2024 Holiday Advertising Tips to Drive Better Results
It’s November 2024, which means Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” is back on loop in every supermarket and mall. If it feels like the holiday shopping season is starting earlier every year… that’s because it is! According to Google’s recent Think Retail event, 34% of US shoppers had already started their holiday shopping as early as July 2024—up from 27% last year. But this year’s timeline comes with a twist: there’s five fewer shopping days between Thanksgiving and New Year’s! Brands will need to pack in more impact in a shorter time period. It’s more important than ever to engage your target audience more efficiently! In this blog, we’ll introduce Google’s four holiday “shopper mindsets” and some additional holiday ad tips so you can drive more sales for the 2024 holidays! 4 Types of Holiday Shoppers At the Think Retail conference, Google identified four distinct mindsets that drive consumer behavior during the holiday season. Each one has unique needs and expectations, which would in turn impact their shopping decisions. The Deliberate Shopper These shoppers are all about planning, researching, and taking their time. They typically do their shopping in October and November. They want to feel confident in their purchase decisions and appreciate ads that guide them to the best choices. Tips: Utilize Performance Max ads to target them. Personalized ads and landing page content that resonate with their needs, such as “What’s the best gift for an outdoor enthusiast”, or “Best holiday gifts for elderly grandparent” etc. Include keywords like “holiday bests”, “top pick”, or “reviews” in your Search ads! The Deal-Seekers Deal-seekers live for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. However, this year (2024), the short holiday season means these shoppers will also be hunting for deals beyond the peak days. Tips: Optimize your website and/or landing page for speed and create a streamlined shopping experience. In your ads, try to emphasize on the sense of urgency, utilize words like “last chance”, “biggest blowout”, “limited time” to give them an extra budget to convert. If you want to drive more in-store traffic, consider even geo-targeting closer vicinity and utilize Klick & Mortar to attribute in-shop purchases to your digital ads! The Determined Shopper December is crunch time for shoppers who held off on buying or need last-minute gifts. Now they’re laser-focused. With fewer days to shop, they’re looking for convenience, ease, and speed. Eyes on the prize. Tips: Optimize your eCommerce website so users can enjoy a fast loading speed for browsing and checkout! Use Google’s “near me” optimization for in-store availability ads The Devoted Shopper: Loyal Fans Ahh, your repeat customers, aka your loyal fans— those who love your brand and return year after year—are the hidden holiday heroes. Their loyalty can help drive sales well beyond December if you give them reasons to come back. Tips: Segment audience lists of your members and create personalized ads for them to highlight loyalty perks, member discounts, exclusive access etc to make them feel valued! As the holidays roll in, tuning into these shopper mindsets can make all the difference in building connections that convert. Each group has its quirks, and by shaping your campaigns to speak to what matters to them—from deal seekers to loyal fans—you’ll capture their attention and drive results. This season, establish your presence where your audiences are, keep your message sharp, and make every click count! Bonus Tips to Maximize Every Moment of This Holiday Season Plan Around Key Dates With the shortened shopping window, having a flexible, target-focused budget in place can help maximize returns during high-traffic days. Get your ad creatives, offers, and landing pages etc planned and have on hand weeks ahead of time to stay on top of your game! Boost Product Visibility Make sure your Google Merchant Center feed is in top shape by including keywords, high-quality images, and clear product attributes. For example, using descriptors like “color,” “size,” and “style” can help your products appear in more specific searches. Stay Agile with AI Google’s AI-driven ad strategies, like Performance Max and Demand Gen that utilize Dynamic Creative Optimization are designed to adjust to real-time trends. These tools are especially useful when trying to keep up with the rapid pace of holiday shopping behavior. Partner with an Ad Agency The holiday season is packed with potential—make the most of it by teaming up with an ad agency that knows how to maximize your ad dollars. War Room’s programmatic approach ensures your campaigns reach the right audiences across channels, whether they’re browsing on social, watching videos, or searching for holiday deals. Our custom strategies are designed to adapt in real-time, so your ads stay relevant and effective as trends shift throughout the season. Let us handle the complexities of cross-channel advertising and data insights, so you can focus on delivering a seamless holiday experience for your customers. Are You Ready? The holiday season may be shorter this year, but with the right strategies, your brand can still thrive. Focus on connecting with each shopper mindset, use AI-driven insights, and tailor your ads to stand out in a busy market.Ready to elevate your holiday ad game? Reach out to our team at War Room to make every holiday connection count! Want more digital marketing tips? Sign-up for War Room’s newsletter to get digital marketing articles and resources delivered to your inbox! Subscribe Now You might like these:
Big Hearts, Furry Friends: How War Room & Kedet Kares are Supporting the BC SPCA
