Digital Marketing Tips for July 27

I gotta say: there's SO MUCH going on in the digital marketing space. It's also been a hot second since I did a newsletter, so here's some extra goodies to keep you up to date!

Let's talk about the new social media platform, Threads, by Meta. 

Meta is hopping on X's (formerly Twitter) decline, and did so by creating Threads. Threads is a fun, fast paced text based platform that looks, sounds and feels like X. But let's cut to the chase, some things you should know about Threads:

• it's inextricably connected to Instagram: you can't have a Threads account without an Instagram account 
• if you try to delete your Threads account, you'll delete your Instagram, so watch that
• Photos and videos don't seem to be doing well yet on the platform, so keep it text based
• Consumers also don't seem open to sales and advertising, so focus on gentle brand marketing and being present
• People on all sides (consumers, businesses, organizations) don't really know what to do with Threads, so have fun with it for now!
• There's a lot of hype about Threads, but use is also dramatically declining after the hype of its launch. Translation: we don't know if it'll stick, but history favours those who are early adopters, so keep an attitude of exploration and play 

3 Things to include to search engine optimize your blog: 

While many things about search engine optimization change, some factors have been the same for years. A few things you can do that have worked for years to get your blog (and business discovered): 

• bullet and numbered lists, 
• clear introduction and conclusion paragraph that answer a question, and 
• Images, that have alt text, that have the keywords you want to get found for.

Play with Instagram channels for better reach. 

Instagram has broadcast channels, where people can sign up and get broadcast DMs from you. It's a fabulous way to increase your reach! Just go easy on the sales, we don't want to turn people off. 

With X, keywords still do the trick as well!

X (formerly Twitter) used to heavily run on hashtags for discoverability, but that's no longer the (only) case. As long as you include the keywords you want to get found for, your Tweets can still show up in top discoverability searches! 

With email marketing, have a "from" person, even if it's not actually from one person. 

A big strategy we aim for is to make emails look personalized. Having a from person makes that possible!

Double down on Facebook videos. 

This is your reminder Facebook LOVES videos....but we tend to default to photos! With every client we notice a dramatic increase in reach when we focus on videos. 

Use Reddit to learn, first. 

Here's the tea: I'm on a journey learning Reddit for marketing, because I'm leaning into what I don't know in order to be a better practitioner, and Reddit is blowing my mind. I'll share more tips in future newsletters and on social, but for now, the big thing I see Reddit can help with marketing: learning and listening. It's a grassroots community driven platform where people ask questions and talk amongst each other. This is a fabulous place to learn what people are saying about your industry, your city, and businesses like yours. 

TikTok now allows plain text posts. 

In an effort to compete with other platforms, and to be the go-to for social media, TikTok now allows plain posts. Do with that what you will (but remember videos are still superior). 

Everyone's talking about AI in business: here's some suggestions on using it for your marketing. 

I have a whole YouTube video on this, elaborating and demonstrating, but some keys to know:

• AI is great for coming up with ideas if you don't have any, 
• it can teach you parts of strategy, 
• can review and tweak what you have, and
• can write for you.

Of course, this all relies on good prompts (again, covered in the YouTube video).