Category: Marketing Automation

Email marketing is just like other digital marketing tactics: even though you start each campaign with a clear goal and strategy, you have to constantly make adjustments to remain on course. However, you can’t improve what you can’t measure. That’s why email marketers monitor the key metrics to know what to adjust and how and…
The post What Is a Good Email Marketing Open Rate? appeared first on Benchmark Email.

It is always important to understand different options to solve business challenges. So, let us see how this scenario looks from the perspective of a Salesforce Architect, Consultant, Developer, or an Admin. Businesses today evolve at a rapid pace; and, organizations demand new features and functionalities to meet compliance, regulatory
The post Ever Wonder? – What are Big Objects? What are Its Use Cases? How are they Implemented? – Of course, You Do! appeared first on Automation Champion.

If the title of her newsletter, “Total Annarchy,” is any indication, Ann Handley thinks differently about newsletter strategy than most.
A best-selling author, speaker, chief content officer, and one of Forbes’ “20 Best Marketing and Social Media Women Bloggers,” Handley’s fresh approach to content has built her career as well as her impressive newsletter list.
Handley’s newsletter is known for its story-based insights, joyful tone, and actionable advice. It dances to the beat of its own drum while providing real value to its readers. Marketers and non-marketers alike rave about it. So how does this magic happen? We sat down with Handley to find out just that.
1. She wrote what she wanted to read
Handley says she started her newsletter as a response to wishing she had something like it herself: a marketing newsletter about writing that she actually wanted to read and wasn’t dry or boring. “The biggest trigger to growth is happiness, joy all around,” says Handley. “No good writing is created at gunpoint.”
 

Ann includes a section called “Shenanigans” in every newsletter that includes (often random) things that she has found interesting or amusing. It doesn’t follow a “best practices” template or anything stuffy, it’s just there because she enjoys it. Source.

 
How does Handley measure this? She tries to make herself laugh every time she writes an issue of her newsletter. Now that is a KPI we can get on board with. “If I hated writing [something],” says Handley, “you’d feel that.”
 
“The biggest trigger to growth is happiness, joy all around. No good writing is created at gunpoint.” – Ann Handley
2. She defined her niche and stuck to it
Defining your niche not only helps you narrow down what to write about but also helps your audience know what to expect, Handley says. “I make sure new subscribers know exactly what they’ll get. Pro-tip for marketing (and Life): Setting expectations neuters rage.”
 

Handley lets her readers know exactly what her newsletter is about right from the start. Handley’s subject lines and graphics illustrate clearly that this newsletter is about writing. Source.

 
3. She built relationships, not just a list
Handley said she initially implemented a pop-up window to garner subscribers, like many newsletters. However, she soon took it down. Why? “I want a reader’s relationship with me to be, ultimately, the trigger that would grow the list,” says Handley. “It was a revelation to me. And it’s important.”
When you build relationships with readers, you build trust and affinity, which leads to long-term success. If readers don’t feel connected, chances are their interest in your newsletter will wane. And a bonus is that you’ll get inspiration and feedback right from the source.
When writing her newsletter, Handley imagines a single subscriber and writes as if to them, specifically. “Put a pillow over the face of anything with a whiff of ‘Dear Valued Customers,’” says Handley. “Use ‘You’ like you picked up a lifetime supply at a BOGO sale.”
 
“I want a reader’s relationship with me to be, ultimately, the trigger that would grow the list.” – Ann Handley
 
Handley also notes that connecting with subscribers is only a single part of building relationships. Building relationships with other influencers has also been an integral part of growing her list. “Call out the good work of others,” says Handley. “Share the love. Don’t expect and ask for reciprocity—that’s not friendship, that’s coercion.”
 

At the end of every newsletter, Handley includes “love letters” to people supporting her work. Source.

 
4. She surprised her readers
Many of Handley’s best-performing emails have been the ones that are unique in some way. Or, as Handley likes to say, “Not business as usual.” Handley accomplishes this by using paradoxes or contrarian ideas that pique the reader’s interest.
 

