In the nowadays competitive business environment, employees from all over the world are in a constant scramble for ways to escalate the corporate ladder in a valid manner to obtain consistent benefits. So, they work really hard and unfailingly put in all the effort in order for superiors to notice and “appreciate” them. This kind of rat race is what drives the creatives out of this never-ending war of wits. And one ardent question pops up – how to make money blogging for dummies?
These are some questions that need answers, depending on where you are on this journey. Whether you want to make money blogging full-time or as a side hustle, you will be required to produce quality content. Lots of work goes into attracting and retaining readers’ attention before you can start to make money by blogging.
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There is a good amount of information that you need to know and understand on the technical side of blogging and this is what you will need to integrate with your creativity in order to bring your blog to life. It’s a bit of a steep curve but remember to the victor goes the spoils.
Before getting into the strategies you can use to earn some income by blogging and working from your home office, here are a few considerations to position you in the right mind frame.
Pre-requisites for a Fun and Successful Blogging Adventure
Success starts with a passion
Are you passionate about writing? Would you still write even if you didn’t earn a dime? Creativity is a process and not a product. Would you still love what you do even if it made you bleed? And then when you put in the work, the reward shall be a byproduct. Thus, pursue your passion.
Trust and respect the process
As said above, some work will have to be done before you can experience the reward. An old saying sustains that you should enjoy the journey, not the destination.
Give your blog the consistency and commitment that you would give your career
Put in the necessary hours and go the extra mile.
Give it a muscle for a strong start
Do some investments, what does this mean? This means starting with a few things on your side like getting knowledge about blogging (like you’re doing now), you can read some eBooks or do some e-courses, and if you want to take it further you can hire a blogging coach. Of course, much more will be learned on the go.
Be organized!
Plan your posts in advance; gather all the content you will need, when blogging, a certain degree of consistency will be required. Have a planner to help you remember every activity you need to undertake.
Decide on a niche
This is essentially your first step, deciding on what angle you want your content to take. What do you want to write about, what messages do you want to convey? In which industry do you want to venture? Whichever it is, make these decisions now.
If you don’t have a specific idea in mind, here is how you can narrow it down, mass appeal to a huge number of audiences is every blogger’s goal, think of your idea in a broader form, for example, if you want to talk about hair products, you may broaden your blog to be about beauty in general. This will give you a larger audience.
Give it a good domain name
First of all, Google does not like domain names that have over 15 characters, what does this mean? Use a short descriptive domain name with a keyword that will help you be found easily within your niche, this will in the future be a bonus for SEO. These could be a maximum of 3 words. Avoid hyphens because they’re often associated with spam content. Finally, choose a dot.com domain extension to avoid limiting your blog reach.
With these important factors in mind, here are the main ways:
This is the first method on how to make money blogging because it is the easiest one. It’s all about making money by promoting other persons’ products on your blog; you earn money when your promotion or recommendation results in a sale.
This method can bring you money if you learn some market secrets, including the process, how payment is done, the channels used, and other tips for success. Be aware, in order for affiliate marketing to work, you need a loyal audience or a good amount of traffic. You can boost your traffic through the use of social media; SEO and encouraging readers to share your content.
Finally, stay up to date on affiliate marketing strategies that are bringing results, and don’t shy away from trying them. As a newbie, there are many affiliate platforms you can start with, you can check out several of them here. The ones you pick first may be determined by the type of products or services that you trust and are related to your niche. The next step will be to sign up with these platforms and subsequently create great content that will support you in promoting their products. It’s really that simple.
2. Google AdSense
Google has an advertising platform called AdSense. It’s one of the most popular platforms used by newbie bloggers. The first thing you need to do is sign up for it, then allow it to place ads on your blog. You have the option to pick the number of ads you plan to allow.
As a newbie, your first step will be to sign up for AdSense. It’s free and offers plenty of guidelines and options. The next stage will be to create the ad placements on your blog. Remember do not suffocate your readers with too many ads. Choose strategic positioning of the ads within the blog. With all these set, boost your traffic by promoting your content on various platforms.
Once this is in place, you can get paid if someone clicks on the ad, or by the number of views the ad gets on your blog. One reason why this works is that Google places ads that are relevant to your content, therefore your readers are likely to resonate with them. The other good thing is that even though the ads may not relate to your content necessarily, they will relate to the reader’s browsing history, so they will still resonate with them.
Just like in affiliate marketing, the amount of traffic you get on your blog will determine how much you earn from AdSense, the more traffic you have, the more you’re likely to get paid.
3. Create an eBook
Even the thought of writing a book can be so overwhelming and can thoroughly induce anxiety for most people. But, don’t worry too much, here is why. This book isn’t a novel, it’s neither long nor complex, rather, look at it as a platform to speak about the subject you’re an expert on, whatever that is. There are 3 advantages of an eBook especially for you as a newbie:
– it will give you credibility, that’s what everyone is looking for
– it will give you an opportunity to tap into Amazon
– if you like speaking to people in public, then this will earn you gigs, and the more gigs the more you’ll be able to promote your blog, and this translates into more traffic. Doesn’t it sound really good?
Creating an eBook will eventually bring in some bucks in revenue, it’s a win-win situation. Hence your question might be what to write about. Here’s a simple approach, pick one subject you’re an expert in and expound on it. If you have an existing blog post that got some really good engagement, you can expand it or just give it a few chapters and you’ll be good to go. Most people today are gravitating towards eBooks instead of novels because they’re short and precise.
The secret to your success here is to make it as compelling as possible. Give it value to be able to pack a punch for your audience, make it practical, something that can teach them something new.
Finally, promote this e-Book. You can do it on your blog by using banners on your sidebars. As said earlier, you can also self-publish it on Amazon. And lastly, you can promote it through your social media platforms.
If you are an expert in a particular field, whether you’re a newbie blogger or not, you can still find people that would be willing to pay you for your counsel. People are moving away from big things into smaller relatable ones. Some of the top money-making blogs have behind some great consultants in their fields. You can be one too!
Sticking with the example above, if you’re a beauty blogger, you can be a style consultant. All you need to do is pick a niche of what services you want to offer. Then promote yourself through every platform possible.
5. Podcasting
This is another fun way on how to make money blogging – via integration with podcasting. Podcasting and blogging go along very well, it’s like tea and cookies. You can use your podcast platform to gain more readers, sponsors, and even advertisers. A great example of this is “The Entrepreneur on Fire” podcast hosted by John Lee Dumas who made $400,000 dollars in March 2018!
The key thing to the success of your podcast is sticking to the same niche as your blog. This will help your audience and advertisers, or sponsors identify you easily. Podcasting may not be the easiest thing to do because of the work that goes into production, but it really worth a try.
If you have the budget, you can start by buying video/sound equipment, it’ll ease your task and reduce quality issues. Then identify a topic within your niche, and if possible, invite a guest to make it livelier, record, edit then upload. Here are some simple guidelines on how to approach it:
· Start with the intro of who you are and what you’re talking about- this may take between 30-60 seconds.
· Have some intro music that your audience can identify you with, for about 30- 40 seconds
· Start your first topic, which may take about 3 minutes
· Get to topic 2, which may involve another 3 minutes
· An interlude (music or ads) for 30 seconds
· Topic 3 for about 3 minutes
· Topic 4 for another 3 minutes
· Finally, your closing remarks for about 2 minutes, may involve reading out comments for a good engagement with your audience.
· Closing music.
You can find some of the best podcast platforms here
6. Secure Sponsored Posts
This is another great way on how to make money blogging for beginners because it’s pretty easy just like the affiliate marketing method. Even though your niche may be small or your audience still growing, you still can find sponsors willing to partner with you.
