Audience and brand loyalty are invaluable in today’s competitive business landscape. Your business’s reputation and profitability are at the mercy of your customer relationships. So, you’re smart to constantly seek ways to deepen customer connections.
Employee-generated content (EGC) can be a game-changer in this regard. EGC is any content crafted by employees and shared on their social media pages and other digital platforms about their work experiences and expertise.
Quality EGC gives you something else to share with customers that incites an emotional connection with your brand. In addition, it can have a profound effect on your internal processes and employees.
Let’s explore why prioritizing EGC is a must and how businesses can get their employees to create and share EGC consistently.
Why EGC Should Be a Priority for Businesses
According to Sociabble, “98%?of employees use at least one social media site for personal use, of which 50 percent are already posting about their company.”
Most of your employees are already on social media talking about their work days, what they do for a living, and the company. In addition, there are millions of websites and podcasts out right now. Many of your employees could have their own blogs or podcasts disclosing their work experiences as well.
So, whether you’re leveraging it or not, what they’re sharing on their social media platforms, blogs, podcasts, and other digital platforms about work is impacting how others view your company and what actions they take with it.
In addition, by not collecting and using EGC, you’re missing out on opportunities to elevate your business internally.
EGC should be a priority for businesses for these three main reasons:
Give customers more reasons to love your business
Some people only need to know you have great products at affordable prices to move forward with purchases. However, many others need more to convince them that your business is worth their money and loyalty.
For example, how you treat your employees could be the deciding factor for a lot of consumers. Many won’t support a business that treats its employees poorly.
Conversely, if a company can prove how well it treats its employees, it’ll help customers form a positive perception of the business that ultimately inspires purchases and brand interactions.
For instance, a lack of work-life balance can cause employees a lot of harm. They can’t show their personal responsibilities and passions the attention they deserve because they’re burnt out.
Long hours can also negatively impact their physical health, including their oral health. Stress can cause employees to grind their teeth, wearing down enamel. They won’t be able to fight off gum disease as efficiently. And they may be so worn out they can’t make dentist appointments.
Many companies may fail to provide their employees with the work-life balance they need to avoid poor health and life outcomes. You, on the other hand, can show your commitment to helping your employees maintain a healthy work-life balance thanks to EGC.
Whether through vlogs of work-from-home days or posts praising the flexible scheduling options, your employees can show customers they’re well taken care of, giving consumers more reasons to love your business.
Get valuable insights into your company’s processes
As great as EGC is for bettering customer relationships, it can also be a valuable tool for gathering insights about your internal processes.
It’s never fun to hear employees express issues with their work experience, especially when you’re hearing about them for the first time on a podcast episode or blog post. Even if they’re just saying, ‘I wish this was better at work,’ you can restructure your processes so that they better support employees when you have this information.
Better processes equal happier, more productive employees
It streamlines technology implementation
It helps you identify and solve hidden bottlenecks
You can take advantage of opportunities in your market faster
You can determine whether or not what you’re currently doing accommodates growth
Customer satisfaction improves because you can fulfill orders more efficiently, respond faster, and serve consistently
Actively seek out the content employees are creating that expresses concerns and shares the suggestions they have for making things better in your company. You can use it to make more informed decisions about how to improve.
Deepen employee relationships
You can empower your employees and make them feel valued by encouraging them to share content that reflects their experiences, insights, and expertise, so long as your efforts are genuine and about more than profit.
We say that last part because your employees know when you’re asking them to do something as a means to an end, like asking them to share positive work experiences just to enhance recruitment efforts.
Yes, that’s an important goal for EGC. However, you want to collect EGC for meaningful purposes, such as trying to amplify employee voices and create a better work environment for them.
Your employees will be more likely to create EGC when they know it’s for something significant. Not only that, your relationships with them will get stronger as you implement their suggestions and they see you’re actually listening.
How to Encourage Employees to Create and Share EGC
EGC can be influential in a business once you get ahold of it. The key phrase there is once you get ahold of it. Getting employees to create and share EGC can be difficult for a few reasons:
Employees may be concerned about the consequences that come with being honest
They may not know what good EGC looks like or how to create it
It may not seem worthwhile to spend time crafting EGC
Addressing these three things is a good start if you want to encourage your employees to create and share EGC regularly.
You don’t want your employees bashing your business online. However, you do want them to be honest about their work experiences and authentic in their content.
Reassure your employees that you want truthfulness. Let them know there won’t be consequences for sharing their story respectfully. But set the expectation that they come to you with serious complaints or concerns first and not their online platforms.
EGC guidelines would help with point number two. You can share good examples of EGC that your employees can reference when creating their own content. Explain what isn’t appropriate to share online. Detail how to make the best content.
You can also make a repository for visuals, messaging, and templates your employees can use to simplify the creation process.
Finally, you can give your employees the push they need to create and share EGC by offering incentives. For example, you could have employees rack up points for every piece of EGC they publish. Whoever gets the most points at the end of the quarter gets a gift card to their favorite place.
It will take some time to get the ball rolling with EGC. However, it’s worth the effort for what EGC can bring to your business.