At War Room, we believe that caring goes beyond our clients and campaigns—it extends to the furry friends who bring so much joy to our lives! PS. Did you know that we are one of the most pet-friendly offices in Canada?! That’s why we’re so grateful for the opportunity to give back through our Kedet Kares initiative. Recently, the BC SPCA shared a heartfelt update with us, letting us know how donations like ours are making a real difference: “Thank you for your kindness and generosity in supporting the animals and the BC SPCA! In the past 12 months you have made a big impact be donating over $4,000 supporting animals just like Josiah who came to the BC SPCA with his 7 siblings and is currently looking for his forever home. Thanks to donors and like you we are here to help animals just like Josiah and his siblings do just that!War Room is passionate about making a pawsitive (see what we did there) difference and by making a donation that comes from the heart to the BC SPCA you are doing just that. Thank you for being there for us and the 135.000+ animals we help every year.” Just knowing we’ve played even a small part in that is incredibly rewarding.Kedet Kares is our way of giving back and showing that success isn’t just about ad performance—it’s about making a meaningful difference in the community. We’re proud to support causes like the BC SPCA, and we’ll continue to lend a helping paw to make sure animals like Josiah get the love and care they deserve. If you love animals as much as we do and want to get involved, don’t hesitate to check out the amazing work the BC SPCA is doing. Together, we can help make the world a little brighter for our furry friends—one tail wag at a time! PS. Did you know we did donation matching with our in-house charity program, Kedet Kares? Want more digital marketing tips? Sign-up for War Room’s newsletter to get digital marketing articles and resources delivered to your inbox! Subscribe Now You might like these:
Examples of Successful PPC Ad Campaigns
There’s a big misunderstanding about Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising.Many marketers use it as a “fast track” to SEO success since you can pay for keyword rankings instead of earning them organically. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. PPC isn’t a “get rich quick” marketing scheme, and it’s definitely not easy.And going in with that misconception will lead to results as dry as the Sahara Desert—or if we’re being extreme, becoming broke. It’s extremely popular. Search advertising spending has reached $185.35 billion and is expected to increase to $261 billion by 2028, a 6% annual growth rate. And in 2023, Google Ads generated $237.86 billion.But very few get it right. So today, we’ll learn from the ones who do so you can take home a piece of that $261 billion pie. These examples are actual PPC campaigns that delivered noteworthy results—so you can draw inspiration from them for your next campaign, or cite them in your next marketing report for clients or in-house stakeholders. Elements of a Highly Successful PPC Advertising Campaign There are a few things all successful PPC campaigns have in common.How are they approaching their audience? Which platforms are they using? What does their ad copy look like?So, let’s get specific. For your campaign to be worth your time (and your dollar), it has to: Deliver results Be memorable Reach the target audience Stand out from the competition And that’s exactly what the campaigns below do. PPC Advertising Campaign Examples That Actually Worked Converse “Domaination” World-renowned shoe brand Converse tapped into Google’s PPC potential before most brands did. With the “Domaination” campaign, the company’s plan was to disrupt.First, they had to identify what their target audience was searching for. Since Converse’s audience was teenagers and young adults, the common searches were terms like: How to kiss How to talk to girls Spelling bee How to tell your parents Converse used these terms to begin “converse-actions.” These were how-to guides on various topics based on what they found their target audience was needing answers to. Converse’s microsites for the Domaination campaign They made multiple microsites addressing each question, hence the name “Domainnation.” They then ran advertising campaigns for each site. But the secret to Domainnation’s success wasn’t just the audience appeal. They didn’t create a site for every keyword they researched—only the low-cost, low-competition ones. This allowed them to save money and made it insanely easier to get traffic since they weren’t being drowned out by other big names. Now, ranking well for a high-traffic keyword is one thing. However, keeping the reader’s attention is where most companies miss the mark. In our opinion, this is really where Converse hit the nail on the head.The “ad” was not actually an ad for Converse products. When teenagers (the target audience) clicked on the web page Converse paid to have in the search results, the page was Converse’s unique take on the topic. They offered advice, gave hot takes, posted how-to tutorials… whatever it was that the teenager wanted to read. For example, it was spelling bee season for high school students. So Converse bought the domain conversespellingbee.com. When high schoolers typed in “spelling bee,” the first result was this website. When they opened it, they watched a video Converse made—a video that told visitors in one sentence what a spelling bee was, then told them to play a “search engine” spelling bee. The rules of the game were that the visitors go to Google and type the word that was said into the search box, and they knew they spelled it right when another Converse domain ad for the word popped up. They proceed to Round 2 by clicking the ad. But the spelling bee wasn’t