But, establish from the start what a sponsored blog means, it’s when a company or a brand pays you to write about them on your blog. They want to present themselves or their products or services to your audience. These posts can be anything from product or service reviews to recommendations or any useful information about the brand and not necessarily an advertisement.
So, how can you find or be found by sponsors? You could be a bit proactive and find brands that you can work with, come up with a professional media kit, and pitch it to these prospective clients. The second thing would be to create exceptional quality content that will attract potential sponsors. You can borrow ideas from bloggers in your niche to see which sponsors they’re working with.
Once you get these sponsors, maintain a good professional relationship with them to keep earning.
Can You Really Make Money Blogging?
Yes, if you do it right and if you are willing to put in the effort.
Here Are Some Extra Tips on How to Make Money Blogging as a Dummy:
Get Social
Take advantage of social media. It is one of the ways your sponsors can get to know about you, you can boost your blog by using social media. When you grow a sizeable number of followers, you will be considered a social media influencer, 54% of internet customers are using social media to search for products and 49% of consumers depend on recommendations by their influencers.
With this type of statistics, it’s enough to say that even though your goal was not to get into social media, your presence and activity there will draw people to your blog.
Hone Your Video Skills
It’s always good to keep up with the trends. 83% of marketers said that video gave them a good ROI. 99% of them said they would keep using it in their campaigns. This is because video brings good engagement, has longer retention of customer’s attention and it’s simply fun. So, incorporate it in your blog content as often as you can, it will help grow your audience and eventually earn some money.
Connect with Blogging Networks
Find blogging networks within your niche and join them. Most of these networks may require you to have a certain number of views or other sorts of requirements. Don’t get discouraged, they too started somewhere. Just take it into consideration for when you can qualify. There you can learn one or two tricks that can help you be the owner of those types of blogs that make money.
Embrace Trends & Change
Nothing remains the same, not even in the world of blogging. Keep up with the trends as said at the beginning of the article, and stay educated and informed.
How Long Does It Take to Make Money Blogging as a Beginner?
It’s going to depend on how well you execute all the techniques and tips written above. With that said, it’s evident that making money blogging requires a bit of time. The important thing is to keep your focus on how to appeal to your readers and keep them coming for more.
Making money blogging is challenging but may be also more than rewarding. Just give it a try!
What makes some highly reputed websites always rank top in search engines? Have you ever wondered how Wikipedia, for instance, is always ranking high? The simple number one reason is that they have a high domain authority compared to other sites. High-domain authority websites such as Forbes or Wikipedia have mastered the art of how to increase domain authority.
But high domain authority doesn’t only happen to big websites, smaller businesses too can learn how to increase their domain authority over time.
What Is Domain Authority?
Domain authority or DA is a metric that indicates the reputation of a website ranking from 0 to 100, with 100 being the highest. When your website has a high DA, then it means that you rank high on Google and your traffic base is rock solid. DA is developed by SEO tools and you can track any website’s domain authority by installing their extensions or through their site explorer feature.
For example, MarketingDigiBook has a DA of 47 according to Ahrefs.
DA shows you a quick picture of your site’s SEO health. For a website that’s just launched, there is no domain authority, but for big and older websites, the DA ranges anywhere between 1 and 100. The DA score is generated by an algorithm that assesses the strength of a site in regard to how it ranks. For example, a DA of 60 and above is likely to rank more competitively than a DA of say 40.
With that said, it’s important to note that DA ranking is just part of Google page rank and not the only aspect considered. It’s a key digital marketing KPI necessary for your website’s growth.
How to Assess Your Domain Authority
There are tools such as Ahrefs, Moz, SEMRush, and others, you can use to find your DA. If this is not something you need to do too often, use the free trials to find out. All you need to do is list down the websites that appear above and below you on the SERP page for a phrase or term you rank for. These should be the websites you compete with. Then use the above tools to check the sites’ DA.
Alternatively, you can just use Moz to check your DA among other KPIs when you use their SEO analysis tool which is all free.
How Is Domain Authority Calculated?
The scores of a DA are made up of several ranking factors that are all balled up to make a number between 0 and 100. Moz describes these ranking factors as being inclusive of the following:
Amount of authoritative backlinks
Amount of referring links
Root domain
Quality and credibility of links
Structure and user experience of your site
It’s clear that links play quite a big role in your website’s DA. A wealth of content coupled with high authority link diversification makes for some of the ways how to increase domain authority in 2022.
It’s also important to know that DA scores are logarithmic. This means that a single factor alone will not necessarily increase domain authority. For instance, you can increase your organic traffic which will put your DA at 40 to 41, and improving on SEO alone might bring it to 45.
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Does the Formula for Calculating Domain Authority Change?
The formula does not change frequently. A single formula can stay unchanged for up to 5 years. SEO apps apply minor tweaks whenever necessary. For example, Moz says they considered “Robustness against changes in Google’s algorithm and in the underlying Mozscape link index” in their design principle when they created the Moz algorithm.
What’s A Good DA Score?
By now you understand that your DA score is a relative metric that shows you how you compare to your competitors. And this can be determined by several factors such as the fact that some of your competitors’ websites have been around for years while others have superior authority such as Forbes.
It’s also possible to find that in some niches, a DA of 30 might not be good enough while in others it might be quite high.
Therefore with all these in view, it would be objective to state that there is no standard “good” score that can be set as a benchmark. The competitiveness of your DA is going to be determined by the niche your brand is in.
With that said, you tend to get a high DA score when your site gets a high number of referrals.
For instance, if you have about 20 domains that refer back to your site, you can get a DA score of anything from 0-20, if you get over 4,000 referring domains, you can have a DA score of anything between 40-60 and if you get over 300,000 referring domains, your DA score will fall anywhere between 80-100.
This simply means that the more referring domains your site get, the higher your DA score. But any score higher than your competitors for the target element is a good DA score.
What Does This Mean for Bloggers?
When your blog gets high refers, it means it’s considered credible, and this translates into a high DA score. Think about Wikipedia. Therefore the higher your blog’s DA score, the more the search engines recognize it, and the more users and partners value it. This means greater opportunities for you.
Such opportunities include more guest posts from other bloggers that want to contribute to your content as they get a backlink. It can also include invitations to contribute to other high domain authority websites which in return will earn you a backlink. All these and others are ways how to increase the domain authority of your site.
Domain Authority vs. Page Authority
As you have seen that domain authority is concerned with your entire website. Page authority uses a similar metric but measures the ranking strength of each individual web page. Page authority is the real test of the specific pages because it has a direct impact on your search engine ranking as well as your DA.
The metric used to rank page authority is similar to the one that ranks domain authority. It’s a scale of 0 to 100. And the factors that they use to determine page authority include the following:
How many external links are on each page?
The quality of the sites linking to a specific page.
The number of social signals on each page, i.e. Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc. links
How many root domains are linked on each page?
The number of sub-domains that are linking to each page.
How many of the root domain links are using partial anchor text?
It’s also important to note that Google doesn’t rank your website. It only ranks your web pages.
Why Do Low Authority Pages Outrank Higher Authority Pages?
Because there are many other factors with varying elements that can make a low authority page outshine the high authority page. These low authority pages can have exceptional performance in other areas such as:
Having links to the page that contains the key phrases in them.
The content on the page is relevant to the key phrase and it answers more questions on the topic compared to other competing sites.
It has a sign of great user engagement and shows that visitors stay longer among other factors.
So, if you’re looking to learn how to increase your page authority, then these are the factors to look into.
How to Increase Your Domain Authority Score?
Up to this point, you may be wondering “how to increase my domain authority”. Wonder no more, having a high DA is about ranking better than your competitors. This means having quality over quantity as far as links are concerned. It’s all about the relevance to your content that carries the day.
