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  • What Is Content Syndication? And How To Do It Successfully?

    What Is Content Syndication? And How To Do It Successfully?

    Marketing always looks out for new ways to get around a problem. In digital marketing, while it’s an advantage to have a sizable online crowd round the clock, it’s a big challenge to identify and connect with the right audience which will benefit.

    We know that content marketing is a proven method in digital marketing to generate organic traffic to your website but its efficacy largely depends on where you have put your original piece of content. In other words, it’s not enough to have good quality relevant content, you have to place it in a good platform for a high visibility target audience.

    From that perspective, the Content Syndication campaign stands out to be an effective method to find the right category of audience. Content Syndication is not a new concept, it has a cousin in the print media called Print Syndication partners to distribute news articles, columns, political cartoons, comic strips, and other features created by freelancers to newspapers, magazines, and websites with the necessary rights for republishing different types of content.

    Similarly, Content Syndication evolved from the time it was first introduced in digital media, and deals in a variety of content formats today. In addition to blogs and articles, you can publish other digital content such as Ebooks, Whitepapers, Podcasts, Infographics, Webinars, etc. In fact, the scope of Content Syndication seems unlimited as it is providing a win-win solution to both the content creators and content publishers.

    What is Content Syndication?

    This is a content marketing technique in which your content gets published on a third-party website that has a larger audience and viewership. But it can’t be any randomly chosen content or website, rather they should belong in a common group or type. The key to success in your Content Syndication strategy is choosing ideal platforms that can give you audience bases ready to make purchasing decisions.

    But will it not lead to duplicate content issues and invite penalties from Google? No, because Google understands that the same content may get published on multiple websites for legitimate reasons like content syndication, which is a valid marketing tactic and content strategy to create more customer engagement (in line with Google’s policy) and always furnished with backlinks to the original source. Secondly, Google discourages duplication of content but they don’t penalize for that.

    However, it may be wise to have some minor changes like a new title or a fresh image when you duplicate your content in order to minimize risk and retain the SEO value of the content.

    Also, your Content Syndication strategy doesn’t essentially mean republishing the entire content. Actually, there can be multiple approaches to it, such as:

    • Republishing the entire work
    • Post the edited version of the original work
    • Post only the title
    • Post an excerpt from the original content.

    Benefits of Content Syndication

    • Higher exposure to the right people – Syndicating to a proper third-party site helps you get more value for your content as it is presented to the right kind of people that you expect to attract as your customers.
    • Receive quality backlinks – Syndication of your content helps you to receive quality and valuable backlinks to boost organic and referral traffic growth to your websites.
    • Reputation of high domain authority – Links from authoritative websites perceived as recognition for your content and your domain authority. This will further help you rank higher in organic search.

    Your online presence and brand recognition are bound to grow from the consistent publishing of your content. In a highly competitive market, publishing content regularly on several highly rated platforms with wider audience bases can provide you big leverages in terms of establishing domain authority and high brand value. This will provide you with opportunities to approach for distribution or cross-promotion of your products.

    Content or web syndication is also called a growth marketing strategy. Whether you are a B2B business or a B2C, a well-planned syndication strategy can amplify your brand value and drive potential customers to your website. For instance, you may publish an original guest post on a platform that offers B2B content syndication services. Or, you may get an SEO blog post from your website duplicated in a strong B2C platform.

    Free vs. Paid Content syndication platforms

    Yes, you have both options. You may try out the free sites or may go for paid syndication. There are some popular platforms like Medium, Quora, LinkedIn Pulse, BuzzFeed that will be willing to publish your article/ blog on their site for free. However, how much potential traffic and the niche audience they can generate is a question mark.

    On the other hand, you have paid syndications where you need to pay to place your blog content. These can be large publications with associates through whom you have to contact..For example, a link to your content can be placed at the end of editorial content on a leading publication.

    There are many companies that offer content syndications as a service. They operate on a cost-per-lead (CPL) basis. They optimize your campaign by presenting your content to the most suitable audience to achieve more CPL. Typically, CPL is a factor of the more specific targeting.

    Source- Fluidscapes
    We are one of the best digital marketing companies in India that provides online reputation management services to all types of organizations. We assist businesses to stay on top of the game by leveraging the latest technologies and breakthroughs in marketing strategies and business processes. Want to grow your business, even more, get in touch with us and we’ll tell you how.

  • Progressive Web Apps: Does Your Business Need One?

    Progressive Web Apps: Does Your Business Need One?

    If you are the owner or CEO of a business, checking your digital marketing performance is likely to be a regular task for you. As the opportunities in digital marketing are increasing rapidly, it’s leading to increasing competition and challenges with every passing day.

    One of the major challenge areas is how to create great user experiences on multiple devices.

    Although the number of online customer networks at any given time has significantly increased they are using different devices (smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops) with different screen sizes to access the content. But your website is meant for any one type of device. So how will you be able to achieve greater outreach and higher efficiency for your SEO marketing presence?

    Secondly, creating mobile apps has become an immensely popular trend for a good mobile experience as they provide easy and direct access to useful information and services to create a high level of interaction. But is it possible to incorporate apps in your website to improve its functionality and the level of satisfaction for scores of customers who prefer browsing more than downloading apps will be an engaging experience.

    So there are two goals before you – Reachability across platforms and advanced functionalities. A PWA or Progressive Web App is just the ideal solution that addresses both requirements.

    What is Progressive Web App?

    A Progressive Web App is a website but feels and acts like an app. It combines the advantages of the latest web technologies with that of the web and mobile apps to add mobile app functionality to your website for a good mobile presence.

    A PWA makes any device home. It has a stack of different versions of the same website/ app, developed according to the device screen sizes in everyday use. Upon detecting the screen size, the PWA picks the right version from the stack and loads it instantly even if there is a low connection speed.

    Progressive Web Apps are attracting so much attention because firstly, it’s very easy to upgrade your existing website or web apps and make them more mobile-friendly, doing only minor configurational changes. And secondly, they are bringing a refreshing change to your existing website by turning them faster, reliable, and more engaging.

    • PWAs are much faster when it comes to interaction, animation, and scrolling by the users. Once a PWA is deployed it’s immediately available to users for the best app user experience.
    • PWAs are reliable because they can work with little or even no internet connection. Web apps can be loaded instantly without the help of caching which will enhance user experience.
    • PWAs are engaging as they act like a native-like app experience that can be installed without the need for an app store. So there is no delay for validation from Apple or Play stores.

    Progressive Web Application Examples

    For the success and profitability of online ventures performance of the website and apps are vital. Many companies, large or medium, have changed their website development process to progressive web apps. Among the well-known ones are Housing.com, MakeMyTrip, Starbucks, Uber, Pinterest, Spotify, and so on.

    You can visit any of these sites using a smartphone and install the site on your home screen. Now when you open the saved site, it’ll look and perform just like a native app. There is no need to browse. You can use an iPhone or an android phone, there’ll be no difference in their procedures or behaviors. Simply log in and move forward.

    Here are other key benefits and advantages of PWAs that are making it a top priority for the companies in online business.

