Category: Marketing Automation

All about Marketing Automation that you ever wanted to know

  • 5 super advanced and turbo effective segmentations for eCommerce

     

     

    Hypersegmentation in eCommerce is a trend that is likely to dominate the market for a long time. 1:1 segmentation allows you to create customized offers for each recipient on a massive scale. This has an impact on both in-store revenue and CLV of its customers. How exactly can you apply hyper-personalization to different types of eCommerce? Here are 5 examples of super advanced and turbo effective segmentations.

     

    We’ve known about the need for segmentation in online businesses for quite some time. Research shows that 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase from brands that offer personalized experiences. Segmentation leads to 3 to 5% increase in returns on promoted sales. Surprisingly, a whopping 42% of marketers don’t segment and only 4% segment with multiple data types.

     

    Segmentation v Hypersegmentation

     

    Hypersegmentation is, to quote Capgemini’s definition, the advanced and real-time customization of offers, content, and customer experiences on an individual level. How is this different from simple segmentation? Segmentation as we know it typically involves dividing a larger audience into small groups of people who have something in common. Hypersegmentation goes beyond simple criteria and rigid segmentation frameworks. It focuses more on creating ultra-accurate, sometimes even single-person segments that match the needs of your audience in real time.

     

    Source: Capgemini Consulting

     

    As such, it allows for a shift in marketing perspective. Instead of preparing a rigid framework and waiting for people to fit into it, marketers can follow and flexibly adapt to consumers’ needs in the marketing version of „here and now.”

     

    For more on hypersegmentation, read:

    Top 10 mind-blowing statistics about hyper-segmentation you have to know in 2021>>

    [New Feature] AI, no-code Hyper Segmentation>>

     

    5 super advanced segmentations for 5 different eCommerces

     

    The world of eCommerce is beautiful and diverse. Each branch has its own specifics and its own way of approaching customers. What works well for a pet store (repetitive purchases from a similar category, returning customers) may no longer be good for a DIY store (larger purchases, often one-offs). Therefore, your segmentation system will vary depending on your brand, assortment, industry and many other factors. Below you will find an overview of 5 very effective segmentations for different eCommerces.

     

    Example #1 For online pharmacy

     

    Disclaimer: I will refer to the Polish market of online pharmacies. The law regulations may vary in different countries.

     

    Characteristics: Pharmacies, including online pharmacies, are subject to marketing restrictions. In Poland, these restrictions are regulated by pharmaceutical law. As a result, online pharmacies have severely limited opportunities for paid promotion. The content presented can be either educational or informational. Therefore, a strong emphasis in online pharmacy promotion is placed on SEO content, content marketing, social media activities and community building around the brand. Additionally, in Poland, prescription drugs can be sold online, but they can only be picked up at a stationary pharmacy.

     

    Fun fact: Those who buy pharmaceutical products online are more often women (41 percent of them indicated buying this type of goods compared to 27 percent of indications among men), people over 50 years old (44 percent compared to 16 percent for the 15-24 age group) and with higher education (46 percent compared to 21 percent among people with lower education) – according to the Gemius report “eCommerce in Poland”.

     

    Segment: Woman from Krakow who have spent a minimum of 500 PLN (110 €) in the last 3 months

     

    Targeting groups with a high probability of purchase is the essence of hypersegmentation. Additionally, gathering information that can be used in legally permitted marketing efforts is a perfectly appropriate practice. What’s more, RFM segmentation data can be used to navigate towards micro-conversions within segments.

     

    Uses data from areas such as: 

     

    RFM
    transaction analysis
    geolocation data (declarative or from GPS)
    gender detection

     

    It is effective because: When it comes to pharmacies, gender recognition is of twofold importance. First, women are more likely to buy pharmaceuticals in online pharmacies. Often they buy them not only for themselves – in many Polish families it is women who play a nursing role and it is them who buy pharmaceuticals for children, partners or seniors.

     

    Secondly, many products are designed for ailments related to biological sex, and a considerable number of preparations are also related to gender.

     

    Location is useful if you have stationary points where you can pick up prescription drugs. On the other hand, information on the amount spent on medicines (especially when compared to average spending per individual – 313.8 PLN, or about 69 €*) places this person in the segment of high-spenders.

     

    Making a purchase within the last 3 months is also a clue. Supplements and pharmaceuticals are products that are used regularly. So the segment will include active customers who have purchased products for a fairly high sum and have been using them for some time.

     

    Actions: This portion of information is an excellent foundation for performing a variety of marketing activities, even with legal restrictions. These will include:

     

    a campaign informing about the possibility of shopping at a physical location in a given city,
    progressive profiling (collecting information about ailments),
    content marketing activities combined with SEO based on interests,
    educational lead nurturing,
    post-visit remarketing (dynamic emails),
    cross-selling.

     

    What’s next? The categories of selected products are worth noting for further segmentation. This will help both in selecting appropriate educational cycles and designing content that may prove interesting for this group of recipients. Another behavior worth investigating is cross-channel attribution and last click attribution. It may help in further distribution of content to similar female customers.

     

    Example #2 For Home & Garden eCommerce

     

    Characteristics: The Home & Garden and DYI industries have specific buying patterns. In case of professionals, purchases are frequent, large and highly seasonal; in case of amateurs and people renovating their own living spaces, purchases are infrequent, often one-offs with a high up-selling potential. Thus, it is important to identify buyers’ needs well and to divide them into segments, within which further groups can be distinguished. 

     

    DIY stores offer a wide range of products of various brands and price ranges. You should take care of loyalty and good consumer experience. There is a chance that for the next bigger purchase they will choose a store that provides them with a lot of convenience and a good offer.

     

    Segment: Users who buy once a year for low amounts mainly in brick-and-mortar stores but visit the website often, interested in products from the category Roofs

     

    People who visit the site but buy stationary often look for inspiration and the best bargains online. Sometimes they perceive the world more kinesthetically than others. There is nothing wrong with that. Instead of changing their behavior, just embrace this shopping model and focus on building their loyalty among this segment.

     

    Uses data from areas such as: 

     

    RFM
    segmentation rules
    transaction analysis

     

    It is effective because: People who make small purchases once in a while can actually become regular, paying customers. They already trust your store, sometimes they just need encouragement and guidance.

     

    Actions: Identifying people who are likely to become returning, loyal customers with a high CLV is half the battle. There is a whole list of activities that can help in this process. It includes, but is not limited to:

     

    implementation of a loyalty program,
    implementation of progressive discounts (depending on the frequency of purchases),
    preparation of campaigns with recommendations based on interests,
    sending an educational cycle for people interested in the Roofs and related categories.
    Launching an automatic win-back scenario,
    Building a scoring model based on activity.

