9 Key Steps to Write an Awesome Blog Post That People Will Actually Read

In a digital world flooded with content, creating a blog post that grabs readers’ attention and keeps them engaged is not a small deal. But, don’t worry, in this article, I’ll walk you through 9 essential steps to craft a quality blog post that not only attracts the eyeballs of your audience but keeps them glued to the screen. Whether you’re a seasoned blogger or just starting out, these steps will help you create blog posts that people will actually read and enjoy.

9 Key Steps to Write an Awesome Blog Post

 
1. Define Your Specific Goals

Before you start writing, it’s important to identify for which purpose you’re going to write a blog post. Defining your purpose is the compass that steers your blog writing. Therefore, it’s crucial to be clear about your goals. Are you seeking to educate, entertain, or inspire your readers? Clearly defining your goal is the first and fundamental step in crafting compelling blog post.

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If educating your reader is your aim, your words should serve as a source of knowledge, providing valuable insights, information, and expertise on a particular topic. If entertainment is the goal, your writing should spark joy, laughter, or amusement, keeping your audience engaged and eager for more. When inspiring them is your mission, your words should motivate, uplift, and resonate with your readers, driving them to take positive action. Your goal is the constant guide that ensure your  blog remains focused, coherent, and impactful. It shapes your narrative, determines your tone, and  specify your writing style. So, whether you’re educating, entertaining or inspiring, clarity of the goals will lead to more meaningful and effective blog posts.

2. Research and Refine Your Blog Topic

When you’re more clear on the goal of your blog post, it’s time to start your research. List down the keywords your target audience would mostly use when they conduct an internet search around your blog topic, then, use a keyword research tool to expand and refine this keyword list based on, search volume, keyword difficulty, and competitiveness of each keyword. Use the stats to select a target keyword, or keywords, and make note of any similar or related phrases. 

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Next, check the SERP competition for your chosen keyword/s. Enter your keyword/s  into Google and take note of the results on the first page or two. This can provide insight into what Google thinks the searcher wants when they perform a query using the particular key phrase, while it also enables you to study how the competition is addressing the blog topic you chose, so you can create a blogging strategy that can compete.

Now, put some effort into choosing the right blog headline. Your blog headline is the first opportunity to convince people to read your blog – a good headline tells the reader what the blog post is about, and what they’ll gain from reading it. It should be super compelling, but honest.

If you need a little help to choose the right keyword, check out CoSchedule’s headline analyzer which will assess the strength of your chosen headline and give you suggestions on how to improve it further.

3. Create a Blog Outline

It’s easy to ignore this essential step, but doing so might result in unstructured blog posts that go off-subject and leave the readers wanting. So, please do yourself a favour and make a structure for your blog.

✅ Introduction

Recognizing your reader’s pain point/s and demonstrating empathy for them is a great way to introduce your blog topic. There’s no need to go into depth in the introduction, just capture few points like what would compel the readers to seek information on your blog topic? How might that make them feel? And, how will reading your blog post help them? That’s enough!

✅ Body

The body of your blog post is where you get to deliver on your title’s promise. This is where your research comes into play: break the body of your blog into logical sections with sub-headings, so you can go in-depth on your topic. If there is an related keyword that deserves its own section, now is the time to include it. This is also a great opportunity to mention your blog post’s goals. How will you satisfy the reader’s wants, and what should they do next? Is there a clear spot where you can include your call to action? Make a note of it so you are able to reference it when you write.

✅ Conclusion

Don’t spend too much time on this. Your blog post’s conclusion will provide a summary of your major points and strengthen your call to action. After you complete your blog writing, conclusion generally comes naturally. You don’t need put much efforts on this.

4. Jot Down Your First Draft

When you accept that your first draft will be terrible, you can take a lot of the pressure off your shoulders. In this first draft stage, you don’t have to worry about creating a masterpiece, all you have to do is set aside some uninterrupted time and write the whole blog post, from start-to-finish, without going back to edit.

It’ll be awful, I know, but it’s like organizing your closet – first, you need to dump everything out onto your bed and make a big mess. Then only you can dispose of the things you don’t want anymore and put the good stuff back in the closet. When start to practice this first draft method, you’ll realize that it’ll help you to complete the blog posts in less time, and with less stress.

5. Ruthlessly Proofread and Edit Your Blog

Now that you’ve put down your thoughts into blog content, you can move on to the fun part of blog writing – Yes! I’m talking about editing.

Creating an effective blog post is a repetitive process, and it’s important to recognize that your first draft won’t be perfect. The true magic happens during the editing stage, where you have the opportunity to shape your work into something you can be proud of.

To get the optimal results, set your first draft aside for at least a day and return to it with a fresh mind and eyes. During this review, prioritize clarity. Make sure you’re conveying your message in the most efficient manner. Eliminate unnecessary words or tangential ideas that don’t contribute value to your blog. Replace confusing industry jargon with plain language that your readers can easily understand. Seek opportunities to enhance your blog post with examples, diagrams, or other elements that enhance its readability.

You can even rearrange entire sections to ensure a natural flow in your blog narrative. After making these adjustments, ask someone to read your post and provide feedback. They’ll likely spot issues you might have missed. Use a readability tool, such as Hemingway, to identify long sentences and passive language that may have slipped from your eyes. Finally, run a spell check to add the finishing touches.

6. Add Visual Elements

Incorporating images into every blog post is more than just a visual enhancement; it’s a strategic imperative. Each blog post should feature at least one image, if not more. Images help break up long blocks of text, making your content not only easier to digest but also more enjoyable to read. In the age of social media, visuals are king. Blog posts with eye-catching images tend to perform better in terms of likes, shares, and comments. By including relevant images, you make it simpler for your readers to share your content.

Therefore, whenever possible, aim to craft your own original visuals. These can be in the form of screenshots, charts, graphs, or custom graphics. For this, you don’t need to be a graphic designer or invest in expensive software; you can simply use the cost-effective tools like Canva. Also, don’t underestimate the power of image SEO. Optimizing your images with descriptive file names and alt text can significantly impact your search rankings. Original images have the added benefit of attracting inbound links, bolstering your site’s credibility.

If you aren’t able to create your own visuals, you can rely on websites like Shutterstock to get high-quality images, though some may require a fee. If your budget allows, investing in these resources can provide a polished and professional touch to your blog. For those on a tight budget, numerous websites provide free images. Consider platforms like Unsplash, Pexels, and Pixabay. And, ensure you comply with licensing and usage terms when incorporating these images into your blog posts.

By adhering to these image-related best practices, your blog posts will not only become more reader-friendly but also more shareable and discoverable. The inclusion of well-chosen visuals is a valuable strategy for both engaging your audience and optimizing your blog post for search engines.

7. Optimize Your Blog Post for SEO

It’s essential to optimize your blog post for SEO. Search engines share common priorities with your readers. They seek to comprehend the post’s subject matter to ensure it reaches the right audience. They prioritize content that is clear, easily digestible and offers in-depth answers to the searcher’s queries. Additionally, search engines appreciate links to other relevant resources, allowing readers to expand their knowledge.

By focusing on creating reader-centric blog posts, many of these SEO aspects will naturally fall into place. However, it’s crucial to structure your blog thoughtfully to emphasize this focus.

While WordPress plugins such as RankMath can be valuable for optimizing your blog posts for SEO, a deep understanding of what search engines are seeking can render these tools optional. For a step-by-step guide on crafting SEO-friendly blog posts, you can refer to “How to Write Blog Posts That Rank Well in Search Engines.”

8. Publish and Promote Your Blog Post

Now that you’ve prepared a compelling blog post, it’s time to publish it on your website. After that, you can start executing your content promotion plan.

The specific strategies you employ for promotion will depend on the goals you’ve set for your blog post. Typically, you’ll begin by sharing the post with your blog subscribers and simultaneously, crafting a series of social media posts with different images and messages, and integrating them into your social media sharing schedule. But there are several other effective ways to boost your blog post’s visibility.

For instance, if you’ve mentioned anyone in your article, it’s a good idea to notify them. Additionally, if there are individuals within your company or among your contacts who might find the content valuable, make sure to bring it to their attention. When you share your work with interested people, they may also share your article or post it on their own social channels, and help you extend your blog reach.

9. Track Your Blog Performance

Now, it’s time to measure the impact of your blog post. While many organizations rely on Google Analytics, various other tools can also serve this purpose. The choice of metrics to track depends on your specific goals, but here are some common indicators that offer valuable insights about your blog performance:

  • Traffic: Keep an eye on the number of visitors your blog post attracts to your website and analyze their sources.
  • Bounce Rate: Understand what happens after someone lands on your blog post. Do they explore other sections of your site or simply leave after getting the information they need?
  • Shares: Assess whether readers find your blog content compelling enough to share it on their social media platforms. Identify which channels generate the most engagement and why.
  • Links: Evaluate whether your blog post is drawing high-quality inbound links from other websites.
  • Rankings: Determine the keywords for which your blog post is ranking and its position in search engine results.
  • Conversions: Examine whether your blog post motivates readers to take desired actions such as subscribing to your blog, contacting your business, or any other intended outcomes.
  • Average Time on Page: Assess whether visitors are spending sufficient time on the blog page to thoroughly engage with your content.

Monitoring these results may not be the most glamorous aspect of blog writing, but these metrics are pivotal for your success. Select the metrics that align with your business goals, consistently track them over time, and leverage these insights to inform your future blogging strategies. Remember that you have the option to revisit and make improvements to your blog post to enhance its performance.

It’s Your Turn!!!

The biggest thing to remember when it comes to writing blog posts is, don’t overcomplicate it. Keeping your blog post simple and straightforward is essential. Also, make sure the headline is clear. And maintain the blog structure clean and easy to follow. As time goes on, you’ll get better at the creative stuff. But get these foundations right first.

Now that you’ve learned my 9 key steps to create compelling blog posts that people actually WANT to read, chances are you’ve been considering some blog topics you want to write about.

Honor that intent right now! – take a moment and start with your first draft.

Happy Blogging!

And, I hope you enjoyed this article, please comment with your thoughts below.

