Category: Online Business

If you are a marketer, you know that as your click-through rate (CTR) increases, your cost-per-click will probably start to drop gradually. So, to successfully pull off an effective ad campaign strategy and boost your online sales without spending way too much money, you need to understand how to improve your CTR, to make your ad campaign strategy get to a whole new level.

Below are some of the best ways you can immediately use it to increase the clicks and overall CTR of your ad campaigns.

1. Write high-converting ad copy

Of course, to be able to improve your ad campaign’s CTR, you will need to create a compelling ad copy. To begin, you have to use relevant, powerful keywords that will make your ad stand out. You can also include unique offers, special promotions, discounts, free trials, or basically anything that will set your ad apart from your competitors.

Bottom line, your ad copy alone should already contain selling points that will urge your potential users to click on your ad instead of your competitor’s.

2. Use ad extensions

One of the most common ways to improve your ad campaigns CTR is by using relevant ad extensions. Currently, there are ten types of ad extensions. Naturally, not all of them may be applicable to every campaign; nonetheless, these are all proven to be effective tools in making your ads appear more relevant, thus an excellent strategy to improve your ad campaigns CTR.

According to a recent study, review extensions, for example, increase clicks by up to 66%, and almost 90% of users rely on online reviews to make their buying decisions. Additionally, promotion extensions allow you to highlight discounts, exclusive promos, and deals that will be displayed beneath your ad and are likely to help increase the number of people clicking on your ads.

3. Conduct split test 

Testing different ad types can help you determine which one actually generates more clicks, thus has the ability to improve your CTR and at the same time also improve the quality of your ad. Split-test is done by creating at least two different types of ad campaigns with varying elements, which you will then analyze to know which one gets more clicks and better results.

After finally getting satisfying results and deciding which ad campaign is more effective, don’t forget to switch off the least performing one; otherwise, you might end up with too many ad campaigns that can adversely affect your CTR.

4. Redirect your ad to a relevant landing page

Many online marketers tend to make a mistake by linking some of their ads to a generic homepage that does not specifically match with the search content. To be able to pull off a high-converting ad campaign successfully (whether you’re using traditional PPC platforms such as Google Ads or focused on lead generation ones such as CPL One), you need to make sure that your ad matches the landing page that the users will be redirected to. Remember, in improving your ad campaign’s CTR, relevance is always the key.

 

There is no need to emphasize the importance of growing audience at this point. Not only did online presence become a must, it also became an important sales channel for many businesses. Unfortunately, the competition for customers’ attention is getting more fierce each day. Advertising costs are hiking up. Algorithms are changing.

It seems like all businesses online are being taught to grow an audience the same way. So how can businesses grow their audience online in an unconventional way? 5 experts will share unconventional ways to build your audience online.

Bring networking back online
Chantelle Paige Turner, community growth strategist, emphasizes a major social change that comes from technological advancements and how people interact.

Turner quotes, “right now, people feel a lot more disconnected than ever. We may be connected through social media and internet. But the community and networking aspect is gone etc”.

A lot of people forget that we’re all humans on social media. Even on social media, we’re interacting with other human beings. Turner encourages the practice of bringing the human networking interactions back online rather than focusing on the number of followers.

She adds, “don’t attract a bunch of strangers that’ll just open emails etc. Have the perfect party that will mix with each other in communities. I recently had one of my clients who applied this philosophy in building a community of his own, and generated multiple 5 figures in sales in a completely new niche”.

2. Put yourself in a competition proof container

“We are moving into a time where competition is more fierce than ever. As well, consumers want to buy human connection alongside their purchase. So when you’re growing your audience, you need to pick a method that helps you create human connection while avoiding competition,” Alex Agresta, Speaking Coach, describes, “and speaking on stage is exactly that– a competition proof container where all eyes are on you and your brand”.

Stage is the only place where you’re not competing for attention since it’s just you on the stage. The audience is choosing to show up and be in your space. As well, in most cases, because the organizers are responsible for building the demand, there is no need for prior marketing and advertising either.

Agresta suggests starting out with free speaking opportunities, “some people throw free gigs off to the side, but free gigs have generated me multiple 5 figure deals and countless referrals. Focus on speaking to the right people on the right stages, and you’ll be amazed at how fast you grow your audience”.

3. Use Subreddits

Fiona Wong, Founder of Wild Pixel Marketing, suggests a severely under leveraged social media platform; reddit.