the only site. Converse made new websites each week, and each site was somehow intertwined with another one (like the spelling bee site that sent users to another one) so that they could keep exploring for endless content. The end result? Converse got 600,000 unique visitors to its website. And with a budget of just $100,000, the campaign yielded massive positive results, beating the traditional cost-to-visitor ratio by 2600%. This led to the “Domination” campaign becoming a case study that marketers still talk about today, despite hundreds of thousands of campaigns having been carried out since then. Kleenex Catches Colds We’ve all been in a situation where we Google our symptoms before considering seeing a doctor. And just like that, we end up convinced we have cancer five minutes later. Kleenex found a way to capitalize on this all-too-familiar experience and turn it into a successful marketing campaign. The flu-related searches could be traced geographically—thanks to Google Trends—and for 18 months, the company’s digital marketing partner, Mindshare, tracked them. Kleenex then harnessed this data to find regions where its PPC campaigns would do best. Kleenex cold and flu trend search on Google The agency compared this information with other data sources, such as doctor visits and calls to the government-set hotlines. Together, they identified the cities with higher flu and cold rates in real-time and launched targeted ads in those areas. When the cold and flu season arrived in 2012, Kleenex expended 96% of its media budget on these targeted regions. Kleenex made a video explaining how they did this, and it’s quite funny. They start by saying that they first launched an ad campaign during the hottest month of the year, and admitted to it being a giant flop. So what did they do? They did some self-diagnosis by going to Google and finding out where they went wrong. This led to them starting their Google AdWords auction to find out where and when people were getting sick. Kleenex media spending on PPC The results were astounding—a 40% sales increase year over year in just two months. Kleenex’s approach to PPC advertising is a great example of how Google data is more than mere search engine results. It can be the foundation for your paid ad strategy. Vancouver Whitecaps Award-winning programmatic ad agency, War Room collaborated with the Vancouver
The Rise of Micro-Content: How to Keep Audiences Engaged in Seconds
Content is an integral part of digital strategy, as it is often the first touchpoint of a potential customer with a brand. Think about it—whether someone reads a blog post, sees a social media update, or watches a video, that’s usually the starting point of their journey. Modern consumers are more likely to buy from a brand after engaging with its content. On top of that, businesses that create regular content get 97% more backlinks and strengthen their online presence. Good content builds trust, shows expertise, and encourages users to return for more. In addition to driving traffic, it builds meaningful connections that turn random visitors into loyal customers. However, not all content is that powerful. The pace of modern life is steadily increasing, and so does the speed of content consumption. People want to get information in well-digestible portions. This tendency has gradually led to the emergence of micro-content. Read on to learn what it is and how it works. What is Micro-Content, and Why is it in Trend? Today, people are literally attacked by information from social media, ads, and other digital platforms. The average human attention span has dropped to just 8 seconds, down from 12 seconds in 2000. Users quickly lose interest in content that doesn’t grab them right away. For brands, this means their information needs to be laconic and engaging. Long articles or slow websites often make people leave. Shorter, more visual content—like quick videos or catchy headlines—works better. Thus, brands must adapt communication with their audiences and offer them content that can be consumed in seconds or micro-content. The key features of micro-content are clarity and simplicity. This is why platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and Twitter have become so popular, where content is often limited to just a few seconds or characters. These short info bits use emotional triggers to evoke strong, lasting emotions. The fear of missing out (FOMO) adds urgency and prompts users to act quickly. Types of Micro-Content You can create easily perceptible content in different formats. Here are the most popular forms of it: Short posts: These are brief text updates that can be shared on social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. They can be used to share quotes, tips, or behind-the-scenes glimpses. Videos: A few-second videos have become a staple of micro-content. These are used to showcase products, share tutorials, or simply entertain. You can find plenty on TikTok, Instagram Reels, or YouTube Shorts. GIFs: Animated images can add a touch of humor or visual interest to your content. They perfectly express emotions or reactions. Memes: Humorous images or videos added to the text ideally connect with your audience and often go viral. Soundbites: Short audio clips that can be used to share quotes, sound effects, or music snippets. They’re often used in social media posts or videos. How to Create Micro-Content That Attracts At first glance, there is nothing simpler than creating a short post or video. However, it is a true art to make a bit of info that catches. Here are some practical tips: 1. Keep it concise and to the point Small is the new big. Skip details and focus on one main idea. Your message should be understood within seconds. The more concise the content, the higher the chances it will be shared. 