Abirika

Abirika Soolabanee working as a Senior Manager - Inbound Marketing & Branding at Prime One Global. She is a certified content and Inbound marketer with five years of experience. Bringing expertise in content marketing, inbound marketing, branding, blogging, copywriting, SEO, keyword research, and research & analytics. She is passionate about Inbound Marketing, Branding and Blogging. She writes in-depth articles and guides about digital marketing trends, technologies, and other lifestyle topics since 2018. Through her writings, she loves to help people in all aspects of their life.

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Top 10 Sure-Fire Instagram Best Practices for Growth in 2024

The ecosystem of Instagram has experienced significant changes over the years and converted into one of the most popular and influential social media platforms. Day by day the competition for grabbing audience attention is growing on Instagram, therefore it has become more crucial for brands to adapt and implement new strategies for their Instagram marketing. In this article we will check out the ten sure-fire Instagram best practices that can help your brand skyrocket its reach, nurture new followers and achieve exceptional growth in 2024.

However, it’s important to understand that you can’t accomplish your Instagram account growth by overnight. Usually, most of the Instagram business accounts have an average monthly follower growth rate of, around +1.25%. With that said, let’s take a close look into these tried and tested Instagram best practices and see if you can outperform this benchmark to successfully elevate your Instagram account growth.

Without further ado let’s get started!

Top 10 Instagram Best Practices

1. Leverage the Potential of Engaging Content

Leverage the Potential of Engaging Content

Delivering engaging content is one of the essential Instagram best practices to grow your Instagram account. Therefore, create engaging content that best resonates with your target audience. You can create and share attention-grabbing images, and videos with good descriptions/captions that connect with your industry niche and target audience demographic. Furthermore, you can make use of interactive content like polls, and other engaging content features to spark fruitful interaction from your Instagram followers. Remember, Instagram is primarily a visual social media platform, so upholding its aesthetic nature is really important to boost your growth on Instagram. Build a cohesive Instagram feed by perfectly integrating your branding elements. Showcase high-quality visuals that reflect your brand’s core personality and values, this practice can help you attract new followers and also encourage profound engagement from them.

2. Embrace the Trends of Reels and IGTV

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Instagram itself states,

“Reels is the best place to grow creatively, grow your community, and grow your career.”

Reels and IGTV are content creators’ most favourite features on Instagram, utilizing them is one of the smart Instagram best practices. Even the recent statistics on Instagram show that most of the Instagram users spend around 20% of their time on the app watching Reels alone. Doesn’t it show the power of Reels? That’s why, it’s a smart move to make use of these features to expand your reach within the Instagram community. One of the key things to keep in mind when using Instagram reels is to create engaging, informative and trending videos that properly align with your brand’s unique identity and messaging strategy. By creating these relevant & engaging Reels, you can increase your brands visibility on Instagram and ultimately expand your Insta followers.

3. Use the Power of Instagram Stories

Through Instagram Stories, you can provide an authentic glimpse into your brand’s day-to-day activities, that’s why it’s included in the top 3 Instagram best practices. Additionally, stories give an opportunity to connect with your audience on a personal level. Therefore, use Instagram Stories to showcase the unique aspects of your brand, share behind the scenes moments of your staff, and run time limited promotions for your bestselling products or services. By using the smart features like stickers and Swipe Up links in your Instagram Stories, you can drive traffic directly to your website or landing pages from the stories. (Note; These features are inclusively accessible for Instagram accounts with over 10K followers).

4. Enthusiastically Engage with Your Insta Audience

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You can get more viewers to your Instagram Account through posts and Reels, this is why reels are one of the popular Instagram best practices. But, in order to convert them into long-term followers you need to actively engage with them. Even Instagram also echoed the same.

“The easiest way to turn casual followers into fans is by liking, replying and resharing their responses. Just show you care! âĪ”

Fostering a strong and authentic connection with your audience is one of the Instagram best practices for long-term success. Therefore, make it a high priority to like and respond to your followers’ comments, direct messages and any mentions of your brand on the Instagram platform. You can also express your appreciation for your followers’ engagement and loyalty by resharing their valuable comments or actively taking part in conversations with them. This practice will aid you in growing your Instagram community and increase the sharing rate of your Instagram posts among a wide range of audience.

5. Join-Force with Influencers and Partners

Teaming up with the right Instagram influencers is one of the effective Instagram best practices to promote your brand. Look for influencers whose values and styles best align with your brand and work together with them to get your brand name in front of your target audience to make them actively engage with your brand. Additionally, consider partnering with businesses or brands that positively complement your products or services, this way you can promote your products/services to a new range of audience. Collaborating with influencers and businesses will give a significant boost to your Instagram account growth.

6. Create Attractive Shoppable Posts

Create Attractive Shoppable Posts

Shoppable posts are one of the attractive features on Instagram. This unique feature allows you to tag your products or services directly in your posts and enabling users to make instant purchases within the app. This all-in-one shopping post feature can greatly enhance the buying experience for your customers and significantly increase the revenue for your business. Spend quality time to create attractive and informative shoppable posts and encourage your potential buyers to make instant purchases.

7. Use the Ultimate Power of User Generated Content (UGC)

Encourage your Instagram followers to create and share content featuring your brand, products or services. Then repost the UGC on your Instagram feed or stories while giving credit to the original post creators. This way you can showcase actual social proof of your brand and prove how your brand influences real people. This will establish a connection with your followers and foster a sense of community around your brand. Promoting UGC will ultimately leading to increased growth for your Instagram account. Moreover, you can save time and effort from creating new content.

8. Carefully Choose Relevant Post Hashtags

Carefully Choose Relevant Post Hashtags

Hashtags are a way to increase the reach of your Instagram posts, which’s is one of the crucial Instagram best practices for achieving growth on the platform. Research trending hashtags in your niche and include niche hashtags in your posts but be cautious about using overused or spammy ones. Hashtags help you boost the visibility of your posts in Instagram search results. It’s also important to strike a balance between niche and trending hashtags for improved search visibility. Additionally, consider creating unique branded hashtags that reflect your brands identity. Having a planned approach to using hashtags can greatly assist you in gaining new followers on Instagram and broadening your visibility in Instagram searches.

9. Consistently Post at the Right Time

Consistently Post at the Right Time

When it comes to growing your Instagram account, attracting new followers is one part of the equation. The other crucial aspect is keeping those followers and continuously increasing your followers count. This requires consistency. To keep a presence on Instagram it’s important to create an Instagram content calendar and stick to a posting schedule. You can use Instagram Insights to figure out when your audience is most active and plan your posts accordingly. By being consistent and posting at the right times on Instagram you’ll ensure that your content reaches a large portion of your followers and increases the chances of your posts going viral. This is the reason it’s included in the top 10 Instagram best practices.

10. Analyzing and Optimizing Your Instagram Performance

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Assessing your Instagram Insights allows you to understand which content resonates best with your target audience. That’s why it’s one of the Instagram best practices, so, take a look at metrics like reach, engagement, and followers growth rate to check how well you’re performing on Instagram. Additionally, keep an eye out for emerging trends & styles and adjust your Instagram strategy accordingly to stay relevant. Use the data collected from the Instagram metrics and insights to optimize your content strategy on Instagram to maximize its growth potential.

In conclusion

Instagram is a social media platform that requires creativity, strategic thinking and consistent effort to stay ahead. To expand your reach and engagement with your audience on Instagram, it’s important to make the best use of the features like Reels, Stories, User Generated Content, Influencers and Hashtags. Furthermore, embracing the posts trends, actively engaging with your followers, and keeping a regular posting schedule will contribute to significant growth. It’s also crucial to prioritize aesthetics and data driven insights in order to fine-tune your approach for success on Instagram in 2024. So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead. Happy Instagramming!

If you found these Instagram best practices useful, please feel free to share this article with others!

Remember to leave your comments as well!

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Abirika

Abirika Soolabanee working as a Senior Manager - Inbound Marketing & Branding at Prime One Global. She is a certified content and Inbound marketer with five years of experience. Bringing expertise in content marketing, inbound marketing, branding, blogging, copywriting, SEO, keyword research, and research & analytics. She is passionate about Inbound Marketing, Branding and Blogging. She writes in-depth articles and guides about digital marketing trends, technologies, and other lifestyle topics since 2018. Through her writings, she loves to help people in all aspects of their life.

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How Will ChatGPT Affect Your Job If You Work in Advertising and Digital Marketing Industries?

Table of Contents

ChatGPT is a revolutionary new technology that is changing the landscape of advertising and digital marketing industries. As a result, it is essential to understand how ChatGPT could affect your job if you work in advertising and digital marketing fields. In this blog post, we will explore how ChatGPT can help you achieve more success in the digital marketing space, as well as what steps you should take to ensure you are taking full advantage of the opportunities presented by ChatGPT.

Let’s dive into the topic!

what is chatgpt

ChatGPT is a powerful tool that has the potential to revolutionize how businesses create, target and measure their digital marketing campaigns. ChatGPT stands for “Conversational Graphical Processing Technology,” a natural language processing algorithm that helps identify potential customer interests and behaviours. This technology can help businesses make better decisions when choosing the right strategies and campaigns to reach their target customers. It can also create more personalized customer conversations, allowing for more effective communication. Ultimately, This AI tool helps businesses create more efficient and impactful digital marketing campaigns to engage customers and drive better results. For those working in advertising and digital marketing industries, this means leveraging ChatGPT’s capabilities to deliver faster and more effective results.

By using this AI tool technology, marketers will better understand their customer’s preferences and behaviours to create more tailored ads and campaigns geared towards driving maximum engagement. ChatGPT can also be used as an analytical tool to provide insight into customers’ buying patterns, that allowing businesses to improve their targeting efforts by identifying what type of content resonates with their audiences the most. These benefits provided by ChatGPT offer considerable advantages to those working in advertising and digital marketing fields and provide them with the tools they need to create successful campaigns that convert leads.

implication of chatgpt

ChatGPT is a new AI technology developed by OpenAI which enables computers to generate human-like conversations. It has the potential to revolutionize digital marketing and advertising industries. This AI tool makes it easier to create personalized conversations with customers and potential customers. With ChatGPT, digital marketers can quickly and easily develop conversations tailored to customers’ needs and preferences. This technology can change how companies interact with their customers. For instance, it could offer automated customer service, respond to inquiries, or even generate product recommendations.