Like you’re learning from your own home. Maybe some of us thought about it. However, it was not that easy for everyone before. The Internet has become our blessing to shower us with this newfound opportunity. As people started building their online presence through websites. Then the rise of WordPress, a popular Content Management System (CMS), made it more popular.
Everyone can easily create their websites and share their content with their audiences.
In this blog, we’ll explore the concept of LMS and delve into the benefits of LMS website online courses. Furthermore, we will discuss the key elements that can help you save valuable time and expenses. Not only this, how this can enhance your skill assessment, and promote ongoing learning and skill advancement.
What is a Learning Management System (LMS)
Before diving deep, let’s discuss the concept of LMS. As already mentioned, LMS refers to a Learning Management System. This is a software application or web-based platform designed to facilitate the administration, documentation, tracking, and delivery of educational courses or training programs.
LMSs are used in various settings, including schools, universities, businesses, and other organizations to manage and organize learning content, track learner progress, and administer assessments.
Benefits of Online Courses and LMS Sites
When the questions come about creating any websites, we have to think about their benefits for both the audience and for owners.
Building an LMS site and online courses offers numerous benefits like making education more accessible and flexible for a diverse range of learners. If you’re a teacher then you can provide convenience by allowing your students to access materials and lectures from anywhere with an internet connection. This can help eliminate the need for physical attendance.
This flexibility is particularly advantageous for individuals with busy schedules, working professionals, or those with geographical constraints.
Secondly, online courses often offer a self-paced learning environment, enabling students to progress at their own speed. This personalized approach can help students with various learning styles. It allows everyone to delve deeper into complex topics or review material as needed.
Online courses frequently offer various subjects, allowing learners to explore diverse fields of interest beyond traditional academic boundaries.
Moreover, the interactive nature of online platforms fosters a collaborative learning experience. Students can engage in discussions, share perspectives, and collaborate on projects, enhancing their understanding through diverse viewpoints.
Furthermore, online courses often come with cost benefits, as they eliminate expenses related to commuting, textbooks, and sometimes even tuition fees. This affordability expands educational opportunities to a broader audience, promoting inclusivity and lifelong learning.
Overall, online courses empower individuals with the flexibility, accessibility, and affordability needed to pursue education in a dynamic and interconnected world.
WordPress is now moving forward with its unique functionality day by day. Statistics show, There are approximately 810 Million websites built since the inception of WordPress.
The reasons behind this is the flexibility and time-saving. There are various reasons behind creating an LMS website in WordPress. If you’re a tutor then building an LMS website in WordPress can provide you with the following benefits-
Unified Learning Center
If you wish to create an LMS website then this can serve as a Unified Learning Center. You may wonder how.
It helps you bring diverse educational resources, materials, and activities into a cohesive digital space. This centralization brings up a seamless learning experience for both educators and learners. It helps promote collaboration and interaction.
Versatility and Expandability
The versatility of the LMS website, allows you to integrate various multimedia elements, such as videos, quizzes, and discussion forums.
With this LMS site, you can expand to accommodate a growing user base and evolving educational needs. You can also make them scalable and adaptable to changing requirements.
Improved Educational Engagement
One of the primary benefits of online courses is the enhanced engagement they offer. When you create an LMS website, it facilitates interactive learning through features like discussion boards, live chats, and collaborative projects.
This engagement helps foster a sense of community. It also improves comprehension and retention of the course material.
Streamlined Administration and Monitoring
Efficient administration and monitoring are critical for the success of online courses. LMS automates administrative tasks, such as enrollment, grading, and progress tracking.
Anyone can reduce the workload on educators and ensure a more organized and systematic approach to course management.
Saving Time and Expenses
LMS brings about significant time and cost savings. Traditional classroom setups often involve logistical challenges and overhead costs.
With online courses powered by WordPress LMS, it can help you reach a global audience without the need for physical infrastructure, saving both time and expenses.
Skill Assessment and Performance Oversight
WordPress LMS provides tools for assessing learners’ skills and monitoring their performance. Through quizzes, assignments, and real-time progress tracking, educators can gain valuable insights into individual strengths and areas that need improvement.
This data-driven approach allows users an independent and personalized learning experience.
Ongoing Learning and Skill Advancement
The learning journey doesn’t end with course completion. LMS facilitates ongoing learning and skill advancement through features like continuous assessment, certification programs, and access to supplementary resources.
This ensures that learners stay relevant in their fields and continue to develop their skills.
Build a Successful LMS Course Using WordPress Plugins
For those looking to create a dynamic and user-friendly LMS course, WordPress plugins can be a game-changer.
These plugins can provide additional functionalities, customization options, and seamless integration with the WordPress platform.
Before starting this, you need to focus on some important basics. This could help you create a successful LMS website to share knowledge.
Focus on your LMS
There are different ways you can create an LMS website. Before creating, you have to decide if you will start a free LMS website or a Premium Course site.
If you’re thinking of creating a premium plugin then you should go for some free topics. It will attract your audience in the long run. Then you can go for some free or premium plugins.
Build a Structure for your WordPress LMS Website
Building a well-structured WordPress LMS (Learning Management System) site is a critical step in creating an effective and user-friendly online learning experience. A thoughtfully organized structure not only enhances the overall navigation but also contributes to a positive learning environment. Here are key considerations when building the structure for your WordPress LMS website:
Clear Course Categories
Organize your courses into clear and intuitive categories. Whether it’s by subject, difficulty level, or any other relevant criterion, clear categorization helps students quickly find the courses they’re interested in.
