6 Tips for Marketing on Pinterest

One of the social media sites often overlooked by business is Pinterest. Pinterest is a popular site where people are able to “pin” things to their account from all over the Internet to save for later. It is extremely valuable to businesses because one pin from a customer ends up showing up on all their friends boards automatically. And with over 175 million monthly active users, there’s a lot of customers to reach out to on the platform. Not only is this a great resource for creating backlinks to your business, it also is a great way to spread the word about your great products or services other people may want to take advantage of. Here are 8 tips to follow for effective marketing on Pinterest.

1. Machine learning and automation

One of the best ways to market on Pinterest, and really any type of social media platform for that matter, is through the use of machine learning and automation. With the help of a machine learning startup, you can get set up to have a computer analyze all the data from your Pinterest pins and give recommendations on better pins to post and how to post them. Machine learning takes all the information about what pins have been viewed and how many people have posted those pins in order to determine how effective every post on Pinterest is for your business. It will analyze conversion rates per pin to tell you which pins are working and which ones aren’t. In fact, you can even have automation setup, so you don’t have to do hardly anything on your site. Marketing automation is the next big thing in marketing and is going to become the new normal in 2018.

2. Using ads

Another way to easily market on Pinterest is to simply pay for ads. When users are scrolling through the social media site, the ads are technically marked, but it is hard to see unless you are looking for it. They will assume pretty much everything in their feed is just repins from friends and will look at it if they are interested regardless of whether or not it is a paid for ad.

3. Focus on being inspiration

Some people use Pinterest as a way of finding things they really want or need in their lives. Most, however, use it as a point of inspiration. How-to guides and inspirational places or clothes are some of the most popular posts on the site. While most people recognize there is no perfect lifestyle, the goal of their Pinterest boards is to find inspiration in the lifestyles of others to hopefully start heading in that direction.

4. Recipes are golden

If there’s one thing customers identify with super well it is recipes. Everyone needs to eat, and people are constantly on the search for recipes that look and taste good. On Pinterest, there is even a feature where customers can share their experiences with that recipe to help other users know if it is worth their time, so make sure it really delicious. While it may not work for every business, posting recipes and how-to food prep guides will definitely get you some pins and bring people to your site.

5. Video ad content

A somewhat new feature on Pinterest is the ability to do video ads rolled out in 2016. People like it because Pinterest auto plays video content, so customers will definitely see it. People latch on to video content like crazy right now, but they will only ever stick around if you catch their attention in the first few seconds.

Jump right into the point of the video instead of having long introductions because people want to quickly see what you are advertising to them. It is a creative way to reach customers and a way in which they want to be reached.

6. Cheap and easy activities

Another thing people use Pinterest for is getting ideas for things to do, whether they are doing it with their kids or planning a family activity. Posting activities and how-to guides for doing those activities will get the attention of customers and help them develop interest in the products you have to offer to help with those activities.

Using Pinterest to advertise, while often overlooked as a marketing method, can be extremely effective if done right. Just be sure to check the data to see what is and is not working, so you can create better pins that your audience will love.

Mobile Technology News brought to you by biztexter.com

Source: forbes.com/sites/forbescommunicationscouncil/2017/12/22/how-your-marketing-team-should-be-advertising-on-pinterest/#7a9109b850b8

Nine Things That Will Make Your Chatbot Easier To Talk To

Chatbots have been slower to catch on than experts predicted. A big part of the problem leading to the slower than desired adoption rate is that in the rush to get in on the chatbot craze, many businesses deployed chatbots that weren’t particularly good at doing the one thing they’re supposed to do: chat. Putting a little effort into conversational design can work wonders. If you want customers to keep using your chatbot, you have to ensure that they have a positive experience each time they do so. Here are nine things you can do to make your chatbot easier to talk to.

Define your bot’s purpose

Before you can get into the specifics of conversational design, you have to have a clear goal of what you want the finished product to be. What do you want your chatbot to be able to do for customers? Will it primarily be an information gathering bot trying to learn more about your audience? Will it provide customer service? Will it drive more web traffic to your website? Increase sales by simplifying the checkout process? Define the purpose of your bot and you’ll be ready to get into the specifics.

Make it proactive

A big reason people aren’t using your chatbot might be because they don’t know it exists or, if they know it exists, how it can help them. A proactive chatbot can introduce itself and provide suggestions about what kinds of questions people can ask it.