Additionally, it could be used to create targeted advertisements based on customers’ behaviours. The ability to quickly and accurately generate conversations also means that digital marketers could build custom chatbots with pre-set customer scenarios. The implications of this technology for the digital marketing and advertising industries are immense. It can create more compelling and personalized customer experiences, drive conversions, and increase ROI. Moreover, ChatGPT will enable marketers to test different approaches and measure their results quickly. This can help marketers to decide which strategies work best for their target audience and they can optimize their digital marketing campaigns accordingly. 

impact of chatgpt

As ChatGPT becomes more widely used, it will be necessary for professionals in these fields to understand how the technology works and what it can do for their jobs. The AI tool will be able to generate personalized messages for customers and prospects. That means fewer copywriters or content strategists will be needed to craft unique messages for each customer segment. It will also enable the automation of many basic digital marketing tasks, like building audience segments and targeting ads, which can free digital marketing professionals to focus on higher-level work.

The use of ChatGPT can also help marketers better understand customer preferences and behaviours, as well as give them more information about their audiences. This could result in better decisions regarding crafting messaging and campaigns that will resonate with customers. In addition, ChatGPT could automate marketing research and provide insights into customer sentiment that may have previously gone unnoticed.

For those who work in the advertising or digital marketing fields, embracing this technology could mean staying ahead of the curve or being left behind. The most successful professionals in these fields will be those who stay informed about technological advances and understand how to use them effectively. By taking the time to understand how ChatGPT works and how it can help your job, you can ensure that you stay ahead of the competition.

stay ahead of curve

As the technology landscape continues to change, it’s essential for people working in the advertising and digital marketing industries to stay ahead of the curve. Here are some critical steps you can take to ensure your skills remain relevant and you stay ahead of the competition:

  • Educate Yourself: It’s essential to stay informed and up-to-date on the latest trends and technologies in your industry. Take time to read industry publications, attend conferences and seminars, and take online courses to stay on top of new developments in digital marketing and advertising fields. 
  • Take Advantage of Automation Tools: Automation tools like ChatGPT are becoming increasingly popular in the industry. Make sure you understand how these tools work and how they can be used to increase efficiency and effectiveness in your work.
  • Experiment with Different Strategies: Technology is constantly changing, so it’s essential to remain open to new ideas and ways of doing things. Experiment with different strategies and tactics to determine which works best for you.
  • Network: Networking is essential to staying ahead of the curve. Connect with other industry professionals and leverage their knowledge and experience to keep yourself updated with the current trends and technologies.
  • Hire a Mentor: If you’re serious about your job, consider hiring a mentor or coach who can help you navigate the ever-changing digital marketing and advertising landscape. 

By taking these steps, you can ensure that your skills remain relevant to your industry and you’re staying ahead of the competition.

Conclusion

 

ChatGPT is a game-changing technology that will undoubtedly have some significant impacts on the advertising and digital marketing industries. The future of digital marketing and advertising Industries lies in leveraging AI-based technologies such as ChatGPT to create more personalized customer experiences. Those who work in digital marketing and advertising fields must stay ahead of the curve by learning how to use ChatGPT effectively and strategically. To do so, they should familiarize themselves with the basics of AI technology, understand the implications of ChatGPT on their job, and be open to experimenting with new strategies. With the proper knowledge and skillset, people who are working in the advertising and digital marketing fields can well-prepared to take advantage of the opportunities that ChatGPT has to offer.

What do you think about ChatGPT? Does it affect your job? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

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Abirika

Abirika Soolabanee working as a Senior Manager - Inbound Marketing & Branding at Prime One Global. She is a certified content and Inbound marketer with five years of experience. Bringing expertise in content marketing, inbound marketing, branding, blogging, copywriting, SEO, keyword research, and research & analytics. She is passionate about Inbound Marketing, Branding and Blogging. She writes in-depth articles and guides about digital marketing trends, technologies, and other lifestyle topics since 2018. Through her writings, she loves to help people in all aspects of their life.

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Top 10 Exciting Digital Transformation Trends to Follow in 2022

After the COVID-19 pandemic, digital transformation has been on the must-to-do list of many companies, especially small and medium businesses, so, now, organizations are fast-forwarding their efforts toward digital transformation. This indicates that in 2022, every business owner should care about booming digital transformation trends.

So, what to look forward to?

Read on to find out!

The Booming Digital Transformation Trends for 2022
01. Development of New Digital Business Models

The transition to digital compelled many businesses to become more inventive in how they exchange products and services for money. Although there are numerous one-fits-all digital business models, the most successful path to digital transformation in 2022 is to develop a one-of-a-kind unique business model tailored to your specific business needs. Customers nowadays choose brands that can provide a smooth digital experience. To that aim, it's critical to comprehend how your expertise might be paired with online technologies to meet the requirements of your customers. You will not only be able to remain relevant and gain a competitive advantage in this manner, but it may also be possible to manufacture an entirely new and profitable commercial product or service.

new digital business models
2. Opting Data-Driven Business Management

Massive volumes of easily trackable and accessible data are generated by digital technologies, which, if handled appropriately, may give you significant business insight. Even businesses that are no strangers to digital transformation trends fail to fully utilise the data at their disposal.

This appears to be changing in 2022, as data specialists in all industries are in great demand. Companies are increasingly moving their decision-making processes toward data-driven business management and seeking strategies to foster a data-centric work culture.

business management
3. Making Investment in Predictive Analytics

Modern predictive analytics technologies enable organisations to generate solid predictions of the future by evaluating data from the past and present and connecting it with economic factors, the business environment, and customer behaviour patterns. They enable management to anticipate impending digital transformation trends, develop effective business strategies, and respond to market demands in a timely way.

As AI and machine learning, the technologies that allow predictive analytics, has advanced rapidly in recent years, so has the quality of the data provided by the tools. Furthermore, such programmes will soon become more accessible not just to large and medium-sized enterprises, but also to developing businesses.

predictive analytics
4. Solving the Personalization and Privacy

Customers nowadays want a personalized experience, and businesses that give it are always one step ahead of the competition. However, this cannot be accomplished without gathering client data. But, consumers are concerned about their internet privacy and are hesitant to trust businesses with their personal information.

As a result, one of the most important digital transformation concerns is the so-called personalization and privacy contradiction. Solving it will be a major priority for businesses in 2022, and those who do will have a huge strategic edge over their competitors. While this may appear to be a daunting effort, the key is to develop adequate limitations for what information you truly require, to work in complete transparency, and to respect what the customer wants and does not want to disclose.

personalization and privacy
5. Funds Delegation to Cybersecurity

Another important digital transformation concern that businesses will confront in 2022 is cybersecurity. With big data comes great responsibility, therefore businesses must be able to safeguard their databases from breaches and attacks in order to maintain their brand reputation and consumer confidence.

To that end, they must not only allocate adequate funding to cybersecurity tools and technologies that safeguard and encrypt their data, but they must also educate their staff and consumers on good data management. Moreover, security failures are almost always unavoidable. Therefore, businesses must have a crisis strategy in place that allows them to handle challenging situations without jeopardising their integrity.

funds delegation to cybersecurity
6. Hyper-Automation is On the Rise.

One of the most significant advantages of digital transformation is automation. It assists businesses in reducing staff effort, streamlining operations, and optimising performance and productivity.  Since automation technologies are not new to the digital world, the next natural step in their evolution is hyper-automation, which is one of the rising stars in 2022 digital transformation trends.

To assess and manage business processes, hyper-automation technology employs artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotic process automation (RPA). To give insight into optimization and improvement potential, the hyper-automation tools work with both organised and unstructured data. Additionally, hyper-automation algorithms can evaluate vast volumes of data that a person just cannot process. As an outcome, they may give detailed observations and associations between background processes that the company would not be able to detect otherwise. These can assist businesses in making data-driven decisions to the next level, and understanding business processes better to improve.

 

hyper-automation
7. Enhanced CDP and CRM Platforms Adoption

Customers have higher expectations for digital experiences and brand offerings than ever before. People expect a consistent experience when engaging with businesses online, and they want to feel appreciated by the company. The contrary may result in dissatisfaction and disappointment, and the client may leave. Therefore, businesses should use customer data platforms (CDP) and customer relationship management (CRM) solutions in 2022 to keep in touch with customers and give them an exceptional customer experience.  

Customer data platforms give companies insights into their customers’ behaviour and how they utilise their products and services. Using this information, the company may optimise customer onboarding, identify product faults, and decrease customer churn. CRM tools, on the other hand, collect data about the customer’s profile and interactions with the enterprise during their lifespan. Cross-referencing the data from the two platforms enables businesses to gain a deeper understanding of their customers and enhance the quality of their products, services, and customer satisfaction.

cdp andcrm
8. A Move Towards Multi-Cloud Solutions

Cloud computing enables businesses and their clients to access their work through the internet, reducing the need for on-site infrastructure and maintenance. Businesses now have more freedom, increased collaboration capabilities, and new development prospects, and have contributed to their faster digital transformation. 

Many companies are migrating to multi-cloud solutions in 2022. This means that instead of relying on a single cloud service provider, companies will make use of several public clouds. They can also rely on hybrid-cloud systems that contain private, on-site, and public clouds. They can leverage multiple providers for data backup or for the various services they provide. In any instance, the advantages of this arrangement include improved data security, simpler transfers from one provider to the other, and a more competitive market.

multi-cloud solutions
9. Use of Digital Workplace Solutions

In 2022, the hybrid working model will be the new normal. Employees might divide their working days between working from home and working in the office. The hybrid model can include a wholly remote experience, frequent office visits, and everything in between, depending on the company’s policies and the employee’s preferences. The pandemic has pushed people all across the world to put this technique to the test, and the findings suggest that it not only doesn’t harm productivity but may really increase it. 