Is this email newsletter from Starbucks? No, this is an Ann Handley special. Source.

 
For example, her newsletter that garnered the most subscriber referrals was titled “Pumpkin Spice Newsletter: A Case Study in the Power of Copywriting.” Readers may have expected this from Starbucks but not a marketing newsletter. Or her newsletter that was the strongest performer across all metrics: “TikTok with the Best Writing Advice (No Really).” It’s surprising because most people wouldn’t think of TikTok as a source of great writing advice.
5. She kept it current
Keep a pulse on what’s happening in the world and tie your content to it. When your newsletter speaks to the current zeitgeist, readers engage because you’re speaking to what’s already on their minds. For example, Handley’s newsletter with the most opens was “Your Hand Sanitizer for Bad Marketing” because it tapped into a shared experience happening at that time during the Covid-19 pandemic.
 

Handley uses current events to inspire many of her subject lines, drawing her readers in. Source.

 
6. She gave her copy breathing room
Handley may write longer newsletters than some would recommend, but the reason it holds water is it’s not a rambling, meaningless tangle of copy. “White space is oxygen,” says Handley. “Use it. Let your words breathe. I love long sentences. But newsletters need short sentences. Short paragraphs. Short sections. Don’t make 1,000 words feel like 1,000 words.”
 

Handley highlights the main talking points in her newsletter with easily skimmable bullets and a lot of white space between paragraphs. Source.

 
Short, purposeful sentences, paragraphs, and sections break up the visual density of longer newsletters. White space allows the reader to easily skim the content and identify key thoughts.
7. She took her time
We’ve all been there, staring blankly at an empty page, waiting for genius to strike. The reality is great newsletters take time. When it comes to newsletter writing, don’t expect to get it right on the first pass. Handley says writing her newsletter takes her 8 hours over 4 drafts and 2-3 days, on average. “Slow down. Invest where it matters,” says Handley. “I want to make each paragraph, sentence, word earn its keep.”
 
“I want to make each paragraph, sentence, word earn its keep.”- Ann Handley
 
Handley says many of her ideas come from a journal where she jots down stories she hears. She also recommends plugging your piece into an AI editing tool like Grammarly, making simple changes, and then handing it off to a [human] editor who “gets you.”
 

Handley not only takes her time writing but is transparent with her readers about her process – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Source.

 
8. She promoted value rather than an event
Handley encourages marketers to share the value of what they’re writing rather than just the summary of it, whether that’s a subject line or a social media promotion. Focus on an action you took to achieve a specific goal or an action the reader can take to achieve a goal. Make it clear what they’ll get by engaging with your content.
 

When promoting her newsletter on Twitter, Handley illustrates the value of her newsletter in a relatable way before sharing the link. Source.

 
For example, “Don’t write, ‘The latest issue of my newsletter just dropped’ with a link to it — who cares?” says Handley. “Share the value, not the event. Instead write, ‘How I learned to avoid writing by committee.’”
9. She measured outcomes, not just the size
“Purpose defines goals,” says Handley. “My purpose is to nurture and have fun. That keeps me focused on what matters, which is probably different than what most newsletters look at.” Handley says she doesn’t look at click-through rates like many other newsletter writers but rather a metric she made up for herself: Open-to-Write-Back-Rate (OWBR). That is, for every email sent, how many readers personally respond?
 
“Purpose defines goals. My purpose is to nurture and have fun. That keeps me focused on what matters, which is probably different than what most newsletters look at.” – Ann Handley
 
While the metric for your newsletter may be different than OWBR, the key is to look at the metrics that measure key outcomes rather than the mere size of your list. “Size is a byproduct, not a goal,” Handley says.
Create your own Annarchy
It’s easy to want to copy and paste someone else’s approach to success and feel married to it. However, if there’s one thing to learn from Handley, it’s to make your newsletter your own. What are you passionate about? What do you wish existed in the world? Take each of these suggestions and tailor it to your style and audience. Are you ready to get started building your own unique newsletter? Check out our newsletter builder now.
The post How Ann Handley Grew Her Newsletter, ‘Total Annarchy,’ from 0 – 42,000 Subscribers appeared first on Campaign Monitor.

