The internet and AI have brought about the biggest changes, and now I find myself talking about the likes of ChatGPT with my clients.  I’ve been overwhelmed by how many headlines this topic has dominated in the last couple of months.  It’s an exciting development and I can see how useful this is in some parts of marketing, so I wanted to offer some tips around usage.

In marketing terms, AI is often used to carry out a particular task – such as identifying where to place advertising to maximise efficiency or how to personalise an email or ad campaign to increase the likelihood of getting a desired reaction or sale. In this way, AI can help build more effective marketing strategies, improve the customer journey by meeting customers’ expectations throughout their experience, and change the way businesses attract, nurture, and convert prospects to increase conversions and sales across a wide range of channels.

New AI language tools such as ChatGPT introduce a new dimension. This is where AI can be used to assist in writing content – which in marketing terms could include emails, blog posts, FAQs for websites, etc.

For instance, here’s some AI-generated content that came from typing in the question, “What are the advantages of using AI for writing content?”:

“AI-assisted writing is becoming increasingly popular in the field of content creation. By leveraging AI technology, copywriters can save time and effort while creating content that is of higher quality than ever before. AI-powered writing tools can help to automate mundane tasks such as research and data collection, enabling writers to focus on crafting compelling stories with powerful messaging. Additionally, AI technology can provide insights into the performance of content pieces, allowing copywriters to optimize their work for maximum impact. Ultimately, using AI for writing content provides numerous advantages that can help to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of any copywriting project.”

Not bad, at least to get things started – and while content still requires a human editor to tweak and improve it, AI is good at answering factual questions and providing ‘base’ information.

Why and when are AI language tools useful?

Tools like ChatGPT and Rytr are giving a helping hand to marketing content writers with things like:

• Generating content ideas for social media platforms, blogs, marketing campaigns, and even recreating existing content to increase its chances of going viral
• Creating base content for FAQ pages or product descriptions, or for summarising long content passages
• Personalising content geared to particular target markets
• Handling repetitive tasks – not just writing email responses and things like social media posts, but for scheduling meetings, creating reminders, etc.
• Research into SEO-focused blog posts or articles.

When AI language tools need some caution

Just like humans, AI language tools have their limitations, and there are numerous things to be aware of, such as:

• The quality of the output depends on the quality of the input, so better directions (or questions or prompts fed into the tool) result in better-quality answers
• When you feed a question into the system, the answers you get aren’t always correct. ChatGPT is designed to provide answers that ‘feel’ right to humans, and can provide results that SEEM plausible, but are in fact wrong. Many users have discovered incorrect answers and errors as a result – so editing and proofreading are definitely still required!
• At least as of this writing, ChatGPT has only been ‘trained’ on information up to 2021, which means that it doesn’t have access to data after that time. Therefore, if you ask a question about more recent events (or software, phone models, the latest technology, etc.), you’re likely to get outdated information
• It can’t fetch real-time information or answer multiple rapid queries (like a search engine).

As we know, it’s the stories and human connections that get people to take notice and engage with our brands. So whilst not to sound biased (!), I still think that AI-generated content still needs human input, despite being a useful tool – so maybe there’s a few more years in this particular marketing consultant after all.  Maybe not another 50, though … !

Curious about incorporating AI into more of your marketing efforts? Contact Breathe Marketing today.

The presentation topic was definitely of interest to me. It was about bringing up teenagers (I have a 14-year-old son, thankfully showing no major teenage behaviour traits . . . yet, other than a propensity to leave everything to the last minute, which he’s had all his life!). But I couldn’t believe how fast the time went or how captivated I was by the speaker’s fantastic storytelling ability.  And for someone who doesn’t always remember things without writing them down, I really believe his stories will stick with me.

It made me think about the role of storytelling in marketing. Today’s digital marketing channels are completely overloaded with stories; Instagram and Facebook have completely adopted this concept with “Facebook Stories” and “Instagram Stories”.