Companies are implementing digital workplace solutions to accommodate this sort of working arrangement, which allows both management and workers to have their day-to-day activities structured and available, to keep track of operations, and stay in touch regardless of their location. These types of digital workplace solutions include Business process management tools, project management solutions, communication tools, workflow, time tracking, reporting, and other tools.

digital workplace
10. Smart Employee and Customer Onboarding

Companies must invest time and money to onboard the people who will adopt new digital technology in order to benefit from it. These might be either workers of the company or clients, depending on the type of programme.

Rushing through onboarding can lead to low success rates, financial losses, productivity concerns, and overall time waste. By simplifying and automating the digital transformation process, companies can guarantee that they harness the full potential of the new digital technology they are investing in.

smart employee and customer onboarding
Conclusion

The digital transformation of business is an ever-evolving process. Therefore, businesses must keep up with the current trends and emerging technologies to stay ahead of their competitors.

Some of the digital transformation trends listed in this article are not entirely unknown and have been evolving steadily over the past few years, and are expected to reach their peak around 2022. Other trends are just getting started and promise exciting opportunities. However, we are merely scraping the surface here and the coming years will be full of exciting surprises and new innovations.

Which digital transformation trends look promising? Let me know in the comments!

dde6fcf31aaaef377b6b30c96ac6a72a?s=96&d=mm&r=g

Abirika

Abirika Soolabanee working as a Senior Manager - Inbound Marketing & Branding at Prime One Global. She is a certified content and Inbound marketer with five years of experience. Bringing expertise in content marketing, inbound marketing, branding, blogging, copywriting, SEO, keyword research, and research & analytics. She is passionate about Inbound Marketing, Branding and Blogging. She writes in-depth articles and guides about digital marketing trends, technologies, and other lifestyle topics since 2018. Through her writings, she loves to help people in all aspects of their life.

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Frequently Asked

Here the 6 key elements of Digital Transformation

  • Innovation
  • Collaboration
  • Experience
  • Infrastructure Modernization
  • Operational Excellence
  • Information and Insights

A digital transformation strategy is the method for restructuring the business to integrate digital technology across relevant facets in order to accomplish a variety of goals, including increased efficiency and cooperation as well as faster delivery and more customer satisfaction.

Here are the Biggest Digital Transformation challenges in 2022

  • Siloed decision-making
  • Insufficient budget for technological change
  • Looming digital skill gap
  • Shortage of technological resources
  • Increased security risks
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7 Customer Satisfaction Metrics You Need to Track in 2022

Customer satisfaction metrics have been around since long before many of us were born, and they’ll continue to be important in business in the years to come. Though the ways we think about customer satisfaction are changing, there are still certain KPIs that every business needs to track in order to provide excellent customer service. Here are seven key customer satisfaction metrics you need to track in 2022 if you want your customers to stick around…and they may even tell their friends about you!

1) Customer Service Satisfaction (CSS)

How do you know if your customers are satisfied? Start by looking at customer service satisfaction ratings. It’s a solid indication of how much customers value their experience working with your company—and it may be more important than you think. According to experts, customer service satisfaction is a stronger indicator of success than annual revenue growth or average product life cycle. Whatever metric you use, customer service satisfaction is a vital piece of information for every business owner and should be included in any strategy moving forward.

customer service satisfaction
2) Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)

Many marketers know that a customer satisfaction score is something they should be tracking. But many are still asking, what should my Customer Satisfaction Score be? In the coming years, customer satisfaction scores will take center stage as they become an essential measurement in marketing and business development efforts. The goal of CSAT is to give consumers an outlet for their complaints and good feedback by helping them fix problems quickly before customer loyalty is jeopardized. It’s important for every marketer to know what a good CSAT score is for their brand, but there isn’t one universal number that works for every company. No matter what your goals or target demographics are, it’s important to have a customer satisfaction metric that shows how well you’re meeting your customers’ needs over time. If you really want to please your customers, track these 4 customer satisfaction metrics:

  • Average response time for customer queries (2 minutes tops)
  • After sales support after product purchase (12 months)
  • How often do customers come back? (Within 12 months)
  • How do your customers rate their loyalty toward your brand?
customer satisfaction score
3) Net Promoter Score (NPS)

Net Promoter Score (NPS) measures loyalty by asking your customers if they would suggest your brand to their friends and family. It is calculated based on replies to the questions like – Given your overall experience with our business, how likely are you to suggest our products and services to family, friends, and colleagues? 

Based on the response, the following customer kinds are classified:

  • Detractors: Customers who rated you between 0 and 6 come under this group. They are not loyal and are prone to spread the unfavorable word about your brand.
  • Promoters: These are your most loyal consumers who gave you a rating of 9 or 10. They actively promote the word about your company to their friends and relatives.
  • Passives: Customers who rated you between 7-8 will fall into this group. Passives are in the middle of the two types. They will not enthusiastically advocate your brand to others, but they will not discourage their friends and coworkers.

To calculate your NPS, just subtract the percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. Your NPS will range from -100 to 100, based on how your consumers perceive your brand and how loyal they are to it. While NPS tells you where you stand, it does not explain why you got that score. You may accomplish this by adding a question following the NPS inquiry and further exploring it with your consumers.

net promoter score
4) Customer Effort Score (CES)

A new customer satisfaction measurement called customer effort score will gain prominence among marketers and customers alike. The customer effort score will be based on how easily a customer can accomplish a given task related to their relationship with your company. For example, if a customer wants to close an account or make a complaint, how easy is it for them to do that? How intuitive are your forms and processes? If you use email marketing and if the customer receives too many irrelevant emails, what’s their unsubscribe process like? All of these things can be distilled into an overall customer effort score that helps guide marketing campaigns. The Customer Effort Score (CES) helps determine the ease of using your products or services.

customer effort score
5) Customer Health Score (CHS)

A customer health score is a metric that assesses and tracks your customers’ satisfaction and loyalty levels. Today’s customers are more sensitive and vulnerable than ever. To ensure they aren’t exposed to anything that might offend them, companies have begun developing a Customer Health Score. This score will determine just how comfortable customers feel with your brand and is determined by measuring their level of satisfaction with different elements of your company. Many experts expect CHS scores to become an integral part of customer success within 3-5 years. Monitoring customer health scores will help you identify what can be improved upon across every touchpoint so you can retain them as lifelong brand advocates.

a customer health score
6) Customer Churn Rate (CCR)

The customer churn rate (CCR) is the percentage of customers lost by your company over time. It is critical to keep your current customers since it might cost up to seven times more to recruit new ones. Monitoring your CCR allows you to identify any patterns that may have an impact on your business and make effective efforts to reduce churn. Calculating the churn rate is straightforward; first, define your computation period, such as a year. Subtract your customer count at the end of the year from your customer count at the beginning of the year. CCR is calculated by dividing this figure by the number of consumers at the beginning of the year. Measuring CCR is not the end goal; once you have that information, you must seek more data that is accountable for it and determine what preventive steps may be taken to reduce it.

customer churn rate
7) Customer Reviews

It’s important to be mindful of any feedback or reviews you may receive from portals, websites, or social media platforms. The significance of reviews cannot be understated. According to a recent survey, more than 90% of shoppers prefer product reviews over product descriptions. Just make sure that you track reviews across all relevant review sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google and Facebook. Monitoring your average score is an excellent way to benchmark your overall performance; if you see it slip below 4.5 out of 5 stars over time, it may be time for a change or improvement initiative – before your reputation takes a hit! Consider investing in review management software that makes tracking reviews as easy as A-B-C!

customer reviews
Conclusion

It will be crucial to keep an eye on the right metrics for customer satisfaction to determine success. Conducting surveys is a good way to measure customer satisfaction. However, it is not that straightforward. Asking your customers, the right questions is the key to measuring it. Without the right questions, the responses may not show you the right data. Without the right data, you will not be able to identify areas of improvement to address them. So, use the above seven metrics to track the customer satisfaction in 2022.

Have you ever used any of these customer satisfaction metrics? Let me know in the comments!
dde6fcf31aaaef377b6b30c96ac6a72a?s=96&d=mm&r=g

Abirika

Abirika Soolabanee working as a Senior Manager - Inbound Marketing & Branding at Prime One Global. She is a certified content and Inbound marketer with five years of experience. Bringing expertise in content marketing, inbound marketing, branding, blogging, copywriting, SEO, keyword research, and research & analytics. She is passionate about Inbound Marketing, Branding and Blogging. She writes in-depth articles and guides about digital marketing trends, technologies, and other lifestyle topics since 2018. Through her writings, she loves to help people in all aspects of their life.

Share this article:

Frequently Asked

Here are the seven key metrics to keep on revisiting, guiding your product, service, and business development.

  • Customer Service Satisfaction (CSS)
  • Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)
  • Net Promoter Score (NPS)
  • Customer Effort Score (CES)
  • Customer Health Score (CHS)
  • Customer Health Score (CHS)
  • Customer Reviews

Your customer satisfaction score can be calculated by adding up the sum of all scores you got from your customers and dividing the sum by the number of respondents.

A customer service KPI is a performance measurement that is used by customer service teams to monitor, analyze and optimize customer relations by taking advantage of an advanced 360-degree customer view.

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Top 10 Business Intelligence Tools of 2022 to Keep You Up-To-Date

Business intelligence tools can help you make more informed decisions that lead to better opportunities, and improve the way your business runs. So it’s vital that you choose the right one for your company, especially when there are so many options to choose from. Based on predictive analytics, I’ve created this list of the top 10 business intelligence tools of 2022 to help you get started. No matter what kind of industry you work in or how large or small your business is, these BI tools help you collect, analyze, monitor, and predict future business scenarios by creating a clear perspective of all the data your company manages.

Today, I’ll explain what are BI tools, the most prominent benefits that a company can obtain by using business intelligence tools and provide a list of the top business intelligence tools in the market with a detailed review of each.

1) What are BI Tools?

Business intelligence (BI) is a term that refers to a broad spectrum of technologies and techniques used to turn raw data into information, which can then be acted upon and reported on. Using Business intelligence (BI) tools help you collect, organize, and report on large amounts of data in a way that’s intuitive for users. Often called dashboards, BI tools present data via tables, charts, graphs, and other visualizations. While BI software can be expensive to implement and maintain, but, BI tools are less costly alternatives that can provide business insights without much in terms of setup or upkeep. Business intelligence tools also help you to access business reports from multiple departments and teams, as well as use advanced analytics to access historical data and apply forecasting models in order to predict future sales. Businesses are investing in business intelligence because it makes them more competitive by giving them an edge over their competitors, helping them make better decisions, improving their business operations and sales.