TikTok was the most downloaded app of 2021. It now has more than one billion users.
Did any of us at Buffer predict such a rapid rise when TikTok first landed on our radar?
For fun, I did a quick search of our Slack archives to see if I could find out. The first mention of TikTok was by Ash Read, our former Head of Content, in August of 2018. TikTok had just acquired Musical.ly as an entry point into the U.S. market.
A screenshot of the first mention of TikTok in our marketing Slack channel.The next mention was in November 2018, when another former teammate of mine, Alfred Lua, was working on a blog post about the 21 Top Social Media Sites to Consider for Your Brand. At that point, TikTok was number ten on the list with 500 million monthly active users, just behind Tumblr and just ahead of Twitter.
A screenshot of the next mention of TikTok, a couple of months later.The only response to whether anyone was using TikTok.Fast forward back to today and TikTok is nipping at the heels of incumbent platforms like Facebook and Instagram and has grown in a way that I would never have imagined. It’s also now the most visited domain on the internet, ending Google’s fifteen-year reign.
It doesn’t seem to be slowing down either. With the rise of short-form videos, powerful creator tools, and features that drive virality inside and outside of the platform, TikTok achieved more than forty percent growth last year.
It’s not only content creators and influencers that are sharing TikToks every day. Businesses of all kinds are taking advantage of TikTok’s capacity to deliver a vast amount of organic reach in a short space of time. With the right plan and creative execution, there are opportunities abound to build a massive audience (without the need for a massive budget).
I’ve been learning this first hand from Buffer customers, thanks to a steady stream of feature requests, asking for an integration with TikTok. And, of course, it makes sense. Like every other social platform, you get the best results if you plan your content ahead of time and post consistently.
A few of the feature requests we’ve received for TikTok scheduling.People were so keen for us to integrate with TikTok, they even started sharing product mockups to inspire our designers.
A “mock-up” that was sent to us by a customer.So, we started thinking. What is the fastest and most valuable way that we can help marketers plan and schedule their TikTok videos, today?
Using reminders to help with TikTok planning
Two of our product principles are to keep things simple and to add value incrementally (we don’t wait to add everything at once).
With that in mind, we looked at how we currently support Instagram Stories scheduling. Perhaps we could replicate a similar workflow.
The way it works is:

You upload your video content to Buffer.
Then choose a date and time you’d like to publish the post.
When that time comes, Buffer sends a reminder notification to your phone, with everything ready for you to finish the post in the app.

This “reminder” workflow is already very familiar for social media marketers and in the graph below you can see how it has grown in popularity among our customers. About 19,000 Instagram Story reminders are created and scheduled through Buffer every month.
Instagram Story Reminders have been trending upwardsGiven the success of Instagram Story reminders, creating something similar seemed like a natural first foray into the world of TikTok.
Moving fast with mobile
TikTok is a mobile-first platform, with the vast majority of content coming straight from the creator’s phone. So when it comes to scheduling, we decided to build TikTok Reminders into our mobile apps, to begin with. We considered adding to our web platform too, but in the spirit of building quickly and adding value incrementally, we’re excited to release it on mobile and then add it to web once we have more feedback and advice from our customers.
Andy, one of our iOS engineers, was able to whip up the first prototype in less than two hours.
Julia, one of our customer advocates, was excited to see the prototype!From there, we fleshed out the prototype over the course of about a month, tested the finished product internally, and submitted it to the Apple app store and Google Play store for review.
How TikTok Reminders work
With Buffer’s mobile app you can plan and schedule your TikTok videos in advance, alongside the rest of your social content. It’s pretty simple; upload your video, add a caption, and schedule a posting time. When the time comes, we’ll send you a notification to publish the video on TikTok.
Step 1: Load your TikTok content into Buffer.
Select TikTok under the Reminders section of the navigation panel. From there you can create your TikTok post by adding media and a caption.
TikTok Reminders are now in the navigation drawer of the Buffer mobile appAdd your media and your caption to the post in Buffer.Step 2: Schedule a time to post to TikTok.
Choose the date and time to receive a reminder to post.
Choose a date and time to get a reminder notification.Step 3: Finish the post in TikTok.
When it’s time to post your TikTok, Buffer will send you a push notification that will guide you to the TikTok app to publish your content.
Buffer will prepare the post and prompt you to open TikTok to finish the post.Getting started with TikTok
TikTok can be a little daunting if you’re not familiar with the platform. But don’t worry, you don’t need to be a great dancer or video genius to kickstart your TikTok presence. I’ve compiled some of my favorite TikTok marketing resources below. I hope you find them useful!