Think about conversation flow

Depending on what you want your bot to be able to do, it will need to be able to ask and answer certain types of questions. There’s a natural give and take (or flow) to verbal communication and a bot that doesn’t sound natural can be off-putting.

Design your chatbot to lead

Chatbots are still a somewhat novel idea and many people aren’t totally sure how to use them. Your chatbot can be more effective if you design it to lead the conversation. Still give the user the option to ask questions of course but don’t leave it to the user to lead the entire conversation from beginning to end. Your chatbot can lead by taking the initiative to suggest things that the user can ask and by asking more questions.

Confirm valid answers before moving on

A simple feature that can improve a person’s experience with your chatbot is to have your bot confirm valid responses before moving on. There’s nothing more frustrating than having a chatbot you’re conversing with go off on a tangent and you can’t bring it back all because it misunderstood one thing you said. Instead have your chatbot confirm: “you want to know about [subject], right?”.

Suggested response buttons

Complete open endedness can be difficult for a chatbot. In other words, if the customer can say or ask whatever they want using any wording, there’s a better chance that your chatbot will misunderstand and be unable to assist. Suggested response buttons in which users are given a limited number of ways to respond may lessen user engagement a little, but it may be worth it if your chatbot is able to provide better assistance as a result.

Keep it simple

The more features you try to pack into your chatbot, the less likely it will be able to perform them successfully. Especially with your first attempt at building a chatbot, keep it very simple. You can always slowly add in new features as it masters the initial ones.

Give it a personality

Nobody likes communicating with a cold and impersonal robot. Even though they know they’re talking to a computer, users will appreciate it when bots are conversational and pleasant to talk to. Program your bot to use social niceties but be careful not to go too far and make it overbearing either.

Have a human backup

No matter how much work you put into programming your bot, it will make mistakes and that’s why you always need a human backup. Integrate your chatbot into your human customer support team so that a human is always standing by to take over when your bot gets stuck. People know that bots aren’t perfect and will be understanding when it fails but only if they still receive the help that led them to your chatbot in the first place.

Mobile Technology News brought to you by biztexter.com

Source: entrepreneur.com/article/305457#

5 Ways to Optimize for Voice Search

The way people search for information on the internet has changed drastically over the years. It used to be people would type specific keywords related to the topic they were interested in. Then, it evolved into typing questions into the search bar. Now, it is evolving into voice search questions. With more people getting personal assistants such as Siri, Alexa, and others, voice search is increasing quickly. Last year, 20 percent of searches came from voice search, and that number is expected to jump to over half of all searches by 2020. Here are 5 ways you can optimize your content for voice search in preparation.

1. Get tips from machine learning

Machine learning is the ability for a computer to absorb and analyze large amounts of information. The information is then processed to provide recommendations based on the information to help you determine what type of information your audience needs and wants. A machine learning company comes in and gets it set up and helps show your company how to use it most effectively.

2. Question and answer formats

When people use voice searches, they are typically asking quick questions, and they want a fast answer. That is why companies looking to optimize for voice search need to focus on a question and answer format in their content. Make the heading a question, and give a quick and concise answer under it. This will give search engines the ability to find the exact answers to questions that customers may be looking to find.

3. Longer keywords – get more specific

If people are asking questions instead of typing them, they are more likely to get more specific in their searches. Rather than just typing “house cleaner near me,” they might ask, “What is the best house cleaner near me who uses all natural products?” This gives your company an opportunity to get more specific with the longer keyword phrases you use in order to be found. Businesses are able to get more specific with what their company offers in those search terms.

4. Give as much info as possible

If someone is looking for a business like yours, they need to be able to find you by getting as much information as possible. Your location, reviews, company contact information; this is all information people will be searching for that needs to be quickly accessible and something a voice assistant would be able to easily rehash.

5. Focus on easily repeated content

While many people use voice search and then proceed to look at the results, more people are relying on virtual assistants to repeat that information out loud to them, so they never have to look at the site themselves. It is the main reason why people love having personal assistants in their homes. Everything you are optimizing for voice search should be quick and easy for a virtual assistant to repeat as an answer to a question.

Mobile Technology News brought to you by biztexter.com

Source: business2community.com/content-marketing/voice-search-changes-content-marketing-01962482#b8mTDtxEQTvo2d5x.97