     

    What’s next? Harness your knowledge of a particular customer’s interest category so you can add cross-selling and upselling to your efforts. AI and Machine Learning-based recommendations along with predictions on communication channel and purchase probability can be helpful. Systematic, consistent education and following changes in customer behavior should have the desired effect of increasing loyalty and CLV. It’s also a good idea to track in-store conversions, which a loyalty program and customer card can help with. Offline purchases can then be exported to the system as external events.

     

    Example #3 For FMCG eCommerce

     

    Characteristics: Online hypermarkets offer, like their offline counterparts, rapidly consumable products. Shopping in such places is characterized by high repetition and regularity. Very often customers keep buying the same products over and over again. This does not mean, however, that target groups are not evolving. Often online shoppers are willing to try new products from their favorite categories or add products from weekly deals to their shopping carts.

     

    Segment: Woman in her mid-30s, buying frequently for small sums, with no mobile app installed

     

    Just because someone buys little doesn’t mean they aren’t a good customer. Sometimes such frequent “small amounts” can guarantee steady income at quite a decent level. What’s more, this type of buying is compatible with the FMCG industry, which offers products that need to be constantly restocked in the household.

     

    Uses data from areas such as: 

     

    transaction analysis
    segmentation rules
    RFM
    SALESmanago Mobile

     

    It is effective because: Segmenting audience groups by frequency of purchase and amount spent (RFM) has a proven track record of high effectiveness. Additionally, it allows you to move individuals between segments to those who spend the most on a monthly, quarterly and annual basis. It is worthwhile to regularly check which group fits these criteria and develop strategies to move as many people there as possible.

     

    Actions: Depending on which RFM segment is most profitable for your store, it makes sense to consider how you can move that customer to a more profitable group. At the same time, it is a good idea to take care of their comfort level by taking into account their current habits. To this end, you can use:

     

    loyalty program,
    progressive discounts,
    upselling,
    activities aimed at micro-conversions in RFM segments.

     

    What’s next? If it’s profitable for the customer to remain in the segment, you should reinforce that customer’s shopping habits. However, if small changes will make her part of a more profitable segment, it is worth preparing scenarios aimed at modifying her purchase behavior, e.g. increasing shopping frequency or cart value.

     

    Upselling and purchase reminders at regular intervals are good practices to follow. You can also include an incentive like a progressive discount.

     

    Additionally, encourage the customer to install the app and join the loyalty program, if only to complete her profile with a new set of behavioral-transactional data.

     

    Example #4 For eCommerce with kids’ products

     

    Characteristics: Children grow and use up products quickly. Moreover, children’s stores are subject to seasonal changes. They are associated with weather changes that force different behaviors. Therefore, these stores are characterized by high dynamics of change, which requires very precise targeting.

     

    Segment: A woman, mother of two boys aged 3-5, who shops most often on a mobile app, who has not added any products to her cart in 3 months despite regular visits to the app

     

    When a baby store offers products for children of all ages, parents often bond with the store for years. Keeping up with a child’s growth and needs is key to maintaining good, long-term relationships with shoppers.

     

    Uses data from areas such as: 

     

    segmentation rules
    RFM
    SALESmanago Mobile
    declarative data

     

    It is effective because: The first and most important information is the one concerning the age of children. Psychomotor development is very much connected with it. It will influence both the toys, books as well as the clothes and accessories chosen by the parent.

     

    Information about the gender of children will be important in the case of parents who select one type of toys and clothes for girls and another for boys (not everyone does it, but it is quite common practice).

     

    The fact that the customer is active in the app and frequently buys from it (although not recently) suggests that there has been a change in her life. Before the customer goes off the radar for good, it’s worth running a campaign to get her to buy again.

     

    Actions: There are a number of activities that can help you win the customer back. Among them, it is worth mentioning: 

     

    win-back,
    funnel-based segmentation,
    inactivity alerts,
    Web and mobile application personalization.

     

    What’s next? Lack of purchase activity despite visiting the app can mean many things – from changes caused by boys growing up, to a shift in living situation, to a temporary store switch caused by a competitor’s sale. Observe the effectiveness of your win back campaign and run it comprehensively, across different channels.

     

    Example #5 For pet store eCommerce

     

    Characteristics: Pet stores have a very clearly divided assortment (animal species) and an extensive category tree (food, grooming, accessories, etc.). The same products are often purchased at similar intervals (food, supplements, grooming supplies).

     

    Segment: Users subscribed to the newsletter who bought a product(s) for their dog for the first time

     

    Every adventure starts somewhere. Hence, as the first segment, I suggest first-time shoppers who have purchased for their pet and subscribed to the newsletter.

     

    Uses data from areas such as: 

     

    transaction analysis
    segmentation rules
    available communication channel

     

    It is effective because: Those who have made a purchase and signed up for the newsletter have already taken the first steps leading to a relationship with the brand. Additionally, they have also provided general information about their pet. This is a good starting point for completing more detailed Zero- and First-party data and also for starting the lead nurturing cycle.

     

    Actions: Such a segment can be used to launch the following activities:

     

    upselling,
    progressive profiling (gathering information about the dog’s breed, weight, age, etc.)
    lead nurturing (proper care of the dog),
    tailored product recommendations on the website.

     

    What’s next? Gaining more and more detailed information about customers and their pets allows you to tailor your content and offers even better. Consider implementing loyalty programs and subscriptions, e.g. for pet food, for regular customers and run activities based on the specifics of taking care of a particular animal (taking into account its size, reaction to changes in seasons, life expectancy and changing needs). This could be the basis for expanding hyper-personalization, where the end result would be directing the message not only to owners of large dogs, but directly to Mark, the caretaker of a 30-kilogram young Golden Retriever Cheerio, or Sophie, the caretaker of a 73-kilogram St. Bernard Daisy who is about to give birth to puppies.

     

    Effective segmentation in eCommerce – a few words to conclude

     

    To effectively segment customers in eCommerce you do not need advanced technical knowledge. A key part of the process is to precisely define the goal, identify the characteristics of the recipient group and to correctly select the segmentation criteria. Predefined segments, the use of AI and prediction can help you experiment with audience groups and create advanced and highly effective segments tailored to the nature of any eCommerce.

     

    If you want to work on segments in your eCommerce, take SALESmanago for a 30-day test drive.

     

    Be sure to share the results of your experiments in the comments!

