The Ridiculously Simple Ways You Can Get People To Read More Of Your Content

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Content creation is an effective yet epic task. It takes up hours of your time and is a massive drain on your marketing resources. Because of this, you want to make sure that it’s useful. But how?

It turns out that creating compelling content that people actually want to read is more complicated than many company owners imagine. If you’re like most professionals, you’re focused on what you know – the nuts and bolts of your business. Your bread and butter, if you will. Content marketing is usually little more than an afterthought.

Get it wrong, and you can waste a tremendous amount of time and money. Get it right, and you can dominate.

The trick to successfully getting people to read more of your content is understanding how people consume material on the web. Most of the people on your site probably aren’t reading every single word that you type. Typically, they’re scanning pages, looking for information they need, and then moving on. Bearing this in mind, therefore, is essential when creating content. Your content needs to have pertinent details highlighted or under particular headings so that people can visually scan your document and pick out the information they need.

That’s just one example. There are many more. Take a look at these ridiculously simple ways to get people reading more of your content and get them closer to conversion.

Start By Using Bullet Points

Using bullet points is a compelling way of engaging your users while at the same time giving them a break from a block of text.

  • Bullet points look different from regular prose
  • Bullet points break up the text
  • Bullet points provide white space
  • Bullet points succinctly collect information
  • Bullet points help readers to memorize your content
  • Bullet points organize all of the most critical information in your post

Enrich Your Text

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article | The Ridiculously Simple Ways You Can Get People To Read More Of Your Content | Content Creation | Entrepreneurship
Photo courtesy of Diggity Marketing

The art of lead magnet creation involves doing much more than writing, say, 1,500 words. It’s also about including a catchy title, moving images, calls-to-action, landing pages, branded document designs and much much more. Creating a visually compelling document is an ideal way to encourage people to investigate more of what you have to say. People want to read articles that tell them about the pictures they’re looking at, for example.

Place Helpful Links Whenever Possible

StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article | The Ridiculously Simple Ways You Can Get People To Read More Of Your Content | StrategyDriven | Content Creation | Entrepreneurship

If you’re writing a blog about a particular food ingredient, it helps to insert a couple of links to recipes that use it. Likewise, if you’re writing an article about personal finance, it might be helpful to give users a link to an investment calculator so they can see how much their portfolio will be worth in ten years.

Placing helpful links is helpful to users and helpful to you too. People will want to come back.

Double Check Your Formatting

Once you’ve written your article using the advice above, double check it to see whether the format actually communicates your core message. Put yourself in the shoes of your reader and ask whether they can glean the information they need.

Whatever You Do, Don’t Leave These Things Out Of Your Digital Marketing Plan!

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Digital Marketing|Whatever You Do, Don’t Leave These Things Out Of Your Digital Marketing Plan! If your goal is to get your brand noticed online, then you will absolutely need an effective digital marketing plan. Of course, with marketing being part art, and part science, there is a substantial margin for error when it comes to writing and executing such a plan. In fact, it’s all too easy to leave out certain aspects that could have a significant effect on your success. Luckily, some of the most important ones have been highlighted below. Read on for more.

An end goal

One thing that it is crucial that you don’t leave out of your digital marketing strategy is an end goal for every campaign that you run. After all, a campaign without a specific purpose is unlikely to be as focused or as productive as it could be, and as they aren’t cheap to run its good to get this sorted out beforehand.

Analytics are a crucial element of goal monitoring.

In fact, by taking a less nebulous approach to the end result of your digital marketing campaign, you can much better track and measure the effect they are having. Of course, to do this effectively you, or the people you partner with will need to be adept at using analytics to measure the success of each campaign, and, as is becoming increasingly popular the success of altering even a single variable.

Mobile optimization

Another aspect of digital marketing strategy that you cannot leave out if you want success is the optimization of your website and apps for mobile use.

This reason for this is because over 75% of internet use is now on a mobile platform. What that means is if you don’t optimize for mobile you aren’t providing the best user experience for your up to ¾ of your customers! Something likely to reduce engagement as well as trust and positive regard for your brand.

SEO provision

You may not be an expert in it yourself, but if you are involved in running a business, it’s likely that you already know that SEO and its paid counterpart PPC are crucial things to include in your digital marketing strategy.