“The easiest way to grow your audience is to find the people in need, put yourself in front of them, and shift their attention from everyone else to you,” Wong says, “I did this through Reddit’s entrepreneur subreddits. Not only there are people consistently asking questions, but also it is extremely search engine friendly”.

When someone asks a question, genuinely be helpful. Response should be a size of a mini blog post, formatted with bullet points and proper citation. Since Reddit posts and users are anonymous, there are no judgment based on gender, age, or even location.

Wong also adds the cherry on top, “because of the platform’s anonymity, it forces people to start a conversation with you. As well, Reddit posts rank highly on Google search engine– meaning it is an evergreen organic traffic. This is how I built my business and my audience base without traditional social media marketing”.

4. Stop trying to be perfect

Susi Kaeufer, International Mindset and Business Coach, gives an advice that would be considered every marketers’ nightmare, “stop trying to be perfect. Why? Because everyone else is trying to be perfect”.

All brands online are trying to plan every single posts on social media– especially due to social media influencers and everyone sharing the best side of themselves online.

Because of this, people are craving contents and brands that they can relate to. People want human connection. Showing picture perfect posts is not going to create that.

Kaeufer also adds, “in reality, things are not always picture perfect. Stop caring about what you feel people might say. Share fun facts about you. Be personable. This has been THE major tool to build my audience of 27,000 Instagram followers and 14,000 Female Entrepreneurs in my Facebook community”.

5. Focus on building a table of trust. Not customer base.

“We all have between 100 and 250 people in our immediate network. That means each person I connect to on social media will give me access to at least 4-5 more people that could become my audience,” Shelly Jorgensen, Co-Founder of the Executive Networking Events says, “so my job is simple. Use online platforms to build a table of trust, not customer base”.

As soon as you build trust with the people in front of you, they will be able to introduce you to at least 4-5 more people in their circle. When you do this with 100 people in your audience, it can easily increase to 400-500 new audience members without having to spend a lot of money on advertisements.

Jorgensen also adds, “the biggest mistake most people make is to build an audience for the sake of selling. But most of the audience won’t buy just by seeing posts online etc. So if you focus on building trust rather than selling, you stack the odds in your

favor since it allows you to more easily access bigger pool of audience. Audience’s trust will go a long way in building your audience online”.

5 Unconventional Ways to Build Your Audience Online [Business2Community]

Airbnb has said that it will have its initial public offering in 2020.

The company is one of the last of the big unicorn herd that grew up roughly a decade ago (a herd that includes Uber, Lyft, The We Company and Postmates) to declare its public market intentions.

Yesterday evening the company announced it had hit over $1 billion in revenue for the second quarter 2019. It’s the second time in the company’s history that it pulled in more than $1 billion, according to the statement.

Airbnb also said that through September 15, 2019 users who list their homes and rooms on the company’s marketplace have made more than $80 billion since the company’s launch. The supplemental income for underpaid teachers alone clocks in at $160 million, and roughly 51% of people surveyed by the company said hosting has helped them afford their home.

The company also said that Airbnb’s housing stock now includes 7 million listings in more than 100,000 cities around the world. Airbnb says that over 1,000 cities have more than 1,000 listings — eight years ago, that figure was only 12.

Airbnb is also pulling in more money from its tourism business, with more than 40,000 tours and “experiences” booked in over 1,000 cities.

All of this travel has led to over $100 billion in economic impact across 30 countries, the company said.

This growth hasn’t come without controversy, and Airbnb’s success will depend on its ability to continue to thread the needle between government regulation over the company’s impact on housing prices and the creation of vacant apartments and homes that are only investment properties that increase Airbnb’s housing stock.

The company’s imminent public offering is good news for investors like Andreessen Horowitz, Manhattan Venture Partners, Sequoia Capital, TCV, Firstmark and Altimeter Capital, which have collectively invested roughly $4.4 billion into the company, according to Crunchbase.

Airbnb says it will go public next year [Tech Crunch]

 

Blogs, despite the presence of social media sites and other publication channels, are still seen as one of the most powerful ways – if not THE most powerful way – to distribute content. There is something about a well-written blog that attracts loyal and engaged viewers.

A blog is also easy to monetize. With enough traffic, it is easy to generate revenue streams from different parts of the blog. With blogs becoming big businesses, there is a growing need for better security and protection.

