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Podcast Planning: 8 Formats to Consider

MARCH 1, 2022

Not all listeners enjoy the same type of podcast, so your choice of format has a big impact on your podcast.

Your format isn’t just about pleasing your listeners. It helps you plan! When you choose a consistent format to follow, it guides how you create content, if you invite guests (and who), and how you record episodes. So where do you start with choosing a podcast path? Let’s lay out some options.

Here are 8 popular podcast formats to consider for your podcast:

The interview podcast – You have to start with a central host that can have great conversations, then bring on new guests. The interviews should bring unique expertise and experience.
The solo podcast – Instead of talking with guests for a perspective, it’s the experiences of a single host. It’s a popular format because all you need is you! Spice it up with listener input if you want (advice or callers).
The conversational podcast – The more the merrier! Bounce off another host without making it an interview-style conversation.
The panel podcast – Take your interview podcast, but pump up the number of guests to explore a topic with more experts.
The non-fictional storytelling podcast – Marketers and brands are always aiming to be good storytellers. While telling real-life events might not fit your brand, you can learn storytelling from this format.
The fictional storytelling podcast – Also known as “podcast theater.” Think of it like audio television for story entertainment.
The repurposed content podcast – This is popular for taking existing content and turning it into audio renditions, summaries, or segments to expand your reach.
Your own podcast – Remember, you’re not locked into one lane. You can always switch formats or combine them to make it work for your podcast and listeners. It’s authentic when you make it your own.

Check out real podcast examples, pros, and cons for each format on Castos’ post.

What are You “Supposed” to Post on Instagram Stories?

FEBRUARY 28, 2022

Stories are great because they can be delivered to users in a different way and algorithm than the regular post feed. But what content can you be putting out on your stories to use them to the best of their ability?

We’ll break that down, but let’s start with the different types of posts and their uses:

Reels for reach! You’re more likely to reach people from discovering your reels content
Carousel for educational content! These are often used to explain or display, with a higher chance of being saved for later.
Stories for staying top of mind! As we mentioned, it’s a different feed users are following and it’s current.

Note: There are always exceptions to these “rules.” When you notice some sort of content working for you, keep it up!

Katie Steckly is an Instagram entrepreneur that has a great educational YouTube for creators and businesses looking for help on content creation in the great, big, complicated digital world. From her experience, here are some ideas for Instagram stories:

Mini Training – Educate your audience by providing short QAs, 3-5 how-to slides, and quick tricks. Get started by thinking of the frequent questions you might get as a brand.
Stories…on Your Story – Entertain your audience by either recapping something or going live. Going live can be tricky if you’re unprepared or uncomfortable, but people enjoy seeing something in real-time. Plus, Instagram will notify your audience of when you go live.
Inspo! – Another layer of entertainment you can use stories for is a transformation or ideas stemming from a question you asked your audience earlier.
Stories for Highlights – Brands can use the Highlights section of Instagram to showcase features or past how-to’s. Think of what stories you can make to use for Highlights.

Check out Katie’s full video for all the examples and details for the types of stories listed here. And as a bonus, she has an additional video with 5 specific story ideas for businesses.

Edutainment + Video Content For Your Brand

FEBRUARY 27, 2022

We marketers love to Frankenstein words. Today’s term is “edutainment.” And it’s a pretty straightforward mix of education and entertainment.

Brands use edutainment all the time for product use and awareness campaigns. While infomercials may be coming to mind right now, the approach has become a little less direct. You can integrate edutainment into your video content on social media as well as your ads, but that entertainment factor has to ring true.

Why use edutainment?

It informs your target audience about the problem, solution, and your product.
It’s great for awareness, but can be used all throughout the customer journey.
It works! Edutainment marketing increases conversion, trust, and affinity for your product.

Ways to use edutainment in your video content:

Product Demos: The usual suspect. Obviously the best way to understand some products is to just show everyone how it’s done with a video.
Micro Ads: Now take your product demos and focus on a small part to inform on or demonstrate.
UGC Testimonials: TikTok has blown up edutainment with both organic and influencer videos being made to inform about a product.
Viral Relaters: We mentioned infomercials…They typically start with a relatable problem everyone has, add a little drama to it, and explain a product.
“Reasons Why” Videos: Similar to the previous relaters – present possible problems or pain points, then educate on the solution.

Check out the full post by VisCap Media for more examples and stats on edutainment.

