The new X UI is coming.
* This article was originally published here
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
X Previews Upcoming UI Change Which Will Hide All Action Buttons
* This article was originally published here
Monday, April 29, 2024
Sales and Marketing Alignment: Creating a Culture Focused on Growth [Endless Customers Podcast S.1 Ep.27]
About this Episode
Before the internet, buying was different. When I was younger, I remember whenever my family would get a new car: we’d head down to the dealership, walk through the showroom, and talk to the salesperson. We’d leave with brochures and spec sheets. Then, we’d come back and my dad would test drive one or two. Then, we’d return again and make a final decision.
This was normal for the time. In the 1990s, on average, car buyers visited the dealership more than four times for a new car purchase. Today it’s usually done in a single visit.
And this is by no means isolated to car buying
The internet has allowed buyers to be better informed than ever before. So, by the time we reach out to a company, we’re pretty close to making our decision.
Marcus Sheridan, author of They Ask, You Answer, often cites a statistic that your customers are 80% of the way through their buying journey before they reach out to you. This means that marketing — with its website content, videos, and buyer’s guides — has a bigger hand in sales than ever before.
This dramatic shift in buyer behavior requires us to shift the way we think about marketing and sales.
If sales and marketing teams aren’t working in lock-step, the customer experience will be jarring and unpleasant.
Instead, Marcus says, companies should bring these two teams together. Sales should help marketing understand their customers better. This way, marketing materials will better speak to buyer needs.
In fact, Marcus advises combining sales and marketing into a single ‘revenue team’ that has shared meeting times and full visibility into the metrics that matter.
This kind of structure sets your team up to meet the needs of the modern buyer: The marketing team produces educational content that helps guide the prospect forward. Then, when they’re ready to talk to a salesperson, they’re 80% of the way there — courtesy of your marketing materials.
At the same time, sales shares its in-depth customer knowledge to make sure that marketing’s work is on target.
This means better messaging, an end to sales and marketing friction, and a more tailored experience for your buyers. Everybody wins.
Connect with Marcus
Marcus Sheridan is a writer, speaker, and business expert who’s worked with companies all over the world. Marcus is the author of They Ask, You Answer and co-author of The Visual Sale.
Connect with Marcus on LinkedIn
Learn more about They Ask, You Answer
See how companies have used They Ask, You Answer to fuel their success
Keep Learning
- Read: Sales and Marketing Friction is Hurting Your Bottom Line – Here’s What to Do About It
- Learn: How to Run a Revenue Team Meeting (+ Example Agendas)
- Solve: The 7 Most Common Sales Problems — And How To Solve Them
Author: awinter@impactbnd.com (Alex Winter)
* This article was originally published here
Sunday, April 28, 2024
TikTok Reports EU User and Moderation Staff Numbers
The latest insights into TikTok's European business.
* This article was originally published here
Saturday, April 27, 2024
Snapchat Sees Increases in Users and Revenue in Q1
A better outlook for Snap after its latest earnings report.
* This article was originally published here
Friday, April 26, 2024
Thursday, April 25, 2024
'30-Day Website Redesign'? What to Ask an Agency That’s Making Big Promises
You’ve got really big goals for 2024 — and your business website is critical to driving the traffic, leads, and sales you need to grow and thrive in the coming year.
And now, as you’re sitting in a sales call with a web design agency, you hear something that quickens your pulse:
You’re thrilled. You were expecting the process to take months. Thirty days sounds amazing!
But then, doubt starts to creep in. You hear that little voice in your head asking the question you didn’t want to ask yourself, "Is this too good to be true?"
Is the offer too good to be true?
After all, if most agencies’ estimates for a website redesign are measured in months, and one is measured in days, that’s a pretty big difference. Any time there’s an outlier that sits that far away from everyone else, it’s going to prompt a lot of questions.
The first and most obvious question is the one you've already asked yourself: Is it simply too good to be true? A website is a huge investment, and you’re likely worried that corners are going to get cut when you’re traveling at break-neck speed.
The second question is this: Are there limits to what can get done in such a short time frame, even with a full team?
I mean, if a construction company said they could build my entire custom-designed house in 10 days, starting with a blank plot of ground, I’d have doubts — no matter how big their team was. My foremost concerns would be centered around two issues:
- Are we rushing through the custom design process? Is the house still custom to my needs, or is it picked out of a template gallery? How well does the designer really understand my family and our needs in such a short time?