Logical Course Progression
Consider the logical progression of your courses. Arrange them in a way that makes sense for learners to follow, ensuring a smooth flow from basic to advanced topics. This helps students build a strong foundation before moving on to more complex subjects.
Intuitive Navigation Menu
Design an intuitive navigation menu that prominently features essential sections such as Home, Courses, About, and Contact. Make it easy for visitors to explore your LMS website and access the information they need without confusion.
Engaging Homepage
Your homepage is the first impression visitors get of your LMS website. Create an engaging homepage that highlights featured courses, upcoming events, or any special promotions. Always use compelling visuals and concise text to capture attention and encourage exploration.
Individual Course Pages
Provide detailed information for each course on the dedicated page. Don’t forget to include a course description, learning objectives, instructor details, and any prerequisites.
Additionally, offer a clear enrollment or registration button for easy access.
User-Friendly Dashboard
For enrolled students, create a user-friendly dashboard where they can easily access their courses, track progress, view grades, and access any additional resources.
A clean and organized dashboard enhances the overall user experience.
Search and Filter Options
Focus on implementing robust search and filter options. Try to allow your users to quickly search for specific courses or filter courses based on criteria like duration, difficulty, or instructor.
This feature enhances user convenience and helps them find relevant content efficiently.
Responsive Design
You have to ensure your LMS website has a responsive design. It has to be adapted to various screen sizes, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones.
A mobile-friendly design is essential for accommodating learners accessing your site from different devices.
Consistent Branding
Maintain consistent branding elements throughout your site. Try to include color schemes, fonts, and logo placement.
Consistency creates a professional and cohesive look, reinforcing your brand identity.
Feedback and Support Channels
Include channels for feedback and support. Whether through a contact form, live chat, or a dedicated support page. You have to ensure that users can seek assistance or share their thoughts easily.
By focusing on these aspects, you can create a structured and user-friendly WordPress LMS website. With these steps, you can not only attract learners but also provide them with a seamless and enjoyable online learning experience.
Choose a Free WordPress LMS Plugin
Selecting the right LMS (Learning Management System) plugin for your WordPress site is crucial, especially if you’re opting for a free option. Here are some considerations to guide you in choosing a free WordPress LMS plugin.
Tutor LMS is a comprehensive Learning Management System (LMS) that stands at the forefront of empowering educators and inspiring learners in the digital education landscape. Built with a commitment to simplicity, versatility, and innovation, Tutor LMS transforms your WordPress LMS website into a dynamic online learning hub.
This LMS plugin can help you create-
Intuitive course for your LMS website,
Quizzes and Assignments,
Personalized dashboard for managing roles (Admins, Instructors, Students),
Lesson management, and
Many more.
Tutor LMS has developed some cool premium features for its users. Some of the best are Tutor reports, Emails, Certificates, WooCommerce Subscriptions, and more amazing features.
CoSchool LMS is a handy plugin that turns your WordPress website into a powerful online learning space. Whether you’re creating, managing, or selling courses, CoSchool LMS has got you covered. It’s super easy to use, making it a breeze to build and grow your online learning platform right on WordPress.
This WordPress LMS plugin can provide you with a seamless experience while creating an LMS website. Some of them are-
Efficient course creation and management,
Student-focused features (dashboard, enrollment, etc),
Transaction and reporting tools, and
More features.
This feature-rich plugin comes up with some more premium features like a certificate builder, payment add-ons, WooCommerce integration, multi-instructor, course bundle, and All-access pass.
LearnPress is a fantastic WordPress LMS Plugin that lets you easily create and sell courses online. With a simple interface, you can design course curriculums, and add lessons and quizzes without any coding. It’s perfect for making education and online course websites quickly and effortlessly. No coding skills are required!
Some of the best parts of this amazing plugin are-
Supports WordPress Multisite
Helps you manage courses easily
Provides a bunch of add-ons, and
Offline payment options
This LMS plugin is actively developed. It has some premium features as well. You can use WPML Add-on, Co-instructor, payments, and more enriching features.
Conclusion
Getting good at selling courses using WordPress LMS plugins is like unlocking a superpower for making a difference. Whether you go for TutorLMS, CoSchool, or LearnPress LMS, the key is to use their cool features to make learning awesome for your audience.
Just remember, the real trick is connecting with your learners, making each course not just a lesson but a game-changer for them. Don’t always think about your benefit but think this way that it makes an impact.
Start building your courses with an LMS plugin today, and let everyone discover the amazing stuff you know!
If it’s unclear how critical mobile devices are in daily life, look around. With heads bent over phones and conversations streaming across imperceptible wireless earbuds, consumers rely on their smartphones and tablets for everything from finding a great restaurant to catching up with Grandma. If you’re a business owner debating whether or not to dive into mobile marketing, let these statistics help you take the leap: almost 97% of people between the ages of 16 and 64 own a smartphone, and they spend over 4.5 hours on it every day. Mobile marketing is on the rise — here are 14 strategies to help you meet your customers where they are.
