From structured data and long tail keywords targeting to authoritative content strategies, discover how to rank in AI search for greater reach and maximised returns. 

Understanding How AI Search Works 

AI is not an enemy of SEO, far from it. Nevertheless, strategists must understand AI search deeply, high-ranking content, and accurately analyse success. 

In the early age of search engines, keyword matching reigned supreme. Search engines like Jump Station, WebCrawler and Lycos used automatic web crawlers to index web page titles, headers and text, allowing users to search for certain keywords and final matching results. 

Later, engines like AltaVista implemented natural language search capabilities, which enabled users to input conversational queries (like “What is SEO?”) and receive decent results. 

However, with the help of machine learning and natural language processing (NLP), AI-powered search engines can now determine a web page’s quality as well as its relevance. Google’s revolutionary PageRank algorithm primarily ranks results based on its internal and external links to lead users to more popular and therefore more useful pages. 

The next major frontier for search engines? Generative AI.

Google’s Search Generative Experience allows users to ask highly specific, complex questions. The AI algorithm indexes and interprets pages to present the most relevant information as direct, conversational and comprehensive answers.

In particular, AI search engines use algorithms to prioritise pages with authority. They determine this by looking for:

• Backlinks from reputable sources
• Earned media coverage
• High-quality content with trustworthy sources
• Up-yo-date information
• User satisfaction

So, instead of striving to rank on SERPs, strategists must now work to appear in generative responses. 

This begs the question: How can SEO specialists adjust their strategies to give AI search engines and users what they want?

Optimize for Conversational and Intent-Based Queries

As generative AI enables users to plan family vacations and find the best vehicles with single searches,  SEO strategists must now cater to conversational, intent-based queries. This means content should be written in a natural, engaging tone that can be synthesized easily by AI-driven search engines

What’s more, strategists can target these complex queries using a few key strategies:

– Long tail keywords: Short, exact match keywords are phasing out in favour of long tail keywords that capture user queries. These keywords often take the form of relevant, location-based based or intent-driven questions. For example, “Where can I find the best Italian restaurant with Outdoor seating?”

– Frequently asked questions (FAQ) sections: Strategists can incorporate FAQ sections on high traffic webpages to naturally target long tail keywords and inter-based queries. FAQ offer users direct, relevant answers to their most pressing questions and appeal to generative AI search engines in the process. 

Structure Content for AI-Generated Summaries and Snippets

AI search often extracts answers directly from content for featured responses and “people also ask” SERP sections. Use these formatting conventions to increase the likelihood of AI search summary sections

• Clear headings – Place long-tail keywords and conversational queries in webpage headings so users and AI search engines alike can effectively scan for important information.
• Concise answers – Remember the natural, conversational approach described earlier. And never underestimate the power of a FAQ section.
• Bulleted and numbered lists – Lists help users quickly absorb the most essential information on a page. They also help AI searches more effectively index and rank a page’s content.
• Structured data – Users can interpret different pieces of content intuitively, but search engines need a little more information. Strategists can help them out by including structured data that tells AI search algorithms exactly what’s on a page. More on this below.

Focus on Topical Authority and Content Depth

Everyone loves a genuine and trustworthy industry thought leader—a go-to source for relevant information. That includes AI search engines. AI search favours comprehensive, well-structured, reputable websites that demonstrate expertise on related subjects—also known as topical authority.

The first step of any topical authority SEO strategy is crafting high-quality content. Beyond that, strategists can appeal to AI search engines by structuring content in a clear and indexable way. For example:

• Identifying key topics to showcase expertise.
• Building pillar pages for content.
• Creating interlinked topic clusters.

These conventions provide AI models with accessible, authoritative information and clear topic relationships that enhance their generative responses.

Leverage Schema Markup and Structured Data

When a user views a webpage, they can quickly assess and interpret its contents. For example, they understand what contact information is, what a photo of the business storefront is, and what a list of services. Search engines, though powered by AI, can’t make those same judgments—without a little help, that is. 

That is where schema markup and structured data come in. 

AI-powered search engines rely on structured data to understand content relationships and display rich snippets on SERPs. To be featured, consider implementing:

• FAQ schema.
• How-To schema.
• Entity-based markup.

With Google, strategists can check structured data and preview rich results using their Rich Results Test.

Prioritize High-Quality, Trustworthy Content

AI models eat up quality content—using the EEAT model:

• Experience – Is the content written by an industry leader or a scrappy, knowledgeable field agent? Content can display experience using case studies, credentials, anecdotes, and other relevant data.
• Expertise – Search engines push results that provide users with comprehensive and insightful information. Highlight expertise by outlining and explaining content in a clear, accessible way.
• Authoritativeness – Authority signals to users and search engines that content is reputable and valuable. Write content with a strong and distinct voice worthy of an industry thought leader.
• Trustworthiness – Above all, content must be true, fact-checked, and backed by quality sources. Google notes that while all EEAT factors matter, trust is the most important. Most content will only demonstrate some of the other factors, but high-quality pages must display trustworthiness.

It’s important to note that Google search doesn’t use EEAT as a specific ranking factor. That said, search quality raters rely on it to determine the value of the algorithm’s results pages.

Improve Website Performance and User Experience

AI search also considers engagement metrics and user satisfaction when ranking content—because happy users usually beget more happy users. 

Reduce bounce rates and improve SERP ranking by optimizing these key user experience (UX) factors:

• Page speed – Users don’t just want quality content—they also expect it to load immediately. Faster page speeds have shown a direct impact on the number of conversions a company’s site makes. One study found that a 0-4 second load time produces ideal conversions. 
• Mobile responsiveness – As of 2024, mobile users make up more than 60% of website traffic—and that percentage will only continue to grow. Ensure high-quality mobile experiences by refining the user interface and boosting mobile page speed.
• Navigation – Users and AI search engines all value intuitive website navigation for quick and efficient information access. Explore different ways to structure content, prioritizing logical page progressions and clustered topics.