2. Use eye-catching visuals. Visuals are the best tools to capture attention. Experiment with colors, images, or animations to be noticed and persuade users to stop, view and share your content with others. 3. Play with emotions. Your little message should evoke emotions through humor, inspiration, or nostalgia. This approach creates memories and deepens engagement, resulting in more shares, likes, and comments. 4. Make it short-term. Phrases like “limited time” or “offer ends soon” encourage immediate action. They create the fear of missing out (FOMO) and make users interact with your content without delay. 5. Include a clear Call-to-Action. A strong call-to-action (CTA) is the best instruction on the next step a user takes. Keep it simple but clear – ask them to like, share, or buy. A CTA adds more value to your content. Great Examples of Micro-Content To better understand the power and impact of micro-content, let’s see how others do it. YouTube Shorts Graham Stephan, a popular personal finance YouTuber, makes Shorts with quick and useful financial tips. His short videos about money saving and investment tips are short but packed with helpful advice. They quickly helped him attract a nearly 5 million audience. LinkedIn posts Hiveage, a cloud-based invoice automation tool provider for small businesses and freelancers, uses micro-content to explain how to use its software. The company shares easy-to-scan infographics to show the benefits of their product and attract more users. TikTok videos Zach King has become extremely popular thanks to his stunning illusions that keep the audience speechless. These quick videos brought him a stunning number of followers – 80 million! @zachking How to get the perfect Olympic shot! 🏐 🥇 @AlibabaCloud #alibabacloudmemento #AlibabaPartner ♬ original sound – Zach King How Do You Measure the Effect of Your Micro-Content?It is not enough to create short posts and videos; you must also know their impact. Analyze engagement metrics – these are likes, comments, and shares. It will help you understand how much people interact with your content. Check the views and watch time to see if people watch your videos to the very end. Track the click-through rate (CTR). It will tell you whether people click your call to action. Watch your audience growth to see if you are actually gaining new followers. The above findings will show what works and what improvements are needed. Conclusion Micro-content adds value to any marketing strategy. Its ability to grab attention, build connections, and drive results turns it into a powerful tool for modern marketers. Micro-content helps brands stand out and reach new customers much faster. It exists in many forms and formats and is suitable for any business. Use the above insights and experiment with micro-content in your company to boost its growth! Want more digital
Driving B2B SaaS Leads with Facebook & Instagram
In today’s competitive digital marketing landscape, driving B2B SaaS leads with Meta (specifically, Facebook and Instagram) has evolved into a pivotal strategy for scaling growth. The expansive targeting capabilities, real-time analytics, and immense reach of these platforms allow businesses to connect with decision-makers effectively and efficiently. For context, Databox recently reported that Facebook and Instagram are the top 2 social media for conversions and lead generation, ahead of LinkedIn. In this guide, we’ll focus on how you can use Facebook and Instagram to effectively drive B2B SaaS leads. These powerful platforms boast massive user bases and sophisticated targeting options, making them ideal for B2B lead generation. In fact, Meta-owned apps like WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger have an average of 3.27 billion daily active users. This shows the apps’ growing audience, which brings immense potential for driving B2B SaaS leads. Let’s now discuss how you can leverage these powerful platforms for successful B2B lead generation. 1. Understanding Your B2B SaaS Audience on Social Media The first step in driving B2B SaaS leads with Facebook and Instagram is to deeply understand your audience on these platforms. Here are some high-level strategies to gain valuable insights: Leverage social media listening tools like Hootsuite or Sprout Social to monitor industry-specific conversations by tracking relevant keywords and hashtags. This reveals pain points and trends that’ll help you develop your content strategy.Take a look at this social media listening dashboard sample from Srout Social. Conduct thorough competitive analysis by examining your rivals’ social media presence. Analyze their content strategy, engagement rates, and audience interactions to identify gaps and opportunities in the market. Create detailed buyer personas by combining data from your CRM, social media analytics, and customer interviews. Go beyond demographics to understand their goals, challenges, and preferred content types. Utilize Facebook’s Audience Insights tool to uncover detailed information about your target audience’s interests, behaviors, and other pages they follow. This data can refine your targeting and content creation efforts. Here’s an example of Facebook’s Audience Insight tool at work: Implement social media surveys or polls to directly engage your audience and gather firsthand insights about their preferences and pain points. Analyze your website traffic sources using tools like Google Analytics. This helps you understand which social platforms are driving the most qualified leads, enabling you to allocate resources more effectively. Adopting these strategies can help you gain balanced insights and an understanding of your B2B audience. This way, you can create highly targeted and effective campaigns to increase your Facebook and Instagram engagement rates. As a result, this helps with driving B2B SaaS leads with Facebook and Instagram. 