- Are there parts of construction that simply can’t be sped up? Concrete has to set, paint has to dry. There are some things that just take time — and having a team of more people can’t speed them up.
If you’re in the market for a website redesign and are considering an agency that's promising an ultra-quick turnaround solution, here are some questions you should be asking (according to a development and design expert) to know if the offer is actually too good to be true.
Full disclosure: We design and build websites
IMPACT’s web team designs and builds websites for companies all over the world. We employ brilliant strategists, designers, developers, and project managers who see these projects to completion — all in an efficient and cost-effective manner.
We believe rushing through a redesign process is foolhardy. It takes time to understand a business and its customers — and then design the site they need. Then, after the site goes live, an agency should monitor traffic and perform A/B tests to see which options perform best.
This process, known as 'growth-driven design', is advocated by HubSpot because it yields an objectively better website.
Too often in the past we had seen companies pay top dollar for a shiny new site — only to find six or eight months after launch that it didn't deliver any ROI. Then, they’d have to go back to their agency and pay more money (or start over with someone new) in order to get the site that they really needed all along.
Needless to say, you don’t want this to happen to you.
So, what should you be asking of a sounds-too-good-to-be-true website redesign deal?
How can you evaluate the lofty promises of an agency? How can you be sure you’re getting your money’s worth? Vin Gaeta is director of web services at IMPACT, and he has more than a dozen years of project management and development experience.
According to Vin, here’s what to ask as you determine whether an accelerated website redesign is a good fit for you.
1. What to ask: What level of strategy can I actually expect in 30 days?
Why it’s a concern
Your website is the greatest marketing and sales asset your business has. Just as you wouldn’t launch a marketing campaign or redesign your sales process without a strategy, your website builder needs to take into account your business, your industry, your customers, SEO, site structure, and much more.
At IMPACT, we spend five weeks developing a website strategy for our clients that’s based on user data, market research, tech specifications, keyword analysis, client feedback, and more.
A 30-day build invariably makes the planning stage alarmingly short. Will a few days of planning be sufficient to lay the groundwork for years to come? How well will the agency get to know your products or services? Your industry? Your customers? Your business goals?
Bottom line
You don't want to find yourself with a brand new website that doesn’t meet your business’s needs in a few months because it’s built on a hasty or incomplete strategy.
2. What to ask: How customized will the website be?
Why it’s a concern
This is the reason you’re working with an agency in the first place. You need a site that’s built for your business, your services, your users. You want to be able to stand out in your industry — not have a version of what your competitors have. So, with a 30-day timeline, can your website actually be custom-built?
If the website isn’t customized to your needs (or that customization is limited) it might, in turn, limit what you get out of the whole redesign process.
If you’d be happy with a template-based approach, there are going to be cheaper options for you.
Bottom line
You don’t want to get stuck paying custom-level prices for template-level results.
3. What to ask: Will I need a developer to update it?
Why it’s a concern
We all know your website isn’t something you can set and forget. You’ll need to update it frequently as your offerings change. At the most basic, you’ll want to add to your blog, introduce new team members, and update product pages.
You’ll likely also want to regularly update your website to make sure it’s providing the best experience for your users. This means building landing pages, refreshing the copy on your pages, and more.
Will you need a developer to do these things, or can marketers without a coding background suffice?
Bottom line
If you’re not ready to expand your team with a dedicated in-house website specialist, make sure you will have the control you need with your new site.
4. What to ask: Our organization needs a very large site. Can the agency still deliver?
Why it’s a concern
Most custom websites IMPACT builds are over 500 pages. Some are over 1000. The more pages, of course, the more work it takes to build the site.
With a 30-day build, you want to make sure the entirety of your site can get built in that time, even if the site is large. And if the project runs long, how does that affect cost?
Bottom line
You need to know that their team can handle your needs.
5. What to ask: So, what if the project runs long?
Why it’s a concern
We’ve built hundreds of sites in the past ten years. We’ve found that it takes a lot of time and research to estimate exactly how big a project is and how long it will take. What makes a project run long? There might be additional site sections that the client overlooks at first, or content creation takes longer than anticipated.