     

    *According to a survey conducted by the BioStat® Research and Development Centre, in February 2020 an average Polish household spent around 273 PLN on drugs, supplements and other medicines. According to the Central Statistical Office, the average household in Poland at that time consisted of 2.61 persons. 273 PLN/2.61=104.6 PLN. Over a time horizon of 3 months, the average spending on drugs per person is therefore 104.6 PLN*3=313.8 PLN

  • When Scaling Your Link-Building Efforts, Don’t Compromise On Quality

    You’ve launched your business and, with it, your website. Now you want to start driving more traffic to your site and build your brand salience.
    You’ve likely heard of that popular and mystical tool — search engine optimization (SEO). And I’m willing to bet you’ve discovered that having good links to your site is one of the top three factors that will increase your page rank on search results.
    So now you just need to get a bunch of backlinks out there, right? Easy enough.
    Depending on your industry, scaling your linking efforts sufficiently to meet or beat the competition can be challenging, especially if you work for a small or medium-sized business (SMB).
    Perhaps your competitors are industry giants with far more financial resources and personnel than you. Perhaps their size isn’t the issue, but they have found ways to generate a prodigious amount of links every month. So you may be tempted to generate as many links as you can, no matter where or how.
    But wait. It turns out that not all links are created equal. And focusing on link quantity rather than link quality can hurt you more than it helps. So you need to learn how to create high-quality backlinks at scale.
    Here are a few tips for building a portfolio of high-quality links to your site that will improve your business’s visibility.

    How to Create High-Quality Content Worthy of Backlinks
    There’s an old saying that “Content is king”, and it remains as true today as when it was first uttered by none other than Bill Gates.
    But, just as with your backlinks, content must be high-quality to make a difference. And that means that your website must have relevant, authoritative and engaging content to make it worthy of backlinks.

    The better your content, the more likely you will generate organic links rather than having to create your own backlinks.

    For SMBs that have neither the time nor the personnel to build useful content internally, there is a cost-effective solution: freelance content writers. Of course, freelance writers do come with costs. Indeed, you can expect to pay as much as $45 an hour or more for highly experienced, quality content creators. However, experienced freelancers are a good investment, as they are extremely efficient, and you can often get useful content quickly.
    1. Create Relevant Content
    When creating content, think about its probable lifespan. Content about an issue that will fade from your audience’s consciousness quickly will have limited effect on your backlinking strategy. So, you should take into account how long your content will remain relevant to your prospective audience.
    Can you easily update content to reflect changes rather than simply letting the content expire? Updating content reinforces your expertise and is a simple way to create new content with little added effort.
    As a general rule, you should review your content frequently to make sure that it remains relevant or valuable and repair or replace broken links.
    2. Become an Authority on a Business-relevant Topic
    It’s a simple fact that people like to cite experts. Authoritative, well-crafted content sets you up as an expert in your field. Other writers will create more organic links to your content, and you may even get opportunities to insert quotes into different pieces, allowing you more opportunities to build backlinks.
    Building relationships also helps build your expertise. Working with reporters or industry organizations can reinforce your status, and when the time comes that they need a source to cite, they can call you.
    Never underestimate connections within your own company, as these relationships help you extend your reputation. They also keep you informed about company activities that may serve as unexpected linking opportunities.
    Protect your reputation and the effectiveness of your backlinking strategy by monitoring who links to your content. Links from less reputable sites or, worse yet, from spam sites will hurt all of your efforts.
    3. Use Visuals or Videos in Your Content
    The attention span of the average internet user is relatively short and getting shorter all the time. So your content needs to grab their attention. And that means using visual hooks to catch the reader’s eye and break up the monotony of long pages of text.
    Images, infographics, and videos create reader engagement with your content, increasing the likelihood that they will follow your backlink cues. Well-crafted images also draw the reader further in by providing them with summaries and overviews of your content. But choose your visuals carefully: Stock photos, for instance, will be much less impactful than unique images that directly relate to the material.
    Because you will want the same from others who link to your content, make sure to properly attribute the sources of any images or video you use from other sources.
    4. Reuse Your Content
    No matter how you created your content, you invested resources to do so: researching, writing, creating graphics, and more. Make the most of those resources by repurposing your existing content. It is infinitely less costly and time-consuming to modify content for other uses than to create entirely new content from scratch.
    There are many ways to reuse your existing content. For example, did your research uncover data that you didn’t use but could be helpful for another piece? Could you take a slightly different approach to an issue building on what you have already created? Did you produce graphics that you can post on your social media accounts? 
    Keep in mind that repurposing content does not mean just dumping the same piece in several locations. You still need to create unique, high-quality content that is more than a verbatim repetition of existing content. But you can certainly increase your efficiency and speed of content creation by leveraging your existing efforts.
    Yes, SEO Matters
    For high-scale quality backlinking endeavors, the more you know about SEO, the better. Most search results are never clicked, and the likelihood that a user will click through to your page if you are not in the top three search results is negligible.
    However, if you can manage to get in the top three positions, your odds increase drastically. The top result will get clicked 30% of the time, compared to 15% for the second and 10% for the third.
    Keywords are still an essential tool for increasing your page rankings when they are properly used. And as you increase your page rank by incorporating frequently used keywords, you increase the likelihood that others will create links to your content.
    While not directly tied to scaling your linking efforts, you should ensure that you have properly secured your site. Site security is always an essential task for any business to maintain the business’s reputation and client base. And because cybercriminals are now using company SEO efforts as an attack vector, as you scale up your backlinking efforts, you must remain vigilant for attempted exploits.
    Building an effective linking strategy involves more than just getting as many links as you can from anywhere at any time. It requires the thought and effort necessary to create content people will see as worthy of their links. But the businesses that make the investment in high-quality content will find it pays off.

  • Leadership Advice from 5 Black-Owned Business Leaders

    Welcome to Breaking the Blueprint — a new blog series that dives into the unique business challenges and opportunities of Black business owners and entrepreneurs. Learn how they’ve grown or scaled their businesses, explored entrepreneurial ventures within their companies, or created side hustles, and how their stories can inspire and inform your own success.
    Leadership is comprised of a combination of skills business leaders leverage to lead entire companies.
    Whether you’re the VP of Marketing or informally viewed as a leader within your team, it’s vital as a leader that you know how to help others achieve a common goal.
    Here, we asked Black business leaders across a variety of industries what they’ve learned about leading a Black-owned business. Keep reading to learn what they had to say.

    1. Know Your Numbers
    “Know your numbers,” says Kimberly Bryant (@6Gems), Founder & CEO of Black Girls Code, whose mission centers around a very big number: Empowering 1 million young women of color, ages 7-17, “to become innovators in STEM fields”, by 2040.