    • Progressive – PWAs work on every device and make use of the features of the devices and browsers to enhance progressively.
    • Discoverable – They are searchable through browsers as like any other website. They also have URLs like any website.
    • Offline capabilities – A PWA works even when the user is offline, like a native app.
    • Cost-effective – PWAs are cheaper compared to native apps.
    • Push Notifications- PWA allows you to send push notifications just like native apps. This gives you the benefit of increased engagement by reaching people whoever has visited your site directly on their device.
    • SEO benefit- Search engines can crawl PWAs. This helps you get higher Google rankings.
    • No dependency on App stores – Since PWAs are independent, there’s no need for you to ask people to download through Google Playstore or Apple AppStore. You can offer PWA from social media channels or your homepage.
    • PWAs are lightweight – At least 80-90% less weight than a similar native app. Take the example of the Instagram app, While the native app is 35 MB Instagram lite is just 2.1 MB

    PWA’s are the current market trend and seem to be going in an inclining direction. We at Fluidscapes, help companies build their very own PWA’s that’s small in size & better in functionality. If you want to know native or PWA, which one is right for you then please check out our mobile app development services.

    Source- Fluidscapes
    We are one of the best digital marketing companies in India that provides online reputation management services to all types of organizations. We assist businesses to stay on top of the game by leveraging the latest technologies and breakthroughs in marketing strategies and business processes. Want to grow your business, even more, get in touch with us and we’ll tell you how.

  • How To Increase Conversions With A/B Testing? A/B Testing In The Context Of Modern Marketing.

    How To Increase Conversions With A/B Testing? A/B Testing In The Context Of Modern Marketing.

    Your website and mobile app have many variables (landing page, CTA, banners, etc.) that are responsible for organic traffic influx and sales conversion rate. The website or the app, being at the heart of your digital marketing activities, must have these variables optimized, based on various metrics acquired from the incoming traffic.

    Similarly, email, content pieces and other marketing assets should also be optimized in the testing process based on the reactions of the target audience, to improve their effectiveness.

    One of the methods of acquiring correct data on users’ behavior and reactions is to A/B test your website or other marketing services through a testing program. A/B testing may not be a familiar term to many. This article is an attempt to explain A/B testing and its impacts in digital marketing for business growth.

    What is A/B testing?

    A/B testing, also known as split testing or bucket testing, is a very effective process of evaluating the variables. It does that by showing two or more versions of the variables to different segments of website visitors at the same time and checking which version leaves the maximum impact and drives the highest metrics in that testing period.

    A/B testing involves showing two or more versions of the same page randomly to the users to collect data for statistical analysis to conclude which variation performs better for a given conversion goal.

    How is A/B testing performed?

    You need to identify a variable on the original version (also called the control or version A) and create a modified version of the same page with the changed variable (called the variation or version B) – the changes may be as small as replacing a single headline or shifting a CTA button, or it may be a total redesign of a page. Then, make half of your traffic see the original version or the control and show the second version to the rest.

    How does A/B testing help modern marketing?

    Marketing success is always dependent on the validity of data, which makes A/B testing a very valuable tool at the hands of marketers. A/B testing allows them to create the best possible marketing copies out of a given set of variables.

    What impacts the customers’ behaviour most is a million-dollar question. Even the most experienced marketers may get the pulse of the market wrong. A/B testing provides marketers with ready and authentic data about what element of the marketing mix is leading to more user engagement in the ongoing process. These data may be valid for a temporary period or for an extended period of time.

    There can be one or multiple issues after multi page testing with an apparently nice, smart marketing copy that may hold it from getting the desired results. Conducting A/B testing from time to time definitely helps rectify the faults and meet the goal of the campaign.

    The goal of your campaign may be sales conversion or lead generation with the right approach. For example, if you are a B2B company, you’ll most likely want to increase the volume of quality leads through your campaign. A/B testing can help you with the correct identification of the visitors’ pain points and suggest changes in the landing page optimization variables such as headline, call to action, visual imagery, form fields, or the overall layout of the page.

    One of the important parts of A/B testing is to identify the element to be changed. It may lead to a waste of time and effort if you choose to go about it randomly. The best way would be to start small. Test a small change such as change the color of a CTA (Call To Action) button or remove an unnecessary form field,piece of content etc, before expanding the scope of your A/B testing.

    Creating a hypothesis

    Identifying a problem and creating a hypothesis to circumvent that problem are the steps to creating the A/B test experience. What’s the problem? Is it low conversations, changed traffic patterns, a shift in your demographic ratio? Use Google Analytics behavior reports to get to the bottom of it. Once the problem is identified, discuss it in the team meeting to form your hypothesis., such as the one below –

    “Changing the ‘Homepage’ color from dark blue to sky blue might increase revenue by 10 percent.”

    After your problem is identified and a hypothesis has been concluded, only then it’s proper to A/B test your hypothesis.

    A/B testing marketing tools to keep in mind

    If you have decided to incorporate A/B testing into your digital marketing plan, here are some tools that’ll help you. Note that these are not in any particular order, these are some of the tools that we love. We have narrowed it down to a couple of must have features in the tool, so even if these few tools do not suit your needs, you can always research more marketing tools on your own.

    Must have features-

    • A/B/C testing
    • Built in platform to create and edit different versions
    • AI powered where it’ll send traffic to best performing version

    Good to have features-

    • Supported with multi armed bandit algorithm
    • Multivariable testing
    • A/B testing idea suggestions

    Now that’s out of the way, here are some A/B testing tools that you should be aware of

    • 1. Google Optimize
    • 2. Optimizely
    • 3. VWO(Virtual Website Optimizer)
    • 4. Hubspot
    • 5. Zoho Pagesense

    You need to choose a tool according to your company requirements & size. Hopefully we have covered your doubts about A/B testing in this blog. Feel free to check out our other business blogs.

    Source- Fluidscapes
    We are one of the best digital marketing companies in India that provides online reputation management services to all types of organizations. We assist businesses to stay on top of the game by leveraging the latest technologies and breakthroughs in marketing strategies and business processes. Want to grow your business even more, get in touch with us and we’ll tell you how.

  • How Can Businesses Use NFT To Their Advantage? What Is NFT?

    How Can Businesses Use NFT To Their Advantage? What Is NFT?

    If you are a keen marketer or an ardent follower of social media then a few exciting pieces of news like these might have not escaped your sight:

    • Launching of NBA Top Shot that offers highlights of memorable basketball games in digital format, referred to as ‘moments.’
    • Selling of digital artworks on the virtual marketplace with ownership rights by the artist and musician Claire Boucher (also known as Grimes) for $ 5.8 million.
    • Virtual auction of Taco Bell Gifs to support Live Más Scholarship.
    • Auction of the copyright of a jpg file of digital art collage by the digital artist Mike Winkelmann at $69 million
    • Auction of the exclusive right of the music album ‘When You See Yourself’ by the band called ‘Kings Of Leon.’