If your project runs over 30 days, are you responsible for paying a retainer or other fees? Does the team move on to the next project, leaving you with a skeleton crew or worse?
Knowing how common delays are, you’ll want to be sure about the contingency plan.
Bottom line
Sometimes projects run long. Make sure you know what happens on day 31.
6. What to ask: Can the agency really guarantee that all the necessary content gets done on time?
Why it’s a concern
We’ve found that content is often an unforeseen hold-up for web projects. Clients can easily underestimate just how time-consuming and difficult it is to write the content that makes their homepage, about us pages, and service pages come alive, even in the age of AI.
On your website, you need the language to be just right, and rushing through content production never ends well. After all, content is the soul of your business.
If the agency is promising to handle content creation, how can you be certain that all content will perfectly align with your company’s voice and tone?
We believe that outsiders struggle to convey the essence of a business that they’re just getting to know. If outsourced content already tends to miss the mark, adding break-neck speed would only exacerbate the problem.
Bottom line
Your website copy needs to be pitch perfect, and this takes time.
Buyer beware: If it sounds too good to be true, make sure to ask questions
In any facet of business, there are always going to be companies who will offer to do something faster or cheaper, promising to trim the fat and deliver a better experience to customers. When agencies vie with each other to best serve clients, those clients win. Competition pushes development, efficiency, and innovation.
But not every new offer is worth it. When a deal simply sounds too good to be true, it’s a wise move to start kicking the tires and figuring out all you can about the offer before you plunk down your payment.
If an agency is offering to redesign your website in 30 days — and this timeline is a drastic outlier from what you’ve heard elsewhere — start asking questions and speaking to past clients to make sure the process will work for your business’s goals.
You’ll need that website to serve you well for years to come.
While a quick fix is certainly attractive, make sure you’re not going to get rushed through the steps that truly make your website the critical sales and marketing asset it should be.
Author: jbecker@impactbnd.com (John Becker)
* This article was originally published here
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Website ROI: Is a New Website Worth the Cost? [Endless Customers Podcast S.1 Ep.26]
About this Episode
At its best, a website is your best salesperson — one who never sleeps or takes a vacation. Day after day, month after month, your website is out there attracting leads and turning them into customers.
But at its worst, a website is a money pit. An endless liability that’s a buggy, outdated, poor reflection of your business.
The reality is that most business sites are somewhere in between. But because they can be an enormous expense, each business should evaluate the ROI of its website investment.
To do so, says Vin Gaeta, head of web strategy here at IMPACT, they must first shift their perception of what a website can be. Most businesses, according to Vin, think of their website as purely a marketing venture. A necessary expense they need to dump money into every few years.
But a website can actually be a tool that drives revenue.
"If you're actually putting the right things in place,” Vin says, “your ROI should be more than leads and traffic. You should be seeing a considerable drop in your time to close."
So, how do you improve the ROI of your website redesign? According to Vin, you must keep the following in mind.
- Keep your costs down. You’ll pay for design, development, and strategy — as well as ongoing maintenance and upkeep. Go into the whole process having done as much research as possible. Be skeptical of agencies making too-good-to-be-true claims and be clear about what happens after the launch.
- Turn your website into an educational tool. The primary purpose of your website should be to provide potential buyers with the information they need to become actual customers. Create unbiased, informative content that’s easy to filter and search. This way, your site is more than a digital billboard. It’s an actual sales tool that can help prospects become qualified.
- Improve your conversion paths. A convoluted website will cause frustration. Make sure your messaging is tight, your CTAs are clear, and your lead capture tools are appropriate. Make it easy for visitors to find what they’re looking for on your site.
- Learn to manage it yourself. Websites are never complete. Just as your business changes (new products, new people), your website needs updating and improvements. If you have to call up your agency (or a freelancer) every time you need something changed, your long-term costs could be staggering.
- Remember, user data is a goldmine. The best insight into how your site works doesn’t come from theory or guesswork. It comes from actual user data: clicks, heatmaps, form fills and more. "That's where the ROI long-term comes in for your website,” says Vin. “learning from what it's telling you."
If you’re ready to enter into a website project, start by updating your mindset. Instead of seeing your site as a bottomless marketing expense, think of it as a soon-to-be essential sales tool. This will change the way you speak to your designers and developers.