1. Start with a mobile-friendly website
A mobile-friendly website means it’s optimized for devices. All text and graphics fit neatly on a smartphone or tablet screen without losing quality, and the design is responsive. Not only does this mean that consumers can interact with your business no matter where they are, but it also improves search engine rankings. It lays the foundation for successful mobile marketing efforts.
A mobile-friendly website is a great first step to take while you look into other strategies. Even if you take no additional steps, this one step alone will improve your customers’ user experience and help you get started with mobile marketing without breaking the bank.
2. Invest in text
Text messages sent to consumers have a higher open rate than marketing emails (98% compared to just under 20%). Short Message Service (SMS) and Multimedia Message Service (MMS) are great ways to send time-sensitive promotions and updates but can also be used to send personalized messages and offers to customers.
3. Develop an app
This one gets a bit more technical and may require some digital help, but developing a mobile app can give a bump to sagging sales and weak conversions. It’s a convenient, branded environment that allows customers to interact with products and check out services. Typical features such as push notifications and in-app promotions are great ways to catch customers’ attention. If you lack the technical skills or are on a budget and cannot afford to hire a developer just yet, a no code app builder can help you with this step.
4. Utilize geofencing
Another useful app feature is geofencing. Geofencing casts a net in a specified area (for example, a five-block or five-mile radius) that alerts customers when they enter it. This location-based marketing sends a message when customers enter the fence, offering special deals or promotions. This solution is excellent for businesses that don’t have significant native foot traffic.
5. Enable mobile payment solutions
Mobile payment solutions are fast, easy, and secure. These convenient mobile wallets enable contactless payments that can increase a consumer’s impulse purchases and enhance their overall experience.
6. Don’t ignore the socials
The statistics are astonishing. Almost 100% of smartphone users access social media on their devices. In fact, social media platforms are accessed predominantly via mobile devices. If you are on a limited budget, spending most of your dollars on campaigns tailored to mobile social media users can increase engagement and conversions. This means adding vertical videos, creating swipeable content, branching out into growing platforms (TikTok, anyone?), and including clear call-to-action (CTA) messaging.
7. Keep campaigns zippy
As much time as people spend on their mobile devices, very few are inclined to linger on one particular site. With attention spans shrinking, mobile campaigns must quickly get to the point. This means short, zippy texts that get to the point and videos that utilize jump cuts to keep customer attention.
8. Add QR codes
Want to bring more customers from the physical world into the digital one? Just add QR codes. This type of “phygital” marketing strategy bridges the gap between consumers who are used to a more hands-on approach but may be open to completing a sale or learning more online. A scannable QR code takes customers to your website, app, or special offers.
9. Optimize for voice search
Smart devices easily translate a verbal question into results (think asking a smartphone to find a business or requesting a playlist from Alexa). Recommendations are based on optimized search results. This means that descriptions and text match queries or requests that mimic human speech. Include long-tail keywords into website descriptions and add an FAQ site for distinct categories and offerings.
10. Get (sort of) real
Augmented reality (AR) is one way to create an immersive customer experience. Consider home goods stores that allow customers to upload a picture of their space and place products into it. This is incredibly convenient on a mobile device, where a customer can snap a quick picture or take a short video to immediately understand how a product might work for them.
11. Cultivate influencer partnerships
Millennials, in particular, are inclined to believe in trusted personalities online (influencers). If you are marketing to millennials, cultivating influencer partnerships can drive trust in your business and customer action. Which influencers you approach depends on your business goals. Some influencer markets, such as beauty and fashion, are more saturated than others, so take time to identify your target audience before getting into influencer partnerships.
12. Run the numbers
Regardless of the marketing strategy, it’s essential to use data analytics to see how your mobile marketing strategies perform. This helps you better understand consumer behavior and personalize your marketing messages. You can set specific measurements for clicks and conversions, but sending out surveys to get direct consumer feedback is possible.
13. Make targeted changes
So what do you do with the feedback you get? You personalize your offerings. Personalization of content makes it more engaging for your target customer. You might divide your marketing messages into different categories based on age, gender, or other factors that relate to your various products and services. This segmentation can improve and refine your message so that more clicks become conversions.
14. Don’t stand still
The rise of mobile marketing represents a fundamental and permanent change in how your business interacts with customers. These mobile strategies tap into endless possibilities and can increase your customer base. They outline a roadmap for you to stay ahead of the curve as mobile marketing continues to evolve.
Regardless of which you choose to implement, you must keep moving forward. Your customers are mobile, and your mobile marketing should be just as agile.
A solid, data-driven media buying strategy is the driving force behind any successful marketing campaign. Effective media buying will enable you to reach high-value audiences, scale up conversions, and reduce acquisition costs. When you’re maximizing the effectiveness & efficiency of your campaigns, everything else will fall into place.
But smart media buying isn’t just about purchasing ad inventory.
It’s about leveraging the right data points, implementing a consistent strategy, and making crucial adjustments that deliver outstanding results. In this guide, we’ll be outlining 13 proven media buying tips that will help you achieve your marketing objectives and generate optimal returns from your budget.
1. Define clear & measurable campaign objectives
Before you dive into any granular media buying tactics, you’ll need to establish clear and realistic objectives for your campaign.
