The oil and gas industry is primarily a B2B sector; therefore there is limited interaction with a wider audience, but there is immense competition within the sector itself, hence, you always need to put your best foot forward when it comes to engaging with clients and digital marketing can be your secret weapon.

Online marketing is crucial when it comes to ensuring that your oil and gas company gains the much-needed customer base, that you need to succeed…. ‘Online’ is that gold, which you should dig up asap!!

Let’s understand in brief why digital marketing is important for you:

1. Since it is primarily a B2B industry, social media aids you in connecting with people: Social media or digital marketing is primarily associated with the B2C industry, but this theory generally doesn’t stand true as it is equally important for the B2B sector, as said by Fredrik Tukk of Maersk Drilling, that it is not about B2B or B2C, but about People-2-People. The energy sector impacts the functioning of the world, in a multitude of ways and this is where social media comes into the picture. Social media is a tool used by energy companies to reach out to a wider audience, which otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to. Not only does it lend people an insight into your company culture and working, but also acts as a springboard for your recruitment needs; you can run targeted recruitment campaigns to hire the right talent and save huge costs to your company.
2. It helps in customer acquisition and retention- Being relevant in the market and providing apt content in relation to what you wish to convey to your audience via various social media channels is of importance and needs careful planning and strategizing. In today’s times, brands that have a positive social media presence, generally carry more authenticity than those who don’t, thus, if you want to have an edge against your competitors, this is when you need to strike if you haven’t yet…what more, due to the pandemic the world is moving towards more online-based activities, this means that your audience is present there all the more. Due to the current times, when the economy is experiencing a downturn, investment in digital marketing would be a low-cost yet effective way to maintain your presence. Focusing on enhancing your customer service, content and SEO can ensure you get great returns at a no or minimal cost.
3. Analytics and digital marketing create an impact till the end- With the use of relevant analytic tools and metrics; you can ensure that you are earning good profits. As per Maria Carballosa of DrillingInfo, ‘the importance of translating marketing speak to business speak; a value creator that has a quantifiable result in improving the organization’s bottom to the top layer.’ With the presence of impactful CRM, marketing, and business intelligence tools, you can show sales, finance, and the C-suite the deliverable and resultant impact marketing is creating. With these foundation blocks in place, you can realize and see that marketing goes from a cost driver to a growth driver. Therefore, having a solid digital marketing strategy in place and focused on metrics associated with strong KPIs, should be your plan A to drive growth in your sector.

These are the headers via which you can understand the importance and the subsequent impact of a well-crafted and strategized digital marketing plan. It’s important to develop a blueprint by understanding all the required factors and then working upon the areas that need your attention the most, the aim should be to enhance your visibility and interaction in the long run.

Marketing and technology in the current times have become deeply interwoven with each other that too in a very short span of time. Marketing as a field is experiencing change at an unprecedented rate nearly every day, those who have embraced it are moving ahead and those who haven’t yet, are definitely going to lag behind. It’s true that marketers need not be tech experts but having some idea shall definitely help you in getting a hang of all steps you will have to undertake to improve and continuously improve your digital marketing campaigns. Digital marketing is all about innovation, personalization, automation, and creativity…..but to maintain a rhythm you need to invest money, therefore having a basic understanding of these tools shall help you in making better investment decisions.

(P.C.- Cardinal Path)

Let’s see how in some ways Machine Learning can influence your digital marketing initiatives:

1. Optimized PPC campaigns- With the introduction of multiple ML-powered improvements in the Google ads, the complexity and scope of PPC (Pay per click) has grown to abound. Marketers are able to get more out of their ad spend with the implementation of predictive click-through rates, ad rotation optimization, and in-market optimization. PPC campaigns can be made more productive, impactful, and useful where with the help of Machine Learning you can do Smart bidding. The impact of ML on PPC campaigns can be aplenty for instance;

• You can analyze queries at the search query level itself instead of keyword level
• Adjust bids as per every auction, thus unburdening the auction managers time
• Study user behavior for determining the bid amount
• Collect information from various data sources like location, a device to aid you in bidding better, etc.

2. Optimized Advertising- Digital marketing has a huge chunk comprised of advertising, which results in a huge part of the budget flowing through that channel. Traditional campaign optimizations were based on factors like the timing of the advertisement, the space inventory to be bought, the duration of the campaign, the choice of the advertisement channel, etc.

       At the end of the day, like all the manual processes this process is affected by human errors and limitations, thus using ML can substantially improve the performance of your existing advertising campaigns. Even Google employs Machine learning technology to automate bids, this yields optimized conversions and helps in saving time as well as improve the ROI.

3. Eye-catching Website design and UX features- A factor for digital marketers which they can’t afford to overlook is that of website designing. Web designing forms a pivot for a successful digital marketing campaign, and if not done properly, can be a cause of major concern for them. It’s here that ML tools act as a lifesaver, it collates all the data related to user preferences, A/B tests, webpage heat maps, etc. How is it practical? Because of this simple reason, you can design a customized webpage based on this information rather than relying on a designers’ whim. Hence, you get an amazing webpage as a result wherein you incorporate both the components, i.e. Analytical and creative…thus, giving you an edge against your competitors.

