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4 Things We Learned From Merriam-Webster’s Social Director

SEPTEMBER 5, 2023

John Sabine is the social director for Merriam-Webster, a brand known for lightly roasting cultural moments on social media with linguistic wit. Here’s what we learned from a recent interview with the man behind the dictionary:

Social is like Jupiter—there are no seasons, only storms. Your back-to-school content won’t go viral, but you’re more likely to make an impression when you jump onto trends or create your own. Embrace the chaos.
Craft a strategy that you enjoy. There’s no use trying to recreate someone else’s magic. Follow your taste and find your own voice. But try not to rely wholly on emojis and slang.
Your brand account should feel alive. Social isn’t just a bulletin board for brand announcements. Get creative in the replies and take the liberty of sounding more like a person/persona.
Embrace the absurd. It’s ridiculous that a dictionary has a Twitter account. Sometimes we’re too close to the industry to appreciate the humor. Don’t take yourself too seriously… unless that’s your whole thing.

Read Rachel Karten’s full interview with John Sabine at Link in Bio.

The Trifecta of Keyword Research

SEPTEMBER 4, 2023

To craft a successful keyword strategy, carefully consider these three data points:

Volume. This is the number of times a keyword is searched for in a specific time frame. High volume keywords can attract significant organic traffic, but you’ll want to balance them out with other niche, low-volume keywords that have less competition.
Difficulty. This measures how challenging it is to rank for a keyword based on factors like competition, SERP features, etc. Aim to stay within 10 points of your current domain authority.
Intent. This is the art of SEO—identifying the purpose behind a search query. Intent can be…
- Informational: Seeking answers and solutions.
- Navigational: Seeking a specific website or brand.
- Commercial: Seeking product comparisons, reviews, and pricing in order to consider a purchase.
- Transactional: Seeking to make a purchase.

Check out best practices for each data point at Search Engine Land.

How to Launch Your Tool on Product Hunt

AUGUST 30, 2023

Startups that land on the front page of Product Hunt can expect 2k to 10k unique visitors on launch day. Here’s how to get started:

Set a real conversion goal that isn’t simply upvotes. For most SaaS, service, and ecommerce startups, this would be capturing emails.
Gain a small following first. Product Hunt amplifies existing momentum, so shoot for 400 users before launch.
Leverage Product Hunt users. The algorithm privileges existing Product Hunt users, so sincerely ask any in your following for help, and make new connections with established users.
Get hunted! This just means getting your product posted by a superuser (or yourself).
Time your emails. The frequency and volume of your upvotes matters, so time your comms across channels accordingly.
Choose your launch time. Tuesday to Thursday just after midnight (PST) is the sweet spot.
Optimize your post. Fine tune your product description, images, and other assets to best practices.
Write your maker comment. Write a helpful and humble Maker’s Comment that will appear below your product gallery.

Peruse the playbook by Demand Curve for more.

3 Steps for Better PPC Reporting

AUGUST 29, 2023

Your PPC analysis should highlight trends and translate metrics into real value for the C-suite. Here’s how to build a better PPC report:

This part is straightforward: Review the account’s performance metrics, add a comparison date range, and note any significant positive or negative trends. Identify the goal and highlight the relevant metrics: sales-based, conversion-based, and other secondary metrics. Remember that clicks and impressions don’t translate to actual results.
Translate your metrics to the real world. For example:
- Clicks and impressions indicate overall volume.
- Search impression share and CPM indicate reach and visibility.
- CPC and CPA indicate efficiency.
- CTR, conversion rate, and view rate indicate engagement.
Offer any potential causes, efforts, or changes behind the trends noted. Whether the news is positive or negative, your analysis should address what’s happening, why it’s happening, and what you suggest we do about it.

Dig in at Search Engine Land.

9 Tips to Improve Email Accessibility

AUGUST 28, 2023

Best in class emails are open-worthy, engaging, and valuable. But they should also be accessible. Here’s how to optimize your email for all readers:

Write concise, descriptive subject lines and headers without jargon or abbreviations.
Consider how emojis might be read aloud by a screen reader or virtual assistant.
Keep a color ratio of at least 4.5:1.
Don’t communicate by colors alone; underline your URLs.
Limit flashing GIFs and animations.
Alt text is a non-negotiable.
Use semantic elements in your code.
Set the language attribute within your HTML.
Keep font size readable and CTAs clickable.