    Knowing your numbers is key to measuring the growth of your business and securing investments.

    Bryant recommends “[understand] your reach, customer conversion metrics, revenues, and expenses front to back.”
    Hiring a professional is also highly recommended, but doesn’t negate a business leader’s responsibility to “understand the intricacies of your business finances. This will help you lead and drive your organization forward through storms and triumphs.”
    2. Strengthen Emotional Intelligence
    During the growing pains of any business, it becomes increasingly important for leaders to manage their emotions.
    “Emotional intelligence will make or break your leadership journey with your team and clients,” says Sherrell Dorsey (@sherrell_dorsey), founder of TP Insights, a newsletter on Black founders and innovations that has grown into investigating and reporting on Black tech trends, stories, and breaking news.
    Black business owners are subject to harsh and even humiliating experiences fueled by racism and sexism on top of the everyday challenges of building a business.
    When the work gets frustrating and tempers run hot, Dorsey cautions, “It’s a life-long journey to learn the art of mastering ourselves to navigate challenging times and lead when we feel the weight of the world, but exercising that EQ muscle will shape our forward trajectories when we invest in it frequently and ruthlessly.”
    The Harvard Business review backs this up, with emotional intelligence accounting for “nearly 90 percent of what sets high performers apart from peers with similar technical skills and knowledge.”
    3. Practice Self-Care
    One way to build emotional intelligence is through self-care — as the common saying goes, “Always put on your own oxygen mask first.”

    As a long-time serial entrepreneur and industry leader, Wayne Sutton (@WayneSutton), founder of The Icon Project — a company that addresses mental health and professional development needs for Black & Brown men in the tech industry — says, “You need to practice self-care to be emotionally prepared to lead others,” says Sutton.
    It’s hard to show up for others when you’re struggling to show up for yourself. All too often, this can lead to stress, exhaustion and burnout. Take the time for yourself in order to excel as a leader.
    4. Be Relentless … With Your Calendar
    André Blackman (@mindofandre), is the Founder & CEO of Onboard Health, a specialized executive search and talent advisory firm dedicated to building an equitable future of health. Backman encourages being “relentless with your calendar around creating buffer/space for thinking.”
    Time is a precious resource we can never keep or replenish. Which is why it’s important to know where your time is going and to make time for yourself. To make sound decisions, leaders need space for reflection and deep thinking. That’s hard to do on a full schedule.
    “While tackling fires, writing emails, and providing customer or client results are sometimes necessary, having time for yourself to process and look ahead is essential,” urges Blackman.

    5. Ask Big, Bold & Expansive Questions
    Tony Robbins once said, “The quality of your questions determine the quality of your life and business.” This quote rings true for Felecia Hatcher (@FeleciaHatcher), co-founder of the Center for Black Innovation, a research think tank building equitable pathways to rid Black communities of innovation deserts.
    Hatcher is no stranger to both asking and receiving big, bold questions. This is why she encourages Black business leaders to get into the habit of doing the same with their team — and themselves.
    “We must ask big, bold and expansive questions to ourselves and the people around us.” From these questions can emerge “insights [that] will help inform your best next moves.”

    You may be the leader, but you don’t have all the answers. By asking “big, bold, and expansive questions”, you can find the possibilities with your team.
    Leadership starts with taking care of yourself, your team, and the business as a whole. The lessons in leadership these Black-owned business leaders have shared is just the tip of the iceberg and a great starting point for others to apply right now. Practicing these tips now can improve your leadership for the long run.

  • Best Feedback on Calcium Ammonium Nitrate

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  • Looking for feedbacks~ My friend made a site for e-commerce sellers ~

    My friend is running a small e-commerce business. He made a navigate website for his own use, but later I suggested that he share this website online to see if e-commerce sellers need this website or not. If people love it, he may consider it seriously as a business. There’re also a lot of marketing tools. I think he could also use some suggestions from redditors. LOL Woospy
    submitted by /u/Sixeven2021 [link] [comments]

  • 25 Stunning Instagram Themes (& How to Borrow Them for Your Own Feed)

    Nowadays, Instagram is often someone’s initial contact with a brand, and nearly half of its users
    shop on the platform each week. If it’s the entryway for half of your potential sales, don’t you want your profile to look clean and inviting?
    Taking the time to create an engaging Instagram feed aesthetic is one of the most effective ways to persuade someone to follow your business’s Instagram account or peruse your posts. You only have one chance to make a good first impression — so it’s critical that you put effort into your Instagram feed.
    Finding the perfect place to start is tough — where do you find inspiration? What color scheme should you use? How do you organize your posts so they look like a unit?
    We know you enjoy learning by example, so we’ve compiled the answers to all of these questions in a list of stunning Instagram themes. We hope these inspire your own feed’s transformation. But beware, these feeds are so desirable, you’ll have a hard time choosing just one.

    Tools to Create Your Own Instagram Theme
    Creating a theme on your own requires a keen eye for detail. When you’re editing several posts a week that follow the same theme, you’ll want to have a design tool handy to make that workflow easier. Pre-set filters, color palettes, and graphic elements are just a few of the features these tools use, but if you have a sophisticated theme to maintain, a few of these tools include advanced features like video editing and layout previews. Here are our top five favorite tools to use when editing photos for an Instagram theme.
    1. VSCO

    Creators look to VSCO when they want to achieve the most unique photo edits. This app is one of the top-ranked photo editing tools among photographers because it includes advanced editing features without needing to pull out all the stops in Photoshop. If you’re in a hurry and want to create an Instagram theme quickly, use one of the 200+ VSCO presets including name-brand designs by Kodak, Agfa, and Ilford. If you’ll be including video as part of your content lineup on Instagram, you can use the same presets from the images so every square of content blends seamlessly into the next no matter what format it’s in.
    2. FaceTune2

    FaceTune2 is a powerful photo editing app that can be downloaded on the App Store or Google Play. The free version of the app includes all the basic editing features like brightness, lighting, cropping, and filters. The pro version gives you more detailed control over retouching and background editing. For video snippets, use FaceTune Video to make detailed adjustments right from your mobile device — you’ll just need to download the app separately for that capability. If you’re starting to test whether an Instagram theme is right for your brand, FaceTune2 is an affordable tool worth trying.
    3. Canva

    You know Canva as a user-friendly and free option to create graphics, but it can be a powerful photo editing tool to curate your Instagram theme. For more abstract themes that mix imagery with graphic art, you can add shapes, textures, and text to your images. Using the photo editor, you can import your image and adjust the levels, add filters, and apply unique effects to give each piece of content a look that’s unique to your brand.
    4. Adobe Illustrator

