Whether you’re an intern or the sole team member, it’s rare to come into a social media job completely set up for success. I have been working in the field for 10 years, and have not walked into a single role with everything I needed to be successful.
So, when I joined a company in 2020 and was given the chance to build a social media team, I wanted to do everything in my power to make the onboarding and transition of my team members smooth and strong. In this article, I’m sharing a few key steps I took while building and onboarding my team.
Setting your team up for success
Before your team member’s first day, sit down and map out their onboarding schedule. You don’t want to just think about who they need to meet with, what tours they may need or company information they should have–you also want to be thinking about what onboarding materials and training they will need as it relates to the social side of their job.
Here is what I have ready for my new team members:
Social strategies approved by leadership
As a social media professional, there is truly nothing worse than beginning a new role and walking through the door to find out you must build from scratch and start all over. Or maybe you’ve received a stack of “what the previous person did” and are expected to start steering the ship.
But worse than that, is not providing clear goals for your social media manager. That’s like hiring a pilot and hoping they will just guess where you want them to take you. #hesm
When I start a new role, the most important thing to me is to clearly understand the role of social media in the business. I want to know what the business goals are, what the social media goals are and what we’re working toward.
In my current role, I created social media strategies and presented them to our leadership team for sign-off. This not only provides clear direction, but also gives new team members the confidence to dive in, knowing their work has executive support. I walk them through how our work aligns to the overarching business goals, our future plans for social and where we are today.
Social media “guides”
After working in social media for a while, and monitoring social media feeds and channels closely, it’s easy to tell when an organization brings on a new social media person. It’s great to have a smooth transition when handing off a channel or a brand, but that seamlessness happens with the right training.
Outside of social media strategies, I have also created “social media guides” for new team members. These hold the details that make a social media transition great—the emojis the brand consistently uses, signature tag lines and phrases that the account regularly posts, and brand voice and photography examples to help new team members internalize the brand.
This eliminates the need to guess our brand voice, goals or image sourcing, and gives them clear direction from day one.
Social content libraries
I can’t be the only person who has started a social role and found out “the last person just took photos on their iPhone” and that’s where all of the social content was stored. Something that has not only made me more productive, but also more effective in my role, has been creating social content libraries.
From project folders with briefs and built out social plans to assets and storyboards, everything I use for my brands is stored in a social content library. This helps to preserve the history of what you’ve worked on, but it also ensures a wide range of assets is available at our fingertips—which gives us more time to ideate, be creative and pull from what’s already established rather than reinventing the wheel.
Beyond streamlining content creation, a central library also makes assets more accessible to your whole team.
Training and support
Being a visual person, I always appreciate the ability to walk through something and learn it in real time versus stumbling through vaguely written instructions. While your new team member may be well-versed in social platforms, they may not be familiar with your social management system or another tool that your team relies on. Make sure you don’t just set them up for success when it comes to how your organization approaches social, be ready to help them make the most of the tools you use.
Leaders, give your team members the tools for them to grow in their roles. Execution & hitting goals will always be important but growth as a professional is as well.
If your team doesn't feel supported and encouraged then they will burn out and you will lose them.
After your initial training, schedule a follow-up session a few days later to answer any outstanding questions. They may not know what questions they have until they’re walking through the program and using it themselves.
Platform and feature updates
I was once a social media specialist reporting to a social media manager who didn’t stay up to date on trends, platform features or what was happening in the social media landscape. I wished so badly that my manager had been more proactive in staying on top of these things so our team could be more effective and better serve our clients.
I make it a point to monitor social media trends (and follow social media experts like Matt Navarra) to stay up to date on what is changing and what is new. I’ll send an update to my team when I see something on my radar, and I’ll share my excitement to try this feature or a way we could use it later. I want my team to get their updates on social media from their social media manager and to recognize that I am in the know, monitoring what is happening and here to lead the charge.
Institutional knowledge
Does your company hold an annual event that’s been happening for years? When you first join a company, there is always a learning curve to get up to speed on “institutional knowledge,” whether that’s previous strategies or events, or anything reoccurring.
I sectioned off part of my social content library specifically for recaps of recurring and past projects that new team members can reference. This helps cut down on guessing what was done before, best practices and past experiments. You’re making your team work a lot harder if you’re not preserving the institutional knowledge of your team or department.
Effective onboarding starts long before day one
Whether you adopt one, or all, of the above when creating your own social media team, your future colleagues will thank you. Adequately preparing and onboarding team members not only sets them (and you) up for success, but it also creates a strong relationship and trust from the get go.
When you equip new folks with all of the tools they will need to be effective, your social media efforts have the room to be consistent, polished and creative. Best of all, none of your followers will even notice the transition…which is one of the most apparent signs of great social media management.
There are an estimated 12 to 24 million e-commerce stores. Online retailers can sell just about anything—from shoes or baked goods to software and coaching sessions.
However, with so much competition, standing out can feel like an impossible task.
Most e-commerce store owners have no idea how to effectively market their business. They either try to use the same strategies they use for their brick and mortar store (which will fail) or use strategies meant for blogs: not e-commerce stores.
Selling products or services online requires a special touch. The same strategies local businesses use just aren’t as effective.
If you’re looking to drive traffic (and sales) for your e-commerce business, this guide is for you.