Here are steps on how to increase domain authority in 2022:
Source: YouTube
Create Link-Worthy Content
As much as content is king, it’ll only pay off if it can attract shares and backlinks. It’s therefore worth considering this when creating your content strategy. Because the more linkable your content is, the more you will attract quality backlinks as well as social shares which we have seen to be quite important.
Think of it this way. You have created amazing content and readers have found it very helpful therefore they will share it easily with other people. Such an approach will equally increase the chances of getting backlinks from high-authority sites. This will end up boosting your root domain and overall DA.
Examples of link-worthy content include:
How to tutorials. Solve your readers’ problems or pain points by giving them step-by-step tutorials that are straightforward and easy to follow.
Lists. People love quick stuff; list posts are easily sharable and straight to the point.
Feature Experts. Having an expert from your industry is a great way to get high-authority links in your content.
Long-form content. Lengthy high-quality content that offers value to readers is recognized by both Google and SEO tools. Therefore, avoid thin content and make yourself an authority with in-depth solution-focused content.
Rid Negative SEO
Inbound links are valuable for your site’s domain authority ranking. However bad links can create more harm than good. For instance, if your site gets links from harmful websites, it could truly sabotage your DA and could even cause you to get a penalty from Google.
Another source of negative SEO could come from being hosted by a cheap server that allows malicious attacks or has outdated plugins.
It’s vital that you help increase your domain authority by conducting due diligence on the health of your website by auditing your site regularly and tracking your Google Search Console data. Fix any vulnerability that you come across. Takedown all harmful backlinks and get rid of outdated plugins. Also, get hosted by a trusted server.
Optimize Your Site User Experience and Structure
One of the factors mentioned above for calculating DA was website structure and user experience. A good structure enables easier crawling by search engines to index your site on search results. You can use a sitemap to ease navigation on your website.
Another factor is to improve your internal link structure. This will help your DA in two ways, first, it will ensure a smooth user experience. Direct your links to informative pages within your website to keep your visitors on your site. This is great for reducing the bounce rate.
Internal links also allow search engines to crawl and index your pages. A good structure increases domain authority over time bypassing the value of one page to other web pages (link juice). Plus, it indicates the trustworthiness of that page and thus increases its domain authority.
Another very important factor is user experience. If you have not optimized your website for mobile use, what are you waiting for? Did you know that Google now prioritizes how well a website functions on mobile?
This is one of the best things you can do when planning how to increase domain authority. A good site must function fully and smoothly on mobile and that includes fast loading.
The final factor is to ensure the safety of your website. Use SSL certificates. It’s compulsory.
Use Older Domains
The domain age affects your domain authority score. Younger domains tend to have low scores.
Get High-Quality Backlinks from Reputable Authority Sites
Are you tired of hearing about backlinks? Well, in domain authority they’re a really important factor. Statistics have shown that more backlinks translate to more organic traffic on a page. Therefore quality backlinks are important.
One way you can get quality backlinks is to use HARO. You could also look at your competitors’ backlink sources and see how you can get a link from the same sites. And an even easier way to get quality backlinks is through guest posting.
For guest posting, you have to publish on a website that has a higher DA than yours in order to increase your domain authority. This site also has to be offering relevant content that’s within your niche, it has to be relevant and of high quality, without these two, it could lower your DA.
Link the Unlinked Mentions
Besides getting high-quality backlinks, you can also build links by tracking where your brand has been mentioned but without the link being included. What you need to do is to contact these people that mentioned you and ask them to add the link, especially if they are an authority publication. Often times they will be happy to.
Wondering how you can get all your mentions?
It’s pretty simple, use Google Alert, set up your blog or brand name (it’s an easy process), and then you will get alerts whenever you have been mentioned. You can then head to that page to see whether you have been linked, if not, contact them and get linked. And this will especially happen if your website is an authority in the niche.
This means several things. First of all, you need to keep updating your old content to keep it relevant to your readers. Google notices fresh content and this is a great way on how to increase domain authority. So, if you have content that’s several years old, go and update it with SEO optimization in mind.
Another way of staying consistent with your content strategy is by consistently posting new relevant long-form content. Ensure that this content is superior to that of your competitors. It includes correctly formatting it, citing it thoroughly, and ensuring it is error-free.
When you post such content a minimum of once a month you can rest assured that you will notice an increase in your domain authority. The important thing in your content strategy is to offer value to your readers. Without value, you won’t earn any links, ergo, no increase or improvement in your DA.
Become an Authority in Your Niche
Everyone likes to associate with experts or brands considered to have authority in their niches. If you build your blog to become an authority in your niche, you will organically get linked by other bloggers or high-domain authority websites in your industry.
Conclusion
How well your domain authority ranks will largely depend on how you build it. Does domain authority matter? The simple answer is yes. It’s a great indicator of your website’s health in terms of strength, reliability, and trustworthiness.
You can increase your domain authority over time by bolstering your high-quality and authority link strategies as listed above. Couple that with stellar content and you’ll be on your way to success. Domain authority will help raise your website’s rank in search engine results. In simple, a good DA will set you up for success.
Videos are virtually ubiquitous; statistics show that a third of online activity is now spent watching videos. More than 500 million hours of videos are watched on YouTube each day. Such statistics are why there is a rise in streaming services such as Netflix, IGTV, Amazon Prime Video, and many more; it also explains why over 87% of online marketers prefer engaging high-quality video content strategies for their campaigns.
Leveraging social video marketing is necessary to capture and satisfy a captive content-hungry audience. Over 51% of marketing professionals have cited video as the type of content with the best ROI. 81% of businesses use video content in their strategies. Videos are versatile, impactful, and very profitable digital marketing tools that you should not ignore.
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When applied in the best ways, they will inspire your audience to become long-term visitors. So, with this said, here is a breakdown of how to achieve this in the easiest way possible, but first, here are the basic things you need to understand.
What Is Video Content Marketing?
Video Content Marketing is the practice of using videos to promote your products, services, and brand as a whole. It may embrace various forms like live videos, tutorial videos, explainer videos, DIY, or even customer success stories. You can simply say, video content marketing informs, educates, and entertains.
These videos can be used on landing pages, email marketing, social media posts, or even press releases and broadcasts.
What Is the Difference Between Video Content Marketing and Video Advertising?
With the above understanding of video content marketing, video advertising on the other hand could be considered as the running of video ads across digital platforms using advanced audience targeting to reach precise markets. It’s the paid component of video content marketing. You spend money to get a marketing video in front of a larger audience.
Why Is Video Marketing So Effective? How to Do Video Marketing and Why Should You Use It?
Today, to engage and inspire your audience, you have to tell a good story. And if it’s authentic, consumers will be more interested in what you have to say.
The challenge with most marketers is to actually tell a story that will rise above the noise. As a brand, you must cultivate your consumers’ attention and trust rather than consider them exclusively as consumers with choices that you must conquer. How do you achieve this? By telling stories that they want to hear.
A worthy story can communicate the entire personality of a brand in less than 2 minutes. When the correct features and formats are used, you can use compelling stories to break down any complex concepts about your brand and open up your world to them. Make them part of your brand story, after all, this is the whole purpose of marketing.
As consumers crave human interaction and authenticity, the use of smartphones coupled with platforms such as YouTube and social media have made it easy for them to easily access videos, for brands, this means people can learn about your products or service in seconds. So, here are the advantages of video marketing:
a. It’s What People Want
Video marketing statistics show that video is the preferred source of information, consumers prefer videos to emails, social media images, or downloadable content e.g. PDFs. Most consumers search for products or product reviews in video format before purchase. Why is it so?
Video is super easy to consume, in such a busy world people don’t have time to read long product descriptions or dive into a long list of services, even the laziest consumers can just engage the eyes and ears and capture your product or service in action.