    There are more such multi-million dollar plans and deals attracting social media attention of late, and if you wonder what is the common link between them, look at the products sold – the digital files with digital ownership!! The jpg, GIF image files are being sold as products!

    But a digital file can be copied, edited, tampered with any time, isn’t it? Then how on earth will you be sure about the originality of the file? How will you claim the title, proof of ownership, and copyright of this asset ( well, a mere digital file as an asset), and what will you do with these digital assets, will you be able to resale them like other assets?

    The answers to all of these questions lie in the new path breaking technological advancement called NFT, which is heralding a new era in business and commerce and also showing great possibilities in many other areas including the economy, infrastructure, and governance.

    What is NFT?

    NFT is Non-Fungible Token. If your head has started spinning, it may if you’re not a student of economics, take a pause and then ask, ‘what is a non-fungible token?’

    To understand non-fungible tokens we need to understand the term ‘fungible.’ Fungible is something that is made of identical or interchangeable units and also can be exchanged for other material of equal value. For example, Gold is a fungible asset as any unit of pure gold can be replaced with the same unit of pure gold, be it in any form. We can purchase some material in exchange for equal worth of gold. Currency is also fungible because a unit of currency or coins, for example, a $100 bill can be interchanged with 2 nos. $50 bills.

    In contrast, there are some assets that can’t really have a true copy or a fully identical replacement; they are unique. For example, diamonds that become precious through cutting and polishing by the experts. It is said that no two diamonds are the same. Even if they are of the same grading they will not look the same to your eye, hence their prices will also differ. Therefore, we can categorize diamonds as non-fungible assets investment.

    Lands and residential properties are some other examples of non-fungible assets because each unit has a unique set of qualities that can’t be copied or duplicated.

    Can’t be copied or duplicated – this unique quality of non-fungible assets inspired new ideas of creating non-fungible assets on the digital space by the content creators in the forms of memes, media, tweets, arts, articles, music, in fact any type of digital property that can be collectible and will have some antique or vintage value going forward. This is done by attaching a unique identification code or a digital autograph, called a token, to that digital property.

    That’s it! The idea of creating an NFT or a non-fungible token as a collectible digital asset shielded with tamper proof digital authentication has ushered in a great new form of branding that leads to superior emotional connect with the audience and at the same time bring large revenue to the company.

    How to make an NFT?

    Blockchain technology holds the basis of NFTs. Blockchains platforms are the digital ledgers that contain all records of transactions and are practically impregnable to hacking or breaches.

    A non-fungible token or NFT is a cryptographic digital token, which is not interchangeable, in sharp contrast to cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin that are essentially interchangeable or replaceable or fungible.

    An NFT is created by submitting the file of the digital work in question to an NFT auction market such as KnownOrigin, Rarible, or OpenSea. This automatically puts the hash value of the file on a digital ledger or blockchain as an NFT. Once an NFT is stored on the blockchain it gets a foolproof identity protection for ownership by the parent company. However, all transactions of an NFT require crypto tokens and cryptocurrencies only.

    Ethereum is an open-source, decentralized blockchain technology that offers ERC-721, a free and open standard non-fungible token that has a globally unique tokenID.

    Actually, the NFT itself contains very little of the data, rather it includes links to where the original digital works are stored. But that link may not be permanent, which means the title can be for a certain period and will be revoked automatically at the end of that period. The ownership of an NFT doesn’t grant the exclusive right to the file by default. However, there is a provision for applying explicit licensing to an NFT deal. The author or creator is needed to transfer the copyright to the buyer as a certificate of authenticity, and that continues if the ownership is changed further.

    How can brands use NFTs to their advantage?

    NFTs are showing immense possibilities to start a whole new paradigm in branding. The level of interest and enthusiasm it has created speaks about its capacity to garner huge and sustainable consumer engagement, which we all know is the single most important goal of marketing and branding.

    In the digital age where people spend most of their time on a variety of channels and platforms, NFTs present a unique branding opportunity through creation, collection and trading of digital collectibles and memorabilia.

    And not to forget the revenue it brings to the business with millions of dollars – not only through the first deal but also as royalties from the future tradings. In fact, the future trading option helps your brand to be a talking point with some bragging value.

    NFT is certainly a big power at the hands of the marketer but it requires intelligent use and good timing. For example, the Taco Bell GIFs mentioned in the beginning were apparently launched to support the Live Más Scholarship, a popular social initiative.

    Studies show that 83% of millennials tend to attach with brands that align with their values. Taco Bell attracted huge interest by linking their NFT launch with a social cause supported by their target audience.

    NFTs can also be used by a newcomer business to grab attention and build followers.

    Chinese virtual sneaker brand RTFKT decided to design an NFT sneaker and put it up for auction on the eve of Chinese New Year. The virtual sneaker fetched a whopping $28000. What a wonderful way to disrupt the market and make a name for yourself.

    All indications suggest that people are loving NFTs and are willing to spend money on them, even more so as the concept is powered by the Blockchain technology that also ensures hasslefree trading opportunities. It’s also possible to recreate more NFTs of the same digital work. Marketers pull up your socks, the NFT craze is sure to continue for a long time to come.

    Source- Fluidscapes
    We are one of the best digital marketing companies in India that provides reputation management services to all types of organizations. We assist businesses to stay on top of the game by leveraging the latest technologies and breakthroughs in marketing strategies and business processes. Want to grow your business even more, get in touch with us and we’ll tell you how.

  • Impact Of Copywriting On Digital Marketing

    Impact Of Copywriting On Digital Marketing

    The Internet is a huge repository of information and digital marketing is the most prolific generator of information on the Internet in modern times.

    Not only the volume but also the many different types of marketing tactics and formats digital marketing has invented to package the information can be a subject of research by itself.

    And what this ocean of information is made up of? It’s the written content, almost entirely – almost because videos, audios, graphics, podcasts have their shares too, albeit very low. However, these other forms are also made out of written content.

    Content continues to be the default medium of communication for digital marketing, and it’s the quality of content that matters most for its effectiveness.

    Quality of Content! How is that defined?

    Good question, and a common misnomer. Many digital marketers attribute quality content to overly stylish writing. To a lot of people, grammatical mistake-free content is considered to be of a high standard written by professional copywriters.

    But often they tend to disregard the purpose of content, which should essentially be about solving a problem or addressing a need with the proper and sufficient information. At Fluidscapes we provide quality copywriting services in which we stress on creating content that satisfies the need of the reader in simple and error-free language, only then it attracts more viewers and qualifies to be quality content.

    That isn’t easy – creating targeted content that covers the subject well and is an enjoyable read, not to forget keyword insertions. But that’s the challenge, which makes the content stand apart. Bespoke content for different digital marketing activities such as SEO, PPC, SMM, etc. brings valuable traffic from search to the website, and that is considered quite a success in the circle of digital marketers.

    Rightly so, because catching a random customer’s attention during the fleeting moments of browsing and making them curious about your product or service is undoubtedly an achievement for the content and marketer both. However, from the business perspective just having good traffic to the website daily doesn’t matter much, what really matters is conversion to sales. That is where copywriting comes into play.