4. Enhanced and productive customer service- Efficient and effective customer service is indicative of a successful business, which shows that the business is directly connected with its customers and aware of their needs. The faster and responsive your customer care, the better shall be the interest of your audience towards you, this fact is highlighted in the research, which mentioned that 79% of people prefer live chats, because of instant response. Chatbots are highly powerful ML-backed tools, if used in a targeted manner, the benefits they offer are many, for instance, they are active 24*7, offer zero-wait time to customers, can route complex problems to the designated human, have an ever-expanding database, etc.

Chatbots aren’t primarily used for customer services but are assisting brands with outbound marketing where they aid in sending follow-up messages to customers. For instance, they can announce the arrival of new launches of products or introduction of services, as well as share discounts and coupon deals, which help in driving up user engagement. The data collected by chat-bots through continuous customer engagements’ provides valuable insights to marketers regarding customer mindset and behavior, thus helping them in growing their business.

Machine Learning has been a boon to mankind, in ways that we didn’t imagine a couple of years ago. ML-based tools help people save time by not working on repetitive or clerical tasks, rather they can focus on further enhancing their business output and results. Here, as marketers, you can focus on developing well-thought strategies rather than operations, because if the former is good the latter shall be great. So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and embrace the change, because this change has the power to catapult your business to astounding heights.

With too much marketing and advertising happening on a daily basis, it is easy to get overawed and confused at the same time with so much happening at all times. The digital marketing strategy gets a little complicated especially when it comes to anything related to medics because not only it has to be relevant, genuine, and nothing too pushy…and more-so post-COVID-19. As per a study conducted by Deloitte, it was found that 52% of consumers tend to look up online for any kind of information related to healthcare providers, services, and/or any health issues, thus, this shows that an effective digital marketing strategy is needed as an effective way to bridge the gap between consumers and the medical service providers.

Marketing strategy has seen a shift in course of strategy, unlike earlier times when people used to rely solely on TV, radio, and various print ads and shell out hefty sums to generate attention, but nowadays things have changed tremendously and the digital marketing arena has gained immense traction, primarily due to its widespread reach, more scope for being creative as well as light on spending resources. Therefore, when it comes to marketing your practice, it should be a healthy mix of traditional and contemporary marketing practices.

1. Website Wonders- It won’t be wrong if I say that your website is your e-visiting card because how creative, eye-catching, well structured, detailed and crisp it is, shall determine how you are able to attract visitors to your website. Designing a website is totally in your hands and how effectively are you able to do that, shall determine consumer traffic on your website and eventually patients at your clinic. Your website should be consumer-friendly, SEO optimized, and most importantly genuine, as consumers should develop trust in you and your services, because health is one aspect where people tend to make selves, doubly sure and which is absolutely fine. Your website shall have a creative outlay, placement of contact information at prominent places, any offers or discounts, special services, etc. as well as it should be responsive, fast to load, and interactive.

 Similarly, you should have a website customized for mobile devices, as the majority of the users are on the go and will use phones, most probably as a primary device to search for any doctor’s clinic or enquire about a doctor, therefore you should aim at ensuring that it includes flexible images and it is customized for all platforms because you don’t want to lose customers on any front. You should put analytics-based tools to good use, so you can analyze traffic behavior on your website across different platforms and use the captured information to the best of your use.

2. SEO Strategy for Local Searches- Having a well thought SEO strategy in place, shall yield wondrous results for you, if resources are invested in a proper manner and it all starts with having SEO optimized website, in place. Your website should show up in the top few searches on any search engine like Google or Bing, it should be well structured and the appropriate use of long-tailed keywords would enhance the organic search results.  In case you have your practice, spread over various locations, then you should have individual landing pages designated for each location, this shall help your practice rank higher organically on the search engines. There are various information snippets which you shall definitely include, for instance, on high priority presence of Google My Business Map, contact details and operating hours, the name of the city shall be highlighted multiple times on the page as well as a short write up on the services provided by you and/or your team.

3. E-mail ‘Gold That Never Grows Old’- E-mail till today remains one of the most useful and effective modes of communication, it can be designed as per your business needs and preferences. E-mail-based marketing helps businesses staying in touch with older customers as well as touching base with new customers, who have displayed an interest in your services. E-mails can serve as messengers of whatever information you wish to convey to the customers, be it informing and eventually re-directing them to your website, any offers, blogs written, etc. If your audience is interested and sounds positive, then you can ask them to sign up for your newsletter, which will help you to keep a common touch base with your target audience, on a regular basis.

