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  • Best Fashion & Retail Marketing Agencies in Canada with Great Case Studies – Digital Marketing

    Best Fashion & Retail Marketing Agencies in Canada with Great Case Studies – Digital Marketing

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    Fashion and retail marketing agencies in Canada are guiding brands through their digital journey. Marketing is a big step that leads to success that shines like a star in many sectors including fashion and retail.

    In today’s digital world, every fashion brand needs a content marketing agency because they make creative use of social media and develop content that accelerates sales using the latest technology.

    There are countless contributions of marketing to brands that we cannot finish counting. They can provide many improving benefits for your fashion brand because they’re offering the advantage of the talents and experiences of the marketing agencies specialized in fashion and retail. With the support of these marketing agencies, you can

    • increase your sales, 
    • improve brand awareness, 
    • increase loyalty,
    • reach more customers at low cost and more.

    Best fashion and retail marketing agencies in Canada

    The best fashion and retail marketing agencies in Canada with great case studies first get to know your brand and your potential and existing customers. Then, they determine and implement the most accurate and appropriate strategies according to your brand needs and goals, and bring you the best results.

    A fashion and retail marketing agency helps you boost your brand image, position your company in search rankings, or manage your social media presence.

    Here are the best fashion and retail marketing agencies in Canada with great case studies:

    • War Room Inc
    • Fluency Digital
    • DIJGTAL
    • Massive Media
    • Green W
    • Blue Meta
    • Major Tom

    War Room Inc

    War Room Inc is a boutique digital advertising agency that specializes 100% in programmatic. They instantly tell you exactly

    • where your digital spend is going,
    • why it’s working, and
    • how to do more of it, without costing you too much.

    They are expertly trained to deliver highly specialized, intensely challenging programmatic ad campaigns that are beyond the means of traditional agencies.

    With War Room Inc’s expert team’s abilities, you can benefit your brand in many ways. Specifically, their services include optimization & deep analytics, innovative strategies, digital advertising campaigns, personal account manager, straightforward reports, PPC marketing, social media marketing, and more.


    Fluency Digital

    Fluency Digital is a women-owned web design and digital marketing agency based in Toronto and Niagara. Above all, they are a team of award-winning designers, content creators, digital strategists, and most importantly entrepreneurs. The team help understand your passion for business and your challenges in the Canadian market. Therefore, they provide the best returns.

    Fluency Digital has partnered with customers from many big brands. As a result of their long experiences, the services they offer services to strengthen your digital presence.

    Their services cover web design & development, paid search & social ads, video production, branding & design, SEO & accessibility, social media marketing, e-commerce, and digital strategy.


    DIJGTAL

    DIJGTAL is another of the best fashion and retail agencies in Canada. They are a strategic marketing agency based in Canada. They help transform complex business problems into ingenious human-led solutions. DIJGTAL team has helped many partners flourish in competitive industries. No matter what you’re trying to achieve, they have the experience to deliver the results.

    The agency provides services by focusing this process on tactics that have been validated by years of research. To clarify, their services include search engine optimization, pay-per-click management, social media advertising, content marketing, interactive advertising, inbound marketing.


    Massive Media

    best fashion and retail marketing agencies in Canadabest fashion and retail marketing agencies in Canada

    Massive Media is another leading branding and experience design agency with offices in Vancouver, Toronto, and New York. They approach every project with a purpose-built team of creative specialists, composed of category experts and culturally aligned natives.

    The team also formulate strategies that define the brands of their partners, pushing the boundaries of human experience in a digital-first world. They are a team of international experts united by a single goal. They create category-defining brands and digital experiences that make an impact, shape culture, and connect people.

    The range of services Massive Media offer is quite wide including brand strategy, UX and UI design, technical planning, prototyping, usability testing, research and strategy, digital, social, and branded content, reporting, and optimization.


    Green W

    best fashion and retail marketing agencies in Canadabest fashion and retail marketing agencies in Canada

    Green W is an international group focused on integrated digital marketing based in Europe and Canada. Their experts are specialized in online advertising and search marketing backed by data intelligence. The biggest thing that distinguishes Green W from others is their partnerships. They have worked with many world brands such as Prada, Apple, Ikea, Armani, Allianz, Bvlgari, Johnson & Johnson.

    Green W is among the best fashion and retail marketing agencies in Canada. Here is why: their 22 years of experience joining digital advertising and marketing technology enables them to offer you the necessary services in the best way. They can help you with data intelligence and measurement, user trust management, campaign management, digital acceleration, SEO, social media, visual content, and more.


    Blue Meta

    Blue Meta is a digital agency with strong financial acumen with marketing and technology to transform your businesses. Most importantly, they transform companies by creating a scalable marketing ecosystem of measurement, testing, and iteration.

    The team combines strong financial and business insight with expert data analysis and a deep understanding of current technologies. Moreover, they scale your business by quantifying the profitability of each tactic.

    They use the latest technology, data, and creativity to build systems that drive consistent and predictable revenue growth. Blue Meta provides many services such as branding, content marketing, web design & development, e-commerce, PPC marketing, digital strategy, inbound marketing, and more.


    Major Tom

    best fashion and retail marketing agencies in Canadabest fashion and retail marketing agencies in Canada

    Major Tom is a full-service digital agency. The team helps your ROI and ROAS blast off with planning and performance under one roof. They will get you strategic innovation as well as top-tier tactical execution. It’s full of experts team made up of some of the brightest minds from all corners of the web who humanize digital marketing. They are custom-picked to suit your organization’s needs.

    Major Tom’s partnership experiences with long-term clients such as LÓREAL, Canon, Mark Anthony, BioSil. They offer services such as digital strategy, paid search, brand strategy, SEO, eCommerce strategy, social media, content marketing. Moreover, you can get help for e-commerce development, Shopify plus, UX/UI design, customer journey, WordPress development.


    In conclusion, we have listed the best fashion and retail marketing agencies in Canada with great case studies. They can create winning strategies that increase loyalty, reach more customers and keep your existing customers.

    We recommend reviewing the most reliable agencies listed above while choosing the best partner for your business needs.

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  • How to Set Up a Solid Social Media Strategy for 2021 – Media

    How to Set Up a Solid Social Media Strategy for 2021 – Media

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    A successful social media presence needs a profound social media strategy outlining how you aim to reach your goals.

    Social media have changed the way we make business and communicate with each other. They are valuable marketing channels for traditional businesses as well as for entrepreneurs and startups. Hardly any business can afford to skip social media because this is the place where your customers are.  3.81 billion people use social media worldwide! That’s almost half of the entire world’s population. No marketing channel has ever made it possible to reach that many people.

    However, social media can boost or bust your marketing success. And just as any business venture without a business strategy is most likely to fail, your social media presence is doomed to fail without a solid plan.

    Don’t just jump on the bandwagon, just because your competitors do.  Think about your overall approach before you start venturing into the world of social media.  

    Successful social media marketing does not start and end with joining a social network, setting up a profile, loading your feeds with tons of content. It takes more to attract the attention of your targets and to keep them happy. 

    It requires a consistent stream of valuable content and updates, as well as a real conversation with your followers. Without a lively presence and vivid engagement, your social media feeds will soon dwindle into lifeless streams.  

    we dont have a choice whether we do social media the question is how well we do it

    Here are 3 steps to set up a solid plan for your social media venture and to turn your social media strategy into action.

    Step 1. Outline your social media strategy

    The first step before tapping into the social media world is to have a solid social media marketing strategy in place.