    An appropriate analogy would be to imagine that touts are bringing potential customers to your shop but then it finally depends on your salespersons to convince the prospective clients and close the deal.

    Let’s take a look at how the use of copywriting can make a big difference in the result of your digital marketing.

    What is copywriting?

    Although what copywriting produces is essentially content, which is why sometimes copywriting is generalized as content writing but there are differences in concept and their applications.

    Copywriting is the shorter version of content writing, a micro-version you can say, that may range from a few words, a headline, or a line, to 3-4 lines maximum. The whole purpose of copywriting is to zoom in on an idea, concept, benefits, etc. to help the readers visualize and convert them into prospective buyers/customers. It’s to-the-point, strategic, and highly persuasive writing.

    Copywriting is intended to drive visitors/target audience to take action. In contrast, the tone of content writing is providing guidance and sharing information.

    Effective copywriting has been the lifeline of advertising for ages, be it billboards, print media, TV, social media channels, or any other platform. Some of the examples of copywriting in digital marketing are the captions of Facebook ads, headlines of Google ads, descriptions of YouTube videos, etc.

    Other popular applications of copywriting in the sphere of digital marketing are e-mail copywriting, and SMS copywriting according to their specific uses for SEO marketing, email marketing, and SMS marketing.

    Copywriting also plays a pivotal role when it comes to websites. Aptly known as website copywriting, it has a huge impact on the visitor’s perception and interest. In conjunction with UI and UX, website copywriting plays an important role in the bounce and return rate of visitors which directly affects the conversion rate of a website.

    Stated below are some of the elements of a website that depend heavily on copywriting and have a huge impact on leads generated. These includes

    • Product pages
    • Website sales copy
    • PPC landing page
    • PPC ads
    • Cost per mille (CPM) ads
    • Sales emails
    • Short Message Service(SMS) ads

    Website copywriting can also be embedded in the website’s long content to optimize certain areas, for example, the Call-To-Action (CTA) portion if required, from the main content.

    The importance of copywriting in digital marketing entails creating a strong urge in your viewers to buy into what you’re offering using the right choice of words mixed with the right amount of emotion. A judicious combination of content writing and copywriting is what makes digital marketing effective both in terms of high traffic and conversions.

    Source- Fluidscapes
    We are one of the best digital marketing companies in India that provides reputation management services to all types of organizations. We assist businesses to stay on top of the game by leveraging the latest technologies and breakthroughs in marketing strategies and business processes. Want to grow your business even more, get in touch with us and we’ll tell you how.

  • Get The Best Social Media Agency On Board. Here Is How

    Get The Best Social Media Agency On Board. Here Is How

    Choose your social media partner to profit through innovations and changes

    Change is the only constant in life. More than anything else, this quotation holds true for the field of digital technology, which continues to overwhelm us with the changes and inclusion of new features, and their impacts on our lives and commerce.

    Conventions and concepts are regularly being upgraded to introduce new ideas and scale new heights, keeping technology consulting companies like us on their toes. A lot of changes are happening in social media too. Social media platforms, which employ most of the emerging trends and techniques, are making Social Media marketing increasingly rewarding and challenging for businesses.

    The challenges are many, as businesses are flooding social media with marketing content, the channels have started making it more and more stringent for them. The objectives are twofold –

    a) To clear the clutter of low-quality content

    b) To reduce organic reach and encourage paid reach.

    The bar is raised high for the standard of social media marketing and will continue to rise higher and become more expensive. However, still, it can’t assure you success in your marketing efforts, due to the simple reason that it’s as much quality as it’s a strategy to be on a winning streak in social media marketing.

    Your search for the right social media consulting agency thus becomes a daunting task that requires you to have a clear idea of what services are possible and what are your needs, some insights into their functioning, and a rational evaluation process. Give it due importance because a wrong selection can negatively impact your brand besides quickly draining your budget.

    Here is how you’ll go about selecting the right social media marketing agency for your business.

    As said earlier, the primary requirement before delving into social media services is to understand yourself and your needs. Whether you are a B2B or B2C business, you are a budding company, semi-established, or an established company, the demographics of your customers, your budget, and so on.

    Social media marketing can be broadly divided into three parts – social media management, branding, and ORM(Online Reputation Management). They have separate purposes that are achieved through applying various social media campaigns. A good social media marketing agency performs them in synergy. The following points constitute the checklists for selecting the right social media consultancy

    #1 The agency should have the goal of helping clients keep pace with the changes and profit from them.

    #2 Their overall responsibilities across the channels should include:

    • Identifying social marketing goals
    • Researching on the target audience
    • Establishing the most appropriate metrics
    • Analyzing competition
    • Social listening
    • Catching the mood
    • Developing and curating bespoke content
    • Close watch and prompt actions.

    #3 Their channel-specific tasks should include:

    Facebook

    • Setting up your FB page
    • Inform people about you and your views.
    • Manage Likes, Shares & Comments.
    • Find and join the right groups to share stories, achievements.
    • Create and distribute engaging posts.
    • Reply and respond to discussions.

    Twitter

    • Linking accounts on different channels.
    • Create a following through likes, retweets, comments, and response to tweets.
    • Create new hashtags and join other hashtags.
    • Generate leads through Twitter
    • Share tweets, news & information about the client’s company

    Youtube

    • Video creation and promotion
    • Respond to YouTube comments
    • Create videos & video descriptions that are SEO friendly
    • Strategize video creation & scheduling
    • Share reports of activities & insights from YouTube

    Pinterest

    • Board creation
    • Image creation & promotion
    • Manage posts on boards, manage collaborators
    • Have well verse knowledge of Pinterest paid promotions

    Whatsapp

    • Setting up your WhatsApp Business account
    • Creating chatbots for WhatsApp business account
    • Respond to business queries, setup WhatsApp shop experience
    • Converse with clients directly & maintain a personal relationships with the customers

    #4 They must have Branding experts in their team. Branding or brand building is a set of activities centered around your company. The core purpose of branding activities is to make the people know about your vision and mission, principles, policy, faith, and so on. It’s an image-building exercise that goes on for a long span of time to plant a bright picture of your company into the minds of your customers. A high brand image generates a high level of trust and confidence of the customers in your company and products that make marketing much easier

    #5 They must have vast & hands on experience with respect to paid promotions for all social media platforms

    #6 Social media agency who is ready to explore new & emerging social media platforms

    #7 Additional bonus- If they have connections in direct social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram & Twitter. (To get verified or just in case anything goes wrong)

    #8 They should religiously perform ORM (Online Reputation Management) to help branding and marketing.

    ORM is an ongoing process that works in the background to complement branding and marketing. The reputation of your company created by the branding operation can be under threat by your opponents, critics, unhappy customers, unhappy ex-employees, etc. ORM helps you to not only preempt those threats but also to add up.

    Adversity is part and parcel of life and so is in business. But since digital media is a great mass influencer, negative news, review, comments, etc can spread like wildfire to cause substantial damage to your hard-earned reputation and revenue. Online Reputation Management is a set of specialized activities that watch the media round-the-clock and repair the damage before it flares up.