4. Social Media Consistency- To remain relevant and maintaining an interactive channel with your consumers should be on top of your priority; to get visitors on your website consistently shall require you to be on your mental toes at all times, for instance, be it posting your live session videos on Youtube or Facebook, etc., or post blogs on a regular basis. Social media gives you abound opportunities to interact with your target audience, and you can share multiple information and relevant pieces of interest with people and engage with them on different levels; this shall contribute only towards your popularity, show you as approachable but also make it easier for people to trust you. You can also join relevant groups on Facebook, Quora, LinkedIn, and Twitter and interact with people on a first-hand basis and simultaneously generate inbound traffic for your website.

5. Video, is the King of Engagement – Videos are undoubtedly one of the most engaging and curiosity generating mediums, and they give you a chance to be creative, engaging, and informative at the same time with your audience. Video-based medical marketing helps you in delivering appropriate message to your audience and market yourself, at the same time. Since videos enjoy higher engagement rates rather than conventional ways, these could work up-to your advantage, for instance, you can share interactive videos, Q&A videos, general informative videos, live patient sessions (if your patients share their consent) on various platforms to promote your practice and this shall help you in building a trustworthy relationship with your clients and encourage them to come to you. The interesting part is that there is no dearth of topics to start from and with such a wide range of topics available to discuss upon, you can start from today itself and have content ready to attract people from all backgrounds.

 These are just some of the many strategies for you to start off on the journey of establishing your market niche amongst your competitors, you just need to be sure of sharing relevant and authentic content and having regular interaction to win the trust of customers, as that shall go a long way in having a long-term healthy relationship between you and them and solidifying your position in the market.

With the pandemic taking over our lives in an unexpected fashion, people were caught a little off-guard, as the course of events was unanticipated. It’s true that COVID had and has been negatively impacting our lives, with people still grappling to come to terms with the severity of it, not only it had affected elders and grown-ups but had affected children, teens, and young adults, equally or maybe, even more than them; their play routines, interaction and education all had taken a hit, hence the need for developing a holistic online education system was felt. That’s where you people came in and offered your essential services to the precious young ones, but it should be emphasized that the services you are offering, shall reach out to the targeted audience and that can happen if your digital marketing strategy is on point, especially nowadays when people are looking for every service or product online. With an overwhelming percentage of parents believing that their children’s education will be negative due to the pandemic, it’s time for you to jump to action.

1. First and foremost, expand your reach- Digital marketing is hugely dependant on social media and it plays a huge role in ensuring success for any digital marketing initiative to create an impact. Your digital marketing initiatives can be successful if you use these channels in a unique and creative manner, let’s see some of the mediums which you can use up-to your advantage;

• Social media channels- With nearly everyone having their presence in some or the other way on one or many social media channels, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram; it’s very important to tap your audience there and understand the audience behavior as well as capture their interest, be it by posting blogs, advice, tips, interactive learning videos, solving online queries, your aim should be to generate organic traffic initially instead of spending huge money on paid advertisements.
• Best use of online directories- Listing yourself on various online directories and offer various offers and discounts on multiple online directories, mostly which are frequented by parents and young adults, there are many websites like Yelp.com, TutotrZ, VarsityTutors, Craigslist, WyzAnt, among others, where you should be actively present.
• Listings on Google my business – Google is what comes to mind at the very first instance, when looking up for anything online, hence the importance for same, can’t be taken lightly. It is very important for you to maximize your reach amongst a wider audience and it’s important that your business is listed amongst the first few on the Google search page.
• Youtube and other visual mediums- Due to the pandemic surge, children were now opting for mediums like Youtube to learn and study, hence you can start off by posting online tutorials, conduct live classes, host interactive sessions, et al to catch the attention of the parents and kids. You should be active and attentive in the comments section and be responsive to the queries posted, you can also generate revenue for yourself by monetizing your videos

2. Have an easier booking process- With the surge in demand for online tutors, expectedly your schedule shall be jam-packed, and therefore it is a nice idea to slot out hours as per your availability, but it can be an overwhelming task and any sort of mismanagement can affect your working and your reputation might take a hit because of it. You can use an online scheduler tool to maintain and organize your tasks and this way you can put out your hours as per availability and if you wish to cover different areas, then you can slot it as per which day your services shall be available in a particular area; there are various benefits of having an online scheduler:

• Booking as per convenient time slots
• Ease of booking in a few simple clicks
• Saving time, efforts, and energy
• Bookings can happen via different channels and platforms, thus wider audience can reach out to you

(P.C.- Teacher Finder)

3. Use of technology to ease operations – It is important to use technology to the best of your business, therefore you should focus on reducing unnecessary and repetitive admin-related tasks and aim at automating the entire process, as much as possible. To avoid any delays, overlaps, confusion for you and the students, alike, it is best that you maintain a database of all their schedules, contact information, subject and modules covered, etc. There are various database management and automation apps and tools available in the market, which will help you save your resources and allow you to focus on attracting new students, leverage the rise in demand for your services, give a timely analytics-based report, track management, and students efficiency, etc.