With the right approach, your website can be an investment that can actually yield a return.
Connect with Vin
Vin Gaeta is IMPACT’s head of web strategy. He leads a team of designers, developers, and strategists to provide full-scale website redesigns for our clients.
Learn more about how we build websites that actually deliver ROI
Keep Learning
- Read: How Much Does a Website Redesign Cost in 2024?
- See: 8 of the Best Business Website Designs to Inspire You
- Test your site: Free Website Performance Assessment
Author: awinter@impactbnd.com (Alex Winter)
* This article was originally published here
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
EU Investigators Launch Probe Into TikTok’s Latest Growth Initiative
TikTok's latest program rewards users for spending more time in the app.
* This article was originally published here
Monday, April 22, 2024
Do You Really Need a New Website in 2024? [Endless Customers Podcast S.1 Ep.25]
About this Episode
There are plenty of reasons businesses buy new websites. Maybe it’s part of a rebranding effort — or because the new CMO claims it’s a necessity. Sometimes they buy a new site just because the old site feels stale.
If you’re in one of these boats and are about to call up an agency and write a big check, slow down. According to Mary Brown, lead website strategist here at IMPACT, many businesses invest in a full website redesign when they really don’t need to.
Mary says that conversion rate optimization and strategic improvements often yield better results than complete overhauls.
And a simple refresh of imagery, fonts, and design elements can go a long way to making your old site feel new.
"There are really two situations in which our team will say, you absolutely need a website right now,” she says.
- You can’t update your site: If a company cannot update its website on its own — meaning it must rely on an agency or freelancers to make changes — it’s time for a new site. An outdated website is a liability, and working with outsiders is expensive and inefficient.
- Your site doesn’t meet technical standards: If a website does not meet current technological standards set by search engines, it won't perform well in search rankings. This includes things like site speed and mobile responsiveness. If your current site can’t meet these thresholds, a refresh will not solve the problem.
The most important thing, says Mary, is to not rush into a website redesign. Agencies will line up around the block to sell you a site you don’t need, and it’s easy to end up with the exact same marketing problems after you drop $75K on a shiny new site.
Instead, think carefully about what challenges you’re trying to solve. Business leaders should “try to understand whether they have real pressing reasons why they need a new website,” says Mary,” or whether they’re just seeing symptoms of a different problem.”
Although the promise of a new website is exciting, the last thing you want is to make a hasty decision you regret six months later.
Connect with Mary
Mary Brown is the lead website strategist at IMPACT, and she has lent her expertise to website projects in dozens of industries.
Get to know Mary
Connect with Mary on LinkedIn
Learn more about how IMPACT’s team delivers the website your customers want
Keep Learning
- Learn: How Much Does a Website Redesign Cost in 2024?
- Read: Do You Need a New Website? Maybe Not
- Test your site: Free Website Performance Assessment
Author: awinter@impactbnd.com (Alex Winter)
* This article was originally published here
Sunday, April 21, 2024
Meta Shares Lead Gen Ad Tips
Meta's Lead Gen ads can be a great way to get more info on your target customers.
* This article was originally published here
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Snapchat Shares Insight Into the Performance of Direct Response and Brand Campaigns
Some new considerations for your Snapchat campaigns.
* This article was originally published here
Friday, April 19, 2024
X Continues To Display Ads Alongside Harmful Content
Hyundai is the latest brand to pause its X ad spend.
* This article was originally published here
Thursday, April 18, 2024
How to Build a Brand That AI Loves
According to Wil Reynolds, the first reports of SEO dying were in 1999, which kicked off the longest, slowest, most dramatic, most over-reported death in history.
And here we are, almost 25 years later, and SEO has still got vital signs, despite regular reports that search engine optimization is, in fact, dead and gone.
And now, AI has come along to upend both sides of search. On one side, generative AI is spitting out content and flooding the internet. On the other, AI search tools are generating responses that may replace the traditional SERP.
I can promise you, once again, that SEO is not dead. But still, AI has rocked the foundation of search engines as we know them, and businesses would be foolish to ignore what’s happening.
It was hard enough getting found when Google Search ruled the world. But with the advent of generative search, the rules of the game have changed.