    Source- Fluidscapes
    We are one of the best digital marketing companies in India that provides reputation management services to all types of organizations. We assist businesses to stay on top of the game by leveraging the latest technologies and breakthroughs in marketing strategies and business processes. Want to grow your business even more, get in touch with us and we’ll tell you how.

  • 10 Hot Digital Marketing Trends To Boost Your Business

    10 Hot Digital Marketing Trends To Boost Your Business

    With COVID being the mother of all disruptions to turn the world upside down, 2020 will be remembered as a year when everything came to a grinding halt, except for digital marketing. When there was no purchase even then also digital marketing was active with brand promotion.

    As millions of people thronged the Internet and online media for extended hours during the lockdown period, posing steeper targets to the brands, it made a perfect breeding ground for new innovations in digital marketing to make it more penetrating, to think beyond.

    Searching for the right demographic groups, grabbing their attention, and engaging with them through meaningful communication – brands are always in a race to outperform one another in all three departments of digital marketing. Let’s find out what cool new digital marketing trends are awaiting them going forward to make their campaigns razor-sharp.

    #1 We’ll start our list with Voice Search

    In its simplest definition Voice Search is a technological advancement that understands a voice query and serves it with the right answer. The user is saved from typing the query – genuinely required in some situations or conditions besides adding to comfort and ease of using the Internet. Worldwide nearly 27% of online users are already using mobile voice search.

    We have already seen the technology making inroads into the home appliances segment by the name of “voice assistant” available in various brands that include Siri, Alexa user, Google Assistant, and Cortana, among the leaders. While these are independent products with links to their parent databases through the Internet, the same technology is being incorporated in Google search to make it more flexible and inclusive.

    Google Voice Search or Voice SEO trend is gaining rapid popularity among online users, as it provides easier, faster, and more conversational searching compared to the traditional method of typing queries. Here are some insights into the Google voice search.

    • Unlike the web searching process, a voice search doesn’t require a screen to help users scroll, select and type. It is conversational – expects a clear question and provides a straight answer.
    • Voice search expects longer sentences in order to understand the query clearly. In web searching, we use short and basic lines of keywords and depend upon the search engine to provide all related results.
    • Voice searches offer only one answer and not a list of probable combinations to choose from, like the way web searches do.
    • A voice search uses the featured snippet for the closest answer, instead of keywords matching as is the case in web searching.

    #2 At second place is Featured Snippets

    The next big thing on the cards is Featured Snippet or no-click search. Featured Snippets are excerpts from the text content, often come with images, that Google reckons as the most credible answer to a query and thus puts it in a box, at the top of its search results.

    The benefit is that the searcher gets the best answer available with Google directly without having to click and read through the different sites. The Featured Snippets box is also called ‘position 0’ by the SEO experts because relevant content appears even above the # ‘1’ spot on the search results.

    Common types of Featured Snippets include definitions, steps, tables, and lists that are pulled automatically by the Google search algorithm from the web pages in its index. Google voice SEO strategy, which is slated to be a top trend in 2021, uses Featured Snippets(voice) based search only.

    Featured snippets are prize recognitions from Google and therefore precious in digital marketing which will help you gain more attention than the competitor’s even if your own organic ranking is lower than theirs.

    Some experts might call it foul play but the fact is that Featured Snippet presents a great opportunity to a website to generate high traffic organically just by focusing on quality content and not much on search engine optimization.

    #3 3rd on the list is Visual Search

    Another fantastic up-gradation Google Search Engine is expected to feature in 2021 is Visual Search, which is another alternative to typing a search term/keyword in google search. Internet users will be able to search for information about anything through Google by uploading an image of the item.

    For example, if you upload a photo of a plant Google will respond with information about the species. A landmark image will be returned with historical data. If the image of a product is uploaded, Google will not only return information about that product but also about similar products with sources to buy from for the potential customers.

    Google uses deep neural networks to decipher the image of the product, considering the shape, color, and size of the image, and then serve the information relating to the most matching object or place or whatever may be the nature of the search item.

    Visual search is an AI-based technology that is poised to provide a big fillip to eCommerce marketing besides transforming online searching. Google lens and Pinterest lens are the two popular tools that offer some mind-blowing features to integrate visual search technology into our everyday lives.

    For example, if you’re looking for information about a restaurant you would like to try out in a new city, just scan a picture of it through Google lens and you’ll be served with all relevant information about the restaurant in a moment.

    #4 is Video Marketing

    Video Marketing is making an amazing engagement quotient in the digital space. From news feeds to social media and magazines, people are, kind of, gorging on video content. The popularity of videos has been skyrocketed during the COVID -19 lockdown, and in all likelihood, will continue to soar further in 2021.

    Brands are increasingly using the power of video marketing to drive audience engagement and conversions. The six most exciting video marketing trends in 2021 will be

    • Animated Explainer Videos
    • Live Video Streaming
    • 360-degree Videos
    • Shoppable Videos
    • Storytelling Videos
    • Vlogging

    #5 Personalized conversations through Chatbots

    AI-powered Chatbots have become immensely popular in the digital marketing world because of their human-like intelligence, 24/7 activeness, ability to recall your entire buying history, prompt answering capacity, and super patience (friendly and cordial at any stage).

    However, one more quality of Chatbots that is particularly responsible for making it a trendsetter is personalized conversations.

    The huge popularity of Chatbots has brought the secret of success in modern marketing to the fore, and that is a personalized conversation. People want personalized conversations to have immediate, caring, and result-oriented responses, and brands are just reacting to that by investing in more advanced Chatbots.

    Surveys predicted that 80% of the businesses were expected to have an AI-powered Chatbot in their websites by 2020. If that target wasn’t met due to COVID, 2021 will definitely surpass that. These A.I virtual assistants will ensure a huge improvement in customer satisfaction through learning and meeting their requirements.

    #6 Social media stories

    The trend of Social Media stories was first started by Snapchat, riding on short videos, pictures, and AR-based interactions. It became an immediate hit with Gen Y and soon was replicated on other platforms as well. Instagram and Facebook were among the early birds to adopt the idea before it became all-pervasive.

    Today, the audience’s interest is no longer limited to news feeds. They are increasingly interacting with stories and projecting it as a popular way to communicate and share their content.

    People love stories. The trend of Social Media Stories is creating great engagements from social media users. Businesses will definitely make good use of it in their marketing strategies in 2021.

    #7 Google Verified Listing

    How wonderful! Free listing of local businesses on Google is surely going to be a big hit in 2021, given the massive daily search traffic on Google. Local businesses like electric & plumbing companies, shops of various kinds, chartered accountants, gyms, restaurants, etc. can now have Google Verified Listing.

    Also known as Business Profile, this will have all relevant information along with geographical locations of the businesses on Google My Business pages and help prospective customers to find, learn about, and contact them without hassle. Information such as an address, open hours, reviews, star ratings, etc. will be there on the business profile for a better user experience.