2. Crafting Compelling Content for B2B SaaS on Social Media Now that you understand your audience, it’s time to create content that resonates with them. The key to driving B2B SaaS leads with Facebook and Instagram is to tailor your content to each platform’s unique format while maintaining a consistent brand message. For instance, on Facebook, you have the flexibility to create various types of content, including: Long-form posts: Share detailed insights, industry trends, or case studies. Videos: Create product demos, tutorials, or thought leadership content. Live streams: Host Q&A sessions or product launches to engage directly with your audience. Here’s a great example of a Facebook post geared towards driving B2B Saas leads: For Instagram, focus on visual storytelling by using: Carousel posts to showcase multiple product features Instagram videos for in-depth product demonstrations Stories to offer behind-the-scenes glimpses or quick tips Reels for short, engaging product teasers or tips This Instagram Reel from Zapier is a great example of what’s being discussed. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Zapier (@zapier) That said, regardless of the platform, always strive to balance educational and promotional content. Aim for an 80/20 split: 80% of your content should provide value to your audience, while 20% can be more directly promotional. Also, don’t forget to leverage user-generated content and case studies. Share success stories from your clients, complete with concrete metrics and results. This not only provides social proof but also helps potential clients envision how your product could benefit their own business. 3. Optimizing Facebook Ads for B2B SaaS Lead Generation Facebook’s robust advertising platform offers powerful tools for driving valuable B2B SaaS leads. Such tools include Ads Manager, Audience Insights, and Meta Pixel. These tools provide sophisticated targeting options, detailed analytics, and conversion tracking capabilities essential for effective B2B lead generation. That said, to maximize your results, here are a few strategies you can adopt: Create custom audiences based on website visitors and email lists Utilize lookalike audiences to expand your reach Implement retargeting strategies for high-intent prospects Create effective ad copy and visuals for B2B SaaS offerings Leverage Facebook Lead Ads for direct lead capture Try Dynamic Ads to showcase your brand, get better results and prevent ad fatigue When setting up your campaigns, keep in mind that the average CTR across all industries on Facebook is 1.51%, with an average CPC of $0.83. Aim to beat these benchmarks by continually testing and refining your ad creative and targeting. 4. Harnessing Instagram’s Potential for B2B SaaS Lead Generation While Instagram might not be the first platform that comes to mind for B2B marketing, it offers unique opportunities for driving B2B SaaS leads. Here’s how to make the most of this social media platform: Optimize your Instagram business profile for lead generation Utilize Instagram Stories and Highlights to showcase product features Leverage Instagram’s shopping features for B2B SaaS products, such as Instagram Shop for Shopify integrations Use Instagram Videos for in-depth product demonstrations and thought leadership content Create engaging Reels to showcase quick tips or product features Consider incorporating local influencer marketing to reach targeted B2B audiences more effectively It would interest you to know that 62% of Instagram users become more interested in a brand after seeing it in Stories. As such, when you create a strong Instagram presence, you’re not just generating leads; you’re building brand awareness and credibility in the B2B space. 5. Integrating Strategies with Your Sales Funnel
A Guide to the Travel Customer Journey
The Travel Customer Journey is key for successful travel and tourism marketing. It helps you understand travelers of the past, present, and future. The COVID-19 pandemic has heavily affected the travel and tourism industry back in 2020 and 2021. “Revenge Travel” was a new term coined to describe the predicted phenomenon of post-pandemic surges in travel bookings. After all, we’ve all been daydreaming about traveling while being stuck at home. Many will be dying to scratch that travel itch when things are safe again, which gradually started to happen in late 2021 onwards. You might already have a laid-out Travel Customer Journey, but it’s time to spruce it up for this new, post-Covid era. Also, not to mention, technology has revolutionized the way people book for travel. Travel technology solutions are revolutionizing the way travelers experience their journeys, from booking accommodations to exploring new destinations. For example, with VisaFly‘s expertise, your journey becomes smoother, ensuring you have the necessary visas and permits to explore the world hassle-free. The travel landscape is now multi-device and multi-channel. Our blog is here to help! Today, we’ll take a closer look at this journey and the stages within it. We’ll provide tips that can be easily implemented into your existing travel marketing strategy. Here are the topics we’ll discuss: What is a Customer Journey? What is a Travel Customer Journey? Dreaming Planning Booking Exploring Remembering How to Track the Travel Customer Journey? Why is it Important to Map out a Travel Customer Journey? Photo by Melissa Walker Horn on Unsplash What is a Customer Journey? A Customer Journey is the customer’s complete experience of interacting with a brand. The journey mapping can span different stages, but