Susan Nefzger PR

Subscribe to this topic
Previous Entries
Page 2 of 28
Next Entries
5 Ways to Market Millenials
By: Admin
Source: Entreprenuer
Date: May 6, 2019

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/333067

Recently, mega companies have failed when trying to reach a younger audience, Here are examples of some (mostly) bootstrapped successes.

Social media

Social media channels aren’t going anywhere. The average U.S. resident spends about 142 minutes per day on social media. Therefore, there are lots of opportunities for you to promote your products/services. However, being too direct can often be counter-productive.

Take a look at the Lokai brand's campaign for its bracelets. The company heavily targeted millennials, encouraging them to send in content from around the world, and posting their pictures of Lokai bracelets in far-flung locations. Combined with a socially responsible message, this campaign caught the imaginations of young people, and they flooded social media with hash-tagged pictures.

If you’re on a tight budget, you may find it worthwhile to join appropriate groups and pages before launching a campaign. Get involved with conversations as they occur, by regularly checking your feeds. By having a primed group of friends, not followers, you will be better positioned to launch a campaign like Lokai's.

Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is an area where companies are less vulnerable to the millennial ridicule other channels sometimes inspire. Simply put, if people actually like the person who is promoting a certain product or service, they are unlikely to make fun of the promotion.

While influencer marketing is not something you're likely to wade into if you are a bootstrapped startup, assigning any budget you do have to this strategy will be a sensible first move for the right kind of product. For example, look at Daniel Willington. This Swedish watch company has been around only since 2011 (often, longevity is a good sign for watchmakers); but with help from influencer Kendall Jenner, the company offered discount codes for a limited period, providing a big spike in both its sales and brand awareness.

Another good example: Samsung's launch of its new Note 7 product, with the help of CyreneQ. That artist used her Snapchat account to document the launch event, and using its 10-second video format, showcased some of the new device's features.

Podcasting

Podcasting is a great way to reach niche audiences. A company that has successfully targeted millennials via podcasting is MeUndies. It targeted a multitude of smaller podcasts like My Favorite Murder and Bill Burr's Monday Morning Podcast and paid the presenters to actively pitch the "world's most comfortable underwear" at the start of their shows. 

Having a podcast host actively promote your product is one thing, but offering your services as a guest is another. As an entrepreneur, you likely have unique business insights that could be worth sharing with a wider audience. So, look out for podcasts that you could potentially be featured on, and make yourself the selling point. Not only is this cost-effective, but it can also provide great exposure to your business, as podcasts often turn up in Google search results and can help improve trust in your business. 

If you don’t have time to devote to outreach to podcasts, companies like Task Drive can do the outreach for you, building up lists of potential targets. You can also use sites like Fiverr to find part-time outreach specialists.

Native advertising

If you're determined to avoid the potential ire of millennials in the first place, you might wish to try native advertising. This is a form of paid ads, where your ads are designed to match the style of the host content. Native ads are common in social media and blog feeds or as recommended content on certain webpages. In contrast to other types of web advertisements, native ads are designed to look more natural and not be overly sales-y.

A good example is the native advertisement that Altran engineering did by producing a video on the Financial Times. The video told the story of university students competing in a competition run by Elon Musk’s company SpaceX. The students are helped by Altran staff, which is how the company gets to advertise itself. What is ingenious about this effort is the way the video is presented. It's more of a news story with a compelling narrative than a direct advertisement. The viewer might actually mistake who is being promoted: Altran or SpaceX?

Sponsoring YouTube videos

Video is some of the most heavily consumed content online, and in this context YouTube has become an advertising behemoth. Running a YouTube channel isn’t easy, however; and recently, YouTube has made it harder for content creators to earn a substantial income from their advertisements on the site.

Therefore, creators are looking toward corporate sponsorship to generate revenues. LootBox is perhaps one of the most ubiquitous YouTube video sponsors (although not without controversy).

 

YouTube video sponsorship is a one-off commitment and you can find willing partners on sites like Collabspace. By finding a video creator that suits your niche, you can grow awareness of your brand and target people who fall into a very specific age band.