This is a great opportunity for brands to show themselves to consumers in a persuasive manner.
b. They Boost Conversions and Sales
Vision is the most dominant sense; it’s almost automatic that you’ll gain more when you incorporate video in your campaign. And because they increase the length of time people stay on your page, they end up giving your brand message a longer sink in time.
Statistics have shown that 72% of businesses that used video improved the conversion rate of their websites. It also showed that 74% of users who watched explainer videos about a product ended up purchasing it.
This means you can engage, inform and attract even new visitors and still end up with good conversions.
c. Video Marketing Builds Trust
Besides high conversion rates and ROI, building trust with your consumers should be a solid goal on its own. This is how you create long-term relationships that lead to loyal customers. If you focus more on offering them relevant and useful information, they’ll invite themselves into buying.
Create videos that present your brand in a conversational form, this will build their confidence in you, and eventually, this will convert into a purchase.
d. Google Loves Videos Too – SEO Goldmine
Video Content Marketing can greatly boost your search engine ranking when properly applied. When you correctly reach your target audience, they end up spending a little more time on your site, this longer exposure develops trust and at the same time signals search engines that your content is worth the time (good quality).
This is especially so because Google owns YouTube, which means there are higher chances for your content to get noticed if you embed videos on your website.
The key thing here is to ensure that your content is optimized for SEO. This includes titles as well as descriptions.
One thing that is so hugely sought after by marketers is organic traffic. Brands are always working to get linked to high-quality sites because this does a great job of increasing a site’s authority which in turn increases the SERPs position, and this eventually boosts the amount of organic traffic they get.
But another much easier path is through consumer engagement. When you engage your audience well, you reduce even the bounce rate, and so far, as seen above, video has the highest levels of engagement.
Up to 62% of businesses who used video found that it helped boost the amount of organic traffic according to Wyzowl.
Link-backs and shares are made even more powerful with videos and this is why any video marketing company should create videos that are excellent for social sharing and for backlinking. The videos must provide a solution to an existing common problem, must be educative, and at the same time entertaining.
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Types of Video Content Marketing
Even though the type of video marketing you use is mainly going to be determined by your objectives and the kind of business you’re into, it’s important to know the various types available.
Generally, there are three main categories of video marketing, these are:
Engagement Category – These videos are for drawing the viewers’ emotions in order to spark a reaction, whether it’s a like, a comment, or a share.
Awareness Category – These videos are for getting you known. They typically have a wide appeal to be able to capture as many viewers’ attention as possible.
Education Category – This category is about teaching your audience something that will add value to them.
With this knowledge of the 3 main categories, here are the specific types based on these categories.
Awareness Videos
i. Behind the Scenes Videos
One thing that really makes the audience feel like part of a process is the behind the scene videos if you have exclusive access to a process say production, project, or an occasion your customers would be interested in, consider creating a behind-the-scenes video. These kinds of videos involve lots of raw footage so they may not necessarily be very perfect. It however creates a sense of authenticity.
These videos put a personality behind the brand and make customers feel closer to them; they make the brand more human and less about just making profits.
Here is an example of a behind the scene video:
Source: YouTube
ii. Round Up Videos
These are majorly lists created regarding a certain theme, for example, “5 Best Holiday Destinations”. For these videos to be successful, the trick is to keep them short (around 4 minutes) in order to keep your audience engaged. They also need to include visuals of said products or places, not just your face speaking to the camera.
Give as much variety as possible having in regard customers have very varied tastes and choices.
A brand’s culture is the secret sauce that absolutely taps into the consumers’ engagement appetite. This can include corporate sports day, birthday surprises, employee work-in-a-day experience, and so forth.
The main goal for this is to show that your brand is made up of humans with lots of personalities, not just a workstation with automated robot-like employees. And as companies out there struggle to be seen, you can stand out from the pack by differentiating yourself through a great personality. Your office or brand culture is a sure way of showing this.
iv. Interview Videos
Interviews are an excellent way of pumping some authority into your content. They build relationships with referral partners while exhibiting you as a crème in the game. A good interview should feel unscripted. Let the interviewee do most of the talking.
By inviting guests to an interview series, you’re able to easily come up with unique content while leveraging any new information that you may get from them. And as said above, this will build more credibility with your audience as well as your interviewee’s audience because the likelihood that they will share it with their customers is high.
Engagement Category
v. Vlogs
This is a diary type of video and it’s typically filmed by one person describing his or her experience or opinion about a certain topic. These seem to be replacing traditional blogs because they’re fun, more engaging and they’re also cheap to produce.
Most companies, however, have not mastered how to use vlogs and instead spend their campaign money on product demos and such content. However, vlogs are not just the territory of influencers alone, companies can use them to share their journey in a way that would be comfortable for them. It creates intimacy with the viewers.
vi. Live Events
Someone else might still break this into live videos or event videos, but here is why they’re perfect when working on one. If your company holds or participates in events, streaming it live will attract a higher engagement rate as compared to a video on demand.
Viewers spend up to 8 times longer when watching live events. For companies this is a great opportunity to engage with them in real-time, it also presents them with an opportunity to showcase more of what the brand has to offer while they still have eyeball time.
These are videos made to walk your viewers through a certain process or solve a common problem. They’re typically short but precise. They offer a great opportunity to build your brand’s credibility and gain the trust of your audience.
These types of videos are most popular with tech sites and the beauty industry. And they are so popular because consumers today buy products based on what they hear from friends or family, social media, and such reviews.
The audience loves them because they feel they can trust reviews made by people who have already used the products. As a company, reviewing your own products will definitely seem biased, what you do in such a case is identify relevant influencers in your niche and try offering them free samples and ask them to share their honest opinions in a video.
If you get recommendations, then you’re on the right path.
Testimonials are close to product reviews, except that these are mainly like company reviews. They are perfect when done during a company event, where you can record live testimonials from existing customers.
Alternatively, you could create a contest or offer a discount for customers who can offer in-person video testimonials. Generally, you want your customers to raise any concerns they might have encountered while buying the product, the results versus the expectations they had, any specific feature they liked the most, and what they would want potential customers to know about the product or company in general.
x. Live Talks/ Presentations
You can always take advantage of an opportunity where a team member is giving a speech or presentation by filming it and using it for marketing. Double benefits. Another way brands can benefit is by giving targeted talks at related company events or small-scale networking events.
8 Effective Steps for Developing an Effective Video Content Strategy
Any video content strategy that has as its main and only purpose to sell is destined to struggle if not fail. Of course, selling is the final purpose of any marketing campaign, video marketing strategies have also this ultimate goal, but today’s audience wants much more than that. In order to be successful, your video marketing must entertain, educate and inspire, genuinely convince the audience that your offer is valuable and perfectly able to solve their problem.
Video Content Strategy Step 1: Know Your Goals
Your goal could be brand awareness, sales, or traffic generation, whatever it is, you ought to be clear and base each decision you make on this goal. Without goals, it will be impossible to measure the success of your video content strategy and one of the subsequent campaigns.
Successful goals must be specific. This simply means knowing exactly what you want to achieve. They should also be measurable, meaning you must identify key performance indicators that can be used to measure success. These goals must also be attainable or achievable and relevant to your overall business. Finally, they must be time-bound; you must have a specific time frame in which these objectives can be achieved. This will guide every step that you take and the time to spend on it.
Step 2: Understand Your Audience – Research and Insights Are Keys
A good campaign always starts with thorough research on who you’re targeting and what you want from them. Here you must know the kind of content that will resonate with them and as consumers’ appetite for video content increases, brands are learning that targeted video content that’s specific to their audience’s needs and solutions is what’s driving better outcomes for their campaigns. What this means is that the content you create should be about your target customer and must be what they’re looking for.