TikTok Creative Playbook for Small Businesses [PDF] – TikTok

Small Wins: How small businesses are unlocking the magic of TikTok – TikTok

41 TikTok Video Ideas For Small Businesses – Lightricks

How to Use TikTok Marketing to Make Your Business Go Viral [Youtube Video] – Shopify

A Guide to TikTok for Ecommerce Businesses – ReferralCandy

We’d love your feedback
TikTok is a new area for Buffer and we’d love to understand more about how we can help you save time and grow your TikTok presence. Would you like to schedule reminders through our web dashboard, too? Are we missing anything from our mobile app? What sort of advice and resources would you like to see from us?
Let us know by sending us a tweet @buffer or by dropping us a note (or mockup!) using our feature request form.

submitted by /u/notifyvisitors [link] [comments]

Remember Vine? Despite its huge initial growth, the six-second looping video app was discontinued by Twitter in 2016 — only four years after its launch.
Since then, we’ve seen apps like Snapchat, Instagram’s Reels feature, and TikTok fill its void. They allow users to express their creativity with short mobile videos while attracting Gen Z and millennial audiences. They also feel more niche and non-traditional than older platforms, like Facebook or Twitter.

Snapchat, which launched in 2011, allows users to create video-based stories about their lives and send video or image-based messages to their friends. Unlike most other apps, Snapchat content expires either immediately or after 24 hours. This platform leads to users creating content that is more lighthearted on uncensored than other more public-facing platforms.
Meanwhile, TikTok, which launched in just 2017, is similar to Vine in that it allows users to create 10 to 60-second looping videos that can be seen on their profiles or can be algorithmically placed on feeds of users with similar interests or demographics.
Instagram Reels, launched in late 2020, is the platform’s answer to TikTok. The similarities between the two are many — they both allow users to quickly create short-form videos and add filters, effects, and music. However, the most noticeable difference between the two is the length of videos. A Reel is capped at 60 seconds, whereas a TikTok video can reach 3 minutes.
At the moment, all three apps continue to grow. Instagram has 500 million daily users globally, closely followed by Snapchat with 306 million. Not to be outshined, TikTok hit a big milestone towards the end of 2021 — 1 billion daily users.
Despite each platform’s growth, marketers in the social media realm are wondering, “Are any of these worth the hype? Or will they just become another Vine?”
It’s no secret that short-form videos are dominating the social media landscape, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down. 31% of marketers currently leverage short-form video and 29% plan to leverage it for the first time in 2022. But where, exactly, do they plan to invest?
To learn more about the strength of these three apps, the HubSpot Blog surveyed 1,000+ marketers to find out where they’re investing their time and money.
When asked which platforms marketers plan to increase their investment in this year, TikTok came out on top (62%), with Instagram following closely behind (54%).

But how do these apps fair for ROI? When asked which platform resulted in the biggest ROI in 2021, 18% of marketers responded with Instagram, earning a second place spot. Meanwhile, TikTok landed in fourth place at 12%. As for Snapchat, it didn’t make the top five — but you shouldn’t cross it off your list just yet (more on that later).