Conclusion

Selling your products or services to millennials comes with a unique set of hazards. By being sincere with your message, and  experimenting with different channels, until you can dig into one that works, you just may find yourself growing your business without the need for vast marketing budgets.

And those millennials? They'll be more than happy to help promote your product if they think it’s worth their time. 

Categories: Latest News
User Replies: Comments ( 0 )
10 Easy Steps to Good Web Copywriting
By: Eric Murphy
Source: Hubspot
Date: April 11, 2019

https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/copywriting-tips-for-increasing-conversions

 

Most marketers can identify poor web copy when they see it. Why? Because poor web copy doesn’t read smoothly, stir emotions, influence behaviors, or make explicit calls to action—it feels purposeless—and that’s just bad marketing. And yet, web copywriting is a strategy that sometimes falls by the wayside, overlooked for other site priorities like gated content, video, design, and functionality.

Perhaps you’ve spent a good deal of time and money on all that other jazz, but don’t rest on your laurels. If it’s time to step up your web copy game, the ten following tips will help you increase conversions on your website and ultimately close more business.

1) Be clear

“Clearness is secured by using words that are current and ordinary.” – Aristotle. If you wouldn’t use a phrase in a personal conversation with a customer, then don’t use it in your web copy. Clarity is the key to mutual understanding between you and your customers.

2) Be concise

Every single word used in your web copy should add value for the reader and act as a critical part of your argument or purpose. Cut out excessive language whenever possible and aim for an average sentence length of about 16 words.

3) Make it about them

As straightforward as this seems, many companies fail to reflect this principle in their web copy. Instead of saying “We do inbound marketing” try something like “Increase your web traffic and leads with irresistible content.”

4) Break up the page with subheads and bullets

A study from the Nielsen Norman Group found that 79% of readers skim, while only 16% read every word on a page. Breaking up your page with subheads and bullets will make it easier for those 79% to digest the copy—and ultimately take a desired action—on your website.

5) Avoid overuse of buzzwords

It’s one thing to ensure the inclusion of certain keywords you want to drive traffic for, but don’t cut off your nose to spite your face. Overuse of buzzwords and industry jargon clouds clarity and damages concision.

6) Don’t overlook microcopy

Microcopy is the text that doesn’t seem to come up in conversation very often. It may be the label on a form field, a tiny piece of instructional text, or even the words on a button. But it’s little details like these that can make or break the user experience on your website.

7) Craft a compelling call to action

Don’t betray your web copy by leaving its reader without a clue for what to do next. The call to action (CTA) is one of the most important aspects of web copywriting and, as such, it can be one of the most difficult to master. I recommend subscribing to the email list on WhichTestWon.com to receive regular emails about A/B-tested marketing campaigns (yes, CTAs are included).

8) Gauge the competition

Be aware of the web copy your direct competitors are using. How do they present their products and services to consumers? What features and benefit claims do they make? What CTAs do they use (and on which pages) to drive traffic through to the bottom of the funnel?

9) Know your audience

More specifically, know their pain points and address them in your web copy. Figure out why people buy your product or service, how they buy it, what they use it for, and what really matters to them.

10) Revise and optimize

Experiment with changing fonts, colors, and graphic placements within your web copy to learn how to most effectively drive people to your desired action. Revision and optimization should be a regular practice for your copywriters.

Categories: Latest News
User Replies: Comments ( 0 )
Are Fake Followers a Major Concern for Marketers?
By: Admin
Source: e Marketer
Date: March 18, 2019

Despite industrywide calls to combat fraud, fake followers are still the No. 1 concern among influencer marketers, according to Mediakix.

The media company's 2019 "Influencer Marketing Survey" found that 50% of marketers, primarily from the US, named spotting fake followers as a chief challenge of influencer marketing. And a survey from Econsultancy showed similar findings, with 42% of UK and US marketers calling fake followers their greatest concern relating to the marketing tactic.