    So, start with setting up your goals and targets and tactics: 

    • Goals & KPIs: What is your goal in using social media? Do you want to strengthen your brand and reputation? Do you want to gain likes and followers or gain sales leads? And how do you measure your results? 
    • Targets & Channels: What is the target audience you want to reach? Which social platforms are most likely frequented by your target audience? 
    • Tactics & Content Formats: Which marketing tactics and instruments can you apply on social media? Which content formats can you make use of?
    • Time & Resources: How much time per day/week can be allocated for your social media activities? Who will be responsible for the social media presence and social marketing campaigns? 
    • Reporting & Analysis: How do you measure your performance? What can you learn from your analysis to optimize your strategy?  

    To help you explore the colorful world of social media and to avoid common mistakes, we’ve prepared a complete guide on the perfect times for social media posts for you.

    Social media can suck up a lot of valuable time. A social media strategy will help you to focus on your goals and stick to your plan. 

    Focus on content marketing

    Don’t look at your social media accounts as easy advertising channels for your business or simply as another new shopping window for your products and services. Broadcasting sales messages won’t get you anywhere on social media. Boasting your products and services won’t attract new followers but will drive away existing ones.  

    Valuable content is the fundament of any successful marketing strategy today. Social media users expect real conversation and helpful answers to the questions they have. Create valuable content that helps you elicit the correct response. 

    Connect content marketing with your social media strategy

    It is important to implement your social media strategy into your overall content strategy to create valuable content based on content that already exists in the knowledge treasure trove of your business.  

    For example: 

    • Sales: Your salespeople know about any concerns, worries, and objections your customers have, which you can take up and tear down by creating content with convincing arguments. 
    • Customer Service & Support: On your social media channels you are most likely to be confronted with current service and support issues from your clients and prospects. Your support people know exactly about any problem your customers might have and how to solve them. This information enables you to quickly act and react by sharing helpful FAQs, tutorials, and how-to-videos. 
    • Product Management: Get first-hand information on the launch and pre-launch information. 
    • Public Relations: Get and spread current news from your company and products (adapted for your social media audience). 
    • Marketing & Advertising: Select messages that are worth sharing with your social media community (However, don’t become too “salesy” on social media). 
    • Blog & Copy Writers & Newsletter Editors: Your marketing colleagues most probably already create valuable content that is worth sharing and recycling on social media. 

    Apply the full power of content marketing on social media

    With an integrated social media strategy, which includes and collaborates with relevant members and teams in your business, you can: 

    • make sure to stay consistent with your overall communication strategy, 
    • create and share content based on real challenges, concerns, and questions of real customers,   
    • add curated content to your streams to bring more variation to your feeds and reduce work for creating original content,
    • help existing content to get in front of a wider audience and drive traffic to your blog and website, 
    • respond quickly to requests and issues your followers are posting, 
    • save valuable time and resources by reusing and repurposing existing content
    content marketing plan

    Define social media guidelines and rules

    Before letting your social media team work on the front, everyone needs to understand what you are doing on social media, what is acceptable social media behavior and how to handle crises.  

    Once you are tapping into the world of social media you will inevitably come across internet trolls and critics. Social media guidelines enable your team to handle communication crises when worst comes to worst.

    You will also have to deal with annoyed clients who express their dissatisfaction publicly on social media. Social media guidelines will provide rules for the professional handling of tricky questions, angry comments, and negative reviews.

    Social media guidelines help to avoid costly social media mistakes. A transparent social media policy with an understandable set of rules can prevent communication disasters later down the road.

    Social media guidelines 

    • Empower your social media team to unlock employee advocacy to accurately represent your organization online. 
    • Give your employees something to rely on when it comes to sharing content and answering questions from followers publicly. 
    • Keep a consistent customer experience through all channels and employees. 
    • Protect your company from legal issues and risks like privacy law and unlawful behavior. 
    • Enable your team to handle communication crises and to turn angry customers into raving fans.
    • Help to establish a transparent and credible image of your organization without disclosing proprietary or confidential information. 
    • Safeguard a reliable, trustworthy identity for your company, brands, and products. 

    A clear and understandable set of rules is the key to keeping your corporate communication consistent. Social media guidelines will help you to protect your brand credibility and keep your reputation safe. 

    Step 2: Get your social media marketing into action

    By turning your strategy into a workflow process, you can make sure everyone knows when to do what.

    social media workflow

    Select and customize your content

    Having a social media strategy at hand will make it easier to select the content and applying the tactics that will help your organization to accomplish your goals.

    Your content marketing strategy will help your social media team to capitalize on relevant content for your audience. Sharing your content across multiple channels will increase your overall reach. Existing content will get in front of a wider audience.  

    However, each social network is different and each community reacts differently to contents and formats. And, each social network and community has different peak times for engagement. Customizing and tailoring content formats and comments for each community will increase the chance of getting attention and improve your engagement rate. 

    With the knowledge of the target groups and by analyzing social media platforms and communities, your social media team will much easier harvest the full potential of each piece of content.

    Set up a social media promotion plan 

    Whenever you publish or share a post on a social network, only a fraction of your followers will ever notice your post. And, the lifetime of a social media post is very limited and this lifespan is different from platform to platform. Updating and re-sharing your content will extend the shelf-life of your current content and harvest the power of your evergreen content. 

    To have an impact, every piece of created content needs to be put in front of your target audience multiple times and via multiple channels. Expect to spend 20% of your allocated time for content marketing on content creation and 80% on content promotion.  

    social media cross-promotion plan will help you to implement a profound seeding plan to promote each piece of your valuable content across all suitable marketing channels in the best possible way. And a social media plan will help you to save time for your promotion that you can re-invest into your content creation process.  

    A social media cross-promotion plan helps you to define: 

    With a smart social media automation tool, you will get your daily tasks of scheduling, sharing, and promotion done much easier and faster. 

    This is how often you should post on twitter, facebook, instagram, linkedin, xing and pinterest

    Fill your editorial and social media calendar

    A calendar will give your team an overview of which content needs to be created and processed for which date and when to be shared on which social media channels. It will also show which content has been created, shared, and scheduled and where your plan leaves space for adding content or re-sharing posts. 

    A social media editorial plan and calendar will help you to: 

    • Make it easier to follow your seeding plan for each new piece of content and for re-sharing your evergreen content.
    • Plan your content creation process well ahead. 
    • Leave enough breathing time for reviewing your content to ensure content quality.
    • Create and schedule posts and updates hours, days, weeks and even months in advance.
    • Schedule posts at the best times for each social media platform and community.
    • Spot gaps that can be filled with current content and breaking news.
    • Ensure a consistent stream of quality content across all social media channels.
    Social Media Calendar
    Social Media Calendar by Blog2Social

    Engage with your followers 

    Social media is where the real conversation takes place. Where else do you have the chance to listen to millions of voices of fans and prospects. And where else do you have the chance to speak to millions of customers and prospects, that tell you how they really feel about your company and brand.  

    Interacting with your followers’ comments will nurture your most valuable asset for your business and marketing. 

    Responding to your followers will strengthen the reputation of your brand and customer service while realizing real sales opportunities:  

    • 48% of followers are prompted to make a purchase, just by being responsive (Source: SmartInsights
    • Responding to a complaint on social media can increase customer advocacy by as much 25% (Source: Jay Baer). 
    • Customers are even willing to pay more for brands which are responsive on social media (Source: Social Media Examiner
    • On the other hand, 30% of customers who are shunned by brands on social media are more likely to switch to a competitor. (Source: Sprout Social

    Engaging with your followers

    • enables you to learn the real challenges and worries of your customers and prospects, 
    • gives you the opportunity to respond with the right arguments and answers. 
    • allows you to help and convince your followers with valuable content, 
    • strengthens your reputation as a thought leader, conversation starter, and as an expert in your industry,  
    • provides you with new sales opportunities and boosts your conversion, 
    • gives your brand a human voice. 