Without measurable objectives in place, you’ll struggle to implement the right optimizations and gauge the success of your ads.
Clarity is key here, as vague objectives will be very difficult to track. For example, rather than aiming to just ‘increase clicks’ to your website, you might aim to exceed your benchmark CTR by 10% or increase average click volumes by 20%. Your objectives should also be easy to measure. Confirm the data sources you’ll be using to track performance (e.g. Google Analytics, Facebook Ads Manager) and make sure you’re confident accessing them and downloading reports.
Finally, don’t be afraid to break down wider business objectives into more manageable campaign KPIs. By clearly defining individual goals (e.g. boosting reach, improving CTR, increasing conversions) and frequently reviewing progress, you can avoid feeling overwhelmed, celebrate smaller milestones, and make in-flight adjustments to strengthen performance.
2. Cherry-pick platforms that align with your target audience
One of the most important aspects of media buying is reaching your target audience in the right digital environments. It doesn’t matter if you’re launching next-level creatives or making diligent optimizations – if your audience isn’t available on a certain platform, you won’t be able to achieve the best results!
Start by defining clear audience personas using insights from social media platforms, market research, and your own customer data. What does your target audience look like in terms of their demographics, interests, and behaviors?
Once you have a better idea of your target audience, you can begin to identify the right platforms to reach them on.
For example, if you’re looking to target Gen Z shoppers, TikTok is likely to provide you with strong reach. However, if your target audience is business professionals and decision-makers, then LinkedIn is the place to be. You’ll also need to consider the targeting capabilities of your chosen platforms.
Is broad demographic targeting right for your audience? Or will you require more granular, in-market targeting to reach your ideal customers? The more you know about your desired audience and targeting requirements, the easier it will be to identify the most effective platforms.
3. Approach every campaign with a test & learn strategy
Frequent, data-fuelled testing will be a game-changer for your ad campaigns.
By regularly experimenting with different creatives, audiences, and tactics, you can gather invaluable insights that will allow you to fully optimize your media buying.
For instance, by comparing the conversion rates of two different audience segments, you’ll be able to figure out where to invest your budget to achieve superior results. Not only will this help you to reduce inefficient impressions, but it will also enable you to increase revenue and optimize your strategy.
To ensure that you’re launching effective tests and harvesting useful data, you should always:
Set clear and measurable KPIs to compare between test variables
Allocate sufficient test budgets for different creatives, audiences, etc
Avoid testing too many variables at once to prevent confusion
Ensure that you have equally sized sample groups/audiences
Make optimizations based on what the data is telling you
As you consistently test different tactics & audiences, you’ll be able to discover high-performing strategies and refine your media buying.
4. Make consistent, data-driven optimizations
While the word ‘optimize’ is thrown around a lot in the world of digital marketing, the importance of effective optimizations should never be underestimated.
If your media buying strategy is fuelled by rigorous optimizations, you’ll be in a much better position to achieve your marketing objectives and improve performance.
But how can you ensure that you’re implementing the right optimizations? Firstly, always focus on your primary objective/KPI when making campaign optimizations. If your main goal is to generate website traffic, for instance, then you’ll need to prioritize metrics like clicks and CTR rather than video views.
Patience is also crucial whenever you’re making optimizations.
Whether you’re advertising on the Google Display Network or Instagram, give the platform algorithm time to adjust to any changes. It can take a few days for new optimizations to make an impact, so don’t panic if you’re seeing fluctuating results or slow progress initially. (However, while patience is important, you’ll also need to make decisive optimizations when the data is clear. Don’t hesitate to cut underperforming ads and shift your budget towards better-performing tactics!)
5. Transform raw data into practical insights with analytics tools
There’s a huge difference between just checking your performance data and truly analyzing your performance data. Interpreting raw data, and transforming it into actionable insights, is critical for successful media buying. Rather than just looking at numbers on a screen, you’ll need to figure out how you can use them to discover new tactics and optimize your campaigns.
For example, let’s say your latest campaign delivered an average CPA of $10.
Without context, it’s very difficult to know what this number means. But let’s say that your previous campaign delivered an average CPA of $20 – well, you’ve now successfully reduced your CPA by 50%, proving the success of your media buying strategy.
Contextualizing data is incredibly important, whether you’re comparing results year-on-year or looking at industry benchmarks. Always put your reporting data in context! On top of this, try to figure out which elements are driving improvements or issues with your campaigns. A declining CTR is obviously bad news, but if you can attribute this to a new creative headline, you can make adjustments to try and reverse the trend.
Calculating additional metrics can help you to extract highly valuable insights from your campaign reports. For example, comparing total conversions between different audiences can be useful, but calculating the ROAS of these audiences will give you a much better understanding of customer value and marketing efficiency.
If you’re looking for a fast and easy way to drill down to these actionable insights, analytics tools are a fantastic option. These tools are designed to inject much-needed automation into your reporting process, so you can instantly access key metrics like CPA and ROAS. Once you’ve discovered an analytics tool that you’re comfortable using, you can set up custom reports, review cross-channel performance, and connect different data sources (e.g. Facebook Ads and Google Analytics) to build a clearer picture of performance. With all of your campaign data accessible through a single dashboard, it becomes much easier to optimize your media buying and increase ROI.