 
Leading Influencer Marketing Challenges According to US Marketers, Jan 2019 (% of respondents)
 

Here’s what has marketers worried:

The fake follower scare is no witch hunt

Social media is rife with bots and fraudulent accounts, and some influencers purposely buy fake followers in order to fool marketers into working with them. Points North Group estimated that nearly 14% of US and Canadian marketers’ Instagram influencer budgets were wasted on fake followers in 2018. And 63% of marketers and brands admitted to having personal experience with influencer fraud in past campaigns, according to 2019 data from Influencer Marketing Hub.

Can this problem be solved?

There sure are a lot of people willing to help. In its "State of Influencer Marketing 2019" report, Influencer Marketing Hub estimated that 550 new platforms and influencer marketing agencies opened in the past three years. Many of these platforms offer tools that connect brands with influencers—and they’re using analytics that help identify fraud.

ADVERTISEMENT

Now On Demand, Webinar: Making Sense of Artificial Intelligence

Learn how to navigate the wide array of AI solutions and avoid potential pitfalls. Sponsored by Adobe, this on-demand Meet the Analyst webinar explores the AI tech ecosystem, and shares five best practices for using the technology in your company’s operations.

View on Demand

“It's really important to look at fake engagement,” said Krishna Subramanian, co-founder of influencer marketing firm Captiv8. “We have a series of metrics that we leverage to do that, so we can provide risk scores to a brand and say, ‘This influencer has a high, medium or low risk for any potential fraud.’"

But despite these new resources, companies like Unilever—which has struggled to ditch fake followers—have caused speculation that the fraud problem won’t go away anytime soon.

“Do I think that there will be a day when we’re going to be able to 100% know that every follow is real? I don’t think so,” said Noah Mallin, head of content and experience at Wavemaker. But Mallin has confidence that improved detection will be able to reduce fraud over time. “Even if some bad data or audience members slip through, we can keep it down to a percentage that’s minimal,” he said.

How will it impact influencer marketing?

This is the good news: While fake followers remain a challenge for influencer marketers, there is nothing to suggest it will slow the growth of this emerging practice.

According to Mediakix, nearly two-thirds of marketers will increase their influencer marketing budgets in 2019. And Influencer Marketing Hub found that 92% of its survey respondents believe that using influencers is an effective marketing method.

“Fraud is a concern of ours,” said Tota Haba, senior vice president of global digital at Benefit Cosmetics. “But overall, I’d say it does not outweigh the effectiveness of the [influencer] marketing tactic in general."

Categories: Latest News
User Replies: Comments ( 0 )
Spring Break Safety Tips and All Inclusive Resorts
By: Susan Nefzger
Date: March 11, 2019

One of my favorite gadgets is the 'Breathalyzer in Every Bar' vending machine to use when you are either boating or driving a car during vacation or on a fun trip. You certainly don't want to ruin your Spring Breakwith a DUI, whether you are driving a boat or a car, right? While you enjoy Florida's many waterfront eateries soaking up the sunshine check out the breathalyzer before you get behind the wheel.https://www.facebook.com/Breathalyzerineverybar/

Don't forget, the authorities are out in force during Spring Break, so be safe and blow before you go!  https://www.npr.org/2011/11/10/142172649/before-leaving-the-bar-a-chance-to-breathalyze

Another tip for safe boating is to make sure you drive your boat during the day light hours and if you do imbibe,

designate an assistant skipper!

If you are looking for all inclusive resorts in Florida read all about it here: https://bit.ly/2IQPlqY.

 

Don't forget the Florida Visitor Passes available to residents for Universal, Disney and SeaWorld!

Have fun and be safe!

 

https://breathalyzerineverybar.com/

 

 

Categories: Latest News
User Replies: Comments ( 0 )
Five Steps to Increased Self Awareness
By: Susan Nefzger
Source: Palm Beach Post
Date: January 20, 2019

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/lifestyles/pro-new-book-helps-readers-find-purpose-through-self-awareness/AFp8q7IzSgzANmtpTFhZuJ/