2) The Benefits of Business Intelligence Tools

Business intelligence tools have an array of benefits that range from strategic to tactical and even operational in nature. Today, let’s take a look at some significant benefits of Business Intelligence Tools.

  • Faster analysis, intuitive dashboards
  • You can get trusted and governed data
  • Increased organizational efficiency
  • Help to make data-driven business decisions
  • Help you to provide improved customer experience
  • Increased competitive advantage for your business
  • You can get accurate reporting with valuable business insights
  • You can offer improved employee satisfaction
  • Able to identify market trends
  • Help you increase your business revenue

Top Business Intelligence Tools in The Market

1. Datapine

Datapine is one of the top business intelligence tools today that provide interactive visualizations with various features, including Dynamic Dashboards and Storyboarding. Datapine takes care of all the tedious work for you by curating visually appealing charts and graphs from databases that are already in place. The interface is easy to use while enabling sophisticated visualizations. You can easily integrate it with any other business software. For businesses who want to include data visualizations in their reports but don’t have time or resources to learn how to create them themselves, Datapine can help streamline their report creation process. Besides, with this tool, you can create dashboards and analyze data faster than ever before. It’s also cloud-based, which makes it accessible from anywhere with an internet connection. Additionally, you can share your visualizations and storyboards in real-time via social media, email or even a phone call to build better relationships with your team members and customers. Plus, Datapine supports 11 different databases including Google Analytics and Facebook Ads Manager so you can access all your data in one place, and ultimately increase revenue as a result.

Best Features 

  • Predictive analytics that is simple to use
  • Intuitive drag-and-drop interface that is easy-to-use
  • Numerous interactive dashboard features.
  • Various reporting options.
  • Artificial intelligence-based smart insights

Cons

Although they provide mobile access, the dashboards are not directly available unless you download their app and customize them for the mobile view.

2. Zoho Analytics

The successor to Zoho BI, Zoho Analytics is now one of the standalone business intelligence tools. The business intelligence software platform comes equipped with core reporting and visualization tools that allow you to create compelling dashboards. Also, you can connect your Google Drive files and analyze their contents. This cloud-based BI tool comes with a whole host of business analytics tools, including machine learning, predictive models and reports. It’s ideal for small businesses and entrepreneurs who want to stay on top of their game. Zoho Analytics enables you to gain a deep understanding of your business, monitor key metrics and give you insights into what’s working, what isn’t, and how you can improve. You can explore multiple data sources such as Salesforce CRM, Google Analytics, and many more in one platform to analyze performance metrics across all business verticals. It also offers additional features like Custom Dashboards, Alerts and Data Sharing. With the Zoho Analytics BI tool you can get started within minutes and begin using powerful analytics to understand your business better!

Best Features 

  • Offers data blending and visualization
  • Provide better supports with intelligent assistant Zia
  • Have a commenting section in sharing option
  • Visualization of geographic data
  • A spreadsheet-like interface is available for extensive

Cons

If you wish to use this business intelligence tool for more advanced tasks, you’ll require additional development knowledge.  Plus, it will take time to get familiar with the tool’s workflow and features.

3. SAS Business Intelligence

sas-business-intelligence-tools

SAS is an industry expert when it comes to business intelligence tools. Their technology also provides you with visibility into any data stored in your enterprise’s systems or cloud platforms like Salesforce, Oracle or Amazon Redshift. You can even run analytics through their dashboards and get reports that you’ve created. SAS Business Intelligence also offers software to turn your company data into an actionable plan for improvement. In addition, it provides a wide range of products to help you break down these processes into accessible chunks: SAS Base, BI Platform and Predictive Analytics are just some of its options. These tools make it possible to dig deeper into consumer tendencies, needs and wants which allows you to build smarter business plans. In nutshell, SAS is one of the great business intelligence tools that will allow you to dive deep into all aspects of your company’s performance. This can be especially helpful if you are working with limited resources or trying to make sure every dollar you spend is being used efficiently.

Best Features

  • SAS provides a variety of business intelligence (BI) solutions and technologies.
  • Machine learning-assisted data exploration
  • Text analytics abilities
  • Reports and dashboards that are dynamic across all devices
  • Easy integration with other apps 

Cons

According to most users on Capterra and G2crowd, the higher price range and limited customization choices can be significant factors in deciding if this business intelligence tool is the right choice.

4. Qlik

qlik-business-intelligence-tools

Currently, in its third decade, Qlik Technologies develops business intelligence software. If your company depends on accessing information quickly, Qlik is one of the powerful business intelligence tools choices for you: It’s a data visualization and analytics platform designed to let you access information almost instantly. Qlik lets users create highly interactive dashboards to track important metrics across different industries and sectors; it also allows for complex querying of huge amounts of data, so companies can come up with unique insights. Users can analyze data and make better decisions using interactive dashboards offered by the Qlik BI tool. Rather than focusing on raw data only, Qlik’s tool also allows you to display charts or even Gantt charts and get a real sense of what your numbers are telling you. That’s why more than 250,000 organizations use Qlik software today to run their businesses more efficiently.

Best Features

  • Visually highlighted dashboards
  • Associative exploration
  • Developer’s platform
  • Associative Engine
  • A dual-use strategy

Cons

You must be willing to learn how to use this tool because it needs technical skill at several points, and small to medium businesses may find it prohibitively expensive.

5. SAP BusinessObjects

sap-businessobjects-bi-tools

SAP provides business intelligence tools that help organizations make better-informed decisions faster. SAP provides an integrated set of BI software, supporting self-service reporting and advanced analytics for enterprises of all sizes. While its traditional business intelligence solutions focus on analytics and reporting, SAP BusinessObjects is now integrating HANA into many of its offerings, providing added capabilities such as real-time analysis, predictive analysis and big data analysis. Also, by extending its offering to include cloud computing capabilities along with traditional on-premises implementations, it’s positioned itself to remain on the list of top business intelligence tools for years to come.

Best Features

  • A business intelligence (BI) enterprise reporting system
  • Dashboards that are self-service and role-based
  • Enterprise-to-enterprise collaboration
  • SAP Warehouse with HANA integration
  • Easy integration with Microsoft Office

Cons

According to some reviewers, extensive analytical functions are rarely usable without further user training. Moreover, individual module costs are relatively high for a few feature updates.

6. Domo

Domo offers cloud-based platforms for collaboration, analytics and data visualization. It also has a lot of integrations with other popular business apps such as Slack, Salesforce and more. So, you’ll be able to connect your company’s CRM with any number of business intelligence tools in no time. Plus, this BI tool offers an intuitive user interface, providing an easy way to get business insights and turn them into action. Domo makes it easy to view and analyze data across multiple platforms. It features drag-and-drop functionality, so even users without a strong technology background can enjoy using it. The software also connects to databases, making it a unique choice for teams who want to collect information from multiple sources and then easily share that with their team members. Domo BI software is already shaking up the Business Intelligence Tools space. It doesn’t have as many features as some of its competitors, but it does do everything very well. Companies can access hundreds of tools (Google Analytics, Twitter data, Salesforce reports) in one place and view that information on graphs and charts based on their personal preferences. Domo is an ideal BI tool for monitoring social media trends or business process management and anything you want to keep an eye on but don’t want to add to your email inbox.

Best Features

  • Numerous pre-built cloud connectors
  • Magic ETL feature
  • Automatically suggested visualizations
  • Roboto as an AI engine
  • Domo Appstore

Cons

Domo is not designed for newbies because the learning curve can be steep; however, they do provide training, so be ready to learn. Their pricing models aren’t transparent, but based on the facts available on the web; you may conclude it’s one of the most expensive options on the list.

7. Oracle Business Intelligence

oracle-business-intelligence-tools

Oracle BI is one of the enterprise-class business intelligence tools that provide industry-leading functionality and analysis that companies of all sizes can use to transform their business. With Oracle BI, you have access to a variety of platforms and tools that allow you to collect information from different sources, create interactive dashboards, identify patterns in your data, share insights with others across your organization, and more. This BI tool has been instrumental in helping companies become agile and adapt to change quickly—it helps organizations not only perform well today but be prepared for tomorrow as well. Plus, the Oracle Business Intelligence platform provides a wealth of information that can help companies analyze their operations more effectively. The only downside with the Oracle Business Intelligence tool is that it is not free for every customer.

Best Features

  • Ad hoc capabilities Oracle BI answers
  • Personalized Oracle dashboards
  • Custom alarms features
  • Oracle BI Publisher to generate scalable reporting
  • Real-time decision server with predictive analytics

Cons

According to reviewers, Oracle BI can be slow at times, especially when generating reports. Complicated and time-consuming operations are reported for some functions, such as adding information to data models.

8. Dundas BI

dundas-bi-tools

Dundas BI is definitely one of the top business intelligence tools in 2022. Data visualization is a major component of Dundas BI software, allowing business users to create interactive dashboards that provide at-a-glance insights into their company’s performance. The tool allows you to connect to a wide range of data sources, from relational databases and spreadsheets to cloud services like Salesforce and Twitter. The Dundas BI dashboard is capable of producing real-time reporting across all platforms that can be viewed on any device. The dashboard has been designed for simplicity, allowing users with no prior knowledge of coding or programming to set up complex reports and queries. Users can also incorporate charts, maps, gauges and graphs into reports that provide key information about sales figures, financials and much more. Dundas BI also announced its new Dundas Dashboard for Power BI 2.0 – a free, visual tool for creating data-driven business dashboards from Excel or CSV files.

Best Features

  • Immersive Mobile Experience
  • Customizable data views
  • Seamless integration
  • Personalized Analytics
  • Interactivity BI tool

Cons

The tool has a steep learning curve and no undo feature, so users can’t go back if they’ve made a mistake. Moreover, reviews state that several of their features are still in the early stages of development and have flaws.