I’ll walk you through why e-commerce marketing is different, what strategies to use, and we’ll even explore a few e-commerce businesses that are getting marketing right.
What Is E-commerce Marketing?
E-commerce marketing is the act of using marketing strategies to drive awareness and conversions for a business that sells products or services online.
E-commerce marketing can have a variety of goals, from building brand awareness to driving sales, and use a variety of approaches including SEO, paid ads, social media, and affiliate marketing.
E-commerce Marketing Vs. E-commerce Advertising
Aren’t marketing and advertising the same thing? Not quite.
E-commerce marketing covers every aspect of driving engagement and awareness of your brand. You want people to get to know who you are and what you offer. Advertising comes into play once they actually recognize your brand.
E-commerce advertising is the part of e-commerce marketing that focuses on increasing conversions by promoting specific products and driving sales. This can include display ads, banner ads, even dynamic ads.
Types of E-commerce Marketing
It’s easy to get overwhelmed when trying to learn about digital marketing. I get it because I’ve been there.
The next few sections outline the different ways you can market your e-commerce business.
Don’t assume you need to tackle all of these strategies right off the bat. Read through this guide, soak up all the information, then start with one or two strategies.
Here are the main types of e-commerce marketing we’ll cover in the next sections:
paid search
SEO
content marketing
email marketing
social media for ecommerce
influencer marketing
affiliate marketing
It’s a long list, but I promise to keep it simple. I’ll explain what each type is, give a quick rundown of how it works, then mention a few strategies you can use to get real results.
Paid Search Marketing for E-commerce
Paid search marketing, also called paid ads or search engine marketing, leverages paid ads on platforms like Google or Bing to drive awareness (and later sales.)
Here’s how it works:
You choose a platform to market on, such as Google Ads.
Sign up for their platform and create an account.
Create a campaign, which will keep similar ads together.
Upload an image and add a copy to create your ad.
Select your target audience. Targeting varies by platform but can include demographics, location, and user behavior.
Set your budget.
Publish your ad.
Paid search ads can show up at the top of the search results, like this:
They can also show up in banner ads and on other websites (called display ads.)
Paid Search for E-commerce Strategies
Paid search ads are a really effective way to build brand awareness and drive sales for e-commerce businesses. However, they often feel overwhelming when you’re getting started.
Here are a few strategies to help you leverage paid ads:
Use retargeting: Retargeting ads allow you to reach people who have already interacted with you on social media, your website, or even through email. These ads have a much higher conversion rate.
Target your audiences carefully: With paid ads, you’ll generally pay for each click, so use targeting to limit your audience as much as possible. Use negative keywords to keep your ads from showing for unrelated searches.
Search engine marketing for e-commerce is a strategy focused on driving traffic from search engines to your e-commerce site. It includes paid ads, which we covered in the previous section, as well as SEO, (or “search engine optimization”).
Since we’ve already covered paid ads, this section will primarily focus on ranking in search engines organically.
Start by performing keyword research to understand what terms users type into search engines when looking for the products you sell. My tool Ubersuggest can help by showing you search volumes (how many people search for a specific term), competition, and related keywords to consider using.
Additionally, there are a lot of direct e-commerce SEO strategies you can leverage. I have listed a few of them below.
Search Engine Marketing for E-commerce Strategies
Gaining organic traffic isn’t just about keywords, though that is the main component. You also want to ensure your website follows Google (and Bing) best practices so you can enjoy that sweet free organic traffic.
Here are a few search engine marketing strategies to try:
Add original content to product pages: Don’t reuse content from other websites or suppliers. Create new, original content that describes your product or offering in the same language searchers use.
Check your site speed: Slow site speed can impact user experience and your search ranking. Use Google’s PageSpeed insight tool to see where your site stands.
Use unique metas for every page: It might be tempting to use the same or similar meta descriptions on pages for similar products—say a red pair of running shoes and a blue pair. This can show up as duplicate content, which won’t do you any favors with Google. Make sure all your content (including metas) is unique.
Content marketing is the strategic approach to creating, publishing, and promoting content for the purposes of driving traffic, building brand awareness, and increasing e-commerce sales.
Content marketing can refer to publishing content on your own website, guest posting on other blogs, creating videos, hosting webinars, and writing ebooks. Content marketing can be highly effective, but many e-commerce businesses struggle to create high-quality content.
That’s because many e-commerce brands dive straight into pushing for conversions.
Content marketing takes a more roundabout approach. Instead of writing why your product is the best, e-commerce businesses should focus on providing value to their audience.
For example, a fashion company might write an ebook about how to find the right prom dress, while a mattress company might write a blog post about why it’s important to replace your mattress regularly.
By focusing on topics your audiences care about, you build trust and brand awareness.
Content Marketing in E-commerce Marketing Strategies
Content marketing should be centered on providing value. For e-commerce companies, this can be challenging. Here are a few ways to leverage content marketing to grow your e-commerce brand.
Publish gift guides: If you sell consumer products that might be purchased as gifts, consider creating gift guides around the holidays. Don’t just share your products, though. Make sure to share a variety of options to add value!
Create product videos: One of the biggest challenges for e-commerce companies is overcoming hesitation. While online shopping continues to grow, many people prefer to be able to touch an item. Product videos are the next best thing! Show all sides of items, what it looks like on different body types (if you sell clothing), or how specific features work.