By Susan Nefzger Posted Mar 12, 2018 at 12:01 AM Updated Mar 12, 2018 at 2:33 PM Why do most authors write a book? It may be due to inspiration, motivation, life changes, contract requirements or all of the above. I wrote a book titled “A Practical Guide to Awareness” because I was led to do so. The book is a step-by-step guide to finding fulfillment through self-awareness. Apparently, I could no longer ignore the little voice in my head. The voice was whispering to me practically my entire life. As a native of West Palm Beach, I grew up knowing I was going to write a book — I just wasn’t sure what it would be about. I went on to a career in public relations, had a family and settled down, thinking that was it for me. Flashback to December 2014: I receive an email with information regarding a “Conscious Writing Retreat” in Glastonbury, Somerset, U.K. The originator of the email was a group I had joined a few years earlier, the International Association of Conscious and Creative Writers, founded by Julia McCutchen. Previously, I did not have time to engage in writing prompts and exercises meant to inspire my creative spark. However, on this day, I was pulled in, and my gut instinct told me to follow through on signing up for the retreat. I followed the inspiration and wound up in England that spring of 2015 participating in what would prove to be a life-changing experience in every way. To describe the process as “transformative” is the most accurate way to understand how the process affected me, my business and my family. IF YOU GO I arrived as one person and left as a totally different entity with a new way of looking at the world. How did that occur? You may be wondering... “Conscious Writing” is a process to help align one’s self with one’s creative consciousness. The purpose: To help you write what you are meant to be right. Maybe that sounds strange, but it works. Trust me. I have explored the principles of self-awareness since the 1980s, when I read Brian Weiss’ book, “Many Lives Many Masters,” and began attending his workshops. I have traveled all over the world as part of my own spiritual practice. On the first day of the writing retreat in England, I wrote the outline for “A Practical Guide to Awareness.” The words flowed easily, and I started writing the book within the gardens of the Glastonbury Abbey ruins. In January, I self-published the book. Want some tips to help you discover your true purpose? Here are a five steps toward awakening from “A Practical Guide to Awareness:” Perceive your perfect world Try to sit in a quiet place and visualize your dreams. See your perfect world. Assemble pictures that depict an ideal world for you. These images represent how you see yourself. They will help you clarify your needs, and once you know what you need, you’ll know yourself better — and can take action to make your dreams come true. Create space Create space in your daily life that brings you to awareness — meaning, create space to pay attention to your thoughts. This can be done through affirmations, meditation or even by the practice of recognizing the commitments in your life. Creating time and space for our thoughts forces us to review our responsibility to ourselves and others with calmness and patience — and before any issues arise. We then see what may cause a problem later on in the day or month, and we can reconcile it more easily. Care for yourself Self-care is most important because in order to care for others, we must be happy and healthy. If not, we cannot fulfill our commitments to our family, friends and colleagues. Put your needs first by recognizing them. Then put those needs ahead of any other. What is it that starts your day off on the right foot? A cup of coffee on the porch? A walk in the park? Meditating for five minutes? Do it. Like being thirsty for water, being thirsty in your soul can lead to unhappiness. Consider how your continued unhappiness affects others in your life. This is what it means to be self-aware. Practicing self-care leads to enhanced energy and greater happiness. Practice mindfulness Take a walk. Do you notice what surrounds you? Try describing to yourself what is in the present moment. We can only be alive right now in the present. It is all we have. Being aware of the present allows us to be open to all possibilities. Try it without electronics or technology or being preoccupied by the future, for 15 minutes — then try it for a longer period, and pay attention to everything around you. Note how you feel afterward. Commit to awareness If you feel that something is missing in your life, then begin to apply a few of these practices. Opportunities for awareness present themselves in many forms. Be open to change! Stay alert to what makes you feel excited, happy and grateful. Whatever leaves you feeling positive and contributing to something greater than yourself, pay attention. That is the beginning, and the answers will appear, if you are seeking. Susan’s retreat in England also inspired her to start a poetry blog. To find out more visit snefzgerpr.wordpress.com.
Categories: Latest News
User Replies: Comments ( 0 )
5 Tips to Successful Instagram Marketing
By: Susan Nefzger
Date: December 31, 2018
 

What is Instagram Marketing?

Instagram marketing refers to the sum of marketing activities businesses and individuals carry out to promote their products, services or brands on the Instagram platform.

These include using the best Instagram hashtags for likes, posting photos, videos, comments, competitions, giveaways and such like.