Below, I’ll walk you through the ins and outs of TikTok, Reels, and Snapchat, their distinct differences, and the marketing opportunities that each app could provide you now and in the future.
Snapchat vs. TikTok: A Head-to-Head Comparison
User Base
Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok claim to have predominantly Gen-Z and millennial audiences. In fact, a recent study found that Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok were the platforms of choice for Gen Zer’s.
According to 2019 data from Snapchat, 90% of 13 to 24-year-olds use Snapchat. Similarly, more than half of TikTok’s global audience is under 34. Meanwhile, Instagram holds nearly equal sway with both Gen-Z and millennial audiences.
The three platforms also have incredibly global audiences. While Snapchat has a large number of users from India, TikTok has such a large user base in China that it has a Chinese version of its app called Douyin. As for Instagram, India and the United States hold the top spots as the countries with the highest number of Instagram users.
Platform and Features
Snapchat’s format includes three main pages: a Friends page, the camera, and Discover. The Friends page shows a list of the user’s friends where it allows them to open Snaps or see each user’s Story. The other two pages are its camera and Snapchat Discover.
While the camera is pretty straightforward to visualize, here are screenshots of the Friends Page, Camera, and Discover:

Image Source
Discover is specifically for brands and publishers to post Stories. While the Friends page allows you to access Stories that have been filmed or created by friends natively in the app, Stories published by brands on the Discover page are often high quality and include graphic designs, edited imagery, animation, or production quality video. Here’s a detailed post about how brands are leveraging Snapchat Discover.
TikTok also has a few central pages. One is a feed that allows people to see videos from their followers or that TikTok algorithms will think a user is interested in.

Image Source
Aside from the feed, users can click on the Search page to see both a search box and highlights of all the trending topics on TikTok. The other two major pages are the app’s camera and the user’s profile page.
Here’s where Instagram Reels is different — while TikTok and Snapchat are standalone platforms, Instagram Reels is just one feature within the app.

Image Source
Instagram Reels has a few central pages — the camera, the feed, and the Explore page. When users record a Reel, they can share it with their friends on their private feed or, if they have a public account, make it available to the broader Instagram community through the Explore page.
Regardless, your Reels will live in a designated tab under your profile. You can also share your reel to your Story, close friends, or in a direct message.
Want to learn more about how to navigate and create posts on each app? Check out our guides on how to use Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram Reels.
Content on Each Platform
Snapchat is primarily an app for friend-to-friend content which includes text and video-based messages that people post to their daily Stories or send specifically to friends.
However, on the Discover area of the platform, marketers can create advertisements and Story editions with videos and graphics to promote their own products or services. Here’s an example of a Story from Snapchat Discover that highlights a Los Angeles-based manicurist:

Since TikTok allows you to instantly publish public videos, the platform is great for both branded and non-branded content. Much of the content you see on TikTok is short, looping skits, mini-music videos, or vlog-styled clips.
Like Snapchat, Instagram Reels can be shared amongst friends or made public to the larger community. But in order for your Reel to go viral, you need to be picked for the Explore page. When this happens, you’ll receive a notification letting you know that your video has been selected. This can happen anywhere from immediately after posting to a few days after publishing.
Plus, with the integration of Shopping and Branded Content features, we’re seeing businesses use Reels as a tool to promote products and partner with influencers to create branded content.
Which platform is better for content marketing?
Each platform has its pros and cons for content marketers. Here’s what you should keep in mind about each.
TikTok
If you’re aiming to target Gen-Z and on an incredibly limited budget, TikTok’s app might be worth experimenting on. Because of the way the app is formatted, users can more easily find your company page, follow you, or search for your content than they can on Snapchat. You can also further optimize videos with hashtags and keywords.
However, if you’re looking for website traffic, or don’t have time to experiment with TikTok, you’ll want to hold off for now. The platform is still highly experimental and only allows certain brands to link their videos to web content.
Snapchat
On Snapchat, marketers will mainly thrive on the Discover page. While partnering with Snapchat to become an official Discover publisher might be inaccessible at the moment, you can still purchase ads on the platform that similarly allow you to tell users a visual Story about your product. These ads can even get high placement within Discover feeds.
One thing to note is that Snapchat Discover-based ads are much shorter than the Stories of Discover publishers. This means that if you want to create long-form Story content to highlight a product, service, or brand, you might want to try Instagram Reels or consider TikTok experimentation.
Aside from Discover, creating an individual account has not proven to be hugely beneficial for brands because users still have to friend them to see their content. Brands also can’t add links to this content like they do with ads.
However, if you’re looking to create short, bite-sized content for web traffic, conversions, or high placement on a social app that’s popular with Gen Z or millennials, Snapchat’s ad program still might be right for you because although the Stories you’re allotted are shorter, you can still flex your creative muscles to quickly promote a product.
Instagram Reels
We like where Instagram Reels is going when it comes to branded content. With Branded Content Tags, influencers can disclose when they’re creating branded content which increases transparency and makes it easier to create and share branded content.
Further, as Reels continue to earn its place on the app, we expect to see more video editing tools and insights.
User Behavior
Each of these apps have one primary goal: to keep users entertained on their respective platforms as long as possible. And, based on stats below, these applications do successfully keep users engaged.
Snapchat users spend an average of 26 minutes daily on the app and users create an average of 2.1 million Snaps per minute. Meanwhile, TikTok users spend an average of 52 minutes on the app daily as 90% of its user base logs in more than once a day. On average, Instagram users spend 53 minutes per day on the app — although we don’t know how much of this time is spent on Reels specifically.
Although Snapchat is an app that encourages connecting with friends, more and more users are beginning to use it as a part of their shopping process. According to a 2019 Snapchat report, Snapchat users involve Snapchat in their buyer’s journey 35% more than Twitter and 58% more than Facebook.
Instagram Reels is also involved in the buyer’s journey. By integrating Shopping features, businesses and creators can tag products when they create a Reel, making them fully shoppable. When a viewer taps the “View Products” button, they can either buy, save, or learn more about the products.
Instagram Reels also integrates with Instagram Checkout — a feature that allows users to purchase products without leaving the app.

Image Source
When it comes to TikTok, there aren’t many public stats related to advertising engagement just yet. However, brands have gone viral on the app, especially when creating hashtag challenges related to new product offerings. One example of this was Guess’ #InMyDemin challenge. During the challenge, people posted videos of themselves in Guess’ new denim clothing line. These TikTok videos then reportedly racked up a total of 3.8 million views.
As TikTok aims to gain more advertisers, you can probably expect to see more information coming soon about how users interact with advertisers.
Which user base is better for marketers?
While Gen Z is flocking to TikTok, there’s a broader age group of both Gen Z and millennials on Snapchat and Instagram Reels.
Although users spend more time on TikTok and Instagram, they also use Snapchat as a utility app to connect with friends and log into it multiple times per day. This might mean that people see value in the app, other than entertainment, which is the pure mission of TikTok’s platform.
Marketing Opportunities
Instagram Reels, Snapchat, and TikTok are trying to make their applications more enticing to advertisers. Here’s a breakdown of each.
Snapchat
At this very moment, there are only two marketing options for brands on Snapchat and they’re both more accessible to mid-sized or large companies than smaller businesses. The first, and seemingly most profitable, is advertising. Snapchat advertising has been seen to provide ROI related to both in-store and online store purchases.
Snapchat ads also allow you to present your ads in Snapchat’s Discover, similarly to branded publishers. However, unlike Snapchat Discover publishers, you can link ads or paid mini-Stories to your website, which could be beneficial to your traffic or online conversions.
Posting Stories as a publisher on Snapchat Discover is the other option. However, to become a publisher, you need to have a specific contract with Snapchat rather than simply signing up online. You also need to create Story-styled, original content that really engages with users. Discover publishing is also meant to keep users in the app, meaning that you won’t be able to place links into this type of content.
To learn more about how brands are leveraging both ads and Stories on Snapchat Discover, check out this blog post for a detailed list of examples and takeaways.
TikTok
TikTok only launched in 2017, but it’s already expanding its advertising options. It’s become a viable option for brands willing to get creative with their digital marketing. So much so, it launched TikTok for Business in 2021, allowing marketers to create and manage ad campaigns on the platform.
That said, TikTok ads come at a premium cost compared to other platforms. Reports from AdAge in late 2019 show that TikTok’s cost of advertising can be between $50,000 to $120,000 depending on the ad format and duration.
Although these costs are steep for small businesses, the good news is that there are many different ways to advertise on the platform besides its native paid advertising program.
Instagram Reels
Instagram Reels earns a gold star when it comes to marketing opportunities. Despite being criticized as a “TikTok copycat,” its rolled out numerous Shopping features that separate it from the pack.
Further, it may be more cost effective than TikTok. Creatopy, an ad design platform, published a case study comparing the performance between TikTok and Instagram Reels. It ran identical campaigns on both platforms — both had a total spend of $1,000 on each, the same video, ad copy, and landing page. They also targeted similar audiences.
The results were staggering — reach on Instagram Reels was almost double than on TikTok and impressions were almost triple. It cost them $2.60 to reach 1,000 people on Reels, compared to $5.03 on TikTok.
Of course, there are a lot of factors to consider when comparing two platforms, even when you use the same ad. It’s also important to remember these apps are continuously updating their algorithms and features. This study could have very different results a few months from now.
Weighing Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram Reels
Although Snapchat is more mature, TikTok’s newness makes it a great place for side experiments — especially when targeting Gen Z. Not only is content creation free on the app, but the platform is so new that nearly everything is experimental.
If your goal is to increase conversions and work with influencers, Instagram Reels is your best bet. Instagram is the platform of choice for influencer marketing, and its shopping and branded content features enable visitors to engage and convert without leaving the app.
That said, if you’re more interested in marketing to professionals or those in B2B industries, table these platforms and focus on the more traditional social media networks.