    Source: https://g.page/Fluidscapes?gm

    But for that, the businesses need to optimize their profiles to update their best and latest features, offers, etc. by verifying with Google. Google verification will

    • put the stamp of trust on the reputation of the businesses,
    • ensure that no one can fraudulently claim the ownership of a business
    • enable the business owners to manage their business information through search, map, and other Google tools.

    #8 Automated And Smart Bidding For Online Ads

    Also known as Programmatic Advertising it’s revolutionizing the digital ad buying process and is expected to take over the manual bidding completely by the end of 2021.

    We need to look at the exercises involved in manual bidding to understand the benefits of Programmatic Advertising.

    To get the best possible results in most search-driven manual advertising campaigns (even those aided by professional tools), the bulk of the time is spent on analyzing the data in minute details, tweaking and adjusting keywords, ad phrasing, choosing the best time of day, locations, etc. Then come labor-intensive processes like requests for proposals, tenders, quotes, and human negotiation – enough to overwhelm a business owner looking to run an ad campaign.

    Programmatic or smart bidding automates the online ad buying process using artificial intelligence. The real-time bidding on Google Ads campaign, an example of Programmatic Advertising, makes use of machine learning to automate all the key functions to produce the best possible results. Smart Bidding is not a very new concept but for some reason, its use has been rather slow with most business owners until recently to meet their business goals.

    #9 Browser Push Notifications

    Browser or Web push notifications are the notifications that are sent to your website visitors via desktop web browser and mobile web browser. The purpose of this is to keep the active users, occasional or even one-time visitors updated about your product or services even if they don’t install your app, of course, not without the consent of the visitors.

    This is a very effective remarketing exercise that requires the visitors to opt-in for the notifications. These notifications, which are like alert messages, are delivered to the visitors’ desktop or mobile screen making them an effective tool to include in your marketing strategy.

    #10 Messaging Apps For Business

    Since the time WhatsApp opened itself to businesses a new trend has emerged, about using messaging apps for businesses. What WhatsApp offers to the companies is an instant messaging network of their own which is safe and secure from hacking.

    This will especially help businesses with remote employees and mobile employees to communicate instantly within and outside the organization (to customers, suppliers, etc.). Each user will have a branded business profile that will help consumers to immediately know who they are chatting with or who has sent that information. The users also receive delivery information and information about what messages have been delivered and read.

    Another growing trend of using business messaging is in the form of conversational commerce. For example, the sales and support personnel in many companies are answering product and service-related questions with specific and instant messages.

    With more and more inclusion of marketing automation tools and solutions, digital marketing is setting new standards at frequent intervals, keeping marketers like us on our toes. If anyone asks what is the future of Digital Marketing, the most appropriate answer would perhaps be that digital marketing is the only future.

    Source- Fluidscapes
    We are one of the best digital marketing companies in India that provides reputation management services to all types of organizations. We assist businesses to stay on top of the game by leveraging the latest technologies and breakthroughs in marketing strategies and business processes. Want to grow your business even more, get in touch with us and we’ll tell you how.

  • Is Organic Reach Dead? Are The Social Media Platforms Forcing Companies To Do Paid Ads!

    Is Organic Reach Dead? Are The Social Media Platforms Forcing Companies To Do Paid Ads!

    Yes and no. To find an answer to something as grave as this, We decided to dive deep into the matter and got this mixed bag response.

    While an overwhelming number of sites were found to have declared the end of the era of social organic reach for businesses, citing statistics and graphs of the drastic fall in the number of organic reach on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn a few sites are putting up some arguments saying that it’s only to make the platforms more user friendly and to prevent the news feed from the clutters of spammy, low-quality business feed.

    Here is our take on this

    Each platform is different from the others in terms of unique advantage, revenue-generating process and target. For example, Instagram has introduced a unique shopping experience through a feature called ‘Checkout on Instagram’ that ensures that the users can choose their products, enter the shipping details and make payments without leaving the platform. Brands have to pay a small fee to avail these special facilities.

    Apart from the above, social media platforms, in general, are dependent on paid posts and ads to meet their huge operational cost.

    This explains why they are resorting to monetize their business user base by encouraging paid posts and ads and making organic reach more and more stringent.

    While the leading brands with millions of followers can still do albeit fall in their organic reach, small businesses with only a few hundred followers will find it really difficult to be visible if not switched to paid posts and ads.

    Not convinced, want more inside news? All right, but let’s first refresh our concept base about organic vs. paid social media posts and what is organic reach per se.

    Organic means absolutely natural. In the world of social media, organic posts mean unpaid or free posts, which can be any type of content including work-in-progress photos, random thoughts, links to blogs, shared posts from friends & acquaintances and their personal networks coming to your news feed automatically.

    By contrast, there are paid posts that are directed at certain group(s) of people against charges for the purpose of product promotion and sales. Naturally, the paid posts have targeted reach and much more efficacy than the organic posts unless the latter goes viral.

    For your business, you may use either organic posts or paid posts or both depending on your budget and strategy.

    When you use organic posts your efficiency is measured in terms of organic reach which is simply a measurement of how many people can see your unpaid post.

    Similarly, paid reach means how many people can see your paid post.

    It all started from Facebook

    In 2018, Facebook introduced EdgeRank Algorithm that changed the definition of organic reach. This was the beginning of the end of free publicity for businesses, followed by other platforms in their own methods.

    Earlier, every time an unpaid post appeared in someone’s news feed, Facebook would count it as organic reach. But now, entering the news feed is not enough, your unpaid post must be opened and seen by someone to be counted as an organic reach.

    This small change in the platform saw a sharp decline in the organic reach of the business pages. Surveys conducted after the change revealed that with the new definition only 6% of the audiences were seeing the unpaid post organically.

    To implement this Facebook provided users with choices on how to view their news feeds. They can now view videos as well. It’s a win-win – boost in organic reach for the business and ad revenue from videos for Facebook.

    Apparently, Facebook did it for clearing the clutters of low-quality business posts from the space reserved for personal communication but the move served dual purposes. We can refer to Mark Zuckerberg’s observation –

    The trend seeps into Instagram

    Quite expectedly, since Instagram is owned by Facebook.

    With a 500 – 800 million active user base every day, Instagram beats all other platforms when it comes to promoting business. No other platform can engage audiences with captivating content quite like Instagram.

    Although Instagram doesn’t have the quality issue as much as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, still they introduced an algorithm to filter the organic content. Their goal is clear from the comment of their CEO, Kevin Systrom, on this change –

    “On average, people miss about 70 percent of the posts in their Instagram feed. What this is about is making sure that the 30 percent you see is the best 30 percent possible.”

    However, even though the organic growth on Instagram is declining, it still is outperforming all other platforms combined.

    The LinkedIn story

    Earlier LinkedIn wouldn’t have newsfeeds like Twitter and Facebook. This was preventing them from having high traffic engagement. LinkedIn then introduced some cool new features to increase its active user base but that resulted in more organic posts from the businesses rather than an increase in revenue.

