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Best Practices: LinkedIn Posts (2023)

MAY 10, 2023

The Creativity and Innovation Network has offered these new best practices for posting on LinkedIn, based on algorithm data from 2,000 LinkedIn posts published this winter:

Suggested post frequency: 1 to 3 times per week

Optimal time between posts: 18 hours minimum

Format with highest reach: PDF

Optimal number of hashtags: 2 to 6

Most heavily weighted interactions: Comments and shares

Comments: Don’t be the first to comment on your post; answer user comments within 12 hours

Ideal character count: 1200–1800

Mentions: Don’t mention more than 15 accounts in your post

Emojis: Limit to < 10, and never more than 4 per line

Editing: Don’t edit your post within the first 10 minutes of publication

Check out the infographic at Social Media Today for more info.

4 Tips for Better Polls and Surveys

MAY 9, 2023

You know we love a good poll around here. If you’re not using polls and surveys to better understand your audience—and create hyper-relevant content—you should be. Here are 4 tips to start:

Know the difference. A poll poses one brief, multiple-choice question. Polls allow you to gauge the general sentiment or majority opinion of your audience. Conversely, surveys may include dozens of questions across a variety of topics. Questions may be formatted as yes/no, short answer, multiple choice, ranking, and more. This option is effective for collecting deeper insights into your audience’s preferences and motivations.
Use polls and surveys for data… and for fun. If you’re looking for actionable data, use a tool to create a poll or survey that collects and organizes responses for you. However, you can utilize native social media polls or simply ask your audience an open-ended question to spark engagement.
Know your objective. As with any formal analysis, it’s important to identify the purpose behind your poll or survey before going live. What insights do you hope to gain? What assumptions do you hope to prove or disprove? Understanding your goal will help you refine your copy and ultimately provide more accurate results.
Ask the right questions. For objective results, your questions must be worded in such a way as to not sway the respondent in any direction. Additionally, consider how the format of your question will influence results. A multiple-choice question limits users to predetermined responses, while open-ended questions have the potential to allow users to expound upon an opinion.

Check out Search Engine Land to learn how to turn polls and surveys into great content.

6 Must-Have Email Marketing Automations

MAY 8, 2023

Drive incremental growth with these 6 under-utilized automated email series:

Post-purchase or post-shipment: Engaging with a user after their purchase—through shipment details, upsells, customer service information, and brand/community content—can increase the likelihood of repeat purchases.
Welcome or account creation: Sending tailored welcome emails to new subscribers is an opportunity to set the tone and frequency of communication. Mixing promotion-heavy messaging with messaging that builds brand connection can improve time to purchase and purchase frequency.
Birthday or anniversary: Celebrating birthdays and customer anniversaries through automations offering freebies and exclusive discounts will nurture brand connection and affinity.
Abandon cart: If a user makes it all the way to a full cart on your platform, they likely need only a nudge or reminder to complete a purchase. Abandoned cart email series are a crucial revenue driver and can significantly increase total conversions and revenue.
Browse abandonment: This step in the purchasing journey takes place before a user makes it to the cart. At this stage, upselling to users interested in a specific product or category can increase revenue.
Re-engagement / “We miss you”: Move low-engagement subscribers into a re-engagement workflow to nurture them back into high- or medium-level engagement, rather than continuing to send them frequent emails, which can be detrimental to sender reputation and overall engagement rate.

Get the full scoop at MarTech.

Tips for Reddit Campaign Creative

MAY 5, 2023

Last month, we dug into the 9 Reddit ad formats you should be testing. Now, let’s take a look at some tips from Reddit itself to optimize your copy and assets for this unique audience:

Communicate your vision and value proposition. Get straight to the point with messaging that highlights your offer. Use an image that adds value, or simply stick with text. Remove emojis and go for a strong call-to-action with a promo code.
Keep it conversational. The (ideal) Reddit tone is honest, direct, and friendly. Brand messaging should feel like recommendations and advice from a knowledgeable friend.
Throw in some humor or cultural references. This is what earns you figurative and literal points on Reddit. Open with a brand self-aware joke in your headline or acknowledge a trending topic that would resonate with your audience.
Reddit like a Redditor. While you’re here, make yourself at home. Nod and wink to subreddits and even specific users. Redditors love recognition and 69% respect when brands attempt to participate on the platform.
Experiment with headline length. Redditors will tolerate a lengthier headline more than users on other platforms. Avoid writing in title case, include your brand name, and steer clear of emoijs. Your corresponding creative assets should be engaging and not overly corporate.