Great SEO strategists know that high-performing content relies on high-quality user experiences, and users are more inclined to trust a page that’s easy to find, loads quickly, and looks professional.

Stay Updated on AI Search Developments

As AI search continues to improve and evolve, strategists must adapt accordingly. Anticipate shifts in SEO strategy by monitoring the latest innovations in AI search capabilities: Google SGE updates, OpenAI advancements, industry trends, and more. 

For example, Google recently announced an experimental version of their Gemini AI assistant that factors a user’s search history into generative responses, adding further personalization and conversationalism to search results. Advancements like these will constantly push strategists to up their SEO game. 

In addition to this research, strategists can take the offensive by constantly tracking and analyzing their search performance to fine-tune SEO. Eliminate guesswork and optimize rankings by measuring key performance indicators (KPIs) such as:

• Organic conversions.
• Search visibility.
• Organic traffic.
• Click-through rate.
• Keyword rankings.
• Backlink metrics.

In an ever-shifting search engine landscape, businesses can keep a steady footing with robust SEO strategies built to shift with it.

Future-Proof Your SEO Strategy for AI Search

AI search is leading users to relevant, valuable, and personalised information. Ensure your content makes the cut by adapting your SEO strategies for the new age of searching. 

You can maintain ranking and visibility by developing a deep understanding of AI’s inner workings, adopting conversational language to target high-intent queries, leveraging structured data for rich results, optimising user experience, and more. Focus on user intent, structured content, and high-quality information to stay ahead of the competition—and firmly in users’ search results.

Want to know how else you can increase revenue and accelerate growth? Connect with the experts at Axe Digital. Some of the world’s most ambitious brands have worked with us to achieve 2.6 times faster growth than the industry average. Learn what we can do for you by reaching out today.

But what exactly does B2B mean in marketing and how does it shape your B2B marketing plan approach?

Keep reading to build your knowledge and bolster your tool belt with marketing tactics for B2B marketing success. Here’s a quick look at what’s ahead:

• B2B Marketing Defined 
• How is B2B marketing Different from B2C Marketing?
• Building Your B2B Marketing Objectives
• B2B Marketing: Finding the right strategies for your brand
• B2B Content Marketing Ideas

B2B Marketing, Defined

Several manufacturing, software and marketing companies operate exclusively on B2B market models. This means that the company’s revenue is generated entirely from other business entities and organizations. 

Typically, their entire platform was designed to meet the demands of other organisations by addressing pain spots, increasing efficiency, and strengthening operations.

Here are a few B2B companies you may be familiar with.

• Datalog
• Atlassian
• WeWork
• General Electric
• Slack

If any of these names sound familiar, it’s because you’ve used their product or service at work, not because you bought it straight from them.

How is B2B Marketing Different from B2C Marketing?

The major distinction between B2B and B2C marketing is their respective target audiences. B2B concentrates its marketing efforts on other businesses. B2C marketing, as the acronym suggests, focuses on the consumer.

Another distinguishing feature between the two is the length of the sales cycle. Purchases made on Amazon Prime, where the majority of your shipping and billing information is already kept, can be processed in seconds. In contrast, a B2B sale is typically a much longer, trust-building process.

Here’s a quick review of how the two compare in the areas.  

B2B Marketing:

• Small, niche-based target audience
• Few clients, high volume of purchases
• Buyer purchases fueled by demand and return on investment (ROI)
• Foster long-term relationships between businesses

B2C Marketing:

• Large, widespread target audience
• Many clients, a low volume of purchases
• Buyer purchases fueled by wants
• Often short-term relationships between buyers and seller

Knowing how these two models differ is key when it comes to setting up marketing efforts including your objectives and strategies. 

B2B Marketing Objectives 

On any marketing team, having a clear set of objectives and a mechanism in place for keeping track of performance is essential. Your goals will likely vary depending on what stage in the marketing campaign you’re in.

To that end, in which direction should you focus your B2B marketing approach? Consider a few common objectives: 

• Brand Awareness: Defining your brand and painting a clear picture of your target audience are the primary items on the to-do list in this phase of B2B marketing. The more specific you can be as a marketer about who you’re trying to reach, the better.
• Generate Lead: When developing strategies centred around this objective, remember that B2B marketing tends to have fewer leads but higher purchasing volumes. Go after the right audience and target their primary pain points. From there, you can build the foundation you’ll use to persuade them that your service is an effective solution that will contribute to their efficiencies, growth, and ROI.
• Client Retention: If customer loyalty is your main objective, be sure to gather feedback, keep the lines of communication open, and consider treating faithful customers to a surprise (e.g. free upgrade, small gift) to encourage a long-lasting relationship. 

B2B Marketing Strategies: Finding the Right Fit for Your Brand

There is no one-size-fits-all approach for B2B marketing- nor should be there be- so it’s important to assess your objective and find a combination of strategies that will help your business cut through the noise. 

• Target audience: Defining your target audience is a marketing must for all companies, but it is particularly important for B2B companies, a clearly defined target client base will go a long way in generating quality leads. 

• SEO: When done right, SEO is one of the most powerful tools for galvanizing organic growth in B2B marketing. Doing thorough keyword research and implementing it into your blog content, web copy, or image alt text connects you with users searching Google for a solution that your company can provide. 

• Google Ads: While polishing up your SEO may be a long-term approach to building awareness or driving conversion rates, Google Ads are instantaneous. Set your bit and maximize your reach by targeting the right audience your your brands. 

• Facebook Ads: The businesses you’re trying to reach are likely on Facebook, and so are the people who own them. With more than 2.7 Billion monthly active users, Facebook remains one of the biggest social networks across the globe. Facebook Ads allow you to build effective B2B Campaigns by targeting users based on interests, location, age and more. 