 4. SEO focused website- Having a website that is attractive, creative, and useful, both for the parents and kids, shall be on your priority list, even before entering the market, because your market is virtually driven, and that can happen if your website is optimized as per SEO friendly content. Usage of proper SEO strategy shall enable your website to rank higher on multiple search engines, which will ultimately impact your visibility amongst the audience. You can create your website, customize your URL with the help of various website building tools available in the market and list various services offered by you, be it for booking a free consultation, virtual classes, your packages, and if offered, your contact details, and whatever information you wish to share with your target audience. To assess the feasibility of your website, you can use Google Analytics and various other analytics-based tools to track the performance of your website, analyze website traffic, etc.

 With people now adapting their style of working as per the new normal, it’s imperative for you to also bring yourself in sync with the current trends

If things happen as per our plan, then the feeling is amazing, but if they don’t then what do you plan on doing? Many a time, the latter is the case and it is best to be prepared beforehand, but how does that happen?  What happens if your future planning is in place, and that can happen if you are in the know of the latest upcoming trends.

E-mail-based marketing has always been the first and foremost step of any personalized marketing initiative, it forms the cornerstone and that won’t be wrong to say. As many people focus less on this aspect of marketing and believe that there’s no future in it, but a study by Hubspot has highlighted the importance of it, especially post-COVID, ‘Email marketers are sending 27% more emails than they then did pre-coronavirus.’

Let’s go through some trends which should be taken into consideration for email marketing in the year 2021:

1. Personalization is the key to forging great relations- Nowadays, when everyone is too busy in their own lives and the personal touch has been lost, impersonal and run-of-the-mill emails or data sharing doesn’t carry any value and mostly goes to the junk mail of the target audience. Hence, to forge long-lasting relationships and making the customer feel valued, it is important to connect on a deeper human level, and your sent e-mails can play a pivotal role, in this process. You should draft deeper, personal mails, yet focused on dynamic content, which encourages healthier future engagement; the main focus should be on having contextual and personal communication.
2. Active use of AI in E-mail marketing- With the use and application of AI pervading across all sectors, even in our personal space, goes on to show that it is indeed the future. The more people are accustomed to it and are able to use it better, the more convenient things shall become. Though it has taken to a larger widespread area, but still many are skeptical towards using this in their business applications, due to confusion or lack of clarity, et al. Many are unclear as to how to use AI for e-mail based marketing, but the truth be told, it’s hard escaping it because the plethora of information which is available online can be made the best use of and customized to suit the marketing needs of any organization with the help of AI-based tools and technology. AI-based tools can help you categorize your audience, help in better outreach, customizing your content, and many other ways to improve your digital marketing strategy.
3. Privacy Issues- For a consumer to be trusting of you, you should take their privacy concerns and issues into due consideration. Personal data privacy should be of your utmost priority and this still remains a top point of focus, though with the launch of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) in 2018, the world of email marketing underwent a transformation, but yet a few crease-folds have to be ironed out. As per data by NTT, only 8%of consumers trust brands to keep their personal information safe. This shows the massive lack of trust people have over their data protection.

There is always an option of providing your consumers with the option of unsubscribing from your mailing list, therefore not spamming or over-crowding their inboxes, yet at the same time devoting your time and resources to understand to creatively engage with those customers who are interested to know what you wish to offer and want to forge a future relationship.

4. In-mail Videos- Anything with creative visualization always elicits viewers’ interests and there are higher chances of catching viewers opening such emails. Videos in emails have been a catching trend in digital marketing these days; due to the pandemic, modes of online interaction like video conferencing, podcasts, webinars are on the rise, therefore videos to be used on an interactive basis are on the rise, too. It’s a good idea to embed the video link in the mail, this way the user can open the video on your website, Youtube, or any landing page since many big e-mail platforms don’t allow videos to be played in email.
5. Use of 3-D images- 3-D images are a good way of adding a dash of creativity to your mails and capturing the attention of your audience. 3-D images can breathe life into your mails and plain text. Understandably, creating 3-D images every time can be a costly affair as well as time-consuming, therefore you can use stock images or shadow-based images to create visual depth imagery. Other trends too, which you can use these days are monochrome effects, animations, doodles, neumorphism, etc.
6. Enhanced mobile-based experience- With people having easier and convenient access to phones, than desktops and PCs, naturally the mobile-based browsing shall be higher. Therefore optimizing your mails as per mobile server shall be a good idea, as that will deliver better results; and this can happen if you use an effective mail editor. You can incorporate beautiful texts, dark themes, and modes, GIFs, etc. into the mail. The end goal should be to have limited yet effective content, which is contextual, accessible yet mobile-friendly.

 With 2020 being a roller-coaster ride, many planned marketing strategies either failed, didn’t take off, or didn’t yield desirous results, having said that unpredictability shall remain high even for this year, but it’s always a good idea to be prepared before-hand. Therefore, these trends in e-mail marketing can give a push to your marketing campaigns… act, because the floor is yours.