Share frequently asked questions: An FAQ page can enhance the user experience by providing information your potential customers need quickly. It can also decrease support requests for your companies. FAQ pages are even great for an SEO boost, making them a win all around.
There are lots of ways you can get started with content marketing for e-commerce. You just need to find the right fit for your brand.
Email Marketing for E-commerce
Email marketing is one of the most effective channels for e-commerce websites. In fact, you can expect an average ROI of around $42 per dollar spent on email.
That’s because nearly everyone uses email—and there are no algorithms to deal with like in social media. Every email you send reaches potential customers (as long as you follow the rules to avoid landing in spam folders.)
Email can build brand awareness, promote sales, launch new products, even host giveaways, or recover abandoned carts.
Start by building your email list. Offering site visitors a small discount or free shipping is a simple way to build your list.
Email Marketing for E-commerce Strategies
Out of all the e-commerce marketing strategies on this list, email may be the most effective. It’s also one of the more versatile strategies. Here’s how to leverage email marketing for e-commerce.
Use personalization to send more relevant emails: Segment your emails or leverage personalization to send users emails that are relevant to their interests or actions.
Send cart reminders to encourage conversions: One study found e-commerce businesses that send cart abandonment emails generate more than $60 million in extra sales.
Make sure your emails are mobile responsive: The majority of email users check their email on their phones. Avoid using too many images and test your emails on mobile devices.
The average internet user spends nearly two and a half hours on social media per day. Even better, one in three consumers use social media specifically to learn about new products and brands.
That makes it an ideal place to promote your e-commerce business.
There are two main ways to market on social media—paid ads and organic posts. Organic posts include posts like this post from an e-commerce clothing brand:
Just keep in mind that organic posts, like the one above, don’t get as much reach as they used to. Unless your brand is very popular or quirky, you might not get much traction with organic.
However, paid ads can be very effective. For a few dollars a day, you can promote posts and reach thousands of potential customers. Like paid search ads, they can be targeted so you can choose to reach people who are interested in a specific show, sports team, live in a certain area, and so on.
Start by finding out where your users hang out. Do they prefer short videos on TikTok or long-form content on YouTube? Are they Facebook users?
The most popular social media platforms include:
Facebook
Instagram
Snapchat
YouTube
TikTok
Look at the demographics for each platform and see where your audience is likely to be. I recommend choosing one or two platforms to get started.
If you use paid social ads, start off with a small budget (less than $10 a day) and test copy, images, and tone. Once you find out what works, you can invest more of your budget.
To promote your e-commerce business organically through social media, share a mix of content. It’s fine to post your own content, of course. However, you may get more traction from posting content from other creators your audience will find interesting.
E-commerce Social Marketing Strategies
Social media can be a gold mine for e-commerce brands. These three strategies will get you started.
Choose the platform where your users hang out: There are dozens of social platforms, don’t try to do them all. Instead, find out where your users hang out and get active on those platforms.
Remember therule of thirds: Social media is about building relationships, so don’t just post your own products. One-third of your content should be about you, one-third about your industry or content your users will find interesting, and one-third about personal interactions and brand building.
Use paid ads to retarget site visitors: Retargeting can be a highly effective way to drive users back to your website.
Influencer marketing is a strategy where brands partner with well-known online creators, called influencers, to promote their products or services. It’s common on social media, with celebrities like Dwayne Johnson raking in millions by promoting products.
That might seem out of reach, but influencer marketing works for brands of any size. If you have a smaller budget, consider partnering with micro-influencers, who have smaller (and often more dedicated) audiences.
Start by searching popular hashtags in your industry on sites like Instagram and TikTok. Follow users who post about your industry often and get to know them. Pay attention to how much engagement they get from followers as low engagement can indicate most of their followers are bots.
You can also use an influencer marketing platform to find influencers in your industry. These platforms also help track the impact of your campaign and handle payments.
Influencer E-commerce Marketing Strategies
Influencer marketing campaigns build trust by leveraging people your audience already interacts with. Here are a few strategies to build an effective influencer marketing campaign.
Establish your social channels before diving into influencer marketing: Before you begin working with an influencer, take the time to build your own followers and create an effective social media posting schedule.
Find influencers who match your brand tone and style: Partner with influencers who already interact with your target audience and make sure they fit your brand.
Pay attention to their current engagement rate: Anyone can buy followers, so don’t assume an influencer will be effective just because they have millions of followers. Pay attention to the number of likes and comments they get.
Affiliate marketing is a type of performance-based marketing where a site or influencer promotes a brand in exchange for a small percentage of sales. It’s a common strategy used by bloggers who promote Amazon products or websites that write about software, like hosting services or SEO tools.
It’s extremely effective and affordable for e-commerce sites because you only pay when you get sales.
To get started, you’ll need an affiliate link to track sales from each affiliate partner. G2 has a list of the best affiliate software solutions. There are also several WP plugins that generate codes and track sales.
Affiliate Marketing for E-commerce Strategies
Affiliate marketing is a common strategy used by e-commerce businesses. You can set up a full-fledged program using the tools above, or offer customers a custom coupon code to pass on to their friends and connections.