In fact, SEM, the term for both paid and unpaid search engine marketing, is so important because if you get it right, it will be your company that gets pulled up in the searches first.
In fact, in terms of SEO or organic rankings, it is vital that this happens because a large percentage of lead conversions happen when a click-through occurs from the first page of search results.

What that means is that if you can get your business’s link to appear on the first page of Google via the SEO method, you will have a much better chance or not only building your brand but getting good quality, convertible leads as well.

Of course, just like any other task that needs to be completed in your business, the best person for the job of SEO will be a specialist. To that end, finding an SEO agency to help you is usually a much better choice than going with someone with limited trading and experience. After all, reading a few posts on the internet won’t be enough to ensure your digital marketing strategy is effective as possible.

Engaging content

Lastly, the true cornerstone of your digital marketing strategy needs to be the content that you create. The reason being that content which offers real value to your potential customer is the currency you will use not only to convince them to listen to your message but to transcend the speaker-listener dynamic that is so prevalent in traditional forms of marketing.

In fact, by creating engaging content, you aren’t just offering an item of value to potential customers, but an opportunity to be involved in a conversation and a community as well. Both things that are greatly valued by people and can help boost your brand’s image.

Of course, by offering your potential customers this chance you can then use it to strengthen your brand’s loyalty, as well as perpetuate a genuine engagement that will keep your company name and digital marketing output relevant in their eyes. Something that, in turn, will ensure a maximum rate of success for your digital marketing strategy.

Summary

Don’t forget to have an end goal to your digital marketing strategy, and to use analytics to check that what you are doing is facilitating this. Additionally, you need to include provision for SEO and mobile optimization. Lastly, engaging content can help you not just spread your message but involve potential customers in a community around your brand as well. Something that when used in conjunction with the other tactics mentioned in this post can make your digital marketing strategy as effective as possible.

How To Improve Your Business Operations

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article|Business operations|How To Improve Your Business OperationsEffective business operations are key to the short and long-term success of any institution. That is why this article is here to shed some light on what you can do, as a business owner and entrepreneur, in order to improve these operations in the first place.

First and foremost, you will need to set certain goals and follow through with them. What are you working towards as an organization? In addition to this, make sure that you always hire the best possible employees, use automated software programs, talk to business consultants, and, of course, remain transparent.

Set goals and follow them

One of the most important things that you could do is to set business goals and follow through with them. What do you hope to achieve in both the short and long term? How much profit do you want to make? These are the types of questions that you should be asking yourself, but make sure that you are also very realistic about them.

Hire the best possible employees

Yet another consideration to keep in mind that will help improve your business operations is the type of employees that you will be hiring. At the end of the day, work gets done as a result of the numerous people that work for that company.

That is why you need to hire individuals that are not only knowledgeable in their field, but also fit well into the larger company culture. Is everyone able to effectively work together in a team, for instance?

Use automated software programs

With advancements in technology, there are now also a number of different automated operations that you can adopt in your organization. For instance, certain tasks that would take a few hours to complete now only require a few minutes thanks to these automated programs. One such example could be HR programs that help organize and file employee information, and so on.

Talking to a consultant

There are business consultants available for a reason, and they can always help you work through any struggles that you might be facing throughout your company’s lifespan. There may be moments where you feel overwhelmed, and you simply don’t know what the next step to take is.

It is exactly during these moments that you should seek the advice from a well- established small business coach.

Remain transparent

As a company, if you want people to trust you, you will need to remain transparent. No matter what stage of the operation this is at, keep in mind that if you are making any promises or large-scale statements about your products, you must also be able to deliver on those.

Keep in mind that improving business operations is always a process, and it takes awhile until you might notice the results that you are hoping for. Still, that is exactly why perseverance is key to any business venture. Above this, don’t forget to be strategic about the course of your operations on a daily basis. When you notice that something is not working out, as you initially planned, never underestimate just how much of an impact changing directions can make.

Is Your E-Commerce Provider Living Up to Its Promises?

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article|E-commerce|Is Your E-Commerce Provider Living Up to Its Promises?There are numerous factors which can be attributed to the success of an online business venture. Hard work, dedication, a clear-cut vision, and insightful marketing campaigns are only a handful of metrics to take into account. However, the driving force behind many projects stems directly from a cutting-edge and efficient e-commerce platform. There is no doubt that such platforms have evolved in leaps and bounds over the years and many now boast a user-friendly appeal that would have been nearly impossible to enjoy in the past. Still, there are times when a business will need to reevaluate its current provider in order to determine if any changes are warranted. Let’s look at this statement in greater detail.