By being relevant to them, your content will attract more of the right kind of customers because they will organically align themselves with your brand. Use analytics and metrics to review previous data and see the things that your customers liked in the past and use similar content to find more potential customers.
Video Content Strategy Step 3:Type of Video and Where to Publish It
Having identified your specific target, it will now be easier to depict the best place to find them and the type of video that will work best. Consider the story you want to tell them and identify the video style that will suit them best.
Another important factor to consider is where this entire video campaign will fit within your brand’s customer journey and marketing funnel. Have in mind that all your customers are not in the same spot in their purchase journey, so your message and videos must address all of these various points.
There are various platforms you can use to publish your video; the main ones are Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. This, however, is largely dictated by your target audience, publish it where they are.
Step 4: Set Your Budget
Your budget will always influence the creative tactics you can employ. And all the video marketing examples listed above vary in cost because they all vary in the kind of resources they will require. This notwithstanding, the quality of your video and its authenticity should be a priority.
Another consideration will be whether you will create this video in-house or you’ll outsource it to a production team.
You must also consider the frequency of creating them and the equipment needed such as the video camera, a tripod, a stabilizer, lighting, audio, and editing equipment among others. If at this point you can’t afford any of this, start with your smartphone. It’s not that complicated.
Video Content Strategy Step 5:Identify How You’ll Measure Your Success
The good thing about video is that it’s quite easy to track the metrics. Some of these metrics include:
Average view duration – Measures how long viewers watch your videos on average.
Average completion rate – Measures your video’s ability to keep the viewer’s attention.
Re-plays – Number of times people re-watch your video.
Audience retention – This shows you the number of people that watch the video from beginning to end.
Click-through-rate – Measures how viewers respond to your call to action.
Engagement – Shown by likes shares and comments.
And also, take a look at experts and check on their video marketing mistakes, in order to avoid them.
Step 6: Create!
This is the fun part. Here you may encounter a few issues e.g. your editing skills may not be professional yet, you may discover that you need more than one camera angle and so forth, there is the lighting issue and the truth is, your first video is not going to be your best video, but it will place you in a position to get better, so go ahead!
Video Content Strategy Step 7: Edit and Publish with SEO Guidelines in Mind
There are myriad free video editing programs and apps available. Examples include Adobe Premiere, Corel Video Studio, CyberLink Power Editor, Movavi,or Splice. Keep the best clips and cut out unnecessary footage.
Once you’re done editing, publish your video while considering SEO guidelines. These include optimizing your title, description, and use of hashtags with relevant keywords. While applying this, don’t forget to be catchy and appealing.
With this done, you’re good to publish!
Step 8: Promote
Finally, remember to promote your video across all relevant channels, depending on where your target audiences are. This could mean through emails, social media channels, affiliate websites, and so on.
Responding to any comments you receive on your video is also a great way of boosting engagement which may lead to more shares.
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5 Super Tips for Incredible Video Content Marketing Strategy Success
1. Optimize Your Content
It can’t be emphasized enough, so here it is again, SEO is a big deal. First of all, Google loves video content, so to maximize your video marketing campaign, ensure you accompany the video with a well-written description and title that are tagged with relevant keywords to boost your SEO.
2. Call to Action
Remember a marketing video has a goal; there is a certain action you want the person consuming this content on the other side to do. Include a call to action by encouraging them to take this action albeit in a subtle manner.
3. Tell an Interesting Story
As said earlier, focusing your video purely on sales alone will get you ignored! Tell your story in a way that your viewers can connect with. Humans are emotive beings, take advantage of that and speak to their emotions as you appeal to their needs and desires.
4. The First 10 Seconds Will Make or Break Your Video
The first ten seconds act as your subject line, if it doesn’t inspire, inform or entertain your viewer, you will be in trouble. The online attention span of viewers is just 8.5 seconds. You must therefore be able to bring life to your story within these 8 seconds. In this short period, you must be clear on what you’re all about and why you’re worth your viewer’s time. A quick preview of what’s featured in the video is one way to capture them.
5. Share, Share, Share!
This is really simple, having known where your target audiences spend their time, act, and share your video in these places and any others you may think of. You never know where a new loyal fan is going to pop from.
Conclusion
The play button is the most compelling call to action on the web right now and while this is happening, using writing to communicate with your audience is quickly going out of style. The importance of video marketing can therefore not be over-expressed. A brand is no longer what it tells the consumer it is; it’s what the consumers tell each other it is, and video marketing strategies go a long way into influencing these consumer-to-consumer talks by bringing authenticity and relevance into marketing. So, go ahead and create videos.
How do you choose between two or more products and end up buying one? What drives you to pick an item you’ve never used before and decide to try it? It must be the power words used to sell. The type of words used to market a product or service plays a big role in how these products or services thrive in the marketplace.
The human mind is largely controlled by the power of words, even though one may often never notice it.
Of course, there are other brand attributes that contribute to how you pick a product, but the one that always helps make the final decision is the power of words. There are certain words that definitely help make that final decision and these are the power words.
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They are descriptive and persuasive words that create an emotional response, either positive or negative. Such words will trigger emotions such as excitement, FOMO (fear of missing out), lust, greed, or basic curiosity among other emotions.
And it’s for this reason that marketers use power words to persuade and compel their customers or audience to take the next action.
What Are the Qualities of Power Words?
An effective power word must have the following qualities to trigger the right emotion.
Descriptive
Unique
Surprising
Driven by Action
Provocative
The Importance of Using Power Words in Your Content
There are two main reasons why power words are always used in marketing:
They Pique Curiosity
Triggering curiosity in your audience is one of the most effective ways to sell since naturally human beings find it hard to resist curiosity. Using the power of words can activate a person’s curiosity thereby leading to a click, a share, or whatever action you need the customer to take.
They Arouse Emotions
Psychological studies have shown that people’s emotions contribute to their purchasing behavior. As a marketer, this means that you have to connect to your customers’ emotions. Using power words that evoke these emotions in a way that creates a longing for the product or service is key in marketing.
Types of Power Words
There are a number of types of power words. But the main categories are twelve and these are best at triggering the right emotions and piquing the audience’s curiosity. Here they are:
One of the easiest ways to get people to buy your offer is to pump them up with excitement and some positive energy. People are constantly looking for the next thing that will make them feel better or hopeful. They want anything that promises to improve their current state of life.
The power of words is probably the easiest way to make this happen. As a brand, you can increase traffic, boost your engagement and convert simply by encouraging your audience.
Here are examples of encouraging power words you can use in your content:
Courage
Quick-witted
Gorgeous
Command
Phenomenal
Prevail
Glory
Genius
Cheer
Breathtaking
Bright
Brilliant
Celebrate
Fortunate
Power-up
Glorious
Fulfill
Notable
Ferocious
Optimal
Persuade
Prosperous
Mind-blowing
Excellent
Bold
Beautiful
Booming
Lucky
Fierce
Foxy
Curiosity Words
Retailers are using mystery appeals to create curiosity that leads to purchases according to research. Curiosity is a natural urge to find out more or experience more and it’s an urge that must be satisfied. With this knowledge, marketers can use the power words to ignite curiosity and make their content or product irresistible.
The power words can make your product, service, or content intriguing and they are effective in conversions. Here are some examples:
Sneak-peek
What no one tells you
Unseen
Controversial
Cringe-worthy
Little-known
Concealed
Confession
Undiscovered
Shocking
Smuggled
Undercover
Blacklisted
Censored
Classified
Illegal
Illusive
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The word lust can have more than one meaning to different people. In marketing, it can mean something that someone truly yearns for. You’ve seen magazines selling by using a sexy person’s image on the cover. Someone can yearn for a certain type of body or hair or style. Lust power words can also be considered words that satisfy a desire. They are used to trigger this craving in the audience.