The following chart shows how Instagram marketing is trending:

5-Year Google Trends of Instagram Marketing

5 Instagram Marketing Mistakes To Avoid In 2019

Between 2013 and 2018 there has been a marked increase in the level of interest in Instagram marketing as seen above.

Why Should You Care?

This past year especially during the holidays we have seen product sales soar over the roof, and one of the biggest contributors is social media marketing, more precisely Instagram marketing.

It has a better reach than most older social media networks and undoubtedly the best engagement among them. It is reported in a recent study Instagram has 15x more engagement than Facebook and 20x more than Twitter.

The new year is around the corner and it provides an exciting new opportunity for businesses to leverage Instagram's marketing potential, but you must know that there are some practices that could undermine your entire efforts.

Here are the top 5 Instagram marketing mistakes to avoid as a business in 2019.

Top 5 Instagram Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

1. Poor Audience Engagement

Comments, messages and other simple interactions on your profile boosts your engagement status which results in more followers, more recommendations and better growth.

But that doesn't happen automatically on its own, you need to to be available to answer your followers' questions, reply to their messages and even follow back in some cases.

This will make your followers happy and could, in turn, make them into loyal customers. Besides, Instagram notices your engagement levels and recommends high performing profiles at the top of Instagram Search and Explore section thereby increasing visibility and discoverability.

So stop creating poor audience engagement, start engaging more in 2019.

2. Making it too Personal

Showing a little bit of personality isn't bad but as a business, you have to keep things professional still.

You could be funny, otherworldly, corporate etc. Whatever your brand personality is, you should reflect that. But your followers and customers should not feel offended or bashed by your personal opinions.

Don't voice hate, rage or get down to arguing about some petty political issue on your business profile, it will affect your reliability in the eyes of the people, which can cause massive unfollowing.

A lot of businesses treat Instagram like they would a personal profile and that is their first mistake.

People have expectations and if they are not met professionally they will be put off, and run to other businesses to meet their needs and demands.

3. Not Using (the Right) Hashtags

Instagram hashtags are of great importance in case you are not aware. It serves in place of keywords on Instagram, without it, no one can find your content.

Hashtags for Instagram improve your chances of being found by many folds, if used properly that is, which is simply avoiding overused hashtags such as #love and steering clear of banned Instagram hashtags. Using those will not improve your chances of being found.

Use best Instagram hashtags for all your posts. You may create your own unique hashtag for your business or brand especially if you are running a promotion. Pampers’ #welovemommy campaign is a good example of using custom Instagram hashtags for particular campaigns and promotions.

4. Making your Profile Private

Apart from Instagram hashtag mistakes, this is another big mistake most businesses make on Instagram. No one has all the time in the world to wait for your approval before viewing your posts and what you have to sell.

For a personal profile, it's okay but business wise this is not a popular move.

Make your profile public, in case you have it on you, can change it in the options menu in the top right-hand corner of the app. Also, make sure that you are using a business profile.

5. Failing to Fill Out Captions

When you share a photo or video on Instagram never leave empty caption fields. Captions can be used to pass additional information like addresses and contact info.

Business slogans and most importantly your CALL-TO-ACTION usually goes onto the caption.

Your audience relates to those tiny short messages in ways you can't imagine. It causes people to interact, one way to make that happen is by asking questions in your captions.

"How adorable are these knitwear? Aren't they just cute." A caption such as this along with an image of some knitted clothing naturally will prompt your followers to respond as long as the pictures or photos are cute.

Other popular unpopular Instagram marketing mistakes include posting random stuff on your business profile, like comedy skits and vines that detract from your core business identity, totally avoid that. Not filling out your bio info, not adding a link to your website, etc.

Conclusion

Social media marketing is evolving more and more every day. You have to learn as fast as you possibly can in order to stay a step ahead of the competition and to avoid making marketing mistakes like the ones listed above.

This year's sales is not over yet, if you happen to be committing any of these Instagram marketing blunders there is still time to redeem your Instagram business profile before the start of a new year.