9. Yellowfin BI

yellowfin-bi-tool

Yellowfin aims to be a true all-in-one tool for BI, rather than a traditional data visualization tool with limited options. Yellowfin’s one-stop-shop approach combines BI and analytics for easy reporting, without complex setups or workarounds. Not only is it simple, but it’s also cloud-based and can be installed on your own servers. And while all of these features are impressive in their own right, they would count for nothing if they didn’t actually work well – but in fact, you have a hard time imagining how better tools could exist in Yellowfin’s place! From flexible dashboards to simple real-time dashboards, it’s hard to see anything missing from Yellowfin’s arsenal of useful features. Yellowfin BI’s greatest strength is its open-architecture approach—as with most business intelligence tools on the list, users can access data from virtually any source they choose. Its built-in analytics (predictive modeling, A/B testing) are also top-notch.

Best Features

  • The Yellowfin BI combines 5 main products: Yellowfin signals, stories, dashboards, data discovery, and data prep
  • Provides enterprise analytics, embedded analytics, and analytical application builders.
  • Yellowfin signals via smartphone
  • Offers persuasive data stories
  • Offers trigger-based smart tasks

Cons

Some consumers complained in their reviews that some critical analysis functions that are present in other BI platforms are not available. They also reported performance issues when working with larger data volumes.

10. Board BI Tool

Board provides powerful business intelligence tools and features, from interactive dashboards to predictive analytics. Board’s Data Discovery uses a guided approach for visual exploration and ad-hoc analysis. You can use Board to build interactive dashboards that look like Excel spreadsheets but also let you build queries and run advanced statistical models. This way, users with basic training in data science can get value out of their data without knowing SQL. The result is self-service business intelligence (BI) using live data with simple drag-and-drop functionality—without programming or running ETL jobs. In addition, Board offers intuitive data analytics solutions for decision-making, business planning, and performance tracking with enterprise-wide data governance.

Best Features

  • Hybrid Bitwise Memory Patter (HBMP) is a unique in-memory technology that powers the board platform.
  • Offers calculated metrics
  • It’s simple to compare and simulate different data measures.
  • Provides enhanced workflow
  • The reverse algorithm allows users to modify calculated fields across dimensions and hierarchies.

Cons

According to the reviewers, installing and updating add-ons is difficult. Also, the software’s documentation should be updated; otherwise, some functionality may be used wrongly.

 

Conclusion

Business intelligence has become essential to competitive success as a result of technology, customer expectations and market conditions. And while business intelligence might have its roots in corporate management and decision making, it has evolved into something that touches every part of your organization – whether you’re using data to improve operations or sales, or looking for a new way to capture valuable customer insights. And, by delivering valuable data business intelligence tools can drive positive business decisions. So, before you invest in any new tool or purchase additional licenses, consider these top 10 business intelligence tools listed above to help you ensure that you make informed business decisions based on current data.

What are the business intelligence tools you use for your business? Let me know in the comments!

Don’t forget to share the article with others, they may benefit from it as well.

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10 Powerful Lead Magnet Ideas to Increase Revenue in Your E-Commerce Store

The vast majority of people who visit your eCommerce website won’t buy anything. Yes, sadly that’s the truth! They’ll most likely browse your site for a few minutes and then leave. As a result, even though you have lots of website traffic, your revenue suffers.

Instead of losing your website visitors forever, you need a way to get their attention to boost your revenue. And, what you need is a lead magnet.

Hope now you’ve figured out what we’re going to discuss today. Yes, today we’re going to talk about the actionable lead magnet ideas to increase revenue in your eCommerce store.

Are you ready to learn the lead magnet ideas? Let’s get into the topic!

Quick Links to Main Topics

  1. What is a lead magnet?
  2. Why is a good lead magnet important for an eCommerce website?
  3. 10 actionable eCommerce lead magnet ideas to capture more leads
 1. What is a lead magnet?

refers the free content

A lead magnet refers to the free content, service, or product a person receives when they share their contact details. To open the “gate” and get their freebies, website visitors first need to trade in their contact details such as their phone number,  email address and location.

In simple words, a lead magnet promises to give something of value to a lead in exchange for their contact details. Once you have your leads’ contact information, it’s easier to convince them to come back to your website and buy something. The lead magnet is a killer way to figure out what your audience needs and values.

2. Why is a good lead magnet important for an eCommerce website?

eCommerce store

When it comes to marketing a business, we have different goals like brand awareness, brand engagement, trust-building, boosting brand credibility, etc. Apart from these goals, we also have more tangible goals like building an email list,  increasing website traffic, and generating more sales for the business.

You know what? All these goals are easily achieved with the help of effective lead magnet techniques. Also, lead magnets make it easier to measure and keep track of the number of downloads or any other required action performed by the leads.

Moreover, lead magnets provide exposure and linkability to your eCommerce website, create awareness for your eCommerce store as well as earn the trust of your customers.

10 Actionable eCommerce Lead Magnet Ideas to Capture More Leads
  1. Give Coupons
  2. Offer Free Shipping Option
  3. Host Social Media Giveaways
  4. Provide Shopping Guides
  5. Run Contests
  6. Offer Free Gifts
  7. Create eBooks
  8. Provide Educational Videos, Infographic, or Guide
  9. Conduct Webinars
  10. Offer Samples
1. Give Coupons

Offering coupons

Offering coupons is considered to be one of the best ways to increase lead generation because your website visitors can easily connect them with a specific monetary value.

For example, let’s say you are offering a 10% discount on a $50 sports shoe. Your customers will quickly do the math and figure out that the value of the coupon is $10. The moment they realize that they are getting a $10 discount on a sports shoe for the email subscription, they will quickly sign-up for the subscription, then they will buy the sports shoe and apply for the coupon.

  • When you’re offering coupons, follow the below steps:
  • Use bold, large text to highlight the discount so your site visitors can’t miss it.
  • Keep contact detail requests simple to ensure high conversions.
  • Add a simple checkbox for email signups and make it GDPR compliant.
2. Offer Free Shipping Option

giving coupons on your products

Another great lead magnet idea is free shipping, and it’s similar to giving coupons on your products. We all agree on the fact that nothing will make buyers ditch their cart faster than unexpected shipping costs. That’s why 82% of shoppers prefer free shipping.

You can offer free delivery to entice new email subscribers, and also you can use free shipping to boost your sales and average order value at the same time. When people spend more than a predefined amount, you can avail free shipping option to increase your revenue.

3. Host Social Media Giveaways

giveaway on social media

Don’t you think that giveaways are always a great way to please customers? Yes, we all love to get free stuff. If you’re looking for a lead magnet for physical products, give your potential leads an adrenaline rush by offering a prize giveaway on social media.

Social media giveaways are very fun and shareable. They go viral easier than other lead magnets! Here are some tips to make your giveaway a success:

  • An attractive image to draw the eyes.
  • Simple text that is easy to read and directs the users to your desired action (to enter in their contact details).
  • A clear, concise call to action (CTA) button.
4. Provide Shopping Guides

shopping-guides

When people have too many product choices, it takes them too long to decide what to buy. It’s easier to choose from 5 T-shirts than from 50. Help your leads beat analysis paralysis and make it easier for them to choose a product from your eCommerce site with a brief shopping guide for each product category.

You can have a “Help Me Choose” section on your website with lots of products guides and quizzes to help customers find the right products. Here is how you can do that:

  • Implement quizzes that help your website visitors to find their ideal product.
  • Include brief buyer guides that highlight the benefits and value of each product in your eCommerce store.
 5. Run Contests

run-contests

Running a contest is one of the effective lead magnet ways. Simply, you can run a social media contest by asking your users to submit user-generated content such as their photos using one of your products. In this case, you pick a winner at random and offer them a prize. Typically, contest prizes are much higher value than those offered in giveaways like an expensive laptop, TV, or cash prize.

In order to run a successful contest, follow these steps:

  • Focus on the most high-value products in your eCommerce store.
  • Start your promotion game: social media campaigns like posts, images and video content, email campaigns, etc.
  • Focus on user-generated content to get more eyes on your contest. Instagram photo festivals are a great way to build momentum around your upcoming contest.
  • You can avail so much for your brand with just one contest. Let me tell you how:
  • People will share your contest with their friends.
  • Winners will become your brand’s loyal customers.
  • More people will get to know about your brand.
  • Customers who did not win the contest will end up buying the products anyway.
6. Offer Free Gifts

receive your free gift

Another sure-fire lead magnet way is free gifts! Yes, how many times have you given in to get something for free? The sheer mention of something free is always enticing!

Offer a major value product for free; so valuable that people can’t even believe it’s free. Remember, first impressions matter. You want to leave them thinking, “wow if the free product is this good, I can’t imagine how amazing the paid stuff will be!”

If your free gift is something your prospects truly want they will go through the “hassle” of leaving you their contact information because they are so psyched to receive your free gift.

7. Create eBooks

lead magnet ideas

Ebooks are favourite for many brands when it comes to lead magnet ideas. As they give in-depth value by diving deep into a customer’s problem. Also, an ebook can help you showcase your authority and position in the industry while building trust with your potential customers. Moreover, your new ebook will keep your brand in front of people’s minds.

Here are some good practices to choose the best eBook for your brand audience:

  • Review your website analytics to find your best-performing blog posts. It’ll help you to find the most promising topics for your audience.
  • Run a short survey to discover which kind of topics your customers want to read about.
  • Using Google Trends and other similar tools you can do some background research to find the most trending topics that are capturing people’s interest.
8. Provide Educational Videos, Infographic, or Guide

Provide educational guide

If you sell products that need a demonstration, educational, tutorial, or how-to videos are awesome lead magnet choices because 85% of people say they’d like to see more video content from brands in 2021. For example, if you sell car accessories, you could provide a video tutorial video on how to change a bike tire.

Studies revealed that 70% of shoppers buy something because it solves a problem. One way to position your product as the solution to a specific problem is to offer guides and educational content. It’s depending on how much information your audience needs before they feel comfortable buying your product.

For example, if you are selling bodybuilding supplements, an infographic that highlights a few fast facts about the health benefits of taking bodybuilding supplements will do more to convert leads. You can use these types of lead magnets to offer a specific product or industry information your audience is interested in.