    Image Source
    Have you ever used Adobe Illustrator to create interesting overlays and tints for images? You can do the same thing to develop your Instagram theme. Traditionally, Adobe Illustrator is the go-to tool to create vectors and logos, but this software has some pretty handy features for creating photo filters and designs. Moreover, you can layout your artboards in an Instagram-style grid to see exactly how each image will appear in your feed.
    5. Photoshop

    Photoshop is the most well-known photo editing software, and it works especially well for creating Instagram themes. If you have the capacity to pull out all the stops and tweak every detail, Photoshop will get the job done. Not only are the editing, filter, and adjustment options virtually limitless, Photoshop is great for batch processing the same edits across several images in a matter of seconds. You’ll also optimize your workflow by using photoshop to edit the composition, alter the background, and remove any unwanted components of an image without switching to another editing software to add your filter. With Photoshop, you have complete control over your theme which means you won’t have to worry about your profile looking exactly like someone else’s.
    1. Transition
    If you aren’t set on one specific Instagram theme, consider the transition theme. With this aesthetic, you can experiment with merging colors every couple of images. For example, you could start with a black theme and include beige accents in every image. From there, gradually introduce the next color, in this case, blue. Eventually, you’ll find that your Instagram feed will seamlessly transition between the colors you choose which keeps things interesting without straying from a cohesive look and feel.

    Image Source
    2. Black and White
    A polished black and white theme is a good choice to evoke a sense of sophistication. The lack of color draws you into the photo’s main subject and suggests a timeless element to your business. @Lisedesmet’s black and white feed, for instance, focuses the user’s gaze on the image’s subject, like the black sneakers or white balloon.

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    3. Bright Colors
    If your company’s brand is meant to imply playfulness or fun, there’s probably no better way than to create a feed full of bright colors. Bright colors are attention-grabbing and lighthearted, which could be ideal for attracting a younger audience. @Aww.sam’s feed, for instance, showcases someone who doesn’t take herself too seriously.

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    4. Minimalist
    For an artsier edge, consider taking a minimalist approach to your feed, like @emwng does. The images are inviting and slightly whimsical in their simplicity, and cultivate feelings of serenity and stability. The pup pics only add wholesomeness to this minimalist theme. Plus, minimalist feeds are less distracting by nature, so it can be easier to get a true sense of the brand from the feed alone, without clicking on individual posts.

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    5. One Color
    One of the easiest ways to pick a theme for your feed is to choose one color and stick to it — this can help steer your creative direction, and looks clean and cohesive from afar. It’s particularly appealing if you choose an aesthetically pleasing and calm color, like the soft pink used in the popular hashtag #blackwomeninpink.

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    6. Two Colors
    If you’re interested in creating a highly cohesive feed but don’t want to stick to the one-color theme, consider trying two. Two colors can help your feed look organized and clean — plus, if you choose branded colors, it can help you create cohesion between your other social media sites the website itself. I recommend choosing two contrasting colors for a punchy look like the one shown in @Dreaming_outloud’s profile.

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    7. Pastels
    Similar to the one-color idea, it might be useful to choose one color palette for your feed, like @creativekipi’s use of pastels. Pastels, in particular, often used for Easter eggs or cupcake decorations, appear childlike and cheerful. Plus, they’re captivating and unexpected.

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    8. One Subject
    As evident from @mustdoflorida’s feed (and username), it’s possible to focus your feed on one singular object or idea — like beach-related objects and activities in Florida. If you’re aiming to showcase your creativity or photography skills, it could be compelling to create a feed where each post follows one theme.

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    9. Puzzle
    Creating a puzzle out of your feed is complicated and takes some planning, but can reap big rewards in terms of uniqueness and engaging an audience. @Juniperoats’ posts, for instance, make the most sense when you look at it from the feed, rather than individual posts. It’s hard not to be both impressed and enthralled by the final result, and if you post puzzle piece pictures individually, you can evoke serious curiosity from your followers.

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    10. Unique Angles
    Displaying everyday items and activities from unexpected angles is sure to draw attention to your Instagram feed. Similar to the way lines create a theme, angles use direction to create interest. Taking an image of different subjects from similar angles can unite even the most uncommon photos into a consistent theme.

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    11. Text Only
    A picture is worth a thousand words, but how many pictures is a well-designed quote worth? Confident Woman Co. breaks the rules of Instagram that say images should have a face in them to get the best engagement. Not so with this Instagram theme.
    The bright colors and highlighted text make this layout aesthetically pleasing both in the Instagram grid format and as a one-off post on the feed. Even within this strict text-only theme, there’s still room to break up the monotony with a type-treated font and textured background like the last image does in the middle row.

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    12. Checkerboard
    If you’re not a big fan of horizontal or vertical lines, you might try a checkerboard theme. Similar to horizontal lines, this theme allows you to alternate between content and images or colors as seen in @thefemalehustlers’ feed.

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    13. Black or White Borders
    While it is a bit jarring to have black or white borders outlining every image, it definitely sets your feed apart from everyone else’s. @Beautifulandyummy, for instance, uses black borders to draw attention to her images, and the finished feed looks both polished and sophisticated. This theme will likely be more successful if you’re aiming to sell fashion products or want to evoke an edgier feel for your brand.

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    14. Same Filter
    If you prefer uniformity, you’ll probably like this Instagram theme, which focuses on using the same filter (or set of filters) for every post. From close up, this doesn’t make much difference on your images, but from afar, it definitely makes the feed appear more cohesive. @marianna_hewitt, for example, is able to make her posts of hair, drinks, and fashion seem more refined and professional, simply by using the same filter for all her posts.

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    15. Flatlays
    If your primary goal with Instagram is to showcase your products, you might want a Flatlay theme. Flatlay is an effective way to tell a story simply by arranging objects in an image a certain way and makes it easier to direct viewers’ attention to a product. As seen in @thedailyedited’s feed, a flatlay theme looks fresh and modern.

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    16. Vintage
    If it aligns with your brand, vintage is a creative and striking aesthetic that looks both artsy and laid-back. And, while “vintage” might sound a little bit vague, it’s easy to conjure. Simply try a filter like Slumber or Aden (built into Instagram), or play around with a third-party editing tool to find a soft, hazy filter that makes your photos look like they were taken from an old polaroid camera.