Unique Company Swag Ideas

FEBRUARY 23, 2022

You either LOVE free swag, or you’re indifferent. But how many marketers enjoy buying swag and promotional items for their brand?… Not many.

Time to inject some inspo into your next swag purchases. Before we dive into the fresh ideas, let’s start with the essentials for any branded items you have.

Swag Requirements:

Go the extra mile for branding consistency.
It has to be useful! (With one exception – there is always an audience for stickers.)
Above all, quality items are what matters to a user.

Purposes for Swag:

For Employees – Use it as a warm welcome or to help enforce company values.
For Gratitude – Use as gifts for holidays, prospects, and current clients.
For Promotion – It gives you a chance to show your brand personality or services. And sometimes it can be used for brand awareness.

Unique Swag Ideas:

Pens are great, but is that all there is? Let’s get into the fun stuff. Here are some real brand examples we love.

Commonsku’s Self-Promotion Packs – Promotional boxes are great in general, but Commonsku (a promotional item company) did it best by making their boxes for their “Sku Camp” conference camping gear themed.
Sun Bum’s Team USA Gorillas – Yes, it’s so weird. But it was part of a whole guerilla campaign of theirs for the Tokyo Olympics. People loved these items.
Panera’s “Get This Bread” Dog Bandanas – If it’s for their dogs, people eat it up. It’s just the law.
Indeed’s Baby Swag – When one of their employees welcomed a bundle of joy, Indeed sent them a bundle of Indeed baby swag!

These were just some of our favorites. Check out the full Social Commerce blog post for dozens of examples they had.

10 Ways to Beat Google Title Rewrites

FEBRUARY 22, 2022

In August 2021, Google announced that it would begin rewriting some title tags on the SERP. Some marketers are perfectly fine with Google taking the wheel, but some are not happy with them (plus, it’s happening very frequently).

But what can you do to prevent Google’s rewrites of your precious titles? Here are 10 things you can do:

Keep Your Title Length In Check: Google’s desktop results have a display limit of 650 pixels, so aim for between 51-60 characters.
Match the Title Tag to the H1: When the title is different than the H1, Google may choose to use the H1 instead.
Don’t Break the Title Into Sections: It’s common and tempting, but it leaves room for Google to choose one part of your title to remove. You should write your titles in more sentence-like language.
Use the Right Title Separator: If you must separate your titles, Google’s favorite separator appears to be the simple, short “-” en dash.
Use Parenthesis Instead of Brackets: Google also seems to prefer (parenthetical) text to [bracketed] text.
Use Keywords That Match User Search Queries: The more generic your title is, the more likely it will be rewritten. Check the top keywords users search and include them in your title.
Avoid Repeating Keywords: Keywords are great, but Google can sniff out when you’re “stuffing” them into titles. Use synonyms!
Avoid Irrelevant Boilerplate: “Boilerplate” is the non-unique text used across multiple pages like brand names. Only include it when relevant to a page.
Don’t Publish Half-Empty Titles: Duh, right? But marketers are still leaving empty titles or aren’t making them descriptive enough.
Keep Your Titles Up-To-Date: Check your titles after every content update.

Maybe you aren’t too concerned but would like to be notified: Ahrefs has a flag for “Page and SERP titles do not match.” Check out the full Zyppy article for real title examples.

TikTok Tactics: Your Quick Guide to Advertising on TikTok

FEBRUARY 21, 2022

We watched TikTok’s courses so you don’t have to! (But you still should because they’re super helpful and quick.)

TikTok’s guide to their advertising and analytics dashboard is five short videos, only 1-3 minutes long. Here are the takeaways of each one:

Introduction

TikTok starts by explaining that their platform is self-serving but will help marketers “level up” through campaigns.
Level 3 in each tactic is going to unlock the most features.

Tactic 1: Attribution (web + app)

Beginners can get conversion tracking without a development team.
Pixel developer mode includes event post-backs to enhance your algorithm experience. But this requires some more complex setup on the backend.
To enable the best possible attribution and sharing, learn about TikTok’s full advanced matching + events API.

Tactic 2: Targeting, Bidding, & Optimization

Each part of this tactic depends on the other. So instead of direct “levels,” targeting, bidding, and optimization act more like dominos in a circle.
To get started, you’ll need to learn more about TikTok’s ad targeting.

Tactic 3: Catalog

TikTok’s tools can help you create multiple, efficient automatic ads that reach the best audience.
This type of ad tactic through TikTok works best with brands that have large product selections.