6. Keep your ears to the ground on the latest platform evolutions
The world of digital marketing is constantly shifting, and to maintain high-performing media buying, you’ll need to stay ahead of the curve.
New audience trends, advertising tools, and platform features are always emerging across marketing networks. Advertisers who react quickly to these changes and capitalize on new opportunities can often find themselves gaining a competitive edge. These platform evolutions can also have a major impact on campaign management & marketing performance. For example, the iOS 14.5 update was hugely disruptive for Facebook advertisers – while some marketers worked swiftly to find effective workarounds, others were left in the dust.
To stay up-to-date with the latest developments, be sure to keep an eye on industry news and actively look for product releases.
Sign up for digital marketing newsletters, keep in touch with platform account managers, and set up news alerts wherever possible. Although keeping up with the ever-changing world of digital marketing is a daunting task, if you can keep your finger on the pulse, you’ll have a great chance of seizing new opportunities – and avoiding oncoming disasters.
7. Experiment with multiple ad formats across platforms
So, you’ve launched a successful media buying strategy. You’re seeing positive results with your current ad formats, and things are looking good. Time to sit back and put your feet up, right?
Well, not quite.
While it can be tempting to stick with a proven media buying formula, if you want to consistently attract new customers and maintain efficiency in the long run, you’ll need to broaden your horizons.
Experimenting with different ad formats is a fantastic way to elevate your creative messaging and discover profitable new tactics.
For example, if you’re running an e-commerce store with multiple SKUs, then Facebook’s Advantage+ Catalog ads could help you to skyrocket product sales. If you’re retailing a product with clear and compelling user benefits, then short-form videos packed with UGC will help you to build credibility and generate clicks.
Every marketing platform will offer a unique range of ad formats, designed to help brands achieve different objectives. Not only will experimenting with new formats prevent creative fatigue, but it will also allow you to develop a full-funnel strategy to maximize clicks and conversions across key platforms.
8. Collaborate with external agencies
Crafting, launching, and evolving your own media buying strategy can be very challenging at times. While many marketers like to be in total control of their advertising spend, setting up campaigns, analyzing reports, and implementing optimizations can all be extremely time-intensive tasks.
This is where connecting with external agency partners can be a massive help.
By partnering with expert marketers, you can simultaneously free up resources and dramatically increase ROI. Agency account teams will help you define your target audience, launch cross-platform strategies, and optimize ads to maximize conversions.
Enlisting the help of an agency can also allow you to tap into long-standing platform relationships, meaning you can unlock preferential rates and customer support. On top of this, you’ll also be able to take advantage of in-depth media buying knowledge, as most agencies will employ specialists in everything from paid social to paid search. While there’s undoubtedly a lot you can do to improve the performance of your media buying, sometimes there’s nothing better than discovering the right agency partner.
9. Use ad libraries to keep a close eye on your competitors
The digital marketing landscape is intensely competitive, and you’re likely to be competing with a large number of rival advertisers looking to win over the same audiences.
However, while your competitors can be a nuisance at times, they can also provide you with valuable insights to help you optimize your media buying.
Tools like Facebook Ads Library and TikTok Top Ads are the places to stake them out. These give you an invaluable look at the types of ads other brands are running, and TikTok will even give you an indication of how they’re performing, too.
Not only will this give you fresh ideas for creatives to test, it can also give you a heads-up on competitors who’ve launched new products that expose gaps in your offerings. So, build a list of rival brands and regularly check in on them via platform ad libraries to see if what they’re testing can help you refine your own tactics. You may see a competitor trialing a new ad format or content strategy that’s driving a high level of engagement. Take inspiration from these examples, adapting ideas and leveraging the best elements from competitor campaigns to your own advantage.
10. Tailor your creative assets to different platforms
Every platform is unique, and generic copy-and-paste ad creatives aren’t going to help you stand out in a cluttered market. If your creative assets feel bespoke to your chosen platform and target audience, they’re more likely to resonate with consumers.
For example, short and punchy UGC videos can be very impactful on TikTok, particularly if they capitalize on trending audio snippets or social media challenges. LinkedIn, on the other hand, encourages more polished creative assets – formats like carousels can deliver high levels of engagement, particularly if they contain high-quality, informative visual content.
Below are some of the key creative elements to consider when you’re repurposing assets for different platforms:
Aspect ratios: Make sure that you’re paying close attention to the technical ad specs for different platforms to avoid stressful (and costly) last-minute edits!
Video lengths: Ensure that the lengths of your video assets are aligned with platform best practices. For example, while longer-form videos can perform well through YouTube skippable campaigns, they’re unlikely to hold the attention of TikTok users.
Tone-of-voice: Different platforms attract diverse audiences, so consider who you’re reaching across ad networks and how you’ll address them. Tweak your ad copy and headlines to ensure you’re delivering relevant, appropriate messages.
Whenever you’re launching creatives across multiple networks, think carefully about platform best practices and the preferences of your target audience. Media buying goes hand-in-hand with creative strategy, and if you can get the two working in perfect harmony, the results will speak for themselves.
11. Ensure your ad delivery is aligned with your campaign goals & preferences
Optimizing your ad delivery is one of the best ways to improve the efficiency of your media buying and maximize conversions. However, it can be difficult to know which delivery tactics are going to drive optimal results for your business.