COVID-19 has been a major turning point for the entire humanity, per se, be it the private or professional lives, of everyone. The way people had adapted to the sudden changes in their personal space, was also reflected in the way businesses conducted their operations, now changes were brought in to design their working strategy as per the change in consumer demands. As goes a famous saying by Heraclitus, which has been proven right by the pandemic, i.e. ‘Change is the only constant’, undoubtedly which is true. The pandemic has made people change the older ways of working and made them look towards adopting unconventional styles of working, so let’s have a look at some strategies which the pandemic has made us learned:
1. Understanding the behavior of your audience – With many corporate and businesses losing they are existing, be it long or short-term clientele due to the pandemic, alarm bells started to ring, especially for those in the travel, tourism, hospitality, entertainment, and many such allied sectors. It became necessary to re-discover ways to capture new customers as well as retain the older ones, hence came in how to use the online search behavior to profile and target the audience as per segment. The results can be amazing if the data analytics have been used prudently. It always helps us to understand consumer behavior by analyzing from where leads and conversions take place and how the search trends change over a period of time. Although, nobody can exactly predict how the market shall change over the coming few months, having a good strategy based on an in-depth analysis, shall help you wade the waters, successfully.

2. Unnecessary crowding on multiple marketing channels isn’t a pre-requisite– With the pandemic forcing people to look for options, i.e. those mediums offering the highest ROI with least or less investment, have become the priority, which is right, too. Due to the pandemic, forcing everyone to cut frivolous spending, businesses have been doing the same. Being present on any and every business channel, especially those not yielding enough profits, doesn’t make sense and hence the justification to continue on the same becomes tough. With the pandemic forcing everyone to opt for either social media advertising or PPC advertising, any other form of marketing strategy would fall under soft marketing. So, to bring it down to the boil, always opt for those marketing channels, which shall generate the highest ROI for your brand, and is in sync with your brand needs and goals, simultaneously.

3. Always try out something new– Different businesses have had varied responses to surviving the pandemic, many who opted for the same old marketing techniques; many survived and many didn’t. Notably, many opted for out-of-the-box techniques, newer and creative ways to capture and engage the audience. It is always a great idea to try innovative digital marketing strategies to remain ahead in the game and most importantly, ahead of your competitors. The idea is to be flexible and welcoming, in terms of new ideas and new trends, the risk is always there, but if you have a careful strategy in place along-with, your market study if done properly, the results can be wondrous and even if you fail, at least you are better off than those who never even attempted, this puts you in an advantageous position than the rest because you are aware of the market demands and pulse, better than many.

4. Website is the stepping stone for your digital marketing victory– Website plays a pivotal role in any digital marketing strategy which is to be adopted by your business. It’s an asset, which if utilized properly, shall yield amazing results for you because this is where you can display to the customers whatever you wish to. This is the content that is customizable, as per your business demands, and has the power to attract customers and get them talking about you. Your business website acts as a magnet to attract customers and develop potential leads into future business prospects. The website helps you in executing your various digital marketing strategies be it implementing e-mail based campaigns, data capturing and subsequent analysis, social media marketing, optimizing it as per demands (SEO), etc.
This shows the immense underlying importance of your website, and it should form your main focal point of attracting people, therefore, it warrants your time and monetary resources, and should not be treated as something frivolous.

Digital marketing plays a pivotal role in any business’s sustenance and enables you to be at the forefront of your marketing game, hence it should form an integral part of your overall growth strategy. It’s times like these where a well thought off digital marketing strategy can work wonders for you. Thereby, we hope that the pointers given above shall help you in acing your game post-Covid-19.

Owning or working in a startup isn’t something easy, it takes time, effort, hard work, and resources to fructify an idea and even tougher is getting the marketing right. Marketing can be a deal maker or breaker, thus implying the over-whelming need of a well-thought marketing strategy. Irrespective of the resources pumped into a marketing plan, if it doesn’t reach the targeted audience or fails to click with your future consumers, as good as your products or services might be, the purpose won’t be served; on the other hand, even if your marketing strategy isn’t too grand but still connects with your audience, Voila!! The game has begun for you.

In today’s times, modern marketing skills are needed to reach out to the audience, for that, you have to be creative and clearly communicative, hence, emerges the need for influencer marketing. Influencers have taken social marketing by storm in the recent past. Influencers are basically people who have developed a digital relationship with their followers and you can use this point to your leverage, just keeping in mind that your promoted content has to be authentic and reverberates with your audience and brand goal, simultaneously.

Prior to you engaging with influencers, you need to make sure that they carry or at-least have the ability to carry your intended message, in here it is of utmost importance for you to demarcate between genuine and fake influencers. The former are the ones who have an illustrated body of work behind them, carry a real vibe and have a count of genuine and engaging followers, whereas the latter can be merely termed as all pomp and show, even though they might have a huge follower count, yet those followers might not be real or not the audience you are looking forward to connecting to.