They can attract and retain attention which can eventually lead to a sale. Here are examples of lust power words:
Orgasmic
Climax
Sensual
Alluring
Beguiling
Pleasurable
Passionate
Deliriously
Mind-blowing
Excite
Fascinate
Charming
Heavenly
Sinful
Magnetic
Crave
Obscene
Sleazy
Mouthwatering
Exposed
Frisky
Hypnotic
Fear Power Words
From the fear of missing out to the fear of not knowing, this emotion can be used positively to motivate a purchase. This is not about scaring your customers away, it’s about creating a little anxiety to leverage on. For instance, you can run a promotion and create a little fear or anxiety of clients missing out on a lifetime opportunity.
It’s about making the target audience take a chance and avoid losing out. Here are excellent examples:
Warning
Looming
Worry
Last chance
Suffering
Invasion
Dangerous
Hazardous
Trap
Hack
Drowning
Devastating
Scream
Shame
Beware
Nightmare
Blunder
Bloodcurdling
Collapse
Poor
Plunge
Played
Plummet
Anger Words
Anger or rage is another emotion that creates urgency and makes a person want to do something even more. As much as rage or anger are considered to be negative emotions, the urgency they create is what marketers leverage as a persuasive tool.
In marketing, anger power words are ideal when you want to nudge your audience to take the next step. This is especially easy when you are offering them a solution to a problem they might have failed to solve before.
Here are examples of anger power words:
Weak
B.S
Worst
Broke
Vicious
Morally bankrupt
Raise hell
Loser
Lies
Knock out
Useless
Trash
Infuriating
Snob
Stuck up
Suck
Smug
High and mighty
Hate
Harass
Foul
Disgusting
Ruined
Scam
Slam
Repelling
Demolish
Crush
Preposterous
Corrupt
Coward
Brutal
Payback
Barbaric
Beat down
Obnoxious
Annoying
Pesky
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Greed Words
There’s a little greed in everyone. You can increase it in your audience by using greed power words. What they do is make your product or service seem incredibly valuable and incredibly scarce. And when your audience realizes this, the little greed in them is increased and they will want your product or service while they can get it.
Marketers can use these words to compel their buyers or subscribers to act quickly or they will miss out on a huge save-up offer.
Such words include:
Bonus
Freebie
Gift
High-paying
Special
Before
Triple
Wealth
Cheat sheet
Boost
Undefeated
Surge
Exclusive / Exclusivity
Elite
Boss
Unbeaten
Elegant
Clever
Genius
At the top
Optimal
Bold
Amplify
Fortunate
Successful
Value
Hurry
Expires
While they last
Sale ends soon
Don’t miss out
Reduced
Savings
New
Extra
Double
Safety Power Words
It’s of paramount importance that you make your prospective buyers feel safe in dealing with your business. After all, everyone wants to feel safe and you must prove that you value each customer’s safety.
Safety power words are about reassuring your audience that they will not be risking their money or time in engaging with your brand. Such power words are meant to make the audience feel like they are being protected from some loss and therefore they are given a little push to enter this safety zone. It resumes to building confidence around your offer and brand and making them feel like it’s just what they need to be on the safe side.
Examples of such words include:
No risk
Trustworthy
Approved
Track record
Money-back
Try before you buy
Accredited
Fully refundable
Official
Cancel anytime
Science-backed
Genuine
Recognized
Scientifically proven
Best-selling
Foolproof
Research
Authority
Case study
Ensured
Well respected
Professional
Bankable
Authentic
Anonymous
Reliable
Refund
Endorsed
Studies show
Certified
Money-back
Risk-free
Expert
Backed
Privacy Protected
Legitimate
Lazy Words
Nobody likes to do more than they need to, and this is where the power of words delivers efficiency. How does this happen? They simply make your audience grab the chance you’re giving them quicker to avoid doing something more in the near future and to also fulfill their current need easily.
Marketers use sloth power words to keep the audience motivated to take the next action and gain what they want with minimum work. They make the call to action more digestible and your content in general very enticing.
Did you know that vanity is a great driver of purchasing behavior? Studies have shown that people buy things that make them feel and look good.
Vanity power words truly carry the power of words and this is why they are some of the most used power words in lifestyle and beauty niches. People want to look and feel successful and marketers use these words to help convert easily.
Here are a few examples of vanity power words:
Remarkable
Fearless
Sensational
Ahead of the game
At the top
Strong
Attractive
Beautiful
Gorgeous
Genius
Quick-witted
Elegant
Smart
Sassy
Fortunate
Awe-inspiring
Elite
Super-human
Cheer
Brilliant
Kick ass
Jaw-dropping
Handsome
Drop-dead
Valor
Successful
Bravery
Mind-blowing
Powerful Words That Give Power
In marketing, making your prospective buyers feel powerful is more effective in converting them than exerting power over them. When you make your target audience feel powerful, you’re actually building trust and confidence in your relationship with them.
Taking away the feeling of vulnerability and replacing it with a sense of power makes them confident enough to take the next action.
Here are examples of power words that make people feel powerful:
Conquer
Potential
Upper Hand
Mighty
Supreme
Forceful
Elevated
Able
Control
Influence
Accomplished
Paramount
Command
Clever
Prevail
Power Words That Exude Confidence
Besides making your audience feel powerful, you need to exude authority and confidence in them. You want them to respect and trust your brand without making them feel inferior. You need to use power words that make you come out as an expert in your field. This will form the ground on which you’ll sell better.
Such words include:
Confirmed
Accurate
Data
No Doubt
Unparalleled
Proven
Scientifically Shown
Dominate
Percent
Guarantee
Legit
Actual
Agree
Power Words That Build Trust
All your marketing efforts must be grounded on trust. Without trust, you will not be able to convince anyone to look at your product or service. No matter where your content goes, it must be shown that you can be trusted.
You can make people feel safe, greedy for your product or any of the other emotions discussed above, but trust is more than just an emotion. It’s the foundation of your entire marketing effort.
Here are some power words that will cultivate trust in your target audience:
Verify
Tested
Pay zero
Bona fide
Results
Authoritative
Ironclad
No questions asked
Well respected Worldwide
Dependable
Fully refundable
Recession-proof
No risk
Secure
Protected
Track record
According to
Scientifically proven
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How and Where to Use Power Words
The power of words is most effective when used the right way. Here are various places and ways you can make the most of power words:
Power Words in Brand or Business and Blog Names
How can you stay etched in people’s minds? It’s through using powerful words in a memorable way in both your business name as well as in your blog or website name. Make yourself easy to be remembered but ensure it describes who you are or what you do.
Power Words in Product Names and Descriptions
It’s possible to use power words in product descriptions and product names. They add that needed punch to arouse the right emotions in your customers. And give the customers that nudge to take the next action without a doubt.
This is where copywriters come in handy. They use powerful words to tell the customer beforehand, what to expect from the product. What is your product promising to deliver? What solutions are you giving to them?
In the product description, power words will immediately attract attention and evoke the required emotion that will lead to the final action of purchase.
Power words ensure that your product name and description are not boring.
Use Power Words on Landing Pages
Once a prospective buyer lands on your website, then it means you’re the only one they’re listening to at that time. It also means that it is your chance to make a great first impression, and power words will help you stand out.
Here is where you leverage the power of words to ensure customers convert before leaving the page.
Your landing page headlines, content as well as sub-titles must all capture the visitor’s attention and arouse the right emotions and interest to purchase or subscribe.
You can A/B test various power words to see which ones work most effectively because again, your landing page is your converting machine. Win them with the power of words in a way they cannot resist. Use words that will make them keep exploring for more.
Amplify Your Headings and Sub-headings Using Power Words
The purpose of titles and sub-titles is to grab your readers’ attention fast. This is most effective when you present your irresistible offer upfront. And what will make the reader dive in to get more information? An attractive headline with power words will make or break your content.