Here are three strategies for building an effective affiliate marketing campaign:
Research affiliate percentages in your industry: If your incentive is too small, no one will participate. On the other hand, too high of an incentive will cut into your bottom line. See what other affiliate programs offer and calculate your cost-per-acquisition before deciding how much to offer.
Get tracking in place: To know how much affiliates help you sell, you’ll need to track their sales. Coupon codes and UTM codes can help. Most affiliate marketing platforms handle the tracking for you.
Create an affiliate page on your site: Create a landing page with all the information potential affiliates need, including how to become an affiliate, commissions, and any rules or restrictions.
Need some inspiration before launching your e-commerce marketing campaign? Let’s look at a few examples and explore why they work.
Google Shopping Ads Example
Google Shopping ads show up in the search results for high-intent keywords. For example, I searched for an Instant Pot and these are the ads that showed up at the top:
These ads are highly effective because they show up when users are ready to buy and show pricing, images, top features, and reviews.
While you can pay for Google Shopping Ads, they can also be free if you have your site set up correctly.
Paid Social Media E-commerce Example
Paid social ads come in a variety of formats. For example, you can post ads like these in the sidebar on Facebook:
These ads feature images and short, snappy copy that grab users’ attention. The bright colors stand out and the offer is enticing.
Boosted posts on Facebook and Instagram Stories also tend to perform well for e-commerce companies.
Email Marketing E-commerce Example
With email marketing, you’re in control—which makes it highly valuable for e-commerce brands looking to build brand awareness and drive sales.
This email from Osmo uses bright colors, engaging language, and an offer to draw in users who haven’t made a purchase yet.
Email marketing can also help launch new products, educate your audience, and win back those abandoned carts.
Content Marketing for E-commerce Example
This article is from Flexjobs, a platform that helps remote and contractors find jobs in their field. Notice the blog doesn’t promote their platform directly.
Instead, it offers tips and strategies freelancers can use to be more effective at finding work.
Audiences will begin to trust a brand that is providing them with extremely valuable content, and are more likely to look into the services you offer as a result. However, if you are wanting to write about or feature specific products—comparison posts tend to do best.
Affiliate Marketing for E-commerce Example
Here’s a great affiliate marketing example from Good Housekeeping. On the surface, it might seem like it’s content marketing.
It is about a topic their readers are likely to care about and provides in-depth research, including expert interviews.
In fact, it’s actually affiliate marketing. Each slow cooker on the list links to an affiliate link, and Good Housekeeping gets a small percentage of the sales.
All of this is something you can incorporate on your own e-commerce site.
Frequently Asked Questions About E-commerce Marketing
What is the difference between e-commerce and digital marketing?
Digital marketing refers to any marketing that occurs online, rather than in person. E-commerce marketing refers to any type of marketing used by businesses that sell products or services online. E-commerce marketing can include both digital marketing or in-person marketing strategies, such as direct mail, television ads, or billboards.
What is the best type of marketing for e-commerce businesses?
The most effective types of marketing for e-commerce businesses tend to be social media and email marketing. However, the best type of marketing for your business is the one that drives sales.
What is an example of e-commerce marketing?
An example of e-commerce marketing might include a social media post about a new product, an email welcoming campaign, or a paid ad in the search results.
What is the role of digital marketing in e-commerce?
The role of digital marketing is to build brand awareness and drive sales. The specific goal of a digital marketing campaign can vary by business or even campaign. For example, you might use paid ads to drive sales and social media to increase brand awareness.
Conclusion: E-commerce Marketing
Building a successful e-commerce website isn’t easy, but these e-commerce marketing strategies will guide you to reach a wider audience and drive sales. While every business is different, I suggest starting with email marketing or social media. These strategies have the greatest reach and are easier to get started.
Once you start driving traffic, choose a few other strategies and focus on increasing your sales.
Which e-commerce marketing strategy will you try first?
from Blog – Neil Patel https://ift.tt/uPbV1TSW6
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We analyzed more than 7,000 company websites across 22 industries to answer one question: what was their approach to SEO and paid advertising to help them do so well?
In this analysis, we only looked at companies that ranked well and had at least a 4-star review or higher. These businesses aren’t just liked by Google, they’re also liked by customers.
Through Ubersuggest, we learned more about their approach to SEO, traffic factors, backlinks, and more which you will see in the visualizations below.
What Industries Did We Look At?
The 22 industries analyzed in this report were:
Education and Training
Public & Local Services
Home Services
Animal & Pets
Vehicles & Transportation
Media & Publishing
Sports
Hobbies & Crafts
Events & Entertainment
Restaurants & Bars
Travel & Vacation
Shopping & Fashion
Electronics & Technology
Food, Beverages & Tobacco
Home & Garden
Business Services
Money & Insurance
Legal Services & Government
Health & Medical
Construction and Manufacturing
Beauty & Well-being
Utilities
Key Findings
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to digital marketing. Black and white advice doesn’t work for every company.
You will need to take a different approach depending on the audience in your industry. That is why we included a wide range of industries in our analysis instead of just making blanket statements.
Here are a few key insights we found:
Companies in all industries get more organic traffic than paid traffic. However, Restaurants & Bars and Travel & Vacation received more paid traffic compared to other industries.
The average website authority score was between 30 and 40 for the companies in each industry analyzed. Some industries, such as Utilities and Animals & Pets,were lower than average.