Author Bio:

Amos Onwukwe is an AWAI trained Business and Ecommerce Copywriter who has been featured in scores of blogs including Huffington Post, Dumb Little Man, Ecommerce Nation, eCommerce Insights, Understanding Ecommerce, Result First, Floship, Successful Startup 101, Small Biz Club, Small Business Bonfire, among others.

He is available for hire

Categories: Latest News
User Replies: Comments ( 0 )
5 Steps to Increased Self-Awareness
By: Susan Nefzger
Source: Business Rocks
Date: October 31, 2018

http://bizrocks.me/susan-self

Why do most authors write a book? It may be due to inspiration, motivation, life changes, contract requirements or all of the above.

I wrote a book titled, “A Practical Guide to Awareness”  because I was inspired to do so.  The book is a step by step guide to finding fulfilment through self-awareness.

Apparently, I  could no longer ignore the little voice in my head. The voice was whispering to me practically my entire life. As a native of West Palm Beach growing up, I had always known I was to write a book, but little else about it. I went on to a career in public relations and had a family and settled down thinking that was it for me.

Flashback – December 2014 to an email I received containing the information regarding a ‘Conscious Writing Retreat’ in Glastonbury, Somerset, U.K. The originator of the email was a group I had joined a few years earlier, the International Association of Conscious and Creative Writers, founded by Julia McCutchen. Previously, I did not have time to engage in writing prompts and exercises meant to inspire my creative spark. However, this day I was attracted to the information and my gut instinct told me to follow through on signing up for the retreat. I did and was supported in doing so from that day onward. I followed the inspiration and wound up in England that Spring of 2015 participating in what would prove to be a life changing experience in every way.

To describe the process as transformative is the most accurate way to understand how the process affected me, my business, and my family.  I arrived as one person and left as a totally different entity with a new way of looking at the world. How did that occur?

You may be wondering…

The process of Conscious Writing is meant to help align oneself with the creative consciousness in order to write what you are meant to write. It works, trust me.

The first day of the retreat, I wrote the outline for the book and started writing  the book itself within the gardens of the Glastonbury Abbey ruins. The rest is history as they say and in January of this year, I self published the book.

A Practical Guide To Awareness by Susan Nefzger

Categories: Latest News
User Replies: Comments ( 0 )
3 Ways to Market Your Podcast and Why Doing So Will Increase SEO
By: Kent Lewis
Source: Anvil Media
Date: September 19, 2018

3 Ways To Market Your Podcast

Why do you need to market your podcast? Well, for one thing, people won't know its there unless you have tons of listeners. So, besides optimizing the podcast episode title and description, consider creating a show summary on a blog or website and embedding the audio file within the page.

1) Create a show summary and embed it on your blog or website.

Google appreciates the added context and will rank websites and blogs that incorporate multimedia higher than those that don’t.

2) Transcribe episodes for the blog or to create additional content to promote the episode on social media or your website. Syndicate the blog or episode summary page via social media in addition to syndicating a link to a podcatcher or host site. For visual platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, utilize behind-the-scenes images or video as teasers for upcoming (and archived) episodes. Don’t forget to syndicate to Google+, as the platform is utilized by Google to inform organic search results. For YouTube, leverage playlists to combine relevant episodes. If your podcast is business-related consider posting teasers and episodes to LinkedIn, as well as support via targeted advertising to maximize listenership.

3) When syndicating each episode on social media, leverage hashtags, especially for Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Beyond industry-specific language, consider podcast-specific terms like #podcast, #podcasting, #podcastguest or #instapodcast.

For visual platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, utilize behind-the-scenes images or video as teasers for upcoming (and archived) episodes. Don’t forget to syndicate to Google+, as the platform is utilized by Google to inform organic search results. For YouTube, leverage playlists to combine relevant episodes. If your podcast is business-related consider posting teasers and episodes to LinkedIn, as well as support via targeted advertising to maximize listenership.