Use suitable power words to draw your readers in to look for more. You can also include a CTA in your headline or sub-headline to boost the chances of conversion.
In sub-headings, power words are the first things the reader notices before committing to reading the content. They scan your entire content by reading the sub-headings. Catch their attention using the ideal power words that hint at what the piece is talking about.
Power Words in Email Subject Lines
Again, there is no difference in how you use the power of words in the headlines above. A powerful subject line packed with the most appropriate power words can lead to the opening of the email or be deleted.
Don’t waste your efforts on creating a great list but then use mediocre subject lines that won’t get you any eyeballs.
Use promising power words to get more engagement and clicks on your emails.
Use Power Words in Testimonials
Make social proof as credible and real as possible. Remember over 90% of customers read online reviews before buying or subscribing to a product. So, if you have a couple of testimonials on your website, pick and use the ones with invaluable power words.
These will help transfer the positive feelings from the existing buyer to the potential buyer and eventually boost your conversions as well as credibility from users.
Power Words in Opt-In-Boxes
Most websites use the opt-in feature to draw in their customers and motivate them into taking a certain action. For instance, if they want to increase subscribers, sign-ups, or whatever action they may want the customers to jump into.
Using power words makes this very easy since it will trigger the right emotions to get them into action. So, say it right with the power of words.
Amp Up Your Sales Pages with Power Words
The main purpose of the sales pages is conversion. Your sales copy needs to be as convincing as possible in order to nudge your visitors into buying your product or service. To convince them sufficiently, power words must be used persuasively on your sales page.
When the power of words is well used, you will have higher chances of not only sparking a real interest from your buyers but ultimately converting.
Call to Action
Similar to your sales page, your call to action is truly where the action is. It needs to be the most powerful call in order to inspire your prospective customers into clicking through.
Using power words in your CTA requires skill because it naturally uses fewer words. The selection of words you use needs to be able to give the final punch into action. And the inclusion of power words makes it even easier to convert your prospects.
Power Words Best Practices
There are best practices when using power words, to ensure effectiveness. Luckily for you, they are not a myriad, but only three best practices that are easy to observe when using power words:
Do Not Overpromise
It is one thing to promise heaven but it’s another thing to deliver it. While trying to make your work as compelling as possible, do not overpromise. This can be quite underwhelming to your potential customers, and it will give the impression that you’re not all that bravado.
Make claims that you can actually deliver on. Don’t just use power words for attention. You need your customers or clients to come back and say the actual value of your offer will win their trust and they will come back for more.
Simply put don’t just use power words as click baits.
Do Not Overdo Power Words
Less is more, it’s how you use them that counts. Try using a few words of power in a skillful manner that will elicit the right emotions without overdoing them.
Readers and people, in general, have learned to quickly identify sales content and they drop it immediately. Overusing power words can be annoying to the reader. It will also give the impression that you’re uber-desperate. Your content will stop winning attention and instead look like a concoction of spam.
Craft your power words in a sparing but skillful manner; balance them well throughout your content, this is how it will be most effective.
Don’t Exaggerate the Urgency
Yeah, we said urgency is a key ingredient in converting. However, if you overdo it, it will seem simply like marketing hype.
This is particularly so when it comes to emails, CTAs, and opt-in buttons. Urgency does increase the likelihood of a click-through and conversions, but only when used effectively, e.g. “Before the Offer Ends”, this can definitely get results. But “Last Chance Ever In Your Life” is truly a failure. Be reasonable with your sense of urgency to have an impact.
Conclusion
People are naturally receptive to certain words that create certain emotions. They easily go with the flow of emotions that are created by the power of words. Understanding this and using this knowledge to pick the right power words can be very valuable to your brand marketing.
Power words are a simple hack that boosts the effectiveness of your content marketing campaign no matter where you’re using it. Power words will get your prospective buyers clicking –through for more.
The trick is in following the best practices listed above and using them responsibly through all the categories of power words given above.
Once you master it, you will see an improvement in terms of the subscribers you get, the traffic on your website, and finally, your conversions. Simply put, power words will give you maximum impact.
It may seem odd to think of any form of digital marketing as old school, but did you know that email marketing will celebrate its 45th birthday in 2023? Email marketing traces its origin way back in 1978 when the very first mass mail campaign was sent to around 400 recipients for the Digital Equipment Corp campaign. It’s 2023 and everyone is still learning and relearning the best ways on how to build an email list from scratch because email marketing has stood the test of time.
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By the end of 2018, there were predictions of over 3.8 billion email users worldwide with more than 281 billion emails sent each day, and this number is expected to rise to 347 billion by 2023. It’s these kinds of numbers that companies ride on to reach potentially huge audience numbers. In spite of the rise of social media, email marketing continues to be one of the best and most efficient ways to generate leads at a reasonable cost. It works on every phase of the customer journey, prospecting, leading, nurturing, and retention.
This is a collection of email addresses that you can build by engaging with potential customers through lead-generating campaigns.
Why Is an Email List Important?
Because it is worth more than all your social media platforms and followers combined. How? Because you own it, it’s all yours and not dependent on any other platform (that can shut down or change rules at any time). Remember MySpace? Or the most recent, Google Plus?
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How to Build an Email List from Scratch – Benefits of Building Your Email List
i. Email is personal
An email address is closest to a phone number, it’s as personal as it can get. So, if anyone gives you their email address, they’re simply allowing you into their personal space. They’ve already handed you a piece of their trust, so you have the advantage of communicating your ideas directly and at any time. They also can ask whatever they wish in the privacy of their inbox and get responses privately. This is another reason why they’re highly effective in building familiarity and a connection.
ii. Email is targeted
By offering you their email address, the users are simply showing that they have an interest in your product, service, or content. This, therefore, means you already know what they like and can deliver only what’s very relevant to them for the best results because so far they’ve shown to be receptive.
iii. You own it
As said earlier, any other subscribers you have on other platforms are not really entirely yours. Your efforts on these platforms pretty much depend on their policies and algorithms. However, when you own your list with subscribers, you will not be controlled or influenced by anyone else except yourself. Your efforts for campaigns will not be dictated by anyone else but you.
iv. Emails are direct
It’s possible to miss a post on Facebook or YouTube or any other social media platform. But it’s not possible to miss an email in your inbox. Email allows you to engage your audience without missing them, and also with their granted permission.
v. It’s cost-effective with a high ROI
Email marketing is the cheapest marketing strategy you can employ in today’s digital world. Statistics show that for each dollar invested, you get an average return of $38. It is therefore worth your time and effort if you will do it the proper way.
A great email marketing campaign starts with a great list. But creating a great list requires the following conditions:
Know Your Audience
Before starting to build an email list, you must have an understanding of who your target client/reader is and where they hang out. This is because you’ll first need to find people who will give you their email addresses. Today social media has made that easy for you, you can identify where your audience hangs out socially and this can help you in getting their addresses.
Know Your Goals
Every good email marketing strategy starts with a goal. This is no exception, you have to be clear about what you want to achieve. Some email marketing goals may include:
Boosting engagement
Welcoming new subscribers to build relationships with them
Nurturing already existing subscribers
Segmenting subscribers for better targeting
For conversions
Choose an Email Service Provider (ESP)
You will need a platform that can enable you to send emails in bulk. Some of these platforms also help you manage your email database, offer campaign services as well as customize email templates. They also ensure that you’re compliant with the CAN-SPAM laws.
Be sure to select the ESP that will best suit your list size and growth projections because different email services will offer varying pricing models. These days I am a great fan of MailerLite, this is the email service provider I use for various reasons, it has a decent price and it’s free till you reach 1000 subscribers, it has drag-and-drop templates for forms, landing pages, and emails. In my view, it is very easy to use and very intuitive as an interface. And I am pleased with the design of the layouts (even if they might suffer improvements).