• Email Newsletter: The number of email users around the world is about billion, so it’s safe to say that email marketing is here to stay. Disperse your marketing touchpoints across a series of weekly or monthly newsletters. Keep your marketing leads in the loop about product updates, sales, or new blog content and track performance using campaign insights provided by platforms like Mailchimps. 
• Retargeting: Because B2B sales cycles are much longer than B2B sales cycles, there are many opportunities for retargeting over the course of what stage of the funnel you’ll need to focus on (lead generation, lead nurturing, proposal) and give your potential the nudge they might need to keep moving forward. 

B2B Marketing Content Ideas

B2B content marketing can be a highly effective way of elevating your B2B marketing strategies. When producing content, the value it provides to your target audience should be the driving force behind everything you create.

Not sure what kind of is right for your brand?

Take a few ideas from the list below and integrate them into your long-term marketing to boost brand awareness and drive sales. The key is to produce your brand’s ethos and connect to your audience simultaneously. 

• Blogs: These are like to very ones you are reading now. Consider sharing weekly or monthly posts covering topics sure to benefit and interest your buyer persona. Company updates, technical how-tos and user trends are just a few of bringing in readers and generating leads. 

• Podcast- According to Semrush, people have spent a record-breaking 15 billion hours listening to podcasts so far in 2021. Whether it’s on the drive to work or while cooking at home, listeners often tune in to learn something new. Consider using this platform as a way to educate your target audience about the goods or services you provide. 

• Video Tutorials- Show don’t tell. Instead of telling a potential customer about how effective your product is, put together engaging video content highlighting what sets your brand apart from the rest of the market. Step-to-step video tutorials are an effective way of anticipating client questions and how improving the overall user experience. 
• Product Comparison: Video, audio or text. Pick your preferred format and stack your service up against the competition to highlight the advantages of what your business has to offer. This way, you’ve already done that work that your target audience would have needed to do on its own. With all the facts laid out in front of them, your potential buyers will spend less time researching and more time considering the purchase.
  

Building your B2B Marketing strategy with Axe Digital

Now that you understand the B2B marketing paradigm, it’s time to develop and implement your strategy. Your time and marketing money are valuable, so make sure you’re investing them wisely and in a way that aligns with your business goals.

Axe Digital, like B2B marketing, focuses on trust-building. Long-term commercial partnerships. With a client retention rate of 96%, we have the numbers to back it up. We’d love to help you establish a B2B marketing strategy from the beginning or give your present approach new vitality.

Let’s work together to create growth chances and extend your business marketing using platforms like LinkedIn B2B Marketing.

How exactly can your company achieve a level of product market fit? And why is reaching that point so crucial to growth hacking and exponential scaling? Read on for everything you need to know.

First of All, What is Growth Hacking?

Another term that frequently gets tossed around in association with product market fit is growth hacking. Simply put, a growth hacker is a digital marketer who doesn’t clock out when the advertising work is complete but rather plays an active role in facilitating every aspect of a company’s efforts, including:

• Product Design
• Sales
• Market research

Staying involved in every phase of the final product launch helps ensure that everyone at the company is on the same page. This is the first step towards designing a product that puts your customers in perfect sync with you.

The Value Hypothesis

The quest for product-market fit begins with your company determining the “value hypothesis” associated with your product.

In other words, you and your team members must ask yourselves this million-dollar question: what is it about the product you’re offering that consumers will want to seek out?

Keep in mind that the value hypothesis is an educated guess, which means it’s OK for it to evolve throughout that marketing process. And in some cases, it’s advisable to adjust it.

Next, Onto the Marketplace

Once you’ve nailed down your value hypothesis, it’s time to introduce yourself to potential customers.

Be sure to choose carefully when deciding when deciding which marketplace your company should enter. No matter how amazing your product is, You’ll only be able to tread water for so long in a small, cheap or shrinking marketplace. Look to establish yourself in a booming marketplace with a large audience and high growth potential.

Resonating with Your Customers

Putting yourself in a growing marketplace will set your company up for success, but it doesn’t guarantee it. You can’t expect to reel in sales without having a solid understanding of your target audience first.

Conducting diligent research on your ideal marketplace is the key to resonating with your potential customers. This will give you invaluable insight that enables you to answer critical questions such as:

• Who Exactly is your target audience?- Sometimes a helpful way of answering this is to create a marketing persona. For example, consider your entire target audience as an individual, and give this hypothetical person a catchy name based on their profession. From there, pose specific questions about Danielle. How old is she? What’s her annual income? Does she live in a suburb or city? Apartment or house?

Consider the firmographics associated with your target persona’s workplace as well. Where does Danielle Work? How big is the company? Where does this company rank within their industry? What kind of products are already in use there?

• What is your target audience’s specific need?- Once you have a firm grasp of your target persona and their workplace, think about what a day in the life is like for them. What are Danille’s daily goals? What are her pain points, i.e. the most common roadblocks that interfere with her ability to achieve these goals?

Understanding your target persona’s motivations and obstacles will bring you one step closer to being able to tailor your product to meet that need. Speaking of which…

• What is your company’s value proposition?- “Value proposition” is a fancy marketing term that answers the ultimate question of “how do we design and create amazing products that meet our customers’ specific needs in ways that none of our competitors can match and leave consumers screaming for more?

A Quick Note on Target Audience vs. Target Market

Oftentimes, the terms “target audience” and target market” are used interchangeably but it’s important to note the difference:

• The target audience is the demographic that you predict will purchase the product
• The target market is the demographic that you predict will use the product

The consumer usually purchases products to use for their benefit, which renders the confusion harmless. But if you sell a product such as children’s toys, that’s a horse of a different colour. In that case, your target market is children, but your target audience is their parents.

Why It’s Crucial to Connect with Your Customers

Connecting with your customers is an essential step toward achieving product market fit for a few reasons.