    Eventually, LinkedIn also took the same path as Facebook to cut down on the organic reach through a series of measures such as:

    • Reprioritising other content such as LinkedIn ads within their newsfeed,
    • Creating a higher threshold for engagement rate,
    • Increasing engagement quality requirement,
    • Prioritising LinkedIn blue badge influencers, etc.

    What it ultimately comes down to

    With most social media platforms encouraging more of paid posts and ads, the return from organic content is becoming less and less trackable and scalable and with slim chances for conversions.

    Businesses would do better to spend on the paid reach to bring home a much greater advantage than frustrate themselves on the organic route.

    The capabilities offered to the brands through the paid Facebook ads are extensive and the benefits acquired far exceeds anything that you might receive with your organic content. You can track your return from Paid ads through scalable metrics like leads generated, visits, and conversions. Here are some quick points about advertising on some of the leading social platforms:

    • You need to keep your social media advertising strategy, cost, and results aligned with your business goals.
    • Most small and medium businesses are looking for agencies with specialists that can offer flexible social media management pricing packages to grow and maintain their social media following over time.
    • You’ll achieve two primary goals from your ad campaign on a leading social media like Facebook – you’ll reach mostly your target audience, and you can expect a healthy return on your Ad spend (ROAS).
    • Facebook advertising cost has two components – the overall amount spent and the cost of each result that you get.
    • The Facebook ad cost calculator is a perfect tool that provides you with insight into calculating your return on ad spend (ROAS) from your Facebook ad campaigns.
    • While Facebook can reach a wide range of demographics, Instagram performs best if your product has to reach an audience with age between 25 and 29 years.
    • Both Facebook and Instagram advertising can be managed through the same Ads Manager. However, their advertising costs vary depending on various factors. Instagram is slightly more expensive than Facebook but its yield is also higher than that from Facebook.
    • Advanced targeting, rate of engagement, external links, longer videos are some of the benefits of Instagram marketing.
    • How much does it cost to advertise on Instagram depends upon the variables like the objective of your campaign ( brand awareness, conversions, or both), audience size, specificity, click-through-rate, etc.

    Source- Fluidscapes
    We are one of the best digital marketing companies in India that provides reputation management services to all types of organizations. We assist businesses to stay on top of the game by leveraging the latest technologies and breakthroughs in marketing strategies and business processes. Want to grow your business even more, get in touch with us and we’ll tell you how.

  • 10 Video Marketing Trends That’ll Dominate Online Marketing In 2021

    10 Video Marketing Trends That’ll Dominate Online Marketing In 2021

    Video is the new king of content and video marketing is creating a new paradigm in marketing. With the surge in new social media platforms coming out with great video formats, 2021 is all set to see a phenomenal rise in video marketing.

    So, are you geared up to align your video marketing strategy with this new order? If you are still in a state of dilemma and looking for some hard data, here is a powerful infographic shared by Oberlo that explains why video content marketing should be your best bet to increase your share of organic traffic and conversations.

    But first some spotlight on the trends showcased there:

    1. Video Usage in 2021

    Video, Video, and Video, everything on earth seems to have a video made on it and garnering a huge number of views and attention. Marketers are quick to cash in on this darling medium. In 2020, usage of video for marketing grew to 92% from 78% in the previous year and is expected to touch 98% in 2021. As per a recent research, the top video trends include explainer videos, which nearly three in four (72 percent) of marketers create, presentation videos (49 percent), testimonial videos (48 percent), and sales videos and video ads (42 percent each).

    2. The Livestream Boom on Mobiles

    The boom in the number of video streaming apps is a clear indication of this being one of the most popular video marketing trends in 2021. The majority of the audience prefers watching videos and images from a brand than watching their text-based content, and 67% of these people end up purchasing the product.

    3. Short-Form Videos

    Short videos (length up to 2 min.30 sec.) are lightweight and consume very little data. People shared short videos in 2020 at twice the rate than any other form of content – a study by Wyzowl revealed. It also reported that 84% of people decided to buy products or services after seeing short videos.

    4. Top Video Trends

    User-Generated Video Content – Use of user-generated videos for marketing yields great results. People love user generated reviews of a product or service as it provides social proof with an impartial voice, without any bias. No wonder that good, logical user-generated video content can set the cash box ringing.

    5. More Online Training and Educational Video

    The combination of high bandwidth and easy access to mobile and laptop devices have revolutionised online learning. Online training and educational videos have seen a steep growth during the Covid -19 lockdown. This will continue to supplement the normal school-based education system. The trend of making ‘How To’ videos for training purposes is also very strong and will continue as a great marketing tool in 2021.

    6. Video Advertising Growth

    Video advertising is getting stronger every day, with the advent of new platforms and formats. While TV advertisement budgets are on the decline, video advertising spends are increasing. Studies reveal that between 2016 and 2020 the number of companies that used video content for marketing increased from 61% to 85%. This also implies that ad space is going to get even more competitive. Your video marketing strategy has to be on top and you’ll need to jump on the latest marketing trends in order to stay ahead of the competition.

    7. Video Marketing Trends

    Keep Investing in Video Marketing – People love well made long form videos as well. It is a wonderful medium for entertainment, education, and information sharing. Fueling this affinity are lightweight formats, cheap bandwidth, and bespoke viewing on both mobile and desktop.

    8. Interactive AR Content in 2021

    Interactive videos have become immensely popular as they allow users to interact in order to get the right information. The use of interactive videos powered with AR/VR has surged especially during the Covid lockdown and will continue to go further up.

    9. The Rise of Shoppable Videos

    Shoppable videos are taking the shopping experience to a new level. Viewers can directly make a purchase of the product without leaving the video, by clicking on a link embedded in the video. This makes purchase fast as the need to visit the website doesn’t arise. A social media visitor can learn about a product through a shoppable video and purchase it instantly.

    10. Virtual Events Are Here To Stay

    2020 has seen a massive growth of virtual events for commercial and non-commercial purposes. The technology that was not getting the nod from the business leaders is now a standard practice for all large engagements. It’s all about a changed mindset that is discovering undisrupted business processes at no cost.

    Source- This original infographic was posted by Oberlo

  • New Instagram Features Update! Learn How You Can Stay On Top Of The Game?

    New Instagram Features Update! Learn How You Can Stay On Top Of The Game?

    Instagram Updates March 2021

    Instagram is super dynamic. It never stops experimenting for achieving more.

    Even when the world was reeling from uncertainties, pandemic, and turmoils in 2020, we saw a series of exciting new upgrades and functionalities rolled out by Instagram to enrich the user experience. And the run continues into 2021, the early sign shows.

    In an earlier post, we had talked about a few of Instagram’s new features that made big splashes to soar its popularity. This time we’ll touch upon some more of the Instagram latest updates that’ll generate new ideas and create more reach in 2021 for sure.

    Instagram Rooms

    Now go for live video chatting with three more friends from within Instagram.

    The fascinating Instagram live broadcasting is now extended to take in four participants including the host and rebranded as Instagram Rooms.

