand strategy.
Some examples of owned and paid media combinations include:
Sponsored social media advertising
Boosted social media posts
Influencer partnerships
Some examples of owned and earned media include:
Testimonials on website
“As seen on..” Sections of the website
More branded searches for your business
Engagement on your owned media from influencers or social ads
Website conversions through paid advertising efforts
Increased web traffic on a dedicated landing page to capture leads through an ad
Each option of the type of media you choose, if leveraged alone, can achieve a company goal. However, when combined with another type or better yet, when all three are utilized, you’ll see much better results regardless of if you’re targeting brand awareness, lead generation, lead nurturing, or transactional opportunities. Interested in learning more about how these three types of media can improve your business, get in touch with a marketing strategist at Root & Roam!