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    17. Repetition
    In @girleatworld’s Instagram account, you can count on one thing to remain consistent throughout her feed: she’s always holding up food in her hand. This type of repetition looks clean and engaging, and as a follower, it means I always recognize one of her posts as I’m scrolling through my own feed. Consider how you might evoke similar repetition in your own posts to create a brand image all your own.

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    18. Mix-and-match Horizontal and Vertical Borders
    While this admittedly requires some planning, the resulting feed is incredibly eye-catching and unique. Simply use the Preview app and choose two different white borders, Vela and Sole, to alternate between horizontal and vertical borders. The resulting feed will look spaced out and clean.

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    19. Quotes
    If you’re a writer or content creator, you might consider creating an entire feed of quotes, like @thegoodquote feed, which showcases quotes on different mediums, ranging from paperback books to Tweets. Consider typing your quotes and changing up the color of the background, or handwriting your quotes and placing them near interesting objects like flowers or a coffee mug.

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    20. Dark Colors
    @JackHarding’s nature photos are nothing short of spectacular, and he highlights their beauty by filtering with a dark overtone. To do this, consider desaturating your content and using filters with cooler colors, like greens and blues, rather than warm ones. The resulting feed looks clean, sleek, and professional.
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    21. Rainbow
    One way to introduce color into your feed? Try creating a rainbow by slowly progressing your posts through the colors of the rainbow, starting at red and ending at purple (and then, starting all over again). The resulting feed is stunning.

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    22. Doodle
    Most people on Instagram stick to photos and filters, so to stand out, you might consider adding drawings or cartoon doodles on top of (or replacing) regular photo posts. This is a good idea if you’re an artist or a web designer and want to draw attention to your artistic abilities — plus, it’s sure to get a smile from your followers, like these adorable doodles shown below by @josie.doodles.

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    23. Content Elements Similar elements in your photos can create an enticing Instagram theme. In this example by The Container Store Custom Closets, the theme uses shelves or clothes in each image to visually bring the feed together. Rather than each photo appearing as a separate room, they all combine to create a smooth layout that displays The Container Store’s products in a way that feels natural to the viewer.
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    24. Structural Lines
    Something about this Instagram feed feels different, doesn’t it? Aside from the content focusing on skyscrapers, the lines of the buildings in each image turn this layout into a unique theme. If your brand isn’t in the business of building skyscrapers, you can still implement a theme like this by looking for straight or curved lines in the photos your capture. The key to creating crisp lines from the subjects in your photos is to snap them in great lighting and find symmetry in the image wherever possible.

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    25. Horizontal Lines
    If your brand does well with aligning photography with content, you might consider organizing your posts in a thoughtful way — for instance, creating either horizontal or vertical lines, with your rows alternating between colors, text, or even subject distance. @mariahb.makeup employs this tactic, and her feed looks clean and intriguing as a result.

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    How to Create an Instagram Theme
    1. Choose a consistent color palette.
    One major factor of any Instagram theme is consistency. For instance, you wouldn’t want to regularly change your theme from black-and-white to rainbow — this could confuse your followers and damage your brand image. Of course, a complete company rebrand might require you to shift your Instagram strategy, but for the most part, you want to stay consistent with the types of visual content you post on Instagram.
    For this reason, you’ll need to choose a color palette to adhere to when creating an Instagram theme. Perhaps you choose to use brand colors. HubSpot’s Instagram, for instance, primarily uses blues, oranges, and teal, three colors prominently displayed on HubSpot’s website and products.
    Alternatively, maybe you choose one of the themes listed above, such as black-and-white. Whatever the case, to create an Instagram theme, it’s critical you stick to a few colors throughout all of your content.
    2. Use the same filter for each post, or edit each post similarly.
    As noted above, consistency is a critical element in any Instagram theme, so you’ll want to find your favorite one or two filters and use them for each of your posts. You can use Instagram’s built-in filters, or try an editing app like VSCO or Snapseed. Alternatively, if you’re going for a minimalist look, you might skip filters entirely and simply use a few editing features, like contrast and exposure.
    Whatever you choose, though, you’ll want to continue to edit each of your posts similarly to create a cohesive feed.
    3. Use a visual feed planner to plan posts far in advance.
    It’s vital that you plan your Instagram posts ahead of time for a few different reasons, including ensuring you post a good variety of content and that you post it during a good time of day.
    Additionally, when creating an Instagram theme, you’ll need to plan posts in advance to figure out how they fit together — like puzzle pieces, your individual pieces of content need to reinforce your theme as a whole. To plan posts far in advance and visualize how they reinforce your theme, you’ll want to use a visual Instagram planner like Later or Planoly. Best of all, you can use these apps to preview your feed and ensure your theme is looking the way you want it to look before you press “Publish” on any of your posts.
    4. Don’t lock yourself into a theme you can’t enjoy for the long haul.
    In middle school, I often liked to change my “look” — one day I aimed for preppy, and the next I chose a more athletic look. Of course, as I got older, I began to understand what style I could stick with for the long haul and started shopping for clothes that fit my authentic style so I wasn’t constantly purchasing new clothes and getting sick of them a few weeks later.
    Similarly, you don’t want to choose an Instagram theme you can’t live with for a long time. Your Instagram theme should be an accurate reflection of your brand, and if it isn’t, it probably won’t last. Just because rainbow colors sound interesting at the get-go doesn’t mean it’s a good fit for your company’s social media aesthetic as a whole.
    When in doubt, choose a more simple theme that provides you the opportunity to get creative and experiment without straying too far off-theme.
    How to Use an Instagram Theme on Your Profile
    1. Choose what photos you want to post before choosing your theme.
    When you start an Instagram theme, there are so many options to choose from. Filters, colors, styles, angles — the choices are endless. But it’s important to keep in mind that these things won’t make your theme stand out. The content is still the star of the show. If the images aren’t balanced on the feed, your theme will look like a photo dump that happens to have the same filter on it.
    To curate the perfect Instagram theme, choose what photos you plan to post before choosing a theme. I highly recommend laying these photos out in a nine-square grid as well so you can see how the photos blend together.
    2. Don’t forget the captions.
    Sure, no one is going to see the captions of your Instagram photos when they’re looking at your theme in the grid-view, but they will see them when you post each photo individually. There will be times when an image you post may be of something abstract, like the corner of a building, an empty suitcase, or a pair of sunglasses. On their own, these things might not be so interesting, but a thoughtful caption that ties the image to your overall theme can help keep your followers engaged when they might otherwise check out and keep scrolling past your profile.
    If you’re having a bit of writer’s block, check out these 201 Instagram captions for every type of post.
    3. Switch up your theme with color blocks.
    Earlier, we talked about choosing a theme that you can commit to for the long haul. But there’s an exception to that rule — color transitions. Some of the best themes aren’t based on a specific color at all. Rather than using the same color palette throughout the Instagram feed, you can have colors blend into one another with each photo. This way, you can include a larger variety of photos without limiting yourself to specific hues.
    A Cohesive Instagram Theme At Your Fingertips
    Instagram marketing is more than numbers. As the most visual social media platform today, what you post and how it looks directly affects engagement, followers, and how your brand shows up online. A cohesive Instagram theme can help your brand convey a value proposition, promote a product, or execute a campaign. Colors and filters make beautiful themes, but there are several additional ways to stop your followers mid-scroll with a fun, unified aesthetic.
    Editor’s note: This post was originally published in August 2018 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