    Respond in time

    Social media is a real-time conversation. So, make sure you have a process of responding in time. 

    Engagement with your followers takes time. However, if you have a well thought out social media strategy, workflow, and a plan to create and schedule your content well in advance, this will ensure to leave enough time each day to commit to engaging with your followers.  

    Your social media guidelines and workflow process will ensure your team knows: 

    • Who is responsible for social media interactions 
    • What the deadline for responses is (for instance, in less than 24 hours) 
    • How to handle tricky questions and who to turn to for upcoming shitstorms and crises 

    Step 3: Analyse your results

    Looking at the data is a key task to know what is or isn’t working. Otherwise, your social media marketing will be a shot in the dark, whenever creating, publishing, or sharing a new piece of content. Your performance data shows which types of content your audience really wants. And you can harvest the full power of your best performing content. 

    For example, if a piece of content is performing well, you can repurpose this content in other formats and you can follow up on the content tactic you applied. You will be sure that intensifying your promotion and seeding activities will be a good investment of your time and money. You can follow up on specific aspects your readers have commented on, on questions your readers have raised, or you can invite your readers to add user-generated content. This will increase your reach and extend the lifetime of your content – and well-performing content will strengthen your reputation. 

    If something isn’t working as you expected, you can simply discard it and shift your focus on other things, instead of wasting your valuable time and resources on underperforming campaigns.  

    Look at basic social media metrics

    Your social media statistics show the basics metrics like comments, likes, and shares. Your website stats give you the number of page views, the time readers spend looking at your content and the websites and media and tell you where your visitors came from. These basic metrics can help your team to review and improve your campaigns continuously.  

    Basically, the data you collect from your updates (or campaigns) will help to make better decisions on: 

    • WHAT to publish: the types of content your audience loves to see and to engage with. 
    • HOW to publish: the specific aspects of your content, such as media format, keywords, the way of addressing your audience, . . .     
    • WHERE to publish: the platforms where you are most likely to meet your audience.  
    • WHEN to publish: the days and times your audience is most likely to engage with your content. 
    • HOW OFTEN to share: the number and frequency of repeats and re-shares are appropriate to get more attention without annoying your followers. 

    Based on these data you can adjust your overall content strategy, your promotion and seeding tactics. Performance analysis makes the content creation and promotion process much easier and saves valuable time you can better invest in engagement. 

    Conclusion 

    Using the information above will help you to save valuable time, money, and resources on social media. A social media strategy will enable you to make better decisions and put you on the right path to improve your productivity. And, it will give your team deeper insights into how professional social media marketing should work out. With the right social media and content strategy, basic guidelines for your team, forward planning as well as a basic analysis and review process will help you to master social media marketing in less time and with better results. Smart social media tools and plugins will help you with your tasks in even less time and with fewer resources. This will allow you to harness the full power of social media to boost engagement, leads, and conversion. 

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    Melanie Tamblé
    Melanie Tamblé is co-founder and co-CEO of Adenion GmbH. She is an experienced expert in content marketing and social media.
    Adenion GmbH specializes in online services and tools for bloggers, businesses and agencies of any size to support their online marketing and content seeding tasks on the web.

    Blog2Social as WordPress Plugin and WebApp enable fast and easy auto-posting, scheduling and cross-promotion of blog posts, articles, links, images, videos and documents across multiple social media sites.
    Social media posts will be automatically turned into a customized format for each social platform and auto-scheduled for the best time. Social media post can be previewed and tailored with individual post formats, images or personal comments – all in one easy step.

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  • Let’s Talk About Spanish PPC – SEO

    Let’s Talk About Spanish PPC – SEO

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    Spanish-PPC-Twitter

    As digital marketers, we have all been there — stuck on what to do next and trying to reinvent the wheel. We know what it is like to run out of ideas, to try every strategy, to test every new feature until we get to that point where we have done it all. And then what?

    What if I tell you that in order to come out on top, you don’t need to reinvent things? What if you can try something new while barely changing the way you do things now? What I am talking about is keeping in place all the strategies you know work, along with all the content you know sells, and then simply translating them into the second-most spoken language in the United States.

    Español.

    Why should we focus on Spanish over all other languages?

    Screen Shot 2021-07-22 at 12-14-19 PM-png

    This is a very fair question as there are hundreds of languages spoken in households all across the United States. Over 20% of Americans are bilingual and this segment of the population has more than doubled in the last 30 years. Additionally, the percentage of languages spoken at home is on the rise, from Spanish to Tagalog.

    With so many language options to choose from, the reason I am focusing on Spanish is because, besides English, it is the most commonly-spoken language in the United States.

    And since we are on the subject of bilingual speakers, I have a myth to bust. Most marketers believe that bilingual strategies will only be effective in major metropolitan areas. For this reason, it is not uncommon to see billboard and public transit ads in other languages posted in New York City or Los Angeles. However, these same billboard and public transit ads are not utilized outside major cities and, furthermore, are rarely used in digital marketing. But when you look at the map of the United States and evaluate the number who speak a foreign language at home, you can find pockets of speakers in every state. In fact, the state with the largest percentage increase of foreign language speakers at home was Nevada with a 1,088% increase since 1980. 

    Screen Shot 2021-07-22 at 12.18.15 PM

    The Hispanic population is made up of 60.5 million people which comprises nearly 20% of the country’s population. The United States has more Spanish speakers than every country other than Mexico. Hispanics are the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population; for every two people added to the population, one is Hispanic.

    Hispanics represent 20 different nationalities, but the U.S. population has a large percentage coming from Mexico, Cuba, and Puerto Rico.

    The Hispanic consumer is very important to the U.S. economy because they control $1.5 trillion in buying power. This is up 212% from the last decade! Not only that, their consumption of products and services has increased by 42% in the same time period. Additionally, studies show that 66% of U.S. Hispanics pay attention to online ads and — more importantly — 93% take action after seeing the ads online, rendering them an incredible asset to the world of digital marketing. 

    The real question we need to be asking ourselves is, if they represent such a significant portion of our online population, why is no one talking to them online? They represent a significant portion of the population, they have money, and they have a big desire to spend it. 

    Why should digital marketers invest in Spanish?

    Screen Shot 2021-07-22 at 12.21.59 PMScreen Shot 2021-07-22 at 12.31.14 PM

     

    Let’s dig into how to actually implement the strategy (that is not technically a strategy).

    Setting up a campaign correctly

    Like with any experiment, we need to follow the scientific method and separate our variables. These campaigns should be treated as a test and each language should be tested out separately. The test budget I recommend is 20-30% of what you would normally spend in a campaign. In terms of their setup, there are a few nuances we want to watch out for when considering bilingual campaigns. In the language setting, I like to add the language I am testing, as well as the main language of the country; in this case, English.

    Another important thing to consider when setting up ad scheduling, is time zones. Google Ads and Bing Ads treat this feature very differently. In Google, we are looking at the time zone in which the account is created and, in Bing, the time zone of the end user. If you are testing bilingual and international campaigns, make sure you are not scheduling them during times your target audience is sleeping.

    The rest is quite easy because you have already done the heavy lifting and testing. You will keep the structure the same and begin by simply selecting a few of your best-performing ad groups, or 30-50 of the top-performing keywords.