On social media platforms, the more exposure you can get, the better. Like many others, Instagram has a search and explore page to help users discover new content.

Most brands already leverage timeline posts and Stories to reach their core audience. However, not enough leverage all the opportunities these features offer.
Let’s dive into what those are and what you can gain from using them.
How Instagram’s Search and Explore Feature Works
To start, there are five main search categories on Instagram:

Top – This includes top posts related to your search term, regardless of the type of post.

Accounts – This lists the accounts that match your search term.

Audio – This features songs and artists on the platform with the same name as your search term.

Tags – This shows the hashtags related to your search term along with post volume.

Places – This refers to the locations around the world that include your search term.

What’s interesting about the “Tags” tab is that it breaks down hashtag results even further in three categories: top, recent, and Reels.

You can also use Instagram’s search feature on the web app. However, it doesn’t have as much functionality. For instance, on the web app, you’ll only see results from the “Top” tab, unless you add the “@” or pound hashtag “#” to narrow down your results.
Now onto the Explore tab.
Similar to other social platforms, Instagram’s Explore tab works by showing you content based on the people you follow and the posts you’ve engaged with.

My Explore page is full of cat videos, food recipes, and natural hair care. Recently, I’ve been more interested in home decor, so that’s starting to feature more prominently on my Explore page.
The key difference between the Search and Explore features is that one is highly personalized whereas the other is not.
How to Get Featured in Instagram’s Search and Explore Posts
So, you want to expand your reach and get more engagement on your posts? Here are some steps you can take to help you meet those goals.
1. Add hashtags to your posts.
When you add a hashtag to your post, it allows users with similar interests to find your post more easily.
When adding hashtags, you want to use a mix of popular and niche tags. Why? Well, if you only use popular hashtags, your post may get lost in the hundreds of thousands of posts.
However, if you only use really niche hashtags, you may not expand your reach by much. As such, use a balance of both.
On Instagram, you can use up to 30 hashtags in a post. While we don’t recommend using them all, focus on having a mix of five to 10 relevant hashtags, going from general to specific.
The best part is you don’t have to do any guesswork on which ones to use.

For instance, say you’re a coffee brand and post a cappuccino. Instagram already tells you how many posts are linked to this hashtag, making it easy to select the relevant ones.
Don’t forget that you can also add hashtags to your Stories by clicking on the emoji icon and selecting the hashtag feature.