So, with these important details in mind, here’s how to create an email list from scratch and fast.
Propose an Irresistible Offer
We live in a world where spamming has been the order of the day, so people are more cautious about whom they give their email. So, to be able to get these emails, you must offer them something that they really want and can’t say no to. This could be access to a webinar, a free eBook, discounts, or such deals. Whatever you decide to offer, ensure it’s something they will recognize as holding true value. If, for example, you choose to offer a free eBook, do your best to have a great eBook design and provide inside valuable information.
The most reliable Email Service Providers will provide you with the necessary tools to conceive opt-in forms for your site. As always less is more, and in terms of asking for personal information, that’s crucial. The less information you ask particularly in this initial stage, the better, and you will appeal to more people. If you ask for too many details your prospects may not be willing to complete that process and will simply skip it.
So, it’s best to ask just for the email address. And you could also ask for the name in order to be able to personalize your emails if you do not prefer to be extremely minimalist.
This is an opt-in form:
How to Build an Email List from Scratch: Place the Opt-Ins on Your Site
Placing this form on your site is as easy as copying and pasting a bit of code given by the email marketing service. Most websites place the form on the right sidebar because it has been proven as being one location with higher conversion. That said, feel free and try placing it in a feature box, at the top of the sidebar, in the footer or on the about page, or as a pop-up.
Each of those placements may perform differently depending on a few factors such as your niche, your site, or even the audience. Test out all the locations to identify the one that works best.
Example of opt-in in the footer:
Add a Link to the Opt-In Form in Your Email Signature
A professional HTML email signature can be a powerful lead-generation tool. According to the recent Newoldstamp study, 29% of marketers include CTA buttons in their sign-off and 23% of respondents incorporate clickable interactive banners.
To build your email list, try adding a link that will lead to a landing or a subscription page. Professional email signature software like MySignature or Newoldstamp will help you automate email signature creation and distribution processes.
How to Build an Email List from Scratch: Use Giveaways
This is another great way on how to build an email list for free and gain leads. It works best especially if you have an existing following on social media. You can offer something valuable to your target audience e.g. a gift certificate, info-graphics, templates, etc.
For giveaways to gain new subscribers, you can involve influencers or collaborators in the industry and request them to help you promote the giveaway, or you could guest post and have your call to action at the end asking people to enter the giveaway, alternatively, you could pay a small amount for ads on Facebook or another social platform, etc.
Leverage Your Social Networks
Social media can be such a trickster, all that great following that brands and marketers fall in love with mean nothing if they don’t do anything for your sales. But if you can find a way to get their email addresses, then that will be a step closer to another conversion.
Some tactics you can use include Twitter Chats, promotion of gated content, use of YouTube Tutorials, and other similar lead-generating activities.
Content Upgrade
A content upgrade is ideally a lead magnet/freebie related to a certain specific content you’ve previously shared on the web. You essentially boost the main article by providing more expertise on your niche. This may be in the form of:
Cheat sheet
Case Studies
Extra tips
Checklist
Templates and so on.
The best way to approach this is by adding content upgrades to your most popular content first.
Welcome Email Sequence
After users subscribe to your emails, you can send a thank you note or a confirmation email welcoming them. You can use your ESP to create a sequence of these emails that can be sent to your reader at predetermined intervals.
The sequence emails can include discounts or one-time offers to keep the subscriber interested and looking forward to more emails. Another way this can boost your email list is by using your confirmation/welcome page as a subscriber-generating page. You can run a recommendation campaign and offer valuable stuff to people who get someone to subscribe. You could also offer bonus content if someone takes it further and shares it on social media.
How to Build an Email List from Scratch: It’s All in the Call to Action
CTAs are the inspiration that persuades visitors to take action. This action could be to buy an item, fill out a form or just keep reading. In most situations, successful completion of this action is a conversion through your email list where you will invite them into your sales funnels. Now if you zoom out a bit you’ll then realize how vital a CTA is.
Therefore create an uncluttered design that can strategically lead your subscribers to your desired action. Research has shown that placing the CTA on the right side of your page is more effective than on the left. An effective CTA must be:
Classy – If you bombard your readers with pop-ups that won’t go away, they’ll get frustrated and leave.
Prominent – If users can’t find your CTA you’ll miss the opportunity to interact with them. Be visible in both color (in the case of buttons) and language (if you’re not using buttons).
Relevant – It must stay tied to the focal point of your content.
Need-Focused – It must speak to the needs of your readers; must offer them the solutions they’re looking for.
Diversity – Be diverse with each email, don’t use the same CTA for all emails.
Killer Subject Lines
You have done it too, scanned through the subject line to see if it’s worth your time. Well, this will make or break your email marketing. So, for your subject line to be effective, it must:
Tell a story – People want something they can relate to. Make it human and add a splash of emotions
Musthighlight the call to action – people don’t want to spend too much time guessing, give them an idea of what you want upfront.
Convey urgency and relevance.
Remember for your welcome email, your subject line must be sufficient to pique your reader’s curiosity enough for them to open the email. If you stay consistent with the quality of your content you won’t have to deal with un-subscriptions.
This is often ignored yet it plays a key role right next to the subject line. Preview text is often cited from the main email message. But you can curate a unique preview text for a more captivating introduction.
So, if you’re not able to sensibly squeeze everything in the subject line, you can leverage the preview text because it works as a short summary of the email. You can skillfully combine the effectiveness of the call to action and subject line to prompt the reader’s next action. Again, you want to engage your readers, not give them a reason to unsubscribe.
Great Email Landing Page
This is another great way on how to get email lists for marketing, an email landing page is where traffic is funneled to when they click on a CTA. Here users are able to get more information, more images, and purchase details for whatever you’re offering or selling. It’s therefore important to have a specific page for this traffic rather than using your general homepage.
You can have more than one landing page; they’re easily customizable and super effective especially when made to match the offer. A properly done landing page that aligns with the referral source will capture the readers’ attention leaving them with no choice but to give you their email address.
How to Build an Email List from Scratch: Partner with Influencers
Influencers are not known only for big brand endorsements, by partnering with someone who has the kind of clout that can expand your audience, while still remaining relevant to your current subscribers is absolutely valuable.
What this partnership with the right influencer will do is garner trust and credibility as you connect with their audience to boost your brand. They advocate for your brand and this helps you grow in numbers that eventually reflect on your email list. The influencer you pick must be someone who is an expert in the relevant field and a thought leader in the market.
Guest posting, testimonials, reviews, and webinars are some of the ways you can engage with the influencer, again depending on your business. You will know it’s working when the overall traffic to your landing page boosts.
Now that you know how to create an email list with all the effective ways listed above, what else is there to know?
Common Mistakes to Avoid While Creating an Email List from Scratch
Buying Email Subscribers
This may seem like an easy root but it sure leads nowhere. Subscribers who haven’t expressed interest in your content or product will most likely not engage with your emails and these unsolicited messages will end up in the spam folder. Don’t waste your time or money.
Lacking Consistency in Sending Emails
Don’t send one email today and then another one ages later. Be consistent because it shows commitment to what you’re doing. Lack of this will get you forgotten and next time you may just end up in the spam folder. Be consistent with days, and times as well.
Finally
Building an email list is the best thing you can do for your business. There are many ways on how to create an email list from scratch and they do come with mighty benefits. What you need to remember is that when learning how to build an email list, it’s more about the client than it is about you and your business. You need to establish what’s in it for them, you need to understand their needs, you need to establish how they will sign up and finally, you need to know what they will be expecting from you.
This is what must go hand in hand with your objectives as you create the list. In the end, the more connections you make the more opportunity you have to succeed.
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