One is obvious: customers pull out the plastic to purchase your product. In addition to having chequebooks, consumers also can share their user experience with their friends. With 42% of the global population using social media, word of mouth is spreading at a lightning-quick rate. Now, more than ever, you need to get in the customer’s good graces in a hurry.

If the vast majority of your customers are unimpressed by your product and announce their discontent on social media, you’re toast. But if your customers relay overwhelmingly positive experiences to their friends, and you’re able to replicate those same results for each new curious consumer, you set off a viral chain reaction in which your customers are practically selling your product for you.

Bottom Line: Your Product Must be Irreplaceable

To keep attracting new customers and earn brand loyalty among your current customer base, your product must be irreplaceable.

Ask yourself how consumers would react if your company disappeared tomorrow. Would they be devastated? Or would they merely say “Hmm, that’s strange that they disappeared, but this alternate is just as good.”

Key to Designing a Winning Product

Rome wasn’t built in a day, and products that fly the shelves aren’t designed overnight.

The process of creating a product primed for product-market fit is an involved one that requires several phases of trial and error, including:

Minimum Viable Product Testing

A minimum viable product is used for beta testing and is far from being the final product. It has just enough of the requisite features to give small sample audiences an idea of what to expect.

The testing of a minimum viable product has two stages:

• A survey, during which you show a select group of survey participants photos of the minimum viable product, describe how it would work, and make a note of the participant’s reaction.
• Limited release of the minimum viable product, during which a limited number of consumers try the product out and then report back with their thoughts on what they like and what they feel could be improved
  From there, you can use your customers’ input to inform your decision on whether or not you’re ready to release the real thing into the marketplace or go back to the drawing board.

Listen to Customer Feedback. And Don’t be Afraid of it!

After you’ve released your final products, the trial and error process is far from over. Designing an irreplaceable product isn’t a college exam that you hand in and then just hope for the best. It’s a thesis paper that you retool through several rounds of feedback until you get it just right. Pay close attention to revelling insight and audience metrics such as:

• Consumer reviews
• Audience engagement on Social Media
• Conversion rate of your marketing campaign
• Monthly active users, i.e. the percentage of consumers who continue to use your product long after their original acquisition of it
• Purchase frequency, or how often a customer comes back for more
• And of course, your bottom line, and how it compares to your projected numbers

Receiving feedback from customers can be extremely daunting. Sometimes, it reveals that you need to crumble up months of hard work and yell “Kobe!” as you chuck it in the trash bin. It may even clarify the heard truth that- gasp!- you’re in the wrong marketplace entirely.

If your customer feedback mandates a sea change, don’t panic. Product market fit may be a state of smooth sailing, but the waters leading up are choppy for many. Twitter and Instagram are just two examples amount countless companies that completely missed the mark in the initial stages before making radical changes en route to product market fit.

Conclusion

In short, you’ll know you’ve hit product market fit when customers are as passionate about your product as you are, and you’re able to sit back and watch these customers advertising for you.

Many design it, but few achieve it. But if you mould yourself into a growth hacker who seeks out the marketplace best suited for your product, takes the time to research and understand your target audience’s pain points, and allows their feedback to be the driving force fueling your work, you’re well on your way.

As technology advanced, so did the potential to contact customers beyond typical e-commerce platforms. Savvy organisations have rapidly moved beyond multichannel methods and are now using Omnichannel commerce to increase their chances of connecting with prospective clients.

But what is omnichannel retailing, and how can businesses benefit from it? This tutorial explains how an omnichannel retail strategy can increase brand awareness by meeting consumers where they are.

How Does Omnichannel Retailing Work? 

While multichannel retailing brings products to consumers on e-commerce sites, omnichannel marketing brings a brand directly to the consumer, wherever they are. As “omni” means “all”, omnichannel retailing takes advantage of every channel available to help more consumers see a company’s offerings.

When we say every, we mean every. This results in a rather large scope for the types of retail marketing strategies that could be considered omnichannel. Some of the most evident and prolific, however, are seen in the integration of retail media ads into users’ online activities, including:

• A customer receiving targeted ads on streaming services.
• Products that users search for appear on their social media feeds.
• Promoting users to download a mobile app to enhance their experience of a service

These kinds of approaches are prime examples of the type of all-encompassing customer experience that omnichannel retailing aims to create. Every omnichannel retailer seeks to make it simple for consumers to engage with, learn about and purchase from their brand via as many platforms as possible.

Effective omnichannel marketing strategies seamlessly integrate a brand and its products and services into the consumer’s life. Where other retail strategies maximize budget and efforts in a few key channels, omnichannel approaches rely on a brand’s persistent presence in all spaces to drive sales.

Understanding Omnichannel Retailing with the Tetris Effect

One effective way to understand how omnichannel retailing works is to think of the Tetris Effect, a psychological and physical occurrence named after the Archade classic. Yes, the beloved retro video game has a physiological phenomenon associated with it, and its functions as such:

• Avid Tetris Players spend hours starting at repetitive falling blocks as they practice their craft
• They finally call it quits in video games for the day to rest their weary eyes and give their brain a break
• When they close their eyes and attempt to sleep, the image of falling bricks phantoms across their inner eyelids

While this quirky, harmless and temporary occurrence is associated with Tetris, any repetitive image can cause the same effect on a viewer.

It’s simple enough to see where this is headed in relation to omnichannel retailing. A brand’s image haunting consumers as they drift to sleep, however, isn’t necessarily the goal of most marketing strategies.

The real prize for companies is having omnichannel customers think about their brand consciously or subconsciously- when they’re not confronted with it directly. In marketing terms, this translates to:

• Brand recognition
• Brand familiarity
• Top-of-the-mind awareness

These converted trophies of the advertising world have long been heralded as markers of successful branding and marketing campaigns- having an omnichannel retail strategy is simply a modern and effective way to seize them.