Taking Facebook Ads as an example, let’s look at the ad delivery options available on the platform and explain how each approach can impact your campaigns.
Ad Set Budget Optimization (ABO)
With ABO ad delivery, you’ll set a specific budget against every individual ad set in your campaign. The Facebook algorithm will then optimize delivery within each of these ad sets based on your target audience and objectives. For example, let’s say you’re looking to manually test various audiences, placements, and creatives across multiple Facebook ad sets.
With ABO, everything is controlled and managed at the ad set level. You can track the delivery of each ad set in detail, tweak budgets based on performance, and make ad optimizations in real time.
If you want budget flexibility and the ability to make manual adjustments to your ad sets, ABO is the route for you.
Campaign Budget Optimization (CBO)
Campaign Budget Optimization, on the other hand, is an ad delivery option that allocates and optimizes budgets across multiple ad sets.
You’ll set a campaign-level budget for your activity, and the Facebook algorithm will automatically allocate budget to the ad sets with the best performance. This is a simpler form of ad delivery because you don’t need to make manual tweaks to individual ad sets – instead, you’ll rely on machine learning to manage ad spend across your campaign.
CBO can be especially useful for advertisers managing large-scale campaigns with many different ad sets live at the same time.
While ABO places the emphasis on granular control at the ad set level, CBO places the emphasis on campaign budget fluidity and convenience for advertisers.
The right type of ad delivery depends on your campaign goals and preferences as an advertiser.
Whether you’re keen to retain control of your ad sets or allow the Facebook algorithm to put in the hard yards, make sure you’re comfortable with your ad delivery and happy with the outcomes you’re seeing.
12. Focus on high-performing campaign bidding strategies
The more efficient your bidding tactics are across ad campaigns, the easier it will become to reduce your acquisition costs. The key here is to understand the different bidding options available to you and select the approach that aligns closely with your objectives.
The first decision you’ll need to make is Auto Bid vs Manual Bid.
On marketing platforms like Facebook, you’ll need to decide whether you want to automate your bidding or maintain manual control. With automated bidding, you can select a spend-based approach (maximizing conversions/conversion value) or a goal-based approach (achieving a set CPA/ROAS target.)
You can also opt for a manual bidding approach, where you’ll set manual ad bids rather than allowing the Facebook algorithm to do so. This is often utilized by experienced advertisers with a solid understanding of their conversion values. If you’re unsure of which bidding strategy you should be using, you can always duplicate ad sets and see if automated or manual bids are delivering the most cost-efficient results.
You’ll also need to consider Cost Cap vs Bid Cap within your bidding strategy.
In simple terms, a bid-cap places a firm limit on your cost-per-bid while a cost-cap averages out all of your bids to achieve your desired overall CPA.
If you’re more concerned with limiting the cost of specific actions (e.g. clicks, conversions) then a bid cap will keep your spending under tight control. However, if you’d rather maximize results and stay flexible with your total budget, then a cost cap will help you boost conversions while maintaining a set CPA. Every advertiser is different, and there’s nothing wrong with testing out different bidding tactics to find your best-performing options. Just make sure you’re actively trying to improve performance rather than assuming automated bidding is delivering optimal results!
13. Experiment with Dynamic Creative Optimization
Although it’s crucial to maximize the efficiency of your ad delivery, it’s also hugely important to ensure that your creatives are working as hard as possible for your brand.
However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to spend hours tweaking every individual element of your creative assets. In fact, with Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) you can automate this entire process to optimize performance. DCO is available on several marketing platforms (e.g. Facebook, Amazon) and while the setup process may vary slightly, the concept is always the same.
DCO enables you to rapidly launch a large number of ad variations, with assets personalized to different audiences and tested at scale to identify the strongest iterations.
Dynamic advertising offers a number of unique benefits, including:
Cost-effectiveness – since ads are dynamically generated and automatically optimized, you can quickly narrow down your assets based on their efficiency.
Personalization at scale – everything from your headlines to your CTAs can be adjusted in real-time based on customer responses, interests, and behaviors.
Effective retargeting – DCO allows you to understand the products/messages that resonate with your audience, so you can optimize retargeting ads to maximize sales.
DCO essentially supercharges the ‘test & learn’ process, enabling you to scale up your campaigns while maintaining ad relevance and cost-efficiency.
However, DCO isn’t necessarily for everyone. The process needs a healthy budget to achieve the scale required for effective testing, and you’ll also need enough products/assets/messages to produce a large number of ad variations. If you’re looking for innovative ways to improve the ROI of your media buying, and you have enough budget available to scale up your ad campaigns, then DCO can deliver exceptional results for your business.
By fuelling your media buying with these proven tactics, you’ll be able to achieve consistently strong results – whatever your objective might be.
Whether you’re looking to grow brand awareness or generate cost-efficient product sales, it all starts with a solid media buying strategy. Focus on clear objectives, tap into as much data as possible, and be ready to make speedy adjustments when needed. Good luck!
Unlike the software development life cycle, the product death cycle is an important constraint that shouldn’t be overlooked by startups.
Many startups avoid it and fail to grasp good market opportunities along with untapped profits they could make.