Taking Normalcy for Granted

The core functions of an e-commerce solution will often take place behind the scenes. This also allows them to be taken for granted over time. Secure payment systems, inherent website functionality and mobile-responsive designs are a handful of traits which can be associated with a worthwhile service provider. However, we must also look at the concept of agility.

How easy is it to perform upgrades? Will the third-party solution be able to grow with the business or might certain features be sacrificed in the event that changes need to be made? These situations can represent critical setbacks if not taken seriously and unfortunately, many entrepreneurs fail to realise their importance until the damage as already been done. In other words, the notion of “business as usual” is by no means relevant in terms of an e-commerce solution. Adaptation is key to long-term success and there are many instances when a legacy provider no longer fits the bill. So, what steps should be taken in order to best determine the appropriate third-party service?

When the Time is Right for Migration

One of the main factors which will often influence the final decision involves software as a service (Saas). While platforms such as Magento are indeed impressive in regards to their developmental tools, the fact of the matter is that they might not be able to offer the hands-on edge which could be required by enterprise-level merchants. No one should need to be a coding expert before making pertinent changes to their website. After all, the experience of the end user is the top priority and any downtime will negatively impact the so-called “bottom line”.

The good news is that there are several alternatives to Magento Enterprise and many of these have learned to espouse a bespoke sense of intuitive agility. Thus, changes can be made when the time is right and the portal in question will not suffer from any debilitating downtime. It is just as important to mention that management and similar stakeholders have to adopt the correct mentality. They must be able to admit that there is a problem before objectively examining the issue. This is the best way to determine the root cause and ultimately, to discover if an outdated e-commerce platform is due for an upgrade.

Starting a Business at Home: A Guide

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article|Home Business|Starting a Business at Home: A GuideIf you’ve got that entrepreneurial spark, why not start your own business from your very own home? The best business you could build from home are the ones you start yourself from scratch, not the ones you buy into (talking to you, multi-level marketing schemes!). Even if you’re starting from absolutely nothing with little money, it’s definitely possible to build up your business idea into a successful and profitable company. Here is a guide on how to get started.

Step 1: Pick your niche

Come up with a business idea and choose what sort of business you want to start based on your experiences. This is most likely going to be the most difficult step, as you need to identify the idea behind your business and what your unique selling proposition is. You don’t have to necessarily have professional experience as long as the work you do is rooted in proper knowledge or expertise, so you can turn a hobby into a business as long as the quality is there.

Also consider that if you have a criminal record, there are a few fields you can’t start a business in, including medicine, law, finance, or anything that uses hazardous materials. If you want to be sure about your options, speak to an attorney to get a better understanding of what limitations you have if you’ve been convicted of a crime before getting started.

Step 2: Determine your target market and your competitors

Understanding whom you’re trying to sell to is a big factor in the success of your business, as is knowing who your competitors are and what they’re offering. By identifying your target market early on in the process, you can determine what kind of demand there is for your product or service and adjust accordingly. Also, every business has a competitor, and you want to make yours stand out so you must know what the competition is doing in order to offer something different than them. It’s beneficial to do a competitive analysis to help figure out what your company’s edge is.

Step 3: Decide what your budget is

Every business needs capital to get it off the ground, so figure out how much that is before you start spending. Consider how much you’ll be spending on your office space, including rent, utilities, equipment, and administrative services like conference calling, and be realistic about these costs. Also, consider other expenses like marketing costs and employee salaries and benefit packages. Do plenty of research and compare prices to make sure you get a good understanding of what your budget will be.

Step 4: Finance your business

The preferred way to finance your new business would be through personal savings, but understandably, this isn’t always a reality or a viable option. In 2018, nearly half of all small business owners went to the bank for a loan to help finance their company. There are other ways to obtain some capital, including:

Don’t forget to keep your business finances and personal finances separate for legal reasons. Make sure to establish your business as its own entity and set up an LLC for easy accounting when it comes time to file your taxes.

Step 5: Advertise

How are people going to know you exist unless you market your brand or product? Make sure your company has a website and you’re on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn (or all of the above – whatever makes sense for your brand and target audience) and understand the strategies involved for each platform, because yes—they’re all different. Traditional advertising is fine too, but the real bread and butter comes from social media these days, so get your profiles up and get that website functioning as soon as possible.