Omnichannel Retailing in Practice

Immersive marketing techniques aren’t necessarily new phenomena. Think of amusement parks themed after animation corporations, or sports titans with their logo on everything from the athletes’ shoes to the telecast watermark.

Some megabrands have long surrounded us with their image and offerings. But, in the digital age, marketing approaches have changed and smaller businesses can now get in on the game.

People have increasingly lively digital lives, and online spaces are prime territory for companies to capitalize on connecting with omnichannel customers. Likewise, digital footprints make it easier than ever to track customer engagement- an essential component to personalizing a user’s experience with a brand.

Omnichannel retailing aims to advertise through multiple platforms, but different consumers use various platforms for commerce, communication and leisure. The average social media user has accounts on 6.6 platforms, so a single potential customer may use one or all of these on a given day:

• Meta
• Twitter
• Tiktok
• Instagram
• Various other social media apps
• Amazon
• Other online retailers
• Brick-and-mortar retail stores
• Communication apps such as Messenger and WhatsApp
• Email
• Text Messaging
• Youtube
• Spotify
• Entertainment platforms such as Netflix, Hulu and other
• Other media hosting sites and streaming services

Nowadays, sites are becoming interconnected with integrated logins for Google and Metas. And, unless users are taking measured precautions to limit their traceability, their actions are becoming increasingly easy to follow across the multiple platforms they use-making it easier for brands to target a single user across several channels.

Creating User Personas to Facilitate Omnichannel Marketing 

One potent omnichannel strategy for retailers is to create a user persona to target consumers who are most likely to convert. Brands can start with first-party data of their existing customer base and assess the trends to ones who have converted, when and on which products.

Users personals also allow a company to:

• Get an idea of the type of sites and services their users frequently
• Understanding the kinds of communication their audience is likely to respond to
• Determine what products their audience is interested in and how to advertise them

Once a business has an idea of a consumer’s sensibilities and how they spend their time, it can better cater an omnichannel experience for them.

How to meet consumer on their level 

An omnichannel retailer should seek to meet consumers where they are physically, emotionally and digitally. Hence, robust campaigns take full advantage of:

• Social Media: Omnichannel retailing isn’t just about painting a presence on Twitter, Instagram and every other possible platform; it’s about keeping a consistent omnichannel customer experience. A brand’s persona and the types of products a user sees should ring cohesive from app to app.
• SMS, email and other communication platforms- Messages that users perceive as spam can be annoying or off-putting. But an email containing a 20% off coupon for the exact item that the user is considering? That will lead to customer satisfaction and a more effective way to close a sale.
• Targeted Advertising: Most people today recognize an ad for what it is, so it must be personalized to hold customer engagement. How does a business know what products a user wants to see? They’ve been tracking customer data consisting of what they’ve already purchased, the media they consume and their behaviour on their channels.

Of course, digital spaces alone aren’t the only aspects of the only aspects of the omnichannel approach. An omnichannel strategy should also be taken into consideration:

• The brand’s presence in brick-and-mortar storefronts
• Traditional media, such as television, radio and magazines
• Out of Home (OOH) advertising, such as billboards or public transportation
• Tactics that combine digital and real-world, like guerilla marketing or pop-up shops

In these spaces, it’s not as easy to keep tabs on consumers’ routines and cater to individual experiences. Still, there are ways to link a consumer’s real-world habits to their online presence, including:

• Asking for email addresses at physical checkouts to track a customer’s purchases and send offers for similar items.
• Selling digital tickets to keep tabs on who attends what events and provide them with information about upcoming in-person events.
• Distributing information and tickets for real-world events, such as pop-ups, through digital platforms or to shoppers who make frequent online purchases.

These are a small sample of how marketers connect with consumers’ online personas to their real-world activities. Digital marketing is complex, and approaches are unique to specific brands and the consumers they wish to target. 

Rather than devise their omnichannel approach, many businesses turn to a digital marketing agency to help them develop omnichannel retail plans. 

Axe Digital helps cover all your omnichannel bases

If an omnichannel retailing strategy is the missing link in bringing more customers through your door (digital or physical), but you’re not sure how to cover all of your bases, Axe Digital can assist.

Axe Digital is a top growth marketing business with the knowledge and expertise to create targeted omnichannel marketing campaigns. We can handle every aspect of your marketing strategy, from collecting customer data to creating targeted adverts for high-converting users.

If you want to energise your brand’s image and drive users from any channel, boost your omnichannel retailing with Axe Digital.

The oft-quoted phrase “Content is King” has long been a tenet of marketing strategy, and it remains so today. However, how can you create content that will effectively achieve this regal status? The answer is found at the junction of quality and SEO optimisation. Whether you’re creating product copy, blog pieces, page descriptions, or lead magnets, offering relevant, valuable, and engaging content is a critical step towards success. Build on that with targeted content optimisations that match the intent of user searches, and you’ll be well-positioned in the search engine results. Read on for general guidance and tactical recommendations on how to achieve this within your content.

How To Build Quality Content

Building quality content on your website is crucial to creating a strategic SEO strategy. However, understanding what resonates with your target audience may change your strategy over time, so in the meantime, stick to these three simple steps when you first start building out content to set yourself up for success:

1. Develop brand voice guidelines and stay consistent with them. Establishing brand voice, style and value guidelines is an important step in creating unique, quality content. Sticking to these guidelines throughout your content strategy will help you stand out amongst your competitors and build brand awareness for your website.

2. Keep your audience’s interest in mind when writing your content. If you have a good idea of who your target audience is and what they’re interested in reading, ensure you tailor your content to them. The quality of your content is ultimately determined by your audience, so conduct keyword research before developing your content strategy to better understand what topics and keywords users are searching for and implement them into your strategy.

3. Ensure your headline and first paragraph are compelling. For readers to be interested in your content and prevent a high bounce rate, you need to grab their attention within the first 50 words of your content. Utilize your brand voice guidelines to do this to ensure you’re staying consistent with your verbiage.