The question is, how do we make sure our businesses get found by our buyers in this new search landscape?
Generative search: What we know — and what we don’t know
When Chat-GPT launched in late 2022, it sent ripples through nearly every industry.
Within a few months, OpenAI announced a partnership with Microsoft, which operates Bing, the second-biggest search engine in the world. Soon, we had a generative search tool. Instead of displaying links to other websites, Bing would generate an answer to a question based on huge amounts of data ChatGPT had ingested.
So whether you were asking about refrigerator maintenance or loan refinancing, you’d get an answer, not a link to an answer.
Since then, Google has introduced Bard and Gemini, LLM-powered chat tools to compete with ChatGPT, and a generative search experience that looks like this:
(Source)
And while generative search is new, it’s not that different.
We’ve long been moving toward fewer clicks in search results. Featured snippets and “people also ask” sections already give users information without taking them off the SERP. So a generative search experience feels more like the next step than a total departure.
Still, there’s a lot we don’t know.
- We know very little about how AI selects information, evaluates it, and synthesizes it into an answer.
- We don’t know how search tools will cite content or recommend links, but we’ve seen some early indications.
- We don’t know how these platforms will sell ad space or otherwise monetize themselves.
But we do know that search tools are a vital pathway for customers to find our websites, to find our businesses. So, how do we proceed?
First off, keep the change in perspective
Marketing expert Marcus Sheridan reminds us that about 1.5 million people still pay a monthly subscription for AOL. This is a good stat to keep in mind during times of relentless change. People cling to what they know. Is generative search going to offer so many immediate benefits that the masses will leave traditional search behind? Not likely.
People still prefer printed airline tickets. People still rent DVDs from Redbox.
They will still search through Google just as they have for years. This means SEO is not dead. Google Search is not dead.
Remember that even though tools change, the principles remain
AI expert Briana Walgenbach says that the goal of our content is not to rank high in Google or to get crawled by LLMs. The goal is always the same: to build trust with your buyers by answering their questions.
When you do that without trying to game an algorithm, you’re building a brand that AI will love.
Early indications from generative search show that it’s boosting trusted institutions (government websites, nonprofits, media outlets) to provide credible answers.
But it’s not just them. Marcus reports that he’s been receiving a small but steady list of leads who have found him through ChatGPT and Perplexity, not Google or LinkedIn. That’s because he’s steadily created quality content and built a trustworthy brand.
Putting generative search in context
At this point, generative search provides surface-level answers that satisfy very top-of-the-funnel buyers, Marcus says. Think “What is…” type questions. As they become more serious as potential buyers, they’ll want more detail, whether from a video, a guidebook, an article, or a podcast.
Then they’ll move off the search results page and onto a site where they can find what they’re looking for.
This doesn’t mean you should ignore TOFU content, but that’s usually the type of content that brings in a lot of junky traffic that doesn’t turn into dollars.
Focus on your website experience
AI should prompt you to think more creatively about the ways visitors get to your site. Will many still come through Google? Of course. Will some come through generative search results? Probably.
Additional discovery platforms will become even more important as traditional channels get choked with AI-generated drivel. That means social media, YouTube, podcasts, events, and word of mouth.
When they get to your website, how’s the experience?
Marcus reminds us that we need to answer their questions and make it easy to buy from us. That means producing great content, organizing it on your site, and creating self-selection tools that invite the customer into a pleasant, personalized experience.
AIO to replace SEO
Over the past few decades, companies have spent billions to have SEO specialists help them get found. Some experts were trustworthy and scrupulous, some were not.
Next, it will be AIO (Artificial Intelligence Optimization) experts.
Be on the lookout for shady AIO specialists who promise to go behind a curtain and perform some magic that gets you included in generative search results. They’ll be eager to take your money, but the results may not materialize.
When in doubt, hold true to your principles: Put the buyer first. Provide value. Build trust. The best search tools will find and recognize that.
And look for companies that share those values.
If you want help navigating this shifting landscape, schedule a time to talk with our team. We can help take the guesswork out of AI.
See the full video of my discussion with Marcus and Briana:
Author: jbecker@impactbnd.com (John Becker)
* This article was originally published here
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
Content Authenticity In The Age Of AI [Endless Customers Podcast S.1 Ep.24]
About this Episode
The tech world is changing under our feet, and the pace of innovation only seems to be increasing. Every well-known tool has added AI capabilities, and thousands of startups are out to capitalize on this era of disruption.