Public & Local Services face the highest average keyword difficulty for target terms. Beauty & Well-Being faced the lowest average difficulty for target keywords.
More than 75% of total backlinks across all industries were text backlinks.
Companies in all industries targeted more informational intent keywords, however traffic volume was driven by a mix of different intent keywords.
Does most of your traffic come from paid ads or organic search? We looked at the difference in volume between organic search traffic (traffic driven from search engines like Google) and paid traffic (traffic driven to your site via paid ads.)
These trends highlight where industry leaders are focusing their marketing efforts—and whether those results are paying off. We found several interesting trends in this data.
NOTE: the numbers below represent the average organic and paid traffic per company website, not a total of all traffic in that industry.
Public & Local Services received 216,861 visits from organic search and only 16,931 from paid search, less than 10 percent of total traffic. Public services, like a power company, are unlikely to use paid ads since people will generally just choose one of the few services offered in their area.
Focusing on SEO can benefit these companies more. That said, the low competition for paid ads could represent an opportunity to boost their presence.
Companies focused on Education and Training received the most organic searches at 230,075 visits per month. These companies should focus more on SEO and content marketing but also keep an eye on how to leverage paid ads since competition is low.
Restaurant & Bars sites, on the other hand, rely more heavily on paid traffic compared to all industries with almost 50% coming from paid ads.
People searching in this category are probably looking for somewhere to go soon so using paid ads to increase conversions makes sense.
Travel & Vacation sites also rely on paid ads that results in close to 30 percent of their traffic. Organic traffic is still higher but it looks like companies also boost their offerings through paid ads.
If you are new to the sector, focus on increasing organic traffic right away as it will take longer to see results. Paid ads are effective as well, but they can be expensive.
Shopping & Fashion only got a bit less than 10 percent of traffic from paid ads. This could mean companies focus more on social sharing and social media ads since a lot of content is visual.
The Sports industry received the least traffic from paid ads at under 4 percent. This was interesting since the industry includes a lot of ecommerce brands that sell sports gear, outdoor apparel, sports drinks, and team apparel.
This could indicate a trend towards more social sharing and social media ads as well. It could also mean impulse purchases are less common since customers are more likely do their research. Therefore, creating educational content might be the way to go.
Analysis #2 – Trends Related To Authority Score, Keyword Difficulty, and Average CPC
How does domain authority vary across industries? Does it correlate with how much you’ll pay for ads? Does keyword difficulty have an effect? We dug into this data to see trends for each industry.
Authority Score measures your website’s Domain Authority which also influences rankings. It grades the overall website quality based on the number of backlinks, referring domains, outbound links, etc.
Authority Score is also relative to your industry.
Average Authority Scores Across All Industries
This first chart shows the average website authority score for businesses in each industry.
Hundreds of business sites were looked at in each industry with a mix of higher and lower authority scores, resulting in the numbers above.
Media & Publishing had the highest average authority score of 44.62 followed very closely by Public & Local Services at 44.61. Business sites in each sector are usually more trusted sources so this makes sense.
On the flip side, the lowest authority score industries were Utilities at 28.09 and Animals & Pets at 27.08. A lot of factors could have led to this such as many new sites created in each industry.
There was close to a 20 point variation in authority scores across all industries in this analysis with the median score being 38.06.
Websites between 40-50 are considered average
Websites between 50-60 are considered good
Websites above 60 are considered excellent
What does this mean for business websites and marketers?
This analysis looked at companies with high review ratings which means they placed a lot of emphasis on reputation management, maybe more so than SEO factors.
We can see that a business’s authority score didn’t really impact whether or not they got a high review rating. People-focused more on reviewing products and services than the business itself.
Average SEO Keyword Difficulty Across All Industries
Next, we looked at the average keyword difficulty for terms in each industry. Most content creators target keywords with low difficulty and high volume which is easier for some industries than others.
Industries with the highest difficulty were Public & Local Services at 49.02, Money & Insurance at 47.72, and Education and Training at 47.62.
To improve their search rankings, these industries will likely need to spend more time on their SEO strategy or invest more heavily in paid ads.
Industries with the lowest difficulty were Shopping & Fashion at 36.26, Sports at 35.12, and Beauty & Well-being at 33.75. It will be easier for these industries to find keywords to rank for.
Across all industries, the average keyword difficulty for SEO is 41.
What does this mean in practice? Relativity matters when looking for low-difficulty keywords.
For example, say you’re a business in the Money & Insurance industry and find two terms you’re not ranking for. One has a keyword difficulty of 45 with a search volume of 12,000, the other has a keyword difficulty of 40 with a search volume of just 6,000.
Understanding that 45 is below the average difficulty in your industry, targeting the higher volume term might not be a bad idea. You could also target related keywords as well and use paid ads to boost some of the more difficult ones to expand your reach.
For industries with low average keyword difficulty like Beauty & Well-being, target easy-to-rank-for terms to increase traffic, then use CRO strategies to leverage that traffic.
Average CPC (Cost-Per-Click) Across All Industries
The final graph of this section looks at the average CPC for each industry. We were curious to see if any correlation existed with the average authority score of company websites. Here’s what we found:
Very little correlation between the industry’s average authority score and their average CPC was found.