    Translation

    Translating ads is costly unless you can do it yourself. I know that not everyone has the knowledge or confidence to do it on their own, so I usually recommend a free tool like Google Translate. Even as a native speaker, I use this tool to double check my own work.

    Free tools like Google Translate do a great job, but can be very time-consuming if a large amount of keywords or ad copy translation is needed. One of my favorite hacks in Google Sheets is using the Google Translate function. GoogleTranslate allows you to, in seconds, translate everything efficiently.

    Screen Shot 2021-07-22 at 12.36.20 PM

    I always suggest having a native Spanish speaker double check your work if possible because, like all languages, the meaning and words can vary greatly, depending where you are from. 

    I attended the Women in Search and Digital Marketing Speak My Language Conference and learned that the word we use in the United States for pants is not the same everywhere else. If you were to use that same word in the United Kingdom, you would instead be referring to underpants.If you are a clothing retailer in the United Kingdom, this is vital information. You could be bidding on a word with incorrect intent, missing out on all the good clicks by not using the proper term — trousers. That is just one example of the importance of using the correct verbiage in a multilingual country. Within the Spanish language, 20 countries are represented, and so a term as simple as bus may be completely different elsewhere, depending on your country of origin.

    Even if you do not have a Spanish coworker or friend to assist you, there are some noteworthy places to ask for help. Twitter and Reddit have large communities with people from all over the world to help translate or double check your work.

    Screen Shot 2021-07-22 at 12.38.44 PM

    Important Ad Copy Considerations

    Crafting the correct ad copy is important when reaching any audience, but crafting the perfect message in a language that may not be your own is a Herculean task. Thankfully, the Spanish speakers in the United States are an easy audience to work with. Though they are used to consuming their online media in English, the majority are at home speaking purely Spanish, or at least bilingually, with low expectations in regards to the quality of the online content. Fifty-two percent are using English browser settings, not as a preference, but because they have no other choice. 

    Screen Shot 2021-07-22 at 12.42.59 PM

    When viewing ads, 88% of Hispanics will pay attention regardless of language when it includes an aspect of their culture. Obviously, the best practice here is to translate your ads 100%, but I also believe it is ok to translate 50% or even to not translate at all. The goal we are trying to achieve here is to show searchers quality information the first time they try looking for it. In the SERP, it is ok to have an English ad pointing to a Spanish keyword, because you will most likely be one of the few trying to fight for that space and make it to the top. It is better to have a well-written English ad than a Spanish ad with mistakes.

    Screen Shot 2021-07-22 at 12.48.16 PM

    Mobile 

    Hispanics spend two more hours per week using their smartphones than all other demographics in the United States. Having a mobile plan is key to reach this audience. In fact, 68% of Hispanics who are searching on Google do it on a mobile device. Bidding higher on mobile, crafting mobile-specific ads, and creating Call-Only Campaigns could prove very successful as a bilingual mobile strategy.

    YouTube

    Advertising on YouTube is an essential part of reaching the Hispanic audience of the United States. Why? Because according to Neilsen, more Hispanics watch YouTube than any other cable network. When creating video content, we have good news — there is no need to translate these ads (which is a much more complex endeavor than text translation). Sixty percent of Hispanics watch content in English the majority of the time. Don’t forget to award yourself bonus points for including aspects of Hispanic culture to videos targeted to this audience!

    What I find is interesting is how 75% of Hispanics use YouTube to learn about new products and to make informed purchasing decisions.

    As you can see, Spanish PPC is a powerful way to connect with new users without having to break your formula or the bank. It also has another huge benefit — it opens the door to making searching online accessible for all. By simply translating or including elements of a different culture into keywords and ads, we are extending an open invitation for people to feel comfortable and catered to when searching online.

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  • Don’t Pay Ransomeware Payments After Cyberattacks – Technology

    Don’t Pay Ransomeware Payments After Cyberattacks – Technology

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    “It is our policy, it is our guidance, from the FBI, that companies should not pay the ransom for a number of reasons,” Christopher Wray testified under questioning from members of the House Judiciary Committee.

    Besides the fact that such payments can encourage additional cyberattacks, victims may not automatically get back their data despite forking over millions, “and that’s not unknown to happen,” Wray said.

    UNITED STATES - June 10: Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray before the House Judiciary Committee for i



    UNITED STATES – June 10: Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray before the House Judiciary Committee for its hearing on “Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington on Thursday, June 10, 2021. (Photo by Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

    In ransomware attacks, hackers lock up and encrypt a victim’s data and demand a payment in order to return it. They have proliferated in scale over the past year, targeting not just hospitals and police agencies but also critical infrastructure and vital industries. Some recent major corporate targets have responded by paying the ransom, fearing that a prolonged shutdown of their businesses could have catastrophic consequences for the country and disrupt crucial supply chains.

    Colonial Pipeline, which transports about 45 percent of fuel consumed on the East Coast, last month paid a ransom of 75 bitcoin — then valued at roughly $4.4 million — in hopes of getting its system back online.

    On Wednesday, JBS SA, the world’s largest meat processing company, revealed that it had paid the equivalent of $11 million to hackers who broke into its computer system last month.

    Colonial Pipeline CEO Joseph Blount told lawmakers this week that the decision to pay the ransom was the hardest choice of his career but ultimately the right thing to do, particularly given the gas shortages that surfaced within days in parts of the United States. He said that although the key the company was given to decrypt its data did not work perfectly, Colonial has resumed operations after a brief shutdown.

    “There are a whole bunch of things we can do to prevent this activity from occurring, whether they pay the ransom or not, if they communicate and coordinate and work closely with law enforcement right out of the gate,” he said. “That’s I think the most important part.”

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  • Spanish, French and Dutch Languages Added to Security Awareness Training – Cyber Security

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    A Global Challenge

    The steady stream of cyberattacks seen throughout 2019 turned into a torrent over the last year – ransomware, phishing scams and data breaches are now at an all-time high. Of course, the growing cybersecurity threat isn’t contained to just one country. The effects are being felt the world over.

    The National Cybersecurity Agency of France (ANSSI) is trying to tackle the 255% surge in ransomware attacks reported in 2020. Meanwhile Spain is trying crack down on malicious actors operating inside the country.

    And in an interview with workers in the U.S., Japan, Australia and throughout Europe, 54% say they spend more time working from home now than they did at the beginning of 2020. The blurred lines between home life and work life leads to the use of improperly secured personal devices with ramifications being felt by small, medium and large businesses. But with cyberattacks at an all-time high, 63% of companies have kept their cybersecurity trainings at the same level that it was at the end of 2019.

    Tackling Cyber Threats

    Our networked world connects us to points all over, so it’s no wonder cybersecurity needs to be taken seriously across the globe. The fight against these threats is complicated, but most successful attacks share a common vector – the human factor.

    Because of this shared element, security experts know where to focus their energy. In fact, research shows that Webroot® Security Awareness Training improves cyber resilience and helps defend against cyberattacks.

    Expanded Offerings

    The truly global nature of cyber threats is why Webroot is expanding its language offerings for our Security Awareness Training. This training helps employees keep security top of mind so businesses become more secure.

    Now offered in Dutch, Spanish and French, our Security Awareness Training features native narration throughout. Other available options offer courses with only translated captions overlaid on existing content while our trainings convey important security information in an engaging experience.

    Why Training is Critical

    Often, attackers have a built-in advantage when they zero in on a target – they can practice. They can probe for different ways in and try a variety of tactics, like email attacks or SMS and voice phishing. And they only need to be successful once.

    That’s why training is such a critical part of security. It levels the playing field by letting end users practice what they learn while they discover how to keep themselves and their business safe.