Stories resonate with people and are something we typically respond well to, because everyone likes a good story – and in fact, we are actually hardwired to listen and pay attention to stories. Individual ads, emails or promotions are great for short-term action, but stories can reinforce your brand and resonate more over a longer period of time.

As a marketer, I urge clients to create stories and write engaging content all the time. But every company is trying to tell a story and get customers to pay attention to their websites, their email campaigns, text messages and Google ads.  I’m doing it now with this article!  There’s endless competition. Apparently, people now see between 6,000 to 10,000 ads every single day . . . and that’s just ads.

So how do we cut through all the noise, get people to stop scrolling and hear us? Do our stories need to be more shocking?  Media outlets and tabloids have tried this for years with ‘propaganda’ headlines and ‘fake news’, etc., but especially after COVID, we’re all really tired of shouty headlines designed to reel you in when there’s really no substance behind the magic curtain.

We want good stories.

Here are three things that engaging stories provide:

1. Emotion

“Shock” may grab people for a few seconds, but much more often, people want to feel something real, such as inspiration, hope, fear, excitement, comfort or joy. Using genuine emotion in your marketing gives you a way to connect with customers on a meaningful level. In the best cases, it boosts engagements AND leads to improved sales and customer loyalty. For example, Budweiser beer is known for making people laugh or pulling on their heartstrings through the use of animal stories in its TV ads.  Almost every year for the Super Bowl football game in the U.S., the company releases an ad that viewers vote for as one of the best.  One of my favourites was from 2014 – what’s not to love about horses making friends with puppies, to get across the ‘Best Buds’ tagline?More recently, the company has switched over to human subjects in their ads but has continued to tell stories that people could connect with, while successfully promoting their brand. The ads make people feel good, and customers (consciously or unconsciously) connect that feeling with Budweiser.

2. Information or instruction

Marketing software giant Hubspot recently conducted a survey to find out why people read the blog posts that they do. The top answer? “To learn something new.” This was especially true during COVID (with people searching for help with things like, “How do I cook my favourite Asian dish while that restaurant is closed?” “My pipe is broken in lockdown! How can I fix it?”), but video and written tutorials will always remain popular. Whether it’s watching a video showing them how to plant and care for the perennials they bought at your gardening shop or tips from an accounting firm on how to better prepare for tax time, customers like to be provided with solid information that helps them and offers value.

3.  Relevance and/or personalisation

One of the great benefits of storytelling is that it helps humanise your brand. When customers can recognise where they fit into or connect with the story, you’ve got a winner. When you send a personalised email message that shares a story relevant to that person, instead of a generic message to the whole world, you’re much more likely to grab attention. And with all the clever marketing automation software around at the moment to help you tailor your messages, it should be even easier to make a connection.

Need help creating your stories and cutting through the noise? Contact Breathe Marketing today.

Google initially launched voice search in 2012, but it’s really taken off in the past couple of years, especially with the release of personal assistants like Apple’s Siri, Microsoft’s Cortana, Amazon’s Alexa and Echo, and Google Home. In fact, ComScore suggests that by 2020, 50% of all searches will be voice searches. (This sounds a little high to me.)

For local businesses, voice search has grown exponentially. Google has reported a 900% increase in “near me / today” searches in the past two years – and they also found that searchers are three times more likely to use voice than text searches to find local businesses and ask for local directions.

Why the increase? For one, it’s easier and faster to ask for help out loud rather than typing a search term or request, especially when you’re on the go with mobile devices. You can ask your smartphone a question or get help no matter where you are.

So how does the rise in voice search affect marketing?

In short, if you’re offering products or services for sale directly to consumers (B2C), you need to consider how potential customers will use voice search to find you. While ALL businesses need to think about voice search, it’s critical for local retailers in particular because Google tracks users’ locations and offers results near them when they’re looking for lunch, a haircut, coffee, etc.