Tactic 4: Creative

TikTok rewards innovative, fresh, and frequent content. “Ditch tradition and embrace authenticity.”
They encourage the reuse of branded content in different ways to test out audiences before using TikTok Spark Ads as direct ad options.
In Level 3, you’d have access to TikTok’s vast and growing partner system.

Check out TikTok’s full guide for all the educational tidbits at your fingertips before you get started with your TikTok campaigns.

5 Factors for Picking the Best ECommerce Platform

FEBRUARY 20, 2022

Online shopping is essential to most businesses nowadays. But how do you pick the best eCommerce platform for your shop? They are not all built the same, so let’s dive into the top factors when picking a platform:

SEO benefits: This is a top dog feature because no one can find your shop items in the first place. Having it optimized for search makes it easier all around. There is a lot that can go into SEO for online shops including keyword research, attention to link building, the creation of fresh, keyword-optimized content, navigation links, SEO-friendly product pages, title tags, image tags, canonical URLs, and more.
Payment options (and safety): To have an eCommerce business, it needs to be able to accommodate a range of payment options. In addition to credit/debit cards, your eCommerce site should accept quick and painless options like PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, etc. Shoppers should also have the ability to create an account on your website for future purchases. Last but not least, be sure the platform you choose uses SSL encryption.
End-user experience: UX is the most important piece of the puzzle. If the checkout process is complicated, the navigation is confusing, the product information is tough to find, people won’t stick around to make a purchase. Don’t forget that UX is not just about looks, your utilities and accessibility are essential to it as well.
IT support: If your site goes down, you need answers right away. You need a platform that can provide that support, or work with an agency to help you out with that. Most large eCommerce platforms also have troubleshooting communities.
Integrations and add-ons: This is where specific perks of a platform can come into play. The integration capabilities of an eCommerce platform are what allow you to customize your site, can help you out with email marketing/automation, and site analytics.

Check out BPlan’s full article for all the shopping platform deets and comparisons.

How to Build a Target Audience Profile (In 4 Steps)

FEBRUARY 15, 2022

The first steps to any marketing strategy have to do with goals and your target audience. But what if you don’t know who the heck you are targeting?

Build your target audience in these 4 steps with all the right questions along the way:

Step 1: Create Broad Descriptions of Your Ideal Customers

Start with your current actual audience. Check out your brand’s reviews and consider your customers’ attitudes toward your product. Ask yourself: Why would someone choose your product over your competition’s?

Create some generic customer profiles based on some of those answers.

Step 2: Research Your Potential Customers’ Demographics

You have some general ideas, now add more detail. Potential demographic information to research can include: age, location, job/title/income, family status, preferred social media sites, competitor purchases, subscriptions, hobbies, etc.

Step 3: Identify the Needs and Problems of Your Target Audience

Now think through sweet spots and pain points for the type of people in your profiles and demographics. You want to think about what motivates them, prevents them, concerns they might have, and if your product solves a problem.

Step 4: Determine Where Customers Will Find You

Think about how customers will find your company or offerings. The three main questions for figuring that out are:

What websites do they visit?
What blogs/publications do they read?
What are the search terms they use? (These are NOT always the search terms you would use)

Check out Easy Affiliate’s full post for profile examples and more details on finding your target audience.

The Official Guide to Unofficial Holiday Marketing

FEBRUARY 13, 2022

Marketers are always wondering when to celebrate holidays as a brand. It’s not a one size fits all situation. So let’s break it down to celebrate today’s holiday of love – Valentine’s Day.

Benefits to Holiday Marketing:

They keep you current
They’re sharable
They can showcase brand personality
They help you plan content all year

Reasons NOT to Do Holiday Marketing:

If holidays don’t align with your brand, it’s worth your effort and it might confuse your audience.
Including or exluding holidays that might offend your customers (i.e. Columbus Day).
Too much holiday content might cannibalize your other promotions and campaigns.

How to Handle Holiday Marketing:

Choose Your Holidays Carefully: As we mentioned in the “Reasons NOT to do Holiday Marketing,” is brands should only market holidays that align with their brand. Research the monthly, weekly, and daily observances you can celebrate for each month and decide what fits!
Add Promotional Strategy to the Mix: See if you can interject your brand and services in a way that makes sense for a holiday or season.
Get it Planned to Get it Done: Execute your content with planning via a calendar for all of your channels – paid advertising, organic social media, written blog posts, etc.

Check out the full guide by VirTasktic for more holiday planning tips and templates!