    Further Language Expansion Planned

    Dutch, Spanish and French mark just the beginning of expanded language offerings from Webroot Security Awareness Training. Stay posted to learn about expansions to more languages coming soon.

    Kyle Machado

    About the Author

    Kyle Machado

    Kyle Machado is a writer at Carbonite + Webroot. He tells the story of the people and products that help keep our digital lives secure.

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  • GoCardless Taps into North American Market Using G2 Solutions – Business

    GoCardless Taps into North American Market Using G2 Solutions – Business

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    Expanding an established business overseas is easier said than done. GoCardless, however, successfully broke into a new market in under one year with the help of G2 Seller Solutions. 

    GoCardless is a global leader in account-to-account payments, making it easy to collect both recurring and one-off payments directly from customers’ bank accounts. The company currently works with over 60,000 businesses worldwide, ranging from small businesses to enterprises. Its payment solutions help businesses reduce transaction costs, lower churn, and gain better oversight of revenue. 

    But GoCardless wasn’t always operating at the global scale it is today.

    After finding great success in the United Kingdom, starting with small businesses and moving up-market to the enterprise, GoCardless began branching out to the North American market. At the end of 2019, GoCardless opened an office in the United States to begin scaling business in North America. 

    Jennifer Ellis, North American Marketing Director at GoCardless, reflects on the expansion, “We’ve really scaled the business in North America, even during COVID-19. But given we were new to the market, the biggest hurdle we faced was that businesses weren’t familiar with the service GoCardless provides: using bank debit as a payment option to improve business.”

    “Businesses in the U.S. are used to paying by checks, wire transfers, and credit cards,” Ellis explains. “But with bank debit, they are able to save money that is being spent on wire transfers and credit card fees. Companies can reduce their day sales outstanding (DSO) when they use bank debit versus checks.”

    A fresh strategy to help break into a new market

    The biggest hurdle GoCardless faced when breaking into this new market was awareness. GoCardless needed to spread the word about their brand and mission while also educating prospective buyers on the benefits of their solution. 

    “In North America, we were challenged with building awareness for both the brand as well as the pain of collecting payments,” Ellis explained. “Businesses traditionally pay by check or wire transfer, putting payments on credit cards because those payments have worked for so many years. We wanted people to see that there is a better way to collect payments, and that’s what we are focused on.” 

    Problems

    GoCardless wanted to break into the North American market by:

    • Spreading brand awareness and sharing the GoCardless mission and vision
    • Finding high-intent buyers and educating them on the pain point and solution

    Since GoCardless is headquartered in the UK, many businesses in the North American market weren’t familiar with them just yet. These prospective customers also didn’t understand the pain points they currently face with collecting payments – they just accepted them as part of doing business. 

    “Credit cards aren’t always the best solution for a recurring payment,” Ellis says about GoCardless’ bank debit solution. “Cards expire, get deactivated, frozen, or lost – plus the processing fees can add up and become very costly. With bank debit, account numbers don’t change, making automatic recurring payments much easier and cheaper than credit cards and their corresponding fees.”

    Utilizing resources to identify prospects and spread awareness

    GoCardless’ North American team became laser-focused on leveraging G2 solutions in their quest to expand within the market. 

    Solutions

    GoCardless partnered with G2 to:

    • Run G2 Review Campaigns to solicit authentic, marketable user feedback to continuously attract new visitors and fuel their buyer intent data
    • Tap into G2 Buyer Intent data to unveil high-intent prospects and identify the right contact within the company for outreach
    • Utilize the G2 Content Subscription to build brand awareness and access custom reports for mid-to-bottom-funnel prospects

    To establish their brand and build credibility in the North American market, GoCardless runs G2 Review Campaigns to collect valuable user reviews that fuel placement on the G2 rankings and grid. The traffic attracted from these campaigns helps spread brand awareness and ultimately influences the brand’s buyer intent data. 

    GoCardless’ presence on G2 has been invaluable for brand awareness. The more reviews the brand captures on their profile, the higher they rank on G2 category pages. This results in high visibility and traffic to their page and, ultimately, even more buyer intent data for the GoCardless sales team. 

    “It helps for us to be listed within the rankings when customers are visiting G2 to research,” Ellis says. “They see GoCardless and can easily learn more about us.”

    g2-sell-buyer-intent-data-screenshor-header@2x

    Example of G2 Buyer Intent Activity

    G2 Buyer Intent data has helped the GoCardless sales team identify surging accounts. As the most powerful intent data on the market, G2 Buyer Intent helps brands like GoCardless learn which companies are researching their products and competitors, then find the right person at those companies to contact. 

    Ellis discusses how a GoCardless sales rep utilized buyer intent:  “There was a company looking at our G2 profile, clicking our ads, and comparing us to competitors. They were able to take that intent data and see where the company was located – in this case, Livermore, California. Using G2 integration tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator with our buyer intent data, they were able to discover the right contacts in this company: decision-makers in the finance department. They then narrowed it down to two or three individuals in finance so they could reach out to the prospect.” 

    “We found the right account with G2 Buyer Intent data and the right person with G2 + CRM Connector for Salesforce integration.”

    Jennifer Ellis
    North American Marketing Director at GoCardless

    Ellis also says that GoCardless completely revamped the company’s tech stack. This robust bank of software means the GoCardless team can utilize G2 Buyer Intent data in tandem with other helpful tools, such as Demandbase and Chili Piper, to pin down the right prospect and tailor their messaging appropriately. 

    GoCardless has also reaped the benefits of the G2 Content Subscription, a solution that provides the company licensing for G2 quarterly reports, social assets, video reviews, and other content to help influence prospects. 

    The Content Subscription provided the GoCardless sales team access to game-changing tools during live calls with prospects. Ellis explains, “If [a salesperson] is talking with a prospective customer who is scoring us against our competitors, they can utilize a custom comparison report for those conversations right on the spot. Our sales team can use one-to-one or one-to-many G2 comparison reports to show prospects how we stack up against our competitors.” 

    G2-content-subscription-example
    Example of assets from the G2 Content Subscription

    Leveraging review campaigns and pinpointing high-value prospects

    Initially, Ellis and her team thought these solutions would be heavily driven by marketing. “I thought [the G2 solutions] would be helpful for driving MQLs,” Ellis recalls. “From a marketing perspective, I was hoping to leverage the customer voice to build awareness for GoCardless.” 

    In the end, G2’s solutions far exceeded GoCardless’ expectations. “Based on reporting, I’ve also found it to be really helpful for prospects that are mid-to-late-funnel. Prospects who were considering or evaluating our product have now moved on to having conversations with our sales team,” Ellis explains. 

    More authentic user reviews

    Starting in August 2020, GoCardless implemented numerous G2 Review Campaigns to help attract visitors and build their G2 product profile. GoCardless was able to leverage G2 Review Campaigns to drive 97 new reviews, propelling them to a #1 ranking on nine different G2 reports – all between August 2020 and July 2021. 

    Prior to these campaigns, GoCardless was already listed as a leader in their primary software category payment processing. However, GoCardless is now a high-ranking software in other relevant categories: Payment Gateways, Subscription Revenue Management, Enterprise Payment, and Installment Payment. 

    97

    new approved user reviews between August 2020 and July 2021.

    Better prospects, higher engagement

    In a 6 month period, between September 2020 and March 2021, GoCardless found that G2 was the first touchpoint for over 400 accounts in North America. These prospects may have seen a sponsored content ad on G2, viewed GoCardless’ G2 profile, or compared GoCardless against their competitors prior to visiting the GoCardless site.