To maximize reach and rankings, boost posts on platforms like Facebook and consider testing a targeted ad campaign to grow your subscriber-base. The added benefit of advertising is that you can grow your listenership quickly, and influence visibility on podcatchers. Generating significant listens in the first 24-48 hours can help earn a spot on iTune’s New & Noteworthy section, for example. Speaking of rankings, the best way to maximize visibility on podcatchers is to maximize downloads, subscribes, ratings and reviews, so remind listeners to support you with calls-to-action. For podcasters looking to grow a large following and revenue, explore a pay-per-conversion affiliate program for referring site traffic resulting in listeners. Also consider expanding advertising to Google with text and display ads.

Don’t forget marketing fundamentals when promoting your podcast. Incorporate a link to your latest podcast or episode page in your email signature file. Promote episodes in your newsletter and on your home page. Provide pre-made promos to guests and partners to maximize reach. A more advanced strategy is to identify and engage superlisteners (evangelists). Bonus marketing ideas include leveraging timely news and media outlets and exploring cross-promotional opportunities with other podcasters/shows.

Creating a podcast doesn’t have to be daunting, but it does require a reasonable investment of time and money to do it right. The investment is typically much less than video and other form factors, and podcasts have the added benefit of expanding into a relatively under-appreciated but fast-growing format: audio branding. Take advantage of the current excitement and growing consumption of podcasts to build your brand.

Categories: Latest News
User Replies: Comments ( 0 )
What to Expect from Google's Podcasting Push
By: James Shea
Source: Smartbrief
Date: July 24, 2018

Podcasting is a growing medium for marketers to tell a brand’s story. The numbers are astounding, and reflect similar growth in video over the last few years. Recent research by Edison Research shows that 11% more Americans listened to podcasts in 2016 when compared to the prior year. Over 110 million Americans listened to a podcast at least once in 2016, and 67 million Americans listen to at least one podcast a month. Phones and tablets are the preferred device to listen to a podcast with two-thirds being accessed through those devices.

If you are marketer, you have to pay attention to podcasting. The phenomenon is only expected to increase as Google moves into the space. Currently 500,000 active podcasts exists, and Google predicts that number will double in the next few years. Google is paying attention to these statistics and is moving toward incorporating podcasts into search results — much like it does with video where search results are broken down into separate boxes at the top of the screen.

Leaders at Google understand the power of podcasts, and they know that podcasts can do what Google is designed for — answer a query. Podcasts contain large amounts of information on a particular topic, and Google wants to make it easier to access that information through search.

“Right now Google is really good at giving you text and video related to your search query,” said Google Podcasts Product Manager Zack Reneau-Wedeenin a recent interview with Pacific Content. “With all the amazing work podcasters are publishing each day, there’s no good reason why audio isn’t a first-class citizen in the same way.”

Google has already started to incorporate podcasts into search results on Android and Google Assistant. On an Android device, a play button appears for several different podcast after a search is done. That gives the user several options on a podcast that answered the query. The user is also given the option of subscribing to the podcast.Google's Reneau-Wedeen says the strategy right now is partially to increase podcast access on Android devices. Currently 10 times more people listen to podcasts on an iPhone compared to Android devices.

The easier access to podcasting has been positive, as more people are listening to podcasts on the Android, according to Reneau-Wedeen.

“Since our first launch, we’ve seen a surprising number of people return through search day in and day out,” he said in the Pacific Content interview. “That’s why we felt the need to build out a full-featured podcast player and make the experience easier to access.”

Marketers must prepare for this new reality, as Google will mostly likely make podcasting search results available to all users, not just those with an Android device.Consumers are looking for information on entertainment and education, and they will be able to find that information more easily in podcast format through Google. A brand can fill that need if it finds the right way to tell a story on a podcast.

James Shea owns Media Lab, a search engine optimization agency in Richmond, VA. He writes about trends in digital marketing.

Categories: Latest News
User Replies: Comments ( 0 )
Most Social Media Users -68% But Say Not Hard to Give Up
By: Susan Nefzger
Source: Marketing Land
Date: March 10, 2018

Pew Research has released a new report summarizing social media usage and found, of the 68 percent of Americans using Facebook, 74 percent check the site daily and 51 percent say are on the platform several times a day.

Conducted over the phone during a three-day period early in January, Pew polled 2,002 US adults age 18 and over about their social media use on the following eight platforms: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, LinkedIn, Twitter and WhatsApp.