Check out Iterable for more on each action item.

Instagram Benchmarks: 2023

AUGUST 25, 2023

If you’re in the Instagram game right now, you know that the platform is heavily prioritizing Reels, and investment in short-form video is paying off. For a closer look at what’s working, Socialinsider breaks down the numbers in a recent study:

Instagram Reels have had a 57.4% YoY growth in usage.
In 2023, Instagram Reels score an average engagement rate of 1.23%, making it the best performing content type on the app. That said…

“If your insights indicate Reels outperform feed posts, then lean in more to Reels – but don’t go all in on any one type of content,” Jen Herman, Instagram marketing expert

Reels’ engagement entered a dropping phase, indicating that growth might not remain stable as other platforms compete in the short-form video race.
Reels generate the highest amount of saves for the smallest profiles. Users save content they plan to return to, so this metric matters.
Carousels generate the highest number of comments for the smallest and largest accounts.
Reels is your best bet for virality, due to their reach rate being more than double other types.
Reels have a 2x higher average impression rate than other types of content.

Check out the study in full over at Socialinsider.

How Marketers Feel About Threads

AUGUST 23, 2023

Threads is Meta’s hope to rival Twitter—a text-based platform that imports a user’s existing following from Instagram. Despite explosive initial growth, engagement has slowed dramatically with a 79% decrease in active users this month. SparkToro surveyed marketers to gauge early sentiment. Here’s what they found:

Most folks are keeping an eye on the platform. 78% of respondents claimed their personal Threads account, but only 33% claimed their company or brand’s Threads account.
Leadership isn’t interested yet. Only 14% of all respondents reported feeling pressure to create a Thread strategy.
Marketers aren’t ready to spend. 45% of respondents probably or definitely won’t advertise on Threads if Meta makes that option available.
But Threads is not to be ignored. 45% of respondents said Threads will probably or definitely be a top 5 social platform in 3 years.

Check out the full report at SparkToro.

5 Podcast Analytics Myths

AUGUST 22, 2023

Podcasting is a relatively new channel with complex and often opaque data collection, interpretation, and discrepancies across platforms. Here are 5 myths of podcast analytics debunked:

The number of downloads accurately reflects the number of listeners. Factors like automatic downloads, bots, or multiple downloads by the same listener can reflect this metric. Unique listener metrics and engagement data better reflect your audience.
A high number of subscribers guarantees high listenership. Many people subscribe to podcasts but listen infrequently. Episode unique listeners, completion rates, and consumption rates are better gauges for the popularity of your episodes.
Episode length determines listener engagement. Listeners have different preferences—some prefer shorter episodes, while others want longer discussions. Focus more on content quality, consistency, relevance, and delivery than duration.
High listener numbers automatically lead to monetization opportunities. Advertisers and sponsors also consider listener demographics, engagement, and niche appeal.
Analytics can’t measure listener loyalty and satisfaction. Subscriber retention, episode completion rates, listener feedback, and social media interactions provide valuable insights about your audience.

Check out the full post at Cohost.

19 Tips to Optimize for Search Intent

AUGUST 22, 2023

Search intent is the reason behind a user’s query. Here’s how to improve your content to match what users are searching for:

Identify search intent: is it transactional, navigational, or informational?
Think like your intended audience. What would they want to see?
Review the SERPs for similarities in top-performing pages.
Analyze your current bounce rate, CTR, and time on page.
Consider mixed intent. Broad keywords with high search volume have various intents.
Examine ambiguous intent.
Use AI prompts to generate a list of likely search intents.
Update title tags and meta descriptions to match intent.
Use keyword clusters.
Check the SERP features. Is there a People Also Ask box?
Use the SERP features to your advantage.
Use the right format.
Include supporting entities.
Leverage E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trust).
Align your copy with search intent.
Get human feedback.
Consider AI feedback.
Make sure your CTAs align with intent.
Keep optimizing!