After all, protecting your blog business means protecting your source of income. So, what is the best way to protect your online blog business? Here are the tips and tricks that will answer that question.

Secure Hosting as a Start

Not all web hosting services have good security. When you use a shared hosting service that doesn’t really separate users on the server, for instance, the safety of your blog depends on hundreds of other service users. An infected blog on the same server can potentially infect other sites. This clearly makes maintaining the security of your blogs more difficult.

When you have several blogs that generate revenue, investing in a VPS or a managed VPS is a good idea. You can have the entire virtual server to yourself. You also have the option to be more meticulous with how the server is set up, particularly when it comes to the server’s security. Adding additional measures complete the set.

Protecting the Endpoint

Another attack surface to focus on is, well, your computer. Any computer you use to access your blogs and the server that hosts them has the potential of making the entire ecosystem vulnerable. It only takes malware to steal your server password; when that happens, all of your blogs are rendered vulnerable.

Protecting your computer isn’t something you can do with antivirus software. Not anymore, at least. Cyberattacks, malware, and other security threats are getting more advanced, which is why you need a more holistic solution to fully protect your devices.

Solutions like McAfee Endpoint Security see endpoint security from that (much-needed) holistic point of view. One software solution lets you get all of the security measures you need for maximum protection. Aside from an up-to-date antivirus and antimalware, you also get AI-based attack detection, breach prevention, web security, and an integrated firewall.

Backups Are Still Needed

Protecting the server and the terminal you use to access it allows you to protect your blog business, but there is one additional measure to integrate for maximum protection: easy disaster recovery. Even with the best security measures, it is still necessary to prepare for that time when your blog is breached.

Being able to recover from a catastrophic attack quickly is a huge plus, so make sure you add a backup routine as an added measure. Backing up your sites regularly and storing backup images in different locations will help you recover from any type of attack quickly and without hassle.

The combination of these three elements provides basic coverage from most attacks. You can protect your blog business with these security measures in place. Once the basics are covered, you can review other, more advanced security measures such as a secure proxy and a load balancer, both of which will protect you from attacks such as a Denial of Service attack.

By: Donna Jo

Demand

When you are running a startup, you must look at what the demand is for the goods and services that you provide. Keeping up on the market for your services will allow you to hone your services and make the best business decisions. If there is little to no demand for your services, you are going to have to change the way that you approach things.

Availability

How available is the good or service that you are providing to people? This will determine many things, such as the amount of demand for your good or service and how much it is worth. Are your goods and services unavailable because other entrepreneurs are unable to attain them for whatever reason? Is your good or service something that people just aren’t providing?

What Others Say

As you run an online startup, you should listen to what other people have to say about your business. Talk to friends, family members, acquaintances and even strangers about your startup and see what they have to say. Don’t just listen to their words—look at their faces and body movements. This is because of the fact that some people may lie to you and say that they think that you are on the right track, even if they don’t, to be nice. Different individuals look at subjects from different angles, which is why you should consult others about your startup.

What You Say And Think

It is also important to take note of how you feel and what you say and think. You emotions and gut feelings can clue you in on the truth of what is going on with your startup. More conscious, logical, straightforward thoughts about things can guide you with your endeavor.

Costs

Look closely into costs of running your startup and where things are going, financially. Are the costs worth it when you weigh out your priorities, profits and levels of satisfaction? How much money are you putting into your startup, and how much are you getting out of it?

What Problem Are You Trying Solve?

Do not think in terms of what you can sell—think in terms of what problem you can solve. The problem that you have to solve is the thing that determines which good or service you should be providing to customers. Whether or not your product solves a relevant problem is the answer to whether or not your business has a chance of being successful. For example, if you are trying to solve the problem of home security, you may want to sell advanced wireless security cameras.

Legal Requirements

Look into the legal requirements for operating an online startup. There may be general requirements for running such a business. If you want to officially register your business, you are going to want to look into the laws that concern this. Legal requirements may also be in place for selling specific items that have restrictions on them. For example, if you are a plant seller you may want to look into whether there are any localities where your plants can’t be shipped to. Depending on your country, state, province, county or local municipality, there may be laws regarding starting a business.

Opportunities To Speak

Look for opportunities to speak about your business to other people. It is important that other people hear about your business so that they can become either potential customers or potential investors. Even if the people who hear about your business will never have anything to do with it, they may recommend your goods and services to their loved ones and acquaintances.