For example, a site selling $20 t-shirts won’t spend $10 per customer but an investment site whose average purchase price is more than $100 might.
In this analysis, Money & Insurance has the highest average CPC at $4.12.
Businesses in this industry might be willing to spend more on average for each click since the lifetime value (LTV) of each customer is much higher.
Hobbies & Crafts has the lowest average CPC of $1.12 across all industries.
They only receive about 5 percent of traffic from paid ads which could indicate that businesses focus more on social channels where many craft/hobbyist groups and influencers exist.
Home Services has a higher average CPC at $3.17. Business sites in this industry include plumbers, lawn care work, etc. Increased competition for local customers has likely led to the higher average CPC.
Shopping & Fashion had one of the lowest average CPC’s at $1.40.
This could be another indication that businesses promote their visual content more on social media. However, the low average CPC could represent an opportunity to get creative with paid ads.
Analysis #3 – Average Number of Backlinks Per Industry and Their Most Popular Formats
Backlinks matter—that’s nothing new. What about the format of those backlinks? Is a text backlink better than an image backlink? How many backlinks is enough?
That’s what we aimed to find out.
Average Number of Backlinks Per Industry
The average number of backlinks varies quite a bit by industry with the most belonging to:
Public & Local Services at just over 6.5 million per site
Media & Publishing at just over 6 million per site
Education and Training at just over 4 million per site
These industries include more trustworthy business sites such as essential local services, news outlets, media publications, universities, certification platforms, and more.
The lowest average backlinks belonged to Beauty & Well-being, Animals & Pets, and Utilities. This could indicate each sector focuses more on social media or they have a lot of new business sites.
Money & Insurance coming in very low was surprising to me. I would have expected the industry to average at least as many backlinks as Shopping & Fashion at just under 1 million per site.
Distribution of Backlinks by Format
We also looked at the distribution of backlink types across each industry to see which performed best. The two backlink types that stood out were:
text backlinks
image backlinks
NOTE: the graphs below represent the total number of backlinks for each industry, not the average for each company website.
Text backlinks were the most popular across all industries:
Public & Local Services received the most at just over 1.6 billion
Education and Training was next at just over 1.5 billion
Business Services followed at just over 1.3 billion
Media & Publishing was the last with just over 1 billion
Image backlinks were the second most popular type. The two industries that used them the most were:
Electronics & Technology at close to 180 million
Media & Publishing at just over 100 million
The two other types of backlinks used were form and frame backlinks. However, both combined made up less than 5 percent of total backlinks across all business sites in this analysis.
What does this mean?
Text backlinks are the most popular for driving traffic across all industries but some industries will also rely just as much on image backlinks.
You should mix up your approach, leveraging different backlink types to reach different audiences.
Analysis #4 – Target Keyword Intent and the Intent That Led to the Most Traffic
Lastly, we looked at target keyword SEO intent in each industry based on the following categories:
Commercial intent keywords: related to specific brands or services (“find a Starbucks near me”)
Informational intent keywords: searching for answers to questions (“How to unclog a tub”)
Navigational intent keywords: users looking for specific pages (“Comcast login page”)
Transactional intent keywords: users are ready to buy (“buy converse shoes”)
Looking at different keyword intents when choosing target terms can highlight trends and opportunities in your industry.
So, what did we learn?
NOTE: The first chart indicates the keyword intent of target terms in each industry. The bottom chart shows which intent type resulted in traffic to each business site.
The most popular keyword intent was informational at more than 40 percent of target terms in all industries.
These are generally top-of-the-funnel keywords, meaning users are still early on in their journey.
The next highest intent type was transactional at between 15-20 percent of terms per industry.
These users are ready to buy so creating content that targets these terms or using paid ads is a good idea.
Next, we looked at which intent keywords drove the most traffic to company sites in each industry.
Like most industries, Utilities sites mostly target informational keywords. However, most of their traffic comes from navigational terms which relate more to specific pages and their brand name.
This is likely due to search behavior, rather than incorrect targeting practices.
For example, if someone wanted to pay a power bill, they might type “pay bill X” in Google to find the right page. You wouldn’t target this term directly but it does bring traffic to your site. Focusing on informational keywords that establish trust is still the right approach.
Similarly, Money & Insurance websites focus on informational terms but get most of their traffic from navigational terms.
This could be a combination of good branding as well as similar user search behavior patterns. Usually, for your navigational terms to be successful, users will have read your informational content before deciding you were the right fit for them.
On a different note, Construction & Manufacturing businesses target informational keywords but also target transactional keywords at a higher rate than other industries. Clearly, this strategy works as most of their traffic comes from transactional terms.
Lastly, Home Services target more commercial intent keywords than other industries. These are likely terms more focused on a particular location using phrases such as “near me” or “in [city]”.
However, we can see that just under 50 percent of their traffic comes from transactional terms. This means they might want to adjust their focus to include those terms along with their commercial approach.
Keep in mind that just because your website receives traffic doesn’t mean it is all converting. Make sure your traffic is directed right pages on your site and each page is optimized for conversions.
Conclusion: Summary of Findings
There were a few surprises in this data—and a few things that turned out exactly as we expected.
For example, backlinks matter. Google has been telling us that for years, so I wasn’t surprised to see the highest-reviewed business websites tend to have a pretty high volume of links.