here we identify the core three: Awareness The prospect has run into an issue and realizes they need to find a solution. Consideration The prospect is conducting research and shopping around for options. Conversion The prospect makes the final purchase decision. What is a Traveler Customer Journey? Compared to the typical Customer Journey, the Traveler Customer Journey has different stages. These stages are also known as “Travel Moments”Let’s take a closer look, shall we? Dreaming Inspire People to Travel Planning Engage with your Brand Booking Drive Them to Book Exploring Loyalty Though Experience Remembering Post-Trip Touchpoints 1. Dreaming Ah, yes, we all do this. We are daydreaming about sinking our toes into the warm sand on the beach in Fiji, exploring the historical ruins of Pompeii, or biking through the scenic city that is Amsterdam! This craving for adventure has only multiplied since COVID-19 began, especially considering that people were so locked up inside. Canceled travel plans are a pain. So! This is the first stage any person that is thinking of traveling will undergo. A prospect will start by dreaming about a trip to your destination or participating in the tours or activities you offer. It’s hopeful and fun. Note, they don’t have any firm plans at this stage yet. Think of it like they are browsing for travel inspiration and pinning it on their Pinterest board. As a marketer, this is where you think: how do I get more people to become aware of my location and offerings? In order to appear in peoples’ “dreams”, brand awareness efforts are a must! Travel marketers can run awareness campaigns through Display and Social ads. Use vibrant visuals that clearly depict your destination of offerings (this is not the time to be abstract). Paint a picture in their head before they know exactly what they want. To build awareness, some ad formats work better than others: HTML5 Cinemagraphs Audio Video When it comes to your advertising imagery: Try to feature models that match the demographic you’re targeting. Family? Couples? Seniors? People want to put themselves in the models’ shoes. Are you marketing the gorgeous views of your destination? Compared to the environment, the proportions of the models should be tiny to middle-sized. That is how you feature the destination as the focal point. Want to show off the awesome activities you’re offering? Make sure the models are middle to large-sized compared to the background. This way, it demonstrates the experience effectively. You need to plant the seed in their mind so they can think of you when they dream of their next vacation! 2. Planning The Planning stage is when people have decided on the destination they want to visit. This is when they start to plan for accommodations, travel, and activities! People will be comparing options and prices before finalizing their decision. This is a crucial stage for travel marketers to establish their presence and capture people with high purchase intent. You have to stand out from your competition. That means you should cover your ground online. Modern travel software development enables businesses to create comprehensive digital touchpoints that meet travelers where they are in their journey. Consumers are smart and savvy. 4 out of 10 visits to a travel or tourism website are through mobile. Surveys show that 88% of people would switch to another website if yours doesn’t meet their needs. Thus, be sure your website and landing page provide relevant information and are optimized for mobile devices! Google breaks down the Travel Customer Journey into micro-moments. Here’s a look at how mobile devices are shaping the decision-making process for travelers. Paid Search is geared towards users who are actively searching for specific keywords. See our blog to learn more about Search Ads. If you are a hotel, hotel ads are a valuable advertising option. You’ll show up at the top of the results and it offers direct booking right on the search results page. At this stage in the Travel Customer Journey, you want to attract as much traffic from interested audiences as possible. So combine your paid strategy with content marketing. Write blogs about your services, events, and brand. It will provide people with more context in the activities they might be interested in! By doing so, your website will also see a growth in organic traffic. 3. Booking The people are ready and eager to
How to Design Social Media Content for Accessibility
Social media is where billions of people learn and interact. Still, easily scrolling through social media platforms is not that easy for every user. Some people need specific conditions like higher color contrast, larger fonts, video captions, and more to access and understand the content. So creating accessible and inclusive social media content is as important as ever. What Is Social Media Accessibility? Social media accessibility means making sure social media content is easy for everyone to read and understand, including people who use screen readers and other assistive tools due to disabilities. Countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada have laws that require social media platforms and websites to ensure their content is accessible. With over half the world’s population having social media accounts, totaling more than 5 billion accounts, businesses need to focus on accessibility for long-term success. How To Create Accessible Social Media Content It’s fairly easy to make your social media content accessible and inclusive once you know how to begin. Below are 10 useful tips to make your social media posts accessible. 