Tips on optimising for voice search 

With all that in mind, here are four tips for optimising your website content for voice search:

1. Answer questions in your keyword phrases – Unlike text searches, when people type in a few words like ‘buy garden gloves,’ voice searchers tend to use complete, long-tail phrases and questions such as, “Where can I buy gardening gloves near me?” or “How much do gardening gloves cost?” Therefore, when deciding which keywords or phrases you want to include, think about what questions your potential customers have and how you can answer questions and solve problems within this context.
2. Location, location, location – If you’re a local business, think about what major landmarks you’re near and which neighbourhood or district you’re in. These may be useful in helping people find you. Got a salon right near the University of Adelaide campus? Own a café near Victoria Square or in Parkside? Consider adding these terms to your meta descriptions or on your home page, contact page or FAQ page in order to help Google and local searchers find you.
3. Check your Analytics and Ads results – Another good tip is to check your Google Analytics and Google Ads results. See which keywords or phrases searchers are using to find you. Unfortunately, Google Analytics won’t show you all the keywords used by searchers, but you can still get an idea of what’s bringing people to your site. Look at the search terms for help in crafting your content.
4. Claim your Google My Business (GMB) listing – If you haven’t already set up a Google My Business listing, now is the time. In voice searches for local businesses, Google shows GMB listings first in response to enquiries. In fact, searchers may never get to your website at all, but if they see your phone number, hours, and address on a Google map (as well as some positive Google reviews), they’re much more likely to call or stop by.
   

Need help optimising your website or improving your content? Contact Breathe Marketing today.

Not surprisingly, the 2018 Yellow Social Media Report, notes that the number of Australian businesses with a social media presence has hit an all-time high. Facebook remains the most popular platform (about 90% of businesses surveyed are using it), with LinkedIn and Instagram following (second- and third-most popular, depending on business size).

The most popular reasons for social activity? Advertising and promotion were listed as the most popular, followed by customer interaction and contact.  However, remember that customers look at it the opposite way. They want to communicate and interact with just a touch of selling so it’s really important to get the right mix.

If you’re not already getting social with your customers, it’s time.

Which platform?

The golden rule when deciding what social media platform(s) to be on is to think about your target markets: what social media platforms are they on?  To help you work this out, the 2018 Yellow Social Media Report on consumers may be useful.  It provides insights into consumer social media behaviour, the technology and platforms people are using, and when and why they’re connecting.

Tools to help you plan and organise

Social media does take time and planning. One of the best ways to ensure that you’re posting on a regular basis is to include social media as part of your overall marketing plan. That way, you can ensure that you’re posting about events and sales before they happen and don’t forget to share news with your audience in a timely manner.

To help with planning, I’ve put together a free marketing calendar template that you can download and use to schedule all your promotional events for the year, including all social posts. You can customise the template in Excel and adjust it to your needs.

You may also want to consider something like Hootsuite to help you stay on track. Hootsuite is an online social media planning tool that lets you organise and report on all your social media activity, as well as calculate ROI. You can also schedule posts in advance and create assignments for teams.

With Hootsuite, you can try any plan for free for 30 days, and there’s a basic free plan that allows you to manage up to 3 social accounts; more robust plans are available for a monthly fee.

But what about content?

Worried about what to post? Many businesses struggle to come up with enough things to share. Plus, with so many businesses out there angling for the attention of their followers, how do you make sure your efforts aren’t wasted?

Here are a few tips for creating engaging content and working posts into your overall strategy:

1. Add photos, videos & images — Including an image with your text post catches the eye of your followers and helps them engage with and remember your post. Photos and videos are common, but infographics are also great to include because they combine visual interest with information. In fact, infographics are liked and shared on social media 3X more than other any other type of content.
2. Use live video (wisely) — If you read our post on Facebook Live, you know that it can be a great tool – IF used appropriately. You need to practice with this tool, have a good reason to use it and notify followers in advance about the event so you’ll get as much engagement as possible.Think about a way to use Facebook Live that will provide something of value to your viewers so it’s worth their time to tune in. Use it as a chance to answer questions, promote a new product or service, or get feedback from customers.  Don’t forget about YouTube Live, too.
3. Repurpose and link to content — Social media posts are a great way to take people to your website, as well as repurpose other content you’re creating. Remember, social media is about engaging with audiences, so it’s a great way to provide additional information they may be looking for.When you build your strategic plan, look for ways to create social posts that tie into your other marketing efforts. You can also edit text you write or use photos you take for your website, news releases or sales promotions and use them to create quick posts.