What was surprising was the variation in the types of backlinks between different industries. This data can be incredibly valuable for sites looking to build a more effective backlink profile.
I was also interested in the differences between the types of keyword intent most sites target for SEO (primarily informational) versus where they are getting their traffic from. Depending on your industry, this data could highlight incredible marketing opportunities or gaps in your current strategy.
Which finding was most interesting or useful to you?
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TikTok is introducing several new permanent features designed to combat Holocaust misinformation and antisemitism, with the announcement coinciding with Holocaust Rememberance Day on Thursday.
"We condemn antisemitism in all its forms and deploy a combination of technologies and moderation teams to remove antisemitic content and accounts from our platform, including Holocaust denial or any other form of hate speech directed at the Jewish community," wrote TikTok in a blog post.
The first new feature is the addition of a banner directing users to a Holocaust information website called AboutHolocaust.org, which is run by WJC and UNESCO. This banner will appear at the top of TikTok's search results whenever someone looks for "Holocaust victims," "Holocaust survivor," or other terms related to the genocide.
Users who tap on related hashtags such as "#HolocaustSurvivor" and "#HolocaustRemembrance" will also be shown a longer public service announcement at the top of the results, which will direct them to AboutHolocaust.org as well.
Finally, TikTok announced that in the coming months it will add a permanent banner to the bottom of videos which use hashtags related to the Holocaust. This banner will also direct people to AboutHolocaust.org, providing the authoritative information source to people who haven't necessarily looked up Holocaust content, but may instead have stumbled across it on their For You feed.
"TikTok allows us to reach a new audience, some of whom may be uninformed about the horrors of the Holocaust and therefore be potentially susceptible to misinformation," said WJC president Ronald S. Lauder. "We welcome the platform taking responsibility and leveraging its reach to stop the spread of antisemitism and Holocaust denial."
Though TikTok is most popularly known for lighthearted dance trends, teenagers also use the video sharing platform to spread knowledge and explore educational topics. However, the results can sometimes be mixed. In 2020, the Auschwitz Memorial in Poland criticized TikTok users for a "hurtful and offensive" trend in which they pretended to be Holocaust victims.
"We cannot allow vilifying, shaming, and attacking the young people who may have done something in the wrong way as the aftermath," the Memorial said at the time, calling for the distasteful trend to become a teaching opportunity. "Social media is a part of our everyday lives and communication. That is why we could continuously raise awareness that not every social media activity can commemorate the Holocaust."
For digital content creators and businesses alike, this is a great time to focus on video content. With YouTube’s monetization features, you’re able to do just that.
In this article, we’ll define YouTube monetization, its rules and requirements, and how to monetize your YouTube videos.
What is YouTube monetization?
In simplest terms: YouTube monetization is the ability to make money from your videos.
To enable monetization on YouTube, you need to meet certain requirements and join the YouTube Partner Program (YPP).
According to YouTube, to qualify for monetization, you must have:
4,000 watch hours over the last 12 months
at least 1,000 subscribers on your channel.
You can grow these numbers by creating quality content, as well as by promoting your channel.
Additionally, there are some other requirements to set up and monetize your channel. We’ll discuss those in the next section.
YouTube monetization rules and requirements
Monetizing your YouTube channel is as amazing as it sounds, but it comes with a few strings attached. While the requirements for YouTube monetization aren’t log, the benefits are great.
Simply put, once you’ve joined the YouTube Partner Program (YPP), it all comes down to how well your videos perform. The more views you get on your content, the more money you’ll be able to make.
Let’s look at the different requirements to start monetizing your YouTube videos:
Apply to the YouTube Partner Program
The first step is to apply to the YouTube Partner Program (YPP).
It takes at least one month for YouTube to review applications before marking a decision. It may take longer than a month, mostly because YouTube has actual specialists reviewing each application.
The minimum eligibility requirements for joining the YPP are that:
Your channel has at least 1,000 subscribers
You have at least of 4,000 valid public watch hours over the last 12 months
You must use 2-Step Verification on the Google Account associated with your YouTube channel for an extra layer of security
Avoid copyright and monetization mistakes on YouTube
It’s important to adhere to YouTube’s copyright and monetization rules at all times. Meaning, you should only upload videos that you have made or authorized to use. Copyright also extends to music or audio tracks, other copyrighted works, or videos created by others.
If you’re caught violating any of the policies, you may be subject to the following:
Removal of ads from your videos
Suspension from the YouTube Partner Program
Account suspension or termination
YouTube states that they will always inform you via email if you violate any of their policies. They will also let you know about the options available to you, if any.
What to do if you get rejected by the YouTube Partner Program
If your application gets rejected, YouTube outlines which policies your channel failed to follow. If that’s the case, don’t fret. You can always re-apply after 30 days. Use this as an opportunity to improve your channel before you apply a second time.
For example, you may want to revisit any video titles, video descriptions and thumbnails to align with with YouTube’s policies. And if you have specific videos causing issues, you may also want to delete or edit them.
Top 10 ways to monetize on YouTube
We’ve covered the requirements to even begin monetizing on YouTube. Now let’s get to the more exciting part: exploring all the different ways you can earn from your YouTube videos.