9. Conduct Webinars

Conduct webinars

Webinars are one of the great lead magnet ideas, as the webinar is a live event many people want to sign up for. According to the Adobe Connect survey, the average conversion rate of their webinar landing page is 51%. Besides, 36% of registrants viewed the live webinar event, 54% viewed the recordings of the webinar and 19% of the attendees joined a product demo at the end of the webinar.

If you would like high conversion rates for your webinars such as the above, make sure you use a good landing page. Here are some quick tips to set up a high converting landing page for your webinars:

  • Use a good landing page tool to create a high converting webinar landing page template.
  • Make sure you mention how many attendees will be allowed for the webinar and also add a countdown timer that shows when the webinar is starting.
  • If you plan to give any discounts, bonuses or exclusive content during the webinar, make sure you include this information on the webinar landing page too. This will help persuade more attendees to your webinars.
  • After you conduct the webinar, promote the webinar recording on the landing page and give access to it in exchange for an email sign up.
10. Offer Samples

Product samples offers

Product samples offers are usually used as a gift in exchange for contact information or signups. Offering samples help you fight cart abandonment or it can nudge shoppers to spend over a certain amount of money. Samples are a super-temping lead magnet way because they offer your website visitors a big buzz.

Offering product samples help you inspire your customers to try out your products without having them fork out cash for full-sized products. Enjoy amazing results by offering product samples using popups on your website.

 

Conclusion

Increasing lead generation and revenue for your eCommerce website is easy if you know the right lead magnet techniques to use. The lead magnet ideas that you read here are 100% effective. If you can use them rightly, you are sure to get great benefits from them.

To find the most effective lead magnet technique, you can make use of an A/B testing strategy. In my opinion, understanding your brand audience is the first important step. Once you identify the type of audience you are dealing with you can choose the right lead magnet techniques to generate conversions, sales and revenues for your eCommerce store.

If you find this article helpful, do let me know in the comments!

Don’t forget to share the article with others, they may benefit from it as well.

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12 Most Prominent Content Marketing Trends to Watch Out For in 2022

If you’re a digital marketer, you’ll agree that content marketing is not a one-and-done process to generate immediate conversions. Sharing surefire content that your consumers find valuable to draw them into your sales funnel is a long game where unspoken rules and “trends” tend to shift from year to year. In 2022, the world of content marketing will continue to expand and evolve along with brands’ digital marketing strategies. The right content marketing trends can help you in multiple ways. These include enhanced business sales, increased conversions, more lead generation, expanded email lists, and more.

There are many new emerging content marketing trends that can be leveraged to help you shape your content marketing approach and refine your tactics. Today, I’m going to share the 12 emerging content marketing trends that will have the biggest impact this year. Let’s check out the 2022 content marketing trends!

12 Key Content Types for 2022

While your content marketing strategy depends on various factors, such as your industry, business goals, product or service, types of content also play a major role in your content marketing approach. Therefore, before we dive into the content marketing trends, let us have a look into the key content types for 2022.

  1. Blog Posts
  2. Podcasts
  3. Infographics
  4. eBooks
  5. Videos
  6. Case Studies
  7. Guides
  8. Checklists
  9. Interactive Charts
  10. Visualised Data
  11. Whitepapers
  12. Slides

(more…)

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A Definitive Guest Blogging Guide for SEO – 2022 and Beyond

If we go by the definition, guest blogging is an SEO and content marketing activity that allows you to promote your personal/corporate brand or specific services & products and content pieces that you’ve published. Therefore, guest blogging has various benefits, some of which we’ll look at later on in this article.

Today, I’m going to break down what you need to know about search engines and content quality in 2022 and beyond in order to create guest blogs that will be successful in more ways than one. The following are the main topics I am going to cover in this guide:

Main Topics

  1. Traditional Guest Blogging is Outdated
  2. Google’s Guide for Guest Blogging
  3. How to Do Personal Branding in Guest Blogging?
  4. Build a Brand Through Guest Blogging: Dos & Don’ts
  5. How to Choose a Guest Blogging Topic?
  6. How to Stand Out from Millions of Guest Posts?
  7. What to Do After Your Guest Post is Published?
  8. Benefits of Guest Blogging

Let’s get started!

1. Traditional Guest Blogging is Outdated

Many use guest blogging to improve search rankings, brand visibility, build a good brand reputation and get backlinks. All of these were easy to do, but not anymore. Due to the increased level of competition, expertise and a wide range of things search engines are evaluating, it becomes hard to get ranks.

Building a reputation and personal branding through writing is only possible if you are willing to go beyond your traditional writing and adapt to new trends.

When it comes to link building it’s not simple anymore. Google already started to penalize over links and provides Link Schemes for guest blogging to avoid adding links in massive. Also, Google recommends the use of nofollow links in guest blogs.

So, if you’re sending guest blogging pitches where you’re requesting a follow backlink in exchange for the article, you should stop that practice. And start to focus on your content quality,

2. Google’s Guide for Guest Blogging

Google’s core algorithm update is all about providing quick, helpful, high-quality and accurate information to its users that match their search intent, So, today let’s see what Google has suggested for guest blogging.

🐞 Google Panda Update 🐞

This is a bit old Google update, however, it still applies. Google Panda Update in 2011 was designed to reduce the amount of low-quality and thin content in the search results and replace it with helpful, informative and unique content. So, this update alone tells you that Google wanted people to stop writing crap.

google panda update

Ask These Questions Before You Start Writing a Guest Blog:

✅ Who will get the benefit from your article?

✅ Who would want to read your blog post?

✅ Are you writing the article only for your benefit (links, branding, etc.)?

✅ What information provided will be unique and different from thousands of other articles already ranked in Google?

✅ Is your article’s topic saturated in the SERPs?

 

‍🚀 BERT Models and Intent ‍🚀

In October 2019, Google announced they were applying BERT models to search. Google Said:

“BERT models can reflect the full perspective of a word by looking at the words that come before and after that particular word of a phrase which is useful for understanding the actual intent behind search queries.”

bert models

As search intent is the ultimate goal of the person using a search engine, you need to determine the search intent of the person that will be reading your post and provide any and all information needed to match their search intent. If you are writing something with no thought of the readers’ search intent, then your chances of success are low, so, before creating a guest post, you should examine the pages that rank on SERP for the same topic, and take notes on the search intent behind them, then start writing your guest post around that intent.

🟧 Level Up Your Game with E-A-T and YMYL

In 2015, Google published its complete Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines and they highlighted two important factors regarding how Google looks at pages and articles. They are:

  • E-A-T — Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness
  • YMYL — Your Money or Your Life

 

🟧 E-A-T — Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness

In the 2019 version of search quality guidelines, Google mentioned E-A-T 135 times, and it explains in detail what they are looking for in any kind of content.

e-a-t

☑ What does Google say?

Google want experts writing content that is trustworthy for its readers. Because bad advice can create problems.

Think about it, who will write with expertise and authority, a travel blogger discussing digital marketing or a digital marketing strategist with 15 years of experience? Somebody with expertise is going to be more authoritative and cover the bases that matter in content.

Below Google explains in detail what they are looking for in high-quality pages (which tend to rank better).

🟧 YMYL — Your Money Your Life

Google doesn’t want any content that could negatively impact its readers. Google says:

“We maintain high Page Quality rating standards for YMYL websites and webpages because low-quality YMYL websites or webpages could potentially negatively impact a person’s happiness, health, financial stability, or safety.”

y-m-y-l

Which is a better choice for writing a Heart Transplantation Surgery recovery guide?

  • A lifestyle blogger who just graduated from college.
  • A heart surgeon with 10 years of experience.

Simply, we need significant input from an expert to create high-quality content on serious issues related to health, happiness, and money.

3. How to Do Personal Branding in Guest Blogging?

Creating amazing pieces of content that showcase your knowledge and authority is the best way to stand out in any industry. But, you need to add unique points and tips in your content that are better than the top writers out there.

personal branding in guest blogging

In your articles, you should go beyond explaining a concept and anticipate what your readers will want to know next. What do they need to know that they don’t know yet? What experiences do you have that could help people to avoid potential pitfalls from the start? Simply, inform, educate, and impress the readers with your knowledge, and make sure you have a personal website where people can find you, not just the company you work for.

Also, remember, you can’t make a huge name for yourself with just one blog post; it will take time and effort. But, if you make sure every guest post you write is educational, informative, authoritative, and useful to readers, you are a hundred steps ahead of most people.

4. Build a Brand Through Guest Blogging: Dos & Don’ts

Guest Blogging is a great way to build your brand awareness, but ONLY if you do it in the right way.

Let’s see what are the dos and don’ts of guest blogging to build your brand awareness.

🟧 Dos on Guest Blogging

On a new blog, impress the audience with your knowledge and expertise. Your guest blogging content needs to be high-quality in terms of grammar, flow and structure. In your guest blogging, you need to answer questions, define terms, examine pain points, and provide solutions.

Each person that reads your guest blog has the potential of becoming a fan of your work, so, write to impress, educate and create trust. If the readers share your content on their social media, their followers see you and your brand. As you gain new followers, you need to share posts that are authoritative.

You need to be present and timely with comments on your guest posts and in social shares. The quicker you answer a question, the better it makes you look. And it helps you to build an authentic relationship with your readers.

🟧 Don’ts on Guest Blogging

guest blogging tips

ðŸ”đ Mention your company name/product/service in the guest post.

If you mention your company name/product/service in the guest post it looks like a self-promotional post which tells the readers, the editors and Google that the only point of your guest post is to serve yourself, not the reader. The place for your company info is your author bio UNLESS you were asked to write about something that your company offer.

ðŸ”đ Adding links to your website that are not relevant to the guest post.

No editor wants to present their readers with links that are self-promotional, and no editor wants to risk making Google think they are engaging in a link scheme or selling links. Natural links are not a problem, but what appears as unnatural links can result in a manual action or penalty.

ðŸ”đ Bragging about your company or a product/service you offer.

Sharing about your company or a product/service you offer doesn’t help the readers or the website you want your guest post to be published on. It isn’t about you; it is about their website, their readers, and creating trust in your brand. So, you don’t need to brag about yourself in the guest post. If you create amazing content, the publisher will brag for you on their website, on their social accounts, and maybe in their newsletters.