    For marketing, this helps reaffirm that prospects are finding and researching GoCardless on G2 before visiting the site. And for sales, the buyer intent data is extremely valuable to help prioritize the teams’ outreach.

    “G2 Buyer Intent gives additional help with prospects and the Content Subscription helps build awareness, credibility, and leadership in a new market.”

    Jennifer Ellis
    North American Marketing Director at GoCardless

    Across all geographies, G2 provides GoCardless with higher-value visitors. This is especially true in the U.S., which has helped the brand break into the North American market. 

    28%

    lower bounce rate for users who come from G2 to the GoCardless site.

    Compared to the average GoCardless U.S. site visitor, those who have come from G2 have lower bounce rates (40% compared to 68%), visit more pages per session (3.62 vs. 1.44), and have a higher average session duration (5:25 minutes vs. 1:06 minutes). 

    393%

    increase of average session duration for users who come from G2 to the GoCardless site.

    151%

    increase of pages per session for users who come from G2 to the GoCardless site.

    GoCardless saw the value of incorporating G2 Review Campaigns, G2 Buyer Intent, and Content Subscription solutions into their sales and marketing playbooks. What was initially meant to complement the marketing team’s awareness efforts turned into a useful toolkit for GoCardless reps working the top, middle, and bottom of the funnel. 

    Not only has GoCardless been able to expand their reach and spread awareness, but their teams are now also equipped with the proper resources to pinpoint high-value opportunities – making the sales process more efficient on both ends. 

    “Our sales and marketing teams have been really pleased by bringing G2 into our tech stack,” Ellis says. “We’re excited to see how G2 can continue to help us scale GoCardless not just in North America, but in other regions as well.”

    Implement G2 Seller Solutions today

    Millions of people research, compare, and buy software on G2 each month. And this extremely valuable buyer data is right at your fingertips. 

    Looking to accelerate the sales cycle and drive more revenue? Schedule a demo to learn more about G2 Seller Solutions. 

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  • 8 Examples To Inspire You This Year – Digital Marketing

    8 Examples To Inspire You This Year – Digital Marketing

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    –>

    Remember those cardboard books about zoo animals with interactive pieces where you could “pet” the animals?

    I’m not saying that as a society that we still have the attention span of children…

    But to grab and hold an audience’s attention on the internet is a bit like trying to hold a child’s. It demands creative solutions for both communicating a point and delivering it in a way that will maintain a reader’s attention long enough to allow the message to land.

    Here we will explore what creative content marketing is and how you can get inspired to create your own.

    What is Creative Content Marketing?

    Starting from the bottom, content is anything you create and distribute to inform, educate or entertain your audience. That could include anything from a press release to a TikTok video. Creative content has few boundaries as to what it should be because all it really aims to do is communicate an idea.

    The boundaries for your business, however, should include how your audience prefers to consume content.

    Are they visual learners? Need interactive pieces to feel engaged? Love a good pull quote here and there to understand the main ideas? Knowing these details will inform how you can best utilize this list to get the most out of your content strategy.

    Content creation is important to attract customers, grow your brand awareness and improve your marketing ROI. Your customers want to know more about the brands they purchase from and creating quality content marketing is a great way to do so.

    Now, coming up with ideas to both attract and retain customers is a challenge all on its own.

    1. Social Media

    Social media is not a new medium by any means. Interacting through an online forum to share ideas, memories and life updates has been around since at least 1997 with the platform Six Degrees.

    Either because of this fact or the shift in how we consume media, getting creative on social platforms is a must. Brands have made huge strides in staying relevant to social trends and coming up with new strategies. These past few years have presented unique challenges for brands to identify themselves as leaders in their industries – especially over social media where many audiences spend their leisure time.

    One stand out from 2020 is the ice cream brand, Ben & Jerry’s stand with the Black Lives Matter movement. While they continue to voice their support of the movement, they took a firm stance against white supremacy in a way that many brands did not.

    While not every social media post you create needs to be as pointed as this one, Ben & Jerry’s found creative ways to communicate their ideas in a genuine way that resonated with their target audience.

    2. Blogs

    Long-form blog writing is a unique opportunity to speak to your audience directly. It demonstrates your ability to understand who they are and what they need to know to do their best.

    A blog post serves many purposes that help your marketing strategy while connecting with readers.

    One example is Well&Good. Their market is mostly post-grad aged women and up who are concerned with current events, relationship advice, wellness and the latest in wellness products. To which, they’ve created a well-informed blog on all of these topics using great content, interactive sponsors and attractive minimalist design.

    Creative ideas to keep your readers engaged while they read through your blog content can be done in a lot of fun, different ways. While being sure not to distract your readers, here are some ideas to include:

    • Pull quote.
    • Listicles.
    • Infographics.
    • Surveys.
    • Linking.
    • Social media posts.
    • Slide shows.
    • Recommended reading.
    • Comment section.
    • Statistics.

    While this isn’t an exhaustive list, these could get you inspired to add more elements to your blog to make them more interactive. Well&Good do a great job of keeping their readers interested usually with listicles, pictures and videos.

    3. Landing Pages

    When someone clicks on your ad or discovers your business while researching online, they’ll likely first arrive on a landing page. It’s a webpage that will be their first impression of your business and therefore must catch their attention immediately.

    There are more landing pages on the internet than I care to count but a new one that struck my eye is Alison Felix’s new brand, Saysh. Upon opening up the website, you’ll find soft tones, people of color and stylish shoes for both athletic performance and leisure.

    After a long few years of social challenges, the track-and-field athlete created a brand that genuinely spoke to these challenges with a style that demonstrated her personality.

    Your landing page should speak to both what your brand represents and the story you want your products to tell.

    4. eBooks

    Creating an eBook is an attractive way to connect to the needs of your audience in the digital age. With a rise in mobile book download apps and purchases, an eBook is a great way to communicate your company’s expertise. They can establish authority by demonstrating the extent of your industry knowledge and insights.

    Freshwork’s eBook on ‘The Art of Customer Experience’ is interactive, fun to read and compels the reader to take action. It’s a great example of the creative freedoms you can take with informational pieces like eBooks.

    Creative eBook ideas include:

    • Speaking to a gap in the industry you’ve noticed has never been addressed.
    • Seasonal resource updates.
    • Add knowledge check-ins throughout.
    • A visual story.

    Many businesses utilize eBooks to grow their email lists by creating a contact form wall before downloading as well.

    5. White Papers

    Want to stand out as a research guru and true authority? Research a topic relevant to your industry and write a white paper. It aims to inform and comes across as both formal and creative.

    It’s a deep dive style of compelling content production that explains in-depth information that your audience should know about.

    ADP, a leader in payroll software, has a great example in their piece on ‘5 steps to rid your small business of payroll stress’.

    They created a white paper that is eye-catching, tells the story of their business and communicates important information they wanted their audience to know. They used interesting colors and supported their white paper with relevant statistics and findings.

    Your white paper is a great opportunity to use statistics, graphs and quotes from experts that will communicate to your audience that your company can be relied on for the latest and most accurate industry information.

    6. SMS

    Short message service, or SMS, is a great way to connect with your customers. They’re great options for salespeople to stay top of mind for their customers after they sign up for an event.

    They can be used for:

    • Sales demos.
    • Appointment reminders.
    • Webinar reminders.
    • Welcome messages.
    • Community updates.
    • Billing reminders.
    • Security codes.
    • Status updates.
    • Promotions.
    • Event updates.

    Customers could have the option to sign up for email, phone call, or SMS reminders in any of these options when they fill out a contact form. There are some laws organizations need to comply with to keep their business safe and their customers informed.