Quality Content: Do’s and Don’ts

Quality content is when SEO tactics and customer-focused content consolidate. It’s the perfect marriage of analytical and creative and can result in increased search ranking and increased organic traffic. Google defines quality content as focusing on the user rather than the algorithm itself. When it comes to creating quality content, there are must-have features you’ll want to include in your content as well as some things you’ll want to avoid.

Quality content do’s:

• Follow E-A-T guidelines: EAT stands for expertise, authority and trustworthiness
• Use keyword research to find topics your target audience is interested in
• Make sure your content is primarily for users, not the search engine
• Make sure your content is truthful and not deceiving: If your metadata describes content focused on how to wash curly hair, make sure the bulk of the article is focused on how to wash curly hair.

Quality Content Don’ts:

• Avoid copying content or taking content from another site, since this will be reported.
• Avoid keyword stuffing and ensure the text sounds natural and original.
• Don’t add content merely to add content; make sure it’s intentional and helpful to the user.
• Avoid including any sneaky redirects.

Ultimately, don’t try to fool Google. Search engines can tell the difference between quality material designed for customers and content crammed with out-of-date methods.

Modern SEO Best Practices

Search Engine Optimization is constantly evolving and marketers should expect that Google will continue to roll out algorithm changes. It’s your job to account for these changes, reassess and refine. Now, that being said, it can often still feel daunting to keep up with the latest best practices. However, we’ve consolidated some modern SEO best practices to help keep your content strategy strong.

1. Create a meaningful FAQ page. This is key for prioritizing the user experience by answering questions in a concise manner that’s easy for the user to digest and understand. Plus, you’ll get bonus points from Google for showing customers that you care.
2. Make sure to organize your content by topic. And, it all circles back to the user experience. This is another way to create a seamless experience for users to get the information they’re looking for quickly. It’s important to note that as your website architecture changes, you’ll want to update how your content is organized as well.
3. Focus on building relationships and providing value with link building. Link building is an incredibly effective SEO tactic that takes time. However, the immediate focus for link-building success goes back to the basics: building meaningful relationships. You’ll want to be selective and develop relationships with domains that support your audience. During this process, make sure to take advantage of Google Search Console to guide who to reach out to.

Building authority takes time, and Google will continue to alter in unpredictable ways, so as with any SEO technique, you must be aware of this. However, you will reap rewards as long as you keep the customer experience as your priority.

How To Create Quality Content

As you can see, creating quality content is a multifaceted process… But a very important one! Our list of dos and don’ts will help keep even the most confused on the right track. But if you’re still unsure, put yourself in the shoes of the user and consider whether you’re just writing for rankings or if you’re truly writing to provide an answer to someone’s question. If you choose he latter, you’ll always come out on top!

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The ability of a digital computer or computer-controlled robot to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings. AI refers to the simulation of human intelligence in machines that are programmed to think like humans and mimic their actions. The term may also be applied to any machine that exhibits traits associated with a human mind such as learning and problem-solving.

Artificial intelligence is based on the principle that human intelligence can be defined in a way that a machine can easily mimic it and execute tasks, from the most simple to those that are even more complex. The goals of artificial intelligence include mimicking human cognitive activity.

Use of AI for marketing

AI is being used in marketing initiatives in a multitude of use cases, across a broad array of industries including financial services, government, entertainment, healthcare, retail, and more. Each use case offers different results, from improvements to campaign performance, to enhance customer experience, or greater efficiency in marketing operations.

1. Marketing Automation

This category of software tech is designed to allow organizations to more effectively market on multiple channels and automate repetitive tasks. Marketing automation enables many modern marketing practices, including lead generation, segmentation, lead nurturing and scoring, relationship marketing, cross-sell and upsell, retention, return on investment (ROI) measurement, and account-based marketing. Many marketers today are overworked, dealing with issues like being unable to track engagement and chasing unqualified leads, just to name a few. Automation can assist by helping you scale your programs, delivering more personalized and targeted communications, aligning with sales, and measuring effectiveness.

2. AI generated content

For many content marketers, artificial intelligence means leverage. It’s a way to do the things they’re already doing manually—content research, competitive analysis, content gap analysis, content optimization, etc.—in less time and with higher quality output.

3. Voice search

As the name suggests, voice search refers to the use of voice recognition technology which allows users to perform searches by simply speaking into a device. The device could be a computer, a smartphone or a smart home assistant. it’s about utilizing the technology developed by the major players (Google, Amazon, Apple) rather than developing your own capability. Voice search will change future SEO strategies, and brands need to keep up. A brand that nails voice search can leverage big gains in organic traffic with high purchase intent thanks to increased voice search traffic due to AI driven virtual personal assistants.

4. Chatbots

Chatbots are software applications that use artificial intelligence & natural language processing to understand what a human wants, and guides them to their desired outcome with as little work for the end user as possible. Like a virtual assistant for your customer experience touchpoints. Use existing conversation data (if available) to understand the type of questions people ask, analyze correct answers to those questions through a training period, and use machine learning and NLP to learn context, and continually get better at answering those questions in the future.

5. Dynamic Emails

Dynamic email content is any personalized part of a mass message that changes based on user behaviour or data you have about your subscribers. To create personalized emails, marketers add variables to the mailing list, and group people based on specific common characteristics like location, gender, age, etc. Dynamic email content may also be referred to as AMP emails.

6. Programmatic media buying

Programmatic Media buying can use propensity models generated by machine learning algorithms to more effectively target ads at the most relevant customers. Programmatic ads need to get smarter in the wake of Google’s recent brand safety scandal. It was revealed ads placed programmatically through Google’s ad network were appearing on terrorist’s websites. AI can help here by recognizing questionable sites and removing them from the list of sites ad’s can be placed on.