You may be wondering how much money YouTubers actually make. While some of the highest paid YouTube creators earn millions of dollars from their videos, not every creator manages to make that much. In fact, the average YouTube channel earns around $18 per 1,000 views.
YouTube has changed the way creators earn money online and on the platform.
Let’s take a look at the top 10 ways to can earn money on YouTube:
1. YouTube Ads
The most “traditional” way you can make money on YouTube is through ads that appear before or during your videos.
If you’ve joined the YPP, you can turn on ad monetization for individual or multiple videos on your channel. Keep in mind that your videos must meet YouTube’s advertiser-friendly content guidelines to be able to run ads.
Paid sponsorships are when brands and businesses pay or sponsor a content creator to pay, use or demonstrate their product in a video. While sponsorships are provided by brands to creators, it benefits both parties as well as the viewers.
Sponsorships are hard to obtain, but can be extremely rewarding. If you have an influential channel with a large following, you can pitch to relevant brands in your niche to partner for a video.
To secure a sponsorship, show brands your past work, YouTube analytics and engagement rates. Explain to them how you can bring value to their business with your content.
3. Affiliates
Another way to monetize your YouTube videos is through affiliate programs.
So, how does this work? When you join an affiliate marketing program, you send your audience to a brand’s product or landing page via an affiliate link. If the user successfully makes a purchase, you earn a commission from the sale.
While not as lucrative as paid sponsorships, an affiliate program still generates extra income. You can become an affiliate for products that you already use, and even offer your followers a discount code.
4. Channel Membership
YouTube channel memberships are a monthly subscription in exchange for exclusive perks. Creators can give exclusive offerings to channel members, such as product discounts, 1:1 live chats or exclusive videos.
Membership fees are set by the creator, and channels need at least 1,000 subscribers to enable this feature.
5. Patronage
If you have a loyal fanbase, a third-party platform like Patreon lets digital creators, artists, writers and businesses provide exclusive perks to patrons who support your channel and content.
Patreon is popular with YouTube creators and brands, like a YouTube channel membership.But with tiered membership, you can choose different perks to offer patrons regardless of your subscriber count.Provide exclusive content such as behind-the-scenes videos or perks like early access and one-on-one time.
6. Merchandise
YouTube channels with more than 10,000 subscribers can sell merchandise via a merch shelf that appears on each video page. If you’ve built a strong brand community, you can open up another revenue stream by selling branded merchandise to your fans on YouTube.
This is particularly useful for YouTube creators who may not have their own website and want to sell merchandise to their followers. With over 45 supported merch platforms or retailers worldwide, there is an opportunity your grow your brand.
7. Super Features: Super Chat, Super Stickers, Super Thanks
If you’ve ever watched a livestream on YouTube, you might have noticed that some chat messages stand out and are highlighted over others.
That’s because YouTube lets creators enable Super Chat on their live videos and premieres. This monetization feature allows your audience to pay between $1 to $500 to get their message featured in a livestream chat.
In that same vein, Super Stickers work similarly to Super Chat.
Instead of buying chat messages, users can buy and share fun stickers. These stickers then get pinned to the top of the chat stream to grab their favorite creator’s attention.
And finally, the Super Thanks feature allows users to show appreciation to their favorite creators. By donating a small amount, users receive a featured comment in the livestream chat, as well as an animated GIF.
Unlike Super Chats and Super Stickers, users can buy Super Thanks on any uploaded video, not just livestreams and Premieres.
These are great features for digital creators or brands that create helpful and educational videos. Not only do these Super features generate some extra income, but it also allows your top fans to show their support and gratitude for your content.
8. YouTube Shorts Fund
In May 2021, YouTube launched a $100 million fund exclusively for Shorts creators. This money is to be distributed each month to YouTube Shorts creators over 2021-2022.
This means every month, YouTubers can make anywhere from $100 to $10,000 depending on the engagement and views on their Shorts videos. And eligibility refreshes every month, so if you don’t qualify for one month, you may qualify the next, or vice versa.
To receive a YouTube Shorts Fund, you don’t need to be part of the YPP, so for creators don’t meet the requirements of the YPP program, this is a huge benefit. But, creators still need to meet certain eligibility requirements to qualify for a YouTube Shorts Bonus.
9. YouTube Premium
YouTube Premium is a subscription service offered by YouTube. Members can watch ad-free content, download videos, enable background playback and more.
So, how does this affect monetization? Will creators monetizing their videos via ads still get paid if YouTube Premium members watch their videos? Fortunately, yes.
According to YouTube, subscription revenue payments are distributed to creators at the beginning of every month just like ad revenue payments. The amount, of course, depends on how much Premium members watch your videos.
10. YouTube BrandConnect
YouTube BrandConnect connects brands with YouTube creators for content campaigns. Audiences trust creators when it comes to product recommendations. And using BrandConnect can — yes — connect YouTube channels with brands for partnership
This service is currently available only in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.
Earn revenue from your videos with YouTube monetization
Creating and publishing videos is not just great for brand awareness. It’s also an excellent way to support yourself by monetizing on YouTube.
Are you ready to grow your YouTube channel? If your goal is to start monetizing on YouTube, start by branding your YouTube account. Then promote your channel and get more views on your videos. Remember, the more views and subscribers you have, the more opportunity you have to monetize on the platform. Cha-ching!