For the most part, Facebook usage has not changed dramatically since the research firm’s April 2016 report. Facebook is still the most popular traditional social media platform for all the respondents.

YouTube is also attracting a large segment of users, even though Pew admits it’s not necessarily considered a traditional social media site. In fact, it had higher user numbers than Facebook, with 73 percent of all respondents saying they use YouTube (The report did not have numbers for previous YouTube usage as this was the first year it was included in the survey questions, along with Snapchat and WhatsApp).

Social media usage growth by platform

Pew’s data showed the typical — or median — adult reports using three of the eight social sites included in the survey. Same as Facebook’s numbers, most of the usage for these sites has remained relatively unchanged since the firm’s 2016 report.

The biggest jump Pew saw in usage was on Instagram, with 35 percent of respondents now using the site compared to the 28 percent who reported using it two years ago.

Social media use among younger crowds

When looking at usage numbers by age group, Pew Research reports 88 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds are using some form of social media. The report broke down the social media usage for this age group into categories: 18- to 24-year-olds and 24- to 29-year-olds. Here is what they found:

Social Media Usage Among 18- to 24-Year-Olds

  • 80 percent are on Facebook
  • 78 percent are on Snapchat
  • 71 percent are on Instagram
  • 45 percent are on Twitter
  • 94 percent use YouTube

This age group represents the largest share of Snapchat users of the various age groups. Among the 78 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds using Snapchat, 82 percent say they open the app daily, and 71 percent say they use it multiple times per day.

Instagram is getting slightly less use by this group. Of the 71 percent on Instagram, 81 percent say they visit the site daily and just over half (55 percent) are going several times a day.

Social Media Usage Among 25- to 29-Year-Olds

  • 80~ percent are on Facebook
  • 54 percent are on Snapchat
  • 54 percent are on Instagram
  • 30~ percent are on Twitter
  • 80~ percent use YouTube

This slightly older age group of 25- to 29-year-olds have similar usage patterns for Facebook and YouTube when compared to the 18- to 24-year old crowd.

The numbers differ more widely between the two age groups when looking at Snapchat and Instagram, with this older age group of 25- to 29-year-olds less likely to use either of the two platforms.

Where ‘the Olds’ go on social

Per the report, 84 percent of the 30- to 49-year-old age group is visiting YouTube, and 80 percent are on Facebook.

Social media usage numbers for the 30- to 49-year-old age group drops significantly for Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter — with 40 percent of this population active on Instagram, and less than 30 percent on Snapchat or Twitter.

For the 50+ age group, usage numbers are even lower across the board: 56 percent on YouTube and 55 percent on Facebook. These numbers take a nosedive from there, with 16 percent on Instagram, 14 percent on Twitter and only seven percent on Snapchat.

We can stop whenever we want

According to Pew’s research, 59 percent of all the social media users surveyed said they thought it would not be hard to give up social media (with nearly half of the 59 percent claiming it would not be hard “at all”).

Percentage who say it would not be hard to give up social media by age group:

  • 49 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds
  • 60 percent of 25- to 29-year-olds
  • 56 percent of 30- to 49-olds
  • 66 percent of the 50+ age group

The only age group where the majority (51 percent) said they would find it difficult to stop using social sites was the 18- to 24-year-olds.

With so many people admitting they check their preferred social media sites daily, the responses given for how easy it would be to quit feels doubtful at best — especially when considering the percentage of users who admit to going to social media sites several times a day: 51 percent of Facebook users, 49 percent of Snapchat users, and 38 percent of Instagram users.


 
Categories: Latest News
User Replies: Comments ( 0 )
Subscribe to this topic
Previous Entries
Page 2 of 28
Next Entries

Blog Categories

  • Blog Home
  • Latest News

Archives

View Calendar
  • Home
    • About Susan Nefzger PR
      • Contact Us
        •  
  • PR Service
  • Web Marketing & Promotion
  • Social Media & Blogs
    • Susan Nefzger PR Blog
  • Testimonials
  • Stay Informed
  • My Account
  • Login
FOLLOW SUSAN
Susan Nefzger 561-632-9525