Let’s have a look at some of the influencer marketing tips you can incorporate:

1. Opt for an influencer whose persona aligns with your company’s goal- As the owner of a startup, it is important that you understand the influencer you have decided or chosen to work with has a connection with your audience, not only with theirs, if not, then they can establish a rapport. To understand this, it is important for you to have done your preliminary market study, beforehand, this way you shall know which audience to target and how to target, then accordingly, search and evaluate the right type of influencers. That means going for those influencers, who fit in with your brand goal, if the influencer doesn’t reverberate with your brand identity, then it’s going to be of no use, won’t yield any results, and would be a waste of your resources.
2. Have a budget on-hand- Depending upon the size and available resources of your startup, you can customize the budget of your campaigns, aimed at your audience and the kind of influencer you want to reach out to, to promote your brand. Depending on your budget, you can involve celebrities or mega influencers, but if operating on a limited budget then you can have a nano or a micro-influencer who can promote your brand, in a creative fashion and simultaneously generate a good monetary return for your investment.
3. Generating attention for each other- This is a handy, effective, and cost-efficient strategy; here it is a symbiotic relationship, wherein it’s not that only you as a brand need influencers, but it’s true the other way too. Influencers too need adequate online exposure and support from their followers. Here you can enter into an agreement with the influencer, where they will mention your brand on their social media channels and handles and you will do the same. This ensures raising adequate brand awareness amongst people and generating interest for the same, and this all can happen without you shelling out any money.
4. Guest Bloggers and Vloggers- A successful way to organically raise your brand’s visibility is to have SEO friendly content published on your website, as well as associating oneself with industry experts or famous bloggers and vloggers can generate interest and buzz for your brand. You can invite guest bloggers and vloggers to write or share visual content, pertaining to your sector, which you can publish on your website. This way your brand’s credibility will increase as well as your brands’ awareness, and most importantly people who align with your brand’s goals shall reach out to you for further business opportunities, partnerships, and associations.

 To ensure that your brand reaches the maximum audience, you can use the above-mentioned tips to get started with influencer marketing. If done right, it can create wonders for your brand and push it up the ladder, so go ahead and conquer the market.

A couple of years ago, influencing was taken and perceived to be something like a call of passion or a hobby, but today it has grown out to be a huge blown-out profession, with many people carving a niche for themselves and working really hard to be out there. Influencing isn’t easy, as that means conveying a particular message to a wider audience in a way that makes them understand it as well as feel connected to the conveyor…. it’s undoubtedly tough as easy as it might seem.

To remain ahead in the game with so much of steep competition, your digital marketing strategy has to remain way ahead of the curve; because who knows and understands the nuances of the game, better than you. Every step you take will have an immense impact on your career choices, the brands which reach out to you, etc. The immense potential and growth of the influencer marketing industry can be gauged by the fact that this industry is on track to become a $15Billion Industry by 2022, which shows the immense potential of growth of this industry.

So let’s take a look at some of the trends you need to watch out for in 2021:

1. Increasing awareness on Diversity and Inclusion- As influencers, you carry a big responsibility of spreading awareness amongst people at large, to create sensitivity and harmony amongst one another, because influencing isn’t limited to brands but also using the social media power you yield for yielding productive results. In 2021, there shall be a growing consciousness to promote social inclusivity, as it has been noticed up till 2020, that there was an obvious lack of representation and diversity of black influencers. Many brands were held accountable for unfair play and mere tokenism antics; hence the call for the need for inclusivity grew stronger. In 2021, your aim should be to usher in changes, by inculcating inclusion and diversity into all aspects of your business; this shall also help you in creating and boosting the positive image of your personal brand.

2. Value-driven content, rules the roost- People these days aren’t much interested in looking and going through curated content, because seemingly, it doesn’t come off as something real, therefore influencers are now working towards presenting selves as real and authentic at all times, even sharing their flaws…. This undoubtedly helps people in connecting better; these actions shall also help in promoting self-respect, body positivity amongst various other steps. Influencers have started a sneak peek into their lives, so as to create more value-based content, with the help of live sessions, live Facebook chats, streaming sessions, etc., the main aim is to promote the natural and authentic side of their life, more over brands too are taking cognizance of such steps and are reaching out to such influencers who are real, compassionate and authentic.

(P.C.- Sprout Social)

3. Use of branded AR effects- An idea for Facebook which got germinated from the times of Snapchat, has now been developed into a full-fledged platform. Approximately 1 billion people across the globe have used this platform to creatively make their own personalized AR effect filters, and these are massively trending nowadays. AR effects, per se are great marketing tools for brands to market themselves amongst customers, as well as generate excitement amongst them to further explore their products or services; many cosmetic companies are offering virtual make-up applications for the consumer to check whether the said product matches them or not, many clothing companies are offering virtual trials before the customers make a purchase…undoubtedly, it is the in-thing these days and you should hop on the wagon!!!

