Spoiler alert; two of digital marketing best kept secrets are Instagram and Visual Analytics. This news is not exactly earth shattering but there is more to these than meets the eye.
It is easy for a digital marketer to get caught up in all the hype and trendy marketing techniques at the expense of what has been proven to work. With digital marketing, it is not so much how much you do but how you do it. This post explores how you can leverage Instagram and Visual Analytics to get the best ROI and strengthen your overall digital marketing campaign.
Instagram is where the real growth is as far as social media platforms are concerned. The projections for growth and new activity beat both Twitter and Facebook especially with the younger audience. The reason for this growth is mainly attributed to the platform’s inherent visual appeal. Instagram tells stories in a simple yet effective way, allowing brands to reach their audiences without all the noise, pomp and color associated with digital marketing.
You only need to consider Instagram as a social media platform to understand why Instagram ads work.
Cost Effective
Instagram ads are incredibly affordable. With just a few cents for every click, it is possible to optimize your ad and take your brand to your target audience.
Ad-Friendly
Instagram takes your message directly to the target’s feed. Although it helps to have an Instagram account just for your business, it is not mandatory. As a digital marketer, it is possible to redirect Instagram users to your target website or other online platform. As a regular user such as a small-business owner, you can add an image, link or post that directs your audience to the desired destination, such as your business website. Instagram is a great marketing tool because it divers your audience to your brand or destination without too much fanfare.
Effective Imagery
Instagram is image rich and some would argue that the only way to engage with your audience on this platform is through images. Visuals are better at telling stories than words, hence the adage picture-worth-a-million-words. You can express your message through a picture coupled with a few words better than you could with written content alone. A funny, interesting or emotional picture or image allows you to engage with your target instantly.
Deep Targeting
It is possible to narrow down your Instagram ads to a very specific core target group. You are not just shooting and hoping to hit something. With a little digital marketing knowledge and experience, you can reach your audience right at their newsfeed. Additionally, you can reach what is known as look-alike audiences, which simply means other Instagram users that behave the same way your core target does.
Visual Analytics
Many of the most successful and fastest growing businesses attribute their progress to leveraging visual analytics. It’s not just about collecting data, but also reviewing it and making the appropriate adjustments. If you are not already using these analytics, below are some of the reasons why you need to jump onto the band wagon immediately.
Know Where You Lose Visitors
There was no way of finding out where web visitors get lost before visual analytics came along. Even with a comprehensive digital marketing plan, you may not be reaping the maximum benefits if you have no direct feedback with regards to maneuverability on your site.
With visual analytics, you can tell where visitors click but don’t get a response. You may, for example, find that your users are clicking on certain images or buttons to no avail. With this information, you may choose to link these items to improve the visitor’s browsing experience.
Find Out Where You Lose the Audience
You can’t count the number of web pages related to your business or content. This means that your visitors are spoiled for choice. The average web browser can figure out in just a few seconds whether your page is worth staying on. Visual analytics help you to figure out what it is about your site that is chasing visitors away. It could be the huge bocks of text or in-actionable content. Figuring out the weak links on your website is the first step to improving your website and user experience.
Figure Out What You Need to Fix
Finally, imagine a scenario where you are blissfully unaware of a major problem with your website. It could be that the link that redirects traffic to your new social media page doesn’t work. Maybe photos don’t load on mobile or on certain browsers. You could be losing massive amounts of traffic and potential business not because you have a terrible website, but because you are unaware that something is wrong.
Visual analytics help to put you in the shoes of the visitor. You are able to experience what they experience while on your site. If you don’t use visual analytics for any reason other than for quality control, you have made a major improvement to your digital marketing strategy.
Final Thoughts
There is no doubt that doing more to strengthen your digital marketing campaign pays off. It might however be more helpful to scale down your campaign to the bare essential and do these things well. Digital advertising isn’t so much about how much you do but how you do it. These two online marketing secrets might be just what you need to stay ahead of the competition.