  • How to Use Medium: A Beginner’s Guide to Writing, Publishing & Promoting on the Platform

    What do the White House, Sports Illustrated, and my cousin Jimmy all have in common?
    They all publish content on Medium.
    For the White House, that content includes State of the Union addresses and policy announcements. Sports Illustrated, meanwhile, manages a sports news publication called The Cauldron. My cousin Jimmy? He publishes an ongoing series on advanced cat grooming techniques.
    And that, my friends, is Medium in microcosm.

    What is Medium?
    Medium is a social publishing platform that is open to all and home to a diverse array of stories, ideas, and perspectives. Anyone can be an individual contributor, and popular topics on Medium range from mental health to social media, and from world affairs and trending news to productivity hacks. 
    As Medium founder (and Blogger creator/Twitter co-founder) Ev Williams wrote when he first launched the platform in 2012:

    “Medium is not about who you are or whom you know, but about what you have to say.”

    To help emphasize the importance of what it is you’re saying, the overall design of Medium is minimalistic, featuring lots of white space and limited formatting options. Want to change the header typeface to Comic Sans? You can’t. Medium won’t allow for such atrocities of design.
    But that’s just one of many little nuances that come with the territory for Medium users. In fact, if you’re just getting started on the platform, there’s a fair amount to learn before you hit publish. Let’s get into it …
    Writing for Medium
    Anyone who has a Medium account can write for Medium — there’s no other vetting process involved. To get started, simply sign up for a free Medium account (or upgrade to the full $5/month membership for unlimited access), and you’re ready to start writing from there.
    However, your post needs to adhere to Medium’s content guidelines and rules. For instance, you can’t promote controversial or extreme content on your Medium account. You can’t facilitate buying or selling social media interactions, including off-platform. And you can’t publish anything considered affiliate marketing content. 
    For the full list of rules in regards to content, take a look at this post on Medium Rules. 
    As a marketer, Medium presents an opportunity for you to reach a new audience with your content. The platform is geared toward sharing longer-form, more well-thought-out content. (But of course, given the open-to-all nature of Medium, that isn’t the only type of content you find there.)
    Whether you’re looking into Medium for its publishing capabilities or you simply want to learn more about the platform before you set up an account and start exploring, you’ve come to the right place.
    How to Use Medium
    Getting Started With Medium
    1. Creating an Account
    While it’s true that anyone can view Medium content (regardless of whether or not they have a Medium account), in order to publish and interact with folks on the platform, you need to have an account and be logged in.
    Fortunately, you can create an account in less than a minute by going to Medium.com and clicking the “Get started” button in the center of the page (or the “Sign in / Sign up” link at the top of the page). From there you’ll have three different sign-up options to choose from: Google, Facebook, and email.
    My recommendation: Sign up for Medium using Facebook. That way all of your existing connections from Facebook who are on Medium will automatically be following your account once it’s created. This saves you the trouble of having to build up a new audience entirely from scratch.
    Regardless of the option you go with to start, you can always link your Twitter or Facebook to your Medium account later via the “Connections” tab in the Settings menu:

    The Settings menu is also where you can update your username/profile page URL. If you sign up with Twitter, your profile page URL, by default, will be medium.com/@YourTwitterHandle. But you’re free to change it. From the Settings menu you can also control what email notifications you receive from Medium. (You’ll learn about what triggers these notifications in the sections to follow.)The other main things to remember when it comes to setup? Adding a profile photo and writing up a short (160-character max) bio for your Medium profile page. (Note: If you sign up using Twitter, your Twitter profile photo and bio will be automatically synced to your Medium account.)
    2. Following People, Publications, & Tags
    With a Twitter feed, the content that’s surfaced comes primarily from the accounts of the people and organizations you follow.
    With a Medium feed, the content that’s surfaced comes not only from the accounts of the people and organizations you follow, but also from the publications and tags you follow. What’s more, when you search for content on Medium, people, publications, and tags all show up in the results.

    Medium publications are collections of stories based around a common theme. Anyone can create them — yourself included — and the way they work is fairly straightforward.
    As the creator of a publication, you’re an editor by default, which means you have the ability to a) add writers to your publication, b) edit and publish the stories that are submitted by your writers, and c) review the metrics for all of the stories that are part of your publication. As the publication’s creator, you’ll also have the ability to appoint new editors (so they can do all of that stuff I just mentioned).
    Now, on to tags.
    Tags are sort of like the hashtags of the Medium ecosystem. When you publish a story on Medium, you get the option to add up to three tags, which appear at the bottom of your story. Clicking a tag brings you to a page where you can see more stories with the same tag, as well as some suggestions for other tags you might be interested in.
    The main benefit of following tags is that it can help personalize your Medium experience. Instead of surfacing content based solely on your social graph (i.e., the people/publications you follow), Medium uses tags to surface content that’s based on your specific interests as well. For example, if you’re into baseball, you could follow the “baseball” tag. Into “small fluffy dog breeds”? Yep, there’s a tag for that (granted only one story has been published under it).
    So far in this introduction to Medium, we’ve acted mostly as passive observers. We’ve set up an account, and started following some accounts, publications, and tags. In the next section, we’ll dive into the more interactive aspects of Medium.
    How to Interact With Medium Content
    3. Recommend, share and bookmark content.
    The “Recommend” is the “Like” of the Medium world. It’s a way to show you that you appreciate the content that someone has shared.
    When reading a story on Medium, there are two places where you can recommend it: At the bottom of the actual story, where you see the clapping hand symbol …

    Or on the nav bar that appears at the left of the screen when you scroll through a story …

    In either case, you’ll need to click on the clapping hand icon you see to recommend a story. Once clicked, the hands will change from an outline to solid green. To see the full list of people who’ve recommended a story, you can click on that little number you see next to the heart. (Note: You can clap up to 50 times per post, and you can clap for as many posts as you want.)
    When you recommend a story, the writer, by default, will receive an email notification. (But that’s something you can control in Settings). The more recommends a story receives, the more likely it will be to get shared around the Medium network. Stories that receive the most recommends within a given time period get featured on Medium’s “Top stories” page.
    In the same two locations where you can recommend a story, you can also share that story to Twitter or Facebook (by clicking one of the social icons), and you can bookmark the story for later reading by clicking the bookmark icon (which turns solid once clicked).