Why is it important?

1. Incredibly accurate

AI achieves incredible accuracy through deep neural networks – which was previously impossible. For example, your interactions with Alexa, Google Search and Google Photos are all based on deep learning – and they keep getting more accurate the more we use them.

2. Learning algorithms

AI adapts through progressive learning algorithms to let the data do the programming. AI finds structure and regularities in data so that the algorithm acquires a skill: The algorithm becomes a classifier or a predictor. So, just as the algorithm can teach itself how to play chess, it can teach itself what product to recommend next online.

3. Analyze deeper data

AI analyzes more and deeper data using neural networks that have many hidden layers. Building a fraud detection system with five hidden layers was almost impossible a few years ago. All that has changed with incredible computer power and big data.

4. AI gets the most out of data

When algorithms are self-learning, the data itself can become intellectual property. The answers are in the data; you just have to apply AI to get them out. Since the role of the data is now more important than ever before, it can create a competitive advantage.

In the future, we are sure to see plenty of AI implementations that will disrupt business as usual, but we don’t have to wait for that future to arrive before putting AI to work in the real world. Focusing on smaller, more achievable AI implementations allows organizations to harness existing technology to bring greater efficiency to operations, communications, and customer service.

The very first names that come to mind when we talk about social media are probably Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Almost every person on this planet who uses smartphones is most likely to be familiar with these social media platforms. From sharing pictures, videos, and other files, to connecting via messages and calls with your knowns as well as unknowns through these mediums, social media has become a crucial part of our lives.

But social media is not limited to that only, there are so many businesses running solely on these platforms, there are so many influencers, writers and artists who are getting fame through these platforms, as these platforms have a global reach, people and businesses leverage and utilize them. Apart from that, social media is not just about Facebook and Twitter and Instagram but it is much more than that.

The easier accessibility and faster connectivity makes social media platforms more reliable, as billions of people are on these platforms, there are zero percent of chances that you won’t find your desired consumer for your product.

Here are some uses of social media for marketing of your business –

1. Make your brand recognizable

Social media can be the easiest way to make your brand stand out. It allows easy and effective brand building. Make attractive logos, pages, and websites for your business, share them to almost every social media platform so that the reach of your business will expand. Not every single person uses every social media platform, it will make it easier for you to find your targeted consumer by making your services accessible to each and every platform. Make your profile and cover photo simple yet attractive, and do the same with the logo, it should be neat and clean and can define your idea of business.

2. Create a situation of conversation

Engage with your audience through messages or comments, start conversations, ask open ended questions, so that the people will reply and get involved with the brand. Post interesting things so that people will read your posts, comment on them, and you will get to know your audience’s choices and preferences. The more they will feel like talking to a person not a robot, the more they will hang on to your page.

3. Use Of Hashtags

When used strategically, hashtags can provide you with a ton of benefits. They can be used to get your content in front of a bigger audience, raise awareness about your brand, target a very specific group of people, boost your SEO, and use hot trends and topics to your advantage, among other things. You can find the relevant hashtags by using Twitter’s “Trending” page. This will show you the highest ranking and most used hashtags at any given time.

4. Blog and Write

Blogging and publishing content online will not just help increase awareness of your business but it will also help in generating more engaging content for your social channels. You can make your own websites and start blogging and you can also use third party sites for micro blogging, where you can expand your reach by connecting people.

5. Develop an application for your brand

There are more than enough reasons why you should develop an application for your brand. In order to have loyal and regular consumers, you have to keep a sincere connection with them by being in touch with regular offers, sales, and other information about the services. Having an application of your own will also have an impact on the consumer’s mind, while scrolling through the apps your flashing brand name will keep in the consumer’s mind. Also, your targeted consumer can get all your brand information and updates from your application which will directly help your business in promoting itself.

6. Be on discussion forums

Discussion forums like reddit, quora etc. can be a good option for market research. Here people ask questions and others give answers or opinions. And if you are careful to keep advertisements and posts separate they can even be a place to advertise.

7. Partner with influencers

People with a high number of followers can help draw the attention of people towards your brand. Word of mouth drives 20 to 50 percent of purchasing decisions. When you get people talking about your product or company on social media, you build brand awareness and credibility, and set yourself up for more sales.

Whatever goals you are setting for your business, a good social media strategy will always help you in achieving those. Also, there are so many digital marketing companies that provide digital services to businesses. Axe Digital is one of them and will help you in finding what necessary steps should be taken for the boost of your business and what you need to do in order to keep prospering.

What’s Video Production?

It’s basically an entire process of creating a video, which can be either a short clip or a full-length movie, a marketing video or a television commercial, the content may vary according to the videos but the production process for all is the same. It basically is divided into three categories;

• Pre-production
• Production
• Post-production

+ Pre-production

The planning stage before the production begins,

1. Creation of script/storyboard

The very first step of the very first stage of video production is creating and finalizing a script or a storyboard for the shoot. It will help you figure out exactly what shots you need for your video.

2. Finalizing the cast, equipment and location

Once you are done with your script, you will have to arrange all the equipment, cast and location according to your written or drawn storyboard.

+ Production

The second stage of the production process is the production itself. As the word suggests, production includes all the duties of shooting the video. When all the discussions are done, preparations are completed. It’s the time when you will have to capture all the footage for your desired video. In this phase, you will capture all the visions, ideas or visuals, for the final product.

+ Post Production

This stage covers all the actions that are performed after the actual shooting of the video has been completed. This includes merging each sense, synchronising all the audio and video, editing and adding special effects.

The significance of video in marketing

A picture speaks a thousand words, so if images can most certainly enhance your business and communicate with the customer, Imagine how much further a video can reach. A video will give a much clearer understanding of the product or service than a picture or a text to the consumer. Here are some reasons below to show how important a video is for marketing-

1. Convenient

It is convenient for the consumer to watch the video and have a brief understanding of the product or the service, rather than just plain text or an image. Providing this convenience to the consumer will be highly effective and a good marketing technique. It is simply more enjoyable, leading to a better understanding and quick learning curve.