Frequent analysis of product cycles is essential for startups to sustain good value in the market with loyal customers so they can serve better and better every day.
But what if you encounter a product death cycle in between? How can startups avoid the product death cycle? Let’s find out in this article.
Understanding Product Death Cycle
But first, what is the product death cycle all about?
In the age of competitiveness, startups often encounter a crucial phase known as the “Product Death Cycle.”
This cycle refers to a stage where a product continuously loses its market relevance and faces the risk of losing potential buyers along with trust and values.
Significantly for startups this stage is crucial and cannot be avoided as a risk of business failure. Hence, understanding and effectively navigating this cycle is vital for their survival and success.
Causes For Product Death Cycle
Certain causes can cause your product to experience a death cycle and those are discussed below.
Lack of Market Research
Poor market research is one of the significant causes of the product death cycle.
Startups sometimes fail to understand the evolving needs and preferences of their target audience. Might leave them in the creation of products that may not align with market demands.
Aggressive Competition
Startups are well familiar with the ratio of competitiveness in the modern days. If not studied properly could impact them brutally.
Constantly explore your competitors and similar selling brands’ strategies they incorporate in time. Many companies fail here and as a result, are replaced by competitors’ more innovative solutions.
Inflexibility in Adaptation
The inability to bring change or too rigid policies can trap in the product death cycle. A good product always nurtures market demand and the constant preference of customers to serve better, every day.
The inability to adapt to market shifts or technological advancements can lead to irrelevance.
Strategies To Escape Product Death Cycle
Indeed, a good strategy is needed to solve or escape the product death cycle. Here’s a comprehensive explanation of these strategies:
It allows companies to be perfect, responsive, and flexible in adapting to changing market dynamics.
It brings new development, regular feedback loops, and quick adjustments based on customer feedback.
By following business models as planned startups can remain relevant in the ever-evolving market.
Customer-Centric Approach
Prioritizing the customer is fundamental.
By deeply understanding their needs, preferences, and pain points. Startups can better serve them to match their expectations in time.
Regular interaction, feedback collection, and a focus on user experience contribute to a more successful product in the market.
Innovation and Adaptation
Innovation is the essence of a savior. Therefore, if startups fail to imply innovation they might not be able to escape the product death cycle.
Startups need to continually innovate and adapt to emerging trends, technologies, and market shifts.
Also, this helps them stay forefront and step forward from their competitors. As much as possible, invest in research and development to innovate new features.
Working on the aforementioned strategies would help your business escape from product death cycle.
I have drawn an example assuming myself as a product manager of a reputed U.S. based firm. Let’s draw a strategy to tackle the product death cycle scenario.
How Product Manager Escape The Product Death Trap?
Being a product manager is a responsible job and a situation like a product death trap makes you more liable to escape to ensure better continuity and demand for your product in the market.
In order to tackle product death cycle, you must navigate challenges, and stay adaptable, and very important thing is that the product remains relevant and successful.
Here are some key strategies to anticipate to trump over the product death cycle.
Customer-Centric Approach
Stay connected with your customers. Regularly gather feedback through surveys, interviews, and analytics.
Understand their pain points and needs. Prioritize features and improvements based on customer value.
Agile Methodology
Use an agile approach to development. Break down projects into smaller, manageable tasks.
Adapt quickly to changes in market conditions, technology, or user requirements.
Continuous Improvement
Create a culture of continuous improvement. Encourage your team to learn from both successes and failures.
Periodically to identify areas for improvement in processes and products.
Market Research and Trend Analysis
Stay informed about industry trends, emerging technologies, and competitors.
Conduct regular market research to identify new opportunities and potential threats.
Data-Driven Decision Making
Take decisions considering data rather than assumptions. Use analytics tools to gather insights into user behavior and product performance.
Set up key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of your product.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Foster collaboration between different departments, including development, marketing, sales, and customer support.
Break down silos to ensure everyone is aligned with the product vision and goals.
Risk Management
Identify potential risks early on and develop mitigation strategies.
Regularly reassess risks and adjust strategies based on changing circumstances.
Product Lifecycle Management
Understand the various stages of the product lifecycle. If required re-plan for updates, and new features.
Allocate resources accordingly to each stage of the product’s life.
User Experience (UX) Design
Prioritize a seamless and intuitive user experience. A well-designed product can contribute significantly to its success.
Gather user feedback on the usability of the product and make improvements accordingly.
Communication Skills
Clearly communicate the product vision, goals, and progress to all stakeholders.
Be transparent about challenges and solicit input from team members to find effective solutions.
Flexibility and Adaptability
Be open to change and ready to pivot if market conditions or user needs shift.
Avoid becoming overly attached to a specific solution and be willing to explore alternatives.
By incorporating these strategies, a product manager can increase the chances of their product thriving in the dynamic and competitive business environment, avoiding the pitfalls that can lead to the product death trap.
Conclusion
Product death cycle is an important factor to examine. To keep running the product life cycle flexible and smooth. It is important to rectify a product’s loophole before it threatens business failure.
Consider the signs leading to the product death cycle and implement proactive strategies to escape this phase. Think of the best innovation labs in the world and rehearse the competitive landscape to avoid product death cycle.