Just remember, no one ever built trust by bragging. You can feature your brand on your author bio and make yourself an author who can answer questions in comments and social media quickly and authoritatively.

5. How to Choose a Guest Blogging Topic?

Let’s see how to choose the right topic for your guest blogging.

choose a guest blogging topic

ðŸ”đ Where to Start?

Large and influential blog posts often have content plans and goals. While other blog posts are open to a wide range of ideas within their niche. It’s your job to know their niche and to discover what the blog topic is looking for in guest posts.

The first thing you should do is look for writing guidelines provided by the publication sites and cautiously review what they’re asking for. If the publishing site took the time to write these writing guidelines, then that’s what they want, so pay proper attention to the guidelines and don’t waste your time or an editor’s time by creating a guest post that doesn’t match with the writing guidelines of the publication site.

ðŸ”đ Doing Your Own Research

If you can find a ranking gap for the particular publication site where you want to be published on, you have an edge. You can use a tool like the Keyword Gap tool to find a gap between the publication site and its competitors. If competing sites are ranking highly for a specific search term, and the publication site you want to be on does not, possibly you could help the publication site to fill that gap.

ðŸ”đ Topic Research for Ideation

The topic research tool is a great option to get topic ideas. Just enter a keyword and you can see a list of recent topics related to your keyword. You can click on each topic and get insights on recent headlines and real-time questions people are asking on the particular topic related to your keyword. By looking at recently published articles, you can identify what has been done well and what has been missed, and then discover a plan to create something better than those articles. Topic research will help you find the questions people need an answer to and provide insights to their intent.

6. How to Stand Out from Millions of Guest Posts?

There are some popular writers who carefully plan their efforts which mean the website they want to rank for has a better chance at gaining rankings. Here are some factors that make your guest posts stand out from millions.

guest blogging topic

ðŸ”ļ In your How-To guest posts include clear and easy reading screenshots – Avoid wasting your time and the editors time by putting low-quality images.

ðŸ”ļ Add informative and high-quality video to the content – Adding videos with good clarity, quality sound, and additional information make the readers share your post.

ðŸ”ļ Aim for SERP features – Format your guest posts to get a position 0, People Also Ask, or carousel placement is shown on the SERP that help you to make your guest posts successful.

ðŸ”ļ Use quotes from Industry experts – Adding Quotes from experts are always good, so, get timely and relevant quotes from experts for your article to make it really impressive.

ðŸ”ļ Use the brand/blog – Whoever you are hoping your guest posts to be published by, integrate their successes and blog posts in your articles, you can include links to their relevant articles, screenshots of positive reviews, or a mention of something impactful that they have done.

  • Add Images and infographics – Good editors know the time and effort it takes a writer to create high-quality content. See if they have a design team to help you with images and infographics that would benefit both you and them. If they don’t, Use Canva to create impactful imagery for your guest posts.
  • Optimize images – Follow best image SEO practices. Reduce the image sizes for editors, and use Alt Tags when submitting the images via a CMS platform.
  • Add quotes for social Shares – Provide editors with some 2-3 good points that they could use for the social shares. And, highlight those best points in the articles to the editors so that they can use them.
7. What to Do After Your Guest Post is Published?

You need your guest post to do well, right? While the publisher is going to promote the post, there are things you should do from your end.

ðŸ”ļ Be responsive in post comments – Always be ready to answer any questions from readers and respond to positive comments.

ðŸ”ļ Monitor your guest post on social media – Track your guest posts on social media platforms and respond to comments when it makes sense.

ðŸ”ļ Promote the post on your social media channels as well – Come up with different methods of social shares and share your guest posts throughout the year while tagging the publisher.

ðŸ”ļ Keep your post evergreen – Things like statistics, algorithms, procedures and legal issues are kept on changing. So, when you see something has changed, email the publisher with updates that could be added to the post to make sure the article remains relevant and trustworthy

8. Benefits of Guest Blogging

Now it’s time to check out the significant benefits you can get from guest blogging. So, here is the list of benefits you get from guest blogging.

ðŸ”đ You can get instant exposure to your targeted audience

ðŸ”đ Help you to expand your personal network

ðŸ”đBoost more social media shares of your content

ðŸ”đ Grow your followers on social media

ðŸ”đEnhance your online authority

ðŸ”đ Improve your Backlink Profile

ðŸ”đ Help you to build and grow your brand awareness

ðŸ”đ Help you to generate qualified leads

ðŸ”đ Help you to get useful feedback from your community

ðŸ”đ Help you to sharpen your content marketing skills

🔔 Conclusion

There is no denying that guest blogging is a great way to build your personal brand and to create awareness for your brand, but, it’s about “how” you do it that will determine whether your guest blogging effort is successful or not. I hope the above guest blogging guide for SEO will help you to write successful guest posts in 2022.

What do you think about this guest blogging guide? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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The 5 Most In-Demand Content Marketing Skills in 2021

Today’s digital era is creating a new world, and more than ever, brands are prioritizing digital channels to connect with their target audience and drive bottom-line growth for their business. As a result, the demand for high-quality, creative, human talent and newfangled digital skills are increased.

For instance, every year Google fills more than 6,000 job roles. (Google receives more than 1 million applications every year but, hires less than 1% from them.)

Recently, QuestResearch Group conducted a Study at Kaplan University, and published the results in Forbes, found that:

“There is a very little number of people who believe in the work readiness of university graduates. And, just 6% of university trustees, 11% of C-level executives and 13% of U.S. adults strongly agree with statements about the work readiness of university graduates.”

Maybe traditional education methods failing to prepare our next generation for what’s really essential to succeed. That’s why self-built skills are becoming more and more important.

So, Good News? A university degree isn’t always a prerequisite to success.

In fact, big brands like Google don’t even require a degree and they’ve been open about online career certificates instead. Also, brands like Apple, IBM, Tesla, and even Hilton, Costco, Bank of America, Whole Foods are following the same and don’t require a degree.

That means you can get a great job without a university degree! But how?

You need to build real, market-ready skills.

5 Market-Ready Skills to Win a Placement in the Content Marketing Industry.

 

1. Having a Good Understanding of Brand Content Strategy

brand-content-strategy

Unless you understand the mechanics of content strategy, you can’t get any content marketing job. The content strategy is barely 10 years old, but, the base foundations of its techniques go back hundreds of years.

If you’ve no idea about brand content strategy, there are six core factors that build a brand content strategy.

content-strategy

The Six Core Factors of Brand Content Strategy

  1. Knowing how to define a content strategy and the different parts of content strategy.
  2. Get to know your target audience and build a brand differentiation factor.
  3. Discover a strategy to find and put together great keywords
  4. Knowing the ways to build authority with a dedicated brand website
  5. Knowing the tactics to consistently create well-optimized awesome content
  6. Having an organized process and system to manage and maintain the content and content strategy (editorial calendar, promotional strategy, etc.).

The above six steps don’t sound light, right? Because truthfully, they aren’t.

If you’re new to content marketing but want to be taken seriously in this industry and build your skillsets, consider getting a mentor and investing in a course led by industry-best practitioners to learn how to build a content strategy. Another best way is to join an internship in a job where you can learn and practice real-time tactics to build these content marketing skills.

2. Having a Better Understanding of SEO

seo-content-marketing-skills

There are valid reasons why more marketers and brands are focusing on SEO:

Inbound SEO content is a win in today’s scenario because over the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020 to present), Google search traffic spike up to 6 billion searches/day from 3.6 billion searches/day. In short, the number of people using Google to search for answers to their questions has increased to a greater level.

SEO skillset revolves around things like knowing how to write and optimize content for search, maintain and update older content, monitor your content performance, and effectively using tools like Google Analytics, Ahrefs, SEMrush and Yoast. Basically, companies that hiring content marketers are looking for a good understanding of SEO.

So, building your knowledge and skills in SEO is essential. To enhance your SEO knowledge you can find and follow SEO experts and take an SEO course.

3. Having a Great Understanding of Online Content

online-content

Can you quickly identify great online content?

If you haven’t sharpened your content recognition skills, you can’t survive in the content marketing industry for a long time. Brands are expecting their content marketing team to produce quality content. So, sharpen your content recognition skills and get to know how to identify good content across these content formats:

  • Product Descriptions
  • Social Media Posts
  • Blogs
  • Headlines
  • Web Content
  • Meta Content
  • Emails
  • Ebooks
  • Case Studies
  • Lead Magnets
  • Whitepapers
  • Video Scripts

Regardless of the industry, all of these above content formats are used across a wide variety of content marketing campaigns. So,  if don’t have good content recognition skills, build them by joining an internship at a content marketing agency, take a lower-paying gig in exchange for building your content- skills, or investing in an online content writing course.

4. Having the Ability to Do In-Depth Research

research-skills

‘Sourcing a statistic” in your content isn’t working any longer.

You should know the ways to find the original study, plus make sure you’re never linking to anything that’s outdated.  For instance, if you’re sourcing a link to a study from 2019 in your blog post, depending on your industry, it’s quite possibly outdated and won’t add authority to your blog post.

You need to research a bit more deeply than an average person to find great sources and statistics for the content you build or manage in a content marketing campaign.

Statistics and facts matter more than before because now trust is one of the most important buying factors consumers consider when purchasing a product/service from a brand.

5. Commitment & The Ability to Stick with It

commitment

This is a simple yet most important trait for a content marketer.

Above all, the success of a content marketing campaign depends on the commitment of the person who is spearheading the campaign.

The founder of Content Marketing Institute, Joe Pulizzi has said that it takes 12-18 months to see the success of content. Also, Pulizzi said that one of the biggest reasons for content marketing failure is that the brands don’t have patience and kills their campaign too early, even, it sounds crazy, it’s the true fact.

If you’re heading into the content marketing industry, you should be committed and build your ability to stick with it until you achieve the results. Simply, be a proponent for a brand’s content marketing success.

Conclusion

There are many other content marketing skills. But, these five are extremely important content marketing skills to master. Now you have the path to build your content marketing skills. Once you built these skills, you’re ready to hustle your dream content marketing job.

Go ahead and prosper your career!

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