1. Use Plain Language Use plain language to increase the chances of everyone including people with disabilities to understand your social media content. Here are several ways of how to use plain language: Keep sentences and paragraphs concise. Short and to-the-point sentences and paragraphs reduce the cognitive load on readers, making it easier for them to follow along, especially for those with reading disabilities or non-native speakers. Avoid large blocks of text. Large blocks of text are difficult to read, especially for people with cognitive disabilities, visual impairments, or those using screen readers. Break up your content into smaller paragraphs, bullet points, or numbered lists to make it easier to navigate. Ensure the content has a clear and logical structure. A clear and logical content structure helps readers easily follow your message, especially those with cognitive disabilities or attention difficulties. Begin with a clear introduction, followed by main points in a logical order, and finish with a short conclusion. Use headings, subheadings, and consistent formatting to guide readers through the content. Minimize the use of abbreviations and acronyms. Abbreviations and acronyms are confusing, especially for non-native speakers or those using screen readers. If applying them is unavoidable, then make sure to spell out the abbreviation when using it the first time in the text. 2. Add Alt Text to Images Alt text, short for “alternative text,” describes the image read aloud by screen readers, letting people with visual impairments understand the visual content. To make your social media content accessible, add alt text to your images on all the platforms. Here are the instructions to add alt text on the following social media platforms: Instagram Instagram automatically generates alt text using AI but you can add your own by following these steps: Add your photo. Edit it and click “Next.” Choose “Accessibility.” Write your alt text in the provided box, keeping the 100-character limit. Tap “Share” to save and post. Facebook Facebook also provides AI-generated alt text for all posts, but you can edit it to add your own. Here’s how: Click “Photo/Video” at the top of your feed and select the photo you want to upload. Hover over the photo and click “Edit.” You’ll see the AI-generated alt text. To change it, choose “Override generated alt text.” Write your custom alt text, keeping it within Facebook’s 100-character limit. Tap “Save.” LinkedIn LinkedIn allows easily adding alt text to your post images. Here’s how: Add the photo. Click “Alt. text” below the image. Add your alt text, keeping it under 120 characters. Tap “Save.” X (formerly Twitter) On X (formerly Twitter), adding alt text to your images is simple with only 3 steps: Upload the image and select “Add description” beneath it. Type the alt text (up to 1000 characters). Tap “Save.” 3. Provide Image and Video Descriptions Image and video descriptions are important to make your social media content accessible to everyone, especially those with visual impairments. Here is how to add image and video descriptions on Instagram, Facebook, Linkedin, and X: Instagram Tap the + icon. Choose a photo/video to upload. Tap “Next” and edit the photo/video by adding filters to the photo or a cover image to the video Tap “Next” and “Write a caption”. Share the photo/video. Facebook Upload a photo/video Select the desired photo/video and tap “Edit”. Under “Add a description”, type the text. Click “Done Editing”. Linkedin From your Service Page Admin view, scroll to the Media section. Tap the +Add media button. Click the + icon. Select the photo/image you want to upload. Add the title and description. Click Done. X (formerly Twitter) Upload the image/video. Tap “Add description” beneath the image/video. In the Description box, type the text. Tap “Save”. 4. Provide Captions for Videos Almost all social media platforms offer automatic captions for videos, which you can enable or customize. The quickest method is to use auto-generated captions, though they may lack accuracy since they’re not human-generated. Here’s how to add your captions to videos on popular social media platforms: Instagram Upload a video via Instagram. Access Stickers by tapping the square smile. Click on any word you want to change to edit the captions. Click “Done”. Tap “Next” and share the video. Facebook Upload and post your video. Open the video on full screen and tap the “Menu” icon. Select “Edit Video” and choose “Captions” to turn them on or off. Scroll down to “Review” and edit or add captions. Tap “Save”. Linkedin From the share box at the top of your LinkedIn homepage, tap the “Video” icon. In the pop-up window, tap “Select video to share”. Choose the video and click “Edit” in the top right corner to access the video’s settings. Click “Select Caption” to attach an SRT file. Confirm your choice. Add additional text if necessary. Tap “Post”. X (Twitter) Upload the video. Add your captions using an SRT file by selecting “Upload caption file (.srt)”
How to Rank Higher in TikTok Search Results
