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Tag: digital marketing trends

Unlock the Secrets of Social Listening

Posted on by amber90

Introduction: Are You Listening to Your Audience?

In today’s digital landscape, understanding your audience is key to creating content that resonates. Social listening—monitoring online conversations to gather insights—offers businesses a competitive edge. By tapping into what your audience is already saying, you can craft content that informs, engages, and converts.

At Amber 90, we help businesses leverage social listening to align their marketing strategies with audience expectations. In this blog, we’ll explore how social listening works and how it can transform your content marketing.

What Is Social Listening?

Social listening involves tracking conversations, hashtags, and mentions across social media and other platforms to understand your audience better. This strategy goes beyond monitoring your own brand; it provides valuable insights into industry trends, competitor activity, and customer pain points.

Why Social Listening Matters

  • Improved Customer Service: Understand and address concerns more effectively.
  • Content Ideas: Identify what your audience wants to learn or discuss.
  • Better Engagement: Create content that feels relevant and valuable to your audience.

How to Use Social Listening to Create Better Content

Learn the Hashtags Your Audience Uses

Your audience might not use the same terms or hashtags that your marketing team does. It’s crucial to monitor the hashtags and language your audience prefers.

  • Track Influencers: Follow industry influencers to see which hashtags they use.
  • Stay Updated: Use tools like Google Trends or BuzzSumo to identify trending terms.

Monitor Competitor Mentions

Understanding what customers say about your competitors can provide valuable insights.

  • Common Questions: Note recurring customer inquiries directed at competitors and create content addressing these topics.
  • Competitor Campaigns: Monitor hashtags or taglines competitors use to identify gaps or opportunities.

Go Beyond Facebook and X

While Facebook and X dominate social media, your audience might be active on niche platforms.

  • Reddit and Quora: Look for discussions about your industry or brand.
  • Review Sites: Platforms like Yelp and Google can reveal customer sentiment and inspire content ideas.

Turning Social Listening Insights Into Actionable Content

Create Bottom-of-Funnel (BOFU) Content

BOFU content targets customers who are ready to convert.

  • Direct and Assertive: Focus on solving specific pain points.
  • Supported by Data: Use insights from social listening to back up your claims.
  • Call-to-Action: Encourage immediate action with clear CTAs.

Answer Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Collaborate with sales and customer service teams to identify common customer questions.

  • Examples of FAQ Content:
    • Blog posts: “Top 5 Questions About [Your Product/Service].”
    • Videos: Quick how-to tutorials.
    • Resource Libraries: Centralized hubs for customer inquiries.

Engaging Your Audience Directly

Use Polls and Surveys

Polls on platforms like Instagram or Facebook allow you to ask your audience directly about their preferences.

Benefits of Polling:

  • Gather real-time feedback.
  • Engage followers in meaningful conversations.
  • Generate content ideas from poll results.

Ask Open-Ended Questions

Posting open-ended questions on social media can spark valuable discussions and provide fresh insights for content creation.

Tools and Best Practices for Social Listening

Social Listening Tools

Tips for Success

  • Set Alerts for Misspellings: Track variations of your brand name or product names.
  • Monitor Niche Platforms: Stay active where your audience engages, even if you don’t post content there.
  • Analyze Sentiment: Use tools to assess the tone of conversations about your brand.

Why Social Listening Is a Game-Changer

Social listening allows businesses to create content that truly resonates with their audience. By understanding what your customers want, you can position your brand as a trusted resource, driving engagement and conversions.

Conclusion: Take Your Content Marketing to the Next Level

Social listening is the secret weapon for creating audience-driven content. By monitoring conversations, tracking hashtags, and engaging directly with your audience, you can craft content that informs, engages, and converts.

At Amber 90, we specialize in helping businesses master social listening. Let us help you turn insights into actionable content that drives results.

Contact us today to learn more about our content marketing solutions!

Shifting Social Media Trends: Why Marketers Should Explore New Platforms

Posted on by amber90

Introduction

The social media landscape is undergoing significant changes. As platforms refine their algorithms and adjust their focus, marketers are rethinking their strategies. Over the past year, major shifts—such as Meta distancing itself from news content and the changes at X (formerly Twitter)—have impacted social ad trends. These shifts are pushing marketers to explore alternative platforms, creating new opportunities for brands to connect with audiences in different ways.

Reddit’s Rise: A New Player in Organic Traffic

One of the most notable shifts is the surge in organic traffic from Reddit. Thanks to a new partnership with Google, Reddit’s referral traffic has increased sevenfold over the past nine months. Between August 2023 and April 2024, Reddit’s readership nearly tripled, growing from 132 million to 346 million monthly visitors【AdWeek】.

This partnership with Google is focused on data sharing to aid in the development of Google’s Gemini AI models. However, it also includes provisions for more prominent displays of Reddit content in Google search results. This has led to a significant increase in attention and has made Reddit a valuable platform for publishers looking to drive traffic【AdWeek】.

LinkedIn’s Steady Growth: Engagement and Newsletters

LinkedIn is also experiencing steady growth in user engagement, particularly through its newsletter feature. As Meta has moved away from promoting publisher content by penalizing link posts, publishers are turning to LinkedIn to drive engagement. LinkedIn newsletters are proving to be a successful tool for creators and publishers alike, fostering direct connections with their audiences【Social Media Today】.