The B2Me Experience

Now we’re in the Age of the Individual and customer-led experience, social media has become even more important. It’s the only medium that enables one-to-one communication at scale.  B2Me personalisation is about creating unique experiences that are interesting and timely for the individual.  In social media terms this means that messaging is gaining increasing popularity.  This year, the number of users on messaging platforms like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp grew twice as fast as users on Facebook.  These apps offer fantastic opportunities for brands to establish meaningful conversations and should also be considered as part of your social media strategy.

Need help setting up your accounts or putting together a social media strategy? Contact Breathe Marketing today.

The short answer is yes. Creating great content is still key to building your online presence and positioning yourself as an expert in your field.

Here are three reasons why content is still king (and a few tips on creating some):

1) It answers your customers’ questions

Blogs, social media posts and FAQ website pages are a great way to answer questions for your customers.  Answers are available online, 24/7, for customers to find when you and your staff aren’t around to speak to them in person.  Unlike spam emails and unwanted pop-up ads, if viewers find your content through a search, it’s because they were looking for it.

TIP:  Talk to your sales team (or other people in your office who most often deal with customers) and find out the most popular questions asked by prospects and customers. Add questions and answers to your FAQ page on a regular basis, or post them to your Facebook page and then include a link to your website so customers know where to go for the latest information.

2) It makes Google happy

Today, over 93% of all online experiences (on all Internet-connected devices) start with a search engine – and not surprisingly, that search engine is usually Google. That’s why every business owner wants to have their website rank well.While getting a high rank in Google is complicated (their algorithm is made up of over 200 components), there’s no doubt that Google rewards sites for good content. Industry studies consistently show that relevant, comprehensive content is one of the most important factors for better rankings.

TIP: Don’t write content stuffed with individual keywords.  Google prefers more relevant content written in natural language.  On your website, write more content about less topics on each page – you can always create another website page for each topic you want to cover.

3)  It positions you as a leader in your field

When you write informative, non-salesy content that engages your audience, it also helps demonstrate your knowledge of your industry and why people should listen to what you have to say. This is an important part of building trust with potential customers.

TIP: Don’t make the mistake of many companies and use your blog, social media or email campaigns as overt selling tools. Think about the problems your customers are facing and create something that helps them solve those problems.

One final tip – while it’s a lot of work to come up with fresh content for your website, blog, emails, social media posts and other marketing materials, you can often ‘repurpose’ good content and save yourself a lot of time and effort.

For example, let’s say you have some text that’s been written for a company marketing brochure. With a little editing work, you can probably use some of the same information on your website, in a blog post, as a script for a YouTube video, an email campaign, a SlideShare or PowerPoint presentation, or for a Twitter or Facebook post.

Have thoughts, questions or other suggestions about content creation? Need help in producing content for your site? Let me know.

One reason why infographics are so effective is they combine visual interest with information to help you tell a story. With hundreds of advertisements thrown at us each day, a good infographic can stand out from the crowd to catch attention and convey an idea.  Plus, about 65% of the population learns visually, which means that well over half of us absorb information best when it’s shown, rather than told, to us.

Another reason for the rise of infographics is their shareability. In addition to standing out in reports or PowerPoint presentations, they’re easy to post on a website or social media page, which means that viewers can easily click to share them with others (and help do your marketing for you!).