For more tips—and examples of how to turn your Meta ads into Reddit-ready ads—visit Reddit for Business.

When to Use Fast vs. Slow Ads

MAY 3, 2023

In a series of 4 experiments, scientists were able to reveal something incredible about how we perceive advertising:

Slow ads are effective for highlighting product benefits and quality. People rated a benefit-focused metronome ad 32.8% higher when the metronome hit 30 beats per minute vs. 60 bpm.

Fast ads are effective for highlighting product features and price. People rated a price-focused camera ad 24.7% higher when the ad was sped up to 15 seconds rather than slowed down to 45 seconds.

Why? We tend to perceive objects moving slowly as further away, and we judge them in more abstract terms (think: the why of a product). Conversely, when something appears to move fast, it feels closer to us, and we’re more likely to judge it in more practical terms (think: the how of a product). Plus, we’re simply quicker at assessing a good deal (price) than we are at parsing how a product might improve our lives.

Dig into this fascinating research with Ariyh.

First-Party Data and Experiential Marketing

MAY 2, 2023

Capture first-party data at your branded events and experiential activations to ensure that your customer interactions aren’t simply one-and-done. Here’s how:

Build in data collection. Ask people to register, thank them for attending, and offer to stay in touch — through an app download, a newsletter subscription, etc. Consider interactive event features, too, like a photo booth that prompts attendees to provide their email addresses for photos.
Soft sell. No matter how you collect data through your event, avoid a disruptive, sales-y experience for your attendees. Engaging installations and QR codes leading to interactive digital experiences and sweepstakes are more effective.
Offer genuine value. One-time incentives won’t work toward cultivating a relationship with a contact. They’ll likely cash in and drop off.
Don’t blast. As always, personalized strategic messaging will nurture your lead list far more than generic email blasts after your event.
Be transparent. Make sure attendees understand how their info will be used (or shared) and that their participation is not mandatory.

To find out more, visit Marketing Brew.

4 Tips for Collaborating with TikTok Creators

MAY 1, 2023

64% of TikTok users buy a product after watching creator advertising.

Working with a TikTok creator that aligns with your brand is a way to establish favorability and trust to drive serious results. Here are the 4 elements your influencer content should incorporate:

Ditch the script. Authenticity rules. When it comes to TikTok, it’s important the creator’s own voice is preserved. Marketers should share enough information for the creator without providing a script. And long CTAs should go in the caption.
Find a natural hook. Your TikTok creator partner is successful with audiences because they offer entertainment value. Allow them to work your brand into their existing formats for maximum effect.
Use trends. There’s nothing quite like when a brand is bold (and nimble) enough to capitalize on a TikTok trend in an organic way. You know it when you see it. Work with your creator to identify long-term and short-term trends that match your tone.
Pick the right community. Your perfect-match TikTok creator might be popular in a niche subculture of TikTok that is adjacent to your traditional audience. Encourage them to use the lingo and video formats popular to their community for credibility.

Head over to TikTok for Business to find more insights.

3 Tips to Improve Mobile Ad Creative Performance

APRIL 28, 2023

An excellent mobile ad campaign captures attention and differentiates your brand in a crowded digital landscape. Try these 3 tips to drive performance:

Utilize video to engaged targeted audiences. Globally, users spend 16 hours per week watching digital videos—and over half of consumers want more video content from familiar brands. Visual storytelling has a greater potential to establish emotional connections with your audience than traditional advertising.
Captivate your audience with interactive rich media ads. Rich media ads yield higher engagement rates, conversions, click-throughs, and views. For example, a retargeted dynamic countdown can signal urgency to users about a sale ending soon.
Drive action with interactive shoppable ads. Allowing users to make purchases and browse your products directly through an ad unit creates a seamless, one-click shopping experience.

Read more about how to enhance your mobile ad creative at The Drum.

Why You Should Consider Voice AI for Audio Ads

APRIL 25, 2023

Voice AI tools can create and replicate human-sounding voices to make personalized audio ads quickly and affordably. Here’s why you might consider it:

You can exponentially increase the variations and relevance of your ad creative by using Voice AI to customize details, like the listening platform or weather.
Voice AI may be a more affordable option for small businesses than hiring human voice actors by the hour.
Brands can replicate a real actor’s voice (with written and verbal consent) or engineer a new one with the help of training data.
Voice AI can help with attribution and analysis of phone calls to see if customers saw a certain Facebook or Google ad.

Learn more about Voice AI tech at Marketing Brew.