Did you know that TikTok has already become an all-knowing ask-me-anything machine? Even though it hasn’t won the search engine battle with Google, it has conquered the hearts of the younger Gen Z audience in particular. Speaking in relationship terms, Gen Zers dumped Google for TikTok: 74% of them go to TikTok to find products and services, and over half (51%) prefer it over Google. Generation Z is not the only demographic cohort that turns to this social app for information. For instance, when digging up the statistics across the US, you’ll see that two in five people of all ages browse TikTok as a discovery platform. While recognizing this as a growth prospect, every business wants to occupy a better “seat” in its search results. However, ranking higher on TikTok is a more nuanced and complicated task than it looks. First, you should understand TikTok SEO, which stands for search engine optimization, and the algorithmic approach to content rankings on the platform. After that, we’ll teach you how to optimize your TikToks for SEO. What You Should Know About TikTok’s Search Algorithm Like Google’s algorithms, TikTok applies its own ranking systems and methods to size up content, grade it, and display the most suitable pieces in front of users whenever they type a query in the search bar. But how do the TikTok search algorithms decide on what to show first, second, third…? Let’s review what bears the biggest weight for TikTok and sort out entirely weightless factors. What TikTok Relies On When Preparing Search Results Previous searcher’s behavior Post engagement (likes, comments, and shares) Relevance to the inquiry Video completion rate (Ideal watching time is from start to finish.) Location Device Language On TikTok’s own FAQ, they state: “SearchOur search feature allows you to search for content on TikTok. It also recommends search terms for you to discover content. Factors that may influence your search results include: User interactions: Your past search behavior and the content you like, share, comment on, and watch in full or skip. Content information: How relevant the content is to your search, hashtags, and the sound used. User information: Device settings, language preference, and location. These factors help us predict how relevant and interesting content might be to a viewer. Different factors can play a larger or smaller role in what’s recommended, and the importance—or weighting—of a factor can change over time. For many users, how relevant the content is to the specific term entered is generally weighted more heavily than other factors.“ What TikTok Doesn’t Count In When Preparing Search Results Profile visits and aesthetics Follower count Account verification (A “verified” badge won’t help you outrank others on TikTok.) Video’s age Posting frequency Direct user relations (e.g., mutual followers) Also note: Organic social search results on TikTok don’t depend on whether a video is promoted through advertising. In that regard, paid promotions will enhance your visibility but won’t boost your TikTok search rankings. How to Optimize Your TikTok Content for Search Now, let’s focus on improving your TikToks for search engine optimization and gaining top-tier positions. 1. Do research and find out what your audience is after. Do you truly understand your target audience: their values, concerns, needs, etc.? What exactly are your potential customers looking for on TikTok? Once you figure it out, you can match the search intent and tailor your content to the user’s specific tastes and interests. Here’s how to do that: Start typing your targeted keywords in the search bar (TikTok auto-suggests the most popular phrases). Analyze the top performers in your niche (preferably your direct competitors) and scroll through their TikToks. Peep into the comments section under viral videos related to your industry and rummage out suggested topics and ideas. Ask your audience what they’re curious about. For example:Asking what bothers TikTok users from the scientific viewpoint, the Science World team answers those questions in a series of video mini-lessons. @scienceworldca 🦑 Science Class in Session! 🦑 Learn about deep sea life in today’s Ask Science World and what it takes to travel to the bottom of the ocean at Science World’s feature exhibit, James Cameron – CHALLENGING THE DEEP, on now until January 1, 2024. #AskScienceWorld #ChallengingtheDeep #scienceworldca ♬ Funk It Up – John Etkin-Bell Grant Aldrich, Founder of Online Degree, also adds that it’s important to consider seasonality. “It’s no surprise that, much like any other platform, TikTok experiences spikes in searches driven by certain seasons, such as the back-to-school season or winter holidays. Before these periods arrive, explore seasonal queries and schedule your posts in advance to give TikTok algorithms time to evaluate your content and make it discoverable during the highest search volume.” 2. Use the audience’s preferred language. Do you aim to target multilingual markets on TikTok? If yes, you must tap into geographic customer segmentation and produce content in different languages (the app is available in over 50 languages). Besides, if your videos are in the user’s chosen language, they are more likely to appear in their search results on TikTok (the app reckon with users’ language preferences, remember?). As Chris Aubeeluck, Head of Sales and Marketing at Osbornes Law, puts it, “Diverse markets have unique inquiries, challenges, and needs. When tailoring your messages to a specific linguistic context (language, communication style, terminology, and so on), you can address cultural nuances and localize your content to achieve maximum relevance and rank higher in TikTok search results.” For example:The Osbornes Law firm localizes TikTok videos for Polish-speaking clients who live in the UK. @prawnicy_osbornes_w_uk Czy pracodawcy w UK dbają o bezpieczeństwo i przesztrzegają przepisów BHP wobec pracownika? Jaka jest wasza opinia? #polacywuk #polacywanglii #anglia #praca #pracownik #polonia ♬ Epic Motivation – Kidmada Yet, even in English, you may encounter lexical diversity between generations (compare the Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z slang) and industries (compare legal and medical jargon). 3. Insert searchable keywords into captions. Again, just like Google, TikTok ranks content based on its appropriateness to user queries. As soon as you include proper keywords in your video captions on TikTok, the system will better understand your content and bring it up in the search results, on the “For You” page, and in the recommended section. Let’s suppose