30-second summary: TikTok is emerging as the next social media powerhouse—so the platform represents an incredible opportunity for marketers. It’s a particularly powerful method for engaging with younger audiences (such as Gen Z). Brands need to take advantage of both organic content creation and paid advertising. Get started as soon as possible to avoid missing out on the gold rush. For years, Facebook and Instagram ran the social media show. Twitter certainly has its niche, but when it comes to user-generated content—the supposed ‘ Holy Grail ’ of marketing—Facebook and Instagram ruled the roost. However, there’s a new hotshot in town: TikTok. The video-sharing social media platform has certainly been gaining plenty of traction in recent months. This, combined with Instagram’s steadily declining reach and the fact that fewer teenagers are using Facebook than ever before, make TikTok an attractive prospect for global marketers. But what exactly is TikTok? How …

It’s hard to believe Instagram started in 2010. It has turned into a marketing powerhouse . There are 1 billion monthly active Instagram users , and more than half of them use the platform every day. US businesses also love the social channel, and about 71% use it to connect with their market. While Instagram isn’t the biggest social media platform (that spot belongs to Facebook ), it’s still the most impactful influencer marketing channel . There’s just no denying the power of Instagram in this social media age. As the site continues to grow exponentially, businesses and brands everywhere are also leveraging the social network by working with Instagram influencers . So, how do you go about finding the best Instagram influencers for your marketing campaigns? Why You Need Instagram Influencers To appreciate how powerful Instagram is, you first need to understand what engagement rates are and what they …

To have a successful e-commerce platform, you have to pay to play. Some of the top US brands spend billions on advertising to secure their internet advertising space. If you can’t keep up with the big companies that spend billions of dollars on their advertising campaigns, there are still a few ways you can get your brand noticed. One such method is an influencer promotion campaign. It’s a quick and effective way to help with brand recognition. You could also invest in some tools that will make working with influencers simpler. In this guide, we will break down these unconventional forms of marketing. How Using Social Media Influencers Can Grow Your E-commerce Brand Influencer marketing is the practice of working with well-known social media users to grow your brand. For example, if you have a popular skincare line, you might have a well-known lifestyle influencer try your product and tell …

When Instagram launched in 2010 with its visually-focused platform, it disrupted the social media scene. So big was its success that it sparked a whole movement in photo styling. Instagram has since added video, but its focus has always been one-off visual experiences that are shareable but sometimes leave marketers trying to figure out how to provide context. The answer has typically been super-long captions, stories, or creative posts that make up a series. Still, Instagram was never really the place for long-form content. Fast forward ten years and Instagram is finally getting into the long-form content game. Instagram introduced Guides as “a way to more easily discover recommendations, tips and other content from your favorite creators, public figures, organizations and publishers on Instagram.” The scrollable lists provide text and visuals that come together in a listicle. You can either use new, saved, or older posts to deliver helpful how-tos …

When I first started out in marketing, I thought traffic was everything. I wanted to be as big as companies like HubSpot . Just look at the image above and you’ll see how many visitors they are getting. They generate 29.61 million visitors a month from 11.74 million people. And those visitors produce roughly 10 billion dollars of market cap . Now, let’s look at NeilPatel.com. Can you guess how many visitors I’m getting each month? I’m generating roughly 8.717 million visitors a month from 3.616 million people. When you look at it from a unique visitor perspective, HubSpot is getting 3.24 times more unique visitors than me. So, in theory, I should be worth roughly 3 times less than them, right? Well, technically I’m not even worth 1/10th of them. Not even close. Why is that? It’s because I didn’t go after the right target audience, while HubSpot did. …

Twitter hasn’t had the easiest time adjusting to the new social media landscape. Facebook and messaging apps have been crushing the social media platform on paper. But, Twitter isn’t a ghost town. It has over 330 million active monthly users! Participating on Twitter is a lot more fruitful than you think. It’s an audience that can’t be ignored. I regularly tweet and use my Twitter account to promote my blog posts and other content. I’m up to 378,000 followers. It’s an audience worth paying attention to, even if only a small percentage can see any given tweet. Of course, you have to build a following, and Twitter is a much different experience for those who don’t have followers. Buying followers is a common practice, but it doesn’t work the way you think. Third-party services often sell fake followers. These may look impressive, but they don’t work. You’ll also get banned …

On the hunt for a Google+ (also called Google Plus and G+) alternative? It may be easier than you think! Since the social media platform closed its doors in 2019 , consumers have been looking for another option to match the features, traffic, and SEO benefits. Luckily, there are several replacements you can use. Here are the best Google Plus alternatives and how you can use them to grow your business online. What Was Google Plus and Why Did It Shut Down? Google Plus was Google’s fourth attempt at building a social media network. Its predecessors included Google Buzz, Google Friend Connect, and Orkut. While Google Plus had success initially, with 395 million active accounts in 2016 and Facebook seeing the network as a threat , it soon fizzled out. Why? For years, you had to have a Google Plus account to use features like Google Photos, Hangouts, and YouTube. …

Organic and promoted videos serve multiple purposes for consumers in their increasingly multi-channel B2C journey. More than half of the participants said they switched between search and video channels (Google and YouTube) to make an informed decision about a purchase in a YouTube study. But it’s not just YouTube—Instagram’s video content consumption has shot up by 80% , and Facebook users consume one million hours of video content every day. All these platforms—along with most other social media sites—are ones consumers go to regularly. So as online sellers, these should become your go-to places for running promoted video content. In one study, US online shoppers said they expect to see at least three videos connected to each product when making an online purchase. But how do you use promoted videos from paid campaigns that translate to tangible results for your e-commerce store? Create Your Promoted Video E-Commerce Goals Goals of …

Have you ever seen a Facebook ad for Chanel? Or an Instagram ad for Lamborghini? Me neither. That’s because luxury marketing strategies don’t follow the same rules as mass-market brands. Selling to high-end consumers requires a different approach. But that doesn’t mean popular digital channels are off-limits. SEO, PPC, even some social media sites can drive online sales for your luxury brand. Today, I’m going to show you exactly how to take your luxury brand online with the best luxury marketing strategies. What Qualifies as a Luxury Brand? Gucci, Rolex, Ferrari. For the most part, you know luxury brands when you hear them. But what does it take for a brand to qualify as a luxury? In my opinion, it’s down to the three Es: Expensive, Excellent, and Exclusive. Luxury products are synonymous with high price tags. This is the most common indicator of luxury, but it is also the …

In the not so distant past, I embarked on a journey to grow NeilPatel.com to 100,000 blog readers . At the end of every month, I shared my traffic stats and the changes I’d made. That storytelling strategy went on to help my blog reach over 100,000 views a month — in only about eight months. As marketers, we use storytelling to help make our ideas stick. We create stories to help prospects understand our products, use company stories to build trust and transparency with consumers, and include stories in sales pitches to help persuade. Why does it work? Competition in native advertising and social media marketing is fierce. And, the rate at which great content is being produced and published on the web and across the media channels is expanding. Our readership is drowning. Most people scan web content, looking for something that stands out. If they don’t find …