As you type your keyword, relevant hashtags will appear. Pro-tip: To avoid ruining your Stories post with a ton of hashtags, you can do one of two things: Make them very small or use the color feature to identify a color in the image and use it to blend the hashtags into the image.

2. Add a location tag to your posts.
Another way to improve your search discoverability is to add a location tag to your post.
Start by clicking on the emoji on the top right corner.

Then, select the location feature in the list of options.

Type in your desired location. This can be a physical location like “Pasion Del Cielo Coffee” or a fictional one like “Coffee Time” that adds personality to the post.

The last step involves placing your clickable location tag somewhere on your Stories post.

3. Add relevant keywords to your Instagram profile.
If you want users to easily find you, make sure your profile reflects the terms they would use to find you. It could be in your username, page name, or bio – if it’s somewhere in there, users can find you.
For instance, if you’re a coffee shop located in Miami, Florida, your profile should include both “coffee” and “Miami” to help users find you.
4. Write descriptive captions.
Captions are another way for users to find you in search. That means that short, vague captions aren’t going to cut it.
Instead, opt for a descriptive caption that is relevant to the image you shared. That way, when users type in the search term, your post has a better chance of showing up.
5. Up your content quality.
When it comes to search, you want to be in the “Top” tab.
It shows the most popular posts, with the most engagement – likes, comments, and shares. The way creators get there is by having high-quality content that captures users’ attention.
And when we say, we’re not just talking about visual quality – although that’s very important too. The content itself should be interesting and resonate with your audience. You meet these two requirements and you have a good chance of outperforming similar posts.
How to Search on Instagram
Before we dive into the steps to search on Instagram, let’s cover the main reasons why you’d want to.
The first is to scope out influencers and potential partners. Say you want to work with an influencer for a campaign but haven’t yet identified someone.
With the search feature, you can search for influencers with content that align with your brand and industry. You can use hashtags and keywords to find them. They’re also likely to show up on your Explore page.
Another reason you may want to conduct a search is to learn more about your audience. Perhaps you want to put a face to your buyer persona – you could visit some users’ profiles to get a sense of who they are, their interests, and how they might connect with your brand.
Lastly, it’s valuable to learn how certain hashtags are used and if they align with the content you’ll be posting.
For instance, you might think the word “cappuccino” might generate only coffee-related content. However, many posts for this hashtag are about beauty products, from eyeshadows to lipsticks.
Knowing this, you can make sure you use the most accurate hashtags for your posts.
Instagram Hashtag Search
1. Start on your Explore tab and type your term in the search bar.

Pro-tip: If you want to go straight to the posts tied to that parent term, you can add the pound symbol directly in front of your keyword.
2. Navigate to the “Tags” tab and sift through the relevant hashtags to find the one you want.

3. Scroll through the Top, Recent, and Reels tabs related to your keyword.

Instagram Location Search
1. Start on your Explore tab and type your term in the search bar.

2. Navigate to the “Places” tab and sift through the list of related locations.

3. Scroll through the results.

Optimizing your Instagram for search will help your brand expand its reach and boost your social media performance.

Content marketing is essential for every marketing strategy. It helps your brand spread influence and knowledge, and it educates your audience. What’s more, when used correctly, content is the essential fuel your email marketing strategy needs. Part of ensuring your content is effective is having a solid content management system (CMS). There are tons of…
The post 9 Best Social Media Plugins for WordPress appeared first on Benchmark Email.

Last Updated on February 7, 2022 by Rakesh GuptaBig Idea or Enduring Question: How do you create and activate a contract using Salesforce Flow? Objectives: After reading this blog post, the reader will be able to: Use After-save Record-Triggered Flow to create a draft contract Use a Decision element to check
The post Getting Started with Salesforce Flow – Part 89 (Auto Create and Activate a Contract) appeared first on Automation Champion.

How do you automatically split revenue using Lightning Flow or Process Builder?
The post Getting Started with Salesforce Flow – Part 88 (Auto Revenue Splitting in Opportunities) appeared first on Automation Champion.