(P.C.- Pocket-lint)

4. Live Content… makes life livelier!!!- Humans are social animals, and there’s no denying that, COVID did mellow us down due to obvious reasons, but who says that life can’t be enjoyed to the hilt. People were isolated from each other and were craving each others’ company and it is because of this that the use of Instagram Live had zoomed past than ever expected. Instagram Live’s usage had increased by over 70% just in a single month of April, as per a report by Business Insider. With the pandemic easing out a bit, but with lockdown still being implemented across many nations and people being hesitant to move out freely, as earlier, virtual live interactions will continue to hold the ground, so needless to say, Instagram Live will continue to reign over.

(P.C.- Buffer)

5. Exploring the Explore Tab- Social media is addictive; you kind of have to agree with us there!!! That’s what social media platforms are aiming to do, to keep the visitors hooked and engaged, so to further go ahead with that, Instagram has come up with the explore tab, where they bring to the fore unknown yet some great interesting and creative content….lo and behold, the number of everyday users is nearly 200 million, and they use it to productively engage themselves, moreover this has gained prevalence especially during the time of the pandemic since people were holed up and were isolated.

    Instagram has developed features wherein people can explore content on IGTV as per their interests, be it cooking, traveling, adventure, etc. This is an opportunity for you as an influencer to tap into those followers, who have the same interests as shared by you but aren’t following you at the moment. This shall have immense competition in the coming days, so you can use relevant hashtags, use of call-to-action buttons, posting at the appropriate time to capture the maximum attention of the audience, and many other tricks to stay ahead in the race.

(P.C.- Digital Information World)

6. Shopping experience on Instagram- With the pandemic adding fuel to the fire, more and more people have turned towards shopping online; it’s easier, cheaper, and quicker. Be it buying home décor items or clothing or anything easily sellable, it’s all available online. A huge chunk of Instagram users, use the app to find items on the app itself, hence Instagram has made it easier for the users to stay on the site and shop from there itself. With the pandemic still lingering on, people will continue shopping online; rather there might be a considerable jump, too. A small bag icon demarcates a shoppable post from the normal posts, wherein the interested users can hover over the product to know further about it. Nowadays, Instagram has also introduced a selling wherein brands can sell their products…so if you have your own brand or are associated with one, then there’s no time to waste….jump into the waters and wade ahead.

(P.C.- The Drum)

Influencing means establishing your imprint in the minds of the followers, and with the ever-evolving market, your social media strategy has to be on-point. Instagram is one such place where you as influencers can continuously interact and engage with your followers, but with the continuously evolving nature and dynamics of the platform, you have to up your ante to create an innovative, attractive, and engagement strategy to progress ahead and rule the roost.

Online searches have gone up for any service or information required by the people, which has been pushed further by the pandemic. Nowadays, everyone wants a quick, easy and reliable solution to their queries, hence if you aren’t having a good digital presence, needless to say, you are missing out on a lot of business. The home service industry is no different and digital marketing has given the much-needed impetus and provided a level playing ground to compete on a larger level.

Carefully designed and strategized online marketing strategies aimed to gain attention, engage customers and convert them into profitable leads, continue to capture the market, but it is important to foray into the digital landscape, only if your strategy is well on point because the competition is extremely fierce and competitive. It is important to know and understand your customer’s preferences, how are they searching for the required information online and what results are they expecting from the online search.

(P.C.-WorkWave)

1. SEO – SEO  is the key to ensuring your digital marketing success, to understand how SEO can be useful, your first step should be to understand the online behavior of your future customers, and what they wish to see when they are looking for someone like you. Your services or your firm’s name shall be one amongst the top search results when someone searches for results based on your services offered, for instance, ‘Plumbing services in Phoenix’ or ‘House repair services in Alabama’, etc. Your main focus should be on optimizing your website to boost your subsequent search results, by curating content based on keywords around your services offered.
2. Focus on the Leads – People who land up on your website or are searching for you, need not necessarily book your offered services, but what can distinguish you from your competitors is, how well do you target and nurture the leads into prospective clients. It is important for you to be in cognizance of your customers on a regular basis, this you can do by sending out regular blog newsletters and design email marketing campaigns to stay on top of the mind of your customers.
3. PPC- Pay-per-click advertising in short is basically buying ad space on search engines like Google or Bing, to remain on top of the search results. This is important because these ads are placed and shown above the organic results, hence catching the eyes of the consumers, who will undoubtedly prefer going to the top search result, before going further downwards towards unpaid results. It is basically an investment of sorts, which shall help your business sustain in the minds of the people, for a long while.
4. Social Media Marketing – People always prefer interaction, which is more genuine and authentic, as this creates a sense of trust and reliability. Your presence across various social media platforms shall enhance your visibility and user engagement and this you can do by having an interactive channel, for instance posting pictures of your work done, sharing interesting experiences, consumer success stories or publish content relevant to your work, so as to inform people about your special services and what makes you stand apart from other competitors. The key here is to understand that, higher the social media engagement, the higher the possibility of your posts being reflected on other people’s profiles.
5. Encouraging customer reviews – One way to publicize oneself, at no or minimal cost, is to have some great customer reviews supporting your services over various social media platforms….isn’t it correct, more the merrier!!! If you have a strong inflow of leads coming your way, then you should focus on making them permanent, and pleasing them, should be your priority. If your customers are pleased then you can ask them to share their experiences as reviews over platforms like Facebook, Angie’s List, Google My Business Page, Home Advisor, etc. You can incentivize your customers if they review your services honestly, for eg. Giving them a discount on their next booking, additional free service, etc., this way your customers shall give authentic reviews, act as advertisers for your brand if they are happy and this too shall promote your brand amongst others because people trust honest reviews over paid advertisements.