2. Search engine

According to the studies, youtube seems to be the second largest search engine just after Google. So, a business must try to utilize all the search engines as much as possible. Posting a video on youtube and sharing that on other social media platforms along with the business’s website will boost the posts and grow the traffic on your websites and pages.

3. Reassure

Consumers want to be assured about the decision they will take, and a video can assure them. It is the best way to showcase the culture, quality of service and testimonials of a company. Axe digital is a marketing company that does it all. Therefore when working with us, we make sure to bring your vision to life. Our talented creative team handles everything in-house to translate your company’s brand effectively.

4. Google loves videos

You’re 53 times more likely to show up first on Google if you have a video embedded on your website. Since Google now owns YouTube, there has been a significant increase in how much videos affect your search engine rank. Videos allow you to increase the time spent by visitors on your website. Thus, longer exposure builds trust and signals search engines that your site has good content.

5. Magnetize smartphone users

A study shows that 90% of people watch videos on their smartphones. Since people like to watch videos on the go, and the number of smartphone users is growing, your video audience will keep getting bigger and bigger.

Choosing the idea of video advertising as an option for business is wide-spreading. creative video advertising can be spread on the Internet in a matter of days, getting millions of views. And this is the whole point of video marketing: the only creative survive!

Let’s Connect for all your Video Production and Digital Marketing requirements.

Keeping an active presence on your social media

A lot of businesses believe they can post content on their social media and that is enough to garner interest in their content. However, that is not the reality we live in. Once a company posts on social media, they need to be ready to communicate with anyone that interacts with their post. 78% of marketers said they saw increased traffic with as little as 6 hours a week invested in social media marketing (Social Media Examiner). With the increased traffic produced from investing only 6 hours in your social media, more leads will be generated. See the infographic below on how IBM took advantage of a unique social media campaign. Keeping an active presence on your social media is important in building the key relationships via social media your B2B company needs to effective social media marketing

Humanize your company

By keeping an active presence on your social media, you are able to engage more with your customers and answer any questions they might have. By being personal with customers, it gives them a sense of reassurance that the company is human and wants to engage with them. B2B companies that connect with buyers on an emotional level see twice the impact of those still trying to sell based on business or functional value. The most connected companies with their audience enjoyed 31% greater revenue growth last year. Customers appreciate when companies get back to them quickly if they have a question they need answered. 60% of buyers who feel a “high brand connection” are more likely to purchase, even at a higher price, from those brands versus competitors. This ensures brand loyalty to the customers that you engage and interact with on your social media accounts.

Choosing the correct social media platform

There are many platforms to choose from such as, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. First off, you need to think about several questions before you choose a platform to work with.

For example, Facebook’s purpose is to build brand loyalty and reputations through interesting content and informational posts. Whereas Twitter’s purpose is to deliver quick updates and promote new products with an instant feedback from your audience. Once you answer these questions with the social media platform you have in mind, then you are ready to choose which ones to use. The most popular social media platforms to use are Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. In fact, more than 70% of all B2B marketers use at least one of the “Big 4” social media sites (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube) to distribute content (Digital Marketing Philippines). Now that you have your desired platform, you now need to figure out how to use it to its full potential.

Use pictures to get more engagement

Buzzsumo found that when someone posts on Facebook, a post with images receives about 2.3x more engagements than those without (Buzzsumo). What this means is that for every one like you get on a post without an image, you could have had at least two more with an image. It is natural to be more attracted to an image rather than a lengthy text post. People are more visual learners and by giving them images instead of text, they will be able to understand the information much better. Now you cannot just post an image and wait for the people to begin flooding in. You have to post a relevant picture to what you are talking about. About 54% of marketers said they’ve generated leads from social media strategies and posting with compelling visuals and graphics could help to increase that number even more for your company.

Paid Ads

If people are not finding your website organically, you may have to explore the benefits of paid advertisements to attract people to your website. There are two types of advertisements companies can do on social media: sponsored posts and ads. Sponsored posts are posts done by the company to boost the reach of their content that was already published on their social media. Promoted Tweets have shown average engagement rates of 1 to 3 percent—much higher than traditional banner ads. The second option is another great way to advertise your company. The difference between ads and sponsored posts is that you create your own ad and can customize everything to your liking. On Facebook, desktop ads have 8.1x higher click-through rates and mobile ads have 9.1x higher click-through rates than normal web ads. When you create your own ad, make sure that everything looks professional and is consistent with your company’s marketing ideas.

Holiday Hours

Last year, Google introduced their “Special Hours” feature in Google My Business (GMB). This feature gives businesses the ability to define operating hours on a day-by-day basis so that they can easily promote holiday schedules that are different from their normal business hours. Now is the time to start collecting these hours from retail partners and loading them into the related GMB profiles. This way, as store schedules change from consistent year-round hours to extended holiday shopping hours, customers will be able to easily find these changes via the Knowledge Panel (KP) listings for branded queries (particularly on mobile devices) and visit the store at their convenience:

Another reason to start collecting holiday hours now is so that you can start loading these dates into your store locator pages. A 2016 Bright Local study found that business hours were the second most important piece of information for all ages groups between 18 and 55+, second only to lists of products and services. This finding clearly indicates that posting unique holiday hours on the store locator pages is just as important as posting to GMB profiles for local marketers who hope to get users to cross the online-to-offline conversion bridge.

An additional on-page factor for store hours is getting the correct schema coding in place for special business hours and events. Ensuring that you have the correct schema code in place for business hours helps you communicate the correct hours to the search engines more effectively and accurately and also helps reduce automated updates to Google Profiles. On the user side, the correct schema code makes it easier for your customers to find retail locations that have the item they want to purchase.