    Here is an example of a social justice campaign member sending out an invitation to sign up for a new membership opportunity. They included an interesting graphic, addressed me directly and introduced themselves.

    SMS campaigns should be short and to the point but interesting to read and look at to prompt the recipient to engage. The goal of an SMS campaign is to be relevant and grab the attention of the reader at the right time. Whether that’s after they’ve placed an order on your website or the revolution is about to begin, SMS is a quick communication that needs to be timely.

    7. Podcasts

    Audio content marketing has transformed the way people digest information and learn about new topics. While just about anyone can start a podcast, a content marketer gets a chance to speak to their niche expertise and discuss topics that are important to them. Audiences get an inside look into the brands they love from the people who run them.

    The New York Times (NYT) is a great example of taking modern technology to keep their brand relevant. Through the steady decline of newspaper popularity, NYT has taken up podcasting. In their podcast, The Daily, you hear from reporters directly every day for about 30 minutes each episode on the most relevant topics.

    A podcast marketing campaign could benefit just about every industry. Everyone from the former President of the United States, Barack Obama to former actors like Dax Shepard has a podcast to share insights, news, passion projects and more.

    8. Video

    The use of visual content marketing has been on the rise. Businesses have used it in their display ads and of course, continued to push boundaries for commercials. They have an excellent ability to visually captivate audiences, position your business positively and communicate a new product or service effectively.

    A stand-out commercial from 2019 was Gillette’s The Best a Man Can Be:

    It was a direct response to the #MeToo movement that blanketed that year’s conversations in enlightening ways. Gillette, like Ben & Jerry’s, took a strong stance on the subject and set themselves up to be leaders for men’s brands against toxic masculinity.

    Video has the power to be visually enlightening while creatively communicating your brand’s story.

    Why Your Marketing Needs to be Creative

    The pressure to be noticed in the digital world today is higher than ever. More businesses are getting created every day than ever before and the need to attract quality audiences has never been more important.

    Adding content to your B2B marketing strategy allows you to engage your audience and generate profit.

    Content improves your online presence by 55% and generates five times more leads. Instead of pursuing outbound sales strategies like cold calling or direct mail, you can create educational content that your audience loves. When your readers are enthralled with the great content you create and the products you sell, you’ll see more sales and advocates for your brand.

    The best way to make this happen is to be creative, particularly so that you’re not wasting your marketing dollars just shouting into the void.

    Audience members want to connect with your business in genuine ways that let them know that you understand what they need and how they prefer to communicate. Getting creative in the ways you connect with them will help improve the lifecycle of your customers and attract new ones.

    How to Generate New Content Marketing Ideas

    Coming up with marketing ideas that are fresh and have never been done is one of the focal challenges of B2B marketers today. The best way to do so is by using the information your customers are giving you.

    Your readers do not all fit into one box and neither should your marketing plan.

    When you have multiple types of buyers, you have the opportunity to create several types of marketing strategies to meet them. As they change and interact with your company differently, take note and shift with them.

    Take risks that speak to your customers and get their attention. That could mean taking a bold stance on a relevant social issue like Gillette or starting a podcast to give your brand a more human voice like the NYT. Collecting data will give you an outline of great ideas but getting creative means taking a leap, seeing how it lands and adjusting for better results.



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  • The Best Times to Post on Social Media – Media

    The Best Times to Post on Social Media – Media

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    Every social network has its “best times”. These are days and times when your audience is particularly active on social networking sites. The time of publishing can play a decisive role in achieving as many likes, shares, and comments as possible as well as a wide reach. The following infographics will show you the best times to post on social media.

    The best times to post on social media based on new research data for 2020

    To collect the data for the “Best Times for Social Media Posts” we analyzed the posts of 60,000 social media users from all over the world. We looked at the posts in terms of posting time and engagement rate. According to these data, our analysis team evaluated the average best times for the most popular social networks: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Reddit, VK, Telegram, and Google My Business. The Blog2Social team has put together an infographic based on the results. Use it as a guide for your social media management to scheduling your posts at the best times for the most engagement on each of the major social platforms

    Check out the following infographic for more details and share it with your community. 

    The Best Social Media Times - Best Social Media Times Full>> Infographic: The best times to post on social media

     

    Why are the best times to post so important for your social media management?

    Social media are powerful communication channels for your content. In social media, you can reach new target groups, score likes, and shares, and engage with your community. Links from social media posts to your website, blog, or online store offer a significant added value in that they generate valuable backlinks and drive traffic to your site.

    However, social media are subject to rapid changes. The average lifetime of a tweet, for example, is only 20 minutes before it drowns in the never-ending flow of content on Twitter.

    Whenever you share a post on social media, only a fraction of your followers will actually see your post. The outreach of your post is depending on the level of activity in your community at the time you publish your post.

    If only 10 % of your followers are online, only 10 % will get the chance to see your post. In reality, it will be even less. Most of your valuable content is likely to go down in the constant flow of social media streams. If you post your content on different networks at different times when your followers are online, your chances are much better that people will actually see your post. The right timing will determine the success of your social media post.

    These are the times when social media users are most active on social networks

    The best times for maximum outreach and engagement of postings vary according to each social network. Posts on Twitter and LinkedIn are most likely to get the most attention during rush hours in the morning and afternoon, that is before and after office hours. Posts on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest will most likely get the best traction in the afternoon and evening hours.

    Try to figure out when your target group is active and develop a timetable to post your content at the right times. Our infographics provide you with the perfect starting point for the right timing. Use the suggested days and times for orientation. Please note that weekdays differ from weekends.

    The Best Social Media Times - Social Media Schedule

    What are the best times to post on social media?

    What are the best times to post on Twitter?

    In the morning from 8 am – 10 am, middays from 11 am – 1 pm and after work from 5 pm – 6 pm

    The best social media times to post on Twitter

    What are the best times to post on Facebook?

    In the afternoon from 1 pm – 4 pm and in the evening from 6 pm – 10 pm. Make sure to post on weekends as well.

    The best social media times to post on facebook

    What are the best times to post on LinkedIn?

    During office hours in the morning from 8 am – 10 am and in the afternoon from 5 pm – 6 pm. Your postings will generate the most interactions from Tuesday to Thursday.

    The best social media times to post on LinkedIn

    What are the best times to post on Pinterest?

    Around midday from 12 pm – 2 pm. and in the evening from 7 pm – 10 pm. Your postings outside working hours and on weekends will generate the most interactions.

    The best social media times to post on Pinterest

    What are the best times to post on Instagram?

    Around midday from 11 am – 1 pm and in the evening from 7 pm. – 9 pm. Your postings and stories in the evenings and on weekends will generate the most interactions.

    The best social media times to post on Instagram

    What are the best times to post on Reddit?

    In the morning from 6 am to 9 am. Your postings at the beginning of the week or on the weekend will generate the most interactions.

    The best social media times to post on Reddit

    What are the best times to post on VK?

    In the evening from 9pm – 1am.  Your postings during the late evening hours will generate the most interactions.

    The best social media times to post on VK

    What are the best times to post on Telegram?

    In the morning from 10 am – 12 pm and in the afternoon from 5 pm – 7 pm. Your postings will generate the most interactions in the morning and outside working hours.

    The best social media times to post on Telegram

    What are the best times to post on Google My Business?

    In the morning from 9 am – 11 am and in the evening from 7 pm – 9 pm. Your postings in the evening hours will generate the most interactions.