    Consumers will have all regular Instagram Live features intact on Rooms, such as Badges, Live Shopping, Fundraisers, plus the facility of joining from Twitter Spaces and Clubhouse (an audio-chatting app).

    A facelift for Instagram Stories!

    One of the brilliant updates on new Instagram Story features in 2021 is the ‘Create’ interface that’ll let you add Gifts, Countdown Timers, Q&A boxes, Polls, and Quizzes with just a swipe of your finger. Earlier, you would have to choose them manually from inside the sticker button.

    This is not all! 2 more new features will adorn your Instagram Stories in 2021 – ‘On This Day’ and ‘Templates.’

    While ‘On This Day’ Instagram enables you to relive the events that occurred on that day in the past by sharing old posts, pictures, etc. the ‘Templates’ help you make your Instagram Stories quickly like a pro by presenting pre-designed formats with empty spaces for you to fill in.

    Instagram Suggested Posts

    You must have noticed this new feature called ‘Suggested Posts’ once you finish scrolling through the most recent posts of the accounts you follow. Instagram makes suggestions of the posts based on what you like or who you follow on Instagram.

    However, you may not like any such suggestion on every post. So you can inform Instagram that you’re not interested in tapping the three dots above the post and then choosing ‘Not Interested.’ This way Instagram will learn to make more specific targeting for suggestions.

    New Story Stickers

    Instagram is determined to take your Instagram Story experience to another level with the introduction of a handful of new Stickers. Ask a professional to make an Instagram Story along your product content lines using these stickers and see the result.

    Donation Sticker

    You may wish to raise money for a non-profit organization that you select here for your followers to make donations to.

    Challenge Sticker

    This one is a great marketing idea to increase reach. As Internet challenges became popular since the lockdown , Instagram took the opportunity to provide the users direct access to the challenges without having to leave Instagram. Through this particular Story Sticker, your followers can join challenges that are named with hashtags. This way the challengers become more recognizable and gain customer retention with an increase in their reach.

    DM Me Sticker

    DM is for direct Messaging. Adding this sticker to your Instagram Stories posts will encourage plenty of users to send direct messages to you, paving the way for more personalized interactions with your business. This can be used as a CTA button like ‘Get it now’ or sort of that, to add up your branding through direct conversations.

    Stay Home Sticker

    The world is staring at the possible second wave of Coronavirus. By adding this sticker to your Instagram Story, you may wish to advise your audience to stay home as much as possible. This will be considered as a move to raise the level of awareness and will garner support from your viewers and their networks on social platforms.

    Food Order Sticker

    This is meant for restaurants or food aggregators. Add this sticker to your Instagram Story about some special items, so that your viewers can order directly and promptly. This solves customer issues and saves time from going into your website and order.

    Gift Card Sticker

    The Gift Card Sticker works in the same fashion as the Food Order Sticker. If you are into the Gift Card business, then adding this sticker to your Instagram Stories will enable people to order GIFT Cards directly while viewing your story.

    Support Small Business Sticker

    Small businesses and Instagram are made for each other. During this period, where business leaders and especially small business owners are struggling to survive after the year-long lockdown of the Covid-19 Pandemic, Instagram has this innovative way to grow willingness among people to help small businesses. You may tag a small business that you know and support on your Instagram Story through this ‘Support Small Business’ sticker. This’ll create large engagement for your business as well.

    Instagram Updates February 2021

    Ever since the decision of Govt. of India to ban TikTok, Instagram has seen a big jump in its user base in India, nearly 20% year-over-year, which is on its way to take over the USA as the largest user base of social media.

    Many exciting new features are regularly being added to its fleet by Instagram, such as ‘Reel Tabs’, ‘Shop Tabs’, ‘Born On Instagram’, etc. to surge ahead of competitions. Keeping abreast of the upgrades is no easy task, which prompted me to make a list of some of the new updates for January 2021, with guides to activate them.

    Instagram Lite- A lighter version of Instagram to be released in India

    The below 2MB Android app can be easily downloaded using even entry-level devices and limited Internet access to boost the user base of Instagram in India. Reels, IGTV, and Instagram Shopping will not feature in this version.

    Options to filter your Instagram following

    You’ll be able to manage your following on Instagram better with this new update in the sense that you’ll come to know who you interact with most and least. Once you scroll through the list of people you’re following, two new features will come to your notice –

    • Introduction of two categories called ‘Least Interacted With’ and ‘Most Shown in Feed’
    • Introduction of two more sorting options called ‘Date Followed: Latest’ and ‘Date Followed: Earliest.

    [image credits- https://twitter.com/wongmjane ]

    These new tools provide you great leverage if you wish to identify who you should engage with and then interact more with them. This way you can improve the chance of your content appearing within their feed.

    Introduction of Creator Account

    A third profile option called ‘Creator’ account’ has been added to your Instagram account that allows you to choose from Personal, Business, and Creator. The Creator account is aimed to distinguish the content creators and help their account growth by providing them with a new Ínsights’ feature to track the rise and fall in the number of their daily followers. See the below screenshot for more clarity

    A new professional Dashboard

    Instagram is the best platform for those who want to share their passion and also get discovered. Capturing the visually-appealing content and building social following come easy to some people but for many, this doesn’t come as naturally.

    This has prompted Instagram to launch its new Professional Dashboard, which is aimed to help content creators even if they aren’t experts at using Instagram. The new dashboard features a centralized ‘Home’ location to find all the resources and tools of Instagram put together at a single location.

    The new Professional Dashboard has become a great tool for content creators and marketers alike to create great content to promote small businesses. Anyone can visit the dashboard to discover professional tools and resources and other educational information for tracking performance and growing their business.

    Dark Mode

    Instagram has rolled out its new update with a dark mode option to give relief to users from eye-strain by adjusting the screen colours of your mobile for a darker appearance. It does this by flipping the default white background to gray or black. This battery-saving, the stylish theme is currently available to iOS 13 and Android 10 users.

    To avail the dark mode you need to change your device settings and that might change other apps to dark mode as well. Follow the steps below to turn on Dark Mode for the Instagram app on Android 10:

    • Tap

    or your profile picture in the bottom right to go to your profile.

    • Tap

    Settings, then tap Theme.

    • Select Dark.

    Courtesy – https://www.facebook.com/help/instagram/897760233943762

    E-mail checker to prevent Phishing attacks

    Receiving fake e-mails from hackers is common these days. They seem genuine at the first sight, ask you to type your personal data for verification or click a link to save your account from deletion, and the like, and you fall into their traps to discover later that your account has been hacked.

    Instagram has decided to put an end to this menace, also known as ‘Phishing’ through a new feature that lets users find out if the mail is genuinely from Instagram or not. Next time, when you receive such a mail, head over to the ‘E-mails from Instagram’ option under the Security settings of the app. There you will see all emails that have come from Instagram in the last 14 days. Steps to reach this feature are:

    • Go to your Instagram profile
    • Tap the hamburger button in the top – right corner of the screen
    • Select Settings
    • Select Security
    • Select ‘E-mails From Instagram’.

    Bookmark this URL for more updates on new Instagram features in 2021.