    Once you bookmark a story, it will appear on your “Lists” page, which you can access from Medium’s homepage on the bookmark icon: 

    4. Highlight specific words.
    In addition to recommending, sharing, and bookmarking Medium stories, you can unlock a second level of interaction by selecting a section of text with your cursor. Once you’ve highlighted some text, a pop-up menu will appear that gives you four options:

    Highlight: Clicking the highlighter icon (pencil symbol) will put a green highlight around the text you’ve selected, which is visible to your Medium followers. By default, a story’s writer will receive a notification when a section of that story is highlighted.

    Response: Clicking the speech bubble icon will allow you to write a response to the story you’re reading. The section of text you’ve highlighted will appear at the top of your response. (More on responses in a second!)

    Text Shot: Clicking the Twitter icon will generate a “Text Shot,” which is a tweet that automatically pulls in the text you’ve highlighted as a screenshot.

    Private Note: Clicking the lock icon will allow you to send the writer of the story a private note. (Note: This functionality can be turned on and off in your account settings.)

    5. Write responses.
    Unlike traditional blog comments, Medium responses are treated as individual stories. That means in addition to appearing at the bottoms of the stories you respond to, the responses you write are documented on your profile page, and have the potential to take off and get highly circulated just like traditional stories.

    As a newcomer to Medium, writing responses can be a great way to engage with people on the platform without having to commit to writing a full-blown story. It can also help you come up with ideas for your first story when you do decide to write it.
    How to Write and Publish on Medium
    6. Format text in your posts.
    From the Medium homepage, you can access the Medium editor and start writing or laying out a story by clicking on your profile icon at the top-right of the Medium page, and then selecting “Write a story”: 

    As you’ll likely discover, writing in Medium’s editor is highly intuitive and — from a stylistic perspective — nearly impossible to screw up.
    By highlighting text, you can unveil several basic formatting options, including bold, italics, and hyperlinking. You can also designate text as an H1 or as an H2 (using the big T or little t) …
    And you can choose between two different styles of blockquotes. Option A:
    And Option B:
    Of course, if you really want to get fancy, you can use Medium’s drop caps function. Know those enlarged, stylized letters you sometimes see at the beginning of sentences? Those are drop caps. According to the Medium team, they’re useful for “pacing, starting a new chapter, or just a little typographical delight.”
    Another option for creating some separation between different sections of a story in Medium is to use a part, or separator. In order to insert one, you’ll first need to click that little plus icon that appears when you’re on an empty line of your story.

    Clicking that plus icon will open up a menu with four options. The one on the far right — the icon with the two little lines — is the separator.

     Here’s what it looks like on the page:

    7. Add images and media.
    Adding images, videos, and other media (e.g., tweets) to your Medium story can be as simple as copying and pasting their URLs into Medium’s editor. The editor, in most cases, can automatically recognize the media’s format and render it accordingly.
    Alternatively, you can click on the plus icon to open the same menu you used to insert the separator in the previous step. From there, you can upload an image from your computer, insert a URL to a video, or insert the embed code to another type of media using the corresponding icons.

    Depending on the specific size of the image you upload, you’ll have two different size options to choose from for displaying that image. These size options, which will appear in a pop-up menu after you insert an image, include left-aligned and center-aligned.

    By default, Medium will display the formatting option that best fits the dimensions of the image you insert.
    8. Share drafts and publish posts.
    When you’ve finished your story and are happy with how everything looks, head up to the top nav where you’ll find two links: “Share” and “Publish.”
    Clicking “Share” will generate a link to the draft of your story, which you can share with anyone — even if they don’t have a Medium account. And the people you share the draft with will also have the option of leaving you notes.
    Clicking the “Publish” button, meanwhile, will open a menu where you can select up to three tags for your story.
    Medium will recommend some tags by default, but you can also search for tags and create new ones by simply entering text.

    Once you’ve selected tags for your story, you can hit the “Publish” button to share your story with the world.
    9. Measure your results.
    In order to see how your stories (and responses) are performing, you can go to the “Stats” page using the URL medium.com/me/stats. You can also navigate to the “Stats” page via the dropdown menu at the top right of the Medium homepage (the bell icon).
    When you arrive on the “Stats” page, you’ll first see the aggregate number of views, reads, and recommends your stories and responses have received over the past 30 days. There’s also a graph that provides day-by-day granularity. By hovering over a column on the graph, you can view metrics for the specific day to which that column corresponds.

    If you keep scrolling down the page, you’ll be able to view the individual stats for each of your stories. Specifically, Medium provides data on views, reads, read ratio, and recommends.

    Here’s a quick rundown on what those metrics mean:

    Views: The number of people who visited a story’s page.

    Reads: An estimate of how many visitors read a story all the way through.

    Read Ratio: The percentage of visitors that ends up reading an entire story (i.e., the difference between reads and views). According to Ev Williams, this ratio is an important factor in determining how a story gets ranked/surfaced on Medium.

    Recommends: The number of recommends a story receives. 

    The Medium App 
    If you prefer consuming and interacting with content on-the-go, consider downloading the Medium app. The app features the same stories and content you’ll find on desktop, with the added bonus of a mobile-first interface. 
    On the app, you can surface content related to your interests. These curated lists depend on the tags, publications, or authors you follow. You can also use the app’s Explore feature to find new, interesting content. Similarly to desktop, you can use the app to engage with fellow Medium readers and join conversations as they’re happening. 

    Remember, this was just an introductory look at how to use Medium. There are several more features and options we haven’t covered, but we’ll do so in future posts.

  • Can automating digital marketing be beneficial for to companies?

    Digital marketing has become a prominent field that almost any kind of companies do not live without. How well you market your services and product depends your sale growth. But what if some businesses need to automate it so that it can provide attention where needed the most? Well, Ojamu is a artificial intelligence based digital marketing platform to predict and automate the most effective digital marketing strategies with the help of blockchain technology. Ojamu’s Neural Predictive Engine and platform form the core IP and the basis of its customer offerings. It can be proven time saving and cost effective solution to brands in my opinion. What’s your view?
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  • E-Marketing – Pros And Cons | The Enterprise World

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