    The best social media times to post on Google My Business

    Use your own social media metrics to adapt the best times to your communities

    The infographic: “The best times for social media posts” is the perfect starting point for your individual best times. You can easily create your schedule for a few weeks or months based on the “Social-Media Schedule”. 

    If you use the “Best Times for Social Media Posts” infographic as a guideline, you have already taken the first step towards more visibility and engagement on your social media networks. To even increase your visibility and engagement, you can take the next step to compare these data with your own social media metrics.

    This is how you can evaluate your social media metrics

    Start by making a plan for at least 4 weeks before you start analyzing. Evaluate your metrics once after one month, after 3 months, and after 6 months.

    Basic social media metrics are available to you for free by the networks. You can usually find them directly in the profile settings under “Insights and Analytics”.

    Social Media Insights and Analytics

    In the example below, you can see the Instagram metrics and how they can help you post your content at the best times and on the best days. You can see when your community is most active on each day displayed as a bar chart. In addition, the analytics will help you get a better overview of the age range covered by your community and whether you tend to reach a female or male audience. The analytics also help you to get to know your target group better.

    Instagram Insights

    Instructions: How to set up your schedule for social media posts at the best times

    In order to make it easier for you to get started and to quickly and easily create your own personal “social media schedule”, we have compiled all the necessary steps for you in a checklist. You can also download the “Social Media Schedule” template and enter your personal “Best Times for Social Media Posts” there.

    Social Media Schedule Template

    Here is a quick step-by-step guide you can follow:

    1. Use the best times from the infographics “The best times for social media posts” as a starting point.
    2. Download the “Social Media Schedule” as a starting script for your social media plan and schedule your posts for a couple of weeks in your social media scheduling tool.
    3. Monitor the engagement on your posts to get a better grasp on the times when your target groups are most active.
    4. Evaluate your social media metrics and record the times when your posts show the highest engagement rates.
    5. Download the “Social Media Schedule Template” to create your personal “Social Media Schedule” from the best times and the analysis results of your social media metrics.

    This is how you can post at the best times for social media posts with little effort

    With so many special features that need to be taken into account, social media marketing quickly becomes a challenge and can blow up personnel resources. To ensure that posting at the best times is easier for you, you can use a social media automation tool such as Blog2Social. This tool reduces your workload for scheduling and publishing social media posts. You can activate the pre-configured Best Times Scheduler to automatically apply the general best times for your posts as shown in the infographic. Or, you can enter your individual best times to create your own automatic best times settings. You don’t have to think about the day and time to schedule each post – the tool will do that for you. 

    Social media automation helps you to ensure that your social channels are automatically supplied with a regular flow of content at the best times for your target group. Not only does this save you time, but it also gives you full control over your posts on all your social networks via a posting calendar.

    You will find more tips and assistance in scheduling social media posts in the various networks in the free Social Media Guide:

    The following infographic shows you the best times for your post on the most popular networks at a glance.

    The Best Social Media Times - Best Social Media Times Full

    Share this image on your website and on your social media!

    Please feel free to share this infographic or embed this code on your site:

    <img src="https://www.blog2social.com/en/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/best-social-media-times-full.png" alt="The Best Social Media Times - Your Social Media Schedule at a Glance">

    Please include attribution to https://www.blog2social.com with this graphic

    Wrap up

    Social media success requires consistent social media scheduling at the right times to engage with your active community. Use these guidelines as a starting point for your own experiments and analytics. And please share your results and recommendations with us and with others. We’d be glad to know what works for you and what doesn’t.

    Other blog posts you might find helpful:

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    Melanie Tamblé is co-founder and co-CEO of Adenion GmbH. She is an experienced expert in content marketing and social media.
    Adenion GmbH specializes in online services and tools for bloggers, businesses and agencies of any size to support their online marketing and content seeding tasks on the web.

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  • Don’t Pay Ransomeware Payments After Cyberattacks – Technology

    Don’t Pay Ransomeware Payments After Cyberattacks – Technology

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    “It is our policy, it is our guidance, from the FBI, that companies should not pay the ransom for a number of reasons,” Christopher Wray testified under questioning from members of the House Judiciary Committee.

    Besides the fact that such payments can encourage additional cyberattacks, victims may not automatically get back their data despite forking over millions, “and that’s not unknown to happen,” Wray said.

    UNITED STATES - June 10: Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray before the House Judiciary Committee for i



    UNITED STATES – June 10: Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray before the House Judiciary Committee for its hearing on “Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington on Thursday, June 10, 2021. (Photo by Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

    In ransomware attacks, hackers lock up and encrypt a victim’s data and demand a payment in order to return it. They have proliferated in scale over the past year, targeting not just hospitals and police agencies but also critical infrastructure and vital industries. Some recent major corporate targets have responded by paying the ransom, fearing that a prolonged shutdown of their businesses could have catastrophic consequences for the country and disrupt crucial supply chains.

    Colonial Pipeline, which transports about 45 percent of fuel consumed on the East Coast, last month paid a ransom of 75 bitcoin — then valued at roughly $4.4 million — in hopes of getting its system back online.

    On Wednesday, JBS SA, the world’s largest meat processing company, revealed that it had paid the equivalent of $11 million to hackers who broke into its computer system last month.

    Colonial Pipeline CEO Joseph Blount told lawmakers this week that the decision to pay the ransom was the hardest choice of his career but ultimately the right thing to do, particularly given the gas shortages that surfaced within days in parts of the United States. He said that although the key the company was given to decrypt its data did not work perfectly, Colonial has resumed operations after a brief shutdown.

    “There are a whole bunch of things we can do to prevent this activity from occurring, whether they pay the ransom or not, if they communicate and coordinate and work closely with law enforcement right out of the gate,” he said. “That’s I think the most important part.”

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  • Italian energy company ERG hit by LockBit 2.0 ransomware gang – Cyber Security

    Italian energy company ERG hit by LockBit 2.0 ransomware gang – Cyber Security

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    ERG SPA, an Italian energy company, reports a minor impact on its operations after the recent ransomware attack conducted by LockBit 2.0 gang.

    Recently the Italian energy company ERG was hit by the LockBit 2.0 ransomware gang, now the company reported “only a few minor disruptions” for its ICT infrastructure. The company is active in the production of wind energy, solar energy, hydroelectric energy and high-yield thermoelectric cogeneration energy with low environmental impact.

    “Concerning the recent rumours in the media on hacker attacks on institutions and companies, ERG reports that it has experienced only a few minor disruptions to its ICT infrastructure, which are currently being overcome, also thanks to the prompt deployment of its internal cybersecurity procedures.” reads the notice published by ERG.

    “The company confirms that all its plants are operating smoothly and have not experienced any downtime, thus ensuring continuous business operations.”

    ERG added that all its plants are operating smoothly and have not experienced any downtime, thus ensuring continuous business operations

    The ransomware gang has already added the Italian company to the list of victims published on its leak site. The crooks will start leaking the stolen data on August 14, 2021, at 00:00:00.

    LockBit 2.0 ERG

    The LockBit ransomware operations began in September 2019, but in June 2021 the group launched the LockBit 2.0 ransomware-as-a-service.

    ERG isn’t the only Italian organization under attack, multiple Italian companies were targeted with an unprecedented wave of ransomware attacks in the last weeks.

    A major cyber attack paralyzed the IT systems at the region Lazio health portal which is used by residents for COVID-19 vaccine registration. According to sources informed about the event, the attack was carried out by the RansomEXX ransomware, as first reported by BleepingComputer that received a copy of the ransom note used in the attack.

    Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook

    Pierluigi Paganini

    (SecurityAffairs – hacking, LockBit 2.0)




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