If you’re thinking of creating an infographic for your business, here are four tips to keep in mind:

1. As with all marketing, keep your target audience in mind when creating your infographic. Concentrate on designing a graphic that will resonate with your intended viewers, not the general public.
2. Focus on one major concept or overall idea. Graphics that are too complex or complicated will turn viewers off. Keep it simple.
3. Keep text to a minimum and make your visual elements large, colourful and easy to follow.
4. Check and cite your sources. The last thing you want is for your stunning infographic to go viral and then realise that the information in it is wrong!

Here’s one I made earlier.  (Click on it to see it better)

If you’re looking to create some infographics like the one I created here, you can start out with free templates like these from HubSpot that give you basic colour schemes and layouts. (Note that you have to provide your email address for these, so you will likely receive communications from HubSpot, but can unsubscribe if you choose. Templates are available for both PowerPoint and Illustrator.)

Need help creating a powerful infographic for your website or next presentation? Contact Breathe Marketing today.

Having just completed a website redesign of my own site, I fully understand the time and effort it takes to find just the right images to represent who you are, what you do and the message you want to send.

In fact, having a range of photos on hand – especially if you sell products online – is always valuable. Whether you’re putting together an email blast, a new brochure, a website or an ad, you can’t go wrong with high-quality photos.
But how do you choose the right photos? Where do you get them and how much will they cost?

First, remember that photos for any marketing purpose should fit with your culture, positioning and topic. Consider the message you’re sending and who’s going to receive it. What’s the goal? What do you want the recipient or viewer to feel or do when he or she sees it? A photo should reflect the purpose and intent of your overall message, so keep this in mind when choosing images.

Ideally, your business will create a photo library – probably a mix of shots taken by various team members, photos taken by marketing staff and some taken by professional photographers.

To add to your library, take your smartphone with you everywhere and shoot pictures of things that look interesting to use in your blogs and website.  Your own shots will be personal and you can make sure they fit with your culture and message.

Remember: Protect yourself. Always make sure you have the proper license (more on this below) or a signed release to use any photo, especially if it includes people. Create an in-house release form and get it signed by the subject(s) if the photo will be used anywhere in print or online.

Stock images

Sometimes an in-house photo just won’t do. A glossy brochure or smart website filled with amateur smartphone shots isn’t going to cut it with your customers.

You may need to buy stock images from an online site to give your material the ‘wow’ factor. There are many sites available, and the quality and pricing of photos varies a great deal depending on the photographer, subject, license and size.

Some popular sites for high-quality photos include iStock (by Getty Images), Shutterstock, Dreamstime and Depositphotos. All of these sites offer royalty-free photos, illustrations and video clips for sale (meaning you can purchase and use them in your marketing without having to pay royalties or license fees for each use or each sale).

A few things to keep in mind when purchasing stock photos:

• Size and resolution – Make sure you buy the right size photo for your needs. For online use, a small, 72 dpi photo is usually fine, but if you need to make it larger or use it in print, you’ll need something bigger. Check with your designer to find out the dimensions you need before buying an image.

• Cost/budget – Stock photos get expensive quickly. Depending on the number of photos you need, it may be cheaper to buy a subscription than to purchase individual images or credits (different sites have different purchase options, so check the rules and prices carefully). Start with your budget in mind and figure out what works best for you.Hint: Sometimes different photo sites have the same images available at different prices. If you find a shot you want that’s out of your price range, do a quick search on other sites or by using Google Image Search to see if you can find the same one somewhere else.

• Licensing – Stock photo sites offer different licenses for different needs. Most of the time, a standard license will be fine. However, if you’re going to use a photo on a product that will be available for sale, or if you need to use the image in a print run of over 500,000 items, you’ll probably need an extended license, which is more expensive.

• Subject and message — Avoid the tired, clichéd shots of business people looking thoughtfully out of the window. These have had their day. Pictures of people are great, but look for creative ways to share your message.

Still have questions about finding the right photos for your message and marketing? Contact Breathe Marketing today.