 So what are you waiting for, let’s roll the ball over and work actively towards achieving your goal of creating an established brand name for your services, gain traction, and beat the competition to stay at the top of your game.

Who doesn’t like a sweet reward at the end of a tiring day…the sweet sleep!! All nicely huddled in your bed, enjoying the much-needed comfort, but what makes the wait more special? Undoubtedly, a comfy, relaxing, and snug mattress…so selling a mattress isn’t only about earning profits but it also means promoting customer health and well being. So, you have to take care of marketing strategies well in advance before approaching your customers, let’s have a look at some of the online and offline marketing strategies:

1. Let’s start with building an online presence- Having an online presence is a pre-requisite in today’s time, especially post-COVID when things have become mighty competitive and due to obvious reasons, online activity has seen a massive rise. It’s a good idea to have a website focused solely on your product range, defined characteristics of each mattress, their quality, the different types of mattresses available in the market, and with you, the latest technology available in the mattresses sold these days, etc. It’s your choice whether you wish to sell mattresses online because that would involve overhead costs, but whatever you do, just make sure to have an interactive and a creative website, post lots of informative videos, blogs, articles, etc. to engage your customers. One more great marketing idea is to promote mattresses by offering some amazing deals on great holiday eves like Cyber Monday or Black Friday, etc.
2. The Gold which never goes old, TV or Newspaper advertising- Undoubtedly newspaper and TV marketing goes way back, but hey!! Who says that they aren’t effective or generate value? If used correctly, then these mediums will give out tremendous results. Early morning newspaper reading with a hot cup of tea or coffee is a habit by default amongst people of all generations, for many, it is enjoyable for others they have to read because of professional compulsions, anyhow, the ball is in your court, i.e. how effectively and creatively you display your ads to capture the audience. It’s because of the massive outreach and popularity of these mediums that still many businesses prefer advertising via TV and newspapers. You can make your ad stand out by offering discounts or other services as per the popular demand in your local area.
3. Targeted Advertisements- Targeted advertisement operates on identifying your customers, because how and who can you target if you aren’t aware of your target market? It’s imperative for you to identify your target customers, i.e. research and analyze the market near the vicinity of your physical store, as well as understand, who are you targeting, the youngsters, the middle-aged, or the elderly population. Before jumping on the boat, you need to classify the customers as per their tastes, preferences, understand the family structure, patterns of buying, home-ownership, etc., these and many other relevant questions are important for you before you start an online target based marketing.
4. Hosting and Collaborations- Hosting social events like fairs, exhibitions, etc. will give you a chance to display your products live in front of the audience. You can opt for events that are focused on selling home-based products, as those events will capture the interest of your potential customers. You can create sleepover events on weekends or holidays, during the daytime, so as to let people nap on your mattress…call for some innovative marketing…who knows they might just buy your mattress after a short, sweet nap!!! These events also serve as a good point for meeting potential business leads and offer opportunities for collaborations, for instance, you can meet and tie-up with hoteliers, wedding planners, event managers, photographers, etc., all those who can help promote your business on different levels.
5. Create a social media page- Targeting people on social media is a tried and tested formula for success, provided it is done right. You can start off by creating a social media page, which shows pictures of your products, sharing information about those products as interesting snippets with colorful videos and pictures, to target the social media geeks, and most importantly, create a channel of interaction so as to build trust and a healthy channel of communication.
6. Try for Mattress Fundraising- It’s a proposition worth considering, though it involves a lot of efforts and convincing on your part, if agreed upon, it can turn out to be a great success for your business. Here you can approach your local community-based schools, colleges, and similar such organizations as a part of your marketing strategy and if they agree, it would be either zero expense or literally next to nothing. For many, this is a great opportunity as it would help them collect a good sum of money in a short span of time, and your firm’s name can soar high due to being a part of a great initiative. A win-win for all!!!

 With the above-suggested ideas, you can opt for a mix of different marketing strategies, any of which is ideal for your business to grow, the main issue here is to focus solely on the needs and demands of your consumers and how to make them happy, shall be your ultimate goal….for any other digital marketing needs for your business.