What’s more, everything is becoming more and more capable. That tool that offered ho-hum results six months ago is now an industry leader, and things that seemed the stuff of science fiction a few years ago are now right around the corner.
In this episode, Briana Walgenbach stops by to discuss AI trends, tools, and tips so you and your team can stay on top of an ever-changing landscape.
Key topics Briana and Alex discuss:
- Emerging AI technologies like Sora and 11 Labs, as well as increased memory for familiar tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot.
- Content authenticity in the age of AI: How to utilize AI without losing the humanity of your brand — or hurting your rank in Google SERPs. On the flipside, we’ve entered a time when every piece of content online must be questioned. If we can be the authentic brand in a sea of sameness, we can stand out and build trust with our audience.
- AI and your future: How to prepare for and adapt to a future we can’t fully predict, whether you’re a worker, a manager, or a business leader.
For anyone impacted by AI — and, let’s be honest, that’s pretty much all of us these days — conversations with experts like Briana help us keep up with changes happening at breakneck speed.
Connect with Briana
Briana Walgenbach is a speaker, AI expert and content trainer at IMPACT. A former teacher, Briana provides tailored learning experiences for clients from dozens of industries.
Learn more about Briana at her bio page
Connect with Briana on LinkedIn
Learn more about how IMPACT can help you create a work culture that embraces AI
Keep Learning
- Read: A Content Manager’s Guide to ChatGPT
- Read: The AI Best Practice Guidelines Your Company Needs
- Watch: AI Success: How Building a Custom GPT Saved Me 20 Hours a Week
Author: awinter@impactbnd.com (Alex Winter)
* This article was originally published here
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
X Will Comply With Brazilian Censorship Demands After Opposing Court Order
Elon Musk made a stand in Brazil, but he's now opted to comply with the ruling.
* This article was originally published here
Monday, April 15, 2024
Generative Search: How AI Will Transform Marketing ft. Mike Kaput [Endless Customers Podcast S.1 Ep.23]
About this Episode
If you’re like most of the professional world, the first you really heard about AI was the launch of ChatGPT.
Not so for Mike Kaput.
He’s been studying AI for more than a decade. For him, ChatGPT was less of a revelation and more of a culmination.
Today, he and Paul Roetzer have been monitoring AI and its potential impact on marketing for years. Together, they wrote the widely-cited Marketing Artificial Intelligence: AI, Marketing, and the Future of Business. They also run the Marketing AI Institute, where Mike is the Chief Content Officer. Each year, they host MAICON, the Marketing and Artificial Intelligence Conference.
At a time when too many phony thought leaders release garbled prophecies and our LinkedIn feeds are choked with posts about AI that are written by AI, Mike is an anomaly: someone thoughtful and well-informed.
In this episode, Mike stops by to share his own vision of the current state of AI — as well as what we can all expect in the months and years ahead.
He and Alex cover:
- The history of MAICON
- Generative search and the future of SEO
- The pace of innovation
- Overlooked AI tools
- Pragmatic first steps every business leader should take
Connect with Mike
Mike Kaput is the Chief Content Officer at Marketing AI Institute, co-author of Marketing Artificial Intelligence: AI, Marketing, and the Future of Business, and co-host of the Artificial Intelligence Show podcast.
Connect with Mike on LinkedIn
Learn about The Marketing Artificial Intelligence Institute
Sign up to attend MAICON 2024
Keep Learning
- Read: A Content Marketer’s Guide to ChatGPT and AI-generated Content
- Watch: How Should My Marketing Budget Change With AI?
- Learn: The AI Best Practice Guidelines Your Company Needs
Author: awinter@impactbnd.com (Alex Winter)
* This article was originally published here
Sunday, April 14, 2024
Meta Tests DMs on Threads via Instagram Inbox
Yes, DMs are coming to Threads. No, you won't have a separate Threads inbox.
* This article was originally published here
Saturday, April 13, 2024
TikTok May Enable Brands To Generate AI Bots to Pitch Products
The process would enable brands to create AI characters that sell their products in the app.
* This article was originally published here
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