Moreover, as X and LinkedIn adjust their algorithms to downplay external links, publishers are increasingly considering alternative platforms. This shift in strategy could lead to a broader rethinking of how news and content are distributed across social media.

Shifting Social Media Budgets: A New Focus on Snapchat and Reddit

The broader changes at X have also led to a significant shift in social media marketing budgets. As X continues to struggle with an exodus of advertisers, a considerable portion of that budget is moving to platforms like Snapchat and Reddit. Snapchat, for instance, reported an 85% increase in SMB ad spend in Q1, while Reddit has more than doubled its revenue growth rate by focusing on SMBs【Social Media Today】.

These shifts indicate that marketers are exploring new opportunities on these platforms, driven by the desire to find alternatives that deliver results similar to those previously achieved on X.

The Broader Context: A New Era for Social Media Marketing

These developments signal a broader shift in the social media marketing landscape. Platforms are revising their focus, and marketers are looking for new opportunities to reach their target audiences. While Meta’s platforms remain viable options—especially with the ongoing improvements to its AI-driven ad tools—there is a clear trend towards diversifying marketing efforts across multiple platforms.

This diversification is not just about finding alternatives to Meta or X. It’s about recognizing that platforms like Reddit, Snapchat, and LinkedIn are gaining traction because they offer unique opportunities to connect with different audiences. For marketers, this means exploring these platforms now could give you a competitive edge, particularly as we approach the holiday marketing season.

Conclusion: Explore New Opportunities in Social Media Marketing

The shifting social media trends in 2024 highlight the importance of staying adaptable. As marketers, it’s crucial to recognize where the audience is moving and to explore new platforms that offer untapped potential. Whether it’s the rise of Reddit, the steady engagement on LinkedIn, or the growing appeal of Snapchat, now is the time to diversify your marketing strategy.

At Amber 90, we specialize in helping businesses navigate the ever-changing social media landscape. Contact us today to learn how we can help you take advantage of these emerging trends and optimize your marketing strategy across multiple platforms.

Google Has Abandoned It’s Plan to Phase Out Cookies

Posted on by amber90

Wait a Minute

In a surprising shift, Google has announced that it will not be retiring third-party cookies after all. After years of signalling a major shift towards enhanced data privacy, Google has decided to abandon its plan to phase out tracking cookies, opting instead to introduce a new approach that prioritizes user choice and control.

Google’s Revised Approach to Data Privacy

For years, Google has been preparing the digital marketing industry for the end of third-party cookies. Initially, Google planned to phase out cookie tracking by 2022, aligning with global trends toward greater data privacy and user control. However, due to various challenges and industry pushback, this phase-out was delayed multiple times.

Now, Google is taking a different route. According to a recent statement, Google is proposing an updated approach that elevates user choice rather than deprecating third-party cookies.

As per Google:

“We are proposing an updated approach that elevates user choice. Instead of deprecating third-party cookies, we would introduce a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing, and they’d be able to adjust that choice at any time. We’re discussing this new path with regulators, and will engage with the industry as we roll this out.”

This announcement effectively ends five years of uncertainty and speculation within the industry.

The Journey to This Decision

Back in 2020, Google announced its initial plan to eliminate cookie tracking, targeting 2022 for the full phase-out. This move was part of a broader initiative to enhance data privacy and give web users more control over their personal information. Google’s Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) was developed as an alternative, designed to track user activity without personal identifiers. However, FLoC faced significant challenges and criticism from various industries and regulatory bodies.

In response to these challenges, Google shifted its focus to the Privacy Sandbox project, an initiative aimed at developing privacy-preserving alternatives to third-party cookies. Launched for public use in September 2023, Privacy Sandbox was intended to replace cookies by categorizing users into topic groups rather than tracking individuals.

Despite these efforts, concerns raised by regulatory bodies, particularly the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), led to further delays. By January 2024, Google had a new plan to implement Privacy Sandbox as the primary alternative by Q3 2024. However, due to ongoing regulatory challenges and industry feedback, Google has now decided to maintain the status quo.

What This Means for Marketers

For digital marketers, this announcement means a temporary reprieve from overhauling their data tracking and analytics systems. While Google will continue to develop and invest in Privacy Sandbox APIs, third-party cookies will remain in use for the foreseeable future.

Future Implications and Industry Impact

Google’s decision to retain tracking cookies while exploring new data privacy solutions signals a significant shift in its approach. The new model will focus on user empowerment, allowing individuals to control their data sharing preferences across web browsing activities.

This move is expected to have several implications:

  • Continued Use of Cookies: Marketers can continue using third-party cookies for tracking and analytics without immediate disruption.
  • User Choice: Enhanced user control over data privacy settings may lead to increased transparency and trust.
  • Regulatory Compliance: Ongoing collaboration with regulators will shape the development and implementation of new privacy solutions.

Google’s revised approach aims to balance user privacy with the needs of the digital marketing industry. As this new path unfolds, marketers and industry stakeholders will need to stay informed about changes and adapt their strategies accordingly.

Conclusion

Google’s decision not to phase out tracking cookies marks a pivotal moment in the ongoing evolution of data privacy and digital marketing. By prioritizing user choice and regulatory compliance, Google seeks to navigate the complex landscape of privacy concerns while maintaining the effectiveness of digital marketing tools.

Stay tuned for more updates on Google’s data privacy initiatives and how they will impact the future of digital marketing.

Looking for more insights on digital marketing trends and data privacy? Contact us today!

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