Have you been working on improving your website for mobile users? Fantastic. Now, what about improving your user experience across all devices and platforms?

Today’s consumers are on the go, they do their homework online (probably on multiple devices) and with the help of technology, they’re pushing marketing in new directions. With that in mind, let’s take a look at omni-channel marketing and the message you’re sending your customers.
What is omni-channel marketing?

Omni-channel marketing has to do with the change that’s taking place as consumers connect with your brand across an increasingly wide range of devices and marketing channels.

For instance, customers can visit your website, see your posts on Facebook, view an email on their tablet, call you to ask questions and then stop by your store. In all of these instances – and all devices – your marketing message and brand should be consistent.

If you have an e-commerce site, you want your customers to be able to see and order your products easily from any device. And if someone creates an account, places an item in their shopping cart from their phone and then leaves your site, you’ll want them to be able to jump back in later – even from a different device – and complete their transaction. (Ideally, you’d even send them an email reminder after 24 hours if they still have items waiting in their cart.)

The ultimate goal is to make visiting and purchasing from your company as easy and pleasurable as possible. The easier you make it to buy, the more likely customers are to make a purchase and come back in the future to do it again.

Tips for improving your omni-channel marketing

• Reach out in a variety of different ways – Customers will take different paths on their “journey” to buy your products and services. They may start by visiting your website from a phone, take a more in-depth look from a desktop computer, and then come by your store to take advantage of a discount you send them through email.  Think of all the different ways your customers can see what you offer and find ways to connect them.
• Track your results – Watch your Google Analytics (or other analytics) carefully and see how people are using your website, especially by device. Are they purchasing from their phone/tablet/desktop most of the time? Are they visiting your site by phone, getting a coupon and coming into your store? Are coupons sent via email campaigns more successful than those on your Facebook page? It’s critical to track what’s working and what’s not and make changes accordingly.
• Do an overall analysis – How does your site look and work from a phone and a tablet? Is it easy to see and buy the products? Have you mentioned your sale offers to your most loyal customers (i.e., the ones who like you on Facebook and are on your email list)? Do you offer live chat services, or is your phone number front and centre so customers can call if they have questions?Have someone – preferably a marketing professional, but definitely someone outside your organisation – walk through your site with you on multiple devices and various browsers, and take a look at how these compare with all your marketing messages and campaigns.  If there are questions or improvements to be made, this is a good place to get started.

Need help creating a consistent message?

Struggling to get a grasp on omni-channel marketing? Need to send a consistent message across different channels? We can help. Contact Breathe Marketing today to discuss your options.

What’s ‘repurposed’ content?

When you repurpose content, you basically take ideas or images from one piece of content and reuse them for other content. For instance, let’s say you have some text that’s been written for a company marketing brochure. With a little editing work, you can probably use some of the same information on your website, in a blog or forum post, as a narration script for a YouTube video, or for a Twitter or Facebook post.

Here are four ideas for repurposing content:

1. If you’ve recently given a presentation at a conference, workshop, industry meeting, etc., see if you can reuse the information in a whitepaper for your website. Keep in mind that if you use highly technical terms in the paper, you may need to simplify some of the language for different audiences.

2. Have some great photos of a new product for your brochure or website? Use them to your advantage in social media by posting images to Facebook or Pinterest. Whenever possible, include some ‘teaser’ text about the product and add a link to a corresponding page on your website so that interested viewers can easily get more information.

3. Review your Google Analytics reports, take a look at what blog posts or pages have been most popular recently, and look at ways to expand on that information. For instance, if you have a blog post that’s been popular with your visitors, see if you can create a short video or do an interview with an industry expert about the same topic.

4. News releases are great sources of content. If you have a formal PR announcement about an event, new employee or industry award, use that information in other ways. Do a quick Facebook post about it with a link to the release, create an informal version of the text for your blog (and add a photo or two), or add a few links to related information or resources for readers who want to learn more.

Have thoughts, questions or other suggestions? Let us know!